Preps – Page 133 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Worth Noting

Posted on April 2, 2012April 2, 2012 by David Shama

Joe Mauer is ranked the 39^th best player in baseball by ESPN.com. Justin Morneau is the second highest ranked Twin at No. 196. ESPN.com has been counting down baseball’s top 500 players since March 20 with the top 25 to be announced today and tomorrow.

Wally McNeil (“Wally the Beer Man”) said he will again be a celebrity bartender at Sneaky Pete’s before and after Twins home games. He plans to work some St. Paul Saints games, too.

Ron Stolski said there were over 1,400 registrations for the Minnesota Football Coaches Clinic last week, a number that “quadrupled” the total four years ago. Stolski is executive director of the Minnesota Football Coaches Association, the organization administering the annual clinic.

The MFCA and the Randy Shaver Cancer Research and Community Fund are partnering to promote “Tackle Cancer Month” in September. High school football programs are being asked to collect donations at their home games to benefit the fund.

Shaver, the KARE 11 sportscaster who is a cancer survivor, told the clinic audience less than 10 percent of the fund’s budget goes for operating costs, with the balance funding research and other programs such as cancer prevention. Through the years he’s helped raise over $4.5 million for the cancer cause, primarily through his annual celebrity golf event.

Among the clinic speakers was Gophers coach Jerry Kill who gave a rousing speech to the high school coaches in attendance. “We want to win for you,” Kill told them.

Kill said he and his staff try to understand all they can about their players. This includes how players learn and some have admitted it’s difficult to pay attention in meetings for more than about 20 minutes. The players have also said they want more team building and camaraderie activities during summer months.

Glenn Caruso was awarded the MFCA’s Tom Mahoney Man of the Year Award at the clinic. The St. Thomas coach has a 43-7 record during four years and his 2011 team was one victory from the Division III national championship game. Caruso told Sports Headliners he’s proud that 96 of his 125 players are from Minnesota schools and all eight assistants are natives of the state.

The Tommies will play a spring football game against a Canadian club team on May 20 in Winnipeg. That day will be Caruso’s 38^th birthday.

Among Division III programs nationally, St. Thomas athletics ranks No. 8 in the latest Leerfield Sports Director’s Cup standings. St.Olaf ranks No. 25. The final 2011-12 standings are expected to be released in early June.

Freshman point guard Andre Hollins scored 20 or more points in four of the Gophers last eight games. Hollins made 90.4 percent of his free throws this season and could have led the nation but didn’t have enough attempts to qualify.

Those close to new University of Minnesota president Eric Kaler are impressed with his attitude toward Gophers sports and his commitment to winning.

The 2012 Hobey Baker Award winner will be announced Friday from MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa during the NCAA Frozen Four. The finalists for the award honoring college hockey’s best player are Spencer Abbott, senior forward from the University of Maine; Jack Connolly, senior forward from the University of Minnesota-Duluth; and Austin Smith, senior forward from Colgate University. The announcement will be aired live on the NHL Network and on the Hobey Baker website at 5 p.m. Minneapolis time.

The Minnesota Stars will play FC Edmonton today in an exhibition match at Parade Stadium. The event begins at 1 p.m. and admission is free. The Stars open their NASL regular season schedule at home on Saturday night (7:30 p.m.) against Carolina at the Metrodome.

Comments Welcome

Worth Noting

Posted on March 30, 2012March 30, 2012 by David Shama

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor told Sports Headliners Ricky Rubio’s torn ACL was “pretty serious” and he anticipates the team’s starting point guard will be playing in six to eight months following last week’s surgery. Taylor was impressed with Rubio’s first season in the NBA, and not just for the Spanish guard’s playmaking including 8.2 assists per game.

“He’s so positive,”Taylor said. “He doesn’t talk about his own personal goals. He’s into helping others and seeing the team do well.”

Without Rubio, the Wolves likely won’t qualify for the playoffs despite the headline making season of Kevin Love. In Love’s fourth season he has frequently drawn praise as the NBA’s best power forward.

“He’s developed much faster and further than I think the real basketball people anticipated, and even those who saw all the potential,”Taylor said.

Former Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders said Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg called him to ask about how several years ago Saunders used 6-11 forward Kevin Garnett as a ball handler and facilitator of the offense. Hoiberg featured 6-8 forward Royce White in a similar way this past season.

Jabari Parker, a junior guard-forward from Simeon Career Academy in Chicago, has been named Mr. Basketball in Illinois. Parker is pals with Apple Valley sophomore point guard Tyus Jones. The two are among the most recruited young players in the country and there’s speculation Parker and Jones will attend college together.

