Preps – Page 122 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Losses Pile Up But Jug Special

Posted on October 31, 2012October 31, 2012 by David Shama

Michigan comes to Minneapolis on Saturday for the 93rd game when the Wolverines and Gophers play for one year ownership of the Little Brown Jug. It’s been 35 years since Minnesota defeated the Wolverines in the Gophers’ home stadium, and took possession of the jug that Wikipedia says represents the oldest trophy series in college football.

The Gophers and Wolverines have been playing for the trophy since 1909. The prize came about when the Wolverines inadvertently left their water jug behind after a game in Minneapolis. Michigan wanted the jug returned but a Gophers official said, “If you want it, you’ll have to win it.”

And win it the Wolverines have, with 67 victories. The Gophers have 22 wins and there have been three ties in the Little Brown Jug series. The Gophers won nine straight games in the 1930s and 1940s. During the 1960s Minnesota won six of eight including four games at Memorial Stadium.

But what a drought it’s been since 1967 with the Gophers winning the jug only in 1977 in Minneapolis, and 1986 and 2005 in Ann Arbor. The lopsided results have removed much of the luster from a rivalry that once was among the most glamorous in college football.

Minnesota has more talk about games now with Iowa and Wisconsin, two other famous trophy games. Michigan fires up for games with Notre Dame, Michigan State and Ohio State.

Former Michigan running back Mike Hart, who played for the Wolverines a few seasons ago, told ESPN.com last year that competing against Minnesota is just another game.

“There are so many important games to us that that’s not really a big rivalry game,” Hart said in a September 29, 2011 article on ESPN’s WolverineNation. “It’s more or less just another game to us that has a trophy involved.

“It’s not like, ‘Oh, we’re getting the Jug.’ I personally never saw it as that. I saw it as another Big Ten team we were playing.”

Just another game? That will make Butch Nash roll over in his grave. Nash, from northeast Minneapolis, played for the Gophers in the 1930s, then was an assistant coach over five decades. He reveled in the Michigan-Minnesota Little Brown Jug rivalry.

It was Nash who spoke from the heart before Gopher wins in 1977 and 1986. The 1977 victory was particularly memorable because the Gophers rocked the college football world on October 22 of that year when they thoroughly dominated and punished then No. 1 ranked Michigan 16-0 in Memorial Stadium.

The victories in 1986 and 2005 were much closer. In 1986 quarterback Rickey Foggie’s fourth quarter running set up a game-winning Chip Lohmiller’s field goal for a 20-17 win over No. 2 ranked Michigan. In 2005 running back Gary Russell’s 61-yard sprint down the sidelines positioned Jason Giannini for a game-ending field goal and a 23-20 Minnesota win.

The Gophers aren’t expected to win on Saturday in TCF Bank Stadium. Sports Headliners has the Gophers as a 10 point underdog and losing to Michigan for the 28th time in the last 35 years (the teams haven’t played each year since 1977).

The Gophers would be well advised to talk to Darrell Thompson who played for the 1986 Gophers and heard Nash’s fiery words. “He talked about the tradition and history of the game,” the former Gophers running back told Sports Headliners. “The thing that stuck with me out of his speech was to leave nothing out on the field. Only you know if you have given everything, and then you can feel very good about your effort.”

Thompson, who is close to the program as the radio analyst on the Minnesota games, said the current Gophers are well drilled about the importance of their rivalry games including the Little Brown Jug. He thinks the jug means a lot to the Minnesota players. “When they win (it), they will understand even more (the importance),” he said. “It hurt when we lost it in 1987.”

Mauer Wedding, Wolves Outlook & More

Invitations have been mailed for the Joe Mauer–Maddie Bisanz wedding on Saturday, December 1 at a church in St. Paul. Mauer’s grandfather, Jake Mauer, told Sports Headliners the invitation asks guests not to give wedding gifts but instead make donations to a Twin Cities nonprofit benefiting teens and adults with disabilities. Joe’s brothers Jake and Bill will be co-best men.

