Vikings – Page 105 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Vikes GM Downplays Pressure on Him, Zim

Posted on July 21, 2019July 21, 2019 by David Shama

Perhaps longevity creates confidence and calm in the high expectations world of the National Football League. That was the impression Rick Spielman gave when asked about pressure on himself and Mike Zimmer for the 2019 season.

Spielman, the Vikings general manager, has been making personnel decisions for the Minnesota NFL franchise since 2007. Zimmer, the team’s coach since 2014, is now the longest tenured head coach in the NFC North Division. Spielman and Zimmer reportedly have contracts that extend only through 2020 so ownership appears to be scrutinizing its leaders.

Spielman was asked by Sports Headliners if there is more pressure going into this season on him and Zimmer than in the past? “Every year is pressure,” he said. “There is no difference than any other year.”

The Vikings open training camp this week coming off an 8-7-1 record last season and missing the playoffs. The record fit a pattern of the Zimmer era with alternate years of success including off and on participation in the postseason. Zimmer’s 2014 team finished 7-9 and missed the playoffs. His next team was 11-5 and lost its first postseason game. In 2016 the Vikings were 8-8 and again a playoff no-show. They had a memorable 2017 season at 13-3 and advanced to the NFC Championship game before losing to the Eagles.

The results of 2018 left the Vikings collectively and individually disappointed and angry, starting with their all business head coach. The attitude in spring practices was evident to Spielman and most everyone else. “Usually our team and coach Zim responds when there is a chip on his shoulder,” Spielman said.

Perhaps the Vikings can regain the NFC North Division title they lost last season but there is no consensus among pro football authorities they will do so. The prevailing thought is the Vikings, Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers are bunched so close the NFC North eventual winner will not be a surprise unless it’s the Detroit Lions.

The Vikings have a talented and veteran defense, with players who have been together for several seasons. The offense has two of the best receivers in football in Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs, and also a new found commitment to run the ball more because $84 million quarterback Kirk Cousins showed last season he can’t carry the team like the NFL’s elite passers.

A July 12 article by Patrick Daugherty on Yahoo sports pointed out that while Cousins had new career highs in completion percentage (70.1) and touchdowns (30), his performance declined in the second half of the season including in the last game of the season against the Bears when the Vikings needed a win to make the playoffs.

“Cousins also got worse as games (during the full season) wore on, with his completion percentage declining each quarter, from 76.1 in the first to 67.3 in the fourth,” Daugherty wrote. “12 of Cousins’ 40 sacks came in the final period, as did four of his 10 picks. With the Vikings’ season on the line in Week 17, Cousins managed all of 132 yards against a Bears team that was basically already locked into the No. 3 seed, giving it little to play for.”

Worth Noting

Billy Beane, the former Twins player whose gift for analytics was depicted in the movie Moneyball, is still with the low-budget A’s where he is an executive vice president and minority owner of the resourceful franchise known for its savvy personnel moves.

The A’s have turned former Twins starter Liam Hendriks into a top closer who consistently throws near 100 miles per hour. The trade-hungry Twins need a right-handed late inning closer to balance impressive lefty Taylor Rogers.

As of Sunday morning Hendriks had pitched 20.2 consecutive scoreless innings dating back to June 6. During that 19 game period he struck out 34 and walked three.

Hendriks saved last night’s 5-4 A’s win in the ninth inning at Target Field. It was Minnesota’s first loss this season after going into the ninth with the lead. The record now is 53-1.

Possible realignment of the Big Ten’s East and West Divisions in football was asked about by media at Big Ten Media Days last week in Chicago. Nothing has been announced by the conference but the East is consistently the stronger division. Moving Michigan to the West would ensure the Golden Gophers and Wolverines played every season for the famous Little Brown Jug.

Not only does realignment seem a possibility but so too does expansion of league members from 14 to 16. That’s another topic Kevin Warren could be dealing with this fall and later. Warren, the Vikings chief operating officer, begins working with outgoing Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany in September and then takes over as commissioner January 1.

