Injury, inactivity and circumstances have changed 31-year-old quarterback Daunte Culpepper who has started four games for desperate Detroit (0-12) since trading in his civilian clothes for a Lions’ uniform earlier this fall.

The numbers are juxtaposed from what you expected four years ago.  This season and for two of the last three, Culpepper has more interceptions than touchdown passes.  In 2005 with the Vikings his totals were 12 interceptions and six touchdown passes, in 2006 with Miami three and two, last season in Oakland five and five, so far this year in Detroit six and three.

Sometimes contrasts with the past are dramatic and Culpepper is an example as the Vikings (7-5) prepare to see their old quarterback in Detroit on Sunday.  It was in December of 2000 that Culpepper was on the cover of Sports Illustrated with this quote in large type:  “I want to be the best EVER!”

Culpepper was in his first full season as a starter, enjoying a year which would be one of his best, throwing for 3,937 yards and 33 TD passes with a quarterback rating of 98.  He also ran for 470 yards and seven touchdowns.  The Vikings, 11-5 during the regular season, won the NFC Central Division title, and lost in the NFC championship game to the New York Giants.

Culpepper was a surprise story in 2000 because of his success and also drew attention with his stature, 6-4, about 255 pounds.  He was considered a next generation type quarterback, a guy so big and strong defenders bounced off him, but also a drop back passer with a powerful arm and ability to throw accurately.  By December of 2000 everyone who cheered for the Vikings was excited, including Culpepper who announced in the article he wanted people to one day mention himself and Randy Moss the same way Joe Montana and Jerry Rice are revered.

Culpepper started 57 of the next 64 regular season games over the following seasons.  They were productive years including his career best 2004 season when he threw for a league leading 4,717 yards and 39 touchdowns, a Vikings record.

Culpepper has started a total of 21 games in the last four seasons.  Sunday he’s expected to make another start in Detroit, a December performance against his old team.  How things have changed since that promising Sports Illustrated cover of eight years ago.

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Condolences to the family of Judy Mona Schell who passed away on Saturday.  Her family included husband George and brother Dave Mona.

The Lions have lost 13 straight dating back to last season.  Opponents have outscored the Lions by 190 points. The latest loss was 47-10 to the Tennessee Titans.  You wonder half seriously if the Lions could win the Southeastern Conference championship competing against Alabama, Florida and other quality college teams in the football crazy south.

Gophers’ athletic director Joel Maturi said six hockey playing schools would be needed to form a Big Ten Conference.  Penn State has a quality club hockey program but presently the Big Ten programs with intercollegiate hockey are Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State and Wisconsin.

Lane Kiffin, the Bloomington Jefferson alum, impressed Maturi when he was a candidate for the Gopher football job almost two years ago.  He liked Kiffin’s energy, passion for football and Minnesota roots.  Of course, Maturi said, he was concerned about Kiffin having no previous head coaching experience.  It was a concern about hiring Tim Brewster, too, but Maturi thought Brewster was a better total “fit” for the Gopher job. Kiffin, 33, is now the new head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers after having coached the Oakland Raiders.

Scout.com has the Gophers ranked No. 37 in football recruiting for the class of 2009.  The Gophers have 15 commits while Ohio State, ranked No. 1 so far in the process, has 24.

The St. Louis Blues rank eighth in the NHL in average attendance, according to espn.com, but the Blues web site was promoting 50 percent off on single game tickets a few days ago.  The Blues are at the Xcel Energy Center tonight for a game against the Wild who are 10^th in the league averaging 18,568, according to espn.com.  St. Louis is playing to about 90 percent capacity while the Wild is over 102 percent, per ESPN.  Chicago, which averaged almost 17,000 per game last season and was far down in NHL attendance, is leading this season at 21,485 per game.

The New York Daily News web site (www.nydailynews.com) had this observation last week: “Kevin Garnett has been going after smaller guys, including Toronto’s Jose Calderon and Milwaukee’s Luke Ridnour, and it’s starting to hurt his rep. One executive said of Garnett, ‘He’s nothing but an instigator.’  With several teams complaining about Garnett’s antics in recent weeks, the league has taken note.”

Gopher public address announcer Dick Jonckowski tells a joke to basketball coach Tubby Smith before home games.  Jonckowski, known as the “Polish Eagle,” asked Smith why all Polish names end in “s-k-i”?  “Because we can’t spell toboggan,” Jonckowski said.

Conrad Smith, the new chief operating officer of the Minnesota Lynx, has been involved with local pro sports teams here since the early 1980s.  His front office public relations, marketing and management experiences include the Minnesota North Stars, Minnesota Twins, and Minnesota Timberwolves.

