Big Sky Big Timer: Schhhhhhh!

I want to start off by telling you that I hate ties. In sports there are no ties, you have a winner and a loser. In games/sports that can result in ties, when a tie occurs, I am always left with a sour taste in my mouth. In fact in tie games, such as in the NFL, even if the game ends in a tie you have a moral victor and moral loser (see Donovan McNabb).

However, for this week's BSBTr, I am going to issue a tie. I spent a good two hours trying to decide this one, but there were two very good performances this week that I think deserve a nod. Without further ado, this weeks BSBTr, the "Sch" edition:

Congrats this week to Weber State's Tonya Schnibbe and Northern Colorado's Jaime Schroeder.

Weber State got two big W's this week, thanks in no small part to the play of Tonya Schnibbe. The point guard had 16 points, 7 assists, 3 steals, and was 5-6 from the free throw line in the Wildcats' 66-53 win over UC-Irvine. She scored or assisted 17 of the team's final 21 points as Weber State pulled away for the win. On Saturday, the Wildcats upset Mountain West favorite Utah 65-63 behind 20 points, 6 assists, and 4 steals from Schnibbe. One of her steals came in the closing seconds of the game and set up Weber's game winning possession.

Northern Colorado went 2-2 this week, getting wins over New Mexico State and Washington and losing to Florida State and #1 UConn, two teams with a combined 18-2 record. Schroeder had 15 points, 7 rebounds, and was 5-10 from the field in the 59-50 win over NMSU. The Bears then traveled to Cancun where they faced Florida State to open a holiday tournament. Schroeder had an off night, scoring just 4 points in the loss to the 'Noles, but dropped 17 points and 5 boards on the number 1 team in the land, UConn, the following night. Shroeder ended the tournament with 21 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists in NCU's 65-63 upset of Washington.

Honorable Mention Big Timers:

Michelle Grohs (ISU): career high 23 points, 8 rebs in win over St. Mary's

Jenna Brown (ISU): career high 18 points, 6 boards, 6 assists in win over St. Mary's

Sonya Rogers (Montana): 24 pts in win over Denver; 13 points, 3-9 from the arc in loss to Gonzaga; 11 points, 3-8 from three, 3 steals in win over MSU-Northern

Sarah Ena (Montana): 13 pts, 9 rebs vs Denver; 20 points, 10 rebs vs Gonzaga

Jenny Heringer (MSU): 16 points, 11 boards in win over Idaho

Erica Perry (MSU): 8 points, 8 assists, 0 turnovers in win over Idaho

Claire Faucher (PSU): 19 points, 8 assists, 5 boards in win over Utah State; 9 points, 11 assists in win over Manhattan

Kelsey Kahle (PSU): 10 points, 8 rebs vs USU; 20 points, 10 rebs vs Manhattan

Sami Field-Polisso (SAC) 17 points, 4 assists, 6-12 shooting in loss to Texas Tech

Visions of Referees Danced in His Head

Christmas has always been one of my favorite times of the year. Think about it, it is the intersection of family, great food, presents, and sports. The NFL is gearing up for playoffs, part of college football is in their playoffs (while the other half SHOULD be), and there are some great non-conference college basketball games.

Growing up we had three different ways of getting Xmas presents. Mom always filled up our stockings with little gifts that were cool, but not the gifts we really got worked up over. On Xmas eve we got the good gifts from Mom and Dad and our grandparents. Then, the best of all, we opened our really awesome gifts from Santa on Xmas morning.

This year we get some early gifts as there are some awesome non-conference games featuring Big Sky teams the weekend before Xmas. Following my family's gift scheme, here are the ones I am looking forward to:

Stocking Stuffer:
Montana State vs. Idaho, Saturday
This is an intriguing game because of the fact it used to be a pretty good Big Sky Conference rivalry. Add some more intrigue by putting former ISU coach Jon Newlee on the bench for Idaho. Newlee is very familiar with Montana State and you can bet he will have the Vandals ready to play. Idaho has already shown improvement under Newlee. They are off to a 3-6 start, and one of their wins was a solid 10 point win over a Pacific team which blasted Portland State earlier in the month. Idaho is 1-1 against the Big Sky this season with a big loss to Montana and a win over a much improved Eastern Washington team. Their last two losses were by 1 to Long Beach State and by 3 to Washington State.

This is an important game for MSU because the Cats are anxious to get the bad taste of their SoCal trip out of their mouths and head into the Xmas break on a high note. With a win, the Bobcats will equal their win total from last season's non-conference schedule. MSU should prevail, but I expect it to be closer than last season's lopsided affair in Moscow.

Christmas Eve Gift:
Weber State vs. Utah, Friday
Weber State is a hard team to figure out. They started out like a house on fire: drubbing Washington, winning an OT thriller over Elon, and narrowly losing to Wyoming. But in the month of December, the Wildcats went 0-3 until finally getting back in the win column last night vs UC-Irvine. The Wildcats have the early favorite for Big Sky MVP in Caitlyn Anderson, who is averaging a league-leading 16.2ppg and 8.2 rebounds per game. She is shooting 49% from the field and 50% from long range. Add week one BSBTr Tonya Schnibbe to the mix and things get interesting. Schnibbe is the conference's 4th leading scorer and leads the conference in assists at 7.56 per game, which is nearly 2 assists more per game than the next player on the list (Faucher).

Utah is off to a 4-4 start and is picked to win the Mountain West. This is one of those in-state rivalry games that probably means more to Weber. It will be a good test of how good the Wildcats really are: if they keep it close or win, I am sold on Weber as a threat in the Sky. If they get blown out, maybe we have the Weber we thought we would get. The fact that this game will be played in the Purple Palace gives the Wildcats a big advantage.

Christmas Morning Gift:
Montana vs Gonzaga, Friday
After losing 2 straight games in Cancun, the Lady Griz are 4-0 with wins over Oregon, Boise State, Colorado State, and Portland. Mandy Morales has been unstoppable, winning back-to-back BSBTr awards (and BSC POWs as well). The Griz defense has been outstanding this season, giving up a minuscule 54 points per game, the lowest in the Big Sky by more than 11 points. Additionally, the Griz are limiting opponents to 35% shooting and are forcing 19 turnovers per game.

Enter Gonzaga, a very good team which has lost three games this season and is receiving votes in the national polls. The Bulldogs are averaging 75 points per game and shooting 42%. This will be a tough test for the Grizzly defense and should tell us a lot about how good the Griz really are this year. With the game being in Dahlberg, I fully expect a down to the wire game.

Lump of Coal:
Sac State at Texas Tech, Saturday
Good luck with that one.

Big Sky Big Timer: Morales Repeats

Live from the Scanson residence in Belgrade following a long, long travel day with a major winter weather delay in Denver…here is this week’s Big Timer:

Congrats to Mandy Morales for the second week in a row. This week Morales was the leading scorer in both of Montana’s games, helping the Lady Griz go 2-0 on the weekend. In a 68-53 win over Colorado State on Wednesday, Morales had 16 points and 9 rebounds. Against Portland, a 63-41 win for the LG, Morales had 13 points and 7 rebounds.

It was a tough weekend for the Big Sky as the teams went a combined 4-9, but with all teams playing tough non-conference schedules, the real fun will begin in three weeks when conference play starts!

Honorable Mention BSBTrs

Nicole Scott (EWU): 14 points and 4 rebounds to lead the Eagles in a big win over Pacific.

Michelle Grohs (ISU): Averaged 16 points and 9 rebounds in 2 losses.

Charday Hunt (SAC): 19 points and 4 steals in a rivalry win over UC Davis, 12 points in a loss to San Francisco

Atty Boyer (SAC): Double-double (15,10) in loss to San Fran, 8 points 10 rebounds in win over UC Davis.

Nubia Garcia (MSU): Career high 20 points and 9 rebounds in loss to San Diego State, fouled out vs USC.

Shout Outs:

Shannon Scanson: MVP radio listener of the weekend listened to 2 entire games this weekend. That is dedication.

Katie Falco: former MSU assistant has the South Dakota State Jackrabbits off to a 10-1 start with wins over Missouri, Wisconsin, Montana, Illinois, Gonzaga, and Minnesota (among others). Coach ‘em up Katie!

Joslyn Tinkle: 34 points, 10 rebounds in 56-45 win over Billings West. Wow.

Chelsea Banis: Future Bobcat had 20 points in Fairfield’s win Three Forks and 18 points in a rematch of the State B Championship (W for Fairfield).

Big Sky Big Timer: Mandy Morales

First of all, apologies on not getting this out earlier in the week. I had some computer troubles and a travel schedule to work out, but better late than never. Live from the Hilton Mission Valley in sunny San Diego, here is this week’s Big Sky Big Timer.

