Minnesota Sports Briefs: Gopher football, volleyball players take part in cancer fundraiser

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MINNEAPOLIS -- More than 60 University of Minnesota football and volleyball players will shave their heads this Monday to raise money to find cures for childhood cancer.

The event is a fundraiser organized by former Minnesota football player Connor Cosgrove, who continues to undergo chemotherapy for leukemia All money raised goes to the St. Baldrick's Foundation, which is committed to finding cures for childhood cancer. There are several ways people can donate to the cause. For information, log on to www.gophersports.com.

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The University of Minnesota football team will host Purdue in a Big Ten Conference game on Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium Saturday. This game will mark the 59th time these two conference foes have faced off against each other The University of Minnesota holds a narrow 33-32-3 overall series lead. Purdue ran away with last year's game 45-17 in West Lafayette. The last Golden Gopher victory came in Minneapolis in 2009 when Minnesota beat Purdue 35-20 at TCF Bank Stadium. Both teams are trying to snap three-game losing streaks this year ands get their first Big Ten win, with Minnesota sitting at 4-3 overall, while the Boilers are 3-4 on the season. The winner will have a better of securing a bowl bid. Saturday's game kicks off at 2:42 p.m.

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The Minnesota Twins declined the 2013 club option on closer Matt Capps on Wednesday, instead choosing to pay a much cheaper buyout. Capps went 1-4 with 14 saves and a 3.68 ERA in 30 games this season. He made just three appearances after June due to a shoulder injury. The team outrighted pitchers Jeff Manship, Luis Perdomo, Esmerling Vasquez, Kyle Waldrop, P.J. Walters and outfielder Matt Carson off the major league roster and reinstated pitchers Scott Baker, Cole DeVries and Carl Pavano off the disabled list. In other team news, pitcher Carlos Gutierrez was claimed on outright waivers by the Cubs.

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It was 25 years ago tonight that the Minnesota Twins captured their first-ever World Series championship. The Twins won Game Seven of the World Series 4-2 over the Cardinals on Sunday, October 25th, 1987. Frank Viola pitched eight solid innings to win the game, making manager Tom Kelly the youngest non-player manager to ever win a baseball world title. More than 55,000 fans were at the Metrodome for the historic game, which was the 500th World Series game ever played.

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NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is conceding that an 82-game regular season is unlikely. Speaking at a press conference to announce the New York Islanders' pending move to Brooklyn yesterday, Bettman said the union has opted not to negotiate off the league's proposal from last week that called for a 50-50 split of revenue. Bettman says a labor deal would have to be in place by Thursday in order for that to happen and the two sides aren't even talking.

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The WCHA has named it women's college hockey Players of the Week. Minnesota forward Hannah Brandt of Vadnais Heights is the league's Rookie of the Week for the second time this season. She had two goals and an assist in a sweep of Ohio State last weekend. Golden Gopher goaltender Noora Raty of Espoo, Finland is the conference's co-Defensive Player of the Week, sharing the honor with North Dakota netminder Jorid Dagfinrud, of Sarpsborg, Norway. And, Minnesota State-Mankato junior forward Tracy McCann of Lakewood, Ohio is the WCHA Offensive Player of the Week after helping the Mavericks to five of six points against Minnesota-Duluth last weekend.

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The Minnesota State High School League won't allow two Minnesota boys' hockey teams to play in an outdoor game in Chicago next year. Blaine and Centennial were invited to play against each other at Chicago's Soldier Field as part of the Hockey City Classic next February. Both teams accepted the invite only to find out that state high school bylaws won't allow the teams to travel that far. The rules state the farthest a team can travel is 600-miles round trip. The teams could apply for a waiver, but both schools say they won't challenge board policy. The University of Minnesota men's hockey team is playing against Wisconsin in this event on February 17th, 2013.

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Edina captured the 2012 Class 2A Minnesota Girls State Tennis title yesterday with a 7-0 win over Minnetonka in the finals. The Blake School won the Class 1A team title by beating Annandale 7-0 in the championship bout. State tournament singles and doubles action begins today across the Twin Cities.

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San Francisco's Pablo Sandoval homered in each of his first three at-bats as the Giants trounced the Tigers 8-3 in Game One of the World Series last night in northern California. Sandoval went 4-for-4 with three runs and four RBI en route to joining Reggie Jackson, Albert Pujols and Babe Ruth as the only players in history with three homers in a single World Series game. Barry Zito fired five-and-two-thirds innings of one-run ball to get the win Zito also smacked an RBI-single. The Giants host the Tigers in Game Two of the World Series tonight at AT&T Park. Madison Bumgarner will get the ball tonight as the Giants look to go up 2-0 in the best-of-seven series. The southpaw is 0-and-2 with an 11.25 ERA in two starts this postseason. The Tigers will counter with Doug Fister, who has a 1.35 ERA and is winless in two starts in the playoffs. First-pitch is at 7 p.m.

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