David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Vikings Robison Works to Convert Sacks

Posted on June 12, 2014June 12, 2014 by David Shama

During Vikings practices at Winter Park this month players like defensive end Brian Robison are not only trying to learn team assignments but also improve their individual skills. The idea is to use repetition of correct fundamentals so often that when the season starts in September someone like Robison is in “muscle memory” mode.

Robison, 31, has been a starter for the past three seasons. His contributions this year could include filling the loss of defensive end and pass rushing specialist Jared Allen who has signed with the Bears. Allen’s sack totals the last three seasons were 11.5, 12 and 22. Robison’s have been 9, 8.5 and 8.

“One of the things that really stuck out to me last year was I felt like I missed way too many sacks,” Robison told Sports Headliners. “I got to the quarterback a lot but I feel like a lot of those hurries and stuff like that could have been converted into sacks had my footwork been a little bit better, had my angle been a little bit better.

“So this year that’s one of the keys that I’ve been working on is making sure that when I get to that corner that I am really turning and I’ve got a better angle to the quarterback. To me it’s one of those deals where it doesn’t matter how long you’re in this league, as soon as you think you’ve arrived, you’re kind of on your way out. There’s always something that you can get better at.”

How many sacks can Robison total in 2014? “I’d like to have as many as I can. Bottom line is as a D-line we just gotta disrupt quarterbacks and win ball games. That’s the only thing that’s important to me is winning a bunch of ball games.”

Robison has the experience and determination to expect his best season. “I am gonna do the best I can to be the best defensive end in the league. Whether that happens or not, that’s on me so we’ll find out and see what happens.”

What Robison knows for certain is without the work and repetition of the right fundamentals, success won’t follow.

Worth Noting

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer credits a nutrition plan, along with efforts by strength coaches and trainers, in helping his players to collectively add 70 pounds of muscle and lose 170 pounds of fat during the offseason. “I actually have also lost some weight too, but I think that’s from stress. No, I’m eating fish every day for lunch so that’s a change for me too,” Zimmer said.

The new Vikings stadium, opening in 2016, won’t host the Big Ten Football Championship Game until at least 2022. Minneapolis stadium promoters are interested in bringing the annual game here but the Big Ten Conference has extended its commitment to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis through 2021. By then Lucas Oil Stadium will have hosted all 11 of the league’s championship football games since its inception.

The University of Houston football program has Minnesota connections beyond head coach Tony Levine, the former Gopher from St. Paul. Levine’s assistants include ex-Gophers defensive coordinator David Gibbs and former offensive line coach Gordy Shaw.

Mike Wilkinson, who authored the biography of former Gophers football coach Murray Warmath, has a story on Weeklynews.com recalling today (June 12) is the 50th anniversary of the Rolling Stones’ performance at the old Excelsior Amusement Park. The British rock group was then in its formative years.

Ryan James, writing in Monday’s Gopherillustrated.com, reported DeLaSalle point guard Jarvis Johnson, who will be a senior next season, was outstanding dribbling and shooting last week in the Clash of the Classes game at Concordia, St. Paul. The all-star type game Johnson participated in matched players who will be seniors next school year against those who will be juniors. Johnson, an ESPN.com top 100 recruit for the class of 2016, has several dunks on Youtube.com.

The Minute Men are promoting a raffle offering the winner two MLB All-Star events packages including admission to the All-Star game at Target Field on July 15 and events in preceding days such as the Home Run Derby. Raffle tickets cost $20 each with more details available at Minnesotaminutemen.com. The Minute Men are a volunteer organization supporting Minnesota sports for more than 50 years.

Rangers’ defenseman Ryan McDonagh (St. Paul) and forward Derek Stepan (Hastings) are among 12 U.S. collegiate alums in the NHL’s Stanley Cup Finals. McDonagh and Stepan, along with Kings defenseman Matt Greene (Grand Ledge, Michigan), are three former WCHA alums in the finals. McDonagh and Stepan played collegiately at Wisconsin while Greene is a North Dakota alum.

Gophers women’s associate head coach Joel Johnson has been named the head coach of the U.S. Women’s National Under-18 Team for the 2014-15 season.

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Wolves Coach Hire Stirs Big Question

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

Timberwolves fans are entitled to view with skepticism the official announcement coming tomorrow that Flip Saunders will be the team’s new coach. Saunders is a proven NBA coach but is this the best decision for the organization?

The Wolves haven’t been to the playoffs since 2004. The team was 40-42 this past season, certainly an improvement over recent history but also an indictment of the talent. The roster is problematic from starters to bench players. There are too many weaknesses on this club including one-dimensional personnel.

The best indication right now is the Wolves are going backward regarding talented players who can turn them into a winner because second team All-NBA forward Kevin Love, according to numerous media reports, wants to be traded. After six seasons of no advancement to the playoffs, Love apparently wants out of Minneapolis to find the opportunity to play for a winner.

Saunders, as president of basketball operations for about a year, has worked at developing a relationship with Love. But that relationship isn’t likely to keep Love in a Timberwolves uniform next season when he becomes an unrestricted free agent, and neither is the extra money Minnesota can pay him under NBA rules.

