Author: David Shama

College football writers aren’t infusing much sis boom bah into the hearts and minds of Gophers fans these days.  The summer time experts are forecasting a dreary fall for the Gophers following last year’s 2-6 Big Ten finish, one spot ahead of last place Indiana, 1-7.

Athlon Sports predicts Minnesota will be 1-7 this year, finish last in the Legends Division and have a 4-8 overall record.  Athlon does identify Gophers quarterback MarQueis Gray as one of “three sleepers” to watch in the conference.  The publication also includes Minnesota’s Troy Stoudermire on its all-conference first team as the kick returner.  Tight end Eric Lair, offensive lineman Ed Olson and linebacker Gary Tinsley are third team choices.

Athlon, Sporting News College Football Magazine, Lindy’s and Phil Steele all share the same view on the Gophers for 2011.  Lindy’s sums up the pessimism by observing if the Big Ten had expanded to 14 teams instead of 12, “They (the Gophers) would be sitting two spots lower.”

Lindy’s ranks Minnesota a lowly No. 86 in the nation.  The July 4 issue of Sporting News Magazine checked the Gophers in at a more respectable No. 77, at least placing Minnesota ahead of No. 90 Indiana among Big Ten teams.

After four years of the Tim Brewster coaching era, the talent is too minimal at Minnesota to play winning football this fall, the writers claim.  But the arrival of new coach Jerry Kill offers promise, according to both the national and local views.

An anonymous opposing coach is quoted by Athlon as saying Kill is “phenomenal” and preferred that the Gophers new coach stayed at Northern Illinois.  In the July 4 Sporting News former Gopher Karl Mecklenburg predicts Kill will have Minnesota playing hard and this season will be “the start of a steady climb back to national prominence for the maroon and gold.”

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.”