• Advertise
  • Donate
  • Subscribe
    • Become a print subscriber
    • Sign up for e-Newsletter
    • e-Editions
Saturday, May 27, 2023
No Result
View All Result
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
  • News & Features
    • National
    • Local
    • Special Editions
      • MLK Legacy
      • Black History Month
      • The MSR Celebrates Women’s History Month
  • All Sections
    • Opinion
      • Mellaneous by Mel Reeves
      • Word on the Street
      • Reaching Out From Within
    • Health + Wellness
      • Minnesota Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Sports
      • Timberwolves/NBA
      • Lynx/WNBA
        • 20 in 20
      • Twins/MLB
      • MN Wild/NHL
      • Vikings/NFL
    • Business
      • Small Business Month Celebration
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
    • Arts + Culture
    • Photo Galleries
    • MSR Forefront Digital Roundtable Series
      • MSR Forefront Highlights
    • Go Green
    • Education
    • Bulletin
    • Jobs & Opportunities
      • Legals
  • Events
    • Submit an event!
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • e-Editions
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
  • News & Features
    • National
    • Local
    • Special Editions
      • MLK Legacy
      • Black History Month
      • The MSR Celebrates Women’s History Month
  • All Sections
    • Opinion
      • Mellaneous by Mel Reeves
      • Word on the Street
      • Reaching Out From Within
    • Health + Wellness
      • Minnesota Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Sports
      • Timberwolves/NBA
      • Lynx/WNBA
        • 20 in 20
      • Twins/MLB
      • MN Wild/NHL
      • Vikings/NFL
    • Business
      • Small Business Month Celebration
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
    • Arts + Culture
    • Photo Galleries
    • MSR Forefront Digital Roundtable Series
      • MSR Forefront Highlights
    • Go Green
    • Education
    • Bulletin
    • Jobs & Opportunities
      • Legals
  • Events
    • Submit an event!
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • e-Editions
No Result
View All Result
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
No Result
View All Result

Showtime documentary follows North High’s Polars

by Charles Hallman
January 9, 2023
69
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on LinkedIn
  • Stills from “Boys in Blue” courtesy of Showtime
  • Inspector Coach Charles Adams

As a longtime Northside resident, I am as sensitive to negative talk about my neighborhood as I am for my hometown Detroit. Therefore, I approached the new short film on Minneapolis North’s football team with great apprehension.

“Boys In Blue” is a four-part docuseries that follows the Polars through their 2021 season.  Peter Berg directed and executive produced the Showtime piece, and featured among others the team’s most gifted player and quarterback Deshaun Hill, Jr. 

Head Coach Charles Adams and his assistants—Adams’ father Charles Sr., Rickey Plunkett and Tim Lawrence— were all four at the time also Minneapolis Police Department officers.  

“I drove the crew all over North Minneapolis,” recalled Adams Sr., “and they’re just looking at the neighborhood. This is North Minneapolis. It’s just pockets of problem spots that we’re still trying to address, that we’re going to address.”

I’ve lived on the Northside for the bulk of my transplanted life in Minnesota since the 1980s. If it was as bad as people purport, I wouldn’t be living here.

- ADVERTISEMENT -

No spoiler alerts here—North lost in the 2021 semifinals, and the gifted Hill, then a sophomore, was tragically shot and killed outside a neighborhood store just a few weeks after the season ended.  

“I think our time with Minneapolis North provides an opportunity for folks who might never get to go into a community like [North] Minneapolis,” stated Berg, “to go into that community and see beauty and love and nuance, in a community like this.” 

Berg is a Minnesota native who executive produced the “Friday Night Lights” television series that was adapted from the movie of the same name.

As “Friday Nights Lights” was all about football and relationships intertwined in a Texas town, “Boys” is much more than a football movie in multiple acts.

“When someone like me comes in and says, ‘Hey, can I spend time with you [and] captures [it] on film?” explained Berg. “It’s always a risk… I tried my very best and my crew to respect that. I’m very appreciative of that opportunity.”

- ADVERTISEMENT -

The Hill death wasn’t in the film proposal. “One of the producers just broke down crying… We know the kid was a good kid,” said Adams of Hill. 

Courtesy of SHOWTIME Deshaun Hill

“When we were asked what kid do we have to worry about getting in trouble if something happened, we all said we’re not worried about D. Hill. That was like a week before this happens.”

Said Berg, “Our crew and myself were floored. It really was like getting run over by a freight train for us. It was shocking and awful and brutal.

“And when something like that happens, there’s no playbook. No one really knew exactly how to make sense of it. I don’t know that you ever can make sense of such a senseless killing.”

