Lynx – Page 22 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Flip’s Setback Surprised Wolves Owner

Posted on October 19, 2015October 19, 2015 by David Shama

Highlights from an interview with Timberwolves and Lynx owner Glen Taylor regarding various subjects:

Taylor said the setback in Flip Saunders’ health last month surprised him, and he acknowledged the return of his coach and basketball president is completely unknown. Reports in August were the 60-year-old Saunders had Hodgkin’s lymphoma but that it was treatable and curable. However, now sources are saying he has been hospitalized because of a serious—perhaps life-threatening—infection.

“We’re just patiently waiting and hoping that he recovers,” said Taylor, who wouldn’t confirm Saunders is hospitalized. “…You think he is coming along and all of a sudden he’s just had a setback and now we just have to wait.”

Earlier this month Taylor gathered Wolves players, coaches and others with the organization at his Mankato home for the annual lasagna feed. He spoke about the group being family and how Saunders had brought so many players and staff to the organization. “I just talked about the importance of him and how we missed him,” Taylor said. “How we’re going to pray for him, and how we’re all going to do well.”

Kevin Garnett is one of the players brought to the Wolves by Saunders who acquired the 39-year-old former superstar in a trade last February with the Nets. Garnett, who originally had been drafted by the Wolves as a teenager, has expressed interest in team ownership some day but Taylor said no deal is in place and can’t be because of NBA policy.

“No, it’s not something I can talk to Kevin about,” Taylor said. “He’s a player and I am an owner, and that would be a conflict of interest. I’ve never talked to Kevin about that issue. All I know about it is that I think that he has stated a couple different times that he would be interested in that when the opportunity comes. We have to just wait until that opportunity is there and it won’t be while he is playing.”

While the Wolves haven’t qualified for the playoffs since 2004, Taylor’s WNBA Lynx have won three league titles in five years with the latest earned last week. “It still just feels wonderful,” he said about winning another championship.

Although Taylor didn’t have the figures in front of him, his “sense” is the franchise may turn about a $1 million profit because of its successful season. That’s likely the best year financially ever for the Lynx and stands in contrast to most WNBA clubs that lose money.

Minnesota native Lindsay Whalen, a key contributor to the Lynx championships, was frustrated with injuries this past season and is 33 years old. Taylor hasn’t spoken to the point guard about how long she will continue playing. He is a Whalen admirer and thinks she could eventually have other responsibilities in the organization. “It’s not something we’ve discussed (though),” Taylor said.

Taylor is committed to partnering with Dr. Bill McGuire and others in an ownership group to bring an MLS franchise to Minnesota. Taylor, who operates his Wolves and Lynx at city-owned Target Center, thought Minneapolis elected officials would show more interest in having a soccer stadium built in the Farmers market area, a project and site that could create jobs and offer other benefits to the city economy.

Taylor said he sent a letter to Mayor Betsy Hodges awhile back about a Minneapolis soccer stadium. “I didn’t even get a reply, so I assume that’s telling me something—that they don’t see it as a possibility or they aren’t encouraging it,” said Taylor, who is now supportive of the proposed Midway stadium location in St. Paul.

Taylor owns 17,000 acres of farm land in Minnesota and Iowa. Raised on a farm in Minnesota as a youngster, he still likes to be close to the land and planned to spend part of last weekend riding in a combine on one of his farms.

Worth Noting

The Lynx were honored by the Vikings at their game with the Chiefs yesterday at TCF Bank Stadium. Maya Moore sounded the Gjallarhorn prior to the game. Against three different opponents in the playoffs, Moore averaged 23.4 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists. She has experienced a remarkable first five years as a pro. She has been WNBA Rookie of the Year, league MVP and a force on three WNBA championship teams.

Augsburg alum Roger Griffith is executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Lynx. He has been a part of the Timberwolves/Lynx organization since 1994.

Former Gophers Big Ten championship basketball coach Jim Dutcher will speak at the next CORES luncheon on November 12 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington, 1114 American Blvd. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans. More information about CORES is available by contacting Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net.

