David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Rocky Marciano Lived a Knockout Life

Posted on September 2, 2013September 2, 2013 by David Shama

If Rocky Marciano were alive, he would have celebrated his 90^th birthday yesterday. Marciano died in a small airplane crash near Newton, Iowa on August 31, 1969 and although the former boxing great has been dead for a long time he is fondly remembered by many fans including Twin Cities public relations professional and fight fan Dennis McGrath.

One day back in 1969 McGrath was having lunch at a place called the Front Page in downtown Minneapolis when he saw a guy that looked like Marciano. McGrath recognized a man with the retired heavyweight champion, a local fighter named Joe Schmolze who he knew.

“What the hell is he (Marciano) doing in Minneapolis?” McGrath wondered.

The retired Champ was in town on business, representing a union involved with an insurance company. “I told Joe it would be great to meet Rocky,” McGrath recalled.

Marciano graciously introduced himself, as if McGrath didn’t know who the legendary fighter was. “He says, ‘Hi, I am Rocky Marciano.’ I am shaking the hand of the guy that knocked out Joe Louis.”

A few months later Marciano, who was born on September 1, 1923, was dead, just a day before his 46^th birthday. Ironically, about the same time Schmolze was killed in a car accident in Columbia Heights.

While Schmolze’s death was news locally, the passing of the Rock shook the nation. “This is the saddest news I ever heard,” Louis said.

That quote is from the 2002 book The Rock of His Times by Russell Sullivan. His Marciano biography is the story about one of America’s most beloved heroes during the 1950s and 1960s, a time when boxing was near the top of the entertainment charts in this country.

When you were the heavyweight champ, the nation was watching. With Marciano people liked what they saw — fans, sportswriters and even guys the Rock hurt in the ring including the incomparable Louis who to this day is considered by some historians to be the greatest heavyweight ever.

Louis was African-American while Marciano was Italian-American, but regardless of race other fighters and those associated with the sport liked Marciano. “The nicest guy (Marciano) you ever wanted to meet,” Angelo Dundee said in Sullivan’s book. “A gentleman.”

For years Dundee was Muhammad Ali’s trainer. Dundee ranks Marciano among the 10 best heavyweights of all time, according to Sullivan who also quotes writer Jimmy Breslin as saying, “I don’t know who was better.”

During a pro career that started in 1948 and ended in 1956, Marciano compiled a 49-0 record with 43 knockouts. From 1952-1956 he was the undisputed champion of the world and retired as the only undefeated and untied heavyweight champ ever.

In the early part of 1969 Marciano filmed a fake fight with Ali who was then only 27 years old. Marciano, 45, got in shape and wore a toupee for the filming. The two men worked out in the ring while cameras recorded their movements and blows. The purpose was to make a film for commercial profit but neither Marciano nor Ali knew at the time who a computer would judge the winner.

What fight fans ultimately saw when the “Super Fight” movie was released in 1970 was Marciano winning with a 13th round TKO. It was the Rock’s “last fight” and even in a film he remained undefeated. A disappointed Ali is said to have suggested the computer was from Alabama.

Marciano was a blood and guts fighter. He was a slugger, not a fancy boxer, and he often looked awkward in his movements. Only 5-11 and well under 200 pounds, Marciano didn’t have a long reach or more size than opponents but he hit with devastating power and was capable of even killing another man. He could weather a blow from foes like few others and was only knocked down twice in his career.

The Champ had something else, too. Incredible determination to succeed. A Depression era baby, a young Marciano wanted success and when he washed out as a pro baseball player he knew boxing was his last ticket to earning wealth in athletics.

Marciano’s will to succeed was evident in how hard and effectively he trained. Sullivan writes that supposedly even voluptuous movie star Jayne Mansfield couldn’t distract the Champ during training for one of his fights. “What is he, crazy?” Mansfield reportedly asked. “He didn’t want anything to do with me.”

After retiring from boxing, Marciano kept busy with business affairs including speeches. He didn’t want to lose his place among the famous and he also wanted to make sure the kid who grew up so poor in Brockton, Massachusetts always had plenty of cash.

