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.

Listen Up: It’s Bud Grant Talking

Posted on November 19, 2014November 19, 2014 by David Shama

At age 87 Bud Grant is still making news. The Hall of Fame coach and outdoorsman was honored with a statue in Winnipeg this fall and there are plans to name a street after him near the new downtown Vikings stadium. Sports Headliners caught up with Grant between hunting trips and put some seldom asked questions in front of him. Known for his common sense and dry wit, the Minnesota legend talked about various subjects including new Vikings coach Mike Zimmer, NFL rule changes, heroes and stars, and what he wants for Christmas.

Grant grew up in Superior, Wisconsin and went into the Navy out of high school. He was an All-American end for the Gophers in 1949 when coach Bernie Bierman had a great team. Grant later played both pro football and basketball. In 1957, at age 30, he became head coach of the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers and made them champions. He took over as Vikings head coach in 1967, leading the franchise to 11 division titles and four Super Bowls in 18 seasons.

Here is an edited version of last week’s interview with Grant.

My first impression of new Vikings coach Mike Zimmer: “He’s very intense. He’s very organized and very demanding, I am sure. I think the players have seconded that. You better give him your full attention.”

My thoughts about cold and windy weather and outdoor football this time of year: “Weather is a great equalizer. You can have certain skills either in the kicking game, in the passing game, the catching game, and running game, but wind, cold, rain or snow can reduce any advantages you may have in those departments because the ball takes funny bounces…(and) what not. I always felt that if the other team was better, we wanted bad weather. If we felt we were better than they were, we wanted good weather.”

If there was a secret to my coaching success it was: “Well, I was born with a horseshoe in my back pocket. You gotta be lucky. The football is not shaped round. It takes funny bounces. I’ve always said I’d rather be lucky than good anytime.”

A couple of coaches I have long admired: “Paul Brown, of course, because I happened to play for him when I was in the Navy at Great Lakes (training station). That was the first time I had been in that kind of an organization where we had notebooks and we studied—organized football at a degree that I hadn’t seen done before. Paul Brown was an innovator of football, and there aren’t many innovators anymore. There are a lot of copiers. The innovators were the Paul Browns and George Halases and people like that. I think one of the modern day most successful coaches was Chuck Noll, who just passed away recently. I thought he did a great job with a lot of great players and kept that team together for years in Pittsburgh—always a power when Chuck Knoll was coaching.”

My lasting memory of former Gophers football coach Bernie Bierman: “He was a Marine. He brought Marine-type training to the Gophers (late 1940s). We were in great shape, I will say that. He was a more endearing person after you played for him than when you were playing for him. We (the Vikings) played in San Diego one day and he came over to the game…and he was a warmer, more endearing person at that time than he ever was when he was coaching—very, very demanding.”

Maybe the two or three greatest players I ever saw: “One of the things that you have to be careful about if you’ve been in this business, you’re beholding to so many great players that played with you or for you, that it’s hard to single them out. On the other hand on the opposing side, I think Walter Payton was probably as good a player as we had in this league.”

The one thing I would like to change about the NFL rules: “How much time you got? There are a lot of things I’d like to change in the rules. One of the things is that victory formation. Just to down the ball with two minutes to go and under is nothing. People pay money to come see you play. They don’t want to see you take a knee. If you want to run out the clock, you should have to run a play, and if you don’t gain a yard, then time stops. I think that would increase the entertainment value of any game. (And) the fair catch, that’s a nothing play. No entertainment value there. They could copy the Canadian rule (fair catch not allowed). The other thing is…kickoffs I think should have to be run (from the end zone). You have to run the ball out, or you forfeit yardage. If you down it in the end zone you get it on the five-yard line, otherwise you can run it out and gain whatever you can.”

My sports heroes: “Well, growing up Joe Louis was one of my first sports heroes because boxing was big in my younger days. Then the Green Bay Packers were (heroes) as a team and Don Hutson, the great receiver for the Packers, was a hero of mine. You didn’t have television. So we had to read about these people. I remember when Louis knocked out Max Schmeling…that was a highlight of my life at that time.”

