Author: David Shama

David Shama is a former sports editor and columnist with local publications. His writing and reporting experiences include covering the Minnesota Vikings, Minnesota Twins, Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Gophers. Shama’s career experiences also include sports marketing. He is the former Marketing Director of the Minnesota North Stars of the NHL. He is also the former Marketing Director of the United States Tennis Association’s Northern Section. A native of Minneapolis, Shama has been part of the community his entire life. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota where he majored in journalism. He also has a Master’s degree in education from the University of St. Thomas. He was a member of the Governor’s NBA’s Task Force to help create interest in bringing pro basketball to town in the 1980s.

NIL Puts Hit on U Football Recruiting

Posted on July 24, 2022 by David Shama

The Name, Image & Likeness (NIL) phenomenon is allowing athletes to monetize their success on the field or the court with endorsements, personal appearances and other marketing. The policy was put in place by the NCAA about 12 months ago and its impact has been profound, particularly in football where outside entities, supposedly separate from athletic departments, are facilitating payouts to benefit athletes.

Companies are paying NIL money in large and small amounts to athletes. Compensation can range from receiving free products to endorse brands, to the reported $1 million-plus NIL deals Alabama quarterback Bryce Young receives.

Often monetization goes through NIL collectives that pool money from businesses and boosters, help facilitate deals and directly coordinate payouts to athletes for things like charity appearances. Many other places around the country have been out front on collectives but now Rob Gag and Derek Burns are starting up Dinkytown Athletes to assist University of Minnesota athletes. The announcement about Dinkytown Athletes came this month and puts Minnesota on the national collectives map.

Coaches aren’t allowed by NCAA rules to set up collectives or administer them. Nor are coaches supposed to offer the promise of money to an athlete in the recruiting process.

It’s difficult, though, to believe there isn’t a cozy relationship between many coaches and booster-run collectives. What coach would want NIL money to be offered by a collective to a prospect he doesn’t want in the program?

While it’s against NCAA rules to use potential NIL money as a recruiting inducement, it’s easy to be skeptical about what might be happening. For example, a video clip that surfaced in late June showed a person dressed in Texas A&M clothing pointing to the luxury suites inside Texas A&M’s stadium and allegedly telling recruits they would get “a lot of money” from suite occupants if they decided to play for the Aggies.

What does recruiting authority Ryan Burns from GopherIllustrated think about NIL and the college football world? “Everybody wishes they had NIL. I can assure you of that. …”

Burns tracks Gophers football recruiting all year. Minnesota’s 2023 football recruiting class has 18 verbal commits so far, per 247Sports. How should Gopher fans feel about the class that 247 ranks No. 31 in the country? “I think they should be content. I don’t think they should be happy and I don’t think they should be sad,” said Burns who isn’t related to Derek Burns.

Does Burns believe Gopher coaches are being impacted in recruiting by the NIL presence at some schools? “Constantly. …If all things are equal (for a recruit), but another school can offer you NIL in terms of $10,000, $25,000, maybe more, than the decision doesn’t even become a decision.”

The Gophers lost out on several players they were hoping to land for the class of 2023, Burns said. “I know there were (recruiting) fights Minnesota didn’t take because they knew that NIL was involved with the kid, and you can’t bring a knife to a gun fight.

“There were some other guys (recruits) they took the fight and it ended up being that those other schools found some NIL money.”

While using illegal NIL inducements in recruiting is all but certain some places, it’s not going to happen at Minnesota. “They have the strictest compliance (with NCAA rules) in all of college sports,” Burns said. “There is nobody looking the other way here at the University of Minnesota. You can say that’s good, you can say that’s bad. You can say that’s what it is. The head coach can’t facilitate deals. That’s not the way it’s going to work with this compliance department. …”

Where Burns can see NIL money being particularly helpful at Minnesota is after athletes are nearing the end of their playing careers. The athlete who is struggling with a decision whether to play another season of football, basketball or volleyball versus going into the job market could use NIL money to be more financially comfortable for a while. In football a player who might project as a late round NFL draft choice could stay another season because of NIL money, help the team and work to improve his draft position.

