Golden Gophers – Page 280 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Vikes Get Strong 2017 Super Bowl ‘Vote’

Posted on July 21, 2016July 21, 2016 by David Shama

Next winter Bob Lurtsema could wear a hat with this message: “I told you so.”

The former Vikings defensive lineman from the 1970s thinks his old team has better than a 50 percent chance of playing in the 2017 Super Bowl. “I really sincerely believe, that they’re going to win 11, 12 (games),” Lurtsema told Sports Headliners. “They have a great opportunity—legitimate opportunity for the Super Bowl.”

Lurtsema, who played on Vikings Super Bowl teams during the 1970s, is close to the organization. He attends practices not open to the media, and he talks with players and coaches.

Lurtsema’s past predictions have been impressive. Prior to the 2014 season he forecast an 8-8 record. The Vikings finished 7-9. Before last season, when talk was the Vikings wouldn’t make the playoffs, Lurtsema predicted a 10-6 record and participation in the postseason. The Vikings finished 11-5 during the regular season, won their first division championship since 2009 and hosted a home playoff game against the Seahawks, losing 10-9.

Almost any conversation with Lurtsema about the Vikings starts with his admiration for head coach Mike Zimmer who he likens to Bud Grant, the legendary coach who led the Purple to four Super Bowls. “I can’t say enough good things about coach Zimmer, because he has so much Bud in him,” Lurtsema said. “If a player makes a mental mistake, he’ll cut him. He’ll give a second chance, but you make mental mistakes, you’re gone.”

Lurtsema believes coaching is about “65 percent” of the formula for success in the NFL. He not only likes Zimmer but also the staff of assistants that includes three former head NFL coaches.

When the Vikings open training camp later this month, Zimmer and most of his assistants will be preparing for their third season with Minnesota. Their experience working with each other and the players is part of why Lurtsema is so optimistic about the Vikings. “The coaches have enough history on the players to know their strengths and weaknesses,” he said.

Lurtsema said there is “no reason” why the Vikings won’t win the NFC North for a second consecutive season. He believes the Packers are Minnesota’s main rival for the title, dismissing the likelihood of a championship from the two other teams in the division, the Bears and Lions.

Worth Noting

Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater will draw focus from fans during training camp and in early season games. Entering his third NFL season, Bridgewater boosters believe he is among the NFL’s most underrated quarterbacks. Count Lurtsema as an admirer. “Teddy has all the talent in the world,” Lurtsema said.

Tickets for the Vikings’ first-ever regular season game in U.S. Bank Stadium on September 18 range in price today from $270 to $2,600 on Stubhub.com.

The Vikings play the Packers in that game, and then play the Pack starting at noon December 24 (Christmas Eve) in Green Bay’s outdoor stadium. From a weather perspective that kind of scheduling is a head-scratcher but the TV ratings for the holiday game figure to be extraordinary.

As of Monday, approximately 700 of the original 49,700 seat licenses in U.S. Bank Stadium for Vikings season tickets were available.

Radio play-by-play announcer Paul Allen will call his 300th Vikings game when Minnesota plays the Lions November 6 in Minneapolis. Allen became the voice of the Vikings in 2002.

The Big Ten Network will televise the news conferences from Chicago next Monday and Tuesday of all 14 Big Ten Conference football coaches. Gophers coach Tracy Claeys will be among seven coaches making comments and answering questions about his team between noon and 2 p.m. CDT Monday.

Rick Pizzo and former Gophers head coach Glen Mason will be in the BTN studio offering analysis of the news conferences.

Minnesota native Tyus Jones reinforced his fan-friendly image last week in Las Vegas when he signed autographs in the arena concourse following an NBA summer league game. The Timberwolves point guard made a statement with his play, too, being named the Samsung NBA Summer League MVP.

A guess is the Lynx will play its games at Xcel Energy Center next year while Target Center is renovated. The WNBA franchise has scheduled a news conference this afternoon at Xcel but hasn’t announced the topic. The Gophers’ Williams Arena isn’t air conditioned and Mariucci Arena is a hockey-first building.

The Western Collegiate Hockey Association will announce its new women’s commissioner to the media this afternoon at the league’s Edina office. The WCHA, an eight team league that includes the Gophers, has won a record 16 national championships in 17 years since its inception in 1999. During that span the WCHA has six Patty Kazmaier Award winners, 86 All-Americans and numerous Olympic and international team participants.

