Thursday chiller

It's cold. It's windy. The bad news? I have a football game tonight. Welcome to week nine of high school football in Kansas, where many teams have to play on Thursday because the state playoffs for four divisions--4A, 3A and both divisions of 8-man--get underway the following Tuesday, all so the Kansas State High School Activities Association can finish the football season before December 1 and make sure it doesn't conflict with basketball and wrestling.

I'm staying home tonight for Russell's finale with powerful Scott City. The Beavers are aiming for their fourth consecutive undefeated regular season, while the Broncos come in 1-7 and are likely going to post their worst record since going 1-8 in 2001. Scott City will play either Cimarron or Holcomb in the playoffs Tuesday.

Last weekend was a mixed bag. The football game between Smith Center and Bennington was quite exciting. Smith Center went ahead with 6:37 left, but missed the 2-point covnersion. Bennington drove deep into Smith Center territory in the final minute, but the Redmen's Taylor Zabel saved the game by wrestling the ball away from the Bulldogs' Heath Thornhill in the end zone. Had Thornhill hung on, the game would either have gone into overtime (Smith Center has already played two overtime games this season, defeating Oberlin and Ell-Saline), or the Bulldogs could have won with a 2-point conversion. Smith Center's 22-16 win gave the Redmen the Class 2-1A, District 6 title. They'll host Republic County in a gmae

I got my new iPhone when I got back from Bennington. I'm learning the ropes rather quickly.

Smith Center did not win the volleyball sub-state at Oberlin last Saturday. The Lady Red gave it all they had, rallying from a deep hole against Ellis in the semifinals to knock off the Railers in three sets and advance to the final, but Hill City was the better team, and it showed. The Ringnecks did not lose a set, and defeated Smith Center 25-20, 25-17 in the championship match. Hill City will play in the Class 2A state tournament Friday and Saturday at Emporia. The Mid-Continent League has never produced a volleyball state champion, and I'm hoping the Ringnecks change that.

I'm stuck with another football game tomorrow night, Ellis at Oakley. I wish I had volleyball to cover, but it wasn't to be this year. Life goes on.

One-sided place

Bennington is like no other football stadium I've seen, even in rural Kansas. Both groups of fans will be sitting on the same side, and as luck would have it, Smith Center has the fans behind their bench. The press box is next to nothing, and Smith Center's TV and radio are in the stands and had to run an extra, extra long extension cord to an outlet inside a box on a light pole. Interesting indeed. The field is oriented east-west, which means the sun will set behind one end zone rather than behind the stands, which is the case at most stadiums. Smith Center, Shawnee Mission North and Moscow are skewed to certain degrees and the sun sets at odd angles in those places.

I had to make a couple of stops in Salina before coming up to Bennington, and I decided to go to the Cozy Inn, a famous hamburger joint downtown. It's not much, just a counter and six stools, and four of them were taken up by patrons. I got 12 cozys--which are like Krystal and White Castle burgers--to go and ate six at Bennington when I arrived. I made Jesse Rhea, the radio play-by-play announcer for KQMA, jealous but he acknowledged it was a smooth move.

The new iPhone is waiting at home. I'll charge it, sleep and then activate it before leaving for Oberlin. I'll have to learn it on the go tomorrow, but I just want to learn enough to use Twitter and a couple of other applications. I'll take next week to learn more now that I don't have volleyball until the weekend, if at all, and no football until Thursday.

Okay, time to pack the computer and get the camera ready. Probably won't check in until I get back to Russell, but who knows.

Only on Fridays? Come on

This only on Fridays blogging has got to stop. I have got to find a way to make myself do this more often during the week, if not every hour of every day, at least once a day or maybe twice. But I keep leaving long gaps in between entries, and my life is lost, never to be recovered. Once I lose a day, I lose it forever, even with my great memory, and I can't recover it.

Tonight, I'm heading to a new venue to cover Smith Center football. I will be in Bennington, a small hamlet about 10 miles north and east of Salina on Kansas Highway. If I were the adventurous sort, I could drive up US 281 from Russell and then take K-18 all the way across past Waldo, Luray, Lucas, Sylvan Grove, Lincoln and Tescott, but (a) I don't have that kind of time (I do, but I would rather not waste it) and (b) I'm not that adventurous today. I want to go to Salina, fill up on gas and get a snack, and then drive up the rest of the way before the game. I want to get there by 5 p.m. so I can relax and be focused on the task at hand.

Smith Center has won all three of its district games and is 4-3 overall. If the Redmen win tonight, they will clinch a playoff berth. I suspect they will. Bennington is 4-3, but they have beaten mostly sub-par teams, and they tend to give up a lot of points to the better teams on their schedule, including 44 to Plainville two weeks ago.

I have to make a beeline back to Russell, because I have to be out of the house by 9 a.m. tomorrow morning to go to a sub-state volleyball tournament at Oberlin, which is 150 miles from Russell. I've been to Oberlin each of the last five years for the annual track meet hosted by Decatur Community High School (Oberlin is in Decatur County, and the other school district in the county, Jennings, no longer exists; thus the Decatur Community name), but I have been to only one other event at Oberlin, and that was back in first year in Kansas.

I remember it well. It was a wrestling regional tournament. I didn't cover the first day, since the semifinals weren't contested until Saturday morning that year. I stayed the night before in Colby after covering a basketball game in Ellis, and when I got up, it was 6 degrees below zero, the ice on Jack's Buick LeSabre was thick, and the pop in the trunk had frozen. I also remember snow being piled up along the sides of the narrow K-25 between Colby and Atwood, which scared me a bit, since it was my first Kansas winter, and I wasn't used to driving on snow. It got worse the next year; I went into the median on I-70 just east of Hays, and then I slid off the road one morning going west from Russell; I got out that time, but had to cancel my trip to Hays.

I have now covered events on every Kansas county seat on US 36 between St. Francis and Washington, and also in Kensington, which is on the highway between Phillipsburg and Smith Center. Tomorrow will be a very long day, since the volleyball matches don't start until 1, and I'm guessing the Lady Red will play for the title, and if they don't, Ellis will. I'll probably end up in Colby tomorrow night and then drive back Sunday to Russell.

Okay, here are some of my high school football picks:
Smith Center over Bennington
Phillipsburg over Minneapolis
Oberlin over Ellis
Plainville over Republic County
Beloit over Norton
Osborne over Pike Valley
Stockton over Palco
Trego over Hill City
Thunder Ridge over Northern Valley
Hoisington over Russell
Scott City over TMP-Marian
Salina South over Hays
Salina Central over Great Bend
Shawnee Mission East over Shawnee Mission West
Topeka over Junction City
Manhattan over Washburn Rural
Hutchinson over Garden City
Derby over Wichita East
Blue Valley over Pittsburg
Emporia over Andover
DeSoto over Spring Hill
Paola over Prairie View
Wichita Collegiate over Rose Hill
Holton over Topeka Hayden
Andale over Nickerson
Lakin over Holcomb
Garden Plain over Hutchinson Trinity
Caney Valley over Neodesha
Meade over Elkhart
McLouth over Valley Falls
Madison over Peabody-Burns
UPSET: Atwood over Ness City

Saturday morning follies

This morning is already off to a rolling start, and we're still an hour away from volleyball.

As I'm pulling out of my garage, I discover a gaggle of plastic pink flamingos on the lawn in front of the house. I was upset, and I left a voice mail for dad on his cell phone. Then it got worse.

I usually take old US Highway 40 to get to I-70 to go out to Hays and points west, but with the heavy rain--I could see it coming down sideways when I turned on the high beams--the road was wet everywhere and I couldn't go faster than 35 MPH without taking on significant water. I decided to turn around and pick up I-70 at US 281. Problem is, 281 has poor drainage, especially in the few blocks just south of old 40. Fortunately, it got better as I got closer to I-70.

