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.

U Football Renewal Percent Increases

Posted on July 10, 2017July 10, 2017 by David Shama

Based on figures provided by the Gophers athletic department late last month, the renewal percentage for public football season ticket accounts was up from 2016, but the total number of tickets sold was down by about 1,000.

For the upcoming 2017 seven-game home schedule, 87.7 percent of public season ticket accounts had renewed as of June 22, compared with 79.3 percent on that date in 2016. The Gophers reported a total of 6,518 accounts and 22,462 season tickets, compared with 6,898 accounts and 23,494 tickets in 2016.

The Gophers didn’t provide student season ticket sales, with an athletic department spokesman noting via email that while those tickets are available now the campaign marketing doesn’t begin until next month.

Another sales number provided was that 1,310 new season tickets were sold as of June 22. No comparable figure for 2016 was offered but it seems fair to draw some conclusions about the 1,310 total and the other public season numbers.

The improved renewal percentage is almost certainly impacted by the applauded decision last year by new athletic director Mark Coyle to eliminate a scheduled 2017 price increase on tickets referred to as “scholarship seating.” Prior implementation of extra pricing on tickets had annoyed a lot of buyers.

While fans aren’t storming box offices for Gophers football tickets, the hiring of new coach P.J. Fleck probably slowed the apathy toward the product that was visible in 2016. The Gophers averaged 43,814 for seven home games. That was the lowest average since TCF Bank Stadium opened in 2009.

Also provoking attention were the large number of empty seats at all games. Many of the seats were located in prime locations at TCF Bank Stadium.

Fleck’s reputation and outgoing personality hasn’t resulted in a lot of new sales yet, but he may have pushed back some of the malaise about Gophers football while creating at least a potential group of ticket buyers who have been wearing “Wait and see hats” for awhile. The Gophers will be selling season tickets for a couple more months and they don’t play their first game until August 31. That means the athletic department will add additional season ticket buyers, but not a lot—perhaps, though, pushing past 2016 final numbers for total accounts and tickets (unavailable today).

If Fleck shows he can coach, he will be the second coming of college football Hall of Fame dynamo and Mr. Marketer Lou Holtz. When Holtz was at Minnesota in the mid-1980s he arrived as a proven winner and a big name in the coaching business. The state accepted Holtz and his hype from day one. Within two years he had season ticket sales at 56,000.

Holtz came here from Arkansas, and had a national following for various reasons including his appearances on Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show.” By contrast, the 36-year-old Fleck arrived in Minneapolis in January from Kalamazoo, Michigan—coming off a Mid-American championship but with a modest career resume at Western Michigan that included only four years as a head coach and 30-22 record.

But like Holtz, Fleck has big goals for the program. Holtz talked about turning Golden Gophers football into one of the better coaching jobs and programs in the country. Fleck—gulp—has spoken of eventually competing for national championships.

Fleck even got in front of an audience of state high school coaches last spring and shared his vision of expanding the seating capacity of TCF Bank Stadium—one of the smallest Big Ten football venues with its (embarrassing?) 50,805 seat capacity. He told the group that “three years down the road” he wants to expand the stadium to 85,000 seats.

Spend time around Fleck and may well be convinced he believes in his dreams of creating championship teams and large fan followings. But things aren’t going to magically happen within a few months. Can’t possibly, right?

The 2017 Gophers don’t represent a program rebuild but there are reasons to see this fall as a .500 season. Minnesota doesn’t have the talent at several positions to measure up with the Big Ten’s better teams. But Fleck, like Holtz, regards himself as a salesman, and there’s no target group, including fans, more important to him than high school recruits. Fleck knows success eventually will be realized if he can consistently bring superior talent to Dinkytown.

That’s not an easy task when your brand includes no championships since 1967 but Fleck has impressed recruiting analysts so far. His 2018 recruiting class ranks No. 27 in the 247Sports composite rankings.

Finalizing a top 30 recruiting class for 2018 won’t be easy, but Fleck knew what he was taking on when he accepted the Minnesota job. If he needed a recent reminder of the challenges, all he had to do was summon the ticket numbers referenced in this story.

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U & Other Transfers Join St. Thomas

Posted on June 30, 2017March 15, 2023 by David Shama

A Friday notes column:

Former Gopher junior linebacker Blake Weber and players from three other schools are transferring to Glenn Caruso’s St. Thomas football program. The St. Thomas coach told Sports Headliners yesterday he is “tremendously happy” to have Weber, Michael Frankl, Peder Olson and Cody Stanger joining his team.

