Being a Viking fan is tough work. This edition of CURTain call written by staff-writer Curt Wallgren examines just how hard it has been to support a team that will kick you when you're up, and kick you when you're down.

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Recently there has been a buzz on ESPN that the Twins are very interested in the Nats Alfonso Soriano.  I do not know where this buzz is coming from, because when the Twins get healthy in the next 8-9 days, the Twins outfield will be a bit cluttered. 

I understand how well Soriano has played, I would love to see him in a Twins uniform.  But I do not believe he is a player the Twins will be able to keep.  He seems like a man very focused on his paycheck (see his reluctance to move from 2b).  The Twins are not known for going out and getting high salaried players, and adding 10 million to their payroll is something quite out of character by the Twins organization. 

I just don't see the Twins being able to put together a package appealing enough for the Nationals.  The Twins have a few good pitchers in their minor leagues, but with Radke likely to retire after this season, and Silva being as inconsistent as ever, the Twins will likely need some pitching to step up and fill those voids. 

Here is an offer that I think would make sense for the Twins and nationals, but I doubt it works out. 

Twins Get:  Soriano & Cash Considerations (1/3 of Soriano's remaining salary)

Nationals Get: Kyle Lohse, Lew Ford, Boof Bonser, Jason Kubel and a PTBNL

Kyle Lohse is a part of this deal due to salary concerns.  Trading Lohse off-sets a lot of the contract taken on by the Nationals.  It's likely that a 3rd team would get involved, sending a decent prospect to the Nats, getting Lohse (Dodgers, Brewers, Cards, and Yankees have been scouting Lohse)

Lew Ford is a part of the deal because of the emergence of Ro. White and Jason Tyner.  Lew Ford's value increases in the national league, as a versatille bench player.  His ability to play all 3 outfield positions well defensively makes him a solid pick-up for the Nats bench. 

Boof Bonser has been up and down from AAA to the majors, and with one more year he should be rotation ready.  Bonser may not be the pitcher in this trade, he could easily be substituted with Baker, Neshek Or (unlikely) Garza. 

Jason Kubel has become a solid Left Fielder for the Twins, his .270 average and 7 HR's in his rookie campaign leave a lot of room for improvement, but give the Nats a LF of the future, with production now. 

The PTBNL will be a Twins pitching prospect, it's to be named later because I'm not familiar with the pitchers low in the minors.  Somebody from the Single A squad from the Twins will be sent in this trade as well. 

This is a trade that I would think the Nationals would like, obviously it can be tweaked, so some feedback from you guys would be great, (I.E. what the Nats are looking for in trade value)

The Twins are 3 games behind the Free-Falling White Sox.  In a division where the Twins looked completely out of.  The Twins had won a ridiculous 18 of 20 (or something like that) and only managed to gain a game on the Tigers and White Sox.  Many Twins fans viewed that run as an amazing and exciting one, but to many that run also signified the insurmountable climb the Twins had to make to make the playoffs.  But after Beating up on the Indians and D-rays, and watching the White Sox lose 3 of their last 4, the Twins have climbed into contention. 

The Twins are closing in on the 6 most important games of the season.  After this series with the Indians, the Twins will head to Chicago for a 3 game series.  If the Twins can manage to Win one of their next two games against the Indians, and 2 of 3 against the White Sox, the Twins will be closing in on the Wild Card.  After the White Sox  series, the Twins head home to host the Division leading Tigers.  This will be the series that decides if the Twins are for real or not. 

The Twins have a good rotation set-up to face the Sox and Tigers.  If everything goes according to plan, the White Sox will Face Radke-Santana-Silva, And the Tigers will Face LIriano - Radke - Santana (Baker would be skipped due to the off day)

In those 6 Games, I believe the Twins will have a strong advantage in 3 of those games, (Santana's 2, and Liriano's game) This should set the Twins up to Win at least 3 of their games, and if Radke continues his stellar pitching, the Twins could be set up to win 4 or 5 of 6 in that stretch.  (With Silva being earmarked for the loss). 

