The Weekend
By Tom Grout
December 10, 2007
The Vikings won again quite convinsinly again against San Fransisco on Sunday and are now one game ahead of a couple of teams for the second wild card.
The 49er's weren't the best team in the NFL by any means but they did a great job of stopping the Vikings strong running game. Take away Chester Taylor's big 84 yard touchdown run, the Vikings didn't do anything on the ground. That turned out to be a good thing as it forced the Vikings to pass a little more which they did and did effectively. T-Jack had one of his best games on Sunday, at least he did to me, and the recievers are also coming into thier own.
So the win was big, but the fact that the Vikings were able to win with a little bit more in the passing game was the highlight. The Vikes will need to continue to improve in the passing game if they want to advance very far in the playoffs.
The Timberwolves aslo won a big game on the weekend as they defeated the Phoenix Suns. The Wolves have been in just about every game they have played and continue to work hard so that is very incouraging.
Have I told you that I like the Al Jefferson kid? Well I do. He is such a quiet person and player you don't know how good he was in the game untill it's over and they tell you his stats. It's obvious he and coach Wittman are very close as he talked about him in an interview after the game and how much he has helped him.
I remember when Bill Musselman coached the Wolves in those early first years. He was a defensive minded coach and had his team playing solid defense and that kept them in a lot of games. The current Wolves team is also playing some solid defense and that is what actually won the Suns game for them.
I'm telling ya, this is an up and coming team. They are only a player or two away from being really good.
I don't know if you saw this over the weekend or not but on Sports Center on ESPN the other night they showed one of the best hockey goals I have ever seen scored.
The great thing was it was done by a ten year old. He was on a break away and before he got to the net he twirled around, picked up the puck with his backhand, then tossed the puck passed the goaltender. It was awesome, and I am sure you will be able to find it on you tube somewhere.
I'm sorry I hadn't written in a few days, but thursday night my dad went into the hospital with chest pains. His heart was running at about 139 miles per hour when it should have been going 60. He has a bad heart so this wasn't a good situation. Thanks to the good people at ELEAH hospital in Elbow Lake they were able to stabelize him so he could make the trip to St. Cloud where they put a defibulator/pacemaker in him.
Through technology and my dad's stubborness he is doing fine and I was able to bring him home on Saturday afternoon. He amazed the doctors by not showing any effects by what he was going through. With his heart rate going so fast they thought he should have been out, but he just sat there talking like he always does. A tough old bird I guess.
Anyway he is doing fine.
OKOKOK...so I wrote them off totally and now they appear to be in the Wild Card drivers seat. Good for them. The Vikes will get to play 17 games this year. We know they will travel to either Green Bay or Dallas and that will be the end of the 2007 campaign. Unless either of those teams loses their starting QB....then all bets are off.
Go Vikes! People all over the sports world are in as much shock as the people in Minnesota are over the Vikings, and this time it has nothing to do with the police...Also about Al Jefferson, he is on my basketball fantasy team, so I know EXACTLY how good he is :)
T-Jack looks like he has things figured out. Some team is going to mess with his head again and show him some new schemes and he will look bad sometime again but it's all part of his learning. I'd look out for the Broncos at the end of the year. They seem to always be able to come up with new stuff. He seems to be pretty calm now though and he seems to know where he's going with the ball quickly which is a big improvement over the beginning of the year. I'm impressed!
If the Vikes go to Dallas or Green Bay, they will play 18 games. They will have to play either Tampa Bay or Seattle their first game(Green Bay and Dallas will receive first round byes). If they can keep the momentum here towards the end of the season, they can beat anybody(in the NFC).
If they continue to improve year to year, then that is huge.
They have a young team and there is no reason why they will not be competitive the next few years.
Four weeks ago I was almost hoping the Vikings would lose all their remaining games so that both T-Jack and Chilly would go..but.. as much as I hate to admit it.. I might.. just might have been wrong.. Darn I hate that....Tom I hope you dont mind but I would just like to mention the passing of the best athlete I personally ever played with. Clyde Ronhovde was a superb football and basketball player for Barrett High School, graduating in 1979.Clyde passed away after a long battle with diabetes this past week.My thoughts are with his family.
And how smart am I ?? Clyde and I graduated in 78.. sorry something about getting older.
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