Brian's Monday Quarterback

Well, Weekend #1 is past in high school football -- actually the SDHSAA calls it "Week 0" -- and judging by the scores from some of the games that were played, I think we may be in for a very interesting season. First of all, perennial 11A power West Central starts the season 0-1 after being upended by Harrisburg, who is also always tough, 21-19. If I'm not mistaken, that is the first regular season loss for West Central in the last 3 or 4 years. The defending 11A champions went down too, when Sisseton beat Milbank 42-20. Another team that is always good, Aberdeen Roncalli, also lost -- 28-14 to Redfield. And then the reigning 9AA champion, while they still won, did not do it as easily as they did at the end of last year. Howard averaged a whopping 59 points in four playoff games last season, but couldn't even muster half of that in beating Parker, who hasn't been very good lately, 28-8. I guess the point is, as seniors come and go, player turnover could be a big issue for a lot of teams this season (see Aberdeen Central), so maybe we'll see a little changing of the guard in some classes this year. I mean....Sturgis 27, Brandon Valley 13?? Are you kidding me?

However, as some things change, some may still be the same, or better for that matter. 11B champion Winner started strong, 34-0 out at Hot Springs. And the 9A champs, Hanson, but a mercy hurtin' on Marion as well. Closer to home, Herreid/Selby and Sully Buttes have reasons to be excited this season too, and they did not disappoint on Friday. Meanwhile, the Stanley Co. Buffalos went down to Martin and sweated out a 14-3 victory over Bennett Co. Both teams moved the ball in this one, but crossing the goal line was the hard part. The Buffs are expecting improvements from last year's 5-4 squad, but we'll see just where they're at when Winner comes to town this coming Friday. Region 4 in 11B still seems to belong to Winner, but Mobridge-Pollock looks to be very good again this season, even though they lost to Linton, ND, in a barn-burner, 34-28. As usual, Linton is no slouch, though.

On Saturday, I had the rare opportunity to take in a Governors game - rare because I'm usually following the Buffs on the same nights - and although the Govs lost to SF Lincoln, 29-22, I thought it was a very good game for Week 1. Lincoln looked like they were really executing their game plan well on offense, and while the Govs showed some real grit in coming from 22-6 down to tie at 22 in the fourth quarter, Lincoln responded for the winning score. But for what it's worth, the winning pass and catch on a fake field goal attempt were a little luckier than the rest of the winning drive for the Patriots. However, even though I'm rarely one to complain about officiating -- it's just fun to do sometimes, though, you know? -- I can't let this one go. If a receiver turns around to catch a pass and has to reach back around (or THROUGH) a defender who not only runs right into him before the ball gets there, but doesn't even turn his own head so much as to smell his own armpit....well, if you weren't there, I'll let you guess what blatant penalty was not called. By the way, if this potential game-changing play didn't occur inside the 5-yard line on a long pass play, I probably wouldn't even bring it up. At any rate, I'm just sayin'.......

Speaking of officiating, although I won't complain on this point, and also of fake field goals, Lincoln made good twice on fake kicks to complete passes. This brought up a topic of debate in my section of the stands about whether the holder on a place kick can have his knee on the ground as he takes the snap, only to get up make some other play. After all, if a high school (or college) player has possession of the ball, is he not in fact down by rule? Well, thanks to modern technology, I was able to Google the point as we continued to watch the game, and supposedly, there is an exception written in to the rule in question that does allow the holder to have his knee down, if a kick is simulated. On that note, however, this begs the question as to why two separate officiating crews called the holder down for that very reason on fake field goals, not once, but twice last year. Sometimes you wonder just how much different officials interpret different rules of the game. But hey, as a whole, those officials deserve a lot of credit for the job they do, so I want to make sure they know they have my appreciation. My only advice is to look up pass interference in the dictionary and pay special attention to the picture next to the definition. :oP

A couple of other tidbits:
My favorite NFL defensive player on my favorite NFL team -- if you don't know me well, that would be Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers -- now has insurance on, of all things, his HAIR! Actually, it's Polamalu who has helped Head and Shoulders sell so much shampoo ("Isn't it? Isn't it??"), so it was H&S who took out the one million dollar insurance policy on Polamalu's hair. As the AP says: "The insurance was obtained through Lloyd's of London, which did not reveal what must be done to Polamalu's hair for anyone to collect on the policy." Now, I don't know much about Lloyd's of London, but I do know for a fact that this is not the first head of hair they have ever insured. In a prime example of meaningless trivia that I tend to never forget, back in the 80's when Twisted Sister was popular for about two years, their lead singer, Dee Snider, also had a million dollar insurance policy taken out on his hair. See folks? Growing up watching MTV wasn't a TOTAL waste of time!

