Media – Page 52 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Mona Trading Cards Now Under 1.5 Million

Posted on January 26, 2017January 26, 2017 by David Shama

Dave Mona grew up around sports in his south Minneapolis neighborhood. His father, Luther Mona, was a successful baseball and basketball coach at South High School. Dave played on the 1961 Roosevelt basketball team that was barred from the state tourney because two Teddies players participated in out of season basketball. At the University of Minnesota Dave was sports editor of the Minnesota Daily, went on to a brief career covering the Twins for the Minneapolis Tribune and then made his livelihood in local public relations.

Mona satisfied his passion for sports by joining WCCO Radio in 1981 as co-host of the Sunday morning “Sports Huddle” with Sid Hartman. In 2008 he published a book called Beyond the Sports Huddle, sharing stories regarding the show and storytelling about Minnesota teams and personalities.

Mona has never lost his interest in sports. He is still known for his expertise on trading cards and other sports memorabilia. Several years ago his sports and business acumen prompted Gophers athletics director Joel Maturi to ask him to join the search for Minnesota’s next football coach. Maturi and Mona hit the bulls-eye with the hire of Jerry Kill who resurrected the program.

At lunch Sports Headliners asked Mona the following questions regarding sports and his life. Here are his edited answers, sometimes laced with his trademark humor.

How many trading cards do you still have?

Well, thank God I have been able to dispose of a lot of them. I had 4 million at the peak. I think I am down to about a million and a quarter right now. We are trying to actively dispose of them. We determined that by the fall of 2072 (not a typo) we should be totally out of cards.

What card will you never give up?

The last one to go will probably be the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle—card No. 311. I’ve got the complete ‘52 set (of cards). That’s kind of the card that people would talk about being the signature card of sports card collecting. When I start selling things off and get to the 52’s, that will be the last set I get rid of, and the last card I get rid of will be Mickey Mantle.

Where are the cards stored?

The cards are all in safe storage like safe deposit boxes—all except the ones that I would consider burning or throwing in a flood. When I say I have a million and quarter cards, easily a million of them are marginally worthless. They’re from 1980 to the current time when there was massive over production.

The teams here are known for losing a lot of games year after year. Why do you think that happens?

I think winning is less important here than it is (in other major cities). As I’ve travelled the country, I find people …what they value most—maybe even above family—is the success of their sports teams. I think people (in Minnesota) have more balance in their lives. They like their teams to be competitive, but it’s not the be-all and end-all to be best at anything. Maybe Garrison Keillor has got it right–there is a lot of modesty among us but I am not sure there is the passion here to be on top that there is in other parts of the country.

In order of preference what are your favorite sports?

It’s a seasonal thing. It’s kind of what’s being played. Right now I am a huge basketball fan. Maybe baseball at heart is where my deepest love is. College football—maybe a little less (a fan) of professional football. Because I played basketball—and grew up in a basketball household—less so hockey, but I have become a good hockey fan. Probably if I had to say based on the full year it would be baseball, football, basketball, hockey.

What did you learn about coaching from your dad?

I learned to sit quietly in church with a little square paper in front of me and diagram plays. I learned to be interested in sports and to watch sports in kind of a different way. The way a coach looks at it and analyzes things, and looks for opportunities that can be seized. From a very early time, being the ball boy for Minneapolis South, I felt like I got a little different look at sports than a player only would have gotten.

Did you ever seriously think about pursuing the athletic director job at Minnesota?

No, I never really did. I didn’t think I was particularly qualified to be the AD but it’s never kept me from expressing opinions on it, caring a great deal about the outcome.

You and your wife Linda have led travel tours for WCCO Radio. What’s the most important thing for a travel tour leader to know?

We want to make sure that people are enjoying themselves, so we seek them out with conversations. People probably don’t know this but we actually keep a chart with everybody’s name on it. We make sure that by the end of the tour we’ve had a meal sitting next to those people and gotten to know them to the best of our ability. I think that satisfies what their expectations might be and it makes the trip more interesting for us.

You have done a lot of travelling. What’s still on the bucket list?

I’d love to go on a (African) safari. There are (other) places I’ve never seen—(like) the Taj Mahal. I would love to do that. I’ve never been to Australia-New Zealand. Heard a lot of great things about that. I am not sure I want to spend a week in Tahiti but it looks gorgeous.

Any other places?

I want to go to the Rose Bowl to see the Gophers play. I was on the Minnesota Daily when they last went (in 1962 after also playing in the 1961 game). They had a train, and I think it was $110 to go to Pasadena. I didn’t have $110. Somebody said to me, “Of all people, I can’t believe you’re not going to the Rose Bowl.”

