Outdoor expert Ron Schara listed five to-dos that are important to encourage kids to fish. First, buy them solid equipment, “not cheap children’s stuff.” Bad equipment means frustration. “Two, take them fishing but make it a fun deal,” Schara said. “It’s more than fishing. Fishing is also fun. That means pack a lunch. Bring some treats. Things like that.
“Three, don’t over stay your welcome. Fish as long as they want to fish. If they want to quit, you quit. …
“Four, don’t get hung up on catching big fish. Children are happy catching any fish, big or little. Fish off the dock etc. And five, it’s okay to teach them that some fish you can keep and eat, and some fish you let go. But if you keep some, make sure that you follow the whole cycle. That you show them that you clean the fish, you cook the fish, and you eat them. You don’t throw them in the…garbage.”
The Sporting News issue of May 11 grades the Vikings college draft a C-. Each player drafted received a grade, too, including first rounder Percy Harvin who got an A but second rounder Phil Loadholt took home a D+. NFC North rivals received these grades: Chicago, B+; Detroit, B+; Green Bay, B-.
Larry Fitzgerald Jr., the Cardinals all-pro from Minneapolis, is rated the best wide receiver in the NFL, according to a poll of former wide receivers in that same issue of Sporting News. Andre Johnson of Houston and Randy Moss of New England were second and third.
Timberwolves president Chris Wright said about 50 percent of last year’s 6,000 season tickets have been renewed. He also said both Al Jefferson and Corey Brewer, recovering from injuries, could be ready for the beginning of training camp in September.
Former Gophers basketball star Clyde Turner will be honored tonight at an award presentation at the University of Minnesota. He will receive the Dean’s Outstanding Achievement Award from the College of Education and Human Development. Turner has devoted his professional career to family and children advocacy while working in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. “Every time a young voice speaks, a more mature ear should listen and hear,” he said. Turner was a forward on the Gophers 1972 Big Ten championship team.
Since Joe Mauer returned to the Twins lineup on May 1, the team has scored 74 runs in 12 games (6.17 runs-per-game). Previously the Twins had scored 93 runs in 22 games (4.23 runs-per-game). Mauer has hit safely in nine of the 11 games he has played this season.
Justin Morneau has hit three home runs in his last five games and seven home runs in 20 games since May 22. He is hitting .372 (16-for-43) with two home runs off left handed pitching this season.
Senior infielder/pitcher Todd Mathison was 9-for-23 with two homers, three doubles, 12 RBI and two walks to help St. Olaf to the MIAC playoffs championship. In Sunday’s games against St. Thomas, Mathison was 7-for-10 with two homers, two doubles and 10 RBI as the Oles earned their third trip to the NCAA tournament in the last four seasons. He is the MIAC Baseball Player of the Week, while teammate Alex Sommer is the conference’s Pitcher of the Week. He allowed seven hits and two walks in a complete game shutout over top-seeded St. Thomas in the MIAC playoffs championship. The performance came less than 24 hours after Sommer pitched the first four innings of the Oles’ 9-4 win over Hamline.
Margaret Sughrue Carlson, chief executive officer of the 60,000-member University of Minnesota Alumni Association since 1985, announced today that she plans to retire in early 2010. Carlson, 65, is the longest-serving alumni director in the Big Ten and only the sixth CEO in the 105-year history of the organization.