Author: David Shama

A team spokesman said there were about 30 Vikings, including off-season acquisitions Bernard Berrian and Thomas Tapeh, working out on Monday morning at Winter Park.  Players are running and lifting weights in preparation for the team’s spring mini-camp and summer training camp.

There are about 750 tickets remaining for the 2008 Miller Lite Vikings’ Draft Party on Saturday, April 26 from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.  The event will be in the Winter Park field house with Vikings players and cheerleaders in attendance.  Capacity for the event is 3,000.  Tickets are $10 in advance, or $15 on April 26.  Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster.com, at the Vikings’ ticket office in the Metrodome, or the Vikings’ Locker Room store locations.

Former Viking Leo Lewis, now associate athletics director with the Gophers, e-mailed information regarding the sixth annual Leo Lewis Celebrity Golf Classic on Thursday, July 10 at Ridges Golf Course at Sand Creek in Jordan.  The classic benefits the Leo Lewis Sports Foundation that helps youth develop life skills.  More information on the foundation and the golf outing is available at www.lewissportsfoundation.org

Jason Kubel is second on the Twins in home runs with three and RBI with 11, trailing Justin Morneau in both categories.  Last year he had career highs in at-bats with 418, home runs, 13, and RBI with 65.  Kubel, 25, looks like he will be the team’s primary designated hitter and could have another career year.  Management has always liked his hitting potential and although he first came to the big leagues in 2004, he’s been slow to develop after missing all of 2005 following surgery on his left knee.

Sean Avery of the Rangers finished first in a Sports Illustrated NHL players’ poll regarding the “dirtiest player” in the league.  Chris Pronger of the Ducks was second while Chris Simon of the Wild and Jarko Ruutu of the Penguins tied for third.

The first 5,000 fans in attendance will receive a free Al Jefferson Coin Bank courtesy of U.S. Bank tonight at Target Center when the Timberwolves end their season against Milwaukee.  As part of fan appreciation night fans can win prizes, including a free trip to Mexico from NWA WorldVacations.  Fans will also have the opportunity to receive autographed merchandise from the players following the game.

The Minnesota Thunder is back in town after pre-season games that included Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Carolina.  Andrew Barron, a former player in New Zealand and an important off-season acquisition as a midfielder, scored the Thunder goal on Sunday.  The Thunder opens its USL regular season at Portland on April 24 and plays at Vancouver on April 26.  The home opener is May 4 against Rochester at James Griffin Stadium in St. Paul.

Burnsville native Colin Achenbach of the Swarm scored his first National Lacrosse League goal Saturday night at Xcel Energy Center in the second quarter against the Philadelphia Wings. Minnesota won in overtime, 15-14, improving to 6-0 at home this season. The Swarm’s average attendance is over 11,000 per game, a franchise high  since debuting in 2005.  Colorado leads the league in average attendance at 17,000, followed by Buffalo and Toronto, both drawing over 14,000 per game.

Following the completion of the fall and winter NCAA Division III championships, six of 10 MIAC schools are ranked in the top 100 of the U.S. Sports Academy Directors’ Cup standings. St. Thomas is in 18th place among 400 Division III schools with 340 points. The Tommies have scored NCAA team points in eight sports to date — volleyball, women’s cross country, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s hockey, women’s swimming, and men’s and women’s indoor track.

Bethel is in 48^th place with 203.5 points.  Other MIAC schools in the top 100 are: Saint John’s (198.5 points, 51st place); Gustavus (192 points, 56th place); Carleton  (170.5 points, 66th place); and St. Olaf (147 points, 76th place).  The standings are considered unofficial until the completion of spring sports.

We’ve learned the following while watching new Twins center fielder Carlos Gomez during the first month of the season: no bathroom breaks or channel surfing when he is batting or on base.  The best advice is to keep your TV set tuned to the Twins’ telecast all the time because the 22-year-old entertainment machine may do something spectacular in the outfield, too.

On a team looking for box office draws after losing mega stars Torii Hunter and Johan Santana during the off season, the Twins offer a potential replacement in the intriguingly unpredictable Gomez.  Blessed with running speed more common on a track than a baseball diamond, Gomez frequently has Twins fans applauding, but also sometimes wincing.

He seems capable of maintaining a minimum .250 batting average on bunts alone, a staple of his 14 total hits in 12 games so far.  He has so much speed that even a not so well placed bunt is almost a sure base hit for him.  With his numerous bunts and other hits Gomez has an average of .269, falling off over the weekend from above .300 because of a 2-14 series in Kansas City.

