Players in pads, good weather just part of Monday in Mankato

 

Monday I woke up to quite a surprise as the temp was 48 degrees and I actually turned my heat on in the car to get the chill out of the air.

I got to Mankato and it had already started to warm up in fact I found myself actually sweating by second practice. One of training camp’s headline thus far has to be the weather.

I went to check out the entrance to Vikings Village and by 8:30 there were probably already a hundred people or so in line and the gate did not even open until 10.

One of my thrills at camp is meeting and talking to fans. Today I met a man who flew in from Phoenix. He actually went to the airport in Phoenix with his wife but she went to Cincinnati to visit family and he flew to Minneapolis to do something he has always wanted to do and that was visit Vikings training camp.

He is a Cardinals season ticket holder but loves the Vikes more. He is a huge football fan so much that he has a mini helmet of every NFL team and a McFarlane NFL action player for each team. He places the action figure on top of the mini helmet. He showed me a picture. He also added that Packers, Cowboys and Steelers are buried so people cannot see them as easy because of his dislike for those teams.

The weather like I said was a bit warmer for the afternoon and fitting the team was in pads for the first time this camp.

I was able to see for the first time the leg of new punter, Jeff Locke. All I can say is wow. He was kicking between 60-70 yard bombs out of the end zone. A strange thing is both Blair Walsh and Jeff Locke are not big guys but they both have legs that will amaze you. I cannot wait for the preseason home opener to see Locke in action.

I really liked the pace of the afternoon practice, which went from about 2:45-4:45. It really seems to be an organized practice. The players thus far seem to know what drill to go to next.

I wrote about Saturday’s practice with the quarterbacks struggling. I really thought Monday went much better for both Ponder and Cassel.

One receiver I have not mentioned as of yet is 3^rd year wide out, Stephen Burton. He was my offensive MVP of the session. He made a great deep catch for a TD, a seam down the middle and a front corner of the end zone touchdowns.

Matt Cassel continues to make me feel better about our back up. He really does throw nice seam passes.

I thought Ponder held his own and looked better connecting on the last play of practice a touchdown to Burton.

It was just on Saturday when Bobby Felder returned an INT for a touchdown and now on Monday practice ends on a good note.

I do like watching the sidelines and see what different players are doing. Cordarrelle Patterson dropped a slant pass and went to the sidelines to do pushups. I then see Jerome Simpson lay his helmet on Patterson’s back as he was doing pushups. You know it did not fall off the back either.

Players are in pads and you get the feeling they want to hit. It seems like they have trouble pulling up. They do, except for one play today. Running Back, Bradley Randle caught a ball out of the backfield and defensive back Greg McCoy was coming up on Bradley. The next thing you could hear the pop all the way across the field. I saw McCoy laying on his butt while Randle was looking down at him.

I do need to mention there are two Minnesota State University players trying out for the Vikings and both are wide receivers. One is Adam Thielen and LaMark Brown. Thielen looks extremely strong thus far and has a good set of hand.

I had written in a blog a while back to keep your eyes open because you never know who you will see around. Today Darren Sharper was in town for NFL Network to do an interview with Adrian Peterson after the afternoon practice.

It was neat as they did it in front of the locker rooms so fans including myself could watch. Darren came over after he was done, signed autograph with fans, and took pictures with them as well.

It was a neat way to end my day in Mankato.

Tuesday July 30^th is defensive back day for people that want to meet that group. Practice is 10:30-11:30 and 2:45-4:45 or so.

Thanks for reading

Purplestick

 

 

Monday will be a day of firsts

One of the hardest days as a Vikings diehard training camp guy is when the team has a day off. Only 2 days of camp, (Friday and Saturday) so far, then a day off already on Sunday.

Monday July 29th will be the biggest in the early stages of camp. You ask why? The answer is this; Monday is the first day where we will see the team suit up in pads since the playoff loss in Green Bay.

The schedule will be 10:30-11:30 with a walk through in Blakeslee Field and then the afternoon practice begins at 2:45 and this is where we will see our boys put on the pads.

It is hard to believe the first game is a week from Friday when the Houston Texans come to Mall of America Field.

The other special day about Monday is it will be the first autograph day. Monday’s group is due to be the offensive line.

It will be interesting to see what time the first person gets in line. I find it very common to hear people will wait 2-3 hours even before practice begins. You figure waiting 2 plus hours to get in and then you add the hour practice even before a fan can meet their player they’ve been patiently waiting for. I got a funny feeling Matt Kalil’s line will be obnoxious. I have no proof, just a gut feeling. I will of course find out for myself when I show up in Mankato and witness the other die hards.

I will write tomorrow night covering the day’s activites with my thoughts on what I watched. My goal is for those who can’t make the trip to Mankato, you can read my blog and feel like you were a part of the day.

