DAILY CLIPS
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2018 LOCAL NEWS: Sunday, September 30, 2018
Star Tribune
Pregame rituals a must for some Vikings, not others By Mark Craig http://www.startribune.com/pregame-rituals-a-must-for-some-vikings-not-others/494713081/
Minneapolis has quickly become second to none as host of major sporting events By Joe Christensen http://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-has-quickly-become-second-to-none-as-host-of-major-sporting- events/494708261/
What can Kirk Cousins do to address fumbles? By Mark Craig http://www.startribune.com/what-can-kirk-cousins-do-to-address-fumbles/494713111/
Pioneer Press
Charley Walters: Could Vikings replace Mike Zimmer with John DeFilippo? By Charley Walters https://www.twincities.com/2018/09/29/charley-walters-could-vikings-replace-mike-zimmer-with-john- defilippo/
Vikings.com
Farmington, Eagan Kick Off ‘Prep Spotlight’ at TCO Performance Center By Lindsey Young https://www.vikings.com/news/farmington-eagan-kick-off-prep-spotlight-at-tco-performance-center
1500 ESPN
Inside the numbers: How pressure is impacting Kirk Cousins By Matthew Coller http://www.1500espn.com/vikings-2/2018/09/inside-numbers-pressure-impacting-kirk-cousins/
NATIONAL NEWS: Sunday, September 30, 2018
CBS Sports
Mike Zimmer says Everson Griffen won't return to Vikings until at least Week 6 By Cody Benjamin https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/mike-zimmer-says-everson-griffen-wont-return-to-vikings-until-at- least-week-6/
PUBLICATION: Star Tribune DATE: 9/30/18
Pregame rituals a must for some Vikings, not others
By Mark Craig
Call it superstition. A ritual. A routine, or whatever else you like. All Stephen Weatherly knows is it’s an absolute must on game day.
“As soon as I come out of the tunnel right before the game, I run to the opposite 25-yard line,” the Vikings defensive end said. “I kneel down and I say the Lord’s Prayer. Then I go down to the end zone, right next to the right pylon, and I write my mom’s and my grandma’s names in the end zone.”
After he’s written Carla and Dianna, Weatherly goes to his usual spot on the sideline for the national anthem.
“And then,” he said, “I’m ready to play some ball.”
Many NFL players are creatures of habit. Especially on game day.
“I don’t know if it’s superstition or routine,” receiver Adam Thielen said. “I do eat the same breakfast: three scrambled eggs and a protein shake. When I go on the field, I do the same types of catches to get my hands confident. Run the same routes. Stuff like that.”
Some players are louder and more outgoing. Others, like defensive end Danielle Hunter, quietly close their eyes and ears to the world.
“Thirty minutes before we go out, I always sit at my locker, eyes closed and visualize myself making plays,” Hunter said. “I picture the other team’s probabilities, the downs and distances, and myself making big plays against that.”
As for his pregame meal, the large Hunter eats little.
“Probably nuts or something like that,” Hunter said. “Eating slows me down.”
Then there’s long-snapper Kevin McDermott.
“Four hours before kickoff, whether it’s noon or 7 p.m., I eat a steak, a chicken breast, plain pasta and broccoli,” he said. “Always. Without fail.”
Backup center Brett Jones’ routine is he has no routine.
“When you’ve bounced around in the NFL and the CFL like I have,” he said, “you become flexible.”
Defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson has a fear of developing a superstition.
“If I feel like eating, I eat; if I don’t feel like eating, I won’t,” he said. “No favorite song. None of that. What happens if for some reason you can’t do whatever the superstition is? I don’t want to go out and play bad and be already defeated because of that. You know what I mean?”
Fellow defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson would beg to differ.
“I have to listen to the same song,” he said.
What song, a, um, slightly older reporter asked.
“It’s by Young Thug,” he said. “It’s called Big Racks. I don’t know if you’re familiar with that?”
Uh, no.
“I play that song every game day as soon as I wake up and on the way to the stadium, and right when I’m going to warm up,” Johnson said. “It just gets my mind right.”
At 34, defensive tackle Tom Johnson is 10 years older than Jaleel. His view on superstitions has changed with age.
“I used to do a lot of that stuff because you’d see the older guys doing them,” Tom Johnson said. “Things like, ‘I got to put my shoes on a certain way. My jacket on the same way. Do everything in the same order.’ I don’t bother with that stuff anymore.”
Several players kneel in prayer before kickoff.
“I do the sign of the cross and thank the Lord for giving me the opportunity to play this game,” safety George Iloka said. “And then I pray for safety for both teams.”
Some players have superstitions they’d rather not share.
“I don’t have anything too big,” safety Harrison Smith said. “But I got my little quirks I like to keep to myself.”
Weatherly, on the other hand, doesn’t mind if fans reading this now know what he’s doing before games as he kneels next to the pylon in the end zone.
“It just refocuses me,” he said. “Reminds me why I play the game. I do it for them. I want to make them proud. So, every time I step on the field, I’m going to do it.” PUBLICATION: Star Tribune DATE: 9/30/18
Minneapolis has quickly become second to none as host of major sporting events
By Joe Christensen
Someday, if Minneapolis leaders get their wish, confetti will rain from the U.S. Bank Stadium roof, as an overjoyed college football coach hoists a 24-karat gold trophy.
Someday, the stadium could fill with fans roaring as costumed brawlers make grand entrances before pulverizing each other in the ring.
Fresh off the Super Bowl, Minneapolis is preparing to host the men's college basketball Final Four and a slew of other national events. Meanwhile, city leaders still have their sights on the College Football Playoff and the spectacle known as WrestleMania, the two biggest events not yet in the Twin Cities' fold.
How confident are they? Consider the comments this week when the NCAA announced that the 2022 Women's Final Four was coming to Target Center.
"We're in a league of our own," said Melvin Tennant, president of the Meet Minneapolis convention and visitors bureau.
"We're really finding that people love us," added Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. "And we love them right back."
Despite their freezing reputations nationally, the Twin Cities have entered rarefied air. Only four other markets have been picked to host the trifecta of the Super Bowl, men's Final Four and women's Final Four: Atlanta, Dallas/Arlington, Indianapolis and New Orleans.
Throw in markets that have held the MLB All-Star Game, at least this century, and Minneapolis sits with Atlanta on that list.
The Twin Cities also held the 2016 Ryder Cup, an event already slated to return in 2028. Atlanta last held the Ryder Cup in 1963, when Arnold Palmer was a player-captain and a 23-year-old Jack Nicklaus wasn't yet eligible.
Atlanta hosted the 1996 Summer Olympics and the College Football Playoff championship this January. It also sold out the Georgia Dome for WrestleMania in 2011.
But Atlanta never has hosted the Summer X Games or WNBA All-Star Game, as Minneapolis did just last summer. Atlanta never has held the NCAA volleyball or wrestling championships, which come to Minneapolis this December and in 2020, respectively.
And Hotlanta sure hasn't hosted the NCAA men's or women's hockey Frozen Four. The Twin Cities crowned champions in both events earlier this year.
"We try to definitely remain humble," Tennant said. "But I think people do notice that we've been on a good run."
Why Minnesota?
When picking the Twin Cities for these major events, organizers often cite the competition venues, the updated airport, corporate support, the army of volunteers and an "urban footprint" with hotels in proximity to the festivities.
Houston and Phoenix have been picked to host the Super Bowl, the men's Final Four, the College Football Playoff, the MLB All-Star Game — but never the women's Final Four.
What differentiates Minneapolis?
"This is the home of women's championships," said Hugh Lombardi, Target Center's general manager.
Target Center is home of the four-time WNBA champion Lynx, and that's where the next NCAA volleyball champion will be crowned. The Gophers volleyball team has been to the Final Four twice in the past three years and currently ranks No. 6 nationally.
By 2022, when women's basketball takes center stage at Target Center, the NCAA will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the federal gender discrimination law.
"I can't imagine a better a better place to celebrate that," said Lindsay Whalen, who took the Gophers to the Final Four as a point guard in 2004 and now coaches the team.
Four days after Whalen's victory lap, it was Jessie Diggins' turn. Minnesota's Olympic gold medalist celebrated the Friday announcement that the World Cup of cross-country skiing will come to Minneapolis' Theodore Wirth Park in 2020.
"We are a community that embraces and celebrates young girls and women who participate in sport," said Julie Manning, the Gophers executive associate athletic director who helped land Minneapolis its first women's Final Four since 1995. "We sold them on the extraordinary number of female leaders across all industries here in this great city."
Rhonda Lundin Bennett, chairwoman of the NCAA women's basketball championship committee, said the sport continues to grow, especially coming off this year's championship game in Columbus, Ohio, where Notre Dame beat Mississippi State at the buzzer.
