Vikings – Page 187 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

U Not Switching Prize QB to Defense

Posted on August 7, 2015August 7, 2015 by David Shama

The Gophers have their first official practice today and in the weeks ahead it will be interesting to watch the quarterbacks. All of Dinkytown knows redshirt junior Mitch Leidner is the starter but what will the pecking order be behind him? Will fans see prize freshman Demry Croft this season?

Jerry Kill made it clear earlier this week Croft will remain a quarterback. “He’s a guy that played receiver but we’re not doing that,” the Minnesota head coach said.

The 6-5 Croft was a wide receiver at Boylan High School in Rockford, Illinois before switching to quarterback. Kill, who said after signing Croft to a National Letter of Intent last winter that the young QB was a “steal,” is high on the 18-year-old’s athleticism and poise. Defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys has even asked about Croft’s availability for defense.

“I know coach Claeys would like to have him over on defense, so any time he does that, that means he’s a pretty good athlete,” Kill said. “I informed coach Claeys that will not happen.”

Kill told Sports Headliners that Claeys thought the 198-pound Croft could add weight and with his athleticism become a defensive end. Kill has made defense the priority at Minnesota but he’s keeping Croft at his present position. Scout.com ranked Croft No. 1 among Illinois senior prep quarterbacks.

Last spring offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover raved about Croft. “We feel like the sky’s the limit for him,” Limegrover said.

Kill will think about redshirting Croft—just like many programs do with true freshmen quarterbacks. Redshirt sophomore Chris Streveler was last season’s No. 2 quarterback and also during spring practices. He is a gifted runner who Kill said is one of the five fastest players on the team. During offseason informal workouts, Kill told Streveler to not only work on passing but also catching the ball.

“We may practice him a little bit there to see what he does, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to play him at wide receiver,” Kill said. “I just want to make that clear.”

Redshirt freshman quarterback Jacques Perra impressed Limegrover in spring practices. He’s a superior passer to Streveler, and the former walk-on from Roseville High School could some day be the No. 2 quarterback behind Leidner. Limegrover likes the consistency of Perra who during his senior season at Roseville threw for over 3,100 yards and had 35 touchdowns.

Leidner is the No. 1 quarterback and the Gophers are hopeful the former Lakeville South standout will impress with his passing this fall. He attended the famous Manning Passing Academy in Louisiana this summer and it was a growth experience for him. “He was a different kid when he came back from Manning’s camp,” Kill said. “He was down there with some of the best (college quarterbacks).”

How Leidner looks in practices and early games starting with September 3 against No. 2 ranked TCU will be a big part of the storyline about the quarterbacks. Just like the QB depth chart behind him.

Worth Noting

There will be a couple of high profile names that likely will circulate fast online as Gophers fans think about who the University of Minnesota should consider for the next athletic director. Two names could be Tony Dungy, the former Gophers quarterback and Super Bowl winning coach, and Pete Najarian, the ex-Gophers linebacker and financial investing authority. (Read a lot more about the AD topic here on Monday).

Mick Tingelhoff, the former Vikings All-Pro center who made 240 consecutive career starts for the Vikings, will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio tomorrow. Former Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton, also a member of the Hall of Fame, will be his presenter. Live TV coverage of the ceremonies for the inductees, including Tingelhoff, starts at 6 p.m. Minneapolis time on the NFL Network.

The Vikings preseason Hall of Fame game on Sunday in Canton against the Steelers begins at 7 p.m. Minneapolis time. The game will be televised on NBC and KARE 11.

Richard Pitino’s basketball team leaves Monday for exhibition games in Spain. The Gophers will play against Spanish club teams and Pitino admitted he doesn’t know a lot about the competition. His coaching approach won’t be as intense as during the season, and part of the mission in Spain is to bond as a team. Planned activities on the trip include visiting the famous Barcelona soccer stadium and seeing a flamenco show in Madrid.

Pitino was asked about the recent announcement that Wisconsin’s legendary coach Bo Ryan will retire after next season. This spring the Badgers made it to the Final Four before losing to Duke in the national championship game. Ryan has coached the Badgers to a fourth place finish or better in the Big Ten during each of his 14 seasons in Madison. “What he accomplished was miraculous,” Pitino said.

