The average NBA player reportedly earned $5.15 million last season, but players and team owners can’t reach agreement on a new labor deal. When hall of famer Elgin Baylor played for the Minneapolis Lakers in the late 1950’s he was one of the top players in the league but earned $7,500, according to Minnesota native Ed Cohen who represented Baylor.
Michigan senior guard Courtney Boylan, who played for Chaska High School, is the women’s Big Ten player of the week after scoring a career high 21 points in a road win at Florida. The 5-7 Boylan tied a career single game high of seven rebounds.
Jay Pivec, the former head coach at Minneapolis Community and Technical College, takes his 2-0 Dakota Community and Technical College team to Rochester on Friday night. This is the initial season for DCTC basketball and the Blue Knights will play Rochester Community and Technical College, a team ranked No.2 in the NJCAA Men’s Basketball Division III poll.
The Twins are renting Target Field to country music stars Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw for a concert on Sunday, July 8. It will be the first concert in the two-year-old stadium’s history but certainly not the last. A source told Sports Headliners that smaller concerts using a portion of the stadium are possible next year and beyond. Look for full stadium concerts like the Chesney and McGraw show in possibly 2013 or further out.
The Minnesota State High School League pays a total of $50,000 for rental of the Metrodome for semifinals and finals games in soccer and football this month, according to Bill Lester, executive director of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission. The league also pays 10 percent admissions tax and event costs such as ushering.
Wild forwards Dany Heatley and Mikko Koivu and defenseman Marek Zidlicky have been named to the 2012 NHL All-Star ballot. Players appearing on the ballot were selected by the NHL’s Hockey Operations Department.
Author Jim Hoey has written a new book that will challenge anyone who likes Minnesota boys’ hockey tournament trivia. The book is titled Puck Heaven, and Hoey also authored Minnesota Twins Trivia.