"The women's Final Four is an opportunity to showcase college women's basketball at the highest level," Lundin said. "And it's great to be in these communities that appreciate that and want that."
Minneapolis' quest to host the College Football Playoff led to a public rejection three years ago. The city had bid for the 2020 event, which would have fallen in succession with the 2018 Super Bowl and 2019 Final Four.
Organizers invited the Twin Cities media to watch the announcement at U.S. Bank Stadium, but the NCAA revealed that it was placing the event farther downstream along the Mississippi, in New Orleans.
"Frankly," Tennant said, "the College Football Playoff organization had some concerns about our ability to maintain that level of commitment from a fundraising and volunteer perspective, etcetera. But we are very interested in having those conversations again."
Last year, with less fanfare, the NCAA skipped a formal bid process and announced that four more future College Football Playoff championship game sites had been picked.
"Minneapolis is definitely on the radar," said Bill Hancock, executive director of the College Football Playoff. "We love the Twin Cities. We love the new stadium. The hotels are terrific. The other cities just had a little more to offer."
Asked about Super Bowl LII's impact and the reviews given to Minneapolis, Hancock said, "We heard very good things about it. So I think the Super Bowl was a successful addition to the Twin Cities résumé."
While the College Football Playoff won't come any sooner than 2025, Minneapolis has been rumored as a strong possibility to land WrestleMania in 2020 or 2021.
That event, which has never been to Minnesota in its 34 years, might be easy to mock with its pyrotechnics and "competition," real or otherwise. But it remains wildly popular. The event drew an announced 101,000 fans two years ago to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and an above- capacity 78,000 to the Superdome in New Orleans this April.
Tennant said Minneapolis has bid on WrestleMania in the past. While it technically doesn't have a bid pending now, that could change. "They play their cards close to the vest," Tennant said. "They let cities that are involved know things sort of on a need-to-know basis."
Tennant noted that Patrick Talty, the general manager of U.S. Bank Stadium, previously ran the touring division for WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment). "So that certainly helps our chances," Tennant said. "… At the appropriate time, we are certainly interested in pursuing it."
But with all the other events coming to town, Minneapolis better check its calendar first. PUBLICATION: Star Tribune DATE: 9/30/18
What can Kirk Cousins do to address fumbles?
By Mark Craig
ON-THE-FIELD WITH ...
Kirk Cousins, Vikings quarterback
Question: Cousins’ fumble in the closing minutes of Thursday’s game in Los Angeles was his league-leading 35th since the start of the 2015 season. Obviously, they aren’t all his fault. For the second consecutive week, a defender beat left tackle Riley Reiff and stripped Cousins of the ball as he was trying to throw. Cousins was asked what, if anything, he can do better in that situation.
Answer: “I went back and looked at [his second fumble in the Buffalo game]. I felt like I had two hands on the ball. But, at the same time, I always feel like if I can sense [the rush] coming, I can actually bring the ball into my body and secure it as opposed to stepping up in the pocket or staying a passer.”
ON-THE-FIELD WITH ...
Chad Beebe, practice squad receiver
Question: What would you be doing if you hadn’t made an NFL practice squad, and when is the last time you raced your dad [53-year-old former Bills and Packers receiver Don Beebe, whose 4.2 speed was famous]?
Answer: “I’m not sure what I’d be doing. This is my dream. I guess I’d be trying to figure things out. My dad founded his House of Speed company to train athletes. I guess I’d be working there. … As far as us racing, we decided to do a 15-yard dash a couple of years ago. He didn’t warm up and pulled a calf muscle. So I guess I won.” spotlight player ...
Josh Rosen, Arizona QB
The Cardinals are most likely the worst of the NFL’s three remaining winless teams. Steve Wilks’ team has generated only 20 points in three games, and 14 of them came in last week’s loss to the Bears. But there’s still a sense of hope heading into Sunday’s home game against Seattle. Josh Rosen, the 10th overall draft pick, will make his NFL starting debut, replacing the ineffective Sam Bradford. spotlight coach ...
Vic Fangio
The Bears defensive coordinator since 2015, Fangio survived the John Fox firing and is building upon the steady defensive progress the team made in his first three seasons in Chicago. Of course, it helps when your team acquires the best pass rusher in the league in Khalil Mack. Next up for Fangio’s fifth-ranked defense is a home game against a surprising Tampa Bay team that ranks No. 1 in total yards (473.4) and passing yards (400.7). Ryan Fitzpatrick is expected to make his fourth start, but Jameis Winston is back from his suspension. The Bears rank eighth in points allowed (18.3), while the Bucs rank fourth in points scored (34.0).
