Preps – Page 90 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Mr. Football Winner Loyal to Huskers

Posted on November 23, 2015November 23, 2015 by David Shama

J.D. Spielman, who was honored yesterday as the state’s Mr. Football award winner, told Sports Headliners despite Nebraska’s losing season he remains “100 percent” committed to the Cornhuskers and isn’t considering Minnesota or other schools.

Spielman made a verbal commitment to Nebraska last summer and has watched the Cornhuskers struggle in coach Mike Riley’s first season. Nebraska goes into its final regular season game on Friday against undefeated Iowa with a 3-4 Big Ten record, 5-6 overall. The Cornhuskers are among college football’s winningest programs in past decades and have a tradition of playing for championships. Riley has received plenty of criticism this fall but Spielman is expected to sign a National Letter of Intent with Nebraska next year on National Signing Day for high school players.

“I have a lot of faith in what coach Riley is doing over there,” Spielman said. “I know this season didn’t go as planned but it’s a process. That’s what happens when a head coach just comes into a program and starts coaching kids he didn’t recruit. But once the next couple of recruiting classes come in, Nebraska is going to be a big thing.”

Spielman, despite his 5-foot-8, 174-pound size, is a big thing in Minnesota high school football. The Eden Prairie High School running back, wide receiver and defensive back is probably one of the state’s most explosive players ever. His high school coach, Mike Grant, said Spielman can “make something out of nothing”—even running back and forth across the field leaving coaches, players and fans gasping. “Special talent, no question,” Grant said.

The coach expects Spielman to increase his weight in college to about 190 pounds and still run a 4.4 40-yard dash. He predicts Spielman, who combines extraordinary vision with his speed and ability to cut, will play as a college freshman. “He’ll be on the field on offense,” Grant said. “He’s ready to play right now.”

Spielman expects to be a receiver at Nebraska but Grant said his Mr. Football winner could even play tailback in college. Spielman blossomed on offense this season after playing mostly defense last year. Grant said a big reason for Spielman’s success in averaging 12.3 yards per carry was learning to be patient, waiting for space to open up.

Spielman, who averaged 29.3 yards on kickoff returns and 24.6 yards on punt returns, was one of 10 finalists for the Mr. Football award given annually to the state’s best senior player, and sponsored by the Minnesota Football Coaches Association and the Minnesota Vikings. Among the other finalists was Eden Prairie teammate Carter Coughlin, the outstanding linebacker who is committed to Minnesota and has lobbied for Spielman to become a Gopher.

“I am 100 percent Nebraska right now,” Spielman said.

Why is he sold on the Cornhuskers? “The fan base is crazy. The fans show a lot of love and support for all the players. That’s a big thing,” Spielman said. “I also like coach Riley and his coaching staff. They’re all some of the nicest people I’ve met.”

Spielman’s father, Vikings general manager Rick Spielman, didn’t sound concerned that it will require traveling to see his son play for the Cornhuskers. “We’ll work it out,” said Rick who is on the road a lot in the fall to scout college players.

He and his wife Michele have adopted six children including J.D. who came into their home at eight months old. J.D. has been playing football since first grade. Although J.D. is small, Rick never felt his son was too diminutive for football because of the “size of his heart.”

He also praised J.D’s football work ethic, noting that all his children have been encouraged to apply effort to school and athletics because dedication is something “you can control.”

Worth Noting

Mike Zimmer said his team was down emotionally when he met with players earlier today. The Vikings head coach said at his afternoon news conference he would be upset if they were laughing and joking after Sunday’s loss to the Packers at TCF Bank Stadium. He told players that by Wednesday they should be ready to move on in preparation for next week’s game against the Falcons in Atlanta.

The loss to the Packers left both the Vikings and Green Bay with 7-3 records, and tied for first place in the NFC North Division. “I still like this team. I still believe in this team, regardless of what will be said, or what will be written, or our moods today,” Zimmer said. “I believe in this team.”

Wide receiver Mike Wallace, reportedly the Vikings second highest paid player and an offseason acquisition, has caught only two passes in the last four games. “I am not concerned about stats, or individual stats, or anything like that,” Zimmer said. “All I am concerned about is how to get this team better.”

Tomorrow the Wild unveil uniforms the club will wear for its February 21 outdoor game against the Blackhawks at TCF Bank Stadium. Tickets are still available for the event, officially known as the Coors Light NHL Stadium Series game.

Tracy Claeys got his first win as Gophers head coach without the interim tag last Saturday against Illinois, but he has no plans to keep a game ball as a memento. “I want that axe,” he said.

