Index Sports Appendix

Bulldogs defeat Fort Hays

2007-01-06T17:36:00.000-06:00

Conor Nicholl

Buoyed by a terrific offensive performance, the men’s basketball team opened 2007 with an empathic victory.

Three Bulldogs scored at least 13 points and the purple and white defeated Fort Hays State University 70-59 Wednesday night at Pershing Arena. The victory ended a two-game losing streak for the men and pushed their record to 8-4 overall and 2-1 in the MIAA entering Saturday’s contest against Missouri Western State University.

The win represented the biggest scoring margin in a home conference victory since the Bulldogs knocked off Missouri Southern State University by 12 last January.

Individually, the win was a milestone night for forward Andy Calmes. The senior eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau in an odd fashion.

Usually an inside threat, Calmes sunk a three-pointer from the top of the key at the end of the first half. It was the first trey he sunk this season and the sixth of his career.

The senior, one of just six players in Bulldog history with 1,000 points and 700 rebounds, had his usual stellar game with 13 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.

He wasn’t the only one who enjoyed an impressive offensive performance. Facing Fort Hays for the first time since the mid-90s, the Bulldogs finished the half on a 31-11 run en route to a 40-24 lead. They shot 64 percent from the field in the first half and 55.3 percent for the game.

“We have played stretches like that this season,” head coach Jack Schrader said. “We went up 18 against Armstrong Atlantic State and they are a really good team. When we faced Missouri Southern, we had a similar stretch. I think we played pretty well. We ran our offense and didn’t have a go-to guy. We just found the open man.”

Shooting-wise, it was the best half by the men this season, besting a 60 percent showing in the second half in a victory against Culver-Stockton.

The only time the Bulldogs have tallied more than 40 in a single half came in the first 20 minutes of the season against Central Christian College, a squad far weaker than Fort Hays.

Hays, a top five team for nearly all of the last season, won the RMAC conference in 2005-06 before switching to the MIAA. They tried different defenses the entire night, including a 2-3 packed zone with all five players inside the three-point stripe, and a man-to-man, but nothing could halt Bulldogs’ usual Power half court offense.

“They ran their offense against us very well,” Hays head coach Mark Johnson said. “At times we were out of position which gave them some wide open threes. They also made shots and … exploited holes.”

Calmes, junior forward Nick Certa and Kirby never missed in the first half, finishing 11-for-11 from the field. Kirby paced a strong opening half behind the arc, hitting all four of his three-point attempts en route for 13 points. Overall, the team made 7 of 12 threes, the most treys they sunk in a single half this season.

Certa, who entered the night averaging 16.5 points and shooting 60 percent from the field in his last two games, enjoyed a fantastic half, going 5-for-5 for 11 points.

The only scary moment in the first half came in the final five minutes. Kirby went up for a rebound and fell on a Hays’ player’s knee. He stayed on the ground for a few minutes and was helped to the bench. In the second half, the senior played just 10 minutes but Schrader said he could have played more if needed.

“He’s a tough kid,” Schrader said. “It was because of the rotations and not because of his health that he didn’t see [much time] in the second half.”

After the break, Hays quickly cut the lead to 48-39 with just over 14 minutes left, but Certa kept the Bulldogs in control with a basket that extended the lead to 11. The Tigers never got without double-digits the rest of the contest.

Overall, the versatile Certa scored on a variety of short jumpers, threes and lay-ups and set career highs with 26 points and 10 field goals.

“He is able to score in so many different ways and create mismatches,” Johnson said. “He is a really athletic player.”

Inside threats Grant Agbo and Garrett Grimm were sick earlier in the week, but made a strong comeback, combining for 13 points and 13 rebounds. Grimm, a seven-footer who enjoys playing on the outside, pulled down eight rebounds, trailing only Calmes for the game-high.

Cards might be lucky to have passed on Suppan

2006-12-24T17:22:00.000-06:00

By Nathan Becker

Cardinal Nation will collectively frown today.

Free agent commodity and Redbird playoff star Jeff Suppan has agreed to terms on a four-year deal with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Our hero chased the mighty dollar bill (42 million of them) and not only changed teams – he moved to the Brewers, a division rival the Cards will play 15 times in 2007. He moved from one of the classiest, best teams in the bigs to a team with a home park where the most interesting attraction is a race involving people in sausage costumes.

Maybe Cardinals fans shouldn’t be as sad as they probably will be.

I’m a diehard Cards fan, and I can’t believe I’m getting ready to say this: Suppan just wasn’t that good.

Sure, he was clutch in the playoffs. The guy brought us a World Series Championship, and for that I am forever grateful. But Cardinals fans must have short-term memories – an amnesia that erases any recollection before October.

Flash back to just before the start of the 2006 season, when Suppan was the projected fourth starter in the rotation, settling behind Chris Carpenter, Mark Mulder and now-Cub Jason Marquis (good luck with that, Chicago). No one expected Soup to do anything more than fill a rotation spot, which he has a history of doing very well. Soup was expected to give his team about 200 innings of about 4.00 ERA baseball, and he did just that.

Then the wheels fell off the 2006 Cardinals, and the team and its fans had no one else to turn to.

Mulder was horrible and eventually out for the season, and Marquis suddenly looked like a little leaguer throwing softballs to Vladimir Guerrero every at-bat. Sidney Ponson was horrible, and rookie Anthony Reyes was inconsistent. Midseason acquisition (and later playoff co-hero) Jeff Weaver couldn’t stanch the bleeding either, putting together a 5-4 record with a 5.18 ERA.

Sure, when it was all said and done, the Cardinals were in the playoffs, but their only certainty in the rotation was Carpenter. In steped Suppan and Weaver, who might have upped their collective offseason paydays a total of $40 million with their playoff performances alone.

Bada bing, bada boom, World Series Champions.

What most people don’t realize is that as of Aug. 19, Suppan’s ERA was 5.03. He started dealing after that and didn’t stop until the playoffs were through (by the end of the season, he had lowered his ERA to 4.12).

But we’re talking about a guy who, before joining the Cardinals, whose hitting and defense undoubtedly padded his stats, had only put together one full season with an ERA under 4.50. His career ERA is 4.60, and his WHIP is 1.41 – hardly sparkling.

Maybe what Soup did from August to October was just a hot streak – something players of both great and little ability go through. Does anyone really think Jimmy Rollins and his hit streak are anywhere near as good as Joe DiMaggio? No way. Perfect example of a hot streak.

It’s this year’s market combined with his playoff performance that makes Soup such a valuable commodity (see: Kansas City Royals doling out too much money for Gil Meche).

But no matter how M’mm M’m good Soup was in October, he’s not worth 4 years at $42 million. It was wise for the Cards to not spend their money on Soup and instead wait for next year’s free-agent class or some talent to develop in their minor-league system.

There’s no reason they can’t spend significantly less to reel in a veteran on a one-year contract who will give them a full season of 5.00 ERA (not that much difference from Suppan when you stretch it out). Steve Trachsel’s still out there. So are John Thomson, Joel Pineiro and Jamey Wright.

The Cards should invest in a temporary stopgap starter who can eat up innings at a low dollar amount. It’s what they did before the 2004 season when they needed a fifth starter. They signed him to a $5 million, two-year deal. He gave the Cards just what they needed: stability.

His name? Jeff Suppan.

Assessing Men's Basketball

2006-11-30T17:44:00.000-06:00

Conor Nicholl

(Note: Tyler Madsen has an excellent post about men's basketball under this story.)

How good is the men’s basketball team?

No one doubts the Bulldogs’ starting five is very talented, likely among the MIAA’s best. Everyone agrees this team doesn’t have much bench right now, though Travis Kern and Garret Grimm showed some welcome signs of life Wednesday night.

Early returns show the squad has an even better offense than last season’s 20-9 team, but, because of a variety of reasons, the defense isn’t matching the same form from the 2004-05 campaign.

I made the comparisons between the last two seasons using possessions/game in the non-conference slate. Raw numbers such as points/game and assists/game don’t create accurate comparisons, because they fluctuate because of tempo. For example, if Team A has 50 possessions a game and scores 75 points, they are a better more efficient offense than if Team B has 100 possessions a game and scores 100 points.

I used just the 2004-05 non-conference slate because I wanted to find out exactly where this current team was in relation to last year. Conference and postseason games were not included, because the competition is much harder in the MIAA. This gives the team 11 non-conference games. (actually, it’s 11.125 games, because the Bulldogs played one non-conference overtime game.)

Using the possession formula found at kenpom.com (an outstanding college basketball site), the 2004-05 and 05-06 possessions/game are: (the numbers in parentheses signify where the teams would rank among current Div. I-A teams, according to kenpom.com.)

05-06: 65.0 (273/336) six games
04-05: 68.7 11.125 games

So, this season’s team is playing much slower than last year’s version, but not much different than the sum total in 2003-04 (65.8). Head coach Jack Schrader said last May he wanted the 20-9 squad to play at a faster pace than normal:

"A year ago, we had our guards take the ball out of bounds because of our lack of depth," Schrader said. "This year, our big guys took it out as fast as we could and we pushed it as quickly as possible. We just tried to set the tone that we were coming out faster."

This year, they have gone back to the slower pace. It’s like one pitcher throwing 100-mph fastball and the other just tossing changeups. If both methods work effectively, then it’s fine. In Div. I-A college basketball, Butler (very slow) and University of North Carolina (very fast), play at two different styles, but both are nationally ranked.

It matters what the team does on the possessions. And this year’s Bulldog team is better than the 04-05 squad offensively.

Non-conference points per possession x 100 possessions:
05-06: 116.5 (20/336)
04-05: 110.9

Defensively, though, the team isn’t very strong compared to last season. Opponents, when measured by points per possession times 100 possessions, are scoring a lot more points this season than they did in the non-conference slate last year:

05-06: 98.7 (165/336)
04-05: 85.7

So far, opponents are rebounding a little better than last season, especially from the offensive end. The increased offensive rebounding by opponents creates more shots and more chances to score.

Turnovers are down, too, but the Bulldogs aren’t creating anymore steals than last year, so it means opponents are taking care of the ball better and aren’t making as many sloppy mistakes.

The major difference comes in one aspect: three-point shooting. Helped by Chip Sodemann and Derek Lindsey last year, team were often stifled behind the arc. In non-conference play last season, opponents shot just 27.9 percent. This year, that mark is raised significantly to 33.7.

The difference is about three points a game, a major factor the Bulldogs’ two losses this season. If teams shoot worse from behind the arc, the purple and white is likely 5-1.

Quincy, who shot 21 percent from threes (6-for-29) in two games last season, made five of nine in its win against the ’Dogs this year, including several by players who aren't three-point shooters.

Is this is a problem? Right now, I would say it’s something to watch, but not quite a cause for concern. I see several different reasons for the change, including the losses of Sodemann and Lindsey.

Like many others, I believe Lindsey helped the team more defensively, especially behind the arc. Nick Certa (who has had a strong year) plays more like a “bigger” 3 than Lindsey or played a shooting guard-esque 3 and stayed on the perimeter more.

Schrader also said the team hadn’t been able to practice hard in recent weeks because of volleyball playoffs, players getting nicked up and other changes.

The bench play could also be a factor, because in the Quincy game, the Hawks made a lot of threes late when the Bulldogs – mainly playing their starting five – was a little winded.

Improved bench play could also provide fresh legs on the defensive end, too.

Offensively, this team is right where it needs to be, probably even better than people expected because of a healthy Grant Agbo. Defensively, if perimeter defense improves and if the squad rebounds a little better, the squad will win more close games.

Murray Feature:
There were a few anecdotes that I couldn’t work into my Pat Murray feature that ran in today’s Index. True freshman running back Marvin Bembry was very helpful with Murray stories and especially talked about Murray’s effect off the field. While Murray was an incredible player on the gridiron, he also assisted several of the younger offensive playmakers.

The Bulldogs played three true freshman on offense (Bembry and wideouts Vanness Emokpae and Albert Coker) and Murray – helped by senior lineman Tyrone McCormick – assisted the freshman.

Murray provided Bembry with plenty of confidence, and the freshman gained 387 all-purpose yards and was a major help in the squad’s transformation from 2-9 to 6-5.

“He really helped me out a lot,” Bembry said of the senior offensive tackle. “He played as a freshman and he told me to relax and play. Even in camp, he was always trying to help me out and show me little things.”

On the bus in preseason camp at Nevada, Mo., Bembry sat next to the 6-foot-four-inch, 315-pound Murray. At first, the Chicago native was a little apprehensive, but the tackle put him at ease.

“I was the lucky guy who got to sit with him,” Bembry said. “I walking back on the bus looking for a seat and as a freshman, we kind of have last dibs on things like that. The only seat next to him was next to him, I was thinking ‘man he might make me sit on the floor.’ I hadn’t really talked to him that much, but he was a real nice guy who was real cool about it.”

I sat next to him, didn’t know what to expect and he did a lot of things that other people wouldn’t notice and he was really a huge help for me.”

Bembry wasn’t supposed to see much playing time, but injuries to feature back Jake Cunningham and Phil Kenney thrust Bembry into a starting role very early in his career. In Week 4 against University of Central Missouri, Bembry saw a lot of playing time.

“[Pat and Tyrone] were saying, ‘Let’s go Marvin, we have a lot of faith in you, we believe in you, [and] what you can do,” he said.

The impact from the seniors was mainly felt in a Week 6 win against Missouri Southern. Kenney was already out and Cunningham was injured early in the first quarter. Bembry had to shoulder the load by himself and needed to have a strong second half to help the team capture a victory.

“Phil was out, Jake was out, and in first half I didn’t really play that well,” Bembry said. “At the half, Pat and Tyrone were saying, ‘Let’s go Marvin, we are behind you,’ that type of thing, really pumped me up and felt like I needed to perform for those guys.”

Bembry finished with 101 total yards, helping the team capture a key 35-28 win.

Men's Basketball Thoughts

2006-11-27T23:55:00.000-06:00

*Tyler Madsen*

A quick post with a few thoughts about the men's basketball team through their game Monday night against Culver-Stockton.

Team,
1) Is 3-2 that disappointing at this point of the season after a 20-win campaign last year? The answer is both yes and no. Yes in the fact that the two games the squad lost were by three points (Armstrong Atlantic) and six points (Quincy). What hurts about those two losses are the facts that the 'Dogs were up 18 against AASU midway through the second half and let it slip away and that Quincy is just a big nonconference rival of the squad.

No in the facet that they've beat who they're supposed to and been close in the other two. A favorable stretch also lies in wait.

2) The fact the 'Dogs are scoring very well this year (75.8 ppg) bodes well for the rest of the season. Truman is usually considered a "grind it out squad", so to be running and scoring at a high clip will help out the stout defense even more as we move along.

3) 31 percent of the scoring is coming from the bench. Isn't this the time the bench players are supposed to get a lot of PT? With no reserve really stepping into a solid role yet, the starters are having to pick up the slack (four averaging over 29 minutes per game). You have to hope that the guys will have enough left in the tank come March.

4) 106 free throws to the opponents' 72. That's a great start to the season, and with the squad shooting a modest 70% as a whole, it's a good sign to see the team getting to the charity stripe. But don't worry fans, that discrepancy will likely fade as the season progresses ... after all, there're still two games against Central Missouri left on the slate to help even it out.

Individually,
1) 14.0 ppg (1st on team), 4.2 rpg (4th on team) coming from Banks Estridge, a first-year starter at a position that hadn't seen a different man in four years. I'd say he's filling that void quite well at this point.

2) Austin Kirby: 16 assists, 1 turnover. Wow. Add to that a 49% shooting percentage (41% from behind the arc) and a 90% free throw clip, and you've got a senior leader at the guard spot.

3) Andy Calmes: 11.4 ppg, 10.6 rpg. The only first-team all-conference selection is making his presence known again in his final season.

Come on out to Pershing Arena Wednesday night for the team's sixth game of the year .. this time against Hannibal-LaGrange College.

Quincy defeats Truman in rivalry game

2006-11-22T18:30:00.000-06:00

By Conor Nicholl

An age-old rivalry yielded new questions for the men’s basketball team.

In the 101st meeting between two schools situated about 90 minutes apart on Route 6, Quincy University knocked off the Bulldogs, 82-76, Tuesday night at Pershing Arena.

The victory kept Quincy perfect at 3-0 and moved the Bulldogs – who finished 2-0 against Quincy last season – to 2-2 on the season and 1-1 at Pershing Arena. Coupled with the defeat to Armstrong Atlantic University (Ga.), the Bulldogs are 0-2 this season against potential Top 25 and NCAA tournament squads.

“I think we are all right right now,” head coach Jack Schrader said. “Quincy and Armstrong Atlantic are awfully good teams. They could be both top 10 teams and the games could have gone either way.”

Tuesday’s contest, though, broke a 50-50 stalemate in a rivalry that dates back nearly a full century.

“We have not been able to practice hard for any period of time this year because of injuries,” Schrader said. “I think in the next two weeks we can rectify that. I think we have to get tougher. I think that the other teams are a little bit physically tougher than us as far as taking charges and getting loose balls.”

Banks Estridge furthered erased any doubt that he can start at point guard, delivering another great offensive performance. Three days after setting a career-high with 15 points against the University of Missouri-Rolla, Estridge supplied a game-high 23 against the Hawks, scoring in a variety of ways, including off steals, lay-ups and three-pointers.

Still, the loss bucked some recent trends for the Bulldogs.

A team that won 20 games last season and came within a few seconds of advancing to the second round of the NCAA tournament was built on few turnovers, a solid bench and strong, suffocating defense that limited shots and made three-pointers non-existent.

Through three games this season, those numbers held. Opponents shot just 33.1 percent from the field and a mediocre 24.6 rate from beyond the arc.

Quincy exploited all of the 2005-06 strengths, shooting over 50 percent from the field and, effectively using set plays and creating mismatches several times, sunk over half of their three-point attempts, including several huge shots down the stretch.

“We just took away the inside a little more,” Schrader said. “They took shots that we wanted them to take. We didn’t give up many looks at it and I think that is good.”

They also forced the Bulldogs to rely heavily on their starting five. Last season, the team could use a host of reserves, especially Nick Certa, Estridge and Matt Brock, to supply offense and keep the team on an even keel.

In the 76-62 victory versus Quincy last year at Pershing, the ’Dogs bench was instrumental in the victory, outscoring the Hawks 28-16 from their reserves.

The bench is still an enigma in the early part of this season’s version, producing zero points, zero assists, one rebound and two turnovers Tuesday. Schrader hasn’t settled on any rotation behind his set starting five, using multiple players to find the best solution.

“I don’t really care where we get the offense, it’s how we play,” he said. “The thing is execution. You come in and you can’t turn the ball over and cause a backflow of what we are trying to do and stop the rhythm. I am not concerned with the productivity as I am with how it influences our play.

It will come. We have some good players, but they are just inexperienced. I don’t know which buttons to push yet,” he said.

Quincy pushed many of the right buttons against the Bulldogs, a team they had lost twice last season, including a four-point overtime defeat at the Quincy Holiday Tournament.

On Tuesday night, the Hawks never allowed the Bulldogs to get close enough to force overtime.

The Bulldogs took a 2-0 lead, but wouldn’t hold an advantage for the rest of the evening. They tied Quincy at 25 after Estridge sunk two free throws, but the Hawks –helped by several turnovers – went on a 12-6 run and led 37-31 after 20 minutes.

“We played way too anxious the first half and we when got anxious, they got easy baskets in transition,” Schrader said.

After the break, Quincy ran out to a 10-point lead before Estridge and Certa made the game close. During a three-minute stretch, the duo combined for 10 points, closing the gap to 54-53 with slightly over 11 minutes remaining.

The Bulldogs also pulled it to 63-62 with 6:26 left, but free throws and several three-pointers provided the final margin.

“In the second half, we played Bulldog basketball,” Schrader said. “We took what they gave us ... We just couldn’t come back from the first half deficit. If we play within ourselves offensively and execute defensively, then we can be all right.”

UNA Advances to Elite Eight

2006-11-12T19:10:00.000-06:00

By Conor Nicholl

University of North Alabama finished a goal they didn’t meet last fall.

In 2005, UNA hosted the South Central Regional and was favored to advance to the Elite Eight. Instead, the University of Central Missouri pulled a gigantic upset, knocking off the Lions in their own arena.

One year later, UNA had their second opportunity against the Jennies. This time – one day after defeating No. 1 Truman in a five-set thriller – the Lions rolled to a 3-0 (-21, -27, -29) victory Saturday afternoon at Pershing Arena.

North Alabama will face Ashland University (Ohio), the winner of the Great Lakes region, in the Elite Eight at Pensacola, Fla.

“This was a big match for us in a revenge way, but to also get back to the Elite Eight,” Lions’ senior setter Laura Bellinger said. “We do have a history with Central Missouri and we were glad to come out on top.”

For Central, it represents another fine season in terms of wins and losses, but another year that ended in the region. For four straight years, the Jennies have eclipsed 25 wins, but haven’t reached the Elite Eight.

“We have made it to the finals every year I have been here and it has always been against Truman or UNA and we just can’t pull through and that stinks,” senior libero/outside hitter Katie Tarka said. “ … I think we served well and I think we passed well. It was almost like we weren’t connecting and we weren’t playing the whole game through.”

Still in a season that UCM was supposed to have some drop-off, they still finished at 29-7 and ranked in the top 25 in the polls for the entire season.

“We didn’t think that we would get this far, honestly,” Jennies’ middle hitter Jillian Ohrman said. “It was a growing year for us and people were surprised by how well we were doing. Getting this far was a blessing, although we wanted to go further.”

Similar to their match against the Bulldogs, North Alabama was behind and pulled off a comeback. However, this time the deficits were a little fewer than 0-2, 15-16 in the third set. The Jennies took a 17-14 lead in game one, but UNA stayed calm, called a timeout and regrouped.

A 9-0 run followed that saw Central burn a timeout and lose one of its best players. At 22-17 UNA, Jennies’ middle hitter Lauren Nuckolls twisted her knee on an attack.

She was carried off the court. Later, she had an ice bag taped to her knee and was gingerly walking under her own power, but wouldn’t return.

Nuckolls’ offense was certainly missed. She led the Jennies with 20 kills in their win against University of West Florida on Friday afternoon. Without Nuckolls, the Jennies had to turn solely to Ohrman and Tarka.

Ohrman, the Jennies’ best offensive player, collected 14 kills and hit .381 mainly off slides on the right side, but she was the only one that did much against the Lions’ defense.

Entering the match, Bellinger said the Lions wanted to focus on stopping Tarka, one of the best liberos in the country who played outside hitter in the regional.

Tarka led the team in kills in their first round match against Missouri Southern and provided another 17 versus the Argonauts.

The Lions contained her, forcing a .077 hitting percentage in the first game. Overall, Tarka finished with 13 kills, but hit just .205.

“She is a hitter that likes to hit off the block, so we really focused on keeping our hands pushed in, so she couldn’t do that,” Bellinger said.

UNA outside hitter Megan Stout, who enjoyed 20 kills in the win against Truman, had eight in the first game, providing a spark that would last for all three sets. She finished with a match-high 16 kills.

“I think Laura did a good job on the sets, seeing where one blocker was going so where they had one blocker up,” Stout said. “I was just focused and could see the holes.”

UCM took a 21-19 lead in game two, but UNA went on a 7-2 run and grabbed a 26-23 lead. The Lions was helped by terrific setting from Bellinger and offensive depth that included Stout, Dee Ayers and Nilcia Oliveria.

“They had a good presence on the court and they stayed pretty strong, which is a big deal because they don’t freak out,” UNA head coach Stephanie Radecki said of the comebacks. “A couple points to them, they can turn that around pretty easily.”

Bellinger, the South Central Player of the Year and arguably the best setter in the country, read the blockers and constantly delivering perfect, high sets.

After hitting .357 in game 1, the Lions crushed the Jennies’ defense – a defense that entered the playoffs with the second-lowest opposing hitting percentage in the South Central – registering a .365 average.

“I got great balls off the passes, read the blockers and just saw where the opportunities where,” Bellinger said. “We seemed so in sync and in system because we have a lot of depth on offense.”

UCM was ahead 28-26 in the third game, but the Lions came back again, winning five of the final six points and advancing to the Elite Eight for the first time since they captured the national title in 2003.

In the last two matches, the Lions won four straight in games decided by three points or fewer – a streak that could help UNA equal the 2003 feat.

Friday Photo Gallery: Truman State vs. Northern Alabama

2006-11-11T00:02:00.000-06:00

Photos are up for the November 10 UNA def. Truman State University 3-2 on the Index Website.

Friday: Purple Rain - Lions beat Truman

2006-11-10T23:40:00.000-06:00

*Tyler Madsen*

In a flash, it was over.

After jumping ahead of the fourth-seeded University of North Alabama 2-0 in Friday night’s NCAA South Central Regional semifinal, the top-ranked Truman State Bulldogs couldn’t hold on and fell 3-2 (28-30, 29-31, -25, -27, -12). The loss ended the squad’s otherwise-incredible season at 36-2.

“It’s hard to sit here and even try to grasp that it’s over,” senior outside hitter Sarah Shearman said. “UNA played great, but this wasn’t supposed to happen tonight.”

Shearman did all she could to keep her squad in the match, as she finished with 17 kills, a .341 hitting percentage, and 19 digs (many of which weren’t counted because they were on serves). However, the Bulldogs could never get out of their defensive funk all night, allowing the Lions to hang around – a factor head coach Jason Skoch knew was the turning point of the match.

“They had 21 more digs than us, and for as much as we rely on our defense, I think you can easily say that’s where the difference was tonight,” Skoch said.

Sophomore middle blocker Allie Cherven led the ’Dogs with 18 kills, and sophomore right side Melissa Keck was just a few steps behind with 15 kills of her own.

But the talk of the night was focused on the play of Lions’ senior setter Laura Bellinger, whose 75 assists put her one shy of a UNA school-record and 14 kills proved to be deadly for the ’Dogs.

“Laura’s a huge leader for us, and obviously with her as our setter, she plays the role of the quarterback for us,” UNA head coach Stephanie Radecki said. “And without that person doing what they need to do well, it’s hard for the rest of the offense to click. I would definitely say that she sparked that tonight and the rest of our girls finished the job.”

The ’Dogs trailed 25-23 in game one before pulling off a 6-0 run to lead by four and eventually take the game 30-25. Game two was just as close throughout, but a service ace by Shearman and a Cherven kill were the final two points in the 31-29 win.

“We didn’t look sharp at times, but UNA just didn’t go away,” Skoch said. “I just thought at times our intensity level wasn’t there, and once they caught that momentum, they just kept pushing and we didn't respond.”

The two squads traded points in game three until the true turning point of the match occurred midway through the game. With the ’Dogs up 16-15, UNA went on an 11-3 run to essentially end game three.

Game four was a similar story with both teams playing evenly in the outset, but it was again another UNA run, this time a 12-1 run to make it 17-10 to force a gap too wide for the Bulldogs to cross.

History was on Truman’s side in the final game, as the squad hadn’t dropped a game five since Nov. 1, 2002 to Missouri Southern, but like a broken record, the rally cry repeated for the Lions as a 10-10 tie was broken by a 4-1 UNA run to seal the Bulldogs’ fate.

“They stayed consistent throughout the match, and I have to give them credit for not changing a beat,” Skoch said. “If they don’t change for five games and win 3-2, then that’s on us. But to their credit, they stayed even-kiel.”

Senior Kelsey Wackerman finished her amazing career with another triple-double, this time registering 10 kills, 33 assists and a team-high 23 digs. Sophomore outside hitter Eli Medina was right behind Wackerman defensively with 22 digs, but the two offensively struggled, hitting .082 combined (16 kills, nine errors, 85 total attempts).

“We knew we couldn’t focus on one particular player because Truman was so rounded as a team,” Radecki said. “Our defense just stepped up tonight and thankfully made the difference.”

North Alabama, now 32-5, advances to the South Central Regional final on Saturday afternoon to play third-seeded Central Missouri. The winner will earn a spot in the Elite Eight.

Friday Notebook: Cherven consistent force for 'Dogs

2006-11-10T23:39:00.001-06:00

*Conor Nicholl*

Allie Cherven tried stopping the tumble that eventually ended the Bulldogs’ season.

Cherven, a sophomore middle hitter for the No. 1 ranked purple and white, played brilliantly in Friday’s match against University of North Alabama.

After the Bulldogs won the first two games, UNA reeled off the final three, taking a heart-stopping, two hour and 23 minute thriller (27-30, 29-31, -25, -25, 15-12) and upsetting the 36-1 Bulldogs.

UNA will play University of Central Missouri at 4 p.m. this afternoon in the regional final. The winner will earn a trip to the Elite Eight.

That ticket was supposed to be for the Bulldogs. The purple and white was the best team in the region and one of a few teams that was favored to win the national championship.

And Cherven tried doing everything she possibly could. In the final three games, the Div. I University of Pittsburg transfer carried the Bulldogs’ offense, registering 12 kills and an incredible .611 hitting percentage.

Few others, save sophomore right side Melissa Keck and sophomore middle hitter Lisa Weber at times, did little in the trio of losses.

Reigning first team All-Americans Sarah Shearman and Kelsey Wackerman tailed off, discombobulating the ’Dogs’ offense and allowing the Lions to achieve the biggest upset in this year’s NCAA tournament.

“Our biggest thing was to try to put up a great block and defend around it and if we could hold them and try to contain them,” UNA head coach Stephanie Radecki said.

UNA didn’t just contain the Bulldogs’ threats. They shut them down.

Wackerman, who delivered an outstanding career and is arguably the most versatile player to ever wear the Bulldog uniform, didn’t play very well.

Sure, UNA provided a tough double block, but Wackerman didn’t have a strong match. She didn’t have any output in the final three games, hitting a very low -.052 with just one kill and two errors in 19 attempts.

Shearman, who still had a fine performance overall, hit just .143 in the final three games with just seven kills.

In the final three games combined, the ‘Dogs had just eight kills and a .074 hitting percentage from their two All-Americans.

“It makes the win that much better because you know that you didn’t just beat a team, you beat a great team,” Radecki said.

That low output can also be attributed to poor setting – especially compared to the sterling play by UNA setter and South Central Regional Player of the Year Laura Bellinger

Using the slide effectively, the senior handed out 42 assists in the final three games, fueling the offense.

“Laura Bellinger is amazing,” Shearman said. “We just have to give her credit. She is really talented.”

Often times, the Bulldogs attacked from the ground and couldn’t put a strong hit on the attack. UNA also did an exceptional job of defending the tip ball, calling out “tip” every time and delivering many diving digs.

Cherven, though, adjusted the defense. When she realized she couldn’t deliver a patented crushing smash, she went the strategic route, pushing deep tips to corners and the back row when UNA brought everyone up front.

When the middle opened, she capitalized, pounding kills down the middle and off the double block.

“Toward the end, I [started seeing the back line a little more],” she said. “I was swinging and I wasn’t getting kills. I didn’t tip at all and I figured I might as well try and Coach said to ‘tip deep.’”

Overall, she didn’t receive many attacks. She finished with just 30, a very low total that ranked fifth on the team. Three of the players that ranked in front her in attacks hit under .150.

But Cherven proved the catalyst, leading all hitters with a .500 average and collecting a Bulldog-best 18 kills.

Some of those, especially in the final three games, helped reverse momentum and provide a much-needed point for the ’Dogs. In the fourth set, she delivered late kills at 23-26 and 26-29, trying to bring the purple and white back in the match.

In the final game, she gave the purple and white their final lead of the match – and season – taking a 1-0 lead. Her final kill brought the score within one at 10-9. The following point, she and Shearman blocked UNA, tying the score.

The Lions, though, won five of the final seven points, winning the match and besting Cherven’s superlative effort.

Friday: Lions stun Bulldogs 3-2

2006-11-10T23:39:00.000-06:00

*Sadye Scott-Hainchek*

As the University of North Alabama faced an impending 2-0 hole, the opposing fans got to their feet, screaming for what was sure to be another Truman State University win.

Except it wasn’t.

Although Truman did win game two, it didn’t win again. The 13th-ranked Lions faced elimination at the hands of the top-ranked Bulldogs for three straight games, and they won all three. After their upset, they advance to the South Central regional finals.

After losing the first two games 30-27 and 31-29, the team had to change something. Head coach Stephanie Radecki said that relaxing enabled the Lions to make some tactical adjustments in the following two games.

“I don’t think we were playing horrible, but I think that towards the end, we were getting leads, and we would let them score strings of points,” she said. “And in volleyball, you can’t let them score strings of points.”

Led by senior setter Laura Bellinger’s 22 assists in the match, the Lions were able to stay close. After tying at 16, the Lions went on a 11-4 run to grab an advantage they wouldn’t relinquish, winning 30-25.

In addition to her assists, Bellinger tried to bring something intangible to help change the match’s momentum: an exhortation to play as well as they knew they could.

“We were very timid in our heads in the first two games, and we started to play with confidence, playing our game instead of worrying about what they were doing,” she said.

The Lions followed the previous game’s pattern for game four. Once they got ahead for the first time in the game, they didn’t fall behind again, leading by as much as seven and winning 30-27.

