The latest issue of Sports Illustrated predicts as part of its midseason NFL report that the Vikings, rated No. 2 in the NFC behind No. 1 New Orleans, will lose to the Saints in the conference championship game.

Vikings receiver and kickoff returner Percy Harvin is a mid-season favorite for NFL rookie of the year.  Coach Brad Childress was asked if there’s something in particular he wants Harvin to make big strides in improving.  “Nothing that jumps to my mind front-and-center,” Childress said.  “I’m not going to say none, but how about all?”

The Vikings play a Detroit team at home on Sunday that has a blitzing defense.  Childress was asked if the Lions blitz about 40 percent of the time. “I would say at least,” he answered.  “Probably in some of the down and distances, a good bit more than that. They are attempting to make things happen. You see both man blitzes where they are playing man-to-man and you see a good share of fire zone blitzes where they are dropping in a zone and watching the ball come out from the quarterback.

“You have to be about your business (pass) protection-wise because they are bringing it from all spots. They are checking your protections all the time. Those things are equally as good in disturbing run game schemes if they are going to dial one up on first down or second down.”

Detroit coach Jim Schwartz talking about Adrian Peterson including how the Vikings running back has changed since the first Vikings-Lions game on September 20: “Obviously, a running back that is strong and can go the distance any time he touches the ball. He can run inside, he can run outside.

“Probably the biggest thing that I have seen that is different from the first game is that he looks a little more comfortable in the pass game now. They are getting him the ball a little more in the pass game.  He has caught some screen passes and things like that. He’s a multi-dimensional runner.  He’s becoming more and more adept in the passing game and they are getting the ball in his hands a little bit more that way.”

Vikings fans will recall the name of former Detroit quarterback Eric Hipple.  Since leaving football Hipple has lived an inspirational life recovering from depression and dealing with the death of his son.  Photojournalist John Gross detailed the story for KSTP TV last month.  https://kstp.com/news/stories/S1201819.shtml?cat=206.

Among the Gophers best players this season is senior linebacker Lee Campbell who has been impressive with his aggressive style.  Campbell said he’s given “everything” to the football program and described the next two games as “critical.”  The Gophers play South Dakota State tomorrow at home, then close the regular season at Iowa.  Two wins would give Minnesota a 7-5 record and Campbell said that is a “successful” season.  “I really want to win these last two games for our seniors’ sake,” Campbell said.

South Dakota State will be playing the Gophers for the first time since 1933.  The Jackrabbits, who are 0-5 against Minnesota, will play in Minneapolis again in 2015.

South Dakota State, 7-2 this season, defeated Northern Iowa, a team that lost in the last minute to Iowa.  The Jackrabbits are ranked No. 12 nationally in the Football Championship Subdivision coaches poll.  The roster includes 20 Iowans, 19 South Dakotans and 10 Minnesotans.

South Dakota State averaged 13,265 fans for its home games this season, a new school record.

Members of the Wild are sporting mustaches for the month in support of Movember, which is helping to raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer. (More info at www.movember.com).

South St. Paul native Zach Palmquist was named the United States Hockey League’s CCM Defensive Player of the Week after his two goals and two assists in two games for the Waterloo Black Hawks last weekend.

Updates on Lynx players: In three games in Israel Rashanda McCants is averaging 22.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per game.  In two EuroLeague games Quanitra Hollingsworth is averaging 14.5 points and 12.5 rebounds per game for Lithuanian club TEO Vilnius.  In the French League Charde Houston has led Tarbes to a 7-1 league record, while averaging 16.5 points per game and 5.8 rebounds. Candice Wiggins is playing for Athinaikos in Greece where her team is 4-0.  She  is averaging 14.5 points per game and 4.8 rebounds.

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For Brett Favre life might begin at 40, but with Darren Sharper he’s settling for 34 right now.  The former Vikings safety celebrated his 34^th birthday on November 3 and his career revival in New Orleans has been sweet so far.

Sharper is tied for the most interceptions (seven) in the NFL with Jairus Byrd of Buffalo.  He was named the NFC’s Defensive Player of the Month in October after intercepting three passes and returning two for touchdowns.

After eight games with the 8-0 Saints, Sharper is within two interceptions of tying his all-time season high set with the Vikings in 2005.  He’s already established a career single season high with three interceptions returned for touchdowns, and also for total interception yardage (317) and passes defended (12).

An NFL players poll article in the November 9 issue of Sporting News Magazine reported that Sharper was the top vote getter for midseason Defensive MVP in the league.  All of this is spunky for any player, particularly a 34-year-old safety who had just one interception for 12 yards in 16 starts for the Vikings last season.

Sharper signed with the Saints as an unrestricted free agent during the last offseason.  The Vikings replaced him at strong safety with Tyrell Johnson, 24, who has one interception.

The Vikings decided to go younger and Sharper is thriving in a system down in voodoo country that is producing magical results yet is fundamentally sound.  New Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has a reputation for results, and his schemes and coaching have made a big difference in the Saints who in the past have had plenty of offense but not a “D.”

Sharper, who is now a free safety with the Saints, considered the Vikings defensive approach more restrictive than what he’s experienced in New Orleans, according to an article at https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=capress-fbn_sharp_sharper-302633923&prov=capress&type=lgns.

“If I’m in one position the whole game, teams know where you are,” Sharper explained. “They know, OK, this is a guy back there that if we throw in this area, pretty much he’s going to intercept the ball, so we won’t go over there.”

When Sharper was here he told Sports Headliners that even as an older player he didn’t want to be a reserve and mostly sit on the bench.  That won’t be a concern this season.

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On a warm, sunny and perfect day to watch a football game, an estimated 4,000 University of Minnesota students chose not to use their tickets to see the Gophers and Illinois last Saturday.  The University athletic department sold almost 11,000 student tickets for the season but at least 4,000 students chose not to show up despite the beautiful day and the Gophers having won an exciting game the previous Saturday against Michigan State.

The student section at the bowl end of TCF Bank Stadium has consistently had open seats during all six home games but Saturday was the lowest turnout.  A new outdoor, on-campus stadium with a team striving to qualify for a bowl game apparently isn’t enough to send nearly all the student ticket holders to games.

State legislation that approved funding for the stadium requires the University to set aside 20 percent of the seats for students.  With a capacity of 50,805, the students are entitled to over 10,000 seats.  If all the seats are not sold as season tickets in a given year, then students have priority on buying remaining tickets from the allotment as single game tickets.  Those tickets have to be purchased up to one week before a game, a Gophers spokesman told Sports Headliners.

Students, who this year paid a bargain rate of $77 for seven home games, will be entitled to even more seats using the 20 percent formula if the stadium is ever expanded.  That could be interesting, even though the University’s Minneapolis-St. Paul campus is one of the nation’s largest with a student enrollment of about 50,000.

The athletic department needs to look at ideas regarding student use of tickets.  Convincing Gopher youth to attend the games might be impossible, but by combining student and public sales perhaps selling more tickets than there are seats is an answer.

And a parting thought about last Saturday: nowhere in the stadium were the boos louder than from the student section during the first half.  Quarterback Adam Weber and the Gophers offense received the loudest chorus of boos in memory at a University home game.  That is disappointing because Weber, who did have a poor first half throwing the ball, is a 22-year-old student-athlete doing the best work he can and usually is the top performer on the offense.

Did any of the boo-birds stop to think that their actions could make things worse for Weber and the Gophers?

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