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.

Don’t Expect Vikings to Change ID

Posted on October 3, 2019October 3, 2019 by David Shama

A Thursday notes column, focusing on the Minnesota Vikings and Minnesota Wild:

The 2-2 Vikings produced just 40 rushing yards last Sunday in their 16-6 loss to the Chicago Bears. But it will be a surprise if Minnesota doesn’t emphasize running the football against the 2-2 New York Giants this coming Sunday at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer wants a physical, rushing offense and that was his message long before the season started. While the offensive line and quarterback Kirk Cousins have been inconsistent, no one doubts the skills of running back Dalvin Cook who ranks second in the NFL in rushing yards at 410.

“I think the way Dalvin is running the ball, I think it’s just kind of building things off of that…and just finding different ways to get people involved,” backup quarterback Sean Mannion told Sports Headliners when talking about what’s next for the offense.

Even when the offense is slowed like it was against the Bears (perhaps the NFL’s best defense) the Vikings are advised to still focus on their playmakers starting with Cook who makes both short and long gains with only minimal running space available. Wide receivers Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs can also make the proverbial “something out of nothing” plays.

Looking toward next Sunday and beyond, Cook said “it’s important to get the running game going early” to open passing routes so wide receivers can make plays. He also expressed confidence in Cousins who has struggled in both of the team‘s losses, games that came against NFC North Division rivals the Bears and Packers—the two best teams Minnesota has played so far.

The Giants will offer a mediocre defense to test the Vikings playmakers. The unit ranks No. 25 in the 32-team NFL, giving up 389.2 yards per game. Former Viking Matt Birk predicted on KFAN Radio yesterday his old team will win by more than three touchdowns.

The Vikings’ defense has impressed after four games. Minnesota has allowed only one rushing touchdown and has made 24 tackles for loss (tied with Carolina and Pittsburgh for most in the league). The Vikings are giving up 321.8 yards per game, sixth best in the league.

The Giants have names familiar to Minnesota sports fans on the coaching staff. Head coach Pat Shurmur, now in his second season with the Giants, was the Viking offensive coordinator in 2017 when he was named NFL Assistant Coach of the Year by the Pro Football Writers Association.

Giants offensive coordinator Mike Shula was head coach at Alabama when the Golden Gophers defeated the Crimson Tide in the 2004 Music City Bowl.

John Gilbert, among the preeminent hockey writers in the country, is upbeat about the Wild’s likelihood of returning to the playoffs. “I think they got a great chance to really have a good season,” he told Sports Headliners.

For 30 years Gilbert covered pro and college hockey for Minneapolis daily newspapers, and he now lives in Duluth working as a freelance writer. He believes it’s no mystery why the Wild, who open the regular season tonight in Nashville against the Predators, didn’t make the playoffs last spring. He said injuries causing the absences of defenseman Matt Dumba and center Mikko Koivu put an end to six consecutive playoff runs by the Wild.

Gilbert regards Dumba as perhaps the top defenseman in the NHL. He considers Koivu to be among the league’s best centers when judged by all around play including coverage of the other team’s leading defenseman. “And he is a great leader,” Gilbert added.

Gilbert is confident that with Dumba and Koivu, Minnesota would have been in the 2019 postseason. “They (the Wild) lose those two guys, and they barely miss the playoffs,” he said.

Two key players can make that much difference, according to Gilbert. “So you look at every team that made the Stanley Cup playoffs last year, and you take away their best two-way centerman and you take away their best offensive defenseman, they don’t make it.”

The Wild didn’t do much to change the roster in the offseason but the club did sign free agent wing Mats Zuccarello who had 40 points playing for Dallas and the New York Rangers last season. Gilbert likes Zuccarello’s skills, believes goalie Devan Dubnyk “can stop anybody, at any time,” and refers to Bruce Boudreau as a “great coach.” With Boudreau’s coaching and a roster that includes the return of Dumba and Koivu, Gilbert has this forecast: “They’re going to be really strong this season.”

Of course, the prediction comes without a guarantee. “No league has the parity that the NHL has,” Gilbert said. “You can finish 16th, and scratch your way in, and win the Stanley Cup if your goalie gets hot and your guys are playing well.”

