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Softball Rankings: FM Back In, LC Soars to 7
The latest rankings from the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union were released on Thursday afternoon with a nice surprise for Fremont Mills fans. The Lady Knights are back in the Top 15 for the first time since the second week of the season entering at #14. The Lady Knights responded with a 12-0 3-inning romp of Corner Conference rival Sidney on KMA Thursday evening. Along with the Lady Knights, the Lewis Central Titans made a significant leap from #15 to #7 this week. They had won 12 games in a row when the rankings were released. The entire list below:
Class 1A Rankings
1 Woodbury Central
2 Newell-Fonda
3 North Butler
4 New London
5 Akron-Westfield
6 Martensdale St. Marys
7 Woodbine
8 Janesville
9 North Sentral Kossuth
10 Springville
11 WCLT
12 Lisbon
13 Calamus-Wheatland
14 Fremont Mills
15 Lynnville-Sully
Dropped Out: West Bend-Mallard (13), Preston (15)
Class 2A Rankings
1 Okoboji
2 Emmetsburg
3 North Polk
4 Bondurant-Farrar
5 BCLUW
6 Albia
7 Durant
8 Belmond-Klemme
9 Maple Valley-Anthon-Oto
10 Fort Dodge St. Edmond
11 Wayne
12 Iowa City Regina
13 Wilton
14 Alburnett
15 Pella Christian
Dropped Out: Iowa Valley (7), Pekin (13), Sioux Central (15)
Class 3A Rankings
1 Clear Creek-Amana
2 Sioux City Bishop Heelan
3 Carlisle
4 Winterset
5 Sergeant Bluff-Luton
6 Davenport Assumption
7 Dubuque Wahlert
8 Creston
9 Fort Madison
10 Chariton
11 Crestwood
12 Mount Vernon
13 Dallas Center-Grimes
14 Maquoketa
15 Forest City
Dropped Out: Boone (10), Waverly-Shell Rock (13)
Class 4A Rankings
1 West Des Moines Valley
2 North Scott
3 Cedar Rapids Jefferson
4 Waukee
5 Burlington
6 Des Moines East
7 Lewis Central
8 Bettendorf
9 Ankeny
10 Cedar Rapids Xavier
11 Des Moines Lincoln
12 Ottumwa
13 Muscatine
14 Sioux City East
15 Fort Dodge
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:35:55 CDT
Southwest Iowa Represents on All State Soccer Teams
The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union have released the All State soccer teams for this past season. There were several area athletes pegged as All State performers. The Elite All State team saw senior Jamie Swotek of Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson earn honors at the forward position. Swotek was also a Class 2A First Team selection. TJ's goalkeeper Shalynn Durham picked up second team honors. Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln's Jessica Jerkovich and TJ's Rachele Harrill and Courtney Ruff were honorable mentions.
In Class 1A, the Council Bluffs schools saw two first team selections in St. Albert's Abby Schlater and Lewis Central's Tori Van Mende. Denison-Schleswig's Brooke Wehle was picked for the second team. Honorable mentions went to St. Albert's Molly Vermillion, Kelsey Anderson, and Becky Assman; Denison-Schleswig's Cassie Prickett, Maura Wiebers, and Turissa Moreland; Glenwood's Michaela Moore, Mallory Hoyt, Hope Forman, and Nicole Sowers; Lewis Central's Leezil Sargent, Lacey Stazzoni, and Taylor Hughes; and Tri-Center's Blake Sullivan and Beth Seileman.
For the complete All State teams click here.
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:26:55 CDT
Lady Knights Still Perfect in Corner
Fremont-Mills made quick work of the Sidney Cowgirls Thursday evening on KMA winning 12-0 in just three innings. The Lady Knights continued their amazing run through the Corner Conference and now sit 14-0 in the conference. Overall the Lady Knights improved to 21-10 while star pitcher, Mindy Lorimor, upped her record to 19-3. Lorimor worked three innings while giving up zero hits and striking out six Cowgirl batters. At the plate she also showed some power blasting a homerun to deep left in the bottom of the third. Cleanup hitter Jessica Donahue also provided some punch going 3 for 3 with 3 runs scored and 3 runs batted in while also scoring the game-winning run in the third. KMA Sports spoke with Fremont-Mills Head Coach Kyle Fichter afterwards and talked with him about how he felt his team played...
