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Worth Noting

Posted on December 7, 2009February 7, 2012 by David Shama

“Which active (NFL) player is the best role model on and off the field?”  Sports Illustrated (December 7 issue) asked that question in its NFL players poll.  Kurt Warner of the Cardinals with 18 percent of the vote and Peyton Manning of the Colts at 17 percent finished one-two.

Don’t be surprised if the Vikings choose Gophers wide receiver Eric Decker in the later rounds of next year’s NFL draft.  Decker’s chances of being drafted by the home town team might be enhanced by the trust between Vikings coach Brad Childress and Gophers coach Tim Brewster.

The Wild remains interested in hosting a New Year’s Day outdoor hockey game, with TCF Bank Stadium and Target Field both being considered.  A franchise source said planning is still in the “infancy stages” and that other NHL franchises are interested in hosting New Year’s Day outdoor games.  The NHL office makes those decisions as it does the annual site for the June entry draft, another attraction that interests the Wild.

The Wolves Kevin Love, 2-19 on three point field goal attempts last season, is 4-6 in two games this season.  He’s averaging 14.5 points and 10.5 rebounds since returning to the active roster following his hand injury.

The Wolves had a ticket promotion last week offering $10 lower level and $5 upper level tickets for a game against Utah.  The club has a regular Wednesday night $5 ticket promotion for college students.

Author Jim Holden has a special $30 holiday offer on his book, Tennis in the Northland.  The former Northfield tennis coach has written a comprehensive history of boys’ high school tennis in Minnesota.  More information including how to contact Holden at https://www.jim-holden.com/.

Comments Welcome

Million-Plus Local TV Audience to Watch Vikings

Posted on December 4, 2009February 7, 2012 by David Shama

Sunday night’s game at Arizona is a benchmark for the Vikings, a team that may deserve being ranked as first or second best in the NFL.

The 10-1 Vikings have played against teams with a combined 32-49 record.  The Vikings’ only loss is on the road to Pittsburgh (6-5), one of only three teams Minnesota has played with a winning percentage above .500.  Arizona is 7-4 and played in the last Super Bowl, losing to Pittsburgh.

Sunday night’s national telecast on NBC is much anticipated including in the metropolitan area where viewership could reach 1.3 million, according to John Remes. He is president and general manager of KARE 11, the local NBC affiliate.

Remes told Sports Headliners that about 80 percent of televisions in this market will be tuned into the game.  The game will certainly have the attention of men ages 25-54, with Remes expecting about 50 percent of that group to be watching.

Among the storylines for viewers to watch is whether Arizona’s 38-year-old quarterback Kurt Warner will play after having a concussion last month.  He missed last week’s game, a 20-17 loss to Tennessee.

Like 40-year-old Brett Favre of the Vikings, Warner has been a Super Bowl winning quarterback.  The comparisons between the two are likely to come often on Sunday night’s telecast if Warner plays.  Favre has overcome a list of injuries during his career that sometimes seems as long as his game statistics.  Former Vikings assistant coach Dean Dalton told Sports Headliners that Favre is even “tougher” than Warner.

Dalton also said second year Vikings center John Sullivan has improved since the season began but he’s not as good yet as the man he replaced, 12 year veteran Matt Birk.   Favre has praised Sullivan’s intelligence and line calls.

Sunday night’s game will be the third time that Minneapolis native Larry Fitzgerald, who ranks with the NFL’s best wide receivers, will face his home town team wearing an Arizona uniform.  Fitzgerald said this week that the experience isn’t becoming old.  “No, it’s not old-hat,” he said.  “I’m 0-2 against the Vikings right now; 0-3 if I count the preseason. That’s not good enough.”

Comments Welcome

Reusse Evaluates the Pro Teams, Gophers

Posted on December 4, 2009February 7, 2012 by David Shama

Using Wall Street stock trading terms, I asked Patrick Reusse to label several of the local teams with either “buy, hold, or sell.”  Here’s what the Star Tribune columnist and KSTP Radio host had to say during an interview early last week.

No surprise that the 10-1 Vikings receive a “buy.”  Reusse said vice president of player personnel Rick Spielman was “supposed to be the guy who ruined the franchise with his personnel decisions” in Miami but “he’s done well” with the Vikings.  Reusse described the team’s drafts as “okay” but found particular praise for the team’s free agent signings.  “Their personnel decisions have been exquisite,” he said.

While some may fret about the future beyond this season because of quarterback Brett Favre’s age (40), Reusse has optimism about the franchise’s future because of all-world running back Adrian Peterson (24).  He said as long as Peterson stays healthy the Vikings have a “winning formula.”

The Twins rate a “buy” also, and for more than on-field performance.  In 2010 Reusse predicts a second consecutive Central Division championship and a new contract retaining all-world catcher Joe Mauer.  He believes the pitching staff will be okay and the Twins will win easier than last season when they struggled all the way to a division playoff with Detroit.  The new ballpark is also an obvious asset.

He looks at the franchise’s marketing and evaluates it as a “wonderful job.”  Several years ago the Twins brand was suffering and talk included contracting the franchise.  Reusse said Twins home crowds now are filled with fans wearing team apparel in percentages that rival the Vikings fandom.

Reusse is intrigued with new Timberwolves basketball boss David Kahn who has shuffled players in and out of town like he owns an airline.  So far the results, 2-16, are the stuff of bottom feeders.

“I kind of like Kahn,” Reusse said.  “Anyone that arrogant is almost priceless.  He’s so sure of his intelligence it’s almost comical.  But wow!  It’s just horrible (on court results).  I don’t know how far removed they are from being a factor in town.  It’s a sell obviously.”

The Wild didn’t make the playoffs after last season and might not qualify for Stanley Cup participation in 2010 either.  The Wild reloaded last spring with the departure of the two leaders since the franchise started in 2000, general manager Doug Risebrough and coach Jacques Lemaire.

Opinion by many is that Risebrough and Lemaire didn’t leave behind a roster brimming with talent.  How to label the Wild made Reusse pause before settling on “maybe a hold.”  Then he said: “I don’t know. I think Jacques fooled us for a lot of years thinking they had decent manpower over there just because he was able to win half his games or a little more with pretty mediocre talent.”

Reusse went to the past when asked about Gophers hockey.  He said he was the first in town to “start making fun” of coach Don Lucia after the famous Holy Cross loss.  That was a signature defeat for the Gophers who had been ranked No. 1 in the country during the 2005-2006 season.  In the NCAA playoffs the Gophers lost to the No. 15 seeded Crusaders in overtime.

This season’s Gophers haven’t impressed much either, dropping from the national rankings and compiling a 5-8-1 overall record, 3-6-1 in the WCHA.  The record includes five losses at Mariucci Arena. “That place over there has got 3,000 empty seats every game,” Reusse said.  “They’re happy when they split with Bemidji State on their home ice.  That’s a sell.”

The Gophers have a football palace in TCF Bank Stadium.  But Gophers football coach Tim Brewster has been a Reusse target for three years.  “I think it’s pretty clear where I stand on coach Brewster, so that’s a sell,” Reusse said.  “I just want to hear one sincere sentence from the guy and I’d have a better attitude about him.  It looks like he’s brought in some athletes, but… scattering a few athletes here and there is not the answer.  Changing your coaching staff every 10 minutes isn’t the answer either.  I don’t see a big turn around that would cause me to say buy, but boy, they get the right guy in here it’s a buy because that stadium…(puts the program on a higher level.  You should be able to hire a big time coach, I think. …There’s no excuses any more.”

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