Even not watching, I'm pleased that Teddy played

I spent Sunday afternoon at the Twins game, watching Cleveland's Corey Kluber offer more evidence that Cy Young voters for the American League should not automatically write Felix Hernandez' name at the top of the ballot.

Through six innings, Kluber had 13 strikeouts and 257 for the season. And get this: He had a streak of 13 straight innings in which he had two or more strikeouts. That streak came to an end in the seventh.

Kluber can throw 95, makes heavy use of a cutter and has a breaking pitch that acts like a curve but he calls it a slider.

All of which means that I only caught glimpses of the Vikings and the NFL debut of quarterback Teddy Bridgewater in the 20-9 loss in the Superdome.

I did see his pass early-on in the left flat (that's what we used to call it) to Matt Asiata that went for about 40 yards of open field. That had to look good on that stats sheet.

I saw the quarterback draw that Bridgewater took inside the Saints 10. He was a bit quicker than I anticipated. I also saw him trip over Matt Kalil's foot and turn that opportunity into one of the Vikings' three field goals.

Even without a touchdown, I'm sure that Teddy was terrific. Even if he wasn't terrific, I'm sure Vikings zealots are convinced that he was terrific.

I've gotten so sick of the self-righteous blathering that I'm carrying around a barf bag, in case I happen to turn on ESPN and Bob Ley is there in full beard, urging outrage from whatever panel he has assembled.

The greatest hypocrisy of the week came on Friday, when the ESPN channels devoted endless hours to the build-up and then the post-mortem of Goodell's news conference.

The women who work the ESPN panel shows generally dress with a bit of flair, perhaps with the network's encouragement.

Not on Friday. The lady reporters were mostly dressed like Eleanor Nacht on "The Bridge'' for this somber occasion.

OK, that's an obscure reference, but if you don't watch that FX series, you should. And Eleanor (played by Franka Potente) features the Amish-dress style of ladies wear.

Oh, really. A guy being fired at from every direction engaged in some spin? I'm shocked.

I think it was our headline on Goodell's press conference that started: "Defiant Goodell …''

He said he wasn't going to resign. Is that defiance? I heard the opposite. I heard contrition.

That's also what I heard from Mark Wilf and the Vikings last Wednesday, when they reversed course and suspended Peterson.

It's amazing. People got what they wanted, Peterson suspended and Goodell admitting blunders and promising change, and they went on pontificating.

That said, I'm pleased as punch that Teddy Bridgewater became the Vikings' quarterback on Sunday.