Golden Gophers – Page 193 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Nanne-Torrey Cooked up Steak Trade

Posted on May 30, 2018May 30, 2018 by David Shama

A Wednesday notes column starting with Lou Nanne’s steak dinner trade for a minor league hockey player.

The former North Stars executive told Sports Headliners about the 1980s steak dinner trade he made with the late Bill Torrey of the Islanders when Minnesota targeted Frank Beaton. Nanne was developing the minor league affiliate roster for Birmingham and Beaton had been a popular player in that city during World Hockey Association days in the 1970s. Nanne thought Beaton, who was Islanders’ property, could boost his South Stars at the box office.

“I signed him,” Nanne said. “Bill calls me and says, ‘You can’t do that. It’s not even July first. He’s not a free agent.’

“I go, ‘If I am going to Birmingham I am getting guys that can help sell tickets. So I already signed him, so I’ll buy you dinner.’ He says, ‘Okay.’ ”

The trade was reported to the NHL office something like this: Beaton to the North Stars for dinner at The Palm in New York. The league office nixed the deal and said the transaction had to be for “future considerations” instead of a steak dinner.

Torrey, though, still got his dinner from Nanne at the famous New York City steakhouse, reportedly costing $360. “Actually it wasn’t $360. It was about $180,” Nanne said.

Torrey died earlier this month after an extraordinary career as an executive who built Stanley Cup teams. He was known as “The Architect.”

“He was one of my closest friends,” Nanne said. “I have to say he was one of the most liked people you’re ever going to see. Extremely smart and very sociable, and a great work ethic, and a great boss. He knew how to work with, how to handle people, and he knew how to build an organization. Bill was one of the best.”

Minnesota native Dana Marshall, an avid sports researcher, points out maybe the success of the first-year NHL expansion Golden Knights isn’t unprecedented as commonly reported. The Minneapolis Lakers, he wrote via email, won the 1948 National Basketball League championship with a new roster after relocating from Detroit as the Gems. The “Cinderella” Vegas team is in the Stanley Cup Finals and leading the Caps 1-0 in the best of seven series.

Sports Headliners has been told gross receipts from ticket sales for home Gophers football increased last season, totaling $11,889,168 after generating $10,744,555 in 2016, according to a University of Minnesota source. In 2015 six of seven home games were sold out, or near sellouts, with gross receipts of $13,396,171.

The Gopher baseball team has two 9-0 pitchers in freshman Patrick Fredrickson and sophomore Brett Schulze. Fredrickson, the Big Ten’s Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year, ranks No. 15 in the nation with his 1.78 ERA.

Minnesota is the favorite in the NCAA Tournament’s Minneapolis Regional that starts Friday at Siebert Field and will be televised nationally on the ESPN family of networks.

The Twins start their most important series so far this season tomorrow night at home against the Central Division leading Indians. After next Sunday’s fourth and final series game the Twins could possibly be in first place or far behind in the division race. Going into tonight’s game at Kansas City against the Royals, Minnesota is 4.5 games behind the Indians.

The likely Twins starters in the Cleveland series are Jake Odorizzi, Jose Berrios, Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson. The Indians’ probables are Shane Bleber, Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer, and a fourth pitcher to be determined.

St. Paul Saints owner Mike Veeck talking about what people don’t know about him: “I am a failed musician. For a hobby, I play the guitar. I love to write songs. If you hand me a guitar and give me three words about you, or your loved ones, or your children, or your automobile, I have the ability to write a rhyme. I can rhyme and play.”

Former Gophers basketball player Quincy Lewis is interim director of the M Club that recognizes and serves University of Minnesota letter winners.

Mike Goldammer, the former executive director of the United States Tennis Association’s Northern Section, is now in Alabama where he is Director of Tennis for Center Court Tuscaloosa.

The Vikings, going through OTAs now, have one punter (Ryan Quigley) on the roster, but two placekickers in veteran Kai Forbath and rookie Daniel Carlson from Auburn. Forbath, 30, has six years of experience in the NFL and was the Vikings’ kicker last season when in early December he had missed five extra points before being perfect the remainder of the schedule. Carlson, who the Vikings used a fifth round pick to select, was 198-for-198 on extra points in college—although from a shorter distance than in the NFL.

How long does Vikings coach Mike Zimmer see the competition lasting between Forbath and Carlson?

“I don’t know. We’ll see how it goes. If one guy is way ahead of the other guy then we might make the change sooner, so the other guy gets all the reps.

“One thing you have to be careful a little bit about is there are not 65,000 people screaming (and) doing the Skol chant and all those other things when you’re out there kicking (in OTAs). If they miss a game winner here today, it’s probably not the same (as) if they miss a game winner September 9th (season opener).”