Then the Minnesota coach laughed in telling a story. Prior to the 2015 Final Four, Pitino texted Ryan that he hoped for a Badgers NCAA championship—and that the coach would retire.

The Vikings have exclusive five-year rights to pursue a Major League Soccer team in the new downtown multipurpose stadium once it opens in 2016. However, Dr. Bill McGuire and his ownership group have emerged as the MLS favorite if Minneapolis-St. Paul is granted an expansion team. McGuire is trying to win approval from MLS by building an outdoor soccer stadium in the Twin Cities, but that doesn’t mean Vikings owners (the Wilfs) won’t consider promoting soccer exhibitions involving international teams in the new covered stadium.

With or without the Wilf family, the new U.S. Bank Stadium may host soccer, according to Lester Bagley. The Vikings executive vice president for stadium development told Sports Headliners the building’s management company, SMG, is interested in booking soccer matches.

Bagley said that while the Vikings are disappointed the MLS aligned with an outdoor stadium plan, they understand. “They want to play outdoors on grass, and God bless them. We’re supportive of MLS coming here and we’re supportive of what Dr. McGuire is trying to accomplish.”

Bagley said MLS soccer in U.S. Bank Stadium would have an “indoor-outdoor” feel because of the building’s 60 percent clear roof, and the five glass pivoting doors that will be 95 feet at their peaks and can be open weather allowing. Part of the Wilf’s plan for MLS soccer was a stadium curtaining system allowing seating setups for 20,000, 30,000 and 40,000 fans. The stadium will have a Vikings game day capacity of 66,000.

Gophers assistant head baseball coach Rob Fornasiere said the program will open its new 5,000 square feet indoor hitting and pitching facility later this year at Siebert Field. Gifts totaling $1 million from former Gopher and now Twins reliever Glen Perkins and ex-Gopher Dick McCullough (1964 national championship team) made the hitting and pitching facility possible. Perkins also contributed $125,000 toward construction of Siebert Field, Minnesota’s on-campus baseball home that opened in 2013.

Gophers baseball alums from 1956-1964 celebrated championships and other memories on Wednesday, playing golf at Dwan Golf Club in Bloomington, and with a party at one of the former player’s home. From 1956-1964 Minnesota won five Big Ten championships and had only one overall losing record. In 1956, 1960 and 1964 the Gophers won NCAA national championships.

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Vikings Expect Noisy New Stadium

Posted on August 3, 2015August 3, 2015 by David Shama

Lester Bagley was looking a year ahead last week when he spent one hour talking with Sports Headliners about U.S. Bank Stadium. The Vikings’ vice president for stadium development said the NFL franchise will receive keys to the new downtown Minneapolis multi-use facility on July 29, 2016.

That date will symbolize the end of a journey for Bagley and the Vikings going back to the last century. The Vikings began lobbying for a new stadium in the late 1990s and Bagley initially joined the effort about 15 years ago as a consultant. For the last 10 years he’s been a club employee and key figure in the stadium saga including legislative efforts and stadium construction. He is now part of a stadium project team working for the Wilf family that controls Vikings ownership. The project group includes Vikings front office executives Steve LaCroix, Steve Poppen and Kevin Warren.

With the construction timeline on schedule for the $1.1 billion covered stadium, the timing was appropriate to talk with Bagley a year out from when the Vikings will be playing preseason games in their new home. Bagley spoke about how U.S. Bank Stadium could be a noisier stadium than the Metrodome, why team ownership probably isn’t done spending additional money on the publicly-privately financed facility, and that despite rumors a few years ago the Vikings never made plans to relocate. He also said the franchise will significantly improve its revenues and financial standing among NFL clubs at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Bagley is excited about the stadium and proud of the deal that will result in a facility used for a long list of events beyond the Vikings home schedule—10 games per year, plus possible playoff dates. The club will pay $10 million for annual rent, a figure Bagley said is the highest in the league. The new facility will host the Super Bowl in 2018 and college basketball’s 2019 Final Four. On a smaller scale, the stadium will be used many days a year for events like high school and college baseball games. (Note: unless the Vikings are involved as a promoter of an event in the stadium, the NFL club will not financially benefit.)

Bagley answered the following questions, with replies shortened for clarity and space considerations.

