Timberwolves – Page 106 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Losses Pile Up But Jug Special

Posted on October 31, 2012October 31, 2012 by David Shama

Michigan comes to Minneapolis on Saturday for the 93rd game when the Wolverines and Gophers play for one year ownership of the Little Brown Jug. It’s been 35 years since Minnesota defeated the Wolverines in the Gophers’ home stadium, and took possession of the jug that Wikipedia says represents the oldest trophy series in college football.

The Gophers and Wolverines have been playing for the trophy since 1909. The prize came about when the Wolverines inadvertently left their water jug behind after a game in Minneapolis. Michigan wanted the jug returned but a Gophers official said, “If you want it, you’ll have to win it.”

And win it the Wolverines have, with 67 victories. The Gophers have 22 wins and there have been three ties in the Little Brown Jug series. The Gophers won nine straight games in the 1930s and 1940s. During the 1960s Minnesota won six of eight including four games at Memorial Stadium.

But what a drought it’s been since 1967 with the Gophers winning the jug only in 1977 in Minneapolis, and 1986 and 2005 in Ann Arbor. The lopsided results have removed much of the luster from a rivalry that once was among the most glamorous in college football.

Minnesota has more talk about games now with Iowa and Wisconsin, two other famous trophy games. Michigan fires up for games with Notre Dame, Michigan State and Ohio State.

Former Michigan running back Mike Hart, who played for the Wolverines a few seasons ago, told ESPN.com last year that competing against Minnesota is just another game.

“There are so many important games to us that that’s not really a big rivalry game,” Hart said in a September 29, 2011 article on ESPN’s WolverineNation. “It’s more or less just another game to us that has a trophy involved.

“It’s not like, ‘Oh, we’re getting the Jug.’ I personally never saw it as that. I saw it as another Big Ten team we were playing.”

Just another game? That will make Butch Nash roll over in his grave. Nash, from northeast Minneapolis, played for the Gophers in the 1930s, then was an assistant coach over five decades. He reveled in the Michigan-Minnesota Little Brown Jug rivalry.

It was Nash who spoke from the heart before Gopher wins in 1977 and 1986. The 1977 victory was particularly memorable because the Gophers rocked the college football world on October 22 of that year when they thoroughly dominated and punished then No. 1 ranked Michigan 16-0 in Memorial Stadium.

The victories in 1986 and 2005 were much closer. In 1986 quarterback Rickey Foggie’s fourth quarter running set up a game-winning Chip Lohmiller’s field goal for a 20-17 win over No. 2 ranked Michigan. In 2005 running back Gary Russell’s 61-yard sprint down the sidelines positioned Jason Giannini for a game-ending field goal and a 23-20 Minnesota win.

The Gophers aren’t expected to win on Saturday in TCF Bank Stadium. Sports Headliners has the Gophers as a 10 point underdog and losing to Michigan for the 28th time in the last 35 years (the teams haven’t played each year since 1977).

The Gophers would be well advised to talk to Darrell Thompson who played for the 1986 Gophers and heard Nash’s fiery words. “He talked about the tradition and history of the game,” the former Gophers running back told Sports Headliners. “The thing that stuck with me out of his speech was to leave nothing out on the field. Only you know if you have given everything, and then you can feel very good about your effort.”

Thompson, who is close to the program as the radio analyst on the Minnesota games, said the current Gophers are well drilled about the importance of their rivalry games including the Little Brown Jug. He thinks the jug means a lot to the Minnesota players. “When they win (it), they will understand even more (the importance),” he said. “It hurt when we lost it in 1987.”

Mauer Wedding, Wolves Outlook & More

Invitations have been mailed for the Joe Mauer–Maddie Bisanz wedding on Saturday, December 1 at a church in St. Paul. Mauer’s grandfather, Jake Mauer, told Sports Headliners the invitation asks guests not to give wedding gifts but instead make donations to a Twin Cities nonprofit benefiting teens and adults with disabilities. Joe’s brothers Jake and Bill will be co-best men.