Five famous people I would invite dinner: “Teddy Roosevelt (for one). He was an environmentalist and a great American. It stumps me a little bit (who to invite) because I am not particularly a hero-worshipper other than early sports heroes. There is a difference between a star and a hero. Stars fade, heroes live forever. Heroes are people who have done something heroic and their deeds go on forever. I am more impressed with them than I am with athletic stars, movie stars and things like that. They’re not heroes, they’re just stars. I wish I could have known some of my early heroes like during the war.”

My favorite date activity with my girlfriend: “Probably companionship is the main thing at this stage of life. You sit down and read the paper and have a good time together. It isn’t like you gotta go dancing.”

I think I read once you’re not a very good dancer: “Not only am I not good, I’ve never danced in my life. I always was very shy (as a youth) and I never learned to dance. I was too self-conscious and I was taller than most of the girls so I never learned how to dance—much to the chagrin of my wife.”

My favorite TV shows: “I think they’d probably be like biographies and documentaries. I am more interested in real things rather than fabricated or fantasy entertainment things. I look more for things that are historical or biographical, or something that is real. Certainly not all this shoot’em up stuff. I don’t ever watch TV where there are murders involved. I don’t think killing people is anything I can relate to. I don’t find any entertainment in that at all.”

My worst personal habit: “It used to be chewing gum but it’s not anymore. After I saw myself on television chewing gum hard, I quit chewing. That was my worst habit. Oh, procrastination probably. I don’t always make decisions—put it off as much as I can to make the right decisions. That’s probably not a good habit, I don’t know.”

My favorite ice cream: “Something with chocolate. I eat ice cream any opportunity I get. When I was in high school they opened a Bridgeman’s in Superior, Wisconsin. I couldn’t wait for them to open that store.”

My weight would go crazy if: “I eat mostly fruits and vegetables. I am not a night eater. I am not a big eater. As you get older, you eat less. I don’t have a weight problem so I don’t know if I can answer that.”

All I want for Christmas: “At my age, I want another year. I am 87 now. It’s a very enjoyable time. Just give me another year. I’ll take that.”

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Vikings Offense: Frozen in Snowy Chicago

Posted on November 17, 2014November 17, 2014 by David Shama

The Vikings and Gophers lost games over the weekend. Here’s what was learned:

Sunday’s loss to the Bears in snowy and cold Chicago on Sunday is a momentum changer for the Vikings, now 4-6, but doesn’t mean this team can’t hope to finish near .500 at season’s end. However, it is time to write the obit about the fantasy of optimistic fans that the Purple can make the playoffs after the Vikings two-game winning streak ended against a struggling Bears team.

Playing the Packers, 7-3, next Sunday at TCF Bank Stadium will be a backbreaking challenge—and likely loss for the Vikings. In “round one” in Green Bay on October 2, the Packers embarrassed the Vikings 42-10. After next Sunday, the Vikings continue a three-game homestand against the Panthers (3-7-1) and Jets (2-8).

Those two games are certainly possible wins. The Vikings could play competitively too in their last three games of the season—at the Lions (7-3) and Dolphins (6-4), and then home against the Bears (4-6).

But the offense can’t be missing-in-action like yesterday. The Vikings had only 10 first downs and 243 total yards. Their only touchdown in the 21-13 loss was set up by a 48-yard Andrew Sendejo run on a fake punt in the first half.

Trailing by eight points in the game’s closing minute, rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater couldn’t make enough big plays to tie the game. Bridgewater, who led the Vikings to three come-from-behind wins earlier this season, threw a pass in the end zone that was intercepted to end the attempted comeback.

“Teddy Bridgewater is just simply trying to make a play that’s not there,” TV game analyst Rich Gannon said on CBS. “Throwing the ball away would have been the answer. …A young player just making a rookie mistake.”

Bridgewater, though, played okay yesterday and needed more help from teammates. His receivers often weren’t open and the offensive line was hardly at its best protecting him.

Miinnesota’s top receivers, Greg Jennings, Cordarrelle Patterson and Kyle Rudolph, combined for a total of four receptions. The trio had 28 yards, with 24 coming from Patterson on two catches.

The Bears had two sacks, including one by former Vikings defense end Jared Allen who at times whizzed by offensive left tackle Matt Kalil. It wasn’t a good day for Kalil who has been struggling all season and came into the game giving up more sacks than any left tackle in the NFL.

