Wild – Page 74 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Ex-U Coach Not Big Donald Sterling Fan

Posted on April 28, 2014April 28, 2014 by David Shama

Former Gophers basketball coach Bill Fitch worked for Clippers owner Donald Sterling who is in the national news because of an inflammatory audio recording that surfaced on the TMZ website.

The NBA is investigating the recording to determine if the racist remarks are the voice of Sterling. The recording has caused an uproar, even drawing comment from President Barack Obama, and has made Sterling a bigger story than his Clippers who are trying to win a first round playoff series against the Warriors. “I can’t believe he would ever say anything racial,” Fitch told Sports Headliners yesterday.

Fitch was the Clippers coach from 1994-1998. “It (the recording) didn’t sound like him but I haven’t talked to him for about 20 years,” Fitch said.

Sterling, whose age is reported at 80 or 81, has long been a controversial business and sports figure with a team of lawyers to represent him. Fitch once sued Sterling for money he claimed was owed him. “I am definitely not one of his biggest fans,” Fitch said.

When Fitch coached the Clippers Sterling’s team had many African-American players. The general manager at that time, Elgin Baylor, is African-American. “I’ve got nothing good to say about the guy (Sterling) because of other things (issues) but I never heard him make any racial remarks,” Fitch said.

Ironically, the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was scheduled to present Sterling with a lifetime achievement award on May 15 but over the weekend discontinued that plan.

Fitch was the Gophers head coach from 1968-1970. He left Minnesota to coach the NBA expansion Cavaliers and began a pro career with five franchises that included winning the 1981 NBA championship with the Celtics.

While coaching the Cavaliers in Cleveland he met Flip Saunders who was a Cavs ball boy. After Saunders played point guard for the Gophers he tried out for the NBA. “I cut him twice,” Fitch recalled.

Now Saunders, the Timberwolves president of basketball operations, is searching for a head coach to replace Rick Adelman. Fitch said one of his former assistants, Rex Kalamian, will be a “damn good” head coach some day. He brought up Kalamian’s name when asked about the Timberwolves vacancy.

Kalamian is an assistant now with the Thunder. “I started him out as a film coach,” said Fitch who is retired from coaching and living in Texas.

Worth Noting

Washburn running back Jeff Jones, who is a star recruit in the Gophers 2014 incoming freshmen class, earned his best ACT score earlier this month. Jones is working to improve his GPA at Washburn and combined with his qualifying ACT score the goal is to earn academic acceptance to Minnesota in June.

Nathan MacKinnon, the 18-year-old forward who had three points in the Avalanche’s 4-3 overtime win over the Wild on Saturday night, played at Shattuck-St. Mary’s prep school in Faribault from 2009-2011. Other hockey alumni from the school include Wild forwards Erik Haula (2008-2009) and Zach Parise (2000-2002).

The Wild faces elimination tonight at the Xcel Energy Center with the Avs leading the best of seven series 3-2. The last three games have been decided by one goal.

The Wild will practice this morning in preparation for tonight’s 8 p.m. game.

Minnesota’s game on Saturday night with the Avs from Denver had a 11.2 household rating, second highest ever for the Wild on Fox Sports North. Last Thursday’s game in Saint Paul had a best-ever 12.7.

Former Twin Justin Morneau is apparently benefitting from the high altitude in Denver where baseballs carry greater distances than in other MLB cities. Morneau is hitting .364 with 3 home runs and 12 RBI in 11 games at Coors Field. Overall his numbers in 24 games this season are a .356 average, 5 home runs and 19 RBI, among the better stats in major league baseball.

Morneau’s production with the Twins was never the same after he suffered a concussion during the 2010 season. Joe Mauer, who has Morneau’s old Twins job at first base after switching over from catcher, had a concussion late last season and is off to a poor start at the plate with a .267 average, 1 home run and 5 RBI.

Canterbury Park doesn’t open for live racing until May 16 but the Shakopee racetrack is the only facility in Minnesota where fans can wager on Friday’s Kentucky Oaks and Saturday’s Kentucky Derby races. California Chrome will be the derby favorite. Sports Illustrated reported in its April 28 issue California Chrome was once an $8,000.00 horse but now has received “offers for as much as $6 million for a 51% (ownership) stake.”

The Minnesota Chapter of the National Football Foundation will have its seventh annual Minnesota Football Honors Awards event Sunday evening at the Hilton Minneapolis. The Vikings will present 2013 player of the year awards. Winners are Adrian Peterson, offense; Chad Greenway, defense; and Cordarrelle Patterson, special teams. The team’s Rookie of the Year will be announced. John Sullivan will be recognized as Community Man of the Year.

