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Write It Down: Vikings 24, Seahawks 17

Posted on January 8, 2016January 8, 2016 by David Shama

Bob Lurtsema is a sage about the Vikings. Better listen to him when he predicts a win over the Seahawks on Sunday.

Lurtsema, 73, played for the Vikings in their last outdoor playoff game when the temperature at kickoff was about 12 degrees. At Met Stadium on December 26, 1976 the Vikings beat the Los Angeles Rams 24-13 in the NFC Championship game and advanced to the Super Bowl.

This Sunday the 11-5 Vikings play the 10-6 Seattle Seahawks in one of four first round NFL playoff games. With temps around zero forecast for the outdoor game at TCF Bank Stadium, Lurtsema believes the Vikings have a home field advantage, just like they did almost 40 years ago against another West Coast team. The Rams weren’t used to anything like the cold weather they found in Minnesota. Lurtsema said “it was brutal” what the Rams experienced.

Lurtsema predicts a low scoring game this Sunday. The cold is likely to encourage running the football and the passing for both teams could focus on short routes. “It might be 24-17 at the max, Vikings,” Lurtsema said.

Before this season started the Vikings weren’t a popular choice to be in the playoffs. Their regular season record in 2014 was 7-9 (Lurtsema predicted 8-8). Last summer Lurtsema told Sports Headliners the Vikings’ final record in 2015 would be 10-6—and good enough to qualify for the playoffs.

The Seahawks dominated the Vikings last month in Minneapolis, winning 38-7. The lone score for the Vikings came on a Cordarrelle Patterson kickoff return for a touchdown. Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater passed for only 118 yards while Adrian Peterson rushed for just 18 yards.

The Seahawks’ defense and offense are formidable. Their defense gave up an NFL best 17.3 points per game. The offense is led by quarterback Russell Wilson who is one of the league’s most elusive and statistically impressive quarterbacks. In Seattle’s win over the Vikings he completed 21 of 27 passes while throwing three touchdown passes.

The Seahawks have played in the last two Super Bowls and are coming off a 41-7 win over the 13-3 Cardinals last Sunday. “Seattle is close to being the best,” Lurtsema said. “No doubt about it.”

But, according to Lurtsema, the Seahawks won’t be good enough to defeat the Vikings because of the weather, and because Minnesota’s “defense is playing better” than when the two teams last met. The Vikings’ defense gave up only 18.9 points per game this season, fifth best in the NFL, and was stellar last week in a 20-13 win over the Packers.

“We don’t make mental mistakes,” Lurtsema said. “It’s a lot like Bud Grant’s teams.”

Lurtsema raves about head coach Mike Zimmer’s defensive prowess and knows the coach won’t tolerate mistakes by his players, just like Grant for whom Lurtsema played. Lurtsema said avoiding mental errors is particularly crucial in playoff games where one or two mistakes can decide games.

Lurtsema believes Bridgewater and the offense will make enough plays to help Minnesota win. “Teddy will just play so much better,” Lurtsema said.

Worth Noting

Lurtsema is a believer in Bridgewater and brought up a game earlier this season when the Vikings quarterback saw the opposing team had 12 players on the field.

“That is a tremendous plus for a quarterback to have that type of awareness,” Lurtsema said. “That type of peripheral vision where he can actually tell, have everybody on the opposing defense accounted for (is impressive).”

The game on Sunday in Minneapolis will be televised nationally by NBC, with Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth and Michele Tafoya reporting. Collinsworth played in the second coldest temp ever recorded for an NFL game when his Bengals won the 1981 AFC Championship game against the Chargers. The temperature at kickoff in Cincinnati was -9 degrees (-59 degrees windchill). The famous 1967 “Ice Bowl” in Green Bay between the Packers and Cowboys had an NFL record low temp of -13.

The Twins will sort through their centerfield options in spring training because it’s uncertain 22-year-old Byron Buxton can win the position. Former Twins centerfielder Denard Span was a free agent until he signed this week with the Giants. He was probably too old and expensive for Minnesota management to consider. Span’s 32nd birthday is next month and while he has hit over .300 the last two seasons he had injuries in 2015.

Span was traded to the Nationals in 2012 for pitching prospect Alex Meyer who never has seized a prominent role with the Twins. Meyer, who turned 26 last Sunday, seems most likely to have a relief role if he makes the club.

No doubt a lot of Gophers boosters want to see the University of Minnesota explore job options with Jerry Kill. The popular ex-football coach will likely finalize his next career plans in the coming months.