PUBLICATION: Pioneer Press DATE: 9/30/18
Charley Walters: Could Vikings replace Mike Zimmer with John DeFilippo?
By Charley Walters
It will be interesting, if the Minnesota Vikings’ season collapses, if Mike Zimmer is retained as coach.
Charley Walters (Pioneer Press) The Vikings have a young, innovative, energetic offensive coordinator in John DeFilippo who is expected to receive serious consideration for several head coaching jobs after the season.
If the Vikings make a head coaching change, they could already have their guy.
Zimmer is 62. DeFilippo is 40. It’s too early to determine that Zimmer is no longer effective. But owner Zygi Wilf, impatient for a Super Bowl, has invested heavily in this Vikings team, and it seems unlikely that he would accept a non-playoff team.
If the Vikings lose to the favored Eagles in Philadelphia next Sunday, they would be 1-3-1. That’s a difficult hole from which to dig out.
The NFL trend is to go with young, bright, offensive-minded head coaches who appeal to young players. Sean McVay, whose Rams are a legitimate Super Bowl contender after defeating the Vikings 38-31 Thursday night, is 32. Sean McDermott, whose Bills stunned the Vikings 27-6 last Sunday, is 44. The 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan is 38. Bears coach Mike Nagy is 40. There are nine NFL head coaches this season under 50.
Doug Pederson, who coached the Eagles to the Super Bowl championship last season, is 50.
It’s cheaper to change the coach than the players, especially when the players have multi-year contracts with millions of dollars guaranteed. Zimmer, if the Vikings falter, could become the fall guy, whether deserved or not. It’s one way to interject some energy into the organization.
It will be interesting to see how the season plays out. The way it looks now, the Vikings might not finish better than even Chicago or Detroit.
The Timberwolves’ situation with Jimmy Butler wanting out of Minnesota isn’t far removed from where the Indiana Pacers were last season with Paul George.
The Pacers ended up, under duress, trading George for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis, then won 48 games and took the Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games in their playoff series. The future is bright in Indianapolis.
However, the Pacers’ coach, general manager and owner were all on the same page. It’s unclear whether that’s the case with the Wolves.
Miami still appears the most likely destination for Butler, although Houston seems to be trying to put together a package for Butler.
Word is the player the Wolves are seeking from Miami is 6-foot-6 shooting guard Josh Robinson, 25, who might be the Heat’s best player. Miami has ex-No. 1 draft pick Justise Winslow to replace Robinson, although Winslow would be an attractive alternative for the Wolves if they can’t get Robinson.
The key player for the Wolves in a trade with Houston appears to be wing Josh Gordon, who shoots well but is suspect defensively. Gordon has two seasons left on a $52 million, four-year deal but reportedly wants to remain in Houston.
One holdup in either deal seems to be Gorgui Dieng, who has three seasons left on a $64 million contract that probably would be difficult to dump.
Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor could do worse than asking NBA TV analyst Kevin McHale, the former Houston coach, for trade advice on Butler.
Ex-Gophers 6-10 shot-blocker Reggie Lynch, 23, will be playing basketball professionally in Estonia in northeastern Europe this season.
Jim Dutcher coached the Gophers men’s basketball team to its last Big Ten championship in 1981-82. Even at age 85, retired after 11 seasons as the team’s TV analyst, he remains an astute evaluator.
“I think Minnesota has a really good blend of returning players and exciting newcomers,” Dutcher said last week. They’re definitely an upper division Big Ten team with a real chance to be an NCAA tournament team.”
That’s because the Gophers have a front line of Amir Coffey, Eric Curry and Jordan Murphy.
“Murphy is an all-Big Ten player and the leading rebounder in the conference,” Dutcher said. “Coffey is back healthy and is one of the Big Ten’s best players. If Curry is healthy after his knee surgery a year ago, that’s a talented group.”
The question for Minnesota is guard play.
“They need steady guard play — it’s hard to be a good team without good guard play,” Dutcher said.
Ex-Gophers sharpshooter Tommy Davis is completing an undergraduate degree and will coach basketball at Minneapolis Washburn this season.
Max Musselman, son of late Gophers-Timberwolves coach Bill Musselman, will be a student manager for first-year Gophers women’s coach Lindsay Whalen.
