MIAC – Page 15 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Robison Sees Pro Bowls for Vikings Sub

Posted on November 30, 2016November 30, 2016 by David Shama

Vikings notes on the eve of tomorrow night’s nationally televised game with the Cowboys from U.S. Bank Stadium.

It will be interesting to see how the Vikings defense does against the Cowboys offense. Those are two acclaimed units, and part of the story tomorrow evening could be how much pass rush the Vikings can put on the Dallas offensive line and rookie quarterback Dak Prescott.

Vikings second-year pro Danielle Hunter leads the team in sacks even though he isn’t a starter. The 22-year-old Hunter, a third round draft choice in 2015, has 7.5 sacks and is tied for 15th best in the NFL. Hunter had six sacks last season in 14 games (he started one).

Hunter seems likely to one day replace 33-year-old Brian Robison who praised the former LSU player while talking with Sports Headliners. “I think the sky’s the limit for the kid. I think he really does have a bright future in this league. I see him being a perennially Pro Bowler—probably having maybe two, three, four paydays (contract adjustments).”

The Cowboys rank fourth in the NFL in total offense, averaging 407.6 yards per game. The Vikings are third in total defense, allowing 307 yards per outing.

Minnesota rates with the league’s best defending the pass, but has been more vulnerable against teams running the ball. The Vikings also haven’t seen an offensive line like the Cowboys, a unit considered among the NFL’s best.

“They’re really, really good. They’re the best line I’ve seen in a long time in the NFL—physical, athletic, (and) big,” said Mike Zimmer who was an assistant in the league for 20 years before coming to Minnesota as head coach in 2014.

Prescott, a surprise star and starter on the 10-1 Cowboys, has only been sacked 15 times. He has 18 touchdown passes and only two interceptions— figures that highlight the Vikings’ mission to put pressure on the 23-year-old.

Prescott has not only benefitted from a great offensive line but the team’s running game ranks second in the NFL at 157.3 yards per game. Ezekiel Elliott, another rookie, is the leading rusher in the league with 1,199 yards and has drawn praise from numerous sources including Zimmer.

“Well, he’s one of the better backs I’ve seen in quite awhile,” Zimmer said. “He’s really an all-purpose guy that catches the ball very well out of the backfield. He’s quick into the hole. Looks like he’s got great vision. …He’s good in pass protection, better than rookie backs for sure.

“One of the things, he’s an impact player on contact. He’s built…225 pounds. He’s physical. He’s a hurdler, if you try to cut him (off). He’s special.”

The Cowboys offense has a Vikings connection with offensive coordinator Scott Linehan and quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson. Linehan was a Vikings assistant from 2002-2004. Wilson played quarterback for the Vikings from 1981-1991.

In the October 17 issue of Sports Illustrated Wilson told writer Pete Thamel that Prescott had learned the Cowboys offense faster than any Dallas rookie in the last 10 years. “He has an aura and confidence about him,” Wilson said in S.I.

While the Cowboys have the NFL’s best record, the defending NFC North champion Vikings are 6-5 and have only one win in their last six games. “We need a win bad,” Vikings defensive back Captain Munnerlyn told Sports Headliners Monday. “We need a big win bad.”

What if the Vikings lose and fall further behind 7-4 division leader Detroit? “I don’t know,” Munnerlyn said. “I am not thinking like that. We need it—so I am not thinking like that at all.”

Internet reports Monday speculated the NFL will consider ending its weekly Thursday night games sometime in the future. “It would be great (if that happens),” Munnerlyn said. “You get more rest. You get more time to study your opponent. You play a little faster.”

Worth Noting

The Twins have signed catcher Jason Castro to a three-year contract worth $24.5 million. Castro will earn $8.5 million in 2017, $8 million in 2018 and $8 million in 2019.

Castro, 29, has played six seasons in the major leagues, all with the Houston Astros. In 617 games he hit .232 with 114 doubles, 62 home runs and 212 RBI.

Castro was named to the American League All-Star team in 2013. That season he hit .276 with 18 home runs and 56 RBI.

Brian Dozier, the Twins best player, said on WCCO Radio’s Sports Huddle on Sunday that the new baseball bosses for the club haven’t contacted him. There is ongoing speculation Derek Falvey and Thad Levine will trade the 29-year-old Dozier for pitching help. Dozier hit a career high 42 home runs last season.

Don’t be surprised if the Gophers pursue either a junior college quarterback, or a graduate transfer to replace Mitch Leidner. The departure of Leidner and redshirt junior Conor Rhoda leaves the Gophers with no quarterback experience on the roster.

Philip Nelson, who competed with Leidner for the Gophers starting job before leaving Minnesota three years ago, ended his 2016 season at East Carolina by throwing 16 touchdown passes and eight interceptions. Nelson threw for 2,621 yards in 10 games for his 3-9 team. Leidner had seven touchdown throws and 12 interceptions. He threw for 2,040 yards in 11 games for the 8-4 Gophers.

