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.

Kirill Kaprizov Gives Wild “Hope”

Posted on January 18, 2021January 18, 2021 by David Shama

It’s only been two games, but what an extraordinary beginning for 23-year-old Kirill Kaprizov of the Minnesota Wild. An NHL authority told Sports Headliners Kaprizov could be the difference maker the Wild has been searching for and his presence might be vital in a shortened 2021 regular season.

The Wild has struggled with offensive production for years, including in the playoffs. In Minnesota’s opening game last Thursday, the rookie Russian forward scored the game- winning goal against the Kings in Los Angeles. Two nights later he made a dazzling play again, passing to teammate Marcus Johansson for the winning goal as the Kings lost a second straight game in overtime. He is the first player in NHL history to have overtime points in each of his first two career games.

With NHL teams playing 56-game regular season schedules because of the pandemic, instead of the usual 82, early season wins are more important than ever, including on the road. “This is the kind of player that will help them not falling too far behind,” said the authority, preferring to speak anonymously. “He gives everyone hope. It’s somebody that can score every time he is on the ice.”

The Wild remain in California and play the Ducks in Anaheim tonight. Expectations are for the Ducks and other NHL teams to assign aggressive defensive forwards against Kaprizov, trying to push the 5-9, 200-pound newbie around. “They’re just not going to let him free wheel and do whatever he wants,” the source said.

While tough tactics and adjustments are coming, Kaprizov certainly didn’t look frustrated in his first two games. He showed all the attributes (and perhaps more) that were expected during his debut, including darting around the ice with quickness and speed impressing even casual NHL observers. The authority quoted here gushed about Kaprizov’s hands that deftly allow him to control and shoot the puck, and also his vision.

Because of his exceptional vision, Kaprizov was able to secure the puck and pass to Johansson on a play that others cannot make. “Go back and look at that play, it’s amazing,” the source said.

The Wild drafted Kaprizov in 2015 and for years anticipation has built about his arrival in Minnesota. The curious included his new teammates who had to wonder what this gifted young talent would be like as a person. Kevin Gorg, the Fox Sports North analyst, told Sports Headliners that Kaprizov is anything but a prima donna.

“This kid has come in here without any expectations on his part,” Gorg said this morning. “He’s worked his tail off. He has been out there spending extra time before practice, extra time after practice. He’s been breaking down film.

“He’s been working like he’s a guy that might not make it, even though we’ve known…that this kid was going to be a star. He hasn’t had that star attitude. He’s come in with that fourth line grinder attitude. …I think he’s gained an awful lot of respect from his teammates with the work ethic.”

After spending his life in Russia, Kaprizov now finds himself in a new country and during a pandemic. Veteran Ryan Suter has hosted the rookie at his home that includes an outdoor rink. Kaprizov lives alone and uses his limited English to make his way around the Twin Cities, including to Kramarczuk’s, the famous eastern European deli in Minneapolis. “Kramarczuk’s has been his favorite spot to get some cool food,” Gorg said.

Gorg believes Kaprizov is enjoying his early times in America. “If you watch him at the rink he’s always kind of laughing and having fun. I think that’s a big, big part of that comfort level he’s starting to feel coming over from Russia. I think there were a lot of unknowns when he made this move. He doesn’t speak the English great yet—something he’s trying to work on.”

Worth Noting

Gophers center Liam Robbins was named the Naismith Trophy Player of the Week today after leading No. 23 Minnesota to a 75-57 win against previously unbeaten No. 7 Michigan on Saturday. The Davenport, Iowa native had 22 points and eight rebounds in only 22 minutes. He made a season-high eight field goals and a season high three 3-pointers for the Gophers. He also blocked two shots and limited Michigan’s Hunter Dickinson to five rebounds and a season-low nine points.

The Sportingnews.com draft out this morning has the Vikings selecting Miami defensive lineman Gregory Rousseau with the No. 14 selection of the first round. He had an ACC-best 15.5 sacks last season for the Hurricanes. “He would be a great fit with Mike Zimmer,” writes Vinnie Iyer.

It looks like former Gopher Rashod Bateman could end up fretting about being selected in the first round of April’s NFL Draft. The wide receiver talent is deep with several talents perhaps more likely to go ahead of Bateman including ex-Purdue playmaker Rondale Moore. Sportingnews.com predicts Bateman going to the Jaguars at No. 25 in the first round where his coach would be Urban Meyer and his QB likely Trevor Lawrence (Jags have No. 1 choice and are expected to draft the ex-Clemson QB).

