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.

Mike Zimmer Works Even on Vacation

Posted on June 22, 2016June 22, 2016 by David Shama

Mike Zimmer began his summer vacation last Friday by doing what? Yeah, working.

The Vikings 60-year-old head coach started his summer break between minicamp and training camp by showing up early in the morning to speak to a group at the Minneapolis Club. Zimmer had an audience of business and civic leaders laughing at one-liners. His remarks looked as well organized as his team that last season became NFC North Division champions for the first time since 2009.

Yes, Zimmer’s work ethic is present even when on vacation. In the weeks between now and the start of training camp Zimmer will spend time in various ways including a visit to his ranch in Kentucky. The coach acknowledged there will also be a little red wine once in awhile.

And there will be something else filling his time during the next few weeks. “I’ll be working,” Zimmer said.

“He has a plan of what he wants to get done,” said George Stewart. “He does a great job of being exact. He is very detailed. He plans out what he wants to get done and he attacks that plan. Not only with the players, but with the coaches. We all know what we have to get done for us to be successful.”

Stewart coaches the Vikings wide receivers. He has been an assistant in the NFL since 1992. Before that he worked at both Notre Dame and the University of Minnesota when Lou Holtz was head coach at those places.

Stewart isn’t blowing smoke when he talks about Zimmer who after being a career assistant in the NFL finally got a head coaching opportunity with the Vikings at age 57. Stewart played for Holtz at Arkansas before coaching under him. He regards Holtz as a father figure and talked about him and other famous coaches during an interview with Sports Headliners last week.

“I’ve been around several hall of fame coaches, (including) Lou Holtz as you mentioned. Chuck Noll…to Bill Walsh. I know Mike got into it late (age 57) but if he was given the opportunity at 40 years old as opposed to being 56 or 57 you’d speak about him in those same terms (hall of famer) too because he has great vision.

“He had a great vision for this team when he got here. He had prepared himself to be a head football coach over time as an assistant and it’s showing off now.”

The Vikings are a favorite to be an NFL winner next season and years beyond. Zimmer is on a short list of the league’s more highly regarded head coaches after only two seasons. The team was 7-9 his first season of 2014 after the club had finished 5-10-1 the year before. Last season brought that division title and an 11-5 regular season record.

General manager Rick Spielman, Zimmer and others in the organization have acquired and developed a roster of talented players. Zimmer likes his 2016 team—enough so that he cancelled the final day of minicamp practice last week.

“Well, if we’ve been crummy (this spring), I wouldn’t have cancelled it,” Zimmer said last Thursday. “…I just like the way this team works. I told them that today that, ‘I appreciate the way they go about their business.’

“They’re dedicated to being a good football team and they didn’t believe me at first (practice cancelled). A bunch of them said, ‘Did he say go practice or no practice?’ So they just sat up there for a little while (at Winter Park). They weren’t sure. They thought it was a joke or a trick, but I felt like I’ve seen what I needed to see.”

Zimmer’s surprise cancellation of practice indicates he will throw a “curveball” at times to his team. Don’t be too predictable, change things up.

Ideas like that may come from Zimmer, or perhaps at the suggestion of hall of fame coaches like Bill Parcells or Bud Grant. Zimmer is friends with both men. Occasionally he will refer to phone conversations with Parcells who he worked for with the Cowboys years ago. Grant, who took the Vikings to four Super Bowls, keeps an office at Winter Park where the Vikings practice. The two men have hunted together.

Just two full seasons into Zimmer’s career he has been compared to Grant. The two took such different routes to head coaching. Grant was a head coach at 29 for Winnipeg in the Canadian Football League. He retired at age 58.

That was just about the age Zimmer finally got his own team. Stewart is puzzled why it took so long for an NFL team to grab Zimmer as the head man.

“He should have been a head coach years ago,” Stewart said. “I don’t know what was the reason behind that. (He is) a quiet person and maybe that’s the reason why. I don’t know if he had an agent (to promote him). I do believe if he was a head coach years ago, you’d be speaking about him in the same light as you speak of (Bill) Belicheck (four Super Bowl wins). …”

Like Grant, Zimmer doesn’t tolerate mistakes by his players for very long. Last season the Vikings were the least penalized team in the NFL with 88 flags. The offense was the least penalized in the 32-team league with 30 penalties.

