David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Frazier Not Anxious about Job

Posted on December 12, 2012December 12, 2012 by David Shama

With three regular season games remaining, there’s no official word yet on extending coach Leslie Frazier’s contract but that seems likely to happen before too long.

Frazier reportedly has a three-year deal that commits the Vikings to him through next season. To let Frazier go very long into next year without an extension wouldn’t show much faith in him and probably won’t happen.

Vikings ownership and general manager Rick Spielman are believed to be supportive of the man who was promoted from defensive coordinator late in the 2010 season to interim coach and later head coach. Frazier won three of six games in 2010, then went 3-13 last season as the franchise began rebuilding. This season the team is 7-6 with the playoffs a possibility for the first time since 2009.

Frazier, preparing this week for Sunday’s game with the Rams, told Sports Headliners he doesn’t worry about his tenure as coach. “Not at all. I talk to our players all the time about control what you can control, and from my standpoint it’s true for me as well.

“My concentration has to be on the St. Louis Rams in this case, and really focusing on that. All those other things take care of themselves as long as I concentrate on the task at hand.”

The Vikings’ record looks like an accomplishment to those who thought before season the team was in for a dismal year. Despite losing playmaker extraordinaire Percy Harvin to injury, and having to develop a second-year quarterback and other young players on both offense and defense, there are only six teams in the 16-team NFC that have a better record than the Vikings.

Frazier’s likeable personality enhances his popularity with the franchise, media and fans. “I try to be myself as much as I can,” he said. “Some people will like that person and some people won’t, but it’s important to be yourself. That’s one thing I’ve learned over the years. Be who you are. Hopefully people will accept you for who you are. …”

Frazier said when he was an NFL player he always appreciated coaches and others who were honest with him. He tries to do the same now in his leadership position.

“When you start trying to mislead people, I don’t think that’s a good deal,” he said. “You don’t create the trust that you have to have in the environment we’re in.”

Worth Noting

Ted Mondale, executive director for the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, told Sports Headliners an announcement about whether the new Vikings stadium will have a retractable roof will come in “late February or early March.”

That announcement will be made after a construction company is hired and can determine what amenities are affordable on the $975 million budget. An announcement naming the company is expected January 25.

The Vikings want a retractable feature for the stadium but budget limitations might dictate that rather than a costly sliding roof something like a huge window that can be opened and closed will be what is affordable. The stadium will have either a fixed or sliding roof—open air isn’t an option.

In the December 10 issue, Minneapolis native Larry Fitzgerald Jr. is one of 10 individuals profiled in Sports Illustrated for service to others. The Cardinals All-Pro wide receiver is particularly known here for his work in the fight against breast cancer, a disease that took his mother Carol’s life. But he’s also a world traveler whose causes in other countries include the Starkey Hearing Foundation and USO.

“If you get consumed by fame, your world can be a very small bubble,” Fitzgerald told Sports Illustrated.

Steve and Dorothy Erban’s Creative Charters is working on filling up a second airplane with fans wanting to attend the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Houston on December 28 between the Gophers and Texas Tech. www.creativecharter.com

Eden Prairie High School football coach Mike Grant is expected to interview this week for the Saint John’s head coaching job, according to a December 8 St. Cloud Times online story.

Chad Rogosheske, named Hamline football coach on Monday, was a running back for the 1995 Pipers—the school’s last team to have a winning record. He was all-MIAC in 1996, blocking for Eric Johnson who set school records for rushing yards and touchdowns. Rogosheske also spent three seasons at Ohio State as a graduate assistant.

Will tonight be Ricky Rubio’s season debut when the Timberwolves play the Nuggets at Target Center? The second-year Spanish point guard played in 41 games as a rookie before injuring his left knee and ending his season.

Gophers coach Tubby Smith took the redshirt status off Rice Lake, Wisconsin freshman guard-forward Wally Ellenson last night in Minnesota’s win over North Dakota State. With one nonconference game remaining before the Big Ten season begins, the athletic Ellenson will add depth to the roster.

Prep basketball authority Ken Lien emailed that Apple Valley point guard Tyus Jones made 20 of 22 free throws and seven of 14 field goals to score 36 points in the Eagles’ 82-68 win over Minnetonka last night. The junior preseason All-American also had six assists.

My son Bill and I had dinner with former Gophers basketball captain Paul Presthus last night. Presthus and my father were both from Rugby, North Dakota— a small town known as the geographic center of North America. Presthus was famous as a high school player and before his senior season was included with Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul Jabbar) as a first team prep All-American.

