TERRE HAUTE —
The final football game finally has been played, meaning folks in the Valley can concentrate on basketball this week.
Some of the oldest rivals will meet in Indiana and Illinois boys high school games.
Marshall plays host to Casey tonight in Little Illini Conference action. The Lions bested the Warriors earlier in an LIC tourney game and won two games on the road last week.
Casey was even busier last week with four games on the schedule. The Warriors dropped a close game to a strong Newton team to begin the week, defeated Chrisman and Oblong, then lost to Benton in the Benton Shootout.
West Vigo and Sullivan renew their rivalry on Thursday at Sullivan. The Arrows are 16-2 after defeating Owen Valley and are 4-0 in Western Indiana Conference games.
High school girls teams will vie for regional honors in Illinois and sectional titles in Indiana.
Marshall and Shiloh are No. 1 seeds in Illinois tournaments. The Lions take a 19-game winning streak into the postseason and are 24-1 but have a tough tourney assignment, playing at Teutopolis.
In Indiana, Western Boone and Sullivan both are ranked teams that will be out to gain revenge in order to win sectionals.
Western Boone is coached by reigning Terre Haute city golf champ Rich Schelsky. The 18-2 Stars are ranked 10th in Class 3A and take an 11-game winning streak into their own sectional. Lebanon is ranked 11th in the poll, is in the same sectional and handed the Stars one of those defeats.
Sullivan, meanwhile, is ranked eighth in the 2A poll and is 18-3 for the season, winning its final six games. The Arrows face South Knox in their first sectional game at Bloomfield; the Spartans won in overtime against Sullivan in the regular season and bested Vincennes Lincoln last week in Knox County action.
In college basketball, Purdue takes on Big Ten leader Ohio State tonight in a road game that is on ESPN while Indiana, fresh from its victory over the Boilermakers, meets Illinois at IU on Thursday with the winner moving above .500 in the standings.
Indiana State is at Bradley on Wednesday and returns home to face Southern Illinois on Saturday. The Sycamores could help themselves a lot by winning both games.
The ISU women also have home games Friday and Sunday and the Rose-Hulman men have home games with conference foes Franklin and Defiance.
• Tom-Cattin’ It — Former Indiana State and Marshall player Jake Kelly was one of the contestants on The Big Time program Saturday on ABC-TV.
He survived a first-round penalty to make it to the final phase, losing in what amounted to a game of HORSE. The winner got the chance to play in an exhibition game with a team in the NBA Developmental League.
• Anthony Johnson, a junior at Oblong, hit the 1,000-point mark last week and Jake Duncan, a senior at Marshall, did the same.
• Tom Izzo has won his 400th game at Michigan State.
• Indianapolis Arlington will be the host team for a Class 3A girls sectional but apparently will not have a team in the competition.
Six girls were on the Arlington roster and that number was reduced due to disqualifications in a game with Indianapolis Manual, meaning they would not be eligible for the next game.
• The Indiana Pacers concluded the first third of their NBA schedule last week, winning twice on the road and then losing at home again to Orlando. They meet Utah in a home game tonight.
• Savannah Shaffner of Marshall has signed to play softball at Kaskaskia College. She’s a pitcher and has taken part in Denny Throneberg’s pitching course for some time.
• Repeating what was mentioned in last week’s column, anyone who took the New York Giants to win the Super Bowl before the season or before the playoffs may have gotten rich.
Their odds to win the event were 80-1 before the season and 30-1 at the start of the playoffs.
Jay Leno had a dog on his Late Night program last week and that dog has picked winners in the past by bursting balloons — with the last one burst being the winner. Fido was wrong last week since a New England balloon was the last one popped.
Oh, yes, we picked the Giants to win last week.
• In a final note, it was neat to hear the NBC-TV voices comment on the work done by Terre Haute’s Steve Weatherford in the game and what a good move it was for the Giants to sign the punter last year.
Punters don’t often get that kind of notice but those were well deserved.
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: And now, on to the next beloved winter sport
- 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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