Hartman: Expect NFL to back Wilfs in stadium snag

I have to believe NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has talked to Gov. Mark Dayton about a lawsuit against the Wilf family by former business partners over an apartment project in New Jersey.

And I expect Goodell will make a trip here soon to assure everybody that the multibillion dollar NFL operation will stand behind the Vikings owners.

Goodell also will assure local politicians and the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority — who are calling the shots on everything connected with the building of the new Vikings stadium — that once the due diligence review of the Wilf family's real estate business led by Peter Carter of the Dorsey & Whitney law firm is complete, final negotiations on a stadium agreement can proceed.

I spent a good part of Friday's preseason game in the Wilfs' suite, and they refused to go into detail about their legal issues, but they believe they will pass the MSFA's review and progress will resume on building the stadium.

Furthermore, because of my friendship with late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and the fact that some of the Wilf family hold stock in the Yankees, I've gotten to know Zygi and Mark Wilf well.

While I am not a psychologist, I have watched the two brothers go crazy when a Vikings player makes a mistake or the team lost a game, and they didn't seem the least bit concerned about the investigation. They believe once the review is done, it will show the lawsuit has nothing to do with their financial ability to provide the money they have guaranteed to build the stadium.

Believe me, NFL owners won't allow the Vikings stadium to go down the drain. Once it is in operation, the Wilfs and all the other owners will make a lot of money.

According to Lester Bagley, Vikings vice president of public affairs and stadium development: "It will be a third-party operator whose responsibility it will be to run the facility on game day and keep it up, keep it clean, and do all the work that you need to do to operate an NFL facility. It'll also be used on [potential NCAA] Final Fours and all the other events for the public. We're a couple months away from probably hiring that building operator.

"It's more likely going to be a company. There are several companies that do that type of work. It'll be like SMG, they're a company that does this, AEG is a company that runs the Target Center, that's a likely candidate for the job, but we haven't got there yet. We have a lot of work on our plate before we get there.

"It'll be one general manager but they have staff. It's a company that will come in. I don't know what the budget will be."

Look for Major League Baseball owners to vote Thursday in favor of a new replay system. Managers would be able to call for a replay of controversial umpire calls, except for balls and strikes.

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig assigned former major league managers Tony LaRussa and Joe Torre, who work in the MLB office, to present a plan to the owners Wednesday that will allow for replays on more than only home runs. If the owners approve it, MLB would begin negotiating between the Players Association and the umpire's union on the plan, which possibly could be implemented by the start of the 2014 season.

Burton started the season posting a 2.03 ERA in 26⅔ innings from April 3 to June 4. He had 28 strikeouts to only 10 walks and was holding hitters to a .204 average.

But he struggled from June 5 to July 1. Over that time Burton appeared in 10 games, went 1-4 with three blown saves and had an 11.00 ERA.

Now Burton is pitching better than ever. From July 2 through the Twins' tough 9-8 loss in 12 innings to Cleveland on Wednesday, Burton has posted a 0.00 ERA over 16 ⅓ innings with five holds and 15 strikeouts while holding opposing batters hitless over their past 21 at-bats. He has given up five hits, walked two and hit two batters over this stretch.

• The story in Wednesday's Star Tribune on John Mayasich was a great look at maybe the greatest hockey player in Minnesota history. One close relationship not mentioned was between Mayasich and his Gophers hockey teammate, Stanley Hubbard. Hubbard came from a wealthy family while Mayasich did not, but they were the greatest of friends. Mayasich later joined Hubbard at Hubbard Broadcasting and helped him build a great radio station as an executive for KSTP for several decades. Hubbard went on to become one of the greatest benefactors to so many causes in the state. I was covering hockey at that time, and it was something to watch those two work together.

• Former Gopher MarQueis Gray played briefly at wide receiver — not at quarterback, one of his former college positions — for the 49ers in their 10-6 loss to Denver last Thursday.

• Gophers baseball recruit Tyler Hanson of Burnsville was named MVP of the Central Plains Regional American Legion baseball tournament. Burnsville went 5-0 in the tournament held at Jack Williams Stadium in Fargo, N.D., last weekend. Hanson hit .563 and had two pitching victories. He went 5-for-5 in the title-clinching victory over Omaha West.

• Vikings coach Leslie Frazier was asked where second-year safety Robert Blanton out of Notre Dame fitted in. "Robert had limited experience in the secondary last year," Frazier said. "He really did a great job on special teams. Now you would like to see him take another step after he has had a chance to be in the system for a second offseason in a row, stay healthy. He was banged up in training camp a year ago, so he missed a lot of time. Being able to stay healthy would be a big plus for us because we think he has athletic ability. We think he has the coverage skills to be a real good safety."