(00:00:00) It is six minutes now past eleven o'clock programming on Minnesota Public Radio is supported by the TCF Foundation. Good morning, and happy New Year to you. This is midday on Minnesota Public Radio. I'm Gary eichten glad you could join us on this first day of the year 15 and won the best record in the league one of the best in National Football League history the most explosive and entertaining offense in football and a very real chance to win the first Super Bowl in team history 1998 turned out to be quite a year for the Minnesota Vikings and joining us today making his annual New Year's Day appearance here on midday to talk about the Vikings as well as the Twins and the Timberwolves and the Gophers and that historic home run race and really whatever sports related items you'd like to talk about is Minnesota public radio sports analyst Howard Sinker who one time in his life was a sports writer is now the state news editor for the Star Tribune as always we (00:01:11) Invite (00:01:12) you to join our conversation Howard is here like to have you join us. Give us a call six five. One two, two seven six thousand. That's our Twin City area number 6512276 thousand. Yes. It's getting to be about time when you have to use the new area code as well. Get used to it one eight hundred two, four two two eight two eight. That's the number to call from outside the Twin City area, six five. One two, two seven six thousand or 1-800 to for 22828 Howard. Thanks for coming in today. Happy New Year. Happy New Year to you. What else is there to say about the Vikings? You just said it all at the top of the show. Let's go. Are you as surprised as I think everybody else? I notice even Sports Illustrated beginning of the year. They were picking him to be like forth in their division. Never mind the league now, I really thought this was going to be an interesting year for them. If you bought into the notion that Randy Moss was an untapped Talent one of the things that was done over the summer when there was so much turmoil. In the front office is that Roger Hedrick the much reviled general manager at the time went out and signed guys. John Randall was put under contract Robert Smith was put under contract. The team was put into position to win and while all the stuff was going on off the field. Danny Green really really was putting together along with the the player Personnel folks really put together a solid team and you have to remember there's a lot of eight and eight teams floating around the National Football League. Some of them go nine and seven or ten and six and back into the playoffs and you really if you do three or four things really well in the National Football League now, you have a chance to be an excellent team and that's what the Vikings did but did you think they were going to be this good? Oh, yeah. I knew it all along you do you expect me to act surprised about this? I'm surprised there. It's there and 16 and this is really an exciting fun. Interesting. Well coached. smart team and and one of the cool things about this team is if you go outside of Minnesota, it's a team that other people are excited about they have a fun team profile people want to watch the Vikings because of the way they play they are everything. That's right about Pro Sports. Well, there's no question that this year's team is generated more excitement around here. I think it's fair to say more excitement around here than any Vikings team since 1969. The first Vikings team to go to the Super Bowl people were wildly enthusiastic that year and they are again this year joining us now from his home in California is the quarterback of that very first Vikings championship team Joe Camp. Thanks for joining us Joe (00:03:59) Gary. What a what a nice morning. This is to start the new year and listen to your Howard and about the great Viking team. It's nice to be on your show. Thank you. Well, it's a real pleasure. (00:04:14) Talk with you. You have been following the Vikings this year. I (00:04:18) assume of course. I'm out here in Western Viking Land, California where I'm surrounded by these Raiders and 49ers and so it's been a real nice year you'd be surprised how many viking fans are all out, you know, not necessarily in Minnesota and everybody's truly excited about the success that's taking place (00:04:42) here. How good are they? This year's team? (00:04:46) Very good. I mean obviously they've earned the record that they've earned their an outstanding football team and I agree with what Howard said they've done a lot of things right? I think probably if you look at the difference between last year and this year is you start to see when an owner can come in and a change of you know, obviously a very major change. But an owner can come in like Red McCombs and show the leadership that he has shown and stabilized it straightened out whatever the problems were and then you had players that showed their leadership by stepping up and getting the job done. And so that that's how teams do it. That's how we did it years ago. The Vikings had a tremendous base, you know with coach Van brockton's teen but it took coach but Grant and Jim Marshall and Bill Brown and all those guys to actually put it together and be a championship (00:05:52) team. Well as I recall it primarily took you're playing on the team because they weren't going anywhere until they picked you up as a (00:05:58) quarterback your memories you get you're showing your age (00:06:03) there. That's true. Oh, how does how does this team compared with the great Viking teams of of your era? (00:06:12) Gary I think if you look at you don't win any kind of championships without defense and maybe you know offense gets a lot of attention and a lot of credit but when your defense can stop the other team