Twins – Page 83 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

U 10th Football Game? Rutgers, Please

Posted on July 14, 2020July 14, 2020 by David Shama

You know that guy Kevin Warren who used to live in suburban Minneapolis and was chief operating officer of the Minnesota Vikings? Yeah, the nice man who moved to Chicago and became commissioner of the Big Ten Conference early this year.

A few years ago Mr. Warren was on the University of Minnesota search committee to choose the school’s next athletic director. The committee made a top hire in Mark Coyle who since 2016 has made his presence felt in the Gopher Athletic Department.

Now, Warren might be able to do the Gophers another good deed. His Big Ten office announced last week that all fall sports teams will play conference opponents only—if there is competition in the coming months. With COVID-19 placing question marks everywhere, there is no guarantee of a Big Ten football schedule, but it’s a possibility that has Gophers fans waiting with high expectations after last season’s team earned an 11-2 record and No. 10 final ranking in the Associated Press national poll.

Before the pandemic, Big Ten football teams were each scheduled to have nine conference opponents, plus three nonleague games. In 2020 it is the East Division’s turn to have each of its teams play five home conference games, with four on the road. The West Division, including the Gophers, had the more favorable five at home, four away scheduling in 2019.

Conjecture is the Big Ten may write a composite football schedule giving each of the 14 teams 10 conference games. That means the Gophers and other teams in the West pick up a home game. And here’s where our friend Kevin comes in.

Mr. Commish, how about sending the Rutgers Scarlet Knights to Minneapolis for a season opening game Saturday, September 12? The Gophers and Knights originally had nonconference games scheduled that day, so the date is open for both programs.

Despite the school’s fancy nickname, the Knights have been pretty dismal in football and basketball since joining the Big Ten in 2014. Pay me a buck for every Big Ten fan who believes the far away New York City area school never should have been invited to join the conference. But the Scarlet Knights are here (thanks, former commissioner Jim Delany) and no doubt other West Division teams covet adding Rutgers, 2-10 last year, to their schedules.

The Gophers and Knights have only played twice in football, including one game in Minneapolis in 2016. Minnesota and Rutgers met last season (Goldy won 42-7) but they aren’t scheduled to play again until 2022 so it’s not like we see Ozzie Nelson’s and Elizabeth Warren’s old school every fall.

The Knights are hardly a box office attraction and that just adds to the appeal of bringing them to Minneapolis in September. The Gophers and other college football programs won’t be fretting about filling up their stadiums, with teams expected to either play in front of empty stands or at maybe 25 percent capacity. Bingo, great year to schedule Rutgers at TCF Bank Stadium.

Now lest you think we’re getting over confident about taking on Rutgers, I will be the first to recommend having a bottle of Maalox nearby when watching September 12. See the Scarlet Knights talent level will again be pretty minimal but the team has a new coach in Greg Schiano, who in a previous stop in Piscataway had Rutgers knocking on the door of football royalty. Schiano, in his first game back with the Knights, will have his team prepared and motivated for an upset.

So Kevin, it’s not like we’re asking for a gift—just a little favor when your office makes revised schedules.

Here’s how the entire new Gopher schedule could look with 10 conference opponents:

September 12: Rutgers

September 18 (Friday night): Iowa

September 26 (previously BYU): at Maryland

October 3: Bye (was Maryland)

October 10: at Wisconsin

October 17: Michigan

October 24: at Illinois

October 31: at Michigan State

November 7: Purdue

November 14: Bye

November 21: Northwestern

November 27 (Friday): at Nebraska

Worth Noting

Indianapolis defensive end Kyran Montgomery, considered a rising recruit, has narrowed his college possibilities to the Gophers, Florida State and Missouri. Rivals.com ranks him a four-star, while 247Sports labels Montgomery a three-star.

With a couple of recent de-commits, and the success of other programs, the Gophers’ 2021 recruiting class has dropped to No. 20 in the national team rankings by 247Sports. In the spring Minnesota was No. 5 and second in the Big Ten only to Ohio State. With the guess that Gophers coach P.J. Fleck will line up another five to seven verbal commitments before signing days in December and February, the Gophers could improve their No. 20 ranking.

After last night’s Byron Buxton left foot injury at Target Field, expect test results later today from the Twins regarding the center fielder’s status in the days ahead.

Brian Cosgriff, the seven-time state champion girls basketball coach who recently announced his retirement from Hopkins after 21 seasons, doesn’t plan to coach again but will teach physical education full time at Providence Academy in Plymouth. “It’s closed (coaching again). It’s just time to do something else,” the 59-year-old Cosgriff told Sports Headliners.

Cosgriff has a brother who died at 61, and this spring his sister was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. He mentioned family when talking about his retirement decision, and also colleagues at Hopkins who are moving on. He plans to continue working the chain crews for Royals and Gophers football games. “You’re going to have to pry my dead hands off the (marking) pole,” Cosgriff joked.

Edina’s Mardy Fish, the former highly ranked pro tennis player, won the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament in Nevada Sunday.

