Twins – Page 104 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Spurs Exec Should Be on Wolves Radar

Posted on April 14, 2019April 14, 2019 by David Shama

A Sunday notes column tipping off with the in flux Timberwolves organization where owner Glen Taylor is searching for a new president of basketball operations.

Two names who keep coming up as candidates have ties to the organization but there’s someone else who was recommended to Sports Headliners that should be on Taylor’s mind. Calvin Booth, the Denver Nuggets assistant general manager, worked in the Wolves’ organization before going to Denver where the franchise has progressed from missing the playoffs a year ago to now being the No. 2 seed in the NBA’s Western Conference playoffs. Chauncey Billups, the former Timberwolves guard and now an NBA TV commentator, is rumored to be interested in leading Taylor’s front office.

A pro basketball insider, speaking anonymously, believes Billups, because of his outstanding playing career (former NBA Finals MVP) and TV exposure, has an image that would attract quality free agents to Minneapolis and improve the team’s roster. “In the NBA there are a lot of places they (free agents) can land,” he said.

The Holy Grail to success for Taylor, though, might go through San Antonio. Last September the Spurs hired former NBA player and TV commentator Brent Barry as vice president of basketball operations. The Spurs are the gold standard of pro sports organizations with their 22 consecutive runs of qualifying for the NBA playoffs dating back to 1998, including five league championships.

The hiring of Barry by the Spurs was an endorsement that should get Taylor’s attention. “If you hire anybody from San Antonio, you’ve got a winner,” the Sports Headliners source said yesterday. “They (the Wolves) would hit a home run with Barry, a grand slam with Barry.”

Whoever becomes the Wolves’ basketball boss will have to discuss with Taylor the future of interim coach Ryan Saunders. Looking in from the outside, the source said his impression is Saunders has a “stellar image” with players and they want to play for the 32-year-old coach.

Big Ten Network football analyst Stanley Jackson liked what he saw yesterday from the Golden Gophers’ personnel during the telecast of Minnesota’s Spring Game. “Great opportunity to win the West (Division),” he told viewers in looking toward next fall.

Spring games can be boring but yesterday there was emphasis on fun for players and spectators including when 6-9, 400-pound offensive tackle Daniel Faalele lined up in the backfield as a ball carrier and ran six yards for a touchdown in the intrasquad matchup.

The Big Ten office reports Minnesota, Indiana and Michigan State have the most starters returning on offense with nine each. The Gophers’ returnees include senior all-conference wide receiver Tyler Johnson who decided not to pursue the NFL Draft as an underclassman. The Gophers return seven starters on defense.

Minnesota’s Thursday, August 29 nonconference home opener with South Dakota State will be the first Big Ten football game next summer. Three other league teams have nonconference games the next night.

The Gophers were one of nine Big Ten teams (14 total) to conclude spring football practices yesterday. Iowa on April 26 and Maryland on April 27 will be the last programs to end spring practices.

In four home games this season, Minnesota Twins pitchers have walked just 11 batters. Minnesota is 3-1 at home after yesterday’s win over the Tigers.

The first pitch temperature at Target Field yesterday was 37 degrees. That was the third time this season the starting temp was 45 degrees or lower for a Twins’ home game.

Best wishes to media colleague Ed Rauen who is being inducted tomorrow (Monday) into the Rochester Quarterbacks Club Hall of Fame. Rauen has headed the club for decades and lined up speakers, while also being a well-known sports voice on KROC Radio in Rochester.

The Capital Club will hear from speakers Cheryl Reeve of the Minnesota Lynx and Glen Mason from the Big Ten Network on April 24 and June 4 at Town & Country Club in St. Paul. The club has organized a tour of the Minnesota United’s new Allianz Field for May 8. More information about the Capital Club is available from Patrick Klinger, patrickklinger@klingercompany.com.

Allianz Field, the soccer-specific outdoor stadium of the MLS Loons, hosted its first game yesterday in the team’s nationally televised tie with New York City FC. Allianz is the fourth stadium in Minneapolis-St. Paul to open since 2009, joining TCF Bank Stadium, Target Field and CHS Field in a lineup of facilities costing more than $2 billion.

Several years ago Vikings owners were interested in owning a Minnesota MLS franchise and staging games in U.S. Bank Stadium. That would have provided a second major team using the covered stadium. The April 8 issue of Sports Illustrated reported that the $1.1 billion home of the Vikings was used for 39 events last year including concerts, NCAA baseball and basketball, and the X Games.

