Stadiums – Page 19 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

City Fighter Seeks Bigger Spotlight

Posted on June 25, 2019June 25, 2019 by David Shama

Jamal James of Minneapolis is the No. 5 ranked middleweight by the WBC and is positioned for more notoriety. He headlines the July 13 pro boxing card at the historic Minneapolis Armory that will include nationally-televised bouts.

James, 25-1, fights Mexico’s Antonio DeMarco, 33-7-1, in a 10-round bout that will be seen on FS1. James has 12 career knockouts, DeMarco, 24. DeMarco is a former world lightweight champion.

James fights in both the welterweight and middleweight divisions. His bout with DeMarco is listed as a welterweight matchup, but middleweight is where he could make an even bigger name for himself. A local boxing insider emailed this prediction about James: “…Definitely in the global conversation for a title fight.”

The middleweight division is loaded with talent including WBA title holder Manny Pacquiao, 61-7-2. He fights Keith Thurman, 29-0, next month. IBF, WBO and WBC are other organizations where James might have a path to title opportunities.

Professional boxing has found a home at the Armory and continues to generate awareness in this marketplace. The building was once the site of Minneapolis Lakers and city high school basketball games. Renovated now and being used for corporate events and entertainment, three previous boxing cards have attracted announced attendances of 3,149, 3,320 and 3,417.

Attendance of more than 3,000 is expected again in July and as of late last week 1,678 tickets had been sold. Ticket prices range from $25 to $250, with the average at $115.

Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions is the promoter for the July 13 card. PBC fights are seen on Fox and FS1, with recent cards being watched in approximately 1.5 million homes.

Boxing has been struggling for decades to regain its foothold with the American public. In the first half of the 20th century boxing was one of the most popular sports along with baseball, horse racing and college football.

Worth Noting

The Minnesota Wild’s 2019-20 regular season schedule was released today. The Wild opens the season in Nashville on October 3, the first of three straight road games. Minnesota has its home opener on October12, hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins at Xcel Energy Center. The Wild plays 17 of its first 26 games of the season on the road (October 3 thru November 30). The nine home games in October and November are the fewest in franchise history.

Charlie Danielson, the 25-year-old Osceola, Wisconsin native accepted a sponsor exemption into the 3M Open today. The Illinois alum and 2016 Big Ten Player of the Year recently qualified for the U.S. Open. The new PGA Tournament begins next week at TCP Twin Cities in Blaine.

The Twins, who split four games on the road with the Royals in their most recent series, hold the No. 3 spot in yesterday’s Yahoo.com power rankings of MLB teams, trailing the No. 1 ranked Dodgers and No. 2 Yankees.

Cbssports.com dropped the Twins from No. 2 to No. 3 in its rankings that came out yesterday. The Yankees are first, the Dodgers second.

The Twins, who start a home series tonight against the Rays, are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing by displaying a full-sized statue of Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 spacesuit at Target Field. The statue is accessible to all fans, and is located outside the Bat & Barrel entrance on the Delta SKY360° Club level.

A Forbes.com June 11 article lists the top 100 wealthiest athletes in the world, with $25 million the cutoff figure to be ranked. Lionel Messi, with $127 million in earnings in the last 12 months, leads the list. He is followed in the top 10 by Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Canelo Alvarez, Roger Federer, Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant. The top three in earnings are all soccer players, followed by boxer Alvarez.

The Timberwolves’ Andrew Wiggins is No. 91 with a reported $26.1 million in pay. He is the only Minnesota athlete to make the list.

Romain Metanire, the Minnesota United defender who will play in the July 31 MLS All-Star Game in Orlando, reportedly earns $305,000 in base salary, according to multiple news sources.

The United has seven of its next 10 matches in St. Paul at the much acclaimed Allianz Field that includes the Brew Hall with its many local beers. Unlike soccer venues in Europe, fans fan consume beer in the seating areas at Allianz.

Ex-Gophers Amir Coffey and Jordan Murphy will have tryouts respectively with the NBA’s Clippers and Timberwolves. They could eventually play in the NBA’s development league. During the 2018-19 season, players with G League contracts earned base salaries of $7,000, or $35,000 for five months.

Prior Lake five-star forward Dawson Garcia continues to attract impressive scholarship offers, with news yesterday Kansas hopes he will be part of its 2020 recruiting class.

Gophers’ football marketers are trying to improve ticket sales in 2019 after last season’s announced average attendance of 37,914 for seven home games. That figure was reportedly the lowest since 1992. Season tickets in 2019 are offered for as low as $35 per game. Mini-plans starting at $60 (three games) went on sale yesterday.

