Golden Gophers – Page 242 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Tommy Kramer Sees Vikings QB Battle

Posted on January 2, 2017January 2, 2017 by David Shama

Tommy Kramer sees a potential battle for the No. 1 quarterback spot when the Vikings are in training camp next summer. Kramer, the Vikings All-NFC quarterback in 1986, qualified his prediction based on the health of Teddy Bridgewater who missed this season because of a serious knee injury. It’s unknown whether Bridgewater will be fully recovered by next summer.

Sam Bradford had a career season in 2016 but Kramer thinks a healthy Bridgewater will create a lot of competition in the future. “Oh, yeah, it will definitely be an open competition,” Kramer told Sports Headliners.

Bradford, 29, had a career high passer rating of 99.3 this season, among the best for NFL starters. He threw 20 touchdown passes in 15 games, and was intercepted only five times despite playing behind one of the league’s worst offensive line. He set an NFL completion percentage record for a single season with a mark of 71.6 percent.

Sam Bradford (photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings)

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer said last week that Bradford has done “an unbelievable job.” Part of the coach’s perspective is how his quarterback adjusted to being traded to the Vikings eight days before the start of the season, having to learn a new system and teammates (including replacements during the fall), and even dealing with a change in offensive coordinators in November. “Maybe this is the best year he’s ever had,” Zimmer said. “If you put all those together and look at the things he’s had to deal with, I think he’s been amazing.”

Bridgewater, 24, was starting his third NFL season when he was injured in August. At the time he was considered the Vikings’ franchise quarterback, although he had mediocre career totals of 28 touchdown passes, 21 interceptions and a passer rating of 90.1.

“It doesn’t hurt to have two players (Bradford and Bridgewater) like that, anyway,” said Kramer who was the Vikings’ No. 1 draft choice in 1977. “(If) something happens again, at least both of them will be more prepared.”

One of the knocks on Bridgewater was his inability to throw down field. Bradford, when the offensive allowed him the time, showed accuracy on all kinds of throws—deep, intermediate and short.

Bridgewater was expected to show improvement in his overall passing this season before his injury. Better production in passing, to go with his running, would make Bridgewater special. “He can pick up yards with his legs, but he’s gotta learn to slide all the time,” Kramer said. “No reason to take a hit trying to get an extra yard.”

Kramer, who now lives in his native Texas, likes both quarterbacks. “They each have things they do better than the other one,” he said.

Regardless of who is the quarterback in 2017, Kramer wants the Vikings to draft “as many offensive linemen” as they can. The Vikings have selected only two offensive linemen in the first three rounds since 2007. With a run of injuries and below par performances by some linemen, the offensive line had a lot to do with the team’s final record of 8-8 after a 5-0 start.

“Their defense is good enough to win, but you get worn out when you can’t convert on third down situations to keep the ball and let the defense rest,” Kramer said.

Worth Noting

Yesterday’s game against the Bears was the fourth time in 12 years the outcome had no playoff implications for the two franchises.

Cornerback Captain Munnerlyn on whether the Vikings talented nucleus of players bodes well for better than .500 results next season: “You can look good on paper and not be good on the field, so we gotta still put in the work and still go out there and compete.”

That was the Wild’s Erik Haula who sounded the gjallarhorn before yesterday’s game that included an incident with Dakota Access Pipeline Protestors. A Vikings source told Sports Headliners 185 fans had to be relocated from their seats because of safety concerns.

Kyle Rudolph set two tight end records for the Vikings yesterday, with his 29th career touchdown and total of 83 receptions for the season. He broke Steve Jordan’s record for career touchdowns and Joe Senser’s most receptions in a season total. Senser, progressing but still recovering from a stroke, was at the game.

Construction at the Vikings 40-acre headquarters in Eagan continues since last summer’s groundbreaking. The erection of steel, for example, on the indoor practice facility is scheduled to be completed by April 1. The campus will have five outdoor practice fields including a stadium with anticipated capacity of 6,000, plus training and rehab facilities, and also a locker room, team auditorium, and administrative offices. The new Vikings campus is known as the Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center and the target date for opening is March of 2018.

Eventually an overall 200-acre development is expected to include offices, retail, residential, hospitality and a conference center with the Vikings headquarters as a development anchor.

Gophers point guard Nate Mason was named Co-Big Ten Player of the Week this afternoon with Nebraska’s Tai Webster. Mason has averaged 24.5 points, 7.5 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game in Minnesota’s first two Big Ten games, a loss last week to Michigan State and victory yesterday over Purdue.

