Author: David Shama

Gopher football coach Tim Brewster has a special connection to the Rose Bowl.  In 1984 he and his Illinois teammates were in southern California for the Rose Bowl.  He proposed while on the trip to his girlfriend and now wife, Cathy.

The “Tyler Thigpen” era officially began with 13:02 to play in the fourth quarter of Friday night’s opening pre-season game against the Rams. Thigpen, the seventh round rookie quarterback, roused the crowd with a 12-yard scramble for a first down on his first series.  Fans love to gravitate to the newest of quarterbacks and Thigpen stirred up some of the loudest crowd noise Friday evening.  Fourth team quarterback Drew Henson didn’t play and he seems the likely roster cut when the Vikings go from four quarterbacks to three.

Rookie cornerback Marcus McCauley, a third round pick, is reportedly among the Vikings’ most impressive rookies so far.

Lester Bagley, a key executive for the Vikings in the pursuit of a new stadium, told Sports Headliners the organization hasn’t determined the appropriate time to resume its stadium drive because of the 35W bridge disaster.  Bagley, executive vice president of public affairs and stadium development, said there will be a special legislative session within a few weeks to deal with the bridge issue but the Vikings won’t pursue the stadium matter.

The Vikings’ new marketing theme, “You Made The Team,” will likely be used for a few years, according to Bagley.  The message relates to both the Viking tradition and present day.  Part of the campaign is to tell the stories of individual fans and what the franchise means to them.

Tickets were on sale at the Metrodome Friday night for the home season opener with Atlanta on September 9.  A ticket booth seller had lower level end zone seats available for $81 each.  Tickets for $113 per seat for the pre-season opener Friday night were being sold by street hawkers for $50 each or less.   

Ken Lien, who for years was chairman of the Minnesota Mr. Basketball Committee and has coached local youth teams, is impressed with 6-foot-9, 240-pound center Colton Iverson of Yankton, South Dakota and has seen him play three times this year.  “I like his frame, I like his aggressiveness,” Lien told Sports Headliners.  “He knows his way around the basket.  He plays big.”  Iverson has recently become a highly recruited player with the Gophers reportedly among schools in pursuit.

Lien coached Ryan Wittman, son of Wolves coach Randy Wittman, on a Minnesota Select team for three years (2003-2005).  Ryan was the Ivy League Rookie of the Year last season playing for Cornell, averaging over 16 points per game.  Lien, who owns a local awards and promotions company, said former Iowa coach Steve Alford had interest in Ryan while at Eden Prairie High School but not enough to offer a scholarship. 

The Detroit area, including Ann Arbor, is ranked the No. 1 sports town in America in a recent listing of the top 99 cities in the country by SportingNews.  Minneapolis-St. Paul is No. 10, preceded by Detroit, New York, Dallas-Fort Worth, Chicago-Evanston, Los Angeles, Boston, Denver-Boulder, Phoenix-Tempe and Philadelphia.  Our neighborhood rivals ranked like this:  Madison, 40th,  Milwaukee, 47th, Green Bay 51st , and Iowa City, 90th.  The rankings are calculated annually and based on a lengthy list of criteria including wins and losses, post-season participation, appeal of athletes and event attendance.

After the Twins finish a game, Jake Mauer anticipates a telephone call.  Grandson Joe calls Jake after most games, a ritual that’s been going on since the Twins catcher was playing in the minor leagues. 

“I give him all the credit (for the calls),” Jake told Sports Headliners late last month.  “He makes me the happiest grandpa in the United States.  When he calls it’s just something that I believe that cannot be explained because he can do anything he wants.  But grandpa, he wants grandpa.”

Jake, 78, and Joe, 24, are close, of course, because of more than bloodlines.  Jake tutored Joe in baseball while growing up in St. Paul.  They both love the sport and Joe’s performance is often a focus of their post game conversations. 

Jake knows his grandson so well he recognizes when Joe is waving his bat too much, or perhaps his stance is too wide open to effectively hit left-handed pitchers. In four plus seasons in the major leagues left-handed hitting Joe has become a batting champion, valued catcher and a player that some in baseball management would choose as the first player to build a team around.  But all of that doesn’t mean grandpa occasionally can’t offer constructive criticism.