I will never forget my response. I said, “You know they (the Gophers) go almost every year. I can’t afford it right now but the next time they go I will be there.”

Where did you get your sense of humor?

I always had a sense of humor, (with) the ability to look at things and see the humorous play on words, the pun, or what have you. Probably from my love of the language and turning things a little bit differently. Not always appreciated by people along the way, including some teachers, but to me having a sense of humor was always something I was aware of and enjoyed.

What is it going to be like doing the “Sports Huddle” some day without Sid?

I have no idea when or if that would be a possibility. We talked about what will happen if Sid were no longer part of the “Sports Huddle,”and he was 85 at the time. He’s going on 97 right now so I am confident we will be celebrating at least his 100th (birthday) as part of it. The station sees the “Sports Huddle” as a valuable property, as it’s always been sold out in advertising. It’s a good revenue generator for the station. It still has relatively large numbers of listeners so I think the “Sports Huddle” will go on.

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Physical Teams Take It to Gophers

Posted on January 12, 2017January 12, 2017 by David Shama

The Gophers have surprised their critics this season with 15 wins in their first 18 games but there is a message in the three losses. Minnesota, winners of only two Big Ten games last season and now much improved, has lost those three games to more physical and aggressive top 20 ranked teams.

Michigan State, after last night’s drubbing of the Gophers in East Lansing, has now defeated Minnesota twice. The Gophers other loss was to Florida State, a team with big guards and four front court players 6-9 or taller including 7-1, 304-pound center Michael Ojo and 7-4 (not a typo) center Christ Koumadje.

Few teams, if any, can match the size of Florida State but Michigan State has bruising freshmen Nick Ward (6-8, 250) and Miles Bridges (6-7, 230). And what the Spartans may lack in inches and heft is made up for in aggression.

Last night the Spartans flummoxed the Gophers, shutting down driving lanes and contesting shots. When the Gophers did have decent looks at the basket they couldn’t make enough shots. The Spartans also beat up Minnesota on the boards and made more hustle plays.

“We just could not find a way to get an easy basket,” Gophers coach Richard Pitino said during his postgame interview on 1500 ESPN. “I thought we had a couple decent looks, but you know overall we’re not the toughest team, even from an offensive standpoint of screening, being strong with the ball. …”

It doesn’t help when Minnesota’s most physical player, 6-10, 260-pound junior center Reggie Lynch, is consistently in foul trouble and on the bench. Last night in the 65-47 loss Lynch fouled out for the fourth time in the last five games. He has fouled out of both games against the Spartans.

The Gophers were behind 39-17 at halftime and looked frustrated. Maybe there was a hangover feeling from the overtime loss to the Spartans in Minneapolis on December 27. Minnesota led 39-26 at intermission and was clearly the superior team in execution, if not effort. The Spartans, though, were by far the more assertive players in the second half. Among the telling final stats was MSU scored 12 more points in the lane than the Gophers.

The Gophers, now 3-2 in Big Ten games, face a momentum test Saturday at Penn State. Minnesota needs to stop its losing streak at one against a Nittany Lions team that has been at home all week preparing for Saturday’s game. With an 11 a.m. Minneapolis start time, the Gophers won’t have to wait long to see how things go against a 2-2 PSU group team that defeated MSU last week, 72-63.

Worth Noting

Tom Izzo has been Michigan State’s head coach since the 1995-1996 season. Early on he competed against Minnesota coach Clem Haskins, and he got to know legendary Minneapolis newspaper columnist and radio personality Sid Hartman. When Izzo was in town a couple of weeks ago he was asked about the 96-year-old Hartman, who is recovering from a broken hip.

“I get a kick out of Sid,” Izzo told Sports Headliners. “…He always was good to me. There were wars when Clem was here, when I first started, and Sid always had something to say. He wasn’t afraid to tell you how he felt, but I thought he listened and understood. There are a couple people up here (in Minneapolis) I really appreciate and he’s one of them.

“He’s still an ornery (guy). He still doesn’t belong in heaven yet. That’s why he’s not there, because God is negotiating the terms. But someday he’ll end up there and I just hope it’s not for a few years yet.”

Hartman wrote his first column for 2017 in today’s Star Tribune.

Ryan James, the prep basketball authority from GopherIllustrated.com, has watched both Isaiah Washington and Jamir Harris play. The two high school guards signed National Letters of Intent with the Gophers last fall, and James is impressed with their skills. Washington (from New York City) is among the nation’s elite point guards, while Harris (New Brunswick, New Jersey) is a combo guard.

