Twins – Page 55 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Vikings Stuck in Long-Term Mediocrity

Posted on December 19, 2021December 20, 2021 by David Shama

The Vikings enter tomorrow night’s game at Chicago with a 6-7 record. That flirtation with a .500 record is indicative of what the club has experienced for 16 seasons dating back to 2005 when the Wilf family purchased the franchise.

During that stretch the Vikings’ regular season record (including this year) is 139 wins, 128 losses and 2 ties. Throw in a 3-6 playoff record and the result is 142-134-2. The last three seasons (including 2021) the regular season totals are 23 wins, 22 losses.

The Vikings have been good enough to keep their fan base engaged, with the more exuberant followers dreaming of a Super Bowl appearance (hasn’t happened since 1977). The team had a season-for-the-ages when Brett Favre dropped into town in 2009. The 2019 season with a 13-3 record and postseason “Minneapolis Miracle” was special, too.

There have been a couple of seasons perhaps worthy of fans pulling paper bags over their collective heads at home games. Included on the short list is a 3-13 disaster in 2011. But there have been a lot of years where the final record was 9-7, 8-8, 7-9, 8-7-1 and Maalox-inducing-2021 (12 of 13 games decided by one possession, eight points or fewer).

Since 2005 the Vikings have won four division titles, with the most recent in 2017. They missed the playoffs last season after going 7-9 during the regular season. Their postseason success is shabby compared with NFC rivals. Twelve of the conference’s 16 teams have played in at least one Super Bowl dating back to 2005. The Vikings, Cowboys, Lions and Washington have not.

The NFL is America’s game and it capture’s public focus like few other things in our culture. Out here on the prairie Minnesotans want to be cool, too, and so it’s a tossup on Sundays whether church activities or the local NFL crew are more important. The Vikings have been competitive enough to play in dramatic games and they also stoke Purple passion with entertaining talents like Justin Jefferson and Dalvin Cook.

Many Vikings fans have a love-hate relationship with their team. Despite the mediocre on-field results for years, the fans aren’t apathetic about their favorites and that’s good news for the financial bottom line—and the Wilfs who bought the franchise for a reported $600 million. This year in its valuation of NFL franchises, Forbes estimated the worth is $3.35 billion. With inflation run amuck, that number could jump more than in the past when Forbes reports again in 2022.

The up-and-down Vikings get ready for the Bears Monday night and a showdown game that will weigh heavily on making the playoffs. At 6-7, with four games remaining, what’s all but certain is the final record will be around .500.

Surprise? Hardly.

Worth Noting

Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck talking on BTN Wednesday about promising defensive linemen recruits Trey Bixby, Anthony Smith and Hayden Schwartz: “Hopefully some of them can play and contribute as a freshman (2022).”

Kristen Hoskins, the electric kick returner and receiver from Alexandria, Minnesota, is another player from the 2022 Gopher recruiting class who drew attention on National Signing Day last Wednesday. He wasn’t highly recruited but 247Sports analyst Allen Trieu sees similarity with former Penn State star KJ Hamler. “I think he (Hoskins) is a steal,” Trieu said on BTN.

There are 21 former Gophers in the College Football Hall of Fame and the next one could be Greg Eslinger. A two-time All-American in 2004 and 2005, he won the Outland Trophy given to college football’s best interior lineman and the Dave Rimington Trophy as college football’s best center.

Eslinger’s college head coach, Glen Mason, recruited the North Dakota native as a fullback but converted Eslinger to center and started him as a true freshman. “He should already be in (the Hall of Fame),” Mason said in an email. “Crime!”

Crime No. 2? It’s an injustice Halsey Hall isn’t a member of the Twins Hall of Fame. Part of the Twins’ original broadcast crew starting in 1961, Hall is the most entertaining on-air personality the club ever had. Not even close!

Minnesota ticket sales are outpacing West Virginia’s for the December 28 Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix, per bowl CEO Mike Nealy. There might be 7,500 Gophers fans attending the game played at the Arizona Diamondbacks’ baseball stadium (capacity around 30,000 for football). Neal, who said the median ticket price is about $70, predicted attendance of 25,000 to 30,000 for the game, with up to two million TV viewers watching on ESPN.

The 8-4 Gophers are about a four point favorite against the 6-6 Mountaineers.

Bob Peters photo courtesy of Bemidji State University

Condolences to family, friends and the many admirers of Bob Peters who passed away last week at age 84. The legendary Bemidji State hockey coach, who retired in 2001, won 13 small college national championships and ranks fifth in wins all-time among college hockey coaches, but more importantly he was a great mentor to his players.

