Stadiums – Page 2 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Timberwolves Remain Committed to Minneapolis Arena Site

Posted on April 6, 2026April 6, 2026 by David Shama

It continues to appear that Minneapolis will be the site of a new Timberwolves and Lynx arena. “This team will never leave here. We’re going to build down the street (from Target Center),” Alex Rodriguez told Sports Headliners almost two years ago.

At the time Rodriguez and partner Marc Lore were in litigation with Glen Taylor for control of the Wolves and Lynx franchises. Since then, the two have taken control of the franchises with Taylor no longer involved with ownership.

Timberwolves owner Alex Rodrgiuez — Alex Rodriguez

During an event at the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management in February Rodriguez voiced his commitment to downtown, per a story by Jonathan Harrison on Si.com. A city insider, speaking on condition of anonymity, recently confirmed that commitment to Sports Headliners.

The source said Mayor Jacob Frey has shown a willingness to listen regarding a new arena. The insider added that Frey has appointed senior city officials to meet with basketball ownership representatives.

The source acknowledged much of the details regarding the project are yet to be known or committed to. Sources two years ago said or implied the arena site would be the Farmers Market near downtown. Neither Rodriguez or Frey has revealed a location.

Speculation about locations include City Center, the Star Tribune land in the North Loop and the Farmers Market. Regardless of location, it’s expected that the arena will be mostly or entirely privately financed.

Target Center, now owned by the city, was originally privately financed by Marv Wolfenson and Harvey Ratner. They bought the NBA expansion Timberwolves who began playing in 1989-1990, with their first season in the Metrodome before moving into the new Target Center. Wolfenson was proud of the city and initially considered naming the team the Minneapolis Polars, the nickname being a nod to his high school alma mater, the North Polars.

The city assumed ownership in 1995 with a deal made with Wolfenson and Ratner. Over the years city officials have realized the tax and parking revenue value of downtown sports and entertainment venues. During COVID, for example, the city coffers would have been badly hurt without Target Center, Target Field, U.S. Bank Stadium and theatre venues.

It’s believed the city and the basketball owners favor an arena anchoring an entertainment district. That sort of development will need public financing for endeavors such as land acquisition and roads.

While the city council has a less than enthusiastic reputation regarding big business, Frey could provide evidence to sway votes for some public funding. The State of Minnesota could issue bonds to help with an entertainment district project as an investment in jobs and tax revenues while trying to keep the state’s largest city safe and vibrant.

The Sports Headliners source referred to believes the state is likely to approve something like $200 million this spring to help renovate the home of the Wild, Grand Casino Arena and other facilities. That will help continue a precedent of state involvement with sports facilities in the Twin Cities.

The building of a new arena in Minneapolis could be five to eight years into the future. That time period could well coincide with the leadership of a new governor, likely Amy Klobuchar.

The source predicts that 2027 would be the earliest any plan is taken to the Legislature and Klobuchar could be supportive. The insider said Klobuchar recognizes the benefits of big-time sports including revenues that will benefit the city and state.

Target Center is the 29^th oldest NBA arena, exceeded in age only by venerable Madison Square Garden in New York. The facility doesn’t begin to compare with other modern palaces in the league that are creating significant revenue returns for team owners and communities.

Worth Noting

Vikings’ safety Harrison Smith has yet to announce whether he will play next season. What’s certain is there won’t be many more seasons ahead for the 37-year-old. At the No. 18 spot in the first round of this month’s NFL Draft, the Vikings might find it too tempting to resist Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman. He has size, speed and versatility, and is likely to be available in the 15 to 32 range of the first round.

It doesn’t take much noodling to figure out why University of Minnesota athletics director Mark Coyle parted ways with women’s hockey coach Brad Frost last month. The Wisconsin Badgers recently won a record ninth national championship, while the Gophers have won six NCAA titles and none since 2016. New Gopher hire Greg “Boom” May faces the highest of expectations with Coyle on record as saying the Minnesota position “is the best coaching job in the country.”

Minnesota icon Dick Jonckowski will do comedy and play his trombone kazoo starting about 8:30 p.m. April 11 at Mancini’s Char House in St. Paul, appearing prior to the Mancini’s band. “The Polish Eagle,” 82, has been entertaining at nursing homes and said he doesn’t take offense when audience members nod off.

