Author: David Shama

David Shama is a former sports editor and columnist with local publications. His writing and reporting experiences include covering the Minnesota Vikings, Minnesota Twins, Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Gophers. Shama’s career experiences also include sports marketing. He is the former Marketing Director of the Minnesota North Stars of the NHL. He is also the former Marketing Director of the United States Tennis Association’s Northern Section. A native of Minneapolis, Shama has been part of the community his entire life. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota where he majored in journalism. He also has a Master’s degree in education from the University of St. Thomas. He was a member of the Governor’s NBA’s Task Force to help create interest in bringing pro basketball to town in the 1980s.

Vikings Hit by ‘Halloween Storm 2″

Posted on November 1, 2021November 2, 2021 by David Shama

Oh, my!

An hour or so prior to kickoff last night came the news Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, a potential NFL MVP candidate, wouldn’t play because of his injured calf. Former Viking Matt Birk told Viking Land via KFXN radio: “Looks like Christmas came on Halloween.”

Not so fast, Birkie.

The Cowboys tried to gift the Vikes a win but at the end of the evening it was Minnesota’s generosity that made the loudest impact. Late in the fourth quarter, with the game tied at 13-13, the Cowboys committed three personal fouls on a Viking drive. Minnesota was first and goal on the Dallas four-yard line. America’s team pushed the Vikings backward and Minnesota had to settle for a 24-yard Greg Joseph field goal and a 16-13 lead with 2:51 to play.

The Cowboys responded with their own drive but it looked like they would have to settle for a game tying field goal attempt when Dallas had a third down and 16 yards to go. Coach Mike Zimmer, though, tried to call consecutive timeouts and that’s not allowed, resulting in a five-yard penalty. On third and 11, substitute QB Cooper Rush passed to Ezekiel Elliott who ran to the Minnesota four-yard line and a first down. On the next play Rush—who before Sunday had completed one pass in three attempts since entering the NFL in 2017—passed for the winning touchdown to Dallas WR Amari Cooper.

The game was almost a must-have for the struggling Vikings who are in a tough stretch in the schedule and own a 3-4 record. The expectation was for Minnesota to win a statement game against a quality 5-1 opponent—coming off a bye week, playing at home before a national TV audience, and not having to face Prescott. Instead, it was a “train wreck” for the Purple on a night marking the 30th anniversary of the lethal Halloween snow storm of 1991 that paralyzed the twin towns.

Last night it was the Vikings’ offense that looked “paralyzed.” After an opening first quarter drive of 75 yards and a touchdown, the Vikings never saw the end zone again. The Vikings couldn’t or wouldn’t attack deep with the pass game, as they had in their opening series. They were awful on third downs, converting once in 13 attempts.

Rush threw for 341 net yards and two scores. Minnesota’s Kirk Cousins had 177 net yards passing and a first quarter TD throw to Adam Thielen. Dallas controlled the Vikings’ running game, too, holding Minnesota to 101 net yards.

Zimmer dialed up plenty of blitzes in the first half to confuse the inexperienced Rush. It worked well enough for Minnesota to hold a 10-3 halftime lead but in the second half Rush led Dallas to 17 points.

On the winning drive Rush got things started with a 33-yard pass to Cooper, who made a SportsCenter worthy catch. He beat Vikings cornerback Bashaud Breeland to make the grab. Cornerbacks Cameron Dantzler and Mackensie Alexander also had difficult moments as the Vikings played without their best man at that position, the injured Patrick Peterson.

The offense stalled last night but the defense can’t brag either. There wasn’t much pressure on Rush in the second half. Then, as has happened earlier in the schedule, the defense couldn’t make the game-deciding plays on the Cowboys’ last possession.

The Halloween embarrassment looks haunting for the Vikings who have lost four games by a total of 15 points. Ahead immediately on the schedule are road games against the 5-2 Ravens and 4-3 Chargers, then a November 21 home date with the 7-1 Packers.

After the game Zimmer was asked on KFXN how his team gets better. Zimmer said, “Well we gotta start with me and then we’ll try to get better with the players and the techniques and the fundamentals.”

Worth Noting

Retired Vikings guard Steve Hutchinson, who received his Pro Football Hall of Fame ring during halftime of last night’s game at U.S. Bank Stadium, turns 44 years old today. That’s the same age as GOAT quarterback Tom Brady of the 2021 Super Bowl winning Bucs who was a co-captain with Hutchinson at Michigan.

P.J. Fleck said today tailback Bryce Williams suffered a season-ending injury in Saturday’s game, further depleting running back depth. The coaching staff is sorting through the roster, the coach said, for players who have past running back experience to provide depth behind Ky Thomas and Mar’Keise Irving, who was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week today after he rushed 19 times for a career-high 110 yards and two touchdowns against Northwestern.