The Gophers will learn their bowl destination Sunday night. Minnesota won its bowl game last year against Central Michigan but is 6-12 overall in bowl games.

Rice Lake, Wisconsin native Henry Ellenson, who turned down the Gophers and many other schools to play one season at Marquette, is now in the NBA Development League. The NBA Pistons, who drafted him in the first round last June, sent him to their Grand Rapids affiliate team.

The Minnesota High School All-Star Football Game has a rich history dating back to 1945. The Minnesota Football Coaches Association is inviting all former players and coaches who participated in the game—and also all members of the MFCA Hall of Fame—to attend a 2 p.m. reception Saturday at U.S. Bank Stadium. About 80 All-Star alums and Hall of Famers have already committed. A game ticket for $16 needs to be purchased in advance, with more information available by visiting Vikings.com/showcase.

Now known as the Minnesota Football Showcase, players representing the North and South will play the all-star game starting at 3 p.m. Saturday at U.S. Bank Stadium. Totino-Grace’s Jeff Ferguson will coach the North and Eden Prairie’s Mike Grant the South.

The Showcase event is billed as a football celebration with attractions to include youth football clinics, marching band performances and autograph sessions with Minnesota Vikings alumni. Tickets are available in advance, with proceeds going to the MFCA and Tackle Cancer campaign. More at Vikings.com/showcase.

The defending Division III national champion St. Thomas men’s basketball team toured Microsoft earlier this month as part of multiple off-court activities while in the Seattle-Tacoma area to play two basketball games. Jon Strausburg, a St. Thomas alum and Microsoft executive, led the tour.

Seattle Seahawks general manager and St. Thomas alum John Schneider spoke to the team for an hour. The Tommies also met Seahawks coach Pete Carroll and watched practice. St. Thomas alum and Amazon executive Dan Jedda also spoke to the Tommies during the trip to Washington.

Tommies coach John Tauer said via email “it was an incredible weekend” to hear from the three St. Thomas alums. He said all three emphasized the lessons they learned from academics and athletics at St. Thomas.

The 3-1 Tommies are without three starters from last season’s national championship team but will likely make a strong run at the program’s 12th consecutive MIAC title. Forward Ryan Boll and point guard Grant Shaeffer are the returning starters.

Shaeffer quarterbacked the Eden Prairie High School football team to two state titles and has been a basketball starter on championship teams for the Tommies since his sophomore year. Tauer has his point guard playing a Lumosity game to help him make both fast and correction decisions. “I wouldn’t trade him for anybody in the country,” Tauer said.

The Tommies Nathan Stenger, a 6-3 freshman guard from Iowa City, has a 39½ inch vertical jump. The other day at practice he stood underneath a basket, jumped straight up and dunked the ball.

Condolences to friends and family of Dick Dougherty who died recently. Dougherty played hockey for the Gophers from 1951-1954 and ranks high in both career and per game scoring. A member of the M Club Hall of Fame, Dougherty played on a line with John Mayasich and Gene Campbell that coach John Mariucci once called “the greatest line ever seen in college hockey.”

Legendary singer Neil Diamond will perform at Xcel Energy Center May 24 as part of his 50th anniversary tour.

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Vikings Praise Record-Setter Diggs

Posted on November 18, 2016November 18, 2016 by David Shama

Stefon Diggs has more than documented his improvement the last two Sundays. The Vikings’ second-year wide receiver caught 13 passes in each of the last two games to become the first player in NFL history to accomplish that.

Teammate Zach Line said Diggs, a fifth round draft choice in 2015, has the ability to find openings in the secondary. “He’s got a nose for the ball,” the Vikings fullback told Sports Headliners.

Veteran quarterback Shaun Hill said Diggs has not only improved since his rookie season but is even better than he was in training camp last summer. Hill was asked for an example of that.

“It’s one thing to know what a play looks like on paper. It’s another thing to know the detail how to run that play—how to run that route, versus everything that a defense can bring,” said Hill who is in his 15th NFL season.

Hill predicts more improvement from Diggs who has become the team’s star receiver and already has 10 more receptions in eight games than he had in 13 games last year. “He comes with a worker’s mentality every day, and that’s what you have to do,” Hill said.

Stefon Diggs (photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings)

Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen also praised Diggs’ mental approach to football. “He’s an unbelievable competitor,” Thielen said.

Diggs has 710 yards in receptions after totaling 720 last year. His 710 ranks 11th in the NFL and his 61 receptions are tied for fourth best in the league with the Falcons’ Julio Jones.

Diggs has earned praise from various teammates including another Vikings wide receiver, Cordarrelle Patterson. Patterson said the individual stats are nice but he reminded a reporter the 5-4 Vikings are in a losing streak.

