David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

U Football Revenue Tops Last Year

Posted on October 5, 2017October 5, 2017 by David Shama

The Gophers have already surpassed last year’s total for football ticket revenue, according to numbers provided Sports Headliners by the University of Minnesota Athletic Department.

A department spokesman reported via email “about $10.75 million in football ticket revenue” has been generated, approximately $3,000 more than the total for the entire seven-game home schedule in 2016. The $10.75 million figure was provided late last month after Minnesota’s first two home games this season. The total includes public and student season ticket revenues and single game sales for all seven home games in 2017.

It’s anticipated that no additional 2017 public season tickets will be sold because three home games have already been played. However, the student season ticket sales campaign started much later than the public sale this year and, according to athletic department spokesman Jake Ricker, more student sales are likely. Also, many more individual game tickets and resulting revenue will be generated in the days and weeks ahead.

None of the Gophers remaining games are sellouts, but capacity crowds are a possibility for the November 11 and 25 games with Nebraska and Wisconsin. Those rivalries are considered premium priced games and they attract thousands of Cornhuskers and Badgers ticket buyers. For the Nebraska game, prices start at $90 and go up to $235, while the range for Wisconsin is $80 to $210.

“We anticipate hundreds of thousands of additional dollars in football ticket revenue …over (last) year by the time this season concludes,” Ricker wrote in an email.

The Gophers had only one premium game (Iowa) last season. While the Nebraska and Wisconsin tickets are pricey, the Gophers did some price reduction from 2016 on early season home games this year, according to Ricker. He also said the cost for season tickets remained the same in 2017 as last year, with the athletic department nixing a long-planned increase in scholarship seating donations.

Although it’s apparent there is curiosity and interest among ticket buyers in new coach P.J. Fleck, the Gophers have been several thousand tickets short of selling out any of their first three games in TCF Bank Stadium.

The athletic department sold 21,985 public season tickets in 2017, 566 fewer than last year. Ricker said a larger base of season tickets partially carried over from 2015 into 2016 than was in place this year. However, the U sold 1,713 new public season tickets this year, compared with 776 in 2016. The total of new accounts is 688 versus 285 in 2016.

Student ticket sales for this year are at 5,964, down about 1,000 from 2016, but a few hundred more tickets could be sold.

Worth Noting

If the Twins dismiss Paul Molitor as manager—or ask him to make changes with his staff—Brad Mills might be a name to watch in Minnesota. The 60-year-old former Astros manager coaches for the Indians where he is highly regarded. He presumably is friends with Derek Falvey, the Twins baseball boss who was with the Cleveland organization until last fall.

After Tuesday night’s wild card loss to the Yankees, the Twins finished 0-4 in games this year at Yankee Stadium. For the season the Twins were 2-5 against New York and Minnesota also had losing records against other superior teams including the Astros, Indians and Red Sox.

Despite having four of five starters in their 30s, the Lynx brought the energy to win last night’s Game Five against the Sparks, earning the Minnesota franchise its fourth WNBA title in seven years. The 12-woman roster has five players with 11 years or more of professional experience. The titles are rewarding for a core group of players who have been together for years, and owner Glen Taylor whose other pro team, the Timberwolves, haven’t made the playoffs since 2004.

The NBA general managers’ survey was announced yesterday on NBA.com. The Timberwolves and Karl-Anthony Towns did well but a year ago the same experts predicted Minnesota’s Kris Dunn would be the league’s Rookie of the Year. This year 69 percent of the votes forecast the Wolves to be the NBA’s most improved team, while Towns was voted the player GMs most want if starting a franchise. He was also voted the league’s best center and most likely to have a breakout season.

Twelve former players from the WCHA are on NHL opening night rosters this fall including Minnesota State Mankato alums and forwards David Backes and Tyler Pitlick, who are with the Bruins and Stars respectively.

The Wild open tonight against the Red Wings in their new home, Little Caesars Arena, where Stubhub.com was listing tickets last night for over $990 each.

Case Keenum said this morning he doesn’t know if he or Sam Bradford will start at quarterback for the Vikings in Monday night’s game against the Bears.

Purdue has been promoting tickets starting at $10 for Saturday’s home game with the Gophers.

Gophers quarterback Conor Rhoda has rushed only nine times in four games for his 3-1 team. He mostly hands the ball to a running back on option plays and that’s with the approval of Fleck who is concerned that Rhoda stay healthy, playing a position where Minnesota has no one in reserve who has starting experience. Fleck said the mission is to “keep him (Rhoda) healthy, continue to get him to distribute the ball and continue to develop the other quarterbacks behind him.”

