Author: David Shama

David Shama is a former sports editor and columnist with local publications. His writing and reporting experiences include covering the Minnesota Vikings, Minnesota Twins, Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Gophers. Shama’s career experiences also include sports marketing. He is the former Marketing Director of the Minnesota North Stars of the NHL. He is also the former Marketing Director of the United States Tennis Association’s Northern Section. A native of Minneapolis, Shama has been part of the community his entire life. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota where he majored in journalism. He also has a Master’s degree in education from the University of St. Thomas. He was a member of the Governor’s NBA’s Task Force to help create interest in bringing pro basketball to town in the 1980s.

U Defense, Special Teams Impress But…

Posted on August 29, 2014August 29, 2014 by David Shama

In today’s column analysis of last night’s Gophers-Eastern Illinois game, high school football tales from long ago, and a few notes including about the Lynx, prep basketball rankings and (surprise) wiener dog races.

Well two out of three isn’t bad for an opening game. The Gophers impressed on defense and with special teams but the offense struggled in the 42-20 win over Eastern Illinois.

The defense tackled with authority and the secondary was as athletic as advertised. The Gophers, leading 42-0 in the fourth quarter, gave up late touchdowns when reserves couldn’t stop the Panthers from getting in the end zone, including the closing seconds as time expired.

Former Gophers coach Glen Mason, doing game analysis on the Big Ten Network last night, gave the defense a B+ grade. He credited the Gophers with not allowing any big plays when the game was yet to be decided. He also said the Gophers were effective in containing an offense with varied looks led by a new Panthers coaching staff that had the Gophers coaches wondering what to expect before the game.

The Gophers stopped drives by the Panthers with efforts by defensive end Alex Keith who recovered two fumbles, and an interception by safety Antonio Johnson. But they weren’t the only Minnesota players making dramatic plays. Early in the third quarter, with the Gophers leading 14-0, Eric Murray blocked a punt and Logan Hutton recovered the ball for a touchdown.

High level special teams play like that characterized Jerry Kill’s teams when he coached at Southern Illinois and Northern Illinois. With the Gophers, Kill is doing the same and there was more to applaud last night than the efforts by Murray and Hutton. Placekicker Ryan Santoso, playing in his first college game, sent ball after ball into the end zone on kickoffs, preventing the Panthers from even thinking about a return. Punter Peter Mortell, who averaged 43.3 yards last season, had a gaudy average of 51.2 last night.

Minnesota knows it has to make more explosive plays offensively and Berkley Edwards made a significant contribution last night in his first game as a Gopher. In the fourth quarter his second touchdown of the period was a 42 yard run down the sidelines where he showed the speed that makes him nearly the fastest player on the team.

Quarterback Mitch Leidner threw a big play 35-yard touchdown pass late in the second quarter to wide receiver Donovahn Jones, another guy the Gophers are counting on to change their reputation as a sputtering offense against elite teams. Leidner, though, struggled with his passing and the offensive line sometimes didn’t give him enough time to throw and at other times was ineffective at opening holes for runners. Plenty of room for improvement and fans are advised to show patience with the offense for awhile.

Mason told the TV audience Leidner played only limited minutes last year and can’t be viewed as an experienced returning starter. “It’s going to be a work in progress,” Mason said.

Leidner completed nine of 17 passes for one touchdown and also ran for two scores. Mason gave Leidner a C grade for his work last night. “I expected more out of him. His decision making…at times he got away with a couple of passes that were dangerous that he threw into a crowd of people. I know that he can run.

“He depended on the supporting cast. I would think that it was just a very, very average performance against Eastern Illinois.” …

Ron Stolski, 75, is the state’s all-time winningest prep football coach and he will lead the Brainerd High School Warriors into their opening game tonight at home against FergusFalls. Just for a moment today Stolski—with a career record of 355 wins, 156 losses and five ties—might watch his mind wander back to his first game as a high school coach.

The year was 1962 and Stolski was coaching eight-man football at Kensington High School, located near Alexandria, Minnesota. To say there was apathy in Kensington regarding football was an understatement. The team hadn’t scored a point at a home game in five years and at Stolski’s first practice only three boys came out for the team.

Stolski remembers the three lads. “One became a pilot for American Airlines. One sadly died of a heart attack, and the third ended up teaching here at Brainerd. He’s retired now.”

