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.

St. Peter: Twins Built Better Than 2013

Posted on May 21, 2014March 15, 2023 by David Shama

Nobody is predicting the Twins will win the American League Central or even secure a wildcard position in the playoffs, but after about two months the home team certainly looks better than last year’s club that finished with a 66-96 record.

“I certainly believe so,” Twins president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners.

The Twins are 22-21 after last night’s interleague win over the Padres in San Diego. On this date a year ago the Twins were 18-25, and seven games out of first place.

The 2014 Twins, although six games behind the division-leading Tigers, and are in second place and have won three consecutive series. One was against the Tigers in Detroit, with the other two in Minneapolis facing the 2013 World Series champion Red Sox and also the Mariners.

The Twins have managed to play around .500 baseball despite a difficult early season schedule. Injuries to outfielders Oswaldo Arcia and Josh Willingham, and first baseman Joe Mauer have been a challenge, too.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that we believe this baseball team is built to be better than what we’ve been in the last three years,” St. Peter said. “That isn’t saying much because we haven’t been very good. We need to get better.”

The team’s last three regular season records were 66-96 twice and 63-99. Coming out of spring training there was hope but no assurance this season would be better. The starting pitching was a concern and fans had minimal optimism about run production.

St. Peter said the team’s bullpen has often been “very good” this spring while the ongoing effort is to restore “credibility” among the starting pitchers who must show more consistency. The offense has been much better than expected with the Twins fifth in American League runs scored. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, but, nonetheless, we’ve been encouraged by a variety of different developments,” St. Peter said.

Ask St. Peter about early season Twins MVP’s and he mentions closer Glen Perkins, new starter Phil Hughes, new catcher Kurt Suzuki, third baseman Trevor Plouffe and second baseman Brian Dozier who has been statistically more impressive than anyone on the roster. Dozier, in his third season with the Twins, is tied for fourth in AL home runs, third in stolen bases and first in runs scored.

St. Peter has praise, too, for manager Ron Gardenhire and the coaching staff. “I think our manager and coaching staff have always done a great job here. Again, long way (for the team) to go.

“They (the staff) certainly should get credit for the continued evolution of some of our core players. Guys that maybe people had questions about. Whether it be a Plouffe, or a Dozier, or some of our bullpen guys, or what have you. There’s no doubt that the collective coaching staff deserves some credit and ultimately Ron Gardenhire is the leader of that group.”

The Twins made a habit of being blown out of games by the mid-innings last season. This year has been different and the team has not only stayed in games but rallied from behind, or overcome tie scores. “As we get into the heart of the season I’d like to think we’re in a position here where we not only can surprise some people but ultimately hopefully we can contend (for the playoffs),” St. Peter said.

The Twins haven’t been a contender since 2010 when they won their second consecutive AL Central title. The 2014 club still has most of its season ahead and has much to prove. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, but, nonetheless, we’ve been encouraged by a variety of different developments,” St. Peter said.

Worth Noting

Each major league baseball team is guaranteed a roster spot for one player in the All-Star game. The 2014 game is in Minneapolis but nothing in the MLB rules guarantees extra roster spots for the host club. Closer Glen Perkins, an All-Star last season, and second baseman Brian Dozier are leading Twins candidates to participate in the game but first baseman Joe Mauer, who has only six extra base hits and is hitting .282, needs to pick up his production pronto before All-Star rosters are finalized in early July. Mauer has played in six All-Star games and his reported $23 million salary is among the highest in baseball.

St. Peter said Mauer is healthy now and mentioned other Twins All-Star candidates include catcher Kurt Suzuki and starting pitcher Phil Hughes. “We’ll have at least one All-Star and the play on the field will dictate whether we have more than one,” St. Peter said.

The fourth seeded Gophers baseball team plays its opening Big Ten Tournament game tonight in Omaha starting at 9 p.m. against fifth seeded Michigan. Gophers right-handed senior pitcher Alec Crawford from Wilton, Iowa was voted All-Big Ten Third Team by the conference coaches. Catcher Austin Athmann from Cold Spring was a unanimous All-Big Ten Freshman Team choice. Big Ten honors were announced yesterday.

For the first time in MIAC history one school has teams in both the NCAA Division III softball and baseball national tournaments in the same season. The St. Thomas softball team, 42-7, plays its opening game Thursday against Salisbury (Md.) in the eight-team, double-elimination tournament in Tyler, Texas. The Tommies have earned their fifth trip to nationals in 13 seasons but first since 2006.

