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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.

Blackburn Success: Using More Pitches

Posted on June 6, 2008February 9, 2012 by David Shama

The Twins’ Nick Blackburn is expected to take his regular turn in the starting pitching rotation tonight despite being struck in the face by a line drive on Sunday. Blackburn, who at 26 became a major league starter for the first time this year, doesn’t discourage easily.

The Twins Web site reported earlier in the week that swelling on Blackburn’s face had been reduced and headaches subsided from the ball hit by New York’s Bobby Abreu.  Blackburn is second on the team in wins with a 4-3 record and his 3.32 ERA is best among starters.

On a rebuilt starting pitching staff the right-handed Blackburn has been a major contributor.  Late last season he made it to the big leagues for the first time, pitching in six games as a reliever.  His stats included 19 hits in 11.2 innings, with a 0-2 record and a 7.71 ERA.

The difference since last year?  “I am just using all my pitches now,” Blackburn told Sports Headliners.  “I am finally starting to pitch instead of just going up there and trying to throw fast balls to get all outs.  I am using breaking balls and changeups and stuff, and finally just actually learning what a pitcher really is.”

Blackburn wants to be more consistent the rest of the season in keeping the ball down to hitters, below the knees.  “That’s been the biggest challenge for me,” he said. “I think it’s probably a challenge for all pitchers.  I’ve got the confidence I think that it takes to pitch up here.  I think I am starting to realize I can compete up here and get guys out.  It’s just going to be the every day consistency of going out there and doing what I have to do and making the pitches I have to make.”

Umpires can vary in defining a strike zone but Blackburn, who is not a strikeout pitcher and gets ground ball outs from batters, said he won’t let the way a game is called bother him.  “I am not ever going to let an umpire take me out of a game because his zone is tight or whatever,” Blackburn said.  “So…I just come after the hitters and I try to put it in the strike zone so they can hit and put it in play and get ground balls. That’s my biggest thought going into the game.”

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Worth Noting

Posted on June 6, 2008February 9, 2012 by David Shama

Chris McCosky of the Detroit News didn’t hold back in a recent article that contrasted Boston’s Kevin Garnett and rival Detroit power forward Rasheed Wallace, https://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080602/SPORTS0102/806020370/1004/SPORTS.   “Off the court, Garnett can be a jerk,” McCosky wrote.  “He is rude to ball boys and locker room attendants.  He gets himself so intensely wound before games, he’s even a jerk to his teammates at times. But on the court, Garnett is the perfect teammate. He plays hard every second he’s on the floor. …

“Wallace off the court is one of the warmest and funniest guys in the league. There isn’t a ball boy or locker room attendant that he hasn’t tipped lavishly. … But on the court, Wallace can be a jerk. There are times, because he is so ridiculously skilled, he just gets bored and lax. He doesn’t always agree with the game plan, but instead of arguing about it before the game, he sometimes tries to rebel against it during the game.”

Former Gopher player and Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders, fired earlier this week as Detroit coach, will have another NBA job if he wants one.  It doesn’t take too much imagination to think that Saunders, 53, may one day coach the Wolves again, or even succeed Tubby Smith as Gopher coach.

Major league baseball is proud of its superior attendance for interleague play but an article in the No. 35 Baseball Research Journal pointed out certain advantages about the American League-National League games.  Generally, interleague games have been played when school is out and weather is warm, plus a majority of games have been scheduled on weekends, according to the Journal article that analyzed data from 1997-2006.

Twins second baseman Alexi Casilla has reached base via hit or walk in 15 of his last 17 games.  He has hit safely in 13 of 14 games and extended his hit-streak to eight games yesterday in the team’s 3-2 loss to Baltimore.  He is hitting .343 (24-for-70) and he has either scored a run or drove in a run in 15 of his 20 games played in 2008.  He had three hits yesterday.

Kevin Gorg, who has been part of the FSN North broadcast team on Minnesota Wild games, will be appearing on several of the network’s Twins telecasts.  Gorg said his role will be providing “behind the scenes” reporting such as selling beer at the Metrodome.  For that assignment Gorg will become a vendor.