“If there’s a little wrong misstep, he’s going to see the misstep,” Stewart said. “He’s going to ask somebody. He’s going to talk about it. There’s no gray area with coach Zimmer. He’s going to do things the right way. He’s going to keep everybody accountable and our players respect that.”

Missed assignments and sloppy play can leave Zimmer red-faced. Although usually quiet and low key, the team has known his wrath. But players also know he cares about them and they accept his sometimes stern manner.

“You have no choice to settle in with that,” cornerback Xavier Rhodes said. “That’s no question. You can’t say nothing about that. It’s just him. He’s going to be who he is. We just accept him for who he is and that’s what we love about him.”

Rhodes said Zimmer knows “how to win” and is going to get players to do what he wants them to do. Sometimes he will even show them a sense of humor. “Once in awhile,” Rhodes said. “It’s good to see that side of him, to let us know he trusts in us, and he knows we want to get things right.”

Teddy Bridgewater (photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings).

What the players also see is a supportive coach when talking to the media. An example came last week when Zimmer was asked about third-year quarterback Teddy Bridgewater who has experienced some struggles. Zimmer referred to the winning teams Bridgewater has played for in college and with the Vikings—emphasizing “that’s the most important thing,” not individual statistics.

Zimmer has learned to be more comfortable with the media, but like a lot of coaches facing the press, answering questions is a less appealing part of the job than other aspects. This time of year Zimmer seems more relaxed and even jokes with the media as he did last week when an outdoor practice was shortened because of a lightening threat. Zimmer said he didn’t want reporters to be struck by lightening. “I’d miss you,” he said.

Zimmer can crack a smile, show some levity with those around him, but make no mistake he is single-minded and someone who is going to get things done his way as he pushes toward more success for the Vikings.

“He is demanding,” Stewart said. “He is no-nonsense and he’s exact, and he’s unforgiving in terms of the way we work.

“That’s the deal in trying to be great, trying to win a championship here. We’ve been to four Super Bowls here, as you know. Haven’t won one. We’re trying to get to another one, but again that’s down the road. But I think with the things that he’s doing, he’s preparing everyone.”

Yup, preparing. Even when on vacation.

Comments Welcome

Ex-U Student Managers Change Lives

Posted on June 19, 2016June 21, 2016 by David Shama

As Drew Boe flew to Africa yesterday, he may have thought about former Gophers basketball coach Tubby Smith. No one realized when Smith was let go by the University of Minnesota in March of 2013 that his firing would help establish a nonprofit organization now making annual mission trips to Africa.

Boe is executive director of the St. Louis Park-based Managers On A Mission organization. The nonprofit has three groups working right now in Kenya, Liberia and Uganda. Boe is assisted by college sports student managers on the three week assignments that mentor African orphanage children through athletics.

MOAM's Joseph Kuykendall in Ghana. — MOAM’s Joseph Kuykendall in Ghana.

Boe knew Smith after working as a student manager for him during the 2010-2011 season. After Smith was fired by the Gophers, Boe connected with the coach and received a large donation of his apparel and footwear. College and professional coaches have sponsorship deals with companies like Nike that provide them clothing, shoes and caps.

The donation by Smith provided start-up inventory for Managers On A Mission. All the items from Smith led to the Clean Out For A Cause Program, and then to the sale of apparel and footwear to the public on the Authentic Athletic Apparel eBay Store. Smith’s donation set in motion contributions of apparel and footwear that have been ongoing including the largest gift ever received by MOAM—a one-ton donation delivered on seven pallets.

At the Authentic Athletic Website consumers can shop for items from many schools including Duke, Louisville, Minnesota and Notre Dame. Over 15,000 items for sale are listed with hundreds of pounds of new donations arriving every week.

Since the website’s inception in September of 2013, over 12,000 sales have been made to customers. “We’ve been blessed by really being able to utilize an incredible market that exists for affordable sports clothing,” Boe told Sports Headliners.

