It's bad enough for a Minnesota Vikings fan in Madison to sit through a terrible season. Throw in getting your custom-made Vikings mailbox swiped.

Then have a replacement plain old metal mailbox that you painted purple intercepted as well, and a bad season just got worse.

Madison police said the football-flavored thievery happened in the 900 block of Troy Drive on the city's north side.

The lady of the house, a 56-year-old Vikings fan, told police the family is not shy about pledging allegiance to Viking purple and gold and not Packer green and gold.

"They displayed their allegiance to the Minnesota Vikings in the heart of Packer Nation," said police spokesman Joel DeSpain in a news release. "Their mailbox had been in the shape of a Vikings' helmet, talked about in the past tense because someone swiped the prized $600 plastic receptacle at the end of December."

Enter the standard, non-Viking mailbox.

"The owner was undeterred, buying a $25 plain mailbox to replace the helmet, painting the new box purple," DeSpain said.

The Viking fan was sacked when the new box was intercepted on Jan. 7.

"It already was not a great year since the Vikings went 3-13," DeSpain said. "The team mailed it in and now a Madison fan has no Viking mailbox to get mail in."

Looking for a great place to watch the Packers game on Sunday?

You could go to any one of the thousands of sports bars, pizza joints and buffalo wing chains from Green Bay to Dubai, but only one restaurant can claim one of the team's stars -- Nelson's Landing.

You may have heard of Alan and Kim Nelson's middle son, Jordy. The Packers wide receiver got on the map last year, grabbing the first touchdown of Super Bowl XLV, and has cruised into the spotlight this season. He led the Packers with 68 receptions, 1,263 yards and 15 touchdowns.

But Jordy's roots are humble to be sure. Long before the Nelsons opened up their restaurant just off of U.S. Highway 24 in Leonardville, Kan., they made ends meet by farming. They raise Black Angus beef and grow everything from corn to alfalfa to wheat and beans.

"It was a lot of work, time-consuming, took a lot of discipline," the 26-year old Jordy says of helping out in the family business, "but I think it made me a better person in the long haul."

Jordy walked on at Kansas State, just 25 miles from where he grew up in Leonardville. He would walk off as one of the most decorated receivers in not just school, but conference history. As he waited to find out where he'd be playing in the NFL, Jordy pitched in at the family restaurant.

"I did everything. I was in the kitchen every once in a while," he says. "I was waiting on tables, working behind the bar a little bit, wherever we needed help."

Opened in 2007, Nelson's Landing serves up sandwiches, burgers, steak and brisket. They also have gameday favorites from boneless wings to loaded nachos. Anyone with an extra $5.59 and taste for adventure can even order up a plate of fried gizzards.

Jordy said it was a family decision to open the restaurant and offer something unique for their neighbors.

"We thought it would be worth it for the town, the community to really have a nice place to sit down and have dinner," he says, "or for the farmers to sneak in and have a quick lunch."

Jordy and his wife, Emily, live in Green Bay, but they get back to the small town with a population of less than 500 every now and then. Before last season, Jordy even brought some of the other Packers wide receivers with him and they had quite an experience.

"We had a blast acting the fool. We did farming things," Greg Jennings told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "We got to see how they artificially inseminate cows. We actually did it. You've got to stick your hand in there. It was nice and warm."

Fear not, Packers fans. At Jordy Nelson's family restaurant, all you have to do is eat.

Rookie receiver Tori Gurley is a member of the Packers’ practice squad.  The Vikings offered him a spot on their active roster for the final three games of the 2011 season.

And Gurley declined.

Thanks to The Wisconsin Times on Facebook for sharing this story!

By: Todd Milewski

Getting this close to an angry badger usually isn't advised, but when it's a 600-pound bronze statue, people can't wait to get their picture taken.

Defensive tackle Chase Rome of the University of Nebraska football team officially had one solo tackle in Saturday night's 48-17 loss to Wisconsin, but a tackle he made later in the night cost him.

Rome, 19, was cited by Dane County deputies for criminal damage to property after he allegedly ripped off the front section of a towel dispenser in a bathroom at the Dane County Regional Airport.

Dane County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Elise Schaffer listed the damage to the dispenser at $600 and said Rome was fined $326.50.

Airport spokesman Brent McHenry said there were plenty of media inquiries about what he termed a minor incident that occurred when the Cornhuskers went to the airport to return to Lincoln after their nationally televised loss at Camp Randall Stadium. The game marked Nebraska's Big Ten Conference debut.

"A paper towel dispenser was damaged. It has since been repaired. It's nothing significant at all," McHenry said.

Rome is a redshirt freshman from Missouri. He stands 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 295 pounds, according to the Nebraska Cornhuskers website, www.huskers.com.

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Thanks to the guys at Sconnie Nation for sharing this story!

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn plans to wear a Packers jersey while working at a food pantry in Kenosha early next month.

Quinn will be in Kenosha on Aug. 6 to make good on his bet with Gov. Scott Walker over the outcome of the Chicago Bears-Packers NFC Championship Game in Chicago.

Quinn is predicting the Bears will win the Super Bowl this coming season.