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.

Twins Season Opener Near Sellout

Posted on March 7, 2017March 7, 2017 by David Shama

A notes column starting with a conversation last weekend with Twins president Dave St. Peter.

St. Peter said about 5,000 tickets remain for the Twins’ home opener on Monday, April 3 against the Royals. The game will almost certainly sell out, but of concern to St. Peter is how the club will draw in many of its other 81 home dates. The Twins drew less than 2 million fans last season, the lowest total since moving into Target Field in 2010.

The team won just 59 games last year, but St. Peter praised the loyalty of Twins fans and predicted the season ticket total will only be down 1,000 or so in 2017. “We’re going to come in at about 12,000 season tickets,” he said.

The baseball world believes the Twins underperformed last season. Writer Ben Reiter predicted in the March 6 issue of Sports Illustrated that the team has too much young talent “to continue to be this bad.” He analyzed all 30 MLB teams and counted the Twins among clubs expected to trend upward this year.

St. Peter said new Twins baseball bosses Derek Falvey and Thad Levine believe “the core” of the team didn’t play up to its potential last season. Falvey’s title is executive vice president and chief baseball officer, while Levine is senior vice president and general manager. The two have impressive backgrounds but St. Peter cautioned, “They’re not miracle workers.”

Falvey and Levine are in the process of learning all they can about the Twins franchise including everyone from players to coaches to support personnel like trainers. Their focus is on long-term success, and part of that is figuring out what St. Peter termed “competitive advantages” the Twins can put in place. The opinion here is such advantages might include teaching and assessment techniques, and superior advance scouting of opponents.

Falvey and Levine haven’t rushed to make headline moves within the organization, or force trades. St. Peter confirmed second baseman Brian Dozier, who hit a career high 42 home runs last season, prompted a “fair amount of dialogue” during the offseason regarding a possible trade. The Twins president said there was a lot of interest but nothing offered had enough value to support parting with the club’s best player.

It’s still difficult to accept the death of Kirby Puckett. The Hall of Famer and one of the franchise’s most popular players ever died 11 years ago yesterday at age 45 after suffering a stroke. …

Chad Greenway’s press conference announcement today of his retirement after 11 NFL seasons probably didn’t catch anyone by surprise. In an interview with Sports Headliners almost two years ago, the former Pro Bowl linebacker acknowledged 2015 might be his last season because of his aging body. “… You give everything to the game and it’s going to take bits and pieces of you, but you can’t let it take too much,” Greenway said.

In the interview Greenway said his post-football focus will be on wife Jennifer and their children. “Live for your family,” Greenway said. “Live for your kids as a dad. Be a great husband. Just take it one day at a time.”

Greenway, who grew up near a small town in South Dakota and played nine-man football, considered an NFL career “near impossible” as a teenager. Three times during his career teammates voted him Defensive MVP. …

Tonight at the Xcel Energy Center former Wild head coach Mike Yeo faces his old team for the first time as boss of the St. Louis Blues. Yeo took over from Ken Hitchcock as Blues head coach on February 1. The Wild is 2-1-1 against the Blues so far this season with the most recent game a 5-1 win in St. Paul. Yeo coached the Wild for parts of five seasons from 2011-2016 and had a record of 173-132-44. …

Big Ten leading scorer Tyler Sheehy of the hockey Gophers has been named the Big Ten Second Star of the Week following a four point performance last weekend in Ann Arbor against the Wolverines. …

The Gophers basketball program has never won the Big Ten Tournament that starts tomorrow in Washington D.C., but is a dark horse favorite this year. Minnesota begins tournament play on Friday and because of a double bye will only have to win three games (instead of four or five) to emerge as the conference champion.

Minnesota played a poor second half on Sunday in its regular season finale and loss to Wisconsin but won nine more Big Ten games than a year ago. All the Gophers top eight players have remaining eligibility except for guard Akeem Springs. Minnesota will soon be mentioned among the preseason favorites for the 2018 Big Ten title.

Incoming freshman guard Isaiah Washington will only add to the hype about the Gophers. New York’s No. 1 point guard with his flashy style has drawn national attention. His arrival and the success of the 2016-2017 team might result in a season ticket increase of 2,500 or more during the coming months, pushing the total over 10,000 and setting up a potential streak of consecutive Big Ten sellouts at Williams Arena. This season the Gophers only sold out two games at home.