The announcement Monday that the NHL has cancelled regular season games through December 30 now means 42.8 percent of the schedule for 2012-2013 is lost.

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Mount Union Won’t Scare UST

Posted on December 12, 2012December 12, 2012 by David Shama

University of St. Thomas athletic director Steve Fritz doesn’t expect the Tommies to be intimidated by Mount Union’s reputation when the two teams meet Friday night to decide the Division III football national championship in the Amos Alonzo Stag Bowl in Salem, Virginia.

Mount Union has been in the title game 14 times since 1993, including the last seven years, according to d3football.com. The Alliance, Ohio school lost the last three Stag Bowls to UW-Whitewater but was Division III champions in 2005, 2006 and 2008. The Purple Raiders are a 10-time national champion.

This will be the Tommies’ first national title game ever but Fritz doesn’t expect St. Thomas players to be scared. “I don’t think so,” Fritz told Sports Headliners. “We come out of an awfully good region. Whitewater is from the same region. Really, the thing is, if you’re in the (title) game you’re good enough to win it.”

The Tommies are undefeated in regular season play the last three years under coach Glenn Caruso. The 2012 team is 14-0, the same record as Mount Union. This may not be Caruso’s most talented team but it’s the only one to advance this far in the playoffs, and there’s also another aspect to the 2012 group that pleases Fritz. “The thing I like is this team has gotten better week by week more than any team I’ve seen,” he said.

This is Caruso’s fifth season as head coach. “He’s done a spectacular job,” Fritz said. “We were looking to upgrade the program (when Caruoso was hired). We wanted to be at the top in the MIAC. To grow to one of the top programs nationally so fast is impressive.”

The Tommies departed by charter airplane for Virginia last night. They will practice during the week in Salem and have a community service school visit on Thursday.

Fritz said there will be at least one charter flight with Tommies fans going to the game and “maybe a second.” Travel information is available at the St. Thomas sports website.

He expects 300 to 500 St. Thomas fans at the game in the 7,000-plus seat stadium. He projected attendance of about 4,500 at the game which begins at 6 p.m. Minnesota time and will be televised on ESPNU.

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Jerry Burns: Fans Unfair to Ponder

Posted on December 10, 2012December 10, 2012 by David Shama

It’s been a fall of boos and other criticism directed at Vikings second-year quarterback Christian Ponder, but former Vikings head coach Jerry Burns said Ponder receives too much blame.

The Vikings’ passing game has faltered much of the season including in yesterday’s 21-14 win over the Bears. The offense produced one touchdown drive and that was courtesy of Adrian Peterson’s running on the game’s opening drive including a 51-yard run. Otherwise, the Vikings used a first quarter Josh Robinson 44-yard interception returned to the Bears’ five yard line to set up their second touchdown, and in the third quarter Harrison Smith ran back an intercepted pass 56 yards for Minnesota’s third and final touchdown.

Ponder, who completed 11 of 17 passes for 91 yards, heard from the boo-birds in the stands, and media critics who have found fault with him this season will no doubt rip him again.

Burns, who was Vikings head coach from 1986-1991 and before that a revered NFL offensive coordinator, said critics don’t understand all the elements responsible for the Vikings’ passing attack that ranks with the NFL’s most anemic (last in yards per game at 172.6). “I just feel sorry for Ponder,” Burns told Sports Headliners on Saturday, a day before the Vikings defeated Chicago and improved their record to 7-6.

Burns said the offensive line isn’t consistent in giving Ponder enough time to throw. Sometimes a formation with an additional blocker in the backfield would help, perhaps adding a precious second allowing Ponder to set his feet.

With defenses sometimes storming Ponder, Burns suggested the Vikings might benefit from more use of screen passes and draw plays with Peterson or Toby Gerhart, his substitute. That kind of action, combined with more rollouts and bootlegs by Ponder using his athleticism, could help make the offense less predictable and keep the defense off balance.

In yesterday’s game wide receiver Michael Jenkins had two second half third down receptions to sustain drives. Big plays from wide receivers have been MIA for the Vikings most of the season, a reality not lost on Burns who attends games and remains a passionate supporter of the franchise.

“I haven’t seen a diving catch, a great catch,” Burns said. “Going up and taking the ball away from people. A guy you can go to.”

Burns isn’t arguing Ponder doesn’t sometimes make bad decisions, throw inaccurately and occasionally have minimal zip on the ball. He is saying that in a team sport the quarterback plays the lead role but the surrounding personnel and play calls make a difference too.

