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Hughes News & Views

July 20, 2012

HUGHES NEWS & VIEWS: Yelovich still striking the ball long on LDA Tour

TERRE HAUTE — In June 2011, I wrote a feature story about former Indiana State basketball center Mick Yelovich making a name for himself as a golfer on the Long Drivers Association (LDA) Tour.

Yelovich, who played for the Sycamores from 2004 to 2008 and visited Terre Haute over the weekend, placed third (second among Americans) in the 2009 RE/MAX World Long Drive Championships at Mesquite, Nev., where he took home $20,000 for his efforts.

Still hoping to capture his first world title, he boosted his confidence June 29-30 by posting his first LDA Tour victory in the Heartland Shootout at Red Tail Run Golf Course in his hometown of Decatur, Ill. With his longest drive soaring 385 yards, he received a check for $10,000 afterward.

“I was hitting them solid the whole time, but I never really killed one,” the 6-foot-9, 300-pound Yelovich told me.

“But in the semifinals, I hit it 379 yards and my opponent went out of bounds. Then in the finals, I hit it 372 yards and my [new] opponent did the same thing [hit the ball out of bounds]… At the end of the day, I was holding the trophy,” he added.

Yelovich admitted that his first LDA triumph occurring in his hometown made it even sweeter.

“That’s where I practice at,” he said of the Red Tail Run course. “At the course I work at [South Side Country Club in Decatur], the driving range is only about 250-280 yards, so I can’t practice there.”

Now 26, Yelovich is among 128 qualifiers who will compete in the 2012 World Long Drive Championships on Oct. 22-25 at Mesquite. This will be the fourth time he has entered the prestigious event.

“I’d like to win at least one world championship,” he emphasized. “I’ve been working out and feeling good. I’ve been hitting it well and I’ve got more endurance than I had before. You get six balls each round … and you hope one of them will take a lucky bounce.”

• Wrestlers reunion — If you’ve lived around Terre Haute even close to as long as I have, you should remember when Indiana State had a wrestling team.

The program, which debuted in the late 1950s, was chopped from the university’s athletic department in 1986. But that doesn’t mean former ISU wrestlers have cut memories of those fun times from their minds.

In that spirit, former ISU wrestler Greg Archer (1973-74 after transferring from Marshall) is helping put on the fourth ISU wrestlers reunion this weekend in Terre Haute.

Archer estimated that about 25-30 former grapplers, former assistant coaches and a former head coach (Fran McCann) are coming back for all or one of the following: a reception tonight, a banquet Saturday night and a brunch Sunday.

“It’s always a great joy when you have an opportunity to reminisce with your old teammates,” Archer said. “It’s also nice to see the wrestlers who came before you and after you.”

Off the record, I wouldn’t be surprised if a few of them slip over to the Ballyhoo for old time’s sake on at least one of those nights (insert “wink” symbol here).



David Hughes can be reached after 4 p.m. by phone at 1-800-783-8742, Option 4, or at (812) 231-4224; by e-mail at david.hughes@tribstar.com; or by fax at (812) 231-4321.

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Hughes News & Views
  • Hughes, News & Views: Pacers, 500, NFL on mind of curious columnist

    One previous time, I believe, my annual May questions column ran one day late into June.
    Can you forgive me for this being the second time?
    With apologies out of the way, below are questions that have been taking up valuable space in my head lately.
    Some are serious, some not so much. Most are sports-related, but don’t blame me if a few are not. After all, newspaper sportswriters don’t eat, sleep and breathe sports 24/7 (contrary to what my Lisa might tell you).
    Here we go:
    • How funny will the reaction of the national media be when the Indiana Pacers knock off the unbeatable Miami Heat tonight and Monday to take the series and head to an NBA Finals showdown with the San Antonio Spurs? Hint: Several ESPN “experts” will need to change their underwear next week.

    June 1, 2013

  • Terre Haute runner sets up race to help Boston

    Having competed in the Boston Marathon once before in 2003, 35-year-old Majel Wells of Terre Haute thought she should give it another try in 2013.
    “My goal was just to finish and enjoy Boston,” she reflected this week. “I had an injury [runner’s knee] beforehand, so I wasn’t too worried about beating my time from 2003 [4 hours, 10.20 seconds].
    “But nobody cares about what your time is at Boston anyway.”
    From what I’ve heard over the years, she’s right. Unless you’re a super-serious runner, the Boston Marathon has been more about taking in the atmosphere and having fun than placing in the top 50, although Wells was pleased that she beat her previous time by finishing in 3:55.19 on April 15.
    Obviously, her race time wasn’t the most vivid memory that Wells took away from her 2013 Boston experience.

