David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Kill: U to Improve Next Season

Posted on November 28, 2011December 29, 2011 by David Shama

Before the season I thought the Gophers would win three to five games. Others who got caught up in the optimism of a new coaching staff predicted five to seven wins.

The Gophers finished the season on Saturday at 3-9, defeating Illinois in a surprise 27-10 win. Minnesota won two of its last five games with wins over Iowa and the Illini. The Iowa victory came a week after an improved second half performance during a loss to Nebraska. “I think the second half from Nebraska on, it’s been a different group of kids,” coach Jerry Kill said last week.

What happened to the Gophers was players bought in more to what the coaches were teaching. Kill said change came about both because of technical changes and the players believing they could win.

Predicting “we’ll be better next year,” Kill said the gradual transformation of his program is what he expected. “I think that where we’re at right now is pretty much where you usually are when you take over a football program. You really don’t know what you have or where you’re at or how the school works. It takes you a full year to go through it, how the Big Ten is, the level of play and how far you’re away and those kind of things.”

Kill writes notes about how to improve his team during the season. Those notes will help him assess his program and plan for the next off-season.

“You win in the off-season,” Kill said. “You win in the weight room. You win in spring ball. Our kids—if you remember when I talked with you during that time—I said, hey, haven’t bought in, we hadn’t worked hard enough. We hadn’t—so all of a sudden it’s kicked in now a little bit, but it’s too late (for a better record).”

Kill expects the Gophers to become a winning program but he’s far from that goal now. Minnesota finished 2-6 in the Big Ten and last in the Legends Division. The 2-6, 3-9 overall records and other numbers document how this Gophers team compared with others in the Big Ten and major college football. The Gophers were 112^th nationally in scoring offense, and last in the Big Ten going into Saturday’s game. Minnesota was 102^nd in scoring defense and again last in the conference.

Quarterback MarQueis Gray will be a senior next season. He rushed for 966 yards, a new school record for a quarterback. His passing still needs work, but he gained a lot of experience in running, scrambling, passing, play calling and leadership in his first season as a starter.

Gray is one of only a few superior personnel assets among the Gophers. Minnesota has developing and promising players but few that have already proven they are superior Big Ten players.

Kill and his staff—not distracted by preparations for a bowl game—will be watching potential recruits during a lot of film study in the days ahead. The 2012 recruiting class will be the first that Kill and company had 12 months to work on. With all the personnel needs Minnesota has, the coach said “we can’t afford to miss in recruiting right now.”

That means checking and reassessing multiple times. “You triple check, quadruple check,” Kill said. “You talk to the (prospect’s) coach… can you guarantee me? You have to really do your homework. And we’ll make mistakes, too. Everybody does. But you don’t know until they get on the field. You really don’t.”

Kill didn’t specify how many scholarships he has to work with but intends to bring in 35 new players. He doesn’t have that many scholarships to give but plans to reward some of the 35 players with a scholarship sometime beyond February 2012. He also hopes to have about eight of the new players enrolled in school prior to spring practice.

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Worth Noting

Posted on November 28, 2011December 29, 2011 by David Shama

Among the Gophers completing eligibility on Saturday was Minnesota native and safety Kim Royston who started his career at Wisconsin. He left Madison after the 2007 season to be near his grandmother who was ill and has since past away. “I don’t have any regrets about transferring,” he said. Royston was involved with 13 tackles in the game Saturday.

Sophomore Dan Orseske has to be the most inconsistent Gophers punter in memory. He’s had punts of fewer than 10 yards and undoubtedly faces off-season competition for his job.

Ed Cohen, who keeps statistics in the press box for home games, completed his 55^th season working for the Gophers last Saturday. His longevity exceeds everyone else on the Minnesota game day crew.

One-sided score: Hopkins led Minneapolis North 80-0 at halftime in girls basketball Friday night on the way to a 94-14 win.

It’s been a busy seven days for Gophers broadcaster Mike Grimm. Last Monday night he did the play-by-play of the Minnesota-Mount St. Mary’s basketball game at Williams Arena. He also called the Gophers basketball games Thursday and Friday in the Old Spice Classic in Orlando. He then flew back to Minneapolis, arriving after midnight on Saturday so he could do the play-by-play on the Minnesota-Illinois football game. And yesterday morning he caught an early morning flight back to Orlando to call the Gophers Old Spice title game against Dayton on Sunday night, an 86-70 Minnesota loss.

It’s not well-known in Minnesota yet but the basketball Gophers will be one of the teams playing in the 2013 Maui Invitational. The field, including the Gophers, was announced last week at the tournament.

Here are Sports Headliners’ final rankings of Big Ten Football teams: Wisconsin, Michigan State, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio State, Penn State, Iowa, Northwestern, Purdue, Minnesota, Illinois and Indiana.

Vikings coach Leslie Frazier’s career record is now 5-12 including six games as interim coach last year. On the Vikings radio network following yesterday’s 24-14 loss to Atlanta he criticized his closing minutes play call when Minnesota was on the Falcons’ one-yard line. The fourth down play was unsuccessful while a touchdown would have made the score 24-21 Atlanta.

