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.

Secret Sauce to Beat Iowa: Huge Passion and Bib Overalls

Posted on October 17, 2023October 17, 2023 by David Shama

The football Golden Gophers have lost eight consecutive games to Iowa dating back to 2015. In the new millennium Minnesota has won just five games in the border rivalry. In the last 30 years the Gophers have claimed Floyd of Rosedale only seven times in the annual game that ranks among the most famous in college football.

This Saturday the 3-3 Gophers go to Iowa City with the intent of defeating the 6-1 Hawkeyes and breaking their losing streak. Minnesota hasn’t won in Iowa City since 1999.

Maybe the Gophers should seek counsel from former Minnesota head coach Joe Salem. The Hawkeye slayer saw his teams beat Iowa three consecutive seasons from 1979-1981 and as a quarterback hero in 1960 helped the Gophers to their biggest win since at least World War II.

A 12-10 victory in 1981 cost the Hawks an outright Big Ten championship. ”Man, that was a tough ball game,” Salem told Sports Headliners by phone on Sunday. “(Jim) Gallery kicked four field goals (in) that game. Nobody could score.”

Salem always let his players know how much passion he had for the Iowa rivalry. It was the biggest game to him, his son Brent, a former college coach, told Sports Headliners. “It starts top down. The energy from the coach matters more. This is why you come here. Every school has those games.”

Joe’s passion during Iowa game week paid off with his players performing with extra focus and adrenaline. “Oh, no question on that one,” Joe said. “We played with pretty good intensity in that game. We had some really good football games. …I would guess today the guys that played for me, that they want to beat Iowa probably worse than anything.”

It didn’t take any time at all to get the attention of his players during practice leading up to the Iowa game. Salem wore bib overalls on the practice field. Anyone acquainted with Salem knows his sense of humor and poking a little fun at the farm-focused state of Iowa just added to the rivalry.

The bib overalls gig didn’t originate in Minnesota, though. “I started that down in South Dakota (as head coach),” Salem recalled. “Of course, our rivalry was with South Dakota State and that’s an agriculture school. So I came to practice one day with the bib overalls—on a Monday. We were getting ready to play them and you know it was just kind of a fun deal.

“I told them (his players) …we’re playing the farmers, so I wore my bib overalls. And so then we won the game, and…I thought, hell, it worked last year, might as well try it again. We won five straight. I just kept doing it.”

Salem, who grew up in Sioux Falls and still lives there at age 85, left his position at South Dakota after the 1974 season. Then he was head coach at Northern Arizona for four seasons before taking the Minnesota job starting in 1979.

“When I came back to Minnesota, I thought, hell, I’ll try it here (the bib overalls), just for the hell of it. It was more a fun deal, was the way I looked at it. Everybody got a kick out of it. It was just kind of the way we did things.”

Iowa coach Hayden Fry got the last laugh, though. After his Hawkeyes beat Minnesota in 1982, Fry showed up at the postgame news conference wearing bib overalls and a cowboy hat. A writer told Salem about it, and he laughed. “Tell Hayden I wore mine before the game. I didn’t have to see what the score was,” Salem responded.

Brent was nine when he and his brothers started attending practices and games in Minnesota in 1979. Brent loves football rivalries and he texted about how his dad once angered the Iowa fanbase the Friday before the Hawkeyes came to Minneapolis. Talking on local radio Joe showed his dry wit with this zinger: “There’s 20,000 Iowans coming to the game on Saturday. They will have a $20 bill and one clean pair of underwear. They won’t change either one of them all weekend!”

Joe Salem photo courtesy of University of Minnesota

Joe, who couldn’t believe all the mail he received from Iowa fans after he stirred up the rivalry, formed his passion for beating the Hawkeyes as a player with Minnesota. He learned about the heated rivalry after transferring to Minnesota from Iowa State in 1957. Gopher head coach Murray Warmath and Iowa head coach Forest Evashevski didn’t get along, Joe said. After the Gophers defeated Iowa in Warmath’s first season of 1954, the Hawkeyes went on to win every year through 1959.

Things changed in dramatic fashion in 1960. Iowa came to Minneapolis No. 1 ranked in the country. The Gophers were No. 3 and both teams were undefeated going into the November 5 game played before 65,610 fans at old Memorial Stadium.

Salem was a reserve on the team but after Iowa scored early in the third quarter to take a 10-7 lead, Warmath told Joe he was going in the game. “I was a third team quarterback and I never played unless everything was going to hell, and then he’d put me in and he’d just say, ‘Well, you try it.’ … “

On that magical Saturday almost 63 years ago Salem lit a spark in the Gophers, leading them to two second half touchdowns. Minnesota won the game 27-10, bedlam ensued all over the state and the Gophers went on to be 1960 national champions.

