No matter what hits happen on the NFL fields on this Thanksgiving 2009, none will match this 6-year-old kid from Florida. Yes, a 6-year-old laying kids out. If you don’t laugh, you’re not human (or maybe just not as sinister as I am):
Happy Thanksgiving!
Here’s a look at your pre-Thanksgiving, one-month-until-Christmas edition of the Mid-Week Grades, which are being sponsored now by Dr. Scott Stiffey of ProActive Chiropractic Center in Palmyra, Mo. It’s a Houchins-free zone today, so I’ll have the pleasure of breaking these down with QU women’s basketball coach JD Gravina on Wednesday’s program. If you have a grade, text us at 217-617-9437. Remember to listen in to WGEM SportsCenter from 7 to 9 a.m. And if you happen to miss the morning show, we’re doing a “Best of” show every night on WGEM NewsTalk 105. Enough plugs, on with the grades.
A — Bill Connell and Mark St. Clair. Kudos to Connell, the Quincy Notre Dame football coach, and St. Clair, coach of the Hannibal football team, for giving the area another quality football game to mark on our calendars. The opening week of the 2010 and 2011 seasons will see the Raiders and Pirates do battle. It will be good for each team to be tested early in the season. Both had their fair share of blowout games this season. It says something about each coach that they were able to put their ego aside and schedule a game that they could very well lose.
B — Quincy High School girls basketball. There have been much harsher critics of Sandi Devoe’s program than me, but none of them are willing to put their name behind their words on various message boards. After bashing the program this summer, it’s time to give the Blue Devils their due. Tuesday’s win over Galesburg put the Blue Devils in a tie for first in the Western Big Six Conference race and pushed their record to 4-1. They’ll take a four-game winning streak into their Thanksgiving Tournament this weekend. Yes, it’s still very, very early in the season, but maybe Devoe and her team will have the last laugh.
C — Kansas City Chiefs. Beating the Raiders is one thing, after all the Chiefs have owned the Raiders lately. But a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers shows that Todd Haley and Co. are going in the right direction. Last week’s 27-24 overtime victory left a lot of Steelers fans bumming. It’s not going to happen this year, but the Chiefs may not be too far away from contending again in a weakening AFC West Division.
D — LPGA Tour. We should consider ourselves lucky around here. If we want to see the world’s best female golfers, we can head over to Springfield, Ill., to watch the State Farm Classic. That event is just one of 12 LPGA events that will be on American soil next year. Half of the 24 tournaments will be played overseas. Just two years ago, the tour had 34 events, but it’s been hit hard by the economic downturn. Michelle Wie and Co. don’t have to get day jobs yet, but that might not be too far off.
F — The University of Notre Dame. Please don’t stop me if you’ve heard this before. The former football factory likely will be in the market for a new head coach after another disappointing season comes to an end with a loss at Stanford on Saturday. Irish fans everywhere hope the school gets it right this time. Irish haters hope the school screws up again. An Irish backer, I’m afraid the Irish haters have plenty of more years of gloating over the Irish’s miserable play. They could bring back the ghost of Knute Rockne and it’s not going to help this mess.
The Hawks did what they were supposed to against the Trojans on Tuesday night at Pepsi Arena — beat them. For the 19th time in 19 tries, the Hawks handled their neighbors from America’s Hometown.
Thankfully, the Trojans put up a bit more of a fight than Central Christian College of the Bible.
Here’s a look at Tuesday’s stars:
1. Courtney Belger
The sophomore went strong to the hoop three times for baskets and also knocked down a 3-pointer on a kickout pass from the low post by Justin Brock as part of his nine-point performance. He also had three assists and made a steal. His ability to play defense and finish at the rim is what caught the QU coaching staff’s eye when they recruited him out of St. Louis, and it’s good to see that entire package starting to shine through.