Contrast the player turnout at Kensington with Brainerd where the Warriors welcomed 90 to 100 players this month. Brainerd has been in the state semi-finals four of the last seven years and was 12-1 last year. “Not bad for a country school,” Stolski told Sports Headliners.

In that first year at Kensington Stolski was able to boost the roster to 13 players before the first game—or so he thought. “We had 11 for the opener because two (players) got a job mowing hay and didn’t show up,” the coach said.

Marietta High School defeated Kensington on its home field in that opening game. A year later Kensington travelled to Marietta for another opening game and that memory made Stolski chuckle. He not only coached but drove the team bus, and en route to the game got lost.

“Pretty soon I realize we’re going to be late so I tell the kids to dress in the bus. ‘You gotta change while I am driving,’ ” Stolski instructed. “We finally get there and we’re like 10, 15 minutes late.”

The Kensington players were now in their uniforms but when they arrived in Marietta there was no time for preparations. The Marietta coach insisted that “we gotta play right now.”

Kensington got its revenge, though, from the 1962 loss to Marietta. “We ended up kicking the living hell out of them,” Stolski said. …

The Lynx has its opening Western Conference Finals game tonight in Phoenix against the Mercury beginning at 9 p.m. (NBA TV). In franchise history the defending WNBA champion Lynx are 22-9 overall and 15-2 for home postseason games—winning percentages of .709 and .882, and the best in league history. …

Grand Rapids native Alex Illikainen, a forward who will play his senior season at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire, is ranked No. 130 in the Rivals.com top 150 list of best high school basketball prospects for 2015 released on Wednesday. DeLaSalle point guard Jarvis Johnson, a top 100 player earlier in the year, wasn’t ranked on Wednesday. …

Canterbury Park holds its annual Minnesota Festival of Champions on Sunday—a day devoted to races involving only Minnesota born and bred thoroughbreds and quarter horses. This is a racing calendar highlight as Canterbury celebrates the state breeding industry.

Among the promotional highlights of the summer at the Shakopee racetrack are the “Wiener Dog Wars” scheduled for Monday. In the biggest Dachshund race day of the year at Canterbury, 72 dogs are expected to compete in multiple races to determine a champion.

The fifth annual Camden’s Concert at the Hopkins Center for the Arts last month—featuring The Wright Brothers—generated over $52,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The record amount increased the five year total from the event to more than $200,000. A record crowd of 471 attended the concert named after Dave and Linda Mona’s six-year-old grandson Camden Mona.

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U Football Season Tickets Total Increases

Posted on August 27, 2014August 27, 2014 by David Shama

It’s unlikely tomorrow night’s opening game at TCF Bank Stadium against Eastern Illinois will sellout.

Minnesota’s opening game on August 29 last year against UNLV at TCF drew 44,217 fans. Tomorrow night’s game—unless there is a huge walkup ticket sale—likely will have similar attendance. Eastern Illinois isn’t a strong box office attraction and the Gophers face entertainment competition from the State Fair on a weekday night.

The total number of Gophers season football tickets has increased slightly from last season. As of Monday, the Gophers had sold 5,043 student season tickets compared with 4,175 on the same date a year ago. School hasn’t started yet at the University of Minnesota and more student season tickets will be sold. An additional 800 student season tickets were sold last year after August 25, bringing the 2013 total to 4,975.

The overall season tickets total as of Monday was 33,385—a bit more than the final 2013 total of 33,284. The nonstudent season tickets total is expected to be between 28,000 and 29,000. The 5,043 student number includes many tickets sold as part of packages that includes admission to basketball and hockey games.

With the addition of extra seats at the west end of the stadium, capacity has increased from 50,805 to 52,525. The potential for setting single game attendance records is in play for high demand games against Iowa on November 8 and Ohio State November 15.

Jerry Kill’s fourth season as Gophers head coach begins tomorrow night. He will tell you there’s no question who his No. 1 and 2 quarterbacks are—Mitch Leidner and Chris Streveler.

No doubt Kill wants to see that one-two order continue through a 12-game season and a bowl win. He made it clear to the team months ago that Leidner, the redshirt sophomore from Lakeville South, was the starter. “There is no question Chris Streveler is our No. 2,” Kill said last Saturday.

