Author: David Shama

Gopher men’s basketball season ticket sales to the general public, faculty and students will show a small increase for the coming season.  A marketing and ticket spokesman reported earlier this week that the public/faculty sale is near 10,000 (about 9,000 last season) and a student sale of 2,000 (up from 1,400) is expected.

Particularly sales to the public may increase between now and early November when Tubby Smith’s team plays its exhibition games against Minnesota State and Southwest Minnesota State. A total season ticket count of 12,000 or more creates the potential through single game sales for selling out some or all of the Big Ten Conference games that begin January.  It’s possible all nine home conference games will be sold out in Williams Arena (capacity 14,625) before January 1.

Smith’s arrival last March as the new Gopher coach is responsible for the mild upturn in interest.  Years ago Gopher basketball, fueled by talented players and an electric atmosphere in Williams Arena, was considered by many sports fans to be the “best show in town.”  However, passion has been declining for 10 years, damaged by the Clem Haskins scandal and devastated by the failed Dan Monson coaching era.

A rightfully skeptical public has an eye toward Smith but isn’t necessarily ready to buy tickets in Williams Arena (please, don’t call it the “Barn”).  Last Friday an event branded “Tubby’s Tipoff” was a free invitation to have an early look at Smith and the Gophers.  While there were reports of 5,000 people attending, a Williams Arena regular for years reported about 2,500 to Sports Headliners.

Smith, a genuinely nice man, was shaking hands with people and even did a celebratory dance, according to my source. He didn’t predict a championship but said the coming season will offer fun.

If Smith needed any reminders after spending several months in Minnesota that he no longer was coaching at basketball-crazy Kentucky, he certainly could see as much last Friday night.  On the same evening in Lexington a near capacity crowd of more than 23,000 attended a Wildcat practice and promotion similar to Tubby’s, according to  reports. The folks in Kentucky, who expect nothing less than national championships, are excited about new coach Billy Gillispie.

Smith’s impressive resume includes being named national Coach of the Year three times.  His only national championship, though, was in 1998 and in three of the last four years Kentucky was eliminated in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Answers as to how Smith, 56, will do here are coming soon.  By next spring we’ll have a report card on how effectively he coached pretty much the same bunch of Gophers who lost their last nine games last season, finished 9-22 overall, 3-13 in the Big Ten Conference (10^th place).  A lot more will be known, too, about how effective Smith and his staff recruit, with the class of 2008-2009 expected to include high school and junior college players.

This may never be Kentucky (seven NCAA titles) but a lot of down trodden Gopher basketball fans just hope it can be like the 1970s and 1980s when Minnesota was winning conference basketball championships and entertaining with some of the better players in the country.

Vikings offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell dismissed any concerns yesterday about Adrian Peterson’s famous collarbone.  The Vikings’ rookie running back, who leads the NFL in rushing after five games, broke his collarbone at Oklahoma last season, missed several games and then re-injured it in the Fiesta Bowl.

Bevell was asked if Peterson or the Vikings have followed a special preventive plan for Peterson who also had shoulder and ankle injuries in college.  “I don’t think we’ve approached it in any different way,” Bevell said.  “I think his conditioning is outstanding.  He runs a 73-yard run and he goes sitting on the bench and he’s not even breathing heavy. …You ask him after the game, how do you feel?  He says, ‘I feel great.’ He’s still got that young body. He’s playing hard. I don’t think he has any worries about the collarbone.  I don’t think we do. … He’s running angry and running behind his pads.”

Speculation is that Peterson’s upright running style could lead to injuries but Bevell sees plays when the former Sooner is protecting himself and generating extra punch by lowering his shoulder pads. “I think it’s something that we’ve talked to him about and coach (Eric) Bieniemy does a great job with him, preparing him each week,” Bevell said.  “I don’t necessarily believe that it’s been a problem to this point.  He runs so hard but there are times that you can see him run behind his pads, drop his pads down and he just has to continue to do it.  I think it’s something to know when to do it. …  Still, it’s a decision he has to make but I’ve definitely seen him lower his pads and run behind them.”

Peterson was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his game last Sunday against Chicago.  He broke a Viking rushing record with his 224 yards. That is the fifth best single game rushing performance by a rookie in NFL history.

Peterson said he’s become more patient running than earlier in the season and offered that as an example of how he’s improved.  He was also asked about six other NFL teams passing him by in the college draft before the Vikings selected him as the No. 7 pick.   “I really don’t think about that, but they probably do,” he said.

Lou Nanne told Sports Headliners that the Minnesota North Stars book which debuted in early October is already in its second printing.  A second press run of 10,000 is needed to fill orders (6,000) for Minnesota North Stars: History And Memories With Lou Nanne.  Nanne said the coffee table size book has information that “people don’t know” and its pages are filled with “600 great pictures.”

Executive director Bill Lester said the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission’s “Listening Tour” in 10 cities around the state will focus on two meetings in each community, one with local leaders and the other with the general public.  The purpose of the tour, which begins next month and ends in January, is to gather and share information regarding a proposed new football stadium for the Vikings on the Metrodome site.  Key message points from the commission’s perspective, Lester said, are that the 35W bridge disaster is a recognized priority to stadium building, but that the team’s lease at the dome expires in 2011 and a long term solution is needed to ensure the franchise’s future.  In addition, he said, a new football stadium with a retractable roof allows the region to benefit from the variety of events and economic impact that has made the Metrodome so successful.

Royce White, the highly recruited DeLaSalle junior basketball player, likes coach Tubby Smith and is interested in the Gophers, according to a source familiar with Islanders’ athletics.  White, 6-7, might play small forward in college basketball. He’s ranked as the 32^nd best prep player in the 2009 national class by rivals.com.

Gopher sophomore Eric Decker is the leading receiver in the Big Ten Conference through seven games with 49 receptions and 604 yards.  “He’s an extremely prideful young man,” Gopher coach Tim Brewster said recently. “He’s very precise in how he runs routes. He’s physical as a blocker. He just does all the little things well and he’s the leading receiver in the Big Ten.  Erik Decker is a heck of a football player and he fits in this system very well because we can motion him, we move him, he can line up inside, outside. …He’s a very valuable young guy.”

Tom Swain, whose career accomplishments include a period as Gopher ticket manager, said that except for one year (1945) his family has had Minnesota football season tickets each season since 1923.

The Gopher hockey team, ranked No. 3 in the country in two different polls, plays Colorado College tonight and tomorrow night in road games.  These are the opening WCHA games for both teams and the only series between the schools this season.  Gophers’ junior goaltender Jeff Frazee established a new career high with 44 saves in Minnesota’s 4-3 win over Michigan on Saturday. He made 35 saves in the final two periods and surpassed his previous career best of 41 saves set last season against Denver. Frazee ranked second in the country in winning percentage last year with a 14-3-1 record and has a 22-6-3 record for his career.

Concordia-St. Paul’s senior quarterback Kole Goodchild was named the D2Football.com National Co-Offensive Player of the Week following his record setting performance in a 46-41 victory over MSU Moorhead last Saturday. He was also one of three national offensive players of the week honored by Don Hansen’s Football Gazette. Goodchild completed 31-46 for 433 yards and five touchdowns (receptions of 11, 12, 18, 50 and 39 yards). He set individual school records in completions, yards and touchdowns while helping the team set new records for first downs (32) and team passing yards (471). Wide receiver Calvin Simon set a school record of four touchdown receptions and career-highs in catches (nine) and yards (198).  Goodchild and Simon received NSIC Offensive Player of the Week honors for their performances.