David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Dalvin Cook Predictions Coming in

Posted on May 30, 2017May 30, 2017 by David Shama

It’s only spring and the Vikings are going through early practices, but expectations have already arrived for rookie running back Dalvin Cook. Anticipation among fans and media has been present since the Vikings moved up in April’s NFL Draft to select the former Florida State All-American in the second round, but a couple things said recently are newsworthy.

Vikings college scout and veteran front office authority Scott Studwell made a prediction last week about the 21-year-old who will compete to replace Adrian Peterson as the team’s starting running back. “He’s going to play early and he’s going to play a lot,” Studwell told Sports Headliners. “We’ll see how it all shakes out.”

If there is a guru among pro football writers, it’s Sports Illustrated’s Peter King. He had his own projection about Cook last week. He wrote online that by Halloween the 5-10, 210-pound Cook will be one of the NFL’s five best running backs. King also said the Vikings need a renewed running game and Cook—along with veteran Latavius Murray—can provide the answer.

Dalvin Cook (photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings)

The Vikings ranked last in NFL rushing last season at 75.3 yards per game. Studwell said the Vikings must commit to running the ball and Cook can be a major contributor. “Hopefully he’ll loosen up the box a little bit. He’ll put pressure on defenses. He’s got big play potential and that’s what we were missing.”

Studwell studied Cook on tape before the Vikings made him their highest drafted running back since they took Stanford’s Toby Gerhart in the second round in 2010.

“He is an exceptional athlete,” Studwell said about Cook. “He can do everything. He catches it extremely well. He’s got great feet, he’s got really good eyes. He plays probably faster than he times. He’s got game speed. He’s got exceptional inside run ability. He’s pretty much the entire package.”

A history of off-field problems and injuries gave teams pause in drafting Cook who could have been a first round choice but instead was the ninth player chosen in the second round. Now he has a new start in the pros. “(For) anybody’s general impression, he’s just a good guy,” said fellow rookie Eric Wilson.

Wilson is a linebacker, and playing on the other side of the ball has given him an opportunity to watch Cook. “His quickness is hard to come by,” Wilson said. (With) his vision, he’s able to make cuts that a lot of people just can’t make. That’s going to take him a long way as long as he stays in the playbook.”

Maybe Cook’s rookie season will draw comparisons to Peterson’s 2007 debut when he rushed for an NFC best 1,341 yards. That effort, combined with Chester Taylor’s running, allowed the Vikings to set a team rushing record of 2,634 yards as Minnesota ranked No. 1 in NFL rushing offense. Cook, Murray and the Vikings have no where to go but up.

Worth Noting

Tre Jones, the elite prep point guard from Apple Valley High School, suffered a top ankle sprain last week and is on crutches. “He needs time to heal but nothing is broken,” said his cousin Al Nuness.

Jones was playing in California for his Minnesota team that competes in the Nike EYBL when injured. The culmination of the EYBL schedule comes at the Peach Jam July 12-16 in South Carolina and Nuness said that figures to be a target date for Jones’ return, if not sooner.

The Twins have the first pick in the June 12 first-year player draft but don’t expect that player to be on the big league roster this year. The only first round pick ever to play for the Twins in his first season as a pro was pitcher Eddie Bane who made his big league debut July 4, 1973 at Met Stadium with no time spent in the minors.

The Twins probably could draw a near capacity crowd at Target field if they showcased their No. 1 this year. The club is hoping to draw 2 million fans and top last season’s attendance of 1,963,912 million, the lowest ever in seven years at Target Field.

If Mike Zimmer’s eye struggles were to sideline him for an indefinite period it’s a decent guess general manager Rick Spielman will designate offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur as interim head coach. Shurmur has NFL head coaching experience—2011 and 2012 with the Browns, and 2015 as interim boss with the Eagles. He was promoted by Zimmer last fall from tight ends coach to offensive coordinator when Norv Turner left the team.

Schurmur and wife Jennifer entered their bulldog Penny in Canterbury Park’s fourth annual Running of the Bulldogs yesterday at Canterbury Park. Penny didn’t emerge as a winning dog in one of the racetrack’s more popular just for fun promotions that also include annual Corgi and Weiner dog races.

Ex-Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi will have the University of Minnesota Sports Pavilion named for him at a yet to be determined event this fall. Maturi retired in 2012. His career highlights included the building of TCF Bank Stadium and a deep commitment to gender equity.

It was 15 years ago last week that legendary Gophers athlete and athletic director Paul Giel died unexpectedly from a heart attack. Giel, an All-American at Minnesota in baseball and football, had a varied career that also included being sports director at WCCO Radio.