While the Gophers men’s hockey team is off to a 0-3 start, the No. 1 ranked women’s team is 6-0.

The office of former Gophers athletic director Norwood Teague is being used as a conference room in the Bierman Field Athletic Building. Interim athletic director Beth Goetz’s office is nearby.

The late Steve Wilkinson, the Gustavus legend and winningest head coach in collegiate men’s tennis history, was honored by the USPTA when the organization named one of its top awards the “Steve Wilkinson Collegiate Coach of the Year Award.”

Congratulations to prep football coaches Jeff Gronner from Cromwell and Dan Essler of New London-Spicer for achieving 100 career wins this month. Gronner’s record is 100-34 in 12 seasons. Essler’s record is 101-64 in 16 years.

Comments Welcome

U Looks for 3rd Straight Over Nebraska

Posted on October 12, 2015October 12, 2015 by David Shama

Things I think I am clear about after getting out of bed at 3 a.m. Saturday morning for travel to West Lafayette for the Gophers-Purdue football game:

Be skeptical of anyone telling you he is mostly correct about which teams will win college football games each week and how they’re going to do it. Second-year Texas coach Charlie Strong was all but fired before his 1-4 Longhorns went to Dallas last Saturday to play No. 10 ranked Oklahoma. Washington State was more than a two touchdowns underdog at once mighty Oregon. The Gophers managed only 10 first half points against Purdue’s lowly defense and the Minnesota offense, entering the game last in points per game among Big Ten teams, looked stalled out again.

Well, Texas and Washington State pulled off upsets, and the Gophers produced 31 second half points to pull away from the Boilermakers with a 41-13 win. The offensive line lifted the spirits of worried Gophers fans by opening some of the biggest holes of the season after halftime, and freshman running back Shannon Brooks left no doubt he is by far the team’s most explosive player by gaining 176 yards including a 71-yard touchdown run.

It was a must-have win for the Gophers, now 4-2 and within two wins of bowl eligibility. The one thousand or more Gophers fans at the stadium knew, or should have known, the win over Purdue could be followed by a victory this Saturday against 2-4 Nebraska.

Hard to believe but the Gophers can win for a third consecutive time against Nebraska, one of college football’s winningest programs. The Gophers had 16 straight losses to the Cornhuskers from 1963-2012. After the Nebraska game at TCF Bank Stadium this Saturday, Minnesota will look for additional wins during a daunting remaining schedule that features national powers Iowa, Michigan and Ohio State, plus a pair of 4-2 teams, Illinois and Wisconsin.

But let’s not go too far into the future. Let’s return to the wisdom of paragraph No. 2 above. Who knows for sure how the remainder of the schedule will turn out for Minnesota and other teams? What is known about the Gophers is that despite playing without more than one-third of their starters lost to injuries, they managed to win last Saturday. No, it wasn’t a tear down the goalposts victory against 1-5 Purdue, but it kept the word hope alive in the Gophers’ vocabulary for a successful 2015 season.

An early flight to Chicago with friend Tim Murray and drive to West Lafayette had us on the Purdue campus by early afternoon. At Mackey Arena the Purdue band entertained mostly Boilermakers fans before the game. The arena public address announcer acknowledged the Gophers fans in attendance and the band dialed up the “Minnesota Rouser.”

All afternoon we experienced Purdue hospitality. Even walking out of the stadium after a Gophers rout we were wished safe travels. Boilermaker fans certainly had reason to be in a bad mood. Purdue is struggling through yet another discouraging season, and both its offense and defense were inept last Saturday. Purdue’s tackling was at times awful and Boilers’ defensive coordinator Greg Hudson, who once held the same position at Minnesota, had reason to be livid.

Yet despite Purdue’s performance we never saw or heard a boobird all day. I have travelled to Gophers games at Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State and Wisconsin. The most classless experience anywhere was in Ann Arbor awhile back when our group was harassed after the game while walking on campus.

Our crime? Wearing Gophers clothing. It wasn’t enough the Wolverines had won another yet game against Minnesota. These jerks had to mouth off after the win.

