Organized Team Activities finally begin! Season is in sight!

The famous Vikings ship in front of Winter Park. Can't wait!

In a little more than three months, the Minnesota Vikings will take the field against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the infamous Metrodome. So, in preparation, the Vikings finally came together for the first day of Organized Team Activities at Winter Park yesterday.

The media wasn't allowed, so only Mike Wobschall (who writes for the official Vikings blog) could report on what happened, but it's more than enough for the die-hard Vikings fans. One especially exciting tidbit he published was that Antoine Winfield seems in great shape and will hopefully be playing again next season!

Click here for more photos of OTA Day 1

New Vikings stadium passes in Minneapolis

A proposed design

Yesterday, the Vikings stadium was all but guaranteed when the Minneapolis city council agreed to the project. It was close, with a 7-6 vote for the stadium. The city will, with this plan, be contributing $11 million from sales taxes. It is estimated to be the largest capital investment in Minneapolis history and should create jobs and revenue simply because it will be a better stadium.

While I hate to get all political on a sports blog, this bill passing in the council went against a 15-year-old law that requires voters to approve any plan on a stadium where the city pays more than $10 million, which is a pretty big deal. Several opponents to passing the bill said doing this completely removed citizens from important decisions regarding their city. And since a phone survey (not the most accurate by a long shot, but a good benchmark) found that a little over half of the Minneapolis residents opposed a new stadium. Maybe it should have been put to a vote.

Vikings sign Derrick Coleman, a deaf UCLA Bruin

Derrick Coleman playing for the Bruins. (Photo from Creative Commons)

Every so often in the world of sports we get a really inspiring story. Derrick Coleman, currently signed with the Vikings as an undrafted free agent, is undeniably one of those stories. Coleman lost his hearing as a child but continued to play football exceptionally well - he's spent the last few years playing as a running back for the UCLA Bruins. His coaches and teammates have said his disability hasn't gotten in the way of his playing (he can read lips fluently), and Coleman himself said the only disadvantage is that he doesn't hear the whistle signalling the end of the play, although that might be an advantage because he never stops.

Sometimes it's just nice to hear a story of a Viking overcoming the odds and Derrick Coleman certainly did that.