Q. Did you envision a stadium of this quality 10 years ago?

A. No. Over the last few months is when we’ve started to grow more confident that this stadium is actually going to be a game changer. That it’s going to be the best stadium in the league. It’s going to be the best fan experience—the most technologically advanced. With its indoor-outdoor space, its 60 percent clear roof—combined with the (five) pivoting glass doors (95 feet tall at their peaks)—we’re confident that this is going to deliver all the things that we advocated for and more.

Q. What is the most frequent question about the stadium and how do you answer it?

A. There’s an insatiable appetite by the public about the stadium construction. We get a lot of questions about the roof material. That’s the ETFE product, the ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene. It is a very durable, transparent fabric. Combined with the pivoting doors, it’s going to provide that indoor-outdoor experience.

We also believe based on feedback from the engineers and developers of this roof material, that the stadium is going to be loud. It’s going to be a home field advantage because this material is more acoustically reflective than the old Teflon (roof) at the Metrodome. We think it’s going to reverberate, and then we’ve got 40 percent of the roof that is going to be…metal.

It’s also going to be an intimate stadium (with fans close to the field).

Q. What element do you think fans will most be talking about?

A. I think they’re going to love the doors and I think they’re just going to love the feel of the place. It’s going to be such a dramatic difference and improvement from the Metrodome. It’s night and day. When you walk in, you can see all the way around. There will be views as you walk through the concourse (and) you can see into the bowl.

The old dome was a concrete bunker. Once you were out in the hallway you were jammed and then you couldn’t see anything. This is going to be two and three times wider in the concourses with views into the stadium. There will be lots of places to hang out, to watch the game. We think it’s in line with what the Twins delivered (at Target Field). We think the Twins ballpark is beautiful, contemporary. We think on the other end of town we’re going to match that.

Q. How much extra money have the Vikings owners contributed to the stadium to ensure all the amenities are included? And with additional expenditures, is the stadium still going to allow the Vikings to be profitable?

A. The legislation passed in 2012 had the private side putting in $477 million and public $498 million. Since the bill passed, the Wilf family has invested an additional $95 million, and that money may go up from there. Sort of 95 and counting. Fortunately our owners are willing to do that because they want to protect the vision and the great fan experience that we promised we would deliver. The only way to do it—since there’s no more money from our partner on the public side—is to invest additional dollars.

The Metrodome put us at the bottom of the NFL in terms of revenues (with the Oakland Raiders). There were just no opportunities. Now we’re not going to be at the top (among NFL franchises), but we’re going to be at the upper middle.

…I think this stadium is going to provide all the revenue opportunities that we need to be competitive and to be successful. We didn’t have them (the resources) at the dome—and that’s the premium seats for clubs and suites, the sponsorships, the signage, the (stadium) naming rights, and things like that we didn’t have necessarily at the old building.

This stadium solution is going to work great for the state, for the public. It also secured the team (for Minnesota).

Q. How clear is it the franchise will be profitable annually?

A. We’re still selling (revenue sources involving tickets and corporate commitments etc.). We will know after that first year in the stadium but, yes, we should be out of the red and into the black to be competitive in this league.

Lester Bagley (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings)

Q. In retrospect, with the extra $95 million spent, would it have been a good idea to build a stadium with a retractable roof?

A. We looked long and hard at it. It’s a lot of money to add to a stadium for a roof that’s open maybe three or four games a year. Look at Indy (Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis). The first year they opened it up like five-six times. As the years went on, they only opened it up I think three or four times a year.

We just felt that for this market, for this climate, and for this fan experience, we gravitated toward that clear roof and pivoting doors. Leave those doors open as long as we can during the season. Get a real good feel for the weather…and then have the luxury of closing it up on brutally cold days at the end of the season and for the playoffs.

Q. After securing a stadium deal has it been financially rewarding for you and other key members of the Vikings management team?

A. Well, it’s been job security for all of us, and it’s been a labor of love. The Wilfs have been loyal to us and have been great to work for. No complaints there. We’ve got a great team with Steve Poppen, Steve LaCroix, Kevin Warren and Don Becker. The five of us are kind of the leads on the project. Don Becker coming from the Wilfs real estate development company fits in well. He’s got the real estate and development experience that none of us have. This is our first stadium. We’ve learned a lot.

