second-to-last week of the regular season with a lead of 1 1-2

JERSEY CITY, N.J. - The captain was a few minutes late, though no one seemed to mind. Russell Wilson is usually worth the wait, and no more than on this day, his final one speaking about the game before he actually plays The Game. Peyton Manning is supposed to be the star of this Super Bowl, but a minor league second baseman who refused to listen to those who said he was too small to play quarterback in the NFL may have something to say about that. Proving people wrong is almost as fun for Wilson as winning football games, and hes done both with great regularity since being drafted with the 75th overall pick two years ago by the Seattle Seahawks. "For all the kids that have been told, no, that they cant do it, or all the kids that will be told no," Wilson said. "Thats one of the reasons that I left playing baseball, to be honest with you. I had this urge to play the game of football, because so many people — I shouldnt say so many, a handful of people — said I couldnt do it. Richard Sherman will be the player most remembered from the win that got Seattle here. But if not for a gutsy play on an equally gutsy call, the Seahawks would not be in position to win their first Super Bowl title. Wilson found Jermaine Kearse in the end zone for the touchdown on a fourth down against San Francisco in the NFC championship game, giving the Seahawks the lead for the first time. It was the kind of play a veteran star like Manning might make when it counts most. The kind of play Wilson prepared for meticulously every day for the past two years. The kind of play that can win a Super Bowl. "I dont think Ive seen too many people have the knack to want be great. He wants to be a great quarterback," receiver Percy Harvin said. "He just doesnt want to be average or All-Pro. He wants to be talked about as a great quarterback and I dont think hes going to stop until he does." By now, Wilsons story is fairly well known. The son of the late Harrison Wilson III — a star athlete at Dartmouth who became a lawyer after briefly thinking of trying out for the NFL in 1977 — he lost a job as starting quarterback at North Carolina State while playing second base in the Colorado Rockies organization. Wilson would give up baseball to star as a graduate student at Wisconsin, leading the Badgers to the Big 10 title and a spot in the Rose Bowl. But he was undersized at 5-foot-11 and languished in the NFL draft before Pete Carroll and the Seahawks took a chance on him for what was expected to be a backup quarterback position. Instead, Carroll called him to the basketball court at the teams complex prior to his rookie season, where Wilson watched him shoot jumpers. "I go outside and he said, You want to shoot? " Wilson said. "Then he said, We want you to know youre going to be the starting quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks, hopefully for a long time. "That put a huge smile on my face. I immediately thought of my mom and dad and all the things theyve done for me and all the discipline they gave me." That discipline is evident in the way Wilson approaches his job as both the quarterback and leader of his team. Like all quarterbacks he watches film, but Wilson is constantly studying situations and is relentless about fixing mistakes. "He makes everyone around him almost a perfectionist because we pick up off that and the habits that he has," said receiver Ricardo Lockette. "He is always the first one there in the morning and the last one to leave." Those habits helped propel the Seahawks to an 11-5 record last season behind their rookie QB. They beat the Washington Redskins in the first round of the playoffs, then lost a shootout to Atlanta that had Wilson down in the dumps — if only for a moment. By the time he was in the tunnel going back to the locker room he had already begun thinking what he had to do in the off-season to get the Seahawks over the hump this year. "I want to change the game and theres a difference between being good and being great and changing the game," Wilson said. "Guys like Peyton Manning change the game in terms of the way he thinks and in terms of the way he processes things. Tom Brady is the same way, hes so clutch that people fear him. One day I want to evolve to that." Wilson can take a big step in that direction should he join an elite group of quarterbacks (Brady, Kurt Warner and Ben Roethlisberger) who have won a Super Bowl in just their second year. Hes certainly not overwhelmed by the moment, and seems to embrace the challenge, even when it comes to answering the same questions over and over during the pregame buildup. A great believer in visualization, he already sees himself on the field at the Meadowlands, is already trying to figure out how to feel when the national anthem is sung and the stadium erupts in flashes for the kickoff. "Then it will be, OK, Im ready to go," Wilson said. 