and then you put together an offense like that's taking place right now then boy, you can really be an exciting team. And and and I think that's that's what our team if you saw how it grew from 1967 68 69 when we had if you look back that 12 and 2 team was I think the most powerful offense in the league that year we got sort of squashed in the Super Bowl, but that's what we see here tremendous receiver. I think he wears number 84, which is the same number, Gene, Washington. He makes great catches and Cunningham. He's putting the ball where he needs to put it and he's getting all the time and protection he needs and when they need some running they've got that so, you know, you had it all up its balance its leadership and Leadership gets you the get you the (00:07:31) winds. How do they avoid? The big slip-up Allah that Super Bowl loss (00:07:37) will see that that remains to be done as good as they are right now and you know Vikings had a couple other Super Bowl team. It's great 15 and 1 but now you're go in the playoffs and you and its execution all the hoopla and all the touchdowns and all the wonderful things that happen along the way it doesn't matter until you win that final final game and that's what we fail to do. And that's the Lynch in the tremendous reason why we're following them so closely so that we hope that they do go all the way (00:08:19) there have been a lot of old quarterbacks starring around the League this year including Randall Cunningham here in Minnesota and he thought of coming out of (00:08:27) retirement. Oh, yeah, I think about it every day every single day. I'm consumed with it within my legs talk to me or my neck or my shoulder elbow or you know, it's a it's a great sport, but it's violent and it's tough and I think that's probably the the basic reason people love it is is who would want to get out there and face those linebackers. Do you miss it? I think it's in your blood. It never goes away just this morning waiting for your call your nice producer. Sarah had it all lined up. My son and I were tuning into the Texas cotton. All game down there and it never leaves you it's a it's a sickness our let's recognize it for what it (00:09:22) is. What are you doing? Now? You had a movie career after you left here. He went and played in four New England you were in the movies you coached at Cal. (00:09:31) Well, I'm Gump, you know cap Gump. I've had a chance to do lots of things and it's been it's been a great life so far and I've been hired fired and retired and traded and cut and all of those things and yet I'm sitting here and on my porch Suns coming over the hill the magnolia tree is right there and got an apricot tree that's shed all its leaks. So I'm having a good life Howard. (00:10:04) I can never get a prediction out of mr. Sinker are the Vikings going to win the Super Bowl. (00:10:11) Is that for me or for how (00:10:13) that's for you Joe (00:10:15) I predict and I have to like I say, you don't know how tough it is out here in the arena are dealing with these 49er fans, you know, it's tough having getting invited to these golf things and these charity events and having to having to deal with that. So I've been as optimistic as I possibly can and and but predictions you don't want to make make them but this year I've had to I predict the Vikings are going to go all the way. (00:10:47) Thanks so much for joining us Joe appreciate and good luck to you. Thank you Gary former Vikings quarterback. Joe Kapp joining us from his home in California, Joe campus a quarterback of the 1967. 68 69 Vikings came down from Canada Vikings were pretty bad the first year he was here. Good the second year he was here and then they went to the Super Bowl the third year, you know anything I can say right now is clearly irrelevant. I mean after we've had choke cap on what's left for me to say I mean I want you know, I could make a prediction right now and it wouldn't matter. You know, you just can't handle my exuberance today. I mean this team is 15 and 1 their wonderful. Well, yes. I'm in a cheerful mood because of them and well and other things and and you know, it's it's a nice way to start 1999 compared to where I think we were with the state of local sports a year ago. Well, we've got lots of other things to talk about besides the Vikings if you'd like to join our conversation Howard Sinker is here annual New Year's Day appearance. It has been a Wild and Woolly year, and if you'd like to join our conversation, give us a call. Our Twin City area number is 6512276 thousand 6512276 thousand outside the Twin Cities 1-800 to for 2282865122760. Under 1-800 to for 22828 Howard Sinker is with us as we talk about some of the big Sports stories of 1998. And what will probably be some of the big stories of 1999 before we move off the Viking story. I should ask you. Who do you think there's been quite a quite a debate here about which player on the Vikings team would be the most valuable player. Who do you think I think I will take the conventional wisdom here and I'll go with Randall Cunningham. There's a school of thought that says any quarterback could come in and put up the numbers that he has with his Supporting Cast but he has really brought the entire offense together. He is physically an incredibly gifted quarterback and and intellectually and mentally he's carried the team in a way that I'm not sure Brad Johnson could he's a real leader. He's an out front guy. Who makes the team better? Not only by the way he plays but by his presence and I think signing him to a contract that sign it says it's for five years, but it's essentially a three-year deal with a couple of with with a couple of years added on so they can spread the bonus out and for salary cap reasons, but they made the right move in saying this