Area coaches react to new MSHSL rule changes
Early in the 2007 Section 3AA tournament, Pipestone Area's softball team suffered a 7-5 loss against Minnewaska Area.
It was just the third loss of the season for the Arrows, who went undefeated in the Southwest Conference, and it was only the second time they allowed as many as five runs. Entering the game, they had outscored their opponents 186-27.
But the untimely loss didn't end the Arrows' season; instead, it sent them to the consolation bracket of the double-elimination tournament. Three days later, they cruised to an 11-0, five-inning victory against BOLD. The next day, they earned a 5-4 victory against Jackson County Central and a 2-1 victory against Benson/Hancock, earning them another matchup against Minnewaska Area -- this time, in the section finals.
Pipestone Area earned a 2-1 victory, handing the Lakers their first loss of the tournament and forcing a deciding game. A few hours later, the Arrows emerged with an 8-2 victory, the Section 3AA title and a trip to the Class AA tournament.
The Arrows capped their remarkable run with three consecutive wins, including a 1-0 victory in 17 innings against St. Anthony Village in the state title game.
It was the second state championship in the history of Pipestone Area athletics. And it likely never will be duplicated by any team in Minnesota.
Earlier this month, the Minnesota State High School League board of directors implemented a long list of rule changes intended to save money for schools, families and fans. One of the changes involves postseason tournament formats for both baseball and softball: All early-round subsection and section play will be single-elimination; double-elimination will be used when only four teams remain.
"We never would have made it that year under those circumstances," Pipestone Area coach Troy Bouman said. "There was a bad-weather day; the weather was horrible that day. The wind was blowing, and it was a big equalizer.
"We want the best team out of our section to go represent us at the state tournament, and the way it is now, with single-elimination to the final four, I don’t think you’re going to get that."
Bouman's response echoed that of other area high school baseball and softball coaches, many of whom expressed frustration, disappointment and anger. I interviewed 15 coaches about the recent MSHSL rule changes, and none agreed with the board’s decision to switch to a single-elimination format.
The following coaches participated in the poll:
Sam Baumgartner, Worthington, softball
Tarry Boelter, Murray County Central, baseball
Troy Bouman, Pipestone Area, softball
Derek Jenniges, Red Rock Central/Westbrook-Walnut Grove, baseball
Les Knutson, Southwestern United, softball
Shawn Naas, Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin, baseball
Kevin Nowotny, Adrian, baseball
Tim Owen, Southwestern United, baseball
Brad Schlomann, Windom, baseball
Steve Semmens, Luverne, softball
Derek Stevenson, Red Rock Central/Westbrook-Walnut Grove, softball
Paul Vesey, Windom, softball
James Wajer, Murray County Central, softball
Mike Wenninger, Luverne, baseball
Rick Zollner, Pipestone Area, baseball
Nine area coaches were unavailable for comment.
Almost every coach interviewed on the subject cited the ability of a pitcher to single-handedly dominate a game -- especially in baseball -- as a reason to have a double-elimination format.
"You play baseball 20-25 games in a season to develop pitching," Wenninger said. "And I have nothing against softball, but softball teams can throw the same pitcher 200 innings in a season; in baseball, you can't do that -- you have to have a team to win extra games. So I don't understand why we get into a single-elimination round, and all of a sudden, you face a hot pitcher, like we did up (at the state tournament), and you're done; there's no chance to play again. Why play 20 games in a season? Why do you work to get a high seed? I understand if you get a high seed you get to play a weaker team, supposedly, but what if that weaker team has a bad record but they have a stud pitcher? It doesn't make sense to me."
Wenninger guided Luverne to an undefeated record during the regular season and the Southwest Conference title. The Cardinals earned a 2-1 victory in eight innings against New Ulm in the Section 3AA championship game and entered the state tournament with a 25-0 record. But they ran into a hot pitcher in the first round, DeLaSalle's Brian Gosz, a lanky left-hander who handed the Cardinals their first shutout loss since May 2006.
"If we could do this differently, I would love it to be where at least it's panned out another day, if you want to do single-elimination in the first round, like they're planning, and then go double-elimination," Wenninger said, referring to the state tournament. "It would be nice to cycle through a little more. Really, when you get to the state tournament, you work this hard to get here, and let's say you lose your first game, man, it's tough. Play for fifth and sixth place or seventh and eighth? Yes, you have to have a lot of pride in it, but you can't be kissing your sister all the time."
Luverne's 2-0 loss ended its quest for a perfect season, and the single-elimination format of the state tournament didn't allow the Cardinals to take advantage of their superior pitching depth. A rotation featuring Zach Olson (6-0, 0.62 ERA), Phil Paquette (8-0, 1.04 ERA) and Brent Dinger likely would favor Luverne in a best-of-3 series.
"You take your whole season into account," Baumgartner said. "The three weeks of practices before you get into games, your first game, your regular season, and to only have one playoff game, it's not a true indication of the strength of a true team. You get one hot pitcher, especially in baseball, even on maybe a .500 team but they have a really good pitcher and they can come out and dominate and shut down a No. 1 team. I mean, look at Luverne. They were undefeated all season long; they could have run into a team that had a hot pitcher one day and lost a 1-0 game and never got close to sniffing the state tournament. I think that would have been unfortunate because clearly they were a deep team with all the tools, the pitching, the hitting, the offense, the defense; they deserved to get where they were.
"I just think (double-elimination) is the way to go, and I really just kind of question the logic behind making that switch."
But unlike Major League Baseball, college baseball, American Legion baseball, VFW baseball, amateur baseball, 35-and-older baseball, Little League baseball and other levels of the sport, which all feature, at minimum, double-elimination formats, there is always the possibility of a team going one-and-done in high school baseball.
"I think, in baseball, any team can have one pitcher that can win you a game, and you could get a bottom-seeded team with a decent pitcher or a younger team or a struggling team with one pitcher, and they could be very successful," Jenniges said. "That matchup could be very difficult for a top-seeded team."
Said Schlomann: "I think the biggest argument you're going to hear is that (baseball) is just different than every other sport because of that one pitcher. Look at the 2 and the 7 (seeds) in (Section 3AA) down here this year: Blue Earth wasn't that good, but they had that Anderson kid. It's those kinds of things that are going to happen."
Blue Earth Area went 4-13 during the regular season, but behind the efforts of junior pitcher Garrett Anderson, the Buccaneers nearly upset second-seeded Fairmont. The Cardinals won 7-6.
Coaches can't do anything about the switch. But Owen suggested another change that should be considered, now that there is a single-elimination format, to perhaps squash coaches' concerns about a pitcher single-handedly dominating during the postseason.
"I don't think there are any coaches who would necessarily do it -- it could happen, you never know -- but I just like the idea of, if you're going to go to single-elimination, they should go where you play Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday," he said. "Because then, again, you're back to having that pitching-depth idea. Right now, if you played Monday, Thursday, Saturday, you could throw the same guy, theoretically, and the odds are good he wouldn't be as good by Saturday, but if he's your go-to pitcher, you could throw one guy and ride him all the way through it. That makes me cringe. I don't believe we have too many coaches in our section that would do that, but, then again, when the whole system changes, you might change the way you're looking at it."
For now, such a change in playoff scheduling doesn't appear likely.
Boelter said he would rather see a few regular-season games get axed, rather than playoff games.
"I totally disagree with it; I think it's a real shame," he said. "I understand, financially, why they have to make some changes, but maybe we can cut a couple games off the schedule during the season. But the tournament is set up so well that the best team in the section comes out of it. It's a true champion. This way, with one good pitcher, you get a couple of rain days and you can pitch the same guy through the whole tournament, and that's really not fair. At the state tournament, you need depth and pitching or you're not going to do anything. I think our section champions the last two years have gone on to win state, so it just shows that, because we have double-elimination, the team coming out is really strong."
Boelter, whose Murray County Central team competes in Section 3A, recently witnessed the benefits of a double-elimination tournament in his own section.
In 2008, Wabasso suffered a third-round loss to Adrian but battled back through the consolation bracket and defeated the Dragons twice in the finals to advance to the state tournament, which they eventually won.
Despite what transpired in 2008, Nowotny scoffed at the MSHSL's decision to eliminate a double-elimination tournament.
"Let's take Adrian for example this year," he said. "We had three nice pitchers, worked our asses off all year long, went into the section tournament with an 18-2 record, then let's say in the first game the wind is blowing 40 mph and all of a sudden it's an even game, because we're superior, but with the wind blowing in you get beat 2-1. But they don't think of that. I don't know how you're going to change it."
This season, the Rabbits failed to make it to the state tournament, but they played six postseason games after nearly losing to Southwestern United in the first round.
"We probably should have knocked Wabasso out in that first game, and they ended up being one of the final three," Owen said. "And there's no way we were better than Wabasso, but we could have won that game and they would have been done. And I don't want that to happen. On the other side of things, if we're ever at that level again, where we're that good, I don't want to have one game decide that that's the end of our season when you've played all year to get yourself in that position. Baseball is a funny game, with momentum; it's an up-and-down thing. If kids aren't feeling confident at the plate, all of a sudden you get down a run and you press and not always does the best team end up winning. It's more so in baseball, I think, than in any other sport. The opportunity for an 8 to beat a 1 in baseball, especially in Class A, I think, where every team probably has at least one pitcher, is greater, where that one guy can carry you."
In 2008, Red Rock Central/Westbrook-Walnut Grove's softball team suffered a 7-2 loss against Murray County Central in the second round. Because of the double-elimination format, the Falcons were not eliminated; instead, they fought back through the consolation bracket, beat MCC in a rematch, and earned a 6-5 victory against Wabasso to force a deciding game. The Rabbits then earned a 7-2 victory and eventually finished third at the state tournament.
"I'm in favor of double-elimination; it gives your team a chance to make up for a bad game," Stevenson said. "Everything is running smoothly the way it is. I guess I don't understand why we'd go away from it, something that works."
Many would argue that the examples involving both Wabasso teams in 2008 ensured that the best team from the section went to the state tournament.
"I think a double-elimination is the best format because you're going to get the true best team," Naas said. "If you use single-elimination, you can ride one pitcher all the way through. In double-elimination, with the amount of games and stuff you have to play, there's less of a chance of that happening; you're going to need at least two pitchers, if not three, to make it through a section tournament. If you have one dominant pitcher, you can probably, with the three, four days between games, if you stay in the winner's bracket, you can ride out. And I don't know if that's a true team champion. So I think double-elimination is the best way to do it."
Naas, whose Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin team competes in Section 3A, has experience dealing with both single- and double-elimination formats.
"We used to be in 2A, and that was always single-elimination in the first round and then they went to double-elimination after that first round," he said. "So we've been in both, but since we've been in 3A for quite a few years now, it's been a true double-elimination; I really like it. The thing that has always intrigued me about it, from every other sport, from basketball to football to whatever, it's pretty much state-wide -- everything is the same, and it's always been up to the sections to pick what they wanted to do."
Not anymore.
The rule change regarding the playoff format is uniform across the state. Sections no longer have the option of deciding for themselves.
"It's strange that the high school league would come down and make a ruling on that instead of allowing the section or the superintendents or the athletic directors to determine that, if it's the economy or whatever," Naas said.
Coaches also were surprised and frustrated that the MSHSL made the ruling despite in-season coaches' polls that showed overwhelming support for a double-elimination format.
"The Coaches' Association sent out a poll, and every coach voted for double-elimination — it didn't matter anyway," Bouman said. "It was like 86 or 90-some percent wanted double-elimination."
