Golden Gophers – Page 11 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Best of Gurus See Eight Wins for Vikings 2026 Season

Posted on July 1, 2026July 1, 2026 by David Shama

Enjoy a Wednesday notes column.

Get used to the number 8, Vikings fans.

A search of the most authoritative annual prognosticators of NFL team records turns up a lot of eights for the 2026 Vikings season. Here’s a sample of the usually most accurate swamis.

NFL Network analytics expert Cynthia Frelund: 8.7 wins.

Public analytical database Nfelo: 8.5 wins.

FanDuel Sportsbook: 8.5 wins.

ESPN’s Football Power Index: 8 wins.

Sports Headliners: 10 wins.

Why 10?

To make you feel better.

There was an Arizona Cardinals airplane parked at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport last Wednesday. Perhaps it was in town relative to Minneapolis-born and raised Larry Fitzgerald Jr. being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame next month.

Fitzgerald was a Vikings ball boy in his youth and idolized Randy Moss who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018. Fitzgerald played his entire 17-year NFL career with the Cardinals where his pass catching skills ranked with the best in NFL history.

Bill Guerin, named NHL General Manger of the Year last week, is believed to earn “north” of $2 million with the Wild. NHL GM jobs don’t pay the kind of money their NBA counterparts make. The Timberwolves’ Tim Connelly reportedly makes $8 million annually.

Guerin was hired in August of 2018, and his work has helped create a Stanley Cup contender. A former NHL player, he prioritizes communications.

Wild GM Bill Guerin — Guerin photo by Marshall Tanick

“…Because I feel now, like more than ever, the coach, the general manager we’re not so much in a position to say, do this, do that. It’s how can we help you get better? What can we do for you to help you carry out our game plan? We’re here for them,” he told Sports Headliners last year.

The annual Big Ten Football Media Days will be held July 28-30 in Chicago and televised by the Big Ten Network. The Golden Gophers will be one of the programs focused on July 29 at the Hilton Hotel. The three-day event allows media members to meet with coaches and student-athletes prior to the season.

Minnesota opens its season September 3 at home against Eastern Illinois. Peacock will televise the 7 p.m. kickoff nonconference game.

Sources disagree on who is the tallest goalie ever to play in the NHL, referring to 6-7 or 6-8 goalies. Either way the Wild has a solid entry in the competition with 2026 fifth round draft choice Filip Ruzicka from Trinec, Czechia. He is listed at 6-8 and 229 pounds and will certainly be noticed if he ever plays in the NHL.

“Filip is an extra-large goalie with athletic abilities,” said Wild goaltending coach Frederic Chabot in a club statement. “He has good hands for a guy that big and had a nice progression last season after taking over the No. 1 job in Brandon (Wheat Kings of the WHL).”

Before last night’s game against the Astros, the Twins had played 26 games in June. Their slugging percentage of .476 ranked second-best in baseball to the Rockies at .492. The Twins had homered in all but four of their last 23 games since June 4, hitting 42. Since that date, Minnesota ranked second in homers, trailing the Athletics (43), going into last evening.

Last Sunday at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Hazeltine Golf Club, South Korea’s Hae Ran Ryu took home $1,950,00 for winning her first major title. Scottie Scheffler, the men’s No. 1 in the world, will try to win $1,584,000 at the 3M Tournament July 23-26 at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine.

The Lynx announced today star forward Napheesa Collier, after undergoing surgeries on both her right and left ankles during the offseason, has returned to team practice and continues to progress as expected.

Medical research confirms spectators watching events like the emotion-stoked World Cup experience cardiovascular issues and even deadly heart attacks.

Comments Welcome

Donations Saved Courageous Casey O’Brien’s Life

Posted on June 23, 2026July 19, 2026 by David Shama

About two years ago beloved former Golden Gopher football player Casey O’Brien and his parents opted for a GoFundMe page to assist with costs from his long battle with osteosarcoma, a rare bone disease.

At one point the online resource showed $394,328 in donations. It wasn’t an easy decision to ask for help, but it was the right one.

“For sure. No question,” said Casey’s father Dan O’Brien. “Experimental things that we’ve done are not covered by insurance and they’re expensive.”

