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.

Wild & GM Face Playoff Pressure

Posted on February 24, 2016February 24, 2016 by David Shama

Chuck Fletcher has hired three head coaches for the Wild including interim boss John Torchetti who took over earlier this month for the fired Mike Yeo. A hockey source knowledgeable about the NHL told Sports Headliners that Fletcher, the Wild’s general manager, could be dismissed if the club doesn’t make the playoffs this spring.

The source, who asked that his name not be used, believes Fletcher is under scrutiny by owner Craig Leipold. Fletcher, who was named the team’s general manager in 2009, hired Todd Richards as his first coach shortly after coming to Minnesota. Richards was let go and replaced by Yeo in 2011. Like any general manager, Fletcher will be evaluated for his coaching hires, personnel decisions and overall performance by the team.

The Wild has been unable to make a deep playoff run during the Fletcher era and twice didn’t qualify for the postseason. This year’s team has underachieved and it’s debatable whether Minnesota will qualify for the playoffs. Under Yeo the Wild struggled this winter with goal scoring, and players seemed uptight on the ice.

The Wild impressed winning its first four games under Torchetti who was promoted from Minnesota’s Iowa farm team. The Wild’s roster is talented enough to make the playoffs but the club’s spotty play—including eight consecutive home losses prior to Yeo’s dismissal—has agitated fans.

The source said the Wild may want to raise ticket prices for next season, but a non-playoff spring wouldn’t effectively position a price hike with customers. The club’s winning streak ended in last night’s 4-1 loss to the Islanders. More will be learned about Torchetti and the team after road games Thursday and Friday against the Flyers and Capitals. The interim coach’s fate could be determined by whether Minnesota qualifies for the playoffs.

The Wild are coming off a high from last Sunday’s 6-1 Stadium Series win against the Blackhawks at TCF Bank Stadium. Although the franchise has long promoted itself as representing the “State of Hockey,” Sunday’s game was the first time the NHL allowed the Wild to host an outdoor contest. The reason? The club’s lackluster won-lost records and image season after season.

The Wild, no doubt, would like to some day host a January 1 NHL Winter Classic, an even more prestigious outdoor game than the Stadium Series. The impressive way the organization handled Sunday’s game will help the cause but there might be a problem. That game didn’t sell out, and Leipold said in the February 21 Star Tribune a reason was because the NHL sent 4,000 tickets to his club on late notice. The Sports Headliners source said the NHL office didn’t like the publicity, and he added that last minute tickets were available for half the face value price.

Worth Noting

The Wild’s next home game is Sunday against the Panthers, the only franchise never to win a regular season game at Xcel Energy Center. All-time Minnesota is 6-0-2 at home against Florida.

The University of Minnesota received $800,000 in rent for last Sunday’s Wild-Blackhawks Stadium Series game.

It was 36 years ago today that the U.S. Olympic Hockey team won its gold medal game against Finland. The “Miracle on Ice” roster included Minnesota players and was led by legendary ex-Gophers coach Herb Brooks. The trainer was Gary Smith who is now working with Eden Prairie High School teams.

Ex-Gophers head football coach Jerry Kill spoke at an NFL seminar in Tampa last Saturday. Speakers included former Gophers quarterback and Vikings assistant coach Tony Dungy who will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this summer. Kill told Sports Headliners he will be in Fort Worth next week to help his friend Gary Patterson, the TCU head coach, evaluate the Horned Frogs.

Gophers football coach Tracy Claeys speaks to the CORES luncheon group on Thursday, March 10 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington, 1114 American Blvd. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans. Reservations and more information are available by contacting Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net.

Minnesota’s first spring football practice is next Tuesday. The annual spring game starts at 12:45 p.m. on April 9 at TCF Bank Stadium.

Gophers’ freshman forward Jordan Murphy earned his eighth double-double of the season last night in Minnesota’s 83-61 win over Rutgers at Williams Arena. He had 19 points and 14 rebounds. That performance followed up on last week’s 17 points and game-high 11 rebounds in Minnesota’s upset win over top-10 nationally ranked Maryland.

Big Ten career scoring leader Rachel Banham plays her last regular season home game tonight for the Gophers against Ohio State. She and fellow seniors Mikayla Bailey and Shayne Mullaney will be recognized in front of an appreciative crowd. Draftsite.com has projected Banham as the first pick in the second round of the 2016 WNBA Draft.

Yesterday would have been the 61st birthday of former Timberwolves coach and executive Flip Saunders who died last fall.

