Media – Page 57 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Vikings Got Cosell at ’75 Super Bowl

Posted on January 30, 2015January 30, 2015 by David Shama

It was 40 years ago this month the Vikings lost to the Steelers in Super Bowl IX, and while that memory brings no joy to Doug Kingsriter he does recall with fondness an incident involving two of his Minnesota teammates and legendary broadcaster Howard Cosell.

The 1975 Super Bowl was played in New Orleans and the NFL assigned the Steelers to a posh hotel for their stay in the Crescent City. The Vikings, according to Kingsriter, were sent to a motel located adjacent to the New Orleans airport because they had alienated league authorities at the Super Bowl the year before, criticizing the Houston practice field locker room which had no lockers, nails in the wall for hanging clothes and birds flying around in the showers. Kingsriter said the New Orleans motel was “near the end of runway No. 9,” and in the days leading up to the big game the Vikings found themselves listening to one airplane after another taking off and landing.

To pass the time during Super Bowl week—and perhaps to ignore the roar of jet engines—Kingsriter and other Vikings organized a team cribbage tournament. On the Friday afternoon before Sunday’s game he and a couple of teammates were in one of the motel rooms playing cribbage. At the same time Cosell was interviewing Fran Tarkenton in the motel’s open air courtyard for a segment that was to be seen the next night on ABC TV.

Cosell died in 1995 but he is well remembered by those who knew him and millions who watched him on ABC programming including “Monday Night Football” and “Wide World of Sports.” Cosell was known for “tell it like it is” sports reporting and bragged about his accomplishments. He certainly was among TV’s biggest personalities in the 1970s and 1980s even though his arrogance alienated viewers across the country.

“There have always been mixed emotions about Howard Cosell,” the comedian Buddy Hackett once said. “Some people hate him like poison and other people just hate him regular.”

A former lawyer and highly intelligent, Cosell was also admired by many for his willingness to ask probing questions and deliver information to viewers that went beyond much of the drivel from other TV sports journalists. Presumably on that Friday afternoon about 40 years ago, Cosell conducted an interview of substance with Tarkenton, the Vikings Hall of Fame quarterback.

Problem is, we will never know. The interview never aired because Cosell was so upset with the shenanigans of Vikings linebacker Wally Hilgenberg and All-Pro defensive tackle Alan Page.

How did it all come about? Kingsriter, a tight end with the Vikings from 1973-1975, thinks the incident was pretty much spontaneous and probably the creation of the fun-loving Hilgenberg who likely decided enlisting someone of Page’s stature to play a prank on Cosell was a good idea.

“(While playing cribbage) we kept hearing this snickering outside and pitter-pattering running by the door,” Kingsriter remembered. “I went out to see what was going on. I saw Hilgenberg and Page. They both had waste baskets—full of water.

“They were looking down (from the second floor walkway to the open court yard) and they were pretty much over Cosell who had his back to them. He was interviewing Fran.

“Hilgenberg and Page were counting silently were their mouths, ‘1, 2,’ and kind of swaying the buckets in rhythms. I looked at Fran and he saw it (the water) coming, and he didn’t flinch. You know Fran had great peripheral vision. He just sat there.

“They hit Cosell square. When I say square they knocked his toupee off, not totally off but it was off to the side. He quick grabbed it and put it back on before he turned around. They got him in the back, in the head, and really soaked him.

“Well, Hilgenberg ran away. Page stayed there. He hung over the railing looking down with a huge Cheshire cat grin, just looking down at Cosell. Then Cosell turned around and he points his finger up at Alan. He said, ‘I am gonna get you for this, Page.’ ”

Cosell was angry and in the months ahead maybe he forgave Page for the prank but he certainly didn’t forget. The next season, on October 27, 1975, Cosell and ABC were televising the Vikings-Bears game as part of the Monday Night Football series. Page didn’t play in the game and Cosell knew why.

Multiple times during the broadcast Cosell reported Page was sidelined because of hemorrhoids. “This was true but he wanted to make sure that everybody in the world knew that Alan had hemorrhoids,” Kingsriter said.

Kingsriter believes ABC should have aired the interview including when the water hit Cosell. The film could have been edited to show Cosell getting soaked but not losing his toupee. The man with the hall of fame ego had an opportunity to poke fun at himself. “He missed what I thought was a great opportunity to help his image,” Kingsriter said.

As for the Super Bowl game, it was the Vikings’ image that took a hit on January 12, 1975. The Steelers held the Vikings to 119 yards of total offense in a 16-6 win. It was the Vikings’ second consecutive Super Bowl loss, having lost the year before to the Dolphins, 24-7.

But when it came to Howard Cosell, neither the Steelers nor the Dolphins had anything on the Vikings thanks to the chutzpah of Hilgenberg and Page.