is our guy. I mean not only for what he can do with the football but just the fact that he's a guy who you don't have any doubt who the leader of the team is which is pretty cool based on the fact that there are a lot of leadership type personalities on the team there a lot of high-profile guys, but he's clearly the one mmm Tom your question, please I was wondering if they'll start next year. It'll start the year after and if you're lucky time, he'll start the year after that. That's a great story and offer people who don't follow the Vikings or football at closely. I mean two years ago Cunningham at one point in his career was a Great young Untamed quarterback running around winning Awards, but he wasn't winning any championships. He eventually was out of football laying. What is the Mase Mason tile or some something horrible job and just stand and he was the kind of guy who like you say had all kinds of physical ability and never really had I think the coaching to become the kind of quarterback of these become right now. He's T took a year off two years ago. He worked. He also did some work on television and I was like a sabbatical he came back ready to go. If you watched him toward the end of last season. He was still very very Rusty. I mean the games when he took over for Brad Johnson you felt like there was a drop-off in physical talent, but he's worked like heck he's really gotten himself into position to be better than he ever was now the other well another of the big stories of 1998 the Home Run Race, could anybody have ever? Facted a great story like that the McGwire Sosa business and the way the guys carried themselves Randall Cunningham would have hit 71 home run and he was a baseball player. You'd have hit 71 home runs and if he was playing for the twins, they would have been in the World Series. Now that was a wonderful story McGuire. And so so Sammy Sosa the Cubs were the two perfect personalities to wage that home run duel. They were they were media Savvy they were just so talented and they had such respect for each other and they had incredible respect for the game. You know, there are a lot of stars the Albert bells of the world who just, you know act like they're doing the game a favor by being there Sosa and McGwire respected baseball. I don't think it's going to be enough to get baseball back in the public Consciousness, but it was a nice moment. It was a nice moment, I think. Unfortunately baseball was carried this year by an individual challenge the homerun beating the homerun record, but baseball is essentially a team game and I think given the apathy towards this year's World Series given the incredible difference between Sid had between the teams that have resources and the teams that don't I'm just not sure if you don't have a home run race, I don't think you have much for folks to get excited about and we can't look for another repeat of that. No, I don't think so. I mean, you know, you can always fill the baseball with with flying juice and Denny Hawking could hit 83 home runs and say that he spent the winter bulking up but before signing his two-year $775,000 contract with the pathetic local baseball team. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm not supposed to talk like I'm in a good mood. How about those Vikings hard Sinker is with us sports analyst Howard Sinker. Love to have you join our conversation on this first day of the New Year. We're talking about the Vikings in the twins. Yes, we get to the Ends will talk about the Timberwolves the NBA season. That isn't the Gophers do want to touch at some point on the women's Olympic hockey team one of those another one of the big stories of 1998. Give us a call if you'd like to join our conversations. 6512276 thousand is our Twin City area number six, five. One two, two seven six thousand outside the Twin Cities 1-800 to for to to 8286512276 thousand or one eight hundred two, four two two eight two eight. Now what about those twins is they used to say when the Twins were flying high. They have decided apparently to get rid of all of their major league players basically and and field a minor league team. I'm really excited about seeing Xavier Valentin behind home plate on opening day catching for the 250 thousand dollar salary if you went back and looked at Summer after they released Pat mirrors last month and when they announced their grand plan in the media on December 24th, a wonderful Christmas present for those of us who still care about baseball. It's amazing. They flat out said we weren't sure what to do for the last six months. So we let the product rot. We let the the we let the steam wither away and now we've just decided to gut The Remains because baseball is unfair. We're going to take the hit we're going to be baseball showpiece for ineptitude bad decision making and we're going to show you what happens when we have greedy owners who won't buy into some form of good Revenue sharing program. We're going to take the hit and by the way, we're going to make it a fun family experience. So y'all come out and watch this inept garbage. Is there any salvation to this or are the twins going to leave? No, the twins aren't going to leave right now. And here's the problem. There's no place to put them. There are no places in the United States that can take a major league baseball franchise. They expanded into the markets where you could have moved the twins who wants this team, you know, and here's the difference between the Vikings and the twins when the Vikings were on the Block when the Vikings were in turmoil in the front office. They went about making a great football team. They acted like like they want they made themselves an attractive package for Red McCombs. And and for Tom the fraud Clancy there were people lining up to