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Ben Leber: Vikings Need to Be ‘Tougher’

Posted on April 16, 2019April 16, 2019 by David Shama

Ben Leber has transitioned successfully into broadcasting, and unlike many former athletes who speak into a microphone, the ex-Vikings linebacker talks honestly to his audience. As a sideline radio reporter at Vikings games and college football TV analyst, Leber is informative and fun to hear because of his candid approach.

Leber retired from the NFL in 2012 after 10 seasons but remains an authority on the Vikings. Minnesota had a disappointing 8-7-1 record last season and failed to make the playoffs after summer predictions included the team among Super Bowl favorites. What do the Vikings need to do to be better in 2019?

Leber’s answer that the Vikings need to be “tougher” may surprise some fans because the club has built its reputation with defense and is led by demanding fifth-year head coach Mike Zimmer. But Leber told Sports Headliners the Purple took a step back last year from where they had been on both defense and offense.

“I think there needs to be an attitude and a stigma that’s set early on in the (2019) season that they have to play a ferocious and intimidating style,” Leber said. “I think everybody knows they will be well coached in Xs and Os, (but) now I think they need to take it to another level and…be the dogs on the field. Be the guys that people are afraid of. I don’t think that they struck fear in anybody last year.”

Leber believes the Vikings had an intimidating identity in 2017 when they went 13-3 in the regular season and won their first playoff game in the 2018 postseason. Leber said foes were “scared” of the defensive unit, and they over game planned about how to deal with Minnesota’s No. 1 ranked NFL defense. But in the NFC title game against the Eagles, things changed. Here is Leber’s analysis of why the Vikings experienced an embarrassing 38-7 loss costing them the opportunity to play in the 2018 Minneapolis Super Bowl:

“Philadelphia basically said, we don’t care who your stars are. We don’t care what the public thinks and what the media thinks. We’re going to attack those guys and put them in vulnerable situations, and they did.

“I think that (approach by opponents) carried over…and that’s what you saw this last year (2018). Early in the season the defense especially—just sort of scrambling to try to readjust itself—that the teams were attacking them so directly.”

In Leber’s view the offense also needs “to scare people in the run game.” Running back Dalvin Cook, whose first two seasons in the NFL have been limited by injuries, could play a major success role for the Vikings because he has big play potential that few NFL rushers possess. “Anything that makes Dalvin a true weapon where defenses have to worry about a home run shot with him, that’s a threat,” Leber said.

Perception can be reality, and Leber said the likelihood of the Vikings making consistent and productive plays in the run game is important. The benefit is that when defenders respect the run, play action passes are more likely to succeed, receivers have a better chance to get open and the offense simplifies for quarterback Kirk Cousins.

In addition to broadcasting, Leber is active speaking to groups, particularly corporations. He was raised in small towns in Iowa and South Dakota, and he shares a message with audiences about experiences in early life and growing into a man.

“I would say the biggest thing that I try to drive home is football wasn’t easy for me,” Leber said about his speaking assignments. “Not because of the physical aspect of it, but because of the self limitations that I put on myself, and I think that can apply to everything.

“I grew up listening to the labels that I came from a place…where people in a small town don’t succeed. I came from a place where people like to place labels on people, and I walked away going off to college believing those things. Almost holding myself back because I was sort of scared to succeed… .”

U Volleyball Following Golden Script

Posted on November 29, 2018November 29, 2018 by David Shama

It looks almost predestined for the Golden Gophers volleyball team to win the 2018 national championship.

Minnesota’s path in the NCAA Tournament begins tomorrow night at home in Maturi Pavilion. If the Gophers keep on winning they can land at Target Center next month in the Final Four, never having left Minneapolis.

The Gophers are the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament after winning the Big Ten regular season championship. At times during the season Minnesota was ranked No. 1 nationally in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, and now are at No. 2.

Earlier this month Minnesota head coach Hugh McCutcheon was honored with induction into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame. McCutcheon coached the U.S. men’s volleyball team to the 2008 Olympic gold medal. He directed the American women to the 2012 Olympic silver medal. At Minnesota he won the 2015 Big Ten title and twice has led teams to the Final Four.

Clearly this is a storybook season so far for McCutcheon and the Gophers, and the final chapter to their story could have a very happy ending. But what friends know about McCutcheon is that no matter how this narrative ends, the coach will keep it all in perspective and try to use the results as a learning experience for himself and his players.

McCutcheon photo courtesy of Minnesota athletic communications.

McCutcheon is a coach’s coach. Others in the coaching profession, regardless of sport, seek his counsel. Understanding process, temperament and relationships are common threads in all sports. McCutcheon goes about his business in a personable and engaged manner but you sense he is always under control, and calculating a next thought or move.

