The defending 2008 NFC North Champion Minnesota Vikings start training camp on Friday, July 31, in Mankato, Minnesota. It was the team’s first Division title since 2000, and after being booted from the playoffs at home by Philadelphia last year, expectations are extremely high. The Vikings will take the next step and challenge for Super Bowl XLIV.
Brett Favre talk has dominated the off season locally and nationally; however, as of Monday, July 27, he has not committed to signing and reporting. He said he would let the Vikings know on July 30.
With a healthy Favre at quarterback and a healthy Adrian Peterson, the Vikings would be a traveling circus show with super expectations. Without Favre, the Vikings should still be one of the NFL’s best teams.
This is season number four for Head Coach Brad Childress. The Vikings are 24-24 under Childress and 0-1 in the playoffs. He has done a good job of establishing a tough-minded football team.
Training camp for the Vikings in Mankato is short, extending for only a couple of weeks. The team vacates on August 12.
I hated to see training camp pop up so fast. Man, where did summer go?
It was great having Larry, Jr. home. He and Marcus trained extremely hard every day.
Jerry Rice and Cris Carter were both here working with Fitzgerald’s large training group. They worked hard every day, and all the athletes that were here have given themselves a huge edge going into training camp.
I’m a firm a believer that to win you have to have an edge. That means working hard on getting better, sharpening your skills mentally and physically. Larry, Jr. is charged up and ready again to help the Cardinals take flight for another super season.
Marcus tried out for the Vikings in May and was drafted by San Francisco and Head Coach Dennis Green in the United Football League. He looks good and is ready to go make his mark.
The Bronze is back?
The Bronze Amateur Golf Tournament founded by the late Jimmy Slemmons and carried on by Thad Nicholas and Augsburg Hall-of-Famer Dick Kelly, once an annual tradition in Minneapolis, returned for the 68th year after a two-year hiatus. The Twin Cities Golf Club and its membership should be commended for trying hard to re-establish the tournament.
The turnout at Hiawatha Golf Course was not great, but the commitment was. The proceeds benefit the American Diabetes Association and Junior Golf.
Long-hitting Greg Evans, who I used to beat like a drum, dominated the field with a 76-79 to win the Men’s Championship. My late friend Ed Mondane’s widow, Dawn Mondane, captured the Women’s Bronze Championship.
Henderson & Rice honored
Less than 10 percent of the current players in Major League Baseball are Black — the numbers continue to dwindle. Imagine this: Last weekend only two players were inducted into Baseball’s National Hall of Fame, and both were Black players — Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice.
Henderson stole 1,406 bases, the most all-time, and played 25 years for nine teams. He also holds the single-season record for most steals in a season, 130. Henderson was a showman; he led off the game with a home run 81 times.
Rice was a superstar also with the Boston Red Sox. He played 14 seasons and is the only player to hit 35 homeruns or more and get 200 hits in three straight seasons. He drove in 100 runs eight times, batted .300 or better seven times, and had 200 hits in a season four times.
Larry Fitzgerald can be heard weekday mornings on KMOJ Radio 89.9 FM at 8:20 am, and on WDGY-AM 740 Monday & Saturday mornings at 7:50 am and Fridays at 3:50 pm; he also commentates on sports 7-8 pm on Almanac (TPT channel 2). Larry welcomes reader responses to lfitzgerald@spokesman-recorder.com , or visit www.Larry-Fitzgerald.com .
