Re: The Home of Minnesota Vikings..Missione 8: domati i torelli texani!

[chinasky]

L'orso ha cantato, ripeto. L'orso ha cantato. Predisposizione anti-Gufata.
Due Cecchini al secondo piano. G36C/acog sulla linea, M16A4 sulle seconde.
Fuoco a vista.

:D

[vikings11]

Continua la battaglia di Udeze, in settimana previsto trapianto di midollo osseo del fratello, che in un'intervista a Startribune dice che con quest'operazione si cementerà ancora di più il rapporto stupendo e fraterno che li accompagna fin da quando erano bambini...

The day was like many others during Kenechi Udeze's childhood.

He and his brother Thomas Barnes went swimming in Los Angeles and, as usual, 7-year-old Kenechi wanted to keep up with his older sibling. This meant making his way to the deep end of the pool. He started tiptoeing as the water grew deeper ... then he went under.

"I was struggling for a minute, and I swear nobody saw me," Udeze said. "At the last second, my brother came and got me and just swam me back to the shallow end."

Udeze refers to that as the first time his brother "saved my life." It wouldn't be the last.

Udeze, a 25-year-old Vikings defensive end, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in February while visiting his wife's family in Idaho. The fast-growing cancer of the white blood cells can prove fatal, but Udeze is scheduled to undergo a bone marrow transplant in the coming days at University of Minnesota Medical Center. Barnes, almost six years older than Udeze, will be the donor.

Barnes tested as a 100 percent match for the transplant -- leukemia patients have a 25 percent chance of finding a match among family members.

"He's somebody that I can talk to about certain things that I might need help on," Udeze said. "Whether it be school, whether it be advice. He's always been like the perfect match for me. That's why it doesn't even surprise me that he was the perfect match because, from Day One, he's always been there for me."

Barnes and Udeze don't share the same surname because the former took his mother's maiden name and the latter kept their biological father's name. That is one of the few things they don't have in common.

Both love sports -- the Los Angeles Lakers' loss to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals didn't sit well with either -- and, despite the age difference, they were close as kids. Barnes spent much of his time keeping an eye on Udeze. Udeze tagged his brother with the nickname Foolery, a play on words that was more a term of affection than anything.

"He was the most mischievous kid you could imagine," said Barnes, who will turn 31 in August. "Kind of like Bart Simpson. Not getting into fights, but skipping school from time to time. Just silly stuff. But we've always been really close, and I was a pretty decent athlete. Nothing like him, but I played sports and encouraged him to play basketball and football."

Long before Udeze became a standout football player at the University of Southern California, Barnes realized a career in sports wasn't in his future and turned his attention to academics. He attended the University of St. Thomas and graduated from law school at the University of Minnesota. When Udeze was selected by the Vikings in the first round of the 2004 draft, Barnes was living in the Twin Cities and helped negotiate his brother's contract.

Barnes eventually moved to Denver to work as a corporate lawyer but kept close tabs on his brother's progress.

A shocker

While mentoring high school students in February, Barnes got a call from his sister, Chinasa, that didn't seem to make sense. "She told me Kenechi called and said he had leukemia," Barnes said. "It didn't even register at the time. I said, 'I'll call you when I get home because that's not right.' I went back into the session."

The reality hit Barnes, and he decided to leave the school.

"I got home, and I call my brother," Barnes said. "He handed the phone to the doctor in Idaho, and the doctor said [the diagnosis] matter-of-factly and said, 'We're trying to get him on a plane to Minnesota immediately because he's at risk right now.'

"I can't even put it into words how I felt. It was the biggest shock of my life. It was surreal. I was in Minnesota the next day."

Udeze spent 24 days at Fairview Southdale Hospital in Edina because he had a dangerously low white blood cell count, which left him susceptible to infection. A catheter was inserted in his chest to make it easier to draw blood, and he began undergoing chemotherapy. Meanwhile, doctors wanted to test all three of Udeze's siblings to see what type of match they might be for a bone marrrow transplant.

