David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

U Needs Bowl Rally Starting January 1

Posted on December 8, 2014December 8, 2014 by David Shama

Talk about incentives.

The Golden Gophers can “exorcise a lot of demons” if they defeat Missouri in the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl on January 1. Coach Jerry Kill’s team learned yesterday they have an invitation to that prestigious New Year’s Day bowl.

A source told Sports Headliners last week the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida was Minnesota’s preferred bowl destination. The Citrus is the highest ranking bowl game the Gophers could have been invited to and provides Minnesota with its first New Year’s Day matchup since 1962. The Citrus is the Big Ten’s second-oldest current bowl partner behind only the Rose Bowl. Big Ten teams have played in 24 Citrus Bowls, including each of the last 22 seasons.

The Gophers have lost six consecutive bowl games. All, of course, have been disappointing but some were particularly bitter defeats including last December’s loss in the Texas Bowl to a mediocre Syracuse team. To this day the Gophers will shake their collective heads over their effort and performance.

The Gophers don’t want to lug yet another bowl loss into their offseason workouts and spring practice. The program picked up momentum this season with a 5-3 Big Ten record, Minnesota’s best since 2003. Wins included trophy game triumphs over Michigan and Iowa. A season-ending loss to Wisconsin, along with a defeat in the bowl game, will take some shine off this year.

The flip side, though, is the Gophers cannot only put themselves in good spirits during the off-season but also put more juice into the fan base. More ticket sales and interest in the program are for sure if the Gophers defeat Missouri, a team that is among the best in the SEC—America’s top college football league.

The Tigers, 10-3, won the SEC’s East Division and are No. 16 nationally in the College Football Playoff rankings. The Gophers, 8-4, are ranked No. 25.

The Tigers are perceived as the team with the better personnel and figure to be a wagering favorite, at least by a touchdown. The Gophers, though, will embrace the underdog role they have played throughout the season. Last summer virtually no one predicted Minnesota would contend for the Big Ten’s West Division title but the Gophers went into the last game of the regular season with a chance to advance to the conference championship matchup with East Division champ Ohio State.

The Gophers cannot only help their own image by winning on New Year’s Day against an SEC team. They can help pump life into the Big Ten brand. Dating back to 2000, conference teams have only twice won more bowl games than they lost. The last four years the Big Ten record in postseason is 10 wins, 21 losses.

The national exposure on New Year’s Day can help Minnesota’s recruiting which is already on an upswing because of this season. The Gophers target recruiting high school players in the Southeastern part of the country, so playing in a major bowl game in Florida for the first time since 2000 is valuable.

Minnesota players who have been injured will have extra time to heal before the Citrus Bowl. An earlier bowl date meant, for example, that wide receiver Drew Wolitarsky would have less chance of recovering from his high ankle sprain. A starter in the Illinois game when he was injured, Wolitarsky would be a welcome returnee for quarterback Mitch Leidner who has played on a bad knee.

Like other bowl teams, the Gophers will receive 15 extra practices. That’s an incentive for a lot of players to improve and impress the coaches.

There’s that incentive word again.

Worth Noting

The Vikings have won consecutive cold weather games the last two Sundays at home. Yesterday the temperature was 32 with a wind chill of 21. A week ago Sunday the temp was 12 and the wind chill at minus seven. Vikings running back Ben Tate said players stiffen up in the cold. “You feel like you’re running in slow motion,” he told Sports Headliners.

The Vikings have one home game remaining, December 28 against the Bears, and then next year more outdoor football before moving into their new enclosed stadium in 2016. When it’s miserably cold at TCF Bank Stadium can a bad team that is losing to the Vikings by a big score give up? Tate thinks so. “In a climate like this, probably pack it in and just want to get the game over. I definitely think that’s an advantage for us playing in the cold weather.”

Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen is in his first season as a starter. The team’s other starting end, Brian Robison, believes Griffen has been playing at an All-Pro level. “I absolutely think so,” Robison told Sports Headliners last week. “The guy’s been playing out of his mind this year. To have 11 sacks (12 after yesterday) at this point in the season is huge. I think he’s done a lot more things than that (too)…so I think the guy is playing on a tremendous level right now.”

The Pro Bowl will be played January 25 in Glendale, Arizona and Griffen could be among the players selected. Pro Bowlers are determined by voting from fans, players and coaches. “I would think it would be a shame if he didn’t make the Pro Bowl for sure,” Robison said.

Former Gopher Simoni Lawrence, now a linebacker for Hamilton in the CFL, started all three playoff games for the Tiger-Cats including their Grey Cup loss to Calgary.

TwinsFest tickets—$20 for adults and $10 ages 14 and younger—go on sale to the general public on Thursday. Twins president Dave St. Peter said in the past all players on the 40-man roster have usually made appearances at TwinsFest, and for 2015 that means fans will likely be able to meet top prospects like Byron Buxton, Eddie Rosario and Miguel Sano. The event, January 23-25, will be at Target Field for a second consecutive year and attendance could total a capacity maximum of 15,000, or about half the size for some TwinsFests at the Metrodome.

St. Peter said new manager Paul Molitor has “made contact” with players and will do more off-season communications at TwinsFest. Molitor’s contacts have been made with players here in town, not out of Minnesota.

Baseball’s winter meetings began yesterday in San Diego and are a catalyst to rumors about free agent signings. St. Peter said the Twins are shopping for pitching but wouldn’t predict how soon the club might have an announcement about acquisitions. “It could play out over 60 to 90 days,” he told Sports Headliners.

The North Dakota basketball team that plays the 6-2 Gophers tonight at Williams Arena has a 3-4 record including a 37 point loss to Utah and 12 point defeat against Northern Iowa. The North Dakota roster has six Minnesotans including sophomore guard Quinton Hooker, the 2013 Minnesota Mr. Basketball from Brooklyn Park, who is averaging 9.6 points—third best on the team—and leads in assists with 17.

Gophers basketball and baseball public address announcer Dick Jonckowski is recovering from non-Hodgkin lymphoma; and his last chemotherapy session is tomorrow.

If the Gophers season is to be a success, junior college transfer Carlos Morris needs to be a leading contributor. Morris was important to Minnesota before the season began, but is even more vital now with fellow small forward Daquein McNeil off the team indefinitely after being arrested for an off-court incident. Morris’ athleticism has been impressive including on Friday night when the Gophers defeated West Carolina, but coach Richard Pitino expects a lot from the 6-5, 175-pound junior.

“You can’t play 32 minutes at the small forward spot and only get two rebounds (Friday),” Pitino said. “He did a lot of good things—16 points, four assists, three steals—but you gotta rebound the ball at that spot.”

Pitino doesn’t plan to be overly patient with Morris who is the team’s second leading scorer at 11.6 points per game. He wants consistent effort and versatile production from Morris. “A lot of times with jucos it takes them a year,” Pitino said. “We don’t have a year with him. Just like we didn’t have a year with DeAndre Mathieu (juco point guard transfer in 2013).

“He’s gotta figure it out right now because he’s our only true small forward in the program. He’s gotta figure out a lot of things quickly which is normally difficult, but he’s got the talent which is good.”

The Gophers will wear black uniforms for their January 6 Big Ten home opener against Ohio State. The “Barn Blackout” game will encourage fans to wear black clothing.

Former Gophers golfer and New York Times bestselling author Harvey Mackay will ring a bell for the Salvation Army from 2 to 4 p.m. on Wednesday at Byerly’s in St. Louis Park. This will be Mackay’s 12th consecutive year helping with the organization’s holiday fundraising effort. Mackay usually tells WCCO Radio listeners if they make a contribution to his kettle they will receive one of his books for free.

