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Enjoy a Sizzling Summer Minnesota Sports Trivia Column

Posted on June 25, 2024June 25, 2024 by David Shama

I’ve put together a sports trivia column to occupy any open minutes during the leisure days ahead including the Fourth of July holiday. Be prepared to stump yourself, family or friends—and anyone else.

Without much further ado, I present 20 questions with a mix of queries that include “softball” asks and a couple that might even stump trivia mastermind Dave Mona. For those who want to give up before starting, scroll down past question No. 20 to find the answers.

Mona used to organize an annual sports trivia contest with the finals broadcast on WCCO Radio. I sought his help for my exercise, and he didn’t disappoint.

“My favorite one (trivia question), is one I invented,” Mona said.

1. So here it is with Mona leading off with question No. 1: What baseball Hall of Famer has his name on nearly every small battery in the United States?

2. What’s the name of the Minnesota Wild’s mascot?

3. The Wild has three native born Minnesotans on its roster including Alex Goligoski and Vinni Lettieri. Who is the third?

4. In January of 2021 this Wild forward became the first player in NHL history to have three points, including an overtime goal, in his first game. Who is he?

5. Who were Minneapolis-St. Paul’s first NBA and NHL franchises?

6. This legend just retired from coaching the University of Minnesota baseball team. Name him.

7. Name the Minnesota golf club that has hosted every premier tournament of the PGA and USGA.

8. What was Bud Grant’s given name at birth?

9. Outfielder “Bombo” Rivera played for the Twins from 1978-1980. “Bombo” was his nickname but what was his real name?

10. Several years ago, these three slick fielding Twins outfielders liked to say: “Nothing falls (between them) but raindrops.” Who are they?

11. In 1968 Cesar Tovar of the Twins played every position in a game against the Oakland A’s. As a pitcher who did he strike out?

12. Name the public address announcer at the Metrodome who drew hoots with his warning: “No smoking in the Metrodome.”

13. Chad Hartman, son of media icon Sid Hartman, has a popular drive-time show on WCCO Radio. What powerhouse radio station did Chad work for prior to WCCO?

14. Who was the Viking who said “I play when I want to play” but then walked it back.

15. Who caught Bret Favre’s amazing 2009 touchdown pass to defeat the 49ers in game three of the season?

16. Who once said, “I play third-string center for the Vikings behind Mick Tingelhoff and Mick Tingelhoff hurt?”

17. Who is the former Golden Gopher basketball player who once made such a spectacular dunk at Williams Arena that ESPN referred to him as the “Jewish Jordan?”

18. Golden Gopher basketball coach Ben Johnson also played for Minnesota but at what school did he begin his Big Ten playing career?

19. Name the Golden Gophers football player who this summer is a preseason All-American.

20. What NBA honor did “The Big Ticket” win in 2004?

And the Answers Are…(See Grading at Bottom)

1. This is a real “groaner:” Tigers Hall of Famer Al Kaline. Get it: alkaline in batteries.

2. “Nordy”. Don’t know the species but word off the ice is that “Nordy” is a real party animal.

3. Emerging star Brock Faber, born in Maple Grove, Minnesota is the third native born player on the Wild roster.

4. Kirill Kaprizov, Minnesota’s star player. (Hope you’re building momentum with your answers to questions two, three and four).

5. The Minneapolis Lakers, who won five world championships in the City of Lakes, left town for Los Angeles after the 1959-1960 season, while the Minnesota North Stars, who never won a Stanley Cup, moved to Dallas after the 1992-1993 season.

6. John Anderson took over the University of Minnesota baseball program in 1981 and through his retirement last spring he coached in over half of all games the baseball Gophers ever played—dating back 136 years, per Joel Rippel from the Star Tribune.

7. Hazeltine National Golf Club has fulfilled the vision of more than 60 years ago that club founder Totton Heffelfinger and his colleagues had to bring the biggest of golf events to this area.

8. Harry Peter Grant, the great former Gophers athlete and Vikings head coach, died in March of 2023 and will forever be missed.

9. That was no “layup” question. Here’s the answer: Jesus Manuel Rivera. He got tagged with his nickname as a kid in Puerto Rico, with “Bombo” meaning flyball.

10. Byron Buxton, Max Kepler and Eddie Rosario were so slick in the field they could (presumably) even run down raindrops.

11. Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson, “Mr. October”, was the batter Tovar struck out.

12. The late Bob Casey gave the no smoking edict and was the Twins’ public address voice every season from 1961-2004.

13. Chad Hartman was with KFAN prior to WCCO and almost a quarter century ago co-hosted “Chad and Barreiro” before he and Dan Barreiro split for separate shows on the station.

