Because of the non-conference schedule that has the football Gophers playing better teams than during any time in recent memory, there’s opinion that even though Minnesota’s talent and experience will be better than last season the record won’t.  The Gophers were 7-6 last season.

Mitch Browning, the former Gophers offensive coordinator, is now a graduate assistant coach at Tennessee but is still being paid by Syracuse where he coached last year.

Former University of St. Thomas women’s hockey coach Kevin Gorg will again be a Canterbury Park and Star Tribune racing handicapper this year.

Tennis Festival of the North is being planned by the United States Tennis Association Northern Section for April 9-11, 2010.  The event will involve nine partners and showcase tennis in multiple locations including the Mall of America.  USTA Northern is planning the event to benefit people with various tennis interests and abilities.  Plans include bringing high profile tennis stars to town.

Mike Max, busy with weekly assignments on two TV stations and WCCO Radio, works seven days per week, often 12 hour days.

The Wild made the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2003, 2007 and 2008, the most years of any recent NHL expansion team.

Former Timberwolves head coach Randy Wittman has a good relationship with Flip Saunders and it wouldn’t be surprising if Wittman joined Saunders as an assistant in Washington next season.

Lynx player Renee Montgomery has been named a national spokesperson and “GUARDian of Dreams” for the Pajama Program.  She will work on national initiatives to help children in unsettled and vulnerable circumstances feel comforted and safe at bedtime. The Pajama Program provides new pajamas and books to children in need, many waiting and hoping to be adopted.

Johan Santana has the best ERA (0.46) in the National League and Jason Bartlett is hitting .373, eighth highest in the American League.  The season is less than three weeks old but the performance of these two former Twins makes a point about major moves by the local team in 2007, 2008 and 2009: Minnesota is looking for a better return than seen last year and this year.

After the 2007 season the Twins made two of their more significant trades in memory.  Cy Young award winner Santana went to the Mets in the winter of 2008 for center fielder Carlos Gomez, and pitchers Phil Humber, Kevin Mulvey and Delois Guerra.  Santana was 16-7 with a 2.53 ERA last year and almost helped the Mets to the National League pennant.  Gomez is the only ex-Met to contribute to the Twins so far and his exciting but erratic play is what you might expect from a 23 year old.

Tampa Bay became a pennant winner last season in the American League, partially because of former Twins Bartlett and Matt Garza.  Some opinion is that Bartlett’s defense from his shortstop position (only 16 errors in 125 games) and hitting (.286 with 20 stolen bases) made him Tampa Bay’s MVP.  Garza won 11 games last season, the most in his big league pitching career and this year is 1-1, striking out almost as many batters as innings pitched.  Garza is a power pitcher, something the Twins don’t have and is 25 years old.  Last season he struck out 128 batters in 184.2 innings and those numbers figure to improve with experience.

Bartlett and Garza went to Tampa Bay in November of 2007 in a trade that brought outfielder Delmon Young and utility infielder Brendan Harris to the Twins.  The Twins have tried various players at shortstop since Bartlett went to Tampa Bay after being a regular here.  Among those players has been Harris who has played shortstop, second and third.  In limited play this season, Harris is hitting .355.

Young, with a reputation before coming here as one of baseball’s best young prospects, was considered the prize of the deals involving the Mets and Rays.  He’s yet to be dominant at bat or in the field, and sometimes far less than that.  While he hit .290 last season, the 6-foot-3, 200-pound Young had only 10 home runs.  This season, unable so far to win an everyday spot in the lineup, he’s hitting .229 with one home run and looking awkward in left field.

Earlier this year the Twins acquired third baseman Joe Crede who so has sort of claimed the position starting more games there than anyone else.  During his career Crede has had three seasons where he’s hit 20 or more home runs.  Although he certainly may improve his numbers, so far he has hit one with a .167 batting average.

The Twins are 7-9 this season.  Their success hasn’t been produced by their major moves of the last 17 months.  And if the Twins needed any reminder of that, they’re playing in Boston this week where the Red Sox reportedly had such a strong interest in acquiring Santana they might have given up center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury as part of a deal.  Ellsbury hit .280 in his first full season last year and stole 50  bases.

For now, the Twins will wait to judge their big moves and hope for better results.

Tony Spadafora of Eden Prairie, who has been passionately following stadium developments for years in Minnesota and before that in Ohio, wrote an opinion piece about the Vikings for last Sunday’s Duluth News Tribune stating “we are coming dangerously close to losing them.”  Spadafora’s article describes Vikings executives as “uncharacteristically skipping stadium commission and legislative committee meetings.”

With the state dealing with a huge budget deficit, Spadafora predicts a special legislative session will be needed to deal with the franchise’s request for a new retractable roof stadium on the Metrodome site.  With the Vikings lease at the Metrodome expiring after the 2011 season, Spadafora foresees three outcomes: no deal on a new stadium, a “sweetheart” arrangement benefiting the franchise, or a “deal that’s good for the Vikings and good for Minnesota.”

Roy Terwilliger, chair of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, told Sports Headliners his group and the Vikings are sensitive to the political and economic climate the state faces with a budget deficit of about $5 billion.  Taking a quiet approach now hasn’t lessened Terwilliger’s belief that a facility will “come together” providing the Vikings with both an economically viable stadium and the community assurance of retaining the team, plus having a multipurpose covered venue that can serve the public in the varied ways for which the Metrodome has been used.

Terwilliger said the commission hasn’t received, nor is it pushing for, results of a study authorized awhile ago from HKS Architects and Mortenson Construction to determine what can be used from the Metrodome’s existing infrastructure for a new stadium on the site.  Attention to that study now would stir up the stadium issue at a time when the commission prefers to be low key.

Terwilliger wouldn’t predict if or when a special session might be called to deal with the stadium issue.