MinnesotaSportsScene.com

A couple years ago, it would have been unthinkable, but former San Diego Chargers superstar back LaDanian Tomlinson is an unrestricted free agent. He visited the Minnesota Vikings and by all reports was wowed by the team. But on Thursday he left Winter Park with a purple jersey in hand, but lacking a signed contract.

Word is that LT doesn’t have blinds on his eyes, but is getting on jet to visit the Jets because he promised them he would do so before making a decision. It’s hard to fault someone for being a man of his word.

The Vikings would be a great fit for LT and vice-verse; they have a great superstar back in Adrian Peterson who has modeled himself after LT, and who could use the mentoring LT could provide… especially in the area of hanging on to the ball. LT would replace Chester Taylor, who left the Vikings for the Chicago Bears shortly after the opening of free agency.

That allows the Vikes to sign someone to replace the free agent they lost, and the Vikings were quick to hone in on LT. Whether they can sign him after allowing him to leave Winter Park and visit the Jets will be the big question going into this weekend.

Tags: Adrian Peterson, blinds, LaDanien Tomlinson, New York Jets

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Vikings QB Brett Favre did not tip his hand on his intentions for playing or retiring next season on Thursday’s Tonight Show appearance with Jay Leno. Even though he’ll soon be eligible for senior life insurance, there’s still a strong possibility Favre will decide to play.

Yet his aversion to training camp or letting teams know his intentions in time to plan for the draft or how to behave in trading and free agency has long been a character flaw. Considering his ability to win games, however, even that quirk is often forgivable.

Tags: Brett Favre, Jay Leno, senior life insurance

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While the Gophers are facing a disappointing season, there are signs of hope; the main one (aside from a big sale on an Epson receipt printer for the Gophers’ ticket office) is that one of their big-man recruits for next season is looking like a hot prospect.

The 6-11 Elliot Eliason recently lead his high school team back to the state championship in his home state of Nebraska. The big boy had 27 points and 12 boards in the game that sent his team back to the state tourney. Eliason is showing huge signs of improvement over last season and although he runs into virtually no one his size most of the season – and that won’t be true once he reaches the Gophers next fall – there’s every reason to expect that he’ll make an impact when he lands, despite playing behind Colton Iverson and Ralph Sampson III.

Tags: Elliott Eliason, Epson receipt printer

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Still stuck at 14 wins despite the addition of Darko Milicic prior to the trading deadline, the Wolves are now firmly the worst team in the Western Conference, three wins behind Golden State. Only New Jersey, in the Eastern Conference, is struggling more with a mere six wins to their credit this season.

Everyone else in both the Eastern and Western Conferences have at least 20 wins. In fact, the Western Conference features 11 out of 15 teams that have records of .500 or better. That’s compared to seven out of 15 at .500 or better in the Eastern Conference.

Whoever emerges in the Western Conference should be the favorite to win the NBA title this season. Meanwhile, the Wolves look like they’ll have the second-best chance to win the NBA Lottery this year. Not an impressive debut for new GM David Kahn and new coach Kurt Rambis, but they are in the first year of a three-year plan to get the Wolves back into playoff contention.

Let’s hope that Year Two includes topping 30 victories next season; that would be progress! After all, failing to do so has sent more folks than just Kevin McHale out of baskteball and into the business of handing out life insurance quotes.

Tags: David Kahn, Kurt Rambis, life insurance quotes, Minnesota Timberwolves

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Sitting at the brink of becoming non-existent as a bubble team for the NCAA Tourney, the Minnesota Golden Gophers put on a stellar performance on the road against the Illinois Illini this weekend, posting a 19-point lead at the half and hanging on to win 62-60, the first time the Gophers have won at Illinois since 1978.

The quality of that win may keep their slim hopes alive of surpassing Illinois as the fifth tournament team from the Big 10 to make it into the Big Dance. However, with two games remaining, Minnesota can’t let up for a second. They will need to win on the road at Michigan, then close out strong in Minneapolis against Iowa.

At 17-11, with an 8-8 record in the Big 10, those two wins would place Minnesota at 19-11 and 10-8… close enough to maybe secure a Big Dance spot, so long as they don’t lose in the first round of the Big 10 Tourney following the season.

Such a finish would also keep hope alive that the 2009-10 Gophers won’t be the first team in over 20 years to finish their season with fewer than 20 wins under Coach Tubby Smith. While it’s not like finishing below 20 wins would put Smith in danger of perusing a list of car insurance companies for a sales job or anything, achieving 20 wins after such a rough middle of the season would certainly be a feather in the cap of Tubby!

Tags: Illinois, list of car insurance companies, Tubby Smith

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Here’s the player to watch this year on the Minnesota Twins: at 21 and acnefree, center field prospect Ben Revere is expected to make his major league debut, perhaps as soon as this season.

He’s quick with a smile, has great energy and enthusiasm and could, if he performs well, become one of the signature players to associate with Target Field. Am I saying he’s the next Kirby Puckett or would make people feel better if we don’t re-sign Joe Mauer?

Nope. Not at all.

But he’s a talent to watch. That’s all.

Tags: acnefree, Ben Revere

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Whether Brett Favre retires or not, the Minnesota Vikings should pursue a trade for Eagles restricted free agent QB Donovan McNabb. Why? Well, because you can never have too much talent at the position when your top guy is 40 and could either retire or lose it at any given moment.