The team’s offensive strategy, which worked perfectly in the fourth game, was to capitalize on Truman’s gaps in the middle and in the back.

"We went for corners,” Bellinger said. “Their middle back was staying in the middle, kind of trying to read us.”

Additionally, game four featured nine team blocks by the Lions and eight by the ‘Dogs. Not surprisingly, the team attacking percentages dropped to .136 and .157, respectively.

Although the Lions tried to keep sophomore middle back Allie Cherven and senior outside hitter Sarah Shearman from racking up huge totals, they still had big numbers in game four, hitting .714 and .500. No other ‘Dog came close, however.

Radecki said the team took a holistic approach defensively while trying to keep the offense going.

“Our biggest thing was to put up a straight block and defend around it, and if we can hold them and try to contain them, I think is the best word for players like that because you’re not going to shut them down, if you can do your job offensively, then you have a chance to do well,” she said.

In the decisive game five, UNA came out ahead and never looked back. Truman head coach Jason Skoch called two timeouts, one after a 5-2 UNA run and the other after Truman failed to gain ground.

Neither worked.

Although both teams’ defense stepped it up with 10 blocks each in an abbreviated game, UNA’s simply was better. Truman hit a game-worst .115 versus UNA’s .240. Junior outside hitter Nilcia Oliveira and senior middle back Dee Ayres each hit .500 as the Lions won 15-12.

Bulldog standouts Sherman and senior outside hitter Kelsey Wackerman were nonfactors in the game, with attack percentages of -.250 and .000.

“It makes the win that much better because we know you didn’t just beat a team, you beat a great team,” Radecki said.

During the latter part of the match, the Lions also were able to appropriate one of Truman’s strategies for themselves.

“[The players] know that Truman’s one of those teams that once they get above 25 points, they just try to finish the game, so I think the biggest thing was just making them aware of that and them doing the same thing,” Radecki said.

In the first two games, the ‘Dogs did just that. Both games were close during the middle sections, but once they gained the late lead, they didn’t give it up, winning 30-27 and 31-29.

Truman might have benefited from a few calls early in the match. Six ball-handling errors total were called on Bellinger in the five-game match, but three of those came in the first two games. After that, Bellinger was able to adjust her foot positioning.

Bellinger said the deciding factor for the entire match, however, was which team battled more.

“I’m not taking anything away from Truman, but we had a lot to get back from last year, and we were fighting them tooth and nail,” Bellinger said. “The juniors, the seniors, everyone on the team knew that this was not only the match, but our national championship [as well].”

Friday Notebook: Bellinger leads UNA to final

2006-11-10T23:38:00.000-06:00

*Blake Toppmeyer*

Hitters and blockers often grab the headlines, but usually, it all centers around the setter. And while not as thrilling as a resounding kill, a soft set is often the key to each point.

When it comes to setters, the University of Northern Alabama’s senior Laura Bellinger is in a class of the elite. She entered the NCAA Div. II tournament ranked twelfth in the nation with 12.71 assists per game.

“Laura is a huge leader for us,” UNA head coach Stephanie Radecki said. “And obviously, being a setter she’s kind of like a quarterback and without that person doing what they need to do well, it’s hard for the rest of team to do their jobs.”

Bellinger was, to no surprise, on top of her game in UNA’s round two matchup against Truman State University. Bellinger, the South Central Player of the Year and an All-American last year, led the Lions with 75 assists and hit .353 in UNA’s 3-2 win against the Bulldogs. The 75 assists were one off the UNA school record.

In game one, Bellinger came out firing on all cylinders, setting to perfection and leading UNA to an early 8-6 lead before the Bulldogs came back to take the game. She hit an incredible .714 for the game, adding five kills to her 16 assists.

Bellinger’s play was instrumental to the Lions’ win in game three, the turning point in the match. She had an astonishing 22 assists game three while rallying the Lions to a 30-25 game win. Solid from start to finish, a perfect Bellinger set led to a kill by senior Dee Ayres to put the nail in the coffin in game three.

“I tried to [boost] the players confidence [in game three],” Bellinger said. “I think we were very timid and in our own heads in the first two games. Then, we started playing with confidence and just playing our game instead of worrying about what they were doing. So I think that was a big turnaround for us, playing with confidence.”

The performance of Bellinger in game three jumpstarted the Lions. They took games four and five to advance to the South Central Regional finals and snapped the Bulldogs’ 36-match winning streak.

Bellinger’s importance to the Lions was seen in other areas besides her sets. The senior is the floor general for UNA, paralleling the role of a quarterback for a football team or the point guard in basketball. She leads the huddles after points, issuing advice such as “watch for the tip” and gives strategic hand signals before serves.

“The girls and I look to each other for advice so I mean everyone is a leader in their own right out on that court,” Bellinger said. “Going into a big game like this, you just got to fight for every point and be a leader by example.”

While known for her setting ability, the all-around athleticism of Bellinger can be seen in other assets of her game. Often, she will make a crucial dig or send a tip kill over the front line of the defense for a point. She amassed a triple double against the Bulldogs, reaching double figures in kills, digs, and assists, the fourth time she has accomplished that feat this season.

Still, for all of her skills, no one can argue that her setting is the backbone of her game. Bellinger set to perfection against the Bulldogs. She delivered high, textbook sets to whatever direction necessary, leading the hitters and giving them the best possible chance for a kill.

Because of Bellinger’s extreme talent, Truman head coach Jason Skoch acknowledged that his team prepared for Bellinger prior to their loss against the Lions.

“Yeah, we usually do [prepare for setters],” Skoch said. “Last time we played her, we shut her down. We just weren’t there [tonight]. We just didn’t play our best.”

The talent of Bellinger in the setting department was magnified against the Bulldogs. Bellinger racked up more assists in the match than the entire Bulldog team combined. And while the Bulldogs came into the match ranked No. 1 in the nation, there’ no denying they could have used a setter like Bellinger.

“Laura Bellinger is amazing,” Bulldog senior Sarah Shearman said. “We just have to give her credit. … She knew how to feed her hitters.”

Friday Notebook: Keck Fuels 'Dogs

2006-11-10T23:25:00.000-06:00

*Ben Yarnell*

The Bulldog volleyball team’s season might have ended, but that does not mean there wasn’t a perfect 10 effort on the floor from Number 10.

Sophomore Melissa Keck was a force to be reckoned with Friday, as she set a career high for kills, coming in with 15 against the University of Northern Alabama Lions.

Her showing on the court brought the sophomore to 280 kills in her career. Coming into the night’s match, Keck averaged 2.91 kills per game. However, she averaged 3.75 kills in each of the five games. When compared with the rest of the squad, Keck had just less than 20 percent of all the team’s kills.

Keck was especially instrumental for the ‘Dogs in the clutch. Several times during the match, most notably during games 1 and 2, Keck came in with key kills. Almost every kill she had came when Truman was within no more than four points of the Lions. The highlight of Keck’s performance was Game 1, when she came up big with 6 kills, helping push the team past the Lions by a score of 30-27.

That dependability was the reason the Bulldogs ended up 20-2 in games that finished with a margin of less than 3 points. UNA head coach Stephanie Radecki said her team was knew how strong Truman’s team could be when a game comes down to the wire.

“We know that Truman’s the kind of team that, once they get above 25 points, they are going to push to win the game,” Radecki said. “I think the biggest thing was just making the team aware of that and doing the exact same thing.”

“We did look sharp at times, but UNA just kept it going,” Bulldog head coach Jason Skoch said. “I’d like to think that we were as good of a team as them. They just had more intensity, and once they caught wind of that momentum, they played at a different level.”

Along with their intensity and momentum, the Lions also had strategy to take on players like Keck.

“We really went for their corners,” said UNA senior setter Laura Bellinger.

“(Truman’s) middle back was really trying to read us, so we just went there.”

Unfortunately, the season ended earlier than Keck and the Bulldog team had hoped.

“I think we all hoped for a little bigger reward than what happened,” said senior outside hitter Kelsey Wackerman. “It was just a bad way to have to quit.”

Friday Photo Gallery: Central Missouri vs West Florida

2006-11-10T19:09:00.000-06:00

Photos are up for the November 10 Central Missouri def. West Florida 3-2 on the Index Website.

Friday: Central advances to regional final

2006-11-10T19:00:00.000-06:00

*Conor Nicholl*

The thrill ride nearly continued for one more day.

No. 7 West Florida, the lowest seed left in the NCAA Tournament, came within a single point of defeating No. 3 Central Missouri and moving onto the South Central Regional final.

One day after knocking off No. 2 Washburn, the Argonauts almost beat a pair of top-ranked MIAA schools in two days. However, the Jennies held on in a scintillating, thrilling and topsy-turvy match and advanced to the Round of 16. Central Missouri advanced to their third regional final in four years with a 3-2 (28-30, -26, -14, 26-30, 19-17) win.

“That was a match that both teams could have won,” West Florida head coach Melissa Wolter said. “I think everyone in the arena was pulling for us to win one way or another. We were one swing away.”

After falling behind 2-1, the Argonauts rebounded to capture game four and had four match points in the final game. The first one came at 14-13 after outside hitter Naiara Fernandes slammed home one of her game-high 34 kills. Central Missouri middle hitter Jillian Ohrman came back with a strong kill, a trend that would continue the rest of the set.

The teams traded points – the Argonauts had match point, but the Jennies would come back and tie the score.

It appeared the Mules won at 18-16, but the official ruled a net violation on the Mules. Still, Andrea Robertson delivered a kill at 17 all and Jillian Ohrman and Katie Tarka – the Jennies’ two best players – laid down a perfect double block for the victory.

“Jillian played a terrific match,” UCM head coach Peggy Martin said. “We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her. But there are about four players that if we didn’t have, we wouldn’t have been here.”

Ohrman and Tarka were the top two players for the Jennies, keeping Central in the match and saving match points down the stretch. Ohrman, who finished the regular season averaging nearly four kills a game and ranking second in the MIAA in blocks/game, led the Jennies with 19 kills, a .417 hitting percentage and four blocks.

Her blocking forced Fernandes into 87 attacks in the match – an incredibly high total if for two matches. She had to work hard the entire way.

“We wanted her to hit against a double block the entire night,” Martin said. “She had a lot of kills, but it took her [nearly] 90 attempts to do it.”

It appeared early that the Argonauts could run their entire offense through Fernandes win their second straight match. In the first set, Fernandes – who had 62 attempts in the victory against Washburn – collected nine kills on just 16 swings in the first game, helping lead the Argonauts to a 30-28 victory.

Her three kills in an 8-2 run deep in the set propelled the squad to a 27-23 lead.

Central made Fernandes work a lot harder in the second game. After needing just 16 attacks for her nine kills in game 1, the Mules blocked more consistently, forcing the outside hitter to register 30 attacks in the second game alone.

After tying the match at 25 all, the Mules went on a 5-1 run – helped by an attack error from Fernandes – and took the set 30-26.

“We weren’t able to sustain it late in game two,” Wolter said. “Central is a very tough team to play against and we needed to put them away.”

The Mules rolled in game three, 30-14. Fernandes started to wear down with such a heavy workload. She accumulated just 10 attacks in the third game, and had twice as many errors (6) as kills (3).

Still, the Argonauts wouldn’t go quietly, using their trademark cheers as fuel.

“After the third set, some of the players were sitting on the bench,” Fernandes said. ”A few of us said, ‘Get up, get up.’ We started singing, ‘Let’s go, Argos, let’s go.’ We just all pulled together and played our hearts out 24/7.”

The Jennies took an 8-3 lead, but after a timeout, WFU turned the set around and won 30-26.

“[West Florida] never quit playing,” Martin said. “They just battled, battled and battled. They were determined out there.”

The Argonauts spread around the offense, using Danielle Spitzer and Carly Moyers more often.

In the fifth set, though, Ohrman led the Mules attack with three kills, but the Argonauts couldn’t focus on just one player.

“We had trouble with the slide the entire day,” Wolter said. “It wasn’t anything that we did defensively, it was more what they did offensively. Jillian is a great player, but we couldn’t just minimize her like we could Washburn. They don’t have one player that you can focus on.”

And that depth and team defense allowed the Jennies to take an early 8-5 lead in game five. The Argonauts battled back, feeding off the energy of constant cheering, handslaps and fist pumps.

“In a big match, it’s all about adrenaline,” Wolter said. “It’s not about X’s and O’s.”

West Florida tied it at 11, setting the stage for the incredible finish.

Friday: Day 2 Editor's Picks

2006-11-10T15:40:00.000-06:00

*Conor Nicholl*

After a thrilling Day 1 that featured the biggest upset in this year's NCAA Tournament, Day 2 is underway at Pershing Arena. Central Missouri and West Florida are warming up and are about a half an hour from starting their Round of 32 match.

And for the picks:
No. 3 Central Missouri vs. No. 7 West Florida UCM wins 3-1

West Florida played one of their best matches of the year and Washburn, hurt by continued injuries and a lack of fire, played their worst. The result was a WFU victory and a spot against the Jennies in the Round of 32. Central, led by L/OH Katie Tarka, completely changed things in their first round win over the Missouri Southern. Tarka, one of the best liberos in the country, played front line and hit over .400.

It's likely they will employ a similar tactic against WFU - a team that won't know how to game plan for that maneuever because they haven't it seen in before. WFU is a really fun team to watch because they exude constant energy and play with an outward passion that few teams can match, but it's unlikely they can keep up with Central.

Naiara Fernandes, WFU's best player, hit .258 with an incredibly high 62 attacks. I don't think she can maintain the consistency against the fundamentally sound Jennies defense. Fernandes will be contained after two sets and the Jennies will move to Saturday.

No. 1 Truman vs. No. 4 North Alabama Truman wins 3-1

Truman head coach Jason Skoch said, "UNA and Truman are the top two teams in the regional," after the Bulldogs' win Thursday night. And that's true- this will be a very close match. UNA outplayed a Pitt. State team that could have beaten them and has one major strength over the Bulldogs on Friday: setting. S Laura Bellinger is the South Central Regional MVP and arguably the best setter in the country. Her consistent play in the driving force behind UNA playing very well down the stretch.

This will the biggest test the Bulldogs will have this year at home, a place where they are 12-0 and 36-2 in games won.

Truman must come out strong and will need to win the first set. The Bulldogs, though, have too much firepower on the front line and too much depth. Bellinger will keep the match close, but the Bulldogs' front line will take over. Expect middles Allie Cherven and Lisa Weber to have huge matches.

Thursday Notebook: Albany State plays for pride

2006-11-10T00:18:00.000-06:00

*Note: Coverage of the Bulldogs match against Albany State and a photo gallery is below.*

*Conor Nicholl*

Albany State doesn’t have the same expectations as Truman. The Bulldogs have one focus: national championship. The Golden Rams want to represent their school in the NCAA Tournament.

The two squads paired up in the first round of the South Central Regional on Thursday night at Pershing Arena.

For the No. 1-ranked Bulldogs, a powerhouse that entered the night 35-1 and hadn’t lost since the first match of the season, they just wanted to rest their starters and move on step closer to a goal that they have tried accomplishing in the past six years: capturing the last match of the season.

They did just that, playing plenty of freshman and emptying their entire bench en route to a 3-0 victory.

For Albany State, it’s playing hard and representing their school.

Sure, they would love to shock the volleyball establishment and pull one of the greatest upsets in volleyball history. Like every No. 16 seed in college basketball’s March Madness, they try to become the Cinderella’s, the team that pulls the incredible upset.

“It means a lot to get here, but it doesn’t mean much because we always aim to get past the first round,” senior middle hitter Alona Brinson said. “But we were playing the No. 1 team in the country.”

Still, though, they never get tired of traveling halfway across the country, a chance to play against teams they only see in the weekly polls and on the national radar. They hope to compete, to spread the program that is Albany State.

“We play hard, we have fun and we enjoy it,” Brinson said. “Every year, we always play as hard as we can.”

They, like the rest of the conference, have to win their conference tournament to reach the NCAA Tournament. And, incredibly, for the sixth straight season – they did.

After losing their two starting outside hitters early this season, head coach Robert Skinner had to reload and regroup. He mixed different players, received a superlative performance from his front line and blockers and led his squad to a conference tourney championship. They entered the region with a 15-20 record, the worst mark of any team in the tournament.

We had to make a lot of adjustments and play people that we weren’t supposed to play this year,” Brinson said.

Still, they got in. And after five straight years, they kept the same goals in mind. Try and shock the country with an upset. Or take a game – a game that no one in the volleyball establishment thought they could win. But, above and all, they wanted to play deliver a solid performance.

“My goal was just to come in and play well and just give it an all-out effort,” Skinner said. “If we took one game, fine, but if we didn’t take one. We wanted to give an all-out effort, play hard and represent the university and represent the city of Albany well and I really believe that we have done that.”

They stayed with the Bulldogs, forcing the purple and white to keep their starters in for the entire first game. An 11-0 run by the home team opened up the first game, leading to a 30-14 victory. They dropped the second game by the same margin, but changed things in the final game.

And in the third set, Albany State put a scare into the Bulldogs and their faithful, drawing a nervous restlessness to the crowd.

“It is a faster pace, so the other thing we can do is make them play our game,” senior middle hitter Charity Glover. It’s good competition. We enjoy it.”

The Golden Rams took a 16-15 lead and was behind just two at 20-18.

“We try to slow them down and make them play a little bit of ugly volleyball,” Skinner said. “ … What we try to do, is keep them off balance as much as possible and play at a slower pace and then get some things done around the net, and it worked for a little while, but then it seemed like talented kind of prevailed and their ball-handling took over.”

The ’Dogs eased to a third set victory, 30-22, but Albany State was pleased with its performance. The third set also provided an extra boost of confidence that next year could move the Golden Rams a little closer to their first two goals.

“I think it is motivation for next year to come in and get further than we did,” Glover said. “Each year, it builds us up more and more in motivation so we know what to expect and just try next year.”

Thursday: #1 Truman State vs. #8 Albany State

2006-11-09T23:56:00.000-06:00

*Tyler Madsen*

Freshman outside/middle hitter Lauren Graybeal got a great opportunity, and she took advantage in a big way.

Graybeal led all players with 12 kills, a new career high, as the top-ranked Bulldogs rolled to a 3-0 (-14, -14, -22) victory in its first-round playoff match against outmatched 8th seed Albany State.

"I got the incredible chance to play in the NCAA postseason as a freshman, and everything just went really well for me," Graybeal said.

In a match which the Bulldogs hit .364 collectively as a bunch, four players hit over .450, including senior outside hitter/setter Kelsey Wackerman. Wackerman set a school record tonight with her 1,000th career dig - making her the first player to ever don the purple and white to register 1,000 career kills, assists and digs.

"It's a good feeling to see my hard work over the past four years pay off, but to be honest, I wasn't even aware of that coming into the night," Wackerman said with a laugh. "I'm just focused on winning a national championship."

Truman never let the SIAC champion Golden Rams feel comfortable, jumping ahead 9-3 in the game one before Albany State burned a timeout. The 'Dogs set a season-high with 11 service aces - nine of which came in the first two games.

In game two, the ’Dogs hit .542 with primarily Graybeal and fellow freshman outside hitter Susie Lesher doing the damage. Their lines were identical – six kills, no errors, seven total attempts – in the game, something Bulldog head coach Skoch was extremely pleased to see.

“I really expected us to play defense better than we did, but offensively we clicked pretty well tonight,” Skoch said. “The freshmen got a chance to play tonight for more than just a few points at the end of the match, and they showed us a lot of great things.”

Game three was a little closer, as the Golden Rams picked up their blocking, but it was more strong serving by the purple and white that made the difference, as the squad pulled away for an eight point win.

“I knew that they had so many weapons so I just wanted my girls to play relaxed,” Robert Skinner, Albany State head coach said. “I know Coach Skoch substituted out some of his players in game three, but getting those points and hanging with them meant so much to our squad.”

The Bulldogs now advance, rested and relaxed, to the NCAA South Central regional semifinals tomorrow night at 6:30 pm against rival University of North Alabama. The Lions advanced earlier in the day with a 3-1 victory over MIAA foe Pittsburg State.

The Bulldogs knocked off the Lions 3-1 back in early September.

“Tonight was good for our squad because we got to get everyone that dressed into the match, but the girls know they’ll see a very different style of volleyball tomorrow,” Skoch said. “UNA plays a very similar style as us, and they’re very dynamic, so we’ll have our hands full with a very good squad.”

Thursday Photo Gallery: Truman vs. Albany State

2006-11-09T23:54:00.000-06:00

November 9 Truman State vs. Albany State volleyball photos are available online at the Index Website.

Thursday: #4 North Alabama vs. #5 Pittsburg State

2006-11-09T23:14:00.000-06:00

*Joe Barker*
Sometimes history repeats itself.

In early Sept. the No. 13 North Alabama University Lions and the Pittsburg State University Gorillas hooked up at the Washburn Lady Blues Classic. The Lions came out on top in the match 3-1.

Fast forward two months and up the stakes a lot and you have Thursday night’s contest between the two squads. Just like in September, UNA won a close first set en route to a 3-1 victory.

“I think we played point-for-point,” UNA head coach head coach Stephanie Radecki said. “… Every game was pretty close.”

The Lions extended its winning streak to 24 games and earned them a spot in the second round of the South Central Regional Championship against the winner of tonight’s Truman State University/ Albany State University tilt.

The first set was a tight just like in September between the No. 4 seeded Lions and the No. 5 Gorillas.

Points went back and forth in the opening frame with such frequencies that overtime was needed. The lead switched hands on three times and the set was tied up on 10 different occasions. In the end, North Alabama came out on top 31-29 to take a 1-0 lead.

But it would not be a clean sweep for UNA.

The Gorillas took game two, surviving a near-comeback from the Lions. Up 26-20, Pitt State had trouble closing out the Lions.

UNA chipped away and made it 29-27 but that was as close as they got. Pitt. State junior outside hitter Laura Toman recorded a kill on the final points, evening the match at one apiece.

Then the wheels started to fall off for the Gorillas.

The Lions regained the match lead in the third set, winning in convincing fashion 30-19. The set started in similar fashion as the first two, but UNA went on a 9-3 run in the middle of the set to extend turn its 14-11 lead into a 23-14 advantage.

Pitt State tried to mount a comeback late, but that was squelched by a 5-1 Lion run to close out the set and put them up 2-1 in the contest.

In the fourth set the Lions made sure the results tonight mirrored the September match. Never trailing in the set, the UNA won the set 30-22 punctuated by a thunderous kill from junior middle blocker/outside hitter Danielle Palasak.

Pitt State head coach Ibraheem Suberu gave credit to UNA after the match but said his team beat itself after the second set win.

“We shut down,” Suberu said. “Our ball control got sidetracked and we limited our offensive options and that plays right into UNA’s hands.”

Radecki said that the key to her teams win was the defensive effort in the third and fourth set.

“Our defense was the biggest thing,” Radecki said. “We just started to fight for points and not let balls hit the floor.”

UNA was led offensively by junior outside Nilcia Oliveira’s 23 kills. The native of Brazil only had four errors in the contest for a .317 hitting percentage.

For Pitt State, the key player was Sammie Williams. The sophomore outside hitter had 15 kills for a .255 hitting percentage. She was on fire in the second set, hitting .400.

“I wouldn’t say that I did anything differently,” Williams said. “My setter put the ball in windows like she knew how, our passers passed consistently and UNA obviously didn’t play as good as defense as they had to.”

After going wild in the second set, UNA stepped up the pressure on the 6-foot-1-inch Williams.

“I think we keyed on her the entire match because she is a great player,” Radecki said. “Our team does a great job of figuring out what players are doing and how to shut them down.”

Suberu said he if the team were to meet up again he would like a little extra help – a little supernatural help.

“If I had to do it over again I would like a magic wand - a magic wand to improve our pass and to improve our offense,” Suberu said.

Thursday Notebook: Williams leads Gorillas' offense

2006-11-09T22:56:00.000-06:00

*Blake Toppmeyer*

After missing the semifinal game of the MIAA Conference tournament with an undisclosed injury, sophomore outside Sammie Williams was back on the floor for round one of the NCAA tournament today.

Williams, who averaged 3.73 kills per game for Pittsburg State University this year, proved to be a threat challenging the University of Northern Alabama’s defense.

While the UNA front line shut down most Gorilla players en route to a 3-1 victory, they had more difficulty slowing down Williams’ attacks.

“We were glad to get [Sammie] back because her presence on the court suddenly puts us into a position where we are physically stronger offensively,” Pitt. State head coach Ibraheem Suberu said. “ … Having her back was a very big plus for us.”

Williams led the in the way for Pitt State in game two, the lone win for the Gorillas. She hit .400 for the game to help propel her hitting percentage to .255 for the match.

“I wouldn’t say I did anything different personally,” said Williams. “My setter put the ball in the windows like she knew how. Our passers passed consistently, and UNA obviously didn’t play as good of defense as they know how to.”

Williams had 15 kills for the Gorillas with 10 coming in the match’s first two games. Although Williams’ production tailed off considerably in games three and four, Suberu felt it was more a lack of quality passes by his team rather than the Loins doing something different defensively against Williams.

“We shut down [after game two],” Suberu said. “Our ball control got sidetracked. We were limited in offensive options. … When those passes are off, offensively Sammie is limited by options.”

Rather than changing their strategy mid-match, Lions’ head coach Stephanie Radecki said they were focused on Williams throughout the match.

“I think we keyed on her during the entire match because she’s an amazing player,” Radecki said. “I think our team does a great job of figuring out what players are doing and how to shut them down, and I think they finally figured out how to shut her down a little bit towards the third and fourth game.”

The defensive strategy of UNA was effective in containing Williams and all but shut down the rest of the Pitt. State attackers, holding the Gorillas to a .167 hitting percentage for the match. UNA received a big lift from their blockers, who helped lead the team to 14 blocks for the match. The Lions entered the match averaging just 1.86 blocks a game, making their defensive performance somewhat surprising.

“I think we’ve been stressing trying to become a better blocking team all year,” Radecki said. “And I think we’re finally hitting our peak and doing a great job.”

Because of the blocking and overall defense, the Lions held Pitt. State to a .132 hitting percentage over games three and four. Much of this had to do with the decreasing effectiveness of Williams’ attacks.

“UNA was steady,” Suberu said. “ … UNA served steady, passed steady, dogged defensively, and passed steady.”

The combination of quality defense by UNA coupled with poor passing from Pitt. State determined the fate of the Gorillas. While Williams did her best she couldn’t do quite enough send her team into round two.

“If I had any change to make it would be to find a magic wand to improve our passing, to improve our offense,” Suberu said.

Thursday: #2 Washburn vs. #7 West Florida

2006-11-09T20:04:00.000-06:00

*Conor Nicholl*
Fist pumps, high-fives and signature Argonaut cheers were in full Thursday afternoon.

No. 7 University of West Florida, boosted by their trademark high-fives, Tiger Woods-esque excitement, and outstanding front line play, swept No. 2 seed Washburn University 3-0 in the first round of the South Central Regional at Pershing Arena. It was the country’s biggest upset in the first half of the initial day of the NCAA play.

“Without a doubt [that was our best match of the season],” West Florida middle hitter Carly Moyers said.

The Argonauts, who also defeated Washburn 3-1 in the Henderson State University (Ark.) tournament Oct. 13, led nearly the entire match and completely throttled the Lady Blues, holding them to a .177 hitting percentage, one of their lowest marks of the season.

Washburn, beset by injuries the entire year, came out flat and seemed dispirited for the most match – especially compared to the excitement exuded by the Argonauts.

“They wanted it more than we did,” Washburn libero Erica Cowhick said. “We didn’t come out as aggressive as we knew we could.”

Washburn head coach Chris Herron called the Oct. 13 match the “worst his team played this season.” This one wasn’t much improved, as the Lady Blues, playing without Ashley Shepard (.421 hitting percentage in the first match against WFU) rarely could string points together offensively. Shepard is one of three Lady Blues that will need offseason surgery (torn ACL).

“Today was a disappointment,” Herron said.

The loss marked the fourth time this season Washburn was swept, but the first occasion that is was against an opponent that wasn’t ranked in the AVCA Top 15. West Florida executed their game plan to perfection, shutting down every Lady Blues attacker except senior outside hitter Tessa Jones, the Lady Blues’ best offensive player this season.

“It’s not just about one player,” West Florida head coach Melissa Wolter said. “You can’t win a match with one player. We knew Tessa was going to get a lot of kills, but we just wanted to contain her as much as we could and make certain she didn’t spark any runs.”

Jones, who didn’t practice on Monday and Tuesday because on a knee injury, enjoyed a terrific match, hitting .415 with 19 kills. Three days after a cortisone shot allowed her to play, she tried providing a spark for Washburn.

But every time she tried put up a vicious kill, the Argonauts came right back with a first pump, shout, and another huge play. West Florida took the first set 30-25 and led nearly the entire way in the second set.

In the second set alone, Jones collected six kills, helping Washburn remain close. The Lady Blues managed to tie the score at 25, but West Florida went on a 5-2 run to close out the set and effectively end the Lady Blues’ season.

Nairara Fernandes, West Florida’s best offensive player, had one of her 26 kills – and fist pumps – in the run and Moyers closed out the set with a kill and a double fist pump.

“I have always been competitive,” Wolter said. “And I want my players to be the same way. If you have a kill, why not celebrate it? As long as we do it positively, I have no problem with showing excitement and adrenaline. That’s what it’s all about.”

West Florida jumped out 3-0 in the third set, echoing another goal that Wolter set before the match. They never trailed, winning 30-25.

“We never wanted them to come back,” Wolter said. “Washburn is a tough team to beat and we knew it was going to be a struggle. We just wanted to start out fast and win in three sets. I told the players to work hard at the beginning of every set, take a lead and then trade sideouts the rest of the set.”

And West Florida never relinquished the lead, using a strong defense and Moyers’ and Fernandes’ offense.

“We just played incredibly, digging balls that I have never seen us dig before,” Fernandes said. “That was an incredible match.”

Overall, Moyers – who hit .513 in the first match against Washburn – crushed the Lady Blues, hitting .421 with nine kills. Fernandes led both teams in kills (26) and fist pumps.

Thursday Notebook: Washburn vs. West Florida

2006-11-09T18:42:00.000-06:00

Conor Nicholl

West Florida vs. Washburn notebook

West Florida Notes:

No. 7 West Florida’s upset against No. 2 Washburn started a week ago.

After the victory against Washburn, Wolter said it wasn’t even the best match the Argonauts had played this season. Against Henderson State University in the first round of the Gulf South Conference tournament on Nov. 3, head coach Melissa Wolter said the team changed.

West Florida dropped the first set 30-20, but rebounded to win the match 3-1, marking the fourth straight victory for the Argonauts. The win helped cement a NCAA tournament berth.

“We came back,” she said. “At that point, the team started to change and play the way we wanted to play. We realized that we could accomplish a lot.”

A week later, West Florida pulled off the upset against MIAA foe Washburn, dictating play and controlling the match. The victory was the second over the nationally ranked Lady Blues this season, but the first NCAA victory for the entire team.

Fernandes’ attacks a concern?: The Argonauts went to Naiara Fernandes early and often in their match against the Lady Blues. Fernandes, the Argonauts best offensive player (4.64 kills/game entering the NCAAs), collected 26 kills in 62 attempts (.258 hitting) against Washburn.

After the match, Fernandes – who averaged 36 attacks per three games played entering Thursday – had both of her shoulders iced down. Given past history, the high amount of attacks could be a concern. The playoffs yield better, more complete defenses and stronger front lines than the regular season.

Some teams, especially University of Concordia-St. Paul and University of Nebraska-Kearney in 2005, used two players consistently. Both of them fell short of a national title, as Jessica Lucia (CSP) and Erin Gudmundson (UNK) faded against a tough defense in the Elite Eight.

Fernandes is hitting less than .230 on the season and will face Central Missouri’s tough, fundamentally sound defense in the Round of 32. Entering the NCAAs, only Truman limited opponents to a lower hitting percentage than the Mules.

Washburn Notes: Even with the loss to West Florida, the Lady Blues will return plenty of talent for next season. This year, hurt by the loss of many players including 2005 All-American Monica Meisner, could be considered a disappointment for Washburn.

The squad was expected to challenge Truman and Central Missouri for MIAA supremacy and had a good opportunity to host the South Central Regional. Instead, multiple injuries racked the team. Freshman outside hitter Ashley Shepard tore her ACL and Tessa Jones, the Lady Blues’ best player, has a meniscus tear in her right knee. She needed a cortisone shot Monday to just play in Thursday’s match.

Still, 2007 looks very bright. Truman will lose their top two players in Sarah Shearman and Kelsey Wackerman – the last two MIAA regular season MVPs – and Central Missouri will lose several players including libero Katie Tarka, one of the best back row players in Div. II and a four-year starter.

Washburn will return Jones, libero Erica Cowhick (one of the best in the country and one of the most intense players in Div. II), Shepard and sophomore setter Kate Hampson.

“We have a lot of talent,” Jones said.

Cowhick sets school record: Cowhick set the all-time record for career digs with her first dig of the match against West Florida. The dig was her 1,628 of her terrific three-year career, breaking Shanna Haslett’s total of 1,627 set 16 years ago.

