Outdoor expert Ron Schara listed five to-dos that are important to encourage kids to fish.  First, buy them solid equipment, “not cheap children’s stuff.”  Bad equipment means frustration.  “Two, take them fishing but make it a fun deal,” Schara said.  “It’s more than fishing.  Fishing is also fun.  That means pack a lunch.  Bring some treats. Things like that.

“Three, don’t over stay your welcome.  Fish as long as they want to fish. If they want to quit, you quit. …

“Four, don’t get hung up on catching big fish.  Children are happy catching any fish, big or little.  Fish off the dock etc.  And five, it’s okay to teach them that some fish you can keep and eat, and some fish you let go.  But if you keep some, make sure that you follow the whole cycle. That you show them that you clean the fish, you cook the fish, and you eat them.  You don’t throw them in the…garbage.”

The Sporting News issue of May 11 grades the Vikings college draft a C-.   Each player drafted received a grade, too, including first rounder Percy Harvin who got an A but second rounder Phil Loadholt took home a D+.  NFC North rivals received these grades: Chicago, B+; Detroit, B+; Green Bay, B-.

Larry Fitzgerald Jr., the Cardinals all-pro from Minneapolis, is rated the best wide receiver in the NFL, according to a poll of former wide receivers in that same issue of Sporting News.  Andre Johnson of Houston and Randy Moss of New England were second and third.

Timberwolves president Chris Wright said about 50 percent of last year’s 6,000 season tickets have been renewed.  He also said both Al Jefferson and Corey Brewer, recovering from injuries, could be ready for the beginning of training camp in September.

Former Gophers basketball star Clyde Turner will be honored tonight at an award presentation at the University of Minnesota.  He will receive the Dean’s Outstanding Achievement Award from the College of Education and Human Development. Turner has devoted his professional career to family and children advocacy while working in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.  “Every time a young voice speaks, a more mature ear should listen and hear,” he said.  Turner was a forward on the Gophers 1972 Big Ten championship team.

Since Joe Mauer returned to the Twins lineup on May 1, the team has scored 74 runs in 12 games (6.17 runs-per-game).  Previously the Twins had scored 93 runs in 22 games (4.23 runs-per-game).  Mauer has hit safely in nine of the 11 games he has played this season. 

Justin Morneau has hit three home runs in his last five games and seven home runs in 20 games since May 22. He is hitting .372 (16-for-43) with two home runs off left handed pitching this season.

Senior infielder/pitcher Todd Mathison was 9-for-23 with two homers, three doubles, 12 RBI and two walks to help St. Olaf to the MIAC playoffs championship. In Sunday’s games against St. Thomas, Mathison was 7-for-10 with two homers, two doubles and 10 RBI as the Oles earned their third trip to the NCAA tournament in the last four seasons. He is the MIAC Baseball Player of the Week, while teammate Alex Sommer is the conference’s Pitcher of the Week.   He allowed seven hits and two walks in a complete game shutout over top-seeded St. Thomas in the MIAC playoffs championship. The performance came less than 24 hours after Sommer pitched the first four innings of the Oles’ 9-4 win over Hamline.

Margaret Sughrue Carlson, chief executive officer of the 60,000-member University of Minnesota Alumni Association since 1985, announced today that she plans to retire in early 2010. Carlson, 65, is the longest-serving alumni director in the Big Ten and only the sixth CEO in the 105-year history of the organization.

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Larry Fitzgerald Jr., the all-pro Cardinals wide receiver from Minneapolis who will be back in town this spring to host his first annual youth football camp, thinks the Vikings will go beyond last year’s 10 win season and will become a playoff team that earns a first round bye if quarterback Brett Favre comes out of retirement to play here.

Fitzgerald told Sports Headliners that among NFC teams he ranks the Vikings “right up there at the top” even without Favre.  Last year Fitzgerald, 25, helped lead the Cardinals, 9-7 during the regular season, to a surprising NFC championship game win and the franchise’s first Super Bowl where they lost to Pittsburgh. “The NFC is going to be loaded and I want to throw our hat right there in the mix, too,” he said.

Fitzgerald witnessed the productivity of a veteran quarterback with the Cardinals last season.  Kurt Warner, 37, is a former Super Bowl quarterback like Favre.  Last season Warner was second in the NFL in both touchdown passes and passing yards in helping the Cardinals have an extraordinary post-season.  It was Warner’s third Super Bowl.

Favre’s future with the Vikings is reportedly contingent on whether it’s decided he needs major surgery on the partially torn biceps on his right throwing arm.  If the surgery isn’t necessary the Vikings may have a 39-year-old quarterback who is one of the most statistically impressive and biggest winners in NFL history.  His football knowledge, courage and gun-slinging arm could take the Vikings back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1977.

“If he were to come in there, he would do phenomenal things for that team,” Fitzgerald said.  “He’s just an unbelievable player.  You’re talking about a three-time (NFL) MVP. …”

Asked more specifically about Favre’s impact on the Vikings, Fitzgerald talked about the quarterback’s many seasons (18) in the NFL.  “I just think his experience (will impact the Vikings),” Fitzgerald said.  “I mean the Vikings are almost right there.  Those guys are right there on the cusp of winning a championship.  You saw them last year; they were a few plays from beating the Eagles (in the playoffs) last year and getting to the championship game.  Those guys have so much talent, offensively, defensively.  I mean with that pass rush, that front four that they have, and secondary, and Adrian Peterson.  I mean those guys are loaded.  You add Brett Favre and that kind of experience.  It just puts you over the top.”

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Even without Favre, Fitzgerald categorizes the Vikings as a playoff team.  They earned his respect last season when they dominated the Cardinals in Arizona, winning 35-14.

The Vikings were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs but Fitzgerald had a post-season run that included nine touchdown receptions.  Two of those were in the Super Bowl and two more were in the Pro Bowl where he was named MVP.

The former Academy of the Holy Angels star who grew up in south Minneapolis has played five seasons in the NFL after a college career at Pittsburgh. “I think every year I’ve improved on different facets of my game which has helped me become a better overall player, but I still have a long way to go,…” Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald said he can improve his route running, running after he catches the ball and downfield blocking.  His goal is to be one of the NFL’s best wide receivers and many observers will argue he’s achieved that status already.  He wants to be compared with former Vikings wide receivers Cris Carter and Randy Moss.

Did last season improve his confidence?  “I’ve never been one lacking in confidence no matter what the situation was,” he said.  “I always believed in myself.  My parents taught me that at a young age.   Never doubt yourself.  Always go out there and give it your best. …”

Was he concerned about how he would play before the Super Bowl, pro football’s biggest game?  “No, not at all,” he said. “I slept like a baby the night before the game.  …”

Fitzgerald insists, though, that he needs to improve, rating himself a six on a scale of 10.  He’s looking forward to next season.  “I want to make the playoffs again,” he said. “I want to be all-pro again.  I just want to continue to establish myself as a dominant player.”

Fitzgerald is close to his father Larry, a Minnesota sports journalist, and dearly misses his mom Carol who died several years ago.  He was raised to care about people and give back which serves as inspiration for his football camp in June.  He will guide the youngsters in aspects of football and life.

Fitzgerald’s football camp will be at Providence Academy in Plymouth June 15-17 and is for youngsters entering grades six through nine for the upcoming school year.  Proceeds from the camp will support the Larry Fitzgerald, Jr. First Down Fund, a donor-advised fund at the Minneapolis Foundation, which is a 501(c)(3) organization.  More at www.fitzfootballcamp.com.

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