David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Frazier: Rookie QB Ponder ‘Unflappable’

Posted on November 14, 2011November 27, 2011 by David Shama

How will Christian Ponder play tonight?

That’s a question being discussed at lunch tables today by Vikings fans. The Vikings rookie quarterback will make his third NFL start tonight in Green Bay playing in front of a rabid crowd and national TV audience. And the 8-0 Packers might be the best team in football.

Ponder made his first ever start last month in Minneapolis against the Packers. He gave life to a season-long struggling Vikings offense. Although the Vikings lost 33-27, Ponder did throw for 219 yards and two touchdowns.

The next week in Carolina, Ponder helped the Vikings to a second half win over the Panthers. Ponder directed a long fourth quarter drive that resulted in a Ryan Longwell field goal and a 24-21 win, only the Vikings second of the season.

What’s impressive about Ponder is that he has completed 70.4 percent of his passes on third downs. That’s second best in the NFL among passers with 20 or more third down attempts. Inside the 20-yard line no league passer can match his stats of five-for-five completions and two touchdown passes.

Coach Leslie Frazier said Ponder has been “unflappable” in his two starts for the Vikings. He doesn’t expect the stage to be too big for the rookie tonight. “…I don’t think it’ll overwhelm him on Monday night at Lambeau,” Frazier said last week. “He just has a way about him of being able to handle situations. Of course we’ll do some things to prep him but I have a feeling he’ll be able to absorb it.”

Ponder has impressed teammates, too. “He’s doing a great job,” center John Sullivan said. “…He’s studying hard and he’s making great throws. He’s really leading the team, and he’s a very intelligent guy.”

Comments Welcome

No U Program Cuts for Next Year

Posted on November 14, 2011December 28, 2011 by David Shama

Gophers athletic director Joel Maturi said there are no plans to cut any of Minnesota’s 25 men’s and women’s intercollegiate sports for 2012-13, despite an anticipated extra $450,000 his department will pay athletes on full scholarships.

The Big Ten Conference is expected to follow an NCAA initiative made this fall that will increase grants by up to $2,000 each to athletes to more closely cover the cost of attending college. Maturi said the change will impact approximately 225 Gophers athletes on full scholarships. (It’s presumed that all ─ or at least most ─ Big Ten schools will give each qualifying athlete the full $2,000, rather than put themselves at a competitive recruiting disadvantage against other major conference programs).

There are no large revenue increases anticipated at Minnesota to offset the $450,000 but eliminating sports isn’t Maturi’s intent. Instead, he will look at various ways to address the budget including sometimes not giving staff pay raises.

There has long been empathy for college athletes who come from financially needy backgrounds and find that scholarships providing tuition, fees, room, board and books aren’t enough to meet their needs. Maturi and others question providing the extra $2,000 to all athletes.

“I am not opposed to giving those that really have a need some spending money,” he said. “But if Joel Maturi’s son or daughter is on a full scholarship, quite frankly, they don’t need the extra $2,000. I make enough money. If they don’t work I can get them the pizza money, whatever it might be.”

Financially needy athletes already receive Pell Grant money that can provide over $5,000 annually. Maturi said those receiving that grant money will also get the $2,000.

With the $2,000 being given to athletes, will that lessen the alleged illegal paying of college players at some schools? “No, not a bit,” Maturi said. “Not in my mind.”

Comments Welcome

Worth Noting

Posted on November 14, 2011November 27, 2011 by David Shama

Coach Jerry Kill and his staff had three junior college defensive backs on campus last weekend, according to GopherIllustrated.com. Minnesota is recruiting Jeremy Baltazar from Blinn College in Brenham, Texas, and two players from Trinity Community College in Athens, Texas, Martez Shabazz and Clifford Stokes.

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

The Vikings practice for road games with intentional noise in the background so the raucous crowd at Lambeau Field won’t be the communications challenge it might have been, according to wide receiver Greg Camarillo. “We have the most annoying speakers ever for our practices and actually when it comes to game time it’s not as bad as that speaker,” he said.

The Packers are off to the franchise’s first 8-0 start since 1962 and prompting speculation they could go 16-0 during the regular season. Vikings defensive end Jared Allen, playing in his eighth NFL season, was asked if Green Bay is the best team he’s seen.

“You know what? That’s for historians,” Allen anwered. “I just take it week by week. You know, obviously they’re the best team in the league right now. They’re the reigning (Super Bowl) champs and they’re undefeated. We have the upper hand on most teams that are playing them ─ we played them already once and we gave them a pretty good shot. Everybody is beatable. …We gotta go up there and give them their first loss and get after them.”

The Gophers basketball team plays South Dakota State at home tonight. The Jackrabbits are a Division I team and lost 85-73 to Minnesota last year in Williams Arena. South Dakota State opened its regular season on Saturday with an 82-76 win over Western Michigan. Nate Wolters, who played for St. Cloud Tech, had 32 points, 11 assists and no turnovers for the Jackrabbits Saturday.

The Gophers have struggled to open up big leads in two exhibitions and one regular season game but rallied late to close out games. Friday night in the regular season opener Minnesota and Bucknell were tied at 53 with about four minutes remaining. Encouraging for the Gophers was the late minute play of guards Austin Hollins and Julian Welch.

Hamline will honor Don Meyer tomorrow night at a ceremony prior to its game with Northwestern College (St. Paul). He is the men’s college basketball all-time winningest coach with 923 wins, and the first 37 came at Hamline in the early 1970s. Now retired from coaching, Meyer is included in Hamline’s “Ring of Honor,” recognizing the school’s basketball greats.

The Wild will hold a pregame tribute to the late Derek Boogaard on Sunday, November 27. Parents Len and Joanne along with siblings Aaron, Krysten and Ryan are scheduled to attend. The Wild will play Calgary that night.

Comments Welcome