Said Zollner: "I like the way we did it; that's been the tradition with baseball is you have a double-elimination tournament and you try to find the best team. It's not like basketball or football, and in baseball, one pitcher can win you a game and he can win you a tournament, but he can't win you a double-elimination tournament. So what if most of the other sections didn't like it? So what? They didn't have to do it. And I'm very frustrated with the State High School League and the lack of letting sections determine how they want to do stuff; instead, they mandate everything like they're doing in other sports. We used to have that flexibility, and now they're taking that away from us. They want our input, but they never listen to it."
Said Baumgartner: "I really just kind of question the logic behind making that switch. Nothing I've heard or read about has made sense, and there's nothing that explains the logic behind it. I just don't understand the logic, I really don't. It just doesn't seem to make sense. The poll results are overwhelmingly in favor of keeping double-elimination. I don't understand why they want to change things."
Said Semmens: "In the Southwest Conference, I know the coaches have fought for double-elimination for a long time, and we finally got it, and they turned around and changed it."
Said Owen: I’m frustrated with the unwillingness to listen to what the coaches wanted. They keep asking for our opinions on different things, and then they come back and it's instantly shot down. They did not listen to the coaches at all. The coaches were surveyed a couple times during the year, and we were pretty adamant with the double-elimination, and that got shot down. I fear the same thing coming in basketball, with the shot clock. I really think the shot clock is going to go in.
"They've come back with other things and said, 'You know, your section can decide how you want to handle it.' I don’t know why they didn't leave it up to each individual section. They want uniformity -- that's their big thing now; they want every section to do it exactly the same. But if Section 3, which we're in, wants to make sure the best team goes by having a double-elimination tournament, then why shouldn't Section 3 have that? If you look, every section has done it differently for the last few years. I know there are sections that play to the final four and then have double-elimination, or there are sections that play the first game single-elimination and the rest is double-elimination, or there are others that play the championship two out of three. I'm at a loss. It's more uniform. But I'm not sure why everyone doesn't do it the way we've been doing it. Because to me, as a coach, I would think you would want your section represented by the best team, and I believe a double-elimination format, nine times out of 10, should guarantee the best team goes. That Pipestone (softball) example is the perfect one. They were obviously the best team in the state. They had one bad game. If the state tournament was double-elimination, I'm not so sure Luverne wouldn't have won it."
Proponents of the change might argue that baseball and softball are not much different than volleyball and basketball -- two sports in which teams play just as many games during the regular season but still use single-elimination formats in the playoffs.
The area baseball and softball coaches disagree.
"In softball, there are 21 outs in a seven-inning game," Vesey said. "So, in the course of that, (mistakes) are magnified so much more than a mistake somebody makes in basketball, where you have 40-minute games, where you have time to make up for it. You do have the occasional luck thing in basketball, where somebody swats a shot in, but, again, there are so many possessions, where in softball, somebody has a bloop hit and it could mean the difference between a win and a loss."
Proponents of a single-elimination format also might argue that section champions often don't need a double-elimination format to get to the state tournament — that a "true champion" wouldn't lose in the playoffs. If the Pipestone Area softball team's run to the 2007 Class AA championship is the perfect example in an argument for a double-elimination format, Pipestone Area's baseball team can exemplify the opposite.
"We're probably the poster kids for having single-elimination because, in three of the four years, we didn't lose a game in sections," said Zollner, who guided the Arrows to state tournament appearances in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. "Back in 2004, Jackson beat us early and we came back through and beat them in the first game of the championship and then they beat us in the second one. But in the next three years, we went 5-0. And last year, with New Ulm, It wouldn't have affected us, where they beat us the first game and we beat them in the second. I have a feeling we're one of the ones they're saying, 'Look, double-elimination -- it didn't matter anyway; the team that won the first time ended up winning the second time.'"
Some coaches questioned how much money the move actually will save teams, parents and fans.
"Like this year, Fairmont traveled all the way to Pipestone, so if they would have came over (for a single-elimination tournament), they would have played one game and went home," Bouman said. "Why not come and play two? They spend more time on the road than they would have playing, so I really don't think they're saving a whole lot of travel costs."
The MSHSL also voted to eliminate neutral sites for section tournament games before the championship round. But unlike the move to single-elimination, the board left the decision up to individual sections to decide if neutral sites will or won't reduce travel costs for teams and accommodate larger crowds.
None of the coaches polled thought the neutral-site format would be changed in their sections, but they were split on whether the elimination of neutral sites would cut costs for teams, parents and fans.
"I don't think that's going to affect us much because Marshall is kind of centrally located, so it's going to save them money, as far as travel expenses," Bouman said. "Teams would travel there than travel all the way to a home site. But some teams might take advantage of that and say, 'Hey, we're not supposed to play at a neutral site,' so teams might have to travel farther."
Said Nowotny: "I always thought that home sites were OK for the first round, and then they did away with it in the second round, but I thought it should have went two rounds and neutral sites after that, just because of better ballparks and better facilities for fans. If they're going to go back to that, I don't think it's a terrible thing, with the home team hosting, especially if they earned it during the regular season by winning 18 games or whatever and got seeded (No.) 1 — it won't hurt them to host one or two rounds. That sounds OK if the section is going to be in charge of it."
Others disagreed.
"I've lost section games at home and I've lost section games on the road; I've been the home team in the winner's bracket and lost, and then I've went on the road in the winner's bracket and I've won," Schlomann said, laughing. "They'll probably keep neutral sites -- they have to. Because you're talking about an hour-and-a-half drive, or go to Milroy and everyone drives 45 minutes. The guy that was madder out here was our radio guy. You know the Super Saturday they have in basketball down in Worthington? There are a ton of people who just love that; people come from all over just to watch games all day long."
Neutral sites allow radio announcers an opportunity to call four games in one day. It also allows Worthington Daily Globe sports reporters, who follow nearly 20 area teams, to cover multiple teams and games in one day.
"It should be at neutral sites, and maybe it should be moved around from one year to another -- we'd certainly like to be involved in that," Baumgartner said. "… I think it's a great atmosphere, as well, having all those teams come into one location. As a fan, you get to see many games; you're right there; you can see all the different teams. As a coach, you can maybe scout a team you may be playing in the next round. I think it's a great atmosphere all-around, so I'm definitely in favor of the neutral-site location idea.
"I think one of the reasons they're doing this is because of the way the economy is now. But if it's a neutral-site location, all those teams and games are right there."
Said Boelter: "It wouldn’t make a lot of sense if you're trying to cut travel (costs)."
While he wasn't too worried about the possible elimination of neutral sites, Owen said he is more concerned with the money that will be lost because of the playoff games that will be cut.
"I'm not so sure that there's such a thing as homefield advantage in high school baseball, so that part doesn't concern me," he said. "Attendance is another concern I have. The Section 3A baseball tournament makes money, and now, by getting rid of the double-elimination, they're going to lose some games and they're going to lose some gate. And at some point they're going to come back and say, 'Now we need to do this because we lost some money.' There are a lot of things about this whole thing that I just don't follow the logic of how they came up with it."
The biggest impact, according to the coaches, won't be the financial aspect. Instead, many said the changes will negatively affect the players.
"We tried to get double-elimination for years in our section, and it finally gets to the right time in the season, when the weather is nice, and the kids don't get enough chances to play enough games as it is," Bouman said. "And, as coaches, we want what's best for the kids, and I don't think that was the case at all."
Said Nowotny: "You're taking away some tournament games from some high school athletes who will never get a chance to play those games ever again."
Vesey said the move more negatively will affect the middle-of-the-road teams.
"I just think it's really unfortunate because, when you think about the cost savings, you're talking about the middle teams that are losing games," he said. "Because bad teams are going to travel that first day and they are going to lose two games in double-elimination and they're going to lose that first game in single-elimination, so they still have the one travel day. The good teams are still going to win their games; it's the middle teams that are going to lose out on games. And I just think that's unfortunate. And what's the reality? You're saving maybe one trip.
"The only thing I can think of is travel costs and saving on umpires. But like I said, you're only saving it for those middle-of-the-road teams, the teams that are going to be eliminated in the third game, fourth game."
Said Naas: "Most of the time, with an 8 and a 1, or a 7 and a 2, usually the upper-seed wins. But the 4 and 5, usually that's very close, and that's the one where the single-elimination I really, really don't think is fair."
Baumgartner cited his 2008 team as an example.
"We got smoked by Pipestone in the first round," he said. "We actually played a play-in game against Lincoln HI and won that, but in the double-elimination format, we got smoked by Pipestone in the first game and we came back a few minutes later and played Marshall and beat them. We went on to the Super Saturday event in Marshall and played a really great, close game against BOLD High School, and I think we lost 4-3 but had a chance in the last inning to win it. Again, I just don't understand the logic of why you do that. We would have been losing to Pipestone 10-0 in the first round and it would have left a bad taste in our mouth, but the way it turned out, we got a little momentum going and the girls were definitely looking forward coming into this season, knowing we ended on a good postseason run."
Bouman cited Worthington’s playoff performance this season as an example.
"How many times does a 7 or 8 beat a 1 or 2? But look at Worthington; they were a 7 seed and lost to New Ulm, came back and beat Luverne, who was a 5 seed, and moved on, which is saying that a 7 or 8 seed can maybe beat a 4 or 5 seed" he said. "They never would have got those extra two games. But just by the way they're seeded out, they're never going to get an opportunity. So how do you know if they're not one of the better teams?"
The other big move the MSHSL made was to implement a travel limit that will take effect next fall. Teams no longer will be allowed to make out-of-state round trips of more than 600 miles. Teams will be allowed to travel to the states bordering Minnesota.
The move mostly will affect teams that fundraise to take trips to Florida on spring break, for example, to compete against other teams in scrimmages. MSHSL executive director Dave Stead cited the economy as a big reason why the board made the decision, along with a desire to "level the playing field" between teams that can afford such trips and those that cannot.
No area teams make such trips, but only four of the coaches surveyed said teams that do travel south to participate in scrimmages and exhibition tournaments do not have an advantage over teams that stay in Minnesota.
Here are some reactions:
Schlomann: "My brother takes his softball team down to Florida -- he's the head coach up in St. Francis -- but they fundraise their own dollars for that. That's why I don't understand why they took that away. They took that away because not everyone else can afford to do it. Well, they fundraise their own dollars; the school doesn't pay a dollar for that stuff. They get going a little earlier, but by playoff time it's all the same stuff. I mean, we got going earlier this year: We played in the Metrodome. Two weeks later, you forget you did that because everyone else has caught up to you."
Bouman: "They go down and play 12 games/scrimmages before the season even starts. They get to play outside on the fields; they can work out a lot of quirks in games that don't mean anything and get things figured out before the season even starts."
Owen: "To be honest with you, I don't know why we punish schools or people who want to give their kids that opportunity. Yeah, they're going to play baseball, but at the same time, a trip like that is a lot more than baseball; travel is a life-learning experience that hopefully gets the kids interested in doing it and they want to go out and explore the world when they leave their little community or do whatever. We sent our seniors to New York last year. Does that mean they shouldn't get to do that? …To be honest, I don't want to take 20 kids to Florida in the spring, but those that want to do it shouldn't get punished if they want to raise the money. It doesn't cost the school one penny. And most of the kids are going during spring break, so they're not missing school.
"I don't think it's that big of an advantage that I would get worried about it."
Jenniges: "Sure, they may be gaining one week of being outside, but they probably also put in a lot of time fundraising for that and scheduling for it. If they can find kids and parents willing to put in that kind of time and money, I don't see anything wrong with it. It's not like they're taking a two-week trip to Florida to practice in February. If they're staying within the start dates of the season -- sure, they may be gaining more outside exposure and playing outside while everyone else is playing in the gym, but when they get into the season, it's going to be a level playing field anyway."