Either injuries or lack of production have often had the Gophers and fans wondering what to expect from the starting quarterback. The Gophers used four different starters at quarterback during the last three seasons. MarQueis Gray had 10 starts and Max Shortell two in 2011. Those players started three games each in 2012 and Philip Nelson had seven starts. Last year Nelson started nine games and Leidner four.

Can someone play the whole season as the No. 1 guy at the most important position on the team? Leidner is the only quarterback on the roster with gameday experience. Unless he flops—or is injured—he is a heavy favorite to be the starter all year.

Expect the Gophers to design and use their offense to keep Leidner healthy and on the field. That is so much easier said than done, though. The 6-4, 237-pound Leidner is not shy about running and although his legs won’t be the primary weapon in the offense, the Gophers will need rushing productivity from him in the more difficult games including road tests at Nebraska and Wisconsin.

Leidner threw only three touchdown passes last season while completing 55.1 percent of his passes. His passing is likely to be improved and that’s a must for the Gophers who had just 12 touchdown receptions last season and were among the most unproductive passing teams in the country.

Streveler, a redshirt freshman, isn’t the equal of Leidner as a passer. Streveler looks like an athlete playing quarterback, and a teammate said the Illinois native’s greatest strength “definitely” is his running.

Leidner believes he is ready for a productive year leading an offense that includes Doak Walker Award candidate and running back David Cobb (1,202 yards last year), and a group of potential big play receivers. The experience of playing last season and all the preparation during the offseason made it easy for Leidner to answer the question whether there is any comparison with who he is now as a quarterback versus a year ago. “Nah, it’s not comparable at all, I don’t think. It’s a different mindset.”

That might be another way of saying the Gophers are ready to stop the quarterback carousel.

Worth Noting

Eastern Illinois is ranked No. 11 in the country in the FCS coaches poll. Historically, EIU has five wins over FBS programs like the Gophers including a 40-19 victory last year at San Diego State.

Kill predicted the Panthers will be ready to play and said this is a “bowl game” for the EIU program.

Panthers running backs Shepard Little and Taylor Duncan are the top returning FCS rushing twosome. Little had 1,551 yards last season while Duncan had 988 despite missing two games.

The Panthers are expected to play two quarterbacks including Andrew Manley who was the starter after spring practice. He is a transfer from New Mexico State and threw three touchdown passes for the Aggies when they beat the Gophers in 2011 at TCF Bank Stadium. The other quarterback is Jalen Whitlow, a transfer from Kentucky who started 15 games during the last two seasons for the Wildcats.

Near the top of any list for most anticipated Gopher debuts will be that of redshirt freshman running back Berkley Edwards. Fans have heard a lot about his speed and he is the second fastest player on the roster. His roommate, sophomore defensive back Jalen Myrick, is faster.

No Gophers unit is expected to be better in performance and depth than the secondary. Minnesota has six defensive backs who have started a combined 59 games led by Cedric Thompson with 19, Derrick Wells, 16 and Eric Murray, 13.

Last season the Gophers excelled against four of the best receivers in the Big Ten—Jared Abbrederis, Wisconsin; Jeremy Gallon, Michigan; Cody Latimer, Indiana; and Allen Robinson, Penn State. The group had 4,982 receiving yards and 31 touchdowns. Against Minnesota they totaled 224 yards (4.4 percent of season output) and two touchdowns (6.4 percent of their production).

Kill’s 53rd birthday was last Sunday. His three-year record at Minnesota is 17-21 overall, but during the last two seasons he is 14-12. In their previous 26 games prior to the 2012 and 2013 seasons the Gophers were 6-20.

The Vikings, 3-0, play their final preseason game tomorrow night in Nashville against the Titans, 2-1. The last year the Vikings were undefeated in preseason was 2001, winning all four games. The regular season didn’t go so well, though, with a 5-11 record, and Mike Tice replaced Dennis Green as head coach for game No. 16.

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer told the team on Monday Matt Cassel will be the starting quarterback. What stood out, prompting the decision?

“Well, Matt did not do anything to lose the job this preseason. I think he’s played great,” Zimmer said. “The team has a lot of confidence in him. They feel good about his veteran leadership and presence.

“I had to think about the whole football team, it wasn’t just about the quarterbacks. I’ve said this before, it’s not always the best player at (any position)…it’s how everything works together, and at this stage where we are at right now I feel like that’s the best thing to do.

