Lynx – Page 19 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Santana Flirts with No-Hitter Range

Posted on May 3, 2017May 3, 2017 by David Shama

A Wednesday notes column, including items on Twins, Gophers, Vikings and Lynx newsmakers.

Twins starting pitcher Ervin Santana has won almost 40 percent of the team’s games this spring. He won last night against the Athletics and is 5-0 for the Twins, who have a 13-11 record this season.

No pitcher has won more games in the major leagues. Among starting pitchers, Santana’s 0.66 ERA is also the best in both the American and National Leagues.

Santana gave up three hits and no runs in six innings last night, while confusing and striking out seven batters. In two games this season he gave up only two hits, and two other times just four hits.

In his April 15 win over the White Sox, he pitched nine innings and threw a one-hitter, becoming the first Twins starter since 2011 to allow just a single hit. The way Santana is pitching, it’s fair to wonder whether this season he can become only the sixth Twin in club history to throw a no-hitter. For the season he has allowed 16 hits and three earned runs in 41 innings.

The 34-year-old right hander, who was acquired by the Twins as a free agent in December of 2014, threw a no-hitter for the Angels against the Indians in 2011. Santana allowed one unearned run and struck out 10 batters.

Going into past seasons with Minnesota, Santana has been labeled a No. 2 or 3 caliber starter on a pitching staff in search of a No. 1. That has changed in a big way so far this season with Santana not just looking like a No. 1, but earning a place among baseball’s most dominant starters.

Former Twin Trevor Plouffe is the Athletics’ third baseman, and had one hit in four at bats last night. In his first season with the A’s he is hitting .209 with four home runs and nine RBI.

Another ex-Twin, Danny Valencia, played third for the Athletics last season but now is with the Mariners as a first baseman where he is batting .182 with two home runs and six RBI.

Write this name down: Nik Turley. The 27-year-old journeyman left-hander was signed by the Twins in the off season and is more than impressing at Double A Chattanooga. Turley, who has been in the minors since 2008 and was with the Red Sox organization last year, has a 0.44 ERA while allowing five hits and one run in four games including two starts.

Meanwhile, Turley teammate Kohl Stewart, the Twins’ first round draft choice in 2013, is 0-4 record with a 6.05 ERA.

The Athletes Village at the University of Minnesota is part of the “Nothing Short of Greatness” fundraising campaign with a $200 million goal. The Athletes Village project will cost about $166 million and the additional $34 million is targeted at existing facilities including renovation at Mariucci Arena. Fundraising now is over $100 million, with the goal of eventually privately raising the $200 million from individuals and others. “It’s breakfast, lunch, dinner fundraising,” said athletic director Mark Coyle.

About 200,000 construction hours have already gone into the Athletes Village, with facilities opening early next year. Sophie Skarzynski from the Gophers hockey team was among the speakers at a celebration progress event for donors, construction workers and others last week. She had the audience laughing with this remark for the construction crew: “It’s very comforting to know that not only the student-athletes are up at 5:30, but you guys are too.”

Reservations for the CORES program and lunch on Thursday, May 11 need to be made by Monday. Michele Tafoya, the sideline reporter on NBC TV’s Sunday Night Football who lives in suburban Minneapolis, will speak to the CORES crowd at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington, 1114 American Blvd. Dick Jonckowski is the popular emcee at CORES programs. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans. More information is available by contacting Jim Dotseth, dotseth@comcast.net.

CORES attendees and other friends of Jonckowski will want to attend the Minnesota Minute Men’s roast of “The Polish Eagle,” who for 31 seasons was the Gophers basketball public address. Tickets remain for the event that starts at noon Friday at Jax Café. Scheduled roasters are Vikings executive Lester Bagley, former Gophers football star Jim Carter and WCHA men’s commissioner Bill Robertson. More information is available by calling Terry Sullivan, 952-451-2104, or at Minnesotaminutemen.com.

As the Vikings move through practices this spring and summer preparing for the season, a national storyline off the field will be the recovery progress of quarterback Teddy Bridgewater from his devastating knee injury last year. Bridgewater is passionate about his rehab and has made progress but is far from having full mobility. A leader who is admired by teammates and coaches, it’s not yet clear whether the 24-year-old will ever return to the field—or if he does, when that will be.

