The annual Great Baseball Road Trip is almost upon us. Everything lined up just right for us to somehow keep a tradition alive that has been going every year since 2000 and carve out four days despite having a 4-month-old at home (whom we will miss terribly, mind you).

We're also out next week for what amounts in part to a "staycation," so this prelude is a long-winded way of saying don't expect regular posts here again until Aug. 25 after today. We'll jump on with some exploits from the road, we imagine, and next week there will probably be things here and there that we can't resist.

But yes, back to the road trip: We're hitting Vikings training camp tomorrow morning, then a minor league game in Burlington, Iowa, tomorrow night. Friday is a St. Louis Cardinals game (never been to the new Busch Stadium), Saturday is Quad Cities, Sunday is the Field of Dreams in Iowa and hopefully a little bit of the town ball tournament in Minnesota before returning home. Golf and other shenanigans are also in play. We'll probably collapse when it's all over, but in a good way.

Thinking about the road trip and Vikings camp reminded us of a long conversation with regular GBRT attendee Rocket during a past trip. We had a long walk to Wrigley, and to fill the void we debated this question:

What if the Vikings were guaranteed to win the Super Bowl this season?

[You can tell this is fiction already].

But here's the catch: You couldn't watch any of their games this year, including the Super Bowl … and they would never win another Super Bowl during your lifetime. If you had this magic potion to make it happen, would you?

This was about three or four years ago, and we're honestly still torn. We don't know. It boils down to just how bad you want the curse lifted and what price you would pay to make it happen.

We look forward to your thoughts in the comment. The next time you hear from us, we'll likely be in Iowa so send good wishes please.

[Fantastic Super Bowl Homeboy shirt designed by local graphic artist Nate Schimelpfenig].