Scoggins: Local teams learn damage control when stars go out

Mike Zimmer envisioned grand things from a Norv Turner-designed offense built around one-time MVP Adrian Peterson. That lasted all of one game.

The Vikings and NFL banished Peterson after he was arrested on felony child-abuse charges.

The Timberwolves and Ricky Rubio were all smiles after the point guard signed a $55 million contract extension two games into the season. One week later, Rubio rolled his left ankle, felt a pop and suffered a significant sprain that could sideline him until January.

The Wild raced to a 7-3 record and looked like one of the best teams in hockey until Zach Parise suffered a concussion that has sidelined him indefinitely. The Wild hasn't won a game since, though, on a positive note, Parise practiced Monday and could return soon.

More than anything, the buzzkill of those examples reaffirmed that success in sports is not always determined by preparation and planning but by the manner in which teams handle those unexpected curveballs that inevitably appear.

Sometimes unforeseen things happen that force teams to adjust and reinvent themselves on the fly. A star player walks in with a broken hand from doing knuckle pushups. A group of players rent a boat for a sex party. The roof on a stadium collapses. Bilateral leg weakness becomes a diagnosis.

OK, so it's perfectly understandable to wonder if our sports market has cornered the market on bizarro world, but teams everywhere deal with unusual or unexpected developments.

Rare is the team that encounters smooth sailing, start to finish. That's why preseason predictions are more fun banter than useful exercises.

Projections are based on the presumption that a team's dynamics will remain static. Nothing in sports ever remains static. That's both the beauty and challenge, and good teams or coaches mitigate the damage when difficult situations arise.

The Vikings serve as a case study in this area. Zimmer deserves a tip of the cap for the way he's managed his first nine games as an NFL head coach. His debut season actually should be measured in dog years, considering everything that already has landed in his lap.

He lost his future Hall of Fame running back and face of the franchise in a national scandal. He suspended a top assistant coach for two games for making anti-gay remarks. He lost his starting quarterback for the season, thus pressing a rookie into action before the team wanted. He lost his star tight end and one of his best offensive linemen to injuries. He kicked a veteran receiver off the team for running afoul of the law one too many times.

All of this before the bye week.

Zimmer's response to that bucket of migraines? Work harder. Study more video. Find a way.

Rather than host a pity party, Zimmer demands his team focus on what it can control and not concede defeat to circumstances. Their performance hasn't always been a work of art, but a 4-5 record doesn't look so bad, all things considering.

"This team has been pretty resilient," Zimmer said.

Now it's Flip Saunders' turn to carry that torch after losing Rubio for an extended period. A more precise timetable for Rubio's return won't be known until his ankle no longer resembles a beach ball because of the swelling. Realistically, the Wolves probably won't have their leader for a while.

That's disappointing because the Wolves look like a more competitive team this season. Not necessarily a playoff team, but a team worth watching for its development and entertainment value. In Rubio's absence, they must find a way to tread water.

The Wild finds itself in a different spot. Parise appears close to returning and hopefully his symptoms don't linger.

His hustle and goal-scoring should help the Wild snap out of its mini-funk, which really is what its three-game losing streak looks like — the ebbs and flows of a long season. Sometimes that happens to good teams, even in the absence of key injuries.

"We're not that far off," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. "Let's just battle through it."

That's the only solution. Things happen every season that test a team's resourcefulness. Teams in this market should understand that by now. They've had plenty of practice.

Chip Scoggins chip.scoggins@startribune.com