Posts from the Minnesota Category at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

Barack Obama made a campaign stop in Fargo on Thursday, and the focus of his speech was military veterans benefits. But on Sundays in the fall, Fargo becomes Minnesota Vikings country, so Obama also took a brief moment to talk a little smack to the many Vikings fans in attendance.

"You guys need to be re-educated," the Minneapolis Star Tribune quotes the Illinois senator and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee saying. "Go Bears!"

Obama did find one Chicago fan in the audience, an 11-year-old boy wearing a Bears hat. Obama asked him what he'll be doing this summer, and the boy said he'll play golf and football. Obama responded, "I wish I was doing that for the summer."

That's what Hillary Clinton wishes Obama was doing this summer, too.

Via Sports by Brooks.

If you go to eBay right now you can bid on an autographed rookie card of Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson. No surprise there.

But it is a little surprising that the seller, identified as cooley717523, is none other than Washington Redskins tight end Chris Cooley. Cooley explains on the Shutdown Corner blog that he has always loved football cards, and he and his wife are now becoming collectors and sellers:

At home with hundreds of cards, we decided that it would be fun to create our own account on eBay and sell them. We tried to take great pictures and then describe the cards. Christy wants to describe every card as beautiful. I don't know if that's a great way to describe a card, but it seems catchy enough.

We have our first cards listed for sale and three of them have bids already. I'm pretty sure we'll spend way more money buying cards than we'll ever make on them, but we've had a blast giving it a try.

Cooley has set the starting bid on the Peterson card at $150.

Less than a year ago, the Vikings got plenty of bad publicity when they announced that they were docking the pay of Troy Williamson when he failed to return promptly after attending his grandmother's funeral. Whether it's a case of learning from that experience or just being altruistic, the Vikings deserve a lot of credit for how they're treating Kenechi Udeze.

Udeze, the team's first-round pick in 2004, is battling leukemia. He hopes to be back on the field for the 2009 season, but at this point no one knows when or if he'll ever play football again. When the Vikings placed Udeze on the non-football injury list this week, they told him that they would pay his full $800,000 salary this year, even though they were under no obligation to pay it. By doing so, they've ensured that Udeze will be able to focus fully on his recovery this year, with no financial concerns.

Well, let's just say that Wild fans hope the Wild aren't done yet.

Free agency started Tuesday, and as usual, it's anything but free. The insane money being thrown around makes you wonder how the league's personnel people got their jobs ($3.75 million a season for Jeff Finger? Really?).

In Minnesota, the Wild have developed a reputation for fiscal conservatism. There's nothing really wrong with that, but there's a bit of a problem on the Minnesota roster as of right now.

That problem? There aren't many forwards. In fact, Jacques Lemaire couldn't field four full lines right now.

Not only did Brian Rolston sign with New Jersey, but Aaron Voros went to the Rangers, and Todd Fedoruk signed with Phoenix. Yes, the Wild signed Andrew Brunette and Craig Weller, but look at the roster on the Wild's official website. Ignore the fact that they still have Voros listed.

The forwards on the team right now? Eric Belanger, Derek Boogaard, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Brunette, Marian Gaborik, Mikko Koivu, Mark Parrish, Benoit Pouliot, James Sheppard, Stephane Veilleux, and Weller.

(Bouchard and Veilleux are restricted free agents who are expected back.)

That's eleven players, and if you think Boogaard and Weller are each playing 82 games, you're crazy.

Unless the Wild plan on taking two more minor-league prospects to camp this fall (outside of Sheppard and Pouliot), general manager Doug Risebrough needs to sign (or trade for) at least two more decent forwards. Minnesota doesn't have enough quality players to fill two solid lines as is, and that won't cut it on a team expected to take another step toward a Stanley Cup.

Back in 2003, this goal by Andrew Brunette accomplished a few meaningful things.

• It gave Minnesota their first-ever playoff series win.
• It ended the legendary career of Patrick Roy.
• It cemented Brunette as the kind of player Wild fans would never forget.

After the NHL lockout, Wild general manager Doug Risebrough decided not to re-sign Brunette, who went to Colorado. The thought was that Brunette's lack of speed would hurt him in the "new NHL". Instead, Brunette tallied over 200 points in three years for the Avalanche. Oops.

Today, the 34-year-old Brunette inked a three-year deal with Minnesota, bringing him back to the place he made a name for himself as a pro.

Brunette scored 55 goals in his previous three-year stint with the Wild. Forward Brian Rolston is thought to be as good as gone, so the Wild will probably need more than that out of Brunette this time around.

