BYLINE: by Bob Sansevere, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
BODY:
Mar. 15--

I was at home the other night watching TV. The phone rang. I picked up
and heard a familiar voice.

"This is Zygi Wilf."

He didn't call to make small talk.

"I read your article," Wilf said. "And I felt you left a lot out."

He was referring to a column in Tuesday's Pioneer Press in which I wrote
the Vikings are having a lousy month signing free agents and that either
people in the front office stink at their jobs or Wilf is so upset he
hasn't gotten a new stadium that he's hoarding his money instead of
spending it on better free agents.
"I certainly don't agree on most points," Wilf said.

He said he was "very satisfied" with the additions of free agents
Visanthe Shiancoe, Vinny Ciurciu and Bobby Wade and that the Vikings
were "going to rely on free agency to supplement" their roster.

"We'll build through the draft," Wilf said. "We'll add through the
draft. The success of the franchise is based on the draft. That's what
separates the good teams from the bad teams. That you left out. I was
surprised. That's important in the development of the organization."

He added, "For the first time, we have the organization that can get the
right picks and do the right things."

He also offered me some advice, one Jersey guy to another: "You have to
think more like a Minnesotan. Minnesotans have patience. The key thing
is patience. That's a great thing in Minnesota."