David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Ponder Not Counting on Saturday Game

Posted on August 20, 2014August 20, 2014 by David Shama

Christian Ponder told Sports Headliners he isn’t counting on playing time in Saturday night’s Vikings-Chiefs exhibition game in Kansas City.

Ponder said he hasn’t been told if he will play but his status could be the same as last Saturday night when he watched the entire exhibition game against the Cardinals from the sidelines. “I would be surprised if it (playing) changed,” he said. “I hope I can get in and get an opportunity to play. We’ll see what happens.”

A starter in nine games last season, Ponder has accepted the No. 3 quarterback role on the team behind Matt Cassel and Teddy Bridgewater. Ponder’s contract is up after this season and he anticipates being with a different team in 2015.

“If we look at the reality right now, Matt’s the starter,” Ponder said. “They’re (developing) Teddy to be the future starter at some point. I am excluded in their future plans so I would assume I will be on a different team next year, but I am not really thinking about it right now.

“I have to be prepared (for the present). It’s a lot of responsibility being the third string quarterback. You’re not getting that many reps and you have to be ready to play at any point, so that’s what I am focused on right now and we’ll see what happens after the season.”

Ponder did play briefly toward the end of the Vikings’ first exhibition game on August 8 against the Raiders. Playing with other backups, he was sacked three times while completing three of seven passes.

Saturday’s game in Kansas City will be the third exhibition for both teams. Game threes are typically when starters see their most minutes of the preseason schedule so Ponder could certainly be correct about not participating in Kansas City.

Before last Saturday’s game, Ponder was seen talking with new offensive coordinator Norv Tuner in the tunnel at TCF Bank Stadium. What was the discussion?

“We actually were talking about getting together to eat at some point,” Ponder said. “We weren’t even talking football. Before the game is a pretty relaxed atmosphere. We were just talking and joking around a little bit.”

Ponder and Turner live near one another and a future dinner—on a date yet to be determined—makes sense. Ponder speaks highly of Turner whose career experiences include being a head coach with three NFL teams.

“I think he’s done a great job of reaching out to everybody and building a personal relationship,” Ponder said. “He’s a great coach. I think he knows how to get the best out of everybody.”

Turner said he was disappointed with the negative way some fans reacted to Ponder in the August 8 exhibition game. “I think he’s done everything he can do and he’s working his butt off, and I think he’s a guy that’s going to be valuable to our team,” Turner said.

Worth Noting

Ponder’s wife Samantha gave birth in July to a baby girl, Bowden Sainte-Claire Ponder. The Bowden first name is in honor of Ponder’s coach at Florida State, the now retired and legendary Bobby Bowden.

“Everyone assumes it was my idea,” Ponder said. “It was actually my wife’s idea.”

Coach Bowden is well-known to Samantha who works for ESPN and is a college football authority. Ponder admires his ex-coach’s character and recalled listening former Florida State players talk about Bowden when he was in college. “A lot of guys said they might be dead if it wasn’t for him,” Ponder said.

The Vikings have renewed over 80 percent of season tickets and expect to increase that to a final figure of about 85 percent (first home regular season game on September 14). That will mean a season ticket total in the upper 40,000’s at TCF Bank Stadium where capacity is 52,000.

The home game with the Packers on November 23 is sold out. Only a small number of tickets remain for the Patriots game September 14 while other games have a few thousand tickets available.

Purchase of personal seat licenses in the new downtown stadium opening in 2016 has exceeded expectations. The Vikings’ goal is to eventually total $125 million in the sale of PSLs, and the intent was to reach $37 million by this December. Instead, the club is already near $62 million.

State Fairgrounds parking and shuttle service will be available after Labor Day for Vikings and Gophers games at TCF Bank Stadium. That option wasn’t available for the Vikings’ first two home exhibition games.

About 10,000 to 11,000 Vikings fans used light rail service to the team’s opening preseason game at TCF Bank Stadium on August 8. Numbers aren’t yet available for last Saturday night’s game.

Gerry DiNardo offered a flattering statistic about the Gophers defense on the Big Ten Network’s Minnesota season preview last Saturday. He said the defense stopped opponents in the red zone “74 percent” of the time last season, the best results in the Big Ten for all games, nonconference and league.

Last week’s college football preview issue of Sports Illustrated had four Big Ten teams in the magazine’s top 25 rankings, Ohio State No. 4, Michigan State No. 6, Wisconsin No. 15 and Nebraska No. 24. The publication predicts the first ever Division I four-team College Football Playoff next January will consist of Alabama, Florida State, Ohio State and Oklahoma.

Four state prep football coaches will enter the upcoming season with 99 career wins. Those coaches are John Austinson, Byron; Chad Johnston, Minneota/Lincoln Hi; Bob Staska, McGregor; and Jeff Weiland, Orono.

Oswaldo Arcia, 23, has now played in 167 major league games for the Twins over two seasons. His home runs, 27, and RBI, 79, are impressive during a total number of games that is only a little more than a single 162-game season. His average, .242, would improve with fewer strikeouts (202 in 603 at bats) but for a young player making about $500,000 per season he’s a promising asset on the power-starved Twins.