The rain finally let up at Gorham. I called dad on my mother's cell phone and I told him about the flamingos. He told me it's some sort of prank with high school kids. I'm guessing our house was an easy target because they knew where I lived and today is my birthday. He said don't worry about it, and maybe I should leave the flamingos on the lawn to show it doesn't bother me.

It didn't rain any more going up US 183 to Phillipsburg, but the road was slick, and there were the few numbskulls who wouldn't dim their high beams coming toward me from the other direction.

Between Stockton and Phillipsburg, it was foggy. There were a couple of points where I could barely see in front of me, and I had to slow way down.. Still, I made it to town in time to get gas (I was almost completely empty) and pull into school at 7:40 a.m.

First matches start at 9 a.m. Smith Center is up right away vs. Osborne, so I'm on the air first thing. At least they don't play back-to-back, which will give my voice a rest.

This is my eighth MCL volleyball tournament. I haven't been in Kansas that long, have I? I guess so.

Waking up to rain

It's pouring outside. I am supposed to leave at 6 a.m. for Phillipsburg and the Mid-Continent League volleyball tournament, but I'm considering jumping in the shower and leaving early so I can navigate my way through the rain. Or do I wait until it passes? I'm guessing I should

Last night's football game was sloppy. Thomas More Prep committed 16 penalties for 121 yards yet still won 36-26. The Monarchs led 22-0 with less than four minutes left in the first half before the Broncos scored on a pass. TMP scored a touchdown on its opening drive of the second half and got the ball back after Russell fumbled the ensuing kickoff, but the Broncos held, and cut the margin to 29-18 by the end of the period. However, that was as close as it got. Russell scored a touchdown on a trick play with seven seconds to go, but it was far too little, far too late.

It was chilly last night, but I had adequate layering, so it wasn't that bad. The wind picked up in the second half, but I've seen far worse in Kansas.. The sweatpants were definitely a wise investment. They were much easier to wear over the leggings than jeans.

I've got a long day ahead of me. Probably not going to be home until late. But it's that time of year.

Dreary, but nostly dry

I am about ready to leave the press box at Lewis Field Stadium in Hays. There has been off and on drizzle, but nothing serious. Russell and TMP will be kicking off at 7 p.m. on schedule. I've got my rain gear ready.

I'll check in at halftime.

Late again

Once again, I did not post for a very long time. I have got to stop doing that. My birthday is tomorrow (officially, it's at 9:16 a.m.) and maybe one of my resolutions for my 37th year on this planet is to update my blog in a more consistent manner. It might be tough tomorrow with the Mid-Continent League volleyball tournament at Phillipsburg, but I'll do my best. I promise.

I'm still at 1224 North Brooks, because tonight's football game is only over at Fort Hays State University, Russell at Thomas More Prep-Marian. I'm riding with Russell principal Larry Bernard to the game and then we're going to eat after. This is only the second Russell game I've seen this year, the first was at Belleville against Republic County, which I left at halftime. It also happened to be the only game which Russell won this season. TMP is also 1-5. But it's the start of district play, meaning everything the first six weeks is meaningless, at least in terms of qualifying for the playoffs.

Russell and TMP have been playing each other in sports for a very long time. TMP-Marian began its life as St. Joseph's Military Academy, colloquially referred to as the Hays Cadets. The school was an all-male institution under the control of St. Joseph's Catholic Church, which is the largest church in Hays. It's a magnificent cathedral located on 13th Street downtown, and it attracts Catholics from all over the area. The Cadets routinely played Hays High, the public school, in those days as members of the West Central Kansas League. Russell was also in the WCKL, with Dodge City, Garden City, Great Bend, Larned and Pratt.

In 1970, the military academy became Thomas More Prep, but stayed all-male. The WCKL split in 1973, with the larger schools--Dodge City, Garden City, Great Bend and Hays--forming a new league, the Western Athletic Conference, while Larned, Pratt, Russell and TMP picked up Hoisington, Lyons and Nickerson to form the Mid-State Activities Association.

The WAC eventually took on Liberal, which is too big to be playing with nearby schools like Hugoton, Scott City and Ulysses, and the Mid-State League basically stayed unchanged until 1996, when Scott City and Ulysses came on board, forcing Russell to leave and join the North Central Activities Association.

TMP merged with the girls Marian High School in 1981 to form the co-ed TMP-Marian.

The Russell-TMP rivalry was usually most heated in boys basketball, where both schools enjoyed great success in the 1950s, '60s and '70s. Football was never the strong suit of either side, save for Russell's trip to the Class 4A state championship game in 1979, and a deep playoff run by TMP in 2002.

However, there hasn't been a period in the last 30 years where both schools have been strong at the same time in the same sport, save for maybe last year, when the schools' girls basketball teams met in a sub-state semifinal at Lyons.

Time to pack up the computer and get ready to go. I don't want to be late. Maybe I can catch up when I get to Lewis Field Stadium.

Unexpected detour

So much for updating the blog last night when I got back from Russell. I don't know what it was, but I was feeling queasy in Smith Center by time I left, which wasn't until 10 p.m. I stayed for awhile after the game ended, and just could not get myself in gear to leave and make the 75-mile drive back on US 281. I always have trepidation about driving south on 281 at night due to the large number of deer which populate the countryside, but this night, I was fatigued and feeling bad, so it was that much worse.

Fortunately, the deer were not to be found on this night. I ended up following the Ell-Saline bus from just north of Osborne all the way to where 281 meets K-18 at Luray. Now why Ell-Saline was taking that route to Brookville baffled me at first, but I figured it out: they were taking K-18 to Tescott, where there is a road which runs 17 miles south and east straight into Brookville. I thought they would get to I-70, then take K-14 all the way to US 36. It made sense once I figured it out.

The game between Ell-Saline and Smith Center wasn't an artistic masterpiece, but it certainly was fun for the fans to see. The Redmen scored the only touchdown of the first half, and they could have been ahead by more, considering they  drove inside the Cardinals' 25-yard line three times, but twice turned the ball over on downs. Time of possession in the first half: Smith Center 18:58, Ell-Saline 5:02.

It took the Cardinals two plays to score in the second half, with quarterback Garrett Walker scampering 45 yards to paydirt. The conversion failed and it was 6-6.

Each team scored in the fourth quarter, and again, each team failed to make the conversion. The Cardinals drove to the Redmen 7 in the final minute, but on fourth-and-5, they went for a field goal, which is a risky proposition for most Kansas high schools, since there aren't a lot of schools which can train a kicker, especially at the lower levels, where there (a) isn't any time due to the players having to play both offense and defense, and (b) there aren't youth soccer programs like there are in the big cities. In Overland Park, there is a huge soccer complex which stretches for six blocks along 135th Street.

Smith Center won the coin toss in overtime and went on defense, which is what almost every team does in that situation. Ell-Saline scored on two plays on a 9-yard run by Walker, but again, the conversion failed. The Redmen had fourth down and just over 3 yards to go, and it appeared quarterback Payton Buckmaster may have been stopped. At least that was the view from the Cardinals' side, but the official was on the spot to rule touchdown. All five officials conferred briefly, but the call stood.

Finally, the Redmen were successful on the conversion, as Buckmaster bootlegged right and dove for the pylon, just getting behind Walker's attempted tackle. Smith Center won 20-18, its second overtime triumph of the season. More importantly, the Redmen are 2-0 in district, meaning they are well on their way to a playoff berth.

I'm going to go back to Kansas City. I wanted to drive back from Smith Center to KC on US 36, but after I had so much trouble driving westbound in the afternoon, I knew there was no way I would make it back the four hours at that ungodly hour. so I just drove back to Russell. I figure to get back there around 4 and go back to work. It's not the worst thing.

Redmen prevail

Smith Center defeats Ell-Saline 20-18 in overtime. I will get on the road and check back in from Russell or thereabouts.

Stow the shorts!

