Recent content from Jim Souhan
Souhan: Young Kobe was a work-in-progress under Willie Burton's watch
When Willie Burton played for the Philadelphia 76ers, he worked out regularly with Kobe Bryant, then a high school phenom at Lower Merion High in the Philadelphia suburbs.
Souhan: Reassembled Twins cast could be the best, despite shaky pitching
The Twins won 101 games last year, and they are a much better team right now than they were last January, or even last July.
Souhan: Twins hope to boost attendance with family-friendly deals
If you want to be known as a family game, you have to have prices that appeal to families. The Twins are doing just that.
Souhan: New Lynx assistant Smith tasked with keeping Reeve calm
Cheryl Reeve said she used to be a buffer between the head coach and players, including Katie Smith, when she was a WNBA assistant. That'll be part of Smith's role with the Lynx.
Souhan: Past, present story lines raise interest in 49ers-Chiefs
There's plenty of local angles and trends to gnaw on for the next two weeks as Super Bowl LIV approaches. Pat and Patrick Mahomes, for example.
Souhan: Reeve committed to grooming other women to be WNBA head coaches
Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve is thrilled with the WNBA's new CBA, which will raise the pay of players. She believes this could be a tipping point for women's sports and rights.
Souhan: Sano's contract is big — to match his personality
After signing a three-year, $30 million extension with the Twins, Miguel Sano wants to boost his statistics as well.
Souhan: Zimmer has something to prove with defense next season
For all of his regular-season accomplishments, coach Mike Zimmer will enter 2020 needing to prove that he can win with a new defense.
Souhan: Cousins the playmaker? That QB left behind in New Orleans
The Vikings are a pretty good team. Kirk Cousins is a pretty good quarterback. That combination isn't likely to bring a Super Bowl title to Minnesota.
Souhan: 2019 Vikings rewarded for sticking to their plan
Their commitment to the run has put less of a burden on Kirk Cousins and enabled the defense to avoid getting worn down.
Souhan: Star and 'bodyguard.' Cook not shy about crediting Ham
As running back Dalvin Cook emerged as the key to the Vikings offense this season, fullback C.J. Ham took on more and more responsibility for making things run well.
Souhan: From now on, never say never when talking about Cousins
In his first playoff game in with the Vikings, Kirk Cousins rose to the challenge in a hostile environment.
Souhan: Stakes are high for Vikings — and we're not just talking playoffs
The question Vikings ownership will face if the Vikings lose Sunday is: What do you do with a leadership team that succeeds in the regular season but not the playoffs?
Souhan: Minneapolis and New Orleans are different cities with similar passions for football
Football connects the Mississippi River's bookend cities.
Souhan: Vikings drew their worst possible opening opponent in Saints
Drew Brees-led New Orleans has a passing game that can shred apart a struggling secondary.
Souhan: Even with Vikings' loss, Bears clearly the team in decline
The best thing that happened to the Vikings this season was that the Bears imploded.
Souhan: Cousins flubs yet another chance to beat Monday night jinx
Unless Kirk Cousins can change the way he plays in important games, what happened on Monday night will be remembered as a prequel to another Vikings playoff failure.
Souhan: Vikings' 'Rushmen' are a tribute to defenders past and present
Coming off two dominant performances, The Rushmen on Monday night will face a unique challenge: A quarterback requiring caution, in Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers.
Souhan: It's time to hold Astros, Patriots accountable for cheating
The Astros won a World Series while cheating. The Patriots have won multiple Super Bowls while cheating. Here in Minnesota, we have the perfect precedent for punishing cheaters. Take away their trophies.
Souhan: Under Coyle, Gophers sports rising to 'amazing' level of success
It's truly a golden time for athletics at the University of Minnesota.
Souhan: Cousins continues mending his reputation by leading comeback
This was not your basic comeback: Kirk Cousins threw three second-half touchdown passes as the Vikings pulled off a rally that was unique in the history of the NFL.
Souhan: Vikings come down hard on Browns' Garrett for his outburst
Thursday night's brawl on national TV gives the NFL a black eye.
Souhan: Gophers look the part of a football team ready for the big stage
The Gophers have won big games before. They have upset highly ranked teams and traditional powers before. What was different about their latest upset was that it didn't look like an upset.
Souhan: Interviewing wore down Baldelli; 101 wins refreshed him
Teams can be fooled by interviews, but what the Twins saw in Rocco Baldelli during those meetings after the 2018 season dovetailed with his résumé and what others said about him.
Souhan: Tipped pass by Kendricks in final minute saves the day for Vikings
Eric Kendricks had spent Sunday night sifting through blockers and applying shoulders to one of football's best running backs. Now the Cowboys were isolating him on the biggest play of the game.
Souhan: Jerry Jones has nothing on the Wilfs and the Vikings
The Cowboys may be America's team, but the Vikings have their own impressive facilities and fan base.
