Bobby Bell predicts the football Gophers will win a Big Ten championship in the next couple of years. “I believe in what they’re doing,” Bell told Sports Headliners.
Bell was a two-time All-American tackle for Minnesota in 1961-1962. He won the 1962 Outland Trophy as the nation’s most outstanding lineman. Gophers football historians place him at or near the top of any list of the program’s greatest players.
Although he lives in the Kansas City area, Bell was in town last weekend for the Gophers game on Saturday, and to watch the Chiefs, his former NFL team, take on the Vikings. He was asked if Minnesota can win the Big Ten in the next five years?
“Oh, yeah,” Bell answered. “I would say in another year or two. …”
Bell not only believes in head coach Jerry Kill but also bases his optimism about the program’s future on the support for athletics by University of Minnesota president Eric Kaler. Another reason Bell is upbeat about the Gophers is the commitment to build new football facilities that will help with recruiting.
When Bell watches Minnesota he sees a roster that is only a few key players away from being “trouble” for the rest of the Big Ten. More talent and the coaching of Kill and staff will deliver a title, he believes.
Bell was a great athlete who also played basketball for the Gophers. In college he was 6-4 and about 225 pounds, and he could play multiple positions. He competed during an era when freshmen weren’t eligible for varsity competition and during his first fall at Minnesota he played quarterback on the frosh team.
Coach Murray Warmath switched the Shelby, North Carolina native to tackle because highly recruited Sandy Stephens was a year ahead of Bell in eligibility and was establishing himself at quarterback. If Stephens, who was a 1961 All-American, hadn’t been at Minnesota, could Bell have been an All-American quarterback?
“Yeah, I think so,” Bell answered. “I played every position. I told them, wherever you need me, I’ll play. If you can coach (the position), I can play it, so they switched me from quarterback to offensive tackle, defensive end, center. I could have played them all. I did the same things in the pros, too. Played anywhere.”
Bell was the important player during the last dominant era of Minnesota football. From 1960-1962 the Gophers won Big Ten and national championships. They played in two Rose Bowls, winning the 1962 game 21-3 against UCLA. In a three year stretch the team’s record was 22 wins, 6 losses and 1 tie. Minnesota only lost four conference games from 1960-1962.
The 1962 team lost the Big Ten title in the last game of the season when an official made a controversial call on Bell for roughing the Wisconsin passer. The penalty helped set up the winning fourth quarter touchdown for the Badgers in the 14-9 game played in Madison. Bell, his teammates and Warmath never got over that game they felt was taken away from them.
Later that fall Bell met John F. Kennedy who had seen the game. It didn’t take the president long to tell Bell he thought the Gophers got “a raw deal.”
All these years later that’s small consolation for a Big Ten title lost. No doubt Bell looks forward to his prediction about Kill’s first conference title coming true.
Worth Noting
The Gophers basketball team will have a free scrimmage open to the public on Sunday at Williams Arena. The scrimmage begins at 4 p.m. with doors opening at 3:30 p.m. After the scrimmage players and coaches will sign autographs in the concourse. Minnesota’s opening game, an exhibition against Minnesota Crookston, is on November 1 at Williams Arena.
Wolves rookie Karl-Anthony Towns and 21-year veteran Kevin Garnett are on one of the regional covers of Sports Illustrated’s NBA preview. The magazine has printed four covers and the issue with Towns and Garnett is for sale on newsstands starting today.
The Timberwolves played the Bucks last night in Madison and will see the same team in a final preseason game Friday evening in Minneapolis. The Bucks roster includes former Robbinsdale Cooper star Rashad Vaughn who has been among the rookie scoring leaders in the NBA, frequently totaling double figures.
The coaching staff includes ex-Cretin-Derham Hall and St. Thomas player Sean Sweeney. He has worked his way up in the coaching profession, having started with assistant positions at Anoka-Ramsey Community College and the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
“It’s really kind of a cool story,” said Steve Fritz, who coached Sweeney at St. Thomas from 2001-2006. “He was our point guard. You could tell he was a student of the game.”
Sweeney was director of basketball operations at the University of Evansville and video coordinator at Northern Iowa before joining the NBA’s Nets in December of 2011 as the team’s assistant video coordinator. He was named a Bucks assistant to head coach Jason Kidd in 2014 and is known for his defensive knowledge. “He certainly lives the game,” said Fritz.
Fritz, 66, is in his 25th year as the St. Thomas athletic director. He retired as men’s basketball coach in 2011.
Dan O’Brien, Gophers senior associate athletic director, said his teenage son Casey had a successful surgery for cancer recently. In November the plan is for chemotherapy and then to be cancer free.
Todd Richards, the former Wild head coach now leading the Blue Jackets, has the only winless team in the NHL. The 0-7 Blue Jackets have given up a league high 34 goals, and play the Wild tomorrow night at Xcel Energy Center. Richards, a Crystal, Minnesota native, coached the Wild from 2009-2011.
The Wild have 12 players on the 23-man roster who are 25 or younger. That nucleus will be a key to sustaining playoff success on an annual basis. The youngest player is 21-year-old defenseman Matt Dumba, while the oldest is 37-year-old goalie Niklas Backstrom, who the Wild no doubt would like to swap in the right trade.
It’s a disappointing end to the season for Eagan High School alum Zach Zenner who made the Lions roster as an undrafted rookie free agent. Zenner suffered cracked ribs and a collapsed lung in the first half of Sunday’s Lions win over the Bears. He had been playing on special teams and as a reserve running back, gaining 60 yards on 17 carries.
The 3-2 Vikings, who play the 1-5 Lions in Detroit on Sunday, won the first game between the two teams, 26-16. The Vikings are 70-36-2 all-time against the Lions, including 31-22-1 in Detroit.
Any transplanted Minnesota sports fans now living in the Phoenix area have to be looking forward to an odd scheduling stretch in December. The Vikings play the Cardinals in suburban Glendale on December 10, the Wild have a game in Glendale against the Coyotes December 11, and then the Timberwolves are hosted by the Suns December 13 in Phoenix.
Twins fans can take encouragement from the Royals who are in the playoffs and trying to make the World Series for a second consecutive season. From 2003 through 2012 the Royals lost 90-plus games eight times, according to Wikipedia. Three of those seasons they lost over 100 games. The Royals rebuilt their roster and farm system through the draft—like the Twins are doing after 90-plus loss seasons from 2011-2014. This year the Twins improved to 83-79.
Although an official announcement granting Minnesota a Major League Soccer franchise is expected soon, it’s not known yet what the first year of operation will be. Minnesota and one other market are expected to be awarded a franchise.
Among the interesting facts about the MLS is the upper range of team payrolls is about $19 million. The most successful teams in the standings right now have payrolls of about $4 million.
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