Author: David Shama

When Randy Foye was seven-years-old he developed pneumonia.  Nothing unusual about that but at the same time something else was discovered.  Foye’s heart is on his right side, not his left. 

The Minnesota Timberwolves’ rookie guard said some people “panicked” when they learned about his heart prior to the NBA draft.  Foye explained he’s one of about 100 people in the United States whose hearts are on the right side of their bodies. While Foye doesn’t know why this happened, he said the location of his heart is not a health problem (his liver and other organs are reversed, too). 

“No, not at all,” Foye answered when asked about any potential health concerns. “Only thing is I probably get a cold easier but other than that everything is the same.”   

Foye said he didn’t know why he would be susceptible to colds but said doctors told him that he is.  He also said tests before the NBA draft calmed concerns by others about his heart.  “You go through the tests.  You see everything is the same as the person with the heart on this side (pointing to his left side). …”

Foye, who thinks he is one of the team’s best conditioned players, is encouraged by his play and that of the Timberwolves.  He has become a key substitute off the bench, sometimes entering games in the first quarter.  He is averaging 5.9 points and 1.6 assists per game and while his numbers aren’t big expectations remain that the seventh pick in the 2006 draft will become a star player. 

The Timberwolves have won four consecutive games.  Foye would love a Christmas present of 10 in a row.  “I think we’re ready to go (and) me, too,” he said.  “Right now we had our ups and we had our downs. …Now it’s time for us to roll.”

Foye was surprised when a visitor asked him last week about going back to Philadelphia where he played collegiately for Villanova.  His name has been mentioned in trade speculation involving a multi-player deal with the Philadelphia 76ers that would bring Allen Iverson to Minnesota.

Foye apparently hadn’t heard about the rumor and expressed his commitment to the Timberwolves, but did say, “Whatever happens, happens.”

Start a list of the best assistant football coaches in the Big Ten Conference and place Mitch Browning’s name toward the top.  The Gophers’ offensive coordinator is a high impact coach and recruiter who has been vital to Minnesota’s success. 

Last week Minnesota’s Matt Spaeth won the John Mackey Award, given annually to the nation’s best tight end.  There will be an awards dinner on April 30 in Orlando, Florida and Browning will accompany Spaeth. 

Before the season started Spaeth, a senior and the first Gopher to win the Mackey award, talked about Browning being one of the great assistant coaches in the country and the “mastermind” of the Gopher offense that has set school and Big Ten Conference records. 

“His knowledge and what he has taught me is just amazing,” Spaeth said.  “It’s amazing how much a person can learn once he is here.  Not just x’s and o’s but just work ethic and different things like that.”   

Browning has also upgraded the Gophers’ talent over the years by recruiting successfully in Ohio and he also recruited former all-American running back Laurence Maroney from St. Louis. 

As an NFL place-kicker, the Vikings’ Ryan Longwell couldn’t experience a better late season schedule.  Yesterday the Vikings played in Detroit’s dome, Ford Field, and next week the team is in the Metrodome against the New York Jets.  Then the season ends with games at Green Bay and back home against St. Louis.  That’s three games out of four in domes–comforting environments for late December when nasty winds and bitter cold are the norm outside. 

After nine seasons with the Packers, Longwell signed on with the Vikings where he has accounted for 85 of the team’s 241 points this season. He has made 21 of 24 field goal attempts.

While he appreciates the advantages of kicking in a climate controlled atmosphere, Longwell doesn’t dread bad weather.   “Not really,” he said.  “I always took it as a sense of pride that I was always pretty good when the weather was nasty. …” 

Even when a late season game will be outdoors, Longwell prefers working indoors at practice to perfect his precision and rhythm.  He said practicing outside and struggling with the wind results in going into a “game with no confidence.” 

Longwell talks about something more important than just staying warm and keeping his body flexible on game day.  “The biggest thing kicking in the cold is mentally you have to get over the hurdle that your body is not going to feel warm,” he explained. “You’re not going to feel like you do in August when you are sweating and loose and everything.  You’ve got to know your body is warm even though it doesn’t feel like it.” 

Green Bay’s Lambeau Field ranks with the most difficult places to kick late in the season, Longwell said.  The Vikings’ game in Green Bay on Thursday, December 21 will be at night so the temperature is likely to be colder than a day game.  

Why is Lambeau a challenge for a kicker?  “It’s so windy and so cold,” Longwell said.  “There are a lot of factors.  The biggest thing is you have got to make sure you have solid footing, and if you don’t, you have to adjust for it. You gotta guess with the wind.  And in Lambeau since they renovated it, one of the things is the end zone is lower in one end and it makes it really swirly and gusty in there.  …”