Brian's 2009 In Review

Hard to believe 2009 is pretty much gone now, and looking back on the year in sports, I think it's safe to say, what it year it has been! One thing that I hope does not go unnoticed from 2009 is the overall quality of athletes that graduated around our area, and around the State - athletes that signed letters of intent to continue playing the sports they excelled at further on at the collegiate level. Obviously, several of these student-athletes became higher-profile stories, the likes of which we haven't seen in quite a few years, and as a broadcaster, it was really easy to get caught up in just how special the Class of 2009 really was. Here are some things from the 2009 sports year in South Dakota that I won't soon forget.

First of all, Lady Govs basketball. For a group of seniors that had been together on the varsity squad since their sophomore year, unfortunately, the dream never came true, as they were beat out by eventual champion Watertown in the semifinal round of the State Tournament. Four seniors on that team signed to play collegiately, of course most notably Katie Lingle and Steph Paluch at SDSU. Let's not forget Paluch's efforts, though - the single-game and all-time leading scorer at Riggs High School now, boys or girls, and the first ever winner of the Spirit of Su Award from Pierre. Not bad for a young lady who was also great enough to be named Miss Volleyball in her senior year as well.

The Governor basketball team became a sight to see in 2009 as well, even though my broadcast schedule prevents me from seeing them a whole lot. The Govs were a buzzer beater away from playing in the winner's bracket at State, but they ended up a resounding Consolation Champion with their high-scoring offensive showcase.

The Governor Track team saw their streak of 3 straight State Team Titles come to an end, but still finished a respectable 3rd place, as Matt Tetzlaff finished off his stellar career. And so did Alec Espeland, who steadily became one of the best middle distance runners in the state, and was so awarded by being named the Outstanding Athlete at the State Track Meet. Do you realize that Pierre competitors have been named Outstanding Athletes in the last FIVE State Track Meets now?!!

Another highlight (or heartbreak) of my broadcast year was not being able to follow Sam Ostarello and the Stanley County Lady Buffaloes to the State Basketball Tournament. Cheyenne-EB upended the Lady Buffs in the district championship and went on to State, where I was able to follow them still, but Lady Buff fans were left wondering what might have been. SamO capped her senior year with a third straight State A High Jump Championship, and then was also named South Dakota's Miss Basketball for 2009, but like the Lady Govs 2009 seniors, I was very sad to see Sam's career come to an end as well.

On a higher note, 2009 (finally) became the year that the Sully Buttes boys basketball team won it all, their first title since being called "Sully Buttes." They beat White River in the championship, who themselves put together an incredible season in their first without Louie Krogman. That's one thing I missed in 2009, though, as I happened to be at the National Bowling Tournament in Las Vegas on that particular weekend.

Speaking of bowling, for me personally, 2009 was a good year as well. I cashed at Nationals, if only enough to get my entry fee back, but that's not always very easy to do. :o) I was however, a member of the State Team Champion at the 2009 State Open Tournament in Sioux Falls, where Scott Stabnow, Willie Know, Brad Huck and I set a State Tournament record with a 3004 scratch total - an average of a 751 three-game series per bowler. I also had the pleasure of coaching several youth bowlers who won State Championships at the State Youth Tournament in Mitchell this past year as well.

I know there are several other student-athletes and stories that deserve mention with their accomplishments in 2009, so I hope that you will add your favorite moments and memories to this discussion as well.

With more great sports to come in 2010, Happy New Decade, everyone!!
- Brian

Oh yeah, almost forgot - 2009 was the year the Steelers reigned as World Champions, which was pretty cool, too. (Yes, I'm aware we won't be repeating that feat.....) And that Joe Mauer guy? He's pretty good, too. :o)

Rod's Tuesday Take n things

As a Bears fan, I can and must humbly say only one thing. "I'll be damned". I didn't think Jay Cutler had it in him! Not this year anymore. While his statistics were lower than Mr. Football Bret Favre, Cutler, having one of the worst seasons in recent quarterback history in the NFL came up big and outdeuled the annointed one. I know Adrian Peterson fumbles alot, but if you Vikings fans would like to get rid of him, we'll take him on the spot, fumbles and all!! And Vikings fans, remember, you only had one of the Williams last night in the Defensive Line and it made a huge difference. The Bears actually were able to run the ball to open up everything else. I thought Ben Leber and Chad Greenway did not play particularly well for the Vikings and Antoine Winfield getting beat as badly as he did on the winning TD pass in OT makes one wonder if he is healthy enough to be able to cover one on one against the really good recievers the Vikings will face in the playoffs. And if there was any doubt, Brett Favre is calling the shots and Brad Childress is taking the Public Relations heat to save the annointed one's hall of fame hiney. Makes you wonder one thing though. The Vikings are not a cold weather team of which they prove every year. And Zigi wants an outdoor stadium in Minneapolis in the winter time?

Darren Boyle's weekly words of wisdom.... MNF in the "man cave"

Keyshon Johnson as a ESPN analyst saying that Brett Farve should conform and just run the plays as they are called????My son Jared says C'MON MAN!!!! My sons and I witnessed a quite lethargic first half performance by the Vikings as they dug a 16-0 hole. We saw a team without alot of life and they were manhandled on both sides of the ball. We got to see alot of the stretch play to the right from the Vikings that didnt result in alot of rushing yards and only 26 yards passing. As the Vikings got the ball in the second half they moved the ball quickly and got a TD. What happened next??? The Bears had a big kickoff return and scored 5 plays later. On the next drive the Vikes were moving the ball well and had the ball inside the 5 yard line when Mr "offensive genius" changed the personel to the goalline package. Much to the displeasure of a certain quarterback wearing the road white. I have been in the workforce for quite a long time and worked for alot of individuals I didnt see eye to eye with. And I have worked for some who were completely over their heads, but still were the ones who felt they had to make the big decisions even if they were wrong..So I can truly feel for Brett.. Farve's legacy is being judged not by 17 years in Green Bay and a super bowl win, but by what happens this season. Anything less than a trip to the Super Bowl will be considered a failure. If you were in that situation wouldnt you want to be a part of the decision making process? Especially if you didnt have alot of faith in your management. You can see that Brett Farve isnt 100% in love with the play calling. 6:00 left in the game, and the ESPN guys in the booth are talking about how Farve is changing plays at the line of scrimmage, somehow, magically they seem to be moving the ball down field. Huh, a play is called and when the qb sees the defense, he changes the play so it works. Who would be so bold? A short run by AP and the game is tied @ 23. Maybe home field isnt out of the question. WHAT!!!!!!!!!!! A directional kick and the Bears still run it back to the 25 then a quick TD by the Bears. In less than a minute it is 30-23 Bears. A first half snoozefest is becoming a trackmeet in the fourth quarter. Now at the two minute warning the Vikes are inside the Bear 35. Inside the 10 now with ;30 left. throw to Harvin in the endzone too high and incomplete. Now its fourth down, heres the ball game. To Sidney Rice.....TOUCHDOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!30-30 Bears have the ball with 9 seconds and timeouts left and what do they do??? THEY TAKE A KNEE????? That is showing faith in your QB right Mr. Fisher? Bears win the toss and on the first play of OT get a long pass play inside the Viking 40. Now here comes Robbie Gould to win it...................NO GOOD!!!!!!And the Vikings have another chance. The Bears have no choice but to blitz. Nice job by the Minnesots Matadors eh? Pressure and an incompletion on first down, then Farve is sacked on second and third down. And the Bears have the ball back. They go three and out. Here comes the Vikes... And AP fumbles???????? AGAIN????????Bears with the ball. Cutler to the endzone.............TOUCHDOWN BEARS and the game is over 36-30. Why doesnt it suprise me that the much maligned Jay Cutler, has his best game of the year against the Vikings? In a game that mattered to the Purple and not to Chicago. The Bears win and the road to the Super Bowl will go through New Orleans. Yes, it is true the Vikings played great in the second half, but obviously they were not ready to play in the first half and the blame can only be put on the shoulders of the true Viking Season Killer Brad Childress. Remember about a month ago he got a contract extension? When, in his tenure they have NEVER been in a conference championship game let alone a Super Bowl. Now with his fat contract he is in a position to blame his QB if they lose. That is the ONLY reason Childress begged Farve to come out of retirement. You read it here first folks, remember that boss you had or have that was over his head??? When you think about it, they will remind you of Brad Childress. Dont forget our doubleheader tomorrow as Miller travels to Todd Co. 5:00 tipoff see you then

Rod's Monday Take n Things

New Orleans gave the Vikings a huge Christmas present yesterday. Losing to Tampa Bay. Just what the Vikings needed. Hope to still get the top seed and home field throughout the playoffs. The Vikings will take care of their end of the deal beating Chicago and the New York football Giants. They have to hope that Carolina has an effort like they did last week agains the Vikings on Sunday to beat the Saints. That would give the Vikings that all important home field that they have to have to win in the playoffs. I was just thinking that in a few days, we begin a new decade. My, looking back some of the highlights of the last 10 years would have to be the Governors making the state AA basketball tournament championship game in 2001 and all of the things that went on, on and off the field that March. I would have to say my boys provided me with some decade of highlights. My oldest son Trevor and the 2003 State Legion baseball tournament hosted by Pierre and the elimination game against Rapid City Post 22 where Stan Evans and the umpiring crew refused to enforce the Legion baseball slide rule against Pat Moran of Post 22. Didn't want to tick off Coach Ploof apparently. Or the two home runs in the same game he hit the year earlier in Valley Springs thanks in part to a 40 mph wind blowing out, but he wasn't a home run hitter. And my other son Mike hitting some home runs that they still talk about. The one he hit over the Big D sign on the top of the scoreboard in the 05 state tournament in Rapid City which in broadcasting the game I came up with one of my better quotable qoutes, even if I do say so myself. "Will some one check to see if that ball came down or did it burn up in reentry". Or the homer he hit against Parkston in the first game of the 07 state legion tournament here in Pierre that was the game winner or his batting over .600 at the Dickinson tournament that year where he was named MVP. They told me he had it sewed up before the Sunday game but I couldn't tell anybody until after we were done in the tournament. And then there was the 06 basketball season with Tviedt and Willard and Fisher and the 2nd place finish and the 20 point comeback at Brandon Valley that fell short when Willard put a shot off the top of the backboard with a couple of seconds left that would have tied it. But he wasn't fouled, right! Sam always had trouble hitting the top of the backboard with his shots. Last year's region boys basketball win at Stevens where Pierre made up a 13 point deficit in the final minute and a half to win, make state tournament and then lose at the buzzer to O'Gorman in the opening round only to win the consolation championship in convincing fashion. The two Lady Gov losses in the AA basketball championships but the two buzzer beaters in the semi final round those two years by Polly Gill and Steph Paluch that put them in the championship game. In football, the three semi final visits in the playoffs in 2000, 04 and 05. The Govs were oh for three but getting there was the fun. Watching Qunicy Christie run past Brandon Valley in 04 and Sioux Falls Washington in 05 and the dissapointment of losing it in the final minutes in the semi's at Yankton. Listening to the call of Harry Decker's state wrestling championshp his senior year. And the list goes on like the 07 and 08 state volleyball tournaments for the Lady Govs. I know I omitted many things but I hope you get the point. With 2010 on the very near horizen, I won't forget the snow storm of last weekend, that's for sure, but let's just enjoy the moments our athletes give us in Pierre and Ft. Pierre and all over. In 10 years, we can sit down and talk about those memorable moments still to come. I probably won't be up at 4 a.m. on New Years Eve morning like I was 10 years ago checking out if the computers of the world all came to a grinding halt and Y2K was true. 4 a.m. our time is is midnight somewhere in the South Pacific where 2010 will first be celebrated. Happy New Years.

