Wild – Page 50 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Vikings’ Cook Looks Like ‘Mr. Breakout’

Posted on July 14, 2019July 14, 2019 by David Shama

Enjoy a Sunday notes column that leads off with Vikings third-year running back Dalvin Cook.

Do the simplest search of Cook’s name on Google and see the word “breakout” come up on your screen. Anticipation is prevalent that the sometimes injured Cook will be healthy and rank near the top among NFL comeback players in 2019.

The Vikings made it clear during spring practices their new assistant coaches will have the offense prioritizing running the football next season. No one is more important to achieving that goal than Cook who as a rookie in 2017 ran for 354 yards in his first four games before injuring his left knee and missing the rest of the season.

Last season he wasn’t always healthy but managed to play in 11 games, starting 10 and rushing for 615 yards, averaging an impressive 4.8 yards per carry. That is the kind of production the Vikings expected when they selected the former Florida State running back in the early second round of the 2017 NFL Draft.

The Vikings will open training camp later this month with high expectations from the explosive runner if he is healthy. He can be one of the NFL’s better rushers and balance an offense that starts with expensive quarterback Kirk Cousins and two of the league’s best receivers in Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen. “…We expect Dalvin, the way he’s looked and if he can stay healthy, to have a big breakout season this year,” Vikings general manager Rick Spielman told Sports Headliners.

The Vikings have even changed their blocking scheme to more effectively blend the pass and run. “There’s no doubt about with what we’re doing offensively (emphasis on running), he’s going to get a lot of opportunity in the games,” Spielman said.

Backing up Cook could be rookie Alexander Mattison, a third round draft selection from Boise State who had consecutive 1,000-plus yard seasons for the Broncos. At 5-11, 220-pounds, he is powerfully built, and Spielman is excited about the rookie.

“He’s one of those guys, when you have to run the clock out, he has the ability to get extra yards after contact, keep the chains moving,” Spielman said. “But the thing that I think that surprised me a little bit was how well he caught the ball out of the backfield and how quickly he has picked up pass protection. …”

Tre Jones, the Duke sophomore point guard who played at Apple Valley, is the No. 8 college basketball player in the country for next season, per Andy Katz. The college basketball authority listed his top 25 players Friday on NCAA.com. Michigan State guard Cassius Winston ranked No. 1, while no Golden Gophers made the top 25 or a list of 15 honorable mention players that included Minnesota native McKinley Wright, who will be a junior guard at Colorado in the fall.

It would be an odd development but not unprecedented if New York Mets starter Zack Wheeler switches uniforms to the Twins this week. The Mets open a two-game Interleague series with the Twins on Tuesday and Minnesota is searching for trades to bolster the pitching staff. Wheeler is 6-6 this season, with 130 strikeouts in 119 innings.

Giants starting ace Madison Bumgarner’s name is linked to the Twins and other clubs regarding a possible July trade. The July 15 issue of Sports Illustrated points out the Giants, who already are out of contention to win the NL West Division, also have trade chips in bullpen pitchers with strong resumes—Sam Dyson, Will Smith and Tony Watson.

Sports Illustrated’s Joe Sheehan, writing in the current issue, refers to the surprising Twins “as real” after a pre-All-Star Game Break performance that had them leading the majors in home runs and taking first place in the AL Central. “They simply have more talent than the second-place Indians and will win their first division title in nine years,” Sheehan said.

Any chance 36-year-old Joe Mauer, in his first season of retirement, will contemplate a comeback next year? “No, I am good,” he told Sports Headliners.

What words would the former Twins great want on his tombstone? “Well, that’s a great question. A good person, and obviously I love to compete, and I love to play baseball. Just a good person, a good teammate and a good family man.”

Wild left wing Jason Zucker talking about next season: “I think a 30 goal season is something that I not only look forward to but something I know I can do. So that’s definitely where I am at.”

Zucker had 33 goals during the 2017-18 season, the only time he has scored 30 or more. The 27-year-old has spent his eight year NHL career with the Wild and his name has been rumored in trade talks. Zucker said the positive about that is other teams apparently want him, but he loves being part of this community.

Vikings single game digital tickets go on sale to the general public starting at 10 a.m. Thursday. Preseason ($20 and up) and regular season ($62 or more) tickets are available online only via Ticketmaster.

University of Iowa football single game tickets also go on sale Thursday, with $80 the cost to see the Gopher game in Iowa City on November 16. Among Iowa’s seven home games, that is the highest single game price except for Penn State at $95. (Youth tickets are $25 for all Hawkeye home games.)

