Author: David Shama

If Tarvaris Jackson’s role is not to mess up (and it is), then the Vikings second year quarterback did okay in the third regular season start of his NFL career yesterday at the Metrodome as the Vikings offense produced one touchdown and the defense two in a 24-3 opening day win over Atlanta.  The test may become more challenging next Sunday when the 24-year-old Jackson starts his second career regular season road game when the Vikings play in Detroit’s Ford Field.

The game will be the Lions’ home opener. Detroit probably will be performing with confidence after defeating Oakland 36-21.  Playing in a loud dome like Ford Field will test Jackson’s composure.  In the Vikings-Atlanta game the crowd seemed to bother the Falcons who had consecutive false starts in the second half.  In the first half Falcon quarterback Joey Harrington apparently called a timeout because of crowd noise.

“It was loud out there and you really can’t hear anything,” said Roddy White, Falcons wide receiver. “You gotta learn to deal with it. … Probably the loudest stadium I’ve ever been in so far.”

Jackson completed 13 of 23 passes, including a 60 yard swing pass that went for a touchdown to rookie running back Adrian Peterson.  Jackson threw one interception, made a second half scramble for a first down and looked composed.  He over threw some receivers, used mostly short and intermediate passes, and was careful not to run when he shouldn’t. Former Viking Mike Morris, now a KFAN Radio personality, said Jackson’s performance didn’t surprise him.

“He’s still over throwing that long ball,” Morris told Sports Headliners.  “He missed Sidney Rice, led him out of bounds over near the Falcon bench. Troy Williamson, over threw him. He was open over on the Viking bench.  Some of the intermediate stuff was good to see, but he’s got to sharpen up. …”

Morris said Jackson is “struggling with his defensive reads.”  He described Jackson’s passes as “too flat, too hard and needs to put some arc on the ball,” and give receivers more opportunity to get under the ball.

Falcon cornerback DeAngelo Hall said Jackson is a “hell of an athlete” and liked the Viking quarterback’s performance. “Well, I think it was good,” Hall said.  “They didn’t ask him to do too much. They were able to run the ball pretty much at will. I think Chester Taylor going out (with an injury) kind of hurt us a little bit.  Adrian Peterson is a bigger style of back and just was able to run the ball and deliver the blow all day.” 

What does Morris think about Jackson playing in Detroit? “Well, no. 1 it’s the first away game for him to get under his belt,” Morris answered. “He’s going to have to pick it up.  He’s going to have to work on a lot of different things. He had two or three passes (today) that he threw where they shouldn’t have gone, almost picked off. …”

Will Jackson be nervous next Sunday? “Oh, yeah, absolutely,” Morris said  “That’s what makes it work, though.  Fear and desire are two sides of the same coin.  They really are.”

If it’s comforting, at least Jackson can know Ford Field isn’t as noisy as the Metrodome, according to White.  “I’ve played in Ford Field but it wasn’t as loud as this right here,” White said.

Despite off-season defections to NHL organizations, most observers remain optimistic about Gopher hockey for the 2007-2008 season.  It’s not a positive to lose underclassmen Erik Johnson, Alex Goligoski and Jim O’Brien but the Gophers returning and incoming players are so numerous and talented that even national championship speculation isn’t unreasonable.

Former Gopher coach Glen Sonmor, now a WCCO radio color commentator on Minnesota broadcasts, thinks the Gophers, who last year won a second consecutive WCHA championship and were a top five ranked team nationally, will be “awfully good” again. Five of last season’s leading scorers, all forwards, return.  Included in the group are the two top scorers, leading scorer Jay Barriball and Kyle Okposo (all conference as a freshman).