Morris Area High School has been named the Minnesota Football Program of the year. The award is sponsored by the Minnesota Vikings, Innovative Office Solutions, the Minnesota Chapter of the National Football Foundation and KFAN 100.3 FM. A check for $10,000 will be presented to the school today, and on Sunday the award will be recognized as part of the Minnesota Football Honors Event at U.S. Bank Stadium. (See April 6 Sports Headliners).

While Target Center undergoes renovation this year, the Lynx are looking to make a marketing opportunity out of the franchise’s one season at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Chris Wright, president of the WNBA team and NBA Timberwolves, said about 20 percent of the team’s season ticket holders are from the St. Paul area, with most of the balance from Minneapolis and suburbs. “We’re going to grow our business in St. Paul,” Wright told Sports Headliners.

The Lynx has sold approximately 700 new “full season ticket equivalents” and expects to total around 3,600 or more. Equivalents are full and partial season ticket packages. The Lynx, who play a opening exhibition game in St. Paul on Friday night, averaged almost 8,000 in attendance last season, tops in the WNBA, according to Wright. He expects corporate revenues to increase this year also.

There’s no consensus favorite to win Saturday’s 143rd running of the Kentucky Derby. Smart handicappers will be looking at experienced jockeys in predicting the winning horse. Canterbury Park will offer live racing on Saturday and wagering on the Derby. The Shakopee racetrack opens the 2017 meet on Friday night.

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New Pressure on Wild in Playoffs

Posted on April 11, 2017April 11, 2017 by David Shama

The Wild enter Wednesday night’s opening playoff series against the Blues facing expectations that are a franchise first. Coach Bruce Boudreau and his players produced the best regular season results in wins and points since Minnesota became a member of the NHL in 2000-2001. The results also created anticipation the Wild will make a deep playoff run.

“Expectations from fans to get past the first round and into the second are huge,” a pro hockey authority told Sports Headliners. “They (the Wild) are not used to the expectations that you’re really good and should advance to the conference finals.”

How the Wild reacts to the pressure of the playoffs beginning tomorrow night in St. Paul will likely be the biggest sports story in the state during the spring. The source quoted above asked that his name not be used, but he had a lot to say about the Wild and Blues including predictions regarding both tomorrow night’s game and the series winner.

He looks for the underdog Blues to be aggressive early in Wednesday evening’s game. “I think they will try to score early on (goalie Devan) Dubnyk and rattle his confidence. The Wild don’t (always) play well when other teams play them physical.”

The Blues finished third in the Central Division, while the Wild placed second to the Blackhawks. Odds-makers see the Wild, who had the second best record in the Western Conference, as a likely Stanley Cup Finals team but the Blues are a long-shot. Scoring early tonight figures to give St. Louis a lift to its hopes of winning one of the first two games in the series. Game 2 is in St. Paul Friday night before the games 3 and 4 in the best of seven series switch to St. Louis.

Even casual Wild and Blues fans will be watching Dubnyk closely. The Wild’s 30-year-old goalie was sensational much of the season but faltered toward the finish. “People in the industry think he was overused,” the source said. “Too many minutes and too many games. Is he fresh for the playoffs? That remains to be seen?”

Dubnyk played in 65 of 82 regular season games. He was the winning goalie in 40 of the Wild’s 49 victories and only seven goalies had a better goals against average than his 2.25. But only three NHL goalies played more minutes than Dubnyk’s 3,758, according to Hockey-reference.com

Boudreau’s handling of the team was often praised this season. The new coach brought strong leadership and a calming influence to a team that had played mediocre hockey in recent seasons. Several players produced career seasons and at times this winter the Wild looked to some observers like the best team in the NHL.

But Boudreau, fair or not, was labeled in other NHL head coaching stops as being a leader who couldn’t get his teams into deep playoff runs. The worst thing for his image would be an upset series loss to the Blues coached by Mike Yeo who was the Wild’s coach a little over a year ago.

Yeo certainly has incentive to show his former franchise, including general manager Chuck Fletcher, that letting him go was a mistake. The Blues were failing on February 1 when they fired Ken Hitchcock and replaced him with Yeo. He helped lead St. Louis to a 21-8-2 record while earning a reputation for being among the league’s best defensive teams.

