Sid Hartman: Vikings' foe provides them cautionary tale

The Vikings visit Cleveland on Sunday for only the sixth time ever and the first time since 1989. If you want to look at a similar stadium situation to what the Vikings have here with the Metrodome, go back to 1995, when Art Modell, upset that the city of Cleveland built a new baseball stadium for the Indians and a basketball arena for the Cavaliers while not doing anything for the Browns, decided to move the NFL team to Baltimore to become the Ravens.

The Indians and Browns had shared Cleveland Municipal Stadium, but in 1994 the Indians moved into what is now known as Progressive Field.

Here, the Vikings, Twins and Gophers football team have shared the Metrodome since 1982, but the Gophers are about to open their new TCF Bank Stadium on campus while the Twins' new Target Field is ready for Opening Day 2010.

Nobody thought there was any chance that Modell, owner of the Browns, would move the team because they were drawing capacity crowds in the old stadium, just like the Vikings have been in the Metrodome.

The big thing was that Municipal Stadium wouldn't allow Modell to take in the revenue to compete, even though the city of Cleveland at the last minute offered to spend $175 million to modernize the stadium. Here there has been the same type of talk to spend some money to renovate the Metrodome.

After losing the Browns, the city of Cleveland, wanting football back, started building the new Cleveland Browns Stadium in 1997, when the city was promised a expansion team. But whereas the old Browns were an AFC contender most of the time, the new Browns have yet to win a playoff game.

Well, the same thing could happen here. The Vikings' Metrodome lease expires after the 2011 season. There is no assurance that this team won't move to Southern California or elsewhere if something isn't done to solve its stadium situation. And then, rest assured, the local government will build a stadium to get a team back here, just like Cleveland did.

One thing in favor of the Gophers winning their game against Air Force in the home opener Saturday is that Decker is back to his All-America form, as evidenced by his nine receptions for 183 yards in the 23-20 victory at Syracuse last week.

Even though Weber didn't have a great day, completing 19 of 42 for 248 yards and one touchdown, he did prove he was healthy, rallying the Gophers to a tying field goal in the fourth quarter before they won in overtime.

"I had a knee injury, just like Adam, a high ankle sprain, and being a receiver, it's tough to be explosive and run routes when you're hurt [in a] lower extremity," Decker said of last season.

"But I think the biggest thing for us at the end of the year was kind of the fatigue factor. We were a younger team. Now that we've got more experience and we know how to finish, I think it's going to be a lot more exciting at the end of the year, because we know what to expect and we know what we've got to do to win a ballgame."

No doubt Decker is right. This is a much better team than last year.

And coach Tim Brewster will be judged at the end of the season by the number of games the team wins and not the stadium it plays in.

Las Vegas oddsmakers had the Gophers as a five-point favorite earlier in the week, but the line has dropped to three.

This might be a lot tougher game than many fans are expecting because Air Force runs the option offense with a great quarterback in Tim Jefferson along with an assortment of talented running backs to execute the offense effectively. The Falcons ran up 72 points last week against Nicholls State, a Division I-AA team.

They have a 17-9 record over the past two years, scoring some big victories when they weren't favored.

The big key to the game will be the ability of the Gophers offense to move the ball and eat up clock to help keep the defense off the field, limiting its time having to face an unusual offense.

Steve Heiden, a Rushford-Peterson graduate, is starting his 11th year in the NFL, and will play tight end for the Browns against his home-state team on Sunday. Heiden, who played in college at South Dakota State, has been with the Browns since 2002 after beginning his career with the San Diego Chargers. A year ago, the 6-5, 270-pounder caught 23 passes for 249 yards, including a long of 51 yards.

The San Francisco 49ers picked up released Vikings tackle Drew Radovich for their practice squad.

Two Gophers walk-ons were given scholarships this week by Brewster: fullback Jon Hoese of Glencoe and special teams player Bryan Klitzke of Chippewa Falls, Wis. ... Visiting the Gophers campus on Saturday will be six recruits from Florida, two from Houston plus two from New Orleans. They are all players being recruited by Florida and Texas universities.

Look for the Twins to make a strong bid to re-sign free-agent pitcher Carl Pavano, the veteran righthander who has impressed manager Ron Gardenhire since being traded last month from the Indians, not only with his performance on the mound but with the help he has given a lot of the younger pitchers on the team.

Gophers 2009 All-America infielder Derek McCallum will go to instructional league for the Twins after hitting .241 with five home runs at rookie league Elizabethton. ... Gophers fall baseball practice begins Sept. 18. ... Gophers outfielder Mike Kvasnicka was ranked the No. 3 prospect in the Northwoods League by Baseball America.