Media – Page 17 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Hockey Guru Lauds U, Praises Warroad

Posted on March 7, 2023March 15, 2023 by David Shama

It’s a special week in the State of Hockey with the boys’ state tournament starting Wednesday and the Golden Gophers playing Saturday night in what could be a playoff run to the national championship.

Hockey icon Lou Nanne, 81, talked to Sports Headliners about the preps and Gophers on Monday. He began doing TV color commentary in the state tourney 59 years ago and will be behind a microphone for both Class AA semifinal games Friday and the championship game Saturday.

“I think Warroad could be the best team in the state,” Nanne said. “I think they should win single A and Minnetonka is the favorite in double A. But it’s going to be close. There’s a lot of good teams.”

Warroad’s opening game is Wednesday night against St. Cloud Cathedral, a team the Warriors beat 4-0 last fall. Warroad also owns wins over Class A state tourney rivals Mahtomedi and Orono. The Warriors defeated Wayzata, 3-2, a Class AA team that almost made the state tournament.

“…Everybody tells me they’ve got a phenomenal team,” Nanne said. “You look at their schedule. They beat double A teams as easily as they beat (other) teams.”

Nanne, who spends part of his winters in Florida, was captain of the 1962-1963 Gophers and his heart is in Dinkytown. The No. 1 nationally ranked Gophers, 25-8-1 overall and 19-4-1 in Big Ten games, play Michigan State, 18-17-2 and 10-12-2, at 8 p.m. Saturday night in 3M Arena at Mariucci.

The Gophers are the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, Michigan State is No. 5. Minnesota is a favorite not only to win the conference tourney but to go all the way to Tampa and come home with the national championship in the Frozen Four April 6 and 8.

To say Nanne is excited about the Gophers might be understating things. “Yes, I am very hopeful they not only make the Final Four but win it. It’s in Tampa, which I love, so I can just drive over to it. It’s a fabulous team. That first line is the best line…I’ve ever seen…at the U.”

Minnesota has a line for the ages in freshmen Logan Cooley and Jimmy Snuggerud, and sophomore Matthew Knies. Enjoy their playmaking while you can because all three could be gone to the pros next season.

The Gophers won the regular season conference championship for the sixth time in 10 years. In the standings they totaled 19 points better than second place Michigan.

Minnesota’s last national title was in 2002. Is this the best Gopher team since then? “Yeah, I think it is,” Nanne said. “This is a terrific team.”

No team wins championships, including a postseason run of success, without outstanding goal keeping. Senior Justen Close, who came to the Gophers from the Canadian Juniors, is one of the best goalies in the country.

“He’s been a great addition to the team,” Nanne said. “He might be even somewhat of a surprise. I don’t know if they knew he was going to play that well.”

Coach Bob Motzko, who took over the program for the 2019-2020 season, was an assistant on Minnesota’s national championship teams in 2002 and 2001. He’s worked hard to build a special team and had to do it in the midst of losing his son Mack in a car accident in 2021.

“Well, he’s done a marvelous job from the first day he’s gone in there, and that’s why I am really hopeful he gets rewarded with an NCAA championship this year,” Nanne said.

Part of the Motzko years have included playing before large numbers of empty seats at home games. But no more as the Gophers have been wildly cheered on by sellout crowds.

“Oh, that’s the best,” Nanne said. “I am just so happy to see that. I am glad the people are realizing what a great product they have over there. It’s just tremendous to see the support, and the student section, the excitement they generate in that building, I think it’s fantastic.”

There are, of course, no guarantees the fans go home happy Saturday night. Minnesota had a bye last weekend and hasn’t played since a week ago last Saturday.

“The biggest problem I worry about is whenever you have a bye, you’re not as sharp coming out of the bye,” Nanne said. “You’re sitting out for a couple weeks and so that’s the thing that concerns me.”

Worth Noting

Nanne was an All-American for the Gophers, an Olympian, and player and executive for the NHL North Stars. He is a member of more than a half dozen halls of fame including induction last week into the Star Tribune Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame.