Twenty current and former NFL players, including the Vikings’ Darren Sharper, will participate in the annual NFL Broadcast Boot Camp at NFL Films in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey. The activity, from June 16-19, will be directed by the NFL Broadcasting Department and cover a wide range of topics with instructors from each of the NFL’s broadcasting partners – CBS, ESPN, FOX, NBC, NFL Network, Sirius Satellite Radio, Westwood One Radio, plus local radio and TV.  The training will include hands-on work in areas such as tape study, editing, show preparation, radio production, control room operation, studio preparation, production meetings, field reporting and game preparation.

Gopher hockey coach Don Lucia talking last week about his new assistant Mike Hastings who is the winningest coach in United States Hockey League history and in 14 seasons led Omaha to a 529-210-56 record: “After a month-long search and talking to numerous people, I believe Mike Hastings is the right fit for Gopher hockey. He is a former defenseman who has established himself by winning over 70 percent of his games over the last 14 years in the USHL. Mike has recruiting contacts all over North America, but his ties with the USHL will prove invaluable to our program.”

The Gopher women’s track and field team has four student-athletes, Heather Dorniden, Liz Podominick, Jamie Cheever and Alicia Rue, on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V teams as voted upon by the nation’s sports information directors. Dorniden, Podominick and Cheever are first team honorees while Rue is second team.  Minnesota’s four selections was best among Big Ten Conference teams.

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Maturi Linked to Notre Dame AD Job

Posted on June 3, 2008February 9, 2012 by David Shama

Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi is believed to be on a list of candidates for the athletic director’s job at Notre Dame.  A local source speaking confidentially said on Monday he thinks Notre Dame will test Maturi’s interest in replacing Kevin White who recently left Notre Dame to become athletic director at Duke.  On Sunday an article on the South Bend Tribune’s Web site included Maturi’s name among eight people that could be top candidates for the Notre Dame job.  Maturi, however, told Sports Headliners this morning that he hasn’t been contacted by anyone officially representing Notre Dame.

Maturi has two years remaining on his contract at Minnesota and “expects to finish his career” as the Gophers’ athletic director.   Maturi said he’s “real happy at Minnesota” but when pressed about whether he would at least listen to a Notre Dame contact, he responded that “I am not going to say never. …”

Maturi is believed to earn over $310,000 as Minnesota athletic director, a salary that is average at best among his Big Ten Conference colleagues.  He said a bigger salary elsewhere won’t tempt him.  “I’ve never done anything (just) for money,” Maturi said.

Maturi is a Notre Dame alum, graduating from the school in 1967.  He admitted ties to Notre Dame are appealing but so, too, is Minnesota because he grew up in the state.

The source, who is close to Gopher athletics, said it will be a serious loss to Minnesota athletics if Maturi leaves the University.  A native of Chisholm, Minnesota, he was athletic director at Denver University and Miami of Ohio before coming to the University of Minnesota.

Maturi has been the athletic director here since July of 2002.  During that time he has successfully merged the men’s and women’s athletic departments at the University. The two departments operated separately for many years and it was a divisive relationship.

Maturi also hired new basketball and football coaches in 2007.  His hiring of national champion basketball coach Tubby Smith within a few days last year is regarded as a coup by many admirers in intercollegiate athletics.  Football coach Tim Brewster has made headlines with his recruiting success and is committed to winning the school’s first Big Ten championship since 1967.

Under Maturi’s leadership the University gained legislative and other support for the TCF Bank Stadium project.  The Gophers will open their new $288.5 million football stadium on campus next year.

Maturi has been a tireless worker on behalf of the Gophers.  Popular within the athletic department, Maturi regularly attends the events of all 25 men’s and women’s sports at the University.  “He’s the hardest working man I’ve ever seen,” the source said.

Maturi’s accomplishments also include fiscal success.  While earlier forecasts had the athletic department operating at a deficit, the Gophers currently have a balanced budget, according to published reports.

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