After the Vikings recovered a fumble, made an interception, returned a punt for a touchdown and scored three other touchdowns to take a 28-0 lead against Arizona yesterday, former Viking Mike Morris said on KFAN radio that the Purple had played the best half of football in Brad Childress’ three seasons as coach.

Marcus McCauley had an active rookie season last year after being drafted in the third round by the Vikings.  He started nine games at nickel back and was a regular for four of the final six games at left cornerback, replacing the injured Antoine Winfield. This season he’s started one game, participated in eight of 14 and didn’t even have a tackle until yesterday when he came up with three solo and one asssisted.

Ryan Longwell, the Vikings’ 34-year-old place-kicker, is also the team’s backup punter.  He hasn’t punted in an NFL game since 2006 when he kicked once for 27 yards.  Longwell, who was all-Pac-10 as a punter and place-kicker at California, practices punting in training camp but not during the regular season.  Although he averaged 41.9 yards per punt in college, he said the hang time on his punts wasn’t NFL caliber.

Mike Sherels told Sports Headliners that his brother Marcus had a disappointing season because of the right shoulder injury he incurred in the Indiana game on October 4.  Marcus missed one game and when he did play his effectiveness was limited as a tackler from his cornerback position.  Mike said post-season surgery on his brother’s shoulder is a possibility.  He also said Marcus had been named to a mid-season all-Big Ten team and that despite the injury didn’t give up a touchdown reception this season.  Marcus, a senior next season, could be one of the Big Ten’s best cornerbacks in 2009.

Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi was able to switch the start of the Minnesota-Michigan State basketball game on December 31 from a 5 p.m. start to 11 a.m. to avoid conflict with the Insight Bowl (Gophers and Kansas kickoff at 5 p.m.) but the move sparked both criticism and praise from Williams Arena ticket holders.  The new start time will be an inconvenience to some fans and an enhancement for others but regardless of your position Maturi is encouraging the Big Ten to adopt a future policy that will initially have to-be-determined start times for basketball games that are scheduled on the same day as conference bowl games.

The Insight Bowl is televised by the NFL Network which the majority of cable subscribers in this market don’t have as part of their programming package.  Although the NFL Network has allowed local market TV stations to televise the game in previous years, nothing has been announced for Minneapolis-St. Paul by the University or bowl officials.

Insight Bowl representative Matt Winter told Sports Headliners on Friday that this is the fourth year of an eight year deal between the network and the bowl.  The Insight Bowl used to be televised by ESPN but when bowl officials wanted the game played on New Year’s Eve the network couldn’t do so because of prior commitments, Winter said.

University president Bob Bruininks said he expects an event in the Phoenix area during the time of the bowl game to thank major donors to the new TCF Bank Stadium.  He also said eight of the school’s 12 Board of Regents will travel to the Insight Bowl.

Single women might be sobbing from Minneapolis to Montreal but Justin Morneau is about to become a married man.  He marries girl friend Krista next month.

Morneau is the recipient of the Tip O’Neill Award given by the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and awarded annually to the Canadian player judged to have excelled in individual achievement and team contribution while adhering to baseball’s highest ideals. It is the second time in three years that Morneau has won the award.  O’Neill was a native of Ontario and acclaimed major league player in the 1800’s.  The former U.S. speaker of the House was named after the famed Canadian.

Forward Craig Smith has started each of the last four games for the Timberwolves and averaged 14.5 points and 5.8 rebounds.  He has also made 61.1 percent (22-of-36) of his shots.  The Wolves are 0-4 since Kevin McHale took over from Randy Wittman as coach and play in Sacramento tonight.

Apple Valley’s Varmah Sonie won the Mr. Football award announced yesterday afternoon at a banquet that recognized 10 finalists.  Sonie, a defensive back, wide receiver and kick returner, was Apple Valley’s most valuable player on defense, offense and special teams, according to Mr. Football committee member Jim Dotseth.  A three year member of the committee, Dotseth said the competition for the honor of being recognized as the state’s best prep player was the closest he’s seen.

Tim Murray, Murray’s restaurant owner, is already planning his annual summer major league baseball stops.  The itinerary calls for visits to new baseball stadiums in New York and Philadelphia.

Local author Ross Bernstein is excited about three new sports books available for holiday sales. “Sixty Years & Sixty Heroes” starts with 1948 and goes through 2008 featuring a memorable Minnesota event and a major contributor to the success.  “Slap Shot,” with forewords by Bob Costas and Gordie Howe, is the story of St. Paul’s Dave (Killer) Hanson, one of the infamous Hanson brothers from the movie “Slap Shot.”  “The Code” describes “unwritten rules” of baseball specific to subjects like performance enhancing drugs, stealing signs and brush-back pitches.  Learn more at www.bernsteinbooks.com

The Arizona Cardinals franchise is in the news this week because of Sunday’s game with the Vikings in Glendale.  To most Minnesotans the Cardinals connection is likely to be Denny Green or Larry Fitzgerald Jr.  Green was the Vikings coach from 1992-2001 and coached the Cardinals from 2004-2006, while Fitzgerald, the Minneapolis native, is in his fifth pro season with Arizona and is the NFL’s third leading receiver with 1,148 yards.

But not nearly so well known is that in 1959 when the Cardinals were based in Chicago, the team played two regular season games in Minnesota at Metropolitan Stadium.  Minneapolis leaders had convinced the Cardinals and the NFL to move two of Chicago’s home games here as part of an effort to bring pro football to this area.

A group that included former Minneapolis Lakers owner Max Winter was later given an NFL expansion that started play in 1961.  The state can consider itself fortunate that the Cardinals never moved here.  The franchise wasn’t successful financially or on the field back in the 1950s and this has been a troubled franchise much of the time since then.

For many years the Cardinals had to share the Chicago market with the more popular Bears.  In 1960 the franchise relocated to St. Louis.  By 1988 the Cardinals had moved to the Phoenix area where for years they played in Arizona State’s stadium before small crowds.  Owned by the Bidwell family, the Cardinals had a reputation for being tight with money and not making good football decisions.

Today’s Cardinals, 8-5 and in first place in the NFC West, aren’t your father’s, or your grandfather’s, Redbirds.  Arizona has clinched the division title and hopes for a franchise first, a trip to the Super Bowl.  Prior to this season the Cardinals hadn’t won a division title in more than 30 years and the franchise hasn’t been in the playoffs since 1998.

Now you know why local fans should be grateful that the Cardinals never made Minnesota home.