Gilbert just finished authoring a book, Miracle in Lake Placid, that celebrates the 40th anniversary next year of the U.S. Olympic hockey team’s stunning march to the Gold Medal in 1980. Gilbert covered the team back then and had access to players and coach Herb Brooks that others didn’t.

Gilbert saved his notes from covering the American team almost 40 years ago. “I could recreate the West Germany game (for example) like it happened this afternoon,” he said.

Quoting new Wild general manager Bill Guerin’s message to the team: “I am not here to win friends. I am here to win games.”

Anthony LaPanta, the TV play-by-play voice of the Wild, is also an assistant football coach for the 4-1 Totino-Grace football team.

Gophers coach Richard Pitino, with seven new players, acknowledged he probably would have a different team if Amir Coffey hadn’t passed up his senior season of eligibility to turn pro. “But you can’t hold these guys back from doing what’s great for them and what they have dreamed of their whole lives,” he said at Big Ten Media Day yesterday in Rosemont, Illinois where expectations were high for teams like Michigan State and Ohio State, but low for Minnesota and Nebraska where Fred Hoiberg will coach his first Cornhuskers team.

Hoiberg, the former Minnesota Timberwolves player and front office executive, won’t lack for fan support in Lincoln. Despite minimal success predicted for his first team, all home games are sold out.

Forty years ago Mike Prochaska, Joe Hoffman, Kevin Keohen, and Dale Lapic were members of the Montgomery, Minnesota team that won the 1979 Babe Ruth state championship. The four are now part of the Union Hill Greyhounds team that last weekend won the amateur baseball Class 6A state championship for players over 50 years old with an 11-10 win over the Alexandria Redbirds. Hoffman scored the winning run for his team whose roster includes Dave “Greek” Wagner, a member of the Minnesota State Amateur Men’s Baseball Hall of Fame.

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Gopher Catalyst: Illini Loss in 2018

Posted on October 1, 2019October 1, 2019 by David Shama

A Tuesday notes column:

The Golden Gophers are 7-1 since last year’s embarrassing 55-31 loss to a bad Illinois team on the road. Minnesota has also won six straight games dating back to last season and that includes road wins over Wisconsin in 2018 and at Purdue last Saturday.

The last time the Gophers won six straight was during the 2003-2004 seasons. Minnesota’s overall records during those years were 10-3 and 7-5; with 5-3 and 3-5 totals in Big Ten games. Off to a 4-0 start this season, coach P.J. Fleck got his first opening conference win in three years against Purdue.

Right now the Gophers are favorites in their next four games, including this Saturday at home against 2-2 Illinois. The favorite label changes almost for sure when Big Ten power Penn State comes to Minneapolis November 9. After Illinois the Gophers face Nebraska, Rutgers and Maryland.

No team in the country runs slant patterns better than Minnesota does with its outstanding wide receivers. That’s what former Minnesota coach Glen Mason said on BTN Saturday after watching the Gophers gain 396 yards passing in their 38-31 win over Purdue, with a lot of yards coming on slant patterns.

Minnesota had four touchdown receptions from wide receivers in the game, with two by sophomore Rashod Bateman and one each from sophomore Chris Autman-Bell and senior Tyler Johnson. Fleck, who saw his Gophers score two touchdowns on plays following timeouts he called, said on his KFAN Radio show this afternoon that Bateman and Autman-Bell run about 22 miles per hour.

Minnesota sophomore quarterback Tanner Morgan is the Big Ten’s Co-Offensive Player of the Week after setting a single game conference record for passing completions. He was 21 of 22, a .955 percentage, the most in league history for any quarterback with 13 attempts or more.

The Gophers had issues with missed tackles in the Purdue game and Fleck said on the radio there was an emphasis on correcting the problem in practice today.

It will be interesting to see if the Gophers Athletic Department offers any more $10 flash sale tickets for home games. That seems unlikely for the Illinois, Nebraska and Wisconsin games but possible for Maryland and perhaps Penn State. A flash sale resulted in 7,150 tickets being sold for the home opener against South Dakota State.