In baseball, as I have written this post, I have been watching the MLB Network's bonus coverage of the Dodgers-Phillies game in which Hiroki Kuroda flirted with a no-hitter. I always like it when they cut in to a Dodger broadcast because I get to listen to Vin Scully, who in my opinion is the greatest baseball broadcaster of all time. But I'm noticing something on this night that I've never noticed before that makes me think Scully is that much better than everyone else at what he does. For four innings I've listened to this broadcast, and I've realized the one thing that Scully does not have is a color analyst! How rare is that?!?! It's a FOX Sports broadcast - no color guy, no sideline reporter, just Vin Scully - and there is nothing boring about this broadcast at all! Heck, he probably does a full pregame and postgame show, too. I guess at age 81, you just let the man do it his way or no way.

And finally, Manny Ramirez is coming to the White Sox, which makes me think of a Metallica song called......"SO WHAT!" Metallica always introduces that song with a certain gerund word in the middle of the title phrase that also fits well in this case. :o)
That's enough for now......Peace!

Rod's Sunday Sports

Volleyball:
Pierre def. Douglas 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-17) to improve to 1-1 on the season. Rachel Hartman had 7 kills and Kaitlin Severyn had 6 kills to lead the Lady Govs. Sarah Lihs had 25 set assists. Pierre host Aberdeen Central on Tuesday night on RIVER 92.7 - FM. Match time is scheduled for 7 pm.

Football:
Sioux Falls Lincoln defeated Pierre 29-22 in the season opener for both teams. Lincoln quarterback Alex Schultz threw for 215 yards and two touchdowns. Jared Nielen threw for 55 yards and 1 touchdown while throwing 2 interceptions. Adam Deneke scored on a 68 yard touchdown run for Pierre as he rushed for 158 yards. Terelle Walker ran for a 66 yard touchdown and rushed for 95 yards. Nielen hit Travis Adney for a 19 yard touchdown. Pierre host Watertown Friday night at 7:30 pm on RIVER 92.7-FM.

Tennis:
Pierre finished 7th with 75 points at the Rapid City Invitational Tennis tournament. Sioux Falls O’Gorman won the team title. Molly Burke finished 4th at number 1 singles. Eileen Leong 4th at number 2 singles. Diede Beck won the third place match at number 4 singles. Emily Dix finished 4th at number 6 singles. In Doubles play, Leong and Dix finished 6th at number 1. And Burke and Alexi Gusso finished 5th at number 3 doubles.

Soccer:
The Pierre Governors and Sioux Falls Washington played to a 1-1 tie yesterday in Pierre while Washington defeated the Lady Governors 2-0.

Rod's Saturday Sports

Golf:
Pierre finished 4th yesterday at the Huron Invitational with a team score of 340. Willie Welch fired an 82 for the Governors best score of the day and only place winner.

Cross Country:
Pierre boys finsihed third at the Watertown Invitational. The Lady Govs finished 3rd. Indivisually, Libby Gortmaker and Courtney Ziebart finished 7th and 8th for the best finishes of the day for the Lady Govs. For the Governors, Steve Gordon, Tyler Probst, Aaron Probst and Stephen Nielsen finished 8th, 9th, 10th and 12th individually for the best finishes.

Soccer:
The Pierre Lady Govs lost to Sioux Falls O'Gorman 2-0 last night while the Governor boys got another win with a 2-0 shutout of O'Gorman. The Govs play Sioux Falls Washington at 11 a.m. this morning. The Lady Govs play Washington at 1 p.m.

Volleyball:
Yankton def. Pierre, 25-22, 23-25, 26-24, 25-14 in the season openere at Yankton. The Lady Govs host Douglas this afternoon. Varsity match scheduled for 3:30 p.m.

