David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Vikings Make History But Won’t ‘Panic’

Posted on September 23, 2013September 23, 2013 by David Shama

The Vikings are making history. Just the wrong kind.

After yesterday’s 31-27 loss to the Browns at Mall of America Field, the Vikings are off to a 0-3 regular season start. That’s a number only four other Vikings teams have put in the record book.

The 1962, 1967, 2002 and 2011 Vikings all started 0-3. I know what you are thinking: none of those teams made the playoffs. And in NFL history only three teams have started the season 0-3 and qualified for the playoffs.

The Vikings have lost three games by a total of 15 points. That’s enough to indicate the 2013 team isn’t the NFL equivalent of the Twins but 0-3 almost dooms this team to missing the playoffs.

NFC North Division rivals the Bears (3-0), Lions (2-1) and Packers (1-2) all have better records. The Vikings almost certainly won’t qualify for the playoffs as a wild card team and winning the division title will be a major challenge after yesterday’s loss.

It was the second consecutive Sunday the Vikings defense couldn’t stop the opponent from scoring the winning touchdown in the game’s last minute. It was another Sunday when the performance of quarterback Christian Ponder was spotty. But it was also an unusual day when the Browns used a fake punt to set up a field goal and a fake field goal attempt to score a touchdown—all in the second quarter.

Former Vikings assistant coach Dean Dalton told Sports Headliners after the game he thinks the Vikings are a good team with a chance to be better than last season’s 10-6 club but they’ve lost close games and are playing in an improved NFC against formidable opposition. He isn’t giving up on the season after three games and predicted the Vikings, including head coach Leslie Frazier, won’t either.

“This group won’t panic,” Dalton said. “They’ve been in three games where they’ve had to fight it out all 60 minutes. It’s a very balanced group. The veteran leaders that they have are rock solid. The leadership of…Leslie Frazier is rock solid. He won’t flinch. He’ll be upset. He’ll be frustrated. He’ll make the corrections but he won’t panic.”

Worth Noting

The 1962 club, a second year expansion group of misfits, holds the franchise record for worst start ever at 0-5.

The Vikings play the Steelers in London next Sunday in a regular season game where Minnesota is the home team. The Vikings will be guaranteed monies equal to their average revenue for a game at Mall of America Field.

The Vikings leave Minneapolis Monday night and arrive in London Tuesday morning. The Steelers won’t be in London until Thursday but as the home team the Vikings want to arrive earlier in the week and help with promotion. General manager Rick Spielman told Sports Headliners the Vikings will stay at a hotel about one hour from London and practice at a nearby field. A tent-like facility will serve as a locker room.

The game represents ongoing marketing by American sports to expand global identity. Next year, for example, MLB will send the Dodgers and Diamondbacks to Australia for regular season games March 22 and 23.

London is a likely eventual home for an NFL team and a MLB team in Mexico could happen some day. MLB has opened seasons in Monterrey, Mexico, Tokyo, Japan and San Juan, Puerto Rico. MLB might like to open a season in Europe but spring weather poses a problem.

Jashon Cornell is ESPN.com’s No. 1 ranked high school football player nationally in the class of 2015. The Cretin-Derham Hall defensive end has 21 college offers, according to former Gophers center and Raiders offensive line coach Ray Hitchcock.

Hitchcock said Gophers coach Jerry Kill was the first to offer Cornell a scholarship. Does Hitchcock believe Cornell is serious about the Gophers? “Yes, I do,” Hitchcock said. “It would be great to get him and stay home… .”

Hitchcock describes Cornell as sometimes “unblockable.” Cornell particularly excels in rushing the passer.

Last week Kill likened Mitch Leidner, his 6-4, 230-pound redshirt freshman quarterback, to Collin Klein, the similarly sized former Kansas State quarterback who was a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2012. “Mitch runs like Collin,” Kill said.

Both are punishing runners, particularly for quarterbacks. Leidner rushed for 151 yards and four touchdowns last Saturday in his first college start to lead the Gophers to a 43-24 nonconference win over San Jose State.

