Author: David Shama

A new exhibit paying tribute to African-American baseball history in Minnesota opens tomorrow at the Landmark Center in St. Paul and continues through August 20.  The public is invited to hear opening remarks at 6 p.m. by exhibit curator Frank White who is also a manager for Richfield Recreation Services.  Although Minnesota never had a Negro League team, the state has an interesting African-American baseball history that includes such baseball pioneers as the great Willie Mays who played for the Minneapolis Millers in 1951 before going to the big leagues to star for the New York Giants.  There is no admission charge to see the exhibit.

This is Black History month and a significant time to recall that almost 50 years ago Sandy Stephens helped lead the 1960 Gophers to a national championship.  He was among college football’s first black quarterbacks.  In 1961 he became the first major college African-American All-American quarterback.

Harvey Mackay, the New York Times bestselling author and former Gopher golfer, will have a book signing from 3 to 8 p.m. tomorrow night at Barnes & Noble located at 801 Nicollet Mall.  His newest business book is Use Your Head to Get Your Foot in the Door: Job Search Secrets No One Else Will Tell You.  Not only will Mackay be autographing books, he will offer some wisdom during a talk from 7 to 7:15 p.m.  Mackay said all royalties for the books sold at the event will be donated to the Salvation Army.

The St. Thomas men’s basketball team, which won a fifth straight MIAC regular season championship, plays in the semifinals of the conference playoffs tomorrow night against Carleton.  Tommies coach Steve Fritz told Sports Headliners he will wait until the playoffs are over before comparing this team with others he has coached during his 30 years as head coach at St. Thomas.  Fritz, who has been the school’s athletic director for 18 years, expects to return in both roles next school year.

Fritz said senior guard Joe Scott, who was a third team All-American last year, would like to play professional basketball, perhaps overseas, after graduation.  Scott, who attended DeLaSalle High School, averaged 11.3 points in conference games and is a solid all around player.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman will continue to receive plenty of comment about allowing his league to shut down for the Olympics.  The lost playing time costs the NHL a marketing window between the Super Bowl and baseball spring training, and compacting the league schedule can be stressful physically and mentally on players.

This is a big week for Augsburg senior hockey forward Chris Johnson, and not just because his dad Mark Johnson is coaching the U.S. women’s team in the Winter Olympics to a possible gold medal.  Augsburg has an MIAC playoff game against St. Olaf on Friday and the winner plays No. 1 seeded Gustavus on Saturday.  In 25 games Johnson led Augsburg with 16 assists and was third in total points, 26.

Johnson’s grandfather, Bob Johnson, was born in Minneapolis, played for the Gophers and coached at Roosevelt High School before winning national championships at Wisconsin and coaching the 1976 men’s Olympic team.

Freshman point guard Bryant Allen, a wide receiver and punt returner on the football team, played in his third basketball game for the Gophers on Saturday night against Indiana, scoring three points in seven minutes.  Football coach Tim Brewster told Sports Headliners he will allow Allen to play basketball in future seasons if it doesn’t “detract” from football and Allen is making an impact.  Brewster told Allen during recruiting that he could play basketball at Minnesota.

Brewster said wide receiver Eric Decker continues his rehabilitation from last fall’s surgery on his left foot and expects him to be drafted by an NFL team in April.  Decker missed the last four games of the season, plus the Gophers bowl game.  Brewster said he’s talked to several NFL representatives who are “excited” about Decker.  He also said Decker would have been a “cinch” late first round or second round draft choice if not for the injury.

The Gophers begin spring football practice on March 23 and the spring game in TCF Bank Stadium will be April 24.  Brewster said his quarterback depth chart looks like this: Adam Weber, MarQueis Gray, Moses Alipate and Adam Lueck.  Tom Parish, from Hartland, Wisconsin, will join the team as a freshman in August.  “The future is very good at the position,” Brewster said.

Air Force coach Troy Calhoun will be the headline speaker at the Minnesota Football Coaches Clinic March 25-27 at the Doubletree Hotel in St. Louis Park and on the University of Minnesota campus.  The annual clinic will have over 35 speakers and 70 sessions.  More at www.mnfootballclinic.com.

Those who revered Tiger Woods as a role model will hopefully now view celebrities differently. That’s a potential benefit from the sad soap opera surrounding the story of Woods’ infidelity and the suffering he caused his wife Elin and others.

Woods presented himself as a dedicated family person who was deserving of our applause on and off the golf course.  Those who fawned over him couldn’t limit their adoration to his extraordinary golfing abilities.  They bought into him as a total person, believing that he was a hero representing the best of values.

An appropriate perspective could look at Woods and any other celebrity like this: Enjoy and appreciate the gifted skills and performances, and admit you know very little about this person’s behavior and values.

The Woods image fooled people for a long time but that doesn’t make him unique from other celebrities past or present.  Celebrities, including athletes, engage in all kinds of behavior that is contrary to the values of their fans.  If you’re looking for heroes based on values and behavior search closer to home.  Try someone you know, like a dedicated teacher, a tireless volunteer, or courageous person with a terminal illness.

In his apology speech on Friday Woods admitted he used his stature to have affairs and cheat on his wife.  How many other celebrities who have done the same but never been exposed to such public scrutiny were watching Woods in his nationally televised confession?  I have no idea but a cynic might suggest the total is 50 times the number of children they have fathered out of wedlock.

The behavior of Woods is observed by not just adults, but also children who sometimes don’t have guidance in choosing role models.  Unfortunately, what the Woods story says to some kids is that when you’re young, rich and powerful you can mess around on your wife and enjoy various women.  Cheating and dishonesty won’t help a generation of young people already so troubled that high school graduation rates are under 50 percent in American cities.

Let’s hope a better life lies ahead for Woods and those who care about him.  He plans to continue in a rehabilitation program.  Maybe that’s right for him, perhaps not.  The rehab sounds good, makes us nod our heads and say, “Yup, that Tiger he’s really trying.”

But how do we know who the real Tiger is?  Let’s just stop pretending we do and watch him play golf when he comes back.  And when he does return it would be nice if he doesn’t curse on the course, throw his clubs and pout when some fan clicks his camera and breaks his concentration.  That kind of behavior we can observe and decide whether it’s acceptable.

Let’s not pretend to know what our celebrities do at home, in a hotel room, or in a corporate meeting.