Brian's Sunday Shpeel

I guess it's my turn to wish everyone a Happy Holiday Season - I hope you all have received what you had hoped for Christmas, but most of all, I hope everyone has made it through the weekend without too much stress from the weather, or the in-laws, or otherwise. As for me, while I was pleased with the gifts I received, I'm still waiting for that Steelers playoff berth (which would certainly be a gift at this point), and the only real major gift I received was about 10 feet of snow in my driveway over the course of the whole weekend. Had we not shoveled four times in three days, the actual size of one huge drift might have been more than that. What an impressive weather system! Stupid global warming anyway!!

Another gift I received this holiday season was a warning ticket (which I appreciated) as I drove home from covering the Lady Govs in Watertown last weekend. I guess driving 70 in a 65 is a little high in some counties. :o) But that's not the real story here, as there apparently must be some real suspicious activity in and around the Clark area. As it turned out, the patrol vehicle that I had a seat in that night was the second of three that I encountered in about a 13-mile stretch on either side of Clark. So to the SDHP, keep up the good work, and all the best to you in the upcoming new year! (Gotta stay on their good side, you know...)

Aside from my racing potential, let's talk sports. In AA girls basketball, let's see....Roosevelt, Washington, Aberdeen - all have been ranked #1 or #2 in the first two weeks of the season, and all have been beaten by SF Lincoln so far, and of course Lincoln's only loss so far came last weekend here in Pierre in a game that they never led in the last three quarters. I'm not going to begin to call the Lady Govs a #1 ranked team, but if anyone out there thought this season might see a huge dropoff, well, maybe things will turn out a lot more interesting for you than you had anticipated. Games in Rapid City this coming week should be tough, especially at Central Tuesday night, with some good things expected from the Cobbs.

And hey, speaking of interesting, the Governor wrestling squad has shown some real ability early on this season. A close dual against a pretty much unanimous ESD favorite Aberdeen and a runaway tournament win at Valentine against some pretty salty Nebraska competition before the break, and now another home dual against Watertown, whom the Govs beat in the Arrows' own dual tournament, coming up Saturday (on KGFX)...here's hoping the Govs can stay healthy through the season and make some noise in the next couple of months! Stay tuned, and again, Happy Holidays!!

Darren Boyle's Weekly Words of Wisdom

First of all, merry christmas to everyone although it is a day or two late. I got a new laptop from my wife and now it is set up in my "man cave" a.k.a. our basement and now I wont have to battle for computer time and I can be a blogging machine. If you listen to our sportscasts on the internet, have you checked out our new live chat feature? Do you like it? I would like to get the imput from you our listeners so we can continue to improve our coverage. We have had alot of games on our early schedule and have seen some surprises. I felt that Lyman's boys bb team lost alot to graduation last season but appear to be a young, but very quick team that will have some bumps early but should be ok by the time it matters. Millers boys team has alot of letterwinners back and look very good, and White River's boys made a splash early this year by winning the LNI. From what I have seen on the girls side, Miller looks to be in good shape. It's not every girls team that has 6 players 5'11" on their roster. Its way too early to start talking favorites though and we will have a good double header for you this Tuesday as Miller goes to Todd County. Tipoff @ 5:00 on KPLO. On the Vikings front, I was much maligned earlier in the year about my reluctance to drink the purple kool-aid when VSK came on board. And honestly, it was pretty hard to make fun of a team that was 10-1 at one point. But now after the Vikes have lost two of the last three we see some chinks in their armor. It think now most would agree that VSK would have played for the Vikings whoever was the coach just to get back at the Packers for running him off, so we can forget the whole long lost friend deal with VSK and Childress. And now that the Vikes beat the Pack not once but twice this year, VSK seems to have lost some interest in whats going on. There was a play during the second half of the Cardinals game where VSK got thrown down and sacked, on the following play he threw an intercepion. he left the field with a look like he would have rather been anywhere else. Childress on the other hand got his contract extension when the Vikings were on their roll and now wants to do things his way or else. That's why the power struggle between VSK and Childress reached the boiling point last Sunday @ Carolina. VSK called a few too many audibles and Childress was going to bench him. Farve airs out most of his dirty laundry through the media so now its all public. I would also expect that the way AP has performed lately and the way the Minnesota Matadors a.k.a the offensive line, has blocked lately there is some bickering in the lockeroom as well. And thats just the problems with the offense. The defense was getting tons of praise around the league for getting after the QB six weeks ago, now they are constantly being victims of screens and misdirection plays mostly run at the side of Jared Allen. A first round bye isnt a sure deal, if they lose to the Bears Monday night, they finish the season with a must win game against the Giants. The Giants will need to win to get into the playoffs, so it is possible the Vikes could be on a three game losing streak coming in the the playoffs without the bye week. So in the end who is to blame for all this? Farve??? Not hardly. The real Viking Season Killer is Brad Childress. If he was half the "genius" he was made out to be do you think the Eagles would have let him get away? When Childress left Philadelphia to come to Minnesota, Andy Reid was on the hot seat remember? No way would the Eagles have let him go to another team in the NFC. Whats going to happen over the next few weeks? Who is going to step up and motivate this team to turn things around? If the Childress era has showed us anything, we as Viking fans are screwed.

Rod's Wednesday take

First off, Merry Christmas. Now, I have been asked several times since Saturday if Travis Adney's 32 points Saturday against Sioux Falls Lincoln is a Pierre Governor single game scoring record. I have done some checking and apparently there is no list of single game individual scoring records. I can tell you this. I first came to Pierre in 1979 so from that first team I covered from the 79-80 season to last Saturday, I can only go from memory. Troy Schaffer scored 30 points in 1983 against Todd County in the Region Championship game in Mission. That is the only 30 point single game individual performance I can come up with. There have been several players that have been in the upper 20's. Michael Gardner two years ago. Curry Kuehl last year. DJ Prue in 2001. Shane Prunty went off for some big scoring games in the mid 90's but not 30 or more from what I have been able to find out. If someone out there knows please post a comment. Like I say, from 78-79 and before, I am not sure. Joe Ashley might of, but I doubt it. I know the only time Michael Tveidt went for 30 was when he was in 7th grade and was playing traveling team for my wife and I. He went off for 30 against a Mitchell team. Jon Christensen had at least 30 for that Mitchell squad too. But that doesn't count except we won. Sam Willard went off for some mid to upper 20 games a time or two also. Steph Paluch scored 30 or more 5 times last year. 34 in a game twice. So I guess she would be the school leader boys and/or girls. Karen Hasek had a 30 point game in 1982. The amazing thing about Adney's 32 the other night was that he went 9 for 11 from the field. His two misses were his first two shots of the game. So he finishes 9 of 9 and 2 for 2 from 3 point range. The rest from the free throw line. And it came kinda of quietly until he hit his two three's back to back in the 4th quarter. I decided to count up how many he scored after he made the back end of a two free throw situation. I knew he had alot but when I counted it was 27!!!!! And lost in the Travis Adney shuffle was freshman Zach Hanson who had a double double! 10 points and 11 rebounds. The first double double of many over the course of the next four years we hope. So like I say, if anyone can pinpoint a player who had a 30 plus point game other than the one's I mentioned please post it. Again Merry Christmas gang. And remember the reason for the season and a little saying that I heard the other day that kinda of sums the season up. Santa's cool! But Jesus Rocks!!! It was a youngster that I heard that from by the way. But good to remember. Hope all your Christmas wishes and dreams come true!!!!

Rod's Monday Take

In the spirit of the season I deliver hope to Minnesota Vikings Nation. Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great coming football joy. Despite the fact that the Vikings stunk last night, the light not on the tree, but at the end of the tunnel shines on Chicago. For that Vikings believers is where the Vikings play next. On Monday night, the Vikings, who have stunk on national TV in their last two primetime night games play the Chicago Bears who have really stunk all 3 times they have played night games in prime time on national TV. The football gods will deliver to you, Vikings nation, Jay Cutler, the quarterback that will help you forget about last night. And two weeks ago last night. Jay Cutler, the most overpaid, overrated quarterback in all of the league. Where oh where is Rex Grossman when we need him. 3 more interceptions yesterday before getting benched at Baltimore to add to his league leading of receptions the other way. The football gods will be good to all you Vikings fans in delivering a game to you that the Vikings need at the right time. Merry Christmas and no need to thank any of us Bears fan. Jay Cutler has been the gift to teams on the Bears schedule this year that have just kept on Giving and Giving. And isn't that what the season is all about?

Rod's Saturday night thoughts

Wow, what a great night for Governor and Lady Governor basketball. Both varsity teams defeat good Sioux Falls Lincoln teams. The Governors may have started coming of age with their win. Down 11 in the third quarter, they come back and were not to be denied. Travis Adney has a 32 point night. Coach Becker is thinking back and is not sure if anyone has scored 30 or more in a game since he has been here. Michael Tviedt, Michael Gardner, Curry Kuehl came close but until we look at the records it might a first. As one can imagine, the guys are a happy group and they should be. They gave themselves an early Christmas gift. Graham Schuetzle and Taylor Becker are the two seniors who can really be happy. And the young guys, freshman Zach Hanson and Layne Severyn and sophomore Joe Tetzlaff all did good things down the stretch when Lincoln was looking to regain the lead and could not. Pierre outscored Lincoln 29-11 at the line and got to the free throw lline 20 more times that Lincoln 42 to 22. Pierre outscored Lincoln 27-13 in the 4th quarter. And we outbounded Lincoln 43-42. It was a coming out party for this young Governor team. And the Governor wrestlers win the Valentine Invitational again. 3rd straight year. 4 champ. 11 of 13 place winners. Nicely done coach Noyes and Sullivan and guys. The only down note for Pierre sports fans might be the SDSU women's loss at Utah this afternoon. Just looking at the final stats, Steph Paluch and Katie Lingle did not play for the Jacks today.

