Author: David Shama

If NFL.com’s mock draft is correct, the Vikings’ NFC North Division rivals will do them no favors during the first round of the college draft on April 25.  Analyst Pat Kirwan has Detroit, Chicago and Green Bay, who all draft players on the first round before the Vikings, choosing offensive tackles.

Right offensive tackle is arguably the Vikings’ biggest need in the draft but picking at No. 22 makes coach Brad Childress and company late to the party.  Detroit, with the first choice in the draft, will take Baylor offensive tackle Jason Smith, according to Kirwan. Green Bay, at No. 9, will pick Alabama’s Andre Smith, while Chicago, with the No. 18 choice, will go for a third offensive tackle, Arizona’s Eben Britton.

Further thinning the offensive tackle pool, St. Louis and San Francisco will also take offensive tackles before the Vikings pick comes up at No. 22, according to Kirwan’s predictions.  The Rams will draft Virginia’s Eugene Moore with the No. 2 pick, while the 49ers are projected to choose Mississippi’s Michael Oher at No. 10, according to https://www.nfl.com/draft/story?id=09000d5d80f330d5&template=without-video-with-comments&confirm=true&campaign=Google_MockDraft

With perhaps five of the first 21 picks being offensive tackles, common sense speculation is the Vikings will try to fill another major need, wide receiver.  A popular prediction on multiple mock drafts, including by Kirwan, is that the Vikings will choose Florida junior wide receiver Percy Harvin.

Don Banks wrote this comment about Harvin as part of his draft preview for Sports Illustrated/CNN: “Having come close but failing to land T.J. Houshmandzadeh in free agency, the Vikings need an injection of play-making at receiver.  Harvin and North Carolina’s Hakeem Nicks are the two best remaining available pass-catchers.”

Banks has Texas Tech’s Michael Crabtree, projected to Oakland at No. 7, Missouri’s Jeremy Maclin, at No. 16 going to San Diego, and Maryland’s Darrius Heyward-Bey, a No. 17 pick by the Jets, being the first three wide receivers selected in the draft.  More at https://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/don_banks/03/12/mock1/index.html

Harvin is small for a wide receiver, perhaps generously listed at 5-11, and has a reputation for injuries, but his speed and elusiveness have been impressing since high school in Virginia where some considered him the best prep prospect in the country.  Harvin may not only help the Vikings have a second reliable big play receiver with Bernard Berrian, he could take handoffs as a running back, and probably more likely return punts or kickoffs.

The Gophers baseball team opens its Big Ten Conference season tomorrow at Indiana and coach John Anderson knows that almost for sure this is his last spring with a junior center fielder whose athleticism sometimes amazes him.  Eric Decker likely will pass up his final baseball season in 2010, by then having chosen a pro baseball or football career.

The Gophers, 13-6 in non-conference games and ranked No. 25 nationally by Baseball America, have a roster mostly of players who even coming out of high school were pre-determined to play for Anderson.  Not so with Decker, though.  He had played baseball for Rocori High, basketball too, but football was the sport he made all-state and produced a football scholarship to Minnesota.

Decker was a football redshirt in fall 2005 as a freshman and didn’t play for Anderson in 2006 or 2007.  Last year, his first college baseball season, Decker hit .329 with three home runs, 28 RBI and nine stolen bases. This season his numbers are: .333, one home run, five RBI and five stolen bases.

The football resume is so far more impressive.  Last season he was a consensus first team All-Big Ten Conference selection and one of 10 finalists for the Biletnikoff award recognizing the leading receiver in the nation.  He was named honorable mention All-American by SI.com.  He led the Big Ten in receptions and receiving yards per game for all games.  Decker’s 84 receptions broke his own school record, and his 1,074 yards were the second-highest in school history.

Decker, though, has not only missed a couple seasons of college baseball but he hasn’t played the sport in the summer when players further develop.  Anderson sees more than numbers when he thinks about Decker as a baseball player.  The coach thinks about Decker’s ability and potential.