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Fichter comments on Lorimor's performance on the mound...
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Lauren Furnas kept Lorimor's no-hitter intact in the 2nd inning making an amazing diving catch in right field of a liner off the bat of Jordie Uhlenkamp. Fichter on Furnas' great play...
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Fichter on the upcoming weekend...
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Fichter talks about the ridiculously tough sectional his team drew that now includes five teams that have been ranked in the top ten this season...
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Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:20:33 CDT
Thursday's Links
Today's links....
Thanks to Colby Rasmus the St. Louis Cardinals picked up their first win in four games and pushed my Streak for the Cash streak to seven last night! For those that don't know....Streak for the Cash is a game on ESPN.com that you make certain picks around the sports world. For example, I picked the Cardinals to win last night over the Giants. I figured they were due, and Colby Rasmus saved my day. My streak moved to eight this morning when the Serena Williams-Elena Dementieva match went longer than 19 games. Keep me in your thoughts as I look to continue my streak and win upwards of $1 million. Thanks.
Anywaaaay.....the Royals were losers again yesterday. They lost yet another series -- this time to the hated Twins. While the Twins, Tigers, and Chisox will be fighting it out for the AL Central title this summer the Royals will have a race of their own. Last place! WOOOO!! When's football season start?
I briefly mentioned it yesterday, but Mike Aviles is going to be under the knife next Wednesday. The Royals starting shortstop will be undergoing Tommy John surgery, and he'll be out for roughly 12 months. Aviles was fantastic last year after being called up, but not so much this year. The only real negative thing about losing Aviles are his replacements. Ugh.
Meanwhile the St. Louis Dispatch is passing along positive vibes today and writes that Ryan Ludwick is showing signs of starting to come out of his season long slump. He's still putting up nice run production numbers but nowhere near last year's work. Click here to read the article.
The Royals will lay down for the White Sox this weekend starting tonight. You can click here for the preview of that one.
The Cardinals are closing out their series with the Giants and will be looking to start up a little winning streak. They've really been struggling lately. As I said it was their first win in four games last night, but it's also only their second in eight games. Click here for that preview.
Hawkeye Coach Todd Lickliter picked up a commitment yesterday from a guard out of Illinois. I had a chance to watch a little bit of video on the young man. He actually reminds me a lot of Chris Williams on the basketball court. Keep reeling 'em in, Todd!
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:25:20 CDT
Williams Daily Blog: 7-2
You know, ever since last Friday, this blog has been awfully serious. Between the whole MMA saga and my recent thoughts on high school baseball, I really haven’t been able to give any attention my random, sometimes shallow and obvious thoughts on the world around me.
So today, I need to catch up. Hope you’re all cool with that. Let’s start off with tennis.
I know what you’re all thinking.
“Tennis? Seriously Williams. You’re going to write about tennis today?”
Let me defend myself folks with a pretty simple statement.
If I could be any professional athlete in the world for one week, I’d be Andy Roddick.
I need to throw it out there that I don’t even play tennis. In fact, I tried one time and vowed never to grace those courts down by Clarinda’s Lied Center ever again.
This is why I’d want to be Andy Roddick though.
The man is the definition of cool.
Roddick is married to a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model. That’s not even the best part. What makes that classic is how it came about.
According to Wikipedia.com, (a site we can always trust) Roddick was flipping through the swimsuit issue back in 2007. He saw this girl, who he took a liking to. He then proceeded to have his agent get in touch with hers. They’re married today.
In honor of the late-great Michael Jackson, that model was struck by, a Smooth Criminal.
