David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

U Recruit May Top All Big Ten QB’s

Posted on February 1, 2015February 1, 2015 by David Shama

Ryan Burns, a football recruiting authority for Gopherillustrated.com, compares the athleticism of Rockford, Illinois high school senior quarterback Demry Croft with the Vikings Teddy Bridgewater. Burns told Sports Headliners the Boylan Catholic High star could be a special player for Minnesota within a couple of years.

Croft, 6-5, 200, verbally committed to the Gophers last year and is expected to sign a National Letter of Intent this week binding him to Minnesota and making him one of 20-plus players to accept scholarships for head coach Jerry Kill’s 2015 recruiting class.

Bridgewater, who completed over 70 percent of his college passes during his final year at Louisville, was recently voted the Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year. “I am not saying he is going to be Teddy Bridgewater,” Burns said. “I am just saying athletic ability-wise, he’s very similar.”

Like Bridgewater, Croft “likes to sit in the pocket, read the defense, (and) not necessarily run,” Burns said. “He doesn’t flinch if he feels pressure. He steps up in the pocket.”

Bridgewater and Croft do put defenses on high alert not just because of their passing but also running. In Croft’s senior season he rushed for 845 yards and 10 touchdowns, while passing for 2,011 yards and 21 touchdowns, according to statistics from Gopherillustrated.com.

“It could be pretty scary on what he could accomplish here down the line in two or three years,” Burns said.

When Burns makes such a statement it’s not only based on abilities Croft has shown but also that Croft has limited experience playing quarterback. He played both receiver and quarterback his junior year of high school.

Burns said Croft compares impressively with quarterback recruits being signed by the other 13 Big Ten Conference schools. “I think he has the potential to be one of the best—if not the best—quarterback of this Big Ten quarterback class in three or four years. I think his ceiling is extremely high. He has all the physical tools.”

Burns predicted Croft will go through a lengthy learning process with the Gophers before receiving significant playing time. “In the first year or two I don’t think he’ll play much. I think he’ll redshirt and sit another year but down the line I think he does have potential to be a pretty good star.”

It looks like Croft will be the only quarterback in the Gophers 2015 recruiting class to be formally announced on Wednesday. He appears to be another under the radar, undervalued high school prospect that Kill and his staff have earned a reputation for identifying and coaching.

Gophers assistant coach Brian Anderson is from Rockford, Illinois and that is a factor in the Croft recruiting. Croft is also a cousin of Donovahn Jones, a wide receiver who was in the Minnesota program until early this winter. Even more important is Croft made such a favorable impression last summer at a Gophers camp for high school players.

“Live evaluations are huge with this staff,” Burns said. “It’s the No.1 thing they look for before offering a kid. They have to see him live. See how he moves.”

After Croft verbally committed to the Gophers, Penn State made a late run at him but he hasn’t wavered on Minnesota, Burns said.

Croft has made Kill and the staff look good so far with not only an impressive senior season but his showing in the Offense-Defense All-American Bowl. At the prep all-star game in Florida last month he completed 12 of 15 passes and threw two touchdown passes.

Worth Noting

Former Gophers center Ray Hitchcock worked last year during the offseason with Nick Connelly and Bronson Dovich, high school linemen from Red Wing and Chaska high schools expected to sign with the Gophers on Wednesday. “Those guys are players,” Hitchcock said. “They are really wide-frame players.”

Connelly is listed at 6-7, 277 and Dovich at 6-5, 295, according to Gopherillustrated.com. Hitchcock said Connelly moves well and could be a defensive end in college. Dovich might increase his weight to 320 and likely be an offensive tackle.

Seth Green, the East Ridge High School junior quarterback who has verbally committed to national power Oregon, might be moving out of Minnesota because of a possible job transfer by his father Bryan Green. “It’s not a done deal,” Raptors assistant coach Dave Fritze told Sports Headliners. “I don’t think his dad knows (yet).”

Green is one of the most highly recruited prep quarterbacks in state history. He can’t sign a National Letter of Intent with Oregon until next February when he will be a high school senior.

The Raptors were 10-2 last season and have the majority of starters returning. Fritze said he would “feel sorry” for Green if he couldn’t finish his senior year at East Ridge with classmates and friends. The Raptors, especially if Green returns, will be among the state’s favorites next fall to be a power. “It would be a huge loss for the program,” Fritze said.

Registration closes at noon on Monday for the Gophers Signing Day Social at TCF Bank Stadium on Wednesday. The fan gathering includes comments by Kill about the Gophers recruiting class. The event begins at 5 p.m. and more information, including cost, is available at Goallineclub.com.

BTN will air a live, two-hour special on Wednesday starting at 2:30 p.m. Minneapolis time evaluating incoming recruiting classes of all 14 Big Ten schools.

Fox Sports North will televise 12 Twins spring training games starting with the March 4 game against the Gophers in Fort Myers.

Saint John’s men’s basketball coach Jim Smith (780-553 career record) tied Lute Olson last week for 15th on college basketball’s all-time wins list. Smith is six wins behind Lefty Driesell (786-394) for 14th.

Condolences to family and friends of former Gustavus Adolphus men’s tennis coach Steve Wilkinson who died last month. Steve coached at Gustavus for 39 years and his 929 wins are the most in collegiate tennis history.

Justin Dahl, who has accepted a basketball scholarship offer from nationally-ranked Northern Iowa, scored his 1,000th point last week for Holy Family Catholic High School. The 6-11 senior could break the school record of 1,138 points set last year by Joe Hanel.

