Williams Daily Blog: 7/23/08

I spent last night at the Adams County Speedway watching the always-entertaining USMTS modified series on the track. As expected, the good folks at ACS put on, as my buddy Steve Cabbage would say, "one whale of a show."

To start things off, in my opinion, the greatest modified racer of all-time, Kelly Shryock picked up the win. Shryock is like a man amongst boys out there. The guy races on dirt but it doesn't look like it. He doesn't turn in the corners, he simply glides. When you watch his car work, it visibly looks different than every other car on that racetrack. Again, he was flawless last night.

While the racing was fantastic Tuesday night, so was the entertainment and much thanks goes out to NASCAR and Speed TV's Kenny Wallace. I had a chance to meet Kenny before he signed fan autographs. He was just like you see him on TV. If you've never seen him on TV, watch the link below from when he qualified for the 50th Daytona 500.

He's just an all around great guy and it was really neat to see Kenny at the Adams County Speedway.

LaRussa Scuffles with Media

Did anybody see the Cardinals game last night? I didn't, but I did manage the see highlights from the press conference afterwards. It looks like our favorite Teddy bear of a manager Tony LaRussa got in another scat with a member of the St. Louis media. I'm angry that this clip isn't on YouTube yet but I'll let you know when it is.

Instead, let's take it old school to a while back. This is a classic.

Last night a reporter asked a question about the struggling Cardinals bullpen. That upset LaRussa, who felt the problem was that the team isn't scoring enough runs. It all ended with an upset LaRussa lashing out his opinion.

I love it.

Until tomorrow, stay safe KMAland.

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Harlan Shuts Down Estherville, Vaults Into Semis

(Des Moines) The Harlan Community Cyclones used a strong pitching preformance from Junior Tyler Lefeber to shut-down Estherville-Lincoln Central 6-0 in the Class 3A Quarterfinals Tuesday night at Principal Park. Lefeber struck out 12 and allowed just three hits and one walk to send Harlan to Friday's semi-final game against Dallas Center-Grimes. The first eight outs recorded by Harlan came via the strike-out.

Harlan scored in four innings, starting in the 1st, when Jeff Hastert walked, stole a base, was sacrificed to 3rd and scored on a Matt Gurhleke balk. The Cyclones added another run in the 2nd when Brett Stein was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. The big damage came in the 5th when Tyler Lefeber helped his own cause with a 2 out, 2 RBI single. Brett Stein added a 2-run single in the 6th to cap off the win.

Harlan advances to the 2:00 Friday afternoon semi-final against a D-C-G team that defeated Carlisle 3-2. West Delaware and Centerville will meet in the other semi Friday afternoon. 

Today's Sports Feature - Kyle Fichter

The high school softball season in the state of Iowa came to an end last week in Fort Dodge and one of the teams participating in the tournament was Fremont-Mills. The Lady Knights went to state for the first time in 38 years and to wrap up their outstanding season, KMA sports caught up with head coach Kyle Fichter for today's sports feature.

 
To hear the interview, click here!

Pelini says Nebraska still has elite status
    
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) _ Bo Pelini says he's seen no indication that Nebraska has fallen off the radar screen in college football.
    
The first-year Nebraska coach said there have been warm receptions wherever he and his assistants have traveled around the
country.
    
It's been a decade since the Cornhuskers have won a national title. Pelini says he realizes that 10 years seems like a long time to a 17-year-old prospect. Pelini said it helps that the parents
and coaches of high school players are well aware of the history and tradition of Nebraska football.
    

Pelini says he and his assistants have a great product to talk about with kids, whether discussing academics or athletics.

To start things off, I want to say congrats to the Lenox Tigers on a great baseball season. The Tigers lost yesterday in the state quarterfinals but they have nothing to be ashamed of. The program Steve Westphal has developed is simply a class act and chances are they'll be back in the near future.

Big 12 Football Media Days

Summer media days began yesterday in Kansas City for the Big 12 conference and do you know what that means? It means that we have now unofficially kicked off the upcoming college football season.

I am downright giddy about this fact.

The conference is going to be a blast to watch this season. There are so many unanswered questions including:

Is Oklahoma really a national title contender?

