David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Worth Noting

Posted on June 1, 2012June 1, 2012 by David Shama

Former Twins broadcaster John Gordon, 72, is spending his first spring retired from baseball and “enjoying the retired life,” according to Patrick Klinger, the team’s marketing vice president. “He’s playing a lot of golf,” Klinger said.

The Twins finished the month of May with a 12-16 record. Their sweep of the A’s earlier in the week was only the second of the season against an opponent.

Outfielder Josh Willingham leads the club in home runs with 10. The first Twins hitter to reach 10 last year was Michael Cuddyer on June 16.

Now that spring semester has ended, the Gophers football team has put together consecutive semesters of collective GPA’s over 3.0 for the first time in our memory.

Former Vikings defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin, now with the Steelers, is ranked the fourth best head coach in the NFL by Sportingnews.com. Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier is ranked No. 27 out of 32 head coaches. Former Vikings tight end Mike Mularkey, now head coach at Jacksonville, ranks No. 25 while the Giants Tom Coughlin, coach of the Super Bowl champions, is No. 1.

Frazier and others with the Vikings organization, including players, volunteered their time yesterday to help build a playground at Sheridan Arts Magnet School in Minneapolis. The playground is being paid for by the Vikings and The Toro Company.

Mark Rosen’s new book, Best Seat in the House, was No. 3 in the sports essays category last week for Amazon Kindle sales, according to the WCCO TV sports anchor. He also told Sports Headliners that about 8,000 books have been printed. He’s been busy with book signings in the metro area and other parts of the state. “I realize more and more you can’t just put a book on the shelves,” he said.

Rosen said it’s been an “amazing” and enjoyable experience meeting so many people who have their own stories about the Minnesota sports heroes he writes about in his book. “I’ve met a lot of great people,” he said.

Minnesota native Tom Lehman, who will play in the 3M Championship in Blaine later this year, has three top 10 finishes on the Champions Tour in 2012 but has not won a tournament. www.pgatour.com

The Timberwolves will select Dion Waiters, a 6-4 shooting guard from Syracuse, with the No. 18 pick in the NBA draft later this month, according to www.nbadraft.net. Waiters averaged 12.6 points per game as a sophomore last season.

Former Hopkins forward Royce White will be drafted by Boston at No. 21, according to the website. White is unusually strong for a small forward but must improve his outside shooting in the pros.

For the fifth consecutive year St. Thomas finished first in both the men’s and women’s MIAC all-sports final standings. Gustavus and St.Olaf placed second in the men’s and women’s standings. St. Thomas won eight conference titles in men’s athletics, five in women’s sports during 2011-12.

The Mr. and Ms. Lacrosse winners will be announced on Sunday afternoon during a banquet at the Crowne Plaza Riverfront Hotel in St. Paul. A total of 14 high school boys and girls are finalists for the awards (presented by the Minnesota Swarm). A selection panel will also choose the Mr. Goalie and Ms. Goalie of the Year winners. To see the names of candidates and learn more about the banquet, visit the Minnesota Minutemen website. www.minnesotaminutemen.com

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Gophers Ties Bind Men Decades Later

Posted on May 30, 2012May 30, 2012 by David Shama

John Williams will have kidney transplant surgery next week at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. How could Williams have known more than 40 years ago that his organ donor would be someone he met as a Gophers football hero?

Williams was an all-Big Ten offensive tackle on the 1967 Gophers team that tied for the conference championship. Another young man associated with the team was Steve Nestor, now a Glenwood, Minnesota businessman, but back then he was one of the Gophers trainers.

Williams and Nestor share a passion for the Gophers. Their friendship has grown over the years. “We reconnected about four years ago,” Williams told Sports Headliners. “He’s a person of integrity and high moral values.”

A few years ago Williams, who played in the NFL before setting up a dental practice in north Minneapolis, was informed he had kidney disease and eventually would need a transplant. Last fall Williams learned that he would need the transplant before 2012 ended. Word got out to his family and many friends around the country. Many individuals expressed interest in being a donor including Nestor.

“I feel very humbled and appreciative of all the people who stepped forward,” Williams said. “It’s hard to put into words how I feel about Steve. It says who he is.”

The willingness of others to help says a lot about Williams also. Even last weekend a group email was circulating with messages offering prayers and good wishes from his many friends.

Williams is not just any ex-football hero. He chose to practice dentistry on the north side, a place where he can not only provide service but be a role model to young African-Americans and others in that inner city community. For years he’s been recognized for his volunteer efforts.

Williams is a lay minister who for more than 25 years has visited prisoners. A commitment to helping others was formed at an early age, back in Ohio where his father was a Baptist minister. “I grew up in the church,” Williams said.

Ohio State coach Woody Hayes was angry when Williams, then a much sought after high school star in Toledo, said no to the Buckeyes and accepted a scholarship to Minnesota. It was with the Gophers that he first started a life in Minneapolis and built a network of teammates who remain close to him to this day.

Those teammates and other friends know Williams for his cheerful disposition. Some of them know him as “Burgerbare.” That’s a nickname placed on Williams years ago when a football teammate learned that every night he went out for malts and hamburgers.