buy them who wants the Minnesota Twins this like a garage sale, you know, what's the point? I mean and gin pole had admitted and Jerry Bell admitted in their interview in the Star Tribune on December 24th that we weren't sure what we were going to do and now we've made this decision, you know, we're going to the some of our good players got away and rather than regroup and come out fighting we're going to surrender we're going to be like one of those guys on those old Studio pro wrestling shows who comes in and takes a beating. And we're going to expect you to come out and pay the money because it's going to be a fun family experience and they're they're going to be a poor man's version of the st. Paul Saints. We've really reached that point, you know, one of the things they said in the story and this is how little grasp on reality they have over at the Metrodome right now. Jerry Bell talked about what we could get a sellout we can move temporary bleachers at the into the stadium in Fargo and see 20,000 people and and play our game play three games there. I've drove by that Stadium two weeks ago, and I know it's seats five or six thousand people you can't do it. You know, it's fraudulent. So what's going to what can we look for this this New Year here with the twins? Are they just going to Fumble along like this? Is there is there any thought that they might actually sell the team to somebody with deeper Pockets or somebody's got to buy the team and put money into it. I mean really that's all you know, there seems to be an aversion and Major League Baseball circles and and the pole at Family to having anything to do with Clark Griffith and Clark's the only guy silly enough at this point to want the darn team. Hmm. John your question, please. (00:21:33) It's not really a question. He's talking about getting rid of the play major league players and I think maybe they ought to get rid of the manager to maybe they ought to get a manager that would like to try and make some moves and Coach a team to win on the field. I remember a college coach that told me, you know, the bunt is a great thing when the bunt is laid down everybody on the field. The defensive team has to move I don't think the managers knows what a bump is and I would like mr. Sinkers comments on the field manager. Thank you. I (00:22:07) think that the twins problems go a lot deeper than bunting their way around the bases John if you were the boss, you know, if you were kind of a mid-level manager and the people who you worked for gave you guys who clearly weren't cut out to do the task and said go out and you know, I mean if he gave you a bunch of girl Choose his business experience with selling Girl Scout cookies and they sent you out to do battle with with Menards and knocks and home value you'd quit. You know Tom Kelly. I'm surprised he sticks around frankly. You know, he's just I mean, I think he's just biding his time hoping for something better because there's really nothing that he needs to prove by managing the team that he's going to have to manage next year. It seems in if memory serves that we have been to this point with the twins once before when Calvin Griffith was getting deeper and deeper if not into death and he was falling further and further behind the rest of the league in terms of what he could afford to spend or was willing to spend and the team nearly left. And then ultimately Carl polad bought the team kid we explore. How do you see I mean, how do you see this playing out it does is it going to take a major? Change in the way baseball operates for a Minnesota franchise to survive and be healthy or somebody going to step forward to buy the team or is it are we playing just looking at a little higher rent version of the st. Paul saying, I'm really not sure what's going to happen because everybody in baseball acknowledges that there's a problem and nobody's willing to do anything about it people realize that there's a disparity between the five or six teams that can afford to spend whatever it takes to win a World Series and the rest of the world and there are some teams that are just kind of in a mid-level payroll wise 30 million 40 million dollars a year that that can give the illusion of contending or might actually contend and then there's their the twins who are going to have a payroll the team payroll that's going to be exceeded by about 10 players in the majors next year. Guys, like Bernie Williams are going to make more than the entire Twins roster. You know Mo Vaughn is going to make 12 million next year the the entire the 25-man roster for the twins if they keep 25 players, maybe they'll go down to 19 and pay some of them a little bit more and you know, the pitchers can play The Outfield on their days off but you know, it's it's disgraceful. I don't know what's going to happen. I mean somebody has to come in and say okay. I'm going to invest in this team. I'm going to create enough Good Will to get some kind of Stadium proposal on the table. I mean, the twins are saying a stadium will help us when the Metrodome was built the first two years they moved in and 82 and 83 the team's stunk and the novelty wore off after about six weeks. So that's not the answer and the people who are who are taking that point of view know it Howard Sinker is with us Minnesota public radio sports. Analyst Howard is the Star Tribune's State News editor. Now former Sports Rider indicates up on all the all the activity in the World of Sports and he comes by regularly Labor Day always on Labor Day and always on the New Year's Day and then we shoehorn him in from time to time in between. You know, if Randall Cunningham on the twins, we wouldn't be having this problem. It's like to join our conversation. Give us a call six five. One two, two seven six