Ryan Cook was a center at New Mexico but the Vikings switched him to right tackle where he is a starter. Cook, taken in the second round of the 2006 draft, told Sports Headliners that he prepares as a backup center to Matt Birk every week in practice. “That’s what I was told,” Cook said. “If he goes down, I am in there.”
Viking place kicker Ryan Longwell,33, talking about how much longer he wants to play pro football: “I love what I do,” Longwell said. “I’d love to keep doing it for a long time. I don’t know if I will be around as long as Morten Andersen. …” Andersen, 47, plays for Atlanta and is the NFL’s oldest player.
Former Viking player Jack Del Rio and now Jacksonville head coach has his team off to a 2-1 start, quieting talk that there might be a change in leadership. The Jaguar staff of assistants includes former Viking coach Mike Tice, Dallas coach Dave Campo and University of Alabama coach Mike Shula.
Harvey Mackay, New York Times best selling author and former University of Minnesota golfer, jogs and walks about four miles 300 days per year. Mackay said he is “74 and holding.”
With all the upsets in college football this season, including plenty of David vs. Goliath results, you can be sure the folks in Fargo are looking forward more than ever to the Gopher-North Dakota State game on October 20 in Minneapolis. North Dakota State is 3-0 after defeating Central Michigan, 44-14, in Mount Pleasant last Saturday. The Bison defeated the Chippewas by a bigger score than Purdue (45-22) won by on its home field.
Gopher basketball coach Tubby Smith is looking for corporate jets, according to a Minnesota alum.
The Twins drew 2,296,383 fans in 2007, an average of 28,350 fans per home game, and the third highest total in club history, behind 1988 (3,030,672) and 1992 (2,482,428).
Some teams would change coaching personnel after a losing and disappointing season but manager Ron Gardenhire and all his coaches will return. The Twins organizational culture emphasizes loyalty and promotion from within.
The St. Paul Chamber Faceoff luncheon is next Monday starting at 11:30 a.m. in the Crowne Plaza St. Paul-Riverside. Minnesota Wild players will be in attendance and president/general manager Doug Risebrough will talk about the upcoming season. Tickets are $50 each and information is available at 651-265-2795, or visit www.saintpaulchamber.com and click on calendar of events.
The Timberwolves host media day Friday and by Sunday will be holding training camp in Turkey, a country that ranks high internationally in NBA interest. The Wolves will play a Turkish team on October 6, the first NBA exhibition game ever held in that nation. The Wolves will then resume training camp in London and on October 10 will play Boston in a pre-season game.
Saint John’s senior quarterback Alex Kofoed is the MIAC Offensive Player of the Week. He was 26 of 32 passing (.813 pct.) for 303 yards and four touchdowns in last Saturday’s 52-21 win against Concordia (Moorhead). Saint John’s junior defensive tackle Nick Gunderson is Defensive Player of the Week and Concordia junior wide receiver Paul Shol is Special Teams Player of the Week. Gunderson led the Johnnies with eight tackles (five solo), including one tackle for loss, one sack and a forced fumble in the win over Concordia. Shol produced one of the Concordia highlights when he returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown. It was the second longest kickoff return in program histor