What they should do: Draft Stanford center Brook Lopez, who would give the Wolves a big, athletic presence in the middle and allow Al Jefferson to play power forward, his natural position.
What they shouldn't do: Draft USC guard O.J. Mayo, who has J.R. Rider written all over him. A Rider-type goofball is exactly what a young team doesn't need, particularly one that already has a few questionable psyches (Rashad McCants comes immediately to mind).
It should also be noted that these 2 paragraphs are contained in an article entitiled "Wolves need to avoid a mistake." You don't say. The Times also carried a story in the Health section entitled "People need to drink water."
I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that Dave DeLand has never met or spoken to OJ Mayo. I'm going to extend as much journalmalism to this post as Mr. DeLand does to his Mayo column and float a guess that the reason why he wrote that Mayo is a "Rider-type goofball" is because he read something about Mayo that included the words "agent," "money," and "scandal." I'm not exactly sure how the St. Cloud Times Sports Editor covers the gap between an allegation where all of the facts have not yet surfaced and a psychological declaration of a "questionable psyche," but I'm probably unable to grasp this device on the account that I am nothing more than a dirty blogger.
To cap it off, his actual reasoning concerning Brook Lopez is...well, what other "big, athletic" presences can you think of in the draft that would allow Al Jefferson to play power forward, his natural position? I myself am partial to David Padgett and Devon Hardin. Here's some more DeLand-esque journalmalism for Big Dave: you sir, are a crackhead.
What Wolves fans should do: Read on-line coverage at the Rake, MinnPost, TWolvesBlog, and (inserting shameless self-promotion...) Canis Hoopus.
What Wolves fans shouldn't do: Read anything by possible crackhead Dave DeLand.
And people wonder why newspapers are tanking.
Matt Birk skipped the Minnesota Vikings' Organized Team Activities this week, primarily because he's miffed about the team's reticence to extend his contract. And this could turn into a problem.
It doesn't send a good message to Vikings veterans when Zygi Wilf will give Jared Allen a record-breaking contract before he plays a game in Minnesota, but won't give an extension to Birk, a six-time Pro Bowl selection.
Birk is also a leader and a good citizen on a team not exactly noted for its stellar citizenship. If you won't take care of a guy like that, who will you take care of?
The Vikings should extend Birk's contract for a couple of years, even if they might not have him that long. It's the smart thing to do from a public relations standpoint — and this team can use any scrap of good PR it can get.