17 March 2012

Rock Concert? Jet takeoff? Nope…Eastview/Apple Valley III.

For my Examiner.com recap of the Eastview/Apple Valley game, click here.

I got my first hint that the Eastview/Apple Valley was going to be bigger than a big game the night before via my Twitter feed; someone I follow had posted that Apple Valley had burned through their allotment of advance tickets so if you wanted to go, you better be in line before Burnsville opened their doors at 5:45.  Luckily for me, I had a press pass lined up so I was able to catch the end of the Norfolk State/Missouri game before taking off…otherwise, I would’ve missed the loudest high school game I’ve ever been to.

I got to the Burnsville high school around 6:20 or so…I’m using the phrase “got to” lightly here, as that’s when I parked my car.  I ended up half a mile from the gym when I did park, and I felt lucky to be that close!  I also felt lucky I had a press pass when I got close enough to the door, as there had to be about 300 people waiting outside the building, only for the right to wait longer inside to get to the ticket stand.  Yes, being in the media has its privileges.

Once inside, I was treated to a packed house with the bands playing back and forth and the students trading chants…and this is still half an hour before the game!  Eastview had beaten Apple Valley twice in the regular season, leading the Lightning students to fire up a “We own Val-ley!” chant in between breaks in the pep bands.  The optimistic Eagles fans countered with a “This is our house!” chant, hopeful the neutral court would be the place where they finally knocked off Eastview.

The anticipation continued to build throughout the pre-game and even through the national anthem, with both student sections trying to outdo each other when they screamed their mascot’s name for the final word of the anthem.  Then, the Eastview students brought the house down- and probably nearly the bleachers- with a initially quiet “heeeeey, we want some b-ball!  Heeeeey, we want some b-ball!”  And then…

HEEEEY!!!! WE WANT SOME B-BALL!!!  HEEEEEY!!! WE WANT SOME B-BALL!!!!

Add in the fact they were jumping around like the Cameron Crazies while screaming that and I thought I was going to be kissing good-bye to my hearing.  Quite the scene…and yes, all this took place before the game even started.

As you’d expect, the game was super loud, super intense, and very physical.  The previous two matchups went to Eastview 91-84 and 85-75…tonight’s game was 21-18 at the half.  Eastview’s Joey King had 13 tough points in the first half, while Apple Valley’s Tyus Jones was impersonating Dwyane Wade out there- 7 gutsy points and a lot of time spent on the floor making drives into the lane.

Speaking of the lane, that painted area belonged to Eastview’s Ben Oberfeld.  I don’t track rebounds at the games I go to, but he must’ve had at least 10 in the first half.  He was an absolute force rebounding, and in the second half he got into it on the scoreboard, as he scored 9 of his 11 points in the second half.

The second half also looked like Eastview was going to wear down Apple Valley, as they went to a slow-down offense to conserve some energy for the stretch run.  Why?  Well, the gym felt like a sauna, given the fact you had a couple thousand people packed in there and it was an unreal 80 degrees outside.  At the press table, we were joking around that someone would be able to come in here with a cold bottle of water and get $50 for it, and when someone walked up the stairs by us with six bottles of Gatorade, the prevailing thought was that the gym value of that Gatorade was somewhere around $500.

Anyhow, the game.  After Eastview opened up a 12 point lead, Apple Valley started clawing their way back.  As they did, their crowd got into it, chanting the intro to the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” (the “Oh!  Oh-oh, oh-ooo-ooo” part).  As Valley got closer, the chanting got louder.  And when sub Chris Laymon drilled a three from the corner right in front of the Valley students to cut the lead to 55-53 with 12 seconds left…yeah, it was rocking.  It’d rock even more when Valley’s D forced a five-second count to turn the ball over…but that’s as close as Valley would get.  Jones missed on a drive to the basket- Oberfeld made sure the shot was highly contested- and King snapped up the rebound for Eastview and was fouled.

You know how athletes talk about how they can block out the noise when it comes to them shooting free throws or doing something else in high-pressure situations?  I could almost feel King blocking out the noise when he was at the line needing to hit both free throws to ice the game.  It was so loud when he was on the stripe it seemed like the noise had crossed from “exceptionally loud” to “a soothing roar”.  King hit both free throws, the celebration was on in the Eastview stands, and the Valley fans, who had poured everything they had into the game, slowly filed out of the gym.

