Author: David Shama

Blake Hoffarber is on the regional cover of Athlon Sports along with players from Iowa and Iowa State.  The caption: “Mr. Big Shot.”   Athlon also said the 6-11 Sampson “isn’t far from becoming a monster defensively.”  Lindy’sgave Hoffarber an “Honor Roll” mention as the conference’s top shooter.  The magazine also rated the Gophers’ incoming group of players as the No. 23 recruiting class in the country.

Vikings’ place-kicker Ryan Longwell will return to his Orlando home and spend time with his family for a few days during the team’s bye week.  Longwell will also play golf.  His children, five and seven, are spending part of the fall attending school in Florida and also up here where they receive tutoring.

Vikings wide receiver Robert Ferguson will use his break time to travel home to Houston to assess hurricane damage to his home.

Defensive end Ray Edwards said last week he has no regrets about stating before the season that he wanted to break the NFL single season sack record of Michael Strahan (22.5).  Edwards has 0.5 sacks in six games but his statement is all about goal setting.  “I want to be known as one of the great defensive ends ever to play this game,” he said.  “That’s why I set high goals.”

Edwards, who is in his third season with the Vikings, was married on September 23 to girl friend Djakarta whom he met three years ago in Arizona.

Although some may believe differently, the Vikings have no interest in making the new TCF Bank Stadium a permanent new home.

Timberwolves’ personality-plus bench warmer Mark Madsen had a lot of experience being around people growing up as one of 10 children.

The Wolves’ Rashad McCants, a North Carolina alum, has a sister, Rashanda, playing on the Tar Heels women’s team.

Gopher sophomore goalie Alex Kangas was a major contributor as Minnesota won its opening games against St. Cloud State Friday and Saturday nights, 3-2 and 2-1.  Kangas is still looking for his first shutout but allowed one goal for the 10^th time in his career on Saturday.  He had 27 saves.

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.