David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Vikings Kicker Wants to Qualify for Golf’s U.S. Open

Posted on December 7, 2011December 29, 2011 by David Shama

Ryan Longwell wants to play in next June’s U.S. Open if his off-season golf plan develops to his liking.

The 37-year-old Vikings placekicker has a passion for golf, learning the game at an early age from his father, a club pro. Longwell said his handicap as of last July was “+ 0.4.” Not bad for a guy who didn’t play high school or college golf.

Longwell told Sports Headliners that during the off-season he will work with a PGA instructor, learn how to play tournament golf and track his progress. The approach will be to have a golf plan “versus just try to go and play and get good.”

Longwell, who makes his home in the Orlando area, hopes to play smaller tournaments in Florida during the next football off-season. “Get some tournament experience and then see where we are in May-June ─ (maybe) make a run for qualifying for the Open,” he said.

Longwell failed to qualify for the Open last year but hopes his plan involving the PGA instructor will lead to a different outcome. The U.S. Open will be June 11-17 in San Francisco.

Longwell signed a new four-year contract with the Vikings this year, and plans to be with the team next season. But eventually there will be life without football and golf intrigues him.

“I would love to try it (the PGA Tour),” he said. “I guess the thing I’ve always held on to is I have never been able to play year-round being in Green Bay and Minnesota (as a player). I would like to give it maybe two full years type of thing. See how good I could get. See if my game really improves. I mean it may not, but I think chances are it could. …”

Longwell will start the golf project the first week in January. Although he acknowledges his inexperience with tournament golf, he also knows the pressure he’s mastered as an elite NFL field goal kicker is an asset.

“I do think I have a huge advantage mentally ahead of a majority of people,” he said. “It’s one thing to hit balls on the range and another thing to go play tournament golf ─ and dealing with pressure ─ I certainly understand from this job. …”

A visitor suggested one day he might be on the Champions Tour. “… I gotta do some damage before that if I want a shot on the senior tour,” Longwell said.

Comments Welcome

Gophers Basketball Notes

Posted on December 7, 2011December 29, 2011 by David Shama

There’s talk the Gophers will be announced as one of the teams playing in the 2014 Preseason NIT Tournament. Sports Headliners reported recently the Gophers will participate in the 2013 Maui Invitational, and it’s known Minnesota will play in the 2012 Atlantis Tournament in the Bahamas. Teams at the Atlantis tourney will include Duke and Louisville.

The 9-1 Gophers have been winning without injured players but did see the return of center Ralph Sampson III last night, contributing 10 points in a win over Appalachian State. “We’re gonna be a real good team once Ralph gets back,” guard Julian Welch said last weekend.

Even if the NCAA grants Trevor Mbakwe a medical redshirt allowing him to play next season, it’s probably a lock he won’t return to the Gophers unless his surgically repaired right knee has left him physically subpar and he requires more time to recover before he can compete on the pro level. Mbakwe is likely to try the NBA even as a second round draft choice, or use another pro basketball option.

Welch said “it helps a lot” playing more minutes now because he doesn’t worry about making a mistake and being removed from the game. In the Gophers first four games the junior college guard transfer never played 20 minutes but now is a team leader in both minutes and performance.

Rodney Williams likes the new assignment of playing power forward created by the absence of Mbakwe. “I’ve got a lot of mismatches because I can use my speed to get around the bigger guys,” he said recently.

The Gophers and Penn State are the only Big Ten teams who will play their first two conference games on the road. Minnesota is at Illinois December 27 and at Michigan January 1.

Tubby Smith, now starting his fifth season as Gophers coach, has a career 32-40 Big Ten record. After four seasons Dan Monson, his predecessor, was 26-38 in conference games.

The announced attendance for last Saturday’s Gophers women’s game against No. 1 ranked Baylor at Williams Arena (capacity 14,625) was 3,814. The Gophers trailed 48-21 at the half and lost 89-60.

This Friday at 5 p.m. is the deadline for men’s basketball season ticket holders who want to transfer their tickets to an “immediate family member,” according to an email from the Gophers athletic department.

Comments Welcome

Worth Noting

Posted on December 7, 2011December 29, 2011 by David Shama

Former Minneapolis South High star Tayler Hill, now at Ohio State, is the Big Ten Women’s Player of the Week after averaging 25.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.0 steals in wins over Florida State and Oklahoma last week.

Eric Dungy, son of former Gophers quarterback and Vikings assistant coach Tony Dungy, is a reserve redshirt freshman wide receiver who has played in five games for Oregon but has no receptions.

Former Vikings assistant coach Dean Dalton is supportive of head coach Leslie Frazier. He said keeping perspective on the difficult challenges Frazier has faced including a reduced off-season working with players because of the NFL labor dispute and the multiple team injuries have impeded progress. The coach has shown leadership and Dalton said, “I like the coaching staff Leslie Frazier has put together.”

Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder has thrown eight interceptions in seven games. No question Ponder has forced a number of passes but what fans miss is the entire scheme of the play including whether receivers were in the proper spots on the field, according to Dalton.

When the Vikings released quarterback Donovan McNabb last week, the move only fueled speculation that the veteran’s work habits were lacking.

Sports Illustrated’s December 5 NBA preview issue includes a prediction the Timberwolves will finish last in the Northwest Division. The publication said the team is “no longer lacking for talent” and describes the rookie tandem of Derrick Williams and guard Ricky Rubio “as enticing as any.” No playoffs for an eighth straight year, but improvement and “maybe even some long-overdue fun,” according to S.I.

Gene Glynn, who has been named manager of the Twins Rochester farm team, was the first Minnesota Mr. Basketball winner back in 1975 after an outstanding athletic career at Waseca High School.

If as reported on the Twins Website general manager Terry Ryan is shopping for a corner outfielder at the winter baseball meetings, it’s probably a solid indication he doesn’t expect to sign both Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel. Among the factors in favoring Cuddyer being retained by the Twins is his right-handed bat. Past Twins lineups have been heavy on left-handed hitters like Kubel.

Comments Welcome