2. Billy Hayes
Belger’s backup at point had a pretty good game in his own right. The transfer from Danville Area Community College scored a team-high 14 points with two assists and two steals. He has a lot of confidence in his ability to hit the outside shot and has shown an ability to knock down 3-pointers from the top of the key. Strong point guard play by Belger and Hayes will be a must when the team enters Great Lakes Valley Conference play.
3. Andrew Kueker
He was pretty efficient in his 12 minutes of playing time. The junior forward scored 10 points and hit both of his 3-point attempts. With Andreas Coleman now in the mix down low, it should allow Kueker to spend more time facing the basket when he’s on the floor. He’s shown he can be a threat from the outside and at 6-foot-8, Kueker can provide some matchup problems.
DOBservations
Former QU player Cody Stoneburner made his return to Pepsi Arena. Stoneburner, a North Shelby graduate, spent three years at QU before going to HLG last season when he redshirted. In three seasons at QU, Stoneburner averaged 2.6 points and 1.7 rebounds per game in 61 games. “Stoney” had four points and seven rebounds and was accident hit below the belt by Kueker after scoring on a putback early in the second half. … If there’s a more entertaining player to watch in the GLVC than Billy Baptist, I want to see him. … In their last two games, the Hawks have outscored their opposition 209-101. … The Hawks need just two more wins to match the best start in team history during Bell’s tenure. The 2006-07 Hawks started 6-0. … HLG has now lost to two GLVC teams. Kentucky Wesleyan handed the Trojans a 77-44 loss earlier this month in a game that the Trojans counted as an exhibition.
The Lady Hawks were taken to the wire by a Bulldogs team picked to finish 11th in the 11-team MIAA. Not good, but a win’s a win.
Here’s a look at Tuesday’s stars from Pepsi Arena:
1. Daryle Goldie
The stats line for the Clark County product isn’t going to wow you — four points, three rebounds and an assists. It’s what Goldie did on the defense end of the floor that earns her some kudos. She was thrown in late in the game to slow down Truman’s Laura Joya. With Goldie shadowing her late, Joya didn’t score a point for the final six minutes of the game. Goldie did the same thing in Saturday’s win over Southwest Baptist, playing some key minutes down the stretch thanks to her defense.
2. Lindsey Stellflue
She has stepped forward to take up some of the scoring slack left open by Jessica Keller’s graduation. Stellflue led the Lady Hawks (4-0) in scoring for the third time in four games with a 22-point effort. No shot was bigger than her step back 3-pointer off a Courtney Shuman feed with just over a minute and a half left to play.
3. Courtney Shuman
She had another solid night near the basket with 15 points and nine rebounds. Truman’s post players — like many others who fact the Lady Hawks — had a tough time dealing with Shuman’s athleticism. The only problem for the Lady Hawks right now is that they’re not getting consistent play in her spot when she goes to the bench.
DOBservations
The win was Quincy’s fifth straight over Truman State. … Former Mark Twain star Sarah Gordon is a graduate assistant coach for Truman State. … With his win over Southwest Baptist on Saturday, JD Gravina became the fastest coach to reach the 50-win mark in QU history, accomplishing the feat in his 65th game. It took the late Frank Longo 73 games to reach the mark. … Thanks to their championship last weekend at the QU/Subway Tip-Off Tournament, the Lady Hawks jumped five spots in the NCAA Division II national poll up to No. 19. … Tuesday’s game was the second of four straight against teams from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. QU will face Southwest Baptist, which they beat 71-59 on Saturday, and Central Missouri during this weekend’s Southwest Baptist Classic in Bolivar, Mo.
With the basketball season here, it’s time for another edition of the “Are You Smarter Than The Sports Guys” contest.
Little Caesar’s has jumped on board to provide the prizes. Sign up now to get in on the ground floor. The game is free to play and you could win $20 worth of pizza every week.
You’ll notice two new faces in our promo above. The guy on right, Josh Houchins, is the host of the wildy popular WGEM SportsCenter program. The guy on the left, Jared Bell, is our new guy on staff. He’ll be replacing Matt Goldberg, who is leaving us to go to his native New Jersey.
