Vikings tackle Bryant McKinnie said there’s awareness about protecting 40-year-old quarterback Brett Favre who has been vital in the team’s 5-0 start.   McKinnie said he “takes pride in trying to keep him (Favre) off the ground.”

Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis told Sports Headliners that center Al Jefferson, forward Kevin Love and guard Jonny Flynn will be starters, but two other positions remain to be determined before the season begins.

During the regular season the Timberwolves will have 20 fewer games than last season on KSTC, channel 45.  The Wolves will have 15 games on that station and 40 on Fox Sports North with 35 of them broadcast in HD.

Trevor Mbakwe will play in Friday night’s “Tubby’s Tipoff” at Williams Arena.  The junior college transfer hasn’t been cleared by athletic director Joel Maturi to play in games. A woman alleged Mbakwe attacked her earlier this year in Florida and a trial is pending.

Coach Tubby Smith’s team begins regular practices on Saturday morning. The tipoff event is free and open to the public.  Activities will include three-point shooting and slam dunk contests, and a team scrimmage.  Following the scrimmage, Gopher players and coaches will participate in a 30 minute autograph session.  Doors open at 7 p.m. with the event starting at 7:30 p.m.

Gopher football coach Tim Brewster isn’t a believer in teams playing well in games if the practices went poorly.  He said game success is “100 percent” about how a team prepares and the staff emphasizes having “winning” practices during the week leading to victories on Saturdays.

The Gophers will play before more than 106,000 people in Beaver Stadium on Saturday and against legendary coach Joe Paterno, the winningest Division I coach ever.  But Brewster said he enjoys such road games and wants his players to have a similar attitude about such challenges.  Penn State, 5-1, is ranked No. 13 in the country in the USA Today poll.

Concordia-St. Paul senior setter Maggie McNamara, who leads NCAA Division II players in assists for the fourth straight season, is 18 assists from the school assists record of 6,724 held by Cailin Terhaar (fifth in Division II history).

Twins reliever Joe Nathan didn’t hold a 3-1 lead in the ninth inning of playoff game No. 2 against the Yankees on Friday night.  The Twins eventually lost 4-3 in 11 innings, sending Minnesota home trailing 2-0 instead of being in a 1-1 tie series with home field advantage in the dome for games three and four.  The Friday night loss was the key game as the Yankees closed out the best of five series with a win last night in the Metrodome.

Nathan didn’t produce on Friday night but he’s arguably the team’s most valuable player after catcher Joe Mauer, and the Twins are so out matched in personnel against the Yankees that this wasn’t a series Minnesota was likely to win.  During the season Nathan saved 47 of the team’s 87 wins.  His saves total was a career high and second highest in the American League as the Twins won the Central Division title by one game.

Late last week Nathan was recognized as Rolaids Co-Reliever of the Year in the American League along with the Yankees Mariano Rivera.  The Yankees reliever is 40 years old which should give inspiration to Nathan, 34, that he can continue to be outstanding for several more years.

In that ninth inning on Friday night Nathan gave up a single to American League Most Valuable Player candidate Mark Teixeira and then a home run to all-time slugger Alex Rodriguez.  That two-some is part of the best offense in baseball.

The Yankees had baseball’s best record this season, 103-59 and were 10-0 against the Twins during the regular season and playoffs.  The Yankees are a consensus choice to win their first World Series since 2000.  The Twins had the worst regular season record of the eight teams in the major league playoffs.  It could be argued that there are seven or eight teams better than the Twins.

The Twins competed against the Yankees and also late in the season without half of their regular infield, plus an in-season rebuilt pitching staff.  Would having third baseman Joe Crede and first baseman Justin Morneau, both power hitters, and pitchers like Kevin Slowey and Pat Neshek have positioned the Twins to beat the Yankees?  We will never know but you can throw in another question, too.  With a more complete roster would Nathan have even been in that situation on Friday night?

Gophers coach Tim Brewster looked at quarterback Adam Weber’s passing numbers from Saturday’s 35-20 win over Purdue and was enthused.  Weber attempted nine passes, and completed five for 74 yards.  He had no touchdowns and two interceptions.

“I have so much admiration for Adam,” Brewster told Sports Headliners yesterday.  “He’s such a great leader.  It’s so exciting for this program to have the quarterback go five-for-nine and win the football game.”

The Gophers rushed for a season high 207 yards, emphasizing the run and taking the focus off the pass (leading receiver Eric Decker didn’t catch a ball in the second half.  Brewster credited Weber with making the correct run calls to make the rushing game effective.

Weber participated in the run game early, carrying the ball the first two times the offense was on the field, and he also ran for a touchdown. “Adam is one of those kids who likes to get in the flow of the game,” Brewster said.  “He loves to get bumped around a little bit and it helps get him into the game.”

The Gophers, now 2-1 in the Big Ten and 4-2 overall, had lost to Wisconsin a week ago Saturday and play the next two weeks at Penn State and Ohio State, nationally ranked teams with a combined 10-2 record.  Weber said the win over Purdue “was crucial.”  It was the right step in answering questions about the kind of season the Gophers will have.

The victory was also an early birthday present for Brewster who turns 49 tomorrow.  Brewster’s mother, Ritter Trexler, came from out of town to surprise him on Friday and celebrate the birthday. This time of year, though, Brewster is mostly about business and on Saturday night was entertaining several out of state recruits at his home.