I’ve often said that section finals are the absolute best games to go to because the intensity level is so high, the crowd noise is off the charts, and the gyms where these games are played help to create the atmosphere.  Would the game have been as memorable if it were in the Target Center instead of the Burnsville high school gym?  Perhaps…but it wouldn’t have been as hot, the place wouldn’t have been close to full, and my ears wouldn’t still be hearing Seven Nation Army the following morning.

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14 June 2011

On Examiner.com- State AAA Baseball Preview

After a long break, I’m hopping on the baseball bandwagon just as the high school season’s wrapping up (I blame the winter that wouldn’t let go- remember, it took a day in the 100s to melt the final snow pile of the year last week).  Here’s the start to my Examiner.com article:

“A fair amount of familiar jerseys will be back at Midway Stadium this season as four of the eight Class AAA section champions from 2010 are making the return trip to St. Paul.  Two teams will advance from Midway Stadium to Target Field for the championship game next Tuesday.  There’s a three-day gap between the semifinals and the championship game, meaning all pitchers should be rested and ready if their team’s fortunate enough to make the finals.”

Continue reading on Examiner.com: http://exm.nr/kMwgnd
Speaking of state baseball…my alma mater- Grantsburg, Wisconsin- is playing in the Wisconsin Division 3 state tournament tomorrow.  Go Pirates!

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4 February 2011

North vs. Columbia Heights, the Director’s Cut

On Thursday night I made the wise decision to head over to Columbia Heights (only a 10 minute trek from the22.us HQ) and take in a game between the Hylanders and Minneapolis North.  Quite the decision on my part…the game was a up-and-down battle, won by Columbia Heights 73-72.  You can read my official article on the game by going to the following link – http://exm.nr/ePye9Q.

Some random thoughts that didn’t make it into the article-

  • The Columbia Heights school has been around for a while.  I think I saw a stat somewhere saying their last trip to the state basketball tournament was in the 1920′s.  There’s a shot this year’s team could get hot and make it in…after all, they are current ranked #8 in the state in their class.
  • This was one active ballgame, and the officiating was collegiate-level…meaning you really had to earn your fouls.  Probably a good thing too, since there was a lot of activity swatting at the basketball and really getting after it on the boards.
  • Combine those two things- older school building, crazy athleticism- and it can be a recipe for disaster.  There’s about 2-3 feet of space between the baseline and the wall on each end of the floor, and with about 5 minutes to go, one of the Heights players went flying into the wall after going high up in the air to block a shot.  Sure, the wall is padded, but his knee hit a spot that looked like a hinge and therefore wasn’t padded.  Hopefully the injury is “just” a bruise and nothing more…I put that in quotes because man, that was one big collision.  And concrete walls win those collisions 100% of the time.
  • The first two Columbia Heights points set the tone for the kind of game this was going to be- a player followed up a missed shot by flying through the air for a two-hand slam.  Those follow-up dunks are the best.  The same player threw another one down later in the game…fun to watch.
  • Not so fun to watch…when the game turned into poorly run “Showtime” toward the end of the first half.  There were numerous 2-on-1 and even 3-on-1 breaks that ended without points because the players were looking for the highlight-reel dunk instead of the easy points.  There’s a time for Showtime…and it’s not when it’s a 4 point game.

All in all, definitely a good time.  The crowd was into it right from the get-go and didn’t let up the whole game.  They’re really into their basketball, and that made the game that much more enjoyable to attend.

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5 October 2010

The Rites of October

Why do people blog?  Is it some kind of deep-down desire to write something great?  Something simpler, like to keep family and friends up-to-date with what you’re up to?  Maybe you’ve been inspired by stories of people that started out writing funny e-mails to your friends and are now writing for ESPN. (Yeah, that’s probably my reasoning…and I’m quite sure I’m not alone.)

Here’s another good reason- to make picks.  Absolutely everyone with a sports column, a blog, or for the low-tech among us, a voice, is making picks on who’s going to win the four baseball playoff series.  Some of those people might even get all four of the series right, and if you’re just saying it, you’re trusting people a) listen to you and b) remember what you said.  A blog, on the other hand, gives you proof.  Sure, you can always edit things after the fact…but that little timestamp will rat you out.  For better or worse, your picks are out there, ready to be praised or, more likely, ripped to shreds.