A former NFL executive recently said in this space the Vikings’ Kirk Cousins is a top 10 or 12 quarterback. Jim Carter, the former Gopher fullback and Green Bay linebacker, emailed he differs with that, although he doesn’t claim to be an expert on quarterbacks—“I’m from the Murray Warmath school of erring on the side of big heart and toughness over talent, even quarterbacks!”

Here is Carter’s list of quarterbacks he prefers over Cousins: “(Aaron) Rodgers, (Patrick) Mahomes, (Philip) Rivers, (Josh) Allen, (Tom) Brady, (Lamar) Jackson, (Russell) Wilson, (Drew) Brees, (Deshaun) Watson, (Matt) Ryan, (Kyler) Murray, (Ben) Roethlisberger, and probably (Baker) Mayfield, (Matthew) Stafford, and (Ryan) Fitzpatrick, too.”

Welcome news for Gophers football fans: Ohio State’s great quarterback Justin Fields declared for the NFL Draft today. That means the Buckeyes, expected to be a preseason top five team nationally, will have an inexperienced QB for their opening game next September in Minneapolis against Minnesota.

Juancho Hernangómez, Ricky Rubio and Karl-Anthony Towns will not play for the Timberwolves in today’s game (1:30 p.m. start) in Atlanta against the Hawks. They are ruled out for “health & safety protocols.”

Jay Meyerhoff, Braemar’s head PGA professional, has been named a “Golf Range Association of America Top 100 Growth of the Game Teaching Professional.” For the third consecutive year the GRAA has recognized both the Braemar Golf Course Driving Range and Braemar Golf Dome as being among the top 50 ranges in the country.

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NFL Expert Predicts Big Pay for Cousins

Posted on January 13, 2021January 13, 2021 by David Shama

A former NFL executive told Sports Headliners the Vikings are certain to pay quarterback Kirk Cousins $35 million in guaranteed money for the 2022 season.

The organization and Cousins have until late March of this year to make that decision but the source is sure the veteran quarterback will be rewarded with a big pay day even though the club will have to make salary cap adjustments to accommodate the $35 million. “He will be here,” the source said about 2022. “He’s still a top 10 or 12 quarterback in the league.”

The NFL salary cap (nearly $200 million per team in 2020) will decline this year after league teams saw revenues take a hard hit because of the pandemic. That will only add to the Vikings’ need for belt tightening because of the $21 million due Cousins in 2021 and the $35 million next year.

The former front office executive, who asked to speak anonymously, predicted several Vikings are likely not to return for 2021 including 31-year-old tight end Kyle Rudolph. He said Rudolph will be gone for sure, with the Vikings dumping his estimated $7.6 million salary and replacing him with a younger and less expensive combo of talents in Irv Smith Jr. and Tyler Conklin.

Veteran offensive tackle Riley Reiff has a base salary for 2021 of $11.6 million, per Spotrac.com. At 32, Reiff doesn’t play at a high enough level to justify that kind of money, the ex-NFL decision maker said. Reiff’s compensation is among the highest on the team.

Others turning in their Vikings uniforms could include safety Anthony Harris, a good player but not at more than $11 million. Perhaps management and Harris can restructure his contract. Corner Mike Hughes isn’t making big money “but has missed a ton of time” with injuries and the Vikings could make a decision to part ways, the source said.

Linebacker Anthony Barr is one of the top paid Vikings and will likely draw offseason salary cap scrutiny, although he is a coach Mike Zimmer favorite, according to the authority. Savings from not having Barr on the payroll could be used for a new deal with emerging linebacker Eric Wilson.

Defensive tackle Shamar Stephen has a salary approaching $4 million, didn’t have an impressive 2020 season and could be expendable. The Vikings are expecting defensive tackle Michael Pierce to return after opting out because of the pandemic, and he plays for similar money.

The source quoted here had front office leadership experiences with a couple of league teams, and said he would want to know which Dan Bailey is returning to the Vikings in 2021. The kicker will make over $2.5 million next season, but he had a back injury and performance problems last year after being impressive in 2019.

The source said if he were making decisions for the Vikings and the 2021 NFL Draft he wouldn’t prioritize finding a quarterback with the club’s No. 14 pick in the first round. He would be looking for a guard to replace Dakota Dozier, or defensive tackle to rush the passer and “stop the run.”

He said exceptional quarterbacks have sometimes been found in the later draft rounds including Russell Wilson who the Seahawks selected in the third round. “With 11 picks (in 2021), the Vikings have the luxury of looking for a quarterback,” he added.

