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 Get Down on a Road Trip

Posted on January 6, 2019January 6, 2019 by David Shama

Never get discouraged while preparing for a road trip.

I followed my own advice late last week. Prior to leaving for Madison, Wisconsin, a friend texted that the Golden Gophers were 10 point underdogs for Thursday night’s game against the Badgers. This didn’t put a frown on my face—perhaps because a few days earlier Jim Dutcher (the ex-Gopher coach) predicted a Minnesota win over Wisconsin in Sports Headliners.

If I was searching for discouragement I needed to go no further than the Gophers basketball record book. A Gopher team hadn’t won in Madison since 2009, although Minnesota prompted cardiac arrest among the most emotional U fans last year by taking the Badgers into overtime at the Kohl Center.

I wasn’t that concerned about history when I set out for Madison with a friend last Thursday morning. Nope, and I didn’t get upset when traffic on interstates 90 and 94 resembled Crosstown 62 in Minneapolis. “Left lane hogs” clogging traffic on the interstates in Wisconsin would have fit right in back home.

During the drive my friend and I dissected the Minnesota sports scene, commenting at length on the Gophers, Timberwolves, Twins, Vikings and Wild. We covered enough detail for three or four Sports Headliners columns, but here’s a tease of minutia:

· Disagreement about what team holds the most promise in 2019, with my vote going to the Vikings and my friend leaning toward (gasp!) Gophers football.

· Consensus that the five greatest all-time Twins are (in order): Kirby Puckett, Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, Tony Oliva and Joe Mauer.

· Lamenting the length of baseball games and how the duration and tediousness is eating at the interest among even the most passionate MLB fans. One possible solution (multiple are needed) is declaring a batter out after a half dozen or so pitches are fouled off.

A first clue that happiness awaited in Madison could have been the balmy and sunny early January weather. It was warm enough to wear a light jacket and a Madisonian was spotted wearing shorts. (Not sure if beer was involved but word is it does powerful things to the mind and body.)

A first time visit to the Kohl Center was part of the fun in making the trip. I am forever curious about stadiums and arenas. I try to visit as many as possible when travelling—regardless of whether there are games going on.

The Kohl Center was built in 1998, making it one of the newer arenas in major college basketball. It’s a comfortable and impressive place. Think of Target Center on a budget.

The building seats 17,287 for basketball, more for concerts and less for Wisconsin hockey. The Badgers had 143 consecutive basketball sellouts from 2003-2011, and UW has been leading the Big Ten in basketball attendance this winter.

“Bucky” does a great job of paying tribute to past UW sports heroes in the building. The concourses are filled with display cases where you might read about football immortal Elroy “Crazylegs” Hirsch, or Bud Foster who coached the Badgers to their only NCAA men’s basketball title in 1941. Frank “the Tank” Kaminsky, who led the Badgers to consecutive Final Four appearances, has his No. 44 enshrined in the rafters.

Want more name-dropping? Well, what’s a Badger game—in Minneapolis or Madison—without an Andy North sighting. The silver-haired golf guru is still offering his words of wisdom on TV, and showing up to support his beloved Badgers.

Before tipoff a University of Minnesota employee approached us at our seats (provided by a good friend and UW alum). “I still like Williams Arena more,” he said.

His opinion about Minnesota’s iconic building nearing a 100th anniversary certainly didn’t surprise, but he offered something else that I quickly categorized as a good omen about the game’s possible outcome. The Gophers, he said, travelled to Madison by bus—the same mode of transportation the football team used in late November when they won at Wisconsin for the first time since 1994.

The basketball Gophers not only hadn’t won in Madison for nine years but had also lost eight consecutive games to Wisconsin going into Thursday’s get together. I was looking for signs of better things to come, and I received encouragement early in the game.

Minnesota’s players looked prepared from the beginning, mentally focused and playing better defense than sometimes executed by Pitino teams. The Badgers, because of Minnesota’s defense and their own poor shooting, got stuck on six points for a long stretch in the first half in front of a reported crowd of 16,687.

Coffey photo courtesy of Minnesota Athletic Communications

By halftime the Gophers held a 29-14 lead. Junior guard-forward Amir Coffey had been terrific, making field goals, slashing to the basket for scores and playmaking. He looked, as Dutcher said earlier in the week, like one of the Big Ten’s most versatile players.

During halftime I turned to my friend and predicted the first several minutes after intermission would tell a lot about whether the Badgers came back in the game. Well, once in awhile I am right. Within a few minutes the Gophers put themselves in foul trouble and the Badgers reduced the lead to single digits.

