Stadiums – Page 15 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Would Holmgren Mean U NCAA Title?

Posted on September 2, 2020September 2, 2020 by David Shama

Chet Holmgren, a popular choice by prep basketball gurus as the nation’s No. 1 player in the class of 2021, enters his senior year at Minnehaha Academy this week being a long way from choosing a college destination.

Whoever wins out will have an extraordinary player in the 7-foot multi-positional, multi-dimensional Minneapolis superstar. Holmgren is choosing from seven college possibilities: Georgetown, Gonzaga, Memphis, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina and Ohio State. He has visited most of the schools but the pandemic has prevented him from seeing the Memphis and Michigan campuses, and he hasn’t been to North Carolina since eighth grade.

Do one or two schools lead the list right now? “No, everybody is kind of equal platform right now,” Chet’s father David Holmgren told Sports Headliners Monday. “Still just kind of feeling everything out, watching (developments). Things are changing daily at these schools. The closer we get to actually graduating from high school is going to be a closer time to make that decision, I think.”

Will a program having NCAA championship potential in place prior to Chet’s arrival be a factor in his college choice? “We haven’t really discussed that,” David said. “I think anywhere he goes that (winning the national championship) could be viable. I am not trying to brag but he brings that kind of quality to a team.”

David said Chet’s college destination will be impacted by at least one factor involving complementary players. “They gotta have some bigs so that Chet doesn’t get thrown into the middle. The middle is not his game. I don’t want him anywhere where one guy gets hurt, now he’s gotta be the big. It won’t make sense.”

Chet is several pounds under 200 even after a summer of strengthening his body. Dad wants his son to play with big, physical teammates who can absorb much of the pounding near the basket. David, a thin 7-footer himself when he played for the Gophers in the 1980s, predicted it could be four years before Chet weighs about 220 pounds.

Chet long ago became a YouTube favorite after video showed him dribbling past and dunking over Steph Curry at the NBA superstar’s 2019 summer camp. Despite Holmgren’s height, he has extraordinary versatility including ball handling. Both his shooting efficiency and range, along with his shot blocking, contribute to speculation he will play just one season of college basketball.

Cretin-Derham Hall coach Jerry Kline referred to him as unique. “He’s just a phenomenal player and he’s only going to get better,” Kline told Sports Headliners earlier this summer.

Minnehaha will be among the elite teams nationally. David said the school is finalizing a schedule to bring great teams from out of state to Minneapolis. Opponents will likely include California power Sierra Canyon, a team Minnehaha upset last January. “I think they want revenge,” David said. “At least an attempt at it.”

Worth Noting

The Vikings will open their season September 13 against the Packers without fans in attendance at U.S. Bank Stadium. State of Minnesota COVID-19 policy allows up to 250 guests at an event like a Vikings game. “The Vikings (though) 100 percent want fans,” a sports industry source told Sports Headliners.

He believes there is pressure from Vikings sponsors, including the most prominent supporters, to attend games. State policy will allow 250 guests, plus players, coaches and workers, or a total of perhaps 500 people in the stadium.

The same source said it’s likely former Vikings chief operating officer Kevin Warren, now commissioner of the Big Ten Conference, has talked to club ownership or management about using U.S. Bank Stadium for a potential late fall and winter Big Ten football schedule. U.S. Bank stadium is one of three regional domed sites (also Detroit’s Ford Field and Indy’s Lucas Oil Stadium) that could be indoor hubs for Big Ten games during the pandemic.

There is speculation about starting Big Ten football near Thanksgiving, November 26. That time frame could cause a pushback from the Vikings regarding stadium use including necessitated changes to the playing field while accommodating a schedule of Big Ten games. Complicating things is the Vikings having a busy close to the season in Minneapolis with home games scheduled November 22, 29, December 6 and 20, plus potential playoff dates.

Ties between the Big Ten and U.S. Bank Stadium are already happening with the facility management preparing a bid to host a future league championship game(s). Lucas Oil Stadium has been the game’s exclusive home since 2011 and will host the championship through next year, but Warren is interested in other sites.

