Preps – Page 120 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Frazier Expects ‘Big Things’ of Simpson

Posted on August 7, 2013August 7, 2013 by David Shama

Jerome Simpson’s first season with the Vikings last year was a disappointment but he could be among the team’s most pleasant surprises in 2013.

Vikings coach Leslie Frazier is expecting “big things” from the 27-year-old wide receiver who because of a suspension and injury started only 10 games and played in 12 last season. Built for speed, Simpson averaged 14.5 yards per catch with four touchdown receptions in 2011 playing for the Bengals. With the Vikings he averaged 10.5 yards with no touchdown catches.

With a developing third-year quarterback in Christian Ponder and the need for an effective deep passing game, the Vikings brought in Greg Jennings to be a big play guy but an effective Simpson can create a potent one-two combo. Ponder threw a 50 yard pass to Simpson in last Saturday night’s training camp scrimmage to preview the kind of deep threat potential the Vikings have.

Last week and prior to that scrimmage Frazier was praising Simpson. “…He looks like the Jerome we had a year ago at this time. He was doing some very good things for us last preseason, and he had done some good things in camp, and then we had to fill the time for the suspension. Then he came back, played a game, and then he was injured and never really got on track after that.

“But we are seeing a guy right now that I think can help our football team and really make a difference for us in the passing game. He’s having a very, very good camp. His attitude has been great. It’s been great watching him get in and out of routes in the passing game and we are expecting big things out of him this year. We just need to keep him on the field and keep him healthy.”

Simpson missed three games last season because the NFL suspended him for violating league substance abuse policy. Simpson told Sports Headliners last September he recognized the need to change. “Just getting back to the old Jerome Simpson, and just being myself and not getting out of character,” Simpson said. “Just always staying humble and doing the right thing.”

Wide receivers coach George Stewart said earlier this summer that while Simpson was slowed by a foot injury in 2012 he can be a contributor, and not just catching passes. “He’s a young man, if he’s healthy (he) will help us in the vertical game, but (he) also has been a good leader,” Stewart said after watching Simpson in spring activities.

Starting his sixth pro season in September, Simpson has much to prove to himself and the Vikings. He has only a one year contract so there’s extra incentive to have a productive season, and perhaps become a breakthrough player on an offense that also has plenty to prove.

Worth Noting

It will be no surprise if Texans superstar defensive end J.J. Watt doesn’t play or sees only a few series on the field Friday night when Houston meets the Vikings in the opening preseason game for both teams. Watt, who had 20.5 sacks last season, dislocated his left elbow about a year ago. He acknowledged soreness on Sunday and will wear the same mammoth black brace on the elbow used in 2012.

The Texans plan to announce today their division of quarterback reps for the game. Matt Schaub is the starter. Christian Ponder is expected to play at least a few series for the Vikings as their No. 1 quarterback.

The Texans training camp is in Houston where temperatures this week have been at or near 100 degrees.

The Vikings have 32 new players on their 90-man roster since the end of last season. Along with nine draft choices, the Vikings have nine free agents and 14 undrafted free agents.

Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier and Texans head coach Gary Kubiak were teammates at Rice University.

The Vikings are promoting awareness of the NFL’s new game day policy limiting the size and types of bags allowed in league stadiums. More information for fans is available at NFL.com/allclear.

When the Gophers play UNLV at TCF Bank Stadium on August 29 it will be Minnesota’s first home season opener since 2008. The Gophers are set to open seasons at home on future schedules including 2014-2016.

If defensive tackle Ra’Shede Hageman is named All-Big Ten after this season he will be the first Gophers player so honored since Eric Decker in 2009. Since 2006 Minnesota has only two other All-Big Ten players, Matt Spaeth in 2006 and Willie VanDeSteeg in 2008.

Quoting Collegefootballnews.com in its Big Ten preview story: “Minnesota could very, very quietly be dangerous. Jerry Kill might not have a whole bunch of flash, but his team should be more than just competitive.”

Two of the best prep seniors in the state will lead their teams in the annual Timberwolves Shootout at Target Center January 4. Guard Tyus Jones and Apple Valley will play Blue Valley Northwest High School from Overland, Kansas. Forward Reid Travis and DeLaSalle will meet St. Rita High School from Chicago. Also, Cretin-Derham Hall will face Bettendorf High School from Bettendorf, Iowa. Grand Rapids, featuring junior center Alex Illikainen, will play against a team yet to be determined.

Jones’ younger brother Tre Jones is a gifted playmaker but is even a better defensive player. Tre, who as an eighth grader might play for the Apple Valley varsity next season, is a great on-ball defender.

The Saints new baseball park in Saint Paul’s Lowertown might command a $750,000 to $1 million per year naming rights fee, according to a sports industry source.

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Tim Brewster Recruits U Target

Posted on August 2, 2013August 2, 2013 by David Shama

Although former Gophers head coach Tim Brewster is recruiting Jeff Jones, the four-star Washburn High School running back remains committed to Minnesota, according to Giovan Jenkins.

