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.

Wolves May Intro New Players at Fair

Posted on August 22, 2014August 22, 2014 by David Shama

It sounds like the Timberwolves will introduce some new players at the State Fair next Tuesday. Owner Glen Taylor told Sports Headliners during a telephone interview he’s been asked by his NBA club to keep the day open and appear at the Wolves’ State Fair location.

“I don’t have (details) exactly what is going to happen, but I have held Tuesday open…(in) anticipation of going up to the State Fair and being involved in some kind of an announcement we would hold over there,” he said yesterday from Mankato.

Media reports have speculated the Wolves will trade All-Star power forward Kevin Love to the Cavs tomorrow, or soon thereafter. The Cavs’ Andrew Wiggins, the overall No. 1 pick in last June’s NBA Draft, will be eligible under NBA rules to be traded tomorrow—30 days after he signed his rookie contract.

Wiggins, a small forward, is regarded as an extraordinary athlete who must prove his basketball skills. The Wolves may also receive Cavs’ power forward Anthony Bennett and a future No. 1 draft choice, according to media reports circulating for weeks.

Taylor said his club hopes to “be in position to get things done” on Saturday. “That would be my preference, that we just get it done as soon as possible,” he said. “We’re going to look at possibly doing a three-team trade.”

Taylor said basketball president of operations and coach Flip Saunders has talked to the Cavs and also to the 76ers. The 76ers have a veteran power forward in Thaddeus Young who might be coming to the Wolves. “I did not know Thaddeus Young myself,” Taylor said. “I just only watched him on TV, so I called some players and talked to them about him, and I’ve only gotten really kind of…glowing reports back as to the type of person (he is)—a hard worker. I look forward to meeting him and getting to know him too.”

It seems likely the Wolves will deal away more players besides Love but Taylor didn’t offer names. The remaining roster after the trade or trades will include a core of promising players who have yet to reach their 23rd birthdays. Taylor said he and Saunders are excited about the potential and he didn’t sound discouraged about reorganizing his team yet again—a franchise that hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2004.

“Probably, if you really kind of look at our starters, we could sort of almost start the same team as we did last year with Thaddeus Young replacing—if that trade goes through—Kevin,” said Taylor who has owned the team since 1995. “But then what is so interesting would be the second five guys that you would have on your team who all probably have the potential of being starters at some time.”

Taylor is talking about a second unit with Gorgui Dieng, 24, at center, with forwards Bennett and Wiggins, who are 21 and 19, and guards Shabazz Muhammad and Zach LaVine, 21 and 19. “You have five kids who were drafted really high with high potential all coming off the bench…with the potential of working into starting lineups,” Taylor said.

Those athletic players would complement point guard Ricky Rubio, the team’s passing whiz who turns 23 in October. Taylor offered Rubio a four-year contract extension earlier this summer but nothing is happening now in negotiations.

The Wolves signed Love to a four-year extension in 2012 instead of a five year deal—a decision that has played a role in the anticipated departure of the 25-year-old who is one of the best players in the world. Taylor said “I am not going to say to you I absolutely won’t change” regarding eventually offering Rubio a five-year contract.

Worth Noting

After visiting all 14 Big Ten Conference football camps, Big Ten Network analyst Gerry DiNardo said on Wednesday night the Gophers, Illinois and Rutgers are the league’s most improved teams. The Gophers are receiving praise from BTN commentators for building quality offensive and defensive lines.

Cordarrelle Patterson, who tied an NFL kickoff return record with a 109-yard touchdown last year, might return a kick tomorrow night for the Vikings in their preseason game with the Chiefs in Kansas City. Special teams coach Mike Priefer said he hopes so but the decision whether to use Patterson in that role is up to head coach Mike Zimmer.

What makes Patterson so effective? “Size, speed, strength,” Priefer said. “He’s got great quickness and, like a lot of the great returners in this league, he’s got great vision. I’ve coached some guys that have the size and speed before, and didn’t have good vision. They just kind of ran into blocks and stuff, but he has an innate ability to see things right before they happen and he’s very good at that.”

Defensive tackle Shariff Floyd could become a starter for the Vikings in his second season. Going into tomorrow night’s third preseason, game defensive coordinator George Edwards will continue to evaluate Floyd.

“We were really pleased last week, he got some pressure up inside,” Edwards said. “Did a good job of pushing the pocket, those kinds of things. He’s been pretty consistent in his run stuff, but last week was the first time he really got good as far as pushing the pocket inside as far as the pass rush.”

Phil Hughes, the winning pitcher for the Twins in their game against the Indians yesterday at Target Field, has won four consecutive games and is now 14-8. In those four games he is 4-0 with a 1.32 ERA.

Rookie DH and first baseman Kennys Vargas hit his fourth home run yesterday. He has only played in 19 games for the Twins but has 17 RBI.

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Ponder Not Counting on Saturday Game

Posted on August 20, 2014August 20, 2014 by David Shama

Christian Ponder told Sports Headliners he isn’t counting on playing time in Saturday night’s Vikings-Chiefs exhibition game in Kansas City.

