“Favre on the ground” is likely to be the phrase heard from Saints fans tomorrow night at the Superdome, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune. While acknowledging the fans want to see the Vikings quarterback bruised similar to what the Saints did to him in last January’s NFC title game, the newspaper’s Web story yesterday focused on New Orleans stopping Peterson.
“You can’t play the Vikings with Adrian Peterson and not be ready for a physical game,” Saints defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis said in the story. “I remember the last time we played him, we were all bruised up. We had everybody in here with ice packs on. But it was a great game, and nobody really backed down until the very end when (Saints cornerback Tracy Porter) got that interception. So I expect that same thing.” https://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2010/09/post_172.html
In Sports Illustrated’s NFL preview the magazine predicts the Vikings will finish 10-6, while Green Bay wins the NFC North with an 11-5 record. The Packers will then advance to the Super Bowl where they will lose to the Steelers. The publication forecasts that the defending Super Bowl champion Saints will have a 12-4 regular season record and lose to the Packers in the NFC title game.
Middle Tennessee State, the school Minnesota defeated in its opening game last Thursday night in Murfreesboro, won’t play the Gophers in TCF Bank Stadium until September 16, 2017.
North Dakota State defeated Kansas 6-3 last Saturday night in Lawrence. NDSU, a program that defeated the Gophers in 2007 and lost 10-9 to Minnesota in 2006, will play at TCF Bank Stadium on September 24 of next year.
Gopher football coach Tim Brewster talking about junior running back Duane Bennett whose physical performance against Middle Tennessee State resulted in 187 yards: “There’s nobody more committed to our strength program than Duane Bennett.”
Highly anticipated freshman running back Lamonte Edwards is down on the depth chart but he is the scout team player of the week for his efforts in helping the Gophers prepare for Middle Tennessee State.
Brewster said no lineup changes are planned for Saturday’s home game with South Dakota. Safety Kyle Theret and offensive tackle Dom Alford remain indefinitely suspended.
Smart moves: Twins general manager Bill Smith has acquired late season relief pitching help via waivers from National League teams during the last two years. The advantage of those acquisitions is that American League hitters aren’t too familiar with such pitchers because they have been in the other league. Relievers Jon Rauch and Randy Flores came off waivers from NL teams, while earlier this summer the Twins traded for former National Leaguer Matt Capps.
It wouldn’t be surprising if the Twins trade left fielder Delmon Young during the off -season for a quality starting pitcher. His best hitting season yet with the Twins makes him more marketable, but outfield play remains a problem. A future outfield with some combination of Denard Span, Jason Kubel, Michael Cuddyer and rookie Ben Revere looks possible.
No one will blame Joe Mauer if he can’t wait to play the Royals in Kansas City September 27-29. The Twins catcher is hitting over .525 this season against the Royals. He has 17 RBI in 14 games versus Kansas City.
The Swarm opens its 2011 National Lacrosse League schedule at Xcel Energy Center on January 8 against Rochester. The Swarm is promoting a season ticket offer of buy two tickets at full price and two more at 50 percent off. www.mnswarm.com.
