David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

‘Brew Crew’ Final Grade Not Pretty

Posted on October 3, 2011November 27, 2011 by David Shama

Too bad Tim Brewster and his staff weren’t on the sidelines in Ann Arbor last Saturday to experience the Gophers 58-0 humiliation. The “Brew Crew” was responsible for recruiting most of the players on the Minnesota roster that was dismantled by Michigan.

If Brewster hadn’t been fired during the 2010 season he would now be in year five as Minnesota’s head coach. A five-year tenure is almost always enough time to fairly judge a coach and his staff.

Even though the “Brew Crew” is no longer wearing maroon and gold sweaters on the sidelines, we can issue the final grade: Flop.

What first year coach Jerry Kill inherited was a football team lacking not only playmakers, but physical and mental toughness. The Gophers are probably the worst team in the Big Ten and not even capable of beating schools from low level conferences such as the Missouri Valley and WAC.

Brewster hardly prepared us for this back in his early years on the job. He criticized the talent Glen Mason left him, although the rearview mirror now shows that players he inherited from the former Gophers’ coach were the ones that produced some success in 2008 and 2009.

As for Brewster’s own recruiting, he was frequently over the top in exaggerating the talent he attracted. Brewster’s players were solidly entrenched last year and also this season. The record is 4 wins, 13 losses and counting including embarrassing defeats to South Dakota, North Dakota State and Michigan.

Brewster recruiting hype? Quarterback MarQueis Gray was similar to former Texas All-American Vince Young, Brewster said. Playmaker David Pittman, who hardly got on the field at Minnesota, was reminiscent of Antwaan Randle El.

Not able to land yet another top Minnesota prep headed for a better college program? Didn’t seem to bother Brewster who said he had a better stud coming from out east.

There was often the “sizzle” but not the “steak.” And Brewster didn’t even secure his much hyped high school son Nolan who landed at the University of Texas where dad built a reputation as a slick recruiter working for coach Mack Brown.

Hiring Brewster ─ never a coordinator or head coach at the major college level ─ was a colossal mistake. The program is so down right now that it could take three more seasons to pull it up to the Mason level of 2006. Mason was let go after compiling a 64-57 overall record, but was 16 games under .500 in the Big Ten.

Losses to USC, New Mexico State, and North Dakota State were by a combined 22 points. Last Saturday in Ann Arbor the Gophers lost to Michigan by the worst score in their Big Ten history.

After the game KFAN Radio named punter Dan Orseske Minnesota’s Offensive Player of the Game. The punter? Honest.

Building a major college football program requires coaching, recruiting and time. Brewster and staff squandered away all three at Minnesota.

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Worth Noting

Posted on October 3, 2011November 27, 2011 by David Shama

Vikings defensive end Jared Allen is no admirer of the Metrodome, except for the passionate fans. “The Metrodome is bad,” he said. “Maybe four showers with hot water down there. We have such great fans and they continue to come to the dome. …They deserve a new stadium more than anything too. …”

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

My advice to college coaches targeting nationally recruited Apple Valley sophomore point guard Tyus Jones: He will want to play for a winning program and not care about stats while contributing to team success. He won’t want to be the center of attention.

Big Ten basketball media day will be Thursday, October 27 in Chicago. Look for Bloomington native and Wisconsin senior Jordan Taylor to rival Ohio State sophomore center Jared Sullinger for preseason media Player of the Year. Taylor, a point guard, finished among the conference’s top 10 scorers and assists last season, 18.1 and 4.7.

In a downsizing move, retired Gophers basketball coach Jim Dutcher put his Eden Prairie home up for sale, but with three daughters living in the Twin Cities will continue to live here.

Dutcher said Jimmy Williams expects to hear a decision within a “couple of weeks” from the Minnesota Court of Appeals regarding the Williams lawsuit against the University of Minnesota. Litigation has been ongoing for several years in the case with the possibility of a large financial settlement for Williams. Williams was an assistant coach to Dutcher in the 1980s and had wanted to again work for the University after Tubby Smith was hired as Minnesota coach in 2007.

New Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman and wife Mary Kay have been married for more than 40 years. They have six children.

The Twins are not a “knee jerk reaction” organization but I will be surprised if there isn’t some “subtraction” and “addition” in the baseball department before year-end.

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Mauer’s Grandpa: Joe ‘Ashamed’ of 2011

Posted on September 30, 2011November 27, 2011 by David Shama

Jake Mauer told Sports Headliners that grandson Joe Mauer is “ashamed” of his 2011 season but determined to improve next season and help the Twins become a winner again.

Various injuries and ailments limited the all-star catcher to 82 games. The stats were totally unlike past seasons for the former American League batting champion and MVP. Mauer hit .287 with three home runs and 30 RBI. The club finished the season on Wednesday night with a 63-99 record, the second most losses in Twins franchise history.

The older Mauer has been a mentor to Joe since he was a toddler. He said his grandson’s spirits have been low. “He thinks he let everybody down because of his injuries,” Jake said by telephone this week.

On October 12 Joe will travel to Florida and begin working with a trainer, determined to build up his body including his legs for next season, according to Jake. “He has to prove a lot next year, boy, and he knows that,” Jake said. “He’s going to stay with the schedule with his trainer and himself, and going to build himself back up.

“He said, ‘Grandpa, I’ll go out there next year and I hope…God is with me to produce, that I can not be ashamed of what I did the year before.’ He wants to do good.”

Sports journalists have frequently written this season about Mauer being in the first year of a $184 million contract and producing so little for his ballclub. “Joe don’t like that,” Jake said. “It bothers the … out of him. He knows that big salary he gets, he isn’t producing. He just can’t help it. But he wants to do it but he just can’t because of his health.”

Jake said the Twins have been supportive of his grandson this season, listening to Joe’s needs and referring him to the best doctors. “He’s really pleased with the Twins,” Jake said. “There’s no question about it. But he thinks he let them down because of his health but he hopes to build them up next year and change everything and put the Twins back on top.”

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