The wedding will be followed by a reception and dinner with 720 invitees—many more guests than can be accommodated at the church, according to Jake. There will be various activities for guests on Thursday and Friday leading up to the wedding including a skating party. “It will all cost over $300,000.00,” Jake said.

Bisanz is a Twin Cities nurse who plans to continue her career after marrying the Twins All-Star catcher, according to Jake who said the couple is in southwest Florida for several weeks. Honeymoon plans aren’t decided yet. “Joe wants to go to Paris,” Jake said.

Some Wolves fans may choose to hibernate until box-office stars Ricky Rubio and Kevin Love return from injuries, but the team’s regular season schedule starts on Friday night at home against the Kings. Like it or night, the Wolves have 27 games scheduled between now and year’s end. The Wolves probably will play most or even all of those games without the Big Two.

Only eight of those games are against the better teams in the NBA, with the remaining opponents being mediocre or worse. Down-trodden teams on the Wolves schedule are the Bobcats, Cavs, Hornets, Kings, Magic, Raptors and Warriors. The Wolves will play a balanced home-away schedule during the first two months, with 13 games at Target Center and 14 on the road.

Take an upbeat approach to November and December because of coach Rick Adelman. He’s among the NBA’s better coaches ever and has plenty of experience working with underwhelming talent over the last 20-plus years. He will expect a cast of Wolves role players to play hard and do their jobs. Translation: don’t try to be Love or Rubio.

Take a skeptical approach to November and December because NBA games are frequently decided in the fourth quarter—and the Wolves may not have any players who can consistently close out games. Shooting guard Brandon Roy may want to say, “Boys, jump on my back and I’ll carry us home.” But the burden could be too much for Roy who hasn’t played a regular season game since 2010-2011 because of troublesome knees.

Love and teammate Lou Amundson will be taking 10 children from HopeKids to the World’s Largest Trick-or-Treat event at Mall of America tonight from 5 to 6 p.m. HopeKids benefits families with children who have cancer or other life-threatening medical conditions.

Former Gopher Mychal Thompson’s son Klay Thompson starts his second season with the Warriors and is one of the NBA’s most promising three point shooters, making 0.488 percent of those shots in preseason while averaging 14 points per game.

In the October 29 issue of Sports Illustrated the magazine makes its NBA predictions and picks the Heat to defeat the Lakers in the playoff finals. S.I. predicts the Wolves are a possible playoff team but no cinch.

Gophers football coach Jerry Kill said his offensive line played its best game of the season in last Saturday’s 44-28 win over Purdue. Ed Olson, probably the team’s best offensive lineman before the season started, was injured and didn’t play against Purdue, and Kill doesn’t expect him back for Saturday’s game with Michigan.

Three Minnesota prep football coaches earned milestone career wins earlier this month. Congratulations to Dean Taylor from St. Cloud Cathedral on his 200^th career win, and Jack Drews of Rochester John Marshall and John Clark Jr. from Mahnomen on their 100^th career victories.

The football Prep Bowl will be Friday, November 23 at the Mall of America Field. Last year’s champions were Eden Prairie, Class 5A; ROCORI, Class 4A; Saint Croix Lutheran, Class 3A; Caledonia, Class 2A; Dawson-Boyd, Class 1A; and Edgerton/Ellsworth, Nine-Man.

Former Vikings head coach Jerry Burns worked for legendary coach Vince Lombardi in Green Bay. The stage play “Lombardi” has been at the History Theatre in St. Paul this fall with the final performance on Sunday, November 4. Burns attended the production on opening night and spoke at a special dinner prior to the performance. He recommends the play including the portrayal of the Hall of Fame coach by James Detmar.

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U Likely in Tyus Jones Top 5

Posted on October 29, 2012October 29, 2012 by David Shama

Debbie Jones told Sports Headliners she hopes her son Tyus Jones can narrow his college choices to five finalists in the coming weeks. “I would probably say in the next month or so,” Debbie said.

Tyus, with a reputation as the best high school point guard in the country for the class of 2014, is considering the Gophers and many other schools. His mother wasn’t specific about how many schools but said the decision to arrive at a list of five will be made by Tyus and family members.

