Posted September 20, 2010    

•Dean Dalton

•Tony Oliva

•Tim Brewster

•Condoleezza Rice

•Joe Mauer

Dalton: Vikings Offense Playing Without Confidence 

The Vikings offense that struggled in its opening game against New Orleans didn’t do much to change its profile yesterday, losing to Miami at Mall of America Field 14-10.

After the game the Vikings were 0-2 in the standings and observers, including former Vikings assistant coach Dean Dalton, wondered if a first quarter decision to decline a field goal opportunity was a major mistake.  

On the Vikings' opening possession in the first quarter they drove to the Miami 27 where they faced a fourth down and two yards to go.  With the fans cheering (of course), Vikings coach Brad Childress decided to try for a first down, but a Brett Favre pass was incomplete. 

“I can’t believe he (Childress) did that,” former Viking Mike Morris said on KFAN Radio after the game. 

Morris and Dalton preferred the almost certain three points a field goal would have provided.  The argument is why not take the points and put Miami behind early. 

Instead of a 3-0 Vikings lead, Miami took over at its own 27 yard line and scored a touchdown nine plays later.  “Miami is not a high scoring team,” Dalton said.  “They’re a ball control team with good defense.  When you have (face) that kind of team, take the points every time you can get them.  That’s potentially a 10 point swing and momentum.” 

Childress said his decision was about being aggressive in approach. “I thought we had good momentum right there, and I was trying to play off that," he said.  "It’s like going for two points early in the game. Would the three points have been nice? Yeah, three points would have been nice, but there’s a lot of other plays to be made going down the line. Just trying to be aggressive, and send a message to our team. I thought we were moving the ball pretty well right there.”

The Dolphins led 7-0 at the half and were ahead 14-0 with less than seven minutes to play in the third quarter.  The Vikings recovered a Miami fumble at the Dolphins one yard line and converted that into a touchdown late in the third quarter. 

With 7:56 remaining in the fourth quarter, Ryan Longwell kicked a 28-yard Vikings field goal to make the score 14-10.  Later in the quarter Vikings linebacker Erin Henderson recovered a Miami fumble at the Dolphins’ 24 yard line.  Because the Vikings needed a touchdown, the drive ended on the Miami one yard line with about two minutes remaining in the game. 

In the last minute of the game, the Vikings drove inside the Miami 30 yard line looking for a touchdown without success.  If the Vikings had come up with three points in the first quarter, they would have been in position to win the game 16-14 with a last period field goal.  

The day ended with a second consecutive loss.  There were somber faces and quiet voices in the Vikings' locker room after the game.  NFC North Division rivals Green Bay and Chicago are 2-0, the Vikings 0-2. 

The Vikings must now play Detroit (0-2) at home next week, then take a bye before facing a demanding October schedule against the Jets, Cowboys, Packers and Patriots with three of the four on the road. 

“They’re not in a great position (record), and they’re not playing with confidence offensively.” Dalton said.  “The defense continues to play well.” 

The decision to forego the first quarter field goal is no doubt understandable to some observers. A first down might have sent the Vikings' offense on the way to a touchdown, boosted confidence and helped provide a win.  This is an offense that has produced but 19 points in two games while the defense has given up only three touchdowns (one score yesterday came from recovering a Favre fumble in the end zone). 

Dalton said Favre and the passing game are struggling because his personnel is different than a year ago.  Tight end Visanthe Shiancoe, a Favre favorite remains a weapon, but wide receiver Sidney Rice is sidelined indefinitely and the team’s other big play making receiver, Percy Harvin, has missed practice time with Favre because of migraine headaches.  Wide receiver Bernard Berrian and Favre have yet to click with one another.   

The passing game looks out of sync.  There's not much explosiveness.  Favre, who had three interceptions and a fumble, looks like a quarterback in search of help.  Struggling is the short version.

 

Dean Dalton

Brad Childress

Oliva: Twins Can Play with the Best 

Former Twins right fielder and American League batting champion Tony Oliva knows a quality ball club when he sees one.  He played on the 1965 Twins, a team that won 102 regular season games, the most in franchise history, and went to the World Series. 

Oliva remains close to the Twins organization and is enthused about this year’s team.  He’s watched the club win 89 games and lose 60 through yesterday, holding a 10 game lead over Chicago on the way to winning another Central Division title.  Significant, too, is that the Twins, with 13 games remaining on the schedule, are close to New York (90-59) for the best record in the American League.  Home field advantage in the league playoffs awaits the team with the best record.   

The Yankees lead the Rays (89-59) by one half game in the AL East while Texas is winning the West Division with a record of 83-65.  The Twins are 2-5 against the Yankees this year, 3-5 versus the Rays and 7-3 against Texas.  The Twins have excelled since the All-Star game when they were only four games over .500. 

“I don’t think there’s another team in the American League that is better than us,” Oliva told Sports Headliners on Thursday.  “We are (all) almost the same.  All those big teams (the Twins can play with).” 

