Golden Gophers – Page 237 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Twins Season Opener Near Sellout

Posted on March 7, 2017March 7, 2017 by David Shama

A notes column starting with a conversation last weekend with Twins president Dave St. Peter.

St. Peter said about 5,000 tickets remain for the Twins’ home opener on Monday, April 3 against the Royals. The game will almost certainly sell out, but of concern to St. Peter is how the club will draw in many of its other 81 home dates. The Twins drew less than 2 million fans last season, the lowest total since moving into Target Field in 2010.

The team won just 59 games last year, but St. Peter praised the loyalty of Twins fans and predicted the season ticket total will only be down 1,000 or so in 2017. “We’re going to come in at about 12,000 season tickets,” he said.

The baseball world believes the Twins underperformed last season. Writer Ben Reiter predicted in the March 6 issue of Sports Illustrated that the team has too much young talent “to continue to be this bad.” He analyzed all 30 MLB teams and counted the Twins among clubs expected to trend upward this year.

St. Peter said new Twins baseball bosses Derek Falvey and Thad Levine believe “the core” of the team didn’t play up to its potential last season. Falvey’s title is executive vice president and chief baseball officer, while Levine is senior vice president and general manager. The two have impressive backgrounds but St. Peter cautioned, “They’re not miracle workers.”

Falvey and Levine are in the process of learning all they can about the Twins franchise including everyone from players to coaches to support personnel like trainers. Their focus is on long-term success, and part of that is figuring out what St. Peter termed “competitive advantages” the Twins can put in place. The opinion here is such advantages might include teaching and assessment techniques, and superior advance scouting of opponents.

Falvey and Levine haven’t rushed to make headline moves within the organization, or force trades. St. Peter confirmed second baseman Brian Dozier, who hit a career high 42 home runs last season, prompted a “fair amount of dialogue” during the offseason regarding a possible trade. The Twins president said there was a lot of interest but nothing offered had enough value to support parting with the club’s best player.

It’s still difficult to accept the death of Kirby Puckett. The Hall of Famer and one of the franchise’s most popular players ever died 11 years ago yesterday at age 45 after suffering a stroke. …

Chad Greenway’s press conference announcement today of his retirement after 11 NFL seasons probably didn’t catch anyone by surprise. In an interview with Sports Headliners almost two years ago, the former Pro Bowl linebacker acknowledged 2015 might be his last season because of his aging body. “… You give everything to the game and it’s going to take bits and pieces of you, but you can’t let it take too much,” Greenway said.

In the interview Greenway said his post-football focus will be on wife Jennifer and their children. “Live for your family,” Greenway said. “Live for your kids as a dad. Be a great husband. Just take it one day at a time.”

Greenway, who grew up near a small town in South Dakota and played nine-man football, considered an NFL career “near impossible” as a teenager. Three times during his career teammates voted him Defensive MVP. …

Tonight at the Xcel Energy Center former Wild head coach Mike Yeo faces his old team for the first time as boss of the St. Louis Blues. Yeo took over from Ken Hitchcock as Blues head coach on February 1. The Wild is 2-1-1 against the Blues so far this season with the most recent game a 5-1 win in St. Paul. Yeo coached the Wild for parts of five seasons from 2011-2016 and had a record of 173-132-44. …

Big Ten leading scorer Tyler Sheehy of the hockey Gophers has been named the Big Ten Second Star of the Week following a four point performance last weekend in Ann Arbor against the Wolverines. …

The Gophers basketball program has never won the Big Ten Tournament that starts tomorrow in Washington D.C., but is a dark horse favorite this year. Minnesota begins tournament play on Friday and because of a double bye will only have to win three games (instead of four or five) to emerge as the conference champion.

Minnesota played a poor second half on Sunday in its regular season finale and loss to Wisconsin but won nine more Big Ten games than a year ago. All the Gophers top eight players have remaining eligibility except for guard Akeem Springs. Minnesota will soon be mentioned among the preseason favorites for the 2018 Big Ten title.

Incoming freshman guard Isaiah Washington will only add to the hype about the Gophers. New York’s No. 1 point guard with his flashy style has drawn national attention. His arrival and the success of the 2016-2017 team might result in a season ticket increase of 2,500 or more during the coming months, pushing the total over 10,000 and setting up a potential streak of consecutive Big Ten sellouts at Williams Arena. This season the Gophers only sold out two games at home.

