MIAC – Page 6 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Vikings Carry ‘Chip on Shoulder’ Attitude

Posted on June 23, 2019June 23, 2019 by David Shama

Spend time around the Vikings this offseason and it doesn’t take long to pick up on expectations for an improved record in 2019. The Vikings were 8-7-1 last year and the whole organization is determined to have better results this fall.

An easy way to describe the club’s new attitude is “chip on the shoulder.” Reserve quarterback Sean Mannion, a third round draft choice by the Rams in 2015, signed with the Vikings in April and although new to the organization noticed the mindset of his new team.

“I think that would be an accurate way to describe it, for sure,” Mannion told Sports Headliners. “The big thing is just channeling that and focusing on your craft. Using that as motivation but not letting it become destructive. Letting it be something that motivates you to work on your skills, work on your abilities, and just continuing to grow as a player.”

After the Vikings finished spring practices, new assistant head coach Gary Kubiak acknowledged the determination starting quarterback Kirk Cousins has expressed to him. “That’s one of the first things that he said to me when we talked back a few months ago when I got here. He said, ‘Coach, I’ve had some good things happen in my career, and had some good numbers, but I want to win.’

“And that’s what we all want to do,” Kubiak said. “That’s what you’re searching for with your football team, and if you got people thinking that way, you got a chance to get there. …”

Even head coach Mike Zimmer, often a curmudgeon with his team and media, has expressed optimism about the Vikings having the potential for a big season. “I definitely picked up on that (optimism),” Mannion said.

The national perspective on the Vikings when they go through training camp in August likely will be that Minnesota is picked for second in the NFC North Division behind the Bears, last season’s champions. NFL Network reporter Tom Pelissero told Sports Headliners “they (the Bears) come in as the favorites.”

The biggest question about the Vikings, per Pelissero, is just how fast the offense will come together. “It’s all about marrying the run and the pass,” he said. “Making those two things look the same (to defenses).”

Pelissero, who lives in the Minneapolis area, said the offense has “got the weapons” and will feature more play-action and bootlegs to make Cousins more effective in his second season with the Vikings. Cousins will need help, though, from a reshuffled offensive line that last season was subpar.

“Average (for the line) would be an improvement from where they were a year ago, frankly,” Pelissero said. “I am sure they are shooting for higher than average, but average would be workable from where they’re at.”

Worth Noting

The first of 16 training camp practices open to the public at Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center in Eagan will be July 26. New this year is a policy that autographs will be available only to fans 18 and younger.

Sports Illustrated’s Jeremy Wood gave the Timberwolves an A grade for drafting Texas Tech shooting guard Jarrett Culver who is considered a skilled offensive and defensive player. Writing last Thursday on SI.com Woo said, “This is strong value for Minnesota at No. 6 landing a player who you can argue for as the third best prospect in the draft.”

Did you notice Indiana’s Romeo Langford was the only Big Ten Conference player among the 15 lottery choices in last Thursday’s NBA Draft?

University of St. Thomas athletics director Phil Esten told Sports Headliners the school is in the early stages of “sorting all our options” regarding whether it will continue to compete in Division III, move to Division II or possibly make an eventual transition to Division I. The D-1 level requires a lengthy process and timeline including starting at D-2.

The Tommies must leave the D-3 MIAC after next spring. It’s way down the road speculation but if St. Thomas decided to pursue D-1 status for its athletics program, Allianz Field and Xcel Energy Center could be attractive homes for the Tommies football and basketball teams.

In this glutted sports market, the Tommies would be challenged to draw large crowds in both sports, but more so in football. With a capacity of about 20,000 at Allianz, St. Thomas football could attract larger crowds than some struggling D-1 programs have done over the years. For example, Akron, from the MAC, had average home attendance of 9,170 in 2014, per multiple reports.

With the high quality basketball played in the state, the Tommies could become competitive after a few years at the D-2 or D-1 levels. Men’s coach John Tauer is highly thought of and is capable of taking the Tommies beyond D-3 success that includes the 2016 NCAA title.