Good luck!
Before we get into the three stars from Saturday’s beating, I’ll hop on top of my soap box.
With all due respect to the fine folks of Central Christian College of the Bible, a faith-based school in Moberly, Mo., the Saints had no business being on the same court with the Hawks for this non-conference game.
I fully understand the need for teams to “schedule wins.” You throw some money at a school to come in and play you. (QU routinely pays the smaller schools in the neighborhood of $1,500 for these types of games.) Every school does it at the NCAA Division I and Division II levels. Heck, the Hawks were just the fodder earlier this month and got $25,000 combined for exhibition losses to Illinois, Illinois State and Notre Dame. The difference in those game and what happened Saturday night at QU was that the Hawks gave effort in those games and fully expected to go in and fight for a win.
The Saints, who were 103-59 losers to the Hawks at Pepsi last year, didn’t give much of an effort. Yes, they were greatly undersized with no player taller than 6-foot-3 on their roster. They were mismatched on every spot on the floor. But they didn’t offer any resistance at all. The Hawks did whatever they wanted.
The Hawks padded their stats across the board as everyone who played scored. And to credit QU, it didn’t just turn the game into a streetball game when things got out of hand. The Hawks were disciplined enough to run their offense and do the things they’re coached. That was probably the highlight of the night for them.
Still, this game was a flat-out embarrassment.
You felt bad for the Saints for getting pummeled. If there was ever a time for a running clock in college basketball, this was it. I felt bad for the people who paid good money to watch a game and instead witnessed a beating.
Hopefully, this is the last we’ll ever see of the Saints.
With that out of the way, here’s a look at Saturday’s stars:
1. Billy Baptist
For the second straight home game, Baptist missed a dunk. That first-half miss on a breakaway — the same type of dunk he missed in the season opener against Upper Iowa — was about the only thing he did wrong though. He was 5 of 6 on dunks during the game as part of a 23-point, 11-rebound, three-assist effort. Oh, and he played just 14 minutes.
2. Justin Brock
The junior center took full advantage of the smaller Saints by scoring 19 points and grabbing nine rebounds. The Saints had no answer for how to guard him in the low post as he easily pushed his way to the basket. He played just 14 minutes as well.
3. Christy Fleming
QU’s first-year cheer and dance coach and her squad deserve a nod for an entertaining halftime performance. Heck, it was probably the highlight of the night. The teams combined to do a number where they made a human car. It was pretty neat and got a good reaction from the crowd, most of which left after that.
DOBservations
The Hawks set two school records in the win. The 127 points was the most in a single game, eclipsing the 126 points the 1952-53 Hawks scored in a game against Carthage College. The 72-point margin of victory is also a record, passing a 58-point win by the 1996-97 Hawks over Harris-Stowe (106-48). … Believe or not, the team’s 72 rebounds wasn’t even close to a record. The Hawks once pulled down 96 boards in a game against McKendree during the 1963-64 campaign. The Hawks outrebounded the Saints 72-18. … Courtney Belger set a career high with 10 assists as the Hawks had 34 assists against 10 turnovers. … QU outscored the Saints 76-12 in the paint and had 31 second-chance points to just 2 for Central Christian. … After playing several GLVC schools last year, Central Christian will not play any other than QU this season. … The best of Baptist’s five dunks came on a nice alley-oop feed by Billy Hayes.
The Lady Hawks made a bit of history Saturday night by capturing their first back-to-back titles in QU/Subway Tip-Off Tournament history.
Saturday’s stars:
1. Courtney Shuman
The junior from Kahoka, Mo., was probably the most happy about this statistic — 6 for 6 from the free-throw line. She came into the game shooting just 27 percent from the stripe, but was steady on Saturday as part of an 18-point, 11 rebound effort against the Bearcats. She also tied for the team lead with four assists.
