MinnesotaSportsScene.com

While the Minnesota Vikings are set to grind up real estate with their potent 1-2 RB punch featuring Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor, don’t expect that the purple’s fullbacks will disappear to some Orlando vacation home rental.

Nope, players like Tony Richardson may not be getting many carries, but don’t expect them to fade into the turf. Not with what offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell has in mind.

“The fullback is kind of a dying position, but it’s a position that’s of importance to the West Coast offense,” Bevell told TwinCities.com. “The good thing is I don’t have to make the roster. … If you have one fullback (or) you have two fullbacks, that kind of shapes some of the things that you’re going to do.”

There are currently three fullbacks on the Vikings’ training camp roster. Richardson would seem to be a lock. Jeff Dugan will be fighting to prove he deserves to hang around, also.

Call it cold feet, call it Coach Tubby learned something we don’t know, call it a last-second colon cleanse, call it what you will … but Coach Smith’s first Gophers recruit has backed out of his verbal commitment to the University of Minnesota. But he might be back … maybe.

“It’s nothing against (Smith) or against me,” Garth told TwinCities.com. “The relationship is still fine. There were just a couple new factors, but Minnesota’s offer is still on the table.”

Sounds like Garth either got in trouble, or got some offers he liked better. Either way, the Gophers are still fine … but back in search of a true point guard!

Pack up the luggage, Paul Carter, you’re heading to Minnesota! New Minnesota Gophers men’s basketball coach Tubby Smith added another locked-in recruit to his 2008 recruiting class this week when Carter committed to Minnesota on Tuesday without even so much as a campus visit.

Carter told TwinCities.com, “I always thought about what it would be like to play for coach Smith,” said Carter. “I knew the Gophers had an up-and-down program. But when coach Smith recruited me, I couldn’t help but be excited.”

Carter has been a bit of a vagabond of late, living in five states since leaving California about three years ago. Carter is 6′8″, 190# and has a 6′10″ wingspan, according to his JC coach. Carter had academic eligibility problems coming out of high school due to the frequent moves, but is playing his first JC season at West Plains and then join Coach Smith and the Gophers next fall, assuming he keeps his grades up, with three years of eligibility remaining when he first suits up in maroon and gold.

Forward Carter joins PG Nate Garth as the second commit of Coach Smith’s tenure at Minnesota. Two more big-n-tall recruits are set to visit the Gophers campus in the first week of September.

The lights are dark at Target Center tonight for more reasons than saving on the electric bill. Five-year NBA veteran and longtime Timberwolf forward Eddie Griffin died last Friday when the SUV he was driving collided with a freight train in a fiery crash in Texas, according to reports breaking across the Web and wire services.

Griffin, only 25, was identified by dental records; he remains were too badly damaged to be identified any sooner, according to reports out of the Harris County Medical Examiner’s office Tuesday. Griffin began his career with the Houston Rockets in 2001 and spent most of his pro career with the Minnesota Timberwolves, who waived him last March after Griffin battled alcoholism and kept running afoul of the NBA’s substance abuse program the way RC cars keep running afoul of shag carpet on a living room floor.

Griffin’s college career was spent in Seton Hall and he was the number seven overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft by the Rockets and also spent time in New Jersey his first two seasons. Griffin signed a free agent contract with the Wolves prior to the 2004-05 season and spend time rebounding and shot-blocking in backup roles at both forward spots and center. However, he played only 17 games for the Wolves last season before being suspended for five games following another run-in with the league’s substance abuse policy.

The Wolves did not immediately dismiss Griffin, but he did not play for the team after that, prior to his March release.

The SUV-train incident occurred at 1:30 a.m. last Friday and initial reports could not identify the victim. The driver, who is now identified as Griffin, ignored a railroad warning and went through a barrier before striking the moving train, according to Houston Police.

This report was assembled from numerous online sources.

Ex-Green Bay Packer wide receiver Robert Ferguson may get a second chance with NFC North division rival, the Minnesota Vikings, according to several online reports. Even though the Vikings are host to over a dozen receivers on their training camp roster, the team might find a spot for the ex-Packer.

That’s because, right now, Bobby Wade is the most experienced receiver on the Vikings roster. If he could stay healthy, Ferguson could easily make the Top Three receivers on the team, behind Sidney Rice and ahead of Troy Williamson.

The trouble is that caveat - if he stays healthy. Ferguson has been injured more often than not in his past four seasons with the Packers, which is primarily why Green Bay released him last week like a set of faux wood blinds.