The St. Thomas baseball team, 37-7, opens play Friday at 10 a.m. against defending champion Linfield (Ore.) in the eight-team, double-elimination tournament in Appleton, Wis. This is the Tommies’ fifth trip to nationals in the last 16 years and second in three seasons.

Gophers basketball coach Richard Pitino has been on the job for about 14 months and has yet to gain a recruiting commitment from a big name Minnesota high school recruit, but that’s likely to change with his 2015 class. Look for top 100 recruits Jarvis Johnson from DeLaSalle and Alex Illikainen from Grand Rapids to listen hard to Pitino, with either or both likely to become Gophers. Pitino probably realizes the chances of chasing Big Ten titles without one or two star contributors from Minnesota high schools are minimal.

Gophers football coach Jerry Kill, when asked on WCCO Radio last Sunday morning about redshirt freshmen who could contribute to the team’s success next fall mentioned running back Berkley Edwards, 6-foot-10 tight end Nate Wozniak and linebackers Ray Dixon and De’Niro Laster.

There’s probably more willingness among NFL owners than ever before to consider northern cities as Super Bowl sites. It’s not a trend but northern Super Bowls are more common than years ago. The 2014 game was in New Jersey and because the next three Super Bowls will be played in warm weather cities, Minneapolis likely benefitted in winning the 2018 game in a vote of league owners yesterday.

Pete Prisco from Cbssports.com posted his post-NFL Draft power rankings last Thursday and listed the Vikings at No. 27 among 30 teams. “It’s all about the quarterback position for the Vikings,” wrote Prisco who ranks the three other NFC North Division teams ahead of Minnesota.

Prisco has the Packers No. 8, Bears No. 12 and Lions No. 22. The Super Bowl champion Seahawks are his No. 1 team.

Dennis Schapiro, who died last week in Minneapolis at age 67, was a terrific editor and friend of mine. Condolences to Schapiro’s family including uncle Sid Hartman.

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3 Names May Top Wolves Coach List

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

Will the next Timberwolves coach be Flip Saunders, Fred Hoiberg or George Karl?

Speculation continues that Saunders, now the team’s president of basketball operations, wants to coach, too. Why both jobs? Because he enjoys coaching, and maybe at age 59 he wants his legacy to be more than being fired in each of his previous NBA head coaching stops.

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor is on record preferring to have Saunders in the front office with another individual coaching. Taylor told Sports Headliners awhile ago front office executives have long term views and coaches make decisions based on what’s best now. He wants both outlooks for his franchise that hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2004.

Saunders, if he wants to coach again, will have a sales job to do with Taylor. He might get it done because Saunders is a persuasive guy, and although the Wolves, Pistons and Wizards all dismissed him, he knows how to coach. It’s believed, too, Saunders could be effective in convincing All-Star forward Kevin Love to re-sign with the Wolves next year.

Hoiberg spent two seasons playing for the Wolves and four more as a front office executive before taking his first head coaching position in 2010 at Iowa State, his alma mater. Hoiberg was well liked as a Wolves executive and the guess is Taylor is fond of him.

A Sports Headliners source believes Hoiberg is interested in the Wolves job. There are several reasons this could be true, including the possibility he doesn’t care much for recruiting. That’s no easy job at Iowa State, a school where Hoiberg has built his program by dodging potential problems with talented transfers who had alleged issues at other schools. Winning in Ames is no gimme and you wonder if he wants the dual role of recruiter and babysitter.

Iowa State loyalists want to believe Hoiberg—who grew up in Ames and is one of the state’s biggest heroes—will never leave his home town. He might not leave for a college job but the NBA could be different. If that’s not true, then why is his contractual buyout to leave for the pros reportedly $500,000 while the buyout for another college position is $2 million? Consider, too, recent Internet reports that had Hoiberg’s name linked to the Warriors job that was filled last week and the opening with the Knicks for head coach.

Hoiberg likes his team to play at a fast pace and that’s more doable in the NBA than in college. He played with a 24 second shot clock in the NBA and wants to see the college shot clock go from 35 seconds to 18 seconds, according to Internet reports last week.

Lifestyle and security might lure the 41-year-old Hoiberg back to Minneapolis, too. In Ames he’s a celebrity wherever he goes but in Minneapolis he and his family would enjoy much more privacy. The Hoibergs might be Iowans but they have Minnesota roots, too, from their years in the state, and they still have a cabin in central Minnesota.