Connor Nord, the former St. Thomas two-time All-MIAC basketball player who played professionally in Germany last season, left for Las Vegas Tuesday with the Minnesota Heat 17 and under AAU team he is coaching. Nord has decided to end his basketball playing career and pursue coaching, including assisting Guy Kalland at Carleton. Nord told Sports Headliners he will live in Eden Prairie with his parents and commute to Northfield for his new job at Carleton.

Former Gopher Cory Laylin is the head coach of USA Hockey’s Under 17 team that will compete in the Five Nations Cup tournament. The Hamline men’s head coach will lead USA in a round robin tournament in Frisco, Texas from August 9-13. Other tournament teams are the Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia and Switzerland.

Comments Welcome

Claeys to Wait on Gopher QB Decision

Posted on July 14, 2016July 14, 2016 by David Shama

Everyone knows redshirt senior Mitch Leidner will be the Gophers’ starting quarterback this season, but even head coach Tracy Claeys can’t say who will be No. 2.

Sophomore Demry Croft played in three games as a reserve behind Leidner last season. During the spring Leidner didn’t participate in practices because of foot surgery but neither Croft nor freshman Seth Green (he enrolled at Minnesota in January) separated themselves as the No. 1 backup. Nor did redshirt junior and former walk-on Conor Rhoda, who played briefly in two games during the 2014 season.

Claeys said having 14 days of spring practices wasn’t enough to determine his second unit quarterback. He predicted that about 10 days prior to Minnesota’s opening game the coaching staff will settle on a backup to Leidner.

The Gophers begin formal practices in early August and play Oregon State at home on September 1. Regarding Croft and Green, Claeys said one of them is headed toward a redshirt season.

“There’s no question,” Claeys told Sports Headliners. “One of them will end up being redshirted—however it works out.”

Croft had plenty of learning to do last year as a freshman and looked just okay during his limited playing time. He completed seven of 17 passes for 34 yards, while rushing nine times for 38 yards. Former Gophers coach Jerry Kill has raved about Croft’s potential since he signed him to a National Letter of Intent out of Boylan High School in Rockford, Illinois.

Green, though, who Kill never coached, was the more highly rated prep quarterback in a high school career that included playing time in both Allen, Texas and Woodbury, Minnesota. Scout ranked Green as the No. 4 quarterback in Texas last season, while 247Sports listed him as the No. 10 dual-threat QB in America.

The development of Croft, Green and Rhoda is vital to not only the next few seasons for the Gophers but also this fall. Leidner is considered one of the Big Ten’s best returning quarterbacks and a long-term injury to him could wreck Minnesota’s season.

The Gophers’ prospects for a winning season in the Big Ten are fragile, and to be successful without Leidner Minnesota would probably need a breakthrough performance by one of their young quarterbacks. That’s a predicament neither Claeys nor the fanbase wants to see because the coach believes a healthy team can challenge for the West Division title.

Much of the college football media isn’t as optimistic, making the Gophers a popular choice to finish fifth in the seven-team West Division. However, Minnesota is seen as a dark horse with a favorable schedule and a bowl game waiting as a season-ending prize.

Optimistic Gopher fans are anticipating a 4-0 start when division favorite Iowa brings Floyd of Rosedale to town on October 8. That record will require an opening conference win on the road at Penn State on October 1, and right now the Nittany Lions will be the favorite. Prior to the game in State College, Minnesota will have to defeat two mediocre teams, Oregon State and Colorado State, and FCS ho-humer Indiana State—all at home.

Fans who are high on Maroon and Gold Kool Aid can see a 9-0 start before the Gophers play at Nebraska on November 12. If an undefeated Minnesota team could get by Iowa, the Gophers’ next four games are all against Big Ten opponents with less impressive resumes than Minnesota’s. But road games at Maryland and Illinois could be “trap games,” while wins figure to come easier at home against Rutgers and Purdue (two wins in the last 24 conference games).

All this preseason speculation is fun, of course, but counts for nothing. Just remember last spring when local baseball fans had the Twins winning close to 90 games and perhaps flirting with a postseason series. At the same time national media were penciling in the Twins for last place in the division. By May we all knew who was right.