Oliva wants to see the Twins gain home field advantage throughout the playoffs but if not he won’t be agitated.  The Twins are 49-25 at home, 40-35 on the road.  

“Some years we play very bad on the road,” he said. “This year we play good on the road and good at home.  But we like to have home field advantage.  If we don’t have it, it doesn’t matter. …”  

Ask Oliva what’s most interesting about this Twins team and he speaks in detail about the depth.  He begins with overcoming the loss of reliever Joe Nathan for the season, a closer he describes as one of the “top three” in the league.  Then he talks about playing without “one of the best hitters” in the league, Justin Morneau out since July 7.  Next he describes the loss of more players.  But when others went down, Olivia said, various players stepped up. 

“The team is not one guy,” Oliva said.  “It’s not only Michael Cuddyer, or Justin Morneau or Joe Mauer, or Jim Thome. …Everybody contributes.  Every single one.”   

Olivia believes luck has been part of the success story, too.  In the off-season the Twins acquired the slugging Thome who as a part-time player leads the club in home runs with 24.  Chicago could have signed Thome before the Twins did.  Then after the trading deadline the Twins were fortunate to bolster their relief pitching by adding Brian Fuentes and Randy Flores via waivers.   

“We have a good luck,” Oliva said.  “It’s one of those years (where) everything going our way, too.” 

Oliva said in baseball it’s unpredictable what will happen next.  Perhaps good fortune won’t continue for a Twins team that seems to some like it’s destined to make the World Series.  As the Twins close out the season, Oliva watches and says: “Right now we in good shape.  In baseball you never know what going to happen but I like our chance.” 

 

"Right now we in good shape.  In baseball you never know what going to happen but I like our chance.” 
Tony Oliva on the Twins

Worth Noting  

It’ uncommon for the Gophers football roster to have a player who earned a four-star rating from Rivals.com while in high school.  Brendan Beal, was a four-star linebacker in 2008 as a prep in Pennsylvania.  Earlier this year he transferred from Florida to Minnesota where after sitting out this fall he will have two seasons of eligibility.   

Gophers coach Tim Brewster told Sports Headliners Beal, who is interested in business, was attracted to the Carlson School of Management at Minnesota and also wanted to play in the Big Ten.  Beal, whose progress at Florida was slowed by injuries, also knew the Gophers had a need for talent at linebacker.   

“The little bit I’ve been around him, he’s shown that he’s got excellent ability,” Brewster said.  “He’s an extremely smart player.  Big, physical kid (about 6-3, 250).  I anticipate him being a really good football player for us.” 

Brewster said Beal wasn’t asked by the Gators to leave Florida.  “Absolutely no,” Brewster said. 

Bob Hughes and other Goal Line Club members deserve praise for hosting a memorable luncheon last Friday to honor the 1960 Gophers national championship team.  Coach Murray Warmath’s health didn’t allow him to attend but many former players did including nose guard Tom Brown (the 1960 Big Ten Most Valuable Player) and tackle Bobby Bell who was a two-time All-American in 1961-62.  Gopher historian Doug Addison, a close friend of Bell and other players, devoted a lot of time to helping with 1960 reunion activities last week including a breakfast gathering on Thursday at the Minneapolis Club.  

Bell will have his jersey No. 78 retired at the Gophers-Northwestern game on Saturday, October 2.  

Former Kansas coach Mark Mangino, a friend of Brewster, attended the luncheon.  Mangino is living in Naples, Florida and will consider coaching again with the “right” opportunity.  Otherwise?  “I might become a game show host,” he quipped.  

USC used all its allotment of 3,000 visiting team tickets for Saturday’s game at TCF Bank Stadium and would have welcomed more if available, according to Marc Ryan of the Gophers athletic department.  He also said USC will be paid $400,000.00 for playing here and Minnesota will receive the same for next year’s game in Los Angeles.  

The Trojans have been penalized by the NCAA with reduced scholarships and a bowl ban but USC’s new athletic director Pat Haden isn’t using “turn around” in his vocabulary.  Haden told Sports Headliners he expects success in the immediate seasons ahead including possibly eight, nine, 10 win seasons.  The Trojans are 3-0  after defeating the Gophers on Saturday.  

Al Nuness, the former Gophers basketball player, is retired from his executive position with Jostens and is consulting for the company.  His son Jared was recently hired as director of video and operations at Baylor, a fast rising basketball program.  

The University of Minnesota is searching for a new president to succeed Bob Bruininks who will leave the position next year.  The guess here is that administrators on campus would be thrilled if former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice were interested in the job.  Rice is a professor at Stanford and in the past there’s been speculation that because of her football interest she might one day be NFL commissioner.  (There’s no word that Rice is interested or a candidate to succeed Bruininks.) 

Joe Mauer injured his left knee in yesterday’s loss to Oakland and his return is day-to-day, according to the Twins.

 

Tim Brewster

  Joe Mauer
Photo courtesy of Minnesota Twins