Rod's Tuesday Thoughts

As I have stated, I was in attendance of the Bengals and Vikings game on Sunday. Only the second professional football game I have ever attended. The first was in 1975 in the old Met Stadium when Walter Payton was a rookie. Both games, the Vikings won and won big. On Sunday, It was borderline boring. Very little excitement. Very few big plays. Perhaps it is more exciting when the team you root for is one of the team's playing. There was not the excitement of a college game. There might have been just as many "intoxicated" young ones as a college game. I could have almost taken a nap except for that stupid horn blowing would have woke me up. Maybe it was because it was indoors! Maybe it was because we had middle of the row seats and would have had to (wait we did) bothered about a dozen people either side of us to go to get up and go to the bathroom. And then hope you didn't have to go to bad cause of the line. Granted, fans dress up in their favorite team's garb. I probably was the only person there that did not wear Vikings purple or Bengals orange and was probably the only one of 64,000 plus that were there that was waring a Huskers coat. It was cold outside and that coat is my outside coat, so I wore it. I don't know what our tickets cost but I venture it was at least over 60 bucks per ticket. $7 for an adult beverage. Again, you only had one because of the line in the men's room. $5.50 for a brat that was very good and the little cup of sourkraut was on the house. Dome Dogs were $5. I guess I am a home body. For the price of 4 tickets last weekend, I can get NFL Sunday ticket in my living room for an entire season, and chair that was built for mature full bodied derrier's like mine self. I want a beverage, I get up, go to the fridge, get it and don't miss a play. Bathroom? Got two to choose from with no lines. If the game is boring, I can go to San Diego or Indianapolis or New York and find a game that isn't boring. And when the game is over, I'm home, no train ride although I like riding trains, and then finding your vehicle and then 6 1/2 hour drive. Actually it was only 3 1/2 cause we went back to Sioux Falls and then stayed over cause we wanted too and we could. Now if I were in the press box and had a real reason to be at the game, it might be a different story. But then If I am in the press box, I'm not paying to be there. Call me wierd, call me foolish. Call me wierd and foolish. Don't Care. I'm me, not you. I know what your saying. That guy's poor wife! She'd agree.

Rod's Monday Thoughts

Minnesota Vikings fans, do not get to upbeat. Despite beating Cincinatti yesterday, the Vikings are not an elite team. I was there. I saw a very average quarterback in Brett Favre. And even less than average Carson Palmer. Cedric Benson was a better running back than Adrian Peterson and Scott Longwell is worth his salary even though he is a kicker. Very uninteresting game. I heard two Vikings fans say after the game that New Orleans has played a weak schedule. This from fans of a team that have played 3 teams with winning records and plays in one of the most laughable divisions in Pro Football. And a team that has Carolina (5-8). Chicago 5-8 and the New York Giants on their schedule yet. And New Orleans has a weak schedule! At least it was nice winters day to ride the light rail, park at the Mall of America and get out of town in about an hour after the game. And Vikings fans, had the Bears the Packers the Vikes would have secured the division. But thanks to Jay Cutler, they didn't. That darn Cutler. Vikings fans, share the pain with us Bears folks.

Don't give up on the Govs and Lady Govs. They will have to shoot well, which the Govs didn't on Friday and the Lady Govs didn't on Saturday and they will have to play with a margin of error less than normal. Friday night's games will be interesting. Watertown boys plays alot of juniors and Watertown's girls do have Marcelina Glab in the middle, 6'2. And going inside is what Brandon Valley did well in the second half Saturday night to pull away. Saturday, the Sioux Falls Lincoln girls will be difficult. The boys, much the same boat as the Pierre guys. Nobody returning from last year's State Championship team. I think the surprise of the weekend were both Rapid City Stevens and Central in both boys and girls. Central boys knock off the preseason number 1 and 2 teams in O'Gorman and Roosevelt. Stevens beats OG and loses close to Rosey. Stevens girls go 1-1 with the loss close. We get them on the Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon of the Christmas week. Boys in Pierre and girls in Rapid City. And congrats to Stanley County's girls and boys, both winners in their openers over the weekend. Trust me, it will be a big basketball win in Pierre-Ft. Pierre this winter.

Rod's Thursday Thoughts

Call me old school but Chad Ochosinko and Jarred Allen and the NFL cronies who like to shoot off their mouth and do excessive celebrating after they make a tackle could not have played in the glory days of the NFL. Both of them would have had their clocks cleaned by teammates for not acting professional. Ochosinko, and Terrell Owens and Allen and a whole bunch of them should get suspended without pay for more than a game instead of getting fined. Money means nothing to these blowhards. Ochosinko is going to wrestle away the horn from the Viking mascot and blow it Sunday if he scores. If that happens, I hope the Viking mascot takes the horn and whacks him upside the side of the helmet. It wouldn't hurt. My yongest son is a diehard Bengals fan. That's why, he and me and his brother and mother will all be in attendance on Sunday at the game. I will gladly root against the Vikings since Cincy on Sunday will be my second favorite team. They are the ones playing the Vikings. If Ochosinko catches 3 TD passes, great!!! But don't expect for me to stand up and cheer Ochosinko, who can't even decide what he wants his last name to be, if he pulls off the horn blowing thing. My kid knows I'm old fashioned and old school and thinks I am nuts. He also knows, I know he knows that and I don't care what he thinks of me in matters like this. This is why college football has it over on the NFL. They don't let shananigans like Ochocinko pull on a game by game basis become more than the game. And can Ndomekong Suh win the Heisman? He should but if early ballots that have been made public for whatever reason are an indication, looks like he will finish second. Still ahead of the quarterbacks. If he does win, no one would be more deserving. Note to Chad O" Suh doesn't tute his own horn. And yes, I know I spelled Chad Johnson's last name wrong!

Now, back to true sports. Governor and Lady Governor basketball teams are getting ready. Both are in tough districts this year. Huron is the pick to win the ESD in boys basketball this year. Aberdeen Central and Mitchell are pretty much numbers 2 and 3, mostly because of senior presence. Pierre has 3 seniors and probably 2 that will see significant playing time. But the Go Go Govs should be fun to watch, especially if they can hit the pull up 3 pointers. And Josh Monroy is 7 feet 1 3/4 inches tall by the way. That's in his stocking feet. The Lady Govs are not the favorite in the ESD or the district this year. Aberdeen Central has that distinction and Huron and Mitchell are going to be improved. But watching the intra squad scrimmage on Saturday if that is any indication, don't count the Lady's out. A good early test comes on Saturday at Brandon Valley. I will be calling that game because of my next day experiences in the Metrodome as described above. Then they go to Watertown next Friday and have S.F. Lincoln a week from Saturday. By Christmas, we'll have a pretty good idea of just how good or down the Lady Govs will be. I am thinking "good" at this stage instead of "down".

The Tyler Wilcox Memorial Squirt Hockey tournament is this weekend in Ft. Pierre. And I have been advised that the Capitals and Lady Capitals hockey teams (via request from the Oahe Hockey Association Board) would like to be referred to as Pierre-Ft. Pierre or Oahe Capitals since there are kids from both Pierre and Ft. Pierre that play on the team. So Pierre-Ft. Pierre it will be as long as I remember to do that.

Brian's Wednesday Whining

Another college football bowl season, and another reason for BCS opponents like me to fire away. Okay, so it's Alabama against Texas for the National Championship. I don't have any problems with that - I think we've got the most legitimate match-up possible for the Championship game. But once again, we've got other teams who have a legitimate beef, as they get denied a chance at a title -- probably a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

So we've got the National Title game on tap, but then what else? Poor, poor Tim Tebow and Florida -- well, they get unbeaten Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl, and I think this will probably be a great game, although Florida might take their frustrations out on Cincy a little. But then you have the game that I hope everyone watches -- the Fiesta Bowl, which will have unbeaten Boise St. against unbeaten TCU. Boise beat TCU, 17-16, in last year's Poinsettia Bowl (which I'm not sure I've ever even heard of, since there are so many these days), and both teams are better this year, so this one should not disappoint. It's good that this game will be the only bowl game of the day when it is played on Jan. 4, because these two teams will be able to showcase what they have and why they probably should have as much of a shot as anyone to win the BCS Championship. Okay, so they're in a BCS Bowl Game, but have they really been given a chance to win the title?

Here's what frosts me about this. In the minds of the BCS Committee that selects which teams will play in each BCS Bowl Game, what in the world is this game going to prove? Who's the "best of the rest"? Is anyone in the country really interested in who the better of these two teams is? I don't know, maybe I'm in the minority here, but I don't want to know who the better of these two teams is. What I want to know is, can TCU compete with a team like Florida? That's the match-up I would much rather see, and if the Horned Frogs would happen to knock off the mighty Gators, then to me that would go a long way in proving that the BCS computer rankings don't mean squat! Boise St. beat Oklahoma a few years back, but I guess that wasn't proof enough. Boise and Cincinnati would also make for a great game.

Long story short, the BCS is still a joke, but there are some great games to look forward to, like Iowa-Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl, Ohio St.-Oregon in the Rose Bowl, and as usual, that Holiday Bowl should be pretty good, too, with Nebraska against Arizona. But before I end this, I need to gripe about two other things. 1) Remember when the college football season ended on January 1, no ifs, ands, buts, or lucrative TV deals? And 2) it might have a regional flavor, with Minnesota and Iowa St. playing, but is the Insight Bowl really worth watching at all? Two teams both 6-6, both 3-5 within their own conferences. You know, six wins might make you "bowl-eligible," but if you have a chance to end your season with a losing record (one of these teams will be 6-7), do you really deserve to play in a bowl game at all? NO!!! For crying out loud, there are 33 bowl games that'll be played this year, and only about 5 or 6 that I probably won't have something better to do while they're being played. Give me something I can get excited for! Please give me a college football playoff system!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Merry Christmas!
- Radiooo

Rod's Monday Thoughts

If you have a chance to go the movie "The Blind Side" Do it. Great Story. True Story. Sandra Bullock's portrayal of the mom will give those of you husbands who have a go get em wife who ask's and then goes ahead, a new appreciation of your marriage. As far as Brian's Friday post on Amanda Stout not making the state volleyball team is simple. It is a numbers game and to make all state it is really important you make the state tournament and then play well. Pierre didn't make the state tournament. AA only has so many spots on their two teams and there is no honorable mention team. Anybody who watched Amanda play these past 3 years knows what she can do on the volleyball court and more imporantly for Amanda, so did the SDSU coach. The Vikings just plain got outplayed last night by Arizona and it may have opened a few weaknesses they have. And Arizona is only the third team that the Vikings played this year that had a winning record at the time they played them. It is a good thing they have the Bengals in Minnesota. They don't beat them on Sunday if it is in Cincy. They have a better chance under the dome but they also have a chance to lose. To be quite honest, I would not be surprised if the Vikings go O for December. And I knew Nebraska was probably not going to win the Big 12 title game on Saturday when Niles Paul could not return the punt for a touchdown. Instead a field goal and the rest is history and Texas wins. Nebraska's offense was absolutely awful. You can't punch out one extra first down, or score a touchdown on first and goal when all of the momentum is going your way. Not when you play for the field goal which they did. Still, Nebraska's Defense was far superior to the vaunted Texas defense because Nebraska absolutly shut down one of the best offense's in the country and Colt McCoy kissed his Heisman Trophy hopes goodbye. The Texas defense meanwhile, shut down an offense that quite arguably, this year's Pierre Governors probably could have done well against. Ndomekong Suh should win the Heisman Trophy. He won't because it is an Offensive Players, usually quarterback, award. And it should be labled that as the best "offensive player in college football award" and not "the best player" award. It should be the only post season award he won't win and he most undoubtedly will be the very first pick in the NFL draft in April. He will most likely make a larger salary than any of the quarterbacks and running backs that will win the Heisman. Talk about how Amanda Stout got gypped. Suh is really getting gypped. (I don't know how to spell gypped. Gyped. Jipped. Whatever.)