The Vikings’ Stefon Diggs said he’s impressed with the foot speed of new fellow wideout Aldrick Robinson, who caught two TD passes against the Rams.
The Twins, who ranked 21st among baseball’s 30 clubs in attendance last year with an average of 25,640 a game and a season total of 2,051,279, will finish No. 20 this season, but with an average of about 24,312 and 1,950,000 total.
The uncertainty of Joe Mauer’s future with the Twins accounted for more ticket sales than usual this past week.
The guess here is that Mauer, 35, will be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., in 2030.
Former Mahtomedi and Concordia-St. Paul basketball star Nuni Omot, 6-9, 205 pounds with a seven-foot wingspan, last week signed with the Brooklyn Nets and is in their training camp.
That was Cretin-Derham Hall grad Joe Gallagher, whose St. Paul Doodle Productions firm helped produce this weekend’s Ryder Cup opening ceremonies in Paris, celebrating the success with a cigar Friday evening in front of an illuminated Eiffel Tower.
Two years ago this weekend the Twin Cities enjoyed blue sky, near perfect weather for the Ryder Cup at Hazeltine National, in contrast to the overcast, chilly temperatures this weekend.
New Gophers men’s hockey coach Bob Motzko told a Dunkers club gathering last week that he sees no reason to change the program’s “Pride On Ice” motif.
Wally Shaver returns for an 18th season of calling Gophers men’s hockey games on 1130-AM and 103.5-FM. Partner Frank Mazzocco is back for his eighth season. Ex-Gophers star Pat Micheletti, who recently underwent hip replacement surgery and is doing well, will join the pair for analysis for most games.
Micheletti and Shaver will host Motzko’s coach show.
Philadelphia Flyers President Paul Holmgren, a 1973 graduate of Harding High School, planned to attend Saturday evening’s 45-year class reunion.
The Cretin High School class of 1968 last week contributed a record $2.77 million to the school at its 50th reunion.
Ex-Vikings: Brad Childress, who was offensive coordinator, and Darrell Bevell, who was QB, on Oct. 6 will be among more than 70 Wisconsin players and coaches honored at a 25-year anniversary of the Badgers’ 1993 Big Ten and Rose Bowl champions. They will be honored at halftime of the game against Nebraska in Madison.
Tink Larson, 76, the beloved baseball coach from Waseca, was at the Twins-Tigers game last Tuesday and said his town’s ballpark, which burned down nearly 2 ½ two years ago, has been almost completely replaced thanks to about $2 million in private donations. The ballpark is named after Larson.
“The Minnesota Twins and (president) Dave St. Peter have really been instrumental in helping us — they’ve been big,” Larson said.
Condolences to the family of Gretchen Mariucci, wife of late Gophers hockey icon John Mariucci. Gretchen, who died last week at age 86, for more than 40 years was a close friend of Patti Brooks, whose husband Herb — the Gophers’ legendary hockey coach — died 15 years ago.
“I will miss her forever and ever,” Patti said.
Ex-Gophers shortstop Terrin Vavra, 21, who received a $550,000 signing bonus from the Colorado Rockies this summer, hit .302 in 44 games at Class A Boise, Idaho, with four home runs and nine stolen bases in 10 attempts.
Nearly 3,450 Minnesota high school students are competing in the State Clay Target League this fall, according to mnclaytarget.com.
On Monday at the ACME Tools store in Plymouth, Spring Lake Park’s Steve Steiner, 32, will be presented his award — a custom 2018 Chevrolet Camaro — for winning a national Gearwrench hand-tool competition in conjunction with NASCAR in Las Vegas.
Some people think 6-4, 225-pound Jesper Horsted, the 2015 Roseville grad who already this season has set a Princeton career record with 20 TD receptions as a wideout, has a chance to be chosen in the NFL and major league baseball drafts next year. Last spring, Horsted, an outfielder, hit .324 for the Tigers.
Meanwhile, Simley grad Michael Busch, a first baseman at North Carolina, and Forest Lake grad Matt Wallner, an outfielder at Southern Mississippi, are expected to be high picks in June’s major league draft.
DON’T PRINT THAT
Eight years ago, the Twins removed the 14 pine trees as a center-field backdrop that had added an attractive, aesthetic look to Target Field. Players complained that the trees interrupted the ballpark’s batter’s eye.
