Author: David Shama

Don’t count on it but Dean Dalton said Philadelphia’s Donovan McNabb could be a Minnesota Viking next season.  Although Dalton said the odds aren’t favorable because of McNabb’s expensive contract and the cost in draft picks to the Vikings, the potential fit of the former NFL Pro Bowler in Minnesota is exciting.

Dalton, the former Vikings assistant coach who now is an NFL media analyst, told Sports Headliners on Wednesday it’s likely Minnesota will look at acquiring a talented veteran quarterback to “compete (and) mentor” 24-year-old Tarvaris Jackson who just completed his second NFL season.  Dalton spoke in detail about McNabb, envisioning him as the Vikings starter next season, playing successfully in what he termed a “judgment year” for coach Brad Childress who will be trying to lead Minnesota into the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

Childress, of course, was an assistant coach in Philadelphia before he came to the Vikings.  His role as Eagles offensive coordinator for four seasons is valuable and pertinent to a possible McNabb to Minnesota story.  Childress and McNabb have a relationship and record of success that includes a Super Bowl and multiple Pro Bowl selections for McNabb, plus the Eagles quarterback is experienced and familiar with the offense that Childress has implemented here.

While that part is a matchmaker’s dream, the Vikings’ management may be cautious about the salary expense of acquiring McNabb (estimated at $6 million to $10 million in base salary per year in coming seasons), plus the cost in giving up draft picks.  The Vikings do have salary cap room to make a run at McNabb, Dalton said.  He thinks, too, that with the right enticements from the Vikings, the Eagles might part with McNabb because of a willingness to commit to younger quarterbacks A.J. Feeley and Kevin Kolb. Then, too, McNabb could find it appealing to join a team with a great running back in Adrian Peterson and a system that he knows so well.

Dalton was also asked for an evaluation of Jackson who started two games for the Vikings in 2006 and 12 in 2007.  This season Jackson threw nine touchdown passes and 12 interceptions despite playing against defenses loaded to stop the run and inviting the pass.  “Tarvaris Jackson has proven that he has great upside and has talent and potential,” Dalton said. “But potential is the ultimate coach killer in the National Football League where NFL stands for Not for Long.  Because what counts is production and right now he hasn’t been able to produce on a consistent basis to force defenses to adjust to the passing game. That will be the key for the Vikings’ future…become a balanced team to where they can utilize their outstanding run game in balance with a passing game that makes defenses defend them.”

Jackson missed four games because of injuries and he talked about that on Wednesday. “My biggest disappointment was getting injured so much at the beginning of the season,” he said. “I’ve never really been injured like that. …”

More help at wide receiver will assist the Vikings offense.  The team didn’t have a receiver that caught 100 yards or more in passes in a game, a team record.

Wide receiver is one of those positions where a player can come out of the college draft and make an impact.  The position figures to be a priority in the 2008 off season for the Vikings.

Big dance or little dance?  Seems likely Tubby Smith’s first Gopher team will qualify in March for either the NCAA tournament or the NIT.

The Gophers put themselves in position to go dancing by winning 10 of 12 games during a soft non-conference schedule.  It wasn’t impressive that the Gophers lost two of their three road games against major college teams, losing to Florida State, 75-61, and UNLV, 81-64.  But, then again, Minnesota is already at 10 wins and all last season the Gophers only won nine with the same personnel.

Former Gophers coach Jim Dutcher, now a TV analyst, thinks the Gophers can go 9-9 in the Big Ten Conference regular season schedule and be invited to the NCAA tournament with a 19-11 record.  Despite a lack of conference strength he expects the NCAA selection committee to invite several Big Ten teams to the tourney.  Dutcher’s opinion is “they’re still going to take five or six Big Ten teams, and if you’re 9-9 you’re probably fifth or sixth” (on the invitation list).