Arcia homered last night in the team’s loss to the Indians. It was the third consecutive game he has homered. He has seven home runs in his last 20 games. That’s the second most in the American League over that period.

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Jerry Kill Not Backing Off New Facility

Posted on August 18, 2014August 18, 2014 by David Shama

I know Jerry Kill well enough to tell you he has a philosophy about priorities. The Gophers football coach says what’s important gets emphasized.

Kill wants a culture at the University of Minnesota where school leaders inside and outside the athletic department make football a priority. If football isn’t going to be important at Minnesota, don’t be surprised if some day the Gophers are looking for a new head coach. Kill, a Kansas native, might end his career at a school where football is emphasized—maybe in Manhattan, Kansas coaching for Kansas State.

A new football practice facility is considered a must-have by the Gophers. Minnesota is at the bottom of the Big Ten Conference in football facilities, with other schools able to dazzle recruits with their amenities. Meanwhile the Gophers get along with an indoor venue that has a roof so low punts hit the ceiling, and after practices players eat at temporary tables set up in a lobby area near their indoor and outdoor fields.

A new facility, perhaps costing $70 million, is part of a $190 million facilities fundraising plan announced last year by the Athletic Department. Campaign officials have been mostly silent regarding fundraising progress and no official announcement of a date to break ground on a football practice facility has come forward from department authorities.

But Kill sent a message on Saturday when Howard Griffith from the Big Ten Network asked him on a Gophers season preview special what’s next for a program that in the last three years has gone from three wins to six to eight? “…There’s no question I am looking forward to the new facility,” Kill answered. “We have to have that. That’s been kind of a deal in recruiting, and so Coach Kill has put a lot of pressure in that situation. That’s going to come through. So all those things help move the program forward.”

But that wasn’t all Kill said on Saturday. BTN writer Tom Dienhart tweeted that “Jerry Kill says ground will be broken on new football complex in Spring 2015.”

The coach knew he was talking to a national audience including potential recruits when he brought up the practice facility to BTN sources. He was also sending a message to school officials about how important the facility is to him.

Kill has earned the respect and trust of many Gophers loyalists since starting here as head coach in 2011. His skills as a football leader, and compassion for people inside and outside the program, have made him popular with school supporters including those with influence and money. There is no question he is the face of the Athletic Department and it wouldn’t be surprising if big money donors have assured him they will help fund the new facility—and soon.

Worth Noting

Derrick Wells, a senior and likely starter at cornerback, is one of several talented defensive backs for the Gophers, a group that makes Kill anticipate his secondary will rank with the best in the Big Ten Conference. The 6-foot, 201-pound Wells was injured last year and played in 10 of 13 games, starting five of them.

“He’s a big corner,” Kill said. “He’s a very, very good player.”

Wells has also played safety during his college career and said he could see spending time at that position in 2014. “I like both, actually,” he said. “I think I like safety a little more than corner.”

Gaelin Elmore, the true freshman from Somerset, Wisconsin, has been moved from tight end to defensive end. Kill said on WCCO Radio’s Sports Huddle yesterday that Elmore has played the position in high school and the Gophers need depth on the defensive line. He also said the 6-foot-6 Elmore weighs 265 pounds and will probably add 20 pounds. “He is going to play (this season) for us,” Kill said.

TCF Bank Stadium, Target Field and Target Center, located within several miles of one another, had combined announced attendance of 96,843 fans for their games in Minneapolis on Saturday night. The Twins audience watching their win over the Royals was 35,575. The Vikings attendance was 51,763 to see their exhibition win against the Cardinals. The Lynx had 9,505 fans and defeated the Shock. Combined with crowds watching Saints baseball, Minnesota United soccer and horse racing at Canterbury Park, well over 100,000 fans were entertained by sports in the metro area on Saturday night.

Murray’s Restaurant owner and baseball fan Tim Murray saw games last week at the home stadiums for the Astros, Marlins and Reds. With those trips he has now visited each of Major League Baseball’s 30 stadiums.

Here is his top 10: 1. Fenway Park; 2. Wrigley Field; 3. PNC Park; 4. Camden Yards; 5. Dodger Stadium; 6. Coors Field; 7. Target Field; 8. Safeco Field; 9. Kauffman Stadium; 10. Busch Stadium.

Murray made judgments not just on a ballpark’s architecture but on the “whole experience” of attending games. This included ease of entry and exit from the ballpark, food and beverage offerings and service, and restrooms.

Murray said despite not having great sightlines and food, Fenway Park is special. MLB’s oldest stadium has a special charm with its architecture, intimacy, field layout and “quirky Green Monster” wall, he explained.

Murray’s bottom five parks? Tropicana Field is ranked No. 30, then O.com Coliseum, Chase Field, U.S. Cellular Field and Yankee Stadium.

When the Twins play the Royals tonight, Josh Willingham has an opportunity to increase his total career home runs at Target Field. The former Twin has the most home runs ever hit at Target Field, 35. Now with the Royals, he homered yesterday.