Brother Eche, 26, was a 50 percent match. Before Chinasa, 28, could get tested, they found Barnes was the ideal candidate.

Udeze, whose cancer was declared to be in remission around the same time in mid-April, was the first to get the information. This led to a rather humorous conversation.

"He calls me and says, 'I've got some good news and some bad news,'" Barnes said. "This was a month and a half after this began and I said, 'Give me the good news because I can't take any more bad news.' He said, 'You're a perfect match.' I almost started crying."

And then Barnes asked for the bad news. "He said, 'I burnt my tongue on some toast this morning.' " Barnes laughed at the memory before turning serious. "As bad news as it was to find out he had leukemia, I think it was just as good of news to find out I was a perfect match and could help him."

The next step

Much of Udeze's family will begin arriving in town this week to lend support to Kenechi and his wife, Terrica, as well as their baby daughter, Bailey.

Barnes, who will undergo a physical in the middle of the week as doctors prepare him to donate bone marrow, has decided to relocate to the Twin Cities permanently to be closer to his brother. He wrapped things up at his job in Denver last week. "Everybody is commending me for what I'm doing, and it's like, who wouldn't do this for their little brother?" he said.

Udeze is eager to undergo the procedure. If all goes well, it will not only enable him to fully recover but also could mean he can play football again in 2009. He will sit out this season -- the Vikings have placed him on the reserve/nonfootball injury list -- but he will be paid his $807,500 base salary.

In the team's Winter Park offices late last week, Udeze lamented the fact he hasn't been able to work out -- he tried that shortly after learning he was sick and spent five days in the hospital after having a fever of 105.4 degrees -- and said that although he's only about 5 pounds over his playing weight of 281, he has lost muscle mass and his cheeks have gotten puffy. "The hardest thing for me to kind of deal with was with my body changing," he said.

Udeze, who plans to use some of his time away from football to finish his sociology degree by taking classes at St. Thomas, is convinced that his football career isn't finished.

"I know I'll be back playing," he said. "It's not even about like how I feel. It's about my mind-set, and my mind-set is, 'This is temporary.' For me to sit up and say, 'This is going to be the end.' No. I told myself when I'm done with football, the world will know and this is not my exit out of football."

That's a sentiment Barnes likely has been proud to hear from his kid brother during the past few difficult months.

"I know he wants me to succeed in not only this but in every walk that I can as a man and every walk that I can just in being a human being," Udeze said. "I know when he found out about the news he was more devastated than anybody. ...

"When we found out it was him that was a perfect match, I couldn't even express to you how excited I was about it. I still can't. It almost feels like everything is surreal. In February I was diagnosed, and here we are in July talking about a full recovery. There is a lot to be thankful for, and it's a lot to think about. Right now, my brother is still my biggest fan."

FORZA KENECHI !!!!!



Intanto roster ridotto a 81 giocatori con i tagli, nella giornata di ieri, dei rookie Marcus Griffin e Travis Key, entrambi DB provenienti rispettivamente da Texas e Michigan State, acquisiti come undrafted free agents nei giorni successivi al draft.

[chinasky]

Speriamo bene.

[Pove]

Intanto i Vikings hanno annunciato che a Kenechi verrà regolarmente corrisposto lo stipendio relativo all'anno 2008 nonostante sia inserito nella NFI...

Rilasciato il QB Kyle Wright preso come Undrafted free agent dall'univeristà di Miami..ora i QB a roster restano 4: TJ, Bollinger e Frerotte e il rookie Booty.

[vikings11]

Rilasciato il QB Kyle Wright preso come Undrafted free agent dall'univeristà di Miami..ora i QB a roster restano 4: TJ, Bollinger e Frerotte e il rookie Booty.

strano, parevano piuttosto intenzionati a tenerlo....magari lo rifirmano "on season" nella pratice squad...

[sco14]

HO 2 CURIOSITA' DA PROPORVI CHE SIETE SICURAMENTE UN PO' PIU' PREPARATI DI ME......

