Vikings: Hazing to get the ax
Posted on Fri, May. 12, 2006
[size=18px]Hazing to get the ax[/size]
BY CHARLEY WALTERS
Pioneer Press
Vikings rookies and draft picks participating in new coach Brad Childress' minicamp this weekend at Winter Park can feel somewhat relieved.
Childress, basically a no-nonsense coach, is expected to halt the team's stupid tradition of hazing first-year players. Reason: There is no value in the so-called rite of initiation.
) USA Gymnastics couldn't have a more dynamic ambassador than Bela Karolyi, 63, the famed former Romanian coach who was a big hit Thursday while speaking at a breakfast at Xcel Energy Center to promote the Visa national championships that will be held at the St. Paul arena Aug. 16-19.
"Just hearing him speak motivates you," USA star Chellsie Memmel said.
) Former heavyweight boxer Scott LeDoux, an Anoka County commissioner, recalled having briefly met Floyd Patterson, a former world heavyweight champion who died Thursday.
"I met him in New York at Madison Square Garden in 1977 at a weigh-in when I fought Pedro Soto," said LeDoux, who is 6 feet 2. "I remember being surprised by how small he was. He was a nice man, not very big  but he had a big left hook, that's for sure."
) Tim Herron, who is playing in this week's Byron Nelson PGA Tour event in Irving, Texas, spent the past week working eight hours a day on his game  mostly putting  at Wayzata Country Club. Herron, who has won $347,000 this year, will compete in the PGA Tour's next three tournaments.
) The Twins are expected to draw 110,000, including 35,000 on Saturday, for their four-game series beginning tonight against the Chicago White Sox at the Dome.
) Boof Bonser, acquired with Joe Nathan and Francisco Liriano in a Twins trade with the San Francisco Giants and expected to pitch in the majors this season, continues to impress at Class AAA Rochester (N.Y.) with 39 strikeouts in 43 innings, a 2-2 record and 1.87 earned-run average. Red Wings right-handed reliever Pat Neshek of Brooklyn Park has 42 strikeouts in 21 innings but has had trouble with left-handed hitters.
) Sophomore guard Rico Tucker, who is leaving the University of Minnesota men's basketball team, is expected to make a recruiting visit to Fresno State today.
) This weekend's four-game series at Ohio State could determine whether the Gophers baseball team advances to the postseason. The third-place Buckeyes lead the Big Ten Conference in hitting and pitching. Minnesota, which is tied for fifth place in the conference, could have Nate Hanson (third base) back in the lineup for the first time since he broke an arm when hit by a pitch eight weeks ago.
) Cretin-Derham Hall graduate Ryan Harris, a left offensive tackle at Notre Dame, is rated the 17th-best senior available for next year's NFL draft by analyst Mel Kiper.
) Loyal "Bud" Chapman, 83, of Minneapolis shot an 80 in the Shoot Your Age Championship last weekend at Legends Country Club in The Villages, Fla., to tie Arnold Palmer, 76, who shot 73 and also finished three strokes under his age, for second place. Leonard Luken, 87, of Hilton Head, S.C., shot 81 to win.
Bob Harris, 77, of Roseau, father of Champions Tour golfer John Harris of Minneapolis, shot 75 to finish fourth.
) Former Gopher Danny Irmen appeared in seven American Hockey League playoff games for the Wild's Houston Aeros affiliate but went without a goal or assist and finished plus-one on the ice with four penalty minutes.
) Former Mounds View pitcher Mark Hamburger, 11-0 this season for Mesabi Range Community and Technical College, averaged 12.5 strikeouts a game.
) Former KMSP-TV sports anchor Jeff Grayson, who was to host Thursday's Hobey Baker Award banquet in St. Paul, will host the St. Paul Lions Club Athletes of the Year luncheon Tuesday at the Prom Center in Oakdale. It has been nearly eight months since Grayson left the station, and there has been no replacement.
) Minneapolis North's 6-5 Rickey Batsell-Parks, who is headed to Arkansas-Pine Bluff for basketball, shattered a backboard while trying a tip-in dunk during an AAU tournament at Washburn last weekend.
) Local musician Michael Loonan has composed a batch of promotional jingles for St. Paul Saints President Mike Veeck's American Association team.
) Former major league baseball player Jim Delsing, 80, who died this week of cancer, was the father-in-law of Tim Twellman, who played for the Minnesota Kicks at Met Stadium.
Charley Walters' column appears Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at [email protected]
Hazing to get the ax
Re: Vikings: Hazing to get the ax
Good move by Childress imo! Hazing is just plain stupid.
Re: Vikings: Hazing to get the ax
"Warp" wrote:
Quote:
Good move by Childress imo! Hazing is just plain stupid.
yes I agree
Re: Vikings: Hazing to get the ax
That's a nothing story.. You know you're deep into the off-season when one-liners like that get full prominence.
Re: Vikings: Hazing to get the ax
Re: Vikings: Hazing to get the ax
Hazing . . . who cares, I guess. Reading that article reminds me of what a deal the Twins got for AJ, when they traded him to San Fran. Nathan, Liriano, and this up-and-comer Bonser. Terry Ryan kicks a$$.
Re: Vikings: Hazing to get the ax
hmmmm purple haze....i like the sound of that.
Re: Vikings: Hazing to get the ax
Childress is looking for a team that work together as a "TEAM." He saw enough of what egos can do to a team at Philadelphia. I think this is an attempt to put everyone on a "equal" footing to begin the season and keep from building or tearing down any "fragile" players or ego or cause any hard feelings.
I like the move!
