By SID HARTMAN, Minneapolis Star Tribune

The Minnesota Vikings have landed two great players in the draft over the past three years by taking gambles that teams ahead of them apparently didn't want to take.

Superstar running back Adrian Peterson was the seventh choice in the first round in 2007, and wide receiver Percy Harvin was the 22nd pick in the first round this year.

It was just a matter of time before Minnesota Vikings coach Brad Childress was going to explode and speak his piece when he decided to call a local sports radio station to announce that -- contrary to the reports on ESPN -- quarterback Brett Favre was not given a deadline of this week to decide if he is going to play the team in 2009.

University of Minnesota newcomer Ralph Sampson III has the advantage of having a fabulous personal coach in his father, one of the greatest college basketball players of all time.
The 7-4 Ralph Sampson was a three-time College Player of the Year at Virginia and was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1983 NBA draft by Houston. He played 10 NBA seasons with four teams.

Bob Knight, in town to do color commentary for Thursday night's Purdue-Minnesota basketball game on ESPN2, might have become the Minnesota basketball coach had Tubby Smith not been available.

The Minnesota Twins were 1-7 in Nick Blackburn's past eight starts before Wednesday night when he was the winning pitcher in a 3-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox at the Metrodome. The right-hander allowed two runs and eight hits in five innings.

Adrian Peterson said he spent a lot of time in the offseason studying films of last season's Minnesota Vikings games, and he came to the conclusion that he -- not his offensive line nor the opposing defenses -- was responsible for some of his poorer performances.

From last Aug. 1 until the end of the 2007 baseball season, Minnesota's Justin Morneau hit .a measly .222 (45-for-203) with 20 runs, 12 doubles, one triple, three homers and only 22 RBI. He struck out 30 times in those 56 games, and the Twins went 24-32.