Andy Shoe's Scuttlebutts

Here we go and just like that basketball season is running and gunning. I would like to direct my thoughts to Holiday tournaments this week. I know that teams love to go and play teams outside their conference and region during the holiday season. I loved playing in a tournament setting before the season really got rolling and I think teams today love to play in the big venues also. I would love to have input on a long running holiday set of games that take place every year in Mobridge. It is called the Rotary Classic and as of late it has been anything but classic. i know that teams that used to play in the classic now play in one of a dozen or more holiday forums around the state and it is hard to schedule teams around to come to Mobridge and play here. I have suggested a North, south match-up between teams in North Dakota and South Dakota close to Mobridge. It would be a nightmare for those athletic directors to schedule but if it is scheduled enough in the future it might work. Here is my thinking, start at noon with a match up of Strausburg/ Zeeland and Eureka Bowdle then at two o'clock schedule Ashley and Herreid, at four o'clock have Selby Area play Wishick and then at eight o'clock Linton and Mobridge would play. The first day would be dedicated to girls and the second day to the boys. You could have different teams play in different combinations and it could be a very competitive set of games. It would be a very hard set of games to schedule but I think it would bring a lot of basketball fans that don't usually get to see each other together. It is worth considering and if someone out there has a better solution to this dilemma of the Annual Mobridge Rotary Classic then i would love to hear it.

Brian's Friday Fire-up

So let me get this straight....a girl can be voted to the All State Volleyball Team as a junior on a team that played for a State Championship, but as a senior on a team that missed the State Tournament, she can't even get a spot on even the SECOND team All State? Would somebody please tell me who in Class AA works harder, hustles more, and for what it's worth, has more fun, on a volleyball court than Amanda Stout? Okay, maybe the stats weren't there for her this year like they were last year, and I don't have them in front of me right now, but how many unforced mistakes did she make this year? I can't imagine there were that many. No disrespect to the girls who all made the teams, but it's just odd that a student-athlete, male or female, regardless of sport, can be an All State player as a junior, play healthy for an entire senior year, and not get the same attention at the end of their senior year, whether their team achieved success or not. Does that mean that the player shouldn't get the votes they probably deserve?

Now, as I look at the list of players on the First and Second AA All-State teams, I'll admit, I can't really argue with any of the selections - they are all deserving of the honor. I guess it just helps a lot to be on a State Tournament team. Oh wait, I guess I don't recall Sioux Falls O'Gorman making the team, or even Brookings for that matter. Okay, okay, I know I'm whining a bit, so I'll quit now. I guess the point is that Amanda Stout got looked over, probably for 3 reasons: 1) her team wasn't as successful as others; 2) the hitters get all the attention; and 3) she's only 5'3" - everyone looks over the short ones. :o)

With that said, though, let's offer congratulations to all of our area volleyballers who made All State lists:
Caitlin Whiting - White River - Class B First Team
Marisa Mann - Philip - Class B 1st
Holly Hamlin - Highmore-Harrold - Class B 2nd
Marisa Blackwell - Miller - Class A 2nd team
Sarah Dady - Mobridge - Class A 2nd
Erin Rabenberg - Mobridge - Class A HM
Kelly Swenson - Chamberlain - Class A HM (whattayaknow - a setter getting props!)

For me personally, having seen all of these players play quite a bit this season, with the exception of Mann, who I saw play so well for a State Champion last year, I can say that the voters do actually know what they're talking about -- great job, all of you!! I just think they missed a gem in Amanda Stout. One final note, congrats also to Katie Gordon of Brookings, daughter of Pierre natives, Allen and Karen Gordon, who was named to the AA Second Team. She's good, too. :o)

Rod's Monday Thoughts

Boys basketball teams get to begin or already began practice across the state today and the girls are beginning their second week. Terry Becker had his Governors on the court at 5:30 a.m. this morning for their first day of two a days. Pierre, the consolation champions of last year's state AA tournament with their "Running Govs" offense look to do much the same this year. So if you suit up for the varsity, you'll likely play. Only 3 seniors this year. Graham Schuetzle, Tyrelle Walker and Drew Brandnor. Graham and Tyrelle are the only two that saw extensive varsity time last year. Pierre opens at Mitchell a week from Friday and then host Brandon Valley the following night. The Pierre girls have two seniors who did not go out last year out again this year. Jordyn Anderson and Mandi Atkins. The Lady Govs also look to run this year. Anderson is a sprinter in track and 6' tall to go along with 6 footer Amber Olson. The three senior guards back from last year's team look to be the leaders. Linsey Petersen, Paige Burkett and Amanda Stout.

Steph Paluch had a career night on Friday for SDSU scoring 14 points in 14 minutes, both career high's. 3 for 3 from 3 point range and 5 for 7 from the field plus a couple or more rebounds. Michael Tveidt is averaging 17 points and 7 rebounds to lead the NDSU Bison. Sam Willard was limited to 4 points in the last couple of Pacific games but foul trouble may have been a big reason why. He is still around double figures in scoring average. And high school wrestling begins this week. Pierre is having open challange matches at Riggs High Gym at 5:30 tonight. Public can come and watch as long as they bring a bottle of gatorade for their admission. Pierre begins Saturday at the 8 team Watertown dual invitational. Stanley County and Lyman open the dual season tomorrow night in Presho in a quadrangular before most of central S.D. comes to Ft. Pierre this weekend for the Buffalos Inviational Friday and Saturday.

And Nebraska can beat Texas on Saturday in the Big 12 Conference title game in Dallas. Ball control, no penalties and the defense will have to come up with some big turnovers and probably even have to score a TD or two along the way. But the Huskers have the advantage in the kicking game. Alex Henery is the perfect example why every high school soccer player who ever thought of playing football in college should go to the coach and try out. Henery was a walk on, and earned a full ride scholarship while putting his name in the "legends book" of Nebraska Cornhusker football.

There, a positive post today. No mention of whether or not the NFL is making sure that Brett Favre gets the pee cup. How can any guy that old play that well without some help? So what if he is! All he would have to do is say "I didn't know what was in it". I bet the Williams boys could help him out!! But then the NFL allows Jarred Allen to get away with his stupid excessive celebrating after a qb sack without a penalty. Oh well, maybe the refs are getting sore arms throwing all those flags for holding this year.

And for awhile on Saturday I was thinking that the Minnesota Golden Gophers could compete in the NCAA FCS. Maybe even win it. That was when SDSU was ahead of number 1 seed Montana 41-14. After further review and 47 points later, maybe the Gophers should just be happy going to the insight dot toilet bowl game or whatever one they are eligible to go to. SDSU I am afraid undid in one quarter what they have been building up for the last 3 to 4 years.

Rod's Thanksgiving Thoughts

Thanksgiving is a time to give Thanks, thus the Thanks part of Thanks-giving. A few things that I am thankful for? I am thankful I am not a Vikings fan of course. Cowboys also. Most of the Cowboy fans I know are fans under pressure. Always checking Cowboys.com and some of them that I know are such die hard fans that they can't even stand watching them play when they are on TV! Although I do hope that Miles Austin does well on a weekly basis. His mother was in high school back in the late 70's when I worked in O'Neill, Neb. and Ann was one very good athlete. I proudly tell people that I had a chance to broadcast Miles' mom as an athlete or as we in the business term it, I play by played her! As a matter of fact, I am seriously considering not having a favorite professional team anymore and just being a fan! Although some of the professional cry babies make even that kinda tough. I am thankful for being in the position I am in. Face it, there are alot of people out there that don't have a job. I am thankful that I get to cover high school sports. I have been really blessed with the opportunity to broadcast and cover some outstanding and talented athletes over the last 30 years. And I am thankful for the wonderful group of coaches we have in our area schools who are willing to interview with me, many on a weekly basis. I am no Bill O'Reilly when it comes to interviewing but we usually get to the bottom line most times. I guess mostly I thank all of you who listen in to our broadcast and many times offer a kind word on how we are doing. And to those of you who's words aren't quite as kind I thank you also. Face it, If I were doing everything right, I would venture to say I might be elsewhere this Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving and If I can hope one Thanksgiving wish for you it would be this. Adopt the attitude of gratitude. Count your blessings. And make a commitment to say "Thank you" to the One who made your blessings possible.

Rod's Monday Thoughts Part 2

The following story that cleared the Associated Press Wire on Monday caught my eye.

WIGAN, England (AP) - The outcome was so embarrassing that Wigan's players want to refund the cost of tickets to their fans. Wigan was routed 9-1 by Tottenham on Sunday, matching a league record for most goals scored by a team in a game. Jermain Defoe scored five of Tottenham's eight goals in the second half at White Hart Lane . Wigan defender Mario Melchiot said the players wanted to apologize to their fans who traveled to the game by paying the cost of their tickets. Melchiot says "as a group of professionals we wereembarrassed by the way we performed."

If more of my professional team's took this route, I'd never have to pay out of pocket for my NFL Sunday Ticket ( Bears ), Major League Baseball Extra Innings ( Cubs ) or when we subscribed to it, NBA League Pass ( Timberwolves ). They'd be paying me to watch them!!!!!! Leave it to the Brits.

