Golden Gophers – Page 314 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

No Home Sellouts for Gophers in 2014

Posted on November 21, 2014November 23, 2014 by David Shama

In six seasons at TCF Bank Stadium the Gophers are averaging about the same per game attendance they had in the last half dozen years at the Metrodome.

The stadium opened in 2009 as the new on-campus home for Gophers football. During six years playing in the $288.5 million outdoor facility, the Gophers are averaging 48,389 fans per game. From 2003-2008 the average at the dome was 48,950.

The lure of a new stadium and sitting outdoors boosted attendance in 2009 with all seven games selling out in the 50,805 seat facility. During the five years since, the per game averages starting with 2010 are 49,513, 47,714, 46,637, 47,797 and 47,865.

This year stadium capacity was increased to 52,525 to accommodate the Vikings who are using the facility for home games in 2014 and 2015. The Gophers didn’t sell out a single game this fall, although the announced crowd of 51,241 for Purdue came close. Minnesota has sold out only four games since 2009.

Annual attendance is impacted by several factors including the box office appeal of the Gophers and their opponents. Also factoring in are the number of tickets sold in the off-season including public and student season tickets. Other variables are ticket prices, weather and times of day for kickoffs, with mid-afternoon and evening games more popular than 11 a.m. starts.

When cold and snow arrive on game week it’s an easy decision for fence-sitting fans to stay home and watch the Gophers on high definition television. Last Saturday’s game against No. 8 ranked Ohio State might have attracted 55,000 to 60,000 at the dome but an announced crowd of 45,778 was the lowest for a Gophers’ Big Ten home game this year.

Nice weather in September and October is when TCF Bank Stadium is most attractive to fans who can not only sit outside but also enjoy the tailgating experience in nearby areas. The Gophers drew their largest consecutive crowds this year on October 11 and 18 when 49,051 watched the Northwestern game and 51,241 saw Purdue.

The Gophers played on campus and outdoors at Memorial Stadium from 1924 through 1981. The first six seasons at the dome saw a big jump in attendance with the Gophers averaging 54,898 fans. In the six prior years at Memorial Stadium the average was 40,872.

The Metrodome capacity for Gophers football was 64,172 from 1991-2008. Capacity at Memorial Stadium was 56,652 from 1970-1981.

Worth Noting

Fans concerned about cold temperatures and outdoor seating during the Prep Bowl today and tomorrow at TCF Bank Stadium have an indoor option. For $50 there is admission to the stadium’s indoor club. More at mygophersports.com/online/prep-bowl.

The Prep Bowl has four games today and three tomorrow in various classes. Among the matchups is tonight’s 7 p.m. Class 6A state title game between defending champion Eden Prairie and Totino-Grace. All games are televised on KSTC.

Among those cheering for the Gophers at Saturday’s game in Lincoln against the Cornhuskers will be University of Minnesota president Eric Kaler who is a major supporter of athletics.

The Gophers, despite their loss last Saturday to Ohio State, are still in contention to win the Big Ten’s West Division with two games remaining on their schedule. Senior defensive tackle Cameron Botticelli said the Gophers’ loss to OSU, 9-1 overall and 6-0 in the Big Ten, isn’t quickly forgotten as Minnesota prepared this week for Nebraska.

“There’s going to be a special fervor in practice this week in getting ready because of falling short on Saturday, and because of where this program can go still in the season,” he said.

The Gophers, 7-3 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten, play a Nebraska team and West Division rival that is 8-2 and 4-2. It will be Nebraska’s last home game and the Cornhuskers will recognize their seniors as they did two years ago when they beat up on the Gophers in Lincoln by a score of 38-14.

Botticelli said the fans can be loud at Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium and he remembers the noise of two years ago. He described the energy as “electric.”

“You can feel the vibrations in your body,” he said. “That makes communication a little difficult for offenses and defenses alike. But nonetheless I feed off that energy. …”

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer on whether he learned anything about Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers earlier this season when Green Bay won 42-10: “No, I’ve played him a few times in the past. …He’s pretty steady doing what he does. He’s pretty good.”

Rodgers is the face of the Packers’ franchise and that’s a role rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater wants to play for the Vikings. Zimmer, whose team plays the Packers at TCF Bank Stadium on Sunday, was asked if that’s something Bridgewater can potentially achieve in his first season.

