Sports News,  Sports Talk,  World/National Sports News

Sports News

High school baseball and softball

Illini Central baseball and softball

[APRIL 9, 2001]  Illini Central hosted Peoria Christian and Rochester in Mason City on Saturday. Both games were ended due to the 10-run rule. The Illini Central baseball team creamed Peoria 23-7. The Illini Central softball team lost to Rochester 12-1.

Baseball

[to top of second column in this article]

Mount Pulaski vs. Hartsburg-Emden

[APRIL 9, 2001]  Justin Anderson pitched for Mount Pulaski as they played the Hartsburg-Emden team. The 6-1 win was Anderson's first in three games.

Korey Davis hit two balls, made a double and batted in one runner, for Mount Pulaski. Brian Clements hit two balls and batted in two runners.

Matt Chapman pitched for Hartsburg-Emden.

Mount Pulaski’s record is now 4-7.

The junior varsity baseball teams competed as well. Hartsburg-Emden won by one run, 9-8.

Score by innings

Mount Pulaski 012 300 x – 6-6-0

Hartsburg-Emden 000 100 0 – 1-3-5

[LDN]

High school track and field

Olympia teams compete in track-and-field invitational

[APRIL 9, 2001]  Olympia’s girls and boys track teams competed in a track-and-field invitational on Saturday. The girls were ninth of 15 teams, with 34 points. The boys were fifth of 12 teams, with 50.5 points.

[to top of second column in this report]

[LDN]

College baseball

Lincoln College vs. John Wood and Quincy JV

[APRIL 9, 2001]  Lincoln College won three of five baseball games over the weekend, raising its season record to 11-17. Lincoln defeated John Wood 12-8 in a nine-inning contest at Galen Shirley Field in Lincoln on Sunday afternoon to cap off the weekend. The Lynx were beaten in a twin bill by John Wood at Quincy Saturday afternoon. John Wood won the first game 7-4 and took the nightcap by an 8-1 score. On Friday, Lincoln College handed the Quincy College JV team a 4-3 loss and a 6-4 loss.

[to top of second column in this article]

[Bill Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]

College softball

Lady Lynx play in Kankakee softball tournament

[APRIL 9, 2001]  Lincoln College played in the Kankakee softball tournament this past weekend and lost all four games. The Lady Lynx, now 2-14, lost two one-run games and lost a third by three runs.  

Lincoln scored 12 runs in the first three innings of Sunday's game against Grand Rapids, Mich., to take a 12-0 lead; however, the Lynx were unable to hold the lead.  Grand Rapids came back with four runs in the bottom of the third and plated three runs each in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to take a 13-12 victory away from the Lady Lynx. Lincoln had three hits each from Heather Dobey and Crystal Wilkey, while Beth Gajdik, Amy Czerwionka, Maggie Green and Brandi Barnes all had two safeties. Dobey suffered the pitching loss.

In the second game Sunday, Kankakee scored six in the first and eight in the second on their way to an 18-0 five-inning victory. Lincoln College had just three hits in the contest.

Saturday afternoon the Lynx dropped a 3-2 decision to Wabash Valley in the opening game and then lost to South Suburban, 8-5. In the first game Brandi Barnes suffered the pitching loss. Amy Johnson had a solo homer for the Lynx in the second inning. Barnes also lost the nightcap for Lincoln. Crystal Wilkey led the Lynx at the plate with three hits, including a double. Maggie Green had a double and triple.

[to top of second column in this article]

[Bill Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]

High school baseball

Olympia vs. East Peoria

[APRIL 7, 2001]  Ryan Kendrick and Steve Raleigh (6,W, 1-0) pitched a winning game for Olympia with Rush Olson catching.

Outstanding hitters for Olympia were Chris Frank (two hits), Raleigh (two hits), Jeff Darnall (two hits), Olson (two hits). Olympia is 9-1 for the year.

