Rookie QB JJ McCarthy wins Vikings 1st preseason game. On Aug. 15, the Vikings announced that McCarthy underwent surgery on his torn right meniscus on Wednesday and will miss the 2024 season.

SILVER CLIFF  – The Minnesota Vikings kicked off their 2024 preseason schedule in a game at the “Bank” in Minneapolis. I don’t normally get too revved up about a preseason tilt, but I wanted to get a look at the team after they underwent some major changes in the offseason. 
Today’s opposition, the Las Vegas Raiders, or wherever they come from now, are coming off of an 8-9 season, going 6-3 at home and 2-6 on the road. They have also made some changes over last year’s roster, and it will be interesting to see if they can continue their forward progress after years of malaise.    

The previous nine seasons for the Raiders have been a two-steps-forward, one-step-back scenario for them. For the Purple, today began the new Kirk Cousins-less era. 

As far as the game went, the Vikes got possession first and marched down the field in five minutes, only to have a touchdown pass dropped in the endzone by Jaren Nailor on a 4th and goal play. 

Quarterback Sam Darnold got the nod as today’s starter but was pulled for rookie JJ McCarthy after only one series. He would throw his first NFL interception before throwing nice scoring passes to Trishton Jackson (45-yard play) and Trent Sherfield Sr. in the 3rd quarter. (33 yard play). 

The Raiders would head into halftime with a 20-7 lead with the Vikes forging ahead in the 3rd frame on the two touchdown throws. It would stay that way until the Raiders got a go-ahead field goal at the 9:43 marker of the fourth. The Vikes would win 24-23 on a 38-yard FG by rookie Will Reichard as time ran out. 

It wasn’t the most exciting game I’ve ever seen, but few preseason games are. They are mostly a chance to tweak some plays or schemes you’ve been working on and see how the opponent reacts to some of them. 

I think it may have been in Jerry Burns tenure as head coach, but I saw them run the same offensive play once four times in a row, making a subtle change within each one. And with so many new faces on the Purple this year, I wasn’t expecting them to come out in postseason form, and they didn’t. 

Overall, they looked better than I thought they would, but you can still see some holes in their play. It’s also hard to gauge what they really have because most of the important starters didn’t suit up today. 
Based on what I saw, you could tell the speed and pace of the game were somewhat new to JJ, and I trust he will adjust to it quickly. We’ve all heard the timeworn phrase that “at every level of play the quality of play goes up along with the speed of the game.” That’s true here for all of the four major sports. 

The defensive backfield gave up a handful of long downfield passes, raising the question of depth. But since not all of the D-backs suited up, I can’t make a call on them yet. 

The rookie linebacker Dallas Turner had an outstanding performance and he is worth keeping an eye on for defensive Rookie of the Year honors. 

The Sin City oddsmakers are not bullish on the Viking’s Super Bowl chances for the season, but it’s understandable. 

They have the Forty-Niners and Chiefs as their one-two favorites at +600 each. They are followed by the Ravens at +1000. The Vikes are at +8000 (24th) and the Raiders are below them at +10000. (26th). 
I trust the Purple will improve weekly, and it will be a heckuva rollercoaster ride! Hang on!

The Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals have been chasing Central division-leading Cleveland for most of the season. But, within the past month and as the regular season winds down, both teams have closed the gap on the Guardians. The Twins are at home this weekend against Cleveland and took yesterday’s doubleheader from them before dropping a close 2-1 tilt tonight. 

This leaves the Guards still in first at 68-49. The Twins are right behind them at 65-51. (2.5 GB) The Royals are on the Twins heels at 65-53. (3.5 GB) They will close out the series with a scheduled 1:10 first pitch tomorrow afternoon. 

The Twins have elevated their game the past 4-6 weeks, but leave me wondering if they can knock the Guards out of 1st or put some space between them and the Royals. Both clubs were helped out recently by a 7 game-losing streak by Cleveland.

You can derive a lot of info from studying the league standings. They only tell a part of the story though in most cases. However, a few years back MLB added a column to the standings that added some extra interest in them. This wasn’t a part of the standings years ago when I first began watching baseball. 

It appears like this, >.500. Translated it means what a team’s record is versus teams above them in the standings at the time they played. It doesn’t provide an in-depth understanding of a team’s rank, but I use it as a quick look at how a team may do against likely playoff teams. 

As of this evening, the Twins >.500 record is 27-35. In the entire 30-team league, only 6 teams are better than .500 in that regard.  For comparison, the Yankees are at 48-33, and Baltimore stands at 41-27. The Dodgers are at 39-30. How much could this tell me when considering the postseason? 

I would give it some weight but would use it only in addition to other factors. The Yank’s record wouldn’t be where it is without the Twins going 0-6 this season against them. 

This is a futility that has dogged the Twins for many years. Of the Twin’s last 12 playoff series, they have gone 0-5 versus the Pinstripes by a combined W-L record of 2-16. “If” the Twins got in, and “if” they met the Yanks in the playoffs, how would they do? It probably wouldn’t be pretty...

In the NHL, most of the big trades, free-agent signings, and so on have been completed. This leaves a lot of team execs free to catch their breath for a month or so before training camp begins. 

Considering the Minnesota Wild’s limitations to do much of anything this summer, I’d be surprised if GM Bill Guerin has been doing much at all these past few weeks. 

I am not optimistic about the club returning to the playoffs this year and maybe even the one after. Billy G has painted himself into this corner and I am only hoping this doesn’t lead to a years-long spiral for the team. 

If Guerin ever had “it,” he sure doesn’t anymore. And pretty soon he will have a full-scale hockey disaster on his hands. Ay-yi-yi! 

Long-time UMD hockey Coach Mike Sertich has succumbed to pancreatic cancer at the age of 77. That’s much too young to be saying goodbye. Coach, you will be missed in the world of college hockey, and your departure will leave a hole in the State of Hockey that can’t be filled. I wish for healing and peace for your family and friends. RIP bro... PEACE