Former AWA tag team champions Jim Brunzell and Greg Gagne will sign autographs Saturday as part of the Triple Crown Sports Show at Southtown Center in Bloomington. The “High Flyers” will be available from noon to 2 p.m. Show hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Reader Bob Klas, Jr. noted that among the more obscure Minnesota pro sports franchises not mentioned in Monday’s Sports Headliners column was a short-lived professional bowling team—the Twin Cities Skippers who were part of the National Bowling League and competed at a Bloomington facility that later became the Carlton Celebrity Room. “San Antonio had the good sense not to spend a dime on a facility for their team, as they played every match on the road,” Klas wrote in an e-mail.

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No Escaping Franchises’ Wanderlust

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

A trip to southern California reminded me about the nomadic ways of sports franchises. Chargers board chair Dean Spanos has put on hold plans to vacate San Diego and play in Los Angeles—contemplating at least one final attempt for a private-publicly funded stadium in his NFL city.

Thank the Lord it only cost a billion dollars to keep the Vikings in Minneapolis.

When I started thinking about the franchise history of Minnesota’s professional sports teams, I got a bad case of the yips. Vikings, Twins, North Stars, Lakers—yikes! No wonder my right hand shakes while I try to hold a cup of coffee.

American sports teams can move around like doughnut franchises. The NBA’s Kings, for example, started as the Rochester Royals. They became the Cincinnati Royals, and later the Kansas City Kings, before emerging as the Sacramento Kings.

Baseball’s Braves had a long stay in Boston before a sometimes glorious run in Milwaukee during the 1950s and ‘60s. They broke many hearts in Dairyland by relocating to Georgia where those ambitious Braves are counting down the days before moving into their third stadium in greater Atlanta.

Long ago the football Cardinals played second string to the Bears in Chicago and flirted with a move to Minnesota before landing in St. Louis. Then the Cardinals decided Arizona was a better place to roost. St. Louis got its revenge by taking the Rams from L.A. That lasted until last month when the NFL approved a Rams return to southern California where they will play in a new palace said to be the next big thing among football stadiums.

Most Vikings fans could care less about the Rams, who every couple of decades jilt either L.A. or St. Louis. But Purple Nation is still rejoicing that Los Angeles, without any football for about 20 years, didn’t lure the Vikings to southern California where now either the Oakland Raiders (previously the L.A. Raiders) or the Chargers (long ago the L.A. Chargers) might join the Rams in that new palace in suburban Inglewood.

While you may not hate L.A., I do! I remember Los Angeles took the Lakers away from Minneapolis in 1960. To me, it was like the baseball Dodgers moving from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. The Lakers won five pro championships in Minneapolis, and became a dynasty again in the 1960s and beyond playing in southern California. This town lost some phenomenal basketball when it missed out on watching Lakers superstars Elgin Baylor and Jerry West in the 1960s.

Not that this area can claim purity in chasing franchises from another city. Major league baseball began here in 1961 when the Senators moved from Washington, D.C. That was the lowly Senators franchise from Damn Yankees Broadway fame who by 1960 was still losing lots of games but loading up with promising big leaguers. In 1965 players like Harmon Killebrew, Bob Allison and Camilo Pascual helped form the core of a Twins team that lost to the Dodgers in the World Series.

Less than 15 years later Twins owner Calvin Griffith was interested in abandoning Met Stadium, a facility the Vikings also pronounced inadequate. The Met’s sightlines and smaller seating capacity favored baseball but Griffith knew that at least for awhile he could make more money in a new ballpark. As for the Vikings, rumors persisted they might move to Memphis—not only the home of Elvis Presley, but where Purple general manager Mike Lynn worked before coming north.

The Metrodome opened in 1982 and saved both the Twins and Vikings for Minnesota—at least for awhile. By 1997 Twins owner Carl Pohlad let it be known North Carolina could be the franchise’s next stop. Pohlad wanted a baseball only stadium for his team and there was no disputing the Teflon topped dome was a better home for the Vikings than the Twins. Eventually the Twins and Hennepin County came up with $545 million to build Target Field and keep major league baseball here.

By the late 1990s the Vikings were also grumbling about the dome and its limited gameday revenues. As the years went by the franchise’s frustrations increased and so did rumors about moving to Los Angeles. But in 2012 the state of Minnesota, the Vikings, and city of Minneapolis pledged to build the U.S. Bank Stadium that opens this summer.

Memories and wounds from the relocation of the North Stars by villainous owner Norm Green are still vivid. Serenaded by departing choruses from fans of “Norm Green sucks!”, the North Stars’ last season in Minnesota was in 1992-1993—just two years after losing to the Penguins in the Stanley Cup finals. The state of hockey was left without an NHL team when the Stars skated off to Dallas.

