David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

UM News Near on Coach J Robinson?

Posted on August 22, 2016August 22, 2016 by David Shama

Here is what I know—or think I know—about news-making Gophers coaches J Robinson and Don Lucia, and major changes coming in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

Sources tell Sports Headliners the University of Minnesota may make an announcement tomorrow regarding Robinson, the suspended head wrestling coach. The University has been investigating Robinson this summer over how he handled allegations his wrestlers used and sold the drug Xanax.

Speculation is Robinson, 69, will not be allowed to return for a 31st season as Gophers wrestling coach. A source reported Robinson and the University are trying to reach a financial settlement, but recently were far apart in determining a final compensation amount—more than $500,000.

In June both Hennepin County and the City of Minneapolis declined to file charges that Gophers wrestlers used and sold the anti-anxiety drug, and that Robinson covered up the alleged activity. The University’s investigation of Robinson has been going on since at least May and he was placed on paid leave June 1.

Robinson is one of the legendary coaches in U history. He has coached the Gophers to three national championships, and has a long list of Big Ten team and individual champions, and All-Americans. He made the Gophers a regional and national power while also impacting the lives of his wrestlers and the thousands of youth attending his summer camps.

A former University employee talked about an encounter a few years ago with a stranger he met while travelling for the athletic department. “Saved my life,” the stranger said about Robinson. “I went to coach’s camp. He changed my attitude. He changed my approach to life. He saved my life—tell him that I owe him a lot.”

A former U.S. Army ranger who served in Vietnam, Robinson is known for his philosophies about life. His experiences have been shaped not only by the military and coaching but also his own successful amateur wrestling career when he won national championships. He is also regarded as one of America’s better Olympic wrestlers of the 20th century. …

Although an announcement has been anticipated for awhile, there has been nothing made public about Lucia and the University agreeing to a new contract. There were media reports last month of an alleged two-year extension providing the Gophers men’s hockey coach security through the 2019 season.

It could be that both sides, including legal representatives, are still finalizing paperwork for signatures. It’s not unusual for U athletic department contracts to move through a process taking months for finalization. The contracts are detailed—and key provisions and wording can require sorting out and consensus.

Lucia’s present deal with the Gophers ends next year. Without a contract extension, he is at a disadvantage in recruiting, with other schools able to tell prospects the Gophers don’t know who the coach will be in the fall of 2017 and beyond.

Lucia has been Minnesota’s head coach since 1999. In his early years at Minnesota he knew Mark Coyle who worked in marketing for the athletic department. Coyle, who became athletic director last spring, is regarded as supportive of Lucia.

The Gophers didn’t qualify for the NCAA Tournament last season but did win the Big Ten Conference championship. Minnesota has made program history by winning consecutive regular season league titles the last five years, with two championships in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and the last three in the Big Ten including 2016.

The move in 2013 to the six-team hockey startup Big Ten from the history-rich WCHA hasn’t been received well by many Gophers hockey fans. There’s been a lack of excitement about the program in recent years, with empty seats at Mariucci Arena characterizing some of the apathy. Fans who are critical of the program point to last season’s un-Gopher-like 20-17 overall record and no national championship since 2003.

Lucia, who had a young team last season, has coached Minnesota to national titles in 2002 and 2003. The Gophers’ all-time winningest coach, Lucia told Sports Headliners last March he planned to continue indefinitely at Minnesota: “Yeah, I would like to come back,” said Lucia who had head coaching jobs at Alaska Fairbanks and Colorado College before coming to Minnesota. “This is my 29th year as a head coach and I will be 58 this summer, but I still love what I do.”

Lucia turned 58 last Saturday. …

The innovative WCHA expects to make changes for next season involving overtimes, points awarded and its nets. Announcement about the changes for men’s regular season games is expected as soon as this week.