Sullivan said it’s believed there are still places around the country that Marciano hid his money. It was a hunger for money, recognition and helping friends that had Marciano on the move after his boxing career ended. He often travelled by private airplane and was trying to fly from Chicago to Des Moines when he and two passengers were killed in 1969.

“Rocky lived life lately like it was the 15^th round and he was behind on points,” Los Angeles Times columnist Jim Murray wrote only days after Marciano’s death. “Every time I saw him of late he was on the dead run.”

For Dennis McGrath and others who met Marciano, they are now just grateful to have known him.

Happy birthday, Champ.

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Hageman Draws Comparisons with Suh

Posted on August 30, 2013August 30, 2013 by David Shama

When Darrell Thompson talks about Gophers defensive tackle Ra’Shede Hageman he mentions Ndamukong Suh. Playing at Nebraska a few years ago, Suh earned a reputation as one of college football’s most dominant defensive tackles ever.

Suh was a much more developed player going into this senior season at Nebraska than Hageman is now but Thompson sees similarities in skill sets and physical size. “I feel like they’re fairly similar,” Thompson told Sports Headliners. “He (Hageman) is not as compact (as Suh), but he’s rangier and might even be a hair more athletic.”

How dominant can Hageman be as a senior? “As dominant as he wants to be,” answered Thompson, the former Gophers record setting running back and now the game analyst on Minnesota radio broadcasts. “The only person that can hold him back is himself. He can do it. If he plays with leverage and comes off the ball the way he can, he can be an extremely disruptive force. You can’t ask for anything more than a disruptive force right in the middle of your defense.”

UNLV was introduced to Hageman last night including when the former Washburn High School all-state tight end not only blocked a field goal attempt but pushed the ball forward helping Minnesota’s Martez Shabazz scoop it up and run 51 yards for a touchdown. That score was among the biggest plays of the evening as Minnesota increased its third quarter lead to 30-13 before going on to win the opening game 51-23.

Thompson thought Hageman started slowly but became more effective as the game continued. Inconsistency has characterized Hageman’s career with the Gophers but Thompson said it’s understandable given the position switch to defense at Minnesota after being a tight end in high school and early in his college career.

Suh, by contrast, was a defensive tackle and a beast in that role back in high school in his hometown of Portland. Playing at Nebraska, his size, 6-4, 300 pounds, strength and agility made him a dreaded player for offensive linemen to block.

Hageman is 6-6 and 311 pounds. Thompson describes Hageman as a player with a vertical jump in the “mid-30’s” able to bench press over 400 pounds who is explosive and can run while playing with a “little bit of a mean streak in him.”

Thompson said the Gophers’ tackle is still in the “middle of the learning process.” Maximizing technique and learning all the ways of playing his position takes time. “But even this year if he takes the throttle off of himself and plays hard and plays smart and plays with leverage and runs to the ball I think he can be special,” Thompson said. “He can get away without actually having great technique when you’re bigger and stronger than everyone. …There’s not many people like him playing college football.”

Worth Noting

Sources told Sports Headliners this week that Roger Schipper will not return as Gophers athletic trainer. Schipper completed his 28^th season last March as the Minnesota trainer.

David Benedict, deputy athletic director for the Gophers, said last week that the public season ticket sale for football was about 29,000 including 1,800 new tickets. He also said student season tickets may total 5,000.

Gophers freshman Donohvan Jones, the quarterback turned wide receiver, has a 40 inch vertical jump.

Gophers athletic director Norwood Teague speaks to the C.O.R.E.S. group on Thursday, September 12 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington. Reservations for the luncheon and program should be made by Monday, September 9. For more information contact Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net.

Stillwater-based Creative Charters has sold-out its fan trips to New Mexico State for the Gophers and to London for the Vikings. Working with the University of Minnesota Alumni Association, Creative Charters has a discount price through next Wednesday on travel to the Gophers game at Northwestern on October 19.

The Seahawks, including Vikings alums Percy Harvin, Sidney Rice and Antoine Winfield, are among the most mentioned teams to win the NFC and the Super Bowl.

The Big Ten’s biggest game of the opening weekend is tomorrow night when Northwestern, an underdog pick to win the Legends Division, plays at California where pass-happy Golden Bears head coach Sonny Dykes makes his debut in Berkley.

