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[SEPT. 13, 2001]  Lincoln College fell behind 4-0 in the first half and, although scoring two goals in the second half, was unable to catch visiting Springfield College of Illinois in a women’s soccer game at Lincoln Tuesday afternoon. SCI won the contest by an 8-2 margin.

Scoring goals for Lincoln College were Ayana Evans in the 64th minute and Lyndsey Pickering in the 71st minute.

"Our lack of numbers hurt us again today," coach Todd Spellman stated. "Until we get some of our injured players back, it is going to be tough for us."

The loss drops the Lady Lynx to 0-3 on the season.

[Bill Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]

[SEPT. 13, 2001]  In women's soccer, LCC lost to Colver-Stockton 2-0. LCC's season record is now 1-5.

[SEPT. 12, 2001]  Lincoln College won its opening home volleyball match of the season by downing Springfield College of Illinois in three sets Tuesday night.  The victory raises the Lady Lynx record to 3-5 on the season.

Lincoln won the opening set 30-11, the second set by a 30-20 margin and the final set by a 30-12 margin.

Coach Mark Tippett said: "We played a very solid match and I was extremely pleased with every aspect of the game. Our passing really came alive, and that set up our entire game. It was a real team effort, and it was great to win in front of the home crowd."

Amy Cox, a sophomore from Lincoln, had 15 points, three aces and three kills, while Erica Miller came up with 16 points, nine kills and four digs. Janie Buettner had 11 kills to lead the Lady Lynx, and Beth Guy had 33 set assists and contributed five points.

[Bill Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]

[SEPT. 10, 2001]  It was not a good weekend for the soccer teams at Lincoln College, as neither the men nor women were able to score a goal. The men lost to State Fair 7-0 at Belleville, while the women lost 3-0 to Parkland at Champaign.

Coach Mark Howard said: "We played a very good team and got beat very badly.  Our goalie, Justin Cronin, was very busy as he stopped seven shots on goal; however, he gave up seven points."

The Lincoln College women had nine shots on goal but were unable to score.  Coach Todd Spellman said: "We had several opportunities to score, especially in the first half, but we couldn’t get any goals.  We made a couple of defensive mistakes and they (Parkland) capitalized."

[Bill Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]

[SEPT. 10, 2001]  Lincoln College defeated John Wood 30-25, 30-26 and 30-17 to win one of three matches in the Danville tournament this past weekend.   The Lynx lost to Danville and John Logan.

Coach Mark Tippett said: "We played competitively all day and showed a lot of progress. We are on the right track and are showing a lot of promise.  We were in every match and played well against John Logan, clearly the class of the tourney.  We were the only team to give John Logan a tussle."

Against John Wood, Beth Guy had 30 set assists and scored seven points.  Molly Owens was credited with 10 kills, and Janine Buettner had five kills and one block.  Amy Cox of Bloomington had seven points and four blocks.

Danville beat Lincoln College 33-31, 28-30, 30-25, 30-23.  Guy had a team-high 41 assists and scored nine points to lead the Lynx.  Cox was credited with 12 kills, eight blocks and eight points, while Buettner had 12 kills and four blocks.

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Against John Logan the Lynx were defeated 30-7, 19-30, 30-19, 30-28.   Guy had six service points and 28 assists, while Molly Owens had eight kills and two blocks.

On Tuesday, Lincoln College will have their first home meet of the season, when they host Springfield College at 6 p.m.

[Bill Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]

[SEPT. 10, 2001]  Illinois beat in-state rival Northern Illinois 17-12 in a very sloppy game Saturday in Champaign in front of just over 45,000 fans. Illinois needed two Kurt Kittner fourth-quarter touchdowns to secure the victory, and the game was not decided until NIU failed to complete a fourth-down pass into Illinois territory with just 30 seconds remaining in the game.

Illinois is now 2-0 on the young season and is one of just six Big Ten teams that remain undefeated on the season. Illinois heads into action again next Saturday against Louisville — a team that is 3-0 and puts up points at an incredible pace. The game will be played in Champaign (plenty of tickets remain), with kickoff at 11:10 a.m. The contest will be televised by ESPN2.