Gophers sophomore guard Ahmad Gilbert averaged 17.6 points and 11 per game as a high school senior in Philadelphia but his success has been limited at Minnesota. He didn’t get on the court in 15 of Minnesota’s 18 conference games and played a total of six minutes. Close observers of the program wonder if he will transfer to another school. …

The Gophers’ football team holds its first spring practices today and Thursday but no sessions are open to the public until late March and early April. The public is invited to watch three of new head coach P.J. Fleck’s spring sessions: March 28 and April 4—starting at 4:45 p.m. at the Gibson-Nagurski Football Complex—and April 15 beginning at noon in TCF Bank Stadium for the annual spring game. …

The “Breakfast with Leroy” group will remember and pay tribute to Leroy Hardeman this Saturday on the 10th year of his passing. Hardeman was an extraordinary athlete and his accomplishments included induction into the Minnesota Softball Hall of Fame. The group will gather for breakfast and tributes starting at 9 a.m. at the Bloomington Knights of Columbus, 1114 American Blvd West. The public is invited, with more information available by contacting Pat Rickert at 612-861-3981.

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NBC TV Pays Tribute to Sid Hartman

Posted on March 5, 2017March 5, 2017 by David Shama

Sundays have belonged to Sid Hartman for decades but this Sunday was special. The 96-year-old Minnesota media legend was featured nationally on NBC TV’s “Today Show,” just 10 days before his March 15th birthday.

Reporter Harry Smith came to Minneapolis recently to spend time with Hartman who has been writing for Minneapolis newspapers since the 1940s and been heard on WCCO Radio on Sundays since the 1950s. Minnesotans still know Hartman from his three times a week Star Tribune column (Sundays included) and radio shows.

Willie Geist, the “Today Show” anchor, said Hartman wrote his first column on September 11, 1945 “and hasn’t slowed down since.” He also said the Minneapolis native is a “sports icon who is always the biggest star in the arena.”

Smith began his story at Target Center and told the TV audience there is a statue of the great man outside the arena. “I don’t know if I am big deal,” Hartman told Smith. “I’ll be honest. I can’t walk down the street without somebody identifying me. They either hear me on the radio or read my column. This isn’t a job. It’s fun for me.”

Eric Eskola, Sid Hartman, Dave Mona at WCCO

Hartman’s longevity is amazing. He is old enough to be the great, great grandfather of athletes he is covering today. It’s a good bet when he shows up at Target Center, Williams Arena or other venues in town he is the oldest person in the building. He is certainly the oldest still earning a paycheck.

“He’s got the drive of a reporter half of his age,” Smith said. “No, make that a quarter of his age.”

What keeps Hartman going is his incredible competitiveness. “Yeah, I am tough on myself. If I miss out on a big story I am not very happy,” Hartman said.

Hartman’s son Chad told Smith that his dad is every bit as “dogged” now in pursuing news as years ago. “He wakes up every day and thinks competition is what it’s all about. That has changed zero, and that’s what keeps him sharp.”

Smith said Hartman wants to work until he is 100. He asked Hartman if he has ever thought about retiring. “No, no interest,” Hartman answered. “I would go crazy. As long as I am healthy enough to do what I am doing right now, I am gonna keep on doing it.”

These days Hartman is annoyed by the walker he has to use following hip surgery. A couple months ago he fell on the ice outside his home and broke his hip. Initially, Hartman didn’t even realize he was badly injured. It was only after returning from an outing and trying to climb the stairs at home that he knew there was a serious problem.

Hartman was hospitalized briefly and has pushed through rehabilitation in a way most elderly people could only dream about. With the help of a nurse, it hasn’t taken Hartman that long to get back on the newspaper and radio beats. Yeah, the walker is no fun but friends say they’ve never seen anyone move around faster using that contraption.

Until 1961 Minneapolis-St. Paul didn’t have major league baseball or pro football, and it’s well documented that Hartman played a leading role in making the Twins and Vikings a reality. His leadership and ongoing interest in the well being of Minnesota’s pro franchises and the Gophers is acknowledged by Twins president Dave St. Peter.

“Sid is an absolute Minnesota treasure,” St. Peter told Sports Headliners. “He connects multiple generations. He is the greatest promoter and cheerleader Minnesota sports ever had.”