Congrats this week to Montana senior Mandy Morales. During games last week against Oregon and Boise State, Morales averaged 17 ppg in two wins. In Eugene, Morales had 14 points (game high) and 7 rebounds as the Griz knocked off the Pac-10 Ducks. In the Montana win over Boise State, Morales had 20 points and a career high 14 rebounds.

Honorable Mention BSBTrs:

Nubia Garcia (MSU): Against Boise St, Garcia was one point away from two double-doubles on the weekend.

Atty Boyer (SAC): 18 points, 12 rebounds in narrow loss to UC-Irvine.

Kelsey Kahle (PSU): Had 31 points on 11-12 shooting vs Seattle. Followed that up with 20% of her team’s scoring vs Oregon State, unfortunately PSU only scored 24 points.

Sade Cunningham (NAU): Averaged 13 points in a split at the Arizona State Tournament. Named to all-tournament team following a game-high 16 points in a championship loss to the host team.

This Can't Wait...

I was going through the Big Sky scores tonight and was reading up on candidates for BSBTr when this showed up. The ugliest game ever award goes to Portland State and Oregon State who tangled today in the I-5 Showdown. PSU scored just 6 points in the first half of the game, tripled that in the second half and still lost 58-24. Wow. Going through the box score, PSU committed 35 turnovers and shot 22% on the game, including 3-21 in the first half (14%)!! The Viks didn't get their second basket until halfway though the first half and didn't get their third basket until 57 seconds before half time. Oregon State didn't exactly burn up the nets either and in fact actually turned the ball over 22 times itself.

My condolences to the 1,243 people that sat through that one.

Box Score

Check back for BSBTr and the weekly roundup tomorrow!

Clutch Shot

This is from a Geneseo HS game in New York. I think Scanson hit a similar shot in the Blue-Gold scrimmage...



How can you not love basketball?

News Roundup

UPDATE: As was astutely pointed out in the comments section, I forgot to mention that Montana HC Robin Selvig won his 700th game last week over Illinois in his team's Cancun Tournament. This little fact is intriguing:

"By winning his 700th game in 899 games coached, Selvig matches former Texas coach Jody Conradt as the fifth fastest coach in NCAA men’s or women’s basketball history to reach 700 victories."

They even made a special postmark for the man.

Evidently there is another Big Sky POW Award besides my Big Sky Big Timer. Congrats to Jenny Heringer and Caitlin Anderson, both are very deserving. But if I were Tonya Schnibbe I would be writing my congressman.

The hard working Will Holden has a great look at recent Bobcat signees.

Nothing like a truck stop Thanksgiving. Kristen Feemster wrote a cool blog post about Western Carolina's trip to Montana for last week's game. Kristen needs to do some research next time though. She thought Montana would be flat?! Don't diss my mountains girl!

The ACC-Big 10 Challenge got underway last night and continues through Wednesday. The Pac 10 and Big 12 team up for a series later this week. I love the concept and wish the Big Sky could do something like this. I know its probably cost prohibitive for a mid-major conference like the Big Sky, but a guy can dream can't he? Big Sky-Missouri Valley Showdown anyone?

Cats, Broncos, and Tricia Binford

When Boise State and Montana State tip it off on Friday night, it will seem like a Back to the Future movie. These two schools are old rivals dating back to 1996 when Boise State moved from the Big Sky Conference to the Big West Conference. It will be a nice treat to see these two square-off again.

This year’s meeting carries some extra pizzazz because of a certain MSU coach that just happens to be a Boise State legend. Tricia Binford (then Bader) is the BSU career in assists and second in steals. This will be the second time Binford coaches against her alma-mater. Boise State came to Bozeman for a Thanksgiving Tournament in Binford’s first season (2005-06), winning 66-52.

Here are some other fun Cat-Bronco-Binford facts:

Tricia Binford’s career high in scoring came in Bozeman against MSU. In BSU’s final season in the Big Sky, Binford dropped 34 points on the Cats on 1/27/1996. That total is the 3rd highest in BSU history. Binford racked up 14 field goals, which is tied for the most in school history. She was 75% (6-8) from the arc, which is the second best single game history, and the 6 made threes is 4th most in school single game history. Despite this offensive explosion by Binford, MSU won 78 to 72.

Montana State holds the series edge 26 to 23. The teams met twice in the Big Sky Tournament, back-to-back in 1994 and 1995. In 1994, BSU knocked MSU out in the semifinals 78 to 68 (Binford was named to the all-tournament team). In 1995, MSU beat BSU in the semis, 59 to 55. Boise State’s 92% free throw percentage (22-24) in the 1994 tournament game is 10th most in Big Sky tournament history.

Binford has the top 2 single season assist records at BSU, 139 in 1993-94 (4.8 per game) and 127 in 1992-93 (4.7 per game). She also has number 8, 106 in 1995-96 (3.9 per game).During the 1993-94 season, Binford registered 88 steals (3 per game), which is good for number 2 in school history.

Binford is number 6 in career scoring (1,171 points), 8th in career field goals made (411), 6th in field goals attempted (1,081—for a 38% career average), 11th in 3FGs made (72) , 8th in 3FGs attempted (269—27% career average), 6th in career free throws made (277), 5th in free throws attempted (408—68% career average), 1st in assists (451), 2nd in steals (271), and 5th in games played (115).

Boise State led the Big Sky in scoring offense from 1991-95 (Binford played from 1991-96) and averaged 80 ppg in 1992-93.

Big Sky Big Timer: Tonya Schnibbe

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. I got some much needed R & R and ate way too much turkey. With all of the distractions, I kind of fell behind on the blog. Hopefully you were distracted as well and didn’t notice.

Just in time to capture some amazing Big Sky performances in week three of the season, I am happy to present the inaugural Big Sky Big Timer, my attempt at picking a player of the week. While I was busy gorging myself and avoiding family members, six of the Sky’s nine teams were celebrating their holidays with tournaments around the country. It was a tough decision, but I think one performance stood out.

Congratulations this week to Tonya Schnibbe of Weber State. Schnibbe, led the Wildcats to a third place finish in the University of Pittsburgh Thanksgiving tournament with 21 points and a school record 17 assists in an overtime win against Elon in the consolation final. She was 8-13 from the floor and added 2 steals. Against Youngstown State in the first game of the tournament, Schnibbe scored 11 points and dished out 9 assists. The junior also notched 10 points and 9 assists in Tuesday's win over NAIA Westminster College. Schnibbe’s solid work at point guard is one of the main reasons that Weber State is off to a surprising 3-2 start. Schnibbe’s 17 assists are 2 away from the Big Sky single game record set by Claire Faucher last season.

Honorable Mention Big Timers

Caitlyn Anderson (WSU)- scored a career high 28 points and notched 17 rebounds in OT win vs Elon in the Pittsburgh tournament. She was 4-6 for long range, including a three that put Weber ahead for good in OT. In the loss to Youngstown State, Anderson had 17 points and 8 rebounds. On Tuesday, Anderson scored a game high 24 points over Westminster College.

Oana Iacovita (ISU) -recorded back-to-back double-doubles with 18 points and 10 rebounds against Loyola Marymount and 13 points and 14 rebounds against North Dakota State at the Loyola Marymount Tournament. She hit 54% of her shots on the weekend.

Jenny Heringer (MSU)- scored 20 points in a win over Western Carolina, going 5-9 from behind the arc, including 3-4 in a 3 minute span as MSU took over the lead halfway through the second half. She added 8 rebounds and 3 assists.

Mandy Morales (UM)- averaged 17.3ppg in 3 games in Cancun. Hit game winner with 0.7 seconds left in OT to give UM the win over Illinois. She led the Griz in scoring in losses to #14 Maryland and South Dakota State.

Anne Phippard (MSU)- scored a career high 20 points in the Cats’ win over Western Carolina. She was 8-14 in her first start of the year and is now shooting a scorching 54% on the season. She also dished out 5 assists in the game.


Shout Outs

Kyla Evans (EWU)- 16 points, 4-5 from the arc in loss to Georgia. Only 1-7 in upset of UNLV.

Sade Cunningham (NAU)- 11 points, 5 steals, 4 assists, 4-9 in loss to Bradley, 14 points, 5 assists in loss to North Dakota.

Whitley Cox (UNC)- 22 points (18 in second half) in loss to San Fransisco, 12 points in win over Wazzu, but had 9 turnovers.

Atty Boyer (SAC)- 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists in loss to Portland, 15 points, 6 rebounds vs San Jose State.

Claire Faucher (PSU)- 10 points, 6 rebounds, 6 steals, 9 assists in win over Portland.

Kelsey Kahle (PSU)- 22 points in win over Portland.