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Gopher DNA Deep in Dick Mattson

Posted on May 25, 2017August 3, 2017 by David Shama

Dick Mattson lived for Gophers football. The Gophers were the only football team in town to “Matts.” Mention the Vikings and he might snort, or cuss. Bring up the Gophers and passion stirred in his mind, body, and soul.

Lou Holtz was reviving Gophers football to a place of greatness in the mid-1980s. The Metrodome was rocking when Holtz’s team took the field on Saturdays. Mattson contributed to the crowd’s frenzy by running onto the field waving a hockey stick over his head, encouraging the craziness in the stands.

Mattson spent 48 years with the Gophers equipment staff, including 32 seasons heading operations for the football program. Family and friends said goodbye to him yesterday at his funeral. He died last week at age 73, his body giving in to liver and kidney failure.

Mattson was a high school senior in Benson, Minnesota in 1961 when Gophers coach Murray Warmath came to the western part of the state. Mattson, who was an athletics student manager in high school, told the coach he wanted to perform those duties when he came to the University of Minnesota in the fall of 1961.

That’s how Mattson started his long tenure at the U. He arrived in the glory years of Gophers football. The 1960 team had won the national championship and the 1961 team would be headed to a 1962 Rose Bowl win over UCLA. Mattson, though, didn’t make the trip to Pasadena because freshmen managers weren’t allowed to travel. That turned out to be a lifelong regret for him.

He revered Warmath who coached the Gophers from 1954-1971. Mattson would refer to him as the “old man” but it was always respectfully. Warmath was a hard-nosed coach who preached discipline and Mattson was a disciple.

Former Gopher Jim Brunzell remembered the coach and Mattson in an email: “Matts was a real character. He was straight-up, no mincing words with him. He…took on Murray’s traits and attitudes. Be tough—don’t bitch—don’t give up—and respect one another.”

When Mattson encountered a reporter, he set that strong jaw of his and told you exactly what he thought. He probably was chomping on his trademark pipe while looking through his oversized glasses. He let you know where things stood in the Gophers football world.

Mattson made the right impression early on in the football program. Two years after arriving at the U as a freshman he became assistant equipment manager to the legendary Milt Holmgren. Mattson didn’t have his degree in 1963 and never did graduate from college, but he now had a career path. “School was not his thing,” his son Keith Mattson told Sports Headliners.

The Gophers and managing equipment needs was his thing. So, too, was relating with and sometimes mentoring the people around him in an environment of long hours, physical work and intense emotions.

“U of M Athletics was a calling to him, and dedicating his time for 48 years being there for the athletes made him happy,” Keith wrote on Facebook. “I don’t think there is a profession out there where you can be a part of so many young people’s lives as they grow to be adults.”

George Adzick, another former Gopher football player, recalled the impact Mattson had on him, including doing things the right way. “Nobody wanted to disappoint Dick Mattson. You came in as a freshman and he kept a close eye on you to make sure you didn’t go wayward. He had a classic football orientation to do things the right way. He was somewhere in between an assistant coach and the equipment manager.

“That’s how much respect you had for him. Once you came to terms with him, and he believed in you, he was loyal for life.”

Last year Mattson was battling cancer when word came the University wanted to honor him at the “M” Club’s Hall of Fame ceremony. He told Keith he wasn’t sure if he would die before the big day last fall when he was to receive the “M” Club’s Distinguished Service Award in honor of his contributions to Gopher athletics.

Mattson suggested his son might need to represent him. “You’re going to be there,” Keith told him.

Mattson listened and Keith thinks the motivation of receiving the honor kept his father alive longer than he otherwise would have. At the Hall of Fame gathering Mattson told the audience they didn’t know “how much it means” to be recognized.

“It meant the world to him,” Keith said. “It kind of solidified his place in Gophers history, although he would never ask for it (the award).”

Keith travelled with his dad when he met collegiate equipment managers from various parts of the country. People would ask Mattson for advice. “They called him the mentor,” Keith remembered.

Mattson, though, would caution his colleagues to not tell Keith about his episodes as a party man. Mattson liked to drink and eventually became a recovering alcoholic. He didn’t want anyone telling his son about the partying.

“He paid for his sins, as he would tell you,” Keith said.

No doubt Matts is in heaven this week toasting the Golden Gophers with a non-alcoholic beverage of his choice.

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Wolves Owner to Find Answers Soon

Posted on May 23, 2017May 23, 2017 by David Shama

Glen Taylor will get some answers this week in a series of meetings with his basketball staff headed by president and coach Tom Thibodeau and general manager Scott Layden. The Timberwolves owner told Sports Headliners last Friday these will be the first face-to-face meetings for evaluating the team’s 31-51 season that ended April 12 without reaching the playoffs for a 13th consecutive year.