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Look for Miguel Sano Return Friday

Posted on May 24, 2018May 26, 2018 by David Shama

A Thursday notes column that includes medical news:

Sports Headliners is told by a club source Miguel Sano is expected to be available for the Twins tomorrow night in Seattle against the Mariners after being out of the lineup almost a month since being diagnosed with a hamstring strain. He has successfully been on a rehab assignment earlier this week with Minnesota’s Rochester Triple-A team.

There is lingering concern the 6-4, 260-pound Sano needs a more dedicated approach to his conditioning. It’s more than a good guess Twins management is hopeful the 25-year-old third baseman will develop a better conditioning approach to his body.

The Twins, 21-24, have played 45 games this season but Sano has participated in only 20. He is hitting .213 with four doubles, five home runs, 14 RBI and nine walks.

Sano has a history of injuries and weight issues during his professional career. He has never played in more than 116 MLB games in a single season. He has the potential to be among American League leaders in home runs, RBIs and slugging percentage. After joining the Twins in the summer of 2015 he even told Sports Headliners he welcomed a comparison with future Hall of Famer Miguel Cabrera.

Sano considered the Tigers’ star the best hitter he had seen. “I can be better than Cabrera, I think,” Sano said then.

Sano’s best of two-plus seasons in the big leagues came last year when he hit .264 with 28 homers and 77 RBI, but he is capable of better numbers and is a key to whether the Twins can qualify for the playoffs.

Joe Mauer, who replaced A.J. Pierzynski as the Twins catcher in 2004, is 19 base hits away from passing the now retired Pierzynski on the MLB all-time career hits list. Mauer has 2,025 hits and ranks No. 269, while Pierzynksi is No. 259 with his career total of 2,043.

Pierzynski, who was with the Twins from 1998-2003, was traded to the Giants (along with cash) for Boof Bonser, Francisco Liriano and Joe Nathan. Although it was one of the Twins’ better trades, Pierzynski had an outstanding career with seven other MLB clubs before retiring in 2016.

Cretin-Derham Hall is promoting to its alumni a “CDH Day at Wrigley” on July 1 when the Cubs host the Twins.

Paul Allen didn’t do his KFAN morning show yesterday because of a colonoscopy. Allen, 52, tweeted, “I do not have colon cancer,” and the Vikings’ radio play-by-play man expressed no concern about the procedure’s results.

After hosting the Super Bowl here this year and having a successful experience, it seems likely the NFL will eventually host its annual draft of college players in Minnesota. The league announced yesterday Nashville will be the draft host in 2019, making that the fifth consecutive year the event has been in a different city.

Gophers’ football loyalists are talking five to eight wins on the 12-game schedule this fall. The nonconference schedule with New Mexico State, Fresno and Miami (Ohio) coming to Minneapolis is among the easiest for Big Ten teams. The conference schedule, though, is demanding including only one likely “gimme game”—at Illinois on November 3.

League road games also include Maryland, Nebraska, Ohio State and Wisconsin. Sports Headliners is told the Minnesota marching band will perform at the Nebraska game.

Minnesota plays four conference home games: Indiana, Iowa, Northwestern and Purdue.

Who is counting but the Badgers have won 14 consecutive games in the rivalry with Minnesota. Wisconsin figures to be included in numerous preseason national top 10 polls, and might have America’s best offensive line.

John Williams will be honored posthumously June 23 by the African American Legacy Project of Northwest Ohio. He will be inducted into the organization’s Sports Hall of Fame. The Toledo, Ohio native was an All-Big Ten offensive tackle on the Gophers’ 1967 conference championship team and first round draft choice of the Colts who won the Super Bowl with Williams. After football, Williams was a practicing dentist for 34 years in Minneapolis. He was a kind and generous man loved by former teammates and others. He passed away in 2012 and is still missed by family and his many friends.

Canterbury Park will offer more than horse racing on Memorial Day when the Shakopee racetrack entertains with the fifth annual Running of the Bulldogs, plus a lineup of Twin Cities barbeque vendors. There will be 72 bulldogs competing in six heats between live horse races on Monday afternoon. Fans can also vote for their favorite barbeque vendor.

Dave Mona is looking for auction items for the ninth annual Camden’s Concert on August 2 at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. Restaurant dinners, rounds of golf, specialty dinners in homes, wine/spirits and concert tickets are among the ideas for auction items. Suggestions can be sent to: Davemona6328@gmail.com.The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation benefit event is named after Dave and Linda Mona’s grandson Camden. The guest artist in August will be Jimmy Fortune, the former tenor of the Statler Brothers.

