coolhandgopher
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This has been bouncing around in my head for quite some time, maybe ever since the 30 for 30 series first became popular. What stories would you choose to get the ESPN production treatment? Here are my Top 10:
1. Red Lake vs. Wabasso-Revisiting the wild Class A semi-final from 1997, when Red Lake erased a huge 4th quarter deficit to send the game to overtime where they ultimately lost 117-113. It was the first state appearance by a team comprised of all-Native Americans in their lineup vs. a community of 800+ students from far western MN. Would love to see interviews with the players from the game-what it was like to play in that atmosphere, the comeback, memories from the game, etc. (this game's available to watch on YouTube, btw)
2. 60-102. That's the record of the 1982 Twins, the worst record compiled by the franchise in Minnesota until 2016. The Metrodome opened (without air conditioning-that arrived in '83) and after a poor April, the team had a horrendous May (3-26). The year featured the record-setting futility of Terry Felton, who finished the season 0-13 and the flame-inducing closer Ron Davis, acquired at the beginning of the year for fan favorite Roy Smalley. Yet, beyond the putrid start, from July onward, the team played around .500 ball behind the rookies Kent Hrbek, Gary Gaetti, Frank Viola, Tom Brunansky, and Tim Laudner, who would form the nucleus of the team that won the World Series five years later.
3. Millers vs. Saints. I know very little about the history of these two minor league franchises, except that they had a fierce rivalry and at times in their history had HOF'ers Ted Williams, Willie Mays, Yaz, Roy Campanella, Orlando Cepeda, Duke Snider and other notable major leaguers on their rosters. I would love to hear more about the whole history of that time of MN pro baseball.
4. The Musselman Years. For the longest time, I had in my head that the Ohio State brawl precipitated Musselman's departure from Minnesota-I hadn't realized that occurred in the first year! From recent limited reading on Musselman, it was indeed a wild four years-besides the OSU brawl, physical confrontations with players, frequent transfers, late season meltdowns that cost the team Big Ten titles, the pregame festivities, Williams Arena becoming the hottest ticket in town, and Musselman's abrupt departure to the ABA, with sanctions following that handcuffed perhaps the best Gophers squad ever.
5. The Best Recruiting Class Ever. Mark Hall, Cookie Holmes, Daryl Mitchell, Leo Rautins, and Trent Tucker came from Springfield (MA), Miami, West Palm Beach, Toronto, and Flint, Michigan to comprise Jim Dutcher's prize recruiting class in 1978. Rautins transferred to Syracuse after his freshman year, Hall's star-crossed time with the Gophers came to an abrupt end when he quit during his senior year (having dealt with academic and legal issues), and the class as a whole was considered underachievers, until the remaining Gophers pulled off the Big Ten title during their senior year, punctuated by Mitchell hitting two free throws in triple overtime in Iowa City.
6. The Iron Five. It seems this story has faded a bit from the Minnesota sports landscape, but deserves to be highlighted again. The Gophers program was in disarray after Mitch Lee, Kevin Smith, and George Williams were arrested in January 1986 for sexual assault, University President Ken Keller forfeited the next game and Jim Dutcher resigned in protest. With two other players suspended, the remaining scholarship players, seniors Marc Wilson and John Shasky, sophomores Tim Hanson and Kevin Smith, and freshman Ray Gaffney comprised the Iron Five for the final 11 games of the season, supplemented on the sidelines by a couple football players, a walk-on, and Dave Holmgren (Chet's father) who was saddled with bad knees. As I recall, the Gophers next game following the disarray was against Ohio State at home with a packed house supporting the short-handed Gophers who came away with an upset over the Buckeyes. They would only win one more game the rest of the season, but what remains in everyone's memory is the heart shown by the remaining members of the team.
While I'm a big Gopher football/Vikings fan, there's just so much pain there, so I'm only featuring one "episode" from each. Hopefully, in 20 years or so, a documentary on the arrival of PJ Fleck and the program's return to prominence, highlighted by the storybook 2019 season, will make the Top 10.
7. The Integration of Gopher Football. Another story I know little about and would love to read/view a deep dive, as Murray Warmath integrated the Gophers team with standouts such as Sandy Stephens and Bobby Bell, leading the team to Rose Bowls in 1961 and '62, the last appearance by the Gophers.
8. The Architect. Jim Finks was general manager of the Vikings from 1964-1974, bringing in the talent of the dominant NFC team of the '70s, along with hiring Bud Grant. I love watching/reading about the construction of winning franchises and I think this would be a fascinating look behind the greatest team never to win the Super Bowl (at least from my perspective
).
9. The Rise & Fall of the AWA. I'm sure that I share a childhood memory with many Minnesota Gen X'ers-Sunday morning, racing to the TV set after church, too tune in and see the exploits of Nick Bockwinkel, Mad Dog Vachon, The Crusher, Baron Von Raschke, Rock & Roll Zumhofe, Jerry Blackwell, etc. etc with Mean Gene Okerlund conducting interviews. I would be hooked watching a documentary on Verne Gagne's wrestling organization that absorbed so much of my elementary school age attention.
10. The shocking end of Kirby Puckett's career. Not sure how I'd feel about watching this, in reality. Puckett's sudden retirement in spring training of 1996 was the biggest gut punch I've felt as a Minnesota sports fan, in a life of fandom that has absorbed a Bruce Lee-esque onslaught of gut punches. His subsequent difficult times in retirement followed by his death in 2006 made it all the more difficult for me to see sports in the same light again. However, his baseball career was a shining light on the Minnesota sports scene, the most important athlete ever to showcase his craft in Minnesota.
