dirk digler
08-09-2006, 11:57 AM
I just got back from a week in Mankato/River Falls/Wisconsin Dells and our whole family had a great time. This was our 3rd straight year of going up to Chiefs Training Camp and we decided to let the kids have some fun so we went to the Wisconsin Dells this year which was fun.
I will give some insight into what I saw and I will try not to duplicate to much from what DaveLane or Kotter reported on. Some of this maybe old news but I didn't have access to a PC all week so I apologize for being late.
I will also post some pics I took of our trip.
Mankato
1. Arrived in Mankato on Thursday and we went to the Vikings practice on Friday morning just to check it out. This was the second year we have went to Mankato and we really like it. The Vikings training camp puts the Chiefs camp to shame as far as activities and things to do.
2. We watched the D in the main stadium and to say the least I came away not very impressed.
3. The D-Line in push rushing situations really struggled to get to the QB. I don't think the 1's even came close to touching Brad Johnson during the 11 on 11. I think Johnson completed 99% of his passes against our 1's.
4. Our LB's are super fast and they are definitely the strength of the D. I personally think that DJ will have a great year and maybe a candidate for D player of the year.
5. Ty Law will shut down his side of the field which should make it easier for the rest of the D. During the 11 on 11 Brad Johnson would go back to pass, look to Ty's side first (left), then quickly pass to somewhere else. But when Ty came out and Sapp took over Johnson would throw to Sapp's side. It was kind of funny.
6. Greg Wesley sucks and I believe by opening day we may see Pollard and Page as the starting safeties on this team.
7. The Run D will be good this year. The Vikes only had one good run ning play the whole scrimmage and that was the first play. After that we shut them down. Hopefully we will not have that 1 big running play that seemed to plague us during the DV era.
8. During the 7 on 7 the Vikes had their way for the most part. The one good part of the D is that we will run very fast to the ball and hopefully we will tackle a hell of alot better.
9. The Chiefs O will be pretty good again, at least running the ball. LJ didn't play but we still ran the ball pretty good.
10. We have no depth at WR past Kennison and Parker. I think it is a bad decision to have Dante be the 3rd WR because their is no way he will be able to make it through the whole season. We really need someone to step up or get a veteran WR who maybe cut during TC.
11. Turley man handled the Vikes D Line and I am more confident that as long as he is healthy he will hold the Left Side down. IIRC Svitek was on the right side he did a very good job as well. I am no longer worried about the O-line...well I guess we will see on Sat. night if I am right or not.
12. After the scrimmage we went over to where the Chiefs get on the buses and got several autographs. Some of the players were cool others were not which is disappointing. We got Wesley, Dante, Trent, LJ, Kennison, Michael Bennett, and Samie Parker. If Eddie is mad about his contract he doesn't act like it, he was joking around with the kids and having a great time. Trent as always is a class act and LJ came off the bus to sign away from the crowd and we saw that and we got lucky to get a couple of things signed by him. LJ is by far the most popular Chief right now. Michael Bennett is the niceset NFL player you may ever have a chance to meet.
Sidenotes: During the scrimmage, Neil Smith was down on the sidelines and some one yelled that we need him to come back. He turned and laughed and then pointed at CP to let him know that. CP got a good chuckle out of it and they seem to get along fine. Neil looks like he could suit up and play.
I stood behind WeirdWolf at the Stone Cold Creamery after the scrimmage and had a nice talk. Of course he wasn't in his outfit and I didn't realize who he was until we took a picture with him the next day and he told me where we met. Cool dude.
Trip Sidenote: If you are ever in Mankato they have a pretty cool waterfall if you like waterfalls. It is located in their state park just outside of town about 3-4 miles.
RiverFalls:
1. We arrived in River Falls around noon was immediately disappointed that both of the pizza joints don't open until 5. :cuss: WE LOVE Luigi's Pizza. Damn I wish I could have some now.
2. The Chiefs need to do a better job organizing their family fun night, there is nothing to do but stand around waiting until they let the gates open to get autographs.
