Off-day links and reading

If you don't know what Dean Martin did for Houston, well then you probably should listen to a snippet of this ...

A no news day from the Vikings, who are en route to Space City for tomorrow night's preseason finale.

The substitute officials have not received rave reviews, as Mark Craig wrote here for the morning paper.

Mark also had the notebook package, including the news that starting safety Harrison Smith might have to play because there are so few safeties left on the 75 man roster.

The Vikings must cut to 53 by Friday evening, but it wouldn't be surprising if they made additional moves over the weekend when around 700 players hit the street. There will be a lot of tempting prospects out there.

The Associated Press has some preview capsules for the NFC North here.

And don't forget to watch the Access Vikings video here.

The boys are working on our Vikings special section, which will be in the paper on Sunday, Sept. 9. Can't give away any secrets, but there will be a lot of questions and answers on how to rebuild a team that went 3-13 last season.

Dan Wiederer will be in Houston for Thursday's game. Dan also has a enterprise/feature story planned for Sunday that will surprise you. Always nice to pick up the paper for a surprise.

Finally, don't forget Vikings Live Chats will be on Tuesdays at noon during the season, starting next Tuesday.