[LDN]

The following Lady Railers scored for Lincoln: 

400-meter dash — 2. Sara Conklen, 1:02.4

High jump — 1. Allison Humbert, 5-1 

Pole vault — 2. Jennifer Whalen, 6-0 

800 medley relay — 3. Lincoln, 1:59.6 

1,600 medley relay — 5. Lincoln, 4:21.9

High school baseball and softball

Lincoln vs. Taylorville

[APRIL 6, 2001]  Lincoln’s softball team played against Taylorville in an away game yesterday. Taylorville won the game 8-2.

Hilary Schweitzer was the pitcher for the Lady Railers. Her record is two wins and four losses. Emily Wilkinson caught for Lincoln.

Lori Reinwald boosted Lincoln with two hits, one triple and two RBIs.

Dively pitched for Taylorville (eight strikeouts, four walks), and Tangman was her catcher.

Lincoln’s softball record is now 2-7 overall and 0-2 in the Central State Eight Conference. Taylorville’s record is 7-1 and 2-0 in the conference.

Score by innings

Lincoln        002 000 0 – 2-3-5

Taylorville    040 130 x – 8-10-1

[LDN]

Illini Central vs. Riverton

[APRIL 6, 2001]  Illini Central’s baseball and softball teams played against Riverton, in Riverton, yesterday. Both games were called due to the 10-run rule.

Baseball

Brandon Grimsley pitched for Illini Central (7 strikeouts, 0 walks). His personal record is now 1-0. Travis Scott caught for Grimsley.

Scott hit a triple and brought in three runners. Flectcher made a double and batted in three runners. McDaniel and Grimsely each made a double and batted in two runners.

Fuess and Bodine pitched for Riverton. Burgess was the team’s catcher. Burgess also made a home run in the sixth inning for Riverton.

Score by innings

Illini Central      230 504 – 14-13-2

Riverton           000 020 – 2-5-0

Softball

Brook Oney pitched for the Lady Cougars softball team. Her personal record is 0-6. Katie Meikle was the team’s catcher.

Riverton’s pitcher was Kathy Lewison (7 strikeouts), and their catcher was Meyer.

Illini Central’s baseball record is now 7-2, and the Lady Cougars' softball record is now 0-6.

Score by innings

Illini Central      000 00 – 0-1-4

Riverton           671 2x – 16-7-1

[LDN]

High school track and field

Lincoln girls place second in five-team meet

[APRIL 6, 2001]  Five high school girls track teams gathered in Lincoln for a track-and-field meet yesterday afternoon. The final scores were as follows: Normal West 107, Lincoln 96, Rantoul 67, Urbana 67, Decatur Eisenhower 33. The individual race results are unavailable.

[LDN]

High school baseball

Lincoln varsity baseball vs. Mount Zion

[APRIL 5, 2001]  One mark of a good baseball team is that different players come through on different days. Lincoln’s varsity baseball team is a good example. Wednesday was Matt Boyer’s time to shine on offense and Jamison Sheley’s turn on the mound. Both played key roles in a solid non-conference win over Mount Zion. The Railers’ 11-5 victory pushed their record to 8-1.

[to top of second column in this article]

Olympia vs. Normal

[APRIL 5, 2001]  Olympia’s high school baseball team played Normal West in Normal yesterday afternoon. Normal won, 7-5. This marks the Spartans’ first loss of the season.

Wednesday’s game was the third game Cam Cheek pitched for Olympia—the first one he lost. Cheek struck out one player and walked another. Ryne Sherman replaced Cheek in the fourth inning. He struck out two of Normal’s players.

Oly’s team hit two home runs—both in the fifth inning. Jeff Darnall hit a home run with one runner on base, and Brandon Gale hit a solo home run.

Steve Raleigh three hits included a double. Brandon Gale and Ryan Kendrick both made two hits during the game. In addition to Darnall’s and Gale’s home runs, Ryne Sherman batted in one runner.

Joe Caslow pitched for Normal for the first time this season. He struck out two players and walked one more. Jake Stewart replaced Caslow in the fifth inning and struck out two of the Spartan’s players.

Olympia’s baseball record is now 8-1, and Normal’s record is 7-1.