The Wolves could offer a contract that sets Hoiberg up for life. A five-year $25 million deal, along with his NBA pension someday, would provide the personable coach with a lot of financial security. He reportedly earns $2.6 million annually at Iowa State as part of a contract through 2023.

Hoiberg or any new Wolves coach will inherit a roster with multiple weaknesses that is not ready to make a deep playoff run, assuming the team can even qualify for the postseason next year. Still, if Hoiberg got all that he could out of the Wolves during the next several seasons it would be a credit, not a blemish, to his coaching reputation.

As for Karl, he is 63 and is sixth among NBA coaches in all-time wins with 1,131. He is friendly with Saunders and the two likely would work effectively together. Karl is an advocate of up-tempo offense and sharing the basketball. That’s a style, of course, players say makes the game fun but with Karl it won’t be an anything goes environment. He will push players to play hard and nobody is advised to fall into disfavor.

Karl, who will demand plenty of his players defensively too, went through a difficult period a few years ago with head and neck cancer. That illness and his age could make NBA teams with coaching openings perhaps think twice about him.

The search for the next Wolves coach has been quiet for a few weeks. Taylor said by e-mail Saunders will pick the next coach but there’s no doubt the owner will have plenty of say, too.

Worth Noting

Taylor said in the same e-mail that despite other reports, he isn’t trying to sell his controlling interest in the Wolves. He is open to inquiries about minority ownership.

The NBA Draft Lottery from New York is tomorrow night and ESPN will televise starting at 7 p.m. Minneapolis time. Because of their 40-42 regular season record, the Wolves presently are assigned the No. 13 pick for the first round of the June 26 NBA Draft. The Wolves are one of 14 teams in the lottery which determines the top three positions in the draft. Minnesota has a 2.18% chance of obtaining a top-three slot in the draft.

The Wolves will have three second round selections in the June 26 draft—No. 40, 44 and 53.

Twins second baseman Brian Dozier is third in American League home runs with 11, second in stolen bases with 12 and first in runs scored with 40.

Yangervis Solarte, the 26-year-old Yankees rookie second baseman who is among the American League leaders in batting average, is from Venezuela and was in the Twins organization for several years until 2011.

Gophers football coach Jerry Kill again showed his remarkable generosity last week donating $100,000 to the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota and $5,000 to the Bolder Options youth mentoring program.

Vikings rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater after being asked if he feels overwhelmed by the team playbook: “Not at all. Me just being the guy that I am, everything comes easy to me. But at the same time it’s also a challenge to actually just get better each and everyday because the guys around you are continually getting better also.”

The Minute Men, the volunteer organization supporting Minnesota sports for more than 50 years, will honor the Mr. Lacrosse and Ms. Lacrosse winners at a noon banquet June 15 at the Crowne Plaza St. Paul-Riverfront Hotel. Also on June 15 the organization will honor the Mr. Baseball and Ms. Softball winners at a 6 p.m. banquet at Jax Café. More at Minnesotaminutemen.com.

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GM on Bridgewater: ‘Baker’s Mitts Okay’

Posted on May 16, 2014May 16, 2014 by David Shama

The Vikings open their rookie minicamp today and it’s expected first round draft choice Teddy Bridgewater will be wearing gloves. He wore gloves while playing quarterback at Louisville and during private workouts before the NFL Draft but didn’t during his disappointing pro day performance in March.

Josh Katzowitz from Cbssports.com wrote this week that Bridgewater didn’t wear gloves at the pro day because the weather was warm. “He learned that if he became one of the best college players in America when he wore gloves, maybe he should wear the gloves when he’s auditioning for the pros,” Katzowitz wrote on Monday.

Bridgewater had a difficult pro day but in a private workout impressed Vikings general manager Rick Spielman who has no problem with gloves, even if many quarterbacks don’t wear them. “I don’t care if you put on baker’s mitts,” Spielman told Sports Headliners. “If you can throw best with baker’s mitts on, then do that. It’s what’s the result? That’s all we’re concerned about.”

There is speculation Bridgewater wears gloves because his hands are small and they help him grip the football better. Spielman said it’s not true, and that Bridgewater’s hands measure an acceptable 9 ¼ or 9 ½ inches in width.

