Author: David Shama

Gus Frerotte is direct in conversations with his fellow quarterbacks.  Frerotte, 36, has 14 more years of NFL experience than 2008 No. 5 draft choice John David Booty, 12 years more than starting quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, and nine years more than backup Brooks Bollinger.

Frerotte said after practice on Friday he offers advice to the other quarterbacks, tells them what he thinks.  Asked for an example, Frerotte mentioned Booty.  “Footwork,” Frerotte said.  “The other day, Booty, his feet were all screwed up.  I said, ‘you gotta have your feet right.  Because if your feet are off, or whatever, that hampers your throw. That hampers everything else. …”

Frerotte said he has encouraged Jackson to be a “pocket quarterback.”  By staying in the pocket a quarterback often maximizes opportunities to make plays but it can be tempting for a gifted runner like Jackson to start running.

Jackson’s performance will be highly scrutinized in 2008 after a 2007 season in which he was inconsistent.  Frerotte predicted a “different guy” in 2008.

Frerotte was signed by the Vikings in the off-season to provide leadership and better backup play if Jackson needs to be replaced because of injury or performance.  Frerotte said he’s making progress in learning the offense and his arm is still strong.

“You see guys that are given gifts and I believe that just was my gift,” Frerotte said.  “I wasn’t able to run fast or jump as high as anybody else but I could throw the ball as hard as anybody. And as I’ve gotten older that hasn’t dissipated at all.  It’s stayed the same.  I blew out my shoulder one year in Denver and was able to have surgery on it and came back and was throwing just as strong. …”

Is the velocity as good as ever?  “Yeah, I think so,” Frerotte said.  “It’s just the other parts that don’t have much velocity on them anymore.”

There’s anticipation Frerotte’s arrival means the Vikings will release Bollinger, keeping Booty as the third quarterback.  Frerotte referred to Bollinger as a “good kid” and said he’s been helpful in answering questions about the offense.

“He’s been really open about everything so it’s been a nice relationship so far,” Frerotte said.

The Vikings’ Jared Allen is the only player from a Minnesota team who made Sports Illustrated’s earnings list of top 50 athletes.  The list was released last week and had Allen at No. 44 with earnings of over $16 million including salary and endorsements.  Minneapolis native Larry Fitzgerald Jr. is at No. 35, with $17,350,000 in earnings.  Former Timberwolf Kevin Garnett is No. 8 at $31 million and Tiger Woods leads the list at almost $128 million.  More at https://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/specials/fortunate50/2008/index.html

Larry Fitzgerald Sr., who covers the local sports scene on radio, TV and in print, is attending the NBA finals in both Boston and Los Angeles.  Fitzgerald said via e-mail he expects to be the only Minneapolis-St. Paul journalist at the finals.  Newspaper budgets are impacting out of town coverage such as the finals.

TCF Bank Stadium opens next year with a seating capacity of 50,000, meaning it will be the third smallest in the Big Ten Conference.  Gophers coach Tim Brewster said, “I think we’re going to create great demand and convince the U soon to expand the stadium.”

Brewster said the decision to initially have the 50,000 capacity is “strategically well thought out” but the football program will grow in popularity.  The stadium infrastructure is designed to expand capacity to about 80,000.

A source close to the Gopher football team predicts a 5-7 final record this fall.

Six-year NFL Vikings wide receiver Bobby Wade said on Friday at Winter Park that the team will expect a “lot more” from Sidney Rice this fall than last.  Rice, 21 , will be playing in his second NFL season and has the potential to far exceed his rookie numbers of 31 receptions, 396 yards and four touchdowns.

A knowledgeable hockey source said new Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold will be involved with the franchise and “wants to win a Stanley Cup.”

Major League Soccer was honored recently as the 2008 Professional Sports League of the Year by the SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily.  The award was based on MLS’s outstanding year in 2007 that included a new team in Toronto, two stadiums, two television partners, three future expansion franchises and showcasing of superstar David Beckham.

Glen Taylor, who has owned the Timberwolves since 1995, told Sports Headliners on Wednesday he has more confidence in the organization’s drafting expertise now than ever before.  Taylor and staff are preparing for the June 26 NBA draft when the Wolves will have the No. 3 overall pick.

The Wolves finished last season at 22-60 record, tied with Memphis for the third worst record in the NBA.  The team has missed the playoffs four consecutive seasons.  Part of the performance can be traced to the annual NBA draft where examples include the disastrous drafting of high schooler Ndud Ebi (2003), questionable pick of Rashad McCants (2005) and wait-and-see selection of Randy Foye (2006).

When past drafts were mentioned to Taylor, he brought up choosing star players Kevin Garnett (1995) and Wally Szczerbiak (1999), two picks that go further back than the above listed threesome.  “Some of them (drafts) have not gone as good as you hoped and some of them have gone better than you hoped,” Taylor said.

Why more confidence about the upcoming draft that also gives the Wolves two second round selections?  Taylor said the organization’s drafting process is improved by adding staff, having more personnel involved in the decision making, increased scouting, more focus in Europe, and also evaluating players with tests.  “We’re doing more testing to try to understand the person’s personality, and the competitiveness, and all their culture things through these tests, so we’re expanding that,” Taylor said.  “Hopefully, that will just provide us more information.”

Comparing the draft process to his other businesses, Taylor emphasized the importance of opinions from different sources.  He values knowing that people sometimes see different skills in players, or how those individuals will contribute to the overall team.

Taylor clearly likes the draft process in place and is looking for improved results.  “I just feel better that we will just increase our odds (of success),” he said.  “There’s no guarantee but I think we’ll increase our odds. …”

For much of the Taylor-Wolves era, vice president of basketball operations Kevin McHale operated more autonomously in making draft decisions.  Now McHale has increased staff and opinion from others, plus more information readily available to him.  Taylor thinks that will be helpful to McHale.  Taylor wants others to “challenge him and look at alternatives.”

Those alternatives, Taylor said, could include trading the first round pick.  What if with all the choices regarding who to draft, or whether to make a trade, the Wolves have so many voices that there is no unanimity? “If that should happen, I will certainly sit down with the staff and help resolve it,” Taylor said.