Warren is a neighbor of Gophers coach P.J. Fleck in Edina.

Fleck talked about academics in Chicago, saying his players earned the highest GPA in the football program’s history last fall at 3.20.

Fleck on why talented wide receiver Tyler Johnson returned for his senior season rather than turning professional: “He thinks we’re going to be really good.”

A Cleveland.com poll of Big Ten reporters asked them who among the current head football coaches they would hire if they ran a Big Ten athletic department. In the results posted last Thursday Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald was the top choice with 14 of the 33 votes. Nebraska’s Scott Frost was second with nine votes. Purdue’s Jeff Brohm had four votes and finished third in the poll. Fleck didn’t receive a vote.

Another Cleveland.com media poll posted last Thursday forecast that Michigan will win the East and Nebraska the West. The Gophers are the choice to finish sixth in the seven-team division but did receive one first place vote.

Brad Salem, son of former Gophers head coach Joe Salem, is the new offensive coordinator at Michigan State.

Among ideas being considered by the NBA is allowing teams that don’t qualify for the present 16 playoff spots to play their way into the postseason. “We’ve looked at that for a couple of years,” Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor told Sports Headliners. “I just think that there is always a team or two that’s been injured, and has the worst record but now (they) have a pretty good team, and it gives them a second chance for making up for their lost season.”

X Games returns to U.S. Bank Stadium for a third consecutive year August 1-4. The made for TV and ESPN covered event might draw a total of 25,000 to 30,000 spectators to the stadium over the four days. The X Games will return in 2020 in the final year of the agreement at the stadium.

Minneapolis Golf Club’s course is closed for renovation until June or July of next year. Members can play other private courses including Golden Valley Country Club.

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Vikings’ Cook Looks Like ‘Mr. Breakout’

Posted on July 14, 2019July 14, 2019 by David Shama

Enjoy a Sunday notes column that leads off with Vikings third-year running back Dalvin Cook.

Do the simplest search of Cook’s name on Google and see the word “breakout” come up on your screen. Anticipation is prevalent that the sometimes injured Cook will be healthy and rank near the top among NFL comeback players in 2019.

The Vikings made it clear during spring practices their new assistant coaches will have the offense prioritizing running the football next season. No one is more important to achieving that goal than Cook who as a rookie in 2017 ran for 354 yards in his first four games before injuring his left knee and missing the rest of the season.

Last season he wasn’t always healthy but managed to play in 11 games, starting 10 and rushing for 615 yards, averaging an impressive 4.8 yards per carry. That is the kind of production the Vikings expected when they selected the former Florida State running back in the early second round of the 2017 NFL Draft.

The Vikings will open training camp later this month with high expectations from the explosive runner if he is healthy. He can be one of the NFL’s better rushers and balance an offense that starts with expensive quarterback Kirk Cousins and two of the league’s best receivers in Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen. “…We expect Dalvin, the way he’s looked and if he can stay healthy, to have a big breakout season this year,” Vikings general manager Rick Spielman told Sports Headliners.

The Vikings have even changed their blocking scheme to more effectively blend the pass and run. “There’s no doubt about with what we’re doing offensively (emphasis on running), he’s going to get a lot of opportunity in the games,” Spielman said.

Backing up Cook could be rookie Alexander Mattison, a third round draft selection from Boise State who had consecutive 1,000-plus yard seasons for the Broncos. At 5-11, 220-pounds, he is powerfully built, and Spielman is excited about the rookie.

“He’s one of those guys, when you have to run the clock out, he has the ability to get extra yards after contact, keep the chains moving,” Spielman said. “But the thing that I think that surprised me a little bit was how well he caught the ball out of the backfield and how quickly he has picked up pass protection. …”

Tre Jones, the Duke sophomore point guard who played at Apple Valley, is the No. 8 college basketball player in the country for next season, per Andy Katz. The college basketball authority listed his top 25 players Friday on NCAA.com. Michigan State guard Cassius Winston ranked No. 1, while no Golden Gophers made the top 25 or a list of 15 honorable mention players that included Minnesota native McKinley Wright, who will be a junior guard at Colorado in the fall.

