Author: David Shama

When Jim Bruton heard about the “Love Boat” party on Lake Minnetonka two years ago, he had a different reaction than many Minnesota Vikings fans.  Publicity about the party and other negative news about the Vikings over the years inspired Bruton to write a book, “A Tradition Of Purple, An Inside Look At the Minnesota Vikings.”

The book was published this fall and it’s a positive tale about Vikings coaches, players, front office personnel and the charitable deeds of the organization then and now.  The book’s point of distinction is that it’s written from a fan’s perspective with the intent of documenting what the franchise has meant to this region since its inception in 1961.

Bruton attended the team’s first game and has been rooting for the Vikings ever since.  As a 16-year-old from Alexander Ramsey High School in Roseville, Bruton watched rookie quarterback Fran Tarkenton and his expansion teammates surprise the Chicago Bears in that first game, winning 37-13 at Met Stadium.  Bruton chuckled about the memory in a phone interview on Wednesday when he recalled that Bears owner and coach George Halas helped Minneapolis-St. Paul to secure an NFL team and the Vikings welcomed him to town by solidly defeating his storied franchise.

Bruton has owned Vikings season tickets for 41 years.  He’s not only been watching the team for a long time, he tried to play for the Purple.  Bruton had limited success as a placekicker for the Gophers in 1965 and 1966, kicking off in a few games and once missing a field goal against Michigan.  Still, he pursued a dream to play in the NFL and as a free agent was cut twice by the Vikings, and once by the Dallas Cowboys. “I am probably the only active season ticket holder that (coach) Bud Grant cut (from the team) twice,” Bruton said.

Not that Bruton hasn’t led an interesting and successful life away from football. He spent 35 years in the corrections field and retired as warden of the state’s maximum security prison in Oak Park Heights, Minnesota.  He always retained his passion for the Vikings, though, and in the early 1990s set up a meeting with Grant after having not seen the legendary coach for many years.  This resulted in Grant autographing a photo of himself with this inscription: “To Jim.  I always wished you had tried out again, so I could have cut you a third time!”

Grant was one of seven people associated with the Vikings, including part owner Mark Wilf, who approved the manuscript before it was written.  The book sells for $24.95 and a portion of the proceeds go to the Viking Children’s Fund that has been assisting non-profits since the 1970s when general manager Mike Lynn started it.

Bruton has a series of book signings coming up where he’s accompanied by former Vikings players.  A listing is on the Vikings web site (www.vikings.com) and can be accessed under events and alumni appearances.  Bruton also welcomes calls by e-mail jamesjhbjr@comcast.net, or telephone, 651-398-4937. He will autograph books for those who contact him.

Never say never but don’t hold your breath.  Three recent exhibitions in Asia involving Roger Federer and Pete Sampras have undoubtedly left local tennis fans hoping the legendary two-some comes here.   

Jack Larson, vice president and general manager of the Xcel Energy Center, is aware of the matches between Federer and Sampras but is not pursuing the two at this time for St. Paul.  Xcel has been the site of past tennis exhibitions but didn’t have an exhibition last year or in 2007.

At times this has been an impressive tennis market.  The local fandom, including our Scandinavian base, turned out in large numbers to watch Bjorn Borg at the old Met Center.  Even before that the building was the site of a World Team Tennis record crowd that watched the Minnesota Buckskins against Billie Jean King and the Philadelphia Freedom.

Minnesota tennis legend David Wheaton, who once was ranked No. 12 in the world, shares the hope and enthusiasm that Federer and Sampras will play in Minnesota.  “I think it would be huge if that kind of match were here, a novelty,” he told Sports Headliners.

Wheaton said the two players “are the best of the modern era since 1972.”  Arguably they are the two greatest of all-time.  Wheaton said if Federer finally wins the French Open or exceeds Sampras’ record total of 14 Grand Slam wins, then the 26-year-old Swiss native will deserve to be acclaimed as even a better player than Sampras.