Those quarterbacks on the depth chart include true freshman Tanner Morgan who enrolled at Minnesota after the first of the year. A finalist for the prep Mr. Football Award in Kentucky as a senior last year, he passed for over 10,000 career yards in high school. “I think he’s getting a lot better,” Fleck said about the young quarterback who he wants to redshirt this season.

Rhoda has also been impressed with Morgan. “I’ve been around a lot of guys who have come in here as 17 year olds, leaving high school early and (I) know how difficult that can be. He’s grown so much just as a person since he got here, but so much as a player as well.

“I really think the sky’s the limit for him. He’s an incredibly intelligent person off the field and on the field. As long as he keeps working the way he’s working, who knows what he’s going to be able to do.”

The Gophers were among the national leaders in targeting penalties last fall, but not in 2017. Through four games Minnesota is the least overall penalized team in the Big Ten with 16 infractions. “I think we’re a very disciplined football team,” Fleck said.

The Gophers are about 14 months out from the basketball game they committed to playing in U.S. Bank Stadium in December of 2018. An announcement about their opponent has been anticipated for awhile and that could be indicative of not being able to secure a high profile team.

Free advice to the Gophers: schedule an annual nonconference game with either Iowa State or Northern Iowa. The Cyclones likely would have to be home-and-home but perhaps the Panthers would be willing to play at Williams Arena two out of every three years.

The 1982 Minnesota State University Moorhead cross country team, led by All-Americans Randy Goblirsch of Redwood Falls and Keith Haverland from Farmington, will be inducted into the school’s sports Hall of Fame on Friday. The Dragons won conference and district titles, before going on to finish 7th at the national meet. Gophers senior associate athletics director Marc Ryan was also a member of the team but missed the 1982 season because of mononucleosis.

Ryan was saddened this week over the death of music legend Tom Petty, who he saw perform at 25 concerts, in 12 different venues across six states. Most recently Ryan watched Petty in late June at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Comments Welcome

Twins Win Tonight Won’t Surprise

Posted on October 3, 2017October 3, 2017 by David Shama

A Tuesday notes column, with analysis and reporting on the Twins, Vikings and Gophers.

The Twins have been surprising both supporters and critics all season. They could do more of that tonight in their American League Wild Card game against the Yankees in New York.

While fans and oddsmakers understandably dwell on the Yankees superior overall personnel, few will argue the underdog can win in a one-game playoff to determine who advances in the postseason. For that to happen tonight, the Twins most probable path to victory is a dominant performance by starting pitcher Ervin Santana.

Close to ideal will be six or seven innings from Santana, with him yielding a run or two at most. Twins hitters need to produce at least a few runs in the game’s early or middle innings. What Minnesota wants to avoid is playing from behind and facing the Yankees superb bullpen.

Look for the Twins to strategically be prepared. This season it seems like the organization has improved its advance scouting including the use of metrics. Maybe that hasn’t translated into more victories during the regular season against the Yankees (New York was 4-2 versus Minnesota) but it could pay off tonight. There are so many subtleties in baseball that might impact the outcome of a game. Things like how to position fielders, or strategic pitching to a batter with two strikes.

This Twins team has told the baseball world all season “don’t sleep on us.” Critics buried them before the season started and during the summer when the club’s decision makers dumped All-Star closer Brandon Kintzler on July 31. If there was a Minnesota postseason bandwagon back then it was pretty empty, but the last two months of the season the Twins played some of their best baseball.

During the month of August the Twins were 20-10 and hit .280 as a team. The overall ERA was 3.78. The club had some big wins in September too but was 0-3 against the Yankees. Last Sunday the Twins finished a turnaround year where they won 26 games more, and lost 26 fewer, than in 2016.

The Twins made believers out of their fans and media. Whatever happens tonight is another positive in a successful year. And if you’re looking for a good omen consider this, the 1987 World Series champion Twins went 85-77 during the regular season, just like the 2017 club.

Mike Zimmer is in his fourth season as head coach of the Vikings and the ultimate goal is to play in next February’s Minneapolis Super Bowl. The odds are against that happening because of injuries to quarterback Sam Bradford and running back Dalvin Cook that are limiting the Vikings offense, but it would be ironic if Zimmer could win the Super Bowl like his mentor Bill Parcells did in his fourth season as Giants head coach.

The Giants won the 1986 Super Bowl, defeating the Broncos. Later when Parcells was coaching the Cowboys, Zimmer was his defensive coordinator. He worked four seasons for Parcells who usually texts the Vikings head coach after games.