While other cities and playing sites have also expressed interest, including Green Bay’s Lambeau Field, Minneapolis and U.S. Bank Stadium could be viewed most favorably. The facility is a consensus choice as being among the best football stadiums in the country and the city has a track record of success in hosting major events like the Super Bowl and NCAA Final Four.

Bengals running back Joe Mixon—comparable to RB Dalvin Cook who is in a contract squabble with the Vikings—reportedly received a new four-year $48 million deal yesterday. Cook’s present contract is believed to be worth about $40 million less.

Minneapolis businessman and New York Times best selling author Harvey Mackay devotes his nationally syndicated newspaper column this week to women in sports while quoting leaders such as former Gophers basketball coach Pam Borton and Twins executive Laura Day. Headlined “Sports Prepare Women for Life, Business,” Mackay was inspired to write the column after viewing a Twin Cities Dunkers meeting this summer.

Longtime amateur baseball player Dan Hennen has a podcast preview of the Sweet 16 teams in this week’s Class C State Amateur Baseball Tournament. https://youtu.be/dYFKolCs1MY

Comments Welcome

MLB Missed All-American Opener

Posted on June 18, 2020June 18, 2020 by David Shama

The decision makers of Major League Baseball may yet salvage a season this summer but for sure they have messed up the possibility of its 30 teams playing opening day on July 4. Contentious negotiations between the ruling powers of baseball and the players association have soured the public on MLB, and the window has closed on a best practice public relations move that would have scheduled the Minnesota Twins and other clubs playing for the first time in 2020 on Independence Day.

Imagine the Twins on the Fourth of July playing at Target Field against one of their American League Central Division rivals. No fans in the seats but a six-figure Upper Midwest TV audience watching from homes in Minneapolis-St. Paul and small towns across the region. America’s pastime showcasing the “boys of summer” on the nation’s 244th birthday of independence.

The diversion of baseball is always welcome by the game’s fans but it would be more so than usual this summer. COVID-19 and social unrest have hit this region hard in recent months. Washing down a hot dog with a beer (or two) while watching the home town team sounds like a brief prescription to feeling better.

How interesting it would be to see the long-awaited debut of the Twins’ newest star, slugging third baseman Josh Donaldson. Opening day starter José Berríos could take another step toward becoming one of MLB’s more dominant pitchers. Might a healthy Byron Buxton save the game for the Twins with a spectacular catch in center field? How about a perfect day at the plate for Luis Arráez, the terrific rookie who last year showed he might become Minnesota’s best second baseman since Hall of Famer Rod Carew.

MLB is embarrassed and should be, that there is still no final plan to have a 2020 season. It’s definitely too late to have a few weeks of training as a prelude to a July 4 opener—as cool as that would be. Summer time is baseball’s annual window but instead it’s looking like basketball, football, hockey and soccer could be center stage.

Perhaps there will yet be a MLB 2020 season, but the game has struck out on an Independence Day opener, missing a crackerjack opportunity to kiss and make up with its fans.

Worth Noting

This is supposed to be the Twins’ 60th season in Minnesota. The Washington Senators relocated here for the 1961 season and became the Twins. That year the Twins opened the season in New York, playing their first game in Minnesota franchise history. A mediocre Twins team defeated the mighty Yankees of Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and other stars, 6-0.

With economics threatening the existence of minor league baseball, have to wonder if 69-year-old St. Paul Saints owner Mike Veeck could be interested in selling. A baseball source thinks the Saints might fetch $20 million in a sale.

Vikings offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak indicated yesterday in a Zoom call with media that Justin Jefferson, the team’s No. 1 draft choice this spring, is likely to play regular minutes at the slot position versus outside receiver. The slot was a primary position for Jefferson with national champion LSU last year.