Go West Young Man

When the MSU schedule came out a few months ago, the road trip I was looking most forward to was...not sunny San Diego St and USC...not the Battle on the Border Tourney in Texas...but the Gonzaga, Washington State trip. Before you navigate away from this blog, let me tell you why. First of all, both arenas will be awesome to visit. I have been a bandwagon fan of both the Zags and the Cougs as their men's programs have emerged on the national scene. It will be neat to watch games on each of their homecourts in the span of a weekend. Second, Gonzaga could be the best team that MSU faces this year. They return 4 starters from a WCC championship team of a year ago. Last year they beat the Cats 82-68 in a game that was closer than the final score indicated. If the Cats play at their potential, they will have a chance to win this game. Third, the Cats SHOULD beat WSU. It is rare when a Big Sky team is a favorite against a PAC 10 team, but WSU is rebuilding and is not expected to do much this season. In other words, two winnable games against prestigious schools present great opportunities for an awesome basketball weekend.

Web Streaming Update:

Just got the word that MY103.5 will be streaming the games from their website, instead of using the Yahoo method of last year. Good news? The quality is much better. Bad News? No archived games. To remedy that in a small way, I will try to post higlights here on Courtside for those that weren't able to catch the game live. Getting highlights is a time intensive process, so please bear with me...To listen via the MY103.5 website, go to http://www.my1035.com and click on the "Listen Live" button in the upper left of the page. Sit back, relax, and enjoy.

News Roundup

Who chooses these things? I can think of like 10 better choices.

Idaho State has a short bench and can't make its free throws.

I was up way too late last night.

Scotta and Krislyn?! (Check out the second photo. I think I see Katie Burrows and Whitney Connolly there as well.)

One Week Down...

What a great start to the season. I am already having a blast and we are just warming up. The Cats blasted Utah Valley in Orem 94-71 in their opener on Friday night, and then came home to the Fieldhouse for an excellent home-opener win over North Dakota 85-78.

Against UVU, the Cats relied on their offense to pull away after the Wolverines chiseled away MSU’s 5 point halftime lead. The key for MSU was its bench play, which gave the Cats 41 points, including a pair of big threes by Anne Phippard. Sarah Strand and Erica Perry led the Cats with 15 points apiece.

Against North Dakota, MSU got out to a 12 point lead at the half only to see North Dakota come storming back in the second half. (Déjà vu?) MSU led by as much as 21 points in the second half and UND got it down to a 1 point differential in the final minutes before MSU went on a 6-0 run to close the game for the win. The big difference in the game was at the free throw line: MSU went 27 times and converted 21. UND was 7-9. I am a big believer of what goes around comes around however, the story was the exact opposite in Grand Forks last year where UND got 30 attempts and MSU got 8. Kidding aside, UND was pretty sloppy on defense, especially inside where their star, Kierah Kimbrough was fouled out. In fact, coach Gene Roebuck called her out after the game for her defense.

What did I see this weekend? MSU’s offense will be really good. Sarah Strand is capable of shooting the ball from anywhere, freshman Katie Bussey has been in double figures in all of her games as a Bobcat (well almost, she had 9 vs UND), the Cats are getting 40 ppg from their bench through two games, and the posts are getting their buckets and capitalizing on second chance opportunities. This despite the fact that MSU’s projected leading scorer, Jenny Heringer, has yet to heat up and has been missing a ton of free throws. That won’t last long though, she will find her rhythm and look out, MSU could average high eighties, low nineties all season. There is room for improvement however. The MSU post defense was spotty at times. Against UVU, the Cat’s gave up 31 points to Robyn Fairbanks and sent her to the line 10 times. And while Julie McMurray did get a three, most of her career high 25 points around the basket. Against the Sioux, Kimbrough managed 24 points despite riding the pine in foul trouble and only playing for 14 minutes. The Cats surrendered 13 points and 9 rebounds to Whitney Ledger, a bench player who only averaged 6.3 ppg last season. This undoubtedly bugs Coach Binford, so I know she will be harping on defense in the coming weeks. MSU has the athletes to play good post defense and, with proper focus, will start shutting teams down.

Upcoming: 11/21 @ Gonzaga 7pm, 11/23 @ Washington State 3pm

Week One Big Sky WBB Roundup

One week all you can find on ESPN is football, the next it is like Christmas and there are more basketball games than your brain can process. A great weekend of action reminded me why I love college basketball more than any other sport. There is so much intensity, strategy, and drama squeezed into forty minutes, that there is rarely a game that I am not emotionally drained after.

The Big Sky swung into action this weekend as all of the teams made their debuts for the 2008-09 seasons. Perhaps the weekend’s best games were on Sunday afternoon in Bozeman and Missoula, but there were noteworthy performances across the Big Sky landscape. I will do a separate post on MSU, so here are the rest:

Montana
The Griz only had one game on opening weekend, and it had a postseason flare. UM hosted Wyoming, a NCAA tourney team from a year ago. Coach Selvig put together a very tough non-conference schedule this season with hopes of improving a potential seeding in the tournament. Wyoming led most of the game, but the Griz got it together in the end, winning 71-64. Sarah Ena scored a career high 19 points. (I told you she would be a factor!) Rodgers, Morales, and Lohman played 40, 39, and 36 minutes respectively, which is a ton for the first game of the year.

Portland State
With double-doubles from Kelly Valentine and Kelsey Kahle, PSU beat BYU at the Stott Center 73-64. BYU started two players at 6-2 and PSU’s tallest player is Valentine at 5’11, but the Viks won the boards 44-31. Could the Viks hang their hat on defense this year? They only allowed BYU to shoot 35% from the field. Oh, and by the way, Claire Faucher only had 8 assists.

Northern Colorado
Northern Colorado pasted Air Force 73-53 in Colorado Springs on Friday. At one point in the first half, the Bears went on a 22-0 run and held the Falcons scoreless for 11 minutes. UNC forced 19 turnovers and held Air Force to 30% shooting. Freshman Cassie Lambrecht had 13 points off the bench (again I told you so) and Courtney Stoermer scored 12.

Northern Arizona
NAU wasn’t as lucky this weekend as the ‘Jacks failed to score over 47 points in two losses on the road. Friday NAU fell to Memphis 64-47 and on Sunday got walloped by Arkansas State 71-40. The story: turnovers and three pointers. NAU turned the ball over a combined 43 times and was a combined 6-30 from downtown in the two games (for those keeping track at home that is 20%). Highnote? San Diego State transfer Lauren Hoisington registered a double-double (17 pts, 11 rebs) in her first game as a ‘Jack.

Sac State
The Hornets got off to a 0-2 start, losing 92-71 on Friday at UNLV, and 100-45 at Oregon State on Sunday. Against UNLV, Sac leaders Charday Hunt and Tika Diaz both fouled out early. Hunt only lasted 11 minutes. The Hornets did get a double-double from Erika Edwards (11,13) who was 3-3 from long range. Four others were in double figures for Sac. The game was in range until UNLV went off from the arc, going 6-10 in the second half. Atty Boyer scored 1/3 of Sac’s points against Oregon State, but the Hornets turned it over 27 times and got outrebounded 38-21. Not gonna win many games that way.

Idaho State
The Seton Sobolewski era got off to a 1-2 start at the Travelers’ Tournament in Albuquerque, NM as the Bengals lost 73-55 on Saturday to DePaul, lost to host New Mexico 82-47 on Sunday, and just got done beating Alcorn State 67-50 tonight. Oana Iacovita was ridiculous in the win over Alcorn State, scoring 22 on 7-11 shooting (7-8 on free throws) and bagging 11 rebounds. In the losses, scoring was an issue. Against DePaul, only Iacovita scored in double figures and New Mexico held ISU to 26% from the field, with no one scoring double figures. Over the two losses, ISU was outrebounded 71-101. Ouch.

Weber State
The Wildcats lost to Nebraska 96-47 on Friday and lost its exhibition game 69-65 to the College of Idaho two weeks ago. ‘Nuff said. Have faith Weber fans, the suffering will end in four months.

Eastern Washington
The Eagles lost their opener on Friday at Nevada 64-49. While Kyla Evans was 5-9 from the field (5-8 from the arc!), the rest of the team was just 13 of 50 (26%). Don’t worry coach Schuller, you have Idaho coming up next week.

This Week

Tuesday
Northern Colorado vs San Jose State
Montana @ Idaho

Wednesday
Weber State vs Washington
NAU @ Utah State

Thursday
Sac State @ Santa Clara

Friday
Portland State @ Binghamton
Montana State @ Gonzaga
Eastern Washington vs San Francisco

Saturday
Portland State @ Syracuse
Northern Arizona vs Pepperdine
Idaho State @ Utah State
Northern Colorado @ Pacific
Sac State vs Fresno State

Sunday
Montana State @ Washington State

MSU 86 UM-Western 46

Good start for the 'Cats on Saturday night. I don't care who the competition is, winning by 40 is a good win. Some highlights:

-Katie Bussey is good. She put up 17 including 3 long balls. But what I was more impressed with was her ball handling ability and willingness to head right into the teeth of the defense.

