Mackay graduated from Minnesota in 1954.  He played on the Gophers golf team after being a three time city champion at St. Paul Central High School.  His love of golf continues to this day, an activity he uses to boost his health by walking the course, not riding in a golf car.

Last year he went to Scotland to play golf.  “I shot my age (76)…in a tournament at St. Andrews which was a huge thrill,” Mackay said.

In the next few weeks there won’t be a lot of time for golf.  A sampling of book promotional activities next week includes a Monday morning TV appearance on “Fox & Friends,” a book signing in Minneapolis on Thursday and an interview on the Larry King show Saturday night.

The Minneapolis book signing will be from 3 to 8 p.m. at the Barnes & Noble located at 801 Nicollet Mall.  Not only will Mackay be autographing books, but he will offer some wisdom in a talk from 7 to 7:15 p.m.  Mackay said all royalties for the books sold at the event will be donated to the Salvation Army.

With the momentum of past best sellers and positive early reviews of his latest book, Mackay is not about to stop writing and helping others.  He plans to pitch 15 or more newspapers about joining his syndicated column list, plus another book is coming within a year.

Mackay knows the title already but won’t say much about the book. “It’s such a great title people will steal it, but it will be a business book,” he said.  “It will be out within 12 months.”

And we know between now and then Harvey Mackay will be busy.

Joe Mauer is expected to have a new contract with the Twins within a few days, according to his grandfather, Jake Mauer.

The older Mauer told Sports Headliners on Monday that he expects his grandson to sign a 10 year deal “within five days.”  The contract is still being negotiated specific to compensation incentives like home runs and slugging percentage that could pay the Twins catcher even more money than his guaranteed salary, Jake said.

Mauer’s grandfather also said Joe knows he can receive more money on the open market after this season but is willing to remain with the Twins.  A Gold Glove, batting champion and American League MVP player in 2009, the 26-year-old Mauer might command a $30 million per season contract from a franchise like Boston or New York.  A deal with the Twins might guarantee $20 million per season, plus incentives compensation.

Jake said his grandson wants to sign a new contract prior to reporting for spring training next Sunday in Fort Myers.  It’s been reported that negotiations between the Twins and Mauer’s agent, Ron Shapiro, have been taking place the last few weeks.

Mauer’s four year deal, paying him a total of $33 million, ends after this season and he would become a free agent if a new deal isn’t in place.  It’s believed that if the Twins don’t close a deal with Mauer at least before spring training ends next month it will be an indication that the franchise won’t be able to retain the Minnesota native.

Mauer’s stature as a baseball superstar and immense popularity with Twins fans give he and his representative most of the leverage in negotiations.  The Twins’ only leverage is to trade him, but that would implode the franchise’s popularity and likely diminish the team’s prospects for an American League pennant and World Series title.

Fans and media might wonder about the return next season of Don Lucia as Gophers hockey coach, but not athletic director Joel Maturi.  “Gosh, no. Not even in the thought process,” he told Sports Headliners.

The Gophers have a disappointing record of 13-15-2 overall, 8-12-2 in the WCHA.  Last season Minnesota didn’t qualify for the NCAA tournament for only the second time in Lucia’s coaching career with the Gophers that began in 1999.  The Gophers were 17-13-7 overall, 12-11-5 in the WCHA.  Lucia, who coached the Gophers to national championships in 2002 and 2003, also had a disappointing record two years ago, 19-17-9 overall, 9-12-7 in league play.

Maturi said he “continually” evaluates all coaches in his department but remains committed to Lucia whose team has lost five of its last six games.  The remaining regular season schedule has the Gophers playing three top 10 ranked teams in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll: Colorado (No. 8), UMD (No.6) and Wisconsin (No. 3).

In the past Gophers men’s hockey was a source of pride to Minnesota sports fans who almost annually are frustrated with football and men’s basketball.  The football team finished 6-7 including an Insight Bowl loss to Iowa State.  The basketball team has lost six of its last eight games.  Instead of a predicted invitation to the NCAA, the Gophers aren’t even a cinch to make the NIT.

“We’re having a tough year,” Maturi said.  “Going into the year I thought we would have a banner year in our (higher) visibility sports.”

Maturi and his staff will be finalizing the department’s next budget in a few months.  He isn’t counting on a reversal of state legislation that alcohol be made available to the public and not just in premium seating areas at TCF Bank Stadium, Williams Arena and Mariucci Arena.  He said not having alcohol in those venues has cost the University about $1 million this past year.

The athletic department has saved money by not replacing associate athletic director Tom Wistrcill who left Minnesota last year to become athletic director at Akron.  Now another Maturi assistant, associate athletic director Phil Esten, is leaving the department to become chief executive officer of the University Alumni Association. Maturi said he will decide in the next several weeks whether to fill Esten’s position.