Now you tell me…how cool is Andy Roddick? Just look at that picture above. That is a couple and a half my friends. Roddick (the coolest man in the history of the world) and an SI swimsuit model.
The only couple in the world that I can imagine rivals their coolness is George Strait and his lovely wife Norma.
Other observations from this week:
- My parents got me Tiger Woods 2010 for my Wii as a birthday present. In my first round at Bethpage Black, I shot an embarrassing 24 over par. It’s good to know that I’m equally as bad at video game golf as I am on the real course.
- My Atlanta Braves have won three games in a row. I feel awfully giddy about this.
- Did you hear that Michael Jackson passed away?
- The newest season of the Real World kicked off on MTV last week. I have extreme passion for three things in life. 1 - The Braves. 2 - Medium-rare steak and 3 - The Real World. This year’s season is in Cancun. Holler. This has potential to be the best season yet. Cancun? Are you kidding me MTV? I put the over/under at three as to how many contestants will get kicked off by the end.
I’m heading to the I-80 Speedway tonight in Greenwood, Neb. Should be an awesome race as the MLRA/NCRA late models will be going at it. These are the same cars that will be at the Adams County Speedway on Saturday night. I cannot wait.
Have a safe and happy 4th of July sports fans. I am off tomorrow. Take care KMAland.
P.S. If you live in Iowa, no fireworks. They are illegal. Seriously. If you’re in Missouri…fire away.
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 7:45:24 CDT
Villisca Inducts Eight to Athletic Hall of Fame
The Villisca Alumni and Friends Association will have their inaugural athletic Hall of Fame Inductions on Friday night at the football field.
One of the men heading the event, George McVicker tells KMA sports that eight charter members will enter the Villisca Athletic Hall of Fame at a banquet being held at 7:30 on Friday. McVicker says that inductions will happen every four years.
The charter members include:
Laurent Lee Gourley, Class of 1962
Patrick "Pat" Jackson, Class of 1986
Colleen Means Dempsey, Class of 1969
Paula Means Lund, Class of 1968
Lynn King, Class of 1926
Roger Poston, Class of 1959
Gerald (Jerry) Ziehe, Class of 1950
Phil Wertman, Class of 1967
Go to top right portion of the sports page to listen to today's sports featuring, breaking down the inaugural class with McVicker.
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 6:11:49 CDT
Clarinda Hires New Basketball Coach
KMA Sports has learned that Clarinda High School has named Van Gilmore as their new boy's basketball coach. Gilmore spent last season teaching and coaching in Missouri and is a former Clarinda athlete. Clarinda Superintendent Paul Honnold spoke with KMA Sports on Wednesday afternoon...
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Honnold on Gilmore's background...
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Honnold talks about the process of hiring Gilmore...
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Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:20:08 CDT
Wednesday's Links
Your Hump Day links...
The Royals lost to the Twins last night courtesy of yet another homerun by Justin Morneau while the Cardinals fell to the Big Unit and the Giants once again.
Loads of bad news on the Royals end today, but let us start with some possible good news. The Royals are currently starting up talks with their top draft pick, Aaron Crow. Read all about it here.
And now for a couple of bad notes on the Royals. First of all -- maybe not considered that bad of a thing considering how terrible he is with the bat, but Miguel Olivo will be serving a one-game suspension today as the Royals close their series with the Twins.
The Royals also learned today that Mike Aviles will undergo season-ending Tommy John Surgery, and he should be ready again...oh -- right around this time next year. No link, but the Associated Press is reporting this as fact.
The Cardinals and Giants are back at it again tonight. The Cards have lost the first two games of the series and now six of their last seven games even while Albert Pujols set a new personal record for homeruns and RBIs in a single month this past month.
Couple other quick notes today...
Kansas fans have to be rejoicing after the scare they got from Xavier and CJ Henry. After an unfavorable article in the KC Star the Henry's father, Carl, came out and said his sons may just pack their bags for Kentucky. Sounds like they will honor their commitment to Kansas, though. Read about it here.