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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.

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Glen Taylor: ‘No Ill Will’ for Kevin Love

Posted on January 28, 2015January 28, 2015 by David Shama

Kevin Love will be greeted with boos when he and his Cavs teammates play the Timberwolves on Saturday at Target Center. The former NBA All-Star power forward will likely be heckled by some fans, while others will applaud his return to the arena where he played six seasons for the Wolves.

Love’s departure via trade last summer is a major setback for the Wolves who have the worst record in the NBA, 7-37. The team has played most of the season without four starters from last year including Love and injured regulars Kevin Martin, Nikola Pekovic and Ricky Rubio.

Glen Taylor said Love, a key contributor on the 2012 US Olympic team, forced a trade because he wanted to play for a winning team and the Wolves haven’t made the playoffs since 2004. But the Wolves owner holds no grudges against the 26-year-old Love, a rare NBA player who has career averages in double figures for scoring and rebounding.

Taylor told Sports Headliners earlier this month he plans to see Love on Saturday. “I am going to treat him like a friend,” Taylor said. “I have no ill will against Kevin at all.”

In January of 2012 the Wolves had an opportunity to give Love a maximum five-year contract but chose instead to negotiate a four-year deal that gave him an early opt out. If the longer agreement had been made Love likely would still be on the roster and perhaps could have been persuaded to eventually finish his career in Minneapolis.

The Wolves would have enhanced their relationship with Love by offering him a longer contract and more money. He proved on the court he was deserving of the max contract, finishing the 2011-2012 season with a then career high average of 26 points per game.

“Knowing what we know today and all that stuff, it was probably a mistake (the contract),” Taylor said. “It doesn’t bother me to say that was a mistake. It’s a decision that was made at that time and it turned out to be that Kevin really played well after that. I respect him and admire him for his work ethic and all the things that he has done. We’d have been better off having the longer term contract. …”

David Kahn was the franchise’s lead basketball decision maker when the Love four-year deal was negotiated and finalized. Kahn’s years with the Wolves have been much scrutinized and criticized beyond the Love saga. First round draft decisions that included passing on guard Steph Curry in 2009 and center DeMarcus Cousins in 2010 are among the most discussed. Curry, drafted by the Warriors, is fifth in the NBA in assists and 10th in scoring, while Cousins, playing for the Kings, is fourth in scoring and second in rebounding.

Curry was mentioned to Taylor, and he was asked if hiring Kahn, who had never led an NBA basketball department prior to his opportunity with the Wolves, was a mistake. “I don’t want to say that,” Taylor answered. “No matter who you hire they have to make some guesses. They’re going to be right some of the time and they’re going to be wrong some of the time.

“For me to say or anybody knew that Curry was going to be that good, I just think they didn’t know that. It turned out that we made mistakes, that’s for sure.”

Worth Noting

The Cavs, led by forward LeBron James, guard Kyrie Irving and Love, are in their first season together and learning to play as a unit. Among the NBA title favorites, the Cavs have struggled overall as shown by their 26-20 record but have won seven consecutive games.

Love, who is averaging 17.3 points and 10.3 rebounds with the Cavs, might be the best outlet passer in the NBA. Just ask former Timberwolves forward Corey Brewer who had a career high 48.1 field goal percentage last season, with many of his baskets coming on layups after catching long passes from Love.

The Gophers basketball team, 2-6 in the Big Ten and 13-8 overall, might have its best opportunity this season to earn a road win tonight at Penn State, 1-6 and 13-7. State College is historically one of the easiest places for Big Ten teams to win and since 2000 Minnesota is 8-4 at Penn State. The Gophers’ two conference wins were at home against Rutgers and Illinois.

Ross Travis, the former Chaska High School player, leads Penn State in rebounds per game at 6.9. The 6-7 senior forward has started 19 of 20 games and averages 4.8 points per game.

Condolences to the family and friends of Lu Vorpahl who died earlier this month at age 103. Lu was probably the oldest former Gophers football player prior to his death. The Minneapolis native was born June 30, 1911 and played football for the Gophers in the early 1930s. (See Sports Headliners’ June 30, 2014 feature about his remarkable life.)

The St. Thomas men’s basketball team plays Gustavus at home tonight. The Tommies’ only loss of the season was to the Gusties in St. Peter, 68-65 on December 3. UST, 15-1 overall and 10-1 in the MIAC, is ranked No. 2 in the country by D3hoops.com.

Vikings general manager Rick Spielman will be the guest speaker at the May 14 CORES luncheon. Bob Gustafson, from Grandma’s Marathon, will speak at the March 12 program. CORES luncheon programs are at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington, 1114 American Blvd. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans. Information about both programs is available by contacting Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net.

The state of Minnesota has 203 Division I men’s hockey players, according to information provided by College Hockey, Inc. Michigan has 151 followed by Massachusetts, 112; New York, 81; and New Jersey and Pennsylvania with 52 each.

Minnesotans are 12.7% of all Division I men’s hockey players and 18.7% of the Americans playing. Conferences with the most Minnesota natives are the NCHC with 57, Big Ten 39, and WCHA, 34.

Former Gophers tennis coach David Geatz had his 58th birthday last Friday. Geatz, now head men’s coach at Pennsylvania, coached the Minnesota men’s team for 18 years and won five Big Ten titles.

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