“We just thought we should just leave it go for a few weeks,” Taylor said about waiting until now to meet. “We have times set up to kind of talk about in-depth (on) our team, and our draft (NBA Draft June 22).”

Taylor has written input already from Thibodeau about last season, including evaluation of players and off-season expectations for them. Despite a talented corps of young players led by 21-year-old center Karl-Anthony Towns who averaged 25.1 points per game, the Wolves won only two more games than the previous season. Thibodeau, in his first season coaching the Wolves, had the first losing record of his six-year NBA career.

Glen Taylor (photo courtesy of Minnesota Timberwolves).

Taylor formed his own thoughts by following the team all season and from the written evaluations from the basketball staff, but he has no final determinations yet why his club was a major disappointment. “No, I don’t think I came to a conclusion yet. Otherwise, I would tell you,” said Taylor who wasn’t happy with the 31-51 record and was surprised by it.

Taylor remains confident in his franchise’s basketball leadership. Although Taylor wants to win and break the playoff drought, he isn’t encouraging rash thinking or panic. He doesn’t want to make the wrong off-season moves such as a very risky trade, or highly questionable transaction at next month’s NBA Draft where the Wolves have the No. 7 first round pick.

“You can always say we gotta get a better player, but who?” Taylor asked. “And do they fit in with the long range plan? So I am going to reserve that a little bit (change).

“I am not against if we need to make some changes…but gosh, I mean we got some good guys with some potential. I don’t want to just give up on them too early.”

Taylor compares his team with others in the NBA and likes what he sees for the future, including hopes for several years of success. “Even though we only won two more games, there were so many games that we were in and close to. There was even a time toward the end of the season that looked like we could get into the playoffs, the eighth position. So I don’t think it’s that far of a distance to get there.

“I don’t see why…we shouldn’t be able to be one of the teams that gets into the playoffs (next season). I think we have the potential. I think we have the players to do that. There were so many games this year that we could have won, that it isn’t that far away. Where the year before… I don’t think there was so much of an opportunity to win.

“You know the games I am talking about, the games where we were ahead by 20 points, or the games we played for three quarters that we were the better team, and then we just sort of folded in the fourth quarter when they (other teams) put the pressure on.”

The Wolves lost 22 of 46 games in which they built 10 point leads or more. That was more than any other team in the NBA. The club also lost 13 of its final 16 games.

“For whatever reasons we had lapses during games that are hard for me to understand,” Taylor said.

When asked about positives to the season, Taylor spoke about Towns and point guard Ricky Rubio. Towns, in his second NBA season, broke the franchise single season scoring record with 2,061 points, and deserved All-NBA recognition in the opinion of some observers. Rubio, the six-year point guard long criticized for his shooting, stepped up his scoring in the second half of the season and averaged career highs in points per game at 11.1 and field goal percentage making .402 of his shots. He had 25 double-doubles, with 23 of them coming in the final 45 games.

“…If he can build upon that, boy, that makes a huge difference to us and how we can play offensively,” Taylor said.

Worth Noting

New Gophers football coach P.J. Fleck is in a suburban Minneapolis house just a few doors away from Minnesota basketball coach Richard Pitino.

Maybe Vikings coach Mike Zimmer can get the best possible birthday present on June 5. He turns 61 that day, and isn’t coaching right now while recovering from his eighth eye surgery. A healthy prognosis from doctors in early June would be celebration news.

As the Vikings go through practices between now and the end of next month, it will be interesting to track the progress of several long shots to make the team. Among the most intriguing is Moritz Bohringer who the Vikings drafted in the sixth round in 2016. A gifted athlete who has only been playing American football since 2013, the wide receiver came to the Vikings directly from his native Germany. Bohringer was on the practice team last year and still faces a steep learning curve.

The 28th annual Bruce Smith Golf Classic will be June 19 at Faribault Golf Club. The fundraising event benefits Faribault schools and honors Bruce Smith, the Faribault native who won the 1941 Heisman Trophy playing for the Gophers. More information is available by calling Bruce Krinke at 507 384-7968.

Challenges and solutions to making youth football a better experience, including the enhancement of safety, will be discussed at a free event starting at 9 a.m. June 24 at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Minnesota Youth Football Summit will include a panel of high school coaches and keynote speakers Joe Ehrmann and Dr. Uza Samadani.

Ehrmann is a former NFL defensive lineman known for his lessons from athletics. Dr. Samadani is the leader of the nation’s largest youth concussion study. More information, including online registration, is available at myas.org/football.

Bryant Pfeiffer, who for 10 years was with the MLS league office, has joined Minnesota United FC as senior vice president, sales & strategy. Prior to working with the MLS, Pfeiffer was employed by the Lynx and Timberwolves.

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