Minneapolis attorney Bob Stein, the former Timberwolves president and ex-football player with the Gophers and NFL Chiefs, is part of the legal team representing retired NFL players who have filed a lawsuit against NFL Films regarding their publicity rights.

Twins president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners this morning not to expect phenoms Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton to be part of the team’s September 1 call ups of minor league players. Both will be in spring training, though, with the Twins next year.

Circle it date for prep football: Wayzata at Eden Prairie, 7 p.m. on October 11.

With the MIAC starting another school year, the conference hopes to build on its success in athletics that includes 43 NCAA team national championships and 243 individual national titles.

The Wild will introduce a new white road jersey at the Minnesota State Fair’s FAN Central building on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. The building is located at the intersection of Dan Patch Avenue and Underwood Street.

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Stakes High in U Facilities Future

Posted on August 28, 2013August 28, 2013 by David Shama

When athletic director Norwood Teague announced his $190 million plan to upgrade Gophers athletic facilities earlier this summer few people ever thought about Minnesota’s future as a member of the Big Ten Conference.

Perhaps they should have.

There might come a time when the Big Ten decides schools that aren’t investing in their athletic programs are also not worthy of membership in the historic conference. “I think that’s a possibility,” Mark Sheffert told Sports Headliners.

Sheffert is a University of Minnesota alum, Gophers fan and supporter, former president of First Bank System and now CEO of Minneapolis-based Manchester Companies, a company providing strategic and financial planning to businesses. He’s also a personable guy with a modest manner who has the respect of local leaders in the business community and at the University of Minnesota.

The Gophers have fallen far behind in athletic facilities compared with schools in the Big Ten and elsewhere. The needs list includes the often publicized absence of a basketball practice facility for men’s and women’s teams but goes way deeper. A football complex, academic center, training table, women’s gymnastics facility, wrestling training facility, Olympic sport indoor practice facility and outdoor Olympic sport track were all in the details Teague announced last month.

“There was a report a couple of years ago that showed Minnesota was second to last (in the Big Ten) in re-investing (in facilities),” Sheffert said. “Purdue was last. We were also second to last in donations to the athletic department.”

That’s the kind of stuff that one day might lead to head scratching in the Big Ten office in Chicago about Minnesota’s future. The Gophers not only are behind in facilities but the football program has mostly been in free fall for decades. Every conference school has been to the Rose Bowl more recently than the Gophers who last visited Pasadena in 1962. Minnesota hasn’t won a Big Ten football championship since 1967.

In basketball, the record the last four decades is better but doesn’t exactly glitter. During the past 15 years the Gophers have mostly been second division finishers in the Big Ten. Before that period there was the embarrassing and expensive academic scandal of the coach Clem Haskins era that wiped out a Big Ten championship and NCAA Final Four appearance. Even further back in Gophers basketball history there were other sanctions by the NCAA.

The high profile sports of football and men’s basketball are what drive the big revenues in college sports today. The profits made are sometimes stunning. Texas, for example, had about a $71 million football profit for school year 2010-11, according to a December 28, 2011 article by Businessofcollegesports.com. The Gophers’ football profit of approximately $13.5 million ranked No. 30 in the nation (down from No. 25 the year before). The profit in basketball of about $9.5 million ranked No. 47 in the country among football and basketball programs. The potential to grow profits at Minnesota is considerable in both sports.

Minnesota’s annual share of the Big Ten TV income pot is over $21 million and without it the Gophers athletic department would operate in the red, likely unable to sustain a 23 sport program that includes 12 women’s teams and 11 men’s teams. “If we don’t make investments in our sports, I think the Big Ten Conference will look for teams that are investing and will be competitive,” Sheffert said. “You don’t watch two teams (on TV) not investing in their programs and who are battling for last place in the standings. If you’re an advertiser, you don’t buy time with two teams last in the conference.”

Athletic departments have to “think like a business” and “take stock” of weaknesses, Sheffert said. In a visit he made to Lincoln, Nebraska to study the Cornhuskers athletic facilities he saw what the better programs are doing.

