With this week off because of no game scheduled next Sunday, Vikings players can spend more time with their families and attend to personal business. Punter Chris Kluwe will be flying home to Huntington Beach, California to see his young daughters trick or treat in dinosaur costumes for Halloween. Kluwe’s costume? Possibly Indiana Jones, he said.
Wide receiver Greg Camarillo closes Friday on his new home in San Diego. He’s sold his house in Davie, Florida but because of more expensive prices in California will be going from a one-acre property to a one-third acre lot.
Rookie Vikings offensive lineman Brandon Fusco is an improbable success story. As a high school player in Harmony, Pennsylvania he didn’t have one offer from a BCS school and decided to play for Slippery Rock, a Division II program. Drafted on the sixth round by the Vikings, Fusco surprised by not only making the final roster but has earned playing time on the field.
At Slippery Rock Fusco said he had 44 consecutive starts at center, a position the Vikings have practiced him at along with guard. At either position his goal is to be aggressive. “I don’t really get intimidated,” he said.
Fusco said he’s more comfortable with pro football now than earlier in the year but realizes he has much to learn. “I am a raw player,” he said. “I know that.”
Coach Tubby Smith’s Gophers open their exhibition schedule with a game tomorrow night at home against Bemidji State. The Gophers also have a home exhibition game scheduled against Augustana next Monday.
Minnesota is a popular choice to finish among the bottom teams in the Big Ten Conference. Lindy’s Sports College Basketball Magazine, for example, forecasts an eighth place finish ─ although hedges the prediction is too low if Minnesota develops an outstanding point guard to replace departed Al Nolen.
Lindy’s includes Gophers forward Trevor Mbakwe among its third team All-Americans. The senior from St. Paul made the preseason All-Big Ten first team chosen last week by a Big Ten media panel.
Lindy’s has Benilde-St. Margaret’s grad and Wisconsin point guard Jordan Taylor on its All-American first team. Hopkins alum Trent Lockett, now playing for Arizona State, is rated the No. 15 small forward in the country.