PLAINFIELD —
Last week was a busy one but a nice one with golf, harness racing and automobile racing on the hot, humid schedule.
The week began with the championship match of the Terre Haute Women’s Golf Association match-play championship, otherwise known as the women’s city tournament.
This match at Hulman Links pitted eight-time winner Cara Stuckey against 2010 runnerup Mackenzie Mack. It was another good one and Stuckey won on the 17th hole.
Mack is in graduate school at Indiana State University and will complete work in December. Her home is in Las Vegas but we hope she is around next summer to play in the city. She lost to Rachel Pruett in 20 holes in 2010.
Two days of Illinois fair harness racing at Paris were next on our schedule.
We’ve always enjoyed watching the trotters and pacers in action and there were some close finishes in the 12 races on the Edgar County Fair card.
Good crowds were in the grandstand but nothing like the 12,000 or so who attended the races 50 or 60 years ago, according to some published reports.
For those who enjoy this type of racing, action is on tap at the Coles County Fair at Charleston this week. Post time is 12:30 p.m. CDT today, Thursday and Friday and 5:30 p.m. CDT on Wednesday.
Last item on the schedule was the 18th running of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
Paul Menard was the winner, being the first driver to win his first Cup race at Indianapolis. He did it in his fifth race.
As noted in our stories from Indy, he is the son of John Menard, who was much involved in IndyCar racing at Indianapolis for many years. The winning driver said Sunday’s victory was for his father.
He edged four-time race winner Jeff Gordon at the finish to win as Gordon made up a 12-second deficit in the last 12 laps. The dramatic finish gave the Speedway two exciting finishes for the year; Dan Wheldon won the Indianapolis 500 when J.R. Hildebrand crashed on the last turn.
Some fans who were blogging on ESPN.com predicted Menard would do something not to win. It didn’t happen.
Menard is 30 years of age while Gordon turns 40 this week.
Race fans know, of course, that Gordon won the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994 — his second year in NASCAR Cup racing — as he fulfilled his dream of racing at IMS.
Gordon was born in California but grew up in Indiana and graduated from Tri-West High School. He began racing in the U.S. Auto Club races and often drove at the Action Track in Terre Haute.
Attendance was down again for the event but still was one of the top crowds on the NASCAR circuit, with NASCAR reporting 138,000.
We weren’t surprised to see empty seats in the stands in the third turn but we were surprised to see a lot of empty seats in many sections of the main grandstand.
And so it went.
• Season starts — Monday was the first day for high school girls golf teams to have matches in Indiana. Terre Haute North and South both played in a tournament at Oak Tree near Plainfield.
Monday’s match began a busy schedule for the Patriots. They will be in a tournament at Hamilton Southeastern today, at Kokomo on Wednesday, at Evansville on Thursday, at Bedford on Friday and host the North Invitational at Hulman Links on Saturday.
“We have 14 teams in [the Invite] and tee time is 2:30 p.m.,” said North coach Abe Nasser Jr.
The first round of the Hulman Links course championship also will be played that day. Chris Cassell is defending champ in that event.
Tom Reck may be contacted by telephone at (812) 232-3231, by email at tm_reck@yahoo.com or by mail at 4284 South 5th Street, Apt. 3, Terre Haute, IN 47802.
Ramblin' Reck
RAMBLIN' RECK: Week filled with competitive golf, multiple racing events
- Ramblin' Reck
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Castroneves a safe bet at Indy 500
The field is full for the Indianapolis 500 and the race should be another good one.
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RAMBLIN’ RECK: A good week to be a Sycamore
This week is a big one for sports fans and is off to a good start, particularly for Indiana State fans.
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RAMBLIN’ RECK: Clauson, 22, to make rare jump from USAC to Indy 500
Bryan Clauson will be a busy young man this month.
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RAMBLIN’ RECK: May means it’s time for some thoroughbred horse racing
It’s May, it’s May, the wonderful month of May as the words sort of go in a famous musical.
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RAMBLIN’ RECK: Following the changing Illinois coaching scene
Catching up on some coaching changes and some other business:
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Golf battle at Rea Park
The high school sports schedules are busy again this week, with local boys golf teams playing two matches at Rea Park.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Here’s to hoping for more Hoosier magic
Another NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship is history and fans already are talking about next season.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Retiring Casey football coaches Sinclair, Vidoni will be missed
An era ended in Casey last week when Keith Sinclair and Gene Vidoni announced they are retiring as football coaches at Casey-Westfield High School.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: NCAA Final Four down to UK & everyone else
The Kentucky Invitational, officially known as the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, is down to The Final Four.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: One man’s vote for public schools in the IHSAA tournament
The basketball season has ended for most high school and college teams, but fans in the Wabash Valley still have teams to root for this weekend.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Terre Haute great to be inducted into college Hall of Fame
One of Terre Haute’s all-time greats will be honored again later in the year when Clyde Lovellette will be inducted into the National College Basketball Hall of Fame in Kansas City.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Big Ten tourney wide open
Selection Sunday is coming and action in some of the conference basketball tournaments could play big roles in determining the field for the NCAA’s Big Dance.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Big week for preps, ISU, Rose-Hulman
Monday began one of the biggest weeks ever in basketball in the Wabash Valley or at least one of the biggest.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: No guaranteed wins in difficult Class 2A Casey regional
Let’s talk high school basketball.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Assessing the NCAA tournament jumble
The college men’s basketball schedule is in its final month with Selection Sunday less than four weeks away.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: And now, on to the next beloved winter sport
The final football game finally has been played, meaning folks in the Valley can concentrate on basketball this week.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Indianapolis is looking mighty good this week
It’s Super Bowl XLVI week … in Indiana for the first time.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Fox gives TH punter kudos
The stage is set. It’ll be the New York Giants against the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl that will be played for the first time in Indianapolis.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Big Ten shaken up last week
It was a very interesting week in men’s college basketball, especially in the Big Ten.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: A fresh round of predictions as the NFL dwindles to 8
More National Foootball League playoff games are slated this weekend, with the number of postseason teams down to eight following an interesting weekend of wild-card action.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Hile inducted into Hall
Indiana State grad Amy Lynn Hile will take her place in another Hall of Fame this year.