Former Gopher basketball player Walter Bond and his wife Antoinette have co-authored a new book: “Accelerate a Champion’s Playbook to Fast-Track Your Business Success.” Bond is a longtime popular motivational speaker.

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Why It Could be Wait Until 2026 for Vikings J.J. McCarthy

Posted on November 10, 2025November 10, 2025 by David Shama

It might be time to drag out one of the oldest rants in sports regarding J.J. McCarthy.

“WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR!”

To the surprise of no one with realistic expectations, the Viking quarterback has played inconsistently in his first NFL season on the field. In yesterday’s 27-19 home loss to the Ravens, he threw one touchdown pass, two interceptions and was called for one false start on a day when the team total was eight such penalties (he took the blame after the game).

He completed 20 of 42 throws for a career high 248 yards. He could have had a third interception except for a near INT by Raven linebacker Roquan Smith.

McCarthy’s completion percentage of 48 against the Ravens and 53.7 percent for the season won’t dazzle anybody. It’s a long list of rival quarterbacks who have completion percentages in the 60s and even higher. His quarterback rating of 65.8 is also subpar.

The ball sailed on McCarthy yesterday including a key fourth down ball in the fourth quarter when he overthrew a wide-open Justin Jefferson while the Vikings were trying to rally. No less authority than legendary Vikings coach Bud Grant used to say great physical attributes in a quarterback don’t mean much if accuracy is an issue.

In fairness to the 22-year-old McCarthy, we’ve seen a small sample size of his work as he made just his fourth start yesterday in the loss that dropped the Vikings record to 4-5. Daniel House, the analytics whiz, pro football authority and blogger, believes about 22 games of experience can tell the tale of a young NFL quarterback.

If that’s the metric, judgment day for McCarthy will come around mid-season in 2026. Assuming McCarthy continues his up and down play the rest of the season, but finds a steady path in 2026, he could duplicate the path of two second-season NFL quarterbacks on a roll right now.

Drake Maye and Caleb Williams were selected in the same 2024 NFL Draft that the Vikings chose McCarthy. They played as rookies, while McCarthy sat out the season with a knee injury. Maye has thrown 19 touchdown passes for the AFC East Division leading Patriots, while Williams has tossed 13 for the 6-3 Bears who finished last in the NFC North Division in 2024.

Worth Noting

Vikings linebacker Blake Cashman had 11 tackles in the loss to the Ravens, his third consecutive game with at least 10 tackles.

Kicker Will Reichard made field goals of 43 and 49 yards in the game. He has converted 18 of 20 this season, and in his second NFL season he has yet to miss an extra point.

Safety Harrison Smith, 36, is now tied with former offensive tackle Ron Yary for the sixth most games (199) ever played by a Viking.

Sharp shopper: A buyer at the Bloomington Army card show last weekend bought a limited edition signed Max Brosmer trading card for $20. The card of the former Gopher quarterback and Viking rookie is one of only eight issued by Leaf.

The football Gophers (6-3) opened as 23.5 point underdogs, per BetMGM, for Friday night’s game against No.7 ranked Oregon (8-1) in Eugene. Even folks with maroon and gold sweaters probably like the Ducks to cover.

Oregon needed a last-minute field goal in Iowa City last Saturday to defeat the Hawkeyes, 18-17. On October 25 the Gophers lost in Iowa City in a blowout, 41-3.

The 6-3 Hawkeyes have losses to Iowa State, Indiana and Oregon by a total of 10 points. They’re probably the best three loss team in the country and should be in the AP top 25.

Legendary emcee Dick Jonckowski will again work the Minnesota Old Timers Hockey Association luncheon on November 24 at Mancini’s Char House. Guest speaker will be hockey icon Natalie Darwitz.

Last Saturday University of St. Thomas basketball had a new start with the men’s and women’s teams playing first games ever at the Lee and Penny Anderson Arena. The men defeated Army West Point 83-76 before a capacity night crowd of 5,325. The women lost 67-61 to Army in the afternoon with an attendance of 984.

The basketball Gophers, with two impressive home nonconference wins against weak competition, get a major test at Missouri on Wednesday night. The Tigers are coached by Dennis Gates whose name was speculated for the Gopher job when he was coaching at Cleveland State and Minnesota was replacing Richard Pitino.

