Author: David Shama

Mauer’s backup, Drew Butera, hit .167 this season ─ an average that tied him with Jerry Zimmerman for the lowest in franchise history for players with at least 230 at-bats. Butera hit safely in four of his last six games.

Twins rookie first baseman Chris Parmelee reached base in 19 of the 21 games he played.  His impressive performance included a .355 average and four home runs.

This season Twins first basemen combined to hit .303 with 18 home runs and 91 RBI.

The Twins open next season on the road, April 6 in Baltimore.

Vikings defensive end Jared Allen played his first four NFL seasons in Kansas City so Sunday’s game against the Chiefs will be a homecoming.  He said yesterday his current contract is “10 times more” than the one he was considering while in Kansas City.  He’s happy with the Vikings after he parted with Chiefs football boss Carl Peterson under less than ideal circumstances.

Allen said the outdoor tailgating experience at Arrowhead Stadium is memorable.  “You can smell the barbeque from like a mile away,” Allen said.  “The smell of the coals burning, it just gives you chills because you know this is football.  …I am excited to go back there and play, and go get a ‘W’.”

The Vikings need down the field playmakers and it wouldn’t be surprising if rookie tight end Kyle Rudolph receives more playing time soon.  His 6-6 size and athleticism, including speed, make him an exceptionally mobile tight end.  He averaged 11.5 yards per reception at Notre Dame

The Vikings are 0-3 and have blown three double digits halftime leads but former Vikings assistant coach Dean Dalton expects head coach Leslie Frazier’s calm approach to be a major asset in attempting a turnaround.  “Don’t panic and cause a bunch of anxiety in the building,” Dalton said.

Is the overall Vikings personnel just average?  “That’s a fair assessment of the talent,” Dalton said.  “They’ve got some holes where they’re below average, and then they’ve got some places where they still maintain Pro Bowl caliber players.  So across the board it’s not an outstanding football team.”

The Gophers, who play Michigan tomorrow, have only won twice against the Wolverines since 1978, both times in Ann Arbor, 2005 and 1986.  All-time Gophers rushing leader Darrell Thompson recalled that before the 1986 game Minnesota assistant coaching legend Butch Nash spoke to the team, urging players to never look back regretting their efforts.  Nash was also credited with inspiring the Gophers in their 1977 upset of then No. 1 ranked Michigan in Minneapolis.

Brady Hoke, the first year Michigan coach, was contacted by Minnesota last fall when the Gophers job was open.  The guess here is that Hoke, then coaching at San Diego State, wasn’t interested in coming to Minnesota and perhaps was already thinking about a return to Ann Arbor where he had once been an assistant.

Gophers’ offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover is “1-0” at Michigan having been on the winning side as a Northwestern grad assistant in 1995.

Kyle Washington, the 6-9 forward from Champlin who is a junior at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut, received a scholarship offer this week from Louisville coach Rick Pitino, according to prep basketball authority Ken Lien.

Because of demand, the Lynx are selling tickets in the upper level of Target Center for Sunday’s opening WNBA Finals game against Atlanta.  Tickets are available starting at $15.

Lynx chief operating officer Conrad Smith said the franchise has sold over 500 new full season tickets in the last two weeks since the playoffs started.

Former governor Jesse Ventura and ex-Vikings running back Chuck Foreman spoke to the Lynx yesterday at practice.  Ventura is a Lynx season ticket holder.

The song “Apache” has been the Lynx players’ theme song since 2006.  Sunday The Sugarhill Gang will perform its hit single “Apache” during a halftime concert.  The Sugarhill Gang is a hip-hop group comprised of Wonder Mike, Master Gee and Henn-Dog.

The Wild will practice on Monday and Tuesday at AMSOIL Arena in Duluth.  A team spokesman said via email the visit to Duluth is part of a “team building” effort on the North Shore.  The Wild have about one week between the last preseason game tonight and the regular season opener on October 8.

Augsburg’s football team will try to stay unbeaten tomorrow when it hosts Carleton (1-2). The 3-0 Auggies earned their first win in Collegeville since 1980 last Saturday defeating Saint John’s, 32-31.  Augsburg defensive back Tyler Phillips had 13 tackles while quarterback Marcus Brumm threw four touchdown passes including the game winner as time expired.  Phillips and Brumm are the MIAC’s defensive and offensive players of the week.

Minnesota native Karl Gregor is the new assistant men’s tennis coach at Tufts University.  He has previous tennis coaching experience at Harvard, Boston University and Air Force.

News and comments on Gophers football:

Offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover said today that MarQueis Gray is still the No. 1 quarterback.  Limegrover said there is not a clear enough distinction between the abilities of Gray and freshman Max Shortell to make a change in the No. 1 status of Gray.

Gray, a junior, has started all four games this season.  He was only 5-of-12 passing for 52 yards and no touchdowns last Saturday against North Dakota State.  Shortell, who has surprised most everyone with his first season of play, has participated in each game and against the Bison was 4-of-8 passing for 71 yards and one touchdown.

As of today head coach Jerry Kill remains at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester as doctors try to figure out how to control his seizures.  Defensive coordinator Tray Claeys will be the coaching staff leader if Kill can’t be in Ann Arbor Saturday for the Michigan game.

“I expect him to be there,” Claeys said.  “I will be shocked if he’s not there.”

The inept and embarrassing performance by the Gophers Saturday night in their 37-24 loss to FCS power North Dakota State provoked a blunt assessment by assistant head coach Bill Miller.

Miller, interviewed on WCCO Radio’s Sports Huddle last Sunday, criticized the collective effort of the team.  “Very simply, North Dakota State took the fight to us.  What we’re trying to change here is the mentality.  How you approach the game. …It’s very disappointing.”

The North Dakota State loss was the second in five years to the Bison and follows last season’s loss to FCS South Dakota.  The Gophers, who begin the Big Ten season against Michigan, compiled a 1-3 nonconference record including losses to 3-0 North Dakota State and 1-3 New Mexico State.

“We gotta recruit more tough kids, more physical kids,” Miller said.  “I am not saying our guys here are soft, but we didn’t play with the mentality that you have to play with.  The bottom line in this game ─ North Dakota State took the fight to us ─ and that’s got to be our mentality.  It isn’t right now. …”

Kill, Miller and the other staff members are in their first season at Minnesota.  Their success will be determined by not only improving the fight in the Gophers, but also the mental focus to play with minimal mistakes including penalties and the ability to execute the fundamentals of blocking and tackling.

The critics among the public are already being heard including questions about the coaching.  That won’t surprise Kill or anyone else who understands how emotional things can become when a team is losing most Saturdays, and turns in a performance like the Gophers did against North Dakota State.

It’s been a difficult beginning for Kill, trying to regain his health and improve the Gophers.  Supportive Gophers fans will take a deep breath and embrace a two or three year perspective while trying to envision the sort of success Kill had at other coaching stops turning around programs.

That assignment in patience has been asked of Gophers fans way too many times over the decades but in late September of 2011 it’s reality.