Author: David Shama

Zygi Wilf has said he won’t move the Vikings to another city.  Let’s take him at his word but there are knowledgeable sources who believe that if the state doesn’t grant the Vikings owner a new stadium he may sell to someone who will move the franchise.

The push for a stadium is based on franchise revenues being among the lowest in the NFL for many years.  While ticket prices are higher than many franchises, the Vikings don’t have the auxiliary income such as game day parking and extensive club seating that other teams benefit from.

There was an announcement last week from state political leaders that a new retractable roof stadium on the Metrodome site is doubtful for the 2008 legislative agenda.  This came as a disappointment to those who want to ensure that the Vikings play here beyond 2011 when their Metrodome lease expires. If a new stadium isn’t approved until 2009 the cost will increase by about $40 million or more, according to a source.  Each year there is no decision to build a stadium increases the cost by at least that much.

Approving a stadium in 2009, 2010 or beyond is a longer timeline than Wilf and the NFL want to experience.  Even if they wait for a new facility, revenues are likely to decline even further while the Vikings play in the new Gopher stadium that offers about 14,000 fewer seats than the Metrodome.

Wilf bought the team for about $600 million. He can profit from appreciation by one day selling the club. The franchise is worth $782 million now, according to forbes.com, the Web site that placed valuations on all NFL teams earlier this year.

Wilf and family members have been pro football fans for a long while and they enjoy owning the Vikings.  A source told me that former owner Red McCombs was interested in moving the team before he sold to Wilf.  He doesn’t believe Wilf will move the Vikings but that he might sell it rather than lose money.

The NFL is pushing for stadiums in Minneapolis and in California including San Francisco and San Diego.  Los Angeles has been looking for a team since 1995 but the nation’s second largest market hasn’t made progress in building a stadium.  Toronto might be a possible contender for the Vikings franchise, perhaps Las Vegas, too.

Building a stadium here or elsewhere has pretty much become a billion dollar project. That will result in a lot of potential push back from the citizenry, although here the project might work with a small increase in the state sales tax, or creation of a metro sales tax.  Sales tax monies could be designated not only for the Vikings stadium but for roads and other projects.

It looks like it will take the “C” word to force the issue here.  The crisis is coming for those who want the new stadium and those who don’t want to be blamed if there is no facility and the Vikings leave town.  It’s hard to believe that an entity as popular as the Vikings and so much a part of the culture since 1961 will one day skip town.  Then again, L.A. is working on a 13 year NFL drought and a lot of pro football fans would love to welcome Adrian Peterson and friends to southern California.

The Gopher basketball team won’t play again until Saturday, December 22 against Santa Clara at Williams Arena.  Coach Tubby Smith promised Wednesday night that in the days ahead his team won’t forget its last game, a close call win over a 3-6 South Dakota State team.

The Gophers led 38-37 at halftime Wednesday night.  The score was close throughout a game where the teams shared the lead.  There was nothing close about the rebounding, though, as the Jackrabbits were 15 boards better than the Gophers.

Smith didn’t like that disparity and some other failings of his team. He did, however, value the 78-72 win and why not?  The Gophers, now 7-1, figure to go into the Big Ten Conference season next month at 10-2 or 11-1.  A loss to South Dakota State could have been damaging to a possible NCAA tournament invitation in March.

Smith said the Gophers need to be “mentally focused” and must respect the opponent.  The Gophers can expect to hear about the Jackrabbits as they prepare for Santa Clara.  “Oh, they won’t forget this one,” Smith said.  “We would rather learn this lesson with a win, than a loss. …”

Gopher senior forward Dan Coleman, who led the team in scoring with 24 points,        said the South Dakota State game will probably “sharpen up practice for the next two weeks.”   Senior guard Lawrence McKenzie was asked if the Gophers had too much confidence going into the game.  “I think we kind of did,” he said.  “When you’re winning and you beat a team by large amounts, it’s easy to get over confident. …”

Minnesota has won three games by 30 points or more this season. Two other wins have been by at least 17 points.

President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has moved the country increasingly toward dictatorship but the Minnesota Twins continue to operate their baseball academy in the South American nation.  “Baseball seems to be immune from a lot of the impact of the Chavez regime,” said Twins general manager Bill Smith.  “We have American players down there playing in the Winter League right now.  They’re doing great.  They’re being well cared for.  We’ve never had a problem in Venezuela. …”

The Twins have agreed to terms with shortstop Adam Everett on a one-year contract for the 2008 season. Everett, 30, was limited to 66 games with Houston last season after suffering a fractured right fibula on June 14.  He batted .232 (51-for-220) with 11 doubles, one triple, two home runs and 15 RBI.  Everett played in 302 games over the 2005 and 2006 seasons.  He has a career batting average of .248.

The Chicago Bears should still be annoyed by the 361 all-purpose yards (rushing, receiving and kickoff returns) Adrian Peterson put on them in Chicago earlier this season.  He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for that performance.  His honors so far also include NFL Rookie of the Month for both September and October.  Also, he made the mid-season all-pro teams named by Pro Football Weekly and Sports Illustrated.

Peterson and Chester Taylor can move closer to the team’s all-time single season rushing yardage record for two backs when the Vikings play the Bears at home on Monday night. They have 1,916 combined rushing yards, second to Robert Smith and Daunte Culpepper’s 1,991 yards in 2000.

The Vikings defeated the Bears 34-31 in October, and coach Brad Childress said this week “it’s hard to beat somebody twice.”  The only team the Vikings have defeated two times in the last two seasons is Detroit last year.

The Vikings have won four in a row and shown improvement including offensively.  “We can get better in a whole myriad of areas,” Childress said. “I am not going to share what our shortcomings are with everybody.”

The Vikings-Redskins game originally scheduled for noon on Sunday, December 23 will start at 7:15 p.m. so that it can be televised across the country on NBC.

Here are names that may come up with the Michigan football opening:  Brian Kelly of Cincinnati, Greg Schiano of Rutgers, Jeff Tedford of California, Les Miles of LSU and Charlie Strong of Florida.  All are head coaches except Strong, the defensive coordinator for the Gators.  Will former Gopher coach Glen Mason be a candidate for the job at SMU?  Former Gopher administrator Jeff Schemmel is the athletic director at San Diego State but he’s not looking for a football coach right now.  Chuck Long, the former Oklahoma assistant, has completed only two seasons in San Diego.

The Big Ten Conference isn’t likely to have any football job openings in 2008 but there could be two or three in 2009, depending how the next two seasons develop.

Tubby Smith’s Fox Sports Net North TV show last night included a segment on Gopher basketball and baseball public address announcer Dick Jonckowski.

The Gophers used to favor gold uniforms but coaches can be superstitious and the team is undefeated at home this season wearing white uniforms.  The Gophers may wear gold for a big game in the future.

In the student section someone held up this sign on Wednesday night in Williams Arena, a commentary on the contract Smith signed earlier in the week: “$13 million and worth every penny.”

The recent Wild About Children event, presented by R.F. Moeller Jeweler, raised $180,000 for Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota.  That’s the highest total in the event’s four years and nearly double last year’s record of $93,000. Wild players waited on tables and visited with the 200 guests at the sold-out event in the Pazzaluna Urban Italian Restaurant in St. Paul.

Bethel’s best football season in school history ended last Saturday when the Royals lost to defending national champion Mount Union, 62-14 in the semifinals of the NCAA Division III playoffs. The Royals set school records for most games played (14), most wins (12), most playoff wins (three) and most consecutive wins (12) in a season.