We’ve got a great team and so that’s what’s been most rewarding. One year to go (for the stadium opening), and then we’ve got a Super Bowl coming. We’ve got other major projects coming, and then we’ve gotta run this stadium, and make it work for our fans as well.

Q. When will the first time be that thousands of Minnesotans can walk into the stadium? What will the event be?

A. We’re working on that right now with the stadium authority and with SMG, the building manager. We’re talking about what event is appropriate. We’re also kicking around the concept of some sort of opening ceremony that would be an open house for the public to kind of come in and kick the tires.

It’s got to be somewhere after July 29 and somewhere before about mid-August because that’s when we start our preseason games. We may play our first two preseason games on the road in 2016 to give us another couple of weeks to sort of kick off Vikings football. We’ll have some ability to provide some input on scheduling, but not much. The NFL does their own thing.

Q. Did the Vikings come close to giving up during all those frustrating years of trying to win legislative approval for a new stadium? Were the Wilfs close to relocating the franchise?

A. I don’t know that we ever gave up, nor were we ever ready to relocate. There were times when it appeared it might not be possible to resolve this issue—which was frightening and the consequences were significant. I don’t believe the Wilfs would have ever moved this team. But at some point if there’s no solution they may have sold the team to somebody else. There was definitely interest in the team from other markets.

Our (stadium) strategy was simple: we went to the capitol for 12 years. We tried to build momentum, and persistence and perseverance. Build that momentum and that coalition of support from business, labor, fans and elected officials…in hopes of getting a breakthrough, and fortunately we did.

Q. How will you personally react when the keys to the stadium are given to the Vikings?

A. (Laughs). I don’t know. Kevin Warren says, I am gonna cry like a baby. I don’t know about that. …This building is going to exceed everything we advocated for many years. The jobs, the economic development, the growth in downtown east. The stadium has been a catalyst. The world class events (coming). We’ve already got the Super Bowl and the Final Four. The college football (national title game) on its way—more than likely. A Wrestlemania. Those things will be very rewarding.

Q. What about hosting the Big Ten Football Championship Game that has been played exclusively at Lucas Oil Field in Indianapolis?

A. We very much expect to be in the rotation for that game going forward.

Q. Why was it important to locate the stadium in Minneapolis?

A. We basically looked under every rock at every location. Ultimately we realized that we didn’t really have a say where the stadium was going to be built. The public—who was investing significantly—had the most to say about the location.

In hindsight we couldn’t be happier. We think it’s the ideal location. It’s right on the light rail line. It’s right on the edge of downtown. It’s accessible to 394 and 94, 35W, 55. It’s a catalyst for all the economic growth that’s going on down there. It (downtown) was also the most cost effective location given that the 55 acres for the Metrodome site were contributed. We didn’t have to acquire more property.

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Kill: U Facilities Project Nearly Set

Posted on July 31, 2015July 31, 2015 by David Shama

Gophers football coach Jerry Kill predicted this morning on the Big Ten Network that work will soon start on a long anticipated new football complex at the University of Minnesota. The complex—which is expected to include an indoor practice facility and coaches offices—is part of a $190 million athletics project to upgrade facilities for Gophers men and women student-athletes. The entire project’s start date was delayed in June but Kill expressed no concern today when asked if it will be completed.

“Just got out of meetings…three or four days ago. We’ll be starting at the latest probably late September, early October,” Kill said from Chicago at a news conference for Big Ten football coaches. “We’ve already got a finish date where it needs to be finished.

“The hold up there (on the overall project) was probably football a little bit because we wanted to make sure everything we had in there, and what we wanted, was right before you take it any farther. We want it to be the state-of-the-art. We don’t want to do something and do it over again.

“It will be started and hopefully part of it will be finished at a year and a half, maybe even quicker.”

Kill didn’t elaborate on what parts of the athletics facilities project will start first but the implication from his remarks today and in the past about the importance of the football complex leave no doubt about it being at the top of the construction list. Kill has often referred to the importance of facilities to his recruiting and continued success at Minnesota.

The Gophers existing football complex has long ranked toward the bottom among Big Ten facilities. Iowa is the latest Big Ten program to move into a new facility. “The impact it’s had on recruiting has been exciting,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said yesterday.