A new Big Ten media rights deal is expected to deliver up to $100 million to each school in the conference. That figure could roughly double Minnesota’s budget for athletics.

The way Burns sees it the athletic department won’t need donation money as in the past. “They’re going to have another $40, $50 million. They’ll be just fine, but how about you throw that donation into the NIL collective, and that’s going to go directly to the student athletes. And that’s going to probably help your favorite team win a couple more games.”

While it’s different than NIL, Gopher athletes can soon benefit from a new NCAA policy allowing schools to provide financial support to student-athletes for academic success. The Gophers plan to institute the policy in the fall and it goes beyond the scholarship benefits student-athletes have long received. Schools are allowed to pay up to $5,980 per year to an athlete. A ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court a year ago has opened the door for schools to pay athletes.

Burns said coach P.J. Fleck and his staff would “love” to add another offensive and defensive lineman to the 2023 class. An additional receiver could be welcome, too. National Signing Day is December 21.

The Gophers are also likely to be adding to the class with college transfers. Burns predicted the total of newcomers (mostly high school recruits) could be 25 to 28.

Who excites him in the 2023 class already? Burns offered up two running backs, Darius Taylor and Marquese Williams. Both Taylor and Williams received more than 25 Power Five offers, per Burns. They are near four-star recruits in the 247Sports recruiting rankings of players.

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Key Vikings to Watch in Training Camp

Posted on July 21, 2022July 21, 2022 by David Shama

Asked to name several Vikings that fans should evaluate this summer, Jeff Diamond began his list with tight end Irv Smith Jr. who missed all of last season because of a knee injury. Diamond, the former Vikings general manager who was the 1998 NFL Executive of the Year, talked with Smith during mini-camp and believes the 2019 second round draft choice is healthy.

Diamond sees a “load of talent” in Smith. He predicts a potential “huge year” as a pass catcher not only because of Smith’s skills but the wide receiver duo of Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen commands so much attention.

Center Garrett Bradbury is working to increase his weight and trying to fulfill the potential expected when the Vikings selected him in the first round of the 2019 draft. “He’s just got to be more consistent and a better player,” Diamond told Sports Headliners yesterday. “He’s got the talent to do it if he does put on the weight. He’s really a key guy in that offensive line.”

Diamond said there is intrigue at right guard to see who will start. The candidate pool could include newcomers Jesse Davis, Ed Ingram and Chris Reed.

Not only is there an injury watch with Smith on offense but on defense, too with pass rushing demons Danielle Hunter and Za’Darius Smith, both outside linebackers. “If those guys are healthy, then the pass rush is going to be there,” Diamond said. “If they’re not, it’s really going to be hard for the secondary to be able to hold up.”

Players in the secondary fill out Diamond’s list of intriguing personnel for fans to watch as training camp opens next week and preseason games are played in August. Andrew Booth Jr., the cornerback from Clemson, had his college progress slowed by a series of injuries. The Vikings selected him in the second round of last spring’s draft but Diamond wonders if Booth has first round talent and might start at corner as a rookie replacing Cameron Dantzler.

Diamond also said to watch who emerges as the team’s second safety along with Harrison Smith. Camryn Bynum has a year of NFL experience but there are high expectations for 2022 first round pick Lewis Cine.

Worth Noting

Depending on how the tight ends, including Smith, look the first week or so in training camp the Vikings might have had interest in signing Kyle Rudolph. The former Vikings starter played for the Giants last year but has signed as a free agent with the Bucs as of yesterday.

Rudolph, 32, replaces retired legend Rob Gronkowski and will be catching passes from GOAT Tom Brady. Diamond could see Rudolph in Tampa Bay with the Bucs before it happened. “I wouldn’t be surprised. I think he could potentially be a good fit there.”

Former Vikings wide receiver standout Stefon Diggs now with the Bills and his brother Trevon Diggs, a star cornerback with the Cowobys, are on the latest cover of Sports Illustrated. Stefon’s career was controversial with the Vikings where he wanted a bigger role in the offense.