With forward Taylor Woodson lost for the season with a knee injury, it might not be surprising if University of Minnesota women’s coach Dawn Plitzuweit tries to convince forward Mallory Heyer to return. The two players had similar statistics last season and Heyer caused a stir last month with her announcement about leaving the team for personal reasons. Heyer is still enrolled at the U, per an outside source.

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch turned 56 last week and speaks to the Twin Cities Dunkers on Wednesday.

Players with ties to the Twins who are free agents this offseason include: Luis Arraez, Harrison Bader, Willi Castro, Kyle Farmer, Ty France, Mitch Garver, Liam Hendriks, Max Kepler, Tyler Mahle, Chris Paddack, Emilio Pagan, Jorge Polanco, Taylor Rogers, Michael A. Taylor and Christian Vazquez.

The Wild has a so-so start to the season and it will be interesting to see what moves GM Bill Guerin may make to improve the roster. The NHL trade deadline isn’t until March 6.

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Win or Lose, U Can Make Positive Impression at No. 1 OSU

Posted on October 3, 2025October 3, 2025 by David Shama

Everything seems to line up in Ohio State’s favor for its game Saturday night in Columbus on national TV against the Golden Gophers. Superior talent, home field advantage and history all weigh in on the likelihood of a Buckeyes win on NBC TV.

The Gophers, though, with a victory or defeat, can make an important statement about themselves. Upset the nation’s No. 1 ranked team and Minnesota will record one of its most stunning wins in program history. Hang competitively with the Bucks for four quarters and the Gophers will have played their best game of the season and set themselves up for confident performances in upcoming games at home against Purdue and Nebraska. BetMGM, BTW, makes the Buckeyes a 24-point favorite.

The Gophers, 3-1 on the season, have defeated Ohio State three times since 1965. Minnesota, with wins at home in 1966 and 1981, and a victory in Columbus in 2000, has an all-time record of seven wins and 47 losses against the Brutes from Columbus. No Big Ten foe has historically dominated the Gophers like Ohio State.

The 4-0 Buckeyes are the defending national champions and look to be rolling toward another College Football Playoff spot. They have several players ESPN listed on its preseason roster of the nation’s top 100 college players. That group is led by two superstars, wide receiver Jeremiah Smith and safety Caleb Downs, who are ranked No. 1 and 5 respectively. Minnesota has one player against Ohio State’s five in safety Koi Perich ranked No. 42.

The Buckeyes are averaging an impressive 36.3 points per game and giving up a nation’s best 5.5. The Gophers are averaging 33.5 and 16.63, with numbers skewed by a 66-0 win over patsy foe Northwestern State.

For Minnesota to stay in the game, the Gophers will need to slow the Ohio State run game and pressure quarterback Julian Sayin. A repeat performance of seven sacks like in last week’s 31-28 win over Rutgers would be a wish come true for the Gophers.

Offensively, the guess here is the Gophers will play for a third consecutive game without star running back Darius Taylor who has become almost as well known for his hamstring injuries as his running and pass catching. That will leave a lot of burden on redshirt freshman quarterback Drake Lindsey. He was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week for his performance against Rutgers when he completed 31 passes on 41 attempts for 324 yards and three touchdowns (all career highs) with no interceptions as Minnesota rallied from a 14-point deficit to win at home.

The Gophers will need to overcome the crowd chaos of playing in arguably the Big Ten’s noisiest stadium. The “Horseshoe” seats over 102,000 and the decibel can be deafening. Lindsey can forget audibling at the line of scrimmage to change plays. Instead, the Gophers who have practiced this week amidst raucous artificial noise, will rely on hand signals for communications.

Gopher coach P.J. Fleck noted earlier in the week that OSU fans have been asking for a couple of years to see their heroes in a home night game. After fans are tailgating all day, Fleck expects his team to walk into “a really hostile environment.”

“…Our players are just going to have to have incredible poise and execute the small details, and find a way to just continue to get better and go execute the game plan that’s in front of us,” Fleck said.

Fleck refers to the game as both a challenge and opportunity for his team. That includes for individuals like Lindsey, the first-year starter, who against Rutgers further justified the confidence of his teammates and coaches. Fleck already knows Lindsey is a special talent but also realizes the trajectory of progress won’t always be vertical.

If Lindsey on Saturday, though, plays at a higher level than against Rutgers, even BetMGM would like the Gophers’ chances of making an impressive showing at the “Shoe.”