It would be an odd development but not unprecedented if New York Mets starter Zack Wheeler switches uniforms to the Twins this week. The Mets open a two-game Interleague series with the Twins on Tuesday and Minnesota is searching for trades to bolster the pitching staff. Wheeler is 6-6 this season, with 130 strikeouts in 119 innings.

Giants starting ace Madison Bumgarner’s name is linked to the Twins and other clubs regarding a possible July trade. The July 15 issue of Sports Illustrated points out the Giants, who already are out of contention to win the NL West Division, also have trade chips in bullpen pitchers with strong resumes—Sam Dyson, Will Smith and Tony Watson.

Sports Illustrated’s Joe Sheehan, writing in the current issue, refers to the surprising Twins “as real” after a pre-All-Star Game Break performance that had them leading the majors in home runs and taking first place in the AL Central. “They simply have more talent than the second-place Indians and will win their first division title in nine years,” Sheehan said.

Any chance 36-year-old Joe Mauer, in his first season of retirement, will contemplate a comeback next year? “No, I am good,” he told Sports Headliners.

What words would the former Twins great want on his tombstone? “Well, that’s a great question. A good person, and obviously I love to compete, and I love to play baseball. Just a good person, a good teammate and a good family man.”

Wild left wing Jason Zucker talking about next season: “I think a 30 goal season is something that I not only look forward to but something I know I can do. So that’s definitely where I am at.”

Zucker had 33 goals during the 2017-18 season, the only time he has scored 30 or more. The 27-year-old has spent his eight year NHL career with the Wild and his name has been rumored in trade talks. Zucker said the positive about that is other teams apparently want him, but he loves being part of this community.

Vikings single game digital tickets go on sale to the general public starting at 10 a.m. Thursday. Preseason ($20 and up) and regular season ($62 or more) tickets are available online only via Ticketmaster.

University of Iowa football single game tickets also go on sale Thursday, with $80 the cost to see the Gopher game in Iowa City on November 16. Among Iowa’s seven home games, that is the highest single game price except for Penn State at $95. (Youth tickets are $25 for all Hawkeye home games.)

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Humble Baldelli Makes Big Impression

Posted on July 9, 2019July 9, 2019 by David Shama

As Major League Baseball pauses this week for its annual All-Star Game break, the Minnesota Twins are the surprise team of the American League with over half of their 162-game schedule completed. At 56-33 the Twins have the third best record in the AL and lead the Central Division by 5.5 games over the Cleveland Indians.

Before the season began no one thought the Twins, who finished with a 78-84 record last season, would have more than 50 wins at the All-Star break. If there was such an honor as Mid-Season American League Manager of the Year, the award would likely go to Minnesota’s Rocco Baldelli.

Last fall at age 37 he became the youngest manager in the majors. Twins front office executives Derek Falvey and Thad Levine gambled their reputations last year by firing Paul Molitor, a Minnesota sports icon and the 2017 AL Manager of the Year. Baldelli had four previous years as a coach for the Tampa Rays but no managerial experience on any level.

Falvey didn’t hesitate when asked if Baldelli would receive his vote if there were a contest to name a Manager of the Year in July. “In my opinion, of course,” Falvey told Sports Headliners. “He’s been everything we could have asked for and more.

“And I think he’d be the first person to tell you there’s five other guys (managers) he’d vote for…because that’s his humility. That’s what he cares about. …What I get to see inside (of Baldelli) is even more special than what he does on the outside. I am really proud that we have him.”

Falvey, the Twins chief baseball officer, was aware of Baldelli’s humility before he hired him and saw that attribute among several that would make the former big league outfielder an outstanding leader. “I (also) saw…a guy who had done a lot of things in baseball. He hadn’t managed yet but he’d been an All-Star player, he’d been a key prospect, he’d had his career cut short by adversity.

