Golden Gophers – Page 400 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Worth Noting

Posted on June 25, 2012June 28, 2012 by David Shama

NBAdraft.net projects the Wolves taking St. John’s freshman forward-guard Moe Harkless with the No. 18 pick in the first round of Thursday night’s NBA Draft. Harkless, 6-8, averaged 15.5 points per game for the Red Storm and was Big East Rookie of the Year.

The website predicts the Wolves will choose 6-4 senior Temple shooting guard Ramone Moore with the No. 58 pick on the second round. Moore was first team All-Atlantic Conference, leading the Owls in scoring at 17.3 points per game and finishing third in the league. Moore is scheduled to work out for the Wolves today at Target Center.

The draft will be televised on by ESPN and the Wolves are expected to make their selection about 8 p.m. Minneapolis time. The draft begins at 6:30 p.m.

Joel Maturi, who retired as Gophers athletic director earlier this month, is an admirer of Twins general manager Terry Ryan. “Terry Ryan is a great person,” Maturi said. “We’ve had a relationship since I’ve been at Minnesota.”

Twins super prospect Miguel Sano is only hitting .239 for Beloit but the third baseman is tied for the Midwest League lead in home runs with 15 and is third in RBI with 51.

Twins pitcher Anthony Swarzak’s belief in Bigfoot is the subject of a feature in the June-July issue of the Twins magazine sold at Target Field.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said on his 1500 ESPN show yesterday he’s used 10 different starters this season. It has been a situation of “desperation” at times because of injuries and ineffective performance.

Gardenhire said Matt Capps’ sore shoulder could result in the closer going on the disabled list and this morning that development was confirmed. He also said the need to have Joe Mauer’s bat in the lineup may result in limiting Mauer’s catching to three or four games per week.

This Saturday the Twins are giving away Minneapolis Millers pennants to the first 20,000 fans in recognition of the former Triple-A franchise that played at Metropolitan Stadium before the Senators relocated here from Washington, D.C. The Twins will wear Millers uniforms while the Kansas City Royals will be in Kansas City Blues uniforms as part of a “turn back the clock” promotion.

Brad Childress, the former Vikings head coach and now the Browns offensive coordinator, will be 56 on Wednesday.

Former Gophers offensive coordinator Mike Dunbar is the offensive coordinator at Northern Illinois. Ex-Gophers defensive coordinators Ted Roof and Everett Withers are coordinators at Penn State and Ohio State.

Passionate Gophers fans are looking forward to watching redshirt freshman defensive end Thieren Cockran, who admirers think could become one of Minnesota’s best pass rushers in years.

Former Gophers football All-American John Williams, who recently had a kidney transplant, reported on his CaringBridge site on Friday that he’s been cleared to go home and is “feeling pretty good.” https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/johnbjwilliams

The 39^th annual Minnesota High School All-Star Football Game will be played on Saturday at Husky Stadium in St. Cloud starting at 1 p.m. There will be 78 players from 31 conferences selected by the Minnesota Football Coaches Association. Jeff Schlieff (Spring Lake Park) will coach the North while Bill Ihrke (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) coaches the South.

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After 44 Years Maturi Skips a Sunday

Posted on June 22, 2012June 22, 2012 by David Shama

Joel Maturi didn’t go into the office for the first time in 44 years last Sunday.

The workaholic former high school coach and college administrator made it a habit to go into his office every day — regardless of whether the day was even a weekend or holiday including Christmas or the Fourth of July. If Maturi was in town, he could be found in his office, at least for a short time.

“That goes back to my high school coaching days, not just at Minnesota,” he told Sports Headliners. “Every place I’ve been.”

What went through the 67-year-old’s mind as he faced a different Sunday this week? “I just said it was time to retire as the A.D.,” he answered. “I was okay. I’ve always been pretty good at playing the hand I was dealt. The fact of the matter is that I am no longer the athletic director at the University of Minnesota. The fact of the matter is that I am transitioning to slow down and I am okay with that.”

So on Monday morning instead of getting out of bed at his usual 4:30 a.m. Maturi rose at 5:30. He spent part of the day preparing for aUniversity of Minnesota course on sports facilities and event management that he will be teaching later this year. By late afternoon he was driving to the Bruce Smith Golf Classic in Faribault where he was the after dinner speaker.

Well-wishers were numerous including members of the Gophers Alumni Band who inspired the crowd with the “Minnesota Rouser” and “Minnesota Hail to Thee.” Maturi talked about athletics but perhaps at no time did he impress the audience more than when he said this past school year 74 percent of Gophers athletes graduated, and last semester they had a cumulative GPA of 3.2. Both figures are all-time highs at Minnesota.

In the next several days there will be a few more public appearances at places around the state where Maturi will represent the Gophers, but soon that will all be the responsibility of new athletic director Norwood Teague who started work on Monday. Maturi will be deciding how to use his time differently than when he coached for 19 years in Madison, then worked in college athletics administration for athletic departments at Wisconsin, Denver, Miami and Minnesota.