14. Controversial Randy Moss said those words in 2001 but gave “I play when I want to play” a different perspective after he retired from the NFL.

15. With 12-seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, and the Vikings trailing 24-20 at the Metrodome, Favre threw deep into the end zone to WR Greg Lewis who tight-roped staying inbounds. The dramatic win made the Vikings 3-0 and got everyone believing a magical season awaited—and it did.

16. Center Godfrey Zaunbrecher watched the durable Tingelhoff play on and on. Tingelhoff never missed a game and started all 240 regular season games of his career that ended in 1978.

17. ESPN’s SportsCenter was blown away by Sam Jacobson’s spectacular dunk but incorrectly referred to him as “Jewish.”

18. Johnson, a college guard, started his Big Ten career at Northwestern (1999-2001) after graduating from Minneapolis DeLaSalle.

19. Athlon Sports College Football magazine named Gophers senior tackle Aireontae Ersery to its second team All-American offense. Phil Steele publications named the 6-6, 325 pound Ersery to its All-American third team.

20. Timberwolves superstar Kevin Garnett won the NBA MVP for the 2003-2004 season, averaging 24.2 points and 13.9 rebounds as Minnesota emerged as one of the league’s elite teams.

Grading: answer 16-20 correctly and you’re invited to write the next sports trivia column. Scoring 11-15 right is worth two pats on the back. A pat on the fanny—from your significant other—is the reward for answering 6-10 correctly. O-5? It’s not too late to enroll in sports trivia summer school classes.

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Golden Gophers Sit Tight on Ben Johnson’s Contract

Posted on June 11, 2024June 11, 2024 by David Shama

There has been postseason anticipation about Ben Johnson’s contract as University of Minnesota head men’s basketball coach. That suspense goes back to late March when Johnson’s Golden Gophers posted the best record in his three seasons of leading the program at his alma mater.

Athletic director Mark Coyle told Sports Headliners there will be no changes in Johnson’s contract this offseason. The deal has three years remaining (ends April 30, 2027) and Coyle believes longer contracts are a thing of the past because of the flux in rosters with basketball players and other athletes coming and going. The transfer portal and influence of NIL money can change rosters on a dime.

Minnesota will have two returning starters, Dawson Garcia and Mike Mitchell Jr., from the 2023-2024 team that finished 9-11 in Big Ten regular season games and 19-15 overall. The conference record was good for ninth place in the 14-team league standings.

That was a major improvement over Johnson’s first two seasons when his teams had consecutive last place conference finishes and a combined 6-33 league record. That prompted public criticism of Johnson during his first experience as a head coach after being a career assistant college coach at Minnesota and elsewhere.

“We made great, great strides,” Coyle said during an interview at his campus office. “I’ve talked to Ben about if we go .500 in conference play, we’re going to be in the NCCA Tournament more times than not if you play a decent nonconference schedule.

“So, our goal is to continue to support Ben and help him take the next step. I think Ben is very excited about the roster he brought in. A lot of thanks to (program booster) Bob Klas and the people that support our NIL initiative. …Ben is in a really good spot, so we did not do a contract extension.”

The Gophers—who are bringing in eight new players including six transfers—lost three starters with remaining eligibility from last season’s team. It’s believed Pharrel Payne and Elijah Hawkins left for more lucrative NIL money. Cam Christie is pursuing the NBA Draft.

Coyle said Johnson and other coaches are in his office on a regular basis to discuss NIL. Working with the Dinkytown Athletes collective, the Athletic Department has seen a surge in money benefiting athletes from many sports since DA started almost two years ago. Coyle didn’t offer a figure as to how much money Johnson has had to work with in 2024 but an informed estimate by Sports Headliners is “north” of $1 million.

“I don’t think we know what our peers are at,” Coyle said. “You hear rumors what our peers are at but then you see them lose two or three starters, too.”

Money is a centerpiece of Johnson’s responsibilities. A Big Ten contending team in this market could command among the higher ticket prices in college hoops and those revenues would shoulder a big load in a department where the only programs making money are football, men’s basketball and men’s hockey.

The Gophers averaged 8,139 in home attendance last season, ranking 12^th in the Big Ten. That was down from 9,451 the previous year.

A spokesman from the Athletic Department emailed that the Gophers made $5 million from men’s basketball this past year. The potential, he said, was to make $2 million more.

On a side topic, a visitor asked Coyle about the disruption of play by TV commercials during major college basketball games including in the Big Ten. Combined with frequent timeouts by coaches, there are almost constant stoppages of play.

