Wild – Page 18 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Carlos Correa ‘Mr. Clutch’ for Twins Just like Kirby Puckett

Posted on October 10, 2023October 13, 2023 by David Shama

Carlos Correa’s clutch performance for the Twins in the postseason prompts memories of the late Kirby Puckett. It was Puckett who made that still famous quote before Game 6 of the 1991 World Series, telling teammates to “jump on his back” because he was going to carry the team.

Correa is more than shouldering his load, too, including driving in three of Minnesota’s six runs Sunday night when the Twins tied their American League Division Series at 1-1 with the Astros. Fittingly, Correa even threw out the last Astros batter of the evening with a spectacular fielding play and throw in the 6-2 win.

In four postseason games this fall Correa is hitting .588, and it’s not just his performance at the plate that has been key for the Twins. His fielding, high baseball IQ and leadership have all been impactful. Before coming to Minnesota, the 29-year-old shortstop experienced six postseason years with the Astros.

Do-Hyoung Park, writing for MLB.com yesterday, offered this timely quote about Correa from manager Rocco Baldelli: “We’ve always heard all of the sayings and things: When the lights come on and the bright lights, there are some guys, they’re giants in the light. He’s one of them. That’s what he is.”

Correa, who joined the Twins in 2022 as a free agent and then re-signed with them last off-season, made history Sunday night with those three RBI. He now has 63 career postseason RBI, tied with David Justice for third best ever among big leaguers.

No doubt the Twins’ $200 million “Mr. October” looks forward to moving up that historical list (Bernie Williams tops at 80, Manny Ramirez second with 78) but the big prize right now is advancing to the World Series. To do that the Twins will need two more wins to close out the Astros and be able to win four games in the American League Championship Series.

That itinerary would put the Twins back in the World Series for the first time since 1991. Minnesota defeated the Braves in seven games, partially because of Puckett’s heroics in Game 6. The five-tool superstar robbed Ron Gant of an extra base hit and had three hits including an 11^th inning walk-off home run for the ages that won the game and tied the series 3-3 in front of a delirious Metrodome crowd.

Puckett was a centerpiece on World Series championship teams in 1991 and 1987. In 24 postseason games he hit .309, with five home runs and 16 RBI. He was also a leader who inspired teammates, just like a guy in the here and now—Carlos Correa.

Worth Noting

Twins Hall of Famers Johan Santana and Joe Mauer will do the ceremonial first pitch honors before this afternoon’s ALDS game at Target Field. Minneapolis-based vocalist Aby Wolf will perform the national anthem.

Today’s Minnesota starting pitcher Sonny Gray, who held the Blue Jays scoreless in last week’s Wild Card series win, faces the Astros for the third time this year. He is 0-0 and has a 2.77 ERA against the Astros, with four walks and 16 strikeouts in two starts.

Ryan Jeffers has been the Twins’ catcher in each of the four postseason games, after splitting assignments during the regular season with Christian Vazquez. Jeffers has excelled defensively and calling games for the 3-1 Twins but has just two hits in 13 at bats.

Knowledgeable and optimistic Twins fans know the World Series starts October 27 and potentially runs through November 4. Home field advantage in the best of seven series, just like in the ALDS and ALDCS, is determined by which two teams had the better regular season record.

Twins radio voice Cory Provus, who calls Big Ten Network football games, will also work BTN men’s basketball during the upcoming season.

By Friday, after the Wild’s home opener against the Panthers Thursday night, it’s anticipated that over a nine-day period about 300,000 fans in the Twin Cities will have attended games of the Twins, Vikings, Wild and football Gophers.

The Wild has only two players on its 21-man opening night roster that weren’t with Minnesota last year: forwards Pat Maroon (Tampa Bay) and Marco Rossi (Iowa). Defenseman Brock Faber is the youngest player on the roster at 21; while goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who turns 39 in November, is the oldest.

Hockey authority Bill Robertson predicts the Wild will finish seventh in the Western Conference and make the Stanley Cup Playoffs. “Healthy (Kirill) Kaprizov and solid goaltending will be big keys for the Wild this year,” the former college hockey commissioner wrote via email. “Former Gopher Brock Faber will take a huge step forward and become an impact player for Minnesota.

“Boston is the best team in the NHL as they have depth from top to bottom and will be ready this year for the Stanley Cup Playoffs! No quick exit this year. Best player in the game is Edmonton’ s Conner McDavid as he is a superstar and can impact a game when he is on the ice. Conner has awesome skills.”