Mizzou grad, DeMarre Carroll, is readying himself for the NBA. Check out the article here.
Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:33:35 CDT
Corning Right in Middle of Pride of Iowa Race
The Corning baseball team has seen their share of ups and downs this season sitting with a 9-8 record heading into Wednesday night's non-conference battle with the Shenandoah Mustangs. The Raiders this year are led by Head Coach Pete Nett who tells KMA Sports that his team's progress throughout the season has been outstanding. Coach Nett spoke with KMA Sports on Wednesday morning about his team's play this year...
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Nett talks about his team's conference win over Nodaway Valley on Tuesday night...
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Nett on the offensive side of things against Nodaway Valley...
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Nett says he's happy with his team this season...
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Nett looks ahead to his team's next game...
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Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:39:26 CDT
Moody's Admirals Playing Spoiler in Corner
Gary Moody and the Farragut Admirals had a rough start to the season, but they have really been one of the top spoiler teams in the Corner Conference of late. This past Friday Moody's team knocked off one of the Corner's stalwarts, Fremont Mills. Farragut will get another chance to play spoiler on Thursday when they host the conference leader -- Stanton. Coach Moody spoke with KMA Sports on Wednesday morning about his team's play this year...
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Moody's team beat Hamburg,14-4, on Tuesday night, and he talks about the win...
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Moody says Hemeter has been outstanding this year...
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Moody talks about the turning point in the season for his team...
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Moody talks about the upcoming week for his team...
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Moody on the Stanton team he will see Thursday night...
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Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:31:00 CDT
Williams Daily Blog: 7-1
I’ve done a handful of high school baseball games already this summer and one thought continuously reoccurs in my mind. These kids are playing way too many games.
I want to echo a column that Kevin White of the Omaha World Herald wrote about a month ago. Kevin wrote that high school baseball (and softball for that matter) is all about pitching and I want to take this a step further. It’s pretty clear to me that there isn’t much of it in our high schools anymore. I’d like to do a poll asking coaches how many legit starters that they have on their rosters. My guess is that most teams won’t eclipse the number of three from what I’ve seen.
The thing that concerns me when writing about this is the kids’ arms. I had a conversation with a man last night who told me that he recently watched a Corner Conference game where a young man’s pitch count neared 150. I saw a game last week where I didn’t keep the pitch count, but I’d be shocked if both starters didn’t come fairly close to that number.
It’s really bad for the kids. I don’t blame the coaches. There’s only so much they can do when they have to field a team for six games in a week with only a handful of options.
This really rings true with our small schools. They’re backs are against the wall, especially when they have to make up rainouts in late-June when the schedule is already packed.
I’m just concerned. I don’t want arms to start falling off in mid-July when they need to be their strongest.
Here’s my idea on what to do. Right now, every individual can play 40 games throughout the season. I say, keep it the same for 4A and 3A teams around the state (I realize this gets a bit sticky with conferences). Then, lower it by five or six games for 2A and 1A. That’s a pretty simple mix. Just eliminate two tournaments from the schedule. It makes sense to me. Just a thought.
I’m anxious to hear your thoughts on this baseball fans. Shoot me an email to cwilliams@kmaland.com and we can have an interactive conversation over the next few days.
Wed, 01 Jul 2009 9:26:40 CDT
Lewis Central Softball: Titans Have Won 12 in a Row
As the tournament softball season looms just around the corner, the Lewis Central Titans appear to be one of the hottest teams in Western Iowa. After Tuesday night's 7-0 over Hawkeye 10 rival Atlantic, the Titans have now won 15 of 16 games and 12 in a row including a big win over Kuemper Catholic on Monday.
First-year Lewis Central head coach Don Wittstruck tells KMA sports a little bit more about that Kuemper victory.
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Lewis Central is now tied at the top of the Hawkeye 10 standings with Creston. KMA Sports asked Wittstruck if he is suprised by that.
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Wittstruck gives us expectations for the rest of the season.
