DOC BROWN'S IMMINENT LUMINARIES: JAKE VAN GINKEL

by Rupert, Ghosts of Wayne Fontes

The one and only Doctor Emmett Brown has joined the Epic Carnival team to provide insight on some of the great sports stars of the future. Having placated all potential problems in Hill Valley, he has turned his attention to sports. He has seen that the future has to offer and is here to give us a sneak peak. Brown is going to drop by from time to time and show us a variety of some stars you might not have heard of yet, but certainly will. These are some of the heavy hitters in high school sports today who are sure to make an impact on the college scene before long.

"There's that word again; 'heavy.' Why are things so heavy in the future? Is there a problem with the earth's gravitational pull?"

We're headed back to the gridiron this week, but it's a yet another little change of pace. Today we are taking a look at one of the most highly coveted kickers in high school, Jake Van Ginkel. Jake can hit a 60 yarder at the tender age of 15 and was written about in the Wall Street Journal despite just being a freshman and playing on the freshman team. Since the time of publication, Van Ginkel hit a 57 and a 58 yarder and just missed a 63 yarder wide left with the distance. To slap a little icing on the cake, Van Ginkel has put a kickoff in the end zone off a safety - that's over 80 yards if you're counting.

Name: Jake Van Ginkel

Position: Kicker

Ranking: Van Ginkel is just a freshman, so he's not yet part of the rankings at Rivals or Scout, but he will be soon.

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Strengths: His leg. He can kick really far and rather straight as well. Van Ginkel also plays QB for his freshman team and while it is doubtful he will play at the college level, it can't hurt that he can throw the ball for the occasional fake. The most interesting thing about Jake Van Ginkel is that his dad is a genius and stole my idea. He takes all five of his sons out to kick field goals for an hour and a half every day after work to turn them all into professional place kickers. You might think this is some weird shit, but I think it's brilliant. Thus, Van Ginkel has a killer work ethic to boot (5-star joke right there).

Stats/Accolades: Well, he still kicks for the Freshman team at Upland High in California, because the Varsity kicker, Kyle Hughland, is also a phenom. Thus, I think it's safe to say that Van Ginkel is the best freshman kicker in the world.

Criticisms: Um, I don't really know how to criticize a high school kicker. I suppose the logical criticism is that he hasn't faced the intense pressure of a giant stadium full of screaming blacked out drunk fans, with millions of television viewers, the game on the line, no chance to win the national championship if he misses, and minimal thanks for making it. In other words, he might get nervous and choke like Scott Norwood. Then again, there is always punting and kickoffs, so we're not too worried about him.

Interesting Factoid: Jake Van Ginkel is a dead ringer for Anthony Michael Hall from his Johnny B. Goode days. I wonder if he has 5 second hang time on his punts as well. Either way, much like Mr. B. Goode, I bet Van Ginkel will have some nice recruiting trips as well, so we'll be sure to check back on his progress through the process. His 10 year-old brother also kicked a 39 yarder in Pop Warner.

Attention University of Michigan, please put the Van Ginkel household on speed dial.