Comments Welcome

City Fighter Seeks Bigger Spotlight

Posted on June 25, 2019June 25, 2019 by David Shama

Jamal James of Minneapolis is the No. 5 ranked middleweight by the WBC and is positioned for more notoriety. He headlines the July 13 pro boxing card at the historic Minneapolis Armory that will include nationally-televised bouts.

James, 25-1, fights Mexico’s Antonio DeMarco, 33-7-1, in a 10-round bout that will be seen on FS1. James has 12 career knockouts, DeMarco, 24. DeMarco is a former world lightweight champion.

James fights in both the welterweight and middleweight divisions. His bout with DeMarco is listed as a welterweight matchup, but middleweight is where he could make an even bigger name for himself. A local boxing insider emailed this prediction about James: “…Definitely in the global conversation for a title fight.”

The middleweight division is loaded with talent including WBA title holder Manny Pacquiao, 61-7-2. He fights Keith Thurman, 29-0, next month. IBF, WBO and WBC are other organizations where James might have a path to title opportunities.

Professional boxing has found a home at the Armory and continues to generate awareness in this marketplace. The building was once the site of Minneapolis Lakers and city high school basketball games. Renovated now and being used for corporate events and entertainment, three previous boxing cards have attracted announced attendances of 3,149, 3,320 and 3,417.

Attendance of more than 3,000 is expected again in July and as of late last week 1,678 tickets had been sold. Ticket prices range from $25 to $250, with the average at $115.

Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions is the promoter for the July 13 card. PBC fights are seen on Fox and FS1, with recent cards being watched in approximately 1.5 million homes.

Boxing has been struggling for decades to regain its foothold with the American public. In the first half of the 20th century boxing was one of the most popular sports along with baseball, horse racing and college football.

Worth Noting

The Minnesota Wild’s 2019-20 regular season schedule was released today. The Wild opens the season in Nashville on October 3, the first of three straight road games. Minnesota has its home opener on October12, hosting the Pittsburgh Penguins at Xcel Energy Center. The Wild plays 17 of its first 26 games of the season on the road (October 3 thru November 30). The nine home games in October and November are the fewest in franchise history.

Charlie Danielson, the 25-year-old Osceola, Wisconsin native accepted a sponsor exemption into the 3M Open today. The Illinois alum and 2016 Big Ten Player of the Year recently qualified for the U.S. Open. The new PGA Tournament begins next week at TCP Twin Cities in Blaine.

The Twins, who split four games on the road with the Royals in their most recent series, hold the No. 3 spot in yesterday’s Yahoo.com power rankings of MLB teams, trailing the No. 1 ranked Dodgers and No. 2 Yankees.

Cbssports.com dropped the Twins from No. 2 to No. 3 in its rankings that came out yesterday. The Yankees are first, the Dodgers second.

The Twins, who start a home series tonight against the Rays, are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing by displaying a full-sized statue of Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 spacesuit at Target Field. The statue is accessible to all fans, and is located outside the Bat & Barrel entrance on the Delta SKY360° Club level.

A Forbes.com June 11 article lists the top 100 wealthiest athletes in the world, with $25 million the cutoff figure to be ranked. Lionel Messi, with $127 million in earnings in the last 12 months, leads the list. He is followed in the top 10 by Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Canelo Alvarez, Roger Federer, Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers, LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant. The top three in earnings are all soccer players, followed by boxer Alvarez.

The Timberwolves’ Andrew Wiggins is No. 91 with a reported $26.1 million in pay. He is the only Minnesota athlete to make the list.

Romain Metanire, the Minnesota United defender who will play in the July 31 MLS All-Star Game in Orlando, reportedly earns $305,000 in base salary, according to multiple news sources.

The United has seven of its next 10 matches in St. Paul at the much acclaimed Allianz Field that includes the Brew Hall with its many local beers. Unlike soccer venues in Europe, fans fan consume beer in the seating areas at Allianz.

Ex-Gophers Amir Coffey and Jordan Murphy will have tryouts respectively with the NBA’s Clippers and Timberwolves. They could eventually play in the NBA’s development league. During the 2018-19 season, players with G League contracts earned base salaries of $7,000, or $35,000 for five months.

Prior Lake five-star forward Dawson Garcia continues to attract impressive scholarship offers, with news yesterday Kansas hopes he will be part of its 2020 recruiting class.

