Sports

Rick Pitino says son is ready for Minnesota job
A day after his son Richard Pitino agreed to become the next head coach at Minnesota, Rick Pitino proclaimed the 30-year-old up-and-comer "more than ready" for the challenge.
Vikings stadium funding fix could include electronic Keno, poker, from state lottery
Listen: MPR’s Tim Nelson reports on the proposed funding fix It’ll likely be months before the Dayton administration decides whether to turn to the backup plans built into the Vikings stadium bill last year. The options include a 10 percent suite tax at the new stadium and “games based on stadium or professional sports themes”…
Should Minnesota wait for Vikings stadium until it knows it can pay for it?
The chief critic of the Vikings stadium financing plan, state Sen. Sean Nienow (R-Cambridge) says the state ought to wait for its stadium dessert until after the fiscal broccoli. Nienow says he’s introducing a measure to delay groundbreaking on the stadium until Minnesota’s finance commissioner can certify that the revenues from electronic pultabs and other…
Gophers hire FIU's Richard Pitino
The University of Minnesota has picked Richard Pitino, the son of Louisville coach Rick Pitino, to take over as men's basketball coach for Tubby Smith. A person with knowledge of the discussions says Pitino reached a verbal agreement with Minnesota on Wednesday.
Fueled by outrage even from the governor when the video went public, Rutgers fired basketball coach Mike Rice on Wednesday after deciding it didn't go far enough by suspending and fining him for shoving, kicking and throwing balls at players along with spewing gay slurs.
Estimate: 4.5M hours of labor for Vikings stadium construction
The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority gave a quick update on the status of the new stadium to the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Sports Facilities yesterday. There wasn’t a whole lot of news, but there was an interesting card in the MSFA’s “deck,” in Powerpoint parlance. The MSFA put up a table of the project’s workforce…
Dayton: Don’t rush to judgment on electronic pulltabs, Vikings stadium funding
DFL Governor Mark Dayton says the criticism about the less-than-expected gambling revenue needed to fund the state share of a new Vikings stadium is premature and politically motivated. Republican critics like state Sen. Sean Nienow (R-Cambridge) have called for an investigation into the miscalculation. But Dayton said an investigation would be a waste of taxpayer…
The first ever meeting of the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Sports Facilities is convening at the State Office Building. (Click on headline to see updates.) Tim Nelson April 2, 20132:08 pm In post-meeting presser, MSFA chair Michele Kelm-Helgen says that fixed roof language is just a place holder from the legislation, doesn’t represent a decision…