Sports Headliners has learned that next season games tied after regulation and the NCAA-mandated five-minute 5-on-5 overtime period will advance to a second five-minute overtime period of 3-on-3 play. If games are still tied, they will be settled in a sudden death shootout (each team receives a minimum of one shot).

A WCHA regular season game will be worth three points in the standings next season. Games decided in regulation and in 5-on-5 overtimes will award three points to the winning team (two points last season). Games decided in 3-on-3 overtimes and shootouts will award two points to the winning team and one to the losing.

WCHA arenas will use 40-inch goal frames on the nets for next season after using 44-inch frames in the past. The 40-inch model is consistent with that used by the National Hockey League. The WCHA’s intent with the change is to open space on the ice for skaters and make games more entertaining.

The WCHA, with league offices in Edina, starts its 65th year of competition next season. The 10-team Division 1 conference consists of schools ranging from Alaska to Alabama, and includes Bemidji State and Minnesota State. The men’s commissioner is Bill Robertson whose career experiences include leadership positions with the Minnesota Wild, Minnesota Timberwolves and Anaheim Angels.

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Jerry Kill Book Aims to Touch Lives

Posted on August 19, 2016August 19, 2016 by David Shama

The rollout for Jerry Kill’s book is about to happen. The former Gophers coach told Sports Headliners the book is only days away from being available online at Amazon, and he will travel from his home in Kansas to promote the book in Minneapolis next month.

Chasing Dreams: Living My Life One Yard at a Time is a book with intentions that won’t surprise Kill’s many admirers in Minnesota. He wrote the autobiography with Minnesota author Jim Bruton to help others and raise money for his two nonprofits.

“It’s really a book that is filled full of a lot of different types of information,” Kill said in a telephone interview Sunday. “I am hoping that somebody that has epilepsy would read it. Somebody has cancer would read it. Somebody from the business world would read it (comparing business and big time college sports). I think that’s one of the better chapters in there, honestly.

“The other part of it (the book) is a little bit for where I was raised, family and that kind of thing. It’s a book to try to touch as many lives as I can.”

Kill’s intent is to sell thousands and thousands of books because all profits go to the Illinois-based Coach Jerry Kill Cancer Fund and the Minnesota-headquartered Coach Kill Chasing Dreams Epilepsy Fund. “Both foundations will benefit,” Kill said. “That’s what I am more proud of than anything.

“None of it will go to (wife) Rebecca and I. It will all go to our foundations. So even if you don’t like the book, somebody ought to buy it just to donate 25 bucks or whatever it’s going to cost because they’re helping somebody out.”

Kill will be in Minnesota Friday, September 9 and Saturday, September 10 for book signings. Among his stops will be TCF Bank Stadium September 10 where he will have books available before and after the Gophers-Indiana State football game.

Kill poked fun at his verbal skills when discussing the book. His Kansas twang and folksy manner—and sometimes incomplete and grammatically mixed up remarks—can leave a listener trying to piece things together. “This book may not have perfect English in it cause people said that I don’t speak English real good,” he said. “So it will be interesting. …”

In his book Kill writes about his personal life both growing up and as an adult. ”There will be some stuff that nobody knows about,” he said. “There’s no question about that. I didn’t pull any punches as far as my life.

“My wife left me for a short time. I talk about that and why. It’s in there.”

Kill, who turns 55 next week, is revered by Gophers fans for the accomplishments he had with the football team and the unselfish volunteerism he provided in the community. He inherited an embarrassing program after the 2010 season that was a failure on the field and in the classroom. His “brick-by-brick” slogan came true as the Gophers earned milestone wins and played in their first New Year’s Day Bowl game since 1962. Off the field incidents involving players that had made headlines under previous coaches stopped and GPAs dramatically improved.

Kill and Rebecca made time to help individuals and organizations who reached out to them. They have been mentors and role models to many Minnesotans who needed assistance. Part of why they empathize with others is because of their own struggles. Kill is a cancer survivor and his battles with epilepsy were dramatically highlighted while coaching the Gophers.