Last Saturday was the 60th anniversary of Sports Illustrated’s first issue when Eddie Mathews of the Braves was on the cover. Here is a trivia question: Who is the only Golden Gophers football player ever on the cover?

It was Bobby Cox in 1957. The caption: “Best college quarterback.”

Bidding started earlier this month on Gophersports.com for the Goal Line Club’s online auction to support the football program. More than 70 items are part of the auction including memorabilia, travel and fan experiences. The auction goes until August 24.

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Mauer Critics Need to Accept Reality

Posted on August 15, 2014August 15, 2014 by David Shama

It’s time for the anti-Joe Mauer crowd to accept reality. Take a large chill pill and look at the truth.

Mauer is grossly overpaid at $23 million per season but don’t expect him to cut his own salary. Who does that?

The Twins gave him one of the richest contracts in baseball history in 2010 when he was fast-tracked for Cooperstown. Raise your hand if you thought it was a bad deal then? Nah. You probably didn’t and I didn’t either.

Back in 2009 Mauer was a superstar and Sports Illustrated cover guy. The thought of baseball’s best catcher—and the 2009 AL MVP—going to the Red Sox or Yankees made Twins fans puke. The Minnesota front office saw a three-time batting champion and hometown hero who needed to be the centerpiece in the new ballpark the club had invested millions of dollars in to build.

Nobody locally wanted to lose the 26-year-old box office magnet, and so Mauer received the most lucrative contract ever for a catcher. He and agent Ron Shapiro had mega leverage in the negotiations, and they capitalized with a $184 million contract that runs through 2018.

Mauer’s best years were before the new contract that was agreed to in 2010 and started in 2011. This season has been a disaster with puny offensive numbers that include a .276 average, three home runs and 30 RBI. The venom directed toward Mauer by critics is based on more than anemic 2014 production and the embarrassing salary. There is also his history of injuries with the latest career setback the strained oblique that caused him to miss games from July 2 until August 10.

Boo-birds rip Mauer for being hurt and out of the lineup so much over the years. It’s true he is hardly an Iron Man. If Mauer played in every remaining Twins game this season—hardly probable—his total for the year will be 122 out of 162 possible games. More likely this will be the third season in the last four that he has played in 120 games or less.

But get over the constant criticism about injures. Mauer is 31 and it’s obvious injuries and being out of the lineup is who he is.

By now we should all be pretty much authorities on Mauer who was moved from catcher to first baseman this season to lengthen his career after suffering a concussion in 2013. He is 6-foot-5 and weighs about 231 pounds—a big man who lacks home run power because his physical strength doesn’t match the physique. Also, he sends minimal balls over the fences because his batting style is to hit a lot of opposite field singles and doubles.

During the last five seasons, including this one, Mauer has 36 home runs—an average of 7.2 per year. During the same period he is averaging 53.4 RBI annually.

Get the point? Mauer isn’t and won’t be a home run man, although with better hitters in front of him in the batting order he could certainly produce more runs batted in. Moan if you will that in big league baseball a first baseman needs to be a power hitter when he makes the big bucks, but our guy is more likely to some day win a fourth batting title than hit 20 home runs. He does have a career .320 batting average and that’s better than some Cooperstown Hall of Famers. To his credit the career average is among the best in baseball since 1950, and often his on-base percentage has been outstanding.

The anti-Mauer crowd can also complain about Joe’s personality and perceived lack of clubhouse leadership. Mauer is soft-spoken and isn’t an assertive personality. You want a Torii Hunter in-your-face player in the clubhouse? Go get someone like that but don’t expect Mauer to be anybody but himself.

Critics who think about trading Mauer should know he isn’t likely to continue his career anywhere but in his home state. The Twins can’t trade Mauer without his approval, and maybe he could be tempted to join a club with realistic World Series ambitions. But this is home, with parents and other family here. This is where Mauer was married to local nurse Maddie Bisanz and the couple is raising their children in Minnesota.

If you wish, dream about the Twins having a season-ending meeting with Mauer where he agrees to train like never before in the offseason and emerge next spring as a home run hitter and clubhouse holler guy who tore up his contract in November so the Twins could use part of his old salary to sign expensive free agents.

I am not fantasizing that dream. But I do expect Mauer to hit better than .300 in a bounce back year in 2015 that could see him share time at first base with Kennys Vargas while the two also split the designated hitter role. Mauer will be 32 next May and maybe his body makes him an old 32 but the guess is he is far from done as a .300 hitter—and on a bad ballclub like the Twins that’s a major asset, and so, too, is having a good guy in the clubhouse who with more time will become a polished fielder at first base.

Part of the fans’ frustration with Mauer is driven by unhappiness with the team’s awful play for more than three seasons since winning the AL Central in 2010. It’s up to the front office to figure out how to finally make the Twins a winner again after four poor seasons. The club’s decision makers need to do that knowing Mauer’s rich salary can’t hold back the assignment and neither can his liabilities.

Mauer’s critics may want to back off him and direct full fire at the franchise’s leadership.

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