Vikings – Page 245 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Worth Noting

Posted on June 1, 2012June 1, 2012 by David Shama

Former Twins broadcaster John Gordon, 72, is spending his first spring retired from baseball and “enjoying the retired life,” according to Patrick Klinger, the team’s marketing vice president. “He’s playing a lot of golf,” Klinger said.

The Twins finished the month of May with a 12-16 record. Their sweep of the A’s earlier in the week was only the second of the season against an opponent.

Outfielder Josh Willingham leads the club in home runs with 10. The first Twins hitter to reach 10 last year was Michael Cuddyer on June 16.

Now that spring semester has ended, the Gophers football team has put together consecutive semesters of collective GPA’s over 3.0 for the first time in our memory.

Former Vikings defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin, now with the Steelers, is ranked the fourth best head coach in the NFL by Sportingnews.com. Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier is ranked No. 27 out of 32 head coaches. Former Vikings tight end Mike Mularkey, now head coach at Jacksonville, ranks No. 25 while the Giants Tom Coughlin, coach of the Super Bowl champions, is No. 1.

Frazier and others with the Vikings organization, including players, volunteered their time yesterday to help build a playground at Sheridan Arts Magnet School in Minneapolis. The playground is being paid for by the Vikings and The Toro Company.

Mark Rosen’s new book, Best Seat in the House, was No. 3 in the sports essays category last week for Amazon Kindle sales, according to the WCCO TV sports anchor. He also told Sports Headliners that about 8,000 books have been printed. He’s been busy with book signings in the metro area and other parts of the state. “I realize more and more you can’t just put a book on the shelves,” he said.

Rosen said it’s been an “amazing” and enjoyable experience meeting so many people who have their own stories about the Minnesota sports heroes he writes about in his book. “I’ve met a lot of great people,” he said.

Minnesota native Tom Lehman, who will play in the 3M Championship in Blaine later this year, has three top 10 finishes on the Champions Tour in 2012 but has not won a tournament. www.pgatour.com

The Timberwolves will select Dion Waiters, a 6-4 shooting guard from Syracuse, with the No. 18 pick in the NBA draft later this month, according to www.nbadraft.net. Waiters averaged 12.6 points per game as a sophomore last season.

Former Hopkins forward Royce White will be drafted by Boston at No. 21, according to the website. White is unusually strong for a small forward but must improve his outside shooting in the pros.

For the fifth consecutive year St. Thomas finished first in both the men’s and women’s MIAC all-sports final standings. Gustavus and St.Olaf placed second in the men’s and women’s standings. St. Thomas won eight conference titles in men’s athletics, five in women’s sports during 2011-12.

The Mr. and Ms. Lacrosse winners will be announced on Sunday afternoon during a banquet at the Crowne Plaza Riverfront Hotel in St. Paul. A total of 14 high school boys and girls are finalists for the awards (presented by the Minnesota Swarm). A selection panel will also choose the Mr. Goalie and Ms. Goalie of the Year winners. To see the names of candidates and learn more about the banquet, visit the Minnesota Minutemen website. www.minnesotaminutemen.com

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Vikings Stadium Raises Bar for U

Posted on May 25, 2012May 25, 2012 by David Shama

Financial support for a new Vikings stadium has been approved by the Minnesota legislature and endorsement is expected today from the Minneapolis City Council. The new facility will generate significant additional revenues for the Vikings, state, city, and local businesses, while also creating jobs for Minnesotans.

There will be many who benefit — but don’t include the Gophers football program in the group of beneficiaries. Yes, the Gophers athletic department can rake in up to $300,000 per game when the Vikings use TCF Bank Stadium for home games during a portion of the construction period for their new facility.

But the Gophers would have been winners five times over if the Vikings didn’t earn approval for a new stadium and instead packed their bags for Los Angeles. If the Gophers had this football market to themselves they would have more fans, financial support and media scrutiny, creating much higher expectations and pressure to put a better team on the field year after year.

Until 1961 when the Vikings started play in the NFL, the Gophers were the only big time football attraction in the state. In the early years of the Vikings franchise the Gophers played in front of sellout crowds, drawing over 60,000 fans to Memorial Stadium. The new pro team in town struggled to attract 40,000 fans.

But by the mid-1960s the Gophers were losing fans and the Vikings were expanding their audience and revenues. With only one exception this has completely been a Vikings state ever since. Lou Holtz arrived as Gophers coach in 1984 and within two years his magic act had not only vastly improved the football product but season tickets were pushing toward 60,000.

The Vikings were losing football games and followers while the Gophers were soaring in popularity during the Holtz era. Vikings coach Les Steckel’s 3-13 season in 1984 prompted Bud Grant to come out of retirement to mastermind not only a better team, but jump-start interest in the franchise.