Until Monday Thanks for reading

Purplestick

 

Saturday's camp in review

Day 2 is in the books and after spending around 9 hours in Mankato I have plenty of info to give my fellow Purple diehard fans.

I will start out with sights that I found interesting and intriguing and at times head scratchers. It starts out driving down Madison Avenue as I am heading towards campus. We drove by a Pizza Ranch that had a sign that said “First Round pickers and ex-Packers” all you can eat buffet here. I love the ex-Packers part.

The morning walk through I witnessed a woman who had an Aaron Rodgers jersey on. The Vikings mascot, Viktor was walking towards the fans when this woman got off her seat and went to try and get a picture with Viktor. It was so comical because she kept trying to pose with Viktor yet he kept backing up meanwhile fans were booing her. In the end Viktor did pose with her and put the number 1 sign up in front of the woman.

The walk through practice was on going when I noticed Blair Walsh, Cullen Loeffler and Jeff Locke on the sideline just hanging out. I turned my attention to the field and then back to the sideline and what do I see. Walsh is long snapping to Loeffler. I must say Blair was pretty accurate.

Today was another cold day with a high temp in the 60’. I was looking around the crowd and noticed a feel people with winter gloves. This is July and I am seeing people dressed in winter gear.

The last thing I will mention was as I was leaving the afternoon practice I noticed 2 gentlemen with the same numbered jersey. I see plenty of jerseys over there but these one really had me take a double look. They both had the number 19 jersey, Troy Williamson. I honestly do not know if I have ever seen anyone where that let alone 2 at once.

These are just some of the fan related instances from Saturday July 27^th.

The practices themselves had morning walk through from 10:30-11:30. I like to use this time to get some good pictures of the guys who do not wear helmets. I make my own yearbook by trying to get one picture of every player. I got almost the whole team in one day.

The other thing I accomplish in watching this is which player lines up in 1^st string, 2^nd string and so forth. I watched as Cordarrelle Patterson was the number one man in kickoff returns. Josh Robinson and AJ Jefferson also took turns. It is really an uneventful time as it really is a walk through. I just spend time watching the players and getting to know what they look like without a helmet. I use this so I can know the name and properly as this player for a picture with him. It is better than saying hey you can I get a picture with you. I would like the chance to say Cordarrelle, could I please get a picture with you.

The afternoon practice was from 2:45-4:45. It remained cool temp wise. The players are not permitted to hit as of yet but they do run plays and drills.

I love the 7 on 7 drills. I also enjoy the one on ones with defensive backs taking on receivers. I saw a great match between Greg Jennings and Chris Cook. The second contest Jennings put an unreal move that had Cook fall to the ground.

I am witnessing in 2 days Greg Jennings running great routes and does not seem to drop much.

Cordarrelle Patterson is a crowd favorite. He is truly a joy to watch run and catch. This will be one part of camp I am going to look forward to.

I thought the receiver of the day today was Joe Webb. He was like a vacuum cleaner out there. I left Saturday so impressed with him. I saw his leaping ability and the hands. I have met him and shook his hand. I can assure you that his hands are huge.

The quarterbacks today I thought struggled more than I would like to see. It is only day 2 so I will just chuck this day to the side and will come back Monday and see how they look.

Erin Henderson and 2^nd year defensive back, Bobby Felder each took an interception to the house.  Felder’s came on the last play of practice and to celebrate he went up to dunk over the cross bar. One problem is he came up just short which brought laughter from the crowd.

The quarterbacks were not all bad as I did see some nice balls. It just seemed the quarterbacks and receivers were having a hard time connecting.

I am confident Ponder will get the job done but I am also gaining comfort in knowing we have a solid backup in Matt Cassel.

In other sightings, I watched Mr. Cannon Leg, Blair Walsh look strong as ever if that is possible. I was trying to figure his field goal distance at time since the field he was on was farther away. It looked like he was having no problem from 60-65 yards. He also had kicked off on the field right in front of us. In 3 tries in a row he put one through the uprights, hit the goal post and through the uprights all on kickoffs.

That’s all or now. I am bummed out no practice Sunday, but I will be ready Monday morning to make the return trip to Mankato.

Thanks for reading

Purplestick

 

Day 1- speed on display

The day is finally here as I made my way to Mankato with so much anticipation of excitement. There is nothing like a day in Mankato watching the boys practice twice a day.

The day started out strange as far as weather goes. I have gone so many years and baked my brains out in the hot Mankato sun. Today as you may already know was as cool as I can ever remember. My car temp said 67 outside. The wind was strong and cold.  I should welcome that after days of coming home sick from the heat.