Head coach Leslie Frazier has Burns’ support and he likes the commitment of not sending Ponder to the bench, replacing him with Joe Webb. “It might make things worse at this point,” Burns said. “Now (by benching) you’re bouncing back and forth.”

The Vikings are still in the playoff race with three games to play. It may be unlikely they can win enough games the rest of the way with their limited offense to make the playoffs for the first time since 2009 but the franchise’s future at quarterback seems tied to Ponder.

While some NFL quarterbacks have early first and second year success, others develop more gradually. Burns believes Ponder can be effective in the future with maturity and having the right support around him.

“I think he will be fine,” Burns said.

Worth Noting

What a birthday present on Saturday. St. Thomas quarterback Matt O’Connell turned 20 while running for two touchdowns and passing for one as the Tommies defeated UW-Oshkosh, 28-14, in a Division III semifinals playoff game. Next up for the Tommies is a first ever trip to the Division III national championship game on Friday night against Mount Union in Salem,Virginia. The game starts at 6 p.m. Minnesota time and will be televised on ESPN U.

The Gophers football team has 31 fall Academic All-Big Ten selections, 13 more than last year and second in the conference to Northwestern’s 34. Among the Gophers honored are defensive starters Michael Amaefula, Cameron Botticelli, Keanon Cooper, Aaron Hill, Mike Rallis and Brock Vereen, and offensive starters Jon Christenson, Derrick Engel, Drew Goodger, Ed Olson, Tommy Olson and John Rabe.

With Max Shortell transferring to another school, the Gophers will have only two quarterbacks with game experience for their Meineke Car Care Bowl matchup on December 28 against Texas Tech, Philip Nelson and MarQueis Gray. Coach Jerry Kill told Sports Headliners he won’t take the redshirt status off reserve backup Mitch Leidner for the game.

Kill likes what he’s seen of Leidner in practices this fall. The 6-foot-4, 226-pound Leidner has various attributes including physical toughness. “He’s a very competitive kid,” Kill said.

The Meineke Car Care Bowl is played in Reliant Stadium, the same facility that is home to the NFL’s Texans who host the Vikings on December 23. “It’s a beautiful stadium,” Kill said.

No one expected Texas Tech coach Tommy Tuberville to accept the Cincinnati coaching job on Saturday but Stewart Mandel writing on SI.com said Tuberville wasn’t a good fit in Lubbock during his three seasons stay. Suggesting Cincinnati was a convenient place to escape and rebuild the resume Tuberville had at Auburn, Mandel wrote on Saturday: “Tuberville was an underwhelming 20-17 in three seasons in Lubbock. The locals never warmed to him, and he never warmed to Lubbock.”

The Timberwolves’ 9-9 record matches the franchise’s best start through 18 games since 2006-07 (also 9-9).

Don’t be surprised if point guard Ricky Rubio makes his season debut Wednesday night at Target Center against the Nuggets, the Wolves’ next game. If not then, Saturday evening at home against the Mavericks might be his return game, although there’s been no official announcement from Rubio or the team.

Wolves All-Star forward Kevin Love has double-doubles in eight of his last nine games and 120 in his past 139.

Love, Rubio, forward Andrei Kirilenko and center Nikola Pekovic are on the NBA All-Star game ballot. A total of 120 players are on the ballot to determine all-stars for the February 17 game in Houston. Various sources are available for fan voting including Twitter and Facebook.

The North DakotaState team playing the 10-1 Gophers tomorrow night at Williams Arena is 8-2 and lost 87-61 to No. 1 ranked Indiana at Bloomington. Forward Marshall Bjorklund (Arlington, Minn.) and guard Mike Felt (Redwood Falls, Minn.) are NDSU’s second and third leading scorers at 11.4 and 10.9 points per game.

The St. Thomas men’s basketball team, a unanimous preseason choice by league coaches to win the MIAC, is 4-0 in conference games and 7-0 overall. Gustavus, the second place choice, is off to a 1-3 start in league games and is 2-5 overall.

Coach Brad Frost’s 20-0 Gophers women’s hockey team is dominating opponents. The Gophers have scored 114 goals to their opponents 12, an average of 5.7 per game versus 0.6. Amanda Kessel has 25 goals and 29 assists, while teammate Hannah Brandt totals 19 and 29. Minnesota doesn’t play again until a two-game home series on January 11 and 12 against North Dakota.

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