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Lewis Central is currently ranked 15th in class 4A. Sioux City East is ranked 11th. There's a good chance that those two teams could meet up in a game to go to state. Wittstruck isn't worried about East at this point in time though.
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Wed, 01 Jul 2009 6:40:17 CDT
Statement for Stanton
The Corner Conference showdown between the conference's top two teams on Tuesday night turned into a statement game for the Stanton Vikings. The Vikings disposed of the Fremont Mills Knights, 15-0, in four innings to take over control of the race to win the Corner Conference championship. Stanton beat FM back on June 9th in Tabor so the four-inning win over the Knights multiplies Stanton's lead in the race. Stanton scored eight of their 15 runs in the bottom of the fourth inning bringing ten batters to the plate including Matt Pruss who smacked a grand slam to blow the game wide open. Alex Whigham picked up the victory in just four innings of work while Dylan Miller took the loss.
KMA Sports talked with the winning coach, Kevin Cabbage, after the game about this being a statement game for his team...
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Cabbage talks about his team bouncing back from the Villisca loss on Monday night...
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Cabbage on the performance of his pitcher, Whigham...
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Cabbage talks about his offense picking it up for the biggest game of the year...
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Cabbage on the rest of the week for the Vikings...
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The winning pitcher, Alex Whigham, also spoke with KMA Sports after the win. Whigham was happy with his team's win...
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Whigham talks about bouncing back after Monday's loss...
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Whigham says that the three runs in the first inning realy helped him relax...
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Matt Pruss' grand slam was the biggest hit of the night in the fourth inning. Pruss talked with KMA Sports afterwards about his big slam...
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Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:51:57 CDT
Underwood, Treynor Set for Showdown in Underwood
They don't get much bigger than the softball doubleheader scheduled for Wednesday night in Underwood. Through eight conference games apiece, Underwood and Treynor are deadlocked with two losses. Earlier this year the two teams were supposed to square off in Treynor, but due to rain they had to push the game back. So, Wednesday night the game will be made up in Underwood, and with a sweep one team could claim the WIC title. KMA Sports spoke with Underwood Coach Loren Lintner on Tuesday morning, and he comments on the importance of the doubleheader...
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Lintner has seen the Treynor team a couple times, and he talks about their team....
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Lintner says the momentum Treynor gained from winning the WIC Tournament may come into play...
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Lintner's team used a 2-1 win over Riverside to pick up some momentum of their own on Monday night. He says his team played pretty solid...
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Lintner's team has faced adversity all season long beginning with losing star pitcher, Alyx Rowe. Abby McDonald, though, has stepped in admirably...
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Lintner says he can't be more impressed with what McDonald has done since taking over the starting pitcher job...
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Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:43:21 CDT
Tuesday's Links
Your links for today...
The Royals and the Cardinals were back in action last night. The Royals used a strong, strong performance from Luke Hochevar to outlast the Twins., 4-2. The Royals have now beat the Twins three out of four times that they have played this year. Luke has been pretty dang solid in four of his last five starts:
Last night: 7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 2 K's
@Houston: 7 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K's
Arizona: 4 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 3 K's
Cincinnati: 9 IP, 3 H, ER, 1 BB, 3 K's
@Toronto: 6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K's
Other than that Arizona catastrophe he's been really solid. My only concern with him is that he doesn't strike anyone out. That's not exactly what you expect to see from a former #1 pick. Oh well...if he gets the job done I'll take it.
Meanwhile the Cardinals were getting sliced and diced by last year's NL Cy Young Award winner, Tim Lincecum. Lincecum is probably my second favorite pitcher to watch in the bigs -- behind Zack. If you're ever flipping channels, and you see this little dude work make sure you stay glued to your television. He's definitely a different breed.
I'll stick with the bad news Cardinals-wise for now because there is some good news. Khalil Greene continues to battle social anxiety disorder and has hit the disabled list for the second time this year. I certainly wish him the best of luck in his recovery in fighting these demons. Zack Greinke went through that stuff a few years ago and look at him now. I really thought the change of scenery for Greene was going to mean a lot for him this year. Moving from the ultimate pitcher's park in San Diego to a place where fans accept you for anything and everything you do in St. Louis. Again...hope he gets better soon.