2. Justeen Koehler
Had I been given a vote for the all-tournament team, I would have put Koeher on it. She was fantastic off the bench, showing why she’s moved up the depth chart. After a 12-point, six-rebound effort in Friday’s overtime win over Iowa Wesleyan, the senior forward had nine points and six rebounds. If she continues to give the Lady Hawks that type of play off the bench, the team will become even more dangerous.
3. Kassidy Shuman
Another reserve player who helped the Lady Hawks’ cause. The sophomore played solid minutes at point guard, scoring seven points, getting five rebounds and handing out two assists in 15 minutes. QU will need someone to give starter Whintae Irby a break. Shuman looks like she wants to fill that role.
DOBservations
This is the first of two meetings between the schools, which will meet again Friday in the first round of the SBU Tournament. … The Bearcats wanted to live and die by the 3-point shot. Twenty-two of the team’s 27 first-half shots were from behind the arc. … Shuman and Lindsey Stellflue were the Lady Hawks’ representatives on the all-tournament team. … New Great Lakes Valley Conference member Maryville won the third-place game over Iowa Wesleyan 85-82 thanks to a last-second 3-pointer from halfcourt by former Clopton star Mikal Bencomo, who was also named to the all-tournament team. … The fashion plate known as QU coach JD Gravina was decked out in an all-black suit with a teal tie. He called it his “Mackie” suit in reference to his dog, which has her own Facebook account.
The folks in Ireland know how St. Louis Cardinals fans feel.
Don Denkinger meet Thierry Henry.
In case you missed it, several teams earlier this week were trying to fight their way into next year’s World Cup field. The matches didn’t get a lot of play here because the U.S. team had already qualified. However, Henry and the French were still on the bubble and had to face the Irish in order to qualify.
Late in Wednesday’s match, Henry assisted on the deciding goal by William Gallas to force a 1-1 draw in Paris. Henry used his hand to control the ball — a big no-no in soccer — so the goal shouldn’t have counted.
Because the French won 1-0 at Ireland earlier, it pushed the French into the Cup and left the Irish steaming.
The Irish asked for what any 9-year-old on a playground would ask for after he’s lost — a do over. Soccer’s governing body, FIFA, rejected the Irish’s request for a do-over. Many others are asking for video replay, which isn’t used in World Cup play.
Now Henry is as reviled in Ireland as Denkinger is in Cardinal Nation for his horrendous call in Game 6 of the 1985 World Series. Those rational Irish soccer fans have labeled Henry a cheat for his actions. Henry, to his credit, has apologized. He fessed up to reporters right away after the game, too, but that hasn’t made a difference for some. Even the mild-mannered Padraig Harrington is riled up about the whole thing.
The Irishmen should be mad at their players, not Henry. Had they taken care of business on their home turf, instead of losing, then maybe they’d be in next year’s Cup field.
With Thanksgiving nearly here, it’s time to give thanks. I’m thankful to have the opportunity to dish out these grades every Wednesday on WGEM SportsCenter, which has been called “simply the best show in the Tri-States” by Stephen A. Smith. SportsCenter emcee Josh Houchins and I will go over these grades around 8:20 or so on Wednesday’s program. Make sure to listen in every weekday from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on ESPN 1440.
A — ESPN. For someone who is basically a shut-in this week thanks to our Prep Basketball Preview — which hits newsstands on Tuesday — the 24-hours of college basketball was a treat. Can’t say that I’ve ever been so excited for a Cal-State Fullerton-UCLA matchup. And from the “You Can’t Make This Up” Department: In Tuesday’s special 5 a.m. game between Saint Peter’s and Monmouth (N.J.), the first basket was scored by Saint Peter’s Ryan Bacon. They should have given the kid a Wowchins.
B — Quincy Notre Dame football. The Raiders are no doubt bumming over the fact that their season came to a close in the state quarterfinals. Purdue-bound Sean Robinson proved to be too much for QND to handle in a 45-26 loss at Rochester. It’s the second straight year that the Raiders were eliminated by the team ranked No. 1 in the final state poll during the postseason in the quarterfinals. Some may be wondering if QND will ever get over the hump and make a trip to Champaign. Winners of 20 straight regular season games and the last two Mid-State 6 Conference titles, the Raiders don’t have anything to apologize about.