The Gophers were 5-3 in Big Ten games last season, the program’s best league record since 2003. There are a lot of predictions the Gophers won’t match last year’s conference record that was part of an overall 8-5 record.

“We keep improving and keep getting better,” Kill said today. “Last year I said we’d have a better team (than) we had a year ago. We firmly believe that we’ll be more athletic and a better football team this year.

“But there are lot of other people that are here today that can say the same things but we feel good about our football team and the talent.”

Worth Noting

Colorado State, the Gophers second opponent of the season, was picked by the media on Wednesday to finish third in the six-team Mountain Division of the Mountain West Conference. Rams wide receiver Rashard Higgins, an All-American candidate, was chosen as the conference’s preseason Offensive Player of the Year.

Among the storylines at this weekend’s 3M Championship at the TPC in Blaine is whether Tom Lehman can become the first Minnesotan to win the nationally televised senior tour event. David Graham, a 2015 inductee into the World Golf Hall of Fame, was asked yesterday about the Alexandria, Minnesota native.

“I think he could very well win,” Graham said. “He’s one of the dominate players on the Champions Tour. I would think that if he got off to a good start—which you have to do in any tournament to get into some kind of a rhythm and some kind of a flow—he would certainly be somebody who is more than capable of winning. No question.”

At age 56, this could be the time for Lehman to make a strong run at winning the 3M Championship. Graham said it’s proven golfers from 51 to 54 years old are the most likely to win on the Champions Tour. “Statistically, when you get to 55 or 56 you start to go down a little bit,” he said.

Admission and parking are free at this year’s event that includes a promotion with golf legends Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player. Graham, too, is playing in the Greats of Golf Challenge on Saturday. The Champions Tour event here has donated over $23 million to charity since 1993.

Men and women participating in the University of Minnesota’s 23 sports averaged an impressive spring semester GPA of 3.27. The highest GPA was women’s track at 3.49. The football team, with the largest number of athletes in any of the 23 programs, had a GPA of 3.04.

The Vikings organization receives keys to the new downtown covered stadium on July 29, 2016. Shortly after that the team will play two preseason games in U.S. Bank Stadium, a facility boosters are predicting will be the best in the NFL. Although no preseason dates or opponents have been determined, don’t be surprised if the Vikings play their first two exhibition games on the road and then host a rivalry opponent like the Packers in the preseason home opener.

There will not be a major college baseball team in the country playing in a billion dollar stadium like the Gophers. Starting in 2017 the Gophers will play early season games in the projected $1.1 billion dollar U.S. Bank Stadium. Other college baseball teams from the state will use the stadium too.

Timberwolves forward-center Gorgui Dieng is expected to play for Team Africa tomorrow against Team World in the first NBA game ever in Africa. Dieng, a native of Senegal, is part of an NBA roster of players from Africa that also includes former Wolves forward Luc Mbah a Moute (Cameroon). The Team World roster includes NBA stars and brothers Marc and Pau Gasol. The exhibition game from Johannesburg will be televised on ESPN starting at 8 a.m. Minneapolis time.

The 11th annual Little League Wood Bat Tournament is a charitable event for Little League teams ages 10-12. The tourney began Thursday and 23 teams from the metro area are playing at Lakeview Terrace Park and Lee Park in Robbinsdale, and Isaacson Park (Honeywell Fields) in Golden Valley. Games are from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. today (Friday) at all three playing sites. The tournament, which goes through Sunday and exclusively uses wood bats, benefits Baseball in Benin. The goal is to bring a team from Benin, a small country in West Africa, to participate in next year’s Wood Bat Tournament. More at BaseballinBenin.org.

That was former Minnesota Daily sports editor Marshall Tanick, for decades a prominent Minneapolis attorney, explaining in an opinion article for the Star Tribune that there is precedent for considering revocation of Bill Cosby’s Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to him by George W. Bush. Tanick, writing in the July 28 Star Tribune, cited examples of organizations that have withdrawn honors in the face of controversy including the 2014 Chicago Little League Baseball team which had its national championship taken away. Tanick suggested President Barack Obama should consider revocation of Cosby’s honor in light of revelations about the famous comedian’s conduct toward women.

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