Author: David Shama

Gone are the days when the Gopher football program could keep almost every outstanding player in the state here.  Last week Notre Dame tight end John Carlson, from Litchfield, gained nearly 100 yards in pass receptions in the first half against Penn State.  Before the season started Notre Dame had three Minnesota starters, including Carlson, listed on its depth chart and the back up to Carlson is Marcus Freeman from St. Paul. 

Jim Laurinaitis, from Wayzata High School, was so good playing for Ohio State last Saturday he was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week.  The sophomore linebacker had a career-best 13 tackles and added a tackle for loss, two forced fumbles and an interception leading a rebuilt Ohio State defense to a win over Texas solidifying the Buckeyes’ No. 1 ranking.  

Laurinaitis was expected to play for the Gophers but changed his mind and became the first Minnesotan in memory to start for Ohio State.  Buckeye coach Jim Tressel is optimistic about Laurinaitis’ future.  “He is a bright young man,” Tressel said earlier this week.  “He studies the film hard. He knows what we expect of him.  He has a lot of desire to uphold that tradition of the excellent linebackers in Ohio State history.  With all those things being said, he also has some very good God given talents and we think he is going to end up being a good one.”  

Eden Prairie High School coach Mike Grant will see two of his seniors, linebackers, Bryce McNaul and Blake Sorensen, accept scholarships to Northwestern.  He said compared with years ago, parents and players are so much more “savvy” about the many assets schools offer because of the Internet and TV.  “And the movie Rudy doesn’t help because you watch that movie and you get so excited about Notre Dame,” Grant added. He recalled that Mark LeVoir, who played for him before going to Notre Dame, grew up wanting to play there.   

Grant thinks the Gophers’ new on-campus stadium, scheduled to open in 2009, is likely to help in-state recruiting.  “They just gotta get a few more of those (quality) recruits and hopefully this new stadium is going to attract some of those kinds of kids who love that kind of atmosphere,” he said.  “I think that’s the biggest thing they are missing is that atmosphere on Saturday afternoons.” 

If the race for the American League batting championship goes down to the last day, Joe Mauerhopes to be in the Twins’ lineup.  He made it clear he wants to win the title on the field and not finish with the highest average because he wasn’t playing.  

Brad Radke said he will make a formal announcement before the season ends regarding his retirement from the Twins. 

Michael Cuddyer of the Twins likes to watch other magicians to see if there is something new he can add to his repertoire.  He estimated he has 20 to 25 magic tricks and can put on a 30 to 45 minute show. 

Once the season ends rookie pitcher Scott Baker is looking forward to spending time with wife Leann and their first child, 13 month old son Eli.  The family will winter in Shreveport, Louisiana but Baker and his wife will vacation in Las Vegas. 

Larry Fitzgerald, the Arizona Cardinals’ Pro Bowl receiver from Minneapolis, stays after practice to help equipment managers with laundry.  He used to be a ball boy for the Vikings.   

The NFL monitors youth football including the number of girls playing high school football.  According to the NFL, five Minnesota girls participated in prep football last year.  Texas was first with 532, California had 284.  Iowa finished sixth with 72. 

Single game Wild tickets go on sale today (Saturday) at the Xcel Energy Center and through Ticketmaster. 

This Saturday Big Ten Conference football teams, for a third consecutive weekend, will play only non-conference games.  Opponents include Division I-AA schools Southern Illinois and Youngstown State, plus Eastern Michigan, Ball State and Temple, arguably the worst Division I-A football school in the nation. 

A Big Ten coach’s agent, worried about his client’s job security, finds comfort in opponents like that.  For many fans and media, the slate of foes is far less appealing.   

Major college football schools have increasingly been adding patsies to the schedules in recent years but the trend accelerated in 2006 with the addition of a 12^th game.  Driven by a need to increase athletic department revenues, the 12^th game has sent schedule makers scurrying for opponents, including I-AA foes. 

Not everyone is supportive of scheduling weak opponents and waiting until conference games to stir up excitement and test your team.  The Pac Ten Conference has added a ninth conference game.  Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said recently high expectations at his school likely would preclude ever playing a I-AA team. 

Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi said Sunday that Big Ten Conference athletic directors have discussed adding a ninth or 10^th conference game to the schedule.  Playing 10 conference games will create a round robin schedule with each team playing five home and five away games, and will determine a champion who played all conference opponents. 

Maturi said Michigan athletic director Bill Martin has been a leader on the issue and Maturi expects discussion of expanding the Big Ten schedule to continue.  The process involves talks among the conference athletic directors and possibly one day taking a recommendation to the football coaches. “I think we are all (the athletic directors) willing to talk about it,” Maturi said.  “We want to do what’s best for the Big Ten and college football. I think it will be discussed more and more.” 

While it’s unlikely, Maturi said a change could be proposed as early as next May.  He “leans toward doing something” to increase the number of conference games. 

With a 10 game conference schedule, the Big Ten could more dramatically market its product on TV and at the gate while still preserving two games for national flavoring.  That would protect historic rivalries like Notre Dame and Purdue, and also minimize the no-name opponents such as Division I-AA New Hampshire (a surprise winner against Northwestern last week before an announced crowd of less than 21,000 in Evanston, Illinois). 

The Gophers might fill their two non-conference games by choosing from the following menu:  Tulane, Rice, SMU, Houston, Baylor, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Utah State, UNLV, Nevada, Idaho, Wake Forest, Duke, Syracuse, Iowa State, Missouri, Colorado State, Wyoming, Oregon State, California, Stanford, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Army, Navy, Air Force, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt.  Reviving a traditional non-conference game such as with Pittsburgh would be appealing and could be scheduled every few years. 

Student-athletes are inspired by playing quality non-conference foes.  Before the Gophers’ game against California last week quarterback Bryan Cupito told the Star Tribune, “I love games like this. …I’ve marked this on the calendar since we first got our schedule.”