Jenkins said Brewster, now an assistant coach at Florida State, started recruiting Jones early this summer. Jenkins, who starts his fifth season as Washburn head coach later this month, told Sports Headliners he doesn’t think Florida State will be where Jones attends college.

“He is still staying with his commitment to Minnesota as we speak,” Jenkins said. “He just wants to go through his senior year with an open mind (about other schools). Coach (Jerry) Kill has done a great job in developing a relationship with him. I think Minnesota is a good fit for him.”

Jenkins, who thinks chances are good Jones will ultimately choose the Gophers, said Iowa State is probably No. 2 on the list of possible college destinations.

Jones has been a starter for the Millers since ninth grade. He is the only Rivals.com four-star commit the Gophers have so far in their class of 2014.

Jenkins has another outstanding running back in Raymonte Maynard who has a scholarship offer from North Dakota. Other mid-major programs are interested too.

The Millers have won 12 consecutive City titles. “I expect to win our 13^th straight,” Jenkins said. Washburn, 8-3 overall last season, begins practice on August 12 and has its first game against St. Paul Highland Park August 30.

Worth Noting

Apple Valley’s Tyus Jones, along with Jahlil Okafor from Chicago, and Justise Winslow from Houston, are three of the best senior prep basketball players in the country and they will visit Baylor in Waco, Texas over Labor Day weekend. It’s been known for some time that Jones and Okafor will likely play at the same college but because Winslow is from Texas there is a possibility all three will be at Baylor for the 2014-15 season. Jones has a strong relationship with Baylor director of player development Jared Nuness who is a distant cousin.

The TPC Twin Cities, site of this weekend’s 3M Championship, has “27 bodies of water,” according to the golf course’s website. Asked about a make or break hole, Nick Price said: “Seventeen is probably a pivotal hole, especially when they put the pin in the back left-hand portion of the green, and you have any kind of wind.

“Those last two holes with the water; they’ll get your attention. The eighteenth hole is always very tempting. It’s like a carrot in front of the donkey. You know if you can get it over the water you have a good chance of making birdie.”

Price, who in the 1990s won more PGA Tour tournaments than anyone in the world, is among the name players competing at the Champions Tour event in Blaine. He’s a fan of the TCP Twin Cities. “This is a really, really good golf course. It’s almost a perfect venue for us, the seniors, because it’s the right length. The guys love the golf course. That’s why you always get such a good field.”

The 3M is only Price’s third tournament since having tennis elbow surgery to remove scar tissue. This will be the first tournament where he’s been able to practice in advance, hitting 150 balls per day.

Price said seniors enjoy the notoriety of the Champions Tour. “When you get to 45, 46, your tenure on the regular tour is done. You’ve past your sell-by date.”

New Vikings backup quarterback Matt Cassel played first and third base in high school in California, and was drafted by baseball’s Oakland A’s. His mother, Barbara, is a set director in Hollywood.

Ryan Santoso, the Gophers freshman punter and kicker who is on scholarship, had 46 touchbacks in 48 kickoffs at Pace High School in Pace, Florida. Walk-on freshman kicker Justin Juenemann made 80 percent of his career field goal attempts of between 40 and 50 yards at Phillipsburg High School in Phillipsburg, Kansas.

Gophers hockey coach Don Lucia plans to run in the Twin Cities Marathon on October 6 to benefit Defending the Blue Line, the nonprofit organization dedicated to financially helping children of military members participate in hockey.

Despite being in last place in the AL Central Division and losing four games in a row, the Twins are drawing near capacity crowds at Target Field. In yesterday’s 7-2 loss to the Royals, the Twins drew 35,448, their fifth crowd of over 35,000 in the last seven home games.

Twins batters struck out 30 times in the three-game series with the Royals. They have struck out 65 times in the last six games.

Scott Diamond, yesterday’s losing pitcher, is now 5-10 for the season and has lost four straight. After the game he and center fielder Aaron Hicks were optioned to Triple-A Rochester and outfielder Oswaldo Arcia was recalled from the Red Wings.

Justin Morneau hit his ninth home run of the season yesterday and No. 213 of his Twins career moving him within seven of Tony Oliva and No. 3 on the all-time Minnesota list.

The new Sanford Pentagon facility in Sioux Falls will host the preseason Timberwolves-Bucks game on October 10, and also a regular season college game between the Badgers and the St. John’s Red Storm on November 8.

The new Minnesota Poker Hall of Fame will be located at Canterbury Park. No inductees have been announced but the first honorees will be recognized on October 4 at the Shakopee gaming facility.

