And finally after a 19 game losing streak, my favorite football team The Detroit Lions won a game. I was on pins and needles watching the upper right corner of the screen during the Vikings game. I did see the great throw by Brett Favre and the better catch by Greg Lewis but I wasn't exactly concentrating on that game. Lions have a big game coming up at Soldier Field against the Brian Urlacher-less Bears. Confidence is a wonderful thing.
The pennant races are basically over now. The Tigers have all but clinched the division while splitting their four game series with the Twins. The Twins still have a slim chance but still have to face Cy Young front runner Zach Greinke, they aren't winning that game. That means the Tigers only need to win one game in their next series. The winner of the division will then play the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
Great jestures by the Phillies and Angels after winning their respective divisions. The Phillies paid tribute to Harry Kalas, best announcing voice ever, by everyone on the team slapping the memorial for Kalas in the outfield. The Angels one uped them by doing the same thing to the Nick Adenhart memorial as well as drenching Adenhart's jersey get drenched by champagne in the locker room. Great story to overcome a lot of adversity this year for the Angels.
Nice to see my close to hometown university has taken a stand when it comes to idiots on the basketball team. Binghamton University decided to kick off a bunch of their male basketball playes this past week. Tiki Maybe was arrested earlier in the week with 3.5 grams of cocaine. I don't know if that's a lot but he being charged with a felony. Nice to see he turned his life around after many fiascos in high school. DJ Rivera was also booted, he was their leading scorer last year but wasn't all conference because he was academically ineligible at his last school (coaches voted for the all conference picks). Corey Chandler, who just came to Binghamton from Rutgers was also booted. I understand second chances but when your team is full of those guys, you are going to run into trouble. Kevin Broadus did exactly what he was told to do when he got the job, he won. He made it to their first NCAA tourney and now he had "no control" over the program. I blame him and the now departed athletic director, but it shows how much pressure there is to win even at Binghamton. My guess Broadus will be out after this year and King Rice (former Binghamton HS star, UNC Player, and Vanderbilt assistant) will take over and bring his hometown school to prominence.
Two weeks from yesterday, the Hamline Pipers will start practice. I certainly can't wait to get started. The guys are working really hard and are getting after it quite a bit on the court and in the weight room. It's great to see each guy challenge each other in weight room. Everyday, as I'm walking to and from our mail room I can hear the basketballs bouncing in the gym. Even right now from my office I can hear guys working out. We didn't have that last year. Hopefully, this means we can turn things around this year.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Plax, The Pennant Chase, and...
The one and only Plaxico Burress is now holed up at Riker's Island undergoing physical and psychological testing. After shooting himself in a Manhattan club, he will now serve two years on a variety of charges which mostly include carrying a concealed weapon without a permit. This whole ordeal still doesn't make sense...
Plax shoots himself and gets 24 months, Michael Vick gets roughly 20 months for killing a bunch of dogs (I know I make it sound harmless but it's not), and Donte Stallworth kills a woman while driving drunk and gets 24 days. Justice is served to say the least (I need that sarcasm button to work).
The Yanks just clinched a playoff berth last night. Great day to be a Yankee fan. The recession proof club made a huge signings this past winter and they are obviously paying off. CC is in a three horse race for the Cy Young. Mark Teixeira is in a two horse race for the MVP with his teammate. AJ Burnett is doing great as long as Molina is catching him. Nick Swisher has brought a deal to the team as far as the clubhouse is concerned and has played a fantastic right field. It's hard to ask for much more from the new guys as they have already given. The RING is the only thing that seems to be left.
It's a great race for the AL Central. The Tigers are hanging on by the thread to keep the Twins out of the playoffs. I've always been a big fan of Jim Leyland chain smoking in the dugout, hopefully we'll see it come out in the next week if the Twins overtake them. It's great to see the Twins still competing with Morneau out for the year. The media left them out to dry when he went down. Mauer has really stepped up and put them in position to win a lot of games. Either way the division unfolds, they are going down in the first round.