Souhan: Big games bring big stakes for many on Gophers, Vikings
Neither game is do-or-die; both are do-or-doubt. These are the kinds of games that can make or mar reputations, especially at maximum-scrutiny positions.
Souhan: Fleck and the Gophers take a huge leap in relationship
Minnesota's paranoia of coaches departing for The Big City or The Bigger Program dates to Lou Holtz, who suckered the state into believing he was committed to the U in the 1980s.
Souhan: Should Twins break up the BombaSquad for a top pitcher?
The Twins might have to trade to fill their needs. For all of their hitting talent, they have few players who have proved they belong in the middle of the order for a championship team.
Souhan: C'mon, 'College GameDay': Gophers-Penn State is where you ought to be
This might be the biggest game ever to be played at TCF Bank Stadium and perhaps Minnesota's biggest game since Murray Warmath was coaching.
Souhan: NCAA decision more about own profits than helping athletes
This news feels like progress because the NCAA has made so little before. The organization has gotten rich treating athletes like modern-day, jersey-wearing sharecroppers.
Souhan: Wiggins remains an enigma, this time a heroic one
Sunday night, in the Timberwolves' home opener, Andrew Wiggins proved that the most appropriate unifying theory regarding his career is that he is an amenable enigma.
Souhan: Wolves following other teams' lead in making over organization
It's a direction that makes sense, even with the nonsensical word 'culture' attached to it.
Souhan: Promising second half awaiting Vikings after wild two months
After all the drama and suppressed controversy, the Vikings are on a winning streak, boast the third-best point differential in the NFL and are relatively healthy with nine more days to heal before visiting Kansas City.
Souhan: Vikings-Redskins game worthy of burying and praising cast of characters
Vikings fans, who should you cheer or jeer at U.S. Bank Stadium on Thursday night? Here's a roadmap.
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Souhan: You're seeing Cousins that Vikings hoped they were getting
Kirk Cousins on Sunday in Detroit was accurate, aggressive, mistake-free and sometimes spectacular. He was also clutch, which is a word he doesn't hear often.
Souhan: Credit Vikings for keeping house in order
The Vikings did not did not let a little early-season adversity spiral out of control.
Souhan: Left brain, right brain battle over what Twins should do
Handing out major free agent contracts has been one sure way not to win the World Series in recent years. But imagine what a great pitching addition could do for a team that won 101 games this season.
Souhan: Combining substance with style, you can't deny Fleck can coach
If you hate overt marketing and sloganeering, you may still not like Gophers coach P.J. Fleck. But Fleck knows his target audience, and has passed an eye test that speaks to his coaching skills.
Souhan: Cure for an uncommon 'cold?' A hot game for Diggs
Stefon Diggs had more receiving yards Sunday afternoon than in any other two games this season. "I have been waiting patiently, preparing," he said.
Souhan: These next two Vikings games mean everything
If the Vikings lose their next two games, they will have to make up ground against such quarterbacks as Patrick Mahomes, Dak Prescott, Philip Rivers, Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson. That's a bit scary, given that they've already lost a game to Chase Daniel.
Souhan: Why Twins should consider trading Rosario
Rosario is talented, entertaining, clutch ... and tradable. Will the Twins deal their cleanup hitter for pitching this winter?
Souhan: From Metrodome to Target Field, Twins' dubious record lingers
The playoff failures are a shared history now, from old Yankee Stadium to new, from Metrodome to Target Field, from Everyday Eddie Guardado to Any Pitch Will Do Eddie Rosario.
Souhan: All is well (for now) after convincing victory over Giants
The Vikings proved that they could handle drama and beat a mediocre team with a rookie quarterback. But the fate of this season rests with how they'll do when things get tougher.
Souhan: Twins' lineup of sluggers does little to rattle Yankees pitching
In two lopsided losses in the Bronx, the Twins lost by a combined score of 18-6, and in their 8-2 loss on Saturday at Yankee Stadium in Game 2, they were hardly competitive.
Souhan: Twins off their game in series opener, and pay the price
The Twins on Friday needed more innings from starter Jose Berrios and more resistance from the lineup. Instead, they produced one run after the third inning.
Souhan: Twins-Yankees a modern baseball matchup in a classic venue
Never before have two 100-victory teams met in baseball's playoffs while wielding so much power and so little pitching certainty.
Souhan: Lots of reasons why these Twins shouldn't fear the Yankees
Are we supposed to believe that the 2019 Twins have no chance to beat the 2019 Yankees because a bunch of departed players failed to beat previous Yankee teams?
'Grown up.' Sano finally becoming the player he was expected to be
Twins executives, managers, coaches and teammates had tried to lead Miguel Sano. Then a new teammate came along and Sano found the ideal leader in Nelson Cruz -- and Sano was ready to follow him.
A much different Twins team gets ready to recapture postseason magic
These powerful newbies could break Minnesota's streak of 13 playoff losses.
