Preps – Page 41 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Glen Taylor: No Interest in KAT Trade

Posted on February 1, 2021February 1, 2021 by David Shama

Speculation persists the Minnesota Timberwolves might be trade partners in a deal involving their most valued player, 25-year-old former all-NBA center Karl-Anthony Towns (KAT).

Even last off-season there were rumors the Wolves could part with Towns. Asked about the truth of those rumors, Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor said, “No, absolutely not. I don’t know where they (the rumors) would come from.”

Towns averaged 18.3 points per game and was NBA Rookie of the Year for the 2015-2016 season. He has averaged over 20 points per game each season since and in 2018 signed a five-year contract with Minnesota. “We’re building the team around him,” Taylor told Sports Headliners this morning.

Part of why Towns is targeted for trade speculation is the Wolves haven’t found much success on the floor, making the playoffs just once since he joined the team. Does Taylor know of Towns having a desire to play elsewhere?

“If anything he has indicated the opposite,” Taylor said. “He likes the coach (Ryan Saunders). He likes playing here and he’s just sorry he’s not out there playing.”

Because of COVID, Towns hasn’t played since January 13 but he will return soon. “I would think it would be this week, yes,” Taylor said. (Towns will not play in tonight’s game in Cleveland against the Cavs).

With COVID protocol and a wrist injury earlier, Towns has only played in four games for the 5-14 Wolves who are in last place in the Western Conference. The team has won two of eight games without Towns, including a 109-104 victory over the Cavs in Minneapolis last night.

The team record is a clear disappointment to Taylor who made it known before the season he expected the club to make the playoffs. “I just expected them to do better than they have,” Taylor said.

But despite the slow start, Taylor is still anticipating his team in the playoffs later this year. “I recognize that it’s going to be difficult, but on the other hand, there’s other teams that aren’t performing up to their expectations, too, and I guess we just gotta catch them.”

Taylor thinks the Wolves can have better results even without Towns in the lineup. “I don’t know why there’s this much difference (without Towns). There were some games we played pretty well. Almost all the games we lose, we go through a streak, maybe a quarter of the game, where we just have difficulty putting up shots, and I don’t know that you can tie that just on one person. There’s gotta be somebody else out there that can take the leadership role and…score during those difficult periods.”

Towns had a friendship with high scoring point guard D’Angelo Russell even before the Wolves acquired him last winter. The two haven’t played much together yet, nor have they seen many minutes with 2020 NBA first round overall draft choice Anthony Edwards, another gifted scorer. “Potentially we have some firepower there,” Taylor said. “We just gotta get them on the floor.”

Worth Noting

Word is the Minnesota Twins remain optimistic about signing free agent DH Nelson Cruz and free agent right-hand pitcher Jake Odorizzi. A source told Sports Headliners a Cruz deal could be for two years, the Odorizzi contract for one.

The Capital Club, via Zoom, will hear from Dave St. Peter of the Twins and Mike Veeck and Derek Scharrer from the St. Paul Saints Thursday morning.

Because of the pandemic it’s uncertain when the Saints will begin their first season as a Twins Triple A affiliate. Twins fans are curious to see who among the team’s top minor league prospects will be on the Saints roster.

If shortstop Royce Lewis is in St. Paul, it’s a lock fans will flock to CHS Field. MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects, announced on Friday, ranks Lewis No. 17. The other Minnesota prospects on the list are outfielder-first baseman Alex Kirilloff, No. 26; outfielder Trevor Larnach, No. 80; and right-hand pitcher Jordan Balazovic, No. 97.

Former Gophers right-hand pitcher Max Meyer, now with the Miami Marlins, is No. 27.

Ex-Twins outfielder Eddie Rosario has reportedly signed a one-year, $8 million deal with the Indians and he has a successful history at Progressive Field. As a visiting player he has a .353 average and 1.031 OPS, per a Friday MLB.com story. His 11 home runs, 12 doubles and three triples are career bests in any road stadium.

The current bid this morning was $270,000 on the Heritage Auctions website for a mint condition Topps 1954 Hank Aaron rookie card.

Minnesota (center Liam Robbins and guard Marcus Carr) and Illinois (center Kofi Cockburn and guard Ayo Dosunmu) are the only schools that have players who are top 10 candidates on the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award and Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award.