Greg Wicklund’s Racquet Ramblings column in the USTA Northern Section magazine features Jim Holden’s book, Tennis in the Northland. The former Northfield tennis coach has written a comprehensive history of boys’ high school tennis in Minnesota.  https://www.jim-holden.com/

Concordia’s Justin Foss and Augsburg’s Alex Hildebrandt have been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® Men’s Soccer Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America. They were named third team All-Americans in the College Division (non-Division I).  Foss, a senior, has a 3.58 grade point average while majoring in psychology.  He had a career year in 2008, finishing the season with 15 goals and two assists for 32 points.  Hildebrandt, a junior, is a finance major with a 3.86 grade-point average.  He received All-MIAC and All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team honors recently.

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Yup, Ohio State got a share of yet another Big Ten title (33rd in school history) but there were more surprises than ho-hum developments during the conference’s 2008 football season that ended last Saturday.  Joe Paterno, 81, proved he could still recruit and coach (even if it was from the press box on game day) leading his Penn State team to a co-title with the Buckeyes and along the way showed the Nittany Lions were the best in the Big Ten.

Before the season there was expectation that Wisconsin, Illinois and maybe even Michigan would out-do Penn State in the conference race to see if any team could finish ahead of Ohio State.  Instead the Badgers, Illini and Wolverines faltered, while Penn State, Michigan State, Northwestern and Iowa enjoyed surprising celebration seasons.

Here’s a summary and report card from Sports Headliners on Big Ten teams with remarks and grades based on preseason expectations and actual performance.

Put the Gophers down for a B-.  Losing the last four games was bad and on a family Web site I can’t write the word that describes Minnesota’s performance in the 55-0 final game loss to Iowa, but remember the Gophers were a popular choice before the season to finish last in the conference.  The Gophers, 1-11 in 2007, won four marshmallow-like nonconference games, and then won three of their first four conference games defeating Indiana, Illinois and Purdue.  Two of the wins were on the road.

The Gopher season changed after a 24-17 loss to Northwestern that if played differently might have gone into overtime and led to a Gopher victory.  Coach Tim Brewster’s play-to-win style produced an opening game closing minute win against Northern Illinois, but a late fourth quarter interception by a Northwestern defender sent the Gophers on their way to four consecutive losses.

On Monday offensive line coach Phil Meyer announced his resignation.  Yesterday Tim Davis, an assistant at Alabama, joined up with Brewster as running game coordinator/offensive line coach.  Expect, too, that in the upcoming bowl game (site not determined) the Gophers run some plays with the quarterback under center and show modifications in their play package trying to liven up an offense that produced six points in two of the last three games.

Hardly anyone thought the Gophers would win more than four, five, or six games, and fewer foresaw bowl eligibility.  Mostly behind an improved defense under coordinator Ted Roof, the Gophers won seven, lost five and despite the awful finish surprised the Big Ten and made improvement.

With three national championship appearances since the start of the new millennium, it’s difficult to give Ohio State anything better than a B+ for a 10-2 season.  The Buckeyes had almost all their starters back from the national championship game against LSU last winter but hopes of making the next title game vanished with a 35-3 third game loss to USC.  Ohio State (what else is new?) will be formidable again next season, in search of its second national championship since 2003, but may not be so powerful if junior running back Beanie Wells goes pro.  Good news for Gopher fans is that they won’t have to hear anymore about all-honors linebacker James Laurinaitis, the former Wayzata High School star who is a Buckeye senior.

Penn State, 11-1, has a nice collection of senior players, but none as important as junior quarterback Daryll Clark.  He was among the conference’s most efficient passers and his running ability brought to life a Penn State offense that had struggled at the quarterback position the year before.  Seems like when Penn State commits to an option quarterback (see Michael Robinson and 11-1 season in 2005) the Nittany Lions have an offense, plus there’s always a good defense in Happy Valley.  This season Penn State led the Big Ten in scoring offense and defense.  Give the Lions an A grade with an asterisk that it would have been A+ if not for a 24-23 loss at Iowa.

Who can blame them for crying in their beer in Madison?  Before the season, except for Ohio State, the Badgers looked like the Big Ten’s best.  Three games into the year Wisconsin was 3-0 and ranked No. 8 in the country.  Then the Badgers blew a 19-0 lead at Michigan, lost the game and things were never the same.  Wisconsin lost four of the next five games before recovering to win against three season ending softies, Indiana, Minnesota and Cal-Poly.  It’s a D+ grade for the Badgers who finished 3-5 in the conference, 7-5 overall.  Coach Brett Bielema, 12-1 in his first season and 9-4 last year, better do something about his fading popularity in Dairyland.

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