|
Posted November 30, 2006
|
|
|
University
Learning the Hard Way
There’s an old maxim in
business that says the people you don’t fire come back to haunt you.
There was support within the University of Minnesota late last winter,
according to my sources, to fire basketball coach
Dan Monson. After the Gophers’ season ending NIT loss to
Cincinnati, media reports said Monson would be terminated but the
University didn’t take action.
Today, following years of criticism among
fans and media, Monson ended his eight season career as Gopher coach.
The fact Monson is no longer coaching the Gophers is not surprising,
only the timing of the development. It seems unprecedented for a Big Ten
football or basketball coach to resign only a few weeks into the
nonconference season.
The Gophers have lost five of seven games,
including five in a row (two straight at Williams Arena). Monson’s team
looks like a candidate to finish last in the Big Ten Conference. Last
season the Gophers finished 10th among 11 teams. In his
career at Minnesota, Monson’s Big Ten record was 44-68 and his
conference finishes have been 10th three times, ninth once,
sixth twice and fourth once.
The shrewdest and most
passionate followers of the program wanted Monson ousted after the
2003-2004 season (3-13 in the conference).
Since then failure on the court and in attendance has followed. Empty
seats have been everywhere at games this season, and last season average
attendance was about 3,000 less than capacity.
Monson most certainly should have been let go
last winter. Instead, many fans have walked out on the program while
others have apathetically remained to agonizingly watch poor basketball
in an atmosphere that has changed from one of the most electric in
college sports to a place of sadness and solitude. Patrick Reusse
said recently on KSTP Radio the change is enough to make you “puke.”
At last night’s game at
Williams Arena, a 90-68 loss to Clemson, a fan seated near me
couldn’t decide whether to cheer for the Gophers or the Tigers,
speculating that a Clemson win would contribute to Monson’s departure.
Before the game Monson’s wife Darci was one of the few adults in
the arena’s lower level who stood to applaud the Gophers as they were
introduced.
Frustration, ridicule and apathy have been
choking this once proud program that for three decades produced
all-American players, conference champions, NCAA tournament teams and a
home court environment that was the envy of schools near and far. Monson
inherited a winning program with great tradition and turned it into
something that looks more like Northwestern than Minnesota. (The
Gophers have lost five straight games to the Wildcats, historically the
conference's worst basketball program).
Jim Dutcher,
who coached the Gophers for 11 seasons and won the conference
championship in 1982, said Monson didn’t recruit effectively enough to
win. “You win with athletes,” Dutcher said. “The recruiting didn’t turn
out to be consistent and so he had to rely on some kids who went other
places and came back (home), and some junior college players. And with a
mix of junior college players and transfers it’s hard to build a program
that way. Generally when programs break down a little bit, you are not
getting that talent that you need.”
|
In his career
at Minnesota, Monson’s Big Ten record was 44-68 and his conference
finishes have been 10th three times, ninth once, sixth twice
and fourth once.
Dan Monson
The
Gophers have lost five straight games to the Wildcats, historically the
conference's worst basketball program.
|
|
Williams
Earning All-Pro Season
When the line forms to receive NFL
post-season recognition, look for Viking defensive tackle
Kevin Williams to be near the front. Williams’
name is included in talk about the league’s best interior defensive
linemen and the Vikings’ gaudy record against the run only enhances his
reputation.
Arizona Cardinals tackle Reggie Wells
was part of an offense that almost acted like it didn’t know it’s legal
to run the football during the Cardinals’ 31-26 loss to the Vikings on
Sunday. The Cardinals ran the ball six times for 33 yards. The week
before Miami rushed for seven yards against the Vikings. Wells said the
size and strength of the Vikings defensive linemen and the ability of
the linebackers to run make the defense formidable. (The Vikings rank
No. 1 in the NFL against the run, No. 10 overall).
What about Williams? “He’s a great overall
player,” Wells said. “He plays the run well. He plays the pass well.
He’s quick, he’s strong. He comes to play every week.”
Williams, 26, is in his
fourth season with the Vikings after being selected as the ninth player
in the 2003 draft. He was a consensus all-rookie player in 2003 and was
chosen first team all-pro by the Associated Press in 2004, plus he was a
2004 Pro Bowl selection.
Wells made it clear that Williams is
deserving of being mentioned with the NFL’s elite tackles. “When you
talk about overall game and what he can do, I don’t know how you
couldn’t put him up there,” Wells said.
Williams came into this season with 26 career
sacks, a total second only to Alan Page’s 28.5 sacks among
Vikings in their first three seasons. His sack total of five this
season ranks him second among defensive tackles in the NFC. Since 2003
he has the most sacks of any defensive tackle in the league.
Williams can be targeted for double teaming
but that creates opportunities for teammates. “They pick their poison
and whoever they double team, other guys get to run free,” Williams
said.
