Welcome to the first annual Minnesota Sports Headliners trivia column to celebrate the Fourth of July weekend.  While sitting in a fishing boat, sunning by the swimming pool, flipping hamburgers on the Weber grill, or sipping cocktails on the porch, take a few minutes to test your expertise at answering these 26 questions about the Twins, Vikings, Wolves, Wild and Gophers.  Why 26?  Because that’s how old I would like to be.

Your reward for answering these questions?  Simply the satisfaction of a job well done.  And, okay, those with a near perfect score can submit questions for next year’s contest.  (No complaining allowed about the prizes.)

Also, no cheating for answers by searching on the Internet, or glancing over at someone else’s answers.  Here we go with trivia questions in the first two sections of the column, and answers provided in the last section.

1. What was the name of the Twins message board on the scoreboard at Met Stadium?

2. From what team did the Twins acquire Joe Nathan in a 2003 off-season trade?

3. Who was the starting pitcher in the Twins’ first regular season game ever in 1961?

4. Going into this season Joe Mauer had the highest lifetime batting average of any major league catcher.  Who was second?

5. What year did Jacques Jones make his major league debut with the Twins?

6. Who were the Twins’ Minor League Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year in 2009?

7. What current Vikings player played for the team’s last three head coaches including Brad Childress?

8. Who is the Vikings’ all-time scoring leader in total points?

9. What team originally drafted Vikings quarterback Brett Favre?

10. Who was the prospective Vikings majority owner who said “I’m 6-foot-1 and tons of fun”?

11.  Cris Carter holds the all-time Vikings’ career record for receptions and total yards.  Who is No. 2?

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12. Who was the Wolves’ former No. 1 draft choice who arrived here and let it be known that he didn’t have a driver’s license?

13. What year did Kevin Love first play at Target Center?

14. Who was the Wolves’ first director of player personnel?

15. Who is the former Wolves player that finished second in the 2008 All-Star weekend slam dunk contest?

16. Who is the former Wild executive whose daughter played tennis for the University of Minnesota?

17. Martin Havlat wears uniform No. 14.  Who is the only other player in Wild franchise history to wear that number?

18. Who was named the Wild’s director of player development earlier this month?

19. The Wild have the longest current home sellout streak in the NHL.  What franchise holds the all-time record?

20. Who was the Gophers hockey coach before the legendary John Mariucci started coaching at Minnesota in 1952?

21. Who led the 2003 Gophers’ national championship hockey team in total points?

22. What team did the Gophers play in the semi-finals of the 1998 National Invitational Basketball Tournament in New York?

23. In addition to Devoe Joseph, the basketball Gophers have a second player on their roster from Canada.  Who is he?

24. What are the last three years that the Gophers have defeated Michigan and won the Little Brown Jug?

25. Eric Decker led the Gophers with five touchdown receptions last season.  Who was second behind Decker?

26. Who is the former Gopher golfer married to Lindsay Whalen?

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1. The name of the Twins message board on the scoreboard at Met Stadium was the “Twins-O-Gram.”

2.  Joe Nathan, probably the best relief pitcher in Twins history, came here in a trade with San Francisco in 2003 that also included starting pitcher Francisco Liriano.

3.  Pedro Ramos started and was the winning pitcher in the franchise’s first regular season game ever, a 6-0 win in 1961 at Yankees Stadium against New York.

4. You qualify for a genius name tag with the right answer to this one.  Joe Mauer entered this season with a .327 career batting average and Mickey Cochrane was second all-time among catchers with a .320 average.

5.  Jacques Jones, a fan favorite, played his first major league season with the Twins in 1999 and hit .289 in 95 games.

6.  The Twins Minor League Player of the Year in 2009 was Ben Revere while the Pitcher of the Year was David Bromberg.

7.  Tight end Jim Kleinsasser, a second round draft choice from North Dakota, is still with the Vikings after playing for head coaches Dennis Green (1992-2001), Mike Tice (2001-2005) and Brad Childress (2006 to present).

8.  Freddie “The Toe” Cox is the Vikings’ all-time career scoring leader with 1,365 points.

9.  Brett Favre was originally drafted by Atlanta in 1991, played in two games for the Falcons and was traded to Green Bay for the 1992 season.

10.  In 2005 Reggie Fowler pronounced himself as “6-foot-1 and tons of fun,” but didn’t become the Vikings majority owner.  He did become and remains a limited partner in the franchise.

11.  Cris Carter had 1,004 receptions and 110 touchdowns for the Vikings while Randy Moss totaled 574 catches and 90 TD’s.

12.  Donyell Marshall, the Wolves No. 1 draft choice in 1994, didn’t drive a car, nor did he have a license when he first played here.

13. This is a bit tricky but Kevin Love first played at Target Center as a prep in the 2007 Timberwolves Shootout, an all day showcase of high school teams from Minnesota and elsewhere.

14. The Wolves first director of player personnel was Billy McKinney.

15.  Gerald Green, the former Wolves player who excelled more at jumping than basketball, finished second to Dwight Howard in the 2008 NBA slam dunk contest.

16. Former Wild general manager Doug Risebrough’s daughter Lindsay played for the Gophers after being a standout tennis player at Edina High School.

17.  Darby Hendrickson wore No. 14 from 2000 to 2004.  Martin Havlat joined the Wild last season and started wearing sweater No. 14.

18.  Brad Bombardir, one of the franchise’s most popular players ever, was recently named the Wild’s director of player development.

19. The Wild have sold out 409 consecutive home games but Detroit holds the all-time NHL record for sellouts with 452.  

20.  Doc Romnes coached the Gophers from 1947 to 1952 and was succeeded by John Mariucci. (Take a near genius name tag if you answered this one correctly).

21. The Gophers’ last men’s hockey national championship was in 2003 and Thomas Vanek led the team in points with 69.

22. The Gophers defeated Fresno State in the 1998 NIT semi-finals, then went on to beat Penn State to win the tournament.  (Yes, the record book now says those wins vanished because of NCAA sanctions.)

23. Maurice Walker, from Toronto, will be a freshman for the Gophers this fall and along with Devoe Joseph is the second Canadian on the team.

24. The Gophers won the Little Brown Jug most recently by defeating Michigan in 1977, 1986 and 2005.

25.  Eric Decker led the Gophers with five touchdown catches last season while Nick Tow-Arnett was second with three.

26.  Lindsay Whalen, who ranks with the state’s most legendary female athletes ever, is married to former Gopher golfer Ben Greve.

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