The Mount Olivet Church Men’s Dinner on Thursday night features Brewster and former Gopher All-American defensive tackle Bobby Bell, who played on the 1960 national championship team and two Rose Bowl teams. Non-church members are welcome. The cost is $10 per person with an $8 admission for those 65 and over. Reservations need to be made by noon tomorrow. Call 612-926-7651 for more information.
The Gophers have four players on their roster from Skyline High in Dallas and the school has several prospects for 2010 college recruiting classes. A headliner is linebacker Corey Nelson, the No. 24 player in the country, according to Rivals.com, https://rivals100.rivals.com/viewrank.asp?SID=880&Year=2010&ra_key=2369
Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson turns 26 tomorrow.
If the Vikings could make a deal giving up first and third round picks in the draft for Arizona wide receiver Anquan Boldin they will receive applause here. At 25, Boldin has impressive numbers including 20 touchdown catches during the last two seasons. He’s a surer thing than a draft choice and remember, too, that acquiring high impact receivers is no easy task. The Vikings have been trying to replace Randy Moss and Cris Carter for years while looking at Troy Williamson and others.
Arizona’s other star receiver, Larry Fitzgerald Jr., is even better than Boldin and proved his worth helping the Cardinals to the Super Bowl. The Minneapolis native visited troops in Iraq earlier this year, as did Vikings’ defensive end Jared Allen.
Glen Perkins won his first game of the season yesterday as the Twins beat the Angels, 3-1. He lowered his season ERA to 1.50 and became the first Twins starter to have three straight eight inning outings since Johan Santana did it in June of 2005.
Joe Nathan, who had the save in yesterday’s win, is three-for-three in save opportunities this season. He has given up three hits in five innings while striking out five in five appearances.
Center fielder Carlos Gomez had three infield hits yesterday and it was his first multi-hit game of the season.
A source told Sports Headliners that fan response to the Wild has been accepting of need for a change after Wild owner Craig Leipold fired general manager Doug Risebrough last week.
It will be surprising if Leipold doesn’t make hires for the general manager and coach who favor a more wide open style of play than was the standard with Risebrough and Jacques Lemaire who resigned recently. That offensive philosophy and fresh faces might help keep superstar forward Marian Gaborik here with a new contract.
Kevin Constantine, the Wild’s minor league head coach with Houston, is probably a long shot among coaching candidates because of his defensive reputation.
Devils forward Brian Rolston talking about Lemaire whom he played for in New Jersey and here: “Jacques quite simply is the best coach I have ever had. I am very lucky to have played for him not only when I was with the Wild, but earlier in my career. The lessons I learned from him remain invaluable to me today. I can only wish Jacques the very best in the future.”
Fred Hoiberg told KFAN’s Paul Allen on Friday that candidates for the top executive job running the Wolves basketball operation are being given psychological tests providing insights on leadership. Hoiberg, the Wolves assistant general manager, is an internal candidate who has been interviewed as have outside candidates.