Congratulations to St. Paul native and Cretin-Derham Hall alum Bill Robertson on his new multi-year contract to continue his leadership as men’s commissioner for the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Robertson assumed his position as WCHA commissioner in 2014, and his strategic actions have bettered the league in numerous ways including the on-campus playoff model, and development of digital platforms and sponsorships.

Robertson held various leadership positions in sports communications and marketing prior to joining the WCHA. His work experiences included positions with the Timberwolves and Wild prior to accepting his position with the WCHA which headquarters in Bloomington.

Collegehockeyinc.com reported last week a record number of players from NCAA programs played in the NHL this past season, with the University of Minnesota having the most alumni. There were 325 ex-NCAA players in the NHL in 2018-19, or one-third of all players. The Gophers had 22 alums in the league including Blake Wheeler who finished third in the NHL with 71 assists and matched his career high of 91 points playing for the Winnipeg Jets.

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Twins Missed on Retractable Roof

Posted on April 1, 2019April 1, 2019 by David Shama

A Monday notes column that includes quotes from Minnesota governors and a lot more.

The Twins did okay with the weather for their 2019 home opening series in Minneapolis. Game time temperatures in their three-game series with the Cleveland Indians were 49 degrees on Thursday and 34 both Saturday and Sunday. The 34 degrees tied a record for the third coldest temperature in Target Field history. The coldest is 27 on April 7 of last year.

Not exactly balmy but better than early season weather in 2018 that led to postponements. Cold weather, rain and snow keeps ticket buyers away, and the Twins management knew this years ago when they pushed state officials for a retractable roof facility to be built along the Mississippi River in downtown Minneapolis.

Arne Carlson, Minnesota’s governor in the late 1990s and a sports fan, saw the advantage of a retractable roof facility. Reached by telephone last weekend at his residence in Florida, Carlson talked about Minnesota’s “adverse weather” in both the spring and late fall. “…So a retractable roof only makes good common sense,” he said.

A financial package couldn’t be agreed upon for a retractable roof baseball stadium in the 1990s and the club finally worked out a deal with Hennepin County to build open air Target Field, a facility in operation since 2010. The acclaimed ballpark is often ranked among baseball’s best stadiums, but it can’t guarantee that weather won’t postpone games, and that’s a challenge in selling tickets to potential customers who live near and far.

The proposed cost for a Twins retractable roof stadium years ago was $438.8 million. Target Field, with financing from the county and the Twins, cost over $550 million including original expenditures and later enhancements.

The Twins drew a sellout crowd of 39,519 for opening day, then announced attendances of 15,271 Saturday and 15,613 Sunday. The best numbers of the last few days for the Twins were winning two of three games against their AL Central Division rival Indians, the favorite to win a fourth consecutive championship.

Minnesota native and Indians ace reliever Brad Hand pitched in both Thursday’s and Saturday’s games. After the Saturday game he told Fox Sports North that as an amateur in Minnesota he had pitched while it was snowing.

In a feature story on how technology has impacted baseball, the late March issue of Sports Illustrated said, “the Twins hope they have found the next undervalued pitcher based on data.” The magazine reported Martin Perez, who Minnesota signed in January for a reported $3.5 million for one season, threw his fastball 97 miles per hour in spring training—faster than he had achieved in four years. The left-hander had a 6.22 ERA with the Texas Rangers last season.

Perez, pitching in relief, was the winning pitcher yesterday in Minnesota’s 9-3 victory. In 3.2 innings he gave up three earned runs but struck out six batters.

Governor Tim Walz, elected to office last fall, spoke to high school football coaches Friday night. He is a former prep football coach. “My peers sit in this room,” he said at the 12th annual Minnesota Football Coaches Clinic in St. Louis Park.

Walz was the defensive coordinator for the 1999 Mankato West state championship team. “This game (football) shaped me,” he said.

Three-day event organizers, including Ron Stolski and Jim Dotseth, said the clinic had record attendance of about 1,500. Among the recipients of awards from the Minnesota Football Coaches Association (MFCA) was KARE TV’s Randy Shaver, who was recognized for his contributions to football in the state including through his Prep Sports Extra program that starts its 35th season this fall.