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Lurtsema Predicts 11-5 Record for Vikes

Posted on July 31, 2013July 31, 2013 by David Shama

Former Viking Bob Lurtsema, who remains close to the team, predicts Minnesota will finish 11-5 this season after a 10-6 record in 2012. Even rosier is Lurtsema’s opinion that before the Metrodome is demolished next winter, the last football event there could be the NFC Championship Game hosted by the Vikings who might need to win more than 11 regular season games to play in Minneapolis.

“That’s very realistic (hosting the title game),” Lurtsema told Sports Headliners. “You gotta realize when they were 6-6 last year they (the players) came together. That’s only the second time in Minnesota Viking history that they won the last four games.”

The Vikings won those regular season games before losing to the Packers in the playoffs, and giving Lurtsema confidence about continued improvement by Minnesota is the attitude of the players. “A lot of times you can preach and preach and nobody listens. But they’re listening now and they came together, and they believe in themselves. …They have that self-motivation.”

Two years ago Lurstema predicted the Vikings would win “five or six” games. They won three. Last July he told Sports Headliners 10-6 was going to be the record and the team’s first playoff appearance in three years was possible.

Now, Lurtsema said, the Vikings could not only finish with an 11-5 or better record but have at least a share of the NFC North title. “Yup. I know I bleed purple…but I am a realist.”

Lurtsema almost gushes about the team’s offense, “There’s not a negative.” He said fans are down on quarterback Christian Ponder but criticism was too harsh last season because “he didn’t have any receivers to throw to.” That situation changes now with a healthy Jerome Simpson and the acquisition of Greg Jennings, both talented veteran wide receivers.

Lurtsema likes the total package of the offense including tight end Kyle Rudolph, running back Adrian Peterson and an offensive line that impressed last season, but on defense he thinks the Vikings are more suspect. He frets about how effective both the defensive line and secondary will be.

Worth Noting

Lurtsema believes it’s time for starting cornerback Chris Cook, now 26 and heading into his fourth NFL season, to reward the Vikings for their patience with him. Two years ago Cook missed much of the season because of domestic violence charges. Although he was later acquitted, the incident was a setback to his career.

“Chris Cook has got to be awful, awful good,” Lurtsema said. “They (the organization) stuck with him. The players didn’t like that a couple years ago, when they paid his salary and (he) took up a roster spot. Players weren’t real happy about that at all. …I think all the coaches saw how good he really is.”

Vikings coach Leslie Frazier joins Steve Forbes, Rudy Giuliani, Larry King and other speakers on August 27 at the Minneapolis Convention Center for the “Success 2013 Minneapolis” motivational event, according to full page ads appearing in the Star Tribune. Frazier’s talk is titled “How to Lead Your Team to Victory.”

As a group the Gophers linebackers roster is inexperienced with only two seniors, one junior and 10 freshmen and sophomores but coach Jerry Kill is “optimistic” about the potential. “Athletically we’re gifted there,” Kill told the media yesterday.

Kill said on WCCO Radio’s “Sports Huddle” on Sunday that junior college transfer linebacker De’Vondre Campbell, who will have three seasons of eligibility with the Gophers, turned down offers from Texas and Kansas State after deciding not to attend Tennessee following a coaching change there last fall.

Kill said yesterday that highly publicized freshman quarterback Chris Streveler will work at wide receiver and QB when practices begin later this week. “Chris is a pretty intelligent guy,” Kill said about learning both positions.

Sophomore quarterback Philip Nelson thinks wide receivers Isaac Fruechte and Derrick Engle could be two of his best targets in the deep passing game. The Gophers’ first practice will be on Friday in preparation for their opening game against UNLV August 29 at TCF Bank Stadium.

Marcus Fuller, the Pioneer Press Gophers basketball writer, said on 1500 ESPN Monday he believes Rashad Vaughn is the most likely to attend Minnesota of the 2014 prep big three of Tyus Jones, Travis Reid and Vaughn. My opinion: there is no better than a 25 percent chance the Gophers will have one of the three commit to Minnesota.

As of now there is no Upper Midwest plan to televise the Gophers game at New Mexico State in Las Cruces on September 7. The game is scheduled to be televised in parts of the Southwest including Comcast in New Mexico and Fox Sports Net Houston.

In its updated rankings of prospects, MLB.com has Twins minor leaguers Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano ranked No. 1 and 3 among all players in major league systems. But Twins fans may want to hold back the enthusiasm for awhile because becoming successful in the big leagues takes time. Before the season Oswaldo Arcia was rated the organization’s fifth best prospect while Aaron Hicks was No. 6. Arcia, after two trials with the Twins, is back at Triple-A Rochester while Hicks is hitting .194 for Minnesota despite being the regular center fielder.

Nice to see Minneapolis receive attention in the 2014 MLB All-Star Game Logo unveiled yesterday depicting the downtown skyline. Hennepin County made the public financing possible to build Target Field.

The economic impact of the All-Star Game was $191.5 million in New York this year and $60 million in Kansas City in 2012, according to Rhett Bollinger’s 2014 logo story yesterday on Mlb.com.

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