Tommies games at the Xcel Energy Center against regional and national teams with brand recognition might attract crowds of 10,000 or more. Ideal box office draws would include Notre Dame and Marquette.

Fan HQ is promoting the sale of Joe Mauer number retirement baseballs, with online ordering and then pickup at the Ridgedale store.

Twins Hall of Famer Kent Hrbek appears from 7 to 8 p.m. July 11 at the Eden Prairie Center Fan HQ.

Bill Robertson, commissioner of the Twin Cities-based WCHA, was pleased that two league alums, David Backes and Colton Parayko, played for the Bruins and Blues respectively in the Stanley Cup Finals. Backes is from Minnesota State, while Parayko is an Alaska Fairbanks alum.

Congratulations to tennis achievers Hugh Cutler, Larry Sundby, and Tom and Tim Wynne, on their induction into the USTA Northern Section Hall of Fame. USTA Northern, based in Bloomington, is a nonprofit and one of 17 sections of the United States Tennis Association that is dedicated to the growth and development of tennis.

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Several Twins Deserve All-Star Look

Posted on May 28, 2019May 28, 2019 by David Shama

Enjoy a Tuesday notes column leading off with the Minnesota Twins, a club that seems certain to have multiple representatives in July’s MLB All-Star Game in Cleveland.

Twins starters Jose Berrios, Jake Odorizzi and Martin Perez have all won seven games, a total exceeded by only two pitchers in the American League, per stats from Baseball-reference.com. Odorizzi leads the AL in ERA at 2.16 ERA. Berrios was the team’s lone All-Star a year ago and that won’t hurt his chances of being on the AL team in 2019. Perez won only two games last season pitching for the Texas Rangers and is a Comeback Player of the Year candidate.

Minnesota shortstop Jorge Polanco and outfielder Eddie Rosario have compiled All-Star credentials this spring, too. Polanco’s .332 batting average is second best in the American League. He is tied for third in Wins About Replacement. Rosario leads the league in RBI with 45 and his 16 home runs are tied for second.

The Twins haven’t had more than three players in the All-Star Game since 1991 when Rick Aguilera, Scott Erickson, Jack Morris and Kirby Puckett represented Minnesota.

The Twins announced this morning that pitcher Michael Pineda is on the 10-day Injured List with right knee tendinitis. Pineda has started 11 games, with a 4-3 record and 5.34 ERA. To replace Pineda on the roster, the Twins selected the contract of left-handed pitcher Devin Smeltzer from Triple-A Rochester. Smeltzer made four starts for the Red Wings, going 0-1 with a 1.82 ERA. He was acquired last season as part of a trade with the Dodgers.

The Twins have three more games remaining in May and have won 19 games this month. The club record for wins in May is 21. The most Minnesota has won in any month since 2017 is 20 in August of that year.

Minnesota’s 36-17 record remains the best in MLB after last night’s 5-4 loss to Milwaukee.

As the Minnesota Vikings go through Organized Team Activities this spring it appears No. 1 draft choice Garrett Bradbury will be the center, although he is learning the guard positions, too. The presence of Bradbury is prompting the move of last year’s starting center, Pat Elflein, to left guard.

What was Elflein’s reaction on draft night to the Vikings selecting the talented Bradbury who played at North Carolina State? Excited, he said, to add another “great lineman” to the roster.

Elflein is taking a team first approach about moving to guard, a position he played in college at Ohio State. “I think we have really athletic offensive linemen all across the board, so however we can utilize that best is what we want to do,” he said.

Elflein likes what he has seen so far of Bradbury. “He’s smart. He’s learning the offense very quickly.”

Rookie tight end and No. 2 draft choice Irv Smith Jr. is impressed with the Vikings’ offense. “It’s going to be a scary (good) offense,” he said.

Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen is a two-handicapper in golf. After his pro football career might he consider a run at pro golf? Probably not, he told Sports Headliners. “I wish I was good enough,” he said. “I love the game of golf and it would be really cool to be able to do something like that, but I am not even thinking about that right now.”

Football fans in Minnesota will like the 2019 Division II and III preseason national rankings by Street & Smith’s College Football magazine on newsstands now. Minnesota State is No. 3 and Minnesota-Duluth No. 11 in the D-II rankings. Three MIAC teams are in the D-III top 10 with No. 3 Saint John’s, No. 6 St. Thomas and No. 10 Bethel.

St. Thomas games will again be broadcast on WCCO Radio. Sources believe the school will continue to buy the air time for the broadcasts.

Deepest condolences to the family and friends of Mignette Najarian who passed away last week. The Najarians, including Mignette’s husband Dr. John Najarian of the University of Minnesota, have for decades been one of the great families in Minneapolis and Minnesota. They have inspired people through medicine, business and philanthropy.

The “Cinderella” Golden Gophers softball team, in the program’s first ever Women’s College World Series, are seeded No. 7 among eight teams and play No. 2 UCLA starting at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in a game to be televised by ESPN. Names to watch on the Bruins include pitcher Rachel Garcia with a 1.01 ERA, third lowest in the country, and Kelli Goodwin hitting .446, ninth best.

No. 1 seeded Oklahoma should be the crowd favorite with the May 30-June 5 tournament being played in Oklahoma City, located about 20 miles from the OU campus in Norman. The talented Sooners lead the nation’s D-I teams in batting average at .355 and also ERA at 1:06. The Gophers rank No. 7 in ERA at 1.63 but aren’t in the top 10 for batting average.

Season tickets are sold out for Gopher softball 2020 home games and the athletic department has started a waitlist.

The Gophers baseball team finished the year with a 29-27 overall record, the 36th time in 38 years that head coach John Anderson has led Minnesota to a winning record. Anderson’s 64th birthday was earlier this month and he has one year remaining on his contract. He should be given a contract extension to continue leading the program indefinitely.

Earlier this month on CBS an estimated 10,000 TV households in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market watched golf’s Nick Faldo, along with Minneapolis philanthropist Wayne Kostroski, announce the first-ever Taste Fore The Tour. The Tour’s first stop will be July 1 at Interlachen Country Club in Edina, and is part of a national charity culinary series created to raise awareness and donations for hunger relief causes. The Minnesota culinary event will precede the PGA’s 3M Open that starts July 4 in Blaine.

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Leipold Says Boudreau Top 5 Coach

Posted on February 3, 2019February 3, 2019 by David Shama

Wild owner Craig Leipold told Sports Headliners coach Bruce Boudreau’s job is secure even if the Minnesota NHL team doesn’t make the playoffs. Fans and media have speculated about Boudreau’s future for multiple reasons including the presence of new general manager Paul Fenton.

General managers often prefer to hire their own coaches. Leipold replaced Chuck Fletcher with Fenton after last season with the intent of making the Wild a better performing playoff team. The franchise has earned its way into six consecutive playoffs but is known for early exits.

Boudreau was hired as the Wild’s coach in 2016. His first two Minnesota teams exited the playoffs in the first rounds. As of today, the Wild has played well enough to be fourth in the Western Conference standings with 56 points. The team has won four more games than it has lost, reflecting inconsistent results but enough success to make the playoffs if the season ended now.

Boudreau had previous head NHL coaching jobs with the Capitals and Ducks. His teams had some playoff struggles and never made the Stanley Cup finals. That, too, was part of the reason Leipold was asked late last week if his coach’s job is safe if Minnesota doesn’t earn its way into the playoffs this spring.

“The answer is absolutely his job is safe,” Leipold said. “To be honest, we plan on making the playoffs, but there’s a lot of competition for those playoff spots, and I think Bruce has done a great job. (Defenseman Matt) Dumba going down for the season has hurt us obviously, so there are a lot of other issues if we don’t make the playoffs.