I am not afraid.  I will boldly make these picks and stand by them.  I may stand by them and continually kick them, but I will stand by them.

NLDS Series 1: Philadelphia vs. Cincinnati

Over the last few years, you can count on two things if it’s October in Philadelphia- the Eagles are going to be in the midst of some kind of quarterback turmoil, and the Phillies are going to be in the playoffs.  This year’s Phils squad looks pretty stacked, too…Roy Halladay.  Roy Oswalt.  Cole Hamels.  Yikes.  In a five-game series that spans eight days, those three guys can start all five games without needing to pitch on short rest.  That’s a tall, tall task for any team, let alone a team that hasn’t been to the playoffs since 1995.

I don’t want to take anything away from the Reds- Joey Votto had an awesome year, and it’s fun to see someone on top of that division besides the Cardinals- and Cincy should be rocking for their home playoff debut in Game 3.  However…remember that series where the Cards and Reds did battle in Cincy and the Cards rocked ‘em?  That showed me that when the stakes get elevated, the Reds are really, really green.  The Phils aren’t.

The pick: Phillies in 3.

NLDS Series 2: San Francisco vs. Atlanta

You’ve gotta hand it to Bobby Cox.  Nobody gave the Braves a shot to be relevant this year, let alone contend for the NL East most of the season.  Heck, they were leading that division until that Phillies three-headed monster in the rotation got filled out at the trade deadline and overtook them.  Still, a great season for the Braves…almost like a lifetime achievement award for Cox.

The Giants?  They spent the season chasing the Padres, finally overtaking them late and getting the NL West crown.  Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain are strong starters, and there’s always the shot Barry Zito (remember him?) comes up with a big start in Game 3.  This series should be really entertaining…but you’ve gotta wonder if the Atlanta fans will show up for the games?  You know the team will…but I don’t know if it’s enough to overcome the Giants’ pitching.

The pick: Giants in 5.

ALDS Series 1: Texas vs. Tampa Bay

It’s been a while since we’ve seen Texas in October- remember the 90s when it seemed like they’d lose to the Yankees every year?- and now they’re back.  Cliff Lee’s in the house to provide a little pitching…but will Josh Hamilton be able to provide the hitting they need?  We know the Rangers can mash the ball, but can they handle David Price and the rest of the Rays?

It’ll be interesting to see if the Tampa fans respond to Price and Evan Longoria calling them out for not coming to the September games.  Will MLB care if Tampa does a free ticket giveaway for the playoffs?  Will the team care if they’re playing in front of 20,000 at home and 50,000 on the road?  These guys had the best record in the AL with no discernible home field advantage (as evidenced by the two game difference in their home and road record)…imagine if they didn’t play in front of crickets inside that dump of a stadium.

The pick: Rays in 4.

ALDS Series 2: Minnesota vs. New York

Here we go again.  You’ll see all kinds of absurd stats like “Ron Gardenhire has a .250 winning percentage against the Yankees,” “The Twins have won once in New York since 2008,” “The Twins have lost nine straight postseason games,” et cetera, et cetera.  However, that was when the Yankees had home-field advantage…that shoe is on the Twins’ foot.  The Metrodome’s out of the mix too, replaced by the beautiful Target Field.  Will that be enough for the Twins to get over the top?

I said at the start of the season that the Twins were putting together a team that can go into Yankee Stadium and bomb away at that right field porch.  Thome and Kubel can mash.  Mauer can turn on a ball and jerk it over that fence.  Delmon’s been hitting ‘em out everywhere.  We’ve waited 162 games to get to where the fans thought the Twins would be, and those 162 games essentially were a warmup for this best-of-five series.  Win and everything is gravy…lose and there will be an offseason worth of questions about the team.  No longer are the Twins the plucky little underdogs.  They’ve spent $100 million- nearly half of what the Yankees spend!- to go beat the pinstripers.  They’ve got home-field advantage.  The players are rested.  The rotation is set.  If not now, when??