C — Christian Guenther. Last month, the Culver-Stockton College football coach announced that he was stepping down at the end of the season. He was wrong about his team winning a game before he left, but the Wildcats certainly didn’t give up on their outgoing coach. With winnable contests in their last three games, C-SC stayed close but couldn’t get over the top as their nation’s worst losing streak hit 24 games. C-SC Athletic Director Joel Dant told me last week he hopes to have a field of more than 100 candidates narrowed to a final group of three to five people who will visit the Canton, Mo., campus over the next few weeks.
D — Isiah Thomas. There’s no way that the former Detroit Bad Boy’s tenure as head coach at Florida International ends well. Seems that Zeke, whom I loathe about as much as I do Sergio Garcia, is already complaining about his team getting the tar beat out of it. He and Tulsa’s Doug Wojcik had a little dust up over the weekend during Tulsa’s 81-49 victory over FIU. Like everything else Thomas has done outside of playing the game, this experiment will end miserably.
F — Bill Belichick. It’s been interesting to watch the aftermath of his failed call to go for it on fourth down deep in his own territory Sunday night against the Colts. There’s really no way to defend his decision to give the ball to Peyton Manning on the 29-yard line in the final two minutes of the game. Punt. The. Football. Yet, there are some stat geeks out there, who are claiming the move was the right one. Even some football folks came to Belichick’s defense during the Monday morning quarterback sessions. Would some other coach — say Dallas’ Wade Phillips or Oakland’s Tom Cable — been given the same backing by the stat nerds and others? It’s doubtful.
The Hawks opened the 2009-2010 with a rather ugly win on a rare Sunday afternoon at Pepsi Arena. Here’s a look at the three stars of the day:
1. Mookie Pierre
Thanks to a 10-for-10 showing from the free-throw line, Pierre finished with a team-high 16 points. He also had a key steal and bucket to cap a 17-0 spurt by the Hawks to start the second half. Didn’t play nearly as much point guard today as he had to last year. That spot looks to be in the capable hands of sophomore Courtney Belger and Billy Hayes.
2. Josh Edmonds
The junior was in the right place at the right time several times during Sunday’s game. He made a few hustle plays, including a steal and bucket that turned into a three-point play during the Hawks’ game-changing run to start the second half. Edmonds didn’t miss a shot, going 4 for4 from the floor, including a 3-pointer, and was 3 for 3 at the line for a 12-point day. Pretty sure that if he shoots that percentage all year that he’ll have a school record.
3. Brad Burgus
He came off the bench and proved to be the Peacocks’ only scoring threat. The sophomore from Osceola, Iowa, made three straight 3-pointers late in the first half to turn a four-point deficit into a five-point lead for the Peacocks, who led 33-31 at the half.
DOBservations
The Hawks were without Justin Brock and Tyler Thompson, both of whom were suspended for one game by the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Brock was ejected from the Hawks’ season-ending loss to Bellarmine in the GLVC Tournament last year, which caused his suspension. Thompson was found to have left the QU bench area during a fracas and was slapped with the one-game suspensnion. Both will be back in uniform for the Hawks on Tuesday at Missouri Western. … Billy Baptist didn’t have the greatest of openers for QU. He missed a dunk and turned the ball over five times. He calmed down in the second half to score 10 points. … If you didn’t know it, you’d think the guy wearing No. 10 for the Hawks this year was the same guy who wore it last year. From a distance, Hayes looks a lot like Scooter Maye, who wore the number last year. Both are about the same height, have shaved heads and wear a white T-shirt under their uniforms. That’s where the comparisons stop though. Hayes looks like he’ll make much more of an impact than what Maye did last season. … Freshman Gavin Wiss played five minutes in the first half. He may have the biggest shoes I’ve ever seen on a Hawks player. The 6-foot-10 center wears a size 18.
