Author: David Shama

The Minnesota Vikings’ personnel in the defensive line, linebackers, secondary, offensive line and running backs compares favorably or is superior to the talent on many other NFL rosters.  The quarterback and wide receiver positions are holding this team back.

Frustrating?  “Well, sure it is and no one is more frustrated than the Vikings coaches and players, but I would suggest that the one thing they can offer is try to get better balance in the offense,” said Dean Dalton, the former Vikings assistant coach.  “And to do that they need to improve the team core to give Tarvaris Jackson better outlets, more consistency by his receivers and more explosiveness by the receiver corps. …”

Dalton, who now analyzes the NFL for local and national media, believes the Vikings are committed to Jackson as the No. 1 quarterback.  If there’s an off-season move for another NFL quarterback he thinks it’s much more likely to be for a backup to Jackson.

“I think they’re going to ride the horse that brung-em,” Dalton said.  “Tarvaris Jackson leads the charge.”

Jackson will start his third season as a professional this summer and is coming off a year in which he threw more interceptions (12) than touchdowns (9).  Dalton’s comments about balancing the offense could be vital to further improvement by Jackson and the overall offense.  Dalton advocates an offense that will “stretch” the field more and open up both the passing and the running led by what he calls the “one-two punch” of running backs Adrian Peterson (second in the NFL in total rushing yards in 2007) and Chester Taylor.  That strategy keeps the safeties from crowding the line of scrimmage, taking pressure off the running backs and Jackson.

To find more explosiveness and consistency in catching the ball the Vikings need to look outside the organization.  “If I were making the decisions for the Vikings I would probably bring in a veteran free agent and be aggressive in the draft,” Dalton said.

The free agent market opens this week.  Dalton suggests that Bernard Berrian of Chicago fits the Vikings’ need as someone who can be a big play receiver. He mentioned D.J. Hackett of Seattle, too, but cautioned about his problems with injuries.

Without naming players, Dalton said this year’s college draft seems to offer wide receivers with the speed and talent to help the Vikings.  Still, Dalton doesn’t advocate that the Vikings draft for need on the first round.  It’s sounder policy, he said, to draft for “value,” take the best player available rather than forcing yourself to fill a need.

Dave Mona has “crossed paths” with many characters including probably a few he wishes he never met during a media career that dates back to the 1960s.  Certainly a guy he worked with at WCCO TV who turned out to be a serial killer fits into the category of undesirables.

Mona writes about the serial killer and also about many respected Minnesotans in his book Beyond the Sports Huddle being published by Voyageur Press and targeted for distribution starting with the State Fair in August.  The long time co-host of WCCO Radio’s Sunday morning Sports Huddle show plans to promote the book at the station’s state fair booth.

Mona, who once covered the Minnesota Twins for the Minneapolis Tribune before developing a successful public relations career, said most of the book is devoted to sports figures but approximately 25 percent is about other interesting personalities he’s known such as Garrison Keillor.

Not surprisingly, the book will offer plenty of laughs along with reminiscences and trivia. “There’s a general sense of humor throughout,” Mona told Sports Headliners recently.  “A lot of stories I hope will make people smile including a few things they’ve probably never heard before. …”

Former Twins owner Calvin Griffith is a Mona favorite.  He was interviewing Griffith about Tony Oliva but as was his habit Griffith digressed.  He brought up the name of Carlos Paula, a Cuban like Oliva but a player not well known to the general public.  Griffith recalled that Paula, a classic good hit, bad field player, once managed to misplay a ball twice on the same play in the outfield.  First Paula let the ball go through his legs, and then it bounced off the outfield wall and through his legs again.  “Calvin thought at the time that may have been the only guy to ever get two fielding errors on a single play,” Mona said.

Mona, who has written previous books on the Metrodome and the Twins, brought up Sid Hartman’s name, mentioning he has compiled the most complete list ever of “Sid-isms.”  Over the years, including on WCCO Radio, Hartman has said one thing while intending to articulate something else.

Mona said, “I’ve been keeping a written list for years. …”  On that list is the time Hartman told listeners about the lack of “INCONSISTENCY” by baseball umpires. The quote was later published in Sports Illustrated.  Another Mona favorite was Hartman’s defense of Barry Bonds, claiming there’s no evidence the home run king used “stereos.”

NFL expert Dean Dalton on Vikings reserve quarterbacks Brooks Bollinger and Kelly Holcomb: “Both are kind of career journeymen and that’s all they will be.”

Dalton, who was a Vikings assistant coach from 1999-2005, said he’s had two offers in recent month from NFL teams to return to coaching.  Although some day he would “love” to coach again, he and his wife are first committed to raising their two teenage sons in Eden Prairie.

Former Duke and Timberwolves star Christian Laettner at No. 12 is rated ahead of Michael Jordan (No. 13) on the list of the IBM top 25 greatest players in college basketball history seen on ESPN.  That’s accurate given Laettner’s college accomplishments (the shot seen around the world to beat Kentucky) during four seasons versus Jordan’s two at North Carolina.

Gopher basketball coach Tubby Smith lost a sister to cancer two years ago.  “I tell our players people don’t care what you know,” Smith said.  “They want to know how much you care.”

Junior Mike Bruesewitz of Henry Sibley, who verbally committed to Wisconsin earlier this month, was compared to the Badgers’ Joe Krabbenhoft in an Internet story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.  Krabbenhoft is a player who seldom scores many points but does a lot of things that help the Badgers win.  Both players are physical forwards, about 6-foot-7.

Undefeated Hopkins, 22-0, remains No. 1 in prep basketball expert Ken Lien’s latest rankings of the state’s top 10 boys’ teams.  St. Bernard’s has joined the top 10, replacing Wayzata.  Here are the teams: Hopkins, Osseo, Minnetonka, Henry Sibley, Cretin-Derham Hall, Benilde-St. Maragaret’s, Crosby-Ironton, Shakopee, St. Bernard’s, and Stillwater. Lien, chair of the Mr. Basketball program, compiles his top 10 based on who he considers the best teams regardless of school enrollment size.

Bad news for young women: Twins first baseman Justin Morneau is now engaged and off the short list of the town’s most eligible bachelors.

The Gopher men’s hockey team (13-13-8) is one short of the single-season school record for nine ties.  Minnesota and Wisconsin played to a 4-4 tie on Saturday. It was the Gophers’ seventh overtime game in their last 11.