Author: David Shama

• Rubio’s arrival breathes life into a Wolves franchise that has been bleeding money for years.  He’s created excitement this month among the hard core fan base and made marginal fans pay attention.
• Rubio will wear jersey No. 9 and the aggressive Wolves marketing department announced the availability of $9 tickets last week.  Wolves owner Glen Taylor has reported annual losses of more than $10 million in a season, and can only hope that Rubio is such a big box office hit that his franchise eventually exhausts ticket availability in all categories.
• That’s not going to happen for all 41 home games next season but a smashing Rubio debut changes the basketball landscape in this town.  The Wolves have been awful for years and the basketball Gophers haven’t capitalized on the opportunity.  If the two products are stocks, a buyer has to be thinking the Wolves are a “potential buy.”
• While Rubio’s arrival helps close “the hole in Taylor’s wallet,” it also boosts the resume of beleaguered general manager David Kahn.  He’s made some much criticized moves (see Steph Curry, 2009 draft and DeMarcus Cousins, 2010 draft) but just signing Rubio exceeds the expectations of the most negative critics who said he would never agree to play in small market Minneapolis for the woeful Wolves.
• Rubio’s signing means the Wolves are likely to trade 22-year-old point guard Jonny Flynn and keep 30-year-old Luke Ridnour for comfort and security.  It also means that should Cleveland choose not to take Duke point guard Kyrie Irving No. 1 overall in Thursday night’s NBA draft, the Wolves will either pick Irving at No. 2 and trade him, or pass on him for another player.
• With Rubio at point guard, the Wolves will have one of the NBA’s best passing and most unselfish teams.  In the money and glory selfish NBA, that’s a refreshing sentence to write.  Not only will Rubio often pass first and shoot second, so too will Love and center Darko Milicic.
• Rubio’s arrival gives substance to the franchise mantra of “Run with the Wolves.”  The scheme will include Love rebounding and outleting the ball to Rubio from the defensive end.  Rubio moves to the middle of the court and sees all the fast break possibilities including teammates running ahead of him.  Rubio deftly makes a long bounce pass, or a pinpoint alley-oop pass.
• Even in June the anticipation of it all quickens the pulses of Wolves fans and commands the attention of those who have been in hiding for years.   Ricky Rubio just might make the dreary winters ahead seem shorter and more pleasant.

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.