-Erica Perry took it easy on the Bulldogs, but she still had a good night. Four steals, 4 assists and 6 rebounds to go along with her 10 points. At one point in the first half she forced three consecutive turnovers, not allowing the Bulldogs to get the ball across halfcourt. After UMW's point guard got the ball stolen two possessions in a row, they gave it to one of their forwards who was a decent ball handler to bring it up. Erica trapped her along the sideline with another Cat (I believe it was Nubia Garcia) and forced the third turnover. If Erica isn't the Defensive MVP of the Big Sky this year, then things could get ugly.(Yes that is a threat).

-The Cats' are deep. Everyone on the active roster scored at least 4 points and all looked fairly comfortable working within Coach Binford's system. It is clear that they have bought in to the high intensity game built on quickness and tough defense that she likes to run. There wasn't much of a drop off when the bench was in the game. Anne Phippard provided some great spark and got communication rolling. Rachel Pauli looked good in her debut, she's got a nice shot and uses her height well in defending and rebounding. There were too many bench highlights to mention.

-The defense looked good. After giving up 91 to the scout team, I was worried about the defense and the focus on that end of the floor. The Cats forced 28 turnovers and kept the Bulldogs below 50 points. While some of that can be attributed to the fact the UMW roster featured 5 transfers that were still trying to figure out the offense, it was clear all night that the Cats had them on their heels and kept them sufficiently flustered all night long. It will be interesting to see how the Cat defense performs when the athleticism of the opponent it similar to their own.

Great game on Friday night at Utah Valley University. The game between MSU and UVU last year in Bozeman may have been the biggest win of the non-conference portion of the season. UVU was undefeated and receiving votes in the national polls when MSU blasted them in the Fieldhouse. The Wolverines will want some revenge and the McKay Center is a tough place to play. This game will be a great test early in the year. However, UVU got kicked around in their exhibition opener to DII Fort Lewis. 82 to 53!!! I haven't tried to figure out why yet, but it is a real head scratcher because they have a good portion of last year's roster back.

To get you ready for the big weekend of hoops, here is that highlight montage that I promised:

Courtside’s 2008-09 All-Big Sky Conference Preseason Team

Following last night’s team previews, I am excited to announce Courtside’s first Big Sky Conference Preseason Awards. These honors follow the BSC’s postseason awards format with All-Conference Teams, League MVP, Defensive MVP, Top Newcomer, and Outstanding Freshman.

Award winners were selected by a panel of experts (me, myself, and I) and will receive nothing but the respect and honor of being recognized on this blog. I thought of ordering trophies, but what with the economy and all…


Drum roll please.

First Team
Mandy Morales, Montana; Britney Lohman, Montana; Claire Faucher, PSU; Erica Perry, MSU; Jenny Heringer, MSU; Jaime Schroeder NC

Second Team
Sonya Rogers, Montana; Atty Boyer, Sac; Kelly Marchant PSU; Nubia Garcia, MSU; Whitley Cox, UNC; Sade Cunningham, NAU;

Honorable Mention
Julie Piper, EWU; Devin Diehl, ISU; Jenna Brown, ISU; Tonya Schnibbe, WSU; Sami Field-Polisso, Sac, Kelly Valentine PSU; Kelsey Kahle, PSU

MVP: Claire Faucher, PSU
Defensive Player of the Year: Erica Perry, MSU
Top Newcomer: Lauren Hoisington, NAU
Outstanding Freshman: Katie Bussey, MSU
Male Assistant Coach of the Year: Justin Scanson, MSU
Radio Voice of the Year (Other than me of course): Gus Johnson, New York Knicks

For those players out there wondering where your name is at on this list, I encourage you to go out and prove me wrong! Nothing is more exciting than witnessing awesome performances coming from unexpected sources. For those of you on this list, the pressure is on. Don’t let me down!

Big Sky Conference WBB Preview 2008-09

It is hard to believe that it is time for basketball season already, but here we are. After a thrilling finish to the Big Sky Conference (BSC) women’s basketball 2007-08 season, the 2008-09 season promises to have some exciting twists and turns as well. It is becoming a trend in sports to try to predict what will happen in a sports season. While these predictions almost never hold up, they offer a glimpse into what to look for in the upcoming year.

Keeping with that tradition, here are previews for the nine BSC WBB teams for the 2008-09 season. They appear in the order I expect the teams to finish the regular season. If you are not familiar with the BSC, the top six teams make it into the conference tournament, while the bottom three stay home. Without further ado, Courtside’s Big Sky Conference Preview!

TOURNAMENT TEAMS

1. Montana Grizzlies
It seems like this team is loaded every year, and indeed it is again this season. Montana lost four players off of last year’s squad (one starter), while returning 4 starters including arguably the best player in the conference, Mandy Morales. Morales was the 2006-07 conference MVP and 2007-08 tournament MVP. The Griz return Sonya Rogers, who was ranked among the nation’s best three-point shooters last season, Britney Lohman, the league’s defensive MVP, and Tamara Guardipee, the team’s leading rebounder. The biggest question for Montana is whether or not they can maintain their edge on the rest of the conference. Both Montana State and Portland State exposed Montana weaknesses during conference play, only to get blasted during the tournament. Montana will need to have that “tournament focus” to dominate the regular season. Not only is that difficult to do, but it is improbable. Look for Sarah Ena, a sophomore forward who averaged 5 points and 3 rebounds last season, to step into the graduated Johanna Closson’s starting role. Lauren Beck will have a big year off of the bench.

Team MVP- Mandy Morales
Top Newcomer-Misty Atkinson (RS Freshman G/F)
Five Biggest Games- 11/16 vs Wyoming, 12/19 vs Gonzaga, 1/3 vs Montana State, 1/29 @ Portland State, 2/7 @ Montana State

2. Portland State Vikings
After starting last season with a surprising 11-3 non-conference record, PSU cruised to a fourth place birth in the conference tournament. The Viks return their leader, point guard Claire Faucher. Faucher is a baller, one of those players who knows how to win and makes her teammates better with great passing and clutch shots. PSU also returns Kelsey Kahle, a senior whose basketball game is a mystery. While she doesn’t appear to be a major threat, she waits for opponents to make mistakes, then capitalizes, and somehow gets great stat lines. The Viks lose their best perimeter threat, Delaney Conway, to graduation. Look for her position in the starting lineup to be filled by Kelly Marchant, who has shown signs of lighting up from the arc. Questions: will Lexi Bishop return to form after a knee injury she suffered in the tournament? Will the Viks be able to handle expectations? Montana State provided the blueprint for how to beat PSU: smother Faucher (see Erica Perry) and keep Kahle from getting second chances (see Nubia Garcia). If other teams are able to accomplish this, PSU may go from top of the league to also-ran. Look for Marchant to be one of the most improved players in the league and big contributions from Kelli Valentine and Katia Hadj-Hamou around the basket. Freshmen Eryn Jones and Katy Wade will turn some heads as well.

Team MVP: Faucher (duh!)
Top Newcomers: Jones and Wade
Five Biggest Games: 12/7 @ Oregon State, 1/29 vs Montana, 1/31 vs Montana St, 2/19 @ Northern Colorado, 3/5 @ Montana St

3. Montana State Bobcats
After a breakout season in 2007-08, the expectations are high for the Bobcats. The ‘Cats say goodbye to the BSC’s best offensive threat, Rebecca Mercer, and the team’s vocal leader Krislyn Wallace. Filling Mercer’s shoes may be the team’s biggest challenge, but look for Jenny Heringer to step into the scoring role. Heringer had a fantastic conference season and earned herself a place on the all-conference team. MSU will rely on Nubia Garcia, the team’s leading rebounder in 07-08, to solidify a post presence underneath. At point guard, Erica Perry will be the key to any success the Bobcats achieve this season. Last year, Perry was short changed by not receiving the league’s Defensive MVP award, something that shouldn’t happen again. Tenacious defense is Perry’s forte, but a consistent offensive showing is a must for Perry this season. The role of sophomore Sarah Strand will be important for the ‘Cats. Last season, Strand started out in a traditional forward role while Garcia was recovering from injury. After Garcia’s return, Strand shifted to a slash role, alternating between guard and forward while developing a three-point shot that scared defenses. Strand should return to a predominately “post” role this season in the absence of Wallace. The key battle in the starting lineup should be between guards Anne Phippard and Lyndi Seidensticker for the third guard position. Phippard ended the 07-08 season on fire, and Seidensticker has been tough in practice and scrimmage play. Perhaps the most exciting player for MSU this season could be freshman Katie Bussey. Any shot on the Bobcat side of the court is fair game for Bussey and should the Bobcats be unable to score the points Coach Binford wants, look for Bussey’s playing time to be increased. The biggest question lies with MSU’s defense. Coach Binford stresses defense more than any other aspect of the game, and other than Perry, the MSU defense can be inconsistent. Strong defensive effort will be essential in the BSC this season. If the ‘Cats answer the defensive bell, look out because I truly feel they could jump PSU and Montana in the conference standings. Tournament in Bozeman anyone??