Derik LeCaptain, the Gophers’ redshirt sophomore linebacker pressed into service at running back because of injuries to three other tailbacks, ran for 5,199 yards and 100 touchdowns at Southern Door High School in Wisconsin. He looked impressive making his first college touchdown run last Saturday in Minnesota’s win over Northwestern.

Major League Baseball, with its grueling and long schedule, might be a young man’s game but fact is World Series managers Dusty Baker, 72, and Brian Snitker, 66, guided the Astros and Braves to AL and NL championships. Tony La Russa, 77, came out of retirement to manage the 2021 White Sox to the AL Central title.

The Capital Club hears from Timberwolves coach Chris Finch Wednesday morning at Mendakota Country Club. More information is available from Patrick@aglilemarketingco.com.

Veteran Wolves guard Patrick Beverley is questionable for tonight’s home game against the Magic because of a sore left calf.

A feature story in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated details how Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns dealt with the trauma of losing seven family members to COVID-19 including his mom.

That story is part of the magazine’s basketball preview that predicts the Wolves will finish fourth in the Northwest Division and miss the playoffs. Minnesota natives Chet Holmgren and Paige Bueckers lead talented teams at Gonzaga and Connecticut that are S.I.’s choices for preseason No. 1 in men’s and women’s college basketball.

Big Brother, bigger money: Tyus Jones earns $8,376,286 in salary this season playing with the Grizzlies, while younger bro Tre Jones makes $1,517,981 with the Spurs, per ESPN.com.

Another Apple Valley High alum, Gary Trent Jr., earns $16 million this season, according to ESPN.

Their college mentor, legendary Mike Krzyzweski, is starting his last season as Duke coach, and for the final Blue Devils home game next winter a fan is paying $1 million for four tickets.

Local author Stew Thornley, who has written more than 40 books and is also an official scorer for the Timberwolves and Twins, speaks to the CORES luncheon group November 11 at the Bloomington Event Center. For more information about the luncheon and program, contact Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net. Reservations must be made by November 8. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans.

CORES host Dick Jonckowski emcees the Minnesota State High School Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame and Awards banquet November 13 at the Omni Hotel in Eagan.

The Wild sees a familiar face Sunday at home against the Islanders with a homecoming for Minneapolis native Zach Parise who is Minnesota’s third all-time leader in goals and scoring. Parise signed with the Islanders during the summer.

The Twin Cities Dunkers were recently entertained by a panel of Sid Hartman colleagues telling tales about the legendary journalist who passed away a year ago. Patrick Reusse frequented the same Golden Valley grocery store as the usually impatient Sid. One day a store employee informed Reusse she had just waited on his friend. Reusse asked if Sid was nice to her. “No, he told me to hurry up,” she replied.

Circle the date, wrestling fans: Led by Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson, Minnesota is at top ranked Iowa on January 7 in a power matchup televised by BTN.

According to InterMat, the Big Ten has 10 teams ranked in the top 25, starting with defending national champion Iowa. The others: No. 2 Penn State, No. 5 Michigan, No. 9 Ohio State, No. 10 Minnesota, No. 13 Northwestern, No. 14 Rutgers, No. 16 Nebraska, No. 21 Illinois and No. 23 Wisconsin.

Among Minnesota golf clubs still open is the new Beatles-themed Montgomery National Golf Club in Le Sueur County.

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U Basketball Ticket Sales Take a Hit

Posted on October 27, 2021October 27, 2021 by David Shama

Interest in University of Minnesota men’s basketball has been trending down for years as fans watched a parade of coaches fail to develop winning Big Ten teams. Ticket sales generally have been declining for decades as the U falters in duplicating the success of its national power teams of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

Following coach Richard Pitino’s dismissal in March, passionate and knowledgeable patrons salivated over thoughts of a blue ribbon hire like Brian Dutcher (couldn’t have been more transparent in his strong interest) and Eric Musselman, also a prominent college coach and native of Minnesota who knows the past glory of the program. Instead U president Joan Gabel made the abrupt and controversial hire of Ben Johnson, a Minneapolis native and longtime college assistant coach with no head coaching experience.

A lot of Gophers basketball fans feel anger and disappointment with Gabel’s decision. Adding to the gloom is the 2021-2022 team is predicted to be the worst in the Big Ten.

Ticket sales totals obtained from the U by Sports Headliners show a continuation of the long decline in interest. The U said 5,503 public season tickets have been sold, with the first official home game coming up November 9 against Kansas City. For the 2019-2020 season 6,805 tickets were sold for games at Williams Arena (capacity 14,625).

