Gopher football coach Tim Brewster said University basketball coach Tubby Smith could have the No. 1 recruiting class in the country in 2008.  “Right now I think he’s at No. 5 or No. 6,” Brewster said.

Brewster’s depth chart yesterday had three true freshmen in starting positions in the defensive backfield, cornerbacks Ryan Collado and Kyle Theret, and free safety Curtis Thomas.  Theret, 5-11, 185, “has a heart as big as his body,” Brewster said.

Jeff Sagarin’s college football rankings have North Dakota State ranked No. 50, Wisconsin 55 and Minnesota 100.

Sporting News ranked the NFL’s coaches in a recent issue and placed the Vikings’ Brad Childress at No. 28.  Not surprisingly, the No. 1 and 2 coaches were New England’s Bill Belichick and Indianapolis’ Tony Dungy.  A sidebar about coaches on the spot placed former Viking assistant Scott Linehan, now head coach of St. Louis, first and Childress second.

The Vikings had to call a timeout before a field goal attempt in Sunday’s Dallas game when lineman Ryan Cook forgot to go on the field.  Childress said Cook can’t make that error and “must have lost his head.”  The field goal was blocked and returned by the Cowboys for a touchdown.

Childress said he and his former boss in Philadelphia, Andy Reid, talk on a regular basis but probably won’t this week as the Vikings prepare for the Eagles to play at the Metrodome on Sunday.

The Timberwovles’ new marketing and advertising campaign is called “See What They Can Do.”  Part of the campaign features four TV ads focusing on the team’s new mentor and spiritual leader Archibald “Sweetwater” Jones, a 3-foot-11 inch ABA and NBA journeyman from the 1970s, who has been described as part Julius Erving, part Barry White and part Yoda. Jones provides his existential wisdom with the young Timberwolves in the commercials including sharing his insights and giving a pep talk on the importance of team to several of the more youthful Wolves, and helping point guard Randy Foye better “focus his mind” for the fourth quarter.

The Wild are at Calgary tonight in the first game between the two teams this season.  The Wild won three times in eight games last season, with two of Minnesota’s victories in shootouts.  The first place Wild have a five point lead over the second place Flames and Colorado in the Northwest Division.

The Wild has recalled right wing Cal Clutterbuck from the Houston Aeros of the AHL.  Clutterbuck, 19, had three points including a power play goal, a plus-one rating and 11 shots on goal in five games with Houston this season.

Augsburg junior wide receiver Royce Winford set a new Augsburg and MIAC single-game record for receptions, catching 20 passes for 235 yards and three touchdowns as his team defeated Carleton 38-16 on Saturday. Winford was named MIAC Offensive Player of the Week.  The 20-reception total is the most for any NCAA football player this season, regardless of division. The total is tied for the third-most in NCAA Division III history. Bethel University senior safety Brandon Carr  was named Defensive Player of the Week for his two interceptions and a key pass break-up that helped his team defeat St. Olaf, 35-14. St. Olaf senior punter/kicker Paul Fortman punted four times for a 53-yard average, including a pair of 60-yarders.  He was named Special Teams Player of the Week for the ninth time in his career.

Linebacker Duy Huynh of Concordia-St. Paul is the NSIC Defensive Player of the Week.  He had a last minute interception to help Concordia hold off Upper Iowa 20-17 last Saturday.  He had eight tackles and had 3.5 of Concordia’s 14 tackles for loss in the game. The defense held T.C. Hicks, the fifth-leading rusher in NCAA Division II, to 52 yards on 25 carries.

 

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Sunday’s Viking home game against Philadelphia is likely to sell-out in time to prevent a local TV blackout, according to an e-mail received earlier today from Steve LaCroix, vice president of sales and marketing. As of this morning there were approximately 2,000 seats remaining, most of them in the $46 and $57 price categories, according to LaCroix.

Under NFL rules the Vikings must sell out the game by Thursday to prevent a local TV blackout. “While we have until Thursday mid-day to move these remaining tickets, we feel confident that we will continue our sell-out streak,” LaCroix wrote.

The Vikings have sold-out 98 consecutive home games.  Tickets remain for all six 2007 home games.

In other Viking news today, coach Brad Childress said at his weekly news conference that quarterback Tarvaris Jackson has a splint on the second finger of his right hand.  The finger is sore and swollen from a fracture, but no decision has been made regarding whether Jackson will start Sunday’s game.  Despite disappointing play in the last two games, Childress said Jackson will be the starter against the Eagles if he’s “physically and mentally” ready.