    April 26, 2013

  • SPT 022610 MIKE SAYLOR.jpg Former South players to play in Saylor benefit game

    I had my first phone conversation with Mike Saylor since mid-February on Thursday and he sounded good.
    The former Terre Haute South High School boys basketball coach, who’s been battling cancer this year, has been traveling back and forth to the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston for chemotherapy treatments.

    April 19, 2013 1 Photo

  • Recent South swimmers Roach, Bray heading to DI nationals

    I’m sure most of you with office jobs can relate.
    When work gets busy, sometimes it’s easy to skim over our emails. After all, how many times do we need to read the same nonsense from alleged Nigerians wanting to make us rich if we’ll send them several thousand dollars first?
    So after having three consecutive days off, that almost happened to me when I returned to work Tuesday. Then I realized that the message from Jeff Thompson, Terre Haute South High School’s boys and girls swimming coach, contained significant news.

    March 20, 2013

  • SPT-030697-HALT-SHOOTS.jpg NCAA Division III basketball tournament returns to Rose-Hulman

    The last time Rose-Hulman served as host for the NCAA Division III men’s basketball tournament, its game was played inside an old World War II airplane hangar.
    You “old-timers” should know the building I’m talking about and the matchup wasn’t really that long ago — March 6, 1997, to be exact.

    March 1, 2013 2 Photos

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    When I learned in February 2009 that a rare form of appendix cancer would devastate my life and cause me to miss work for several months, Mike Saylor was among the first to offer assistance.

    February 17, 2013 3 Photos

  • Book review: Thumbs up for ‘Trophies and Tears’

    Now might be too late for giving Christmas presents, but the book “Trophies and Tears: The Story of Evansville and the Aces” is a fascinating read for longtime Indiana basketball fans, particularly those older than 40.
    Written by award-winning Kyle Keiderling of Henderson, Nev., and released in hardcover format in mid-December, the 480-page “Trophies and Tears” documents the rich tradition of the University of Evansville men’s basketball program through recent interviews and research of old yearbooks and newspaper/scrapbook clippings.
    The book contains many cheery moments — behind-the-scenes details of all five NCAA College Division (now known as Division II) championships won in the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s by the Purple Aces and their legendary coach Arad McCutchan — although some of those moments don’t seem so cheery from an Indiana State perspective when the Sycamores found themselves on the losing end of scores.

    December 26, 2012

  • Hughes, News & Views: Wishing for Colts-Broncos playoff matchup from Santa

    There’s plenty of tragedy in the world to bring us down if we let it, so let’s have a light-hearted column today — my annual Christmas gift requests for Santa Claus.
    I already know one of my gift wishes is becoming less likely to happen. That would be for the Indianapolis Colts to face the Denver Broncos in the AFC playoffs.

    December 20, 2012

  • Colts' loyalty tested by Manning, Broncos

    We’re approaching the halfway point of the NFL season and so far it’s been surprisingly enjoyable.
    I wasn’t sure how I would handle following two favorite teams — 1a.) the Indianapolis Colts and 1b.) Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos — but the new arrangement hasn’t caused me any loyalty conflicts yet.
     

    November 2, 2012

  • HUGHES NEWS & VIEWS: Sorting out the sports air waves

    My name isn’t attached to them, but I’m the one who usually puts together the “Sports on the air” television/radio listings that appear daily on this newspaper’s Scoreboard Page.

    October 1, 2012

  • SPT091312gutish.jpg Hughes, News & Views: North junior ready to go racing

    When we last visited 16-year-old Rachel Gutish, she was finishing sixth in the Women’s Enduro X race in the nationally televised Summer X Games at Los Angeles.

    September 20, 2012 1 Photo

  • HUGHES NEWS & VIEWS: Yelovich still striking the ball long on LDA Tour

    In June 2011, I wrote a feature story about former Indiana State basketball center Mick Yelovich making a name for himself as a golfer on the Long Drivers Association (LDA) Tour.
     

    July 20, 2012

  • HUGHES NEWS & VIEWS: Colts? Broncos? Maybe there’s more than enough room for both

    I’ve got a longtime buddy who I’m fairly sure rarely, if ever, reads this column.

    July 14, 2012

  • SPT120410THNBBB jones1.jpg HUGHES NEWS & VIEWS: Point of Jones’ return

    Since May 14, Indiana high school basketball fans have wondered why Jim Jones would want to come out of retirement at 74.
     