The older O’Brien, the former Gopher football assistant coach/administrator and now athletics director at Saint John’s in Collegeville, expressed the family’s gratitude for donations in a phone interview with Sports Headliners.

“It was incredible. We’ve been able to do several things to keep him alive because of how generous people were to us.”

Now there is no need for a public appeal. “We’re good,” Dan said. “Insurance has been good.”

Casey, 27, has lived a remarkable and inspiring journey since he was diagnosed with his awful disease at 13 years old. He has consulted with countless medical people, endured more than 40 surgeries and beaten his rare cancer seven times only to see it return.

“There probably isn’t anybody that is walking around this earth that has had the same kind of battle that he’s had,” Dan said. “We (including mom Chris) know that. The doctors tell us there’s no script to follow with his situation.

“It’s an amazing story and he’s got an incredible will and fight. And he’s still on this earth for a reason, and we’re thankful for that every single day.”

Sports Headliners reported on Casey in April of last year. A new development in his saga was breathing issues. His lungs were and remain compromised by osteosarcoma.

Dan was asked to compare Casey’s overall health now with 14 months ago. “That’s a good question. I would say it’s probably a little bit better. …

“There’s one spot (osteosarcoma, right lung) that they’re tracking right now and we’ve actually got an appointment here in July that we go to Chicago and get a treatment done on that.

“But his biggest challenge still remains the breathing. His lung capacity is a challenge.

“He can work. He’s working full time for RBC as he was last year at this time. They’ve been fabulous to him.

“So, he’ll work at home in the morning and go to downtown Minneapolis in the afternoon. From that standpoint it’s good. He’ll exercise a little bit (there). They (RBC) have a nice fitness center that he’ll use.

“But he’s still very, very limited with the breathing and that’s our challenge right now is to try to figure out a way to improve his breathing.”

Cancer survivor and former Gopher football player Casey O'Brien — Casey O’Brien photo courtesy of his GoFundMe page.

Casey, whose exercise routine includes using a treadmill, is a senior investment associate at RBC and enjoys his work. The position provides a “normalcy” to his life, Dan said. And on the personal side another positive is the home Casey purchased next door to his parents in Mendota Heights. The location gives him his own space but he’s also close enough to get help from his parents if need be.

Caleb Miley, a friend dating back to high school at Cretin-Derham Hall, is Casey’s roommate. His friends also include former roommates from the University of Minnesota. Hanging out with them is frequent and adds to the bright moments in Casey’s life that include spending time at the family cabin near Spicer.

Casey, a Carlson School of Management grad, was part of the U football program for four seasons as a placeholder. He played in two games during his career, including 2019 against Rutgers where he held the football three times on point-after touchdown kicks. Listed at 6-1, 185-pounds, he walked on at the U program and earned two letters before retiring from football at Minnesota after the 2020 season.

Casey counts former Gophers head coach Jerry Kill and current coach P.J. Fleck among his many friends and admirers. “Both of them are really important to Casey,” Dan said.

Kill, himself a cancer survivor, texted last year that “Casey is no doubt the toughest person I have ever met, period!”

Fleck offered this praise via email in 2025: “His story is one that has impacted a community and a sport. He has inspired countless lives and changed the way people look at cancer survivors.”

Comments Welcome

Minnesota Twins Just Keep on With Surprising Good Vibes

Posted on June 21, 2026July 8, 2026 by David Shama

There’s an unexpected positive vibe around the Twins so far this season. At least there is in my head and that of acquaintances.

After the roster shuffling and gaffes of ownership in recent years, the bar for expectations was admittedly low going into the season. This spring the Twins are flirting with a .500 record and Wild Card spot in the playoffs.

Gasp.

With questions about the talent on the roster and unknowns concerning new coaches and manager Derek Shelton, it was easy to be pessimistic about the Twins last winter. The starting pitching has been surprisingly good and so, too, has the run scoring. The defense has been solid and sometimes spectacular. The preseason woebegone bullpen has been just that, but occasionally something better.

Check your pulse if you are not more interested in the Twins after last night’s 16-8 rout of the Diamondbacks in Phoenix. Byron Buxton hit a grand slam in a 10-run fifth inning and he’s now tied with Yordan Alvarez of the Astros for the American League lead in home runs with 24. Minnesota, 37-41 this season, has won seven of its last 10 games.