Last season Williams
missed two full games because of a right knee injury. He was mindful of
his conditioning and weight during the last off season. The 6- foot-5,
311-pound former Oklahoma State star reported in “great shape” for the
season, sacrificing his fondness for fried food as part of a strategy
not to burden his knee with too much weight. “I am from the south and l
like a lot of fried stuff but I had to shy away from that (to) go more
toward bacon, fish, (and) things like that,” he said.
Playing football is a miserable activity if
you don’t like the game but that’s not a problem for Williams. “It’s
something I take to heart and try to be the best at,” he said. “I want
to continue to get better every year and that’s just what I am striving
to do right now.”
What about a return to all-pro status?
“Definitely, that’s always a great thing to have,” he said.
|
Kevin Williams
“They pick
their poison and whoever they double team, other guys get to run free.”
Kevin Williams
“I am from the
south and l like a lot of fried stuff but I had to shy away from that
(to) go more toward bacon, fish, (and) things like that."
Kevin Williams
|
|
Green Ties
Began as Purple
Larry Fitzgerald
was asked earlier this week if he might lobby ownership on behalf of
much criticized coach Dennis Green (2-9 this season, 13-30 in
three seasons coaching the Arizona Cardinals). “I don’t know what the
appropriate thing to do is,” Fitzgerald said. “I think the best way to
defend his name is to go out and play hard for him every Sunday.”
It’s a typical reaction
for players to be loyal to their coaches but Fitzgerald, the 23- year-
old wide receiver from Minneapolis, has ties to Green that are unusual.
Fitzgerald was a ball boy when Green coached the Vikings. He is
appreciative too of the opportunity Green provided in Arizona where
Fitzgerald developed into a Pro Bowl player after last season, his
second in the NFL.
Green and Fitzgerald’s father, Larry Sr.,
are friends. Larry Sr. said he and Green talk weekly. He considers
Green one of his closest friends and wouldn’t speculate on the coach’s
future with the Cardinals after Arizona lost to the Vikings on Sunday.
With replacement names being discussed across
the country, few observers would say it’s highly likely Green will
return as coach. Regardless of who coaches the team in the future,
though, there is reason for optimism because of skill position players
such as Fitzgerald and quarterback Matt Leinart.
Fitzgerald missed three
games this season with a hamstring injury. Rookie Leinart was a
contract holdout during preseason. Because
of their newness to one another, Fitzgerald said he and his quarterback
are still working on their “chemistry.”
He also indicated they will be together for a
long time and will soon develop the connection gifted quarterbacks and
wide receivers have for one another. Fitzgerald and Leinart are both
hold-your-breath performers who can make the outcome of a football game
a last minute scene.
That was what happened Sunday when the
Cardinals were driving for a last minute potential winning touchdown
against the Vikings. Fitzgerald caught 11 passes for 172 yards in the
game and was a threat on the last drive to give the Cardinals a
victory.
“There wasn’t anybody on that other sideline
taking a sigh of relief as long as Larry was in the game and had the
opportunity to make a play,” said Steve Loney, Cardinals
offensive line coach. |
Dennis Green
“There wasn’t
anybody on that other sideline taking a sigh of relief as long as Larry
was in the game and had the opportunity to make a play.”
Steve Loney on Larry
Fitzgerald
|
|
Extra Innings
Francisco Liriano,
who will miss next season because of elbow surgery, is expected to
receive a modest salary increase for 2007 to $350,000 or more, according
to a major league baseball source. Liriano reportedly earned $327,000
in his rookie season of 2006. His salary is not eligible for
arbitration until after the 2008 season.
After finishing with three wins in the Big
Ten Conference this fall, Glen Mason’s 10 year career conference
record is 32-48. The Gophers’ 2006 12-game schedule was considered one
of the most difficult in the country. Opponents had a combined record
of 92-63.
The leading active NFL
coaches with the best winning percentages since 2000 in the month of
November are Philadelphia’s Andy Reid and Indy’s Tony Dungy,
the former Gopher quarterback and Viking defensive coordinator. Dungy’s
percentage is .758 (22-7); Reid .724 (21-8).
Will much criticized wide receiver Troy
Williams be given one more off-season to improve his pass catching
before the Vikings decide whether to keep their No. 1 draft choice from
2005?
More athletes could emulate Timberwolves
center Mark Madsen who makes a noticeable
effort to briefly stop and greet fans between the court and locker room
on game nights at Target Center.
Former Gopher football coach Murray
Warmath will have his 94th birthday on December 26. He coached the
1960 Gophers to the national championship and had a three year record
from 1960-1962 of 22-6-1.
Among the new books from Nodin Press in
Minneapolis is “The Great Dan Patch and the Remarkable Mr. Savage.”
Author Tim Brady will appear at a book signing on Saturday,
December 2 from noon to 2 p.m. at the Minnesota Historical Society. The
book tells the story of Minnesota’s famous pacing horse and resourceful
owner.
|
Photo courtesy of Minnesota Twins
Francisco Liriano
More athletes
could emulate Timberwolves center Mark Madsen who makes a
noticeable effort to briefly stop and greet fans between the court and
locker room on game nights at Target Center. |
|
