Vikings – Page 57 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Key Vikings to Watch in Training Camp

Posted on July 21, 2022July 21, 2022 by David Shama

Asked to name several Vikings that fans should evaluate this summer, Jeff Diamond began his list with tight end Irv Smith Jr. who missed all of last season because of a knee injury. Diamond, the former Vikings general manager who was the 1998 NFL Executive of the Year, talked with Smith during mini-camp and believes the 2019 second round draft choice is healthy.

Diamond sees a “load of talent” in Smith. He predicts a potential “huge year” as a pass catcher not only because of Smith’s skills but the wide receiver duo of Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen commands so much attention.

Center Garrett Bradbury is working to increase his weight and trying to fulfill the potential expected when the Vikings selected him in the first round of the 2019 draft. “He’s just got to be more consistent and a better player,” Diamond told Sports Headliners yesterday. “He’s got the talent to do it if he does put on the weight. He’s really a key guy in that offensive line.”

Diamond said there is intrigue at right guard to see who will start. The candidate pool could include newcomers Jesse Davis, Ed Ingram and Chris Reed.

Not only is there an injury watch with Smith on offense but on defense, too with pass rushing demons Danielle Hunter and Za’Darius Smith, both outside linebackers. “If those guys are healthy, then the pass rush is going to be there,” Diamond said. “If they’re not, it’s really going to be hard for the secondary to be able to hold up.”

Players in the secondary fill out Diamond’s list of intriguing personnel for fans to watch as training camp opens next week and preseason games are played in August. Andrew Booth Jr., the cornerback from Clemson, had his college progress slowed by a series of injuries. The Vikings selected him in the second round of last spring’s draft but Diamond wonders if Booth has first round talent and might start at corner as a rookie replacing Cameron Dantzler.

Diamond also said to watch who emerges as the team’s second safety along with Harrison Smith. Camryn Bynum has a year of NFL experience but there are high expectations for 2022 first round pick Lewis Cine.

Worth Noting

Depending on how the tight ends, including Smith, look the first week or so in training camp the Vikings might have had interest in signing Kyle Rudolph. The former Vikings starter played for the Giants last year but has signed as a free agent with the Bucs as of yesterday.

Rudolph, 32, replaces retired legend Rob Gronkowski and will be catching passes from GOAT Tom Brady. Diamond could see Rudolph in Tampa Bay with the Bucs before it happened. “I wouldn’t be surprised. I think he could potentially be a good fit there.”

Former Vikings wide receiver standout Stefon Diggs now with the Bills and his brother Trevon Diggs, a star cornerback with the Cowobys, are on the latest cover of Sports Illustrated. Stefon’s career was controversial with the Vikings where he wanted a bigger role in the offense.

In the article Stefon said he has no problem with his former team. “I just needed a change in scenery,” he said.

The Vikings sent a news release today announcing 99 percent of season tickets have been renewed. Single game tickets go on sale July 28 and can be purchased on the team’s website. https://www.vikings.com/tickets/single-game-tickets

Twins center fielder Byron Buxton, whose home run gave the American League a ninth consecutive win over the National League Tuesday night, is hitting .216 this season. That has to be among the lowest batting averages ever for a starting player in the All-Star Game.

Yahoo.com reports TV viewership at 7.51 million was the lowest ever for baseball’s showcase but still higher than the 2022 NFL Pro Bowl and NBA All-Star Game.

Chet Holmgren, the former Minnehaha Academy prep All-American, has signed a reported four-year deal with the NBA Thunder that could be worth over $44 million. If Holmgren, the 2022 No. 2 overall NBA draft pick, has an all-star career he could eventually approach $1 billion in salary earnings based on how compensation is accelerating for top players.

The Wolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns, who this summer signed a reported $224 million super max contract extension, isn’t the best player on the team, according to The Athletic. The authority’s rankings of top 125 NBA players has newly acquired center Rudy Gobert at No. 16. Towns, Minnesota’s veteran power-forward and center, is ranked at No. 35.

Gobert, acquired in a block buster trade this summer with the Jazz, has a reported $205 million deal he signed with his former team. Gobert is a three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year and averaged a career-best 15.6 points last season.

Local fans have been waiting since 2019 for news Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson would one day headline the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities. They won’t be here for the 2022 tournament this week and likely not in the future either. Both legends are aging, with Woods having a difficult recovery from his severe auto accident and Mickelson now aligned with golf upstart LIV.