Rod's Monday Thoughts

Another Monday morning and Vikings fans celebrating another BIG Viking victory over another hapless opponent, the Seattle Seahawks. The NFC is full of some really bad football team's this year and the NFC North Division leads the way and to their credit the Vikings have taken advantage and they haven't even played the most underachieving team in the NFL yet with the most overated quarterback. The Bears need to clean house beginning at the general managers position and sit down at a team retreat and ask themselves, who are we? With any luck, Mike Shanahan will be named the new Buffalo head coach and he will contact the Bears and do us all a favor. Get Jay Cutler into a Bills uniform so he, just like Terrell Owens can dissapear in the obscurity of the AFC East. Lions fans, hang in there. As long as Matthew Stafford stays healthy and Matt Millen is not asked for drafting advice, the Lions could very well in 2 years be where the Vikings are today. Remember, in two years, the Vikings will have Tavaras Jackson back at quarterback!!!! And besides in 2012 when the Vikings move to whatever new city they go to because they didn't get a new stadium (so Zigi will pick up his team and play elsewhere), the NFC North will be just as weak as it is this year with the addition of St. Louis to the North.

Andy Shoe's Scuttlebutts

I know baseball season is long gone, or a long way off but I thought I would write a little on the Twins this week. I know that Major League Baseball is a business and that owners are constantly trying to improve their clubs, but some trades do not make sense to me. I think the Twins front office made a mistake in sending Gomez to Milwaukee, even though they got Hardy. Some times a player's worth can't just be his stat sheet. Sometimes a player has other attributes that make him a value to his team. In the case of Gomez, consistency was not a strong trait, but excitement was always there and down the stretch this is a team that has used the excitement of individuals to carry them into the post season as a team. The Twins were outfield strong with four pretty good outfielders and only three game-day spots to put them in but it always seems that one of the four were on the DL at one time or another. Last year the Twins went out and picked up Joe Crede and gambled on his back. It was not a gamble that paid off down the stretch run. I was critical then as I am now about Hardy. I think Hardy will be a good player in the future for the Twins, but for a team on the door step of doing something extraordinary, I think mixing up the team will be hard to come back from. The front office of the Twins should concentrate on the signing of their big names and not the trading of their potential. I will still be a fan and will sit back with an open mind about Hardy. I just think it is time to keep the team together and continue to improve.

Rod's Thursday Thoughts

Mama's don't let your babies grow up to be Vikings fans. Because in 2012 the Vikings may be the Los Angeles Vikings? I think not. But the LA somethings. They are building a new stadium and the Vikings will more than willingly make the move after yesterday. The Associated Press report that the Vikings "vehemently" (that is a strong word in the journalisic world) rejected a proposal from the Metropolitan Sports Commission to extend their Metrodome lease 2 more years to buy the commission time to figure out the stadium situation. There is no give or take by either side it looks like. Vikings officials are probably chomping at the bit to move to a warmer weather climate and will more than likely agree to almost anything within reason with LA officials to move to the nation's second largest fan and TV market and brand spanking new state of the art stadium they are building. They are probably looking for a loophole right now, if they haven't found one already, that would get them out of the Metrodome and into the sun of LA at least a year earlier. According to the AP report vice president Lester Bagley says it sent a "chilling message" to Vikings ownership and the NFL about their prospects of staying in Minnesota for the long term. The Vikings know they were left on the short end of the new stadium funding in Minneapolis and Minnesota voters and tax payers have said enough. So has Zigi Wilf and company. Zigi has no loyalty to Minnesota. He is a New Jersey guy and a pretty efficient and successful business tycoon. So Enough of Minnesota's winters. Just like the Vikings warriors of centuries ago, this group of Vikings is looking like they are preparing to head west! Save up those Vikings helmets and purple jerseys. They may be a collectors item sooner than later. And mama's you may have let your babies grow up to be (gulp) Packer fans. Or Bears!!

Brian's Wednesday Woo-hoo's

I haven't spouted off since last weekend's football championships, so first things first - congratulations to the 6 champions, including the 2 that I didn't pick. Fittingly, since I couldn't pick many 11A games right in the postseason, it stands to reason I'd miss the championship, too. I guess I either grossly underestimated Milbank or overestimated St. Thomas More. But you know, that's what made these championship games so great. We had a game with very few surprises (Howard 40, Emery/Ethan 16), a game that kept me in disbelief from start to finish (Milbank 34, STM 20), and one with an outstanding first half by the underdog, but an inevitable second half by the favorite (Washington 27, Aberdeen Central 10). There was a smashmouth mild upset between two perennial top teams (Hanson 20, Avon 16), and there was a nailbiter that went to the wire in maybe the best game overall for fans of offense (Hitchcock-Tulare 32, DRSM 28). And then, there was South Dakota's own Immaculate Reception. Our own LSU-Kentucky. What can you say about the fantastic finish that gave Winner their first championship in 20 years, which is hard enough in itself to believe? Congratulations Warriors - you made Central and Western SD proud!! I know that last play made it to YouTube, but has anyone seen it on ESPN this week? (I haven't, but I had hoped to.)

So now we turn our attention to State Volleyball Tournaments this weekend, where in my humble opinion, there is one interesting similarity across all classes. Each tournament field has clear-cut favorites, not one, but two, in each class. Aberdeen & Roosevelt in AA, Wagner & SF Christian in A, and Arlington & Warner in the B. However, if you know anything about volleyball, you know that nothing is for certain when you put 8 quality teams together in one tournament bracket. It should be fun to watch. Keep in mind, we'll have all White River and Highmore-Harrold broadcasts from the B (too bad they have to play each other in the first round) on KPLO, as well as all Mobridge-Pollock broadcasts in the A on Star99. Any one of these 3 teams are capable of making a lot of noise in their tournaments, so we wish them all the best of luck.

Rod's Tuesday Thoughts

I was just thinking about the number of Pierre Riggs High alumnus that are playing collegiatly. Just a few. Michael Tveidt, basketball at North Dakota State. Sam Willard, basketball at Pacific (had 17 points and 8 rebounds last night). Steph Paluch and Katie Lingle, basketball at South Dakota State. Gina Geffre is on the Black Hills State volleyball team still playing in the NAIA playoffs. Kylee Lamb, a Sully Buttes grad is also on that team. Josh Breske was just named all conference for the BHSU football team. So was Andy Smith. And Stanley County grad Sam Ostarello looks like she may have a bright future at Purdue. And that is just a handful. There are others competing in golf, track and field, cross country, soccer and a smattering of other sports. This is not a whos who in college sports from Pierre but it is an example that competitive sports can be accomplished for anyone who wants to put the work in after they leave high school and more importantly beginning well before they graduate. But Put the Work In is the key phrase. And that begins with the individual. Not the coach, not mom and dad and how much they can spend, but the individual. After just finishing the high school football season we have to face the fact that it will be very tough to compete with the Sioux Falls Schools who have programs built up that are like College 101. It makes it a daunting task for the Pierre's and Huron's and Mitchell's and even Brookings' of the world trying to even get to a LEVEL playing field let alone get on one higher. Basketball has not reached the Sioux Falls dominance that football has but it is headed in that direction. The smaller schools still are on an even playing field in sports like Track and Field and golf and to some extent cross country. But tennis? That has been a Sioux Falls and Rapid City sport for more than the last decade and the only sport that Rapid City can even compete in against the Sioux Falls schools. And you can see it turning in Sioux Falls direction in soccer also. It is a daunting task for our up and coming high school athletes in Pierre. Hopefully we have those willing to take on the task and willing to do what it takes. One of my favorite quotes is from TV preacher Robert Schuller. He even wrote a book on it. "Tough Times Never Last. But Tough People Do!"

Rod's Monday Thoughts

Are the Minnesota Vikings the beneficiary of a weak schedule? Lets take a look at the first 9 games. Cleveland has a record of 1-7 going into their game tonight with Baltimore, another Vikings opponent who they beat thanks to a last second field goal being no good and are .500 at 4-4. Detroit is 1-8 and Minnesota beat them twice. St. Louis is 1-8. That's three 1 win teams the Vikings played and to their credit beat. Only two teams of the first nine are above the .500 mark so far on the season. Green Bay is 5-4 and Pittsburgh is 6-3. San Francisco, which the Vikings beat on the second to last play of the game is 4-5 or 1 game under .500. Cumulative record of the opponents in the first 9 games, 22 wins and 39 losses. Not an impressive statistic, but as the pundits say, you can only play the schedule you are given. Let’s take a look at the rest of the schedule which consist of Seattle 3-6-0, Chicago(twice) 4-5-0, Arizona 6-3-0, Cincinnati 7-2-0, Carolina 4-5-0 and the New York Giants 5-4-0. 3 teams are above .500 and the other two are below .500 with a cumulative record of 25 wins and 27 losses. The Vikings will beat Seattle this Sunday. They will beat Chicago in Minneapolis. And it is starting already yesterday when Paul “Homer” (have you heard him announce a Vikings game? No doubt who he is employed by) Allen already was lamenting that the Vikings have just one home game in December. A game they could very well lose to a good Cincinnati Bengals team. They might win at Arizona although history shows they don’t very often. Wins at Carolina and at Chicago in late December are iffy at best and you never know which Eli Manning will show up with the Giants for the last game of the season. So are the Vikings as good as that 8-1 record? Fans should pray every night that Brett Favre-ulous stays healthy!

Rod's Friday Thoughts

Being a Chicago Bears fan, today is not a fun day. I gave up watching the 11B championship game Thursday night so I could watch the Bears and San Francisco. I should of watched Winner and Tri Valley. At 12-6 there was more offense than what I saw in the Bears 10-6 loss to San Francisco. The Bears brought in this prime time quarterback and paid, actually overpaid, him quite well. So what has Mr. Prime Time QB Jay Cutler done? In his 3 Prime Time appearances, he has thrown 11 interceptions compared to 6 during the day games. 11 in 3 games compared to 6 in the other 6. I can be a "I told you so kinda guy" and if you have followed these post, you know that I was not a Cutler fan. He is playing in a division where they play and relish playing defense. The NFC North. Not the AFC West where they played defense the last couple of years only because the had too! And now, because of his salary and the trade with Denver, the Bears in the words of that old Bobby Bare song, "We got em boy, so that must make me a winner". Actually, rewrite the song to "we got em boy, so when are we going to be a winner". The Bears signed him and then with the wisdom of anybody but Soloman, gave him an extention right away. So now you have a prime time quarterback being paid a primetime price now quarterbacking a team that will probably not make it to a prime time game again this year. Team's with losing records usually don't. Instead of paying dearly in money and draft picks, and by the way there is no first or second round pick for the Bears thanks to our prime timer JC in the near future, the Bears should have spent the money getting offensive lineman that can block and recievers that can catch. Chicago is a team that is built and always has been built to run the football. They are the worst team in the league now running the football. They have offensive lineman that cannot block, but do hold and get caught holding on a regular basis, so they do lead the league in something.