“I have a book…of things he told me to remember as a head coach,” Zimmer said. “He talked a lot about field position. He talked about doing your job the right way, preparation and making players accountable and things like that.”

The Vikings are 2-2 after four games and their record characterizes the parity of the NFL. After four weeks the 4-0 Chiefs are the league’s only undefeated team. The opportunities most immediately ahead for the Vikings are winning in Chicago next Monday night against an inferior 1-3 Bears team, and then playing consecutive home games against the Packers and Ravens before visiting London and facing one of the league’s worst teams, the Browns.

No definitive news on whether Bradford’s troublesome knee allows him to play against the Bears after missing the last three games. Bradford excels under pressure from defenses, even setting an NFL single season record for completion percentage (71.6) last season despite playing behind a leaky offensive line. Profootballfocus.com reports that backup Case Keenum was “4-of-11 for 63 yards while under pressure” in Minnesota’s 14-7 loss to the Lions last Sunday.

Eden Prairie coach Mike Grant told Sports Headliners yesterday that Benny Sapp III, who is out for the season because of meniscus surgery on his left knee, should be recovered by late this year, but not in time to play for the Eagles. Sapp, who has also had two ACL surgeries on the same knee, is verbally committed to the Gophers as part of their 2018 recruiting class.

The loss of Sapp, a playmaker at cornerback and receiver for Grant, is unfortunate but the 5-0 Eagles could still win the 6A state title. Among their interesting standouts is running back Solo Falaniko who rushed for 187 yards last week against Maple Grove. Falaniko missed practice time this summer when he returned to his native Samoa after the death of his grandfather.

The Gophers’ fragile path to enough wins for bowl eligibility took a hit with their loss to Maryland last Saturday. Minnesota, 3-1 and 0-1 in Big Ten games, probably can’t withstand another defeat this Saturday in a winnable game against Purdue. Here is how Sports Headliners ranks the Gophers, Boilermakers and the other 12 Big Ten football teams starting with the West Division:

1.Wisconsin (4-0, 1-0). Badgers are good but are playing Charmin-soft nonconference and league schedules.

2. Iowa (3-2, 0-2). Hawkeyes have elite defense but struggle to score against quality opponents.

3. Nebraska (3-2, 2-0). Unpredictable Cornhuskers will answer more questions at home Saturday against Wisconsin.

4. Northwestern (2-2, 0-1). The Wildcats have gone from West Division title dark horse to the Big Ten’s most disappointing team but don’t discount the possibility of a mid-season comeback.

5. Purdue (2-2, 0-1). The best new coach in the Big Ten might be Purdue’s Jeff Brohm who took over a horrible program and has impressed in losses to nationally ranked Louisville and Michigan.

6. Minnesota (3-1, 0-1). Yup, P.J. Fleck, maybe not Brohm, could prove to be the league’s best newcomer in 2017, and he can boost his resume with a win Saturday at Purdue.

7. Illinois (2-2, 0-1). Year two in the Lovie Smith coaching experiment and he receives no vote of confidence from this keyboard.

East Division

1.Michigan (4-0, 1-0). It’s Harbaugh time in Ann Arbor, with the Wolverines probably winning their first conference title under “coach Khaki” this fall.

2. Ohio State (4-1, 2-0). Yes, the Buckeyes are loaded with talent but lost a few too many players to the NFL last spring.

3. Penn State (5-0, 2-0). Defending Big Ten champs get upset at Northwestern on Saturday. (Maybe).

4. Michigan State (3-1, 1-0). The college football world knew the Spartans and feisty coach Mak Dantonio weren’t going to have another 3-9 season.

5. Maryland (3-1, 1-0)). The Terps have an athletic roster and road wins at Texas and Minnesota.

6. Indiana (2-2, 0-2). IU used to be all about offense, and now the strength is more on defense, but Hoosiers still don’t have the balance and personnel to contend in the East.

7. Rutgers (1-4, 0-2). Offensive coordinator Jerry Kill coached in the press box for the first time last Saturday but the hapless Scarlet Knights lost 56-0 to Buckeyes.

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Twins Don’t Need a Billy Martin Fiasco

Posted on October 1, 2017October 1, 2017 by David Shama

Paul Molitor will soon know if the Twins want him back as manager. If the decision is no, the news will be received with a lot of criticism and cussing from fans and media—creating the most negative response about a Twins manager change since Billy Martin was fired following the 1969 season.

Molitor is among the favorites to win the American League Manager of the Year award because he has helped his team to the postseason after the 2016 Twins were among baseball’s worst clubs with a 59-103 record. He and his staff showed their collective baseball IQ’s in guiding a group most baseball experts didn’t think had any chance of making the postseason and couldn’t even finish with a near .500 record.

