C 2 S P O R T S S T A R T R I B U N E T U E S D AY, A U G U S T 1 0 , 2 0 1 0

Y W R I T T E N A N D C O M P I L E D BY B R I A N S T E N S A A S B S T E N S A A S @ S TA R T R I B U N E . C O M

08.10.10

THE GAME PLAN

T H E B U Z Z So Tiger is hardly a lock for Octobers Ryder Cup matches. Raise your hand

if you want to be the one to explain that to sports executives at ESPN and NBC.

R E M O T E P A T R O L With all the channels now available, its likely there is a sports

movie on at any time, any day. Hey, look: Any Given Sunday (3:30 p.m., Cinemax).

C L I C K P I C K Eastern Washington University has a live webcam

(www.goeags.com) for the installation of its new turf football field which is red.
S T A R G A Z I N G St. Paul Saints mascot Brat Favre, a pig, will skip Tuesdays game

DAY

and instead participate in a football captains practice at Como Park High School.

F A S T F A C T So much for all-access. HBOs Hard Knocks film crew was denied

access to the latest round of talks between Darrelle Revis agents and the Jets.

Darrelle Revis

2-DO LIST

2-DAYS 2CENTS Madden NFL

W H AT T H E Y
MIGHT
BE DOING
T O D AY . . .

WILL IT BE A QB
SNEAK OR SNACK?

Percy Harvin
might be playing a huge
game of catchup.

Targets new deal will appeal to Madden gamers with the munchies.

s football fans, we enjoy

playing coach for an
hour by selecting
our go-to teams in
video games. As
football fans,
we
enjoy
snack chips.
As football
fans, we enjoy tailgating.
Some genius over at EA
Sports has decided to combine
all three. And we approve.
Madden NFL 11 hits stores
Tuesday. Once hardcore gamers have waited in line to pay
for this gem, theyll want to
make Target their next stop.
Thats because the bulls-eye
retailer is offering Madden game
enhancements with a side order of
Doritos.
Heres the skinny:
For the Madden Ultimate Team online feature (a downloadable cardcollecting-based option established last Target
year where you can build your own fran- stores are
chise with players, stadiums, uniforms, big playetc.), card pack codes will be available on ers in this
This isnt exactly the most health-conselect bags of new Stadium Nacho Dori- years sale scious idea weve ever heard of.
tos and Tailgater BBQ Doritos (flavors of of MadMunch, munch. OK, just one more
game day and unique aromas that will take den NFL
game sitting here on the couch. Munch,
them right onto the field says a press re- 11.
munch.
lease).
But its a smart marketing concept
In conjunction with the Madden NFL 11 de- that is bound to draw some interest, especialbut, the Ultimate Team codes will be available ly in this area.
nationwide beginning Tuesday. But the kicker is
EA Sports, by the way, believes in the Vikings
that at Target stores, buyers are guaranteed to as a whole. The team (programmed with Brett
get an Adrian Peterson card, a souped-up Cow- Favre as the starting quarterback you know,
boys Stadium card and an injury card (that al- just in case) gets a 90 rating in this years game.
lows an injured player to stay on the field) as Thats the best in the league, one ahead of New
part of their pack.
Orleans and two up on the Packers. St. Louis
In other words, not a bad start to your Ulti- (66) gets the distinction of worst-rated team,
mate Team.
two notches below lowly Detroit. Ouch.
The more hours you play, the more points you
But with Ultimate Team, who cares?
rack up. Additional packs can be purchased via
Pass the chips.
the Madden online store.
BRIAN STENSAAS

Jim Edmonds
might be enjoying playing for
a contender
again.
Emmitt Smith
might be making a big donation to Gator
Nation.
FIVE THINGS

A look at some
of the more unusual names of
holes at Whistling Straits,
site of this
weeks PGA
Championship:
OMan (No. 3)
Gremlins Ear
(No. 6)
Down and
Dirty (No. 9)
Sand Box (No.
11)
Pinched Nerve
(No. 17)
Have a good list?
Send it to mrand@
startribune.com

QUOTE OF
T H E D AY

briefly

Ilitch hopes to add

Pistons to his fold
Mike Ilitch, the Little Caesars pizza mogul who
already owns the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red
Wings, said Monday that he wants to buy the Detroit Pistons in part to make sure another buyer
doesnt move the NBA franchise out of town.
Pistons owner Karen Davidson has said she
wants to sell the team by October.
When I read in the paper there was the
chance that this great sports town could lose one
of its professional sports franchises, I just didnt
see how we could let that happen, Ilitch said.
One owner for three of a citys professional
teams has been done before. Media pioneer Ted
Turner had baseballs Atlanta Braves, the NBAs
Hawks and the NHLs Thrashers. The NFL prohibits such cross-ownership.
GOLF

Senior major to let fans in free

Admission will be free at this years Senior
Players Championship.
The PGA Tour announced that tickets are
on the house for all spectators during the entire week at this years final major on the Champions Tour. The Senior Players Championship
will be held Oct. 7-10 at the TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.
The PGA Tour says the tournament will be
the first modern major championship on any
U.S. pro tour to offer free admission.
The Champions Tours 3M Championship,
played last week in Blaine, has made admission
free the past two years.
NBA

London lands regular-season games

The NBA will play games that count in
Europe for the first time next season. NBA
Commissioner David Stern announced that
the Toronto Raptors and New Jersey Nets will
face each other March 4 and 5 at the O2 Arena, a London venue that has hosted preseason
games over the past several years.
Stern has said he wants a meaningful game
in London before the city hosts the Olympics
in 2012.
In Beijing [at the 2008 Olympics], basketball
was the hottest ticket, Stern said. I think that
theres a good possibility that basketball will assume a role that folks in the United Kingdom
might never have anticipated.
Nets give Sean May his next chance
The New Jersey Nets signed free-agent forward Sean May, who was the 13th overall pick in
the 2005 draft. He hasnt lived up to that choice
and played in a career-high 37 games last season
with Sacramento, averaging 3.3 points.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Transfer QB says hell watch step