“Well, I’d be glad to let him do it instead of me,” Zimmer said. “…It’s hard for a young guy when you come in the middle of the year and you start playing but I believe he will be the face of the franchise. He can actually do all of these press conferences from now on. I’d be ecstatic to let him do them instead of me.”

St. Thomas coach Glenn Caruso has the Tommies in the Division III playoffs for the fifth time in six years. But the 8-2 Tommies will need to stage an upset in Waverly, Iowa, tomorrow to defeat 10-0 Wartburg—a team that is 2-0 against the MIAC this season with wins over both Augsburg and Bethel.

Saint John’s (9-1), the other MIAC team in the football playoffs, hosts St. Scholastica (10-0) in Collegeville tomorrow and the Johnnies are likely to win. Victories by the two MIAC schools will match them against one another on November 29. Earlier this season the Johnnies defeated St. Thomas 24-14 in front of a UST-record crowd of 12,483. This fall Saint John’s won the school’s 32nd MIAC football championship and first since 2009.

Former Gophers basketball player Austin Hollins plays for a pro team in France but is sidelined with a fractured toe, according to Mo Walker. Hollins and Walker, a Gophers senior this season, text each other.

Ex-Gopher and Minneapolis native Al Nolen is operating basketball camps and giving private lessons in the metro area, according to a Tuesday story in the Minnesota Daily. His company is the Al Nolen Elite Basketball Skills Training.

The Division III St. Thomas men’s basketball team will pursue a record 10th consecutive MIAC title this season. The Tommies are already 2-0 in nonconference games and have a 74-52 exhibition win over Division II nationally-ranked Minnesota State. Coach John Tauer’s Tommies open league play against Gustavus on December 3.

The WCHA has four men’s teams ranked in the top 20 poll of USCHO.com including No. 1 Michigan Tech. The Gophers, No. 1 before the season started, have slipped to No. 4 and are the only Big Ten team in this week’s rankings.

Tom Lynn was among the first employees of the Wild’s operations staff when the Minnesota NHL franchise started. Passionate fans of the franchise will be interested in his book, How to Bake an NHL Franchise from Scratch, the First Era of the Minnesota Wild. The book is available in paperback, Nook and Kindle formats.

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Vikings Offense: Frozen in Snowy Chicago

Posted on November 17, 2014November 17, 2014 by David Shama

The Vikings and Gophers lost games over the weekend. Here’s what was learned:

Sunday’s loss to the Bears in snowy and cold Chicago on Sunday is a momentum changer for the Vikings, now 4-6, but doesn’t mean this team can’t hope to finish near .500 at season’s end. However, it is time to write the obit about the fantasy of optimistic fans that the Purple can make the playoffs after the Vikings two-game winning streak ended against a struggling Bears team.

Playing the Packers, 7-3, next Sunday at TCF Bank Stadium will be a backbreaking challenge—and likely loss for the Vikings. In “round one” in Green Bay on October 2, the Packers embarrassed the Vikings 42-10. After next Sunday, the Vikings continue a three-game homestand against the Panthers (3-7-1) and Jets (2-8).

Those two games are certainly possible wins. The Vikings could play competitively too in their last three games of the season—at the Lions (7-3) and Dolphins (6-4), and then home against the Bears (4-6).

But the offense can’t be missing-in-action like yesterday. The Vikings had only 10 first downs and 243 total yards. Their only touchdown in the 21-13 loss was set up by a 48-yard Andrew Sendejo run on a fake punt in the first half.

Trailing by eight points in the game’s closing minute, rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater couldn’t make enough big plays to tie the game. Bridgewater, who led the Vikings to three come-from-behind wins earlier this season, threw a pass in the end zone that was intercepted to end the attempted comeback.

“Teddy Bridgewater is just simply trying to make a play that’s not there,” TV game analyst Rich Gannon said on CBS. “Throwing the ball away would have been the answer. …A young player just making a rookie mistake.”

Bridgewater, though, played okay yesterday and needed more help from teammates. His receivers often weren’t open and the offensive line was hardly at its best protecting him.

Miinnesota’s top receivers, Greg Jennings, Cordarrelle Patterson and Kyle Rudolph, combined for a total of four receptions. The trio had 28 yards, with 24 coming from Patterson on two catches.