Can they?  Absolutely.  Will they?  I don’t know.  If Game 1 starts out badly, there’s going to be an awful lot of negative energy inside Target Field, that same old “here we go again, we’ll never beat those guys” vibe that raced through the Metrodome.  Then there’s that little matter of needing a win at Yankee Stadium…technically they don’t need one, but I just don’t think the Yanks will lose three games at Target Field.  I’m optimistic…but my pick is realistic.  They’re the damn Yankees, and somehow, they just find a way to get it done in October.

The pick: Yanks in 4, and man, do I hope I’m wrong.

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4 October 2010

Holy Grail, Lost

This picture would've been a lot more satisfying if the game would've gone the other way.

On Saturday, I made the trek up I-94 to take in the St. John’s Homecoming game along with 16,420 other football fans.  It was a NCAA Division III record for attendance, and it really was the perfect storm- Homecoming, big rivalry game against St. Thomas, Tommies undefeated and ranked #4 in the nation, beautiful fall afternoon…it had it all.

The second the game-tying extra point clanged off the upright in overtime and gave St. Thomas a 27-26 overtime win over my alma mater St. John’s, I knew my friend Kirk, a Tommie grad, would be sending me this message-

“BTW, I demand a full writeup of the game.  Equal coverage.  We frickin’ deserve it.”  I’d been poking fun of the Toms for years due to their 12 straight losses against SJU…so I decided to grant his request.

Now, if I’d gotten this request the last time the Tommies beat the Johnnies (1997), I probably would’ve told Kirk- very colorfully- that if he wants to see a writeup on a Tommie win, maybe he do his own bleeping writeup.  (We won’t mention the concept of a “text message” was still a loooong way off, and I’m pretty sure I would’ve worked in comment on how the Packers were the defending Super Bowl champs).  Thirteen years, apparently, have a way of mellowing a guy out.  So let me attempt to look at it through those purple-tinted glasses…

It’s often said that to break a long losing streak that borders on a jinx, that team needs to win a gut-wrenching, up-and-down emotional wringer of a game.  Look at the 2004 Red Sox- to finally get past the Yankees, they only needed to come back from a 3-0 deficit in the ALCS, something no team had ever done.  The Tommies?  They didn’t have an 86 year losing streak, but the 13 year skid they were on certainly had to seem like 86.

Streak-breaking games also have those “you’ve gotta be effing kidding me” moments that make it seem like the streak will never end.  Let’s pick up the game in the fourth quarter…St. John’s is holding onto a 20-14 lead, but the Tommies have the ball and are methodically marching it down the field, right down toward their student section.  Finally, with just over two minutes to go, the Toms punch it in and bedlam ensues on the Tommie sideline and stands…but the extra point sails wide!!  (That’s moment #1.)

With the relief of having dodged a bullet, the Johnnies start marching down the field for a game-winning score, a slow burn for Tommie fans who’ve already resigned themselves to yet another heartbreaking defeat.  We get to a 4th and 1 situation just outside the edge of SJU field goal range, so the Johnnies go for it…and in a play that needed a measurement, the Johnnies pick up a first down (moment #2).  There’s a minute to go, SJU’s inside the 30, I’d been watching the Johnnie kicker boot 50-yarders in warm-ups…this is going to be good.  Then, Wade Phillips took over the SJU play-calling duties, calling a pass play on first down…and, of course, the out route gets jumped and the ball gets picked off.  We’re going to overtime (and I’m the one muttering “you’ve gotta be effing kidding me”.  Seriously, a pass play????).

In OT, the Tommie offense scores quickly and tacks on the extra point to go up 7.  SJU has a bit more trouble moving it, and we get to a 4th and 4 situation on the 8 yard line.  Tommie fans are going bonkers.  Their sidelines are going nuts.  The ball is snapped and a Tommie defender gets a great run on the quarterback, hitting him just as he let go of the ball…but the low, fluttering pass is caught, the receiver makes a juke, and it’s touchdown Johnnies!! (There’s moment #3, and the Tommies have to be wondering just what do they have to do to end this jinx.)  27-26, and then…doink.

You really didn’t have to look too hard to see the weight of 13 years of losing evaporating from the Tommies sidelines as they and their fans rushed the field.  The monkey was off their backs and the enterprising students were already thinking of slogans to put on T-shirts for the 2011 game.  And as I watched the purple-clad students dance around on the field with their football team, I realized my comebacks of “way to win for the first time this millennium” and my pictures of this banner were going to ring pretty hollow.  Why?