Souhan: Take it from the old guard and welcome Yankees in the playoffs
Current and former Twins believe there is no reason to fear their playoff matchup with the Yankees, but that belief is hardly supported by historical fact.
Souhan: Blossoming bullpen becomes Twins' weapon of secrecy
The bullpen became a Twins weapon because of the most boring and underappreciated aspect of baseball management: Patience with young talent.
Souhan: Key players turned around careers for march into postseason
Wednesday night, a handful of formerly under-or-off-the-radar Twins players produced, again, proving that the most mathematic of sports is often the least predictable.
Souhan: Forget Lombardi. Fleck needs to be next Glen Mason (or Jerry Kill)
P.J. Fleck arrived at Minnesota painting himself as the next Murray Warmath. Approaching his third Big Ten football opener, it's time for him to target a more reasonable goal.
Souhan: Cook's excellence has made him the face of the Vikings
Dalvin Cook is the Vikings' best player, athlete, stratagem and blemish-obscurer. "We're riding his coattails,'' receiver Adam Thielen said.
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Souhan: Big money, big trouble so far in Year 2 of Cousins, Gruden
Success is still very much possible for the Vikings QB and the Raiders coach, but they are battling high expectations and confidence-deflating starts.
Souhan: Maybe Baldelli isn't so different from past Twins managers
Twins first-year manager Rocco Baldelli wields attributes that previously benefited Tom Kelly, Ron Gardenhire and Paul Molitor.
Souhan: Champion St. Paul Saints get their minute in the sun
The social media response turned a joke about having a one-block, one-minute parade into an event, which is just how things happen in Saints World.
Souhan: Is Cousins regressing? Or did Vikings overestimate him from the beginning?
On Sunday, quarterback Kirk Cousins was in situations where he could prompt comparisons to Aaron Rodgers and Brett Favre. Instead, he evoked memories of Christian Ponder.
Souhan: Talk of Vikings' new 'offensive identity' should be silenced
What works one week might not work the next.
Souhan: Vikings will bring Ham to counter Green Bay, cheeseheads
C.J. Ham's ability to pass block, run block, run and catch could give him rare job security for an NFL fullback, especially one who wasn't drafted out of college.
Souhan: What the hex going on with Twins' history of crushing injuries?
The Twins, who found out Tuesday they'd be without Byron Buxton the rest of the season, haven't entered the playoffs with their best players healthy since 2003.
Souhan: Cook reminds us how much he needs to remain healthy
Having Dalvin Cook available and productive is the unifying theme of the 2019 Vikings. He is the rare non-quarterback who may be his team's pivotal player.
Souhan: Pressure is on Zimmer, Spielman to make playoffs run
The Vikings should be good this year. They should make the playoffs. If they don't, ownership will have to decide whether to give Mike Zimmer and personnel boss Rick Spielman one more year.
Souhan: Vikings' kicker drama nothing new, but now is self-imposed
When it comes to Vikings and kickers, history doesn't just haunt. It nags.
Souhan: USWNT, Lynx players support the fight for excellence and better pay
Both teams know that merely winning won't mean they will suddenly begin earning what their male counterparts make, nor will silence. "We're all in this together," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said.
Souhan: Greatest of all time? Biles could be best of the best
Most debates about the greatest athlete of all time skew toward our most popular sports and most celebrated performers. But Simone Biles could be the greatest athlete ever.
Souhan: Lynx star flashes old skills for home fans, perhaps for final time
Seimone Augustus played what might have been her last game at Target Center on Sunday night. If the Lynx can't secure a home playoff game, Augustus might have said her first goodbyes.
Souhan: Why Sano is the Twins' most important player in September
Twins slugger Miguel Sano has refined his mechanics so he can crush fastballs, and his batting eye so he can lay off tough pitches.
Souhan: Sky coach learned from Lynx's Reeve. 'I stole everything'
In his first year as a head coach, James Wade is taking the Chicago Sky to its first playoff berth since 2016. His philosophy: Why reinvent the wheel when you can borrow one?
Souhan: Twins worrisome rotation on full display against Tigers
While pitching well enough to Detroit, Martin Perez continued a trend for the twins that is part good, part lousy and part worrisome:
Souhan: Yeah, Cook is ready for the Vikings' regular season to begin
Running back Dalvin Cook provided the highlight of the Saturday's preseason game with an 85-yard TD run.
Souhan: Here's why Bill Guerin now has the easiest job in sports
If the Wild struggles struggles this season, fired Wild general manager Paul Fenton will be blamed, and rightly so. If the Wild surprises this year, the new general manager's leadership will be lauded.
Souhan: Juiced baseballs or not, Twins deserve their accolades
If you're the kind of baseball traditionalist who believes the old days were better, this might be a good time to adopt modernity. This Twins season has been fascinating.
Souhan: Zimmer praises Vikings offense after win — hey, it's a start
Let's search for hints, clues and annoyances from the Vikings' exhibition (the NFL hates that word) game at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday.
