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.

Cousins Injury Causes Major Implications for 2024

Posted on November 5, 2023November 7, 2023 by David Shama

The Vikings play the Falcons in Atlanta today without Kirk Cousins and with rookie Jaren Hall taking his place at starting quarterback. It was a stunning development seeing the 35-year-old Cousins tear his right Achilles in Green Bay last week.

Cousins played at a high level into the fourth quarter when he was injured. He had done more than enough to position the Vikings for a third consecutive win and even the season record at 4-4.

Coach Kevin O’Connell and the players knew Cousins was running the offense and passing the football like an All-Pro. Offensive guard Dalton Risner described Cousins as “a spectacular human being and an extraordinary quarterback.”

He told Sports Headliners “losing a guy like that is devastating” but he also expressed optimism. “Kirk is gonna be just fine but we gotta move forward. We gotta play for Kirk and play for this organization.”

This was Cousins’ team and his leadership showed. He even led the team in prayer before every game. Players joined him in reciting the Lord’s Prayer.

Today’s game will be the first of nine where Cousins won’t be able to take the field while he rehabs from surgery. It’s anyone’s guess as to how he will be physically in 2024. Does he return with restrictions as to what his body can do? How soon could he be back on the practice field and game ready? If all goes well, who will he play for and at what level of compensation?

“Yes, with Kirk’s age and injury you don’t know if/when he will be 100 percent,” a football authority wrote via text to Sports Headliners. “Even worse (the) Vikes lost trade value, though (they)won’t have to pay market value to keep him. I think he likes raising family here and is a Midwest guy at heart, so he will stay if Vikes want to keep him.

“You won’t find many quarterbacks as accurate as Kirk (if protected). Troy Aikman bragged on Kirk all Monday night versus Niners (October 23) as he can see the value of Kirk’s skill set. Vikings fans will certainly gain appreciation over the next few weeks when they see the backup quarterbacks perform.

“Kirk makes many big-time throws look easy and fans have gotten used to those ‘easy’ completions. When you break down some of Kirk’s throws, his level of timing and accuracy are as good as it gets in the NFL. …It will be an interesting finish to the season.”

Cousins will be a free agent next year and he’s already thinking about a return to the field. It’s believed the Vikings are his first choice for 2024 and O’Connell is on record as wanting his guy back. O’Connell believes Cousins was having his best season, and he is left wondering what the Vikings might have achieved with a full season and playoffs with No. 8.

“Yeah, you guys (the media) know how I feel about Kirk,” O’Connell said last week. “Kirk knows how I feel about Kirk. I think he was playing as well as anybody in the National Football League. …”

The Vikings ownership and general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah were unable to reach a contract extension last offseason with Cousins. Now the GM says all options are open as they were before the injury.

That, of course, is GM speak. The Vikings and Cousins will both evaluate his health next winter. Even if both parties are optimistic about future performance, the Vikings are all but certain to offer less money and perhaps contract length than before the surgery.

In 2023 Cousins is reportedly making $35 million on a one-year deal. He might ask for the same money in 2024 and want a two-year contract. The Vikings could be thinking of the $25 million range for one year. If Cousins had been able to play the entire season, he might have been looking for $38 million or more for a couple of years.

There’s no assurance Cousins will be back with Minnesota. The 49ers might be more likely than ever to land him. Second year QB Brock Purdy has created doubts this season as the 49ers have lost three consecutive games. His lack of accuracy in big moments and inability to rally the 49ers late in games has been a problem for a team otherwise loaded with talent and experience.

A move to the 49ers would be a reunion with head coach Kyle Shanahan who was offensive coordinator for the Redskins during Cousins’ first two seasons in the NFL, 2012 and 2013. Shanahan is a fan of Cousins and in California the veteran QB could be the last piece needed to win a Super Bowl.

The Vikings will sort through quarterbacks this fall including Hall and Josh Dobbs who they acquired in a trade with the Cardinals last week. Maybe they find something they like in them, or they could pursue a first-round QB in the 2024 NFL Draft. Those avenues might work, but if Cousins returns healthy, nobody they acquire will be better than No. 8 was during the last Sunday of October.

“I think Kirk will be back as good as ever,” Risner said. “Strong man of faith. He’s an extraordinary human being. A very hard worker and I can’t wait to see when he comes back. I hope I’m on the same team as Kirk Cousins.”

Worth Noting

With the trade of left guard Ezra Cleveland last week, there is no doubt Risner is the starter at that position. Risner didn’t sign with the Vikings until after the first two games of the season and he reportedly is on a one-year deal.

At first his playing time was limited. “I think that they wanted to give me time to get to know the playbook,” Risner said.

