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

Bet on Taylor Short-term to Remain in Control of Wolves

Posted on October 22, 2024October 22, 2024 by David Shama

The Timberwolves open their regular season schedule tonight against the Lakers in Los Angeles with ownership of the franchise expected to be resolved in the next few months. A source with extensive pro sports ownership experience, speaking on condition that his name not be published, predicted current owner Glen Taylor will retain control of the Wolves and Lynx after the early 2025 resolution—but that may not be true a year from now.

Taylor is in litigation with potential majority owners Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez. The dispute is about whether Lore and Rodriquez met the obligations of a drawn-out sales process that began in 2021. A three-person arbitration panel (based in Minnesota) is expected to rule on the majority ownership in November.

Even if the panel rules in favor of Lore and Rodriguez, there will need to be a sale approval by the NBA. There are two reasons why the source believes the league will favor Taylor’s continued control of the NBA and WNBA franchises.

One is the familiarity and relationships NBA’s owners have with Taylor. He has owned the Wolves since 1994 when he bought the franchise for a reported $88 million. He founded the Lynx in 1999. Taylor has served on the league’s Board of Governors and knows commissioner Adam Silver well. The Wolves and Lynx have been stable franchises financially over the decades, while questions have been raised about the financial wherewithal of Lore and Rodriguez who in June reportedly reached agreement with billionaire Michael Bloomberg to join their group.

The second factor, seemingly in Taylor’s favor, is the litigation involves the original agreed upon sale price of $1.5 billion. Since the time that figure was decided, the value of NBA franchises has more than doubled. League owners don’t want to set a precedent of below market value for franchises, knowing that impacts their businesses.

Taylor, 83, has been showing interest for years in moving on from ownership. “I can see him (eventually) selling 50 percent of the franchise to Bloomberg,” the source said.

In that scenario the sale amount would be a market price well over $3 billion for the two franchises. Bloomberg becomes the majority owner at say a controlling 51 percent, while Lore and Rodriguez could keep what’s believed to be their present 36 percent or they might be bought out at a considerable profit. Taylor might want and accept five or 10 percent ownership, joining other small owners who have been part of his group in the past.

Worth Noting

The Timberwolves finalized their 17-man roster late yesterday with the most notable change from a year ago the absence of forward-center Karl-Anthony Towns who had played with the club for nine seasons. The youngest player on the roster is 19-year-old first round rookie guard Rob Dillingham. The oldest Wolves are guard Mike Conley and forward Joe Ingles, both 37.

Towns, traded this fall to the Knicks, will play for his new team tonight against the World Champion Celtics. The game is part of a nationally televised doubleheader on TNT that also includes the Wolves-Lakers game. With forward Julius Randle and guard Donte DiVincenzo, the two former Knicks debuting for the Wolves, the doubleheader will be a focus of national interest.

The Wolves are title contenders along with multiple other teams including the Thunder whose star players include Minneapolis native Chet Holmgren. The 7-foot-1 power forward-center averaged 16.5 points and 7.9 rebounds last season, his first in the NBA. Holmgren, 22, could one day join a short list of native Minnesotans who played for the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team.

Burdette Haldorson, an Austin, Minnesota native, played collegiately at Colorado and was a member of the 1956 and 1960 gold medal winning American basketball teams.

Lou Nanne, who had successful back surgery in July, is ready to resume playing golf in Florida, his second home. He’s had two holes-in-one over the years, with the most recent last year in the sunshine state.

The Minnesota hockey icon, long respected in the local business community, told Sports Headliners he has no interest, or the intention of being part of a group to buy the Twins.

Nanne predicts a healthy Wild team will make the playoffs. “Love what (Filip) Gustavsson is doing,” he said about the Wild’s hot goalie who has helped the team to a 3-0-2 season start.

The Wild plays at the Panthers tonight, facing a team Minnesota swept in two games last season. Florida, the defending Stanley Cup champs, is Nanne’s pick to win the NHL again.

Kevin Sumlin is on the staff of the Maryland football team that plays the Golden Gophers in Minneapolis Saturday afternoon. The former Gopher assistant coach and head coach at Texas A & M and Arizona is associate head coach to Mike Locksley.

Minnesota, 4-3, is about a four-point favorite against the Terps who have the same record. This could be the last time the Gophers are favored in their remaining games, with matchups against Illinois, Rutgers, Penn State and Wisconsin remaining.