“Everybody is acting like his hands are like tiny,” Spielman said. “They’re not tiny. They’re just a ¼ of an inch below what everybody thinks a quarterback’s hands should be. …

“You see a lot of these quarterbacks now in the NFL, especially on colder days, are wearing those gloves. I think Philip Rivers has done it. I think (Tom) Brady has done it a few times to help with their grip. But we have no concerns about that (Bridgewater wearing gloves).”

Spielman said in the scouting process he became convinced Bridgewater can properly grip the football and throw it. “No question. We spent a lot of time with that and saw it personally.”

At Louisville Bridgewater, who earned his degree in sports administration in three years, had impressive passing stats including with his accuracy. Last season, for example, he threw 31 touchdown passes and was intercepted only four times. In 35 games over three seasons as a starter, he led the Cardinals to a 27-8 record.

Bridgewater made a lot of plays in college from the shotgun formation, instead of taking the ball from under center. At his pro day he took many snaps under center and that impacted his performance too, according to Katzowitz’s story.

Before the pro day there was speculation Bridgewater would be the first quarterback drafted and maybe even the overall No. 1 pick. Katzowitz quotes legendary personnel authority Gil Brandt as saying that didn’t make sense.

“If you asked the coaches or scouts ahead of time just how good he was, nobody would have said he’s the first pick of the draft,” Brandt said. “It was a media creation.”

The Vikings found Bridgewater available at the last slot in the first round. Two other quarterbacks, Blake Bortles at No. 3, and Johnny Manziel at No. 22, went ahead of Bridgewater.

Still, with gloves or baker’s mitts, the Vikings think they may have found their quarterback of the future. They will learn more in the days and weeks ahead.

Worth Noting

The Vikings three day rookie minicamp that starts today will see media attention focused on Bridgewater and the team’s other No. 1 draft choice, linebacker Anthony Barr from UCLA. Spielman has seen so much of Bridgewater and Barr through the scouting process he has more anticipation about watching players selected deeper in the draft and also free agents.

Barr, 6-5 and 255 pounds, has extraordinary speed for a man his size and has reportedly run 4.45 in the 40-yard dash. He was among the elite pass rushing prospects in the draft despite playing linebacker for only two years in college.

New Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer is a defensive specialist while new offensive coordinator Norv Turner is a quarterback authority so it will be interesting to see the results of their individual instructional work with players between now and the start of the season in September. Look for multiple Vikings to have fundamentals evaluated and improved.

Although the Vikings didn’t draft Brock Vereen, the former Gophers safety made a lasting impression on Spielman during the scouting process. “As first class of a kid as I’ve ever been around and he’s a good football player, too,” said Spielman about Vereen who was selected by the Bears on the fourth round.

The NFL owners vote on Tuesday whether to award the 2018 Super Bowl to Indianapolis, Minneapolis or New Orleans. Dave Mona, the longtime Minneapolis public relations executive who was involved with the successful drive to bring the 1992 Super Bowl to the Metrodome, said Minnesota’s winter weather reputation won’t place fear in the NFL if the city is chosen to host the game.

“The NFL will not let it (Super Bowl game) fail. They will solve all the logistical problems,” Mona told Sports Headliners while noting this area knows how to successfully deal with winter storms.

Carlos Gomez, who couldn’t win the full-time center field job with the Twins, is on the cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated. A story on the Brewers center fielder refers to his impressive start this season and being an early candidate for American League MVP. The article also describes the lack of patience at the plate that has characterized much of his baseball career including with the Twins. The story quotes Twins manager Ron Gardenhire in 2009: “We’ve been trying to get him to calm down and get him to control the situation, and sometimes the situation controls him.”

Hockey authority Lou Nanne will talk to the CORES group on September 11 and Bethel football coach Steve Johnson will speak on November 13. Both luncheon programs will be at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans.

CORES emcee Dick Jonckowski is the public address announcer for Shakopee High School softball and baseball games, plus Gophers baseball. Jonckowski also is the longtime public address announcer for Gophers basketball.

The MIAC 2014 top baseball award winners are MVP, Tyler Peterson, St. Thomas first baseman; Pitcher of the Year, Justin Thompson, Saint John’s; Rookie of the Year, Ben Buerkle, Saint Mary’s outfielder; and Coach of the Year, Nick Winecke, Saint Mary’s.

The league’s softball award winners are: MVP, Lexi Alm, Saint Benedict outfielder; Pitcher of the Year, Kendra Bowe, St. Thomas; Rookie of the Year, Hannah Heacox, Gustavus Adolphus pitcher; and Coach of the Year, John Tschida, St. Thomas.

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