“Isaiah Washington is a guy you describe as having New York juice,” James told Sports Headliners. “He has so much shake, so much burst with his initial attack. It’s matched by very few. He is one of the best players I saw all summer in transition. He makes the right decision in pushing the ball nine times out of 10, whether it’s a quick pitch, attack and dish, or if he goes at the rim.

“Outstanding pull-up jumper. Streaky shooter at the arc but he can be a good shooter out there. …He’s just an aggressive playmaker, and he has the capability of being a great defender. He just has to do it more consistently.”

James believes Harris could average double figures in points as a Gopher. “The first thing you think of is shooter. …He is really strong, high character guy—like he was looking at Stanford. He was looking at the Ivy League.”

James believes Washington definitely has all-Big Ten potential. He also said Harris could be an all-Big Ten academic selection.

In 13 home games this season the Gophers are averaging 9,091 in 14,625 capacity Williams Arena. In 10 games the Gopher women’s team is averaging 3,065.

Steve Fritz bobblehead (photo courtesy of University of St. Thomas)

St. Thomas will celebrate Steve Fritz Bobblehead Day Saturday during a home basketball doubleheader with Concordia College at Schoenecker Arena. Fritz enrolled as a student at St. Thomas in 1967, and he has worked at the St. Paul school since 1971, including 10 years as an assistant men’s basketball coach, 31 years as head coach and 25 years as athletic director. St. Thomas will sell the bobbleheads for $15 each during the 1 p.m. women’s game and the 3 p.m. men’s game against the Cobbers. Fritz, who is still the AD, will greet fans and sign bobbleheads (also available in the Tommie Shop in the Anderson Student Center as of next Monday).

GopherIllustrated.com publisher Zach Johnson talking about how the ultra optimistic and turbocharged personality of new Gophers coach P.J. Fleck could prompt media cynicism: “…I hope the media doesn’t beat him down—force him to create a shell around the program and around himself, and sort of try to protect himself from that (type of) media. I hope he just continues to be who he is. If he wins, he can make those columnists eat crow.”

Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway, who may announce his retirement this offseason, turns 34 today.

Vikngs defensive tackle Linval Joseph has been named to the Pro Bowl replacing the injured Aaron Donald of the Rams.

Bruce Boudreau, the Wild’s first-year coach who has directed Minnesota to the second best record in the NHL’s Western Conference, earns $2,760,000, according to Otherleague.com, a website listing compensation for league coaches. He is the first head coach in NHL history to lead three different teams (including the Wild) to win streaks of 11-plus games.

The Wild will play eight of their 12 games in February at Xcel Energy Center. After February 7, the team has only one game away from home during the month.

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Vikings to Face “Lousy” Team Sunday

Posted on December 7, 2016December 7, 2016 by David Shama

Bob Lurtsema makes his opinion clear about Sunday’s Vikings-Jaguars game in Jacksonville. “If you can’t beat a team that lousy, you got problems,” he told Sports Headliners.

The former Vikings defensive lineman is still close to his old team. When he speaks about his favorite franchise, it’s a good idea to listen. He predicted, for example, the 2015 Vikings would finish with a 10-6 record even though they had been 7-9 the season before. The Vikings made Lurtsema look good with an 11-5 record and an NFC North Division title in 2015.

The 6-6 Vikings, who still could qualify for the playoffs, play a Jaguars club that is 2-10. The other three teams remaining on the Vikings schedule are the 6-6 Colts, 6-6 Packers and 3-9 Bears. The Jaguars look like the weakest of the four opponents.

What about the Vikings’ playoff chances if they lose to Jacksonville? “It’s over,” said Lurtsema who thinks Minnesota may make the playoffs as a Wild Card team.

Among reasons the Jaguars are struggling is third-year quarterback Blake Bortles, who has thrown 15 interceptions in 12 starts and has a low passer rating of 76.9. The Jaguars made him the first quarterback and No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft—the same year the Vikings chose Teddy Bridgewater at No. 32 in the first round. “That’s who (Bortles) the Vikings really wanted when they drafted Teddy,” Lurtsema said. “Look how…he is playing.”

Injuries have forced the Vikings to rotate offensive linemen like a game of musical chairs. The result has frequently been fatal with the offense featuring an anemic rushing attack and a quarterback often facing constant pressure by pass rushers. But Lurtsema was encouraged by the line’s performance in last week’s 17-15 loss to the Cowboys.

“The offensive line played much better, believe it or not,” Lurtsema said. “They were sliding, (and) they were making the pickups a little better as far as adjusting to different defensive stunts the Cowboys had. They’ve got to play longer together. I think they’re still a game or two away from playing (even better)—seeing how good they’re actually going to be.”