Harvey Mackay, the New York Times best selling author and former Gopher golfer, shared memories with Sports Headliners of his 32-year friendship with the late Larry King who died January 23. The famous talk show host interviewed Mackay many times about his business and motivational books, and the two formed a close relationship.

“Larry loved boxing and Muhammad Ali,” Mackay said via email. “He once wrote in his column in USA Today that meeting Muhammad was ‘the biggest thrill in my life … I couldn’t sleep last night … chills running up and down my spine.’

“One night I was having dinner with Larry in New York, and I brought Muhammad with me as a surprise. Suddenly a woman came up and said, ‘Oh, Mr. Mackay, I’ve read all your books … Can I have your autograph?’

“Larry went nuts and said, ‘Don’t you know who this is? This is Muhammad Ali. Don’t you want his autograph?’

“I looked at Larry and said you bit it hook, line and sinker. I paid her $50 an hour to come up and ask for my autograph. We were still laughing about that years later. But the point is don’t ever be boring. Don’t be predictable. Show some creativity with your friends and have some fun.”

Mackay’s latest book came out last month, “Getting a Job is a Job.”

Sign of the times: various online reports in the last few days have the NHL borrowing $1 billion to help its fiscally troubled franchises. In December the NBA reportedly borrowed $900 million to assist its franchises.

The prep Mr. Football Award winner will be announced February 21 via Zoom. The Vikings and Minnesota Football Coaches Association sponsor the Mr. Football Award and the ten 2020 finalists are: Shea Albrecht, Orono; Joe Alt, Totino-Grace; Cameron Anderson, Blue Earth Area; Trey Feeney, Moorhead; Nick Flaskamp, Minneapolis Southwest; Marcus Hansen, Waseca; Eli Mau, Chanhassen; Jake Ratzlaff, Rosemount, Garrison Solliday, St. Thomas Academy; Adam Tonsfeldt, Barnesville.

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Twins Hope for Fans at April Opener

Posted on January 27, 2021January 27, 2021 by David Shama

The Minnesota Twins 2021 home opener is scheduled for April 8 at Target Field against the Detroit Tigers. Twins president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners he is upbeat about the potential return of fans to home games after the pandemic made that impossible last year.

“We’re engaged in a conversation with the Governor’s Office and the Minnesota Department of Health about our potential of returning fans to Target Field here in April,” St. Peter said in Monday’s interview. “Additional conversations need to be had but in general we’re optimistic about our ability to return fans to Target Field. It’s to be determined whether that will be in April, or not. We’re working towards that.”

Nothing will be announced soon regarding fans back at the ballpark. “We’re several weeks away, maybe a month away from clarity in Minnesota and our ability to have fans,” St. Peter said.

The most exciting return, of course, would be April 8. “We’re shooting for opening day April 8^th but, again, the Governor’s Office, the Department of Health, they’re going to help guide us on this, and we don’t take anything for granted relative to the virus.”

It’s all but certain that whenever fans return, the number of attendees will be restricted. “Whether that’s at 10 percent, 15 percent, 25 percent, again, that’s to be determined,” St. Peter said. “But I think it’s safe to say we will crawl before we walk, we will walk before we run relative to the number of fans we allow into the ballpark at any given time.”

Vaccinations and “herd immunity” are expected to help ease the COVID-19 virus as the year progresses. MLB hopes the number of fans attending games will increase during the season as safety measures evolve. Still, it will be a cautious road ahead and difficult in multiple ways including financially for MLB franchises who claim total debt was in the billions of dollars last year. “There’s no scenario we (the Twins) will not lose money in 2021,” St. Peter said.

Twins pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to spring training in Fort Myers February 17, with a workout the next day and the balance of the roster checking in a few days later. Personnel will have daily COVID testing, wear masks and social distance. At the club’s CenturyLink Sports Complex spaces are being modified for clubhouse use as part of the effort to distance players. There will be other policies, St. Peter said, for dining and use of facilities like the weight room.

In the past fans have visited the complex, including for an annual open house and watching workouts. Because of the pandemic, access will be restricted to game days at Hammond Stadium.

Tickets for Twins spring training games are expected to go on sale soon but St. Peter believes capacity will likely be limited. Restrictions on the number of fans who can attend each game are expected to be in place throughout the spring training schedule.

