Month: January 2012

Two For Tuesday — Jan. 31

Posted by dobrien – January 31, 2012

I should be golfing today instead of blogging, but I’m dedicated to the cause here at DOBservations. Here’s what’s on my mind:

1. Time to do away with the Pro Bowl

I will admit that I only watched highlights of this year’s Pro Bowl game. Sunday was Royal Rumble night at my house, so I missed the AFC’s huge 59-41 victory over the NFC. From the looks of things, it appeared Brandon Marshall was the only one who was really trying to play. I know the game means nothing and the guys who go only get a free trip to Hawaii and little else since their game checks pale in comparison to what they make during the season. Since the players don’t care, why should fans. It’s time to kill the Pro Bowl.

2. Dwight Howard to Chicago?

News came out Monday that Orlando big man Dwight Howard wouldn’t mind playing with the Bulls. I’m OK with that, no matter what the Bulls have to give up — shy of trading Derrick Rose. Yes, Luol Deng was out, but the Bulls as currently constructed can’t beat Miami in a seven-game series. The team needs to make a move if it’s to prove that it is a serious contender in the Eastern Conference. I don’t know that they’ll swing a deal for Howard — the Nets are supposedly the frontrunner — but I’d love to see it happen.

QU Review — QU men 61, Maryville 42

Posted by dobrien – January 28, 2012

The Hawks ran their winning streak to four games with a road win on Saturday afternoon.

Here’s a look at Saturday’s stars:

1. Courtney Belger

One of four Hawks from the St. Louis area, Belger gave his friends and family a performance to remember. He finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists. As he’s done in recent games, Belger also did a nice job of maintaining the pace of play Hawks coach Marty Bell desires.

2. Chris Babbitt

Yet another St. Louis Hawk, the Florissant, Mo., native also had a happy Homecoming. He hit several mid-range jumpers and had a solid all-around performance with 12 points, five rebounds and two assists.

3. Jordan Wilson

Let’s make it 3 for 3 with St. Louisians as the Florissant, Mo., product gave the Hawks a spark off the bench. He had nine points and two steals. As QU makes its push to get back into the GLVC West race, the Hawks will need more games like this from the freshman.

DOBservations

The QU coaching staff took part in the Coaches vs. Cancer initiative and coached the game wearing tennis shoes. Bell and his crew were all decked out in Nike. … QU freshman Drake Vermillion got a little too anxious when checking himself into the game at one point in the second half. Vermillion raced into the game before taking his warm-up shirt off. He made it all the way to a spot on the lane at the opposite end of the court before finally realizing his gaffe. … QU scored the first 15 points of the game and led 40-10 at one point early in the second half. … The 10 points the Saints scored in the first half was easily the least the Hawks have given up in one half this year and has to be in the neighborhood of a school record if such a stat was tracked. Maryville was 4 of 20 from the field, including a 2-for-15 clip from 3-point range in the first half. … Had a good chat with former QU football player Marcus Manning, who is in his first year at Maryville’s Athletic Director.

QU Review — QU women 66, Maryville 42

Posted by dobrien – January 28, 2012

The Lady Hawks became the first visiting team to beat the Saints in Moloney Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Here’s a look at Saturday’s stars:

1. Ali Schwagmeyer

Her last-second 3-pointer to end the first half gave the Lady Hawks a 32-22 lead. It provided the spark the Lady Hawks needed to snuff out the Saints. QU never led by less than 10 points the rest of the way. Schwagmeyer was her usual stellar self, finishing with 19 points, seven rebounds and four steals. She won’t get the GLVC Player of the Week honor again this week, but the Central product was just as impressive this week as she was the previous one.

2. Karlee Gengenbacher

The sophomore from Quincy Notre Dame had a solid all-around game, recording a “triple single.” Seriously, shouldn’t players get some kind of props for having at least five of each in a stats category? She had nine points, led the Lady Hawks with eight rebounds and set a career high with six assists.

3. Linsay Henke

She continued to tack on to her season totals with another solid performance. Henke had 13 points and six rebounds as Maryville was added to the list of teams who don’t have anyone who can guard her in the low block. About the only thing she did wrong was get into foul trouble, which is a rarity for her. She picked up her fourth foul of the game with 11:13 to play, but didn’t foul out.

DOBservations

The Lady Hawks had just eight healthy players. The sisters Cramsey — Lucy and Elizabeth — missed the game to attend their grandmother’s funeral. … Daryle Goldie missed her seventh straight game because of concussion issues. … Because the Lady Hawks were so low on numbers, the coaching staff took the unusual step of putting senior Renita Bunte’s name in the scorebook. Bunte has missed the last two seasons because of knee problems. If four Lady Hawks had fouled out, Bunte would have got the call to play. … The Lady Hawks were so low on numbers that they couldn’t do their regular warm-up routine. … With Lucy Cramsey gone, Felisha Loggins made her first collegiate start. She scored 12 points and grabbed four rebounds.