Alright, those are my Top 10. What did I miss? What other stories deserve the 30 for 30 treatment?
1. Red Lake vs. Wabasso-Revisiting the wild Class A semi-final from 1997, when Red Lake erased a huge 4th quarter deficit to send the game to overtime where they ultimately lost 117-113. It was the first state appearance by a team comprised of all-Native Americans in their lineup vs. a community of 800+ students from far western MN. Would love to see interviews with the players from the game-what it was like to play in that atmosphere, the comeback, memories from the game, etc. (this game's available to watch on YouTube, btw)
2. 60-102. That's the record of the 1982 Twins, the worst record compiled by the franchise in Minnesota until 2016. The Metrodome opened (without air conditioning-that arrived in '83) and after a poor April, the team had a horrendous May (3-26). The year featured the record-setting futility of Terry Felton, who finished the season 0-13 and the flame-inducing closer Ron Davis, acquired at the beginning of the year for fan favorite Roy Smalley. Yet, beyond the putrid start, from July onward, the team played around .500 ball behind the rookies Kent Hrbek, Gary Gaetti, Frank Viola, Tom Brunansky, and Tim Laudner, who would form the nucleus of the team that won the World Series five years later.
3. Millers vs. Saints. I know very little about the history of these two minor league franchises, except that they had a fierce rivalry and at times in their history had HOF'ers Ted Williams, Willie Mays, Yaz, Roy Campanella, Orlando Cepeda, Duke Snider and other notable major leaguers on their rosters. I would love to hear more about the whole history of that time of MN pro baseball.
4. The Musselman Years. For the longest time, I had in my head that the Ohio State brawl precipitated Musselman's departure from Minnesota-I hadn't realized that occurred in the first year! From recent limited reading on Musselman, it was indeed a wild four years-besides the OSU brawl, physical confrontations with players, frequent transfers, late season meltdowns that cost the team Big Ten titles, the pregame festivities, Williams Arena becoming the hottest ticket in town, and Musselman's abrupt departure to the ABA, with sanctions following that handcuffed perhaps the best Gophers squad ever.
5. The Best Recruiting Class Ever. Mark Hall, Cookie Holmes, Daryl Mitchell, Leo Rautins, and Trent Tucker came from Springfield (MA), Miami, West Palm Beach, Toronto, and Flint, Michigan to comprise Jim Dutcher's prize recruiting class in 1978. Rautins transferred to Syracuse after his freshman year, Hall's star-crossed time with the Gophers came to an abrupt end when he quit during his senior year (having dealt with academic and legal issues), and the class as a whole was considered underachievers, until the remaining Gophers pulled off the Big Ten title during their senior year, punctuated by Mitchell hitting two free throws in triple overtime in Iowa City.
6. The Iron Five. It seems this story has faded a bit from the Minnesota sports landscape, but deserves to be highlighted again. The Gophers program was in disarray after Mitch Lee, Kevin Smith, and George Williams were arrested in January 1986 for sexual assault, University President Ken Keller forfeited the next game and Jim Dutcher resigned in protest. With two other players suspended, the remaining scholarship players, seniors Marc Wilson and John Shasky, sophomores Tim Hanson and Kevin Smith, and freshman Ray Gaffney comprised the Iron Five for the final 11 games of the season, supplemented on the sidelines by a couple football players, a walk-on, and Dave Holmgren (Chet's father) who was saddled with bad knees. As I recall, the Gophers next game following the disarray was against Ohio State at home with a packed house supporting the short-handed Gophers who came away with an upset over the Buckeyes. They would only win one more game the rest of the season, but what remains in everyone's memory is the heart shown by the remaining members of the team.
While I'm a big Gopher football/Vikings fan, there's just so much pain there, so I'm only featuring one "episode" from each. Hopefully, in 20 years or so, a documentary on the arrival of PJ Fleck and the program's return to prominence, highlighted by the storybook 2019 season, will make the Top 10.
7. The Integration of Gopher Football. Another story I know little about and would love to read/view a deep dive, as Murray Warmath integrated the Gophers team with standouts such as Sandy Stephens and Bobby Bell, leading the team to Rose Bowls in 1961 and '62, the last appearance by the Gophers.
8. The Architect. Jim Finks was general manager of the Vikings from 1964-1974, bringing in the talent of the dominant NFC team of the '70s, along with hiring Bud Grant. I love watching/reading about the construction of winning franchises and I think this would be a fascinating look behind the greatest team never to win the Super Bowl (at least from my perspective
). 9. The Rise & Fall of the AWA. I'm sure that I share a childhood memory with many Minnesota Gen X'ers-Sunday morning, racing to the TV set after church, too tune in and see the exploits of Nick Bockwinkel, Mad Dog Vachon, The Crusher, Baron Von Raschke, Rock & Roll Zumhofe, Jerry Blackwell, etc. etc with Mean Gene Okerlund conducting interviews. I would be hooked watching a documentary on Verne Gagne's wrestling organization that absorbed so much of my elementary school age attention.
10. The shocking end of Kirby Puckett's career. Not sure how I'd feel about watching this, in reality. Puckett's sudden retirement in spring training of 1996 was the biggest gut punch I've felt as a Minnesota sports fan, in a life of fandom that has absorbed a Bruce Lee-esque onslaught of gut punches. His subsequent difficult times in retirement followed by his death in 2006 made it all the more difficult for me to see sports in the same light again. However, his baseball career was a shining light on the Minnesota sports scene, the most important athlete ever to showcase his craft in Minnesota.
Alright, those are my Top 10. What did I miss? What other stories deserve the 30 for 30 treatment?
