Author: David Shama

The Timberwolves opened their season at home last Wednesday night.  Now they are nearing the end of a four game trip playing in Los Angeles against the Lakers tonight.  The travels began with back to back nights in Denver and Portland (a win, then a loss, with both games decided late in the fourth quarter).  Last night another loss, this one in Sacramento.  Four games in five nights are unusual and only a five game road trip later in the schedule appears more challenging. 

“It’s going to be fun getting out there and playing back to backs every other day, and it gives us a chance to see where we’re at,” said Wolves guard Ricky Davis before the road trip started. 

Ending the schedule in Los Angeles should be fun.  A lot of players enjoy the glamour of Los Angeles including the who’s who scene at the Staples Center where somebody like Jack Nicholson may offer a sarcastic comment now and then.   

The Lakers, 3-1, could be the surprise of the league and before the season began looked like a team that might block the Wolves from earning the sixth, seventh or eighth spot in the Western Conference.  The Lakers won their first three games, including two wins without super star Kobe Bryant who led the NBA scoring last season and is Charles Barkley’s pick to win the league’s MVP award.  Wolves’ guard Troy Hudson said Bryant is “probably the best one-on-one player in the entire league.”   

The Lakers, 45-37  last season and a first round loser to Phoenix in the playoffs, have been led by versatile forward Lamar Odom, averaging 23.8  points per game and making 67  percent of his three point shots.  Hudson admires Odom’s skills that include handling the ball and passing like a point guard.  “He definitely compares with the better players in the league,” Hudson said. 

Odom and Bryant are the stars but the team has improved players such as forward Luke Walton and 19-year-old center Andrew Bynum who are making a difference.  The Lakers have been playing with unity and enthusiasm, not too surprising since coach Phil Jackson is a passionate teacher of team play. 

The Lakers, who play 15 of their first 20 games at home, will want to get another home court victory against the Wolves.  Minnesota, 9-32 on the road last season, hopes to end with a somewhat successful but trying road trip.

St. Paul Saints owner Mike Veeck has known Detroit Tigers president Dave Dombrowski for 30 years and includes him among his “closest friends.”  They worked together with the Chicago White Sox in the 1970’s and Dombrowski helped Veeck with his alcoholism in the 1980s. 

Veeck said the Tigers’ success starts with his friend who he describes as a “great judge” of talent.  Unlike some presidents who aren’t well schooled in baseball, Dombrowski has an extraordinary mind for knowledge and details about players.  He also doesn’t hesitate to “pull the trigger” on trades and speaks his mind, according to Veeck. “The thing I love about him is he tells you what he thinks of a player,” Veeck said. “He doesn’t care who is in the room.” 

Veeck said Dombrowski “runs a scout driven organization” and that scouts, even low level ones, are loyal to their boss.  When Dombrowski changes teams, they follow. Dombrowski built contending teams in Montreal and Florida in the 1990s and his 1997 Marlins won the World Series. 

Veeck predicts the Tigers, a young team that made it to the World Series before losing to St. Louis, will be a force in the American League for the next few years.

What happened in the series where they lost to the Cardinals in six games?  “They (as a young team) have got to learn to win,” Veeck said. 

Ryan Longwell, who played nine seasons with Green Bay before coming to the Vikings this year, holds the Packer career scoring record of 1,054 points.  Packer legend Don Hutson is second on the list at 853. 

The late Herb Brooks, who coached the Gophers to two national championships and America’s “Miracle on Ice” win over the Soviet Union, is part of the University of Minnesota’s new 253-foot long Wall of Discovery that pays tribute to famous alumni and faculty.   The wall is located on the east campus and includes this quote from Brooks: “It is amazing what a group can accomplish when no one cares who gets the credit.” 

Former University of Minnesota athletic director McKinley Boston has another “air show.”  At Minnesota he hired Jim Wacker whose teams set school records for passing.  Now the AD at New Mexico State, Boston’s football coach, Hal Mumme, has the Aggies second in the country in passing yards per game at almost 400 yards. Mumme is in his second season at New Mexico State and has a 2-7 record including 0-5 in the WAC Conference. 

Christopher (Critter) Nagurski, grandson of fabled footballer Bronko Nagurski, has been named to the United States College Hockey Online pre-season Division II and III all-American team.  The Augsburg senior forward’s goals-per-game average of 0.84 was fifth-best among Division III players last season.  Nagurski has been called Critter since he was an infant when siblings couldn’t pronounce Christopher. 

Freshman Chris Johnson is playing hockey for Augsburg, too, and his grandfather is the now deceased Bob Johnson, legendary former Wisconsin hockey coach.  His father Mark is a former 1980 Olympic player and now University of Wisconsin women’s hockey coach.