Weber, from Prior Lake High School, played on special teams for the Gophers in nine games in 2015 after transferring from Rochester Community and Technical College. He redshirted last season, and did go through spring practice this year with the Gophers before deciding to transfer. Linebacker is perhaps Minnesota’s deepest position going into the 2017 season.

Frankl is a quarterback transfer from Iowa State, while Olson is a linebacker joining the Tommies from North Dakota State. Stanger, a defensive lineman, comes to St. Thomas from Rochester Community and Technical College. Frankl played high school football at Ames High School in Ames, Iowa, while Olson is from Maple Grove and Stanger is from Stewartville, Minnesota.

All four transfers are expected to be eligible this coming season, joining a powerhouse program that is undefeated in the MIAC the last two seasons. Caruso is 99-15 in nine seasons at St. Thomas. He has won several Division III coach of the year awards.

Athlonsports.com ranked all 130 major college football coaches this week. The Gophers’ P.J. Fleck is No. 41 on a list that has Alabama’s Nick Saban first, Ohio State’s Urban Meyer second and Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh third. Among those Fleck ranks ahead of are Nebraska’s Mike Riley (46), Georgia’s Kirby Smart (65), Florida Atlantic’s Lane Kiffin (80), Illinois’ Lovie Smith (106) and former Gophers defensive coordinator Everett Withers (127) now head coach at Texas State.

Kiffin, the Bloomington native, has his 77-year-old dad, Monte Kiffin, on the staff as a defensive assistant. Monte’s long coaching career includes eight years with the Vikings in the 1980s and 1990s.

Gophers fans followed ex-U quarterback Phil Nelson last year for his one season at East Carolina. Now the 2017 Pirates will have former Gophers defensive end Gaelin Elmore who will play his senior season for East Carolina.

Former Gophers assistant coach Tony Petersen is offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Pirates.

Congratulations to former Gopher All-Big Ten tight end Ray Parson on his recent 70th birthday.

Jimmy Butler (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images)

A crowd estimated from several hundred to a few thousand watched the Timberwolves’ Jimmy Butler news conference yesterday at the Mall of America. Many more followed live coverage on local radio and TV, and NBA TV.

Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau said of Butler: “He’s a great person. He’s a great leader. We’re thrilled to have him.”

Thibodeau coached Butler with the Bulls and helped take him from a late first round draft choice to an All-NBA guard. “Thibs has molded me into the player that I am today,” Butler said.

After the news conference general manager Scott Layden told Sports Headliners the Wolves are “excited” to have Ricky Rubio on the team. The veteran point guard is the subject of ongoing media speculation he will be traded because his shooting isn’t consistent enough to suit the Wolves.

Layden, though, referred to the strong play of Rubio as “incredible” in the closing months of the 2016-2017 season. Rubio’s shooting and scoring were at times the best of his six-year career. He had career highs at 11.2 points per game and field goal percentage, .402. He had 25 double-doubles during the season, with 23 in the final 45 games.

U.S. Bank Stadium, already the winner of local awards, was honored this week with the David Vickers Award for “Venue Project of the Year” in Dublin, Ireland. Part of the international Stadium Business Awards lineup, the award won by the Vikings was determined by a panel of global stadium industry leaders and online voting by stadium industry peers, according to a Vikings news release.

The award is “given to a new stadium, arena or major sports venue that opened (or re-opened after renovations) to great success between January 1, 2016 and January 27, 2017.” Among earlier awards presented to U.S. Bank Stadium was Best Sports Venue by Minnesota Meetings & Events magazine.

The expansion Minnesota United FC ranks No. 11 in average home attendance among the 22 Major League Soccer franchises, according to Wednesday figures from Soccerstadiumdigest.com. Playing at TCF Bank Stadium, Minnesota is averaging 20,115 per match so far this season. Atlanta United FC, another expansion franchise, leads the MSL in average attendance at 46,698.

The MIAC’s total of Academic All-Conference athletes for the 2016-2017 school year has set a new record of 1,033, one more than the previous year. Student-athletes must be sophomores, juniors, or seniors with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale to qualify for MIAC Academic All-Conference recognition.