Don’t be surprised if for next season juniper trees are planted in center field to replace the sorely- missed pines.
Anthony Barr’s performance in the Vikings’ 38-31 loss to the Rams — the outside linebacker got scorched for two TDs — sealed any chance he had for a contract extension. Barr, 26, making $12.3 million this season, can become a free agent next year.
For a second straight game, the Vikings’ offensive line gave up a colossal 29 total pressures on QB Kirk Cousins, profootballfocus.com points out.
It looks like the Nov. 25 showdown against the Packers in Minneapolis could determine the Vikings’ playoff picture — if the Vikings are not out of contention by then.
It’s been a big year for St. Paul’s Jack Morris. Included was his July induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Soon it will be announced that Morris will be grand marshal of one of America’s biggest Thanksgiving Day parades, in Detroit where he spent 14 seasons, most of them as the best pitcher in the American League.
Also, for Facebook and the MLB Network during the World Series, Morris will give live, on-the- field insight during teams’ batting practice sessions.
Minnesota Law School grad Alan Page will be grand marshal for the Gophers’ homecoming parade on Friday.
The Timberwolves are trying to trade Jimmy Butler by proclaiming he’s a top-10 NBA player. Truth is, Butler, now 29, might not be a top-15.
That was ex-Gophers athletics director Norwood Teague spotted at a bar in Coronado, Calif., near San Diego the other day.
Among guests in Marie Green’s private suite at U.S. Bank Stadium to honor late husband Denny’s induction into the Vikings’ Ring of Honor last Sunday was Tommy Kramer, the former Vikings QB.
Marie, who is from St. Paul, operates a couple of Drybar hair shops near San Diego.
Following their 42-13 loss at Maryland, the Gophers football team went from 200-to-1 odds to win the national championship to 1,000-to-1, according to Bovada-Las Vegas.
Jim Nantz, the CBS-TV play-by-play voice for the Vikings’ perplexing upset loss to the Bills in Minneapolis, flew into St. Paul in a private jet three days before the game. By the way, with Nantz in the broadcast booth with Tony Romo for Vikings telecasts, the Vikings are 0-2.
The $6 StubHub tickets that have been available for Twins games, after fees, cost $10.50. Meanwhile, TicketKing was offering $3 tickets for the Twins-White Sox game on Sunday.
People in the know say Miguel Sano actually did lose 25 pounds during his midsummer sabbatical to the minors, and returned to the Twins weighing 270.
Need for league realignment: St. Thomas, St. John’s, Bethel, Concordia and St. Olaf of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference combined for 227 points while opponents Eau Claire, Carleton, Gustavus Adolphus, Hamline and Augsburg scored a total of three points in games on one recent weekend.
Former Gopher-Viking Isaac Fruechte is co-offensive coordinator and wideouts coach for Wisconsin-La Crosse.
Vikings with four years of NFL experience who were on the roster for the opener against the 49ers are now guaranteed their salaries for the entire season. For players with fewer than four years, if they are on the roster on Tuesdays by 3 p.m., they are guaranteed only their salary for that week.
Ex-Twin ByungHo Park, who has returned to the Korea Baseball Organization, in a recent game accused an opposing manager of ordering his pitchers to throw at him to deny him a chance to win the league home run title. Result: A bench clearing brawl.
OVERHEARD
A cautious Gophers men’s basketball coach Richard Pitino, on 6-foot-10 prized freshman Daniel Oturu, who is practicing with no contact after right shoulder surgery last spring but is expected to be ready for the first game in November: “So far so good. It’s early. It’s like hitting drives on the range — it’s not the same on the course.” PUBLICATION: Vikings.com DATE: 9/30/18
Farmington, Eagan Kick Off ‘Prep Spotlight’ at TCO Performance Center
By Lindsey Young
EAGAN, Minn. – Eagan gave a valiant comeback effort, but it was the Farmington Tigers who claimed a 41-28 win in the inaugural Prep Spotlight game at Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center.
Enthusiasm filled the crisp, late-September air, and the Wildcats pep band served as a soundtrack as 6,255 fans – half decked in Eagan blue-and-green and the other half repping Farmington orange-and- black – filled the stadium seats.
The night marked Eagan’s homecoming game.
“Six thousand-plus fans in here cheering, it was awesome,” said Eagan Head Coach Ben Hanson. “It was great energy, great things going on in the second half. We just got the whole place rocking with both teams. I think overall it was just an amazing experience and great for the Vikings to allow us to come in here and play.”
