David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Tubby Smith Has South Carolina Ties

Posted on March 16, 2012March 16, 2012 by David Shama

Will South Carolina pursue Tubby Smith for its basketball opening?

The Gamecocks fired fourth-year coach Darrin Horn earlier this week after South Carolina finished with the worst record in the Southeastern Conference, 2-14. The Gamecocks were 10-21 overall, their third straight losing season under Horn.

Smith’s name is likely to come up as a successor to Horn. Smith was once an assistant coach at South Carolina. His agent, Ricky Lefft, is based in the state working as an attorney and assistant professor at South Carolina.

The Gophers coach and his agent could be restless after Smith’s five seasons in Minnesota. Smith has two years remaining on his contract but hasn’t been able to agree on an extension despite many months of speculation that a deal would get done. University of Minnesota president Eric Kaler told WCCO Radio’s Sports Huddle on Sunday that contract considerations need to wait until a new Gophers athletic director is hired in the coming months.

After winning a national championship at Kentucky and being an annual SEC power, Smith’s transition to Minnesota has been a challenge. His program has faced off court problems including numerous player transfers and on court he has never coached a Minnesota team to better than a 9-9 record in the Big Ten Conference, or gone beyond an opening game in the NCAA tournament. His last two teams have produced conference regular season records of 6-12. His Big Ten record, including conference tournament games is, 39-53.

Smith’s five year resume has been criticized by fans and media more so this year than ever before. That criticism and the lack of progress by the athletic department in developing funds to build a state-of-the-art practice facility could be factors — along with his contract situation — in convincing Smith to look elsewhere if he can find the right opportunity.

Smith will be 61 in June and wants to continue coaching. But his age and mediocre results at Minnesota don’t make him the hot coaching commodity he once was. Yet South Carolina is a basketball program that has fallen on tough times and might see the image Smith built winning SEC championships at Kentucky as a quick fix.

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Wild Face Challenging Offseason

Posted on March 16, 2012March 16, 2012 by David Shama

Look for the Wild to make an offseason to-do list that could include signing New Jersey’s Zach Parise or Nashville’s Ryan Suter, or both.

That’s the opinion of an NHL expert who told Sports Headliners the franchise wants to improve its scoring and upgrade its image by adding a talented player or two. Parise, who was born in Minneapolis, ranks in the top 25 this season in both goals and points. Suter, a defenseman with Nashville, was an NHL All-Star this year. Both have expiring contracts.

Possibly complicating the offseason for the Wild, though, is a looming NHL labor strike that would hit the franchise’s budget if the season were shortened or cancelled. The NHL collective bargaining agreement expires September 15 and famous negotiator Donald Fehr will represent the players.

The NHL expert said the Wild lost over $20 million during the NHL “work stoppage” 2004-05 season. This season, assuming the Wild don’t’ make the playoffs, will result in a loss of at least $8 million, he said.

The team has only 12 regular season games remaining and is 13^th among 15 Western Conference teams in total points. After a strong start to the season, the Wild has faltered badly and appears almost certain to miss the playoffs for a fourth consecutive year.

Season tickets totals have been declining in recent years and the NHL expert believes perhaps up to 25 percent of season tickets might not be renewed in 2012. The total season tickets could drop to the 8,000-9,000 range, or roughly half of the franchise’s all-time high. “It’s hard for fans to plop down money with the team they put on the ice,” the source said.

The disappointing season on the ice can impact future revenue streams beyond season tickets. Areas like sponsorships, suites and signage.

The Wild haven’t been able to score goals and lack the depth to replace injured players. Mikko Koivu, Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Guillaume Latendresse have been among the contributors unable to play. “They pretty much have to play a perfect game to win,” the source said.

First year coach Mike Yeo isn’t to blame for the disappointing season. “I don’t think you can point a finger at him,” the source said. “There have been so many lineup changes and injuries.”

The source believes the Wild may trade veteran goalie Niklas Backstrom during the offseason. That would relieve the team of an estimated $6 million salary, money that could be used trying to sign a Parise or Suter. But even with the addition of some star power, the Wild will be trying to rebuild with young players.

“The Wild are basing a lot of their future on young players acquired through the draft and trades,” the NHL expert said. “There’s no guarantee all those guys are going to make it. It’s going to take awhile for them to get acclimated into the league and make any kind of impact.”

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Worth Noting

Posted on March 16, 2012March 16, 2012 by David Shama

The North Dakota team the Gophers play tonight at Xcel Energy Center in a WCHA Final Five game is 11-2-1 in its last 13 games. The Sioux are led in scoring by sophomore and All-WCHA third team selection Brock Nelson who had two goals in the Final Five win over St. Cloud State yesterday.

Jim Dutcher, the former Gophers coach, follows the San Diego State basketball team where his son Brian is an assistant head coach. The Aztecs play a first round Midwest Regional NCAA Tournament game today against North Carolina State. Jim said San Diego State’s basketball history includes winning 14 of the last 15 overtime games, and the Aztecs are 70-0 in games when leading with five minutes to play.

The Aztecs have one of the best high school recruits in the country coming to San Diegon ext season in Winston Shepard from Findlay Prep in Las Vegas.

Mr. Basketball chair Ken Lien told Sports Headliners there is so much parity among Mr. Basketball candidates the list is at eight right now when usually there’s a final five by mid-March.

Center fielder Denard Span played in a major league career low 70 games with the Twins last season, mostly because of concussion and headache problems. Span, the team’s leadoff hitter, ranks No. 5 for best on-base percentage (.361) among American League outfielders since 2008.

The Twins have to be hoping third baseman Danny Valencia provides much needed power in the lineup. The 6-2, 218-pound Valencia hit 15 home runs in his first full major league season last year. He and reserve first baseman Chris Parmelee lead the club in spring training home runs with two each.

The St. Thomas women’s basketball team and Gustavus women’s hockey team play Division III national championship semifinal games tonight. The Tommies (30-1) play Illinois Wesleyan (26-5) in Holland, Michigan. The Gusties (24-2-2) play Norwich(26-2-1) in Rochester, New York.

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