Sid Hartman: Childress fed up with Favre chatter

It was just a matter of time before Vikings coach Brad Childress was going to explode and speak his piece when he decided to call radio station KFAN to announce that -- contrary to the reports on ESPN -- quarterback Brett Favre was not given a deadline of this week to decide if he is going to play the team in 2009.

It was obvious how upset Childress has been about all of the different speculation and rumors about the possibility of Favre joining the Vikings being reported by various media outlets.

There is no doubt that the Vikings would like to add Favre to the roster, but only if he is 100 percent healthy. Childress had refused to comment on the Favre situation before calling the radio station. None of the assistant coaches had anything to add, as Childress had no doubt ordered.

Money won't be an object since a healthy Favre would provide what the Vikings need to get to the Super Bowl. The additional revenue he would bring in from ticket and jersey sales would more than cover his salary.

You might have noticed that the Vikings have not released anything about the progress of season ticket sales, which is unusual. No doubt the season ticket sales are off a minimum of 10 to 15 percent.

Favre would bring a rush to the ticket window.

And last but not least, a Super Bowl winner definitely would increase the possibility of finding a solution to the Vikings stadium problem.

The Wilf family, owners of the Vikings, have a good relationship with Pawlenty.

If you want my opinion, there will be an examination of Favre by a Vikings doctor (if it hasn't been done already) to find out if the surgery was successful, and then a secret workout someplace to find out if he can still perform.

If both things are positive, you will see Favre in a Vikings uniform.

Mauer won't leave No doubt one of the reasons Joe Mauer won't leave the Twins is the fact that he is a part of a close family, many of whom show up at every home game. This weekend, more than 100 Mauer relatives and friends will go to Wrigley Field in Chicago to watch their favorite baseball player when the Twins play the Cubs. There is also a devoted contingent at every home game.

I agreed with an insightful analysis by columnist Pat Reusse last week about any concern of General Manager Billy Smith losing Mauer, who will be a free agent after the 2010 season: It's too soon to be anxious.

Jottings The Twins will raise the curtains in the second deck in center field for the final game in the Metrodome on Oct. 4. That will give them a capacity of 53,000 to 55,000. Already, 46,000 tickets have been sold for that game against Kansas City. ... The top ticket price in the new Twins stadium will be $69 in the stands, and there will be some bleacher seats at $15 to $20 and about 3,000 seats at $10.

The Twins' fielding average of .990 is the best in the American League and second only to Philadelphia (.991) in baseball. The Phillies have 19 errors, four fewer than the Twins, who are second in baseball. ... Brendan Harris, who has taken over at shortstop, has hit safely in 14 of 15 games. Over these 15 games, Harris has hit .345 with six doubles and one homer. He has five multi-hit games and an on-base percentage of .415. During the 15 games, he has made 13 starts and shortstop and two at third base.

If the Twins are looking for help in the bullpen they can turn to Rob Delaney, who was 1-1 with a 2.00 ERA in 26 games and 36 innings allowed 32 hits, eight earned and 40 strikeouts for Class AA New Britain before being promoted to Rochester. In three games with Rochester, he is 1-1 with a 6.00 ERA. His New Britain teammate, Anthony Slama, is 3-1 with a 2.73 ERA in 28 games, 33 innings pitched and has allowed 20 hits, 10 earned 48 strikeouts and is 13-for-13 in save opportunities.

Marcus Williams, the outstanding guard on the Class 4A state champion Hopkins basketball team who is also a standout football player, has decided to attend North Dakota State this fall and play football. According to his father, Jeff, Marcus plans to focus on football and his studies his freshman year and probably play both football and basketball his sophomore year.

Gophers men's swimming coach Dennis Dale is being inducted into the Burnsville High School Hall of Fame. Dale led Burnsville to four state high school titles from 1972-85 as boys' and girls' swimming coach. Dale has spent 24 seasons as the Gophers coach, leading them to seven Big Ten titles and 18 consecutive NCAA top-15 finishes.

Looking back on the decision of Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi to turn down an invitation from his Michigan counterpart Bill Martin to play a nonconference game, Martin pointed out that Michigan played the first game in the old Memorial Stadium in 1924. Had Maturi not already scheduled Air Force, then Michigan might have played the first game in the new Gopher stadium too, but this would have been as a nonconference game since Michigan isn't scheduled to play the Gophers the next two years.