Just spend Sunday evening in Northern Chicago (Deerfield) to check out the Joy of the Game Fall League. Definitely some good players down there. Hopefully we can get an "in" sometime soon and get another good player from the state of Illinois. I'll probably head over to Minnehaha Academy to check out Sean Kruger's Fall League before our football team takes on St. Thomas on Saturday. Our football squad lost another heartbreaker in double OT to Gustavus. Hopefully they can pull one out this week and start winning.
Plax shoots himself and gets 24 months, Michael Vick gets roughly 20 months for killing a bunch of dogs (I know I make it sound harmless but it's not), and Donte Stallworth kills a woman while driving drunk and gets 24 days. Justice is served to say the least (I need that sarcasm button to work).
The Yanks just clinched a playoff berth last night. Great day to be a Yankee fan. The recession proof club made a huge signings this past winter and they are obviously paying off. CC is in a three horse race for the Cy Young. Mark Teixeira is in a two horse race for the MVP with his teammate. AJ Burnett is doing great as long as Molina is catching him. Nick Swisher has brought a deal to the team as far as the clubhouse is concerned and has played a fantastic right field. It's hard to ask for much more from the new guys as they have already given. The RING is the only thing that seems to be left.
It's a great race for the AL Central. The Tigers are hanging on by the thread to keep the Twins out of the playoffs. I've always been a big fan of Jim Leyland chain smoking in the dugout, hopefully we'll see it come out in the next week if the Twins overtake them. It's great to see the Twins still competing with Morneau out for the year. The media left them out to dry when he went down. Mauer has really stepped up and put them in position to win a lot of games. Either way the division unfolds, they are going down in the first round.
Just spend Sunday evening in Northern Chicago (Deerfield) to check out the Joy of the Game Fall League. Definitely some good players down there. Hopefully we can get an "in" sometime soon and get another good player from the state of Illinois. I'll probably head over to Minnehaha Academy to check out Sean Kruger's Fall League before our football team takes on St. Thomas on Saturday. Our football squad lost another heartbreaker in double OT to Gustavus. Hopefully they can pull one out this week and start winning.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Recruiting
Just headed up to St. Cloud this past weekend for the Comets Fall Exposure Camp. There were a bunch of kids that we were already recruiting that were there as well as a bunch of new faces. Hopefully, we can get these kids on campus sometime soon to catch a football and/or play with our guys. Our guys seal the deal for the most part with any of these kids. I will probably check out the MBA Fall League over at Minnehaha Academy on Saturday. Again, there will be a bunch of kids we are already one, hopefully we find a diamond in the rough there as well. I'm off to Chicago on Sunday to check out a couple of leagues, the Joy of the Game Fall League as well as the Full Package Fall League. We got a lot of interest last year from those leagues, hopefully it will help again.
How about the US Open Final on Monday. Roger Federer had the title in his hands fell apart mentally and physically to lose to Juan Miguel Del Potro. Del Potro was very good and never backed down. I was very surprised to see Federer falter. He didn't look like he normally does. His backhand had zero pace to it and Del Potro pounded out winners on it. I wouldn't exactly count him out next year but time is catching up to him, at least in tennis years. I look for him to bounce back big time come Austrialian Open time. He is like Tiger Woods, once someone questions his ability, he works on that part of his game and then dominates from there.
Congrats to Derek Jeter on becoming the all time hits leader in Yankees' history. Still amazing to me how that organization has never had a guy get 3,000 hits. Once again, Ichiro has gotten 200 hits. That's nine straight seasons of 200. Just amazing. He is the best hitter in baseball regardless of what anyone says. Plus, he thinks that "Chicks dig the longball" was just a fad, they like the infield hit now.
How about the US Open Final on Monday. Roger Federer had the title in his hands fell apart mentally and physically to lose to Juan Miguel Del Potro. Del Potro was very good and never backed down. I was very surprised to see Federer falter. He didn't look like he normally does. His backhand had zero pace to it and Del Potro pounded out winners on it. I wouldn't exactly count him out next year but time is catching up to him, at least in tennis years. I look for him to bounce back big time come Austrialian Open time. He is like Tiger Woods, once someone questions his ability, he works on that part of his game and then dominates from there.