“I told (rookie) Teddy (Bridgewater) that I’m so happy that he’s here with us. I’m glad he’s the guy we picked…and Teddy will be still, in my estimation, a great player for this franchise for years to come.”

Minnesota hockey legend Lou Nanne will speak at the September 11 CORES luncheon at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington, 1114 American Blvd. Nanne, who left the North Stars in 1991 after serving as team president, has been honored many times for his playing and administrative career including induction into multiple halls of fame. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans. Reservations (by September 8) for the lunch and program can be made by contacting Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net.

Twins rookie Kennys Vargas had one hit in last night’s 2-1 loss against the Royals. He has hit safely in 20 of 24 career Twins games. In his last 10 games the DH-first baseman is batting .395 with two home runs and 11 RBI.

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Meet The Mike Zimmer You Don’t Know

Posted on August 25, 2014August 25, 2014 by David Shama

Mike Zimmer was named the Vikings ninth head coach last winter. Fans and media are still getting acquainted with Zimmer who after 20 years of being an NFL assistant became a head coach for the first time. In an exclusive interview, Sports Headliners asked him to fill in the blanks on various football and personal topics—some not too serious—to better understand who he is.

Football is the best game in the world because: “It teaches discipline, (and) toughness, and there’s such a team aspect of things.”

What I’ve already learned about Adrian Peterson is: “That he cares a lot about this football team and the franchise. Besides being a great running back, he’s a good person.”

Better know this about former NFL coach Bill Parcells: (Laughs). “That he is going to have a sharp stick and poke you with it—that he does it because he cares about you and wants you to be the very best that you can be.”

The most difficult time in my life was: “When my wife (Vikki) passed away (October 8, 2009, after 27 years of marriage).”

How I got offensive coordinator Norv Turner to come and work for me was: “Begging and pleading, and a few phone conversations. …I think he saw how we played defense and I saw how he played offense, and I thought it would be a good mix, and I think he did too.”

When people compare me to Bud Grant I think: (Laughs). “I think, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ I am kind of speechless. But I haven’t coached a (regular season) game yet so we should temper those thoughts, I think.”

If I want one thing on my tombstone it is: “Honesty.”

What amazes me about you guys in the media is: (Laughs). “Honestly, I have a lot of respect for the people in the media. I really do. Sometimes I get a kick out of how they can ask a question looking for the answer that they want (me) to give.”

I will promise Vikings fans this: “That I will do my very best every single day. Work as hard as I can to bring a championship to Minnesota.”

The perfect vacation for me is: “I am not a big vacation guy but I do like to hang out at my ranch (43 acres in northern Kentucky)—shoot guns, go hunting, things like that.”

My very first words to the team after being hired were: “I believe it was what kind of people and players that I was looking for…and what kind of things we’re not looking for.”

My best advice to No. 3 quarterback Christian Ponder is: “Hang in there. Keep fighting. Keep your head up, chest out, (and) good things will happen.”

Vikings fans will learn this about rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater: “That he is humble, caring. He’s obviously talented but he’s a guy that I think they’ll be proud to have as a quarterback some day.”

Here’s what I think about superstition: “I think I have it (laughs). But it’s not always a good thing.”

What’s an example? “I have a prayer that…I’ve used for the last three or four years that I read numerous times before the game. Just read it to myself. It’s about (the) game plan, (and) playing with great unity and effort, and smart. Things like that.”

My good luck charms are: “My kids (daughters Corri and Marki, and son Adam). They’re always helping me staying positive, and seeing the good things.”

If I could invite a few people—including historical figures and anyone alive today—to a dinner party I would include: “(General) George Patton, probably Michael Jordan. …Parcells would probably be one, although I would put him at the other end of the table. No, I am not joking on that one. Some of the great coaches—Don Shula—(and) I know they (Vikings fans) don’t want me to say (Packers Vince) Lombardi but him too.”

There’s nothing better to eat than: “Mexican, Tex-Mex especially. Anything with pico de gallo on it. Queso. Chicken I love. …”

My early impression of Minnesota as a place to live is: “My earliest impression was very cold. When I got here it was January 15th. But you know the people have been great. The area with all the lakes and the waterfowl and the clear blue skies—it‘s pretty neat.”

Were you discouraged by the January winter welcome? “Well, I was caught off guard a little bit. I didn’t expect it to be 18 below when I was driving into work, but we have heaters.”

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