The 3M and other PGA Tour stops are impacted now because of LIV signing up players. The 3M doesn’t have a top 10 ranked player in the tournament. Ticket buyers may be as intrigued to see players with regional ties like Troy Merritt and Mardy Fish than they are to watch No. 14 Hideki Matsuyama and No. 17. Tony Finau.

One of golf’s best role models comes to town August 13-14 for the second annual Land O’Lakes Legends Classic presented by The Meadows at Mystic Lake. Defending champion Juli Inkster is a 31-time LPGA Tour champion with seven major championship titles.

Inkster, 62, is a past winner of the Patty Berg Award, named after the Minneapolis golf legend and given to players who exemplify the best in sportsmanship, goodwill and contributions to golf among women players. Inkster is a three time world champion and hall of famer who participated in nine Solheim Cups. She was honored by ESPN with the ESPY Award for Outstanding Women’s Golf Performer of the Year in 2002.

The Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon celebrates its 40th anniversary Sunday, October 2. Youth 18 and under can register at no cost. Organizers bill the marathon as the “largest sporting event in the Upper Midwest” with 300,000-plus spectators and several thousand runners.

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Twins Clarify Buxton 100 Games Target

Posted on June 14, 2022June 14, 2022 by David Shama

Reports this spring left fans with the impression the Twins want to limit star center fielder Byron Buxton to 100 games this year. Derek Falvey told Sports Headliners yesterday there is no “stop light” at 100.

Buxton, a do-it-all talent capable of becoming the American League’s best player, is invaluable to the Twins, but an unusual number of injuries have prevented him from playing 100 games each season dating back to 2018. The club wants to proceed with caution, while maximizing Buxton’s availability to help produce a Central Division title and playoff run.

“We’re not shooting just for 100 games,” said Falvey, the Twins’ baseball operations boss. “I think we’re trying to eclipse what he has yet to eclipse over the last five years. Playing him the way we had in prior years didn’t get us there. We would like to try a more sophisticated way to keep him on the field as much as possible….”

Falvey also said the 28-year-old Buxton is on pace to play in 115 to 120 games. He acknowledged the player who “can put us on his back” and carry the team has low-level inflammation in his right knee. The knee became news in April and Buxton was briefly sidelined. He was also diagnosed with a low-level hip strain this spring.

Falvey indicated Buxton is able to manage his health issues—and no differently than teammates who face challenges. Buxton played a MLB career high 140 games in 2017, his third season with the big league club. This year in 45 games for the 36-27 Twins he has hit a team leading 18 home runs and driven in 32 runs.

Fans grumbled over the weekend that neither Buxton nor shortstop Carlos Correa played in Saturday’s Minnesota’s home game against the Rays. Ticket buyers wanted to see the club’s two marquee players and box office attractions.

“Hey, we want both of those guys out there as much as possible,” Falvey said good-naturedly. “That wasn’t pre-planned or designed by Rocco or me or otherwise.”

The Twins played the Rays Friday night and then Saturday afternoon. Falvey said sometimes in that situation manager Rocco Baldelli will go to players and talk about the possibility of not playing in the afternoon game.

Correa, the All-Star the Twins signed as a free agent during spring training, has missed time with an injury and more recently with COVID. He was absent from 11 games with a right finger contusion and then eight because of COVID, returning to the active roster last Wednesday.

Falvey said there are no lingering health issues with the 27-year-old Correa but it can require time for players to recover their muscle strength after COVID. “We’re trying to bring him back thoughtfully,” Falvey said.

With the pandemic, a shortened spring training and the normal physical demands on players in today’s modern game, teams in Major League Baseball have dealt with a lot of roster disruptions. Among the more serious for the Twins was placing first baseman Miguel Sano on the 60-day Injured List in mid-May following knee surgery.

Falvey departed for Fort Myers yesterday and he will see Sano who is working out with the organization’s minor league players. Falvey said it will be awhile before a return date to the Twins active roster can be determined. “But hopefully he is a boost for us at some point during the course of the end of June and into July.”

NFL Films Visits Dick Jonckowski

NFL Films came to Dick Jonckowski’s home in Shakopee yesterday to relive moments from the famous 1975 Vikings-Cowboys game at Metropolitan Stadium. Jonckowski’s visitors included Drew Pearson who caught the famous “Hail Mary” touchdown pass in the final minute to give the Cowboys a 17-14 fourth quarter win in the NFC title game.