Gophers sophomore guard Ahmad Gilbert averaged 17.6 points and 11 per game as a high school senior in Philadelphia but his success has been limited at Minnesota. He didn’t get on the court in 15 of Minnesota’s 18 conference games and played a total of six minutes. Close observers of the program wonder if he will transfer to another school. …

The Gophers’ football team holds its first spring practices today and Thursday but no sessions are open to the public until late March and early April. The public is invited to watch three of new head coach P.J. Fleck’s spring sessions: March 28 and April 4—starting at 4:45 p.m. at the Gibson-Nagurski Football Complex—and April 15 beginning at noon in TCF Bank Stadium for the annual spring game. …

The “Breakfast with Leroy” group will remember and pay tribute to Leroy Hardeman this Saturday on the 10th year of his passing. Hardeman was an extraordinary athlete and his accomplishments included induction into the Minnesota Softball Hall of Fame. The group will gather for breakfast and tributes starting at 9 a.m. at the Bloomington Knights of Columbus, 1114 American Blvd West. The public is invited, with more information available by contacting Pat Rickert at 612-861-3981.

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‘Chemistry Lesson’ Pays off Big for U

Posted on March 3, 2017March 3, 2017 by David Shama

There are multiple ways to explain the dramatic turnaround in the Gophers basketball program. Talented newcomers, and skilled and improved returnees. Better leadership from the coaches and players. Even a lucky bounce of the ball, or a fortunate call from a referee help explain how the Gophers have gone from a 2-16 Big Ten record last year to 11-6 going into Sunday’s regular season finale at Wisconsin.

But take all of the above and it leads back to the offseason when Minnesota coach Richard Pitino, his assistants and players collectively decided things had to change. Not only was the team’s overall record of 8-23 unacceptable, but there were off-court issues too. Call it culture, chemistry or whatever, but change was needed.

Pitino arranged for a lengthy list of speakers to talk with players about non-basketball subjects including sex education, how to handle the pressures of being student-athletes, and job skills to make them hirable after college. Players were also involved with community service work. Pitino said his guys wanted to change the image of Gophers basketball and become a better program on and off the court.

Former Gophers head coach Jim Dutcher acknowledged the results while talking with Sports Headliners. “The Gopher basketball (program) was featured on the front page and not the sports page. They changed that now. It’s a much closer unit. You can tell they’re having more fun playing the game.”

Spencer Tollackson, a former Gopher and now the radio analyst on games, praised the changes he has seen. “I think the team has matured a lot on and off the court,” he told Sports Headliners. “Coach has talked about some of the incidents that happened last year. They owned up to them and learned from them.”

Pitino looked back after last night’s win over Nebraska and reflected on the situation following the 2015-2016 season. “There’s a lot of players who would (have chosen to) transfer. Nate didn’t. Murph didn’t. Dupree didn’t. Bakary. All those guys believed that we were going to be better. They all took ownership.

“People (on the outside) were running for the hills with us, and I don’t blame them. But everybody sat there and we all said, listen this is on us to fix, and we’re not going to sit back and say everything is fine. We took ownership of our program and our guys deserve a lot of credit for that.”

Junior guard Nate Mason is the team’s leading scorer and seems headed toward All-Big Ten recognition. Sophomore forward Jordan Murphy has produced double-doubles in points and rebounds in six of the last seven games. Sophomore guard Dupree McBrayer willingly accepted a change from starter to valuable reserve off the bench. Junior center Bakary Konate has been another contributor off the bench. Those players have been joined by three starting newcomers this season. Junior transfer center Reggie Lynch leads the Big Ten in blocks, senior transfer guard Akeem Springs is a three point specialist and locker room leader, and freshman forward Amir Coffey excels in all kinds of ways offensively and defensively.

“They really like playing with each other,” Pitino said. “They’re committed to getting better. I keep telling them that I’ve been lucky to be around some pretty good March runs in my life—and it just ends. It all goes away, so just enjoy the journey. They’ve been really good about this. I think their mentality, more than anything, has really, really been a positive.”

The Gophers have won eight consecutive games and are a lock to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2013. Their winning record in Big Ten games is a first since 2005. The program has ramped up its image and won a lot of fans back.

What a difference a year makes.

