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.

Honors Now & Coming for Murphy

Posted on March 1, 2018March 1, 2018 by David Shama

A Thursday notes column.

Although Jordan Murphy had a disappointing season-ending game last night against Rutgers in the Big Ten Tournament, the junior power forward is Minnesota’s most valuable player in 2018 and next fall will be regarded as a potential All-American.

Murphy, who missed most of the first half because of foul trouble, scored 11 points and had nine rebounds in the Rutgers game. Murphy’s rebounds pushed his career total at Minnesota to 910, moving him into third place all-time behind Mychal Thompson’s 956 and Kevin McHale’s 950.

The San Antonio native, who leads the nation’s Division I players in double-doubles, just missed picking up his 25th in 32 games last evening. He broke Thompson’s single season school record of 21 double-doubles, and he leads the Big Ten in rebounding with an average of 11.3 per game.

Murphy, who tied Tim Duncan’s NCAA record streak of 17 double-doubles to begin a season, could move into second place in 2019 behind Thompson’s career points total of 1,992. Murphy has 1,282 career points.

The only Gopher to start every game this season, the powerful 6-7, 250-pound Murphy was Minnesota’s leading rebounder and scorer (averaging 16.8 points per game). He was named to the media’s second team All-Big Ten group this week. The conference coaches put him on the third team.

Murphy was a second team selection last year and is the first Gopher since Vincent Grier in 2006 to be All-Big Ten in consecutive years. Thompson, from 1976-78, was the last Minnesota player to be all-conference three consecutive seasons.

Going into next fall Murphy’s name will be considered when preseason candidates for Big Ten Player of the Year are discussed. He will also receive attention regarding preseason All-America teams and will certainly be on the watch list for the Karl Malone Award honoring the nation’s best power forward. He is in the running for that award this season.

That was former Gopher football player Lewis Garrison officiating last night’s Big Ten Tournament basketball game in New York between Illinois and Iowa.

The Golden Gophers don’t have a single player at this week’s NFL Combine in Indianapolis but that’s likely to change in 2019. Ryan Burns, publisher of GopherIllustrated.com, told Sports Headliners he believes 2018 senior offensive tackle Donnell Greene could project as a third or fourth round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Burns said word is Greene and running back Rodney Smith, also a senior next fall, were informed by NFL sources if they declared for the 2018 draft they projected as late picks. Smith could have a third consecutive season of rushing for more than 950 yards next fall and enhance his positioning in the 2019 draft.

Smith’s three-year partner at running back, Shannon Brooks, and senior placekicker Emmit Carpenter, might also be at the Combine a year from now. Brooks is an elusive runner who has made touchdowns runs of 37 yards or more five times in his Minnesota career. Carpenter, at 81.8 percent, has the best field goal conversion percentage in Gopher history and is a former Big Ten Kicker of the Year.

Former Gopher assistant coach and captain Grant Potulny has his Northern Michigan team seeded No. 2 in the WCHA playoffs that begin Friday. In his first season as head coach the Wildcats have won 21 games, the most since 2006.

Potulny was named Northern Michigan’s head coach in April of last year. At 21-12-3 overall, the Wildcats have won 20 games for the first time since 2010.

Potulny, who was an assistant at Minnesota for eight seasons, has long been known as a leader. He was a three-time captain of the Gophers during his career from 2000-2004. During that period the Gophers won two national titles.

If and when the Gophers head coaching job opens up, Potulny’s name could prompt consideration. Don Lucia is finishing his 19th season as head coach and the University of Minnesota athletic department hasn’t made a long-term contractual commitment to him.

Lucia’s current contract has one more season and athletic director Mark Coyle will need to make decisions soon. Lucia has made it known in the past that operating on a soon-to-expire contract is a detriment to recruiting.

Potulny’s Wildcats are scheduled at home Friday, Saturday and Sunday in WCHA men’s quarterfinals playoff games against Alabama-Huntsville, 11-21-2, and the No. 6 seed. The No. 1 tourney seed is Minnesota State.

