Conversations about the Vikings, whether it involves fans or media, keep coming back to Tarvaris Jackson.  The acquisition of defensive end Jared Allen, the NFL sack leader last season while playing for Kansas City, has stirred talk about the Vikings having one of the league’s best defenses in 2008.  Adrian Peterson, last year’s NFL rookie of the year and NFC leading rusher, can be a thrill a minute guy whose presence gives fans a rush.  But the question about 2008 team success always seems to include Jackson’s name in the answer.

Former Vikings’ assistant coach Dean Dalton, who now analyzes the NFL in the media, refers to the Super Bowl as the “Promised Land.”  In a recent interview with Sports Headliners about the 25-year-old Jackson, Dalton first talked about the impact of Allen whose pass rushing skills are seen as an ideal complement to the already dominant Vikings rushing defense.  A better defense creating more three and outs, more turnovers and better field position translates into increased opportunities for the offense, Dalton said.

“It is a help to a young quarterback to take a little bit of the pressure off him, but to get to the ‘Promised Land’ (the Super Bowl) it still comes down to the trigger man,” Dalton added.  “It comes down to the quarterback’s play, and so with the pressure taken off of him he can be more of an offensive manager and not have to be the playmaker.  So they still need to continue to surround him with playmakers so that he can just manage the offense and continue to mature his game.”

Dalton expects Jackson to play next season with more consistency than in the past. To perform more like he did during the last half of the season when he minimized mistakes and at times was an impressive playmaker.  Jackson doesn’t have to be spectacular, just manage the game and not make errors.

Dalton said last year he saw “signs of maturity” in Jackson who became the team’s starter in his second season as a pro.  He likes Jackson’s work ethic, study habits and athleticism.  Last season injuries diminished his playing time but he was 8-4 in games he started.  Although he threw 12 interceptions and only nine touchdown passes, he completed 58 percent of his passes.  What sometimes gets lost in the evaluation of Jackson is that many quarterbacks who became NFL success stories were mediocre or worse during their first couple of years in the league.

Dalton wants to see Jackson and the Vikings improve the deep passing game.  “If they can have a vertical threat and he can have some accuracy, that puts the defensive secondaries on their heels,” Dalton said.  “And it gets that extra safety out of the box which opens things up for Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor.  So if they can stretch the field vertically their running game will continue to be the best in the league and that’s one of the things I think they will emphasize as an offense.”

There’s no certainty in predicting how Jackson will play in 2008 but there’s  agreement that his success has everything to do with the Vikings’ fate.  Super Bowl?  That’s a lot of improvement in one season.

Former Twin Torii Hunter, now with the Los Angeles Angels, is the best defensive player in the major leagues, according to a Sports Illustrated players’ poll in the May 5 issue of the magazine.

Sportsmanship got a badly needed boost last week in a softball game between two universities, Western Oregon and Central Washington.  A Western player hit a home run but injured her knee rounding the bases.  Central Washington players carried her so she could touch all the bases and make the home run count.  The home run allowed Western to win the game and ended Central Washington’s pursuit of a conference title and playoffs, according to news reports.

The Minnesota Wild announced on Wednesday that five of its players will participate in the 2008 Men’s World Hockey Championships in Quebec City, Quebec and Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Based on preliminary roster submissions, defenseman Brent Burns will represent Canada, center Morten Madsen (fourth round pick in 2005, played for Houston Aeros last season) will play for Denmark, goalie Niklas Backstrom and center Mikko Koivu will compete for Finland, and right wing Julien Sprunger (fourth round pick in 2004, played for HC Fribourg-Gotteron in Swiss League last season) will represent Switzerland.  The World Championships begin today (Friday).

The Hobey Baker Memorial Award Committee hosts its annual banquet tonight at 317 on Rice Park in St. Paul. The banquet will honor the University of Michigan’s Kevin Porter, the 2008 winner of the Hobey Baker Memorial Award.  Also honored will be legendary Dartmouth College coach Eddie Jeremiah who will receive the 2008 Hobey Baker Legend of College Hockey award.  Ticket information is available at www.hobeybaker.com.

General manager Djorn Bucholz of the Minnesota Thunder said forward Ricardo Sanchez has played “fantastic” in the team’s first two games.  He scored on a penalty kick at Vancouver in the Thunder’s 1-0 win on April 26.  Bucholz likes Sanchez’s steadiness with the ball.  Bucholz said other key players for the Thunder, 1-1 on the season, are goalie Nicolas Platter, defender and midfielder Stephen deRoux and forward Alen Marcina.

The Thunder opens the home schedule on Sunday night at James Griffin Stadium in St. Paul.  Tickets will be available at the stadium prior to the 5:05 p.m. game time, Buchholz said.

Sportscaster Randy Shaver said his annual golf tournament set for June 2 at Rush Creek has filled its available inventory for players and sponsors.  He expects the tourney to raise about $390,000 for the Randy Shaver Cancer Research Fund.  He said over the years the tournament has generated more than $3 million for the fund which then distributes it for cancer research.

Twins president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners on Monday that a “couple” of home games would have been postponed this spring if the team were playing outdoor baseball. “Maybe two or three,” he said.

The Twins open play in their new outdoor ballpark in 2010 and no one wants to see a duplication of an early spring that St. Peter described as “abnormally harsh.”   Temperatures in the 30’s and 40’s with snow and rain make this an April to forget, and the elements have created speculation about early season games in the new ballpark instead of the weather-proof Metrodome where the team has played since 1982.

Based on previous analysis, the Twins expect up to five postponed games per season in the new ballpark that will have to be rescheduled.  That means playing through some adverse weather but that happens already in cities like Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland, all with teams in the same division as the Twins, the American League Central.  Modern playing fields are designed to minimize problems caused by rain and cold.

Asked about the Twins play during the first several weeks of the season, St. Peter said he still expects the team to compete for the division championship.  The club’s record is 12-14 and the Twins have lost four of their last six games.

The Twins, who won last night at home against Chicago, are 2.5 games behind the division leading White Sox.  No team in the division is more than three games behind Chicago.  St. Peter described the division race as “incredibly competitive” and said the gap between teams has narrowed from past seasons.

Although he doesn’t like the record, St. Peter said there is still so much more baseball to be played. “No question we expect to contend,” he said.  “It’s a long, long, long season.  We’re not even at the one-sixth mark yet.”