Author: David Shama

Miami had an eye-opening pick in the sixth round, selecting 350-pound fullback Reagan Mauia of Hawaii. 

The possibility of sending steam from the nearby Hennepin County Garbage Incinerator to the new Twins stadium to provide heat for the seats is being studied, according to team president Dave St. Peter.   

Curlin and Street Sense are distinct favorites to win tomorrow’s Kentucky Derby.  The event is a people watching extravaganza with lots of celebrities.  Will former Kentucky coach and now Gopher boss Tubby Smith be in attendance? Fans locally can watch the derby and live racing during opening day tomorrow at Canterbury Park.

Gopher football coach Tim Brewster will have three camps in June at the University of Minnesota:  individual skills camp, June 10-12; youth camp, June 13-15; kicking camp, June 18-19.  More information at www.brewsterball.com 

Although contracts aren’t signed, it’s expected that the WCCO Radio team of Dave Lee, Dave Mona and Darrell Thompson will be back to cover Gopher football games starting in September. 

Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly, an extraordinary writer, has an inspiring column on former Gopher Tony Dungy in the April 30 issue of the magazine.  Reilly describes how Dungy befriended an Iowa truck driver who lost his 19-year-old son in a motorcycle accident. 

College Sporting News, Inc. has named Kirby Carr of Bethel University and Hailey Harren of Gustavus Adolphus College as its male and female honorees for this year’s CSN Senior Student-Athlete Award from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.   Carr, a biology major from Fergus Falls, was cited for his excellence in football and baseball.  Harren, a political Science/Financial Economics major from Cold Spring, is a two-time MIAC cross country champion and a two-time NCAA regional champ.

Tim Brewster told Sports Headliners on Monday he has signed a five year contract to coach at the University of Minnesota.  Brewster said in March the contract was being finalized and he signed it late last week.  It’s believed the contract is for about $1 million per year and has no escape clause allowing him to leave for another school. 

“I am thrilled with the contract and believe it’s a good deal for both sides,” Brewster said by phone on Monday.  Since the end of spring practice on April 7, he’s been traveling and recruiting in various parts of Minnesota, and other areas of the country.  His recruiting stops have included Texas, Virginia and New Jersey where he called from Monday.   

This morning Brewster was scheduled to fly to Phoenix where his agenda will include celebrating wife Cathy’s 47^th birthday.  He describes her as “the older woman in his life.”  He doesn’t turn 47 until October 13.   

Later in the month Brewster will be recruiting in south Florida and Houston.  While it’s unusual for a head coach to be so involved with recruiting, few coaches have the energy and salesmanship of Minnesota’s new coach. He literally runs in the mornings to renew his energy and build stamina for his hectic schedule. 

His highly recruited son, safety Nolan Brewster, will play his senior season of high school football in Denver.  Brewster and his wife are in the process of selling their home and they hope to buy or build here in the next several months. 

Brewster was an assistant coach with Denver and San Diego before coming to Minnesota.  Prior to his NFL jobs, he coached college football for many years including at Texas.  With perspective on both pro and college football, Brewster was asked what the most common mistakes are that pro teams make in drafting players. 

He said the “biggest mistake” is being focused on a player’s physical prowess and statistics, and not looking at what the player gets done on the field.  Teams can fail to “translate” a player’s love for the game and productivity, he added.  

Brewster also said you “can’t ever underestimate character.”  Teams have taken chances on bad character players and in the “long run these guys really hurt” (their teams), he said.

At the awards banquet Sunday night Mark Madsen encouraged the Mr. and Miss Basketball finalists to think about how they want to be remembered on and off the court.  The Timberwolves center gave an inspiring talk to the 10 players and the audience as the banquet’s featured speaker at the Minneapolis Marriott West. 

Madsen, who has played six seasons in the NBA for the Lakers and Wolves, shared his observations about players he’s known, offering on and off-court impressions.  He admires Kevin Garnett’s caring for people including the $2 million check he wrote to help with the Hurricane Katrina disaster.  Garnett’s weight lifting commitment, including on game days, is impressive, too.  “I don’t know if you’ll find a man who works harder,” Madsen said. 

Madsen said legendary center Shaquille O’Neal, once a teammate with the Lakers, is an extraordinary family man, and he made a surprising comment about controversial Latrell Sprewell.  The latter has been known as an NBA bad boy but Madsen praised Sprewell for the respect he showed teammates and ability to bring them closer together when he played for the Wolves. 

Madsen talked about fate and keeping your word when he read a story about hall of fame coach John Wooden.   Almost 60 years ago both Minnesota and UCLA were in pursuit of Wooden.  A Midwesterner, Wooden favored coming to Minnesota, according to the book “Wooden: A lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court.” He was hoping to be officially offered the Minnesota job at 6 p.m. on a Saturday night but a blizzard knocked out the phone lines in Minneapolis.  When the 6 p.m. call didn’t come, Wooden thought Minnesota wasn’t going to hire him and he took a 7 p.m. call from UCLA and accepted the job as Bruins coach where he eventually won 10 national championships.  Minnesota called later that evening but it was too late; Wooden honored his commitment to UCLA. 

Blake Hoffarber of Hopkins, who will play for the Gophers, won the Mr. Basketball award and Angel Robinson of St. Paul Central, headed to Marquette, won the Miss Basketball.  Both were emotional as they expressed their appreciation to the crowd.  The boys’ finalists included Cole Aldrich of Bloomington Jefferson, Noah Dahlman of Braham, Trevor Mbakwe of St. Bernard’s and Alex Rubin of Armstromg. The girls’ finalists included Kachine Alexander of Benilde-St. Margaret’s, Alyssa Karel of Cretin-Derham Hall, Macie Michelson of Marshall and Janessa Wolff of Park Rapids. 

Noah’s brother Isaiah, now at Michigan State, won the Mr. Basketball award last year.  Jenna Smith of Bloomington Kennedy, now at Illinois, was the Miss Basketball.   

The Mr. Basketball award dates back to 1975, the Miss Basketball to 1979.   The finalists for the 2003 Mr. Basketball award included Kris Humphries and Dan Coleman of Hopkins, Lawrence McKenzie of Patrick Henry and Kammron Taylor of North.  Humphries is now with the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, while Coleman and McKenzie play for the Gophers, and Taylor finished his career at Wisconsin in March.