“The key this year is you got to beat Northwestern twice and you got to beat Michigan twice,” he said.  “They (the Gophers) only play Iowa once (in Minneapolis). But you got to hope that you’re going to get five wins. …Penn State you got to at least split. …That gives you six.  All you got to do is split with some other teams, and I think they’re close enough that if I had to pick their game with Illinois, their game with Purdue, their game with Ohio State, I would just say the home team wins.”

Dutcher predicts this order of finish in the Big Ten: Michigan State, Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Illinois, Minnesota, Purdue, Penn State, Iowa, Michigan and Northwestern.  The conference schedule started earlier this week but the Gophers don’t open until tomorrow (Saturday night) at Michigan State.  The game can be seen only on the Big Ten Network.

The Gophers’ non-conference schedule was loaded with home games (seven) and mediocre opponents.  “Those teams didn’t have the talent to beat them (the Gophers),” Dutcher said. “It’s hard to read this team.”

Dutcher pointed out that the Gophers overwhelmed many teams with their defense, including full court pressure, turning miscues into points.  When Minnesota played teams with “decent” guard play, Dutcher said, the results were different at Florida State and UNLV.

Still, Dutcher likes the Gophers’ improvement from last season and praises the better defense and aggressive rebounding.  He said Minnesota’s talent is better than Purdue and “at least as good” as Illinois.

At home the Gophers could be a difficult team to beat. But Dutcher said Michigan State “will be a handful” even at Williams Arena. “They’re capable of beating every other team in the conference here,” he added.

Dutcher said Minnesota’s three senior starters, forward Dan Coleman, center Spencer Tollackson and guard Lawrence McKenzie must lead the team. Coleman, 6-9, is a difficult match up, able to shoot inside, outside and drive to the basket.  Tollackson will likely be featured more in the offense during the conference season and McKenzie may not score as much as last season (despite shooting being his strength) because of his new point guard responsibilities.  All three must play more consistently than in past seasons for the Gophers to do any memorable dancing.

Dean Dalton, the former Vikings assistant coach, hosts an NFL show on Sirius Satellite Radio on Saturdays from 7 to 10 a.m. Minneapolis time.  This Saturday guests will include former Vikings’ head coach Mike Tice, now an assistant with Jacksonville, and former Vikings’ defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell, an assistant with San Diego.  Both interviews will be timely as Jacksonville plays at Pittsburgh on Saturday, and San Diego hosts Tennessee on Sunday in first round playoff games.

Vikings’ coach Brad Childress answered with humor yesterday at his press conference when asked if he had more fun this season than last. “I am better medicated this year,” he joked.

Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is the Associated Press 2007 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. He received 46.5 of the 50 possible votes by a nationwide panel of media members who cover the NFL. During the season Peterson broke all Vikings rookie rushing records and set an NFL record for rushing yards in a game with 296 against San Diego. Peterson led the NFC and was second in the NFL in rushing with 1,341 yards.

Vikings linebacker Ben Leber said on Wednesday he’s headed home for San Diego to play golf, relax and wait for the birth of his first child due in early June.  He said the team’s five game win streak showed the “potential” of the Vikings.

Placekicker Ryan Longwell said the Vikings, who finished 6-10 in 2006, made progress in 2007.  Results included the five game winning streak, an 8-8 record and a near playoff miss.  He said the team showed “character to get back in the mix” this season. “I am not sure the group we had last year (2006) would have done that,” he said.

Safety Darren Sharper predicts New England and Dallas will play in the Super Bowl, and said “it might be closer than people think.”  New England, 16-0, figures to be a big point spread favorite against Dallas, 13-3, if the two teams play in the Super Bowl.  Sharper emphasized the importance of home field advantage as one reason he believes Dallas will win the NFC playoffs.  The Cowboys will play at home for all their NFC playoff games.

Sharper, 32, starts his 12^th NFL season in 2008.  He would “love” to finish his career with the Vikings and said the fans have “embraced” him similarly to when he played in Green Bay.

Linebacker Chad Greenway said the Vikings’ statistical ranking of last in NFL pass defense, giving up 264.1 yards per game, is misleading.  Teams threw more times, 646, against Minnesota than any other team in the league.