With membership in the University of Minnesota Alumni Association, alumni can save 25 percent on tickets for the Homecoming game against the Terps.

It wouldn’t be surprising if during the offseason the Gophers landed a center transfer in the portal allowing talented sophomore Greg Johnson from Prior Lake to switch back to guard where he played as a true freshman.

Happy 81^st birthday today to Minnesota sports icon Dick Jonckowski! His many honors include going into the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame last month.

On Thursday Harvey Mackay, the longtime Gophers and University of Minnesota supporter, celebrates his 92^nd birthday. Former Gophers football coach Lou Holtz writes the foreword in Mackay’s new book, You Haven’t Hit Your Peak Yet!

A communicator and motivator extraordinaire, Mackay is a leading inspirational speaker, syndicated newspaper columnist and seven-times New York Times best-selling author. Among his treasured experiences was playing golf at the U for legendary coach Les Bolstad.

A focus for the Vikings Thursday night in Los Angeles will be stopping Rams running back Kyren Williams. He has a rushing touchdown in nine consecutive games including two on Sunday in a 20-15 win over the Raiders.

In their win over the Vikings last Sunday, the Lions took advantage of missing linebacker Blake Cashman who was out with a toe injury. The Vikings need his tackling and steady presence in the middle of the field against the Rams and future opponents. His availability for Thursday night hasn’t been announced.

The 2-4 Rams and 5-1 Vikings are likely to see the return of star receivers who have been out with injuries—wide receiver Cooper Kupp for Los Angeles and tight end T.J. Hockenson for Minnesota.

The game will be televised nationally by Prime and seen locally on Fox 9.

Vikings superstar wide receiver Justin Jefferson has 6,430 receiving yards since entering the NFL in 2020. He is chasing the league’s all-time leaders through five seasons. Only Terry Holt with 6,784 yards and former Viking Randy Moss, at 6,473, had more receiving yards in their first five seasons.

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How Twins Can Address Their PR Problem with the Fans

Posted on October 3, 2024October 3, 2024 by David Shama

If retiring NBA star Derrick Rose buys full page newspaper ads thanking fans in six cities (Minneapolis included) for their support, certainly the Minnesota Twins can purchase advertisements in the Star Tribune and Pioneer Press apologizing for their performance.

That suggestion is a first step in handling the franchise’s faltering relationship with its customers. The Twins have a public relations problem seldom before seen in this town and the question going into the off-season is how leadership will respond.

Fans are rightfully angry about developments stretching back to last off-season. After the Twins ignited passion among its followers by winning the AL Central Division and advancing through the first round of the playoffs, ownership announced payroll would be cut. The off-season saw the departure of staff ace Sonny Gray via free agency and the trade of infielder Jorge Polanco in a move with the Mariners that didn’t help Minnesota during the 2024 season.

That off-season left a lot of Twins fans with an icy attitude toward the club going into the spring and summer. After a 7-13 start to the season, the Twins went on a long stretch of winning baseball and by August had over a 90 percent chance of making the playoffs. Still, attendance was mediocre for most games and perhaps the only electric atmosphere of the season came on August 9 in a night game at Target Field against the division leading Guardians. The Twins swept a day-night doubleheader with their evening win played before over 28,000 fans.

The Twins had a 65-50 record the morning of August 10 but when the season ended last Sunday, the late summer collapse was so bad Minnesota finished with an 82-80 record and fourth place in the division with the Guardians, Royals, and Tigers all playoffs bound. The many fanbase skeptics not only found fault with the hitting, pitching and managing, but also jumped on the front office for not making meaningful acquisitions to the roster before the July 30 MLB trade deadline.

Twins officials, including Joe Pohlad, the lead man for the Pohlad ownership group, held an oddly timed news conference during the Vikings-Packers game last Sunday to address the fallout including budget cuts. He frequently referred to how he had a “business” to run while addressing a small group of reporters.

Fans don’t want to hear about financials, they want to be told their team wants to compete for championships. They want to know if the club falters, resources will be provided to improve the product. And they want accountability regarding baseball decisions, personnel and outcomes.

The Twins haven’t played in the World Series since 1991. The club has won nine division titles since then. Minnesota, though, has won one playoff series since 2002.