Three players earned the title "hero" on Saturday, and without the effort of each of the three, Illinois could very easily lost for the first time in 111 years to an in-state, non-conference team (can you name the team that beat Illinois in 1890?). Thus, today the LDN salutes the following Illini:

1. Brandon Lloyd, wide receiver — He recorded his second-straight 100-yard receiving game and once again was the most exciting player on the field. He faced double or triple coverage most of the game, yet still caught seven passes and helped the struggling Illinois offense get going time and again.

2. Eugene Wilson, cornerback — All the attention this year has been given to the other corner, Christian Morton, but Wilson made three huge plays on Saturday. First, he returned a punt 40 yards to help awake the sleeping crowd. Then, Wilson recorded two really big interceptions. The first was a great diving play only a few players will ever duplicate. The second came late in the game and allowed Illinois to score their second and final touchdown of the day (which ended up being the game-winning points).

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3. Terrell Washington, defensive end — The senior finished with three tackles but became the first Illinois player since Fred Wakefield to block two kicks in the same game. Washington blocked each of the first two NIU field-goal attempts, and those six points could have allowed Northern to escape with a victory.

Bottom line: A victory is a victory. But, Illinois came out really flat and will lose by two touchdowns (at least) if they do not have a much better effort against Louisville.

And things do not get any easier after next Saturday. The conference season starts in less than two weeks at the Big House in Ann Arbor, Mich. Those dreaded Wolverines gave away yet another game on Saturday (proving Lloyd Carr is Illinois’ greatest weapon when Illinois meets Michigan) at Washington and should be very angry when Illinois comes calling.

[Greg Taylor]

[SEPT. 10, 2001]  Three current high school seniors have given verbal commitments to coach Bill Self to play basketball at the University of Illinois, beginning in the fall of 2002. Self has one scholarship left to offer this fall and will probably have a fifth scholarship to offer in the spring if Frank Williams declares for the NBA, a move most basketball insiders say has already been decided upon.

The three players are:

•  Dee Brown, a 6-1 guard from Proviso East HS in Maywood

•  James Augustine, a 6-10 forward from New Lenox Central HS

•  Kyle Wilson, a 6-8 wing-forward from Jesuit Prep School in Dallas, Texas

Illinois hosts three more prospective players on campus Sept. 14-16. Visiting will be:

•  Sheldon Williams, a 6-8 power forward from Midwest City, Okla.

•  Deron Williams, a 6-3 guard from The Colony, Texas

•  Kevin Bookout, a 6-8, 260-pound center from Strout, Texas

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Sheldon Williams is the No. 1 power forward prospect in the country and is deciding between Illinois, Duke and North Carolina. Duke is rumored to be the favorite. Deron Williams is a top 50 guard prospect who has narrowed his choices to Illinois, Georgia Tech and Maryland. And Bookout is a three-sport stud (baseball; track and field) who has a great chance to represent the USA in the 2004 Summer Olympics in either the discus or shot-put competition.

[Greg Taylor]

Olympia vs. Kewanee
Olympia    7  7 20  7 - 34
Kewanee   0 12  0  0 - 12

[SEPT. 8, 2001]  Lincoln College opened its men’s soccer season by claiming the championship of the Domino’s Pizza/Bonanza Soccer Classic at Lincoln this past weekend. The Lynx won the tourney championship for the fifth-straight season.

Lincoln defeated East Central of Union, Mo., 1-0 in the championship game. The only goal of the game came in the first half of the contest on a penalty kick by Jesus Cruz, a graduate of Moline.

"We played very well and beat a great team in East Central," said coach Mark Howard of Lincoln College. "They are probably the most talented team we have ever had in our tournament. They (East Central) actually controlled possession most of the game; however, we had the only score. Our goalkeeper, Justin Cronin, a freshman from Naperville, had a phenomenal game."

Lincoln College advanced to the championship game by beating Madison Area Tech College 5-1 in their first contest. The first Lynx goal was scored by John Lusicic with an assist by Jeff Cohen. Chris Luther scored the second on assists by Jesus Cruz and Ryan McCabe, while Cruz scored the third goal unassisted. Lincoln College’s fourth goal was scored by Nick Buysse with an assist from Steve Gorton, and the final goal was by Cliff Scattergood, unassisted.

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East Central stopped Cincinnati State 4-0 in the other semifinal game. Cincinnati State came back to claim third place with a 6-1 victory over Madison Area Tech.