I would like to congratulate the fans of the NFC North Champion Minnesota Vikings. In a division that features Detroit, Chicago and Green Bay who after Sunday will join the Bears 4 games back of Minnesota with 7 left to play. What a division. And what a game I chose not to watch on TV in Vermillion last night. So with 17 interceptions in 9 games to lead the league, what can Jay do next? If I were a defensive back with the Bears coming up on my schedule I'd be wettn the old undies just waiting to get on the field.

Brian calls the championships

Well, a fun season of high school football comes to an end this weekend, and as wild as things have been at times, my second straight round of playoff picks only missing one game may be an indication that the cream has definitely risen to the top in all 6 classes. I picked all home teams last Saturday, and unfortunately, Lyman was the only one to break the mold, but although certain goals were not met by area teams, let not lose sight on all the fine accomplishments we've been able to see this season. And with that, let's get the season over with and move on to the winter season. Here are the championship picks in the order of the games as they will be played.

11A - Finally, St. Thomas More goes to the Dome as the clear favorite, and I do not see them disappointing. Finally, a West River champion. STM 37, Milbank 16

11B - Could we possibly have two West River champions in one today? Well, maybe Saturday's semifinal results give the edge to 2-time defending champion Tri-Valley, and if I were to lay a 20 down in Vegas, I'd probably take Tri-Valley, but since I've been picking Winner all season long, I will continue believing in them. WINNER 21, Tri-Valley 20

9A - A clash of perennial 9-man powers. Avon beat Hanson 30-0 in Week 2, but this game will not resemble that one at all. Still, Avon should have enough fire power to stay a couple of steps ahead. AVON 34, Hanson 24

9AA - Not saying they were overlooked, but in the event that Emery/Ethan just might have been, I don't think Howard will be doing the same. E/E's only loss was 34-22 in Week 5 to Howard, and I think this game will be similar, but maybe a little higher-scoring. Howard has scored 197 points in 3 playoff games. HOWARD 46, Emery/Ethan 30

9B - 9B was pretty weak this year, but clearly the two best teams are the ones still alive. I've expected Hitchcock-Tulare to be back in the Dome since playing well, but coming up short to Hanson in last year's title tilt. DRSM's only loss came to Estelline, who went unbeaten through the regular season. HITCHCOCK-TULARE 30, Dell Rapids St. Mary 22

11AA - The matchup many (outside of Sioux Falls) expected, and maybe had hoped for all season long. The hope obviously being that an ESD school can bring down the Evil Empire, so to speak. If Aberdeen's defense can control the game and Jared Hannigan gives us all an unforgettable performance, then we'll definitely be talking around the water coolers on Monday morning a little longer than usual. But still, do you ever feel like SF football is like the Yankees? You might say you either love 'em or you hate 'em, but in another sense, you respect their ability as superior. But boy, you just get so sick and tired of the monotony all the while. :o) I'd like to think it ends Saturday night, but holy crap, is Washington good!!! SF WASHINGTON 35, Aberdeen Central 17.

Congrats to all who made it this far. Personally, I'm looking forward to State Volleyball Tournaments next weekend, which we'll talk about next week. Later.....
- Radiooo

Rod's Tuesday Thoughts

One thing nice about writing blogs is that people can read it and leave one thinking "Does he really believe what he is saying". Only the blog writer knows for sure. So in that vain, I have come up with a new playoff plan for football in South Dakota's high schools that has nothing on the BCS in college football. But here goes.

In Class 11AA not alot of changes except that if you aren't a member of the ESD or the GDC, your not a 11AA playoff participant. Current regular season schedule stays as is, 9 games, 7 conference, 2 non conference. No byes. And you go by final conference standings. No power points. First round of playoffs. Cross bracket. Number 1 ESD plays No. 8 GDC while Number 1 GDC plays Number 8 ESD. And all games are played at neutral sites. Lets say, Pierre vs. S.F. Washington would be played at Huron. Brookings vs. Sturgis is played in Pierre, Yankton vs. Spearfish would be in Aberdeen etc. That way there is no in town, 2 mile road trips. No Lincoln vs. O'Gorman or RC Stevens vs. RC Central. Second round games would involve highest ESD/GDC vs. lowest according to final conference standings. Semi's the same all at neutral sites. And games should be played on the weekends to avoid missed school time. This probably means the season starts a week earlier than it does now. It would even out the budgeting process.

The other 5 divisions, use the power point system if you must but it should have a 8 game regular season schedule for everyone, but two of those games should be teams from different regions within your own classification. For instance, a Region 4 team and a Region 3 team has a Region 2 and a Region 1 team on their schedule. 1 home and 1 on the road. This is the west river vs. east river thing designed to get west river teams an opportunity to play other competition so they have an idea of what to expect if they make it to the playoffs. Again, Harding County vs. Gayville-Volin for instance should probably be scheduled at a neutral site like Highmore. Playoffs come around and Region 3 and 4 should cross bracket as should Region 1 and 2 with for instance, Region 4 number 1 team playing Region 3 number 4 and the like. Forget the wild card stuff. And again, neutral sites for the playoffs. Then when you get to the semi finals you have number 2 west region vs. number 1 east and vice versa.

This is interesting. I like it!! I don't know if I beleive it, but I like it!!!

Rod's Football thoughts

Finally, an ESD team back into the 11AA championship. Congrats to Aberdeen Central. And Sully Buttes found out that Hanson is no Harding County. Lyman's west river schedule was no match for for Emery-Ethan (I lost a freindly wager for entertainment purposes only on that one and the last time I listen to my esteemed colleagues on sure bets) and west river 9B football, even though Gettysburg is technically east river, just doesn't matchup with east river teams for whatever reason. Winner and St. Thomas More are the only west river teams that can come remotely close to beating our east river foes. And they are playing next week for a championship. And the ref's in the Husker-Oklahoma game must be getting paid by how many penalty flags they can throw. I don't know. Perhaps we could ask Stu Whitney what can be done to make the playoffs more even for both sides of the river? That is if Stu knows there is a river that runs through us.

Andy Shoe's Scuttlebutts

Well all of my fellow Sportscasters are talking about the football playoffs, or a at least some of them are, so I thought I would talk some basketball. Yes if you are a college basketball fan then you are biting at the bit about the upcoming season. Who will win it all? I know there are a lot of Tar Heel faithful out there that feel it will happen again for them or is it time for Michigan State to run the table. How about South Dakota State and their powerhouse Women's team? So many questions will be answered this March. I have to tell you that March Madness is my favorite time of the year next to New Years and all of the bowl games. I love seeing all the teams, the bands, the hoopla and of course the tourney itself. I love to get into the office pool and try and pick the upsets and wait intensely for The Final Four. It is magical and so many people sit at the edge of their seats to see if their favorites will advance or will a fifteen seat beat them? Yes the Sweet Sixteen the Elite Eight and finally The Final Four it is just perfect the way they have it. The NBA season is in full swing and it looks as if there could be some teams that will dominate the league this season in Boston and LA, but how about Cleavland? What do you think there after picking up Oneil? I thought he would be a good piece to the puzzle but so far it doesn't look good for the Cav's. Oh well I am not as big a fan of The NBA as I am of College Basketball but do try to follow it as much as I can. I am very interested in what will happen this year in High School basketball. It will be interesting to say the least with as much parity as there should be this season. I only hope that it is as entertaining as it looks like it could be. How ever it goes on the hard woods this winter I hope to see all of you there rooting on your favorite teams.

Rod's Friday Thoughts

Since I have only seen Class 11AA football this year, I do not feel qualified to make any picks in any of the other classes. But in 11AA the winners tomorrow will be Sioux Falls Washington and Aberdeen Central. And Washington will win by a sizable amount next week in the Dakotadome. Who do I hope win. Lyman in 9AA. Sully Buttes in 9A and Gettysburg in 9B. Lyman is probably the only one of those 3 that have a chance. Winner in 11B would be a nice thing and really, in 11A unless your from an 11A school district, who really cares. Although Todd County would be an interesting one to watch how they would do in the dome.

Brian's look at the Final Four's

Well, only two game days left, and the football season will be over. I don't know what's harder to believe - how quickly the football season seems to go every year, or how quickly two and a half months seems to go. I guess they're one and the same, so one thing's for sure - time is fun when you're having flies. :)
You know what's fun? Going 23-1 in game picks for the quarterfinal round, and the one I picked wrong shouldn't surprise anyone. I don't think anyone picked Dakota Valley to go into Harrisburg and come out a winner, let alone with a shutout! I don't suppose they can travel 425 miles and beat St. Thomas More now, can they? Nahhh....

My picks will be pretty mundane for Saturday's semifinals - as it turns out, my money is on the home teams in all 12 games, but that doesn't mean there won't be some good ones.

In 11AA, Aberdeen has looked as good as anyone, and their unbeaten run started with a win over O'Gorman, who they will host on Saturday. And I just don't think there is a better team than SF Washington, although if anyone can upset them, it might be Brandon Valley. This game might have about 80 points on the board when it's over.

11A now seems to be St. Thomas More's to lose, although I might have said that about Harrisburg last week. STM just seems to be as strong this year as they were when they were dominating 11B, at least for the first 11 games of the season. With all the really heavy hitters gone, I'll be glad to see Coach Sully get that first championship trophy. Meanwhile, it's been a great run for Todd Co., but Milbank seems to be peaking here in the postseason and will be very tough at home.

