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95-Year-Old ‘Barn’ Still Special to Golden Gophers

Posted on July 16, 2023 by David Shama

Williams Arena is only five years away from its 100^th birthday. The home of Golden Gophers basketball turned 95 last February and if you ask Ben Johnson the facility, despite its age, is still special.

Johnson’s opinion counts and not just because he is Minnesota’s head men’s coach. He played in the building for the Gophers for two seasons, from 2002-2004, and was an assistant at Minnesota from 2013-2018. Before he was in college the Minneapolis native also watched the hometown team in the iconic building that features intimate seating and a raised floor.

Johnson, 42, told Sports Headliners he remembers his first game in Williams Arana like this: “You can get 13,000 people in here being wild and being loud cheering for their team. I thought that was pretty cool.”

Williams Arena. Photo credit University of Minnesota

Looking like an airplane hangar or barn on the outside, the revered building is the oldest arena in the Big Ten and among the most ancient college basketball venues in America. Named for former Gophers’ football coach Dr. Henry Williams, the arena once had the largest seating capacity in the country for college basketball, 18,025. With a wink to the fire marshal, the Gophers and Iowa packed “the Barn” in 1955 with a record crowd of over 20,000.

Renovations over the years, including partial replacement of bench seating, have brought capacity now to 14,625. Filling the building with fans was on Johnson’s mind the other day. His team is practicing this summer with the goal of major improvement from the last two seasons when the Gophers finished at the bottom of the Big Ten standings. Last winter the Gophers didn’t sell out a home game, not even against border rivals Iowa and Wisconsin. Johnson knows a packed house with delirious fans can create an electric atmosphere helping his team win games that otherwise might end in losses.

“We have to do our job and have a really good product and get people excited to come out, but they definitely make a difference,” he said. “And if you can win your home games in this league you set yourself up really well for post season play…and to have a successful Big Ten league season, and that’s what we want to do.

“We want to have every advantage we can to put our players in a position to have that special year. …I’ve seen it as a player and a coach that when Williams Arena is full—and it’s packed and there’s juice and energy in there –that for sure is two, three, four wins without a doubt. “

When a facility is 95 and has limited glitz and fan amenities compared to state-of-the-art buildings, speculation surfaces about the building’s future. Johnson acknowledged “people are always asking and wondering” but he isn’t aware of any major renovations or tear down planned for the arena.

Fans may also wonder what impressionable 17-year-old recruits think of the facility that is older than their great grandparents. Does the arena’s age present Johnson and his staff with a challenge in recruiting?

“It’s never come up as an issue,” Johnson said. “If anything, I think they really like it because it’s historic. It’s a venue that’s different with the elevated floor…makes it unique. Our guys actually love it and look forward to competing on it (the floor and venue). And I know our new players that haven’t played there think it’s pretty cool and have heard stories and are really looking forward to this year.”

“The Barn” is not for everyone, though. With no windows in the interior, the building relies only on artificial light. There are still bench seats that are uncomfortable for older fans. There are also seats where patrons crane their necks around poles to see the action. Concourse space is cozy, and the building won’t win any design prizes for the size or feel of its bathrooms.

But when the old building is filled and rocking with fans, there is an atmosphere to rival any in college basketball.

Because of Johnson’s roots here he has long appreciated the venue. “You see new arenas that don’t have that home feeling. I think that is what separates us. I’ve been in a couple (of other) older arenas and there’s a mystique to it. Kind of a magical feeling…there’s a history.”

In five years, Williams Arena will be feted with a birthday celebration like no other in its history. Johnson wants to be around then and have an outstanding team worthy of that milestone. “Without question, that would be pretty special,” he said.

Worth Noting

Kirk Cousins is known as a polarizing figure and that comes through when reading Twitter comments about him prompted by the just released NetFlix docuseries “Quarterback” that chronicles the lives of NFL QBs Cousins, Patrick Mahomes and Marcus Mariota. Tweeters offer Cousins love, dislike and everything in between.

Odds seem likely 85-year-old Jim Marshall, known for his Iron Man playing streak of never missing a game in 19 seasons with the Vikings, will finally be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2024. Marshall is up for consideration again and his peers, including the late Bud Grant, think the former defensive end who is in the Vikings Ring of Honor is overdue for induction.

Speculation continues as to where defenseman Matt Dumba will play next season, but it seems all but certain the free agent won’t return to the Wild.

Congratulations to family, friends and former teammates of the late “Miracle on Ice” hockey hero Mark Pavelich who contributed to the new mental health facility in Sauk Centre, The Ranch. Pavelich, the great 1980 hockey Olympian and former Minnesota North Star, committed suicide in 2021.

