WCCO Radio’s Sports Huddle program celebrated 25 years of Sid Hartman and Dave Mona as hosts last Sunday before a live audience at the University of Minnesota’s Sports Pavilion.  Celebrity guests included Tom Kelly, Bud Grant, Jerry Burns, Paul Molitor, Tony Oliva, Lou Nanne, Glen Mason and Joel Maturi.  Hartman told the audience it was a mistake not to have included female representation.   

Mona said on Monday the event attendance was 600 to 700.  Most Sundays the Sports Huddle is two hours in duration and Mona recalled that years ago the show was about 30 minutes long and had to leave the air because of a station commitment to air the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  

In an interview Sunday, Grant praised Hartman for his integrity.  “If  you tell Sid something he will never print it or repeat it unless you give him permission to do so,” Grant said.  

Grant and Hartman have been close friends since the late 1940s when Grant was excelling in three sports at the University of Minnesota.  When Grant was asked why he chose Hartman, a sportswriter, to introduce him when he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame he said, “Because probably if he (Hartman) listed his close personal friends I think I would be No. 1.”   Later in a conversation Grant added, “I didn’t even think about it.  Sid was the guy.”

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.