“I know he (Diggs) would take all those catches back for two wins the last two weeks,” Patterson said.

Worth Noting

Fox’s lead broadcast crew of Joe Buck, Troy Aikman and Erin Andrews will be in town to do Sunday’s Vikings game against the Cardinals at U.S. Bank Stadium. The trio is also scheduled to work the February Super Bowl in Houston.

The Vikings, 5-4, are looking for their first win since October 9—week five of the NFL schedule. The Cardinals, 4-4-1, are 3-1-1 dating back to week five.

Injured Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater hasn’t been attending home games, but running back Adrian Peterson, who is also rehabbing, has been on the sidelines.

Tom Moore, 78, is the Cardinals assistant head coach/offense. Moore, from Owatonna, Minnesota, was the Gophers’ offensive coordinator from 1972-73 and 1975-76. Among his best players are Minnesota natives and receivers Larry Fitzgerald, Jr. and Michael Floyd.

The Gophers have 13 seniors/grad students who will be recognized for their final game at TCF Bank Stadium Saturday (2:30 p.m. start against Northwestern). But head coach Tracy Claeys said on his KFAN Radio show Tuesday that another seven—juniors not expected to return in 2017—will be in their final home game, too.

Minnesota’s group of 13 is the third smallest in major college football. Only three of the 13 play on offense, quarterback Mitch Leidner, tackle Jonah Pirsig and wide receiver Drew Wolitarsky. That’s the fewest on any offensive unit in college football.

Leidner is among the winningest senior quarterbacks in the nation with a 22-16 career record. He has an undergraduate degree in kinesiology and is halfway through his master’s in sports management, but he isn’t sure about career plans.

Although he is only 40 years old, Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald is the second longest tenured head coach in the Big Ten. Fitzgerald is in his 11th season with the Wildcats, while 61-year-old Kirk Ferentz has 18 seasons as head coach at Iowa.

MarQueis Gray, the former Gophers quarterback, has played in nine games at tight end for the Dolphins. He has started four games, with seven receptions for 109 yards. This is Gray’s fifth NFL season and he’s played with four teams including the Bills, Browns and Vikings.

Glenn Caruso (photo courtesy of University of St. Thomas)

Coach Glenn Caruso and the St. Thomas football team has its opening playoff game tomorrow, with the intent of eventually advancing to the Division III national championship game in Salem, Virginia. The 10-0 Tommies lost in the title game last December but get a new start in the postseason Saturday at home against 9-1 Northwestern-St. Paul.

Northwestern, from the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, and the MIAC’s Tommies had one common opponent during the year. Northwestern defeated Augsburg 14-0, while St. Thomas beat the Auggies, 55-7.

Two Tommie seniors, All-America tackle Will Hilbert and running back-kick returner Nick Waldvogel, have started all 46 games over the last four seasons. The Tommies record is 40-6 during that stretch.

Hilbert, from Milwaukee, has blocked for 28 different 100-yard rushing performances (eight players), and helped St. Thomas achieve 34 games with 200 or more yards passing.

Waldvogel’s older brother, All-America wide receiver Fritz Waldvogel, started all 50 games in his St. Thomas career. In eight years of the nine-season Caruso era, a Waldvogel has been in the St. Thomas lineup every game (all but 2012 season). The two brothers have combined to score 80 touchdowns (Fritz 46, Nick 34).

Nick, a St. Thomas Academy graduate, is averaging 99.5 all-purpose yards per game in his career and has scored 34 touchdowns. He has 177 career receptions for 2,134 yards.

NBA Hall of Famer Chris Mullin, now in his second season as St. John’s basketball coach, leads the Red Storm (2-0) against the Gophers (3-0) tonight at Williams Arena. The game is part of the Gavitt Tipoff series this fall between the Big East and Big Ten. Minnesota and St. John’s played once previously, a 70-61 Red Storm win in 2014.

Former Gopher forward Rodney Williams is playing for the Greensboro Swarm in the NBA Development League. The North Carolina-based team is starting its first season and is an affiliate of the NBA Hornets.

Timberwolves forward/center Karl-Anthony Towns is featured on the cover of ESPN The Magazine’s “Tall Ball” issue. The magazine arrived in subscriber’s mailboxes earlier in the week, went online yesterday and is available at newsstands starting today. The article reviews how height has impacted NBA and college basketball.

Towns helped the Wolves to a 110-86 win over the 76ers last night. He scored 25 points and had 10 rebounds. It was his fourth 20 point, 10 rebound game in the last five.

Timberwolves executive Chris Wright is finishing his year as “head coach” of the Twin Cities Dunkers. In that volunteer role, Wright has arranged speakers for the Dunkers organization that dates back to the 1940s.