Special teams coordinator Marwan Maalouf raised the possibility of Jefferson returning punts as he did for the Tigers. The Vikings may use two punt returners at times to improve returns, an assignment Maalouf indentified as a special teams priority. “He (Jefferson) could possibly be one of those guys,” Maalouf said.

The Vikings rotated multiple players in the punt return role last year without much impact. Fifth round draft choice and wide receiver K.J. Osborn is a definite candidate to return punts. Maalouf praised the rookie’s explosiveness, vision and skill in catching the football. He said veteran corner Mike Hughes is a possibility, too.

Kubiak said quarterback Kirk Cousins has shown his leadership in the offseason, despite COVID-19 preventing players gathering in team workouts. “…I think Kirk came out of last year with a lot of confidence as a person and a player,” Kubiak said.

Kubiak talking about how communications with players and others has been mandated by technology because of the pandemic: “I know a hell of a lot more about computers than I did six months ago.”

When the Minnesota Wild begins playing there will be a focus on 23-year-old wing Kevin Fiala, who might emerge as the most exciting young talent on any professional sports team in the Twin Cities. His offensive skill set is so impressive he draws comparisons to Marian Gaborik and Dino Ciccarelli—two of the most gifted scorers in Minnesota pro hockey history.

Fiala had a fast close to the 2019-2020 season that ended early because of the pandemic, but he created a big impression. “He made everybody in the league look bad,” a longtime NHL observer told Sports Headliners.

Fiala tied his NHL career high of 23 goals last season. In the last five games he had seven points including four goals. He was acquired from Nashville during the 2018-19 season in what now can only be described as a smart move by former and much criticized Wild general manager Paul Fenton. Fiala now must show his skills consistently over a full season.

Condolences to the family and friends of former Gophers All-American and Minneapolis Lakers star Dick Garmaker, who recently passed away. Garmaker was one of the many natives of Hibbing, Minnesota who earned fame in sports, entertainment and politics. (Personal note: his wife Darlene was my seventh grade art teacher at Ramsey Junior High School in Minneapolis.)

Legendary Gopher football tackle Bobby Bell turned 80 yesterday.

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U Coach May Help Change Baseball

Posted on May 29, 2020May 29, 2020 by David Shama

For decades the Gophers’ John Anderson has been advocating a later calendar start to college baseball’s season. Minnesota’s head baseball coach since 1981 thought a change might be coming about 20 years ago when Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany was taking up the cause.

Delany was about to meet with power brokers from other conferences in early September of 2001. Then the terrorism of September 11 rocked America and changed the direction of priorities in countless ways including a proposal that was to dramatically alter college baseball.

This winter the COVID-19 pandemic arrived and shuttered sports including college baseball. The Gophers stopped play in mid-March, finishing with an 8-10 record—all nonconference games. All of a sudden the Big Ten baseball coaches had time to think about the future of their sport.

Even before the pandemic most college sports, including baseball, had financial issues. Hardly any programs make money, and most operate at a large deficit. Anderson said he has a $1.8 million budget, with $200,000 in revenues. In the Big Ten, Wisconsin dropped its program years ago. This spring Bowling Green and Furman pulled the plug on baseball, and Anderson calls this “a scary time for mid-majors.”

The financial issues in most college sports, including scholarships, staff salaries, facilities, and travel weigh heavier than ever now, with the uncertainty of when and how the “cash cows” of college football and basketball will resume play and with what box office results. The University of Minnesota has 25 intercollegiate sports but historically only football, men’s basketball and men’s hockey have been money makers. Their revenues have long carried the total Athletic Department budget.

Because of the pandemic, the Gopher Athletic Department has been forecasting tens of millions of dollars in future losses, with a worst case number of $70 million. Everyone wonders at Minnesota and elsewhere what kinds of measures will be taken to deal with deficits including the most extreme of options—eliminating some nonrevenue sports.

Anderson told Sports Headliners this week “it will be interesting to see where this thing leads us.” He added, “I think more (baseball) programs are going to be in trouble…so we’ve got to get busy here and find ways to make our sport better from a financial standpoint.”