The Wild also tried to bolster their defensive corps. They acquired Marek Zidlicky from the Nashville Predators in exchange for young forward Ryan Jones and a second-round pick in 2009. Zidlicky is a good offensive defenseman, but he doesn't bring much to the physical side of the game. The Wild are clearly upgrading the blue line with puck-moving players, but it appears they may be falling short of the physical presence they'll eventually need there.

It sounds simple.

Let one veteran forward (Brian Rolston) go. Sign another veteran forward (Andrew Brunette). It sounds simple, and it may be what the Minnesota Wild decide to do when free agency opens up Tuesday.

As Kevin Schultz reported, the Wild have traded Rolston's negotiating rights to Tampa Bay for a conditional pick. Common sense dictates that this is the final step in the process of losing a player who has scored 96 goals for the Wild in the last three years.

Michael Russo notes that the Wild and Brunette seem to have mutual interest in a reunion. There is no secret that Wild general manager Doug Risebrough has a tinge of regret over his decision to let Brunette walk three years ago. Evidently, Brunette has some similar regrets. Well, not exactly the same.

Plus, if Brunette returns, all will be forgiven with his wife, Lorie.

"I don't think she's still gotten over leaving Minnesota," Brunette quipped.

Hey, Risebrough will take it any way he can get it. He needs a presence in front of the net, and he needs a presence in the locker room that can pick up some of the void left by Rolston.

Shockingly, not everyone in Memphis thought trading Kevin Love, Mike Miller, and taking on more bad salary -- all for the services of O.J. Mayo -- was a good idea, reports Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Minnesota czar Kevin McHale discusses the feeling he got from the Grizzlies when finalizing the negotiations.

"I really had a feeling there was a huge contingency in Memphis who didn't want to do it. In fact, I know that. They told me that."

Oh come on! Why wouldn't you want to add another would-be point guard to your bloated backcourt, as well as Antoine Freaking Walker and Marko Jaric in exchange for your biggest trade chip and a stud-to-be 19-year-old power forward?

To be honest, as simply awful as this deal is for Memphis, it's no great shakes for Minnesota either. For all the hubbub around the summer of 2010, exactly who among the holy trinity of LeBron, Wade and Bosh will be knocking down McHale's door to join what will then be the worst defensive team in the league? Half the league plans on having cap space in two years; Minnesota is not remotely going to be an attractive option.

And if Miller was the hinge to this deal for the Wolves, but the deal was made with the summer of '10 in mind ... doesn't it matter that Miller's contract expires in 2010! There's a strong chance that a) Miller and the hypothetical 2010 superstar never play together, or b) you'll be offering a 30-year-old MiMi a fat six-year contract in 2010. HMMM.

I liked Mayo on the Wolves and Love on the Grizzlies a lot more than I like the current situation.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.

New York Yankees (43-37) at New York Mets (39-40) - 3:55 PM ET

Now that the dual stadium doubleheader is done, the Yankees and Mets can go back to the normal over-hype that the Subway Series entails, and not have to worry about the added pressure of police escorts between stadiums and such. But here's some worry: Johan Santana, who matches up with Andy Pettitte today, is 7-6 with a batting average against of .249, and a WHIP of 1.22. Not bad. But consider that Santana has never had a half a season, whether it be before the all-star break or after it, where his BAA and WHIP have been nearly that high. So even by Santana's first half standards, it's been an off half-year for Johan. Stuck near .500 after 79 games, the Mets could use the second half Santana to make an appearance at Shea today.

The best trash talkers in sports, from Muhammad Ali to Joe Namath to the Fab Five to Deion Sanders, have always had two qualities:

1. They're funny.
2. They can back it up on the field.

By those two standards, it appears that Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson may be developing into a great trash talker.

This week he was asked to name the toughest defense he had faced, and he answered, the San Diego Chargers. And then he added, "That was a joke."

Peterson, of course, ran for an NFL record 296 yards against the Chargers last season, and he drew a laugh with that comment. Somehow I'm guessing players on the Chargers won't find it funny.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups

Chicago Cubs (49-30) vs. Chicago White Sox (43-35) - 4:05 PM ET

The final weekend of interleague play for the season kicks off in the Bronx at 2 but the most meaningful game is in Chicago. The two Chicago clubs are in first, just as they were last week, but the White Sox can't afford another sweep at the hands of their crosstown rivals. The Twins are hard on their tail, a half-game back as play begins today, and there's that whole bragging rights thing to worry about too.

They'll need to do a better job against Ryan Dempster (9-2, 2.63) this time around. He held the Sox to one run in eight innings to win Sunday's finale at Wrigley Field. Dempster's won his last four decisions in what's turned out to be a very successful conversion from bullpen to rotation. They'll also need a better outing from their own starter. Jose Contreras (6-6, 3.96) got thrashed for 10 hits and nine runs in three and a third innings.