But revenge for Yeo against the Wild will be a challenge. Minnesota is more talented and deeper than the Blues, and has home ice advantage. While warning the series could be close, the source quoted here predicts the Wild will win round one in six games.

That should keep the fanbase satisfied—temporarily.

Worth Noting

Wild total attendance for regular season home games this season was 781,915, for an average of 19,071. Both figures are franchise records. All 41 home games at Xcel Energy Center were sellouts, with 34 topping 19,000 in attendance. The previous total regular season attendance record was 779,974 in 2014-15, while the previous average attendance record was 19,062 set last season.

The Twins entered today’s game against the Tigers an MLB-best 5-1 but lost 2-1 to Detroit. All the games have been against Central Division teams. A year ago, the Twins who lost their first nine games of the 2016 season, didn’t earn their first win against a division team until April 25.

For now the Twins are going with rookie left-hander Adalberto Mejia as their fifth starter. In his only start so far he pitched 1.2 innings, giving up two earned runs in a earning a loss against the White Sox. Before this season the 23-year-old was named the sixth best prospect in the Twins’ system by Baseball America.

The WNBA’s draft Thursday night consists of three rounds with the first round televised by ESPN2 starting at 6 p.m. Minneapolis time. The second and third rounds will be on ESPNU. The Lynx hold the 12th, 24th and 36th picks respectively in the first, second and third rounds.

Draftsite.com projects the Lynx will select Baylor guard Alexis Prince, Kansas State center Breanna Lewis and Syracuse center Briana Day with their three choices. Forward Nia Coffey, the former Hopkins all-stater who was a dominant player for Northwestern, is projected going to Dallas as the 10th player overall selected in the draft.

The Timberwolves, whose specific draft position in June awaits the NBA Draft Lottery, will have a high pick and they need help at power forward. The 2017 draft could have several power forwards chosen in the first round and the Wolves may end up with perhaps the best of the group, Arizona’s Lauri Markkanen.

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Vikings QB Cautions about 5-0 Starts

Posted on October 19, 2016October 19, 2016 by David Shama

The Vikings are 5-0 and ranked near the top of everybody’s NFL power rankings but the players insist they’re not high on themselves. They know how fast things can change in the NFL because of misfortune including injuries.

Shaun Hill is the No. 2 quarterback on the Vikings, and he was also a reserve in 2003 when Minnesota started the season 6-0. “I’ve been in this situation and I understand that there’s a lot of work yet to be done,” he told Sports Headliners.

The 2003 Vikings didn’t have a defense comparable to the 2016 version and the club lost four consecutive games after starting the season unbeaten. “I just know we led the division until the last play of the game that year, and didn’t do enough to make it to the postseason,” Hill recalled. “It doesn’t matter what your record is this week, it’s a…weekly (challenge), and really, you gotta go into every game as if both teams are 0-0.”

Wide receiver and kick returner Cordarralle Patterson said wherever he goes strangers and friends are hyped about the undefeated Vikings who play the 3-2 Eagles in Philadelphia Sunday afternoon. Patterson said he hears comments at gas stations, in taxis and on airplanes about how great the team is, but he knows fans are fickle.

Here’s what Patterson said fans tell him, and what his perspective is about the praise. “Oh, man, you all so good—5-0, man. We can’t believe it and all this. But two weeks from now (if the Vikings are losing), they be like, oh, man, ya all suck. I thought you all way better than you all was.

Cordarrelle Patterson (photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings)

“I am like, duh. Just last week you said how good we is, and now you say we suck. So you can’t really pay attention to what people say. …”

Patterson is convinced teammates are focused and competitive, realizing there are 11 more games to be played before the playoffs. “There’s no selfish guys in this locker room. Everybody wants the next guy to be better than what they is. We like to compete. If you’re not competing, you’re not trying.”

Those comments will resonate with Hill. “I guarantee you this, they don’t hand out any trophies in October,” he said.