Salem became an assistant coach at Minnesota starting in 1961 and that only continued his passion for the Iowa conflict. “It wasn’t a hatred deal. It was just a rivalry. It’s one that (I) kind of grew up with. I would say I still carry it today.” …

Athletic director Paul Giel fired Salem after the 1983 season when the Gophers’ 1-10 record followed a previous year of disappointment at 3-8. Salem’s success against Iowa, winning three and losing two, is memorable for sure but his favorite game was upsetting Ohio State 35-31 at home in 1981. “It was, because Minnesota doesn’t beat Ohio State very often.”

The victory is one of just seven Minnesota has earned over the blue-blood Buckeyes. “We should have beat them in ‘79. …We had over 500 yards on them,” Salem said about a late game 21-17 loss.

The Gophers unveiled the novel run-and-shoot offense for the 1979 game. “It was a tough offense to defend and, of course, they didn’t know we were running it and so that helped,” Salem said.

The pass-focused attack befuddled the Buckeyes that day in 1979 and again in 1981 when quarterback Mike Hohensee threw five touchdown passes, including three to tight end Jay Carroll (father of 2023 Minnesota starting offensive tackle Quinn Carroll).

A friend might ask Salem to wear those old bib overalls this week but that isn’t going to happen. “I have no idea where they ended up,” he said.

Salem didn’t take the bait either when told former Gopher record breaking runner and now radio analyst Darrell Thompson eats bacon the week leading up to the battle for the bronze pig (Floyd). “My wife is in a nursing home, and I am sitting here by myself, and I am not cooking anything,” said Salem.

The old coach’s heart, though, will be with his alma mater. “Yeah, I’d love to see them beat Iowa and I don’t care what sport. I just like to watch it.”

Dick Jonckowski Update

Minnesota icon Dick Jonckowski reports he is no longer scheduled to join the Midas Touch band at Mancini’s Char House on October 20. “The Polish Eagle,” who turns 80 on October 22, was at Mancini’s last Saturday and played two trombone kazoos with the band and received birthday greetings from patrons.

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Twins Fans Take the ‘Mic’ on Byron Buxton’s Future

Posted on October 15, 2023October 15, 2023 by David Shama

Byron Buxton has missed so much playing time during his major league career it’s not out of bounds to wonder at age 29 how much longer he might play. The future of the gifted Buxton, who turns 30 in December, is certainly something Twins fans and media will ponder during the offseason.

Buxton and management are on record that he will return in 2024. That’s not surprising given how much emotionally Buxton and the club have invested in each other. His tantalizing skills make a difference in winning or losing games, and possibly even championships.

Buxton heads into the fall and winter with the familiar challenge of how best to prepare his body for another season. In 2023 he once again was unable to play in 100 games, a threshold achieved one time in his nine-year career. After August 1, he appeared in one game as a pinch hitter, popping up in Game 4 of last Wednesday’s American League Division Championship Series.

Buxton also missed the closing weeks of the 2022 season. He had surgery on his right knee last fall, but the knee was problematic again in 2023. A right hamstring injury took him out of the lineup in early August of this year.

The last three years Buxton has played in 61, 92 and 85 games. But there was something different in 2023. He never played in the field, with all his action as a DH and pinch hitter.

A healthy Buxton can carry a team with his bat, fielding and baserunning. But at 30 years old—with a history of injuries, a troublesome knee and perhaps additional physical issues unknown to the public confronting him—how does he launch a recovery plan that will result in at least limited but impactful performance including at the most meaningful times? Well, a lot about that plan isn’t known but one step was taken last Friday when Buxton had more surgery on his right knee.

If Buxton can contribute to the Twins’ success next season that’s welcomed by all. But it’s not like the club doesn’t have other options, even at DH. Does the team look to infielder Royce Lewis to become the regular center fielder, filling Buxton’s old spot? Gifted young hitter Edouard Julien may again find his playing time at second base blocked by veteran Jorge Polanco and instead could be the club’s most used DH.

Then, too, where does Brooks Lee fit? The impressive switch hitter is among early mentions for American League Rookie of the Year in 2024 but where does he play in the field? His experience has been mostly at shortstop and third base, but his athleticism likely would allow him to play the outfield and almost certainly first base.

Alex Kirilloff hasn’t seized the first base job and the Twins might consider a veteran offseason acquisition. Could Buxton play first on any regular basis? It’s another question in the jumbled land of speculation about what’s next for him.

A relatively healthy Buxton will be a contributor to the 26-man roster, but a struggling Buck is again problematic. This last season not only couldn’t he help the team in the field and on the bases, but his .207 average was the lowest for any season in which he had over 100 at bats. In 304 plate appearances he hit 17 home runs and drove in 42 runs but his scarcity of contact with the ball and strikeouts were issues.