This weekend’s Big Ten Tournament men’s hockey quarterfinal series between Minnesota and Penn State in University Park, Pennsylvania, will be broadcast live on Fox Sports North channels, and streamed on BTN2Go and Fox Sports Go. The best-of-three series starts Friday and will be televised by Fox Sports North Plus, with Saturday’s game on Fox Sports North. If necessary, the deciding game will be Sunday and aired on Fox Sports North. All three games will be played at 6 p.m. Central Time.

This is the first year since the inception of Big Ten hockey in 2013-2014 that the Gophers haven’t been regular season conference champions. A 10-12-2 record this winter placed the Gophers fifth in the league standings behind Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State.

Jake Odorizzi, the recently acquired right-hander expected to be an impact starter for the Twins, makes his debut with Minnesota Friday when he starts a spring training afternoon game against the Blue Jays. The game won’t be televised in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

It looks like DH-first baseman Kennys Vargas, who in three major league seasons with the Twins hasn’t established himself as a regular, is the odd man out with the recent acquisition of free agent Logan Morrison who fills the same role. Both Vargas and the Twins likely would welcome a trade.

The February 26 issue of Sports Illustrated ranks the top 100 baseball players in the majors and the list starts with Angels’ superstar Mike Trout, and includes three Twins: No. 41 Brian Dozier, No. 68 Byron Buxton and No. 78 Ervin Santana. Noticeably missing: Twins slugger Miguel Sano who had a controversial 2017 on and off the field.

The Gophers’ Hugh McCutcheon, whose volleyball coaching resume includes the Olympics, speaks to the CORES lunch group March 8 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington, 1114 American Blvd. Reservations are needed by March 5. 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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Kirk Cousins Resume Prompts Scrutiny

Posted on February 27, 2018February 27, 2018 by David Shama

Count former Viking Bob Lurtsema as someone hoping the Kirk Cousins to the Vikings rumors aren’t true. Yesterday and today multiple reports speculate the Redskins’ free agent quarterback could be headed to Minneapolis.

“He is not a leader,” Lurtsema told Sports Headliners. “Look at his record. He is a loser.”

Rich Cimini, writing on ESPN.com February 25, said the 29-year-old quarterback has a 4-19 record against winning teams (based on final season records). He is 19-9-1 against losing clubs, 3-2 versus .500 teams. His overall regular season record is 26-30-1, and he is 0-1 in the playoffs, Cimini reported.

“What the hell has he done?” Lurtsema said of Cousins who has played six NFL seasons—all for the Redskins.

Cousins has set franchise passing records for the Redskins. The last three seasons (starting with 2015) his passer ratings have been impressive—101.6, 97.2 and 93.9, but he isn’t regarded as a superstar quarterback. In the NFC North where the Vikings compete he could be ranked behind not only the Packers Aaron Rodgers but also the Lions’ Matthew Stafford.

The Vikings, though, have had success in recent years fitting three different quarterbacks into their system. They may regard Cousins as healthier and potentially better than any quarterbacks on the current roster.

Speculation is the Vikings might spend in the neighborhood of $100 million on a contract for Cousins who is regarded as the NFL’s best free agent quarterback. If the Vikings pay out that kind of money it’s yet another indication of the Wilf family’s willingness to spend money in their pursuit of a Super Bowl win.

“The Wilfs will do anything to get a winner,” Lurtsema said about the Vikings’ owners. “They’re not afraid to do whatever it takes to make a winner. Good family.”

It could be the Vikings prefer to move on from Case Keenum, believing Cousins is a better talent. Keenum, as a sub for the injured Sam Bradford, went 11-3 as the team’s starter during the last regular season. Lurtsema is a fan of Keenum and praises his performance including leadership in 2017.

NFL.com’s Chris Wesseling is writing today that the Vikings maybe unlikely to put the franchise tag on Keenum and that when free agency talks start next month Minnesota’s target could be Cousins. “If I were a betting man, that’s where I would say he lands,” NFL authority Gil Brandt wrote on Twitter yesterday.

Worth Noting

Big Ten Network streaming or BTN pay TV might be the only way for fans in Minnesota to watch the Gopher men’s Big Ten Tournament hockey games at Penn State on Friday and Saturday. No official word yet but a University of Minnesota athletic department spokesman confirmed the possibility yesterday.

Among new players on the Gophers football roster when spring practice starts next week will be wide receiver True Thompson, son of former U all-time leading rusher Darrell Thompson. True is a preferred walk-on from Iowa Western Community College who also was recruited by Syracuse.

