Media – Page 32 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Looks Like 8-8 Record for Vikings

Posted on September 8, 2020September 8, 2020 by David Shama

Bob Lurstema’s insights about the Minnesota Vikings have proven accurate through the years, and perhaps never more impressive than in 2019 when he predicted a 10-win season for his former team. The Vikings went 10-6 last season, made the playoffs as a wild card entry and won a dramatic overtime game against the New Orleans Saints before being eliminated by the San Francisco 49ers in the postseason.

What say Lurtsema for 2020? “I go .500. I don’t expect them to rock and roll,” the former defensive lineman told Sports Headliners today.

The Vikings, who have finalized their roster to the NFL mandatory 53 players and open the season at noon Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium against the Green Bay Packers, are among the youngest teams in the NFL. Minnesota, with an average age of 25.5 is tied for the fifth youngest spot with the Packers, per Phillyvoice.com (Sept. 5).

Youth and inexperience is more of a potential liability this year because COVID-19 eliminated preseason games and NFL teams have limited physical contact during practices. “Until you have live contact, you don’t know squat about your players,” Lurtsema said.

Tackling could be sloppy in early NFL games including by an inexperienced group of Viking cornerbacks. The CB roster features rookies Cameron Dantzler and Jeff Gladney. Even a respectable start to the season doesn’t mean consistency, as other teams review tapes and see tendencies/weaknesses.

It’s a given that Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers will test Minnesota’s cornerbacks—likely early and often. A must-do for the defense is to respond all game with a strong pass rush likely led by sack specialists Danielle Hunter and newcomer Yannick Ngakoue.

Lurtsema is predicting the Packers will win the NFC North, with part of his assertion based on Rodgers—the future hall of fame quarterback. “I get a kick out of watching him,” Lurtsema said.

Another “green spot” for the Vikings is wide receiver, where the list of youthful players includes 21-year-old Justin Jefferson, the first player Minnesota chose in the 2020 draft. Lurtsema has long emphasized it takes a year or so for a quarterback and receiver to know each other’s tendencies. “He (Jefferson) has to be on the same page with (quarterback Kirk) Cousins. That does not come overnight,” Lurtsema said.

The absence of preseason games has Lurtsema concerned, too, about the number of injuries for NFL players, and how that develops could factor in the final results for the Vikings—good or bad. “It’s going to be way above normal (the incidence of injuries),” Lurtsema predicted.

Worth Noting

Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr, predicting online the 2020 records for every NFL team, wrote that the 8-8 Vikings will finish second in the NFC North to the 10-6 Packers. The Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions, the division’s other two teams will have records of 6-10 and 4-12 respectively, according to Orr’s September 2 story.

This afternoon the Vikings brought their practice squad roster to the maximum 16 total by adding defensive tackle Albert Huggins, kicker Chase McLaughlin and linebacker Hardy Nickerson.

It might be that next year the Thursday night NFL national kickoff game for the 2021 season is held in Minneapolis to recognize George Floyd and the league’s social justice effort. This Thursday evening the spotlight game is in Kansas City where the Super Bowl champion Chiefs host the Houston Texans with NBC televising.

It is 50 years ago this month that immortal Packers coach Vince Lombardi died. A Sports Headliners reader sent this email quip: “…I know there have been reported ‘sightings’ of him near Lambeau Field since then, so I can’t confirm that he’s actually departed this world.”

Dan Chisena, the free agent wide receiver from Penn State who surprisingly made the Vikings’ 53-man roster, doesn’t even have his own Wikipedia page. A college sprinter before turning to football for two seasons in 2018 and 2019, he played in 14 career games with two starts.

Ex-Gopher quarterback Chris Streveler, who excelled in Canada as a pro, made the Arizona Cardinals’ 53-man roster.

Former Gopher Carter Coughlin, a seventh round draft choice earlier this year by the New York Giants, made the team’s final roster as a linebacker and pass rushing specialist. Also with the Giants is ex-Gopher kicker and punter Ryan Santoso.

Coughlin’s former Eden Prairie High School teammate Ryan Connelly was cut by the Giants and signed with the Vikings. As a linebacker, the ex-Wisconsin player is part of the Viking practice squad.

Connelly’s cousin, Anders Lee, is captain of the NHL’s New York Islanders and the former Edina athlete can be a key contributor in the Stanley Cup playoffs from his forward position.

Twins slugger Josh Donaldson is selling his 5,539 square foot mansion in South Tampa, Florida, with an asking price of $3,499,000, per website Cltampa.com on September 4.

Former Hopkins girls basketball coach Brian Cosgriff talking in the September Sports Illustrated about phenom Paige Bueckers who is on the magazine’s cover: “The best thing I ever did was stay the hell out of the way.”

Comments Welcome

Donaldson Impact about Zip So Far

Posted on August 31, 2020August 31, 2020 by David Shama

The Twins took the field yesterday in Detroit without four everyday regulars and proceeded to lose their fifth straight game. Missing because of injuries were center fielder Byron Buxton, third baseman Josh Donaldson, catcher Mitch Garvin and left fielder Eddie Rosario.