3. The Autograph session is way to short. These guys make millions of dollars so I think they could sign for at least 1 hr instead of 20 minutes. With that said I got everyone I wanted execept Tony G but he was not there. Ty Law came right to where we were standing and we were the first to get him to sign our football. Classy guy. I even got Herm and Gun's autograph. Luckily we got LJ's the night before so we didn't have to battle the 500 people fighting to get his autograph. I was surpised that Eric Hicks had a ton of people wanting his signature. There must have been 50+ waiting on him. I got Brodie Croyle as well. If I was a girl I would try to **** him.
4. Gun has a big mouth and is kind of unprofessional IMHO. He told us that 44(Page) was alot better than 29 (Knight). Now why would he tell a bunch of fans that? That is something that he should keep to himself IMHO.
5. The D played much better during the scrimmage than the night before. Maybe they just didn't have their legs underneath them against the Vikes.
6. LJ is going to dominate every game. He made 2-3 big runs and looked awesome doing it.
7. Turley and Svitek looked good as well.
8. Pollard and Page are really good and Pollard will definitely earn his nickname.
9. I saw Nick Athan damn he is a dork. :)
Wisconsin Dells:
1. This was the first time we have been to the Dells and if you ever get a chance to go up to Wisconsin I highly recommened it. I would compare the Dells to Branson but without the entertainment shows and everything has to do with waterparks. Every hotel has a mini waterpark or multiple pools. I haven't quite figured out what the obession with water fun is up there. I mean the temperature only gets to be about 80-85 and in the morning it is 70 degrees. We only stayed 2 days and I wish we could have stayed a couple more.
2.We met a nice couple in River Falls that went to the Dells prior to going to River Falls and they were nice of enough to give us their coupon book. Chiefs fans are the greatest and thank you to them.
3. The first day we got there kind of late but we were able to go to the Deer Park which was cool. We got to feed live deers and and I was able to feed a 16 pt buck. Pretty cool.
4. We then went on the jet boats through the Upper Dells and that was awesome. But if you go plan to get wet. We got soaked and the driver would go around 40-50 mph and then slam on the brakes and soaked everyone. Damn that water was cold too. We got to see some of the Dells and the rock in the Dells is over 5 million years old.
5. The next day we went to Noah's Ark which is America's largest water park and is consitently ranked 1 or 2 as the Nation's best waterpark. It didn not disappoint. We had a great time and the best ride was Time Warp and the Point of No Return.
Overall we had a great time and I can't wait until next year if the Chiefs do decide to return to River Falls.
I will give some insight into what I saw and I will try not to duplicate to much from what DaveLane or Kotter reported on. Some of this maybe old news but I didn't have access to a PC all week so I apologize for being late.
I will also post some pics I took of our trip.
Mankato
1. Arrived in Mankato on Thursday and we went to the Vikings practice on Friday morning just to check it out. This was the second year we have went to Mankato and we really like it. The Vikings training camp puts the Chiefs camp to shame as far as activities and things to do.
2. We watched the D in the main stadium and to say the least I came away not very impressed.
3. The D-Line in push rushing situations really struggled to get to the QB. I don't think the 1's even came close to touching Brad Johnson during the 11 on 11. I think Johnson completed 99% of his passes against our 1's.
4. Our LB's are super fast and they are definitely the strength of the D. I personally think that DJ will have a great year and maybe a candidate for D player of the year.
5. Ty Law will shut down his side of the field which should make it easier for the rest of the D. During the 11 on 11 Brad Johnson would go back to pass, look to Ty's side first (left), then quickly pass to somewhere else. But when Ty came out and Sapp took over Johnson would throw to Sapp's side. It was kind of funny.
6. Greg Wesley sucks and I believe by opening day we may see Pollard and Page as the starting safeties on this team.
7. The Run D will be good this year. The Vikes only had one good run ning play the whole scrimmage and that was the first play. After that we shut them down. Hopefully we will not have that 1 big running play that seemed to plague us during the DV era.
8. During the 7 on 7 the Vikes had their way for the most part. The one good part of the D is that we will run very fast to the ball and hopefully we will tackle a hell of alot better.
9. The Chiefs O will be pretty good again, at least running the ball. LJ didn't play but we still ran the ball pretty good.
10. We have no depth at WR past Kennison and Parker. I think it is a bad decision to have Dante be the 3rd WR because their is no way he will be able to make it through the whole season. We really need someone to step up or get a veteran WR who maybe cut during TC.