That’s about a 20 percent decline from 2019-2020. No figures for 2020-2021 are reported because the pandemic prevented fans from attending games.

The number of accounts holding season tickets is down from 2,396 to 1,949. A minimal number of new season ticket sales are expected to occur in the coming weeks and month.

Ticket totals through the decades were requested by Sports Headliners but information provided goes back only to the 2009-2010 season (the beginning of digital records). For that season 9,946 public season tickets were sold, the most on digital record in one year. Eleven years ago, for the 2010-2011 schedule, season tickets totaled 8,931.

It’s believed that decades ago over 12,000 public season tickets were sold in multiple years, and Minnesota (at least once) led the nation in average attendance per game. During the 1980s Gophers basketball was so popular its TV ratings were the best in Minneapolis for any local sports team except the Vikings, per former Minnesota coach Jim Dutcher.

Part of ticket sales this fall includes mini-plans (combining multiple games together). The U reported 370 total tickets sold so far, adding such sales will increase when the season begins in November. For the 2019-2020 season, tickets sold in mini-plans totaled 1,970.

The current student allotment for season tickets is sold out at 2,105—that figure contrasts with a total of 1,332 two years ago. The record (dating back to 2009) for student season tickets is 2,199 for the 2013-2014 season.

The U said there have been no changes in the pricing of either public or student tickets from 2019 to now.

A crowd of 7,000 to 8,000 is expected for a November 1 exhibition game at Williams Arena against Concordia-St. Paul (tickets start at $5), with similar announced attendance likely for Kansas City November 9, according to the U.

Announced average per game attendance has declined in three out of the four most recent years. Only once in that span have the Gophers averaged over 11,000 per game. In 2019-2020 the average was 10,232, the lowest figure since 1970-1971.

Worth Noting

It was 30 years ago today the Twins won the 1991 World Series, defeating the Braves 1-0 in Minneapolis behind the seventh game pitching of series MVP Jack Morris.

Former Twins designated hitter Nelson Cruz is the winner of the 2021 Roberto Clemente Award. The annual honor goes to the MLB player who best represents the game on and off the field.

Kyle Rau, the former Gopher star, and Nick Swaney lead the Iowa Wild (3-1-0-0) in scoring with five points.

Word is secondary ticket sellers are offering seats at $6 each for Saturday’s Gopher game at Ryan Field in Evanston against the host Wildcats. Crowd support is minimal most seasons for the Wildcats and when there is inclement weather the stadium is all but empty. See the adjacent photo taken prior to the second half kickoff of the 2017 Minnesota game at Ryan Field.

Gophers coach P.J. Fleck likes what he sees from veteran quarterback Tanner Morgan but knows his receivers need to play better. “Tanner is playing better than he was at the beginning of the year,” Fleck said. “Our catch radius has to continue to improve which I know our guys have accepted that challenge. …”

Fleck talking about booing fans in the closing minute of the first half in last Saturday’s home game against Maryland when patrons wanted the Gophers to pass the football: “…I don’t have a chance to explain it to everybody over the intercom exactly what I am thinking in the final 40 seconds of the half. They just have to trust me that we’re going to do the right thing and go score points.”

As of yesterday morning Mike Nowakowski from Ticket King said the least expensive ticket for Sunday night’s Vikings-Cowboys game at U.S. Bank Stadium is $175 (upper level corner location). On the 50-yard line lower level club seats were selling for $799 and on the upper level at midfield the price was $250.

Nowakowski also said demand is picking up for the November 6 Illinois-Gopher game at Huntington Bank Stadium. The stunning Bowling Green loss, he said, was a major hit to Gopher sales this fall.

Former Vikings guard Steve Hutchinson, inducted in August into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, will be honored at Sunday night’s game. He speaks to the Twin Cities Dunkers Friday.

Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen admits there are times during games when players on the sidelines don’t do as much as they could to create energy for one another. “…I am literally pointing all of the fingers right at myself because I have a habit to kind of go into my own little zone and to just kind of focus on the next play, right?”

Legendary ex-Vikings coach Bud Grant, 94, is articulate as ever but deals with a painful back.

Mike Grant, Bud’s son, has his Eden Prairie Eagles chasing a 12th state football title but injuries have been a challenge including to four-star Golden Gopher recruit and defensive lineman Trey Bixby.

Eden Prairie defeated 6A power Stillwater last week whose junior quarterback is Max Shikenjanski, son of former Gophers basketball center Jim Shikenjanski.

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Ex-GM: Playoffs Toss Up for Vikings

Posted on October 25, 2021October 25, 2021 by David Shama

Former Vikings GM Jeff Diamond has seen enough of his old team to predict it’s 50-50 whether Minnesota makes the playoffs.