Ponder said he hasn’t been told if he will play but his status could be the same as last Saturday night when he watched the entire exhibition game against the Cardinals from the sidelines. “I would be surprised if it (playing) changed,” he said. “I hope I can get in and get an opportunity to play. We’ll see what happens.”

A starter in nine games last season, Ponder has accepted the No. 3 quarterback role on the team behind Matt Cassel and Teddy Bridgewater. Ponder’s contract is up after this season and he anticipates being with a different team in 2015.

“If we look at the reality right now, Matt’s the starter,” Ponder said. “They’re (developing) Teddy to be the future starter at some point. I am excluded in their future plans so I would assume I will be on a different team next year, but I am not really thinking about it right now.

“I have to be prepared (for the present). It’s a lot of responsibility being the third string quarterback. You’re not getting that many reps and you have to be ready to play at any point, so that’s what I am focused on right now and we’ll see what happens after the season.”

Ponder did play briefly toward the end of the Vikings’ first exhibition game on August 8 against the Raiders. Playing with other backups, he was sacked three times while completing three of seven passes.

Saturday’s game in Kansas City will be the third exhibition for both teams. Game threes are typically when starters see their most minutes of the preseason schedule so Ponder could certainly be correct about not participating in Kansas City.

Before last Saturday’s game, Ponder was seen talking with new offensive coordinator Norv Tuner in the tunnel at TCF Bank Stadium. What was the discussion?

“We actually were talking about getting together to eat at some point,” Ponder said. “We weren’t even talking football. Before the game is a pretty relaxed atmosphere. We were just talking and joking around a little bit.”

Ponder and Turner live near one another and a future dinner—on a date yet to be determined—makes sense. Ponder speaks highly of Turner whose career experiences include being a head coach with three NFL teams.

“I think he’s done a great job of reaching out to everybody and building a personal relationship,” Ponder said. “He’s a great coach. I think he knows how to get the best out of everybody.”

Turner said he was disappointed with the negative way some fans reacted to Ponder in the August 8 exhibition game. “I think he’s done everything he can do and he’s working his butt off, and I think he’s a guy that’s going to be valuable to our team,” Turner said.

Worth Noting

Ponder’s wife Samantha gave birth in July to a baby girl, Bowden Sainte-Claire Ponder. The Bowden first name is in honor of Ponder’s coach at Florida State, the now retired and legendary Bobby Bowden.

“Everyone assumes it was my idea,” Ponder said. “It was actually my wife’s idea.”

Coach Bowden is well-known to Samantha who works for ESPN and is a college football authority. Ponder admires his ex-coach’s character and recalled listening former Florida State players talk about Bowden when he was in college. “A lot of guys said they might be dead if it wasn’t for him,” Ponder said.

The Vikings have renewed over 80 percent of season tickets and expect to increase that to a final figure of about 85 percent (first home regular season game on September 14). That will mean a season ticket total in the upper 40,000’s at TCF Bank Stadium where capacity is 52,000.

The home game with the Packers on November 23 is sold out. Only a small number of tickets remain for the Patriots game September 14 while other games have a few thousand tickets available.

Purchase of personal seat licenses in the new downtown stadium opening in 2016 has exceeded expectations. The Vikings’ goal is to eventually total $125 million in the sale of PSLs, and the intent was to reach $37 million by this December. Instead, the club is already near $62 million.

State Fairgrounds parking and shuttle service will be available after Labor Day for Vikings and Gophers games at TCF Bank Stadium. That option wasn’t available for the Vikings’ first two home exhibition games.

About 10,000 to 11,000 Vikings fans used light rail service to the team’s opening preseason game at TCF Bank Stadium on August 8. Numbers aren’t yet available for last Saturday night’s game.

Gerry DiNardo offered a flattering statistic about the Gophers defense on the Big Ten Network’s Minnesota season preview last Saturday. He said the defense stopped opponents in the red zone “74 percent” of the time last season, the best results in the Big Ten for all games, nonconference and league.

Last week’s college football preview issue of Sports Illustrated had four Big Ten teams in the magazine’s top 25 rankings, Ohio State No. 4, Michigan State No. 6, Wisconsin No. 15 and Nebraska No. 24. The publication predicts the first ever Division I four-team College Football Playoff next January will consist of Alabama, Florida State, Ohio State and Oklahoma.

Four state prep football coaches will enter the upcoming season with 99 career wins. Those coaches are John Austinson, Byron; Chad Johnston, Minneota/Lincoln Hi; Bob Staska, McGregor; and Jeff Weiland, Orono.

Oswaldo Arcia, 23, has now played in 167 major league games for the Twins over two seasons. His home runs, 27, and RBI, 79, are impressive during a total number of games that is only a little more than a single 162-game season. His average, .242, would improve with fewer strikeouts (202 in 603 at bats) but for a young player making about $500,000 per season he’s a promising asset on the power-starved Twins.

Arcia homered last night in the team’s loss to the Indians. It was the third consecutive game he has homered. He has seven home runs in his last 20 games. That’s the second most in the American League over that period.

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Jerry Kill Not Backing Off New Facility

Posted on August 18, 2014August 18, 2014 by David Shama

I know Jerry Kill well enough to tell you he has a philosophy about priorities. The Gophers football coach says what’s important gets emphasized.