Eight high school football players will be honored for academic excellence, outstanding leadership and commitment to their communities: Andrew Blake, Pine City High School linebacker; Brett Brenden, Rothsay running back and linebacker; Bronson Bruneau, Lakeville North long snapper and tight end; Jack Dummer, Edina cornerback and strong safety; Tobias Knight, Washburn outside linebacker and fullback; Josh Sitarz, Totino-Grace linebacker; Michael Strand, Barnesville running back, defensive back and punt returner; and Austin Swenson, Spring Lake Park quarterback.

Other awards to be presented:

Bob Stein College Scholar-Athlete Award – J.D. Mehlhorn

Bobby Bell Impact Player of the Year Award – Ra’Shede Hageman

Courage Award – Peter Westerhaus

Distinguished Minnesotan Award – Tom Moe

Fred Zamberletti Award – Chuck Barta

John Gagliardi Football Legacy Award – George Wemeier

Murray Warmath Legendary Team Award – 1964 Concordia-Moorhead Cobbers

Outstanding Cheerleader Award – Christina Gekas Taylor

Sid Hartman Media Award – Michele Tafoya

The awards event is presented by the Vikings and open to the public. Tickets can be purchased online by visiting Nffmn.org.

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Love’s Input Likely on Next Wolves Coach

Posted on April 25, 2014April 25, 2014 by David Shama

Glen Taylor told Sports Headliners yesterday he’s likely to seek All-Star Kevin Love‘s opinion before he hires the next Timberwolves coach. That conversation, Taylor said, could happen when he and president of basketball operations Flip Saunders narrow the search to a couple of candidates.

“I think you go out and talk to a number of people and get their input. I think Kevin would be one of those people,” Taylor said. “Does he know anything about this coach? Does he have a relationship? Has he heard anything good about him? Bad about him? Does he have any concerns? I don’t think you rely on that as your sole decision (maker) but I think it’s part of taking that player’s input who is very important to your future.”

Head coach Rick Adelman resigned this week, and Taylor and Saunders will lead the search for a successor. Taylor regards Love, his 25-year-old power forward, as the “key to building the team…so you want to have his input.”

Love averaged 26.1 points and 12.5 rebounds this past season, placing him in the company of the NBA’s most statistically productive players in recent decades. His contract allows him to leave the team a year from this summer as an unrestricted free agent.

Taylor knows having Love’s buy-in on the new coach can make the young superstar feel involved. Love’s approval of a coach could also make it more difficult for him to leave Minneapolis for another team in 2015.

Taylor said Love’s enthusiasm for a candidate—or his hesitation—can influence the search but at the end of the process the owner and Saunders will make the decision. “For example, if Kevin liked somebody really well but you didn’t feel that person could bring the best out of Kevin, I wouldn’t go ahead with it (the hire),” Taylor said.

Love joined the team as a rookie in 2008 and during his six seasons the Wolves have never made the playoffs. “Yes, it’s very important that we do better next year than this year and I think that would have some influence upon any decision Kevin would make,” Taylor said while adding that circumstances such as a major injury to Love would probably give the team’s leader a full perspective on the season.

Taylor admires Love as a player and person. Love has not only been a leader on the court but helped the franchise in efforts with fans and sponsors. Taylor has also noticed how Love relates to Taylor’s grandchildren at home games.

“He gives them a good smile and a pat on the head, and all those little nice things that I think are hard for anybody to make up. I think you do it from your heart and I think Kevin has just a very nice heart.”

Taylor believes his youthful roster of players, including Love, can improve. That’s why he lists ability to teach and improve player skills at the top of his criteria for a new coach. Right there too is the need to improve team defense on a club that is impressive offensively.

What about rapport with the players? “I certainly need a person they respect,” Taylor said. “That’s why we probably will start our group of people that we look at (with) people that have a track record.”

Taylor has told Saunders to make the candidate pool very inclusive but preference at least initially is likely to be for candidates with head coaching experience, not assistants. College head coaches will be considered.

Worth Noting

Taylor on the relationship between Saunders and Love: “I know that the two of them meet quite often and have lunch together. I am under the impression that they have a very good relationship, but I am a third party here.”

Adelman, who retired to spend more time with family, will be used as a consultant on the search to find his successor as Wolves head coach. During the next year Adelman will also advise the team about rival NBA players.

It will be interesting to see if the Avalanche can score goals when the Avs and Wild resume their playoff series, tied at 2-2, in Denver tomorrow night. After winning the first two games in the series in Denver by scoring nine goals, the Avs managed only one goal in two games this week in Minnesota.

Wild forward Mikael Granlund, 22 and in only his second NHL season, has emerged as a clutch performer with his defense and timely overtime goal in game three. Granlund has a history of coming through in international games including this year’s Olympics playing for Finland. He tied for third in Olympics scoring and made the All-Tournament Team.

