Vikings tackle Bryant McKinnie said there’s awareness about protecting 40-year-old quarterback Brett Favre who has been vital in the team’s 5-0 start. McKinnie said he “takes pride in trying to keep him (Favre) off the ground.”
Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis told Sports Headliners that center Al Jefferson, forward Kevin Love and guard Jonny Flynn will be starters, but two other positions remain to be determined before the season begins.
During the regular season the Timberwolves will have 20 fewer games than last season on KSTC, channel 45. The Wolves will have 15 games on that station and 40 on Fox Sports North with 35 of them broadcast in HD.
Trevor Mbakwe will play in Friday night’s “Tubby’s Tipoff” at Williams Arena. The junior college transfer hasn’t been cleared by athletic director Joel Maturi to play in games. A woman alleged Mbakwe attacked her earlier this year in Florida and a trial is pending.
Coach Tubby Smith’s team begins regular practices on Saturday morning. The tipoff event is free and open to the public. Activities will include three-point shooting and slam dunk contests, and a team scrimmage. Following the scrimmage, Gopher players and coaches will participate in a 30 minute autograph session. Doors open at 7 p.m. with the event starting at 7:30 p.m.
Gopher football coach Tim Brewster isn’t a believer in teams playing well in games if the practices went poorly. He said game success is “100 percent” about how a team prepares and the staff emphasizes having “winning” practices during the week leading to victories on Saturdays.
The Gophers will play before more than 106,000 people in Beaver Stadium on Saturday and against legendary coach Joe Paterno, the winningest Division I coach ever. But Brewster said he enjoys such road games and wants his players to have a similar attitude about such challenges. Penn State, 5-1, is ranked No. 13 in the country in the USA Today poll.
Concordia-St. Paul senior setter Maggie McNamara, who leads NCAA Division II players in assists for the fourth straight season, is 18 assists from the school assists record of 6,724 held by Cailin Terhaar (fifth in Division II history).