Jared Allen was a long snapper for Kansas City in 2005. Yesterday he filled in for injured Vikings long snapper Cullen Loeffler. As a defensive end, Allen has 13.5 sacks this season. He and the late Reggie White are the only players in NFL history to have 14.5+ sacks in three consecutive seasons.

By joining the Texas Rangers, former Twins closer Joe Nathan will no longer have to face one of the American League teams that was most effective against him. Nathan’s career ERA against the Rangers is 3.60, according to Baseball-Reference.com. Only Tampa Bay at 3.80 and New York at 3.71 had higher ERA’s against Nathan.

The Minnesota Golf Show will be February 17-19 at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

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Thanksgiving Musings from Yours Truly

Posted on November 21, 2011December 29, 2011 by David Shama

Confessions, experiences, and opinions about Thanksgiving and Turkey Week:

Love this tweet found on Twitter: “Only days remain” to break up with your girl friend, or else ride out Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Valentine’s Day and black history month.

Too much sports on TV during Thanksgiving Day. Let’s go back to when the Detroit Lions game was our only option, and maybe the telecast should be in black and white. In the old days people actually ate together and shared lengthy conversation.

Quoting the website Humormatters.com: “Thanksgiving is a traditional American holiday where families all over the United States sit for dinner at the same time — halftime.”

Check out NASA’s tweet about what the astronauts on the Space Station will be eating for Thanksgiving. I have a hunch you would rather be at grandma’s house.

God bless my mom who once plugged up the kitchen sink while preparing Thanksgiving dinner, called a plumber and then invited him to join us at the table

Never carve the turkey in front of a crowd unless you can look good doing it. Turkey tip: cut the bird in the kitchen, not at the dining room table.

And NEVER tell your wife the turkey is dry.

With temps forecast for about 50 on Thursday, call your friends and relatives in warm climates to tell them the weather is balmy in Minnesota.

Only a politician would pardon a turkey.

Six-Legged Turkey Ranks High on Wish List

Would love to feast with John Madden on Thanksgiving and enjoy his famous six-legged turkey. Other interesting Thanksgiving partners could include Kris Humphries and Kim Kardashian. I wonder if they would offer to bring anything?

A married couple was asked at a Thanksgiving gathering what the secret is to being married for more than 60 years. “Going out to dinner once per week,” the man answered. “My wife goes out on Tuesday night ─ and I go out on Friday.”

Don’t leave a turkey stuffed with dressing on the front porch overnight because the refrigerator is full. The digestive systems of your guests will be thankful.

I wonder if the Occupy Wall Street crowd will be expecting a taxpayer-delivered hot meal on Thanksgiving?

You know it was a bad Thanksgiving when Patrick Reusse’s Turkey of the Year column was the highlight. Always entertaining and sometimes infuriating, the Star Tribune columnist’s annual dig at local sports figures should be a good sideshow to your day, not the main event.

The smart money might be on Reusse choosing Joe Mauer ─ the mostly injured and well compensated local hero ─ as his 2011 Turkey of the Year. In this market, though, we always have a plethora of “qualified” candidates.

TV commercials for retailers almost have me convinced Christmas now comes before Thanksgiving. I can’t imagine a crueler fate than shopping long before dawn on Black Friday.

The Gophers basketball team plays DePaul in Orlando on Thanksgiving as part of the Old Spice Classic. Last time Minnesota was in the tournament ESPN’s Jimmy Dykes told us maybe we should have lower expectations for the program.

Theater Role Began with Miles Standish

My theater career began and ended in my role as Miles Standish in a grade school Thanksgiving production about the Pilgrims. Broadway and Hollywood producers are grateful

Hope former Timberwolves forward Latrell Sprewell, who often complained about his salary, “can feed his family” on Thanksgiving.

When I was a kid we often had about 12 relatives at our Thanksgiving dinner table. It never took long — usually before dinner — for my dad to start arguing about politics with someone. Didn’t matter which side of the argument my dad might have been on the time before, he was ready to take the opposite view.

I am sure this is another Thanksgiving of gratitude for Gophers coach Jerry Kill who has lived with cancer and seizures while coaching football and finding time to help others.

Do you recall that the Gophers played a Thanksgiving Day game against Wisconsin on November 28, 1963? The game had been postponed from the previous Saturday because of President John Kennedy’s assassination.

The Vikings have a 5-1 record in Thanksgiving games. The most recent was 2000, a 27-15 win over Dallas.

Did you know Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade began in 1924? If you missed the first, watch Thursday on NBC starting at 8 a.m. Central Time.

Thanksgiving can include self-assessment of what we do to help others. My late uncle John devoted much of his retirement to working for Meals On Wheels, looking after elderly friends, volunteering at church and donating to the longest list of nonprofits I’ve ever seen.

Unless you have suffered — served in military combat, lost a loved one, overcome serious illness or job loss — you can’t fully appreciate Thanksgiving. And sooner or later, no one escapes problems.

Happy Thanksgiving.

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