Comments Welcome

Comfort Found (Not Here) in January

Posted on January 26, 2015January 26, 2015 by David Shama

You probably won’t believe this but it’s true.

Last week I attended a polo match in southern California while the NFL playoffs were on television. Blame my behavior on both the MSP weather and our local teams.

The Star Tribune reported earlier this month we experienced the “gloomiest December in 52 years of record keeping.” Minnesota’s most prominent teams? They began the New Year losing most of their games.

It was enough to seek refuge in southern California for 10 days. Blue skies, sunshine and 70 to 80 degree temps were delivered. As for sports in SoCal, I could have cared less about their teams—and also who won that boring polo match.

I’m home now and trying to humor myself. Maybe I can get a chuckle out of you too.

I’ll head over to the health club soon. The warm water in the spa is effective for aches and pains but hopefully doesn’t diminish my Adonis tan. My mood also brightens when I read this signage near the whirlpool: “No domestic animals allowed.”

But I’m not laughing when club members sit at an exercise station and gab on their cell phones. Hello, this is not your office, car—or even your house.

With the Super Bowl coming Sunday, I might call Bob Lurtsema. The former Viking is savvy about the NFL, and besides that he’s funny. Earlier this month, he recalled how during his playing days he complained to an official about being held as he tried to rush the quarterback. “It doesn’t matter, you wouldn’t get to him anyway,” the referee wisecracked.

You never know where you’ll find a good laugh. Driving in the southwest suburbs, I’m sometimes reminded of a building where I worked years ago. At the time, my youngest son was about four and he heard me occasionally complain about life at the office.

One day we were driving by the work place, and my son recognized the building and said, “Look, Dad, there’s the place that gives you nightmares.”

Now his son is showing the family wit at an early age. After I bought a new vehicle, my then 2½ year old grandson announced, “I really like your car.”

And that reminds me of another car story. When I worked for the North Stars we had a player who was a bit confused about motor vehicle laws in Minnesota. This was discovered when an officer pulled him over and asked for his license. The North Star readily complied and pulled out a Czechoslovakian license from his glove compartment.

Athletes can certainly brighten the day and not just with the skills they show in competition. Ralph Kiner, who died last year, was a favorite of baseball fans and storytellers. After Kiner’s baseball career ended he became a broadcaster and was known for his “hilarious malaprops,” as Sports Illustrated noted in its December 29 issue. The magazine recalled this Kiner classic: “It’s Father’s Day today at Shea (Stadium), so to all you fathers out there, happy birthday.”

My wife comes from a large family and they are world champs at communicating via e-mail. It’s mostly serious stuff, although her sibs will occasionally have me laughing like the day her brother Phil was quoting humorist Dave Barry about colonoscopies. Barry wrote in a newspaper column that the colon is a “lengthy organ that appears to go all over the place, at one point passing briefly through Minneapolis.”

Barry is a Pulitzer-prize winner who authored the book I’ll Mature When I’m Dead. He also wrote about “parenting and other topics he knows very little about” in the book You Can Date Boys When You’re Forty.

Although my wife and I vacationed in the gorgeous Palm Desert area, I’m well aware not all communities in California are so attractive. I’m told a newspaper in Stockton ran a contest asking residents what they like best about the city. Here are a couple of entries someone shared with me:

“It could be worse.”

“Close to everything. Far from Paradise.”

When on vacation I do become more curious about life. Nothing too deep—I’m just a sportswriter—but stuff like this:

Why do salt, sugar and alcohol have to be so bad for us? There must be a parallel universe where it’s just the opposite.

I know the difference between coaches and sportswriters. Coaches own vacation condos; sportswriters just rent them.

How come if it only snows three nights in January those are all evenings I’m working and attending events?

The other morning, while still on vacation, I thought about 80 things I’m happy about. I never thought I could get past 79.

Happy trails.

Comments Welcome

OSU ‘Transformation’ Wows Glen Mason

Posted on January 11, 2015January 11, 2015 by David Shama

Former Gophers head coach Glen Mason predicts Ohio State will win the first ever College Football Playoff National Championship tomorrow night in Arlington, Texas. Oregon is about a six point favorite but Mason spoke with conviction and enthusiasm regarding the Buckeyes during a telephone interview with Sports Headliners.

Mason played football at Ohio State and later was an assistant coach for the Buckeyes. Now he’s a lead analyst for the Big Ten Network. There is no disputing Mason has Ohio State and Big Ten roots but he was convincing the other day when he raved about the Buckeyes’ last two games and the talent coach Urban Meyer has assembled in Columbus.