The Big Ten basketball season is less than a week old and already only three of 14 teams are undefeated, Michigan State, Nebraska and Wisconsin. The Gophers’ surprise win over nationally ranked Purdue yesterday evened Minnesota’s record at 1-1.

Minnesota is No. 1 in the league in blocked shots and in three-point defense field goal percentage. Coach Richard Pitino’s team is No. 2 in overall defensive field goal percentage and also in defensive rebounding.

Former Gophers football captain Jim Carter, who has been pursuing membership on the University of Minnesota Board of Regents, is less optimistic about his chances than he was several weeks ago. Carter has been criticized by some state legislators for support he voiced for Gophers football players. Critics have mistakenly assumed he isn’t supportive of advocates for prevention of sexual assault. His name has been in the media after news developed about the suspension of 10 Gophers football players and an alleged sexual assault in early September.

“I was supporting the team out of loyalty as a Gopher to get due process (for the suspended players), and…trying to get the fairness and transparency that they deserve,” Carter told Sports Headliners.

The State Legislature will approve four individuals next year to fill vacancies on the Board of Regents.

Tickets remain for all Timberwolves home games including against NBA champion Cleveland on February 14 and March 10 with Golden State, the team that lost to the Cavs in the NBA Finals last June. The Wolves are averaging 14,055 fans, the second lowest total in the 30-franchise NBA, according to ESPN.com. The Nuggets have the lowest average at 13,610, with the Bulls first at 21,606.

Timberwolves center Nikola Pekovic, who is out for the entire 2016-2017 season because of recurring pain in his right ankle, turns 31 tomorrow. Since being drafted by the Wolves in 2008, he has played in 271 games. Pekovic didn’t join the Wolves until the 2010-2011 season and injuries have characterized his career. After this season he will have averaged 38.7 games per season for the Wolves, or less than half of the annual 82 game schedule.

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Izzo, Dutcher Positive on U in Big Ten

Posted on December 30, 2016December 30, 2016 by David Shama

Michigan State coaching legend Tom Izzo and former Minnesota Big Ten championship coach Jim Dutcher are impressed with the Gophers.

Izzo, an eight-time national coach of the year, talked to Sports Headliners about the Gophers after his Spartans defeated Minnesota 75-74 in overtime on Tuesday night in Williams Arena. “They’re a good team,” Izzo said. “They’ve got (big) bodies and they’ve got good guard play. (They) don’t always shoot it great, (but teams have) gotta have some weakness—we got about five.

“We just happened to find a way to win. They were the better team most of tonight. I think Rich (Pitino) has done a hell of a job with them now. I think he’s got them headed in the right direction. They’ve won a lot of games. They didn’t play all (nonconference) cupcakes either. This was a tough physical game and I am sure they will learn from it, just like we will.”

The Gophers are 12-2 overall and 0-1 in the Big Ten under fourth-year coach Richard Pitino who was 2-16 in league games last season. The Gophers added new players during the offseason and key returnees have also helped improve a team that lost its first 13 conference games during 2015-2016. “I just think they’ve got a good blend of talent,” said Dutcher, who coached the Gophers to the 1982 Big Ten title.

Dutcher likes the quality of Minnesota’s eight-man rotation and sees not only a more talented team than last season but one with better size. There’s something else of importance he mentioned, too. “I think they’re a better defensive team than they were,” he said.

Dutcher predicts the Gophers will have a 9-9 conference record and could make the NCAA Tournament. In Minnesota’s favor in being able to earn a tournament invite for the first time since 2013 is that the Big Ten doesn’t look all that imposing. “Top to bottom it’s not a great league,” Dutcher said about the Big Ten, a conference without a top 10 ranked team.

The Gophers will finish seventh in the Big Ten after Indiana, Wisconsin, Purdue, Michigan State and Ohio State, Dutcher predicted. Behind the Gophers will be Michigan, Maryland, Northwestern, Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Rutgers and Penn State.

Minnesota missed a big opportunity by not winning Tuesday after the Gophers couldn’t hold a 39-26 halftime lead. The Spartans came into the game without their best player in freshman guard-forward Miles Bridges. Michigan State, which has won one national title and made seven Final Four appearances in 21 previous seasons under Izzo, arrived in Minneapolis with an uncharacteristic 8-5 record, although the schedule included nonconference games with national toughies Duke, Kentucky, Arizona.