Vesey: "I understand the rationale behind that: Some teams were taking advantage of that rule and going down to Florida and scheduling 10, 12 games and calling them scrimmages -- I think that was the intent of that. Where they got 600 miles, I don't know. I suppose that keeps you in cold weather. It doesn't have any impact on us."
Nowotny: "I don't understand how that can have anything to do with the State High School League, if teams go out and bust their butts to fundraise. By the time you get to May 10, the chance to go to Florida for six scrimmages, I don't think it has anything to do with it."
Boelter: "Financially, we just can't. Our business people support the teams really well, but for a small town, we don't want to stretch it that far where we do so much fundraising. The big schools, good for them that they can do that. It's too bad that got kyboshed. I think so (teams that travel have an advantage over teams that don't). Maybe it depends if you come right out of that trip into your season, certainly I think it will help you at least to start out with. But let's say you're down there and you come back and we have two weeks of snow; sometimes that momentum that you built and everything gets put back."
Stevenson: "Because they're playing games, they have the advantage. Getting some experience, getting players in game situations, I guess is an advantage over us."
Zollner: "I bet if we did it here, it would be a fun family thing. I bet 80 percent of people who have kids playing, the whole family would go with. It was something I certainly had looked at and thought about. I can see the High School League's point of view on that, but I don't see it as a big problem. If the athletic directors don't want their teams to go, then they should just tell them no, instead of having the High School League make the decision for them."
Naas: "I don't see how the High School League can step in. Here you have a community and the kids go out and fundraise. Why don't they have the opportunity to do that? I don't understand how the High School League can step in and say, 'Uh, no, you can't go fundraise.' I don't understand that. We don't go anywhere, but, I mean, I don't see how a High School League can step in and say, 'The economy isn't right for this.' You know, it's like, 'Apparently, the economy isn't that bad in this community, that we can raise this much money and let them go.' I don't get that. I don't understand how you can do that. Yeah, the economy is bad, but if kids get money and people donate money, I don't understand why they can't go. If you can raise the money, I don't care what the economy is like."
Baumgartner: "We never have created the opportunity to go. I think those teams that are able to go out and fundraise and organize and line up those types of things, I think it's a great opportunity for kids to get out there and explore, see some other things, see some other teams. It's a great cultural experience for them to be on that trip. Who knows? It may gain some kids some kind of exposure to a college or a D-I coach or a scout somewhere. I think it provides that much more opportunities for kids to be exposed to a larger arena. Any time we do that for our kids, we're giving them a benefit. If they get some games in, I think it's just good exposure, but I don't think it’s a competitive advantage. And when you say 'level the playing field,' now they're bringing that into the context and the jargon of these rules and decisions. Then what are they going to do? They're opening up a whole Pandora's Box. What are they going to do? Make everybody hit off batting machines, so the pitches come in at the same speed for each team? And everybody uses the exact same bats and gloves? Does that level the playing field now? It really doesn't make any sense to me. It sounds like, to me, that quite a high percentage of coaches that are involved do not agree with what the Minnesota State High School League is doing.”"
Posted by: dgsports on 6/25/2009 at 11:50 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Hazeltine National tests length
Padriag Harrington likes the length at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska.
I wasn’t crazy about it.
Playing as part of the media day for the 91st PGA Championship, Hazeltine tested every bit of length I could muster.
“I think I personally like to see a golf course with length to it, and let the tournament committee adjust the golf course how they see fit during the week, rather than a course that’s too short and leaves for options, to go extreme on the rough or the pin positions,” Harrington said during the press conference.
“In major golf nowadays the best majors are played on golf courses that have options,” he later said. “If the golf course is too short or something like that, it tends to get tricky with pin positions, because that’s the only way of defending it. When you have a bigger, stronger golf course, you can settle for a big golf course, a tough course, but you can set a very fair course.”
Last year, the course was still under some construction. Some tees were being lengthened, and some bunkers were made deeper and bigger.I
found myself in a lot of those bunkers last week. And, on a few occasions, we tested the length.
By August, Hazeltine could play longer than 7,600 yards. That won’t be a problem for the pros.
“Basically you can make the golf course as long as you want, and we’re still capable of getting out there, as long as the weather is good for it,” Harrington said. “I think you wouldn’t want to play that length of golf course, certainly not in Ireland, anyway, where it’s 240 yards, not 300 yards.”
Playing from more conservative tees, we decided to play 6,720 yards on that day.
But on a few holes, we went back.
No. 12 has the potential to be the longest par 4 in championship history. Our tees were supposed to be 420 yards. We played 518. I didn’t fare well.
No. 13 has the potential to be the longest par 3 in championship history. We were supposed to be 195. We played 248. I wasn’t even close.
We played No. 15 at 642 — the longest par 5 in championship history. Our tees were 538. I’ve never experienced anything like it.
By the time it was all said and done, our 6,700-yard round turned into a 7,049-yard round. By adjusting just a few holes, we added more than 300 yards to our round.
According to Jim Remy, the president of the PGA of America, the length is needed.“First of all, I thought it was truly a major championship venue and a venue that really meets the needs of the athletes of 2009,” Remy said. “You know, as we look at this venue today and the athletes that are playing this game of golf in 2009, lengthening the course was certainly the right thing to do. And as we look out and we see that the average length of the par 5s for our championship here at Hazeltine will be about 615 yards, with the longest par 5 being 642 yards. There will be three par 4s over 475 yards, including No. 1 at 490 yards, and I believe No. 12 at 518 yards, and what may be the longest par 3 ever to be played in a major championship or event. So this venue meets the needs of the athletes of really today and this generation in 2009.”
Despite playing ridiculously long, Hazeltine is a true championship venue. The course was challenging, but a solid tee shot leaves the green approachable on most holes.The par 3s aren’t too bad (minus No. 13), and provided some excitement.
Playing No. 8, a 144-yard Par 3, the first player in our group hit a solid shot in the center of the green. With water on the right-hand side and the pin tucked dangerously close to the front right portion of the green, our forecaddie suggested I do the same.
I thanked him for the advice and said I was going for the pin.How many times do you get to play a course like this? Not often. I didn’t step on the course to play it safe.
Instead, I unleashed a shot that flew directly over the pin, coming within 18 inches of acing the hole. Of course, I lipped out the putt and settled for a par.
While the good shots were few and far between, I experienced everything Hazeltine had to offer. I was in the sand, I was in the trees, and I was in the water. My goal was to finish somewhere in the 80s. I’ll just say I missed my goal.
I doubt we’ll see many scores that high come August.
Posted by: Aaron Hagen on 6/15/2009 at 8:52 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: golf
3 state tournaments make for a busy week
Three state tournaments. Six hundred and fifty-eight miles. Three different beds. Nineteen interviews totaling 54 minutes and 5 seconds. Seven hundred and twelve photos. Six articles totaling 5,687 words.
It was a long and busy week.
Three area teams earned state-tournament appearances in three different sports, providing an exciting and hectic experience for the players, coaches and fans affiliated with each squad — and the journalists who cover them.
Worthington participated in the Class A boys’ tennis tournament in Minneapolis on Tuesday. Jackson County Central participated in the Class AA girls’ golf tournament in Jordan on Wednesday and Thursday. Pipestone Area participated in the Class AA softball tournament in Mankato on Thursday and Friday. And I didn’t miss much of the action.
I could have totaled the amount of money I spent on my sports gorge, but I’d rather not think about it. It could have been worse: I could have spent at least $200 more on hotel stays. But, luckily for me (and the Globe) I have many friends and relatives who live near the Cities and allowed me to save money by staying with them.
On Monday, I stayed with my girlfriend, a graduate student at the University of Minnesota, who lives in St. Paul. Her apartment is located just five minutes from the Xcel Energy Center (where I covered Windom Area in the state volleyball tournament and numerous wrestlers in the state wrestling tournament), about 20 minutes from the Metrodome (where I covered Luverne in the state football tournament), about 10 minutes from Williams Arena (where I covered both Adrian and Pipestone Area in the state girls’ basketball tournament) and about 25 minutes from Target Center (where I covered Ellsworth in the state boys’ basketball tournament).
The trip from her apartment to the Read-Sweatt Family Tennis Center in Minneapolis lasted about 10 minutes. Despite the gorgeous weather, the state tennis tournament was played indoors.
Playing inside was a relatively new and rare experience for the Trojans, but not for their second opponent. After losing 7-0 against Benson/Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg in the quarterfinals, the Trojans dropped a 7-0 decision against Blake, which has access to indoor facilities year-round.
Being able to practice and play at any time, despite the weather, is a huge advantage. And it showed Tuesday. Worthington’s players are able to practice and play only on dry days in the spring, summer and fall. Blake can practice and play during all seasons, and very few of its players participate in other sports. As a result, it’s tough for schools like Worthington to compete with teams like Blake.
The same example can be drawn in hockey. Worthington tennis players who also play hockey, like Mitchell Benson, Taylor Wiener and Kyle Hain, don’t have access to ice in the summer, making it impossible for them to practice, stay sharp and compete against metro-area teams who have access to ice facilities year-round.
After submitting my tennis photos and stories from my girlfriend’s apartment Tuesday night, I drove to my parents’ house in Jordan. I had dinner with my family and spent the night in my old bedroom. In the morning, I made the one-minute trip to Ridges at Sand Creek Golf Course, where I worked for a summer when I was 15 years old, to cover Jackson County Central’s girls’ golf team.
Golf is one of the most difficult sports to cover. Roaming a golf course while trying to find specific golfers is hard enough, but it’s even more difficult to do so in a way that doesn’t distract anyone while they’re trying to hit. And I have to take pictures.
Luckily, I was incredibly familiar with the course — because the Minnesota State High School League refused to allow me access to a cart, saying they were only giving keys to “reporters who work for large metro papers.” Oh, well. I needed the workout. I was so busy throughout the week, I found myself getting fast food in order to save time and money.
It was a long workout.
I arrived at Ridges at about 1 p.m., just in time to see JCC freshman Kaylee Benson tee off. When all of the golfers were finished and the final scores were posted, it was 7:30 p.m.
I submitted my stories and photos from my parents’ house, had a few adult beverages with my brother and went to bed. I woke up at 8 a.m. and drove to Mankato.
I stayed at an apartment left empty for the summer by my cousin and his roommates, all students at Minnesota State University-Mankato. The Arrows played two games on Thursday, and after I submitted my stories and photos, I took to bed in an attempt to sleep.
But the apartment was hot; there was no air conditioning, and my cousin and his friends had taken home their fans. I opened two windows, allowing the cool air to enter, but some unwelcomed noises followed. It was an apartment complex occupied by college students, after all, and I had the displeasure of listening to their post-bar conversations.
On about four hours of sleep, I returned to Caswell Park to watch Pipestone Area secure third place. I wrote two stories, packed up my things and drove back to St. Paul, where I met with Daily Globe sports editor Aaron Hagen the next day. I gave him our camera battery and our battery charger so he could take photos at the state track meet at Hamline University (five minutes from my girlfriend’s place).
I returned to Jordan on Sunday and drove back to Worthington today, capping my long trip. This week, I’ll start another. Luverne advanced to the state baseball tournament in St. Cloud and will play two games Thursday.
Worthington to St. Cloud: 190 miles and 3 hours, 32 minutes.
Zero complaints.