Score by innings

Olympia           010 130 0 – 5-10-3

Normal West   301 300 x – 7-10-4

[LDN]

High school softball

[APRIL 5, 2001]  

LCHS vs. Normal

Lincoln Community High School’s softball team traveled to Anderson Park in Normal yesterday afternoon to play Normal Community. The final score was 4-0, Normal.

Jo Beth Borowiak (L, 0-3) pitched, with Emily Wilkinson catching. Borowiak walked three of Normal’s players.

Abby Lovejoy pitched her fourth winning game for Normal. In the four innings she pitched, Lovejoy struck out seven players and only sacrificed one hit. Ali Arnold pitched the last three innings of the game. She struck out eight players and sacrificed one hit also.

Lincoln’s softball team is now 2-6, and Normal’s team is now 7-1.

Score by innings

Lincoln                      000 000 0 – 0-2-3

Normal Community   100 030 x – 4-5-0

Olympia vs. Tri-Valley

Olympia’s softball team beat Tri-Valley 8-0 at Downs yesterday afternoon.

Jessie Shay pitched for Olympia. This was her sixth game and fifth win. She pitched four innings, struck out six of Tri-Valley’s players and surrendered two hits. Tricia Gaither continued to pitch the final three innings for the Lady Spartans. She walked one player, struck out four and surrendered only one hit.

Al Flessner and Liz Sunday caught for Olympia.

Liz Sunday hit two balls, made a triple and batted in one runner. Katie Fraher and Tiffany Prager each hit two balls and batted in one runner. Mindy Bachman made two hits.

Tri-Valley’s pitcher was Samantha Adams. She has lost three games and won three games. Her catcher was Amanda Lewis.

Olympia’s record is now five wins, two losses and one tie. Tri-Valley’s record is an even 4-4.

Score by innings

Olympia       121 300 1 – 8-11-1

Tri-Valley     000 000 0 – 0-3-3

[LDN]

College golf

LC golf team places second in MacMurray Invitational

[APRIL 5, 2001]  The Lincoln College golf team competed in the MacMurray Invitational golf tournament Wednesday and finished second in the tournament with 318 points. Fontbonne won the tourney with a score of 314. Danville finished third at 320 followed by McKendree with 321 and Culver-Stockton with 322.

Bobby Diehl had a round of 74 to take medalist honors in the tournament. Diehl led the Lincoln College team, which also included Tom Petersen, 80; Zack Baker, 82; Matt Fitzpatrick 82; and Dustin Stephens 86.

[Bill Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]

College softball

Lincoln College vs. John Wood

[APRIL 5, 2001]  Lincoln College suffered a double setback at the hands of John Wood Wednesday afternoon at Lincoln. The Lady Lynx (2-10) dropped the first game in nine innings, 10-8. John Wood won the nightcap by a 6-1 margin.

Lincoln plated five runs in the third inning of the opening game of the twin bill to take a 7-4 lead; however, the visitors put two runs on the board in the fourth and two more in the sixth to take an 8-7 lead. Lincoln scored a run in the bottom of the sixth to knot the score and send the game to extra innings. John Wood pushed across two runs in the top of the seventh for the victory. Calhoun, who entered the game in the eighth inning, picked up the pitching victory. She was also the winner in the second contest with a complete game performance.

Leading Lincoln College's 15-hit attack in the first game was Beth Gajdik with four safeties, including a double. Crystal Wilkey contributed three hits with a double, while Brandi Barnes, the losing pitcher, and Amy Czerwionka both had two hits including doubles.

[to top of second column in this article]

The second game was all John Wood as they scored two in the first and one in the second to take a 3-0 lead. Lincoln scored its lone run in the bottom of the second and collected just five hits. Heather Dobey was the losing pitcher for the Lynx.

John Wood        202 202 002 - 10-15-2

Lincoln College  025 001 000 - 8-15-8

Kassing, Fessler (4), Calhoun (8) & Armstrong; Brandi Barnes (L) & Beth Gajdik.

John Wood         210 120 0 - 6-13-1

Lincoln College   010 000 0 - 1-5-4

Calhoun (W) & Armstrong; Heather Dobey (L), Barnes (6) & Gajdik.

[Bill Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]

High school baseball

LCHS varsity vs. Southeast

[APRIL 4, 2001]  Lincoln’s varsity baseball team has been good in the preseason, with a record of 6-1. Tuesday, however, the conference season began. Would the Railers continue their winning ways, especially when they had to start with Southeast, the coaches’ preseason conference favorite?

One hope was that Chris Phillips would maintain his pitching prowess. Phillips threw 18 innings in the preseason and gave up only eight hits for a batting average of .119 against him—pretty impressive. But Phillips was saving his best game yet for Southeast. He faced 25 batters and gave up two hits, both doubles; yet no Southeast player’s foot touched home. He struck out six and walked just one. Lincoln took the conference opener 6-0 and moved to 7-1 for the year.

Lincoln used three successful sacrifice bunts in the outing (by seniors Nick Bay, Andrew Bartman and Aaron Matson); eight different players had a hit; and five different Railers scored. Dominant pitching and a broad offensive punch—a very good combination.

Lincoln’s first score came after two outs in the second. Derek Schrader drew a walk, stole a base, and Matson sent an RBI single into left field. In the third inning, Justin Dedman and Andy Knopp scored on a two-RBI single to left by Phillips. In the fourth, Lincoln scored three runs on singles by Danny Schick and Blake Schoonover, a triple by Schrader, and a fielding error that favored Matson.

Lincoln had two errors in the contest, but neither runner got past first base. In the fourth inning, Southeast mounted an apparent threat when J. R. Kyes, the third-place hitter, reached on an error. Adam Locker (who took the complete game pitching loss and who had doubled in his first at-bat) then smacked a hard line drive above Matson’s head at first. Matson took a stab and came down with the ball. Kyes, who was running on the pitch, was a sitting duck for Matson, who stepped on first for the double play.

[to top of second column in this article]

[Chris Phillips in the stretch,
with J.R. Kyes and Blake Schoonover.]

[Danny Schick scores the first of three runs
in the fourth inning.]

Lincoln has a scheduled rematch with Southeast at home on Thursday. Wednesday, the Railers travel to Mount Zion. Two very tough games ahead. Will the Lincoln crew continue one of the best starts in varsity baseball memory? I don’t know if the conference coaches expect it, but the Lincoln players and coaches do.

[Rich Knopp]

[Box score and stats for Lincoln’s game vs. Southeast]

LCHS freshmen vs. Morton

[APRIL 4, 2001]  Morton defeated Lincoln 3-1 in a freshman baseball game at Lincoln High School Tuesday afternoon dropping the LCHS record to 1-3 for the season.

 Trent Kavelman was the losing pitcher for Lincoln, working the first four innings, giving up five hits and two runs, one earned. Kavelman struck out two and walked two. Jason Williams hurled the final three innings, giving up four hits and a run, which was earned. Williams walked one and struck out two. Miles Musick had two of the six Lincoln hits in the contest.

Morton       101 001 0 – 3-9-1

Lincoln        000 000 1 – 1-6-2

Kavelman (L), Williams (5) & Jason Melton; Jacobson (W) & Osborn.

[Bill Martinie]

Area high school baseball games

[APRIL 4, 2001]  

Illini Central vs. Peoria Heights

Illini Central is making their showing early in the season. They beat Peoria Heights at Peoria 16-4. 

Peoria Heights must have frightened those Cougars when their four lone runs came in at bottom of the second inning, because at the top of the third inning the Cougars scored 12 runs.

Fletcher was cited for his outstanding pitching. In 3½ innings he allowed only one hit and no runs. Cougar pitchers Tyler Cunningham and Anthony Fletcher are 2-0 for the season, with Luke Bohm catching. 

