It's Still All About Marsha Brady

With the exodus of Kevin Garnett and what seems like the inevitable departure of Torii Hunter, the Twin Cities needs a new major sports star to be its "face athlete." As good as Johan Santana is and even with Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau's remarkable seasons in 2006, I still think Hunter was the face of the Twins. With those two athletes gone, the cities needed a guy like Adrian Peterson. (This is where I write about stuff that's already considered old news.)

<-- All day poses with Mario Mario of the Super Mario Brothers. Luigi Mario had no comment.

In a blog I used to have a few years ago, I addressed Brady Bunch situation in the Twin Cities. To summarize, as far as the MN sports scene is concerned, the Twins are Jan and Vikings are Marsha. The first year the Twins made the playoffs in their recent run, almost all front-page media coverage in the local papers went to the Vikings training camp over the Twins. This is just the way it is. Jan is all fine and well when you're talking to her, but Marsha walks in the room and it doesn't matter if Jan is dancing naked, you're going to pay attention to Marsha. Thus, having a "face athlete" like this on the Vikings is huge. When Moss was on the Vikings, his face was plastered on the front page whether it was his on-field performances, hitting street cops, whatever.

Now, Adrian Peterson has the golden opportunity to make this his city/state. I remember walking out the door last Thursday morning, quickly looking on my kitchen counter, and noticing the Pioneer Press Sports page. The front story was Tom Powers' article on Adrian Peterson being "The Kid Who Saved the Vikings" complete with a large picture showing a bronzed Adrian Peterson illustration (click the link to see the image). I never read the article and I typically approach rookie performances with skepticism, but I don't think I can disagree with the headline. Adrian Peterson has made games exciting. During the Brad Childress Era, I've averaged about 4 naps a game. With Peterson, I at least ask to be awaken when we're on offense, and we have an awful offense. There's something about him that just gives you the feeling that he's going to be an uber star. He's got size, he carries himself with a swagger, he doesn't complain about touches, he had a great college career at a premiere program and he seems hungry in general.

Just keep him away from EA sports and off that damn Madden cover.

- I wrote this Wolves article over on the TWolves Blog.