Team MVP: Erica Perry
Top Newcomer: Katie Bussey
Five Biggest Games: 11/21 @ Gonzaga, 1/22 @ Northern Colorado, 1/31 @ PSU, 2/7 vs Montana, 3/5 vs PSU

4. Northern Colorado
The Bears were the Cinderella team of the BSC last season, playing against all odds and earning a birth in the conference tournament. This season looks even brighter for NC as they get their leading scorer from 06-07 back after Whitley Cox sat out last season with a knee injury. The Bears lose center Danielle Hagen to graduation but return all of their other starters. The bench is much deeper this season after coach White signed 5 freshmen and a JC transfer in the offseason. The Bears will have one of the best backcourts in the conference with Cox returning and strong play from Jaime Schroeder, a break through performer from last season. The biggest question mark in Greely is in the post where the absence of Hagen could loom large. Sophomore Kate Kevorken was in the running for freshman of the year last season and will fill a valuable power forward/guard combo role. Brittany Fernandez, a JC transfer, and sophomore Lara Merrit should shore-up some of the rebounding needs, but the rest of the height for NC will come from untested freshmen who will need to grow up fast. Cassie Lambrecht will provide spark off of the bench and could see starting time if things head south early in the year.

Team MVP: Jaime Schroeder
Top Newcomer: Brittany Fernandez
Five Biggest Games: 1/17 @ PSU, 1/22 vs Montana St, 1/24 vs Montana, 3/5 @ NAU, 3/7 @ Sac St

5. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks
NAU was a middle of the pack team last year and will be a middle of the pack team this year. Gone are Ashley Ingle, the league leader in blocks by a 26 block margin, and Laura Dinkins, the team’s leading scorer. Returning is one of the league’s most dynamic point guards, Sade Cunningham. Cunningham had the second best assist to turnover ratio in the league and has the defensive capabilities to rattle some of the conference’s best ball handlers. Joining her in the backcourt will be Janelle Matthews, a sharpshooter that banked in 23 three-pointers last season. Jenna Galloway will anchor the questionable post position with the graduation of Ingle and Dinkins. Galloway was troubled by injury last season and the Jacks will need her to stay healthy. The league is abuzz about the potential of Lauren Hoisington, a sophomore transfer from San Diego State. Look for her to contribute a large portion of NAU’s scoring and rebounding. The Jacks are a team that could be surprisingly good and surprisingly bad. Their roster features plenty of new faces and role players that must gel for any success to take place.

Team MVP: Sade Cunningham
Top Newcomer: Lauren Hoisington
Five Biggest Games: 1/04 @ PSU, 1/8 vs Montana, 1/10 vs Montana St, 1/31 @ Northern Colorado, 2/21 vs Sac St

6. Sacramento State Hornets
Sac State is my surprise team of the season. After years of sitting at home during the BSC tournament, I think Coach Muscatell has the players to get to the tourney this season. The Hornets lost a handful of players, but no one of consequence. Returning is leading scorer Atty Boyer and a surprisingly good point guard in Sami-Field Polisso. FP had fewer turnovers than any other starting BSC point guard in 07-08. While Boyer, Erika Edwards, and Charday Hunt should present a passable frontcourt, the Hornets will have some questions to answer in their backcourt. Sami F-P will run the point, but Sac St will need to develop some outside shooters to win games. The Sac was the worst three-point shooting team in the league last season. Coach Muscatell pulled in the largest freshman class in his tenure, so depth is available, but untested.

Team MVP: Atty Boyer
Top Newcomer: Kari Gallagher
Five Biggest Games: 1/8 vs Montana St, 1/18 vs NAU, 1/24 @ Idaho St, 2/7 vs PSU, 3/7 vs Northern Colorado

STAYING HOME

7. Idaho State Bengals
Of all the teams in the BSC, Idaho State took the biggest hit from graduation. Gone are league MVP Natalie Doma and team leader Andrea Lightfoot. Gone are John Newlee and his assistant coaches (except Jordan Green). Welcome Seton Sobolewski, the only new HC in the conference this season. Sobolewski’s cupboard is not completely bare however. Michelle Grohs, a compliment to Doma in the blocks, and Devin Diehl, a potential outside threat, can both adequately serve in the guard/forward “slash” role that is starting to be an important component to any wbb team. Also returning is point guard Jenna Brown whose leadership will be essential to a team that will feature role players stepping into key positions. The most interesting position battle in the non-conference portion of the schedule will be between three posts battling for two starting spots. Oana Iacovita, Cara Lambert, and Verity Peets have been in a heated battle for starting time in a position which will be critical in the absence of Doma. I think adjusting to a new coaching staff and a roster made of back-ups will make it difficult for the Bengals to compete early in the season. Will they gel early enough to make it into the tourney? That, my friends, is the question.

Team MVP: Jenna Brown
Top Newcomer: Andrea Blodgett, JC Transfer
Five Biggest Games: 1/8 vs EWU, 1/24 vs Sac St, 2/7 vs Northern Colorado, 2/26 @ Sac St, 3/6 @ Weber St

8. Eastern Washington Eagles
The Eags were bad last year and if it weren’t for Weber State, they would look even worse this year. Last season’s leading scorer, Sidney Benson, graduated, but most of the Eagle roster returns. Sophomore Kyla Evans will return this season after sitting out most of last year with injury. Evans should rank among the best three-point shooters in the league. Amy Bratvold and Julie Piper will be relied on in the post in the absence of Benson. Jessica Huntington was fairly effective running the point last season and will be joined in backcourt by Kyla Evans and Tatjana Sparavalo. Sparavalo was a surprise last year, showing the ability to score when the conditions were right. With 6 freshmen on the roster, depth will be an issue for the Eagles. On the bright side however, with EWU likely out of the picture by midseason, the freshmen should see plenty of playing time which will help with development.

Team MVP: Kyla Evans
Top Newcomer: Pauline Ferrall
Five Biggest Games: 1/02 vs NAU, 1/10 @ Weber St, 1/24 vs PSU, 2/12 vs Weber St, 2/14 vs Idaho St, 2/28

9. Weber State Wildcats
I hope Carla Taylor has some hobbies, because stress relief will be necessary this year. Gone is leading scorer and rebounder Sarah Tuomi, second leading scorer Akiah Hunter, and Tashina Taylor, the team’s second best rebounder. Two junior guards, Tonya Schnibbe and Ali Thorderson, should provide some stability in the backcourt. Schnibbe has shown the ability to run the point effectively, and both players have good long-range shooting abilities. Caitlin Anderson should lead the Wildcats in post scoring, but rebounding will be an issue. Karlee Weight and Emily Thatcher saw the most playing time of any of the backup F/C’s last year, but neither appeared comfortable. A surprise could come in the form of freshmen forward Abby Thorderson who has played well in early exhibition games. Good news Weber fans, only one senior on this squad (a role player) and the future looks bright.

Team MVP: Tonya Schnibbe
Top Newcomer: Abby Thorderson
Biggest Games: 12/19 vs Utah, 12/22 vs Utah St, 1/10 vs EWU, 1/31 @ Idaho State, 3/6 vs Idaho St

So there you have it. The toughest decision for me was placing Sac State and ISU. I just have a feeling that Sac will outperform expectations and that the Bengals will struggle to adjust to the new coaching staff. On top of that, with Doma and Lightfoot shining in the last few seasons, not much has been expected out of the other Bengal players, so they are used to being role players rather than everyday performers. If ISU can put it together, they could jump Sac State. The other toss-up was PSU and MSU. If the Bobcats sweep PSU again this year, look for the ‘Cats to get the 2 seed in the tourney.

Later this week I will give you my preseason All Big Sky team and award winners, along with my projected finishes. Also, I will be breaking down MSU position by position, so check back soon!

Gus is Back

While you were sleeping and generally wasting time, Gus Johnson has been busy being the best announcer on the planet. Check out a remix of Gus's debut last night:



Do we have a new call to rival GOT IT!? Maybe...HELL YES!

Gus is the man.

WBB Bonanza

It is the start of a new basketball season my friends and Courtside will rise to the challenge! My opponent doesn't have the experience necessary to meet the needs of Joe the Reader my friends, but I do. We must fight, fight for a great season, fight for the fans, fight, fight fight!

OK, so I slipped into my best John McCain right there, and I apologize for my poor attempt at humor. BUT, it is time to get excited about a new basketball season. As we prepare for the upcoming season, I thought I would let you know about the things I have planned for this blog. First, the frequency of blogs will increase as Courtside provides the best analysis of MSU and Big Sky Conference WBB in the BLOGOSPHERE! Well at least the blogosphere as it exists in Helena. Second, as long as he stays awesome (and I have no doubt that he will), Justin Scanson and I will debut our first attempt at a podcast. We will even have a poll question and let YOU choose the name!

