punishment in Rio and through the hard-court season and then co

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Vikings have moved into U.S. Bank Stadium, where theyll host the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night in the first regular-season game at the $1.1 billion venue. Heres a look back at a dozen of the most memorable moments from their previous home fields, including a pair of bonus headline-grabbers from their brief stay at the University of Minnesota:METROPOLITAN STADIUM (1961-1981)Sept. 17, 1961 -- The Vikings marked the expansion franchises first regular-season game with a 37-13 upset of division rival Chicago. The victory was fueled by five forced turnovers by the defense and four touchdown passes by Fran Tarkenton.Jan. 4, 1970 -- The Vikings beat Cleveland 27-7 to become the first modern-era expansion team to win the NFL championship game, the last of its kind before the AFL merger created two conferences. The Vikings went on to their first of four Super Bowl losses.Dec. 29, 1975 -- After posting an NFL-best 12-2 record in the regular season, the Vikings were upset 17-14 at home in the playoffs by Dallas on a last-second 50-yard touchdown pass from Roger Staubach to Drew Pearson. Pearson landed out of bounds, but the officials ruled he wouldve been in without midair contact by Nate Wright. The Vikings believed Pearson actually pushed off on Wright for leverage. The play became known as the first Hail Mary pass, because of Staubachs claim to have uttered a desperate prayer before the throw.Dec. 14, 1980 -- The Hail Mary went the home teams way on the games final play when Tommy Kramer connected with Ahmad Rashad on a deflected 46-yard completion to give the Vikings a 28-23 victory over Cleveland to clinch their 11th division title in the last 13 years.THE METRODOME (1982-2013)Oct. 15, 1989 -- Herschel Walker, acquired three days earlier in a whopper of a trade with Dallas, rushed for 148 yards in his debut for Minnesota including a 47-yard romp during which he shed one of his shoes. The Vikings beat Green Bay 26-14.Sept. 6, 1998 -- Rookie Randy Moss started his career with two touchdown catches during a 31-7 victory over Tampa Bay. The Vikings finished 15-1 in the regular season and set what was then the NFL record by scoring 556 points.Jan. 17, 1999 -- Gary Andersons first missed kick of the season came in the NFC championship game, with 2:07 left in the fourth quarter and the Vikings leading by seven points. Atlanta rallied for the tie, and then the winning field goal by Morten Andersen in a 30-27 overtime decision.Nov. 4, 2007 -- Rookie Adrian Peterson set the NFLs all-time single-game rushing record with 296 yards. The Vikings won 35-17 despite a 109-yard touchdown return by San Diegos Antonio Cromartie of a missed field goal at the end of the first half.Sept. 27, 2009 -- Brett Favre threaded a 32-yard touchdown pass through San Franciscos defense to Greg Lewis with 2 seconds left. That gave the Vikings a 27-24 victory early in a season that ended in the NFC championship game. Eight days later, Favre engineered an inspired 30-23 victory over his old team, Green Bay.Dec. 30, 2012 -- Peterson rushed for 199 yards to raise his season total to 2,097, leaving him 9 short of breaking Eric Dickersons all-time NFL record. Peterson led the Vikings to a 37-34 victory over Green Bay to get the last spot in the NFC playoffs.TCF BANK STADIUM (2014-2015)Dec. 20, 2010 -- Favre leaves what becomes the last game of the Hall of Fame quarterbacks 20-year career with a concussion, after being slammed down by Bears defensive end Corey Wootton on a frigid night. The matchup was moved outside by the snowstorm-caused collapse of the Metrodome roof eight days earlier.Jan. 10, 2016 -- The coldest game in franchise history with a kickoff temperature of minus-6 degrees takes place in the wild-card round of the NFC playoffs. The division champion Vikings lose 10-9 to Seattle after Blair Walsh misses a 27-yard field goal with 22 seconds left.---Online:AP NFL website: http://www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL coverage on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Ecco Scarpe Scontate . -- Team after team passed on Andre Ellington in the draft. Ecco Scarpe Outlet . Speaking Thursday on TSN 1050 Thursday, the Leafs GM also touched on the questions surrounding the teams leadership and the struggles of his big-name free-agent signing. “Its not from lack of effort from the coaching staff. http://www.eccooutlet.it/ . Carey Price didnt, but he still came out on top against one of his rivals for the No. 1 job at the Sochi Games. The Anahim Lake, B.C., native was stellar in making 39 saves in his home province and Lars Eller got credit for a bizarre short-handed winner as the Canadiens defeated the Canucks 4-1. Ecco Scontate Outlet . Having already announced that the race will start May 9 with three stages in Northern Ireland and Ireland and finish in Trieste on June 1, the rest of the route was unveiled Monday. Ecco Scarpe Offerta . The return match will take place next Wednesday. Udinese leads Fiorentina 2-1 in the other semifinal. Napoli staged a second-half comeback from two goals down after Gervinhos opener and a stunning