Author: David Shama

With a year of experience learning the plays and offensive terminology, Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, second in the NFL in rushing yards as a rookie, might be even better.  Certainly he will be able to play with even more instinct because of his first year experience.

Vikings fullback Thomas Tapeh, who has played four previous years in the NFL, talked about the difference between first and second seasons.  “When you first come in it’s like you’re hearing Chinese,” he said.  “But after you’ve heard Chinese for awhile, okay, this means go there.  Blue means I gotta go right.  Red I go left. …”

It’s not that Peterson, last year’s NFL rookie of the year, can’t increase his knowledge base in year two.  Tapeh has been willing to help.

“He’s eager to learn,” Tapeh said.  “He’s got the whole book thrown at him.  He’s taking his time.  When I am out there I communicate with him.  I just remind him, ‘You got this over here.’   ‘Okay, okay.’  Because he’s got a lot of things going through his head.   He’s doing a great job.  He’s holding everything in.  He’s being a professional.”

Peterson ran for 1,341 yards last year.  He missed two games last season because of a knee injury and that probably cost him the NFL rushing title.   LaDainian Tomlinson led the league with 1,474 yards.

Peterson is a popular choice as no worse than the NFL’s second best running back after Tomlinson.  Sports Illustrated gave him the No. 2 spot in its Fantasy Football rankings of running backs.  The Sporting News lists him as the No. 9 best player in the league and sort of apologizes for not having him higher.  The publication also published a recent story headlined: “ ‘He’s a Freakin’ Beast.’ ”

Tapeh recognizes that Peterson, at 23, is right there with the best in pro football.  “You put on film, you see the man is gifted,” Tapeh said.  “The man do things that you just can’t coach or teach. …”

Tapeh only had five rushing attempts last season for Philadelphia.  His ball carrying will be minimal here, too.  His job is to block for the running backs, starting with Peterson.

Fun guy to block for?  “Oh, yeah,” Tapeh answered.  “It’s a different guy to block for.  I don’t do too much. Put a body on (defenders) and (he) do the rest.”

Twins starting pitchers Glen Perkins and Scott Baker expressed extraordinary praise for pitching coach Rick Anderson during interviews with Sports Headliners earlier this month.  No aspect of the Twins’ performance this season has been as surprising as the team’s starting pitching.

Forced through trades, free agency and ineffectiveness to rebuild from last year’s staff, the Twins have used a starting group most of the season consisting of Scott Baker, 26, Nick Blackburn, 26, Kevin Slowey, 24, and Glen Perkins, 23, who collectively had won 21 total games prior to 2008 (17 by Baker).  Early on and now again in August Francisco Liriano, 24, has been part of the rotation, too.  Collectively this group of five has won 42 of the team’s 75 victories that have the Twins in second place in the Central Division and chasing a playoff position.

Perkins was asked how much credit Anderson deserves for the success of the pitching staff, particularly the young starters who have been winning games all season.  “He deserves as much as you can give him, other than us going out there and doing it,” he answered.  “I think he’s the one that if we have a good outing, he doesn’t let us get too excited about it.  And if we have a bad outing, he’s not going to let us get too far down about it.  He always tries to find the positives out of outings. …”

Perkins was asked if there is a better pitching coach?  “Absolutely not. …The things he does, you look forward to throwing bullpen (practice) because you want to talk to him and you want to learn more from him.  I can’t even imagine anyone even being able to do what he does with our guys.”

Baker said Anderson “doesn’t get a lot of the credit he deserves” and he, too, admires his coach’s approach with the pitchers.  “He’s unbelievable,” Baker said. “He really, truly is.  He knows how to handle the young guys very, very well.  He knows when to say something, and when to kind of let us work through things on our own.  He’s very good at what he does. …”

Perkins described Anderson as having an “innate ability” to see what a pitcher needs to correct.  “If your pitches aren’t acting how they’re supposed to, he’s got an ability to see that and pick out what you may need to do. …”

Baker said sometimes a pitcher’s problems are mechanical and other times they’re not.  Anderson knows how to approach either situation.  Anderson will watch a pitcher and sometimes won’t even say anything, and that can be what’s needed, Baker said.

Trivia question: What team did the Vikings face in their first preseason game ever and where was the game played?  (See answer at bottom of column).

A Vikings’ win in the team’s last pre-season game tonight (Thursday) in Dallas against the Cowboys will result in a 2-2 preseason record.  In the past 47 years there have been 37 times when the Vikings have had a .500 or better preseason record. The team has gone on to play at .500 or better 30 times during the regular season.

The Vikings haven’t allowed an offensive touchdown during the last seven quarters of preseason.  In the last two games the Vikings have eight sacks.  Defensive ends Jared Allen and Otis Grigsby lead the team with two each.

Former Vikings quarterback Brad Johnson, 39, is still a backup with the Cowboys.  His brother-in-law is Mark Richt, head football coach of No. 1 ranked Georgia.

Another former Vikings quarterback, Wade Wilson, is the Cowboys’ quarterback coach.

The Gophers’ 22-man offensive and defensive depth charts released earlier this week had 11 players who are either true freshmen, or redshirt freshmen, plus three junior college transfers.

Gopher coach Tim Brewster on sophomore Adam Weber:  “I think he’s going to be one of the best quarterbacks in the Big Ten.”  Brewster also said the most important quarterback statistic is wins and losses.

Second team quarterback Tony Mortensen is also the backup long snapper to Ryan Coleman.  Brewster said former Eden Prairie quarterback Ryan Grant, now a freshman with the Gophers, has potential as a long snapper, too.

The Big Ten Conference plays a Charmin-soft nonconference schedule compared with the Pac 10 Conference.  Big Ten opponents this Saturday include Akron, Coastal Carolina, Maine, Western Kentucky and Youngstown State.  The Pac 10 has two conference games, Oregon State at Stanford tonight, and Washington at Oregon on Saturday, plus non-conference foes Michigan State, Oklahoma State, Tennessee and Virginia.

Former Gopher national championship coach Murray Warmath, 95, plans to attend every home Minnesota game including Saturday’s opener with Northern Illinois.  He hasn’t missed a home game in several years.

The Gophers have a new website devoted solely to TCF Bank Stadium. The website, www.tcfbankstadium.com, debuted this week and offers virtual tours of the facility that will open next year.

“Our major goal in creating a stadium specific website was to effectively help drive our sales, marketing and communications efforts for TCF Bank Stadium,” said Jason Lafrenz, the athletics department’s director of marketing and ticket operations. “Tcfbankstadium.com is a one-stop shop for anything and everything related to the stadium.”

Gopher basketball coach Tubby Smith is out of town working at Michael Jordan’s basketball camp.

MIAC football teams begin play next week.  Six of the nine MIAC teams will have rosters of over 100 players, according to an MIAC spokesman.

Trivia answer:  Dallas in a preseason game in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.