The Vikings’ have won four of their last five games and those opponents have a combined record of 35 wins, 25 losses. Remove Green Bay’s 10-2 record and the totals are 25 and 23. The Vikings have four games remaining and those teams are a combined 18-30. Winning three games in a row and four of the last five are both bests for coach Brad Childress since he took over as Vikings coach last season.
A Sports Illustrated poll of NFL players had Randy Moss of New England ranked third among receivers who can be most easily intimidated. Terrell Owens of Dallas was first, followed by Chad Johnson of Cincinnati and then Moss.
Some Wolves fans aren’t bothered a bit by the team’s 2-13 record, poorest in the NBA. They want the team to finish with the worst record in the NBA, enhancing chances of winning the draft lottery. College basketball’s stellar freshman class is deep and talented. Included is Memphis star Derrick Rose who could be a difference maker for the Wolves at point guard.
Delmon Young’s much publicized temper may benefit from the leadership and calm of the Twins clubhouse. The 22-year-old former Tampa Bay outfielder will find good role models among his new team.
The educated guess here is it’s not likely former Gopher coach Glen Mason will draw interest from schools in major conferences like the Pac 10 or Southeastern Conference. Sooner or later an offer might come from a school in a league like the Mid-American Conference or Mountain West Conference.
Goaltenders Roberto Luongo of the Vancouver Canucks, Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils and Niklas Backstrom of the Minnesota Wild have been named respectively as the NHL’s first, second and third stars for the week ending December 2. Backstrom won the Third Star award after a 3-0-0 record, 1.32 goals-against average and.939 save percentage as the Wild (15-9-2, 32 points) moved into first place in the Northwest Division.
Wild president and general manager Doug Risebrough and coach Jacques Lemaire announced that forward Mark Parrish will serve as team captain during December. Brian Rolston and Nick Schultz will serve as alternate captains throughout the month. The Wild rotate team captaincy on a monthly basis based on the player who has shown the greatest leadership qualities.
Concordia University, St. Paul won its first national championship in any sport on Saturday when the No. 2 ranked volleyball team defeated No. 15 Western Washington in four games, 30-26, 23-30, 30-19, 31-29 in Topeka, Kansas. It is the first NCAA volleyball championship for the Northern Sun Conference and the league’s second team championship (Winona State, men’s basketball, 2005-06). Junior Maria Steinhagen (Alexandria, Minn.) and sophomore Maggie McNamara (Zumbrota, Minn.) were impressive Saturday night. Steinhagen had 26 kills and hit .500 in 46 attempts while McNamara registered a double-double with 71 assists and 17 digs.