Some notes and reports on a couple good guys with Wabash Valley ties.
First, former Indiana State baseball player Clint Barmes made the headlines on Yahoo and USA Today with a great play on Sunday in Colorado’s 4-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
With runners on first and second in the ninth inning, Barmes — who was playing second — dove headfirst to catch a flair off the bat off Ryan Ludwick and fired to first to get Albert Pujols for a game-ending double play.
Barmes was mobbed in the outfield by teammates including reliever Huston Street, who got his first save in awhile.
He had the wind knocked out of him and a big welt on his forehead but was happy.
Manager Jim Tracy called it the “defensive play of the year” and talked about his player from Vincennes.
Noting that he had some tough times at the plate, Tracy said, “I will never give up on Clint Barmes.”
The Rockies mathematically stayed alive for first place in the NL West — and still were Monday, since my Pirates beat the LA Dodgers again and kept them from clinching the NL West crown.
More importantly, the Rockies maintained their lead over Atlanta for the NL wild card.
Thanks, in part, to a guy named Barmes who plays now as he did at Vincennes University and ISU — 100 percent.
Second, Chad Collins of Cloverdale clinched his PGA Tour card for next season with his third second-place finish on the Nationwide Tour this year, scorching the Midland Country Club course with a 10-under-par 62 Sunday and finishing second by one shot.
He earned $56,700 and moved to ninth from 15th on the Nationwide money list with his $255,514 total.
As noted, he clinched his spot on the Tour and now has a chance to finish in the top 10 in money which would exempt him from more tournaments next year.
A great day for Chad and Clint.
• • •
• Crazy weekend — It was a crazy weekend in pro football.
After just three weeks in the National Football League, who would have thought:
• Detroit and Pittsburgh would have the same record, 1-2, after the Lions finally won a game Sunday;
• Tennessee would be 0-3, the same as Cleveland and Kansas City;
• Indianapolis would beat last year’s Super Bowl team, Arizona, by 21 points on its home turf;
• New Orleans would score 27 points and have just 156 yards passing, two more than Buffalo, and outrush the Bills 222 yards to 89?
• Mark Sanchez would be the first rookie quarterback to win his first three games since 1970? (FYI: Terre Haute’s Steve Weatherford boomed a 56-yard punt in the third period to help the Jets stifle Tennessee 24-17.)
• • •
• Tom-Cattin’ It — Tribune-Star columnist Bob Arnett was able to follow the leaders around Sunday in the WTHI-TV Men’s City Championship at Hulman Links.
He recently underwent serious surgery and says he is doing as well as can be expected.
• Published reports last week said the College Football Hall of Fame would move from South Bend to Atlanta because of less-than-expected crowd totals.
A later report said finances for the move still have to be worked out in Atlanta.
• The Indianapolis Tennis Center has been designated as a USTA Certified Regional Training Center. Terre Haute native Katharine Risacher — daughter of Duane Klueh — is director of the center.
• Beth Mahurin of Rockville says she will continue her volleyball career at Indiana State.
• Terre Haute’s Tommy John will sign autographs and meet baseball fans at an Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame Classic golf outing Oct. 9 at Sultan’s Run at Jasper.
• Western Illinois football coach Don Patterson has resigned, citing illness. Interim coach is Mark Hendrickson.
• Jim Crews was let go as basketball coach at Army. He had a 60-139 record in seven seasons at the school.
Athletic director Kevin Anderson said a “series of events” led to his action.
• Indiana State football coach Trent Miles and his wife are the parents of three young children and are expecting a fourth in the spring.
• Owen Valley and Vincennes Lincoln are two of the winless high school football teams in Indiana. Lincoln has had only one winless season in school history.
The Alices meet Washington this week while Owen Valley is at West Vigo.
• Northview is the Western Indiana Conference champ in boys tennis. WIC cross country teams will compete for league honors Saturday.
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: Barmes’ defense coming up big during Rockies’ playoff hunt
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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
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RAMBLIN’ RECK: May means it’s time for some thoroughbred horse racing
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RAMBLIN’ RECK: Following the changing Illinois coaching scene
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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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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
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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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It was a very interesting week in men’s college basketball, especially in the Big Ten.
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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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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’
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Terre Haute native had memorable career at Red Hill
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