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The Maple Leafs handed their embattled head coach a two-year contract extension on Thursday, while at the same time announcing that assistants Dave Farrish, Greg Cronin and Scott Gordon will not be back.MINNEAPOLIS -- That large early lead was long gone for the Detroit Tigers. They saw Kansas Citys comeback slowly unfolding on the out-of-town scoreboard. No sweat. One big swing by Torii Hunter eased the pennant-race tension. Hunter and Miguel Cabrera hit back-to-back home runs in the ninth inning to help the Tigers tighten their grip on the American League Central by winning their fourth straight game, 8-6 over the Minnesota Twins on Monday night. "Miggy didnt want me to have fun and celebrate too much. Before I could even get my elbow guard and my toe guard off, he hit one," Hunter said. "But all in all, it was a battle. Great win. Great game." The Tigers began the second-to-last week of the regular season with a lead of 1 1-2 games over the Royals, who rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat Chicago 4-3. The Tigers have 12 games remaining, and the Royals have 13 left. They play this weekend in Kansas City. The Tigers, who will face the last-place Twins six more times, lost a 6-0 lead they built by the fifth. But after Joe Mauers second two-run single tied the game for the Twins in the eighth inning, Hunter hit the first pitch of the ninth from Casey Fien (5-6) into the bullpen behind left-centre field. Cabrera then crushed one to the same spot two pitches later. "They know Im going to come in and attack," Fien said, "and it backfired on me." Max Scherzers 17th victory vanished when the bullpen stumbled, but just a few minutes later he was shouting in celebration in the clubhouse. "When T blasts one out there to left to give us the lead back, that gives us all the momentum. Were going to win this game," Scherzer said. "And obviously Miggy, well, thats Miggy." Kyle Ryan (2-0) earned the victory by getting pinch-hitter Eduardo Nunez to ground into a double play to end the eighth, and Joakim Soria converted his first save opportunity since being acquired by the Tigers despite allowing a leadoff double. Regular closer Joe Nathan had the night off to rest. "Id rather get a lead and hold it, but that wasnt in the cards tonight,," Ausmus said.dddddddddddd "We saw that Kansas City was working its way back. We certainly wouldve loved it if Chicago could hold on, but weve got to keep our house in order." The Tigers had 16 hits, with three each by Cabrera, Andrew Romine and J.D. Martinez. Romines two-run single in the fourth, and Martinezs RBI single in the first were two of 11 hits against Twins starter Anthony Swarzak, who didnt finish the fifth inning. Scherzer breezed through 13 batters, surrendering just one single, but Oswaldo Arcia hit a towering home run in the fifth inning to get the Twins going. Mauer smacked a two-run single up the middle that zoomed past Scherzer in the sixth. Trevor Plouffe added a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 6-4. Last years AL Cy Young Award winner stopped the rally there, retiring Arcia on a called third strike. Scherzer struck out five in seven innings. Joba Chamberlain then walked two batters to start the eighth, and Danny Santana and Brian Dozier executed a double steal against Phil Coke. Mauer, after fouling off three full-count pitches, sliced a single into left field to drive in both runners and reach 50 RBIs for the season. The announced crowd of 19,700 was the smallest to see the Twins since Target Field opened in 2010. TRAINERS ROOM The Tigers held catcher Alex Avila out as a precaution after pulling him from the game on Sunday afternoon because he felt light-headed. Avila has a concussion history, but manager Brad Ausmus said Avila felt fine by night and again in the morning. He could play on Tuesday. Twins right-hander Tommy Milone had an MRI test on his stiff neck that revealed inflammation but no structural damage. General manager Terry Ryan said there is still a possibility Milone will pitch again this season. UP NEXT Rick Porcello (15-11, 3.23 ERA) pitches Tuesday for the Tigers, looking to snap a three-start losing streak. The Tigers have scored a total of four runs over those three previous turns. For the Twins, Ricky Nolasco (5-11, 5.64 ERA) will take the mound. He is winless in his last seven starts. 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