Kalil and his line mates need to improve their blocking if the drive for .500 is to become reality. The Vikings gained only 96 yards rushing and the offense’s time of possession was a meager 21:22.

Obviously the Vikings miss All-Pro running back Adrian Peterson, and a hearing with the NFL this afternoon may lead to new developments regarding when he will play again. But for now Peterson’s status remains in limbo and while his teammates want him back on the team it’s anyone’s guess whether ownership and franchise executives hold the same position.

The Bears’ time of possession was 38:38 and that number reflected Chicago’s offensive domination of 468 total yards. If not for their own penalties and other mistakes, the Bears could have won by a bigger score.

Just like Kalil has been a recurring personnel problem, so too is 5-10 cornerback Josh Robinson. Bears 6-4 wide receiver Brandon Marshall had two touchdown receptions over Robinson and wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, 6-3, had another score against him. But in fairness to Robinson, the Vikings might have provided more help for him with other pass defenders.

Bears quarterback Jay Cutler was 31 of 43 for 330 yards and used his tall receivers to exploit the Vikings. Cutler threw often without pressure, consistently hurting the Vikings with short, timing passes on the perimeter and some long throws. The Vikings had zero sacks.

And what about the Gophers?

After 10 games, including six in the Big Ten, the Golden Gophers have earned “membership” among the top five teams in the 14-team league. Following a 51-14 domination of Iowa and competitive 31-24 loss last Saturday to No. 8 ranked Ohio State, the Gophers players and coaches deserve heartfelt props.

Ohio State, Michigan State, Wisconsin—and perhaps Nebraska—are better teams but the Gophers rate at least a solid No. 5 in the Big Ten. This is a good program—built on defense and special teams—and the best Gophers’ product since the 2003 team that was 10-3 overall, 5-3 in league games.

Ohio State is the gold standard in the Big Ten and the Buckeyes brought superior personnel to TCF Bank Stadium, but the Gophers kept the game close and might have won if not for their errors. “We don’t make those mistakes, it’s a different ball game,” Gophers head coach Jerry Kill said on the KFAN-FM postgame show.

Kill suggested on the radio that “three-quarters” of the Buckeyes key players will play in the NFL. The OSU win streak in regular season Big Ten games is now 22 and the team has a national best 13 consecutive road victories.

Kill is 8-4 in his last 12 Big Ten games. He’s picking up converts and believers in his program all the time—and he should. Admittedly, the Gophers still have “warts” including a passing game that can’t go on indefinitely performing as it did last Saturday (7 of 19 completions, 85 yards) but there’s no reason to believe that by next season Kill won’t fix that problem, too.

The Gophers, 7-3 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten, are contending for the West Division championship. Minnesota will play its last two games on the road—against division rivals Nebraska, 4-2, and Wisconsin, 5-1. If the Gophers could surprise their doubters and win both those games they will become West Division champions and advance to the Big Ten Championship Game on December 6 in Indianapolis. “I’ll tell you what, who knows what’s going to happen?” said Kill on the radio. “Everybody’s gotta play each other.”

Iowa, 4-2, is also in the division race and the Hawkeyes’ remaining home games are with Wisconsin and Nebraska. Wisconsin must play at Iowa before having the Gophers come to Madison, and so four teams are in contention to determine the division champion during the next two Saturdays. If Iowa and Minnesota were to win their remaining games, the two teams would be division co-champs but the Gophers will advance to Indy because they have a tiebreaker win over the Hawkeyes.

Announced attendance at the game last Saturday was 45,778. Capacity at TCF Bank Stadium is 52,525 and there were thousands of empty seats on a day when it was snowing and the temp at kickoff was 15 degrees. With a top 10 opponent and the Gophers coming off the big win over Iowa on November 8, this game could have attracted 55,000 to 60,000 fans in the old Metrodome.

There’s just no shaking road work season in the metro area. Highway 100 was closed north and south between I-394 and Highway 62 on Saturday. Traffic piled up on I-35W and Highway 169, partially because of the closure and also the snow.

Bah Humbug!