In 11B, how cool is it that we have four unbeatens still going in the semifinals? Still, say what you want, 11B has been the Tri-Valley and Winner Show all season long. Tri-Valley has won the last two championships, and this year might be their best team, but Winner hasn't lost their 11A touch, even though they dropped to 11B this year. Roncalli and Wagner have great seasons and great programs, but not enough to move on to the Dome. Although, Roncalli might be able to play enough defense to pull out a low-scoring stunner. (just thought I'd put that out there)

9AA is looking a lot like many people probably thought it would 8 weeks ago, with one exception - were we supposed to know that Leola/Frederick would be unbeaten at this time? Like I've said before, they're the quietest undefeated team we've seen in quite a while. Unfortunately, Howard is too good, and too experienced, not to expect them to move on. Howard, like Winner, moved down a class this year, but they're still playing with the quality of the upper class. But of course, it's still Lyman controlling their own destiny. And the thing I love the most about Lyman is that they've given Central South Dakota something to be really excited about, as have our other area teams that are still alive. Keep it going, Raiders!! (KPLO)

In 9A, just like last year, I don't think there is anyone who can hold a candle to Avon. Early in the year, I thought Hanson would, but a 30-0 shutout by the Pirates ended that thought. Still, Hanson has to be feared. Look at their 3 losses: Avon, Howard, Emery/Ethan - two combined losses among those three teams, all still playing in tomorrow's semifinals. But you know, Sully Buttes went a long way in proving how good they are on Monday night, beating Harding Co., who might have had one of their better teams in recent years. Hanson has shown some vulnerability in two of their losses, so maybe there are things that the Chargers will be able to exploit. This should be a good one, and some us will be there to see it. ;oP (KGFX)

And 9B, I'll reiterate what I've been saying for quite a while - Hitchcock-Tulare and Dells St. Mary are the class of the class. H-T should have no trouble with Warner, who got a gift in going out west as an at-large team and winning two games. But DRSM should have their hands full with Gettysburg. The Battlers may have played their best game against Scotland, but they looked like they might have been looking past a very good Sunshine Bible team on Monday night. With some focus, maybe the Battlers can win with their extensive experience on Saturday afternoon. (KMLO)

So that's a preview of Saturday for you. Best of luck to our area teams! I'd also like to remind folks to listen to the games on the website, and feel free to use the chat room that we've got set up now. The chat room was busy Monday night, and we love to see that, and who knows, maybe your old high school sweetheart will be listening and chatting away - (cue Love Boat Theme). Have a great football Saturday!!
- Radiooo

Darren Boyle's Weekly Words of Wisdom "The Playoffs Continue"

As I mentioned in my last post there were alot of good football teams in our area this year. Over the years there have been several teams that have consistently been there when the playoffs started, but how long has it been that we have had five area teams in the football playoff "final four"? Gettysburg has been to the semi finals several times, earning more trips to the title game than anyone in the 9 man ranks. Their comeback win over a tough Sunshine Bible squad Monday night gives them yet another opprotunity as they face Dell Rapids St.Marys.. I gave Sully Buttes a punchers chance against Harding County and the Chargers took care of business getting a hard fought win. I would think that after the long trip to Buffalo, the trip to Hanson wont be too intimidating. And with the weather forecast talking of sunshine and good weather Saturday, I can't help but think that Sully Buttes again will have a "punchers chance" against the Beavers. Todd County has had a great season and they have earned their spot in the semi finals, but they probally have the biggest test of any area team as they make the trek to Milbank. Winner has looked strong all year in their first season in class 11B, their performance in the regular season gave them the #1 seed through the playoffs and they will enjoy home field as they host Wagner. The Warriors are GOOD folks, dont be surprised when they take home the 11B hardware next week. And finally the Lyman Raiders, who also earned the #1 seed throughout the playoffs. They will host another team with extensive playoff experience, the Emery-Ethan C-Hawks. (5:00 kickoff on KPLO by the way) This will be alot closer game than most 1 vs. 4 seed games would be. E-E has been there and done that as far as the playoffs are concerned and being on the road will be no big deal for them. Lyman has been playing some of their best football during the playoffs. And the biggest difference between this year and last year is the majority of the kids hit the weight room during the offseason. As you remember, the Raiders got outsized a little bit by Marion-Hurley in the semi finals last year. And this years senior class made sure it didnt happen this year. The kids deserve alot of credit along with the Raider coaching staff, who made sure the weight room was open when needed. That is how a program is built. I will go out a limb and predict that three of the five area teams will be playing again next week. Winner is an easy pick over the Red Raiders. Lyman will defeat Emery Ethan but it will take four quarters of quality football to get the job done, and the Raiders will make their first trip to the dome since the 90's. (believe it or not I called that game, does that make me old?) And if Sully Buttes has any gas left in the tank they will score in the final minutes and defeat Hanson. I believe in the Chargers passing game. What do you think?

Brian on Second Season Week2

I found out from last Tuesday's high school football playoff first round that there is such a thing as "October Madness" (similar to March Madness). No class was more shaken up than 11A, where West Central went down for the second straight season within their own region, and what a performance by the Sisseton QB, which I'm sure we've all heard about now. His 600+ passing effort, as I understand it, ranks 9th all-time in the nation!! Not only that, but defending champion Dell Rapids was bounced in the same region by Milbank. The door is officially open for teams like Harrisburg and St. Thomas More to finally get their first 11A championships. Overall, my picks of the first round, other than 11A, weren't too bad, but certainly could have been better. 37-11 overall; 7-1 in 11AA, only 4-4 in 11A, 7-1 in 11B, 6-2 in 9AA and 9A, and 7-1 in 9B. Let's see what tonight's Region Championship/Quarterfinal Round, holds in store. I can see already that it's going to be hard for me to pick against home teams.

11AA:
9)RC Stevens at 1)ABERDEEN CENTRAL -- no reason to think Eagles won't continue rolling
5)SF Roosevelt at 4) SF O'GORMAN -- Knights beat Roosy 7-0 early this season
7)Yankton at 2)SF WASHINGTON -- Hard to see Washington being stopped at all
6)Pierre at 3)BRANDON VALLEY -- Govs MUST get into Sumner's head tonight!!!

11A:
Sisseton at MILBANK -- Sisseton won't catch Milbank off guard, like they did WC
Dakota Valley at HARRISBURG -- this could be a great game, but Tigers are favorites now
Pine Ridge at TODD CO. -- a region championship in a great season for Falcons!
Belle Fourche at ST. THOMAS MORE -- Cavaliers with eyes on the prize

11B:
Redfield/Doland at ABDN RONCALLI -- Redfield playing great, but this is Roncalli now
Flandreau at TRI-VALLEY -- Flandreau ends season with 2 losses (both to T-V)
Platte-G/DC at WAGNER -- 36-15 Wagner in Week8 - might be closer tonight, but not a complete turnaround
Mobridge at WINNER -- Mobridge might be a region champ in a different region, but Winner's too good

9AA:
Langford/Roslyn at LEOLA/FREDERICK -- L/F wins a close one to stay unbeaten (till Saturday)
Chester at HOWARD -- we haven't heard much from these guys, but Howard is still around
Canistota/Bridgewater at EMERY/ETHAN -- I still say watch out for E/E
Herreid/Selby at LYMAN -- the game of the night; Raiders score twice in the fourth to put it on ice

9A:
Castlewood at ARLINGTON -- a 40-6 game between these two just a couple of weeks ago
Mt. Vernon at HANSON -- experience wins out; these two played to 8-6 a while back
Irene-Wakonda at AVON -- only mercy rule game tonight?
SULLY BUTTES at Harding Co. -- Sully blew out Wall, who took HC to OT in Week5

9B:
Waverly/SS at HITCHCOCK-TULARE -- W/SS looks tough, but not too tough to beat H-T
Viborg at DELL RAPIDS ST. MARY -- DRSM on a mission since their only loss this year
Sunshine Bible at GETTYSBURG -- (on KGFX) could be a good one, but Battlers have the experience
WARNER at New Underwood -- the at-large team makes the semis

I'm only picking against two home teams, but several could be challenged. This is usually one of the best nights of football because the mercy rule matchups are pretty much over, maybe with one or two exceptions. Most everyone playing in this round has at least an outside shot to go all the way, if everything falls into place. We've got good games on all DRG stations tonight, so get the radios on, get the website up, and chat away in the chat room. Otherwise, have a great night at the games, and good luck everyone!
- Radiooo

It's Monday from Rod6

Here we are getting ready to play Monday Night Football South Dakota style. Here is the surest way for teams that are favored and should win tonight to lose. Turnovers. Fumbles, Interceptions. Turnovers are the great equalizer. Turnovers and injuries. Pierre is facing injuries for the first time that might hamper thier lineup. Most notably, running back Adam Deneke has been bothered by a bad back but he still may play. He may even start. Graham Schuetzle hurt his shoulder pretty good last week, but he is going to start, both ways. Being Tough. Being Determined. And don't turn the football over. You do that, you got a chance.

Steph Paluch and Katie Lingle played their first collegiate basketball game yesterday when SDSU beat Wayne State 96-51 in an exhibition game. Steph played 8 minutes had 2 offensive rebounds and 2 points. Katie only played 2 minutes but had 6points and 2 defensive rebounds. And I see a former teammate of theirs at Riggs has made another move in search of a college basketball opportunity. Sierra Moeller transferred from Boise State to Kansas. Now she has transferred and will be playing Division 2 ball at Washburn University in Topeka. Otherwise, Michael Tveidt is getting ready to be the leader of his NDSU team and Sam Willard is expecting big things and his coach is too at Pacific. Hard to believe that college basketball is gearing up. And that means high school basketball isn't far behind.

And the difference the Vikings have in Brett Favre and what they had in Tavaras Jackson. THE OFFENSIVE LINE IS BLOCKING. With the time Favre had yesterday to throw, Tavaras could have been the qb being booed off the field. Blocking for the qb is something the Packers and Bears really haven't figured out yet against the good teams. And in the Bears case, the bad teams.

Darren Boyle's weekly words of wisdom. "where have I been?"

It has been awhile since my last post, not that there was so much going on that I didnt have time. It seems that since it has been so cloudy and gloomy this last month I have lost alot of my ambition. Its not like I had alot of ambition to begin with, and when I was time for me to write something it was easier to be a recliner pilot and watch tv. Fortunately there has been alot of compelling sports to keep track of. Lets first talk about the Vikings who lost their first game of the season to the Steelers. Its not like they werent in the game at the end, and that VSK hasnt had a GREAT season but the Vikes are starting to show a few chinks in their armor. First of all they are so quick to rush the passer and get sacks that they have become totally vulnerable to screens, reverses, and other misdirection plays. If a QB can get rid of the ball quickly, like most NFL QB's can, the pass rush rush wont bother them and the big plays will be available. Second, they are totally misusing AP, either by using him too much or not using him the right way. Sure he has had decents stats but when a good running back gets the ball 20-25 times a game he is going to have some yards. The Vikes cant seem to be able to control the clock by running the football when they have a lead, thus they are susceptable to comebacks like what happened against the Ravens. And VSK is taking way too much punishment. He wasnt supposed to have to throw thirty times a game, but he has had to the last few weeks, he has been sacked alot, knocked down alot, and if it continues he wont be around in December. The World Series is under way and with it, the annual collapse of A-Rod. He played pretty well during the first two rounds of the playoffs, remember what he did to Twins pitching? Now he is 0-8 with 6 strikeouts in the first two games of the series. YIKES!!!!!!!! This series may go down as one of the most exciting in recent memory as long as you like good pitching. NASCAR driver AJ Almendinger was arrested for DWI this week after it was announced that he was going to drive Richard Pettys #43 car next season. I have kept an eye on him all season, seen him start out with a part time ride and then drive for free to keep the car on the track the remainder of the season. By waiving his salary and share of race winnings he kept his entire crew employed this season after it was announced that his car would be parked, and the crew laid off after the July race at Daytona. He made some sacrifices this season, drove his tail off, and it paid off with the offer of the ride in the #43 for next season. He spent the entire summer doing the right thing and then does something stupid like this. In todays image conscious world, an error like that will lead to sponsor trouble and sponsor trouble leads to not having a ride. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Locally, the football playoffs are the big story, several area teams are still in the running in round two. Sully Buttes takes their passing attack to Buffalo where they take on Harding County. Mondays weather will be the big wild card for the Chargers, if they can throw they have a punchers chance against the Ranchers. Pierre goes to Brandon Valley. Pierre lost a close one to the Lynx a few weeks ago at home and know they can play against one of the top teams in 11AA. The question is can the Govs make their extra points? Moms and Dads, if you want your boys to go to college and play football TEACH THEM TO KICK!!!!!!!!The marquee game this Monday may well be the game in Presho between the Lyman Raiders and Herried Selby area. Two undefeated teams, one is going to the semifinals and one is going home. This may the biggest test for the Raiders on their quest to the "Dome". I expect a shootout with the winner......perhaps winning the "whole" thing. Its a 6:30 kickoff Monday night on KPLO and KMLO