Will the Gophers be among the final five? “I can’t say for sure. I would think they would be in the five,” Debbie said.

Debbie also said there’s no target date as to when a final college choice will be made by Tyus who is becoming a prep legend in Minnesota and will lead an Apple Valley High School team with ambitions to become state champions. She acknowledged her son’s popularity and support among Minnesotans is a factor in the Gophers favor.

“That’s the hardest part for all of us because that is there and it is a pretty big deal,” Debbie said. “It comes down to taking everything into consideration.”

Before narrowing the choices of colleges to five, Tyus wants to visit Kansas and Kentucky. Travel dates haven’t been established.

Worth Noting

Philip Nelson had one of the best passing games ever by a true freshman Gophers quarterback on Saturday against Purdue. Nelson, starting his second game, passed for 246 yards (all in the first half) and in one stretch completed 12 consecutive passes. Rickey Foggie passed for 281 yards in a game as a true freshman in 1984. The school record for consecutive passes is 14 set by Adam Weber in 2008 when he was a redshirt sophomore.

Cornerback Michael Carter also had an extraordinary performance in the Gophers 44-21 win over Purdue. At times he was all over the secondary breaking up passes, and he returned an interception 43 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. He tied Michael Lehan’s school record for six pass breakups in a game set in 2001.

Carter was among the last players to commit to the Gophers in 2009 and then coach Tim Brewster was excited about Carter’s potential. But Carter didn’t emerge as an impact player until Saturday, more than halfway through his senior season and after playing in only five games last season, starting none.

Nelson was announced this morning as Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week, while Carter is the Co-Defensive Player of the Week in the conference.

The Vikings offense has produced four touchdowns in the last two games, but the results haven’t diminished the confidence of Adrian Peterson who said the team has to sustain long drives. “We’ve got great potential offensively,” Peterson said. “Confidence is there.”

Peterson has rushed for 276 yards in the last two games. That’s his best two-game total of the season.

A Sports Headliners reader after watching quarterback Christian Ponder face a persistent pass rush in last Thursday night’s Vikings-Bucs game, emailed this: “I guess he has to learn to throw from his back.”

Vikings running back Toby Gerhart hasn’t fumbled since the closing minutes against the 49ers on September 23 when he had two fumbles. He told Sports Headliners that was “dumb running” because instead of making ball security the highest priority he was trying to have a big gain.

“I’ve become a smarter runner in that situation,” he said. “Four minutes (to the) end of the game. There’s no reason to try to make a big play. Get what you can and get down (on the turf). We’re (the Vikings) just trying to run out the clock. Now I’ve tried to look at situations more for what they are and be smart about it. …”

The Vikings play the Seahawks in Seattle on Sunday, going against coach Pete Carroll. When Gerhart was at Stanford he played against Carroll, the USC coach.

“He’s a good coach,” Gerhart said. “He gets his guys fired up to play and they play for him. …Just his personality from what I’ve seen across the field, it seems like he’s a good motivator.”

Carroll was a Vikings assistant coach in the 1980s under head coaches Bud Grant and Jerry Burns.

Tartan High School defensive back Keelon Brookins emailed news that his rehabilitation from a torn ACL is going well and he remains verbally committed to Wisconsin where he plans to enroll in January. He attended the Gophers-Badgers game in Madison on October 20.

If the Timberwolves are going to make the playoffs, they might have to beat out Northwest Division rival Utah, a team led by former Wolves center Al Jefferson. Also on the roster is ex-Wolves guard Randy Foye. Former Wolves forward Tyrone Corbin is Utah’s head coach. The Wolves open their regular season at home on Friday night against the Kings.

Wolves forward-guard Chase Budinger might have a career scoring year. He scored 21 and 20 points in the team’s last two preseason games. In Budinger’s first three seasons in the NBA, all with the Rockets, he didn’t average more than 22.4 minutes and 9.8 points per game, but his skills, including three point shooting, are a solid fit in Wolves coach Rick Adelman’s offense.