The wedding will be followed by a reception and dinner with 720 invitees—many more guests than can be accommodated at the church, according to Jake. There will be various activities for guests on Thursday and Friday leading up to the wedding including a skating party. “It will all cost over $300,000.00,” Jake said.

Bisanz is a Twin Cities nurse who plans to continue her career after marrying the Twins All-Star catcher, according to Jake who said the couple is in southwest Florida for several weeks. Honeymoon plans aren’t decided yet. “Joe wants to go to Paris,” Jake said.

Some Wolves fans may choose to hibernate until box-office stars Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love return from injuries, but the team’s regular season schedule starts on Friday night at home against the Kings. Like it or night, the Wolves have 27 games scheduled between now and year’s end. The Wolves probably will play most or even all of those games without the Big Two.

Only eight of those games are against the better teams in the NBA, with the remaining opponents being mediocre or worse. Down-trodden teams on the Wolves schedule are the Bobcats, Cavs, Hornets, Kings, Magic, Raptors and Warriors. The Wolves will play a balanced home-away schedule during the first two months, with 13 games at Target Center and 14 on the road.

Take an upbeat approach to November and December because of coach Rick Adelman. He’s among the NBA’s better coaches ever and has plenty of experience working with underwhelming talent over the last 20-plus years. He will expect a cast of Wolves role players to play hard and do their jobs. Translation: don’t try to be Love or Rubio.

Take a skeptical approach to November and December because NBA games are frequently decided in the fourth quarter—and the Wolves may not have any players who can consistently close out games. Shooting guard Brandon Roy may want to say, “Boys, jump on my back and I’ll carry us home.” But the burden could be too much for Roy who hasn’t played a regular season game since 2010-2011 because of troublesome knees.

Love and teammate Lou Amundson will be taking 10 children from HopeKids to the World’s Largest Trick-or-Treat event at Mall of America tonight from 5 to 6 p.m. HopeKids benefits families with children who have cancer or other life-threatening medical conditions.

Former Gopher Mychal Thompson’s son Klay Thompson starts his second season with the Warriors and is one of the NBA’s most promising three point shooters, making 0.488 percent of those shots in preseason while averaging 14 points per game.

In the October 29 issue of Sports Illustrated the magazine makes its NBA predictions and picks the Heat to defeat the Lakers in the playoff finals. S.I. predicts the Wolves are a possible playoff team but no cinch.

Gophers football coach Jerry Kill said his offensive line played its best game of the season in last Saturday’s 44-28 win over Purdue. Ed Olson, probably the team’s best offensive lineman before the season started, was injured and didn’t play against Purdue, and Kill doesn’t expect him back for Saturday’s game with Michigan.

Three Minnesota prep football coaches earned milestone career wins earlier this month. Congratulations to Dean Taylor from St. Cloud Cathedral on his 200^th career win, and Jack Drews of Rochester John Marshall and John Clark Jr. from Mahnomen on their 100^th career victories.

The football Prep Bowl will be Friday, November 23 at the Mall of America Field. Last year’s champions were Eden Prairie, Class 5A; ROCORI, Class 4A; Saint Croix Lutheran, Class 3A; Caledonia, Class 2A; Dawson-Boyd, Class 1A; and Edgerton/Ellsworth, Nine-Man.

Former Vikings head coach Jerry Burns worked for legendary coach Vince Lombardi in Green Bay. The stage play “Lombardi” has been at the History Theatre in St. Paul this fall with the final performance on Sunday, November 4. Burns attended the production on opening night and spoke at a special dinner prior to the performance. He recommends the play including the portrayal of the Hall of Fame coach by James Detmar.

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U Likely in Tyus Jones Top 5

Posted on October 29, 2012October 29, 2012 by David Shama

Debbie Jones told Sports Headliners she hopes her son Tyus Jones can narrow his college choices to five finalists in the coming weeks. “I would probably say in the next month or so,” Debbie said.

