Sid Hartman: Moss, Vikings need big night at Lambeau

For the Vikings to beat the Packers on Sunday night, Randy Moss -- who's making his first appearance in Green Bay since 2004 -- will need to have a big game.

I had just assumed that the Vikings had a winning record against the Packers with Moss in the lineup, but the Vikings are actually 6-7 overall in the regular season against the Packers with Moss.

And surprisingly, the Vikings are 2-4 at Lambeau Field with Moss in the lineup. The numbers exclude the 2004 playoff victory at Lambeau, and he did not play in a 2004 regular-season game on the road.

So the conclusion is, both Moss and his teammates will have to play better than they have in the past if they are going to move up in the NFC North.

In the regular season at Lambeau, Moss has caught 27 passes for 518 yards and five touchdowns. In the 2004 playoff game, he caught four passes for 70 yards with two touchdowns.

Moss had his biggest day at Lambeau in 1998, a 37-24 Vikings victory in which he caught five passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns.

Checking the rest of Moss' performances at Lambeau with the Vikings: In 1999, the Vikings lost 23-20 with the great wide receiver catching only two passes for 13 yards and one touchdown; in 2000, the Vikings lost 26-20 in overtime as Moss caught six passes for 130 yards; in 2001, the Vikings lost 24-13, and Moss had only two catches for 10 yards; in 2002, it was a 26-22 loss, with Moss contributing three receptions for 25 yards and one touchdown; in 2003, Moss had a big day in a 30-25 victory with nine catches for 150 yards and one touchdown.

So all of this adds up to the fact that Moss's presence might not mean that much in Sunday's Packers-Vikings game.

But visiting with him this week, I got the feeling he really wants to have a big day against the Packers and he is confident he will.

Stadiums don't win I was happy to see the Gophers get a new stadium, even though my preference would have been for one that both the Gophers and Vikings could share.

A lot of the Gophers boosters were convinced that having the new stadium on the campus would turn the football program into a winner. Well, I kept pointing out that a stadium never has won any games, and this has proved true with the Gophers. They are 1-7 after losing to Penn State on Saturday even though they had 433 total yards to the visitors' 351 and 299 passing yards to the visitors' 206. They fell short in rushing yards, 145 to 134.

Apparently, the new stadium didn't help recruiting either, with players not having the ability to step right in as freshmen and sophomores and prevent the Gophers from losing to South Dakota and Northern Illinois.

But the point I'm trying to make is players win games, not stadiums. Even a super new coach next year will need more than the new building to post a winning record.

Yes, I really thought that with the pressure off, the players who were fighting to keep Tim Brewster employed might beat Penn State.

But it didn't happen, and now the Gophers will be big underdogs in the remaining four games against Ohio State, Illinois, Michigan State and Iowa.

Jottings Wisconsin punter Brad Nortman, who ran 17 yards on a fourth-quarter fake punt that helped the Badgers beat Iowa 31-30 in Iowa City on Saturday, originally committed to the Gophers and Brewster in June 2007, but by that October the Brookfield (Wis.) Central product changed his mind and decided to stay with his home-state team.

Da'Jon McKnight, who caught three touchdown passes for the Gophers in the loss to Penn State, now has nine touchdowns and 36 catches for 542 yards. He's from Dallas, where he was a high school basketball star who never played football until his senior year.

The Twins -- with an 8.77 average television rating on the Fox Sports North network for the 2010 season -- ranked second in the major leagues. Only the St. Louis Cardinals, who had a 9.5 rating on Sports Midwest, had a better rating. In terms of audience, the Twins, with an average of 152,000 cable homes, were fourth in major leagues -- ahead of such major markets as the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. Only the Yankees, Mets and Phillies had bigger average television audiences for games.

Look for Twins manager Ron Gardenhire to negotiate a multiyear contract with General Manager Billy Smith when the two get together next week to talk over a number of things about the coaches and the 2010 roster. Team co-owner Jim Pohlad has made it clear he wants to reward Gardenhire, who has one more year on his contract, with one of the best deals in the league. ... The Twins will play host to their entire baseball development staff -- including all minor league managers, coaches and scouts -- at their annual organization meeting at Target Field beginning on Thursday.

Incidentally, Gardenhire will be inducted into the Texas Athletics Hall of Honor on Nov. 19 in Austin, Texas, along with University of Texas products Ricky Williams, Chris Mihm and Bill Wyman. Gardenhire starred for the Longhorns baseball team at shortstop in 1978 and '79.

The Twins already have renewed more than 90 percent of the club's season ticket base for the 2011 season. Twins President Dave St. Peter said the club will again cap season ticket sales at the 25,000 mark.

Look for the Twins to soon formally announce plans for a variety of Target Field enhancements, including a second video board that will be installed in right-center field.