thousand 6512276 thousand one eight hundred two, four two two eight two eight will get to some more callers and more conversation with Howard in just a moment. I'm Lorna Benson on the next All Things Considered gun rights Advocates will bring another concealed weapons (00:26:02) Bill to the legislature this year proponents say officials have too much leeway to deny handgun requests. If they don't like the color of your (00:26:09) skin the color of your eyes, or the way you dress you don't get a permit (00:26:13) critics. Violent crime against women will increase if the bill passes that story on the next All Things Considered weekdays at 3:00 on Minnesota Public Radio K. No W FM (00:26:23) 91.1 in the Twin Cities, by the way over the noon hour. Today. We're going to hear from Liz Carpenter who has served as an advisor of sorts to any number of presence 11 different presidents either working with the president's directly or covering them as a journalist among other things. She was kind of a humor advisor to LBJ and she gave a speech at the Chautauqua series last summer what a long time ago, but it's it's stood the test of time to say the least about presidential humor and we thought especially given the situation in Washington these days a good dose of humor is in order. So we'll hear from Liz Carpenter to start the new year today over the noon hour. Now, here's the weather forecast and we should pay attention. It's quite a bit different than the forecast. We've been reading lately. There is a winter storm warning in effect for West Central and Southwestern Minnesota that goes into effect later this afternoon remains in effect for tonight. There's also a winter weather advisory for tonight for Northwestern Minnesota and don't feel left out those of you in East Central and Southeastern Minnesota. You have a snow advisory for tonight and tomorrow good chance for snow moving across all of Minnesota today with highs from Five Below in the north to about 15 above in Southwestern Minnesota. Then tonight the snow will continue heavy snow is possible in southern Minnesota with Louis from 15 below in the north to about 10 above in the South tomorrow. The snow should ease up but of course winds will pick up and that will cause some blowing and drifting we can look for by tomorrow about 6 to 12 inches of snow in parts of southern Minnesota with highs tomorrow 0 in the northwest of 10 above in the southeast. Cities cloudy this afternoon with light snow and a high right around 10 degrees above zero then a snow advisory in effect for the city's tonight. And tomorrow tonight. We can look for a low in the single digits with snow likely and then tomorrow more snow with some drifting as a matter of fact high temperature 10 to 15 degrees in the Twin Cities. Looks like the metro area should get 3 to 5 inches of snow right now. It is cloudy. It's 3 degrees above zero the windchill is 27 degrees below zero Our Guest this our hard Sinker Sports analysts to joins us from time to time here on our midday program to talk about sports and whatever it is, you'd like to talk about give us a call six five. One two, two seven six thousand is our Twin City area number six, five. One two, two seven six thousand outside the Twin Cities 1-800 to for 22828, you know at this time of the year. It is customary to remember people who passed away during the Steer and before we get back to our callers and our conversation with Howard. I do want to take a moment today to remember race Scott who died last March a race Scott for those of you who don't recognize the name broadcast of Minnesota Twins games back in the 60s working with herb car Neil Halsey Hall. He's probably best remembered though as first of all the voice of the Green Bay Packers and then the voice of the National Football League for several years race. Kaat and Pat Summerall form. The number one football broadcasting team in America back in March Pat Summerall recalled his former partner. (00:29:51) I never heard him make a mistake. I never heard him getting a hurry. I never heard him identify every misidentify a player get the yardage wrong in a football game. He always waited. He let me know that in television broadcasting. You don't have to be in too big a hurry to say something because people can see what you're about to tell them about. But he was I I think if I wanted to he was a dear friend, of course, but the consummate consummate pro (00:30:21) Pat Summerall remembering his former broadcast partner Ray Scott personal memory Howard back at the time when race Scott was probably the biggest name in sports broadcasting certainly in this region. He still took time out of his schedule to meet with a bunch of aspiring Minnesota high school journalists talk about broadcasting and writing in the rest take questions from the kids and personally encourage them and Pat them on the back and try to get them on the straight and narrow. He did this not one year, but at least two years in a row because I was one of the fortunate few they're a heck of a guy kind of like that picture of Bill Clinton and John Kennedy, right? Well, you know, it's funny. I have one of those memories to in 1980 or In 81, he was at the welcome luncheon for the Minnesota Phillies. One of the ill-fated women's basketball franchises in town and I sat across from him and told him what I did for a living and he treated me like an equal and I just remember this was a guy who had done everything in sports broadcasting and sports journalism. And I was he should have been at the head table doing the luncheon and instead he was back sitting like everybody else hanging out with a group of us who ended up being very happy to be there because we got to talk to Ray Scott for an hour and a half. He was great star dollar touchdown you do that