Masters Golf Tournament

I’m not a golfer, but I know enough to appreciate the game. Maybe not enough to watch it all Sunday afternoon on TV, but there seems to be a certain Zen quality to the game when it’s played well. Enough of that though. Ian Poulter of England is used to shaking things up with the golf crowd…he’s the kind who dresses a little louder and isn’t afraid to try something with his hair besides a close cropped business cut. Today at Augusta National he wowed the crowd at the Masters with something besides his style. He hit a hole in one on the 170 yard 16th hole (aka Redbud). As a result, he’s in the clubhouse leading Tiger Woods in the standings. Although it’s way too early to count Tiger out.

The tournament has a spectacular website for golf aficionados.  If you’ve got high speed internet, check it out here.

Dave

Plentywood seeks coach

The Plentywood Wildcats are searching for a new head coach to guide their boys basketball program.  Rob Peterson has stepped down after guiding the team for the past several years and doing it very successfully.  His 2006-07 team finished 2nd at the State B, losing in the championship game to the Huntley Project Red Devils.  Peterson is also the principal at PHS and his administrative duties required too much time to do justice to continuing as the head basketball coach.

Make up your mind Brett

For the last couple of years, we’ve been treated to Brett Favre’s annual will he or won’t he retire show.  Then last month, he cried as he announced he was actually ready to call it a career.  It’s a no brainer to sahy that Brett Favre was one of the greatest quarterbacks in the NFL.  But now he’s starting to act like my mom’s 11 month old Australian Shepherd.  She’ll stand by the back door and whine like she wants out, then when you let her out, she’ll be right back on the other side of the door waiting to get back indoors. 

I know Brett Favre doesn’t need advice from me…he’s probably got some highly paid advisors for that…but kick back and enjoy your retirement.  Get a hobby, watch your kids play in their games or perform in their school plays.  Take a family vacation this summer when you would have normally been at training camp.  You’ve earned millions of dollars throwing a ball around while dodging 350 pound men.  That’s gotta hurt, at your age, why would you want to do that again?  Let the next generation take care of things and we can sit back and talk about how much better the quarterbacks of the 90’s are than today’s.  Just like guys in the past did when they talked about Fran Tarkenton, Roger Staubach, Sammy Baugh et al.

Dave

Let’s think about high school football…

I know we just finished up the high school basketball season, the FInal Four is barely over and the girls softball season is just getting underway with American Legion baseball soon to follow, but I’ve started thinking a little bit about high school football.

The Sidney Eagles surprised a few folks last fall when instead of finishing at the bottom of the Eastern A as expected, they turned in a solid performance, made the playoffs and beat Belgrade in the first round before running up against the Libby Loggers. I was talking to Coach Mike Gear earlier this week and he’s already making sure his upcoming team is getting ready. All the players planning to suit up for the Eagles next fall met with the coaching staff this week and it was communicated to them what was expected of them if they weren’t out for a spring sport. He told me they’ll be getting together one more time before school is released to set some summer goals. I know Eagles fans are anticipating another great season on the gridiron this fall.

Now Sidney doesn’t have a monopoly on good football programs in the area. The Class C programs in the region are also pretty darn good…both the 8 man and 6 man variety. And for fans of small school football I found a very interesting blog online written by a fan in Wyoming. There’s a link in my links section or just click here (a new window will open for you). Even though the author is based in Wyoming, he covers Montana football as well since there are some Wyoming schools playing six-man ball up north.

Hope you enjoy and if you have any good links, photos, videos or information to share, contact me at Eagle 93 in Sidney.

Dave

Eagle 93 Sportscast – Wednesday 4/9 5:30PM

Here’s the Eagle 93 Sportscast for this afternoon.  Enjoy!

Dave

King of the media????

Well, not quite yet, but I’m pleased to announce that Eagle 93’s sister station, 101 Bob FM in Williston, ND has begun to carry my sportscasts.  Now you have two stations to get up to date on the region’s sports happenings.

Welcome Bob FM listeners.

Eagle 93 Sports – Wednesday April 9

New Williston State College Men’s Basketball Coach Hunter Berg has signed the first player for this recruiting class.  Trinity Christian standout Jarek Hansen is staying close to home to start his college hoops career.  The six-four forward averaged 21 points and 11 rebounds per game in his senior season for the Crusaders and made teh North Dakota Class B All-State second team.  Berg says he feels that Hansen has a chance to become a very good player as part of the Tetons program.

Speaking of the Tetons, Sophomore Curtis Mitchell is moving on to play for NCAA Division Two Saint Mary’s in San Antonio, Texas.  He averaged 13.6 points, 2.7 boards, 4.0 assists, and 2.1 steals during the recently completed 2007-08 season. And the Milwaukee native was named 1st Team All Mon-Dak Conference and All-Region as a freshmen and sophomore.

In High School baseball action this week, Minot Ryan and Trinity Christian battle Thursday in Williston at 4:30 Central.  In high school softball, the Sidney Eagles beat the Glendive Red Devils 7 to 2 in Eastern A action in Glendive.  The highlight for the game for the Eagles was a solo home run by Kara Lake.  Up next for Sidney are games Friday in Laurel against the Locomotives and Billings Central.