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Gophers Want Citrus Bowl on January 1

Posted on December 5, 2014December 5, 2014 by David Shama

The Gophers athletic department will learn on Sunday what bowl destination the football team will have, and the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl on January 1 in Orlando is the preferred site.

The Citrus is the highest-ranking bowl possibility for the Gophers based on their record and the complicated bowl agreements and factors involving the Big Ten Conference. When bowl invitations are extended, more than team records and conference finishes can be involved. A disadvantage potentially influencing a Gophers bowl invitation is the fan base’s reputation for not following the team in large numbers to postseason games. That stigma will follow the program until attendance counts tell a different story.

Athletic department officials are excited about possible bowl destinations—even if the Citrus invitation doesn’t materialize. The potential bowls for the Gophers are all in Florida or California. Minnesota’s last seven bowl games have been in Arizona, Tennessee or Texas, so a change to either coast is welcome.

In addition to wondering about a bowl destination, some Gophers fans fret about head coach Jerry Kill leaving for another job. Speculation has included the opening at Michigan—and until yesterday Nebraska, too, which just hired Oregon State coach Mike Riley. Both schools are Big Ten rivals of Minnesota and history indicates it’s unlikely a league school will pursue another’s coach. It’s been more than 35 years since that happened in the Big Ten. The Big Ten promotes unity among its members and hiring away someone else’s coach would stir up resentment among a group with shared interests and values.

There are also coaching opportunities at schools outside the Big Ten including Kansas. Kill denies interest, though, in going anywhere else. He addressed the feelings of he and his wife Rebecca on WCCO Radio’s Dave Lee program earlier this week.

“This is where Rebecca and I want to be, and we love it here,” Kill said. “The big thing is, I hope the University wants me, and the commitment to where we want to go. There’s a lot of things we gotta do. We need to take those steps.”

Kill said to recruit “great players,” the Gophers need “good facilities” to effectively compete against other programs. “I know our people are trying to get that done so I am looking forward to being here,” he said.

Kill, selected earlier this week as Big Ten Coach of the Year, has been campaigning for a new indoor football practice facility. The Gophers facility that opened in 1985 is inferior to many others in college football. Kill wants ground broken next year on a new facility that could cost about $25 million. Such action will signal a commitment to football resources at Minnesota and that is important for Kill to see.

An athletic department spokesman said the new practice facility will be built “as fast as humanly possible.” That’s not a commitment to next spring, although someone in authority may have told Kill awhile ago spring was a circle-it-time on the calendar.

The practice facility is part of a master plan to improve athletic facilities at Minnesota and is tied to a $190 million fundraising campaign. Sources report progress continues to be made on the fundraising. Major help from at least one local corporation and also a private source (reportedly $15 million) is said to be in place.

Earlier this year Land O’ Lakes made a $25 million commitment to support a wide range of University of Minnesota activities, but the centerpiece will be building the Intercollegiate Athletics Center for Excellence that will benefit over 700 student-athletes through academics and nutrition.

Sources indicate, though, that to reach $190 million the University will have to borrow money as part of the funding mix. Kill won’t make final decisions on fundraising, but knowing the coach I believe eventually he could become restless regarding his job here if he doesn’t receive the resources he wants.

In a couple of years the Kansas State head coaching position is almost certain to open up. Wildcats coach Bill Snyder is 75 years old. Kill has roots in Kansas and grew up in Cheney, about 158 miles from Kansas State’s campus in Manhattan. Snyder is a great coach and one who will leave a lot of resources behind for his successor.

But remember this when speculating Kill will leave the Gophers: he is 53 years old and has overcome cancer and battled epilepsy. Some schools looking for coaches will see the health history as a red flag. Kill has suffered multiple seizures in four seasons as Gophers coach, although this year hasn’t been a problem.

