There he is again.  This time cover boy James Laurinaitis is one of three Ohio State Buckeyes on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s college football preview issue.  The former Wayzata High School linebacker and other Minnesota stars that chose to leave the state to play college football elsewhere are an unpleasant reminder of a Gopher football program that long ago went haywire.

Laurinaitis is the latest poster boy for the Gopher problem.  When he finishes his career at Ohio State after this season he will be a three-time All-American.  That’s extraordinary but he was so good even as a sophomore that he won the Nagurski Award as the nation’s best defensive player and last season earned the Butkus Award given annually to America’s best linebacker.  Although his chances are minimal because of the position he plays, Laurinaitis is even considered a possibility to win college football’s ultimate individual prize, the Heisman Trophy.

Earlier this year two of Minnesota’s top three in-state recruits, wide receiver Michael Floyd of Cretin-Derham Hall and tackle Willie Mobley of Eden Prairie, chose to leave the state to play college football at Notre Dame and Ohio State.  Only Champlin Park linebacker Sam Maresh signed with the Gophers and his football future is uncertain now because of recent heart surgery.

In the 2008 NFL draft, John Carlson of Litchfield was drafted as a tight end by Seattle on the second round.  Trevor Laws of Apple Valley was chosen as a defensive tackle, going to Philadelphia in the second round.  Carlson and Laws played collegiately at Notre Dame.

Go back a few years and you can find standout players like tight end Dominique Byrd who played at Breck before attending national powerhouse Southern California where he was a starter. Chris Weinke, another former Cretin-Derham Hall player, became a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback at Florida State in 2000.

Tim Brewster’s critics scorched him for turning in a 1-11 record last season but I can’t remember any of them pointing out the sub-par talent pool left behind by the previous coaching staff.   Attracting talented high school football players from various parts of the country to Minnesota has been and remains a challenge, but even more difficult to accept is that for years now the Gophers have lost their pull in signing up the very best players from the state, the kids who can choose most any school to attend.

Until that changes, the Gopher program will under achieve.  For Exhibit A to support that statement, look east to Wisconsin where the Badgers have built a program with a nice mix of local and national standouts.  Premium high school players are about as rare in Dairyland as they are in the state of 10,000 lakes but when they surface, the Badgers get them to Madison.

The Wisconsin program, once more dreadful than the Gophers, was resurrected in the early 1990s and has been gaining momentum since.  January 1 bowl games are routine and wins over Ohio State and Michigan fall under the category of possible, not impossible.  This year Wisconsin is predicted to be a top 15 team and the most likely school to take the Big Ten Conference title away from Ohio State.

The Badger offense showcases the nation’s best tight end, Travis Beckum from Milwaukee.  Two years ago the offense was built around offensive tackle Joe Thomas from suburban Milwaukee , a player who was the third pick in the 2007 NFL draft.

The Badgers keep the great ones home while we watch our locals become cover boys in other uniforms.  I will wager more than a pound of premium cheese that Brewster, the best recruiting head coach the Gophers have ever had, changes the paradigm and with it the Gopher program.

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KARE 11 had the top rating among U.S. markets during Olympic programming from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Monday of this week, according to a station official.   Minneapolis’ 27.5 rating bested second place Salt Lake City at 26.9.  (A rating point is a percentage of households watching a particular program.)

Former Twins’ starter Carlos Silva, now with Seattle, starts tonight in the Metrodome against his old team and he has eye-catching numbers: a 4-13 record with a 5.93 ERA.

After winning two of three games against the Yankees earlier this week, the Twins are now 25-8 at home since June 1, 41-22 for the season.

Twins left fielder Delmon Young hit home runs on Tuesday and Wednesday, making it the first time in his three-year major league career that he’s homered in consecutive games.  He’s hit all of his seven home runs this season since June 1 (stats from that date through August 14 include a .315 average and 37 RBI).  He has six RBI in his last two games.

Murray’s restaurant co-owner Tim Murray and five friends are on their annual baseball trip this weekend.  They will see games in Yankee Stadium (closing after this season) today and tomorrow, then visit Nationals Park, the Washington Nationals’ new stadium that opened last spring.