1) QUALE SARA' IL TE TITOLARE DEI VIKINGS QUEST'ANNO........ li siamo deboli ma molto deboli
2) DOPO LE PRIME DUE SCONFITTE NELLE PRIME 2 GIORNATE DI TARVARIO ( A GB E IN CASA CON INDY SONO SICURE SCONFITTE) RIUSCIRA JDB A DIVENTARE LUI STARTER.......IO LO METTEREI GIA DALLA PRIMA GIORNATA TITOLARE......


GRAZIE IN ANTICIPO PER LE RISPOSTE E SEMPRE FORZA VIKINGS CHE QUEST'ANNNO PER I PLAY LA VEDO BENE

[chinasky]

HO 2 CURIOSITA' DA PROPORVI CHE SIETE SICURAMENTE UN PO' PIU' PREPARATI DI ME......

1) QUALE SARA' IL TE TITOLARE DEI VIKINGS QUEST'ANNO........ li siamo deboli ma molto deboli
2) DOPO LE PRIME DUE SCONFITTE NELLE PRIME 2 GIORNATE DI TARVARIO ( A GB E IN CASA CON INDY SONO SICURE SCONFITTE) RIUSCIRA JDB A DIVENTARE LUI STARTER.......IO LO METTEREI GIA DALLA PRIMA GIORNATA TITOLARE......


GRAZIE IN ANTICIPO PER LE RISPOSTE E SEMPRE FORZA VIKINGS CHE QUEST'ANNNO PER I PLAY LA VEDO BENE

Se Tarvaris perde le prime due resta comunque titolare (però per me questo è scarso eh... salvo progressi davvero consistenti). Booty? Aspetta aspetta, per cederlo titolare alla terza serve una epidemia di colera in tutto il Minnesota temo.

Tight end? Io proverei con tutto il cuore Garrett Mills, la cosa più simile a un Colley che possiate immaginare (con le dovute proporzi0oni, ovvio). Ma pare che ci sarà la rotazione Shiancoe o come cazzo si scrive e Kleinsasser o  come si scrive pure lui... il primo mi pare riceva meglio il secondo è un buon bloccatore tutto sommato.

[vikings11]

Se Tarvaris perde le prime due resta comunque titolare (però per me questo è scarso eh... salvo progressi davvero consistenti). Booty? Aspetta aspetta, per cederlo titolare alla terza serve una epidemia di colera in tutto il Minnesota temo.

Colera non proprio, visto che almeno a parole il baffuto Childress sembra essere stato letteralmente ammalliato dall'ex Trojans. Il problema è che il nostro caro HC ha la faccia come il deretano e ne dice una ma ne pensa un'altra, soprattutto sui QB, dove già con TJ abbiamo dovuto aspettare una serie roboante di sconfitte di "braccino corto" Brad Johnson, per vederlo in campo; a meno di rivolte dello spogliatoio e di record 0-8 credo che difficilmente Booty lo vedremo già in campo; piuttosto se non da garanzie Tarvario rivedremo Frerotte.

Tight end? Io proverei con tutto il cuore Garrett Mills, la cosa più simile a un Colley che possiate immaginare (con le dovute proporzi0oni, ovvio). Ma pare che ci sarà la rotazione Shiancoe o come cazzo si scrive e Kleinsasser o  come si scrive pure lui... il primo mi pare riceva meglio il secondo è un buon bloccatore tutto sommato.

Di Shiancoe ne parlano bene, ma a me non pare tutto 'sto fenomeno; il titolare comunque dovrebbe essere lui, seguito dal vecchio Kleinsasser, garanzia in fase di block ma non bravissimo di mani. Mills potrebbero anche lanciarlo, ma con il contrattone che ha in mano lo sciancato ex giants è diffiile strappargli il posto in depth...

[Pove]

HO 2 CURIOSITA' DA PROPORVI CHE SIETE SICURAMENTE UN PO' PIU' PREPARATI DI ME......

