Twins – Page 159 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

U Needs Bowl Rally Starting January 1

Posted on December 8, 2014December 8, 2014 by David Shama

Talk about incentives.

The Golden Gophers can “exorcise a lot of demons” if they defeat Missouri in the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl on January 1. Coach Jerry Kill’s team learned yesterday they have an invitation to that prestigious New Year’s Day bowl.

A source told Sports Headliners last week the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida was Minnesota’s preferred bowl destination. The Citrus is the highest ranking bowl game the Gophers could have been invited to and provides Minnesota with its first New Year’s Day matchup since 1962. The Citrus is the Big Ten’s second-oldest current bowl partner behind only the Rose Bowl. Big Ten teams have played in 24 Citrus Bowls, including each of the last 22 seasons.

The Gophers have lost six consecutive bowl games. All, of course, have been disappointing but some were particularly bitter defeats including last December’s loss in the Texas Bowl to a mediocre Syracuse team. To this day the Gophers will shake their collective heads over their effort and performance.

The Gophers don’t want to lug yet another bowl loss into their offseason workouts and spring practice. The program picked up momentum this season with a 5-3 Big Ten record, Minnesota’s best since 2003. Wins included trophy game triumphs over Michigan and Iowa. A season-ending loss to Wisconsin, along with a defeat in the bowl game, will take some shine off this year.

The flip side, though, is the Gophers cannot only put themselves in good spirits during the off-season but also put more juice into the fan base. More ticket sales and interest in the program are for sure if the Gophers defeat Missouri, a team that is among the best in the SEC—America’s top college football league.

The Tigers, 10-3, won the SEC’s East Division and are No. 16 nationally in the College Football Playoff rankings. The Gophers, 8-4, are ranked No. 25.

The Tigers are perceived as the team with the better personnel and figure to be a wagering favorite, at least by a touchdown. The Gophers, though, will embrace the underdog role they have played throughout the season. Last summer virtually no one predicted Minnesota would contend for the Big Ten’s West Division title but the Gophers went into the last game of the regular season with a chance to advance to the conference championship matchup with East Division champ Ohio State.

The Gophers cannot only help their own image by winning on New Year’s Day against an SEC team. They can help pump life into the Big Ten brand. Dating back to 2000, conference teams have only twice won more bowl games than they lost. The last four years the Big Ten record in postseason is 10 wins, 21 losses.

The national exposure on New Year’s Day can help Minnesota’s recruiting which is already on an upswing because of this season. The Gophers target recruiting high school players in the Southeastern part of the country, so playing in a major bowl game in Florida for the first time since 2000 is valuable.

Minnesota players who have been injured will have extra time to heal before the Citrus Bowl. An earlier bowl date meant, for example, that wide receiver Drew Wolitarsky would have less chance of recovering from his high ankle sprain. A starter in the Illinois game when he was injured, Wolitarsky would be a welcome returnee for quarterback Mitch Leidner who has played on a bad knee.

Like other bowl teams, the Gophers will receive 15 extra practices. That’s an incentive for a lot of players to improve and impress the coaches.

There’s that incentive word again.

Worth Noting

The Vikings have won consecutive cold weather games the last two Sundays at home. Yesterday the temperature was 32 with a wind chill of 21. A week ago Sunday the temp was 12 and the wind chill at minus seven. Vikings running back Ben Tate said players stiffen up in the cold. “You feel like you’re running in slow motion,” he told Sports Headliners.

The Vikings have one home game remaining, December 28 against the Bears, and then next year more outdoor football before moving into their new enclosed stadium in 2016. When it’s miserably cold at TCF Bank Stadium can a bad team that is losing to the Vikings by a big score give up? Tate thinks so. “In a climate like this, probably pack it in and just want to get the game over. I definitely think that’s an advantage for us playing in the cold weather.”

Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen is in his first season as a starter. The team’s other starting end, Brian Robison, believes Griffen has been playing at an All-Pro level. “I absolutely think so,” Robison told Sports Headliners last week. “The guy’s been playing out of his mind this year. To have 11 sacks (12 after yesterday) at this point in the season is huge. I think he’s done a lot more things than that (too)…so I think the guy is playing on a tremendous level right now.”

The Pro Bowl will be played January 25 in Glendale, Arizona and Griffen could be among the players selected. Pro Bowlers are determined by voting from fans, players and coaches. “I would think it would be a shame if he didn’t make the Pro Bowl for sure,” Robison said.

Former Gopher Simoni Lawrence, now a linebacker for Hamilton in the CFL, started all three playoff games for the Tiger-Cats including their Grey Cup loss to Calgary.

