David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

‘Barometer’ Season Ahead for Frazier

Posted on August 10, 2012August 10, 2012 by David Shama

The Vikings play the first of four pre-season games starting tonight in San Francisco, and then open the regular season at home against Jacksonville on September 9. This is a “barometer” year for coach Leslie Frazier, according to Dean Dalton.

Dalton, the former Vikings assistant coach who hosts an NFL Saturday program on SiriusXM Radio, told Sports Headliners the upcoming season is a “huge” year for Frazier but likely not a situation where if the Vikings don’t make the playoffs the coach is out.

Frazier was interim coach for six games at the end of the 2010 season. That was an unstable season with the Vikings not meeting expectations, a troubled locker room and even the Metrodome roof collapsing.

Then last year the NFL labor dispute prevented the normal off-season and pre-season preparations with players. That was a disadvantage for Frazier who was starting his first full season as Vikings head coach and first assignment as boss of any NFL team.

This year has been normal for preparations and Dalton said the off-season front office move to create more authority in the personnel department is another asset for Frazier. Rick Spielman, promoted during the off-season to the newly created position of general manager, works effectively with Frazier and gives the Vikings more definitive management of personnel than has been in place.

All of this puts more “structure” in place around Frazier, according to Dalton. “Even the stadium is settled,”Dalton said, referring to the off-season approval to build a new facility.

What Dalton thinks ownership wants to see from Frazier’s team this season is progress. Not to be measured so much by wins or losses but by performance improvement.

“You want to show you’re improving every week,”Dalton said. “You want to see a team that is ascending.”

Dalton said Vikings improvement means “there’s no games where the team is mailing it in,” not trying because of the situation or circumstances. “They look competitive (in each game),” he explained. “There’s no situations where there’s turmoil.”

Dalton said Frazier has already demonstrated his leadership in the locker room, showing he’s an “excellent” manager of players. Now Frazier has the opportunity to show what he and his staff can do coaching during a full season in a normal NFL environment.

The Vikings were 3-13 last season and Dalton said five or six wins is probably a reasonable expectation in 2012. “They can be pretty good,” Dalton said. “The challenge is playing teams we know will be very good. It’s tough to say.”

Pro football analysts aren’t forecasting playoff games for the Vikings. Several teams on the schedule look better, including NFC North rivals Chicago, Detroit and Green Bay, and the Vikings are in the process of shuffling personnel. “It’s a young, inexperienced group,” Dalton said.

Dalton suggested fans watch for a couple of developments that will ultimately tell how well the Vikings play in 2012. He said the offense “could be really explosive” if the deep passing game is effective. Stretching the field and taking an extra defender away from the line of scrimmage will create running opportunities for all-world halfback Adrian Peterson.

On defense, Dalton said the “secondary really has to step up.” In the pass-happy NFL, it’s mandatory to have multiple defensive backs who can make plays. Another defensive development Dalton will be watching is the progress of linebacker Jasper Brinkley who is replacing E.J. Henderson.

Progress. There’s that word again.

Vikings notes:

As of this week, the Vikings had 41 new players on the 90 man roster – 14 free agents, 10 draft choices and 17 undrafted free agents. The roster has to be reduced to 75 by August 27.

Among the storylines to follow in tonight’s game at San Francisco and the other upcoming preseason games is who will emerge as Minnesota’s No. 3 running back behind Adrian Peterson and Toby Gerhart. Peterson, recovering from his ACL surgery, won’t play for awhile yet and Frazier said Gerhart’s carries will be limited tonight.

Frazier also said that in addition to Peterson, the following injured players won’t play against the 49ers: Robert Blanton, John Carlson, Kamar Jorden, DeMarcus Love, Geoff Schwartz and Jordan Todman.

Because it’s the first preseason game, Percy Harvin won’t return kickoffs. He ran 101 yards on a kickoff return for a touchdown in a regular season game against the 49ers in 2009.

The 49ers roster includes former Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss. Vikings assistant coach Mike Singletary was the 49ers head coach from 2008-2010.

Former Vikings coaches Jerry Burns, Dean Dalton and Paul Wiggin were among those attending last Saturday’s induction of ex-Vikings defensive end Chris Doleman into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The 49ers-Vikings game will be televised on WUCW in Minneapolis-St. Paul. The game will be simulcast on KFAN Radio. Paul Allen will do play-by-play with Pete Bercich providing analysis, plus Greg Coleman and Ben Leber reporting from the sidelines. The Vikings’ other three preseason games, including next Friday at home against Buffalo, will be simulcast on KARE 11 and KFAN.

The 49ers, 13-3 last season, play a regular season game against the Vikings in Minneapolis on September 23.