The Wild announced today that Kaprizov has been named an alternate captain.

Jim Harbaugh, who was a candidate for the Vikings head coaching job before Kevin O’Connell was hired in 2022, has the No. 2 college football team in the AP Poll but doesn’t make the top 10 in annual compensation among his peers. His $8.2 million at Michigan ranks No. 12, with Alabama’s Nick Saban No. 1 at $11.4 million and Michigan State’s embattled Mel Tucker No. 5 at about $10 million, per Usatoday.com last week.

Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck ranks No. 26 at $6 million.

The 1-4 Vikings and 3-3 Gophers are struggling but other state teams are excelling including St. Thomas, 3-0 in conference games and leading the Pioneer League, and Saint John’s, No. 8 nationally in the D3football.com rankings and tied with Carleton for the best league record in the MIAC at 3-0 each.

Happy birthdays: NFL legend Brett Favre is 54 today, October 10. Former Gopher athletics director Mark Dienhart turns 70 tomorrow.

Forward Parker Bjorklund from St. Thomas has been voted preseason first team All-Summit by the league coaches. The voting also predicted the Tommies will finish fourth in the standings behind South Dakota State, Oral Roberts and North Dakota State.

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No Sleeping on Danielle Hunter’s Sacks

Posted on September 26, 2023September 26, 2023 by David Shama

Enjoy a Tuesday notes column.

After three games Viking outside linebacker Danielle Hunter ranks second in the NFL with five sacks. Long known as one of the league’s best rushers, Hunter missed all of the 2020 season and was limited to seven games in 2021 because of injuries.

“I’ve learned a lot about taking care of the body over the years,” Hunter told Sports Headliners. When Hunter was younger, he “used to stay up all night playing video games.”

What’s his approach to staying healthy now? “I feel like the biggest thing is just rest,” he said. “Sleep, nutrition. That’s the most important thing. Over the years, being younger, you think you don’t need sleep but as time goes on, sleep and nutrition is probably the most important thing.”

Hunter, 28 years old and now in his ninth NFL season with the Vikings, avoids unhealthy foods and takes magnesium before going to sleep because the mineral helps him relax. He targets about eight hours of sleep and doesn’t nap. “I try to stay up as much as I can and reward myself with a good deep sleep.”

Hunter’s fast start in accumulating sacks is not new. In the first seven games in 2021 he had six sacks.

Danielle Hunter image courtesy of Minnesota Vikings.

Hunter has averaged double figures in sacks four times during his career including last season at 11.5. He had 29 sacks and 36 tackles for loss in 2018-2019, ranking second and third in the NFL over that span.

It wouldn’t be surprising if Dalton Risner makes his first start for the Vikings Sunday in Charlotte against the Panthers. Risner, who signed as a free agent with the Vikings last week, played four seasons at left guard with the Broncos. He could line up there Sunday, with Ezra Cleveland moving to right guard where he has previous experience and replacing Ed Ingram.

Another possibility is Risner could play right guard, with Cleveland remaining on the left side. Risner has practiced at right guard with the Vikings.

His offensive line versatility includes playing center and tackle at Kansas State. “I can still snap the football,” Risner told Sports Headliners. “Primarily I think I am a left guard, right guard, right tackle, center emergency. I played three years at right tackle (in college). In the NFL, nobody talks to me as a right tackle, man. …I don’t know if you should trust me at left tackle.”

Alexander Mattison said some of the best advice he received from Dalvin Cook, the man he replaced as the Vikings’ starting running back, is “be the kid that fell in love with the game.”

That means playing relaxed and loose. Challenging? Yes, because Mattison can be his harshest critic and he said “no one can beat myself up, criticize me more than myself.”

Mattison had his best rushing total of 2023 in last Sunday’s loss to the Chargers. He gained 93 yards on 20 carries.

Former Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen, now with 0-3 Carolina, said “next week (against 0-3 Minnesota Sunday) kind of feels like a playoff game.”

It’s that kind of dramatic situation for both teams, with ESPN.com’s Bill Barnwell writing earlier this month that since 2002 99 NFL teams have started their seasons 0-3 but only one (the 2018 Texans) has made the playoffs. And only one 0-4 team has ever earned its way into the postseason, the 1992 Chargers. Take note, though, that the NFL started playing a 17-game regular season schedule in 2021 which now provides an extra game to recover from a difficult start.

Thielen, 33, is still a playmaker and last Sunday had 11 receptions for 145 yards, the fourth most for a single game in his 10-season NFL career.