New Mississippi quarterback Jeremiah

Masoli knows this is his last chance.
Masoli met with reporters for the first time
since joining the Rebels last week and made clear
he understands his college career hangs on his
ability to stay out of trouble. He was considered
a Heisman Trophy contender at Oregon before
two brushes with the law led to his dismissal.
Coach Houston Nutt has him on a zero-tolerance plan.
Coach Nutt is the main reason I came here,
first and foremost, Masoli said. I could hear
the genuineness in his voice.
AROUND THE HORN

TALKERS

Still pondering
You know, the
ankle still doesnt
feel right
I make some
tough decisions
every day, but I
never decided
on an onside
kick in the second half of the
Super Bowl.
Barack
Obama during the Saints
White House
visit Monday.

Riding the tractor

into the sunset

Report says report

of Favres return
could be true

Done deal. No. 4

FAVRE METER: Anybody know the schedule?

Its unclear, we hear, when Brett Favre will visit his ankle doctor,
noted surgeon Dr. James Andrews of Birmingham, Ala. This week,
thats all coach Brad Childress knows. We are less and less surprised
to learn that there are such vagaries in this situation.

Join us at startribune.com/sports

Mark Craig: Big Pats

ready for New Orleans
I asked [Pat] Williams today if
theres a game hes circling on the
calendar. In my biz, this is a softball
and a half since the Saints are the
first game.
I dont hold no grudge toward
anybody, but I dont like no Saints,
Williams said.I was born and raised
in Louisiana, so thats all I heard all
summer. So, yeah, Im tired of the
Saints. So circle that date for me. We
had that [NFC Championship] game
won. We can only blame ourselves.
Around the NFL: startribune.com/vikings

Auto racing: NASCAR will open the 2011

Chase for the Sprint Cup championship at Chicagoland Speedway, shifting the start of its 10race playoffs to the second-largest media market the series serves.
Olympics: The International Softball Federation rejected baseballs latest offer to join in
a bid for Olympic reinstatement. The softball
body said it wanted to continue trying independently to persuade the International Olympic
Committee to include mens and womens fastpitch competition at the 2020 Games.
Golf: Rachel Rohanna, an all-Big Ten player
at Ohio State, set a U.S. Womens Amateur scoring record with a 65 during the first round at the
Charlotte (N.C.) Country Club.
College baseball: Chad Kreuter, a former major leaguer who had replaced a legend as USC
coach, was fired by athletic director Pat Haden,
Hadens first big move in a job he began last
week. We need to get back to our championship ways, Haden said. Kreuter went 111-117 in
four years at USC.
NEWS SERVICES

GOPHERS FOOTBALL NOTES

After sloppy practice, Gophers feel the heat from their coach and QB
By PHIL MILLER
phil.miller@startribune.com

The average high temperature a week before Labor

Day in Murfreesboro, Tenn.,
where Minnesota opens the
2010 football season against
Middle Tennessee State in
just more than three weeks,
is 88 degrees. So the Gophers
were able to simulate gameday conditions Monday amid
the broiling mid-90s sunshine.
They hope they didnt simulate the outcome, too.

The heat won, coach Tim

Brewster said. And Im not real happy about it.
The Gophers held their
fourth day of fall practices on
Monday, and the second in a
row under a scorching sun. By
several accounts, practice began well but grew sloppy as
the activity went on.
Its too bad. This team is
filled with a bunch of veterans,
quarterback Adam Weber said.
You might expect that from another team, to slack a little bit in
the heat. But weve got to expect
more from ourselves.

Thats the response that

Brewster said he was looking for
from the teams leaders, and Weber said he expected the subject
to be addressed at a team meeting Monday night. Theres some
frustration. We feel like weve got
somethingspecialgoingonhere,
the senior said. Yesterday we
had a great practice despite the
heat, so then to go out there and
not live up to our expectations, it
was frustrating.
Its not a physical problem,
Brewster emphasized; its a mentality hes looking for, a nothingcan-affect me attitude. Were

trying to sort out who we can

count on in the fourth quarter of
football games to help us win, he
said. Were being extremely demanding of these guys, and we
need them to step up and do better than they did this afternoon.

Ticket packages available

The Gophers began offering
two-game ticket packages on
Monday, combining tickets to
the Sept. 11 South Dakota game
with the Oct. 2 Northwestern
game, or the Sept. 25 Northern
Illinois game with Penn States
visit on Oct. 25. Roughly 1,000

of each package the tickets

are mostly located in the corners, returns from the 3,000
set aside for the visiting teams
fans will be sold, according
to associate athletic director
Jason LaFrenz, for $90 apiece.
And that, with the exception
of scattered single-game tickets,
will conclude the Gophers ticket sale to the general public.
We never had to put season tickets on sale to the public, LaFrenz said. Our season
tickets renewed at 93 percent,
and the rest, about 2,500 season tickets, went fast to existing

ticket-holderswhowantedmore.
Were going to be sold out for the
entire season again.
Some work remains: Only 6,000 of the allotted 10,000
student tickets have been sold,
but school hasnt started and
freshmen havent been given
a chance to buy yet, LaFrenz
said. The school also is considering ways to temper what
LaFrenz calls a noticeable noshow factor in the student section late last season, including
putting leftover student tickets
on sale to the public on Tuesdays before games.