Trying to stay warm, but it's tough, especially since it has not been this cold at an outdoor event since last year's 8-man football state championship game in Newton.  Last winter simply was not that cold, and then it was pretty warm by time I started covering baseball, softball and track in the spring. In fact, I don't think I remember wearing anything more than a hoodie over a short-sleeve shirt with jeans during the track season. In 2011, I went to Phillipsburg for track twice and each time had to break out the parka. It was that chilly, even in late April and early May.

I can remember it being pretty darn cold one May weekend for an LSU-Alabama baseball series in Baton Rouge in 2002. In LSU's old baseball stadium, the press box was open-air, and the wind just whistled right through it. I will never forget having to wear long sleeves, a coat and a sweatshirt on May 18 and STILL freezing. In Louisiana. Just goes to show Mother Nature always wins.

Honestly, I don't think it will be that bad once I slip the parka on. The Under Armour leggings are doing just fine on the bottom, and I have the Under Armour hood--a godsend when I was wearing glasses--on the head. Wearing glasses prevented me from wearing the traditional ski mask, but Under Armour makes a hood which didn't intrude on the glasses. Now that I have contacts, this is moot, but I didn't need to spend more money when what I have works well. 

Smith Center needs to win this game. If it loses, next week's game at Plainville could be an elimination contest, since only the top two teams in each district go to the playoffs, and both Plainville and Smith Center will each have at least one loss, with Ell-Saline undefeated. 

My good friend Larry Bernard is skipping Russell High School's football game tonight with Sacred Heart to attend tomorrow's Nebraska-Ohio State football game in Columbus. Larry is a big Cornhusker fan, and he's going with his son who lives in Dayton, so it will be a nice family outing for them. I don't think Larry is missing much at Russell, since the Broncos figure to lose to Sacred Heart tonight. The Knights are 4-1 with their lone loss coming to Beloit.

Speaking of Beloit, the Trojans play at Southeast of Saline. Beloit has outscored its first six foes 326-38, or 65.2 to 7.8. Impressive. 

Enough for now. Maybe I can come back at halftime.

Worse for wear

Today's drive on US 36 from St. Joseph to Smith Center was arduous and tiring. I hit rain near Highland and  it persisted to Marysville, where I stopped to use the restroom and get a drink and some snacks. I was dead tired between Washington and Belleville. I seriously was out of it. I stopped at an abandoned gas station in Belleville and dozed off for a minute or two before resuming the westward trip. 

I swear I should have left Kansas City much earlier so I could have gone I-70 to Salina and then north on 81 to Belleville so I could have maximized my time on the four-lane highways. Certainly going back all the way to Russell and north on 281 was not the way to do it, but right now, I'll do anything to avoid that 200-plus mile ride on 36. It gets repetitive after awhile, and today was the fourth time in less than three weeks I've done it going westbound.  

October 4 is not the best day for me. Has not been since 2004. First, it was the day in 2005 when I hit a deer with my Oldsmobile 88 on US 183 north of Hays. The Oldsmobile was totaled, and that was it for a Steinle family tradition of owning Oldsmobile vehicles which dated back to the 1960s, since the Oldsmobile line was discontinued by General Motors in 2004. Wouldn't you know I replace the Oldsmobile with a Pontiac Grand Prix, and in 2008, and in 2009, Pontiac was shuttered. That's why I couldn't go wrong with a Chevrolet. I hope. 

The second reason for hating October 4 it happens to be the birthday of the lady whom I thought was the love of my life. Renetta Rogers was born in San Diego on October 4, 1980, and in the summer of 2004, she came into my life stronger than an EF-5 tornado. God, I fell head over heels. I was in deep. Really deep. The world now revolved around her. Problem was, she had to still live with her parents due to severe brain injuries suffered in a 2000 automobile accident. It was bad. Really, really bad. Her parents were protective, and I don't blame them a bit. 

I still think about her all the time. I haven't talked to her in over four years, and there are days where I don't know why I bother. I feel so bad about it and I feel worse about myself. It makes me wonder what might have been.

I have a lot more memories to bring back about Renetta and her parents, but for now, Ell-Saline and Smith Center are two hours away. Maybe it will keep my mind occupied. 

It will be cold tonight. The temperature never got above 50 degrees (10 degrees Celsius in most of the civilized world), and the wind has picked up a little bit. If it is the least bit windy tonight, it will be even more miserable. I've brought plenty of layers, but it doesn't seem to do much good when that wind cuts through the layering.

Kansas high school football picks, week 6

Last week before district in Classes 3A through 6A, lower classes in full swing. Here goes:
MID-CONTINENT LEAGUE

• Smith Center over Ell-Saline
• Phillipsburg over TMP-Marian
• Norton over Colby
• Ellis over Leoti
• Plainville over Bennington
• Osborne over Linn
• Thunder Ridge over Stockton
• Quinter over Hill City
• Atwood over Trego

OTHER GAMES OF LOCAL INTEREST

• Dodge City over Hays
• Sacred Heart over Russell
• Beloit over Southeast of Saline
• Otis-Bison over Victoria

CLASSES 6A AND 5A

• Hutchinson over Derby
• Garden City over Wichita East
• Olathe East over Olathe North
• Shawnee Mission East over Lawrence Free State
• Wichita Heights over Wichita Northwest
• Gardner-Edgerton over Blue Valley North
• Emporia over Topeka
• Topeka Seaman over Washburn Rural
• Manhattan over Shawnee Heights
• Bishop Carroll over Kapaun Mount Carmel

CLASSES 4A AND 3A

• Clay Center over Wamego
• Coffeyville over Pittsburg
• Concordia over Chapman
• Eudora over Lenexa St. James
• Holton over Jefferson West
• DeSoto over Paola
• Mulvane over McPherson
• Conway Springs over Garden PlaiN

8-MAN

• Pretty Prairie over Central Plians
• South Haven over Udall
• Little River over Lincoln
• Madison over Lebo
• Pike Valley over Lakeside
• Clifton-Clyde over Wakefiled
• South Central over St. John-Hudson
• Weskan over Cheylin
• Sharon Springs over Tribune

Falling behind for the 2,741st time (or thereabouts)

Here I go again. I'm late on this blog. I left off Saturday morning in Concordia when I had to change gyms with the Smith Center volleyball team during the tournament, and I never got back on it. Not back at the hotel in Concordia Saturday night through Sunday at noon, not in a Wichita hotel from 2 p.m. Sunday through 11 a.m. Tuesday, not in Norton Tuesday evening, not when I got back to Russell and not yesterday.

Anyone want to undertake the job of reminding me to update my blog? If you are, please get in touch.

As for what went on since the last time I posted, well, it hasn't been the greatest. I guess it could be worse.

Smith Center's stay at the Concordia volleyball tournament did not last as long as I thought it would. I thought the Lady Red would at least get out of pool play, but instead, they went 2-2 and were sent packing early. Smith Center defeated Clay Center and Minneapolis, but lost to Concordia and Southeast of Saline. The match against Southeast was terrible, because Smith Center appeared to be overmatched by a team which I didn't think was all that special. Then again, the Trojans went on to win the tournament, so maybe I was wrong. As it turned out, Southeast did not lose a set in winning all six of its matches, defeating Marysville in the semis and Concordia in the final. Concordia was only seeded eighth, but it knocked off the top two seeds, Smith Center and then Washington County in the semis.

The Lady Red took care of business in Norton Tuesday against the host Bluejays and Trego, but those are two of the lesser lights of the Mid-Continent League. Yes, you want to win and not have to exert too much effort in doing so, but I don't know if we can tell if Smith Center has fully recovered from Concordia. We should know more this coming Tuesday when the Lady Red hosts Great Bend and Phillipsburg. Yes, Phillipsurg isn't having a great year, but as they say, when it's two rivals, you can throw out the records, and Phillipsburg would love nothing more than to knock off the Lady Red.

My parents are long gone and aren't coming back until Oct. 16. They left for their annual trip to Nashville to visit my brother, Jason, who works for the Tennessee Attorney General's office, and then down to New Orleans to visit my Uncle Jerry, who is my mother's twin brother. They're stopping in Memphis to visit Graceland and also are going to Biloxi to visit a casino for their 42nd anniversary. Anybody who stays together through putting up with me for 36 years has willpower beyond belief.

