David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Glen Taylor Unsure about Signing “Big 3”

Posted on March 10, 2017March 10, 2017 by David Shama

The Timberwolves, led by a roster of players 27 years old and younger, could make the playoffs for the first time since 2004. Even casual NBA fans recognize the talent on the roster and the possibility of the team contending for championships within a few years. Part of the uncertainty, though, is whether owner Glen Taylor can keep the best players on the roster long term by signing them to richer contracts in the coming years.

Among the team’s starting players only power forward Gorgui Dieng, 27, is contractually committed to the Wolves beyond the 2018-2019 season, according to figures from Basketballreference.com. Dieng’s deal, agreed to last fall, goes through the 2020-2021 season when he is paid $17,287,640, per the website. Point guard Ricky Rubio, 26, is an unrestricted free agent after the 2019 season when he will earn $14,800,000.

The often referred to “Big 3” of the Wolves are small forward Andrew Wiggins, 22, center Karl-Anthony Towns, 21, and shooting guard Zach LaVine who turns 22 today and is sidelined after ACL surgery last month. All are working for rookie contracts and will be in line for much bigger compensation in coming years. Wiggins and LaVine are reportedly restricted free agents after next season. Towns reaches that status in 2019.

Taylor is hopeful he will be able to keep the “Big 3,” while knowing he will also have salary obligations to another dozen or so players. “I am not sure,” he told Sports Headliners earlier this week. “Is it a concern I have? It is. Do we have a full answer? No. Are we laying out some scenarios? Yes.

“But we’ve signed ‘G’ (Dieng) and we’ve signed Ricky (new deal in 2014). We need some other good guys to come off the bench. In the end, you have to figure out what’s your priority.”

Dieng and Rubio are the top paid players on the roster with $65,148,783 and $42,600,000 multiyear deals, according to Basketballreference.com. Neither of those players is considered a superstar but Wiggins, Towns and LaVine have potential to earn that description.

Glen Taylor (photo courtesy of Minnesota Timberwolves).

Taylor has asked the Wolves’ front office to crunch numbers to provide various options in shaping future payrolls. Part of the consideration will be the size of the salary cap allowed by the NBA for its teams, and what Taylor is willing to expend, including a possible willingness to pay a penalty (“luxury tax”) for exceeding the league’s cap.

Taylor has often lost money operating the team but said the large number of rookie contracts on his payroll (including first and second season guards Kris Dunn and Tyus Jones) will allow the franchise to turn a profit of a few million dollars this season, regardless of whether the Wolves make the playoffs.

As of today, the Wolves have 19 games remaining during the regular schedule. Their record right now isn’t good enough to qualify for the playoffs and Taylor said it will be “very difficult” to earn one of the eight postseason spots in the Western Conference. Minnesota is 2.5 games back of the eighth place Nuggets.

“I want the guys to work towards it,” Taylor said. “I don’t want them to give up at all because I just think that’s part of the learning lesson here, that we’re going to play some tough teams this week and we gotta come out and battle every one and try to win…some of these upsets.

“It’s difficult (to accept) when you can see how close we are (in the standings), and it’s difficult when you see how we lost so many of those games early in the season that we could of and should have won.”

Taylor likes the performance of first-year coach Tom Thibodeau. The two speak frequently, usually by phone. “We talk a lot about basketball. I am impressed that whatever (past) play I talk about during the game, he really knows exactly what play I am talking about.”

Taylor said Thibodeau has a five-year contract that includes incentives for the team making the playoffs.

Worth Noting

The Wolves drafted LaVine and Towns but made a 2014 trade for Wiggins who was acquired for power forward Kevin Love—Minnesota’s most popular player when he played in Minneapolis. Love, an NBA All-Star, helped the Cavs win the NBA title last June. Wiggins has scored 20 points or more in 42 games this season and ranks with the NBA’s high potential players. Would Taylor trade Wiggins today to reacquire the 28-year-old Love?

“No, I would not because I just think he (Wiggins) has even a lot more upside (than he has shown),” Taylor said. “I think Wiggins has a lot to learn yet. Just from experience, he will improve and become even better.

“Then I think he is (also) an end of the game type of guy if he can learn from experiences how to use his (skills to help) everybody on the team.”

The late Flip Saunders, who three years ago was the Wolves’ basketball boss, scouted and liked Wiggins before acquiring him. “He just saw in him kind of what we are actually seeing,” Taylor said. “A person with all kinds of talent, he could just do things that a lot of other people won’t be able to do. …“

Taylor said Thibodeau has talked to him about Wiggins. “Thibs really likes him. He wants him to play better defense. If he is going to be critical of Wiggs it’s generally in the area of defense.