really? Well. That's all he had to say. Well Howard Sinker is with us legendary broadcaster and sports analyst in his own right six five. One two, two seven six thousand outside the Twin Cities 1-800 to for 22828. Happy New Year. If you're just tuning in we're talking Sports this hour and To the phone's Eric has a comment. Go ahead sir. (00:32:17) Yeah, I've just got a brief comment in defense of Tom Kelly like to Echo Howard's comments that I think he's done an outstanding job with limited resources and support that he's had and I admire not only the way they had that he's handled the team over the years, but the way that he's handled the media. I think he's done it with with amazing aplomb. I think I think the man is is well worthy of our (00:32:39) respect. You know, one of the things that I like about Tom Kelly and his current Incarnation is he's not acting like everything's okay. He's upset about this. He's letting people know that if you're disenchanted with the Minnesota Twins right now, you have a right to be, you know, a little later this winter would they go on there there little Caravans around the state, you know, what are people going to say when they show up in st. Cloud and Fergus Skol Vikings? Yeah. Yeah. We're happy to hear you. Happy happy. Who's the shortstop guy? Who's that guy out center field. Whatever is Otis Nixon still with the team, you know, I mean, it's just I mean Would you like to be trying to sell twin season tickets right now? It's just Dreadful and Kelly has been as classy as he's wanted to be he really is a good manager. And if the team goes 60 and 100 to this year, one of the things that's a given is that with Tom Kelly wasn't managing and they'd probably go 40 and $122 in defense of the twins management. They make their making the argument that the only way they're going to be able to convince Carl polad not to sell the team that is to say the only way to keep the team here in Minnesota is to scale way back try to at least break even the next couple of years and see if things shake out a little differently. I gather you put no stock in that argument whatsoever. That's specious and I think the people who are saying that don't believe it one bit. They're they're they're they're struggling, you know, this is like the Titanic, you know, a few people are getting all the survivors end up going somewhere else and they have some pretty good stories. Tell about how it was along the way John your comment, please (00:34:18) yeah, I would just like to ask what you guys think of the I know you've commented on the fact that you don't think it makes a difference but you know personally being from Minnesota. It's been unbelievable of Minnesota's sat on their wallet with the stadium issue. Basically the Metrodome event about two games and was tired of going to a you know, a baseball game in a big big balloon and then they brought then they tore down the Brickyard or the memorial stadium and brought the Minnesota football which was on University Avenue. You could just smell the tradition when you went down there and I'll never go to you know, University of Minnesota game in the Metro. Yeah between a metronome (00:35:01) John my friend if the Twins were good. If they were contending wouldn't you just suck it up and go indoors a few times a year (00:35:07) Well what I always say to people I went to school at least is that at Fenway stadium was in Minnesota they would have We're down in the 40s and no, I don't think I would I mean I think it's an embarrassment to the community to have a have a stadium like that. I mean it's basically a cheap stadium has been a 20-year investment a terrible investment for Minnesota you go to a game when it's 75 degrees outside and you go into this air-conditioned game I go there to hang out have a few beers and watch some baseball. I mean it's kind of an embarrassment to go into that, you know, glorified gymnasium. (00:35:44) It's the combination of the Rat and stadium in the rotten team and come, you know, April May and September when it's 43 degrees outside. I don't have too many fond memories of being at MIT Stadium either. I mean I grew up in Chicago and I went to Wrigley Field and that's a beautiful wonderful piece of history. And you know what when it's opening day and it's 38 degrees and you're freezing your body parts off, you know, that's the memory you have. I mean, I do know Willie Smith did hit the home run in the 10th inning in the opener in 1969 to beat the Phillies 221 in 10 Innings. And I remember that vividly even though it was 38 degrees out but you know, we always want what we don't have we're like, we're like 12 year olds in that regard are the Vikings going to leave town if they don't get a new stadium. I think something's going to get worked out with with the Vikings right now. You know, they have some Goodwill they have an owner. They have a management group. That's put some let's put some effort into the product. This is the time for them to be going the Just later saying hey, let's work something out. I don't think they're going to leave. I just can't I can't see that happening. I just you know McCombs keep saying no, we're not going anywhere. We're not going anywhere. We're not going anywhere and until he double-crosses people. Once I think you got to give him the benefit of the doubt that he really means that this guy loves being loved and people loved him here people love him the way they loved polad when he first bought the twins, but remember when 8 1984 when Carl poll had bought the twins lo and behold that team of Misfits what was contending for a division title people were coming to the stadium not because Carl poll had bought the team but because there was a pennant race going on Bob your comment, please. (00:37:27) Yes. One thing I think has