Posted September 14, 2009    

•Tim Brewster

•Bud Grant

•Nate Triplett

•Brett Favre

•Adrian Peterson

Chronicling an Historic Football Weekend 

Looking back on an historic football weekend, these notes made their way from a reporter’s scribbled handwriting to the Sports Headliners home page.   

11:30 a.m. on Friday:  I return a call to Gopher football fan Mike Wilkinson.  He wants to know if I am excited about the TCF Bank Stadium opener.  Yes, but I don’t verbalize the hesitation I feel from years of Gopher disappointments.   

Wilkinson mentions he did a trial drive to the stadium on Thursday.  Then he passes along the news President Barack Obama will be in town, adding to potential traffic problems.  I know someone who frequently sends out anti-Obama emails and is a Gopher fan.  You can bet he’ll blame Obama for any traffic snafus.   

9:30 a.m. on Saturday:  Working on estimated tax payments, so the morning is off to a dark beginning.  The tax code needs to be revised but it’s kind of like the common cold.  A lot of people talk about changing the code but we don’t come up with a cure. 

10:30 a.m. Dave Mona calls and we agree the Gopher-Air Force game will be close.  So do the odds-makers who have the spread down to about three points.  If this game were in Colorado Springs the Falcons would be favored.  We pick Minnesota to win. 

11:15 a.m.  Overmatched Syracuse is playing with heart against Penn State.  Last week the Orange was one for 12 on third down conversions against the Gophers.  No way Air Force does that tonight (finishes 12 for 21).  

11:50 a.m.  Fresno State goes up 21-7 on Wisconsin in Madison.  What a swell Saturday if the Badgers lose, Iowa State beats Iowa and the Gophers win.   

Noon:  I find a check in the morning mail.  Things are looking up.  

1:25 p.m. Head for the health club before testing the traffic on the way to the stadium.  

2 p.m.  I think about Gophers coach Tim Brewster who is always upbeat, but today is something special for him and the players as they open the stadium. 

2:07 p.m.  Feel bad that I couldn’t come up with tickets for my son.  He waited too long to ask, though.  Someone will read this and email that they had extra tickets. 

3 p.m.  Drive by Metrodome on way to campus.  Just miss the Twins crowd exiting the stadium and also avoid an Obama blockade.  Earlier in the day my wife’s car was “parked” for about 15 minutes on Crosstown Highway 62.  

3:10 p.m. I pull into my parking space about six blocks from TCF Bank Stadium.  There are only a couple of cars but people are tailgating here and all over campus.  

3:45 p.m.  Near Oak Street and Washington Avenue a grandmother makes this comment on a gorgeous summer afternoon:  “When it gets to be 10 degrees in November one of my grandchildren will be in my seat.” 

3:50 p.m.  There won’t be any alcohol served in the stadium but there’s plenty available nearby including at the McNamara Alumni Center.  Maroon and gold dressed fans are everywhere enjoying themselves like they had waited 30 years for this.  

4:10 p.m. A friend wearing a University of Arizona cap with a large “A” is targeted by an Arizona State fan.  I guess you never know when a college football rivalry will surface.  

 

 Maroon and gold dressed fans were everywhere enjoying themselves like they had waited 30 years for this to happen.
 

 Tim Brewster

A Spectacular Atmosphere & Memorable Play

5 p.m.  I enter the press box and hope to avoid a certain media guy.  It’s a big place with lots of hiding places. 

5:40 p.m.  Wow!  The stadium is filling to capacity and the atmosphere is electric.  The crowd has been yelling, “Let’s Go Gophers!”   The marching band is greeted with a roar of approval.   

5:50 p.m.  The crowd explodes with noise, singing the Rouser!   

6 p.m.  The honorary captains are introduced including Bud Grant who played for the Gophers' great 1949 team.  The spectacular video board shows enough detail on Grant’s face to see tears in his eyes.  Later a former coach said: “The ice cap melted.” 

6:02 p.m.  Minnesota’s Troy Stoudermire returns the opening kickoff 36 yards to the 50 yard line and a new era in Gopher football is official.   

6:23 p.m.  The Gophers score the first points ever in the stadium when junior Eric Ellestad kicks a field goal with about four minutes remaining in the first quarter.   