 

Slap of the Week — Jan. 27

Posted by dobrien – January 27, 2012

My co-worker Matt Schuckman had a post on his blog earlier this week that proved as a wake-up to St. Louis Cardinals fans. Schuck gave Cardinals fans a sneak peek at Albert Pujols in action as an Angel thanks to Topps baseball cards.

As you can see from the photo, the folks at Topps did a little Photoshop work here for its 2012 set. Pujols is playing a game against Kansas City. Topps did a decent job of making it look like Pujols was actually playing for the Angels. But why does Topps try to insult our intelligence by putting out a card of Pujols in an Angels game before he ever plays a game for them. ESPN does the same thing all of the time after players are traded or sign as free agents. They photoshop the player with his new hat on minutes after the deal is done.

I would have much rather had Topps go old school and have a 7-year-old kid cut and paste the players’ new hat on their card. They did this all the time in the 1970s and 80s. I remember coming to a halt while looking through packs that had cards like this 1974 Topps gem of former Chicago Cubs catcher Randy Hundley. Notice how hokey the Twins cap looks that Hundley is wearing. I also love the huge “TRADED” splashed across the front of the card.

Topps could still do this. In addition to the 7-year-old’s artwork, Topps could put a big “TRADER” across Pujols’ card to let everyone know that he bolted his old team for more cash somewhere else.

I wish Topps would have just waited until after the season to start to get something of Pujols in action to place in its 2012 set. There was no need to slap an Angels jersey on him so soon.

QU Review — QU men 77, UMSL 64

Posted by dobrien – January 27, 2012

The Quincy University men’s basketball team picked up its biggest win of the season at home on Thursday night by knocking off the GLVC West Division-leading Tritons.

Here’s a look at Thursday’s stars:

1. Justin Brock

The Hawks’ senior center said after the game in so many words, “not in my house.” He poured in 25 points, getting point-blank looks for much of the night, and grabbed 12 rebounds to power the Hawks to the win. UMSL has three weeks to find someone that can guard the 6-foot-8 Brock in the low post. No one the Tritons threw at him on Thursday could slow him.

2.  Austin Weber

The redshirt freshman had been in a bit of a shooting slump that he snapped out of big time. He scored eight straight points during one second-half stretch. He had two 3-pointers in that span. The first was a 28-foot bomb from the right wing in front of the Hawks’ bench. The other came after Marshawn Norris did some fancy footwork on the left baseline and found Weber open in the right corner. Weber finished with 10 points and gave the Hawks a big spark off the bench.

3. Courtney Belger

The Hawks’ senior point guard didn’t do much wrong in leading the Hawks to a win over his hometown team. Belger was a perfect 4 for 4 from the floor and made three of his four free throws for 11 points. His last shot of the game was his best, a fastbreak dunk that brought a full house at Pepsi to its feet. Belger also had five rebounds and three assists. He’s been steady for the Hawks all season long.

DOBservations

UMSL got a nice lift from Moline native Isiah Nunn. He led the Tritons with 17 points, including a pair of nifty dunks. … The Hawks once again shut down one of the league’s top offensive players. UMSL’s Troy Long came into the game averaging 21.2 points in league play, but left with just 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting. … The crowd was the biggest of the season at 1,278. The QU football team came out en masse as did several other QU athletic teams. “What a crowd,” QU coach Marty Bell said. “Thanks to our students and our community. It was darn near full tonight. That was a huge lift for our team and really energizied them.” … The luckiest of those fans was QU football player Billy Hayes. The freshman offensive lineman from Bloomington Central Catholic drained a half-court shot as part of a timeout contest. He won a $50 gift certificate from the QU bookstore for his efforts. … Illini West senior Evan McGaughey, a 6-foot-6 post player, sat in the first row behind the Hawks’ bench. He is one of several QU recruiting targets.

QU Review — QU women 75, UMSL 57

Posted by dobrien – January 27, 2012

The Lady Hawks had little trouble finishing their three-game homestand with a perfect 3-0 record by routing the Tritons.

Here’s a look at Thursday’s stars:

1. Felisha Loggins

She had her best game as a collegian in a reserve role. She came off the bench to score 14 points — as many as UMSL’s bench had a whole — to give the Lady Hawks a lift. She turned her only steal of the game into an easy fastbreak basket in the first half, which was part of an outstanding half of defensive play by the Lady Hawks. Loggins also added five rebounds. The game was probably her best since she made an impact early in a game last season at Illinois-Springfield. After coming to QU as a walk-on under JD Gravina, the Lady Hawks might have found a diamond in the rough with Loggins.