Don't forget the Governors open the football season tonight hosting Sioux Falls Lincoln at 7 pm on RIVER 92.7-FM.

Andy Shoe's Scuttlebutts

I just got back from another baseball trip to Minneapolis and I can report that I had a great time. First I recommend taking the train when ever possible when you go to a game. You can board at the Mall Of America and go early enough to walk around and have supper. I ate at Smally's 87 Club and if you are a Twin's fan then this is the place to eat. Lot's of memorabilia and Roy himself will pop in from time to time. My wife and I met Roy and he was a real nice guy. Afterward we decided to walk around the downtown area and then to the stadium. I know everyone has heard about Target Field, and how nice it is, but let me tell you all it is worth every penny to go there and see a game. We had excellent seats and to tell the truth un-like The Metrodome there really isn't a bad seat in the stadium. The games we saw were even better with the Twin's winning over Oakland on Sunday's game and then Tuesday nights eleven inning thriller culminating with Jim Thome hitting a two run walk off home run to beat the hated White Sox. Wow what a thrill I can honestly say we had a great time and I will look forward to our next trip.

Rod's Sunday Sports

The Pierre Lady Governor tennis team opened the 2010 season by knocking of Sioux Falls Washington,5-4, Roosevelt 6-3 and Lincoln 5-4. Diede Beck and Megan Vockrodt went a perfect 6-0 on the day sweeping all three of their singles and doubles matches. Emily Dix went 3-0 in singles and Molly Burke and Lexi Gusso went 3-0 in doubles. Next action for the team is Friday and Saturday at the Rapid City Invitational. Results:

Pierre 5. Washington 4
Singles
1. Tina Erickson d. Molly Burke(P) 6-3,6-1;
2. Berkley Darr d. Eileen Leong(P) 6-3, 6-3;
3. Mikki Gebauer d. Alexi Gusso(P) 6-1,7-5;
4. Diede Beck(P) d. Dina Pater 6-2,6-2;
5. Megan Vockrodt(P) d. Shaylee Heinert. 6-2,6-2;
6. Emily Dix(P) d. Annie Wheeldon
6-2,6-4;
Doubles
1. Erickson/Gebauer d Leong/Kayla Inman 6-4,7-5;
2. Vockrodt/Beck d. Darr/Pater. 7-5,6-3;
3. Gusso/Burke d. Heinert/Wheldon.6-3,6-2.

Pierre 6 Roosevelt 3
Singles
1. Brittany Kortan d. Molly Burke(P) 6-7,6-3,10-6;
2. Kara Bunkers d. Eileen Leong(P) 3-6,6-3, 10-6;
3. Abby Siegenthaler d. Alexi Gusso(P)6-3,3-6,10-8;
4. Diede Beck(P) d. Kasey Shagen 6-7(3-7),6-3,10-3;
5. Megan Vockrodt(P) d. Mackenzie Vanderwoude 6-2,6-2;
6. Emily Dix(P) d. Mckayla Johnson 6-1,6-3;
Doubles
1. Bunkers/Siegenthaler d Leong/Kayla Inman 6-7(7-9)6-3,10-8;
2. Vockrodt/Beck d. Kortan/Shagen. 6-4,7-5;
3. Gusso/Burke d. Vanderwoude/Johnson 6-1,6-3.

Pierre 5 Lincoln 4
Singles
1. Joey Bosch d. Molly Burke(P) 6-3,6-1;
2. Gracie Chang d. Eileen Leong(P) 6-3,1-6, 10-8;
3.Adrienne Green d. Alexi Gusso(P) 6-1,6-1;
4. Diede Beck(P) d. Tessa Crosby 6-4,6-3;
5. Megan Vockrodt(P) d. Gabi Schmidt. 7-5,6-2;
6. Emily Dix(P) d. Allie Lahren 6-4,7-6(7-5);
Doubles
1. Bosch/Chang d Leong/Kayla Inman 6-3,6-3;
2. Vockrodt/Beck d. Green/Crosby. 6-2,6-3;
3. Gusso/Burke d. Schmidt/Lahren. 6-2,6-4


The Pierre Governor boys soccer team tied with Brookings 1-1 yesterday to open up the season with a win and a tie. The Governor Junior Varsity team also tied with Brookings yesterday 3-3 to open their season with a tie and a loss. The Pierre Lady Governor junior varsity soccer team defeated Brookings yesterday 2-0 yesterday. The varsity contest between Brookings and Pierre was not reported.