New offensive coordinator Jay Johnson and offensive line coach Bart Miller will be introduced to the media today by Gophers head coach Tracy Claeys.

The Gophers, who have never won the Big Ten West Division title, could be a dark horse pick next fall but certainly not a favorite. Iowa, the 2015 West Division champ, returns seven players on offense and eight on defense.

Penn State has only been playing men’s major college hockey since 2012 but the Nittany Lions are No. 14 in the USCHO.com national poll. PSU, with a 12-3-3 record hosts the Gophers, 8-9-0, tonight and tomorrow afternoon for Big Ten Conference games. The Gophers aren’t in the USCHO.com poll of top 20 teams but St. Cloud State is No. 4, Minnesota State No. 18 and Minnesota Duluth No. 19. The Gophers lead the Big Ten standings with a 3-1 record while PSU is 2-0.

The Golden Gophers women’s basketball team had a special game last evening in a 106-75 win over the Illini. Rachel Banham scored 39 points and set a program 3-point record as Minnesota won at Illinois for the first time in six years. Banham made 10 of her 15 3-point attempts and her 39 points tied a career high. Minnesota (10-4, 2-1 Big Ten) tied the conference team record for 3-point field goals by converting 19. Coach Marlene Stollings‘ team made 50 percent of its field goal attempts, including 19 of 39 3-pointers (48.7 percent). Minnesota’s point total was its second-highest ever in a conference game.

Wednesday night’s Timberwolves-Nuggets score was more like what NBA teams produced in the 1950s before the league instituted the 24-second shot clock. The two teams combined for just 21 fourth quarter points in the Nuggets’ 78-74 win at Target Center. It was the seventh Wolves game in franchise history in which neither team reached 80 points, and the first since 2006.

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Timberwolves Not Pursuing Kevin McHale

Posted on December 9, 2015December 9, 2015 by David Shama

Quoting Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor in today’s column, and also Twins president Dave St. Peter.

Kevin McHale was fired as coach of the Rockets last month after leading the team to the NBA’s Western Conference Finals in the spring. McHale hasn’t announced his future plans but Minnesota basketball fans who watched him play for the Gophers and later hold both executive and coaching positions with the Wolves wonder if the Hibbing native might work again for Taylor.

The Wolves owner remains friends with McHale but the two haven’t spoken since he was let go in Houston. Taylor has no plans to pick up the telephone right now and call McHale who after his playing career with the Celtics was named one of the NBA’S 50 greatest players ever.

Taylor doesn’t want to send the wrong messages to his Timberwolves basketball employees including interim coach Sam Mitchell. “I’ve made a point of not doing it (calling McHale) just because I want to be careful,” Taylor said.

Glen Taylor (Photo courtesy of Timberwolves)

Mitchell, a former NBA Coach of the Year with the Raptors, has been told his status will be evaluated at season’s end. Taylor has no plans to change that timeline.

The Wolves haven’t made the playoffs since 2004 and last season their record was 16-66. This season the team is 8-12 heading into tonight’s home game against the Lakers. Taylor likes the talent and promise of a young roster whose core is built around a pair of 20-year-olds—second-season guard-forward Andrew Wiggins and rookie center Karl-Anthony Towns.

How will Taylor evaluate Mitchell at season’s end and decide about the veteran coach’s future? “We’ve never really put up goals exactly that I was going to measure him on, but I think what I would measure him on is seeing how far the team has progressed,” Taylor said.

The owner’s goal is to see his club eventually become an “elite team for quite some time.” Taylor isn’t overly concerned about seeing his team make the playoffs this season, although he would certainly welcome that achievement. He’s most interested in seeing how the players develop and how Mitchell contributes to their improvement.

Mitchell has shown a commitment to use young players and go deep into his bench, even at the expense of having veterans on the floor late in games. Sometimes that has not worked but Taylor is supportive. “I don’t get into that (who he plays),” Taylor said. “I want to win, he wants to win. I am not going to second-guess him.”

The late Flip Saunders rebuilt the Timberwolves roster in two years with savvy personnel moves. He and Taylor were close friends. The unexpected death of Saunders this fall dramatically changed the franchise’s leadership because he was the coach, top player personnel executive and part-time owner.

“When I see us play, and we do really well, it just breaks my heart that he’s not at least on the floor here watching them, rather than from heaven watching them, because he put so much effort into it and he was so enthused about what was going to happen,” Taylor said.

Tonight Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, who has announced this will be his final NBA season, plays in Minneapolis for the last time. Taylor hopes to reach out to the 37-year-old superstar shooting guard who has secured a place among the NBA’s top players ever. What will Taylor say?