TwinsFest tickets—$20 for adults and $10 ages 14 and younger—go on sale to the general public on Thursday. Twins president Dave St. Peter said in the past all players on the 40-man roster have usually made appearances at TwinsFest, and for 2015 that means fans will likely be able to meet top prospects like Byron Buxton, Eddie Rosario and Miguel Sano. The event, January 23-25, will be at Target Field for a second consecutive year and attendance could total a capacity maximum of 15,000, or about half the size for some TwinsFests at the Metrodome.

St. Peter said new manager Paul Molitor has “made contact” with players and will do more off-season communications at TwinsFest. Molitor’s contacts have been made with players here in town, not out of Minnesota.

Baseball’s winter meetings began yesterday in San Diego and are a catalyst to rumors about free agent signings. St. Peter said the Twins are shopping for pitching but wouldn’t predict how soon the club might have an announcement about acquisitions. “It could play out over 60 to 90 days,” he told Sports Headliners.

The North Dakota basketball team that plays the 6-2 Gophers tonight at Williams Arena has a 3-4 record including a 37 point loss to Utah and 12 point defeat against Northern Iowa. The North Dakota roster has six Minnesotans including sophomore guard Quinton Hooker, the 2013 Minnesota Mr. Basketball from Brooklyn Park, who is averaging 9.6 points—third best on the team—and leads in assists with 17.

Gophers basketball and baseball public address announcer Dick Jonckowski is recovering from non-Hodgkin lymphoma; and his last chemotherapy session is tomorrow.

If the Gophers season is to be a success, junior college transfer Carlos Morris needs to be a leading contributor. Morris was important to Minnesota before the season began, but is even more vital now with fellow small forward Daquein McNeil off the team indefinitely after being arrested for an off-court incident. Morris’ athleticism has been impressive including on Friday night when the Gophers defeated West Carolina, but coach Richard Pitino expects a lot from the 6-5, 175-pound junior.

“You can’t play 32 minutes at the small forward spot and only get two rebounds (Friday),” Pitino said. “He did a lot of good things—16 points, four assists, three steals—but you gotta rebound the ball at that spot.”

Pitino doesn’t plan to be overly patient with Morris who is the team’s second leading scorer at 11.6 points per game. He wants consistent effort and versatile production from Morris. “A lot of times with jucos it takes them a year,” Pitino said. “We don’t have a year with him. Just like we didn’t have a year with DeAndre Mathieu (juco point guard transfer in 2013).

“He’s gotta figure it out right now because he’s our only true small forward in the program. He’s gotta figure out a lot of things quickly which is normally difficult, but he’s got the talent which is good.”

The Gophers will wear black uniforms for their January 6 Big Ten home opener against Ohio State. The “Barn Blackout” game will encourage fans to wear black clothing.

Former Gophers golfer and New York Times bestselling author Harvey Mackay will ring a bell for the Salvation Army from 2 to 4 p.m. on Wednesday at Byerly’s in St. Louis Park. This will be Mackay’s 12th consecutive year helping with the organization’s holiday fundraising effort. Mackay usually tells WCCO Radio listeners if they make a contribution to his kettle they will receive one of his books for free.

Comments Welcome

No More Joking When Vikings Lose

Posted on November 24, 2014November 24, 2014 by David Shama

Notes from Mike Zimmer’s news conference this afternoon:

The Vikings first-year coach expects professional conduct by his players and he will act if he doesn’t see it. “There was a situation earlier this year that we got beat and there was some joking going on afterwards,” Zimmer said. “I put a stop to it pretty quickly.”

The Vikings, 4-7, have lost two consecutive games but Zimmer said the players are “taking the losses hard.” His players are developing the “mindset” he wants.

“The way we work in the weight room—intangible things a lot of you don’t see,” Zimmer said. “We’re on time. We act like professionals in a lot of different ways. We need it to show up more on Sundays with wins and that’s really where we’re at. But I don’t have a problem with the football team and the way they do things.”

Zimmer confirmed reports from earlier in the day that starting offensive tackle Phil Loadholt is out indefinitely with a pectoral tear. Loadholt will probably have surgery on Friday and reserve lineman Mike Harris, who hasn’t started a game this season for the Vikings, will likely be the replacement.

“I think Phil is a great person,” Zimmer said. “He’s very conscientious (and) works hard. He’s got a great heart. Obviously we’ll miss him but we’re not going to let it hold us back from what we’re trying to get done.”