Paul Giel, the grandson of the late Gopher athletic director and All-American athlete by the same name, will attend Wabash Valley College after starring as a center fielder for Minnetonka High School, according to John Sherman, sports editor for the Sun Current.  Sherman said Wabash, located in Mt. Carmel, Illinois, is a junior college that had five players chosen earlier this year in the major league baseball draft.

Beyond the Sports Huddle, Dave Mona’s new book, will be sold at the WCCO Radio booth at the State Fair and is available in local bookstores.  Mona said that Amazon.com reported earlier in the week that Beyond the Sports Huddle was the top selling Minnesota book.

Jim Holden will be talking about his new book, Tennis in the Northland, beginning at about 7:35 a.m. tomorrow (Saturday) on WCCO Radio with Charlie Boone.  The former Northfield tennis coach has written a comprehensive history of boys’ high school tennis in Minnesota.  From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow, Holden will be autographing books at the Sectional USTA League Tournament at the Baseline Tennis Center on the University of Minnesota campus.  https://www.jim-holden.com/

Edina Country Club tennis pro Greg Wicklund, a former Gopher from Roosevelt High School, writes a popular news and names column for Tennis Life magazine, the USTA publication.  Wicklund has been writing that type of column in local publications for about 15 years and also is a teaching pro for Lifetime Fitness.  A history major at Minnesota, Wicklund took some journalism classes and thought about a career in the profession.

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Add it all up and Bryant McKinnie will be on the short list of players who will be most significant in determining the success of the Minnesota Vikings in 2008.

Why? Well, start with his position, offensive left tackle.  With a right-handed quarterback like the Vikings’ Tarvaris Jackson, the left tackle is the most important position on the offensive line.   McKinnie, and other NFL left tackles, are gatekeepers for their teams, protecting the backside of quarterbacks.

A left tackle finds himself matched against the defense’s most prolific pass rusher.  A right end like the Vikings’ Jared Allen, who led the NFL in sacks last season, or historically high motor guys like Bruce Smith or Howie Long are examples.

Former Viking center Mike Morris put it this way about guys like that: “I may not be there but you can feel my presence.  Now try and throw the ball.  That’s what kind of guy the left tackle has to block.”

The way Morris sees it, there are a couple of problems with the McKinnie situation. The first is that McKinnie faces legal charges from a night club incident in Miami.  In addition, the NFL is expected to make an announcement soon whether McKinnie will be disciplined by having to miss one or more regular season games.

Such a development will present a problem, but McKinnie’s so-so play during his six-year career is an ongoing issue, too, according to Morris.  He thinks journeyman Artis Hicks, now in his seventh NFL season, would be the McKinnie fill-in.

“I don’t think he’s the player they thought he was,” Morris said of McKinnie. “I don’t think he’s the player I thought he was.  He hasn’t proven himself and now we’ve got this mess. I wonder if it’s going to hurt us or help us sometimes with him.

“Artie Hicks over there might just be fine.  It might also be the solution.  McKinnie when he wants to play, he plays well.  When he doesn’t, it seems like he takes games off.  I don’t think he’s worth his salt.  Not $49 million.  I think that Hutchinson (left guard Steve) makes him look an awful lot better than he really is.  When he’s paired with a very ordinary guard, which we’ve had here before in the past, he looks extremely outmatched a lot of times if he doesn’t have inside help.

“We’ll need him (McKinnie) back.  It’s going to be a huge, huge issue if Artie can’t make that transition over to left tackle. That’s a big deal to play left tackle. So that’s why they get paid the big money.”

In 2006 the Vikings signed McKinnie to a reported $48.5 million contract extension.  Morris, who has a morning talk show on KFAN, is passionate about his former team, and said he’s “ashamed” the franchise is paying McKinnie the big bucks.  Morris talked about playing with former left tackle and hall of famer Gary Zimmerman, and said there’s “no comparison” between Zimmerman and McKinnie.

Cross your Purple horns and hope that McKinnie, who has started a team-best 89 consecutive games including the playoffs, is available to the Vikings because of his experience and the importance of the left tackle position.  ”The one guy that could have done it in his sleep, doesn’t choose to do it, and that’s McKinnie,” Morris said.  “We hope he’s (McKinnie) back. …But a hell of a burden on Artie Hicks right now. That’s for sure. He hasn’t done him any favors. …”

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