Illini Central outstanding batters: Travis Scott (three hits, triple, two RBIs), Matt Harris (three hits, double, three RBIs), Brandon Grimsley (two hits, double), Fletcher (two hits, double, two RBIs) and Cunningham (two RBIs).

Illini Central is 6-2. Peoria Heights is 2-5.

Score by innings

Illini Central         21(12) 01 – 16

Peoria Heights     040 00 – 4

Hartsburg-Emden vs. Delavan

Hartsburg-Emden lost at Delavan by a mere two runs, with Matt Chapman pitching and Matt Gleason catching for the Stags.

Score by innings

Hartsburg-Emden      005 000 2 – 7

Delavan                     301 230 x – 9

[LDN]

High school softball

[APRIL 4, 2001] 

Lincoln vs. Springfield

The Lady Railers lost in a 2-1 game at Springfield. Pitching for Lincoln was Hilary Schweitzer (L, 2-3) with Emily Wilkinson catching.

Lincoln is 2-5 for the season.

Score by innings

Lincoln            100 000 0 – 1

Springfield       001 001 x – 2

[LDN]

High school track

Boys quad track meet at Pontiac

[APRIL 4, 2001]  Pontiac 119.5, Olympia 76.5, Normal Community 57, Ottawa 20

Olympia results

100-meter dash — Scott Joyce, 3^rd (tie), 11.8

400 dash — Joyce, 2^nd, 54.6

800 run — Sean Brand, 3^rd, 2:08.5; Vince McClain, 5^th, 2:20.6

3,200 run — Seline, 2^nd, 10:53.4

110 hurdles — Branden Sholty, 1^st, 15.9

300 hurdles — Sholty, 2^nd, 43.2

High jump — Nick Raes, 1^st (tie), 6-0

Triple jump — Jared Brooks, 4^th, 35-4

Pole vault — Brian DeLoriea, 1^st, 13-0; Brian Eichhorn, 2^nd, 12-0; Ryan Oehler, 3^rd, 11-0

Shot put — Jimmy Schultz, 2^nd, 46-5; Kyle Crawford, 3^rd, 44-5

Discus — Crawford, 3^rd, 124-4; Schultz, 4^th, 120-3

400 relay — Olympia, 3^rd, 46.5

800 relay — Olympia, 3^rd, 1:42.3

1,600 relay — Olympia, 1^st, 3:47.4; Olympia, 3^rd, 3:56.7

3,200 relay — Olympia, 3^rd, 8:51.6

College baseball

LC vs. ICC

[APRIL 4, 2001]  First-place Illinois Central College handed Lincoln College a pair of setbacks in baseball at East Peoria Tuesday afternoon. The double victory runs the ICC record to 8-0 in the conference. Lincoln College stands at 5-4 in the conference and 8-15 overall.       

Lincoln and ICC were knotted at 4-4 going into the bottom of the sixth inning; however, the hosts scored four times and the Lynx were unable to recover.   Jeff King was the starting and losing pitcher for coach Tony Thomas. Gary Ryan had a pair of hits to lead Lincoln in the opener.

In the second game, Illinois Central failed to score in the first inning but proceeded to put 13 runs on the board in the next four innings. Matt Whetstone took the loss for the Lynx, with Mark Stoltzenburg and Scott Onken taking a turn on the mound trying to stop the hosts.   Chad Blackburn banged out three hits in three trips for Lincoln while Jake VanDyke had two hits in three trips.

[to top of second column in this article]

Lincoln College      022 000 0  –  4-7-5

Illinois Central        012 014 x  –  8-8-2

Jeff King (L), Charlie Deakin (6) & Robert Sherren; McCool (W) & Hamilton.

Lincoln College       000 03  –  3-9-3

Illinois Central         042 34  – 13-8-1

Matt Whetstone (L), Mark Stoltzenburg (4), Scott Onken (5) & Gary Ryan; Dries & Hamilton.

[Bill Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]

High school baseball

[APRIL 3, 2001]  

Illini Central’s baseball team blew away Springfield Lutheran yesterday in Springfield, 12-3.

