Posted August 16, 2010
Minnesota Twins pitchers have allowed seven earned runs in the club’s last seven home games and just two earned runs in their last five games at Target Field.
Big Ten Realignment May Come Within 30 Days
Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi told Sports Headliners he expects the Big Ten Conference to announce its realignment within "30 days" of football schools. New schedules need to come ASAP because all schools must remake their home and away dates with Nebraska joining the league in 2011 as a 12th member.
Maturi won’t speculate on the specific grouping of schools into two six-team divisions but did acknowledge that Big Ten officials will value both competitive balance and historic rivalries in making a final decision. Led by commissioner Jim Delany, league officials have comprehensively researched performances by Big Ten teams and Nebraska dating back to 1993 when Penn State joined the conference.
Maturi said the results show Ohio State is No. 1 during that period, while Michigan and Nebraska come next. Penn State, Wisconsin and Iowa are also performance leaders. Purdue, Michigan State, Northwestern, Illinois, Minnesota and Indiana have been less successful.
Sports Headliners suggests this grouping: Ohio State, Penn State, Iowa, Michigan State, Purdue and Indiana in an “East Division.” The “West Division” members would be Michigan, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Illinois and Minnesota.
Maturi acknowledged the likelihood that traditional rivals Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin won’t all be in the same division. Each Big Ten team is expected to play five games against division rivals and three more conference games against teams from the opposite division.
One of the three conference games is likely to be designated a cross division rivalry game but even that might not assure the Gophers, Wisconsin and Iowa playing each other annually, Maturi said. In the Sports Headliners grouping of teams Iowa is in the opposite division of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Following this example, some seasons the Hawkeyes might not play both Minnesota and Wisconsin.
League teams may eventually play nine conference games, not eight. The addition of a ninth game likely figures to boost TV ratings for the conference including on the Big Ten Network. However, the addition of a ninth game isn’t expected for at least a few years and if it does happen schools will during alternate years have either four or five home conference games. A ninth league game also means one less nonconference game which may result in less revenue for a school.
Favre Saga Calls for a Psychologist
The Brett Favre will-he-or-won’t-he-play soap opera could send a fella running for a shrink. That’s exactly what I did the other day. I called a psychologist, my friend Dr. Herb Brenden.
Dr. Brenden is a former high school football player and I asked him if Favre’s prolonged decision has become an exercise in selfishness, hurting teammates and frustrating fans. The Vikings are about three weeks out from their season opener and maybe not even Favre knows for sure if he will play.
Dr. Brenden said there are only a few athletes who could pull off the “I might show up or I might not” approach. “So it is quite an ego trip to just feel that people will wait until you’re ready,” he said. “Can you think of too many athletes who can get by with that? He’s a pretty special character, and he knows that. He knows he brings a lot of excitement to a football team. And he knows that Chili (coach Brad Childress) and all the other guys are willing to wait because if there’s any chance he’ll play they’ll hang on.”
The doctor agrees with those who believe Favre enjoys keeping most Minnesotans and the rest of the football world in suspense, occasionally throwing out a quote or other message. “It’s more exciting, too, to wait until the last minute to make a decision,” Dr. Brenden said. “And that’s typically the way things go. People don’t really decide until there’s pressure to do so. So far he’s just been kind of going with the game plan. Nobody is forcing too much of anything. They’re not saying you have to come back or you’re done. …”
Why can’t Favre make a decision when it seems he should be sure of his intent by this late date? “He doesn’t want to practice for one thing so he has to have some kind of reason for holding out,” the doctor speculated. “The second is he may have an injury there that he’s not quite sure how it’s going to respond when he gets back on the field. I think what happens here is that so many athletes in his category only perform if there is good pressure and a good reason for playing. And they live for those games where…there’s two minutes left and they’re three points behind or something. The adrenaline really starts to fire. …”
Dr. Brenden believes he understands why some people are frustrated, or even obsessed with whether Favre will return. “These are such...distractions for people, from (other) issues that probably warrant their attention much more fully,” he said. “Like everything from the economy to politics to whatever. ...Things that could use greater attention and probably profit (people) a lot more.”
Worth Noting
Maturi has announced that Trevor Mbakwe can play with the Gophers basketball team next season. Mbakwe, who learned last week that he won’t have to participate in a trial involving an alleged assault, has said he’s unsure whether he will play for the Gophers, according to a Star Tribune story on August 13.
However, it seems unlikely Mbakwe will choose to leave the Gophers. He would need a waiver from the NCAA to become immediately eligible to play for another school and why would that be granted when he’s already able to play here? Without the waiver, Mbakwe’s alternative would be to sit out a season but that seems unattractive since he didn’t play last season after Maturi ruled him ineligible because of the alleged incident in south Florida.
Maturi is disappointed about Texas cancelling its two-game series with the Gophers in football and seeing the Longhorns replace those games with Notre Dame.
James Manuel, who chose the Gophers over offers that included Iowa and Michigan State, looks like one of the team’s most promising freshmen. The 6-2, 200 pound former Indianapolis prep has impressed at strong safety with both his physical and mental abilities.
Former Gopher Alex Daniels, who finished his college career at Cincinnati, is an undrafted rookie trying to make the Oakland Raiders roster. Daniels, who played both offense and defense for the Gophers and once ran for over 100 yards in a Minnesota nonconference game, was recently switched from defensive end to fullback at the Oakland training camp.
Brian Dutcher, the son of former Gophers coach Jim Dutcher, said San Diego State ex-athletic director Jeff Schemmel, who once was an administrator in Minnesota’s athletic department, is practicing law in Kansas City. Brian has been an assistant basketball coach at San Diego State for 12 seasons and said the Aztecs have all five starters back from last year’s NCAA tournament team.
Kevin Slowey, who threw a no-hitter through seven innings yesterday before manager Ron Gardenhire took him out of the game, made his fourth career start against Oakland and improved his record in those games to 3-0 with a 1.04 ERA.
Twins infielder Alexi Casilla has made two errors since June 9, 2009.
Joel Maturi
Ron Gardenhire
Photo
courtesy of Minnesota Twins
