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

Worth Noting

Posted on March 9, 2012March 9, 2012 by David Shama

The Timberwolves rank No. 13 in the Sports Illustrated website power poll of NBA teams. That’s one spot better than Kevin McHale’s Rockets and two ahead of Kevin Garnett’s Celtics.

Wolvers general manager Dave Kahn doesn’t receive enough credit for his 2010 deal that brought guard Luke Ridnour to Minneapolis. Without the consistent shooting of Ridnour, the Wolves would have only Kevin Love to include among dependable shooters.

It was six years ago this week that Kirby Puckett passed away at age 44. He was a hero of Garnett’s.

Fox Sports North telecasts the Twins-Yankees game on Sunday, the third spring training telecast seen in Minneapolis-St. Paul this month.

The Twins received a no hit two inning start by Scott Baker on Tuesday against TampaBay. The 29-year-old right-hander has been with the Twins since 2005 and ranks No. 11 in career starts and wins.

Twins left-hander Brian Duensing, who has been a starter in the past, could be most valuable in spot duty out of the bullpen. He held left-handed hitters to a .217 batting average last season.

TV play-by-play announcer Dick Bremer said on a Fox telecast Tuesday the Twins, who suffered through an extraordinary year of regular season injuries in 2011, were the only team in major league baseball last year to break camp with no players on the disabled list.

Former Gophers football player Lewis Garrison continues to make a name in college basketball officiating. He will officiate the men’s Division II NCAA Regional Tournament in Denver this weekend. He’s also one of six officials selected to work the men’s Division III Final Four in Salem,Virginia later this month. Garrison officiated the men’s MIAC championship game between Gustavus and St. Thomas in late February.

At the request of Sports Headliners, Mr. Basketball chair Ken Lien provided his rankings of the best prep boys teams in 4A, 3A, 2A and 1A. His top 10 in big school 4A are Hopkins, Eastview, Lakeview North, Osseo, Apple Valley, Duluth East, Woodbury, Roseville, Eden Prairie and Chanhassen. Benilde-St. Margaret’s is No. 1 in 3A followed by Minneapolis Washburn, DeLaSalle, St. Paul Johnson, Waconia, Mankato East, Blake, Hill-Murray, Grand Rapids and Delano.

The top 10 in 2A are Braham, Perham, Redwood Valley, St. Peter, Pelican Rapids, Plainview-Elgin-Millville, Waterville-Elysian-Morristown, St. Cloud Cathedral, Fairmont and Montevideo. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa is No. 1 in 1A followed by Southwest MN Christian, Prairie Seeds Academy, Fair School, Dawson-Boyd, Lakeview Christian, Ellsworth, Browerville, Battle Lake and Maranatha Christian.

Lien said Cooper High sophomore forward Rashad Vaughn has scholarship offers from Baylor, Iowa, Iowa State, Minnesota and Texas. Hopkins wing Zach Stahl has an offer from Hawaii and Northeastern while Edina junior point guard Graham Woodward has been offered by Augustana (South Dakota).

Among names possibly on the University of Minnesota’s review list for athletic director are Darrin Nelson, former Vikings running back and senior associate athletic director at Stanford, and Suzanne Sanregret, athletic director at Michigan Tech and one of the few females in the country holding that position.

The Vikings Miller Lite Draft Party starts at 4 p.m. and continues through the conclusion of the NFL draft’s first round on Thursday, April 26 at Mall of America Field. Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door. More information is available on the Vikings website.

Mark Rosen’s new book, Best Seat in the House, will first be available on March 29 at the downtown Barnes & Noble store where the WCCO TV sportscaster will be signing books starting at noon.

Through games of March 5, former Gopher Phil Kessel was tied for third in NHL goals with 32. He was fifth in points with a career high 68. Other Gopher alumni with over 30 points in the NHL: Blake Wheeler, 54, Thomas Vanek, 47, Kyle Okposo, 33 and Nick Leddy, 31.

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Duluth East, Cadets Hockey Tourney Picks

Posted on March 7, 2012March 7, 2012 by David Shama

Lou Nanne will provide TV analysis at the state hockey tournament for the 48^th year starting this week. The former Gophers All-American and NHL executive predicts Duluth East will win the Class 2A tournament and St. Thomas Academy the Class 1A.