As I have noted before on this blog, the MSU WBB team tips off against UM Western on November 8. To celebrate, I will be posting season previews next week. Here is my tentative schedule:

Tuesday: Big Sky Team Previews
Wednesday: MSU Position by Position Breakdown
Thursday: Predicted Finishes and All-Conference Awards
Friday: MSU-UM Western Preview

So tell all your friends, it gonna get wiiiiiiiiild!

Rays-Phils: A Good Start by Fox

The World Series started tonight! I love playoff baseball and the World Series. As avid Courtside readers will note, I am a terrible prognosticator so I won't give any predictions. In case you missed it, here is Fox's opening video from the broadcast. Just a hint, it is awesome.



This video gives me a chance to talk broadcasting strategy a bit. I think the most important parts of a sports broadcast are the beginning and the end. The beginning is your chance to set the mood, so videos like this are great. It gets the crowd emotional about the game and gets them interested immediately. In radio it is more difficult because you obviously don't have the visual component. That's why planning is important, you have to be able to tell the story of why this game matters. The end is just as important because if the game does matter and the result is close or controversial, people will remember your call of the events for a long time. Therefore you need to make the impression a good one.

Can you tell I'm getting ready for a new hoops season? Woo Hoo!

(Monday) Friday Flop

From the LSU-South Carolina game on Saturday night. Tell me, do you think the ref is up to no good? Maybe LSU should sign him up!



Quick Hits:

-The MSU WBB team opened up practice on Friday. I got to catch an hour on Saturday, the team looks very focused and intent on reaching its goals this season. Also, the offseason conditioning program looks like it paid off as the teams looks to be in very good shape coming into camp. I had better practice fast play x play!

-The first game is on November 8 vs UM Western. Of course you can catch all the action on MY 103.5. (A link to online broadcasts will be available soon.)

-The Vikings are terrible. I normally don't advocate this kind off stuff, but with the Vikings I am an irrational fan, so here you go.

Snomecoming

Tomorrow is homecoming for MSU and the Cats will take on Weber State. The Wildcats are coming off of a 47-28 upset of the other Montana school last weekend in Ogden. The Wildcats are 2-0 in conference play and ranked 22nd in the FCS coaches poll. So needless to say, this is a crucial game for MSU.

Being that it is early October and it is homecoming, we should have a beautiful, crisp, autumn day for the game right? NO. Forecasts are calling for a high of 29F with up to 4 inches of snow on the ground at kickoff with another 1-4 inches possible during the game.

Though I have always thought it was a stupid tradition, I feel bad for the homecoming royalty candidates that will have to parade around in tuxes and gowns in 20-degree weather. Luckily, MSU installed FieldTurf during the off season, so field conditions shouldn't be an issue as long as proper snow removal precautions have been undertaken. However, cold weather always contributes to increased injury potential, and MSU can't handle any more injuries. Last week in Pocatello, the sideline looked like a medical unit from the Civil War. Flu and sprains, and bruises. No blood that I saw however.

On paper, this should be one of those games where both teams score in the forties. Both teams have dynamic offenses and playmakers that are capable of running up the score. However, the weather (wind expected in addition to the cold) will be the inhibiting force and should keep the ball on the ground. That will make for interesting football, because Weber features the number one running back in the league, Trevyn Smith, who is averaging 98 yards per game on the ground. MSU's Demetrius Crawford is number two in the league at just under 87 yards per game.

My prediction:
Games that are greatly affected by weather, as this one should be, come down to three factors: turnovers, penalties, and field position. MSU is negative right now in turnover margin (-0.8) and has at times played a bit loose with the football. Avoiding turnovers will be key, because point scoring opportunities will be few and far between. Weber is one of four teams in the league with a positive turnover margin (+0.6). Another factor that affects these "weather games" is penalties. MSU and Weber are number one and number two in the league respectively in fewest penalty yards. Field position is the other key. Weber has the highest punt return and kickoff return averages in the Big Sky Conference. MSU is number four in both categories.

When you look at my three weather factors above, Weber holds a slight advantage, 2 to 1. However, home field and home crowd always affect the outcome of a game. MSU is expecting another sellout-standing room only crowd which will be rabid with excitement over the importance of the game and the fact that it is homecoming. Look for both teams to have big days on the ground, with MSU being propelled by its crowd to a 20-17 win.

But more importantly, should I wear? It will be cold, so please vote in the poll in the upper left margin and help me decide how to dress for homecoming.

Bring your hot chocolate!!! (With or without schnaaps.)

There's Only One October!

My favorite month of the year is October. (March is a close second). Seasons are changing, so we have some beautiful scenery in Montana. Football is in full swing. The MLB playoffs are on. About half of my extended family has birthdays in October. Hunting season starts. Basketball practice heats up. And much, much more.

This year's baseball playoffs aren't nearly as compelling this year (because my Rockies didn't make it), but they are definitely worth paying attention to. In the National League Championship, the Dodgers have a legitimate chance of winning a World Series, which they have not done since 1988. The Phillies are a fun team to watch, though I think the media has them vastly overrated.

In the American League, the Tampa Bay Rays have been the story of baseball this season. During the pre-season, most of the baseball experts were saying that the Rays were about a year from being a force in the AL East. Well, they have blossomed early and it has been fun watching their young players mature. I felt like this was the year the Red Sox would bow out in the first round, but they surprised me with their ability to pull games out of no where. I guess it shouldn't surprise me, they've been doing it since 2004. I really don't like the Sox, but you have to give them credit for winning when it matters.

My Predictions? Dodgers/Sox in the World Series, with L.A. winning in seven games in a true fall classic. The only thing I don't like about October? Having to listen to Joe Buck. I can't stand him.

I would like to have a moment of silence due to a very sad moment that will happen tomorrow in Helena. I have an appointment to have my boat winterized, which marks the official end of summer.

Queen of the "Office": Heather

Congrats to Heather for winning the inaugural Courtside Office quote contest. (Honorable mention to Scanson, though he was disqualified for not giving a quote). So in honor of Heather and her uncanny ability to make me laugh while remembering hilarious Office moments, here is a blog post dedicated to Heather.

Things that rhyme with Heather:
Feather
Weather
Tether

My favorite Heather moment:
When she saved me from getting arrested for trying to pump gas in Portland.

Colors that look good on Heather:
Red
Blue
Yellow
All Combinations of the Above

Person That Reminds Me of Pam Beasley:
Heather

Person Most Likley to Get an Invitation to My Birthday Party:
Chuck Norris and Heather

A Poem about Heather:
Good day my dear Heather,
The wind whispers like a feather,
Why did you choose that man to which to tether?

(Sorry, that isn't meant to be a dig at Zeb. Zeb is da bomb)

Congrats again Heather and thanks for going above and beyond with your Office quote.

By the way, for those of you planning a tribute post to someone, there is a fine line between a tribute and sounding like a stalker.

Ladies and gentleman, I have some bad news. Meredith was hit by a car.

If you woke up on Monday with a spring in your step and a smile on your face, there is a good reason. The Office returns on Thursday night with new episodes. Therefore, I have been in a great mood all week. Pretty soon, all of the old themes will be renewed: will Jim propose to Pam? Will Angela break off her engagement to Andy and return to Dwight? Will we find out who knocked up Jan? Will Michael burn down Dunder Mifflin?

While I enjoyed last season, I think the show as a whole took a small step backward. It lost some of the appeal of the first three seasons. I think all shows go through this. There is a point when all of the really funny stuff has been used up because the writers aren't even sure that the show will make it. The great shows like Seinfeld, The Simpsons, and the Golden Girls (checking to make sure you are still reading) find ways to get over the hump, and I am sure The Office will too.

I have a problem though. A friend of mine is having a party Thursday night (not Office related) and I don't have Tivo. Do I go bad friend and say I can't make it? Or do I go good friend and miss potential TV history? Dilemma.

In honor of The Office returning, I am having a blog contest. I challenge you all (or both of you) to share your favorite Office quotes in the comments. The winner (chosen by and objective panel of experts) will get a blog post devoted solely to him/her. Good Luck!

Tip of the Cap: HDTV. I am officially an HD snob after upgrading a week ago. If it is not in HD, I don't watch it.

Wag of the Finger: ESPN. I want more screen shots of Erin Andrews when I am watching HD.

Ramblings on Football

Life makes sense again. There is a crispness in the air and football season has begun. I am sad to see summer go, but having football back makes it worth while. I spent all day Saturday prepping and working the sidelines for the MSU-K State football game, spent most of yesterday watching the NFL's first weekend, and just finished watching my Vikings on MNF. So, it has been a true football weekend.