Leidner said Kill even compared him to Klein last year. “Toughness is something I definitely try to model myself after and be a physical player,” Leidner told Sports Headliners.

How did he develop that toughness? “Probably growing up with brothers and all of us just pounding the crap out of each other all of the time,” Leidner said.

Today the Big Ten Conference selected Leidner as Freshman of the Week for his performance against San Jose State. He tied a school record for most rushing touchdowns in a single game.

Sign of the times: “Can Souhan.” That was the message on a sign displayed by fans during the Gophers game Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium referring to Star Tribune columnist Jim Souhan who wrote a controversial column last week about Kill.

Gophers defensive tackle Ra’Shede Hageman will sometimes play defensive end where he is more difficult to double team. Hageman, a likely NFL draft choice next year, values his school work and is majoring in urban youth studies.

“I could walk down a flight of stairs and break my leg. I can always have my degree,” Hageman said. “Football isn’t promised but just having an education, having something to fall back on is always a good thing.”

Gophers offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover will speak at Friday’s Goal Line Club luncheon at Jax Café in Minneapolis. Limegrover will have comments about the Gophers prior to Saturday’s Big Ten opening game with Iowa at TCF Bank Stadium. The luncheon is open to the public. More about the noon luncheon and program at Goallineclub.com.

Volleyball is important in Darrell Thompson’s household. Thompson was a record setting running back for the Gophers but daughters Indigo and Dominique, and wife Stephanie, have excelled at volleyball. Indigo, a senior at Armstrong High School, has accepted a volleyball scholarship to Virginia Commonwealth. Dominique is on scholarship at Wisconsin where she is a redshirt junior. Stephanie played volleyball for Iowa from 1987-1990.

Congratulations to Edgerton/Ellsworth football coach Andrew Fleischman for winning his 100^th career game with a victory on Friday night over Westbrook-Walnut Grove.

New Timberwolves center Rony Turiaf throws out the ceremonial first pitch at tonight’s Twins-Tigers game at Target Field.

The Capitals will host the January 1, 2015 NHL Winter Classic, a date the Wild had targeted for the outdoor event in Minneapolis. The local NHL team will now presumably try for 2016.

Rochester radio commentator Ed Rauen emailed with news about two of his city’s outstanding girls tennis players, both high school juniors. Ingrid Neel has been working on her game at the IMG Academy in Florida. Jesse Aney played in Florida summer tournaments and this school year will be on the girls hockey team at Rochester Century High School.

Canterbury Park’s 69-day racing season, the longest since 2006, concluded with gains in average handle and attendance. Off-track wagering (dollars bet on Canterbury races at other tracks and through Internet sites) increased by 46.7 percent while average daily on-track wagering was up 4.8 percent. Average daily attendance was 6,656, a Canterbury Park record since the track re-opened in 1995.

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U President Speaks Out Praising Jerry Kill

Posted on September 20, 2013September 21, 2013 by David Shama

University of Minnesota president Eric Kaler staunchly expressed support for football coach Jerry Kill at a fundraising event earlier this week at the Calhoun Beach Club. Addressing influential University supporters and donors, Kaler made clear how highly he regards his third year coach who suffered another game day seizure last Saturday.

Among those in attendance at the event on Monday night was Rebecca Kill, the coach’s wife. Kaler’s message was certainly reassuring to the Kills and would draw approval from thousands of Minnesotans who want to see Jerry Kill continue coaching. Kill has left no doubt in the past or this week that he doesn’t plan to let seizures drive him out of coaching, but some friends are less worried about his health and more concerned that another school will entice him to coach elsewhere.

Additional resources are needed to make the Gophers football program more competitive and on a par with the quality programs in the Big Ten Conference. Kill knows a better indoor practice facility, state-of-the-art weight room, upgraded training table facility and a better academic center can help attract recruits. Another issue is improving salaries for his assistant coaches, and that’s not to mention Kill’s salary ranks at the bottom of the Big Ten among head football coaches.