A trip to West Lafayette provided a lesson in hospitality and kindness. Go Purdue fans!

Worth Noting

Brooks, who averaged 10.4 yards per carry against Purdue on 17 carries for 176 yards, was named the Big Ten’s Co-Freshmen Player of the Week along with Michigan safety Jabrill Peppers. Chris Streveler, then a quarterback, was the last Gophers player to win the award (September, 2014). Streveler, now a receiver, caught his first college pass in the Purdue game.

It’s interesting to note that three coaches who once had their names in credible rumors about the Gophers head coaching position are now either out of work or under fire. Brady Hoke was at San Diego State and Randy Edsall at Connecticut when Minnesota was looking to replace Tim Brewster who had been let go during the 2010 season. The Gophers hired Jerry Kill while Hoke went to Michigan and Edsall moved on to Maryland. Hoke was fired after last season and Edsall dismissed yesterday. Texas head coach Charlie Strong was the defensive coordinator at Florida when the Gophers were replacing Glen Mason in early 2007. Strong moved on to Louisville and is now at Texas where he is under intense pressure.

Vikings wide receiver Mike Wallace didn’t practice today. Head coach Mike Zimmer wouldn’t disclose why at his news conference this afternoon. Wallace reportedly didn’t practice last Tuesday—the last time the team worked out prior to its bye on the schedule this past weekend.

Will Wallace play on Sunday against the Chiefs? “We’ll see. The injury report will come out on Wednesday,” Zimmer answered.

Mike Wallace (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings)

A starting wide receiver acquired from the Dolphins in the offseason, Wallace had his best regular season game as a Viking on October 4 against the Broncos. He caught eight passes for 83 yards and a touchdown.

Some Vikings players put in extra time to improve during the bye week. Zimmer indicated rookie center Nick Easton, acquired last week in a trade with the 49ers, was one of them. Asked about the learning curve for Easton, Zimmer said, “He spent a lot of extra time last week (learning). He’s a pretty sharp guy. I think he’ll get up to speed quickly.”

This week Zimmer will watch to see if his players are tuned in after returning from extra time off because of the bye. “For awhile, a year ago, we’d give them a long weekend or something like that. They’d come back and they weren’t as crisp or sharp as when they left,” he said.

Twins president Dave St. Peter talking about his franchise that finished 83-79 this season after a record of 70-92 in 2014: “I think advancing to postseason play has to be a goal for us next year. I’d like to think we could put ourselves in a position to contend for the American League Central.

“The Royals are good and I think the path to winning our division certainly goes through Kansas City. …I expect the Royals will be the favorite to win our division next year. I don’t expect we’ll be picked (again) to finish last in our division but none of that matters unless we get it done on the field.”

The Lynx hopes history repeats Wednesday night at Target Center. Minnesota plays the Fever in the deciding fifth game of the WNBA Finals. The franchise is 3-0 in close-out playoff games at Target Center.

Comments Welcome

Coughlin Gives Spielman Gopher Hints

Posted on October 2, 2015October 2, 2015 by David Shama

Carter Coughlin hasn’t given up on Eden Prairie High School football teammate J.D. Spielman changing his mind about playing for Nebraska. Coughlin has verbally committed to the Gophers and hasn’t been bashful about encouraging other high school prospects to follow him to Minnesota.

Coughlin committed to his home state school last winter, while Spielman announced for Nebraska this summer. The two Eden Prairie teenagers are captains and buddies. Coughlin told Sports Headliners he was disappointed to learn Spielman chose Nebraska over Minnesota but he understands and respects the decision.

Still, that doesn’t mean Coughlin has lost interest in seeing Spielman sign a National Letter of Intent with the Gophers next winter when high school players can make official commitments. “I make hints every now and then but for the most part I am not drilling him too hard,” Coughlin said.

Spielman likes how the slot receiver is used in the Nebraska offense, so that’s provided an opportunity for Coughlin to promote Minnesota and its slot specialist, KJ Maye. “Whenever I am at the Gopher games and KJ Maye makes a play I always take a video of what he did, or whatever, and say this is you out there, or something like that,” Coughlin said. “He chuckles, but that’s pretty much the most I do.”

