David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Wolves Can Adjust on James Harden

Posted on April 17, 2018April 17, 2018 by David Shama

A Tuesday notes column with predictions on the Wolves and Wild, plus voices in support of youth football, items on MLB and the Twins, and more.

An NBA authority with decades of experience in the league has suggestions on how the Timberwolves can defend the Rockets’ James Harden who scorched them for 44 points on 15 of 26 shooting including 7 of 12 three pointers in his team’s Game One playoff win Sunday night.

“First thing I’d do is pick up full court (defensively on the Rockets)—not to steal the ball but to use up clock,” said the source who didn’t want his name identified.

The strategy is to take time off the 24-second shot clock, perhaps forcing the Rockets to use eight seconds or so to move the ball into the front court while eliminating time for Harden and the Rockets to set up their offense, including extra ball movement or dribbling. “He’s a hell of a player and great shooter,” the authority said of Harden who led the NBA in points per game during the regular season at 30.4.

Another suggestion is overplaying Harden to either his right or left, forcing him to move in the direction determined by the Wolves defender. As a strategy, other Wolves defenders stay alert to helping on Harden and with two men on him the superstar point guard may give up the ball to teammates or force a difficult shot. The source said this can also eliminate fouling and sending Harden to the free throw line (nine attempts, seven made, most of any player Sunday).

The Rockets had the best regular season record in the NBA, while the Wolves qualified in the last game for the eighth and final playoff position in the Western Conference. Although there is minimal optimism about the Wolves’ chances against Houston, the Sports Headliners source thinks the best of seven series could go to the final game with the Rockets winning.

“They’re (the Wolves) better than their season record. …They have good young talent and are well coached,” the source said.

A Wild win tonight at home against the Jets evens the series at 2-2. A hockey source, who before the playoffs predicted Minnesota will lose in six games, described tonight’s matchup as a “momentum game.” A Wild win could mean Minnesota goes seven games against the Jets but a loss puts the team down 3-1 in the series and headed back to Winnipeg for Friday night’s game.

Give the Wild credit for showing fight Sunday night at the Xcel Energy Center. Not only was Minnesota down 2-0 in the series but fell behind 1-0 in the game. “The Jets tried to play physical but the Wild didn’t back down,” said the source.

The most interesting angle tonight could be if Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck—after being pulled during Sunday night’s 6-2 loss—plays with confidence. That was his first ever road playoff game.

The Wild probably generated $2 million or more from revenues at Sunday night’s home game, and projects to do the same tonight.

Bob Motzko (photo courtesy of Minnesota Athletic Communications)

Bob Motzko, named the Golden Gophers’ new hockey coach in late March, hasn’t announced who will be on his staff. He will do the “Let’s Play Hockey” call tonight before the Wild-Jets game.

There were legislative initiatives earlier this year in the states of Illinois and New York that would ban tackle football for children younger than 12—citing concerns over head injuries. From Hollywood to Hoboken, much has been said and written about the dangers of head injuries from football, a sport under attack in America.

Supporters, though, point to information showing other activities, including cheerleading, have caused more head injuries among youth. They also talk about the virtues and lessons learned from what many educators regard as the ultimate team sport.

The Minnesota Football Coaches Association and Minnesota State High School League are promoting an event May 5 at Mounds View High School called the Minnesota Football Summit. The purpose is to “develop a plan for short and long range action steps to benefit youth and high school participants and programs throughout Minnesota.” Youth and prep football coaches, and athletic directors, are encouraged to attend. More at Mnfootballcoaches.com.

Former Viking and St. Paul native Matt Birk, now a consultant for the NFL, told Sports Headliners that the Illinois and New York initiatives have failed. He believes “states can find bigger things they can focus on.” He speaks from experiences in high school, college and the pros when supporting his sport.

“Football is such a great game,” Birk said. “It has so much to offer young people. We don’t need to make any apologies.

“Of course we’re always going to try to make it better and safer. …I think it’s just fine for the most part the way it is. We need to make sure people know that the reason why you play football is because it’s great for the overall development of kids. You can learn a lot of things that will serve you well for the rest of your life.”

Birk has a nine-year-old son who played tackle football for the first time last fall. “He had a great time. He loves football. He loves being out there with his friends.”

Birk said his eight-year-old son asks almost every day if he can play football when he turns nine. The answer will be yes because Birk sees it as his responsibility to encourage kids to participate in activities they are enthusiastic about.

