Author: David Shama

The answers to the trivia questions are:

1. Sports Headliners couldn’t resist this one.  On Monday night quarterback Tarvaris Jackson and running back Adrian Peterson banged knees so hard on a handoff both had to leave the game.

2. At the beginning of the 50th season the Golden Gophers (honest) had sent the Vikings the most players, 28.  Southern California was next at 26.

3. Vikings guard Randall McDaniel was selected 11 times for the Pro Bowl.

4. Joe Kapp left the Canadian Football League to become coach Bud Grant’s quarterback and he led the Vikings to the 1970 Super Bowl.

5. Randy Moss uttered those infamous words, “I play when I want to play,” during his first tour of duty with the Vikings.  Guess he doesn’t want to play this year because he’s been with three teams, the Patriots, Vikings and Titans.

6. Tommy Kramer was the highest-rated quarterback in the NFL for the 1986 season and was named Comeback Player of the Year.  He threw for 490 yards in a game against Washington.

7. Joe Senser’s local sports bars have kept the former Vikings tight end’s name in front of the public for years.

8. In 1962 the Vikings played an exhibition game at Parade Stadium and in 1969 played a regular season game at Memorial Stadium.

9. Leslie Frazier started the football program at Trinity College (Illinois) in 1988 and was head coach there through the 1996 season.

10. Adrian Peterson led the NFL in rushing in 2008, his second season in the league.

11. Last year’s regular season record was 12-4, the franchise’s best record of the decade.  Sounds pretty sweet compared with this year’s 5-8 record with three games to play.

12. Fran Tarkenton played college football at the University of Georgia and was a third round draft choice of the Vikings in 1961.

13. Robert Smith, who rates with the best Vikings running backs ever, is an in-studio college football analyst for ESPN.

14. Sid Hartman, the local newspaper columnist and radio personality, met Bud Grant back in the 1940s and was Grant’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in Canton, Ohio in 1994.

15. Fred Cox, with 1,365 points, is the all-time leading scorer for the Vikings and Cris Carter, with 670, ranks second.

16. Brett Favre was a 1991 second round draft choice of Atlanta and was with the Falcons for one season.

17. The Vikings defeated Tampa Bay, 17-10, in their first regular season game ever played at the Metrodome.

18. Bill Brown, a bow-legged, violent runner, was known as “Boom Boom” and played for the Vikings from 1962-1974.

19. The Vikings lost in Super Bowl IX to Pittsburgh by a score of 16-6, their closest loss in four Super Bowl defeats.

20. Jerry Burns, Vikings head coach from 1986-1991, was a look-a-like for the late Burgess Meredith who had a long career film including the “Rocky” movies.

21. Defensive tackle Pat Williams has a passion for automobiles including customizing cars.

22. The Vikings lost to Tampa Bay, 27-24, for their only loss during their 15-1 regular season in 1998.

23. Vikings executive Mike Lynn was the franchise’s boss for years including in 1989 when the Vikings sent five players and future draft picks to Dallas for Herschel Walker and also received draft choices as part of the deal, the biggest in NFL history.

24. Minneapolis-born Marc Trestman, who played college football with Tony Dungy at Minnesota and now coaches in Canada, tried twice to make the Vikings roster as a defensive back before deciding to attend law school at the University of Miami.

25. Pete Bercich, who played for the Vikings from 1995-2000, provides game analysis on the radio with play-by-play man Paul Allen.

Sorry to disappoint those who believe it was a conspiracy but the collapse of the Metrodome roof was not scripted to assist the Vikings stadium campaign.

That’s ridiculous but so, too, is taking an “Aw, shucks” attitude about the tear in the roof that caused the Vikings-Giants game, scheduled for yesterday in the dome, to be moved to Detroit.  The hole in the roof is the latest indictment about the antiquated facility that the Vikings have said needs to be replaced.

This is not how the NFL, the most successful of all professional leagues, operates.  Not by a long shot, having to move a game on less than 48 hours notice to another state.  With that move came notice that Vikings ticket holders can enjoy preferred seating in Detroit’s Ford Field while local residents will be admitted free.

The NFL doesn’t like to disappoint fans, TV executives and advertisers.  It certainly doesn’t want to see fans or stadium workers placed in peril because of infrastructure problems with a facility.

The blizzard that caused the roof to collapse was unusual but a fixed roof facility with modern technology would be expected to withstand such a development.  The dome is a relic that doesn’t provide the reliability, revenue streams and fan comforts that are expected in today’s NFL.

These points will surely be made next year when the Vikings and others who support a multiple use covered facility campaign for a new stadium in the legislature.  In a statement yesterday, Lester Bagley, the Vikings stadium development leader said:

“The Vikings main concern is the safety of our fans and those working within the Metrodome — fortunately, there were no injuries when the roof collapsed.  It is not appropriate to discuss the new stadium issue today.  Those conversations will occur in due time.”

As they should.

Listen up, local sports fans, it’s time to show more love toward Kevin Love.

The Wolves marketers have concocted more ticket bargains than any franchise in town but there are still a lot of empty seats in Target Center for Timberwolves games.  Those unfilled seats are commentary by a disinterested public that has watched the Wolves make an annual habit of losing records and missing the playoffs, but this year’s model is better and nobody deserves attention more than Love, the 22-year-old power forward who leads the NBA in rebounding.

In his third NBA season Love is averaging 15.6 rebounds per game.  He has a single game high of 31 on a night last month when he also scored 31 points.  It was the first 30-30 performance in the league since 1982.  “This guy is one of the greatest rebounders ever to play this game,” said Jim Petersen, the Wolves TV analyst, during a game last week.

At least for now that might be beyond where some observers would go, but heed this: No NBA player has averaged more than 16 rebounds since Dennis Rodman (16.1) did so during the 1996-97 season.  Love is also second on the team in scoring, averaging 20.5  points per game, and is also a creative and unselfish passer.

But what makes insiders gush about Love is he’s a modest young man with values as worthy of praise as his impressive rebounding totals.  I’ve never been around him, seen him on TV or heard him on the radio when he hasn’t been cordial.  He even thanks the media for interviewing him.

This fall he’s promoting his annual coat drive for the disadvantaged, partnering with Comcast and the Salvation Army.  Fans can bring new or “gently” used coats to any of eight metro-area drop-off locations, including the Target Center Box Office and Comcast service centers.  The drive ends Friday.

In the NBA some players have been known for their police record or number of children they fathered with different women.  On-court stats have been nice but in their personal lives the facts don’t always look so good.

Get out and see Love.  Applaud him for his basketball skills, the all-out effort he’s giving to help transform the Wolves into a better team, and for being a welcome addition to this community.