Vikings running back Toby Gerhart likes to fish when he has recreational time. He told Sports Headliners he has caught some “nice bass and northerns” at Eden Prairie’s Bryant Lake.
Vikings safety Husain Abdullah visits son Jalaal’s pre-kindergarten class on Tuesdays to read to him.
Here are the Sports Headliners weekly rankings of Big Ten Football teams: Wisconsin, Nebraska, Ohio State, Illinois, Michigan State, Michigan, Penn State, Iowa, Northwestern, Purdue, Minnesota and Indiana.
Rivals.com doesn’t include the Gophers when listing the top 50 2012 football recruiting classes. Michigan, at No. 3, is the only Big Ten school in the top 10, while Penn State, No. 14, is the other Big Ten program in the top 20. Among Big Ten schools, the Gophers ranked last.
Jackson Brett, son of baseball hall of famer George Brett, is a freshman football player at the University of St. Thomas. The 6-2, 255-pound Kansas native is listed as a long snapper on the Tommies online roster.
The Internet has numerous stories about former Hopkins basketball star Kris Humphries being recruited by Kansas but rejected because Jayhawks players told coach Roy Williams they didn’t like him. The subject of Humphries recruitment has come up because of a new book about Kansas basketball, Beyond the Phog.
The 12-city tennis Champions Series that includes Minneapolis this Friday night at Target Center started last week with stops in Fort Lauderdale, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. Pete Sampras won in two of the three cities last week and leads the field of players with 900 points, according to the series website. Seven tennis legends are competing in the series with the top three finishers sharing a bonus pool of $1 million. The Minneapolis players will be Jim Courier, Michael Chang, Andre Agassi and John McEnroe. Tickets starting at $35 are still available. www.championsseriestennis.com
Local broadcaster Eric Nelson is part of a group that already has nine radio affiliates using the services of Game Day Gold to receive sports coverage. www.gamedaygold.com