Tyus, with a reputation as the best high school point guard in the country for the class of 2014, is considering the Gophers and many other schools. His mother wasn’t specific about how many schools but said the decision to arrive at a list of five will be made by Tyus and family members.

Will the Gophers be among the final five? “I can’t say for sure. I would think they would be in the five,” Debbie said.

Debbie also said there’s no target date as to when a final college choice will be made by Tyus who is becoming a prep legend in Minnesota and will lead an Apple Valley High School team with ambitions to become state champions. She acknowledged her son’s popularity and support among Minnesotans is a factor in the Gophers favor.

“That’s the hardest part for all of us because that is there and it is a pretty big deal,” Debbie said. “It comes down to taking everything into consideration.”

Before narrowing the choices of colleges to five, Tyus wants to visit Kansas and Kentucky. Travel dates haven’t been established.

Worth Noting

Philip Nelson had one of the best passing games ever by a true freshman Gophers quarterback on Saturday against Purdue. Nelson, starting his second game, passed for 246 yards (all in the first half) and in one stretch completed 12 consecutive passes. Rickey Foggie passed for 281 yards in a game as a true freshman in 1984. The school record for consecutive passes is 14 set by Adam Weber in 2008 when he was a redshirt sophomore.

Cornerback Michael Carter also had an extraordinary performance in the Gophers 44-21 win over Purdue. At times he was all over the secondary breaking up passes, and he returned an interception 43 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. He tied Michael Lehan’s school record for six pass breakups in a game set in 2001.

Carter was among the last players to commit to the Gophers in 2009 and then coach Tim Brewster was excited about Carter’s potential. But Carter didn’t emerge as an impact player until Saturday, more than halfway through his senior season and after playing in only five games last season, starting none.

Nelson was announced this morning as Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week, while Carter is the Co-Defensive Player of the Week in the conference.

The Vikings offense has produced four touchdowns in the last two games, but the results haven’t diminished the confidence of Adrian Peterson who said the team has to sustain long drives. “We’ve got great potential offensively,” Peterson said. “Confidence is there.”

Peterson has rushed for 276 yards in the last two games. That’s his best two-game total of the season.

A Sports Headliners reader after watching quarterback Christian Ponder face a persistent pass rush in last Thursday night’s Vikings-Bucs game, emailed this: “I guess he has to learn to throw from his back.”

Vikings running back Toby Gerhart hasn’t fumbled since the closing minutes against the 49ers on September 23 when he had two fumbles. He told Sports Headliners that was “dumb running” because instead of making ball security the highest priority he was trying to have a big gain.

“I’ve become a smarter runner in that situation,” he said. “Four minutes (to the) end of the game. There’s no reason to try to make a big play. Get what you can and get down (on the turf). We’re (the Vikings) just trying to run out the clock. Now I’ve tried to look at situations more for what they are and be smart about it. …”

The Vikings play the Seahawks in Seattle on Sunday, going against coach Pete Carroll. When Gerhart was at Stanford he played against Carroll, the USC coach.

“He’s a good coach,” Gerhart said. “He gets his guys fired up to play and they play for him. …Just his personality from what I’ve seen across the field, it seems like he’s a good motivator.”

Carroll was a Vikings assistant coach in the 1980s under head coaches Bud Grant and Jerry Burns.

Tartan High School defensive back Keelon Brookins emailed news that his rehabilitation from a torn ACL is going well and he remains verbally committed to Wisconsin where he plans to enroll in January. He attended the Gophers-Badgers game in Madison on October 20.

If the Timberwolves are going to make the playoffs, they might have to beat out Northwest Division rival Utah, a team led by former Wolves center Al Jefferson. Also on the roster is ex-Wolves guard Randy Foye. Former Wolves forward Tyrone Corbin is Utah’s head coach. The Wolves open their regular season at home on Friday night against the Kings.

Wolves forward-guard Chase Budinger might have a career scoring year. He scored 21 and 20 points in the team’s last two preseason games. In Budinger’s first three seasons in the NBA, all with the Rockets, he didn’t average more than 22.4 minutes and 9.8 points per game, but his skills, including three point shooting, are a solid fit in Wolves coach Rick Adelman’s offense.