strike from Kevin Strootman. The hard-court season is usually a nicely paced escalation through the US Open Series of linked tournaments to the climax of the Grand Slam season at the US Open.Not so this year.This summer promises to be an extra long, hard and riveting march to the climax in Arthur Ashe Stadium, because the calendar includes the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro (tennis starts Aug. 6).The six-week US Open Series action starts on Monday with the WTA event at Stanford (ESPN2 and WatchESPN will broadcast over 70 hours of all eight Road to the US Open events).Here are five key storylines for the coming hard-court season:1. The Olympics effect is impossible to predictThe stakes in Rio are huge, but playing there is a gamble in more ways than one. The tournament offers no ranking points. Many pros, including Roger Federer, will be eligible to participate in all three events: singles, doubles and mixed doubles. That means players will look at preparation with very different eyes -- and face different problems if they do well.Just how profoundly this will affect the contenders is difficult to gauge. Andy Murray and Angelique Kerber, for example, are the reigning champions at big tournaments before Rio. Murray will defend his Rogers Cup title in Toronto in late July, but Kerber has elected to skip Stanford. Shes focusing on Rio. Educated guess: Top contenders who play in the coming weeks will use the pre-Olympic events as training camp.2. American men have teed it up for a good summerThe U.S. men smell blood on the asphalt. Two of their top four singles players, No. 16 John Isner and No. 29 Sam Querrey, arent even taking part in the Olympics. Theyre putting all their eggs into the US Open Series basket. Its understandable, because the American men have momentum coming out of Wimbledon. Just dont expect the U.S. mens team to light it up in Rio, except perhaps in doubles. The singles squad, provisionally, consists of No. 26 Jack Sock, No. 25 Steve Johnson and two players outside the top 100, Denis Kudla and Brian Baker.Isner, Querrey, Sock and Johnson each made it at least to the third round at Wimbledon, and all prefer hard courts to grass. Each has a special reason to excel this summer. Querrey is proving critics wrong with his suddenly steely temperament. At 23, Socks peak-and-valley nature is leveling off. Johnson won his first title this summer and has all the mental tools. Isner, foregoing the Olympics, will be fresh for all the other events and historically does the most damage at this time of year.3. How much gas will Serena Williams have left in the tank?Williams has a glorious problem. But its still a problem. With her masterful wiin at Wimbledon, shes poised to surpass Steffi Graf as the Open eras most prolific Grand Slam singles title winner (theyve each won 22).dddddddddddd But Rio comes first. She will be vying to become the first two-time singles gold medalist (as well as seeking her fourth doubles gold). It would make her one of the most distinguished of all Olympians.Entered in the Montreal WTA event, Williams may have as little as five days off before the start of Olympic tennis play, which lasts nine days. Williams is almost 35 years old; Rio will be physically and emotionally exhausting if she goes deep. Her task at the US Open (it starts 15 days after the last day of Olympic tennis play and just eight days after the closing ceremony) will be formidable.4. Are we witnessing Roger Federers last big dance?While Williams left Wimbledon triumphantly, her closest peer, Roger Federer, departed shrouded in mystery. Also 34, the Swiss icon may have missed his last opportunity to win Wimbledon when he lost control of his semifinal and was eliminated by Milos Raonic.Federer said years ago that he wanted to remain a factor in tennis until the Rio Games. He hit that goal with ease, but things suddenly plunged downhill this year: left knee surgery, back problems and the disappointment at Wimbledon, even though Novak Djokovic was finally out of his way.Federer has never won Olympic singles gold. He is still ranked No. 3. If he can take the punishment in Rio and through the hard-court season and then contend at the US Open once again, hes entitled to declare his intent to play until the Tokyo Games of 2020. Its a big if, though.5. Cincinnati, the land of opportunityThe Cincinnati combined Masters/Premier 5 tournament is usually the high point of the US Open Series leading to the grand finale in New York. Its perfectly positioned as the ideal tune-up for the last major. Unfortunately, this year it also begins the day after the men play their singles final and the women wrap up the doubles in Rio.A lot of good players wont be around to ride The Beast roller coaster at Kings Island this August. It also means players who are at the door of the elite may slip inside to try the sofa while nobody is home. This ought to be particularly good news for promising young players, such as Nick Kyrgios, Garbine Muguruza, Alexander Zverev, Belinda Bencic and Dominic Thiem.Add up all these threads, and the conclusion is towering and inescapable: There will be no shortage of storylines by the time the US Open begins at the end of August. ' ' '