At Iowa State Shaver planned to be a football coach and teacher before deciding to enter broadcasting. At KARE 11, first as a sportscaster and now a news anchor, Shaver remained intrigued with high school football. On Friday nights after going off the air he will work until 3 a.m. poring over game film for information he will eventually use to determine the station’s all-metro offensive and defensive teams. “People think I am crazy,” he told Sports Headliners about his passion to review film.

The MFCA announced Mike Kesler of Rochester Lourdes as its 2018 Coach of the Year on Saturday. His Eagles had a 14-0 record in 2018 and won the Class 3A State Football Championship last November.

Among clinic speakers was Golden Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck who recommended reading the following books: Belichick, Date Your Wife, Power of a Positive Team, and You Have What It takes: What Every Father Needs to Know.

Fleck also told the audience he enjoys vacationing at Disney World in Orlando.

Ryan Suter can become the third Minnesota Wild player ever to win the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. The popular defenseman would join goalies Devin Dubnyk and Josh Harding as winners of the award named after the late Bill Masterton from the Minnesota North Stars. The trophy is presented annually to the NHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.

You can be sure the many friends Fred Hoiberg made while working for the Timberwolves are happy he is back in coaching. The former Iowa State and Chicago Bulls coach, who both played for and worked in the Wolves front office, has agreed to a reported seven-year, $25 million deal to coach at Nebraska. It looks like another savvy hire by Bill Moos, one of the best athletic directors in the country. At Nebraska Moos also hired football coach Scott Frost and while at Washington State he hired football coach Mike Leach.

The Michigan State team that plays in the Minneapolis Final Four on Saturday had a great season even though the Spartans’ Miles Bridges and Jaren Jackson declared early for the NBA where they are averaging 7.2 and 13.8 points per game respectively.

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U Lining Up ‘Next’ Shannon Brooks

Posted on March 28, 2019March 28, 2019 by David Shama

Enjoy a Thursday notes column with a focus on Golden Gophers football including recruiting for the 2020 class, and comments and quotes from Tuesday’s spring practice open to the media and public.

Per 247Sports, Minnesota has five verbal commitments for its class of 2020. The commits include Topeka, Kansas running back Ky Thomas, who could come to Minneapolis next year as a four-star prospect. Ryan Burns, the local recruiting authority with Gopherillustrated.com, is intrigued by Thomas, listed at 5-11, 185 pounds by 247.

“I think if he can stay healthy, I think he’s going to be the next Shannon Brooks,” Burns told Sports Headliners this week. “I think he’s got the best lateral quickness we’ve seen in a Gopher running back since Jeff Jones.”

Brooks, a redshirt senior this fall with the Gophers, is a slashing, side-to-side runner that is also elusive in the open field. Despite injuries resulting in partial seasons, he has 1,882 career rushing yards and five touchdown runs of 37 yards or longer. Jones, the 2013 Mr. Football in Minnesota, was a four-star recruit coming out of Washburn High School but personal issues held back his development in college football.

Another 2020 recruit at a playmaking position is Rosemount’s Jonathan Mann, 6-foot-2, 190 pounds per 247. The wide receiver has been committed to Minnesota for about a year, despite offers from Big Ten and SEC programs. When Burns talks about the three-star recruit, he mentions Gophers senior wide receiver Tyler Johnson who was named Association Press All-Big Ten First Team last fall after catching 74 passes for 1,112 receiving yards (second in the Big Ten in both categories).

“Someone (Mann) that I think with an athletic skill-set as good as what Tyler Johnson was coming out of high school,” Burns said. “I am not saying he’s going to be Tyler Johnson but I think athletically he’s as raw as Tyler was coming out and I think he’s on the same level athletically.”

A second verbal commit from the state of Minnesota is Winona defensive end Aaron Witt, listed at 6-5, 230, according to 247. Burns describes him as a “very aggressive” player.

‘’Aaron Witt is someone that they (the Gophers coaches) really, really like at the defensive end position now,” Burns said. “He’s got to put on a lot of weight. He’s only 235 pounds right now, and you look at him, and you’re like he looks like he’s a buck 70 soaking wet.”

C.J. West from La Grange Park, Illinois is another defensive commit, a 6-2, 305 pound tackle. Iowa and Iowa State have pursued him but 247 reported in late February that West wants to play for the Gophers. “Someone that the staff thinks is the most powerful defensive tackle in the Midwest,” Burns said.