The Twins made a seven-year $100 million commitment to the Georgia native in December of 2021. The club didn’t want to lose Buxton to free agency and paid him as much for his potential as his past performance. Presumably, the Twins have an insurance policy on that deal to pay Buxton the balance of his contract if he retires early.

Questions about Buxton’s future is enough to keep the more passionate of Twins’ fans awake at night. Sports Headliners took the “temperature” of some column readers and Twins fans with a mass email last week asking what they thought about Buxton and if he should retire. It was a small sampling sent out to more than 20 contacts, with not everyone responding, but the replies were interesting. Here’s part of what they said via email, with all but one person requesting anonymity. Messages have been edited for brevity, clarity, and style.

A leadoff comment from a Twins fan that is indicative of mixed feelings among fans: “If Buxton is unable to take the field, steal bases or hit over .200, then yes, he SHOULD retire. But if there’s still hope for some level of recovery (then) I’m not ready to pull the plug yet.”

Another fan wants goals established for Buxton in 2024. “One more year. If he can’t play in the outfield next year at least 50% of games, or DH in at least 80% of games, he should retire.”

Here’s someone else writing about urgency for Buxton: “The Twins now have four months to get whatever needs to be done to get him back at full (or close to full) strength. If he cannot do it in that time frame, the team has no choice but to trade or release him. The money does you no good if the guy cannot play.”

Another fan agrees Buxton and the Twins should part ways: “If they can get anything for him in a trade (unlikely), they should take it. If they can’t trade him, they should just let him go. He can’t stay healthy enough to stay on the field, and when he does play, he is of little value, hitting around .200 with an occasional long ball.”

A former journalist expressed empathy about the Buxton situation, describing it as “sad” for the player and fans: “We witnessed his incredible athletic ability only briefly. What a career it could have been! I think the Twins should bring him to spring training next year with the hope that he gets off to a good start. Then trade him to the highest bidder for young prominent pitching and a young/raw center fielder with promising potential. The Buxton experiment is over, and most Twins fans know it, where his constant injuries have become the punchline to a joke!”

A person with career experience in sports and entertainment wrote this: “Since Byron is set to make $15 million a year fully guaranteed through the 2028 season, I think it’s in the Twins’ best interest to keep him on the roster—yet go about their business assuming he won’t be much of a contributor. Anything they get from him should be considered a bonus. Byron’s talent has been betrayed by a body that doesn’t allow him to absorb the grind of a 162-game MLB season.”

Among readers who don’t want to see Buxton give up baseball is one who wrote this: “I don’t think he should retire at this time. Recall that he started last spring very well, but then was injured. He’s not old. I’m not optimistic, but he should certainly hang in there, continue to get medical treatment and try again.”

Twins fan and longtime season ticket buyer Kirk Detlefsen also wants Buxton to play on. “Retire, no way. He is still fast. He is still Gold Glove. Let him play every day (or 75% of the days) in the outfield. Being involved in the game (on the field), I would expect his batting average to go up close to 100 points. If he gets hurt, he gets hurt and he goes on the IL. No worse than if he had been at home watching the games on TV.”

Another column reader stressed that Buxton is entitled to his lucrative contract: “From what I know, he has done everything right and nothing wrong. Players get hurt, some a lot, and Buxton is one of them. That’s the way it goes for all teams, who know (ahead of time) the pros and cons of offering long-term contracts. If the player is doing his best both on the field and with rehab efforts, he is absolutely entitled to whatever the team agreed to pay him and there is no shame in that.”

Sending both an optimistic and cautionary message was an amateur baseball authority who wrote: “I think what makes Byron Buxton special is his ability to excel offensively and defensively. Without both sides of the game, he’s a very expensive player with significantly limited value. If he isn’t healthy enough to be a two-way player, retirement is an option Byron will need to consider. It’s my hope he comes back healthy, is able to play in the outfield, and still has several good years ahead!”

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Carlos Correa ‘Mr. Clutch’ for Twins Just like Kirby Puckett

Posted on October 10, 2023October 13, 2023 by David Shama

Carlos Correa’s clutch performance for the Twins in the postseason prompts memories of the late Kirby Puckett. It was Puckett who made that still famous quote before Game 6 of the 1991 World Series, telling teammates to “jump on his back” because he was going to carry the team.

Correa is more than shouldering his load, too, including driving in three of Minnesota’s six runs Sunday night when the Twins tied their American League Division Series at 1-1 with the Astros. Fittingly, Correa even threw out the last Astros batter of the evening with a spectacular fielding play and throw in the 6-2 win.

In four postseason games this fall Correa is hitting .588, and it’s not just his performance at the plate that has been key for the Twins. His fielding, high baseball IQ and leadership have all been impactful. Before coming to Minnesota, the 29-year-old shortstop experienced six postseason years with the Astros.

