TERRE HAUTE — Tournament time reaches a major high this week in the high school and college ranks for teams in the Valley.
•Indiana State’s men’s basketball team can wait until Friday to begin play in Missouri Valley Conference Arch Madness in St. Louis.
Coaches and players will meet fans today in the final luncheon at Beef O’Brady’s starting at noon.
In last week’s Sagarin rankings, Northern Iowa was 39th followed by Wichita State 65, Missouri State 88, Illinois State 93, Creighton 114, Bradley 118, ISU 120, Southern Illinois 122, Drake 160, and Evansville 230.
In this week’s RPI list, five teams are in the Top 100. Northern Iowa is 20th followed by Wichita State 51, Illinois State 77, ISU 81 and Missouri State 84.
• Illinois high school boys teams began the postseason last week and Paris, Robinson, Cumberland and Edwards County were winners.
Robinson and Paris are in the 2A sectional at Effingham St. Anthony along with Teutopolis and Tolono. The Maroons meet Tolono tonight and the Tigers take on T-town on Wednesday.
• Indiana’s girls teams are set for the state finals Saturday.
Ben Davis was ranked No. 2 again in the USA Today poll last week and had little trouble beating Floyd Central, ranked 22nd, in the semistate round and will take on Merrillville for the 4A title.
Turkey Run gave Fort Wayne Canterbury all it wanted but finally lost by five points in the Warsaw Semistate. Canterbury goes for a third straight Class A title against unbeaten Vincennes Rivet in a rematch of last year’s championship.
Turkey Run had a great season and should make another run for honors next year with most of its players back.
• Indiana boys teams commence sectional play tonight in the area.
We had a 4-2 record in girls sectionals. Here goes with our picks for the boys:
Plainfield Class 4A — We think Terre Haute North and South will be in the finals. Both teams have been playing well. We’ll take North.
Owen Valley Class 3A — Sullivan is the favorite and we like the Arrows to win but Brown County or South Vermillion could cause lots of problems.
North Knox Class 2A — South Knox and Eastern are the teams to beat. We like South Knox which got the bye.
White River Valley Class A — It’s another three-team race in this one. Shakamak got the long draw and the host team got the bye. We think the Lakers will win this one.
North Vermillion Class A — Covington and Attica are the top teams in this one and Rockville has been playing well. We’ll go with Attica.
Loogootee Class A — Barr-Reeve and the host Lions meet right off the bat in this tournament that has four good teams. We like Barr-Reeve to make it.
I I I
n Honor for Harrold — Steve Harrold of Terre Haute is the owner of a German Shorthair bird dog that was accorded a top honor last month.
The dog is registered with the name of Sanjo Sin City Slicker and was inducted into the Field Trial Hall of Fame at the National Bird Dog Museum in Grand Junction, Tenn.
That’s a great honor since only two dogs are inducted each year.
Congratulations and thanks to Mike Dimmitt for the information.
• Tom-Cattin’ It — Pat Rady won his 700th game last week at Cloverdale.
The only other Indiana high school coaches who have won 700 or more games are Howard Sharpe, Jack Butcher and Bill Stearman.
Congrats, Coach Rady.
In the college ranks, Herb Magee won his 903rd game at Philadelphia University. His total is the most at a four-year school and is one better than the total of Bob Knight.
Magee has been coaching for 43 seasons.
Danny Miles also won his 903rd game at Oregon Tech. He’s been coaching for nearly 40 years.
• Tony Kornheiser was suspended for two weeks on the ESPN Pardon The Interruption program for some comments he made about Hannah Storm on the air. He later apologized.
• Butler defeated Valparaiso in men’s basketball last week to complete Horizon League play with an 18-0 record. Butler is the first to be unbeaten for the season in the league.
• Bridget Beard of Sullivan has signed to play college soccer at Kaskaskia.
• The University of Southern men’s basketball team finished 23-3 for the year. There is no postseason play for the team this year due to NCAA violations disclosed last year.
Tom Reck may be contacted by telephone at (812) 232-3231, by e-mail at tm_reck@yahoo.com or by mail at 4284 South 5th Street, Apt. 3, Terre Haute, IN 47802.
Ramblin' Reck
Ramblin' Reck: Hoops season kicks it up a notch this week
- Ramblin' Reck
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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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RAMBLIN' RECK: Terre Haute jumps several spots in Sporting News’ ratings
The Sporting News recently released its rankings of best sports cities in the country.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Big week brought ISU alumni to Terre Haute in droves
It was a great weekend in Terre Haute.
Alumni were back in town for Indiana State’s homecoming, the football team made it great with another victory and the weatherman cooperated with nice fall weather.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Unbeaten football seasons on line for Linton, North Central
We’re down to the final week of the high school football season for teams in Indiana and some really big games mark the schedule in the area.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Big college, prep football games scheduled this weekend
Some big football games are on the schedule this week in both the college and high school ranks.
In the Missouri Valley Football Conference, Indiana State and Northern Iowa share first place with 2-0 records. They’ll meet Saturday evening in the UniDome.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Big Ten openers are here
Big Ten football teams play their first conference games this week and a big game will top the schedule.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Wild card races offer suspense
Major league baseball is down to its final days, with the final games slated for Sept. 30.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Now for a few football landmark… both north and south
Some milestones were recorded in Indiana high school football games played Friday night.
n Heritage Hills blanked Pike Central 75-0 for a 3-0 record in Pocket Athletic Conference action at Lincoln City.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Labor Day means football, of the college kind
Labor Day is coming up and that means the start of the college football season for most teams on Saturday.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Southwest 7 cleans up in Week 1
Three Southwest Seven Conference teams were winners last week as Indiana high school football teams opened the 2011 season.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Beginner’s luck?
Sunday and Monday were good days for first-time winners in some of the major sports events.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Schelsky, Bilyeu, Fish conclude big golf weeks in Valley
Some notes and observations on recent achievements by folks from the area:
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Week filled with competitive golf, multiple racing events
Last week was a busy one but a nice one with golf, harness racing and automobile racing on the hot, humid schedule.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Brickyard 400 a hot item on this week’s racing schedule
It’s race week again in Indiana and a busy time for golfers in the area too.
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Here’s rooting for some fictional sports characters
With all these hot days, it’s nice to sit in one’s apartment where it is cooler — not air-conditioned but cooler — and watch some television.
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