The Bears had two sacks, including one by former Vikings defense end Jared Allen who at times whizzed by offensive left tackle Matt Kalil. It wasn’t a good day for Kalil who has been struggling all season and came into the game giving up more sacks than any left tackle in the NFL.

Kalil and his line mates need to improve their blocking if the drive for .500 is to become reality. The Vikings gained only 96 yards rushing and the offense’s time of possession was a meager 21:22.

Obviously the Vikings miss All-Pro running back Adrian Peterson, and a hearing with the NFL this afternoon may lead to new developments regarding when he will play again. But for now Peterson’s status remains in limbo and while his teammates want him back on the team it’s anyone’s guess whether ownership and franchise executives hold the same position.

The Bears’ time of possession was 38:38 and that number reflected Chicago’s offensive domination of 468 total yards. If not for their own penalties and other mistakes, the Bears could have won by a bigger score.

Just like Kalil has been a recurring personnel problem, so too is 5-10 cornerback Josh Robinson. Bears 6-4 wide receiver Brandon Marshall had two touchdown receptions over Robinson and wide receiver Alshon Jeffery, 6-3, had another score against him. But in fairness to Robinson, the Vikings might have provided more help for him with other pass defenders.

Bears quarterback Jay Cutler was 31 of 43 for 330 yards and used his tall receivers to exploit the Vikings. Cutler threw often without pressure, consistently hurting the Vikings with short, timing passes on the perimeter and some long throws. The Vikings had zero sacks.

And what about the Gophers?

After 10 games, including six in the Big Ten, the Golden Gophers have earned “membership” among the top five teams in the 14-team league. Following a 51-14 domination of Iowa and competitive 31-24 loss last Saturday to No. 8 ranked Ohio State, the Gophers players and coaches deserve heartfelt props.

Ohio State, Michigan State, Wisconsin—and perhaps Nebraska—are better teams but the Gophers rate at least a solid No. 5 in the Big Ten. This is a good program—built on defense and special teams—and the best Gophers’ product since the 2003 team that was 10-3 overall, 5-3 in league games.

Ohio State is the gold standard in the Big Ten and the Buckeyes brought superior personnel to TCF Bank Stadium, but the Gophers kept the game close and might have won if not for their errors. “We don’t make those mistakes, it’s a different ball game,” Gophers head coach Jerry Kill said on the KFAN-FM postgame show.

Kill suggested on the radio that “three-quarters” of the Buckeyes key players will play in the NFL. The OSU win streak in regular season Big Ten games is now 22 and the team has a national best 13 consecutive road victories.

Kill is 8-4 in his last 12 Big Ten games. He’s picking up converts and believers in his program all the time—and he should. Admittedly, the Gophers still have “warts” including a passing game that can’t go on indefinitely performing as it did last Saturday (7 of 19 completions, 85 yards) but there’s no reason to believe that by next season Kill won’t fix that problem, too.

The Gophers, 7-3 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten, are contending for the West Division championship. Minnesota will play its last two games on the road—against division rivals Nebraska, 4-2, and Wisconsin, 5-1. If the Gophers could surprise their doubters and win both those games they will become West Division champions and advance to the Big Ten Championship Game on December 6 in Indianapolis. “I’ll tell you what, who knows what’s going to happen?” said Kill on the radio. “Everybody’s gotta play each other.”

Iowa, 4-2, is also in the division race and the Hawkeyes’ remaining home games are with Wisconsin and Nebraska. Wisconsin must play at Iowa before having the Gophers come to Madison, and so four teams are in contention to determine the division champion during the next two Saturdays. If Iowa and Minnesota were to win their remaining games, the two teams would be division co-champs but the Gophers will advance to Indy because they have a tiebreaker win over the Hawkeyes.

Announced attendance at the game last Saturday was 45,778. Capacity at TCF Bank Stadium is 52,525 and there were thousands of empty seats on a day when it was snowing and the temp at kickoff was 15 degrees. With a top 10 opponent and the Gophers coming off the big win over Iowa on November 8, this game could have attracted 55,000 to 60,000 fans in the old Metrodome.

There’s just no shaking road work season in the metro area. Highway 100 was closed north and south between I-394 and Highway 62 on Saturday. Traffic piled up on I-35W and Highway 169, partially because of the closure and also the snow.

