Author: David Shama

The Vikings open their training camp practice schedule on Friday, July 31 and fan information is available at www.vikings.com.

It’s likely that Favre has talked with Vikings’ kicker Ryan Longwell about the personnel here and the city.  The two are good friends from Packers days.  Favre enjoys golf, and rumors that he will live in Eden Prairie’s Bearpath make sense.

It wouldn’t be surprising if Tiger Woods rents a home in Bearpath when he’s here for the 91^st PGA Championship next month at Hazeltine National Golf Club.

Stub & Herb’s will have a beer garden that can accommodate over 800 patrons on Gophers football Saturdays. The well-known campus bar and restaurant is hoping to  have the beer garden open for all seven home games, plus the Saturday, August 22 scrimmage at TCF Bank Stadium open to season ticket holders only.

Glen Mason, the former Gophers football coach, will be on the Big Ten Network again this fall providing color commentary on games.  This year he will also be appearing on a Thursday night Big Ten Network show with Gerry DiNardo.

Five MIAC players from the conference have been named The Sporting News or Lindy’s preseason All-Americans.  St. Thomas senior center Josh Ostrue is recognized by both publications. Saint John’s senior defensive lineman Nick Gunderson made The Sporting News selections.  Gustavus senior safety Joe Welch, Carleton junior offensive tackle Brad Eckelmann and Saint John’s senior linebacker Ryan Wimmer were honored by Lindy’s.

Bill Fitch, the former Gophers basketball coach is 77, and his mother is 98.  Until a few years ago she still hid Easter eggs for him to find.  “He loved it,” John Bell Wilson said.  The former Gophers basketball manager remains a close friend of Fitch.

While Portland’s Monty Williams is only 37, and an obscure assistant coach, he’s known as a teacher.  The Wolves, who will be counting on young players who need instruction, reportedly have interest in Williams as their next coach.

Former Gopher Travis Busch will be eligible next season to play for Colorado State. He won’t have to sit out a season because of an NCAA rule allowing players who have an undergraduate degree to play for their new school if enrolled in grad school. After the first semester Busch is expected to request an extra season of eligibility at Colorado State because as a freshman at Cal Poly he broke his foot in the fourth game of the season.  Otherwise, 2009-10 will be the former Mounds View High player’s final season of college basketball.

Busch said the Gophers, who made the NCAA tournament last year, will need to be mentally ready in the Big Ten Conference race, a league that could be among the best in college basketball.  “Other teams can break your spirit,” he said. “If you don’t bring it every night, you’re going to get your butt handed to you.”

Busch also said former teammate Jamal Abu Shamala is playing in Europe with the Jordanian national team.

Wheelock Whitney, a longtime civic leader and admired businessman, is friends with Brock Lesnar who defended his UFC championship on Saturday in Las Vegas. Whitney, 83, and Lesnar, 32, became friends as neighbors in suburban Minneapolis.

Nick Blackburn, 8-4 with a 3.06 ERA in his second full season with the Twins, has become the ace of the starting staff.  He is now 5-0 in eight home starts this season. His ERA is 2.19 since May 21.

Twins third baseman Joe Crede has hit four of his 14 home runs against his former team, the White Sox.

The latest issue of the Sporting News ranks the major league baseball stadiums from first to 30^th with the Metrodome at No. 29.  Twins president Dave St. Peter hopes any listings of America’s best ballparks in 2010 and beyond will include Target Field.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it is ranked very high nationally because of its unique design, intimacy of seating in the bowl and urban nature,” St. Peter told Sports Headliners.

Target Field will include a distinctive limestone exterior and contemporary roof canopy.  St. Peter said about 60 percent of fans attending games will enter through the stadium’s outfield area.

Those elements and others, such as the small area upon which the stadium is being built, will make Target Field unlike any other ballpark.  The facility will be the result of thorough planning and input by St. Peter and others with the organization.  They have studied all the big league stadiums during the last several years.

“We took pieces of all of them,” he said.  “It (Target Field) won’t be exactly like any of them.”

Because of what St. Peter refers to as their “small footprint,” or locations, San Francisco’s and Pittsburgh’s stadiums are most like Target Field in his opinion.  Those ballparks made the Sporting News top five ranking that goes like this:  Fenway Park, Boston; PNC Park, Pittsburgh; Wrigley Field, Chicago; Camden Yards, Baltimore; AT&T Park, San Francisco.

While Target Field will embrace fans with a great game day experience that includes public access to the ballpark, intimate sightlines, good eats and friendly service, St. Peter said there was another element that went into the planning that was important. The Twins took a “very inclusionary” approach with their leadership and department heads, encouraging input.  The result will be that behind the scenes operations such as kitchens and lockerrooms will be highly functional and effective, according to St. Peter.