David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Give Teague Credit for Pitino Hire

Posted on January 24, 2014January 25, 2014 by David Shama

It took courage for first-year athletic director Norwood Teague to dismiss Tubby Smith as Gophers basketball coach last March. Then Teague stuck his neck out further by hiring 30-year-old Richard Pitino as Smith’s successor.

Smith faltered at Minnesota, unable to win even half of his Big Ten games, but because of his stature as a basketball icon the firing was criticized locally and nationally. Teague, though, believed he could find individuals more capable of leading the Gophers’ program.

When Teague seemed to whiff on a number of rumored candidates to succeed Smith, Gophers fans wondered who would end up with the job. And when Gophers alum and Dinkytown hero Flip Saunders couldn’t strike a deal with Teague there were plenty of passionate fans ticked off.

After 10 months on the job Pitino has the program flirting with 2014 success and teasing with what might develop in future seasons. The Gophers are a surprising 4-3 in the Big Ten and 15-5 overall. In the last nine days Minnesota has rocked Williams Arena and made national news with upset wins over early season basketball powers Ohio State and Wisconsin.

Gophers deputy athletic director David Benedict, who starts a new job on Monday as Auburn athletics chief operating officer, was part of the administrative team involved with interviewing candidates to replace Smith. The group also included Teague and senior associate athletic director Mike Ellis who oversees basketball.

“I am not going to take a lot of credit for Richard’s hiring,” said Benedict. “Norwood has done that before and Mike Ellis has been involved with those hires.”

Benedict referred to the hiring of Anthony Grant and Shaka Smart. Grant was hired by Teague at VCU and after making his reputation there accepted the head coaching job at Alabama. Smart succeeded him at VCU and his fiery defensive teams have emerged as part of college basketball’s culture. “There’s no reason to believe Richard is not another young superstar in college basketball,” Benedict said.

Pitino and staff have impressed with their teaching. They spend considerable time with the players working on individual skills. Then at team practices they blend those skills into the group concept.

The result has been players, who once looked like they couldn’t play competitively in the Big Ten, are contributing to the success of a team that observers believed last fall had only minimal talent in guards Andre Hollins and Austin Hollins. Players like centers Elliott Eliason and Mo Walker have become difference-makers and so, too, have two players Pitino added to the roster, point guard DeAndre Mathieu and shooting guard Malik Smith.

A Big Ten TV commentator said this week Eliason is the most improved player in the Big Ten. Walker has lost 65 pounds since last season and without his 18 points off the bench the Gophers wouldn’t have won against Wisconsin on Wednesday night. Mathieu had been a walk-on at another college and Smith was lightly recruited out of high school.

Whether Pitino can ultimately make the Gophers a conference and national power will be determined by recruiting. But Benedict said the “recruiting piece” is probably his least area of concern. Pitino polished his recruiting as an assistant coach working for two former national championship coaches, his father Rick Pitino at Louisville and Billy Donovan at Florida.

Benedict said Pitino’s recruiting network, relationships, experience and work ethic will result in success. Identifying Mathieu and Smith as potential contributors and bringing them to Minnesota are early indicators of Pitino’s promise as a recruiter. “We didn’t have any question whether Richard was going to be able to recruit,” Benedict said.

Benedict also said Pitino’s success in taking a Gophers team that before the season was predicted to finish near the bottom of the Big Ten and having Minnesota in fourth place today and perhaps on its way to a NCAA tournament invitation hasn’t surprised him. But he knows the reality of Big Ten coaching is Pitino must prove a lot more in the months and years ahead.

Still, the Pitino hire looks impressive today. “He’s been around big time basketball all his life,” Benedict said. “He’s seen what success looks like.”

Worth Noting

The Gophers are at Nebraska on Sunday (5 p.m. start) where the Cornhuskers are averaging more than 15,000 fans per game in the new Pinnacle Bank Arena and selling out their games. “It’s (the atmosphere) supposed to be electric is what everyone down there tells me,” said Gophers center Elliott Eliason. “Should be a lot of fun.”

Eliason is from Chadron, Nebraska and his parents, brother and friends from high school will attend the game.

Gophers center Mo Walker, who came off the bench to not only score 18 points but grab nine rebounds against Wisconsin, said he plans to stay humble and “hungry.” Walker had 14 points in the first half after the Gophers lost their best player, Andre Hollins, with an ankle injury. “Without Mo tonight, I don’t think we win that game,” said Malik Smith.