“He’s saying that he’s got a lot to learn. Yes, he makes mistakes but…it isn’t because he is selfish. He (Wiggins) doesn’t anticipate certain things developing soon enough. He (Thibodeau) says experienced guys anticipate. They see movement by the opposition and they sort of know where their players are…”

Rubio will meet the public at the Twin Cities Auto Show on Sunday from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Lexus display in the Minneapolis Convention Center. The St. Paul Saints will provide giveaways to the first 1,000 auto show guests that day.

Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen will be at the Hyundai display March 15 from 6 to 7 p.m., and Vikings wide receiver Laquon Treadwell will appear at the same location March 18 from 6 to 7 p.m. Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau and assistant Scott Stevens will be at the Toyota display from 4 to 6 p.m. March 17.

NBC televises the Wild and Blackhawks as its game of the week on Sunday from Chicago. Minnesota and Chicago have the two best records in the NHL’s Western Conference. One point separates the Stanley Cup contenders, with the NHL regular season schedule ending early next month. The Wild has won its last four games in Chicago but the Blackhawks have a two-game winning streak in the season series that ends Sunday.

Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk leads the NHL in wins and save percentage. Chicago wing Patrick Kane is tied for second with four other players for most points in the league.

The Star Tribune announced Eden Prairie High School forward and Gopher recruit Casey Mittelstadt as its prep hockey Player of the Year on Tuesday. Since 1985 only two players from the Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools have won the award—Southwest’s Tom Chorske in 1985 and Johnson’s Tom Pogreba in 1996.

Minnesota natives Mitch McLain and Michael Bitzer are first team All-WCHA selections as announced by the Edina-based league office yesterday. Bowling Green’s McLain, a forward from Baxter, Minnesota, is joined on the team by Bemidji State goalie Bitzer who is from Moorhead, Minnesota, and is a Hobey Baker candidate.

High school football coaches have until Monday to submit information to the Minnesota Football Coaches Association regarding their class of 2018 college prospects. The MFCA is sponsoring a recruiting combine for prep players to gather data about them on April 29 at the Braemar Dome in Edina, and the organization is also coordinating a recruiting fair May 1 at the DoubleTree Hotel in St. Louis Park where high school coaches can meet with college coaches to discuss prospects. For details click the MFCA ad on this page and visit the organization’s website.

An online Monday article from the Las Vegas Journal-Review reported Nevada sports books lost $8.25 million in January, according to figures from the state’s gaming control board. Much of the revenue was lost on football including the college national championship game won by underdog Clemson over Alabama, and NFL playoff games where the public beat the spread. The loss was historically unusual and the newspaper noted: “The house doesn’t always win on football.”

Gregg Wong, the former Pioneer Press sportswriter, will again work as an official scorer for the Twins, sharing the scorer responsibilities this season with Minnesota sports author Stew Thornley and Rochester-based physician Kyle Traynor.

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Twins Season Opener Near Sellout

Posted on March 7, 2017March 7, 2017 by David Shama

A notes column starting with a conversation last weekend with Twins president Dave St. Peter.

St. Peter said about 5,000 tickets remain for the Twins’ home opener on Monday, April 3 against the Royals. The game will almost certainly sell out, but of concern to St. Peter is how the club will draw in many of its other 81 home dates. The Twins drew less than 2 million fans last season, the lowest total since moving into Target Field in 2010.

The team won just 59 games last year, but St. Peter praised the loyalty of Twins fans and predicted the season ticket total will only be down 1,000 or so in 2017. “We’re going to come in at about 12,000 season tickets,” he said.

The baseball world believes the Twins underperformed last season. Writer Ben Reiter predicted in the March 6 issue of Sports Illustrated that the team has too much young talent “to continue to be this bad.” He analyzed all 30 MLB teams and counted the Twins among clubs expected to trend upward this year.

St. Peter said new Twins baseball bosses Derek Falvey and Thad Levine believe “the core” of the team didn’t play up to its potential last season. Falvey’s title is executive vice president and chief baseball officer, while Levine is senior vice president and general manager. The two have impressive backgrounds but St. Peter cautioned, “They’re not miracle workers.”

