Sex via Skype could explain why Vikings WR Hank Baskett seems so relaxed about his long-distance marriage with E! reality show star Kendra Wilkinson.

Baskett deftly massaged the image problem his L.A.-moored wife has with some Minnesotans, who don't appreciate her acting allergic to the state since he arrived here in late September. She moved to Philly when he played for the Eagles.

"She's going to come and visit," said Baskett. "Kendra was excited that I came up here because she has a lot of fans up here."

On a recent episode of "Kendra," she sure didn't sound excited.

But continuing with Baskett's version of reality: "She used to come up here for appearances back in the day. Everywhere I've gone, I mean, people will say they're excited to see me -- no, I know they are excited to see my wife."

I don't know him well enough to know if he's just pretending to not be bothered by this.

"I was just talking to her a little while ago about getting her out here for Thanksgiving and whatnot," he can be heard saying at startribune.com/video. Striking the pose of an understanding hubby, he added: "As I have my job, Kendra has hers."

Baskett said his wife has expressed interest in doing charitable work with the Vikings crew: "Kendra and I both love charity, getting out in the community."

Many of Baskett's comments became double entendres through the prism of Wilkinson's latest interview with the ribald Chelsea Handler on E! Wilkinson, a Playboy pictorial subject, and Handler, whose books include "My Horizontal Life," both enjoy sexual banter, so we viewers were promptly off to the risqué.

"So you're going to stay here [in L.A.] while he stays in Minnesota?" Chelsea probed. "So he's playing with Brett Favre now? So you better tell him not to start sending out pictures of his penis." Wilkinson quipped, "Hey, Hank's hanging out with his own penis right now. OK? Now we have to do the whole Skype thing."

"Skype sex?" mused Handler.

Whoa! Let me return to matters safer for a family newspaper and later you can consult tinyurl.com/2d368k9 to hear Wilkinson's overly informative interview.

Wilkinson also disclosed that Baskett gets teased for having such a woolly chest by TEAMMATES, who apparently think Hank should invest in man-scaping -- although Kendra likes the hairy situation as is.

But poor Wilkinson hasn't come to terms with being married to an itinerant NFLer. "Now I have my son, and we have to find a home now. It's like, we can't be moving around all the time now. Time to give my son a home. Time to give him memories and all that stuff," declared Wilkinson.

When Wilkinson, who isn't as bright wide awake as Handler is in a deep sleep, said that baby Hank was 11 months old, Chelsea knowingly averred, "He's not going to remember any of this anyway." Thank you, Chelsea!

On TV, Baskett calmly told his immature wife that dragging her all over country while he bounced from team to team wasn't what he expected, either.

Double sightings If Tracy Morgan returns to the set of NBC's "30 Rock" looking fatter, blame Dairy Queen.

"Sitting next to Tracy Morgan at airport waiting for flight to LaGuardia. Talking comedy and he is a big fan of locally-based Dairy Queen," Chris Reese e-mailed via his HTC smart phone.

Sunday night, I made a long overdue call to friends in Huntsville, Ala. It was telepathy. Moments earlier, their son suggested they call me because he had just changed planes at MSP, where he'd also seen Morgan.

Schussler ices NYC "Minnesota is taking over Manhattan, finally," yelled Twin Cities-based international restaurant creator Steve Schussler, who is overseeing construction of a 15-ton ice palace on the Fox News plaza in NYC beginning at 3 p.m. today.

This isn't an early Christmas gift for Lauren Green or Gretch Carlson, well-known Minnesotans working for the Fox network. "The reason for this is that in my book, 'It's a Jungle in There,' I talk about how to be different," said Schussler. "Fox wanted to showcase an entrepreneur who not only thinks outside the box but will be willing to show how far they are willing to go to show their vision."

The ice palace will be completed during Friday's installment of "Fox and Friends." Schussler will be interviewed, along with Chris Swarbrick, owner of Ice Occasions, an Ellsworth, Wis., company with a 612 area code, that creates molded ice statues. Swarbrick also oversaw construction of "Water, Fire & Ice: The Polar Ultra Lounge" concept inside Schussler's Golden Valley laboratory.

"There's a snow machine that will make snow falling from all sides of the ice palace," said Schussler, who swore me to secrecy on the big celebrity fish Fox is trying to lure to the plaza.

Clues: This person has strange hair, a reality show and avoids handshakes.

C.J. is at 612.332.TIPS or cj@startribune.com. E-mailers, please state a subject -- "Hello" doesn't count. Attachments are not opened, so don't even try. More of her attitude can be seen on Fox 9 Thursday mornings.