Fired Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald uses the same agent (Bryan Harlan) as the Gophers’ P.J. Fleck. Harlan BTW is the brother of Kevin Harlan, the original broadcast voice of the Timberwolves and a national sportscaster icon for years.

MLB.com speculated yesterday that if the Mets make 35-year-old left fielder Tommy Pham available in a trade this summer the Twins could be interested. A right-handed bat, Pham is batting .301 in his last 30 games.

Don’t expect the Twins to part with manager Rocco Baldelli any time soon, even if the club slumps during the second half of the season. If it’s a rough finish Baldelli might well have reason to worry about his job security.

Bill Robertson, former WCHA and USHL commissioner, is reviewing consulting opportunities from sports and entertainment entities as he makes his transition into semi-retirement and relocation from Eagan to Buffington, South Carolina.

Gopher pitcher George Klassen, who can throw over 100 miles per hour, and Gopher second team All-Big Ten outfielder Brett Bateman have signed contracts with the Phillies and Cubs respectively. Klassen was taken in the sixth round of the MLB Draft earlier this month and Bateman was drafted in the eighth, with both reporting now to minor league operations.

Sorry to learn of Joe Pung’s recent passing. He was captain of the 1964 football Gophers and a second team All-Big Ten center that year.

Popular emcee and former Gopher football and basketball public address announcer Dick Jonckowski reports he is cancer free since last September. He will be a celebrity host starting on September 7 for the Jay Buckley Baseball Tour to Boston, New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh.

The CORES lunch programs featuring prominent speakers, mostly from Minnesota sports, has been in place since 1985 but now there is a transition with long time organizers Jim Dotseth and Phil Ferek unable to continue their leadership. CORES speakers over the years have included Bud Grant, Rick Spielman, Jerry Kill, Mike Veeck, Pete Najarian and John Gagliardi who drew a record turnout of 216 attendees. Anyone interested in potentially stepping forward to assume leadership in the volunteer-based organization should email dotsethj@comcast.net. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans.

Sam Bennett, who finished as the 2023 Masters Tournament low amateur, speaks to the Twin Cities Dunkers Tuesday, July 25. Bennett is one of four young pros who have been given sponsor exemptions for the 3M Open scheduled July 24-30 at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine. The others are Brazilian Fred Biondi, and Minnesotans Derek Hitchner and Frankie Capan III who were state champions at Blake and Stillwater respectively.

The Minneapolis Aquatennial begins Wednesday with the Torchlight Parade. Three Grand Marshals for the parade will represent the Lynx in recognition of the franchise’s 25^th anniversary: coach Cheryl Reeve, GM Clare Duwelius, and Carley Knox, president of business operations.

Longtime Twin Cities TV news and sports anchor Jeff Passolt is retired living in Florida but spending summers at his lake home in Wisconsin. A native of Minnesotan, Passolt’s knowledge and recall of the state’s sports history is impressive.

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Sonny Gray Could Be in Last All-Star Game for Twins

Posted on July 11, 2023 by David Shama

Sonny Gray’s spot on the 2023 American League All-Star team prompts a question about his future with the Twins?

Gray, 4-3 this season with one of the better ERAs of any MLB starter, is an All-Star for the third time in his career but if he sees action in tonight’s All-Star Game in Seattle it will be a first for him. He was also an All-Star in 2015 (with the Athletics) and 2019 (with the Reds). An unrestricted free agent after the 2023 season, this could be Gray’s last All-Star Game representing Minnesota.

At age 33 Gray is the third highest paid Twin in base salary, earning $12.7 million, per Spotrac.com. In the offseason Gray is likely to be looking for a multi-year deal approaching $20 million per year or more. The man nicknamed “Pickles” (reportedly for his fondness for the popular condiment) should be searching for the richest and most secure contract of his career and one that could take him to retirement.

The Twins have benefited from Gray’s often dominant pitching but seem unlikely to offer the best deal to keep the right hander in Minneapolis. Twins’ front office boss Derek Falvey could be willing to extend a one- or two-year deal, and significant raise, but three years at big money seems like a Twins deal breaker for an aging arm. But don’t bet against teams less budget conscious than Minnesota offering Gray a contract he can’t turn down (even if it’s for two years at bigger money than the Twins offer).

Fans may speculate if Gray will be dumped before the MLB trading deadline August 1, but that seems very unlikely. The Twins are a contender to win the AL Central and advance to the playoffs for the first time since 2020. A mediocre team playing in a soft division, the Twins would turn off their fan base and media big time if they traded away their best pitcher in the next couple weeks.