2. Linsay Henke

She’s had much better nights offensively — the 6-foot-4 post shot just 2 for 9 from the field — but did her thing at the defensive end. She was one block shy of tying the school’s single-game record by swatting away six Triton shots. She affected many more UMSL offerings. She had 12 rebounds — eight on defense — and proved to be the last line of defense as the QU guards were aggressive on the perimeter. QU made 11 steals — 10 in the first half.

3. Ali Schwagmeyer

It was just a routine night at the office for the reigning GLVC Player of the Week. Schwagmeyer had 22 points, canning 9 of 13 shots and making her only 3-point attempt. She added five rebounds and had two assists. During the Lady Hawks’ three-game homestand, Schwagmeyer scored 70 points and returned to the form that made her the GLVC’s MVP last season.

DOBservations

The Lady Hawks have now won 11 straight in the series. Fifth-year UMSL coach Lisa Curliss-Taylor is still waiting to win a game at Pepsi Arena against QU. … Henke’s six blocks helped her move into fourth place on the school’s career blocks list. With 55 blocks on the season, Henke has tied Courtney VonderHaar on the school’s single season blocks list. She’s third in the nation in blocked shots and second in the GLVC behind Indianapolis’ Syndney Weinert. … Clark County’s Daryle Goldie missed her sixth straight game with concussion symptoms. Goldie said she hopes to be back on the court by the middle of February. … Thanks to some quick work by the QU physical plant, the game was able to go off without a hitch. One of the covers for that holds the volleyball standards wouldn’t close all of the way. A physical plant worker wound up pounding the cover into place after a few seconds of tinkering with it before the teams came out for their pregame warm-ups. … Highland junior Ashton Luttrull took in the Lady Hawks’ game. The point guard is one of the top players in the area and is being courted by several Division I schoools.

Mid-Week Grades for Jan. 25

Posted by dobrien – January 25, 2012

Believe it or not, these are the last grades for January. My how time flies when you’re having fun. Wonder if winter will ever get here. Anyway, you know the drill. Feel free to text us your grades at 217-617-9437 and make sure to listen to WGEM SportsCenter on ESPN 1440 or online every weekday morning between 7 and 9 a.m. We’ll hash these over around 8:20 today.

A — Chicago Bulls. Yes, I’m a little biased here, but what the Bulls have done is a bit amazing. We’re almost a third of the way through the season and the Bulls have the best record in the league again. They’ve fought through injuries to several players, including Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, C.J. Watson and Taj Gibson, but haven’t missed a beat. I’d love to see everyone get healthy by the time May rolls around for the playoffs.

B — Quincy University men’s basketball. While the Hawks may not be leading the Great Lakes Valley Conference, their ability to deal with injuries has been nearly as impressive. When Tyler Thompson went down with a knee injury in the preseason, I thought that would throw the team for a loop. Thanks to a couple of freshmen playing wise beyond their years, the Hawks haven’t been affected too much by Thompson’s absence. First, Ricardo Carbajal filled Thompson’s role nicely. When Carvajal went down with an abdominal issue, fellow freshman Scott Hahn stepped right in. The Hawks have a huge test Thursday night against GLVC West leader Missouri-St. Louis. A win would put the Hawks back in the hunt for a West Division title.

C — Big Ten basketball. Will someone please step up and take control of the conference. The Big Ten is the only Division I basketball conference where every team has at least two losses and every team has at least two wins, so there’s not much separating first-place Michigan (6-2) from last place Penn State and Nebraska (2-6). Parity might be good for those folks who like to give ribbons to everyone for participating, but I want to see some establish themselves. I think Ohio State probably has the best team, but the Buckeyes haven’t lived up to their preseason billing as the league’s best team.

D — Billy Cundiff. I feel for the Baltimore Ravens kicker. Seems like we only remember kickers when they really goof up. Sure, kickers get some credit when they kick game-winners, but it’s rare that they’re the star of the game. Even when those game-winners are delivered there’s usually a quarterback or defender who gets the credit for putting the kicker in the spot to deliver. Cundiff said all of the right things in the aftermath of his missed 32-yard attempt in the final seconds of Sunday’s AFC Championship game loss at New England. Then on Monday, we come to find out that his routine was thrown off because the downs were listed wrong on the scoreboard. Really? Seems like a lame excuse to me.

F — CBSSports.com. As bad a weekend as Cundiff and his fellow playoff goat Kyle Williams of the San Francisco 49ers had, the folks at CBS trumped them all. The web site decided to go off a report by a student media source at Penn State on Saturday night that Joe Paterno had died. Of course, Paterno was still alive at the time. That was just terrible journalism by CBSSports.com. I can see the race to be first on coaching announcements and other news bits, but why race to announce someone’s death. And the only people who remember who scooped who are reporters. The general public doesn’t keep track and probably doesn’t care.

