Slip lucky horseshoes into the Christmas stockings of Gophers hockey players and let Minnesota zoom back to the top of college hockey.

I know I am pushing the wish list now, Santa, but could you find the luckiest horseshoes in the world and send them to the Gophers football program?  See the Gophers haven’t won a championship since 1967, way back when you and even the reindeer were a little friskier.  Gophers football fans (the loyal ones and those who pretend they’re not fans but really are) are frustrated and weary after all these years.

Put something extra nice under the tree for Kevin Love this year.  He’s only 21 but his annual coat drive to benefit Minnesota kids sets the right example for other athletes.

Send flattering postcards about our city and state every week to Ricky Rubio in Spain.  (It’s okay to fudge a bit about our weather.)  Tell Ricky he and Love could wake up the NBA fan base here with their passing and unselfish play.

And here’s a final thought, Santa.  If you’re not too busy, write a little book on gratitude and send it to all the sports fans in our town.  You’ll know what to include but here are a few ideas:

Remind folks that TCF Bank Stadium, Williams Arena, Mariucci Arena, Xcel Energy Center and Target Field are really special places and provide great fan experiences.

Encourage fans to be grateful for a fall to remember by the Vikings and a one-for-the-ages summer comeback by the Twins.

For just a moment tell fans not to agonize about favorite players who left town to play for other teams.  Instead appreciate the likes of Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson, Jared Allen, Niklas Backstrom, Mikko Koivu, Kevin Love, Al Jefferson, Eric Decker, Blake Hoffarber and Jordan Schroeder.

Let fans know, too, that there’s a lot of fun to be experienced at high school sports events.  The price is right and the environment is priceless.

Mostly remind each of us to be grateful for what we have.

Happy holidays.

Comments Welcome

No one probably knows whether Brett Favre, 40, will return to play another season with the Vikings next year, but that doesn’t mean Favre and his teammates don’t think about it.

Defensive tackle Pat Williams, 37, told Sports Headliners he and Favre ask each other about coming back for another season.  If either gives a specific answer about playing in 2010, Williams wasn’t saying on Wednesday.

Williams has one year left on his contract and hinted that a Vikings win in the Super Bowl could be his cue to call it a career.  Leave the game “smiling,” he said.

Favre signed a two year contract last summer for the Vikings, so contractually another year is potentially in place.  He hasn’t made a public statement about intentions for 2010 and probably doesn’t know himself if he wants to continue playing.

The Vikings have three regular season games remaining and the playoffs ahead.  Too much time to have a decision yet, but close enough to make next year an interesting subject.

Vikings kicker Ryan Longwell, 35, and Favre are good friends.  The two played together in Green Bay and it’s fortunate for them they are back on the same team together.

Longwell said it’s premature to talk about a Favre return but was asked to make a guess.  “I would honestly say I am 50-50,” he said.  “Split down the middle.  I could totally justify both ways.  I would hope he would come back.  But I can honestly see how he’d had a great year and be done with it. …I just think it’s too early to start talking about that because we’ve got a lot of football to play left.  It may change everything.”

The factor that seemingly would drive Favre into retirement is the punishment of playing football and perhaps a career ending injury.  Longwell said obviously a 40-year- old body doesn’t recover “like it did at 20.”

But Favre loves to play football.  “I know he’s having fun,” Longwell said. “He likes the group (his teammates) and that goes a long way.”

Longwell is enjoying the season, too, and likes his teammates.  He has made 22 of 23 field goals, 95.7 percent, the best percentage of his pro career which began in 1997.

But at 35 he can’t be certain the club will want him back.  He has one year remaining on his contract but said the Vikings (at the franchise’s option) must pay him a bonus in March to lock up his return next season.

Longwell believes he has a “bunch of good years” remaining.  “I certainly don’t feel like I am on the downward swing at all,” he said.

Comments Welcome

Khalid El-Amin is a basketball legend in Minneapolis, even dating back to his playing days as a middle schooler, but eighth grader Tyus Jones, a starter this season for Apple Valley High School, is better than El-Amin at the same grade level, according to Al Nuness.

Nuness should know.  His basketball background includes captain of the Gophers in the late 1960s, later an assistant coach for his alma mater and years of youth coaching with sons Jared and Jordan.

Nuness was close to El-Amin and his family.  Coaching his son Jared’s youth teams, Nuness said he had to “plot against Khalid” trying to figure out the talented point guard who was short and stocky even back in eighth grade, and dominated games with his playmaking and scoring.

“Tyus is better at the same level as Khalid,” Nuness told Sports Headliners.  “He is bigger and stronger.  Passes better.  His basketball I.Q. is just unbelievable.  They don’t come along like him very often.  He’s the real deal.”

Apple Valley’s season is just starting but the 6-foot Jones has helped the Eagles win their first four games.  He had 15 points and 14 assists on Tuesday night in a win over Burnsville, according to https://www.avhoops.com/main.htm.

El-Amin is probably the best prep point guard ever to come out of the state.  He led Connecticut to the 1999 national championship.  El-Amin had the college basketball powers after him and changed a verbal commitment to the Gophers while in high school.

It looks like Jones won’t lack for attention, either.  Gophers coach Tubby Smith is already scouting the eighth grader and you can bet other schools will be in pursuit.

Tyus’ dad, Robert, is Nuness’ nephew so Nuness knows the family.  Nuness said Robert and his former wife Debbie (Tyus’ mom) were both college basketball players, and that Tyus’ brother, Reggie Bunch, was a preseason All-American at Robert Morris College in Chicago.

Both Robert and Reggie are 6-foot-7, according to Nuness, who said Tyus already wears size 13 shoes.  “He has a chance to be the size of a Jason Kidd at 6-4, 6-5,” Nuness said.  “He’s a Division I prospect now (as an eighth grader).”

Nuness said Jones “needs work like anybody (that age) in defending,” but his overall game including shooting, passing, directing the team, plus his court demeanor, is already impressive.  “He is so unassuming,” Nuness said.  “He doesn’t care how many points he scores.  His expression never changes, just a natural face.  You can foul him, or knock him.  His expression stays the same.”

Anytime Nuness walks into a gym, Jones comes over and gives him a hug.  That impresses Nuness and so too does the athleticism that also makes Jones an A student and football quarterback.

When Jones comes over to the Nuness house he likes to spend time looking at family basketball memorabilia.  He sees that Nuness wore jersey No. 21.  So, too, did Jared who played for Valparaiso and Jordan whose college career took him to the Gophers and Minnesota-Duluth.

That’s the number Jones wears, too.  He might one day wear that number with more success than anyone in the family ever did.  “If nothing goes wrong, he will be a rare kid,” Nuness said.  “He’s going to be a blue chipper.”

Comments Welcome