Chris Justice knows how Peters impacted his life. Justice had a successful hockey career at Edina High School in the 1980s but initially decided not to attend college. A couple of years later, despite having experienced a car accident severely injuring his right arm, he asked Peters for an opportunity at Bemidji. Justice not only played for the Beavers but went on to become head hockey coach at Bemidji High School and remains a contributor to the sport in his adopted hometown.

The NHL’s Winter Classic series dates back to 2008 but the January 1, 2022 Minneapolis edition at Target Field will be the first one televised nationally in prime time starting at 7 p.m. Eastern. The day prior will offer a lineup of free activities for fans including hockey attractions and musical performances.

That was future new Timberwolves owner Alex Rodriguez in town for Friday night’s impressive win over the Lakers. The New York Post reported recently A-Rod sold his $6.3 million Miami house after his split with Jennifer Lopez.

Too bad retired Star Trib gossip columnist C.J. (Cheryl Johnson) isn’t around to chronicle A-Rod’s adventures.

Twins legend Tony Oliva is the latest guest on the “Behind the Game” program seen on over 25 cable markets and on YouTube. The show is co-hosted by Agile Marketing owner Patrick Klinger and USHL commissioner Bill Robertson.

The Minnesota-Green Bay men’s basketball game scheduled for a 7 p.m. start Wednesday will tip instead at 4 p.m. BTN will televise.

Gopher basketball alum J.B. Bickerstaff, now coaching the NBA Cavs, has his team a surprising seven games over .500 with the help of former Wolves Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio.

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Diggs Deal Works Big Time for Vikings

Posted on November 22, 2021November 22, 2021 by David Shama

There is no second-guessing any more about the Vikings’ March 2020 trade that sent veteran big play wide receiver Stefon Diggs to the Bills. Dissent was all but buried yesterday by the headline performance of second-year wide receiver Justin Jefferson.

The Vikings received draft choices in return for a disgruntled Diggs who didn’t want to be in Minnesota’s offense. Those draft choices gave the Vikings not only Jefferson, but potential significant contributors in safety Camryn Bynum and defensive end Kenny Willekes.

Jefferson, of course, is the prize and all he did yesterday was catch eight passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns in the team’s 34-31 win over the Packers. “…He loves to go out and compete,” Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer said on KFXN’s postgame radio show. “He’s been catching the ball great and running good routes, and he just lives for these moments.”

Diggs and Jefferson are similar in stats this season. Jefferson has 63 receptions for 944 yards and six touchdowns. Diggs has 60 catches for 773 yards and six touchdowns. Jefferson has 17 plays of 20 or more yards while Diggs totals eight.

Not only does Jefferson have the edge in key numbers but at age 22 he is six years younger than Diggs. And he’s a bargain with a base salary of about $1.2 million, while Diggs costs the Bills over $12 million, per Spotrac.com.

Jefferson is also a happy camper with the Vikings who talks team, not just about himself. He likes this offense that helped pull the Vikings to a 5-5 record yesterday against the 8-3 NFC North Division leading Packers.

“I feel like this offense is tops in the league with him (RB Dalvin Cook) running the ball, and me, Adam (WR Thielen), K.J. (WR Osborn) catching the ball. We can go a long way,” Jefferson said. “I feel like it’s hard to stop all of us on this offense and it’s a great offense.”

Quarterback Kirk Cousins, of course, is a big part of the rejuvenated offense that has been so productive of late, and so is his offensive line. Cousins threw for 341 yards and three touchdowns in the win Sunday while the line, including guards Ezra Cleveland and Uli Udoh, and center Mason Cole had success handling Packers defensive tackle and play wrecker Kenny Clark.

Regular center Garrett Bradbury is back from COVID but it seems likely Cole continues to start.

Worth Noting

Vikings network radio analyst Ben Leber was critical of safety Xavier Woods’ performance against the Packers who passed for 385 yards. “No, he did not have a good day,” the former Viking linebacker said after the game. “There were a couple times where it looked like to me it’s simple discipline things where he just has wrong leverage. He is not understanding where his help is and it’s unfortunate for a guy that is such a veteran player, and he’s had a great season so far. …”

The pandemic, high ticket prices and the team’s slow start to the season has the Vikings running TV commercials for single game tickets for remaining home games.

Gophers coach P.J. Fleck said health issues shouldn’t sideline any of his starters for Saturday’s game against the Badgers at Huntington Bank Stadium.