With a bye on the schedule yesterday, the Vikings sit at 3-3 with 11 games remaining starting with next Sunday night’s game against the 5-2 Cowboys. “When you look at it right now you gotta say, yeah, probably 9-8 or 8-9 is most likely. But if they got hot they could go to 10-7,” Diamond told Sports Headliners.

A St. Louis Park native, Diamond was GM of the 15-1 Vikings in 1998. After leaving the organization he became president of the Titans who played in the 2000 Super Bowl. He has more than 20-years experience as an NFL executive, and is now self-employed.

Vikings fans are focused on a key stretch of the schedule with four upcoming games against the Cowboys, Ravens, Chargers and Packers. Diamond, though, cautions the 49ers, the opponent after the Packers, are “no slouch.”

“If they can get through that 3-2, or even 2-3, I think they’ll be okay to still make a run at the playoffs,” Diamond said. “If they’re 1-4, or 0-5 (in that stretch of games), it’s going to be tough.”

It will almost certainly require a winning record for the whole season to make the playoffs. Perhaps even 10-7.

Forecasting the outcome of games is often tricky as anyone who has ever wagered on football knows. Diamond recalled how Vikings legendary coach Bud Grant talked about the timing of when an opponent shows up on the schedule and how important that is in determining results. Whether your team, or the foe, has key players injured, weighs heavily on the outcome of games. Other factors are how teams match up physically and in scheme.

Diamond finds plenty to like about the Vikings who he lists between 12 and 15 on his NFL power rankings. Asked what’s right about them, he first mentioned Kirk Cousins. “I think what’s right is, the quarterback is playing great. He’s playing the best he’s ever played.”

Diamond referenced the offense’s “terrific” three wide receivers including Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen. “I think K.J. Osborn is probably the surprise guy of the year on the team to me, compared to what the expectation was going into the year after his rookie season (2020),” Diamond said. “…He’s been so impactful as we’ve seen including the winning touchdown in Carolina (October 17).”

At times the offensive line has been shaky in protecting Cousins but overall the unit’s play has surpassed expectations of many close observers. Diamond likes the possibility of rookie Christian Darrisaw replacing veteran Rashod Hill at left tackle.

“I think he’s much more athletic than Rashod Hill,” Diamond said. “He’s a wider body in there. He’s harder to get around. He’s got better feet. …I think he’ll just get better, better and better.”

The Vikings drafted Darrisaw in the first round last spring and he’s a confident rookie. “I never shy away from anything,” he said. “It really doesn’t matter who you are, I’ll be ready.”

In the 2021 draft the Vikings selected guard Wyatt Davis in the third round as another potential piece to bolster the ongoing rebuild of the offensive line. Davis has yet to play but he intrigues Diamond.

“One of the things I’d like to see is can he play center, perhaps if they ultimately make the decision that (Garrett) Bradbury is not coming along as they hoped,” Diamond said.

The Vikings used their No. 1 selection on Bradbury in 2019 and his struggles are well documented. “I still have some concerns about Bradbury when he goes against some of those really tough, big, strong nose tackles…and defensive tackles,” Diamond said.

The Vikings have been mixing newcomers with returning players on defense. No doubt that has contributed to inconsistency including the unit faltering at the end of games. A bright spot is the Vikings’ ranking among the sack leaders in the NFL.

While talking about the pass rush, Diamond said the return of potential all-pro defensive end Danielle Hunter (injured last season) makes a “humongous difference.”

The other defensive end opponents sometimes must deal with is 33-year-old Everson Griffen who signed on for a second career stint with the club in August. “Everson Griffen has been a surprise with how well he’s played,” Diamond said.

Another offseason acquisition was talented veteran cornerback Patrick Peterson who will miss the next few games because he is on injured reserve. With a list of who’s who quarterbacks coming up on the immediate schedule, the timing of Peterson’s hamstring injury is unfortunate. Diamond speculated Peterson might be back for the Packers game November 21, after his replacements see gifted passers like Dak Prescott, Lamar Jackson and Justin Herbert.

Replacements Bashaud Breeland and Cameron Dantzler have been inconsistent. Peterson’s absence also impacts cornerback depth. “That’s gotta be a big question mark,” Diamond said about the cornerback situation.

November and December look like a nail-biting time for the Vikings and their fans. There are things to fret about including kicker Greg Joseph who could end up being tasked with pressure field goals that determine whether Minnesota makes the playoffs. In the pressure department he’s been inconsistent so far.

“It’s a little bit up and down with Greg Joseph, and I think he’s still gotta be a question mark as we go forward,” Diamond said.

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