“There’s not much advice to give him,” Jake said. “You know, he’s a .300 hitter and he’s a natural hitter. But they (exceptional hitters) do get into little flaws like moving the bat around and that makes the bat go slower and it doesn’t come through. …” 

Critics say that Joe takes too many pitches at the plate. “He thinks that he can hit anybody, no matter what,” Jake said.  “Everybody tells me, ‘Why does he take that first pitch?’ And he tells me, ‘You know, Grandpa, I am a much better hitter with two strikes on.’ I can’t believe that but that’s what he says.”

Joe is soft spoken, easy going and Minnesota nice.  Late last month when the Twins had lost seven of their last 10 games and woke up on a Saturday morning in Cleveland to find themselves in free fall in their chase for the Central Division championship, Joe called Jake.  The younger Mauer reported the Twins locker room was like a “tomb.” 

“I said, ‘Joe, why don’t you say something?  Pick them up.  You’re one of the leaders.’ …He said, ‘Well, Grandpa, you know the regulars like Torii Hunter and the older ones should do that.’  I said, ‘bull…maybe if they see you doing it, it will give a spark.  You should be one of the leaders.’” 

Joe, who earlier this year signed a four year contract reportedly worth $33 million, is living a dream playing baseball in his home state.   “He is dedicated to the Twins,” Jake said.  “…He won’t go anywhere (else).  He will stay right with the Twins, love or money, and money is not the problem.  He believes in Minnesota and he believes in the Minnesota people and that’s the way it should be.”

Joe will never play elsewhere? “If he were on the trading block now he would probably give up baseball right now and go to football (star quarterback in high school),” Jake said.  “But as far as going on the trading block he will not go anywhere else and that’s true.”

Last season Joe won the American League batting championship with a .347  average.  He also had 13 home runs and 84 RBI.  Jake predicts these final numbers for his grandson in 2007:  .330 to .335 batting average, 80-90 RBI and about 11 homeruns.  “What really hurt him was the five weeks off,” Jake said. “He got so far behind. It was just a tough break and it takes a long time to come back.”

Joe missed 29 games with a left quadriceps injury. He also had surgery on his left knee in 2004.  How is Joe’s health now?  “He has no problem with his quad or his knees, and he’s feeling great,” Jake said. 

Jake said the telephone calls from his grandson are about the most important thing in his life.  Still, Jake values his time in Florida, too.  In the winter Joe gives his grandfather free use of his condo.  Both the condo and Joe’s house are in the Fort Myers area.   Not much need for phone calls because grandson and grandpa play golf together.  

Baseball?  “I watch him workout every morning,” Jake said.  “He goes down to that batting cage.  That’s in January before the spring training. …”

The Timberwolves have renewed about 78 percent of their season tickets so far, according to president Chris Wright.  That’s on a base of about 7,000 sold last season.

Even before superstar Kevin Garnett was traded to Boston, the Wolves were challenged to maintain and grow their season tickets.  Three consecutive seasons of missing the playoffs and poor personnel decisions lessened the appeal of the Wolves’ brand in this highly competitive sports market. 

Acquiring five players from Boston and two draft picks in exchange for Garnett last week hasn’t excited many season ticket holders and other fans.  The Wolves held a news conference on Tuesday and season ticket holders were invited along with the press to hear from club officials and new players Al Jefferson, 22, Gerald Green, 21, Sebastian Telfair, 22, Ryan Gomes, 25, and Theo Ratliff, 34.

The event gave Wright and his staff an opportunity to sample the attitudes of season ticket holders. He told Sports Headliners the front office is taking a patient approach with season ticket holders.  The Wolves will not require final payments on season tickets until September 1. 

At the news conference season ticket holders offered a “well, we’re getting there” view on the new look Wolves, according to Wright.  “What we’re going to do is we’re letting the market settle in on the deal (trade),” he added.

Wright talked about the impact of giving up Garnett who had played here since 1995, was the most high profile athlete in town and one day will be inducted into the basketball hall of fame.  “We really feel when you lose a player of the stature of Kevin it takes awhile to get over the shock of that,” he said. “The fact (is) that he’s no longer here and that we will have a new identity around this team going into next season. But we also think that days like today gives us a great opportunity to introduce what we think are five incredible NBA players. …As the market warms to them…then the healing will begin. …”

I believe a final renewal rate of season tickets in the 90 percent range will be a success for the Wolves who have shown a lot of expertise in the past selling season tickets, plus single game and group tickets.   The Wolves regular season home opener is November 2 against Denver.