Posted by: Matt Huss on 6/07/2009 at 3:04 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: golf, jackson county central, pipestone area, prep, softball, sports, tennis, trojans
Karnazes on the adventure of a lifetime
We had just teed off on No. 18 at Prairie View Golf Links in Worthington Friday as we hopped in our cart in an attempt to locate our golf balls.
His was in the fairway with a perfect approach to the green. Mine was off to the right, no doubt in trouble.
“What a beautiful finishing hole,” my partner said to me as we approached the crest of the fairway.
After he decided to go around the water which comes between the fairway and the No. 18 green, I found my ball, and hit one of the better shots of the day to the green.
We both bogeyed the hole, ending what has been one of the more memorable rounds of my life.
My partner for the day? Nick Karnazes, or “The Happy Golfer.”
Nick made a quick stop in Worthington on the tail end of his trip of a lifetime.
The Happy Golfer, who resides in San Clemente, Calif. is playing 96 rounds of golf in 96 days in the lower 48 states, and allowed me to tag along Friday afternoon.
At 73 years young, Nick is a very good golfer.
“I used to be a four handicap, but now I’m a 14,” he explained.
Friday, he was much better than a 14.
On a course he had never played, Nick finished with a 40 on each side for a 9-over 80.
“I’m so happy with an 80,” he said. “I’m probably going to go to the next course and shoot a 90.”
The Happy Golfer is playing two 18-hole rounds in each state in 96 days. Playing both his Minnesota rounds Friday, he started at Rose Lake Golf Club in Fairmont with a 7:30 a.m. tee time.
He then packed up and headed to Worthington, hitting the course a little after 1 p.m.
By sure luck, I had heard of Nick’s travels the night before, and decided I would try to see The Happy Golfer, even if it was for a few minutes.
I arrived at the course around the same time was about to hit his first shot. After a quick introduction, an invitation soon followed for me to join him. He already had a cart, so it was just a matter of being able to grab my clubs out of my car and hit the Links.
With virtually no warm-up, I was a little rusty. With 18 holes already under his belt, Nick was coming out swinging.
While neither of us had a great first hole, his game soon picked up.
Mine then followed, and by the time we were on the back nine, we were both playing pretty well.
But not only was the golf great, hearing his stories were even better.
Nick told of his wife, Fran, who he met on a Friday night, and by Saturday, had proposed. They have been married 47 years and renewed their vows five times.
He talked of his children. His son, Dean, had once run 50 marathons in 50 days in 50 states and is the “Ultramarathon Man.” He’s made appearances on many television shows, including the likes of David Letterman. He’s been on numerous magazine covers, and countless other articles and appearances in media outlets.
Nick is just beginning.
At last count, he had been in the newspaper 22 times on his trip, with numerous TV and radio appearances. Someday, he may also be on Letterman or with Jay Leno.
But for now, it’s on to South Dakota, were 36 holes of golf await him.
“I have nine states to finish,” Nick said. “I’ve done 39 states and I have nine more states. I’ve actually finished this state, Minnesota, in one day. I played two rounds, 36 holes. This is the 16th time I’ve played 36 holes. So by playing 36 holes, what that does is allow you to have days off where you don’t have to play at all. Of these 16 times I’ve played 36, I’ve taken seven days off.”
He figures he is about three days ahead of schedule, but he will still finish June 25, when the schedule dictates.
In all, he will travel more than 13,000 miles in his 24-foot Winnebago View. He first began his trip March 22, leaving from San Clemente, Calif.
“I left March 22 at 4:33 from my home in San Clemente, Calif. I drove for seven hours to Kingman, Ariz. and that was my first round,” Nick said. “It was 40 degrees with a 40 mile-per-hour wind, which combined the wind and the cold, it made the wind chill factor of 35. Normally, you don’t hear wind chill. You do in Minnesota and you do big time in Chicago. But in California, you just say the temperature, you never hear the words ‘wind chill’ because you never have a wind chill.
“In San Clemente, the bumper sticker says, ‘Best climate in the world.’ I love the best climate in the world because you play golf every day.”
When winds normally howl through Prairie View, Friday was calm. A slight breeze on a sunny, warm day provided a great day for golf.
“It was fabulous; absolutely beautiful,” Nick said of PVGL. “If you rate them one star, two star, three, four and five, with five being the top, this is a five-star course.”
While he enjoyed his time on the course, he was able to see all aspects of the Links.
On No. 14, he was in a bad spot on the green. On the upper level of the elevated green, Nick had a tough downhill putt.
After Nick, our photographer Brian Korthals and I all took a look at the putt, he finally approached his shot.
“This is so cool,” he said, rolling his ball toward the hole. He missed the putt, but not by much.
This was not a theme of the day. He had 33 putts in 18 holes, and perhaps none better than on No. 11.
Practically laying on the green, Nick had a good read on the putting surface.
“It’s downright embarrassing if you miss a putt after doing that,” Nick said as he arose and picked up his Odyssey putter.
He didn’t need to worry. Nick, who changed putters every time he putts poorly and owns 17, rolled in a beautiful putt as we moved to the next hole.
But Friday wasn’t about the score for either of us. It was about sharing his stories, hearing about his adventures, and most of all, enjoying the course.
“This might be the prettiest course I’ve played on this whole trip,” he said during our round.
Nick picked his courses randomly based on the route he wanted to take. Taking a map out of the U.S. out of “The Mother Ship,” he pointed out where he’s been, and where he’s going. There is a line which cuts the map in half. If the name of the state was written below the line, he played those courses heading East. If it’s above the line, he’ll hit in on the way back home.
So far, The Happy Golfer hasn’t had a negative experience, but that doesn’t mean it’s been all smooth sailing.
“I’ve had to do my laundry on five different occasions,” Nick said. “The first time I did my laundry, I was in hurry and I threw everything in a giant washer instead of the smaller ones. I neglected to think there’s white with reds and the red shirt bled on my white T-shirt. I had a long sleeve T-shirt I liked, it was from one of the races. Two days later I’m wearing the long-sleeve white T-shirt and I’m at a restaurant having a beer and watching sports on TV, and the waitress said to me, ‘Do you do your own laundry?’ It was pink.”
Other than having a few pink clothes, Nick has more stories than could fit into a few hours on the golf course. He told of his experience in Los Alamos, N.M., where there was so much snow on the ground he couldn’t play. A course he was going to play in Mississippi was no longer open in the aftermath of Katrina. He met a 10-year-old boy who only three weeks before, hit a hole-in-one. In Durango, Colo., he was offered elk jerky which his playing partner had shot and cured himself. Recently, in Ohio, Nick helped with a War Veterans golf outing. In all, he has seen and experienced more in the past 69 days than some do in a lifetime.
But that’s what the trip is about for The Happy Golfer. It’s about meeting people and experiencing new things, and for a few hours Friday, I was a part of his special journey.
It was finally time for Nick to leaving Worthington in his rearview mirror and head for the next state. We said our good-byes, and I wished him luck for the remaining part of his trip.
“Eat, Sleep, Drive, Play Golf, Repeat,” he said to me as he climbed into his camper.
And there's no doubt he will.
To follow Nick's journey, visit his Web site, www.callawaygolf.com/96rounds
Posted by: Aaron Hagen on 5/30/2009 at 2:27 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: golf
From ER to medalist: New Ulm's McKeeth wins sub-section meet
When Miranda McKeeth tapped in her par putt Monday, she received applause from everyone who watched the New Ulm golfer complete her round.
In part, those around the No. 18 green were acknowledging Miranda’s accomplishments on the course. Mostly, it was what the sophomore on the New Ulm girls’ golf team endured to even make it to the final hole of the sub-section meet.
Just hours before, it looked like Miranda might not finish her round.
Playing in the final girls’ group at Prairie View Golf Links, Miranda had just shot a 44 on the front nine and was making the turn.
After a bogey on No. 10, Miranda and her fellow golfers moved to the 11th hole.
It was then when Miranda’s round was changed.
“I just got done hitting my second shot on No. 11,” Miranda explained. “I was standing, waiting for another girl in my group to hit her ball, and out of the middle of nowhere, this ball comes and smacks me in the middle of the cheek. I was like, ‘Oh my God, I just got hit with a ball.’ Honest to God, it didn’t hurt right away.”
A stray tee shot from No. 12 had struck Miranda on the left side of her face.
“So I was like, ‘Oh my God, I just got hit with a ball in my face,’” Miranda said. “I was like, ‘Oh, jeez.’ And I got kind of dizzy and I had to sit down and then all the people around me were like, ‘It’s going to be OK.’ We got some ice and I felt like I had a golf ball on my face still because it was all swollen.”
A fellow golfer’s mother called for help. Ice was brought out to Miranda and an ambulance was called.
“Then we called the ambulance and the ambulance came and we got me on a golf cart and down here to the parking lot,” Miranda explained. “The police asked me a bunch of questions, basic, like how old are you and that type of thing.”
From there, the EMTs loaded Miranda into the ambulance and took her into Worthington to the emergency room. In the ER, all she was thinking about was her golf game.
“Then they got me onto the stretcher and into the ambulance and we got to the hospital and I sat there and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m really sad because now I can’t go to state,’” Miranda said. “There’s no chance.”
While she was thinking about a missed opportunity to advance to the section meet, her father and coach, Todd, had other things on his mind.
“My wife and I were both there, so we rode with,” Todd said. “They got ice out there and the police came out and picked her up in an ambulance and took her to the hospital. We didn’t think of anything else other than just making sure she was OK.”
Back in the ER, Miranda was still itching to get back to the course.
“I was like, ‘Dad, is there any way I can go back and finish my game?’” Miranda said. “He was like, ‘I’ll call back to the clubhouse and see if we can get it ruled on.’ So he called back and he said they were going to going to talk about it with the rules people. Then he came back here because he had to be with the rest of the girls for the team when they finished.”
Added Todd: “She had played well the first nine, and she was just sick about it in the hospital. The last thing I wanted to do was say, ‘Do you want to go back?’ She asked me. She said, ‘I’m going back to finish; I don’t care if the doctor says I can’t. I’m going back to finish that round.’”
Todd said he would try to get Miranda back on the course.
“Before we left, (another coach) said we were going to call the Minnesota State High School League and see if we can postpone her round and let her come back and finish,” Todd said. “When I got back they said they got the OK as long as she has the doctor’s excuse and she’s cleared, she can come back and finish if we don’t close the meet.”
After a call to the MSHSL, Todd had some good news to deliver to his daughter.
“So (Todd) called back to the hospital and he told us that I could still finish with a doctor’s approval,” Miranda said. “So I talked to the doctor and he said, ‘So far you don’t have any signs of a concussion, there’s no broken bones, no internal bleeding or anything,' and I was pretty much free to go after a couple simple tests to make sure I didn’t have a concussion.”
After tests that included a CT scan, Miranda was released, and with doctor’s clearance, returned to Prairie View to complete her round.
“So I pretty much came back and I guess I had an applause when I was outside,” Miranda said. “I came back and I finally got to finish my round and I actually did really well considering I got pelted in the face with the golf ball.”
Miranda not only played well, she played nearly flawless.
Completing No. 11 and the rest of the back nine, Miranda played her final eight holes 4-over. She shot a 41 on the back nine, finishing with an 85 for the round.
“My dad came out and said, ‘Well, you could get 55 and still go on to sections,’” Miranda said. “I was like, ‘Really?’ I wasn’t expecting to shoot 41 on the back after a bogey on the first hole. I went out there and tried my best, and my best was good enough.”
It was better than that. She was the meet medalist.
“I went out there and my head was in the game and I felt like nobody else is here, nobody else can tell me I’m doing bad and I don’t have to deal with drama from other girls,” Miranda said. “I’ll just go out there and play my game, and I did.”
Todd couldn’t believe it.
“I didn’t expect her to be able to come back and play,” Miranda said. “I was so grateful that they made that call and said we’ll do it if she’s cleared and if she feels like it. She was just determined to do it. I couldn’t be prouder of her.”
After completing her round and signing her scorecard, Miranda went to find a mirror. She wanted to see what her face looked like.
“I wanted to go see how black it was because they were like, ‘It’s going to look really nasty in a few hours.’ It’s already gotten a lot worse, color-wise,” Miranda said. “At first I told my mom that I looked like Frankenstein, then I switched it over to Quasimodo. I look like a monster right now, but it’s OK.”
With the left side of her face badly swollen and her eye turning numerous shades of black and blue, the sophomore thought what could have been.
“It’s funny because I got hit right here instead of in my eye -- I could have been blinded,” Miranda said. “Or I could have been hit in the temple and I could have died. It’s a good story to tell and I still have my medical bracelet on to prove it.”
Even though the golfer who hit the ball that struck Miranda didn’t yell to warn of the stray shot, she doesn’t hold anything against her fellow competitor.
“They could have yelled ‘Fore,’ but she said she didn’t see where the ball went at all, and who would expect it to go all the way in another fairway?” Miranda said. “She came up and apologized for it afterwards and I was fine with it. I’m not hurt that much. It’s bruised, but big deal, it’s a bruise.”
Miranda will play Friday at the Section 3AA meet at Eagle Creek Golf Club in Willmar.
“I don’t know a lot of the girls from the teams that are going to be at the second day of sections,” Miranda said. “I think, pressure-wise, it’s not going to be that bad because I really don’t get pressured as much. The worst pressure is probably from myself, honestly. If I don’t do good I get upset, but I’ll think I’ll go up there and try my best and we’ll see how it goes.
“That would be awesome to get to state this year as a sophomore. That would be really cool.”
But no matter what happens Friday, Monday is a day that the McKeeth family will always remember and be thankful for.
In a letter to the Daily Globe, Todd wrote, “… I would like to extend my sincere thank you to all who were involved in her care. The mother of another golfer, who happened to have some EMT experience, that held my daughter and kept her calm and conscious. Another mother who made the phone call to get help out to us quickly. The police and ambulance people that got her to the hospital quickly. The hospital staff that took care of her and made sure she was not in danger of any serious head trauma. And thank God for somehow making that ball hit where it did, rather than an inch higher.
To my surprise, when I returned to the golf course to check on the rest of my team, the coaches were not only asking how she was, but also were wondering if she thought she could return and continue to play. They had contacted the MSHSL to check, and had received permission to allow her to finish her round as long as the meet had not been completed. This outpouring of compassion and sportsmanship was overwhelming. Miranda was cleared by the doctor to play, and she wanted to finish. She was greeted by the players with an applause upon returning to the course.
Miranda did finish, and qualified to move on to the Section meet on Friday. This could not have happened had it not been for the assistance of so many people involved. It is a day our family will never forget. The golf was good -- but the heartfelt compassion shown first for her well being, and secondly to her as a competitor is beyond my expression.”
Posted by: Aaron Hagen on 5/19/2009 at 1:05 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink
Tags: golf, miranda mckeeth, new ulm
Excelling against all odds
There hasn’t been a lot of feel-good news seeping from the world of sports recently.
News of steroids, outrageous ticket prices and empty seats have overshadowed the first two months of baseball season. And even NASCAR is dealing with a drug scandal.
Off-the-field arrests have dominated headlines in the NFL offseason. And who isn't sick of the Brett Favre soap opera?
Rachel Alexandra became the first filly to win the Preakness since 1924, but she raced to the victory in front of a relatively small crowd. To restore civility and halt what had become an all-day party at the racetrack, Pimlico Race Course officials banned spectators from bringing their own alcoholic beverages. The result: 30 percent fewer spectators than last year.
Michael Phelps returned -- from a drug suspension -- to win his first race since the Beijing Olympics. And the NBA playoffs have been marred by suspensions, trash talk and a feud between a team's owner, an opposing player, and the opposing player's mother.
But…
For every Mark Cuban, there's a Jeff Meyer.
For every Manny Ramirez, there's a Riley Meester.
For every Bruce Smith, there's an Emily Ebbers.
And whenever I find myself disgusted by the actions of professional athletes, questioning my love for sports and regretting that I've become so immersed in an aspect of American culture that breeds so much negativity, someone like Meghan Westendorf allows me to tell her story and helps me realize why I love my job and why I love sports.
A junior on Worthington's girls’ golf team, Westendorf suffers from cystic fibrosis, a fatal genetic disorder that affects nearly 30,000 Americans.
The disease causes mucus to build up and clog the lungs and airways, making breathing difficult. The excess mucus also can block the pancreas, stopping digestive enzymes from getting to the intestines, where they break down food and provide important nutrients that help people grow, gain weight and stay healthy.
As a result of her affliction, Westendorf had "six or seven" surgeries before she turned 4 years old. She goes to the doctor at least 10 times per year, and she winds up in the hospital once or twice every year.
Her lungs typically function at approximately 60 percent of their full potential. And, right now, with the grueling golf season coming to an end, her lungs are working at about 47 to 49 percent.
She's had blood drawn from her forearms so many times that a portacath was surgically inserted below her shoulder blades so doctors could more easily attach an IV feed and rest the veins in her forearms.
She takes 10 pills in the morning, six at lunch and 12 before bed. She takes aerosolized medication, a process that works much like an asthma inhaler, up to four times per day for 20 minutes at a time. She also undergoes "vest therapy," in which she wears a life-vest-like contraption that is connected to a machine by two hoses, which fill with air and vibrate the vest to loosen mucus in her chest so it can more easily be coughed out.
She coughs about 650 times per day, and she eats nearly as much -- those suffering from cystic fibrosis find it very difficult to gain weight, and they often are advised to consume at least 3,000 calories per day. Meghan downs ice cream before she goes to bed and wakes up hoping that she's added some weight to her 110-pound frame.
But there are two things Meghan never does:
She never complains.
She never quits.
Meghan truly is an inspiration; a light as bright as her smile in a sports world that sometimes is darker than the future of cystic fibrosis patients.
There is no cure for cystic fibrosis, and the average life expectancy is 38 years.
But Meghan doesn’t think about that; instead, she tries to live her life one day at time -- just like the rest of us.
She doesn't want anybody to know that she's different, hiding her treatments, medication and diagnoses from others.
A starter on Worthington's golf team since her ninth-grade year, Meghan refused to use a motorized cart -- she didn't want to stand out, to receive curious stares from her opponents, who must carry their bags.
She finally decided to file for an exemption and start using a cart after she had to quit a meet in Worthington last season because of soreness, fatigue and shortness of breath. Two days later, she was in the hospital. Later in the season, however, she was back on the course.
Meghan doesn't dwell on the negatives; instead, she focuses on the positives.
I think I can learn something from her.
Meghan plans to go to college, earn a degree in business, and start a family. She said she doesn't even think about the uncertain future that faces those with cystic fibrosis. She doesn't let it affect her.
Meghan and her parents, Pam and Ty Westendorf, hope and pray that a cure will be found.
Scientists are getting closer. The current average age of survival is five years longer than the average in 2000.
"It's very tough," Pam said. "My husband always says, 'If you can't change it, don't worry about it; just do what you have to do.'
"They've made a lot of strides; since she was born with it, things have gotten a lot better and (doctors) have gotten a lot closer (to a cure). So there's always hope that in 10 more years they'll have made better strides or have been able to do more work to make it so (those with CF) can live longer and do better.
"They told us that, hopefully, by the time Meghan graduates from high school, the research would be where they would be closer to a cure than they were when she was born. So I keep hoping, 'OK, that's next year.'"
The rest of us also can hope. But we can do so much more to help.
If Meghan's story has touched you, like it has touched me, please visit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation website and do what you can to help.
You can make a donation -- “Money buys science and science buys life” -- or even join a clinical trial.
If that isn't feasible, you can contact your local Cystic Fibrosis Foundation chapter, volun-teer and "learn about the many special events that raise money to keep the science moving ahead." The nearest CFF chapter is located in St. Paul.
You also can become an advocate to help raise awareness and educate yourself and others, including elected officials, about cystic fibrosis.
Meghan wants to live a normal life. She doesn't want any special attention. She doesn't want to be treated any differently than "normal" girls her age. She doesn't want any help.
But she needs help. And so do all the others suffering from cystic fibrosis.
Meghan doesn't want or need assistance with her day-to-day life, but we can help to make sure she keeps that mindset for much, much longer.
Posted by: Matt Huss on 5/18/2009 at 12:00 AM | Comments (2) | Permalink
Tags: cystic fibrosis, golf, meghan westendorf, prep, trojans, worthington, worthington trojans
High-five costs softball team walk-off victory
UPDATE: The Rematch
Central Lakes and Rochester Community and Technical College met in a rematch Thursday in the NJCAA Division III national tournament.
RCTC earned a 5-2 victory, keeping its title hopes alive. Central Lakes will play in the seventh-place game today.
Both teams lost their first-round games in the tournament, setting up a showdown in the consolation bracket.
Trailing 5-2, Central Lakes loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the seventh inning, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate.
The batter? Ashly Erickson, the player who had her apparent walk-off home run disallowed after high-fiving a teammate on her way to home plate in the bottom of the seventh inning May 1 against RCTC in the state tournament.
Officials later ruled that the call was incorrect; Central Lakes should have received a warning, Erickson's run should have counted, and Central Lake should have won the game. But, by the time Central Lakes coach Heidi Rogge learned that the ruling was made incorrectly, it was too late to appeal.
There was no such controversy Thursday.
Erickson, who suffered a torn hamstring in the regional tournament last week, hit a liner to RCTC's second baseman, who caught the ball and fired to first base to complete a double play. The next Central Lakes batter grounded out, and RCTC advanced with a victory.
"I told my team that this was just another team," Rogge told the Rochester Post-Bulletin. "It doesn't matter what happened before."
Said RCTC pitcher DeAnna Mock, speaking to a Post-Bulletin reporter: "It wasn't really about that. It was about staying alive in the tournament."
Minnesota West softball coach Rosalie Hayenga-Hostikka couldn't believe what she was seeing.
Just hours after the Lady Jays suffered a 9-1 loss against Central Lakes College (Brainerd) in the Minnesota Junior College Athletic Conference state tournament Friday, Hayenga-Hostikka and her players watched in disbelief as the team that eliminated them earlier in the afternoon had a potential game-winning run disallowed.
CLC's Ashly Erickson hit an apparent walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning, giving the Raiders a 1-0 victory over Rochester Community and Technical College.
Or so it seemed.
Erickson's teammates exploded from the dugout and sprinted toward home plate, eager to greet the freshman infielder with a celebratory mosh pit. But some refused to wait.
As Erickson rounded third base and headed toward home, she high-fived several of her ecstatic teammates before reaching the plate.
As the celebration continued, RCTC coach Jean Musgjerd grabbed her rulebook and met with the umpires. She argued that Erickson's high-five, which occurred before she touched home plate, violated the rules for "player interference/assistance."
The umpires eventually ruled Erickson out, and they disallowed the run. RCTC went on to win 4-0 in nine innings, eliminating CLC from the tournament.
"My whole team and I, we were sitting there like, 'No way -- you cannot do that,'" Hayenga-Hostikka said. "It's turned into quite a fiasco."