Coyle, who is a member of the Division I Basketball Committee, remembered a game in 2024 where the teams played through two designated media timeouts because nothing happened to stop the game clock. A price was paid, though, when the timeouts finally came. In about a five-minute span the action on the floor consisted of a couple of free throws.

Coyle said “we need to have that conversation” about the disruption in flow of men’s college games.

Worth Noting

Christie, who played one season as a freshman for the Gophers, doesn’t turn 19 until July 24. If he is drafted later this month by an NBA team it will almost certainly be in the second round.

This what NBA.com, courtesy of RotoWire, said about the younger brother of Lakers reserve Max Christie: “Christie stands out due to his energy and shooting ability but needs to devote more time to improving on the defensive end of the court to reach his ceiling. Don’t be surprised if he starts his career in the G League. Given the similarity of traits, Christie could end up having a similar career to his brother.”

Richard Pitino, who preceded Johnson as Gophers coach, received an extension this spring that will pay him $1.2 million next season and rise to $1.4 million in 2028-2029, the last year of the contract. When Pitino started his career as Minnesota coach in 2013 his compensation was $1.2 million.

As of yesterday, Stub.com listed some tickets for more than $1200 each for the Lynx’s home game July 14 against phenom Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever.

Don’t be surprised if the Timberwolves, Twins and Wild band together to televise their games next fall and beyond after the fallout this spring between Comcast Xfinity and Bally Sports resulted in no Twins games on local cable TV.

It was a spirited and heartfelt tribute yesterday for the late Jim Carter at 7 Vineyards and Winery in Dellwood. Nicknamed “Hurricane” while at the University of Minnesota playing football and hockey in the late 1960s, the South St. Paul native was a fierce competitor in sports, business and life. He was a dedicated friend to many people including those in recovery from addiction.

Close pal and Gopher football teammate Bob Stein was among those speaking at the celebration of life for Carter who passed away in November from cancer. Stein recalled Carter not liking a penalty call in a hockey game and storming out on to the ice with a chair in hand. A game official recognized Stein who was seated near the ice, and asked for an intervention with the 6-4, 250-pound Carter. “Are you crazy?” Stein said.

Stein, a defensive end, and Carter, a fullback, faced each other one-on-one many times in practice drills. Stein likened it yesterday to Bighorn Rams butting heads in the popular Dodge Ram TV commercials. He said after the drills both players would go back to the frat house with headaches, and then rest while needing to get ready for that evening’s party.

Stein spoke of Carter’s “humility,” interest in others and their welfare, saying it didn’t matter what a person’s stature in life was, he wanted to know about you. Emcee Dick Jonckowski recalled that several years ago Carter approached him and said he heard the Gophers baseball public address man had cancer. Carter asked Jonckowski about the financial impact on his life and he acknowledged there was uncertainty. Not long after a check from Carter arrived in the mail.

Former teammates and other friends were in attendance including ex-South St. Paul goalie Gaylen Bicking who played with Carter. He told the gathering that while efforts haven’t been successful yet, the will is there to name the South St. Paul High School football facility after the former Packers great: Ettinger Field at Jim Carter Stadium.

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Quartet of Local Stars Reminds of 4 Greats 20 Years Ago

Posted on June 5, 2024June 5, 2024 by David Shama

The sensational return of third baseman Royce Lewis to the Twins’ roster yesterday and the announcement of a new contract for Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson on Monday is a reminder that this town’s four major pro sports teams each has a superb young player who likely will entertain fans for years to come.

Lewis, Jefferson, shooting guard Anthony Edwards of the Timberwolves and wing Kirill Kaprizov of the Wild are cornerstones for their teams, and prompt memories of the best foursome who ever played at the same time in this area for Minnesota’s big four teams. Twenty years ago, Minneapolis-St. Paul lit up with star power having Marian Gaborik from the Wild, Kevin Garnett of the Wolves, Joe Mauer from the Twins and Randy Moss of the Vikings.

Mauer goes into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum this summer, while Garnett and Moss are already enshrined in the basketball and football halls. Only Gaborik isn’t enshrined in his sport’s hall of fame.

Jefferson and Edwards look like they’re on track to be hall of famers for sure. Lewis has flashed the potential to be mentioned among baseball’s best players in today’s game. Kaprizov brings fans out of their seats in anticipation of what he might do but he has to build on his success to become a hall of famer.

