Worth Noting
“Favre on the ground” is likely to be the
phrase heard from Saints fans tomorrow night at the Superdome, according
to the New Orleans Times-Picayune. While acknowledging the fans
want to see the Vikings quarterback bruised similar to what the
Saints did to him in last January’s NFC title game, the newspaper’s Web
story yesterday focused on New Orleans stopping Peterson.
"You can't play the Vikings
with Adrian Peterson and not be ready for a physical game," Saints
defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis said in the story. "I remember the
last time we played him, we were all bruised up. We had everybody in
here with ice packs on. But it was a great game, and nobody really
backed down until the very end when (Saints cornerback Tracy Porter) got
that interception. So I expect that same thing."
http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2010/09/post_172.html
In Sports Illustrated’s
NFL preview the magazine predicts the Vikings will finish 10-6, while
Green Bay wins the NFC North with an 11-5 record. The Packers will then
advance to the Super Bowl where they will lose to the Steelers. The
publication forecasts that the defending Super Bowl champion Saints will
have a 12-4 regular season record and lose to the Packers in the NFC
title game.
Middle Tennessee State, the school Minnesota defeated in its opening
game last Thursday night in Murfreesboro, won’t play the Gophers in TCF
Bank Stadium until September 16, 2017.
North Dakota State defeated Kansas 6-3 last Saturday night
in Lawrence. NDSU, a program that defeated the Gophers in 2007 and lost
10-9 to Minnesota in 2006, will play at TCF Bank Stadium on September 24
of next year.
Gopher football coach Tim
Brewster talking about junior running back Duane Bennett
whose physical performance against Middle Tennessee State resulted in
187 yards: “There’s nobody more committed to our strength program than
Duane Bennett.”
Highly anticipated freshman
running back Lamonte Edwards is down on the depth chart but
he is the scout team player of the week for his efforts
in helping the Gophers prepare for Middle Tennessee State.
Brewster said no lineup changes are
planned for Saturday’s home game with South Dakota. Safety Kyle
Theret and offensive tackle Dom Alford remain indefinitely
suspended.
Smart moves: Twins general manager
Bill
Smith has acquired late season relief pitching help via waivers from
National League teams during the last two years. The advantage of those
acquisitions is that American League hitters aren’t too familiar with
such pitchers because they have been in the other league. Relievers
Jon Rauch and Randy Flores came off waivers from NL teams,
while earlier this summer the Twins traded for former National Leaguer
Matt Capps.
It wouldn’t be surprising if the Twins
trade left fielder Delmon Young during the off -season for a
quality starting pitcher. His best hitting season yet with the Twins
makes him more marketable, but outfield play remains a problem. A
future outfield with some combination of Denard Span, Jason
Kubel, Michael Cuddyer and rookie Ben Revere looks
possible.
No one will blame Joe Mauer if he
can’t wait to play the Royals in Kansas City September 27-29. The Twins
catcher is hitting over .525 this season against the Royals. He has 17 RBI
in 14 games versus Kansas City.
The Swarm opens its 2011 National Lacrosse
League schedule at Xcel Energy Center on January 8 against Rochester.
The Swarm is promoting a season ticket offer of buy two tickets at full
price and two more at 50 percent off.
www.mnswarm.com.