Jonckowski, known best by many Minnesota sports fans as the public address voice of Gophers basketball for decades, was a field usher at the stadium back in the 1970s. A passionate Vikings fan, the colorful Jonckowski had his name on the back of his usher jacket and drew attention throwing behind-the-back passes with the football.

Before the “Hail Mary” pass, the trailing Cowboys, trying to sustain what would be the winning drive, had a fourth and 16 situation. Quarterback Roger Staubach passed to Pearson who picked up 17 yards and a first down. The catch was controversial, though, with many observers insisting Pearson caught the ball out of bounds.

The reception was made near Jonckowski who wasn’t happy about it. “I was frustrated. I just kind of (gave) a sissy kick. I kicked the bottom of Drew Pearson’s shoe which really wasn’t much, but (Dallas coach) Tom Landry’s wife saw it from the stands. After the game was over, she called Pete Rozelle, who was then the commissioner.”

Rozelle phoned Bob Sims who ran the ushering operation and said Jonckowski had to be reprimanded. Sims decided Jonckowski could continue as an usher but not be on the field. He was banned as a field usher for two years.

“Somebody told me…if it (the incident) happened today you would probably go to jail,” Jonckowski said. “You know the way the world is, I probably would. Who knows?”

There was animosity between Pearson and Jonckowski prior to the 1975 encounter. “We didn’t like each other way before that. He was pretty cocky,” Jonckowski said. “I just didn’t like his attitude. So one day I yelled at him, ‘You couldn’t carry (NFL Hall of Famer) Charley Taylor’s jock.’ And he came running over to me and was going to pound me, but he let it go.”

After the 1975 run-in, Staubach told Jonckowski Pearson was a good guy and the two should patch things up. They did so before Pearson retired in 1983.

Several years ago Pearson was in town for an autograph appearance. “He remembered me right away and we had kind of a fun time,” Jonckowski said.

Arlene and Dick Jonckowski in their sports memorabilia-filled basement.

Things went well yesterday when Pearson spent about two hours talking with Jonckowski. Both are outgoing and enjoy humor (a Jonckowski calling card with his endless jokes and stories he uses while speaking to groups). Wife Arlene was also interviewed during the nine hours spent by NFL Films at the Jonckowski residence.

Before coming to Minnesota Pearson didn’t know much about his friend’s background. “He wants me to come to Dallas to sign autographs and speak,” Jonckowski said.

The game remains vivid in the minds of Jonckowski, Pearson and thousands of NFL fans, mostly because of its controversial finish. Staubach, who would later describe the play as a “Hail Mary” desperation heave, threw the winning 50-yard touchdown pass to Pearson who appeared to push Vikings’ defender Nate Wright on the play.

But no penalty.

Jonckowski saw the play and that evening newspaper columnist Sid Hartman called him at home to ask if there was a shove by Pearson. Jonckowski said he thought there was. “…Sid slammed the phone down. Didn’t even say thank you. But that’s typical Sid.”

The 1975 Vikings, 12-2 during the regular season, were led by NFL MVP Fran Tarkenton and might have been one of the best teams in franchise history. The team was a Super Bowl favorite but instead saw its playoff march end in bitter disappointment.

Jonckowski didn’t have details yesterday as to how the filming will be used and when it will air.

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Twins Winning But No ‘Cartwheels’ Yet

Posted on May 24, 2022 by David Shama

With a 26-16 record and 4.5 game lead in the American League’s Central Division, the Twins are one of baseball’s surprise teams after completing about 25 percent of the 162-game schedule.

Minnesota has won five straight and is 22-9 since April 21. The Twins, who finished last in the division in 2021, are 14-8 at home and 12-8 on the road. Minnesota is 13-3 against division opponents, 6-5 versus the AL East, 7-6 against the West and 0-2 versus the National League.

Despite early success club president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners recently he’s not going overboard. “It’s a long season. Nobody is doing cartwheels or doing victory dances yet.”

The Twins have dominated division opponents and can build on that now. They swept the Royals in a road series last weekend and play only division games thru June 2, including a home-stand against the Tigers that started last night with a ninth inning win, 5-4. Minnesota had an improbable comeback win in Kansas City Sunday, rallying from a 6-0 deficit for a 7-6 victory. It was the kind of win that is often part of a championship season.