While nobody knows how much the Gophers will improve on last season’s 6-7 overall and 2-6 conference records, we do understand this: Dinkytown ain’t Columbus, Ohio. Translation: the Gophers roster has nowhere close to the number of talented players and depth of an Ohio State and the other elites of college football.

A year ago Buckeyes fans were pondering who would be named the starter among three potential Heisman Trophy winning quarterbacks. It was more than comforting to know that if one went down—or even two were sidelined—there was a star QB waiting to play.

At Minnesota the situation is much different. Gopher followers have collective fingers crossed that Leidner is on the field for 13 games during an eight, nine or 10 wins season.

College Football Notes

Gophers’ border rival Wisconsin has an interesting opening game—hosting SEC power LSU at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. Other unusual openers include California and Hawaii in Sydney, Australia; and Boston College and Georgia Tech in Dublin, Ireland.

The Gophers open their season September 1 against Oregon State at TCF Bank Stadium in a Thursday night game televised by the Big Ten Network. The opening weekend of college football includes made for national TV games Alabama-USC, Oklahoma-Houston and Notre Dame-Texas.

About 30 former Gophers, at the invitation of Claeys, attended a welcome reception for incoming freshmen players on campus last night. Each of the alums and freshmen spoke including ex-Gopher tackle Ray Hawes who paid tribute to Sandy Stephens. Now deceased, Stephens was the first African-American All-American quarterback in the nation and helped lead Minnesota to Big Ten and national titles.

Seniors Mitch Leidner, Jack Lynn and Damarius Travis will represent the Gophers at the Big Ten Football Media Days in Chicago July 25 and 26.

Prominent former Gophers assistants are working at other programs including Matt Limegrover, Minnesota’s offensive coordinator last season and now offensive line coach at Penn State. Other “alums” include Kevin Cosgrove and Bob DeBesse who are the defensive and offensive coordinators at New Mexico; Michigan offensive assistant Jedd Fisch; Texas A&M offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone; Georgia Tech defensive coordinator Ted Roof, and Texas State head coach Everett Withers.

It looks like former Gopher Philip Nelson will be the starting quarterback for East Carolina. Nelson is a senior and will play for first-year coach Scottie Montgomery.

Former Gophers football player Mark Sheffert is a nationally-known business advisor in financial, strategic, leadership and governance issues. Sheffert made a presentation and led a discussion on governance with the University of Minnesota Board of Regents last week. He is chairman and CEO of Minneapolis-based Manchester Companies.

Comments Welcome

Vikes Group Aims for Winner’s Circle

Posted on July 11, 2016July 12, 2016 by David Shama

A horse named Tiger D is on a deadline at Canterbury Park this month. The five-year-old thoroughbred will make its six-man ownership group happy if he can earn a win before the Vikings head to training camp by the end of July.

Track announcer and Vikings radio play-by-play man Paul Allen heads an ownership group that also includes Vikings coaches Norv and Scott Turner, offensive lineman Brandon Fusco, trainer Eric Sugarman and Wild goalie Alex Stalock. They purchased Tiger D in Florida last spring and have yet to see the horse win a race at Canterbury Park.

Because of illness Tiger D won’t run in races at the Shakopee race track this week. The horse has been unable to run for awhile, and Allen told Sports Headliners Tiger D’s owners are very much anticipating his return to health.

Tiger D has third, fourth and fifth place finishes but no firsts. “(But) we haven’t been despondent,” Allen said.

Allen put up the largest share of the $16,000 purchase price for the horse, while the five others invested equal amounts. There are also other costs involved with owning a race horse but Allen said return on investment isn’t the No. 1 motivator for him and his partners.

“The most important thing to us is a winner’s circle,” Allen said.

The Vikings report to training camp in Mankato on July 28. Tiger D’s owners want to be present for the first win and stand in the winner’s circle to celebrate. That means Canterbury Park’s live racing dates of July 21, 22, 23 and 24 are final opportunities for Tiger D’s owners—at least for awhile.

If Tiger D gets that initial triumph later in the summer, even Allen might not be around to cheer on his favorite horse. Allen will be out of town for two Vikings preseason games in August and the thought has crossed his mind he won’t be available to pose for a photo in the winner’s circle with Tiger D.