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Gray Looks for U Bowl Win

Posted on August 8, 2012August 8, 2012 by David Shama

Gophers senior quarterback MarQueis Gray played briefly in his team’s 2009 Insight Bowl loss to Iowa State. The last two seasons Gray has been on 3-9 Minnesota teams but he believes the Gophers, who play their first game on August 30 at UNLV, will be improved and he talked about his determination in 2012.

“To leave here without a bowl win, that would be heartbreaking. I feel like we put too much time and work and effort …to not get rewarded, and that would be shocking to me.”

Among the reasons Gray chose the Gophers is his determination to help turn around the football program. While a high school player in Indianapolis, he was ranked by Rivals as the No. 3 dual-threat quarterback in the country and top player in Indiana.

Gray said Minnesota was the only recruiting visit to a prospective school that he made. He was impressed with what he saw and heard including information about the local business community. “Minneapolis is one of the top cities in the country in Fortune 500 companies so I was figuring if it doesn’t work out in football I know I have some people around here that would be willing to hire me,” he said.

Gray has become a Gophers leader. With practice having started just last Saturday, he and his teammates are understandably optimistic about the season ahead, even if Minnesota is a popular media choice to be among the Big Ten’s worst teams. The Gophers believe in second-year coach Jerry Kill and his staff. Veteran players like Gray have the advantage now of many months spent learning the coaching staff’s schemes and philosophies. Then, too, there’s an influx of new players including several junior college transfers.

Junior safety Brock Vereen acknowledged the optimism. “There’s talk (in the locker room) about being great, being successful. Whatever comes with that, that’s what we want. That’s what we have to have.”

The Gophers were 6-7 in 2009, and then came the 3-9 records. Vereen sees a different attitude now than his first two teams at Minnesota. “This is the most confident (team). This is the most optimistic that this team has been since I’ve been here. I think everybody is so excited.”

Senior linebacker Mike Rallis said the Gophers aren’t interested in alibis for their opening game in Las Vegas. The game will likely be played in high temperatures and start at 10 p.m., presenting a time zone adjustment for the Gophers.

“I think the challenge is UNLV the team,” Rallis said. “We’re going to have to play them (the Rebels). We’re not going to have to play against the heat and the time zone. Those are just excuses and we’re not thinking about that at all. We’re just trying to prepare for a good UNLV team.”

Gophers notes:

Rallis attended Edina High School, as did sophomore wide receiver Devin Crawford-Tufts of whom much is anticipated this season. Rallis said Tufts initially came into the Edina program as a “track guy.” Rallis added: “Just like coach Kill, I am expecting big things from him this year.”

Vereen’s brother, Shane Vereen, plays for New England in the NFL. Brock said he talks to his brother every day about football and other subjects. Shane has been a mentor who exemplifies confidence and willingness to sacrifice for the team, Brock said.

Gray and fiancée Alison Behr are parents of eight month old twin boys. “I am a great father,” Gray said when asked about his parenting. “I hold the kids responsible for the things they do. …She’s more the cuddlin’ type. …I am the coach of the house.”

Gophers football practices are open to the public tomorrow starting at 9:10 a.m. and 4:40 p.m. at the Gibson-Nagurski Complex. Also the Friday practice starting at 10:25 a.m. is open to the public.

The Gophers football program has produced six national championships and 18 Big Ten titles but after recent decades of losing seasons, Minnesota’s all-time record in conference games is 37 wins under .500, 326-363-28.

Despite an attractive home schedule last season that included games with North Dakota State, Nebraska, Iowa and Wisconsin, the Gophers didn’t sell out a single game at TCF Bank Stadium (capacity 50,805). None of those schools is on the home schedule in 2012, with the best draws being Syracuse, Northwestern, Purdue, Michigan and Michigan State.

Ticket prices for the Gophers game at UNLV are $19, $25 and $40, according to a July 31 article at lasvegassun.com.

Golden Valley-based Buffalo Wild Wings is the new title sponsor for the former Insight Bowl in Tempe, Arizona where the Gophers played in 2006, 2008 and 2009. The bowl is renamed the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl and will be played on December 29.

Correction from Monday’s column: New Gophers center Brian Bobek, a transfer from Ohio State, will have two seasons of eligibility with Minnesota starting in 2013, not three.

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Class A Likely Again for Miguel Sano

Posted on August 6, 2012August 6, 2012 by David Shama

Twins phenom Miguel Sano is likely to play in Class A baseball again next season – just at a higher level. Twins farm system executive Jim Rantz told Sports Headliners the 19-year-old slugger, now with Beloit in the Midwest League, is probably headed to Fort Myers in the Florida State League.

