Tubby Smith’sGophers will play Miami in Coral Gables, Florida on Wednesday, December 2 as part of the 11th annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Michigan State with a 5-4 record is the only Big Ten team with a winning record in the challenge. Minnesota and Wisconsin, 4-6, are next best among Big Ten teams while ACC power Duke is 10-0.
This isn’t exactly playoff country. In the last five years the Twins, Vikings and Wild have made the playoffs twice, the Wolves once.
The record isn’t much better historically, according to Forbes.com. The Web site recently rated Minneapolis-St. Paul No. 9 among America’s 10 “most miserable sports cities.” The Forbes criteria: “Our purpose is to identify those cities that have historically led the sports world in the close-but-no-cigar category–good enough to tease their fans with lots of playoff appearances, including Super Bowls, World Series, NBA finals or NHL finals, only to let them down in the end.” More at https://www.forbes.com/2009/04/13/americas-most-miserable-sports-cities-business-sports_slide_12.html?thisSpeed=15000.
Harmon Killebrew will host the 6th Annual Kwik Trip Harmon Killebrew Classic on May 31 and June 1 to benefit the Twins Community Fund and the Miracle League of Minnesota, a charitable organization providing children with mental and/or physical challenges an opportunity to play baseball on a team in an organized league. More information on dinner, auction and golf at www.harmonkillebrewfoundation.org, or call 612-414-4506.
The Vikings have the 22nd overall pick in the first round of Saturday’s NFL Draft and have six total selections this weekend, including three in the top 86. The first and second rounds will be held on Saturday beginning at 3 p.m. Minneapolis time and ending around 9 p.m. The Vikings are expected to make their first round pick about 6:30 p.m.
The draft concludes Sunday with rounds three through seven and begins at 9 a.m. The time allocated for each selection in the first round will be 10 minutes while the second round will be seven minutes. Teams will have five minutes for each selection in the remaining rounds. The Vikings have no picks in the fourth and sixth rounds, with two choices in the seventh.
Former Gophers Keith Ballard, Kyle Okposo and Thomas Vanek have been selected to participate in the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships in Switzerland April 24-May 10. Ballard, a 26-year-old defenseman with Florida in the NHL, is the most experienced international player on the United States roster, making his fourth appearance in the world championships, including his third straight. Okposo, 21, has been selected to the U.S. squad for the first time. He finished second on the New York Islanders in scoring with 18 goals and 21 assists for 39 points, despite missing 17 games due to a mid-season injury. Vanek, 25, will play for the Austrian team for the third time in his career and first since 2005. Playing for Buffalo, he led the NHL with 20 power play goals last season and ranked fifth overall with 40 goals scored, despite missing nine games due to injury.
Congratulations to Gustavus men’s tennis coach Steve Wilkinson. He’s retiring at the end of this school year after 923 wins, a men’s college tennis record. He coached at Gustavus for 39 years and was also one of the best tennis players to ever play in Minnesota.
The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference announced that two students from Concordia University – St. Paul have earned special academic-athletic recognition. Kirk Ingram is the Dr. William Britton Scholar-Athlete Award winner and Mary Slinger is the Willis R. Kelly Scholar-Athlete Award recipient. The Britton Scholar-Athlete Award for Academic Excellence, in its 25th year, recognizes the NSIC’s top male student-athlete, while the Kelly Scholar-Athlete Award, in its 24th year, is presented to the NSIC’s top female student-athlete.