Now the Gophers must play four of their next five league games on the road, starting with Sunday at nationally-ranked Purdue, 12-2 and 1-0. The Gophers certainly can’t start the conference schedule 0-6 and still have solid NCAA Tournament ambitions. Dutcher doesn’t think they will, with early opportunities for wins probably coming at Northwestern January 5 and at Penn State January 14. Minnesota’s next home game, January 8 with Ohio State, is already a circle it date too. “My view is there are a lot of wins to be had in this league,” Dutcher said.

The Gophers were out worked and gave up too many scores near the basket in the second half of the MSU game but Dutcher said it wasn’t like Pitino’s team “laid an egg” in the game. Dutcher isn’t discouraged by the loss. “It’s not so much about what Minnesota did wrong, as what Michigan State did right,” he said.

Last season the Gophers had issues on and off the court. Pitino said after the nonconference schedule ended that his team had made progress but acknowledged more progress awaits. “Our guys have worked really, really hard to climb out of the gutter off the court, on the court, all those things to get everybody’s respect back. …We trusted that we’d be better. We’re better but we still got a long way to go.”

Izzo Storytelling on Flip Saunders

Flip Saunders (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Timberwolves)

Izzo confirmed what other friends of the late Flip Saunders have said about Saunders coming close to accepting the Gophers job in the spring of 2013. The former Gophers guard in the 1970s was between coaching opportunities in the NBA back then and Saunders ultimately decided he didn’t want to work for athletics director Norwood Teague, according to a top source.

“Flip loved the Gophers,” Izzo told Sports Headliners. “His passion for Minnesota in general was off the charts, and the University was just even more off the charts.”

Izzo and Saunders forged a friendship over the years including when Saunders coached the NBA Pistons in Detroit. At Saunders’ funeral in 2015 Izzo read from the Bible during the service for his friend who died at age 60 from cancer.

“I miss him,” Izzo said about the former Timberwolves executive and coach. “I miss the late night calls. He always had some good plays for me.

“I can honestly say I loved the guy. I still feel for Debbie (Saunders’ wife) and I stay in touch with Ryan (his son and Timberwolves assistant). I am proud of what he is doing.

“But to have had Flip in the league (the Big Ten) would have been an honor. It really would have been.”

Izzo recalled working to recruit Apple Valley High School point guard Tyus Jones for a couple of years. Izzo laughed about how Saunders evolved from helping the Spartans, to becoming more interested in the prep All-American choosing Minnesota as Saunders started to seriously consider the Gophers job. “Are you helping me, or are you helping yourself?” he asked his buddy.

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Claeys & Gophers Prove Skeptics Wrong

Posted on December 28, 2016December 28, 2016 by David Shama

Tracy Claeys found the resolve to lead his Gophers to an improbable win last night in the Holiday Bowl against Washington State. A friend suggested several days ago Claeys was struggling with his spirits as the team prepared amidst the turmoil of 10 suspended players and sexual assault allegations. Odds-makers made WSU a double digits favorite and skeptics suggested it was easy money to place a fat wager on the “Air Cougars” and their expected route of the Gophers.

But Claeys and his team had the resolve to hold the pass-happy Cougars to a season low 12 points in a stunning 17-12 victory. The Gophers’ head coach showed leadership in directing his team to a long sought signature victory. After Claeys took over as Minnesota’s coach mid-season last year and continuing through this fall, the Gophers couldn’t earn a front page win in a rivalry game or against a top-25 team. However, last night the Gophers won a quality bowl game versus a Pac-12 team that fought for a division championship and four times scored over 50 points this season.

Claeys is a steady leader who avoids the highs and lows. He goes home at night and when his head hits the pillow, he is out. Well, last night he could have had the best of sleep and dreams. He deserved that experience and so did his players who had to support one another in practices and games to make up for the absence of starters and top reserves.

In mid-December I wrote that the Gophers might use the adversity of the suspensions to pull together for a bowl win. A former Gopher player called me out on what he said was an overly optimistic view. Nice to be right once in awhile.

Claeys is now 2-0 in bowl games after also winning the Quick Lane Bowl last season. That makes him the only head coach in Gophers’ history to win his first two bowl games. Minnesota’s bowl record is now 7-13.