The St. Thomas basketball team is more than impressive for a program in only its second season of Division I competition. The Tommies advanced to the Summit League tournament title game where they lost last night 70-65 to Oral Roberts in Sioux Falls. The Tommies were 19-14 overall, 9-9 in conference games. Their season is over because the NCAA is making them wait three more years to be eligible for postseason play as part of the agreement the school made to jump from Division III to I.

Minnesota plays a Nebraska team Wednesday night in the Big Ten Tournament that includes Keisei Tominaga, referred to as the “Japanese Steph Curry.” Tominaga wears No. 30 like Curry and is an electric shooter like his hero. The Huskers’ second leading scorer at 12.5 points per game, the 6-foot-2 Tominaga has remaining college eligibility for next season but could play professionally in his native Japan.

The Gophers are heavy with front court returnees and it wouldn’t be surprising if 7-foot Minnesota native Treyton Thompson enters the transfer portal. He averages 11 minutes per game and some games doesn’t play at all.

Best guess is Sonny Gray, 8-5 with a 3.08 ERA a year ago, will be the Twins’ opening day pitcher against the Royals in Kansas City March 30.

Pablo Lopez, who the Twins acquired in the offseason from the Marlins, could be a solid bet, too. His ability to throw strikes is impressive. The son of two doctors, Lopez will pitch for his native Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic that starts tomorrow.

MLB.com singled out Twins shortstop Brooks Lee yesterday as one of 30 prospects among major league teams “who have turned heads this spring.” Less than a year ago he was playing for Cal Poly but he has made an impressive transition to pro baseball after the Twins chose him No. 8 overall in the 2022 amateur draft.

The Athletic’s NBA power rankings out yesterday have the Timberwolves at No. 13 after previously being No. 17. Ex-Wolves coach and deal maker Tom Thibodeau has the Knicks at No. 6 in the ranking of the league’s 30 teams.

Happy birthday to Minnetonka girls’ basketball coach Brian Cosgriff.

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U Takes New Approach with Coaches

Posted on March 5, 2023March 5, 2023 by David Shama

At the University of Minnesota Hugh McCutcheon is a couple of months into a position that few schools in the country have in place. McCutcheon, the acclaimed former Golden Gophers volleyball coach, has the title of assistant athletics director/sport development coach.

In locker room translation that means he is a coaching guru who coaches the coaches from the athletic department’s 22 sports programs. He is available to consult with them on how they can be better at what they do. No other Big Ten Conference program has such a resource, but that might change soon in a world of competitive athletics where everyone is looking for an edge in performance.

Then again, how many schools have a Hugh McCutcheon? His wisdom has long been admired among inside the department by his coaching peers. Externally, he has been a TED speaker, consultant to the Minnesota Twins and book author.

McCutcheon provides how-to coaching advice in his 2022 book Championship Behaviors A Model for Competitive Excellence in Sports. The book’s purpose is to help coaches and athletes “achieve significant outcomes in sports.”

Those words and the following ones are in the introduction: “…Where significant means to strive for an outcome that will require work and change. Something beyond their current abilities.”

The book, which is also helpful to parents of athletes, speaks to the art and science of sports. Readers are presented with research, principles and methods that have resulted in efficient and desired outcomes while recognizing success is certainly not always measured by the scoreboard.

“We won’t always have five-star talent, but we can often make up the difference by being five-star teachers, learners, and competitors,” McCutcheon has said.

There are no shortcuts to change. Coaches and athletes must work via a path that makes sense physically, mechanically, and psychologically. McCutcheon’s book offers guidance and can also assist parents in judging whether they’re making a worthwhile investment (in time and money) in their child’s sports development. All concerned are encouraged to remember this: championships (whatever your definition) require championship behaviors.

McCutcheon, 53, is a cerebral guy, a deep thinker, but the opposite of a know-it-all. He is modest, approachable and emphasizes how important it is to listen to others. That’s job one at the U when he meets with coaching peers in his new role that has him working four-days per week. “Full-time, part-time,” McCutcheon said.

