Author: David Shama

Condolences to WCCO Radio’s Dark Star whose mother, Phylliss Chapple, passed away last week. 

Timberwolves coach Randy Wittman asked about whether taking over the team before training camp instead of in January would have allowed him to make major changes to the the offense and defense: “You can’t have the players playing in a state of confusion while they are out on the floor.  I’ve got to be careful not to add a lot of new stuff because of the time factor.” 

The University honored players and coaches from the Gophers’ 1982 Big Ten championship team on Sunday.  It was a fun reunion for the group including head coach Jim Dutcher.   He overcame NCAA violations that occurred under coach Bill Musselman and made the Gophers a Big Ten Conference contender.  He is also one of the finest gentlemen ever to be part of the local sports scene. 

Starting with last weekend when the Wild played two games on the road and then looking at the schedule through March 17, the team plays only four of 15 games at home.  The long road stretch is caused by the Xcel Energy Center hosting a series of high school tournaments and also the WCHA tournament.  The Wild’s road record is 12-18-2 but 7-3 in the last 10 games.   “I would rather be going on the road now than two months ago because I think our road game is a lot better,” Risebrough said. 

During a 30 day period, a total of 41 hockey games (including the Wild), 33 wrestling matches, six dance team events, four gymnastics competitions and two lacrosse games (Minnesota Swarm) will be played at Xcel or the nearby Roy Wilkins Auditorium. 

The results figure to be different this weekend than last fall when the Gophers play St. Cloud State.  The two teams played consecutive ties against one another back in October.  Tie games are dramatic but so too are the rewards in this weekend’s series.  The Gophers are two points from winning the WCHA title.  The championship would give Minnesota its first consecutive WCHA titles since 1989.  

Tony Dungy is expected to draw a record crowd for the University of Minnesota Alumni Association’s celebration event when he provides the keynote address on Tuesday, May 8 at Mariucci Arena.  UMAA president Denny Schulstad told Sports Headliners he’s expecting 5,000 people to attend the event that’s also being headlined by Stan Freese and members of the University marching band.  Freese is a University school of music graduate and has held various positions with Walt Disney Company including director of bands. 

The energetic Schulstad, a civic leader and for many years a Minneapolis City Council member, is excited to have both Dungy and Freese at the gathering (in the past known as the annual meeting).  “We’re celebrating the new Gopher football stadium so what better way to do it than with football and music, Tony and Stan,” Schulstad said.

Although Dungy will be able to command extraordinary speaking fees as the coach of the Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts, Schulstad said the former Gopher quarterback and assistant coach will speak gratis at the alumni event.   Schulstad hopes and expects some of Dungy’s remarks will express his affection for the University.   

“Tony told me that when he was an assistant coach at the University his dream job was to become the head coach of the Gophers,” Schulstad said. 

Dungy was an assistant coach for one season under former head coach Joe Salem. After coaching at the University in 1980, Dungy went to the NFL where his first job was as an assistant with the Pittsburgh Steelers.  As his career developed, Dungy became attached to the NFL and he made it clear earlier this year he wasn’t interested in the Gopher football vacancy recently filled by Tim Brewster. 

Tickets for the celebration event go on sale Thursday, February 22 and can be purchased by calling 612-624-2345.  The celebration event is open to the public. 

Linden Dungy, who lives in the area, told Sports Headliners recently he hasn’t discussed future plans with Tony but believes his brother will continue coaching for awhile.  “I think so,” Linden said.  “If I had to guess (why) there are a couple of reasons.  He’s under contract to 2009 and he said he’s enjoying coaching.”

Several years ago when Dungy was coaching the Bucs in Tampa he told his brother he planned to coach until he was 50 years old.  Dungy will be 52 this year and is apparently still enjoying coaching but don’t expect him to continue too many more years.

Former KSTP TV news and sports anchor Joe Schmit, now president of Petters Media and Marketing Group, said a second Sid Hartman Sun Country Airlines TV ad began airing this week on CNN and Timberwolves games.  In the commercial (Sun Country is owned by Petters) Hartman says, “Schmit, you think you are a genius.  Bobby Knight is a genius.”  The commercial ends with, “Sun Country Airlines.  You don’t have to be a genius to know a great airline.” 

Schmit wrote and produced both commercials.  He also convinced Hartman, a long time friend, to make the advertisements.  The commercials required about one hour of Hartman’s time and he was given Sun Country tickets for his work.  Hartman is donating the tickets to charity, according to Schmit. The popular sports columnist promotes the Star Tribune in both ads.  He first began writing for Minneapolis newspapers in 1945 and has been a regular on WCCO Radio since the 1950s. 

The idea for the commercials came from a suggestion made to Schmit that he appear in an ad for Sun Country.  He liked the idea of developing an advertisement that included playing off an old relationship, either with Hartman or WCCO TV’s Mark Rosen whose contract didn’t allow him to make a commercial.   

Public reaction to the commercials has exceeded that of most advertisements.  Schmit said that except for “Super Bowl commercials 99 out of 100” ads don’t generate public response. 

Schmit left broadcasting last summer after 21 years with KSTP TV.  Does he miss the sports world?  “I think you always miss the heat of the battle and miss the relationships I have had over 20 years,” he answered.  “Sometimes it’s not just the athletes and coaches you miss but the trainers and security guards and people like that.  I was surprised how much I did miss all that.” 

As expected, transitioning to the corporate world has been challenging but Schmit said a lesson from sports has been valuable.  “I learned in sports that great coaches and managers surround themselves with great people,” he said.