Dan O’Brien is succeeding Benedict and will be in Benedict’s former office starting on Monday. O’Brien, a St. Thomas graduate and former athletic director at Hamline and Concordia of St. Paul, has been involved with Gophers football operations since 2008. As part of athletic director Norwood Teague’s group of top administrators, O’Brien will oversee the football and men’s golf programs, and be involved with facilities and the M Club.

O’Brien, whose new title will be senior associate athletics director, has a strong relationship with football coach Jerry Kill. Teague’s promotion of O’Brien is another indication of the athletic director’s support for Kill.

Former Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel and Kill will headline the Hamline Football Coaches Clinic tomorrow. The Tressell-Kill session will be moderated by Jim’s brother and former Hamline coach Dick Tressel. Clinic speakers will also include Minnesota high school coaches such as Givoan Jenkins from Washburn, Jeff Ferguson of Totino Grace and Andy Rostberg from Hutchinson. More information is available from Hamline football coach Chad Rogosheske, 651-523-2595.

Cretin-Derham Hall defensive end Jashon Cornell, who has been ranked by ESPN as the No. 1 recruit nationally in the prep class of 2015, has been elected a Raiders captain for next fall. A source told Sports Headliners Cornell has about 20 college offers including Michigan and Notre Dame but the Gophers remain a favorite.

Cornell, who weighed 225 pounds as a freshman, is now at about 275 and has rejoined the basketball team after not playing earlier in the season, according to the source.

Jeff Jones, the highly recruited Washburn running back, has cancelled visits to Florida and Michigan after both schools told him they made commitments to other backs. Jones has a home visit with the Gophers on Sunday, according to Jenkins, his Washburn coach.

Prior Lake senior linebacker Blake Weber has a scholarship offer from Northern Iowa, and Iowa is recruiting him as a preferred walk-on. The Gophers have also recruited him as a preferred walk-on.

Isaiah Gentry, a 6-4 wide receiver from Moeller High School in Cincinnati, is being recruited by the Gophers and is scheduled to be in Minneapolis this weekend. Considered a late developer with Big Ten potential, Gentry’s receivers coach is Pete Hopewell, brother of former Gopher Paul Hopewell.

Twins president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners he’s expecting total attendance of about 15,000 at Target Field for TwinsFest today through Sunday. He said the total will compare favorably with the top drawing winter fanfests staged by other major league teams.

The Metrodome attracted TwinsFest crowds of more than 30,000 but with that site no longer available St. Peter said the organization will be surveying fans for their opinions about the new venue. With adult tickets priced at $20, he described the event as a “great value” and reminds fans TwinsFest is a fundraiser for the Twins Community Fund.

Approximately 73 former, current and future Twins will participate in TwinsFest. They donate their time with the organization paying for travel, lodging and meal costs.

Among those players will be new pitcher Ricky Nolasco. St. Peter said this is Norlasco’s third time ever in Minneapolis. The first was last year when he and his Marlins teammates were snowed out of a game. The second time was late last year when a blizzard hit town and the third visit came earlier this week when cold temps hit Minneapolis. “We’re trying to convince him it will (eventually) warm up in Minnesota,” St. Peter said.

Comments Welcome

40 Years but Super Bowl Memories Linger

Posted on January 22, 2014January 23, 2014 by David Shama

About four decades ago the Vikings split two games with the Dolphins within a period of five months. Unfortunately for the Vikings, their win came in the preseason of 1973. The loss was in the 1974 Super Bowl.

The Vikings defeated Miami 20-17 in a preseason game at Met Stadium during August of 1973. At Super Bowl VIII the Dolphins scored on their first two possessions and dominated the game in a 24-7 victory.

Forty years ago this month the Vikings were in Houston preparing for the Super Bowl and making news long before kickoff. The AFC Dolphins were allowed to use the Houston Oilers practice facilities but the NFC Vikings were assigned to a high school stadium.

Patrick Reusse recalled the high school facility in the 2008 book Minnesota Vikings, The Complete Illustrated History. “The Vikings were left with the locker room at James M. Delmar Stadium, a high school facility without lockers and only nails in the wall for hanging clothes,” Reusse wrote. He described the room as small, with barely enough space for the coaches, and outside there were no tackling dummies or blocking sleds. But the Dolphins were given superior facilities because both Miami and the Oilers were AFC teams.

