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Acclaim Still Coming Xcel’s Way
News
this week that the Xcel Energy Center has been
nationally recognized as a preferred venue is well deserved and improves
the area’s historical reputation for having below par sports and
entertainment facilities. Xcel has been selected as “Best NHL
Arena” by SportsBusiness Journal/SportsBusiness Daily in its 2006
reader survey; “Best Fan Experience” by Forbes magazine in
its annual “Business of Hockey” report, and Xcel received its
fifth nomination for “Arena of the Year” by
Pollstar magazine, the leading concert industry trade publication.
Earlier this year Sports Illustrated named Xcel its top choice
among NHL arenas in its NHL Preview issue. In 2003, ESPN The Magazine
rated Xcel No. 1 for “Best Stadium Experience.” On the concert side,
Xcel Energy Center has been nominated four times (2001-2003, 2005) for
“Arena of the Year” by Pollstar.
Known
for its sightlines, acoustics and fan friendly environment, Xcel has
been acclaimed since its opening in 2000 for hockey, concerts and family
shows.
Historically, some of our other area facilities have not drawn nearly as
much praise. In the 1920s legend is that Knute Rockne and other
planners for a Notre Dame football stadium came to Minneapolis to
analyze the University of Minnesota’s Memorial Stadium, long known for
its poor sightlines and disproportionate number of bowl end seats.
“Gentlemen, this is how not to build a stadium,” the famous coach
reportedly said.
Over
the years University planners talked about stadium renovations and
expansion to improve Memorial Stadium but never proceeded. There was
even serious discussion in the 1970s about doming the stadium and using
it for football and basketball.
Met
Stadium opened in 1956 as Minneapolis boosters pushed for a major league
baseball team with the opening of the new ball park in Bloomington.
Although the stadium was expanded with the
arrival of the Minnesota Twins in 1961, the bleacher stands running
along the left field foul line were never converted into arm chair
seating. Then, too, rather than build a football stadium for the
Vikings, the team played for years in the Met Stadium where sightlines
were deplorable for football.
Operating on the cheap (see Memorial Stadium and Met Stadium above)
characterized the planning and opening of the Metrodome. Rather than
pushing for separate football and baseball facilities, the inexpensive
alternative was to build the Metrodome. A somewhat stingy amount of
about $55 million was budgeted and initial talk was to install bleacher
seats with backs. During the first months of operation fans sweltered
with no air conditioning, another attempt to save money.
The
Met Center was known for its great sightlines but when local leaders
heard an appeal from Minnesota North Stars ownership to expand the
building with more concourse space and luxury suites the answer was no.
For less than $15 million the Met Center could have been renovated and
perhaps would still be home to the North Stars.
Target Center helped bring the NBA back to Minneapolis with a then
state-of-the art facility. With only one small lobby and acoustics
rated below the more modern Xcel, few Minneapolis boosters will argue
that the building is the equal of the Xcel.
Clearly the area’s greatest success stories are Xcel, and the Gophers’
hockey and basketball homes, Mariucci Arena and Williams Arena.
Sometimes we do get it right.
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Historically, some of our other area
facilities have not drawn nearly as much praise.
Then, too, rather than build a
football stadium for the Vikings, the team played for years in the Met
Stadium where sightlines were deplorable for football.
For less than $15 million the Met Center
could have been renovated and perhaps would still be home to the North
Stars.
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Time No Problem in Basketball Search
Athletic director Joel Maturi will have an unusual amount of time
to search for a new basketball coach at the University of Minnesota.
Dan Monson departed in late November when normally you expect to see
a college basketball change in February or March. Maturi’s research
time will be more than ample to settle on selection criteria and review
candidates including interim coach Jim Molinari.
Former Gopher basketball coach Jim Dutcher, who
has been a TV color commentator on Minnesota games for years, was asked
about criteria. A new coach, he said, should have a staff that can
recruit nationally with success. The coach should also come here
committed to the University of Minnesota and not looking to use the job
to move elsewhere.
“You
want a commitment, you want a solid staff, you want
someone who can communicate with the fans,”
Dutcher said. “Minnesota fans are pretty forgiving. They just want a
team that’s competitive. They know they are not going to win the Big
Ten (Conference) championship every year, or every other year. But they
want to feel they (the Gophers) have a chance to win each time they walk
out there.”
Dutcher expects many qualified candidates to materialize. “Big Ten jobs
are select jobs in the basketball coaching profession,” he said.
“They’ll get a lot of very good qualified candidates that will be
interested in this job.”