Former Vikings quarterback and NFL Hall of Famer Brett Favre was a big hit in Winona earlier this month. A consummate storyteller, he was the celebrity speaker for the Morrie Miller Athletic Foundation Banquet. The dinner, along with a golf tournament, raised a record $410,000 for Winona area athletics. Many attendees said he was the best guest ever and the past celebrity list includes Joe Montana, Mike Ditka, Bart Starr and Bud Grant.

If Darius Taylor, injured late in last Saturday’s loss to Northwestern, can’t play in this Saturday’s Gopher Homecoming Game against Louisiana it will be interesting to see if redshirt freshman Zach Evans receives some reps. Evans, with an impressive reputation coming out of high school in Texas, hasn’t carried the ball in the first four games. He had a brief head turning debut in one game last season, with six carries for 29 yards and one touchdown against Northwestern.

Bryce Williams, now in his sixth and final season with the Gophers, seems the likely starter if Taylor can’t play. He knows his assignments and is probably the best receiver among the running backs. Sean Tyler, the Western Michigan transfer fumbled three times against Eastern Michigan, and since then had three carries against North Carolina and none in the Northwestern game.

Taylor is the Big Ten Freshman of the Week after accounting for 198 yards rushing and 18 receiving yards last Saturday. It’s the third consecutive week he has won the honor, something that is a first in Gopher history.

Disgruntled Gophers fans after consecutive losses to North Carolina and Northwestern can do something positive by assisting Dinkytown Athletes. The official collective of Gophers sports accepts money designated to a specific program and money exclusively for football can reward current players for their Name, Image and Likeness. More money directed to football helps retain these players and assist future Gophers. Ideally, word gets out in the future that Minnesota is a strong NIL school, and that can do nothing but help attract quality talent and make the Gophers successful on the field.

If only two percent of football season ticket attendees, approximately 480, gave an average of $500 this fall it will increase revenues by $240,000. If 1,000 fans who follow the football Gophers only on TV gave an average of $250, that would jump revenues by $250,000. Sums like that, added to what is already in place and coming, would considerably boost football NIL money. https://dinkytownathletes.com/

The Gopher men’s hockey team is predicted to win the Big Ten regular season championship, per a poll of league coaches announced yesterday. Six Gophers are preseason All-Big Ten selections. Jimmy Snuggerud and Luke Mittelstadt are first teamers; Bryce Brodzinski, Mike Koster and Justen Close second teamers, and Ryan Chesley is an honorable mention choice.

No telecast of the Wild’s preseason opening game (start time 7 p.m.) in Dallas tonight against the Stars but KFAN has radio play-by-play. 100.3 FM.

Twins president Dave St. Peter talking about upcoming playoff games at Target Field: “We expect to sell out postseason games.”

St. Peter enjoys attending games at tradition-laden college football venues and on November 18 (after the World Series) plans to be in Knoxville to watch Tennessee against Georgia.

Not often in their history have the Twins made an offseason minor league free agent signing that turned out better than their late 2022 acquisition of Willi Castro. His versatility playing in the outfield and infield, timely hitting and base running (leads the team with 32 stolen bases) has been a factor in the Twins winning the AL Central Division.

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Communist China Can Boast about Wolves Player

Posted on August 20, 2023August 20, 2023 by David Shama

The Timberwolves will have five players participating in the FIBA World Cup that begins play this week. From a political perspective, the name jumping out is Kyle Anderson who has become a Chinese citizen and is expected to play for China’s national team starting Saturday against Serbia in the Philippines.

Anthony Edwards will play for the United States, Karl-Anthony Towns for the Dominican Republic, Rudy Gobert for France, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker for Canada. But Anderson has chosen Communist China—America’s No. 1 adversary and a nation with a long-term ambition to achieve global dominance.

But why?

Anderson is 29 and has nine years of NBA experience. He was born in New Jersey and attended college at UCLA, and he has been intrigued by China for a while. His maternal great grandfather was Chinese and family history is important to Anderson who visited the country a few years ago with his mother where they met relatives.

Using the connection with his great grandfather, Anderson was eligible to become a Chinese citizen and represent that nation on its FIBA team. He has adopted the name Li Kai’er.

U.S. law allows for dual citizenship. It’s not clear whether Anderson is renouncing his American citizenship but that seems unlikely with his lucrative NBA career. Giving up American citizenship is generally considered irrevocable and could cause issues with entry back into the United States. Anderson will earn $9.2 million playing in the NBA next season, per ESPN.com, while players reportedly earn a pittance competing for the FIBA World Cup.

