Minnesota Sports Forum

I woke up with a heavy heart this morning, as I lost a close friend yesterday...and our state lost its Mr. Minnesota. Nobody did more for local pro sports here than Wheelock Whitney. When I was a young kid, all we had in town were minor league baseball and hockey (after the Lakers left). Wheelock was only 32 years old when he raised the $100K that Calvin Griffith needed to buy the local MLB rights from the Red Sox so the Washington Senators could move here, and that's why we have the Twins who have given us 2 world championships. Wheelock had the four seats right behind the Twins dugout at all three stadiums, and you can see him in old videos slapping Jack Morris on the head with his cap as Jack came back to the dugout after the 10th inning of game 7 of the '91 World Series. I didn't know until just a couple weeks ago that Wheelock was part of the ownership group that arranged for the North Stars to become an expansion team (even though he was never much of a hockey fan). And he was also part of a group that bought the Vikings from Max Winter and owned the team for a long time. During that time he adopted Chris Carter as a close friend, and was instrumental in getting Carter to give up drugs and alcohol at the Johnson Institute (which Wheelock founded)...without him, Carter's career would have been very short.

This is mostly a Timberwolves' forum, and that was the only local pro sports team that Wheelock was not involved in, although he was a big fan. But for those of us that have enjoyed professional football, baseball and hockey here over the years, give thanks today to this great guy who made it all possible here. He was truly one of a kind!

Thanks for sharing LST and I'm sorry to hear of this loss both for you and for others.

Also the Governor who got the Hump built. My parents weren't fans and both voted for Perpich, but he kept the Vikings from going to Memphis.

Strange, I have to ask: Why the Lou Holtz attraction? To be fair, he had done a lot to that point and even a couple of years of Holtz wouldn't have completely tarnished his legacy, but we can all admit that would have been a colossal error, right?

Sorry to hear about this LST. I don't have much recollection of him, but your mini-obit certainly explains how much he meant to the Minnesota sports scene.

JasonIsDaMan wrote:Also the Governor who got the Hump built. My parents weren't fans and both voted for Perpich, but he kept the Vikings from going to Memphis.

Strange, I have to ask: Why the Lou Holtz attraction? To be fair, he had done a lot to that point and even a couple of years of Holtz wouldn't have completely tarnished his legacy, but we can all admit that would have been a colossal error, right?

I never got the Lou Holtz attraction...I always thought he was a flim flam man. But you're right...Wheelock liked him a lot, and along with Harvey McKay, was instrumental in bringing him in to coach the U of M. You'll note I didn't include that as one of Wheel's accomplishments!

longstrangetrip wrote:

JasonIsDaMan wrote:Also the Governor who got the Hump built. My parents weren't fans and both voted for Perpich, but he kept the Vikings from going to Memphis.

Strange, I have to ask: Why the Lou Holtz attraction? To be fair, he had done a lot to that point and even a couple of years of Holtz wouldn't have completely tarnished his legacy, but we can all admit that would have been a colossal error, right?

I never got the Lou Holtz attraction...I always thought he was a flim flam man. But you're right...Wheelock liked him a lot, and along with Harvey McKay, was instrumental in bringing him in to coach the U of M. You'll note I didn't include that as one of Wheel's accomplishments!

It's not just the debacle of the 1976 New York Jets, it's the fact that he is always looking for another job. If ESPN put a labtop in front of him during college football gameday, I'm sure he would have had monster.com on a minimized window.

Other than that, yeah, Governor Whitney was the real deal.

JasonIsDaMan wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

JasonIsDaMan wrote:Also the Governor who got the Hump built. My parents weren't fans and both voted for Perpich, but he kept the Vikings from going to Memphis.

Strange, I have to ask: Why the Lou Holtz attraction? To be fair, he had done a lot to that point and even a couple of years of Holtz wouldn't have completely tarnished his legacy, but we can all admit that would have been a colossal error, right?

I never got the Lou Holtz attraction...I always thought he was a flim flam man. But you're right...Wheelock liked him a lot, and along with Harvey McKay, was instrumental in bringing him in to coach the U of M. You'll note I didn't include that as one of Wheel's accomplishments!

It's not just the debacle of the 1976 New York Jets, it's the fact that he is always looking for another job. If ESPN put a labtop in front of him during college football gameday, I'm sure he would have had monster.com on a minimized window.

Other than that, yeah, Governor Whitney was the real deal.

This is Lou Holtz we are talking about but do people still use monster.com? I'm asking...for a friend. Just kidding.

monsterpile wrote:

JasonIsDaMan wrote:

longstrangetrip wrote:

JasonIsDaMan wrote:Also the Governor who got the Hump built. My parents weren't fans and both voted for Perpich, but he kept the Vikings from going to Memphis.

Strange, I have to ask: Why the Lou Holtz attraction? To be fair, he had done a lot to that point and even a couple of years of Holtz wouldn't have completely tarnished his legacy, but we can all admit that would have been a colossal error, right?

I never got the Lou Holtz attraction...I always thought he was a flim flam man. But you're right...Wheelock liked him a lot, and along with Harvey McKay, was instrumental in bringing him in to coach the U of M. You'll note I didn't include that as one of Wheel's accomplishments!

It's not just the debacle of the 1976 New York Jets, it's the fact that he is always looking for another job. If ESPN put a labtop in front of him during college football gameday, I'm sure he would have had monster.com on a minimized window.

Other than that, yeah, Governor Whitney was the real deal.

This is Lou Holtz we are talking about but do people still use monster.com? I'm asking...for a friend. Just kidding.

First site I can think of. Plus, you have to admit it would be funny if he lost his place because he was applying for the SuperAmerica management training program.