More bad news as Ryan Ludwick continues to fight a slump right around All Star Break time. Here's the article on Ludwick's struggles.
Now...finally some good news out of St. Louis. The play of Yadier Molina may land him in the All Star Game as the starting catcher on his homefield. Check out MLB.com's article on the youngest of the Molinas.
Royals and Twins are back in action tonight. We'll see if they can continue their mastery of the Twinkies. Brian Bannister on the mound for the Royals. In St. Louis, the Cardinals are still taking on the National League's second best team -- the Giants. Here's the preview for that one.
Three more things before I take off...
The Nebraska Cornhuskers will be celebrating their 300th consecutive sellout on September 26th by wearing retro jerseys from when they started the sellout streak. Click here for the details. Oh, and by the way, if you want to check that game out on television you can buy it on pay-per-view. UGH!
Harlan native Matt Hoch committed yesterday to play for the Iowa Hawkeyes following his senior season. We all remember his older brother, Dan, spurning the Huskers at the last moment to sign with the Missouri Tigers. I hold no ill will to him at all, though. I will never question a kid who is doing what he feels is the best thing for himself. In the end, Dan will probably be starting for the Tigers next year. By the way, Hawkeye fans.....a little gut feeling here, but Denison native Brandon Scherff will probably be next.
Speaking of the Missouri Tigers, they finished with their best season ever in the Director's Cup standings. Here's the KC Star on that.
That's all for today!
Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:03:25 CDT
Williams Daily Blog: 6-30
Last Friday’s blog about MMA in Shenandoah got so much reaction, it left me no choice but to install a part two on this topic.
Here’s what I’m going to do. I got a ton of quality emails from both sides of the issue. I’m going to post some of the topics and give my response to them. Sound good? Alright…here we go.
One reader writes:
I am Adam Miller. I have a record of 19-1 lose. nine of those wins are professional. I am letting you know that EVERY fight must sign a at own risk waiver or they dont fight. Not just some of them. There is NO risk to the city. We even have the city written off the insurance policy so they cannot come back on the city we are in. I love this sport and its my life. If Shenandoah would become a Mecca for this sport I would be and would like to be the best MMA news analyst that KMA has ever seen. I tell this sport how it is and the truths and falses. I know what goes on behind the scenes and what doesnt. This sport should not be banned from shenandoah and the only reason it got shut down because dick hunts in office. You watch when mike anderson wins mayor next election we will have our sport and i will come back to shenandoah and make sure it explodes with wealth and popularity.
Adam Miller
Mayhem Martial Art .COM
Thanks for that note Adam. That’s important for everyone to know. Let’s hear from the other side now.
Let’s hear from the other side here.
Mix Martial Arts is not the image I want to Portray for Shenandoah.
I disagree with this comment probably more than any others that I received. Just because MMA events happen in the city doesn’t mean that’s how Shenandoah will be “portrayed.”
Do people think every single person who lives in Clarinda is a diehard Glenn Miller fan? Are all residents of Corning dirt track racers? Is every human being who lives in Sidney a real-life Cowboy?
No. But the Glenn Miller Festival, the Adams County Speedway and the Sidney Rodeo give those communities incredible depth with all of the other outstanding things that they have to offer. That’s not a bad thing.
Here’s another note, this from a man who has trained in MMA:
Most people see a little bit of blood and freak out and then they just write the sport off, knowing absolutely nothing about it. A lot of people think that it is just a bunch of thugs and people with anger issues. So not true. I know a lot of people like that do fight in the sport but, they do not last because of the discipline aspect. Parents have no problem sending their children to Karate, Tae Kwon Do, or wrestling classes. Well, why not learn how to do all of them combined? The discipline of these arts is great and the self defense part is good but, while all of the arts are beneficial, most fights end up on the ground. Other than wrestling and Jujitsu, none of the other arts teach self defense on the ground! All MMA really is, is all of the arts combined. The best at everything! When I say the best we are talking about Olympic wrestling champions, boxing champions, Kickboxing, Karate, etc. The days of fighters being great at one art and winning fights are over! I really like how he talked about other sports having injuries and not banning them! Excellent point!