Once he reaches first base, the nail-biting begins for other teams, particularly the pitcher and catcher who reach for the Tums.  Gomez is about as reliable in stealing a base as he is beating out a bunt.  He has stolen five in six attempts

Not that it’s all good with Gomez.  He’s a raw talent, learning on the job after playing in 58 games with the New York Mets during the 2007 season.  A week ago Sunday, for example, Gomez was thrown out against Kansas City trying to stretch a routine single into a double at the Metrodome.  Last Tuesday in Chicago against the White Sox left hander John Danks picked him off first base after he had drawn a walk.  In a game earlier this season against Los Angeles he tried and failed with a sacrifice bunt because he was apparently bunting for a base hit.  Just Saturday night in Kansas City he struck out with the bases loaded when he chased bad pitches.

It doesn’t take long, though, for Gomez to jump-start the applause meter again.  For example, soon after being picked off first base in the White Sox game he made an all out run and sensational diving catch in the outfield to prevent a Chicago base hit.

The precocious Dominican came over to the Twins, of course, in the trade that sent Santana to the Mets.  Three pitchers, none of them on Twins roster currently, came, too, so it’s Gomez that has the local public feeling better about the loss of the two-time Cy Young winner.

After last season Gomez was rated the third best prospect in the Mets’ organization by Baseball America.  He came up to the Mets in May of last season as a 21-year-old rookie who had been leading the Class AAA Pacific Coast League in stolen bases with 17 while playing for New Orleans.  His minor league numbers included a 2005 season when he stole 64 bases playing for Hagerstown, Maryland in Class A.

Gomez hit .232 with the Mets in 58 games and 125 at-bats.  He had two home runs, 12 RBI and 12 stolen bases.  Presumably those numbers would have been better had he not missed almost two months of the season after fracturing a small bone in his left wrist while batting.

With the energy of the youngster he is, Gomez frequently is diving into bases.  It does add to the excitement of watching him but it probably brings out the worry warts among the Twins management, fearing he will be injured.

As he adds experience and judgment, Gomez will play smarter, probably lessening his contact with the ground, plus swinging at better pitches and maximizing opportunities to run for extra bases, and throwing with more accuracy from the outfield. But, hey, this guy is just getting started and before long his resume is likely to grow with accomplishments ranging from stealing home to a timely home run, and to a circus catch and throw from deep center field.

Let the applause continue.

Tim Brewster, a present day and forward looking optimist, finds encouragement in looking at the past when he recalls his days as an assistant coach at the University of North Carolina.  Brewster, now coaching the Gophers in spring practice, told Sports Headliners last month that his 1-11 first season at Minnesota reminded him of the start- over project at North Carolina headed by Mack Brown, now head coach at Texas where his Longhorns won the 2005 national championship.

Brown arrived at North Carolina for the 1988 season and started building a program.  His first season record was 1-10.  The next year Brewster was on the staff with responsibilities that included heavy duty recruiting.  By Brown’s third season the Tar Heels were 6-4-1 and on their way to eight, nine and 10 win seasons.  A highlight was the 1997 team that finished 10-1, No. 4 ranked in the country, according to Brewster.

The Gopher coach said that while at North Carolina the talent level improved so significantly that “we were at one point putting more players in the National Football League than any school in America.”   Brewster sees strong similarities between North Carolina and Minnesota, two football programs that had been mediocre at best before his arrival, and schools with much to offer recruits including solid academics and attractive campuses.

“I’ve drawn upon that experience greatly in my first year here, knowing that if we do the right things each and every day we’ll see the same rewards that we saw at North Carolina,” he said.  “I truly believe that.”

The Gophers were statistically the worst defensive team in the country last season.  Brewster said he saw the same lack of speed and athleticism at North Carolina that characterized his first Gopher defense.  He said adding speed and athleticism is even more important at Minnesota because of the many spread offenses the Gophers will see in today’s modern Big Ten and college football.

Because the talent declined, North Carolina didn’t sustain the same success after Brown left for Texas, said Brewster who went with him to Austin as an assistant coach.  “The bottom line is it’s a player’s game,” Brewster said. “We’re only as good a coach as the ability of our players. …”

The Gophers lost five games by five points or fewer last season.  “I would like to see us improve to the point where next season we can win the close games,” Brewster said.  “Those six point games, those seven point games, we come out, we find a way to win those games. … People say how many wins are you predicting?  I don’t know.  I know this: we’re going to be in position to win games.  We’ve got to win them in the fourth quarter.”