The Sporting News ranks the Vikings’ group of wide receivers last among the 16 NFC teams. The Cardinals’ wide receivers rank No. 1 and Minneapolis native Larry Fitzgerald, Jr. is rated the fifth best receiver in the conference.
Twins pitcher Francisco Liriano, out for the season following surgery last November on his left elbow, was 9-3 with a 1.99 ERA at this date last season, according to stats on espn.com. Those numbers look imposing on a 2007 pitching staff that only has one pitcher, Johan Santana, with more than six wins.
Santana, Torii Hunter, Joe Mauer, Albert Pujolz, Derek Jeter and David Ortiz are players Twins president Dave St. Peter would pay to see play. He said, “I don’t think there‘s been a better pitcher in baseball” than Santana and he praised Ortiz, a former Twin now with the Red Sox. “He’s proven himself as an incredible clutch hitter…and he’s also just a wonderful guy, a great human being,” St. Peter said.
The ACC didn’t lessen its reputation as America’s premier college basketball league in last week’s NBA draft. The ACC led all conferences with six first round picks. The Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-10 each had four. Ohio State provided three of the four Big Ten picks, with Alando Tucker of Wisconsin going late in the first round to Phoenix. There were only two Big Ten players chosen in the second round, Carl Landry of Purdue and Adam Haluska of Iowa. Former Minneapolis North and Wisconsin guard Kammron Taylor wasn’t drafted.
Approximately 150 Twin Cities-area families will open their homes to over 300 international players during this year’s Schwan’s USA Cup, presented by Puma. The tournament, July 13-21 at the National Sports Center in Blaine, is the largest gathering of youth soccer teams in the hemisphere. Last year’s tournament featured 898 teams from 28 states and 17 countries, and it is expected that this year’s tournament will draw similar numbers. Daily attendance may average 25,000.