Great email here but the last sentence is what I really want to hammer down. If somebody gets severely injured in the Sidney Rodeo, they wouldn’t cancel the event. People get hurt playing football all of the time. Bad things have happened at racing venues all over our state and the country. You can’t just give up on something.
Here’s a great email that brings forth a completely different perspective to this issue. I made our news department aware of this angle.
My only problem with Shen hosting these events is the crowd. After watching this fights for hours while consuming large amounts of alcohol, they seem to get beer muscles and think that they can fight also. Shen Police dept does not have the resources to handle the aftermath of these events. Check with Atlantic Police and Cass County Sheriff's Office and the trouble they have had after their events. These events belong in big cities where there are hundreds of different bars the fans go to after the fights, compared to Shen or Atlantics 2 or 3 establishments where most will go and eventually that’s where the trouble will start. Thanks for your work, I enjoy reading your blog.
Again, that’s a solid email my friends. Something I didn’t know about. Something to consider.
I don’t have the space to post every single email that I got. I feel like I painted both sides of the issue though.
Like I wrote yesterday, it seems to me like there is a giant generational gap with this issue. The younger crowd seems to be in favor of MMA while the older age group seems to primarily be against it. That’s just judging by my emails…no scientific polls here.
It’s time to wrap this thing up. Here’s my final take.
Like I mentioned on Friday, I’m not a city council member, nor am I trying to play one. I just don’t want to see Shenandoah miss the boat on a giant opportunity due to close-minded thinking. If the city decides that they don’t want these events in town, I’m sure that they have their reasons but what’s been said doesn’t make any sense to me.
This could be a HUGE opportunity for somebody. A lot of money could be made in a terrible economic time.
MMA is not a fad. This sport is here to stay and it’s going to continue to blow up over the next 10 years just like it has for the past five. Events are now on national television. Pay-per-view sales are through the roof. It’s going crazy on the web.
In nasty economic times, people aren’t going to attend big-time sporting events like they used to. That’s why local is the way to go. Look at the success of the Adams County Speedway this year. The car count has been through the roof so far in 2009 and there’s really no reason for it to be. But, instead of fans taking trips to Daytona, they’re being entertained in Corning. Makes sense. It’s cheaper for them and the money stays in Iowa where it belongs.
Honestly, I wish that I had a ton of money. I’d love to make an investment by creating a venue where I’d hold and promote these events. It costs literally nothing to put on. There is no risk for the city/promoter holding the event. It’d be all profit essentially.
Somebody will see this in our area over the country in the next few years.
If the city does ban MMA from Shenandoah, I respect that. I just hope that there is quality dialogue between both sides before it comes to that.
I plan on cooling this subject down for a while but again, as always, feel free to shoot your thoughts to cwilliams@kmaland.com .
Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:13:22 CDT
Corner Conference Baseball/Softball Standings
The Corner Conference has submitted the following softball and baseball standings to the KMA sports department.
KMA Sports has updated these standings with the results we've obtained as of 6:30 AM on Tuesday morning.
Softball:
1 - Fremont-Mills, 11-0
2 - Stanton, 8-1
3 - Villisca, 7-4
4 - Sidney, 7-5
5 - Essex, 6-6
6 - Farragut, 5-7
7 - Hamburg, 3-9
8 - South Page, 2-9
9 - East Mills, 1-9
Baseball:
1 - Stanton, 9-2
2 - Fremont-Mills, 8-2
3 - Sidney, 10-4
4 - Farragut, 8-6
5 - Essex, 7-6
6 - Hamburg, 5-7
7 - South Page, 4-5
8 - East Mills, 4-5
9 - Villisca, 2-9
10 - Clarinda Academy, 1-11
Tue, 30 Jun 2009 6:41:56 CDT
Legendary Coach Receives National Attention
Longtime and legendary Atlantic track coach, Bruce Henderson, was recently honored nationally as the National High School Girl's Track Coach of the Year. Coach Henderson's career speaks for itself guiding seven teams to state track championships as the Trojanns head man. Henderson recently retired as a teacher at Atlantic and may retire as the cross country coach.
