Author: David Shama

Sports Headliners has learned the football Gophers and Northern Illinois have a verbal agreement for the Huskies to play in Minneapolis on August 30, 2008.   A signed contract is expected soon.  That will be Minnesota’s opening game and completes the 2008 schedule.  Other non-conference games will be at Bowling Green, and home against Montana State and Florida Atlantic. 

Twins first baseman Justin Morneau, an NHL fan, is picking Buffalo and Detroit to play for the Stanley Cup.   

Wayne Kostroski, co-owner of Minneapolis area restaurants Tejas and Bar Abilene, reports that the 2007 Taste of the NFL raised $550,000 for hunger- related charities.  Kostroski, who volunteers his time as executive director of Taste of the NFL, said the mega annual Super Bowl party is the “only lasting legacy” to the Super Bowl held in Minneapolis in 1992.  The event began here and has now raised $6.6 million for organizations such as food banks.  Called a “party with a purpose,” the 2007 event in south Florida had a record attendance of 3,000 people who enjoyed food from restaurants representing each NFL city. 

Sports enthusiast Tim Murray, co-owner of Murray’s restaurant, will be married on April 21 to Mary Foster, a Minneapolis banker.  The two have known each other since grade school in Golden Valley.  The couple will honeymoon in Mexico’s Cabo San Lucas. 

Kickoffs will be from the 30 yard line this season in Division I college football.   Kickoffs were from the 35 yard line last year but will be pushed back five yards to create more returns. 

Concordia College sophomore pitcher Jill Reinert, from Watertown, Minnesota,  struck out 20 batters in Concordia’s 6-3, 12-inning win over Bethel on Friday. That set a school record for most strikeouts in a single game.  The MIAC named Reinert its Softball Pitcher of the Week.

University of Minnesota president Bob Bruininks is a horseman. Tim Brewster recalls during the interview process that led to his becoming the new Gopher football coach that Bruininks talked about the Tournament of Roses parade in Pasadena.  Bruininks told Brewster he didn’t want to put pressure on him but he wants to ride a horse in the parade that annually precedes the Rose Bowl football game. 

Brewster enjoys telling the story that the university’s president wants to see the football team back in Pasadena for the first time since 1962.  The Gopher coach is all about setting expectations and he’s even acquired a small piece of Rose Bowl turf to symbolize the quest to ride west as Big Ten Conference champions. 

“He doesn’t miss a beat.”  That’s a phrase defining Brewster. I literally hear myself and others saying it with more frequency all the time.  His salesmanship brought out probably the largest spring football game crowd (estimated at 5,000) in two generations last Saturday.  Although it was a chilly morning, hundreds of fans greeted the team outside the stadium two hours before game time and the tradition of the Gopher Walk was born. 

“I don’t know how many were out but there were a lot of people and the kids felt the excitement and they felt the passion,” Brewster told Sports Headliners on Saturday.  “That was great.” 

The night before the spring game 165 former Gopher football players enjoyed a free dinner and program on campus.  Brewster told them when his Gophers play they represent every player “whoever wore the maroon and gold.”  Among those in attendance was Marion Barber III who reportedly flew to Minneapolis from Dallas to show his support. 

A week before that Brewster was hosting hundreds of high school football coaches and telling them he wants every young man who is a Big Ten player to stay home and play for the Gophers.  He’s building relationships with the coaches and is going to keep more prospects home than in the past. 

The Gophers are targeting about nine Minnesota high school juniors to accept scholarship offers in 2008.  Several have given verbal commitments already, none bigger than Champlin Park High School linebacker Sam Maresh. He’s one of the big three state targets along with USA Today all-American wide receiver Michael Floyd and Eden Prairie defensive lineman Willie Mobley. 

It’s easy to project Maresh as a Gopher leader and future captain.  He’s so passionate about Brewster he’s trying to recruit other players.  A source told Sports Headliners Maresh has contacted Brewster’s son, Nolan, encouraging him to become a Gopher.  Nolan, one of the nation’s best prep safeties, has verbally committed to Texas for 2008. 

Brewster is all about establishing a gold standard for excellence and being an inclusive leader. He invites everyone to be part of what he calls the “Gopher Nation.”  He brought in famed Denver Bronco coach Mike Shanahan to talk to the team.  Murray Warmath, the Gophers’ 1960 national championship coach, did the same.   Whether it was the famous or not so famous visiting spring practice, they were welcomed and might even have seen the whole team come over to the sidelines to shake hands. 

The Gopher players have a new start under Brewster.  This was a 6-6 team last season, a gang that played superbly at times but also had awful performances.  There are six starters back on offense, nine on defense. 

Reinvigorated players came to Brewster and said they want to adopt a slogan for the new season:  “We will make history again.” 

The school with six national championships and 18 conference titles has a storied past.  With not even a conference championship since 1967, the emphasis is on past.  But there’s no substitute for expectations, passion and hard work.  Brewster and his staff are all about that. A lot of the energy and time is targeted to recruiting.   The Gophers are going after top players in various parts of the country.  Brewster is not interested in chasing the same kids Arkansas State is after. 

It will take awhile but the momentum is changing and the expectations are going higher at Minnesota.  Bob Bruininks wants to go for a ride.

Justin Morneau had a career defining year in 2006.   In his second full season in the major leagues and with the Twins, he easily established personal bests in average, home runs and RBI’s, .321, 34 and 130.  He was named the American League’s Most Valuable Player by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

The 25-year-old first baseman led the majors in hitting after June 8 with a .362 average.  Prior to last season Morneau had twice hit under .240 in seasons with the Twins and never had more than 22 home runs or 79 RBI’s. 

He told Sports Headliners the success of 2006 taught him to become a more patient hitter and provided more confidence.  He was asked to be more specific.  “Not afraid to get behind in the count, not afraid to hit with two strikes,” Morneau said.  “You feel like you can get a hit. It doesn’t matter what the situation is…it kind of carries over and it stops you from swinging at bad pitches and chasing pitches.”

During the long major league season Morneau, who turns 26 next month, emphasizes a steady emotional approach.  “You learn it’s 162 games, and (if) you get all excited every time you get a hit and if you beat yourself up every time you get an out, you’re going to drive yourself nuts the whole year,” he said. “So you just kind of stay somewhere in the middle.  The only thing that really matters is if the team wins.” 

Winning is the likely result for the 2007 Twins who are trying to repeat as Central Division champions in arguably baseball’s best division.  Morneau said one or two teams from the division may make the playoffs and once in the post season a team can make a run at a World Series championship.  Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland stand between the Twins and another division championship, the team’s fourth in five years. 

“It’s going to be a battle everyday,” Morneau said of the division race.  “You can’t really take a night off.  It could cost you the division.   In the end last year we ended up by winning the division by one game on the last day of the season.  Every day is important.   You can’t afford to give games away.”