Author: David Shama

EA Sports announced yesterday that Minnesota Timberwolves rookie forward Kevin Love has been chosen for the cover of the newly named EA SPORTS™ college basketball videogame NCAA® Basketball 09 for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system, and the PLAYSTATION®3 and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment systems.

Gophers’ wide receiver Eric Decker leads the Big Ten in receptions with 16.  Quarterback Adam Weber is second in total offense at 287 yards per game.

Iowa’s Karl Klug, the Big Ten Conference defensive player of the week for his nine tackles, two sacks and forcing a fumble against Florida International, is a defensive end from Caledonia, Minnesota.

Marc Ryan, Gopher associate athletics director, told Sports Headliners that about 10,000 tickets have already been sold for the men’s Midwest first and second round NCAA basketball games at the Metrodome next March.  A local committee, with University and civic officials, has made a bid to host a men’s Final Four at the dome in the 2013-2016 period.  Ryan said a seating configuration of 70,000 will be required.

Invitations have been sent to an October 2 reception at East Cliff to honor Harvey Mackay as a recipient of the University of Minnesota’s Outstanding Achievement award.  The award is given to distinguished alumni and Mackay’s many accomplishments include being a New York Times best selling author.  Mackay is also a former Gopher golfer.  East Cliff is the official residence of University presidents.

Vikings defensive end Kenechi Udeze, who is undergoing treatment for leukemia, will serve as the Honorary Viking and sound the Gjallarhorn at Sunday’s home game against Indianapolis.

With one sack, E.J. Henderson will rank fifth all-time in sacks by a Vikings linebacker.  Strong safety Darren Sharper leads all active NFL players in interceptions with 53.

Former Packers Ryan Longwell and Sharper heard the boos from Green Bay fans on Monday night at Lambeau Field.  Longwell said: “Sharper came up to me on the bench after a couple of my kicks when they were booing so loud and he says, ‘At least I talk trash. They had a reason to boo me.  I don’t know why they’re booing you so loud.'”

Relief pitcher Matt Guerrier was the losing pitcher yesterday in Kansas City’s 3-2 10^th inning win against the Twins.  Twins’ bullpen pitchers have been charged with the losses in eight of the team’s last 11 defeats.  Twins’ starter Francisco Liriano pitched eight innings for the first time since July 28, 2006.   He gave up two earned runs and lowered his ERA to 1.58 since his recall from Triple A Rochester on August 1.

The MIAC led all NCAA Division III conferences in football attendance in 2007, with the nine teams averaging 3,594 fans per game. Total attendance was a Division III-best 176,129 fans.  For the seventh straight season, Saint John’s was first among Division III programs, averaging a school best 8,769 fans per game with total attendance of 52,614. Concordia College-Moorhead was second in the nation with an average of 5,441 fans per game.

Adrian Peterson made a statement in Monday’s 24-19 loss in Green Bay to the Packers.  His production of 103 yards on 19 carries, including a run of 34 yards, was the first time in four games dating back to last year that the wondrous one had rushed for more than 100 yards.  He had injured his right knee in Green Bay last season, missed two games, came back and had 116 yards rushing against Detroit, then followed that up with the streak of sub-100 yard games. 

Vikings’ coach Brad Childress told Sports Headliners yesterday following his news conference that the second year running back is healthy, with no negative effects from the knee injury.  Childress also said in future games it’s likely Peterson will catch more than one pass like he did against the Packers.

Last year Peterson and Chester Taylor were often given equal opportunity to carry the ball but Monday night Taylor had five carries for 19 yards.  “That’s about right,” Childress said when asked about number of carries and receptions he wants Peterson to have.  “Obviously in the last six to eight minutes of that game we were in a throw mode trying to come back with two scores (trailing 24-12). Yeah, I’d say that’s fair. Could be higher, might be a little bit less.  Might be more in the pass game touch wise.”

Peterson was given minimal exposure during the preseason.  He only had 20 carries for 51 yards, and a 2.6 average.

Monday night it was time to go and he showed his extraordinary vision, running speed and acceleration, plus ability to cut and power through runners.  With a year’s experience to add to his sureness, Peterson figures to be even better than last season when he finished second in the NFL with 1,341 rushing yards despite missing those two games.

Even against stacked defenses to stop the run, the Vikings have to wonder if Peterson should have more opportunities to catch passes and run from scrimmage.  Last year his 5.6 average per carry was among the best in NFL history.

That’s a statement and so too was his opening game.

If the Twins were flirting with first place this summer just to add suspense to the Central Division championship chase, then it’s time to stop with the theatrics.  With only 18 games left on the schedule, trailing the first place White Sox by one game, and no chance of qualifying for a Wild Card spot in the playoffs, the local boys face Urgency with a capital U.  

The Twins have lost 12 of their last 16 games, although they did pick up a badly needed win last night against Kansas City at the Metrodome helped by Justin Morneau’s two- run home run.  The road trip that started August 21 and ended September 4 was a disappointment for the Twins winning five, losing nine. Then last weekend’s series with Detroit was another lost opportunity. 

Detroit won two out of three as the Twins lost their first home series since June 3-5 against Baltimore while ending a streak of 11 straight home series wins.  Saturday and Sunday’s losses to the Tigers were also the first time the Twins have lost back-to-back home games since May 30-31 against New York. 

Problem No. 1 is the Twins can’t hold leads.  The bullpen has blown four consecutive save opportunities and six of their last eight.  If the bullpen can be more reliable and the defense rock solid, maybe the Twins can overtake Chicago. 

Still in the Twins’ favor is that they have the White Sox here for a series September 23-25.  So far this season manager Ron Gardenhire’s team is 5-1 in Minneapolis against the White Sox.  In Chicago, the White Sox dominated, winning seven of nine games. 

The Twins are 48-25 at home, 31-40 on the road.  They need to win the three game series with Kansas City at the dome.  The way things are going that makes a fan take a deep breath in anticipation of the upcoming road games starting Friday at Baltimore, then on to Cleveland and Tampa Bay.  If the Twins revert back to mid-summer form, things could be cheery except perhaps in Tampa Bay where the amazing Rays have the second best record in the American League and are trying to win a franchise first East Division championship. 

While the Twins have to go through the Rays and White Sox to win the division, Chicago faces only one playoff contender the rest of the season, Minnesota.  As of today, both Chicago and Minnesota have the same number of remaining home and away games, eight and 10.