Hartman grew up on Minneapolis’ north side in the home of an alcoholic father and sickly mother. Life was serious and Hartman adopted a strong work ethic at an early age. He learned to hustle for a buck and despite no college education worked his way into the newspaper business where his iron will made him a must-read reporter.

Hartman once tracked down Jets quarterback Joe Namath in the locker room showers for an interview, and got stunned Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire on the air for an interview when he was chasing baseball’s single season home run record and not talking to other media. Countless sources can tell stories about how Hartman pursued them with phone calls at all hours of the day and night.

I first met Hartman when I was at the University of Minnesota working on my journalism degree. I was a reporter for the Minnesota Daily and wrote something about Hartman he didn’t like. He got a hold of my home phone number and gave me an earful.

Yes, Hartman’s competitiveness shows up sometimes with other reporters. For years he has had a rivalry with Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Both have made careers out of getting the news first and writing notes-focused columns. The two men have traded jabs over the years including Walters often writing that “news has reached Minneapolis” when something in his column later got reported by Hartman.

Through the years I’ve been fascinated by Hartman. As a kid I loved his column which back then was called “Sid Hartman’s Roundup” and frequently had short blurbs about commercial real estate mixed in with sports scoops, “jottings” and “they say.” I used to see this guy dressed in suits and ties, wearing alligator shoes, and buzzing around talking to everyone at a Twins or Gophers game, and thought he was pretty cool.

One of the nicest things Sid ever did for me was in 1990 after I left my marketing position with the Minnesota North Stars. “If you want to hire a great young man, you should call Dave Shama,” Hartman told listeners on WCCO Radio one morning.

I had no idea that 27 years later I would still be listening to Hartman on the radio, reading his column and competing with him for news. No wonder he has a statue.

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‘Chemistry Lesson’ Pays off Big for U

Posted on March 3, 2017March 3, 2017 by David Shama

There are multiple ways to explain the dramatic turnaround in the Gophers basketball program. Talented newcomers, and skilled and improved returnees. Better leadership from the coaches and players. Even a lucky bounce of the ball, or a fortunate call from a referee help explain how the Gophers have gone from a 2-16 Big Ten record last year to 11-6 going into Sunday’s regular season finale at Wisconsin.

But take all of the above and it leads back to the offseason when Minnesota coach Richard Pitino, his assistants and players collectively decided things had to change. Not only was the team’s overall record of 8-23 unacceptable, but there were off-court issues too. Call it culture, chemistry or whatever, but change was needed.

Pitino arranged for a lengthy list of speakers to talk with players about non-basketball subjects including sex education, how to handle the pressures of being student-athletes, and job skills to make them hirable after college. Players were also involved with community service work. Pitino said his guys wanted to change the image of Gophers basketball and become a better program on and off the court.

Former Gophers head coach Jim Dutcher acknowledged the results while talking with Sports Headliners. “The Gopher basketball (program) was featured on the front page and not the sports page. They changed that now. It’s a much closer unit. You can tell they’re having more fun playing the game.”

Spencer Tollackson, a former Gopher and now the radio analyst on games, praised the changes he has seen. “I think the team has matured a lot on and off the court,” he told Sports Headliners. “Coach has talked about some of the incidents that happened last year. They owned up to them and learned from them.”

Pitino looked back after last night’s win over Nebraska and reflected on the situation following the 2015-2016 season. “There’s a lot of players who would (have chosen to) transfer. Nate didn’t. Murph didn’t. Dupree didn’t. Bakary. All those guys believed that we were going to be better. They all took ownership.

“People (on the outside) were running for the hills with us, and I don’t blame them. But everybody sat there and we all said, listen this is on us to fix, and we’re not going to sit back and say everything is fine. We took ownership of our program and our guys deserve a lot of credit for that.”

Junior guard Nate Mason is the team’s leading scorer and seems headed toward All-Big Ten recognition. Sophomore forward Jordan Murphy has produced double-doubles in points and rebounds in six of the last seven games. Sophomore guard Dupree McBrayer willingly accepted a change from starter to valuable reserve off the bench. Junior center Bakary Konate has been another contributor off the bench. Those players have been joined by three starting newcomers this season. Junior transfer center Reggie Lynch leads the Big Ten in blocks, senior transfer guard Akeem Springs is a three point specialist and locker room leader, and freshman forward Amir Coffey excels in all kinds of ways offensively and defensively.

