Tice, 6-foot-7, has a public image of being a fun-loving, big galoot.  He frequented a suburban watering hole where a parking space was reserved just for him.  But Dalton said Tice was a micro-manager who drilled down into details and that was part of the reason for his success.

It’s true, though, that Tice knew how to have some laughs, including with the team.  One year in celebration of Halloween he came out to meet his players at practice dressed up like controversial wide receiver Randy Moss.

Birk remembered the spoof.  “That was the thing about Mike, too,” Birk said.  “Him being a player, and then later a coach, he realized you gotta have some fun, and kinda do something off the wall just to keep everybody loose and smiling.”

Birk was asked for a similar story to the Moss anecdote.  “Yeah, but you probably can’t print most of the stuff that Mike did or said,” Birk said.  “It was R rated.”

Down in Jacksonville they could be wondering if Tice will be having much fun at season’s end.  The Jags are 4-6 and have lost three of their last five games. Head coach Jack Del Rio, a Vikings player from 1992-95, has been criticized for awhile now and could be dismissed before next year.

But that’s the nature of professional football.  Mike Tice knows that.

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Reading the tea leaves: Look for Pat Williams and Kevin Williams to avoid missing any games because of suspension.  There’s been talk about possible four-game suspensions for allegedly violating NFL steroid policy.

Vikings safety Darren Sharper, who started the season with 53 career interceptions, has none through 10 games including yesterday’s 19-13 loss to Tampa Bay.

Look for the Vikings stadium push to include a plan to use environmental friendly building materials.

Something which hasn’t been widely publicized is that eventual expansion of the new TCF Bank Stadium doesn’t have to jump from 50,000 to 80,000 capacity.  Gopher associate athletic director Phil Esten said expansion could (at least initially) add 10,000 seats, not 30,000.

Although he’s a nominee for the honor, Gopher junior wide receiver Eric Decker, arguably the best pass catcher in school history, has no chance of winning the Biletnikoff Award given to the nation’s best receiver.  The winner will be Texas Tech sophomore Michael Crabtree who was a finalist last season and has helped the Red Raiders to a No. 2 national ranking this fall.  He leads all Division I receivers with 18 touchdown catches.

For the first time in memory Gopher basketball season ticket holders had the privilege/duty of attending three consecutive nights of home games when Minnesota hosted the NABC tournament in Williams Arena on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings.  The Gophers defeated Division II Concordia, and Division I Bowling Green and Georgia State to start the regular season 3-0.

It’s popular “sport” to compare Kevin Love’s and O.J. Mayo’s stats early in their rookie seasons, then bash the Timberwolves for another bad personnel move.  But judge last June’s draft in a year or two on the basis of who makes his team better.  It’s all about winning and who can contribute best to the team goal.  Through last week Love, playing power forward, was averaging 9.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game for the Wolves.  Mayo, the Memphis shooting guard, is averaging 21 points and 4.6 rebounds for his 3-7 team.  The Wolves are 1-8.

Ron Gardenhire’s older brother Mike died unexpectedly earlier this year.  Gardenhire, 51, is under a lot of stress managing the Twins.  An observer has to wonder how much longer he wants to manage after he recently signed a contract extension that only goes through 2011.

It’s a possibility, according to local media sources, that Minneapolis-St. Paul will be a one newspaper ownership town within 18 months or less.

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Here’s a guess that the Gophers will try to establish a solid running game and play more physical offensive football than in recent weeks in tomorrow’s game at Wisconsin.  Earlier this week tackle Jason Meinke talked about the offensive line being more physical, and running back DeLeon Eskridge voiced his opinion about passion.

Meinke was expecting practice to be more intense this week as the Gophers attempt to end a two-game losing streak.  Eskridge and quarterback Adam Weber believe the offense needs to start Saturday’s game more effectively than in recent games.

‘We can come out with a little more passion,” Eskridge said. “At least to start the games out with more enthusiasm and not come out flat. …Play our game. Play hard. Play aggressive.”

Weber wants to establish momentum early on Saturday, playing against a Badger team that has won two of its last three games and in front of a capacity crowd in Madison where the Gophers haven’t won since 1994.  “You have to come up solid,” he said.  “You have to come out with a good attitude.  You can’t let the game get out of hand in the first quarter.  And that’s obviously been our problem, these two losses we’ve had, especially Michigan (last Saturday). …

“As an offensive squad we have to come out and have a couple of solid drives right off the bat.  I don’t know if we have to score.  Obviously, that’s our goal.  But move the ball, get some first downs.  Get some momentum going and take the crowd out of the game and I think we’ll be just fine.”

The Gophers had one first down in the first half against Michigan.  They had two field goals in the 29-6 loss and haven’t scored a touchdown for six quarters.  In their last three games (Purdue, Northwestern, Michigan) the Gophers have only four scoring drives of over 48 yards.

Wide receiver Eric Decker, a candidate for the prestigious Biletnikoff Award given to the nation’s best receiver, will not play tomorrow because of a high ankle sprain.  A healthier Decker presumably will play in the season finale at home against Iowa a week from Saturday and that will increase Minnesota’s likelihood of a win but it doesn’t brighten prospects in Madison.  That’s why the Gopher game plan might be to run more than in the past, trying to establish a physical presence on the line of scrimmage that can also protect Weber when he passes.

The Gophers (7-3 overall, 3-3 in the Big Ten Conference) rank last in the league in rushing offense at 116.4 yards per game.  Their rankings in passing yards per game and scoring are second and seventh (226.8 and 24.9).  The Badgers (5-5, 2-5 in the league) are No. 1 in the conference in rushing per game at 224.4.  Their rankings in passing yards per game and scoring are ninth and fourth (182.6 and 27.3).

Despite the statistics, the offensive players and coach Tim Brewster believe they can be effective on Saturday in a game where they will be about a two touchdown underdog. “We’ll take a team that believes they can win to Wisconsin,” Brewster said.

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