Siyani Chambers from Hopkins High School was named Minnesota’s Mr. Basketball. He will attend Harvard. The four finalists and their college choices: Joey King, Eastview High, Drake; Sanjay Lumpkin, Benilde-St.Margaret’s, Northwestern; Johnny Woodard, Duluth East, undecided; Isaiah Zierden, Benilde-St. Margaret’s, Creighton.

Jay Pivec, National Junior College Athletic Association Hall of Fame coach and head coach at Dakota County Technical College, will speak on the topic of “Play More Zone, Win More Games” on Sunday at the National Association of Basketball Coaches annual convention in New Orleans. He will be the only NJCAA coach speaking.

Twins starter Francisco Liriano ranks second in strikeouts (26) among all major league pitchers in spring training.

The CBS Evening News reported on Tuesday one of the remaining sixty 1909 Honus Wagner baseball cards is being auctioned this spring and could command a price of $1.5 million.

MIAC coaches’ polls predict St. Thomas will win the conference baseball and softball league championships.

Coach John Anderson’s Gophers baseball team opens the Big Ten schedule today against Michigan, with additional games on Saturday and Sunday against the Wolverines. All games are at the Metrodome.

Tweet from Gophers offensive lineman and Minnesota native Jimmy Gjere: “If you attend the U of M don’t wear other schools clothes like that W word across the border or the O state place.”

Augsburg running back Tyler Maxwell, who tore his ACL late last season, is expected back for the first game in 2012, according to an MIAC source. As a freshman he rushed for 121.3 yards per conference game, best in the MIAC.

According to a Minnesota Swarm news release, the local pro team runs the largest youth box lacrosse league in America with nearly 900 participants. Quoting a 2011 Sporting Goods Manufacturer Association participation report, lacrosse is America’s fastest growing sport. Minnesota has 83 boys high school lacrosse teams and 71 girls.

Comments Welcome

Worth Noting

Posted on March 21, 2012March 21, 2012 by David Shama

Former Twins outfielder Delmon Young, now with Detroit, is second among major league hitters in spring training batting averages at .485.

The 40-man roster the Twins opened spring training with included seven players acquired through trades and nine via free agent signings. Nineteen players, including Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, were acquired through the first-year player draft while three were claimed via waivers and two in the Rule-5 draft.

Former Minnesota Wild executive Billy Robertson is working for the Twins as a consultant on outdoor hockey.

Antoine Walker, whose NBA playing career included time with the Timberwolves, blew $110 million in basketball earnings and is now broke, according to a feature story in the March 19 issue of Sports Illustrated.

Gophers coach Jerry Kill holds a noon news conference today, and then opens spring football practice with sessions at the Gibson-Nagurski Complex on Thursday and Friday. Those practices start at 3:15 p.m. and like all spring sessions are open to the public.

All four participating teams in the NCAA West Region hockey field will host a free-to-the-public one-hour open practice at Xcel Energy Center on Friday. The times are 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. – Western Michigan; 12:45 to 1:45 p.m. –North Dakota; 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. –Boston University; 3:15 to 4:15 p.m. –Minnesota.

At 12:30 p.m. on Saturday No. 1 seed North Dakota (25-12-3) plays No. 4 seed Western Michigan (21-13-6). At 4 p.m. No. 2 seed Minnesota (26-13-1) will meet No. 3 seed Boston University (23-14-1). All games are at Xcel Energy Center including Sunday’s 4:30 p.m. title game.

Coach Ken Novak’s Hopkins teams have won three consecutive Class 4A championships but the streak might end this year. The Royals play an opening Class 4A game starting at 10 a.m. today against Woodbury. Novak told Sports Headliners “we’re a good team” but personnel losses during the season give the coach pause. “We’re not quite what we have been,” Novak said. “Do we have a shot to win it? We still have a shot.”

Novak’s dad, Ken Sr., turns 83 this week and is still an assistant coach for the Hopkins dynasty. Ken Jr. has won six state titles.

Five finalists were announced yesterday for the Mr. Basketball Award: Siyani Chambers, Hopkins; Joey King, Eastview; Sanjay Lumpkin, Benilde-St. Margaret’s; Johnny Woodard, Duluth East; Isaiah Zierden, Benilde-St. Margaret’s. The winner will be announced after this week’s boys state tournament.

LynxBasketball.com has a section devoted to the upcoming WNBA Draft. Included are mock drafts and scouting reports on the top 15 college seniors along with updated statistics on more than 60 draft eligible seniors. The Lynx have six draft choices in the April 16 draft. Minnesota has two picks in the first round (third and 12th overall), three in the second (18, 19 and 20) and one in the third (31).

The North and South head coaches for the June 30 Minnesota High School All-Star Football Game at TCF Bank Stadium will be Jeff Schlieff of Spring Lake Park (North team) and Bill Ihrke from Plainview-Elgin-Millville (South team). They have a combined 37 years of head coaching experience and records of 261 wins and 123 losses.

Comments Welcome