The fifth verbal commit for 2020 is Casey Collier, a 6-6, 300-pound offensive tackle per 247. He is from an under recruited part of Texas (small town Mont Belvieu) and Burns said that’s a factor in why other Power Five schools haven’t offered him a scholarship. “Obviously good size,” Burns said. “He’s got extremely long arms; someone that is athletic enough in their eyes (Gopher coaches) to play tackle.”

Collier’s older sister, Charli, was a McDonald’s girls basketball All-American last year.

An estimated 250 fans attended Tuesday’s indoor Gopher football practice where loyalists could not only watch the team but have a photo taken with Paul Bunyan’s Axe. Minnesota reclaimed the traditional trophy with the Badgers with a win last fall for the first time in the series since 2003.

The victory over Wisconsin was part of a surge by the Gophers with surprise victories in three of their last four games. With most of his players returning in 2019, head coach P.J. Fleck knows the Gophers, who are drawing top 25 national mentions in early rankings, won’t be taken lightly by opponents this year. “We’re not going to shock anybody; surprise anybody at all,” Fleck said at a post-practice media session.

The 2019 season will be Fleck’s third as Minnesota’s head coach. Struggling college programs, including Minnesota’s in the past, are characterized by small senior classes and totals can even dip under 10. The Gopher roster lists 14 players in their final season of college eligibility, but Fleck sees things going in the direction he wants.

“We don’t have those senior classes of 25 or 30 guys…we’re not there yet,” he said. “Those guys (who will make a large senior group) are still sophomores (total 36).”

Sophomores include running back Mohamed Ibrahim who rushed for 1,160 yards last season, the second most for a Gopher freshman ever. He set a school single game rushing record with 224 yards in the impressive 34-10 bowl win over Georgia Tech.

Fleck said Ibrahim can get better. “I don’t worry about him because he’s the hardest worker we have. The way he works, the commitment level he has. He doesn’t take anything for granted, whatsoever. He knows he has to get better, loves getting better, loves the competition and that’s what you want to recruit and develop (in players).”

Seth Green, the Gophers wildcat formation specialist who scored eight rushing touchdowns last season as a redshirt sophomore, has a lower body injury that Fleck said needs time to heal. “He’ll be fine,” Fleck said.

Green, the former East Ridge quarterback, could be among the players Fleck will hold out of the April 13 Spring Game at TCF Bank Stadium.

In addition to the Spring Game, the other remaining opportunity for the public to see the team is next Tuesday starting at 4:45 p.m. on campus.

Antoine Winfield Jr. returns as a redshirt sophomore this spring having played in only four games last season because of injury. He will go into the fall regarded as one of the Big Ten’s best secondary players and perhaps eventually become a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award given to the nation’s premier defensive back. His father, former Minnesota Viking Antoine Winfield, won the Thorpe while at Ohio State.

Junior’s brother Austin will join the Gophers later in the year as a freshman walk-on defensive back. Asked what the first tip will be for his little bro, Antoine Jr. said, “Never be late for anything.”

Former Gophers athletics director Joel Maturi, now in his sixth year serving on the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions, will host colleagues in town for the Minneapolis Final Four for an open house at his residence on Sunday, April 7.

The Twins, who open their regular season today, have a formidable schedule between now and early May. They play championship contending teams in the Astros (twice), Indians, Mets, Phillies and Yankees. If Minnesota can be at .500 by May 6 it will be impressive.

Last Sunday’s “60 Minutes” program on CBS predicted legalized sports gambling will be approved in over half of the states by year’s end. Minnesota is all but certain to be included, if not in 2020 then sometime beyond.

Nbadraftnet.net’s latest projections for the 2019 NBA Draft in June don’t include Gophers Amir Coffey or Jordan Murphy in either the first or second rounds. Apple Valley’s Tre Jones, a freshman at Duke, is projected to go in the second round at No. 36 to the Mavericks. The website predicts the Timberwolves will take Texas Tech shooting guard Jarrett Culver at No. 13 and Washington forward Robert Franks at 43.

The MLS United’s Darwin Quintero has three assists and is tied for the league lead in that category with two other players. The Loons, who will have their first game ever at Allianz Field in St. Paul on April 13, hosted season ticket holders for an open house last weekend. The club’s Black and Blue Team Store, and Brew Hall, are open to the public including on non-game days.

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