Eden Prairie is 6-0 and considered the best prep football team in the state. Spielman has been an extraordinary game changer and headline-maker with long runs and touchdowns. He is a headache for defenses with his ability to run and elude tacklers on rushes, pass receptions, punts and kickoffs. Opposing offenses see plenty of Spielman too when he plays in the Eden Prairie secondary where he is a continual threat to intercept passes and run them back for touchdowns.

“J.D. has been making a ton of plays,” Coughlin said. “He’s got like the most incredible vision of any high school player I’ve ever seen. The way he can minupulate his body (is special). Before you even know what you’re going to do, he knows what you’re going to do. It’s pretty incredible.”

Coughlin and Spielman are two of the top college prospects in the Upper Midwest. Coughlin turned down Ohio State for Minnesota. He played defensive end for Eden Prairie last season but has been moved to linebacker, the position he will play at Minnesota. He is 6-foot-4 and his weight is up to about 220 with the goal of adding 10 more pounds before he becomes a Gopher. He has run close to 4.5 in the 40-yard dash. “I’ve kept my speed and I’ve just gotten bigger,” he said.

The Eagles have won 36 straight games and are targeting another 6A title. Coughlin believes this year’s team is better than last season’s champs. “We’ve been running over teams that we’ve been playing,” he said. “Maple Grove gave us a really good game, but to be honest with you we didn’t play very well. So the fact that we beat one of the top teams in the state when we had an off game just goes to show that if we’re playing at our full potential we can beat anybody in the state.”

Eden Prairie defeated Maple Grove by eight points early last month. It was the kind of close game the Eagles always seem to find a way to win under coach Mike Grant and his staff.

“It’s kind of our identity at Eden Prairie,” Coughlin said. “The coaches have created a culture that is unquestionably a winning culture. You look at coach Grant’s statistics (winning record) and he instills that in you right from freshman year. You go in your freshman year, and you’re expecting to beat everybody.”

Grant has a saying that you don’t have to be a great player, just make great plays. “He believes you don’t have to have a bunch of great players that are all going Division I, you just have to have a bunch of players that are going to play great,” Coughlin said.

With Coughlin and Spielman, Grant has players who are great talents who play that way.

Worth Noting

Gophers interim athletic director Beth Goetz told Sports Headliners the University of Minnesota Board of Regents will be presented the final design and plan details next week for the proposed $190 million athletic facilities project. “We feel good about where we are with that presentation and are hopeful we will get approval,” Goetz said.

Approval could come next Thursday as the regents gather for two days to review University matters. The project will include an Athletes Village to benefit the more than 700 Gopher athletes, and new practice facilities for the football and basketball teams. Goetz said groundbreaking details could be announced next week.

Although fundraising revenues aren’t in place to cover the entire project cost, the University is expected to finance remaining expenses. Look for a Sports Headliners feature next week profiling Goetz, who assumed her new responsibilities last summer replacing AD Norwood Teague.

Justin Jackson, Northwestern’s sophomore running back who the Gophers will see tomorrow in Evanston, is second among Big Ten Conference runners with 516 yards and is averaging 129 yards per game in four games. He has rushed for at least 100 yards in nine of his last 11 games. The Gophers recruited the Carol Stream, Illinois native. “If you don’t get him wrapped up, he’s going to bounce off of you, and you don’t want to give him any creases,” Gophers coach Jerry Kill said.

Craig James, who was steady and impressive returning punts for the Gophers last year as a freshman, has struggled with judgment and ball security in 2015. Receivers KJ Maye and Drew Wolitarsky have experience as Gophers punt returners and might be options if James is replaced tomorrow. Wolitarsky suffered a concussion last Saturday against Ohio but Kill said earlier this week the junior will be available in Evanston.

Despite marketing itself as “Chicago’s Big Ten team,” the Wildcats have difficulty attracting fans to home games at Ryan Field. The stadium’s capacity is 47,330, the smallest in the 14-member Big Ten Conference. The 4-0 and nationally ranked Wildcats have played three games at home this season, reporting attendance of 36,024 (Stanford), 29,131 (Eastern Illinois) and 30,107 (Ball State).