No Twin has been a bigger disappointment and more absent from the field this summer than Donaldson who makes a team-leading $21 million in base salary, per Spotrac.com. Acquired in a splashy winter free agent signing, Donaldson went on the Injured List August 7 with a right calf strain after appearing in seven games during this COVID-19 shortened season that began in late July. His minimal stats include a .182 batting average with one home run and two runs batted in.

Minnesota gave Donaldson a four-year $92 million deal, the largest free agent contract in club history. Twins front office leaders Derek Falvey and Thad Levine took a calculated risk the 34-year-old could produce as in the past. Since 2013 Donaldson has been among baseball’s most productive home run hitters and also a standout in the field.

After an impressive start to the season, the Twins have lost 11 of their last 21 games. They were 3-6 on the road trip that ended against the Tigers on Sunday, and the club struggled to score runs. Minnesota is no longer leading the AL Central Division standings, and Donaldson, known as “Bringer of Rain,” has missed 25 games during the 60-game season.

Given the type of injury that sidelined Donaldson, it’s been a head scratcher as to why he has been sidelined so long. However, manager Rocco Baldelli said the former AL MVP could return sometime during the club’s eight-game home-stand that begins tonight against the White Sox.

It’s likely to take Donaldson awhile to find his stroke at the plate—perhaps in the closing weeks of the season in late August and on into September. That would mean ROI for the Twins: Return on Investment.

Worth Noting

Paul Molitor was a first-ballot Hall of Famer following his great playing career and in 2017, while leading the Twins, was named American League Manager of the Year, but the Minnesota native acknowledges watching baseball is a test of patience for many fans.

During the most recent segment of the Twin Cities cable TV program “Behind the Game” (also available on YouTube), the personable Molitor was asked about the length of MLB games which typically last over three hours and sometimes longer. His view is the impact on fans goes deeper than the duration of games. “It’s that the action is not there,” he told program hosts Patrick Klinger and Bill Robertson.

Among the culprits in causing slow action is the increase in frequency of hitters striking out and also drawing more walks than in Molitor’s day when he played in the big leagues from 1978 to 1994, ending his playing career with his hometown Twins. “I just think the fact that there is a lack of flow to the games really makes people check their watch more than you would like to get them watching a baseball game,” Molitor said.

Molitor was known both as a player and manager for having a high baseball IQ. During his playing career the game of baseball was more varied with hitters striving to place the ball in play, while managers strategized about advancing runners with the hit and run, or bunts, and base stealing. Today’s players and managers are focused on power baseball with launch angles and home runs. “It’s not as entertaining for me to sit back and wait to see who outslugs who,” Molitor said.

This summer the 64-year-old Molitor has been biking, golfing and coaching his son in Edina youth baseball. He was a career .306 hitter and had a lofty total of more than 3,000 hits.

The Twins check in at No. 5 in S.I.com’s latest power rankings of MLB teams, trailing the Dodgers, low budget Rays and Athletics, and Yankees. Minnesota’s Central Division rivals rank like this: Indians, No. 8; White Sox, No. 9; Tigers, No. 24 and Royals No. 26.

The Twins have played 23 of their 35 games against the Tigers, Royals, No. 21 ranked Brewers and No. 30 Pirates. Minnesota has a 12-11 record versus those teams.

The MLB trade deadline is today and seemingly the Twins’ biggest need is a return of their own injured position players and pitchers.

There has been a lot of hype about Minnesota natives being selected in this fall’s NBA Draft and S.I. com had an interesting take in its mock draft late last month projecting first and second round picks (contracts guaranteed to first rounders only). Tyrell Terry, the guard from DeLaSalle who played one season at Stanford, is predicted as the only Minnesotan going in the first round, at No. 19 to the Nets.

S.I. projected the Timberwolves will use the No. 1 overall choice on Georgia guard Anthony Edwards, with Minnesota also picking Memphis forward-center Precious Achiuwa at No. 17 in the first round. The Wolves will take hometown favorite and point guard Tre Jones, who played at Apple Valley and two seasons for Duke, with their No. 33 choice early in the second round. Zeke Nnaji, the forward-center from Hopkins who played one season at Arizona, will go No. 34 to the 76ers, per S.I.

I strongly disagree but S.I. has Daniel Oturu, formerly of Cretin-Derham Hall and the Gophers not being drafted until the Wizards take him at No. 37. He averaged more than 20 points and 11 rebounds last season while showing he can play inside and out, but his collective draft predictions have been far ranging for months.

That was ex-Viking Herschel Walker, former Gophers football coach Lou Holtz and ex-Gopher defensive back Jack Brewer appearing as speakers at last week’s Republican convention.