Rod's Saturday Sports notes

Pierre finished 5th at the West River Invitational Golf tournament that played it’s final 18 holes yesterday at the Meadowbrook Golf Course in Rapid City. The Governors fired a 36 hole total 676, one shot behind Sturgis for 4th place. Watertown won the tournament with a 619, 9 strokes better than runner up Rapid City Stevens. Josh Weismantel of Watertown was individual medalist with a 36 hole score 147. Zach Smalley of Pierre had a two round total 156 to finish in a 3 way tie for 6th. Other Pierre scores: Willie Welch 166, John Breckenridge 176, Kieren Gray 179, Hans Leong 183 and Tyler Smith 195.

Pierre boys soccer team defeated Yankton 4-1 last night. The Pierre JV’s were beaten 2-1. In the girls match, Pierre and Yankton played to a 2-2 tie. Yankton won the JV match 4-2. Pierre is at Brookings today.

Rod's Thursday Ramblings

We are now in the fall sports season as the Pierre Governor golfers are golfing at the Spearfish Invitational today. Tommorrow they move to Rapid City for the Rapid City Invitational. Monday they go to Willow Run Golf Course in Sioux Falls for the Warrior Invitational and then on Tuesday they are back at Hillsview Golf Course for the only home meet of the season. That is 40 percent of the season golfed in the first 6 days of the season. The season is only 6 weeks long as the State AA golf tournament will be golfed at Huron October 4 and 5.

The Governor and Lady Governor soccer teams open their seasons this weekend as well as they play at Yankton tomorrow and Brookings on Sunday. Martyn Beeny is the boys first year coach. Sydney Zanin is beginning another season guiding the girls squad. The soccer season, like the golf season is only 6 weeks in length as well as the state soccer tournament is the first weekend in October as well.

Pierre volleyball has 45 girls practicing, freshman through senior for new head coach Kacy Kienholz although some of the girls played for her two years ago when she coached the first time around for Pierre. They are practicing this week from 7:30 am to noon. Alot of conditioning, skill drills and the like going on at Riggs High Gym. The girls open their season a week from tomorrow night at Yankton and then have their home opener the next afternoon against Douglas. Coach Kienholz knows that the climb to get to the state tournament won't be easy with Huron and Mitchell much improved and Aberdeen Central, the defending state champions, probably still the team to beat.

While I have not been to football practice this week because it is in the morning, fans will get a sneak peak of the Governors Saturday morning at 10 a.m. when the annual Gatorade Scrimmage is held at Phil Trautner Stadium at Hollister Field. Coach Kramer told me earlier this week that the team is way ahead of where they were last year on the offensive side of the ball. That's good news with Sioux Falls Lincoln coming to town a week from tomorrow night.

And the Lady Gov tennis team has today and tomorrow for their final pre season practices before opening the season in Sioux Falls on Saturday against the 3 Sioux Falls public schools. Coach Jeff Bloomberg told me earlier this week that Lincoln looks to be the best of the three this year and that is Pierre's final match of the day about 3 p.m. on Saturday.

And from the Minnesota Vikings training camp, ESPN is making it a priority today to say that Brett Favre and coach Brad Childress don't see eye to eye and that is the reason Favre took so long supposedly to report to camp. Favre is quoted as saying that Childress does not know a thing about offense! And Percy Harvin was taken by ambulance to a hospital from the practice field today. Childress says Harvin was able to speak, but was disoriented for a few minutes after he passed out at practice. Childress says Harvin may have had a migraine headache attack, and he was taken to an unspecified hospital. And the soap opera known as Vikings football continues.