McNabb may not be Favre (even with the antiaging products Favre seems to benefit from), but he’s a darn sight better than T-Jack or Sage, and he’s the kind of talent you need if the Vikings are going to do right by RB Adrian Peterson, who deserves to go to a Super Bowl. McNabb would be younger without going too young, and it would satisfy the QB depth enough, even if the trade means losing T-Jack, Sage, or both of them.

It would also enable to Vikings to use their top draft pick on a defensive tackle, cornerback or lineman, rather than an eventual Favre successor or replacement. The QB pool is deep enough this year to take someone as late as the third round and still get a worthwhile prospect to develop; having Favre and McNabb ahead of him on the depth chart would only help ensure the young QB wouldn’t be pressed into front-line service too quickly.

Tags: antiaging product, Brett Favre, Donovan McNabb, Sage Rosenfels, Tavaris Jackson

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Let’s just hope it’s not another retirement announcement.

Word is that Jay Leno, back in control of the Tonight Show thanks to incompetent NBC dimwits, has landed Vikings QB Brett Favre as his guest for a March 4 show, the first week of Leno’s second reign. Odds are, Favre won’t be there to promote www.successfulhomebusiness.org.

Instead, he’s sure to talk about what it was like to come one interception away from a Super Bowl at age 40 and wearing the colors of his life-long arch-nemesis team, the purple of the Minnesota Vikings. Whether he’ll return next season is an announcement he may make, but don’t expect it to be binding one way or another … at least, not until after the Vikings break training camp in Mankato.

Then, maybe…

Tags: Brett Favre, Jay Leno, www.successfulhomebusiness.org

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It was only one point, but it fell to the wrong team as the Minnesota Gophers on Wednesday lost to number three-ranked Purdue, 58-59. This was despite sophomore center Ralph Sampson III’s college career-best 21 points and seven board performance on the night.

The loss all but assures that the Gophers, at best, will sneak into the NIT Tourney, rather than the NCAA, and all but seals this as the first time in about 20 years coached by Tubby Smith to probably fall short of achieving 20 wins.

Of course, it has been a season of distractions and unexpected absences. Top recruit Royce White, and top transfer Trevor Mbakwe and senior guard Devron Bostick have had legal troubles keeping them off-court, and point guard Al Nolan has struggled academically. That means this year’s team has been down three or four top players all season.

The surprise shouldn’t be that the Gophers aren’t living up to expectations; the surprise ought to be that Smith has kept the team so competitive while so short-handed and lacking in quality depth. This is the kind of team that causes most coaches to invest in hemorrhoid cream, after all…

Tags: Al Nolan, Devron Bostick, hemorrhoid cream, Royce White, Trevor Mbakwe, Tubby Smith

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The Minnesota Timberwolves made a minor move before the trading deadline, sending away a guy they barely used to the Knick for a guy New York barely used: seven-foot center Darko Milicic.

He’s been ill-used by the league; so much so that he’s barely in game shape and needs to learn how to build muscle fast if he’s to be a big part of the rest of this season.

Already, he’s played a key role in keeping games close in his three games with the team; games the Wolves went 1-2 in, but neither of the losses were blowouts. Not bad for a guy who can barely play fifteen minutes a night right now without getting winded.

Still, Darko was the number two overall draft pick only a few years ago, and he’s only 25. If he works out, the Wolves could be the place where he resurrects his NBA career; if not, he clears cap room this summer for chasing top talent. Hard to see a downside for either party, since Milicic said he’s considering a return to Europe if all else fails.

Tags: Darko Milicic, how to build muscle fast

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The Minnesota Twins are getting serious about winning. Now that they are moving into a new stadium this season, the team has gone on something of a shopping spree for talent.

Already they have added DH Jim Thome, starting pitcher Carl Pavano, and completed a trade for shortstop JJ Hardy. Today, they added Gold Glove winner Orlando Hudson, who will secure the second base position. All of this spending comes at a time when the Twins are desperate to show catcher Joe Mauer they are committed to getting to a World Series, so that they can sign him for between $20-25 million per season – still less than he’s expected to command on the open market if he bypasses a new deal with the Twins.

While a lot of this talent-signing is about the new stadium, have no doubt that re-signing Mauer is also a major element in all this off-season wheeling and dealing. It’s not just for the pond pumps.

Tags: Carl Pavano, Jim Thome, JJ Hardy, Joe Mauer, Orlando Hudson

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One of the most highly-sought recruits this year, Cretin-Derham Hall offensive lineman Seantrel Henderson today chose USC as his college of choice on National Signing Day. His choice came despite the recent departure of Pete Carroll, who moved to Seattle to run the Seahawks recently, and has been replaced by Lane Kiffen, formerly of the Oakland Raiders and a one-time candidate for the Gophers job that went to Tim Brewster.

Brewster tried as hard as anyone could to land Henderson, but even if Minnesota had Kiffen instead of Brewster as coach, he would have had a hard time keeping Henderson at home. Why? Simple: Kiffen can offer Henderson southern California winters; Minnesota can’t. Send that out on your iPods.

And when everyone is after you, as was the case with Henderson, that makes it hard to land a guy like that. Of course, USC is taking on some risks, too; Henderson needs to work hard to meet academic eligibility requirements, so the signing won’t mean much if he struggles with his grades. That would have been an even bigger issue for other Henderson finalist schools like Minnesota and Notre Dame, which have higher academic standards than USC.

Still, Henderson is a solid “get” for the Trojans; but losing the Henderson sweepstakes is by no means a knock against Brewster. Some recruits just have too many huge schools going after them.

Tags: iPods, Lane Kiffen, Seantrel Henderson, Tim Brewster, USC

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