Vikings' interest in Favre not just passing

Let's face the fact that if Brett Favre wants to play another season in the NFL, and if he can pass a physical that indicates his arm is sound, he will likely be the Vikings quarterback this year.

There are several reasons why coach Brad Childress and his offensive coordinator, Darrell Bevell, who is a close friend of Favre's, want the quarterback -- who turns 40 in October -- in a purple uniform.

First, if he can regain his form from the 2007 season, when he led the Packers to a 13-3 record (the Packers suffered a tough loss to the Giants in the NFC Championship Game that kept him out of the Super Bowl), then the Vikings overnight will become one of the favorites to make it to the big game in Miami this season.

Second, the economy has hurt not only the Vikings' ticket sales, but also all of the advertising and other revenue sources.

An announcement that Favre is a Viking will bring back the interest in a hurry, helping both on the field and in generating revenue.

The Vikings were disappointed last year when the Packers traded Favre to the Jets and wouldn't talk business with them.

Now that Favre is a free agent, it is a different story.

Cuddyer hot Michael Cuddyer was batting .455 (10-for-22) with one double, two triples, a home run, seven RBI and seven walks with three strikeouts and a stolen base over seven games going into Wednesday night's rainy game at Baltimore. He also had a .586 on-base percentage. On April 27, he was batting .208, but his recent hot stretch got his average up to .266.

"A lot different between now and last year: obviously, I'm healthy. I feel good at the plate," Cuddyer said. "I feel good at playing. It's just nice to go out there and help the team."

Looking back to last year, it was one injury after another for the right fielder.

"That fifth game of the year is when I ended up breaking my finger," he recalled. "The next thing, I tore a couple of ligaments in my other hand, and then I was down rehabbing in Rochester [N.Y.] and I broke my foot."

That occurred when, leading off first base, he got hit by a line drive off the bat of teammate Garrett Jones.

He added: "It was extremely frustrating [last year]. Seemed like no matter when I was able to get healthy again, something else always came up. But one thing I really tried to do was not let the clubhouse see me be disappointed. I still wanted to remain upbeat, still wanted to remain with a positive attitude, just so these guys didn't have any negativity surrounding them. And I felt like I was able to do that, even though inside, yeah, I was really frustrated and really looking forward to this 2009 season."

After all of the bad luck last season, Cuddyer wanted to be ready for a good year, so he said he worked at getting in shape, as he had done in the past, but it was more intensified because he was so eager to get back on the field.

"I feel real good at the plate. I feel like I'm seeing the ball all right. Trying to help us," he said.

Monday, he looked like the Cuddyer of old when he got two hits and drove in three runs in the Twins' 7-2 victory over the Tigers. He went 1-for-4 in the 9-0 loss at Detroit on Tuesday.

Now, with Joe Mauer back and Cuddyer seeing the ball better, it's going to help the Twins stay in the race.

About 50 percent of the Gophers football fans who have applied for season tickets have picked out their seats. Once season-ticket holders select their seats, they are billed within two weeks for the price of the tickets. You wonder with the tough economy whether there will be several fans who might not be able to afford the price. ... The Cleveland Browns promoted George McDonald to wide receivers coach. McDonald, the Gophers receivers coach the past two seasons, was hired by the Browns on Feb. 11 as offensive quality control coach.

As of Sunday, the Gophers baseball team was tied with Kansas State for the second-best turnaround from the 2008 season. The two teams were at plus-14. Indiana State was No. 1 at plus-16.

Andy Katz, the ESPN college basketball analyst, ranks the Gophers the 16th-best team in his early ratings for the 2009-10 season. ... Every one of the Gophers will take part in the Howard Pulley League this season. It's the only organized action the members of the team can have until school starts. ... If there was a chance to play Kansas or any team on a Saturday night, Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi has made a rule that no varsity basketball games can be played on the same Saturday as a Gophers football game.

The word from the New York Jets camp is that former Gophers tight end Jack Simmons was by far the most impressive tight end in the free agent camp, and the result was he got a better deal than most free agent contracts.

Hassan Mead, the Gophers sophomore from Minneapolis South, broke his own school record in the 5,000 meters in last weekend's track meet at Stanford. His time of 13 minutes, 28.45 seconds bettered his own record by more than 15 seconds, and was the third-fastest time in the NCAA this season at that distance. Mead was named Big Ten men's track athlete of the week.

Wild forward Antti Miettinen had one assist in Finland's 3-2 loss to United States on Wednesday at the world championship. Miettinen finished the tournament with eight assists and a plus-1 rating for the seven games. Wild defenseman Marek Zidlicky is playing for the Czech Republic, which faces Sweden in the quarterfinals tonight.