The Gophers and Badgers play for Paul Bunyan’s Axe on Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium. Minnesota hasn’t won the annual rivalry trophy since 2003.

A win over Wisconsin will give the Gophers a 6-6 record and ensure bowl eligibility. Minnesota’s bowl destination might be the New Era Pinstripe Bowl in New York’s Yankee Stadium on December 26, the day after Christmas. The late afternoon game will match Big Ten and ACC teams, and be televised on ABC.

A Gophers athletic department spokesman said as of last Saturday about 1,700 tickets remained for the Wisconsin game.

Former Gophers head coach Jerry Kill is spending time at his lake home in Illinois before returning to Minneapolis for Thanksgiving.

David Benedict, who worked as a top assistant for former Gophers athletic director Norwood Teague, is a candidate for the AD position at Tulane. Benedict is currently chief operating officer for the athletic department at Auburn.

Ken Lien is a long time Gophers basketball fan, and offers this opinion on the current group: “For a team that lives and dies with the three, they will die more than they live.”

Lien is president and owner of the Minnesota boys Mr. Basketball award, and he has been associated with that endeavor for 41 years. Committee members are already looking at players for the 2016 award honoring the best senior in the state. An initial list of 50 Minnesota high school seniors has been compiled.

Comments Welcome

Vikings Need to End Pack Win Streak

Posted on November 18, 2015November 18, 2015 by David Shama

The Vikings, 7-2 and leading the NFC North, appear to have their best team since 2009 and can provide more evidence about that by defeating the Packers on Sunday at TCF Bank Stadium. Green Bay, the elite team in the division for years, is 9-1-1 against the Vikings since 2010 and is 4-0-1 in the last five games of the series.

It was 2012 when the Vikings last defeated the Packers in Minneapolis. Minnesota hasn’t won in Green Bay since 2009 when ex-Packers quarterback Brett Favre led the Vikings to a 38-26 victory. That team, with a 12-4 regular season record, won the NFC North and almost advanced to the Super Bowl.

The Packers haven’t scored less than 23 points against the Vikings since the 2006 season. Green Bay is struggling right now, though, and managed just 16 points last Sunday in a loss to the now 2-7 Lions. The Packers, 6-3, have lost three straight games, and the Vikings haven’t allowed an opponent to score more than 23 points all season.

Sunday starts an unusual week for the Packers who will fall two games behind in the loss column to the division-leading Vikings if they can’t win at TCF Bank Stadium. On Thursday night next week the Packers meet the Bears in a Thanksgiving game in Green Bay.

Vikings players probably won’t say anything provocative about the Packers this week but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a special feeling at Winter Park. Coach Mike Zimmer has given the players black T-shirts with these words on the back: “Beat Green Bay.”

Vikings defensive tackle Linval Joseph told Sports Headliners he’s excited about Sunday’s game. “I can’t wait to play against the Packers. They’re a very good team. You can’t sleep on the Green Bay Packers. Not at all.”

Mike Wallace (Photo courtesy of Minnesota Vikings.)

Vikings wide receiver Mike Wallace said he’s isn’t paying attention to his team’s winning streak or Green Bay’s losing skid. “It’s not about when we’re catching them. It’s about one day, one week, one game. It’s not really about them. It’s about us and trying to build toward something we’re trying to get to (division title, playoffs).”

Worth Noting

Vikings wide receiver Charles Johnson after being asked what he thinks of Packers All-Pro quarterback Aaron Rodgers: “That man can do it.”

Bleachereport.com’s Monday NFL power rankings listed the Vikings fourth and Packers ninth among the NFL’s 32 teams. The top three ranked teams are the Patriots, Bengals and Panthers.

Former Vikings defensive lineman Bob Lurtsema said 29 current members of the team, including Adrian Peterson and Harrison Smith, attended the “Bowl with the Vikings” event last week in Oakdale to benefit the Vikings Children’s Fund.

60 Minutes devoted a segment to football’s concussion issue last Sunday night with reporter Steve Kroft warning this is the sport’s biggest crisis in more than 100 years when there was talk of banning football. The segment focused on the NFL and concussion research.

No Big Ten football team with a 5-7 record has ever been invited to a bowl game. The Gophers, with a 4-6 record, have two remaining regular season games and could finish 5-7. With 80 teams needed for 40 bowl games, 5-7 teams may have to fill some of the vacancies if there aren’t enough qualifying schools with .500 or better records.