Overall, Cowhick averaged 6.93 digs/game in 2006, breaking her old school record of 5.50 digs/game set last season and ranking among the NCAA Div. II leaders.

Thursday: #3 Central Missouri vs. #6 Missouri Southern

2006-11-09T12:39:00.000-06:00

*Tyler Madsen*
2:30 PM

The third-seed University of Central Missouri Jennies overpowered the six-seed Missouri Southern State University Lions for the third time this season Thursday afternoon, advancing to the South Central Regional second round with a 3-1 (-17, 25-30, -19, -21) victory.

“I thought Missouri Southern came to play, especially after game one where they struggled a little bit,” Peggy Martin, Central Missouri head coach said. “Our girls played very well-rounded today, so hopefully that can carry over to tomorrow.”

UCM jumped out to a hot start, led by senior libero/outside hitter Katie Tarka and junior middle hitter Jillian Ohrman’s six kills apiece in game one. After falling behind 2-0, the Jennies took nine of the next ten points to take a 9-3 lead and force Missouri Southern head coach Chris Willis to burn an early timeout. The Jennies kept rolling, increasing that lead to eleven at 22-11 before the Lions put a small rally together to cut the UCM lead to seven late in the match. However, it wasn’t enough as the 3rd-seeded Jennies pulled away late to take game one 30-17.

Tarka, typically the team’s libero, shocked many of the fans in attendance with her transition to from the defensive position to the front line.

“We were talking about [the move from the libero position] earlier this week, but we didn’t want to make a switch until we knew for sure that would be a good option,” Tarka said. “It was obviously a different feeling today from the rest of the season, but I played the outside spot last year and in high school, so in that aspect it was somewhat familiar.”

Game two started more evenly, with the two teams trading points early. Missouri Southern took advantage of a pair of ball handling errors and bad sets by the Jennies to gain their largest lead of the match at 13-9 before Peggy Martin called a timeout to regroup her squad. Out of the timeout though, the Lions kept rolling, taking four more in a row and forcing another UCM timeout at 17-9. Central finally righted the ship to close the gap to four at 24-20, but Missouri Southern was able to trade points the rest of the way, evening the match by taking game two 30-25.

“They made a lot of adjustments in our lineup during the first game which our girls adjusted to much better in game two,” Missouri Southern head coach Chris Willis said. “With two similarly matched teams, you’ll see it a lot that if one wins big in one game, then the other will bounce back in the second game and even the match.”

After sputtering through game two, the Jennies came out strong in the third game, taking the first six point and ten of the first twelve to build a 10-2 lead. Tarka continued her strong play from the first two games in the outset of game three by registering five kills in the Jennies’ first ten points. Central kept the pressure on, leading by ten at 17-7 before the Lions fired back to cut the gap to four at 18-14 UCM. A pair of back-to-back tip points put Central ahead 26-17, before the Jennies closed out game three 30-19.

UCM jumped out to another big lead in game four, getting ahead 9-4 as junior middle/outside hitter Andrea Robertson propelled herself into the double-digit kill category. The Jennies then traded points with the Lions to the midway point, when the red and black went two straight times to Ohrman to get to their largest lead of game four at 17-11. But the green and gold wouldn’t go away quietly, rattling off a run to cut the differential to three at 22-19, but it was another kill by Ohrman that stopped the rally and get UCM a critical side-out. That ensuing three-point rally by the Jennies proved to be too much for the Lions to overcome, sending UCM to the Round of 32.

Tarka led all players with 22 kills, an amount which surpassed her season total to this point of 16. Ohrman finished with 20 kills and a .421 hitting percentage, while two other Jennies tallied double-digit kills. UCM hit .341 for the match and out-dug the Lions 86-69 in holding the NCAA Tournament first-timers to a .169 hitting percentage.

On the flip side, it was senior middle hitter Tessa Woods who led the charge for the Lions with 16 kills with only one error.

UCM advances to take on the winner of #2 Washburn/#7 West Florida tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 pm in the Regional Semifinals.

Thursday: Live Stats/Video

2006-11-09T11:45:00.000-06:00

*Tyler Madsen*
11:40 AM

Just a reminder, fans, that you can access FREE live video and live stats through the Truman Athletics website, gobulldogs.truman.edu throughout the entire tournament.

Be sure to check back during each match to get the summaries and in-depth analysis.

Thursday: Editor's Predictions

2006-11-09T08:55:00.000-06:00

*Conor Nicholl*

First Day Picks: First Two Matches
It’s November Madness. Across the country, the field of 64 gets underway at eight different regional locations. Day 1 is a crucial day as the Div. II bracket is pared in half.

Unlike past seasons, I don’t think the South Central Regional is as strong as it has been, but I do believe that it is the third toughest region in the country behind the incredibly difficult Pacific Region (all eight teams are ranked in the top 30 in the latest AVCA poll) and the topsy-turvy Great Lakes Region. Still, as reported in today’s Index, I believe Truman is far stronger than any team in the South Central.

Four teams, though – Central Missouri, Washburn, Pittsburg State and North Alabama – have plenty of talent will provide incredible first round action. The South Central also presents several wild cards in the No. 6-7 seeds in Missouri Southern and West Florida, respectively. This could be one bracket that could see the lower seeds winning two, or perhaps three, of the first round games.

The Day 1 picks for the South Central Region:

No. 6 Missouri Southern vs. No. 3 Central Missouri.
UCM 3-1

Two MIAA teams face off for the third time this season.

Southern has enjoyed plenty of rest since the MIAA Conference tournament concluded and believes they can upset the Jennies by using their best player Tessa Woods (MIAA-leading .361 percentage) early and often.

However, I think it will take a lot more than Woods to win. Peggy Martin simply has too many weapons at her disposal, especially L Katie Tarka, the conference leader in digs/game and arguably the best libero in the country. Central has a tendency to crumble when they fall behind and looked terrible against Washburn in the MIAA Conference tourney, but the Jennies rarely play two bad matches in a row.

Next to Truman, this is the best defensive team in the region and generally doesn’t make mistakes in the playoffs.

Southern is also in a terrible tailspin, going 4-9 in their last 13 matches. They have been swept the only two times they faced the Jennies, including hitting a season-low .056 in the conference tourney. In the first defeat of the year to UCM, Southern hit just .135 and Woods attacked under .250.

Even if Woods has a terrific performance, I can’t see her hitting above .300, especially with Jillian Ohrman providing staunch blocking support and Tarka patrolling the back line. Neither team may not be playing very well right now, but Central knows how to win defensive-minded games better than the Lions.

Overall, the Jennies don’t have a very strong offense either, so expect them to earn a lot of points of blocks and long rallies. They cover the floor very well and won’t make many mistakes. Their team defense is very strong and the main reason why they have a legitimate shot of making it to Saturday.

The Lions should be commended for a terrific season, but the Mules win the first set, gain confidence, and win in four.

No. 7 West Florida vs. No. 2 Washburn
Washburn wins 3-2.

This is probably the most interesting 2-7 matchup in the country, next to the Pacific’s 2-7 of UC-San Diego and Western Washington – two teams that have spent nearly the entire season in the national rankings.

West Florida knocked off the Lady Blues 3-1 on Oct. 10 in the Henderson State (Ark.) tournament. Washburn head coach Chris Herron said the loss “was the one bad match every team can point to every year. We just didn’t do anything right.”

The Lady Blues had problems with their serves and serve-receive the entire contest. They finished with 12 service errors. Discounting the first two matches of the year, it was the worst total by the Lady Blues on the season. Washburn also committed seven reception errors, one of their highest totals on the year.

The offense wasn’t very strong and the defense had to rely too much on L Erica Cowhick – as good as Tarka on the backline and one dig away from breaking the Lady Blues’ all-time dig record.

In short, it was a dismal performance. It’s unlikely to happen a second time. Washburn is falling apart at the edges and has been slowly collapsing since Monica Meisner went down in early fall practice and was eventually redshirted. The team has been hit by a rash of injuries and has looked, at times, very bad this season.

There may also be some tension between Tessa Jones, the team’s best offensive threat, and head coach Chris Herron. Jones appeared frustrated during a huddle during the middle of one of the MIAA matches and walked away. She is also nursing an injury and hasn’t fully played to her capabilities this season.

It’s a perfect upset in the making. I think West Fla. will provide a strong match – similar to what underdog Lock Haven did to favorite C.S-LA in the Elite Eight last season – but they just don’t have the team defense to keep up with the Lady Blues for five sets.

Lock Haven could rely on terrific blocking and the unbelievable play of Yizhi Li, but West Florida doesn’t have the same lineup or star. By the way- West Florida does have a terrific player blog about traveling to Missouri from Pensacola. It’s written somewhat like an instant message, but it’s at least interesting to read: http://goargos.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/110706aab.html.

Anyway, Naiara Fernandes is the Argonauts’ best player, earning All-Region second team honors and averaging 4.64 kills/game. Still, she is hitting .221 – not a strong average for your best player. WFU doesn’t have a single hitter that hits over .260, a big problem against the Washburn defense that has had a close match against Truman this season. Overall, I believe the offenses and blocking are about the same, though a slight edge could go to the Argonauts in the blocking department.

Still, Washburn has the much, much better libero and shouldn’t serve or receive as poorly as they did. If they do – and Truman took advantage of that in the MIAA Tourney – expect West Florida to pull the upset, but Washburn, led by their team defense and overall experience in big games and big matches wins in five.

No. 4 North Alabama vs. No. 5 Pittsburg State

As Tyler Madsen likes to say, “Flip a coin.” Two years ago, this match has produced the second-closest match I have ever witnessed – the first was the Lock Haven- C.S.-L.A. match mentioned above. This year will yield more of the same.

Sammie Williams, the MIAA reigning Freshman of the Year is sidelined with an undisclosed injury, but according to one MIAA head coach’s report early this week, is likely to play. If she plays, Pitt’s offense improves tremendously.

UNA could use a spy or shadow technique against either Williams or Pitt’s best blocker, Linda Igbinigie, but it’s unlikely to stop Pitt’s front line. Pamela Cartegana is likely the conference’s second-best all-around player behind the Bulldogs’ Sarah Shearman and could put up a huge match.

UNA doesn’t block very well and is led by S Laura Bellinger, the South Central Regional Player of the Year. Next to the Bulldogs, UNA has the best offense and one of the best team defenses, but their front line isn’t as athletic as the Gorillas. If Williams plays, Pitt’s the winner in five. If she doesn’t, UNA will earn the offensive advantage, close the blocking advantage and will take it in five.

No. 1 Truman State vs. No. 8 Albany State Truman 3-0

This is a match that’s similar to a No. 1 playing a No. 16 in the NCAA Tournament. Except this time, it’s remiscient of the mid-90s matchup between powerhouse UCLA (26-2) and Florida International (11-18). Albany State is the only team in the tournament with a losing record. They should receive plenty of congratulations for earning another NCAA Tournament bid in what was supposed to be a down year for them, but they rebounded from a subpar regular season and won the conference tourney.

Albany State does block very well, but that strength is negated against Truman, one of the best blocking teams in the country. MH Dana Hanselmann, a starter at the beginning of the season, will likely see plenty of time. Allie Cherven (MIAA-best 1.46 blocks/game) and Lisa Weber have taken over the middle spots, but Hanselmann is still plenty capable.

“We have three middles that we can move in and out,” sophomore outside hitter Eli Medina said.

Hanselmann, who hit a solid .280 and averaged just under a block a game (0.99) could enjoy a fine performance against ASU.

It’s likely head coach Jason Skoch will rest many of his key players for most of the match, including OH and MIAA regular season MVP Sarah Shearman. Overall, several players – include solid backup L Erin Leavitt and S/DS Amanda Holliday – could also see time in a three-game sweep at Pershing Arena.

Getting Ready for an Exciting Weekend

2006-11-07T22:21:00.000-06:00

*Tyler Madsen*

Volleyball fans: rejoice, and be glad.

The Index sports staff is finalizing preparations for our part in what will be a fabulous weekend of volleyball here on the Truman State campus. With eight great teams hitting the hardwood, all vying for the chance to reach the sunny beaches of Pensacola, Fla. and the Elite Eight, this is going to be one incredible weekend of volleyball.

But what does that mean to you, the reader?

What it means is that your Index sports staff will be working the entire tournament to provide:
1) Game Stories for EACH match, and
2) Notebooks/Inside Access for EACH team throughout the tournament.

So even if your favorite team isn't Truman, we'll have coverage almost immediately following your squad's match. Special thanks to gobulldogs.truman.edu for posting our link on the South Central Regional page. Come Thursday, this blog should be buzzing.

And that, volleyball fans, isn't much longer of a wait.

Rough loss

2006-10-26T13:08:00.000-05:00

If the 'Dogs had won yesterday's game against UCM, it would've been the best soccer game I've ever watched. Easily.

Cannon said Monday that this game was kind of like a playoff game already. That'd probably be the best way to describe the atmosphere. Playing in a fairly steady drizzle/snow, players were falling down all over the place, bumping into each other - and yelling at each other about it.

With 20 minutes left in the second half and the 'Dogs down 1-0, Newsham got tangled up with a UCM player. Both fell down, and as she stood up, Newsham stepped on the UCM player's chest. UCM's head coach had to come out onto the field and scream at the refs for a while before a couple players practically carried the injured one off the field. "Sounds like an NFL game," my roommate observed when I told her the story. Sounds like one of the greatest moments of the game, too.

Newsham wasn't the only one facing down UCM, either. It didn't look like Gaeta was afraid to bump into opposing players, and it didn't look like one was particularly happy about it, either.

Ironically, the closer the 'Dogs came to officially losing the game, the more they looked like the postseason-bound team. The last 10 or so minutes of the second half were spent exclusively near the UCM goal. UCM barely touched the ball, except to make a save, and the 'Dogs were passing more fluidly than I'd seen so far this season. Too bad their shots didn't seem to click.

Volleyball Outlook

2006-10-05T22:08:00.000-05:00

*Tyler Madsen*
As the volleyball season crosses the midway point, I’d like a few graphs to take a look at the remainder of the regular season and early playoffs.

Three straight conference matches against a pretty good team, a sort of good team, and a not very good team – are coming up, yet not in that order. No. 25 Missouri Southern (19-4, 5-2 MIAA) should provide a decent challenge tomorrow night, but Fort Hays (3-20, 1-7) and Missouri Western (11-9, 3-5) shouldn’t pose much of a problem.

Then, the team heads south to the Henderson State (Ark.) tournament for four matches against teams from the Gulf South Conference, one of the conferences that make up the South Central regional (MIAA and SIAC are the others). None of the teams the ’Dogs will face are ranked in the top-25, but it could serve as a last chance effort for teams like West Florida and the host school to prove they belong in the big dance.

After a pair of non-Div. II matches on homecoming, the team ends with three more MIAA matches before the conference tournament. Prior to wrapping up at Southwest Baptist (5-18, 1-7) and at home against Northwest Missouri State (8-13, 2-5), the Bulldogs will head to Warrensburg for a HUGE match against No. 11 Central Missouri (19-3, 7-1). Although that one loss came at the hands of the purple and white, the Jennies are on a tear, most recently knocking off No. 10 Washburn 3-1. Another side note would be, as we mentioned on the air when UCM visited in mid-September, should the Jennies drop one more match before the ’Dogs visit, then the October 25 match against Truman would not only be the Jennies’ senior night, but the night their coach, Peggy Martin, tries for her 1,000th career win.

So, after all of that, the conference tournament awaits. As of today, here’s the bracket if the season were to end today:

(W4) Pittsburg State at (E1) Truman
(E3) Missouri Western at (W2) Missouri Southern
(W3) Emporia State at (E2) Central Missouri
(E4) Northwest Missouri State at (W1) Washburn

Winners would move on to the highest remaining West division seed for Fri. Nov. 3 and Sat. Nov. 4.

Burning Questions: Week 4

2006-09-22T17:01:00.000-05:00

Conor Nicholl

With the UCM domination by Bulldog volleyball still leaving its wake and with a possible UCM domination of Bulldog football looming, we embark on an edition of Burning Questions on Bulldog football….

Football: When will Matt Ticich and Mickey Masucci perform up to par?

Through three weeks, the two biggest recruits for the Bulldogs on National Signing Day haven’t delivered. While Ticich has been victimized by dropped passes and some blown assignments, the fact remains: he hasn’t played well.

Through three weeks, his numbers are almost identical to Jonathan Duffy’s last year. That’s not good. Sure, Northwest put a spy on him in the second half last Saturday, but Ticich hasn’t performed up to expectations – ranking last in the conference in pass efficiency (77 pct.). He could have a tough day against UCM’s defense, best in the MIAA against the pass.

I am also surprised Ticich hasn’t used Jeff Amundson more on short passes. Amundson, the Bulldogs’ best WR underneath and on short passes, has just seven catches in three games. That’s a direct correlation to the Bulldogs’ anemic 25 percent conversion rate (second to last in the MIAA) on third down and 13 points/game – last in the conference.

Here is Amundson’s last three years and the team’s 3rd down conversion rate:
Year Catches Per Game Conversion Rate
06 2.3 25
05 3.1 30
04 6.9 36

For one example: In 2004, Amundson caught 18 passes against Missouri Southern – four came on third or fourth down and sustained drives or set up scores.

To his credit, Masucci has been arguably the conference’s best punter the past two weeks, but you would like to keep your punter from kicking 6-8 times a game. His field goals, though, have been very supar, especially for a HS All-American and one that holds several state records.

With Masucci, he has missed a lot of kicks that he won’t make everytime, but they are kicks he should make most of the time. Here are his missed FGs (4-for-8) thus far: 43-blocked, 44-missed, 40-blocked, 23-missed. He is 0-for-3 from the outside the 40 on the year.

The 23-yarder shouldn’t happen, but he just hasn’t shown the range that made him so great at Kennedy High. He kicked a 49-yarder last year, but that accuracy and leg strength has been lacking. Especially with this offense struggling, when they get inside the opponents’ 25, they need to put points on the board.

Kickoff-wise, he has lost about six yards from last fall. Last year, he booted kickoffs 59.6 per boot, this year it’s fallen to 54.7. That’s a small difference, but it still gives the opponent five more yards and helps shift the field position game.

When will Jake Cunningham get the ball?
Over the past six months, the football staff has told the Index that:
1. Jake Cunningham is a playmaker.
2. Pat Murray is one of the best OTs in the conference.
3. Murray can block in space very well – shown by his All-Conference honors.

4. We also know this: the Bulldogs have rushed the ball very well this season – much better than in ’05.

So, why don’t the Bulldogs rush with Cunningham behind Murray? Frankly, I believe this is the only way they can win. They need to use their best lineman and arguably their most dynamic threat effectively. Give Cunningham the ball 20-25 times on rushes and passes and run behind your best blocker. It will also take some of the pressure off Ticich.

Currier said on Tuesday that Cunningham, a Div. I transfer from Purdue University, should get the ball more on Saturday. The Bulldogs have to be able to control the clock and win the field position game – rushing the football and improving special teams will help improve.

Can the 3-4 hold up?

More than anything, this is going to be very important for the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs have contained the run, but aren’t as strong against the pass. UCM loves to throw the football – second-best efficiency in the conference – and the secondary will be critical in stop the Mules.

Through three games, the defense has played very well, probably better than any defense has performed over the past four years:

Year Scoring Defense Rush/Game Pass/Game
06 29.7 99.0 249.3
05 37.5 223.3 231.8
04 42.1 198.2 274.7
03 32.4 221.3 184.0

CMSU is mainly a pass-oriented offense, so containing the pass will be critical.

Volleyball Crushes CMSU.. or, UCM.. whichever

2006-09-21T14:39:00.000-05:00

*Tyler Madsen*

Only a few minutes here, so I'm going to try and spit something out regarding last night's match against #10 Central Missouri.

1) Is it weird to anyone else that it is now the University of Central Missouri as opposed to Central Missouri State University? Really, where did that change take them? Other than to make play-by-play guys for KTRM repeatedly still say CMSU all night last night. Not my fault, I promise. CMSU just rolls off the tongue better.

To the match..
2) Did UCM really hit .016? Is that possible as a top-10 team? I mean, I know the Bulldog defense is really solid this year (allowing opponents to hit a total of .128 against them), but 29 kills matched with 27 errors was just pure purple and white domination last night.

3) Balance. Balance. Balance. Shearman led the way with 14 kills, but here's the totals the rest of the way: 9, 8, 8, 7, 6. Who do you key on if you're an opposing defense? Okay, shut down Shearman - then Keck'll burn you. Shut down Keck - then Wackerman goes nuts. Shut down the outside - then Cherven and Hanselmann have a hay-day. Albeit, I don't coach volleyball, but that seems quite a dilemma for a coach (unless your last name is Skoch).

4) I wrote a post about a year ago regarding how poorly then-CMSU was coached in the MIAA regional semifinals when Truman rolled to a 3-0 win. This time around, I think coach Martin did her best, but she's not quite in the best condition to actually go out and, you know, actually hit the ball over the net and not into it. If you gave me a dollar for everytime coach Martin just shrugged her shoulders in disbelief last night, I wouldn't have to be doing this to keep my scholarship.

5) I had no idea losing Kaci Young at setter would burn UCM so badly. There were some sets last night that were just absolutely atrocious. It's just tough to get a ball down, especially against the Bulldog 'D', from 13 feet back of the net.

--That's it for now. The squad heads to Mo-West tomorrow night and then returns home for #20 SIU-E next Tuesday. To everyone that missed out last night: get out there Tuesday -- it'll be quite a show, I promise.

Volleyball Dominates Day 2

2006-09-03T10:16:00.000-05:00

*Tyler Madsen*

The Bulldog volleyball team beat its two opponents quite handily Saturday, securing a pair of sweeps to post a 4-0 record over the weekend.

In Saturday's early morning match (9:00 am on a Saturday is early for most college students), the 'Dogs came out blazing - hitting a solid .500 in game one - on the way to a 3-0 (-19, -22, 31-29) victory against St. Edward's (Texas).

The returning All-Americans put on a show, as senior Kelsey Wackerman and senior Sarah Shearman put down twelve kills each to lead the team. Fellow senior Christine Wagener took control of the setting duties, leading the way with 24, while sophomore Eli Medina and Shearman did what they always do - control the defensive side of the court by recording double-figure digs.

In the final match of the tournament, the 'Dogs took on the College of the Southwest (New Mex.) in a match that was never close as Truman rolled to a 3-0 (-15, -9, -23) victory.

While the first match of the day featured the returners showcasing their abilities, match two showed the nation just what Truman's got that they haven't seen. Sophomore transfer Allie Cherven hit .727 (9-1-11), while a pair of freshmen, Susie Lesher and Erin Hattey, combined for 12 kills in 25 attempts. Sophomore Lisa Weber, another transfer, had one of her best matches in a Bulldog uniform, registering a .583 hitting percentage (7-0-12).

Now 7-1 on the season, the squad will get the week off before heading to a very difficult tournament next weekend in Topeka, Kan. The purple and white will face off against #24 Nebraska-Omaha (early victory at #10 Central Mo. State) Friday morning before starting conference play in a neutral-site match against Pittsburg State later that night.

Saturday morning provides no relief, as a pair of top-ten teams await the 'Dogs. The team will look to avenge two losses last season against #9 North Alabama in an early wake-up call, before facing off just a couple hours later against #5 Minnesota-Duluth.

Volleyball Sweeps through Day 1

2006-09-02T10:57:00.000-05:00

*Tyler Madsen*

Due to no issue of the Index this coming Thursday, we'll be covering this weekend's sports in-depth through the blog this weekend. Let's start with Friday's volleyball matches in Edmond, Oklahoma.

In the first match, the 'Dogs took on New Mexico-Highlands in a match that saw a lot of Bulldog balance - something coach Skoch desired heading into the weekend. Ten Bulldogs registered at least two kills as the team cruised to a 3-0 (-17, -24, -21) victory. The 'Dogs, however, did make 11 service errors, which actually registered one more than the total attack errors the squad made in the match (10).

After resting up for a few hours, the squad took the floor against the host, University of Central Oklahoma Bronchos, and it was again the stout defense that led the 'Dogs to a 3-0 (-16, -19, -21) win. Offensively, senior Kelsey Wackerman and sophomore Eli Medina had 9 kills apiece as the team hit a whopping .352 (46 kills, 9 errors, 105 total attacks). On the defensive side, Wackerman and Medina again set the pace with double-figure digs - holding the Bronchos to a mere .068 hitting percentage.

Player of the Day honors on day one have to go to Medina. Her 16 kills in 30 attacks (with only 2 errors), answered one of my editor's "burning questions" from an earlier post. She also showed her versatility, defensively, by recording 25 digs in two matches.

Enjoy the day of college football and we'll see you again later tonight.

Burning Questions I

2006-09-01T01:24:00.000-05:00

Conor Nicholl

This week- and hopefully for all future weeks this year- we will have a blog edition of Burning Questions, touching on key Truman athletics topics and other debate from sports. I would like to credit this idea to several writers who I have read and respected for a long time.

Truman volleyball: Who will start at the libero?
The defensive specialist is one of the most important positions on the volleyball court. Currently, the Bulldogs have three players: sophomore Eli Medina and sophomore (and best friend) Whitney Boehler and junior Erin Leavitt competing for the position. Boehler is the incumbent, while Medina -- possibly the team's best defensive player -- and Leavitt has seen more time in recent matches.

This weekend, the Bulldogs should cruise in all four matches, making the libero battle something to watch for. Liberos are very similar to a bullpen- again poor teams, they may not make much difference, but against very good teams -- which the Bulldogs will face after this weekend- the libero is extremely important. The libero also delivers the bump on the offense and a poor bump can lead to a poor set and a poor attack.

I strongly believe that one of the main reasons why the Bulldogs kept the match close against Nebraska-Kearney in the 2005 Elite Eight was because of Boehler's incredible libero play. Against Washburn, Central Missouri and other top teams, the libero will be very important.

If Boehler starts, it also could mean less playing time for Medina, who is possibly the worst offensive player on the team (.122 hitting pct.) - she doesn't jump very high because of a balky knee -- but has incredible ball control and accumulates digs like few others in the conference (3.86 digs/game). But if she starts, what happens to Boehler, a player who performed admirably in critical matches last year and is averaging 4.40 digs/game this year?

What happens to Leavitt? The transfer -- who saw little action last season -- enjoyed a remarkable weekend -- team-best 5.50 digs/game in just five games -- but she also had three service errors in just five games. Boehler had two in 10 games and Medina two in 14 games.

I think Leavitt warrants more playing time, but the service errors may be a problem. It's going to be the key battle of the weekend.

2. Setters. The Bulldogs used Christine Wagener, Kelsey Wackerman and Krysta Tholen at setter in the opening tournament. All three need to perform better. This is another critical battle- does Skoch stay with the 6-2 offense and start Wagener and Wackerman or does he try to provide Tholen, a freshman, with more opportunities?

3. Football- This weekend, the Bulldogs travel to Winona State, the same team that lost to the Bulldogs in Week 1 of the 2005 season. In that game, the 'Dogs did an outstanding of stopping the run. They also stopped the run in their Week 1 loss to Minnesota State-Mankato.

Mankato, though, passed at will against the 3-4 defense, thrashing the Bulldogs for 298 yards through the air. Winona, which was seventh in the nation in passing yards per game last year (296.8 ypg) could have a field day against the Bulldog defense and further expose the purple and white's secondary, considered by many to be the weak point of the team. Can the Bulldog defense stop the Winona passing attack and put pressure on quarterback Drew Aber, the NSIC Preseason Conference Player of the Year?

4. Special teams- the kicking game was terrible (two missed field goals), the punting was even worse (one punt partially blocked) and the coverage was abysmal. Next to the inept red zone offense, the special teams cost the Bulldogs a win in Week 1. I have confidence that star recruit Mickey Massuci will turn things around with his leg, but the coverage is still a problem. Can the team provide better special teams and limit big plays by the opposition?

5. Red Zone offense- seven trips inside the red zone, two touchdowns. The play calling must improve. The coaches should call the same plays that effectively moved the ball down field. If Phil Kenney is rushing well, keep on handing the ball off. Go with what works.

Key stats: According to the game notes, Kenney is believed to be the first Truman freshman to rush for over 100 yards in a season opener since 1969.

Kenney had 16 carries and rushed for 125 yards, a 7.8 yard per carry average. Six of his carries were for 10 or more yards and half went for first downs.

The last Bulldog freshman to rush for 100 yards in a season opener was Lenvil Elliott in 1969. He had 35 carries for 110 yards in that game.

Truman also outrushed Mankato 278-44. Last season, the only two times the Bulldog outrushed opponents they won -- including the Winona game. Can they keep the rushing attack up and capture a victory?

What a Special Start

2006-08-26T23:10:00.000-05:00

*Tyler Madsen*

I know, I know. I write about volleyball this year. I get it. I covered men's soccer LAST year - not this year.

Well, you know what? I just don't care.

After witnessing one of the most electric soccer games in my history here at Truman on Friday afternoon, I felt obligated to try and put into words the special start that the extremely young Bulldog men's soccer team had against nationally-ranked Rockhurst.

Let's look at the numbers a little bit:
1) Of the 11 starters, seven had never started for the purple and white; of the 15 the 15 men that played, only six had ever worn the Truman jersey prior to Friday.

2) 3 SOG. Rockhurst, a team returning nearly everyone from last year's squad that lost to Truman in the Round of 32 of the NCAA tournament, put up only three shots on goal against an "inexperienced" Bulldog bunch.

3) 57 fouls. Well, I guess that's not so surprising between these two teams.

4) 527 spectators. A loud and raucous crowd made the near sideline a place of terror for the visitors in blue and white. Slide to save a ball at your own risk.

So regardless of what happens in Sunday's game at Drury, this team has set the bar for itself quite high -- and if they keep performing like they did Friday, then I'll enjoy watching them try to reach it.

Difficult Weekend Ahead for #3 Volleyball...

2006-08-24T11:38:00.000-05:00

*Tyler Madsen*

Words cannot express how difficult this weekend will be for the #3 Bulldog volleyball team, especially for it being Week 1.

The team's first game will be Friday morning against #4 Concordia University (Minn.)-St. Paul at 11:00 am (central). Think Ohio State vs. Texas in week 2 this coming football season.

CSP returns 4 starters from last year's Elite Eight team, which I was able to watch at Kearney. Jessica Lucia, a 5-9 senior outside hitter, did nothing but impress nearly everyone last year as she spiked her way to an AVCA 1st-team All-American pick. The Lucia-Shearman outside hitter matchup will be well worth the price of admission for those attending the match in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Concordia, last year's NSIC champions with a perfect 14-0 conference record, return the top libero in the conference, but will have to replace their two-time All-American setter, Cailin Terhaar.

After taking the afternoon off, the women will take on the host, Nova-Southeastern (Fla.) at 7:00 pm.

#16 Florida Gulf Coast, a D-II independent, awaits the squad first thing Saturday morning. Former Bulldog assistant Carrie Lundy is now the assistant coach for FGC, a team that returns four starters + libero. Most notably, four transfers highlight the FGC roster, making it nearly impossible to accurately scout a team that went 27-4 last year.

And, if that wasn't enough, the evil thorn, Barry University will face off against the 'Dogs at 2:00 pm Saturday in the final match of the tournament. Barry, for those either new to the area or with an extremely short-term memory, defeated the 'Dogs for the 2004 National Championship on its home court. Barry was two spots out of the preseason top 25 and is a team that will certainly contend come the postseason, Bulldog head coach Jason Skoch believes.

"They are really young and brought in a couple great transfers," Skoch said. "They'll definitely make some noise come November - if not now."

So while other conference teams face off against teams such as Avila & William Jewell over the first weekend, the 'Dogs will get a head start in playing the type of great competition they'll face in late November. Hopefully four wins will follow.

Warning to all College Parents

2006-07-24T23:28:00.000-05:00

By John Scognamiglio

Well, it didn't take long for me to issue an APB for all parents out there. Moms and dads, beware of the son or daughter you have that believes that they can play poker (yes, Kelly and Don, that's you too).

For those who have been living in a cave the past few years, the World Series of Poker has exploded into one of the all-time great tournaments out there for anyone. A refresher, there is no qualification a la the U.S. Open for golf. Anyone who has the money to plop on down can play.

So far this year, we have seen a new record set; the age record. Jeff Madsen has become the youngest bracelet winner ever. To put that in perspective, he is 21 years, 1 month, and 9 days old. That is a record that will be very hard to beat.

He won a bracelet in the $2000 No-Limit Hold 'Em event, outlasting more than 1500 players to collect the $660,948 first prize winnings. This after placing third in an Omaha Hi-Lo Split tournament to collect $97,552.

That's over three-quarters of a million dollars for just a few days work. But wait there's more. This is the tidbit that sent my mom over the edge as well.

Madsen won a $5000 No-Limt Hold 'Em Short handed event as well, netting first place money of $643,381. Yep sports fans, that's around 1.4 million for just a few weeks work.

So how did this film student from UC-Santa Barbara get into these tournaments. He did what any other normal person would do. He took money out of his education fund to play and convinced his parents to help him out too finanically.

So to all those parents out there, don't listen to your child when he or she says that they can win a bracelet at the World Series of Poker. However, to my mom and dad, please disregard this posting on our blog. You two both know I'm almost ready to make my professional debut.

