NCAA – Page 135 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Izzo, Dutcher Positive on U in Big Ten

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

Michigan State coaching legend Tom Izzo and former Minnesota Big Ten championship coach Jim Dutcher are impressed with the Gophers.

Izzo, an eight-time national coach of the year, talked to Sports Headliners about the Gophers after his Spartans defeated Minnesota 75-74 in overtime on Tuesday night in Williams Arena. “They’re a good team,” Izzo said. “They’ve got (big) bodies and they’ve got good guard play. (They) don’t always shoot it great, (but teams have) gotta have some weakness—we got about five.

“We just happened to find a way to win. They were the better team most of tonight. I think Rich (Pitino) has done a hell of a job with them now. I think he’s got them headed in the right direction. They’ve won a lot of games. They didn’t play all (nonconference) cupcakes either. This was a tough physical game and I am sure they will learn from it, just like we will.”

The Gophers are 12-2 overall and 0-1 in the Big Ten under fourth-year coach Richard Pitino who was 2-16 in league games last season. The Gophers added new players during the offseason and key returnees have also helped improve a team that lost its first 13 conference games during 2015-2016. “I just think they’ve got a good blend of talent,” said Dutcher, who coached the Gophers to the 1982 Big Ten title.

Dutcher likes the quality of Minnesota’s eight-man rotation and sees not only a more talented team than last season but one with better size. There’s something else of importance he mentioned, too. “I think they’re a better defensive team than they were,” he said.

Dutcher predicts the Gophers will have a 9-9 conference record and could make the NCAA Tournament. In Minnesota’s favor in being able to earn a tournament invite for the first time since 2013 is that the Big Ten doesn’t look all that imposing. “Top to bottom it’s not a great league,” Dutcher said about the Big Ten, a conference without a top 10 ranked team.

The Gophers will finish seventh in the Big Ten after Indiana, Wisconsin, Purdue, Michigan State and Ohio State, Dutcher predicted. Behind the Gophers will be Michigan, Maryland, Northwestern, Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Rutgers and Penn State.

Minnesota missed a big opportunity by not winning Tuesday after the Gophers couldn’t hold a 39-26 halftime lead. The Spartans came into the game without their best player in freshman guard-forward Miles Bridges. Michigan State, which has won one national title and made seven Final Four appearances in 21 previous seasons under Izzo, arrived in Minneapolis with an uncharacteristic 8-5 record, although the schedule included nonconference games with national toughies Duke, Kentucky, Arizona.

Now the Gophers must play four of their next five league games on the road, starting with Sunday at nationally-ranked Purdue, 12-2 and 1-0. The Gophers certainly can’t start the conference schedule 0-6 and still have solid NCAA Tournament ambitions. Dutcher doesn’t think they will, with early opportunities for wins probably coming at Northwestern January 5 and at Penn State January 14. Minnesota’s next home game, January 8 with Ohio State, is already a circle it date too. “My view is there are a lot of wins to be had in this league,” Dutcher said.

The Gophers were out worked and gave up too many scores near the basket in the second half of the MSU game but Dutcher said it wasn’t like Pitino’s team “laid an egg” in the game. Dutcher isn’t discouraged by the loss. “It’s not so much about what Minnesota did wrong, as what Michigan State did right,” he said.

Last season the Gophers had issues on and off the court. Pitino said after the nonconference schedule ended that his team had made progress but acknowledged more progress awaits. “Our guys have worked really, really hard to climb out of the gutter off the court, on the court, all those things to get everybody’s respect back. …We trusted that we’d be better. We’re better but we still got a long way to go.”

Izzo Storytelling on Flip Saunders

Flip Saunders (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Timberwolves)

Izzo confirmed what other friends of the late Flip Saunders have said about Saunders coming close to accepting the Gophers job in the spring of 2013. The former Gophers guard in the 1970s was between coaching opportunities in the NBA back then and Saunders ultimately decided he didn’t want to work for athletics director Norwood Teague, according to a top source.

“Flip loved the Gophers,” Izzo told Sports Headliners. “His passion for Minnesota in general was off the charts, and the University was just even more off the charts.”

Izzo and Saunders forged a friendship over the years including when Saunders coached the NBA Pistons in Detroit. At Saunders’ funeral in 2015 Izzo read from the Bible during the service for his friend who died at age 60 from cancer.

“I miss him,” Izzo said about the former Timberwolves executive and coach. “I miss the late night calls. He always had some good plays for me.

“I can honestly say I loved the guy. I still feel for Debbie (Saunders’ wife) and I stay in touch with Ryan (his son and Timberwolves assistant). I am proud of what he is doing.

“But to have had Flip in the league (the Big Ten) would have been an honor. It really would have been.”

