Author: David Shama

Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi was beaming and so were other athletic department officials at the McNamara Alumni Center on Wednesday night.  A wall-to-wall crowd in the building’s plaza area turned out to see new football coach Tim Brewster announce the Gophers’ recruiting class for 2007. 

Multiple sources estimated the crowd at over 2,000.  A prominent alum who has attended past recruiting day parties said the attendance was easily a record turnout, exceeding the previous high of 450 last year. 

After Maturi told the gathering the Gophers will make it to “Pasadena” for the Rose Bowl some day, he introduced Brewster who further energized the crowd, a group of various ages, many of whom were wearing Gopher colors.  “Who said there is no Gopher nation?” Brewster said to the crowd. 

Brewster introduced his assistant coaches, including tight ends coach Duane Lewis and defensive line coach Tim Cross.  They had the crowd rocking with a “whose house?” cheer.  The crowd replied, “our house!” 

Brewster detailed his new recruits with comments and video.  A total of 17 high school seniors and five junior college players make up the 2007 group that accepted Gopher scholarships.  Five of the players were added to the recruiting class by Brewster since he became coach about three weeks ago.  The remaining players were commitments gained by former coach Glen Mason and his staff. 

Brewster thought earlier in the week he had a sixth player, quarterback Travaris Cadet from Florida.  However, a source told Sports Headliners the Gophers couldn’t promise the athletic Cadet would play quarterback here so he signed with Toledo. 

Mason and his staff will ultimately be accountable for the quality of this recruiting class.  The group, typical of past Mason classes, isn’t highly regarded in comparison with other Big Ten Conference schools but predicting who will become standout college players is challenging work.  No one, for example, thought former Gophers Greg Eslinger, Mark Setterstrom and Laurence Maroney would become all-Americans. 

Among the more intriguing recruits are safety Curtis Thomas of Adline, Texas, quarterback Clint Brewster of Denver and “athlete” Harold Howell of Jacksonville, Florida.  All three are recruits Brewster rounded up in the brief time he’s been at Minnesota. 

A source said Texas coach Mack Brown regards Thomas to be among the best three prep safeties in the state of Texas.  Rivals.com ranked Brewster as the 17^th best pro style quarterback in the country but as the coach’s son playing a high profile position he will be a marked man by a fickle public and sometimes vicious local news media.  Tim Brewster told the crowd Howell, 5-8, 160-pounds, has 4.25 40-yard dash speed that he used to excel in high school as a defensive back, receiver and kick off/punt returner. 

Brewster and his staff have reputations as extraordinary recruiters and that label will be judged much more accurately next year and the year after.  What’s evident so far by Brewster’s whirlwind appearances in the metro area is that the new coach is determined to stop the exodus of high school players going to other schools (at least four quality recruits went out state). 

On a telecast of the Minnesota-Wisconsin basketball game last month Badger football coach Bret Bielema was talking about recruiting.  He made a statement that was enough to make the fur stand up straight on Goldy Gopher’s neck, referring to Minneapolis as part of Wisconsin’s “in-state” recruiting area. 

Brewster intends to stop that kind of talk.

Tom Wistrcill, University associate athletic director, said over 500 new season tickets have been sold.  Single game tickets go on sale June 4.  Depending on the game, prices will range from $30 to $55 (Wisconsin game). 

When the Boston Celtics play at Target Center on Sunday expect the crowd to provide a friendly greeting to Wally Szczberbiak, but not to Michael Olowokandi.  It was on January 26 last year the two players were traded by the Timberwolves to Boston. 

New Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier:  “My purpose in being here is to help Brad (Childress) and the players win a Super Bowl.”  Frazier’s title with Indianapolis was special assistant to the head coach/defensive backs.  He said his input with head coach Tony Dungy included the Colts’ salary cap and setting the roster. 

KARE 11 sportscaster Randy Shaver said Paul Magers was back in town in late January visiting friends.  Magers, arguably the best news anchor ever in this market, is with KCBS in Los Angeles.   

Jay Pfaender of Mendota Heights is the new volunteer president of the United States Tennis Association Northern Section.  Pfaender, a former tennis player at Mankato State College, will serve a two-year term.  He is a vice president of Drake Bank in St. Paul and has long been active in community organizations. 

Edina’s Steve Subak, who died last month at 94, was one of America’s pioneer handball players and authorities.  “A great player, a great contributor and a great friend to all who knew him, Subak played and promoted the game as well as anyone in the history of the sport,” according to the US Handball Association’s Web site.

The Minnesota Vikings’ drive for a new stadium may resemble the franchise’s offense this past season, lacking momentum and struggling to find the end zone.  The team’s stadium lease at the Metrodome expires after the 2011 season and ownership can then move the team if it chooses.  The bet here is the Vikings will receive financial assistance for a stadium before 2011 but not this year.  The franchise management and ownership have stated for years their revenues are among the lowest in the NFL and they need a new facility to generate additional income. 

Of primary importance is how to fund a new stadium that with a retractable roof could approach a cost of $1 billion.  It’s anticipated the Vikings will help significantly in the funding but other financing will be needed.  As usual with stadium funding, the financing idea will be controversial.  For example, sales tax revenues from the seven county metro area dedicated to the stadium will receive plenty of opposition including from Anoka County, the intended site for a stadium until the Vikings decided they preferred downtown Minneapolis. 

Not only will it require time to work through a financing plan, but the state legislature, other leaders and the public will need to be sold on the downtown site, retractable roof, and building a third new stadium in a market place already committed to about $800 million in stadium costs for the Twins ballpark and Gopher football stadium. 

A new Viking stadium on the Metrodome site makes sense.  Owner Zygi Wilf can potentially work with the city on land development as part of a stadium deal, enhancing the east side of downtown.  A retractable roof stadium will effectively replace the Metrodome, continuing to provide this area with a large venue serving a variety of uses benefiting the community, from NCAA basketball tournaments to concerts, from high school football and soccer playoffs to tractor pulls, from small college and high school baseball to long distance running.  Such events (the Metrodome is used more for other events than it is for the Twins, Gophers and Vikings) not only serve the community, but they cause economic activity in the city with expenditures for food, lodging, shopping and more.  As the hub city in the region, Minneapolis is the best site for the stadium and like other inner cities across America needs economic activity and renewal. 

While some may swallow hard at the thought of three stadiums for perhaps a total cost of $1.7 billion, each stadium fits a purpose.  The Gophers wanted a college size stadium on campus and many in the University neighborhood didn’t like the idea of the huge crowds a combined Vikings-Gophers facility would bring to the University’s East Bank.  The Twins?  While they must play a few more years in a covered football style facility in the Metrodome, no major league baseball team plays in that kind of stadium anymore.  The Twins’ need for a new stadium has always been the most pressing. 

The Twins and Gophers stadium success was slow to develop in the legislature.  The Vikings have been pitching for a long time, too, but legislators don’t give their support to stadium bills easily and it may take awhile longer, perhaps 2008 or 2009, to see the stadium drive reach the end zone.