Golden Gophers – Page 422 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Worth Noting

Posted on November 28, 2011December 29, 2011 by David Shama

Among the Gophers completing eligibility on Saturday was Minnesota native and safety Kim Royston who started his career at Wisconsin. He left Madison after the 2007 season to be near his grandmother who was ill and has since past away. “I don’t have any regrets about transferring,” he said. Royston was involved with 13 tackles in the game Saturday.

Sophomore Dan Orseske has to be the most inconsistent Gophers punter in memory. He’s had punts of fewer than 10 yards and undoubtedly faces off-season competition for his job.

Ed Cohen, who keeps statistics in the press box for home games, completed his 55^th season working for the Gophers last Saturday. His longevity exceeds everyone else on the Minnesota game day crew.

One-sided score: Hopkins led Minneapolis North 80-0 at halftime in girls basketball Friday night on the way to a 94-14 win.

It’s been a busy seven days for Gophers broadcaster Mike Grimm. Last Monday night he did the play-by-play of the Minnesota-Mount St. Mary’s basketball game at Williams Arena. He also called the Gophers basketball games Thursday and Friday in the Old Spice Classic in Orlando. He then flew back to Minneapolis, arriving after midnight on Saturday so he could do the play-by-play on the Minnesota-Illinois football game. And yesterday morning he caught an early morning flight back to Orlando to call the Gophers Old Spice title game against Dayton on Sunday night, an 86-70 Minnesota loss.

It’s not well-known in Minnesota yet but the basketball Gophers will be one of the teams playing in the 2013 Maui Invitational. The field, including the Gophers, was announced last week at the tournament.

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

Vikings coach Leslie Frazier’s career record is now 5-12 including six games as interim coach last year. On the Vikings radio network following yesterday’s 24-14 loss to Atlanta he criticized his closing minutes play call when Minnesota was on the Falcons’ one-yard line. The fourth down play was unsuccessful while a touchdown would have made the score 24-21 Atlanta.

Jared Allen was a long snapper for Kansas City in 2005. Yesterday he filled in for injured Vikings long snapper Cullen Loeffler. As a defensive end, Allen has 13.5 sacks this season. He and the late Reggie White are the only players in NFL history to have 14.5+ sacks in three consecutive seasons.

By joining the Texas Rangers, former Twins closer Joe Nathan will no longer have to face one of the American League teams that was most effective against him. Nathan’s career ERA against the Rangers is 3.60, according to Baseball-Reference.com. Only Tampa Bay at 3.80 and New York at 3.71 had higher ERA’s against Nathan.

The Minnesota Golf Show will be February 17-19 at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

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Big Ten Expert: Gophers Kill ‘Great Coach’

Posted on November 18, 2011November 27, 2011 by David Shama

Gophers football notes:

Big Ten Network analyst Chris Martin raves about Minnesota coach Jerry Kill. “He’s one of the best coaches out there,” Martin said. “He’s won every place he’s been.”

Martin told Sports Headliners before last Saturday’s game against Wisconsin that he “truly believes Kill is a great coach.” The Gophers are 5-17 during the last two seasons and the program hasn’t won a Big Ten title since 1967, but that doesn’t damper Martin’s enthusiasm for Kill and his staff. “I know he will get them back on top,” Martin said.

He also described defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys and offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover as “brilliant.” Those two, along with Kill and the other coaches have the Gophers playing with maximum effort, according to Martin, a former defensive back for Northwestern.

“They play harder than anybody in the Big Ten,” Martin said.

Martin played for the Chicago Bears when Greg Schiano was an assistant coach there in the 1990s. He believes Schiano, now head coach at Rutgers, could be in the “conversation” as the next Penn State head coach. Schiano was an assistant at Penn State before he joined the Bears.

Injured Gophers defensive back and kickoff returner Troy Stoudermire is a senior and hasn’t played since the fourth game of the season but he might receive a medical redshirt allowing him to play next season.

At least one pro scout was at Saturday’s Minnesota-Wisconsin game. Gophers wide receiver Da’Jon McKnight is the one Minnesota senior who might be chosen in next year’s NFL draft.

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Gophers, Twins & Other Notes

Posted on November 18, 2011November 27, 2011 by David Shama

Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Monday but was in the office about 5 a.m. Tuesday. That’s a typical arrival time for him.

GopherIllustrated.com. reports that defensive back Jeremy Baltazar from Blinn College in Brenham, Texas has given a verbal commitment to the Gophers for 2012. He visited campus last weekend.

Cornerback Kyle Henderson, who transferred to the Gophers from Minnesota State-Mankato State, said perhaps six to eight of his former teammates could have played Division I football. “The talent level is not terrible in Division II by any means,” he said.

Because of a commitment to play MarQueis Gray at quarterback, Gophers freshman Max Shortell has been on the field for only a few plays since he started the Michigan game on October 1. Kill said he’s “pleased with the progress” of the 19-year-old quarterback. “…Actually he’s probably farther along than what I thought he would be when he came here,” Kill said. “He’s worked hard.”

Round one of the 32-team NCAA Division III playoffs are about to start and no game has more local interest than St. Thomas hosting St. Scholastica. UST will be at home for the noon start tomorrow and hopes to improve its all-time first-round playoff record to 3-0. The MIAC website reports that the Tommies’ Fritz Waldvogel tied a Division III record by catching a pass in each of 40 career regular season games.

Twins executive Jim Rantz describes newly signed infielder Jamey Carroll as a “young” 37 year old. He said Carroll has taken care of himself and his personality will be a positive in the clubhouse.

Rantz said minor league pitching prospect Kyle Gibson won’t throw with “any velocity” until June or July after his Tommy John surgery. Rantz wouldn’t predict whether Gibson’s recovery schedule will allow him to pitch in organized baseball in 2012.

Max Kepler, the native of Germany who the Twins signed at 16, turns 19 in February and Rantz said the former infielder is considered a prospect at all three outfield positions. It’s possible Kepler will play for the Twins Class A Beloit team next year.

Coach Don Lucia’s No. 1 ranked Gophers hockey team has scored a goal in the last minute of regulation play in five of 12 games this season and only one goal has been an empty-net goal. Seven times this season the Gophers have scored during the last five minutes. Minnesota plays at St. Cloud State tonight and tomorrow night.

The Wild has the second-ranked prospects in the NHL, according to an ESPN Insider story this week. Mentioned in the article were Mikael Granlund, Charlie Coyle, Jonas Brodin and Johan Larsson. ESPN Insider discounted any player who had begun his entry-level contract.

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