The NFL promotes co-ed flag football programs for ages 9-10 and 11-12, and 13-14 for boys, and 13-14 for girls. “Anything that gets kids involved with football is great,” Birk said. “There should be options for kids. If you want to play flag, they can play flag. If you want to play tackle, play tackle. …We have an obesity epidemic in this country. If kids want to do stuff, then gosh dang, we should find a way for them to do it.”

Birk said it would have been nice to see Case Keenum rewarded with a new and richer contract for his role in last season’s success, but the Vikings obviously identified new quarterback Kirk Cousins as an upgrade “which he may be.” The Vikings have a window of opportunity with a talented roster. “It seems like everything is there,” Birk said. “Kind of going all in right now to push for a Super Bowl run.”

A sports industry source was told the Twins, as the host team in the two-game Puerto Rico series against the Indians that starts tonight, are guaranteed by MLB the sum of their average Target Field game revenues. That figure could be about $1.3 million per game in Minneapolis, or for two games against the Indians in San Juan a total of $2.6 million, plus expenses.

Look for MLB to improve its April scheduling next year with northern teams likely to have fewer home dates the first two weeks of the month. Half of MLB’s 30 teams are either located in warm weather cities, or have domes.

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Gopher AD Makes Impact on Staff

Posted on April 15, 2018April 15, 2018 by David Shama

It will be two years ago next month that University of Minnesota president Eric Kaler hired Mark Coyle away from Syracuse to be the Golden Gophers Athletic Director. During his time at Minnesota Coyle has hired several new coaches including in the high profile sports of football, men’s hockey and women’s basketball.

The latest appointment is that of Lindsay Whalen to head the women’s basketball program, even though she has no previous coaching experience. Earlier this spring Coyle hired Bob Motzko as men’s hockey coach and in January of 2017 selected P.J. Fleck to lead the football team.

Mark Coyle (photo courtesy of Minnesota Athletic Communications)

It’s evident that when Coyle considers staff hires he places an emphasis on coaches with high potential to recruit skilled student-athletes. Coyle does so with good reason because there’s no doubt football and men’s hockey are significant businesses at the U, and women’s basketball could some day become the first women’s program in the Athletic Department to be profitable.

Coyle knows without talented recruits the Gophers can’t dream of and chase championships in the high profile and revenue producing sports that also includes his men’s basketball program. “No mule ever won the Kentucky Derby,” former Gopher national championship football coach Murray Warmath used to say about the importance of talent.

Whalen, 35, is young enough to relate to high school players and has the platform of still playing for the WNBA champion Lynx. As a recruiter, the competitive Whalen should be able to get into living rooms and make recruiting pitches to outstanding prospects that her U coaching predecessors could only fantasize about.

“Want to some day play women’s pro basketball?” Whalen can ask. “Well, I can show you how to get there.”

The Whalen resume sparkles with accomplishments including leading the Gophers as a player to the 2004 women’s Final Four and becoming one of the WNBA’s best point guards and consistent winners. It’s this kind of background that has Minnesotans enthralled and intrigued by what awaits the Gopher women’s program.

Among those watching is Jerry Noyce, the former Big Ten championship Gopher tennis coach and Minneapolis area business leader, and a man whose name was pushed at least twice to become Minnesota’s athletic director including as successor to the infamous Norwood Teague who resigned in 2015.

“I would not be surprised if Minnesota women’s basketball is able to compete on a very high level—with UConn, Notre Dame, Stanford and all of those teams,” Noyce said. “I would think that she (Whalen) will be able to up the recruiting even more (than it has been). Get more really top players…and I just think she’s going to build a culture of accomplishment that’s going to play well against anybody in the nation.”

Recruiting successfully starts in the state of Minnesota where Marlene Stollings, Whalen’s predecessor, drew criticism. “The next coach needs to make home state relationships and recruiting the first priority!,” a Minneapolis area educator wrote via
email to Sports Headliners after Stollings left for Texas Tech. In his view Stollings didn’t follow that advice and he believes any Gopher women’s basketball coach who effectively recruits even just the metro area will “build a real nice team.”

With the 37-year-old Fleck—the second youngest head coach in college football—Coyle has a skilled recruiter at using social media and TV to build awareness of himself and his program. Fleck understands the culture and speaks the language of teenagers. Coyle knew that when he hired the energetic coach away from Western Michigan where his success prompted reviews from the New York Times and Sports Illustrated.

In late December Fleck announced his 2018 recruiting class, the first group he and his staff had almost a full year to target. The Gophers publicists called the 2018 class the highest ranked ever for Minnesota in the Internet era.