In the article Stefon said he has no problem with his former team. “I just needed a change in scenery,” he said.

The Vikings sent a news release today announcing 99 percent of season tickets have been renewed. Single game tickets go on sale July 28 and can be purchased on the team’s website. https://www.vikings.com/tickets/single-game-tickets

Twins center fielder Byron Buxton, whose home run gave the American League a ninth consecutive win over the National League Tuesday night, is hitting .216 this season. That has to be among the lowest batting averages ever for a starting player in the All-Star Game.

Yahoo.com reports TV viewership at 7.51 million was the lowest ever for baseball’s showcase but still higher than the 2022 NFL Pro Bowl and NBA All-Star Game.

Chet Holmgren, the former Minnehaha Academy prep All-American, has signed a reported four-year deal with the NBA Thunder that could be worth over $44 million. If Holmgren, the 2022 No. 2 overall NBA draft pick, has an all-star career he could eventually approach $1 billion in salary earnings based on how compensation is accelerating for top players.

The Wolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns, who this summer signed a reported $224 million super max contract extension, isn’t the best player on the team, according to The Athletic. The authority’s rankings of top 125 NBA players has newly acquired center Rudy Gobert at No. 16. Towns, Minnesota’s veteran power-forward and center, is ranked at No. 35.

Gobert, acquired in a block buster trade this summer with the Jazz, has a reported $205 million deal he signed with his former team. Gobert is a three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year and averaged a career-best 15.6 points last season.

Local fans have been waiting since 2019 for news Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson would one day headline the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities. They won’t be here for the 2022 tournament this week and likely not in the future either. Both legends are aging, with Woods having a difficult recovery from his severe auto accident and Mickelson now aligned with golf upstart LIV.

The 3M and other PGA Tour stops are impacted now because of LIV signing up players. The 3M doesn’t have a top 10 ranked player in the tournament. Ticket buyers may be as intrigued to see players with regional ties like Troy Merritt and Mardy Fish than they are to watch No. 14 Hideki Matsuyama and No. 17. Tony Finau.

One of golf’s best role models comes to town August 13-14 for the second annual Land O’Lakes Legends Classic presented by The Meadows at Mystic Lake. Defending champion Juli Inkster is a 31-time LPGA Tour champion with seven major championship titles.

Inkster, 62, is a past winner of the Patty Berg Award, named after the Minneapolis golf legend and given to players who exemplify the best in sportsmanship, goodwill and contributions to golf among women players. Inkster is a three time world champion and hall of famer who participated in nine Solheim Cups. She was honored by ESPN with the ESPY Award for Outstanding Women’s Golf Performer of the Year in 2002.

The Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon celebrates its 40th anniversary Sunday, October 2. Youth 18 and under can register at no cost. Organizers bill the marathon as the “largest sporting event in the Upper Midwest” with 300,000-plus spectators and several thousand runners.

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Oliva Not Sweating Big Speech July 24

Posted on July 12, 2022 by David Shama

What a July this will be for Tony Oliva. His 84th birthday will be July 20 and the experience of a lifetime comes four days later when the former Twins batting champion is inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

“I think it’s exciting because only a few people are able to get into the Hall of Fame,” Oliva told Sports Headliners during a telephone interview.

A week from Sunday, July 24, Oliva will join other baseball legends as part of a seven-member induction class that also includes former Twins pitcher Jim Kaat, now 83 years old. Both Oliva and Kaat were elected by the Golden Era Committee after decades of waiting for the Hall of Fame call. The two first met in the Instructional League in 1961.

Oliva, who was an American League All-Star for eight consecutive seasons from 1964-1971, said several days ago he was still working on his acceptance speech that can be about 10 minutes long. Despite its importance, the easy-going Minnesotan isn’t over thinking the speech. “I think it’s going to be a piece of cake because I’ve been waiting 45 years,” he said lightly while referencing the Hall of Fame honor.

