Author: David Shama

Cristie Kerr, the defending U.S. Women’s Open champion, is coming to town on May 19 to meet with the media.  The 63^rdOpen will be at Interlachen Country Club in Edina from June 23-29.

One man’s opinion on the Twins’ most valuable players so far: slugger Justin Morneau who has produced over 20 percent of the team’s runs batted in and closer Joe Nathan who has saved 11 of the 16 wins.

Ch. 5 sports reporter Ryan Kibbe will be a candidate to replace Rod Simons as KSTP TV’s No. 1 sports anchor.  Kibbe is an impressive sports journalist.

Canterbury Park will hold its second annual Extreme Race Day on July 20 with camel and ostrich races.

Former Gopher running back Amir Pinnix on Minnesota’s prospects for next season:  “I think they have a very good shot to make a bowl game.  I think they’ll be pretty good.  Coach (Tim) Brewster and his staff, they’re an excellent staff. They really get you prepared. …”

Wide receiver Jaymar Johnson, the Vikings sixth round draft choice from Jackson State, averaged 17.6 yards per reception his junior season and 17.0 his senior year.  He might be used by the Vikings to return punts or kicks.  He said he has run a 4:41 40-yard dash.

Quarterback John David Booty, the Vikings fifth round pick, enrolled early at Southern California, skipping his senior year of football in high school because his dad was fired as the quarterbacks coach.  Drafting Booty gives the Vikings four quarterbacks on the roster and probably means Brooks Bollinger will eventually be let go.  Gus Frerotte, a 14 year veteran, looks like the mentor to young quarterbacks Tarvaris Jackson and Booty.

College Sporting News has named Maria Bye and P.J. Theisen, both from St. Thonmas, as its female and male athlete award winners from the MIAC. A selection committee comprised of coaches, administrators and former MIAC athletes chose them from a group of 24 seniors nominated by the schools. They were honored for excellence on the playing field, coupled with superior academic performance and involvement in community service.  Bye is a softball All-American while Theisen is an All-American in track and honorable mention All-American in football.

High School All-American wide receiver Michael Floyd who said no to the Gophers and will enroll at Notre Dame this summer told Sports Headliners on Sunday that he will recruit his Cretin-Derham Hall teammate Seantrel Henderson for the Irish.

Henderson is an offensive tackle, about 6-7, 300 pounds.  National recruiting guru Tom Lemming has identified Henderson as the No. 1 junior prep prospect in the country for next season.

“He’s just a natural athlete,” Floyd said.  “The more we work with him, the more the coaches work with him, get him more disciplined; he’ll turn into a great player.”

Floyd didn’t hesitate when asked whether he will recruit Henderson to join him at Notre Dame.  “Yes, definitely,” he said. “They’re already starting to recruit him, and they want me to try and talk to him but I…kind of basically made my own decision (choosing a college), and that’s something he will have to do, too. So don’t let anybody else dictate where you go to.”

What will he tell Henderson?  “Notre Dame is a great school,” Floyd answered.  “I would love for him to come there but it’s basically up to him.”

Floyd said Henderson hasn’t visited Notre Dame and doesn’t know as much about the South Bend school as he will.  The recruiting process for highly sought players like Floyd and Henderson is complex.  Floyd said part of what Henderson will need to do is sort out who is “real and fake.”

If Floyd hadn’t chosen Notre Dame, his second choice was Ohio State (the “guys were cool”).  Michigan was his third choice and beyond that Floyd couldn’t specify a fourth or fifth favorite.

Floyd hopes to become a starter at Notre Dame as a freshman.  If his college career is successful, would he leave for the NFL after his junior season?  He said he “didn’t really know” and made the point that his mother has stressed education.  He’s undecided about his major at Notre Dame, although business interests him.

Conversations about the Vikings, whether it involves fans or media, keep coming back to Tarvaris Jackson.  The acquisition of defensive end Jared Allen, the NFL sack leader last season while playing for Kansas City, has stirred talk about the Vikings having one of the league’s best defenses in 2008.  Adrian Peterson, last year’s NFL rookie of the year and NFC leading rusher, can be a thrill a minute guy whose presence gives fans a rush.  But the question about 2008 team success always seems to include Jackson’s name in the answer.

Former Vikings’ assistant coach Dean Dalton, who now analyzes the NFL in the media, refers to the Super Bowl as the “Promised Land.”  In a recent interview with Sports Headliners about the 25-year-old Jackson, Dalton first talked about the impact of Allen whose pass rushing skills are seen as an ideal complement to the already dominant Vikings rushing defense.  A better defense creating more three and outs, more turnovers and better field position translates into increased opportunities for the offense, Dalton said.

“It is a help to a young quarterback to take a little bit of the pressure off him, but to get to the ‘Promised Land’ (the Super Bowl) it still comes down to the trigger man,” Dalton added.  “It comes down to the quarterback’s play, and so with the pressure taken off of him he can be more of an offensive manager and not have to be the playmaker.  So they still need to continue to surround him with playmakers so that he can just manage the offense and continue to mature his game.”

Dalton expects Jackson to play next season with more consistency than in the past. To perform more like he did during the last half of the season when he minimized mistakes and at times was an impressive playmaker.  Jackson doesn’t have to be spectacular, just manage the game and not make errors.

Dalton said last year he saw “signs of maturity” in Jackson who became the team’s starter in his second season as a pro.  He likes Jackson’s work ethic, study habits and athleticism.  Last season injuries diminished his playing time but he was 8-4 in games he started.  Although he threw 12 interceptions and only nine touchdown passes, he completed 58 percent of his passes.  What sometimes gets lost in the evaluation of Jackson is that many quarterbacks who became NFL success stories were mediocre or worse during their first couple of years in the league.

Dalton wants to see Jackson and the Vikings improve the deep passing game.  “If they can have a vertical threat and he can have some accuracy, that puts the defensive secondaries on their heels,” Dalton said.  “And it gets that extra safety out of the box which opens things up for Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor.  So if they can stretch the field vertically their running game will continue to be the best in the league and that’s one of the things I think they will emphasize as an offense.”

There’s no certainty in predicting how Jackson will play in 2008 but there’s  agreement that his success has everything to do with the Vikings’ fate.  Super Bowl?  That’s a lot of improvement in one season.