Golden Gophers – Page 406 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Put the Lynx near Your Heart

Posted on May 2, 2012May 2, 2012 by David Shama

If you only reserve your money and emotions for winning teams, then invest in the Lynx. That’s the advice of Sports Headliners after contemplating likeability rankings of the major local pro sports franchises along with the Gophers.

Season outlooks for Minnesota teams are often dreary as real estate values. The April start by the Twins is the latest evidence of our “Losers Club,” but as we look toward the next 12 months we aren’t without hope.

Here are Sports Headliners’ rankings as to who is most and least likely to make us happy:

Love those Lynx. The 2011 WNBA champs brought the first pro title to town since the 1991 World Series Twins. The Lynx opened training camp last Sunday and have their star players returning, including three who will play for Team USA in the Olympics. Seimone Augustus, Maya Moore and Lindsay Whalen are winners, and that’s what these rankings are all about. No guarantees but it will be no surprise at all if the Lynx win the WNBA title again.

The hockey Gophers played in the NCAA semifinals where they lost to eventual national champ Boston College. Minnesota goalie Kent Patterson had a great season but is a senior and will have to be replaced. If the Gophers don’t see young talents like Nick Bjugstad leave for the pros during the off-season, or somehow experience other important personnel losses, Minnesota might be even better next winter than last. The Gophers could certainly start the season ranked among the top college hockey teams in the country.

Before Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio tore his ACL and was sidelined, the Wolves were approaching unprecedented recent popularity. Injuries later hit other teammates and the team’s collapse was as attention demanding as the wonderful start to the season led by Rubio and star forward Kevin Love. What’s next for this franchise isn’t easy to answer. Rubio might not be the same player next season as last, and the complementary pieces to Rubio and Love aren’t in place yet.

The Gophers basketball team looks good on paper. We’ll wait and see how they look on the court in February before moving them higher in the rankings. Academics, off-court behavior issues and injuries have wrecked past Tubby Smith teams. Like their predecessors, this Gophers team will not be deep in talent but Minnesota does have three exceptional starters in forwards Rodney Williams and Trevor Mbakwe, and point guard Andre Hollins. Pray for good fortune.

Jerry Kill has more admirers than any coach or manager I can remember who won just 25 percent of his games in a first season. Maybe all these admirers know something. I think they do. Kill’s second year team could win half its games and earn a bowl game invitation. More important, the Gophers just might look pretty good even in games they play against the better teams in the Big Ten. Put your money and emotions on Kill’s Gophers in 2014 and 2015.

The Wild has off-season personnel acquisition intentions like the Wolves. The franchise had a fast start under first year coach Mike Yeo who looks like the right guy on the bench for this team. But the Wild faded miserably during the season and missed the playoffs for a fourth consecutive season. Too many injuries and too few goals. This is a franchise that has shown it can draw fans, but not win many games. We’re waiting.

Maybe it’s the optimism of the off-season and the glitz of last week’s NFL draft, but we’re nudging the Vikings ahead of the Twins in the rankings. Yeah, the 3-13 record of last season will be remembered for a long time but this club has some playmakers. Like they say, on a lot of Sunday afternoons running back Adrian Peterson or wide receiver Percy Harvin can be worth the price of admission. And don’t you just feel better about yourself when Jared Allen does his calf-roping celebration after another franchise record sack? Come on downtown to see the Vikes before they head west. (Just kidding. I think).

It’s not all bad news about the Twins. I am still smiling after that acrobatic double play turned last week by shortstop Jamey Carroll and second baseman Trevor Plouffe against the Red Sox. New left fielder Josh Willingham can even hit balls over the fence at anti-home run Target Field. So far the starting pitching is probably the worst in the franchise’s 51 season history but there’s a way around that. The Sports Headliners method is to watch the half innings when the Twins bat. When the Twins pitchers are throwing, tune in the Golf Channel. Both your mood and golf swing will improve.

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Ex-Gopher Expects ‘Big Things’ in Football

Posted on April 27, 2012April 27, 2012 by David Shama

Matt Spaeth played for the Gophers from 2003-2006. The tight end from St. Michael, Minnesota was on the 2003 team that finished 10-3 and fourth in the Big Ten. The 2006 season was his last at Minnesota and it was also the final year for head coach Glen Mason.