Dave St. Peter (photo courtesy of Minnesota Twins)

The Twins won their division last year, took a quick exit from the playoffs and have the same ambitious goal again—earn their way to the World Series and a possible championship for the first time since 1991. “We like our club a lot,” St. Peter said. “We think we’re really well positioned for success in 2021. But we’re always looking for more pitching, and clearly there are a lot of good players on the board, both pitchers, and position players and bats.

“So we fully expect we’re going to add additional talent here before spring training. The way we approach it, we don’t necessarily think about it as one option. There is always a variety of plans and you can improve your club a lot of different ways.”

The Twins and many MLB clubs have been mostly quiet with offseason moves. Trades are possible, but most interesting is what St. Peter refers to as a “historic” number of free agents available on the market. “We’ll look to take advantage of that,” he said.

Multiple online sources yesterday said acquisition activity is heating up for the Twins, reporting the club has agreed to a $10.5 million deal with free agent Andrelton Simmons. He’s a proficient and versatile infielder who will impact the Minnesota defense including at shortstop.

Minnesota’s highest paid player Josh Donaldson ($92 million) was injured much of last season, his first with the team, and didn’t see the field in the playoffs. The Twins were 19-9 with him in the lineup, 17-15 without him during the regular season, per a December 16 MLB.com story. The slugging third baseman could be the team’s MVP in 2021.

“He’s a great player,” St. Peter said. “He makes us better defensively. He obviously makes us better offensively. We need to keep him on the diamond and I know Josh feels that way as well. We’re optimistic that he will be ready to go. …”

Another veteran the media and fans will scrutinize is bullpen closer Taylor Rogers whose ERA increased from 2.61 in 2019 to 4.05 in 2020. “All his metrics were really good, some of it I think was (bad) luck, to be frank,” St. Peter said.

St. Peter admires Rogers for more than his pitching skills: “High character, really smart, great teammate, cares about people in the community. So yeah, we’re thrilled to have him in a Twins uniform.”

Worth Noting

Triple A teams like the St. Paul Saints are scheduled to open their seasons in April when the big league clubs start. Because of the pandemic, though, start dates could be adjusted.

A Collegefootballnews.com story this week ranks the 14 Big Ten football teams 1-7 in each division. The Gophers are No. 2 in the West behind Wisconsin. Iowa, Northwestern, Purdue, Nebraska and Illinois follow. Ohio State is No. 1 in the East, followed by Michigan, Penn State, Indiana, Michigan State, Rutgers and Maryland.

Adam Mayer, the former Gophers wide receiver, is living in the northern California Bay Area and involved with finance and accounting recruiting. Dad Barry Mayer, the ex-Gopher running back, is mostly retired after a sales career in California and back in Minnesota substitute teaching K-12 and presenting for the Positive Coaching Alliance.

Commercials for this year’s Super Bowl are $5.5 million per ad, and down from $5.6 million in 2020, according to the Tuesday Front Office Sports email newsletter.

The newsletter also reported the NCAA’s year-end August 31, 2020 financials showed a $56 million loss for the organization and less than half of the $600 million in planned distributions was sent to Division I conferences.

The prep Mr. Football Award winner is usually announced in December at a banquet but the 2021 recipient will be revealed April 21 via Zoom. The award is sponsored by the Minnesota Football Coaches Association and Minnesota Vikings.

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Don’t Expect Fleck to Leave for Vols

Posted on January 25, 2021January 25, 2021 by David Shama

Word is Gophers head football coach P.J. Fleck isn’t headed to the Tennessee Volunteers, but don’t expect speculation about his future at Minnesota to end in the months or years ahead.

Rumors are circulating of Fleck’s interest in the Tennessee job that opened earlier in January, but a source close to University of Minnesota football told Sports Headliners Fleck has turned down the position. Late last year Fleck’s name was speculated about with an NFL head coaching job.

It’s probably accurate that other job inquiries have been encouraged toward the 40-year-old Fleck who successfully has led the Gophers program since 2017. It could be Fleck and agent Bryan Harlan are more than willing to use talk of the coach going elsewhere as leverage to improve program resources and budgets, including contracts for Fleck and his staff. Fleck’s $4.75 million salary places him in the middle of compensation for Big Ten coaches, and the money pool for assistants is among the lowest in the conference.