Is
there a reason the Gophers can’t be a top 20 program? “Not that I know
of,” Dutcher answered. “Because of the recruiting area, you are
probably not going to be up there at the top consistently but certainly
there’s no reason why you can’t be in the upper division of the Big Ten.
And the way that the post season tournaments are structured now, being
in the upper division is going to get you in the post season
tournament. We saw the turnaround at Wisconsin (where the Badgers
changed from a mediocre program to a consistent contender for the NCAA
tournament). …”
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Jim Molinari
“They’ll get a lot of very good qualified
candidates that will be interested in this job.”
Jim Dutcher on the U basketball job
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Teammates Praise Taylor’s Efforts
Chester Taylor is the first Viking to rush for
over 1,000 yards in a single season since 2002. He went beyond the
1,000 mark last Sunday against the Chicago Bears before injuring his
ribs and leaving the game. He has been a success story on an offense
that collectively and individually has struggled.
Taylor, acquired by the Vikings as a free agent before the season, has
earned admiration both for results and efforts. “I think the biggest
thing that impresses me about Chester is just the fact he runs so hard,”
said Viking center Matt Birk. “He never shies away from
contact. He’s always willing to lower his head and get that extra half
yard or yard. It doesn’t matter if it’s the first carry or the 30th
carry of the game for him. He hits those holes. I think he’s one of
those guys, too, that is impressive as the game goes on. He actually
gets better and gets stronger.”
Mewelde Moore has been a backup to Taylor. “You don’t think he’s as
strong as he is, and that’s one of those things where he is able to
slide off tackles, make second efforts to get extra yards,” Moore said.
Birk
is in his ninth season with the Vikings and said Taylor compares
favorably with the best running backs he has played with. “He’s a
different type runner,” Birk said. “In the past we’ve had speed,
sprinter type guys. Chester, even though he’s got some speed as he’s
shown like in Seattle when he took one 95 yards, he seems to be very
comfortable running in between the tackles and grinding out those tough
yards inside.”
The
last two Vikings to gain over 1,000 yards in one season were speedsters
Michael Bennett in 2002 and Robert Smith in 2000. In the
Bear game Taylor set a new Viking single season record for number of 20
plus carries in games. His ninth game broke Smith’s record of eight.
Taylor, who may not play in Sunday's game against Detroit, ranks third
among NFC rushers in total yards. He is fifth among all rushers in
the NFL. His best previous rushing season came in 2004 with
Baltimore when he gained 714 yards.
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Chester Taylor
“I think the biggest thing that
impresses me about Chester is just the fact he runs so hard.”
Matt Birk talking about Chester Taylor
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Extra Innings
Dan Monson probably would still be coaching
the Gophers if he had recruited more effectively. What if Vince
Grier, last year’s leading scorer at 15.7 points per game, had been
joined in the starting lineup by former Minneapolis North star
Kammron Taylor, a candidate now for all-Big Ten recognition at
Wisconsin, and Patrick O’Bryant, the 7-footer from Blaine who was
a No. 1 pick by Golden State in the 2006 NBA draft.
Interesting to see James Laurinaitis, the Ohio State sophomore
linebacker from Hamel, Minnesota, win the Bronko Nagurski Trophy as the
nation’s best defensive player. The news pains Gopher boosters who
recall Laurinaitis attending Minnesota’s spring game before his senior
year at Wayzata High School and word was he would become a Gopher.
Laurinaitis could become the first player to ever win the Nagurski award
three times.
The
Twins’ 6.7 season rating on Fox Sports Net ranked behind only the Red
Sox, Cardinals and Tigers among cable TV ratings for major league sports
teams in their markets this past season, according to Patrick Klinger,
Twins vice president of marketing.
Bill Robertson, Wild vice president of communications and
broadcasting, reported recently via e-mail that the team’s jersey
“continues to be one of the most popular in all of sports.” Wild jersey
sales are second only to the Detroit Red Wings among NHL teams. The
Wild’s iron range red is the club's most popular seller followed by the
road white jersey and the green jersey. Through late November the top
sellers among player jerseys were Derek Boogaard, Brian
Rolston and Marian Gaborik.
The
club recently produced a Wild-themed Monopoly game that retails for $45.
Minnesota is the first NHL club to produce the game and it’s sold
exclusively at all Hockey Lodge locations.
Guess
who was Bill Fitch’s first ball boy with the Cleveland Cavs? It
was Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel.
Fitch coached the Gopher basketball team before leaving the University
to coach in the NBA with the Cavs in 1971.
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Dan Monson
Wild jersey sales are second only to
the Detroit Red Wings among NHL teams. |
