Posted October 8, 2010    

•Brett Favre

•Adam Weber

•Tubby Smith

•Jason Kubel

•Don Lucia

Don’t Rule Out Favre Return in 2011 

Former Vikings assistant coach Dean Dalton believes there is a “scenario” in which quarterback Brett Favre returns to play another season for Minnesota. 

Favre, who turns 41 Sunday, indicated in August this will be his last season in the NFL.  He struggled to make a decision about playing during the off-season but his competitiveness made him return to a team that was a couple of plays away from making the Super Bowl.   

“Will he play or not?”  That’s become an annual question in recent years, first with the Packers and now with the Vikings.  The Vikings, with a disappointing 1-2 record, have 13 regular season games remaining and then presumably the playoffs, too, before we know better what Favre’s future will be.  But Dalton, who follows the NFL closely and hosts a show on Sirius Satellite Radio, told Sports Headliners don’t believe No. 4 is for certain finished wearing purple after this year.   

“There’s probably three different types of scenarios,” Dalton said.  “Two of the three, I don’t see Brett coming back.  I think if they win the Super Bowl and hoist the Lombardi Trophy, I think No. 4 will then ride off into the sunset once again a champion.

“I think if they (the Vikings) have a miserable season, or if he physically gets injured to any extreme, I think he’ll just shut it down and drop the flaps on the tent and move back to Mississippi. 

“But I do think if they mirror last year, create momentum, have a lot of energy (going) into the playoffs and they’re knocking on the door, or they get to the Super Bowl but they don’t win it, they get close, I think the competitive intensity will be triggered inside him.  Given that he’s healthy, that he would then consider coming back.  Because I think right now he’s frustrated because they haven’t performed as well as they should.” 

Dalton’s scenarios and the Favre storyline will develop week to week starting with Monday night’s game against the Jets.  It will be the first game he will play with newly acquired wide receiver Randy Moss.  Favre watchers can know this for certain: the quarterback is happier than a million dollar lottery winner to have Moss for long distance bombing, and also Favre’s not even thinking about next year. 

If he were contemplating the future, he probably would be undecided.

 

Dean Dalton

Weber Almost a Badger, Plus U Notes 

Adam Weber has a last opportunity to beat Wisconsin tomorrow.  Minnesota’s record setting quarterback was once “50-50” on his college choice between the Gophers and Badgers. 

Weber, the only three-year captain in Gophers football history, has been the team’s starting quarterback since 2007, his redshirt freshman season.  He is the school career record holder in passing yardage, completions and touchdowns.  But Weber said playing football for him is about wins, not records. 

The Gophers were 1-11 in 2007, 7-6 in 2008, 6-7 in 2009 and so far this season 1-4.  In that period Minnesota is 0-8 in trophy games against Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan. 

“The wins aren’t where I would have liked them to have been,” he said. “The trophies, everything, you name it.  Not where you dreamed them to be.  But when it’s all said and done I will leave here with a big smile on my face knowing that I just had the best five years of my life.” 

As a high school player at Mounds View Weber thought seriously about becoming a Badger but although the initial process was 50-50 between Minnesota and Wisconsin, the final verdict wasn’t so tough.  He walked around the Minnesota campus and knew this was where he wanted to be.   

His dad, Bobby Weber, had been a Gopher defensive back. That counted and so, too, did staying home where family (including his grandmother) and friends have been able to watch him play more than if he had packed his bags for Madison.  “I’ll never second guess (the decision),” Weber said.  

The Gophers’ nonconference football schedules are completed through 2014.  Among the new opponents will be New Mexico State in 2011.  The Aggies will receive $1.6 million for agreeing to play here next year and in 2016. 

The cost of scheduling teams, particularly Division I schools, keeps escalating and is even more expensive when there is no agreement to play multiple games.  Ohio State, for example, will pay Colorado $1.4 million for just one game in Columbus next year.  

Gophers coach Tim Brewster talking about tomorrow’s game in Madison where Minnesota tries to defeat Wisconsin for the first time since 1994: “I think you’ve got a group of guys who desperately want to go get that axe.” 