Gray has been a major contributor to the Twins having the third best team ERA in baseball. He is a thinker on the mound, capable of delivering a variety of pitches and being effective against right and left-handed batters. In today’s power prioritized baseball, he has given up only three home runs, while striking out 101 batters in 99.2 innings.

Glen Taylor Reserved about NBA In-Season Tournament

This fall the NBA In-Season Tournament debuts involving all 30 league teams. The tournament starts November 3 and ends with the semifinals on December 7 and championship game December 9 in Las Vegas. All games, except for the championship, count as part of the regular season results and standings. Teams will continue to have 82-game regular season schedules, with the playoffs to follow as in the past.

There is more detail than that involved, and fans may find it all confusing. “Well, it’s something they want to try,” Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor told Sports Headliners. “I am not as enthused about it as the league is. I think it’s going to be kind of complicated.”

Taylor said the league has been talking about the tournament for six years. It’s a potential revenue generator for the NBA, and something that will bring more attention to the league during football season.

Taylor believes the NBA is committed to the tournament and growing its popularity for years to come. There will be a learning curve about not only how it works but why it’s happening early in the season. “…I think it’s confusing to understand, what is the importance of it,” Taylor said.

Many of the NBA’s best players are committed to the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup including Wolves star guard Anthony Edwards who is on the U.S. team. While Wolves fans mostly cheer Edwards’ participation, there are concerns about center Rudy Gobert playing for his native France in the tournament that starts August 25 and runs through September 10 (close to the start of Minnesota’s training camp).

Gobert, 31, played for his national team last summer in EuroBasket 2022 and at times seemed lethargic during the NBA season. He had a lingering back issue in the playoffs last April and the hope from Wolves fans and probably the front office was the 7-1, 258-pound defensive specialist, who reportedly earns $41 million in base salary next season, would not put extra stress on his body by playing in the FIBA tournament.

Taylor considers the decision by NBA players to participate in the FIBA Basketball World Cup as something best left to each individual. He recognizes the national pride involved for many players and takes a supportive approach to Gobert’s decision making.

The Wolves’ 82-year-old owner is upbeat about the recent NBA Draft where his team didn’t have a first-round pick but managed to select two players in the second round that management is optimistic about in forward Leonard Miller and guard Jaylen Clarke. Miller and Clarke were two of four players on basketball boss Tim Connelly’s wish list right from the “very beginning” as the Wolves prepared for the June draft, Taylor said.

Taylor is also encouraged by the performance of his other team, the WNBA Lynx. The team started slow losing eight of the first 10 games. “Those first few games, they played like they were going to tank,” Taylor said chuckling. ”There was no intention (to do that for better draft position). They just couldn’t hit a shot no matter what.”

But the Lynx, 9-10 on the season, have been playing winning basketball since early June and won five of their last six games. One reason for the success is that often the defense has been dominating, “doing everything right,” Taylor said.

The Lynx, who have started two rookies in Dorka Juhász and Diamond Miller, are a possibility for the playoffs but are not in the class of the league’s elite teams. “We still are building,” Taylor said.

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Gophers-Badgers Football Recruiting Rivalry Heats Up

Posted on July 9, 2023July 9, 2023 by David Shama

Two coveted high school offensive linemen have changed the recruiting storyline between the Gophers and Badgers. Minnesota’s recruiting class of 2024 has a verbal commitment from Nathan Roy of Mukwonago, Wisconsin, while Irondale High School’s Emerson Mandell has announced he will play for the Badgers.

For the Gophers and Badgers, trading off the No. 1 ranked recruits in their states is uncommon for sure. 247Sports has Roy as No. 1 in the state of Wisconsin in both its composite recruiting rankings and its own rankings. 247 has Mandell No. 3 in Minnesota in its rankings but No. 1 in the composite.

Although the Gophers have commitments from Roy and two other offensive linemen, they wanted Mandell who announced for Wisconsin a few days ago. The Badgers aren’t used to having the top players in Wisconsin say no to them and receiving a commitment from Mandell is something to crow about even though Roy is the more hyped prospect.

New Badgers coach Luke Fickell and his staff have seen their 2024 recruiting raise eyebrows so far. The 247Sports ranking of the state’s top five players show three commitments to Penn State, with one each to Minnesota and UCLA.

For about 30 years the Badgers have pretty much kept the state’s best players at home, but this year has been different with the program holding only two commitments so far among the 247Sports top 10 Wisconsin natives. The change in coaching staff may have had an impact, with relationships in the state starting over at Wisconsin high schools. Another change is the Badgers are abandoning their old-school meat grinder offense for an Air Raid attack.