Anderson was asked earlier this month how good Decker can be and whether his center fielder should choose a career in football or baseball.  He answered: “I am not going to tell Eric what to do because it’s his life and his career. …He looks like a major league baseball player in a uniform.  He’s a tremendous athlete.  He’s a left-left guy which is a premium in baseball. A left handed hitter, left handed thrower, center fielder.

“They rate the players based on their tools.  There’s five basic tools, running, throwing, hitting, fielding and then power.  I would say right now he’s probably got three skills that I would rate as major league skills.  His running, his throwing, and his ability to hit for average. That’s a pretty good place to start. …

“But it’s going to take some time for him to develop his skill set, especially his hitting to play at the major league level.  So it’s probably going to take him two or three years of minor league baseball to climb that ladder, to get more experience playing the game.  He hasn’t played since high school.  He doesn’t play in the summer.  We only get him during the season.  We don’t get a chance to train him. …

“I am amazed how quickly he picks things up because of his athleticism. I think, to me, he projects to have a chance to play in the big leagues.  He’s probably in the (pro)football world a middle of the road type of player, just because of his physical size, his running speed compared to others.  Not saying he couldn’t play (and) be a possession receiver in the right offense in the NFL.  Probably a punt returner, kickoff returner kind of guy, but you’re one injury away from your career being over very quickly.  He got beat up physically this last year in the football season.  I think that’s worn on him a little bit.”

Decker was drafted in the 38th round by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft, becoming only the third Gopher since 1966 to letter in football and be selected in the MLB draft.  Anderson said Decker is now listed among the top 100 prospects in college baseball.

Congratulations to Larry Fitzgerald Sr. who won $103,000 last week playing poker at Running Aces Harness Park.

With less than two weeks until the regular season opener, the impression is the Twins will use the early part of the season to determine who can help in the bullpen.  The eighth inning role looks iffy and that’s a pretty good term for the whole roster of relief pitchers except closer Joe Nathan.

The Twins optioned Luke Hughes to their Triple-A Rochester farm club earlier this week but he’s a prospect to follow with interest.  The Twins have an ongoing need for infielders who can hit for power and the 24-year-old right handed hitter had 18 home runs in 99 minor league games last year.  He hit over .400 for the Twins in spring training.

Speculation has the NBA in financial trouble and possibly one day stopping play but commissioner David Stern told the Washington Post it won’t happen.  Stern said there might have to be changes in the league’s labor contract that expires in two years, https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/09/AR2009030902903.html

The five finalists for the Mr. Basketball award are Mike Bruesewitz, Henry Sibley; Raymond Cowels, Hopkins; Sam Dower, Osseo; Jordair Jett, St. Bernard’s; and Royce White, Hopkins.  Mr. Basketball chair Ken Lien said in a news release on Tuesday the winner will be announced within “two weeks.”

Former Minnesota Lynx staffer Bryant Pfeiffer is senior director of team services for Major League Soccer in New York.  The league has a new franchise in Seattle and recently announced expansion franchises for Vancouver and Portland.  What criteria does the league look for when considering an expansion franchise?  “Key criteria right now for a prospective market would be a dynamic ownership group, soccer specific stadium solution and 40 million expansion fee to join league,” Pfeiffer said via e-mail to Sports Headliners.

What’s his view of the Minneapolis area?  “Definitely an interesting market when you factor in some of (the) professional soccer history and very strong youth soccer numbers,” Pfeiffer wrote.

Soccer history here includes the Minnesota Kicks of the 1970s and the present day Minnesota Thunder, a member of the United Soccer Leagues who relocated last year from St. Paul to the National Sports Center in Blaine.

The Wild plays its second-ever NBC national game on Sunday, April 5 at Detroit in a telecast that begins at 11:30 a.m. Minnesota time.  The telecast will be in high definition and seen locally on KARE 11.  The Wild will also make eight national appearances on VERSUS this season, tied for the most in the NHL, including a home game on Tuesday, April 7 against Dallas.