Author: David Shama

Peter King of Sports Illustrated ranked the NFL’s top 500 players before the season started.  Colt quarterback Peyton Manning was first and Kevin Williams of the Vikings No. 14.  Minneapolis native Larry Fitzgerald, wide receiver with the Cardinals, ranked No. 58.  Former Gopher running backs Laurence Maroney and Marion Barber III ranked 115 and 260.  Former Vikings Randy Moss and Daunte Culpepper were 246 and 306, while Viking quarterback Tarvaris Jackson ranked 321.

Tied at five: Combining pre-season and one regular season game the Vikings defense and offense have each scored five touchdowns.

The Vikings have dominated their series with the Lions and have a couple of streaks going into Sunday’s 3:05 p.m. game in Detroit.  The Vikings are 60-29-2 all-time against Detroit and have won 10 straight, the longest winning streak by an NFL team against an opponent. The Vikings are 5-0 in Ford Field, the Lions new home stadium since 2002.

Lions offensive coordinator and former Ram coach Mike Martz was an assistant coach for head coach Joe Salem with the Gophers in 1982.

Current and former Vikings will attend the annual Taste of the NFL Celebrity Dinner from 6 to 9 p.m. on Monday, October 1 at Winter Park (Field House).  The public can enjoy food from 20 area restaurants and sample quality wines. Tickets are $160 per person or a table for 10 is $1,500.  Ticket information: 612-338-4537 or www.tasteofthenfl.org. Net proceeds benefit Hunger Solutions Minnesota through the Viking Childrens Fund.

The Minnesota Wild will host a State of Hockey Celebration in the Rotunda at the Mall of America from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday. The event commemorates the start of the hockey season and various attractions will include interactive games. Marian Gaborik and Mark Parrish are scheduled for an appearance from to 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. and will model a new team jersey.

Single game Minnesota Wild tickets go on sale Saturday.  Tickets are available in all price categories.  Tickets can be purchased at the Xcel Energy Center box office starting at 9 a.m. or at Ticketmaster locations beginning at noon.

Gustavus Adolphus junior wide receiver Chad Arlt, Saint John’s senior running back Aaron Blackmore, Bethel sophomore cornerback Tim Cornish and St. Olaf  sophomore defensive back Carson Jones have been named MIAC football players of the week.  Achievements included Arlt catching a school record 15 passes that resulted in 221 yards (Gustavus record 228).

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. …”