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.