Brian's Twins Tweet

Oh, the ups and downs of a baseball season, especially for teams like the Twins! Consistent play for the first two months of the season had the Twins 11 games over .500 with a fairly firm hold on the top spot in the AL Central, but then the struggles of June and pre-All Star July came around, and the Twins were about as far from a sure thing as my chances of making a couple bucks on an evening trip to Deadwood. It's amazing to me, though, how the All Star Break was apparently all the Twins needed to get the ship righted this year - kind of like back in 2001 when the Twins were a surprise team with a 5-game lead at the break, only to show early in the second half that they really didn't have a chance of holding anyone off, as Cleveland won the division after a hot start to the second half of the season.

This time around, going into another big series against the White Sox at home tonight, the Twins stand 22-8 since the All Star Break, which I believe is the best in the Majors. And if anyone forgot in the first half, that Joe Mauer is still pretty good, isn't he? The pitching seems to be back to the level it should be too, and as long as that holds out, the division will once again be the Twins' to lose. I could go on and on about the if's of the rest of the season that could carry the Twins to the postseason again, but let me now explain why there won't need to be any IF's, and just tell you why the Twins are a stone cold LOCK to win the AL Central.

I've noticed this fact for a while, and maybe I haven't been listening too closely, but I haven't heard anyone, be it the TV or radio announcers or network analysts or anyone, mention the disparity among AL Central teams and their records against the other teams within the division. Check this out -- against other teams within the division, the Royals are 16-22, which is fairly respectable for them. The Tigers, though, are also 6 games under .500, at 19-25, which is a big indicator of why they have fallen off the AL Central map lately. The White Sox actually aren't much better, still under .500 at 22-25....that ain't gonna get it done, Ozzie! The Indians haven't been too bad - they're 21-20 within the division and have given the Twins some fits at times, as well as everyone else.

But then far above all others, there are the Twins, who have a beautiful 31-17 record within the division -- 14 games over .500!! That would be a 6 1/2 game lead over Cleveland for the division lead if that's all that counted, 8 1/2 games over Chicago, and a full 10 games over Detroit and KC. Teams are supposed to beat each other up within their own division, but the Twins have clearly been the cream of the crop. In fact, in comparison with the White Sox, who are currently 3 games back, the Twins have better records against the AL East and AL West than Chicago does as well. Ironically, the Twins, who have historically been one of the best teams in baseball in inter-league games, slipped to 8-10 this year, while the White Sox ripped off a 15-3 mark, including 10 straight wins in mid-June. That's really the only reason we have a race at all in the AL Central! But since there are no more inter-league games this season, I'll just offer 3 words: Game...Set...MATCH!!

Okay, here are some more words. Yes, we still have a month and a half of the season left, and yes, if Chicago has a good series at Target Field in the next 3 days, then the race is still on. But if the Twins should happen to sweep the Sox to go up 6 games....well, at the risk of being a jinx, I'll just let you fill in your thoughts from there. The Twins have 12 home games and 12 road games left against division teams this season. Assuming they take care of business in those 24 games, the rest of schedule could be quite favorable. The Angels come to Target for a set this weekend, but the biggest games have to be the 7 games left against the Texas Rangers. Texas leads the AL West, and right now, probably for the first time all season, is behind the Twins in the potential seeding for the postseason, but only by a half a game. Those could be fun games to watch, but for what it's worth, the Twins did sweep 3 from Texas at home at the end of May. Whatever happens against the East and West teams from here on out, the Twins' success within their division, similar to the middle part of this past decade, is why you can already put the Twins in the postseason once again this October. I won't encourage you to call Vegas and put a large sum of money down on that bet, but if you did do something like that, I'd probably ask you to borrow a couple o' bucks. And you can put THAT on the board. YYYES!!