Darrell told Sports Headliners True has better hands and jumping ability than dad. His son is looking forward to playing for wide receivers coach Matt Simon. “I hear nothing but great things about Matt,” Darrell said.

Another Thompson son, Race, is a redshirt freshman basketball player at Indiana. Race is friends with Rochester John Marshall’s Matthew Hurt, a high school junior and among the most highly recruited players nationally in the class of 2019. Hurt made an unofficial visit to Indiana last year and spent time with Race, Darrell said.

Quoting Dick Bremer on Twitter: “The acquisitions of Jake Odorizzi and Logan Morrison from the financially crippled Rays reminds me of the theft of Jeff Reardon and Al Newman from the Expos before the 1987 season. Hoping for the same result.”

Reardon’s heroics as the Twins’ reliever included getting the final out in Game 7 of the 1987 World Series. Newman was a versatile utility player and he also was a contributor to the 1991 World Series championship team.

Bremer, who has been doing Twins TV play-by-play man since the 1980s, turns 62 on Thursday.

For the first time in franchise history, all 162 of the Twins’ regular season games will be televised. Fox Sports North will do 154 games, FS1 six and ESPN two including the April 18 game against the Indians from Puerto Rico.

Edina and Minnetonka are favorites to emerge as class 2A state champions next month but a sleeper pick is Moorhead. Spuds junior defenseman Ethan Frisch is a name to follow at Moorhead and he could be a star in college at North Dakota where he has verbally committed.

For the second consecutive year the Golden Gophers men’s basketball team will have the season-ending banquet at Williams Arena. The Golden Dunkers booster group will host the March 5 banquet featuring table seating on the historic arena floor. The 6 to 8:30 p.m. event includes player autographs. Seating at coach Richard Pitino’s table is $400 per person, with other tickets priced at $75 ($37.50 for eighth graders and younger). More at Goldendunkers.com.

Pitino will speak to the Twin Cities Dunkers March 6 at the Minneapolis Club. Pitino is nearing the end to his fifth season as Minnesota coach this week in the Big Ten Tournament. The Gophers play Rutgers in a first round tournament game on Wednesday night in New York’s Madison Square Garden.

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Gopher Basketball Collapse Historic

Posted on February 25, 2018February 25, 2018 by David Shama

Coach Richard Pitino’s University of Minnesota basketball team is headed to perhaps the most disappointing ending to a basketball or football season in school history. After being in preseason discussions for a Big Ten basketball title, the Golden Gophers have seen their dream season collapse since an early January suspension of center Reggie Lynch and the injury to forward Amir Coffey that has sidelined him for most of the conference season.

Minnesota is 2-12 since Lynch, the Big Ten’s best shot blocker, was told by the University he violated the school’s sexual misconduct policy. Coffey, another potential all-conference player prior to the season, has missed 12 of the last 14 games going into today’s Big Ten regular season finale at Purdue.

It will be an upset for the ages if Minnesota defeats national power Purdue. At best the Gophers might pick up a single win in the Big Ten Tournament later this week. A scenario with one more win before putting 2017-2018 to rest would leave the Gophers with a 16-17 final overall record including 4-14 in regular season league games. Those totals would be the third worst in more than 10 years with the 2016 team having records of 8-22 and 2-16, and the 2007 team with totals of 9-22 and 3-13.

Coffey photo courtesy of Minnesota Athletic Communications

It’s been a deflating couple of months for Gophers fans, most of whom realized last year how potentially special the 2017-2018 team appeared to be. Minnesota got off to a 7-0 nonconference start and was ranked as high as No. 12 in the nation during the early success. Although it was clear from the beginning Pitino’s bench players were subpar, the starting five of Lynch, Coffey, Nate Mason, Dupree McBrayer and Jordan Murphy was potentially the program’s best since the 1997 team that went to the Final Four.

In the high profile sports of basketball and football, it’s been awhile since a Gopher season filled with such hope came crashing down like the stock market on a horrific February day. Tubby Smith’s 2010-2011 team started 16-4 and was ranked No. 16 when things fell apart. Starting point guard Al Nolen broke his foot in late December and shortly after Devoe Joseph, his replacement, left the program. Minnesota lost 10 of its last 11 games including one in the Big Ten Tournament. Hopes of a high finish in the Big Ten and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament were gone with a final overall record of 17-14 and league total of 6-12.

