Generations lost.  Minnesotans in their 20’s, 30’s and 40’s have grown up with little or no interest in the Gophers.  Even alums in those age groups are likely to have passed through Dinkytown without a strong connection to Gopher football.  There are a lot of gray haired folks at Minnesota football games, people who grew up with the tradition of following the program. 

Season tickets.  The Gopher public season ticket sales are about 32,500 for this season.  The student sale a dismal 6,500 among a student population of over 50,000.  When you start each game with a base of 39,000 tickets, it leaves a long distance to reach a 64,000 seat sellout.

Front runner town.  Tough to say it about your home turf, but fans are quick to bail on the local teams.  Start with the Minneapolis Lakers who a few years after they had won the last of their five NBA titles left town because of poor attendance and need for a better playing facility.  The Gopher football team couldn’t even fill its stadium in the late 1960s after winning a national championship in 1960 and the Big Ten title in 1967.  The North Stars left town in 1993 after season ticket sales and overall attendance had failed dramatically after the glory years at the box office in the 1960s and 1970s.  The Twins, who won the World Series in 1987 and 1991, weren’t exactly the toast of the town in the later 1990s when annual attendance dropped to the 1 million to 1.5 million ranges and contraction loomed.  The Wolves were a hot ticket when they went to the Western Conference finals in 2004 but a playoff drought since has shown how indifferent the public can be.  Even the Vikings, by far the most bullet proof to the fickled fandom, have seen ticket sales soften following 6-10 and 8-8 seasons.  The Wild will likely see a fallout of support, too, if Marian Gaborik leaves town and the team begins to lose.

Not hopeless.  The Holtz years and occasional big crowds since indicate the Gophers could significantly create a larger fan base if they were to capture the public’s attention in a credible way.  Holtz wasn’t here long enough to win a lot of games (10 in two years) but he was perceived as a winner.  Brewster doesn’t have Holtz’s proven resume so he must do it all on the field.  Give the Gophers two or three consecutive years of New Year’s Day bowl games and watch the fan interest soar.

Next year the Gophers give up about 14,000 seats to move into the 50,000 capacity new TCF Bank Stadium.  Because of smaller capacity and increased season ticket sales, sellouts for all home games are expected before the first game on September 12.  The stadium is built for expansion and the state has the ticket buying potential to one day demand just that.

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As of late yesterday afternoon there were about 2,000 tickets remaining for Sunday’s Vikings-Houston game at the Metrodome, according to an e-mail from a club executive. Fans can purchase tickets via Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.com, or by visiting the tickets page on www.vikings.com.

The Texans (3-4) are 0-3 on the road this season, with losses to Pittsburgh, Tennessee and Jacksonville.   After losing their first four games of the season, the Texans have won three straight.

The Miami Dolphins have gained attention by running single wing plays this season.  The old-time formation hasn’t been popular since the 1940s and 1950s.  It was last used by the Gophers in 1953 and the Vikings, who began playing in 1961, never have run the single wing.

Former Gopher quarterbacks coach Jim Zorn, now the rookie head coach of the Redskins, has Washington off to a 6-2 start with running back Clinton Portis leading the NFL in rushing at 944 yards.  Ex-Bethel head coach Chris Meidt, who had no pro or college playing experience, is an assistant coach in his first season, too.

Former Vikings defensive end Erasmus James has played limited minutes with the Redskins, appearing in four games but has no tackles.  He’s listed at second team defensive end on the depth chart.

Ex-Gopher quarterback Marc Trestman, the St. Louis Park native, is in his first season as head coach of the Montreal Alouettes.  The team is in first place in the East Division of the Canadian Football League with a 12-5 record.  Former Cretin-Derham Hall coach Andy Bischoff is an assistant in Montreal.

Here’s an interesting quote on Washingtonpost.com from Virginia’s Marquis Weeks after returning a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown on September 11: “That was just instinct.  Kind of like running from the cops.”

Chris Coste, the 35-year-old Fargo native and catcher playing with Philadelphia in the World Series, is hitless so far in four at-bats as a designated batter.  He didn’t make the major leagues until he was 33-years-old.

Sporting News ranks 2009 Gopher basketball recruits Royce White of Hopkins and Rodney Williams of Cooper as the No. 30 and 32 best senior prospects in the country.  The magazine labeled Williams as the “best leaper” among the top 50 players.

Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom, who had a breakout season in 2006-07, is still probably among the NHL’s most underrated players.  He is tied for fifth in save percentage among NHL goalies at .932.  He is second in the league in wins with a 6-0 record.

The undefeated Wild (6-0-1) is at home tomorrow night against Montreal and fans are invited to wear costumes to celebrate Halloween.  Fans 14 and under have the opportunity to win prizes, and the “best-dressed” adult will be invited to do the “Let’s Play Hockey!” announcement before the game.  Kids can “trick or treat” with the Wild’s mascot, Nordy, and the top three winners of a best costume contest will be introduced during the first intermission.  The winner receives an autographed jersey.

The Wild are at Dallas tonight where the club record is 0-6-2 in the last eight games.

The Wolves, 6-2 in preseason, open their home and regular schedule tonight against a Sacramento team that was 1-7 in exhibition games.  The Kings, who traded star forward Ron Artest to Houston during the off-season, are led by guard Kevin Martin who averaged 20.7 in the pre-season, tops on the team.

Gopher senior guard Emily Fox was selected to the pre-season all-Big Ten team by media and the conference coaches.  Fox was all-Big Ten last season after she finished fourth in scoring averaging at 17.2 points per game, and had 4.50 assists per game (third in the Big Ten) and 2.89 steals (second in the conference).

Minnesota was projected to finish fourth in the Big Ten by the media, and fifth by the coaches.  Minnesota had a 20-12 overall record in 2007-08, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. The Gophers tied for third (with Purdue) in the conference standings at 11-7.

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The franchise that almost was shipped down the river is observing its 20^th anniversary this season.  Glen Taylor rescued the franchise in 1995 and kept it from moving to New Orleans but neither he nor previous owners Marv Wolfenson and Harvey Ratner have given us an elite franchise to celebrate.  Wolves insiders hope the coming season will be a step toward that goal and it all begins with a 2008-09 opening game at Target Center Wednesday night against Sacramento.

The franchise that was 20-62 last season has nine times won 30 games or fewer during an 82 game schedule.  The cumulative franchise record: 647 wins, 877 losses.  The Wolves won a division title and advanced to the Western Conference finals in 2004, ending a streak of seven one-and-dones in the playoffs that began in 1997.  The Wolves haven’t made the playoffs since 2004 and have won a total of 85 games the last three seasons.

With a team that’s almost been completely renovated from two years ago and changed further during the last off-season with the additions of veteran guard Mike Miller and rookie forward Kevin Love, the Wolves have at least produced enthusiasm within the offices at Target Center.  The optimism in the halls of 600 First Avenue North is based on the belief that the Wolves are young, talented and possess a will-to-win. The positive vibe is fed, too, by the prospect of having up to four first round draft picks in the 2009 NBA draft and being salary cap flexible enough to chase quality personnel in the 2010 free agent market, being hyped as a transforming shopping season because of all the potential talent.

The buzz-o-meter outside Target Center isn’t nearly as revved up as the one inside the building.  The local public and media are skeptical, and some folks in the national press are cynical, too.

There were a lot of empty seats disguised as fans when the Wolves closed out their 6-2 pre-season schedule on Wednesday and Thursday nights at Target Center last week.  Season tickets sold will again fill roughly one-third of the seats in the 19,356 capacity building.  One columnist in town wrote off Love’s potential as a top player before the 20-year-old had finished his last pre-season game.

Sporting News magazine ranks the Wolves as the 13^th best team in the 15 team Western Conference.  Ditto by Sports Illustrated.  SI reports that the Wolves led the NBA both of the last two seasons in losing games that were tied or where they had the lead at the end of the third quarter.

ESPN.com asked 10 experts about the Wolves and eight wrote that the local team will finish fourth in the five team Northwest Division (ahead of Oklahoma City).  Two of the panel said the Wolves will be the worst team in the Western Conference.  Ric Bucher didn’t agree with that but he picked the Wolves to finish fourth in the division, and he wrote this: “I’m sure GM Kevin McHale has a plan … OK, I’m not so sure these days. Which is why I’d love to hear the architect explain the blueprint. Example: don’t see KLove as a 3 or 5 and Al Jefferson has the 4 anchored.”

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