A cold front passed through town overnight, and fall has arrived full force. There is a stiff north breeze and termperatures are struggling to reach 50 degrees. Just Tuesday, it was almost 80. I've got my parka, Under Armour leggings and hood ready for tomorrow night's football game at Smith Center between the Redmen and Ell-Saline.

Tonight there's a football game in Olathe between 1-4 Olathe Northwest and 0-5 Shawnee Mission North. I'm thinking I'll pass, as much as I have enjoyed these Thursday night games. I'll pick Olathe Northwest to get the win on their home field at the College Boulevard Athletic Complex.

No volleyball this Saturday. I'll be busy enough the next two Saturdays, with the MCL volleyball tournament Oct. 13 at Phillipsburg and a sub-state tournament Oct. 20 at Oberlin. And hopefully I'll be at a state tournament in Salina or Emporia Oct. 26 and 27. I would rather not cover a state tournament in Hays. It's not the same sleeping in your own bed, driving 30 minutes and then driving back 30 minutes from a town you've visited over 1,000 times since moving to Kansas seven years ago.

Saturday morning update

It is loud in the main gym at Concordia High School as the host Panthers take on Southeast of Saline in a match at the Concordia Invitational tournament. The Panthers defeated Smith Center 26-24, 25-23 just a few minutes ago, dropping the Lady Red to 1-1 for the tournament. Smith Center opened with a tough 25-21, 25-19 victory over Clay Center, and are now waiting to face Minneapolis and Southeast in the auxiliary gym. 

Smith Center's football game last night at Washington was perfunctory  The Redmen won 30-0, rushed for nearly 300 yards and benefited from three Tiger fumbles, one of which Weston Rothchild returned 64 yards for a touchdown. Grant Lambert returned the opening kickoff 64 yards to the Washington 26-yard line, and from there, the Redmen scored on a short run by Kyler Atwood. Lambert later scored two touchdowns, and Atwod scored again. Washington drove deep late in the game to try and prevent the shutout, but the Redmen stopped them short on fourth-and-1 just short of the sticks (the Tigers could have recorded a first down without a touchdown, but the chains came up short.

It turns out the KSHSAA has really got problems with its 2A volleyball sub-state sites. There are schools listed twice, schools not listed at all, and one school, Ellsworth, listed in 2A and 3A (the Bearcats are back to 3A this year). I texted Cheryl Gleason, the KSHSAA Assistant Executive Director in charge of volleyball, and hopefully she will get this rectified soon, for the coaches and the young ladies.

My esteemed publisher, Jack Krier, had his camera stolen last night in Russell. He lost not only his camera, but his memory card with pictures from the Russell-Southeast of Saline football game. That sucks. This world makes me sick sometimes.

That's all for now. More to come later today. Enjoy, good people.

Greetings from Concordia

I am back at the Holiday Inn Express in Concordia. I just got off the phone with my dad, and now I'm going to do a little housekeeping before going to bed. I have to get up at 7 a.m. and be at Concordia High School by 8:30 so I can be ready for the Concordia Invitational volleyball tournament. Smith Center is 17-5 and seeded second; the Lady Red plays Clay Center at 9 a.m., Concordia at 10, Minneapolis at noon and Southeast of Saline at 1 p.m. The other pool--Washington County, Marysville, Beloit, Republic County and Riley County--will play at the elementary school on the east side of town. The top two schools in each pool advance to the semifinals, with the winners playing in the championship match.

Today was not a good day for Smith Center volleyball, even though the Lady Red did not play. Smith Center found out it will be in the same sub-state tournament as Hill City. In Kansas, schools are assigned by classification to various sub-state tournaments, and the winner of each sub-state tournament advances to the state tournament. Teams are assigned strictly by geography, and although Hill City and Smith Center are in the same league and only 90 miles apart, there was hope the two schools would go in different directions for sub-state, which has happened in previous years.

However, the cause was hurt when both Atwood and Trego were bumped down to 1A, and two schools from southwest Kansas, Hodgeman County in Jetmore and South Gray in Montezuma, moved up to 2A. With a glut of southwest Kansas schools in 2A, there was no mechanism to send those in the far northwestern corner of the state southward, which has happened in basketball and track.

In my column Continental Drift, which runs in five newspapers Main Street Media publishes, I have proposed seeding 16 schools--eight #1 seeds and eight #2 seeds. The #1 and #2 seeds would be ranked and paired on the S-curve--top #1 seed and lowest #2 seed and so on. Then everyone else would fill in geographically  However, the Kansas State High School Activities Association probably thinks this would cost way too much and probably never will go for it.

I wish Hill City was in a different sub-state as Smith Center because I want to see Alan Stein get his team back to state. He is a very good man and a very good volleyball coach, but Hill City hasn't been to state volleyball since 2005. It's too bad both he and Nick Linn's Lady Red can't both get to state this year. It stinks. Really stinks.

The rest of the Oberlin sub-state is Oakley, Leoti, Rock Hills, Ellis, Plainville and the host Red Devils. You never know what will happen, but barring the unforeseen, Smith Center and Hill City should play for the championship, much the same way they did in 2011, when the Lady Red won at Ellis and moved on to state.

Phillipsburg and Norton will be in the same 3A sub-state at Southeast of Saline. Trego and Stockton are hosting in Class 1A-Division I.  Russell, meanwhile, will be going to Hoisington to join the Cardinals, TMP-Marian and five schools from southwest Kansas. Odd split in 3A.

Little Washington

This post comes to you from a picnic bench in the northwest corner of Washington County High School's football stadium. I am not in Washington State, Washington DC or even Washington Parish, Louisiana, where I covered Franklinton against Parkview Baptist in a 2002 playoff game.

This Washington is a small hamlet on US 36. Population is somewhere around 1,400, and the school has 134 students, which is 103 fewer than Russell, and way, way, way fewer than the 2,336 at Wichita East, the state's largest high school. If you're making the drive to or from St. Joseph, you'll miss the town if you blink. No stoplights, only a Casey's General Store and Phillips 66 station on the westbound side of the highway. It's 90 miles from Smith Center, 80 miles from Hiawatha and 120 from St. Joseph. It took a lot quicker to get here than I thought, and I turned into the school a minute or two after 4 p.m.

I was last here for a regional track meet on May 22, 2009. As I recall, Smith Center's Torie Fuller stumbled on the backstretch in the 300-meter hurdles.

When I arrived, the sun was bright, and it was pretty warm if you stood out in it.  It's now 6:20 p.m. and the sun is starting to set, and the temperature is starting to drop. It should be another beautiful night for football as the host Tigers take on Smith Center.

This is the first district game for both schools. The Kansas State High School Activities Association assigns schools to districts for football based upon classification, and the top two schools from each district advance to the state playoffs. The system isn't the best, and I'll go into its inherent flaws in a later post.

Just found out Smith Center will probably have to dispose of Hill City to get to the Class 2A state volleyball tournament. The KSHSAA posted sub-state assignments this afternoon, and sure enough, the two schools were put in the same sub-state at Oberlin. The other schools in the tournament are Ellis, Oakley, Leoti, Rock Hills (Mankato), Plainville and Oberlin, but make no mistake, it should come down to the Ringnecks and Lady Red for all the marbles. More on that later, too.

Right now, time to walk around the field and see what's going on. Be back soon.

