David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Glen Taylor Filled Void in Starting the WNBA Lynx

Posted on June 13, 2023June 13, 2023 by David Shama

Sports Headliners interviewed Glen Taylor about various subjects including why he started the Minnesota Lynx, the Karl-Anthony Towns trade rumors and whether he incentivized president of basketball operations Tim Connelly to stay with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Lynx celebrated the franchise’s 25 seasons last weekend at two games in Minneapolis. Taylor, who founded the expansion franchise in 1998, has seen the highs and lows including four WNBA championships. Women’s basketball has increased in popularity in the new millennium and justified Taylor’s commitment to the league and his franchise.

“I did it (started the Lynx) because I just thought Minnesota was a leader in women’s issues, and certainly this was one area that I could control and wanted to get involved in. To me it was natural that we do it,“ Taylor said recently.

The Mankato-based billionaire kept a commitment to the Lynx with his head, heart and pocketbook. There have been championship seasons when the franchise made money, but Taylor said there were “more years that we lost a million dollars.”

Taylor recognized the Lynx as a startup business and has been willing to accept the financial losses. “I never really felt I wanted to get rid of it,” he said.

It’s been satisfying for Taylor and his wife Becky to not only have championship teams, but become acquainted with staff and players. “Becky and I are pretty close to all the people so it becomes a friendship,” he said.

A longtime attendee at home games of both the Lynx and Wolves, Taylor sometimes talks like the fan he is. He gets frustrated when his teams have defensive lapses and make turnovers. “When they play good, you’re so proud and happy but when they play poorly you know that they could do better, and it’s disappointing.”

Since the Wolves season ended in April with a first-round loss to the Nuggets rumors have persisted Towns will be traded. A two-time All-NBA player, he could potentially be traded for future first and second round draft picks and bolster Minnesota’s minimal inventory for upcoming drafts.

“We’re not looking (to trade Towns),” Taylor said. “We’re not trying to do it.”

Taylor added this regarding receptivity to a Towns trade discussion: “If somebody came…and offered you something ridiculous, but that’s not part of our plan.”

The plan, the owner said, is “basically to stay with the same guys we have.” That means keeping the “Twin Towers” of 7-foot forward-center Towns and 7-1 center Rudy Gobert, plus star shooting guard Anthony Edwards, defensive forward whiz Jaden McDaniels and veteran point guard Mike Conley.

Towns and Gobert already have deals paying them more than $30 million per season and in the near future Edwards, 21, and McDaniels, 22, will carry big price tags too. Taylor didn’t offer specifics on retaining that core of four but the subject has been addressed internally with the owner, Connelly and coach Chris Finch.

“I mean that’s one of the things we talked (about) with Tim and Chris when they were here. We’ve gone over all of that, what are our options and how we might do it and stuff like that. So, I think we’re ready.”

Taylor told Sports Headliners last month Connelly had contacted him and made it clear he wasn’t leaving to head the basketball operations with the Wizards, the organization that gave him his start in the NBA. A year ago the Wolves brought Connelly to Minneapolis with a lucrative contract and Taylor said no further incentive was provided for him to keep his commitment here.

When Connelly was making the front office player personnel decisions for the Nuggets from 2013 to 2022, he acquired foundational players Nikola Jovic and Jamal Murray who led the team to its first ever NBA championship last night. The Wolves had competitive moments in their playoff series against the Nuggets who eliminated Minnesota in five games. The Wolves managed one win but lost three games by a combined 21 points. Taylor said the series performance by his team leaves him feeling “fairly good about” next season.

The Nuggets played a Heat team in the NBA Finals partially built by the genius of president Pat Riley, defeating Miami 4-1 in the best of seven series. His ability to judge talent is evidenced by seven players on the Heat roster who were undrafted by NBA teams.

Taylor refers to Riley as a “guru” in judging talent and understanding how to run a team. The two men have communicated in the past, but Taylor wouldn’t report what he learned from Riley who has been a leader of great teams with the Lakers, Knicks and Heat.

“I talked to him and he’s really interesting because he’s kind of the type of guy that’s willing to help you, even though I am…his competition,” Taylor said.