Tom Brady blew his knee out yesterday and the Patsies announced today that he will be out for the rest of the year. Just to get it out there: I would NEVER root for someone to get injured. Never. It is awful to see anyone get hurt and not be able to do their job or live their passion. That said, I actually think having Brady out and having the Pats knocked down a peg helps the NFL. I am not a fan of dynasties. I like to see leagues and divisions be competitive and have multiple teams with a chance at the crown. Over the past few years, it seems like only the Colts and Pats have had a chance in the AFC, and I got bored with that.

My Vikings have been picked by many to win the NFC North and possibly go deep in the playoffs. After watching them play tonight I have mixed feelings. There is so much talent, but the Vikes are limited by Tavaris Jackson. You can tell that Coach Childress has no confidence in him by the plays that get called. When they did take the chains off and let him try to make some plays (in the last two minute drill), he threw an interception. With the Slackers playing well and the Teddy Bears looking pretty good on Sunday night, the Vikings will have a tough road to travel to win the division. TJ better improve quickly or this will be another wasted year and Childress will be looking for work.

It was only the first game however, so there is plenty of time for the Vikes to get better. I am pretty optimistic that they will do well this season.

Some highlights from the K-State trip:
-Got to meet legendary K-State head coach Bill Snyder
-Prowled the sidelines with Frank Martin (K-State men's bball coach). He is just as intense looking in person.
-Nice Hotel. Charter flying is the way to go.
-I need a better rain coat.
-Big school pep-bands are so awesome. (not that ours is bad, but we're talking a whole different scale)
-I am a bad poker player.

Tyler's Olympic Review

I am watching the closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics right now, with just a twinge of sadness that the games are over. Normally I don't pay much attention to the summer Olympics because who wants to sit in front of the TV when it is so nice outside? But the story lines of these games have compelled me to carve out some time to watch. I decided to share some of my highlights of the 29th Olympiad, so here it goes:

Most Outstanding Athlete: Michael Phelps. Was there any doubt? Phelps earned 8 gold medals, more than any other Olympian ever.

Moment That Made Me Jump Out of My Chair: Usain Bolt in the 100 Meter Dash. He not only set a new world record, he SMASHED the old one. This graphic from the New York Times shows just how far from reality Bolt's run was. He ended up setting two more WRs in the games.

Coolest Venue: The Watercube. China really set the bar high with its venues this year. All of them were spectacular and will be remembered as some of the greatest venues of the modern Olympics. The Watercube was the best however. When it was illuminated at night it was breathtaking.

Favorite NBC Announcer Team: (You had to know I was going here) Dan Hicks and Rowdy Gaines. Their calls of the awesome swimming races were perfect. Just the right level of emotion and they let the races and performances speak for themselves.

Moment When I Felt Bad: When Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang had to withdraw because of a bad Achilles heal. He was the favorite in the event (which is rare for China in track) and the Bird's Nest was full to see him run. He was very upset for not being able to run for his country.

Best Smile: Shawn Johnson. I felt bad when she kept coming up short for gold medals, but she always kept her smile.

Sport I Gained the Most Respect For: Gymnastics. Those people were hands down the strongest athletes in the games.

Sport I Hated: Badminton. Dude, they are like 3 feet from the net. Boring.

Moment When I Almost Cried: When NBC interviewed the USA men's volleyball coach after his team won the gold. His father was killed in Beijing right before the games started. The coach was trying to fight back tears and showed great composure.

Best Commercials: The Visa Ads. Morgan Freeman is the man. I would jump in front of a bus if he told me to. The Visa ads that he narrated were awesome, and this one was my favorite:



Thing Angered Me: NBC wouldn't show those of us in the west events that got shown live on the east coast. Don't get me started on my east coast bias theory in sports and news.

Thing (Person) That Made Me Laugh: Bela Karolyi. He should get a spot in the Sunday Night Football booth with Al and John. He made Bob Costas so uncomfortable. Hilarious.

This blog post is way longer than it should be, sorry. All-in-all I thought the Olympics were great this year. China gets an A-, NBC gets a solid B.

Friday Flop

Drumroll please. Today I debut a weekly feature (hopefully weekly that is) called "Friday Flop." I will post a funny video clip, audio clip, or story so that we can all start the weekend on a high note.

Our first Friday Flop: Brian Collins and how not to anchor a sports cast.



Brutal. Have a great weekend!!

Credits: Fanhouse

A Theme Song is Born

One of the things I like best about sports on TV and radio is the theme music that is involved in the broadcasts. One of the best all-time theme songs is the music that opened the NBA on NBC broadcasts up until the network lost it's NBA rights to ABC. The song is called Roundball Rock and was written by none other than Yanni's cousin, John Tesh.

Well, thanks to the blog "Awful Announcing" (one of my favs) I discovered the story behind the song:



That video is both intriguing and uncomfortable at the same time. It is neat to see how the song came about, but OMG John Tesh cannot hum. Also, that hair and goatee coupled with his outfit make him look like a pirate. It is weird to see an orchestra jam out to a sports theme song, the violinists are way too into it.

Anyway, thought you might enjoy that. What are your favorite sports tv theme songs?

Disclaimer: This is the first and last John Tesh music video I watch on YouTube.

Legends of the Mic: Bill Walton

A newcomer to Courtside, Heather Elkinton, left a great suggestion in the comments section of my last post. Do a recurring post on Bill Walton, one of my favorite *sarcasm* basketball announcers. Heather suggested posting YouTube clips of Bill and giving my commentary on his work. I LOVE it Heather! But, I am going to make a small tweak: I am not going to limit it to Bill Walton, rather I will post clips from some of the best of the best in a recurring post called "Legends of the Mic."

But since Heather requested Bill, Bill she shall have. The clip I have selected for this post is perhaps his best work. Working with Mike Tirico for LA-Phoenix, I give you Bill Walton on Beethoven and Boris Diaw:



Where do I begin? First of all drawing a parallel between an 18th century German composer and a French NBA player is sheer brilliance, something the audience would never expect. When I think of the world's oldest music, I think of Boris Babacar Diaw-Riffiod. The way he carves through a defense is reminiscent of the way Beethoven sliced his baton through the air while conducting a sonata.

That just makes my brain hurt. My favorite part of that clip is when Tirico goes "Geesh" when Walton starts in on the Beethoven comparison. He knows it is coming and just wants to punch Bill right in the kisser. Bill goes so over the top on everything, but I really don't get too annoyed with him until the 4th quarter of a game. He has become a caricature of himself and you have to wonder if he is so melodramatic in real life.

Here is my advice to Bill to make his broadcasts even more awesome:

1. Dress in the appropriate costume for the story you plan to tell for that game. Maybe a powdered wig and 18th century knickers for your Diaw piece.

2. Make all of your commentary rhyme.

3. End all of your comments with "that's what she said."

Feel free to leave your Bill Walton comments in the comments section. Stay tuned for more "Legends of the Mic" I might even drag in an Olympics legend for the next post!

Tip of the Cap: Wilsall, MT- Great turnout for the annual Ranch Rodeo this weekend. One of the best wild cow milking contests I have witnessed.

Wag of the Finger: Brett Favre- You should have stayed retired. A Jet? Come on.

Disappointments

Well, I am back at it after a delay in blog posts. I wish I had an excuse like "I have been very busy at work," or "my life has been crazy," but the truth is I have been loafing it lately: spending lots of time at the lake and just got back from some vacay up in the Flathead Valley.

Anyway, I got back from a week of no TV and wi-fi to discover that my Rockies went 2-5 in a 7 game home series with Washington and San Diego, the two teams with the worst records in the NL. Follow that up by going 1-2 versus the division leading D-Bags (I mean D-Backs) and I am ready to call the Rox out of the pennant race for 2008. What a major disappointment. After a run to the World Series and only losing our second baseman in the offseason, I was sure the Rox were going to take it all this year. Oh well, maybe next year. (Buy some pitching Dan O'Dowd!!!)

In honor of the disappointment I feel over the Rockies, I thought I would give you a list of the top five sports disappointments in my life. Feel free to add your own in the comments section.

5. Little League 1994. We were the Shields Valley Marlins. My Dad was the coach. I was the slugging right fielder. We won one game. 'Nuff said.

4. Bobcats vs. Appalachian State 2006 NCAA 1-AA playoffs. The Cats had App State on their heels. A trick pass by WR Michael Jefferson is intercepted and App State gets the mo back. We coulda had them.

3. 2007 World Series: Rockies vs Red Sox. Rockies= everything that is right about baseball: small market team, great run to end the season, players no one outside of Denver(except me and my pal Joel Schumacher) has heard of. Sox= everything that is wrong about baseball: East coast bias, bandwagon fans, each player makes more than the GDP of Mongolia. Well you know the result: bad guys win in four.