Risner also said that in the strong Vikings’ “culture” he wasn’t just going to be placed immediately in the starting lineup and coaches wanted him to “earn it and respect it.” Risner, a five-year veteran with the Broncos until this year, made his presence known. “So I put my head down when I got my opportunity. I tried to capitalize on it, and I think I did.”

The Vikings know they need to avoid the temptation to try too hard in making up for the absence of Cousins. “We each gotta stay composed and just try not to do too much because that’s when things fall apart,” Danielle Hunter told Sports Headliners.

The 29-year-old outside linebacker leads the NFL in sacks with 10, but he said there is no bonus in his contract to reward him if he is still on top at season’s end. His birthday was October 29 and although he missed major playing time in the past with injuries, he said if players take care of their bodies it’s “limitless” how long they can play.

“I’ve been feeling good,” Hunter said. “The training staff, the head coach, they do a good job of keeping us fresh. Enables us to go out there and play full speed.”

Hunter said his enthusiasm to play football remains high. It was there from the beginning and although there were doubters that just “fueled the fire.”

A sports industry source emailed with the prediction Twins radio play-by-play voice Cory Provus will soon be announced as the replacement for Dick Bremer on TV play-by-play. Provus joined the Twins radio broadcast team in 2012, while Bremer announced last week he was retiring from broadcasting after 40 years doing TV for the club. He is transitioning into a special assistant role in the front office.

Greg Eslinger, the former Gopher center and one of the most honored offensive linemen in Big Ten football history, will learn in January if he has been voted into the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta. Voting coordinated by the National Football Foundation is completed for candidates like Eslinger who in 2005 received the Outland Trophy (the nation’s most outstanding interior lineman) and the Rimington Trophy (the country’s best center). He was the 2005 Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year (only Gopher ever honored) and was awarded with the 2006 Big Ten Medal of Honor (the conference’s oldest and most prestigious award).

Alarming: announced attendance of 2,604 for the Gophers’ men’s basketball home exhibition game last Thursday night against Macalester.

Al Schoch, WCCO Radio news anchor/reporter, is one of the Minnesota Wild’s press box announcers. He also does public address work for Augsburg women’s basketball and Cretin-Derham Hall boys’ and girls’ basketball. The Pennsylvania native started doing public address work as a 15-year-old in Stroudsburg.

Word is the Bloomington-based CORES lunch program featuring prominent speakers, mostly from Minnesota sports, may have found new leadership. CORES didn’t have its regular meeting in September and has been seeking new organizers to continue. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators, and sports fans.

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Don’t Fret about Fleck & Michigan State Coaching Rumors

Posted on October 31, 2023 by David Shama

Michigan State’s football coaching vacancy is stirring a lot of speculation as to who will replace fired boss Mel Tucker. Among names conjectured is Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck who headed the football program at Western Michigan before taking over the Golden Gophers in 2017.

It’s easy for crystal ballers to type Fleck’s name as a possible candidate given his background in the state of Michigan and success at Western and Minnesota. At age 42 his combination of experience and coaching youth makes him an attractive name to speculate about.

However, don’t wager the mortgage on Minnesota’s Athletes Village that the Spartans are targeting Fleck and that he is interested. Reasons include the following:

Sports Headliners has found no credible information there is mutual interest in the job of leading the Spartans. This includes some “digging” while the Spartans were in town last Saturday to play the Gophers.

When asked, a Big Ten athletic director told me there is no conference policy prohibiting a school from hiring another institution’s head coach. Doing so, though, in a highly visible sport like football, would create hard feelings between the two programs and go against the cooperative and supportive spirit of being in a conference aligned with mutual interests and loyalties.

It’s not unusual for assistant football coaches to change Big Ten schools. However, the last time head football coaches switched loyalties in the conference was in late 1972. Alex Agase vacated his position at Northwestern to become head coach at Purdue. Soon after John Pont left Indiana to take over at Northwestern. There have been no similar moves in 50 years.

Fleck is in his seventh season at Minnesota and his name has come up with other coaching openings. It’s believed he was targeted for the Tennessee job in 2021 and may have turned it down. Numerous reports in January of that year said he wasn’t interested in the position.

A source told Sports Headliners there might have been interest in Fleck from Michigan State before Tucker was hired. That was in the winter of 2020 when the Gophers were coming off their 11-2 season and final AP national ranking of No. 10.

Fleck is highly competitive and knows he can have success here. The Gophers have won nine games or more three times dating back to 2019. His 49-30 record translates to a winning percentage of .620 and is among the best in program history. This season the Gophers are 5-3 overall and 3-2 in Big Ten games.

Fleck and wife Heather are enthusiastic about the quality-of-life here. They’re building a new home in the metro area and have immersed themselves in the community including with charitable activities.