Tomorrow’s game against the 3-1 Gophers won’t come close to selling out. Minnesota, though, has sold out its first three home games for the first time since the 2009 season. That was the opening year at TCF Bank Stadium.

Northwestern is ranked No. 16 in the AP Poll and No. 17 in the Amway Coaches Poll. Gophers quarterback Mitch Leidner said his team can compete with anyone and deserves to be ranked. “We feel like we should be,” he said. “Being 3-1 and the schedule we played in the nonconference, we feel we should have that opportunity as well.”

The NCAA annually recognizes academic progress rates for teams that are in the top 10 percent of all teams in each sport. In May the NCAA recognized 79 percent of Northwestern’s teams in various sports, the best ranking of any FBS school. The Gophers ranked fifth nationally with 58 percent of their teams.

Adrian Peterson (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings)

Despite gaining only 31 yards in the opening game, Adrian Peterson leads the NFL in rushing yards after three games with 291 yards. The Vikings play the Broncos on Sunday and Denver’s defense is No. 1 in the NFL. The Broncos rank No. 6 in the league against the rush, No. 1 versus the pass.

Minneapolis-born Ryan Harris has been a starter at offensive tackle for the Broncos in their first three games. Denver assistant coaches Fred Pagac (outside linebackers) and Joe Woods (defensive backs) are former Vikings assistants.

The Vikings have tickets available for their remaining six regular season home games including with the Packers on November 22. A team spokesman said the club has sold 86 percent of its seat license inventory and 90 percent of its suites in the new U.S. Bank Stadium.

The most attention given to MIAC football on Saturday will likely be the game between Bethel and Concordia, two teams with 3-1 overall records. The Royals are 2-0 in league games, while the Cobbers, who host the game, are 1-1. Concordia is giving up only 13.8 points per game, while Bethel is allowing 17.

Playmakers on offense include Bethel running back Marshall Klitzke and Cobber receiver Brandon Zylstra. Klitzke is second in the MIAC with 509 rushing yards and has five scores. Zylstra has 16 catches for 289 yards and two touchdowns.

Both teams have new quarterbacks this season. Bethel’s Trey Anderson has completed 71 percent of his passes, while throwing seven touchdown passes and no interceptions. Michael Herzog threw for 211 yards and a score last week in leading the Cobbers to 37 points in a win over St. Olaf.

If the Twins could sweep the Royals with wins tonight, Saturday and Sunday they would finish the season series with 10 victories and nine losses against the Central Division champs. Saturday’s game time was switched from an evening start to 12:05 p.m. at the request of Fox Sports.

With three games remaining in the season, the 83-76 Twins are a cinch to finish above .500 for the first time since 2010 when they were 94-68. The Twins were 5-2 on the last road trip that ended in Cleveland with a win last night. Minnesota finished 15-13 in September, the most wins in one month since April when the club was 20-7.

Former Twins Rod Carew and Jeff Reardon had 70^th and 60^th birthdays yesterday.

Prominent sports agent Ron Shapiro, who represents Twins first baseman Joe Mauer, spoke about negotiations recently to a group of Minnesota business and nonprofit leaders at the Metropolitan Club at Target Field. The event organizer was the National Mentoring Partnership, based in Boston and led by Shapiro’s son David.

The Lynx won both of their games during the regular season against the Indiana Fever. The teams open the WNBA Finals on Sunday at Target Center in the best three of five series. Sunday’s game will be televised by ABC, with the remaining games, including next Tuesday, on ESPN.

The Wild purchased 500 tickets for Sunday’s game to be made available complimentary to the first 250 fans requesting tickets on the Lynx website. The Wolves Tyus Jones and the Twins were involved with purchases for Western Conference semifinals games.

Joe Schmit, the KSTP TV sports anchor, said sales for his book have reached 13,000. Sudden Impact: Stories of Influence through Purpose, Persistence & Passion is now in its third printing.

Comments Welcome