Minnesota, though, never let Wisconsin get closer than four points while earning a significant 59-52 road win that made the Gophers 2-1 in the Big Ten, and left the top 25 ranked Badgers with the same record. While Coffey scored just six points in the second half, and season leading rebounder and scorer Jordan Murphy fouled out of the game, the Gophers got some heroics from guards Brock Stull and Dupree McBrayer.

Stull, a senior transfer who has mostly played limited minutes this season with minimal production, made consecutive three pointers in the second half. Those unexpected six points had Pitino exhilarated on the sidelines and helped turn back a Badger run.

McBrayer, also a senior, turned two consecutive loose balls by the Badgers into points for the Gophers near the game’s end. Those points pretty much did in “Bucky,” although the Badgers still had a chance to tie or win even with 25 seconds to play.

In the closing minutes a lot of Badgers fans vacated their seats and headed for the exits. That was surprising, and so, too, were the boos that reined down on the Badger players and coaches during parts of the game. Maybe some Wisconsin fans are spoiled after so many Big Ten titles and trips to the NCAA Tournament during the last 20 years.

I am not encouraging booing college athletes but the frustration of Badger fans was understandable. Their Badgers made only seven of 17 free throws during a night their fans could have pleaded, “Is their shot doctor in the house?”

The Gophers held Wisconsin to an uncharacteristically low 22.7 percent on three pointers. The Badgers made just five of 22 attempts. D’Mitrik Trice, who entered the game converting more than 50 percent of his three point shots, made two of seven. Badgers star center Ethan Happ bedeviled Gophers defenders with his low post moves and shots but made just one of seven free throws on a night when he scored 17 points.

Guard Brad Davison and forward Nate Reuvers, both Minnesota natives, played 30 and 32 minutes respectively. Davison, whose image was on the game tickets, had an off night, scoring four points with two assists. Reuvers, whose photo was on the game program, helped lead the Wisconsin second half comeback. He scored 12 points with five rebounds.

Badgers fan don’t like losing to their “border rival” but none uttered a negative word to us as we made our way out of the Kohl Center and to the parking ramp. Not even my companion’s Gopher jacket could prompt a look of disdain or curt remark from our border neighbors.

In return I offer my red outfitted friends the following advice: Don’t get discouraged either at home or on the road. “Bucky” will be back.

Comments Welcome

Playoff Return Predicted for Vikings

Posted on January 4, 2019January 4, 2019 by David Shama

Enjoy a Friday notes column.

If you ask Bob Lurtsema, the Vikings are “almost a no-brainer” to be back in the playoffs next year. The former Viking defensive lineman, who sits in the press box for home games and remains close to his beloved franchise, wasn’t happy with the results of last Sunday’s loss to the Bears, and a 8-7-1 record that wasn’t good enough to qualify for the postseason, but he told Sports Headliners things will be better in 2019 if management keeps its core players in place.

Lurtsema’s optimism focuses on quarterback Kirk Cousins, who in 2019 will be in his second season with the club and will have more familiarity with receivers. Lurtsema is still confused as to why the franchise’s decision makers turned away from quarterback Case Keenum who was on “the same page” as his receivers and was a huge contributor in helping the Vikings to a 13-3 record in 2017. Nevertheless, he admires Cousins, too, describing him as a “very, very good quarterback.”

“They will be back (in the playoffs) if they don’t make a lot of changes because it’s a passing league, and Cousins has a tremendous work ethic and is respected by teammates,” Lurtsema said.

Put Lurtsema in the same category as so many fans that the enough effort from the Vikings in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 24-10 loss to the Bears who dethroned Minnesota as NFC North Division champions. He described himself as a poor loser and he saw an absence of intensity from both the offense and defense including late in the game when the Vikings trailed only 13-10.

Any subpar effort in such a big game is on both the players and coaches. Difficult to understand but head coach Mike Zimmer did offer some insights at his news conference yesterday.

Zimmer said his previous Vikings teams had a nasty attitude that included the approach they were going to win regardless of circumstances or situations. He commented to organization insiders during the season that the 2018 group had a different “vibe.”

“…I can’t figure out why, because we have a lot of the same guys back,” Zimmer said. “We have good football players. I wasn’t really different than I normally am. But for some reason, we didn’t finish the games like we’d finished before. I don’t know why. We had the lead in a bunch of games last year that we finished, and this year we were playing catch up more so, so I don’t know if that’s it or not. But we’re going to get that mentality back, I can promise you that.”

