Star Tribune baseball writer La Velle E. Neal III wrote a controversial column for his Sunday Insider this week.  The column addressed the declining number of African-Americans playing major league baseball and included this quote from Twins African-American second baseman and South Carolina native Orlando Hudson: “I know back home, they say that ain’t nothing but a white man’s game you’re playing,” Hudson said. “It’s all a bunch of white guys. They say you should be playing in the NBA or the NFL.”  https://www.startribune.com/sports/91054289.html?elr=KArksi8cyaiUo8cyaiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

That column generated a couple of comments from readers on the Star Tribune’s Website about reverse racism.  One reader wondered what the reaction of black political leaders would be if a white pro basketball player said there aren’t enough Caucasians in the NBA.

The quote from Hudson about his fans back home can be perceived as saying there’s something wrong with a sport where the majority of participants are white.  That’s not fair unless there is a conscious effort and policy to exclude others.

Major League Baseball isn’t trying to discourage participation by African-Americans, who according to Neal’s article made up 9.5 percent of opening day rosters.  Just the opposite is true about MLB, but critics must recognize that African-Americans and others are free to make choices.  For more than 20 years many young African-American males have preferred basketball and football.

This isn’t the first time the Star Tribune and others have fretted about the decline of African-Americans in the majors.  It’s a legitimate topic but baseball has African-American heroes to celebrate, and also heroes who are white and of African descent from the Caribbean.  And, honestly, at least some readers are probably thinking that some of this fixation on baseball’s ethnic makeup is energy better applied to improving the academic performances of young students regardless of race, particularly in the nation’s inner cities where they aren’t making the most of their educational opportunities.

Sports Illustrated likes the Twins on the links and the diamond.  The March 29 issue of the magazine listed the best major league golfers at each position and included three Twins players, more than any other franchise.  Making the team were catcher Joe Mauer, relief pitcher Joe Nathan and shortstop Nick Punto.  Their respective handicaps, according to the magazine, are seven, 10 and 0.5.

The Twins are 10-4 after last night’s win over Cleveland.  They didn’t win their 10^th game last season until April 28, game No. 21 on the schedule.

Mauer was 0-4 last night and didn’t reach base for the first time since September 10 of last year.

Twins vice president of marketing Patrick Klinger said that last week when temps were in the 50’s ticket holders who belong to the Champion’s Club received blankets to keep them warm.  Club members hold 400 seats behind home plate and pay either $175 or $275 per game.  Some of the seats are closer to the plate than the pitcher’s mound.

The Wild, who will be celebrating their 10^th year in the NHL next season, will hold three voting contests for fans on www.wild.com. The first contest is the greatest games in team history and voting takes place through May 2.  The second contest is the top 10 moments in franchise history (May 3-16) and the third contest selects the 10^th anniversary team (May 17-30).

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Although he spent last season on the Vikings practice squad and has never played in an NFL game, Ian Johnson considers himself a candidate to win the backup running back job this summer.

The 23-year-old is among candidates the Vikings will consider for the role to replace veteran Chester Taylor who used free agency this off season to join the Bears.  Taylor’s pass catching, blocking, running and leadership leaves a void behind Adrian Peterson, a runner for the ages but one who sometimes yielded to Taylor in passing situations and took a seat on the bench.

It’s presumed the Vikings will consider a few candidates to replace the 30-year-old Taylor including Albert Young, a third year back from Iowa who was on the roster last season and might be the favorite for the job.  Young was a practice squad player his first season with the Vikings, just like Johnson was last fall.

Johnson finds irony in the situation of possibly replacing Taylor.  “He’s probably one of the sole reasons I am still here because he took me under his wing (and) taught me as much as he possibly could,” Johnson said after practice last week.  “I’ve learned so much from that guy.  I almost lose an asset in (not) having him here but I gain an opportunity to play more and more often.”

Johnson described the Vikings’ offensive scheme as “elaborate” and said last year was a learning process.  At times he was unsure of what he was supposed to do, but not any more and that comfort level provides confidence while competing for the starting job.

He feels comfortable with his pass receiving skills and is enthusiastic about his blocking. “That’s something I lived on, being able to block at Boise State,” he said.

It was at Boise State that Johnson made a national name for himself.  He rushed for a school record 58 touchdowns, but he also made news when he proposed on national TV to Boise State cheerleader Chrissy Popadics following the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.

The two are married and for awhile she worked in a store at the Mall of America.  She stopped, though, because a stalker was following her and making telephone calls.  “She was doing it (working retail) for fun and it’s not fun when someone is kind of stalking,” Johnson said.

The family income will receive a nice increase if Johnson can make the team.  Practice squad players earn less than $100,000 and Johnson said his salary will go up about seven times if he makes the Vikings’ 53-man roster.

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With only a few weeks remaining in the legislative session, the Vikings stadium drive has surprisingly gained momentum despite the difficult economic environment.  The state’s economic woes may actually be hastening a stadium decision.

With the state perhaps facing a $5 billion deficit for the 2012-13 biennium, legislators might be more willing to approve a bill for a new Vikings stadium this year than next.  Prevailing wisdom has been that the legislature would put off a decision until 2011 because 2010 is an election year and many legislators prefer to distance themselves from stadium legislation, but the state deficit keeps growing and this year might be a more favorable budget time to act on a new facility.

If a stadium bill passes it could be for a retractable roof facility costing about $870 million, according to a Vikings source.  The facility is likely to be funded by taxes related to the stadium and the Vikings, and perhaps hospitality industry taxes paid by visitors.  The Vikings are expected to pay for about one-third of the stadium.

Various sites for the stadium will likely be mentioned but the Metrodome location appears to be the front runner.  That site has existing infrastructure, while locating the stadium in other places might add a few hundred thousand dollars more to the project.

A new Vikings stadium could be built in about three years, with the team possibly able to play one year of the construction period in the dome. The other two years would certainly have the Vikings playing at the Gophers’ TCF Bank Stadium.

Evidence of the Vikings’ legislative push includes a recent speech by owner Mark Wilf at a Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal Executive Briefing, and a re-launch of the Minnesota Momentum Website.  That site claims the stadium project will create 7,500 construction jobs for the state.

The Website encourages stadium supporters to recruit others to join the cause and provides other information.  www.minnesotamomentum.com

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