The Gophers stood by Kill when fans and media suggested he wasn’t up to the job. Kill remembers the loyalty of administrators at Minnesota and his many supporters in the community. He is a good man with the right values. He will be the Gophers coach for a long time if he believes football is important at the University.

Worth Noting

Kill’s battle with epilepsy has been an inspiration to his players. Gophers senior defensive tackle Cameron Botticelli said the players have experienced difficult times including the death of teammate Gary Tinsley in 2012 and Kill’s seizures on and off the field.

“You look at coach Kill’s overcoming epilepsy and living with that. This program has been surrounded by people who are models of resiliency in fighting back against adversity,” Botticelli said. “You don’t coach that. That’s a mindset. I think it’s been ingrained by the great people that we have in our program.”

The Gophers were 5-3 in the Big Ten this year, the program’s best conference record since 2003. A major contributor to the success was senior running back David Cobb who gained 1,548 yards, a single season school record. Washburn High School football coach Giovan Jenkins believes former Miller Jeff Jones will contend to replace Cobb as the starting running back next season. “There aren’t too many people out there that are as good as him (Jones),” Jenkins told Sports Headliners.

Cobb’s skills include exceptional vision—being able to see tacklers and openings to gain yards. “I think Jeff’s vision is equally as good as David Cobb’s,” Jenkins said. “He’s a little bit quicker, I believe, in terms of his first couple steps. He gets to full speed a little faster than Cobb. …Jeff has that ability to make the second guy miss when he’s running by the first guy. The first guy is not really going to get him.”

Cobb runs with patience and Jenkins said that Jones will learn the skill. “That’s coaching. Jeff will have that when he gets coached by the coaching staff at the University of Minnesota. That’s what a senior should be able to do, is wait until that thing (the hole) opens up and then hit it full speed.”

Jones isn’t academically eligible for football this semester but is off to a good start in the classroom during his first few months at Minnesota as a freshman. Jenkins said Jones had a 3.2 GPA earlier in the semester and appears on track to be eligible for spring football. If so, Jenkins is enthusiastic about what Jones can do.

“With him having an opportunity to run the ball next year, I don’t think there’s going to be much drop off in terms of production,” Jenkins said. “He might not be a thousand yard guy because they still have (All-Big Ten tight end) Maxx Williams and some other options, but he’s definitely going to help out and relieve the pressure on everybody else on offense.”

The Western Carolina basketball team the Gophers play tonight at Williams Arena doesn’t have name recognition but the Catamounts only lost by six points to Alabama and 10 to Mississippi State, with both games on the road. The Catamounts are 3-5 this season.

The Gophers, 5-2, most recently defeated Wake Forest, 84-69, in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge series. Minnesota guard Andre Hollins was impressive making seven of 10 three point shots and scoring 27 points in the road win. Guard Carlos Morris was second in scoring with 15 points but had six turnovers. Excessive fouling continues to be a problem for Minnesota and Wake Forest was shooting bonus free throws before 12 minutes had elapsed in the second half. For the game the Demon Deacons had 31 foul attempts, but made only 18.

Defensive end Everson Griffen talking to Sports Headliners about the 5-7 Vikings: “We have a good team here. We’re a quarter away to being a great team each and every Sunday. Our biggest thing is that we gotta clean up our mistakes and quit beating ourselves.”

Adam Thielen received a game ball for blocking a punt and returning it 30 yards for a touchdown last Sunday in the Vikings win over the Panthers. Thielen, who had never blocked a punt before, said he it’s the third game ball he’s received as a Viking. He is the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week.

Vikings defensive end Brian Robison caused a stir in the locker room earlier this week when he appeared without his signature ponytail. Robison started growing the ponytail in 2009 but tired of the excess hair and decided to have it cut. He donated his hair to Locks of Love, a nonprofit organization that provides hairpieces to disadvantaged children.

Kevin McHale, in town tonight coaching his Rockets against the Timberwolves, still has a home in North Oaks.