Allen has called nearly 25,000 races as a track announcer, working a few years in California and 22 at Canterbury Park. A sports talk show host at KFAN for 18 years, Allen starts his 15th year as the Vikings radio play-by-play man this summer. He will call his 300th Vikings game during 2016.

Growing up in southern California in the 1980s, Allen listened to radio play-by-play legends Chick Hearn of the Lakers and Vin Scully of the Dodgers. The two men left lasting impressions on Allen. The now deceased Hearn was known for his enthusiasm and creative expressions—e.g.“Elgin Baylor yo-yoing the ball near the top of the circle.” Scully, with his soothing voice, is still calling games for the Dodgers and describing baseball like a Pulitzer Prize winning author.

Allen is known for his passion and flair behind the microphone. “I am not afraid to describe things in an unconventional way,” Allen said.

Watch Allen call a race at Canterbury Park and you will see him following the horses with powerful binoculars. He also uses that tool while describing Vikings games. “I may be the only announcer in the NFL using binoculars,” he said.

The transplanted Californian has made a lot of friends here including at Winter Park where the Vikings train most of the year. A regular visitor there, including during the offseason, Allen was in the complex last winter when a conversation with Norv Turner quickly led to a six-man partnership to buy a racehorse.

Now all that’s left is a trip to the winner’s circle. At least once—and preferably before July 28.

Worth Noting

A local basketball source told Sports Headliners that highly recruited shooting guard Gary Trent Jr. “definitely” will not play his senior season at Apple Valley High School. Trent could name his college destination, and apparently he and his family believe an out of state high school can better prepare him for NCAA and NBA competition.

The decline of Gophers basketball in the 21st century means Minnesota apparently has the most minimal of chances to recruit Trent who is the son of former Timberwolves forward Gary Trent Sr. Junior seems likely to end up at a legendary college basketball school like Duke. That possibility is discouraging to Gophers fans who have watched Minneapolis area legends Khalid El-Amin, Cole Aldrich and Tyus Jones win national titles at Connecticut, Kansas and Duke.

Sports Headliners is told Jones has added about 10 pounds and lost approximately two percent of his body fat during offseason training. Jones, 20, was a first round draft choice of the Timberwolves in 2015 and his status for making the roster next season could be uncertain since the team used its No. 1 pick in June to select point guard Kris Dunn and also has five-seasons veteran Ricky Rubio. It’s not unusual, though, for NBA teams to carry three point guards on the roster.

Marcus Fuller, the Gophers basketball beat writer for the Pioneer Press, is moving from that newspaper to the same assignment at the Star Tribune. He replaces Amelia Rayno who will leave the sports department but remain with the Star Tribune and write about food.

Clyde Turner, a star on the Gophers 1972 Big Ten championship, is in his 30th year of running local basketball camps. Over 10,700 campers have participated including El-Amin, Jones, Devean George and Rashad Vaughn.

Schedule makers for the Iowa Hawkeyes found a “pastry shop” to their liking this summer while lining up the team’s upcoming nonconference basketball schedule that includes “cream puffs” Delaware State, Kennesaw State, Regis, Stetson, Savannah State and Texas Rio Grande Valley.

The Twins’ front office has often stumbled making player acquisitions but Eduardo Nunez can make club officials smile this week, although it wouldn’t be shocking if his name comes up in trade talks. The 29-year-old infielder plays in his first MLB All-Star Game tomorrow night after a spectacular first half of the season including a .321 batting average—10th highest in baseball.

Nunez entered this season as a nonstarter and a career .267 major league hitter. The Twins acquired him in a 2014 trade with the Yankees, giving up left-handed pitcher Miguel Sulbaran who is with Trenton in the Double A Eastern League and on the disabled list. With all-star status and a reported $1,475,000 salary, Nunez could be attractive to a contending team that wants to make a trade with the Twins this month, perhaps offering a super prospect or two.

The Twins might have another success story developing with 24-year-old first baseman-outfielder Daniel Palka who they acquired from the Diamondbacks last November, giving up catcher Chris Herrmann. Palka, recently promoted to Triple A Rochester, hit 21 home runs and drove in 65 runs at Double A Chattanooga. In four games with the Red Wings, Palka has two home runs and is hitting .400. Herrmann, now in his fifth major league season, looks like a journeyman catcher but he is having a career best average at the plate with the Diamondbacks hitting .291.

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