But to other parents, beware.

Comeback of the Weekend?

2006-07-23T10:59:00.000-05:00

By John Scognamiglio

There has been one question I have been pondering this weekend and now I feel pretty safe to ask it: Who will have the best comeback of this weekend?

In one corner, we have Tiger Woods, coming off a disastrous run in the US Open. As I am currently typing, he is three under on the day, 16-under for the British Open, leading by two strokes over Chris Dimarco.

In the other corner, we have Floyd Landis. Now, most of you might be saying, "Who?" We're talking about the Tour de France, which for the last seven years was the Tour de Lance. After a disastrous crash that seemingly put him out of contention, he has come back to reclaim the yellow jersey in Saturday's time trial, setting up what would be one of the greatest come from behind from being ahead finishes ever, which as I was typing just concluded and yes, Landis won.

Each of these two individuals have had some obstacles to overcome in having such a stellar weekend. Woods is playing in his second major tournament following the death of his father, Earl Woods.

Landis is following the Tour de France storybook line that started with Lance Armstrong. No, Landis did not suffer from testicular cancer that spread to other parts of his body, but Landis does have an artificial hip and was barely able to walk following the crash.

So the question remains, who will have the biggest comeback of the weekend: Woods or Landis?

Even Index'ers can Disagree

2006-07-19T18:57:00.000-05:00

*Tyler Madsen*

Now you got me started, Nate:

As was the case with your last post, this was a comment before I decided to make it a post of my own. I like numbered points, so here we go:

1) I love the soccer penalty kick. I hate the soccer shootout. Make sure you're determining the difference between a penalty kick and a shootout. It wasn't clear to me at points whether you were arguing about the "penalty kick" or a "shootout". Your first post focused on the shootout - this one seemed to lean towards penalty kicks, which can, of course, be taken during the game. Not many (if any) things in sports are as cool as a penalty kick yet as cruel as a shootout.

2) Your last comment about letting the player dribble up the field and shoot actually happened for a while in the MLS. Not anymore though - it looked kinda ridiculous.

3) As for goalies not standing a chance, soccer PK's are much better and more fun than hockey penalty shots because soccer requires more skill from the keeper -- as opposed to hockey where the pads cover "roughly" 75% of the goal. If you think goalies don't stand a chance, just go ask England fans, coaches and players how tough it was to get anything by Portugal's keeper in the Quarterfinals of the Cup (and go look it up if you didn't see how well he did).

Though soccer goalies require guess-work and some good luck & fortune to stop a shot, there is MUCH more that goes into it. They are always looking at players' eyes to see if the "taker" is giving anything away. Did they glance left? Did he look to that corner? Good "takers" can out-mind the best keepers because they do a lot of peripheral searching and deception.

It's not just about a keeper saying to him/herself, "Gee, I think I'll dive to my right on this one and maybe I'll stop this rocket."

Also, mind you, many of these keepers are upwards of 6'2" with wingspans a few inches longer. They can snare a lot of shots. I honestly don't have much faith in your ability (or mine, for that matter -- and I played 15 years of soccer) of scoring 25% of the time against these goalies.

You don't have to like soccer -- many don't -- and that's fine. It's the world's game that many Americans don't have the patience to sit and watch. After all, there are no timeouts during the game. No commercial breaks. No time to make that sandwich and make a pit stop during a stoppage in play. It's 90(+) minutes of constant movement, strategy and ballstriking.

After having covered men's soccer for the Index last season, I'm going to miss not covering it again this year. But you'll definitely still see me at all the games -- waiting for the goals and the cards and the headers and, yes, the penalty kicks. Let's just not go to a shootout.

Comparing shootouts

2006-07-19T15:19:00.000-05:00

by Nathan Becker

This was originally a comment intended in response to a comment on my World Cup blog (see below), but it got so long that I decided to turn it into a blog of its own.

The comment: Anonymous said...

"A good thought, I would like to see them play it out, but how is a penalty kick any different than a penalty shot in hockey or a free throw in basketball?"

Good questions. Seeing as you've heard my take on the soccer penalty kick, I'm going to outline the other two as I see them (entirely up for interpretation from others):

Free throws: Unless a critical foul happens late in a game or just because of stupid play, they are never used to determine a game. Basketball goes to OT - never a free-throw shootout. Games may ultimately be decided by a LOT of free throws throughout the game, but never in a pressure situation because of a tie.

A fitting alternative to a penalty shot would be a one-on-one play with no one around and one shot allowed (not saying this has any merit in basketball, because it doesn't -- I'm just saying this would be more comparable to the penalty kicks/shots).

P.S.: It would suck to be the one who gets to take his one-on-one against, say, Ben Wallace.

NHL penalty shots: Only regular-season contests that go through regulation and a short overtime period are decided by shootout. In hockey playoffs, the skaters have an infinite amount of overtimes to play until someone scores.

The only time a penalty shot would be assesed in regulation time or a playoff game would be if a player was taken down on a breakaway situation. The ensuing penalty shot only recreates the same situation - fair trade.

Aside from that, hockey goalies have a much better and more informed way of making saves due to the method in which the shots are taken. The skater starts at center ice, giving the goalie time to read what the shooter is thinking and where/how he is going to shoot. The shooter scored only 33.6 percent of the time in NHL shootouts last season, according to NHL.com. That is a far more level average than the percentage shown in the World Cup finals (10 percent).

Yes, I just said less goals equals more excitement. It's just not exciting when you know the ball is going in unless there's a fluke. It is, however, exciting to watch a player skate in and entirely deke a goalie - or a goalie to thwart a player - based on mostly skill instead of luck.

The NHL equivalent of the World Cup shootout would be to place the shooter at a faceoff dot and allow him to take a slapshot. This wouldn't be near as exciting.

As an alternative, I think it would be more fair to start a soccer player back farther and let him dribble the ball up and kick it. I realize because of the sheer size of the net that the goalie might not stand much chance, but hey, he doesn't stand a chance as it is.

Enough Is Enough

2006-07-11T16:30:00.000-05:00

By John Scognamiglio

Okay. I have come to a conclusion. There is a problem with ESPN and their showcase of sports. Now, I realize that I am a very big part of this problem.

Beginning in 2002/2003, depending on which one was watched, the World Series of Poker became a catalyst of making athletes and celebrities out of anyone. I admit that I thought I could play poker, and with a little tweaking, I hope to make my professional debut in the next five years.

But enough is enough. The new promos for the 2006 World Series of Poker are being showcased along with the World Series of Darts. Dear god...is there anything that isn't a sport these days.

Let me go into my memory banks and see if I can recall some of the events played on ESPN or ESPN2. Competitive eating, Scrabble, poker, darts, dominoes. Pretty soon, the sports staff of the Index, Tyler Madsen, Joe Barker and Conor Nicholl, may do battle with me possibly added to become the World Champion of sports-blogging.

Is there a reason why this is happening? Of course. Most of us hate it, but reality television does sell. These "sports" are the ultimate in reality television. They promote that anyone can be a part of it. Of course, we all wish for that one defining moment, where we are showcased to the world in being the best in something.

It's a wish that we all share, but few are destined to enjoy it. I will never hit a game-winning home run, make a game-saving catch or even attempt a game-winning dunk. But thanks to the miracle of ESPN, I might be able to catch that miracle card on the river, hit bullseye to send my opponent to the shower, score a triple-word score with the word Q-U-I-Z to win Scrabble, or catch a double one to win at dominoes.

Does any of that have a chance of happening? Well, odds are no, but anything is possible. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back training for the World Series of Sudoku.

World Cup guesswork

2006-07-09T16:52:00.000-05:00

By Nathan Becker

I think I might have been able to help decide the biggest game in the world today.

After 100-plus minutes of grueling, ahem, futbol, the game on which the entire world’s eyes were feasting was decided by guesswork.

Background: I don’t watch soccer. I don’t watch soccer. I don’t watch soccer.

But today, I watched soccer. I’ve heard people clamoring all World Cup season, discussing games about which I knew nothing. Talking about penalties and bad officiating and goals scored by Ronaldo and the like. I didn’t participate in discussion because I didn’t know anything about the games, but I began to wonder what could be so great as to be pseudo-captivating a nation not known for liking soccer.

And so today I watched. OK, so I wasn’t planning to watch the showdown between Italy and France. Fine, I’ll admit it: I didn’t even know it was happening.

I flipped on my TV after checking e-mail, hoping to catch a good baseball game.

No luck.

Pro golf on two channels, reruns of M*A*S*H, a PBS special about the Grand Canyon and John Cusack starring in the 1991 classic “True Colors.” Oh, and World Cup soccer.

If only there had been an infomercial for the Ronco Showtime Rotisserie, I might not be writing this column. After all, who can resist “set it, and forget it,”?

For only four easy payments of $39.95, you could have a succulent barbecued chicken in the time it took you to watch a good game with a terrible ending.

I watched in earnest the last several minutes of regulation, followed by a casual watching of overtime (I was disappointed to find that OT was not sudden-death, and instead would continue even if a team scored) in waiting for penalty kicks.

Man versus man. Nation versus nation. One ball, one goal, one shooter, one keeper.

(On a side note, whose bright idea was it to call the guys who shoot the ball ‘takers’? I understand they’re ‘taking’ the penalty kick, but come on. 17 through 21-year-old boys everywhere laughed on the inside. I will never refer to these players as anything other than shooters.)

What could be more exciting than a player versus a goalie with the biggest championship trophy in the world on the line? Not much, I told myself.

Oh, how I underestimated.

Italy scored on all five of its shots, and France scored on four of its five. That, friends, is a 10 on the save percentage for World Cup goalies.

This is the flaw in the system: Soccer is already boring to watch (If you would like to argue with me, my e-mail address is mnb331(at)truman.edu). But it shouldn’t be decided by putting the ball dangerously close enough to the net that the best netminders in the world have come up with the unanimous strategy of guessing where the ball will go.

This leads me to the point made earlier: I think I could score on a World Cup goalie. Put me on the dot 12 yards away from the goal (which is as big as a poor man’s house or Barry Bonds’ head, whichever you’d like to envision) and let me kick it. I’ve got a 50-50 shot of the goalie diving in the ENTIRELY wrong direction. And I say I’ve got a 50-50 shot of hitting the net (As my buddy Joe pointed out, I did get an A in college kickball, after all).

If you’re still with me on the math (I don’t blame you if you’re not – I’m a math idiot), that gives me a 25 percent chance of scoring a goal against one of the best soccer goalies in the world.

Put me in the box against Johan Santana and I might have a one-in-four shot of not breaking my knees.

Put me on the court against MJ (even now, at age 40-something), and I wouldn’t get off one in four shots I attempted. I’d be relentlessly stuffed. That is, if I hold onto the ball at all.

Wrap me in 400 feet of bubble wrap, put me on the gridiron and let me get sacked by Ray Lewis four times and I might not live (pun entirely intended).

But if you put me on the pitch with nothing around me for yards except for the ball, the guesser, and the house frame, I say I have a one-in-four shot of doing exactly what the best athletes in the world did on national TV less than an hour ago: scoring.

Me.

I get winded going up stairs sometimes.

For such a big game as the World Cup, someone needs to step in and say these games can’t be decided by something as random and lucky as penalty kicks. For Christ’s sake, the only save made in the PKs was by the crossbar.

These men played hard all tournament representing their nation and everything they’ve worked for only to be thwarted by an entirely flawed system in the tourney’s last breath in 2006.

I understand the game has already gone on for a boring 100-plus minutes.

So who cares if it goes on 100 more?

The solution? Let these guys play legitimately until someone scores.

Winged Foot is not Golfer's Rabbit's Foot

2006-06-16T20:20:00.000-05:00

*John Scognamiglio*

It's always weird when Tiger Woods doesn't win a major, but at least that's happened before. He is, after all, just a human. What we weren't accustomed to though is him not playing through the rest of the weekend. The 106th U.S. Open is the first time Tiger has not made the cut at a major as a professional.

The most surprising thing for me while watching as much of the Open as I could wasn't that Tiger missed the cut. He had been rusty, hadn't played for nine weeks due to his father's illness and death. What really surprises me is the course at Winged Foot.

Every year in April, we listeners and watchers of golf always hear about the changes to Augusta National that tries to make it "Tiger-proof." Every year, we hear that talk and see Tiger just demolish the course so much so that it really should be the Tiger Masters Open when he retires.

Winged Foot has shown itself to be the course that tamed not only Tiger, but the rest of the field. When winning a tournament with a score of 14 under par seems common place, as Ray Bradbury would attest, "Something wicked this way comes."

Winged Foot has proven itself to be the most difficult course at least in my memory of watching majors, and I have been watching majors since Tiger exploded on the scene with his Masters run in 1997. I haven't played a lot of golf in my life, but I've mowed my own grass and my dad never let me get away with having the grass as high as the roughs at Winged Foot.

There are books about golf tournaments and golf courses out there, and Winged Foot is no exception. However, when the title is Massacre at Winged Foot, it can't possibly be a happy story. Dick Schapp's account of St. Louisan Hale Irwin's victory at the 1974 U.S. Open shows just how difficult Winged Foot is.

But this is 2006, not 1974. We have the advantage of better equipment. If you're like me, you like to look at the numbers. Let's start with one. That's right, entering this weekend, there is only one player under par at one under, Steve Stricker. How about +9? That's the cut score, which Tiger missed by three strokes. Tiger isn't the only well-known pro to miss the cut this year. Stuart Appleby, K.J. Choi, Michael Campbell, Justin Leonard, Rich Beem and Rocco Mediate are just some of the well-known players to miss the cut.

With two days of play in the books, only six golfers have turned in a round with a score of under par. Colin Montgomerie was the only one to do it on day one of the tourney.

So why watch the rest of the weekend, even if Tiger is out? Well, this very well maybe one of the only times a major in my lifetime is won by an over par score. Phil Mickelson is still playing too, four shots back at three over. If you want a comeback story, watch out for Vijay Singh. Even though he's at +5 for the tourney, he could make a big push and challenge for the championship.

Either way, I don't think Winged Foot is going to let up this weekend. It sure is going to be fun to watch.

J.J., You're Redickulous

2006-06-13T16:44:00.000-05:00

*Tyler Madsen*

I couldn't believe my ears this morning when I heard Colin Cowherd of ESPN Radio talk about the drunken driving arrest of former Duke University basketball player J.J. Redick, a potential first-round pick in the upcoming NBA Draft.

Redick tried to do his best to get away from the entire thing by pulling an illegal U-Turn just before the road block, but it turns out that the police actually get MORE suspicious if you turn away from a roadblock. Turns out, their suspicions were right about J.J. He blew a 0.11 and had "glassy eyes and a very strong odor of alcohol on his breath."

Now, here's the "redick"ulous thing about all of it. Had J.J. just gotten out, signed a few autographs (this took place in Durham, after all), and glad-handed the police officers who were doing the road block in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, then, sad to say, J.J. likely would have gotten away with a slap on the wrist.

"I regret what happened last night, and want to apologize to my family and the Duke community for the incident," Redick said in a statement issued by the university.

The question now is how will this whole thing affect J.J.'s draft status? After all, I've been under the opinion all along (and this was reinforced today on Cowherd's radio show) that Redick will make a horrible NBA player. He's a great player in a "system" such as the one Duke ran (where players ran around looking to set screens for him), but I hate to break it to J.J., but the NBA doesn't set screens -- at least not for rookies who throw up the shocker when they run down the floor (see J.J. at Maryland either last season or the season before).

If J.J. Redick thinks he's going to score 20 points a night in the NBA, he's crazy. Look at him in the tournament the past two years, against good opponents, in the game that meant the most:

2006:
3-for-18 from the floor (3-for-9 from 3-point); 11 points against #5 LSU (team lost in Sweet 16)

2005:
4-for-14 from the floor (3-for-9 from 3-point); 13 points against Michigan State (team lost in Final 4)

The point is that when the chips are on the table, J.J. disappears, and his team loses. You're telling me that Dwayne Wade will let Redick get off a jump shot? Wade won't let Redick get off the bus, let alone an open 20-footer.

So, Mr. Redick, don't listen to what InsideCarolina and TheTruthAboutDuke.com have to say about you, because after all, you might be the best #22 pick available this June.

Biggest Name Yet to Come?

2006-06-10T10:01:00.000-05:00

*Tyler Madsen*

By now, I'm sure many of you have heard the news or read the stories regarding Jason Grimsley's statements to the FBI regarding his use of illegal supplements such as amphetamines, steroids, and HGH throughout his major league baseball playing career.

As I listened to the Dan Patrick radio show yesterday on ESPN radio, Mr. Patrick spoke to his listening audience with the following comment:

"For those of you thinking that this will all just blow over as time progresses, I urge you to reconsider that mode of thinking. The biggest names are yet to come."

Let me preface the next few 'graphs by stating that there are, of course, many rumors floating around the internet right now as to who those names, crossed out in the Grimsley affadavit, may be. I am not going to dive into any of those, just focus on what has been said previously. My first priority throughout this post is to just stick to the facts.

In looking into this story, which will be developing before our eyes over the next few days, weeks & months, let me throw out a name for you: Chris Mihlfeld.

Mihlfeld's name has been thought of to be one of the names blacked out in Grimsley's affadavit. A part of page 14 of the affadavit says:

Grimsley stated that [blacked out], a former employee of the [blacked out] and personal fitness trainer to several Major League Baseball players, once referred him to an amphetamine source. Grimsley stated that after this referral he secured amphetamines, anabolic steroids, and human growth hormone from [blacked out] referred source

John Donovan, from SI.com, says in a recent article, that: "Mihlfeld served as a scout for the Royals and was their strength-and-conditioning coordinator as recently as 2004. He also has worked in minor league capacities for the Dodgers and the Devil Rays. He helped Grimsley rehabilitate last year after Tommy John surgery."

Grimsley wrote a public letter of gratitude to Mihlfeld, thanking him for his help to get him back "extremely quickly" from Tommy John surgery.

Here's where the story takes a twist that has chat rooms and blogs such as this one abuzz.

Mihlfeld, located out of Kansas City, also happens to be the personal trainer of St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols.

*Personal Opinion inserted here* Uh-oh. *Personal Opinion over*

Mihlfeld has actually known Albert for many years, when he recruited him to play baseball for him at Maple Woods Community College in Kansas City, where Mihlfeld was the head coach in the late 1990s. Also, Albert was on the phone with Mihlfeld just a day after the Cardinals were eliminated by the Astros in the playoffs last year, and the two spent the past offseason working extremely hard on his workout regimen.

Both Grimsley and Pujols have used the exact term, "fitness guru," when talking about Mihlfeld in previous articles for places such as TSN and ESPN.

However, even if that is Mihlfeld's name in the affadavit, all it says is that he pointed Grimsley TO someone who COULD supply him with amphetamines. He's a long way from being in any type of trouble.

On the other hand, a quote from Mihlfeld from two days ago, when his name surfaced as a result of this whole scandal completely defends Albert:

I've known Albert since he was 18 years old. Albert won't even drink his protein shakes anymore during the season because he's scared they're contaminated. That's been part of his training for the last five or six years, and all of a sudden he won't even do that.

As Donovan said, that may be true. For the sake of all the local Midwest fans who have something good playing first base for their beloved Cardinals, I hope it is. As a Cubs fan, there was nothing more heartbreaking than to see Sammy Sosa's bat break into pieces and see a cork on the inside. Sammy was a cheater.

As a guy who as part of his childhood watched Sosa hit balls onto Waveland, I was crushed when I came to that realization - that one of my favorite baseball players cheated. I hope that, for the 10-year old fans in the St. Louis area, that they don't experience that same heartache too.

**Sources for this piece include Sports Illustrated, MSNBC, the Kansas City Star & ESPN Radio**

Celebration shouldn't cause headhunting

2006-06-07T21:02:00.000-05:00

By Nathan Becker

Did you hear what Lastings Milledge did?

With the Mets down to their final strike Sunday in the 10th inning of a nail-biter in New York versus the Giants, facing former All-Star closer Armando Benitez, Milledge provided just what the doctor ordered for the Mets: a solo shot to tie the game. He pointed to the sky as he rounded first, and after scoring, he came out for the first curtain call of his Major League career.

When taking the field for the top of the 11th, Milledge high-fived Mets fans along the railing as he trotted to right field.

This didn’t sit well with the opposing team or anyone in baseball, so it seemed.

“We weren’t too happy about that,” Giants relieve Steve Kline told the Associated Press after the game. “I don't know if he's going to be slapping five with everybody after he goes 0-for-15 and the New York fans are booing him. But in the heat of the moment, you can't blame the kid. He knows better. I think he genuinely knows he did wrong.”

What’s so wrong with celebrating a big hit? Sure, the fat lady hasn’t belted out her final notes yet, but providing a lift to your team should provoke some elation. Maybe more celebrations like this would interject some excitement into a game that almost every casual fan has dubbed as tedious and boring. I have a friend who only attends baseball games “for the hotdogs and fountain soda.”

Baseball players need to understand that flipping a bat, staring for 1/3 of a second at a home run or high-fiving fans after a critical play isn’t something that should work them up. Maybe they’re just a bunch of grown men with overgrown egos who can’t handle that fact that they got taken for a ride by a rookie with all of 4 games of previous experience.

For anyone who still pays attention to the NHL, watch what happens after a critical goal is scored. Arms go up, the scorer does his own patented version of the fist-pump, and it becomes a five-person mob on ice. Why doesn’t the other team get visibly upset and make accusations after the game?

It’s as simple as a middle-school fight.

In the NHL, if you do something to upset the other team, you play close contact with them for the remainder of the game. There is no “meet me at the park at 3 p.m. sharp.” If you want to say something, you say it right then and hope your dental plan is good or your fists are more able than your opponents’.

After Milledge hit his home run, the Mets ended up losing the game. Several players talked about how inappropriate his behavior was, and there was speculation that he would see his punishment from the other team later.

"I'll just mention to him the consequences that come along with that,” Mets outfielder Cliff Floyd said. “If that's what you want to do, you do that. But at the same time, if you want guys throwing at your head constantly, you proceed to do it that way.”

This is the Major League Baseball equivalent of “meet me at the park at 3 p.m. sharp. … with your hands tied behind your back.”

When a player does something to “show off” in baseball, he gets talked about. He gets scrutinized. Then he gets put in a batter’s box with someone against whom he probably didn’t commit the offense, with no form of retaliation other than hoping the umpire will eject the pitcher or rushing the mound, which would cause immediate ejection of the batter.

Come over for poker Friday night. After you say, “read ‘em and weep, sucka,” and throw down your pair of aces to my high-card of eight, I’m going to berate you in the local media for three days. Then I’m going to stand you in a six-by-four foot box and launch baseballs toward your head at 90-plus mph.

Baseball is a game played for the fans. Milledge drove the crowd at Shea wild, and then he made the night of the few fans with whom he slapped hands. Fans baseball needs, fans who might have only been there for the concessions but now understand the dynamics of a clutch performance.

If a bunch of 30-somethings who make millions of dollars a year can’t do anything but talk about how they’re going to exact payment later, maybe they should get over themselves and realize that excitement and celebration is good for baseball.

Or maybe they should strap on some hockey skates and contact their dental provider.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this blog.

What a Start to Summer

2006-05-25T14:49:00.000-05:00

By John Scognamiglio

Just a couple of weeks into summer vacation (almost over for me with summer school looming), the landscape of sports has seen it all.

NFL: Reggie Bush is going to wear #25 for New Orleans. Once again, the No Fun League has overstepped its bounds and decided to be the overbearing father figure. There is no problem with Reggie Bush, a superb running back, wearing #5. This is a young man making all the right moves with the Saints and the City of New Orleans. He said he would have donated 25% of his jersey sales to New Orleans charities. He told his agent that he will not be a holdout. The smallest thing the NFL can do for him is to allow him to wear #5. Reggie Bush is going to become not only one of the all-time great running backs, but probably one of the all-time great professional sports humanitarians.

NBA: I watched with glee the Bulls dynasty of the 90s. I have never seen in my life a better basketball playoff season than this one. In fact, I would say this is the second greatest postseason playoffs that I have ever witnessed (number one being the 2004 Major League Baseball Playoffs). We saw the heir-apparent, Lebron James, almost shock the Pistons out of the playoffs. We almost saw an LA team make the West Finals, and oh yeah, it was the Clippers. We questioned how Steve Nash could win an MVP this year with the seasons that LBJ and Kobe had, and saw how Kobe responded with that ill dunk on Nash in that series. Well, Nash is still playing and playing at such a high level right now. We saw quite possibly the greatest basketball seven game series ever, with the Dallas Mavericks taking down the defending world champion San Antonio Spurs 4-3. Even my sports-writing idol, Bill Simmons, considers this a rebirth of the NBA. David Stern must be smiling with glee.

MLB: Albert Pujols. Even if I weren't a Cardinals fan, I would have to admit this guy is having a special season. Pujols is not just a homerun hitter. This is a guy who is threatening to become baseball's all-time greatest hitter. I don't know about greatest player since we do live in a baseball world that predicates itself on offensive stats. This season has already had some great surprises. The Detroit Tigers are on top of baseball only a few years removed from 119 losses. And in that season of 119 losses, they had a pitcher who lost 20 games and a pitcher who almost lost 20 games. Well, Mike Maroth is at 5-2 with a 2.45 ERA and he lost those 20 games. Jeremy Bonderman, who almost lost 20 games, is 5-3 with a 4.57 ERA. The Tigers keep winning and currently have the best record in baseball. Only three teams have 30+ wins so far, and they are Central Division teams, two in the American League. You can't talk about the Tigers without talking about their division rivals the Chicago White Sox, and you can't talk about the White Sox without talking about Jim Thome. Jim Thome has made a resounding return to the American League, bashing out 18 homeruns.

This has been a great start to summer and we still have a few months to go.

Time to update

2006-05-21T23:55:00.000-05:00

-Ross Houston

Hi all. I know I've been gone a while, but I'm finally back in the States. London and Europe were absolutely amazing. I got to really see what else this giant blue sphere had to offer. I learned so much about other people and their cultures -- it is an experience I will never forget. If you would like to read about some of my travels, go to my blog.

Although my adventures abroad were amazing, I can't help but feel that I missed out from a unique second semester of Truman sporting world, most notably men's basketball finishing the season with 20 wins (a feat I once thought I would never see here at Truman) and women's swimming winning a record-shattering 6th straight national crown.

Don't get me wrong, I followed along with the seasons via gobulldogs.truman.edu and had the pleasure of viewing some webcasts from across the pond ("you know you're obsessed with Truman sports when ..."). However, having Joseph Barker tell me about the atmosphere at the men's b-ball games against Emporia State and Northwest Missouri State just wasn't the same as actually being there.

But, like the Cub fan I am -- yes, I'm still a Cub fan -- I always think about next year. So seeing that sports at Truman is pretty much concluded (other than the DII Track Championships, where Bridgette Carpenter, Jacquie Faust and Sean Bergstedt will be competing), here are some of my thoughts and predictions for fall 2006 sports at Truman. Right now, I only have time for football and volleyball, but I will get to the rest later.

Football: Yikes. I tried being optimistic last year, thinking that the team would improve, much like the basketball team has. I was wrong. Next year, will Truman football be the surprise of the year? Upon viewing the 68-0 scoreline in the spring game, my initial reaction was "Yes!" However, then it hit me -- Truman's second team put up absolutely no points and allowed 68. Like I said, "yikes." So, I'm praying that head coach Shannon Currier plays only his first team 'O' and 'D' for every minute for the entire season. Not likely however. Predicted record: 3-8, with wins versus the University of Minnesota State-Mankato, Southwest Baptist, and the newly-added MIAA team Fort Hayes State.

Volleyball: This gets me excited. Skoch has been working his butt off replacing the graduated middle hitters, and in my personal opinion, has succeeded. We have TWO Div. I transfers playing middle. I repeat: TWO DIV. I TRANSFERS. And they're TALL, something this team severely lacked last year. Allie Cherven, a transfer from the University of Pittsburgh, is 6'2 and Lisa Weber, who played at the University of Tennessee-Martin, is 6'1. These two middles, combined with the other talent Skoch has brought in and the returning first team All-Americans, Sarah Shearman and Kelsey Wackerman, equals big things for the volleyball team. Predicted record: 32-1, the 1 coming from either Barry University or UNA (but with Ferretti gone, I think we can dismantle the Lions), and probably the best chance for this team to win its first ever national championship in the history of Truman Volleyball.

Softball is Still Alive

2006-05-05T20:31:00.000-05:00

By John Scognamiglio

Well, after the first day of play in the MIAA tournament, a tournament the 'Dogs need to win to get to the NCAA tournament, the squad is still in the hunt.

Game one was the Hickory Stick battle with Northwest Missouri State. In the team's regular season meeting, the Bulldogs dropped a pair of tough 1-0 losses to the Bearcats. Senior Loni Wedemeier took the mound against the Bearcat ace Nicole Krueger. However, today was no Nightmare on Elm Street for the team as they beat the Bearcats 3-0, with Wedemeier going the distance.

Shortstop Hallie Blackney did the most damage in the third inning where the 'Dogs took a 2-0 lead. With Kate Noski on second and Wedemeier on first with two outs, Blackney took Krueger to left field on a double, scoring Noski and Wedemeier. That was more than enough for the Bulldog ace, as she scattered four hits and struck out seven.

The Bulldogs were the only lower-seeded team to advance into the good half of the second round. Their reward, Missouri Western. In the regular season, the team lost both games to Missouri Western in St. Joseph by scores of 6-3 and 5-3.

Wedemeier strolled back to the mound for game two to take on the Griffons Kristi Warnecke. The Griffons struck first, scoring one run in the top of the first. The damage could have been more disastrous, but Wedemeier worked around the bases loaded to keep the score 1-0.

The 'Dogs struck back in the bottom of the second. Wedemeier led off the inning with a walk and a stolen base when Blackney laid down a sacrifice bunt to get Wedemeier to third base with one out. Wedemeier scored on a wild pitch with Kelly Walsma at the dish to even the score 1-1.

The Griffons would have the last laugh though. With two outs in the top of the fourth inning, Wedemeier gave up a home run to right fielder Lindsey Rizzuti (maybe a distant relative of former Yankee Phil Rizzuto).

With the score at 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh, the 'Dogs needed some help. Blackney responded by leading off the inning with a double to center field. After a pop out by Walsma, Gina Walsh walked to put runners on first and second with one out. It was not meant to be though, as Ashlie Miller lined out to third base and Lindsey Rock grounded out to the pitcher to end the game.

With the loss, the Bulldogs found themselves in the losers bracket taking on Central Missouri State. Finally, the Bulldogs found an opponent in the tournament that they had beaten in the regular season, a 2-0 decision following a 3-2 loss all the way back on April 8.

Once again, the opposing team struck first. Walsma got the start in the game and worked through two solid innings. In the third inning, the Jennies struck. Kristy Furrer led off the inning with a double to right field. After a sacrifice bunt, the Jennies capitalized on a Bulldog error scoring Furrer.

The Bulldogs had a quick reply, though. In the bottom half of the inning, Miller and Rock led off the inning with back to back singles. When Mary Kate Thierault was caught stealing, a pair of Jennies errors opened the door. With the bases loaded with one out, Kate Noski reached first on a fielder's choice scoring Christen Belcher and Lindsey Rock.

After the Jennies tied the score in the top of the fourth, the Bulldogs answered with three more runs in the bottom of the fourth. Ashley McDougal picked up the win, going the last three and two-thirds innings as the Bulldogs survived day one of the MIAA tournament 5-2.

The Bulldogs open up Saturday at noon still on the loser's half of the bracket, but in the semifinals of that bracket. Their opponent: those Bearcats from Northwest Missouri. For all softball fans, I wish the team good luck on and hope they kick some butt.

Softball in Big Trouble

2006-04-29T00:25:00.000-05:00

*Tyler Madsen*

With one weekend left to go in Truman softball's regular season, the Bulldogs need to have a strong showing during this weekend's trip to Mankato, Minnesota after they fell out of the top 10 in the Central Region this past week (Top 8 go to Regionals).

Wait.. what? The trip's cancelled? Uh-oh.

Thanks to mother nature, we assume, the ladies will actually be spending the weekend in plush, cool Kirksville instead of playing three teams currently ranked ahead of them in the regional poll -- teams not from the strong MIAA.

The squad was looking foward to games against Southwest Minnesota State (4th in poll), Concordia-St. Paul (7th) and Minnesota-State Mankato (9th). After having already dropped a pair to Mankato, a win this weekend could have potentially shown the selection committee that the 'Dogs were playing good softball at the right time - finally defeating a nemesis.

Don't you think head coach Lacey Schanz would have loved to have sent senior Loni Wedemeier to the hill against 4th-ranked SW Minnesota State - a team the 'Dogs beat 3-0 back on March 5th? Would two wins over the 4th-ranked team have been enough?

Now they're in a pickle. After dropping a pair to Missouri Western State University Thursday afternoon (the Griffons are ranked 8th in the region), the 'Dogs have to rely on a solid trip to the MIAA tournament, perhaps even winning it to get into the tournament.