McCutcheon holds a group meeting at the U once a month with coaches, along with individual sessions where he can be a sounding board and help their development.

He walked away after last season from a nationally renowned women’s volleyball program that he built. He ended an 11-year career that was highlighted by two Big Ten titles and three trips to the NCAA Final Four.

Why?

Because he was being pulled in so many different directions, a “1,000 cuts,” he said. Part of his departure was driven by a desire to spend more time with family. During an interview with Sports Headliners he was attentive but concerned about time and tending to his sick son Andrew.

McCutcheon’s character and values are so apparent to anyone who meets him. Minnesota athletic director Mark Coyle knows the New Zealand native better than many others. Last year Coyle asked McCutcheon to tell him about his book. The two leaders spent a couple of hours in discussion and that provided Coyle with further insights about coaching and McCutcheon, and laid groundwork to an announcement last October that Minnesota’s volleyball coach would soon have a newly created role in the athletic department starting in January.

“His guidance and proven leadership will benefit all of our coaches as we continue to work to provide a holistic and world-class experience for our student-athletes,” Coyle said in a statement last October. “Hugh has had success at the Olympic and collegiate level coaching both men and women, and I know he will be able to provide additional value to our program.”

McCutcheon’s Olympic resume includes coaching the U.S. men to the 2008 Gold Medal. In four years with the U.S. Men’s National Team his record was 107-33. He also had a run with the U.S. Women’s National team and between both men’s and women’s programs compiled a record of 213-72.

Those achievements, and his many others, don’t come without planning and work. “I always set goals,” McCutcheon said referencing daily and longer-term tasks. He identifies what is to be accomplished and the tasks needed to achieve the goals.

As a college student, McCutcheon left Canterbury University in New Zealand to continue his education at Brigham Young in Provo, Utah. He played volleyball for the Cougars from 1991-1993. He earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education there, then played professional volleyball in Finland and Japan before returning to BYU to receive an MBA.

McCutcheon has been a lot of places and had many experiences, and along the way he has learned coaching is a powerful platform. But it’s often relatively easy to gain entry to coach in youth sports and sometimes even on the college and professional levels. Many who carry the title of coach are far from prepared in knowledge of their sport and how to relate most effectively with athletes.

“You might have someone who was a good player who is now asked to coach,” McCutcheon said. “It’s like taking someone who was a good shopper at Target and making them a manager at the store.”

Trouble awaits those who aren’t open enough to learn and change. A coach who is unqualified won’t be successful in developing trust with his team. And trust is one of McCutcheon’s pillars for success. Ideally, athletes must learn to trust themselves, their teammates and coaches.

Coaches need to be aware of who they are and what they’re doing because they can harm others, McCutcheon said. Athletes need to be coached in three areas: physical, emotional and social which includes being a good teammate who tries to make others better. Unfortunately, many coaches have neither degrees or backgrounds in coaching.

Respect between athletes and coaches can start with an honest approach. Despite McCutcheon’s inspiring resume prior to becoming Gopher volleyball coach, he told his first team, “I know I have to earn your respect.”

Just the introduction you would expect from this extraordinary teacher.

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Great Read Makes Vacation Better

Posted on March 1, 2023March 1, 2023 by David Shama

There are countless ways to make a February vacation away from the Great North a pleasurable experience. Always on my entertainment list is a superb book. As of late, I have reveled in a terrific basketball read: Wish it Lasted Forever: Life with the Larry Bird Celtics by Dan Shaughnessy.

Shaughnessy was the Boston Globe beat reporter on those wonderful Celtic teams from 1982-1986. He didn’t cover Bird’s first NBA title team in 1981, but he was on the scene for the 1984 and 1986 championship seasons. His book has Minnesota connections and is so compelling I was nostalgic reading it.

I traveled to Boston in the spring of 1986 on behalf of the Gund brothers’ organization that owned the NHL North Stars and operated the Met Center. I made the trip to meet with Celtic management regarding the team’s participation in a potential exhibition game at Met Center.

