Vikings' Allen lives up to expectations

After watching new Vikings defensive end Jared Allen perform through minicamps, training camp and two preseason games, Vikings assistant head coach/defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier said last season's NFL sacks leader while with the Kansas City Chiefs is better than he thought he would be.

"You watch tape on him and you get a feel for him, but to see the way he practices," Frazier said. "He practices extremely hard and he carries it over to the game and he plays very fast."

Frazier is also impressed with the way Allen gets along with his new teammates.

"He's not a prima donna, he's not a guy who feels like, 'I've got to be treated a certain way,' and that makes my job a lot easier and it makes Coach [Brad] Childress' job a lot easier.

"When one of your best players is a guy who buys into what you're trying to get accomplished, you've got a chance, and he's been exceptional."

Frazier is convinced Allen, 26, has a chance to be a premier defensive end in the NFL for a long, long time.

"Injuries, as you know, are the thing that you can't predict," Frazier said. "But based on the way he plays now and the way he prepares -- because he's not a guy who's just physically talented -- he really works on the game from a mental standpoint as well, watching tape, studying opponents, talking to other players in the league about offensive linemen and what they like to do and what their weaknesses are. He's a student of the game and with his athletic ability, the sky's the limit."

Rybak helps The city of Minneapolis will gain $3 million per year in ticket taxes from the new ballpark that it didn't receive from Twins games played at the Metrodome.

So it was good news when Mayor R.T. Rybak included $3 million for improvements to parks and bike trails, including the area surrounding the new ballpark, in his proposed 2009 budget. The council still must approve Rybak's proposed budget.

Twins President Dave St. Peter said he hopes to have some answers about the naming rights and top-tier sponsorships within the new ballpark before the end of the calendar year.

Twins free agents following this season include infielder Nick Punto, shortstop Adam Everett and reliever Dennys Reyes. Eligible for arbitration are outfielder Jason Kubel and reliever Matt Guerrier. The team has an option on catcher Mike Redmond for 2009. Starter Francisco Liriano isn't eligible for arbitration until the end of the 2009 season.

It would be possible, based on the American League victory in the All-Star Game, which gave home-field advantage in the World Series to the AL, that the Twins could play host to as many as 11 postseason games this year. Invoices for season ticket holders for the 2009 season went out Thursday.

Jottings Sixty-eight of the 105 players on the Gophers football roster have never played in a college game, 20 players have one year of experience, 11 have two years of experience and six have three years.

Dr. C. Peter Magrath, president of the University of Minnesota from 1974-84, is now the interim president at the University of West Virginia. Fortunately for Magrath, former West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez and his current employer, the University of Michigan, agreed to pay the $4 million buyout of Rodriguez's contract with the Mountaineers. The lawsuit was settled before Magrath took over Aug. 1.

That was Sheldon Burns -- a team doctor for the Vikings, Wild and Wolves -- you saw at the Beijing Olympics the other day, tending to an injured American basketball player. Burns is working at his ninth Olympics.

Local PGA golfer Tim Herron has opened a new modern golf facility in Orono.

The University of Minnesota is one of 10 colleges or cities vying to play host to an NCAA Final Four basketball tournament between 2012 and 2016. The Metrodome will hold a regional tournament next spring.

Nate Tice, the former Edina quarterback and son of ex-Vikings coach Mike Tice, decided last week to drop football at Central Florida, where he was in his second year. The offensive coordinator at Central Florida is Tim Salem, son of former Gophers coach Joe Salem.

Chaska lefthander Brad Hand has allowed only one earned run in his past 22 innings for the Florida Marlins' Gulf Coast League farm team. He is 2-0 with a 2.48 ERA. Carlos Gutierrez, the University of Miami pitcher who the Twins took rather than Hand, is 3-1 with a 2.75 ERA for the Fort Myers (Fla.) Miracle.

Kevin Steinhaus, a two-time state wrestling champion from Kerkhoven-Murdock- Sunburg High School, has verbally committed to the Gophers. Steinhaus, who was a 2008 National High School Coaches Association Junior National runner-up, has not lost a high school match since his freshman year. His career record is 196-12.