Are Missouri and Kansas for real or just one-hit wonders?

How will Bo Pelini do at Nebraska?

Those are just three of the intriguing storylines heading into 2008 and I will examine each and every one of them as we approach kickoff, led by the Iowa State Cyclones on Aug. 28. I recently wrote a 6-page preview column via freelance for a national website and once it gets published, I'll make sure and post the link here on KMAland.com.

I will unveil my picks today though.

Here's how I see the North shaping up.

1 - Missouri
2 - Colorado (yeah I'm not kidding, more on that in the coming weeks)
3 - Kansas
4 - Nebraska
5 - Iowa State
6 - Kansas State

In the South...

1 - Oklahoma
2 - Texas Tech
3 - Texas
4 - Oklahoma State
5 - Texas A&M
6 - Baylor

I think that like last year, we will see some surprises in the conference race. I really have a lot of faith in Dan Hawkins at Colorado. A lack of depth killed the Buffs last year but that shouldn't be a problem in 2008. They have a killer non-conference schedule including games against Florida State and West Virginia.

Missouri is going to be solid. Period. The only question mark facing the Tigers is how they'll react to being the hunted. They've never really been in that position before.

I think Kansas will fade as will Texas. Like they are each and every year, Texas Tech will be exciting to watch the most explosive team in the conference this year just might be Oklahoma State. They won't put up as many points as the Red Raiders but the caliber of athletes on that roster will make Cowboy games a lot of fun.

If their games aren't fun, their press conferences will be.

For some reason, watching that never gets old. I like to use that quote when my girlfriend tries to get me to hold her purse at the mall.

"I'M A MAN...I'M 24!!!!" I tell her.

You can hear the Iowa State Cyclones all season long on KMA and while I truly believe the Cyclones will be better this season, they're at least one year away from truly being any sort of a threat in the Big 12. The one thing Gene Chizik does have going for him this season is the schedule. Iowa State misses out on Oklahoma and Texas. The Cyclones get Mizzou at home as well.

As I mentioned early, I'll get much more elaborate on all of this stuff at another time but just wanted to touch on things today.

Until tomorrow, stay safe KMAland.

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Lenox Eliminated in Quarter Finals at State Baseball

(Des Moines) For the 2nd straight year, the Lenox Tigers couldn't get past the quarterfinals of the Class 1A state baseball tournament. The Tigers fell to Don Bosco, Gilbertville 7-2 Monday afternoon at Principal Park in Des Moines. The game was scoreless thru two innings, but Lenox took a 1-0 on an RBI ground-out by Tyler Peterson. The lead was short-lived.

Don Bosco countered with four runs in the bottom of the third on two hits, an error, and two wild pitches. Lenox trimmed the lead to 4-2 on a Ben Borland RBI, but that was all the offense the Tigers could muster the rest of the way.

Don Bosco sophomore pitcher Clay Welter limited the Tigers to just four hits on the game and stuck out seven in the win. Lenox senior Seth Robinson gave up four earned runs in five innings of duty to get only his second loss of the season.

The Tigers season ends with a 21-7 record.

Don Bosco advances to meet Mason City Newman in the semi-finals Thursday night. Newman defeated NE Hamilton 5-1 in the earlier contest. 

Big 12 back among powerhouse conferences
     
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) _ There was a time when the Big 12 was known for being top-heavy.
    
Powerhouses like Oklahoma and Texas pla6yed for national
championships and the rest of the conference fought to squeak into
some smaller bowl game.
    
Actually, it wasn't all that long ago. Try last year.
    
But, boy, what a difference a year can make.
    
Following a surprising season when four of its teams finished in
the top 10 in the final 2007 poll, the Big 12 is no longer well
down the pecking order behind power conferences like the SEC, Big
10 and Pac-10. The Big 12 is back among the elite, perhaps as
strong as its been in 12 years as a conference.

July's "Where are They Now"-Randy Spetman

Listen to this month's "Where are They Now" with Council Bluffs native Randy Spetman. Spetman is 1970 graduate of Abraham Lincoln High School. He is currently the Athletic Director of one of the nation's most prominent programs at Florida State University. Listen by clicking HERE!