Kaler’s message the other night and statements by athletic director Norwood Teague this summer that the Gophers need a $190 million upgrade in facilities (for football and other sports) are messages that register positively with Kill. But eventually the talk will need to turn into action to retain Kill who has dramatically improved the classroom attendance and performance of his players while sending a more competitive football team out on the field each season.

The support for Kill among the public seems to have grown this week as talk shows, online messages and newspaper letters have encouraged Kill to keep coaching while praising him for his persistence and values. Even the Star Tribune lead editorial on Tuesday had a supportive article headlined: “Epilepsy does not define the Kill era.”

What the public has learned since Kill was hired in December of 2010 is he is a good football coach with rock solid values who thousands of Minnesotans can identify with. His work in the community, including on behalf of epilepsy, could one day become legendary and already he deserves a place among Minnesota’s most active and effective high profile volunteers.

“What he does is fairly remarkable,” Dave Mona said. “He is a poster child for what people are capable of.”

Mona assisted then athletic director Joel Maturi with the Gophers’ head coaching search that led to Kill’s hiring. The two asked Kill about his health during the interview process and found the coach welcoming questions. He talked about his experiences with losing consciousness and also his cancer.

That openness is who Kill is. He wouldn’t want the Gophers job if he didn’t believe he was fully capable of doing it. He might label it “stealing money” if he wasn’t able to work almost 24-7 like he does.

Mona and others see a coach who is doing all kinds of good things for the football program, University and community. The buy in is strong and probably gained momentum during the difficult days since last Saturday. “I think he’s on the path that made him attractive to us in the first place,” Mona said.

Worth Noting

Gophers athletic director Norwood Teague told the CORES luncheon group last week he is “bullish” on football coach Jerry Kill and his assistants. “I am thrilled with where we’re at,” Teague said last Thursday.

Teague said former Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez told him walk-ons were the key to rebuilding the Badgers football program.

Teague expects North Dakota to eventually return to the Gophers hockey schedule. He said the atmosphere for a Gophers-North Dakota game is the best he’s experienced for hockey.

CORES emcee and funnyman Dick Jonckowski opened the luncheon with a story about a guy who shot a loon and later was questioned by a game warden. The warden was curious about what a loon tasted like. “Kind of a cross between a trumpeter swan and bald eagle,” the hunter answered.

San Jose State has won 14 of its last 17 games including a 1-1 record this season. Starting quarterback David Fales, who will face the Gophers tomorrow at TCF Bank Stadium, is 12-3 in the last 15 games.

“We’re going to play a quarterback that most people who come through here from the NFL feel like is going to be a first round draft pick,” Kill said. “He throws the back shoulder throw as good as anybody in the country.”

The Gophers’ depth chart released this morning had Mitch Leidner listed as the No. 1 quarterback, and either Philip Nelson or Chris Streveler at No. 2.

David Benedict, the Gophers’ deputy athletic director, said fewer than 1,000 tickets remain for Minnesota’s home Big Ten opener with Iowa on September 28. The Nebraska game at TCF Bank Stadium on October 26 is sold out. Benedict said attendance for tomorrow’s game with San Jose State will easily exceed last Saturday’s announced attendance of 42,127 for the Western Michigan game. Stadium capacity is 50,805.

The Vikings’ John Sullivan is one of four NFL centers endorsing Dollar Shave Club’s One Wipe Charlies, “a flushable wet toilet-paper product launched in June,” according to a September 16 article on Adage.com. The website reported the players will endorse the product in radio commercials with the tag line: “Every great play starts with a clean snap.”

The Vikings are trying to avoid an 0-3 start to the season Sunday against the Browns, also 0-2. The Vikings lost their first three games in 2011 when the eventual final record was 3-13. In 2008 the Vikings made the playoffs despite a 0-2 start.