“I’ve always been a routine person,” Maturi said. “It hasn’t been easy (physically) for the last months or for the last year. It isn’t as easy to get up at 4:30. I am more tired than I used to be but I did it because that’s who I am. I gotta find a routine. Once I get one down I will be fine.”

Maturi hasn’t been a golfer but now he’s been fitted for clubs. He’s hoping to receive lessons from Gophers golf coach John Carlson before early July when a family get- together takes place in Grand Rapids.

Maturi and wife Lois have bought a home on Silver Lake in St. Anthony. They’re renovating the house and also looking forward to putting a boat in the water that the grandchildren can enjoy. “As I say to Lois, the next move is to the nursing home,” Maturi said. “So this is our final move. We’re looking forward to this. It’s close to campus.”

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Worth Noting

Posted on June 21, 2012June 22, 2012 by David Shama

When retiring Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi cleaned out his office it must have been a big job. “I threw away more stuff than you can imagine,” he said. “I am a pack saver and I saved everything. If you had sent me an evil note I had it. I don’t know why I did. …”

The Bruce Smith Golf Classic at Faribault Golf Club that Maturi attended Monday is named after the Gophers only Heisman Trophy winner, Bruce Smith. The tournament began in 1975 and benefitted the University of Minnesota’s Williams Fund. Since 1990 event’s proceeds have been given to three Faribault schools.

Smith, who grew up in Faribault and won the Heisman in 1941, is deceased but his son Scott represented his father on Monday. General chair for the tournament is Bruce Krinke and board members include former Gophers wrestler Dave Henry.

Faribault native Seth Helgeson, who will be a senior for the Gophers next season, said junior forward Nick Bjugstad is quiet about whether he will turn pro or return to the team. Bjugstad will be one of college hockey’s premier goal scorers next season if he doesn’t sign with Florida.

Helgeson said teammates communicate with Bjugstad daily. He described Bjugstad as a humble player who “loves” college and his teammates. “You wouldn’t know he’s going through all this stuff right now,” Bjugstad said. “He’s going through a hard time. There’s pressures out there. I think he knows we’re behind him. He knows that we want him back and I think that maybe that’s a little extra motivation for him to come back.”

The Gophers came within one game this year of playing for the national championship. With most of the team returning, ambitions are high. “I think we could do something special,” Helgeson said. “I think we could repeat what we did last year and maybe go beyond. Going to the Frozen Four and losing to Boston College was a little motivation for next year.”

The Wild, with lagging fan interest and a losing team, face a big draft tomorrow. The franchise needs goal scorers and perhaps came close to making a trade in recent weeks for Minnesota’s first round choice, the No. 7 pick in the draft. The Wild also have draft choices in rounds 2-7.

The draft will be at CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh. The first round starts at 6 p.m. Minnesota time on Friday with the remaining rounds on Saturday. The first round will be televised by NBC Sports Network and Saturday’s rounds can be seen on the NHL Network.

Vikings all-pro defensive end Jared Allen is attending the team’s mini-camp practices this week after missing the recent volunteer Organized Training Activities. Fans may remember, though, that Allen chose to miss OTA’s last year and set a franchise record with 22 sacks, nearly besting the NFL’s record of 22.5 by Michael Strahan. Allen said this week he thinks someone can get 25 sacks in one season.

Prep basketball authority Ken Lien emailed that Nebraska coach Tim Miles offered scholarships this week to 2014 high school seniors Tyus Jones (Apple Valley), Rashad Vaughn (Cooper) and Reid Travis (DeLaSalle). Jones has earned a roster spot on theUSA 17 and under national team that will compete this summer in the world tournament, according to Lien.

Frank White told Sports Headliners the “media has blown out of proportion” the subject of his grandson Royce White flying on airplanes. “He’s been flying since he was 10 years old,” Frank said.

Flying isn’t his grandson’s favorite activity but Frank said last summer Royce accompanied his Iowa State teammates on a trip to Italy and routinely flew on airplanes during the Cyclones’ 2011-2012 season. The two Whites went by car to the Iowa State-Kentucky NCAA tournament game in March because Royce wanted to be at his best and had some anxiety about flying.

The flying issue has followed White during tryouts with NBA teams and likely will be part of NBA draft coverage next week when the former Hopkins High School all-state forward is expected to be selected during the first round.

A private memorial service for George Chapple (Dark Star) was held Monday night at Interlachen Country Club with more than 200 friends in attendance including out- of-towners. Star Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse emceed and several speakers paid tribute to the former WCCO Radio personality. Included among the speakers was Kansas City baseball announcer Ryan Lefebvre who telephoned Chapple after every Royals game, according to a Sports Headliners source.

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