A month ago I would never have been this optimistic.  One Month ago I was looking forward to seeing the kids get experience, and to get ready for the 2007 season.  But the Twins have revitalized their roster by injecting youth into key positions including Dumping Castro, Sierra and Batista. 

Rondell White is your Daddy.  I guess he is a second half player :).  After a season of futility at the plate.  Rondell is finally turning into the decent player the Twins expected him to be.  With the massive amounts of injuries, White's revitalization couldn't have come at a better time.  He finally has dragged his average over .200 and has hit 3 home runs in the second half (compared to 0 the first half).  Yes those Homers have come against the D-Rays and Indians, Two teams with less than stellar pitching, but it's a sign of life from a player who was more likely to be out-righted than started. 

Tyner?  Rabe? WTF Mate?  After losing Ford, Stewart and Hunter to the DL in a 48 hour span, the Twins have been forced to rely on relatively unknown players.  Jason Tyner, a career minor leaguer, finally making his mark at 29.  He has stepped in well at CF in Hunter's absence, and has even notched a game winning RBI in the 10th inning.  Josh Rabe hasn't seen much playing time, but he was called up to fill Stewart's roster spot.  These call-ups have given the Twins much more than they could have expected, and they have helped the Twins to a 9 game winning streak.

Hunter will likely come off the DL as soon as his 15 days are up, and hopefully he will come back to the form that has produced one of his best seasons.  Hunter's stress fracture in his ankle is likely a result of early compensation from his previous injury, but he is a warrior and battled through it for 2 months before taking a couple weeks off. 

Shannon Stewart is likely done for the season.  His Plantar Fasciitis has gotten progressively worse, and Stewart is in the worst pain he has had since the injury was first diagnosed.  For those that don't know, Plantar Fasciitis is an injury to the tendons that connect the heel and toe of the feet.  Basically the arch of the foot collapses, causing an extreme amount of pain.  The only way for this type of injury to heal is a lot of rest, and it often flares up for the rest of a player's career.  Other notable Minnesota players who have experienced this injury recently including Jim Kliensasser and Randy Moss. 

Lew Ford has a strained Oblique, but with the impressive play of Tyner (and even Ro White) Ford may have a hard time getting AB's when he returns.  No player should lose their job due to injury, but that is the cold reality of major league baseball.  Lew Ford might be packaged in a trade, because of his versatility (can play all outfield positions) he would make a good bench player for a national league team. 

Will he stay or will he go?  Recent misinformation has forced Phil Kessell to clarify rumors.  Kessell has not made his decision about going pro yet.  An amazingly talented player, but known as a grade "A" Asshole to his teammates, would likely bolt for Boston if the Bruins made an offer.  Signing Kessell would make sense for the Bruins, a team that has seen a steady exit of talent from its roster, they could use a player like Kessell To creates some excitement in a city starving for a contender. 

Brad Johnson notably miffed about his contract.  Although he maintains he is a professional, Few players of his average talent level hold so much leverage over a team.  The Vikings have put all of their eggs in a 38 year old basket with a bad contract.  I can solve this predicament with a solution that is favorable to both teams.  Re-structure Johnson's contract with some reachable performance based incentives.  Bonuses for milestones in production, such as starting all 16 games, making the playoffs, winning playoff games, reaching the Superbowl, winning the Superbowl.  Incentives for 20 TD's, 3,00 yards, 10 Wins etc.  Of course all of these incentives wouldn't be in the contract, but set up his contract so if he reaches his incentives, his pay would be comparable to a contract that ranks him around the 24th or 25th highest paid QB in the NFL. 

The same thing could have worked with Daunte.   If Daunte was really that angry about his contract, the Wilf's and company could have set up a deal that would have increased Daunte's contract in a similar way.  Duante would have kept his current contract, but added more incentives based on his recovery from his injury, and his productivity.  Daunte would have been a great WCO QB.   He has an accurate arm, (a career 65% passer) and likely would have worked well in the offense after digesting the playbook. 