What Anderson has done seems disrespectful at worst, and naïve at best. The Chinese Communist Party and its propagandists will utilize Anderson’s basketball participation and citizenship to its advantage. The party knows how to use sports to enhance its image and take the focus off its abuses including human rights, biological threats, spying and corporate theft in America, military armament, intimidation of Taiwan, and support of despots at home and internationally.

A former NBA authority, speaking anonymously to Sports Headliners about Anderson’s alliance with China, described it as a “horrible idea for his future.” How Anderson will be perceived by some Americans in the years ahead will include his confirmed loyalty to China by becoming a citizen in that tyrannical country.

The authority suggested Anderson’s China connection could become a distraction as he plays out the remainder of his career. NBA teams and locker rooms don’t need distractions and franchises have choices as to who fits on their teams. “Those considerations are on top (in addition) of talent,” the former insider said.

The source isn’t suggesting Anderson will be blacklisted but his Chinese connection is now part of who he is and will “hang over him.” The public and employers have a right to wonder how Anderson might be manipulated and used by a mega adversary of the free world.

The NBA and China have long held a business relationship. The large Chinese market has been a target for the league’s development of fans and revenues. But always lurking in the background, the authority said, is the realization of what the Chinese Communist Party is and represents.

Anderson was acquired by the Timberwolves last summer in a free agent signing. Playing mostly as a key reserve, the 6-6 small forward averaged 9.4 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists. He is known for his all-around skills, unselfish play and being a good teammate.

Anderson’s profile now, though, includes more than basketball and he apparently is enthused with his citizenship decision. “Hello, fans in China, this is Li Kai’er. I’m so happy to announce I will be representing China in the World Cup. Really proud and honored to wear the Team China jersey,” Anderson said in a video posted on his Weibo account.

Timberwolves leadership didn’t respond to interview requests by Sports Headliners. In today’s individual rights environment NBA players have considerable freedom to do as they please during the offseason.

Worth Noting

Ivan Pace, the promising Vikings free agent rookie linebacker is only 5-foot-10, and must prove his pass defense abilities, but he is impressive in the preseason. He was responsible for play calls in last night’s game with the Titans.

Not only do the Vikings stay at the Omni Vikings Lakes during training camp but so, too, do the Titans and Cardinals when they are in Eagan this month for joint practices. The hotel is part of the Vikings Lakes complex that includes the TCO Performance Center which is still considered state-of-the-art in the NFL.

Jack Gibbens, the former Gophers linebacker who started two games for the Titans last year, got the nickname “doctor” from his head coach Mike Vrabel. Why did Gibbens get that tag last year as a rookie? He’s “Dr. Gibby” because he is smart.

The August 31 Minnesota-Nebraska game at Huntington Bank Stadium (capacity 50,805) will sell out soon. The Gophers figure to be about a seven-point favorite against the Cornhuskers.

Stillwater-based Creative Charters has sold out its travel inventory for the Gophers game at North Carolina next month.

Byron Buxton, out of the Twins lineup with a right hamstring strain since August 1, still has a chance at playing in 100 games—something he has done one time in his nine-year career. He has been in 85 games and, if healthy, figures to play in most games when he soon returns.

MLB.com points out this morning that the Twins, with a 13.1 FanGraphs WAR, have the best starting pitching rotation in the majors. WAR means wins above replacement.

The Twins announced today they have switched right-handed relievers on the roster, sending Jordan Balazovic to the Saints and bringing up Oliver Ortega from St. Paul.

Minnesotan Eric Curry starts his 25^th year of basketball officiating this fall and again plans to work games in the Pac-12, Mountain West and Big Ten. His wife Kelly, a former top assistant on Lindsay Whalen’s staff with the Gophers, is out of coaching and working in business.

Minnesota Wild forward Matt Boldy, with a sponsor’s exemption, will play in the PGA Canada CRMC Championship at Cragun’s Resort August 31-September 3. The course is one of two at the popular Brainerd area resort renovated by Minnesota golf legend Tom Lehman.

Hannah Boraas, headed to Montana State after leading Alexandria to the 2023 Class AAA state golf tournament title, is a protégé of former Gopher men’s coach John Means.

Da Beauty League, the summer hockey league that features NHL and NCAA players at Braemar Arena in Edina, has its semi-finals Monday night and championship game Wednesday.

The Bloomington-based CORES lunch programs featuring prominent speakers, mostly from Minnesota sports, is seeking new leadership to continue. Anyone interested in learning more about the volunteer-based organization should email Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans.

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