Vikings Predictions

A lot of people have asked me what I think of the Vikings this year. The short answer: 10-6, division champs and probably one playoff win.

I think the offense will continue to produce. Daunte is very quietly one of the most efficient QBs in NFL history - Peyton, McNabb and Vick get the headlines, but Culpepper is as good as they get. Burleson, Williamson, Robinson and Taylor are a solid foursome at WR. The offensive line, although depleted through injury, will play well because they always do. The return of Jim Kleinsasser is a huge boost to the team in passing and third-down situations. But the question for me is at RB. No matter who starts, you only have two solid backs in Moore and Bennett. Then you have Moe Williams, a prototypical third down back, Ciatrick Fason and maybe someone else. Then you have the Whizzinator himself sitting out this year. It usually takes 2-3 good backs to win in the NFL over the course of a season, so it will be interesting to see if the Vikes have enough horses to balance the offense for Daunte.

And the defense...I'm not sure if they're as good as everyone says they are. First, they must be able to get a pass rush in third-and-long and other obvious passing situations. Second, they must do a better job of creating turnovers - the revamped secondary should help with this. And third, they must tackle. These are the hallmarks of poor Vikings defenses of the past. Granted, there's lots of new personnel, but to shed the stereotype these are the areas where I believe they must improve.

Looks to me like a 10-6 year, Purple faithful. But if that defense gels quickly and stays tough, it could be as good as 12-4...and in the weak NFC, you never know where that might take us. It's like they always say: defense wins championships.

High School Football is Back

Hey everyone...

A few items today:

--How about them Hawaiians! Their comeback against Curacao in the Little League World Series will go down as one of the greatest championship comebacks in LLWS history. You can bet ABC was absolutely loving that ending (oh, oops, maybe not - because the game went into extra innings, they had to drop national coverage and move the game to ESPN2. Sucks for all those people without cable...)

--Looks like our Twins made a nice run. But now that they're 5 1/2 back to the Yankees, let's just forget about the playoffs and enjoy September for the great races elsewhere in the league. I mean, just look at the NL West. Will someone PLEASE play .500 ball??

--New from the Lake Conference in football: because there are 11 teams in the conference now, there will be one non-conference game each week - most schools in the conference will play a school outside the league for the first time in many years. And most of the opponents will come from the Classic Lake Conference - for all you history buffs, the Classic Lake was the original Lake conference way back in the 50s and 60s. The Edinas, Eden Prairies and Bloomingtons of the world played each other all the time, but that isn't the case anymore. Well, thanks to the unbalanced leagues, get ready to renew some old rivalries...

It all kicks off with a real good matchup this Friday, when the new Lakeville North, two years removed from a state title, travels to Mounds View to play the Mustangs, who will be a top-ranked team this year largely because of their U of M-bound quarterback. Other top non-conference games on the schedule include defending state champ Minnetonka driving to Apple Valley on October 14 and top-five contenders Eden Prairie and Wayzata doing battle in EP on Sept. 23. Another game circled on my schedule? Park of Cottage Grove, a cellar-dweller in the Suburban East in recent years, will visit Lake doormat Kennedy on Sept. 30.

For all you Bloomington residents, my partner and I will be announcing our first football game of the season this Thursday - Kennedy hosts Chaska that evening. Check it out on BEC-TV, channel 16 locally.

Mid-August post

Hey all! Sorry it's been a while since my last posting. I'll do better.

So I noticed that the Twins have won 3 of 4. The pitching has been amazing, so I'm glad to see some wins on the board. Maybe if they sweep the remaining games from the White Sox, they can win the division. Maybe.

I saw a brief in the Strib sports today about the MSHSL thinking about making state football quarterfinal playoff games neutral-field, artificial-turf contests. This makes a lot of sense to me. I'm not sure that games needs to be played on turf, but neutral sites would get rid of the huge advantage that home teams have in the quarterfinal round. Huge. Especially if the opponent happens to be from a section on the other end of the state. Although it could mean that games would move indoors, and the nostalgic part of me doesn't like that, the teams that get to the Dome are most often the teams that navigate the weather the best - not necessarily the best team. Let's move the games.

