While perusing the official site of the Minnesota Vikings, I came across a timeline of the team’s history. The newfound bandwagon jumpers of Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson have no recollection of the lean years and near misses in the playoffs of this sometimes proud franchise. Favre changes his mind about playing more than a middle school girl switches her best friend forever. It is quite certain that his recent bout with uncertainty had everything to do with restructuring his contract in order to receive a substantial raise for the upcoming season.

But Favre will have to achieve a lot of glory in order to overcome the failures of the past.

By Patrick Herbert

-Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, and Emmitt Smith should have the former front office of the Vikings’ on their Christmas card list for eternity. The Herschel Walker debacle helped create the Cowboys’ dynasty in the 90’s. The Vikings lost numerous top draft picks that turned into stars for that franchise. That deal put America’s team back to the glory that existed in the Tom Landry era.

-The Vikings hold the distinction of losing four Super Bowls. There are youth coaches all over the country that subscribe to the theory that second place is first loser. This is a fool’s philosophy, because second place obviously demonstrates greatness. Almost every other team in the NFL would love to be in that position. Marv Levy’s tenure in Buffalo was a resounding success even though the Bills struggled to win it all. That ability to almost reach the top can be more frustrating to some of fan bases than being dismal every year. At least then they didn’t get their hopes up and were mentally prepared for subpar seasons.

-In the 90’s there was a new sheriff in town named Dennis Green. He, along with owner Red McCombs, brought a swagger back to the franchise. The team reached the NFC championship in 1998 against the Atlanta Falcons. Minnesota had finished the regular season with only one loss, but they failed to make it to the Super Bowl largely due to kicker Gary Anderson. The usually reliable leg let the team down on the biggest stage and the southerners advanced while the Vikings went home.

-The Mike Tice incident doesn’t deserve much time. The hiring was a mistake from the get go and a decision like that can set a franchise back years. When Brad Childress arrived from the Philadelphia Eagles in 2006, there was renewed optimism in the Twin Cities. The team has recently drafted quality receivers in Sidney Rice and Percy Harvin. The addition of Brett Favre has given the team national prominence and unprecedented exposure. However, heartbreak arrived again in the NFC title game last season when New Orleans finished the job with a crushing interception.

-The team may disappoint the fans once again by relocating. Mall of America Field does not provide a suitable revenue source. The recession has made a stadium tough to push through local government. Workers are erecting a stadium in the Los Angeles area. Roger Goodell and company do not want to leave that market vacant for much longer.

Is the ultimate heartache still coming?

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USC has already returned the trophy to the original sender, as part of the disassociation process. As far as the school is concerned, old what’s-his-face only spent one year in the program, and didn’t win any awards or honors. Any unfinished trophy business is now strictly between player No. 25 of the New Orleans Saints and the Heisman Trust, with absolutely no connection to the institution.

Quarterback Donovan McNabb (ankle) has confirmed that he’ll start for the Redskins on Sunday night, according to the Washington Post. “Yes, I will be starting this weekend,” McNabb said. “And I look forward to it.” McNabb admitted that his ankle is not 100 percent healed. McNabb looked good in his return to practice Monday, reportedly showing no signs of the ankle bothering him.

Tony Romo. Miles Austin. Sam Hurd. Stephen Bowen. The Cowboys have hit on rookie agents before, and this year's quartet is the most kept since 2006.

The Cowboys will enter the regular season with a rookie named Dez Bryant, who is the true wild card to the 2010 campaign.

Given last year's struggles against 3-4 defenses, how do you think the offense will fare against Washington's new front?

Six weeks down, 10 to go.

Today’s column is brought to you by the letter ‘P’ and the letter ‘R.’

I earned a pair of them on Sunday. It was a fantastic week of training for the 2010 ING New York City Marathon on Nov. 7; a week that reminded me what it feels like to be a kid on summer vacation, and made me grateful for all the running I’ve enjoyed.

Anyone who knows me knows that I love vacation. Who doesn’t? I love to travel and explore—as I child I used to pretend I was like Bert and Ernie searching the vast African jungle for Dr. Livingstone.

But my vacation this week felt a bit more like summer vacations of yore—running around the neighborhood, buying ice cream, hitting the pool, watching movies at night, and generally killing time in the most pleasing ways imaginable; basically, by doing a whole lot of nothing.

But remember what the end of summer felt like as a kid? A new school year is quickly approaching, and you know you have to make every single day count. You’ve got to run and play and swim hard. Because before you know it, you’ll be sitting in a stiflingly hot classroom staring out the window at a sunny patch of grass, remembering better times. And I was a kid who actually liked school. But I still liked unfettered summertime better.