The team will be staring at a potential first-round game against either the Griffons or the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats, a team that swept Truman in a pair of 1-0 nailbiters on April 18th. Should they get Mo-West, a second-round matchup against Emporia State (#2 in the nation) would be looming. That sounds splendid.

So after playing 49 games over the course of the regular season, it now will come down to one weekend, May 5-6 in Shawnee, Kan., to determine whether or not the team can make its 8th straight national tournament appearance.

It's time for some playoff softball.

How Great is Pedro Martinez?

2006-04-19T22:54:00.000-05:00

Conor Nicholl

A couple of recent stories have emerged on ESPN.com and MLB.com about Pedro Martinez. He recently won his 200th game, and the debate swirls around a few questions: Is he the best Dominican pitcher ever? Is he the best pitcher of the 20 years? And is he the best pitcher ever? And, one story even raised another question: Just how good was his 2000 season?

Using Efficiency Ratings, these are my answers: Yes after last season, Yes and no, Yes and no, and the best ever by far.

From the top: One of the articles on ESPN.com discussed whether or not Pedro is the best hurler from his own country, or more specifically, is he better than the high-kicking Giants right-hander of the 1960s, Juan Marichal? In my opinion, Marichal is one of the top 10-20 pitchers of all-time and easily the best from the Dominican.

Pedro is ahead of him in a lot of rate stats (i.e. ERA, WHIP, Hits/9 innings, K/9, SO/BB) but Marichal has a huge advantage is wins (244-200) and is more than 900 innings ahead of Pedro.

This seems like a case of apples and oranges- win shares seem to be the other stat that could work here, but even that would be a little tough because of the advent of the modern closer, wins per team and a variety of other factors.

I don’t want to discount win shares because it is a great stat, but it also is very confusing to calculate. We also can’t use wins because they are calculated based upon run support and other factors. We want to focus on what the pitcher does.

I used Eff. Ratings which can combine rate stats (mentioned above) and counting stats (specifically innings pitched) into one number. (Note: Eff. Rating is defined as [(SO/BB)]/[(H/IP+(HR/H)])

Here’s Pedro and Marichal’s career number:
Pedro: 4.99
Marichal: 3.25

This seems like a huge difference - and it is. Since 1917, Sandy Koufax has the highest career Eff. Rating of all-time at 3.37 among retired pitchers. Only three pitchers today have a Rating above Koufax’s mark (min. 1000 IP) - Pedro, Schilling, and Randy Johnson. Pedro is by far and away the best.

So, in essence, the Eff. Rating measures what someone does in a single game setting - for every game Pedro pitches, he averages a 4.99 Rating. Since this is the highest rating all-time, we can say that Pedro Martinez is the greatest one-game pitcher of all-time. Not just of the Dominican – of all-time.

The second quandary lies in taking Marichal’s career IP (3507.3) and aligning with Pedro’s (2532.3) and then factoring this number into the per game Efficiency. This is an important distinction to make because the innings gap is significant between pitchers of different eras.

We calculate this by: IP/9. Marichal pitched 389.7 games and Pedro, through his last start, has tossed 281.4. This seems like a major difference but there was already a sizable gap in the per game Eff. Rating.

Then, we multiply Eff. Rating x (IP/9). Entering the 2005 season, the two pitchers were literally neck and neck.

Pedro: 1281
Marichal: 1265

But after Martinez’s terrific 2005 season (16-8 record, 125 Eff. Rating points), Pedro is clearly better than Marichal in both the per game arena and the career points arena.

Pedro: 1406
Marichal: 1256

We can use the same calculations to quantify his performance in the last 20 years and in the Greatest of All-Time annuals. In the past 20 years, this the short list of pitchers who have a sure ticket to Cooperstown and their per game Eff. Ratings.

Player Per Game
Pedro 4.99
Schilling 4.25
Johnson 3.61
Maddux 3.37
Mussina 3.29
Clemens 3.16
Smoltz 3.03
Glavine 1.76

If a manager needed a starter for one game, there really isn’t any contest. Pedro is the best pitcher around of the last 20 years in a one-game setting. But it’s a different story for a career setting. Martinez has long been a fragile pitcher who usually doesn’t make more than 30 starts in the season. He also won’t throw 230-240 innings like some other pitchers.

The career numbers are a little different:
Player Career
Maddux 1660
Clemens 1653
Johnson 1448
Martinez 1406
Schilling 1383
Mussina 1107
Smoltz 993
Glavine 747

For a 20-year career, Martinez doesn’t match up to Maddux, the Rocket and the Big Unit. I would still rank him fourth on the career list. When he retires, he may pass Johnson but is unlikely to catch Maddux and Clemens, especially with Maddux still pitching at the top of his game at the age of 40.

On my list, Maddux and Clemens rank as the fourth and fifth best pitchers of all-time in the career column behind Walter Johnson, Cy Young and Christy Mathewson. Johnson leads the pack with 2003 points.

For Martinez, I would rank him the greatest one-game pitcher of all-time (by far) but would be in my top 10-15 among pitchers for their entire career.

For one season, Martinez’s 2000 season ranks as the greatest of all-time and his 1999 season ranks second. In fact, since the modern ERA began in 1901, only four seasons in major league history has the season Eff. Rating been over 9 (min. 200 IP)- Pedro in 1999, 2000, Curt Schilling in 2002 and Walter Johnson in 1913.

These are top four seasons:
Pitcher Year Eff. Rating
Pedro 2000 12.28
Pedro 1999 10.49
Schilling 2002 9.83
The Big Train 1913 9.02

And for the total innings pitched:

Pitcher Year Eff. For Total Innings
The Big Train 1913 347
Pedro 2000 296
Schilling 2002 283
Pedro 1999 249

The individual seasons resemble the career numbers - if you want a pitcher for one game, the best choice is Pedro. For a career or a lot of innings, he still ranks very high, but he is not No. 1.

Welcome Back Bulldog Faithful

2006-04-18T11:13:00.000-05:00

By John Scognamiglio

Happy Belated Easter folks and since there is no issue of the Index out this week let me bring you rabid Bulldog sports fans up to speed:

Baseball: The 'Dogs dropped four straight to nationally-ranked Central Missouri this past weekend bringing their futility streak to 20 games. That's 20 games without a victory. The last time the Bulldogs won was a 4-3 decision over Missouri Southern on March 16. That put the record of your Truman State Bulldog baseball team to 6-8, and now, it's 6-28.

Softball: The 'Dogs split four games at the highly competitive Northwest Missouri Tournament over Friday and Saturday. The 'Dogs took down Upper Iowa and Central Missouri but lost key MIAA match to Emporia State. The 'Dogs also lost to Minnesota State Mankato. As standings go, there is a three-way tie for fourth in the conference standings with Central Missouri, Truman and Missouri Western. The 'Dogs also have five matchups left with MIAA opponents before Conference Make-Up Day and the MIAA tourney begins.

Tennis: The men's and women's tennis teams were in action in Minnesota this past weekend and each team won both their matches against Minnesota State Mankato and Winona State. The men's team avenged an earlier loss to Winona State and moved their record to 8-5 and that much closer to garnering an NCAA berth. The women moved to 12-5 and each have one more match left on the season before the MIAA tourney.

Track: Both teams were at the Division II Challenge this past weekend. On the women's side, no individuals finished in first place, but three Bulldog athletes finished as runners-up. Ashley Colon finished second in the hammer throw, Jacqui Faust finished number two in the 5,000 meter run, and Danna Kelly took home the silver in the steeplechase. Sean Bergstedt was the highest Bulldog male finisher as he captured third in the 400 meter hurdles.

Golf: Women's golf participated in the Illini Spring Classic over the weekend and finished 13th out of 16 teams. Julie Williams was the highest scoring Bulldog on the weekend shooting 158 over the two-day event. She was the fourth highest Division II player in the field.

Finally, congratulations to Randy Beilsmith and Abbie Smith for receiving outstanding academic awards in their respective fields. Beilsmith was Outstanding Undergraduate student in business administration/finance while Smith was named Outstanding Undergraduate student in exercise science.

Thus, this was the weekend in sports for Bulldog fans.

Andy Calmes Makes "Legends" Team

2006-04-12T23:25:00.000-05:00

**Tyler Madsen**

The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) released its "100 Legends of the Boy's High School Basketball Tournament" today, and Truman State's junior forward Andy Calmes was listed as one of the top tournament players in the history of Illinois state basketball.

Fans selected the first 82 Legends in an online election that ran from November through March and was advertised in the men's basketball program throughout the season. The remaining 18 legends were selected by a blue-ribbon committee of former players, coaches and writers.

From the IHSA website: "Calmes came up big in 2003 as Warrensburg-Latham claimed its first trophy ever, a third-place finish…scored 27 points in quarterfinal battle against Cissna Park, finished tournament with 78 points and 31 rebounds…counting totals from 2002 super-sectional loss, his total output was 93 points in five games…playing college ball at Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo."

This is an extremely outstanding achievement for Andy as he joins other notable people selected such as:
Kenny Battle (member of 1989 Illinois Final Four team and 4-year NBA player)
Quinn Buckner (current broadcaster for CBS)
LaPhonso Ellis (Notre Dame star and 11-year NBA player)
Michael Finley (currently still in the NBA in his 11th season)
Marcus Liberty (member of 1989 Illinois Final Four team and 4-year NBA player)
Shaun Livingston (most recent of Illinois stars to make jump directly to NBA)
Wayne McClain (top assistant at Illinois)
Quentin Richardson (played at DePaul before heading to the NBA)
Isiah Thomas (yes, that one)

Again, from the IHSA: "The team of 100 Legends will be invited to attend the 2007 boys tournament and participate in special events at the centennial gala. They will also be asked to participate in one of about 25 special celebrations to be held around the state in the months prior to the state tournament, where they will autograph a commemorative 'Ball of Fame.' The ball will be auctioned off to a lucky fan at the state tournament. The proceeds from the Ball of Fame raffle will go to the Illinois High School Activities Foundation, which annually awards scholarships to high school students from member schools."

Congratulations, Andy

The "Save" for Sanity

2006-04-09T10:55:00.000-05:00

**Tyler Madsen**

After losing a no-hitter in the 7th inning Saturday afternoon during Game 1 of a doubleheader against Central Missouri State, senior pitcher Loni Wedemeier had to put it behind her. And, oh how she did.

Here came Wedemeier, strolling from the dugout in Game 1, holding a 2-0 lead and a mere three outs away from history. A quick double from CMSU ended those thoughts, and after another double and a home run, the Jennies were able to steal a 3-2 victory from the grasp of the Bulldog softball team.

Junior Ashley McDougal pitched a stellar six innings in Game 2, holding the Jennies scoreless while the 'Dogs got two of their own off solo homeruns by Wedemeier and freshman Lindsey Rock.

The similarities were mind-boggling.

Here came Wedemeier again, strolling from the dugout, holding a 2-0 lead and a mere three outs away from a big conference win. A quick single made everyone within a 7-iron's distance look at each other with the "Not again" look. After all, hadn't she been through enough for one day?

But Wedemeier wasn't going to let it happen again. She promptly blew pitches by the next two hitters, sending them back to the dugout just as quickly as they came to the plate. A final grounder to third ended the affair, putting a smile the size of Texas on the face of #13.

We all know how much a conference win means to a team, but who knew how much a save could mean to a pitcher, after all?

MLB preview 2006

2006-04-02T18:55:00.000-05:00

**Tyler Madsen**

Alright folks, it's time for a 2006 baseball preview. So without further ado ... here we go:

AL East: If you had talked to me two months ago, I would have said that the Yankees would win the division in a landslide. Life in Boston was shaky, at best, and though Toronto was doing its best to buy a team, it seemed like they would be joining the Orioles and Devil Rays for another year of chasing the Big Boys.

But now, I'm not so sure. Though I would possibly pick the Yankee lineup were Earth ever taken over by aliens in a one-game showdown for world domination (e.g. "Space Jam"), I would definitely avoid that pitching staff. Randy Johnson is bound to break down, Mike Mussina may never put up the numbers he has in the past, and let's see how Chien-Ming Wang and Shawn Chacon do for a full season in the pinstripes.

On the other side of it, the Red Sox suddenly have a leadoff hitter (Coco Crisp) who put up great Spring Training numbers, a healthy Mark Loretta right behind him in the 2-spot, and of course Ortiz and Manny batting 3-4. If Trot Nixon, Jason Varitek and Mike Lowell can have decent seasons, I think the Red Sox are big favorites to win the AL Pennant. When Matt Clement (who carried that staff last year until he got a baseball to the noggin in Tampa Bay -- the day before I visited Tropicana Field) is the 4th starter, that's a staff in good hands.

AL Central: While the bullpen seems a little shakier than 2005, the Chicago White Sox has overall better depth than in previous years, and a designated hitter that's not a whiny baby (Thome for Thomas). If they can overcome early injuries to Dustin Hermanson and Scott Podsednik, the South Siders could certainly contend with the best in the business.

Not to say the Indians couldn't pack a punch of their own. What a fun lineup this will be to watch -- Sizemore, Peralta, Hafner, Martinez! They've got a pair of lefties in the rotation (Sabathia and Lee) that could be Cy Young contenders, and will definitely make a run at the divisional title. The effectiveness of the bullpen will hinge on whether Bob Wickman can continue his strong performance from '05, during which he notched 45 saves, which tied for the AL lead.

AL West: Many people are thinking this will be another season-long battle between the Athletics and the Angels. For the A's, it comes down to pitching again. Ken Macha has done a great job with pitchers (going from Hudson, Mulder and Zito to Zito, Harden and Haren), and I really think that will be the big difference in this small and tight division.

NL East: Will the Braves repeat as division champs for the 180th straight season? They'll have to compete against an up-and-coming Mets team, who might have one of the best lead-off hitters in baseball in SS Jose Reyes. He is definitely a top contender to win the SB category this year, and if he's on base before a contact-hitting C in Paul LoDuca and the ever-impressive Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado duo, the Mets could put a lot of runs on the board this year.

Will the Atlanta rookie phenoms be able to put up numbers like they did in the late stages of 2005? They've got great pitching again, of course, and the Jones boys in the middle of the lineup for power, but will it be enough to hold off the "other team" from New York City?

NL West: I'll save the NL Central for last, since that likely will be the longest one.

Not much to talk about in this division. Will Barry Bonds break the all-time home-run record? Will the Dodger infield, put together like a M*A*S*H* and rehabilition convention committee actually put up good numbers? If it does, I can see the Dodgers hoisting the NL West crown come October. Just keep that champagne away from Rafael Furcal.

The Rockies, D'Backs and Padres just don't seem to have enough to compete.

NL Central: Working to keep all personal favorites aside, let's look at the largest division in baseball.

The Cardinals are good. No doubting it. Questions to ask: Who hits in the 2-spot? Juan Encarnacion? Who plays left field, and can he hit? Will Scott Rolen ever be "Scott Rolen circa 2003" again? The rotation's solid, but will the revamped bullpen hold up under the pressures of the "best baseball town in America?" Mark Grudzielanek wasn't an All-Star, but he was an offensive contributor at second base, and no one has stepped forward and shown that he will fill Grudzielanek's shoes offensively -- or defensively for that matter. Larry Walker has been replaced by Encarnacion, an undeniable downgrade offensively.

The Astros are right there though. One of the new faces that could have a tremendous impact is Preston Wilson, who adds a much-needed bat to the middle of the order. He's also a true outfielder who will man left field in a ballpark in which he's had nice success as an opposing player. With Craig Biggio finally getting a taste of the World Series, will he lead Berkman, Ensberg, Lane, Ausmus and crew back to the big show again? Their big question is the exact opposite of that in St. Louis -- what's with that rotation? Is Brandon Backe capable of being the 3rd starter (at least until the Rocket perhaps comes back)?

The Cubs are in the mix as well. They've finally got their leadoff hitter in Juan Pierre, a guy who should completely benefit from the smaller dimensions in the field and the thick infield grass at the plate. Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez are the anchors in the middle, and a pair of rookies - Matt Murton and Ronny Cedeno - will need to step up and have good seasons for this team to score runs. Again, the biggest question, as always, is team health. Will Mark Prior and Kerry Wood ever make a significant contribution? Will the team be able to escape some of the freak injuries that took place last season (Nomar's groin exploding, Prior getting a line drive off the elbow)? The bullpen's in great shape with the additions of Bobby Howry and Scott Eyre, so it really will fall on the starting rotation, anchored by perennial crazy-man, Carlos Zambrano.

As for the Brewers, Pirates, and Reds ... they might make a little run, but I can't see them actually winning the division.

Predictions:
AL Division Series: White Sox over Yankees (WC); Red Sox over A's
NL Division Series: Braves over Dodgers; Astros over Mets (WC)
AL Championship Series: Red Sox over White Sox
NL Championship Series: Astros over Braves

World Series: Red Sox over Astros

The Ultimate Synopsis

2006-03-29T13:31:00.000-06:00

- Sara James

Ultimate Frisbee is no longer a game played only on the coasts, nor is it only a game only played by men.

When most students see the flying discs on the quad or on the C-Hall fields and don’t think anything of it, except for maybe Frisbee golf. However, for those who live, breath and endure pain for ultimate, those discs are a sign of unexplainable amounts of exhilaration.

Not everyone can just go and play ultimate frisbee. It takes time and practice if you want to play at tournaments. A lot of practice. Truman has two teams - JujiTSU for the men and TSUnami for the women.

As a member of TSUnami I am very aware of the commitment necessary to prepare for tournaments. Most of us work out three to five mornings a week to keep up endurance and strength. Then we have practice at night, everyday for two hours. By 9 p.m. you are exhausted, but it is worth it. Anyone who has played sports can understand the sacrifice given for the love of the game.

For those of you who have no idea what is involved with ultimate I will provide a quick synopsis. You have a field (regulation size is 70 yards by 40 yards, with end zones 25 yards deep), seven players at each end (one for offense and one for defense), and a disc. The defense pulls the disc from their endzone towards the offense to initatite play.

Once received by the offense, the disc is thrown up the field by a series of passes (a person is stationary when holding the disc) and the goal is to catch it in the endzone for a score. It is constant give and go, sprinting and running, and switing from offense to defense - like soccer and basketball.

Ultimate - a non-contact sport - is self officiating and prides itself on the idea of spirit-of-the-game. There are many other rules and terms, but to explain them would require you to attend a game, but if you would like to read the complete set of rules go to upa.org.

What most people do not realize is that when an ultimate player says that he or she is going to a tournament, they mean that they will be playing ultimate for a minimum of eight hours that weekend. Games usually begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday mornings and teams are normally done playing by 4 p.m. Then on Sunday morning games start between 9 and 10 a.m. and depending on whether or not it is single-elimination or double-elimination, teams normally play past noon, and sometimes they play until 3 or 4 p.m.

It’s not like playing a single or double header; you play solid for hours at a time. Then of course at night you can’t lay around and sleep to prepare for day two of the events; you have to go dance off your sore muscles and stretch them out until the morning hours. This normally seperates the true ultimate players from the mediocre ones.

If you haven’t figured out yet why we return from weekends sore, bruised, cut, sunburned and limping, allow me to elaborate. When a player is on the field, the disc is all that matters, not your body. It is a non-contact sport, but when you are diving in mid-air, side-by-side with another person, attempting to either catch or defend the disc, you tend to get tangled up. Of course, the ground is never as fluffy as a feather bed either. Laying out - when you are parallel to the ground to grab the disc - hurts a lot. You get the air knocked out of you, covered in mud, and sometimes, you get cleated or run into.

When you are in a game though, it’s imperative to catch that disc, and you’re running on so much adrenaline that you have no idea that what you’re about to do will hurt. Well not right away, usually the next day is when it takes it’s toll on your body.

Ultimate is constantly criticised as not being a real sport or a real game (remember, curling is considered a sport), but I dare you to come to a tournament, or practice for a week (you’re definitely invited), and see what it takes to play.

Final Four Thoughts

2006-03-27T11:38:00.000-06:00

By John Scognamiglio

I have given up trying to predict March Madness this year. And why should I? Both teams that I picked to make it to the national championship game are done (Duke over U Conn). My favorite team from last year (West Virginia) made it to the Sweet 16 only to lose to Texas on probably one of the top-five greatest bang-bang finishes in tourney history, and I didn't even pick the Mountaineers in the first round (darn you Salukis for giving me false hope).

But now, we are down to four teams in the tournament. These are supposed to be the best in the land. The cream rises to the top. And what do we have in the Final Four? LSU, UCLA, George Mason, Florida.

Let's start out with the interesting tidbits.

For the first time since 1980, no No. 1 seed reached the Final Four. For the first time since 1986, an 11th seed has reached the Final Four (LSU did it then). The combined seeding of teams is the third-lowest all-time at 20 (LSU-4, UCLA-2, George Mason-11, Florida-3).

Oh, and one more tidbit, on ESPN.com's Tournament Challenge, 1.5 million plus people submitted over 3 million brackets. How many picked the Final Four correctly? Only four brackets left have the exact Final Four. Even ESPN.com is running stories on people who bet on George Mason to win it all from the beginning of the tournament when their odds were in between 300-1 and 400-1.

Now on to the juicy details:

Is there any reason why George Mason shouldn't be America's team? We gave that nickname to Gonzaga at the onset of the tourney and they fell to UCLA. It seems fitting to give the nickname America's team not only to a school that is less than 30 miles from our nation's capital and the site of the regional finals, but the school is named after one of the signers of the U.S. Constitution. How can that not be criteria to fit America's team?

How can anyone not root for George Mason to win it all? When 1985 rolled around and Villanova beat Georgetown (No. 8 defeating No.1), I was only a little over one year old. This could be my Villanova moment. I still feel a little bit wrong about jumping on the George Mason bandwagon this late, but I'm sure there is still plenty of room left for others.

Is this the ultimate Cinderella story for college basketball? In a word, YES!!! There is no greater story. There have been underdog teams before like LSU in 1986, Villanova in 1985, and even North Carolina State in 1983. The difference between them and George Mason: the previous three teams came from power conferences (SEC, Big East, ACC) whereas George Mason is the much-maligned mid-major team from the CAA. Penn and Indiana State in 1979? Sure, those were mid-major teams who made it to the Final Four, but Indiana State was a No. 1 seed behind the magic that is Larry Bird while Penn was a ninth seed Cinderella.

The road George Mason traveled to the Final Four is probably the most perilous ever for a Cinderella. First round: Tom Izzo's Michigan State Spartans. Round 2: Roy Williams' North Carolina Tar Heels. Sweet 16: Wichita State Shockers in the Ultimate BracketBuster game. Elite 8: Jim Calhoun's Connecticut Huskies.

There are other teams in the Final Four besides George Mason.

Billy Donovan's Florida Gators looked pretty solid all throughout the Minneapolis Regional. And if I were to give away a player of the tournament award, Joakim Noah definitely deserves it for his play.

How about Florida's fellow SEC member Louisiana State. Is Glen "Big Baby" Davis not the next Shaquille O'Neal? Shouldn't we change his nickname to "Baby Aristotle" too?

The final team in this year's Final Four had the most question marks of any team in the field: preseason, regular season, postseason. Coach Howland and the UCLA Bruins have been one of the more pleasant surprises this year, considering that most of the season, UCLA had been riddled with injuries to key players, but they got healthy at the right time, and knocked off Gonzaga and Memphis to punch their ticket to Indianapolis.

After only picking three Sweet 16 games correctly last post, I have decided not to predict the final three games. I have a feeling that the teams that I pick to win will lose their games, so logically I'll pick LSU and UCLA and Florida to win the title.

There is one thing I will predict, though. This Final Four will be one of the highest-rated in television viewing not just because all the major markets are represented, but because everyone wants to not see the clock strike midnight just yet for George Mason.

Sweet 16: How Sweet It Really Is

2006-03-22T11:52:00.000-06:00

By John Scognamiglio

On the eve of the most wide-open Sweet 16 in recent memory, and since my bracket already lost two Final Four teams, this weekend should be filled with many more bracket busting games.

Thursday evening in the Atlanta region, Duke opens up the night against LSU. The key to this matchup is the fight in the paint between Shelden Williams and Glen "Big Baby" Davis. Even though this is the ninth straight Sweet 16 game for Duke, their eyes are on getting to the Final Four and possibly a national championship. That being said, they cannot overlook a dominant LSU team. My prediction is that "Big Baby" will become the new "Landlord" in college basketball after Davis dominates Williams early, getting the Duke senior into foul trouble, but J.J. Redick will have the last laugh as he goes for thirty-plus points in the Blue Devils Sweet 16 win. Even if Williams gets into foul trouble, we have yet to see the best Duke's freshman forward Josh McRoberts has. So it very well may be that McRoberts will be the key to the win over the Tigers.

In the other Atlanta semifinal, West Virginia faces Texas. Both teams are drastically different than when the two matched up earlier in the season. In that semifinal matchup from the Guardians Classic all the way back in November, LaMarcus Aldridge made the game-winning layup and blocked a last second shot as Texas escaped with a 76-75 win. With John Beilein and Co. looking to get back to the Elite Eight, I think the Mountaineers have the advantage against the Longhorns, but don't be surprised if this game goes into extra periods. Aldridge and Daniel Gibson definitely need to bring their "A" games into this matchup, and with Texas dismantling North Carolina State in the Round of 32, it's possible that Texas may escape with another dramatic win. What do I think will happen? Based on what has transpired so far, this game is definitely my sleeper for game of the Sweet 16 and the Mountaineers will triumph, setting up a classic Duke vs. West Virginia regional final.

The best regional in terms of probably play and frenzied fan support will be the Oakland Regional. Game one of this region features one of this year's Cinderellas, Bradley University from the much-maligned now validated Missouri Valley Conference, against the Memphis Tigers of Conference USA. While it is easy to say this is just a matchup between a one seed against a thirteen seed, I think Bradley will give Memphis fits. Why? Because Bradley has one of the few potent 1-2 punches with Marcus Sommerville and Patrick O'Bryant. The pundits are saying about this matchup that Memphis is just too athletic and quick for Bradley. Well, Bradley has already taken down Kansas and Pittsburgh, and O'Bryant has already shown that he is not only strong in the post, but smart too, as evidenced by the game against Aaron Gray and Pittsburgh. However, I think Memphis will win this game, but kudos to Coach Les and the Bradley Braves for making it this far and validating the Missouri Valley Conference.

The game of the Sweet 16 is in the Oakland Region. Gonzaga. UCLA. Past dynasty meets current mid-major dynasty. UCLA came out of the first round as probably the most dangerous team in the region by destroying Belmont. However, the second round game versus Alabama showed college basketball nation that UCLA is not without flaws. Free throw shooting will be a must for UCLA in this game, especially after Gonzaga only allowed Indiana to shoot six free throws against them. If Alabama showed the free throw flaw of UCLA, then Indiana showed how to shut down Adam Morrison. All year long, I believed that Adam Morrison and Gonzaga were just a one-man show. As the season progressed, I changed my opinion that Gonzaga's fate was in the hands of both Morrison and J.P. Batista. Saturday's game against Indiana highlighted what I needed to see to say Gonzaga is a Final Four contender. I needed to see the Bulldogs' role players come up big when Morrison has an off night. They did and that is why I believe that Gonzaga will not only take down UCLA, but defeat Memphis in the Oakland Region final.

Friday night's action in Washington, D.C. begins with a matchup that if no one can smile about it, then they really do not appreciate the greatness that is March Madness. Seventh seeded Wichita State takes on eleventh seeded George Mason in what is being dubbed by some as a mid-major Super Bowl. My hope is that no matter who wins this game, Billy Packer and Jim Nantz are forced by CBS to call it. There would be no greater glee in my life Friday evening then hearing the two people who lambasted Greg Littlepage and the selection committee over the involvement of mid-major teams being forced to call a game in which, gasp, a mid-major is forced to go the Elite Eight.

I've been a fan of the Shockers all season long especially the play of senior center Paul Miller. He has just been a dominant force in the paint, and he is one of the reasons why the Missouri Valley Conference regular season champions are still in the Big Dance. George Mason on the other hand has been the giant killers of the tournament, no offense to Bradley. What have the Patriots done? Oh nothing, except eliminate two members of last year's Final Four, including the defending national champion North Carolina Tar Heels. The return of Tony Skinn has been a great boost to the Patriots, even though the defeated Michigan State without him. I will not choose a winner in this game because when two mid-majors hook up this late with a spot in the Elite Eight on the line, everyone is a winner. Oh all right, my heart still lies in the Missouri Valley, so I say the Shockers will win. Happy now?

They might as well call the nightcap in Washington, D.C. the "Duel in the Dog Pound." I will go out on a limb and say the Huskies will win this game. Not buying it since the game is Connecticut versus Washington? Darn. Brandon Roy has really emerged as one of the premier players of the tournament with his play in taking down Utah State and Illinois en route to the matchup. Plus, I still feel good with Lorenzo Romar, the former St. Louis University Billikens head coach. However, U Conn has one of the more impressive lineups in the field if they can maintain a level of dominance befitting their No. 1 seed. Rudy Gay, Rashad Anderson, Marcus Williams, Denham Brown, Josh Boone? It's a scary lineup no matter how you look at it.

The win over Kentucky showed the Connecticut Huskies are vulnerable but I think Coach Calhoun will use that game as fuel to light fires inside of Gay and Co. and U Conn will pounce on Washington, setting up the final of U Conn versus Wichita State.

The last region is the Minneapolis region which features three Big East schools and one from the SEC. Well, Boston College is in the ACC now, but for as long as I live, BC will always be in its heart a Big East school. Villanova versus Boston College is going to be a game that features two entirely different schools of offense. Villanova has their four-guard offense, while BC relies on the interior presence of Craig Smith and Jared Dudley. Will Sheridan will definitely have his hands full in the paint. In the all-time record books, Villanova holds the edge over Boston College with regards to wins.

If it were guards versus guards, Villanova wins. Forwards against forwards, Boston College has the edge. When it's five-on-five, I think Villanova's four guard offense will be too much for Coach Skinner's Boston College team and the Wildcats advance to the Elite Eight.

If you asked me before the tournament began, which team would be the most impressive after the first weekend I would never have said Florida. I have never seen as complete a player in the tournament as Florida's Joakim Noah. He scores, assists, grabs rebounds, gets steals, gets blocks. He has to be the player of the first two rounds. Their reward for getting to the Sweet 16: facing Georgetown and the new John Thompson. Could Georgetown be returning to the time of the glory years when they flourished with Thompson's father and had dominant centers that ran roughshod over the Big East? Well, Roy Hibbert looks pretty comfortable in his 7'2 frame being the next great Georgetown center, but you have to look at the box score of the Georgetown -Ohio State contest. Seven Hoyas played, and only four scored points. That is either good or bad depending on your viewpoint.

The good thing is that the anyone on the Hoyas can hang 20-plus on an opponent and when four Hoyas are in double digits in scoring, they are downright nasty. The flip side of the argument is if one of the Hoyas has an off night, does Georgetown have role players that could easily slip in and fill the void. G'Town is definitely not afraid of any big-name programs; they were the first team to knock Duke from the undefeateds. Like the Duke-LSU matchup, it's going to be a war in the paint between Noah and Hibbert, and in a war, I have to go with the complete package and say Florida will knock of Georgetown.

So recapping, Duke and West Virginia will meet in Atlanta. Memphis will lose to Gonzaga in Oakland. U Conn will meet Wichita State in Washington, D.C. Boston College will meet Florida in Minneapolis. All eight of these teams have the potential to moving onto Indianapolis and possibly winning a national championship.

You Can't Spell "Laugh" twice without HAHA

2006-03-19T21:31:00.000-06:00

By John Scognamiglio

After an amazing weekend of college basketball, we are finally down to sixteen teams. Buzzer beaters and upsets resounded in the first weekend. Now that the dust has settled let's look at the conferences represented:

ACC: 2 teams (Duke, Boston College)
Big East: 4 teams (Connecticut, Villanova, West Virginia, Georgetown)
SEC: 2 teams (Florida, Louisiana State)
Big 12: 1 team (Texas)
Pac 10: 2 teams (UCLA, Washington)
WCC: 1 team (Gonzaga)
Conference USA: 1 team (Memphis)
CAA: 1 team (George Mason)
MVC: 2 teams (Wichita State, Bradley)

Oh my god!! Wait, the world is coming to an end. The Missouri Valley and CAA have the same number of teams in the Sweet 16 as the ACC and Big 12. Someone go feed Billy Packer oxygen. As Will Hunting would say, "How do you like dem apples?"

This was a very good year for the mid-majors and I don't mean to toot the Valley's horn again, but look at the road Wichita State and Bradley went through to get to the Sweet 16. Wichita State went through the most spoilerific team from the Big East (Seton Hall) and then dismantled the regular season SEC East Division Champions (Tennessee). Bradley took down Big 12 tournament champion Kansas and then Big East power Pittsburgh to get to the round of 16. The Valley went .500 against the Big East, with Northern Iowa losing to Sweet 16 member Georgetown and Southern Illinois losing to Sweet 16 member West Virginia.