However, defensive line depth is impacted with news Sunday that M.J. Andersen is leaving the team and today that Rashad Cheney is doing the same. Don’t be surprised if other players enter the transfer portal between now and Minnesota’s yet to be determined bowl game.

Quarterback Tanner Morgan, who lost his father about five months ago, has long received the admiration of his coach. Morgan has won more games (25) than any QB in program history and Fleck praises him for his talent, courage and leadership.

“I might be working for him someday,” Fleck said.

Analytics have made 3-8 Nebraska a slight favorite (about three points) over 9-2 Iowa for Friday’s key West Division game in Lincoln.

Ex-Gophers Thomas Barber and Justin Conzemius, along with a TBD Gopher assistant coach, will headline Friday’s Goal Line Club preview lunch of the Minnesota-Wisconsin game at Elsie’s in northeast Minneapolis. www.goallineclub.org/events.

The 4-0 basketball Gophers led by first-year coach Ben Johnson and top assistant Dave Thorson are playing with more togetherness than any Minnesota team in memory.

Former Twins Jim Kaat and Tony Oliva will know December 5 whether they are voted into baseball’s hall of fame. “Both should be in the hall of fame,” former Pioneer Press Twins writer Gregg Wong told Sports Headliners.

Kaat, 83, won 283 games during a 25-year career with the Twins and other MLB teams. For 16 consecutive seasons he was a Rawlings Gold Glove winner, and sometimes was both a pinch runner and hitter with the Twins. “Not a better all-around pitcher in the game,” Wong said in comparing how well Kaat stacks up with pitchers of the past and today.

Oliva, also 83, had a lifetime batting average of .304 and is the only player in MLB history to win batting championships during his first two seasons. Oliva was a three-time American League batting champion and led the AL in hits five seasons. The Twins’ right fielder was a feared hitter who could hit pitched balls headed for the dirt into the seats.

Kaat and Oliva are part of a 10-person Golden Days Era ballot that includes Dick Allen, Ken Boyer, Gil Hodges, Roger Maris, Minnie Miñoso, Danny Murtaugh, Billy Pierce and Maury Wills. Kaat, Oliva and Wills are the only ones still living. “Even better reason to get them in the hall of fame,” said Wong who is a hall of fame voter but not a member of the Golden Days Era Committee deciding the fates of the 10 ex-players.

Any candidate who receives votes on 75 percent of the ballots cast by the 16-member committee will be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and inducted in Cooperstown on July 24, 2022.

Wong and former Minneapolis Central High School football teammate Bill Forsyth recently had dinner and reminisced with their former coach, 93-year-old Chuck Elias. “One of the most enjoyable evenings of my life,” Wong said.

The 1963 Pioneers were undefeated and City Conference football champions.

Much anticipated in these parts is Patrick Reusse’s annual Turkey of the Year column in the Thanksgiving Day issue of the Star Tribune. Who wins in 2021? Rocco Baldelli and Mark Coyle could be contenders.

The Vikings don’t play on Thanksgiving Day in 2021 but they have taken a liking to such games, going 6-2 over the years. They have won three of the last four with two straight over the Cowboys and splitting two with the Lions.

The Gophers defeated the Badgers 14-0 in Minneapolis on Thanksgiving Day 1963. The game had been rescheduled from the previous Saturday because of President John Kennedy’s assassination.

Former KARE 11 sports anchor Eric Perkins is the latest “Behind the Game” guest of co-hosts Patrick Klinger and Bill Robertson. Perkins is deciding on his next career move. The program is available for viewing on the “Behind the Game” YouTube Channel and via cable access throughout the state.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Vikings Positioned for Future Rebuild

Posted on November 8, 2021 by David Shama

The Vikings, 3-5 after yesterday’s loss to the Ravens, are a long shot to make the playoffs and have missed the postseason in two of the last three seasons. The Vikings, although playing with effort, are a flawed team whose faults include not being able to capitalize on opponents’ mistakes and not finishing off games with a victory.

Embattled head coach Mike Zimmer probably not only needs to lead the Vikings to the playoffs but also win a couple of games to save his job. GM Rick Spielman, also the target of a highly critical fan base, has even a longer tenure in his position than Zimmer who he hired before the 2014 season.

The Wilf family could decide in January it’s time for new leadership on and off the field. Part of Mark and Zygi Wilf’s thinking might be prompted after reviewing a roster with several aging players among Minnesota’s impact performers.

Quarterback Kirk Cousins and defensive end Everson Griffen are both 33, safety Harrison Smith 32, cornerback Patrick Peterson and wide receiver Adam Thielen are 31, linebackers Anthony Barr and Eric Kendricks and defensive tackle Michael Pierce are all 29.