Izzo recalled working to recruit Apple Valley High School point guard Tyus Jones for a couple of years. Izzo laughed about how Saunders evolved from helping the Spartans, to becoming more interested in the prep All-American choosing Minnesota as Saunders started to seriously consider the Gophers job. “Are you helping me, or are you helping yourself?” he asked his buddy.

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75 Years Later Smith Unique to U

Posted on December 9, 2016December 12, 2016 by David Shama

Sometimes we have heroes who earned their glory before we were born. Growing up, one of my idols was 1941 Gophers Heisman Trophy winner Bruce Smith from Faribault, Minnesota.

How could it be any other way? My dad was a passionate Gophers football fan and law school graduate of the University of Minnesota. He saw Smith play many times and recounted stories about the great halfback who remains to this day the only Gopher ever to win college football’s most coveted individual prize.

Hollywood even made a movie about Smith. I can remember being so amazed when by chance I watched “Smith of Minnesota” on a Minneapolis TV station in the late 1950s. Wow, a Heisman winner from Minnesota and the subject of a movie? My admiration for Smith and his legacy was set in stone, never to be forgotten.

All Minnesota fans should remember Smith who 75 years ago today was in New York City to accept his Heisman award, symbolic of being college football’s best player in 1941. He was a home state hero who helped make the Golden Gophers brand synonymous with excellence. He was a key contributor to Minnesota’s national championships in 1940 and 1941, his junior and senior seasons. Those titles were the fourth and fifth produced by Bernie Bierman, the “Grey Eagle” from Litchfield, Minnesota who deserves a place among the Big Ten’s all-time coaching giants.

Smith beat out Notre Dame running back Angelo Bertelli to win the Heisman. Other Gophers have come close to winning the award. Smith’s teammate George Franck was second in voting in 1940. Paul Giel was third in 1952 and second in 1953. Tom Brown finished second in 1960—the Gophers’ last national championship season—and Sandy Stephens placed fourth in 1961.

Maybe Smith was destined to be special. His father Lucius Smith played tackle and kicked for the Gophers about 30 years before his son became a star at Minnesota. In 1910 the Gophers and Michigan, both undefeated, played a game to decide the national championship. The Wolverines won 6-0 and for some unknown reason Lucius held himself responsible for the painful loss. Legend is that Lucius vowed to have a son who would avenge the defeat.

That day came in 1940 when Bruce and his teammates walked on to a muddy Memorial Stadium field and played Michigan in another game between two unbeaten teams to determine the national champion. The Gophers trailed 6-0 in the game, and no doubt there were Minnesota fans watching who wondered if the Gophers would lose by the same score as years before. The answer was no because Smith ran around and through multiple tacklers in the muck on the way to an 80-yard touchdown. The extra point was successful and the Gophers had a 7-6 triumph.

Smith played for the Gophers from 1939-1941. In the single-wing formation used so famously by Bierman, a left halfback like Smith also passed the ball so he was similar to a modern-day quarterback. But much of Smith’s fame came as a ball carrier including three times during his junior season of 1940 when he scored game winning touchdowns.

Smith came through when the Gophers needed him the most, including when injured. In 1941 another national title was in the balance when Minnesota played Iowa. Smith wasn’t supposed to play because of a knee injury but with the Gophers’ offense struggling, the captain convinced Bierman to let him take the field. He led Minnesota to a 34-13 victory over the Hawkeyes.

Courage was part of what defined Smith and shaped his character. After serving as a Navy fighter pilot during World War II, he played professional football but in 1947 nearly died from a ruptured kidney. Retired at age 29, Smith moved back to Faribault to raise his family without knowing his life would be a short one.

In 1967 Smith was diagnosed with cancer, but instead of withdrawing, he offered compassion to others. Raised as a Catholic, Smith had a spiritual foundation and he used his faith to reach out to children suffering from cancer, praying and providing comfort to youngsters.

June Smith told Sports Headliners that her brother was accompanied by a priest when he visited the children. The priest, William Cantwell, was impressed with the football hero’s modesty and gentle way with others. He found Smith to be inspiring, probably not so much as a Heisman Trophy winner but as a man. “He thought there was something special about Bruce,” June said this week.

Smith died from colon cancer in 1967 at age 47 but Cantwell invoked Smith’s intercession on behalf of young cancer patients after the football legend’s death. Cantwell also nominated Smith for sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church.

Years later the priest was diagnosed with cancer. He prayed to Bruce and he recovered from cancer, said June who is 90 years old and lives in Roseville.

June thinks of her brother often and remembers many things about him including how handsome he was. “He was the best looking guy,” she said.

