Author: David Shama

March means something in Minnesota besides snowstorms.  State tournament time is an opportunity to watch dedicated teenagers striving to create moments they and their friends will never forget.  The admission prices are minimal.  Your rear end in the stands makes a commitment to the worthiness of high school sports.  Go!  (Even if it’s snowing).

Be alert for opportunities to laugh at yourself…and journalists.  Like the media guy who refers to that Catholic high school in St. Louis Park as “Benilde-St. Mary’s.”

This has been a long season for our local sports heroes.  The Gophers, Timberwolves and Wild have frequently offered minimal relief from the winter funk.  But, hey, at least we’re not a “cold Omaha.”  We have major league sports franchises.

Feeling better?

How about this?  None of our teams, including the basketball Gophers who won a half dozen conference games, are winless this winter.

And the Twins will win another Central Division title, the stands will be packed at Target Field and Justin Morneau will hit booming home runs.  (No Twins postseason predictions allowed. This is a feel better session).

There will likely be more weather delays at Target Field this year than during the first season but after the winter we’re experiencing who cares?  Chug down some tall beers and listen to the sweetest sound in the world: your voice chortling “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”

The Wolves will have a lottery pick (surprise!) in the June NBA draft.  Don’t you love consistency?

Then there’s Gophers football and the annual spring game to look forward to on April 23.  Yes, the program has been down for about 40 years, but how about those national championship teams in the 1930s and 1940s?

All those Brad Childress bashers out there should still be happy about the dismissal of the Vikings coach last fall.  The social media crowd and stadium drunks got a coach fired less than 11 months after his team was within a play of the Super Bowl.

The Vikings may or may not win legislative approval for a new stadium this spring, but take comfort in knowing that the politicians, nationally and locally, can be counted on to put their interests aside and do the right thing for the public.  (Don’t hurt yourself laughing!)

Perhaps by carelessly mentioning the IRS and politicians I have added to your misery index.  A long time pal who lives in another frozen, snow covered state may have the ultimate cure:

A reckless diet.

He’s partying with Milk Duds.  Multiple times a day he uses the famous candy as the center piece of a diet that could also include eggs, pancakes, hash browns, burgers, pizza and Pepsi.  Wikipedia, by the way, describes Milk Duds as a product “historically enrobed with milk chocolate and currently enrobed with a confectionery coating.”  That’s nice enrobing.

No mention of fruits and vegetables by my friend.  If we can’t grow them for long periods of time why should we eat them?

So feel better by eating what you want and improve that attitude as spring (promise) approaches.  Joe Mauer is signed long term.  The Vikings haven’t backed up the moving vans to Winter Park.  The University of Iowa was listed No.2 by Sports Illustrated in a story about college football programs with the most players having police records while the Gophers didn’t even crack the top 25.

Things could be worse.  Gas costs less than $4.00 a gallon.  Your insurance plan probably pays for mental health coverage.  The ice will be off the lakes (at least the local ones) in time for the fishing opener.

Just like the teams tell us in their advertising, email and publicity messages: life is good…even in winter.

Tubby Smith’s four-year Big Ten regular season coaching record is 32-40 following yesterday’s 66-63 loss to Penn State at Williams Arena.

After 8-10 and consecutive 9-9 records at Minnesota, Smith produced a 6-12 mark this season.  The totals don’t include Big Ten Tournament games where Smith is 5-3.

The Gophers, who begin play in the tournament on Thursday afternoon against Northwestern in Indianapolis, finished in ninth place in the conference standings.  Minnesota was a top 25 ranked team until the Gophers ran out of point guards in January and then lost nine of its last 10 games.

Without Devoe Joseph who transferred to Oregon and Al Nolen who broke his right foot, the Gophers often stumbled in the closing minutes of games and lost.  The late season collapse left coaches, players and fans frustrated.

Assistant coach Saul Smith told Sports Headliners a couple years ago that the coaching staff came to Minnesota to compete for Big Ten titles.  So far the Gophers haven’t been able to go beyond .500 results.

When asked about the program competing for Big Ten championships in July of 2008, Saul Smith talked about NCAA titles, too.  “We feel like that’s our goal is to compete nationally and win national titles and to compete (for) Big Ten titles.  We’re going to be all right. …”

Saul’s dad won a national championship at Kentucky in 1998 and for six out of his first eight seasons there never lost more than four regular season Southeastern Conference games.  During Smith’s last two seasons at Kentucky, prior to taking the Gophers job, his record was 18-14 in SEC games.

Handicapped as they were at point guard, this year’s Gophers should not have stumbled so badly; they had the talent to produce a better record in the Big Ten than 6-12.  In December the team inspired hopes of not only playing in the NCAA tournament, but also winning a couple of games.  Instead this season has stirred doubts about the program, perhaps even in Smith himself.

Does Smith believe he can win here and does he want to continue at Minnesota?  Months ago he was offered a contract extension but he still has not accepted it.  If he was holding back from signing in hopes of leveraging support for a new practice facility that task seems more difficult now.  Such a disappointing season could easily take the glow off a sales pitch to a lead donor for the facility that will likely cost at least $15 million.

Past winters have included rumors that other schools were courting Smith.  This one continues the trend that Smith will go some place else and there’s been speculation it could be Georgia Tech.