Sid Hartman: Roster overhaul part of Vikings' air of confidence

With the release of defensive end Erasmus James, the Vikings have only one player left on their roster from the 2005 draft -- backup offensive lineman Marcus Johnson.

That's not a big surprise given the large overall turnover in personnel since the Wilf family took over ownership of the team in 2005. Rick Spielman, Vikings vice president of football operations, said about 85 percent of the roster has turned over since the end of the '05 season.

"We go back and evaluate all of the roster moves that we have made, and we do it on a yearly basis," Spielman said.

With some talented free agents coming in along with a promising 2008 draft class, expect more turnover as this season's roster is set. "We're very fortunate, we have an ownership group that will give us the resources to go out and be effective [getting players]," Spielman said.

But while being optimistic that the team has added some talent, Spielman wants to wait until the newcomers get the pads on.

Spielman said he and the Vikings staff are excited about what they saw in rookie minicamp, and the other new acquisitions joined Vikings veterans last week -- with most of the newcomers continuing to impress with their athletic ability.

"Everybody's excited about seeing them run around in shorts and see what type of athletes they are, how they throw the ball, how they catch the ball," Spielman said. "But [when] they get the pads on and go through two-a-days in August and get a chance to see them line up in preseason, that's when you get a pretty good feel for what you have."

According to Twins President Dave St. Peter, Major League Baseball held a conference call last week involving general managers, managers and those responsible for game operations to address many issues relating to the overall pace of the game.

The league made it clear that the existing rules aimed at speeding up play will be strictly enforced. Players will not be allowed to move in and out of the batters box, and pitchers are to make a pitch within 12 seconds of receiving the ball with the bases empty or else a ball will be called.

Twins Sports Inc. President Jerry Bell and St. Peter will travel to Kansas City, Mo.; Washington, D.C.; and Atlanta over the next 10 days in order to review new recently installed high-definition video boards. The Twins plan to purchase the scoreboard system for their new ballpark later this year.

Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig will officially award the 2010 All-Star Game to the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday. The Twins continue to work with MLB with hopes of securing the 2014 All-Star Game for Minneapolis.

Despite being two years away from opening the new ballpark, the Twins report that they have sold 70 percent of the 3,400 Champions and Legends Club seats.

The Twins have had advance sales of 100,000 for the four-game series vs. the New York Yankees at the Metrodome next weekend. The team expects to draw more than 120,000 fans for the series. The Twins also play host to the Yankees for a three-game series in August.

To date, the Twins report total ticket sales of 1.55 million. They expect to top 2 million in total sales for the fourth consecutive season.

Third baseman Brian Buscher, the 2007 Twins Minor League Player of the Year, is hitting .313 with seven home runs and 23 RBI at Class AAA Rochester. ... Garrett Jones, who the Twins thought they might lose on waivers this spring when he didn't make the big club, is hitting only .184 for Rochester. ... Jason Tyner, who ripped the Twins for not keeping him after last season, got a short shot when he was called up by Cleveland. He played only one game before he was sent back to Class AAA Buffalo.

While it will be new for Gophers football fans to pay a fee in addition to the ticket price when the new stadium is ready, Gophers men's hockey and basketball fans have been paying a fee of some $500 per ticket for choice locations for some time.

Vikings Vice President Lester Bagley said that in accepting the 2012 Super Bowl for Indianapolis' new stadium, Colts owner Jim Irsay gave a plug to the Vikings, saying that by giving the Super Bowl to a small-market city, it will help the Vikings get another Super Bowl when and if they get a new stadium. The new Lucas Oil Stadium was paid for with $650 million in public dollars, or about 80 percent publicly funded.

Gophers basketball lost one of its oldest and longest fans when a great civic leader named Max Zamansky passed away this week. He was 89 and was a Gophers fan for more than 50 years. His son, Ron, is an attorney who represents a number of sports people.

ESPN ranks the Gophers men's basketball recruiting class 25th nationally. Ohio State (No. 3) and Michigan State (16) are the only Big Ten schools ranked ahead of the Gophers.

Matt Nohelty's .397 batting average was the highest for any Gophers baseball player since 2001, and his hit total of 94 was the best since 1999. ... Eric Decker, the Gophers wide receiver who passed up spring football to play baseball, hit .329.

Declaring for the NBA draft this year are two former Minneapolis high school players in James Davis of North, who played last season in Japan with the Saitama Broncos, and Bruce Price of South, who as a junior led Tennessee State in three categories last season: 17.6 points, 5.0 assists and 34 minutes per game.

While not getting the attention of some local basketball recruits, Jordair Jett and John Bright of St.Bernard's and Dion Suggs of St. Paul Johnson led Grassroots Minnesota to second place in the recent 17-and-under AAU Sabes Invitational Tournament. Jett and Suggs will be seniors next year. Bright is headed for Western Nebraska, the same junior college where former Gophers guard Bobby Jackson played.