Bloomington native and University of Minnesota graduate Brian Dutcher joked that his job title at San Diego State should be changed after the school extended head coach Steve Fisher’s contract through 2018. “The head coach still in waiting” is Dutcher’s new description of his job status. His official title is associate head coach/head coach in waiting. Dutcher is Fisher’s top assistant and it’s been known for years he will eventually become head coach. He will be 58 if Fisher, now 69, coaches until 2018. Brian’s dad, Jim Dutcher, resigned from the Gophers job when he was 53.

Torri Hunter probably should have tutor attached to his job title with the Twins. The 39-year-old free agent signed a one-year $10.5 million contract this week. He could contribute with his bat and outfield work but it seems likely he will also mentor the organization’s brightest prospects like Byron Buxton, Eddie Rosario, Miguel Sano and Kennys Vargas.

Hunter hit 17 home runs with 83 RBI last season for the Tigers. Those totals would have ranked third and first for the Twins in 2014.

Augsburg junior quarterback Ayrton Scott is featured in this week’s Sports Illustrated magazine as part of its “Faces in the Crowd” section that spotlights the athletic accomplishments of amateur athletes. Scott made news with his performance in Augsburg’s 62-61, two-overtime win at No. 18-ranked Bethel on November 15. He completed 28 of 41 passes for a school-record 563 yards and five touchdowns, while rushing 18 times for 67 yards. His school and MIAC record 630 yards of total offense were the most by an NCAA Division III player this season, with his 563 passing yards third-best.

Hamline will sponsor varsity women’s lacrosse starting in 2016. The Pipers will join Augsburg as the second Minnesota D-III school to offer women’s lacrosse. A head coach will be hired by Hamline and the team will practice and play games at Klas Field.

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U Coach May Challenge LeBron James

Posted on December 3, 2014December 3, 2014 by David Shama

Marlene Stollings has renewed interest in the Gophers women’s basketball team in her first season as coach. Stollings’ will to succeed has characterized her career—first as a player and now a coach. Her 3,514 career points at small town Beaver-Eastern High School are the most ever scored in Ohio by any girl or boy—including LeBron James (2,657). After graduating from high school in 1993, Stollings played collegiately at both Ohio State and Ohio University. Stollings has been a fast riser as a college coach, with four assignments as an assistant since the 2000-2001 season, and head coaching jobs at Winthrop, VCU and Minnesota dating back to 2011. The Gophers, off to a 6-1 nonconference start, play at Wake Forest tonight in their ACC/Big Ten Challenge game.

During an interview with Sports Headliners, Stollings opened up about herself while answering both basketball and personal questions. She even revealed potential plans to challenge James, known as the best basketball player on the planet, to a free throw competition next month in Minneapolis. Here is an edited version of the interview:

First impression of my Gophers players: “There’s a lot of potential here waiting to be unleashed. This team is going to do something special.”

Fans can know this about the Gophers: “We’re working hard every single day to win championships.”

There’s no better way to celebrate a Gophers win than: “A trip to Taco Bell and a Mountain Dew. I am simple—not high-maintenance.”

Are you not worried about caffeine late at night? “Oh, no. We (coaches) don’t sleep during the season. You know that.”

Everyone should know this about Gophers senior guard Rachel Banham who is the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year: “She has an unbelievable basketball I.Q. She is able to see things out on the floor and read things at a faster pace than her opponents many times. She knows what’s coming next and sees it almost before it happens.”

If I played for myself I would think: “I would probably have scored more points (laughs). I am very much a players’ coach, and I understand the lives that they are leading and what they’re going through on a daily basis having been there.”

What makes women’s college basketball special is: “How much of a team game that it is. You have to share the ball to have success—and the dedication I think that exists in constantly growing the game.”

The one thing I would like to change about the rules: “I think we need to allow players to have six fouls. Especially with the changes that have come into place with them (officials) protecting the offense so much.”