Because now those Tommies have the belt.

Dammit.

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7 March 2010

No Tire This Time

The last time I covered a playoff hockey game, I ended up calling the game while sitting inside a Zamboni tire.  That one was an opening round matchup in Class A hockey…last Friday, I decided to take in the Section 4AA championship from the Warner Coliseum between Hill-Murray and White Bear Lake.  I posted the game recap on Examiner.com and it was a fun game to watch, but what really blew me away was the crowd.

I always figured that section final hockey would be a big deal, but I was completely unprepared for just how big of a deal this game was.  At 6pm, when the puck was scheduled to drop, there were two big lines outside the gates to get into the Coliseum.  The parking lots were absolutely jammed.  People dressed in green for Hill-Murray and orange for White Bear Lake were trying everything to get into the arena quickly.  Luckily for me, I got to sneak in through the press gate and set up shop down in the front row behind the benches- that’s right, no sitting in a tire this time.

The Warner Coliseum holds 5,250 people, and by the end of the first period, there were only a handful of open seats remaining.  Students from Hill-Murray and White Bear Lake were trading chants back and forth and every big hit and shot on goal got the sellout crowd rocking.  The players certainly brought the intensity, as it seems liked each goalie got sprayed by snow every time he held the puck (and a teammate of that goalie gave the snower a little bit of shot after said snowing).

As Hill-Murray pulled away, their fans kept the chanting going, using a lot of the chants Gophers students use (the cleaner ones, anyway).  In response, White Bear’s students launched into a rollicking version of “Sweet Caroline” that would’ve met the standard of Red Sox fans out in Fenway Park.  It really was a great experience to be on hand for a game like that- really, 5,000 people on hand for a non-state high school hockey game!- and I’ll be looking forward to catching a few more of those in years to come.

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24 February 2010

Live from the Tire

Broadcasting sports for a small radio station in East Central Minnesota has led me into some pretty interesting places.  I’ve called games sitting in the middle of the bleachers, right next to loud fans who seem to only get into the game when they feel the refs wronged their team.  I’ve sat outside on a hill in the wind, trying everything possible to keep my material from blowing around while keeping stats and calling the game at the same time.  I’ve strung phone cords from the locker room to the broadcast table and have had to count on people not yanking the cord out of the wall.  Tuesday night, however, might’ve taken the cake.

I was covering a hockey game from the St. Michael/Albertville ice arena, and I was really late getting to the rink.  Once there, the Zamboni was taking one of its final laps around the ice, meaning I had about 7 minutes until the puck dropped.  I looked around for the press box…nothing.  I asked a person if he knew where the press box was…he looked at me like I was some kind of nuisance and gruffly said “NO”. (I love that- random people that might be decent individuals otherwise, but once they see you’re a member of the press, they treat you with the same amount of respect they’d show a gnat.  Pro athletes are one thing- fans at a high school hockey game are another.  I bet that was the same guy who almost sideswiped me on 694 on my way to the game.)  Finally, I spotted another radio guy sitting on the end of the rink, on some plywood platform up above all the video games.

Problem was, there was no way to get up there…so I found one of the guys who helped with the Zamboni to ask him how to get up there.  He didn’t show me to a stairway…nope, he busted out a ladder and propped it up for me to climb up to the platform. (I gotta give him props though- that other guy probably would’ve told me to climb the wall.)  No big deal though…the vantage point was nice.

Problem was, there was no table to set my stuff nor a chair for me to sit in.  It looked like a night on the plywood for me…until I spotted an old studded Zamboni tire!  Perfect!  I hauled that baby over to the edge of the platform, sat in the middle of that thing, and called the game.  To be totally honest…I’ve sat in a lot worse chairs that that tire.

That said…the sectional and state tournaments are coming up, which means I’ll be able to trade in tires and bleachers for courtside seats and big press boxes.  And there’s nothing like calling a game from the inside of a tire to make you really appreciate things like in-game stats and comfy chairs.  I’ve gotta wonder, though, if Al Michaels, Jim Nantz or Joe Buck have ever called a game from a Zamboni tire…

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