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No Missing Carew-Arraez Link

Posted on July 9, 2020July 9, 2020 by David Shama

How effectively will 23-year-old Twins second baseman Luis Arraez hit in his second MLB season? That will be among the most intriguing storylines during the 60-game schedule the club starts soon, with its first game July 24.

No Twins rookie ever had a better batting average than Arraez’s .334 in 2019. That’s better than Tony Oliva’s .323 in 1964 and way beyond Rod Carew’s .292 in 1967. The .334 was the fifth highest average for a MLB rookie in the last 100 years, with Arraez challenging storied hitters like Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio.

For career batting average no Twin was ever the equal of Carew who flirted with a .400 season in 1977 and made the cover of Time magazine. Carew, a left-handed hitter like Arraez, also played second base. Both are Latin American born and arrived in Minneapolis in their early 20’s with reputations as contact hitters. Differences between them are Carew had more foot speed and he thrived on chasing pitches other hitters wouldn’t, while Arraez is known for his strike zone discipline.

In 19 seasons Carew had a lifetime batting average of .328, won seven American League batting titles and earned a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. No one is predicting yet that Arraez will have a future like Carew but what fate awaits him in the shortened season ahead? Was his first season an aberration?

For what it is worth, Arraez hit only .103 in 29 at bats in spring training. But over longer stretches he has never faltered at the plate including a minor league career batting average of .331. If pitchers thought they were figuring him out toward the end of last season it didn’t show because his September batting average was .324.

“He is a very tough out,” Oliva told Sports Headliners last year. “He hits to the whole field. He doesn’t strike out too often. Ninety-nine percent of the time he swings (at) a strike.”

Arraez’s 29 strike outs were the fewest in the majors among players with at least 350 plate appearances last season. That’s part of what gave him the confidence to say last week his goals for the shortened season include hitting .400.

Carew, who like Arraez sprayed the ball all over the field, hit over .400 in 60-game stretches, according to MLB.com and the Elias Sports Bureau (July 6 story). In his new book, One Tough Out, Carew talks about being in a zone in 1977, including having 40 hits in 87 at bats. On July 1, 1977 his average was .415. He finished the season at .388 after trying to become the first major leaguer to hit over .400 since Williams batted .406 in 1941.

“To understand the difficulty of keeping an average above .400, consider what happened the day I reached .415,” Carew writes. “I went 2-for-5…and my average dropped.”

In Carew’s second season he hit .272 and wasn’t happy with his swing. In his book he credits manager Billy Martin with helping him make changes. Things clicked with Carew batting .332 in 1969 and setting off a streak of 15 seasons above .300.

Think Arraez will sign up for that?

Cosgriff Retiring & Other Notes

Hopkins girls’ basketball coach Brian Cosgriff is retiring and told players of his decision this morning. He has been the Royals’ head coach for 21 seasons, with seven state titles, 19 Lake Conference championships and 14 section titles. Wishing all the best to Brian who is one of the state’s great coaches ever, and a classy gentleman.

Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci, writing a July 6 story for Si.com about how savvy the Tampa Bay Rays are, points out the organization found D.J. Snelten on the internet this past offseason. The former Gopher pitched for the independent ball Chicago Dogs last year but this winter rebuilt his delivery and posted a video impressing the low budget Rays.

Verducci reports Snelten is throwing the ball 96 miles per hour after previously not even being in the 90s. He also has an effective change up. During the offseason he lost 70 pounds.

Snelten, with a minor league contract, is trying to make the Rays roster after being drafted by the San Francisco Giants in 2013 and having many baseball stops since then.

In these trying economic times, colleges are cutting sports programs with tennis sometimes a popular target. Among justifications are the United States Tennis Association provides an alternative for players in developing their games, and scholarships at many colleges go to foreign players in large numbers.

Nobody is indicating the 25-sport Gophers program, including tennis, will see any cuts soon. Of note, though, is five of the eight players on the men’s tennis roster are from other countries, along with two Minnesotans and one South Dakotan. Six of the nine players on the Gopher women’s roster are foreigners, with one Minnesota native.

As of now, the Bloomington-based men’s WCHA has commitments from only three schools for the 2021-2022 season—Alaska Anchorage, Alaska Fairbanks and Alabama Huntsville. Seven schools are leaving the WCHA to form their own league after next season.

Men’s WCHA Commissioner Billy Robertson is working hard to bring three or more new members into his league for 2021-2022. The candidates include schools located in or near major metropolitan areas: St. Thomas (Twin Cities), Simon Fraser (Vancouver), Lindenwood (St. Louis), Arizona State (Phoenix) and Long Island (New York City).

“All are in major markets that would help bring a higher profile to the league…and increase revenue streams and sponsorship opportunities,” Robertson wrote in an email.

Jay Weiner, the former Star Tribune sportswriter and Olympic specialist who more recently held positions at the University of Minnesota and at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, announced his retirement on Facebook Tuesday.

