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U President Kaler Played Key Role in Big Ten Expansion

Posted on August 8, 2023August 8, 2023 by David Shama

The Big Ten Conference will begin competition with a record 18 schools in 2024. Membership will stretch from coast-to-coast and complete a vision set years ago that former University of Minnesota president Eric Kaler enthusiastically supported, according to Tom Devine.

Devine, a prominent former University regent and tireless volunteer for his alma mater, told Sports Headliners about a meeting long ago in Kaler’s office where then Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany presented his vision for an expanded conference that captured vast TV audiences on the coasts. Kaler was a leader of Big Ten presidents and chancellors, and someone Devine said saw Big Ten expansion as vital to preserving and enhancing the financial strength of athletic departments and the student-athlete experience.

The meeting in Minneapolis, that included Devine and fellow regents Rick Beeson and Dean Johnson, preceded the league’s 2014 expansion from 12 teams to 14 when Maryland and Rutgers joined the Big Ten. Those schools delivered TV markets in Washington D.C., Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and New York. In 2022 the conference added UCLA and USC, and then last week announced the Big Ten will become the largest league in the nation with the addition of two more west coast schools, Oregon and Washington.

Kaler, who during his era as U president from 2011-2019 served awhile as chair of the Big Ten Council of presidents and chancellors, was highly interested in athletics. Devine said his friend watched college football, including the Gophers on Saturdays, and the Vikings on Sundays. “Eric is a huge sports nut,” Devine said. That interest and his other skillsets and experiences helped make Kaler influential with Big Ten decision makers at other schools and a key ally of Delany.

The league has leveraged its longtime prestige for excellence in academics and athletics with access to most of the largest TV markets in the country to deliver record TV revenues for college sports. In the near future Big Ten athletic departments may receive $100 million or more annually from TV revenue including the Big Ten Network.

The league has been a leader for years in TV revenue and that source of income has been used by conference schools to help finance facilities. Devine said TV revenue was used as “collateral” for a bond the U secured to help build the $166 million Athletes Village.

The U athletic department is financially self-supporting but most of the 21 sports don’t operate in the black. That’s why TV revenues, mostly from football and men’s basketball, along with monies from gate receipts, sponsorships, licensing and other sources of income are so vital to keep the Gophers and other Big Ten schools at a more than competitive place in intercollegiate athletics.

Devine said Kaler believed in the “best outcomes” for student-athletes. At Minnesota graduation rates, GPAs and job placement have increased significantly in the last 10 years. That was part of Delany and Kaler’s vision for athletics, along with adding Big Ten schools that fit the conference model of success in academics, research and sports while being able to expand the league footprint like no other conference in the country.

Worth Noting

In voting by his NFL peers Vikings’ wide receiver Justin Jefferson is the No. 2 player in the league. Other Vikings who are top 100 vote getters are safety Harrison Smith, No. 97, and quarterback Kirk Cousins, No. 42.

The Vikings are scheduled to practice from 7:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. tonight (August 8) at TCO Stadium in preparation for their preseason opener at the Seahawks Thursday evening. Kickoff is at 9 p.m. with TV coverage from Fox 9 and the NFL Network.

After the Vikings released their unofficial depth chart yesterday it looks like second-year pro Akayleb Evans is winning the competition to start at cornerback opposite Byron Murphy. The depth chart was for a 3-4 base defense and “21 personnel” on offense meaning a running back, fullback, one tight end and two receivers. The defense consists of two defensive ends, a nose tackle, two outside linebackers, two inside linebackers and four players in the secondary.

The football Gophers have one of the most difficult schedules in the country this year and could find themselves in multiple tight games. They will face those clutch moments with a new field goal kicker, probably 2022 kickoff specialist Dragan Kesich. The 6-4, 235-pound Wisconsin native has a booming leg and two more seasons of eligibility, but he lacks field goal and extra point experience having attempted one FG in his Gopher career.

Ryan Burns from 247Sports and GopherIllustrated pointed out in a recent story the Gophers need to improve in special teams. Examples cited include no kick returns for scores since 2017 and no punt returns for touchdowns since 2018. “Minnesota hasn’t blocked a PAT since November of 2017, hasn’t blocked a field goal since November of 2020, and they’ve blocked one punt in the six years of (the) P.J. Fleck era,” Burns wrote.

Dinkytown, where youth have caused security problems earlier this year, will become a focus August 31 when the Gophers open their season at home. Word is parents of potential troublemakers are “policing” Dinkytown to make it safer.

Warning: coming off the hottest month in the earth’s history in July, authorities supervising outdoor activities presumably are monitoring heat and air quality to avoid potential health issues and even tragedies. It was 22 years ago this month Vikings’ offensive tackle Korey Stringer died after complications from heat stroke.

Ken Mauer Jr., the St. Paul native and former veteran NBA referee, is still involved with litigation against the league. It’s been almost two years since Mauer sued the NBA because the league refused to let him work after he declined to follow protocol on COVID vaccination.

If not for financial assistance from friends and family, Mauer wouldn’t be able to continue the litigation. “It’s all about a waiting game and wait you out, and trying to break you,” Mauer told Sports Headliners. “That’s all they’re doing. Delaying at every possible turn that they can.”

Mauer was an NBA official for 37 years. He built up a sizeable pension but that, too, has become a point of litigation. “Now they refuse to give me my pension,” he said.

Ultimate compliment: Justin Morneau, introducing Joe Mauer last Saturday night at Target Field as part of Mauer’s induction into the Twins Hall of Fame, recalled the two visited Como Zoo earlier this year where a worker told Mauer his parents named him Joe because they were such admirers of the St. Paul baseball legend.

Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers, with a .230 lifetime average, is a star at the plate in his last 30 games hitting .320 with six home runs and 16 RBI. The 26-year-old, who is being used part time, homered last night, and drove in three runs in Minnesota’s 9-3 win over the Tigers in Detroit.

Marshall Tanick, the Minneapolis-based attorney with decades of experience in employment law, wrote an opinion piece in the Duluth News Tribune about former University of Minnesota volleyball coach Stephanie Schleuder who died in June. Schleuder is praised for not only being a volleyball pioneer but important advocate for the rights of employees in the workplace, especially women. https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/opinion/columns/local-view-umds-schleuder-a-trailblazer-on-volleyball-court-and-court-of-law

The Dutch Course at Cragun’s Resort will host the PGA Canada CRMC Championship August 31-September 3. The course is one of two at the popular Brainerd area resort renovated by Minnesota golf legend Tom Lehman.

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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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Contract Leverage Favors Danielle Hunter, Not Vikings

Posted on June 18, 2023June 18, 2023 by David Shama

If the Vikings intend to be competitive in the coming season, they need to make a new contract deal with star pass rusher Danielle Hunter. Worthy of inclusion among the NFL’s best at pressuring the quarterback, Hunter is in the last year of his contract and is too valuable to an already suspect defense to be without.

“You look at the depth chart right now, you definitely need Danielle’s presence on defense… so we’ll see if they can figure out a way to make it work,” said Daniel House who spends countless hours analyzing the Vikings and NFL, and publishes the Mnvikngscorner.com website.

No doubt the Vikings have tested Hunter’s trade appeal with other teams but unless they could acquire an impressive defensive return, they are better off with Hunter who had a bounce back season in 2022 with 10.5 sacks (14.5 in both 2018 and 2019). The 28-year-old is a valuable piece in a new start under first-year defensive coordinator Brian Flores who is expected to put an emphasis on speed and aggressive play to accomplish his task of improving a weak defense from last season.

House predicts the defense will play with creativity and sometimes implement pass rushing mismatches favoring Hunter. “It’ll just be a way more aggressive defense, which I think helps everybody involved.”

To satisfy Hunter it likely will require a contract in the $16 million to $20 million range annually for three or four years. A sticky point is how much money will be guaranteed. Hunter has a history of injuries, and the Vikings will want to protect themselves, while Hunter’s representatives are expected to pursue guaranteed money.

Hunter’s camp has signaled its displeasure with a 2023 salary believed to be about $5 million, and the lack of progress on a new contract. The message came through with the absence of the veteran from both voluntary and mandatory workouts this spring. Unless the Vikings have reason for serious concern about Hunter’s health or have cooked up an acquisition of equal talent, they need to settle on a contract in the coming weeks.

Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell expressed admiration for Hunter last week both as a player and person. He added that “we hope to have continued dialogue and have a really positive outcome.”

Worth Noting

Preseason recognition of multiple University of Minnesota football players continues to grow. Last week Phil Steele Publications honored seven Gophers including safety Tyler Nubin who was named a third-team All-American. Nubin and tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford also were honored as first-team All-Big Ten.

Wide receiver Daniel Jackson, tackle Aireontae Ersery and punt returner Quentin Redding were named second team All-Big Ten on offense. Redding was also honored on a All-Big Ten fourth team as a kick returner along with long snapper Brady Weeks. Quinn Carroll, Minnesota offensive tackle, was also a fourth team honoree.

Last month Athlon Sports honored nine Gophers including wide receiver Chris Autman-Bell who was named second team All-Big Ten. Because of additional eligibility granted to him, Autman-Bell is approaching his seventh season at Minnesota. The Vikings have only 10 players on their roster who this fall will have played seven or more seasons in the NFL.

Beleaguered former Timberwolves GM David Kahn, now a force in French basketball, is the subject of a feature in the new issue of Sports Illustrated and insists he left the Wolves “in a much, much better place than when I arrived.”

With a 35-year-old starting point guard in Mike Conley, logic suggests the Timberwolves could use their only selection in Thursday’s NBA Draft to take Nadir Hifi at No. 53 in the second round. He plays in France and the 6-3, 20-year-old might be a sleeper in this week’s draft.

Jonathan Mekonnen, the Eastview class of 2024 basketball wing, picked up an offer from Loyola Chicago last week. Power Five offers could be coming soon.

USC, who sources believe was interested in Gophers AD Mark Coyle in 2019, has a vacancy again.

Paul Molitor, who some Twins fans think should still be the club’s manager, was terrific in his analyst role recently on radio broadcasts. His knowledge had listeners aware of what just happened, why it happened and what likely was developing next in the game. He would be a superb addition to the roster of radio and TV analysts.

Jim Kaat, the former Twin who for years set the gold standard for baseball commentary during games here and nationally, isn’t working Twins games this year. Kaat, 84 and inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame last year, pitched for the Twins and tight wad owner Calvin Griffith from 1961-1973. “Calvin threw nickels around like manhole covers,” Kaat said years ago.

Kaat spoke Friday to the popular Twin Cities Dunkers organization that just closed off nominations for review in July, with 40 applicants and five spots open.

Darren Wolfson reported on Skor North that Wild GM Bill Guerin is interested in filling the assistant coaching vacancy with someone having head coach experience. That could set up an interesting dynamic with head coach Dean Evason whose teams haven’t advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs.

Happy Father’s Day! Anyone remember this quote from the late Erma Bombeck? “When I was a little kid, a father was like the light in the refrigerator. Every house had one, but no one really knew what either of them did once the door was shut.”

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