Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Norv Turner resigned Wednesday, following the teams second straight loss.I have tremendous respect for [head coach] Mike Zimmer, our coaching staff and our players and at this time I think it is in the best interest of the team to step down, Turner said in a statement. I thank the Wilf family for my time here in Minnesota and want to see our players and coaches achieve success.After Turner surprised Zimmer on Wednesday morning with his resignation, Turner told ESPNs Ed Werder, I think its just we have different views on where the offense was going.?Zimmer said later Wednesday that he was very, very surprised by the resignation, and called Turner, 64, a very good friend of mine.The resignation seemed to stem from a philosophical difference between Turner and Zimmer. As early as the 2014 off-season, Zimmer had gone to then-Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson in order to pick his brain on offense, to be more educated in order to evaluate things for himself.Zimmer also announced that he had a minor procedure on Tuesday for a torn retina.Pat Shurmur, who was hired this offseason as the Vikings tight ends coach, will be the interim offensive coordinator.The Vikings lost 20-10 to the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Monday night, their second loss after a 5-0 start. They lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 21-10 on Oct. 23.?The Vikings are second-worst in the league in total offense and in yards per game, at 293.3. The team has also been hit by injuries to Adrian Peterson, who tore the meniscus in his right knee, and linemen Matt Kalil and Andre Smith. Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater suffered a dislocated knee and ligament damage in an August practice.?Vikings quarterback?Sam Bradford said he was surprised when he heard the news about Turner.I didnt see this coming, he said.The quarterback said he found out about Turner resigning when his wife called him after she saw a sports alert.Minnesota safety Harrison Smith, on a conference call with Detroit reporters, said Turners resignation sends a message that the Vikings need to get back on track.Ive always loved Norv, Smith said, but right now all I can do is focus on playing the Lions.Turners son, Scott, is the Vikings quarterbacks coach, and will remain with the team.Shurmur has been Bradfords offensive coordinator twice before -- in St. Louis in 2010, Bradfords rookie season, and in Philadelphia in 2015.Zimmer hired Turner in 2014 following a one-season stint as offensive coordinator with the Cleveland Browns. Before that, Turner spent six seasons as the San Diego Chargers head coach. At the time, Turner inherited a Vikings offense that ranked 13th overall but 23rd in passing.The Vikings are the fourth team to change offensive coordinators since the season began. The Bills fired Greg Roman on Sept. 16, the Ravens fired Marc Trestman on Oct. 10 and the Jaguars fired Greg Olson on Friday.The 5-2 Vikings, who are still in first place in the NFC North, host the Detroit Lions on Sunday.ESPNs Ben Goessling, Michael Rothstein and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Fake Pirates Jerseys . Vettel, who has already clinched his fourth straight F1 title, enters the finale with a chance to equal Michael Schumachers 13 victories in a year and match the record of nine consecutive wins by Alberto Ascari in the 1952 and 1953 seasons. Cheap Pirates Jerseys . The team says the Spain international has a muscle pull in his right leg. 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What general manager Dave Nonis called "short and productive" negotiations ended with Kessel signing a US$64-million, eight-year contract on Tuesday. The year was 1991 and I was just another self-conscious teenager. Skinny. Pimples. Railroad tracks across my teeth. Although I was a blind boy attending a blind school, there were some partially sighted girls and word was that they were pretty.Ensconced in my bedroom at boarding school in Worcester, South Africa, I scanned through the radio stations, looking for something to occupy my mind. Suddenly my ears were assaulted by a cacophony of sounds. South Africa were playing an ODI in India after being readmitted to international cricket.I had heard the names of some of the South Africans - Kepler Wessels, Allan Donald, Jimmy Cook. But I didnt even know what a six was. Although my older brother Gary was a good cricketer back home in Zimbabwe, and I had heard people talking about the game, it didnt really mean anything to me. How could I picture it when I had never seen it?A week later, I was back home for the holidays. Gary and my parents picked me up from the airport. The whole way home from Harare to Kadoma, a two-hour journey, I asked them questions about the game. My dad and Gary were bewildered as to where this interest in cricket had come from, but they supplied the answers that became the building blocks of my passion. I started soaking up facts and names like a sponge, listening intently to debates about the differing merits of Donald and Eddo Brandes.By the end of the holidays I had a firm grasp on the game, and my excitement was peaking because I knew there would be commentary of Currie Cup matches on the radio when I got back to South Africa.The following year the World Cup came around, and Zimbabwe beat England, with Brandes bowling our old export Graeme Hick for a duck. I was totally hooked.When Zimbabwe were suddenly given Test status later that year, and lined up a Test against India, I figured