FanHouse Marcus Johnson

The Minnesota Vikings finally waived Erasmus James after he couldn't pass a physical.

James, who is recovering from three operations on his left knee in a 13-month period, did very limited work during the Vikings' opening four days (Monday-Thursday) of organized team activities this week. "We decided today to waive Erasmus and we wish the best for him in the future," Vikings coach Brad Childress said in a statement on the team's website.

James blew out his knee in Week 2 of the 2006 season. He spent most of last year battling injuries before re-injuring the knee late last season.

And so it goes with the Vikings 2005 draft, which may go down as one of the worst/hardluck in franchise history. James was the #17 overall pick in that draft -- one that sees just OL Marcus Johnson remaining from that class.

Remember that Minnesota traded Randy Moss to the Oakland Raiders for the #7 pick in the draft and linebacker Napoleon Harris. Harris played two years in Minnesota before moving on to Kansas City. That #7 pick turned into WR Troy Williamson, who sucked was less than stellar. Williamson was traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars before last month's draft.

Third round pick Dustin Fox never played a down for the Vikings. Fourth round pick Ciatrick Fason became a goal line back before being release prior to last season. Sixth round pick DT C.J. Mosley played decent in his rookie season ... and was sent to the Jets for QB Brooks Bollinger. Seventh round pick Adrian Ward didn't make the roster.

If there's a downside to the return to prominence for the Atlantic 10, it's nights like Wednesday night. It's not a downside for fans of good basketball, mind you, but for coaches and fans of favored teams like Dayton and Xavier. Rather than holding serve until their showdown next week, each found themselves upset on Wednesday night while Charlotte held serve at home and found themselves at the top of the heap after beating St. Joe's 70-66.

They can thank Leemire Goldwire, who may not settle for a spot on the all-conference first team. He may have designs on player of the year and last night's 36 points will help him make his case. While Goldmire was doing the offensive lifting, his teammates took care of slowing down the league's best shooting team. The Hawks were making more than 50% of their shots in A-10 play entering the game but were held to 44% and continued to struggle from long range.

Charlotte remains a flawed team. They turn the ball over too much and shooting 43% last night actually represented a step up in the world. That's going to make it hard for them to hold onto the top spot but three straight wins are three straight wins and, as Wednesday showed, there won't be easy nights in the A-10.

Day one of the Atlantic 10's conference season was a good one. So good, in fact, that they didn't even let the start of league play stop them from knocking off another ACC school. Charlotte went into Clemson and whipped the Tigers 82-72 to even their record against the conference to 2-2 on the season. While that's a good thing for the A-10 and the Niners, it's a bad thing for those of us who wrote that Charlotte's inconsistency has made them a little disappointing this season. At least we saved ourselves by pointing out Leemire Goldwire's skills. He had 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead the upset.

On the league front, there was a dandy of an opener in Dayton where the #22 Flyers played host to #20 Rhode Island in a thriller. The Rams cut a 13-point Dayton lead to four with 90 seconds to play but Marcus Johnson nailed a three on the next trip downcourt and the home team escaped 92-83. Brian Roberts was also huge down the stretch for Dayton. Despite the full attention of the Ram defense that forced him into seven turnovers, Roberts scored nine points in the final two and a half minutes to keep his team in front.

That defense was a key for Rhode Island all night. They forced 18 turnovers overall but it came with a downside.

Dayton's first game as a ranked team was certainly an effective one. Akron, perhaps inspired by their mascot's domination of the nation's other costumed humans, pushed them to the limit and then some in an 83-81, double OT win.

They did it by attacking Dayton's superlative Brian Roberts on both ends in the first half. Roberts scored just three points, picked up two quick fouls and the Zips went to the locker room with a six point lead. Their strong defensive effort was keyed by Nate Linhart, who posted three blocks, three steals and 10 rebounds to go with his nine points. Akron had eight steals and seven blocks in total and kept the Flyers from getting into a rhythm early.

They finally did by working the ball inside. With Roberts shut down, they turned to Kurt Huelsman and Jimmie Binnie. Huelsman, tough to guard at 6'10", had 18 and Binnie added a career-high 14. Roberts had 14 after the half to aid the effort and then two different players carried them through the overtimes.

Marcus Johnson scored six of the team's eight points in the first extra session and Jeremiah Wood, who led Akron with 21, missed at the end to force the game to double overtime. Those five minutes belonged to London Warren. He had six points and made a free throw to put the Flyers up three with four seconds to play.

When Dayton coach Brian Gregory is an old man sitting with his grandchildren one afternoon and they ask him about his career as a coach, yesterday's 80-55 win against Pittsburgh will likely come up. He'll tell them how Brian Roberts rained three pointers until the nation finally realized he was a damn fine guard. He'll use Marcus Johnson's 11 rebounds as a lesson that no matter how many inches you're giving up at 6'3", there's no substitute for passion and hard work on the glass. He'll try to pass along just how frenzied the home crowd was, how much they lifted the Flyers on a Saturday afternoon oh so many years ago.

He'll probably leave out the injury that left Pitt without Mike Cook. He certainly won't mention an iffy foul or two on DeJuan Blair which cost Pitt its most talented big man and Levance Fields' injury early in the second half probably won't find its way into the eager ears of the young Gregorys either. No matter. The story of yesterday was Dayton and their impending arrival in the Top 25.

Roberts has gone from unknown to well-known in the early part of this season and if he keeps up his play he'll be in All-America conversations when all is said and done. The Flyers have also entered the bigger picture. They've won 10 straight since stumbling against George Mason, rank seventh in RPI and have wins against Pitt and Louisville. The A-10 hasn't suffered for lack of compliments this season, yesterday's win is a boon for the whole conference which is looking more and more like a four-bid league.

Elsewhere on the mid major hardcourts: