Chico de Oro....Kurt Warner.

noreply@blogger.com (David Unterreiner) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 17:32:00 +0000

Pittsburgh won, but, most importantly, Kurt Warner proved he's a baller. Not only did he quarterback one hell of a game, he also was the only person in football to receive the "NFL Man of the Year" Award before the game.

Set aside the fluke pick and miraculous runback at the end of the half, that was bonehead. And forget about the fumble late in the game, it was miracle he was actually making people think, there for a moment, that this game STILL was not over. Ageless wonder? Yep. Possible Hall of Fame quarterback? Yep. It is possible, fellas.

Was that the greatest Super Bowl ever? I wouldn't know because I was watching it on Yahoo's game channel in the only place in the Ophir house we could get a wireless internet connection, which might as well have been behind the fridge and under two blankets. So, technically, I wasn't even watching. I was eating canned chili and fritos and staring at a friend who wouldn't stop shooting his bebe gun at a string of empty beer cans.

If it wasn't for Kurt Warner playing in this one, I would have forgotten it was Super Bowl Sunday. That's how out of touch I am. Turns out, I probably missed the greatest Super Bowl ever played.

But could it really have beaten Patriots over Rams? Is Kurt Warner magical? Does everything he touch turn to gold?

Or am I just being obsessive about an old fart who's just about washed up?

A lesson in Manhood

noreply@blogger.com (David Unterreiner) — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 21:25:00 +0000

Nobody seemed to really dig on my Ryan Willen swine, did they? Cheap shot? Or the truth? With Ryan Willen, last year, Notre Dame was a better team. This year, without Ryan Willen, they are not. That's the truth.

Now the difference between the truth and a cheap shot? Well, an anonymous poster saying that I suck constitutes a cheap shot. Are we all clear on the two definitions?

Hm, the truth hurts sometimes. I understand your pain. Next year will I write that ND was better, post Michael Porter? Sure. If you'd like.

Find another team? Do you want me to start cheering for KU? What the hell? Bad play calling is bad play calling, there's no way around it. Fourth and one is no time to run a shotgun play and turn one yard into 8. Every once in a while, you know, to throw defenses off, that's fine with me. BUT EVERY SINGLE TIME? Bob Stoops laughs his ass off anytime he's playing Mizzou and they turn a third or fourth and short into a third or fourth and long. Seriously. I'll bet he laughs inside. I bet a bunch of coaches do. You guys keep talking about MU being an elite program, 30 wins in 3 years? There's teams all over the country that have done that. Mizzou can't win big games. They never have. Oklahoma makes them look like a bunch of whipped city boys in Sears buying their girlfriends' $50 panties. Year after year. After year. They're not elite. They're good. They win some ballgames. However, the coaching staff doesn't get them ready to play the big boys. And you have to beat the big boys, fellas.

And my blogs don't suck near as much as Christenson' play calling does. There's truth to that.

Grow up and be a man? How about some of you start taking a little responsibility of your own and signing your names on your posts. Until then, I don't see any room in the trash talking business for any of you. In the world of shit-talk, there are rules. Number one: You're not allowed to cower behind an anonymous name and bash someone from the comfort of your cubicle.

That's pretty much the only rule, but that IS a rule. I like reading all your post, but please don't make me put an "anonymous" block on the blog. That seems foolish to have to do. You are all adults right? My name is David Unterreiner. Next to my blog there's a briefing about me. You know who I am. You know where I'm from. You know where I live. And I don't even know your name. But yet, you tell me that I suck. That's balls.

It's good to see some Cape Central fans on the site. I could be wrong, but it seems they've come few and far between in the past. We're happy to have you. I miss the old ND-Cape Central rivalry. A little less talk back then, and a lot more action. Playing ball against those Cape boys was more fun than just about anything back then. A few of these current local rivalries could take a tip from that one. Damn right we didn't like each other. The players didn't like the players, the fans didn't like the fans, and the schools didn't like the schools. But you know what, nobody got on the Internet every single day behind an anonymous name and started bashing each other. Everything was bottled up and released on game day. The fans cheered hard, the players played hard, and everybody was trash talking everybody else. And then it was over. The game was over, the hard feelings were over. And we waited until next time.

Alright. Give it to me.

Shit-talkin' never gets old

noreply@blogger.com (David Unterreiner) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 21:46:00 +0000

There's nothing like an angry Reddog from Sikeston to get me out of the woods and back to the computer. I figured somebody would start talking some shit sooner or later about me never writing, but I didn't assume it would be trash talk in regards to Sikeston and Notre Dame. I should've figured.

When Mark called and told me I had a post after two idle months I was a bit surprised. But it's good to know at least one guy out there still, for one reason or another, remembers me as a trash-talking blogger. I'm not sure where that reputation came from, but I guess I'll take it.

Cheers to Sikeston for puttin' a whoopin' on Notre Dame twice thus far this season. Perhaps the tide has changed. Sikeston seems to be the better team, post-Ryan Willen. I have no qualms about admitting that, in case homeboy thought I was going to try to defend Notre Dame and make sappy excuses about why the blue couldn't hang with the red, which I've never done. It's cool, though.

Mark speaks the truth in his response; I've been away from a computer for a couple months now. I must say it's been fantastic. The only local sports updates that I've heard of are the ones I get when I talk to the family, and I haven't had any time to blog about. I've completely lost touch with St. Louis sports scene, and my lone exposure to traditional sports in the last two months was Mizzou's bowl game last weekend, which was nice. It was good to see the Tigers get a win. It's obvious that, defensively, they're about as good as 11 rocks in a bag. You could pull 11 homeless guys off the streets and tell them you'll feed them for one night if they play defense for your football team, and they would've made the Tigers look bad. There are some bright spots at the linebacker position, but for the most part they were downright pathetic.

I was also happy to hear Dave Christenson will be moving on to be the head coach at Wyoming. Some may miss the guy, but his completely ignorant play-calling and his fear of making smart play calls on short yardage situations will certainly not be missed by this man. Farewell Dave.

It was a pleasure getting to watch Chase Daniel play these last four years. I wish his senior campaign would've played out better for him, but you can't win 'em all. Here's to hoping that he goes on to a successful professional career.

Between the Blues, the Rams, and the Cardinals these days there just isn't all that much to talk about. The Cardinals' front office has done an impressive job of making the media and some of the people in St. Louis think they're making major improvements to their ballclub. But that's a hoax. Kahlil Greene sucks. And Trever Miller isn't much to talk about either. The truth is simple: The front office needs to go out and sign or trade for an impact player.

I'm a complete advocate of using the farm system to its fullest capabilities and bringing up young talent through your organization, but the truth is that young players need quality, proven, talented veterans to learn from. These middle line guys that the Cardinals have been signing for the last five years now, who are kind of good but not really all that good ballplayers, just aren't going to cut it anymore. Go out and get another big bat or another ace starter and lets win some damn ballgames.

Alright. I'm outta here. It was fun writing again. Happy New Year.

What are Sports?

noreply@blogger.com (David Unterreiner) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 21:32:00 +0000

It's been a while. The Phillies have won the series. Mizzou proved, once again, that they don't know how to prepare to play against a legitimate national title contendor. The NBA started. The NHL started. And the Rams won a game. All of this since the last time I've seen a computer. Scanning the last month's worth of stories from the St. Louis sport's web pages has been like sitting down to a tree full of wiffleballs on Christmas morning. Surprising, but pleasant.

*Who would've thought firing a football coach could cause such a drastic change in performance? Count me on the side that did. Bottom line is that Scott Linehan just couldn't get the job done. I wouldn't expect to see him on the sidelines as a head coach again...at any level.

*I was starting to give in to all of you Pinkel lovers. I was really starting to come around. He was proving to me that he could head up a load of talent on the turf and field a title contendor. And then Mizzou had two huge games in a row, and came out flatter than Kansas. Most people blame that on the coach.

*Philadelphia? Tampa? Who really cared?

*Carp is coming back and the Birds are going to sign Manny. Write it down.

I'm outty.

Smoot Reigns Supreme

noreply@blogger.com (David Unterreiner) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 04:08:00 +0000

If you haven't checked out JBar's blog, "Watch Chris Cooley's Draft," then you should. It's hilarious. It's priceless watching Redskin players hating on Marion Barber and Reggie Bush. Sex boat party pioneer Freddy Smoot reigns classic comments, picking "Steve 'I'll beat you up' Smith", then he claims he doesn't even need Jon Kitna because he's got Tommy Brady...oops. He tells Jason Campbell's girlfriend she's going to regret picking Reggie Bush, then goes on to say Matt Ryan ain't nothing but a "pair of shoes." When Colt Brennan picks Lendale White, Chris Cooley claims it's a "gay pick," then he proceeds to say, "I'm not real happy with my options right now" immediately before he picks Campbell, his own quarterback.

Plus, there's dumb hot chicks in the video. And, apparently, after seeing the fetish we have with Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, Lindsay Lohan, etc, etc, etc, Americans love watching dumb hot chicks.

So...check it out.

Plus, he's better than you at fantasy football. So take his advice.

No Fun League set to Snap

noreply@blogger.com (David Unterreiner) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 16:22:00 +0000

How weird is it to see a different quarterback wearing a Green Bay helmet? To me, it looks like Aaron Rodgers has no business in that color. Nonetheless, I'm rooting hard for him and I hope he does well. If anybody deserves a shot in this league, it's him. Not to many highly touted NFL players sit still for four years without making a peep. I think that says a lot about what kind of guy he is. Here's hoping Rodgers tears it up this year, and brings Green Bay back to the playoffs.

I was watching the pregame show on FOX and saw Keyshawn Johnson there. I got to thinking about the old man and I decided there has never been a player that has had so much success just from talking himself up. "Key" was a decent baller for a couple years but he was never as good as he made himself up to be. These days he's landed a gig on a pregame show where millions of people take his opinion about the sport seriously, all the while believing he was one of the game's best receivers. He ranks nowhere near the top of the game's best receivers and he said absolutely nothing smart on the pregame show. In fact, in the few minutes I listened to him, twice he stated, "I'll keep this short, I agree with Coach Dikta." Wow. Inspiring.

Along the bottom line, I noticed that they are now making fantasy "projections" for players. For example, Drew Brees is "projected" to throw for 312 yards, two touchdowns and one interception against the Bucs today, according to Fox. Really? I wonder who the brain behind this is, and I'd like to meet the complete idiots that actually pay attention to that stuff. We can't predict the future, folks. Neither can Fox.

I'm glad young Matthew Leinart gets the pine to start the season. Maybe this will help him come to the realization that he's not that special. Kurt Warner was in his prime six years ago and he took advantage of it. Leinart should take this opportunity to watch and learn from Kurt. He should be buying Warner dinner and asking for secrets. This is an embarrassment for Leinart, who only three years ago was seemingly immortal. I hope the playboy learns his lesson.

Any guesses as to how the J.T. O'Sullivan and Mike Martz era is going to turn out?

There was a time when I thought Chad Johnson was a great thing for the NFL. He was a great receiver with a clever attitude. He had fun, but it was a good fun. It was fun for the fans, fun for the players, fun for the media. He wasn't like the Randy Moss and the Terrell Owens of old, making headlines for being ignorant and ornery. He was making headlines because he was simply enjoying the game of football. But I've lost all hope and all respect for the guy. Why can't making millions and millions of dollars, being one of the most known people in professional sports, and playing the game you love be enough? I'm over Chad, I hope he disappears. I wish he would've kept his promise and went and played in the Arena league, or Canada, or somewhere else. Somewhere where the media could give a rats ass about what his name is. You know you're a troubled soul when being Chad Johnson, future Hall of Fame wide reciever, isn't enough attention for you. He needs counseling, and a good ass kicking.

We should hire Ditka to do the deed.

Dear Miles, Swallow your...words?

noreply@blogger.com (David Unterreiner) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 21:40:00 +0000

Now that the Old Indians are up I-70 and sitting underneath 60,000 people in the locker rooms of Faurot, I'm wondering if that bold prediction by Miles Edwards is starting to sit uncomfortably in his stomach. I would guess that his words are probably turning into loose stool somewhere down near his colon. But maybe I'm wrong, I guess. Maybe some of these SEMO boys are on to something, maybe they know something we don't know. Maybe MU is slightly worse than Southwest Baptist, and SEMO can pull this one out as well.

But, I doubt it. And not even anonymous' boy Dave Christensen turning fourth and ones into fourth and nines are going to save SEMO. This one is going to be sloppy, I don't care who's playing and who's not playing. The difference is simply size and speed.

The most interesting storyline with this entire scene is that the great people of Missouri have to either travel to their local Buffalo Wild Wings or pay Pay-Per-View$29.99 to see the contest. I'll spare the local television stations an ass chewing because I'm assuming there's a legal process involved that is prohibiting them from carrying the game. If that is so, then shame on the legal process. When a state has their Big 12 team amongst the nation's top ten football teams, they should be televised locally every single game. Somebody is at fault here. Although the game isn't going to be that great of game to watch, it's still a big deal. It's an event. SEMO and the black and gold are meeting for only the second time in history. Since Fox Sports Net is acting like a greedy, money loving big business, KFVS12 should have stepped in and fought 'till their last breathe to bring this game to the people of Cape Girardeau.

It's a crying shame. I come all the way home, and I can't even watch Missouri play Southeast Missouri. Pitiful. And obnoxious.

Hate to break it to you, Miles, but you're going to look like an idiot on this one. Go Tigers.

Weatherspoon Rings the Orange out of "Juice"..twice. And then Stinkel nearly blows everything.

noreply@blogger.com (David Unterreiner) — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 03:45:00 +0000

Sean Weatherspoon comes up with a HUGE interception, shows exceptional class by pretending to "ring the Juice" from the orange and in the meantime gives MU a much needed BIG MO boost.

Only to have our headcoaching genius in the form of Gary Pinkel come out throwing for the second possession in a row, using absolutely no time and completely burning up two possessions. In the process, Jeremy Maclin is taken to the locker room on a golf cart for X-Rays.

I don't know who is calling the plays for MU this season, but you can tell its going to be another frustrating year of shotgun plays on third and shorts. The defense has also failed to make numerous second half adjustments, the most glaring being the lack of safety coverage downfield. The defense has been burnt numerous times down the right side line because of lack of communication and blown coverage. I know it's early in the season, and these things will probably work themselves out, but when you're planning and talking like your going to be national title contenders, this type of crap needs to be worked out before your season opener.

And for all of you Pinkel fans who think I'm going to be easy on him this year just because he got outcoached twice last year by the same guy in critical games, give me a break. I'm not giving him a hall pass by any means. Once he shows me that he can put his ego aside and start running normal plays on third and short, and not depending on Maclin for every game breaking play...then we'll talk.

He's doing better, but it's because he's nailed his offseason recruiting. I don't really see any improvement in his coaching style. He's still an average head coach at best.

THIS JUST IN:
FOURTH AND ONE. 3:29 to go. Up by Ten. PINKEL CALLS A QUARTERBACK SNEAK FROM THE SHOTGUN. ON FOURTH AND ONE. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Nobody in the world pisses me off more than Pinkel. He's damn lucky Sean Weatherspoon is here to save his ass. It's a good thing he's able to get great natural talent on the field, because he sure as hell can't make good decisions on the sideline.

And save the "spread offense" argument. I don't care how the spread works, and I don't care if you're supposed to always be from the 'gun. This is how football works: on fourth and one, up by ten, with under five to go. You play from under center and you POUND THE PIGSKIN DOWN THEIR THROATS.

I should be coaching that football team.

Dig out your Black and Gold

noreply@blogger.com (David Unterreiner) — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 23:05:00 +0000

Alright all you sappy Pally's. I'm away for three weeks and people are bashing Mizzou over on Mark's blog. That's not right, folks, that's damn wrong. And exactly one hour and twenty four minutes before boot-off against the Fighting Illini, let me say this...those suckers in Orange don't stand a chance.

Illinois, along with Kansas, took home the biggest prize in the BCS season last year when they each got spots in bowl games for no apparent reason. It seemed that the idiots runnin' the show at BCS headquarters went dumb in crunch time again, and proved to the world they're no smarter than a sack of nickels. The Illini and Jayhawks are damn lucky the two darts hit their states instead of the Show-Me, and tonight Ron Zook and Juice Williams are going to pay for 8 months of Chase Daniel's agony.

It's probably a good thing I'm not partying in the parking lots of the Jone's Dome, because chances are good a couple of those good ole' boys from the other side of the river, all decked out in their hunter orange, would've crossed a line or two. I remember being at Union Station before this game all through college, and I have to say that Illinois fans are about the strangest fans I've ever seen. For never winning anything ever, they walk around like their God's gift to football, much the same way Tom Cruise thinks he's God's gift to the world. Neither of them are.

And as long as Gary Pinkel doesn't act the fool, Mizzou is going to paint that orange red and party all over The Ed tonight.

-----

*Well, one possession down and MU made Illinois' defense look like a bunch of dead inflatable dolls. You boys down in Cape Girardeau have to be asking yourselves what in the hell you got yourself into putting the Black and Gold on your schedule. That oughta be a complete blood bath.

*I have the privalege of watching tonight's game with two fellow MU graduates. It's a rare sighting finding two other alumn in this town. Cheers to the boys in black,
7-Zip.

*At the half...things are looking good for the Tigers. It did seem like Chase was having a little trouble there late in the first, and early in the second, but he's putting it all together now. First game nerves, maybe?

*Not sure about Illinois. Flashes of good football, but I'm not ready to give them any real credit. One hell of a catch by Will Judson, and a big ole boy who found something he never thought he'd find is about all I can say for them. There offense doesn't seem to be anything special yet, nor does their defense.

*Throw it up for JMAC.

*45-35. MU's defense seems to be a little lackadasical so far this half. We're making Juice look good.

*Does anybody think SEMO will stop Mizzou even once next week?

On This Eve

noreply@blogger.com (David Unterreiner) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 17:40:00 +0000

On This Eve

When the field is perfect, and you’re pretty sure all the teams are showing up. When the hotdogs and the hamburgers are bought, the coolers are full of soda, and Howards is out of wiffleballs. When the bats are taped, handles gripped, and you can’t sleep because you keep thinking about the smell of the dew on the grass when you’re taking your warmup tosses from third to first. And the dirt on the basepad is perfect. You can’t sleep because, in your daydream of tomorrow your cleats feel sharp, the ball feels perfectly formed into the palm of your throwing hand, the sleeves on your shirt are cut to the exact specification of your best.

On this Eve, as the 14th annual Wackfest lingers, you can’t sleep because this is two pure days of nothing but bat and ball. You can’t sleep because this is the only time in the year you get to play three games in one day, in anything. You can’t sleep because three games means three chances for a game winning double into the rightfield gap. You can’t sleep because your thinking about three chances for a tie game all-out, balls-to-the-wall, parallel-to-the-earth, bone busting full speed diving catch to save three runs in the top of the last. You can’t sleep because this is three chances for a walkoff. This is three chances for the people to leave saying, “you just had to be there.”

On this Eve, whether you’re defending a title or chasing your first wiffleball championship, you can’t sleep because this is your big leagues. This is your show. This is your Braggin’ Rights game. Four on four. A white ball and a yellow bat. No gloves. No managers. No season tickets. No jersey sales. No umpires. Just the love of the game.

Your walkoff is one pitch away.

WACKFEST 2008

Mulder's little buddy!

noreply@blogger.com (David Unterreiner) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:53:00 +0000

I just got off a three day raft trip with Mark Mulder's off season neighbor and good buddy. I found out this information after I made the comment that the Cardinals could pull a strong playoff push together if Carpenter got healthy and "Mulder got his head out of his ass."

It was a pleasant surprise when he told me he had talked to Mark the previous night. Oops. Once we became friends again, and I explained my frustration with the once upon a time "Cardinal ace," he gave me a little insight on Mulder.

Apparently, despite the huge contract and millions of dollars for doing nothing, Mulder actually IS frustrated with his slow progress. According to my source, he is getting closer, he has reassembled his delivery, and he's hitting the strike zone more often than not. But its been three days since they last talked and since I've seen anything concerning Mulder, so chances are good that there's been another setback, although I haven't seen anything in print that suggests that.

He did tell me that he and Mark played golf together the week before Spring training. That's pretty...fishy? Last time I checked you use your shoulders quite often in the sport of golf, and if Mulder swings a golf club like he's been throwing a baseball over the last three years, which is pretty much completely out of control, then I can't imagine golf being a good thing for Mulder. Especially when we're paying him millions of dollars.

Who's sick of Marky Mark?

Pushin for the playoffs.

noreply@blogger.com (David Unterreiner) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:37:00 +0000

I started laughing my ass off yesterday when I heard that the Cubs had won 14 in a row. I'm not sure why, there is reason to believe that they're not a laughing matter these days. But still, how can you contain your smile when this is happening?

Remembering back to the days in Black and Gold in Columbia, it would be right about now that the Cubbie hats would start appearing by the dozen in every classroom. Only to be shamefully discarded to the back of the closet come "let-down" October.

True, Chicago will be tough to catch at this point. But with the Cardinals in the mix of the Wild Card show and three former aces looking to get comfy amidst our rotation within the coming months, I still have good feelings about this team finding its way into the postseason.

We need some hard bonding glue while Pujols is riding pine. But if we can keep it together for a while, Tony will get his backup platoon ready to ride. And we all know what happens when 83 win Cardinal teams get into the playoffs...

We pound the lead out of the Mets.

Still fightin'

noreply@blogger.com (David Unterreiner) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:29:00 +0000

Ahhhhh, I finally got out of that damn state. Jamie wasn't lying when he posted my headline, I was certainly getting surly and looking for a Yankee to fight. And just as I thought I was homefree, just when I thought I was safe...I got on the plane and for our "viewing pleasure" United Airlines was nice enough to allow us to watch a televised program at no fee due to a delay in our flight. Um, the televised program was an interview with Derek Jeter on some local television station. It was Jeter and the guy interviewing him and about 513 sappy, sorry, good-for-nothing Yankee fans who idol Jeter as if they get to go to his skyrise in the Bronx when their time comes. Needless to say, I was pretty frustrated.

Then, I get to my hotel in Denver for the night and catch Sportscenter highlights for the first time this summer. And what do I see? Carlos Zambrano beating the hell out of a water cooler. Apparently this guy has won eight straight and has just been throwing lights out, then he gets rocked one game and he acts like a immature, irresponsible child on national television. Folks, that kind of behavior is not cool. And if you're a high school athlete, please realize that professionals that handle themselves this way are not really professionals. They're just rich ignorant assholes who are good at what they do, and, as a nation, we spoil them.

If you get your ass handed to you out there, tip your hat and go get 'em next time.

I'm out. I bet it's hot in the midwest, isn't it?

This Damn Yankee State

noreply@blogger.com (David Unterreiner) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 12:48:00 +0000

Well, I'm porched up in Jersey in a studio high rise staring across the Hudson at the Big Apple. In town for a wedding, the plan was to swing up the Bronx last night and catch my favorite ballers Scotty Ballgame and David Eckstein stick it to the damn Yankees.

But it all hit the fan when Coach decided to throw Joba. And everybody in New York quit their jobs and just had to get a ticket to see this cat throw 62 pitches and allow four runs in less than three frames. Tickets jumped from $25 to $300 overnight and, just as quickly, my chances of seeing a game in the "House that Ruth Built" went up in smoke.

So instead, I sat in Connolly's, an Irish pub in Manhattan, and drank one $10 12-ounce bottle of Budweiser and said "enough's enough." I saw Rolen bring one in, threw my ten spot on the bartop, screamed "Go Cardinals" and got the hell out of there.

More than anything else, I wanted to go to Yankee stadium to see what all the hoopla was about with Yankee fans claiming to be the best in the world. It seemed to me, just from being in the city last night, they kind of just like to wear Mickey Mantle jerseys and cheer for the Yanks because its "cool, man." Because if you're going to spend $10 on a bottle of beer in Manhattan you better be cheering hard for somebody while you're drinking it. You heard me?

This place is weird, I'm not the first to say it. I'm a lot more comfortable walking around Busch Stadium where I know that a guy with a Carpenter jersey isn't going to beat the hell out of a guy with a Pujols get-up. I saw Mantle and Ruth come to near blows on the PATH train back to Jersey last night. I'm sure it was an ego thing. This town simply isn't big enough for the both of them, one of them needs to get punched and recognize he's just here for a short stay in the other's town.

Have you ever seen Musial and Dean in a fist fight below the arch? Doubtful.

Let's all go to Chicago and fight the Cub fans. Who's in?

Four and a Half Minutes

noreply@blogger.com (David Unterreiner) — Tue, 27 May 2008 21:25:00 +0000

Seriously. Here I go.

*It's time to toot the ND horn once again. Love to the old school, love for the blue doggie pride. Three trips to the tournament in a single year is impressive, taking two of them home is even more impressive, and hitting a .1000 at the big show is serious braggin' rights. There should be no trash talking here between schools, a big congratulations is in order across the board for the ND athletic program.

*I was on the train yesterday and somebody was talking to me about football. I told him that I was born and raised just south of the St. Louis area. He said, "Oh yea, I'm a huge Blues fan." Seriously guys, its ok if you don't know what your talking about when it comes to sports, but don't pretend to. And for those of you slow folks out there who didn't get it: we were talking football, the Blues are a hockey team.

*I'm glad Mark is on the NBA bandwagon, because I could care less.

I'm outta here.

DeWitt is Big League

noreply@blogger.com (David Unterreiner) — Thu, 15 May 2008 18:27:00 +0000

.478 in his last eight games. 11 rbi in his last seven, and 13 in his last ten. His overall batting average is up to .317. And he jacked his first career homerun on Monday night, then followed that up with another on Tuesday, albeit in unusual fashion. It was an inside job, stoic and sly, that capped a five run Dodger come back.

But it wasn't even legging out a four bagger that had Blake DeWitt giddy. His bases loaded two out, two run single in the third made a 4-1 Mets lead nearly vanish just as quick as Dodger fans are starting to forget about NO-MA.

Remember when Nomar came into the league? For the first couple years, he was big time. I mean, he was on par with A-Rod and Jeter for two years. He was being taken top ten in fantasy drafts. I don't care how many injuries he's had, it's still surprising to see a local Sikeston product stealing this once-upon-a-time Hall of Famers night gig.

And he's doing just that. On Monday, Dodger manager Joe Torre said the job was Nomar's when he got back, but only 24 hours later he doubled back on himself. "I don't have to make that decision now," said Torre.

But soon enough he will. And the DeWitt craze is coming. The Dodgers just added a Sikeston affiliate to their broadcasting scheme, and I would assume DeWitt jerseys are being printed somewhere. Maybe even in bulk.

I hope he's real. And it seems as though he is. Pitchers have had time to figure him out, they just can't break him.

My question: how do I get Dodgers baseball in Durango? I'm on the DeWitt Wagon. And if you want on too, you better hurry. Sign up here at dewittsportsweb.com. But do it quick, you'll be sleeping with the horses and the hay if you wait much longer.

You miss me

noreply@blogger.com (David Unterreiner) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:47:00 +0000

Sorry guys, but I'm in and out again. I know its been a while since I've blogged and I'm here to tell you it's going to be a little longer. But soon enough.

And I'll make it special. Hope everyone is well.

Yep. The Tigers are back to their old, sucky ways.

noreply@blogger.com (David Unterreiner) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 01:09:00 +0000

I owe ultimate thanks and shout-outs to my boy, Babe Ruth, who saved me the completely unnecessary hassle of explaining to the anonymous postman that he was being completely ignorant while talking about the Tigers being "back to their same ole ways." But I'm going to explain it anyway.

I'm not exactly sure what was going on with that response. But please, don't question my knowledge of baseball when you're being completely ignorant. If you have something smart and well thought-out to post, please do so. I appreciate those posts very much, even if they aren't parallel with my own opinions.

What I said in my last blog was absolutely true in every respect. The Cardinals are playing much better baseball than any of the "experts" suggested they would. Across the board, the big guns who "know" baseball were picking the Cardinals to finish below Chicago, Milwaukee, and Cincinnati. As of now, we lead the Cubs by a game, the Brewers by 1.5, and the Reds by four.

To have the gut to suggest that the Cardinals were supposed to be playing as well as they are AND to say that the Tigers "suck," then to ask when they became a dominant baseball team is, well....gutsy. And uninformed.

It was also said that the true "shocking" story of the baseball season thus far is the Kansas City Royals. Your Royals have lost five of their last eight. Which is anything but shocking. It's true, it was a nice, kosher cup-of-tea story while it lasted. But everybody and their uncle Tom knew it wasn't going to last. Which is why I didn't call their start "shocking." It was luck. The 'Birds continue to play well, and will continue to play well. They're young and enthusiastic. They have proven Big-Leaguers in both the field and on the mound. They have a Hall of Fame coach, and one of the best pitching skippers in the game. We have good fans, strong support, and smart baseball people at the helm. The Royals have none of the above. Mark Grudzielanek doesn't count. Alex Gordon isn't proven. Mark Teahan is probably the most known name on that roster, and he's never batted over .300, never hit more than 20 homeruns, and never drove in more than 70 runs. They have Brett Tomko. We had Brett Tomko in 2003, he was old and decrepit and useless then.

I'm not a baseball expert, by any means. And I don't get paid big bucks to be accurate when I talk baseball. Or any other sport, for that matter. But I promise that I do my best to not just talk out of my ass. When I say the Tigers are supposed to be good, they're supposed to be good. It's not like I said the Royals were supposed to be good, or the Pirates. What I said was that the Royals are playing the way a team with Gary Sheffield, Magglio Ordonez, Edgar Renteria, Placido Polanco, Ivan Rodriguez, Carlos Guillen, Miguel Cabrera, and Brandon Inge should be playing.

That's eight "could-be" All-Stars batting in that lineup right now. And when "should-be" All-Star Curtis Granderson gets back, they'll move "could-be" All-Star Inge to the bench. That's a good ballclub. I don't need big bucks to know that this team isn't back "to their old ways" and they sure as hell don't suck.

But hey, I love getting burly about baseball.

------

Here's a tidbit from Bryan Burwell in a recent column. The column concerns why we continue to talk about race in sports, and he uses many great examples. As many of you know, at least the ones who have been reading this blog since it's beginning, I'm not a big fan of Burwell. However, I think he made some great points in this column. I share this with you, because, in all honestly, who the hell doesn't respect Tyler Hansbrough:

"It's because Tyler Hansbrough — clearly fatigued by the intentional and unintentional insinuations that all his hustle and hard work cover up some glaring lack of athleticism — interrupted a questioner during the NCAA Tournament last month and asked him to talk to the opponents he outplays every night on his way to becoming national college basketball player of the year to see if they thought he was a good athlete."

Props to Hans.

Cardinals shocking the Baseball World.

noreply@blogger.com (David Unterreiner) — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:21:00 +0000

Is anybody else maybe possibly hopefully starting to get a little itch concerning the Cardinals possibly being the real deal?

Sure, there are still 150 games left. Big Papi is batting BINGO numbers. 0.7.8. The powerful Tigers look as bad as the Royals should be and the Royals, for a while anyway, looked as good as the Tigers should be. Nobody is really even paying attention to the Red Sox-Yankee series yet. The greatest closer, statistically, in the history of the game has two losses, one blown save, and an era over 7.00.

The season is still early. BUT, the Cardinals have exemplified many reasons to consider them more than bottom feeders. The offense is stroking, the starting pitching has done it's job pretty damn well so far (outside of the last two against the Candlestickers), and the bullpen is holding its own.

Mark Mulder seems to have shades of his old self so far in his rehab mission. Joel Pineiro was shaky in his first start, but I believe there's reasons to be optimistic about him. Chris Carpenter and Matt Clement, both prominent pitchers in their past, are still shelved. If the rotation can continue to string together quality starts, we can continue to buy time and resist the urgency to rush pitchers back into the rotation.

Who knows how long our pasty gluey puzzle of a rotation can hold up? And who knows how long this so-so lineup can continue to produce?

Nonetheless, the Cardinals are being talked about on the sports talk airwaves and the questions are all the same: "Will they continue this?" The answer across the board is a resounding "NO." But, in all honesty, the experts are hardly ever right. And that's the downright truth. Those guys rely on statistics that are drummed out of nowhere and make little sense, or at least have little relevance to baseball. They never rely on their gut, unless they're talking about the BoSox or Yanks.

But I'm telling you that my gut tells me we're the real deal. I didn't feel that way last year, I really didn't. The last time I felt that way was 2004, when we strung together a so-so ballclub that was so sub-par feeling that it featured Ray Lankford. On opening day, I looked at my buddy Jeff Fahrner and said "there's something special about this team." They ended up in the World Series.

Something different seems to happen when the odds are stacked against the Cardinals. Something special seems to happen when the odds are stacked against Tony LaRussa. Or at least when we have SOME legitimate talent.

This year's team has talent, it may be young but its ripe. And LaRussa knows how to manage a ballclub. I'm saying we've got something special here. And I wouldn't just throw that comment out there and risk my previously undiminished record when it comes to counting "special" Cardinal clubs.

Just watch. And listen and laugh as the experts stumble over their words the rest of the way.

A Whole Load of Ass-kissing

noreply@blogger.com (David Unterreiner) — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 01:01:00 +0000

Let me start by saying two things about the baseball season thus far.

The first involves bashing my favorite ignorant and half-stupid baseball columnist Jeff Passan who said these things about the Cardinals:

On the Cardinals accepted mediocrity for the season: "True enough, though the Cardinals seem stuck in that abyss of mediocrity that swallows so many teams. New GM John Mozeliak sees enough in the cupboard not to clear it out completely, and so Pujols delays the inevitable Tommy John surgery that will keep him out for a year to play with a team that will acquaint itself with mediocrity only under the most fortuitous of circumstances."

On Rico Washington's comment: "We’ve got great fans here in St. Louis.”
Passan: "Didn’t take long to brainwash him, either. Cardinals fans think highly of themselves because they clap for a strong throw or a well-executed sacrifice or hustle to prevent a double play. In reality, it’s their blind loyalty that’s most admirable, their willingness to pack stadiums even when the Cardinals stink."

And on the most storied tradition in all of sport's opening days: "Clompy the Clydesdale is complaining about hoof pain."

Jeff Passan can kiss my ass.

True, I've written numerous times about St. Louis fans being bandwagoners. But that's only because I've been around, I've seen how quickly St. Louis fans take Jason Isringhausen's pitching and took Scott Rolen's defense for granted. For fans that do know A LOT about baseball, it seemed ironic and stupid to me that fans were jumping ship on players so quickly.

But for Passan to say that we should stop attending ballgames at Busch Stadium in order for management to improve spending, and from there, our ballclub, ranks as one of the most ignorant things I've ever heard. Where does this guy get off talking about St. Louis fans this way?

He's from Kansas City. If I saw him in the streets tomorrow I'd ask him where low attendance and craphole fans has gotten his franchise the last 39 years. 23 losing seasons, and only one winning season in the last 12 years. That's where.

No thanks, Passan. We have no interest in sucking that bad. Keep your uneducated and completely ignorant thoughts to yourself. We here at the mighty semosportsweb.com would rather read "War and Peace" 415 times and look at a fat, naked J-Lo than have to read your crap and look at your picture.

And secondly, I'm already sick of hearing about Coors Light's new cans. When is Coors Brewing Company going to stop making better cans and start making better beer? It would be easy to sell your crappy product if it didn't taste like mud water. Forget about your trendy cans, and start making good beer. That's the key to your success.

And last but not least, the next time you're drinking real beer send out a toast to the St. Louis Cardinals puttin' it to all the baseball experts who think we're going to suck and be the worst team ever.

I momentarily regretted yelling violently at Steve Phillips as he sat on the field doing a postgame ditty following the Cardinals World Series victory. I was harsh enough towards the man that he actually took the time to acknowledge me with a head nod during a commercial break. And to be honest, I felt like I was giving St. Louis fans a bad name there for a minute. But after hearing all these guys continually give their nods to the coast teams with the big budgets and simply signing everybody else off so early in the season, without really studying the potential of these teams, especially the Cardinals...they can kiss my ass too.

Yes, I was actually rooting AGAINST Blake DeWitt. C'mon, dude. Are you serious?

noreply@blogger.com (David Unterreiner) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 02:28:00 +0000

Well, I know that I'll have at least one pissed-off reader angered to hear that I was actually leaving the broadcast of one of the only Cardinal games I'll get to see all season in order to catch Blake DeWitt's at-bats for the Dodgers on Monday afternoon.

Back early from my river trip due to a few river problems, I was getting to enjoy one of the only Cardinal games I'll get to see via the television this season. The Cardinals playing the Rockies. They come few and far between. But, despite my alliance and obvious bias towards my alma mater Notre Dame, and, for some reason, the percieved notion that I hate all things Sikeston, it was me that was giving up my precious time with the St. Louis Redbirds to watch my supposed bitter rival Blake DeWitt take a couple swings at the big league level.

I must say, there has never been a more frustrating post for me to read on any of my blogs. I could care less where DeWitt's from. And I'm pretty sure most of my readers will agree that I've been anything but unfair when it comes to addressing the rivalry between Sikeston and Notre Dame. When I was in high school, it really wasn't a rivalry. We didn't get along with Cape Central, and we didn't really like Jackson. But Sikeston? Never have I had a hard feeling towards them. The most memorable night of my high school career took place in Sikeston, in fact.

Do you really think I wasn't proud to see a Southeast Missouri product playing at the big league level? Do you really think, after 6 years, that I haven't made peace with even the bitterest of my high school rivals at Cape Central? I seem to remember mentioning in a blog earlier this season that one of my favorite high school basketball memories was watching Jeff Beck drain three's against us every single time we played them. Do you know who was guarding him when he was hitting those bombs? Me. Do you have any idea how frustrating that was when I was the opponent playing against him? The one guarding him? I wanted to knock the kid out, I even remember losing my temper one game in his gym and fouling him on a three point attempt. There's no excuse for that. Coach Brian Brandtner about knocked me three rows deep for that move.

I can say without hesitation that if I ran into Jeff Beck today in the streets of Durango, I'd buy him three of the finest beers we brew in this town.

I'm over it, guys. And sorry to rant on all of you who don't deserve the rath. But for those of you who are stuck on calling this site NDSPORTSWEB.com. Move on. The reason you keep coming back is because we talk about Sikeston sports on this website more than any other website in the area. Bottom line.

This is a big deal. A local kid starting for the Los Angeles Dodgers on opening day? You've got to be a complete moron to not excited about that. I was on the edge of my seat watching DeWitt bat. And do who know who I was sitting with? Scott Wittenborn. If there's one guy in the history of Notre Dame that's going to have a problem with Blake DeWitt, it's Wittenborn. And do you know what he was doing? He was hardly letting me watch the Cardinals because he wanted to see DeWitt play defense as well. He was stoked.

Get off the horse. Notre Dame is not the devil. Us ND kids get just as excited as everybody else when we get to see a local kid make it to the big time.

And I'm probably one of the biggest Duke fans in this country, but every single ounce of blood in my body is Carolina blue this weekend because I'd love, absolutely LOVE, to see Tyler Hansbrough win a national championship. And then I'd like to see him come back next season and become North Carolina's all-time leading scorer. There's just simply no bad blood anymore concerning my high school rivals and myself.

And you should probably stay off Mark's case as well. Because you'd be digging yourself a deeper ditch if you called him out on this issue. The minute he heard that DeWitt was getting the start, he called both me and Jamie Hall and told us about it. He was just as excited as us.

Sorry it didn't get immediate blog attention. I was just getting back into town, and Mark was out of town. And then Jamie put it right on the front page.

Congratulations, Blake. Here's hoping the best for you and your future. We'll be paying attention to your every move. But forgive us if we're not blogging every step of the way. When you have one of the greatest Hall of Fame managers in the history of the game talking about you in the postgame press conference, we probably seem like small pees here at semosportsweb.

But we're paying attention. And we're rooting hard. And I'm sure the same goes for everybody in this area.

Doubtful, but Playoffs are a Possibility for the Cardinals

noreply@blogger.com (David Unterreiner) — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 01:54:00 +0000

From the few early-bird Cardinal comments, there seems to be little hope and less angst for the upcoming Cardinal season. Surprise, surprise. Don't forget that we won the World Series two seasons ago. And don't forget what the Rockies did last season with a young, energized lineup.

We've got our core, cornerstone ballplayer in Albert Pujols. And now we've surrounded him with kids who are ready to get their shot in the big leagues. That kind of energy can go a long way. With a group of youngsters out to prove themselves, expect infield ground balls to be run out, outfielders to be diving dirty, and a little more than just a little "spring in our step" as this season gets underway.

In all honesty, I think we the Redbirds could end up in the playoffs. We'd have to win the division, no doubt. The wild card is not a possibility. But c'mon, nobody can really be sure that the Cubs aren't going to screw everything up again this year. And from where the Reds and the Astro's sit, I'm not sure they're in much a better boat than St. Louis. You can forget about Pittsburgh. I think they're still a year or two away, they have neither the talented youngsters that the Cardinals have or the experience you need without the young guns.

The Brewers are where we're going to have to fight. They are obviously the clear-cut favorites in the division. But remember how bad they were in the final months of last season? Maybe they're a team that just got hot for a while last season, and then came back to play, poorly, within themselves. Maybe not.

They certainly have the talent to be great. But whether they can string it together or not is a different question, and we don't know the answer yet. So don't ink them in quite yet.

Houston has little to no offense, still. And the Reds are..well, the Reds. I would assume there's no need for me to go on a Cub-bashing rampage right now, we all know what to expect from them. Yes, on paper they may be the best team in the division. But, they are still the Chicago Cubs.

The Cardinals need to have a few things fall into place right away. First and foremost, Tony LaRussa has to put the haunting memory of last season and all of it's horrors behind him and get back to becoming a top tier skipper. Secondly, we need to have at least two pitchers step up in Carpenter's absence and throw shut-down ball. I wouldn't be surprised if this happens either. Reports out of Jupiter are that Mark Mulder is throwing pretty well. In his 30 pitch session today, he threw 16 of his last 18 pitches for strikes, broke a bat on a pop-up, and got a hitter to look silly chasing a ball that broke late into the dirt. All of these are good signs. If Matt Clement or Kyle Lohse can step up on a weekly basis, or if Braden Looper can throw like he did early last year...then all of a sudden we have the best pitching staff in the division. Easy. We know what we're getting from Wainwright, we just need a little help from the other guys. All we really need to do is stay healthy, and in the hunt, when the All-Star break hits. Soon after there is a chance we get a major retool with Carpenter .

If we can stay tight early, we can break late. Write that down.

*I'll be away for the next two weeks on a river trip. Enjoy your time without me. And we'll cheers again soon.

Going Old-School

noreply@blogger.com (David Unterreiner) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 01:01:00 +0000

Well, that's pretty much why Mark and I always fight. He comes out to Colorado for a lesson in blogging, then he goes home and steals my idea about breaking down the winter sports season. There's nothing more I can say, he pretty much covered it.

It was a hell of a season, that's for sure. Between all the feuding and rivalries and between the games and taunting, it wasn't easy being a blogmaster on a Southeast Missouri Sports site. You guys are ruthless.

Trying to figure out what crosses the line and what toes the line was tough. And it seemed it was always one of the two, never did I feel like I, or many of the responses I received were safe bets or sure things. If I said one thing, I was an ND homer. If I said another thing, then I wasn't being fair to my alum. The same went for you guys. Sikeston fans couldn't say anything to please ND fans, and ND fans couldn't say anything to please anybody. And so the world turns.

It's fun, isn't it? For the most part, I must admit, that I'm proud of this blog and the responses that I got. For the most part, everything was clean and the cheap shots were kept to a minimum. For the most part, everybody was nothing more than excited to talk about high school hoops. And, for the most part, that's a good thing.

I hope we didn't put to much pressure on the athletes, or to much strain on any parents who read these blogs and might see something about their child that causes them to lose sleep. If so, that certainly wasn't the idea behind my blogs.

The main SEMO interest is basketball, obviously. And that's over. But there is plenty more high school sports to come in the next few months, as well as many more great high school athletes to watch. So don't put the creative thoughts away yet.

It's a little more tough for me to follow these SEMO spring sports from Colorado, simply because they don't get as much play on the Internet as basketball does. And the Internet is pretty much all I've got. And I don't even have that.

So I'll probably be getting back to the old-school goods. "Two Minutes of Fun" and "The Grind" are on the list. Basically, it seems I'll be going back to just throwing out names of old athletes that we'd all love to see perform one more time. I'll let the local kid get back to covering the local sports. And all of his fans can go back to his blog, and my loyals can stick with me through another painful lag in time.

Why does nobody want to talk about the Cardinals anymore? Unless, of course, I go on blasting Mark McGwire for being no better than Roger Clemens. Then I get your interest, or at least a few of you. But that's old news, and I don't even believe that anyway. Roger is by far the worst thing to hit baseball since...the strike, I guess.

All said, this is the busy season for me out here in Colorado. I'm out of town a lot, sometimes for weeks at a time. I won't forget about you, don't forget about me. And stay on me, tell me how lazy I'm being on my blogs when I haven't posted in a while.

I will say, I've never had so much fun writing than I did these last few months. I enjoyed every single one of your comments, (yes, I read them) and I hope they continue.

Cheers to the spring. Baseball season, baby.

Thoughts as they Occur on ND-SCW

noreply@blogger.com (David Unterreiner) — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 20:21:00 +0000

Well. We're about set to tip it up for the State Championship. I'm following the gig live on MSHSAA's website. They've put together a pretty good webcast here. I'll be trying my best to stay with it as we go. Feel free to add thoughts if anyone is out there.

A big, bold prediction by Young Son Kramer, if the claims are true. We'll see how it goes. But when high school athletes start predicting victories in state championship games, you get the feeling the kid has got a little bigger head than his shoulders are built for. And I wonder if that will be his demise.

Stay tuned.

----

Absolutely rousing rendition of our National Anthem by Mary Bauer. Good work, Mary!

*Notre Dame 9-7: I can tell you right now that its a hell of a lot harder to sit here and watch your brother from 1200 miles away then it is to just get phone calls every quarter. You can stop thinking about it for a few minutes when you're not watching, but it's pretty much tight butt-cheeks the whole way when you're watching.

So far, so good. Soderberg started with two quick turnovers and a missed three point attempt, but got back on track with a long bomb to tie the score at 7.

*That Mauer? kid from SCW is shooting 50% from the floor, and 52% from the arc this season. It seems like these guys can shoot the ball a little bit. So far they've nailed three from downtown, but have taken 8 attempts. I expect the same gunslinging attitude the rest of the way. They can't beat ND in the paint. That much is obvious.

*End of first. ND 19, SCW 18. A couple thoughts. Willen, Williams, and Himmelberg slinging back to back to back threes was huge. ND finishes the quarter 3-4 from downtwon. SCW finished 4-7 from downtown, or so they say. But I think I've seen at least 8, and possibly nine three point attempts from SCW.

Soderberg finishes the quarter with nine points. His pregame guarantee aside, I must say that I'm already sick of seeing him limping around when he doesn't have the ball and then taking it to the hole like he's got four good wheels when he does have it. I don't doubt he's in pain, but spare me the details, kid.

*22-22, 2:54 to go in the 2nd quarter: In the first couple minutes of the quarter, ND got away from going inside and they couldn't convert. No need for lazy passes either, not at this stage. And I've seen a couple made on ND's side.

ND will have to clean up better on the defensive boards. SCW is too good of a perimeter team to get second chances.

SCW is scary. They won't go away. And I doubt ND will either. But SCW has some guards that certainly look like they aren't afraid to step up and make big shots. So I expect some of that down the stretch of this game, as ND keeps picking away inside. Be ready for a nail-biting finish, this one is going to be barn-burner.

*28-28. Halftime. Logan Glueck had a big play off the bench, out of the timeout. He grabbed a rebound on a missed Willen shot, made the lay-in and drew the foul. Good hustle off the bench, a little spark for ND.

Unofficially, we had 8 ties and 8 lead changes in the first half with the biggest lead being a ND three point advantage. Soderberg finished with 12. Willen had 16.

The disputed call about Soderberg's three point attempt was the right call. Soderberg did attempt to get a shot off, but that idea came to him long after contact was made. It was a scary play, though. Especially seing it on replay. I'm glad both kids are ok.

MSHSAA is doing a damn good job with this broadcast. The video isn't as clear as KFVS12's webcast, but the play-by-play is tremendous and they're using FSN headers and footers, and stat bars. It looks a lot like a collegiate game because of it. Not to mention, both of these teams were playing collegiate style basketball in the first quarter. Both teams were extremely patient when they needed to be, and both teams pushed the ball when they needed to. The second quarter wasn't near as pretty. I have to say that ND is the team that looks to be a little nervous. Some unnecessary turnovers are taking place, and that's what allowing SCW to stay in it.

Watch for the drive and kick-out that SCW is making look very good. One guard to the other. So far, ND doesn't have an answer to it and it could bite them in the end. They need to be a little quicker.

*ND 39-32. End of third. Willen touched the ball 5 of 9 trips down the floor for ND (last second shot wasn't counted). But only two of those touches were in the post. And he stepped up, took a big risk, but got the charge call on Soderberg.

They did it without him that quarter. But he'll have to answer Soderberg's attempt to take this game over. You can see it in Kramer's eyes all the way from here, he's going to be trying to some stuff here in the last quarter.

*Man I'm nervous as hell. Pacing like crazy. I'm not sure that I like the stall method. Let's play some basketball and keep our momentum.

*Well, hale. It worked. Way to go Bulldogs. Man oh man, I remember just four years ago a boys basketball state championship at ND was unheard of. It wasn't even worth thinking about. Now it's reality.

Good defense got it done, and efficient offense. Willen ended up with 19. Greer had 12. Williams 7, Himmelberg 5, Unterreiner 3, Logan Glueck 2. Only three players scored for SCW. They ended up 6-21 from behind the arc, missing their last 13 attempts. Some of them were a bit crazy, a little early. ND never stopped playing smart, that was the difference.

Twenty years since the last one. 573 wins now Paul Hale. Kudos to him. Great coach and I know those kids love playing for him.

Way to Go Bulldogs!

Webcast Quote of the Night: Announcers were talking about the numerous state championships that most of those ND kids have won, then they said: "And they're all great football players as well. You can just tell, all of them are strong and well-built. Not only do they have great soccer and basketball teams, but they have an excellent football team as well."

Tippin Hats to ND

noreply@blogger.com (David Unterreiner) — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 04:45:00 +0000

I didn't get to see it due to prior obligations, but from the quarterly cell-phone updates I was getting I'd imagine tension was tight at the former Page Laurie Arena.

Apparently a Lincoln-Prep stud caught fire in the first half, draining five three pointers and keeping the game in-check. I would imagine that a combination of brutal defense and pounding away in the paint by the Bulldogs eventually wore Lincoln down.

I'll be in front of the computer tomorrow for the 'Ship. It seems that I keep hearing two completely different accounts about this St. Charles West team. Some people say there's no way they can be beat, and other's say they seem beatable. Obviously, they aren't immortal. Winning their final two games on a buzzer-beater and an overtime rally. Word is their a little short, with good guard play.

I hope this match is everything it's hyped up to be. It could be a high school championship of epic thrill. It's my hope that everyone in Columbia tomorrow gets to see one hell of a basketball game. It's too bad it has to be played at Mizzou Arena, a place tainted by bad basketball and thug life. Not to mention, it resembles, in no way, a high school basketball atmosphere.

I know. I know. It's good for the kids. But imagine a state championship being played in a little high school gym? The crowd should be a factor at this stage. The students are the sixth man. Why not create a Notre Dame-Sikeston atmosphere for the biggest game of the year?

Maybe something to think about. Dream about it. Dream about being able to sit close and being involved in the game rather than sit 311 feet away, needing every bit of your eye glasses to see your favorite player.

Good luck to the 'Dogs. Get some, baby.