Zimmer’s other starting tackle, Matt Kalil, is struggling with his performance on the field. After yesterday’s loss to the Packers, Kalil declined to talk with reporters after the game and then confronted a fan outside the stadium, reportedly knocking the person’s hat off.

“He was wrong in what he did,” Zimmer said. “We appreciate 99.9 percent of the fans. They’re great for us and he should have conducted himself in a better manner. I know in the past there have been times I’ve been upset with people, too, but they pay money to go watch us play and watch us perform so they have a right to express their opinion.”

At times yesterday Zimmer was disappointed with quarterback Teddy Bridgewater’s accuracy in the loss to the Packers. But Zimmer also had praise for Bridgewater.

The coach said Bridgewater has had slow starts in games but makes adjustments and he likes the rookie’s composure. “Maybe the biggest thing is when the game is on the line, he seems to make a lot of plays,” Zimmer said.

With a wintry forecast this week, the Vikings may practice both indoors and outdoors in preparation for Sunday’s home game against the Panthers at TCF Bank Stadium. “If we can get out, we will get out,” Zimmer said.

With this being Thanksgiving week, the coach was asked what he is thankful for. “I’m thankful for the guys that I get to work with every single day. I’m thankful for my family and the coaches that we have. I’d be more thankful with some wins.”

Worth Noting

Gophers coach Jerry Kill makes $300,000 more than the $1.8 million average pay for the head football coaches at FBS schools, according to the November 20 issue of USA Today. The newspaper annually reports on compensation for college coaches including in the Big Ten where Kill’s $2.1 million pay is less than rivals at Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State and Wisconsin.

Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio is the highest paid coach in the league at $5,636,145, while Ohio State’s Urban Meyer is second at 4,536,640. Nationally, Dantonio’s compensation ranks behind only Nick Saban at $7,160,187, according to USA Today. The publication reported Alabama pays a $32,395 annual premium on a $6 million term life insurance policy for Saban.

Gophers defensive back Briean Boddy-Calhoun is Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week today along with Northwestern safety Ibraheim Campbell. Calhoun forced and recovered a fumble in the closing minutes of Minnesota’s upset win over Nebraska on Saturday. He leads the Gophers in interceptions with four and ranks third in the conference.

The winner of the 2014 Mr. Football Award, sponsored by the Minnesota Football Coaches Association and the Vikings, will be announced at a banquet Sunday morning at the DoubleTree hotel in St. Louis Park. The 10 finalists for the prep award are: Dalton Elliott, Nicollet; Jackson Erdmann, Rosemount; Kez Flomo, Totino-Grace; Robbie Grimsley, Hutchinson; Alex Hart, Prior Lake; Will Rains, Eden Prairie; John Rumpza, Blooming Prairie; John Santiago, St. Francis; Ryan Schlichte, Mankato West; and Michael Veldman, Becker. Information about the banquet is available by contacting Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net.

In the state football semifinals coach Cory Larson from Dawson-Boyd High School earned his 100th career victory, but on Saturday he saw his team lose the Class 1A state championship game to Minneota. His career record is 100-47-3 in 13 seasons of high school coaching—all at Dawson-Boyd, his alma mater.

WCHA Commissioner Bill Robertson is pursuing additional teams including Arizona State for the 10-team league. ASU announced its intent last week to play Division I college hockey. Robertson, a St. Paul native with West Coast relationships, is also working on other Pac-12 and West Coast schools as potential WCHA members.

Michigan Tech head coach Mel Pearson, who played for Willard Ikola at Edina East High School in the mid-1970’s, has his Huskies off to a 10-2 start, although the team did lose consecutive games last weekend to Minnesota State. Pearson’s father, George Pearson, played with the Minnesota Fighting Saints of the World Hockey Association.

The Gophers basketball team will visit Ground Zero in New York tomorrow. The Gophers are in New York to participate in the two-game NIT Season Tipoff tournament at Madison Square Garden. Wednesday night the Gophers play St. John’s and Friday they will have a second game against either Georgia or Gonzaga.

The Minnesota players will eat their Thanksgiving meals at a New York hotel.

Former Gophers wide receiver Lewis Garrison has a busy schedule officiating college basketball and football games. Last week he refereed the Iowa-Texas basketball game and was part of the officiating crew for the Illinois-Penn State football game. Tonight he will referee the Indiana-Eastern Washington basketball game.

ESPN will debut a “30 for 30” documentary next year about former Timberwolves forward Christian Laettner who starred at Duke and is famous for his buzzer beating shot against Kentucky. The film is titled “I Hate Christian Laettner.”

