Brewster said team members will elect the 2010 captains at a meeting on June 12.

The Twins begin a three-game interleague home series against the Brewers tonight.  Twins president Dave St. Peter said the demand for tickets has been intense with the interest from Minnesota fans and those from Wisconsin.

St. Peter said it’s possible to some day add seats to Target Field but there are no plans to do so.

The names of the 50 greatest Twins ever, in recognition of the franchise’s 50^th season, will be announced on Fox Sports North tonight starting at 6 p.m.  Video essays of each player will be seen on Twins telecasts from now through September 3.  The Twins will honor the 50 players during the anniversary weekend of September 3-5.  The 50 names were determined by a panel of journalists and Twins officials.

Gordon Hayward, who led a surprise Butler team to the national championship game as a sophomore, is a smart choice for the Wolves to use at No. 16 in the first round of the June 24 NBA draft if the 6-8 forward is still available.

Jon Cudo, a graduate of Burnsville High, was the Timberwolves first mascot and is now the Cavs’ mascot.

The Wild, criticized in the past for not having more Minnesotans in the organization, has signed three state natives in two months.  This week Eden Prairie’s Chad Rau signed a two-year, entry level contract after he was the fourth-leading scorer with Houston in his first year in the AHL last season.  The Wild signed Fridley native Nate Palmer last month and Elk River’s Nate Prosser in March.  Rau and Prosser played college hockey at Colorado College and plan to train together this summer.

St. Olaf senior catcher Tyler Jones is the MIAC Max Molock Most Valuable Player and St. Thomas senior pitcher Matt Schuld is the Mike Augustin Pitcher of the Year.  The conference softball Player of the Year is Alison Wright of St. Thomas, while Pitcher of the Year is Marta Radcliffe, also from St. Thomas.

Sports Headliners learned this week that the Gophers football program has earned a 968 Academic Progress Rate (APR) from the NCAA.

The APR is the best during the coaching era of Tim Brewster that began in January of 2007.  It’s also thought to be the highest ever for Gophers football.

The most recent rating is for the school year of 2008-2009 that ended a year ago. The APR is a metric used by the NCAA to measure progress of student-athletes in moving toward academic degrees.

The failure of a program to graduate less than 50 percent of its athletes can result in the loss of scholarships.  A perfect score is 1000 and 925 rating is the cutoff for loss of scholarships by the NCAA.

The Gophers lost three scholarships last year for 2009 recruiting but those scholarships will now accrue back to the program.  Classroom progress by the program has been evident during the Brewster era as he and his staff placed more attention on grades and graduation.

Two years ago the Gophers graduated 100 percent of their senior players and last year over 90 percent.  This spring the percent is expected to be 100.

The most recent APR news will be positively received by University of Minnesota officials who have been emphasizing academics in the athletic department.  Minnesota’s football graduation success and climbing APR’s compare favorably with the more successful academic records of other football programs in the Big Ten Conference.

Brewster’s contract, available on the public record, includes a bonus that pays him $25,000.00 for an APR of 965 or better.

Race track enthusiast Jake Mauer said one of his grandsons, Billy Mauer, won about $17,000.00 wagering on the Preakness Stakes last Saturday at Canterbury Park.

Wally’s Choice, owned by “Wally the Beerman,” earned $350.00 in the 10,000 Lakes race on Saturday. The horse is second to Blair’s Cove in all-time earnings for Minnesota bred horses.  Wally’s Choice is about $40,000.00 behind Blair’s Cove who retired in 1992.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, talking on his KSTP radio show Sunday, admitted he’s “worried” about the performance of relief pitcher Jesse Crain.  So far Crain has a 7.31 ERA.

Rumors on the Web are that Royce White could be headed to Kentucky to play for charismatic coach John Calipari.  That seems logical given White’s basketball reputation and the Wildcats’ habit of winning and attracting top talent.  A local source told Sports Headliners he didn’t know what White’s intentions are including whether a return to the Gophers will happen.  It seems certain that if White doesn’t play for the Gophers, he won’t choose another Big Ten school.  Conference rules don’t allow league transfers to receive a scholarship at the new program.

If ESPN basketball authority Andy Katz is correct, the Big Ten will be impressive next season.  His preseason top 10 includes No. 2 Purdue, No. 3 Michigan State and No. 6 Ohio State.  Illinois is ranked No. 15 and among teams on the “cusp” of a top 25 rating are Minnesota, Northwestern and Wisconsin. https://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=5179956

Kevin McHale told Mike & Mike on ESPN Radio that the Celtics might win the NBA title and forward Paul Pierce’s offensive production could be the key.  The Celtics, who won an NBA title two years ago with a big three of Pierce, former Timberwolf Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen, now have a big four with the emergence of point guard Rajon Rondo.  Rondo, younger than any of the big three by nine years, might be the team’s best player.  His recent 18 rebound game in the playoffs against Cleveland is historically significant for an NBA guard.

Timberwolves-themed boxes of Lucky Charms didn’t deliver the No. 1 pick in last night’s NBA draft lottery.  The Wolves used creative thinking to stir up media promotion and possible good luck earlier in the week hoping to improve on their 19.9 percent chances of lucking into the No. 1 pick.  (I don’t have a count on how many fans tried to help out by eating Lucky Charms cereal yesterday.)  The Wolves will have a quality pick at No. 4 in the NBA draft on June 24 and the Wolves might select Syracuse small forward Wesley Johnson.