11. Turley man handled the Vikes D Line and I am more confident that as long as he is healthy he will hold the Left Side down. IIRC Svitek was on the right side he did a very good job as well. I am no longer worried about the O-line...well I guess we will see on Sat. night if I am right or not.
12. After the scrimmage we went over to where the Chiefs get on the buses and got several autographs. Some of the players were cool others were not which is disappointing. We got Wesley, Dante, Trent, LJ, Kennison, Michael Bennett, and Samie Parker. If Eddie is mad about his contract he doesn't act like it, he was joking around with the kids and having a great time. Trent as always is a class act and LJ came off the bus to sign away from the crowd and we saw that and we got lucky to get a couple of things signed by him. LJ is by far the most popular Chief right now. Michael Bennett is the niceset NFL player you may ever have a chance to meet.
Sidenotes: During the scrimmage, Neil Smith was down on the sidelines and some one yelled that we need him to come back. He turned and laughed and then pointed at CP to let him know that. CP got a good chuckle out of it and they seem to get along fine. Neil looks like he could suit up and play.
I stood behind WeirdWolf at the Stone Cold Creamery after the scrimmage and had a nice talk. Of course he wasn't in his outfit and I didn't realize who he was until we took a picture with him the next day and he told me where we met. Cool dude.
Trip Sidenote: If you are ever in Mankato they have a pretty cool waterfall if you like waterfalls. It is located in their state park just outside of town about 3-4 miles.
RiverFalls:
1. We arrived in River Falls around noon was immediately disappointed that both of the pizza joints don't open until 5. :cuss: WE LOVE Luigi's Pizza. Damn I wish I could have some now.
2. The Chiefs need to do a better job organizing their family fun night, there is nothing to do but stand around waiting until they let the gates open to get autographs.
3. The Autograph session is way to short. These guys make millions of dollars so I think they could sign for at least 1 hr instead of 20 minutes. With that said I got everyone I wanted execept Tony G but he was not there. Ty Law came right to where we were standing and we were the first to get him to sign our football. Classy guy. I even got Herm and Gun's autograph. Luckily we got LJ's the night before so we didn't have to battle the 500 people fighting to get his autograph. I was surpised that Eric Hicks had a ton of people wanting his signature. There must have been 50+ waiting on him. I got Brodie Croyle as well. If I was a girl I would try to **** him.
4. Gun has a big mouth and is kind of unprofessional IMHO. He told us that 44(Page) was alot better than 29 (Knight). Now why would he tell a bunch of fans that? That is something that he should keep to himself IMHO.
5. The D played much better during the scrimmage than the night before. Maybe they just didn't have their legs underneath them against the Vikes.
6. LJ is going to dominate every game. He made 2-3 big runs and looked awesome doing it.
7. Turley and Svitek looked good as well.
8. Pollard and Page are really good and Pollard will definitely earn his nickname.
9. I saw Nick Athan damn he is a dork. :)
Wisconsin Dells:
1. This was the first time we have been to the Dells and if you ever get a chance to go up to Wisconsin I highly recommened it. I would compare the Dells to Branson but without the entertainment shows and everything has to do with waterparks. Every hotel has a mini waterpark or multiple pools. I haven't quite figured out what the obession with water fun is up there. I mean the temperature only gets to be about 80-85 and in the morning it is 70 degrees. We only stayed 2 days and I wish we could have stayed a couple more.
2.We met a nice couple in River Falls that went to the Dells prior to going to River Falls and they were nice of enough to give us their coupon book. Chiefs fans are the greatest and thank you to them.
3. The first day we got there kind of late but we were able to go to the Deer Park which was cool. We got to feed live deers and and I was able to feed a 16 pt buck. Pretty cool.
4. We then went on the jet boats through the Upper Dells and that was awesome. But if you go plan to get wet. We got soaked and the driver would go around 40-50 mph and then slam on the brakes and soaked everyone. Damn that water was cold too. We got to see some of the Dells and the rock in the Dells is over 5 million years old.
5. The next day we went to Noah's Ark which is America's largest water park and is consitently ranked 1 or 2 as the Nation's best waterpark. It didn not disappoint. We had a great time and the best ride was Time Warp and the Point of No Return.
Overall we had a great time and I can't wait until next year if the Chiefs do decide to return to River Falls.