Brewster’s 50^th birthday is next Wednesday.  

Coach Tubby Smith’s pursuit of highly hyped New England prep school point guard Naadir Tharpe didn’t become any easier when national power Kansas decided to enter the chase.

 

“...I will leave here with a big smile on my face knowing that I just had the best five years of my life.”
Adam Weber

Worth Noting: Twins & More  

After last night’s second consecutive loss to the Yankees in the ALDS the Twins are 0-7 all-time in playoff games against New York in Minneapolis.  The two teams resume their five game series in New York tomorrow night with the Twins down 2-0 and past stats don’t offer much encouragement to Minnesota.  

There have been 61 series when a big league team has fallen behind 0-2 in a five-game playoff series and only seven times has the team come back to win the series 3-2.  

The Twins do not have a come-from-behind win in their last 22 postseason games.  They have lost their last 11 playoff games, with the last win on October 5, 2004 at the Yankees in the first game of the ALDS. 

Twins right fielder Jason Kubel is now hitting .080 (2-for-25) with 12 strikeouts in seven career postseason games (all against the Yankees). 

New York’s Mariano Rivera earned his 41^st career postseason save last night.  He has never allowed the Twins a run in the postseason and given up eight hits to them in 15.2 innings pitched.

Memories of Randy Moss and his first stop with the Vikings include his off field work for St. Joseph’s Home for Children in Minneapolis.  Even after leaving here for Oakland and New England, Moss said he continued to buy Vikings tickets for use by children served by St. Joseph's. 

Another memory is Lou Holtz’s famous quote that Moss was the “best high school football player” he ever saw. 

The Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce Minnesota Wild Face-Off Luncheon starts at 10 a.m. today at Xcel Energy Center.  Fans can watch a live telecast of the Wild’s game against Carolina from Finland, plus tour the Wild locker room and Al Shaver press box.  Former Wild players will also be present.  For more information, visit www.saintpaulchamber.com or call 651-223-5000.

Prior to the Wild’s exhibition game against Ilves Tampere earlier this week the teams exchanged gifts. The Wild presented a signed State of Hockey flag to the Finnish squad and received a framed flag that displayed the Ilves crest.

Donated items from the second annual used hockey equipment drive will be distributed to hockey associations and individuals at Xcel Energy Center from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Carolina defenseman and Edina native Jamie McBain competed against the Wild for the first time yesterday when the two teams played in Helsinki.  Wild center Matt Cullen was a member of Carolina’s 2006 Stanley Cup championship team.

Recently signed Wild goalie Jose Theodore is one of only five goalies to ever win the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s Most Valuable Player. Theodore won the award in 2002 with Montreal.

The Gophers hockey team is picked to finish fifth in the WCHA by the coaches and sixth by the media.  The Gophers are ranked No. 14 in the USAToday/USA Hockey Magazine and the USCHO/CBS polls. The No. 15 position ends a 10-year streak of the Gophers being ranked in the top 10 to begin the season.  

The Gophers open their regular season tonight and tomorrow night at home against Massachusetts.  Minnesota coach Don Lucia is healthy again after recovering from sarcoidosis.

Concordia of St. Paul graduate Mary Slinger and Gustavus grad Melissa Mackley are two of the nine finalists for the NCAA Woman of the Year award.  Slinger, a former volleyball player, is one of three Division II finalists.  There are also three finalists each from Divisions I and III including Mackley, a former Gustavus hockey player. The winners will be announced on October 17.

The Gustavus Athletics Department has chosen nine individuals for induction into its Athletics Hall of Fame.  The  inductees are Erik Allen  (basketball), Pete Anderson (golf), Leigh Stocker Berger (volleyball), Heidi Rostberg Carlson (tennis), Erik Hendrikson (football and hockey), Duke Paluch (tennis), Paige Tierney (soccer), Angela White  (track and field), and Evie Cieslar Erdman (benefactor).  The group will be honored at the Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet tomorrow night in Alumni Hall on campus.  

 

Don Lucia

   Mary Slinger


 

Melissa Mackley