If the Vikings offer him a tender, it would be for the veteran minimum and probably a one-year offer at best; he would need to battle with younger receivers to even make the team, and any contract would be certain to include an injury clause.

Still, should Ferguson return to form, he could be a nice weapon for the talent-depleted Vikings receiving corps.

New Golden Gophers men’s basketball coach Tubby Smith is setting the table for future success with the program. Reports on TwinCities.com indicate that he’s bringing in two big men soon for their first Gophers recruiting visit. (Just keep ‘em away from the co-ed hot tubs!)

Those big men are prep basketball stars are 6′11″ Ralph Sampson III of Georgia, and 6′10″ Colt Iverson of South Dakota. While Iverson may have considered Minnesota even without Tubby Smith at the helm, it’s a lock that the only reason Sampson is visiting Minnesota is due to the already legendary reputation of the former Kentucky coach.

The basketball Gophers, who recently accepted the transfer wishes of sophomore Bryce Webster, now have nine scholarships available over the next three years of recruiting, which should give Coach Smith plenty of leeway to rebuild the team in his image.

Coach Smith already has one commit out of PG Nate Garth, out of Dallas’ Woodrow Wilson High. Garth is a nationally-ranked PG recruit and looks to be the ball distributor the Gophers have lacked for several seasons.

With Garth locked in and potential recruits like Sampson and Iverson drawing interest in playing for Smith in Minnesota, it’s looking like Tubby could be the best thing to happen to Gophers basketball in a long, long time.

Let’s admit it. Prior to the Garnett-to-Boston trade, the Minnesota Timberwolves were one of the older teams in the NBA. As in, not young. Some veteran rosters can be a good thing, but after three seasons out of the playoffs, the Wolves simply were not that kind of team. If owner Glen Taylor hadn’t broken the group up, they soon would have been reaching their disposable underwear years, which isn’t a bad thing in general, but isn’t a way to win an NBA championship, either.

Now sure, without KG, the Wolves might not get better right away, but they are certainly younger and have several players who could become quite good in a couple more seasons, as well as a worthy replacement at PF for Garnett. Yes, Al Jefferson isn’t KG yet, but he certainly shows signs that he could develop into an elite player.

The Boston trade isn’t the “missing piece” for the Wolves. It’s an admission that it’s time to rebuild for the future. The Chicago Bulls faced that a couple years back and look where they are now; one Eastern Conference finals series away from the NBA Finals.

Perhaps the Wolves can reach that point by 2010; they only reached it once after 12 years with KG and no other superstar on their roster.

Minnesota Timberwolves forward/center Mark Madsen is recovering from shoulder surgery, according to a report on TwinCities.com.

Madsen, a tough, physical player who has done well the past five years in a reserve role, is expected to be out for about three months. That means Madsen will miss all of Coach Randy Wittman’s training camp and perhaps even the first couple weeks of the season.

The injury that caused the surgery was a JetSki incident last Monday that caused damage to Madsen’s right shoulder and pectoral muscle. The career backup to Kevin Garnett once shared bunk beds with KG during a preseason camp, but will now have to become familiar with playing behind Al Jefferson instead of KG.

“This was an unfortunate accident that I have put behind me,” Madsen said in a statement. “My focus now is to concentrate on my rehabilitation with the goal of returning to the basketball court as quickly as possible.”

It’s “and now a word from a sponsor” time here at the MinnesotaProTeams blog. This time, it’s a great little Web site where you can buy retro athletic shoes at bargain prices, rather than eBay ransom prices … brand new!. It’s a great source as most of the shoes you find there will sell for just under $70, about a $50 savings on average off their retail value, not to mention their street/eBay values.

I had a chance to pick up a pair of Nike Air Jordans his way and while getting the newest model was tempting, on the advice of my wife I decided to relent and go classic with probably my all-time favorite Air Jordan, the Air Jordan 14! Designed in 1998 by Tinker Hatfield and Mark Smith, the Air Jordan XIV was the last version Michael Jordan wore on an NBA court prior to his second and final retirement.

Now, these shoes are imported from Asia, as you’ll notice on the shipping bill when your shoes arrive, but they’re the real deal. My pair were genuine-article Air Jordan 14 in the black-and-baby-blue design, just as I’d ordered, made with high-quality leather and all the usual components, right down to the somewhat silly-looking, extra-long tongue of the AJ14.

They feel as comfortable as the first pair I ever owned and the great thing is, this site has all the old classics from the Air Jordon line, even some rare collector’s edition / limited run models! Of course, those are in short supply, so if you want a pair, best bet is to click now and grab ‘em before they’re gone.

And now back to our regularly-scheduled blog!