“The Gophers have got just a tremendous depth at forward coming back,” Sonmor said. “Proven scorers and everything.  That’s not a problem at all for them. Their problem is going to be they lost their three top defensemen (Johnson, Goligoski and Mike Vannelli) and they were just tremendous defensemen. …”

The Gophers have minimal experienced defensemen with returnees like senior David Fischer and sophomore Derek Peltier and Sonmor is optimistic about newcomer Cade Fairchild, a freshman from Duluth who has drawn talk of being a No. 1 NHL draft choice.  Optimism about defense includes the return of senior goalie Jeff Frazee who could be among the best at his position in college hockey.

“They’re going to be very, very good,” Sonmor said. “I don’t think they’re going to start the season off 22-2 or something like they have the last couple years but I think that might be good if they don’t, and they may be coming really strong a little later in the year.  They got a tremendous boost when Kyle Okposo decided to come back.  I think he’s going to immediately become a Hobey Baker candidate.  I think he probably should have been one last year to tell you the truth. …”

Coach Don Lucia and the Gophers open their season next month in the College Hockey Ice Breaker Invitational at Xcel Energy Center.  Can the schedule eventually include winning the national championship?  Sonmor thinks it’s a possibility but cautions about injuries and how the seeding develops in the NCAA playoffs. “I always admire Don Lucia, the way he puts it,” Sonmor said.  “He says…you know sometimes you win when maybe you weren’t the best team, and sometimes you lose when you were the best team. It takes a whole combination of things to win the championship. …”  

The Gopher hockey team (see above) plays RPI in the Ice Breaker Invitational starting at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, October 12.  Also in the tournament and playing earlier that night are Michigan and Boston College.  Tickets for the two-day tourney are available at the Xcel Energy Center Box Office, all Ticketmaster locations, charge by phone at (651) 989-5151 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.

Although he is an older player at almost 35, the Vikings were willing to sign defensive tackle Pat Williams to a three year contract extension because of both his ability and durability.  He has started 33 consecutive games for the team since coming here from Buffalo.  After last season he and sidekick defensive tackle Kevin Williams both played in the Pro Bowl.  In Vikings history the only pair of defensive tackles to earn that honor together were Alan Page and Gary Larsen (1969 and 1970).

Gopher kicker Jason Giannini missed three field goals in Saturday’s win over Miami of Ohio.  A junior with game experience, Giannini is expected to perform better and coach Tim Brewster said on WCCO radio yesterday he’s considering a change in kickers.

The Gophers started their 2007 schedule as the only team in the country to have both rushed and passed for over 2,000 yards in each of the past eight seasons (1999-2006). During that period the Gophers averaged 227.8 yards rushing and 230.8 yards passing per game.  Minnesota has rushed for 246 and 306 yards and passed for 188 and 271 yards in its first two games, putting the Gophers on pace to extend the streak to nine seasons.

Minneapolis area native David Gilreath, who started his high school career at Washburn and finished at Armstrong, is returning kickoffs for Wisconsin as a true freshman. He ran one kickoff back for 37 yards last Saturday against UNLV.

Defenseman John Scott, 6-8, 247, and left wing Derek Boogaard, 6-7, 254, are the two biggest players on the Minnesota Wild training camp roster. Right wing Pierre-Marc Bouchard, 5-10, 162, is the smallest.  The Wild open training camp on Friday.

The Wild will scrimmage on Sunday, September 16 at the White Bear Lake Sports Center (1328 Highway 96) starting at 11 a.m.  Dominic Nardini, a Bantam from White Bear Lake, was the winner of last season’s Hockey Day Minnesota “How I Show My Sportsmanship” essay contest and won the right to have the sports center host a Wild preseason scrimmage this season.  There is no admission charge for the scrimmage and it’s open to the public.

Rob Leer’s company, Leer Communication & Consultants, is the media relations liaison for the Minnesota Ballpark Authority that is overseeing the construction and management of the new baseball stadium.  Leer is a former sports and investigative reporter for KSTP TV.

Tennis fans across the country get excited watching the U.S. Open but the big stars seldom play in cities like Minneapolis because they aren’t interested in exhibitions or they want appearance fees that are too much for promoters to accept.  Star players could help tennis by coming to communities like ours.