Congrats to Derek Jeter on becoming the all time hits leader in Yankees' history. Still amazing to me how that organization has never had a guy get 3,000 hits. Once again, Ichiro has gotten 200 hits. That's nine straight seasons of 200. Just amazing. He is the best hitter in baseball regardless of what anyone says. Plus, he thinks that "Chicks dig the longball" was just a fad, they like the infield hit now.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
And School Begins...
After what seems like 19 months, school has finally started again on the campus of Hamline University. Our freshmen have been through orientation and couldn't stand it. What a great way to start college. We have brought in eight freshmen and here they are (in alphabetical order)...
Noah Aguiree Fillmore, CA Fillmore HS
Charlie Choiniere Oakdale, MN North St. Paul HS
Victor Easter Minneapolis, MN Minneapolis South HS
Billy Pinz Eugene, OR Sheldon HS
Jordan Schimidt Northbrook, IL Glenbrook North HS
Christian Taber Brooklyn Park, MN Park Center HS
Andy Voigt Cottage Grove, MN Park HS
Nick Wegner Maplewood, MN Hill-Murray School
We are definitely looking forward for practice to start. We think this a talented bunch and they are going to help us win a lot of ballgames over the next four years. These guys will go with our returners.
Sr. Nick Carroll
Sr. Dan Andersen
Jr. Carl Hipp
Soph. Levi Wenrich
Soph. Brandon Rieg
We also have a transfer that is enrolled at classes but is not eligible at the moment for competition. He could be a huge part of our program and will make us immediately better. We will need to file paperwork and get some things taken care of before he offically becomes a Piper. We are certainly crossing our fingers.
We will several non-conference games against nationally ranked opponents who include Elmhurst, Buena Vista, and possibly Wheaton and Cal Lutheran. We could have one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country. We certainly think our guys are up for the challenge. It will hopefully set us up for a NCAA tournament bid.
Noah Aguiree Fillmore, CA Fillmore HS
Charlie Choiniere Oakdale, MN North St. Paul HS
Victor Easter Minneapolis, MN Minneapolis South HS
Billy Pinz Eugene, OR Sheldon HS
Jordan Schimidt Northbrook, IL Glenbrook North HS
Christian Taber Brooklyn Park, MN Park Center HS
Andy Voigt Cottage Grove, MN Park HS
Nick Wegner Maplewood, MN Hill-Murray School
We are definitely looking forward for practice to start. We think this a talented bunch and they are going to help us win a lot of ballgames over the next four years. These guys will go with our returners.
Sr. Nick Carroll
Sr. Dan Andersen
Jr. Carl Hipp
Soph. Levi Wenrich
Soph. Brandon Rieg
We also have a transfer that is enrolled at classes but is not eligible at the moment for competition. He could be a huge part of our program and will make us immediately better. We will need to file paperwork and get some things taken care of before he offically becomes a Piper. We are certainly crossing our fingers.
We will several non-conference games against nationally ranked opponents who include Elmhurst, Buena Vista, and possibly Wheaton and Cal Lutheran. We could have one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country. We certainly think our guys are up for the challenge. It will hopefully set us up for a NCAA tournament bid.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Rick Pitino and his Mess
This whole Rick Pitino fiasco is quite funny to me. To many of these high profile Division One coaches, they feel as if they are untouchable. It just doesn't make sense to me how you could do that to your wife and family. Don't think that this is the first time Pitino has had an affair. I'm sure it has happened before but maybe the payout he gave before was substantial enough not to bring anything out to the police or the media. To hear the whole story, it's quite hysterical if you ask me. You get a whole restaurant shut down, have sex in the bathroom with this woman, while her future husband (Pitino's best friend) hears something going on in there. My guess is that she isn't exactly marriage material after that situation, but that's just me.
Pitinorecently come out guns blazin' in a press conference. As history has shown with sports figures, press conferences/interviews/etc. aren't usually a good idea to tell someone you are innocent of whatever you are being scrutinized for. Pitino did admit to committing adultery and paying $3,000 to cover health costs but when you deny and deny that you essentially did nothing else wrong then something is up. It has happened with Barry Bonds, A-Rod, and Roger Clemens. If you just come out and admit what you did it will be forgotten. That has happened with Jason Giambi, Andy Pettite, and Luis Castillo (San Diego Chargers DT, who admitted steriod use before NFL Draft). Personally, I don't think what Pitino did with his press conference was the right thing to do. He should've just sat back and hoped that his family and friends would take him back. The more you make a scene, the more the public feels you are guilty.