Maybe this year is just a fluke for Badger recruiting in the state. Roy reportedly considered the Badgers, but he is relatively new to the state having lived elsewhere growing up. The Gophers, including respected offensive line coach Brian Callahan, capitalized on the opportunity to get Roy who 247 ranks as the No. 9 offensive line prospect nationally for the class of 2024. Mandell is No. 24.

The Gophers and Callahan have recent successes to pitch at recruits. John Michael Schmitz, a 2022 All-American center, was drafted in the second round by the Giants in last April’s NFL Draft. Daniel Faalele, a fourth-round pick by the Ravens in 2022, was the first Gopher offensive lineman to be drafted since 2006 when both Greg Eslinger and Mark Setterstrom were selected.

The pledge by Mandell to become a Badger is the third time in the last five classes that Wisconsin has taken the No. 1 player in Minnesota (offensive lineman Riley Mahlman from Lakeville South in 2021, linebacker Kaden Johnson of Minnehaha Academy in 2020). The Gophers haven’t secured the No. 1 player out of Wisconsin in maybe forever. In 2013 tight end Gaelin Elmore, the No. 6 player in Wisconsin per 247, joined the Gophers and had a successful career but usually Minnesota doesn’t even come close to a Roy or even an Elmore.

The Gophers have won three of their last five games against Wisconsin. More success in the rivalry could mean more recruiting “wins” in Dairyland.

Worth Noting

Stewart Mandell recently named his “they’re still playing college football team” for The Athletic. The team has players whose careers started as far back as 2016 and includes Gophers wide-receiver Chris Autman-Bell who has been in Minneapolis since 2017. “He has been at Minnesota for so long that he was part of P.J. Fleck’s first recruiting class.” Mandell wrote.

Fleck, who is taking vacation time this month, speaks July 27 at Big Ten football Media Days in Indianapolis. Watch for coverage of Media Days July 26 and 27 on the Big Ten Network.

Tom Swain (Photo credit University of Minnesota)

Tom Swain, the first academic advisor for athletics with the Gophers, turned 102 on July 4. Happy birthday, my friend.

Sports Headliners has learned that unlike the last two summers The Meadows at Mystic Lake will not host a Legends of the LPGA tournament. The Legends was founded in 2000 and is the official senior tour of the LPGA, showcasing former LPGA Tour players ages 45 and older. LPGA and World Golf Hall of Famer Juli Inkster won the first two tournaments at The Meadows in Prior Lake.

“We really enjoyed hosting the LPGA Legends golf tournament in 2021 and 2022. We decided to pause on hosting any professional tournaments this year but are pursuing potential LPGA opportunities for next year.” Mike Luckcraft, director of The Meadows at Mystic Lake, said in a statement to Sports Headliners.

There are many circle the date prep football games this fall and one is October 18 when Rogers plays at Mankato West. The past two seasons, Rogers has lost to West in the state Class 5A semifinals.

It was only six years ago that Miguel Sano, now 30 and out of baseball, represented the Twins in the MLB All-Star Game. In 2017 he hit .264 with 28 home runs and 77 RBI. Last season in 60 at bats with Minnesota his numbers were .083, 1 HR and 3 RBI.

It’s getting to the point where baseball fans may want to tell their grandchildren they saw Shohei Ohtaini. His Angels will be at Target Field once this season, playing a three-game series against the Twins September 22, 23 and 24. Ohtani’s pitching and designated hitting have prompted comparisons with the great Babe Ruth who not only was a fabled slugger but spent part of his career on the mound.

Twins radio voice Cory Provus said on Friday night’s broadcast that Brandon Hyde, the Orioles manager, was a finalist for the Twins’ managerial job in 2018 before Rocco Baldelli was hired. The Orioles play for a three-game sweep of the Twins today at Target Field.

Long time Twins fans will remember the name Johnny Sain who after his post-pitching career was a MLB pitching coach for multiple teams including the Twins. He was outspoken but is regarded as one of the better pitching coaches of all time. Among his students was Hall of Famer Jim Kaat who learned from Sain with the Twins in 1965 and 1966 (won 25 games) and with the White Sox 1974 and 1975 (21 and 20 wins).

“We just were a good fit,” Kaat told Sports Headliners. “He wasn’t a power pitcher during his career, but he really taught me a lot about pitching. Changing speeds, about control, learning to control your fast ball. He meant a lot to me. He’s the one that when the Twins did let me go he sort of suggested I make a change with my motion and all of a sudden that became very effective and I had a couple 20 game seasons doing that.”

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