Johan Santana makes his second career start tonight as the Twins opening game pitcher. Brad Radke has started the most Twins opening games, eight.  

It was 20 years ago this month that the Twins opened the season on their way to the franchise’s first World Series championship.  This was the opening day lineup: DH Dan Gladden, second base Steve Lombardozzi, center field Kirby Puckett, third base Gary Gaetti, first base Kent Hrbek, right field Tom Brunansky, left field Mark Davidson, shortstop Greg Gagne, catcher Tom Nieto and pitcher Bert Blyleven. 

Talk at the Final Four in Atlanta included conversation that former Gopher coach Dan Monson is a candidate for the Long Beach State job. 

Filmmaker and actor Spike Lee, a legendary New York Knicks fan, will speak from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday at Target Center.  Lee will talk about community, the arts and basketball prior to the Timberwolves-Hornets game.  Admission to hear Lee is included with the purchase of a game ticket. 

Detroit Lions owner William Ford is expected to be Charlie Sanders’ presenter at his pro football hall of fame induction on Saturday, August 4 in Canton, Ohio.  Sanders, the former Lions and Gophers tight end, will have a large group of friends in attendance including former Minnesota teammates from the 1967 Big Ten championship team. 

The guess here is Gopher defenseman Erik Johnson will return to school for his sophomore season next fall.  Johnson was the No. 1 draft choice of the St. Louis Blues last year.

Comments Welcome

Glen Taylor told Sports Headliners recently he isn’t seeking buyers for the Minnesota Timberwolves.  He and his partnership group have owned the Wolves since 1995.  Taylor said the purchase price was $88 million, $40 million of it borrowed money.  The asking price today might be $350 million since that was the amount paid for the most recent NBA franchise sold, the Seattle SuperSonics, according to Taylor.

Certainly Taylor (the majority owner) and his partners could find reasons to put out a for sale sign if they wanted.  They could sell the team for a large profit leaving behind the financial losses of the last two seasons and the anticipated loss of this season.  Despite those losses Taylor described the Wolves as a “good investment.”  Still, if he wanted to use the team’s on-court performances of this season and the last two seasons as motivation for selling, many people would understand. 

During an interview in his Mankato office Taylor, 65 years old, was asked if he wants to own the team six years from now.  “I am healthy now.  If (my) health is not good that could be an indicator (to sell),” he said.  “I haven’t thought about seriously giving up the majority ownership at all.  I just think it’s something that is still a challenge to me, an interest to me.  …But, on the other hand, I haven’t seen an offer come forward. So I haven’t really had to make that decision because no one has stepped up and just said, ‘I am a Minnesotan.  I’ll take over.  I’ll buy you out.’” 

The public’s frustration with the Timberwolves’ on-court performances has stirred intense criticism, some of it directed at Taylor.  He said his years in the Minnesota Legislature as a senator helped prepare him for public scrutiny.  He learned that leadership brings criticism and “I accept that.” 

More impactful than the public is Taylor’s own self assessment.  “I am critical of myself,” he said.  “What decisions did I make, or what things can I do to change that? We’re just way below expectations and it’s frustrating to me.”   

Taylor thought the Wolves would become a playoff team this season.  Instead they are trailing in the playoff derby with only 11 games remaining.  The team is 11 games (30-41) under .500.   

Taylor’s approach is that he and the Wolves organization will learn from the mistakes of recent years and self correct.   He bases that on hard times he’s experienced during his life and that good results can come out of difficult periods. 

“I don’t see it as all negative in the sense that bad times are just a waste of time,” he said. “ We should learn from that and hopefully we will be better because of that.  I think great leaders learn from their mistakes. …” 

Taylor said he’s been encouraging coach Randy Wittman, who took over from Dwane Casey in January, to carefully evaluate his players for the future.  Assess who fits, wants to be here and has the right attitude.   

For now Taylor wants to lead this franchise and he’s determined to make the future better than the immediate past. 

Comments Welcome

Tubby Smith won nearly 75 percent of his games during 16 years as a head coach at Kentucky, Georgia and Tulsa.  His resume includes 14 consecutive 20 win seasons and 14 straight NCAA tournament appearances.  Can he soon duplicate that success at Minnesota? 

The answer will have much to do with the answers to two other questions?  At age 55 will the new Gopher coach approach his work with similar energy as in the past?  Can Smith recruit effectively at Minnesota? 

Tom Wistrcill, Minnesota associate athletics director, assisted athletic director Joel Maturi with the basketball coaching search.  Wistrcill was asked whether there are any concerns about Smith’s energy?  “Absolutely not,” he answered.  “If you know how to build a program and produce a winner, you know how to do it, and he knows how to do it.  He’s done it over and over and over, and he’s going to do it again here at Minnesota.” 

A frequent rant at Kentucky was that Smith and his staff haven’t recently recruited top 25 high school players.   “We think recruiting goes in cycles,” Wistrcill said.  “When you aim big, you’re going to win some and lose some.  He’s obviously still put out a very good product.  He’s got great players at Kentucky.  The rankings that go out with players, you can’t always put a lot of credence into those.  

“It (the rankings) really wasn’t a factor for us.  When you look at his total body of work and his years of success, it’s basically second to none.  You know, that’s what you look at.  You just don’t take a picture of one year.” 

Wistrcill, who expects Smith will recruit all over the country, couldn’t be more enthused about the hire.  He said the search process began with Detroit coach Flip Saunders but the former Gopher’s commitment to the Pistons ruled out coming home.  Wistrcill also said that when Smith became a possibility for the job he was Minnesota’s “No. 1 target.” 

“He (Smith) was the only finalist for the job,” Wistrcill said.  “He was the only one that was interviewed and when we had an opportunity to grab a guy of his caliber, we’re going to grab him.”

Comments Welcome