Let's not forget about CAA member George Mason. They entered the tournament on a dubious note. As you may remember, Tony Skinn, one of the team's top players, received a one-game suspension for hitting an opposing player in the team's CAA semifinal loss to Hofstra. Well, that one game was the opening round game against Michigan State. The team performed admirably, taking down Michigan State 75-65. Well, Skinn returned today against North Carolina and had eight points coming off the bench in George Mason's 65-50 victory.

The mid-majors are doing well this year and Doug Elgin, commissioner of the Valley, along with Greg Littlepage are having big smiles on their faces. If this trend continues, Packer and his colleague Jim Nantz may be forced to eat their words, considering that one matchup will be Wichita State against George Mason. That means one mid major will be an Elite 8 team. Oh the humanity.

If the first two rounds were this fun, I can't wait till this coming weekend.

My Thoughts About The First Day of the Greatest Days of 2006

2006-03-16T23:59:00.000-06:00

By John Scognamiglio

My heart rate has finally calmed down after today's action. What a barn burner for a day.

After day one of the action, I have picked correctly 14 out of 16 games, the only two losses coming in 5-12 matchups.

Games of the Day:

Well, since it is March there are too many to pick here. Indiana outlasting a very good San Diego State team in regulation, George Washington beating UNC-Wilmington in OT, Gonzaga outlasting Xavier, and Montana upsetting Nevada. However, I feel there were three games of the day.

Game 1: Boston College defeating Pacific in double overtime. Not only did Boston College nearly wreck my bracket, as well as Indiana could have too, they persevered against an upstart 13 seed. While some may fear that this game is emblematic of Boston College all year, I feel this game is the kind of game that will light a fire under Coach Skinner when they go into the next game against Montana.

Game 2: UCLA defeating Belmont. It wasn't an exciting game deserving of March Madness status, but UCLA has a legitimate shot of making me look foolish in my Oklahoma bracket. They looked really fluid out there today against Belmont, squashing any opinion that they didn't deserve a number two seed. Coach Howland has done a great job this year balancing the injuries to key players and would be my favorite for coach of the year if not for a certain Roy Williams at UNC.

Game 3: Wichita State dismantling Seton Hall. Hey Billy Packer, still feel like mid-majors don't belong? Well, Wichita State did a heck of a job dismantling one of the more dangerous teams from the Big East, dangerous as in, to invent a word, spoilerifc. The Shockers won the game by 20, showing that they deserved a shot in the tourney by winning a huge game to silence critics.

Interesting trend of the Day:

ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Big East, Pac 10, SEC. These are the so-called power conferences. Well, five teams today from non-power conferences won their games, the most notables were UW-Milwaukee over Oklahoma and Wichita State over Seton Hall. The other three victories were mid-majors over other mid-majors.

Player of the Day:

Tie goes to the Duke seniors J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams. They combined for 58 points in Duke's 70-54 victory over Southern. Each had 29 points. So let's see, the other Blue Devils combined for 12 points. It's tournament time and Redick, Williams, and Coach K (sorry, even if I'm Scognamiglio, still can't spell Coack K's last name) know it's crunch time for them.

What to Look Forward to on Friday:

Great 6-11 battle between SIU-Carbondale and West Virginia. Barn burner as UAB faces Kentucky. Three top seeds in action, will one finally fall? My pick for game of Friday will be Kentucky versus UAB. These two teams met two years ago, the result was UAB eliminating top-seeded Kentucky. So look for Tubby vs. Anderson round two. My upset special of tomorrow is the Salukis over West Virginia. Coach Lowery's team really impressed me in the MVC tournament, especially with their stifling defense against Bradley in the MVC title game. Also, look for some mid-majors to pull off upsets against power conference teams (Northern Iowa over Georgetown perhaps?) or mid-majors scaring power conference teams before faltering in the final minutes (Kansas barely beating Bradley).

So far, it's been a heart pounding tournament. Cannot wait for day two to get here.

12 Hours before the greatest four days in sports

2006-03-15T22:40:00.000-06:00

Conor Nicholl

The greatest four days in sports begins tomorrow with the first round of the NCAA Tournament. I will be in New York City and will spend a lot of time in front of televisions, trying to catch every game I can.

Here's a few thoughts on March Madness and the Div. II tournament before Thursday morning:
March Madness: Scogs, our friend and collegue, delivered an outstanding post about the Missouri Valley Conference and their treatment from Billy Packer on Selection Sunday. Packer said the Missouri Valley Conference (4 bids) and the Colonial Athletic Association (2 bids) didn't deserve to be in the tournament.

I think those six teams from those conferences (only one of those teams is favored) will win two games tomorrow. One of those teams (I think Wichita State) will reach the Sweet 16. Hopefully, that should be enough to give the mid-majors some well-deserved credibility. I am a huge mid-major fan and would love to see them pull multiple upsets on the first few days.

With the mid-majors, Gonzaga, a No. 3 seed, needs to break through this year. Some have them reaching the Final Four, others have them falling in the first round to the A-10 tourney champion Xavier.

I am in three bracket pools, but am having a tough time picking a Final Four. There is a tremendous amount of good teams in the pool this year that have a chance to reaching the Final Four. Other than four No. 1s and No. 2s, here's my short list of squads that have a terrific shot: Gonzaga, North Carolina, Illnois, Boston College, Marquette, West Virginia, Michigan State, Georgetown. At least one of those teams will reach the Final Four.

To the readers: Who is your surprise team?

Other predictions: There will be one huge upset on the first two days. (like No. 14 Bucknell over No. 3 Kansas last season). It could be Kansas again this year- they play No. 13 Bradley (a MVC team) in the first round. Bradley was one of the hottest teams in the country down the stretch.

Villanova's Allan Ray, after suffering an eye injury in the Big East tournament, will play tomorrow for No. 1 ranked Nova. With Ray back, this team reminds me a lot of Illinois from last year. They are dominated by guard play, can shoot the three and rebound surprisingly well. I think they are a Final Four team, but their ball control is not as strong as the Illini's from last year. They have a lot fewer assists than the Illini and that could be a problem. Still, I love watching Nova play.

Can't wait to see a lot of teams play over the next few days.

Div. II Tourney:
Tarleton State University, the winners of the Lone Star Conference, advanced to the Elite Eight after defeating Central Missouri and Northwest Missouri at the buzzer. I thought, as well as many of my Index collegues, that Tarleton was not as strong as the MIAA teams because they came from a weaker conference. But they can play. I am especially interested with the win over Central Missouri- CMSU hadn't lost a game by six points or less the entire conference and postseason, compiling an 8-0 record.

CMSU also had the highest offensive efficiency of any team entering the South Central, scoring an average of 119 points per 100 possessions. (For more on off. efficiency, see kenpom.com) I thought the winner of CMSU and Truman was going to advance to the regional final, but Tarleton came on strong and played well in the clutch.

The Storm Before the Madness

2006-03-15T00:12:00.000-06:00

-John Scognamiglio

I know this is a Truman Sports board, and there are plenty of things I could be discussing, for example, the women's swimming team's 6th-straight national championship, or the Bulldogs falling in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. But on the eve of the first day of the Div. I NCAA tournament (all apologies to Monmouth), I feel it is my duty to report on something that has really made me mad ... No, furious.

After the loss to Central Missouri, I came home Sunday looking forward to Selection Sunday and watching the show, something of a tradition for me the past couple of years. This year, I was really pysched about how much love mid-major conferences got from everyone. One conference this year just leapt off the charts this season: the Missouri Valley Conference.

The Valley last year got three bids to the Big Dance, and this year, Conference Commissioner Doug Elgin said he thought six teams could get into the tournament. Most people thought the Valley was good enough for five bids, including ESPN.com's bracketologist Joe Lunardi. The odd man out was supposed to be Creighton, and even they had a respectable RPI.

Imagine my surprise when they are announcing the last 16 teams when I saw Northern Iowa announced as the 10 seed in the Minnesota region. It was not as much a surprise as Northern Iowa, because they've had a good season. It was the immediate thought that Missouri State was going to get snubbed.

I feel for Coach Barry Hinson and the Bears. All they did was put together a top-25 RPI team, and they now have the rather dubious distinction of having the highest RPI rating ever to not be invited to the Big Dance. Their RPI was 21.

The real firestorm occurred after the pairings were announced when Billy Packer, that bastion of unbiased tournament opinions (cough cough), lit into Committee Chairman Greg Littlepage for not inviting more teams from major conferences. The world is going to end since the MVC got the same number of bids as the ACC. Oh no ... Start stocking up on bottled water and canned goods.

It's quite simple. The Valley this year played by the NCAA's rules to maximize their chances. They scheduled tough non-conference games to build up their RPI standings, and when conference season rolled around, they just ran into each other, creating one of the most competitive conferences in all the NCAA divisions ... except maybe the MIAA.

For Billy Packer to just go to bat for teams like Cincinnati and Maryland and Florida State while pushing down other deserving teams is exactly why this tournament is so great. Everybody likes an underdog, and who are the underdogs? Mid-major teams are the underdogs. There is only one way to make everyone happy, and that's have a mega-tournament with all 326 Division I teams.

The fact of the matter is this: We are finally starting to see parity in all conferences, and almost anyone can win. It's been 20+ years now since 8th-seeded Villanova upset the top-ranked Hoyas of Georgetown, and there have been teams that have gone to great postseason success. Now that teams in the Valley have proven they can hang with almost any team, don't be surprised next year if more mid-major conferences call on the big dogs for games. Maryland head coach Gary Williams opened a can of worms when he called out Missouri State for not playing them. Now he can expect calls from all the Valley schools seeking games. Other conferences may come calling.

So when someone asks where you were in 2006, you can say you were at the birth of the greatest era of parity in the NCAA.

Nearing the finish line

2006-03-11T15:44:00.000-06:00

-Lindsay McReynolds

INDIANAPOLIS - It is Friday night. We are leading the in the team standings and it is time to put the points up on the board to make it stay that way.

It is crazy to realize that what we have trained all season for is almost over, and at the same time a sixth national championship is well within our reach.

Tonight's swims have basically ensured that we will break our record of five national team titles in a row that we shared with Oakland University last year in achieving a sixth team title. We are up about 120-something points, next is Drury and then UC San Diego. It is a dog fight for second place now - no pun intended.

The most exciting event of the evening would definetly be the women's 4X800 relay of freshman Jacqui Dempsey, sophomore Molly Pollette, junior Lija Kaleps-Clark and sophomore Whitney Wodstrchill. It came down to the wire. Pollette came back in the final leg of the relay to touch out Drury by two hundredths of a second! The crowd went crazy, everyone was hugging each other and jumping up and down.

I think at that moment we realized that we were well on our way to winning this championship meet.

However, we still have one day of competition left, and it is a big day with many great events for us.

Wish us luck.

Keeping the momentum going

2006-03-11T15:39:00.000-06:00

-Lindsay McReynolds

INDIANAPOLIS - Tonight we go into finals with 322 points. Drury is trailing shortly behind with 241. It has been a great past two sessions.

Last night the parents, sitting in their seating area labeled the "dog pound," were a crazy mass of purple and pink with signs and banners along with some funky headbands with pipecleaners sticking out of both sides, with bulldogs adorning the top.

Lija Kaleps-Clark swam an amazing IM last night, finishing second. The team just seems to be able to feed off of one another's energy, inspiring each other to reach their fullest potential. Junior Brittany Anderson, who had only swam the 400 IM three times in her entire life, started off yesterday morning with a time of 4:41. After her morning swim, she was seated 10th in the consol heat with a 4:34. Last night she won the consol heat with a time of 4:29.

It is swims like these that just send a rush of adrenaline through the team. The relays yesterday finished 5th and 3rd in the 200 free relay and the 400 medley relay, further securing our lead, while not necessarily lengthening it. We have been able to add to our points by placing key people in the final heats by swimming great in the morning, coming in energized and ready to "attack" while everyone else is still tired.

Here at nationals there is no such thing as my "shoulder hurt" or "I just couldn't." It is known that every time someone gets in the water they try their best because they want a national championship for their team.

Tonight we go into finals with a large number of girls qualified for a second swim. Hopefully tonight's session will prove to be a continuance of the past couple sessions, and our spirit and Bulldog pride will bring us out on top.

Wish us luck.

Day one at the national meet

2006-03-09T00:28:00.000-06:00

- Lindsay McReynolds

INDIANAPOLIS - Today was the first day of the meet we have been training for all year.

It is here at the NCAA Div. II National Championships, where goals can be achieved and dreams can come true. The back of our team shirts this year say Res Firma Mitescere Nescit, which means a firm resolve does not know how to weaken.

Going into this national championship meet, there is a lot of pressure - pressure to win a sixth national championship.

After the first day of competition, we have set ourselves to do exactly that.

“I am very pleased with where we are standing, we are swimming very well,” head coach Mark Gole said.

By no means, however, does this mean that we can back down now. Every swim, every place and every second counts. All that matters now is the team and what will help the team.

Today was an amazing day for our team. We started off great in the 1000, with five girls scoring in the top 16. Sophomore Whitney Wodstrchill placed fourth in the 1000 freestyle, an event which she doesn’t even normally swim. It was a great way to start off the meet. Senior Katie Funk placed 6th, Sophomore Molly Pollette 8th and first-time scorers Freshmen Jacqui Dempsey 14th and Jessie Lemaster 11th.

This was a great event for us not only because we had so many scorers, but because in the past our main rival Drury has gained a lot of points in this event. This year that was not the case.

In the 200 IM Junior Lija Kaleps-Clark had a great swim, coming in second place. It definitely got us all really excited about all the good things that were sure to come from her throughout the meet.

Brittany Anderson and her sister Erika also made a great contribution in the IM, helping to score much-needed points in the consolation finals. Sophomore Laura Harp also had a great race.

The 50 free was also an exciting race. Whitney Jensen placed third with a lifetime best. It was a great swim and really got everyone excited for the relay that was next. Emily Pufall also swam an outstanding race, placing 11th in the consolation heat.

The relay was perhaps the most exciting event of all, however.

The 4X200 medley with sophomore Emily Greenwood, junior Bridget Brunsman, Harp and Jensen took home our first first-place trophy for the meet. Not only was this a great win for us, but it led to a great afor us as a team, especially as Drury who had placed second to us in the relay, was later announced as having false started.

In a meet where every point counts, this disqualification gave us an even greater lead over them. After the first day of competition, we are in first place with 145 points. Second is UC San Diego with 123 points. This is the first time in two years that we have led in the team standings after the first day, and it is really exciting.

The mens team also swam well today. The Bulldog men placed no one in finals in the 50 free, while they did have a good showing, it was more so due to the fast field of swimmers in the event. Senior Josh Otis placed sixth in the 200 IM, having a great swim just off his personal best time. The mens relay consisting of junior Robert Fletcher, Otis, senior Chris Brammer and sophomore Ryan Ferrell placed eighth in their 4X200 medley.

A great addition to the meet from last year is the exciting addition of an athlete’s lounge on deck. With internet access, pizza and other yummy foods, it makes for a great place to converse with other swimmers and grab a quick drink or bite to eat. However, as Bulldogs our key concern is for our swimmers in the water, so we don't spend too much time in there.

I am proud to say that we are the best cheerers on deck. No one gets behind their teammates like we do, and although today is just the first day of competition, already I have a sore throat from cheering so loudly.

-Note- Swim team member and Index advertising manager Lindsay McReynolds is with the team at the national championship meet in Indianpolis. She will be posting periodically throughout the four-day event with insider insights.

Jemison carries SBU into Sunday’s title game

2006-03-08T22:49:00.000-06:00

Conor Nicholl

KANSAS CITY, Mo.— Deon Davis was very surprised.

Davis, a starting SBU forward, looked up at the scoreboard in the final minutes of Southwest Baptist’s second round MIAA matchup against Northwest Missouri State and couldn’t believe the number of points next to teammate’s Jason Jamison’s name – 25.

“I was like, wow he is really playing well right now,” Davis said. “He was a huge plus for our team tonight.”

And on a night where SBU saw little production from four of its top scorers, it was Jemison who kept Northwest at bay and put the Bearcats into the championship with a 65-63 win.

Northwest effectively corralled SBU forward Jim Grabowski (0 points), Davis (5) and 7-foot-2 center Frans Steyn (7), but didn’t have an answer for Jemison, a player who looks very similar in size and stature to the Bulldogs’ Matt Brock.

Like Brock, Jemison lives from behind the three-point stripe, and tonight, he couldn’t miss. He finished with 27 points (no one on either side had more than 15) and sunk 7 of 15 three-pointers, including several that took the momentum from Northwest.

“Every shot he took uplifted us and built confidence,” Davis said.

Jemison, the third-leading scorer for the Bearcats entering the night, usually plays third fiddle to Pace and Steyn.

Jemison, though, has also been one to shoot a lot, but was not in the top 10 among the conference’s leaders in three-point shooting, hitting only 31.2 percent of his shots.

The first two times against Northwest, Jemison scored close to his season average of 11 points, but tonight, he couldn’t miss.

“When he shoots like this, it makes things tough for us,” Northwest head coach Steve Tappmeyer said. “It gives them three weapons and can really make things difficult.”

Jemison also made things hard for Northwest on the defensive end, containing guards Addae Houston and Xzavier Gaines.

“We first liked him because of his ability to shoot,” SBU head coach Jeff Guiot said. “He can shoot and likes to shoot. There was back to back games were he only took three shots and we almost rushed him to the hospital. He was trying to be the complete player. But his offense picks up when he plays well on defense.”

Jemison began heating up in the second half. SBU had only a one-point lead in the first half as Jamison sunk two of four treys.

But his defense picked up in the second half, helping his offense, keying the run that started the second half that gave SBU control the rest of the game.

“He doesn’t need much encouragement to keep shooting,” Guiot said. “We recognized that he had the hot hand and we kept feeding him the ball. That was something we did very well tonight.”

In a 51 second stretch, Jemison nailed two threes, extending the Bearcats lead from 27-26 to 33-28. His second three started a 13-6 run that provided SBU with plenty of cushion.

“We try to focus on eliminating runs,” Tappmeyer said. “And we couldn’t do that in the second half. They had some runs in the second half and then when they got up by 16 or 18 points.”

Jemison hit three more threes in a seven-minute stretch in the second half, further extending SBU’s advantage.

His final three provided SBU with a 58-42 lead with 5:16 remaining, helping the Bearcats hold off Northwest’s final charge.

Washburn cruises into women’s championship

2006-03-04T17:35:00.000-06:00

Conor Nicholl

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — I recently finished reading famous sports broadcaster Dick Enberg’s autobiography “Oh My!”

Back in the 1970s, Enberg was the television voice of the UCLA Bruins – the same Bruins that won nine championships in 11 years.

Enberg talked about how UCLA exuded confidence – every time they stepped on the floor, everyone knew they were going to win.

I have that feeling with the Washburn University women’s team. No one can stop this squad. The Lady Blues are the defending national champions and have won 48 straight games. Few teams can even compete with them.

Today, in the first game of Day 2 action, Washburn defeated No. 5 Missouri Western 73-60 in a game that really wasn’t that close. The Lady Blues took the lead at the 15:13 mark of the first half and led comfortably throughout.

Mo. West tried to make a comeback, but it just seemed everybody knew who was going to advance to final. In the parity-driven MIAA, Washburn is the only team that laps the field. No. 2 Emporia State University dominated teams for most of the season, but even they are vulnerable to a loss.

This afternoon, ESU couldn’t get their last shot to fall and fell to No. 3 Central Missouri State University by three points, 63-60.

While teams like ESU and CMSU have terrific players, no one can match the Washburn’s overall talent.

No player in the MIAA – or possibly Div. II – is as fast as Lady Blues guard Jennifer Harris, the unanimous conference MVP. The New Jersey transfer finished with 27 points, many of them coming off steals or lightning-fast dribble-drives.

They also have senior point guard April Roadhouse – she can do more without scoring points than possibly any collegiate player I have seen.

She finished with a team-high nine rebounds, four assists and just two points (on free throws in the 80 seconds) and exercised calm over the entire team on the offensive and defensive ends.

Similar to Truman’s Chip Sodemann, Roadhouse exudes confidence and experience. She doesn’t turn the ball over and plays tremendous defense.

Brooke Ubelaker and Amanda Holmes are also very talented players who can score in double figures and rebound very well.

No team can beat that squad-not tomorrow and probably not this season.

Bulldogs lose captain for final two minutes Friday night

2006-03-04T17:33:00.000-06:00

Conor Nicholl

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Everyone – from the Truman fans to players – looked at head coach Jack Schrader.

No one really knew what to do. Senior point guard Chip Sodemann, the heart and soul of the Bulldogs, had fouled out with 2:04 left with the purple and white ahead of No. 6 seed Emporia State University 87-86 last night in the first round of the men’s MIAA Postseason Tournament at Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium.

As shooting guard Austin Kirby talked to Sodemann, Schrader stood up and tried to make a decision. He was going to lose his best ballhandler and his team leader for the final two minutes of a game the Bulldogs needed to win to secure a solid seed for the NCAA Regional next weekend.

After nearly 30 seconds, Schrader put in senior guard Matt Brock, the team’s three-point specialist and had Kirby, a natural shooting guard man the point.

Sodemann, who finished with 14 points and two assists, sat down for a few seconds, a towel draped over the back of his head. As the game restarted, he walked to the end of the bench and got a cup of water.

For the final 90 seconds, he stood at the end of the bench with the towel still on the back of his head, no expression on his face.

“I was disappointed,” he said. “I was praying that we could still pull through and hoping that someone could step up and make a play.”

Kirby made a terrific play on the ensuing possession, driving hard to the lane and drawing contact from ESU’s Shawn Herrmann, forcing Hermann’s fifth and game-ending foul.

Kirby sunk both foul shots, giving the Bulldogs a one-point lead, but Emporia came right back with a LeRoy Dawson layup.

Sodemann had held Dawson, the conference’s second leading scorer, in check the entire game.

“I didn’t know if we lost confidence, we just didn’t gain confidence,” Schrader said. “With Chip on the floor, we gain confidence.”

Emporia’s Wes Book hit a three with 22.7 seconds remaining giving Emporia a four-point lead.
Andy Calmes took the inbounds pass for a coast-to-coast layup to close the gap to two, but the Bulldogs had to foul on their next possession.

ESU guard Tyrell Sledge sunk two free throws, giving the Bulldogs a chance for a quick bucket. But without Sodemann on the floor, the offense was a little discombobulated.

Sodemann has hit many clutch shots – especially threes – in the final seconds of games, but this time the Bulldogs had to look elsewhere.

Kirby attempted a three that fell short and then Brock tried a lean-in three that hit off the front rim. Emporia grabbed the rebound with 2.1 seconds left, and after Sledge hit two free throws, closed out a thrilling 96-90 victory.

Men’s Basketball Notebook

Offensive Attack

Schrader said he was trying to keep the score in the 60s last night. Instead, the Bulldogs proved they can run with any team in the conference, keeping pace with Emporia State, the MIAA’s top scoring team.

Ninety points represented the highest output for the purple and white since a 91-67 victory against Harris-Stowe State College on Dec. 22.

Six Bulldogs scored in double figures. Sophomore forward Nick Certa led the way with 18 points, Calmes and Kirby had 15 apiece, Sodemann finished with 14, senior forward Derek Lindsey tallied 13 and junior center Garret Grimm chipped in 12 more.

Certa, who only scored 16 points in his last five games, was a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the arc.

Agbo's Status

Junior forward Grant Agbo didn’t play Friday night.

Sodemann and Lindsey were asked of Agbo’s status in the postgame session, but Schrader cut in and quickly said, “He’s sick.” Sodemann said the team had prepared the entire week without Agbo.

Agbo has battled sickness and injury throughout the season, including playing with the flu against Washburn University on Jan. 28.

Earlier this season, Agbo had his finest game of the year against the Hornets, scoring 21 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.

Bench Play

Schrader went deep into his reserves last night, using freshman guard Banks Estridge, Brock and Certa in the early going. The senior twins, Ryan and Gavin Welker, also saw some playing time.

Mules Win Another Thriller, Friday’s Highlights from Day 1 of Men’s Tournament

2006-03-04T17:31:00.000-06:00

Conor Nicholl

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Southern State University pulled off another remarkable comeback. In the past two seasons, the Lions rallied to win three games where they faced a deficit of 20-plus points.

Tonight, they kept the game closer, but still found themselves down seven with 45 seconds left to Central Missouri State University, the tournament’s No. 2 seed.

CMSU led 61-54 with 44.7 ticks left after Michael Hicks, the Mules’ first team All-MIAA player and the conference’s leading scorer, sunk two free throws. Southern made two foul shots on their end.

The Mules turned it over on the inbounds pass (their second miscue in the final minute) and Southern’s Quentin Edwards converted the first end of a two foul shots.

He missed the second one, but Southern grabbed the rebound and Edwards sunk a layup, bringing the Lions within two at 63-61 with 4.8 seconds remaining. Southern fouled Hicks, the MIAA’s best foul shooter, but Hicks made only one of two foul shots.

In an odd move, CMSU, the defensive team, called a timeout to set their defense with 4.1 seconds left.

“I thought our guys were a little rattled,” CMSU head coach Kim Anderson said.

The Mules remained composed on the inbounds play and forced Southern – a team that doesn’t shoot the three very well – into an off-balance 35-footer that fell short of the rim. The Mules will play No. 6 Emporia State, a team that beat the Bulldogs in a thrilling nightcap 96-90.

The key thing is that we just survived and won,” Anderson said. “There are nine teams in the conference and that ones that are ranked 5 through nine have all lost a lot of close games. That’s the difference. The breaks have fallen our way a few times. Every team is close, but I think SBU is better than everybody.”

Overall, the Mules are now 7-0 in conference games decided by six points or less, easily the MIAA’s best mark in those games. SBU is second with a 6-2 mark and the Bulldogs third at 6-3.
Anderson was surprised that his team hadn’t lost a close conference game.

“That’s very interesting,” he said. “We still have components from a [MIAA] championship team from last season that can step up and make plays. Mike Hicks is an outstanding player. It never entered my mind that he would miss a foul shot down the stretch. [Senior guard] Theo Jones has matured a lot and that has really helped. [Senior guard] Corey Brown is a veteran player with talent and experience.”

And the shooting has been the real key for the Mules. Entering tonight’s contest, Hicks was the second best player in the conference (behind Emporia’s LeRoy Dawson) in the final five minutes of conference games decided by two or fewer possessions.

Last night, Southern’s Myron Hodge did an excellent job of controlling Hicks from the field, holding him to 2-for-13 shooting from the field and 1-for-8 from beyond the arc.

Still, Hicks scored 19 points because of incredible free throw shooting, hitting 14 of 16 shots from the line. He was clutch in the final five minutes, scoring five (all free throws) of the Mules’ nine points, keeping Southern at bay.

Star Watch

Many of the all-conference selections had cold shooting during Day 1: (stats include Friday)

First Team All-MIAA
Player Points Season Average FG Season Avg.
Sheldon Pace, SBU 10 13.7 44.4 52.7
Michael Hicks, CMSU 19 21.5 15.4 42.8
Eddie Jackson, PSU 12 19.2 21.4 35.4
Demarius Bolds, MWSU 13 17.3 16.7 45.4
Andy Calmes, Truman 15 13 66.7 49.1

Players: Pace said last Saturday at Pershing Arena that he will do whatever his team needs him to do. On Friday, that meant finding his guards for threes and getting the ball inside to center Frans Steyn (game-high 21 points).

Hicks: see above story. Hicks constantly had hands his face the entire night, but his free throw shooting allowed the Mules to advance to Saturday’s play.

Jackson: see Friday’s post. Jackson had a terrible game and was the main reason why Pitt. St. lost Friday.

Bolds: If Jackson was bad, Bolds may have been worse. His frustration showed the entire night as Mo. West. – many writers’ (including my friend and colleague Tyler Madsen) pick to win the tournament – shot a MIAA tournament-record low 26.4 percent.

Calmes: Calmes played very well for the Bulldogs, scoring points off layups, runners and rebounds. He had a fine night, but it just wasn’t enough for a victory.

Player of the day: Herrmann. He dominated the inside for Emporia State, scoring 26 points and helping the Hornets upset the third ranked Bulldogs.

Quote of the day: “There’s not going to be a lot of hugs and kisses in our locker room. Not that I would want to kiss any of my players, but I may hug one or two.”

Missouri Western head coach Tom Smith after his No. 5 Griffons lost 72-49 to No. 4 Northwest Missouri State University in the first round Friday night

Bulldogs fall in first round to Hornets

2006-03-04T13:07:00.000-06:00

- Joseph Barker

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Truman Bulldogs cracked the 90 point barrier for the third time season during Friday night’s game against Emporia State University.

This time the Bulldogs didn’t win.

The third seeded ’Dogs fell 96-90 to the sixth seeded Emporia Hornets in the first round of the MIAA Conference Tournament. With the loss Truman falls to 20-8 on the season.

The game, easily the highest scoring of the first round contests, featured constant back and forth action. The score was tied 15 times throughout the game with the lead changing 23 times.

Offensive action from both squads started from the opening tip. Both teams shot above 50% in the first half.

The Bulldogs were 14-27 from the field and 8-13 from long range. Emporia matched the ’Dogs hot shooting, opening the contest with 16-28 shooting from the field and 2-6 from behind the arc.

ESU took the advantage on free throws, hitting 6 more than the ’Dogs to put the up 46-42 at the half.

Emporia extended their lead early in the second half going up by as much as seven with 15:15 left to play in the half. Truman then went on a three shooting binge - with senior guard Chip Sodemann, junior guard Austin Kirby and junior center Garret Grimm knocking down treys. Those shots, plus two buckets by junior forward Andy Calmes put the ’Dogs on a 15-4 run and had them up by four with 12:05 left in the game.

With 1:37 left in the game Kirby hit two free throws to tie the game for the 15th time at 87 all. The Hornets then went on a 9-3 run, highlighted by sophomore guards Wes Book’s three pointer with the shot clock winding down and the game clock showing 23 seconds left. The three put the Hornets up by far and signaled the end of the game.

The rest of the second half featured more back and forth action. The ’Dogs couldn’t contain senior Shawn Herrman. The Hornets 6’6” forward knocked down a game-high 26 points and was 10-10 on the night.

Six ’Dogs scored double figures with sophomore swingman Nick Certa leading the way with 18. All five starters cracked the 10-point mark.

But in the end it wasn’t enough.

Implications: The loss does NOT end the season for the 'Dogs. Truman is still in postion to secure one of 8 open spots in the Regional Tournament. The purple and white are currently fifth in the region. The NCAA's will decide the eight team field Sunday night.

Game Notes: Junior forward Grant Agbo dressed, but did not play a minute for Truman. Head coach Jack Schrader said after that game that Agbo was sick. … Six different players for the ’Dogs hit three pointers in the first half. … ESU will take on Central Missouri State University tonight at the Kansas City (Mo.) Municipal Auditorium. … Before the win Emporia had been 0-7 in MIAA conference tournament games. …Stat of the Night Part One: Truman had 21 assists and 17 turnovers, well above their season average. … Stat of the Night Part Two: Emporia scored 23 points off of Turnovers to Truman’s 8. ... Truman shot 53.8% (14-26) from downtown. ... Both Truman and Emporia closed the game shooting above 50% from the field. ... Complete game stats can be found at the Truman Bulldogs athletic site.

No. 1 SBU wins first round game over No. 8 Pitt. State, ends Eddie Jackson’s career

2006-03-03T15:53:00.000-06:00

Conor Nicholl

KANSAS CITY, Mo.—Eddie Jackson sat in an unfamiliar place.

Jackson, the senior first team all-MIAA guard for Pittsburg State University, wasn’t playing with less than five minutes to go in the Gorillas’ first round contest against Southwest Baptist University.

He had a blank look on his face as leaned back in his chair, arms and hands rested on the chairs beside him, a blank look on his face.

Jackson, the conference’s leading scorer at 21.6 points/game, was 5-for-23 from the field, 0-10 from behind the arc and scored only 12 points when head coach Gene Iba took him out of the game.

He reentered with 3:07 left, but finally left the contest with 1:16 remaining and SBU ahead 66-52.

The fans stood and cheered as Jackson walked to the bench, but he barely acknowledged the crowd, keeping his head down.

Afterward, Jackson said little during the postgame news conference.

“It just came down to me not making shots,” he said. “The team got me the ball when I needed it, but I just didn’t make shots.”

Pitt. St. runs a similar offense to Duke. They don’t run set plays. Duke tries to get the ball and set single, double and triple screens for J.J. Redick. Pitt. St. does the same thing with Jackson – and they didn’t deviate from the plan today.

Jackson killed SBU in their two regular season meetings, scoring 32 and 25 points.
This time, though, SBU consistently had players in Jackson’s face, forcing up plenty of poor shots.

“We threw three or four different players at him,” said SBU guard and MIAA MVP Sheldon Pace. “You have to do that to great players. We just wanted to make him take tough shots and hopefully try and wear him down.”

Jackson began the night two-for-two, but then missed 11 of his next 13 shots, finishing the first half with 10 points.

“No question, Eddie missed some shots that were open,” head coach Gene Iba said. “But, it’s pretty tough to shoot when you have a [a six-foot-11-inch] guy and a [7-foot-two-inch] guy in your face and a guard coming up behind you.

