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.

Worth Noting

Posted on December 16, 2011December 29, 2011 by David Shama

Christian Ponder threw three interceptions, with one returned for a touchdown last Sunday in a 34-28 loss to Detroit. For the season he has 11 interceptions and a lowly passer rating of 73.4. He also had a fumble in the Lions game leading to a touchdown.

It’s difficult to be patient with a rookie quarterback but reality is it requires time to develop efficiency. Four years ago in New Jersey Giants quarterback Eli Manning, then 26, was still learning the NFL game and threw four interceptions — including three returned for touchdowns — in a 41-17 loss to the Vikings. And Manning was in his third season as a full time starter. This season Manning might be headed for a career season and has a rating of 95.5, his best ever in the NFL.

Vikings wide receiver Percy Harvin’s 38 receptions since week 10 of the NFL schedule (11/14/11) are the most in the league. His five touchdowns are second best in the NFL during that period.

With 200 career receptions, Harvin ranks third on the franchise’s all-time list for most catches by a wide receiver during the first three seasons.

The 2-11 Vikings have three remaining games on the schedule and will be underdogs in all of them. In franchise history three teams won three games in a season while the 1962 team had a worst ever 2-11-1 record.

The Vikings have chosen 30 prep football players for its All-State team and will recognize them at halftime of Sunday’s home game against New Orleans. Totino-Grace coach Jeff Ferguson has been selected Coach of the Year.

Unlike Rivals.com which lists the projected Gophers 2012 football recruiting class last in the Big Ten, Scout.com has Minnesota ahead of Nebraska and Illinois.

The Twins are sending an electronic holiday greetings card featuring “Gardy Claus.” Poke Gardy in the belly and he announces what he wants for Christmas including “Joe Mauer’s hair” and “lasik” surgery for umpires. Well done.

Minneapolis native and former Mr. Basketball Kevin Noreen, a redshirt freshman forward at West Virginia, is averaging 3.1 points for the Mountaineers. His brother Kyle Noreen is a freshman guard at Radford where he averages 1.7 points per game.

Mike Stehlik announced his resignation after 22 years of directing the women’s soccer program at Gustavus. He had an overall record of 223-137-30 in 22 seasons and ranks 35th in career victories in NCAA Division III women’s soccer.

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Vikings Camarillo Makes a Difference for Kids

Posted on December 14, 2011December 29, 2011 by David Shama

Greg Camarillo is a benchwarmer for the Vikings, a wide receiver who has just six receptions for 93 yards this season, but to disadvantaged kids like Kitam Hamm he’s a hero.

Hamm is a high school senior who lives in the infamous town of Compton, California. It’s a place where youngsters are maybe more likely to be shot than attend college. Hamm, a football player and student of promise, has hope for the future because of his own hard work and encouragement from family and people like Camarillo and his brother Jeff Camarillo.

Hamm was a seventh grader when the Camarillos started the Charging Forward program in southern California. Compton was targeted not only for the youngsters there who needed help, but also because the Camarillos’ father Albert grew up in the city.

Greg said the Charging Forward program’s goal is to work with student-athletes “that will benefit from a little encouragement and a little reward for hard work in the classroom and on the playing field.” Rewards for those performing well include meetings with guest speakers and gifts like gloves, cleats and tickets to San Diego Chargers games.

“That simple thing that would get them out of their neighborhood for a day — for a weekend — was just what they needed to work hard,” Greg said. “Something to look forward to, (and) something to be excited about.”

Hamm’s success was documented in a lengthy feature for the December 5 issue of Sports Illustrated. The article details the reality of living in a gang-infested community and how Hamm has excelled on the football field and in the classroom.

“He’s a great kid,” Greg said. “He comes from a great household. The article does a great job of portraying what he made it past to be successful.”

Greg has used his money and also fundraisers to provide a budget for Charging Forward. During the next offseason he and his brother plan to start up with another group of youngsters, similar to what they did six years ago with Hamm. The effort will be made easier now that Camarillo has sold his home in Florida and moved back to San Diego.

Greg and Frank hope to have Charging Forward chapters not only in Compton, but San Diego and East Palo Alto, California. Frank, who was a teacher in Compton, is now an educator in East Palo Alto.

“It’s amazing what just a little bit will do to the hopes and dreams of the kids,” Greg said.

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Basketball Gophers Win Praise for Attitude

Posted on December 14, 2011December 29, 2011 by David Shama

Tubby Smith likes the “character” of his team and his players have earned the praise.

The Gophers defeated Central Michigan last night, running their nonconference record to 11-1. It was the team’s fifth consecutive win since Dayton clobbered the Gophers in the championship game of the Old Spice Classic on November 27. Even more painful on that night was the season ending ACL injury to the team’s best player and potential All-American, senior forward Trevor Mbakwe.

“It tells me a lot about our character, recovering from the loss of one of your top players like Trevor,” Smith said recently. “I think that changed the mentality, the toughness, the character of this team but we all know it’s going to get a lot more difficult as we get past Christmas. So we’ve got to continue to play well.”

Gophers junior forward Rodney Williams is averaging career highs in points, 9.4, and rebounds, 4.5, and has played his best basketball since Mbakwe went down. He’s emerged as a leader defensively, too. He spoke about the determination of this team.

“Coming into this season there weren’t a lot of people that believed in us,” he said recently. “Especially after Trevor went down, there definitely weren’t too many people that believed in us. But we know what we got here. …”

The Gophers have one more nonconference game on the schedule, December 22 at home against North Dakota State. The Big Ten schedule starts five days later at Illinois and as Smith said, the challenge becomes more difficult for this team.

The Gophers have consistently been willing to work with effort both offensively and defensively. Their ball movement on offense may be the best of Smith’s five teams at Minnesota and with multiple shot blockers even without Mbakwe the Gophers can be difficult to score on near the basket.

Certainly the Gophers are a team with limitations including erratic outside shooting and problems defending three point field goal attempts. Their nonconference schedule has been played entirely at home except for three neutral court games in Orlando for the Old Spice Classic so this team hasn’t been tested on the road. There have been only a few big school opponents, leaving little doubt the schedule—similar to other Big Ten schools—is built for early wins, not games against top 40 teams.

But the players don’t make the schedule and they have accepted the challenge of playing together and with effort no matter who comes to town. And when Mbakwe and center Ralph Sampson III and point guard Andre Hollins haven’t played because of injuries, it’s been “next man up” to do the job.

How they will perform in the Big Ten will be determined but the team that most everyone said even last summer wouldn’t contend for a high finish in the conference standings has exceeded expectations during the nonconference schedule. That’s what counts today.

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