The Buckeyes were an unexpected entrant in the four-team college playoffs. Despite their 11-1 record going into the Big Ten Championship game on December 6, the Buckeyes didn’t come up a lot in conversations targeting the four teams likely to be invited to participate in the playoffs. In the last regular season game on November 29 against Michigan, starting quarterback J.T. Barrett broke his ankle. Barrett had replaced the injured Braxton Miller as the starter in August. For the Big Ten title game the Buckeyes had to start their third team quarterback from last summer, Cardale Jones.

No problem.

Ohio State destroyed Wisconsin 59-0 to win the Big Ten championship. That stunning performance and score earned an invitation to join Alabama, Florida State and Oregon in the playoffs. Alabama was the most popular choice to emerge as the national champion but the Buckeyes refused a ride on the Crimson Tide bandwagon. In the semifinal playoff game between the two legendary programs, the Buckeyes rallied from a 21-6 deficit to win 42-35.

A lot of college football observers are impressed with the Buckeyes. “They’re on a roll right now,” Mason said. “I’ve never seen a team that’s gone through a transformation in two games like Ohio State. They were a good team this year, now they’re a really good team. They became a really good team against Wisconsin and parlayed it right into the game against Alabama.”

Oregon, of course, hasn’t exactly stumbled in its last couple of games. In the Pac-12 championship game the Ducks avenged their only loss of the season with a convincing 51-13 win over Arizona. Then in the semifinal playoff game against undefeated Florida State the Ducks easily defeated the Seminoles, 59-20. “Both these teams are peaking at the right time,” Mason said.

When Mason coached the Gophers he spoke about “swagger.” After the Gophers earned a big win, he might talk about the program’s confidence. The secretaries in the football office even carried themselves differently, he claimed.

Mason sees that “swagger” with the Buckeyes. He brought that up with Meyer before the Alabama game and the Buckeyes coach agreed his team was different than earlier in the season. “They’ve gotten their swagger back, their confidence,” Mason said. “I don’t think they had it during the year up until they played Wisconsin. …”

Mason described it as “truly amazing” Ohio State can be playing in tomorrow night’s national championship game after not only losing their two top quarterbacks but also seeing seven players from last year’s team become starters in the NFL.

Among the losses from the 2013 team were four starting offensive linemen. Replacing those four and having such an inexperienced line was worrisome last summer regarding national championship hopes but those prospects really seemed doomed when Miller—a leading candidate to win the Hesiman Trophy—injured his shoulder and was ruled out for the season.

“If they win Monday they’ll have a national championship. It’s a testament to the amount of talent that Ohio State (has) and it’s a testament to the coaching job being done by Urban Meyer and the coaching staff,” Mason said.

Jones, a 6-5, 250-pound redshirt sophomore, threw for 243 yards and one long touchdown against Alabama. He also ran for 89 yards. Mason praised Jones’ abilities to “punish” tacklers when he runs and also the inexperienced quarterback’s arm strength. “They call him 12-gauge because he wears No. 12 and he’s got an arm like a shotgun,” Mason said.

Miller, a senior, has twice been the Big Ten MVP. Barrett, a redshirt freshman, was so impressive for most of the 2014 season he finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting. Jones has turned heads in his two starts against Wisconsin and Alabama.

Mason couldn’t remember one college team ever having three quarterbacks so talented. All three have remaining college eligibility and they could be back with the Buckeyes next season—although transferring to another school perhaps is also in the mix for Miller or Jones. “If they all stayed at Ohio State, you’d have three guys that would be (in) the Heisman Trophy discussion at the same position going into the season,” Mason said.

Tomorrow night Ohio State will have to contend with Oregon’s skilled passing and running quarterback Marcus Mariota. The redshirt junior from Hawaii has thrown 40 touchdown passes in 14 games this season and rushed for 15 more. He has thrown only three interceptions. He was a unanimous first-team All-American and won the 2014 Heisman Trophy.

Winning college football’s most prestigious individual award can be a precursor to something bigger—a national championship. Quarterbacks Cam Newton from Auburn and Jameis Winston of Florida State won Heismans in 2010 and 2013, and then led their teams to national titles.

The Ducks are known for their speed and Big Ten teams have long been considered a plodding bunch but don’t get too caught up in stereotypes. When Mason coached the Gophers they defeated Alabama and Arkansas, two programs from the speed-based Southeastern Conference. After those games opposing coaches told Mason they had underestimated the Gophers’ speed.

Mason didn’t even think the Gophers were a fast team but Ohio State is. He watched the Buckeyes against Alabama and thought, “Ohio State is the fastest team out here.”

Oregon is second in the country in scoring at 47.2 points per game while the Buckeyes are fifth at 45 points. OSU ranks at No. 26 in scoring defense allowing 22.1 points. The Ducks are No. 27, allowing 22.3 points.

Comparable stats for two 13-1 teams who have apparently saved their best football for the biggest stage. No wonder Mason predicts it will be a “heck of a contest.”

Comments Welcome