Sid Hartman: Grant to be honored on anniversary

It was exactly 40 years ago, in 1967, that Bud Grant walked into the old Holiday Inn in Bloomington for a news conference, where the former Gophers all-around athlete was announced as the new Vikings football coach.

I can remember it like it was yesterday. Bill McGrane, then director of public relations, was sent to the airport to pick up Grant, who was leaving his position as coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers after coaching the Canadian League team to a record of 102-56-2 and four Grey Cups.

How was McGrane to recognize Grant, whom he had never met?

Jim Finks, the Vikings general manager who hired Grant, told McGrane: "He'll be the only one who gets off the plane and looks like the town marshal."

On Sept. 18, at a site to be decided, the Vikings and Grant will celebrate the 40th anniversary of Grant's hiring with an honorary achievement dinner.

The speakers will be people who have been important in Grant's life, such as former Gophers football player Billy Bye; former Eagles teammate and Hall of Fame linebacker/center Chuck Bednarik; Eden Prairie coach and one of his sons, Mike Grant; Ken Ploen, a great Blue Bombers quarterback; Don Buch, a high school teammate; former Vikings defensive end Jim Marshall; longtime Vikings trainer Fred Zamberletti and Texas Tech basketball coach Bobby Knight.

The Vikings have commissioned nationally recognized artist Terrence Fogarty to create a print recognizing Bud's lifetime achievement in athletics. The print will depict his high school career at Superior (Wis.) Central, as well as his time at Great Lakes Naval Training Station, the University of Minnesota, in pro basketball with the Minneapolis Lakers, in pro football with Philadelphia, Winnipeg and the Vikings and his love of the outdoors.

All proceeds from the sale of the portrait will go to the Vikings Children Fund.

During his seasons as Vikings coach, Grant compiled a record of 168-108-5 (including playoffs), reached four NFL championships and made four trips to the Super Bowl.

Looking back on his long career, Grant -- who had four assistant coaches his first year and never more than seven, compared to the 23 by the current Vikings -- said: "I couldn't have done it any different or feel any better about it."

About the four Super Bowl losses, he said: "The way I look at that, if I'd have won four Super Bowls, what would be different in my life? Zero."

Takes over Twins site

Daniel Mehls, construction executive for M.A. Mortenson Co., said he will have a crew working on the new Twins stadium site this week. Mortenson expects to have up to 280 workers on the site once construction begins.

Mortenson also is building the new Gophers football stadium. Phil Esten, Gophers assistant athletics director, said the company will take over that site July 2. Esten said most of the road work around the new stadium should be done by then. He also reported that there is still $30 million to be raised to pay for the stadium, and there are some likely contributors expected to come through.

Jottings

While here to speak to the University of Minnesota Alumni Association, former Gophers quarterback and Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy also spoke to the Big Ten and NCAA champion wrestling team.

Twins President Dave St. Peter said he will be talking to the Metropolitan Sports Facilities in the near future for a lease to bridge the time between now and when the new stadium is ready. St. Peter said the Twins also are negotiating a contract with several firms interested in operating concessions at the new ballpark.

Blake Williams, son of Jerry Williams, who played basketball for Flip Saunders in 1979 when Saunders was coaching Golden Valley Lutheran College, is headed for Dartmouth after having a good basketball career at Blake.

The Gophers men's golf team, a co-Big Ten champion, will have tough competition from top-rated Oklahoma State and Alabama when it competes in the NCAA regional tournament next week in Chicago. The Gophers are ranked 29th, but coach Brad James said: "We were ranked about the same when we won the NCAA title [in 2002]."

Eric Decker has been an outstanding wide receiver for the Gophers, and now the Cold Spring, Minn., native is a member of the Gophers baseball team as a redshirt. Decker definitely will play baseball next year as well as football. According to Gophers assistant baseball coach Rob Fornasiere, Decker has great potential as a baseball player.

Here are some stats, through Tuesday night, on former Gophers now playing in the minor leagues: Luke Appert, .363 batting average, three home runs, 19 RBI for Stockton in the California League; Jack Hannahan, .228, one home run, 11 RBI for Toledo in the International League; Craig Molldrem, 2-1 record, 2.70 ERA, 13 appearances for Carolina in the Southern League; Jon Mueller, 3-1, 4.15 ERA, eight appearances for Daytona in the Florida State League; Cole DeVries, 2-1, 1.67 ERA, seven appearances for Beloit in the Midwest League. ... Former Gophers pitcher Jim Brower is pitching for the Yankees' Scranton/Wilkes-Barre farm team in the International League. Brower was with the Orioles in spring training.

Ex-Gophers golfer Simon Nash had two top-10 finishes in March on the European golf tour. ... Former Minneapolis North and Minnesota State Mankato basketball player Jamel Staten has joined the Al Ahlia team in Saudi Arabia, that will be playing in the Arab Clubs Championship to be played in Jeddah. The tournament runs through May 20. Staten played for the Minnesota Ripknees of the ABA last season.

The Harlem Globetrotters appointed Kurt Schneider to replace Mannie Jackson as the organization's CEO. Jackson, a former Globetrotter and former Honeywell executive, will remain as chairman of the board and still own 20 percent of the team.

Fourteen current or former Gophers swimmers have earned 2008 Olympic trials time standards including Twin Cities natives Colin Lee-To (50 meter freestyle), Michael Richards (50 free) and Mark Solfelt (200 individual medley.

Dennis Dale's men's swimming program, winner of five of the past seven Big Ten titles, has 14 Minnesota natives on its roster for the 2007-08 season. The Gophers inked the two most highly sought national recruits in the state during the early signing period in Roseville's Michael Richards and Maple Grove's Curt Carlson. Both stars picked the Gophers over key conference rivals Indiana and Ohio State. Minnesota has signed a Minnesota Swimmer of the Year in each of the past four seasons including Jason Timmer (Sauk Rapids-Rice, 2004), Lee-To (Minnetonka, 2004), Solfelt (Eden Prairie, 2005-06) and Carlson (Maple Grove, 2007).

Newly appointed Twins clubhouse boss Rod McCormick has worked in the team locker room for 13 years and might turn out to be one of most popular and one of the best.

Former Holy Angels and Boston College guard Troy Bell finished the NBA Development League season averaging 14.7 points and 4.4 rebounds for the Austin Toros.

Sid Hartman can be heard weekdays on WCCO AM-830 at 6:40, 7:40 and 8:40 a.m. and on his Podcast twice a week at www.startribune.com/sidcast. shartman@startribune.com