He and his Big Ten coaching colleagues have accepted the challenge this spring by talking about changing their sport’s annual calendar. With extra time available (no coaching or recruiting), they have been meeting weekly via Zoom calls. The result has been a 35-page proposal that remakes the Division 1 college baseball calendar with potential benefits not only to finances but also student academics and health.

The Gopher coach provided research for the “New Baseball Model” document written this spring, a collaborative effort involving many others, too, including Michigan coach Erik Bakich. The model suggests the college baseball season begin the third week of March, with the schedule continuing into late June. The first round of the NCAA Tournament would be played in early July and lead to determining a national champion later that month—a period when there is not a glut of TV sports programming and interest in spectator sports.

Contrast that schedule proposal with this year that had teams like the Gophers starting play in February and ending the regular season before Memorial Day. Even in February and March weather is a crapshoot for college baseball teams including in the south. Cold, wind and precipitation can keep fans away from games at Minnesota or other places in early spring.

What Anderson and others believe is better weather for more games will generate not only increased ticket sales, but also improved revenues such as concessions and parking. The later start to the season, it’s argued, will mean college baseball doesn’t have to compete with basketball’s “March Madness,” and college baseball will more directly align with spring interest in pro baseball. The timing of becoming a spring-summer sport, Anderson said, will also enhance programming for the Big Ten Network whose broadcast opportunities are normally more limited toward the end of the school year.

Promoting college baseball in the spring and summer could be coming at the right time with the predicted demise of minor league baseball franchises for financial reasons. If teams fold, that will leave a void for baseball in many markets, and one that college baseball will sometimes fill.

In a new college baseball world, Anderson and many other coaches across the country see not only revenues going up, but expenses being reduced. The Gophers and other northern teams annually travel south in March for games, hoping for warm weather. Anderson said four weekends can cost $200,000 or more in expenses.

But a later start to the season would put the focus on early regional nonconference games where Minnesota might travel no further than Nebraska for games against Nebraska-Omaha and Creighton. In a new schedule scenario the Gophers might not have any annual airplane travel, or just one trip, Anderson said.

Anderson talks about increasing revenues, reducing expenses and being what he terms less of a “burden” on the Minnesota Athletic Department. “That’s going to be critical going forward here because I don’t think it will ever be the same financially after this (period) is over with,” he said.

The “New Baseball Model” says the current college baseball calendar that has players juggling time early in the winter/spring semester “forces numerous days of missed classes.” The later start to the baseball schedule (winter/spring semesters typically end in May) will allow student-athletes to miss fewer classes and focus more on academics, according to the plan. It’s also emphasized that the new calendar will provide increased training and preparation time for the season that now starts more hurriedly. A reduction in injuries is hoped for.

While the “New Baseball Model” project started in the Big Ten and has received support from the league’s athletic directors, the approval of at least four of the five major college conferences will be needed to enact legislation by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The earliest approval could come from the NCAA would be in the fall and then the new model might be in place in 2022. “I think we’ve got a great chance to get the legislation passed,” Anderson said.

Hopefully, Anderson will still be coaching by then. He is revered by so many admirers in Minneapolis and other places. Sometimes affectionately referred to as “14” (his uniform number), he has won 11 Big Ten titles and more games than any baseball coach in conference history. He cares deeply about his sport and student-athletes. His sincerity and class speak louder than the thoughtful words he uses to express himself.

Anderson has another year remaining on a contract that ends in June of 2021. What happens then? “I’d like to (continue on), but obviously we’re in very difficult times right now,” he said. “I don’t think anybody is talking about any contracts. They’re just trying to figure out how to keep the ship afloat here, and find out if there is going to be football in the fall.”

Then Anderson switches topics to one more important to him now. He is looking forward to the time when he can work with his players again. “We’re going to be way behind in player development, so can’t wait to get them back on campus where we have an opportunity to get back to work. I hope it’s going to be in the fall.”

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