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Vikings Looking at Roster Again

Posted on November 14, 2016November 14, 2016 by David Shama

A notes-filled column including news from Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer, and also Gopher season ticket totals:

Zimmer said today he will meet this afternoon with general manager Rick Spielman to discuss personnel. Zimmer referenced the meeting when asked about the left tackle position and also placekicker Blair Walsh.

Starting left tackle Jake Long injured his left Achilles in yesterday’s loss to the Redskins and is out for the season. After the game left guard Alex Boone told reporters he might move to left tackle but Zimmer said that was premature and he will have more to say about his offensive line on Wednesday.

The Vikings have been devastated by injuries in the offensive line. If the team turns to the outside for help a possible addition might be tackle Carter Bykowski who was with Minnesota earlier this year. Bykowski, who is on the Falcons’ practice squad, knows the Vikings’ system.

Walsh missed another extra point (his fourth of the season) in yesterday’s game. He is also only 12 of 16 on field goals and last week the Vikings auditioned potential replacements. Things are so bad Fox TV analyst Chris Spielman (Rick’s brother) said during the game that Zimmer should just plan on Walsh missing kicks. After the game a caller on the Vikings radio network suggested the team should sign a “female soccer player” as the new kicker.

Zimmer on whether injured running back Adrian Peterson might play again this season: “I have no idea.” …

University of Minnesota nonstudent season tickets for both men’s basketball and men’s hockey are down by about 1,000 each from a year ago. As of last week, basketball was at 6,246 compared with 7,221 for the 2015-2016 season. The hockey number was 6,039 after totaling 7,080 in 2015-2016.

Hockey student season tickets were at 2,739 after last season’s figure of 2,788. The basketball student season tickets total was 1,181 after a 2015-2016 number of 1,748. …

After Saturday’s 24-17 loss to No. 21 ranked Nebraska, Tracy Claeys has a 5-7 Big Ten record as interim and head coach of the Gophers. Five of the defeats have been by seven points or less. Claeys has won just one close conference game, defeating Rutgers 32-31 this fall. He has no victories over nationally ranked, or rivalry teams.

The Gophers, 7-3 overall and 4-3 in league games, have lost to Penn State, Iowa and Nebraska—all top 25 ranked teams.

Game times announced: Minnesota’s home football game with Northwestern Saturday will be at 2:30 p.m. and the Gophers men’s hockey game against Minnesota State at Mariucci Arena will start at 8 p.m. …

The St. Thomas football team finished the regular season with a 10-0 record, including 8-0 in the MIAC. Last Saturday the Tommies defeated St. Olaf 73-7 to win the MIAC title. Saint John’s (9-1, 7-1) won second place by defeating Concordia-Moorhead (7-3, 6-2). The Johnnies, who lost their only game to St. Thomas, defeated Concordia 31-7. St. Thomas has an opening Division III playoff game at home on Saturday against Northwestern (Roseville), while Saint John’s hosts Wisconsin-Platteville.

Concordia had a 23-20 loss to St. Thomas earlier in the season. “They should have beaten St. Thomas,” said Saint John’s coach Gary Fasching.

Fasching offered that opinion while speaking to the CORES lunch crowd last Thursday. He had the audience laughing when he opened his talk by saying, “I notice some St. Thomas people (here), so I will try to speak a little slower.”

Fasching told the audience former Saint John’s coach John Gagliardi had his 90th birthday last week. The legendary Gagliardi sat in with the Johnnies’ coaching staff every Monday this season to review film. …

CORES emcee Dick Jonckowski introduced Gophers basketball coach Richard Pitino at a recent gathering of Minnesota high school basketball coaches. He referred to Pitino’s father, Louisville coach Rick Pitino, as the “Italian Stallion.” Then he introduced the “Pepperoni Pony.”

Jonckowski jokes that he met up with Blair Walsh at a local McDonald’s. Jonckowski asked the Vikings’ placekicker how he is doing. “I can’t kick,” Walsh supposedly said. …

That was Minnesota resident Eric Curry officiating the ESPN televised game Friday night in Hawaii between basketball powers Arizona and Michigan Sate. Curry is married to former Gophers basketball player and now Macalester coach Kelly Roysland. …

The Timberwolves had three players listed in Sports Illustrated’s ranking of the NBA’s top 100 players. The magazine’s NBA preview issue last month ranked center Karl-Anthony Towns No. 23, forward Andrew Wiggins No. 67 and point guard Rick Rubio No. 71. …

Twins owner Jim Pohlad told Sports Headliners he is open to spending more money on players as new baseball department bosses Derek Falvey and Thad Levine rebuild his team. The Twins’ payroll ranked 19th among MLB franchise’s in 2016, according to Espn.com.

Twins fans have noticed the Braves, who ranked with baseball’s worst teams last season, added free veteran agent pitchers R.A. Dickey and Bartolo Colon this month.

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