Yes, the Twins’ schedule hasn’t been daunting. The Central Division is no powerhouse, although the White Sox were ranked among baseball’s most talented clubs before the season. The Sox, who the Twins swept in their only series so far, are one of four teams on the Minnesota schedule with a winning record currently. The Twins lost all three games to the Astros, went 0-2 against the Dodgers and won two of three versus the Rays.

Probably most impressive has been the consistent defensive performance. The Twins don’t falter much in the field and beat themselves. With regularity Minnesota fielders make pivotal and sometimes spectacular plays. The stellar defense starts with a middle core at catcher, shortstop, second base and center field. Most rivals can’t match Minnesota’s defensive personnel in that group.

The hitting has been spotty and at times the Twins struggle to score but that has been a problem for most MLB clubs. Speculation about a less lively baseball, the impact of a shortened spring training and unfavorable weather are all subjects offered up to explain the production drought in the majors. Still, the Twins have done more than many clubs with timely hitting and their lineup includes Byron Buxton who is among the league leaders in home runs and Luis Arraez is hitting a nifty .349 with a .876 OPS.

The Twins appeared almost desperate for pitching help before the season but overall results from both starters and relievers is exceeding expectations. “Some of our pitchers have had success,” St. Peter said. “Some of our pitchers have had some struggles but we think that there is more depth here.

“And the good news is I think we’re really excited about the young core that we’re developing. Some of those guys are already at the big league level; some are fast approaching the big leagues, whether they be at Double A or St. Paul (Triple A). So we like our chances of having more of a home grown pitching staff. That’s always the goal and I think we’re positioning ourselves for that in 2023 and beyond.”

In 2021 the Twins were coming off a season-shortened 2020 when they won their division. Expectations were high but the Twins finished with a 73-89 record. There was pessimism during the summer the local favorites were headed toward a major rebuild of the roster and could be a losing team in coming seasons.

Dave St. Peter (photo courtesy of Minnesota Twins)

St. Peter, front office leaders Derek Falvey, Thad Levine and manager Rocco Baldelli made an assessment. “We talked openly and honestly about the state of our system,” St. Peter said. “Where our major league team was and where our farm system was, and where we were. Ultimately within the construct of that conversation it was pretty clear that ownership, along with Derek, Thad, Rocco and others, felt like we had a path toward competing in 2022.

“And thus the plan was enacted to re-sign Byron, to sign him to an extension, and try to work over the course of the offseason to put this team in a better position to rebound from a really tough 2021. I know there was a narrative that we were going to rebuild, but that was never the focus internally.”

Worth Noting

Injuries have already forced the Twins to use many players not on the opening day roster. Technology has played a role in contributing both to injuries and their prevention in baseball and other sports. Advancements in training push the human body to extremes not known in the past, while medical diagnostics provides accurate analysis regarding injuries. The result is injuries sidelining players today that wouldn’t have done so decades ago.

With an injury comes caution from the player, his agent and team. “Players are not encouraged to play through injury like I think they once were,” St. Peter said.

Mike Grant talking about his father Bud Grant who turned 95 last Friday: “Everything that has gone on in his life, he remembers every one, and he remembers everything. That’s a real blessing to have that, you know.”

Former University of Minnesota regent Michael Hsu, a leading proponent of monetization for college athletes, attended a Washington D.C. symposium last week featuring three panel discussions. The topics: unionization, Name, Image and Likeness, and a college athletes bill of rights.

The Sack Symposium is named after Allen Sack, a national expert in the college sports culture. Sack was a backup tackle at Notre Dame to former Vikings’ great Alan Page. Sack’s college roommate, former U athletic director Joel Maturi, also attended the symposium.

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor told Sports Headliners he is open to retiring Kevin Garnett’s jersey. Garnett has been critical of Taylor but the owner says the organization is open at anytime to honoring the NBA hall of famer and has extended past invitations. “So we’re leaving that up to him,” Taylor said. “But I would be as nice and helpful to him as I would be (to) anybody. It’s kind of on him right now.”

The Gophers, averaging 2,899 per home date, finished No. 7 in attendance among the nation’s Division I wrestling programs this year, according to figures from the National Wrestling Media Association. Minnesota has been top 10 in attendance since 2002.

Iowa led all programs, averaging a capacity 14,905 in its arena. That’s a record for the Hawkeyes who have been national attendance leaders since 2007, per NWMA.

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