Childress said he isn’t looking back at the team’s decision not to acquire a more NFL ready quarterback during the off-season.  He said a commitment must be made to developing a young player if that’s the direction taken.  “I believe we’ll know a lot more about Tarvaris at the end of this year than we do right now,” Childress said.

Will Jackson improve his play enough in the team’s final 10 regular season games to give the Vikings some hope of making the playoffs?  After three starts this season and two last year, Jackson went to Dallas yesterday and looked like a quarterback who isn’t improving.

Jackson was 6-9 passing as the Vikings produced one offensive touchdown in the 24-14 loss.  The week before he was 9-23 against the Bears and so in his last two games he has 15 completions.  Fox TV analyst and former NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman said during yesterday’s telecast that he considers “accuracy the most important thing” for an NFL quarterback.

Jackson’s struggles include other problems, too.  Observers believe he holds the ball too long waiting to pass, doesn’t see open receivers and frequently throws hard passes when more touch is required.

It doesn’t help that the Vikings receivers appear average at best, but they’re playing at a higher level than Jackson.  Plus, having a running game that’s making defenses crowd the line of scrimmage is an advantage and opportunity for Jackson.

With the Vikings at 2-4 and 10 regular season games remaining, Jackson needs to improve considerably if the Vikings are going to reach a .500 record or better.  A winning team isn’t characterized by a defense that frequently scores with about the same frequency as the offense.

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Brad Childress told Paul Allen on KFAN radio last week that he learned the advantages of using two featured running backs when he was an assistant at the University of Wisconsin working for Barry Alvarez. Childress plans to continue indefinitely alternating Chester Taylor and Adrian Peterson.  Defenses often must contend with different styles and fresher legs in a rotation system.

Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo talking about the difference between his former coach, the legendary Bill Parcells, and present boss Wade Phillips: “Besides the language, I would say it is probably just in the fact that one is more of a micro manager.  I think (Bill) Parcells wants to have his hand in and coach just about every position and do different things.  Wade (Phillips) is going to delegate more authority to his assistant coaches.  Both are very competitive people that want to win badly.  I don’t know that there is as much difference as people really want to make that out to be.”

With a competitive team and sold out games, maybe majority owner Bob Naegele, operating the team since the franchise inception 10 years ago, is open to selling the franchise.  A former NHL executive thinks so if the price is attractive.  He places the franchise value between $220 and $250 million.  The original reported franchise cost was $80 million.  The source also said the Nashville Predators are worth about $200 million and may relocate to Kansas City.   

Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins come to Xcel Energy Center for one game this season, Tuesday, October 30. Stubhub.com is listing a ticket range of $73 to $369 for the sold-out game.

Al Jefferson is the Timberwolves’ leading scorer and rebounder in pre-season, averaging 15.3 points and 13 rebounds.  Jefferson, playing power forward and center, will have to be a team leader although he’s only 22 years old.

Look for the Wolves’ Ricky Davis, who is in the last year of his contract, to have his best NBA season.  Davis offers inside and outside scoring, and also playmaking, but has been consistently inconsistent during his nine pro seasons.  He’s the team’s fourth leading scorer in pre-season at 11.3 points per game.

The Wolves, 2-4, close their pre-season schedule this week with two games in Minneapolis.  Tomorrow night Indiana is in town and Friday evening Milwaukee plays at Target Center.  The season and home opener is against Denver on Friday, November 2.  The Nuggets are picked to finish second in the Northwest Division by Athlon’s pro basketball magazine.  The Wolves will finish last in the five team division, according to the magazine.  Regarding the trade of Kevin Garnett and state of the franchise the magazine said, “The best thing you can say about the Timberwolves heading into 2007-08 is that they aren’t stuck in the denial stage of their current plight.”

Tubby Smith’s Gophers will finish seventh in the Big Ten Conference, according to Sporting News basketball magazine.  The former Kentucky coach might have the Gophers in the NCAA tournament, the magazine said.  “If there’s a knock on Smith, it’s not that his teams lacked discipline and toughness—it’s that he didn’t land enough five-star recruits to stop Florida from ruling the SEC.”

A former Big Ten assistant basketball coach who didn’t want his name used, told Sports Headliners in September that the Gophers will surprise and finish among the top five teams in the conference.

The conference schedule has been expanded to 18 games.  The only team the Gophers don’t play in Minneapolis is Purdue.  Two of the best games to see at Williams Arena are Indiana on January 17 and Michigan State January 20. Both are favorites to win the conference title.

Expect college basketball analyst and promoter Dick Vitale to ballyhoo his friend Tubby Smith on ESPN telecasts.

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