Worth Noting

Early fan and media speculation has the Twins’ win total somewhere in the 70s after reaching just 59 last season. One fan placed a Las Vegas 150/1 wager on the Twins winning the World Series. He doesn’t believe it will happen but likes the odds.

The Twins’ regular season opener is April 3 against the Royals in Minneapolis and AccuWeather.com forecasts a daytime high of 54 degrees with morning flurries and “then a shower.” The game will be one of 150 televised by Fox Sports North during the regular season. Dick Bremer will be in his 34th season providing play-by-play, with various former Twins providing game analysis including Bert Blyleven and newcomers Torii Hunter (debuts April 16) and LaTroy Hawkins (May 21).

Max Kepler (photo courtesy of Minnesota Twins).

This could be the Twins’ opening day lineup: pitcher Ervin Santana; catcher Jason Castro; first base Joe Mauer; second base Brian Dozier; shortstop Jorge Polanco; third base Miguel Sano; outfielders Byron Buxton, Max Kepler and Eddie Rosario; DH ByungHo Park.

A year from now changes might include Jose Berrios as the starting pitcher, Nick Gordon moving in at shortstop with Polanco going to third base and Sano replacing Mauer at first. Mitch Garver could be a possibility to become the regular catcher.

Craig Curry, the former Gophers quarterback who rushed and passed for over 2,000 yards in 1971, was the subject of a February 23 Miami Herald front page story as part of Black History month coverage by the newspaper. In the 1960s the country, including south Florida, was wrestling with desegregation. Curry transferred from an all-black high school to all-white Coral Gables High where he became the quarterback of a state and national championship team, according to the Herald. In the story a teammate referred to Curry as “our Jackie Robinson.” Blacks often weren’t given opportunities to play quarterback on any level of football in the 1960s, but the Gophers had a reputation for fairness under coach Murray Warmath.

Duke head coach David Cutcliffe has been added to the roster of speakers for the Minnesota Football Coaches Association Clinic March 30-April 1. Cutcliffe replaces Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi, and joins such prominent names as Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck, North Dakota State’s Chris Klieman and San Diego State’s Jeff Horton. More information is available by clicking on the MFCA advertisement on this page and visiting the organization’s website.

The MFCA holds its Hall of Fame Banquet the night of April 1 at the DoubleTree Hotel in St. Louis Park. High School Division inductees are Brad Anderson, Wayzata; Richard Risbrudt, Hillcrest Lutheran; Mike Scanlan, Cretin-Derham Hall; Curtis Strand, McLeod West; and Rick Sutton, Eagan. Larry Knutson, from KQWB Radio in Breckenridge, will be inducted in the Citation Division.

Coach Tom Thibodeau, who for years has been highly publicized for his defensive instruction, is apparently making an impression on the Timberwolves in his first season as head coach. The Wolves have held opponents under 90 points in four of the last seven games. Minnesota is 9-0 when limiting the opposition to under 90 points.

Third-year Wolves forward Andrew Wiggins has scored 20 or more points in a club record 19 consecutive games. Second-year center Karl-Anthony Towns has done that in 16 straight games.

The Wolves, with a 25-36 record, are in contention to earn their way into the playoffs for the first time since 2004. They play at San Antonio tomorrow night against a Spurs team with a 46-13 record, the second best in the NBA.

Jim Robinson, the new chair of the Mr. Basketball Committee from St. Paul, has been with the group for about 10 years. He is a former Big Ten Conference basketball referee and is an evaluator of Minnesota high school basketball officials. The announcement of the 2017 Mr. Basketball winner will be made after the boys’ state tournament.

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Lucia Anticipates New Contract Talks

Posted on March 1, 2017March 1, 2017 by David Shama

Veteran Gopher hockey coach Don Lucia told Sports Headliners yesterday he wants to talk with athletic director Mark Coyle about a contract extension after the season. “We’ll have a conversation this spring and see where things are at,” Lucia said.

Coyle became athletic director last spring when Lucia had only a year left on his contract. A two-year extension was signed last fall taking Lucia through the 2018-2019 season. Lucia said the two men agreed last year further contract discussions will happen after this season.

Lucia doesn’t want a situation where he will be coaching next season with just one year to go on his deal—prompting speculation about job security and being a deterrent to recruiting. “Mark, I think, will be very fair,” Lucia said. “We’ll just wait until the year ends and sit down and see where we’re all at.”