Former Wolves forward Michael Beasley averaged 12.7 in preseason games for the Suns, although he had 29 points on Friday night against Denver. In the October 29 issue of Sports Illustrated an anonymous scout said this about Beasley: “I am not a fan of Michael Beasley. It’s his personality. He just doesn’t seem to care. He doesn’t play hard.”

Ex-Wolves guard Wes Johnson averaged 8.6 points in preseason for the Suns.

Five Big Ten teams are ranked in the top 25 of the Associated Press preseason college basketball poll, but the Gophers aren’t included. The Big Ten is the first conference since the Big East in 2008-2009 to have three teams in the AP preseason top five: Indiana at No. 1, Ohio State No. 4 and Michigan No. 5.

The American League champion Tigers open the Twins regular season schedule next year as part of a series of games against attractive teams at Target Field in April. The Mets, Angels, Rangers and Marlins will also be in Minneapolis that month. Single game tickets are expected to go on sale in February.

Patrick Klinger is no longer vice president of marketing with the Twins after 14 consecutive years with the organization. Klinger, whose responsibilities included oversight of advertising, broadcasting and special events, may start a public relations firm.

St. Thomas is the preseason choice to finish first in MIAC men’s hockey, according to a league poll. Following the Tommies are Gustavus, St. Olaf, Saint John’s, Concordia, Hamline, Augsburg, Bethel and Saint Mary’s.

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Gray: Team Accepts New U QB

Posted on October 26, 2012October 26, 2012 by David Shama

Philip Nelson, 19, will make his second start as the Gophers quarterback tomorrow. He’s accepted as the new leader of the offense, according to MarQueis Gray.

Nelson, a freshman and earlier this year the No. 3 quarterback, sat on the sidelines for only six games before becoming the starter last week atWisconsin. Gray, who will be 22 next month, waited three years after high school to become the Gophers No. 1 quarterback last season.

A high ankle sprain and knee injury suffered against Western Michigan on September 15 sidelined Gray for two-plus games. More recently he hasn’t been healthy enough to reclaim the quarterback job and coach Jerry Kill will send Gray out to play wide receiver against Purdue tomorrow, a position that will subject him to much less punishment than quarterback.

Gray started 10 of 11 games at quarterback for the Gophers last season. This preseason he was viewed as the team’s MVP, the one player the Gophers couldn’t be without. Teammates admire his athleticism and look at him as a leader.

Gray prefers to play quarterback but understands his circumstances now and voices support for Nelson. Gray said “the offense is going to accept whoever is back there (at quarterback),” and he is supportive of Nelson. What can Gray do to lessen the pressure on the true freshman?

“Keep building his confidence in the huddle, on the sidelines, (and) catching everything that comes my way (at receiver),” Gray said. “Making sure I am making the right blocks. Being in his head about how this game is slower than what most people may think it is. Realizing that he’s the leader of this offense now. … Just being out there encouraging him is the best thing I can do.”

Nelson, who played high school football at Mankato West, enrolled at Minnesota early this year so he could be around his new teammates and learn the offense. He made friends and developed rapport with teammates. He said the Gophers “trust” the coaches and “whoever is back there will get support from them (the players).”

Kill is an admirer of Nelson’s skills including his release in throwing the ball. The coach said Nelson’s release is quicker than Gray’s or No. 2 quarterback Max Shortell. “You could see that on Saturday, if you watched the game,” Kill said.

Not unexpectedly, Nelson made mistakes in his first college start but he was impressive including when he ran effectively. In the Wisconsin game he was the team’s leading rusher with 16 carries and 67 net yards. He completed 13 of 24 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns. He showed an ability to avoid tacklers even in the pocket and wasn’t sacked.

What about tomorrow? “It’s going to be real exciting,” Nelson said. “Us as a team really want to come out and win this one for sure. This is a must win.”

The Gophers, 4-3, have lost three consecutive games (0-3 in the Big Ten). With five games remaining and trying to reach at least six wins to become bowl eligible, there’s no doubting the importance of defeating a Purdue team with a mediocre 3-4 overall record and 0-3 in the Big Ten.

It will be an opportunity for Nelson to lead, but if something were to happen to him during the game Shortell will likely be the replacement. As Kill said earlier in the week, Gray just isn’t “100 percent.”