Falvey and Levine are in the process of learning all they can about the Twins franchise including everyone from players to coaches to support personnel like trainers. Their focus is on long-term success, and part of that is figuring out what St. Peter termed “competitive advantages” the Twins can put in place. The opinion here is such advantages might include teaching and assessment techniques, and superior advance scouting of opponents.

Falvey and Levine haven’t rushed to make headline moves within the organization, or force trades. St. Peter confirmed second baseman Brian Dozier, who hit a career high 42 home runs last season, prompted a “fair amount of dialogue” during the offseason regarding a possible trade. The Twins president said there was a lot of interest but nothing offered had enough value to support parting with the club’s best player.

It’s still difficult to accept the death of Kirby Puckett. The Hall of Famer and one of the franchise’s most popular players ever died 11 years ago yesterday at age 45 after suffering a stroke. …

Chad Greenway’s press conference announcement today of his retirement after 11 NFL seasons probably didn’t catch anyone by surprise. In an interview with Sports Headliners almost two years ago, the former Pro Bowl linebacker acknowledged 2015 might be his last season because of his aging body. “… You give everything to the game and it’s going to take bits and pieces of you, but you can’t let it take too much,” Greenway said.

In the interview Greenway said his post-football focus will be on wife Jennifer and their children. “Live for your family,” Greenway said. “Live for your kids as a dad. Be a great husband. Just take it one day at a time.”

Greenway, who grew up near a small town in South Dakota and played nine-man football, considered an NFL career “near impossible” as a teenager. Three times during his career teammates voted him Defensive MVP. …

Tonight at the Xcel Energy Center former Wild head coach Mike Yeo faces his old team for the first time as boss of the St. Louis Blues. Yeo took over from Ken Hitchcock as Blues head coach on February 1. The Wild is 2-1-1 against the Blues so far this season with the most recent game a 5-1 win in St. Paul. Yeo coached the Wild for parts of five seasons from 2011-2016 and had a record of 173-132-44. …

Big Ten leading scorer Tyler Sheehy of the hockey Gophers has been named the Big Ten Second Star of the Week following a four point performance last weekend in Ann Arbor against the Wolverines. …

The Gophers basketball program has never won the Big Ten Tournament that starts tomorrow in Washington D.C., but is a dark horse favorite this year. Minnesota begins tournament play on Friday and because of a double bye will only have to win three games (instead of four or five) to emerge as the conference champion.

Minnesota played a poor second half on Sunday in its regular season finale and loss to Wisconsin but won nine more Big Ten games than a year ago. All the Gophers top eight players have remaining eligibility except for guard Akeem Springs. Minnesota will soon be mentioned among the preseason favorites for the 2018 Big Ten title.

Incoming freshman guard Isaiah Washington will only add to the hype about the Gophers. New York’s No. 1 point guard with his flashy style has drawn national attention. His arrival and the success of the 2016-2017 team might result in a season ticket increase of 2,500 or more during the coming months, pushing the total over 10,000 and setting up a potential streak of consecutive Big Ten sellouts at Williams Arena. This season the Gophers only sold out two games at home.

Gophers sophomore guard Ahmad Gilbert averaged 17.6 points and 11 per game as a high school senior in Philadelphia but his success has been limited at Minnesota. He didn’t get on the court in 15 of Minnesota’s 18 conference games and played a total of six minutes. Close observers of the program wonder if he will transfer to another school. …

The Gophers’ football team holds its first spring practices today and Thursday but no sessions are open to the public until late March and early April. The public is invited to watch three of new head coach P.J. Fleck’s spring sessions: March 28 and April 4—starting at 4:45 p.m. at the Gibson-Nagurski Football Complex—and April 15 beginning at noon in TCF Bank Stadium for the annual spring game. …

The “Breakfast with Leroy” group will remember and pay tribute to Leroy Hardeman this Saturday on the 10th year of his passing. Hardeman was an extraordinary athlete and his accomplishments included induction into the Minnesota Softball Hall of Fame. The group will gather for breakfast and tributes starting at 9 a.m. at the Bloomington Knights of Columbus, 1114 American Blvd West. The public is invited, with more information available by contacting Pat Rickert at 612-861-3981.

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NBC TV Pays Tribute to Sid Hartman

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

Sundays have belonged to Sid Hartman for decades but this Sunday was special. The 96-year-old Minnesota media legend was featured nationally on NBC TV’s “Today Show,” just 10 days before his March 15th birthday.