Former Wolves forward Michael Beasley averaged 12.7 in preseason games for the Suns, although he had 29 points on Friday night against Denver. In the October 29 issue of Sports Illustrated an anonymous scout said this about Beasley: “I am not a fan of Michael Beasley. It’s his personality. He just doesn’t seem to care. He doesn’t play hard.”

Ex-Wolves guard Wes Johnson averaged 8.6 points in preseason for the Suns.

Five Big Ten teams are ranked in the top 25 of the Associated Press preseason college basketball poll, but the Gophers aren’t included. The Big Ten is the first conference since the Big East in 2008-2009 to have three teams in the AP preseason top five: Indiana at No. 1, Ohio State No. 4 and Michigan No. 5.

The American League champion Tigers open the Twins regular season schedule next year as part of a series of games against attractive teams at Target Field in April. The Mets, Angels, Rangers and Marlins will also be in Minneapolis that month. Single game tickets are expected to go on sale in February.

Patrick Klinger is no longer vice president of marketing with the Twins after 14 consecutive years with the organization. Klinger, whose responsibilities included oversight of advertising, broadcasting and special events, may start a public relations firm.

St. Thomas is the preseason choice to finish first in MIAC men’s hockey, according to a league poll. Following the Tommies are Gustavus, St. Olaf, Saint John’s, Concordia, Hamline, Augsburg, Bethel and Saint Mary’s.

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Gophers Roster: 3 NBA First Rounders

Posted on October 24, 2012October 24, 2012 by David Shama

Tubby Smith told Sports Headliners he has three potential NBA first round draft choices on his roster in senior forwards Trevor Mbakwe and Rodney Williams, and sophomore point guard Andre Hollins.

Hollins is from Memphis while Mbakwe and Williams are Minnesota natives, and to Smith they are examples of the quality high school players produced in the state. While Smith can’t talk about individuals who are current Minnesota high school prospects because of NCAA rules, it’s no secret he’s impressed with the top players.

If the Gophers could consistently enroll the best Minnesota high schoolers, would Smith compete for Big Ten titles? “Absolutely. I think that we could,” he answered.

Smith left the University of Kentucky to take the Gophers job in 2007 and he’s known about the quality of high school talent in Minnesota for many years. “I was very impressed from day one—even before I got here. The quality of coaching is just outstanding. The high school coaches are outstanding, because that’s where you develop them (the players). The (state) AAU program is second to none around the country.”

New athletic director Norwood Teague gave Smith a contract extension last summer. In five seasons under Smith the Gophers have yet to contend for a Big Ten title and Minnesota’s best record in league play is 9-9. The last two seasons have been major disappointments with injuries and player transfers impacting results.

Does Smith feel more pressure heading into the 2012-13 season that begins a week from Thursday with a home exhibition game against Minnesota State, Mankato? “There’s always pressure,” he said. “I don’t ever feel more pressure or less pressure, to be honest with you. We had a tough two years. We’re 12 and 24 in two years in the Big Ten. Nobody expected that. …”

Worth Noting

MarQueis Gray wasn’t expected to practice yesterday but he plans to play wide receiver in Minnesota’s game at home against Purdue on Saturday. Freshman Philip Nelson will make his second start at quarterback. Left tackle Ed Olson, probably Minnesota’s best offensive lineman, is still injured and won’t play Saturday, coach Jerry Kill said.

Nelson took a solid hit from Wisconsin linebacker Chris Borland last Saturday. “My knee, it did kind of buckle in a little different way,” Nelson said yesterday. “The trainers they took care of me. I am feeling great and I am going to go to practice just like normal.”

Michael Floyd saw James Onwualu, the Cretin-Derham Hall receiver who has verbally committed to Notre Dame, at the Irish’s game against Miami in Chicago earlier this month. Floyd, a Notre Dame and Cretin-Derham Hall alum, gave Onwualu “words of encouragement” and told him to “stay on top of things” as he makes the transition from high school to college.