The story has received significant local and national attention. The Minneapolis Star Tribune ran a story on its website Monday, and MSNBC's Keith Olbermann railed against Musgjerd on his "Countdown" show Tuesday. But the story of CLC's stunning loss hasn't garnered so much attention just because the opposing coach cited a rather obscure rule, but because the ruling actually was wrong.
The Star Tribune reviewed the NCAA softball rules, which also govern the NJCAA, and found this:
"Offensive team personnel, other than base coaches and runner(s), shall not touch a batter or base runner (s) who is legally running the bases on a dead-ball award until the player(s) contacts home plate. For a first offensive, the umpires shall issue a warning to the offending team."
Translation: Erickson's high-five was in violation of the rules, but, since it was their first offense, the Raiders should have been hit with a warning. The run should have counted, CLC's starting pitcher should have finished with a no-hitter, and the Raiders should have continued celebrating a state tournament victory over the top-ranked team in the nation.
"The warning is down much farther (in the rule book), and I wasn't aware of the warning until much later," Musgjerd told the Rochester Post-Bulletin. "It was left up to the umpires, and they (chose) to go with an out. I've never seen it as a warning. I've seen it called an out.
"The rule is plain, and I just asked for the rule to be interpreted. I was just trying to do everything I could to help the (RCTC) kids."
Hayenga-Hostikka was aware of the rule, and she had the opportunity to cite it earlier in the afternoon. CLC hit three home runs just hours earlier against the Lady Jays, and, as each player rounded the bases, Hayenga-Hostikka said the Raiders celebrated prematurely -- according to the rulebook. But she refused to allow a technicality to take away from a player's on-field accomplishment.
"We played Central Lakes the game before that, and they hit three home runs against us and did the same thing," the five-year Minnesota West coach said. "I didn't even think about it. For one, I'm not going to protest it. And, two, I don't care if the kids are giving someone a high-five when she just hit a home run. To me, it's a dead ball.
"I hate that rule. I want to say that I just wouldn't have done it, and I didn't do it when they did it to us. And it wasn't a walk-off situation, but maybe it shouldn't matter. I just don't agree with it. You can't take away a kid's home run because of (a technicality), especially in that situation. I mean, gosh, you're excited -- a walk-off home run in the state tournament, in a 0-0 ballgame. It's kind of like in a basketball game and you hit a last-second shot and the kids storm the court with 0.8 seconds left and they end up getting a technical foul or something. It's a ruling that has no bearing on the game whatsoever.
"I'd like to say that I don't think I would have protested in a situation like (RCTC's), but I wasn't in that situation, either."
CLC coach Heidi Rogge was in that situation, on the losing side, and by the time she learned the ruling was incorrect, it was too late to appeal.
"Almost every other coach came up to me after the game and said they would have said, 'Nice hit' and shook hands," Rogge told the Star Tribune. "The girls have learned their lesson, and they kind of joke about it now. But it's still bittersweet."
Hayenga-Hostikka said she may not have handled such a situation as gracefully as Rogge did.
"She took it pretty good, actually; I was amazed," Hayenga-Hostikka said. "I told my girls, 'Thank goodness that didn't happen to me, because I don't think I would have taken it with as much grace as (Rogge) did.' I know I wouldn't have because that just drives me crazy when you take away what a kid did for other kids getting fired up."
Worthington softball coach Sam Baumgartner agreed.
"I think the rule is being taken a little too literally there," he said. "You're applying a rule that really doesn't have anything to do with the game. The girl hit a home run, fair and square. And, in a situation like that -- a state tournament game, with a walk-off home run -- they're going to be excited and they're going to be jumping up and down. And somebody gives them a high-five a couple steps before they touch home plate? Big deal. Heck, if they carried them around the bases I wouldn't give a damn.
"You have to let the players play the game. I don't understand why that's even a rule. It's a dead-ball situation, and a congratulatory high-five shouldn't be an issue, no matter where it's at."
Said Worthington baseball coach Pat Shaughnessy: "I would have trouble taking that away from them. If a kid hits a home run, I guess I'm not going to look for a technicality to get them out on the way to the plate."
But Musgjerd did, and she had every right to do so. The situation is outlined in the rulebook, and it wasn't her fault the rule was interpreted incorrectly.
"You don't want to win that way, but you have to play by the rules," Musgjerd told the Star Tribune. "You get schooled on the rulebook, and you find out really fast that you need to know it.
"I don't care what the score is. You can't call rules in certain ways sometimes and not other times."
Last year, in late April, two college softball teams drew national attention after they were involved in a similar dilemma.
Central Washington University hosted Western Oregon University in a Division II softball game. CWU entered the doubleheader one game behind WOU in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings, with a berth to the playoffs at stake. CWU lost the opener, putting extra importance on the nightcap.
In the second inning, WOU's Sara Tucholsky belted her first career home run -- a three-run blast over the center-field fence. She was so excited that she missed first base. And when she turned to go back to the bag, her knee gave out and she tore her ACL.
"I was in a lot of pain," Tucholsky told The Oregonian. "Our first-base coach was telling me I had to crawl back to first base. 'I can't touch you,' she said, 'or you'll be out. I can't help you.'"
WOU was preparing to send in a pinch runner to replace Tucholsky at first base when CWU's all-time leader in home runs, Mallory Holtman, volunteered to carry her injured opponent around the bases.
The umpires said there was nothing in the rulebook against players helping opponents around the bases, so Holtman and teammate Liz Wallace picked up Tucholsky and helped her complete the four-bag trip.
All three runs counted, and WOU eventually earned a 4-2 victory.
"In the end, it is not about winning and losing so much," Holtman told The Oregonian. "It was about this girl. She hit it over the fence and was in pain and she deserved a home run.”
CWU didn't make the national tournament, but Central Lakes did.
Both RCTC and the Raiders advanced to their respective regional tournaments, which begin this weekend. If both teams advance to the national tournament, they could meet again.
"At least Central Lakes didn't get eliminated from their season," Hayenga-Hostikka said. "That's the saving grace in this whole situation."
Posted by: Matt Huss on 5/06/2009 at 10:16 PM | Comments (6) | Permalink
Percy Harvin a high-risk, big-reward player
During the 2008-09 college football season, I was one of Percy Harvin’s biggest fans.
An electric wide receiver from the University of Florida, Harvin was the Minnesota Vikings’ top pick (No. 22 overall) in Saturday’s NFL Draft.
Months earlier, Harvin was one of my top draft picks.
In August, my cousin Kamp and I held our Southeastern Conference fantasy football draft for the second consecutive year. We always have been avid followers of college football, but we’ve been especially interested in SEC competition. The conference, which includes perennial powerhouses like Florida, Georgia, Alabama, LSU, Auburn and Tennessee, we feel, is the best in the nation. The speed, athleticism, talent and pro prospects on display every week in the SEC can’t consistently be matched by other BCS leagues.
Our borderline obsession with SEC football has resulted in us doing things that often force my girlfriend to slap her forehead and shake her head in shame. Kamp and I each plan our Saturdays around “The SEC on CBS” Game of the Week, and there was a long period of time when we desperately were searching the internet in an attempt to download CBS’ intro music as a ringtone for our cell phones (I often find myself humming or whistling this intro music, which ranks with NBC’s old-school NBA production theme and ESPN’s “Baseball Tonight” theme as my favorite of all time). The price of my cell phone bill rises dramatically during the college football season, as Kamp and I normally exchange a plethora of calls and text messages, especially on Saturdays. We read college football blogs; we buy SEC-related t-shirts; and we spend an embarrassing amount of time tweaking and preparing our fantasy football teams.
It’s a two-person league, and it’s played a lot like a run-of-the-mill NFL fantasy league. Each roster consists of 15 players, and each team starts two quarterbacks, three running backs, three wide receivers, a tight end, a kicker and a defense every week. There are four bench spots, and each owner is allowed just five add/drops throughout the season; thus, the Draft is the most important part of the process.
Two years ago, in our inaugural season, Kamp made Harvin the third overall selection, following Arkansas running back Darren McFadden and Kentucky quarterback Andre Woodson.
Despite missing a handful of games and being limited in others, Harvin lived up to the expectations that came with being the first wide receiver off the board. He finished with 59 receptions for 858 yards and four touchdowns, and he totaled 764 yards and six touchdowns on 83 rushing attempts.
McFadden and Tim Tebow carried my team to the title, but Harvin kept Kamp close. I was determined to draft the do-it-all threat the next year.
However, Harvin’s injury troubles soon became a major problem. He hurt his ankle in fall practice, and nobody knew — or would say — when he would be able to first take the field in the 2008-09 season.
After Saturday’s NFL draft, many experts said Harvin had top-10 talent but that he fell to No. 22 because of three reasons: 1) his history of injuries; 2) the report that he tested positive for marijuana at the NFL combine; and 3) his history of being an egocentric, selfish diva with a history of attitude problems.
In a fantasy football draft, one doesn’t have to worry about the possibility of a player being a “clubhouse cancer,” but one has to be concerned with a player’s ability to play every week. Because of injury concerns, Harvin dropped down our SEC fantasy football league draft boards. Tebow went No. 1 overall, followed by Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno. Finally, after 10 players had been drafted, I decided to roll the dice. I had needs at other positions, and I was positive that I could find an adequate wide receiver in the later rounds or on the waiver wire, but I couldn’t pass up Harvin’s speed, talent, versatility, past production and future potential. I selected him with the 11th overall pick, and he turned out to be the “SOD” (steal of the draft). Although the Vikings had a glaring need at tackle (“I will boycott the Vikings next season if Ryan Cook starts at right tackle — he’s that bad,” Kamp said, referring to Cook, who will battle to stay on the roster this year after Minnesota drafted Phil Loadholt, a massive right tackle out of Oklahoma, in the second round), and Mississippi’s highly touted right tackle Michael Oher was still on the board, Minnesota couldn’t pass on Harvin, either, for all the same reasons I couldn’t. Vikings fans can only hope it works out as well for the Purple as it did for me.
With Harvin, however, comes a lot of uncertainty.
Harvin didn’t play in Florida’s season opener, a lopsided victory over Hawaii, and an ankle injury suffered in the Gators’ victory over Florida State forced him to miss a key December game against Alabama — a regular-season ending contest that essentially decided which team would advance to the national championship game (Florida won 31-20). Harvin was a “gametime decision” every week, and I found myself stressing every Friday night and Saturday morning, searching for evidence that he was going to play and that it was safe to plug him into my lineup.
When he was healthy, Harvin normally was the best player on the field. He played in only 12 games last season, but he was a touchdown-producing machine, totaling 17. However, he did most of his damage on rushing plays and didn’t produce the receiving stats typically associated with top-notch wide receivers.
He had just three games with four or more receptions. He went over 100 yards receiving twice, and he was held to 52 yards or fewer nine times. He did manage to catch at least one touchdown in six different games.
He had more rushing attempts (70) than receptions (40), and he had more rushing yards (659) than receiving yards (644). Ten of his 17 touchdowns came on the ground.
Harvin finished his three-year college career with 133 receptions for 1,929 yards and 13 touchdowns, and 194 carries for 1,852 yards and 19 scores. He averaged 9.5 yards per carry and 11.6 yards per touch.
He stepped up in big games, earning MVP honors in the 2006 SEC championship game and totaling 171 yards and a touchdown in Florida’s victory over Oklahoma in the 2009 national title game.
He lined up at receiver, running back and quarterback for the Gators, and the Vikings are planning to make him a kickoff and punt returner. But will he ever turn into a No. 1 receiver for a contending NFL team?