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Teddy B. Aware of Holding Ball too Long

Posted on November 12, 2014November 12, 2014 by David Shama

Unloading a lot of quotes and notes from various sources:

Vikings rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater makes his sixth pro start on Sunday in Chicago against the Bears. He wants to improve in not holding the ball too long before passing.

“I have a tendency of wanting to see wide receivers open before I throw the football,” he said. “Sometimes I have to just feel it and trust that a guy is going to be in the right area at the right time.”

According to Monday’s USA Today, the collective record of four NFL starting rookie quarterbacks through last Sunday’s games was 4-19. Bridgewater, 3-2, is the only QB among Blake Bortles, Derek Carr and Zach Mettenberger with a winning record.

All three of Bridgewater’s wins have been in come-from-behind situations. Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer praised his quarterback’s makeup. “Composure is big. We’d like for him to be ahead a little bit more but I just think that the game is not too big for him. He sits in there and understands what he has to get done and you know there is a heightened sense of urgency–and not just with Teddy but with everybody.”

The Bears, 3-6, have only played one home game since September 28. They are 0-3 at home this season.

Jerry Trestman and his wife Sharon, who live in the Minneapolis area, don’t plan to attend Sunday’s Bears-Vikings game. Since their son Marc Trestman became Bears coach the couple has seen two games in Chicago, the season openers in 2013 and 2014.

Jerry told Sports Headliners he usually talks to Marc “two or times per week” by telephone. “He usually calls at night after practice,” Jerry said.

Ohio State is ranked No. 8 in the AP poll and the Gophers haven’t faced a top 10 team since they played the Buckeyes in Minneapolis four years ago. The Buckeyes, 8-1 overall and 5-0 in the Big Ten, scored 49 points on Michigan State’s proud defense last Saturday and in five of their last six games are averaging 52.4 points per game.

Could the Gophers be in awe, or intimidated when the two teams play at TCF Bank Stadium on Saturday? Senior defensive tackle and team leader Cameron Botticelli said no.

He told Sports Headliners players and staff put extraordinary effort and time year-round into preparing for games like Saturday’s. “We invest a whole lot of work, so to make that investment and then come into TCF Bank Stadium and be intimidated or in awe of someone, I don’t think that’s within the realm of possibility.

“Definitely we’ll respect our opponent this week because they are a talented football team, but I wouldn’t say shock or awe. More like respect and (facing) another competitor.”

The Buckeyes, who are about a two touchdown favorite against Minnesota, have won a national-best 12 consecutive road games and are undefeated in their last 21 Big Ten regular season games. They also have won seven straight since losing to Virginia Tech at home in a nonconference game on September 6. That was before freshman J.T. Barrett established himself at quarterback and since then the Buckeyes have gone on to become arguably the hottest offensive team in the country.

Gophers junior wide receiver KJ Maye talking about playing the favored Buckeyes and being an underdog: “We play better when we’re like that.”

Ohio State totaled 568 yards against Michigan Sate, nearly 300 more than the Spartans had been giving up per game. Gophers coach Jerry Kill realizes how good Michigan State’s defense is. “I didn’t think they would be able to put that many points on the board (against MSU),” Kill said.

The Gophers gained momentum going into the Ohio State game with a surprising 51-14 win over Iowa last Saturday. A close score was anticipated, but after the one-sided win Kill danced in front of his players in the happy locker room. “Sometimes kids need to see that you’re human,” Kill said. “It’ll probably be the last time—because I figured out I’m stiff, old, and…I’m not a kid anymore.”

Tickets remain, starting at $50, for Saturday’s Ohio State game that will be televised on ABC. The game is the last of the season at home for the Gophers and will be among the most lucrative in gate receipts (prices can vary by game). In the Big Ten Conference the home team retains revenues from ticket sales.

Gophers defensive tackle Steven Richardson is among the Big Ten’s best true freshman linemen. He’s listed at 6-feet and 295 pounds. Some schools stayed away from recruiting Richardson because his height is less than they demand but the young lineman has already shown what he can do as a run stopper and is coming along as a pass rusher. He had a sack against Iowa.

“If you look at the way the kid’s built, he’s a rock and he’s explosive,” said defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys. “I mean he can play anywhere (team) in the country.”