The program went backward under coach Tim Brewster with his 2007-2010 teams finishing 11^th, 7^th, 8^th and 9^th. Spaeth was disappointed. “I am a Gopher fan forever. It was frustrating to watch them for awhile to see where that program went, and the things that happened on the field. It was tough for awhile.”

At the end of spring practice last week Spaeth, who now plays for the NFL’s Bears, told Sports Headliners the Minnesota program isn’t back to the level it was under Mason. “…I think they’ll be there soon. When I played with coach Mason he had some really tough teams. We had a team there the one year (2003), (if) we don’t blow a fourth quarter lead against Michigan, we probably go to the Rose Bowl. …”

How long before the Gophers return to a level of winning season records and at least approach .500 in the Big Ten Conference? “They’re headed there and they’re headed there fast,” Spaeth said. “I really think so. I expect big things in the next couple of years.”

Spaeth believes some day the Gophers can compete for a Big Ten championship under coach Jerry Kill, now in his second season at Minnesota. “You gotta hope to be a team that wins eight, nine games every year, and then every once in awhile you get a good team and compete for a Big Ten championship,” Spaeth said. “I hope people have patience because Big Ten championships just don’t happen in a conference like this.”

Kill has impressed many former Gophers who believe the former Northern Illinois coach is the person to revive the program and make it better than it has been in decades. “…I think he’s a great football coach, but he’s a better person,” Spaeth said. “I think it’s really important to have a guy like that as the head of your program to be a good person.

“It makes a difference when parents are thinking about sending their kids off to school and they’ve got a guy like coach Kill you can trust. He’s a good guy and I am very excited about where they’re going.”

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Worth Noting

Posted on April 25, 2012April 25, 2012 by David Shama

The Vikings Draft Party tomorrow night at Mall of America Field opens at 4 p.m. Admission is free to season ticket holders. For others the cost is $10.

The Vikings are viewed as the fourth place team in the NFC North, although Bears tight end Matt Spaeth wouldn’t say that. He said with injuries and other variables it’s difficult to predict where teams will finish. “They’ve (the Vikings) got a lot of good players so they could be good,” the former Gopher told Sports Headliners.

Former Vikings head coach Mike Tice is the new Bears offensive coordinator. “Coach Tice’s offense is going to be a tight end friendly offense so I am excited about this year,” Spaeth said.

Spaeth, who has been a part-time starter during five previous NFL seasons, likes the improvement the Bears have made during the offseason. “We’re going to definitely contend (in the NFC North),” he said. “The Packers are tough. It’s going to be a tough deal for us, but we’re going to be good.”

Pioneer Press columnist Charley Walters undergoes right shoulder replacement surgery tomorrow. “Too many fastballs,” the former Twins pitcher said. He won’t be writing again until May 7.

Nick Blackburn, the Twins losing pitcher last night, is 0-6 in his last nine starts dating back to July 25, 2011.

Twins starters now have a combined ERA of 6.73.

New Gophers athletic director Norwood Teague signed a five-year contract in 2011 with a base pay of $240,000 at Virginia Commonwealth University, according to a story posted Monday by the Richmond Times-Dispatch website. Teague, according to Minnesota media reports, will earn $400,000 in base salary, plus incentives, at the University of Minnesota.

Former Gophers running back Darrell Thompson, who runs the Minneapolis-based Bolder Options program, will hold his organization’s annual dinner at TCF Bank Stadium on May 17. WCCO Radio’s Dave Lee will be master of ceremonies with the keynote speech given by Terry Hitchcock, who at age 57 in 1996 ran the equivalent of 75 marathons in 75 days. More information on the dinner is available at the Bolder Options website.

St. Thomas football coach Glenn Caruso notes that he, Vikings center John Sullivan and former Twins infielder Tim Teufel (now the Mets third base coach) are all from Greenwich, Connecticut.

Long range TV calendar planning: The summer Olympics begin on NBC July 27, and CBS will televise the Notre Dame-Navy football game from Dublin, Ireland on September 1.

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