Sales to the public provide much of the $200,000 budget for MOAM. Boe is paid fulltime but MOAM mostly goes about its work with part-time help and volunteers. The volunteerism is part of the organization’s mission, to reach out to college student managers and encourage them to develop as leaders who help others.

Student managers are young adults who work tirelessly to do a lot of organizational and grunt work for teams including the glamour college sports of football and basketball. Ask appreciative coaches and athletes how much better run their practices, conditioning and game days are because of student managers who seldom receive public recognition and praise.

For the last couple of years groups of student managers have gone to African countries for three weeks at a time. Their flights, lodging and meals are paid for, but they receive no compensation for time and work while in Africa. And before going the student managers must pay their own costs to attend a two-day training session in Florida at the Rafiki Foundation offices. MOAM coordinates its mission with Rafiki orphanages.

Boe and the others work with kids in Africa teaching them the fundamentals of basketball, soccer and volleyball. They also bring and donate sports gear and clothing.

What they also do is touch hearts and improve the lives of kids who have known the roughest of times in their young lives. “One of the students last year had very significant scars all across the top of his head that just looked so bizarre,” Boe said. “His parents (before the youngster came to the orphanage) were not only not taking care of him, but really the intention was for him to die through the cuts that they had placed on him.”

The young man’s name is Williams. Boe remembered Williams’ cheerful personality last week in an email to Sports Headliners. “Williams had a new joke or riddle to share every single day,” Boe wrote. “Always trying to make people laugh!”

Some of the children at the orphanages are very young. Boe recalled a four-year-old girl who had come to an orphanage with her younger brother. The parents died from AIDS and the children had lived without adult care prior to the orphanage.

“Essentially the four-year-old had been the caretaker for the two-year-old for who knows how long,” Boe said.

Getting to know the children and bonding with them makes up for the inconveniences of being in a different culture. After multiple trips to Africa, Boe knows what his American colleagues will usually find as the major adjustment.

“The food can be a challenge,” he said. “That’s definitely the biggest challenge for the time over there…is the adjustment to the food. We’re certainly well fed and there’s no risk of anything being contaminated, or anything like that. It just requires…a different preference in terms of food choices. There’s a lot of rice and beans.”

There can, however, be a contrarian. “It seems like there is always one person that for some reason ends up loving it (the food),” Boe said. “They can’t get enough rice and beans, or can’t get enough eggplant.”

MOAM was founded in 2013 by Boe and two other Gopher student managers, Chris Herkenhoff from football and Ryan Wieland of men’s basketball. The organization is assisted by an advisory council of former Gopher basketball players Roger Arnold, Pat Fitzsimmons and Al Nuness, and ex-student manager John Bell Wilson.

Fitzsimmons e-mailed Sports Headliners urging readers of this column to visit www.authenticathleticapparel.com and make a purchase to help all the activities of MOAM which include college scholarship assistance for student managers and others involved with athletics. “As you check out MOAM’s awesome selections, keep in mind 85 percent of all purchases go to youth scholarships, mission trips and support of the Rafiki orphanages with food, sports equipment and clothing,” he wrote.

Boe, who is currently in Kenya, never set a career goal of helping to start and guide an endeavor like MOAM. He thought his career track might be in a college athletics department working in administration but a mission trip to Rwanda during graduate school began to change his life. He was touched by the joy and peacefulness of the Christians who lived there, and he said the experience further helped define his relationship with Jesus Christ.

Boe grew up in the small southeast Minnesota town of Taopi, population 53. He played football and golf in high school. He attended a Catholic church and while religion was part of his life, including during college years, he looks back and feels like he was just “checking the boxes.”

What the trip to Rwanda prompted was a beginning awareness of how he wanted to help others, while following the Lord. Boe describes what happened to him in Rwanda as a “seed” being planted that ultimately led to MOAM. He and the other two founders of MOAM came to realize there is a void in Africa for sports camps and the need for young men like his student managers to fill it.

They have an opportunity to show African children that it’s not just older adult couples, or females in their 20s and 30s who come to Africa as missionaries—that mentors can be young males in their 20s like those who serve through MOAM. Younger male role models are important, because according to multiple accounts, more than 20 million children live in Africa without fathers present in the home.