Do-Hyoung Park, writing for MLB.com yesterday, offered this timely quote about Correa from manager Rocco Baldelli: “We’ve always heard all of the sayings and things: When the lights come on and the bright lights, there are some guys, they’re giants in the light. He’s one of them. That’s what he is.”

Correa, who joined the Twins in 2022 as a free agent and then re-signed with them last off-season, made history Sunday night with those three RBI. He now has 63 career postseason RBI, tied with David Justice for third best ever among big leaguers.

No doubt the Twins’ $200 million “Mr. October” looks forward to moving up that historical list (Bernie Williams tops at 80, Manny Ramirez second with 78) but the big prize right now is advancing to the World Series. To do that the Twins will need two more wins to close out the Astros and be able to win four games in the American League Championship Series.

That itinerary would put the Twins back in the World Series for the first time since 1991. Minnesota defeated the Braves in seven games, partially because of Puckett’s heroics in Game 6. The five-tool superstar robbed Ron Gant of an extra base hit and had three hits including an 11^th inning walk-off home run for the ages that won the game and tied the series 3-3 in front of a delirious Metrodome crowd.

Puckett was a centerpiece on World Series championship teams in 1991 and 1987. In 24 postseason games he hit .309, with five home runs and 16 RBI. He was also a leader who inspired teammates, just like a guy in the here and now—Carlos Correa.

Worth Noting

Twins Hall of Famers Johan Santana and Joe Mauer will do the ceremonial first pitch honors before this afternoon’s ALDS game at Target Field. Minneapolis-based vocalist Aby Wolf will perform the national anthem.

Today’s Minnesota starting pitcher Sonny Gray, who held the Blue Jays scoreless in last week’s Wild Card series win, faces the Astros for the third time this year. He is 0-0 and has a 2.77 ERA against the Astros, with four walks and 16 strikeouts in two starts.

Ryan Jeffers has been the Twins’ catcher in each of the four postseason games, after splitting assignments during the regular season with Christian Vazquez. Jeffers has excelled defensively and calling games for the 3-1 Twins but has just two hits in 13 at bats.

Knowledgeable and optimistic Twins fans know the World Series starts October 27 and potentially runs through November 4. Home field advantage in the best of seven series, just like in the ALDS and ALDCS, is determined by which two teams had the better regular season record.

Twins radio voice Cory Provus, who calls Big Ten Network football games, will also work BTN men’s basketball during the upcoming season.

By Friday, after the Wild’s home opener against the Panthers Thursday night, it’s anticipated that over a nine-day period about 300,000 fans in the Twin Cities will have attended games of the Twins, Vikings, Wild and football Gophers.

The Wild has only two players on its 21-man opening night roster that weren’t with Minnesota last year: forwards Pat Maroon (Tampa Bay) and Marco Rossi (Iowa). Defenseman Brock Faber is the youngest player on the roster at 21; while goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who turns 39 in November, is the oldest.

Hockey authority Bill Robertson predicts the Wild will finish seventh in the Western Conference and make the Stanley Cup Playoffs. “Healthy (Kirill) Kaprizov and solid goaltending will be big keys for the Wild this year,” the former college hockey commissioner wrote via email. “Former Gopher Brock Faber will take a huge step forward and become an impact player for Minnesota.

“Boston is the best team in the NHL as they have depth from top to bottom and will be ready this year for the Stanley Cup Playoffs! No quick exit this year. Best player in the game is Edmonton’ s Conner McDavid as he is a superstar and can impact a game when he is on the ice. Conner has awesome skills.”

The Wild announced today that Kaprizov has been named an alternate captain.

Jim Harbaugh, who was a candidate for the Vikings head coaching job before Kevin O’Connell was hired in 2022, has the No. 2 college football team in the AP Poll but doesn’t make the top 10 in annual compensation among his peers. His $8.2 million at Michigan ranks No. 12, with Alabama’s Nick Saban No. 1 at $11.4 million and Michigan State’s embattled Mel Tucker No. 5 at about $10 million, per Usatoday.com last week.

Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck ranks No. 26 at $6 million.

The 1-4 Vikings and 3-3 Gophers are struggling but other state teams are excelling including St. Thomas, 3-0 in conference games and leading the Pioneer League, and Saint John’s, No. 8 nationally in the D3football.com rankings and tied with Carleton for the best league record in the MIAC at 3-0 each.

Happy birthdays: NFL legend Brett Favre is 54 today, October 10. Former Gopher athletics director Mark Dienhart turns 70 tomorrow.

Forward Parker Bjorklund from St. Thomas has been voted preseason first team All-Summit by the league coaches. The voting also predicted the Tommies will finish fourth in the standings behind South Dakota State, Oral Roberts and North Dakota State.

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