The Gopher basketball team begins practice next month without a player who was a regular starter in Big Ten Conference games. The Gophers have no seniors on the roster and will be without Vince Grier who led the team in scoring for two seasons after coming here from a junior college. 

Last year’s team wasn’t successful, finishing 10^th in the Big Ten Conference and had an overall record of 16-15.  Minnesota is hoping for results similar to two seasons ago when the Gophers surprised just about everyone by finishing fourth in the conference and advancing to the NCAA tournament (24-12 overall record).  Team defense was impressive, players shared the basketball on offense and the Gophers became a team that liked and trusted one another. 

Assistant coach Jim Molinari, who says defense is his “passion,” received considerable credit for the 2004-2005 success.  He said the Gophers now are similar to the team of two years ago in that the starting players are yet to be determined. The roster make up is six juniors, six sophomores, and two freshmen.  Eight of the players have never played a game minute for the Gophers. 

Despite the lack of game experience, Molinari said the coaches are expecting to produce a winning team. “I think we have to go in there with the idea we want to be champions this year,” he said.  “And, really, basketball is different from other sports because chemistry really ups your overall product.  … a lack of chemistry really takes down your product. Last year was everyone’s fault.”    

Molinari likes the team’s depth and expects strong competition for starting positions.  He is concerned about who is going to pick up the scoring left by Grier who averaged almost 17 points per game over two seasons.  He is also concerned about perimeter defense and rebounding.   

Transfer guard Lawrence McKenzie, who played two seasons for Oklahoma averaging 8.2 and 9.5 points, may be the most likely player to provide scoring but freshman guard Lawrence Westbrook, who led the nation in scoring as a high school junior at 41 points per game while playing in Arizona, is intriguing.   

Junior big men Dan Coleman and Spencer Tollackson, both 6-9, started many games last year and will be counted on to rebound along with junior college transfer Engen Nurumbi, 6-7, 230.“I think Dan and Spencer have to be consistent rebounders for this team,” Molinari said.

Former Viking Daunte Culpepper is the only quarterback in NFL history to have four seasons of 3,000 passing yards and 400 rushing yards.  He can add a fifth season to that record with Miami this year. 

The Vikings have the fourth easiest schedule this season, according to strength of schedule information from the NFL.  The Vikings’ 2006 opponents had a won-loss percentage of .457 last season.  Only seven of the teams on the schedule played at .500 or above, and only six made the playoffs.  Seattle, Green Bay and Chicago have easier schedules. 

Former Vikings coach Bud Grant said he has 18 grandchildren living within 20 miles of his house in Bloomington. 

Tom Wistrcill, responsible for Gopher marketing, predicts attendance of 45,000 to 50,000 for Saturday’s home game against Temple. He said on Sunday that 2,000 tickets at $10 each had been sold as part of the special $10 promotion the University is offering for the Temple game to draw “new fans.”  The $10 promotion is still available and will be offered at the Metrodome on Saturday, too.  Wistrcill also said over 5,000 new public season tickets have been sold, but about 2,000 public season tickets weren’t renewed. Student season ticket sales are again expected to exceed 10,000.   

Eden Prairie High School football coach Mike Grant said his team is one of four or five schools that could win the big school state championship.  “We have enough talent to go all the way,” he said. “We feel we could have been state champions the last 10 years. We have had enough talent.  You gotta be lucky; the ball has to bounce your way.” 

KARE TV’s Randy Shaver reports that his fund-raising earlier this year generated $405,000 for Minnesota cancer patient aid and research.  Fund-raising came from the Moneygram International Randy Shaver Celebrity Golf Classic at Rush Creek in Maple Grove and at the Myth Nightclub in Maplewood where REO Speedwagon entertained. Shaver’s event dates back to 1994 and he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease in 1998 but has been considered “cured” since December of 2003.

When Hank Williams Jr. sings his opening lyrics on Monday Night Football he will ask, “Are you ready for some football?”  The roar of “amens” from Mahtomedi to Mound will shake the metro area.  As Hank warms up the audience, the Minnesota Vikings will be ready to play their opening game of the season against the Washington Redskins on ESPN before a national TV audience on the Monday night stage. 

Our kingdom loves the Vikings and media expert John Rash predicts a huge local audience will tune in (even more viewers than watch the Vikings on Sundays).  Rash, senior vice president at the Campbell Mithun marketing communications agency in Minneapolis, expects the TV rating here to be 30 or 35.  By contrast, the local viewing audience for the Super Bowl is about 40, he said.  (A rating point is a percentage of households watching a particular program). 

With about 500,000 local households watching the game, the Vikings will add to their reputation as the most popular team in town.  Even for a pre-season game the Vikings solidly beat the Twins in the local ratings.  The Vikings had a 12.8 rating for their August 25 game against Baltimore while the Twins, fighting for a playoff spot, were playing the World Champion White Sox in Chicago and drew an 8.9 rating, according to the Star Tribune. 

The August 25 ratings caught Rash’s attention.  “What’s surprising is that it remains such a strong Vikings town considering the Twins on-field performance and the Vikings off-field behavior,” he said. 

The Lake Minnetonka boat scandal and other off-field incidents may discourage some casual followers of the Purple, but Rash said following the Vikings is about more than just watching a game.  “Pro football has transcended a sporting event and become a social event, particularly in Minnesota,” he explained. “People get together and visit during the games, and the games become a back drop, not necessarily a compelling event in itself.” 

Interest in the Vikings exceeds the popularity of many other NFL teams in their markets.  One factor, Rash said, is so many people here (unlike other markets with a higher percentage of residents who have relocated) grew up in Minnesota and followed the team for years.  He also said another reason is the cool weather here during much of the NFL season (unlike many markets where the weather may be the best of the year). 

Monday night’s game will be the first regular season Monday telecast by ESPN, ending the 36-year tradition of games on ABC.  Rash said the Monday night series will produce the highest ratings for continuous programming ever on ESPN, but the audience will be smaller than ABC.  He said ABC has 99% coverage throughout the country, while ESPN has 85%.