At 57, Motzko is old enough to be Fleck’s, or Whalen’s dad. That doesn’t mean he isn’t expected to recruit with passion and bring blue chip players to Dinkytown. Motzko spent 13 seasons building St. Cloud State into a nationally prominent program and along the way developed recruiting savvy and relationships including with state of Minnesota prep coaches.

Gopher hockey is tradition-rich and the state is loaded with talented high schoolers, but Minnesota hasn’t won a national title since 2003. This year the Gophers didn’t even qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Coyle and everyone else knows Minnesota can do much better.

“This should be a top four program nationally,” said a college hockey authority who asked that his name not be used. “It’s the best job in the country to recruit to.”

If Coyle is spot-on in his coaching hires of Motzko, Whalen and Fleck, the Gophers are on their way to better days on the ice, court and field because of upgrades in their athletes.

Worth Noting

Just speculation but it might be the only way five-star basketball recruit Matthew Hurt from Rochester John Marshall will end up as a Gopher in 2019 is if Minnesota coach Richard Pitino could convince Hurt’s father, Richard, to join his staff as an assistant coach. Richard has been active in high school and AAU coaching for years, and also groomed his son Michael, a Gopher junior next season. Pitino has a staff opening with the departure of another Minnesota native, Ben Johnson to Xavier.

Look for the Timberwolves to alternate Jimmy Butler, Andrew Wiggins and perhaps others in guarding James Harden tonight. The Wolves, in the postseason for the first time since 2004, open the playoffs in Houston against a Rockets team with the NBA’s best regular season record, and led by Harden who averages over 30 points per game and is a favorite for the MVP Award.

The Wolves’ final regular season game last week on Fox Sports North Plus was the highest-rated ever for the NBA team on the regional sports network, generating a 7.5 household rating in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. In this market, 17,300 households represent one rating point. The peak rating during Wednesday night’s game at Target Center was 13.1—meaning over 226,000 households watched the dramatic finish of the Wolves’ win that earned the eighth and final playoff position in the Western Conference. (The previous record rating was 6.5 on April 14, 2004.)

For the season, the Wolves had a 2.6 average household rating on Fox Sports, a 78 percent increase in viewership over 2016-2017, and the highest since 2011-12.

Glen Mason on the Big Ten Network replay of the Gopher spring football game talking about Tyler Johnson who had two touchdown catches: “He’s as good as any wide receiver in the Big Ten.”

Quoting an email from former Gopher football player Jim Brunzell about his impressions of the game: “This team, barring injuries, should be much improved from last year’s squad!”

The Gophers, 5-7 last year, open their season August 30 at home against New Mexico State. The U won’t have the Vikings playing their final preseason game a couple of miles away at U.S. Bank Stadium, as happened in 2017 for the Gophers’ first game. The Vikings will be at Tennessee on August 30 as they close their exhibition season.

Maybe a planner in the Twins’ promotional department was clairvoyant about this spring’s wintry start. Yesterday’s snowstorm cancelled Minnesota’s home game with the White Sox where the first 10,000 fans in attendance were to receive a free Plaid Flap Cap.

The Gopher Big Ten champion baseball teams of 1968-69-70 will have a reunion on May 11-12 with social gatherings planned. Players from those teams will be introduced before the May 12 home game against Michigan State at Siebert Field. Gregg Wong, who was the public address announcer and official scorer for the teams, and Stew Thornley, the bat boy years ago, have also been invited to participate in the celebration.

Minnesota hockey legend Neal Broten will sign memorabilia including hockey cards and sticks (for various fees) on Saturday from noon to 2 p.m. as part of the Triple Crown Sports Collectibles show at Southtown Center in Bloomington. Show hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Tickets are available for the August 2 Camden’s Concert at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. Jimmy Fortune, the former tenor of the Statler Brothers, is the guest artist for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation benefit named after Dave and Linda Mona’s grandson. The previous eight concerts raised almost $500,000, according to the Facebook page for Camden’s Concert.

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Ex-Gophers Help Kids At-Risk

Posted on April 12, 2018April 12, 2018 by David Shama

When Mark Sheffert attends tonight’s 25th Anniversary Gala in Minneapolis for the Bolder Options youth mentoring organization, his mind could flash back to not so pleasant childhood memories.

Sheffert, 70, spent his early years in Nebraska before moving to Minnesota and then playing football for a short time with the Gophers before an injury ended participation. He has been a prominent businessman for decades in Minneapolis. As head of Manchester Companies he is a nationally known advisor in financial, strategic, leadership and governance issues that challenge companies experiencing change, and even crisis.