been overlooked here is the fact that the NFL is the salary cap and baseball doesn't and George Steinbrenner can just keep buying a Yankee players and and producing a team. That's the highest paid team in the country. What how can the twins compete with something like that when they're they have Possible way of getting the television revenue or the salaries that (00:37:48) Steinbrenner ski and baseball has fallen victim to its own greed. There's got to be some kind of way to cap salaries at a places where the rich can still be very rich and not-so-rich can compete you've got to share revenues on a real date on a realistic level. You got to have teams that that you got to be able to pull up the week or sisters by you know, by their bootstraps to get them competitive. Either that or you have an A Team Elite League of the eight franchises that make it and you put the other 24 franchises in the second division and you act like European soccer and you have the last place team in the elite division go down to the second division and whoever wins the second division move up for a year. Mark your comment, please. (00:38:37) Hi. Happy New Year. Happy New Year to you. Um, I was wondering who controls all this. I mean the way to all the salaries are going way out of range. I mean the average person they can be able to afford to go to the game and who is buying the ticket and it has to stop somewhere. I feel (00:38:54) you know, that's the thing Bob if the twins had a competitive product, you know, you can get into a game, you know, you can buy that for packed look I guess it's not the Molitor fault that 4-pack anywhere this year. Let's see what it'll be. It'll be the Doug mankiewicz 4-pack, you know for tickets for hot dogs program in a parking space for four dollars or something like that. You can afford to go to a twin scape but they're not giving us anything that we want to see, you know, if they had if they put another 20 million dollars in the payroll and they jacked up the ticket prices by 2 or 3 dollars and you know, you were seeing a competitive product you'd go. You really would you've heard very little complaining about the fact that the Vikings have increased ticket prices Now by think 20 to 25% for next season and it's like the Timberwolves will let you know if we remember them remember that basketball team that used to play here. They became a competitive team and when they raised prices people grumbled a little bit but people people sucked it up and you know paid because if they didn't there was someone else who was ready to put up the money for it. Mmm that does raise the issue of the National Basketball Association. Apparently next Wednesday. I think it is the seventh anyway is drop-dead date either. They're going to reach some kind of an agreement of the league and the players so that they can start playing the rest of the season or they're going to cancel the season all together number one. How do you see that playing? I think the seasons probably over with is it going to have any long-term impact on on the Basketball Association or just one of those things that people get have been become used to now I think what's going to happen is the NBA Players Association is going to have to take stock of itself and recognize that they have to represent more than the League's 25 elite players and they're going to have to get their house in order because the owners and I'm not a big owner guy. I mean, these are rich guys who if they don't make money. I don't really care about that for the most part because they made their money in other ways and if they lose a little bit of a doing community service, that's fine with me, but they've just said we're not going to continue to take a beating and we're not going to continue to take a beating for two dozen of the wealthiest players in the league. Are you surprised at how indifferent people appear to be to this whole I mean basketball fans never mind the general population, but it doesn't seem like basketball fans are particularly worked up about we have options. We can go watch the Gophers. We can go watch high school games. We can watch all the college basketball we want on TV You know just because the pros aren't in town doesn't mean there's no basketball the best basketball show in the Twin Cities is to pay for five bucks and go over to Minneapolis Community and Technical College and watch one of the best junior college teams in the country. They play exciting basketball. They're one of the they're ranked third or fourth in the nation usually year in and year out and if you bring your kids you can sit in the fourth row and if you ask the coach real nice, maybe your kid can be a ball boy too. And that's a whole lot more fun than spending $40 to sit in the front of the upper deck at a Timberwolves game are the how is this going to affect the Timberwolves? They were on the cusp of being one of the better teams in the league there seem to be a lot of enthusiasm for the team. They made the playoffs last year did pretty well. And of course there's there's no there are no games. It's going to be real interesting to see what happens to guys who took a year off. Some people are going to have worked and played a lot of ball and really done their best to stay in shape. A lot of guys are going around going to Union meetings and whining and there's so many free agents out there, you know, you don't really know what the Timberwolves roster is going to look like. It's going to be really interesting when there is pro basketball again, probably next year. I think we're going to welcome it back in part because this is a franchise that did things for its fans. You know, I think there's not going to I think there's going to be a honeymoon period because people beat will be excited to have the