Molitor and staff almost constantly, out of necessity, shuffled the pitching staff while showing patience with starters, relievers and also position players. Their leadership contributed to a team characterized by its will and perseverance. The Twins go into the final day of the regular season today with an 84-77 record and a Wild Card position entitling them to a one-game playoff on Tuesday night against the Yankees in New York.

Yet Derek Falvey and Thad Levine, the organization’s top baseball decision makers who joined the organization last fall, are choosing to wait until later this month to decide Molitor’s fate. The 61-year-old Molitor, who also led the Twins to surprising success in 2015 with an 83-79 record, has likely been bothered by the situation regarding his future, but publicly he has not complained.

The prevailing attitude among fans and media is Molitor has accomplished too much for Falvey and Levine to not renew the Minnesota native, who is the only active MLB manager who made the Hall of Fame as a player. It may be that Falvey and Levine needed to see this kind of work by Molitor in 2017 to retain him. Also, new leadership often wants “their own guy.”

Falvey and Levine have already made changes in the organization, letting go scouts and minor league manager Doug Mientkiewicz, a popular former Twins player and leader. Such moves have contributed to the anxiety of whether Molitor, a long time local hero dating back to his days at Cretin-Derham Hall and with the Gophers, returns as manager in 2018.

Dave Mona has followed the Twins since the franchise moved to Minneapolis-St. Paul from Washington D.C. in 1961. The WCCO Radio talk show host has, of course, wondered about Molitor’s future.

“At one time I was 50-50 but I am more like 90-10 right now that I think he will be back,” Mona told Sports Headliners. “There remains the chance that he won’t. It’s not a popularity contest. Obviously there was something about Doug Mientkiewicz that the new management didn’t see was consistent with the way they want to go.

“Then there have been other changes in the organization, (and) there is more rumored. These guys (Falvey and Levine) certainly have the option, without management interference, to go whatever direction they think is best for the long-term interest for the Twins.”

A decision not to retain Molitor will stir up controversy this fall and next winter. Such an announcement will not only create bad feelings among fans and media, but could cost the organization ticket sales, and impact business-to-business relationships and revenues.

The negativity, though, would diminish with time as spring training approached. If the Twins qualify for the postseason again next year, the anger and hurt over a Molitor dismissal could be all but forgotten.

Certainly the decision to not renew Molitor wouldn’t create the toxic results of the Martin termination. Martin, who had a fiery and highly publicized career as a player with the Yankees, quickly became a Minnesota fan favorite when he joined the Twins as a coach on the 1965 team that won the American League pennant.

Martin got his first MLB managing job in 1969 when the Twins hired him, and it was a move applauded by Minnesota fans. He took over a club that was 79-83 the previous season but the cocky and bold Martin was going to will and strategize the Twins to better results.

Martin led the Twins to a 97-65 record and his team won the newly formed American League West Division. Along the way he delighted fans but also alienated people including front office executive Howard Fox, a close confidant of owner Calvin Griffith.

Mona had a closer look at the Twins soap opera than most because he was the Twins beat writer for the Minneapolis Tribune. “Billy and Howard just got to the point they couldn’t even be in the same bus together,” Mona said. “The hostility between the two of them was just palpable.”

The Twins were swept in a five-game American League championship series by the Orioles. Mona recalled Griffith being irritated with Martin’s choice of a Twins starter in the series. It was probably part of a long list of grievances held by the Twins owner, who could be cranky just like Martin. The postseason decision was made to fire Martin.

Griffith didn’t anticipate the firestorm of criticism from the move. “They totally misjudged the affection that the fans had for Martin,” Mona said. “There was something in him that resonated with fans and I think he cultivated that. When they (ownership) ignored that I think fans took it personally, and felt it was a shot at them because they had made it known that they supported Billy.”

New Twins manager Bill Rigney led the Twins to a 98-64 record and another division title in 1970. The Orioles again took care of the Twins in the playoffs, winning 3-0. Twins home attendance fell by almost 90,000 to 1,261,887 in 1970, and only two more times before 1984 did annual totals exceed 1 million fans.

The Twins players who won those division titles in 1969 and 1970 deteriorated and the farm system was failing. Griffith’s teams of the 1970s were mediocre. A lot of fans remained bitter for years over the firing of Martin who ranks with the franchise’s best managers ever, a list that begins with two-time World Series winner Tom Kelly.

Molitor may not belong in that company yet, but the Twins don’t need to cut his career short in 2017. If they do, it will be the most controversial manager termination since 1969.

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