Rod's Tuesday Ramblings

The fall sports season for South Dakota high schools has arrived. The Pierre Golf team will open the season on Thursday, Friday, Monday and Tuesday of next week. Thursday and Friday they will golf at Spearfish and Rapid City. Monday in Sioux Falls and Tuesday they will host their lone home meet, the Pierre Invitational. The Lady Gov tennis team is preparing for their season opener on Saturday. 3 dual matches against the 3 Sioux Falls public high schools. Coach Jeff Bloomberg has 16 girls back from last year's team. The Lady Governor volleyball team is practicing at 7:30 a.m. in the mornings this week preparing for their season opener a week from Friday at Yankton and then their home opener the next afternoon when they host Douglas. The Governor football team has 53 or 54 guys out this year for second year head coach Joe Kramer. Alot of skilled players, mainly backs and ends are back who played alot for last year's 7-4 team. The one skilled position that will see a new face is quarterback where junior Jared Nielen is the first player to have a chance to play himself into a starting role. The offensive and defensive lines are the question marks right now. Those are the areas where graduation hit. A public scrimmage will be held Saturday at Phil Trautner Stadium at Hollister Field at 10 a.m. The annual gatorade scrimmage. And the first Competitive Dance team that Pierre will field along with the third year of Competitive Cheer will open their season in Pierre with the Pierre Invitational on Saturday, September 4. I will be talking more with the coaches the rest of this week and next.

Darren Boyle's weekly words of wisdom.

I must be sitting on a tractor too much. If you have ever drove a tractor much you know how your mind can wander. I was listening to the radio and going back and forth and heard the "news" that Brett farve was telling his Viking teammates that is was going to retire instead of coming back for another year in purple.. My first reaction was "yeah right, he will change his mind". I started to think back of the beating he took in the NFC Championship game and in particular the late hit that wasnt called in the second half. (By the way, if someone on the Vikings team doesnt go for Drew Brees' knees when they play in the season opener I will be totally bummed.) I thought of how many times over the years Farve has said he was going to hang it up, only to play again. But after awhile I started to think of the future, and how much worse the Vikings will be without #4. I thought of the quarterbacks available on the market over the offseason, Donovan McNabb for one, who could have been signed if Farve wouldnt have left them hanging. But the thought that I couldnt get out of my mind is comparing Brett Farve to LeBron James. If Farve really does retire, dont you think by stringing along Viking fans and stabbing them in the back is worse than what LeBron did in Cleveland? LeBron made no indication that he was going to return to the Cavaliers next year, he made it clear over the last couple of seasons that if a winning team wasnt built around him he was gonna leave and after their loss in the playoffs he decided to join a couple of his friends in Miami. Farve, on the other hand, got the Vikings close to the super bowl and strung his teammates and fans along all off season just to bail out on them. Go ahead and tell me that Farve made it clear that he wasnt sure if he would come back, the surgery on his ankle didnt mean anything and he just likes to play catch with high school kids. I will tell you it is another kick in the teeth for Viking fans. Maybe next time I am out farming I will wonder how the offensive genius Brad Childress will do developing a qb. At least I know it wont be tomorrow since it rained.

Rod's Tuesday Take N Things

We are between seasons here in central South Dakota. The Legion Baseball season in done. The Teener baseball season will be done in a week and a half as will the amatuer baseball season. Then, it's quick turn around time with football and the fall sports taking over. The Pierre Post 8 Legion baseball team finished their season with a 29-27 record. Congratulations to coach Sullivan and the team for making the State Legion Tournament. Until someone figures out how to beat Rapid City Post 22, making the State Legion Tournament will be the main goal of teams other than Post 22, who has won the State Championship tournament now 37 times in the last 50 years. All 37 of championships under current Post 22 head coach Dave Ploof. The 13-14 Teener state tournament is this weekend in Huron. Pierre plays two games in the tournament that has everyone entered into it's field. Pierre plays Sioux Falls West at 1 p.m. on Friday and then Rapid City Blue at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Depending on how they do in the two games, they may or may not advance to the 8 team quarterfinals later in the day on Saturday. The 15-16 B Teener State tournament is in Brandon this week. They have a final tune up for that tournament this evening in the second night of the Pony All Star games at Hyde Stadium. The A Teener State tournament is next weekend, August 13 thru the 15 and the Pierre Rattlers will play their first game in the State A tournament in Yankton on Saturday at 5 p.m. when they play the 3 time defending Class A State Champion Renner Monarchs. They will play a second game on Sunday at either 11 a.m. or 1 p.m.

And as far as the high school sports fall season getting ready to begin, there was a nice turnout of parents and athletes for the General Sports and Fall Sports meetings last night at Riggs High Gym. About half of the gym packed and the General meeting, scheduled to start at 6:30 pm didn't get going until about 6:50 p.m.