And today's thought on the Twins:
Remember recently how they were in an 0-for-24 slump with runners in scoring position? And how that stretch came at a time when the Twins lost a lot of one-run ballgames? Think for a minute. If the Twins hit a merely average .250 in that stretch, they would have had 6 hits. Being that some of the hits would come with bases loaded, you could conservatively estimate that the team would have scored 8 more runs because of those hits. And eight runs in the bank when you're losing a lot of one-run games?? Maybe that equates to 4-6 more wins. And how far back are the Twins in the wild card? As of today, six games. Just a thought to chew on...

I drafted my fantasy football team this weekend. Gotta love the fact I have Marvin Harrison, Michael Clayton, Steve Smith AND Jimmy Smith at WR, Jason Elam at K, Carolina's defense and Deuce McAllister at RB. And Tom Brady will be steady as my starting QB. But my big question is whether Fred Taylor and Michael Bennett will produce. I took them both on their potential, which is definitely big. And my string of consecutive championships could very well depend on how much of that potential they realize...

Some things...

What's up y'all,

A few observations of mine lately:

--Rafael Palmeiro. When the guy got his 3,000th hit a few weeks ago, I was among those leading his parade to Cooperstown. What a sweet career he's had, and not only full of big numbers but consistency as well. And then we heard about his steroid trouble. As a baseball purist, I'm really struggling with Palmeiro's positive test. I still believe that his numbers are Hall-worthy, and I've enjoyed watching him play over the years. But he cheated, and he got caught cheating. It doesn't matter if it was intentional or not, the fact is he got busted. And that, my friends, is why he should NOT be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Heck, if Pete Rose isn't a member of the Hall for what he did, then Raffy shouldn't be either.

And the sickest thing about this news? Jose Canseco might actually have been right. I don't know if I'm rushing out to buy his book yet, but Jose definitely had a good week. And it wasn't because Janice Dickinson hit on him on "The Surreal Life."

--What's up with the Lynx?

These guys baffle me. In my opinion, the Lynx have had amazing opportunities in the past couple of drafts to get homegrown stars like Lindsay Whalen and Janel McCarville of Gopher All-America fame. Granted, they may have had to draft up and give up talent and draft picks to do it, perhaps making the team less competitive in the short term. But you had an opportunity to get two of the most cherished female athletes this state has ever seen, and you let it go. You may lose a few games, but haven't you been losing games since you started? Also, even if you lose, I guarantee that attendance would have been up, as people really loved these two charismatic young role models. In the WNBA, and the Target Center for sure, there are LOTS of good seats available for every game. And in a league where money talks, the Lynx probably would have had some more of it - which they could have reinvested in the team however they wished.

And then they went and traded their franchise player, depleting your talent and tossing in your playoff towel...and you still don't have anything to draw in the fans. I'm sorry, but this is exactly the kind of series of events that explain clearly why no one in the Twin Cities cares about the Lynx.

--Gopher Football Practice Started! Woo hoo...even though I'll be lucky to attend one game this year after going to EVERY game for the last 7 years, these guys will be fun to watch. That is, until their Big Ten opener against Purdue. The jury's still out on this team, because I don't see a big difference between this team and the one that blew a top-10 ranking against Michigan and then mailed it in the rest of the last two seasons. And with a tougher Big Ten schedule, it gets even tougher for the Gophers. I think they'll go bowling again, but until they can prove they're worthy of the pressure, I can't pencil them into Pasadena, Orlando or even Tampa. But will it ever be fun to watch Maroney this year...for those of you who haven't had the pleasure of seeing him live, he's one of the best pure runners I've ever seen.

Gotta run. Check out the 3M Championship this weekend!

Twins notes

Too bad about Tori. I guess I am ready to call it a season for the Twins given the results of their road trip and their inability to make a trade to improve the team at the deadline. I heard the Twins had an offer to trade for Soriano. In exchange, they would have given up a really good minor league picture, Loshe, and Romero. I think Soriano would have changed the complexion of the team, but I guess this trade wasn't a good deal in Terry Ryan's mind.

At least we still have the Vikings to distract us from the last two months of this tailspin.