A hockey source said the two Wild playoff games this week at Xcel Energy Center totaled about $1.8 million in gross revenues for the franchise, including ticket receipts, suites, advertising and concessions. That’s another reason why the franchise leaders are happy to have a third playoff game at home against the Avs next Monday.

If the Wild advance to the second round of the playoffs, home revenues per game are likely to be over $2 million.

When Wild owner Craig Leipold is in the Twin Cities he and his wife Helen live in their apartment at the Saint Paul Hotel. The Leipolds are residents of Racine, Wisconsin.

Local author and motivational speaker Ross Bernstein is president of the Herb Brooks Foundation. Bernstein, who has authored books about the legendary former coach, is a passionate hockey fan and among the organizations he has addressed are Detroit Red Wings employees. “They do more with less,” Bernstein said. “They’ve been to 23 straight playoffs.”

Former Gophers quarterback Adam Weber, expected to join Saskatchewan of the CFL this spring, will be part of a Roughriders roster that includes his former Minnesota teammate Troy Stoudermire, a defensive back.

The Vikings preseason night game on Thursday, August 28 at Tennessee will be played about the same time as the Gophers nonconference evening opener against Eastern Illinois at TCF Bank Stadium.

Football fan Steve Nestor e-mailed that ESPN draft expert Todd McShay has been praising ex-Gophers defensive back Brock Vereen. Nestor wrote that McShay said on ESPN2 on Tuesday Vereen will be a “steal” in the third round.

The annual Miller Lite Vikings Draft Party will be at the Minneapolis Convention Center on Thursday, May 8, begins at 5:30 p.m. and continues until the first round ends. General admission tickets are $10 and can be purchased at Vkings.com/drafttickets. Season ticket holders receive one free ticket for every season ticket – limit 4 per account – while supplies last. The event will include NFL Network coverage of the first round, interactive games and autographs from current and former Vikings.

New Gophers women’s basketball coach Marlene Stollings announced today the hiring of Nikita Dawkins. A 23-year coaching veteran, Dawkins worked for Stollings at VCU and with the Gophers will be an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.

When Duke freshman forward Jabari Parker declared for the NBA Draft earlier this month, it further set the stage for Apple Valley High School point guard Tyus Jones to play a major role with the Blue Devils next season. If Jones establishes himself among the elite college players next season, it wouldn’t be surprising if he entered the NBA Draft next spring.

Dave Mona e-mailed that ticket sales are on “record pace” for the fifth annual Camden’s Concert on Wednesday, July 30 at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. The concert features the Wright Brothers who have appeared at the Minnesota State Fair. Camden’s Concert is named after Dave and Linda Mona’s six-year-old grandson Camden Mona, and the event raises money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Ticket information is available by calling the Hopkins Center for the Arts, 952-979-1111.

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Mike Yeo, Wild Notch Down the Heat

Posted on April 23, 2014April 23, 2014 by David Shama

Mike Yeo and his players energized their supporters with an overtime win on Monday night at Xcel Energy Center against the Avalanche. Tomorrow evening Minnesota can tie the series at 2-2 with another win at home.

The opener last week in Colorado was an opportunity to not only earn a 1-0 lead in the best of seven series but also put pressure on a young Avs team featuring flashy 18-year-old forward Nathan MacKinnon and 21-year-old captain Gabriel Landeskog. Instead, the Wild lost a more than winnable 5-4 overtime game, and then followed up with a disappointing performance and 4-2 loss in game two.

Monday night’s win did more than make the series 2-1 in favor of the Avs. The victory made it possible to place more pressure on the youthful Avs (seven players born in 1991 or later). Sending the series back to Colorado tied at 2-2 will mean momentum for Minnesota and maybe an Avalanche ready to fall.

That’s what the Wild needs for a franchise that has competed in the Stanley Cup Playoffs just five times and advanced beyond the opening round once. Moving on to the second round of the playoffs may be needed for Yeo, the team’s third year coach, to save his job. The talk about his uncertain status just doesn’t go away.

Yeo was reportedly in jeopardy during the season but the team played effectively enough to make the playoffs for a second consecutive season. He guided a team that had to use five different goalies this season, no minimal assignment for any coach. “It’s amazing they’ve done as well as they have,” a supportive source close to the team said on Monday night.

Still, Yeo was faulted by another source who criticized the coach for sometimes staying with a player longer than he should. Yeo is known as a player’s coach but the argument is loyalty can sometimes go too far.

A coach can make mistakes but even his best strategies, teaching lessons and locker room psychology can only accomplish so much. Yeo’s predecessor, Todd Richards, was fired for not winning enough games but now he’s earning praise in Columbus where the Blue Jackets are making a rare playoff appearance and finding some success.