Kansas high school football picks, week 5

My high school football picks from selected games across the Sunflower State tonight:
MID-CONTINENT LEAGUE

• Phillipsburg over Hoisington
• Smith Center over Washington County
• Norton over Ellis
• Plainville over Ell-Saline
• Osborne over Stockton
• Atwood over Hill City
• Trego over Hoxie

OTHER LOCAL GAMES

• LaCrosse over TMP-Marian
• Beloit over Ellsworth
• Sacred Heart over Minneapolis
• Southeast of Saline over Russell
• Hays over Wichita South
• Victoria over Sylvan-Lucas
• Thunder Ridge over Natoma
• Logan over Palco
• Northern Valley over St. John's/Tipton

CLASSES 6A AND 5A

• Shawnee Mission East over Olathe East
• Andover Central over Andover
• Kapaun Mount Carmel over Wichita East
• Olathe South over Lawrence
• Dodge City over Great Bend
• Bishop Carroll over Wichita Northwest
• Topeka High over Topeka Seaman
• Hutchinson over Salina South
• Emporia over Topeka Hayden

CLASSES 4A AND 3A

• Coffeyvllle over Chanute
• Eudora over Spring Hill
• Pittsburg Colgan over Girard
• Holton over Perry-Lecompton
• Rossville over Rock Creek
• Louisburg over Lenexa St. James
• Ulysses over Goodland
• Scott City over Hugoton

CLASS 2-1A

• Oakley over Leoti
• St. Francis over Oberlin
• Meade over Stanton County

8-MAN

• Ness City over Quinter
• Clifton-Clyde over Lakeside
• Solomon over Lincoln

Thursday titan

Shawnee Mission West defeated Shawnee Mission South 28-17. South scored on the first play of the game on a 51-yard touchdown run by Gabe Guild, but West responded with a touchdown drive of its own. The Raiders and Vikings each scored on their second possessions, and it was tied 14-14 heading to the 2nd quarter.

Nobody scored in the second quarter until the final play, when the Raiders nailed a 44-yard field goal, just a few minutes after the same kicker missed from the exact same distance.

However, Shawnee Mission South would score no more. West drove eight minutes after taking the second half kickoff and scored the go-ahead touchdown, and following  punt by South, the Vikings got a big pass play and a 19-yard touchdown run by their good running back, Brett Sterbach, to put it away, making it 28-17 with 9:55 to go.

South tried a gimmick play which officially ended their hopes with just under seven minutes to go when Guild pulled up and threw a halfback option which was badly overthrown and intercepted by West.

It felt like it wanted to rain all night. It was overcast when I got to the stadium, and every so often, I would feel a drop or two. Then, with two minutes left and West running out the clock, a few more drops came down. But nothing of consequence.

I was impressed by West's band. By my count, there were 130 musicians, 35 flag twirlers and 30 dancers. The public address announcer said the Viking band had 200 members, and that would be more than every school in the Mid-Continent League except Norton, and TMP-Marian, which comes into the league in 2014. The Viking band did a jazz ensemble at halftime, complete with the flag girls dressed in 1940s costumes. Beautiful.

The hardest part of today was the drive from Shawnee Mission South to the Courtyard Marriott on I-29 and Tiffany Springs Parkway. Simply put, there is no good way to do it. I decided I'd rather not wade through the construction zone on I-435 west of Metcalf Avenue, so I went into Missouri and turned north past the Truman Sports Complex and over the Missouri River, then veering north on I-35 to stop in Liberty before Chick-Fil-A closed for the night. Then I took I-35 south back to I-29 north, and then to the hotel. Not bad.

The mini USB transceiver for my mouse broke. I'll go to Staples in the morning and get a new one. Happens.

Long day. But a good day. Tomorrow morning I shall make some predictions on high school football games.

Southbound

For the third time in the last four Thursdays, I am covering a Sunflower League football game in Johnson County. Only this time, I have shifted locations from Shawnee Mission North to Shawnee Mission South, where the Raiders will face Shawnee Mission West.

The stadium at South is much different than North. There is a large parking lot behind the west stands of the stadium, unlike North, where you park in the northwest end zone by the fieldhouse, but to get into the stadium at South, you have to walk up steps to the gate, walk up some more steps once you're inside, then go down to the field. The stadium is about 25-30 feet higher than street level, which means it won't flood, and it does provide some nice views of the trees to the northwest and the high-rise hotels to the south, although you cannot see I-435. I have stayed at the Overland Park Marriott on many an occasion and could see the lights of SM South. In fact, I could see the lights tonight from I-435 and Quivira Road, which is about five miles away.

It is a WEST home game, even though South is playing on its own turf. Three of the five Shawnee Mission schools--West, Northwest and East--do not have their own football stadiums, and thus must play at North and South, which have the stadiums. One of the by-products is that the host school sometimes has to act as the visiting team, although the only way you could tell South is the visiting team tonight is they will be using the East (visiting) sideline instead of the West (press box). 

Why can't you tell South is the designated visiting team otherwise? First, West is wearing its white jerseys. The rule for the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), which governs high school athleticxs, states the visiting team in football games must wear white jerseys. It used to be the visitors could wear gold or some other light color to contrast with the home team, but this year, the rule became strictly white for the visitors. However, West and South have agreed to this setup, and I think it's because West has designated this game as their breast cancer awareness game, and all of the players have pink towels and pink undershirts, and that goes better with white than with black, which is West's normal home jerseys. Or, it could be West is letting South wear its home jerseys in its stadium. I don't think it's a big deal. I wish the NFHS would let the home team wear white if it informed the visiting team in time.

Second, South is using its own dressing room as the designaed visitor. Tomorrow night, when Shawnee Mission East uses South's stadium for its homecoming with Olathe East, the Lancers will be using that dressing room. Interesting. Don't see anything wrong with South keeping its locker room. Makes it easy.

Both teams are 3-1. I'll go with West ever so slightly, simply because they've played better against the two Lawrence schools, losing to Free State and defeating Lawrence High. South was shut out 23-0 by Shawnee Mission East in their opener, but have come back with wins over Leavenworth, Olathe North and Olathe East, not exactly murderer's row. If the Raiders win, it will not surprise me. But I like the Vikings of West. 

This is the calm before the volleyball storm Saturday. I survived a six-match tournament at Hoisington last Saturday, where Smith Center lost in round robin play to Hoisington and St. John-Hudson and nearly was eliminated early, but came back to win the title by beating Hoisington in the semis and St. John in the final. The Lady Red went 2-1 Tuesday at Smith Center, defeating Stockton and Plainville but losing in three sets to Hill City. 

This Saturday's tournament is at Concordia. Smith Center plays Clay Center, Conocrdia, Minneapolis and Southeast of Saline in pool play before the top two in each pool play in the semifinals and championship round. Hopefully, another six matches and back to the grind Sunday and Monday

That's all for now. I need to find rosters. Back tonight when I check into my hotel.

David's Kansas high school football picks, week 4

I'm 0-1 on my picks so far this week. Misplaced faith in Olathe South, but then again, I picked the Falcons to win by three points, and they lost by three. Shawnee Mission East is for real. I will rank them No. 2 in my upcoming Class 6A rankings behind Hutchinson.

Here are some other picks in Kansas high school games this week:
Mid-Continent League
Phillipsburg wins on the road at Smith Center
Plainville over LaCrosse at home
Ellis over Larned at home
Norton over Oberlin on the road
Hill City over Satanta on the road
Osborne over Wakefield at home
Stockton over Natoma at home
Trego over Ingalls on the road
Other area games
Thunder Ridge over St. John's/Tipton at home
Hays over Garden City on the road
Ellsworth over TMP-Marian on the road
Beloit over Sacred Heart on the road
Republic County over Russell at home
Victoria over Central Plains at home
CLASSES 6A AND 5A
Emporia over Topeka Seaman
Junction City over Topeka Hayden
Topeka High over Shawnee Heights
Wichita Heights over Kapaun Mount Carmel
Dodge City over Liberal
Olathe Northwest over Leavenworth
Hutchinson over Newton
Salina Central over Derby
Salina South over Haysville Campus
St. Thomas Aquinas over Blue Valley West
CLASSES 4A AND 3A
Holton over Hiawatha
Andale over Circle
Concordia over Abilene
Buhler over McPherson
Clay Center over Marysville
Eudora over Paola
Fort Scott over Coffeyville (at Fort Scott)
St. James Academy over Ottawa
Scott City over Ulysses
Holcomb over Goodland
Silver Lake over Rock Creek
Sedgwick over Ell-Saline
Pittsburg Colgan over Frontenac
8-MAN
Hoxie over Dighton
Rock Hills over Clifton-Clyde
Hodgeman County over Ness City
Lincoln over Pike Valley
Sharon Springs over Cheylin

Haven't we been this way before?