Wild Sign Wyatt Smith.  An in-state product, Former gopher and Thief River Falls native, Smith will likely split time between the Minors and NHL.  He will be used as an injury replacement for most of the season.  He is decent at all aspects of his position, but lacks a skill that he excels at.  He should provide the Wild with good depth, and this signing likely will be the final move for the Wild this offseason. 

47-39.  The third placed (by a mile) Twins have a record of 47-39.  Does anyone else just find that amazing?  Let's put this in perspective, If The Twins resided in the AL west, they would have a 2 game lead over the likes of Oakland and Texas.  The NL East (which claims the NL's best team) The Twins would be 6 Games out.  In the NL Central, the Twins would be 1 Game out.  In the NL West, the Twins would also be one game out. 

But that record is not a very good representation of their actual play.  The Twins completely sucked coming out of the gate.  This was partially due to the likes of Rondell White, Juan Castro and Tony Batista seeing significant playing time, but the Twins had even bigger problems in the rotation.  Up and down the rotation, the Twins pitching staff came out of the gates pitching terribly.  Even the best offense in the world could not have propelled the Twins to many more victories.  Lately the Twins pitching has come around, Johan is back to his old self, Fransisco Liriano was inserted into the rotation and has pitched phenomenally since.  Radke has turned in a few solid outings lately, and even Silva has shown flashes of brilliance. 

I see this performance more as a fluke, than an indicator of future performance.  Johan and Liriano are going to win 95% of the ballgames they pitch.  Which is an amazing duo to have atop the rotation.  But #'s 3, 4 and 5 have serious question marks. 

Brad Radke has never been an amazing pitcher, no mind boggling ERA's or K rates, but solid performances game in, and game out (not to mention being good for at least 1 HR a game...).  But this season i believe is the year that age has finally caught up to Brad.  He looks tired, and his performances have been less than stellar.  It's been a great run Brad, you've truly been a great pitcher for the Twins for the last several years, and you are one of the main reasons this Twins franchise turned itself around.  But father time gets to everyone at some point, and since the Twins are not serious contenders, I hope you enjoy your farewell tour as a Twin. 

Carlos Silva has been an enigma this year.  I pimped him all off-season as a Cy Young candidate.  I think he has proven my wrong.  I still believe there is a great pitcher trapped inside of him, and for whatever reason, it's not showing through.  He has lost command of his sinker, and batters are knocking him around the ball park.  I heard a great quote from one of the Twins staff, (when Silva's pitching) "Watch the first inning, if the ball is hit in the air, they are gonna score runs, if it's on the ground Silva's gonna have a good night."  Sadly, the ball has been in the air most of the season.  Silva needs to spend some time with Anderson (the pitching coach) and get that sink back on his fastball quickly, or he may find himself back in the bullpen sooner than he thinks. 

The fifth starter has been a combination of Scott Baker and Boof Bonsor.  Baker came into the league, and pitched effectively in his first couple of starts.  But the wheels fell off the bus soon after that.  After being beat up on by AL opponents, the Twins sent him back to the minors for some more seasoning.  Bonsor got the call to replace him, and he showed some flashes of brilliance, but the ball was up in the strike zone too often, and he was knocked out of the park early and often. 

Currently there is no 5th starter.  Bonsor was sent down a few days ago, and was replaced by a reliever named Pat Neshek, a flame-throwing closer from AAA.  Many scouts have touted Neshek as the Twins future closer, and could make Joe Nathan and expendable commodity at some point.  I am looking forward to seeing what Neshek can do in the bigs, in whatever time he is given.  I believe that Baker will get another shot at the rotation the next time the Twins need a 5th starter.  But the Twins will use a 4 man rotation until late July, because the rest days give the starters enough time off to recover. 

The Wild have finally made me go wild.  I have long awaited the day when I could be proud of DR for going out and manufacturing a quality product for Minnesota.  I endured his early strategy of building through the draft, because as an expansion team I realized I would have to wait a few years to see a great team in Minnesota. 