In the closing seconds last Thursday night Vikings quarterback Sam Bradford threw high on an attempted pass and two-point conversion that if completed would have tied the score 17-17 with the Cowboys and sent the game into overtime. The Cowboys’ Cedric Thorton appeared to hit the Vikings quarterback on the face mask but the officials didn’t throw a flag and penalize the Cowboys for roughing the passer, so instead of replaying the down the game ended.

“The officials affected the game on both sides of the Dallas game,” said Lurtsema referring to multiple calls Thursday night. “Officiating is getting worse by the game. I mean it’s just brutal. When Bradford got hit on the two point conversion, people don’t understand what (a difference) one bad call can make (to a season).”

Worth Noting

Vikings fullback Zach Line told Sports Headliners yesterday that Adrian Peterson looks stronger every week. Line’s opinion is chances are “good” Peterson will play before the season ends next month. Peterson continues to rehab following surgery for a torn meniscus in September.

The Golden Gopher volleyball team is among the favorites to win the 2016 national championship. Minnesota’s potential path to its first title continues Friday night in a NCAA regional match against Missouri at the U Sports Pavilion. Also playing that night in the Minneapolis Regional are North Carolina and UCLA. Friday’s winners advance to the regional title match in the Sports Pavilion Saturday evening. The Minneapolis champion will then join three other regional winners in the national semifinals December 15 in Columbus, with the NCAA title to be decided there on December 17.

Gophers volleyball has become a major story with the media in this town. That development has caught the attention of former Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi who hired Hugh McCutcheon in 2011 hoping the former Olympics coach would build on the success of retiring U coach Mike Hebert.

The Gophers are the No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament (Nebraska is No. 1) and Maturi is impressed. “My goodness, the attention that this volleyball team is getting is deserved, but it’s new. We’re selling out the place (the Sports Pavilion).

“We’ve been good before…(although) not No. 2 in the rankings. But we’ve been top 10 which is pretty good.

“I just think what he’s brought (McCutcheon) to the whole program is the awareness of the sport. The success that we’ve had. The energy that he has brought to the building, and now the media has picked it up.

“You’re calling about them and other (media) people have called about them. You’ve got (Patrick) Reusse going to volleyball matches, and (Jim) Souhan going to volleyball matches. I mean when the hell did that ever happen? With all due respect, you know?”

McCutcheon was friends with Hebert who led the Gophers to three Final Fours. McCutcheon, who coached U.S. Olympic men’s and women’s teams to gold and silver medals, met Maturi through Hebert years ago. Maturi had no idea when Hebert wanted to retire but told the USA Volleyball coach he was interested in making him a candidate for the Gophers’ job when an opening occurred.

After the 2010 season Hebert retired. McCutcheon had to finish up his 2012 Olympics commitment with the U.S. women so Laura Bush filled in as interim coach for 2011 and for awhile in 2012 until the new boss could take over.

The Gophers basketball team has been invited consecutive years to play neutral court games at the Sanford Pentagon arena in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Kelby Krabbenhoft, a committee member with the group selecting teams for games at the arena, indicated before last Saturday’s Minnesota-Vanderbilt game that the Gophers will be invited back, but was noncommittal about 2017.

Krabbenhoft said in addition to Minnesota, teams of future interest include Notre Dame and Creighton. The Gophers have split two close games at the Pentagon, losing to Oklahoma State and defeating Vanderbilt while attracting Minnesota fans to help sell out the 3,250 seat building. “We love Minnesota,” said Krabbenhoft, president/CEO of Sanford Health.

Participating teams receive guaranteed sums ranging from $60,000 to $200,000 to play at the Pentagon, Krabbenhoft said. His son Joe, by the way, was a high school star in Sioux Falls who almost chose the Gophers instead of Wisconsin where he became a starter and now is an assistant coach. Dad said the decision to attend a school came down to a family vote.

University of Minnesota alum T. Denny Sanford celebrated his 81st birthday last Friday night with about 750 friends as singer Harry Connick Jr. entertained at the Pentagon.

Former Gophers coach Jerry Kill has several December book signings scheduled in the metro area including three next Saturday. Kill will be at Lexus of Maplewood from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.; Barnes & Noble Galleria 1 to 3 p.m.; and Barnes & Noble HarMar Mall, 4 to 6 p.m. He will be signing copies of his new book Chasing Dreams: Living My Life One Yard at a Time.

Minnesota sports fan Steve Erban, who has owned winning racehorses over the years, talking about criticism directed at Gophers football even when the team wins: “…I tell them this: You’ve never owned a race horse. Because when you win, you win. When you win, you take the win and move on to the next race.”

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