It's just before 9 a.m. in Kansas City. I'm once again at the Marriott on the grounds of Kansas City International Airport, getting ready to jump in the shower, pack up and get ready to leave for Belleville, where I will watch my hometown school, the Russell Broncos, play Republic County in football. Both teams come in 0-3, and frankly, both teams have not been competitive this season. The Buffaloes have been outscored 179-25 by Southeast of Saline, Sacred Heart and Ellsworth, while Russell has been outscored 165-14 by Minneapolis, Ellsworth and Beloit, losing 84-0 to the Trojans last week.

Since I'm going to Belleville, I will be traversing US 36 from St. Joseph across the top of Kansas until I reach my destination. This will be the second time in four days I'm going down that two-lane highway, and hopefully, I will not have a repeat of Tuesday, when I struck a deer east of Washington. Somehow, only a plastic piece of my grille popped out, I found the piece laying in the road, then popped it back in again at the Belleville Dairy Queen. The piece was still on the car when I checked in to the hotel last night, so that's a good sign.

I've driven US 36 plenty between St. Joseph and Smith Center over the last two years, and on a couple of occasions, I took it to Phillipsburg. I never saw a deer on that road until Tuesday. Fortunately, this critter was smaller than the buck I hit on US 183 north of Hays in October 2005 which spelled the end of my Oldsmobile, which began as my mom's car.

I guess if I left Kansas City early enough I could drive I-70 to Salina and then go north on US 81, but I'll save the gas and the time and just be extra careful. I think the worst area is between the Marshall/Washington County line and just east of Belleville, but I have to be careful the entire way, because you never know. I once saw a deer crossing the Kansas Turnpike east of Topeka one June morning.

Going home from Smith Center Tuesday evening, I saw two deer--one on the side of the road near Osborne, and then a fawn about 8 miles north of Russell. No problems.

Smith Center easily defeated Osborne in the two volleyball matches Tuesday evening. The Lady Red won the first varsity match 25-12, 25-14 and the second 25-16, 25-20. Smith Center takes an 11-2 record into tomorrow's Hoisington Cardinal Classic. They'll play Hoisington, St. John-Hudson, Claflin-Central Plains and Phillipsburg tomorrow.

The Olathe South-Shawnee Mission East game last night turned into a defensive struggle. Nobody, and I mean nobody, saw that coming. Most people expected a high-scoring game, since Olathe South has been able to run up big  numbers with its hybrid offense which is part Beloit Double Wing, part Tim Tebow Pistol formation, while the Lancers have one of the state's elite quarterbacks in Jordan Darling, who is playing for his fourth school in as many years.

Neither team came close to scoring in the first half. The Falcons got in big trouble with their poor punting game, and in the third quarter, Shawnee Mission East reached the Olathe South 4-yard line with a first and goal. But true to their mettle as defending Class 6A state champions, the Falcons held the Lancers out of the end zone on three plays, and on fourth down, Shawnee Mission East opted for a field goal. It was a knuckleball from 19 yards out, but it was between the uprights, and that's all that counts.

Olathe South never came close to scoring, getting as far as only the Shawnee Mission East 38. The Falcons were quarterbacks by Frankie Seuer, whose father, Frank, was a backup quarterback for the Chiefs in the 1980s. The season for both schools is far from over, because district does not start until week seven, and both schools figure to be favored to win their respective four-team districts, and even if they don't win, I can't fathom either the Falcons or Lancers losing twice in district. Therefore, a meeting in the playoffs is not out of the question. I would think one of these teams will be in the state championship game from eastern Kansas, because Topeka and Manhattan are on the west side with Hutchinson, Wichita Heights and Dodge City.

I'm printing some pictures for the officiating crew which worked the Smith Center-Beloit game. Then I'll hop in the shower and figure out what to do to kill time. Since I'm only going to Belleville, and the game doesn't start until 7, I really don't need to be across the Missouri River until sometime around 2, but I'd like to be earlier to take my time.

Return to Shawnee Mission North

For the second time in three weeks, I'm spending my Thursday night at Shawnee Mission North's football stadium. This time, Shawnee Mission East is hosting reigning Class 6A state champion Olathe South in a battle of 3-0 Sunflower League teams. The Falcons were a surprise champion a year ago. Not many in Kansas gave them a chance to knock of Wichita Heights, which had dominated en route to the 2010 state championship and again in 2011 by going 12-0 to reach the title game. But Olathe South won 41-37, and now they look like they are a good bet to get back to the championship game from eastern Kansas, where Hutchinson will more than likely be waiting on the other side.

SM East has generally been forgotten when it comes to football success among the Shawnee Mission schools. Shawnee Mission North was the first high school in the district, and then came Shawnee Mission West, and both of those schools were outstanding throughout the 1970s. Shawnee Mission South also won a state championship, but East has never been to the title game, simply because they've run into some really good teams from Lawrence, Olathe East, Olathe North, Olathe South and the like in the playoffs. But Jordan Darling is one of Kansas' best high school quarterbacks, and this could be the Lancers' year.  A victory over Olathe South would go a long way into making believers out of a lot of the expert.

I am going to pick Olathe South to win tonight. But this game will be very close. I expect it to come down to the bitter end, and whomever has the ball last may very well win it. I'll call for Olathe South 31, Shawnee Mission East 28.

Both teams are on the field right now. Olathe South is warming up in the northwest end zone in white jerseys and blue pants, which is disappointing. I'd prefer them to be in white or yellow pants. Shawnee Mission East is in all black. Not a good combination, either. They have that light blue they could do so much with. Oh well.

I've got a lot to catch up on. Maybe tonight when I get to the hotel after the game I can do that. For now, so long.

Typical Tuesday

The best news of the day came when I pulled into Smith Center High School just after 3:30 this afternoon. The piece which fell off when I struck the deer stayed in place on the drive from Belleville to Smith Center, which gives me hope that all is okay. It will be tested again on the drive from Smith Center to Russell tonight, which is dangerous because US 281 south of Portis to Russell narrow and hilly, and I have seen more than a few deer crossing the road during my years of driving it.

If it's a September Tuesday, it must mean volleyball. And for the first time this season I am in Smith Center, where the Lady Red hosts Osborne in an unusual format. In past years, Smith Center and Osborne had a triangular on this date with Thunder Ridge, and prior to 2008, Kensington, one of the schools which eventually combined to form Thunder Ridge (the other is Eastern Heights in Agra, which is where Thunder Ridge Middle School is located). However, Thunder Ridge pulled out this year, and Smith Center and Osborne could not find a third team, so here we are. The junior varsity teams are playing right now. The varsity will play next, followed by a C-team match, and then another varsity outing to end the night.

Smith Center played its first 11 matches of the season on the road. It will have two home dates after this, Sept. 25 and Oct. 9. But as is the case with schools in rural Kansas, more often than not, you're playing in someone else's gym, although not necessarily a true road match.

I'm coming full circle so to speak. I left my house Saturday morning at 6:15 to cover the Lady Red in the tournament at Belleville. That lasted from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., after which I drove east on US 36 to St. Joseph and down I-29 to Kansas City International Airport to stay at the Marriott and get my work done. I departed KC at 10:40 this morning, stopped for gas and snacks in St. Joseph, then hopped on US 36 for the return trip to Smith Center.

I was tempted by McDonald's in Hiawatha and Seneca and Hardee's in Marysville, but I didn't bite. Maybe if I would have, I wouldn't have smacked the deer 12 miles east of Washington. However, it all came out okay. For once.