Claeys, his staff and players put more pride back into Golden Gophers football last night. The Gophers won consecutive bowl games for the first time since 2002-2004 and finished with a 9-4 record. That’s the most victories since the 2003 team won 10 games. The four losses came against top 25 teams—Iowa, Nebraska, Penn State and Wisconsin.

The win last night that ranks with Minnesota’s biggest bowl wins ever.The greatest bowl win was in the 1962 Rose Bowl when the Gophers smothered UCLA 21-3 a year after losing to Washington in Pasadena. The Gophers also had impressive bowl wins under Glen Mason against Alabama, Arkansas and Oregon. But for drama and surprise, last night’s Holiday Bowl takes a backseat only to the 1962 Rose Bowl.

Worth Noting

Despite what you may have read, Washington State coach Mike Leach was never considered for the Gophers job. Leach was unemployed when the Gophers were searching for a successor to Tim Brewster in 2010. Leach was fired at Texas Tech in 2009 amid allegations he mistreated Adam James, a Red Raider player who had suffered a concussion.

Safety Antoine Winfield Jr., one of 10 suspended players who didn’t play in the Gophers Holiday Bowl game last night, was named to Athlon.com’s first team All-Freshman defensive unit announced last week. Gophers defensive end Tai’yon Devers and linebacker Carter Coughlin made the second team.

Fox TV analyst Troy Aikman criticized Vikings’ general manager Rick Spielman’s drafting of offensive linemen last Saturday. Aikman said during the Vikings-Packers telecast Spielman has drafted only two offensive linemen during the first three rounds since 2007, and has to do better. The Vikings selected tackle Phil Loadholt in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft and used one of their three first round picks in 2012 on tackle Matt Kalil.

Vikings’ trainer Eric Sugarman stays in touch with ex-offensive coordinator Norv Turner who resigned earlier this season. They are part of a local ownership group that has two race horses, Tiger D and Skol Sister. Other owners are Scott Turner (Norv’s son and the Vikings’ quarterback coach), and offensive guard Brandon Fusco, radio play-by-play man Paul Allen and goalie Alex Stalock who plays for the Wild’s minor league Iowa affiliate.

Vikings’ defensive back Captain Munnerlyn is an unrestricted free agent next offseason. “I definitely want to be here (with the Vikings), but at the same time I know it’s a business and we’ll see where it goes,” the 28-year-old told Sports Headliners.

How much of a factor will money be in his decision next year? “Come on, man. You play this game for the love of it, but there’s nothing wrong with being compensated for what you do on the field. I feel like I am one of the best at my position—one of the best nickels in the league. I want to be treated like one, so we’ll see how it goes from there.”

Munnerlyn’s base salary this year is $4.2 million, according to Spotrac.com.

A week ago yesterday was the 35th anniversary of the Vikings’ last game at Met Stadium. The Vikings lost 10-6 to the Chiefs on December 20, 1981 to close out a 7-9 season under coach Bud Grant. The next year the team moved into the Metrodome and drew 57,880 fans for the first preseason game after attracting just 41,110 for the Met finale.

It will be interesting to see if Minneapolis native Rashad Vaughn plays Friday night when he and the Bucks are at Target Center for a game against the Wolves. The second-year NBA guard, who is averaging 11.9 minutes and 4.4 points, missed Monday night’s game with the Wizards because of a left ankle sprain.

Nobody can say the Wild won’t be in the holiday spirit in coming days. New Year’s Eve the club continues the tradition of the old North Stars by playing at home on the final night of the year. The Met and its famous Observatory Club once was the place to be on New Year’s Eve. The Wild, who already are 2-0 this season against the Blue Jackets, play them at Xcel Energy Center on December 31, after a home game Thursday evening against the Islanders (0-1 so far). Next Monday the public can attend a free Wild outdoor practice starting at 10:30 a.m. at the Backyard Outdoor Ice Rink at Braemar Arena in Edina.

Cynopsis.com reported last week that a record six Major League Baseball franchises have been sent luxury tax bills, including the Yankees for a 14th consecutive season. CynopsisSports said the Yankees surpassed MLB’s payroll threshold of $189 million for last season and over the years have now been taxed $325 million.

Mike Greenberg, who is heard weekday mornings on 1500 ESPN, makes more than $6.5 million a year, according to Internet reports. Greenberg is co-host (with Mike Golic) of the Mike & Mike program heard on ESPN Radio affiliates around the U.S. and also has a televised simulcast on ESPN2.

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