The practice setup was so bad Vikings coach Bud Grant criticized NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle. Doug Kingsriter, a tight end on that Vikings Super Bowl team, said Grant was justified in his criticism even though the commissioner later fined him.

“There were birds not only in the shower but they were up in the corners in the locker room,” Kingsriter recalled. “It’s like you’ve gotta be kidding me. I don’t recollect there was even a door going from the workout facility to the outside. It just felt really rinky-dink. And, of course, it got Bud into trouble with Pete Rozelle. He fined him $5,000.”

Kingsriter told Sports Headliners he considered the fine on Grant “very unprofessional” given the status of the Super Bowl and the contrasting practice facilities. A year later the Vikings were back in the Super Bowl, this time in New Orleans and the NFL office did the Purple no favors again.

The Steelers stayed at the upscale Fontainebleau while the Vikings were assigned to a lesser hotel. “It was like a motel in a way,” Kingsriter said. “It was a two-story with a courtyard right under a runway at New Orleans International. We had planes going off all night long. We thought this is Pete Rozelle again. He’s got a chip on his shoulder and he’s gonna play it out with us.”

Kingsriter was married the week before the Super Bowl. He received permission from Grant to join the team late for Super Bowl preparations but couldn’t convince the coach to allow his buddy and teammate, linebacker Jeff Siemon, to attend the wedding in West Texas.

Kingsriter, the former Gophers All-American tight end from Richfield, recalls throwing a block in the game and injuring his nose. “So I was going on my honeymoon after the game with a broken nose,” he said laughing.

Worth Noting

Dave Osborn played on the first three Vikings Super Bowl teams including the club that faced the Dolphins. His opinion is the Dolphins were clearly superior to the Vikings and might have defeated Minnesota seven of 10 times. “Now the other Super Bowls we played, I think we were the better team,” he said. “We should have won some of those games.”

Include Osborn among many former Vikings who praise Grant. Earlier this month, when the Vikings were searching for a new head coach, Osborn suggested Grant should return to the team.

Osborn described the franchise as needing leadership and facing “turmoil” with challenges that include winning over the public and selling high price tickets in the new stadium opening in 2016. “I would do whatever possible to hire Bud Grant as an interim coach, whether it was for one year, or two max,” Osborn told Sports Headliners in early January.

“…Let Bud sit in the front office. Bud doesn’t have to go on the field. Just let Bud be in control. Let him hire some good assistants. I guarantee you this team would be better ready to move into that new stadium when the time came. I mean Bud is 86 but he could do it. That’s the confidence I got in Bud. Great leadership.”

Osborn said Grant used to review film to see if his players were lined up the way he wanted for the National Anthem.

Mike Tice owns a 2014 Kentucky Derby contender along with Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville. Midnight Hawk won the Sham Stakes earlier this month at Santa Anita. Tice, the former Vikings coach, led him into the winner’s circle. The Sham is the first in a series of 3-year-old races at Santa Anita serving as Derby qualifiers. The colt is trained by Bob Baffert.

Sophomore Philip Nelson played inconsistently during two years of trying to win the Gophers quarterback job but his announcement last week to leave the program means Mitch Leidner is the only QB on the roster with game experience. The situation is similar to about a year ago when Max Shortell left the Gophers after the 2012 season and Nelson was the only QB with game experience.

Could Nelson’s next school be either North Dakota State, San Diego State, Texas Tech or Wyoming?

Gophers coach Jerry Kill will be among the speakers at the MFCA Clinic March 27-29 at the DoubleTree in St. Louis Park. Last year’s annual clinic drew 1,200 attendees and 50 exhibitors. More details including registration are available at the Minnesota Football Coaches Association Website.

Gophers junior center Elliott Eliason averaged 3.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game as a sophomore. He’s improved those figures this season to 8.7 and 2.6, ranking second in both categories among Big Ten players. Big Ten Network analyst Shon Morris said on Sunday’s Minnesota-Iowa game telecast that Eliason is the most improved player in the conference.

If the Gophers can defeat Wisconsin at home tonight it will be their second consecutive win in Williams Arena against the Badgers. The Gophers won 58-53 in overtime last year and earlier in the 2013 season lost by one point in Madison. A win also means the Gophers will be 2-3 in five January games against Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin, all teams that either are or have been top 25 ranked this season.

Dan Kornbaum, who led a trio of wins last week by Augsburg when he averaged 23.3 and 10.3 rebounds, will be a player St. Thomas has to watch tonight when the Tommies (9-1) host the Auggies (7-3). Kornbaum also had 25 points and five rebounds in a 97-60 Augsburg win over Saint Mary’s on Monday night.