Classes begin on the 9th and I can't wait to things started. Our freshmen should be coming in on the 6th for Orientation. Should be an exciting year for the Pipers.
Pitinorecently come out guns blazin' in a press conference. As history has shown with sports figures, press conferences/interviews/etc. aren't usually a good idea to tell someone you are innocent of whatever you are being scrutinized for. Pitino did admit to committing adultery and paying $3,000 to cover health costs but when you deny and deny that you essentially did nothing else wrong then something is up. It has happened with Barry Bonds, A-Rod, and Roger Clemens. If you just come out and admit what you did it will be forgotten. That has happened with Jason Giambi, Andy Pettite, and Luis Castillo (San Diego Chargers DT, who admitted steriod use before NFL Draft). Personally, I don't think what Pitino did with his press conference was the right thing to do. He should've just sat back and hoped that his family and friends would take him back. The more you make a scene, the more the public feels you are guilty.
Classes begin on the 9th and I can't wait to things started. Our freshmen should be coming in on the 6th for Orientation. Should be an exciting year for the Pipers.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Memphis Hoops and the Pennant Chase
After a couple of months into the investigation, Memphis has now had their 2008 Final FOur taken away. This is all due to the use of an ineligible player (Derrick Rose), that's name was never technically revealed. He took a his SAT several times in Chicago, IL and then when he really needed the score, he traveled to Detroit, MI to take the test. He finally got the required score there. It's very unusual for someone to take a test out of their geographic reason, although I took my first SAT four and a half hours away from home. I was playing in an AAU tourney that weekend and didn't want to miss the tournament so I took it up there. Rose took his test to be closer to the infamous Worldwide Wes, who makes his home in Detroit. Weird how this all works out.
The one nice thing the NCAA did was not to penalize the players and new coaches at Memphis. They weren't a part of the problem and shouldn't get schoalrships taken away or a postseason ban. They did receive three years of probation, which is only a minor problem for the program. The NCAA has to look into John Calipari, he should be punished. This is his second run-in with problems that he didn't take the fall for shady dealings in his program. The first problem was with Marcus Camby at UMass and now the Derrick Rose situation at Memphis. Don't think Kentucky won't be on probation by the time he leaves there. Hopefully, things won't get swept under the carpet like they do at...
DUKE
Duke had a similar situation with Corey Maggette during his one year at the school. It was proven that Maggette took money from an AAU coach (myron Piggie) who was given the money through two different agents. Duek knew all aong and played Maggette throughout the season and didn't receive any penalities for playing an ineligible player. The Final Four banner still hangs in Hansborough Indoor Stadium. This is clearly a double standard in how the NCAA handled the Memphis and Duke situations. Just because Coach K is "Coach K" doesn't mean that he doens't break the rules and obviously he did in this situation. I'm pretending that Coach K is the only one to "severly bend" the rules but he got caught and nothing happened because it's Coach K and Duke. NCAA needs to take away their banner pronto.
Brett Favre is back, blah, blah, blah.
The Yanks took six of their last seven against the BoSox and it looks like there has been a severe reversal of roles. The Yanks played with more energy, danced a little bit in the dugout (ARod looked like a fool trying to join in), and got better pitching (though it wasn't great, it's still better). Matsui is starting to play better and seems to finally use to the DH role, although I still don't like him. Derek Jeter is once again putting up great numbers with his .333 batting average. He has to be the prime candidate for MVP although Texieria will probably steal a lot of votes from him. Texieria does so much for the Bronx Bombers, his timely hitting, his great 'tude, and probably the most important, his fielding.
The one nice thing the NCAA did was not to penalize the players and new coaches at Memphis. They weren't a part of the problem and shouldn't get schoalrships taken away or a postseason ban. They did receive three years of probation, which is only a minor problem for the program. The NCAA has to look into John Calipari, he should be punished. This is his second run-in with problems that he didn't take the fall for shady dealings in his program. The first problem was with Marcus Camby at UMass and now the Derrick Rose situation at Memphis. Don't think Kentucky won't be on probation by the time he leaves there. Hopefully, things won't get swept under the carpet like they do at...