To read more on Henderson's career and recent award click here.
Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:12:04 CDT
Harlan Claims Class 3A #1 Ranking
The Harlan Cyclones lost their first conference game of the season this past week, but Radio Iowa and the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Assocation rewarded them for their body of work anyway. After winning 19 of their first 21 games the Cyclones finally climbed out of the #2 spot for the first time this year and claimed the #1 ranking in Class 3A. The Cyclones split a doubleheader with Hawkeye Ten Conference rival, Glenwood, last week - but still have shown the pollsters enough to be the new #1. Meanwhile, Council Bluffs St. Albert dropped a spot in Class 2A to #5 while Lenox stayed put at #4 in Class 1A this week. Check out the entire list of rankings below:
Class 4A
1. Sioux City East (21-4), LW #3
2. Waterloo West (20-4), LW #5
3. Bettendorf (18-4), LW #4
4. Clinton (17-3), LW #1
5. Burlington (22-6), LW #6
6. Sioux City North (20-6), LW #2
7. Fort Dodge (18-9), LW #8
8. Cedar Rapids Jefferson (16-7), LW #9
9. Mason City (18-7), LW #10
10.Johnston (16-9), LW (X)
Class 3A
1. Harlan (19-2), LW #2
2. Boone (20-3), LW #3
3. Grinnell (13-4), LW #5
4. Waverly-Shell Rock (14-5), LW #6
5. Davenport Assumption (20-6), LW #1
6. Norwalk (15-4), LW #8
7. Charles City (16-6), LW #4
8. Benton (Van Horne) (17-6), LW #7
9. Mount Pleasant (16-6), LW #9
10.Western Dubuque (18-8), LW #10
Class 2A
1. Interstate-35 (Truro) (15-0), LW #1
2. St. Ansgar (23-1), LW #2
3. Cherokee (17-2), LW #3
4. Fort Dodge St. Edmond (20-2), LW #8
5. Council Bluffs St. Albert (15-3), LW #4
6. Mid-Prairie (Wellman) (20-5), LW #6
7. Solon (23-4), LW #9
8. Davis County (15-1), LW #10
9. Maple Valley/Anthon-Oto (19-4), LW #5
10.Wilton (16-6), LW #7
Class 1A
1. Mason City Newman (22-1), LW #1
2. Iowa Mennonite (20-1), LW #3
3. Don Bosco (19-3), LW #2
4. Lenox (13-1), LW #4
5. Lansing Kee (24-4), LW #5
6. Cedar Falls NU High (15-3), LW #6
7. Alta (22-2), LW #7
8. North Sentral Kossuth (19-5), LW #9
9. North Mahaska (12-0), LW #8
10.MMC (Marcus) (16-1), LW #10
Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:56:16 CDT
Stanton and Fremont Mills Battle on KMA Tuesday Night
Tonight on KMA, the top two teams in the Corner Conference go head-to-head in a battle that will go a long ways in determining the conference champion. Stanton and Fremont Mills have been atop the conference standings throughout the season, and their second of two battles could determine the champion. Stanton coach Kevin Cabbage spoke with KMA Sports on Monday afternoon about his team meeting expectations all year long...
Click to listen
Cabbage talks about some highlights from his team's season...
Click to listen
Cabbage on Fremont Mills...
Click to listen
Cabbage talks about the reason for his team's victory over FM earlier this year..
Click to listen
Cabbage on what it will take for his team to win Tuesday night's game...
Click to listen
Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:34:23 CDT
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