Handsome enough and so famous as a national sports figure that he played himself in his Hollywood movie. The film was part of Hollywood’s World War II effort to make inspiring films about heroes. “Smith of Minnesota” was about a small-town family whose son becomes an All-American halfback.

bruce-smith-003 In 1977 Smith’s number 54 jersey became the first to be retired by the Gophers. Yet it’s debatable whether the athletic department has done enough to recognize the school’s extraordinary Heisman winner and the character he exemplified. In Smith’s hometown of Faribault, his legend is important to many citizens. Led by Bruce Krinke, Richard Carlander, Dave Henry and others from Faribault, a bronze bust of Smith was commissioned a few years ago and is on display at TCF Bank Stadium, with plans to send a second bust to Faribault High School. Bruce Smith Field in Faribault is named after Smith and there is an outdoor mural with his image on a building in downtown Faribault.

“We want to keep the history of Bruce Smith going here in Faribault and (also) with the University,” said Krinke who for years has administered the Bruce Smith Golf Classic that raises money for Faribault schools. “I will tell you we have sent a letter to (Gophers athletic director) Mark Coyle to request that he consider naming the new practice field, Bruce Smith Practice Field, and he has responded saying…he’s considering it.”

Krinke, June Smith and others who revere Smith will remember him today on the 75th anniversary of his Heisman. Those who know his story so well, recall that on December 7, 1941 the Japanese carried out a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. The nation was still in shock two days later when the All-American halfback from Minnesota came to the podium to accept his award.

Smith took the opportunity to inspire America when he said:

“In the Far East they may think American boys are soft, but I have had, and even have now, plenty of evidence in black and blue to prove that they are making a big mistake. I think America will owe a great debt to the game of football when we finish this thing off. If six million American youngsters like myself are able to take it and come back for more…and fight hard for the honor of our schools, then likewise the same skills can be depended on when we have to fight to defend…our country.”

None of us should be surprised that at a moment when Smith was being given college football’s greatest honor, he thought of others and spoke words of inspiration.

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Failing Offensive Line Clouds Vikes Future

Posted on November 1, 2016November 1, 2016 by David Shama

The Viking lost their second consecutive game last night, scoring one touchdown in a 20-10 loss in Chicago. The Vikings, 5-2, still lead the NFC North Division but after the surprising loss to the Bears, now 2-6, Minnesota’s results in their last nine regular season games is worth biting your nails over.

After two road losses the Vikings are at U.S. Bank Stadium to play the 4-4 Lions in another division game next Sunday. The Vikings’ energy and will figures to go up a notch next week but reality is this team is searching for answers—mostly due to a crisis with the offensive line.

Injuries have reshuffled the personnel and the argument is valid this could be the NFL’s worst offensive line. The Vikings haven’t been able to effectively run the ball all season and in the losses to the Eagles and Bears no one could blame Sam Bradford’s relatives for worrying about the quarterback’s safety. Bradford was under almost constant pressure last night, with the Bears making him hurry throws, while deflecting passes and taking him out of his throwing rhythm.

Sam Bradford (photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings)

He was sacked five times including multiple times in the first half when the Vikings scored only three points. “I would not want to be Sam Bradford,” said ESPN game analyst Jon Gruden.

The Vikings scored their lone touchdown on a sharp throw by Bradford to Stefon Diggs for 25 yards. Trailing 20-10 with more than five minutes to go, the Vikings had an opportunity to narrow the lead but never got the ball back. The defense, perhaps the NFL’s best, couldn’t stop quarterback Jay Cutler and teammates who for much of the game out played Minnesota.

Today the NFL’s trading deadline ends and perhaps the Vikings can acquire help in the offensive line. With or without a new player, the unit will need to work on improving skills, energy and determination for the Lions. The usual electric atmosphere in U.S. Bank Stadium will help. Probably a lot. …

The 0-2 Timberwolves open their home schedule tonight against the Grizzlies. The team has plenty to prove, but first-year coach Tom Thibodeau and second-year center Karl-Anthony Towns rate high among their peers.

Thibodeau has a chance to build a resume in Minneapolis that eventually could list him as the best coach in Wolves history. For now the forlorn franchise can take comfort that he makes just about anybody’s rankings of the NBA’s top coaches—including Gregg Popovich (Spurs), Rick Carlisle (Mavericks), Erik Spoelstra (Heat), Steve Kerr (Warriors), Doc Rivers (Clippers) and Brad Stevens (Celtics).

Thibodeau led the Bulls to the playoffs in all five of his seasons as head coach in Chicago, including having the best record in the league the first two (2010-2012). Going into this season his .647 winning percentage ranked seventh in NBA history (minimum 200 games).

Towns was the NBA’s Rookie of the Year last season, and NBA authorities believe he’s just getting started. The league’s general managers said in a survey Towns is the player they would most want to start a franchise.