Tennessee is the first team to repeat as NCAA women’s basketball champions since Connecticut won three straight from 2002 to 2004.  The Lady Vols did it last night in Tampa by beating Stanford 64-48.  It’s also the eighth national title for the school and coach Pat Summitt.  Candace Parker of the Vols won her second most valuable player of the Final Four…just the fourth player to do so.

Purple People Eater Carl Eller is in trouble in Minneapolis.  The former Minnesota Vikings great was arrested early this morning after he refused to give a breath test for drunken driving.  The 66 year old was jailed on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, fleeing police and assaulting a police officer.  The report says that Eller punched at least one of the officers involved.  The officer later received medical treatment for bruises.  In 2006, Eller was charged with driving under the influence. He later pleaded guilty.

Another NASCAR driver has been penalized…this time it was Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman.  He lost 25 points because his car failed inspection after finishing fourth at Texas Motor Speedway.  The number 12 Dodge was too high when it was checked, which could provide additional downforce to the car.  Newman says what happened was a mistake and they’re moving on and looking forward to next week’s race.  The penalty dropped Newman from eighth to tenth in the Sprint Cup Standings.

Eagle 93 Sports – Tuesday April 8

The Memphis Tigers had a nine point lead on Kansas with 2 minutes left to play in regulation last night at the NCAA men’s basketball championship.  Seemed like it might be party time on Beale Street, but the Jayhawks had other thoughts.  They battled back and Mario Chambers hit a three with under 3 seconds to play to force the OT.  Kansas dominated in the overtime period to win the school’s third NCAA National Championship 75-68.  Tonight, the women take the court as Stanford and Tennesee battle it out in Tampa. 

Speaking of college basketball, freshman Eric Gordon of Indiana is going to end his college career and enter the NBA draft.  Gordon’s father says the 6-4 guard intends to sign with an agent which would officially end his college eligibility.  At a news conference, the younger Gordon says he’s making the move to compete at the highest level, not for the fame or the money.  He’s been projected by some as a top-10 pick in the June NBA Draft. 

The Montana Class B All-State boys and girls basketball teams have been announced.  The Plentywood Wildcats landed two players on the boys list.  Both are seniors, Zach McCoy and Andrew Rickett.  No girls from our area made the honors list. 

The Sidney Eagles softball team is on the road this afternoon.  The Eagles are heading south to Glendive to take on the Red Devils in both varsity and junior varsity games at 4 and 5:30pm.  Friday the girls head to Laurel for two more Eastern A conference games, one against the Locomotives and another against Billings Central. 

The Eagles Track teams are heading to Billings Friday after school.  The Billings Invitational will be held all day Saturday. 

The Sidney Chamber’s Sports & Rec Committee is bringing a fun show to Eastern Montana later this month. The Harlem Ambassadors will take on the Sunrise City Slammers Tuesday April 15th at the Sidney High School Gym at 7pm.  The Ambassadors promise that this won’t be your grandfather’s basketball show! Advance tickets are available at the Sidney Chamber Office or at Super Pumper in Sidney.  The Chamber is using this game as a fundraiser to help finance bringing more high school tournaments to Sidney and Richland County. 

American League  

12:05PM

Baltimore (5-1) at Texas (3-3)

Detroit (0-6) at Boston (3-4) 

2:10PM

New York Yankees (4-3) at Kansas City (4-2) 

5:07PM

Oakland (3-4) at Toronto (4-2) 

5:10PM

Seattle (2-5) at Tampa Bay (3-3) 

8:05PM

Cleveland (3-4) at Los Angeles Angels (5-3) 

National League 

11:10AM

Philadelphia (3-4) at New York Mets (2-3) 

6:05PM

Cincinnati (4-3) at Milwaukee (5-1)

Saint Louis (5-2) at Houston (3-5) 

6:35PM

Atlanta (3-4) at Colorado (2-5) 

7:40PM

Los Angeles Dodgers (4-3) at Arizona (5-2) 

8:15PM

San Diego (5-3) at San Francisco (1-6) 

 

Jayhawks Horoscope

I wish I had found this before the game, but it’s still interesting.  Apparently the stars aligned for the Kansas Jayhawks tonight.  Monica at AstrologyMundo says she predicted last week that KU would win tonight’s NCAA Championship.

I’m just reporting what she says.  You decide if you believe her.

Dave

What’s up with this Rock Chalk Jayhawk stuff?

If you watched the Jayhawks beat Memphis tonight you might have wondered where did they come up with this “Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk” cheer.

The answer goes back to 1866…the KU Science Club was returning to campus at Lawrence after a trip to Wichita. To pass the time, the advisor suggested they devise a cheer. Now this is 4 years before there was a Jayhawks football team and basketball hadn’t been invented yet, so what they were going to cheer, I’m not sure. But they came up with “Rah, Rah, Jayhawk KU” repeated three times. It caught on and later the English professor suggested they replace “Rah, Rah” with “Rock Chalk” because it rhymed with Jayhawk and it brought up images of the limestone bluffs the school was built on that were called “Chalk Rock”.

That’s the short version, there’s a little more to the story if you click on the link above. It will open another window to a website maintained by some big time KU Jayhawks fans.