Golden Gophers – Page 417 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Worth Noting

Posted on November 15, 2011December 28, 2011 by David Shama

Wisconsin offensive coordinator Paul Chryst, who twice since 2007 has been rumored to be a candidate for the Gophers job, is head coaching material, said Barry Alvarez. The Badgers athletic director told Sports Headliners he’s received inquiries about Chryst and coaching jobs this fall.

Vikings reserve quarterback Joe Webb said although he hasn’t been asked by the coaching staff, he‘s willing to become a wide receiver. Webb played both positions in college and his experience could help him get open and catch the ball. He has the size (6-4) and speed (4.4) to be an intriguing wide receiver prospect.

The Oakland Raiders, now in first place in the AFC West with a 5-4 record, play the Vikings on Sunday at Mall of America Field and the franchise has a historic tie to this area. In 1960 Minneapolis was going to be one of the founding franchises in the new AFL but preferred an invitation to join the established NFL. Oakland accepted the franchise opening caused by the Minneapolis decision.

Vikings :30 and :60 second TV commercials advocating for a stadium in Arden Hills can be seen on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imCQC_Yd2Wg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnQaKCzUyGo

Former Gopher Royce White scored 25 points in his first regular season game for Iowa State, making nine of 15 field goals and seven of nine free throws last week. The Cyclones play at Drake tonight.

In its college basketball issue distributed last week, Sports Illustrated doesn’t include the Gophers among teams predicted to make the NCAA tournament. Ohio State is ranked No. 3 in the country, and also among the top 20 teams is No. 13 Wisconsin. Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue and Northwestern are other Big Ten teams predicted to qualify for the tournament.

Minneapolis native Larry Fitzgerald finished first in an NFL players poll about “who has the best fashion sense off the field,” according to S.I.’s November 14 issue.

St. Thomas received the most votes in a poll of league coaches to determine the preseason favorite to win the MIAC basketball championship. Former Gophers quarterback John Nance is expected to be among the Tommies’ key players. The other three MIAC teams receiving the most votes were St. Olaf, Augsburg and Carleton.

St. Thomas also received the most votes in the women’s coaches poll followed by Gustavus, Saint Benedict and Concordia.

Comments Welcome

No U Program Cuts for Next Year

Posted on November 14, 2011December 28, 2011 by David Shama

Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi said there are no plans to cut any of Minnesota’s 25 men’s and women’s intercollegiate sports for 2012-13, despite an anticipated extra $450,000 his department will pay athletes on full scholarships.

The Big Ten Conference is expected to follow an NCAA initiative made this fall that will increase grants by up to $2,000 each to athletes to more closely cover the cost of attending college. Maturi said the change will impact approximately 225 Gophers athletes on full scholarships. (It’s presumed that all ─ or at least most ─ Big Ten schools will give each qualifying athlete the full $2,000, rather than put themselves at a competitive recruiting disadvantage against other major conference programs).

There are no large revenue increases anticipated at Minnesota to offset the $450,000 but eliminating sports isn’t Maturi’s intent. Instead, he will look at various ways to address the budget including sometimes not giving staff pay raises.

There has long been empathy for college athletes who come from financially needy backgrounds and find that scholarships providing tuition, fees, room, board and books aren’t enough to meet their needs. Maturi and others question providing the extra $2,000 to all athletes.

“I am not opposed to giving those that really have a need some spending money,” he said. “But if Joel Maturi’s son or daughter is on a full scholarship, quite frankly, they don’t need the extra $2,000. I make enough money. If they don’t work I can get them the pizza money, whatever it might be.”

Financially needy athletes already receive Pell Grant money that can provide over $5,000 annually. Maturi said those receiving that grant money will also get the $2,000.

With the $2,000 being given to athletes, will that lessen the alleged illegal paying of college players at some schools? “No, not a bit,” Maturi said. “Not in my mind.”

Comments Welcome

Worth Noting

Posted on November 14, 2011November 27, 2011 by David Shama

Coach Jerry Kill and his staff had three junior college defensive backs on campus last weekend, according to GopherIllustrated.com. Minnesota is recruiting Jeremy Baltazar from Blinn College in Brenham, Texas, and two players from Trinity Community College in Athens, Texas, Martez Shabazz and Clifford Stokes.

Here are Sports Headliners’ weekly rankings of Big Ten Football teams: Wisconsin, Michigan State, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio State, Penn State, Iowa, Northwestern, Purdue, Illinois, Minnesota and Indiana.

The Vikings practice for road games with intentional noise in the background so the raucous crowd at Lambeau Field won’t be the communications challenge it might have been, according to wide receiver Greg Camarillo. “We have the most annoying speakers ever for our practices and actually when it comes to game time it’s not as bad as that speaker,” he said.

The Packers are off to the franchise’s first 8-0 start since 1962 and prompting speculation they could go 16-0 during the regular season. Vikings defensive end Jared Allen, playing in his eighth NFL season, was asked if Green Bay is the best team he’s seen.

“You know what? That’s for historians,” Allen anwered. “I just take it week by week. You know, obviously they’re the best team in the league right now. They’re the reigning (Super Bowl) champs and they’re undefeated. We have the upper hand on most teams that are playing them ─ we played them already once and we gave them a pretty good shot. Everybody is beatable. …We gotta go up there and give them their first loss and get after them.”

The Gophers basketball team plays South Dakota State at home tonight. The Jackrabbits are a Division I team and lost 85-73 to Minnesota last year in Williams Arena. South Dakota State opened its regular season on Saturday with an 82-76 win over Western Michigan. Nate Wolters, who played for St. Cloud Tech, had 32 points, 11 assists and no turnovers for the Jackrabbits Saturday.

The Gophers have struggled to open up big leads in two exhibitions and one regular season game but rallied late to close out games. Friday night in the regular season opener Minnesota and Bucknell were tied at 53 with about four minutes remaining. Encouraging for the Gophers was the late minute play of guards Austin Hollins and Julian Welch.

Hamline will honor Don Meyer tomorrow night at a ceremony prior to its game with Northwestern College (St. Paul). He is the men’s college basketball all-time winningest coach with 923 wins, and the first 37 came at Hamline in the early 1970s. Now retired from coaching, Meyer is included in Hamline’s “Ring of Honor,” recognizing the school’s basketball greats.

The Wild will hold a pregame tribute to the late Derek Boogaard on Sunday, November 27. Parents Len and Joanne along with siblings Aaron, Krysten and Ryan are scheduled to attend. The Wild will play Calgary that night.

Comments Welcome