Brandon Grimsley and Matt Harris (3,W) pitched Illini Central’s winning game, with Luke Bohm catching at the home plate.

Cougars Josh McDaniel and Jon Harfst each made a home run during the game. Harfst also had one other hit. Bryce Cunningham had two hits. Brandon Grimsley and Anthony Fetcher each made doubles with their hits.

Baker pitched for Springfield Lutheran, and Harinid, Heavisides and Oertel caught.

Illini Central’s new record is 5-2. Springfield Lutheran is 1-5.

Score by innings

Illini Central    501 200 4 – 12-9-2

Lutheran        120 000 0 – 3-6-5

Olympia’s baseball team traveled to Springfield yesterday to challenge Southeast and returned home victorious. Olympia won 7-2.

Brandon Gale pitched his second win for the Spartans. Steve Raleigh caught for Gale in the first six innings, and Rush Olson caught for the last inning.

Steve Raleigh contributed three hits, one double and one RBI to his team’s game. Ryan Kendrick hit two balls and brought two runners home. Chris Frank hit two balls and brought one runner home.

Lopez pitched for Southeast—of three games, this is his first loss. Maning and Barnes caught for Southeast’s team.

Olympia’s record is spotless: eight wins and no losses. Springfield Southeast has three wins and three losses.

Score by innings

Olympia                      121 003 0 – 7-8-3

Springfield Southeast   100 100 0 – 2-6-2

[LDN]

High school softball

[APRIL 3, 2001]  

Midwest Central visited Mason City yesterday afternoon to compete against Illini Central’s softball team. At the end of the fifth inning, the game was called due to the 10-run rule; Midwest won 15-0.

Brooke Oney pitched for the Lady Cougars and Katie Meikle caught.

Oney made a double with her one hit for Olympia.

Woiwiode pitched for Midwest Central and Dunhthes caught.

Illini Central’s new records are 0-5 overall and 0-3 in the Tomahawk Conference.

Score by innings

Midwest Central      602 34 – 15-6-1

Illini Central             000 00 – 0-1-7

Olympia welcomed Eureka to Stanford for a high school softball game yesterday afternoon. After six innings, the game was called due to the 10-run rule. Olympia won 10-0.

Jessica Shay pitched her fourth winning game of five games she has pitched for the Lady Spartans. She pitched for six innings and struck out 11 of Eureka’s batters. Al Flessner caught for Olympia.

Lady Spartan Mindy Bachman hit three balls and batted in one runner. Becky Hieser batted in two runners.

Sarah Waldrop was Eureka’s pitcher. Jenny Carr and Brandi Payne were her catchers.

Olympia’s new record is 4-2. Eureka’s record is 2-1.

Score by innings

Olympia     122 041 – 10-11-0

Eureka        000 000 – 0-0-1

[LDN]

Sports Talk

[APRIL 6, 2001]  Sorry for the overused cliché. And to our loyal LDN readers, sorry for the lack of 411 the last few days. While we put a wrap on things from San Antonio, we had to deal with 24k modems that just weren’t getting the job done. In Minneapolis, overloaded phone lines prevented us from even sending our stuff. Oh well, you might be better off.

I’m STILL not even sure of what to make of what happened to the Illini in Texas. Whatever it was, it wasn’t a thing of beauty. One knowledgeable expert, who refuses to be quoted, told the LDN that if the games in Texas had been officiated like the games in Minnesota, the Illini would be sizing themselves for their rings. My ol’ buddy Craig says that "if ‘ands’ and ‘buts’ were candy and nuts, what a Merry Christmas it would be."

With all that being said, I guess you friends of LDN can pretty well figure that the Final Four was a very lonely experience without the Illinois squad being there with us. In fact, we disliked the teams that were there so much that for only the second time in the last 14 years we refused to buy tickets for the games.

BUT, the Final Four is not just an event with three big games. It’s much more of an experience than that. I hope all basketball junkies everywhere get the chance to take in some of the hoopla at some point in the future. There is so much to see and do, and believe it or not, Ed Plumier, most of it REALLY does promote a family atmosphere (other than the price of the tickets to the games…but, even at that, it’s more reasonable than the price to attend other major sporting events).