DUKE
Duke had a similar situation with Corey Maggette during his one year at the school. It was proven that Maggette took money from an AAU coach (myron Piggie) who was given the money through two different agents. Duek knew all aong and played Maggette throughout the season and didn't receive any penalities for playing an ineligible player. The Final Four banner still hangs in Hansborough Indoor Stadium. This is clearly a double standard in how the NCAA handled the Memphis and Duke situations. Just because Coach K is "Coach K" doesn't mean that he doens't break the rules and obviously he did in this situation. I'm pretending that Coach K is the only one to "severly bend" the rules but he got caught and nothing happened because it's Coach K and Duke. NCAA needs to take away their banner pronto.
Brett Favre is back, blah, blah, blah.
The Yanks took six of their last seven against the BoSox and it looks like there has been a severe reversal of roles. The Yanks played with more energy, danced a little bit in the dugout (ARod looked like a fool trying to join in), and got better pitching (though it wasn't great, it's still better). Matsui is starting to play better and seems to finally use to the DH role, although I still don't like him. Derek Jeter is once again putting up great numbers with his .333 batting average. He has to be the prime candidate for MVP although Texieria will probably steal a lot of votes from him. Texieria does so much for the Bronx Bombers, his timely hitting, his great 'tude, and probably the most important, his fielding.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
It's Back
After about a one month hiatus, I'm back and hopefully back to get on this at least a couple of times a week. No internet at home though, we'll see how this works. After a busy eight weeks traveling to Sioux Falls, SD (recruiting), Washington DC (wedding), Vegas (recruiting), and then Myrtle Beach, SC (vacation) I'm finally back and refreshed for the new school year.
We have a great recruiting class coming in along with a couple of other possibilities that we should find out about before school starts. Right now, we have eight freshmen coming in. A big class but we needed it since eleven total guys from last year's team are not with us because of many different factors which include graduation, chasing girlfriends, transferring, and a mutual decision to part ways. I believe we will be more talented, more athletic, tougher, and have a higher basketball IQ than we did last year. Usually that means we will have more wins, but experience plays a huge role as well. So we'll see. We will need to get another class of talented players in order to reach our goals off winning the conference, making NCAAs, and then a National Championship.
Many things have happened since I've been gone and I'll hit as much as I can...
Favre is back, which isn't surprising at all. Everyone up here loves him because he is playing for the Vikes now, they hated him when he was with the Packers. His decision making is simliar to how I figure out which pair of Jordan's I'm going to wear for the day. I start with the white and blue 4's or then flip 3's, or do I surprise everyone with the 23's. Well Brett, you surprised no one. Honestly, I don't care one bit about #4.
LIONS WIN THEIR FIRST PRESEASON GAME!!!!
Usain Bolt is fast, really fast. It's amazing to me to see him run. He is a head taller than everyone else and just seems to be in cruise control while everyone else is running into potholes. Mark my words, he will change sprinting forever. You'll see taller sprinters over time, who will look more like 400 and 800 runners, long and lean.
Yankees are taking over. To watch the Yankees over the past month has been great. They've worn down the rest of the league. Sabathia, Burnett, and Swisher have brought an excitement to the clubhouse and it clearly has made a difference in how the team is. Whip cream pies for game winning hits, personal handshakes, and dancing on homers. This certainly isn't the Yanks of old but it's refreshing to watch guys have fun. Boston is fading and looking like the Yankees the past couple of years. Papi stinks, Varitek stinks, Lowell is old, Papelbon isn't the same, should be interesting to see if they make the playoffs.
Isiah Thomas got his first big time recruit to verbally commit. It should be interesting to see if the kid stays with it because he already committed to Kentucky. Renardo Sidney got cleared by the NCAA. If he didn't, "lawsuit city" to the NCAA. Latavious Williams is the only HS senior planning to go to Europe. He will have his hands full to say the least. Duke got Andre Dawkins to enroll early. He already had enough core courses and did well on his SAT. It gives Duke three guards now to go along with Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith. Daniel Hackett did this a couple of years ago and did ok. Hollis Thompson did it as well at Georgetown, he ended up redshirting second semester and didn't lose eligibility. I still don't this happening on a regular basis like it does in football. Tommy Anaker is once again making noise with his recruiting. He gets high profile players interested and who wouldn't want a Harvard education? A couple of issues I have with that, can those same players adapt to the rigorous course work and can Amaker coach them to get some wins.