“They really like playing with each other,” Pitino said. “They’re committed to getting better. I keep telling them that I’ve been lucky to be around some pretty good March runs in my life—and it just ends. It all goes away, so just enjoy the journey. They’ve been really good about this. I think their mentality, more than anything, has really, really been a positive.”

The Gophers have won eight consecutive games and are a lock to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013. Their winning record in Big Ten games is a first since 2005. The program has ramped up its image and won a lot of fans back.

What a difference a year makes.

Worth Noting

Early fan and media speculation has the Twins’ win total somewhere in the 70s after reaching just 59 last season. One fan placed a Las Vegas 150/1 wager on the Twins winning the World Series. He doesn’t believe it will happen but likes the odds.

The Twins’ regular season opener is April 3 against the Royals in Minneapolis and AccuWeather.com forecasts a daytime high of 54 degrees with morning flurries and “then a shower.” The game will be one of 150 televised by Fox Sports North during the regular season. Dick Bremer will be in his 34th season providing play-by-play, with various former Twins providing game analysis including Bert Blyleven and newcomers Torii Hunter (debuts April 16) and LaTroy Hawkins (May 21).

Max Kepler (photo courtesy of Minnesota Twins).

This could be the Twins’ opening day lineup: pitcher Ervin Santana; catcher Jason Castro; first base Joe Mauer; second base Brian Dozier; shortstop Jorge Polanco; third base Miguel Sano; outfielders Byron Buxton, Max Kepler and Eddie Rosario; DH ByungHo Park.

A year from now changes might include Jose Berrios as the starting pitcher, Nick Gordon moving in at shortstop with Polanco going to third base and Sano replacing Mauer at first. Mitch Garver could be a possibility to become the regular catcher.

Craig Curry, the former Gophers quarterback who rushed and passed for over 2,000 yards in 1971, was the subject of a February 23 Miami Herald front page story as part of Black History month coverage by the newspaper. In the 1960s the country, including south Florida, was wrestling with desegregation. Curry transferred from an all-black high school to all-white Coral Gables High where he became the quarterback of a state and national championship team, according to the Herald. In the story a teammate referred to Curry as “our Jackie Robinson.” Blacks often weren’t given opportunities to play quarterback on any level of football in the 1960s, but the Gophers had a reputation for fairness under coach Murray Warmath.

Duke head coach David Cutcliffe has been added to the roster of speakers for the Minnesota Football Coaches Association Clinic March 30-April 1. Cutcliffe replaces Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi, and joins such prominent names as Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck, North Dakota State’s Chris Klieman and San Diego State’s Jeff Horton. More information is available by clicking on the MFCA advertisement on this page and visiting the organization’s website.

The MFCA holds its Hall of Fame Banquet the night of April 1 at the DoubleTree Hotel in St. Louis Park. High School Division inductees are Brad Anderson, Wayzata; Richard Risbrudt, Hillcrest Lutheran; Mike Scanlan, Cretin-Derham Hall; Curtis Strand, McLeod West; and Rick Sutton, Eagan. Larry Knutson, from KQWB Radio in Breckenridge, will be inducted in the Citation Division.

Coach Tom Thibodeau, who for years has been highly publicized for his defensive instruction, is apparently making an impression on the Timberwolves in his first season as head coach. The Wolves have held opponents under 90 points in four of the last seven games. Minnesota is 9-0 when limiting the opposition to under 90 points.

Third-year Wolves forward Andrew Wiggins has scored 20 or more points in a club record 19 consecutive games. Second-year center Karl-Anthony Towns has done that in 16 straight games.

The Wolves, with a 25-36 record, are in contention to earn their way into the playoffs for the first time since 2004. They play at San Antonio tomorrow night against a Spurs team with a 46-13 record, the second best in the NBA.

Jim Robinson, the new chair of the Mr. Basketball Committee from St. Paul, has been with the group for about 10 years. He is a former Big Ten Conference basketball referee and is an evaluator of Minnesota high school basketball officials. The announcement of the 2017 Mr. Basketball winner will be made after the boys’ state tournament.

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