The 2005 season was filled with distraction, underachieving and injuries for the Minnesota Vikings . It was the quintessential Mike Tice season: mistake-filled, extensive winning and losing streaks, blowout losses, not living up to expectations, and another year with the playoffs in their grips but narrowly missing out.

With a new coaching staff in place, an All-Pro quarterback traded, a new All-Pro guard anchoring the offensive line and plenty of new faces, the 2006 season should be very different for the Vikings. Let's take a look at five common things from 2005 that will no longer be endured by the purple and gold faithful.

5.) The offensive turnover machine

The trading away of Daunte Culpepper to the Miami Dolphins will actually solidify the quarterback position now that the reigns have been permanently handed to the calm, cool, collected, and more careful Brad Johnson. The veteran knows how to manage a game, as evidenced by his Super Bowl season in 2002-2003 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers , and his career record of 65-43, which is the third best win-loss ration among active quarterbacks with at least 50 starts. Culpepper was very up and down with the Vikings. At his high points he was arguably the best quarterback in the game, with only Peyton Manning having a case to be better. However, his lows reached incredibly awful levels. With Culpepper gone, the days of five interception games are over, and the case of fumble-itis he had is also gone. In six seasons as a starter Culpepper has a whopping 122 career turnovers, an average of 20.33 a season. While Johnson, in double the amount of years, has 125 career turnovers. The cannon arm Culpepper possesses is gone, but Johnson's style fits head coach Brad Childress' west coast offense perfectly.

4.) The goofy pencil in Mike Tice's ear

Every game the former head coach would stand on the sideline with the angry smirk on his face and a pencil in his ear. Tice used the pencil not as a fashion statement, but to write down his in-game observations. Unfortunately for Tice, rarely did it transform his team's mistakes, as they continually committed the same blunders week in and week out.

3.) Troy Williamson on the bench

No longer will last year's No. 7 overall pick be seen standing on the sideline, barring injury, of course. He had offseason surgery to remove an abscess from his left hip, but should be fine when training camp begins in July. The new coaching staff loves his potential and speed. He showed plenty of signs of improvement in the offseason programs, and Childress is committed to making him a starter and utilizing his speed on the field more.

2.) Bad offensive line play

Last season saw a unit that looked lost more often than not, and its play reflected it. The offensive line alone committed 48 penalties, 26 of which were false starts; the line also allowed an inexcusable 55 sacks. With the return of All-Pro center Matt Birk from injury, the addition of guard Steve Hutchinson from the Seattle Seahawks , the acquisition of tackle Artis Hicks from the Eagles and the continued great play of tackle Bryant McKinnie, the Vikings might potentially possess one of the league's elite lines. The improved play from the line would be welcomed by running backs Chester Taylor and Mewelde Moore, and mostly for quarterback Brad Johnson, who would love to spend the season standing upright, rather than running for his life.

1.) Bye Week shenanigans

Under the new regime, there will be discipline. There will no longer be the "tradition unlike any other" and no, that is not a reference to the Masters on CBS. The team will be well-behaved off the field; it will instill pride in the community and fan base on the field. There will be no negative stigmatism around the team due to boats, strippers, or any of the like. Finally, the Minnesota Vikings can once again focus on winning football games. And that's a good thing.

RB is expected to be featured ball carrier

The misnomer known as the NFL offseason ground on Friday for the Minnesota Vikings as 45 rookies and select veterans wrapped up another round of OTAs (organized team activities) Friday at Winter Park.

No. 1 pick Chad Greenway and the rest of this year's draft class were on hand for the last of six voluntary practices, as were a number of young veterans, including running back Chester Taylor, who is expected to be the team's featured ball carrier after signing a four-year, $14.1 million contract to leave Baltimore during the offseason.

Friday's practice was the first OTA session open to the media and first since the Vikings' May 13-15 minicamp for Taylor, but he should have plenty of opportunities to start earning his money this fall after four seasons of backing up Jamal Lewis with the Ravens.

"I'm ready for the challenge," Taylor said. "I had my spurts in Baltimore when Jamal got hurt, and then he got suspended (for two games in 2004) and I had to take the load. I know I can do it. I just want to prove I can do it for a whole season this time."

Taylor rushed for 1,599 yards and averaged 4.3 yards a per carry during his four seasons in Baltimore, where he had the luxury of running behind an offensive line anchored by left tackle Jonathan Ogden, a nine-time Pro Bowl selection.

The Vikings' front five might be even better, though, after the offseason addition of all-pro left guard Steve Hutchinson to go with Pro Bowl center Matt Birk and left tackle Bryant McKinnie.

"I'm real excited," Taylor said. "I had a great offensive line in Baltimore, but I'm really looking forward to playing behind this line."

At the moment, Taylor is just trying to get his legs loose for the next round of voluntary practices, with all veterans expected to be on hand Monday, and accustom himself to a radically different offseason routine.

Suffice to say Ravens coach Brian Billick didn't work his veteran players as hard or as often as Vikings coach Brad Childress has during his first offseason.

"I heard that new coaches get more practices anyway, but Baltimore is totally different," Taylor said. "We didn't practice as much as we're doing here. As coaches, they both want to put the best players on the field to win. I just feel the practice style is totally different. Here, coach is going to put us through every practice he thinks we need to get better."

Childress said the objective of this week's practices was to get the rookies and young players more accustomed to the Vikings' tempo and system in addition to the larger goal of teaching them how to be professionals.

It also was a good opportunity to get some extra work for players such as rookie quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, who took all the snaps as the only QB at Friday's practice, and two players just back from NFL Europe, wide receiver Aaron Hosack and cornerback Ronyell Whitaker.