Worth Noting

The Wild announced this morning the training camp roster has been reduced to 22 players, with the placement of forwards Luke Johnson and Kyle Rau, defensemen Matt Bartkowski, Louie Belpedio and Dakota Mermis, and goaltender Andrew Hammond on its taxi squad. The Wild designated forwards Marco Rossi and Mats Zuccarello and goaltender Alex Stalock as injured non-roster players.

Coach Juwan Howard and his undefeated Michigan basketball team, ranked No. 7 in the AP top 25, plays the Gophers Saturday in Minneapolis. As a coveted high school player Howard was recruited hard by Bloomington, Minnesota native Brian Dutcher, then an assistant coach at Michigan who helped put together the famous “Fab Five” of which Howard was a key player. The two have remained friends with Dutcher part of Howard’s wedding party in Turks and Caicos years ago.

U.S. Bank Stadium will be converted to a baseball setup February 1, with coach John Anderson’s Gophers expected to have the most playing dates. With “bubbles” being in vogue during the pandemic, you wonder if the Big Ten would move the baseball schedules of many league teams to the centralized site of U.S. Bank Stadium.

With a list of events cancelled or rescheduled, the stadium is in cost containment mode and has reduced staffing.

A local radio source said a start-up of WCCO Radio’s long airing and popular “Sports Huddle” show remains indefinite. The Sunday morning program stopped airing last year because of the pandemic and program originator Sid Hartman has since passed away.

With the Timberwolves off to one of the worst starts among NBA teams, have to believe Gersson Rosas, president of basketball operations, is on the phone regarding trades including with former boss Daryl Morey of the Sixers. The two worked extensively together in Houston with the Rockets.

Among the issues for the 3-7 Wolves is guard D’Angelo Russell’s domination of the ball late in games. Instead of involving others, he too often tries to be scoring champion James Harden when results more resemble Isaiah Rider.

Former Twins Tony Oliva and Jim Kaat frequently receive first mention as potential Hall of Famers but Johan Santana and manager Tom Kelly deserve consideration for Cooperstown, too.

The list goes all the way back to a showdown with Texas in 1936, but in the most recent games against the following nonconference opponents the Gophers have emerged the winner: Alabama, Oregon, Auburn, Arkansas, Clemson, Texas, Army, Navy, Air Force, Stanford, Arizona, SMU, Ole Miss, Georgia Tech, Oregon State, Vanderbilt, Washington State, Oklahoma State, Wake Forest, Baylor, Houston, Tulane and Colorado State. Credit sports trivia authority Dave Mona with the research.

For the first time ever the Big Ten has 12 of its 14 wrestling teams ranked in the top 25 of the NWCA coaches poll—led by No. 1 Iowa, followed by No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 Penn State, No. 6 Nebraska, No. 7 Ohio State, No. 14 Minnesota, No. 15 Rutgers, No. 16 Purdue, No. 21 Wisconsin, No. 22 Northwestern, No. 24 Illinois, No. 25 Michigan State.

John Schneider, the University of St. Thomas alum and Seahawks GM, has a new five-year contract extension, according to a report yesterday from the Seattle Times Sports Alert. His name had been rumored with the Lions opening.

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Gopher Road Woes Mark Pitino Era

Posted on January 11, 2021 by David Shama

Coach Richard Pitino’s Golden Gophers basketball team lost 86-71 at Iowa yesterday and has dropped six consecutive Big Ten regular season road games dating back to last season. Pitino, now in his eighth season as Minnesota’s coach, has been unable to find success on the road in conference games except for the 2016-2017 season when the Gophers were 5-4.

Pitino’s career record in Big Ten regular season road games is 14-55, a 20 percent winning percentage. Most years the Gophers have won only a couple games away from Minneapolis and that goes a long way toward explaining the season-ending conference finishes of Pitino teams. In seven full seasons he has a fourth place finish in the conference standings (2017), with the next best results two years (2014 and 2019) when the Gophers placed seventh.

Big Ten title contenders win on the road, as history shows. When the Gophers won conference championships in 1982 and 1997, they lost two away games each season. Despite highly competitive road competition in the Big Ten last year, Wisconsin managed a 5-4 record on the way to a share of the conference title.

The Gophers are 10-4 overall and 3-4 in Big Ten games. Their four losses (all on the road) against Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin have been double-digit defeats. Minnesota has been way behind in road games and often because of poor defense and undisciplined offense. The Gophers have also been unable to match the energy of opponents on the road.

Pitino gave his team higher marks for its effort yesterday against Iowa than the other three road losses. “I thought this game was totally different than the other three losses. I thought we did a great job fighting back. We just took some bad shots down the stretch and weren’t able to get stops.”