Tigers quarterback Alex Berreth made his second start and sparked a dominant first half by Farmington, which scored 26 points in the second quarter and entered halftime with a 33-7 lead.
Eagan clawed its way back and scored three touchdowns in the second half. Having cut the deficit to five and with a chance to drive down and take the lead, however, a Wildcats fumble was recovered by the Tigers, who sealed the game with a final score.
Berreth, who threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, was named the FVP MVP of the game. He finished the night 16-of-25 passing for 305 yards.
“It’s pretty cool. It’s pretty sick to be able to play on [the Vikings field],” Berreth said. “Right after the first drive, we felt at home. I was on a roll after that.”
Prior to the game, Vikings General Manager Rick Spielman, Vikings Chief Operating Officer Kevin Warren and Minnesota State High School League Associate Director Bob Madison welcomed a number of city officials and school representatives at a reception to kick off the Prep Spotlight series.
Spielman called it a “unique and special opportunity” to share TCO Performance Center with local high schools.
“For them to get that experience to play with that scoreboard out there, to play with that atmosphere that’s going to be created out there is going to be, hopefully, something they never forget once get they through high school,” Spielman said.
“This is going to be a very big game, and the one thing I wish is that you guys don’t end up in a tie,” Spielman quipped in reference to the Vikings-Packers Week 2 matchup. “Someone’s gotta win the trophy tonight.”
He added on a more serious note, however, that the Vikings consider it a “very important initiative” to bring high school football into the team’s headquarters.
“It’s the bloodline of eventually what we look for and how we’re going to fill this roster out,” Spielman said, highlighting the five Minnesota natives on the Vikings active roster. “They say Minnesota doesn’t have a lot of great football players, but you see a lot of them playing on Sundays for us and helping us win games.”
Warren said it was a dream come true to kick off a high school game under the lights of TCO Stadium.
“First and foremost, we’d like to thank our Owners, the Wilf Family, who provided us with the resources to dream, to free-think, to do things like this that a lot of other teams, especially other NFL teams, are not doing,” Warren said. “But this is our Viking blood. High school football is so important because these young men who are out here tonight are truly student-athletes. They study during the day, they practice in the afternoon, they train at night, and this really epitomizes what football stands for.”
Warren specifically thanked Twin Cities Orthopedics, FVP and COUNTRY Financial for their partnership in the initiative.
“There’s so many people who leaned into this,” Warren said. “To have Eagan here, to have Farmington here, to have a homecoming here, we knew when we wanted to do these games here, it was so important to have our local partners here.” https://twitter.com/KevinFWarren/status/1045858073129054208
Farmington resident Jodi Beach said it was a special setting for enjoying a high school football game.
“It’s pretty exciting to be on the Vikings field and having our hometown team represented tonight,” said Beach, whose daughter plays in the Tigers band. “My daughter was so excited to come tonight to the Vikings field and be a part of something that’s larger than just Farmington.”
On the Eagan side of the stadium, Matt Moore echoed the sentiments.
“It’s an electric atmosphere. I’m really excited for the kids,” Moore said early in the first quarter. “They’ve been excited about this all week. We had Viktor the Viking come to our pep fest, and they loved it. The place just blew up when he came in. I haven’t seen this many students and community members at a football game ever, as far as I can remember.
“I think I see a little extra hop in the step of the players on both teams,” Moore added. “It feels like it means more. It’s more than just two teams going against each other – I feel like they’re celebrating football, and they do feel part of something bigger.”
Friday’s game marked the first of five total that will be played at TCO Performance Center during the 2018 season.
A second regular-season game will be played between Lakeville North and Prior Lake on Oct. 12, and three Minnesota State High School League quarterfinal playoff games will take place on the weekend of Nov. 9-10.
Farmington Head Coach Adam Fischer said that playing in the first of the Prep Spotlight games was a special opportunity.
“It’s really great for our program and for the whole community,” Fischer said. “We had a lot of fans coming up from Farmington, and the little Tigers, the future football players in our community, being able to see our guys out here and see them being successful is huge for our program. Hopefully it’s going to motivate them to want to get to where these guys are. These guys have worked really, really hard to get to where they’re at, and we’ll try to keep things rolling for our program.”
