Killing Time--Quickly

Working on a few things (both at work and for new posts), but here are few things that I've had turn up.

First, Adrian Peterson's going to be on the cover of ESPN the Magazine for their fantasy football issue. There's a video, if you're interested (thanks to Ben for the tip). Now let's all go get some rum, cigars and fried chicken and offer it to Jobu to keep any magazine cover curses from hurting the Purple Jesus (who, by the way, can probably hit a curve ball).

Secondly, Pro Football Talk is reporting that LaCharles Bentley may be coming to Minnesota to compete with Matt Birk for the starting center job. Personally, I'm with Gonzo of the Daily Norseman here--that makes little sense for the Vikings and it makes no sense for Bentley, unless the Purple promise him they'll cut Birk, something I just can't see happening, since his injury history makes him a big question mark. I assume Bentley would rather go to some team that he'd be able to win the starting job (and there's really no way he'd beat out Birk on the field).

Finally, Paul DePodesta, the assistant GM of the San Diego Padres (and whom you may remember from the book Moneyball) has his own blog and he has a very good post on the MLB draft that is applicable to almost all walks of life, including the NFL (which is why Football Outsiders linked to it). In it, he discusses the difference between Good/Bad Processes and Good/Bad Outcomes. I think the Vikings have been put together is, generally, a "Good Process", which means that they'll be able to be successful for more than just a year or two. Of course, in football, where luck can play a much larger factor than baseball, a "Good Process" doesn't guarantee a "Good Outcome"--hopefully, it'll be enough for one this year though.