Coaches I have long admired: “Certainly Pat Summitt (Tennessee) for her longevity and ability to win over a number of years, and Tara VanDerveer at Stanford. She just does an incredible job, goes to the Final Four nearly every year. Their ability to do it over a long period of time and stay at the top (is impressive).”

Maybe the two or three greatest players I ever saw: “Sheryl Swoopes, Dawn Staley and Lindsay Whalen. Extreme competitors, gamers, winners and Olympians.”

My sports heroes: “Larry Bird, top of the list. I felt like I really modeled my game, or tried to, after him. When I was in middle school, he was playing for the Celtics. I immediately started following everything about him—from his workouts (and) training, to how he performed on gameday.”

When people talk about my Ohio prep scoring record they should know: (Laughs) “LeBron James has nothing on me.”

This is what I think of scoring more points in high school than James: “Quite honestly, it’s still surreal to me because at the time I had no idea what I was accomplishing. I was driven to score based on what our team needed that night to win a game. Certainly humbling, and something I am just very grateful to have accomplished.”

Do you know James? “I do not. They (U athletic department people) have jokingly told me they are going to coordinate a free throw contest when he comes into town (James and the Cavs play the Timberwolves in Minneapolis January 31). I am all in if they want to do it. I think I can still beat him in free throws.”

If there is a secret to my success: “Perseverance, being resilient, relentless. There is absolutely no shortcut to hard work.”

Where does that perseverance come from? “For me it’s how I am wired. I believe there is an innate desire to succeed at the highest level that I was born with.”

Preparation is important to me because: “Without preparation, you’re never going to be able to seize the opportunities that arise.”

I plan everything including: “My off days (are) pretty planned out.”

If I said it once, I said it a thousand times: “…Your attitude determines your altitude.”

The people that influenced me the most: “My parents (Curt and Ramona). They instilled in me the characteristics that I needed to succeed at a high level. Things like dedication, discipline, hard work—and without them I certainly would not be where I am today.”

My favorite TV shows: “I am a huge fan of ‘Pardon the Interruption.’ If I do have any free time to watch TV, it would probably be ‘SVU’ (Special Victims Unit) or ‘NCIS.’ ”

My worst personal habit: “I get very little sleep because my brain never turns off.”

My weight would go crazy if: “If I could relax and eat normal.”

Five famous people I would invite to dinner: “President Abraham Lincoln, Hillary Clinton, Warren Buffet, Oprah (Winfrey), Condoleezza Rice. That would be awesome.”

Books on my nightstand I am currently reading: “Well, currently it would be a computer with (game) film every night. But in general, I gravitate towards all sorts of leadership material as well as basketball books, or sports books—coaches that have been very successful regardless of sport. I am very much interested in learning how they have done what they have done, and how they’ve gotten where they’ve gotten.”

When I was first asked to coach a men’s basketball team in Europe I thought: “They were playing a joke on me. I turned them down about three times, and the fourth time I just showed up to the gym to see if they weren’t serious. I had a practice plan in place just in case, and sure enough I walked in and they were ready to roll. I acted like I had no other anticipation of what was going on and I just went right into practice with them.”

If you move to Mississippi like I did as an assistant coach you better know this about Southern culture: “You can go a lot of different ways with that (answer). You better learn to love shrimp and grits.”

Did you like shrimp and grits? “I liked them when I was there. I don’t seem to have had had any since.”

The perfect bedtime snack: “A bite of chocolate.”

Any favorites? “Mr. Goodbar.”

All I want for Christmas: “To see my family (parents). I have not missed a trip to Ohio ever, so that’s always a big treat to see them for two or three days.”

What people don’t realize about growing up in a rural area: “How closely and tight-knit the people are. I think you develop lifelong relationships that sometimes you don’t get when you are in a more heavily populated area. In fact, to this day I keep in contact with many of my former high school (and) middle school teachers, and coaches.”

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