Saunders had a 10-plus seasons run with the Wolves in his previous coaching life here that ended in 2005. He’s the only coach to ever take the franchise into the playoffs but except for 2004 the Wolves have never made a deep postseason appearance.

That 2004 team, unlike earlier Wolves teams led by Kevin Garnett, had additional star power in guard Sam Cassel and forward Latrell Sprewell. And that’s the point: To win there has to be talent and just who is it in the newly constructed basketball operation with Saunders coaching and retaining his front office position that is going to find the talent?

Saunders has a high basketball IQ but he can’t do everything. The Wolves will need productive personnel evaluators to make themselves a playoff club. They aren’t just Team Saunders and it’s up to Flip to surround himself with a capable staff.

Until the front office shows it can dramatically improve the talent on the floor the long-suffering Wolves fans can wear their skeptics’ hats about an organization that too often disappoints and seems without a plan. The decision of Saunders to become coach is the latest example of “What’s going on with this franchise?”

Owner Glen Taylor was on record that he wanted Saunders to have one job, not two. But apparently Saunders, who less than 18 months ago was chasing the Gophers coaching job, couldn’t resist the urge of returning to the bench. Maybe Saunders and Taylor couldn’t find a big name coach who was a fit but it’s hard to believe there aren’t some good candidates with low national profiles. That kind of hire might have better allowed Saunders to concentrate on improving the roster.

With his new role as coach, Saunders increases his grip on the franchise. His power also includes minority ownership in the team. It’s also believed Saunders wants to acquire a larger ownership stake in the future. Don’t dismiss the possibility, too, that Saunders could lead a group that one day will acquire the franchise from Taylor.

Last season the Wolves sometimes looked lethargic under 67-year-old coach Rick Adelman who resigned this spring. They also had trouble closing out games, not much of an endorsement for the coaching.

Saunders, filled with passion and persuasiveness, is likely to fix the energy problem. Maybe the record in close games, too. But moving toward becoming a top NBA team will require a lot more talent on the roster—and that ultimately will tell the story of Team Saunders.

Worth Noting

Mike Yeo’s new multi-year contract pays him about $1 million annually, a hockey source told Sports Headliners. The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Wild coach’s new agreement pays him over $500,000 more each year than his old contract.

He said Yeo’s past compensation was “one of the lowest” among NHL head coaches. The new deal places Yeo among the “lower third in the league.”

The source also said Jacques Lemaire, the Wild’s first coach who left after the 2008-2009 season, was the NHL’s highest paid coach at $1.8 million or more.

Yeo, according to multiple reports, almost lost his job during the past season but rallied his team in the spring including the playoffs where the Wild advanced to the second round for just the second time in franchise history.

The NBA has ditched the annoying 2-3-2 seven game series championship format, replacing it with the more common 2-2-1-1-1 schedule. The NBA Finals between the Spurs and Heat starts tonight in San Antonio, with the series switching to Miami for games three and four. If needed, games five and seven will be in San Antonio, with game six in Miami.

Clash of the Classes boys and girls basketball games are tomorrow night starting at 5:30 p.m. at Concordia, St. Paul. Three games involve 2017 versus 2018 boys, and 2015 versus 2016 boys and girls. More at Northstarhoopsreport.com/clash-of-the-classes.

The 25th annual Bruce Smith Golf Classic and dinner at Faribault Golf Club will be Monday, June 16. Gophers athletic director Norwood Teague and former Gophers Randy Breuer, Mark Dusbabek and Darrell Thompson are among scheduled celebrities. Auction items will include a Gophers helmet autographed by coach Jerry Kill, tickets for a Gophers basketball game in a Williams Arena suite, a Kent Hrbek autographed bat, and a cap autographed by Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller. The event benefits three Faribault schools and is named after former Faribault native and Gophers Heisman Trophy winner Bruce Smith. Golf information is available to the public by e-mailing Bruce Krinke, contact@fctv10.org.

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U, Not Iowa, Right Choice for Nuness

Posted on June 4, 2014June 4, 2014 by David Shama

When Al Nuness gave the commencement address this spring at Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge, Iowa he recalled how his decision to attend the University of Minnesota changed his life.

Nuness was pursued by Illinois and Purdue while playing high school basketball in suburban Chicago but his grades kept him from being admitted to either one of those Big Ten universities. Nuness enrolled at Fort Dodge Junior College (now Iowa Central) in 1965. By the time he departed in 1967, he was a junior college All-American who averaged 28.3 points per game.

Nuness planned to attend the University of Iowa. “I had my choice of schools and I chose Iowa,” Nuness told the commencement audience at Iowa Central last month. “That choice started a learning curve that would forever change my life.”

The announcement to be a Hawkeye was to come at a Monday night dinner in Iowa. But Nuness went home the weekend before, and it was then he met Minneapolis businessman and Minnesota alum Harvey Mackay who happened to be in Chicago.

Mackay, who has become a best selling business author, talked with Nuness and his parents. Mackay had a strategy for his conversation with Nuness who is African-American.

