Infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka probably earns a pass from at least some Twins administrators for his disappointing rookie season that includes a .215 batting average and nine errors in 51 games.  The 27-year-old native of Japan is trying to learn a new language and culture while adjusting to opposing pitchers.

Outfielder Joe Benson, who was the Twins Minor League Player of the Year last season, is hitting .405 in his last 10 games with New Britain.  In 83 games with the Double A team he is batting .297, with 10 home runs and 46 RBI.

The Twins game on September 17 against Cleveland at Target Field will be John Gordon Day. The 71-year-old radio play-by-play voice of the Twins is retiring after this season.  Gordon’s 25 years on radio is second in franchise history to the late Herb Carneal.  Recognition on September 17 will include an on field ceremony.

Twins marketing executive Patrick Klinger said the organization began the formal process on Monday of a national search for Gordon’s successor.  Klinger said he’s not sure if Gordon’s broadcast partner Dan Gladden wants to increase his play-by-play role.

The Twins will send out season ticket renewals later this month and have a waiting list in the thousands, according to Klinger.

1500 ESPN announced that Judd Zulgad is leaving the Star Tribune to host a show on the local radio station from 9 a.m. to noon weekdays.

Game time for the Gophers-Virginia Tech basketball game on November 30 will be 8:15 p.m. Minneapolis time.  The game, part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, will be at Williams Arena and televised by ESPN2.  The Gophers are 4-8 in the challenge, and last year coach Tubby Smith’s Minnesota team lost to Virginia at Williams Arena.

Former Gophers football player Lewis Garrison will be officiating Big Ten basketball games for the first time next season.

Garrison, Mark Smith, Rickey Foggie, Jay Thomas and Eric Smith, all former Gophers, finished up their work last week at the local PreSnap Football Academy.  During the spring and summer they have helped young players of various ages to improve skills.

Jon Leuer’s dad, Mike, said his son has a 10 month contract with the Frankfurt Skyliners but the deal provides an out if the NBA ends its labor dispute and the season begins.  Leuer, who played at Orono High School and for Wisconsin, was a second round pick in June by Milwaukee.  Leuer reports to his German team next week, according to his dad.

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It’s not true that Jerry Kill rides to campus everyday on a white horse.  Truth is the savior of Gophers football drives to work in a white Cadillac.

Symbolism aside, those who care about the Gophers have taken a serious liking to the new head coach who is trying to resurrect a program that hasn’t been a consistent winner since Kennedy and Johnson were in the White House.  Maybe it’s no love affair yet, but a lot of Minnesotans at least have a crush on Kill who has earned many admirers with his honest talk and sincere actions.

Except for Lou Holtz, no new Gophers football coach since World War II came to campus and received more adoration than Kill.  University of Minnesota administrators, former Gophers and fans praise Kill as if they have known and admired him for years.  Even the cynical media has found little fault with the newcomer so far.

The honeymoon bubble won’t last through the coming season.  The Gophers will be pushed around on the field at times and final scores could be lopsided.  A group of fans and media will find fault with Kill, justified or not.

But give the former Northern Illinois coach credit for an extraordinary offseason during which he won over a lot of people and impressed his athletic director, Joel Maturi.

“No one prepared me for the unbelievable job that he has done with our alumni, our boosters, our fans in general and certainly the media as a whole.” Maturi told Sports Headliners.  “He’s been great.”

Maturi knew about the coach who had a national reputation for producing results on the field at other schools, but he wasn’t prepared for the public relations success.  Kill’s ability to make friends fast is a tribute to his character, values and deeds.

“I think there isn’t a person that Jerry Kill hasn’t met or addressed that he hasn’t won over, and that’s a credit to him,” Maturi said. “It wasn’t part of the ingredient of the coach that I knew I was hiring.  I hired him because the homework I did told me he was a great coach, and that our teams were going to get better, and they would play up to their ability, and we were going to win in a period of time.”

Three years from now Kill will still have admirers.  The only question is how many fans will be in the Gophers football tent?  Without winning, Kill and Maturi know the number will be smaller than what they want.  That’s the business side of college football and phase two of the Kill era starts September 3 in Los Angeles against USC.

How long will the honeymoon last?

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The Gophers open practice today at 3:55 p.m. at the Gibson-Nagurski Complex.  That practice and many others are open to the public including workouts through Friday.  All five practices through Friday begin at 3:55 p.m. and are at Gibson-Nagurski.

Quarterback MarQueis Gray will be the team’s playmaker and he’s bulked up since a year ago, reportedly approaching 250 pounds.  Kill said he will wait to see if the additional size is “good or bad” for his quarterback.

“I’ve seen a lot of guys lift a lot of weights, (and) can’t play football,” Kill said.  “I’ve seen a lot of 10.4 track guys that can’t play football.  You gotta translate that (size, speed) to the football field.”

The 6-foot-4 junior is expected to be the Gophers starter for the first time in his career.  Kill praised Gray’s offseason efforts to become a team leader.

Joel Maturi said he didn’t know if the Big Ten had finalized plans to eliminate 11 a.m. football games this year but “we’re hoping we’re going to play at noon at the earliest.”

The conference did announce league teams will play nine conference games each starting in 2017.  Maturi said the increase from eight games to nine was long discussed and helping to ease the transition is that all schools will still be able to play seven home games (including nonconference opponents) each year.

“I do think the fans want more conference games,” Maturi said.  “That’s a huge part of the factor.”

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