Worth Noting

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer talking about former North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz who as a rookie has started every game for the Eagles: “…It seems like he understands where the ball is going quickly. He has done a nice job of avoiding pressure in the pocket and using his athletic ability, and he has got a great arm. He looks very accurate to me. He has got a great deep ball. So, he has been impressive.”

Wisconsin lost in overtime Saturday night to Ohio State, 30-23, but Joel Stave told Sports Headliners he believes if the teams played 10 times in Madison, the Badgers would win half the games. Stave, the Badgers starting quarterback last season and now on the Vikings practice squad, attended Saturday night’s game in Madison and watched on the field.

Badgers coach Paul Chryst had the undefeated Buckeyes guessing as to what was going to happen next when Wisconsin had the ball. “I think he’s the best play caller in the country,” Stave said.

For the second consecutive week, players with state of Minnesota ties have been named Big Ten Players of the Week. Badgers junior linebacker Jack Cichy, a native of Somerset, Wisconsin who attended Hill-Murray School in Maplewood, was announced Monday as the Defensive Player of the Week for his career-high 15 tackles (11 solo) against Ohio State. Last week Purdue running back Brian Lankford-Johnson from St. Paul was Freshman of the Week after rushing for 127 yards against Illinois. Johnson signed with the Boilermakers after playing prep football in Palm Bay, Florida.

Former Gophers offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch, now an assistant at Michigan, might be among the candidates Purdue considers to fill its head coaching vacancy. A stronger possibility could be former Purdue assistant Brock Spack, now head coach at Illinois State where his wins this year include an upset of Northwestern.

It will be interesting to hear Saint John’s head football coach Gary Fasching speak to the C.O.R.E.S. lunch group Thursday, November 10. The Johnnies are not only nationally ranked and chasing the MIAC title, but Monday it was announced the St. Thomas-Saint John’s game next year will be played at Target Field. The lunch will be at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington, 1114 American Blvd. More information is available by contacting Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net. C.O.R.E.S. is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans.

Patrick Mahomes, the Texas Tech quarterback and son of former Twins pitcher Pat Mahomes, leads all FBS players in total offense at 455.2 yards per game.

Ex-Gophers quarterback Phil Nelson, now at East Carolina, ranks 19th in the country with 311.8 yards per game. Nelson first left the Gophers for Rutgers and later transferred to East Carolina where he is in his first and last season of eligibility. Former Minnesota coach Jerry Kill helped Nelson transition to East Carolina because of Jeff Compher, the Pirates’ athletics director. When Kill coached at Northern Illinois, Compher was the Huskies’ athletics director and the two built a friendship and mutual admiration.

“At the end of the day that’s how he (Nelson) got there, and that’s how it all worked out,” Kill told Sports Headliners. “Jeff was good enough to believe what I said and took the chance on Philip. He talked a lot about it. The reason Philip is at East Carolina is because of Jeff Compher and what kind of person Jeff Compher is.”

Wide receiver True Thompson, formerly of Armstrong High School, suffered a concussion in August while with the Iowa Western Community College football team, but he has resumed practicing with the team. Thompson, the son of ex-Gophers running back Darrell Thompson, is redshirting this year.

Home court might be the difference tomorrow night when the WNBA Finals are decided at Target Center. The Lynx and Sparks are tied at two wins in the best of five series but Target Center has been a favored place for the Minnesota team. The Lynx is 16-3 this year in its home arena, including playoff games. With a victory the Lynx can win its second consecutive WNBA title and fourth in franchise history.

Owner Glen Taylor told Sports Headliners last month the franchise will have its most profitable year ever, coming in between $1 million and $2 million. Now with the club hosting three games in the WNBA Finals the bottom line should look even better.

Former Gophers All-American Leonard “Buddy” Edelen, who became the first man to run a marathon faster than two hours and 15 minutes in 1963, is among those selected for the 2016 USATF National Track & Field Hall of Fame Class. Edelen, who passed away in 1997, will be posthumously inducted during the second annual Black Tie & Sneakers Gala in New York on November 3.

A native of Harrodsburg, Kentucky, Edelen was a two-time All-American and a two-time Big Ten champion for the Gophers competing for the cross country and track teams in the late 1950s. In 1963 he ran 2:14.28 to win Britain’s Polytechnic Marathon. He finished sixth in the marathon at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

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