Worth Noting

BetMGM lists the 2-2 Vikings as 3.5 favorites for their Sunday game against the 1-3 Browns in London. Minnesota needs a win, because the next three opponents are the 4-0 Eagles at home and on the road against the Chargers and Lions, both 3-1.

Vikings Donovan Jackson, Ryan Kelly, Michael Jurgens, J.J. McCarthy, Brian O’Neill and Andrew Van Ginkel are ruled out for Sunday’s game, according to the team practice report this morning. Questionable are Tyler Batty, C.J. Ham and Ben Yurosek. Mike Hall is out for the Browns, with Jack Conklin and Greg Newsome questionable.

Viewership of the Steelers 24-21 win over the Vikings last Sunday in Dublin was the second most-watched NFL Network International game ever, with 7.9 million viewers (TV+digital)—trailing only the 2023 Dolphins and Chiefs game in Germany. The total doesn’t include OTA viewership from the Minneapolis and Pittsburgh markets.

It could be the Twins Pohlad ownership group will announce its new minority owners at the MLB Winter Meetings in December.

If the Yankees fire manager Aaron Boone, the Twins would be advised to take a serious look at him to fill their managerial opening.

Veteran sportswriters Jerry Zgoda and Kent Youngblood left the Star Tribune earlier this year. Now Twins beat writer Phil Miller, a terrific reporter, is retiring, too. Last Sunday he posted the following on X:

“Phillies win 2-1 in 10, and that’s a wrap on the Twins’ disappointing 70-92 season — and on my 45-year career in newspapers, which has been the utter opposite of disappointing. To all you Jazz, Utes, Gophers and Twins fans, thanks so much for reading. It’s been an absolute blast.”

Representing the Gopher men’s team at Big Ten Basketball Media Days Oct. 8 and 9 in Rosemont, Ill. will be coach Niko Medved and sophomore guard Isaac Asuma and junior forward Jaylen Crocker-Johnson, Jr. The women’s team contingent will be coach Dawn Plitzuweit and senior guards Amaya Battle and Mara Braun.

Blaze Credit Union, the official credit union of the Minnesota Wild, will have its logo on the team’s home helmets this season. As part of the sponsorship agreement between the two, the Blaze Credit Union’s Hockey Kids4Kids Program will continue. The program encourages youth players to raise funds for kids at Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare.

Marc-André Fleury, now in his first season of retirement, was brought to Minnesota in 2022 to be a role model for teammates including now No. 1 goalie Filip Gustavvson. It will be interesting to see if Gustavsson can keep building on past success and have his best season. The Wild open the regular schedule October 9 against the Blues in St. Louis.

The state-of-the-art LaunchPad Golf The Meadows in Prior Lake opens Saturday at 4 p.m. Located close to Mystic Lake Casino Hotel and The Meadows at Mystic golf course, the venue will be a year-round entertainment destination.

It’s the first LauchPad location in the United States, and the venue has 40-heated suites (bays) and will be open even when temps are near 20 below. Each of the suites offers ball tracking technology, along with an auto-tee system that pops up the next golf ball after the last one has been hit. The driving range is 243 yards long and golfers can bring their own clubs or have them provided.

Serious golfers can experience some of the world’s most famous golf courses, including Pebble Beach, Bethpage Black, The Old Course at St. Andrews, and others. There’s also a variety of different games that are fun for golfers of different abilities, including suite linking technology to compete against an adjacent group.

LaunchPad’s offerings create a welcoming social atmosphere with its sports bar and quality dining options that include shareables and dinner entrees. LaunchPad is a sponsor of Gopher athletics and members of the men’s hockey and basketball team recently enjoyed a visit there.

There will be visitation starting at 11 a.m. Monday at Mount Olivet Lutheran Church in Minneapolis for Minnesota golf legend John Harris, 73. A memorial service follows at noon at the church. In addition to excelling in amateur and professional golf, John played on the 1974 Golden Gophers national championship hockey team.

The esteemed Twin Cities Dunkers organization started in 1948 as the Minneapolis Dunkers under the leadership of Norm McGrew. Dave Mona took over in 1999 but will step away at the end of 2026 when Dunkers board member and former Twins president Dave St. Peter takes over as the next president and general manager of the civic and business organization whose activities include raising money for the Minneapolis and St. Paul public high schools to support their athletic programs. Dunkers has raised over $1.5 million for the cause.

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