“He asked me why I chose the University of Iowa,” Nuness said at the commencement. “I told him it was based on basketball.

“He replied, ‘So, if you don’t play pro basketball, what do you plan on doing?’

“Before I could answer that question he said, ‘Will you be able to live and raise your family in Iowa City?’

“Hey, folks, this was 1967. I don’t think Iowa City was ready for the Nuness family.

“He pulled out a copy of Life Magazine. It listed all the Fortune 500 companies in Minneapolis. He also showed me where Minneapolis was number one in the country for job opportunities for African-Americans. It was also number two in the country for quality of life for African-Americans. That got my parents’ attention.”

Mackay also talked about summer employment in Minneapolis, and said if Nuness became a student-athlete at Minnesota he would become his mentor. He now had the attention of Nuness and his parents.

“Then he wanted to know what time the ‘I’ Club dinner was on Monday night,” Nuness recalled in his commencement talk. “My mom said, ‘Al’s not going to the dinner.’

“And the rest is history!”

Nuness, an outstanding shooter, played two seasons for Minnesota, 1967-68 and 1968-69. His senior year he captained the Gophers, averaging 16.4 points per game and he made second team All-Big Ten guard.

But if the story ended there Nuness would only be in the Iowa Central athletics hall of fame. He is also a member of Iowa Central’s distinguished alumni hall of fame.

His decision to attend school in Minneapolis created opportunities after college. First he became head basketball coach at Minneapolis Central High School and then a Gophers assistant coach. The name he made at Minnesota helped him gain a position at Pillsbury and later as an executive with the Timberwolves. But in the business community his name is most closely associated with Jostens.

Nuness, now retired from full-time work, spent 18 years with the Minnesota-based school products company. He was a vice president for 15 years with assignments that included heading up Jostens’ championship rings sales for the Super Bowl, World Series and Bowl Championship Series.

Nuness’ father had been a poor farmer and his son certainly couldn’t have been sure of his future when deciding on a college. Mackay showed Nuness how important college decisions are, and started him on a pathway to a productive career and life that has also included volunteer work in the Minneapolis area.

“I am living proof that the American dream is indeed alive,” Nuness told his audience at Iowa Central. “Hard work, preparation, and perseverance all help to make it possible for even the son of a share cropper to pursue his dreams.”

Worth Noting

Vinny Del Negro, who reportedly has interviewed with the Timberwolves regarding the team’s coaching vacancy, was featured in Mackay’s 2010 book Use Your Head to Get Your Foot in the Door: Job Search Secrets No One Else Will Tell You. The two are friends and although Del Negro had no NBA, college or high school coaching experience he became head coach of the Bulls in 2010. He later became head coach of the Clippers before being let go after the 2012-2013 season despite having a 56-26 and winning the Pacific Division championship.

Henry Ellenson, the power forward from Rice Lake, Wisconsin who will be a senior next winter, is now rated the No. 5 player in the national class of 2015 by Espn.com. Ellenson’s brother Wally left the Gophers program during the past season.

Grand Rapids power forward Alex Illikainen is ranked No. 90. A good guess is Illikainen will become a Gopher while Ellenson will be a Badger.

Kevin Love turns 26 in September and the next few years of his NBA career are potentially his best. The Timberwolves have a massive sales challenge trying to convince Love to remain with a franchise that has missed the playoffs each of his six seasons in Minneapolis. Don’t look, though, for Love to be dazzled by the Lakers and Hollywood or the Knicks and Broadway. His next move is likely to be a lot more about winning games than geography.

New WCHA commissioner Bill Robertson is relocating the league offices from Denver and Madison to Minnesota. He is temporarily working in Bloomington but soon plans to have permanent offices in Saint Paul or the Minneapolis suburbs. Robertson said WCHA representatives will have business meetings in Saint Paul next week for future planning.

It seems likely Adam Weber has suggested to Mitch Leidner that the Gophers sophomore quarterback try for an invite to the prestigious Manning Passing Academy held each summer in Louisiana. Weber, who has been working out with Leidner, twice attended the academy as a counselor when he played for the Gophers. The academy is for campers entering grades 8-12 in the fall.

The Twins swept the Brewers in four games last year but that won’t happen this season. The two teams split two games in Milwaukee earlier this week. Tonight they start a two-game series at Target Field. Lynx point guard Lindsay Whalen will throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Brewers center fielder Carlos Gomez is tied for seventh with 11 home runs among National League players and is eighth in batting average at .310. If the Twins hadn’t traded him away to the Brewers in 2009 they could feel almost cocky about the deal they made to originally bring him to the organization. Gomez was one of four prospects the Twins acquired from the Mets in the 2008 trade sending former Cy Young award winner Johan Santana to New York. But Gomez didn’t produce at a high level here and the Twins haven’t realized much value from the trade.

The Tapemark Charity Pro-Am the men’s tournament at Southview Country Club in West St. Paul is Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The women’s event is Thursday and Sunday, also at Southview. Spectators are welcome and will see some of the area’s best golfers.

The Tapemark, now in its 43rd year, benefits people with developmental disabilities. More at Tapemarkgolf.org.

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