A lot of fans want ownership to dismiss Zimmer and general manager Rick Spielman, but both are good at what they do. Zimmer has to develop a better working relationship with whoever his offensive coordinator is going to be and allow that leader a lot of authority. Spielman must solve the personnel problems on the offensive line, particularly at the guard positions.

Could the Wilf ownership group find football leaders better than Zimmer and Spielman? Sure but it is a big IF and apparently not a direction the Wilfs want to pursue yet.

This could be an opportune time for Vikings fans to take a deep breath and reconsider how difficult it is to win in the 32-team NFL where the draft and other rules dictate parity. It’s an extremely competitive industry filled with talented decision makers trying to put their team among the league’s elite.

Sports Illustrated’s December 31 issue included an eight page feature on the Vikings with details about Spielman’s superstitious routine on home game days. He wakes up at 5 a.m., takes his dogs for a walk and eats the same breakfast sandwich (egg, bacon and peanut butter), according to the story. He shaves the left side of his face first, and puts his socks and shoes on before his pants. He also drives the same route to U.S. Bank Stadium including buying gas at the same station and ending his purchase on a zero.

Lurtsema said “stats maybe for losers” but the goals of NFL defenses include holding opponents under 100 yards rushing and less than 150 yards passing. The Bears rushed for 169 yards and held the Vikings to 63. Chicago had 163 yards passing, while limiting the Vikings to 132.

Among free agent signings the Vikings announced this week was running back Roc Thomas, a rookie with the club in 2018 who was on the active roster for nine weeks. His signing could be an indication veteran running back and 2019 free agent Latavius Murray won’t be back with the team.

Sue Platou, who passed away late last month, had a popular sportscast segment decades ago on WCCO TV when appearing as “Bronco” she predicted the outcome of Vikings and Golden Gophers football games. Her first husband was 1956 and 1957 University of Minnesota quarterback Bobby Cox, who is the only Gophers football player ever to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

More in next Monday’s column on attending last night’s upset Gophers win against Wisconsin in Madison including Badgers fans booing and leaving the Kohl Center when the game was still undecided.

USA Today reported in yesterday’s issue that NFL TV ratings were up eight percent over 2017 for games on CBS, NBC and ESPN. Fox was up four percent.

“Mean” Gene Okerlund passed away last week and was known to much of the nation’s pro wrestling fans for his TV interviews of WEE performers but he got his start with the Minneapolis-based AWA and Verne Gagne. Gene’s friend and former wrestler Jim Brunzell emailed that Okerlund had three kidney transplants prior to his passing.

Phil Esten, the former Gophers athletic department executive most recently at Penn State, starts his new job as athletics director at St. Thomas on January 14.

Monday is the last day to make reservations for next Thursday’s CORES lunch program at the Bloomington Event Center, 1114 American Blvd. Mike Max, one of the best radio-TV sports journalists in town, will be the speaker. For reservations and other information, contact Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net.

The Minnesota Wild are among the promoters involved with the 6th Annual USA Hockey Blind Hockey Summit scheduled August 23-25 at the TRIA Rink at Treasure Island Center in St. Paul. There are approximately 150 blind hockey players in the United States, including in Minnesota. All players are legally blind, with some having no vision. The event next August will include games for participants of various sizes and skill levels, plus a coaching clinic, a “try-it” session for local newcomers and a community banquet.

The Minnesota Football Coaches Association reports exceeding the 2018 Tackle Cancer fundraising goal of $325,000 with a total of $340,000. In seven years the MFCA has raised over $1.6 million.

Comments Welcome

Dutcher Predicts 4th Place for Gophers

Posted on January 2, 2019January 2, 2019 by David Shama

Jim Dutcher told Sports Headliners on Monday that coach Richard Pitino’s Golden Gophers will finish fourth in the Big Ten standings this winter. Dutcher, Minnesota’s Big Ten championship basketball coach in 1982, also predicted the Gophers will defeat Wisconsin tomorrow night in Madison on the way to earning an invitation in March to the NCAA Tournament.

Dutcher, who coached some of the best teams in Gopher history, believes Michigan, Michigan State and Indiana are the top three programs in a loaded Big Ten that this week has seven teams ranked in the Associated Press and USA Today top 25 national polls. Minnesota, 11-2, isn’t one of those ranked teams yet but Dutcher likes the potential of Pitino’s group.

The Gophers’ physical size is one of the team’s attributes and their rotation of lengthy bodies got a boost this week with the return of injured power forward Eric Curry. He adds size, depth, experience and skill to a group that includes Daniel Oturu, Matz Stockman, Jordan Murphy and Amir Coffey.

