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.

Football Coaches Make a Hit on Cancer

Posted on April 8, 2018April 9, 2018 by David Shama

A Sunday notes column leading off with news from the weekend Minnesota Football Coaches Clinic.

Randy Shaver thanked Minnesota football coaches on Friday night for raising $1.3 million since the Tackle Cancer initiative began in 2012. “You’re changing people’s lives,” the KARE 11 newscaster told coaches at the clinic.

Minnetonka football coach Dave Nelson contacted Shaver six years ago with the idea of having the state’s prep coaches raise money for the Randy Shaver Cancer Research and Community Fund. Since then not only high school coaches but also the Vikings and college programs including the Gophers have raised monies for the Tackle Cancer effort. In 2017 a record $311,475 dollars was generated.

Shaver told the audience that in June it will be 20 years since he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s. As a cancer survivor he has helped fund a range of issues related to the disease including prevention, research and treatment.

Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck told clinic attendees about research on college and NFL games between 1950 and 2017 that supports the old adage “most games are lost, not won.” The research showed 78 percent of the time teams with the fewest turnovers and those with fewer than six missed tackles won their games. “The margin for error is so small,” Fleck said.

Talking about how the game of football is under attack, former Vikings center Matt Birk said the sport ranks fourth in causing concussions, and that it is not an activity for everybody. “I think we need to stop apologizing for football,” Birk said at the clinic.

Birk, who played at Harvard and also in the NFL, said the most fun he experienced in football was in high school competing for Cretin-Derham Hall.

Former Gopher assistant coach Dan O’Brien is leaving his position at Sun Country Airlines and starts full time April 30 at St. Thomas Academy where he will work in administration and be the new head football coach.

A recent visitor to Fleck’s new football complex needed directions from a Gopher player who not only was helpful but wished the outsider an “elite day.”

There are no remaining spring practices open to the public so the last opportunity to see Fleck’s Gophers will be Saturday’s annual Spring Game starting at noon in TCF Bank Stadium. Admission is free.

Illinois and Michigan State held their Spring Games yesterday. The other 12 Big Ten teams will stage their games by end of day next Saturday.

The Gophers open their schedule at home against New Mexico State on Thursday, August 30 but that game won’t command the attention of most Big Ten fans. Instead of playing nonconference opponents, Big Ten teams Northwestern and Purdue will meet in West Lafayette that same night Minnesota opens its season.

The Gophers will play a rare Friday night game October 26 at home against Indiana.

Fleck will speak at the Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge Minneapolis Gala May 4 at the Hilton Minneapolis.

The Minnesota Football Coaches Association (MFCA) inducted five individuals into the high school division of its Hall of Fame Saturday night: Mike Belseth, Breckenridge; Steve Fedie, Orono; Doug Torgerson, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City; Ray Tri, Eden Valley-Watkins; and Terry Turek, LeSeuer-Henderson. Inducted into the citation division was Mike Bialka from Brainerd.

Leo Pohlkamp of Pierz is the 2017 MFCA Coach of the Year. Pohlkamp, who was presented with the award Saturday night, coached Pierz to the Class 3A state title last November. His 2015 Pierz team also won the 3A championship.

Jamal James of Minneapolis headlines a boxing card at the Minneapolis Armory on Friday night in a welterweight match against Abel Ramos from Casa Grande, Arizona. James, 22-1, is ranked No. 4 in the world by the World Boxing Association.

The fight will be televised by FS-1 and is the first pro boxing at the renovated Armory in 45 years.

Ryan Larson, the competitive point guard from Cretin-Derham Hall who Gopher fans have been hoping makes his way to Dinkytown, has received a scholarship offer from Northern Iowa.

Transfer watch: Will freshman guard Jamir Harris, who the Gophers announced is transferring, end up at Connecticut? With the Huskies he could rejoin assistant coach Kimani Young, the ex-Minnesota staffer who recruited Harris to the Gophers.

