Author: David Shama

New general manager Bill Smith, who has been a Ryan assistant for years and with the Twins organization since 1986, is a graduate of Hamilton College in Clinton, New York where he majored in French. In 1980 Smith was one of the first participants in major league baseball’s development program for executives.  The 49-year-old Smith and wife Becky have three daughters, including twins Allison and Amy.

Michael Cuddyer talking about next year’s Twins: “I don’t know what the plan is but I am optimistic because this organization takes a lot of pride in finding players and developing players. Whether it be going out and getting trades…or promoting within, they’ve done a great job the last decade (and) since I’ve been here.  I’ve got no doubt it’s going to continue to go in that direction even with Mr. Smith taking charge.”

After being swept by Detroit over the weekend, the Twins have now lost seven straight games in the Metrodome and been out scored 40-17.

Twins relief pitcher Pat Neshek has a 6:23 ERA in his last 25 appearances.

John Bell Wilson, longtime Gopher basketball booster and manager, called to report that player agent Bill Duffy and NBA clients including Yao Ming and Steve Nash were in China where their fundraising had produced over $2 million for Chinese orphans.  Duffy played basketball for the Gophers and was a teammate of Kevin McHale, now Timberwolves vice president of basketball operations.

Greg Oden’s right knee injury will sideline him for perhaps 12 months and is an opportunity for former Gopher Joel Przybilla to become the starting center with the Portland Trail Blazers.  Wilson, a financial advisor downtown for UBS, knows Przybilla and said the 27-year-old Monticello native who has struggled with knee injuries is now healthy.

Lindsay Risebrough, daughter of Minnesota Wild general manager Doug Risebrough, is a senior on the Gopher tennis team playing singles and doubles.  The Gophers opened their season last weekend.  She played No. 1 singles in high school for Edina.

The Wild sold out three of their games within 10 minutes of tickets going on sale last Saturday. The sellouts are: Chicago on October 4, Pittsburgh October 30 and Anaheim January 18.

Gopher single game men’s hockey tickets went on sale Saturday.  Information about both general admission standing room and reserved seats is available by calling 612-624-8080, or 1-800-U-GOPHER.

The North American Hockey League’s annual Showcase Tournament is scheduled Wednesday through Saturday at the Schwan Super Rink in Blaine. The event will feature 18 Junior “A” NAHL teams, each playing one game a day for four days.  Participants are 20 and under, and the tourney is popular with NCAA and NHL scouts.  Both daily tickets and tournament passes are available to the public at the door.

Viking safety Darren Sharper will let the season play out before including Detroit’s wide receivers among the NFL’s elite but he told Sports Headliners about his respect for Roy Williams, Mike Furrey and Calvin Johnson.  “They’re a special group,” Sharper said.  “The fact there are different things they can do.  The size of the receivers. Their athletic ability.  It poses a challenge because when you have so many guys on the field who can catch the ball and do something with the football, you have to make sure you’re alert as a defensive player.”

When the Vikings play in Detroit on Sunday, they will see an offense that Sharper said will “definitely offer a test.”  The Lions use a varied offense with different looks under the direction of respected offensive coordinator Mike Martz, former St. Louis Rams coach.  “For me as a defensive back, he’s exciting to play against because you want to get a chance to be challenged in the passing game,” Sharper said.  “You want to get opportunities to make plays on balls, or be a factor. …”

Williams, 6-foot-3, made the Pro Bowl after his 1,310 yard, seven touchdowns 2006 season.  Furrey, 6-foot, led the NFC and was second in the NFL with 98 catches.

The 6-foot-5, 239-pound Johnson, the No. 1 overall pick in last spring’s NFL draft, was a two-time all-American at Georgia Tech where many observers rated him with the best and most explosive college receivers in memory.

The Lions have another newcomer in wide receiver Shaun McDonald who came from the Rams where he played for Martz.  In the Lions 36-21 opening day win against Oakland, McDonald caught six passes, the most on the Detroit team.  Furrey had five catches, and Johnson, Williams and running back Tatum Bell had four.

Spreading the ball around was quarterback Jon Kitna who completed 75% of his passes, (27 of 36) and three touchdowns.  He was six of eight in the fourth quarter as the Lions came from behind to win the game.  He finished first in the NFL last season in completions, second in attempts and fourth in passing.

Viking defensive tackle Pat Williams would like similar results Sunday to what he and his teammates did to Atlanta quarterback Joey Harrington.  Last Sunday the Vikings defense turned two of Harrington’s passes into touchdown interceptions and limited him to 23 of 32 passes and 199 yards.   “We gotta get pressure on him (Kitna),” Williams said.  “If we go out there early and get pressure on him…we can shake him up like we did last week.  It’s our game plan. …”

Sharper was asked if Johnson can be intimidated in his second NFL game (Williams and Furrey are expected starters with Johnson and McDonald coming off the bench).  “It depends on if a guy allows himself to be intimidated,” Sharper said.  “I don’t think because a guy is a young receiver you can expect to intimate him.  Any receiver who comes in there you want to let him know you’re there. You don’t want him to have the feeling that he can just go out and catch the ball and not have to deal with the ramifications of being in your area. …”

The Gophers figure to win Saturday’s game against Florida Atlantic but the trip to south Florida may ultimately have a more important payoff for coach Tim Brewster and his staff.  The Gopher travel party was scheduled to fly to south Florida last night, choosing to arrive about a day early for a road game because Brewster and his assistants want to recruit high school players there.

Brewster regards south Florida and the Houston,Texas area as places with extremely large numbers of major college football prospects. Previous Gopher coaching staffs have recruited those areas with limited success.  “ I think without question the Houston area is in my mind the best area in America today as far as the number of football prospects in a city wide area,” Brewster said.  “It’s just phenomenal, and south Florida is obviously pretty good, too.  There are a tremendous number of football players in south Florida. They’re both areas where we are going to target recruiting extremely hard.”

Brewster said he hopes his 2008 recruiting class will have three or four players from the Houston and south Florida areas.  He already has a commitment from highly regarded receiver Eric Lair of Houston.

Florida Atlantic plays in the Sun Belt Conference.  The Owls had a 5-7 record last season.  This season the Owls defeated Middle Tennessee at home, 27-14, and lost to Oklahoma State 42-6 last Saturday in Stillwater.

Most of the Owls games are played in Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale with a capacity of about 20,000.  A source said 11,398 attended the Middle Tennessee game in Lockhart earlier this month.  NCAA rules allow a school to move one home game per season from its regular stadium to another venue and Florida Atlantic chose to play Saturday’s game with the Gophers in the 75,000 seat Dolphins Stadium, home to the Miami Dolphins.

While Florida Atlantic isn’t an impressive name in college football, the Owls have chosen the Gophers and Dolphins Stadium as a showcase game. Some high school Floridians who are interested in the Gophers and Florida schools will be paying attention.

Brewster made it clear earlier in the week he’s making this a serious road trip, working the Gophers inside to simulate the heat and humidity of Miami where temperatures could be around 90 at game time.  He also announced a change in place kickers with freshman Eric Ellestad of Armstrong High School and junior Joel Monroe from Robbinsdale Cooper competing in practice this week to replace junior Jason Giannini of Canton, Ohio who missed three field goals last week.

The guess here is that the more experienced Monroe will replace Giannini.  Monroe will also continue as the kickoff man for the Gophers.