“This is something that has been put very heavy on my heart (serving as MOAM’s leader),” Boe said. “I don’t see myself ever leaving Managers On A Mission, or being away from it. …We’ve just been trying to keep up with what the Lord has been doing. It’s pretty cool.”

Comments Welcome

Kill: Gophers May Win 9 or 10 Games

Posted on June 17, 2016June 17, 2016 by David Shama

Tracy Claeys voiced his optimism this spring about the Gophers, predicting the team could win eight, nine or 10 games next fall. The new head coach will receive no argument from his former boss.

“I think the Gophers will have a great year,” Jerry Kill said. “I think coach Claeys feels good about it.”

Kill brought Claeys and other assistant coaches to Minnesota more than five years ago after having winning teams at Northern Illinois. Not long after arriving in Minneapolis, Kill delivered the news that it would take time to turn the program around.

And it did as the Gophers worked on recovering from the coach Tim Brewster era when he compiled an 18-39 record.

Kill’s records in 2011 and 2012 were 3-9 and 6-7. Then came 8-5 seasons in 2013 and 2014—before last year’s surprising 6-7 record. The Gophers were struck hard by injuries, a difficult schedule and the resignation of Kill.

This year the schedule is less imposing with the removal of national powers Michigan, TCU and Ohio State. The difference between the schedules of 2015 and 2016 was on Kill’s radar a long time ago. He knew years six (2016) and seven (2017) of the program could be his best in Dinkytown, with easier schedules and better players than in the past.

“I think they’ve got an opportunity to win nine or 10 games (this season),” Kill told Sports Headliners by telephone Monday.

The national media, though, is cautious about the Gophers who are a popular choice to finish fifth in the Big Ten’s seven team West Division behind Iowa, Northwestern, Wisconsin and Nebraska. Predictions are the Gophers can improve on last season’s 6-7 overall record and 2-6 Big Ten Conference total, but this is still a team that ranks in the lower half of the league and is assigned a spot like No. 60 in the nation.

Preseason predictions are interesting but they obviously come without guarantees. Kill believes the Gophers can move through their 12-game schedule with minimal on field defeats if the team avoids a serious outbreak of injuries.

“Nobody (predictors) knows who is going to do what because of the injury situation,” Kill said. “We thought we would have a very good team a year ago. After playing TCU (opening game) we had a beat up team, and then injury after injury after injury. Probably the most injuries I’ve ever seen in a football team in my coaching career.

“Nobody knows who is going to win what, because nobody knows who is going to be healthy at the end of the year. The most important thing abut winning is staying healthy.”

Kill rebuilt the Gophers program with a defense led by Claeys, his coordinator. The stats say Minnesota was better on defense than offense last season, and this fall the Gophers figure to make an impression again and perhaps have one of the best defensive units in the West Division.

The Gophers ranked seventh in the Big Ten in total defense last season. About half of the starters return on the defensive unit including some of the best players—defensive tackle Steven Richardson, linebackers Jack Lynn and Cody Poock, and safety Damarius Travis who is the team’s best defender.

Minnesota has to replace its cornerbacks from last season and Kill believes the transition to new starters will work but he does have a concern about defensive backs. “Probably the biggest question mark (about the defense) is depth in the secondary,” he said. “There’s some (redshirt) freshmen that are going to have to fill in some roles. They don’t have to be starters but they gotta be able to fill some roles.”

Claeys has a new offensive coordinator in Jay Johnson and new line coach in Bart Miller. The hope is the maturity of offensive players, the change in coaches and a revised offensive system will perk things up on the scoreboard. Generally, Kill’s teams over the years were better defensively than offensively. Last year the Gophers ranked No. 12 in total offense and No. 13 in scoring offense among Big Ten teams.

The fate of the Gophers on both sides of the ball will greatly be determined by line play. Kill said the defensive line “should be very strong.” He is optimistic about the offensive line, too.

“I think there’s more talent up front than there was a year ago,” he said. “Of course, they’re going to have stay healthy because there’s still not enough depth.”