The Gophers wanted Onwualu but it looks like he will reject Minnesota just like past high profile Cretin-Derham Hall players including Floyd and offensive tackle Seantrel Henderson who chose Miami for college. “Everyone has different choices why they chose their school,” Floyd said. “Nothing against Minnesota. It’s a great school, but sometimes you just don’t want to stay home.”

The Bucs team (2-5) that plays at Mall of America Field tomorrow night against the Vikings (5-2) is led by NFL rookie head coach Greg Schiano. He’s been criticized this season for overly aggressive coaching.

The surprising Vikings record is attributed to various factors including unselfishness by the players. “You can’t be egotistical around this team,” defensive end Brian Robison said. “It has to be all about the team, not about yourself because bottom line is you gotta play good as an individual, but collectively is when you start winning those ball games. That’s what we’ve been preaching forever is just playing good team ball.”

The back part of the defense has improved this season, partly because of rookie safety Harrison Smith who ran an interception back for a touchdown on Sunday against the Cardinals.

“He’s a tremendous athlete back there for us,” Robison said. “The things you see he does, helps our defense tremendously. If he can keep playing the way he is playing, the sky’s the limit for us.”

Steve LaCroix, the Vikings vice president of sales and marketing, said a survey regarding personal seat licensing for the team’s new downtown stadium will begin soon and be completed by year’s end. Such licensing means fans pay fees beyond the cost of tickets for specific seat locations.

LaCroix said the Vikings will play at Mall of America Field next year but eventually will host some games at TCF Bank Stadium during the construction phase of the new stadium. TCF Bank Stadium, with a capacity of 50,806, isn’t large enough to accommodate all the Vikings season ticket holders, about 52,000. LaCroix said seats will be added in the “plaza” end of the Gophers stadium.

The Vikings will play a home game in London next year, September 29, at Wembley Stadium against the Steelers. The Vikings have season ticket holders from England, although LaCroix didn’t know the exact number. “We’re going to them,” he said.

LaCroix is in the unusual position of marketing Vikings football in four stadiums—Mall ofAmerica Field, TCF Bank Stadium, the new downtown stadium and Wembley Stadium.

The October 22 issue of Sports Illustrated refers to Chris Kluwe as the “NFL’s nerdiest player” and offers this headline on a feature story: “The Vikings’ punter is a troll rogue named Loate.”

Vikings Jamarca Sanford and Jasper Brinkley are scheduled to greet fans at the Taste of the NFL Mid-season Rally next Tuesday from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at Bar Abilene in Uptown. The event is free and open to the public with attendees encouraged to make donations to support Minnesota’s Second Harvest Heartland Foodbank.

David Jones will speak to the C.O.R.E.S. group at a noon luncheon on Thursday, November 8 in Bloomington. Jones is known for his presentations on historical figures and will talk to C.O.R.E.S. about factors influencing ongoing discussion and debate of President John Kennedy’s assassination. Anyone interested in further information can contact Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net.

Other C.O.R.E.S. programs will be with Dave Mona, January 10; Ted Mondale, March 14; and Norwood Teague, May 9.

The Big Ten Network (BTN.com) will stream live news conferences beginning at 8 a.m. tomorrow of the 24 men’s and women’s basketball coaches from the Big Ten basketball media day in Chicago.

Former Hopkins High School All-American Royce White is averaging 3.5 points and 2.5 rebounds in two preseason games for the Rockets. He’s averaging 14 minutes per game.

Ex-Timberwolves players on the Jazz coaching staff are head coach Tyrone Corbin and assistant Sidney Lowe.

Rachel Banham, the Gophers guard who was Big Ten Freshman of the Year last season, was cleared yesterday to participate in full practices. In July doctors had discovered a blood clot in her lung.

Since being traded during the 2011 season by the Twins to the Tigers, Delmon Young has four home runs and nine RBIs in 32 at bats in two American League Championship Series. The Tigers open the World Series at San Francisco against the Giants tonight.

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