Two for Tuesday — Jan. 24

Posted by dobrien – January 24, 2012

Good morning, here’s your Two-fer:

1. I’m good with this Super Bowl matchup.

Don’t know that there are a lot of Patriots or Giants fans in these parts. There are more Patriots and Giants haters around here than fans, making Super Bowl XLVI more of a “who do I hate less” proposition. I’m not a big fan of either team, but I think this is going to be a great matchup. Both teams have the ability to put points on the board behind two elite quarterbacks — yes, Eli Manning is now an elite QB. Both defenses have shown they can be pretty darn stingy at times, too. We just had this matchup four years ago and that was a pretty good game. Wish I didn’t have to wait two weeks to see it.

2. Penn State can do what it likes.

The death of Joe Paterno has once again put Penn State in a precarious spot. How should it honor the legendary coach it fired near the end of last season? The school will have a two-day viewing, starting today, and it will hold a memorial service on Thursday in its basketball arena. Some who are mad at the school for its handling of the Paterno firing will say it’s not enough. To me, what the school is doing seems appropriate for a man who meant so much to that school and community over the years.

QU Review — QU men 69, Missouri S&T 58

Posted by dobrien – January 22, 2012

The Hawks finished a weekend sweep of Great Lakes Valley Conference home games by beating the Miners.

Here’s a look at Saturday’s stars:

1. Justin Brock

The senior was back in action after missing two games with a right ankle injury. He didn’t start, but came in five minutes into the game and made his presence felt. Brock had 17 points and nine rebounds to pass the 1,000-point mark in his QU career. He is the 38th player in program history to reach that mark and is the eighth Hawk in the 2000s to score his 1,000th point.

2. Scott Hahn

The freshman from Mount Pleasant, Iowa, continues to shine. He had 15 points and seven rebounds in his second career start. He’s turning into one of the top freshmen in the league, something I’m going to research. There aren’t very many freshmen making a difference right now in the GLVC. Time for the QU publicists to see where Hahn ranks in the GLVC and start pushing him for GLVC Freshman of the Year honors.

3. Tommy Pelczynski

The guard was the Miners’ only scoring threat. He finished with 23 points, including an impressive dunk in traffic in the first half. He scored 14 of those points in the first half and got the Ryan Stuckman treatment in the second half as the QU defensive stopper started face guarding him from 40 feet out. If he had any other help on offense, the Miners could have pulled another upset on the road.

DOBservations

The folks at QU can tout that Michael Jackson appeared at Pepsi Arena. Instead of the late great “King of Pop,” this Michael Jackson from S&T was a bruising power forward. … Saturday’s game was a far cry from the last time the team’s met early last season in Rolla, Mo., when QU played its worst game of the season in a 24-point loss. … QU’s Chris Babbitt and S&T’s Bryce Foster, who is the Miners’ top scorer this season, were high school teammates at Hazelwood Central. … QU is now 10-1 against S&T since the Miners joined the GLVC in 2005.

 

QU Review — QU women 73, Missouri S&T 62

Posted by dobrien – January 22, 2012

The Lady Hawks continued to keep pace in the GLVC’s West Division by finishing a weekend sweep at Pepsi Arena.

Here’s a look at Saturday’s stars:

1. Ali Schwagmeyer

Fresh off her career-high 30 point performance against Drury, the senior didn’t slow down. For a while, it looked like she might flirt with a triple double, but settled for 18 points, 13 rebounds and five assists as one of four Lady Hawks in double figures. After getting shut down by the Miners when the teams last met early last season, Schwagmeyer had no such problems in this meeting.

2. Lucy Cramsey

There was a time not so long ago that Cramsey couldn’t make anything. After spending a lot more time putting up shots between practices in Pepsi Arena, the Liberty product is starting to find her groove. She drilled three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points. She made back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the second half to push the Lady Hawks’ lead to 13 points before the Miners rallied to tie the game.

3. Linsay Henke

I may just give her a permanent spot in the top three. She posted another double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. She swatted away a pair of shots for good measure. Like most teams, Missouri S&T had no one that could match her size in the paint. Teams like Drury and S&T will have to figure out something between now and when the Lady Hawks visit their places in two weeks. Good luck with that.

DOBservations

S&T got a nice lift from two reserves. Senait McLeod had 13 points and Quintonia Evans added 12 points and 11 rebounds as S&T’s bench scored nearly as many points (29) as their starters (33) did. … Kassidy Shuman had another solid game at point, following up her nine-assist effort against Drury with seven assists on Saturday. … Sophomore Felisha Loggins had another productive day in limited minutes for the Lady Hawks, finishing with four points, six rebounds and two assists in just 10 minutes of action. … The Lady Hawks once again played without Daryle Goldie, who missed her fifth straight game because of a concussion.