The movie also shows the relationship of the North players with their coaches/police officers, especially in the post-George Floyd world. Plunkett told us that he was worried about that—he hadn’t yet seen “Boys” when we talked last week.  

- ADVERTISEMENT -

“I didn’t want to be a part of it,” he admitted. “I don’t want to be a part of none of that” if he wasn’t shown as genuine.

Berg said that after screening the film to Hill’s parents, the North players and coaches, school staff and other community folk before its January 6 premiere, “We’ve received unanimous support from everyone who’s seen it from the community…which makes me feel as though we’ve done something to the community accurately.”

Episode 1, season 1 of “Boys in Blue,” was released on Showtime on January 6; episode 2 will air on January 13; episode 3 will air on January 20; and episode 4 will air on January 27. The first episode is available now on Sho.com, Showtime.com, as well as across multiple Showtime partner platforms including YouTube through February 28.

Footnotes:

On January 10, the Minneapolis School Board agreed to a $500,000 settlement between the school district and Deshaun Hill (D. Hill) Jr’s family. 

- ADVERTISEMENT -

The trial of Cody Fohrenkam, who is charged with second-degree murder in the killing of Deshaun Hill, is scheduled to begin on January 17.

Support Black local news

Help amplify Black voices by donating to the MSR. Your contribution enables critical coverage of issues affecting the community and empowers authentic storytelling.

Donate Now!

ADVERTISEMENT
Previous Post

Work release should be expanded

Next Post

Warren makes history at Boston College

Charles Hallman

Charles Hallman is a contributing reporter and award-winning sports columnist at the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.

You Might Also Like

Black Business Spotlight: Royal Foundry Crafts Spirits
Black Business Spotlight

Black Business Spotlight: Royal Foundry Crafts Spirits

Standoff ends in deadly FBI shooting in North Minneapolis 
Local

Standoff ends in deadly FBI shooting in North Minneapolis 

North Minneapolis residents wary of proposed Blue Line extension
Local

North Minneapolis residents wary of proposed Blue Line extension

North Minneapolis businesses concerned over Met Council’s proposed light rail extension
Local

North Minneapolis businesses concerned over Met Council’s proposed light rail extension

Aldi Walgreens
Featured

Store closings in North Mpls a hardship for many

Spark’d Studio opens for Northside youth 
Featured

Spark’d Studio opens for Northside youth 

Next Post
MN Wild

Warren makes history at Boston College

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
ADVERTISEMENT

The Latest News

In history-making selection, Biden picks Gen. Charles ‘CQ’ Brown, Jr. as chair of Joint Chiefs of Staff

In history-making selection, Biden picks Gen. Charles ‘CQ’ Brown, Jr. as chair of Joint Chiefs of Staff

Black-owned farmers market in full swing this spring

Black-owned farmers market in full swing this spring

Honoring Black Americans’ role in the inception of Memorial Day

Honoring Black Americans’ role in the inception of Memorial Day

Saints pitcher Woods Richardson keeps on trying

Saints pitcher Woods Richardson keeps on trying

Black Business Spotlight: West Indies Soul Food

Black Business Spotlight: West Indies Soul Food

For classical music trio The String Queens, it’s all about community

For classical music trio The String Queens, it’s all about community

Minneapolis
◉
81°
Sunny
5:32 am8:47 pm CDT
SunMonTueWedThu
84/61°F
88/66°F
88/66°F
90/66°F
88/68°F
Weather forecast Minneapolis, Minnesota ▸
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Upcoming Events

Mar 30
March 30 @ 7:30 pm-May 27 @ 9:00 pm Recurring

Wit by Margaret Edson

Apr 14
April 14 @ 9:00 am-August 12 @ 5:00 pm

Paper Is People: Decolonizing Global Paper Cultures

May 29
10:00 am-4:00 pm Recurring

Preserving Nature Photos by Walter Griffin: REFLECTIONS

May 29
10:30 am-4:00 pm

Memorial Day Community Celebration at Lakewood Cemetery

View Calendar

Read our latest e-Edition!

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Subscribe

  • Home/Office Delivery
  • Weekly e-newsletter
  • e-Editions

Support

  • Donate
  • Subscribe
  • MSR Newsstand Locations

Connect

  • About
    • MSR Staff
  • Contact
  • Send a news tip
  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms

© 2023 Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

No Result
View All Result
  • News & Features
    • Local
    • National
  • All Sections
    • Arts & Culture
    • Health & Wellness
      • MN Cancer Alliance Breast Cancer Gaps Project
    • Business
      • Black Business Spotlight
      • Finances FYI
      • Small Business Month Celebration
    • Opinion
    • Sports
  • Events
  • Obits
  • Sister Spokesman
  • Donate
  • Subscribe

© 2023 Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

 

Loading Comments...