Taylor is transitioning from majority owner of the Wolves and Lynx to having a minority stake. New owners Mar Lore and Alex Rodriguez are expected to address the playing home of the teams, Target Center. The facility opened in 1990 and although it has since been renovated, the building will be a future issue. NBA commissioner Adam Silver has made it clear expectations are high for facilities of all 30 league teams.

“I just think that as everybody would know, that sometime in the future we as the team, or the city, are going to have to face that issue,” Taylor said.

Taylor has national and international businesses in varied fields. His career and successes are being chronicled in a new video being produced internally for employee audiences.

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Ben Johnson Losing Supporter in Departing U President

Posted on June 10, 2023June 10, 2023 by David Shama

Joan Gabel is in the final days this month of her presidency at the University of Minnesota before becoming Chancellor at Pittsburgh. Gabel’s departure is a reminder she played a decisive role in the hiring of men’s basketball coach Ben Johnson.

The Gophers parted ways with head coach Richard Pitino in mid-March of 2021, creating an opening to lead the program. Less than a week later came the surprise announcement that instead of hiring a proven Division I head coach the Gophers were turning to Johnson, a former U player and experienced assistant whose stops had included 2013-2018 at Minnesota and more recently three seasons at Xavier.

Athletic director Mark Coyle vetted Johnson, a Minneapolis native, and presented his credentials to Gabel. Without Gabel’s endorsement Johnson never would have been hired. “To have someone like Ben Johnson leading this program – an ambassador for our University who grew up here, went to school here and knows what the University is all about – is tremendous, for our basketball program and our institution,” Gabel said in a statement announcing the hire. “Like so many Minnesotans, I’m excited to welcome Ben home and look forward to our team’s success under his leadership.”

Success hasn’t been easy to come by in Johnson’s first two seasons. There have been occasional high-five moments, but the Gophers have made program history with first-ever consecutive last place finishes in the Big Ten.

Alex Hickey from Saturday Tradition is probably among the first to predict Minnesota is headed for a third straight bottom of the league finish. Forecasting the Big Ten race for next year he wrote the following this week: “Minnesota is married to the Big Ten cellar until further notice.”

Jeff Ettinger, the former Hormel executive, will serve as interim president for up to a year until the U finds a permanent hire. Whoever takes over won’t have a history with Johnson and be influenced by having hired him. It’s been clear for a while Johnson must make the next two seasons much improved over the previous two.

Worth Noting

Timberwolves starting point guard Mike Conley turns 36 in October, but Chris Finch has no reason to believe his playmaker won’t return for another season. The Wolves head coach said Conley is dedicated to his conditioning and training. Conley joined the Wolves during the season after a three-time trade and he was able to play 24 games for Minnesota averaging 14 points, five assists and providing much needed leadership on and off the court.

“He just does so many things that you can’t measure,” Finch said. “His leadership and presence is invaluable to what we’re trying to do here. His teammates and the organization in general respect him immensely, and that’s not something that we would want to just move away from easily.”

Gophers football legend Darrell Thompson left the Minneapolis area Friday for Atlanta where the 2023 Hot Rod Power Tour starts Monday. Thompson has a 1970 Camaro, a five-speed with 350 horsepower. Billed as the largest travelling car show around, the tour goes into multiple states before ending next Friday in Tennessee.

Wife Stephanie will pass on the adventure. “She will do a drive with me but to lock up in that car for 10 hours does not do anything for her,” said Thompson who is president of the Minneapolis-based Bolder Options nonprofit.

Thompson said son Race, who played basketball in the Big Ten for Indiana, will try out next week with the Timberwolves. Earlier workouts have been with the Nets and Wizards. Projecting as a combo forward, Race hopes to attract interest by an NBA team this summer and play his way onto a roster.

Jim Kaat, who pitched for the Twins from 1961-1973 and last year was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, speaks to the Twin Cities Dunkers next Friday. Kaat has been a superb baseball analyst on TV for years, including Twins broadcasts.

Jonathan Mekonnen, the Eastview class of 2024 basketball wing, is among the most sought-after preps in the state and has offers from St. Thomas, Colorado State, Drake, Illinois State and Northern Iowa, per head coach Danny Olsen. A visit next week to Loyola Chicago is likely to earn another offer, Olsen said.

