By PATRICK REUSSE, Minneapolis Star Tribune

The dreams of Minnesota Vikings fans for a Super Bowl return after a 32-season absence will be fulfilled, as long as the path to Miami goes through the Seattle Seahawks. Any other NFC playoff opponent and it becomes problematic with Brett Favre at quarterback.

Jim Bougie is the bar manager at Gabe's Roadhouse, the St. Paul, Minn. eatery and saloon that gets taken over by a Packers horde whenever the NFL lads from Green Bay are in competition.

"We had 150 of them in here on Saturday night," Bougie said. "(Quarterback Aaron) Rodgers looked good. They all left happy."

Reed Mackenzie was the general chairman for the 1991 U.S. Open at Hazeltine National in Minnesota. He was the 57th president of the U.S. Golf Association when Hazeltine was the host of its next major, the PGA Championship, in 2002.

There are signs placed around Lakefront Park intended to prevent behavior that some people might find offensive: No Smoking, No Feeding Ducks or Geese, and No Loitering (an odd restriction for a park).

The Oak Grove Warriors of Hattiesburg, Miss., had a strong football season in 2008, finishing 12-2 after a 28-0 loss to Meridian in the state Class 5A quarterfinals. There were rumors that some Warriors felt as if they could have advanced further, if only their early-summer preparation had not been disrupted by an interloper named Brett Favre.

The Commissioner of Baseball and I had a chat Monday afternoon. This came after messages from a couple of sources reached my cell phone, including from Minnesota Twins president Dave St. Peter.
"The man in Milwaukee would like to speak to you," St. Peter said.

Minnesota Vikings defensive tackles Pat and Kevin Williams should not restrict the outrage they are feeling today toward the NFL office. They also should spend some time wondering why they have paid sizable dues to a union that can't help in a time of crisis.

The homeowners west of Lambeau Field were offering the usual bargain parking rates for Monday night's opener between the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers. You could get within three blocks and receive a choice spot on a lawn for $15.

Drew Olson spent many years as a hard-working baseball writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Four years ago, he climbed on the gravy train of sports talk radio.He's part of a three-hour morning show on 540 AM, the ESPN station in Milwaukee. He's also the senior editor at onmilwaukee.com.

MINNEAPOLIS -- The interleague games in Houston and in here the Metrodome started within three minutes of one another on Sunday afternoon.Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was in his civilian clothes and getting ready to leave his office in the home clubhouse. He looked at the television as Manny Ramirez was hitting a home run that gave Boston a 2-2 tie with the Astros.