Reporter Harry Smith came to Minneapolis recently to spend time with Hartman who has been writing for Minneapolis newspapers since the 1940s and been heard on WCCO Radio on Sundays since the 1950s. Minnesotans still know Hartman from his three times a week Star Tribune column (Sundays included) and radio shows.

Willie Geist, the “Today Show” anchor, said Hartman wrote his first column on September 11, 1945 “and hasn’t slowed down since.” He also said the Minneapolis native is a “sports icon who is always the biggest star in the arena.”

Smith began his story at Target Center and told the TV audience there is a statue of the great man outside the arena. “I don’t know if I am big deal,” Hartman told Smith. “I’ll be honest. I can’t walk down the street without somebody identifying me. They either hear me on the radio or read my column. This isn’t a job. It’s fun for me.”

Eric Eskola, Sid Hartman, Dave Mona at WCCO

Hartman’s longevity is amazing. He is old enough to be the great, great grandfather of athletes he is covering today. It’s a good bet when he shows up at Target Center, Williams Arena or other venues in town he is the oldest person in the building. He is certainly the oldest still earning a paycheck.

“He’s got the drive of a reporter half of his age,” Smith said. “No, make that a quarter of his age.”

What keeps Hartman going is his incredible competitiveness. “Yeah, I am tough on myself. If I miss out on a big story I am not very happy,” Hartman said.

Hartman’s son Chad told Smith that his dad is every bit as “dogged” now in pursuing news as years ago. “He wakes up every day and thinks competition is what it’s all about. That has changed zero, and that’s what keeps him sharp.”

Smith said Hartman wants to work until he is 100. He asked Hartman if he has ever thought about retiring. “No, no interest,” Hartman answered. “I would go crazy. As long as I am healthy enough to do what I am doing right now, I am gonna keep on doing it.”

These days Hartman is annoyed by the walker he has to use following hip surgery. A couple months ago he fell on the ice outside his home and broke his hip. Initially, Hartman didn’t even realize he was badly injured. It was only after returning from an outing and trying to climb the stairs at home that he knew there was a serious problem.

Hartman was hospitalized briefly and has pushed through rehabilitation in a way most elderly people could only dream about. With the help of a nurse, it hasn’t taken Hartman that long to get back on the newspaper and radio beats. Yeah, the walker is no fun but friends say they’ve never seen anyone move around faster using that contraption.

Until 1961 Minneapolis-St. Paul didn’t have major league baseball or pro football, and it’s well documented that Hartman played a leading role in making the Twins and Vikings a reality. His leadership and ongoing interest in the well being of Minnesota’s pro franchises and the Gophers is acknowledged by Twins president Dave St. Peter.

“Sid is an absolute Minnesota treasure,” St. Peter told Sports Headliners. “He connects multiple generations. He is the greatest promoter and cheerleader Minnesota sports ever had.”

Hartman grew up on Minneapolis’ north side in the home of an alcoholic father and sickly mother. Life was serious and Hartman adopted a strong work ethic at an early age. He learned to hustle for a buck and despite no college education worked his way into the newspaper business where his iron will made him a must-read reporter.

Hartman once tracked down Jets quarterback Joe Namath in the locker room showers for an interview, and got stunned Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire on the air for an interview when he was chasing baseball’s single season home run record and not talking to other media. Countless sources can tell stories about how Hartman pursued them with phone calls at all hours of the day and night.

I first met Hartman when I was at the University of Minnesota working on my journalism degree. I was a reporter for the Minnesota Daily and wrote something about Hartman he didn’t like. He got a hold of my home phone number and gave me an earful.

Yes, Hartman’s competitiveness shows up sometimes with other reporters. For years he has had a rivalry with Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Both have made careers out of getting the news first and writing notes-focused columns. The two men have traded jabs over the years including Walters often writing that “news has reached Minneapolis” when something in his column later got reported by Hartman.

Through the years I’ve been fascinated by Hartman. As a kid I loved his column which back then was called “Sid Hartman’s Roundup” and frequently had short blurbs about commercial real estate mixed in with sports scoops, “jottings” and “they say.” I used to see this guy dressed in suits and ties, wearing alligator shoes, and buzzing around talking to everyone at a Twins or Gophers game, and thought he was pretty cool.

One of the nicest things Sid ever did for me was in 1990 after I left my marketing position with the Minnesota North Stars. “If you want to hire a great young man, you should call Dave Shama,” Hartman told listeners on WCCO Radio one morning.

I had no idea that 27 years later I would still be listening to Hartman on the radio, reading his column and competing with him for news. No wonder he has a statue.

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