Viking defensive end Jared Allen played with a harness on his injured right shoulder against Green Bay last Sunday. Teammate Ellis Wyms, a reserved defensive tackle, told Sports Headliners he wasn’t a doubter about Allen playing. “Always expect Jared to play,” Wyms said. “He’s one of the toughest guys in this league. I never doubted for a minute. …The type of person he is, his arm would have to be falling off for him not to be out there helping us win today.”
Bud Grant, 82, remains an active outdoorsman, still hunting in Minnesota and elsewhere. The former Viking coach has 22 grandchildren including Ryan Grant who is a redshirt linebacker with the Gophers. Long passionate about ice cream, Grant still eats it for dessert every night.
Ralph Sampson II and Bill Walton are the only men to have won the Naismith award as national player of the year three times in college. Sampson’s son, Ralph III, is a freshman with the Gophers and dad has been at both Minnesota games this season. The 7-foot-4 former Virginia center told Sports Headliners that when he was in high school Gopher coach Tubby Smith, then an assistant at Virginia Commonwealth, tried to recruit him. Sampson lives in Atlanta and said he will attend as many Gopher games as “possible.”
Congratulations to Gopher associate athletics director Phil Esten and wife Dani on the birth of son Cooper, their second child. Cooper, born Sunday, was 21 inches long, nine pounds, six ounces.
A Timberwolves spokesman reported via e-mail that about 2,000 tickets remain for the November 21 game at Target Center against NBA champion Boston. The Wolves marketers recently announced a “Star Studded Six Game Package” that includes Boston (Kevin Garnett), the Lakers (Kobe Bryant), Orlando (Dwight Howard), Portland (Greg Oden), Phoenix (Shaquille O’Neal) and New York (Zach Randolph). Starting at $108 for upper level tickets, fans can save up to 10 percent off the price of individual tickets by purchasing the package.
Phoenix is in St. Paul to play the Wild tomorrow night and the Coyotes’ roster includes rookie center Kevin Porter, the 2008 Hobey Baker award winner from Michigan. Porter has four points on one goal and three assists in 11 games.
The Wild (tied for third in the Northwest Division) has won the last eight games against Phoenix (third in the Pacific Division), including five straight at Xcel Energy Center.
Former Gopher Thomas Vanek, playing with Buffalo, leads the NHL in goals with 12.