Gophers’ football marketers are trying to improve ticket sales in 2019 after last season’s announced average attendance of 37,914 for seven home games. That figure was reportedly the lowest since 1992. Season tickets in 2019 are offered for as low as $35 per game. Mini-plans starting at $60 (three games) went on sale yesterday.

Comments Welcome

Timberwolves, Wild Need Draft Buzz

Posted on June 20, 2019June 23, 2019 by David Shama

The Timberwolves and Wild need to stir up excitement amongst their fan-bases during the next three days.

The Wolves have the No. 11 and No. 43 selections in Thursday’s NBA Draft that consists of two rounds. The Wild has eight selections, including the No. 12 overall, in the seven-round NHL Entry Draft that starts Friday evening and concludes Saturday.

Neither franchise made the playoffs last spring. Fan outlooks right now for next season can probably be fairly characterized as “ho-hum.”

A Twin Cities sports marketing authority, who didn’t want his name identified, has heard both the Wild and Wolves have concerns about season ticket renewals and new sales. The Wild needs box office buzz and hopes to obtain it in the free agent market this summer. NHL franchises, including the Wild, are more dependent on gate receipts than the NBA with its larger TV revenues. The Wolves have a superstar and ticket draw in All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns, but need more stellar personnel to become a factor in the talent-heavy NBA Western Conference.

The Wolves, according to the marketing authority, are interested in moving up in the draft and could offer the gifted but so far under-achieving Andrew Wiggins, who has played his first four NBA seasons in Minnesota but is still only 24 years old. Interestingly, this week Nbadraft.net’s mock draft had the Wolves using both their draft choices on small forwards, the same position Wiggins plays.

The website’s speculation Minnesota will draft North Carolina’s Nassir Little and Oregon’s Louis King could fit in with conjecture about parting with Wiggins. Taking Little and King would also make sense if the Wolves choose to play the 6-foot-8 Wiggins exclusively at shooting guard next season. The position switch could take advantage of his height against smaller defenders—posting up, or easily shooting over them.

This will be the Wolves’ first draft directed by new president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas. He is expected to shape and direct the organization in a strong manner, and there certainly could be major reshuffling of not only the roster but support positions, too.

This week Wild general manager Paul Fenton leads his second draft for Minnesota. The expectation is the Wild will be determined to add goal scorers in the draft and free agent market in the coming days and weeks, although there is some thought Minnesota might use its first draft choice on goalie Spencer Knight, a Connecticut native.

The club has many needs but probably should prioritize goal scorers in the draft who can contribute within a couple of years. Ideally, whoever Minnesota selects in the first round will cause some anticipation among fans who know fortunes can change quickly in the NHL—most commonly within a couple of years, but perhaps sooner.

That was substantiated dramatically by the Blues this year, who went from being one of the NHL’s worst teams to Stanley Cup champs within a matter of months.

Worth Noting

The Wild will hold a development camp for draft choices and other prospects in the organization from June 25-28 at its practice facility in downtown St. Paul. The June 25 and 27 practices (start at 9:20 a.m.) are open to the public with free admission at the TRIA Rink at Treasure Island Center.

Tom Reid’s Hockey City Pub in St. Paul is the Wild’s official viewing party location for the draft on Friday night. NBC Sports Network televises the first round beginning at 7 p.m.

Minnesota hockey legend Lou Nanne said yesterday on Dan Barreiro’s KFAN Radio show he would be cautious about trading Wild forward Jason Zucker, who he predicts will score 25 to 35 goals next season.

Sports Headliners is told Mike Modano, the retired NHL star who has joined the Wild as an executive advisor, is assisting the franchise with ticket and sponsorship sales.

The Timberwolves host a free draft party tonight from 6 to 9 p.m. at Cargo inside Target Center. Josh Okogie, last year’s No. 1 draft choice, is scheduled to attend. ESPN will televise the draft.

Canterbury Park holds its Mystic Lake Derby on Saturday, offering a $200,000 purse that is the largest of the season. The field includes filly Spectralight who was bred in Ireland and has raced exclusively in Italy, but is based now at Canterbury Park.

Former Golden Gopher great Bobby Bell, the two-time All-American tackle on Minnesota’s only Rose Bowl teams, turned 79 on Monday.

The average base player salary is $345,867 in soccer’s MLS, according to the Major League Soccer Players Association.

Comments Welcome