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.

Mackay Attends Ali’s 70th Birthday Party

Posted on February 6, 2012February 7, 2012 by David Shama

Minneapolis businessman and former Gophers golfer Harvey Mackay was one of 350 guests who attended Muhammad Ali’s 70^th birthday party in Louisville last month. Mackay, a New York Times best selling author, met Ali years ago when he visited the legendary former heavyweight champion at his home in Michigan.

“He loves magic and I did some of my best tricks for him,” Mackay told Sports Headliners. “That forged the relationship.”

It’s a relationship that includes Ali’s wife Lonnie and Mackay’s spouse Carol Ann. The couples live within about seven minutes of one another in the Phoenix area. They frequently go out to dinner together.

Perhaps the most famous personality in the world, Ali’s speech and mobility are limited by Parkinson’s disease. Mackay admires his friend’s courage in living with the disease. “He never complains,” Mackay said. “I know he’s in pain and not feeling good.”

Ali has been admired for years not only for his fame in the ring, but also for his work on behalf of charities and the graciousness with which he treats others. “His eyes sparkle and pop when a young person approaches him,” Mackay said. “He will take a picture with anybody.”

At Ali’s party in Louisville Mackay saw another friend, coach John Calipari of the No. 1 ranked Kentucky Wildcats. Calipari asked Mackay to give a motivational talk to his team later this year to help inspire Kentucky’s bid for the NCAA title. “I want to do it,” Mackay said. “I am just not sure of my schedule.”

Mackay’s latest book is The Mackay MBA of Selling in the Real World. Like his previous best sellers the new book not only includes many personal stories about famous newsmakers like Ali but also everyday people with interesting experiences. Mackay said for years he’s kept files with headings like creativity, time management and motivation that document business and life lessons.

The daily exercise has helped Mackay write his well-known books including Swim with the Sharks. “A person’s life equals the total sum of his or her experiences,” he said.

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Super Bowl & Other Notes

Posted on February 6, 2012February 7, 2012 by David Shama

Vikings second-year quarterback Christian Ponder can find inspiration in the two quarterbacks who played in last night’s Super Bowl. New England’s Tom Brady struggled during his college career at Michigan and New York’s Eli Manning was highly criticized during his early NFL years.

Former Vikings defensive end Chris Doleman will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August and he was introduced with other 2012 inductees before last night’s Super Bowl. “Doleman is one of those rare guys–maybe one of four or five that I played against during my career–right there with Reggie White, Bruce Smith, Derrick Thomas, that you had to know where they were and set your protection accordingly,” said former NFL quarterback Warren Moon. “You had to know if you were going to help the tackle out with a tight end or running back to chip on those guys. Doleman was someone you always had to worry about because you knew he could get to the quarterback. …”

NBClosangeles.com reported on Friday that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the league has no plans for expansion and doesn’t want to relocate existing teams. A new stadium plan in Los Angeles hasn’t been finalized as a potential home to the Vikings or another NFL team.

The Lucas Oil Stadium where last night’s Super Bowl was played will be among the facility models that planners for a new Vikings stadium will study.

Minneapolis hosted the Super Bowl in 1992 and a new Vikings stadium is almost certain to be the site of a future Super Bowl.

The Super Bowl will be in New Orleans next season, then at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey for outdoor football in 2014.

Since 1988 the NFC has won the Super Bowl every year during a presidential election year except 2004.

Among the TV competition for the Super Bowl is Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl. The annual show achieved a ratings record last year with 9.2 million viewers, according to Huffingtonpost.com. The 2011 Super Bowl had a record 111 million viewers.

The 17^th annual Vikings Arctic Blast Snowmobile Rally, scheduled at Lake Mille Lacs next Saturday and Sunday, will feature current and former Vikings players along with coaches and team executives. Among those scheduled to participate and help raise money for the Vikings Children’s Fund are quarterback Joe Webb and running back Toby Gerhart.

Allen Trieu of Scout.com speaking on the Big Ten Network about Gophers football recruit Ben Lauer from Wayzata High School: “Watch out for Ben Lauer, an offensive tackle that I don’t think gets talked about enough from right there in their backyard.”

Gophersillustrated.com’s Zach Johnson said Gophers coach Jerry Kill works his tail off recruiting.

In addition to discussing Kill, Johnson told Sports Headliners assistant coaches Bill Miller and Jay Sawvell were most instrumental in recruiting the 2012 class announced last week. Miller, the Gophers only assistant with BCS recruiting experience, specializes in south Florida. Sawvell was active in the Deep South and North Carolina including recruitment of highly regarded wide receiver Jamel Harbison from Charlotte.

Wisconsin has won consecutive Big Ten football championships but only twice in the last 10 years has Rivals.com ranked the Badgers recruiting classes among the top half in the conference.

Prep basketball authority Ken Lien emailed that sophomore Apple Valley High School point guard Tyus Jones received a scholarship offer from Duke.

The start time for the Wild game against the Bruins atXcel Energy Center on Sunday, February 19 has been changed to 2:30 p.m. from 2 p.m. The game will be televised nationally as part of “Hockey Day inAmerica” coverage on NBC.

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Next U A.D. Needs Hiring Expertise

Posted on February 3, 2012February 7, 2012 by David Shama

As written here last Friday, it was only a matter of days or weeks before Eric Kaler and Joel Maturi made a final decision on the Gophers athletic director job. Yesterday at a University of Minnesota news conference, President Kaler and Maturi announced that a new athletic director will soon be running the Gophers 25 sport program.

Maturi, 66, has been the athletic director since 2002 and is retiring. Kaler, who became president last July, has likely been thinking for some time about a new department leader. He will receive a lot of advice from the public and special interest groups including former Gopher athletes regarding who to hire.

Three qualities should top the list in searching for a new athletic director. The department needs a boss who is exceptional in identifying and hiring extraordinary coaches. Minnesota’s teams can compete with the best schools in the Big Ten in all sports if the coaches are high achievers.

The other qualities leading the list are fundraising and solid fiscal leadership. The athletic department has major financial challenges including whether to continue with 25 sports. The football and basketball programs (men’s and women’s) are under- achieving financially. A long term solution must be found for archaic Williams Arena. A dynamic individual who has the expertise to see the challenges and also the vision to find solutions will place the department in a much healthier fiscal position.

Kaler should first search for candidates who know this community and the culture of Gophers athletics. A local person with existing relationships will have a jump-start in fundraising and generating other support for Gophers athletics, plus an invaluable knowledge about the state and school.

Kaler must make the right hire, even it’s ultimately someone from outside Minnesota. The new A.D. needs to be a person who is extremely passionate in his or her commitment to win while operating within the ethics of modern day athletics. Nowhere is this more needed than in the “front porch” sports of football and men’s basketball. Those sports are annually a source of major frustration to Gophers fans.

The new A.D. might ideally be a person with experience in both business and athletics, and certainly needs to be someone who can as adroitly manage a coaching search as a student protest.

Kaler may have interest in the athletic director he knew while working at Stony Brook University. Jim Fiore is in his ninth year at the New York school where his teams have won numerous conference championships and he’s known as an effective fundraiser. He’s also consistently balanced the budget for his Division I school. Fiore’s name was rumored with the North Carolina athletic director opening last fall.

Other national names that could draw speculation include Iowa athletic director Gary Barta and Mountain West Conference commissioner Craig Thompson. Barta was born in Minneapolis and attended Burnsville High School. Thompson worked in the Gophers sports information office years ago.

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