Jackson started getting frustrated in the second half. Behind forward Edward Morris, Pitt. St., the No. 8 seed in the tournament, led 37-35 at the first media timeout of the second half. Jackson, though, had missed three more shots.

Pitt. St. was finding rhythm and open shots from other players, but Jackson didn’t stop shooting after the timeout.

At the 13:45 mark, Jackson was guarded by two players but hoisted a three from well beyond NBA range, air balling the shot.

When I asked about Jackson’s shot selection afterward, Iba stayed calm but spoke forcibly.

“Did you see the first two games against SBU?” he said, looking right at me.

I said, “No.”

“Did you know how many points he scored?”

I said, “32 and 25.”

Iba stayed calm and explained why Jackson took 35-footers.

“He took those same shots in those games and made them,” he said. “Eddie is the best bad shot player I have ever coached. We try to get him in the flow taking 15 footers and then he can shoot from anywhere.

“He missed those [threes] in our [regular season] last game and missed them tonight. If you can tell me what the difference is between today and those other games, then I need a new guy on my coaching staff.”

Jackson scored only two points the rest of the day. Pitt. St. couldn’t keep pace with Southwest, as the Bearcats finished the game on a 30-15 run, winning 67-52 and ending the Jackson’s – one of the most electrifying players over the last two years – career.

First Game Notes

SBU 7-2 center Frans Steyn was the best player from the first game, scoring 21 points and dominating the post.

Colt Blair, the MIAA Freshman of the Year, was very impressive for the Bearcats, scoring seven points, including a key three-pointer that gave SBU a 59-49 lead in the second half. Head coach Jeff Guiot called Blair’s trey one of the top three plays of the day.

Morris, who had 30 versus the Bulldogs earlier this year, played very well for the Gorillas, keeping PSU in the game with his rebounding and scoring. He also had his own highlight reel, bringing down the house on three dunks.

Halftime

The MIAA provided plenty of entertainment during the halftime of the second game, as six mascots played three-on-three full court basket. Pittsburg State’s Gorillas, Missouri Western’s Griffon and Northwest’s Bearcat teamed up against Emporia’s Hornet, Southwest’s Lion and Truman’s own Spike the Bulldog.

Spike couldn’t provide much offense, as he was wearing slippers instead of shoes.

The mascots provided multiple highlights during the 4-3 game won by Pitt. State’s team.
Early in the contest, Mo. West had a wide-open layup, but Pitt. St.’s Gorilla pushed him

ESU’s Hornet hit a three and did a snow angel on the floor and Gus Gorilla earned MVM (Most Valuable Mascot) honors for his terrific defense.

Fond Memories and Hopes for Women's Basketball

2006-03-02T13:08:00.000-06:00

By John Scognamiglio

As the women's basketball team ended their season today in Kansas City, there are many moments that I will remember of this team.

Unfortunately, the lingering memory for me will be the freshman of the year award not going to Georgia Mueller. Watching Mueller and her postmate Jennifer Franklin gives me great hope for the future of the women's program. Both freshmen proved themselves all throughout the season and it will be interesting to see if Coach Sloop plays both of them together next year as a legitimate 4-5 punch down in the blocks.

Another good memory is the three-point shooting this year. Sophomore guard Candace McGee moved into fifth place all-time on the career three-pointers made list. A sophomore moves into fifth place. Which means the next two seasons may be fun to watch as Candi moves higher and higher, establishing herself as a legitimate deep threat.

This year's women's squad reminds me of a few of the men's squads from years past. The only loss this year on the women's team will be Ali Long. Before this year, the men's squad lost Jon Hardy to eligibility last year, and Aaron Mueller and Matt Beran, the year before. Losing three seniors over two years means that the men's team was loaded with underclassmen. This year, the men's team loses five seniors.

With the women's squad, next year, Natalie Schupbach may be the only senior on the squad. So if the women's team follows the men's team theory, the women's team will be very good within two years. Do I believe that they could be better next year? Of course. They already have Sarah Gordon, a 6'5 transfer from Tennessee-Chattanooga. When she plays next year, could the 'Dogs transfer from a three/sometimes four guard offense to a three post/two guard offense, with Gordon at the center? It's certainly an intriguing notion. The starting lineup could conceivably be: Katie Fowler at the point, Candace McGee at shooting guard, Natalie Schupbach at the three, Georgia Mueller or Jennifer at the four, and Sarah Gordon at center.

To the women's basketball squad of 2005-2006, I say so long, and thanks for all the fish...I mean memories, good ones.

My "Huh?????!!!" Moment of this Basketball Season

2006-02-26T22:54:00.000-06:00

By John Scognamiglio

For the better part of this semester, I have been plugging and rooting for Georgia Mueller. I have called her on numerous occasions the "prohibitive favorite for MIAA Freshman of the Year." Even in my previous blog entry, I said that the game within the game would be Cortney Shewmaker vs. Mueller, to see who would be freshman of the year.

I don't like being wrong, but at least I can admit when I am wrong. And I must admit that I am wrong. Apparently, I forgot about little Meghan Welch, who was named today the MIAA Freshman of the Year. I did mention her as part of the competitors to the Freshman of the Year in my profile story on Mueller. But I thought that she was the third best of the freshman class this year.

I will for the sake of time and my wish to not be quoted wrong, copy and paste what the MIAA website says of Ms. Welch.

"MSSU G/F Meghan Welch, the Lions' second-leading scorer (10.0 ppg), was selected as the Freshman of the Year. She ranks fifth in the MIAA in three-point shooting (39.9 percent) and sixth in three-pointers made per game (2.11)."

Now, I only have to copy and paste the first sentence on the Truman athletic's site about Mueller.

"Inexplicably, Truman’s Georgia Mueller did not receive the conference freshman of the year award."

So why is there controversy brooding on Florida 2000 and the Olympic figure skating scandal of 2002? Well, I love facts. I thrive on knowledge and knowing facts. Plus, I only saw Missouri Southern twice this year, while I have had a season of watching Mueller and the rest of the Bulldogs play.

So, in an attempt to figure out what makes a freshman of the year, I was surprised to find out that statistics must not be an important part of the discussion. I actually looked at each other's stats to see if Ms. Welch was a better player.

I would like to say before I go any further, that I am not attacking Meghan Welch. I have the utmost respect for basketball players and I wish her congratulations on winning a prestigious award in a very good conference, and I am sure this award is the first of many that she will have in her long MIAA career.

Here we go with the stats:

Games played: Welch 27, Mueller 27
Games started: Welch 6, Mueller 23
Field Goals: Welch 91-227 for .401 percent, Mueller 116-261 for .444 percent
Three Pointers: Welch 57-143 for .399 percent, Mueller 7-25 for .280 percent
Free throws: Welch 30-40 for .750 percent, Mueller 89-119 for .748 percent
Rebounds: Welch 9 offensive and 54 defensive for 2.3 rebounds per game,
Mueller 57 offensive and 109 defensive for 6.1 rebounds per game
Assists: Welch 23, Mueller 38
Turnovers: Welch 51, Mueller 80
Blocks: Welch 6, Mueller 34
Steals: Welch 18, Mueller 24
Points Per Game: Welch 10.0, Mueller 12.1

So...hmmm...Mueller has Welch dominated on stats in eight categories. So it must be that Welch had better games against Mueller when they played each other.

Well...Missouri Southern does have two wins against the 'Dogs, on Jan. 7 and Feb. 18. But, let's look at their lines from the contests

Jan. 7: Welch played 24 minutes, had 11 points and 5 rebounds
Mueller started, played 35 minutes, had 21 points and 12 rebounds

Feb. 18: Welch played 9 minutes, had 15 points and zero rebounds
Mueller played 25 minutes, had 12 points and 10 rebounds

So Welch averaged 16.5 minutes, 13 points and 2.5 rebounds in the two games. Mueller averaged 30 minutes, 16.5 points, and 11 rebounds in the two games.

So...hmmm...Mueller has the edge there. Wait, I must have forgotten, Welch may be a team leader for the Lions moreso than Mueller for the Bulldogs.

Well, Welch has led the Lions in scoring three times this season and in rebounding once. Mueller on the other hand, has led the Bulldogs in scoring seven times this season and in rebounding eight times, in fact, leading the Bulldogs four times this season in both categories.

So...hmm...Wait, maybe Welch played better against Washburn and Emporia State, the conference's top-ranked teams.

Well, in the two games against ESU, Welch averaged 10.5 points, 16.5 minutes, and one rebound. In the two games against Washburn, Welch averaged 6 points, 18.5 minutes, and 2.5 rebounds.

In the two games against ESU, Mueller averaged 15.5 points, 28.5 minutes, and six rebounds. In the two games against Washburn, Mueller averaged 15 points, 25.5 minutes, and 2.5 rebounds.

So...hmmm...It would appear that Mueller would have the edge there too.

As Stewie Griffin would say, "There's treachery afoot!" I have looked at overall stats, stats against each other, stats against top teams, and team leaders stats. And if I can count right (thank you math minor), I think that Mueller would have the edge in those four categories and Welch is not a factor.

Why is it that a woman who is 13th in the conference in scoring, 12th in rebounding, 8th in free-throw percentage and 5th in blocked shots not get any awards, especially when she's a freshman?

To me, the answer is very simple: R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

The Bulldogs have been disrespected. If this was the Godfather, we'd be goin to the mattresses right now. It's all about a lack of respect the Bulldogs have. Missouri Southern is the fourth seed in the conference tourney, finished at .500 in conference, going 16-11 overall this year.

Truman finished 3-13 in conference, 12-15 overall. The Bulldogs actually had to win Saturday to get into the tournament. What did Mueller do? She scored 22 points to lead the Bulldogs and collected 10 rebounds to lead the team in both categories, and she started.

Missouri Southern ended the regular season losing to Emporia State. Welch had 19 points on 6-11 shooting from behind the arc, and she came off the bench too.

So I pose this question: which is bigger? Welch's upset? Or Mueller's hose?

40 Minutes to Go

2006-02-23T14:11:00.000-06:00

By John Scognamiglio

A few years back, the NCAA introduced a new novelty to March Madness: the play-in game. This allows another team to enter the field to become national champion. The game is played before the tournament starts, usually the Tuesday before between numbers 64 and 65. The winner of that game gets into the 64 team field.

This Saturday, the Truman State Women's Basketball team will face the Southwest Baptist University Women's Basketball team in the MIAA play-in game. In my talks with Coach Sloop this season, he has said no game is a must-win until it absolutely has to be. Well, this Saturday is that must-win for the Bulldogs. Win, they go to Kansas City. Lose, they stay home and regroup for next year.

There are more storylines than just Kansas City that will take place on Saturday. Southwest Baptist will bring their candidate for Freshman of the Year to Pershing Arena. Cortney Shewmaker vs. Georgia Mueller will definitely be the game within the game this Saturday. Even though they won't matchup against each other, the voters will be watching to see who has the better impact. Mueller has quietly put games together all throughout this season. It could be that Mueller's biggest game may be the one that gets her team to Kansas City.

Another big storyline that fans will need to keep an eye on is Candace McGee. The Bulldogs' sophomore guard is five treys from tying Wendi Sobaski's single season record. In Wednesday night's contest, she did sink 5 treys to at least give her a shot at tying the record. She already has attempted the second most three's in a season, with 185, leaving her 11 away from that record.

So with all these microcosms abound, it would be easy to forget that this game is basically the MIAA play-in game. So, pack Pershing Saturday afternoon, for what could be a record-breaking day.

Tournament Scenarios

2006-02-21T16:38:00.000-06:00

*Tyler Madsen*

With 2 games remaining in the men's basketball season, I thought it'd be a good idea to see what the final seedings could end up being for the MIAA conference tournament in Kansas City.

There's some confusing stuff ahead, so sit down, grab a sandwich, and don't over-analyze these figures:

Current Standings of title hopefuls:
SBU: 10-4
TSU: 10-4
CMSU: 9-5

Truman wins 2:
The team would clinch an outright conference title at 12-4 and would have the #1 seed in the conference tournament.

Truman beats CMSU/loses to SBU:
The team would be the #2 seed in the conference tournament, and would only clinch a share of the title if SBU loses Wednesday night at Pitt State (both would finish 11-5)

Truman loses to CMSU/beats SBU:
Here's where it gets the most confusing. The likely result would bring about a three-way tie for the title at 11-5 (CMSU beating Washburn on Saturday; SBU beating PSU on Wednesday).

As a result of tiebreakers, SBU would drop to the 3 seed (lost twice to #4 seed Northwest), and the 'Dogs and Mules would have to wait the outcome of Wednesday's ESU/MWSU game. Should the Hornets win, the 'Dogs would have the #1 seed; should the Griffons win and grab the 5 seed for the conference tourney, then the Mules would have the #1 seed (I won't get into explaining the tiebreakers).

Truman loses 2:
Truman would then end up as the #3 seed (10-6) behind SBU and CMSU.

Got it? Yeah, me neither...

The Women Need Your Help

2006-02-20T23:47:00.000-06:00

By John Scognamiglio

With two games left to play this season, the women's basketball team needs the students and faculty of Truman State University, as well as the community of Kirksville, to come out to Pershing Arena Wednesday night and Saturday afternoon for their games.

The team is currently tied with Southwest Baptist for the final spot in the MIAA tournament. Southwest Baptist plays against Pittsburg State on Wednesday, as Pitt State looks to gain a spot in the tourney with a victory. Should Pitt State win, the Truman women will need to win one of their final two games to get to Kansas City.

There are plenty of other story lines to watch in the final week. The girls are currently six three-pointers away from setting a new record for most treys in a season.

Freshman Georgia Mueller is still the favorite to win the MIAA Freshman of the Year award with her 11.7 points per game output. Her closest competitors come calling on Saturday when Southwest Baptist visits Pershing. Cortney Shewmaker has started to establish herself as the Bearcat front-runner.

So, if you have free time Wednesday evening at 5:30, come to Pershing Arena and root for the Bulldogs.

This week in the Index...

2006-02-16T11:04:00.000-06:00

So, in order to get all the sports 'blog coverage' I am going to try something new this week. I will post the links to every story that is appearing in today's (Feb. 16) issue of the Index. I would really apperciate any thoughts, comments, ideas about this. Just post a comment if you like the idea or not. All feedback is welcome.

On to the links... All the links SHOULD work, but they make take a few seconds. Be patient.

Men's basketball wins another close one.

Sports Editor Conor Nicholl takes a look at senior guards Chip Sodemann's clutchness.

Freshman wrestler Blake Peterson, who hasn't lost since mid-November, is profiled.

Baseball season is set is set to begin with upperclassmen leading the way.

The softball team has high expectations for the upcoming season.

Women's basketball player Natalie Shupbach is this weeks Athlete of the Week.

The wrestling team had a busy Weekend.

Swim teams look to make a splash at conference meet.

Katie Fowler hits a buzzer beater against Upper Iowa.

Roller hockey finishes their regular season.

-Joseph Barker
Assistant Sports Editor

Trap Game Ahead

2006-02-15T18:23:00.000-06:00

*Tyler Madsen*

Truman State men's basketball is about to encounter the important stretch of basketball it's seen since the 1999 Final Four.

After all, hosting Central Missouri State and Southwest Baptist to end the season could either be picture-perfect or a horror story in the works. Win them both and get a little bit of help, and you're looking at a conference championship.

I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about that.

But wait a minute ... there's a game between now and then ... this Saturday, the 'Dogs will make the long trip to Joplin, Mo., and take on the last-place Missouri Southern Lions, whom the purple and white defeated (fairly easily) 64-52 back on Jan. 7.

And that, my friends, might be the game that ruins it all.

1) As I'd stated above, it would be extremely easy to overlook a Mo-Southern team that has only registered 11 wins (as of Wednesday afternoon) on the season.

2) Though the week off has given the team a chance to nurse some injuries back to health, they were granted a week off earlier in the season as well to prepare for their Saturday opponent. The result? A 68-55 thumping at Pitt State. Fans might remember that the second half of that game started the team's 80-minute shooting slump.

3) Continuing on with the slump thoughts, the team has hit 33 three-pointers over the last four games. What stops hot shooting? A layoff.

4) Missouri Southern must not be an easy place to play. After all, Emporia and Central Missouri State left with losses, and neither Northwest and Washburn were able to top 37% shooting in their narrow wins. Are the 'Dogs entering a real Lions den?

Let me emphasize that I really hope I'm wrong and that everything plays out so that the final Saturday has a conference championship on the line. But like popcorn that's been left in the microwave a little too long -- something just doesn't smell good about this one.

Eight Days, Three Games, Storylines Aplenty

2006-02-14T00:21:00.000-06:00

By John Scognamiglio

This Saturday begins the final stretch run for the basketball teams at Truman State University. And while the end of the season is near, the final results are still not known.

Let's start with the team that has the most to play for: women's basketball (sorry men's fans, but they are already in).

The women's team is fighting for their playoff life. They have three games to go, starting Saturday with their final road game at Missouri Southern. They then return to Pershing Arena for two regular season games to close out the 2005-2006 campaign. With the losses last night of Pitt State and Southwest Baptist, the Bulldogs are very much still in the mix to finish their season in Kansas City. Pitt State has to contend with Emporia State, Southwest Baptist, and Missouri Western. Southwest Baptist faces Northwest Missouri State, Pitt State, and Truman in their final three games. The Bulldogs have to contend with Missouri Southern, Central Missouri, and Southwest Baptist.

Each team is definitely in must-win territory right now, with the biggest burden on Southwest Baptist, since they have two games against their direct competition. Pitt State doesn't have the easiest schedule either, since they have to face Emporia State on Saturday, a team that recently lost to Central Missouri, the same Central Missouri the Bulldogs took into overtime while most students were at home during winter break. Emporia State will be coming off two straight losses (they lost to Washburn last night 73-57) and will undoubtedly be looking to capture momentum heading into the final week.

With three games to play, and only one game seperating those three teams vying for two playoff spots, there is a lot to fight for on the women's side of the bracket.

Now onto the team that has a lot to play for as well: the men's basketball team.

There is an old adage in the MIAA: in this conference, on any given night, any team can win. Well last night certainly proved that. Southwest Baptist, ranked No. 1 in the region and No. 7 overall in the country fell to Central Missouri last night in Warrensburg by a score of 72-56. Also falling last night on the men's side was Northwest Missouri, who just was ranked fourth in the South Central Region. Missouri Southern, however, continued their race towards KC by beating Pitt State. As my colleague Tyler Madsen said earlier, this team could trip up the Bulldogs as their dream season winds down.

With all the upheaval last night, Southwest Baptist still is in first with a conference record of 10-3. Truman is second at 9-4. One game seperates first and second place. But don't count out Central Missouri, who is in third with an 8-5 record.

This Saturday, Southwest Baptist will host Northwest Missouri, a team the purple Bearcats lost to earlier this season. Central Missouri hosts Missouri Western on Saturday. With the regular season conference title on the line in the final eight days, there is still a lot to play for on the men's side of the MIAA.

Shout Outs

2006-02-07T18:35:00.000-06:00

By John Scognamiglio

In response to a plea from a former assistant sports editor, and my belief that not all sports revolve around basketball, here are some shout outs for you all.

Shout Out #1 : Ashley Colon

This past week, Ashley Colon won the weight throw event in the Augustana Open Invitational. Oh yeah, that was the third week in a row that she won that event. She is having one of those under the radar type seasons that would have taken notice if the men's basketball team wasn't 18-4.

Shout Out #2 : Bridgette Carpenter

Also at the same invitational, Carpenter set a new location record for the shot put and matched the NCAA Provisional mark set for the event. She may have the chance to go to the NCAA Indoor Track National Championship meet. Yet another thing that flies under the radar.

Shout Out #3 : Midyear Transfers

Within the past few weeks, the Bulldog women's basketball team and the volleyball team has added players from Division I schools. Lisa Weber joins the Elite Eight volleyball squad from Tennessee Martin. In high school, Weber was an All-Metro St. Louis caliber volleyball player from Westminster Christian. She's a 6'1 middle blocker that will look to contribute immediately next season. Sarah Gordon is a transfer from Tennessee Chattanooga. She was All-State Class 3 second team for Missouri her senior year, averaging 16.6 points and 14.8 rebounds.

Shout Out #4 : Swimming Team

The women's swimming team has already qualified 16 players for the national championship meet in Indianapolis. Headlining the field is senior Whitney Jensen who has qualified in eight events. The men's team has only qualified four swimmers so far, but there are a few meets left before the big one in Indy.

Shout Out #5 : Ross Houston

Yes, our former assistant sports editor gets a shout out. When he could be out living it up in swinging London town, showing people how to party the Chicago and Abercrombie way, does he? No, he still maintains the Bulldog sports fan and gets on here to keep posting and keeping us on our toes. Good for you Ross for sacrificing school and fun times to keep us one step ahead.

Most Important Stat

2006-02-05T13:33:00.000-06:00

By John Scognamiglio

The men's basketball team has had two really important home wins in conference in the past ten days. Is there a key to the two victories at Pershing?

Well, one could argue that the key is senior guard Chip Sodemann who led the 'Dogs in scoring in both victories with 16 and 14 respectively. Also, you could look at junior forward Andy Calmes who led the 'Dogs with rebounds with 14 and nine. You can go on and on and on about certain players, certain situations, but there is one important stat that I feel helped this Bulldog team to victories in both of those games.

Homecourt advantage is probably one of the most overrated and underrated themes in statistics. A good example is that of the Seattle Seahawks who were undefeated at home this season because of their so-called "12th Man" at Qwest Field, all apologies to Texas A&M.

Wednesday night, January 25, 2006, the recorded attendance at Pershing Arena was 1472. Saturday afternoon, February 4, 2006, the recorded attendance at Pershing Arena was 1685.

For those keeping track, that's two home games, five point difference between wins and losses, and an astounding 3157 in attendance watching history in the making. It may be too early to call Pershing Arena the "6th Man," but this Bulldog squad has four more home games, including key matchups against the number three team in conference, Central Missouri State University Mules (who trail the Bulldogs by half a game in the conference standings) and a senior day matchup against currently 20-2 Southwest Baptist University, a squad who needed a little help to defeat the Bulldogs in overtime.

My goal, my plea, my wish, is on Saturday, February 25, 2006, the Pershing Arena Faithful, all Bulldog basketball fans, make their voices heard, and tear off the ceiling of the building, and set a new attendance record for Pershing Arena. We as a school, we as a community, can set the bar for the future by watching history in the making. 2000 people? We only need a few hundred more for that. 2500? Nice number, one quarter of ten thousand. Let's shoot for 3000 or more, so that 3000 people can shout, make noise, storm the court and say they saw something that they've never seen before.

Fan-damonium

2006-02-04T18:05:00.000-06:00

-Joe Barker

Truman 68 – Emporia State 67

The color has returned to my hands. My voice is slowly soundind less hoarse. My heart is no longer pounding out of my chest.

The same could not have been said a half hour ago.

I just got back from THE most exciting amateur sporting event I have ever attended. The men’s basketball team just won in the most exciting fashion. I am speechless, which is unusual for me.

As a sports writer I always attend events as a media man, looking at the game for a writers point of view. Today, since Tyler does an excellent job covering the men I figured I didn’t need to bring out the ol’ notebook. Instead I went to the game as a fan.

And I couldn’t be more excited.

When junior forward Andy Calmes put back the rebound with 1.1 seconds left in the game I didn’t know what to do with myself. I started jumping up and down and I let out the most primal scream. In normal circumstances I would have looked like a foul yet everyone in the near packed gym was doing the same. We just couldn’t control ourselves.

Seeing that shoot bounce of the rim, as a fan I was at the lowest of lows. Then suddenly seeing #10 leapt out of nowhere and put the ball back with just the slightest touch I erupted, the whole place erupted. I have gone to my share of basketball games but this was so intense. ONE POINT ONE SECONDS left and the ’Dogs come out on top. It was amazing.

And I wasn’t even playing.

That feeling of victory is the greatest feeling a fan can get. All of us in the student section forgot about class, tests – everything - and simply exploded with joy. Nothing could go wrong.

Women's Basketball Stuff

2006-02-03T18:11:00.000-06:00

By John Scognamiglio

I would just like to give this disclaimer: Those who dare enter this very blog, beware.

Now that I have that out of the way, I think it's officially time to call the women's basketball season over. It pains me to say it, but this team is definitely not built for the MIAA. With the 74-55 loss to Northwest Missouri State and Emporia State coming to Pershing tomorrow, the Bulldogs sit in the bottom of the MIAA standings at 1-9, although Southwest Baptist is only one game better. Should those two tie at the end of the season, which is very possible, the unusual tiebreaker of who beat a higher team will come into play. The Bulldogs lone conference win thus far is against Missouri Western, 4-6 in conference. The Bearcats already hold a victory over the 'Dogs, but their other win is against 6-4 Missouri Southern. So the Bulldogs may lose out on the tiebreaker.

Despite all that, I can just no longer sit idly by and try to make people feel better about this team. The MIAA is a power conference and the Bulldogs are going through a power crisis. That is not to say, however, that there are no players on this team giving their all. Lone senior Ali Long still is one of those players who refuses to do things easy and still does all the little things to confound an opposing team's offense, little things, like getting back to the hole after a made basket or a shot.

I've been around women's basketball for four years on the periphery due to my position as men's basketbsll student manager/assistant. There is one puzzling trend that I have noticed: the puzzling disappearances of certain players. When Long was a freshman, she was joined by Sarah Bernard, who is no longer with the team. The year afterward, the 'Dogs had a stellar freshman class enter with Megan Patti, Noelle Peterson, Natalie Schupbach, and Emily Markovich. Patti has since transferred, Peterson left the team, and Markovich unfortunately had arthritis that ended her career. Last season, Katie Fowler, Candi McGee, Carmen McGee, and Callie Sears began their Bulldog careers. Sears has since left the team. This year, the squad has already lost Hilary Adams and Lucie Lueken, though the pickup of Sarah Gordon may do wonders for the team.

Four years of basketball, seven players leaving the team. While the men are shooting for 20 wins, the women will be lucky to get to 10. And it's not just the cold shooting that's dooming the Bulldogs. It's an overall sense of frustration that I get when I watch them play. I will never give up watching this team play basketball, for I remember a time when the men's basketball team was in the same boat, scratching and clawing their way to win a few games each season. Maybe it'll be a few years down the line till the women's basketball team returns to glory. As for this season, well...still come to Pershing, you might see Laura Cooper set a new record for three's in a game, or watch the final few games of Alison Long's underrated career as a Bulldog. As for wins, they might come, but, they might not too.

Making the turn...

2006-02-02T18:41:00.000-06:00

*Tyler Madsen*

We’re down to the final few games in the regular season before the action moves west to Kansas City the first weekend of March for the MIAA Tournament. I, for one, am excited about the remaining six conference games on the men’s side (I’ll let Scogs continue to handle the women’s team).

Saturday kicks off the rest of the schedule with a home date against Emporia State. Truman grabbed one on the road against the Hornets earlier this season, a 61-58 victory which kick-started the four game winning streak the team is now enjoying. A couple things to note this time around:

1) ESU was playing without one of their top players, Tyrell Sledge, who had the flu that night. What did he do his next time out? Just a measly 35 points. He’ll add another element to the game, which makes this game a lot tougher than it looks on paper.

2) On the other hand, the first half of that game was the last half of the mid-season shooting slump the entire team suffered through. The 35% difference between halves showed that the team hadn’t lost their touch at all.

On Wednesday night, Truman travels west to St. Joseph, Missouri for a rematch against the Griffons. No doubt that the ’Dogs will have retribution for the 69-49 shellacking MoWest put on Truman back in mid-January.

The ’Dogs only need three more wins to hit the 20-win mark on the season, a number many consider to be the crucial number in order to lock up a national tourney berth. I’d sleep much better at night with a few more.

Sodemann reaches 1,000 point mark, Agbo, Certa, Estridge provide key minutes in win

2006-01-29T15:55:00.000-06:00

Conor Nicholl

A few notes and observations while watching the Washburn game Saturday night at Lee Arena with Tyler Madsen and Chris Tharp. After the 81-72 win, the men’s basketball team is rolling at 15-4 and 6-3 in the MIAA.

Milestone
With his family and friends cheering and applauding, senior guard Chip Sodemann hit two free throws with 22.2 seconds left to reach the 1,000-point barrier in his 101st consecutive start. Sodemann, the Cal Ripken of Bulldog basketball, has never missed a game or a start in his four-year career. Tyler said he deserved every point – and I agree. Sodemann has been a class act from Day 1.

The Big Man
Junior forward Grant Agbo looked really tired in warm-ups and throughout the entire game. Head coach Jack Schrader said Agbo had the flu and didn’t travel with the team. Assistant coach Tim Deidrick drove Agbo down Saturday afternoon and the big man suited up.

He didn’t start, but was absolutely critical throughout the contest, holding Washburn forward Brady Sisk (game-high 24 points) in check in the second half. He also tied with junior forward Andy Calmes with 15 points – in only 21 minutes played.

A gutty performance by Agbo.

Certa
Sophomore guard Nick Certa had arguably his best game in a Bulldog uniform, finishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds. He kept the game from getting out of hand in the first half. The 6-5 swingman entered with the purple and white trailing 13-5 with 16:17 remaining.

Certa matched the Ichabods’ red-hot shooting, scoring nine of the Bulldogs’ next 20 points and kept the game close.

He also showed his vast arsenal of shots, hitting a heavily guarded turnaround jumper for his first basket, working inside for his next bucket and sinking two three-pointers. Certa has the shot to hit from the outside and the muscle and height to maneuver in the paint. The sophomore is starting to escalate his game like Andy Calmes and Matt Beran did in their second seasons.

The Future
Certa wasn’t the only bench player to provide key minutes. Freshman guard Banks Estridge is seeing more playing time, scoring six key points in 13 minutes. He also delivered some nice passes, including threading a first half bounce pass to Calmes for an easy layup.

But, with 12:47 left, the heir apparent to Sodemann may have delivered the turning point of the game, constructing a three-point play off a layup and a free throw that tied the game at 54.

Key Rebounding
Andy Calmes entered the game as the conference’s leading rebounder at 9.4 per game. The Ichabods contained him in the first half, limiting the junior to just two boards – a big reason why Washburn had the lead.

But with 10:19 left, Calmes delivered his trademark rebound – flying past slower big men, grabbing the board and tipping in the errant shot. That basket gave the ’Dogs 60-58 lead – a lead they would never relinquish. Five minutes later, he had another tip-in off a rebound and then grabbed a defensive board on the ensuing possession.

Improvement The Bulldogs can’t afford to fall behind early. During the last four games, the purple and white have accumulated a 33-point deficit and have outscored their opponents by 29 points in the second half. Last night, it fell behind 9-0 and were down 35-22 at one point. The ’Dogs need to start playing better at the start – if they fall behind Wednesday night against Northwest in Maryville, they may not be able to recover.

The Defense
Through the first half, it appeared the Ichadods had found the secret to shooting the three against the ’Dogs. Finding some open looks, they hit four of their first eight treys against the purple and white – a team that holds opponents to a conference-best 28.8 from beyond the arc.

Then they didn’t hit one the rest of the game – misfiring on its final eight attempts. The ability to contain the outside shot helped the purple and white turn the game around.

A Wild Night in the Conference
Elsewhere in another wild night in the MIAA:

In Maryville, Central Missouri defeated Northwest last night in overtime – handing the Bearcats their second straight loss. Southwest Baptist, also hoping to avoid their second consecutive defeat, needed a buzzer-beater layup to knock off Emporia. And the Bulldogs, playing at Washburn, came back from 13-point first half deficit to win 81-72.

Four teams are within one game of first place:
SBU 7-2
Truman 6-3
CMSU 6-3
Northwest 6-3

Truman vs. Northwest Wednesday night will provide some separation as the conference’s top two defenses square off for the second time in the past week. The first matchup was a thriller – expect the second one to be just as good.

Four Days Left, Plenty of Work Remains

2006-01-27T16:32:00.000-06:00

Conor Nicholl

The football office was absolutely buzzing this morning.

Head coach Shannon Currier was guiding around a running back recurit, defensive coordinator Aaron Rasset and offensive coordinator Aaron Vlcko broke down film and special teams coordinator/recuriting coordinator Daric Riley had his cell phone attached to his ear.

Only four days left until National Signing Day - a day that will impact the next few years of the Currier Era.

Rasset said the squad is looking at a small recuriting class - only about 15 people are expected to sign because only seven seniors graduated last fall.

Not including the several tranfers - including a Junior College All-American quarterback, only three have verbally committed to Truman, Rasset said. One of those recurits -- kicker/punter Mickey Masucci -- was mentioned in the Post-Dispatch this morning. Masucci, the First Team All-Metro kicker, has a boot for a leg, connecting on seven of 12 field goals (including a 49-yarder) and averaging 59.6 yards per kickoff. Only six of 39 kickoffs was returned.

The Post said other state schools, including Missouri, Northwest, Central Mo and Missouri State, were pursuing Masucci. He also had walk-on offers from other top-flight Div. I schools, including defending national champion Texas.

In a 30-minute conversation this afternoon, Danny Heitert of STC Grid Report, the Mel Kiper of St. Louis football recruiting, said Masucci could be a breakthrough prospect for the Bulldogs. Few top players from the St. Louis area had Truman on their radar screen, but Masucci could pave the way.