Asked this week what the Gophers will do next year without one of their stars, McCutcheon said, “We’ll miss her, but we’re going to keep playing volleyball.”

Former Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi hired McCutcheon and describes him as a very special coach. Maturi told Sports Headliners that McCutcheon not only knows what needs to be accomplished but makes the necessary adjustments. With him the Xs and Os of the sport don’t block out relating to his players and getting the best out of them. “He does it better than anybody I’ve been around,” Maturi said.

In an email Maturi reflected on McCutcheon’s use of process: “He has the ability to get his athletes to focus on the process rather than the score as well as any coach I know. No emotion over a mistake or good point. It is about the next point.

“As you heard (at a McCutcheon talk), it is about relationships. Understanding each athlete and their needs, yet holding them accountable and responsible. He is special.”

The Gophers, 25-3, play Bryant, 22-12, on Friday night. If the Gophers win they will advance to the second round Saturday and compete against Friday night’s Colorado-South Carolina winner also at Maturi Pavilon. By winning out over the weekend Minnesota can keep on playing in the tournament and at the Pav December 7-8. The Final Four at Target Center is December 14 and 15.

Worth Noting

The Gophers are fourth nationally in average home volleyball attendance at 5,354 fans per match. Nebraska leads the country with an average of 8,188.

Maturi Pavilion and adjacent Williams Arena will both have air conditioning installed next year. A volleyball performance center at the Pav where players can train is also being planned.

Big games and limited time during the next seven days puts pressure on the Gopher men’s basketball coaches and players. Minnesota, 5-1, plays Oklahoma State, 4-2, in a game that doesn’t start until 9 p.m. Friday at U.S. Bank Stadium. Sunday night the Gophers open their Big Ten season against 6-0 Ohio State in Columbus. Then next Wednesday, Minnesota has a second conference game—playing Nebraska, 6-1, at Williams Arena.

If the Gophers can earn at least two wins, in March they might look back and say that stretch contributed to an NCAA Tournament invitation. To have success during the next several days Minnesota will have to improve its shooting from Monday night’s loss at Boston College. The Gophers made 19 of 65 field goals, including 5 of 30 three-point attempts.

Friday night’s game is part of the U.S. Bank Stadium Basketball Classic—a two-night trial run on the basketball configuration and logistics in the facility for next spring’s NCAA Final Four. St. Thomas and UW-River Falls meet prior to the Gophers and Cowboys in the first basketball games ever played in the facility that opened in 2016. Saturday night North Dakota State plays Drake, followed by South Dakota State and Northern Iowa.

The classic is being administered and promoted by the stadium management company, SMG, and not the University of Minnesota. Only lower level seating will be set up, with SMG targeting attendance of 12,000 to 15,000 Friday and 10,000 to 12,000 Saturday. Ads in the Star Tribune have been promoting $15 tickets.

Memphis might be a leader in the “sweepstakes” for a commitment next spring from Rochester John Marshall superstar and senior Matthew Hurt. The new Memphis staff, featuring head coach Penny Hardaway, and assistants Mike Miller and Sam Mitchell, all have impressive NBA backgrounds. They can talk to Hurt from experience about how positioned the three are to get him best prepped for a pro career.

Kirk Cousins has thrown for more yards this season than Tom Brady, his quarterback rival in Sunday’s showdown game between the Vikings and Patriots in New England. Cousins’ total is 3,289 while Brady, whose leading receiver is running back James White, is at 3,031.

Jason Williamson, the Owatonna running back and free safety who has verbally committed to the Gophers, is one of 11 finalists for the Mr. Football Award given annually to an outstanding high school senior in the state. The other candidates are Bryce Benhart, Lakeville North; Matt Cavanaugh, Edina; Alex Folz, Spring Grove; Nick McCabe, Caledonia; Cade Plath, Chanhassen; David Roddy, Breck; Luke Ryan, BOLD; Treyton Welch, Buffalo; Brandon Westberg, Cambridge-Isanti; and Cole Woodford, Redwood Valley.

The award winner will be announced December 16 at the Doubletree by Hilton Minneapolis Park Place Hotel. The Mr. Football Award is sponsored by the Minnesota Football Coaches Association and the Vikings.

Antonio Montero, last year’s Mr. Football winner from Eden Prairie, has been a starting linebacker as a true freshman at Rice this fall. He had six solo tackles in one game.

Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck has his 38th birthday today.

Stepan Falkovsky, the 6-7, 224-pound defenseman the Wild acquired last week from the Kings, is only 21 and not yet on Minnesota’s roster while he gains more lower level experience. If he were on the team now he would be the Wild’s tallest player.

Meanwhile, the Wild’s Matt Dumba is the leading goal scorer among defensemen in the NHL with 10.

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