JOTTINGS
• It's sad that former Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher lost his job after reaching the postseason for six consecutive seasons, and especially after this year when the team lost both of their stars, Ryan Suter and Zach Parise, to injury. Parise played in only 42 regular-season games and broke his sternum in Game 3 of their playoff series with Winnipeg and Suter missed the entire postseason after breaking his right ankle with four games left in the regular season. The Wild still had the eighth-best record in the NHL.
• Former Vikings coach Brad Childress is leaving his offensive analyst position with the Chicago Bears to become the coach of the Atlanta team in the new Alliance of American Football, which will begin play next February. Former NFL quarterback Michael Vick will be his offensive coordinator. Former Viking Jared Allen is one of the investors in the eight-team league.
• The Timberwolves were among the top three NBA teams in terms of local TV ratings increases during the regular season with a 78 percent increase over last season. On top of that, the Wolves had a 25 percent increase in corporate partnerships with new deals with Fitbit (their jersey sponsors), Anheuser-Busch and Hy-Vee.
•Twins pitching prospect Fernando Romero continues to dominate at Class AAA Rochester. Romero, 23, has a 2.57 ERA with 20 strikeouts and 17 hits in 21 innings.
• The Gophers will offer tours of their new Athletes Village on May 19 for fans. Online registration is required.
• Former Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was one of the head coaches for the Oklahoma Sooners spring game earlier this month. It will be interesting to see if Peterson, who turned 33 in March, gets another chance in the NFL. While he didn't produce much with the Saints, he had 448 rushing yards and two touchdowns and 66 receiving yards in six games with the Cardinals.