The other strange sight or should I say no sight was the Gage Towers no longer there. All the years of watching practice from the bleachers with the dorms in the background are no more. In the background we now see piles of rubble.

The other strange sights of the day to name a couple was a new number 26 running around in the defensive backfield and Joe Webb running receiving routes. I know he has changed positions but still to see it will take a little getting used to.

It was only day 1 so I did not know what to expect. What I took out of today was signs of potential.  We see Cordarrelle Patterson on TV and highlights but to see him in person really made me realize just how big this guy really is. The speed that is advertised with him as far todays goes he did not disappoint. I saw a burst that really made me excited. The name, “Flash” he gave himself I can see why. The man ran routes that made the defenders at time look silly.  He also came across the middle to snag a ball. I know it is only day 1 so I have to curb the excitement. Oh oh , too late I am pumped to see more out of 84.

The receiver’s corp may be as fast as we have had in years. Simpson showed blazing speed at times. Jarius Wright used his speed to catch a deep sideline pass. Joe Webb looked good as well. This is going to be a fun area to watch. These men are fast and now we must see the catching ability on a consistent basis.

Greg Jennings was absolutely amazing to see in purple. The experience he brings in immeasurable. This will be fun to watch at camp to see what help he can bring to the youth in this area. Greg is a proven receiver and a dang good route runner.

I cannot believe I am saying this but I felt Adrian looked faster coming out of the backfield. I talked to another fan who agreed. Can it be? AP faster?  It was awesome to see Jerome Felton lined up in front of AP.  Two Pro Bowlers in the backfield, does it really get any better,

As far as the quarterbacks I found myself fascinated with Matt Cassel and McLeod Bethel Thompson.  Ponder is the starter but I want to check out what we have in backups. I was very impressed with Cassel. His throws were on the money and he also showed some escape ability.  This is one thing I really like about from Ponders’s game is his speed. I know MBT is third string and may not get any snaps in the regular season but I wish you guys could see what I see. His release is so amazingly quick. He is so accurate. I just hope the team keeps him. I really think if he got the chance he would show what I see at practice. I remember last training camp I had the same thought. It will be a mistake if we let him go.

The defensive side of the ball I noticed the first string linebackers were Chad Greenway, Erin Henderson and Marvin Mitchell. Desmond Bishop was playing with the 2^nd string. I will not make too much of this since it was only day 1.Bishop is coming off an injury so I am sure the team wants to be careful with him.

It was awesome to see ex-Packers Jennings and Bishop in Purple. It looked like a natural fit. If they can help at all beat the Packers it would be awesome.

I witnessed after practice a nice site as players were crossing the street from the practice field to the locker rooms. Greg Jennings was coming with Xavier Rhodes. My thought was this, If Jennings can help Rhodes at all on defending receivers it would be a boost. I could not hear them talk of course it was only thoughts going through my head. A man who has valuable NFL experience giving a rookie defender some thoughts on what works against receivers was my thought. I of course could be wrong it was only a hope.

If you have ever been to Mankato you know there is a fence around the locker room area where fans line along and scream there bloody lungs out in hopes of a player or 2 coming to sign an autograph. Today was a jackpot when Matt Cassel and AP stopped to sign a few. If you want to see people run it occurs when Peterson stops. I see it every year and it never gets old. The smiles on peoples face or the disappointment when it comes to meeting these players is just part of the camp experience.

That’s all from day 1

Thanks for reading

Purplestick

 

Move in day is just hours away

The time is coming fast as Thursday is the day the Vikings players move into Mankato. The Gage Towers were imploded on Saturday June 29^th. The new housing to the team will be the Julia Sears Residence which opened in 2008.

I am so excited for the start of camp. I have my oil change done and the tank is full. My car window flags are flying proudly as I have one on each side of the car. I am ready to make my journey.

I had written in an earlier blog about all my experiences with the team. One item I left out and it is important is I remain on the media emails and updates on the day to day happenings. When there is an announcement I get the email.

Tuesday I was informed by way of email that the Vikings organization has comes to an agreement with Minnesota State University and extended the team coming for 3 more seasons. This will put the team at 50 straight years to come to Mankato. This is awesome news knowing I am so close to Mankato and will be able to keep making my yearly journey.

I have written over 270 articles and I know I have posted a bunch but if you want to go to my website and read about anything from last year’s events including training camp and the season you can find them at Purplestick.blogspot.com

Thanks for reading

Purplestick

Helping to understand the Why

I had posted in the website that I will write a blog every day and post it so you can keep up on the everyday on the goings on in Mankato.

I wanted to give you the readers some background on myself to help you understand my passion. I would like to start by saying I by no means will ever declare I am the biggest Vikings fan. I just enjoy writing and thus you have a blog to read.