Health concerns drove him out of coaching and into retirement last October when he unexpectedly resigned with five regular season games remaining on the schedule. Kill was struggling so much his wife was helping him get through the nights. He was trying to do his own pressure-filled job while adding some responsibilities of resigned athletic Norwood Teague. Kill held a heartbreaking news conference to announce his resignation only days before the October 31 Michigan game.

In the book Kill writes about Teague but doesn’t go after his controversial former boss. “I did say that when he left I had to do a lot more things than I had to…in the past, and that was difficult,” Kill said.

Although Kill admits his situation was very demanding last fall, he doesn’t blame Teague or anyone else for how his career at Minnesota ended. “Everything was brought on (by) myself,” Kill said. “I don’t have anybody to blame except myself as (to) why at the end of the day it was out at Minnesota. …”

In the weeks after Kill’s resignation he tried to figure out what he was going to do with his life and time. The idea of writing a book fit in with his plans. “Well, I think the biggest reason (was) I needed something to do after my situation,” he said. “After a month…I got my feet on the ground and we done it (the book) pretty fast.”

Kill is now an associate athletic director at Kansas State. He works closely with student-athletes and legendary football coach Bill Snyder. A native of small-town Cheney, Kansas, Kill is close to nearby family while working in Manhattan.

Minnesota, though, is still on his mind. He made so many friends here and loved the state.

The book cover shows a triumphant Kill running off the field at TCF Bank Stadium looking up at approving fans. Kill is pleased with the cover and it reminds him of his feelings for Minnesota. “It’s a great state,” he said.

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Walsh Not Dwelling on Seahawk Miss

Posted on August 17, 2016August 17, 2016 by David Shama

Vikings, Gophers, Twins and Canterbury Park notes:

Fans might still be stewing over the Vikings’ 10-9 playoff loss to the Seahawks last January but field goal kicker Blair Walsh insists he has moved on. It was Walsh’s 27-yard missed field goal that ended the Vikings’ goal of reaching the Super Bowl.

“We’re not going to talk about that anymore,” Walsh said Monday. “We’re so far past that. This is a new week for our team. A new season for our team. I’ve addressed that multiple times in the past so I think we’re just going to move past it.”

Sounds like when the Vikings are in Seattle for tomorrow night’s preseason game against the Seahawks Walsh doesn’t plan to be thinking about the first round playoff loss at TCF Bank Stadium. Walsh said he worked hard during the offseason and is looking forward to another successful year after leading the NFL in field goals last season with 34.

Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway said he doesn’t expect to have memories of the playoff game on the trip this week. “Not really. Your job as a player is to wash those things away and just continue to try to focus on what’s next. …We have to move on to the next thing which is the (2016) season.”

Greenway, who is headed toward his 11th and perhaps final season with the Vikings, has the experience to judge how the defense is playing in its four exhibition games leading up to the season. “I look at the little things like how we run to the football, how we attack as a team,” he said. “Make sure we’re trying to strip the football and get turnovers, and then how we’re doing in situational football (game circumstances).”

The wins and losses of preseason games are usually regarded as meaningless, but it must say something that since Mike Zimmer became head coach the Vikings’ record is 9-1 in exhibitions. How to explain it? Zimmer demands effort from his players—starters to scrubs. The Vikings may sometimes outwork the opposition in preseason games.

It will be interesting to see how many times Teddy Bridgewater is sacked during preseason and the regular season that follows. The Vikings third-year quarterback was sacked 44 times during the 2015 regular season. Only five other NFL quarterbacks were sacked more times. His quarterback rating of 88.7 ranked 35th in the NFL.

The offensive line had issues with pass protection last season but the criticism of Bridgewater is he sometimes holds onto the ball too long. Although Bridgewater played only briefly in last week’s preseason opener against the Bengals, he was sacked on the second play of the first offensive series.