The Celtics provided tickets for my wife and me to watch an NBA finals game at legendary Boston Garden. The Garden, built in the late 1920’s, didn’t have air conditioning and the old building felt like a sauna for the Celtics, Houston Rockets and fans fortunate enough to be in attendance that night.

The Celtics were always alert for gamesmanship that might turn a game or series in their favor. During the 1984 championship series against the hated Lakers, the Celtics were accused of turning the Garden heating system on in the antiquated Los Angeles locker room during a warm spring in Boston. Part of the lore, too, was the showers ran cold water in the Laker locker room.

In the 1984 series, with the Lakers leading two games to one, former Gopher and Hibbing native Kevin McHale made a play that is talked about to this day. Bird had challenged his team’s heart and manhood after a Game Three loss and McHale showed he got the message in the next game by aggressively knocking Laker forward Kurt Rambis to the floor. The Lakers saw the confrontation as a dirty play then and now.

What followed in Game Four was more physical play and contentious jawing including a spat between Bird and the Lakers’ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Along the way, the Lakers lost their cool, with the Celtics winning in overtime.

The Celtics went on to win the championship four games to three. “You could feel the whole thing turn,” McHale said in Shaughnessy’s book.

McHale was a rookie on the 1981 championship team coached by Bill Fitch. I met Fitch when he coached the Gophers from 1968 to 1970. He was often a writer’s dream and a player’s nightmare. With the media, he could be a standup comic but he was beyond hard at times with his players, pushing them to extremes and even embarrassing them.

Fitch, who wisecracked that some days you wish your parents had never met, excelled with the Gophers leading them to consecutive fifth place Big Ten finishes after 10^th place finishes the two previous years. He left Minnesota for the Cleveland Cavaliers, an NBA expansion team. He likened the assignment of coaching a first-year team to a religious experience, noting that a lot of prayer was involved “but most of the time the answer is no.”

Fitch was a success with the Cavs, coaching them for nine seasons before joining the Celtics for the 1979-80 season. His timing coincided with Bird’s rookie season and the Celtics became a powerhouse with the demanding coach in charge. But Fitch’s harsh style with players came at a price and by the spring of 1983 he had lost control of the team. “…Bill had jumped a lot of ass and there was a lot of angry feelings,” McHale said in Shaughnessy’s book. Fitch moved on to Houston where he coached the Rockets for several seasons including that NBA Finals in 1986.

K.C. Jones coached the 1984 and 1986 champions. The view from here is he was more of a caretaker than the coach. Shaughnessy describes how it was a player, not a coach, who made the key strategic move on using defensive stopper Dennis Johnson on Magic Johnson in the 1984 series. And when games were on the line for the Celtics, it was Bird calling his own play.

The Celtics were a group of high basketball IQ guys. The brain power reached its zenith with the 1985-1986 team that saw the arrival of Bill Walton. It’s a basketball lover’s dream to go back and watch the artistry of the 1986 Celtics including the cutting, passing and playmaking between Bird and Walton.

This was team basketball at its best. Players knew their roles and how to execute them. Textbook defensive positioning, rebounding, fast breaking, ball movement, and high percentage shot selection.

The 1986 Celtics had size, skill, experience and work ethic. All their core players had so many skills including Danny Ange, perhaps the team’s best athlete. He was a Parade Magazine high school All-American in three sports—basketball, baseball and football.

The great Celtics of the 1980’s had camaraderie too. They liked each other and there was constant pranking that went on among teammates. Example: Shaughnessy writes about key reserve Scott Wedman, who was ahead of his time with dedication to nutrition and massage. Wedman drank bottled water and McHale reportedly liked to empty the bottles and fill them with tap water.

The 1986 Celtics were not only the best of the franchise’s three 1980’s title clubs. Many NBA historians, including this one, view them as the greatest NBA team of all time. Hands down, they are the most gifted passing team ever to play the pro game. The ’86 team was 67-15 during the regular season and won the championship series 4-2. They were 50 and one at home during the season and playoffs.

Anyone who knew the game of professional basketball and watched that team will never forget their season for the ages. In 1986, the Celtics painted a Picasso.

Wish it lasted forever.

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