Author: David Shama

ESPN.com’s Rick Reilly wrote a caustic column last week titled “Big Ten Primer for Big Red.”  In the primer he introduced Nebraskans to the conference including fellow members of the Legends Division.  About Minnesota he wrote: “The only thing they’re legendary for is losing.  You’ll love them.”

Reilly described the conference’s names for its two football divisions (Legends & Leaders) as “incredibly anvil-brained.”  He speculated that among the potential division names that didn’t make the final cut were “Cheats and Soon-to-be-caught Cheats.”

Bruce Smith Day will be Saturday, September 17 when the Gophers host Miami (Ohio.  A bronze bust of Smith, the legendary Minnesota Heisman Trophy winner from Faribault, will be presented to the Gophers athletic department, according to Bruce Krinke.  Krinke is part of a group that is honoring the Gophers’ only Heisman winner ever with the creation of two bronze busts.  One will reside at the University and the other at Faribault High School.  Krinke said via email that the Rice County Historical Society has found a 1941 audio recording of Smith’s Heisman acceptance speech in New York.  The recording may become part of the Smith memorabilia at the University.

Scott Baker, who has a team leading 2.88 ERA among Twins starters, pitches tomorrow night in Texas in the third game of the four game series against the Rangers.  Baker, 29, entered his seventh major league season this year with a career ERA of 4.32.

Relief pitcher Glen Perkins has given up only one earned run in his last 15 appearances (13 innings).

Mark the date: Kevin McHale returns to Target Center for the first time as the new coach of the Houston Rockets on Friday, November 25 (the day after Thanksgiving).

Collegeinsider.com’s Jason Belzer includes Winona State’s Mike Leaf among the top 25 non-Division I basketball coaches in the country.  He reports that Leaf not only won Division II national titles in 2006 and 2008, but that the coach graduates “100 percent” of his players.

Canterbury Park didn’t operate for 20 days because of the state government shutdown and president Randy Sampson estimates the Shakopee facility lost as much as $1 million per week but final figures won’t be known until the racing season ends later this summer.

The track has rescheduled its Extreme Race Day featuring camel and ostrich racing to August 6.

Minneapolis City Council president Barbara Johnson believes Arden Hills remains the favorite site to one day host a new Vikings stadium but said her city could come under consideration in the months ahead.

The state’s shutdown and budget wrangling has at least temporarily sidelined the effort to send a bill to the legislature for a stadium in Arden Hills.  A special legislative session to address the Arden Hills plan later this year is drawing speculation, but some leaders are on record doubting whether it will happen.

Thirty days ago Johnson and others who favor a Minneapolis site were even more concerned about Arden Hills, but now the whole stadium question could be put off until next year’s legislative session.  “I think we may have a second chance here,” Johnson told Sports Headliners.

With the Vikings in support of Arden Hills and Ramsey County leaders agreeing on a county sales tax increase to help provide funding, the suburban site is the location of choice today.  Johnson said that even going into the 2012 legislative session Ramsey County should be considered the favorite for a new Vikings stadium.  “At this point, sure. They’re going to work it (the county’s plan),” Johnson said.

But more time probably means additional legislative review and hearings.  More months for Minneapolis and perhaps Hennepin County to make a pitch for a downtown stadium to both legislative leaders and the Vikings ownership.

Johnson has been a supporter of a new stadium on the Metrodome site but knows the Farmers Market locale near Target Field has drawn interest, too, including from Hennepin County commissioner Mike Opat who led the drive to keep the Twins downtown.

“He told me to keep an open mind,” Johnson said.  “That is what I am going to do.”

Johnson and mayor R.T. Rybak are on record about keeping the Vikings in the city. “That’s important to us,” Johnson said.

In May Johnson and the mayor announced a comprehensive plan that would help fund a stadium, renovate Target Center, and provide property tax relief by using various taxes including a city wide extension of the food and liquor sales tax. The city council has not yet been asked to approve such a plan.

A covered Vikings stadium would serve as a community facility and entertainment venue.  Its uses will mirror that of the Metrodome including hosting high school and small college sports.  A new facility would also be expected to attract a large number of high profile events, perhaps ranging from NCAA basketball tournaments to truck pulls to concerts.

The central location of downtown with access to public transportation is just one of the reasons Minneapolis boosters hope the stadium will eventually be located in the city rather than in Arden Hills.  They argue, too, that the success of Target Field demonstrates the appeal of a downtown facility to local sports fans.  It’s important to have such attractions to maintain the economic health of downtown and the inner city, the financial heart of the region, according to Minneapolis boosters.

Meanwhile in Los Angeles (a rumored landing spot for the Vikings), the city council is facing an end of the month deadline regarding a memorandum of understanding for a new football stadium.  The issue, of course, is controversial and probably more so now after a recent article in the Wall Street Journal characterized the Cincinnati Bengals stadium deal with Hamilton County as “one of the worst  professional sports deals ever struck by a local government.”

The stadium’s expense last year was $34.6 million, or 16.4 percent of the county budget, according to the Journal.