For years the North Stars, like the Minneapolis Lakers before them, complained about their home facility. The North Stars wanted more suites and other revenue enhancements at Met Center. The Lakers were bedeviled by frustrations in finding dates and scheduling games at the Minneapolis Auditorium. The community didn’t do enough to help both franchises with their facilities needs.

Health club gurus Marv Wolfenson and Harvey Ratner built Target Center with private funding to bring the NBA back to Minneapolis in 1989. Later they had negotiations with a group interested in taking the franchise to New Orleans. The city now owns the arena and is working with Wolves owner Glen Taylor to renovate Target Center and enhance revenues while ensuring the team remains in Minneapolis.

The city of St. Paul and state of Minnesota answered mayor Norm Coleman’s pleas to replace the St. Paul Civic Center and return the NHL to Minnesota. The $130 million cost to build the Xcel Energy Center was a lot more than the potential funding needed to renovate Met Center and keep the North Stars in Bloomington. No one will argue, though, the “X” is a premier hockey facility.

All is quiet on the relocation front in Minnesota—at least for awhile. Our “doughnut shops” aren’t available to Los Angeles or any other city right now.

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Experts See Vikings as NFL Contenders

Posted on February 4, 2016February 4, 2016 by David Shama

Maybe it’s no pipe dream to believe the Vikings will play in the 2018 Super Bowl in Minneapolis.

Former Cowboys personnel authority Gil Brandt, now writing for Nfl.com, said in a January 28 story the Panthers and Seahawks top his list of teams with the biggest Super Bowl windows, but he is aware of the Vikings. He identified six teams that are best positioned to compete for championships for awhile: the Panthers, Seahawks, Steelers, Bengals, Vikings and Patriots.

Brandt ranked the Vikings No. 5 mostly because of a strong nucleus of defensive players, anticipated improvement of third-year quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, and the excellence of Adrian Peterson who led the NFL in rushing last season and might repeat at age 31. Brandt wrote the Vikings are “by no means perfect” but are an ascending club in a division where the Packers, the longtime king of the hill, are a “bit of a descending team.”

Former Vikings defensive lineman Bob Lurtsema, who remains close to the team, has predicted for about a year his former club will be in the 2017 Super Bowl. “This (coach) Zimmer, he’s got his act together,” Lurtsema told Sports Headliners.

Lurtsema has praised third-year Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer perhaps longer than anyone else. Lurtsema doesn’t see weaknesses on the defense, and he is predicating a successful 2016 season and Super Bowl on an improved offense. Most specifically he sees a better offensive line next fall that will give third-year quarterback Teddy Bridgewater more time to throw.

Lurtsema has watched Zimmer lead the Vikings from a 2014 record of 7-9 to an 11-5 success and the NFC North title during the 2015 season. Zimmer is a demanding leader but generates results. “The players love him,” Lurtsema said.

Super Bowl 50 this Sunday will be played in Santa Clara, California, then next year the game is in Houston before coming to Minneapolis. It will be special if the Vikings earn an invite to the “big party” in the next couple of years. The Vikings haven’t been in the Super Bowl since 1977. Only twice in Super Bowl history has a team played in a stadium in its home market, according to Wikipedia.

The Panthers have been about a six-point favorite over the Broncos this week but Lurtsema said that’s too many points for Sunday’s game. “If I was a betting man, I’d bet my house and everything. I’d take the five or six points and grab Denver—because Denver’s defense, especially the defensive line, is the best in the league. …”

There is a lot of flattering talk about Cam Newton, the Panthers’ talented 26-year-old quarterback. Lurtsema is an admirer and he recalled a 2011 game in Charlotte between the Vikings and Panthers. Late in the game Lurtsema was on the sideline and so close to Newton he could closely observe a hard hit on the 6-5, 245-pound Newton.

Newton’s response to the collision? “God, I love this game.”

Lurtsema was won over when he heard that. “I am in love with this guy from now on,” Lurtsema declared on that late October day.

There are Minnesota connections in Sunday’s game including Jared Allen with the Panthers and Ryan Harris from the Broncos. A defensive end, Allen was one of the Vikings’ most popular players from 2009-2013. In 2011 he had 22 sacks for the season and set a Vikings’ franchise record. He narrowly missed the NFL record of 22.5.

Named to the list of the 50 greatest Vikings ever in 2010, Allen was often good for a sharp quote during media sessions and was known in the community as a longtime supporter of military veterans. While he was in Minnesota he started Jared Allen’s Homes for Wounded Veterans, a charity to provide handicap-accessible homes for veterans returning from duty.