During this time of stress, prayers are welcome for Williams, Nestor and their families. “I know I have a long recovery ahead and I know we will need prayers going forward,” Williams said.

Williams expects to make a full recovery, planning to be back practicing dentistry in July. He also said that donors like Nestor typically live longer than others, perhaps partially because of their commitment to a healthy lifestyle.

A CaringBridge website for Williams has been posted to share his story and provide updates on his progress. https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/johnbjwilliams

Nestor said in an email to friends he realized awhile back that he was meant to be the kidney donor. He wrote that friends are “God’s way of taking care of us.”

Nestor and Williams will head to the Mayo Clinic soon, with the transplant scheduled next Tuesday. “Our task at hand is to get John healthy and we are facing this challenge together,” Nestor wrote. “It quite simply is no more than that.”

Williams was a Time Magazine first team All-American offensive tackle in 1967. He switched from fullback to tackle during his Gophers career and his run blocking was a key part of the team’s Big Ten title drive during 1967, his last season with Minnesota.

He was a first round draft choice of the Baltimore Colts and later played for the Los Angeles Rams. During a professional career that ended in 1980 he played in three Super Bowls including for the 1971 champion Colts.

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Vikings Stadium Raises Bar for U

Posted on May 25, 2012May 25, 2012 by David Shama

Financial support for a new Vikings stadium has been approved by the Minnesota legislature and endorsement is expected today from the Minneapolis City Council. The new facility will generate significant additional revenues for the Vikings, state, city, and local businesses, while also creating jobs for Minnesotans.

There will be many who benefit — but don’t include the Gophers football program in the group of beneficiaries. Yes, the Gophers athletic department can rake in up to $300,000 per game when the Vikings use TCF Bank Stadium for home games during a portion of the construction period for their new facility.

But the Gophers would have been winners five times over if the Vikings didn’t earn approval for a new stadium and instead packed their bags for Los Angeles. If the Gophers had this football market to themselves they would have more fans, financial support and media scrutiny, creating much higher expectations and pressure to put a better team on the field year after year.

Until 1961 when the Vikings started play in the NFL, the Gophers were the only big time football attraction in the state. In the early years of the Vikings franchise the Gophers played in front of sellout crowds, drawing over 60,000 fans to Memorial Stadium. The new pro team in town struggled to attract 40,000 fans.

But by the mid-1960s the Gophers were losing fans and the Vikings were expanding their audience and revenues. With only one exception this has completely been a Vikings state ever since. Lou Holtz arrived as Gophers coach in 1984 and within two years his magic act had not only vastly improved the football product but season tickets were pushing toward 60,000.

The Vikings were losing football games and followers while the Gophers were soaring in popularity during the Holtz era. Vikings coach Les Steckel’s 3-13 season in 1984 prompted Bud Grant to come out of retirement to mastermind not only a better team, but jump-start interest in the franchise.

Holtz left Dinkytown after two years, whistling the Notre Dame fight song while making his way to South Bend where he would coach the Irish to renewed glory for 11 seasons including the 1988 national championship. The Gophers reverted to losing football games and customers—the profile the program has mostly kept in place for more than 40 years.

There are multiple reasons Gophers football has floundered for decades but the presence of the Vikings can be counted among them. The public pressure to have Gophers football be something special lessened with the arrival of the Vikings and has remained minimal compared to before they arrived.

Minnesota won 17 Big Ten football championships and six national championships prior to 1961. The Gophers have one Big Ten title since, sharing the 1967 championship with Purdue and Indiana.

Gophers administrators will maintain publicly, just like their predecessors, that the presence of the Vikings doesn’t have anything to do with their program. Baloney. On Vikings football Sundays the team is followed by millions of Minnesotans. Hundreds of thousands may not know the Gophers are playing on college football Saturdays.

With the spotlight on the Vikings and lousy football at the U, generations of potential Gophers fans have been lost. The pathetic student attendance at Gophers games has something to do with the Vikings, too. It wouldn’t be surprising if a poll of University of Minnesota students showed more of them are Vikings fans than Gophers followers.

This column isn’t about criticizing the Vikings or their fan base. I attended the team’s first game at Met Stadium in 1961 and now cover the team on a regular basis. I “get it” that the NFL is the most popular sport in America and there’s no expectation that will change in the future. The Vikings are one of the league’s stronger brands and the club’s passionate following includes season ticket holders who come to Minneapolis in large numbers from even outside the state.

The new Vikings stadium will be another challenge for the Gophers. The facility is likely to have a retractable roof so outdoor football is no longer an amenity claimed only by the Gophers at TCF Bank Stadium. The stadium, perhaps the best in college football, will within a few years no longer be the newest football facility in town.

That’s another edge for the Vikings who are in competition with the Gophers for ticket sales, suites, stadium signage, broadcast ratings and fees, sponsorships and merchandising. The best way the Gophers can respond is with a winning team under second-year coach Jerry Kill. He’s a promising leader who could create the best possible scenario for Minnesotans who want to see both the Vikings and Gophers thrive.

While the Vikings watch their new stadium being constructed, public interest in them will be enhanced. The Gophers need to finally become winners or else they will maintain their low profile. If the Gophers didn’t know it before this spring, the Vikings aren’t going away.

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