Mekonnen is a skilled shooter, including three-pointers, but can also post up and could play small or big forward in college. He has rebounding and shot blocking abilities, too. “He’s very athletic above the rim,” said Olsen who recently became head coach at Eastview.

Prep Hoops ranks Mekonnen as the No. 5 prospect in the state of Minnesota for the class of 2024. Daniel Freitag, formerly of Bloomington Jefferson and now Southern California Academy, is No. 1 and followed by Isaac Asuma, Cherry; Jack Robison, Lakeville North; and Jackson McAndrew, Wayzata.

The Iron Sheik, the famous professional wrestler whose death at 81 years old was national news this week, was trained by Minneapolis wrestling icon Verne Gagne. It was Gagne’s wrestling camp that for many years developed a long list of performers who had successful careers in this market and elsewhere.

Former Gopher football player and pro wrestler Jim Brunzell recalled in an email being at Gagne’s camp with the Iron Sheik (Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri from Iran) and others. “The 1972 camp included Ric (Fliehr) Flair, Bob Bruggers, NFL linebacker and Gopher great from Danube, Minnesota, Ken Patera, Olympic weightlifter (first to clean and jerk over 500 pounds), Khosrow Ali Vaziri, national Iranian Greco-Roman wrestling champion, Greg Gagne, Wyoming QB and Verne’s son, and yours truly, Jimmy Brunzell from White Bear Lake and former Gopher wide receiver and high jumper.

“Bruggers’ career was cut short by a near fatal airplane crash. The rest of us had a pretty successful 20 year plus wrestling career, headlining cards around the world!

“It’s hard to believe that camp was 51 years ago. By the way, the camp was in Verne’s barn on Lake Riley (Eden Prairie). It was 4 months long, 6 days a week, 6 hours per day. The British heavyweight champ, Billy Robinson, trained us in submission holds, throws, and stressed wrestling balance for a successful and injury free career. As always, with about 30 minutes to go in our day, Verne would show up and physically manhandle one after another of us until we ran out of gas! Daily I used to ask myself, ‘What did I get myself into?’

“After a 28-year career, nearly 5,000 matches and 12 surgeries…I managed to survive a crazy career that prepares one for nothing. One thing I know for sure, the best tag (team) partner I had was and is my wife of 48 years, Mary.”

Former Vikings GM Rick Spielman on Twitter yesterday: “I wish I could put into words how special the Wilf family is. I lost all my Viking Game Balls during Hurricane Ian. To my surprise, I received a box today replacing all those game balls. I was truly blessed to work for the Wilf family and thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

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Arraez-Lopez Trade May Haunt Twins

Posted on June 7, 2023June 7, 2023 by David Shama

It’s too soon to reach conclusions about last winter’s trade sending Luis Arraez to the Marlins for Pablo Lopez but right now perceptions and facts are one-sided against the Twins.

Arraez, 26, was hitting a gaudy .399 as of yesterday morning while playing mostly second base this spring for the dramatically improved Marlins. MLB.com points out he could become the first player since 1900 to be the batting champion in the American and National Leagues in consecutive seasons.

The gifted left-handed hitter has an early flirtation with a .400 season, something last accomplished in the majors by Ted Williams in 1941. Since that year only eight players had higher averages than Arraez through the first 61 games of a season, per MLB.com.

Arraez’s numbers on Tuesday included 29 runs batted in, 22 runs scored, an MLB-best OBP of .454 and sixth best OPS of .945. He had struck out only 11 times.

No Twins player is close to Arraez’s numbers. Minnesota had a team batting average of .233 going into last night’s game against the Rays and Twins batters had struck out an MLB-high 613 times.

The Twins’ offense has too often been MIA, frequently scoring three runs or less in games and often not coming through with timely hits. Obviously, the Twins miss Arraez’s bat in the lineup and ability to get on base.

The Marlins, though, with the addition of Arraez and other changes to the team are thriving. Through Monday’s games Miami’s record of 33-28 had the Marlins in second place in the NL East three games behind the Mets. That contrasts with a 22-30 record in 2022 when the Marlins were 13.5 games out of first place.