Iowa quickly increased a 39-37 halftime lead to double digits for most of the second half but the Gophers were down by five points with about five minutes to play. Then Minnesota didn’t show enough patience on offense, rushed shots and got three-point happy. After the game Minnesota forward Brandon Johnson acknowledged the Gophers can “fall in love” with three-point shots at the expense of running an efficient offense. “It’s something we gotta fix as a group for sure,” he said.

In less than a month the Gophers have played seven consecutive conference games against nationally ranked opponents, including home wins against Michigan State, Ohio State and Iowa. Pitino said on his KFAN postgame radio show yesterday the stretch has been a grind. “We wore these guys down. That schedule was as hard a schedule as you’re going to see. …”

The Gophers will take three days off to rest before preparing for Michigan at home Saturday. This is one of Pitino’s more talented teams and has been ranked among the top programs in the country but the road failures have been glaring. Even the team’s most talented players have struggled away from home including preseason All-Big Ten guard Marcus Carr, and center Liam Robbins who was out played in the last two games by national player of the year candidates Hunter Dickinson of Michigan and Luka Garza from Iowa.

“Obviously you got an undefeated (10-0) Michigan coming up, but these guys (the Gophers) got better,” Pitino said on the postgame show. “We need a little break and get back to work.”

Worth Noting

Minnesota native Brian Dutcher, the San Diego State coach who has a special opt out in his contract that would allow him to coach the Gophers if the job opened, has won 13 consecutive regular season road games dating back to 2019.

Scott Ellison, the personable Gophers senior associate athletics director in charge of facilities and capital projects, retires at the end of this week after more than 32 years at the U. Ellison has worked on about $600 million in capital projects including the construction of TCF Bank Stadium and the Athletes Village. Long time assistant Jeff Seifriz will succeed Ellison.

Gophers’ offensive coordinator Mike Sanford Jr. might have been a candidate for the head coaching job at Boise State filled last week with the hiring of Andy Avalos. If Sanford, who has Boise State ties as a former Bronco OC, had been hired that may have opened the door for the return of long time P.J. Fleck OC coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca. He left Minnesota after the 2019 season for Penn State but was dismissed last week.

Sanford’s offense had its struggles last season, showing inconsistency and veteran quarterback Tanner Morgan regressing. Sanford came to Minnesota after career moves that included only two years as head coach at Western Kentucky before he was fired, and serving as offensive coordinator at Utah State in 2019 where quarterback Jordan Love went from 32 touchdown passes and six interceptions in 2018 to 20 TD throws and 17 interceptions.

Morgan, a redshirt junior, was being mentioned a year ago as a future late first round or second round NFL Draft choice but for now that looks unlikely and he is expected to return as the Gopher starter in 2021.

If the Vikings were going to part ways with head coach Mike Zimmer it almost certainly would have happened by now. Pioneer Press columnist Charley Walters wrote this on Sunday: “But next year is clearly make or break for the 64-year-old grump.”

Local connection: 1983 Waseca High School grad Mike Larson was the advance scout for Tommy Lasorda’s 2000 U.S. Olympic baseball team. Lasorda, who died last week, managed that team to a surprise gold medal and was the long time colorful manager of the Dodgers.

Doug Mientkiewicz, the former Twin, played on the 2000 Olympic team and credited the experience with giving him confidence. John Manuel, now a Twins scout and once editor-in-chief of Baseball America, wrote about that American team who many observers thought would lose out to Cuba.

Versatile calendar: the men’s Gopher hockey team, now 11-1-0 after splitting a weekend series with the Badgers, has played games every day of the week because of TV programming.

John Drum, the newly named general manager of U.S. Bank Stadium, is the latest “Behind the Game” guest with co-hosts Patrick Klinger and Bill Robertson. Drum, who talks on the show about the post-pandemic future for the stadium, worked with Robertson in the mid-1990s as part of the Angels organization in Anaheim. The program is available for viewing on the “Behind the Game” YouTube Channel and via cable access throughout the state.

Hoping for the best of transitions for Susan Wilkinson who has moved into a Bloomington long-term care facility. Susan is the terrific wife of Mike Wilkinson, author of the Murray Warmath biography, The Autumn Warrior.

Rob Hunegs, the popular owner of Twin Cites Sports Cards in Golden Valley, is home after a 12-day battle with COVID-19 in the hospital.

Thoughts of friends are with former Gophers football player Joe Pung who was diagnosed in 2019 with stage 3 melanoma and is undergoing treatment at the Mayo Clinic.

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