Author: David Shama

Look for the Gophers basketball team to have nonconference home games this fall against Virginia Tech and Southern California.

Prep basketball authority Ken Lien reported via email that Hopkins point guard Siyani Chambers visited Harvard, Boston College, Providence and Boston University last week.  Chambers has been invited this week to attend Deron Williams’ camp for the best 20 high school and top 10 college point guards in the country.  The three-day camp is in Chicago Thursday-Saturday.

The Gophers’ home football schedule includes games with Iowa and Wisconsin but so far the game with the most ticket demand is against North Dakota State on September 24.  A source told Sports Headliners North Dakota State has sold all 3,000 tickets allotted by the Gophers and Bison supporters are looking for more.

North Dakota State finished 9-5 last season and was a Division I Football Championship Subdivision power.   The Gophers lost 27-21 to the Bison in the Metrodome in 2007.

Coach Jerry Kill has added two players to his Gophers roster.  Wide receiver Malcolm Moulton from Fort Scott Community College in Kansas is rated by Rivals.com as a three-star player.  Quarterback Dexter Foreman from Marvel, Texas is rated a two-star by Rivals.com.

The Twins, who beat San Diego yesterday for a three game sweep, have now defeated the Padres six straight.  The Twins have won 14 of their last 16 games.

The Twins’ Michael Cuddyer is batting .331 (39-for-118) with 20 runs, eight doubles, seven home runs, 23 RBI and 11 walks in his last 31 games dating back to May 14. In his last nine games, he is batting .467 (14-for-30) with five doubles, three home runs, 10 RBI and five walks.  He has doubled in three straight games and has five doubles in his last eight games.

After the Twins beat the White Sox 1-0 last Thursday at Target Field, Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen ordered batting practice.  Guillen exercised before the game by riding a bicycle to Target Field.

“It could be do-or-die this week.  These things don’t stay hot forever.”

Those are the words of a local authority who spoke anonymously on Monday about the possibility of a stadium in Arden Hills for the Vikings.  He believes Arden Hills proponents, including the Vikings, need to clarify costs this week regarding infrastructure and site clean up for a bill to be prepared and considered during a legislative special session.

The Vikings, after years of chasing a new facility, want to close the deal on a retractable roof stadium in Arden Hills.  The team’s lease expires at the Metrodome after this season and in the background is chatter about the possibility of the Vikings’ ownership selling to Los Angeles buyers.

The public may wonder if the Wilf family could soon be so frustrated by the ongoing stadium debate here and so tempted by the financial gain of selling the franchise that they would allow a purchaser to move the team.  The Sports Headliners’ source said he thinks the Wilfs, who are enthusiastic NFL fans, will want to continue indefinitely as Vikings’ owners.

“They haven’t won a championship yet,” he said. “I also don’t think it makes sense for the NFL to abandon the 14^th largest market even if it is to move (the franchise) to Los Angeles.  The support here has been so strong.”

What happens if the Arden Hills site doesn’t win approval this summer?  The source believes the focus shifts next to downtown Minneapolis.  Either the Metrodome or Farmers Market sites seem most likely to gain attention.

Based on past reports, the Vikings wouldn’t receive as much revenue downtown as in Arden Hills.  The source said the Vikings are likely to offer $250 million or so as their contribution to a downtown stadium, not the $407 million pledged by the club and NFL for a facility in Arden Hills.

Does that kill a downtown deal for a fixed roof stadium?  “That’s where negotiations begin,” he added.

Tsuyoshi Nishioka’s return to the Twins will provide local fans plenty to talk about.  The Twins’ first year middle infielder is near the end of his rehab from his April broken leg, but instead of rejoining the team as a second baseman he will play shortstop.

Nishioka’s arm strength has been questioned and coming out of spring training the Twins decided to play the 26-year-old native of Japan at second base.  The move to shortstop is expected to make it easier for him to turn double play balls and may allow him more emotional security after breaking his left leg while attempting a double play.

There’s more to the story, though, than Nishioka’s arm strength.  The Twins have won nine of their last 11 games.  Shortstop Alexi Casilla will be headed for second base, when and if, Nishioka is playing shortstop.  Casilla has been playing outstanding shortstop and is hitting much better, improving his average from under .200 earlier in the spring to .264 now.

His frequent double play partner, second baseman Matt Tolbert, has been effective in the field, too.  Both players are key contributors to the team’s new found speed and hustle.

Nishioka was a shortstop in Japan.  Last year he played 144 games at the position.  Back in 2007 he was a Gold Glove winner playing for Chiba Lotte.   But excelling in Japan isn’t the same as playing MLB, the best baseball league in the world.

Do the Twins alter a winning lineup when Nishioka is ready to rejoin the team?  Maybe, but presumably he will have to produce in a hurry for a club that is desperate to get back into the Central Division race before it is too late.  Nishioka is still learning not only major league baseball, but the American culture.  Pressure could understandably bother him more than a more experienced player.

Nishioka has a three year, $9.25 million contract with the Twins, according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts website.  That’s the best money deal among club infielders except for Justin Morneau’s $80 million contract.  The Twins may well want to play Nishioka every day to maximize their financial return, but it’s not like the team has been suffering of late without him.