Lewis, who turns 25 today, has played in just 72 games (counting 2024) over three seasons as the injury gods have been cruel to him and his adoring fans. But, oh my, what anticipation the gifted hitter has set for all who follow him. Last October he became the third player in MLB history to homer in his first two postseason at bats. He set the stage for the dramatic during the regular season by hitting four grand slams in a 20-game span as he helped the Twins win the AL Central Division title. Last night after his return from a severe quadriceps strain, all he did was produce one of only two Twins hits in their loss to the Yankees, hitting a home run and making a terrific play in the field.

Jefferson, 24, is a three-time Pro Bowler who in his first four seasons set an NFL record for receiving yards with 5,889. He has produced four consecutive seasons of 1,000-plus receiving yards. In 2022 he became the youngest player in NFL history to lead the league in receptions (128) and receiving yards (1,809). His new deal, reportedly for $140 million, makes him the highest paid non-quarterback in league history.

Edwards, 22, is already a two-time All-Star Game selection. This spring he was named second team All-NBA for the first time in his four-year career. An explosive scorer, he emerged this season as the alpha on the team averaging a career-high 25.9 points per game. He became the first player in franchise history to average 25-plus points per game, and five-plus rebounds and assists. He was often brilliant in the playoffs as the Wolves reached the Western Conference playoffs for the first time in 20 years.

The electric Kaprizov, who turned 27 last month and is a three-time All-Star, easily broke Gaborik’s franchise rookie record of 36 points. The Russian native had 51 points to lead all NHL rookies in 2020-2021. In Kaprizov’s second season, he broke the franchise record for goals (42) held by Gaborik and Eric Staal. His 47 goals were part of his 108 points season (100 points a first in franchise history) while helping the Wild to a record number of wins at 53.

Worth Noting

Dawson Garcia, who led the basketball Gophers in scoring last season at 17.6 points per game, has a Name, Image and Likeness deal with Dakotah Sport and Fitness in Prior Lake. The former Prior Lake all-state player grew up working out at the facility.

Charles Barkley’s TV commentary on the Timberwolves’ playoff games this spring prompted a favorite memory from Dave Mona. He recently wrote about it on Facebook reminiscing about how his company had produced a lithograph honoring the 50 greatest players in NBA history. It was back in 1997 that Mona and his wife Linda were in Cleveland charged with obtaining signatures from the players—including Barkley—on all 250 lithographs.

“About halfway through the signing it was clear he was starting to tire,” Mona said on Facebook. “He was cracking his neck and flexing his fingers. Linda, who was standing over his right shoulder, started to give him a back rub and it was obvious he loved it.

‘Can you come up to my hotel room after we’re done here,’ he suggested. ‘You’d have to ask my husband,’ she said. ‘He’s the one handing you the sharp pencils.’

Mona wrote that Barkley smiled and said: “He can come too.”

Rob Fornasiere, the longtime assistant coach to Golden Gophers head baseball coach John Anderson, emailed several eye-catching stats about his former boss who retired at age 69 this spring. The statistics, gathered by Joel Rippel from the Star Tribune, include these gems: Anderson coached in over half of all games the baseball Gophers have ever played—dating back 136 years—and his 1,390 wins is 49 percent of the program’s total victories.

Anderson took over as Minnesota’s head coach in 1981 and since then there have been 55 other Big Ten coaches. He and Fornasiere coached together for 1,943 games over 33 seasons, winning 1,164 games.

Minnesota sports and entertainment icon Dick Jonckowski will emcee next Monday’s tribute for the late Jim Carter, the well-known South St. Paul and former Golden Gophers athlete. At Minnesota Carter played hockey but was best known as a physical running back who was a key contributor to the 1967 Big Ten title team and captained the 1969 football Gophers. The tribute, organized by former football teammate Jim Brunzell, will be held at 7 Vines Vineyard and Winery in Dellwood, and will be attended by former Carter teammates and other friends. Carter passed away in California last November.

Per a news release yesterday from the University of Minnesota Athletic Department, Golden Gophers athletes continue to excel academically. The cross country, men’s golf, gymnastics and women’s hockey programs earned a perfect academic progress rate score for the 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years.

Twelve programs earned a perfect APR score in the most recent reporting year of 2022-23: men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, football, men’s golf, gymnastics, women’s hockey, softball, women’s swimming, women’s tennis and volleyball. https://gophersports.com/news/2024/6/4/athletics-minnesota-continues-to-shine-in-academic-progress-rate

Belated Happy Birthday to Lou Nanne who turned 83 Sunday. Over a period of 25 years Minnesota’s Mr. Hockey was a player, coach, GM and president of the NHL North Stars.

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