Shelton and staff have impressed. There’s emphasis on fundamentals and execution. It’s an exaggeration but it seems like the Twins have laid down more successful bunts in 78 games than they did in seven years under previous bench boss Rocco Baldelli.

Kudos to Shelton and the coaches including hitting coach Keith Beauregard for reviving the offense from last season. Only the Yankees with 388 runs scored have touched home plate more times than the Twins (384) among American League teams.

Pitching coach Pete Maki and assistant Luis Ramirez deserve kudos, too. Starters like Joe Ryan, Taj Bradley, Bailey Ober and Zebby Matthews can deliver outstanding performances. Reliever Yoendrys Gomez has been a surprise in the bullpen, stingy with runs, and he leads the team with six saves.

Buxton, 32, is having a career season with home runs and remains a superb centerfielder. Another outfielder, Trevor Larnach, has been hot at the plate—and often the third outfielder is utility journeyman Kody Clemens who has sharpened his stick enough to hit third in the lineup.

Royce Lewis, the man of many stances, has returned from exile in St. Paul to make enough contact with the ball to raise his batting average to .200 and match his 200 pound frame. He may also have found a home at first base while valued young performers Luke Keaschall and Brooks Lee play at second and third base respectively.

Then there are google guys, players you didn’t know about but are contributors to the spring vibe. Shortstops Tristan Gray and Ryan Kreidler have had their moments as have catchers Victor Caratini and Alex Jackson.

The Twins are playing without one of their key starters and veterans in catcher Ryan Jeffers. The injured Jeffers, along with Ryan and Buxton, are drawing trade speculation as the MLB August 3 Trade Deadline approaches.

Such rumors are partially fueled by ownership which has been unwilling in the past to pay pricy veterans. Burned by the past gaffes, fans are reluctant to embrace the Twins now. Parting ways with the team’s best veterans will only deepen the “wound.”

And oh, if the front office hadn’t traded away North St. Paul’s Louie Varland last season! He has 15 saves, with a 0.86 ERA for the Blue Jays. If he had remained a Twin, the club would likely have four or more wins.

Worth Noting

Murray’s restaurant owner Tim Murray, who has visited all the MLB stadiums, now gets his baseball travel fix going with friends every other year to World Series games. His favorite parks are Fenway, Wrigley and PNC. (Murray’s is a longtime advertiser of this space.)

Hats off to former Golden Gophers athletics director Joel Maturi and wife Lois for their volunteer role in hosting a hugely successful open house last week at Second Harvest Heartland in Brooklyn Park. Maturi is a board member for the food bank which is the second largest of its kind in the nation. Timberwolves coach Chris Finch is also on the board.

Spanish playmaking guard Sergio de Larrea is the most speculated pick by the Wolves at No. 28 in the first round of Tuesday’s NBA Draft, per AI.

Don’t be surprised if Wolves assistant coach Michah Nori is the new head coach of the NBA Trail Blazers.

With a corporate naming rights deal, Williams Arena is now The Barn by Blue Cross and Blue Shield. No word I am aware of as to how or if the University of Minnesota will preserve the name of Dr. Henry Williams, the longtime namesake of the arena.

Williams coached Minnesota football from 1900-1921 and has the best football winning percentage in school history. He was 136-33-11 (.786) as coach of the Gophers, and his team won or shared eight conference titles.

Former Gopher football great Bobby Bell — Bobby Bell

Bobby Bell turned 86 last week. He terrified opposing offenses as a defensive tackle for Gophers teams from 1960-1962 that won a national championship and Rose Bowl. He should be on a short list of Gopher football legends deserving statues at Huntington Bank Stadium.

The football Gophers figure to have at least a couple thousand fans in Seattle for their September 26 game against Washington. A friend is asking if anyone knows of people selling individual boat tickets for “sail-gating” on that Saturday. Anyone who has a connection can email ds@shamasportsheadliners.com.

My late father was in the Army during World War II. He was stationed in Panama and liked to quip: “The enemy never took the Panama Canal.”

Happy Father’s Day!

Comments Welcome