The Gophers have one practice field for football. At Nebraska Sheffert saw three fields, creating opportunities for the offense, defense and special teams to each have their own space.

The Gibson-Nagurski football complex where the Gophers practice is about 30 years old and Sheffert said it has a leaky roof. The building is sometimes shared with the softball and golf teams because of the minimal indoor facilities for Gophers teams.

Passionate college football fans know that schools like Ohio State, Michigan and Nebraska have far superior facilities to Minnesota’s. The comparisons are striking, even when it comes to meal time. “The (Gophers) football team eats dinner in the hallway (at Gibson-Nagurski),” Sheffert said.

At Nebraska there is a large dining room. Sheffert said football players and other athletes see food offerings that are color coded at the training table, helping to guide selections depending on whether athletes are preparing for game days or practice days. “You don’t even have to think what you should eat,” he said.

At Minnesota a donor stepped forward to buy more computers to help athletes with academics and close a small gap between what the Gophers have in technology compared with other schools. Those same athletes sometimes receive tutoring in open settings while at other schools there are private rooms. Places like Michigan and Nebraska have elaborate programs to track and tutor athletes, creating more likelihood athletes will perform better academically.

Sheffert said at those schools the athletic departments have their own orthopedic doctors and pharmacies on-site. Such resources can influence parents and recruits who at a place like Nebraska will even be impressed by the setting for the coach’s office. Bo Pelini’s office doubles as a suite and looks out over Memorial Stadium.

Ask Gophers coach Jerry Kill if he can lose recruits because of facilities and he will say yes. He has a new stadium that opened in 2009 but there’s so much more to the facilities picture than where a school plays seven or eight home games each year.

All of this doesn’t even address basketball where the Gophers and Northwestern are the only Big Ten schools without designated practice facilities other than their gameday arenas. At Nebraska, Sheffert was impressed with the Cornhuskers’ facilities including the technology. The Huskers not only have multiple practice courts but players can sit at their lockers and swipe a card to study game action of themselves on computers. In the showers they can swipe cards to hear favorite music.

Sheffert said at Nebraska, unlike Minnesota, there are separate weight rooms for football, basketball and wrestling. And this fall the basketball team will be competing in a new $180 million arena.

It’s not just Nebraska, Michigan and a few others that are investing in their programs. Google searches quickly show $55 million projects either completed or in motion for other Big Ten schools. Oregon has opened a $68 million football complex that is so lavish it commanded a photo spread in Sports Illustrated this summer.

The August 5 issue of the Businessofcollegesports.com reported that Utah has opened a $32 million football facility. Duke is working “in earnest” on a $100 million facilities plan, according to the website. The Air Force Academy is considering a $50 million-plus renovation of its football stadium.

“We continue to fall behind…teams that are competitive,” Sheffert said. “We have to start with the idea that football, basketball and hockey are the entertainment business. They are (played by) student athletes and we owe it to them to provide the best facilities (for academics and athletics) that we can. We are at a competitive disadvantage when recruiting the best players in the country.”

The disadvantage goes beyond facilities. Kill has been at the bottom of the Big Ten’s salaries for head football coaches since he came to Minnesota in 2010. Presuming Kill continues to improve the Gophers football product, Minnesota will become increasingly at risk for losing a popular coach who is admired around the country not only for his football IQ but also his moral values and concern for the community.

So far Kill has been able to hold on to his assistant coaches although it’s a group that is far from the best paid in the Big Ten. Gophers offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover and defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys don’t rank among the top 10 paid coordinators in the league, according to a May 4 Espn.com story by Adam Wittenberg. In a league where only 18 assistants make less than $200,000 per year, 15 of them work for Minnesota, Illinois, Purdue and Indiana, according to Wittenberg.

Sheffert assesses the financial landscape at Minnesota and voices optimism. “I view it as a great opportunity,” he said. He is part of a group that has dialogued with Teague and University of Minnesota president Eric Kaler.

Sheffert knows more than a little about money and he said there are different ways to finance facilities improvements. Those options can include fundraising but also borrowing money in a responsible way while taking advantage of favorable construction rates as the economy continues to recover. “We may have to take a risk but we take a risk by not doing anything,” Sheffert said.

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