My name is Todd Walkingstick and I go by the name Purplestick. I am going on my 14^th year as a season ticket holder. I am proud to say I have only missed one game in that span. I have driven up in blizzards, ice storms and am proud to say I obviously survived. The one game I actually missed was a preseason game.

I am so crazy about this team I take 3 weeks off work and go to training camp. I live about 40 miles away so it is not a bad drive. I do watch the price of gas especially this time of year for budgeting purposes.

I am coming up on my 20^th year of making this trip. I am proud to say in the last 16 years I have only missed 5 days. One of those days I had a kidney stone attack but made it back the next day.

I enjoy this part of the year as I watch practice every day and see how players perform. I have had the privilege to get pictures with over 400 different players in the last 8 years or so. The only one to turn me down was Randy Moss.

I have gotten my share of autographs but as I get older it gets harder to get one because I believe mainly Ebay. I just have a feeling players may not trust an older guy like me. I  cannot prove who I am but if they want to come to my house they would see I am not a seller rather a collector.

I have gone to 4 road games in my life. I went in 1999 to the St. Louis-Minnesota playoff games when Jeff George was qb for the purple.

I went to Denver the last year Mile High Stadium was in existence. Gary Anderson kicked a last second field goal to beat the Broncos. It made my life tough getting out of the stadium.

I went to New Orleans with my wife for the NFC Championship game. I paid 800.00 for 2 game tickets and sat near the top of the Superdome roof. We did sit behind the Vikes bench. It was worth every penny even though a heart wrenching loss.

I just made my first trip to Lambeau Field in my life as I attended the Packers-Vikes playoff game in January. It was one of the neatest experiences to see Lambeau  Field in person. Yes, a los occurred by the purple but I was in support in all purple from head to toe.

Now back to the part of the blog and why I want to. My home town paper somehow found out about my passion and asked to come over and talk to me . The article made front page on the sports section. It had a couple of pictures of my basement along with the article. I have since framed the article.  Time went along and when Brett Favre signed with the Vikes the paper called me to get my feelings about this. The next step was they asked if I would write a weekly blog from a fan perspective.

I agreed to do that and they told me after 7 articles I would qualify as a writer and they would then get me a press pass to sit in the dome.

I did not get paid rather I did because of my passion. The payment actually to me was the pass. I sat in the baseball press box with the rest of the media. I got to go in the locker rooms and conduct player interviews. I was up there with Sid Hartman, Mark Rosen and the rest of the Vikes media. I went to the post-game press conferences as well. I did 2 games a year because I am a season ticket holder and wanted to watch the games as well. The one thing in the press box that killed me was we could not where purple or cheer. I had to be neutral.

I made a few trip to Winter Park as well for press conferences on Thursdays. It was such a rush to do this.

The paper ended my gig after 3 seasons. I was disappointed yet also have to think I just lived a dream.

I wrote from 2009-2011. I called my sister who lives in Springfield, Illinois and is a major Vikes fan to tell her I was not writing any more. She said you love to write you should start your own blog.

I did and a little over a year I had 13,000 plus page views. It seems to be going well. I would now like to share with you what I see and hear during the seasons starting in Training Camp. I hope you enjoy these.

Thank you

Purplestick

Optimistc thoughts keep on coming for the upcoming campaign

It was so fun to get the emotions off my chest in the last blog regarding much to be excited for. I went to bed pumped and woke up pumped and spent the day thinking.

I thought of even more to be excited about. How about the move of Joe Webb to receiver with all his athletic ability ready to be on display?

Year one for Jerome Simpson started out with a four game suspension and then we saw glimpse of his athletic ability on display.

I know pose the question? Can Ponder overthrow either man? I say without a doubt, NO!! These guys can leap like no other. The sidelines will be covered by either man with the speed and jumping. Can you say, here are more red zone targets for Christian? Will we see Simpson do another forward tuck into the end zone? Will Webb spike the ball over the goal post after his TD catch?

The play of fullback Jerome Felton may have caught fans off guard. He is the real deal. AP has a legitimate Pro Bull full back in front of him paving the way.

Felton had a touchdown in the pro bowl so the question is how many will he have inside the one.

Will we see AP airborne or Felton lowering his body and going in.? Heck I can see AP doing both as well. Oh what a problem to have, 2 men capable of getting six.

I spoke of Blair Walsh’s big year last year. Will he have a big leg on kickoffs again? Will we see the return men for the opponents take a knee and shake their heads in frustration? I say, oh heck yes with a capital Y.

In the 2 blogs I have listed my excitements. Please feel free to let me know what you are excited about. The player, players or just what gets your purple blood flowing. Bring it on I would love to read your comments.

Don’t be shy!!! This is our year to take the NFC North by control and push to the Super Bowl and in the end win our first title.

Thanks for reading

Purplestick