The Nutrition Center at the Gophers’ Athletes Village is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. A variety of breakfast and lunch items is offered for about $11 per person.

Congratulations to Bob Stein and Alan Page on being selected for the Sports Business Journal list of the 100 most accomplished NFL alumni for what they achieved in their post-football careers. Stein, the former Gophers All-American defensive end who played for four NFL teams including the Minnesota Vikings, was a driving force as CEO for the expansion Minnesota Timberwolves and prior to that was a sports attorney. Page, the former Vikings defensive tackle and league MVP, is a retired state of Minnesota Supreme Court Justice who has devoted much of his life to community causes and last year was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House.

BTN covers Big Ten Men’s Basketball Media Day Wednesday including the news conference by Minnesota coach Richard Pitino starting at 8:30 a.m. from Rosemount, Illinois.

Sales of the new Goldy Gopher book (What Should I Be When I Grow Up?) has already resulted in $1,500 being donated to the Goldy Gopher Enhancement Fund at the University of Minnesota. Goldy’s Locker Room has partnered with Karen Kaler (wife of former U President Eric Kaler) to publish the children’s book featuring Goldy Gopher, with proceeds benefitting future Goldys.

The book, which follows the popular mascot on a journey around the University as he explores various fields of study, is exclusively available at Goldy’s Locker Room stores throughout the Twin Cities and online at goldyslockerroom.com. “Contributing to the mission of Goldy Gopher and the student athletes who make up the Spirit Squad is important to us. After all, Goldy is the face of our brand,” said Ron Leafblad, President and CEO of Gold Country.

Prep football coaching milestones: Marc Franz, Rogers, and Brian Remick, Red Lake County, won their 100th career games last Friday. Franz’s career record is 100-60 in 17 seasons as head coach at Rogers High School. Remick is 100-91 in 20 seasons as a head coach, including 12 at Red Lake County.

The Twins rank No. 5 in a Usatoday.com power rankings story about the 10 MLB playoff teams. Ahead of the Twins in the article posted yesterday are the Astros, Dodgers, Yankees and Braves.

When the Twins open their playoff series Friday against the Yankees in New York they face a team that defeated them four of six times during the regular season. The most memorable game might be the extra inning 14-12 Yankees win at Target Field July 23 that lasted five hours. There were six home runs in the game, with three travelling over 400 feet including a 457 blast by Minnesota’s Miguel Sano.

The Twins depart for New York on Wednesday and will work out at Yankee Stadium Thursday afternoon.

Twins president Dave St. Peter talking about the joy this year’s team brought to owner Jim Pohlad: “Jim…at his heart is a fan.”

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Word Is Twins Falvey Wants Long Stay

Posted on September 29, 2019September 29, 2019 by David Shama

With the emergence of the 2019 Twins as one of the best teams in Major League Baseball, the franchise’s front office leader, 36-year-old Derek Falvey, could be coveted by other organizations—and soon.

Falvey grew up in Lynn, Massachusetts near Boston. His home town is about a 20 minute car ride from Fenway Park, the historic home of the legendary Boston Red Sox organization that is looking for a new leader of its baseball operations. Twins president Dave St. Peter was asked by Sports Headliners if he expected the Red Sox to request permission to talk with Falvey, who received a five-year contract with Minnesota after being hired as chief baseball officer in November of 2016.

“I don’t know that,” St. Peter said. “What I do know is Derek and his wife (Meghan) love Minnesota. They’re incredibly committed to this community and what we’re trying to build with the Twins. Derek will speak for himself but I know that based on my time with him, his 100 percent focus is on Minnesota, and that’s where he wants …to be for a long, long time.”

Falvey will be a favorite to win the MLB Executive of the Year. The Twins, who finished with a 78-84 record last season, are among the biggest of surprise stories in baseball this year. Minnesota has a 101-60 record heading into today’s final regular season game against the Kansas City Royals, and can tie the 1965 team’s record of 102 wins in one season. The club has won a near franchise record number of games, led the AL Central for most of this season, shown both a remarkable consistency and resiliency, and hit a MLB record number of home runs, 304.

