A few observations before we get to why Twins favorite Torii Hunter won’t be back in 2008 much less the year of our stadium 2010.

Minnesota Gopher football coach Tim Brewster&8217;s honeymoon is over. The guru&8217;s of the Minneapolis sports pages have made it official. Pat Reusse and Jim Souhan included Brewster in their negative outbursts concerning Minnesota football, noting that Brewster may lead the Gophers to their worst record in decades.

I think Brewster will have at least one more year to right the ship or at least to give a solid indication of doing so.

Brewster not only holds his own future in his hands, but also that of Athletic Director Joe Maturi. The alumni are not going to spend all that time and money on a new stadium in order to have the rest of the Big Ten continue to look down on their program.

Minnesota Vikings coach Brad Childress is now under a constant firestorm from all sides with Ruesse and Souhan carrying the firesticks. Owner Zigi Wilf felt it was necessary to give Childress a vote of confidence. Oh Oh, Brad, that usually is the kiss of death. Attendance is going down at the same time Wilf is seeking funds for a new stadium. The Twins got theirs, but at least they were playing well at the time.

A few years ago Reusse lead the campaign to get rid of Denny Green, calling him a backstabber among other things. I don&8217;t know but the Green years now seem like the &8220;good old days.&8221;

The Rochester Post-Bulletin conducts a poll of its sports page readers from time to time. A short while ago it asked if Torii Hunter would be back next year? Fifty-six percent of the readers

responding said no, Torii would return.

In the time I have followed the polls the readers are usually right. I don&8217;t remember any instance of them being wrong. Much like the quiz show, &8220;Do You Want to be a Millionaire?&8221; the audience is usually right. Torii Hunter will not be back next year. That&8217;s a shame for he is still one of the best centerfielders in the game and one of the few offensive threats in the Twins&8217; lineup.

The primary reason is not money, although that certainly enters into it. Do you want to invest 20 percent of your payroll in a 32-year-old, somewhat brittle outfielder? For all his talk about Joe Mauer missing games Torii can pretty much match him.

Money is important but I think the return of Torii Hunter boils down to the length of his contract. The Twins offered Torii $45 million for three years. He turned it down and didn&8217;t want to talk about it. Why? Torii wants a five year contract for something between $15 and $20 million a year.

I don&8217;t think the Twins will do that for a number of reasons.

That is a huge commitment for a long time. A lot of things can happen including Torii being injured again. The money could be

used in other ways for other needs. In other words it would limit the Twins&8217; flexibility, including the abaility to sign a needed free agent, or a Francisco Liriano in the future. And even if things went well, you would still have a 37-year-old outfielder in the fifth year of the contract.

Right now the offer is for three years. Torii wants five. It seems to me that if Torii really wants to stay and the Twins really want him he would accept a four year contract. I don&8217;t think that will happen, because there are a couple of teams out there that will offer him five years. Torii knows this and while he might cry crocodile tears about leaving, he had his Twin Cities house up for sale this spring.

Jon Laging writes a regional sports column from his home in Preston.