Patriots Prepare For Viking Invasion

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The Patriots continue to prepare for the Gillette invasion of Randy Moss and the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday afternoon. The Minneapolis Star Tribunereports that the Vikings are leaning towards sitting Brett Favre at this time, though I think we all expect to see him out on the field on Sunday.

Speaking of the MST, if you see Patriots Football Weeklyon the newsstands this week, pick up a copy for my interview with MST Vikings reporter Judd Zulgad, who talks about what it has been like to cover the Vikings circus since Favre arrived. He also notes how Favre doesn’t interact much with the local media, prefering instead to talk with the national guys (ESPN, SI.com, etc).

LeBron James And Brett Favre Make For Another Busy Week In Boston Sports – While I’m in the self-promotion mode, check out my weekly media column for SB Nation Boston, which has a look at the Celtics opener, and the Brett Favre/Randy Moss circus coming to town.

Watney has staying power with NESN – Smart (and lucky) man that Chad Finn, scoring an interview with NESN’s Heidi Watney for his media column in the Globe, which also looks at D&C’s upcoming simulcast with NESN.

Randy Moss shrugs off Foxboro return – With Vikings reporters complaining that Randy Moss won’t talk to them, and the NFL saying that it is looking into the matter, Karen Guregian manages to score a few words with the former Patriots receiver.

The Heraldsent Guregian out to Minnesota this week to cover the Vikings, and it has paid off. The Herald  has been consistently beating the pants off the Globe on Patriots coverage this season, though in fairness, the Globehas played the last few weeks a man down since Albert Breer left for the NFL Network. Guregian has been very good, Ian Rapoport might drive you crazy with his Tweets at times, but his reporting is solid, and he passes on everything he hears and sees – not always a good thing with some of his re-Tweets, but overall, the Herald has been very good this season.

Unheralded Deaderick making impact – Mark Farinella has the 7th round pick working his way into the lineup.

Post-Moss era lacks stats, but not wins – Dave D’Onofrio says that the Patriots stats might not look pretty the last two games, but one stat is: 2-0.

Around The League – Week 8 – Jeremy Gottlieb assesses the landscape in the NFL this week.

Moss removal leads to identity theft for Patriots offense – Tom E Curran has more on the offense.

Branch hopes New England is his last stop – Robert Lee has the Patriots receiver looking to stay here the rest of his career.

Branch refuses to get caught up in it – Michael Vega’s notebook has more on the receiver, plus a number of other items.

The Bruins scored a 2-0 shutout win over the Toronto Maple Leafs last night at TD Garden.

Tyler Seguin praised at Phil Kessel’s expense – Stephen Harris has the Bruins faithful delivering one of the great chants ever delivered by Boston sports fans last night.

Bruins’ blue line strong without Johnny Boychuk – DJ Bean with three items from last night’s Bruins win.

A touching tribute for one hard hitter – Kevin Paul Dupont has the Bruins honoring 92-year-old Milt Schmidt for 75 years of service with the Bruins. See also the stories from Stephen Harris and Mike Loftus .

Precocious Seguin shows he belongs – Bob Ryan notes that with many Bruins greats in attendance, the team might be hoping that experience rubs off on their young star.

Bruins look like big winners in Kessel trade – Joe Haggerty says that it seems the Bruins got the better of their rivals with this trade.

Celtics not taking loss, or foes, lightly – Steve Bulpett says that the Celtics are not happy with their performance in Cleveland on Wednesday night. A. Sherrod Blakely looks at why Doc Rivers is still confident.

David Ortiz explains why he wants more than a one-year deal from the Red Sox – Rob Bradford checks in with the Red Sox DH.