Sano is the most publicized prospect in the Twins organization. Signed in the Dominican Republic for a reported $3.15 million bonus when he was 16, Sano is featured in the recently released movie Pelotero. He’s been ranked as the Twins top prospect and power hitter by Baseball America.

Sano leads the Midwest League in home runs at 22 and RBI with 84. He’s struggled, though, with his batting average, .254, and fielding at third base.

Rantz said the batting average is predictable because Sano is “very aggressive at the plate and still trying to learn the strike zone.” He is seeing a lot of breaking balls and changeups from pitchers.

“It’s pretty awesome with his home runs and RBI,” Rantz said. “He still has work to do defensively.”

Rantz said Sano’s Beloit teammate Eddie Rosario, among the organization’s better prospects, has made a successful transition this season from the outfield to second base. Rosario was injured in mid-June and was out of the lineup until the end of last month. He’s another promising hitter and has a .310 average, with seven home runs in 259 at bats.

Twins & Other Notes:

Max Kepler, also drafted by the Twins at age 16 three years ago, is maturing playing for Elizabethton, Rantz said. Rantz said the native of Germany has “grown into his body.” Kepler is hitting .275 with seven home runs in 145 at bats.

Tsuyoshi Nishioka, who was a bust as a rookie last season with the Twins hitting .226, “has made a lot of improvement with the bat” playing for AAA Rochester, Rantz said. Nishioka was playing both second base and shortstop for the Red Wings before being recalled yesterday by the Twins. Instead of media throngs from Japan following Nishioka as they did last year in Minneapolis, Rantz said one or two reporters might have followed him in Rochester.

Rantz watched Twins leading pitcher Scott Diamond in the minor leagues and said he isn’t that surprised to see Diamond’s success in his first full season of major league baseball. “He’s improved on his breaking ball and his command has been very good,” Rantz said.

New Timberwolves forward Andrei Kirilenko, 31, will be one of the franchise’s better defenders ever if healthy. Kirilenko has three times been an all-NBA first or second team defender playing for Utah. At 6-9, with long arms and athleticism, Kirilenko is a potential stopper for a Wolves team that lacks exceptional defenders among its top players. Physical problems have kept Kirilenko from playing full seasons in recent years.

David Kahn, the Wolves president of basketball operations, talked to Sports Headliners about Kirilenko’s potential impact on defense. “I am hopeful it will be really good. We didn’t have anybody who we could really put on some of these wing players, and in our conference especially there are some really big threes. There’s (Kevin) Durant, there’s Rudy Gay. There’s several of those. (Nicolas) Batum in Portland.

“So this allows us to have a really long, athletic guy to match up with them. Not that he can necessarily stop them but I think at least with Andrei’s experience and with his characteristics we can maybe at least slow them down.”

Apple Valley junior point guard Tyus Jones now has a scholarship offer fromNorth Carolina. That gives him offers that include national powerhouses Duke, Kentucky and the Tar Heels. In the last 12 months I haven’t talked to any sources who are convinced Jones will play for the Gophers.

Prep basketball authority Ken Lien emailed that Minnesota native Kyle Washington, a high school senior next season, has recent offers from Illinois, North Carolina State and Ohio State.

Brian Bobek, the Ohio State center transfer, hasn’t arrived on campus at Minnesota. He will be eligible in 2013 and have three seasons to play for the Gophers. Minnesota coach Jerry Kill recruited Bobek when Kill was head coach at Northern Illinois. “He’s a kid that grew up in Chicago and wanted to stay in the Midwest,” Kill said.

Bobek is a former Parade, Rivals and Scout high school All-American and his father played linebacker at Iowa.

The Big Ten Network sends a crew to cover all the Big Ten football programs during August. The group will be in Minneapolis on August 11 and BTN’s Gophers coverage will air beginning at 9 a.m. August 12.

Vikings owner Zygi Wilf after being asked about his team expectations: “I expect to be division champs. I want to be able to fight for the division as we always do every year, and get better for years to come. That’s always been our goal. That’s been the goal since the first day I came here.”

Bethel’s Erik Smith, Saint John’s Stephen Johnson and St. Thomas’ Michael Valesano are nominees for the 2012 Allstate American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team. Nominees are players who have made a difference for their communities in off-field activities.

Compughterratings.com’s Division III preseason rankings include three MIAC teams in the top 20: Bethel, No. 12; St. Thomas, No. 13 and Saint John’s No. 19. MIAC schools begin nonconference games on September 1 and league games start September 15.

World Golf Hall of Famer Lanny Wadkins, 62, asked about all the advisors used by many PGA golfers these days including sports psychologists: “…My sports psychologist is the bartender every week. They’re a lot more reliable. You know where they’re going to be.”

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