As everyone knows, I'm a big fan of the US National Soccer Team. We did pretty well in the Gold Cup sporting a roster of their "B" team. Got 2nd to Mexico, after giving up five goals in the 2nd half. We then went to Mexico City and lost 2-1 in World Cup Qualifying. We've never won there, that should happened soon. Maybe if Landon Donovan didn't play with the swine flu we would've won. I wasn't able to catch either game (no cable at mi new casa) so I was naturally disappointed in our inability to establish ourselves as a power.
That's it for now, have a good one.
We have a great recruiting class coming in along with a couple of other possibilities that we should find out about before school starts. Right now, we have eight freshmen coming in. A big class but we needed it since eleven total guys from last year's team are not with us because of many different factors which include graduation, chasing girlfriends, transferring, and a mutual decision to part ways. I believe we will be more talented, more athletic, tougher, and have a higher basketball IQ than we did last year. Usually that means we will have more wins, but experience plays a huge role as well. So we'll see. We will need to get another class of talented players in order to reach our goals off winning the conference, making NCAAs, and then a National Championship.
Many things have happened since I've been gone and I'll hit as much as I can...
Favre is back, which isn't surprising at all. Everyone up here loves him because he is playing for the Vikes now, they hated him when he was with the Packers. His decision making is simliar to how I figure out which pair of Jordan's I'm going to wear for the day. I start with the white and blue 4's or then flip 3's, or do I surprise everyone with the 23's. Well Brett, you surprised no one. Honestly, I don't care one bit about #4.
LIONS WIN THEIR FIRST PRESEASON GAME!!!!
Usain Bolt is fast, really fast. It's amazing to me to see him run. He is a head taller than everyone else and just seems to be in cruise control while everyone else is running into potholes. Mark my words, he will change sprinting forever. You'll see taller sprinters over time, who will look more like 400 and 800 runners, long and lean.
Yankees are taking over. To watch the Yankees over the past month has been great. They've worn down the rest of the league. Sabathia, Burnett, and Swisher have brought an excitement to the clubhouse and it clearly has made a difference in how the team is. Whip cream pies for game winning hits, personal handshakes, and dancing on homers. This certainly isn't the Yanks of old but it's refreshing to watch guys have fun. Boston is fading and looking like the Yankees the past couple of years. Papi stinks, Varitek stinks, Lowell is old, Papelbon isn't the same, should be interesting to see if they make the playoffs.
Isiah Thomas got his first big time recruit to verbally commit. It should be interesting to see if the kid stays with it because he already committed to Kentucky. Renardo Sidney got cleared by the NCAA. If he didn't, "lawsuit city" to the NCAA. Latavious Williams is the only HS senior planning to go to Europe. He will have his hands full to say the least. Duke got Andre Dawkins to enroll early. He already had enough core courses and did well on his SAT. It gives Duke three guards now to go along with Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith. Daniel Hackett did this a couple of years ago and did ok. Hollis Thompson did it as well at Georgetown, he ended up redshirting second semester and didn't lose eligibility. I still don't this happening on a regular basis like it does in football. Tommy Anaker is once again making noise with his recruiting. He gets high profile players interested and who wouldn't want a Harvard education? A couple of issues I have with that, can those same players adapt to the rigorous course work and can Amaker coach them to get some wins.
As everyone knows, I'm a big fan of the US National Soccer Team. We did pretty well in the Gold Cup sporting a roster of their "B" team. Got 2nd to Mexico, after giving up five goals in the 2nd half. We then went to Mexico City and lost 2-1 in World Cup Qualifying. We've never won there, that should happened soon. Maybe if Landon Donovan didn't play with the swine flu we would've won. I wasn't able to catch either game (no cable at mi new casa) so I was naturally disappointed in our inability to establish ourselves as a power.
That's it for now, have a good one.
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