Author: David Shama

Rivals.com reports that outstanding California junior college wide receivers Hayo Carpenter of Santa Clarita College of the Canyons and Jamar Howard of Visalia College of the Sequoias, and running back Giavanni Ruffin, also from College of the Sequoias, have Minnesota on their list of possible college choices.

CollegeFootballNews.com has the Gophers ranked No. 23 in the country.  The Gophers next game is at Purdue on October 25.

Steve and Dorothy Erban’s Creative Charters is offering a choice between airplane and motor coach to the Purdue game.  More at www.creativecharter.com

Former Gopher coach Doug Woog told Sports Headliners he’s picking Colorado College to win the WCHA title if CC’s important players stay healthy.  He includes the Gophers in a second grouping with Denver, North Dakota, St. Cloud and Wisconsin.

Woog describes the Gophers as “skilled but young and small.”  He said Minnesota has a “horrendous challenge” to get off to a good start because of the outstanding teams on the early schedule such as New Hampshire, Michigan State and Michigan.  The Gophers open the regular season tonight (Friday) at St. Cloud State.

Woog also said there’s an “evolution” going on in the WCHA toward “smaller and quicker players.”  The result, he predicted, is more players will remain with their WCHA teams for three or four years instead of leaving early for the pros.  He said two years ago 16 underclassmen left WCHA teams early, last season 11 but he expects fewer in 2008-09.

Wild forward Craig Weller’s favorite magazine is “Traditional Bowhunter.”  The Calgary native’s preferred sport is fishing.

Wild forward Nick Schultz’s cousin, Jesse, is a forward playing for Minnesota’s AHL affiliate the Houston Aeros.

Forward James Sheppard and goalie Josh Harding are roommates while Sheppard finds a full-time place to live. Sheppard, 20, lived with former Wild player and now TV studio analyst Darby Hendrickson and his family last season.

Gopher forward Monique Lamoureux has been named the WCHA Rookie of the Week for her performance against Minnesota Duluth last weekend. Lamoureux, a freshman from Grand Forks, scored two goals and added one assist in the visiting Gophers’ sweep over No. 1-ranked UMD. Producing a team-high 15 shots, Lamoureux scored in each game against UMD.

Concordia soccer forward Justin Foss scored three goals last week and helped the Cobbers to a 1-1 record in conference play.  Foss, who leads the MIAC in goals per game (0.88), is the MIAC Men’s Soccer Athlete of the Week. The Women’s Soccer Athlete of the Week is Gustavus junior forward Chelsea Craven who scored all three goals to lead the Gusties to a 3-1 win over Bethel in St. Peter last Saturday.

While the new TCF Bank Stadium is being completed for the 2009 opening season, there’s another aspect of the game day experience drawing the attention of school officials.  Tailgating is synonymous with outdoor football and the University is in the process of deciding where fans can gather and what policies they will adhere to.

Options for tailgating locations could include both surface parking lots and ramps, Phil Esten said last week.  He’s an associate athletics director for the Gophers and he told Sports Headliners that tailgating will receive a “thoughtful and collaborative process” before information is made public.

For certain, though, is a commitment by the University to ensure a safe, family like atmosphere both inside and outside the stadium.  This community and others, whether college or pro cities, has too often experienced unruly behavior from a minority of fans.  Cursing, taunting, physical violence and other misdeeds, often fueled by alcohol, can make a miserable game day experience for other fans, or keep families with young children from attending.

Esten said the University hasn’t made a decision yet on alcohol being allowed in either the stadium (including suites) or the tailgate areas.   “Well, right now it’s a conversation we are having on campus as far as alcohol availability from a consumption, or serving, standpoint,” he said.  “Nothing has been decided yet.  Again, it’s something that’s highly collaborative.  It involves many constituencies on campus and it’s a process we’ll go through and ultimately decide what’s best for the overall university and what’s best for the game day atmosphere.”

Except for Minnesota, the Big Ten Conference schools play their football games outdoors and Esten said the Gophers can learn from other athletic departments including Ohio State where there have been past problems.  “We’ve visited a lot of campuses and a lot of people do it really, really well, and one of the reasons I mentioned Ohio State is because they’ve come a long way in the last four or five years,” he said. “There was a time when…there was a lot of public safety issues on and around campus when particularly Michigan came to town.   And they’ve done a lot of education and awareness with their fans and students to help remedy that and I think they’ve got a great controlled fan-friendly atmosphere for tailgating on and around campus right now.

“And Purdue as well.  We’ll visit Purdue in a couple of weeks and have an opportunity to experience what they do on campus, and I’ve heard nothing but great things about Purdue. …”

With a new stadium coming that will be the envy of many schools, the Gophers’ athletic department is determined to add a tailgate and total game day atmosphere to make Saturdays special on campus.

 Think you’re good at college football trivia?  Try this one: there have been two native Minnesotans who have won the Biletnikoff Award, given annually to the nation’s best receiver.

Neither of the Minnesotans played for the Gophers but that will change if wide receiver Eric Decker can win the award this season or next.  The junior from Cold Spring, Minnesota leads the nation in receptions with 59 and also yards, 782.  He has five of the team’s nine touchdown receptions and has accounted for almost 50 percent of the Gophers’ passing yardage.

Gopher coach Tim Brewster has been saying for awhile now that the 6-foot-2 Decker, who runs precise runs, physically battles defenders and has outstanding hands, is one of America’s premier receivers.  “I can’t imagine that there’s anyone who does more for his team,” Brewster told Sports Headliners.

Although Decker was outstanding last season, making 67 receptions to set a single season school record, he wasn’t on the 25 player 2008 pre-season Biletnikoff watch list.  Playing for a 1-11 team isn’t the kind of stuff that makes for strong resume building.

But now Decker seems like he’s better than ever and the Gophers are 6-1 on the season, 2-1 in the Big Ten Conference.  The weekly polls are showing interest in including Minnesota among the nation’s top 25 teams.  That will help the Decker cause, even though his candidacy has a late start.

And what about those other Minnesotans?  Larry Fitzgerald, who attended Holy Angels High School, won the Biletnikoff playing at Pittsburgh in 2003.  Marcus Harris, a Brooklyn Center High School player, won the award in 1995 while starring for Wyoming.

Decker may write a little history of his own.