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.

Gagliardi Saw Grant as SJU Successor

Posted on February 22, 2013February 22, 2013 by David Shama

John Gagliardi misses coaching “a lot,” and he told Sports Headliners he expected Eden Prairie High School coach Mike Grant to succeed him at Saint John’s in Collegeville.

Gagliardi, the winningest college football coach in history with 489 victories, retired after last season. The 86-year-old legend was head coach at Saint John’s for 60 years and before arriving in Collegeville coached four years at Carroll College in Montana.

“How could I not I miss it?” Gagliardi asked.

Grant played for Gagliardi at Saint John’s and many Johnnies followers thought the long time prep coach would one day coach at his college alma mater. “I thought Mike was going to take that job,” Gagliardi said. “I don’t know exactly what his reasons were (for turning it down). Mike had wanted it and we had talked a lot about it.”

Instead Saint John’s hired Gary Fasching, a Gagliardi assistant and former player for him. Fasching headed the Johnnies’ recruiting in the past and is the former head coach at St. Cloud Cathedral.

It will be Fasching’s challenge to improve on last year’s disappointing 5-5 record and try to loosen the stranglehold St. Thomas has on MIAC football. Gagliardi said St. Thomas has superior resources such as facilities, enrollment and endowments but he doesn’t believe the Tommies—who almost automatically get penciled in as league champs—are opening a permanent gap between themselves and the rest of the conference teams.

Gagliardi said there are some “incredibly great colleges” in the MIAC and other league teams are playing close games against the Tommies. He remembered when for years the Tommies couldn’t beat the Johnnies, making the point that winning goes in cycles.

Gagliardi keeps an office on campus but this January and February have been different for him than other winters when he used to fill his time with recruiting players. He visits the office a couple times per week and enjoys receiving visitors but admitted retirement represents “uncharted waters.”

“I thought I could coach forever,” he said. “Forever turned out to be a little longer than I thought.”

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Kill Last in Big Ten Head Coaches’ Pay

Posted on February 20, 2013February 20, 2013 by David Shama

A list of notes including a few compiled during vacations the last two weeks.

The Gophers Jerry Kill is the lowest paid football coach in the Big Ten. Purdue’s Danny Hope, who reportedly earned $970,000 last season, was at the bottom in annual earnings but he’s been replaced by Darrell Hazell who will be paid about $2 million. Published reports have Kill’s annual pay at $1.2 million.

Hazell has only two years of head coaching experience while Kill has 18 including two at Minnesota. Hazell had an overall record of 16-10 in two seasons coaching Kent State in the Mid-American Conference. Kill was 23-16 in three seasons at Northern Illinois, another MAC member.

Dave Doeren, Kill’s successor at Northern Illinois, was paid $420,000 there but will make $1.8 million at North Carolina State, according to a February 12 article on college football coaches’ compensation in USA Today.

If the Gophers have a winning season in 2013, look for Kill’s salary to become a major news item in Minnesota.

It seemed like Fort Myers media gave the Twins secondary coverage after the Red Sox last week when spring training opened. As one of baseball’s flagship franchises, it’s no surprise to see the Red Sox receive more publicity in the Fort Myers area where both Boston and Minnesota are preparing for the MLB season.

Fox Sports North will televise seven Twins spring training games starting with a game against the Red Sox on March 8 (6 p.m. Minneapolis time).

The Twins have 15 home games in April when the Minneapolis weather is unpredictable. They have 16 games at Target Field after Labor Day when the club is likely to be out of playoff contention. That’s 31 games or 38 percent of the home schedule on problematic dates.

NFL free agency begins March 12 and the world knows the Vikings covet a speedy wide receiver. The Packers’ Greg Jennings draws most of the speculation about joining the Vikings but the Steelers’ Mike Wallace could also help. He has averaged as much as 21 yards per catch during his four-season NFL career.

Have to wonder if Vikings’ wide receiver Percy Harvin is envious of the prime role Adrian Peterson receives in the offense, and wants to play for another team that makes him the featured player. General manager Rick Spielman said the team doesn’t plan to trade Harvin but there are skeptics.

I haven’t seen the financial figures but with some games having announced attendance of less than 60,000 fans, gate receipts for 2012 home Vikings games had to be down from 2011 when the team always played before crowds of 62,000 or more.

Vikings executive Lester Bagley will speak to the Minnesota Men’s Breakfast group in Naples, Florida on Friday. Attendees include prominent Minnesotans who during the winter months hear from Minnesota business and other leaders.

Ted Mondale, executive director of the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, will be the speaker on Thursday, March 14 at the C.O.R.E.S. luncheon in Bloomington. Mondale will provide an update on the new Vikings stadium. Anyone interested in more information can email Jim Dotseth at dotsethj@comcast.net. C.O.R.E.S. is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans.