There are longevity questions also about two of the team’s best performers, defensive end Danielle Hunter, 27, and running back Dalvin Cook, 26. Injuries have sidelined Hunter in both 2020 and 2021. Cook missed most of his rookie season in 2017 and injuries, including this season, have forced him out of the lineup numerous times in the last five years. NFL running backs have among the shortest of careers in the NFL.

None of this is to suggest the Vikings have to implode their roster next offseason. But except for 22-year-old wide receiver Justin Jefferson the Vikings don’t have any young stars on the roster, and whoever is managing the personnel will need to make decisions about aging players who have been major contributors in the past. In 2022 the club certainly could begin to transition its roster with aggressiveness while retaining the most valued players including Cook and probably Hunter.

The Wilfs might do a postseason audit, including review of the player roster and salary cap, and decide a new regime gets the opportunity to rebuild the Vikings during the next couple of years. The Wilfs are fans, too, and they have to be frustrated with mediocrity.

Worth Noting

The Twins announced this morning they have hired Jayce Tingler, 40, as bench coach and David Popkins, 31, as hitting coach. As manager of the Padres, Tingler led the team to the National League Division Series in 2020 and finished second in NL Manager of the Year voting. Popkins was hitting coach for the Great Lakes Loons, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ High-A affiliate. The Loons led the High-A Central Division in home runs (187), slugging percentage (.456) and OPS (.800) last season.

Yesterday Jefferson played in his 24th career game and increased his career receiving yards to 2,032 yards. He is the second-fastest player in the Super Bowl era to reach 2,000 career receiving yards (Odell Beckham Jr., 21 games).

Presuming the Vikings draft somewhere between 16 and 32 in the first round of next year’s NFL Draft, they might select a quarterback like Nevada’s Carson Strong or Pitt’s Kenny Pickett. It’s believed Spielman is evaluating both of them.

Among deer hunters planning to be out for the opener last weekend were Eden Prairie coach Mike Grant and his legendary dad Bud, 94 years old. Mike is chasing a 12th state football championship.

The Golden Gophers, 6-3, expectedly lost their opening game to Ohio State but their other two defeats, against lowly Bowling Green and mediocre Illinois, were major upsets. Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck said early last week that in nine years as a head coach his personal worst effort was for Bowling Green.

Gophers’ kicker Matthew Trickett, the Ken State transfer who was the MAC Special Teams Player of the Year in 2019 after making 82.5 percent of 57 attempts, is 10 of 17 for 58.2 percent through eight games at Minnesota. He is three of five from 40-49 yards, and one of four from 50 or more. He has also missed two extra points including one in Saturday’s 14-6 loss to Illinois.

One Stadium Village lot about three blocks from Huntington Bank Stadium is charging $30 for parking at Gophers football games. Any place asking more?

Congratulations to retired Gopher trainer Jim Marshall and wife Mary Lee who celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary November 16.

Minnesota native and Wild forward Nick Bjugstad, who scored the winning shootout goal Saturday night against the Penguins, made this promise to the fans before the season started: “I’ll do my best every day to bring the Stanley Cup to St. Paul.”

Jack LaFontaine, chosen last season as college hockey’s best goalie, had a season high 34 saves for the 6-4 Gophers in their 4-1 win over the Badgers Saturday night. Minnesota is 11-4-1 in its last 16 games against border rival Wisconsin.

The latest issue of Sports Illustrated includes a photo and Faces in the Crowd story on Hopkins senior basketball star Maya Nnaji who will play next year for Arizona, becoming the highest ranked Wildcat in women’s program history, per the magazine.

Twins radio voice Cory Provus will do Big Ten Network men’s basketball play-by-play this season.

The Twins have two free agents in pitcher Michael Pineda and shortstop Andrelton Simmons. Wager on a Pineda return, but not Simmons.

Wonder if the Twins have interest in a short term contract for former Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander? He will be 39 by Opening Day and has missed almost the last two seasons because of an injured elbow but maybe there is something “left in the tank” of the free agent right hander.

Skyline Division leader Bethel hosts Northwoods Division leader Saint John’s on Saturday for the MIAC football championship. The winner receives the MIAC’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III playoffs. The Johnnies won the regular-season game between the two traditional powers, 31-25.

Football rosters for the annual Minnesota High School All-Star Game (December 4, U.S. Bank Stadium) will be announced Friday on Randy Shaver’s Prep Sports Extra show on KARE 11.

The November 11 CORES luncheon and program at the Bloomington Event Center is cancelled. The next CORES program will be January 13.

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