“Basically, thanks for sharing your career with us. We really appreciate the opportunity to watch somebody like you that worked so hard to do so well. All of us either got to either yell for you or against you, but either way we appreciated it. Something like that.”…

St. Peter said Rod Carew is improving by the week following his open heart surgery earlier this fall. He talks on a regular basis to the Twins legend who had a massive heart attack in September.

“His spirits are good,” St. Peter told Sports Headliners. “He’s been (buoyed) by the outpouring of support from a variety of people both inside and outside of baseball. He’s really enjoying spending time with family right now, and hopes to get back to his home in Orange County I think soon. (He) has not given up on coming to Minnesota at some point during this offseason but also may be coming to Fort Myers for spring training.”

Carew is convalescing in a private home in the San Diego area. He suffered his heart attack while on a golf course and twice was near death before medical professionals saved his life. “We’re lucky he’s still here,” St. Peter said.

Carew, 70, had thought he was in good health and was feeling well prior to his heart attack. “He didn’t see this one coming,” St. Peter said. “That’s part of his motivation toward really trying to get engaged with the American Heart Association to tell his story and ultimately build awareness of heart health, and get incremental checkups.”

A career.328 hitter, Carew played 19 seasons in the major leagues including 12 with the Twins. He won all seven of his American League batting championships in Minnesota. He is a special assistant to the Twins along with other franchise legends such as Kent Hrbek and Tony Oliva.

Miguel Sano (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Twins)

St. Peter said Miguel Sano, the 2015 Twins rookie sensation who hit 18 home runs in 279 at bats, is practicing in the outfield this fall while playing in the Dominican Winter League. In games, however, Sano is playing at third base, his longtime position. The Twins plan to have Sano play the outfield next season but St. Peter said the club sees Sano’s long-term position as third base.

The Twins had a surprise season in 2015, finishing with a winning record for the first time in four years. St. Peter likes the club’s core of players who led the team to an 83-79 record, and moves have been made to strengthen the roster this offseason. “We’re not afraid to make trades,” he said.

St. Peter said “ideally” the team wants to improve its bullpen. Starting pitching could be a trade target too, of course. While the Twins don’t want to “shake up” their roster after last season’s success, he said the club doesn’t have a “lot of untouchables” that would be excluded from trade talks.

St. Peter recently vacationed in London. He expects MLB games could be played in the U.K. as soon as next year or in 2017. Commissioner Rob Manfred has international ambitions for his sport and future games might also be played in Germany and Latin America.

Tickets went on sale yesterday for TwinsFest, scheduled January 29-31 at Target Field. St. Peter said most of the 40-man roster will attend the event. Fans can also meet top prospects Jose Berrios (pitcher) and Nick Gordon (shortstop) who aren’t part of the 40-man group. Tickets could sell out in advance and total attendance is projected at 15,000 to 17,000.

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Vikings Harris Talks O-Line ‘Pressure’

Posted on December 4, 2015December 4, 2015 by David Shama

It’s no secret the Vikings’ passing offense ranks near the bottom in the 32-team NFL. Even more to the point, improvement could well be the key to whether the team wins the NFC North.

Guard Mike Harris acknowledges expectations that the line must do its part to help quarterback Teddy Bridgewater have time to throw as the team prepares for Sunday’s home game with the Seahawks, and looks toward four more regular season games.

Mike Harris (photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings.)

“We’re coming along (with pass protection),” Harris said. “We’re not perfect, where we want to be, but each week in practice we’ve been harping on working on stuff that we need to work on…like (defensive) stunts, picking up blitzes. The run game—I feel like that’s our strong ability—because we have big tough guys that like to move guys around.

“If we can have a good balance of run and pass, this team will be able to beat anybody. The team goes as far as we go. I know we have a lot of pressure on us.

“We (the line) didn’t do so well a couple of weeks ago against the Packers but I feel like we’ve grown from that and we ought to continue to play better.”

Bridgewater was sacked six times in a 30-13 loss to the Packers in Minneapolis last month. He has thrown only eight touchdown passes this season and while he sometimes holds on to the ball too long, pass protection is an issue for the division leading 8-3 Vikings who top the NFL in rushing yards.

This Sunday the Vikings’ offense faces a Seahawks defense that is among the NFL’s best against rushing and passing. The defensive unit includes formidable players such as end Michael Bennett and cornerback Richard Sherman. “Playmakers are at every position that we’re going to have matchups with, and (we need to) go out and execute,” Harris said.

