NFL expert Dean Dalton on Vikings reserve quarterbacks Brooks Bollinger and Kelly Holcomb: “Both are kind of career journeymen and that’s all they will be.”
Dalton, who was a Vikings assistant coach from 1999-2005, said he’s had two offers in recent month from NFL teams to return to coaching. Although some day he would “love” to coach again, he and his wife are first committed to raising their two teenage sons in Eden Prairie.
Former Duke and Timberwolves star Christian Laettner at No. 12 is rated ahead of Michael Jordan (No. 13) on the list of the IBM top 25 greatest players in college basketball history seen on ESPN. That’s accurate given Laettner’s college accomplishments (the shot seen around the world to beat Kentucky) during four seasons versus Jordan’s two at North Carolina.
Gopher basketball coach Tubby Smith lost a sister to cancer two years ago. “I tell our players people don’t care what you know,” Smith said. “They want to know how much you care.”
Junior Mike Bruesewitz of Henry Sibley, who verbally committed to Wisconsin earlier this month, was compared to the Badgers’ Joe Krabbenhoft in an Internet story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Krabbenhoft is a player who seldom scores many points but does a lot of things that help the Badgers win. Both players are physical forwards, about 6-foot-7.
Undefeated Hopkins, 22-0, remains No. 1 in prep basketball expert Ken Lien’s latest rankings of the state’s top 10 boys’ teams. St. Bernard’s has joined the top 10, replacing Wayzata. Here are the teams: Hopkins, Osseo, Minnetonka, Henry Sibley, Cretin-Derham Hall, Benilde-St. Maragaret’s, Crosby-Ironton, Shakopee, St. Bernard’s, and Stillwater. Lien, chair of the Mr. Basketball program, compiles his top 10 based on who he considers the best teams regardless of school enrollment size.
Bad news for young women: Twins first baseman Justin Morneau is now engaged and off the short list of the town’s most eligible bachelors.
The Gopher men’s hockey team (13-13-8) is one short of the single-season school record for nine ties. Minnesota and Wisconsin played to a 4-4 tie on Saturday. It was the Gophers’ seventh overtime game in their last 11.