It is good news for Apple Valley’s Tre Jones that Duke freshman point guard Trevon Duval declared for the NBA Draft last week—despite some unimpressive numbers. The departure makes more certain Jones, the acclaimed local point guard and 2018 Minnesota Mr. Basketball, will start for the Blue Devils next season.

Duval started 34 of 37 games for last season, averaging 10.3 points per game while making 43 percent of his field goals (29 percent of threes) and converting 60 percent of his free throws. Duval, who averaged almost six assists per game, is projected to be a late first round draft choice by Nbadraftt.net.

The website projects former Apple Valley star Gary Trent Jr. will be drafted No. 16 in the first round. Trent announced yesterday he also will be leaving Duke after one season. He was third on the team in scoring at 14.5 points per game. The shooting guard made an impressive .402 percent of his three point attempts.

Best score reported from last Thursday’s Sports Headliners Twins Trivia Quiz was 20 of 25 correct.

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Getting Trivial about the Twins

Posted on April 5, 2018April 10, 2018 by David Shama

The Twins open their 2018 home schedule today and Sports Headliners joins in the festivities offering the following trivia quiz about Minnesota’s Major League Baseball team. Whether at the game gulping hot coffee, or at home huddled near the TV and fireplace, try your luck at answering these 25 questions (with answers at the bottom). Let me know your score.

1. What year did Target Field open?

2. How many years have the Twins opened their regular season schedule at Target Field?

3. How many games is Twins shortstop Jorge Polanco suspended for until he can rejoin the team?

4. These three starting pitchers combined to hold the Orioles to five hits and no runs in Minnesota’s opening series of the year. Name the pitchers.

5. Who is the current Twin that was the organization’s Minor League Player of the Year in 2017?

6. Name the American League club that had three former Twins in its opening day lineup this season.

7. What is the coldest temperature ever for a Twins home opener?

8. Where did the Twins play and against what team when they opened the 1961 regular season schedule?

9. This former Twins skipper in the 1970s also once managed the Minneapolis Millers. Name him.

10. Three times in the last 30 years a Twins skipper has been named American League Manager of the Year. Name the managers and the years they were honored.

11. In what years did the Twins win their two World Series titles?

12. In what Caribbean island will the Twins play a two-game series later this month?

13. Who is the oldest player on the Twins’ roster and what is his age?

14. This Minnesota native and former Twin now pitches for the Phillies. Who is he?

15. In the past Twins TV analyst Bert Blyleven has often talked about his birthday. When is his birthday?

16. The parents of this Twins regular were ballet dancers. Who is he?

17. If Joe Mauer decided to play college football coming out of high school, where was he headed?

18. Who is the Twins player Torii Hunter refers to as “Mighty Mouse”?

19. This former Twins pitcher will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York later this year. Who is he?

20. What year did the Twins draw over 3 million fans?

21. Who is the former Twins left-handed pitcher that said owner Calvin Griffith threw nickels around like “manhole covers?”

22. Brian Dozier led the Twins in home runs with 34 last year? Who was second on the team and how many did he hit?

23. This new Twin is known for his upper cut home run swing. Who is he?

24. Who was the public address announcer at the Metrdoome who drew hoots with his warning, “No smoking in the Metrodome.”

25. Who are the only Twins ever to collect 2,000 hits in their careers in Minnesota?

Trivia Quiz Answers Below

1. Target Field opened to acclaims in 2010 and has remained on short lists ranking the best baseball stadiums in America.

2. The only time the Twins have opened a season at Target Field was in 2013 (April Fool’s Day) when the Tigers won 4-2.

3. Jorge Polanco, who tested positive for a positive-enhancing substance, is suspended by MLB for the first 80 games of the 2018 season.

4. Jose Berrios, Kyle Gibson and Jake Odorizzi combined to shutout the Orioles over 21 innings and held Baltimore batters to a 0.74 average.

5. Mitch Garver, who is now a backup catcher with the Twins, was named the organization’s Minor League Player of the Year in 2017 while hitting .291 with 17 home runs at Triple-A Rochester.