Timberwolves back and then if they get off in there to a good start in their competitive, everybody will appreciate everybody a little bit more. This could be the turning point in Pro Sports actually losing a full season. That maybe maybe both sides are going to have to take stock and realize not only what their obligations are to the fans but to their own industry, but nothing seemed to change after the baseball strike, but see they didn't they lost a World Series and they lost part of the next season. Yeah, but and baseball owners have shown their Blockheads. They had shown at a time and time and time again beforehand, you know, the NBA worked in partnership with its players to rescue a damaged product. And now with the owners are saying is you know, we want to keep this product As Good As It Ever Was and we were slipping away from that and it's not like the players are unified on the other side most of the players in the league would what would like to be playing basketball right. Now? The league is made up of the Sam Mitchell's of the world. Those are the guys who are looking at their Union leadership right now and saying hey you don't really represent us. Plus we're getting quality time at home with their kids. Now the golf or basketball team is not on strike Clem Haskins was in a few weeks ago and he was actually optimistic. I know I Joel Prez Billy is like the next Bill Russell. Now, do you say is how do you pronounce his name? I got to know asks it Hartman that I don't know Priscilla does that and that's close enough for me that gets all the consonants into a nice and easy to digest local kid from Monticello freshman and everything. It's a fun team, you know that they recruited. Well, they've brought in junior college players who fit into what what Clem Haskins does he's developed players. It's really cool to watch Miles Tarver play forward instead of being an overmatch center from time to time and that you can have him banging on the boards and you can cringe every time he shoots because you know, he's not going to take too many shots. It's like an event when he takes a shot and go first can handle his 28 percent shooting percentage from the floor because they've got guys like Quincy Louis And Clark, the the starting guard Quincy Lewis is one of the great players to watch in college basketball because he is so fluid he is so technically skilled. It's watching him play. I remembered the NIT game against Alabama Birmingham last year. It's like watching him is like watching a basketball clinic is so fluid and and you can just tune out everything else and watch the way he plays defense in the way he works with the ball and it's worth the price of a ticket which by the way is what I'm not that expensive time is slipping away from us here Howard the women's Olympic hockey team one of the great stories of 1998. Is it any long-term impact from that or just one of those blips on the screen, but I think there's real long-term impact from that. If you look at the number of girls high school ice hockey teams in the state. It's just grown incredibly, you know, a few dozen have been added year to year the quality of Game amount of girls hockey among people who watch it. I mean it's gotten it's developed into a good watchable sport at a much faster rate than girls basketball did 25 years ago because the girls are starting to play hockey now when they're five or six years old and the younger girls and a lot of in a lot of situations of the ones who are carrying the team's the good teams are filled with eighth graders 9th graders and 10th graders who have just the advantage of a couple extra years of play and the fact that the u.s. Won the gold medal earlier this year. I think was an inspiration to them fun stories to look forward to during this year when Randall Cunningham runs for president if he would if he's president of the United States, we have all of our problems are some know. I mean the the the the Vikings are good story not only for what they do the rest of the season, but for the does the Personnel decisions they have to make in the offseason to manage their salary cap. The whatever happens with the NBA probably when they reconvene next season that's going to be a good story. The Gopher basketball team. The men's team is a great story final four. I don't know if it's the final four, but you know, we have a right to be disappointed if they don't make it to the Sweet 16 because they are that good The Women's team is better. This is suddenly become a hotbed now for high school basketball coaches come into the state and try to raid the best players especially in girls basketball hockey wise, you know, we got to figure out you know, what's happening with are struggling Gophers suddenly, you know, I mean that they're not a top-flight team. I mean, they really struggled last year their kind of middle of the pack in the WCHA this year. They just had a horrible experience at their Christmas tournament there lots of good stories and then there's the twins well track them. Thanks. How are you? Happy New Year Howard Howard sinkers sports analyst who joins us from time time here on Midday program he is the state news editor for the Star Tribune. I'm Joe palka cloned (00:48:24) mice clone cows advances in cancer therapies new jeans new drugs new theories about the expanding Universe Microsoft's legal troubles and the beginnings of the International Space Station. Join me on the next Science Friday for a look back at the year in science that's on Talk of the Nation from NPR (00:48:44) news/talk the nation at one o'clock. Mpr's Main Street radio coverage of rural issues is supported by the blandin foundation committed to strengthening rural communities and expanding cultural opportunities through the Minnesota rural Arts initiative.