Best (trick) trivia question heard in a long time:  What are the two northern most cities ever to host the World Series?  (See bottom of the column for the answer).

Laker superstar Kobe Bryant praised former Timberwolf first round pick O.J. Mayo in a Los Angeles Times story on Wednesday.  Bryant said Mayo “can handle, he can shoot, he can pass, he’s fast, he’s quick, so that’s the whole package.”  Mayo is a member of the U.S. Select team that scrimmaged against the U.S. Olympic team.  More at https://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-olyhoops30-2008jul30,0,2301755.story

Ken Lien was impressed earlier this week watching Gopher recruit Devron Bostick play in the Howard Pulley League in St. Paul.  Lien, chairman of the Minnesota Mr. Basketball committee, said Bostick “can really sky.”  The 6-4 former national junior college player of the year is likely to start for the Gophers, adding scoring and athleticism to the lineup.

Former Gopher wide receiver Michah Rucker, who transferred to Eastern Illinois,             is in camp with Pittsburgh and trying to make the Steelers’ roster as a free agent.

Wally’s Choice, the local race horse who didn’t race at all last year after a career threatening torn tendon in 2006, has run three times at Canterbury Park this season with a third place finish the best showing.  Wally’s Choice is owned by Wally “the Beerman” McNeil, his wife Joyce McNeil and Canterbury Park Board chairman Curtis Sampson.   With $432,955 in career earnings, the owners hope that one day Wally’s Choice can break Blair’s Cove’s all-time record of $533,528 for Minnesota bred race horses.  Wally’s Choice, a seven-year-old thoroughbred, received stem cells from his own body to help the healing process from the torn tendon.

Wally’s choice will be among the horses running in the 10th annual Claiming Crown races tomorrow (Saturday) at Canterbury Park.  Also racing is Chickster whose nine wins in 2008 make him the winningest horse in North America this year.  He is owned by Curt Johnson from Detroit Lakes.

Thunder general manager Djorn Buchholz told Sports Headliners last week that the probability is “pretty high” the team will add at least one player between now and late August when USL rosters are frozen for the season.  He mentioned adding a “central defender and goal scorer.”   Even though the franchise added goal scorers to the roster in the off-season, the team has been frustrated with a lack of scoring.  The Thunder scored eight goals in five league games in July, an improvement from June when the totals were four goals in six games.

Trivia answer:  Bloomington (1965) and Minneapolis (1987 and 1991).

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Assistant coach Saul Smith told Sports Headliners last week that the Gopher staff plans to attract a “great” recruiting class next year and that’s part of the plan to have Minnesota competing for national championships.  Head coach Tubby Smith and his assistants recruited a group of incoming freshmen and junior college players this year that has drawn national attention and is regarded among the best in the Big Ten Conference.

Asked about recruiting success for next year, Saul said, “We expect a great class of recruits that are going to fit in our system and fit in our ways of winning basketball games. …”

When asked about competing for Big Ten Championships, he talked about NCAA titles, too.  “We do,” he said.  “We feel like that’s our goal is to compete nationally and win national titles and to compete (for) Big Ten titles.  We’re going to be all right. …”

Three of the Gophers five incoming recruits are in Minneapolis already, 6-10 forward/center Colton Iverson, 6-11 forward/center Ralph Sampson III, and 6-5 guard Devron Bostick.  Forward Paul Carter, a 6-8 junior college transfer, and guard Devoe Joseph, 6-3 from Toronto, haven’t come to town yet.

Iverson, Sampson and Bostick are playing in the summer time Howard Pulley League in St. Paul.  NCAA regulations prevent college coaches from watching the players but Saul Smith has impressions of all three from anecdotal reports and previous observations.

Iverson has a reputation for aggressive play, including offensive and defensive rebounding.  “I am excited about him,” Smith said.  “I knew he could do that because I had watched him as a high schooler.  I think that’s going to help us, too. …”

Listening to Smith talk about Sampson, he makes it clear the youngster isn’t his dad, a 7-4 phenom who some once thought could become basketball’s greatest center ever.  Smith described the elder Sampson as “kind of an aberration” and “just amazing.”

But young Ralph is impressive, too.  “He kind of does everything really well,” Smith said.  “He passes well. Defends well.  He can score with either hand. These are the things that we like.  His versatility.  He (even) does ball handling drills pretty well. …”

The summer reports on Bostick are he’s living up to his reputation as a scorer.  He averaged 19.3 and 18.2 points per game during two seasons at Southwestern Illinois where earlier this year he was named Division I National Junior College Athletic Association Player of the Year as selected by association coaches.  Because of Bostick’s experience and maturity, Smith is expecting the 20-year-old to help immediately next season. “He’s going to be ready,” Smith said.  “We expect him to be ready.”

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John J. Arlotta, the new owner of the National Lacrosse League’s Minnesota Swarm, told Sports Headliners that the local franchise has never been profitable and won’t be for a few seasons.  He regards the Swarm, who start a fifth season next January, as a start-up business requiring time to become profitable.

Arlotta praised Minnesota Sports and Entertainment (the former ownership group that operates the Minnesota Wild) for building a “foundation.”  His goal is to find more customers and field a better team.

He will employ a full time ticket sales staff, instead of part time as in the past.  The Swarm averaged 11,000 fans per game last season and will target new customers including college students who will have an upper level seating area in Xcel Energy Center.  Another idea is to target small business owners with affordable suite options.

“I feel pretty good about where we’re at,” Arlotta said.  “I anticipate making money within a few years, or at least breaking even.”

The Swarm has never gone beyond the first round of the playoffs, although they have had front office personnel and others recognized recognized including team captain Ryan Cousins who scored nine goals and 14 points in 16 games last season on his way to a second straight NLL Defensive Player of the Year award.  Two of his nine goals were game-winners in overtime. Arlotta wants to “enhance” scouting, evaluate more players and add additional Americans to the roster (league personnel is heavy with Canadians).

Arlotta wouldn’t say how much he paid for the team but media reports valued the recently purchased Rochester, New York club at $5.5 million.  Without being specific, he projected losses for next season to be in the “six figure range.”

His view is that the Minneapolis-St. Paul lacrosse market is “ready to explode.”  He quoted research that ranks Minnesota as the seventh fastest growth state for youth soccer.  High school programs, for example, are growing in popularity.  He also said college students, who haven’t been marketed to here, love the game.  He said except for Boston, this metro area has more college students than any other.

The local love affair with hockey is a plus, too, Arlotta said.  Lacrosse and hockey are cross-over sports that draw people interested in playing and watching both.  Opinion and data aside, Arlotta will know from observation when and if lacrosse is booming here.  “The ultimate gauge is watching lots of kids walking with sticks and flipping the ball,” he said.

New Wild owner Craig Leipold is a friend who knew of Arlotta’s interest in lacrosse and suggested he buy the Swarm franchise.  Although he’s never formally played the sport, Arlotta, 59, was asked to play club lacrosse as a student at Notre Dame.  He regrets declining the invitation.  Several years ago while living in Baltimore he became a lacrosse fan watching national power Johns Hopkins University.  More recently he and wife Bobbie, who played high school lacrosse, provided the lead gift of $5 million for a new men’s and women’s lacrosse stadium at Notre Dame.

Arlotta is the former chairman, president and chief executive officer of Denver-based Coram Inc., a privately held provider of home infusion and specialty pharmacy services.   Told that while his business accomplishments hadn’t earned him a bio on Wikipedia but that success with the Swam might, Arlotta replied, “Man, maybe that’s what I should be striving for.”

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