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Watch Out for Team Jones in Pro Am

Posted on June 27, 2017June 27, 2017 by David Shama

Local basketball fans already have incentive to watch Twin Cities Pro Am games but next month becomes even more appealing. Tyus Jones, the Timberwolves reserve point guard and 2014 Minnesota Mr. Basketball, will join brothers Tre Jones and Jadee Jones on Team Jones.

The NBA doesn’t allow players to participate in summer league games like the Twin Cities Pro Am until July. It’s then that Tyus can make undefeated Team Jones even better.

Tre is preparing for his senior season at Apple Valley High School, where Jadee, 31, has coached the junior varsity. Tre is one of the nation’s most sought after prep point guards and in a Team Jones win over Hybrid Nation on Monday night was at times the best player on the floor. That’s saying something since the first-year league has rosters filled with college and pro players on the six teams.

Tre played his first game since injuring his ankle in late May. He said “the rust” was coming off Monday night. That pleased him and so did the anticipation of playing with Tyus for the first time since Tre made the Apple Valley varsity as an eighth grader.

Tyus Jones (photo courtesy of Minnesota Timberwolves)

There’s more to the anticipation, too. “Once Tyus is back and all three of us get to be out there, that will be kind of cool,” Jadee said. “That will be the first time we’ve ever played together.”

At times all three Jones brothers will be on the floor together at the TC Pro Am games that are played at DeLaSalle High School. Jadee, who played collegiately at Mankato, profiles himself more as a shooter, while Tyus and Tre can do many things but are often praised first as playmakers.

“We really know each other’s games so it will be fun.” Jadee said. “We’ve talked a lot about it. Get a chance to be out there together. Can’t wait until we can make it happen.”

The Team Jones roster also includes Gophers sophomore forwards Eric Curry (now with short hair) and Michael Hurt. Even without Tyus, Team Jones is 3-0 so far on a league schedule that started June 19 and continues for several more weeks. Should Team Jones be made the favorite to have the best regular season record and win the playoffs?

“I don’t know if you can put it on us yet,” Jadee said. “See how we do once Tyus comes…but we really like our team.”

Pro Am Notes

The draw for many fans attending the free games of the Pro Am league is the Gophers players including incoming freshman Isaiah Washington. Known for flashy moves and shots, the New York City point guard might have a skillset unlike any player who has ever been a Gopher. The best comparison could be with Ray Williams, the former Gopher guard-forward, also from New York, who dazzled crowds at Williams Arena in the 1970s before playing in the NBA.

Washington has made an early impression on Pro Am commissioner Jamar Diggs. “He is a special athlete,” Diggs said.

Former Gopher Trevor Mbakwe, who plays for Hybrid Nation, was asked if Washington’s flamboyant style might make it more difficult for the former New York City Mr. Basketball to fit in with older teammates. “I am sure there’s going to be times when Nate (Mason) is going to have to bring him to the side to do something. Change what he’s doing, but I don’t think that‘s going to be an issue at all (fitting in),” Mbakwe said. “We have great upperclassmen.”

Mason plays in the Pro Am league for Hybrid Nation so he isn’t on Washington’s N1 Motion team that includes Gopher Jordan Murphy, but as a senior point guard Mason’s job will be to mentor the freshman. Monday night he sat next to Washington on the bench during N1 Motion’s game against Diggs Team.

Washington looked disinterred in playing defense in the game but earlier in the evening Diggs cautioned about making too much of any player’s profile in Pro Am games. “To be honest, this is glorified pickup (basketball),” Diggs said. “No matter who comes in here, you can’t notice too much what’s going on. It’s not a college game. It’s not a professional game.”

Mbakwe, though, has picked up on the excitement of fans about Washington. “We’re lucky to have him here,” Mbakwe said.

Mbakwe stays in touch with former Gopher teammates including Royce White, who is trying to make a comeback after being an NBA No. 1 draft choice in 2012. “He’s a hell of a player,” Mbakwe said.

So good, Mbakwe contends, that White is worth a $100 million contract in the NBA. And Mbakwe compares White, a versatile scoring, rebounding and playmaking forward with Draymond Green, a star front court player on the NBA champion Warriors. “What Draymond Green is doing right now, Royce could be doing,” Mbakwe said.

Mbakwe and Diggs both played professionally overseas last season. Mbakwe was in St. Petersburg, Russia but isn’t sure about where he will be next season. Diggs, who was a high school standout at DeLaSalle, was MVP in the Lithuania League and is also sorting out plans while running the Pro Am league he organized.

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