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
- Ramblin' Reck
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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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RAMBLIN' RECK: It won’t be long before another season of college football
College football will be here before you know it and some of the preseason picks already have been made.
- More Ramblin' Reck Headlines
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RAMBLIN' RECK: And now, on to the next beloved winter sport
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