Kill wants a culture at the University of Minnesota where school leaders inside and outside the athletic department make football a priority. If football isn’t going to be important at Minnesota, don’t be surprised if some day the Gophers are looking for a new head coach. Kill, a Kansas native, might end his career at a school where football is emphasized—maybe in Manhattan, Kansas coaching for Kansas State.

A new football practice facility is considered a must-have by the Gophers. Minnesota is at the bottom of the Big Ten Conference in football facilities, with other schools able to dazzle recruits with their amenities. Meanwhile the Gophers get along with an indoor venue that has a roof so low punts hit the ceiling, and after practices players eat at temporary tables set up in a lobby area near their indoor and outdoor fields.

A new facility, perhaps costing $70 million, is part of a $190 million facilities fundraising plan announced last year by the Athletic Department. Campaign officials have been mostly silent regarding fundraising progress and no official announcement of a date to break ground on a football practice facility has come forward from department authorities.

But Kill sent a message on Saturday when Howard Griffith from the Big Ten Network asked him on a Gophers season preview special what’s next for a program that in the last three years has gone from three wins to six to eight? “…There’s no question I am looking forward to the new facility,” Kill answered. “We have to have that. That’s been kind of a deal in recruiting, and so Coach Kill has put a lot of pressure in that situation. That’s going to come through. So all those things help move the program forward.”

But that wasn’t all Kill said on Saturday. BTN writer Tom Dienhart tweeted that “Jerry Kill says ground will be broken on new football complex in Spring 2015.”

The coach knew he was talking to a national audience including potential recruits when he brought up the practice facility to BTN sources. He was also sending a message to school officials about how important the facility is to him.

Kill has earned the respect and trust of many Gophers loyalists since starting here as head coach in 2011. His skills as a football leader, and compassion for people inside and outside the program, have made him popular with school supporters including those with influence and money. There is no question he is the face of the Athletic Department and it wouldn’t be surprising if big money donors have assured him they will help fund the new facility—and soon.

Worth Noting

Derrick Wells, a senior and likely starter at cornerback, is one of several talented defensive backs for the Gophers, a group that makes Kill anticipate his secondary will rank with the best in the Big Ten Conference. The 6-foot, 201-pound Wells was injured last year and played in 10 of 13 games, starting five of them.

“He’s a big corner,” Kill said. “He’s a very, very good player.”

Wells has also played safety during his college career and said he could see spending time at that position in 2014. “I like both, actually,” he said. “I think I like safety a little more than corner.”

Gaelin Elmore, the true freshman from Somerset, Wisconsin, has been moved from tight end to defensive end. Kill said on WCCO Radio’s Sports Huddle yesterday that Elmore has played the position in high school and the Gophers need depth on the defensive line. He also said the 6-foot-6 Elmore weighs 265 pounds and will probably add 20 pounds. “He is going to play (this season) for us,” Kill said.

TCF Bank Stadium, Target Field and Target Center, located within several miles of one another, had combined announced attendance of 96,843 fans for their games in Minneapolis on Saturday night. The Twins audience watching their win over the Royals was 35,575. The Vikings attendance was 51,763 to see their exhibition win against the Cardinals. The Lynx had 9,505 fans and defeated the Shock. Combined with crowds watching Saints baseball, Minnesota United soccer and horse racing at Canterbury Park, well over 100,000 fans were entertained by sports in the metro area on Saturday night.

Murray’s Restaurant owner and baseball fan Tim Murray saw games last week at the home stadiums for the Astros, Marlins and Reds. With those trips he has now visited each of Major League Baseball’s 30 stadiums.

Here is his top 10: 1. Fenway Park; 2. Wrigley Field; 3. PNC Park; 4. Camden Yards; 5. Dodger Stadium; 6. Coors Field; 7. Target Field; 8. Safeco Field; 9. Kauffman Stadium; 10. Busch Stadium.

Murray made judgments not just on a ballpark’s architecture but on the “whole experience” of attending games. This included ease of entry and exit from the ballpark, food and beverage offerings and service, and restrooms.

Murray said despite not having great sightlines and food, Fenway Park is special. MLB’s oldest stadium has a special charm with its architecture, intimacy, field layout and “quirky Green Monster” wall, he explained.

Murray’s bottom five parks? Tropicana Field is ranked No. 30, then O.com Coliseum, Chase Field, U.S. Cellular Field and Yankee Stadium.

When the Twins play the Royals tonight, Josh Willingham has an opportunity to increase his total career home runs at Target Field. The former Twin has the most home runs ever hit at Target Field, 35. Now with the Royals, he homered yesterday.

Last Saturday was the 60th anniversary of Sports Illustrated’s first issue when Eddie Mathews of the Braves was on the cover. Here is a trivia question: Who is the only Golden Gophers football player ever on the cover?

It was Bobby Cox in 1957. The caption: “Best college quarterback.”

Bidding started earlier this month on Gophersports.com for the Goal Line Club’s online auction to support the football program. More than 70 items are part of the auction including memorabilia, travel and fan experiences. The auction goes until August 24.

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