Kill stressed the importance of offensive tackle Garrison Wright and guard Vincent Calhoun, both junior college transfers. “Those junior college kids gotta come thru and I think they will,” Kill said. “They got to come in at semester (January) and learn what to do, and I think that’s certainly going to help them.”

Senior tackle Jonah Pirsig, 6-9, 316 pounds, will need to be another key contributor. “Jonah is a big time player,” Kill said. “I think he’s got a chance to play in the National Football League if he continues to get better. He’s so big. … He’s gotten stronger in the weight room. His feet have gotten better. Technically he’s got to continue to improve but he has the ability and size for what they’re looking for (NFL scouts).”

Kill attended a few spring practices and among the players he noticed was tackle Chad Fahning, a redshirt junior walk-on from DeLaSalle High School. “He had a hell of a spring until he got hurt,” Kill said.

Quarterback Mitch Leidner had some of his best career moments toward the end of last season. Leidner, a redshirt senior, is being mentioned as a quarterback who interests the NFL. “I think he’ll have a great year,” Kill said.

Kill also likes Gophers running backs Shannon Brooks and Rodney Smith, two players who made a major impact as freshmen in 2015. Then when Kill talks about receivers, it’s obvious Brandon Lingen is a favorite.

“Tight end wise, Brandon Lingen is as good as there is,” Kill said. “I think (he is) a guy that is an all-conference player.”

Kill always emphasized special teams at Minnesota and other places he coached. That high standard is likely to continue under Claeys, who retained nearly all of Kill’s staff. A special teams area in the spotlight starting in August is Claeys’ decision to make Ryan Santos, the field goal specialist last year, the punter in 2016. Emmit Carpenter, who impressed during the spring, could be the team’s new field goal specialist.

The Gophers are replacing punter Peter Mortell who used up his eligibility. Kill believes the 6-6, 250-pound Santos has the leg to be an effective punter but might have assigned Santos the new job while allowing him to keep the old one too. “If I was there, I probably would have him do both,” Kill said.

Worth Noting

WCHA men’s hockey coaches may have a new policy for overtime games next season. The present procedure is five minute overtimes with each team rewarded a point if neither team wins. Ideas being considered include four-on-four play for five minutes in the initial overtime, and if there is no winner then three-on-three for five minutes more. If no winner is determined a shootout follows. A new overtime policy—providing more action for fans to watch —could be decided by the coaches in early August.

Xavier Rhodes is a talented cornerback and NFL season No. 4 might be a breakthrough year for him. Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer has noticed that unlike previous springs Rhodes has a much better understanding of his job, including the “intricacies.”

“I think he can be a really good cornerback,” Zimmer said. “He’s obviously got great length, he can run, he can turn his hips good, he’s physical. Sometimes Xav is his own worst enemy and he will get down on himself a little bit. But I think he feels confident about what he’s done this spring. …”

It’s expected that teammates will offer praise for one another when talking to the media, but Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater raved about tight end Kyle Rudolph earlier this week at minicamp. “I love Kyle. He’s a great player, and he’s an even better person,” Bridgewater said. “He’s reliable on and off the football field. He’s a guy you can call and be like, ‘Hey Kyle, do you mind coming out to one of my events?’ And he won’t hesitate to say yes.”

Bridgewater welcomes Rudolph’s input on the sidelines. “I consider him another quarterback because of how smart he is,” Bridgewater said. “He understands the game. He understands what the coaching staff wants us to do, and he wants to know where the ball is going. So he’s studying the plays as if he was a quarterback and that’s the type of guy you want on your team.”

Minicamp was over for the Vikings as of yesterday and next up will be the start of training camp in Mankato in late July. What will Bridgewater do in between minicamp and Mankato?

“I’ll probably get together with the guys again, have another ‘Teddy Two Gloves Passing Academy,’ something like that,” Bridgewater said. “That’s what the guys call it, but we’ll probably get together again, (and) workout. (Also) spend some time with my family—and that’s about it.

“Over these next couple weeks, there’s not time to take a step back. Training camp is right around the corner so I’m going to continue to just prepare myself physically and mentally so that when July 28th comes I’m ready to go.”

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