The Seahawks aren’t bad on offense either, including quarterback Russell Wilson who threw five touchdown passes in a win over the Steelers last Sunday. His passer rating of 97.4 puts him near the top among NFC quarterbacks. His strong arm and mobility will test the Vikings defense.

Vikings defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd acknowledged the major challenge of keeping Wilson in the pocket. “Him and Aaron Rodgers (Packers) are the only two (quarterbacks) I can truly think of that can throw touchdowns from the 50-yard line on the run,” Floyd said.

The Seahawks played in the last two Super Bowls and despite a 6-5 record now certainly aren’t a team to sleep on. Seattle has dealt with injuries while playing some of the NFL’s best teams and losing three games by a total of 10 points.

Harris is a West Coast guy and has known of Seahawks coach Pete Carroll back when he was coaching USC to powerhouse seasons. He expects Carroll will have the playoff-worried Seahawks ready on Sunday. “Just a players’ coach,” Harris said. “I feel like guys just want to go out and play hard for him because he has a winning history. …”

Worth Noting

With expected temps well above freezing today, the Vikings plan to practice outdoors at Winter Park. The forecast for Sunday in Minneapolis calls for similar temperatures with perhaps a high of 42.

Stefon Diggs, the Vikings rookie wide receiver from the University of Maryland who leads the team in receptions with 40, was asked if there’s a major difference between Big Ten defensive backs versus those in the NFL: “Yeah, it’s a big difference. As far as the NFL, everybody is pretty much good.”

Vikings center John Sullivan, who has missed the entire season because of a problematic back including surgery, said this week he isn’t in pain and expects to be on the field in 2016. Sullivan comes to Winter Park for rehab but watches all the games, home and away, on television at his residence where he and his wife have a four-month old baby, the couple’s first child.

That was former Gophers football coach Jerry Kill and wife Rebecca having dinner at Murray’s Restaurant earlier this week with WCCO Radio friends Sid Hartman, Dave Lee (with wife Julie), and Mike Max.

With the signing of Korean slugger Byung Ho Park, the Twins have yet another player on the 40-man roster who has experience playing first base. Joe Mauer apparently will be given most of the time at first next season with Park as the team’s likely designated hitter. But others on the roster also have experience at first including Trevor Plouffe, the team’s regular third baseman, and Miguel Sano (an infielder headed to the outfield), and Kennys Vargas, Max Kepler and Adam Walker.

Vargas impressed in 2014 with his hitting but not last year when he fell off from .274 to .240—with home runs and RBI declining from 9 and 38, to 5 and 17. He looks like a player who perhaps isn’t in the Twins future, partially because he doesn’t fit well in the field except first base. A switch hitter, Vargas might complement the right-handed hitting Park as a DH. Kepler and Walker are likely to play in the outfield in the minors next year.

The 5-2 Gophers basketball team earned its most impressive win of the season on Monday night against Clemson, and plays South Dakota tomorrow at Williams Arena. Expectations this season are minimal for Minnesota but the Gophers could be a surprise team if they continue to score like they did in the 89-83 victory over Clemson.

Freshman forward Jordan Murphy led all scorers with 24 points and had a team high 10 rebounds. The 6-6, 230-pound Jordan once scored 44 points for Brennan High School in San Antonio.

Former Gophers coach Jim Dutcher praised Murphy’s advanced fundamentals for a freshman. “He’s got a good basketball I.Q.,” Dutcher told Sports Headliners.

College basketball has new rules to speed up play, but deliberate fouling in the closing minutes can still be agonizing to watch. ESPN2 viewers saw Illinois State drag out the end of its game against Kentucky on Monday night when it took about 10 minutes to use up almost two minutes on the game clock. The Gophers-Clemson game was joined in progress on ESPN2 because of the slow finish with Illinois State and Kentucky.

Don Lucia’s Gophers hockey team hopes to have continued outstanding performances from sophomore forward Leon Bristedt tonight and tomorrow evening against Ohio State at Mariucci Arena. Bristedt has at least a point in seven of the last eight games and leads the team with 12 points (seven goals, five assists) in 11 games this season. His seven goals have already surpassed his freshman total of five in 35 games last season.

Bristedt, from Sweden, is one of only four non-North Americans ever to play for the Gophers, a program whose rosters have been dominated by Minnesotans. The others are Bristedt’s Swedish teammate Robin Hoglund, and NHLers Erik Haula (Finland) and Thomas Vanek (Austria).

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