JOTTINGS
• Former Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi has been working with collegiate officials in Japan to educate them about athletic departments, which are not currently a part of Japanese education. He played host to officials from the University of Tsukuba last weekend.
• Vikings defensive end Brian Robison is going to be the team's nominee for the Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award this year.
• Keep an eye out for a future article on Vikings receivers Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen in Sports Illustrated. A reporter has been in town working on the story.
• The Vikings have three remaining home games. The game with the Rams is sold out. Their home game against Cincinnati on Dec. 17 has limited availability in the upper level and the same is true for their final home game against Chicago on Dec. 31.
• Vikings quarterback Case Keenum spoke about leaving the Rams after last season to the Los Angeles Times: "I could sit here and go through all the excuses and have a pity party for myself, 'This is bad that happened to me. This is out of my control.' But I don't see it that way. I see that I've made [31] starts in the NFL now. I've had a lot of fun."
• The Vikings defensive line will see a familiar face when they go against Rams center John Sullivan, who started 104 games for the Vikings. "I'm glad to see him doing well and I'm glad to go against him," defensive tackle Linval Joseph said. Joseph added that he knows Sullivan will be a tough matchup.
• Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau is always talking defense, and his team held the Mavericks to a low 37.2 percent shooting on Friday night, including 31 percent (13-of-42) in the second half.
• Baseball America published their minor league All-Star team and had Class AA Chattanooga lefthander Gabriel Moya on the list. Moya pitched well for the Twins in September.