Bah Humbug!

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Teddy B. Aware of Holding Ball too Long

Posted on November 12, 2014November 12, 2014 by David Shama

Unloading a lot of quotes and notes from various sources:

Vikings rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater makes his sixth pro start on Sunday in Chicago against the Bears. He wants to improve in not holding the ball too long before passing.

“I have a tendency of wanting to see wide receivers open before I throw the football,” he said. “Sometimes I have to just feel it and trust that a guy is going to be in the right area at the right time.”

According to Monday’s USA Today, the collective record of four NFL starting rookie quarterbacks through last Sunday’s games was 4-19. Bridgewater, 3-2, is the only QB among Blake Bortles, Derek Carr and Zach Mettenberger with a winning record.

All three of Bridgewater’s wins have been in come-from-behind situations. Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer praised his quarterback’s makeup. “Composure is big. We’d like for him to be ahead a little bit more but I just think that the game is not too big for him. He sits in there and understands what he has to get done and you know there is a heightened sense of urgency–and not just with Teddy but with everybody.”

The Bears, 3-6, have only played one home game since September 28. They are 0-3 at home this season.

Jerry Trestman and his wife Sharon, who live in the Minneapolis area, don’t plan to attend Sunday’s Bears-Vikings game. Since their son Marc Trestman became Bears coach the couple has seen two games in Chicago, the season openers in 2013 and 2014.

Jerry told Sports Headliners he usually talks to Marc “two or times per week” by telephone. “He usually calls at night after practice,” Jerry said.

Ohio State is ranked No. 8 in the AP poll and the Gophers haven’t faced a top 10 team since they played the Buckeyes in Minneapolis four years ago. The Buckeyes, 8-1 overall and 5-0 in the Big Ten, scored 49 points on Michigan State’s proud defense last Saturday and in five of their last six games are averaging 52.4 points per game.

Could the Gophers be in awe, or intimidated when the two teams play at TCF Bank Stadium on Saturday? Senior defensive tackle and team leader Cameron Botticelli said no.

He told Sports Headliners players and staff put extraordinary effort and time year-round into preparing for games like Saturday’s. “We invest a whole lot of work, so to make that investment and then come into TCF Bank Stadium and be intimidated or in awe of someone, I don’t think that’s within the realm of possibility.

“Definitely we’ll respect our opponent this week because they are a talented football team, but I wouldn’t say shock or awe. More like respect and (facing) another competitor.”

The Buckeyes, who are about a two touchdown favorite against Minnesota, have won a national-best 12 consecutive road games and are undefeated in their last 21 Big Ten regular season games. They also have won seven straight since losing to Virginia Tech at home in a nonconference game on September 6. That was before freshman J.T. Barrett established himself at quarterback and since then the Buckeyes have gone on to become arguably the hottest offensive team in the country.

Gophers junior wide receiver KJ Maye talking about playing the favored Buckeyes and being an underdog: “We play better when we’re like that.”

Ohio State totaled 568 yards against Michigan Sate, nearly 300 more than the Spartans had been giving up per game. Gophers coach Jerry Kill realizes how good Michigan State’s defense is. “I didn’t think they would be able to put that many points on the board (against MSU),” Kill said.

The Gophers gained momentum going into the Ohio State game with a surprising 51-14 win over Iowa last Saturday. A close score was anticipated, but after the one-sided win Kill danced in front of his players in the happy locker room. “Sometimes kids need to see that you’re human,” Kill said. “It’ll probably be the last time—because I figured out I’m stiff, old, and…I’m not a kid anymore.”

Tickets remain, starting at $50, for Saturday’s Ohio State game that will be televised on ABC. The game is the last of the season at home for the Gophers and will be among the most lucrative in gate receipts (prices can vary by game). In the Big Ten Conference the home team retains revenues from ticket sales.

Gophers defensive tackle Steven Richardson is among the Big Ten’s best true freshman linemen. He’s listed at 6-feet and 295 pounds. Some schools stayed away from recruiting Richardson because his height is less than they demand but the young lineman has already shown what he can do as a run stopper and is coming along as a pass rusher. He had a sack against Iowa.

“If you look at the way the kid’s built, he’s a rock and he’s explosive,” said defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys. “I mean he can play anywhere (team) in the country.”

