Minnesota Sports Roundup: Vikings to play Pittsburgh in London next year

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EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. - The Minnesota Vikings are going overseas.

The National Football League announced yesterday that one of the Minnesota regular season home games next season will be moved to London. The Vikes and Steelers will play at famed Wembley Stadium on September 29th, 2013. The is the second NFL game scheduled for the UK next year, as a game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and San Francisco 49ers next October is already set. The announcement was made in conjunction to promoting the St. Louis Rams and New England Patriots contest in London, which is a week from Sunday.

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The Vikings will be back on the practice field this afternoon at Winter Park after having the day off yesterday. The Arizona Cardinals are the opponent for this Sunday's game at the Metrodome. Left tackle Phil Loadholt says the Minnesota offensive line must continue to work together and execute a bit better to have success. He says everyone must be on the same page particularly in the run-blocking scheme. Kickoff on Sunday is noon.

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Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb is going to miss an unspecified period of time with cartilage damage in his ribs and an SC joint sprain. Head coach Ken Whisenhunt is expected to address the injury and the quarterback situation later today. Kolb left Sunday's 19-16 overtime loss to Buffalo late in the fourth quarter. The 28-year-old was replaced by John Skelton, who earned the starting job to start the season and will likely start this week at Minnesota. Kolb has thrown for 1,169 yards with eight touchdowns and three interceptions while taking a league-high 27 sacks in five games this year. Skelton hadn't played since suffering a sprained ankle in Week One against Seattle. He has thrown for 194 yards and two interceptions.

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University of Minnesota football coach Jerry Kill says quarterback MarQueis Gray is questionable for this Saturday's game at Wisconsin. Gray played in his first game since mid-September last weekend against Northwestern. He re-injured his leg and missed most of the second half of Saturday's home loss. Kill says he is hoping Gray can improve enough over the next few days to be ready to play in the battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe this weekend in Madison. Kickoff on Saturday is set for 11 a.m. and the game will be televised on ESPNU.

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The University of Minnesota has backed out of a football "home-and-home" series against North Carolina, which was to have begun next season in Chapel Hill. Minnesota had to pay North Carolina $800,000 to get out of the deal. The Gophers are now looking to find a replacement team to fill that slot on next year's schedule, as well as the 2014 slate, which was to have included a North Carolina at Minnesota game. Meanwhile, the Gophers also announced that the season opener in each of the next four seasons will now be played on Thursday night as part of an agreement with the Minnesota State Fair. This way the games will not interfere with the traditionally large turnouts at the State Fair on Saturdays. Minnesota also added Kent State as a non-conference opponent in 2015 and added South Dakota State to the schedule in 2019.

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The WCHA has named its weekly award winners in men's hockey. Minnesota junior forward Nick Bjugstad of Blaine is the Offensive Player of the Week. He helped the top-ranked Gophers to a pair of dominating wins over No. 16 Michigan State last week. Minnesota-Duluth forward Austin Farley of Niles, Illinois, is the league's Freshman of the Week after producing four points in two games over the weekend. And, Colorado College senior defenseman Mike Voivin of Delta, British Columbia is the WCHA Defensive Player of the Week.

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The NHL is making a new labor proposal to the players in an effort to end the lockout. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman says the offer is with the idea that no games will be lost. The league's proposal of a 50-50 split of hockey-related revenue includes no salary rollbacks. Commissioner Gary Bettman says the offer is contingent on an 82-game season that would begin November 2nd. The NHL's previous proposal called for a 57-43 split of revenue favoring the owners. The league locked out the players after the previous collective bargaining agreement expired on September 15th. Regular season games have already been canceled through October 24th.

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A Saint Paul man who threatened to kill his son's youth hockey coach last December is headed to jail for 180 days. Fifty-year-old Thomas Tonda was sentenced yesterday after pleading guilty to one count of terroristic threats. Prosecutors say Tonda screamed at the coach, put him in a choke hold and verbally threatened to kill him as he left the area. The incident happened at the ice arena in Inver Grove Heights. The judge stayed a 21-month prison sentence and ordered Tonda to more than 350 hours of community service.

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Minnesota's Kevin Love scored 24 points with eight rebounds as the Timberwolves defeated Maccabi HAIFA 114-81 in a preseason game last night. Brandon Roy added 19 points while Andrei Kirilenko helped out with 13 points and seven rebounds for Minnesota. Maccabi HAIFA is a pro team from Israel The Wolves face the Bulls on Friday.

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The Minnesota Lynx will look to get even when they host the Fever in Game Two of the WNBA Finals this evening. Indiana surprisingly grabbed a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series with a 76-70 win over the defending WNBA champions on Sunday. Tip-off tonight is at 7 p.m at the Target Center.

Tags: minnesota sports, proam, vikings, lynx, timberwolves, gophers, wild