New athletic directors are sometimes known for wanting to hire their own coaches, and Tracy Claeys received that message when the first-year Gophers football coach was dismissed last January despite a 9-4 record. Lucia referred to any similarity between him and Claeys as “apples and oranges.”

“I think I have a pretty long track record that speaks for itself,” Lucia said.

Lucia, 58, is the longest-tenured Gophers hockey coach ever. He has coached Minnesota teams for 18 seasons, including consecutive national championships in 2002 and 2003. He wants to continue indefinitely coaching the Gophers.

“I still have energy,” he said. “I don’t look at (it as) is it three (more) years? Five years? One year? I don’t know. I don’t look at it that way as much as you just try to do everything you can to have the best year you possibly can. As long as you love what you do, you want to continue to do it.”

After not qualifying for the NCAA Tournament last year for the first time in five years, Minnesota is playing like a national power again. The Gophers are 21-9-2 overall and ranked No. 5 nationally in the latest USCHO.com poll. Lucia’s team is 12-4 in Big Ten games and alone in first place. The Gophers could be headed to their fourth consecutive conference championship.

Lucia likes this season’s team including senior forward Justin Kloos who isn’t big physically at 5-9 but has come up with six game winning goals. Kloos is one of the team’s three candidates for the Hobey Baker Award honoring college hockey’s best player. The others are senior defenseman Jake Bischoff and sophomore forward Tyler Sheehy.

“He’s an example of a player that because he is a little bit smaller, he didn’t get drafted, but yet he is an elite college player,” Lucia said. “Sometimes guys like Justin Kloos are far more valuable than a guy who gets drafted because he is bigger, but may go (on to) have a bigger impact at the pro level than the college level.”

Although the Gophers have shown the ability to come from behind in games, Lucia has a “magic number” in mind when he talks about the importance goalie Eric Schierhorn will play in determining how deep Minnesota’s NCAA Tournament run may go. “When he gives up two (goals), we’ve yet to lose a game, so that’s kind of the magic number for us,” Lucia said. “We gotta be able to count on him at the end.”

The Gophers have two weekends ahead of regular season conference games. The Big Ten Tournament will then be the weekend of March 16-18 in Detroit. Lucia doesn’t want to focus on NCAA Tournament hopes for multiple reasons including the fact parity in college hockey can interrupt plans.

“If the season ended today, three of the four teams that were in the Frozen Four wouldn’t be in the NCAA Tournament this year that played last year including the two teams that played for a national title,” Lucia said. “That’s how difficult it is in college hockey today versus 10 or 15 years ago.”

Lucia is referring to Notre Dame, Qunnipiac and Yale missing out, but defending national champ North Dakota qualifying.

For all the success Lucia has experienced coaching, he also likes to talk about the academic work of his players. All the players on his roster either have their degrees or are making progress toward graduation. Lucia believes that in the last 10 years only one player who was with the Gophers for four years didn’t earn a degree.

“That’s what it’s all about,” Lucia said. “We’re all judged on wins and losses. We get that, but I think as a coach you want to make sure that when the kids come to your program and play for you they leave with their degree. When it’s all said and done that’s gonna be the most important thing that they can do in their four years.”

Worth Noting

Richard Pitino’s Gophers, winners of seven consecutive Big Ten games, play their final home game tomorrow night and tickets are available. The Gophers have two sellouts this season, January 21 against Wisconsin and last Saturday versus Penn State.

For probably the first time ever, the Gopher men’s basketball postseason banquet will be held on the Williams Arena floor. Coaches, players, fans and others associated with the program will sit at tables on the floor of the historic arena Monday night March 27. The public is welcome, with more information available at the program’s booster club website, Goldendunkers.com.

The Minnesota Football Coaches Association is offering a Youth Coaches Clinic March 31 and April 1 at the DoubleTree Hotel in St. Louis Park. The clinic will offer various sessions including ideas for building a youth football program, practice planning, defensive drills and developing young quarterbacks. There will also be an opportunity for attendees to hear from new Gophers head football coach P.J. Fleck. More information is available by clicking on the MFCA advertisement on this page and visiting the organization’s website.

Mike Condo, a starting defensive back on the Gophers 1967 Big Ten championship football team, passed away a few months ago. A Pennsylvania native, Condo was an aggressive player and three year letter winner from 1965-1967. “Pound for pound as tough as they were,” said former teammate Jim Carter.

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