there was only one way that I would be able to follow it. For weeks before the game, I saved my pocket money and converted it into coins. I knew the telephone number for the call box at the Red Lion, a pub at Harare Sports Club, and when the Test got underway, I started calling it to find out the score. Sometimes someone would answer, but they werent always that friendly.In the end I reverted to calling Radio One in Zimbabwe, where people were friendly but didnt necessarily know what was going on. Maybe you can make sense of this, they would say. It says two-seven-five divided by four. Eventually they knew when it was me calling, because they could hear the coins dropping into the pay phones coin box as the call went through. Yes, is that the guy calling from South Africa? they would ask.Soon cricket became an obsession. I managed to obtain Dave Houghtons home number and started calling him to talk about the game for as long as my allowance would hold out. One day as we were chatting, he heard the beep beep beep that warns you the call is about to be dropped because the money has run out. Quickly, he said, whats your number? He just managed to jot it down in time and then called me back.The following Sunday, Old Hararians played Alexandra Sports Club, and afterwards everyone was having a beer in the bar. Davie mentioned to my brother what a pleasure it had been talking to me. Gary went home and told my parents, and soon my dad was asking me why I was spending money that was meant for toothpaste and deodorant on phone calls to Houghton. I told him that Davie had called me back, but that just got me into more trouble.I also used to call Eddo, although he never called me back. And at one stage Grant Flower and Alistair Campbell were sharing a flat in town, and I got their number. They were pretty happy to talk, but Houghton is the only person Ive met whose appetite for discussing cricket exceeded my own. Many years lateer, after I had become a commentator, the two of us were driving from Harare to Bulawayo for a cricket match.ddddddddddddThe only break from cricket chatter on the five-hour journey was when we passed through Kadoma, and he said, Gee, Im a bit thirsty, and stopped for a drink.My commentary career came about almost by accident. I had finished school and was back in Zimbabwe in 1999, working on the switchboard for an irrigation company, when Sri Lanka came to visit. I met Ravi Shastri, who was there as a neutral commentator, and was allowed to sit in the commentary box so long as I promised not to make a sound. Eventually some of the commentators started chatting to me and asking for my opinions.Two years later India were back in Zimbabwe, and Shastri interviewed me during one of the tea breaks. Afterwards I was loitering around the press box when I heard a voice that I recognised from my school days in South Africa. It was Neil Manthorp, and I introduced myself. He was doing radio commentary for Cricinfo on the game and asked if I would join him. He ran it by his boss in London, who told him to keep it to 15 minutes. But as it went on, the editor emailed to tell Neil to keep me on for the rest of the slot, and then for the series. My television debut came in 2003 when Mike Haysman persuaded the director to get me on during the second one-day international against West Indies in Bulawayo. Zimbabwe won the game, with Heath Streak and Mark Vermeulen taking them to a six-wicket victory, and the celebrations were extra sweet that night.I was born with tumours behind both retinas, so my eyesight was destroyed before birth. The doctors told my parents that I had three to five months to live. I had my left eye removed when I was three months old, and my right eye came out in 2001, leaving me with two glass eyes.This came in handy during an encounter with Darrell Hair during Englands tour to Zimbabwe in 2004. We had briefly met in Harare, and in Bulawayo we got chatting some more. Zimbabwe had been on the receiving end of several bad decisions from him, so I said, Darrell, Ive got something Id like to give you to help you out. I took out my right eye and put it in his hand. He went very quiet, then apparently he glowered at me, and then started to smile. Eventually he put his head back and bellowed with laughter. Eventually I had to remind him to please give me my eye back.As remarkable as my story is, I know there are things that only a sighted commentator can do. For example, I cant analyse the field placements and make suggestions of how they could be changed. But I still feel I have a lot to offer.When Im wired into the stump microphone, I can generally make out who is bowling from listening to the way that they land and how they grunt, and from that point there are many giveaways as to what has happened. The length of time between the sound of the ball pitching and hitting the bat, the shuffle of the batsmans feet, and the type of noise that emanates from the bat striking the ball, all give me an idea of what shot has been played. Then the different calls of various batsmen, and the shouts of the fielders or the sound of the crowd, suggest whether the ball has pierced the field and how far it may have gone. So I can follow the game carefully, and along with the facts, figures, scorecards and conversations that Ive stored in my mind over the years, I can perform a role as an analyst.To date, the only places Ive travelled for cricket are South Africa and Bangladesh. Opportunities have been a bit short lately, and things in Zimbabwe are not easy. But one day I hope to get out there and see the world. ' ' '