The wild card in retaining Fleck long-term is Name, Image and Likeness money for players. Dinkytown Athletes, the official collective for Gopher athletes in all sports, has momentum this fall with increasing revenues including from innovative ideas like the sale of Duck Duck Beer in state liquor stores. DA has only been operational for about 13 months. (Note: DA advertises on this blog).

Collectives are quiet about their “pots of gold” but news of late hasn’t been good for Sparty. Internet reports a few weeks ago said MSU’s official collective was pausing payments to many of the football players due to a lack of support from the public.

Michigan State football has been in turmoil this fall because of alleged improprieties against Tucker that resulted in his in-season dismissal. Who knows what other fallout there could be at MSU? The school and athletic department have absorbed multiple serious problems in recent years.

The situation contrasts with the stability Fleck has at Minnesota including a close relationship with AD Mark Coyle who hired him in January of 2017. It’s invaluable for a head football coach to have the ear and support of his AD. The two not only share a mutual trust but also a staunch commitment to operating in compliance with NCAA rules. Who you work for, and the athletic department’s culture, can be invaluable for a coach in the combustible world of college football.

Given its geographic location near recruiting hotbeds, winning tradition, large fanbase and deep-pocket alumni, the MSU job is attractive. East Lansing is an easier place to win than Minneapolis and the Spartans have shown a willingness to pay beyond top dollar with their careless commitment to Tucker at $95 million.

Per Usatoday.com earlier this fall, Tucker was No. 5 in the country with a ridiculous 2023 salary of about $10 million. Fleck ranked No. 26 at $6 million on a national list of compensation for college football coaches.

In a bidding war for Fleck, MSU probably wins. But Spartan AD Alan Haller and whoever is helping him with the search for a new coach are more likely to target a flashy name such as icon Urban Meyer or a coach having a big season like Duke’s Mike Elko, Lane Kiffin from Mississippi, or Lance Leipold at Kansas.

Notice that none of them is currently coaching in the Big Ten.

Minnetonka Girls Basketball: For Sure a Team to Watch

Among the intriguing storylines to follow in state high school sports this fall, and winter, will be the girls’ basketball team at Minnetonka High School. Second-year coach Brian Cosgriff won seven state championships at Hopkins and will have one of Minnesota’s best 4A teams in 2023-2024 at ‘Tonka.

“When you have a USA basketball player on your team, you should be pretty good,” Cosgriff told Sports Headliners. “And then you got a Golden Gopher commit and then you got a point guard that’s being recruited by power fives—you got a shot.”

Aaliyah Crump averaged nine points per game and 3.8 rebounds for the Under 16 USA team last summer that had a 6-0 record and won a gold medal. Cosgriff said the 6-1 junior is “being recruited by everybody” for her skills and versatility. “She can play any position she wants,” Cosgriff said.

Senior Tori McKinney, a 6-1 guard-wing, has verbally committed to Minnesota and is another versatile player who Cosgriff praised as a “great defender” and hard worker. Point guard Lanelle Wright was named Lake All-Conference as a freshman last season.

The Skippers have other experienced players, too, who will play important roles in an opportune season ahead. “We have a nice nucleus coming back,” Cosgriff said.

He coached Paige Bueckers at Hopkins High School, and she became the biggest star in women’s college basketball while playing for UConn in 2021. Cosgriff said Crump is probably the most pursued recruit he’s ever had because Bueckers committed early to UConn and by so doing discouraged other schools.

“Both are equally talented,” Cosgriff said. “Paige had a basketball IQ that was off the charts. Crump has athletic ability that’s off the charts, and height. They both are very, very good players, but it’s hard to compare the two.”

Cosgriff has been a head coach in Minnesota girls’ basketball since 1999. He’s seen the development of talent in the state through the years. “…I mean it’s gotten really good, and I really think it’s kind of a hotbed for a lot of colleges to come in here and start recruiting players. Because it used to be a kid…would maybe get an offer from the U or some smaller D I school. Now you got your Power Fives coming in here on a regular basis.”

Cosgriff said legendary Hopkins’ boys coach Kenny Novak once told him he thought Bueckers could be a starter for his team.

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Do Vikings Move on from Osborn Before Trade Deadline?

Posted on October 29, 2023October 29, 2023 by David Shama

With the NFL trade deadline coming Tuesday, this will be an intriguing few days for the Vikings and their rabid fanbase. Will the franchise be buyers or sellers? Or both?

The most likely storyline could be moving on from veteran wide receiver K.J. Osborn who will be a free agent after this season. The Vikings will have pressing payroll needs next offseason and Osborn looks expendable with the arrival of 2023 first round draft choice Jordan Addison.

Osborn, in his fourth NFL season, would be a welcome addition to any number of NFL clubs. In return the Vikings might receive a fourth, fifth or sixth round draft choice. His expected replacement in the Minnesota lineup would be Brandon Powell, a capable fifth year veteran and journeyman playing with his fourth NFL club.