"Great hand-eye coordination," Childress said of Hosack. "Obviously, he's a bigger target, which quarterbacks love. He kind of vacuums up the football. As my old stats guy used to say, receivers by definition should receive, and he does a good job of that."

Like Hosack, Whitaker was named to the All-NFL Europe team, and the fact that he played under Vikings defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin at Tampa Bay won't hurt his chances in the race for the nickel back job.

"I think the great thing is they have a feel for his football character and how he plays the game," Childress said. "He's a great competitor. He already caught our guys' eyes in the special-teams area. He's got a chance. You like those guys that compete."

Injury report

• Wide receiver Troy Williamson, who missed last month's minicamp after having an abscess removed from his left hip, saw a doctor Friday in South Carolina and was progressing well, according to Childress, who said there is an "outside chance" last year's No. 1 draft choice could be back for the June 19-21 voluntary minicamp.

• Fullback Joey Goodspeed was placed on season-ending injured reserve after surgery Thursday to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

Briefly

• Wide receiver Billy McMullen, acquired last month in a trade with Philadelphia, is wearing Randy Moss' old No. 84. Rookie wide receiver Jason Carter got Daunte Culpepper's former No. 11.

• Childress, on this week's hiring of Rick Spielman as vice president of player personnel: "I've known Rick for a long time and knew what kind of person he was. Good person. I'm excited to be working with him. Very excited."

Team says alternatives to Blaine site needed after rejection by lawmakers

The Minnesota Vikings are renewing their vow to build a stadium, though not necessarily in Anoka County.

After the team suffered a stinging setback at the state Capitol to its $790 million stadium proposal, a Vikings spokesman said Tuesday that the plan in Blaine might be too bogged down by politics to be viable.

"We have a great partnership with Anoka County, but we need a Plan B and Plan C. Mr. Wilf is very much a Plan B and Plan C kind of guy," said Vikings Vice President Lester Bagley, referring to Vikings owner Zygi Wilf. "There may not be an opportunity in Anoka County. Things change."

Bagley wouldn't say what other sites might be considered for a Vikings stadium.

The Vikings were left out of legislation that will provide stadiums for the Minnesota Twins and the University of Minnesota. But Bagley was encouraged by one little-noticed provision approved by the Legislature that would earmark most of the proceeds from the sale of the Metrodome site to a Vikings stadium.

Vikings officials estimate the downtown Minneapolis site would be worth about $45 million. Of that, the first $5 million would go toward the Twins stadium, and the rest would go toward the state's share of a Vikings stadium.

"We see that as a down payment," said Bagley.

Bagley said another reason for hope was that the bill rejected a referendum on a 0.15 percent sales tax to cover Hennepin County's share of the new Twins stadium in downtown Minneapolis.

Bagley assumes the Vikings will get the same break.

"There is definitely a precedent set by the Twins," he said.

Still, the state's rejection of the Vikings stadium left Blaine Mayor Tom Ryan and other supporters discouraged.

"It's pretty disgusting to have it end this way," Ryan said. "It's sad. This has been four years of work for us."

And despite the Vikings' optimism, plans for an Anoka County stadium face several complications, most notably a fight over the public's right to vote on a stadium tax.

Public opposition to a proposed Anoka County tax increase appears to be stronger than in Hennepin County, in part because the Anoka plan assumes a 0.75 percent sales tax — five times more than the tax for the Twins stadium.

Various polls have shown support for a referendum on the tax as high as 80 percent, and four cities have passed resolutions supporting such a vote.

Stadium backers admit that voters probably would turn down a stadium tax, but they say similar large projects have used public money without voter approval.

The Anoka County Board of Commissioners has supported imposing the tax without a referendum. The tax would pay the county's one-third share of the stadium's cost, with the remainder coming from the state and the team.

The two naysayers on the board — Rhonda Sivarajah and Jim Kordiak — have supported a referendum.

"I am not against the Vikings, but I want that vote," Sivarajah said. "I am not fond of public subsidies for stadiums. The owners could be building them on their own."

Four of the seven Anoka County Board members face elections in the fall. Although no new pro-referendum candidates have emerged, Sivarajah said, "I certainly have heard murmurings."

Bagley said that if the county decides to put the tax to voters, the proposal would die.

"If the political will evaporates, we have got to be prepared," he said.

Another worry is county funding for lobbying and public education.

The county has spent $600,000 on the stadium effort and earmarked an additional $300,000 for "mega-projects," including the stadium.

Stadium supporters talked about that money and the sales tax revenue as seed money — creating 13,000 temporary and long-term jobs and millions of dollars in annual tax revenue.

But in a year when the county is making cutbacks in its human services budget for such programs as child protection, Sivarajah is balking.

"On one hand we say we need to make these reductions, but on the other we have money to dump into studies and promotions for the Vikings," she said.

Control of the land also might be a problem.

Wilf and the Vikings have options to buy about half the land on the 740-acre site. Development on the other half is blocked by a city building moratorium — which expires in September.

It could be extended, Ryan said, depending on how the Blaine City Council votes. The mayor said three council members are up for re-election in November, but he didn't think their stands on the stadium would make much difference in city support.

One of the biggest landowners on the site said acquisition of the property by the Vikings wouldn't be a problem, as long as the moratorium were in place.

"If they have a moratorium, where else are we going to go?" asked Rick Wilder, owner of the Metro Gun Club, which sits on 140 acres at the site.

Although he hasn't agreed to sell to the Vikings, Wilder said he was satisfied by the initial contacts with the team. He said he would sell for the right price, but he can't predict what will happen.

"You are in the dark, I am in the dark, everyone's in the dark," Wilder said.