Harvin played mostly in the slot at Florida. He took reverse handoffs and caught screens and short receptions, turning them into long gains. That will be exceptionally more difficult in the NFL, with a narrower field and much faster defensive players. Draft experts also have given him low grades for route running and the ability to get off the line of scrimmage against bigger, physical corners.
Harvin likely will play the slot for the Vikings, which isn’t a bad thing, considering that Bobby Wade led Minnesota in receptions a year ago from the slot position. Sage Rosenfels, the veteran quarterback the Vikings traded for in the offseason, favored slot receivers with the Texans a year ago. I realized this firsthand. Andre Johnson was the top receiver on my NFL fantasy football team, and he thrived with the oft-injured Matt Shaub under center. But, when Rosenfels played, Kevin Walters received the majority of the attention and receptions, especially in the red zone, where Harvin thrived — as a player who took handoffs. Andre Caldwell and Louis Murphy were the Florida receivers who received the most looks from Tebow inside the 20-yard line.
It will be interesting to see how the Vikings utilize Harvin. Will they run a lot of reverses? Will they use him as quarterback in the “Wildcat”? It worked great at UF, but it would keep the ball out of the hands of Pro Bowl running back Adrian Petersen at Minnesota.
But the biggest question about Harvin clearly is the one regarding his apparent fragility. The 5-foot-11 speedster missed five games in his college career and was limited in several more because of an injury list that includes heel surgery, ankle injuries, migraine headaches, a concussion, a hip pointer, tendinitis in his Achilles tendon, and tendinitis in his knee.
Harvin’s susceptibility to injuries became so well-known within college football circles that he often became the subject of jokes. But nobody questioned his toughness. Every Day Should Be Saturday, one of the best college football blogs on the internet, created a graph that detailed all of Harvin’s “injuries” and ran the following text:
Percy Harvin is injured. Big deal, we say: Percy Harvin is always injured. Just before the national title game in 2006, Percy Harvin sneezed and severed his femoral artery. Bleeding profusely and on the brink of death, he put on his pants, strapped on the helmet, and after three cups of Gatorade ripped off 82 yards of total offense and a TD against the Ohio State Buckeyes. He then died immediately postgame, but recovered in time for spring practices.
Like a finely tuned sports car, Percy runs at top speed and, more frequently than not, is on blocks during the week receiving physical therapy, being massaged by virgins, and laughing gustily at the jesters and midgets who amuse the court at Florida.
Harvin was the college football equivalent of the NFL’s Brian Westbrook, the veteran Philadelphia running back who rarely practices during the week because of an assortment of injuries, is a gametime decision every Sunday, but still manages to play and be effective. The only difference between the two: Harvin misses games.
There were reports before Saturday’s NFL Draft that Harvin would need additional surgery on his ankle, with some speculating that he had a hole in a bone near his foot and needed a plate screwed in place permanently to fix the problem.
But the Vikings scoffed at the reports and shrugged off Harvin’s history of injuries and off-the-field problems.
Such attitudes have worked out well in the past for Minnesota.
Nobody wanted to draft Randy Moss, who basically was kicked out of two colleges for drug and behavioral issues before landing and starring at Marshall, and Petersen fell to the Vikings because teams were concerned with his history of injuries and his upright running style.
If Harvin can produce a career anything like those already posted by Moss and Pedersen, he may forever be known as the steal of the steal of the 2009 NFL Draft.
Posted by: Matt Huss on 4/28/2009 at 2:42 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Anderson leading, learning at Notre Dame
Josh Anderson had an opportunity that few have the chance to experience.
Returning for the third year, Anderson was in a select group to be guest strength coach for a camp at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind.
“They’ll only invite about around 10 strength coaches to come in and help out at the camp,” Anderson said. “It’s not that you just stand there and watch; you’re there to instruct and demonstrate the drills and take the kids through the drills. Guest coaches are the ones that help out and take certain drills and take the kids through those.”
Anderson, who is the health and fitness director at the Worthington Area YMCA, drove more than 1,100 miles and was up at 5 a.m. Saturday preparing for the camp.
But it was all worth it.
“It was definitely worth it,” Anderson said. “I love it down there. It’s an honor to be able to go down there and work alongside the best coaches in the best facilities, and with the tradition of Notre Dame, it’s an honor.”
Guest coaches came from all across the nation, including coaches from Ohio, South Carolina and three trainers from USA weightlifting.
“The USA weightlifting guys know (head strength) coach Ruben Mendoza, so it’s an honor to have them come in and even get to know them and pick their brains,” Anderson said. “USA weightlifting is one of the best organizations out there in our field in certification. Other guest coaches know one of the other assistant strength coaches or they know somebody who knows one of the strength coaches, so it’s one of those things you get invited to.”
Before the Notre Dame staff allows the guest coaches to work with the students, they first have to have a small amount of training Saturday morning.
“You have to go through everything before the camp,” Anderson said. “The first time I went down there, I was already accepted to do an internship and work along with them, so that automatically got me in. But you have to answer questions and they take you through different scenarios. If this person was lifting this way, or how would you critique this. Then you have to fill out a background check and everything.”
Saturday, it was old habit for Anderson. He was able to instruct drills throughout the camp, which ran from 8 a.m. until noon.
“I instructed and took the kids through agility and reaction drills, mirror drills, four-cone drill and a tennis ball drop where the kids have to get it on one bounce. From there, we went into the weight room and I demonstrated proper form and technique for the bench press,” Anderson said. “It’s nothing new for me. Being a guest strength coach, they know that you’re knowledgeable and they trust you. You’re hired by them, so you’re there working for Notre Dame, so it’s important that you stay professional and you know your stuff so kids aren’t going to get hurt or anything like that.”
After head Irish football coach Charlie Weis gave a welcome, the campers were split into groups and were rotated through the drills. The first portion of the camp was spent in the field house, with the second part in the weight room. A visit from Notre Dame’s nutritionist and Allen Rossum rounded out the morning.
“Allen Rossum, who currently plays for the 49ers and is an alum from Notre Dame, was there to talk to the kids,” Anderson said. “They were able to ask him a lot of questions, so that was pretty neat to hear his experience at Notre Dame and where he’s at now and how he got there. So that was pretty cool.”
On a campus full of history and tradition, and with famous athletes walking around constantly, it might be tough to not get caught up on the trip. But that wasn’t hard for Anderson, who was all business.
“I’m sure they’ve had coaches that come in and kind of be like that, but being professional, I believe, helps keep me coming back,” Anderson said. “It feels good that they trust me and we’re able to work together.”
That doesn’t mean he hasn’t had his opportunities to see well-known people.
“In 2007 when I was down there, Brady Quinn was just getting ready for the draft,” Anderson said. “I came in to meet with coach Perry, and one of the assistant strength coaches was working out Brady Quinn. I was able to watch him work him out, stretch him out and do some of the drills with him, so I was able to meet Brady Quinn, which was really neat. The professionalism part of it, I didn’t go up to him and ask him for his autograph or anything like that. To me, it’s more important to say hey, I had a chance to see him and work alongside him. That’s more important to me than anything. That’s the main thing in this business is not to get caught up and everything, but it can easily happen.”
When the camp was over, Anderson was able to take in all the sights, including part of the Blue-Gold spring football game.
“After being a guest coach there, they give you tickets so you can go watch the Blue-Gold game,” Anderson said. “Having a chance to go to a Notre Dame football game and be in the stadium that Rudy played in and Lou Holtz and Knute Rockne were there as coaches and all of the great Notre Dame players and staff, it’s just amazing. Not a lot of people get a chance to do those things, so that’s a neat thing to be able to go down there.”
While working with the strength coaches at Notre Dame, Anderson was able to learn new drills and lifts, which he hopes to incorporate back in Worthington.
“I’m very honored to go down there and work with some of the best in the business,” Anderson said. “Not only are you going there and working for them, but you’re able to talk with all of the other coaches and see what they're doing and what’s been working and what hasn’t been. In our field, it’s important to know new lifts and new agilities and new (plyometrics). You might think you know it all, but even this weekend, I learned so much. Every time I go down there or anywhere, you’re always learning something, and that’s what you have to take away from these things.
“I’ll integrate it right away. Some of the different agilities and plyometrics, I learned some more stuff on speed and different lifts and I’ll incorporate that right away, so it’s a huge learning experience.”
Anderson has started planning for next year’s trip after already being invited back.
“I’ll be going back next year,” Anderson said. “I’ve already told them and they’ve already asked me to come back. I’m welcome down there at any time. That means the world to me. To have that support staff and to know that they trust me and believe in me and know that I’m knowledgeable in the field of strength and conditioning is really cool.”
Posted by: Aaron Hagen on 4/20/2009 at 3:40 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Musa impressive in first meet
Mubarik Musa almost missed the gun.
With the other competitors in their lanes and preparing for the start of Thursday’s 1,600-meter run, Musa wasn’t on the track.
Instead, he was running across the football field, trying to make the beginning of the race.
For other runners, the pre-race run may have hindered their performance.
Not Musa.
From the start of the race during the Cardinal Relays in Luverne, Musa’s only competition was himself.
Starting on the inside lane, Musa was already out in front after the first turn — ahead of the runners in the outside lanes.
From then, Musa knew he had a victory.
“From the beginning; I knew I had it before I even started the race,” Musa said. “The question for me was would I get a better time that I wanted — usually somewhere around 4:30 or 4:25. That was the time that I wanted, but it didn’t happen. Hopefully, it’ll happen at the end of the season.”
A freshman, Musa recently moved to Luverne from Brooklyn Park.
The Cardinals couldn’t be happier.
“I moved here I think three weeks ago,” Musa said. “I immediately joined the track team.”
Musa is no stranger to tough competition.
Running for Park Center, Musa finished eighth at the state cross county meet Nov. 1 by running a 15:55.4 that day.
The next freshman in the meet was Josh Thorson.
He finished 32nd.
Thursday, Musa finished his mile with a 4:38.37.
“It was kind of average,” Musa said. “It wasn’t too good or too bad, it’s usually what I run. It is early-season, so hopefully my time will drop soon.”
Of course, Musa had two factors working against him Thursday.
“It was a little chilly, and there was no competition,” Musa said. “There was no one pushing me. All of this contributes to some point.”
Hills-Beaver Creek/Ellsworth/Edgerton’s Halden Van Wyhe finished second with a time of 5:02.
Musa ran around a 2:19 in his first 800, but had a poor third lap.
“The third lap, my coach told me, was a little too slow,” Musa said. “But it was all right. This is the first time at an outdoor mile this season, too. Hopefully, by the end of the season, I’ll get somewhere around 4:20 or lower 20s. We’ll see what happens.”
If Musa makes his goal, he could place at the state meet.
Last year, Winona Cotter’s Donny Wasinger set a new Class A record with a time of 4:15.20.
If Musa hits his mark of 4:20, he would have finished fourth last season.
Tracy-Milroy-Balaton’s Ryan Tholen won the Section 3A meet last year with a time of 4:34.30, and could be Musa’s toughest competition this season.
“I’m from AA, so A isn’t that much people and it’s not that much competition,” Musa said. “Still, I have to keep pushing in case something happens at the end.”
If a 1,600-meter victory wasn’t enough Thursday, Musa claimed a victory in the 800. Finishing with a 2:04.36, he beat Worthington’s OJ Ojullu by more than two seconds.
While Musa wasn’t pushed during Thursday’s mile, that doesn’t mean he won’t stop pushing himself — even against smaller schools than he’s used to.
“My concern was that I probably wouldn’t have the competition that AA has, but I still keep telling myself, ‘No matter what, I keep pushing the pace,’” Musa said. “I just need to push myself. That’s the kind of motivation I have.”