Prep basketball juniors Tyus Jones and Rashad Vaughn are top 15 players nationally in the class of 2014, according to Rivals.com. Apple Valley High School’s Jones, a point guard, is the No. 3 player while Cooper High School’s Vaughn, a shooting guard, is ranked No. 12.

Here’s another perspective on the two: each has the potential to be an All-Big Ten player. Two Minnesota natives playing for the Gophers have never been named first team All-Big Ten in the same season.

Prep basketball authority Ken Lien e-mailed on Monday that 6-9 Osseo High School junior Ian Theisen has offers from Cal Poly, Drake, Northern Colorado, South Dakota State and Vermont.

The basketball Gophers, at Ohio State tonight, have only one Big Ten road win so far, a victory over Illinois on January 9. The Buckeyes are 8-5 in Big Ten games and ranked No. 18 nationally.

With only five regular season games remaining, the best guess is the 6-7 Gophers will finish 7-11 or 8-10 in the final Big Ten standings. In addition to tonight’s game in Columbus, the Gophers have home games remaining against 11-2 Indiana and 0-13 Penn State, and play at 3-10 Nebraska and 5-8 Purdue. Minnesota was ranked among the nation’s top 10 teams in the Associated Press poll last month.

Former Gophers basketball starters Al Nuness, 67, and Jim Petersen, 51, celebrate birthdays this week.

As of Monday morning the St. Thomas men’s basketball team field goal percentage of .529 was the best in the nation for Divisions I, II and III. The Tommies were No. 1 among more than 400 Division III teams in scoring margin, winning percentage and assists-turnovers ratio.

The Tommies, 24-1, are No. 1 in the nation, according to the D3Hoops.com poll. St. Thomas will host an MIAC semifinal playoff game starting at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. If the Tommies win, they host the league playoff title game at 2 p.m. on Sunday. NCAA Division III tournament pairings will be announced Monday.

The Hamline women’s basketball team lost to St. Benedict 85-79 in an MIAC opening playoff game last night. Winners of only seven games last season, the Pipers started their schedule 0-5 but finished the year 14-12. Senior Steph Pilgrim leads conference scorers at 16.3 points per game.

Looking for a local sports hero? Mine is Wild goalie Josh Harding who has multiple sclerosis, and has been an advocate for years in the fight against breast cancer.

Mistaken identity: last time I visited Walmart a customer thought I was the greeter.

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Hot Seat Warms for Tubby Smith

Posted on February 18, 2013February 18, 2013 by David Shama

After yesterday’s embarrassing 72-51 loss to Iowa, there’s no doubt Gophers athletic director Norwood Teague is receiving more intense criticism about Minnesota coach Tubby Smith.

After a 15-1 start, the Gophers are 18-8 overall, 6-7 in the Big Ten, and losers in three of the last four games. The conference losses include a defeat against vastly inferior Northwestern and to an Iowa team that is not 21 points better than Minnesota.

Fans are so worked up there are even messages on the Gophers own website suggesting a coaching change should be made. In recent weeks I haven’t heard from a single fan who is supportive of Smith, and that includes boosters with influence in Gophers sports who are very upset with University of Minnesota men’s basketball.

Teague has known since taking over as athletic director last summer that there has been a lot of criticism directed at Smith during his tenure at Minnesota. Now Teague may have to decide if he wants the University to pay $2.5 million to buy out Smith’s contract.

And he might because this is a very negative and festering situation. Hardcore fans are tuning out this team, and that’s a way of saying supporters have lost hope in the program. Yes, $2.5 million is a lot of money, but how much momentum for generating revenues does a Smith-led program carry into the offseason and next year when much of the public and some media have soured on Gophers basketball? Hire the right coach and revenues from tickets, corporate partnerships and donations will increase significantly within six to 24 months.

The athletic department has invested millions of dollars in Smith for almost six years, making him one of the better paid college coaches in the country. The results? Not a single season finishing higher than sixth in the Big Ten. A regular season conference record of 44 wins and 59 losses. No wins in two NCAA Tournament appearances.

Complaints from fans this winter go beyond Smith’s illogical platoon substitutions and often ineffective offense. The barbs are targeted at the players, too. “They aren’t good enough fundamentally. They can’t shoot consistently, and make too many ball handling mistakes.”

Okay, the Gophers have their weaknesses even among the athletic and experienced starting five of Trevor Mbakwe, Rodney Williams, Joe Coleman, Austin Hollins and Andre Hollins. But after six seasons who is responsible for the personnel including a subpar bench?

Hint: it’s not Norwood Teague.

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