“Bruce is a spectacular coach. I still regard him as a top five in the league, as do most people. I look at it occasionally where I see a comment where a writer might say, ‘Is Bruce’s job on the line?’ Absolutely not.

“I don’t see that happening, although honestly, Paul and I have not even spoken about it. I feel certain Paul has the same feeling that I do about it.”

Leipold isn’t second-guessing his coach and general manager, nor is he doing that about the mega contracts he gave to forward Zach Parise and defenseman Ryan Suter in 2012. The two free agents signed 13-year, $98 million deals.

“It was a game changer at that time,” Leipold said. “They are two special players. They continue to perform at very high levels. So the answer is unequivocally, if I had to make that decision over again, I would have made it even quicker than I did at that time. “

Parise leads the Wild in goals with 20 and in points with 45. Suter is fourth on the team in points with 34. Their skills, experience and leadership have not only paid off on the ice, Leipold said, but also financially for a franchise that regularly sells out its home games.

“They’re two players that are not lazy players,” Leipold said. “They give 100 percent all the time. The leadership that they have on the team is priceless. I wouldn’t be surprised if Suter, the way he is playing, he can play until he is 45. I am not going to be surprised if he wants another contract after this one expires.”

Parise is 35 years old, Suter 34. With several years remaining on their contracts does Leipold feel boxed in on payroll flexibility to improve his roster?

“You know I think at some point it might (be a factor), but it’s not right now,” Leipold said. “Because the average of their contract(s) is now really right on par with what top teams are paying their top players. The players now that are coming out to unrestricted free agency are making a lot more money than these two players did at that time.

“So, sure it takes $15 million (on the payroll) that we’re paying two players but the contributions that they make are well worth that money that we’re paying every year. So I have no regrets. None at all about that signing.”

Worth Noting

Although the sale began just last Friday, about 10,000 tickets have already been sold to the public for the October 19 Saint John’s-St. Thomas football game at Allianz Field in St. Paul. A source involved with the game said about 4,000 tickets remain in the 19,500 seat facility that opens later this year as the home of soccer’s Minnesota United. Almost 5,000 seats are being held for a sale later in the year to students from both schools.

More than 1,000 VIP and ringside seats at an average price of $85 have been sold for the February 23 boxing card at the Minneapolis Armory. The card includes Minneapolis welterweight Jamal James, ranked No. 3 in the world by the World Boxing Association, against Janer Gonzalez of Colombia, winner of 19 bouts with only one loss and a draw. The main event matches Andre Dirrell (32-1-1) against once-beaten Avni Yildirim (21-1) for the vacant WBC World Super Middleweight title.

Coincidences: former Vikings quarterback Wade Wilson and ex-Twins center fielder Lenny Green both died this year on their birthdays. Wilson, 60, died on February 1, while Green, 86, passed away on January 6.

A player Vikings fans can look at with envy tonight in the Super Bowl is Rams offensive left tackle Andrew Whitworth. During the 2017 offseason he was a free agent after playing for 11 seasons with the Bengals, where Mike Zimmer once was the team’s longtime defensive coordinator. It’s believed the Vikings and their head coach were among the courters for Whitworth, trying to patch up a still to this day leaky offensive line. Whitworth, 37, is a force on the Rams offensive line and a high character guy.

The NFL had a 29 percent decrease in reported player concussions during the 2018 regular season, according to the January 25 issue of USA Today.

Augsburg hockey forward Alex Rodriguez is having a news making senior season while leading the MIAC in goals. Among the nation’s top Division III goal scorers, the Miami transplant has three hat tricks this season and is featured in Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd” section of the early February issue.

Dick Jonckowski has ordered another 500 copies to be printed of his book, It’s All About Me, Dick Jonckowski: A Minnesota Treasure. The Shakopee-based emcee and public address announcer originally had 1,500 copies printed. Jonckowski autographed 200 copies of the book at a Twins event last week at Target Field.

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