The JV match will probably last another 30 minutes, so add in 20 minutes of warmup, I'm guessing the varsity will start somewhere around 6 p.m. Hopefully. I'm looking at getting home at 10:30 p.m. if I'm lucky. And then do it all over tomorrow.

Lucky for once

I haven't posted in over a week. Again, I am getting downright lazy. I have got to get into better habits, because if I want to drive traffic to my blog, it's got to be up to date. No ifs, ands or buts.

This post comes from the Dairy Queen in Belleville. I was just here Saturday during the Republic County Invitational volleyball tournament, eating with Greg Hobelmann and Allan Dunnavan during a break in the action. And there were many LONG breaks in the action Saturday.

I had two purposes for stopping in Belleville. I was driving west on US 36 from St. Joseph to Smith Center for tonight's volleyball match. Stephanie Baxa called me to tell me that a picture they have been waiting for in Plainville had not arrived from the Norton Telegram. Candace Rachel, the editor of the Plainville Times, usually goes to Plainville football games, but since she had shoulder surgery two weeks ago, she has been unable to use her camera. I couldn't go to Norton last Friday because I had to substitute for Jack in Smith Center, so Jack suggested I get in touch with Dick Boyd, the longtime editor of the Telegram and Norton's number one fan, to get us a picture or two for the Plainville paper. Nothing has showed up as of this writing.

The second reason for the stop was unplanned. I had another encounter with wildlife on the road. A deer darted out in front of me as I was driving west on US 36 in Washington County. I slowed down and tried to avoid the deer, but I couldn't stop in time. I thought to myself oh no, here we go again. I struck a deer a few miles north of Hays in 2005, and the collision totaled my Oldsmobile.

I pulled over about three miles east of where I struck the deer. Turns out all that happened was that a plastic piece of the lower grille on the front of my car had fallen off. I then got the idea o see if the piece was lying in the eastbound lane or on the side of the road. Sure enough, there it was, smack dab in the eastbound lane. I picked up the piece, drove to Belleville, and popped it back in. The deer apparently was fine, because there was no carcass anywhere to be found on the road or in the field to the side.

WHEW. Lucky me. Time to get on to Smith Center

Reflections on a Saturday

It's just after noon in Kansas City. The sun is shining, it's in the mid-70s, and college football is on just about every channel. So why am I sitting in a room at the Kansas City Airport Marriott watching Monk DVDs? The early college football games aren't appealing to me, even if Kansas State is playing Miami. I'm waiting for the 6 p.m. hour, when LSU hosts Washington and Missouri hosts Georgia. 

I didn't need the coat. Jack convinced me that I would be fine with the layers I had with me. He was right. I got by with a turtleneck and a sweatshirt at Beloit last night. It was almost perfect football weather, mid-60s, clear skies and a slight breeze. 

The football game did not match the weather. At least if you were a Smith Center fan. Beloit won 54-0. The Trojans outgained the Redmen 471-83, and the Beloit defense intercepted three passes. The Trojans were stopped on downs on their first possession, but scored touchdowns on their next six drives and led 46-0. I thought there would be a running clock at that point, with 5:10 to go in the third quarter, but the officials waited until the final period before running the clock. The game got over at 8:50, one of the fastest games I have covered in Kansas, short of those 8-man games stopped early by the 45-point mercy rule.

In 1987, a game between Shaw and Brother Martin in the New Orleans Catholic League which took 78 minutes to play. Brother Martin is my alma mater, but I wasn't attending school there yet, as I was only in the sixth grade. 

Like the game at Norton the previous Friday, I was besieged by all of the people I know from both Smith Center and Beloit at the game. I shot pictures from the Smith Center sideline during the first half and the first part of the third quarter, then migrated to the Beloit sideline by the end of the period and stayed there for the final period. I told quite a few people from Smith Center about my excursion to Shawnee Mission for the Thursday night game, and they were mesmerized by what money can do for a school district. The two schools which played, Olathe North and Shawnee Mission East, have nearly as many students in one grade level than Smith Center and Beloit have in their entire schools combined. Then again, Overland Park has 175,000 people and is the second largest city in Kansas behind Wichita; Mitchell and Smith Counties may have 11,000 between them.

I did not do the play-by-play for the football broadcast this time, since the regular announcer, Mike Hughes, was back on duty. But I'll be back behind the microphone Tuesday for volleyball at Ellis.

Speaking of volleyball, this is my last free Saturday for awhile. I have three volleyball tournaments with Smith Center the next three weeks, starting with Belleville in one week. Then it's on to Hoisington and Concordia. Hopefully, I'll have three straight Saturdays of volleyball in October. Two are guaranteed with the Mid-Continent League tourney at Phillipsburg and sub-state; hopefully, the third will be a state tournament somewhere.

Here are my picks for later college football games today:

Texas A&M over Florida

LSU over Washington

Nebraska over UCLA

Missouri over Georgia

Oklahoma State over Arizona

Arizona State over Illinois

Build up to Beloit

Trying to do a little housekeeping work this morning before I leave around noon to drive west toward Beloit. I want to get there by 5 p.m. so I have plenty of time to relax and be ready for the game.

I just looked at Shawnee Mission North's stadium on Google Maps, and I noticed something interesting: like Smith Center's Hubbard Stadium, it does not run true north-south or east-west. The SMN stadium runs northeast to southwest. Hubbard is askew a little bit from northwest to southeast.

One time when I was trying to kill some time before a game, I tried figuring which stadiums were oriented in which directions. Two stadiums I have covered games at in Kansas, Ellis and Russell, are backwards, since the press box at both places faces into the sun. The idea is if you build a stadium with the field running north-south, the press box should be on the west side, since the sun would set behind it. All of the college stadiums in the state I have been to--Kansas, Kansas State, Fort Hays, Pittsburg State, Emporia State and Wichita State--are oriented this way, and I would think Washburn would be the same way, too.

So much for housekeeping work. I fell asleep and woke up only a few minutes ago. I realized the time and then hurriedly showered and dressed. I'm going to pack my computer and possibly drive back to Russell to pick up a coat before going to Beloit. I would just go up US 281 to Osborne and then over on US 24. Not that hard.

Late night musings

I'm back at my home away from home in Kansas City, the Marriott at Kansas City International Airport, watching Monk and winding down from tonight's game.

It wasn't a contest. Shawnee Mission East rolled to a 30-7 victory over Olathe North, scoring 27 unanswered points after the Eagles took a 7-3 lead on the first play of the second quarter. The Lancers scored two touchdowns in the second quarter to lead by nine at halftime, and the second half was all SME.

It wasn't that long ago Olathe North was a powerhouse. The Eagles won four consecutive Class 6A state championships from 2000 through 2003, won another in 2009, and played in the championship game in 2010. But last year, the Eagles stumbled badly, going 5-4 while Olathe South won the 6A title and Olathe East and Olathe Northwest both made the playoffs. The poor (relatively speaking) season cost North coach Pete Flood his job.

Gene Wier, who coached at North from 1981 through 2002 and won six state championships in his final seven seasons, was brought back in an attempt to bring the program back to its lofty perch. However, tonight's game showed the Eagles have a long way to go to get back in the upper crust of the Sunflower League, much less win a state championship.

SME is going to give opposing teams fits, but I don't know if they have enough of a running game to control the clock against elite teams like Olathe South, Olathe East and the Lawrence schools. The Lancers' passing game is excellent, with quarterback Jordan Darling able to throw to a variety of receivers using a variety of patterns. He threw for 272 yards and three touchdowns against North, including a 70-yard catch and run by Connor Relihan.

The Lancers caught a break in district, with three other Shawnee Mission schools--Northwest, West and North. West is traditionally strong, but they are a little down this year, and Northwest and North have been in the bottom half of the Sunflower League as of  late. There's no reason SME should not reach the playoffs.