Most of Fleck’s assistants have expiring contracts this month, according to the source who acknowledges the head coach is frustrated by his staff’s compensation. It’s not known what stance the University of Minnesota administration and athletic director Mark Coyle are taking regarding contract renewals and salary increases but it’s certain Fleck will fight for assistant coaches.

Money, always a challenging subject in the athletic department, is dramatically more sensitive now because of the pandemic and a department deficit for this school year could total $50 million or more. It just might be that the cost saving of eliminating gymnastics, tennis and indoor track starting with the 2021-2022 school year will at least partially be directed toward the football budget.

It was reported in December the U is facing about a $166 million overall budget shortfall by fiscal year end. In the months ahead money via a loan, or perhaps sale of bonds, is expected to bolster the U budget with a significant portion targeted to the Gopher Athletic Department.

Whether Fleck is determined to stay at Minnesota long-term appears debatable. He has said a career goal was to coach at a Big Ten school and he has expressed his liking for the quality of life in Minneapolis and in the state. The Gopher job, though, can’t match financial resources with the bluebloods of college football.

If Fleck’s ultimate goal is to land at such a program, the U leadership ought to be protecting itself regarding a buyout if he decides to go elsewhere. His buyout figure was set at $10 million last year but now has dropped to $4.5 million. Extending Fleck’s contract in the coming months with new provisions that include a large buyout could be a prudent move for the U.

Worth Noting

Dan Harralson, writing Saturday for Volswire.usatoday.com, contends Fleck could be a great fit for the Vols not only because of his success with Minnesota. The Vols are facing alleged NCAA infractions and Harralson said the program might benefit from Fleck’s relationship with Joe Novak, his college coach at Northern Illinois. The retired Novak is a member of the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions.

Hank Aaron, the baseball icon who also passed away last week and played in the minor leagues and majors in Wisconsin, held the career baseball home run record for more than three decades and was compared with rivals Willie Mays and Ted Williams. Aaron, younger than both, didn’t serve in the military while Mays missed two seasons in the major leagues because of the Korean conflict and Williams five (World War II and Korea). Those lost seasons were prime years for both Mays and Williams whose gaudy stats would have been even more impressive, including career home run totals.

Twin Cities resident Dave Wright, the retired Hamline sports publicist, is now in his 52nd year as a public address announcer. “I started when I was a junior in high school at Assumption in Windsor, Ontario in 1970,” Wright said in an email responding to a Sports Headliners request about his P.A. career.

Wright’s impressive resume includes assignments for both the state boys basketball and hockey tournaments. At St. Thomas he was the longtime P.A. voice for both Tommies basketball and football. He has also worked softball and soccer games over the years. Current assignments are St. Thomas Academy hockey, St. Agnes football and high school section baseball games at CHS Field. “I have no idea how many games I have done. The number must be at least 1,500,” he wrote.

The P.A. work is a labor of love, and certainly not an endeavor to make money, with Wright estimating an assignment might pay a person $40 per game at a local high school. He’s still having fun after all these years. “I am 67 and think my voice is still good. But I know it will go out down the line and I hope I am smart enough to leave before somebody tells me to.”

Supporters who previously attributed Minnesota’s mediocre Big Ten basketball record to a string of games against nationally ranked teams had to think again Saturday. Richard Pitino’s Gophers lost at home to unranked Maryland, with the Terps dominating in a 63-49 win. The loss set Minnesota’s conference record at 4-5.

Below .500 in Big Ten regular season games is familiar for Pitino. Now in his eighth season, the coach has led Minnesota to one Big Ten season with a winning percentage above .500.

Hopkins basketball legend Paige Bueckers, now a freshman at Connecticut where the Huskies are 10-0, is averaging 17.1 points per game, making .536 percent of her field goals, averaging 5.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists. She missed the Huskies’ most recent game with an injury. Minnesota prep basketball enthusiast Ken Lien points out Bueckers last played in a losing game as a sophomore in high school.

Talk show host Larry King who passed away a few days ago was a friend of Harvey Mackay, the former Gopher golfer, Minneapolis businessman, syndicated columnist and New York Times best selling author. Mackay’s latest book is out this month, “Getting a Job is a Job.”

The Wall Street Journal weekend edition reports NBC is shutting down its cable sports channel at year’s end, with NHL programming transitioning during 2021 to USA Network.

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