Comments Welcome

Finding Paradise During Winter from Hell

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

My wife and I are regular January refugees from Siberapolis. For warm temps, tropical breezes, sunny skies and gorgeous beaches, we’re ready to place St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands near the top of our early winter destinations.

Today’s Sports Headliners doesn’t have much to do with sports except I am a sportswriter and you probably visit my website expecting to read something about the Gophers or the pro teams in town. In case you want to exit from the site now, just know this column is about our trip to St. John and not only offers no sports scoops but also may send those who have spent recent weeks in frigid-snowy Minnesota into a permanent funk.

St. John was a getaway recommendation by a former local sports executive who may consider a Minnesota winter more distressing than a last place team. We occasionally console each other about winters here. This one probably has half of the state’s population popping Prozac or drinking gallons of Jack Daniel’s.

Is spectacular weather a technical term used by meteorologists? We found the tropical climate in St. John superior to experiences in the Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Cayman Islands (all three) and Mexico. We’re still trying to decide whether to give St. John a tie with Hawaii, or just a close second.

We enjoyed five beaches in six days while walking, sunbathing and snorkeling. Google the famous Trunk Bay beach and then click on images. The beach is just as advertised, among the most beautiful in the world.

Keep it quiet but seldom used Reef Bay offered us a rare private beach experience. With no road access, we could only access the beach on foot. After a steep, rugged downhill trek, the reward is a gorgeous isolated beach, and you might have it all to yourself.

A dose of adventurous spirit is required for visiting the island. St. John consists of hilly terrain everywhere. There might be more Jeeps and other four-wheel drive vehicles per capita than any place in the Caribbean.

The night we arrived gave us a quick introduction as to why this is Jeep Country. In our vehicle we followed our host toward the house we had rented for the week. We were soon trailing her vehicle up and down steep hills and around sharp (blind) curves—all by the light of our headlights and a full moon. (Historical note: apparently a shipment of streetlights never has arrived at the docks of St. John.)

After awhile our host stopped in the middle of the road and walked back to announce something that startled us. “The turn ahead requires a leap of faith,” she said.

We soon realized this was code for a sharp turn into a narrow driveway that plunged down like a world-class roller coaster. After a flight delay in Minneapolis, a five to six hour airplane ride to St. John’s sister island of St. Thomas, a 40 minute taxi ride across that island to a ferry dock and a 20 minute boat ride to St. John, this was not an announcement we appreciated.

Making our test of faith more challenging was a first time experience driving a larger model of Jeep. We couldn’t see much of the road ahead and the expanse of the hood seemed about the size of an aircraft carrier flight deck.

We said to hell with faith and let our host drive the beast first down and then up the narrow driveway to our vacation home located on a hill overlooking a postcard pretty bay. The next morning we traded in the beast for a Wrangler that was much more driver-friendly.

Along with our daily experiences at the beach, driving provided us with some of our best entertainment on the trip. In Cruz Bay, the island’s hub, we were prepared to stop any second for a driver coming to a halt on a narrow two way street to visit with an island neighbor. “Don’t rush, mon.”

The first time buying gas on St. John we noticed a long line of cars at one entrance to the station. Vehicles were lined up out into the street. It never occurred to me drivers were in a one-way queue to fill the tanks of their vehicles.

We pulled into the other entrance of the gas station and proceeded to the one available pump. I soon figured out the situation after hearing a car horn, and being redirected by a man in charge of the lineup.

Idiot driver from Minnesota!

I felt a bit uncomfortable about the gas station incident for about 30 minutes until we were dining on Caribbean lobster. Or was it mahi-mahi? Or grilled shrimp or pulled pork?

All I know for sure about St. John food is it was mostly superb and all good. There are lots of places to eat on the island, making you forget there’s just one gas station that sometimes has long lines and even runs out of fuel.

There is also (I repeat) plenty of sunshine and warm tropical temps and breezes.

Not all is perfect in paradise. There are mosquitoes to be found in January. The troublesome insects located us soon after our arrival. Today I have less than fond memories of them when looking at the red bumps on my limbs.

The other night we headed back to Minneapolis. After a long flight from St. Thomas (included refueling in Puerto Rico) the flight attendant welcomed us to MSP. She didn’t bother to announce the temperature or this week’s weather forecast.

We already know. Figured it out back in November.

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