Cory Dalton of East Moline was named most valuable defender for the tourney, while Justin Cronin was the most valuable goalkeeper. Fernando Tolomelli of East Central was named most valuable attacker. Names to the all-tournament team from Lincoln were Cruz; Lance Ziebart, a Normal Community graduate; Ryan McCabe, Bethany High School graduate; and Darin Parker, also from Normal Community.

Click here for Lincoln College men’s soccer schedule.

Click here for team roster.

[Bill Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]

Lincoln College men’s soccer schedule

Lincoln College men’s soccer roster

Head coach: Mark Howard

Assistant coach: Cassidy Dobratz

Athletic director: Allen Pickering

Managers: Kevin McAuliffe and Jesse Wood

[SEPT. 7, 2001]  Sometimes, smaller is bigger, shorter is taller, a soft touch is better than a hard hit, and a block is as effective as a kill. "Sometime" was last night, as the Lady Railers defeated the Normal West Wildcats in consecutive games, 15-6, 15-7.

The Railers’ smaller back line showed up bigger and taller with major service runs by Christina Xamis and Darcy White, along with six big kills for "little" Darcy White. And, while the Railer power hitters were so pumped up they were consistently hitting long and wide, the dink and the soft touch in the right place, at the right time, proved effective all night. When the Railers needed a side out or a game-winning point, it was the dynamic blocking duo of Kari McFadden and Tina Cook that made it happen.

As Game 1 began, it was evident that both teams had come to play. The Railers were so pumped up and ready that initially they were driving the ball long or hitting right into the waiting Wildcat blockers. Normal West was serving well and appeared able to use the Railers’ power against them with effective blocks.

The Railers needed to change strategy, and they did. A dink by Tina Cook gave the Railers a much-needed side out, with the Railers down 0-3. A fine serve by Missy Aper and a hard kill by Darcy White gave LCHS its first point. Darcy then rotated to the service line and proceeded to serve two more Railer points on a kill by Samantha Conrady and another dink by Kelli Gleason. Successive dinks by Michelle McFadden and Kelli Gleason during a four-serve run by Kari McFadden put the Railers on top to stay at 7-5. Kelli Gleason moved from setter to server and added two more Railer scores.

Normal would manage no more points, as the Railers pressed it into high gear. Christina Xamis substituted in and did what she does best — she served like she’d been on the floor all night. Six successive well-placed serves from Christina, kills by Darcy White and Tina Cook, a pair of team blocks by Tina Cook and Kari McFadden, and the game was history.

Game 2 looked vaguely familiar. The Lady Railers again let themselves get down 0-3 before they came back to life. Darcy White told me after the game that sometimes there seem to be a few moments of letdown by the Railers when they win the first game. She is confident that this short mental lapse will evaporate as the season goes on. She reminded me that "it’s still early." Good point.

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Game 2 found the Railers riding the serves of Missy Aper, Kelli Gleason and Darcy White to victory. Samantha Conrady’s net play and back-line defense were key elements in the victory, as was the defensive hustle of Christina Xamis. Kari McFadden played with her usual high intensity and, along with Darcy White, knocked down enough kills to assure the Railer victory. In between, it was some well-placed soft touches, including a picture-perfect one by Kelli Gleason, just over the outstretched arms of two Wildcat blockers, which out-finessed the Wildcats and led to their defeat.

The Railers improved to 8-1 with the win.

The Railer style of play in this victory once again shows one of the great things about volleyball, unlike most every other sport: In V-ball you don’t have to be the tallest person on the floor to make a large contribution to your team’s victory. Sometimes "height" is measured by the "heart," and the Lady Railers all played "tall" last night.

The junior varsity never quit and maintained their undefeated record by beating Normal West in a three-game match by the score of 15-13, 7-15 and 15-1. The entire team showed great attitudes and winner’s hearts throughout the match. Smart coaching by Tanya Conrady, especially in Game 2, allowed the JV Railers to crush Normal West in Game 3 and win the match. Exceptional player performances were turned in by Julie Fults, Brooklyn Robbins, Maria Benitez, Ali Hower and Katie Green.

The LCHS varsity squad will travel to Washington, Mo., this weekend to perform in the highly competitive St. Francis Borgia Tournament. The Railers’ first tournament game will begin at 8:30 a.m. Saturday. They will return for their next home match, against Mount Zion, on Sept. 17 and will begin Central State 8 play the next night against Taylorville.