Oliva knows speeches can change on the fly when it’s finally time to deliver them. “People say when you get there the speech is a whole (lot) different.”

But he was clear during the interview that a focus of the speech will be other people, including fans. “I don’t want to speak about myself, about what I think of me.”

On that soon to arrive Sunday in upstate New York Oliva will express his gratitude for what has been a remarkable journey from his native Cuba to the United States where he saw his first professional baseball game in 1961 as a minor leaguer and faced not only challenges on the field but also learning a new language and acclimating to a different culture. “I think if I have an opportunity to say thank you, it’s going to be good enough, and the people understand the rest,” Oliva said.

His story is well-known to many Twins fans, particularly to older generations. He worked on the family farm in his native Cuba helping grow tobacco. In 1961 he made a splash as a first year prospect, hitting .410 with Wytheville, Virginia in the low minor leagues. Three years later he had a gold standard rookie season with the Twins as the club’s starting right fielder.

Oliva was honored as the 1964 American League Rookie of the Year after his .323 average won the league batting championship. He was tops in the majors in hits and total bases, and led the AL in runs scored and doubles. His hits total of 217 is the fourth highest in MLB history among rookies. He followed up in 1965 by again winning the AL batting title, the first player in MLB history to win the crown his first two seasons in the majors.

A three-time batting champion with a .304 lifetime average, Oliva played 15 MLB seasons and all of them were with the Twins. At about 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds, the left-handed hitting terror was among the most difficult batters in baseball for pitchers to face. He not only could hit to all fields and knock the ball over the fence (career high 32 home runs as a rookie), but he also frustrated pitchers by putting balls thrown out of the strike zone into play with his trademark line drives.

Oliva’s career after baseball has all been with the Twins including as a coach, hitting instructor, color analyst on Spanish radio broadcasts and as an ambassador for his beloved franchise. A Bloomington resident, Oliva and his wife Gordette have made Minnesota home for more than five decades. With a ready smile and welcoming disposition, Tony-O seemingly has made enough friends among Minnesotans to fill Target Field.

The affection goes both ways. “Since I came in here to Minnesota the people have been very nice to me and I love Minnesota,” Oliva said. “My family is here. My wife is from South Dakota. She grew up almost here because she came out to Minnesota when she was 18. …”

At Oliva’s induction he will be joined by perhaps 50 family members but not many from Cuba where he still has siblings. A brother, Juan Carlos, is in Miami by way of Cuba and will journey to Cooperstown. But for most of Oliva’s aging siblings who still live on the Caribbean island, upstate New York is a difficult place to reach.

Expected to be in attendance will be a Twins delegation likely to include close friend and former teammate Rod Carew. In Carew’s autobiography One Tough Out he expressed what so many people feel about Oliva when he wrote:

“Tony has never met a stranger. The warmth he exudes could light a cigar from the lush tobacco fields he grew up surrounded by in Cuba. He taught me things like how to knot a tie and where to eat on the road. Any question I had, about baseball or life, he answered. Sometimes he provided advice before I even realized I needed it.”

A badly injured knee cut short Oliva’s legacy career, reducing him to a player who struggled to run and sometimes a role as a designated or pinch hitter. He had surgery on his right knee eight times in the last five years of his career.

Not only did injury rob him of his skills too soon, but he also played before the big money era of modern day baseball. He made $7,000 his rookie season and never earned more than $100,000.

Asked if he wishes he had played at a time like today when modern orthopedics might have sustained his success and career, you get a typical Oliva response—an acceptance of what was. “This was my time. I think my time was perfect.”

Oliva has a simple approach to life. He takes much of life as it comes, staying in the present, and doesn’t seem anxious about the future. Asked if he was concerned about losing control of his emotions during the speech he answered, “You know something like that I don’t worry about because I don’t know what is going to happen.”

This won’t qualify as breaking news but Oliva said that since last December when word broke about his induction he hasn’t changed, although fans may look at him differently. “Now they call me Hall of Fame. Before they used to call me T.O. or No. 6. I think for me, I still the same.”

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