Gray said he tries to keep his attitude positive around teammates, admitting he’s “been through a lot.” How does he approach these recent weeks where his health has been a problem?

“Just realizing that there’s people out there in the world who is going through more than what I am,” he answered. “That’s one of the reasons how I keep my head. Coming through there (practice), going home to my kids. …”

Worth Noting

Since January of 2011 the injury log for high profile Minnesota athletes sidelined with significant health problems includes Gray, Trevor Mbakwe, Kevin Love, Ricky Rubio, Adrian Peterson, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Mikko Koivu.

Contrary to what some fans believe, the $800,000 the Gophers will pay North Carolina to cancel two football games between the Tar Heels and Minnesota isn’t taxpayers’ money. The money is from the Gophers athletic department, which is self-supporting except for three percent of its budget going to facilities.

The Golden Gopher Football Banquet will be held on Sunday, November 25 starting at 10:30 a.m. at the Hilton Minneapolis.

Samantha Steele, the ESPN reporter who is dating Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder, is a native of Phoenix, the daughter of a coach, played five sports in high school, attended Liberty University and devotes time to her family’s nonprofit organization benefitting inner city youth, according to the samanthasteele.com website.

Ponder asked after last night’s 36-17 loss to the Bucs if his performance has regressed from earlier in the season: “I think I definitely have to play better. I don’t think I’m playing as well as I should, or can. Defenses are always going to be scheming against us. We have to make adjustments, and we will make adjustments. Coach (Bill) Musgrave comes up with a great game plan; we just have to play better. It comes down to me. I have to play better. I think that’s obvious to everyone.”

Attendance last night was 60,860, the second consecutive home game the Vikings have drawn over 60,000.

Vikings defensive tackle Letroy Guion’s career plans after football are to become a chef, according to the Playbook publication distributed at Vikings games. What’s his favorite meal to cook or eat? “Oxtails, mac ‘n cheese, yellow rice and collard greens,” he told Playbook.

Sports Media News reported on Wednesday that for seven consecutive weeks an NFL game has ranked as the most-watched program on national television. The source also reported the Minneapolis market bested 16 other NFL markets in ratings (31) and audience share (67) for the Vikings-Cardinals game last Sunday at Mall of America Field.

It could be a high scoring game tomorrow when Augsburg (4-2 in the MIAC) plays at St. Thomas (5-0). St. Thomas’ Matt O’Connell and Augsburg’s Ayrton Scott are both among the league’s top six in passing and rushing. The two teams lead the league in points per game (39.4 for St. Thomas, 37.0 for Augsburg) and are also 1-2 in total offense.

The Timberwolves rank No. 9 among 15 teams in the Western Conference, according to the October 29 issue of Sports Illustrated. In the publication’s NBA preview story an anonymous scout said point guard Ricky Rubio can be better than former league MVP Steve Nash, and he would be “shocked” if newly acquired shooting guard Brandon Roy can make a major impact because of knee problems.

Ticket prices range from $15 to $85 for the February 17 Hockey City Classic at Soldier Field in Chicago. The college doubleheader matches the Gophers against Wisconsin and Miami-Notre Dame. The Gophers face the U.S. Under-18 Team tonight at Mariucci Arena. Minnesota plays Canisius Sunday afternoon at Mariucci, the first game ever between the schools.

Gophers coach Don Lucia is the 10^th coach in NCAA Division I hockey history to have 600 wins (600-329-83).

After five games playing for the Aeros in the AHL, Wild prospect Mikael Granlund leads the team in points with seven, while Marco Scandella has six and Jason Zucker five.

It will be 21 years ago tomorrow that Jack Morris pitched the Twins to a game seven win and World Series championship against the Braves at the Metrodome.

The Big Ten announced yesterday that Ohio State’s Tayler Hill (from Minneapolis South) and Penn State’s Alex Bentley were chosen by Big Ten women’s coaches as Co-Preseason Player of the Year, while a media panel chose only Hill. The Gophers Rachel Banham was one of seven players on the coaches preseason all-Big Ten team.

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