The Wild are a playoff contender.  With the additions of Johnsson, Demitra, Parrish and Carney make this team a force to be reckoned with in an already strong Western Conference. 

Imagine these lines:

 Demitra - Walz - Gaborik.

The Absence of Rolston on line one is to foster even more chemistry on line one.  Gaboirk and Walz worked well with each other whenever they shared the ice, (which was not often enough) and Gaborik & Demitra's Slovakian connection should make for a first line that can score with anyone in the NHL.  (And Walz can lock it down on the defensive end). 

Bouchard - Rolston - Parrish

Pierre Marc's play-making ability will lead to a lot of goals from his two line-mates.  Parrish may have scoring range comparable to that of Shaquille O'Neal in the NBA, but his ability to pound the puck into the net in traffic should create a lot of assist opportunities for Bouchard.  Couple that with Rolston's emergence as a great goal-scorer, the Wild have two lines that can compete with anyone in the league.

I can't say I know exactly how I see the final two lines shaping up until i see the squad play a bit, but I do know that the boogeyman will be back in business, terrorizing opponents daily. 

Eric Johnson will play for the Gophers

I might be one of the luckiest hockey fans alive.  I will be heading down to U of M for my freshman year of college after this summer, and not only will I be taking in one of the finest colleges in the Midwest has to offer, I will be able to witness one of the favorites for the WCHA title and National Championship first-hand.  My season tickets already purchased, I will be looking forward to seeing the NHL's #1 pick in a Gopher sweater.  If Kessell doesn't go to Boston, I will guarantee a National championship for the Gophers. 

World Cup is over.  I'm not sure If I'll really miss it at all.  The more soccer I watched, the more i understood why the majority of Americans do not like the sport.  I love soccer, I've played the game for the majority of my life, but the product that is put on display at the world's greatest stage is ridiculous.  Diving is accepted as strategy!  In football, Hockey and Basketball, the diver is looked down upon as the lowest member of a squad.  A diver shows that he thinks he is smarter, better than the referee by attempting to deceive the ref. 

As a soccer Ref for a few years, I understand the difficulty of covering the entire field, and I do not blame them for many of the calls they make.  I believe soccer needs to be changed.  compared to the size of the field, soccer does not have enough referees.  I believe a fourth ref needs to be added to better cover the field.  Instead of forcing refs to go end to end at a complete sprint, I believe that there should be two head refs, each responsible for half of the field.  This would give them a better chance to see the dives and embellishments that have plagued the world cup. 

My second idea for improving soccer is a continuous OT format.  In hockey there is nothing more exciting than a triple overtime hockey game (to me).  These warriors are skating for nearly three hours without a goal, it's the ultimate in endurance and will-power to win these games.  Ending a soccer game with penalty kicks (or a hockey game in a shootout) is the equivalent to ending an (American) football game in a punt pass and kick contest, a baseball game in a home run derby, or a basketball game in a slam dunk contest.  It cheapens the sport, and does not give the viewer a true ending to the game. 

I understand that the players have already played 120 minutes of soccer before the shootout, but I believe the games would not go much longer than that, because weaker teams would not be able to play for a shootout, where the odds are a coin flip. 

My final point for fixing soccer would be to loosen substitution restrictions.  This would go along with my idea of continuous OT.  If a team feels that playing fresh, but lesser talented players will win a game for them, then I think they should not be restricted.  I propose 6 subs a game, and subbed out players can return to the game (if the team still has subs left).  This would allow teams to push the tempo deeper into the game by adding fresh legs into the mix.  In addition to the 6 subs, teams can make 1 free substitution before the start of an overtime period. 

Over the Off season, the Vikings have seen an influx of new talent to their roster. Along with those new players, comes a completely new coaching staff, and two completely new systems. Whether or not the Vikings can adapt to all of this change will be the deciding factor about a season that has the potential to be a four or a fourteen win season. Never has training camp began with so many questions for the Vikings. This article will address those burning questions and many more.

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