6. The Rays starters on opening day last week included Twins alums Carlos Gomez, Wilson Ramos and Denard Span.

7. The temperature was 33 degrees for the Twins home opener at Met Stadium against the Angels on April 14, 1962. (Hope you had a good trivia quiz to divert attention from the cold.)

8. After relocating from Washington D.C. and changing their name from the Senators to the Twins, Minnesota’s new major league baseball franchise played its first ever regular season game on April 11, 1961 in New York and defeated the Yankees 6-0.

9. Gene Mauch, known as “the little general,” managed the Twins from 1976-1980, and he also managed the minor league Minneapolis Millers during the 1958 and 1959 seasons.

10. Paul Molitor was the AL Manager of the Year Award in 2017. His Twins predecessors in winning the award in the last 30 years are Tom Kelly in 1991 and Ron Gardenhire in 2010.

11. Minnesota won the World Series in 1987 and 1991 with dramatic Game Seven victories in the Metrodome against the Cardinals and Braves.

12. The Twins will play the Indians in the Puerto Rico Series in San Juan April 17 and 18.

13. Relief pitcher Fernando Rodney, who turned 41 last month, is the Twins’ oldest player and has been in the big leagues since 2002.

14. Minnesota native Pat Neshek, who pitched for the Twins from 2006-2010, is with the Phillies—his seventh big league team.

15. Bert Blyleven will be 67 tomorrow (Friday). Happy Birthday, Bert. You are “circled.”

Max Kepler (photo courtesy of Minnesota Twins).

16 Apparently German-born Twins right fielder Max Kepler gets his athleticism from his parents who were ballet dancers.

17. As a high school quarterback Joe Mauer verbally committed to Florida State but decided to play pro baseball after leaving Cretin-Derham Hall.

18. Eduardo Escobar, 5-10 and 185 pounds, was referred to as “Mighty Mouse” last year when he hit a career high 21 home runs.

19. St. Paul native Jack Morris, beloved in Minnesota for pitching the Twins to their 1-0 Game Seven World Series win in 1991, will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame this summer.

20. In 1989 the Twins became the first ever American League franchise to draw more than 3 million fans.

21. Tight-fisted Calvin Griffith prompted that quote from Jim Kaat on throwing nickels around like “manhole covers.”

22. Miguel Sano, despite playing in only 114 games, was second on the Twins in home runs last season with 28.

23. Logan Morrison, in his eighth year in the big leagues, grooved his swing last season with the Rays hitting a career high 38 home runs—15 more than his previous high.

24. The late Bob Casey gave the no smoking edict and was the Twins’ public address voice every season from 1961-2004.

25. Membership in the Twins’ 2,000 hit club belongs to Kirby Puckett with 2,304 and Rod Carew, 2,085.

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Twins Likely to Avoid Final 4 Conflict

Posted on April 3, 2018April 4, 2018 by David Shama

A Tuesday notes column leading off with Twins news.

The Twins have requested they not be scheduled for home games at Target Field during the April 6-8, 2019 Final Four in Minneapolis. Club president Dave St. Peter said after consulting with Final Four organizers and considering potential issues with hotel rooms, traffic and other concerns the Twins have requested that Major League Baseball schedule the team on the road during that early period in April.

The club has yet to receive the 2019 MLB schedule but it sounds like their request will be honored. “It will be very likely that we will be on the road during the Final Four next year,” St. Peter told Sports Headliners yesterday.

Because of the request to avoid the early April dates, the Twins’ 2019 regular season opening could begin at home outdoors in March. St. Peter said MLB teams may open the schedule on March 28. Since the opening of Target Field on 2010, the Twins have been scheduled at home to start the season just once.

St. Peter also said suspended starting shortstop Jorge Polanco is at the Twins’ complex in Fort Myers where he is playing in what’s called “extended spring training games.” Polanco and others in the Twins system who have yet to be assigned to a specific team in the minor leagues play against similar competition from other organizations.