Former Vikings coach Bud Grant signs copies of his new book I Did It My Way starting at noon today at Barnes & Noble downtown, 801 Nicollet Avenue.

Highly sought Brooklyn, New York prep shooting guard Isaiah Whitehead, who had interest in the Gophers, announced yesterday he will attend Seton Hall next year.

Hamline honors its 1988 football team at halftime tomorrow night at Klas Field. That team tied for the MIAC championship with Concordia and was led by coach Dick Tressel, the Pipers’ all-time winningest football coach. Tressel is now an assistant with Carleton, Hamline’s opponent tomorrow night. Hamline’s head coach is Chad Rogosheske who played for Tressel. Also on the Piper staff is Luke Tressel who is Dick’s son.

Ken Norton, the heavyweight boxer who died this week, is best known in this area for his 1979 draw with Minnesota native Scott LeDoux at Met Center. It was one of Norton’s last fights.

The mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul will declare next Thursday Roy Griak Day in the two cities. There will be a 50 year celebration of Griak’s service to the Gophers that day and Governor Mark Dayton will issue a certificate of recognition. More than 500 Griak admirers are expected at an on-campus celebration from 5 to 8 p.m. next Thursday. More information is available at GoldenGopherFund.com.

Griak was the Gophers’ men’s cross country and track and field coach for 33 years from 1963 to 1996. He is now an administrative assistant for those programs. He said remaining in athletics and staying active beats the alternative of “playing bridge with old ladies.”

Griak exercises most days with activities that include biking, 60 modified pushups and 80 modified sit-ups. Griak will be 90 years old on October 5.

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Mauer Can Send Message for 2014

Posted on September 18, 2013September 18, 2013 by David Shama

The Twins have the wrong kind of “circle it date” coming up: September 30.

That’s the first day after their 2013 schedule ends and a time to look back on another disappointing year. The team will finish with one of the worst records in MLB for a third consecutive season.

The offseason questions (again) will be what to do about all the losing?

There are mostly no easy answers and quick fixes. A talented group of minor league prospects needs more time in the farm system. The big league club’s loudest plea for help is starting pitching but it’s a monster problem demanding a rebuilt staff. The Twins’ standard approach in the past has been not to sign big buck, long term deals with free agent players—including free agent starting pitchers—so it will be interesting if management takes a new approach this winter.

Managers who finish in last place two consecutive seasons and then move up one spot in the standings during a third year are often asked to move on. But the Twins are a different breed of organization with DNA loyalty seldom seen in professional sports. It just might be that when the Twins decision makers gather in October the guy who decides whether Ron Gardenhire returns as manager is Gardenhire.

Another manager might strategize and energize the Twins to more wins but until the talent is upgraded, particularly the starting rotation, even a miracle worker like Joe Maddon of the Rays could only do so much. Changing managers, though, is one way for the organization to say the leadership on the field is part of a new start for the Twins.

The value of that approach could be more of a marketing tool than a baseball resource. Twins fans are restless and at least one ticket holder described the last few weeks of the season as a “death march.” The organization needs to show fans leadership is serious about rebuilding the franchise and winning. Placing Minnesota baseball legend Paul Molitor in the dugout as manager will fire up some of the team’s more passionate fans and ticket holders. At least in the minds of some fans and media, Molitor has been considered for awhile the most attractive replacement for Gardenhire.

There’s another Minnesota baseball legend who can do something to help the franchise at least take small steps toward a better future starting in 2014. Joe Mauer is the face of this team and the best paid employee in the history of a franchise that started operating here in 1961.

Mauer’s $23 million salary would make original Twins owner Calvin Griffith’s head spin. That kind of money could also provoke Calvin to say what he thought and if still alive he might tell Mauer: “Get your butt out to first base next spring.”

Yeah, we all know Joe loves to catch and the position is the “quarterback spot” on a baseball field. But on a team starved for run production, the Twins can no longer place an aging Mauer behind the plate where he’s another foul ball away from a concussion or sprained finger.