Dutcher refers to Murphy and Coffey as potential all-conference players who can lead Minnesota back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in two years. As of Monday, Murphy was leading the nation in rebounding at 12.6 per game. The senior forward is eighth in Big Ten career rebounds with 1,065. He is also Minnesota’s leading scorer.

As a three-position player at point guard, shooting guard and small forward, Coffey can defend, pass, dribble and score inside and outside. Dutcher considers the Minnesota junior as “probably the most versatile player in the conference.”

While Murphy is consistent in his play, Coffey needs to be steadier. Dutcher and others want to see more of the performance Coffey had in a December Big Ten win over Nebraska, 85-78. Coffey scored 32 points, with six rebounds and six assists against the Cornhuskers. Dutcher said the 6-foot-8 former Hopkins star “almost single handedly won” the game for Minnesota.

A front line of Coffey, Murphy and Otru is a strength for a Gophers team that some experts don’t rate as highly as Dutcher. Guard play beyond Coffey is a bit suspect, although Dutcher and others like the accurate long range shooting of freshman Gabe Kalscheur. The two guards that Dutcher said need to come through are senior Dupree McBrayer and sophomore Isaiah Washington.

McBrayer usually starts games, with Washington playing significant minutes off the bench. When McBrayer is on the floor, the team often defers to Coffey as its point guard or playmaker. McBrayer and Washington have struggled to score this season, making 41 and 27.6 percent of their field goals. On three-point shots their percentages are .29.3 and 13.8.

“I think if there’s a question mark on this team it is the ability to make the three and ability to defend the three,” Dutcher said. “That’s where they gotta get better.”

(Minnesota’s team three point percentage is 30.6, while opponents are making 35.3 percent.)

Washington has impressed with his playmaking including assists. He leads the team with 53 and has been at his best in recent games.

Minnesota is 1-1 in Big Ten games, while the Badgers are 2-0 and 10-3 overall. The Badgers are ranked No. 22 the AP poll and No. 23 by USA Today.

Dutcher doesn’t hesitate when predicting a Minnesota win. “They should beat Wisconsin,” he said. “Wisconsin maybe overrated.”

The Badgers are led by senior center Ethan Happ, who is one of most productive players in the country. He is averaging 19.2 points per game, 10.7 rebounds and 4.9 assists.

The Badgers, though, may not have as much talent as Minnesota. “We’re a lot deeper than Wisconsin and we should give them some real problems guarding us on the inside if we can get Happ in a little foul trouble,” Dutcher said.

Worth Noting

WCCO Radio and TV sports personality Mike Max speaks to the CORES lunch group January 10 at the Bloomington Event Center (formerly the Knights of Columbus building), 1114 American Blvd. For reservations and other information, contact Jim Dotseth by next Monday, dotsethj@comcast.net. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans.

The Gopher volleyball team hasn’t seen the last of Oregon, the team that ended Minnesota’s season in the NCAA Tournament in early December in Minneapolis. Coach Hugh McCutcheon told Sports Headliners his Gophers will face the Ducks in 2019 as part of the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge.

McCutcheon will have 15 of 18 players returning from his Big Ten champions who were 27-4 overall last year. That’s the most returnees he has had in his seven seasons as Gophers coach.

Twins personnel boss Derek Falvey talking on Sunday’s WCCO Radio “Sports Huddle” program didn’t hesitate in referring to his starting outfield positions being set for 2019 with Eddie Rosario in left, Byron Buxton in center and Max Kepler in right.

Joe Haeg, the Brainerd native who is a starting offensive tackle for the Colts, was available to the Vikings in the 2016 draft but the club past on him in the fifth round after choosing offensive lineman Willie Beavers from Western Michigan in the fourth round. Haeg was an All-American at North Dakota State and is expected to start for the Colts in their playoff game against the Titans Saturday. Beavers is no longer with the Vikings.

Haeg played in the 2011 Minnesota High School All-Star Football Game with C.J. Ham and Brandon Zylstra, both of whom are now with the Vikings. Haeg was a major contributor to the 2010 Brainerd team that upset Eden Prairie in the state high school playoffs.

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, son of the former Twins pitcher by the same name, threw his 50th touchdown pass of the season on Sunday. He joins Tom Brady (50 in 2007) and Peyton Manning (55 in 2013) as the only NFL quarterbacks ever to throw 50 or more TD passes in a single season.

That was Cretin-Derham Hall alum Jashon Cornell making plays on the defensive line for Ohio State in yesterday’s Rose Bowl win over Washington.

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