It's not often a major league Baseball player expresses gratitude to his club's front office for good work. In fact, the Twins couldn't recall it happening until the other day.
But classy first baseman Justin Morneau, obviously in the holiday spirit, presented nearly 100 of the team's employees with scarves accompanied by a personalized best-wishes card. The New York Giants, who play the Vikings on Sunday at the Metrodome, are 3-to-1 odds to win the Super Bowl, as set by bodoglife.com , while the Vikings are 25-to-1.
Look for former Twins third baseman Corey Koskie, 35, recovering from post-concussion syndrome, to play third base for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic next spring.
Former Gophers Thomas Vanek of the Buffalo Sabres and Phil Kessel of the Boston Bruins are second and fourth, respectively, in goals scored in the NHL, and ex-Gopher Blake Wheeler is getting mentioned as a Calder Trophy NHL rookie of the year candidate.
Gophers freshman Jordan Schroeder is No. 13 in McKeen's 2009 NHL draft rankings.
Ex-Twin AL Newman will become fielding and hitting coach at Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount next spring.
Former 6-foot-6 Braham High star Isaiah Dahlman, a junior at Michigan State, which opens the Big Ten Conference basketball season against the Gophers on Dec. 31 at Williams Arena, is averaging 2.8 minutes and 1.6 points in five games.
Trevor Mbakwe, who has committed to the Gophers men's basketball team for next season, is averaging 14.7 points through 12 games for Miami Dade junior college.
Retired hall of famer and former North Stars radio voice AL Shaver, 79, is doing well on Vancouver Island and regularly watches "Hockey Night in Canada."
Legendary retired Stillwater football coach George Thole, who turns 70 next spring, will do hospitality work with a group of Gophers fans headed to Tempe, Ariz., for the Insight Bowl.
Turf at Sun Devil Stadium for the Insight Bowl is natural grass.
St. Paul native Tim Tschida, 48, is among only 10 major league Baseball umpires in history to have called two no-hitters behind the plate, by Nolan Ryan and Carlos Zambrano.
The Minnesota Lynx have nine players playing basketball professionally in six countries: three in Israel, two in Turkey and one each in Spain, Italy, Lithuania and Greece.
Former local radio personality Russ Bohaty, 62, is a personal trainer for Kasey Kahne, 28, who this year won three NASCAR Sprint Cup races.
Former Hill-Murray hockey star Nick Pryor has chosen Maine over Minnesota State Mankato and North Dakota, to enroll at next fall.
Roseville High graduate Robby Spalding has signed with the Odessa (Texas) Jackalopes, who are affiliated with the New York Islanders.
B.J. Coleman, 6-6 son of former Gophers and NBA player Ben Coleman of Minneapolis, is out for his freshman basketball season with the University of St. Thomas because of a heel injury.
The Xcel Energy Center, home of the Wild, has again been nominated for Pollstar's arena of the year.
Cretin-Derham Hall graduate Broderick Binns, playing at Iowa, was named to the Big Ten all-freshman football team at defensive end by Rivals.com .
Columbia Heights grad Brianna Eskola, a senior at North Carolina, led the Atlantic Coast Conference in volleyball digs this season and was named an All-America honorable mention.
The Vikings, designers, architects and Metrodome officials who meet every couple of weeks about a new stadium for the NFL team are taking a holiday break and will resume meetings early next month.
Former Highland Park hockey and Baseball star Ben Cowan has opened two Snap Fitness centers in St. Paul.
Darren Kent, a 6-11 senior from Apple Valley, scored a career-high 24 points for Kansas State in a 73-51 victory over Centenary the other day.
Tommy McHale, son of Timberwolves coach Kevin McHale, is playing basketball for the Totino-Grace freshman team coached by Louie Mitteco.
Look for fighter jets to make a flyover when the Gophers open their 2009 football season against Air Force on Sept. 12 at TCF Bank Stadium.
Gophers-bound tight end Ra'shede Hageman of Minneapolis Washburn is one of three Midwestern football players named to the CBS College Sports prep All-American team.
The final concrete slab of the terrace level of the Twins' Target Field, which is to open in 2010, has been poured 2 1/2 months ahead of schedule.
Hall of fame former Vikings offensive lineman Ron Yary's 7-year-old son already is 4-8 and 107 pounds.
DON'T PRINT THAT
The Timberwolves, who have lost 13 straight games, have 10 players with guaranteed contracts for next year.
The Gophers football team finished the regular season ranked No. 55 of 120 NCAA Division I teams by CBSsports.com . Its Insight Bowl opponent, Kansas, was No. 44.
A Vikings official, on design plans for a new stadium: "Think Volvo and Saab, not Cadillac. We're thinking efficient."
Ex-Wild goaltender Manny Fernandez's goals-against average of 2.02 for the Boston Bruins is second-best in the NHL.
After scouting the Wild's Houston Aeros this week, the Wild project an NHL future for ex-Gophers right wing Danny Irmen.
OVERHEARD
Gophers athletics director Joel Maturi, on men's basketball coach Tubby Smith, whose team is 11-0: "You know what, we might keep him."