Every indication is the Twins will let Mauer, a three-time American League batting champion, continue catching next season. Mauer should reach a decision long before that and hold a news conference announcing his intent to play first base.

At first base Mauer would fill a position left open by the summer departure of Justin Morneau to the Pirates. Playing first base will be much easier on Mauer’s 31-year-old legs than squatting behind the plate. A revitalized and healthier Mauer at first base could be a small but significant improvement for the club.

It’s a change that Mauer should seize—an opportunity for the soft-spoken Minnesotan to increase his leadership role with the team and in the clubhouse. By doing so he sends a message to his teammates that playing first base isn’t his preference but this is a “team first” move.

It’s a move that among all the possibilities for a better Twins future seems the easiest to implement. We’ll see soon whether Mauer catches on.

Worth Noting

Josmil Pinto, the rookie catcher who would be a candidate to take over for Mauer next season if he moves to first base, is hitting .356 with two home runs and seven RBI in 45 at bats with the Twins.

Third baseman Trevor Plouffe, who might already feel the possibility of super prospect Miguel Sano taking his job in a year or two, has hit .324 in his last 10 games.

Since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970 the Vikings are tied with the Cowboys for the fourth most wins at home, 222. The Vikings, 0-2, play their first home game of the season on Sunday against the Browns, also 0-2.

Outside rookie linebacker Barkevious Mingo of the Browns has been turning heads. Sports Illustrated’s Peter King wrote that Mingo was the “best rookie I saw in camp this year” when the magazine published its September 2 NFL preview.

Writing for Cleveland.com (Cleveland Plain Dealer) Tom Reed said last Sunday that Mingo’s first regular season game left the Ravens “trying to find ways, legal and otherwise, to slow down the No. 6 overall pick in the NFL Draft.” Reed reported Mingo had a sack on his first snap, “deflected a Joe Flacco pass and drew two holding penalties in showcasing his speed and athleticism.”

Minnesota-based prep football authority Zach Johnson knows it’s too early to evaluate the Gophers 2014 recruiting class but he’s impressed with players who have verbally committed so far including Texas offensive lineman Connor Mayes, Washburn running back Jeff Jones and Chicago defensive tackle Steven Richardson.

Johnson said Mayes could have chosen many other college programs including those in Texas. Jones is the only four-star recruit among the six high school players Rivals.com lists as part of the 2014 Minnesota class. “Definitely one that everyone should be excited about if he sticks with that commitment,” Johnson told Sports Headliners about Jones.

Richardson is the only two-star recruit among the six verbal commitments, with four others labeled three-stars. Johnson said Richardson is “a little undersized at 5-11” but he likes the Mount Carmel High School lineman. “One of those guys who will just be a solid plug on the defensive line up the middle,” Johnson said.

The two FBS opponents the Gophers have defeated in nonconference games this season are a combined 1-5. UNLV (1-2) defeated Central Michigan last Saturday after losses to Minnesota and Arizona when the Rebels were outscored by 73 points. New Mexico State (0-3) has lost to Texas, Minnesota and UTEP by a total of 99 points.

Gophers coach Jerry Kill indicated yesterday running backs Donnell Kirkwood and Berkley Edwards have recovered enough to perhaps play in Saturday’s final nonconference game at TCF Bank Stadium against San Jose State. He wouldn’t say whether Philip Nelson (hamstring) or Mitch Leidner will start at quarterback. The guess here is if Nelson isn’t near 100 percent he won’t play unless Leidner is injured or plays ineffectively.

Columnist Phil Taylor writes in last week’s issue of Sports Illustrated that Jason Collins, who announced earlier this year he is gay, has not been offered a contract by a NBA team. Collins, a 34-year-old 7-foot center, has played for seven NBA teams including the Timberwolves. Although Collins is an aging player who will demand a higher salary than some other players, Taylor writes that it’s “impossible to ignore the obvious question” of whether sexual orientation is a reason NBA clubs aren’t interested. Taylor reports that Collins doesn’t think so.

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