It will be 60 years ago tomorrow that Bob McNamara made his famous 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against border rival Iowa that deserves a place among the most determined efforts in program history. McNamara shook off Iowa tacklers, refusing to go down to the ground in the November 13 game that Minnesota won 22-20. Gophers coach Murray Warmath said in his biography, The Autumn Warrior, that McNamara’s run in Minneapolis was indeed the stuff of legends. “It was the finest example of brilliance and desire I have ever seen,” the coach praised. McNamara died last summer.

In last Saturday’s Tyler Dunne online story for the Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, Brett Favre said if he had a son he probably wouldn’t let him play football “because of what I know.” The former Packers, Vikings and Jets quarterback is concerned about his memory in 10 or 20 years.

Favre turned 45 last month and is now eligible to draw his NFL pension.

You may not have read it before but neither the Gophers nor Louisville receive an appearance fee for participation in Friday night’s Armed Forces Classic in Puerto Rico. Expenses for the two schools are paid for by ESPN Regional Television, owner and operator of the basketball game that honors the military. The Classic will be played in front of military personnel with no admission cost and televised nationally by ESPN starting at 6:30 p.m. Minneapolis time.

Si.com’s college basketball preview of conferences ranks the Gophers ninth in the Big Ten, predicting Minnesota will finish with a 9-9 record (same as Nebraska and Illinois). Projected to have better conference records are Wisconsin,15-3; Ohio State, 12-6; Iowa, 11-7; and 10-8 records for Michigan State, Michigan and Maryland.

Draftexpress.com projects Minnesota natives Tyus Jones and Rashad Vaughn will be selected No. 14 and 21 respectively in the first round of next year’s NBA Draft. Both are college freshmen, Jones at Duke and Vaughn at UNLV.

Voting opened Monday in the USA Today High School Sports contest to determine the best high school football program in the country. A total of 255 programs are eligible after being determined by a panel. Minnesota programs are Blooming Prairie, Eden Prairie, Hutchinson, Rosemount and Totino-Grace. More at Usatodayhss.com.

J.D. Spielman, son of Vikings general manager Rick Spielman, played every snap offensively and defensively in last Friday night’s Eden Prairie High School football playoff win over East Ridge. Spielman, a junior, has a lacrosse scholarship offer from Ohio State but his father said the understanding is his son can change that verbal commitment to play football at a major college if he chooses.

Camden Mona, Dave and Linda Mona’s grandson, celebrated his seventh birthday yesterday. The sixth annual Camden’s Concert at the Hopkins Center for the Arts will be held July 13 next year featuring The Wright Brothers who were popular at this summer’s event helping to generate over $52,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The record amount increased the five year total from the event to more than $200,000.

Dave Mona said the National Senior Games will bring about 13,000 participants and approximately 25,000 total visitors to Minneapolis-St. Paul for competition in various sports next summer—July 3-16. Mona, the WCCO Radio “Sports Huddle” co-host, is co-chair for the games with Susan Adams Lloyd, the Clear Channel Outdoor executive.

Kevin McHale and Flip Saunders coach against each other tonight when the Rockets and Timberwolves play in Mexico City. The two former Gophers were close friends for many years and it was McHale that hired Saunders to work first in the Wolves front office and later as head coach. However, a distance has lingered between the two since McHale, as Wolves general manager, fired Saunders as coach in 2005. “It’s not that they’re (still) upset at each other, they just don’t get together,” a mutual friend told Sports Headliners.

With Garth Brooks performing at Target Center over a period of two weeks, the Wolves are in the midst of a road trip that has them without a home game from November 2 until November 19. With a long road trip, young team, 2-4 record and point guard Ricky Rubio being sidelined with an ankle sprain until perhaps next year, the Wolves are on the spot to win at least a few games this month.

The NBA has long been a leader in diversity and this season is using two female referees, Lauren Holtkamp and Violet Palmer. Dee Kantner, who once worked NBA games, is now the WNBA supervisor of officials.

The Wild will host Military Appreciation Night–presented by Thomson Reuters and benefitting Defending the Blue Line–tomorrow night when Minnesota plays the Sabres at Xcel Energy Center. More than 1,000 active or retired military members are expected to be in attendance. The Wild, along with Thomson Reuters, offered military members a lower level ticket, hot dog, chips and soda for $50.

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