Bridgewater impressed with a pass in tight coverage to Adam Thielen in the first quarter, with Zimmer saying later, “I don’t know if Teddy makes that throw a year ago.”

The opening of U.S. Bank Stadium has prompted extensive media coverage both locally and nationally. Vikings spokesman Jeff Anderson said media interest includes varied sources such as Maxim, Popular Mechanics, Sports Business Journal, USA Today and The Weather Channel.

Last Friday night the television household ratings in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market were generally higher for the Olympics than the Vikings-Bengals preseason game. The Vikings game had a slight edge in the early evening but later the Olympics ratings were about seven points higher. Both the Vikings and Olympics had much larger ratings than the Twins-Royals game (example: at 9 p.m. the Olympics had an 18 while the Twins were 1.7).

Sports Illustrated’s August 15 college football preview issue includes four Big Ten teams in its rankings of the nation’s top 25 teams, and the Gophers only play one this season, Iowa. Michigan is No. 4, Ohio State No. 9, Michigan State No. 13 and Iowa No. 14.

Gophers linebacker Jack Lynn talking about college football publications predicting his team will finish fifth in the seven-team Big Ten West Division: “It’s just fuel in our fire. We know in the locker room what we have to do to be successful. You just take it from there.”

Lynn, a senior and one of the Gophers leaders on defense, mentioned running back Kobe McCrary first when asked about offensive players who have impressed during August practices. He likened the junior college transfer to former Gopher power runner Rodrick Williams.

McCrary, a junior, could be the Gophers No. 2 running back for their September 1 home game against Oregon State. Redshirt sophomore Rodney Smith, who was second on the team in rushing yards last year, looks certain to be No. 1.

“Some of the things I’ve seen Rodney do in camp so far have been unbelievable,” said Gophers senior quarterback Mitch Leidner. “The cuts he’s made, the catches he’s made. …He’s a tough physical runner. I think really the rest of those running backs can really look up to Rodney…what he’s doing right now.”

The Gophers need breakthrough help at wide receiver and Lynn has been impressed with redshirt sophomore Melvin Holland Jr. “He’s looking good,” Lynn said. “He’s coming out and competing every day. He’s gotten a lot better since even this spring.”

Former Gopher linebacker Mike Rallis is working on a career in the WWE and wrestling under the name of Riddick Moss. Brother Nick, a senior linebacker for the Gophers, said he’s considered a pro wrestling career but wants to pursue college coaching.

Max Kepler (photo courtesy of Minnesota Twins).

A Bleacher Report website story August 11 projected where all 30 major league baseball teams will rank three years from now. The Twins ranked No. 16 with a predicted batting order of centerfielder Byron Buxton, shortstop Nick Gordon, right fielder Max Kepler, third baseman Miguel Sano, DH Adam Walker, first baseman Byung-Ho Park, left fielder Eddie Rosario, second baseman Jorge Polanco, and catcher Mitch Garver. Starting pitchers listed are Jose Berrios, Kyle Gibson, Steven Gonsalves, Phil Hughes and Kohl Stewart.

Twins first baseman Joe Mauer, who had three hits including a homerun in the club’s win over the Braves last night, is batting .436 in his last 15 games.

Eduardo Nunez, who hit over .300 at times for the Twins, is struggling since being traded to the Giants last month. He is hitting .214 with the pennant contending Giants and instead of playing his former position of shortstop has been at third base.

Ricky Nolasco, also recently traded by the Twins, isn’t compiling stats much different with the Angels. His record in Minnesota was 4-8 with a 5.13 ERA and in Los Angeles he is 0-2 with a 5.19 ERA.

Canterbury Park’s Minnesota Festival of Champions is Sunday afternoon, and a highlight of the racing season at the Shakopee track. The annual event is only for Minnesota-bred thoroughbreds and quarter horses, helping to showcase the state’s breeding industry.

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