There is already anticipation about the Gophers women’s basketball team playing at home against Maryland on January 11. The Terps are led by former Gophers coach Brenda Frese and ESPN2 will televise the game—Minnesota’s only ESPN appearance of the season. Maryland is ranked No. 24 in the Associated Press poll.

New Gophers coach Marlene Stollings once coached a men’s club team in Europe, although initially she wasn’t sure the invitation was “serious.”

If the Twins make a deal with free agent Torii Hunter to rejoin his old team it’s a sure sign new manager Paul Molitor wants a vocal veteran leader in the locker room. Hunter, the 39-year-old outfielder who left the Twins after the 2007 season, was outspoken when he was here. With his quotes and personality, he’s a media favorite.

The Twins increased their roster to the 40-man limit with the recent additions of right-handed pitcher Alex Meyer, left-handed pitcher Jason Wheeler, outfielder Eddie Rosario and infielder Miguel Sano. Meyer, Rosario and Sano will be closely watched by fans in spring training because they have been hyped as prospects for awhile but Wheeler is an unknown.

Wheeler, 24, pitched at Single-A Fort Myers, Double-A New Britain and Triple-A Rochester last season. He overall record was 11-9, with a 2.67 ERA (158.1 innings pitched, 47 earned runs). He walked 37 batters, with 115 strikeouts, two complete games and one shutout in 26 starts. The 6-foot-6, 251-pound left-hander was originally drafted by the Twins in the eighth round of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft out of Loyola Marymount University.

Comments Welcome

Twins Hire of Paul Molitor Makes History

Posted on November 3, 2014November 3, 2014 by David Shama

There’s plenty to note about Paul Molitor being hired as Twins manager including historical ties to the Gophers.

The Twins announced today they will introduce Molitor as their new manager tomorrow. He has agreed to a three-year contract that will run through 2017, and he becomes the first former Gopher to lead the Twins.

Also, for the first time ever there are now five former Gophers leading teams in MLB, the NBA, NFL and NHL. Flip Saunders and Kevin McHale, basketball teammates with the Gophers, are the head coaches for the Timberwolves and Rockets in the NBA. Former Gophers quarterback Marc Trestman is head coach of the NFL’s Bears. Ex-Gophers defenseman Todd Richards, who once coached the Wild, is head coach of the NHL’s Blue Jackets. All five U alums attended the University of Minnesota in the 1970s and 1980s.

Molitor, a former Gophers All-American shortstop, was considered the favorite for the Twins manager job since Ron Gardenhire was let go in late September. Molitor’s hiring will put smiles on the faces of most Twins fans but his presence in the dugout probably won’t sell a lot of tickets unless the club puts an end to its dismal performance on the field.

Molitor is considered one of baseball’s smartest men. He can talk for hours about a single subject like base running. He reportedly can sit in a dugout and predict what pitch will be thrown next. He has been a Twins coach and before that minor league instructor with the Twins while drawing praise from players for his advice.

What Molitor may have had to convince Twins hiring authorities about is his willingness to get after players and motivate them. Will he travel during the offseason to check in with pitcher Ricky Nolasco who was a major disappointment in 2014 after signing a big contract with the Twins? Would he be bold enough to drop Joe Mauer down in the batting order if deserved?

Managers do make a major impact—if they are the right ones like Billy Martin who in 1969 shook up the Twins and made a big difference in performance. Joe Maddon is probably baseball’s best manager of the current era and his name came up during the Twins’ search but he signed on with the Cubs after leaving the Rays. Maddon’s hire would have made a stir here.

Molitor, 58, has never managed before so it’s appropriate to wonder what kind of job he will do. Part of his success will be tied to the staff he assembles. Will former Brewers teammate Robin Yount, a Hall of Famer like Molitor, be on the staff? The names of Bert Blyleven, Jack Morris and Frank Viola have been mentioned as possible pitching coaches.

Molitor has waited a long time for a manager’s job, and making things sweeter is the Edina resident will do it in his hometown. He will pump new life into the Twins organization but in the long run neither he nor the Twins will maximize success without better players. But that’s for another day, not tomorrow.

Worth Noting

Everson Griffen was named NFC Defensive Player of the Month for October and yesterday he led the Vikings linemen in tackles and came up with a sack for the fifth consecutive game when Minnesota defeated the Redskins at TCF Bank Stadium.

Griffen, who only started one game during the previous four seasons, is having a breakout year. Asked if he wants to see the season end with All-Pro recognition, the Vikings defensive end said, “I am trying, man.”