2. 2007 NCAA Men's Basketball Regional Semis and Finals. Gus Johnson is not included in CBS's announcer lineup.

1. 1998 Minnesota Vikings. Kicker hadn't missed a field goal all year, blows one in the waning moments of the NFC championship. Falcons win in overtime. 15-1 regular season wasted.

I know this post has been depressing and I will try to be more upbeat in the next one. Only 15 days to the start of MSU football!

Tip of the Cap: Justin Scanson- Thanks for mentioning my blog in your favs!
Wag of the Finger: The People's Republic of China- The host country cheats by letting underage girls compete in gymnastics. Try to stay classy Beijing.

Billy Packer: It's Over

Well, it's official, Billy Packer has called his last Final Four. Let's just it's not over in the same sense as his call during the Kansas-UNC national semifinal:



Usually when a sports broadcasting icon hangs it up I get sad, but not in this case. This move by CBS was long overdue. Viewers could sense that over the past few years the game was passing him by. He made mistakes. In the national championship he mentioned that Kansas was well-equipped to handle overtime because they had been in similar circumstances in 1957. Good memory Billy, but not applicable. He was too grouchy. I admit that there comes a time as an analyst when you need to be critical, but it had become Billy's thing: being critical of every player and coach. College basketball is something people turn too for fun, and to truly experience the game viewers must go through the lows AND the highs. That's where I think Billy's biggest flaw laid. He had a bitter old man's way of dulling the highs. Despite his flaws, one thing I must say is that few in the business know as much as Billy about the game and its history. His replacement had better do his homework.

CBS announced that Clark Kellog would be taking Packer's place on the network's number one announce team along with Jim Nantz. I think this is a solid hire. Kellog loves the game and wears his emotions on his sleeve when he is calling a game. But not too much (see Suzyn Waldman). One thing I hope Kellog leaves in the studio: his penchant for making up words and trying to be funny. Don't try to make people laugh, just naturally let it happen.

In the spirit of the shake-up at CBS sports, here is a list! Five other changes CBS should make in their NCAA basketball coverage (while waiting for my clothes to dry at the laundromat):

5. Bring back the old video intros from about 3 or 4 years ago (I still get chills when I hear that music).

4. Get Dickie V in the studio. I don't care how much it costs. Watching Greg Gumbel try to rein him in would be worth the price of admission.

3. Make sure the studio team goes to the site of the final four. Am I the only one who hated seeing them in New York while all the action was in San Antonio?

2. More shots of the the UCLA dance team.

1. Pair Gus Johnson with Kellog in the number one announce team. Nothing against Nantz, but when I think of March Madness I think of Gus. (Heck when I brush my teeth I think of Gus. Man crush?)

MLB All Star Game: The exhibition that means too much

Back in 2003, Major League Baseball decided to give its All-Star game some meaning. So, it decided that the winning league would get home field advantage in the World Series. On its face it is not a bad idea, give the players in the AS game something to play for, but in the words of Lance Berkman, it's a "fallacy."

The first beef I have with the AS game deciding home field advantage for the WS is that the incentive is not targeted enough to get the players to play any harder than they would if there were no incentive. Huh? Only two teams will eventually be affected by the outcome of the All-Star game. MLB has a rule that each of its teams must be represented in the AS game, and lots of those teams are already out of contention. By my count 10/36 of the NL players' teams and 12/36 AL players' teams are at least outside looking in at their divisions' pennant races. Therefore they don't have a horse in the AS game race and could care less about where the WS is played.

The AS game and its surrounding festivities are a break from the rigorous schedules and long hours that players put in during the season. They don't treat it like a real game that could make or break their season.

The second part of this puzzle is that the outcome of the game means too much. Home field advantage in the World Series is HUGE. If you don't think so, try telling that to Jeff Francis, who started game 1 of the '07 WS for my poor Colorado Rockies. He had been playing lights out for two months and dominating hitters. But you put him in one of the most intimidating atmospheres in baseball, Fenway Park for game 1 of a World Series, in front of those rude Boston bandwagon baseball fans and a national TV audience and what happens? He gives up a leadoff home run to Dustin Pedroia and the Rockies go on to a 13-1 drubbing. I knew right then and there that Colorado was out of it. You know what Jeff Francis was thinking when Pedroia's HR was sailing over his head?

"I sure wish Tony LaRussa (2007 AS NL manager) would have tried harder to get Albert Pujols into the AS game so maybe the NL could have won."

Had the Rockies had home field advantage in the '07 WS, things would have been a lot different. The Sox may still have won, but the series would have been a lot less one-sided.

In reality it comes down to one of my favorite economics conundrums: the benefits are concentrated while the payments are spread out. (A little light reading on that subject.) The players playing in the All-Star game have everything but the World Series on their mind, and one of the teams in the WS will get shafted by this scheme come October. And as every good student of economics knows, this scheme will never produce the intended consequence: make the All-Star player care about the game.

MLB should either go back to the way it was (alternating home field advantage) or come up with a new scheme (team with the better inter-league record? team from the league with the best inter-league record?) and ditch this current mess. The commish should wake up and realize that the All-Star game is a showcase of players, but they don't really care about the outcome.

Other Notes: Rockies coaching staff is coaching the NL squad. Good luck Clint Hurdle and crew.---Colorado is being represented by Matt Holliday and Aaron Cook.---The All-Star Game is just more evidence that small markets don't matter to MLB. In all reality, you could have Boston square off against the Chicago Cubs because each team has so many players in the game. Players that deserve to be there (see Jose Reyes and anyone besides Jason Varitek) will be watching the Sox and the Yanks vs the Cubs.---The current All-Star game/World Series home field advantage scheme was a concession to Fox TV (read link above).

Goodbye Tim Russert

My Sunday mornings will never be the same. Every Sunday I do the exact same thing. I get up around 7:30, make some coffee, settle into the recliner, and flip on "Meet the Press." I am a newsie. I love all things news, but in my mind there was a clear number one in terms of getting the "straight scoop," and that was Tim Russert and MTP.

I always felt that in this day of opinionated news across the cable networks and the internet, the only place you could find an unbiased view was on Russert's program. He had the amazing ability to stay neutral on very challenging and difficult issues. He drug the true positions out of everyone he interviewed and made them "grow a spine," to quote my HS history teacher. He never succumbed to the handsome airhead mentality that captures a lot of news anchors and reporters. He was all about substance and professionalism.

I don't get too emotional about celebrity/newsmaker deaths, but this one really got to me. He was a part of my family, kind of like an uncle that I saw once a week. All of the tributes in the past few days have been awesome. I knew he was a family man, but I didn't realize how well he treated his employees and their families.

There will always be a void in my weekends now. The world has lost a truly special person. I think of all the tributes this week, this was the most touching, it is a montage of clips of newsmakers and fellow anchors along with some music by Bruce Springsteen.

The magic that is Gus Johnson

People always ask me how I prepare for games that I am going to broadcast. Well, there is a lot to it. I memorize and categorize stats, I go over player stories in my head, I get familiar with the opposing team, I memorize the rosters, I study the history regarding the teams and the matchup and I put together all of the facts regarding the context of the game.

But right before the game? I don't nap, I don't practice, and I don't gargle lemon juice ala Luciano Pavarotti. No, my pal and road trip roommate Justin Scanson got me hooked on something better: I listen to the magic that is Gus Johnson. I think every sportscaster can learn a thing or two from his enthusiasm for the game he is covering. His dramatic calls get me juiced for the game at hand. Here is my favorite GJ moment: UCLA-Gonzaga from the 2006 NCAA Tournament. THE CAAAATCH!



Jitters!

Welcome to TW Courtside!

Isn't technology wonderful?! It seems everyone has opinions; some people express them better than others, but we all have them nonetheless. As any of my friends or family will tell you, I definitely have opinions, especially regarding sports and politics. Fortunately for them, the Internet allows me to express them to the world, and I have heard from more than one friend that they hope a blog will alleviate the necessity of me sharing my opinions all of the time.

Kidding aside, I plan to use this blog as my format for taking a deeper look at less examined areas in sports. For example, ever since I began providing radio play-by-play for women's college basketball, I have recognized that the drama, achievements, excitement, and stories of this sport go largely unnoticed by the sports world. Let me tell you, these athletes are far more deserving of the spotlight than the prima donnas of the NBA and NFL. See, already on my soap box.

One thing you can count on: lists. I am a lister and I believe that listing is the most concise and effective way to convey information. Also, expect variety. My life is all over the board, and this blog will be the same.

My first list:

The Top 5 NBA Postseason Announce Teams, in order:
1. Dan Schulman and Doris Burke, ESPN
2. Kevin Harlan and Doug Collins, TNT
3. Mike Tirico and Hubie Brown, TNT
4. Marv Albert and Reggie Miller, TNT
5. Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy, ESPN