Running a race in Rhode Island reminded me of those old summertime days. It was in fact a sunny day that swept all the clouds away. The air was sweet, the sky was an unbroken streak of blue, and not even a temperature of 80 degrees could slow me down.

I was really looking forward to the 3^rd Annual Brandon Motta 5K Run. It was a small charity race for a great cause, as I wrote about in my last post. But it felt more like a block party worthy of the big yellow bird himself.

But after a lethargic training run two days earlier, I was dubious that I’d be able to PR. It didn’t help that I inhaled a gigantic lobster BLT the night before with a healthy—and by healthy I mean large—helping of French fries and fried clams. I was not unlike Cookie Monster in one of his famous carbo-loading binges.

I did pause before committing to shellfish as a pre-race meal. There are just so many things that can go, you know, wrong. My stomach has certainly had its disagreements with crab legs, scallops and other crustaceans over the years. But you know what they say, “When In Rhode Island….” I embraced my iron-stomached inner kid and threw caution to the wind. Well, I should fuel up with lobster rolls more often.

The race was setting up to be a scorcher—it eventually hit 93 degrees that day—and nearly the entire waterfront course was exposed to the sun. But I just chugged along on the completely flat run—one of benefits of running right at sea level.

I remembered being young; I’d run willy-nilly and play and sweat and run out of breath, but that never got me down. I don’t ever remember complaining that it was too hot or the water in the pool was too cold or that I was too tired or anything else. As a kid, I was always game for whatever was going on. So with that same gusto, I attacked my vacation race. I’m on vacation! I get to run! I get to play! I get to splash in a pool afterward! Yay!

And I did. After the race—as I sat on a patch of grass overlooking the Narragansett Bay with a Del’s Frozen Lemonade in my hand, pondering which bathing suit I would wear to the pool—I had a moment. Every now and then we have a chance to step outside of ourselves and take a look around us. Here I was on a cloudless sunny day, on vacation, in a state park, eating frozen lemonade after running a race on one of the most beautiful courses I’ve ever seen.

The irony was not lost on me that I had just run the race in honor a local 8-year-old boy who can’t run himself, who has never known a wild and windy childhood summer of unfettered carefree freedom. Living with CMT, a neuromuscular disorder, Brandon Motta is confined to a wheelchair and uses an apparatus to help him breathe. Brandon can’t run, so the rest of us had to run for him. It was a humbling moment that sharpened everything into focus.

With 110 participants, the 3^rd Annual Brandon Motta 5K Run is the smallest race I’ve ever run. And with no time chip or finish pad—just a red painted line on the ground—it was up to a team of volunteers to time everyone as we came across the finish.

Yes, I set a personal record (thanks letters P and R) on the 3.2 mile course, and finished 10^th out of 65 women (ah-ah-ah, says the Count in me)—far better than my usual 719^th out of 2601 women at any given New York Road Runners Race. Plus, it was my very first top 10 finish. My boyfriend came in second—his highest finish ever. But all of that was just icing on the summer vacation cake.

Running a solid effort gave me a lot of confidence going into Sunday’s OASIS Montreal Half-Marathon on Sept. 5. I needed that after my disappointing last race. I needed a reminder of what it feels like to run hard, run fast and run well. But I also needed that moment of perspective—the one that told me no matter how badly or how well I run, I’m still lucky that I can run. I’m lucky I had wild and windy childhood summer days. I’m lucky I can remember what they were like.

So with my confidence and newfound perspective packed in my suitcase, along with my Passport and some BodyGlide, I’m on my way to where the air is sweet—Montreal. Will the air be sweet with the smell of success? Will next week’s column also be brought to you by the letter ‘P’ and the letter ‘R’? I don’t know, and right now, I don’t really care. To quote my good friend Cookie Monster, “C is for Cookie…and that’s good enough for me!”

[Photo by Marzanna Syncerz © PhotoXpress.com]

To read more about Brandon Motta and to make a donation to the Brandon Motta Fund, please visit HelpBrandon.com.

Karla Bruning is an award-winning journalist and running nerd. She has completed three marathons, trains with the New York Harriers and is a member of New York Road Runners. Follow Karla’s “Notes From a Running Nerd” at RunKarlaRun.com, Facebook and Twitter@KBruning. To listen to an interview with Karla, check out The Marathon Show, available for streaming or download on BlogTalkRadio and iTunes.