If you ever get the chance to share in the Final Four experience, here are some things that you should definitely look into.

First, on about Wednesday, the four teams arrive, and usually the press conference is something that you can take in. It’s a lot of coach speak to the purist, but the average fans would really get a charge out of it.

On Thursday and Friday, you can play America’s favorite family game, "Spot the celebrities." I tried to talk to Steve Mariucci, who is the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, but couldn’t get near him. Over the years we’ve shook hands with Kevin Costner, Nick Nolte and Gregory Hinds, waved to President Clinton, walked in Seattle with Jack Nicholson and George Steinbrener, and almost got shot in Indianapolis by one of Colin Powell’s bodyguards!

Friday night you could take your family to see a fairly reasonably priced college all-star game featuring some of the nation’s top seniors playing a stellar group of Harlem Globetrotters. There is also a slam-dunk and hot-shot challenge included "free" of charge!

I forgot to mention that if 3s and dunks are your cup of tea, there is an ESPN-hosted event on Thursday, but we usually boycott it just to be difficult.

There is also a high school hoop summit, usually on Sunday, featuring some of the best U.S. high school players playing some of the best international players. It is usually the best game of the weekend by far. You will also see virtually every major coach and scout in the country at that contest.

[to top of second column in this article]

One of the biggest attractions, by far, is "Hoop City." This event used to belong to the NABC (coaches association), but they sold out to the NCAA…guess the NCAA was struggling and needed another buck or two! This is probably the best value for the dollar, especially for young families with kids not yet in high school. There are dozens of interactive games, dozens of courts to play on, celebrities and autograph sessions galore, and every piece of Final Four memorabilia that could line your closets triple-thick. Most people love this event like no other. If you have kids that love hoops and are possibly a junkie yourself, take it in the next time the Final Four is in your neighborhood.

Probably the most exciting thing you could do and should do is to take your family to the Friday practice sessions. All four teams get an hour to practice in the venue at hand, and you can take your family and sit anywhere you want to. Amazingly, it is STILL absolutely FREE. But don’t worry, once the NCAA hears about that, they’ll figure out some way to make another buck off of that too!

If you love celebrities and awards, you can shell out some cash and take your kids to the College Basketball Awards show. We boycott this affair also, as we believe that basketball is a team game, and unless we like someone who is getting an award, we don’t want to be seen there.

One of the coolest things about the Final Four is meeting people from all over the country. The LDN was denied tickets for this year’s Final Four, so we had to do all of our milling around at the convention center and at the Metro Dome. It is just great to see every fan wearing the colors of their favorite team even though most of them realize that their hometowners have already been eliminated.

The town that hosts the Final Four is decorated and spruced up with beautiful colors, and they’re giving you free stuff every time you turn around. I usually take my vacation every year to go to this crazy event just to get the free stuff…I love free stuff!

At any rate, I’m very sad that the season is over. I mourn this time of the year for several months. I wish college basketball lasted for 12 months, but since it doesn’t, bring on baseball!

And if you are ever remotely close to a Final Four venue (upcoming ones will surely be in St. Louis and in Indianapolis), do yourself and your family a favor and take in at least one day of the experience. It is one of the most exciting things that you will ever do.

And finally, I want to thank each and every loyal LDN reader for taking the college basketball ride with my staff and me this season. We tried to give you a peek inside the world of college basketball, and we had a ball bringing you all of the coverage.

Thanks also to my wonderful staff who just did a tremendous job bringing you all of the action, especially during the month of December when Payne and I were getting introduced to one another. He can’t wait for basketball season to begin.

Anyway, thanks for tuning in…I hope you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed bringin’ it to you!

[Jeff Mayfield]

Back to top

News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching & Learning | Home and Family | Obituaries

Community | Perspectives | Law & Courts | Leisure Time | Spiritual Life | Health & Fitness | Letters to the Editor