The Wild, who played with new defensive energy on Monday night, struggle with goal scoring and penalty killing. They have just seven goals in the first three games with the Avs. On Monday evening it took 46 shots on Colorado goalie Semyon Varlamov before the Wild scored a goal on Mikael Granlund’s big overtime shot.

A press box observer watched the game and thought about how the Wild have to become better offensively next season. Job one in the offseason could be signing former Gopher Thomas Vanek who plays for Montreal. He makes his home in the Twin Cities east metro, not all that many miles from the Xcel Energy Center.

But there will be time later for sportswriters and perhaps the Wild to think about Vanek, a potential 30 goal scorer and unrestricted free agent this offseason. For tomorrow night at least the Wild will take just one goal if goalie Darcy Kuemper can again shutout the Avs.

Worth Noting

StubHub website offers tickets in a price range of $94.40 to $501.01 for tomorrow night’s Wild-Avs game at Xcel Energy Center.

Pioneer Press scoop sports columnist Charley Walters retires from full-time work at the end of May but will continue with the newspaper as a part-time employee writing Sunday columns only.

When the Gophers football team plays at TCU on September 13, they could be facing quarterback Matt Joeckel. He was Johnny Manziel’s backup at Texas A&M last season but because he has his undergraduate degree he can transfer to TCU as a senior and have one year of eligibility.

The Minnesota Fellowship of Christian Athletes will present Joe Ehrmann’s “InSideOut Coaching Seminar” on Sunday in the DQ Room at TCF Bank Stadium. He is a former defensive lineman and captain for the Baltimore Colts. He also has career experiences as a football coach, author, national speaker and minister.

On Sunday Ehrmann will address several hundred Minnesota coaches. His message will be about the powerful impact coaches have on players and the opportunity to exert that influence with positive, values-based methods.

Seminar sponsors are Manchester Companies, MKS and TCF Bank. More information about the event is available from Minnesotafca.org.

Gophers basketball coach Richard Pitino lists the following “unofficial” award winners for last season on his Gophersports.com blog: Team MVP, DeAndre Mathieu; Most Improved: Mo Walker; Best Defender, Austin Hollins; Hardest Worker, Austin Hollins; Best Attitude, Maverick Ahanmisi; Sacrifice Award, Oto Osenieks; Best Moment, Austin Hollins 3-pointer vs. SMU in the NIT Championship game.

Last season was Pitino’s first as Gophers coach. He wrote on the blog “his favorite moment” was walking up the stairs to the court at Williams Arena. “It gives me goosebumps every time.”

Pitino’s contract stipulates his base salary will be reviewed each year, and annually on May 1 he is to be awarded an increase of no less than five percent. His current salary is $500,000. He also earns supplemental compensation of $700,000 for various activities including endorsements, fundraising and media work. Speculation is Pitino may receive a $300,000 salary increase.

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor told Sports Headliners recently that if he had known Kevin Love would become the player he is, the All-Star forward probably would have been given a five-year contract in 2012. Instead, Love signed a four-year deal allowing him to become a unrestricted free agent after next season.

“He can still get the money one way or another (on his next contract),” Taylor said. “He doesn’t lose anything from that by coming back and renegotiating with us. He can get all of his money. We’re the one (franchise) that can pay him the most.”

Here’s a suggestion that likely would improve the Wolves next season, particularly defensively. Make Gorgui Dieng the starting center and send Nikola Pekovic to the bench. Let the two players divide minutes each game with Pekovic, a skilled low post offensive scorer, filling a valuable “sixth man” role off the bench. The move might help the frequently injured Pekovic stay healthy and play in more games.

As a rookie last season, despite minimal playing time, Dieng became a team leader in rebounds and blocked shots. He was the NBA’s Rookie of the Month in March when his outstanding games included 22 points and 21 rebounds against the Rockets.

The Wolves have four selections in the NBA Draft on June 26. Based on their 40-42 regular season record, the Wolves currently have the No. 13 selection in the first round with a 0.6% chance of attaining the first overall pick. The final order of this year’s draft will be determined at the NBA Draft Lottery on May 20.

The Wolves will also have three second-round picks at No. 40, 44 and 53.

Wayne Kostroski, the local restaurant owner who co-founded Taste of the NFL, has a passion for music. He and other members of the CIRCUS band are reuniting for one night this Saturday at the Medina Entertainment Center for a show dedicated to 1970s music. More at MedinaEntertainment.com.

Taste of the NFL, a Twin Cities-based non-profit organization dedicated to reducing hunger in America, has raised over $15 million for local and national food banks. Proceeds for the concert on Saturday benefit Water for People, an international organization dedicated to improving and preserving drinking water.

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