A former MLB insider, who asked that his name not be published, said it appears the Twins’ mindset is to most seasons offer a product competitive enough to hold interest among fans while employing budget restraint. “If the end goal is to win a World Series, you can certainly argue that they’re not doing enough, not putting enough of the pieces in place to get that done,” the source said.

Without damage control it’s going to be a mega challenge to sell tickets for 2025. A status quo in patron perception of the organization regarding commitment to win and roster management will result in the season ticket base falling off, with expectations that single game and group sales will trend the same—perhaps dramatically.

Even if the Twins had some way staggered into the playoffs, there was a missing buy-in with fans. A feeling that “I am not going to pay $12,000 (for playoff tickets) to enrich the Pohlads.”

Some fans, or former fans, are already apathetic toward the franchise. Those customers are the most difficult to win back. Disappointment with the team goes back years with fans, including the 2022 season when Minnesota also collapsed as fall approached.

What to do at Target Field headquarters? First, take out those newspaper ads and say “we’re sorry” for the actions and results of the last 11 months. In that messaging tell the fans there is a commitment this offseason to increase payroll and make quality player acquisitions via trade or free agency.

Get the word out in a personal way to the season ticket base and other key customers with openness. Make a pledge to acquire talent not only before but during the season if needed. And make it known that all of this is part of a renewed position by ownership to hang another World Series banner at Target Field. “It’s a new era in Twins Territory.”

Let the fans know ticket pricing will include options for those with tighter budgets including families. And no price increase for season tickets—full or partial packages.

Tell the customers their favorite promotions will be back at Target Field in 2025. Then come up with attractive new offerings including giveaways.

And get the games on Minnesota television sets at affordable prices for customers. As well documented, part of the PR mess of 2024 was games weren’t available for many fans during much of the season.

The Pohlad ownership group is advised to adhere to this wisdom: spend money to make money. They have assets in place including a unique product (only 30 MLB teams) and a playing venue among the best in the country. Their ballpark amenities and stadium customer service are superb.

Those are givens and ownership needs to decide how to improve the roster and whether they have the right leadership in charge of the club on the field and in the front office.

The Pohlads are advised to look at the business from the perspective of “if we do better by the fans” the annual bottom line may often improve. And their overriding approach should recognize a couple of other enduring realities:

They are stewards of major league baseball in this town and state. With that comes the responsibility of best practices with their product.

The other reality—and now we get back to business—is that the money to be made in ownership comes from increased value of the franchise over time. Carl Pohlad bought the team in 1984 for a reported $44 million. Forbes said the 2024 Twins franchise is worth $1.46 billion, reportedly millions more than in 2023.

The Pohlad family and their varied assets are worth billions of dollars. Years ago, they put up millions to help finance the building of Target Field which opened in 2010. That created new revenue streams for the club and a better baseball experience for their customers.

“They have money to spend,” said another sports insider familiar with the Twins.

Time to renew ownership’s commitment to Minnesota. Not just with words, but also actions.

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Looks Like a Star to be Born with Golden Gophers Basketball

Posted on September 27, 2024September 27, 2024 by David Shama

Enjoy a Friday notes column on various sports that even includes quotes from former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty.

The Golden Gophers men’s basketball team started official practices this week and insiders are confident the program has a special player in freshman point guard Isaac Asuma from Cherry, Minnesota.

If coach Ben Johnson didn’t have veteran guards, it’s likely Asuma would be in the starting lineup beginning with the first game on November 6 against Oral Roberts at Williams Arena. A four-star recruit by both Rivals.com and 247Sports, he was considered a top 100 player in the national high school class of 2024.

At 6-3 and about 200 pounds, Asuma has a Big Ten ready body with length and strength. He is also an unselfish playmaker with all-around physical and basketball skills that have caught the attention of observers since he arrived on the Minnesota campus earlier this year.

Isaac Asuma photo courtesy of University of Minnesota

Asuma’s willingness to learn, along with his friendly and outgoing personality, is the stuff of leadership. He has a poise and charisma often not seen in teenagers just out of high school.

Put it all together and it’s apparent why the attractive Asuma is referenced as a “stud.”

The team’s established star is senior Dawson Garcia who averaged 17.6 points per game. He is the leading Big Ten Conference scorer returning from last season. The 6-11 forward from Prior Lake High School was second team All-Big Ten last winter.

