It was 75 sunny degrees with virtually no wind when I arrived at the Faribault Golf Club on Monday. Perfect conditions for the event.

Thirty-two foursomes hit the course to raise money for local schools.

It all started in 1975 and was a University of Minnesota Williams Scholarship Fund event until 1990 when the University decided to no longer be the main sponsor.

The committee decided to go forward and keep the money local and since that time has been able to donate nearly a quarter of a million dollars to Faribault High School, Bethlehem Academy and the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf.

The Bruce Smith Golf Classic is held in memory of Faribault native Bruce Smith, the only Heisman Trophy winner in the history of the University of Minnesota.

It was 75 years ago, on December 9, 1941, that Bruce traveled to New York City by train with his dad and sister to receive the prestigious award given to the nation's top college football player. It was two days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The speech had to be a short one because the president was going to address the nation just a few minutes after the trophy presentation.

The University still has some connection to the event, with former Gopher athletes and current coaches involved.

Bruce Smith Golf Committee General Chairman Bruce Krinkie took me on the course to make quick visits with some of the special guests participating along with local business owners and employees.

First we stopped to see new Golden Gopher football offensive coordinator Jay Johnson. I asked him what kind of offense his team would be running and he said a multi-pronged balanced attack.

Johnson loves what he sees from Gopher quarterback and Lakeville native Mitch Leidner and said, "Leidner is a tough leader."

We caught up with current Gopher broadcaster and former Gopher football great Darrell Thompson. Thompson said every time he comes to Faribault he remembers the tough games his Rochester John Marshall Rockets had with the Falcons in his high school days.

The former Gopher running back was in the Heisman hunt for a while when he played at the University and said people don't realize just how hard winning the award is. "You have to have a little bit of luck because you have to remain healthy and your team has to win."

Thompson likes the move the University of Minnesota made last season when former head coach Jerry Kill was forced to step down due to health issues and the University name Tracy Claeys the new head coach.

One of Claeys' first moves was to hire a new offensive coordinator and remove his longtime colleague. Thompson says the decision had to be a tough one and showed Claeys is capable of doing what he feels is "right for the program."

We also caught up with former Gopher hockey player and current member of the New Jersey Devils, Faribault native Seth Helgeson.

Helgeson is looking forward to training camp in September and said he just started working out again with a bunch of former University of Minnesota players at the University in preparation for the upcoming season.

Helgeson believes his Devils will be a team to contend and I asked for his thoughts on the Wild move to a new head coach.

Helgeson was happy to see a former coach of his with the Devils, Scott Stevens, become an assistant on the Wild staff. Helgeson told me he learned a lot from Stevens and felt he had, "all the tools to be a head coach someday."

The former Gopher is not very happy with the way things went for the Gopher hockey team last year and agreed with the me that the change to a new conference was not a good move for the program.

You can hear these comments on KDHL during our 7:05 and 8:05 Tuesday morning news and 7:40AM sports as well as the Midday Report on KDHL.

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