Mission beginning at Shawnee Mission

It's 5:25 pm and I am sitting in my car outside the stadium at Shawnee Mission North, where Olathe North and Shawnee Mission East will play football at 7. I came all the way to Johnson County because I have never seen a Class 6A football game in Kansas, and I wanted to see the differences between the Sunflower League, where all 12 schools are in 6A, and the leagues I cover, where everyone is 3A, 2-1A or 8-man.

I will enter the stadium shortly and see what's going on. Wish me luck.

Prep football picks, week 2

Here are some picks for high school games in Kansas this weekend:

Beloit over Smith Center

Phillipsburg over Oberlin

Norton over Goodland

Plainville over Ellis

Osborne over Hill City

Trego over Stockton

Clay Center over TMP-Marian

McPherson over Hays

LaCrosse over Hoisington

Shawnee Mission North over Olathe East

Bishop Miege over Gardner-Edgerton

Blue Valley over Blue Valley North

Junction City over Topeka Seaman

Topeka High over Topeka Hayden

Olathe East over Olathe Northwest

Lawrence over Shawnee Mission Northwest

Blue Valley Northwest over Blue Valley West

Lawrence Free State over Shawnee Mission West
Bishop Carroll over Wichita North
Wichita West over Wichita East
Dodge City over Wichita Northwest
Kapaun over Wichita Southeast
Wichita Heights over Wichita South
Buhler over Wichita Collegiate
Rossville over Abilene

Ulysses over Great Bend

Basehor-Linwood over KC Piper

Eudora over Louisburg

Baldiwin over Paola

Scott City over Colby

Andale over Rose Hill

Thunder Ridge over Pike Valley

Baileyville B&B over Quinter

Rock Hills over Hanover

Hump night thoughts

It would be just like me to forget to post something for four days after my last post. I'm getting into that bad habit again. I need to think about this long and hard when I go to bed.

Okay, there really wasn't much to report between Saturday morning and Tuesday at noon. My car did not leave the garage, and about all I did was write for the papers I cover sports for and watch my Monk DVD collection. I didn't watch much college football, and I certainly did not watch a single second of tennis at the U.S. Open. I don't think I've watched much of any tennis since 1987 or thereabouts. Maybe it was 1988 when Steffi Graf won the women's grand slam, but I'm not sure. But I know I won't be watching tennis anytime soon. At least Maria Sharapova won't be marrying that leeching loser Sasha Vucic.

It picked up again Tuesday. Got my work done and got out of Russell by noon, which was the goal, so I could go to Salina and make an important pickup in Salina. A fan. Not only could I get a fan at Target, but I was able to get two bags of my favorite potato chips, plus the best hot dogs in Kansas at Freddy's Frozen Custard. Then it was on to Beloit, where one again, I arrived way too early, so I lounged in the car with my air conditioning on, given it was 102 degrees outside.

Second volleyball day of the season. This time, it was a four-way between Smith Center, Republic County of Belleville, Beloit and Red Cloud from Webster County, Nebraska. The setup in Beloit was not optimal, so I was positioned in a chair on the floor, which didn't give me the best view to call the matches for Smith Center's television channel, but I managed.

I started doing volleyball matches for Smith Center's TV channel by happenstance. I was at Smith Center covering a match two years ago, and they did not have an announcer to do the match on TV that day. So Smith Center's athletic director, Greg Hobelmann, and Alan Dunnavan, who runs the sound board and video for the broadcasts, asked me to pinch-hit. They liked my work, and asked me to do three matches during the sub-state they hosted the next month.

When the 2011 season started, they wanted me to do it whenever I showed up, which was pretty often. I got more positive reviews for my work, and now, I am trying to make every Lady Red match if I can. So far, so good. They play again this coming Tuesday vs. Ellis and Victoria at Ellis, so this is a shorter trip.

Smith Center went 2-1 at Beloit Tuesday. The Lady Red looked flat against Republic County in the opener and lost 25-19, 25-22, but they came back in the last two matches to oust Beloit 25-10, 25-22 and Red Cloud 25-12, 25-17. They're now 3-2 on the year.

A severe thunderstorm passed through Beloit during the last match. It got dark after the second match, and I barely made it out in time to roll up my windows; I had them down a little bit due to the heat. The rain had stopped in Beloit when I left, but when I got on US 24 heading east toward US 81, something else got my attention.

The tire sensor on my car said three of my four tires were low, and sure enough, all of them were at 25 to 26 PSI; the normal weight is 30 to 31. I thought about pulling over and getting air, but the weather turned awful once I got on US 81. The rain started again about 10 miles north of Minneapolis and got heavier as I got closer to Salina. I thought about going back to Freddy's for more hot dogs, but they closed down as I pulled up, so I went to the Pilot on I-70 and 9th Street. The rain got heavier, so I went inside the store, browsed a little and played some video games before leaving there at 10:45. I made it home alright, but it was already 11:50.

I went to Hays this morning to get the tires checked out. Sure enough, there was a faulty sensor when they rotated them last week, and they pumped them right up. Things are fine there.

I was exhausted when I got home. I had to lay down at 11:30 am and take a nap. I couldn't get going until just before 2, but I got my work done in plenty of time for the Russell County News.

I'm now watching Dallas and the Giants in the NFL season opener. Dallas leads 17-10 but is looking to put it away with seven minutes to go. I will post my Kansas high school football picks in my next post.

Hello again (and again and again and again)

Here I go for about the 39th time trying to keep a blog up. Every time I say I'm going to post something new consistently, I fall behind and then I just forget about it. 

A little more than nine hours into September 2012, and I still have yet to hit the sack after my excursion to Norton last night. There's something about those very long trips after a football game which leave you wired. I'm walking around for two and a half hours during the game, and I'm usually there 90 minutes or more before the game, so I'm chatting and keeping relatively active, too. Then comes the drive home, and Norton is 119 miles from Russell, meaning I'm facing almost two hours on the road. 

The first half of the return trip from Norton to Russell is on the two-lane US 283, which at night can become a spooky wildlife excursion. I saw two deer on the highway north of Hill City, and it sent my blood pressure up a few notches (as if I need that). I learned the hard way in 2005 not to trifle with deer, as it totaled my Oldsmobile and meant no more Oldsmobiles in the Steinle family, which upset me a little; then again, there was nothing I could do about it. At least I was unhurt--not even a bruise. And I didn't even hit the airbag, because my seat belt held me in place. If that kind of incident doesn't make you wear your seat belt, someone should call the authorities and revoke your license. No need for you to be driving.

US 283 meets I-70 at WaKeeney. It's after 11 p.m., but half my trip is still in front of me. Granted, it's far smoother on the interstate, but deer have been known to cross four-lane highways just as easily as two-laners, for I remember a BIG buck crossing the Kansas Turnpike east of Topeka last June. I must have been in two-lane mode, because when I first got on the interstate, I was still doing 65. That would have been fine in 1992, but in 2012, nope. It finally hit me when the speedometer needle looked a little out of place, and got up to 75 and locked it in. I never speed on highways. I've had enough speeding tickets in my lifetime, and I don't need the hit to my insurance. 

I pulled into the house at 11:54:30. I wrote my story on last night's game, got my pictures posted, and still haven't gone to sleep. I wanted to go to Olathe to see the movie 2016, but it's raining in Kansas City (thank you, Isaac). Besides, there's football and more football is on TV, and with the sweet 42-inch LG HDTV I got Monday to replace my 32-inch Vizio, why bother leaving the basement? 

Norton defeated Smith Center 34-13. The Bluejays are trying to bounce back from 3-6 last year, their first losing season since 1994, and they took a good first step. Jacob Brooks, who has won three medals in the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash at the state track meet the past two years, gained 101 yards, and Dalton Miller had an outstanding game as the new starting quarterback, hitting 11 of 17 for 149 yards and a touchdown to Andrew Ellis. Smith Center's Kody Molzahn had an 80-yard touchdown run and caught a 60-yard touchdown pass from Payton Buckmaster, but Norton had the upper hand most of the night.

I'll save more for later, just so I can discipline myself to write.