Comments Welcome

Gophers Need ‘Special’ Freshmen WRs

Posted on August 19, 2020August 19, 2020 by David Shama

One benefit of no season this fall for the Golden Gophers football team is coach P.J. Fleck and his staff will have extended time to address the departure of wide receivers Rashod Bateman and Tyler Johnson who accounted for 78 percent of the catches on last year’s 11-2 team ranked No. 10 in the nation in the Associated Press final poll.

The staff prides itself on developing players including wide receivers, an assignment that assistant Matt Simon excels at along with Fleck who played the position in college. Fleck wasn’t just talking about WR development, but it fit when he recently said: “More time we have to build our team, the better we’re going to be.”

Football authority Ryan Burns, publisher of GopherIllustrated, agrees. “This break or cancellation (of the fall season) isn’t the worst thing for this offense,” he told Sports Headliners.

It’s a given that in the team’s spread offense Chris Autman-Bell and Demetrius Douglas will hold down two spots, with the third spot up for grabs. The way Burns sees it Douglas Emilien and Daniel Jackson, true freshmen, are favorites. He said reports from summer workouts and practices are “those two are going to be special.”

Burns focuses much of his work on Minnesota recruiting and earlier this year Emilien told him he wants to win the Biletnikoff Award given annually to the nation’s top college receiver. Emilien is a high three-star recruit, while Jackson is a four-star. “Both of them have very high expectations for themselves coming in,” Burns said. “I think that certainly plays a part in them showing up every day and doing the work, because they want to be great.”

If the Gophers had a scrimmage today, who might join Autman-Bell and Douglas in the wide receivers lineup? “I think Emilien is a little bit ahead of Jackson from what I’ve heard,” Burns answered.

Among Emilien’s attributes is his ability to get open, while Burns described Jackson as “very quick and very fast.” Jackson isn’t as fast as Bateman yet but could get closer as he develops. “Rashod is going to be making a lot of money in the NFL in seven months because of his deep speed,” Burns said.

It will take a combo effort to replace Johnson and Bateman as receivers, and Burns anticipates a potential breakout year from redshirt sophomore tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford helping the cause. “I can’t express to you enough how high Minnesota is on his potential,” Burns said. “…He can make very acrobatic catches. He can jump out of the gym. He is a mismatch nightmare.”

At about 6-7 and 260-pounds, with athleticism and speed, Spann-Ford is projected as too quick for linebackers and too big for corners and safeties to effectively cover in pass routes. While Spann-Ford will often be next to a tackle while on the line of scrimmage, Burns predicts the former St. Cloud star will also be positioned out in space like a wide receiver.

Worth Noting

Fleck talking about the importance of honest communication with his players: “You can’t say something to a kid that is B.S. Not in 2020.”

Commissioner Kevin Warren, who helped shape the Big Ten’s decision to not have a football season, speaks to the Capital Club next Monday via zoom. University of Minnesota president Joan Gabel and athletic director Mark Coyle headline a Twin Cities Dunkers zoom meeting next Wednesday to talk about the future of Gopher athletics.

Quarterback Kirk Cousins is starting year three with the Vikings. Coach Mike Zimmer has seen development including Cousins’ willingness to express the way he sees things in meetings. “He just seems to be more communicative,” Zimmer said this morning.

Alexander Mattison had an impressive rookie season in 2019 while backing up Dalvin Cook. Zimmer said Mattison looks quicker to him now than last year. “I think he’s going to be a very good back,” Zimmer added.

Twins TV broadcaster Dick Bremer reacting last night to partner Bert Blyleven speculating Minnesota pitcher Kenta Maeda, throwing a no-hitter through eight innings, wouldn’t be allowed to pitch in the ninth: “Really.”

Blyleven likely figured manager Rocco Baldelli was going to take Maeda out of the game because his pitch count was over 100. Maeda started the ninth and lost his no-hitter when Milwaukee Brewer Eric Sogard hit a soft liner into the outfield to open the inning.

That was it for Maeda (115 pitches) who Baldelli pulled for closer Taylor Rogers who has been ineffective of late. Before the ninth was over Rogers had given up two runs and Maeda was charged with another as the Brewers tied the game 3-3. The Twins earned a walk-off win in the 12^th inning, 4-3. This was the fourth time in five days Minnesota won a game scoring four runs.

Limited-edition Twins Hall of Fame bobblehead sets are being sold by the club for $499 each. The set features bobbleheads of all 34 members of the Twins Hall of Fame. Net proceeds benefit the Twins Community Fund.

Condolences to family and friends of Jake Mauer following his death last week. He was a friend of this writer, and he loved to talk about his grandson Joe Mauer, and also horse racing at Canterbury Park. When Joe was young, Jake helped groom the baseball skills of the former Twin. For many years the St. Paul native sold his racing tip sheet at Canterbury Park.

Minnesota sports fans know Glen Taylor best for his ownership of the Timberwolves and Lynx but he has other companies, too, including the Star Tribune, and employs a total of about 12,000 people.

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