Ryan Longwell, a Vikings captain, said so far this season there have been no player council meetings with head coach Brad Childress. Longwell also said there have been “less fires to put out” and the team benefits from a veteran locker room. “We kind of know what to expect from each other,” Longwell said. “We all kind of handle our position groups. If there’s an issue, the guys in the locker room know who they need to go to. So it really hasn’t been necessary.”
Longwell, a former Packer, is targeted by mouthy fans when the Vikings go to Green Bay. “When I go on the road in this league you just kind of go numb with the ears,” he said. “Although you hear everything, you don’t really listen to everything. …”
Vikings defensive end Ray Edwards told Sports Headliners that if details aren’t worked out by next month between the NFLPA and ownership regarding a new collective bargaining agreement there’s likely to be a disruption of the 2011 season.
Vikings wide receiver Percy Harvin will sign autographs as part of an appearance tonight at the Outback Steakhouse in Inver Grove Heights. There will be a live webcast interview, www.larry-fitzgerald.com.
A pro scout told Sports Headliners Gophers senior quarterback Adam Weber has “regressed” during his career at Minnesota. Weber, he said, is too inconsistent to be drafted in the early or mid rounds by an NFL team, and likely will be pursued as a free agent.
Including his redshirt freshman season, Weber has had four offensive coordinators at Minnesota. It’s impressive that despite all the change Weber has succeeded in becoming the fifth player in Big Ten history to throw for over 10,000 yards.
With good reason, Gophers booster Gene Allen is upset with a Minnesota GOP advertisement that compares President Barack Obama with Tim Brewster. “They both let us down,” says the ad. In a letter to the Star Tribune, Allen writes that the GOP owes the coach an apology. More on “The Moment” at https://www.mngop.com/inner.asp?z=6
The Wild will make its third national television appearance of the season tonight playing against the Kings on Versus. The club is scheduled to make a franchise record 10 national television appearances, nine on Versus and one on NBC.
Wild Curator Roger Godin is donating the proceeds from his newest book, “Red, White and Blue on Ice: Minnesota’s Elite Teams and Players of the 1920s, 30s, and 40s”, to the Herb Brooks Foundation’s Rink Rat program. The foundation provides inner-city children with opportunity to play and learn about hockey at no cost. Godin will host book signings at Xcel Energy Center before Wild games on November 2, and December 3, 16 and 20.