PUBLICATION: 1500 ESPN DATE: 9/30/18
Inside the numbers: How pressure is impacting Kirk Cousins
By Matthew Coller
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins is off to a strong statistical start to his career in purple with 1,387 yards, 10 touchdowns and a 103.6 quarterback rating, which ranks ninth in the pass-happy NFL. However good the numbers, Cousins’ start to the year has been hampered by sacks, hits, hurries and fumbles.
There are certainly quarterbacks to bring pressure upon themselves — and Cousins’ fumbling issues are not new considering he has the second most fumbles since 2015 — but the first quarter of the 2018 NFL season has seen the Vikings’ quarterback get pressured at a higher rate than ever before in his career.
All statistics per Pro Football Focus
Especially over the last two weeks, opposing defensive linemen have found themselves in Cousins’ face. Buffalo Bills pass rusher Jerry Hughes registered 12 pressures and Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald put up 13 on Thursday night. Consider that putting up five or six pressures would make for a very good game.
Overall Cousins’ numbers and performance grades from Pro Football Focus are significantly worse when pressured. His rating over the first four games drops from 112.2 when clean to 89.8 when pressured and his PFF grade nearly cuts in half from 92.3 (out of 100) to 56.6.
This is not unique to Cousins. Even Drew Brees’ rating dropped from 113.2 to 63.6 when pressured in 2017.
Some quarterbacks see wide variations in their play under pressure from year to year, but the impact of pressure on Cousins has been consistent throughout his career.
Interestingly, teams have done the majority of their damage by rushing four. Cousins has shredded blitzes to the tune of a 105.9 quarterback rating and 9.0 yards per attempt.
The number of pressures may be out of Cousins’ control, but some of the sack totals may be attributed to the quarterback. The Vikings have lost 78 yards and three key fumbles to successful pass rushes. They are on pace to lose 312 yards to sacks, which is 189 yards more than Case Keenum last year. Keenum was pressured on 39.5 percent of throws.
While the Vikings’ quarterback play has largely been very good, it would appear that better protection is required to get the most out of Cousins. The 2016 season in which he was only pressured 32.0 percent of the time was also his highest graded by PFF.
Another important part of the pressure allowed is the quality of competition. The Vikings have matched up with elite players, including the best defensive player in the NFL in Aaron Donald. They will not get any relief this week against the Philadelphia Eagles, but there will be opportunities against weaker defensive lines later this season against teams like Detroit, Seattle, Arizona and Miami (all ranked in the bottom 10 in pass rush by PFF) to set Cousins up for more success.
PUBLICATION: CBS Sports DATE: 9/30/18
Mike Zimmer says Everson Griffen won't return to Vikings until at least Week 6
By Cody Benjamin
A week after police investigated an incident at a Minneapolis hotel involving Everson Griffen, Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer said the veteran pass rusher will not return to the team until at least Week 6.
Asked by reporters Friday whether Griffen could be back at practice with the Vikings this week or in the week leading up to the team's Week 5 game against the Philadelphia Eagles, he simply said, "No."
Griffen, who's in his ninth season with the team, was deactivated for Minnesota's Week 3 loss to the Buffalo Bills after missing practice with a knee injury. Zimmer announced a day later that Griffen's absence had to do with "a personal matter," and a Star Tribune report then revealed concerning details of the defensive end's temperament -- namely police finding that Griffen was "growing increasingly paranoid and feared someone was trying to kill him" before he made alleged threats of his own at the Minneapolis hotel.
Griffen has since acknowledged the concerns, posting on Friday a statement to Instagram, where he apologized for his absence, promised to "return as a much-improved person and player" and vowed to resolve "personal issues with which I have been dealing for a long time."
A three-time Pro Bowler who led the team with 13 sacks in 2017, Griffen has not missed more than one game since 2010, his rookie season, and he signed a four-year contract extension with Minnesota just a summer ago.
The veteran's off-field issues have been ongoing for weeks, however, according to the Star Tribune.
Vikings player development director Les Pico told the Tribune Griffen "has been really struggling" and "has been explosive, screaming and yelling" as well as paranoid and repetitive at practice this year. Griffen's wife, Tiffany Brandt, also told the Tribune that her husband had been awaking in the middle of the night and leaving the house, at one point "trying to break in" to teammate Trae Waynes' home down the road while shirtless. He was not arrested when found at the Minneapolis hotel Saturday.
The Vikings, meanwhile, have pledged their support of Griffen during his indefinite absence.
"The only thing I'm really concerned for Everson about isn't anything to do with football," Zimmer said earlier in the week. "It's about him getting better."