8:23 p.m.  DeLeone Eskridge runs seven yards for a touchdown to move the Gophers into a 10-10 fourth quarter tie.  Earlier, with the game seemingly turning in Air Force’s favor, the stadium had become so quiet I could hear a fan cough on the other side of the field.  (Well, not really).

8:30 p.m. In the play of the night, the Gophers Brandon Kerksey shakes the ball loose from Air Force’s Tim Jefferson.  The ball falls to the surface and bounces up perfectly for the Gophers' Nate Triplett who scoops it up and runs in for a touchdown.  The Gophers lead 17-10 with about 12 minutes to play in the fourth quarter and go on to win the game 20-13. 

10:15 p.m.  I walk out of the stadium and there are still lots of fans everywhere enjoying themselves on a never to be forgotten evening.  I think about the ghosts of Nagurski, Bierman and Giel.  Do you suppose they helped with that fumble?  Do you think??

   

Favre, Vikings Come Through in Debut

Sunday: 9:03 a.m.  It’s time for all things Favre.  There’s a picture of Brett Favre on Star Tribune.com.  Gosh, his hair is really gray, even for a guy nearing 40.  His agent, Bus Cook, (what a great Southern name) could be talking endorsement deal with Just for Men right now. 

9:05 p.m.  Thought I might receive a last minute call a few days ago from a friend who has a private jet.  He runs free transportation to Vikings and Gophers games.  I’ve always wanted to see Cleveland in September.   

9:45 a.m.  KFAN’s Dan Barreiro is pontificating about how talented the Vikings are and the test coach Brad Childress faces to have this team realize its potential.  In his fourth season, looking for a first playoff win, Childress is on the spot---at least on talk radio.   

10:26 a.m. I assume Childress has decided who will be the No. 2 quarterback today.  The easy choice here is Tarvaris Jackson.  

12:14 p.m. Favre’s first regular season play as a Viking is a handoff to Adrian Peterson.  Moments later he completes his first pass and not long after is sacked for the first time in Purple.  Life has its ups and downs. 

12:32 p.m. Favre and wide receiver Sidney Rice are out of sync on a potential touchdown pass.  The easy explanation is Favre hasn’t been practicing with the team long enough.  Vikings settle for a field goal and a 3-3 first quarter tie. 

1:20 p.m.  TV color man Brian Billick asks, “Will the Vikings let Favre be Favre?”   Billick never answers his own question but on this day Favre doesn’t force a lot of passes and the Vikings offense stays conservative. 

2:12 p.m. Favre shows his child-like passion for football after throwing a six-yard touchdown pass to rookie Percy Harvin.  Favre piles on top of Harvin after throwing the pass that puts the Vikings ahead 24-13 in the third quarter.  It’s evident the Vikings have a special trio developing in Favre, Harvin and Peterson. 

2:45 p.m.  With typical determination and speed, Peterson runs 64 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to put the game away as the Vikings take a 34-13 lead over a mediocre (charitable description?) Browns team.   

2:46 p.m. Peterson is a swell runner but I can’t rate him ahead (yet) of all-time great Jim Brown who played nine seasons for the Browns in Cleveland before starting a forgettable acting career.   Brown, with a cane at his side, watches this game from the sidelines.   

Cleveland, drafting at No. 3 in the 2007 draft, was one of the teams that let Peterson slip all the way to No. 7 where the Vikings said, “thank you.”  If I am a Cleveland fan, I am ticked off even though the Browns did choose Joe Thomas, a Pro Bowl offensive guard. 

3:16 p.m.  Childress is asked on his KFAN radio post-game show to describe Peterson who ran for three touchdowns and 180 yards.  “He’s relentless.  That’s the thing that comes to mind,” Childress said. 

5:11 p.m.  Sports Headliners emerges from a two-hour post-game analysis with this: the Vikings didn’t dazzle today but their talent prevailed with the promise of more difficult days and also better performances ahead.  Next week they play at Detroit against the NFL’s train wreck franchise, the Lions.  Who could blame Favre if he’s thinking this schedule is a pleasant way to begin life as a Viking.

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Brad Childress

Tarvaris Jackson