At 4:45 p.m. on Sunday the NBC telecast of the gold medal Olympicsl hockey game between the U.S. and Canada had a 35 rating and 63 share on KARE 11, according to an email from a station executive. That translates into about 630,000 homes and 800,000 viewers age 18-plus in the local marketplace.
At $1.8 million annual salary, Tubby Smith is the fourth highest paid basketball coach in the Big Ten Conference, according to Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi. Ohio State’s Thad Matta, Indiana’s Tom Crean and Michigan State’s Tom Izzo make more.
No Gopher women’s player made the first, second or third all-Big Ten teams announced on Monday. Brittany McCoy and Kiara Buford were honorable mention on the media selected team, and McCoy was given the same honor by the conference coaches.
Coach Pam Borton’s Gophers, the No. 11 seed, play an opening Big Ten tournament game in Indianapolis tomorrow against Penn State starting at approximately 1:30 p.m. Minneapolis time.
The Wild resumes its regular season schedule tonight in Calgary, the team’s first game in 17 days. The Wild has won three straight against the Flames for the first time in franchise history. Calgary wing Jarome Iginla, historically successful against the Wild, has been held without a point this season. He is the all-time leader against the Wild in points, goals and shots. He doesn’t have a goal in his last nine games against Minnesota after scoring a hat trick in 2008.
Patrick Klinger, Twins vice president of marketing, told Sports Headliners recently that the franchise has sold an all-time high 21,000 season tickets, with more sales expected in the weeks ahead.
The most intriguing story at Twins spring training could be Francisco Liriano. He was overpowering during winter baseball in his native Dominican Republic following a disastrous 2009 season with the Twins when he stopped pitching because of a tired arm and his ERA went to an all-time big league high of 5.80. At 26, and coming off three seasons of inactivity or disappointing results, this season could determine Liriano’s longevity with the Twins and whether he becomes a reliable (if not overpowering) starter.
Major League baseball teams are expected to search out European talent with more frequency in the next 10 years. The Twins are already involved with 7-foot-1 pitcher Loek Van Mil, a native of the Netherlands, on the 40-man roster. Further down in the system is Germany’s Max Kepler-Rozycki who signed on with the Twins organization as a 16-year-old outfielder last year.
Former Ch. 9 sports anchor Jim Gilleland is selling real estate in partnership with wife Beth for RE/MAX. The Gillelands are based in Cottage Grove.
Lewis Garrison and other former Gophers are offering skills training in April as part of their PreSnap Football Academy. More at https://www.presnapfootball.com/