Holtz left Dinkytown after two years, whistling the Notre Dame fight song while making his way to South Bend where he would coach the Irish to renewed glory for 11 seasons including the 1988 national championship. The Gophers reverted to losing football games and customers—the profile the program has mostly kept in place for more than 40 years.

There are multiple reasons Gophers football has floundered for decades but the presence of the Vikings can be counted among them. The public pressure to have Gophers football be something special lessened with the arrival of the Vikings and has remained minimal compared to before they arrived.

Minnesota won 17 Big Ten football championships and six national championships prior to 1961. The Gophers have one Big Ten title since, sharing the 1967 championship with Purdue and Indiana.

Gophers administrators will maintain publicly, just like their predecessors, that the presence of the Vikings doesn’t have anything to do with their program. Baloney. On Vikings football Sundays the team is followed by millions of Minnesotans. Hundreds of thousands may not know the Gophers are playing on college football Saturdays.

With the spotlight on the Vikings and lousy football at the U, generations of potential Gophers fans have been lost. The pathetic student attendance at Gophers games has something to do with the Vikings, too. It wouldn’t be surprising if a poll of University of Minnesota students showed more of them are Vikings fans than Gophers followers.

This column isn’t about criticizing the Vikings or their fan base. I attended the team’s first game at Met Stadium in 1961 and now cover the team on a regular basis. I “get it” that the NFL is the most popular sport in America and there’s no expectation that will change in the future. The Vikings are one of the league’s stronger brands and the club’s passionate following includes season ticket holders who come to Minneapolis in large numbers from even outside the state.

The new Vikings stadium will be another challenge for the Gophers. The facility is likely to have a retractable roof so outdoor football is no longer an amenity claimed only by the Gophers at TCF Bank Stadium. The stadium, perhaps the best in college football, will within a few years no longer be the newest football facility in town.

That’s another edge for the Vikings who are in competition with the Gophers for ticket sales, suites, stadium signage, broadcast ratings and fees, sponsorships and merchandising. The best way the Gophers can respond is with a winning team under second-year coach Jerry Kill. He’s a promising leader who could create the best possible scenario for Minnesotans who want to see both the Vikings and Gophers thrive.

While the Vikings watch their new stadium being constructed, public interest in them will be enhanced. The Gophers need to finally become winners or else they will maintain their low profile. If the Gophers didn’t know it before this spring, the Vikings aren’t going away.

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Final Four Likely for New Stadium

Posted on May 18, 2012May 21, 2012 by David Shama

With approval for a new Vikings stadium now finally in place, media speculation has started about attracting a Super Bowl to Minneapolis but it might be even easier to bring the NCAA’s Final Four to town.

“I’ll be amazed if we don’t get it (a Final Four),” Bill Lester told Sports Headliners. He is executive director of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission and was part of the group that helped bring Final Fours to the Metrodome in 1992 and 2001.

The Gophers have been the college host for past Final Fours. “We know how to put it on,” said Joel Maturi, Gophers athletic director. “This is a great city (to visit).”

Lester said the Final Four sites are determined through 2016 but beyond then Minneapolis could be in the mix with a bid. “They (the NCAA) like competing cities,” he said.

The NCAA chooses only Final Four sites that are state-of-the-art domed stadiums. The new Vikings stadium will have either a fixed or retractable roof, and Lester said the seating configuration for the Final Four will be about 74,000.

A Super Bowl was held at the Metrodome in 1992. Although the NFL is known to reward new facilities with a Super Bowl, the league has most often selected warm weather cities as the site for games and sometimes in older stadiums. Earlier this year Indianapolis with a new stadium was the Super Bowl site, and Lester believes there’s definitely a possibility Minneapolis could host another Super Bowl within the next 10 years.

Maturi said the Big Ten Conference will be open to considering the new Vikings stadium for the league’s championship football game. That game is committed to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis for the next four years, and Detroit has expressed interest in hosting the game at Ford Field, according to Maturi.

There’s been quiet talk about establishing an annual college football bowl game (“City of Lakes Bowl?”) in Minneapolis. Maturi acknowledged it could be a difficult sell to convince teams the city is a desirable destination in December but said this is an attractive area with lots to do.

Maturi believes a nonconference basketball game involving the Gophers and a national power might one day be booked for the new Vikings stadium. “I think it’s a natural,” he said. “We’ll see what happens.”

Meanwhile, Lester said he’s already hearing from potential users of the new stadium that is projected to open in 2016. Contacts range from inline skating organizers to amateur baseball teams looking for a protective environment. Such contacts are providing input on the design of the new stadium.

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