Griffen added that team wins are most important and success by the Vikings can only support individual awards. He leads all NFC players in sacks with nine and is second in the league to the Chiefs’ Justin Houston who has 12.

By coming up with a sack yesterday, he now has seven in the last five games. He also had five solo tackles in the 29-26 win over the Redskins including an important first half tackle on third and one when he chased down Washington running back Roy Helu, Jr. for a loss.

Griffen had an NFC-best six sacks in a four-game period in October. He was the only player in the conference with at least one sack in four games. He also led all NFC defensive linemen with 20 total tackles (16 solo) in October.

After nine games, Griffen already has more sacks than his previous season-best of eight in 2013. He can be sure All-Pro selectors are noticing.

Rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has only been sacked three times in the last two games. In the two games before that Bridgewater was sacked 13 times as the Vikings lost games to the Lions and Bills.

Bridgewater has now helped the offense in three fourth quarter wins including yesterday. “I feel like Teddy is growing up and I feel like the rest of us are growing up,” Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer said on KFAN Radio after the game. “We just gotta be more efficient in everything we do.”

Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen, who made the team’s roster this season after being on the practice squad in 2013, has been speaking to school groups. The former Detroit Lakes High School player’s message is: “Anything is attainable.”

The Vikings have a reorganized wide receiver group that also includes Jarius Wright who in 16 games last season had 434 reception yards. This season in nine games Wright is second on the team with 315. What’s changed? “A lot of it is my confidence and their confidence in me,” he told Sports Headliners.

Did you know the Gophers’ total of six alums on NFL opening day rosters was tied with Indiana for fewest in the Big Ten Conference? The leaders were Ohio State with 33, Wisconsin 32, Michigan 25 and Penn State 25. The six Gophers were Eric Decker, MarQueis Gray, Ra’Shede Hageman, Marcus Sherels, Matt Spaeth and Brock Vereen.

Despite a bye in the schedule last Saturday and extra week of rest, it’s a good guess injured Gophers Alex Keith (defensive end), Ben Lauer (offensive tackle) and Drew Wolitarsky (tight end) will not be ready for Iowa Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium.

Dick Jonckowski starts his 29th season as Gophers basketball public announcer on Thursday night when Minnesota plays UMD in an exhibition game at Williams Arena. Jonckowski, who experienced health problems during the offseason, is one of only two public address announcers in Williams Arena history. Julie Perlt did the PA work for 58 seasons.

UMD lost an exhibition game on Saturday to Notre Dame, 88-71. Brett Ervin, the senior center from Eden Prairie High School, led the Bulldogs with 29 points.

Lindy’s College Basketball magazine predicts the Gophers will finish fourth in the Big Ten behind Wisconsin, Ohio State and Nebraska. Gophers guard Andre Hollins is a second team all-conference pick.

The magazine has former Robbinsdale Cooper guard Rashad Vaughn on its Mountain West Conference first team. Lindy’s also lists the UNLV guard as the league’s “No. 1 signing coup” and top NBA prospect.

Timberwolves center Nikola Pekovic has been susceptible to ankle and foot problems during his NBA career. He told Sports Headliners he applies ice for 12 to 15 minutes after each game. His total minutes per game this season are likely to seldom exceed 30, as coach Flip Saunders tries to limit the pounding on the veteran center’s feet and ankles. Through the first three games of the season he is averaging 30.3 minutes.

Former Minneapolis Marshall-University High School basketball coach Ed Prohofsky has been friends with Saunders for many years and is assisting the Wolves this season as a consultant. Prohofsky attends home games but doesn’t travel with the team. He began his coaching career in the military in 1957 and later had a 53-game winning streak at Marshall-U High. When Saunders coached at Golden Valley Lutheran College for the 1980-81 season, Prohofsky was an assistant coach.

The Wild, off to a 7-3 start, knows about home ice advantage. Minnesota, 5-0 at Xcel Energy Center so far, is the only Western Conference team yet to lose at home. The Wild finished 3-0 at home during preseason, 5-1 at Xcel Energy Center during the 2014 playoffs and 26-10-5 during the 2013-14 season. The Wild hosts the Penguins tomorrow night.

Bethel football coach Steve Johnson will speak at the November 13 CORES luncheon at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington, 1114 American Blvd. Bethel, 7-1 overall and 6-0 in the MIAC, is the only undefeated team in the league. Johnson is in his 26th season at Bethel and six times he has been honored as MIAC Coach of the Year. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans. Reservations (by November 10) for the lunch and program can be made by contacting Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net.

Comments Welcome