Editorial: Thumbs

To the Minnesota Vikings.

For years now, this newspaper has editorialized that the Vikings need to get a franchise quarterback like all the other teams have. (The Packers have Rodgers, Saints Brees, Patriots Brady, Steelers Roethlisberger, Colts Manning, Giants Manning, Rams Bradford, Chargers Rivers and so forth.)

Drafting young talent is how the Vikings can get away from being a retirement home for aging quarterbacks. In pro football especially, the quarterback is by far the most important position. We commend the Vikings for selecting Florida State’s Christian Ponder, even if it was during the first round of the draft. After all, that’s when the team’s pick was available, and that’s when Ponder was available. It wasn’t worth risking the wait until the second round, not for such a critical need.

A lot of credence is placed on athleticism at the draft, but the best NFL quarterbacks have smarts, too. Ponder has the intelligence to understand offenses and defense of the pro game perhaps better than the three QBs picked before him.

To the Albert Lea Grizzlies.

Speaking of football, we urge local fans of the sport to get out to Southwest Middle School at 6 p.m. May 14, when they will play a team called the North Iowa Bucks. They actually have started their season. They went up against the Lake Benton Wildcats on Saturday.

The Grizzlies have shown a sense of community spirit in that they have helped with cleanup efforts, fundraisers and being at the schools, among other things. Albert Lea can show its support in return by going to their games and rooting for the team.

Go Grizzlies!

To the overdose of royal wedding coverage.

This newspaper mostly focuses on local, state and regional news. One reason is because there are so many other news outlets covering national and world news. (The main reason is because no one else covers local news to the extent we do.)

That said, the outlets that cover national and world news sure went overboard on the British royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton when at least 350 people were killed in twisters across the South, the worst devastation from twisters in this country since the 1925 Tri-State Tornado that killed 700 in the Midwest.

For example, “The Today Show” on Friday morning was horrible in its fawning over the wedding with hardly a peep or footage about the tragedy and destruction right here in our own country. Is this what TV producers think Americans really want to see and hear?