President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has moved the country increasingly toward dictatorship but the Minnesota Twins continue to operate their baseball academy in the South American nation.  “Baseball seems to be immune from a lot of the impact of the Chavez regime,” said Twins general manager Bill Smith.  “We have American players down there playing in the Winter League right now.  They’re doing great.  They’re being well cared for.  We’ve never had a problem in Venezuela. …”

The Twins have agreed to terms with shortstop Adam Everett on a one-year contract for the 2008 season. Everett, 30, was limited to 66 games with Houston last season after suffering a fractured right fibula on June 14.  He batted .232 (51-for-220) with 11 doubles, one triple, two home runs and 15 RBI.  Everett played in 302 games over the 2005 and 2006 seasons.  He has a career batting average of .248.

The Chicago Bears should still be annoyed by the 361 all-purpose yards (rushing, receiving and kickoff returns) Adrian Peterson put on them in Chicago earlier this season.  He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for that performance.  His honors so far also include NFL Rookie of the Month for both September and October.  Also, he made the mid-season all-pro teams named by Pro Football Weekly and Sports Illustrated.

Peterson and Chester Taylor can move closer to the team’s all-time single season rushing yardage record for two backs when the Vikings play the Bears at home on Monday night. They have 1,916 combined rushing yards, second to Robert Smith and Daunte Culpepper’s 1,991 yards in 2000.

The Vikings defeated the Bears 34-31 in October, and coach Brad Childress said this week “it’s hard to beat somebody twice.”  The only team the Vikings have defeated two times in the last two seasons is Detroit last year.

The Vikings have won four in a row and shown improvement including offensively.  “We can get better in a whole myriad of areas,” Childress said. “I am not going to share what our shortcomings are with everybody.”

The Vikings-Redskins game originally scheduled for noon on Sunday, December 23 will start at 7:15 p.m. so that it can be televised across the country on NBC.

Here are names that may come up with the Michigan football opening:  Brian Kelly of Cincinnati, Greg Schiano of Rutgers, Jeff Tedford of California, Les Miles of LSU and Charlie Strong of Florida.  All are head coaches except Strong, the defensive coordinator for the Gators.  Will former Gopher coach Glen Mason be a candidate for the job at SMU?  Former Gopher administrator Jeff Schemmel is the athletic director at San Diego State but he’s not looking for a football coach right now.  Chuck Long, the former Oklahoma assistant, has completed only two seasons in San Diego.

The Big Ten Conference isn’t likely to have any football job openings in 2008 but there could be two or three in 2009, depending how the next two seasons develop.

Tubby Smith’s Fox Sports Net North TV show last night included a segment on Gopher basketball and baseball public address announcer Dick Jonckowski.

The Gophers used to favor gold uniforms but coaches can be superstitious and the team is undefeated at home this season wearing white uniforms.  The Gophers may wear gold for a big game in the future.

In the student section someone held up this sign on Wednesday night in Williams Arena, a commentary on the contract Smith signed earlier in the week: “$13 million and worth every penny.”

The recent Wild About Children event, presented by R.F. Moeller Jeweler, raised $180,000 for Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota.  That’s the highest total in the event’s four years and nearly double last year’s record of $93,000. Wild players waited on tables and visited with the 200 guests at the sold-out event in the Pazzaluna Urban Italian Restaurant in St. Paul.

Bethel’s best football season in school history ended last Saturday when the Royals lost to defending national champion Mount Union, 62-14 in the semifinals of the NCAA Division III playoffs. The Royals set school records for most games played (14), most wins (12), most playoff wins (three) and most consecutive wins (12) in a season.

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Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor, who saved pro basketball for Minneapolis and the region in 1994 by buying the team before it could be relocated, is overseeing the rebuilding of the franchise on the court and with its ticket base.  Despite a team record of 3-16, the worst in the NBA, and projections for losing $10 to $15 million this season, the Mankato-based businessman isn’t disappointed with the wins and losses, nor is he upset with the financial losses.

Taylor said there is a three part strategy for this season regarding the team and that the “measuring” doesn’t include wins and losses.  The plan is to first evaluate individual players, including the seven players on the roster who are first, second or third year players.  Then evaluations will be made of different groups of players and how they perform together. Finally, as the season progresses, Taylor and his basketball staff will evaluate whether the team is improving.

The Wolves owner dismissed the idea that the organization may want to finish low in the NBA standings to increase the likelihood of a higher draft choice next spring.  “We’re trying to win as many games as we can,” he said.

The Wolves haven’t been in the playoffs since 2004.  The franchise lost money the last two seasons and in one of those years Taylor said the financial deficit was similar to the $10 to $15 million he’s projecting for 2007-2008.  Still, Taylor accepts the losses and said the franchise could be in the black next season or the year after.   “I am not upset,” Taylor said.  “As a good businessman I don’t like it (losing money).  But I understand we took some risks to get in the playoffs (acquiring higher price talent).  I can’t go back and change it.”

Full season ticket totals are approximately 5,000, down from 6,200 last season, according to a Wolves source.  Partial season tickets are approximately 2,000, down from 2,500 last season.  The franchise is projecting average attendance of 14,500 after averaging almost 16,000 last season in the 19,356-capacity Target Center.

With the on-court disappointments of recent seasons and the off-season trade of main draw Kevin Garnett to Boston, the marketing challenge of selling tickets has been difficult in recent years but President Chris Wright and his staff have done an exceptional job attracting spectators.  If the franchise meets projected average attendance, the Wolves will be playing to about 75 percent of capacity.  Wright said the Wolves already have soldout two games this season.

Taylor said he’s been pleased to hear from fans who say they’re enjoying the new roster including a new lineup from last season.  The players have shown willingness to play hard and together.  Taylor added it’s a group that has i

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New Twins general manager Bill Smith told Sports Headliners earlier this week that while emphasizing a group approach, final decisions on trades will be his responsibility.

The Johan Santana trade watch is in the news every day and earlier this fall the Twins made a major deal with Tampa Bay that included the acquisition of potential star Delmon Young, an outfielder with lots of upside as a hitter.  Any deals are based on extensive work by Smith and those who assist him.

“Ultimately I’ve got to make the decision but I don’t make anything in a vacuum,” said Smith whose advisors include former general manager Terry Ryan.  “We’ve got a tremendous group of evaluators. …We try and bring in a lot of information and sort through it. I try to let our evaluators go through it, sort it and come back with consensus opinions.  Sometimes all I do is make the (final) phone call.  They do all the work.  They come up with the answers that hopefully are going to make us better.”

Smith must consider a lot of information about players and some of that may not be consistent.  “You certainly get conflicting reports and that’s part of scouting,” he said.  “Sometimes you have to worry a little bit if all your reports are the same. Sometimes you want that different opinion. ….Sometimes you can piece it together when you get conviction from one person on one skill and another person on a second skill, and maybe even a third report. …”

Smith was asked if fans can expect a trade between now and late January when TwinsFest takes place, a potential opportunity to introduce new players at the Metrodome event.  “I hope so because at this point we’re not ready to open the season yet,” he said. “We’ve still got some holes.  We’ve still got to fill the third base spot. We’ve still got to fill center field. …”

Those needs could be addressed in any of three ways–trades, free agent acquisitions or promotions from within the Twins organization.  Should fans be optimistic about filling needs?  “We’re gonna have to fill them all,” he said. “We have to be ready to go on March 31st. We’ll get them filled.  We’re going to keep banging away and do the best we can to put a good product out there.”

Smith said the Twins goal is always to contend for the American League Central Division championship.

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