Sunday Sound Off

Welcome to my weekly column that puts all the rest to shame. In "Sunday Sound Off", I make it my objective to cover anything and everything that had an impact on me in the sports world over the weekend. From Friday to Sunday Night, I have taken it upon myself to report my own opinion on what's what in the realm of sports. Lets get this started.....

Rolled Tide
As many in the college football world learned on Saturday afternoon, Alabama is human after all. The Tide fell to #19 South Carolina 35-21 on Saturday in Columbia. I was able to watch most of the game, and it was evident that Alabama was exhausted after playing their 3rd ranked opponent in a row. The Tide defense was not their usual dominant selves, allowing three touchdown passes through the air and two in the ground game by Freshman RB Marcus Lattimore of SC. Credit should also be equally given to the Carolina defense who accomplished a minor miracle by allowing only 21 points to the Alabama offense. South Carolina flat outplayed the Tide on Saturday. A statement not often used to describe a loss by the defending national champions. A funny story that coincides with this game occurred later that night as I was out to eat with my parents and a few family friends. It just so happened that we discussed the Alabama loss loud enough for the random guy wearing an Alabama Crimson Tide hat to hear. Our conversation dealt with how Bama QB Greg McElroy hadn't lost a game as a starter since 8th grade and that the 14 point margin of victory was an "ass-kicking" by the Gamecocks. Apparently this random guy was a die-hard Tide fan who was living in Minnesota for two years, and didn't take kindly to our harsh comments. I honored his courage to stand up for his team, but thought that this was a very strange occurrence that ought to be shared with others. That being said, he are my Top 10 teams in college football after this weekend:
1. Ohio State
2. Oregon
3. Boise State
4. Nebraska
5. TCU
6. Oklahoma
7. Alabama
8. Auburn
9. LSU
10. Arkansas

Twin Killing
The Minnesota Twins were left in an all too familiar position on Saturday Night, booted out of the MLB playoffs after just three games in the ALDS against the all too familiar New York Yankees. I found myself thinking before the series started that this year was different from the rest, and our small curse was sure to end with a new stadium and home-field advantage. Turns out that the Yankees don't care about these factors and outscored the Twins 17-7 in the series while beating the Twins twice at Target Field. In my opinion, this series showcased 2 of the top 3 contenders to win a World Series, with the Philadelphia Phillies being the third. Although it was unfortunate to see the Twins ousted in just three games, it seems evident that the outcome would have been just the same in the ALCS. I cannot even begin to predict the future for an older Twins team, let alone what will happen to all of the parts assembled for a specific postseason run this year. Who knows what the offseason will bring, but I would just like to say that the inaugural season at Target Field was amazing, it just lacked the essential postseason run that all of Minnesota was counting on.

Welcome Back Super Freak.

Early on Wednesday, the Minnesota Vikings dealt their 2011 3rd-round draft pick in order to acquire future Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss from the Patriots. Moss returns to his original team after spending time with the Oakland Raiders and recently with the New England Patriots. With Moss being in the last year of his contract with the Patriots, he had expressed some distaste with the way the organization had dealt with resigning their star quarterback Tom Brady, and not offered Moss a similar extension. After Moss failed to record a catch on Monday Night Football against the Dolphins, it became even more evident that his interest in the team and the team's interest in him, have faded tremendously.

That being said, the Minnesota Vikings have been searching for a spark ever since the season began without Sidney Rice. With Rice slated to be out the first 6-7 weeks of the regular season, the Vikings were left to deal with what they had. After attempting to deal for Chargers wide receiver Vincent Jackson and failing, the Vikings were forced to scrape the plate to find efficient receivers. Until Wednesday, their offense has lacked a single player who can take the pressure off of Adrian Peterson and stretch the field, Randy Moss is that player. I believe that Moss will play a similar role in the Vikings offense that he did in New England. Moss opened up the middle of the field for players like Wes Welker, which ultimately led to such an affective passing game for the Patriots and Tom Brady. Brett Favre is more than capable of delivering the ball to his allotment of receivers with the addition of Moss.

With Moss being signed on Wednesday, it gives him enough time to begin planning with the team for their Monday Night Football matchup against the New York Jets, an all too familiar opponent for Moss. Coach Brad Childress said on Wednesday that Moss will see a significant amount of action on Monday night, and will surely help the Vikings offense moving forward. It only gets tougher from this point forward for the Vikings, but this move should ultimately place them among the top teams in the NFC, with a legitimate shot at reaching the Super Bowl.