Heitert said Masucci will help on both sides of the ball.

"He's a little bit above the curve for Div. II kickers," Heitert said. "He may be able to help immediately. He's got a very fast leg and can change the entire thinking for their offense. If they can get the ball on the 30-yard line, they have a chance for points. He also put the ball in the end zone on kickoffs."

That was something Mark Kamphoefner couldn’t do with regularity. Kamp certianly had a leg – he set the school record last season with a 53-yard field goal – but only averaged 53.8 yards/kickoff. Wind may have played a factor in some kickoffs – especially in Week Three against Northwest Missouri State – but Masucci should certianly upgrade the kicking game.

The Post-Dispatch also reported CBC defensive back Isaiah Mares committed to Yale after considering Columbia, Penn and Truman. Heitert said Mares was the best talent from the St. Louis area that highly considered Truman.

“He was probably going to the Ivy Leagues,” Heitert said. “He just was waiting on academic scholarship money, since the Ivies can’t give athletic scholarships. He was strongly considering Truman, though.”

Rassert said the squad is looking at signing four defensive backs, but will probably have to go outside of the area to find one.

Heitert also mentioned his grades for Truman players as they entered college.

Unlike SCOUTS, Inc. 1-9 scale or Truman’s 1-4 scale, Heitert’s system uses a letter grading system. An A or A- means the player could make the two-deep roster on a Div. II team in his first year of a five-year career, a B or B+ means making the two-deep in their second year and a C or C+ means in their third year.

C Mike Shelden (Shelden’s dad played football with Heitert) B/B+
One of the squad’s top players, graded out near 80 percent this past season, two-time All-MIAA

DE Courtney Jordan B
True freshman Recovered fumble against Winona State in Week 1, played in seven games, one sack

WR James Perry B
Earned MIAA recognition in 2003, No. 2-3 pass catcher throughout career

FB Cameron Poole C+
No playing time in 2005

WR Aaron Lowe C
Four catches in three years

Little mix of hockey

2006-01-27T13:00:00.000-06:00

-John Weeks

The Truman roller hockey team is flat out good. They're 10-1 and embarrassing teams. Here's my beef - as it stands right now I'd rather watch our roller hockey game than go to a St. Louis Blues game. I've bled blue my whole life and the note has sounded off every year for me until this one.

The somber state I'm in is indescribable. Of course everyone already knows how bad the Blues are and should just count on getting the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft. With that being said, we are doing very little to improve the makeup of our team. A 34-year-old player who has played for more teams than Reggie Sanders leads the team in scoring because Keith Tkachuk's too busy nursing his knuckles back to full strength. I never see the Blues outhustle or outwork any other team on the ice.

That's right, I'm pointing my finger at Head coach Mike Kitchen. He's a worthless coach. If you ever watch a Blues game you'll notice that he rarely changes his expression on his face and never yells at his players. My bet, his mind's never in the game. There's all these trade talks including Doug Weight and possibly Tkachuk. Yeah, that's the answer. Get draft picks and count on every one of them to make an impact on the NHL. Are you kidding me? Not everyone is cut out to perform at the NHL's level. What we need is experience and a couple of young guys. If we stick with a young team and several guys who should have retired years earlier the Blues will start a new streak - consecutive years without a playoff appearance.

Look at the other cellar dwellers: Columbus, Pittsburgh, Washington, NY Islanders. They aren't sinking like the Blues. Those teams are full of so much talent that in a couple of years they'll be contending for Lord Stanley's Cup. So, I give credit to the fans who show up to games. It takes balls. You sacrifice your night to watch a disgraceful loss 90% of the time. Oh yeah, Pleau and Sauer should stop asking buyers to pay off their $60 million dollar debt. It's their fault. They need to deal with their screw ups and pay their own debt.

I think I've found the answer - I'm moving to Canada (Hockey's so much better there because the players aren't ice skating!!)

This writer is speechless...

2006-01-25T23:32:00.000-06:00

*Tyler Madsen*

After giving the men's basketball team's 60-56 come-from-behind win over No. 16 Northwest Missouri a chance to sink in for a couple hours, I'm 99% sure that it might not ever sink in.

What a basketball game.

Let's take a look at some key numbers:
1) First and foremost: 1,472. That was the attendance tonight for the game. Thank you Truman students, parents and faculty, as well as Kirksville citizens for making Pershing Arena so electric. You never gave up on the team tonight and for that, you were rewarded for arguably the best game since the 1999 MIAA conference tournament win over the same Bearcats (I, of course, wasn't around for that, but the things you hear about...).

2) 48% shooting from the field for Truman. What happened to the "potent" Bearcat defense in the second half tonight, in which the 'Dogs shot a blistering 62%? The purple and white were really able to score at will down the stretch which really hit the Bearcats where it hurt the most - the scoreboard.

3) 36-24: rebounding margin in favor of Truman. In talking with coach Schrader about this stat after the game, he was adamant about his philosophy that "first shots can't win ballgames," and he was right. Northwest was only allowed eight offensive rebounds, including only ONE in the final 17 minutes. The 'Dogs just didn't let the Bearcats get any extra chances tonight. Big props to junior forward Andy Calmes for snaring 14 rebounds of his own -- the guy just migrates to the ball, wherever it is.

4) 1: block for senior guard Chip Sodemann. That block, however, was the biggest number of the night (outside of the final score, of course). When he turned away Mose Howard's shot with 1:46 to play and the Bearcats up 2, it just seemed to send a message that the senior leader just wasn't willing to lose. Sodemann scored 16 points on the night (14 in the second half), dished out four assists, grabbed three rebounds, and of course, one block.

Looking ahead, the 'Dogs travel to Topeka, Kansas for a matchup against the Washburn Ichabods at 7:30 Saturday night. My sports editor, Conor Nicholl, one of our sports photographers Chris Tharp, and I will be making the 4-hour trek to watch the games (the ladies play too, of course), and we'll certainly have some fun stuff from the trip to report, of course. Looking at Washburn:

1) The 'Dogs beat WU, 87-78 at home on December 30. The team shot 56% for the game (wow, that's high) and got 21 points out of center Garrett Grimm, who has since been replaced in the starting lineup by junior Grant Agbo. Who will be the playmaker on Saturday?

2) Despite a slow start, the 'Bods find themselves sitting in the eighth spot in the conference with an overall record of 8-10 (2-6 in the MIAA). They seem to be hitting their stride as of late, winning two in a row before falling tonight at Missouri Western.

3) Look for Kris Milburn to step up for the 'Bods on Saturday. He's one of their leaders (11.8 ppg; 41% FG) but was held scoreless tonight. He'll be out for some retribution on Saturday.

As for now though, let's just hope the good guys keep posting wins and that we get to talk about some great basketball throughout the weeks to come.

My MidSeason Awards Show

2006-01-24T17:19:00.000-06:00

By John Scognamiglio

A la Bill Simmons I have looked at the MIAA men's basketball programs and have come up with the following awards:

Team of the year: Southwest Baptist

With all apologies to Northwest Missouri State, Southwest Baptist has been at the top of the MIAA all year long. Even though they are ranked behind NWMSU in the regional rankings, the purple Bearcats are now ranked 4th in Division II. They lead the MIAA in scoring offense with over 85 points a game and have two dynamic players in Sheldon Pace and Frans Steyn.

Surprise of the year: No surprise here with Truman State University

This was a team picked last in the MIAA preseason poll. This was a team that up until two weeks ago was seven seconds away from being undefeated. Overall, they are probably the most balanced team in the conference in terms of scoring and defense. The Bulldogs have a great floor general in Chip Sodemann, and the re-emergence of Grant Agbo as a scoring threat make this squad a good inside-outside team in terms of scoring.

Most Valuable Offensive Player: Michael Hicks of CMSU

CMSU was the team to beat in the MIAA preseason poll and it is because of this young man. Hicks is the leading scorer on a 14-4 Mules team that currently sits in third place in the conference behind Southwest Baptist and Northwest Missouri State, averaging 21.3 points per game. In two of the Mules losses, he was held to 16 points by St. Edwards and 14 points by Truman State. The other two losses came in shootouts to Southwest Baptist and Emporia State, where he still scored 28 and 25 points respectively. As Hicks goes, so goes the fortunes of Central Missouri.

Most Valuable Defensive Player: Derek Lindsey of Truman State

Lindsey has been consistently been called upon to shut down offensive threats throughout the season. In the pre-conference schedule, he shut down Titus Byrd to 18 points combined in two games. Lindsey was the Bulldog to shut down Michael Hicks in the Bulldogs victory in Warrensburg at the start of the conference season. Lindsey is also an offensive threat, leading the MIAA in assist to turnover ratio at 4.58, almost two full points ahead of Sheldon Pace, who is second. Lindsey is also the Bulldogs second leading scorer with 10.5 points per game.

Coach of the Year: Jeff Guiot of Southwest Baptist and Jack Schrader of Truman State

I really don't want to be a homer and give the award outright to Coach Schrader, but I can't overlook the great squad Coach Guiot has in his second season in the MIAA. Each coach has surprised the conference. Coach Guiot has a talented team that has enjoyed a great start, losing only to Northwest Missouri State in the regular season. Those purple Bearcats are now ranked fourth in Division II. Coach Schrader does not have the same level of playmakers as other schools in conference, but he has had four years to cultivate the play of Sodemann and Lindsey, and three years with Agbo, Andy Calmes, and Austin Kirby. Schrader has proved to the rest of the MIAA that squads do not need team of all-stars, and a great team is five individuals out on the court who move and think and play as one.

Bulldogs capture huge road victory

2006-01-21T19:20:00.000-06:00

Conor Nicholl

Twenty minutes saved the Bulldogs.

After suffering two straight defeats to mid-level MIAA teams in Pittsburg State University and Missouri Western State College, the men’s basketball team captured an important road win over Emporia State University Saturday afternoon.

After shooting 28 percent in the first half, the Bulldogs finally found the bottom of the net in the final 20 minutes, sinking 61 percent of their shots en route to a 61-58 victory.

The victory gives the ’Dogs a 4-3 conference record and, more importantly, will probably keep them in the top eight in the region when the next rankings come out. Currently, the purple and white reside seventh – with the top eight teams qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.

But after a disheartening 20-point loss to Mo. West (then-1-4 in the MIAA) on Wednesday (and a matchup against nationally ranked Northwest Mo. four days from now), the ’Dogs needed a victory.

The win gives them a 14-4 overall record and guarantees a .500 record through the first half of MIAA play. A .500 overall mark in the conference – plus one win in the conference tourney – will probably be enough for a NCAA berth.

Had the ’Dogs lost today, it would have marked their fourth straight loss in conference play and further eroded the team’s confidence.

But, after tallying only 104 points in their previous two games (and shooting less than 35 percent), the shots started falling in the second half, allowing the purple and white to escape from Emporia with the victory.

The win also boosts an impressive road resume, as the ’Dogs have won at Quincy, at then-No. 11 Central Missouri State, lost in overtime to nationally ranked Southwest Baptist in Bolivar and now own a road win at White Auditorium, where Emporia had won 41 of their previous 47 games entering Saturday.

Recruiting Notebook-Could Truman replicate Penn State's turnaround?

Shannon Currier could be a lot like Joe Paterno in 2006.

Except he won’t be wearing coke bottle glasses and is about half JoePa’s age.

But the coaches have multiple similarities when it comes to their football teams.

Their teams play in arguably the highest conference in their respective Divisions – JoePa’s Penn State University in the Big 10 and Currier’s Bulldogs in the MIAA.

Before this season, JoePa had nearly lost his job, as Penn State fell to the bottom of the conference. This past season, the Nittany Lions – led by all-purpose QB Michael Robinson and an airtight defense, shocked the college football world by winning the Big 10 and the Orange Bowl and finishing the season 11-1 – three more wins than they had in the previous two seasons combined.

With Currier, he took over an awful program at Concordia-St. Paul, became the architect of an offensive machine that went 32-12 in four years and then went to south to Kirksville where he’s combined for four wins over the previous two falls.

Sitting in his office Wednesday afternoon, Currier was taking a break from recruiting. Dressed in a suit coat and tie, he began talking about the recent American Football Coaches Convention he attended over the holidays.

“In this profession, you can go from the outhouse to the penthouse and vice versa based on situations and wins,” Currier said. “But that’s not how it works. Coach Paterno isn’t a different coach when he won National Coach of the Year then he was the previous two seasons. His teams probably did a better job, but he’s not a different coach. He’s not suddenly gotten a lot worse or a lot better.”

The same line can be applied to Currier. Currier was one of the best coaches in Div. II at Concordia, but his teams at the University are some of the worst in our school’s history. Is he still a good coach? Can he pull a Paterno and become National Coach of the Year?

A lot of people don’t think so, but no one thought the Nittany Lions were going to finish anywhere near the top five in the country at this time last season.

A look back at Penn State’s model of success reveals a few keys: a willingness to play freshman (signed a year ago in February) – especially young, talented wide receivers that can make play, an athletic quarterback, a solid offensive line that will protect the pocket, a smashmouth defense that will keep their team in every game, lots of home games (Penn State had seven games at Happy Valley) and an easy non-conference schedule.

All-MIAA center Mike Shelden believes a turnaround is possible. Like Penn State, as this past year’s squad was junior- and senior-laden. The ’Dogs will return 18 starters – nine each on both sides of the ball.

“I think we are going to surprise some people,” he said Thursday afternoon. “I can’t wait for spring ball. The spring is going to be very competitive this year since we are losing only three starters.”

Can the Bulldogs pull a dramatic turnaround and accomplish what Penn State did this past year?

Yes. And no.

Offensively, the purple and white will have 10 returning starters, including their QB and all five lineman.

“It will be really nice to have who will already know the system,” Shelden said. “Last season, we had a lot of young players who didn’t know the system.”

Sophomore Michael Long will probably start again. He’s still one of the youngest quarterbacks in the conference and will mix good and bad plays. He’s an upgrade over Jonathan Duffy, the running quarterback who started the first four games last season.

The wide receiver position is critical – especially with Signing Day approaching. Jeff Amundson will probably resort to his 2004 form (76 catches), but the team needs a playmaker like James Walton to stretch the field. Can Currier sign a player who can step in and fill a Walton-like role?

If he does (and if offensive coordinator Aaron Vlcko gives running back Michael Patnode 15 touches a game), the offensive could double its scoring output – something the Nittany Lions did last season.

Defense is also critical.

“We constantly looking for defensive players,” Currier said. “Teams need talented, athletic players that can run around and make plays and keep their teams in every game, like the Chicago Bears did this season.”

Penn State did the same thing. Led by lineman Tamba Hali (a probable high first round draft pick), cornerback Alan Zemaitis and Butkus Award-winner linebacker Paul Posluzsny, the Nittany Lions allowed only 25 points or more in two games last season and only 17 points per contest.

The season before, though, the Nittany Lions allowed only 15 points a contest – and lost seven Big 10 games by 14 points or less – meaning the personnel on the defensive side of the ball was still outstanding during their 4-7 2004 season.

The ’Dogs don’t have that kind of defense, as they’ve allowed over 30 points a game the last two years. Signing Day could bring some playmakers, but upgrading must come from within.

Four senior all-MIAA players return, including lineman Steve Holman, one of two returning seniors-to-be all-conference D-lineman, cornerback Josh Mayson, one of two senior-to-be defensive backs, linebacker Larry Giglio, one of five senior-to-be linebackers and sophomore Andy Swedenhjelm, one of the program’s top talents.

It’s unlikely 2006 will mark the revitalization of the Bulldog defense, but Signing Day, coupled with returning all-conference selections and some rising talents (like DE Les Hammers), and the ’Dogs should allow less than 38 points a contest.

Finally, Penn State had a really easy non-conference schedule and many preseason magazines said they would probably start the season 5-0.

They also didn’t have to play Iowa and had road games at Northwestern (in a game PSU barely won), at Michigan (a loss by a point), at Illinois (the worst team in the Big 10) and at Michigan State. Every other game was at home – including a matchup versus Ohio State.

The Bulldogs will have a easier home schedule than last year, but they will still play at Pitt. St. and Emporia State. If past seasons are any indication, they also won’t have an easy non-conference schedule (though they should), as they played two ranked teams last fall.

So, it’s unlikely the purple and white will match the seven-win turnaround the Nittany Lions enjoyed this past fall.

But, if the staff can sign some key talents on the all-important Signing Day, I believe the ’Dogs will do one thing Penn State accomplished this fall: win more games than the last two years combined.

Dual Dominance

2006-01-21T15:24:00.000-06:00

-Joseph Barker

As the swimmers were swimming their cool down laps the PA announcer announced the final score of the just completed meet. Final score: Truman 123, Western Illinois 70 - for both the men and women. Truman's swim teams had just defeated another Div. I school, this time by identical scores.

The win gives the Men's team their fourth meet win in a row. With all the talk surrounding the dominating women's squad - and most of it deserving since they ARE the five-time defending National Champs - the men tend to get lost in the shuffel. But, these guys are good.

Just take a look at their results. Yes they have lost three duals this year, but two of those were too Div. I schools. For those not in the know, Truman is Div. II. Take out those two loses and you have a solid team. Maybe they won't be gunning for the National title like the women, but they are a good squad. And they are young too.

At today's senior day festivities the team said good bye to four members of the current squad, including national qualifier Josh Otis. However, they are only losing four guys, that still leaves a lot of talent. Just go up and down the roster and you will notice a lot of juniors and sophomores - a sign that maybe we could have something here. The point is, these guys are young and performing at a high level. Not many Div. II schools constantly take on Div. I schools. These guys could be primed to start a run like the women, maybe not this year but I have a feeling that the men might be something to look at these last few weeks of the season.

Maybe I am just seeing things I want to see, but maybe with some success and some strong recruiting by Coach Mark Gole, the team can be on par with the women and could have the potential to make Truman the swimming power of Div. II with both the men and women.

*Correction: According to Go Bulldogs the scores were actually 123-70 for the women and 116-77 for the men. Both teams still won, but I figured I should get the scores right. -Joe

Time to get on a Roll

2006-01-19T17:49:00.000-06:00

By John Scognamiglio

Wednesday night's game against the Missouri Western Griffons gave the women's basketball team their first MIAA victory of the season and kept their record above .500.

This is the same women's team that was all but written off by a few as the season got underway. Coach Sloop has always had a good non-conference record, while his teams have faltered in conference. At the beginning of the MIAA season, it looked like it was more of the same. The team ran out to an 8-2 non-conference record, losing only to perennial Great Lakes power Quincy, and the number two team in Div. II, Drury.

Wednesday night, the Bulldogs put the stops to a very talented 13-4 Griffons team. When I talked to sophomore point guard Katie Fowler, she said that this week would be a good week to have the Bulldogs get on a roll. So how did the Bulldogs win this game? Simple, they refused to lose. They never got into an early hole and put the Griffons on notice that the Bulldogs would not simply roll over for anyone. They established a double-digit early lead and never gave it up. Plus, it doesn't hurt when your lone senior goes 10-13 at the charity stripe or have a sophomore guard who has a ho-hum night with 5-9 shooting behind the arc.

These Bulldogs have had the talent all year long to go on a good run in conference, but to sustain this run they have to play the number three team in the country in Emporia State at their homecourt. In the season's first conference game, the Bulldogs were in it to upset the #1 Lady Blues of Washburn. Could Saturday be the game where they knock off a top-5 team in Division II. If this season is any indicator, set your radio dials to listen to your Truman Bulldogs as they roll into Emporia, Kan. brimming with confidence.

How many losses is that?

2006-01-16T15:57:00.000-06:00

*Tyler Madsen*

For the first time this season, the Truman men’s basketball team lost a game.

No, today is not November 19^th, one day after the team dropped a 59-56 decision to Div. I Southeast Missouri State on the road.

Nor is the date on the calendar December 11^th, the morning after an 86-82 overtime loss at the hands of nationally-ranked Southwest Baptist.

With both of those losses coming in games in which the ’Dogs led throughout, it’s feasible to say that the men’s basketball team could easily be 15-1 after their 68-55 loss at Pitt State on Saturday afternoon instead of 13-3.

But really ... who's complaining?

The key for the 'Dogs will be their ability to bounce back from a loss in which they trailed throughout the entire second half for the first time all season (Pitt hit a three-pointer two minutes into the second half to break the 33-33 deadlock and never trailed again).

In looking at Missouri Western, they'll enter Pershing Arena on Wednesday night with a record of 10-6, 1-4 in the MIAA, which is extremely surprising to me. At the MIAA Media Day back in early November, I had the opportunity to talk to head coach Tom Smith who said that "this group could be the best group I've ever coached," which says a lot for a man who's won over 500 games in his coaching career.

A couple interesting stats:

1) Mo-Western has not won on the road this season (0-3).
2) Three players average in double figures, but only one of those plays more than 30 minutes a game - a testament to Smith's quick offense.
3) Look for the Griffons to jack-up the three-ball. Over 40% of their field goal attempts have been from beyond the arc.

Hope everyone can make it out to watch the Bulldogs in action at 7:30 on Wednesday night in Pershing Arena! Remember, it's FREE!

Men's basketball is the real deal

2006-01-05T00:37:00.000-06:00

-Ross Houston

Men's basketball head coach Jack Schrader has a little saying he applies to members of his teams, he told me last year for an interview for a yearbook article.

"Freshman just want to play. Sophomores just want to start. Juniors just want to score 20 points. Seniors just want to win."

He also told me that the team could contend for a national championship next year.

I shrugged this statement off when I first heard it, figuring it was another remark by a coach to shed the best possible light possible on his team.

Next year is now, and the Bulldogs, with a total of 5 seniors, is winning. I might not be shrugging off anything Schrader says anymore.

At first, I figured the wins were just a result of facing "blow-off" teams. After the squad's 77-69 victory of No. 11 Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg, I am now a believer.

With the win, the 'Dogs have improved to 12-2 overall and 2-1 in the MIAA. With just three more victories, the squad will surpass the number of wins in the past two seasons combined.

I think part of the success is due to actually facing the "blow-off" teams. As a former athlete, I know players have a psyche which could make a player sink or swim. Last year, the squad started off with a loss to Div. I SLU. Truman also had to face Div. I Illinois State en route to dropping its first six games. Needless to say, losing six straight games is not the biggest confidence builder in the world.

This year, we faced considerably less difficult teams (other than SEMO). Thus, our players got in the "winning" mindset, which apparently has carried over from game to game.

I'm not going to jinx the team by saying we're going to win a national championship. It's still too early to tell if this team is "THAT" good.

But, we are good. Don't get me wrong. I think we should be nationally ranked after this past victory. We nearly upended SEMO. We played really well against No. 7 Southwest Baptist University and almost came away with a win. We beat the No. 11 team.

It's a shame I'm going to miss the heart of the season and playoffs. But, if the 'Dogs can keep their winning mindset, the basketball world could see shades of the 1999 Final Four squad.

A few closing remarks, folks

2005-12-17T18:15:00.000-06:00

-Ross Houston-

Hi all,

Sorry I haven't been around lately. I've been working quite a bit on finalizing my trip to London, plus ensuring I have a decent GPA by studying for finals. Contrary to popular belief, I actually do attend classes.

In response to the comment left by the anon. person, Joe pretty much hit the nail on the head. I'm going to be studying abroad in London next semester (I leave in 25 days) so Joe is taking over as Assistant Sports Editor. I have complete confidence in his abilities, and I think he will do an excellent job.

If Conor allows, I will hopefully be posting a couple of times in London as well as writing a few columns about England, the rest of Western Europe and their relationship with regrads to sports. Sport is a lot different in Europe than in America, and hopefully, I will get to open most of your eyes to what else is out there. You know me, I'm Mr. Embedded Reporter.

Personally, I'm really excited about learning how to play Cricket, a sport that is extremely popular throughout most of the world. For some reason, it's never really took off in the States, and I will hopefully learn why.

Finally, I would like to thank some people:

I would like to thank Conor Nicholl for being a great leader of the sports section. You really opened up my and everyone else's eyes to what being passionate about something really is. I appreciate it more than you could know.

I would like to thank Joseph Barker for stepping up and filling the Assistant Sports Editor Position. It's a lot of hardwork, but you'll be fine. Like I already said, you'll do a great job.

I'd like to thank my staff. Each and everyone of you has improved so much over the semester. I'm really grateful that I got the chance to work with you guys.

Finally, I'd like to thank you all, the readers of the Index and the ISA. Without you, all of us would have WAY too much free time! But seriously, receiving your feedback and letters made my job worthwhile. Thank you so much.

Other than that, make sure you keep on reading this site and the Index every Thursday. Look for my columns and my triumphant return in Fall '06.

Until then, cheers!

Grab-Bag Grabowski

2005-12-12T12:55:00.000-06:00

*Tyler Madsen*

You know that game on the "Price is Right" where contestants reach into the bag, hoping to get a number and not a "strike," and if they get three "strikes" then they're out?

Jim Grabowski reached in and grabbed out a number when he had two strikes.

"I saw that it was off, so I went to rebound it, then it went in," Grabowski said to a local newspaper after banking in a three-pointer with four seconds left, sending the game between the Bulldogs and Southwest Baptist Bearcats to overtime, where SBU would emerge victorious, 86-82.

The fact that Truman even took the game to OT says a lot. They were without starting guard Austin Kirby, and Frans Steyn, SBU's version of Ivan Drago, was throwing his 7'2" frame around all over the place for 24 points and 15 rebounds, both season highs for him.

Could the 'Dogs have given up when they went down 57-48 with 8:21 to play? Absolutely. It just looked like the same story, different time ... Truman hanging in there, but never coming through on the road.

Then, something different happened. Led by senior guards Matt Brock and Chip Sodemann, as well as junior center Grant Agbo (who had an incredible game), the 'Dogs ran off a run of their own, actually taking a one-point lead with 3:30 to go.

As the teams went back and forth for the next 3+ minutes, Sodemann went to the free throw line with 13 seconds left, and after he hit both free throws, Truman possessed a 71-68 lead.. what would end up being the last time they'd be in control the remainder of the game.

After Grabowski's shot and Lindsey's non-shot (he didn't get an attempt off before time expired), the 'Dogs remained in their shell-shock state for the first three minutes of OT, letting SBU get a six-point lead. Good teams hit their free throws down the stretch, and SBU did that -- hitting 9-of-11 free throws in OT, including all seven attempts with under 30 seconds left, sealing the deal in Bolivar.

A few things that I think show that Saturday's game brings a lot of good things to come:

1) Garrett Grimm and Agbo both fouled out, but Andy Calmes picked up his fourth foul at the 8:39 mark of the second half -- and finished the game. Calmes was able to keep himself on the floor for the remaining 13:39 of gametime -- something extremely critical as, without him, Truman would have been utterly dominated on the glass by Steyn and Co.

2) Matt Brock. When he catches fire, he makes sure to get the most of it. 6-of-9 from behind the arc and 3-for-3 from the foul line for a career high 21 points. In Kirby's absence, he really stepped up when the purple and white needed him the most.

3) SBU is 10-0, and 24th-overall. This game sends a message to the MIAA .. in a season where there were no clear-cut "favorites," this game shows that even the team picked last in the preseason poll can give anyone a run for their money. Missouri Southern beating #20 Emporia State on Saturday verifies this point even more. The conference is a crapshoot.

The 'Dogs now have a few non-conference games before getting back into conference play on the 30th, at home against Washburn (5-3, 0-1). This is one of those games that the 'Dogs need to come out of Pershing Arena with a "W."

Time to shift gears...

2005-12-09T08:41:00.000-06:00

--Tyler Madsen--

Now that the fall sports season is behind us and there's a lot of snow on the ground, it's time to look ahead to the winter sports seasons that have, in a sense, snuck up on us. It's been hard to focus on the sports that will keep us busy for the next three or four months due to the success of soccer and volleyball this fall. Since I'm covering men's basketball every week, that's what I'll be focusing on here as well.

The Bulldogs are 6-1 after a 69-35 win over unknown Vennard College (Iowa). Despite the fact that the Cougars rivaled the Wisconsin Badgers of the late 1990s in strategy, (man-to-man defense; not shooting until there were less than five seconds on the shot clock), they certainly didn't rival them in the ability factor whatsoever. Last night's game provided a great chance for the freshmen guards (Estridge, Taylor & Kearns) to get some time and show what they can really do.

The really interesting statistic about this team so far is the fact that they have given up more than 60 points in only TWO of the first SEVEN games this season. They've held THREE opponents under 55, and TWO of those opponents haven't been able to top 42. Those are some low numbers on defense.

Teams are only shooting 36% from the field against the 'Dogs, and with Truman sealing the deals by shooting an MIAA-leading 77% from the foul line, things are certainly pointing to a good season for the purple and white if they can keep it up.

This weekend will be a great chance to see how the 'Dogs will stand in the conference this year (at least if they'll be able to hang around up top). #24 Southwest Baptist awaits on their home court, and boy do they have a LOT of weapons.

They've got an Oklahoma State transfer, 7'2" Frans Steyn, underneath averaging almost 13 points/game and about 7 rebounds/game so far. Juan Lopez has started eight of the nine SBU games so far, and gives them an athletic element at 6'6" who could give Andy Calmes and/or Derek Lindsey some fits.

The big key will be if the Bulldogs can contain SBU senior point guard Sheldon Pace. This year, Pace is leading the team with a 13.8 points/game average and also has done a great job at dishing the rock with a 7.4 assists/game average. If Chip Sodemann can just contain Pace and hold him down a little bit and the 'Dogs shoot well from the field, then a win in Bolivar to start the conference season is certainly a possibility.

What's everybody thinking about the team so far this season? Things to be excited about? Things that might worry you a little bit? Sound off and let everyone know!

An atmosphere like none other...

2005-12-02T18:18:00.000-06:00

--Tyler Madsen

Let me first begin by giving all the credit in the world to the University of Nebraska-Kearney for their performance last night. The Lopers are a team deserving of the national championship.

As we began to pack up our radio equipment (which didn’t work…thanks KTRM!) following the Bulldogs’ 3-1 loss to #1 Nebraska-Kearney in the Elite 8 of the NCAA Div. II volleyball championships last night, I had a wide array of emotions flowing through me. First I wanted to sympathize with our girls (or I guess the correct term is “women” on the college level). There aren’t many emotional pains greater than when you realize that everything that has been your life for the past four months (of just season time, let alone conditioning) is over. Done.

I then felt frustrated with how the brackets in DII are not “re-seeded” when all the teams come together for the final rounds. Honestly, there is no reason that we should have played UNK last night or that #2 Concordia University-St. Paul should have played #3 Tampa University on the other side of the bracket. Those are semifinal matches (#1 vs. #4; #2 vs. #3) folks, not quarterfinal matchups. Explain to me again why #16 Grand Valley State University gets an unranked Dowling College in the first round?

The main purpose of my article today is to commend the fans of Kearney, Nebraska. As I related to in our pregame radio show (that you didn’t hear…thanks KTRM!), the state of Nebraska cares about their volleyball about as much as the state of Texas cares about their football. After reading Friday Night Lights for the first time this semester, I never thought I’d experience a place quite as unique as Odessa, Texas, the site of Permian High and setting of the book. After my brief stay in Kearney, I believe I’ve found a place that at least can be seen in Odessa’s rearview mirror.

From signs on local businesses to window paint on a lot of cars we passed, this town was extremely excited that their hometown Lopers were hosting the Championships. This was shown even more when 4,412 people paid $10 ($6 if you were a student at UNK) to watch the Truman/UNK match last night, recording the largest crowd in NCAA Division II history. Yeah, I think they like their volleyball a bit.

Prior to our game, Lock Haven and Cal. State-LA squared off in one of the best volleyball matches I have ever observed. That match was everything that NCAA sports stands for – two teams of student athletes giving everything they had in order to try and move on and bring a trophy back to their school’s case. Since the game ran late, most of the UNK faithful had already arrived, and watched a thrilling 5th game that concluded with CSLA coming back from an 8-2 deficit to win 15-13.

After the match, every fan, writer and official in the place stood and applauded. And it wasn’t because they were happy that they were finally done with their match so that their Lopers could play… no, it was because these people know great volleyball and really enjoyed what they had just seen.

So with a crowd of 4,000+, you would expect the atmosphere to just be horrendous for the visiting Bulldogs, wouldn’t you? People joining together to heckle the opposition, try to rattle them through insults? I mean, isn’t this how sporting events go – make fun of the other team? Not in Kearney.

Besides a little ribbing at the start of warm-ups, the fans were otherwise again symbolizing what NCAA sporting events are all about. Their cheering was FOR their Lopers, not AGAINST our Bulldogs. After a long rally in Game 1, the Bulldogs emerged victor of the point, and instead of groans, the Loper fans actually clapped and recognized the effort of the point. Other good plays that also warranted a positive response from the partisan crowd included one of the hardest kills of the night by All-American Sarah Shearman and a great diving dig by freshman libero Whitney Boehler.

Did I wish we didn’t have to face the top team in the nation in the Elite Eight on the road seven-and-a-half hours away from home? Absolutely, but the chance to experience an atmosphere like that only comes around every so often, and I urge you to take advantage of that whenever you can – maybe in Pershing Arena one of these days.