Good News, Bad News

It was a good news, bad news weekend for those involved in the Minnesota sports scene. We'll start with the good news.

The Gopher basketball team was able to defeat Louisville in Glendale, Arizona on Saturday. This game is a breakout game for the Gophers who I think will be a force in the Big 10 this season. It's been fun seeing how much this team has grown since Tubby Smith took over for Dan Monson. The two players that I've seen the most improvement in have been Michael Westbrook and Al Nolen Jr. Nolen is developing into a great floor general and may have a future at the next level. Westbrook is also becoming a leader on this team. He only had two points on Saturday, but Westbrook is a all-Big 10 candidate once the season starts.

Once again, it should be mentioned that Tubby Smith is a basketball god. I still can't understand why Kentucky fans hated him so much. Well, they do have a ton of incest over there so maybe that's why. Tubby is not only a great coach, but he's a class act as well. Tubby's great in all aspects of coaching including recruiting. People are starting to stay in Minnesota and I can see why. Tell me, would you consider playing in Minnesota more if Dan Monson was on your couch or Tubby Smith was? Thought so. Rodney Williams and Royce White coming to this team will make them so much better.

Then there was the bad news. The Vikings fall to the Atlanta Falcons this afternoon 24-17. The Vikings actually dominated the stat sheet, but they had four turnovers that led to 10 points for the Falcons. All four were fumbles and I believe the Vikings fumbled six times. Adrian Peterson was involved in two of those. AD has earned the nickname "Purple Jesus" for obvious reasons, but he really needs to hang on to the ball. The guy might have worse hands than Troy Williamson at this point. If you need proof on this, I don't think that a screen to Peterson has worked all season because he's looking to run 100 yards after the catch before making the catch.

Speaking of which, a note to Mr. Sharper. FALL ON THE FREAKIN BALL INSTEAD OF TRYING TO TURN EVERY TURNOVER INTO A TOUCHDOWN! I said in an earlier post that Sharper was a pro bowl candidate, but it really looks like he's losing a step right now. Tyrell Johnson will probably take his place next season as the starting strong safety. If the Vikings fall on the ball after the Matt Ryan fumble, the game is drastically different.

There were positives in the game though. Tarvaris Jackson, with the exception of a couple fumbles, looked fantastic again. What impressed me was his decision making. Jackson has just looked a lot calmer since coming off the bench. Sometimes he needs to slide and protect the football, but his feet are definatly an asset. Hopefully he continues to improve over the next couple of games.

Visthante Shiancoe is starting to come around as well. 119 yards and 2 TDs. At the beginning of the season, I didn't think that he could catch a cold, but he's developing into a solid option for Frerotte/T-Jack to throw to. I think Shiancoe will use this momentum and have a monster year next year.

The worst thing about this loss is that I now have to become a Packer fan for tommorow night's game. If the Pack takes down the Bears in Soldier Field, the Vikings win the NFC North. Go Pack Go! I'm sure the Packer fans are thinking the complete opposite trying to get a high draft pick. They'll get a top 10 pick in a very deep draft...and probably trade down.