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Battle for Fans Tight in Twin Cities

Posted on May 21, 2018May 21, 2018 by David Shama

On a gorgeous Sunday yesterday we got a reminder about our crowded sports marketplace. The Twins and United played outdoors, while the Lynx opened their season indoors at Target Center.

The Golden Gophers and our seven pro teams (add in the Saints, Timberwolves, Vikings and Wild) often butt heads on the same day. The winners are Minnesota sports fans who have a plethora of professional and Gopher teams to follow in a society that thrives on choices and variety in everything from autos to wieners.

This area’s sports smorgasbord is among the most diverse in the nation. We also rank at the top with our lineup of (mostly) modern venues: Allianz Field, CHS Field, Target Center, Target Field, TCF Bank Stadium, 3M Arena at Mariucci, U.S. Bank Stadium, Williams Arena and Xcel Energy Center.

Ask the business side leaders of Minneapolis-St. Paul teams how they view all the competition from one another, and then get ready for a politically correct answer. They will tell you how great it is to have a rich sports landscape and that all the teams can be successful financially. The stock answers will include how they cheer for each other and wish for success by all.

Kumbaya? Maybe.

Truth is, if you eliminated several of the teams, popularity and box office success would increase for at least some organizations. Last Sunday the Twins drew 28,577 fans and the Lynx attracted 13,002, according to the Star Tribune. Despite playing in spectacular weather against border rival Milwaukee, the Twins missed a sellout by about 10,000 customers. The Lynx, in a seaon opener celebrating last year’s WNBA title and playing a top team in the Sparks, had over 6,000 seats that went unsold. The United reported a sellout audience of 23,117 at its temporary home at TCF Bank Stadium.

At 3.5 million, this is one of the 20 largest metropolitan areas in the country and that large population helps to support all of our entertainment options, but imagine if neither the Twins, nor the Lynx, or United, had box office competition in the spring and summer. What if the Gophers didn’t have to battle the Vikings, Timberwolves and Wild for football, basketball and hockey customers?

Some operations get hurt in this crowded sports marketplace that includes a battle not just to sell tickets but also to generate revenues from suites, sponsorships, venue and broadcast advertisers, concessions and merchandising. Despite four WNBA titles in seven years, the Lynx work hard to sell tickets including in the playoffs. The Timberwolves and Gophers, even with infrequent successes, have histories of disappointing their fans. Support for these teams can be iffy and conditional.

You can add the Twins to that list. They and MLB also face the problems of inclement weather, lengthy games and slow pace of play.

The Vikings win any and all popularity contests here. With a winning team and fabulous venue in U.S. Bank Stadium, the Vikings can withstand any number of competitors for the sports dollar in this marketplace. The NFL, despite its infamous reputation for head trauma, remains at the top of the American sports kingdom including in Minneapolis.

The Wild has produced competitive teams but little to cheer about in the playoffs. The organization, though, excels at customer relations and is in sync with the rabid hockey market in Minnesota. Hockey fans have a special passion for their sport and the Wild has never seriously broken the bond with its fanbase.

It’s niche loyalty that serves the Saints, too. The local independent baseball franchise’s shtick has branded the Saints as entertainment first, winning second. Comedian Bill Murray is an owner and there seemingly is no end to the gimmicks in the organization’s marketing plan. The Saints do it right, including dividing up their CHS Field seat allotment into thirds for season tickets, groups and individual sales.

Saints games are family friendly and tickets inexpensive compared with many of the offerings in this market. Affordable pricing is part of the United’s strategy, also. The second-year Minnesota MLS franchise is aiming to fill its stadium with what executives see as an unfilled opportunity to satisfy the existing and growing soccer interest in the state.

Part of what’s fueled the population growth in this area is an increasing immigrant population. Many of those newcomers love the “world’s sport”—soccer. A lot of immigrants are young and like other Minnesota millennials have grown up playing soccer.

Millennials, though, are an elusive target for some sport marketers. Baseball, football and golf all want to score with millenials who have a reputation for short attention spans. Ask a millennial if he watched a Twins game, or even the Vikings, and a predictable answer is he opted for a 25-second video recap.

For now at least there isn’t any downsizing in this busy sports marketplace that includes the Minnesota Whitecaps, the women’s pro hockey franchise that has been around since 2004. Leaders announced last week the Whitecaps are joining the National Women’s Hockey League. That’s the highest level of American women’s professional hockey, so we’re big league in that, too.

Expansion of the sports menu appears likely with Minneapolis-St. Paul trading the 3M Championship senior golf tournament for a PGA Tour event starting in 2019. More competition for the sports dollar locally but another option for the consumer.

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