Wheaton is surprised that Federer participated in the three exhibitions against the 36-year-old Sampras who retired from tour competition in 2003.  While it’s great for stirring interest in tennis, Federer doesn’t have much to gain by playing his older rival.  “Federer is the kind of guy, though, that doesn’t care that much about his legacy,” Wheaton said.

Sampras won one of the three matches and Wheaton said the exhibition results don’t prove who is best.  He said Sampras isn’t good enough to be a top five player today but with months of preparation for the exhibitions he can be competitive with Federer.

Meanwhile, the local section of the United States Tennis Association is discontinuing the annual women’s professional circuit tournament that was held in the winter for seven years.  The commitment in resources and staff time to support the event became too much for the Northern Section to be comfortable with, according to USTA sources.

So if you need a pro tennis fix, circle March 10 on your calendar.  Wheaton reports that Federer and Sampras will play an exhibition in New York’s Madison Square Garden on that date.

Bethel can move on to the Division III national championship semi-final game if the Royals defeat Central College of Pella, Iowa tomorrow.  The Royals would then play the winner of the Mount Union versus St. John Fisher game, also being played this weekend.  The game against Central College will be in Pella and begins at noon, and the broadcast can be accessed at www.kniakrls.com. Bethel won its second round playoff game last week, 21-12 over UW-Eau Claire.  The Royals were undefeated during the MIAC regular season, 8-0.  Overall the Royals are 11-1, including two playoff games for the first time ever (previous record 0-4).  Quarterback Ben Wetzell was chosen the MIAC MVP and Steve Johnson Coach of the Year, the second consecutive season he has won that award.  The awards were voted on by conference coaches.

The New York Post speculates that the Twins may keep pitcher Johan Santana until next summer’s trading deadline, allowing time to see if the team can challenge for a Central Division championship and the playoffs.

The New York Yankees have the most regular season wins, 686, since 2001.  They are followed by Oakland, 649, Boston, 645, St. Louis, 641, Atlanta, 639, the Los Angeles Angels, 621, and the Twins, 619.

The annual TwinsFest is scheduled for Friday, January 25 through Sunday, January 27 at the Metrodome. The event will provide fans their first opportunity to purchase single-game tickets to 2008 home games. Tickets go on sale at 5:30 p.m. on January 25 at TwinsFest, www.twinsbaseball.com, (612) 33-TWINS and (800) 33-TWINS and Twins Pro Shops.  A tentative 2008 schedule is expected to be finalized soon and includes an opening series with the Angels and Torii Hunter.

Twins pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to spring training in Fort Myers on Sunday, February 17. The full squad is expected on Friday, February 22. The team’s first game in Fort Myers will be on Friday, February 29 against the World Series champion Boston Red Sox.

Ryan Amoroso of Burnsville, who started his college career at Marquette, led San Diego State in scoring Wednesday night with 19 points as the Aztecs defeated Loyola Marymount, 78-56.

Former Gopher coach Dan Monson is 1-4 at Long Beach State.  Three of the four losses have been by 15 points or more including a 40 point loss to Brigham Young and 22 points to Montana State.

The Gophers, who have a weekend home series with Michigan Tech, are not ranked among the top 15 teams in the nation in this week’s USA Today/USA Hockey national poll. It’s the first time the Gophers have not been in the publication’s top 15 since December of 2003, ending a streak of 99 consecutive polls that Minnesota was ranked. The Gophers, who were 15th in the poll last week, are still ranked 14th in this week’s U.S. College Hockey Online national poll.

Minnesota quarterback Adam Weber, running back Duane Bennett and guard D.J. Burris are included on The Sporting News 2007 Freshman All-Big Ten Team. Minnesota’s three selections on offense were the most of any team in the Big Ten.

Minnesota seniors Dominique Barber, Amir Pinnix and Ernie Wheelwright have been selected to play in the 2008 Hula Bowl all-star game.