St. Peter said Polanco, who is suspended for using a performance-enhancing substance, will play for one or more Twins minor league teams starting 20 days out from the end of his 80 game suspension.

Gophers 1968-1969 basketball captain Al Nuness arranged a trip in 2010 with cousins Tyus and Tre Jones to the Final Four in Indianapolis. At that time Tyus was in eighth grade and Tre was a grade schooler. Back then no one could have predicted the basketball success the Jones brothers have achieved eight years later.

Tre, a senior now at Apple Valley, was named the state’s Mr. Basketball last week and played in the prestigious McDonald’s All-American Game featuring the best prep players in the nation. Those are two honors Tyus earned in 2014. The Mr. Basketball Award dates back to the 1970s, and Tre and Tyus are the only brothers to win the award.

Tyus and Tre led Apple Valley to Class 4A state championships playing for the Eagles. Tyus was named the 2015 Final Four most outstanding player when Duke won the national championship and a few months later found himself on the roster of his hometown NBA Timberwolves. Next fall Tre joins a loaded with talent Duke team that could be consensus preseason favorites to win the 2019 Final Four in Minneapolis.

So it looks like Nuness, who took his young cousins to Indy eight years ago to inspire them, might be able to witness another headline moment in 2019. He saw in Indy how the two youngsters studied the Final Four players in 2010 and the trip certainly made an impression. “We went to practices and they wouldn’t leave,” Nuness has said.

Tyus, who turns 22 next month, is one of only six players who were on the Wolves’ roster in April of last year. The club has nine new players including injured forward Jimmy Butler who the Wolves hope will return soon from his knee surgery and at least be available for the playoffs if Minnesota can qualify.

The Wolves have sold out 15 games at Target Center this season, the most since 2003-2004 when they last qualified for the postseason.

The Pirates’ Jameson Taillon, who overcame testicular cancer last year, earned his first win this season after starting against the Twins yesterday. Taillon, 8-7 with a 4.44 ERA last season, was the second MLB overall draft choice in 2010 and debuted with the Pirates in 2016.

The Twins haven’t had success bringing over high profile players from Japan but it looks like a different story for the Angels and rookie pitcher-DH Shohei Ohtani. He won his MLB pitching debut Sunday against the Angels, showing off a 100-miles per hour fast ball, according to NBC Sports California who reported 240 Japanese media were at the game in Oakland against the A’s.

It’s a good guess former Gopher coach Tubby Smith’s salary at his new position with High Point University in North Carolina is paying him less than $200,000 annually. A financial report on athletics from the University for school year June 1, 2013 through May 31, 2014 listed head basketball coach Scott Cherry’s compensation at $89,601. The same report listed basketball revenues during that period at about $1.9 million and operating expenses of approximately $1.6 million.

Smith, who played at High Point, is at his third school since being fired by the Gophers in March of 2013. Smith earned seven-figure compensation while coaching at Minnesota, Texas Tech and Memphis where he was dismissed last month and reportedly received a settlement of over $9 million.

The Gophers are offering discounted season tickets for football and men’s basketball and hockey to U alums who have graduated within the last five years. Pricing per ticket is $199 for football, $249 for basketball and $399 for hockey.

Fans can scout Minnesota Wild unsigned draft picks Nicholas Boka (Michigan), Avery Peterson (UMD) and Nick Swaney (UMD) in the NCAA Frozen Four April 5-7 at Xcel Energy Center. UMD plays Ohio State in the first semifinal the evening of April 5, while Michigan meets Notre Dame in the other semifinal. Both games will be televised on ESPN2. The championship game the night of April 7 will be seen on ESPN.

The Wild, who qualified for the playoffs last night, are one of only two NHL teams (Pittsburgh is the other) that has made the postseason six consecutive years.

Gopher baseball coach John Anderson, who labels Indiana as the favorite for the Big Ten title but sees his team as a contender, speaks to the CORES lunch group May 10 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington, 1114 American Blvd. More information is available by contacting Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans.

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