If you don’t come out and watch, you won’t know what you’re missing. GO, RAILERS!

[Rick Hobler]

[SEPT. 7, 2001]  The Lincoln College men’s golf team finished in a tie for seventh place in the 21-team Parkland Invitational Thursday in Champaign. Illinois Valley won the team championship with a total of 302. The Lynx finished with a team total of 317.

Bobby Diehl was the leading scorer for the Lynx with a round of 76, two shots better than teammate Zack Baker. Todd Peterson shot 81, Chris Boyer had 82 and Jacob Horton had 83 to round out the team scoring for coach B.J. McCullum.

Other scores for Lynx golfers were Brad Emerson 85, Josh Specketer 86, Dave Riesen 90 and Chris Panzier 95. Only the top five scorers were counted toward team scores.

Lincoln plays in the John A. Logan Invitational Saturday and Sunday.

[Bill Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]

[SEPT. 7, 2001]  Playing at Olney, Lincoln College won its first volleyball game under the guidance of new coach Mark Tippett Thursday night. Lincoln defeated the host school before losing to Southeastern in the second match.  The Lynx are now 1-2 on the season.

Olney Central rolled to a 30-13 victory in the first game of the tournament before Lincoln took control. The Lynx won the second game 30-27 and took the final contest by a 15-12 margin. Beth Guy came up with a game high of 29 set assists, while Janine Buettner had nine kills and Erica Miller contributed four kills and nine service points.

Against Southeastern, the Lady Lynx rolled to a 30-15 victory in the opening game before stumbling in the final two.  Southeastern won the second game by a 30-25 margin and then took the finale 15-13.  Guy again led the Lynx, with 11 points and 20 set assists. Molly Owens contributed six kills.

Coach Tippett said, "We played very competitive volleyball.  We started a little slowly and then started playing very consistently. We got the advantage in the first match against Olney and it carried over into the first set against Southeastern; however, we didn't complete the task.  We had opportunities to win; we just didn't get it done."

[Bill Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]

[SEPT. 7, 2001]  Six freshmen make up the women’s golf team for Kirk Whiteman at Lincoln College this season; therefore, experience will be lacking.

"This class gives us a good recruiting base for next season," Whiteman said. "We have some quality golfers, and if we can get another class of this caliber next season, things should start looking up for the Lady Lynx."

Carrie Hoffert, a Lincoln High School graduate, and Michelle Rutherford should contend for the No. 1 and 2 spots on the team, according to Whiteman. Rutherford is from Auburn High School.

"Not far behind the first two will be Dori Boothe and Gina Billy," said Whiteman. Rounding out the six-member squad will be Laurel Allen and Megan Walter. Boothe hails from Elmwood High School, and Billy from Prairie Ridge High School. Allen is a graduate of Moline, while Walter hails from Libertyville High School.

"Our goal is to have someone qualify for the national tournament, which is held in the spring," said Whiteman. "I believe, with this group of girls, we are headed in that direction. We have only three women’s golf teams in our region, with Rend Lake and John A. Logan always being very representative. They generally finish one-two in the region and qualify for regionals."

Lincoln opened the season Sept. 4 with a meet in Jacksonville against Illinois College.

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LC women’s golf schedule

Sept. 4 — Illinois College at Jacksonville

Sept. 14 — Knox College at Galesburg

Sept. 15 — Monmouth College at Monmouth

Sept. 19 — MacMurray College at Jacksonville

Sept. 22 — McKendree College at Lebanon

Oct. TBA — John A. Logan at Carterville

Oct. 14-16 — Region 24 tourney at West Frankfort

[Bill Martinie,
Lincoln College sports information director]

[SEPT. 7, 2001]  Hot off their impressive 44-17 victory last Saturday at California-Berkeley, the University of Illinois football team hosts in-state rival Northern Illinois this Saturday. Northern opened their season last Saturday with a 20-17 victory over South Florida. 

Game time is set for 11:10 a.m. Thousands of tickets remain and will be available at the football ticket office at Memorial Stadium on Saturday morning. The game will be televised locally on WCIA-TV (Channel 3) through ESPN-regional.

The Illini coaching staff was very happy with several aspects of the game against California, including:

•  The return of quarterback Kurt Kittner to pre-concussion form. The Heisman candidate looked like the quarterback Mel Kiper thinks is the best in college football this season.