A scenario Johnson, his staff and Gophers fans want to see is for Asuma to stick around for a couple of years at Minnesota and play with Cretin-Derham Hall senior Tommy Ahneman. The 6-foot-10 center’s improvement has attracted the attention of major college programs including Notre Dame where he is scheduled to visit this coming weekend. Last season’s North Dakota Gatorade Player of the Year is a big target for the Gophers.

Asuma and Garcia are two of seven native Minnesotans on the Gopher roster. Women’s basketball coach Dawn Plitzuweit has 12 natives of the state.

The death last month of former Gopher assistant basketball coach Jimmy Williams reminded Minnesota sports fan Bob Klas of a Williams one liner when he was Minnesota’s interim head coach in 1986. Williams quipped: “I’m one of just two people who coaches in an arena that’s named after him.” (The other facility being the Dean E. Smith Center at North Carolina).

Eric Curry, the well-known Minneapolis area college basketball referee, plans to work 65-70 games this coming season with assignments in the Atlantic 10, Big 12, Missouri Valley and West Coast Conferences.

In the last 12 months news has surfaced about replacing Target Center and also costly renovations to improve Xcel Energy Center. The Timberwolves, if they emerge from an ownership dispute being led by Marc Lore and Alex Rodriquez, apparently have interest in building a new facility in the Farmers Market area in downtown Minneapolis.

Public financing for a new Wolves arena will be difficult to secure including from a Minneapolis city council that seems most interested in grassroots and common folk agendas. “…If Minneapolis doesn’t want it, I would predict there could be more than one or more other cities that would like to bid for it, or try to get involved with the new Timberwolves stadium,” former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty told Sports Headliners. “So they’re going to have competition, I would think, if they are interested.”

Pawlenty was supportive of Minnesota’s professional sports facilities concerns as governor. He is a sports fan and values the quality of life component sports contributes to the lives of Minnesotans.

Asked about the idea of building a new multipurpose arena in Bloomington near the Mall of America for both the Wild and Wolves, Pawlenty defended the importance of Xcel and Target Center to their cities.

“With the exception of the Xcel Center, there’s not a lot of positive things happening in downtown St. Paul. In fact, a lot of negative things happening. If the Wild were to leave and not exist, I think that would present an existential threat to further threat(en) downtown St. Paul.

“So I gotta believe the St. Paul city and St. Paul legislative representatives would fight very hard to keep the Xcel Center or its future version in St. Paul. And I think the same would be true for Minneapolis.”

If the amazing Lynx make the WNBA Finals, they will have an October 18 Target Center conflict with the Timberwolves preseason game scheduled with the Nuggets that evening. The Wolves game would shift to October 17, per a local insider.

The Vikings annual game in Green Bay often prompts memories of former Pioneer Press sportswriter Don Riley who for decades wrote a pot-stirring column called “The Eye Opener.” Riley, who died in 2015 at age 92, loved to provoke the Packers and their fans.

“I never mention them as Green Bay. I just said the capital B Bushers,” Riley told Sports Headliners in 2011. He was then long retired after leaving the newspaper in 1987, with a “fan club” that included Packers fans in western Wisconsin who he insulted at banquets by suggesting they be searched for stolen silverware before leaving the facility.

Riley chose the term “Bushers” because it was “derogatory” without picking on one individual. However, he did take an occasional shot at someone including legendary coach Vince Lombardi whose wife wanted him fired from the St. Paul newspaper. “Vince told her to lay off because he’s selling tickets for us,” Riley said.

Riley built much of his controversial column’s success on bashing the Packers and Green Bay. He wrote that Green Bay had the “world’s largest toilet paper factories” and once boasted that if the Vikings didn’t beat the Pack he would push a peanut with his nose from Appleton to Green Bay. The Vikings lost, Riley never pushed the peanut, and the Green Bay newspaper accused him of having no guts.

No Minnesota sports figure is under more fire than Twins manager Rocco Baldelli who has had a front row look at his team’s depressing late season collapse. From critical emails to chants at Target Field calling for his ouster, he is a likely scapegoat for a team that in August looked like a safe bet to make the playoffs and now is a long shot.

The opinion here is it’s 65-35 Baldelli returns for the 2025 season. His staff? Perhaps 80 percent probability there will be changes.

The Lindenwood football program went Division I in 2022, one year after St. Thomas did so. Lindenwood, located in St. Charles, Missouri, defeated the Tommies 64-0 at home on September 21. The Lions come to Minneapolis to play the Gophers on September 18, 2027.

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