True Thompson, the son of Gophers all-time leading rusher Darrell Thompson, is a senior wide receiver at Robbinsdale Armstrong High School. Among the football schools he has heard from are Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin—all of whom have raised the possibility of him being a preferred walk-on with their programs. (Preferred walk-ons, although they aren’t scholarship players, generally are assured of roster spots their first year on the team.)

St. Thomas and Saint John’s could be headed for a rematch in the Division III football playoffs. The 10-0 Tommies host La Verne in an opening playoff game on Saturday while the 9-1 Johnnies have Dubuque at home. If both MIAC schools win, they will play each other on November 28 at St. Thomas.

St. Thomas defeated Saint John’s 35-14 during the regular season. That was the closest score in a St. Thomas game this season. It might not be exaggerating to say the Tommies could finish high up in the Division II Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference that includes UMD and Minnesota State.

The Gophers basketball team has only neutral court and home games on its entire nonconference schedule that began earlier this month. Minnesota plays Thursday morning against Temple in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off tournament. Then the Gophers have four home nonconference games before facing Oklahoma State in Sioux Falls on December 12. Two home games follow to finish the nonconference schedule before playing Ohio State in Columbus on December 30 in Minnesota’s first Big Ten game.

Dick Jonckowski, who is in his 30th season as the Gophers basketball public address announcer, is now cancer-free after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2014.

The Wild play the Bruins in Boston tomorrow night where Minnesota’s all-time record is 7-1-0. Devan Dubynk, the Wild’s regular goalie since last winter, is 0-4-0 lifetime against the Bruins with a 5.56 goals-against average.

Former Gophers football player and ex-pro wrestler Jim Brunzell admired Nick Bockwinkel who passed away at age 80 late last week. “Not only was Nick the consummate professional in the ring, but a wonderful, classy gentleman whose friendship and charisma will be missed by all,” Brunzell wrote via e-mail.

Bockwinkel had a long wrestling career that included being the American Wrestling Association’s champion. Brunzell considered Bockwinkel a great wrestler and praised him for his “psychology, precision and timing in the ring.”

Bridget Hennen, Bethany Lutheran College’s lone senior, is one of seven soccer players from the school selected by the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference for all-league recognition. Hennen is a midfielder from Apple Valley and St. Croix Lutheran High School who over her four-year career started every match for Bethany, was selected All-UMAC each season and was a two-year team captain.

Comments Welcome

Blogging on a Football Weekend

Posted on November 16, 2015November 16, 2015 by David Shama

With the Vikings and Gophers playing out of town last weekend, I can’t give you reports from TCF Bank Stadium, but here’s a recounting of how I kept myself occupied the last few days.

On Thursday I listened to 83-year-old former Gophers basketball coach Jim Dutcher speak to the CORES group (coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans). He last spoke to CORES in 1986. This prompted Dutcher to quip: “The next time I talk to this group I will be 112.”

The University of Iowa sent a news release late in the week warning fans to beware of counterfeit tickets for Saturday night’s Hawkeyes-Gophers game. This made me wonder what to do if I had purchased tickets for the game and then encountered strangers sitting in what I thought were my seats. How to decide who would stay, and who would move on?

Rock-paper-scissors?

Maybe, but the ideal situation would be learning these strangers were music teachers who mostly had come to Kinnick Stadium to watch the Iowa marching band before the game, at halftime and post-game. Does a negotiation where my group sat in the seats for the first, second, third and fourth quarters sound unreasonable?

Not sure how Friday the 13th went for you but Brock Vereen will remember the day for awhile—maybe a long time. The Vikings released the former Gophers safety on Friday.

News of Vereen’s departure came via e-mail but there were other e-mails last weekend much more important than football.

Minneapolis advertising legend Pat Fallon, an alumnus of Washburn High School and the University of Minnesota, died unexpectedly on Friday. Heart-felt condolences to Pat’s family and many friends. He was 70 years old.

The Timberwolves sent word about a presentation prior to their home game Sunday against the Grizzlies. Chris Herren, former NBA player and ex-drug addict, came to Target Center to tell his story about addiction and recovery—and his mission to help others by speaking to the public.

I learned via e-mail former Gopher and Viking tight end Doug Kingsriter got married in Dallas on Sunday. Anyone who knows Doug enjoys his wit and wisdom. He was a 1971 All-American at Minnesota and later played for Bud Grant with the Vikings.