With a Wins Above Replacement offensive number of 2.4, Arraez ranked No. 7 among MLB players as of yesterday, according to stats from ESPN.com. Lopez’s number is 0.7 and that didn’t place him in the top 100 WAR numbers for pitchers.

The Twins traded for Lopez, 27, with the intent for him to be among their best starters and possibly the staff ace. His record of 3-3 and ERA of 4.54 is disappointing, although he’s had impressive outings including a May showdown with Angels’ superstar pitcher-hitter Shohei Ohtani that the Twins lost with faulty bullpen work.

Lopez is 2-1 with a 5.66 ERA in his last seven starts. His last start on June 1 against the AL Central defending champion Guardians saw him throw 5.2 innings and yield six earned runs.

The Twins, who reportedly signed Lopez to a four-year, $73.5 million contract extension in April, have six pitchers with as many or more wins than the right-hander whose MLB career record in six seasons in 31-34 with a 4.01 ERA.

A year ago yesterday the Twins’ record was 32-24, compared with 31 wins and 29 losses in 2023. During the remainder of the season Minnesota needs a dominant performance from Lopez to build a better record, secure a Central Division title for the first time since 2020 and make Twins Territory feel better about that guy down in Miami who is on a torrid tear.

In the trade with the Marlins, the Twins also received two highly-regarded prospects, 20-year-old shortstop Jose Salas and 18-year-old outfielder Byron Chourio. Salas is hitting .160 in 150 at bats with High-A Affiliate Cedar Rapids. Chourio’s average is .167 in six at bats with the Florida Complex Twins.

Worth Noting

Greg Eslinger, the former Gophers center and one of the most honored offensive linemen in Big Ten football history, is a step closer to Hall of Fame recognition with this week’s announcement he is on the ballot for the class of 2024. When voting is announced early next year it will be stunning if the 2004-2005 All-American isn’t selected by the National Football Foundation for a place in the Chick-fil-A College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

In 2005 Eslinger received the Outland Trophy (the nation’s most outstanding interior lineman) and the Rimington Trophy (the country’s best center). He was the 2005 Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year (only Gopher ever honored) and was awarded with the 2006 Big Ten Medal of Honor (the conference’s oldest and most prestigious award).

Eslinger (No. 61) photo courtesy of University of Minnesota

For four seasons, Eslinger was a contributor for the ages to Minnesota’s offense. Playing for head coach Glen Mason, he was indispensable to an offense that set single-season records for rushing attempts (683), rushing yards (3,759), rushing yards per game (289.2), rushing touchdowns (46), total season yards (6,430), total yards per game (494.8), total season points (503), average points per game (38.7), season touchdowns (66) and first downs (326).

Eslinger, a Bismarck, North Dakota native, is the only player in school history to be named first-team all-conference by the media and coaches for three consecutive seasons. In 2014, he was named to the Athlon Sports Top 50 College Football Players of the BCS era (1998-2013). He ranked 34th behind LaDanian Tomlinson (30th), Robert Griffin III (31st), Reggie Bush (32nd) and Drew Brees (33rd).

John Anderson, the Golden Gophers head baseball coach, told Sports Headliners 35 percent of MLB pitchers have had Tommy John surgery during their baseball lives. The emphasis to throw at high velocity has put more strain on arms than should occur and resulted in needed surgery (sometimes early in careers).

Anderson has been loyal to the University of Minnesota through the years. He has been contacted by other schools about their vacancies and was once a finalist for the Georgia job. Anderson first came to the U in 1974 as a pitcher and seven years later was named head coach.

“I care about this program, and I was given an opportunity at 26, a very young age, to carry on this program, the history and tradition,” Anderson said about the oldest sport at the U. “I wasn’t going to walk out the door just for the next job because this was a special place for me because of my background here.”

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch and others with the club are planning for next season and the upcoming NBA Draft later this month. That doesn’t preclude a bit of recreational time, though. “I bought a boat last summer, so I enjoy being out there (Lake Minnetonka),” Finch told Sports Headliners recently. “I go to the Twins games. I go to the Lynx games. Spend some time downtown in the North Loop area where I live. Just kind of relaxing and enjoying the good weather. So, it’s a fun place to be right now.”

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