Rick Spielman, the Vikings vice president of player personnel, said yesterday he’s heard rumors that Miami may release quarterback Daunte Culpepper if Trent Green comes to the Dolphins in a trade with Kansas City.
The NFL draft rates highest in interest with sports fans among all major spring weekend sporting events, according to the NFL Report publication (source: ESPN Sports Poll). The draft (47.8 percent) led the Indy 500 (43.2), Kentucky Derby (40.1) and Preakness Stakes (29.5).
The same publication noted the increase in viewers watching the draft on ESPN and ESPN2 since 2002. Citing information from NFL and Nielsen Media Research, total viewers per year starting with 2002 were: 25.5 million, 29 million, 31.4 million, 34.4 million and 36.3 million.
Michael Cuddyer, who only started nine of the Twins’ 24 games in April last year, talking about his status now as the regular right fielder: “Last year I was on the bench and I didn’t really know what the future was going to hold for me. This year is a little more stable and now I can just focus on helping the team win.”
The height of basketball players is often exaggerated. Wolves VP Kevin McHale was talking about the lack of big centers in the NBA and said Phoenix center Amare Stoudemire is 6-7 and a half. On-line sources list him at 6-10.
Maybe McHale will make an off-season trade with his former Celtics teammate Larry Bird, president of the Pacers. Pacer center Jermaine O’Neal could provide the Wolves with badly needed front court size, scoring and rebounding.
The Wild may add toughness to the roster during the off-season but currently the organization doesn’t have an enforcer in the minors like Derek Boogaard, according to a team spokesman.
There’s a new tennis blog that welcomes news and encourages opinion from recreational players here and elsewhere, https://web.mac.com/msten.