Author: David Shama

Nationally and locally there’s speculation whether the Vikings franchise will remain in Minnesota.  This week, for example, Forbes.com listed the Vikings among the top five professional franchises most likely to relocate.

The speculation makes for a lot of angst among Vikings fans who gather around the office water cooler during the week or at the local pub on weekends, but the opinion of Sports Headliners is the Vikings will remain in Minneapolis.  The Vikings originated here in 1961 and during that time have moved so far ahead of this state’s other sports attractions in popularity it’s no contest.  How could this town and state give up an entertainment entity that has hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans watching on Sunday afternoons and has embedded itself into the hearts and souls of the masses, young and old?

A franchise relocation isn’t going to happen, even with the Vikings and Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission advocating a $1 billion or so retractable roof stadium on the Metrodome site.  Look for a stadium push to be made during the last weeks of next year’s legislative session.

Yes, economic times aren’t so good but we’re talking about the Vikings, a franchise that has waited its turn in the give-us-a-new-facility line for more than 10 years while the Twins and Gophers were served.  Now the franchise whose revenues have ranked toward the bottom among NFL teams for years and who Forbes magazine ranks last in value among NFL teams is asking for approval of a new facility before the existing use agreement at the Metrodome expires after the 2011 season.

Stadium funding is likely to come from the Vikings and hospitality taxes such as car rental or hotel taxes.  That’s a formula used to finance facilities in other towns.

A roof on the facility is mandatory to help justify the expense.  A covered facility like the Metrodome means a multipurpose facility remains available for community use ranging from high school sports to recreational rollerblading, plus concerts, consumer shows and national events such as the NCAA Final Four and Super Bowl.

Downtown is a central location that can be readily accessed including through public transit in the metro area and throughout the region.  The commission and the Vikings are committed to downtown and the city deserves to continue as home to the Vikings.  Not always recognized is that historically and today, it has been Minneapolis’ area leadership, businesses and fans that have been the foundation to pro sports in this region.

The Vikings may have to be successful in their stadium drive even with a mediocre team and public criticism of coach Brad Childress.  It lessens the franchise’s image when the Vikings perform like they did last Sunday against Detroit and fans are chanting to dismiss Childress.  The last Minnesota coach to be targeted with similar in-stadium chants was Glen Mason, who was fired following the Gophers’ 2006 overtime loss in the Insight Bowl against Texas Tech.

Childress talking about whether his 3-3 team is playing up to expectations after an unimpressive 12-10 win over Detroit: “Once again, I would go back and say that there are elements that need to get better and hopefully some of those things are improving. I know the pass game has made leaps and bounds.  I think sometimes there’s frustration. ‘How come Adrian Peterson can’t rush for 300 yards every time we go out? He did it last year.’ He had 100 yards rushing, which is kind of the Litmus (test). He had 111 tough yards (against Detroit). He had some nice runs, some 10’s, some 12’s, 11’s. He’s not going to hit it out of the park every time, so I think that there’s the frustration that he’s getting held back.  But I do see the pass game improving, I do see the defense getting better and better and I saw our special teams improve from last week to this week. That’s what you’re looking for, improvement and steady growth. (You want to) really be peaking and playing your best football heading down the pike at the end.”

Vikings’ safety Darren Sharper talking about 12-year veteran Ryan Longwell kicking the winning field goal in the win over Detroit.  “We know Ryan can do that. He is a kicker that doesn’t change much when the pressure is on him. He is really calm and relaxed and an extremely consistent kicker. We know we can always rely on him to put it through for us.”

Watch out! The Vikings allowed Reggie Bush to return two punts for touchdowns in New Orleans earlier this month.  Sunday in Chicago the Vikings must contend with Devin Hester, who coming into this season had returned four kickoffs and seven punts for touchdowns in his first two seasons in the league.  In five games this season Hester hasn’t run either a punt or kickoff back for a score.  In addition to being a return man, Hester is playing wide receiver where he’s going through on-the-job training.  He’s caught 16 passes for 193 yards, a 12.1 average, with two touchdowns.

Peterson is third in the NFL in rushing with 563 yards, trailing Clinton Portis of Washington with 643 and Michael Turner of Atlanta with 597.  Former Holy Angels High School star Larry Fitzgerald, now with Arizona, is third in the league in receiving yards at 546.

The Vikings rank No. 4 in the NFL in rushing defense, giving up 73.7 yards per game.  Chicago is fifth at 74.3.

Among NFL receivers who have 20 or more receptions this season, the Vikings’ Bernard Berrian, the former Bear, ranks first in yards per catch average at 19.8.

Rivals.com reports that outstanding California junior college wide receivers Hayo Carpenter of Santa Clarita College of the Canyons and Jamar Howard of Visalia College of the Sequoias, and running back Giavanni Ruffin, also from College of the Sequoias, have Minnesota on their list of possible college choices.

CollegeFootballNews.com has the Gophers ranked No. 23 in the country.  The Gophers next game is at Purdue on October 25.

Steve and Dorothy Erban’s Creative Charters is offering a choice between airplane and motor coach to the Purdue game.  More at www.creativecharter.com

Former Gopher coach Doug Woog told Sports Headliners he’s picking Colorado College to win the WCHA title if CC’s important players stay healthy.  He includes the Gophers in a second grouping with Denver, North Dakota, St. Cloud and Wisconsin.

Woog describes the Gophers as “skilled but young and small.”  He said Minnesota has a “horrendous challenge” to get off to a good start because of the outstanding teams on the early schedule such as New Hampshire, Michigan State and Michigan.  The Gophers open the regular season tonight (Friday) at St. Cloud State.

Woog also said there’s an “evolution” going on in the WCHA toward “smaller and quicker players.”  The result, he predicted, is more players will remain with their WCHA teams for three or four years instead of leaving early for the pros.  He said two years ago 16 underclassmen left WCHA teams early, last season 11 but he expects fewer in 2008-09.

Wild forward Craig Weller’s favorite magazine is “Traditional Bowhunter.”  The Calgary native’s preferred sport is fishing.

Wild forward Nick Schultz’s cousin, Jesse, is a forward playing for Minnesota’s AHL affiliate the Houston Aeros.

Forward James Sheppard and goalie Josh Harding are roommates while Sheppard finds a full-time place to live. Sheppard, 20, lived with former Wild player and now TV studio analyst Darby Hendrickson and his family last season.

Gopher forward Monique Lamoureux has been named the WCHA Rookie of the Week for her performance against Minnesota Duluth last weekend. Lamoureux, a freshman from Grand Forks, scored two goals and added one assist in the visiting Gophers’ sweep over No. 1-ranked UMD. Producing a team-high 15 shots, Lamoureux scored in each game against UMD.

Concordia soccer forward Justin Foss scored three goals last week and helped the Cobbers to a 1-1 record in conference play.  Foss, who leads the MIAC in goals per game (0.88), is the MIAC Men’s Soccer Athlete of the Week. The Women’s Soccer Athlete of the Week is Gustavus junior forward Chelsea Craven who scored all three goals to lead the Gusties to a 3-1 win over Bethel in St. Peter last Saturday.