---Who knew that the Vikings would have been better served closing their "mandatory" workouts to one of their own players than members of the media? Antoine Winfield is proving more dangerous than any reporter, columnist or talk-show babbler to the Purple. You see, Winfield bought into the notion offered by management last season that, having inherited a 9-7 club, the Vikings were not in serious rebuilding mode. (Remember when Secret Squirrel told us that he picked the Vikings as much as they picked him because of all the assets already in place?) Now that the Vikings, out of desperation, not design, have switched strategies to save face, Winfield is as confused as the rest of us. Problem is, the savvy cornerback knows the truth: The Vikings switched, not because they expected to be in a long-term rebuilding plan but because Childress & Co. (players included) did such a lousy job in 2006, that they had to sell something. Clearly, Winfield ain't buying.
---What was your favorite Donovan leads Magic to victory moment? It is apparently over before it began. Put me in the minority camp that had no problem with Billy Donovan taking the pro plunge. So what happened? Maybe he saw what Rasheed Wallace did to Flip Saunders and the Pistons on TV Saturday night, then heard a tone-deaf Chauncey Billups excuse Rasheed's pathetic behavior, and it was enough to remind him that pro coaching can be a very different, and dangerous, animal. Florida, not surprisingly, will welcome him back. A couple Nick Saban bobos want to know why Donovan got so little heat compared to Saban when he left the Dolphins. Simple. Whatever you think of Donovan's approach to taking the Magic job in the first place, he had an 11-year run in which he put Florida basketball on the map, and punctuated it with back-to-back national championships. He had started, and finished, his job. Saban spent two seasons in Miami and finished nothing. That's why one guy gets the benefit of the doubt and the other gets much-deserved ridicule.