Inducted into the ISU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005, the former Sycamore standout has been named as one of the 2011 inductees into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: It’s time now for some intraleague hoops rivalries
It’s the final week of 2011 but it is the first week of conference basketball games for most colleges, particularly those in Indiana and Illinois.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: A long distance relationship
Indiana State’s trip out West to play basketball at Boise State brought back memories of one of the trips I made to that city.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Indiana Mr. Football still has big decision to make
Some awards in high school and college football were announced last week.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: No dearth of good basketball
Based on early games, the college basketball season is going to be very interesting for coaches, players and fans, particularly in the Big Ten and Missouri Valley.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Big Ten-ACC challenge gets under way tonight
Conference championship football games and challenge action in basketball will make for a busy week for college teams.
Wisconsin and Michigan State will meet in the very first Big Ten football championship Saturday at Indianapolis. Kickoff is 8 p.m. and the action will be carried by Fox.
Michigan State nipped the Badgers in the regular-season contest at East Lansing. We like Wisconsin to win and earn a trip to the Rose Bowl.
Other games and picks:
SEC — LSU over Georgia on Saturday
Mid-American — Northern Illinois over Ohio U. on Friday
Pac-12 — Oregon over UCLA on Friday
ACC — Virginia Tech over Clemson on Saturday
Conference USA — Houston over Southern Mississippi on Saturday
Western Kentucky will not play for a championship but the Hilltoppers won seven of their last eight games to finish with a winning mark. That’s the same team that lost to Indiana State, you will recall.
Meanwhile, the hiring and firing already has begun with Urban Meyer coming out of retirement to accept the job at Ohio State. That was a no-brainer.
Illinois is bowl-eligible but Ron Zook is out. Ditto for Turner Gill at Kansas and apparently Dennis Erickson at Arizona State.
In basketball, the first games in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge will be played tonight. The biggie tonight is Duke at Ohio State. Miami of Florida is at Purdue and Illinois plays at Maryland.
On Wednesday, Indiana is at North Carolina State, Wisconsin is at North Carolina and Michigan State goes to Florida State.
Indiana State is at Boise State on Saturday for a Missouri Valley-Mountain West Challenge game,
It was fun and gratifying to be able to watch the Sycamores on national television as they took third in the Old Spice Classic. The team got tons of favorable publicity and comments from the three games.
And what a game for Jake Odum and his triple-double. Wow.
I I I
n White honored — Taylor White of Casey has earned academic all-state honors in Illlinois football.
White was one of the top players at linebacker and fullback and was one of the captains on the team but did not play as the Warriors lost to Morrison in the Class 2A title tilt.
He was sidelined by injury in the game against Marshall and underwent surgery.
The Warriors gave Morrison all it wanted in the final game, concluding another banner season for coach Keith Sinclair and the team.
Nice work, Warriors.
I I I
n Tom-Cattin’ It — Carmel was the only public school to win a prep football championship in Indiana and was impressive in its 54-0 victory over Penn in the 5A finale.
Other winners — all private schools — were Lafayette Central Catholic in A, Fort Wayne Luers in 2A, Indianapolis Chatard in 3A, and Indianapolis Cathedral in 4A.
n Sullivan puts its undefeated girls basketball record on the line tonight at West Vigo. Its victory over Terre Haute South last week was its first over the Braves since 1992.
n Terre Haute North grad Steve Weatherford, now punting for the New York Giants, was featured in a nice story in The New York Times on Monday.
He was singled out for his conditioning program and called the strongest player pound for pound — at 210 pounds — on the team that met the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football.
n Jim Rathman died last week at 83.
He won the Indianapolis 500 in 1960, edging Rodger Ward in a race in which there were a record 29 lead changes.
Rathman also was runner-up in the race in 1952, 1957 and 1959.
n Flora has been tabbed by one newspaper as the preseason pick to win the Little Illini Conference boys basketball championship and to make it to the Final Four.
The Wolves play Marshall, off to a 3-1 start, next week.
Tom Reck may be contacted by telephone at (812) 232-3231, by email at tm_reck@yahoo.com or by mail at 4284 South 5th Street, Apt. 3, Terre Haute, IN 47802. -
RAMBLIN' RECK: Sinclair: ‘Never underestimate the heart of a Warrior’
Casey’s high school football team will have one more week of practice, including a workout early Thanksgiving Day, but the players don’t mind it.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: MVC’s quick start brings hope
Missouri Valley Conference men’s basketball teams and others are off to a good start.
Valley teams were 9-2 in games played through Sunday. Two teams picked up some very nice victories.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: ISU’s ranking solid heading into basketball season
The college football season still has a few weeks to run for most teams, but the basketball season starts for real for a lot of teams this week; a few still have some exhibition contests left on the schedule.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Terre Haute native had memorable career at Red Hill
When Red Hill played its final football game of the season last month in Illinois, it marked the end of an era for a friend of mine and for the high school.
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