Other organizations will now look at the Twins when contemplating how to fill their staff needs on the big league and farm system levels. That doesn’t necessarily mean Falvey, GM Thad Levine or manager Rocco Baldelli will be leaving Minnesota but personnel further down on the organizational chart almost certainly will.

“The more success that we have, the more likely it is we’re going to lose some people to other organizations,” St. Peter acknowledged. “It’s just part of the deal. I’d much rather have that problem than have an organization that nobody is seeking anybody from.”

When Falvey was hired he quickly brought Levine to the Twins. The two have formed a close partnership. Their ideas, vision and personnel hires have changed the culture and the way the Twins operate. The franchise has invested in people, technology, systems and processes that have paid off and indicate future success, too.

“Derek is (an) incredibly intelligent, very relationship-focused individual,” St. Peter said. “In many ways we think he is the perfect leader for a modern baseball team.”

When St. Peter and the Pohlad family were looking for a new front office leader they learned from talking with candidates there was a high regard for the younger players in the organization. Falvey benefitted from the start in having developing talents like Jose Berrios, Byron Buxton, Max Kepler, Jorge Polanco, Eddie Rosario, Taylor Rogers and Miguel Sano under contract. They have been among the most signicant contributors to the surprising turnaround. But Falvey and helpers have brought in impact talent, too, including Ehire Adrianza, Willians Astudillo, Jason Castro, Marwin Gonzalez, Jake Odorizzi and Nelson Cruz, the veteran team leader and a popular choice for Twins MVP.

The decision by Falvey and Levine to fire manager Paul Molitor after last season was risky. Popular with the fan base and media, Molitor had been voted AL Manager of the Year in 2017. The decision to terminate him didn’t make sense to Molitor admirers and with the move Falvey and Levine positioned themselves for public ridicule in 2019 and beyond if Baldelli and the club failed on the field.

The 38-year-old Baldelli, who never managed before, took control of the Twins like he was a professor of the dugout and clubhouse. Baldelli has been unflappable in public, never berating players on the field or in the media. He and his staff, a reorganized group of coaches, have built trust with the players who are a diverse group with varied ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

“I think he (Baldelli) realizes that every player is different,” St. Peter said. “He has to have maybe a little different approach with one guy versus the next. But he also recognizes playing this game is hard and playing it over the course of 162 games in 180 days is really hard. There’s going to be ups and there’s going to be a lot of downs.

“There’s going to be some success but there’s going to be a lot more failures for every player. I think…Rocco understands that his role as the leader in this organization is to support those guys, to put them in a position to be successful.”

That success will have the Twins opening the postseason in New York against the Yankees on Friday. Minnesota’s road record, 55-25, is better than its 46-35 record for the home season in Minneapolis. “We’ve played incredibly well on the road so starting on the road in the postseason is not much of a concern,” St. Peter said. “It may even be an advantage.”

The Twins hope to have most of their injured players available for the postseason but reliever Sam Dyson, acquired in a trade with the Giants in July, may not even be with the club until 2021. He had shoulder surgery last week, and there is controversy whether he was injured when the Twins dealt for him. St. Peter doesn’t expect his club will receive future compensation from the Giants.

St. Peter is “bullish” about the Twins’ chances of competing for championships beyond this year. Despite a long list of expiring contracts, he expects the personnel core to return next season and that group could be blended with prospects the organization is optimistic about. That has the Twins president hopeful regarding competing for championships the next three seasons and beyond.

Owner Jim Pohlad was with the team last week when the Twins clinched the Central Division title. St. Peter believes the success was vindication for Pohlad who he thinks has been unfairly criticized by fans over the years as unwilling to spend money.

“It’s quite the opposite,” St. Peter said. “Jim has invested mightily in people, in process systems and facilities.”

St. Peter sees the support of the Pohlad family as providing a competitive advantage for the franchise. “Jim does not set a hard and fast budget (payroll) for our players. Derek Falvey has the autonomy to run our baseball operations. If you asked Derek, I think he would tell you that never once had Jim told him he could not do something.”

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