“This guy had faced some challenges in his life, but he was also a great coach. He had impacted young players, he had impacted veteran players, and he does it all with an intense humility. So I think that what I saw in him more than anything was just a true leader. Someone who has all the leadership capabilities that in my mind you could see translating into the role of manager, even though he hadn’t done it yet.”

The Twins are a diverse group with players from the United States and other places. They are a mix of young and older players, many of whom are new to the organization. And yet collectively the Twins appear to be an all-for-one bunch that has rapport and celebrates each other’s success. Player leaders like 39–year-old DH Nelson Cruz have played important roles in the culture, but of course Baldelli has as well.

Falvey knows his manager not only relates very well to his players, but to everyone else in the organization including scouts, analysts and front office personnel. “He can interact with anybody but he also has the strength of his convictions,” Falvey said. “I think he believes in certain things around the game, the way it needs to be played. I think it (Baldelli’s convictions) lines up really well with our organization and what our collective views are in terms of our values for our baseball team, and I couldn’t be happier with what he has done.”

Baldelli played seven seasons in the majors, six with the Rays and one with the Boston Red Sox. In 2003 he finished third in AL Rookie of the Year voting. The first-year outfielder hit .289, the highest average of any rookie in the league.

Baldelli missed the entire 2005 season due to elbow and knee surgeries. Injuries limited the rest of his career and he retired as a player at age 29 in 2010.

The Twins play with the fight and determination Baldelli demonstrated as a player–persevering through injuries and winning close games. That kind of character prompts Falvey to be optimistic his club can continue its success in the second half of the season.

“We play every game like it’s our last,” Falvey said. “We try and win every night. We’re not going to win them all. We know that, but I truly believe that if we continue to play the way we’ve been playing, we’re going to put ourselves in a great position late in the season.”

Worth Noting

Twins shortstop Jorge Polanco represents the Twins as the starting American League shortstop in tonight’s All-Star Game in Cleveland. Polanco, who turned 26 last week, is having the best start yet to his still brief MLB career, and he ranks fifth in AL batting average at .312.

Former Twins manager Paul Molitor gave Polanco opportunities to establish himself as the club’s starting shortstop in 2017 and 2018. Molitor also worked in the Twins organization prior to managing and he has been familiar with Polanco’s potential for about a decade.

“I knew that there was a chance that he was going to do some special things offensively,” Molitor told Sports Headliners. “You know, when we signed him as a 16-year-old kid, everyone talked about his defense, and his hands, and all those type of things. But as it has turned out, he has been more than adequate defensively…(and) one of the elite players offensively in the American League.”

It will be a surprise if Tyus Jones is on the Timberwolves roster by week’s end. Gersson Rosas, the club’s president of basketball operations, must soon match a reported qualifying offer of three years and $28 million from the Memphis Grizzlies for Jones, or lose the restricted free agent. The Wolves, who likely believe $28 million is too pricey for the Minnesota native point guard, seem likely to let Jones leave Minneapolis after four years with the NBA club unless they sign him with intentions of packaging him in a trade.

Wolves head coach Ryan Saunders has known Jones since he was in high school at Apple Valley. Although Jones has been a backup in the NBA with the Wolves, it seemed possible that his role could expand under Saunders, partially because of their solid relationship. But it’s Rosas, not Saunders, who is making the ultimate decisions regarding personnel.

At about 6-feet and under 200 pounds, Jones is undersized as a pro and defense certainly isn’t his strength. But among his attributes is making big plays when games are about to be decided. It’s the same ability he showed in high school and college at Duke. In the right organization, like the San Antonio Spurs who are legendary for their team concept or the Los Angeles Lakers where he could be a complementary piece to superstars, Jones would be valuable.

The University of Minnesota sent emails yesterday introducing the Gopher Pass for home football games. Priced at $28.56 per game, the all-mobile ticket allows “viewpoints” in TCF Bank Stadium for each of Minnesota’s seven home games. If a game is sold out, Gopher Pass purchasers will not have a seat in the stadium but will have access to a standing room only area. Four monthly payments of $49.99 are offered for what is being promoted as the “most flexible ticket ever” for Gophers football fans.

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