Left guard Ezra Cleveland is another player rumored in trade discussions. Although he will also be a free agent next year, the Vikings should not move on from him and shake up their best guard depth and offensive line performance in years.

A Vikings victory over the Packers today in Green Bay will improve their record to 4-4, with the team having won four of its last five games. A scenario like that figures to weigh on GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah not altering his roster much other than to take the opportunity to move Osborn and add a quality cornerback.

The GM has shown a past willingness to trade with teams in his own division. Corner Jaylon Johnson from the Bears could be a target. He is an impressive cover man (a starter since Game 1 as a rookie in 2020) who didn’t reach agreement in the past offseason on a contract extension. The Bears could move on from him, with former Gopher Terell Smith, a fifth-round draft choice last spring, as the replacement.

An easier “get” at corner likely is Donte Jackson from winless (0-6) Carolina who could be thinking fire sale before the trade deadline. Jackson is no Johnson, but he is experienced with six years in the pros and inexpensive at reportedly about a $1 million salary.

Adofo-Mensah has made past in-season moves to improve the roster. In 2022 he sent third and fourth round draft choices to the Lions in return for upgrading the tight end position with the addition of T.J. Hockenson. Several weeks ago, the Vikings signed veteran free agent offensive lineman Dalton Risner, a former starter for the Broncos.

Worth Noting

With a touchdown catch today, Addison will become the sixth player in the Super Bowl era (1970 to present) to have at least seven receiving touchdowns in the first eight career games.

With 101 passing yards today, Viking quarterback Kirk Cousins will surpass Drew Brees (39,297 yards) for the third-most passing yards in a player’s first 150 career games in the NFL.

Looming over discussions and “mental gymnastics” involving salary cap numbers in the next offseason will be wide receiver Justin Jefferson’s contract extension. Most observers are surprised a new deal wasn’t done last summer. Why? Probably because the Vikings can make the numbers work better in 2024 with Jefferson targeting a deal to be the highest paid non-quarterback in the NFL.

With Vikings’ safety Harrison Smith turning 35 in February, the Vikings may not need to look far for his replacement. They are scouting Gophers’ safety Tyler Nubin who could be a first-round draft choice with his skills and competitiveness.

The Vikings, who are third in the NFL in passing yards and passing touchdowns, have zero touchdowns running in seven games. No other team is without a TD running the football.

Roger Goodell’s contract extension through 2027 may end quiet speculation that Kevin Warren, the former Vikings executive now leading the Bears’ management, could one day succeed Goodell as NFL commissioner. Warren turns 60 next month.

Bad timing? Coach Bret Bielema, 9-0 against the Gophers while coaching at Wisconsin and now Illinois, had a bye last Saturday and extra time to prepare for the Illini’s game at Minnesota next Saturday, November 4.

While the Wild’s ownership and management has a focus on this season, they are also thinking about the next offseason. It’s then the club is finished with the $14.5 million buyout of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter that has limited payroll for acquiring new talent because of the NHL salary cap.

Owner Craig Leipold told Sports Headliners he anticipates the NHL increasing the salary cap for teams by about $5 million next year. That amount, combined with Parise-Suter savings, will give the Wild close to $20 million in new money, a total Leipold believes will be more than any team in the league. “Billy (Guerin) is already looking (at) who could be free agents at that time, and, you know, we’re going to be active,” Leipold said.

Guerin has been the general manager for more than four years. That experience with the organization is comforting to Leipold.

“I think Billy is one of the top GMs in the league, maybe the top. He’s got a great staff of young people who work in his organization in the analytics side and in the signing of players. So we’ve got a really good core of young people in hockey ops that are there to support Billy and everything that he is doing. We think that we’ve got a great organization and, you know, they’re ready to be active in (developing and acquiring) players.“

The Wild is off to a 3-3-2 record this fall. The owner is impressed with the culture of his club, including the enthusiasm. “It’s just so apparent that this team is going to be an exciting team and they genuinely like each other. … It’s fun to watch them when they’re not playing; when I can get a little closer to them and see how they’re reacting with each other. …”

Leipold has a favorite player, and the choice might surprise fans. Forward Mason Shaw, now with the Iowa Wild, has willed himself back from four ACL surgeries. Leipold describes Shaw’s determination to play on and be a contributor as infectious. “…He’s the kind of guy that you cheer for every day because he’s had some bad breaks thrown his way,” Leipold said.

Dick Jonckowski, who had 19 calls and nine texts of birthday wishes on his milestone 80^th last Sunday, will emcee the Old Timers Hockey Association luncheon November 20 at Mancini’s Char House in St. Paul.

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