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U Needs AD Mark Coyle Long Term

Posted on July 2, 2020July 2, 2020 by David Shama

An online authority ranks Mark Coyle the No. 11 athletic director among 130 FBS schools. This is the latest endorsement of the University of Minnesota AD who was hired in 2016.

It was rumored last fall University of Southern California officials were in town to test Coyle’s interest in their AD opening. There was speculation USC might even be intrigued about not only hiring Coyle, but doing a package deal that delivered Minnesota head football coach P.J. Fleck.

Minnesota president Joan Gabel and the Board of Regents approved a new contract in February for Coyle that extends through June 2026. The deal now pays Coyle $975,000 and brings him nearer the best paid athletic directors in the nation who make more than $1 million annually.

Watchstadium.com’s Jeff Goodman and Brett McMurphy ranked the top 20 athletic directors nationally after grading 130 of them on their football and men’s basketball head coaching hires. The Tuesday article said “grades were based on the success of coaches hired, difficulty of opponents in their respective conferences, bowl appearances, NCAA tournament trips, conference titles and national championships won.”

As athletics director at three schools, Coyle’s ranking is based on his hires of head football coaches Bryan Harsin, Dino Babers and P.J. Fleck. As AD at Boise State he hired Harsin, who in six years has a 64-17 record. Coyle’s hiring of Babers at Syracuse resulted in a program rebuilding, with the four-season highlight so far 10 wins in 2018.

Fleck was one of the nation’s hottest coaching names when Coyle hired him away from Western Michigan in January of 2017. Fleck had a breakout season in 2019 with the Gophers winning 11 games for the first time since 1904. The Gophers won two games against top-10 teams and ranked No. 10 in the final Associated Press poll.

Basketball didn’t figure into Coyle’s No. 11 evaluation by Goodman and McMurphy because he inherited coach Richard Pitino, who in eight Big Ten seasons has one winning year in conference games. Still, Coyle received an A- grade, and among Big Ten Conference peers ranks only behind Ohio State’s Gene Smith and Wisconsin’s Barry Alvarez. They rank No. 2 and 3 respectively in the country, behind No. 1 Joe Castiglione of Oklahoma.

If Fleck can continue his success and basketball becomes a winning program, Coyle might one day earn the reputation of Minnesota’s best athletics director ever. There will be inquiries from other schools about Coyle’s interest in moving on but the Upper Midwest native seems comfortable in the Twin Cities and with his job. During Coyle’s time at Minnesota the 25-sport program has compared very favorably with other FBS schools in academics, community involvement and winning.

Retaining Coyle could well be a key in hanging on to Fleck who at 39 remains one of the hot names in college coaching. When schools start bidding for Fleck, and they will if he continues to win, the coach may or may not show interest. If he does, bet your Goldy cap Fleck’s relationship with Coyle will count for a lot on whether he stays or goes.

Hiring the right coach is an inexact process, with a long list of athletic directors failing at the assignment including in the Big Ten. Coyle’s knack for impressive hires makes him a valued commodity at Minnesota where football and men’s basketball must pay much of the budget for the 25-sport program. There is no guarantee, of course, Coyle will always make the right hire but his presence at Minnesota should give Gopher fans more confidence about the future than at most other places across the country.

Worth Noting

With COVID-19 remaining a threat, a small number of Division III colleges nationally have cancelled fall sports. What about the 13-member Division III Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference that includes several Twin Cities schools? “At this point I am focused on having a full season,” MIAC commissioner Dan McKane told Sports Headliners yesterday.

MIAC presidents meet July 15 and may have an announcement about football and other fall sports. At that meeting McKane will have feedback from the Minnesota Department of Health. He has been in weekly contact with state health officials for awhile and last Thursday submitted a plan specific to the fall sports season.

The state’s reaction will dictate what happens next with the MIAC, and McKane said the plan could provide a template for all college sports in Minnesota. While the state could approve the proposal as is, or even reject it entirely, the more likely scenario might be recommended changes given that youth sports have already been okayed.

Things change fast with the pandemic but currently all MIAC institutions are planning to have students on their campuses this fall. If some reverse course, but not all, McKane said the MIAC would still allow competition among the schools with students on campuses. If all 13 schools moved to online learning only, the MIAC would not start or continue the fall sports schedule.

As part of the recognition for the 100th season of Gopher men’s hockey this fall, the athletic department is promoting fan voting for the greatest players. John Mayasich, who last played for the Gophers in 1955, is still revered by program historians and is perhaps the greatest player ever at Minnesota.

Mayasich still holds school records including most career points with 298, even though he played in fewer games than many others in the record book. John Mariucci, the so-called “Godfather” of hockey in the state, once said this about Mayasich: “The words to describe the boy haven’t been invented. When I say the best, that’s totally inadequate.”

Happy birthday to retired Gophers trainer Jim Marshall who turns 90 tomorrow (July 3). Marshall worked 42 years for the Gophers and has been retired for 17.

The late Harmon Killebrew, the Twins homerun king, would have been 84 June 29. A great player and person, Harmon died in 2011.

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