Author: David Shama

Sporting News picks the Celtics to beat the Lakers again in the NBA finals.  Sports Illustrated predicts it will be the Spurs over the Celtics.

Vikings’ linebacker Chad Greenway will sign copies of the NBC Sunday Night Football Cookbook from 6 to 7 p.m. tomorrow night (Tuesday) in the Sears Court at the Mall of America.  Greenway and others have contributed more than 150 recipes to the book, with part of the sales benefiting food banks nationwide through the Taste of the NFL program.  The book retails for $27.95 and will be available for sale at the MOA event with proceeds benefiting hunger relief in Minnesota.

If you’re looking for a baseball fix in the dead of winter, one way to satisfy it will be at the fourth annual Diamond Awards dinner on Thursday, January 22 at the Marriott City Center downtown.  The event will recognize the 2008 Twins award winners as determined by the Twin Cities Chapter of the Baseball Writers of America.

Among the award winners are team MVP Justin Morneau, upper Midwest player of the year Joe Mauer, pitcher of the year Joe Nathan, most improved player Alexi Casilla, rookie of the year Denard Span, minor league player of the year Ben Revere and minor league pitcher of the year Anthony Slama.  Award winners and others associated with the Twins organization are expected to attend the event.  Corporate sponsorships, tables and individual tickets are available.  For more information call the Twins at 612-33-TWINS or 800-33-TWINS, or Valerie Petermann at the Minnesota Medical Foundation, 612-624-4444 or visit www.minnesotadiamondawards.org.

Northern State’s Kevin Ratzsch, from Bloomington, Illinois, has been selected the 2008-09 NSIC Preseason Player of the Year, as voted on by the league coaches. Ratzsch, already named to the 2008-09 Street & Smith’s pre-season All-American second team, finished fourth in conference scoring last year with 16.8 points per game. The coaches picked Minnesota State, Northern State and Winona State as the teams that will finish first, second and third in NSIC.

Look for Minneapolis-St. Paul to make an effort to attract the 2012 Democratic National Convention here.  The Democrats wanted to have their convention here in 2008 but the Republicans made a commitment first, according to a local source.

Gopher athletic director Joel Maturi told Sports Headliners earlier this week he doesn’t think the University will lose Tim Brewster as its football coach after this season.  The Gophers have drawn national attention for their surprising 6-1 start after being 1-11 last season and there’s some early speculation about Brewster winning college coach of the year awards.

In the win or else world of college football, there are attractive job openings every fall.  Clemson is using an interim coach and the University of Washington job is almost a cinch to become available.  Tennessee and Syracuse are other possibilities.

The 48-year-old Brewster is a hot name at the moment because people look at Gopher football as almost a graveyard for coaches, yet the dynamic coach has been raising Minnesota’s profile with his aggressive recruiting and the team’s No. 24 national ranking.  The assumption is if he can win at Minnesota, just think how he could flourish at a school with more resources.

With five games remaining on the schedule, including a possible loss tomorrow at Purdue, the Gophers and Brewster still have lots to prove.  But there’s no doubt that as of today the season is a success for the Minnesota program and has thrust Brewster’s name into the speculative candidate pool among high profile young coaches.  If you ran a search firm, this guy is on your “A” watch list.

Maturi was asked on Tuesday if he’s concerned about losing Brewster to another school after this season.  “In all honesty, no,” Maturi said.  “Because I think Tim Brewster believes this is a good fit for him, just like I believe he is a good fit for us. …”

Maturi mentioned past speculation that highly respected basketball coach Tubby Smith would leave the Gophers after last season, his first in Minneapolis.  Maturi said he thinks both Smith and Brewster are “really happy here.”  Maturi detailed the elements he believes both men enjoy including the local lifestyle, the University, support from the administration and belief they “can win” here.  If all that is in place, then Maturi asks, “What rainbow are you chasing?”

Brewster confirmed his job satisfaction to Sports Headliners.  “I am very happy with what I am doing,” he said.  “I am very focused on…allowing the Gophers to reclaim their rightful place amongst the elite teams in college football and that’s going to take a lot of hard work. I enjoy that.  I enjoy the prospect of building this program back into something that’s very special.  I don’t know how many times you can do that.  It takes a tremendous amount of passion and energy, and so I am pouring my heart and soul into this program.”

Brewster reportedly signed a five-year contract for about $1 million per year when he came here in January of 2006 from the Denver Broncos where he had been an assistant coach.  His salary is low compared to what many coaches at major schools earn but Maturi reviews the work of all coaches in his department annually and a lot of Gopher wins this fall is likely to produce a raise.

Maturi isn’t worried about finding the money to reward his coach.  One resource will be increased revenues from moving into the new TCF Bank Stadium next season.  Another will be more cash flow from a winning and improved team.  “We’ll do the right thing,” Maturi said.  “We don’t have a lot of money in the bank but we’re not broke. …”

Maturi hired Brewster, a career assistant coach in the pros and college, a man who had never been a head coach or coordinator on those levels.  He saw a guy who had a national reputation as an exceptional recruiter and a man who others told him could coach, too.

As Maturi said, it’s been a nice fit so far.

Maturi said he never stopped believing in Brewster, even with the 1-11 season last year.  He wanted to make sure after the season that Brewster didn’t change who he was and what he believed in.  The Gophers went through a major transition with the new coaching staff including adoption of the spread formation.  Some observers think that change cost the Gophers some wins and Maturi said he thought Minnesota might have won four games with the old coaching staff and system.

It will be two years next month that Maturi dismissed Dan Monson as basketball coach, an unusual move early in the season.  Maturi said he made the decision not just for the University but for Monson, too, because the situation with the basketball program was becoming “ugly” with all the public negativity.

The Gophers are at Purdue tomorrow for a difficult to predict game.  Brewster is pleased with the two weeks off he’s had to rest his team and let players recover from injuries (among them is cornerback Marcus Sherels who injured his shoulder on October 4 but will play tomorrow).  But former college coach Gerry DiNardo, now a Big Ten Network analyst, said earlier this week that teams can lose timing and momentum during a bye week.  The Gophers, 6-1 and coming off a major win at Illinois on October 11, play a Purdue team that has lost four straight games (0-3 in the Big Ten) and has an overall 2-4 record.  The Boilermakers seem like a team with dissension.  Earlier this week coach Joe Tiller talked about star running back Kory Sheets, criticizing his lack of “intellectual” growth at Purdue, after the Boilermaker running back complained about the offense and quarterback Curtis Painter.

Brewster said he didn’t “know if there is a better punter in the country” than Gopher senior Justin Kucek.  He’s tied for fourth among Big Ten Conference punters with a 41.8 average and he’s also helped the Gophers with accurate placement.  Kucek, a Canfield, Ohio native, said the Gophers were the only major college football school to offer him a scholarship coming out of high school but that a former pro punter told him this off-season he could have a future in the NFL.  Mark Royals worked with Kucek and assisted with directional punting.

Fox reported during last Sunday’s Vikings-Bears telecast that Brad Childress thought Adrian Peterson might run more effectively without a lead blocker in the backfield in front of him.  But on Monday the Vikings’ coach wouldn’t say that and said Peterson, the NFL’s second leading rusher, ran for a 54-yard touchdown in the Bear game with a lead blocker.   “I’ve got a sense what I think about that but like I said I am not going to put it too far out there,” he said.

Vikings tight end Visanthe Shiancoe has been a disappointment to many observers since coming here in 2007 as a free agent from the Giants, but last Sunday he caught four passes for 68 yards and a touchdown in the 48-41 loss to Chicago.  Childress said Shiancoe is becoming more comfortable here including as a blocker.