Rod's Friday thoughts

It will be a quiet weekend for high school sports with the football playoffs not resuming until Monday and District Volleyball tournaments beginning next week. The Governor football team will be practicing getting ready for Brandon Valley and their talented quarterback Austin Sumner. I think Sumner is still a notch ahead of Jared Hannigan of Aberdeen Centra. Both bring different styles to the table. Both can run and pass but Hannigan is better at the run and Sumner is better at the pass despite the fact he is also BV's leading rusher on the season. Not sure how healed up the Governors will be. Graham Schuetzle and his arm and Adam Deneke most notably with his back. Graham will play and just try to keep him off the field. The key is the Governor defense which did an ok job against Sumner the first time. Held him to 189 yards passing, which is below their per game average of 251 yards. He has thrown 33 touchdown passes this season. That's 12 more than he had when he played here the first time. He also has been intercepted only 5 times. And the Governor ground game will probably see nothing but Red jerseys in the box lined up to stop the run. If Pierre wins they would play their semi final game a week from tomorrow either at Sioux Falls Washington or they would host Yankton. And deep down don't we all wish that just for once in recent years, we could have an all ESD finals in the dome. Mr. Whitney would probably want to change the playoff system again.

Now on to volleyball. Pierre is the third seed and will go to Huron on Thursday night at 7 p.m. at the Huron Arena. Pierre can win this match. Huron won the two regular season matches in 5 and 4 games. Pierre went 0-6 against their fellow district opponents during the regular season. But last night Pierre showed signs they can play aggressivly and take advantage of their opponents mistakes. But those service errors at in-opportune times have always seemed to catch up with Pierre this year. Pierre blocked well at the net I thought last night. I think they are ready to put a complete match together. They have to. Time is starting to run out.

Rod's late Wednesday thoughts

After breathing a collective sigh of relief with last night's overtime win over Sturgis, now attention must turn to Brandon Valley and their division 1 caliber quarterback Austin Sumner. Sumner threw 4 touchdown passes last night to give him 83 in his career and become the all time leader in that category in South Dakota High School Football history. The Governors did ok against him 3 weeks ago in a 21-18 loss that basically came down to the fact that BV made their extra points. Pierre didn't. We saw last night that kicking the extra point is not an exact science but oh how important it is. Pierre will not be doing a whole lot of contact in practice over the course of the next few days. Coach Kramer gave the team the day off today (Wed). Last night it seemed like Pierre played with pressure, after all they were the 6th seed and playing Sturgis, 3 years removed from the state record losing streak. Well, Sturgis played anything but a bottom tier team of any conference. If Pierre can lay their ears back on Monday and play against BV like Sturgis did against the Govs they definatly have a chance. We went in there in the quarterfinals 5 years ago and didn't have a prayer. But we did have Quincy Christie and Michael Tveidt and that group. It was a pretty quiet BV fan base at games end. There is a saying for visiting teams. "Love to see the home fans go home unhappy". Monday will be the next chance for the Govs to make that saying become reality. And by the way, I thought the officiating last night was real good. No complaints but then complaining is something that I have been told I am getting good at. So I will try to end this post with something positive.

Wear something pink to "Pack the Place Pink" tomorrow nightwhen the Lady Gov volleyball team plays Aberdeen Central on the Lady Govs Senior Night. It's all part of "Breast Cancer Awareness Month" and Penni Case up at Riggs is responsible for coming up with it. Buy a Pink T-Shirt they will be selling and have some Pink Lemonade. Money I am told will go to the American Cancer Society for Breast Cancer Awareness.

Brian's Week8 Review; Second Season Preview

Well, there you have it - the football regular season is history, full of dominating performances (Lyman, Herreid/Selby, Winner), pleasant surprises (Pierre, Stanley Co., Jones Co.), and some head-scratchers (that I won't pick on), all in our DRG listening areas. We've been saying for a while now, the postseason could shape up to be anyone's ball game, and I think we're in for a fun ride that is only now just beginning. Before looking at all the playoff pairings, here's a look at Week 8 in review, as well as the regular season totals and percentages of all of our weekly picks:

Week 8 Overall: 56-11......494-108 (.821) for the season
11AA: 7-1......60-12 (.833)
11A/B: 19-3......170-34 (.833)
9-man: 30-7......264-62 (.810)

I'm not quite sure what to make of that, but those would be good softball batting averages, so I'll take it. Some of the games I picked incorrectly obviously spoiled some of the playoff predictions, as far as who would be playing whom, that I made last week, but at least now we know this week's schedule for sure, and here's what we're looking at.

11AA (pretty much gotta go with all the home teams in the first round):
16)Huron at 1)ABERDEEN CENTRAL -- our hope for a State Champion from the ESD
9)RC Stevens at 8)SF LINCOLN -- RCS beat SFL a few weeks back, but blew chance for home game last week
12)Brookings at 5)SF ROOSEVELT -- might be close for a half
13)Watertown at 4)SF O'GORMAN -- speaking of head-scratching disappointments....
15)Douglas at 2)SF WASHINGTON -- Washington scores 70+, half from JV's
10)RC Central at 7)YANKTON -- Bucks could still pull an upset, if not paired with SFW
11)Sturgis at 6)PIERRE -- love the Govs here, but Scoops might be confident
14)Mitchell at 3)BRANDON VALLEY -- Lynx must have rested players last week (??)

11A:
Region 1:
Sisseton at WEST CENTRAL -- here we go again...
DELL RAPIDS at Milbank -- Quarriers diligent in quest to repeat
Region 2:
Canton at HARRISBURG -- I still think Tigers have what it takes
VERMILLION at Dakota Valley -- DV is home team, but took opportunity to play in Dome
Region 3:
CHAMBERLAIN at Todd Co. -- Cubs to win the region??
Little Wound at PINE RIDGE -- Neither as good as Todd Co.
Region 4:
Lead-Deadwood at ST. THOMAS MORE -- write Cavs into the semis
Hot Springs at BELLE FOURCHE -- BF won 31-28 in regular season

11B:
Region 1:
Britton-Hecla at ABERDEEN RONCALLI -- Roncalli is baaaack (but 11B is a 2-team race)
Redfield/Doland at GROTON AREA -- Redfield impressing, but Groton rolling
Region 2:
McCook Central/Montrose at TRI-VALLEY -- pencil Mustangs in Dome for 3rd straight year
Garretson at FLANDREAU -- Fliers won at Garretson 4 weeks ago
Region 3:
Elk Point-Jefferson at WAGNER -- Wagner stays unbeaten (for two more games)
*Stanley Co. at PLATTE-G/DC -- Buffs should be inspired, but Platte will be mad
Region 4:
Red Cloud at WINNER -- too bad mercy rule will have to wait till halftime
MOBRIDGE-POLLOCK at Bennett Co. -- Tigers easily in this one - do NOT count them out

9AA:
Region 1:
Deubrook at LEOLA/FREDERICK -- the quietest unbeaten team in the state
Langford/Roslyn at HAMLIN -- tradition still there in Hamlin, just fewer players on the field
Region 2:
White Lake/Plankinton at HOWARD -- Howard still among Big 3 in 9AA
CHESTER AREA at Wess. Spgs/Woonsocket -- I keep picking against WS/W, and they keep winning ;)
Region 3:
South Central at EMERY/ETHAN -- another of the Big 3...very strong team!
*Eureka/Bowdle at CANISTOTA/BRIDGEWATER -- I've been high on C/B all along
Region 4:
Lemmon/McIntosh at LYMAN -- don't have to say much - Raiders are the favorite
PHILIP at Herreid/Selby -- only a hunch - my toughest game to pick Tuesday

9A:
Region 1:
*ARLINGTON at Tri-State -- Arlington is an at-large, but top seed in the region
CASTLEWOOD at Wilmot -- experience wins this one
Region 2: (best region of all, from 1-4)
Mt. Vernon at ESTELLINE -- whoever misses a 2-pt. conversion will lose by 2
HANSON at Corsica/Stickney -- they might be 5-3, but they're still Hanson
Region 3:
Andes Central at AVON -- Andes has really come on, but Avon's been on for 6 years
Irene-Wakonda at TRIPP-DELMONT/ARMOUR -- close one here before a season-ending blowout
Region 4:
*Colman-Egan at HARDING CO. -- 450 miles one way to close the season - gotta love it!
Wall at SULLY BUTTES -- Chargers out to prove themselves now

9B:
Region 1:
Waverly/South Shore at GRANT-DEUEL -- G-D is 9B's most consistent team over the years
Faulkton at HITCHCOCK-TULARE -- I wouldn't want to play Faulkton, but HT's goin' all the way
Region 2:
Sanborn Central at DELL RAPIDS ST. MARY -- DRSM to the Dome, too
Menno at VIBORG -- Still wondering how Viborg lost to Scotland last week...
Region 3:
*Scotland at GETTYSBURG -- a little redemption for Battlers from a recent Dome defeat
Jones Co. at SUNSHINE BIBLE -- should be a fun one, and some of us will be there :o)
Region 4:
*WARNER at Faith -- I think the at-large reaps the benefits of a light region here
Dupree at NEW UNDERWOOD -- I'll take the Tigers in this one (that's a win-win pick)

There you go - 24 stone cold locks (for entertainment purposes only). If you want quick Dome picks...well, okay.
11AA: SF Washington over Aberdeen Central
11A: West Central beats Harrisburg
11B: Winner upends Tri-Valley
9AA: Lyman beats Howard again
9A: Avon over Hanson
9B: Hitchcock-Tulare over Dell Rapids St. Mary

Congrats and good luck to all who play Tuesday night. Don't forget about the 7 games we'll have on 5 stations and one website, complete with chat room!
Peace!