    June 12, 2012 3 Photos

  • HUGHES, NEWS & VIEWS: Questions abound for Indy 500, Manning, baseball sectional

    Phones are ringing less frequently in the Tribune-Star sports department this week.

    May 26, 2012

  • Hughes, News & Views: Hutson getting ready for final stretch toward Olympic Trials

    If Kylie Hutson were a cross-country runner, she’d be approaching the final stretch of her biggest race in about three weeks.

    May 10, 2012

  • HUGHES NEWS AND VIEWS: Rose basketball alumni offer advice to current team

    Bryan Egli and Joe Puthoff, both Rose-Hulman basketball starters I covered in the late 1990s, took their degrees from the prestigious engineering institute and found successful careers in the Indianapolis area.
    Egli, also a former West Vigo High School multi-sport standout, lives in Carmel and works for Thieneman Construction in Westfield. Puthoff lives in Indy and works for Rolls Royce Aircraft Engines.

    March 2, 2012

  • DAVID HUGHES: Super Bowl odds getting stranger and stranger

    Today’s annual “Super Bowl odds column” feels special to me because I’ve been a diehard NFL fan since 1967 and next Sunday will be the first time the big game takes place in our great state of Indiana.

    January 29, 2012

  • HUGHES NEWS AND VIEWS: Coach’s book a chance to remember North Vermillion state champs

    Almost 10 years ago, February 2002 to be exact, the New England Patriots upset the high-powered St. Louis Rams to win Super Bowl XXXVI in New Orleans, the Winter Olympics entertained spectators in Salt Lake City and Terre Haute South High School’s girls basketball team started its tournament run toward a Class 4A state title.

    January 20, 2012

  • HUGHES NEWS AND VIEWS: Plenty of sports-related gifts for columnist's wish list

    Last week, I was all set to beg Santa Claus to give the Indianapolis Colts a certificate good for one NFL regular-season victory.
    Then the 2011 Colts decided to play like the 2009 Colts and clobber the Tennessee Titans on Sunday for their first win of the season. So that present won’t be necessary.

    December 23, 2011

  • HUGHES NEWS AND VIEWS: WTHI defends decision not to show Colts

    When your favorite NFL team is threatening to finish 0-16, you have to figure a few fans will jump off the bandwagon.

    December 2, 2011

  • HUGHES NEWS AND VIEWS: Former South coach Rady makes it look easy

    Jack Butcher, Howard Sharpe and Bill Stearman.

    November 17, 2011

  • HUGHES NEWS AND VIEWS: Wheldon's genuine personality a devastating loss to racing

    Lori Wood, the Tribune-Star’s Indianapolis 500 correspondent since 2000, planned to visit a friend in California and take in the IndyCar Las Vegas 300 as a ticket-buying fan last weekend.

    October 21, 2011

  • HUGHES NEWS AND VIEWS: Past greats proud of ISU’s recent improvements

    Indiana State football alum Chris “Big C” Hicks will turn 58 Saturday and he knows exactly what he wants for his birthday.

    October 14, 2011

  • HUGHES NEWS AND VIEWS: Rose-Hulman hungry for first football victory of season

    The Engineers have not endured a losing season since 2004. But they’ve opened this season at 0-2, causing Sokol to admit they’re desperate for a win.
    “We’re all very hungry for a victory,” he said after practice Thursday. “We all want to taste victory really, really bad.”

    September 23, 2011

  • Valley semipro football team reaches championship of IFL

    The West Central Wildcats’ semipro football team from Terre Haute has been written about before in this column space over the last two years.

    September 17, 2011

  • HUGHES NEWS & VIEWS: Colts cheerleaders glad to get back on field

    When I heard the NFL lockout finally ended this week, I looked for someone affiliated with the Indianapolis Colts to get a reaction.

    July 30, 2011

  • Amateur boxing card set for outdoors at Show-Me's

    We all know what Show-Me’s sports bar is famous for around Terre Haute, right?
    Chicken wings, of course.

    July 15, 2011

  • SPT070611porter rest.jpg HUGHES NEWS & VIEWS: Porter’s persistence keeps his boxing career going

    When I walked in Sweatbox Gym through the alley door Wednesday, I wondered if a time machine had taken me back to the 1950s, the glory days of boxing.

    July 9, 2011 4 Photos

  • HUGHES, NEWS AND VIEWS: Seaton aces chance for more Div. 1 volleyball

    Plagued by one injury after another after another, Kristen Seaton was ready to turn off the lights on her volleyball career.
    In her mind, the party was over.
     

    July 1, 2011

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