Oakland made Darren McFadden of Arkansas the first running back chosen in Saturday’s NFL draft. Before the draft last week former Vikings assistant coach Dean Dalton, who now analyzes the NFL in the media, said McFadden isn’t in the “same class” as the Vikings’ Adrian Peterson who was the first back selected in the 2007 draft.
Mike Max, host of WCCO TV’s “Life to the Max,” said the May 17 show will feature Sid Hartman, the 88-year-old Star Tribune columnist. The story will include interviews with Bob Knight, Lou Holtz, Pete Carroll and Governor Tim Pawlenty. “Life to the Max” can be seen on Ch. 4 Saturdays from 11 to 11:30 p.m. Max has interviewed many celebrities on the show but wants to some day include Tiger Woods. He said the show’s ratings vary from 3 to 4.5.
Sunday nights Max hosts the “The Sports Show” on WUCW TV, Ch. 23. The show’s regulars also include Patrick Reusse, Dark Star and Hartman. Max said he’s working on changing the show’s time slot from the current 10:35 to 11:05 p.m. Starting later this year he wants the show to air from to 9 to 9:30 p.m.
Courtney Boylan of Chaska and Jordan Taylor of Benilde-St. Margaret’s won the Miss and Mr. Basketball awards last night at a banquet that brought together the five girls and boys finalists. Last year’s Mr. Basketball winner, Gopher Blake Hoffarber, spoke to the audience about the transition from high school to college basketball. The Amazing Hondo, the well-known local magician who played basketball at Winona State, entertained the crowd.
Tim Larson, who was named Jostens president and CEO at age 34 earlier this year, is a graduate of the University of Minnesota and once worked in the Gopher sports information department.
The Minnesota Thunder, who will open the home schedule on Sunday night at James Griffin Stadium in St. Paul, expect to have an improved team with a mostly new roster. It’s been a busy off-season for coach Amos Magee and general manager Djorn Bucholz. Even last week the Thunder added two players, Brazilian forward Frederico Moojen and Colombian/Canadian defender Andres Arango. Magee said Moojen “will score a lot of goals for our team this season.” He expects Arango to be “one of the last pieces to a playoff puzzle.”
The Thunder haven’t been in the playoffs since 2004. The team is 1-1 on the season, having lost the road opener to Portland, 2-1, but defeated Vancouver, 1-0. Sunday’s game is against Rochester and begins at 5:05 p.m.
The Big Ten announced last week that Edina’s Whitney Taney, a freshman at Michigan, is one of its 11 players on the women’s all-conference tennis team as voted by the coaches. The Gophers’ Lindsay Risebrough, daughter of Wild general manager Doug Risebrough, is one of 11 sportsmanship award winners representing each Big Ten school.