Allen is an outdoor enthusiast and has hunted wolves, bison and elk. Lurtsema owns land in outstate Minnesota where he gave Allen permission to hunt black bear and deer. “Very nice guy but he beats to a different drum,” Lurtsema said. “He was into hunting big time. That was his passion. He’s been to Africa. He’s done it all.”

Allen left the Vikings during the 2014 offseason to join the Bears. Now 33, he was traded last September by the Bears to the Panthers for a 2016 draft pick. A broken foot caused him to miss the Panthers’ NFC championship win over the Cardinals, but expectations are he will play Sunday in his first Super Bowl.

Harris is another player with a “good guy” reputation among Minnesotans. The Minneapolis-born starting left tackle for the Broncos played three seasons for Cretin-Derham Hall before attending Notre Dame. While at Cretin, his line coach was former Gophers center Ray Hitchcock. For three seasons Harris was a Raiders starter at left tackle and over the years he formed a tight relationship with Hitchcock and his son Brooks.

Five days before the Broncos-Patriots AFC title game on January 24, Harris extended a surprise invitation to the Hitchcocks. They paid their airfare to Denver and back to Minneapolis, but everything else including game tickets, lodging and dinner at Fogo de Chão Brazilian Steak House was courtesy of Harris.

“He is just a hell of a guy,” Ray said. “He’s a guy you want to be around.”

Worth Noting

Football fans learn Saturday if former Vikings quarterback Brett Favre and Tony Dungy—who played for the Gophers and was an assistant coach with the Vikings—are selected as new members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Hall’s Selection Committee meets in San Francisco Saturday to elect the 2016 Hall of Fame Class.

Favre and Dungy are among 15 Modern Era Finalists being considered for induction into the hall. This is Favre’s first year being considered, and the legendary quarterback who led the Packers to a Super Bowl title seems like a cinch to win approval Saturday. Dungy, who was the first African-American head coach to win the Super Bowl when his Colts defeated the Bears in 2007, has been a finalist before.

The criteria used in searching for the next Gophers athletic director is likely to emphasize candidates with integrity and a proven track record in building relationships. Those are qualities that distinguish WCHA men’s hockey commissioner Bill Robertson whose career workplaces have included the Angels, Ducks, Timberwolves and Wild. A Minnesota native with a long list of friends and contacts in the Twin Cities, Robertson’s WCHA office is in Edina.

Perhaps in a couple of years all Gophers football fans will be applauding the 2016 recruiting class coach Tracy Claeys announced yesterday, but for now Websites like Rivals.com aren’t giving the group high rankings. Rivals.com ranks five of seven schools from the Big Ten East Division ahead of the No. 50 Gophers. The West Division is home to the Gophers and Rivals has the recruiting classes of Nebraska, Wisconsin, Iowa and Northwestern listed ahead of Minnesota. Nebraska at No. 25 is the highest ranked West Division recruiting class while the East is led by No. 3. Ohio State, No. 4 Michigan and No. 20 Michigan State.

The Gophers basketball team is 0-10 in the Big Ten going into tonight’s game against 3-7 Northwestern in Evanston. Minnesota’s laundry list of problems mostly comes down to this: the Gophers have only one consistent impact player. Sophomore guard Nate Mason leads the team on a regular basis in scoring (13.7) and assists (4.5). Last Saturday in a close loss at Indiana he had 21 points. The prior game against Purdue he totaled 15 points and 12 assists.

Mason has scored 19 points or more in three of his last four games, but he plays with inconsistent teammates. In the Purdue game freshman guard Dupree McBrayer tied a career high with 13 points, and then had 8 points against Indiana while missing 9 of 12 shots. Another freshman guard, Kevin Dorsey, didn’t score against Purdue but had a career high 21 in the Indiana game. Freshman forward Jordan Murphy, who leads the team in rebounding at 7.9 per game, often is in first half foul trouble and has to sit on the bench for long stretches.

McBrayer, Dorsey and Murphy are talented and must all become consistent impact players to help the Gophers reach .500 or better in the Big Ten next season. The same is true of sophomore center Bakary Konate who is finally showing improvement and gives the roster badly needed size.

“Future is pretty bright for us,” Murphy said last week after the Purdue loss. “I think we know that as a team, but we still gotta compete this season. It’s not over yet. We gotta just keep grinding. …”

McBrayer talked recently about the problem of making free throws late in games when they’re needed the most: “We shoot them every day after and before practice. They should be second nature to us. It’s just in a game you have to calm down and knuckle down.”

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