•  Brandon Lloyd exploded at receiver, catching two passes over 45 yards, which brings his career total of plays over 30 yards to 10 (in just 13 college games).

•  The running of tailback Antonio Harris, especially inside the 10-yard line.

•  The play of several newcomers to the defensive side of the ball, including linebackers Ty Myers, Mario Ivy and Joe Bevis and defensive backs Christian Morton (CB) and Jamaal Clark (SS).

•  The place-kicking of J.J. Tubbs, who continues to be perfect in his college career in both extra-point attempts and field-goal attempts.

Listed below are several fast facts related to the game or Illinois football:

• Illinois leads the series with NIU 2-0, with victories in 1992 (30-14) and 1994 (34-10). Both previous games have been played in Champaign.

•  Sophomore receiver Brandon Lloyd was named Big Ten offensive player of the week for his efforts Saturday at California. Lloyd missed the entire 2000 campaign due to an injury.

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•  Illinois has not cracked the top 25 rankings yet. However, the coaches (ESPN) poll has Illinois ranked No. 33, and the sportswriters (AP) list Illinois at No. 30. Illinois rose as high as No. 17 last season in both polls after opening the season 3-0.

•  Illinois will have one change in the starting lineup, as outside linebacker Ty Myers will not start, due to a sprained ankle, but will play. Sophomore Joe Bevis, who played at California, will start in Myers’ place.

•  Illinois received great news Wednesday as former Iowa starter Jon Beutjer announced he will transfer to Illinois and will be eligible to play in the 2002 season. He will be allowed to practice with Illinois starting Monday and will probably become the favorite to succeed Kittner next season. Beutjer led Wheaton-Warrenville HS to a perfect 14-0 season in 1998 and threw an amazing 60 TD passes during his high school career.

•  Illinois received some bad news this week, as it was revealed backup safety Marc Jackson will have season-ending surgery on his shoulder. Jackson will return in 2002 as a probable starter (both starting safeties this season are seniors and will retain two years of eligibility).

•  Illinois’ game next week at home against Louisville (2-0) will start at 11:10 a.m. and will be televised on ESPN2.

[Greg Taylor]

[SEPT. 4, 2001]  I’ve heard it said that it takes three years to turn a losing athletic team into a winner. Others suggest that it takes five years for such a transformation. Personally, I have no idea how long it takes. I do know that it will take time. I take my hat off to the new coach of the Lincoln Railer football team, John Oaks. He has stepped up to this challenge. We all know what football has been like around here the last few years. It will do no good to bring up the past again. I can tell you that the current group of Railers seems to be throwing support behind coach Oaks and his staff. The LDN hopes that the community will as well. During the middle of last week the LDN was able to attend their workout and talk with the coach on the field immediately after practice.

[Click here for Part 1]

Q. Ball control sounds like it will be the key for this week and for the rest of the season. Will you try to keep the ball between the tackles, will you spread the offense like you said earlier, or will you just mix it up?

A. It depends on how soon we get Sam Moore back. Our offense has taken a hit, in that we don’t have a tailback with near the capabilities of Sam. We’ll be working that position by committee. Players who could see time in that slot are T.J. Swinford, a junior; Scott Maestas, a senior; and maybe Jason Melton, a sophomore, could rotate in there some. We want to try to move the ball without Sam, so we’ll rely on Jim Babbs who’s a good fullback with some quickness. He’s not real big, but he’s a tough hitter up in the hole. You can’t just run in, you can’t just run out. We don’t have the speed to run outside, and we can’t just run up the middle because teams will gang up there. So, we hope to mix it up some.

A. It’s really hard to assess them from just that one game that we saw. We really don’t know how we’ll match up against them. They gave up 30-plus points to Chicago, but Dunbar’s a pretty doggone good team, too. We’ve got to worry about ourselves and make ourselves better. We’ve got to go into the game and make as few mistakes as we can and take it from there. We’ll prepare against their offense and we’ll prepare against their defense, but the key for us is to concentrate on ourselves — limiting our mistakes and improving our execution — and see where that takes us.

A. We’ve been real happy with the players’ attitudes and with their work ethic. I think we need to get a few things going in the right direction and gain a little extra intensity and enthusiasm on their part.