Beyond Thibodeau and Towns, though, things are murky. The Wolves blew leads and couldn’t close out games in road losses last week to the Grizzlies and Kings. The better NBA teams have a player or two who can make big plays and shots late in games. Towns can be a force but he can’t always carry the team in the clutch and make the biggest of shots. Third-year small forward Andrew Wiggins has the skills to be the top candidate to help but he hasn’t reached star status yet.

Power forward Gorgui Dieng, shooting guard Zach LaVine and point guard Ricky Rubio, the team’s other starters, have to play more consistently—just like Wiggins. They won’t be guaranteed starting spots as the season progresses, although the Wolves bench players have plenty to prove, too, including rookie Kris Dunn who fills in for the injured Rubio tonight.

Thibodeau won’t stand for lack of effort and toughness. Less talented players may be on the floor if they provide the most energy and grit. Expect an aggressive start by the Wolves tonight as they try to win their first game on a journey that will be considered a disappointment if they can’t end this season at .500. …

The Wild, playing some of the best hockey in the NHL, has the Sabres at home tonight but then doesn’t have another game at Xcel Energy Center until November 15 against the Flames. Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk shut out the Sabres last week in Buffalo and defenseman Ryan Suter had two points in the 4-0 win. Dubnyk had three shutouts last week—the first goalie in Wild history to accomplish that.

Iowa, the Wild’s affiliate team in Des Moines, was 2-1 in games last week. Iowa center and former Gopher Jordan Schroeder led the team with three points. …

Good news for former Gophers athletic director McKinley Boston who is out of a hospital in New Mexico after having a blood clot on his lung. …

Amir Coffey, the 6-8 freshman guard from Hopkins, makes his college debut Thursday night at Williams Arena when Minnesota plays Bemidji State in an exhibition game. “He is a tremendous passer,” said Gophers coach Richard Pitino.

Although Gophers forward Jordan Murphy almost led the Big Ten in rebound average per game last season, he didn’t receive the notoriety of some other top freshmen in the conference. “I think he has a big chip on his shoulder (going into this season),” Pitino said of Murphy.

The Gophers had a poor shooting performance in their intrasquad game open to the public on October 22. “I think we were just getting the jitters out,” said sophomore Dupree McBrayer who could start at shooting guard and be the backup point guard.

Junior center Reggie Lynch, 6-10, 260, gives the Gophers a low post scorer and shot blocker now that he is eligible after transferring from Illinois State. Three point shooting? Lynch said he attempted one three pointer in practice but has no plans to let one fly in a game.

When 6-9 freshman forward Eric Curry arrived in Minneapolis from Arkansas earlier this year he weighed about 220 pounds. He was told to gain weight and could eat “anything” he wanted. Calories and weight training have him up to 235 pounds. …

St. Thomas is offering $50 season tickets guaranteeing the same seat location for all men’s and women’s home games. …

It’s been a newsmaking fall for Badgers linebackers with Minnesota connections. Yesterday Eden Prairie’s Ryan Connelly was named co-Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for his career-high 11 tackles against Nebraska on Saturday. Two weeks ago Jack Cichy, a native of Somerset, Wisconsin who attended Hill-Murray School in Maplewood, was honored as Defensive Player of the Week for his career-high 15 tackles against Ohio State. …

Creative Charters is offering an incentive to Gophers football fans who buy a travel package for the Nebraska game before 5 p.m. Wednesday, November 2. Purchase a $399 per person package for the game in Lincoln on Saturday, November 12 and receive a $50 voucher for a trip to Minnesota’s bowl game (site, date and opponent to be determined). Creative’s trip to Nebraska departs Minneapolis via Sun Country November 12 at 10 a.m. and returns following the game. More at Travelingopher.com, or 651-748-0080. …

Murray’s Restaurant owner Tim Murray attended the first two World Series games with friends, paying $160 per night for good seats at Cleveland’s Progressive Field. Murray estimated there were 7,000 or more Cubs fans at each of the games, and while they added excitement to the World Series environment he said there was less “electricity” in Cleveland than other cities where he has watched the series.

Murray, who has visited every stadium in Major League Baseball, has attended World Series games in Minnesota in 1965, 1987 and 1991, and also 1982 in Milwaukee, 1993 in Philadelphia and 2004 in St. Louis. The Indians, who lead the series 3-2, can finish the Cubs tonight in the best of seven games playoffs. “I would like to see the Cubs comeback but I think Cleveland wins one of the next two,” said Murray who is a fan of both teams. …

Derek Falvey, the Twins new top baseball executive who is closing out his front office responsibilities with the Indians, will likely be introduced to the Minneapolis-St. Paul media in the next several days. Falvey, 33, pitched for Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut where he was an economics major.

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