Author: David Shama

The Twins are likely to play exhibition baseball at the new Target Field before opening the stadium for regular season games in 2010.  Twins president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners that specifics about first events in the stadium won’t be decided until next summer.  Amateur baseball in March or April could be part of the plan, too.

St. Peter said the sod for the new field will be laid in August.  He said that’s earlier than need be but the Twins are working to keep everything with the new stadium on schedule or ahead.

The annual TwinsFest will be January 23-25 in the Metrodome with attendance of 25,000 to 30,000 expected, St. Peter said.  With the Twins lease ending next year, it’s not certain where TwinsFest in 2010 and beyond will be held.  The fan festival attractions will include the baseball hall of fame plaques of former Twins Kirby Puckett and Dave Winfield, according to the Twins website.

St. Peter said Michael Cuddyer is “our regular right fielder” and he couldn’t explain why last fall the team’s website listed the former third baseman among the infielders other than to say manager Ron Gardenhire is “not our webmaster.”

Former Twins broadcaster Ted Robinson will provide play-by-play on tomorrow’s Minnesota-Louisville basketball game from Glendale, Arizona.  The game begins at 1 p.m. Minneapolis time on Fox Sports Net.

Gopher coach Tubby Smith has a 4-6 record against Louisville coach Rick Pitino who was his boss when both worked at Kentucky.  The Gophers, 9-0, are one of 13 undefeated college teams.  Louisville, ranked No. 9 in the country, is 7-1.

The second cup in the State of Hockey Greats coffee mug series will be given to all fans tonight at Xcel Energy Center.  The mug features coaches Herb Brooks, Lou Nanne, Doug Woog and Jacques Lemaire.

New York Islanders wing Richard Park returns to the Xcel Energy Center tonight for only the sixth time since 2003-04.  Park had 37 goals and 37 assists for 74 points in 216 games for the Wild from 2001-2004.

The Wild’s Marian Gaborik was activated off injured reserve Wednesday and played his first game since October 14 at Atlanta.  He had a goal and assist in a 3-2 loss to Calgary, the Wild’s sixth straight defeat.  The Wild are 221-180-87 all-time with him in the lineup and 47-56 -13 without him.

A reliable source who requested anonymity predicted to Sports Headliners that the Vikings’ likelihood of gaining approval for a new stadium during the coming legislative session appears “very, very bleak.”

Optimism was tempered even earlier in the year when the economy was slowing and construction costs were increasing but a fourth quarter headlined with more bad news such as unemployment and furthering of the mortgage crisis has put the state and country in a worse funk.  In Minnesota we have a $426 million state budget deficit for the current biennium (with forecasts for about $5 billion by 2010) and possible unemployment of seven percent or more next year.

The source, who has local stadium expertise, predicted that the Vikings and their legislative supporters might not even offer up a stadium bill in 2009.  Instead, a progress report on development of a stadium on the Metrodome site could be a focus, along with potential planning for a do-or-die effort in 2010, one year before the Vikings’ lease at the Metrodome expires.

Sources don’t believe owner Zygi Wilf and his family will move the Vikings even if the community doesn’t help fund a new stadium.  However, it’s believed the Wilfs might sell the franchise to an ownership group willing to take it elsewhere.

Billionaire developer Ed Roski announced plans to build a privately funded stadium in the Los Angeles area earlier this year but hasn’t broken ground.  In today’s fragile economic environment one wonders about the future of even that project.

The San Diego Chargers’ stadium lease runs through this season but don’t expect them to move to Los Angeles, according to Jeff Dotseth.  He’s a talk show host in San Diego and reported via e-mail to Sports Headliners that franchise prospects for staying there have improved because of a change in city leadership and team president Dean Spanos has long been committed to the area.

As for the Vikings and Los Angeles, Dotseth wrote:  “…If you talk to people up there, they don’t want the Vikes, Chargers, Jags etc…They are fine without an NFL team, but if a team was to go there, they want an expansion team. The other problem is where to play. The Coliseum is 100 years old and, like the Rose Bowl, does not have luxury boxes. …”

The 13^th annual Gatorade-Timberwolves Shootout will offer six games involving teams from Minnesota, Wisconsin and South Dakota on Saturday, January 3 at Target Center.  In the past, 18 future NBA players have participated in the Shootout, including Timberwolves’ point guard Sebastian Telfair and forward Kevin Love, in addition to more than 180 Division I college athletes.  This year’s Shootout offers more than 15 players expected to play in Division I basketball programs.

Among the players to watch is Cloquet’s Chad Calcaterra, who was being recruited by the Gophers last season as a sophomore.  After the opening Cloquet-Pelican Rapids game (start time 10 a.m.), Osseo, featuring Sam Dower, a Gonzaga signee, plays Sioux Falls Roosevelt and Cody Larson, committed to Iowa.

Henry Sibley, with Wisconsin signee Mike Bruesewitz, plays Madison Memorial who has last season’s Wisconsin Associated Press Player of the Year, Jeronne Maymon.  Another Wisconsin team, Lake Geneva Badger, plays Hopkins, ranked No. 22 nationally in the USA Today preseason rankings. The Royals have four future Division I players, Royce White (Minnesota), Trent Lockett (Arizona State), Mike Broghammer (Notre Dame) and Raymond Cowles (Santa Clara).

White is a big name in the 2009 Gopher recruiting class and so, too, is Rodney Williams whose Robbinsdale Cooper team plays Eden Prairie, led by 6-6 senior forward Ethan Wragge, who has signed with Creighton.

The last game (8 p.m. start) has St. Cloud Tech, third place in Class 4A last season with four starters returning, playing Wisconsin powerhouse Manitowoc Roncall, 23-2 last season and 96-6 the last four years.

More on the Shootout at www.timberwolves.com