It will be 60 years ago tomorrow that Bob McNamara made his famous 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against border rival Iowa that deserves a place among the most determined efforts in program history. McNamara shook off Iowa tacklers, refusing to go down to the ground in the November 13 game that Minnesota won 22-20. Gophers coach Murray Warmath said in his biography, The Autumn Warrior, that McNamara’s run in Minneapolis was indeed the stuff of legends. “It was the finest example of brilliance and desire I have ever seen,” the coach praised. McNamara died last summer.

In last Saturday’s Tyler Dunne online story for the Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, Brett Favre said if he had a son he probably wouldn’t let him play football “because of what I know.” The former Packers, Vikings and Jets quarterback is concerned about his memory in 10 or 20 years.

Favre turned 45 last month and is now eligible to draw his NFL pension.

You may not have read it before but neither the Gophers nor Louisville receive an appearance fee for participation in Friday night’s Armed Forces Classic in Puerto Rico. Expenses for the two schools are paid for by ESPN Regional Television, owner and operator of the basketball game that honors the military. The Classic will be played in front of military personnel with no admission cost and televised nationally by ESPN starting at 6:30 p.m. Minneapolis time.

Si.com’s college basketball preview of conferences ranks the Gophers ninth in the Big Ten, predicting Minnesota will finish with a 9-9 record (same as Nebraska and Illinois). Projected to have better conference records are Wisconsin,15-3; Ohio State, 12-6; Iowa, 11-7; and 10-8 records for Michigan State, Michigan and Maryland.

Draftexpress.com projects Minnesota natives Tyus Jones and Rashad Vaughn will be selected No. 14 and 21 respectively in the first round of next year’s NBA Draft. Both are college freshmen, Jones at Duke and Vaughn at UNLV.

Voting opened Monday in the USA Today High School Sports contest to determine the best high school football program in the country. A total of 255 programs are eligible after being determined by a panel. Minnesota programs are Blooming Prairie, Eden Prairie, Hutchinson, Rosemount and Totino-Grace. More at Usatodayhss.com.

J.D. Spielman, son of Vikings general manager Rick Spielman, played every snap offensively and defensively in last Friday night’s Eden Prairie High School football playoff win over East Ridge. Spielman, a junior, has a lacrosse scholarship offer from Ohio State but his father said the understanding is his son can change that verbal commitment to play football at a major college if he chooses.

Camden Mona, Dave and Linda Mona’s grandson, celebrated his seventh birthday yesterday. The sixth annual Camden’s Concert at the Hopkins Center for the Arts will be held July 13 next year featuring The Wright Brothers who were popular at this summer’s event helping to generate over $52,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The record amount increased the five year total from the event to more than $200,000.

Dave Mona said the National Senior Games will bring about 13,000 participants and approximately 25,000 total visitors to Minneapolis-St. Paul for competition in various sports next summer—July 3-16. Mona, the WCCO Radio “Sports Huddle” co-host, is co-chair for the games with Susan Adams Lloyd, the Clear Channel Outdoor executive.

Kevin McHale and Flip Saunders coach against each other tonight when the Rockets and Timberwolves play in Mexico City. The two former Gophers were close friends for many years and it was McHale that hired Saunders to work first in the Wolves front office and later as head coach. However, a distance has lingered between the two since McHale, as Wolves general manager, fired Saunders as coach in 2005. “It’s not that they’re (still) upset at each other, they just don’t get together,” a mutual friend told Sports Headliners.

With Garth Brooks performing at Target Center over a period of two weeks, the Wolves are in the midst of a road trip that has them without a home game from November 2 until November 19. With a long road trip, young team, 2-4 record and point guard Ricky Rubio being sidelined with an ankle sprain until perhaps next year, the Wolves are on the spot to win at least a few games this month.

The NBA has long been a leader in diversity and this season is using two female referees, Lauren Holtkamp and Violet Palmer. Dee Kantner, who once worked NBA games, is now the WNBA supervisor of officials.

The Wild will host Military Appreciation Night–presented by Thomson Reuters and benefitting Defending the Blue Line–tomorrow night when Minnesota plays the Sabres at Xcel Energy Center. More than 1,000 active or retired military members are expected to be in attendance. The Wild, along with Thomson Reuters, offered military members a lower level ticket, hot dog, chips and soda for $50.

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