A Gopher historian researched back to 1957 to find a disappointing season similar to this year. Minnesota was coming off a near Rose Bowl invitation in 1956 when national media ranked the football Gophers among the powerhouse teams in America. Minnesota even had a magazine cover boy quarterback in Bobby Cox, a possible All-American and Heisman Trophy winner.

Minnesota, ranked as high as third in the country, started the season 3-0. Included in the wins were 46-7 and 41-6 victories over Washington and Northwestern. The state “smelled” Big Ten title and the program’s first Rose Bowl trip. From Austin to Warroad, fans were locked into the Golden Gophers on football Saturdays. They listened to games on radios at home, in backyards and even duck blinds. Fans cheered at Memorial Stadium including a crowd of more than 64,000 that watched Minnesota’s opening conference win over Purdue.

Then on October 19, 1957 in Champaign-Urbana, the collapse began. Minnesota, ranked No. 4 in the nation, not only reportedly had injuries and illness going into that game but faced a fast and inspired Illinois team that received a pep talk from Illini legend Red Grange, The Galloping Ghost. The final score of the nationally televised game wasn’t even close, with the Illini winning 34-13.

The Gophers won one of their last six games, finishing the season 4-5 overall and 3-5 in the league. Rumors swirled about team dissension and injuries. There was no doubting the team’s lack of team speed got exposed by opponents. Whatever, and however, the season collapse was a classic tailspin that old-timers still remember.

Coach Murray Warmath struggled the next two seasons, with a combined record of 3-15, and he almost was fired in the process. In 1960 he recovered in dramatic fashion winning Big Ten and national titles.

Pitino will need a bounce back season in 2018-2019 to quiet critics. If the Gophers finish with overall 16-17 and 4-14 Big Ten records this winter, that will bring his five seasons totals to 91-78 and 31-59. After five seasons, Dan Monson—picking up the pieces and limitations imposed by the coach Clem Haskins scandal—had records of 79-55 and 29-51. After five years as Minnesota coach Smith’s total were 103-68 and 38-52. In 10 fewer conference games Monson had almost as many wins at the five-year mark as Pitino. Smith won nine more games.

Pitino’s history at Minnesota includes player suspensions and transfers that has slowed progress. Players with issues include Lynch, Mason, McBrayer and long departed Kevin Dorsey, Daquein McNeil and Carlos Morris who all made early exits from the program. A major future off court player incident—whether alleged or not—will turn up the heat on Pitino from school administrators and the public.

Next season the Gophers will likely return three starters with current underclassmen forwards Coffey and Murphy, and McBrayer, a junior guard who has played through injury this year. Part-time point guard Isaiah Washington, a regular off the bench, will likely be another quality starter as might forward Eric Curry who missed his entire sophomore season after September knee surgery. With senior centers Lynch, Bakary Konate and Gaston Diedhiou using up their eligibility, Minnesota will welcome new front court size from Louisville transfer Matz Stockman and incoming freshmen Jarvis Omersa and Daniel Oturu.

Without Lynch and Coffey this winter, and Konate and Gaston frequently ineffective, Pitino has often used a smaller lineup, but interior defense and rebounding have mostly been inadequate. The Gophers, who frequently haven’t defended well on the perimeter either, have given up 80 points or more eight times since Lynch was suspended.

Maybe next season will be as much of a surprise as this one has been disappointing. The program standards are low. The 1997 Final Four and Big Ten championship season was vacated because of academic fraud. Since 2000 the Gophers have only three times finished with a winning record in regular season Big Ten games.

Last off-season the Athletic Department sold a few thousand more season tickets than for 2016-2017. Prior to January 1 of this year there were two nonconference sellouts, and there was the likelihood of several more during the Big Ten home schedule in January and February. The fan base was coming back to Williams Arena, with the promise of making the old place loud and fun again.

There’s no doubt ticket buyers will pack the arena if they are ever treated to a consistent winner, a top 25 program that contends for Big Ten titles. For right now, though, there is a hurt in Dinkytown that perhaps hasn’t been this painful since ’57.

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