C.J.: Sculptural portraits of the Packers' Max McGee are right on the nose

"You know, he nailed the nose," said Denise McGee after studying a sculpture of her late husband, Green Bay Packer Max McGee.

A portrait of Max, featuring the image of him scoring the first touchdown in Super Bowl history, has been immortalized in relief sculpture by Bill Mack. Last week Denise came to Bloomington's Griffin Gallery, co-owned by Bill's wife, Deb Mack, to see a reworked version of the piece commissioned by Denise. "I had Bill add a little more hair on the top the other day. He'd [Max would] want a little more hair."

Of this version, about which a decision is being made about how much of a green patina it should have, Denise said, "He did a great job."

"I gave one to each of Max's daughters, Mona and Marla, as a surprise for Christmas. Then I am saving one for Dallas, our son, for his college graduation."

A couple of the works will be installed at two places in the Twin Cities that will thrill Vikings fans even less than my writing about this on the day of the playoff game against the Eagles. "One will probably go at OPH [Original Pancake House] Edina, and the other will probably go at OPH Eden Prairie," she said. Denise, who owns the OPHs, has heard the grumbling of diners that there's too much Packers memorabilia at the properties.

Part of the proceeds from the sale of an undetermined number of future pieces will go to the Max McGee National Research Center for Juvenile Diabetes.

Wolf tracks Perezhilton.com reports that animal lover Khloe Kardashian has been petting a Timberwolf.

A Timberwolves insider confirmed Friday that Khloe has attended a couple of games here. Cleaning up the language of e-mailer Megan Welch: "Maybe one of the many reasons the T-Wolves" can't play so well these days is that "he's a bit distracted." (No, they're just a poor collection of players.)

Finally, there's a reason to follow the Wolves! I've been bummed since the trade of Marko Jaric because that meant no more sightings of his fiancée, Brazilian supermodel Adriana Lima.

An icy encounter Word has it that the ambient temperature seemed to plunge, and that's saying something because this happened at the Chambers bar christened the "Ice Chamber," during a recent encounter between Mayor R.T. Rybak and Charles Carlson, an operations director for an architectural firm.

Carlson said he asked Rybak, "Would you be willing to get breakfast to chat?" Rybak apparently was not confused by the Englishman's choice of words. "Basically he [Rybak] was very up front; he said, I'm supporting Cam Gordon," said Carlson.

Rybak was clearly aware that Carlson is in the preliminary stages of a campaign to run against City Council Member Cam Gordon. Carlson was dismayed by the refusal because "[Rybak] didn't say, What's your platform? He didn't say, I'll think about it."

Perhaps Rybak holds some lingering hostilities against Carlson, who cheekily informed the mayor, via Facebook.com, that Fox 9 almost won an Emmy for a story about hizzoner driving around without a license.

When asked why he's running, Carlson said, "There was an outcry of people in Ward 2 asking me to run. It wasn't just students [the U is in that ward] but business owners, longtime residents of the ward." Carlson calls himself a "23-year-old change-maker."

Gordon said that he hasn't met Carlson and that "he sounds like an interesting -- and potentially a worthy -- opponent."

Carlson thinks big. On a recent trip to NYC, he schmoozed Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., about doing a fundraiser here. He's also courting former President Bill Clinton, in whose administration Carlson's father served as a deputy ambassador, Carlson said.