Posted by: Aaron Hagen on 4/13/2009 at 11:23 PM | Comments (4) | Permalink
Spring Fever: Poor weather and field conditions are keeping some area baseball and softball teams indoors
WORTHINGTON — It hasn’t been an ideal spring for Worthington’s baseball and softball teams.
Both teams have had a combined five games postponed because of weather and poor field conditions. Even worse, the Trojans combined to have just one “official” practice outside on the diamond.
“We got outside to the field one time — that was last Friday — then the snow storm hit over the weekend,” Worthington softball coach Sam Baumgartner said. “So we were right on the cusp of being able to be outside all the time, and then the snow came and put us off for this week again.
“We’re five weeks into (the season), and we’ve had one official outdoor practice.”
That’s one better than the Worthington baseball team.
The closest the Worthington boys have had to an ideal practice took place on the soccer field, where they played catch.
Everything else has taken place in the WHS gymnasium, and it’s starting to take a toll on Worthington’s players.
“We don’t look forward to going to practice every day when it’s inside,” junior pitcher/outfielder Mitchell Jensen said. “It’s the same thing every day: hit off the machine, and this and that. It gets ridiculous.”
Said senior shortstop Kyle Vaske: “It’s not that bad, but it’s definitely getting old. We’re just waiting for it to get nice out. If we hadn’t had that snowstorm, we would have been out there.”
It was reported that Worthington got five inches of snow over the weekend — but it looked like much more. The baseball and softball diamonds were blanketed in white, and, although a lot of it has melted, the remaining dampness has left it impossible for teams to practice or play without tearing up the field.
The snowstorm also came right before Worthington High School’s spring break. Vaske used his off-day from school to drive out and check the conditions at the baseball field after the Trojans’ morning practice indoors.
“I drove out there, just through the parking lot, and there were still drifts out in center field,” he said. “All along the fence, there’s still snow out there.”
Vaske, who also will see some time on the mound this season, is able to practice pitching in the gymnasium. It isn’t the same without facing a batter ready to swing away, but it’s more effective practice than that he receives as a shortstop. Fielding grounders off a gymnasium floor just doesn’t adequately prepare an infielder for the tricky bounces he or she will encounter on actual earth.
Then there are the outfielders, like Jensen, who need to practice things like chasing down fly balls, charging grounders, making long throws and other things that are virtually impossible to do indoors.
“We can hardly do anything,” Jensen said, speaking for the outfielders. “We can’t even take fly balls.”
Baumgartner has taken his players outside, to the parking lot, to field fly balls.
“But that’s been the extent of it,” he said. “We’re still inside, and you can work on the fundamentals as much as you can, but it starts to get old when you’re five weeks into it. You try to create as many realistic opportunities in the gym as you can and keep it competitive and keep the girls’ interest going, but everybody’s itching to get outside.”
Keeping indoor practices interesting is one of the most difficult tasks for a coach. Players can get frustrated and anxious. Even worse, they can be unprepared when finally taking to the field for a game.
“You have to keep it interesting; you don’t want to get into a routine where the girls know exactly what to expect day in and day out,” Baumgartner said. “You mix it up as much as you can and try different things. Sometimes you get away from softball things and just do crazy games or stuff that doesn’t even relate to softball, just to keep everybody’s interest. You just have to tough it out as much as you can.”
Most of the players and coaches are used to it. In Minnesota, dealing with poor weather and cancelations tends to be an annual dilemma.
“More often than not, it seems like you deal with some of the weather stuff early on, and then you start to get things in,” Baumgartner said. “I remember once or twice when we’ve been able to get the first game of the year in, but it’s hard. Our first game was scheduled for March 31, and we’re still sitting here on April 9 without getting a game in.
“It’s part of playing in Minnesota. You schedule games early and kind of hope you can get them in, but you expect to deal with postponements and cancelations.”
It’s not new for everyone.
Brianna Ramos, a sophomore pitcher on Windom Area’s softball team, recently moved to Minnesota from California, where she was used to practicing softball year-round and never head to deal with cold weather or snow.
“The indoors practice is new for her,” Windom Area coach Paul Vesey said, laughing. “She was like, ‘When do we go outside?’ And, (Wednesday), we went outside and she said, ‘When do we go back inside?’”
It could be worse.
Vaske and Jensen said school was canceled because of a snowstorm last year on the day the Trojans were supposed to play their first game of the season.
It could be better.
The Worthington teams appear to be the ones most affected by the weather.
Jackson County Central’s baseball team has played three games, and so has Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin’s softball team. Adrian’s, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton’s, ML/B-O’s and Red Rock Central/Westbrook-Walnut Grove’s baseball teams each played their second games of the season Thursday.
Other teams haven’t been so fortunate.
Windom Area’s softball team, like the Worthington teams, hasn’t played a game yet. Vesey said the Eagles are scheduled to play 10 games in nine days, starting Monday.
Worthington’s baseball team is scheduled to play six games in five days, starting Monday. The Trojans are scheduled to play Monday, Tuesday and Thursday before having a doubleheader on Saturday.
Baumgartner said postponements will force Worthington’s softball team to play six games in a week, including doubleheaders on back-to-back days, later in the season.
“As of this point, we have all of our postponed games back on the schedule,” Baumgartner said. “Hopefully, we can get them in, but it’s going to be packed in there — four or five games in a week.
“The thing you hope to avoid is having a key injury to one of your vital players because, if games are going to get stacked up one after the other and a key player goes down, you’re going to miss them for four or five games, just like that. Some teams have six conference games in the course of a week, and if the goal is to compete for a conference title, it can be a pretty tricky thing to deal with.”
Despite having just one outdoor practice between them, Worthington’s baseball and softball teams both are scheduled to play their first games of the season Monday.
The forecast: rain.
The Minnesota Twins next year will leave the Metrodome and play in an outdoor-only stadium. When the plans for Target Field were announced, many fans raised concerns about the Twins’ ability to get games in during early April and late September. Only time will tell.
But one team’s trash is another team’s treasure.
“They’re going to move out of the Metrodome,” Baumgartner said, laughing. “We’re kind of thinking that, if they don’t want to use it, we will.”
Posted by: Matt Huss on 4/09/2009 at 9:46 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
The Dome awaits MW baseball team
The timing couldn’t have been better.
Minutes after one game was cancelled, the Minnesota West baseball team had another opportunity open.
Struggling to compete with cold and wet conditions in the early going of the college baseball season, the Bluejays are heading to a place that is guaranteed to have perfect conditions: the Metrodome.
There’s only one catch.
Minnesota West will open its season Wednesday morning, starting at midnight.
“I think everybody is going to be so excited, it doesn’t matter; they are college kids,” MW head coach Jeff Linder said. “For me it will be, especially if I don’t feel any better.”
The Bluejays are facing Mesabi Range, which was supposed to make the trip to Worthington last weekend.
“We were supposed to start last weekend, but with the weather as questionable as it was as far as temperature, Mesabi Range wasn’t going to come down,” Linder said. “That’s a long ways for ifs.”
With the weather in question, Mesabi Range decided the trip wasn’t worth the 370-mile trip — a journey which would cost thousands of dollars.
Instead, the two will meet halfway, and play as much as they can in four hours.
“We only get four hours, so we’re done regardless at 4 (a.m.),” Linder said. “Then we’re getting on the bus and heading home.”
The team will leave in the early evening Tuesday, and return in time for classes Wednesday morning.
Originally, Minnesota West was trying to schedule a game with Mount Marty. However, Monday, the coaches called and cancelled Tuesday’s game.
It was then that the Dome came calling.
Linder had been trying to find a time to play in the Dome, but up until Monday, he wasn’t having any luck.
“We kept e-mailing them, and e-mailing them and e-mailing them, trying to get any date, and any time,” Linder said.
Monday, things fell into place.
“We were supposed to play Mount Marty (Tuesday), but they cancelled on us; they are planning ahead,” Linder said. “Ironically, when I got done talking with Mount Marty (Monday), 20 minutes later, the Metrodome called.”
The Bluejays will arrive at the Dome sometime around 10:30 p.m., and wait for their turn.
Once the game before theirs is complete, the teams will take a quick warm-up and get to playing.
“It’s going to be exciting,” Linder said. “Some of those guys have never been in the Dome, let alone play on the Dome surface.”
After the Bluejays are done on the field, a set of high school teams will take to the Dome floor.
In preparation for their first game, the Bluejays had to get a practice in on the field. Even though the weather wasn’t idea Monday, Linder and the Bluejays had their first practice outside.
“We have yet to be on a full field as a full team and have a full practice,” Linder said before Monday’s practice. “We could have went (Sunday), but I thought the temperature wasn’t going to be there, so a lot of these guys went home.”
This year’s squad has 19 freshmen and a mere five sophomores, so Wednesday morning’s games will go a long way in helping Linder sort through his lineup.
“We’re tired of being inside and we’re ready to play,” Linder said. “I’ve been doing everything I can to get us somewhere, somehow.”
And while the rest of the world sleeps, the Bluejays will be playing — under a clear sky and in perfect 70 degree temperatures.
Not a bad way to start a season.
Posted by: Aaron Hagen on 3/30/2009 at 11:44 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: baseball, minnesota west, minnesota west baseball
Panthers fall in championship
The Granada-Huntley-East Chain Mustangs completed their perfect season.
Entering Saturday's Class A boys' state basketball championship game, the Mustangs were a perfect 28-0.
With a 62-54 overtime victory against Ellsworth, GHEC capped its perfect season with a championship.
The Panthers, who were making their fourth consecutive trip to the state championship game, finish their season 29-4.
Tim Garry, who scored five first-half points, was a big part of GHEC's comeback in the second half.
The Panthers had a 28-18 lead at the break, but behind Garry's 20 second-half points and a half-court trapping defense, the Mustangs were able to climb back in the game.
Tom Nolte scored 16 points and had 10 rebounds to lead the Panthers, while Casey Schilling scored 11 points. Trevor Gruis had 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
Along with Gruis and Schilling, Ellsworth's Adam Van Der Stoep was named to the all-tournament team.
The Mustangs took their first lead of the day with 6:18 remaning in regulation, and with 2:34 left in regulation, had a two-point lead.
However, Gruis was able to tie the game on a basket with 1:26 remaining. GHEC opted to hold for the final shot. The shot was off the mark, sending the game into overtime.
In the overtime period, GHEC started on a 7-0 run and had a 58-51 lead with 1:12 remaining in overtime.
Nolte scored a basket for the Panthers, but it was too little too late as the Mustangs claimed the state title with a 62-54 victory.
Ellsworth shot 23 of 55 from the field (41%), 5 of 20 from 3-point land (25%) and 3 of 6 from the free-throw line. The Panthers had 33 rebounds and committed 15 turnovers.
The Mustangs finished 22 of 54 from the field (40.7%), 8 of 19 from behind the arc (42.1%) and 10 of 19 from the free-throw line (52.6%). They had 29 rebounds and committed seven turnovers.
Posted by: dgsports on 3/28/2009 at 1:50 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink
Game heading to overtime
In what has been a battle between two quality teams, 36 minutes wasn't enough.
Saturday's Class A boys' state basketball championship game between Ellsworth and Granada-Huntley-East Chain is going to overtime, tied at 51.
Posted by: dgsports on 3/28/2009 at 1:37 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
GHEC misses late shot
Marcus Teachout missed an open 3-pointer for the Mustangs, and Ellsworth was able to corral the rebound with 1 second remaining and the game tied at 51-all.
Posted by: dgsports on 3/28/2009 at 1:34 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
