Sid Hartman: Negativity over Vikings is big mystery to Birk

Matt Birk -- ready for a big season after perhaps being a little rusty in 2006 -- doesn't agree with the pessimism a lot of people seem to have over the 2007 edition of the Vikings.

"You know, every year the so-called experts try to predict who's going to be good and who isn't and they rarely are right. You'd have better luck probably just throwing darts," Birk said.

The former Cretin-Derham Hall athlete looks at last year and said he believes it was one of transition for the Vikings, with a new coaching staff and a group of new players.

"There's definitely an adjustment process; you get a bunch of new people working together for the first time, you know, you've got to iron out the kinks," he said.

Birk is convinced the Vikings will be an improved team in 2007 and win more games. "I'm an eternal optimist," he said.

"I mean the difference between success and failure, winning and losing, it's a very slim margin in the NFL."

The Vikings were 6-10 last year. But they lost six games by a total of 26 points: 19-16 to the Bears, 17-12 to the Bills, 9-3 to the 49ers, 23-17 and 9-7 to the Packers and 24-20 to the Dolphins.

Coach Brad Childress looks back on his first season and says with a break or two here and there, they could have reversed the record and been 10-6.

As for Birk, he still made his fifth Pro Bowl following the 2006 season even after he sat out 2005 because of hip surgery. Asked about his performance this year, Birk said: "I'll definitely be more comfortable. I mean that's my goal every offseason, to work harder and work better and to improve."

Birk, the second-highest paid center in the NFL to Chicago's Olin Kreutz, has two seasons left on the seven-year, $31 million extension he signed before the 2001 season, and he is to be paid $4.6 million in 2007. There was thought of redoing Birk's contract, but he said: "Nope, we're just going to keep it as is. We visited it but ... we both decided we'll just keep it the same."

Johnson optimistic

Hennepin County Commissioner Randy Johnson said a scheduled March 30 meeting to bring the Twins stadium problem to a head has been postponed until April 10 because there are too many details up in the air, including trying to find a solution over what to do with the railroad connected with the stadium.

"We were going to meet on March 30th in a close legal briefing, and a board meeting. I'm in the process of canceling that and rescheduling it to our April 10th meeting," he said.

Johnson said no deal is in place for the acquisition of the land but added: "Oh yes, I'm definitely optimistic. I'm optimistic about this and I'm optimistic about merging the [Minneapolis city and Hennepin County] libraries too, I'm an optimist."

In regard to the problem with the railroad, Johnson said: "Well, in order not to build over the existing tracks, which is a construction challenge, we are working with them to move their tracks, that becomes a question of how much more of a spur line they need and how much of that we should pay for and then the air-rights," Johnson said.

About the negotiations for the land -- with the Pohlad family to pay for the difference if the price comes in higher than the $13.35 million the county has offered -- Johnson said, "I think that's a detail that's pretty well set."

Johnson said he didn't think the start of construction would be delayed. "We're very close," he said.

Spending not solution

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor said that the team has one of the highest payrolls and is paying the luxury tax.

"We found that signing all these players to those big contracts has [not] worked so there must be a different way to get the job done," said Taylor.

In defense of Kevin McHale, Taylor spoke of how the Spurs got lucky and twice won the NBA draft lottery, taking David Robinson in 1987 and then Tim Duncan in 1997. "Had McHale been that fortunate, there wouldn't be any critics," Taylor said.

The Wolves held a town meeting the other day with 160 season-ticket holders attending at the team practice facility. McHale and assistant GM Fred Hoiberg answered questions.

"People were a little tough on McHale at the start but he has a way to engage them and at the end they understood some of the reasons why the team wasn't playing well," Wolves President Chris Wright said.

NBA Entertainment was here Tuesday to do work on a historical DVD on Kevin Garnett.

Jottings

Alan Reichow, son of Vikings personnel consultant Jerry Reichow, is one of the eye experts at Nike headquarters in Oregon, and the word is that when Vikings receiver Troy Williamson was out there getting his eyes checked, it was the younger Reichow who worked with him. While not wanting to comment on Williamson's exam, Childress did say that he talked at the NFL combine to Colts offensive coordinator Tom Moore. Moore, the former Vikings assistant, told Childress that when Jake Reed was a young receiver with the Vikings in the early 1990s, he went to get examined by Nike, and he then went out and caught 85 passes in 1994.

The Twins have sold out Monday's opener with Baltimore, but they will not remove the curtain from the second deck to make more seats available.

Speaking about his upcoming first season as Gophers men's basketball coach, Tubby Smith said: "I think there's still a scholarship or two available, so we're going to try bring someone in that can help us. If not, if they can't help us, we don't really want to waste a scholarship, so we want to make sure it's someone that can step in and contribute right away." ... Smith was in the office on Tuesday, but apparently he hadn't told any of the current Gophers assistant coaches if he has plans to retain them. ... Former Gophers forward Richard Coffey said he has applied for a position on Smith's coaching staff.

Dave Nelson, the football coach at Minnetonka High School, reported that his brother Steve resigned as football coach and athletic director at Curry College in Milton, Mass. Steve Nelson was a former great player for Anoka, North Dakota State and the New England Patriots, and he was at NCAA Division III Curry from 1998 to 2006.

Former Wild prospect Patrick O'Sullivan has five goals and 13 assists in 39 games for the Los Angeles Kings. In 14 games in March, O'Sullivan had two goals and 11 assists. ... Former Gopher Andy Sertich entered Wednesday with seven goals and 36 assists in 67 games for Utah of the East Coast Hockey League. ... Former Gopher Kris Chucko has 12 goals and 14 assists in 70 games for Omaha of the AHL.

Sid Hartman can be heard weekdays on WCCO AM-830 at 6:40, 7:40 and 8:40 a.m. and on Podcast twice a week at www.startribune.com/sidcast. shartman@startribune.com