Author: David Shama

It will be a surprise to many if Tarvaris Jackson doesn’t start at quarterback for the Vikings when they resume play on Sunday, October 14 in Chicago against the Bears.  The guess here, too, is that Jackson starts the rest of the schedule if he avoids injury.

Jackson made a favorable impression in the season’s first game, a 24-3 win over Atlanta, but not so positive in game two against Detroit when he threw four interceptions in a 20-17 road loss.  While Jackson has been recovering from his groin injury, Kelly Holcomb hasn’t done enough to win the quarterback job in losses to Kansas City and Green Bay when the offense produced just two touchdowns.  Holcomb was off target with passes and at times appeared slow to make his throws.

Jackson, 24, represents an investment by team management who made an effort to scout and choose him in the second round of the 2006 draft.  He also brings an  athleticism to the position that most pro quarterbacks don’t have.  Whether he can consistently play with poise, put more touch on his passes and make other improvements will have much to do with whether the Vikings can move toward a .500 or better season after their 1-3 start, plus create more box office interest in the team.

Encouraging is the improvement in athleticism the Vikings have made in their offensive personnel from last season.  Jackson is night and day compared with 39-year-old Brad Johnson.  While Chester Taylor remains in the plan at running back, coach Brad Childress is going to alternate him with explosive rookie touchdown maker Adrian Peterson, fifth in the NFL in rushing after four games.

Rookie wide receiver Sidney Rice made an athletic, leaping catch in the end zone for the Vikings’ only touchdown on Sunday against the Packers.  Gone from last season’s team are wide receivers Billy McMullen and Marcus Robinson.  Jim Kleinsasser has been replaced at tight end by Visanthe Shiancoe, a much more elusive runner.

While the Vikings continue to have more than half a million Minnesotans following them in the media each week, ticket sales are less than in the past when the franchise was selling out the Metrodome.  A source reported that the next home games, against Philadelphia on October 28 and San Diego on November 4, aren’t sold out. Without advance sellouts, the games will not be televised locally.

Local TV executives, advertisers and Viking officials had to be pleased with last Sunday’s season high TV rating.  With a border rival game and Brett Favre going for an NFL career record 421^st  touchdown pass, the game had a 37.9 rating in this market (compared with 28, 30.5 and 26.6 ratings for the first three games).  A rating point is a percentage of households watching a particular program.  More than half a million people followed the game on TV alone, not to mention other electronic and print media.

Kevin McHale told Sports Headliners recently that he doesn’t feel an “urge” to sign Al Jefferson to a new contract before the season starts but that a deal in October rather than later could be comforting to the Timberwolves’ star forward.  NBA policy allows negotiations this month but if a new contract isn’t agreed to then talks must stop until next summer.  Jefferson makes about $1.6 million, according to espn.com, and he is a restricted free agent after the 2007-2008 season.

On a team searching for leadership, on-court production and ticket sales, Jefferson, who is heading into his fourth NBA season, jumps to the head of the Timberwolves’ line. Conversation about the summer trade that sent Kevin Garnett to Boston for five players often starts with the 22-year-old Jefferson who has by far the most impressive NBA career numbers.  Last year was a coming of age season for the 6-foot-10, 265-pound Jefferson as he produced double figure averages in points (16) and rebounds (11).

McHale, vice president of basketball operations, had yet to speak with Jefferson’s agent about a new contract as of last week.  He has talked to Jefferson about leadership and what’s expected of him on the floor.

“I hope that we can agree to something and get something done,” McHale said.  “…We have right of first refusal next summer.  We can match any offers and stuff.  I don’t know (that) there’s an absolute urge.

“I would like to get something done for Al’s peace of mind, to be truthful. The numbers that you’re going to be talking are a lot of money and a ton of security for a young guy.  And sometimes with that security you can say, ‘Okay, I am going to be here’ and you can relax a little bit.  So I would like to get something done for Al’s sake.”

A power forward, Jefferson will play some center, according to McHale.  The Wolves, who like most NBA teams don’t have a dominant center, are likely to use Jefferson at center when other teams put a smaller lineup on the floor.  That’s not unlike how the Wolves adjusted when Garnett was here but a difference is that Jefferson favors a low post game.  Jefferson will “go to the hole” and try to make “lay-ups,” according to McHale.

Jefferson was seventh in the league in rebounding last season.  The Wolves were an average rebounding team and Jefferson will be counted on to help returning starting center Mark Blount who averaged 6.2 rebounds per game, 39^th best in the NBA. McHale described Blount’s season as “great” through the first 50 games but said “his productivity slid” in the last part of the season. Blount averaged a career high 12.3 points per game and shot over 50 percent from the floor for a fourth consecutive season.

Minnesota Wild president Doug Risebrough and coach Jacques Lemaire announced yesterday that forward Pavol Demitra will serve as team captain for the month of October.  Brian Rolston and Wes Walz will serve as permanent alternate captains.

The Wild will see if it can continue its mastery of the Chicago Blackhawks at the home and season opener Thursday night.  The Wild swept the four game series last season, won two pre-season games this year and is 17-6-l all-time in regular season games.

There’s talk that the locker rooms in the new TCF Bank Stadium will be named after former Gopher coach Murray Warmath who won the school’s last national championship in 1960.

What the new Big Ten Network means to fans with cable television here is that the Gopher road games the next two Saturdays at Indiana and Northwestern will not be seen on their TV sets.  In past seasons most Big Ten Conference football games were televised even if the telecasts were via ESPN-Plus.

The Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission has approved a 10-city listening tour regarding the Minnesota Vikings’ stadium needs.  The tour will gather citizenry input starting with Duluth on October 23 and continue outstate until November 14 when there will be a meeting in Minneapolis.

Although the New York Mets blew their opportunity to make the playoffs, second baseman Luis Castillo was productive the last month of the season.  Castillo, traded by the Twins in late July, hit .316 during September and .364 in the last 10 games of the season.

Left fielder Jason Kubel closed fast for the Twins, too. He hit .364 in August, .325 in September. His finished with a .273 average and major league career bests in homeruns, 13, and RBI, 65.  

The Twins tied a franchise record this year by drawing over two million people for a third consecutive season.  When the franchise starts playing in the new outdoor ballpark in 2010 the Twins are likely to draw around three million (a total exceeded only once in club history).  At the old Met Stadium, playing outdoors, the Twins never drew two million in a single season.