1) QUALE SARA' IL TE TITOLARE DEI VIKINGS QUEST'ANNO........ li siamo deboli ma molto deboli
2) DOPO LE PRIME DUE SCONFITTE NELLE PRIME 2 GIORNATE DI TARVARIO ( A GB E IN CASA CON INDY SONO SICURE SCONFITTE) RIUSCIRA JDB A DIVENTARE LUI STARTER.......IO LO METTEREI GIA DALLA PRIMA GIORNATA TITOLARE......


GRAZIE IN ANTICIPO PER LE RISPOSTE E SEMPRE FORZA VIKINGS CHE QUEST'ANNNO PER I PLAY LA VEDO BENE

Beh, a meno che TJ non faccia due partite da incubo (vd intercetti a valanga, fumble ecc) sarà molto difficile che venga già fatto fuori così presto nonostante due probabili L...e cmq se Chilly dovesse farlo fuori punterà prima su una delle due grandi riserve che ci ritroviamo (Bollinger o Frerotte) piuttosto che su Booty...per il TE i nomi sono quelli che hanno già fatto China e Vik...questo è ciò che passa il convento in quella posizione... 

[chinasky]

Colera non proprio, visto che almeno a parole il baffuto Childress sembra essere stato letteralmente ammalliato dall'ex Trojans. Il problema è che il nostro caro HC ha la faccia come il deretano e ne dice una ma ne pensa un'altra, soprattutto sui QB, dove già con TJ abbiamo dovuto aspettare una serie roboante di sconfitte di "braccino corto" Brad Johnson, per vederlo in campo; a meno di rivolte dello spogliatoio e di record 0-8 credo che difficilmente Booty lo vedremo già in campo; piuttosto se non da garanzie Tarvario rivedremo Frerotte.

Credo sia anche normale. Booty è meglio preservarlo visto che rappresenta il futuro.

[Pove]

Davvero c'è la possibilità che Favre arrivi nel Minnesota??... ....certo mi farebbe un effetto strano vederlo con la nostra maglia, e, dal punto di vista romantico, mi sembra una cosa assurda che il giocatore simbolo della GB moderna venga a giocare in una franchigia rivale di division....

....anche se il Favre dell'ultima stagione vale tutti e 4 i nostri attuali qb messi assieme...

[chinasky]

Davvero c'è la possibilità che Favre arrivi nel Minnesota??... ....certo mi farebbe un effetto strano vederlo con la nostra maglia, e, dal punto di vista romantico, mi sembra una cosa assurda che il giocatore simbolo della GB moderna venga a giocare in una franchigia rivale di division....

....anche se il Favre dell'ultima stagione vale tutti e 4 i nostri attuali qb messi assieme...

Io dubito che Favre possa davvero finire in una squadra della division... se lo farebbe credo sarebbe spinto (anche) da uno spirito vendicativo e questo:

- non è parte del suo carattere
- potrebbe essere controproducente per la squadra che lo ingaggiasse

[vikings11]

Childress: "Andiamo avanti con Jackson"

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Minnesota Vikings coach Brad Childress has watched from afar -- across the border in Minnesota and from Florida during his vacation -- as the rival Green Bay Packers and Brett Favre appear headed to a messy divorce.

"It's kind of interesting to watch, isn't it?" Childress said Tuesday, referring to the back-and-forth sniping between Favre, who wants to be released, and the Packers, who say they do not plan to oblige that request

NFL guidelines prohibit Childress from commenting on players under contract with other teams, and the coach said he remains committed to third-year quarterback Tarvaris Jackson going into this season.

In his first full season as a starter last year, Jackson threw for 1,911 yards, nine touchdowns and 12 interceptions in 12 games. The team went 8-4 in Jackson's starts, but he also missed four games because of injuries.

"I think that Tarvaris is in the normal progression," said Childress, who groomed Donovan McNabb into a Pro Bowl quarterback as an assistant with the Eagles. "Would I have loved to see 16? Yeah. But I think he is going to continue to improve."

One of the interesting subplots to arise from the crumbling relationship between Favre and the Packers is the suggestion that the three-time MVP could join the Vikings for one more run at a title.