Through the years Sheffert has served on 56 boards for businesses and nonprofits including the Bolder Options organization that mentors boys and girls ages 10-14 in Minneapolis, St. Paul and Rochester. As board chair for Bolder Options, he sees an organization that stirs his emotions and memories.

“We lived on welfare in Lincoln, Nebraska so I know what it’s like to be poor,” Sheffert said. “I know what it’s like to have kids make fun of you when you’re poor. It’s probably why I am as tough as I am.”

Bolder Options, under the direction for more than two decades of Gopher football great Darrell Thompson, has served over 1,400 youth including those referred to the organization for school truancy or court ordered issues—boys and girls who can benefit from one-on-one mentoring and services such as academic and wellness counseling. Volunteer mentors (including Adam Thielen from the Vikings) engage with mentees weekly for two to four hours for a whole year. The Bolder Options staff provides academic, health and leadership development for youngsters, some of whom are at risk of joining gangs.

Sheffert has long realized that without the attention of caring adults, kids can make bad decisions that ruin their lives. Years ago he started a local organization called Partnering for Youth. “There was a burning part of my gut that said I need to do something to help kids—(the idea) that we could influence kids who were in their early teens, or earlier than that even,” he said.

While growing up Sheffert was fortunate, despite the family’s poverty, to have a mom and dad who provided him and his siblings with a moral compass. “They kept our feet to the fire,” he said.

But assistance in how to choose between right and wrong is not so readily available for many youth, and that was on Sheffert’s mind when he started his nonprofit. “Our mission was to attempt to instill a conscience in kids so that they knew the difference between right and wrong. …If they have a conscience, they will have confidence. If they have confidence and a conscience they are going to be okay in life, and they’ll make good decisions.”

Sheffert’s nonprofit made strides during its 18 months of existence but he also learned about Bolder Options from Ezell Jones, another former Gopher football player and a friend of Thompson’s. They all realized the work and goals of Bolder Options and Sheffert’s organization were so similar it made sense to merge the two.

The merger that took place a few years ago “kept things from duplicating” and provided more resources to Bolder Options. “There are already too many charities out there chasing too few dollars,” Sheffert said.

Sheffert knew and liked Thompson prior to the organizations merging. During Sheffert’s four years as Bolder Options Board Chairman his admiration for Thompson has increased, and he refers to the 50-year-old Rochester native as a leader with great passion for at-risk kids. It’s been a productive partnership between the two men with Thompson thankful for lessons learned from Sheffert involving strategy, leadership and relationships.

As a youngster Thompson’s parents nurtured him in caring for others and making a difference in the world. Certainly Thompson has helped do all that at Bolder Options where he has become part of people’s lives even beyond the official mentoring experience the organization provides. There have been invitations to birthday parties, graduation events and even years later news from those who went through the Bolder Options program and now have their own families. “That piece is really a big deal,” Thompson said.

Thompson said that in 2017 the one year completion rate of youth participating in the Bolder Options program was 75 percent. He compared that with a national average of 50 percent for all mentoring organizations. He is also proud “90 percent” of those mentored by his nonprofit choose to continue with Bolder Options beyond their first year.

What Thompson has seen in his 23 years with Bolder Options is that it’s not just youth, but also families who are impacted. He told the story of a woman whose child was in the mentoring program and that allowed her to take a step back and evaluate her life including her bipolar disorder. She went on to earn a college degree and works for Homeland Security. “She learned that she should never give up, and she wants people to know that,” Thompson said.

The gala tonight is sponsored by Sheffert’s Manchester Companies and over 400 people are expected to attend the 25 year celebration that has targeted a fundraising goal of $200,000 to help with Bolder’s annual budget of $1.4 million. Some of the revenues will come from a silent auction that includes a “summer house party” with Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck and a golf foursome hosted by Thielen.

Part of the agenda tonight will include presentation of the Bolder Options 2018 Alan and Diane Page Legacy Mentoring Award to WCCO Radio’s Dave Lee. Thompson is also pleased that there will be an announcement his organization has created a new alumni coordinator position as part of his small staff.

The gala audience will see a video telling the Bolder Options story, and they will hear from a woman who will talk about how the organization impacted her life as a youngster. Her four to six minute talk will surely be among the most inspiring moments of the evening.

The tribute will remind Thompson, his staff, Sheffert and other board members about what an influence Bolder Options can have on the lives of those it serves. “I believe in what I do,” Thompson said.

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