Greenway and other Vikings expressed confidence that Minnesota is close to being a playoff team, a better group than the 8-8 record this season may suggest.  “I don’t think we’re too far away,” Greenway said.

Now that the season is over Greenway will be celebrating Christmas in the days ahead with friends and family in South Dakota and Illinois.

Defensive tackle Kevin Williams, who plays in the Pro Bowl on February 10 for a third time, is headed home to the Little Rock area.  He will lift weights and a few times per week spend 30 minutes or more on a treadmill to stay in shape for the Pro Bowl. Among the best tackles in the NFL, Williams isn’t complacent. “If you ain’t’ trying to get better, you ain’t going to get better,” he said.

Asked what his plans were for January, punter Chris Kluwe said, “try not to freeze to death.”   He plans to pass time playing video games “all day” and taking care of his two dogs. Kluwe will be in the Minneapolis area until visiting family in California next month.  He won’t start punting again until March or April.

Prep basketball expert Ken Lien rates the state’s top 10 boys’ teams each week.  His rankings as of Sunday were: Minnetonka, Hopkins, Osseo, Cretin-Derham Hall, Shakopee, Tartan, Benilde-St. Margaret, Cooper, Eastview, and St. Michael-Albertville.  Lien, who is the Mr. Basketball chair, will consider teams for his top 10 regardless of school enrollment and Minnesota State High School League classification.  Class A 2007 state tournament runner-up Cass Lake-Bena was in his top 10 until losing last week to Crosby-Ironton and has scored over 100 points in three of the last four games.  Cass Lake-Bena plays a team from Tennessee (White Station) in the Gatorade Timberwolves Shootout on Saturday at Target Center and February 2 is at Hopkins.

Twins president Dave St. Peter reported via e-mail earlier this week that the new downtown stadium will be used for more than baseball after it opens in 2010.  “A wide variety of uses” will include business conferences, weddings and reunions.  Many events, including those mentioned, will utilize interior spaces such as the stadium’s clubs and restaurants.  The stadium may host concerts and certainly will be the site of both amateur and professional baseball, according to St. Peter.  Other sports events are possible but the Twins will be protective of the natural grass playing surface in making decisions.

The Timberwolves are giving away commemorative coffee mugs featuring rookies Corey Brewer and Chris Richard to the first 2,500 fans on Sunday for the Dallas game.  The 2:30 p.m. game is being promoted as Rookie Day and fans also receive a $1 off coupon for a Caribou latte.  The Wolves play Denver at home tonight.

There’s a lot of conversation about the Wolves promising young players but so far there’s only one player who’s proven he can help elevate Minnesota to elite NBA status, forward Al Jefferson.  He is fourth in the league in rebounding at 12.2 and a top 25 scorer at 20.6.

Minnesota Wild president and general manager Doug Risebrough and head coach Jacques Lemaire announced that defenseman Nick Schultz will serve as team captain for the month of January.  Brian Rolston and Kim Johnsson will be alternate captains this month.

Minnesota Thunder head coach Amos Magee and the U.S. Macabbi men’s soccer team won the gold medal Wednesday at the Pan American Maccabi Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  The U.S. team defeated Argentina 2-0 in the gold medal game. Thunder defender Kevin Friedland scored a goal and had an assist. Magee was named head coach of the team in March.  The tournament, one of two major tournaments for Jewish athletes every four years, began December 24 and ended earlier this week.

Three players who signed national letters of intent in November to play for the Gophers’ hockey team have been named to the USA Hockey Under-18 Team. Roseau’s Sarah Erickson, Eagan’s Alyssa Grogan and St. Cloud’s Anne Schleper will compete with the Under-18 Team, January 7-12 in Calgary, Alberta at the 2008 IIHF World Women’s Under-18 Championships. The three will play against Russia on January 7, Switzerland on January 8 and Sweden on January 9. The bronze and gold medal games are scheduled for January 12.