With Jackson just three years removed from Division I-AA Alabama State, quarterback is considered to be one of the few question marks on a rising team with a star-studded, veteran defense and one of the best running games in the league.

"You can make an argument for one side and an argument for another," Childress said of the hypothetical prospect of bringing an All-Pro quarterback into the mix. "But I can't waste a lot of energy. All I can do is take a look at the waivers every day and see if there's somebody that's better than somebody on the roster. That's really all you can evaluate."

Favre told Fox News on Monday night that he "never fully committed" to retiring and felt pressured by the Packers to make a decision back in March. The Packers have denied that, telling The AP that they wanted to bring him back and didn't make the decision to move on until Favre assured them his decision to retire was final.

It's all added up to one big "soap opera" in Green Bay, as Childress put it. He said he was as surprised at anyone at the acrimony that has surfaced following a 16-year love affair between a player and a franchise.

Childress has experience dealing with testy splits between team and quarterback. When he was hired in 2006, he butted heads with franchise quarterback Daunte Culpepper, who was coming off a severe knee injury. Culpepper was dealt to Miami and the Vikings chose Jackson in the second round as the quarterback of the future

This time, Childress is on the outside looking in at Green Bay, which no doubt would like to prevent Favre from joining a team in its division.

Favre broke Dan Marino's career record for touchdown passes in the Metrodome last season and Childress is 0-4 against Favre in his two-year tenure as Vikings coach.

Childress said it's clear to him that Favre still has the physical tools to play in the NFL, but he's more concerned with the continued development of his own starter.

The Vikings never really considered signing a quarterback to push Jackson for the starting job this offseason, instead settling on veteran Gus Frerotte to serve in the clearly defined role of backup.

That means it's up to Jackson to improve as the starter if the Vikings are going to contend in the wide-open NFC. Childress said he is confident that Jackson has learned from the growing pains and is ready.

"He's got the experience of being the guy every Sunday," Childress said. "It's not, 'Stand there and watch.' It's on you.

"You learn that you just have to keep shooting. You have to keep throwing. You can't get tentative. I like some of those experiences he went through."
nfl.com

L'head coach di Minnesota rispetta le linee guida NFL e non parla di un atleta sotto contratto con un'altra franchigia, Favre di GB, e dicendosi comunque sorpreso dell'accaduto, "16 anni di amore tra un giocatore e una franchigia non possono finire così", comunica che i Vikings andranno avanti puntando sulla crescita di Tarvario, arrivato alla terza stagione, e secondo le sue idee, pronto a fare il definitivo salto di qualità.
Le dichiarazioni mielose verso l'attuale QB titolare sembrano essere più di circostanza che altro, infatti secondo me se Brett volesse davvero puntare ad un ritorno e virare verso il Minnesota, Childress lo accoglierebbe a braccia aperte, stuzzicato anche dal fatto, come dice il giornalista, che unirebbe un All-Pro QB ad un'attacco dove c'è già una stella assoluta, AD, e che sembra ben costruito, e ad una difesa tra le migliori e più produttive della lega; insomma, una squadra che con quest'aggiunta diventerebbe una outsider quasi certa.
Vedremo che succede, se in parte dispiace vedere l'uomo Favre intaccare la propria immagine con questo lagnoso ritorno, non nascondo che sarebbe davvero affascinante vederlo vestire la maglia dei Vikings. Sinceramente sono combattuto.

[chinasky]

Per altro mi sembra che i wr di Minnie siano perfetti per uno come Favre.

[saints68]

Per altro mi sembra che i wr di Minnie siano perfetti per uno come Favre.

Mi spieghi le caratteristiche tecniche che devono avere i WR di Favre?
Per esempio :Sharpe e Driver.Hanno tanto in comune?Te lo chiedo perche' Sharpe non me lo ricordo piu'.Ricordo che era un fenomeno ed ha smesso prestissimo per problemio al collo se non ricordo male.Ma che tipo di WR era?
Inoltre secondo me un grande QB deve essere tale con ogni tipo di ricevitore.O sbaglio?