Monday Heat Wave

Just some musings today.  As I re-start this blog, I've already missed my first self-imposed deadline of having something Monday morning.  So while I sit here with no air conditioning in what is soon to be 100 degrees, note that my irritation level is a bit higher than usual.

• Our Minnesota Gophers open their 2013 season versus the UNLV Passin' Rebels on a predicted scorcher of a night as 14 point favorites, according to Bovada.  While I've told everyone to bet their house on the Gophers as 11 point favorites, the new line, the steamy weather, and the lingering shoulder injury to CB Derrick Wells make me feel a little bit queasy right now.  Especially the weather. I want my man-crush QB Philip Nelson to be as comfortable as possible.
• One player who appears to not be missing the game is Ra'Shede Hageman, who right now is the subject of many interviews and articles, including this fine one from Amelia Rayno.  It is pretty clear that Hageman is a good person, a good attitude, and a good athlete, but is he a good player?  That is the subject of tomorrow's Twinstalker blog entry.
• There are few teams I prefer to talk about less than the Minnesota Vikings, but then they go make that draft pick a few years back of Superman himself, Adrian Peterson, and my awe knows no bounds.  Last week the angst level was high when my old pal Bobby O and I learned Peterson would play against the 49ers with their league-toughest defense.  The cussing got a little out of control before game time, when we found he was only allowed two plays with no contact.  Our first reaction?  Why did we risk putting AD on a plane?  It could have gone down!  No need to really test that Superman theory.
• Kyle Gibson was mercifully sent down to AAA Rochester this week.  There's been some speculation that the Twins made the move in part to ensure Gibson's shutdown occurred somewhere where he doesn't accumulate major league time after hitting the limitations placed on his innings pitched this year.  But Gibson already had spent enough time in the minors to not only add another year of highly paid indentured servitude to the Twins, but also enough for the Twins to avoid facing arbitration with him after the 2015 season.  I suspect the main reason Gibson wasn't simply shut down with the Twins was because the team wanted him to have a couple of good starts to think about this offseason.  It had become pretty clear that wasn't going to happen in the majors.
• Gibson's poor MLB showing this year is somewhat disappointing, because you always want to be wowed by a rookie and have that extra hope you've really got that rotation piece for the next 6-10 years.  The more common scenario, though, is that of a young pitcher getting schooled and having six months to figure out how he can be more effective the next year.  A lot of learning occurs when you're not trying to do the job itself.  Gibson turns 26 in October and while that's old for a top prospect, he's missed time and had to recover from a major surgery.  It can be easily argued the Twins are lucky he had Tommy John surgery while still in the minors.  By the time he's fully recovered, which should be the case in 2014, the Twins will have him tied up for six seasons.
• It doesn't really matter, but it's sort of a shame that Gibson pitched 51 innings instead of 49.  I can't tell whether I feel that way because I wanted him to have a chance at Rookie of the Year in 2014 or because he would have been cheap to protect on my fantasy baseball team.
• Gophers hoops coach Richard Pitino has one more scholarship available for the upcoming season, and the plan is to fill it with senior PF transfer Rakeem Buckles from Louisville via Florida International.  Today is eight days from the beginning of classes at the U.  How is it that nobody seems to know whether Buckles will be playing for the U or not?  Here's the kicker:  classes at FIU start today.

The One about the Vikings

I'll readily admit to being a fair-weather Viking fan...maybe a bit more, since I'll watch them if I'm not doing anything else at home, even if they stink. As the NFL years go by, I know less because I care less, but I still have some wisdom about the sport. I was a football nut and played it (poorly) in college, and that basis never really leaves a person. So as I sit around the poker table and listen to the virtually unanimous opinion that Brad Childress is a horrible coach, I ask why and never really get a coherent answer. Play-calling and "should be winning" are the best the poker table can muster, and frankly, I just haven't bought it.

So I ask about the one Childress decision that, to me, was crucial and perhaps displayed poor judgment: don't you think, I ask the big and small blinds, that after just two games removing a young quarterback who's shown some promise, who went 8-4 as a starter last year, who provides an extra athletic dimension...and replacing him with a competent career backup, a never-was, never-will-be, and certainly an ehh QB who's about fifty was a basic poor decision for a coach who needs to make the playoffs and maybe win a game?

The button usually chimes in at this point, stating the obvious, that Tarvaris Jackson sucked in the Vikings' first two games this year. Fair enough, say I, he did pretty much suck. But then I remind the folks that Jackson got hurt in his 2nd preseason game, didn't play until the opener, and maybe he wasn't quite ready to start the season. I translate the "Jackson sucks" and "Gus Frerotte's 5-3" type responses that follow to "I'm a stupid white trash hick" and/or "ok, you caught me, deep down I don't want a black quarterback" and proceed to folding my hand.

At the time of Jackson's demotion, I balked, stating the above. But I also added this: if Childress keeps Jackson on the bench for a few games, it may well help the kid. The learning curve for an NFL quarterback is steep, and when one is expected to both learn and concentrate on performing, the difficulty is another order. I was happy to let Jackson, well familiar with playing NFL games, actually sit on the bench, soak up knowledge that is suddenly pertinent, and gain vision for what's happening on the field. I thought this would take two, maybe three games, and Jackson would be ready to come back and be a decent NFL starting QB.

The problem was, Brad Childress apparently didn't have this plan. He was happy to let Frerotte be his very mediocre self every week with this apparent strategy in mind: the Vikings have a lot of talent, the division is very weak, and a young QB who may or may not be ready will not decide the fate of a coach who only needs to make the playoffs to secure his job.

As a fan, intense or not, I was put off by this decision, and it was the only one I could think of as to why Childress should be fired. I certainly don't want anyone anywhere to get hurt, but I've found myself secretly happy every time Frerotte has gone to the ground with injury. I wanted Jackson back in there, and it appeared that injury (hopefully minor) would be the only way that Childress would allow that.

Today it happened. Jackson, not having played for twelve weeks, came in when Frerotte went down and immediately looked better than Frerotte has in his three months as the starter. Granted, the playbook was short, the actual number of drives was only two, and the opposition hadn't prepared for Jackson. But he performed and performed well. Hopefully, that's the last we'll see of Frerotte as a starter, and we in Minnesota can actually start to think about winning a playoff game.

Oh, and one more thing, Childress should have gone for two against Detroit back on October 12.