I was trying to be on a no-football “diet” during the day on Saturday—saving my brain cells for analysis of the Gophers and Vikings—but a friend phoned and was raving about the performance of North High School’s Tyler Johnson. I turned the TV on when North’s Class 1A state title game against Minneota was in the late second quarter. Right on cue Johnson the quarterback made an elusive run for a touchdown. A couple of moments later Johnson the defensive back intercepted a pass and made an electrifying run where he seemingly left almost every Minneota tackler grabbing for air before finally going to the ground.

Johnson, a Gophers recruit, looks like he has the athleticism to play at a high level in the Big Ten. He won’t be a quarterback but whatever his position he sure looks like a playmaker.

About 4 p.m. on Saturday I received the perfect warm-up text for the Gophers-Iowa game from my son: “Big upset tonight.”

Earlier in the week he predicted a Vikings win in Oakland: 34-31.

Couldn’t help but notice coach Richard Pitino scheduled the Gophers basketball team for a game on Sunday, just an hour before kickoff in Oakland. Coach, I know you have only lived here a couple of years but the Vikings are kind of a big deal.

Umm. The Timberwolves also played Sunday afternoon. Guess they use the same schedule maker the Gophers have. And is that the person who schedules the Wolves and Wild on the same nights?

It was a good weekend to be a Hawkeyes fan. The wrestling team defeated No. 1 ranked Oklahoma State in Kinnick Stadium Saturday afternoon, drawing an NCAA dual match record attendance of 42,287. Then Saturday night at sold out Kinnick Stadium the Hawkeyes hung on to defeat the Gophers 40-35 and stay unbeaten with a 10-0 record.

Quarterbacks are always a focus and certainly were on Saturday night. Iowa’s C.J. Beathard has become one of the better quarterbacks in the country during his first full season as a starter. His passing and running were a problem all night for Minnesota, but the Gophers Mitch Leidner may have played the best game of his career completing 19 of 27 passes with no interceptions and running for a score. His passing rating was 163.2, according to ESPN.com.

Gophers offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover, often a target of critics, impressed with play calling that frequently had the Iowa defense off balance. Minnesota scored three touchdowns rushing against a defense that had given up only three all season. The Gophers had 301 yards passing including a touchdown throw from running back Shannon Brooks to wide receiver Drew Wolitarsky.

Credit too goes to the offensive line that played its best game of the fall. The line gave Leidner more opportunity than in the past to throw and at times opened big holes for Brooks. But while the offensive line had a good performance, the defensive line didn’t. The Hawkeyes were forced to punt only two times all night and Iowa rushers had huge holes including a 51-yard run late in the game when the Gophers were trying to get the ball back while trailing 33-28.

Minnesota is playing through a difficult season characterized by an abnormal loss of starters to injuries and a schedule of nationally-ranked opponents. But Minnesota has played through it all with much more determination and execution than a lot of teams would. The team’s 4-6 overall record and 1-5 Big Ten record doesn’t reflect the team’s quality. There’s reason for optimism in the two remaining games of the season against Illinois and Wisconsin at home.

I missed church on Sunday morning but tried to make up for it by listening to Greg Coleman’s “Pregame Preach” on KFAN prior to kickoff in Oakland. The former Vikings punter quotes scripture each week while talking football. Yesterday he was inspiring listeners while referencing King David and imploring Vikings fans to have faith in the presence of the “Black Hole,” otherwise known as the notorious south end zone section of the Oakland stadium where rowdy fans clad in all kinds of outfits reside.

And now about that Vikings game…and yesterday’s Packers-Lions game…and those NFC North standings…and about next Sunday’s Vikings game with the Pack in Minneapolis.

Remember that famous Al Michaels quote in 1980 when Herbie Brooks and his U.S. Olympic hockey team stunned the world? “Do you believe in miracles?”

Well, the 7-2 Vikings might not be a miracle forming in the northland but they’re a darn good team that just happens to be on a five-game winning streak, partially earned with three consecutive wins on the road including yesterday’s 30-14 victory over the Raiders. Meanwhile, in Green Bay, the Packers lost to—gulp—the lowly Lions, 18-16, and increased their losing streak to three straight.

All of a sudden the “Perfect Packers” are imperfect and are looking up at the Vikings in the standings. The Packers, 6-3, come to town having fallen from their spot among the NFL elite and at best are a shaky favorite in Sunday’s game.

The Packers figure to be a determined bunch next Sunday but the Vikings defense looks like it will carry this team into the playoffs for the first time since 2012. Yesterday in Oakland that defense held a Raiders offense that had scored 34 points or more in three consecutive games to just two touchdowns.

Those who had faith in the Purple before the game were rewarded.

Amen.

Comments Welcome