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The Chicago Cubs today activated right-handed pitcher Carlos Silva from the 15-day disabled list and added five players to the major league roster from Triple-A Iowa. That is if you can use the word “active” or any variation of the word “active” related to the corpulent Silva.

The Cubs recalled right-handed pitchers Justin Berg and Jeff Samardzija (remember him the Notre Dame wide receiver? “Wake up the echoes”) and outfielder Sam Fuld.  Chicago also selected the contracts of infielder Bobby Scales and outfielder Brad Snyder from Triple-A Iowa.  To make room for Scales and Snyder on the 40-man roster, pitchers John Grabow and Esmailin Caridad were transferred to the 60-day disabled list.

Silva will make the start tonight for the Cubs at Wrigley Field vs. the Houston Astros, his first since August 1 in Colorado .  He was placed on the disabled list the next day in order to undergo cardiac evaluation.  Silva is 10-5 with a 3.92 ERA (47 ER/108.0 IP) in 20 starts for the Cubs this year.  Berg (number 64), Samardzija (29), Fuld (5), Scales (19) and Snyder (56) are all available for tonight’s contest.  Snyder joins the Cubs for his big league debut.

Berg, 26, joins the Cubs for his third stint in the big leagues this season.  He is 0-1 with a 5.77 ERA (22 ER/34.1 IP) in 35 relief outings with the Cubs this year, limiting left-handed batters to a .227 mark (10-for-44) while righthanders are batting .301 (28-for-93).  Overall this season, 11 of Berg’s 22 earned runs allowed have come in two outings (11 ER/2.1 IP).  Otherwise, Berg has posted a 3.09 ERA (11 ER/32.0 IP) in his remaining 33 big league appearances.  With Iowa this year, Berg went 4-1 with a 3.64 ERA (12 ER/29.2 IP) in 21 relief outings.

Samardzija, 25, joins the Cubs for his second stint this year.  A member of Chicago ’s Opening Day roster, he went 0-1 with an 18.90 ERA (7 ER/3.1 IP) in four relief appearances and was optioned to Triple-A on April 24.  With Iowa , Samardzija went 11-3 with a 4.37 ERA (54 ER/111.1 IP) in 35 outings (15 starts).  Samardzija limited Triple-A batters to a .212 batting average this season, including a .186 mark by left-handed hitters and a .231 mark by right-handed hitters.

Fuld, 28, spent the majority of the season with Triple-A Iowa, batting .272 (100-for-368) with 15 doubles, nine triples, four home runs, 21 stolen bases and 69 runs scored in 112 games.  He struck out only 37 times compared to 66 walks to contribute to a .383 on-base percentage, 111 points higher than his batting average.  Fuld had a brief stint with the Cubs from August 18-22, seeing action in three games and going 0-for-2.

Scales, 32, joins the Cubs for the first time this season.  He made his major league debut with the club last year in his 11th professional campaign, batting .242 (30-for-124) with eight doubles, two triples, three home runs and 15 RBI in 51 games with the Cubs.  With Iowa this season, Scales batted .268 (100-for-373) with 33 doubles, three triples, 10 home runs and 53 RBI in 119 games.  Scales drew 72 walks to contribute to a .397 on-base percentage, 129 points higher than his batting average.  He tied for eighth in the Pacific Coast League in on-base percentage.

Snyder is active on a major league roster for the first time in his eight-year professional career.  He finished his Triple-A campaign with 106 RBI and 271 total bases, both second in the Pacific Coast League, to go with a .308 batting average (147-for-477), 37 doubles, 25 home runs, a .381 on-base percentage and a .568 slugging percentage in 132 games.  Snyder’s .949 OPS ranked fifth in the league and his 97 runs scored tied for second.

The 28-year-old Snyder was claimed off waivers by the Cubs on September 22, 2008 from Cleveland, where he was originally selected in the first round of the 2003 Draft (18th overall).  Snyder batted .278 (66-for-237) with 16 doubles, 14 home runs and 44 RBI in 69 games with Iowa last season and was a non-roster invitee to major league spring training with the Cubs this year.

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Ran into 7-Eleven today to pick up some goodies. They were selling the AS SEEN ON TV sunglasses for $9.99. I love yellow tint, so I purchased a pair. Totally dig ‘em—then got home.

THE WIFE: “What are you wearing?”

ME: “My new glasses! Only $9.99!”

THE WIFE: “You overpaid.”

I maintain they’re sorta funky cool.

Your thoughts?