A. Two things: We have to get stronger; we must build the weight program to a higher level, and that’s going to take time. Also, we must build the numbers back up on every level of the program. We’ve got too many kids playing both ways right now. We need to have fewer kids sustaining injuries so that we can become a stronger program. Hopefully this freshman class that has 40 in it will continue to grow and get better. That should be a good start in the right direction for us.

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Q. Are you wanting to bring up some of those sophomores to plug some of the gaps you’ve got right now?

A. I don’t like doing that unless we have to. We had seven or eight sophs dress Friday night, and many of them were on special teams. We had one of them in the regular starting lineup. We are trying to plug some holes the best we can while trying to keep the units intact. We’d like the sophs to stay together and achieve some success. When you move ’em up, it’s kind of tough on those younger levels that you’ve depleted. We’d like to keep them intact the best we can. Right now we just don’t have the numbers to completely do that.

A. We go to Lanphier next week and then on to Jacksonville. Certainly Lanphier looked awfully tough in their opening win over Peoria Manual. And Jacksonville had a big upset victory over Jerseyville. I guess they play Taylorville, and we’ll find out how good everybody is after that one. There are no break times in the Central State 8. And this year seems to be more of an up year than most. There are least five or six teams that are playoff quality. It looks like we’re going to have our work cut out for us. We’ve just got to get our own act together to have a chance to be competitive.

I’ve always believed that anyplace can be competitive. It just takes time and patience. You have to get the right things in order — like I’ve been real happy with the booster club, and the community support here has been great so far. The kids have had a good attitude, and if we can keep that going through some of this drought time, then I think we can get things headed in the right direction.

Conclusion

Everyone here at the LDN and the community is behind you, coach Oaks, and behind every Railer team.

Good luck, Railers, throughout the season!

And if you’re on a local sports team and would like some coverage, call 732-7443 and let us know about it. You and your team may well be the next feature!

[Jeff Mayfield]

[SEPT. 1, 2001]  I’ve heard it said that it takes three years to turn a losing athletic team into a winner. Others suggest that it takes five years for such a transformation. Personally, I have no idea how long it takes. I do know that it will take time. I take my hat off to the new coach of the Lincoln Railer football team, John Oaks. He has stepped up to this challenge. We all know what football has been like around here the last few years. It will do no good to bring up the past again. I can tell you that the current group of Railers seems to be throwing support behind coach Oaks and his staff. The LDN hopes that the community will as well. During the middle of the week the LDN was able to attend their workout and talk with the coach on the field immediately after practice.

Q. Tell us about this week’s game.

A. We’ve got the Chatham Titans, which is their new nickname. But they’ll be the same old tough team, I’m afraid. They have quite a few starters back from last year’s team. They had a tough opening loss to Chicago Dunbar. In that game their quarterback was injured, but they’ve still got quite a few weapons. I’m certain they may have a little more of a ground game this week, but their backup quarterback came in and threw the ball pretty well for them, too. So, it will be a tough opening game here at home.

Q. How do you plan to go up against them?

A. We'll do the best we can. We’re beat up pretty badly ourselves right now. We lost two key starters with injuries and a third one due to disciplinary action. We’ve kinda got the shorts in trying to piece together a lineup out there. It’s going to be tough. I think our best chance is to try to put together some type of ball-control offense where hopefully we can keep the ball a little bit and keep it out of their hands.

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Q. Last week you guys got off to a pretty good start but then seemed to encounter some bad breaks and some injuries. How did you see it?

A. We moved the ball fairly decent, but we had some little things go against us. Some of those were our own doing. When things haven’t gone well for a team for a number of years, those things bring you down. We gave up a long run early in the game, and they ended up scoring a touchdown. We then had a nice drive going ourselves and got all the way down to the 14-yard line before three penalties in the next four plays killed the drive. You just can’t do those kinds of things. I think that took some of the wind out of our sails. We were still in it, only being down 7-0 at halftime. Then we had a couple of key injuries, one in the second quarter and one in the third, that I think hurt us, especially when we were trying to get the tide turned. Looking back on the game tapes, it wasn’t a terrible performance; we just need better consistency than what we showed. And now, obviously, with the injuries, we’ve got an even tougher job trying to replace those guys.

(To be continued)

[Jeff Mayfield]

[Click here for Part 2]

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