“East has got a great team,” Nanne told Sports Headliners. “The same team back from last year’s finals. They’re the team to beat. St. Thomas is an experienced team (state champs in 2011) that’s played a tough schedule.”

Nanne will have particular interest in the Class 2A tournament. He will be working only Class 2A games on TV, and two of his grandsons are playing for Edina in that tournament. Tomorrow night the Hornets, including sophomore defenseman Tyler Nanne and junior forward Louie Nanne, play against Benilde-St. Margaret’s in an opening Class 2A game starting at 8 p.m.

Louie has verbally committed to the Gophers, while Tyler is too young to announce a college choice. This will be Louie’s third state tournament. “Louis is a tenacious competitor,” his grandfather said. “He’s got a great shot. Tyler is really skilled. He’s got very good hand skills.”

How do the grandsons compare to their grandfather when he was of high school age? “They both skate better than me,” Nanne said. “They have better wrist shots. They’re faster than me. Louie hits a lot like I did.”

Nanne also follows the Gophers and believes the WCHA regular season champions could win the NCAA tournament if the goalie play is exceptional. His pick to win the title is Boston College. “A great all-around team with exceptional speed,” Nanne said.

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Super Bowl & Other Notes

Posted on February 6, 2012February 7, 2012 by David Shama

Vikings second-year quarterback Christian Ponder can find inspiration in the two quarterbacks who played in last night’s Super Bowl. New England’s Tom Brady struggled during his college career at Michigan and New York’s Eli Manning was highly criticized during his early NFL years.

Former Vikings defensive end Chris Doleman will be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August and he was introduced with other 2012 inductees before last night’s Super Bowl. “Doleman is one of those rare guys–maybe one of four or five that I played against during my career–right there with Reggie White, Bruce Smith, Derrick Thomas, that you had to know where they were and set your protection accordingly,” said former NFL quarterback Warren Moon. “You had to know if you were going to help the tackle out with a tight end or running back to chip on those guys. Doleman was someone you always had to worry about because you knew he could get to the quarterback. …”

NBClosangeles.com reported on Friday that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the league has no plans for expansion and doesn’t want to relocate existing teams. A new stadium plan in Los Angeles hasn’t been finalized as a potential home to the Vikings or another NFL team.

The Lucas Oil Stadium where last night’s Super Bowl was played will be among the facility models that planners for a new Vikings stadium will study.

Minneapolis hosted the Super Bowl in 1992 and a new Vikings stadium is almost certain to be the site of a future Super Bowl.

The Super Bowl will be in New Orleans next season, then at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey for outdoor football in 2014.

Since 1988 the NFC has won the Super Bowl every year during a presidential election year except 2004.

Among the TV competition for the Super Bowl is Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl. The annual show achieved a ratings record last year with 9.2 million viewers, according to Huffingtonpost.com. The 2011 Super Bowl had a record 111 million viewers.

The 17^th annual Vikings Arctic Blast Snowmobile Rally, scheduled at Lake Mille Lacs next Saturday and Sunday, will feature current and former Vikings players along with coaches and team executives. Among those scheduled to participate and help raise money for the Vikings Children’s Fund are quarterback Joe Webb and running back Toby Gerhart.

Allen Trieu of Scout.com speaking on the Big Ten Network about Gophers football recruit Ben Lauer from Wayzata High School: “Watch out for Ben Lauer, an offensive tackle that I don’t think gets talked about enough from right there in their backyard.”

Gophersillustrated.com’s Zach Johnson said Gophers coach Jerry Kill works his tail off recruiting.

In addition to discussing Kill, Johnson told Sports Headliners assistant coaches Bill Miller and Jay Sawvell were most instrumental in recruiting the 2012 class announced last week. Miller, the Gophers only assistant with BCS recruiting experience, specializes in south Florida. Sawvell was active in the Deep South and North Carolina including recruitment of highly regarded wide receiver Jamel Harbison from Charlotte.

Wisconsin has won consecutive Big Ten football championships but only twice in the last 10 years has Rivals.com ranked the Badgers recruiting classes among the top half in the conference.

Prep basketball authority Ken Lien emailed that sophomore Apple Valley High School point guard Tyus Jones received a scholarship offer from Duke.

The start time for the Wild game against the Bruins atXcel Energy Center on Sunday, February 19 has been changed to 2:30 p.m. from 2 p.m. The game will be televised nationally as part of “Hockey Day inAmerica” coverage on NBC.

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