Girls' Sectionals Announced

Here is the link to the Girls' Sectional matchups IHSAA

I was right about the close games this weekend as two of them went into overtime. I also thought Monrovia would give Edgewood a bigger test.

Let me know what you think about the girls sectional matchups or anything else by posting a comment.

High School Games this Weekend

I suggest trugging out in the cold to see some good games this weekend! Especially that the Colts have been eliminated from the playoffs.

Friday's contests include -
Monrovia at Indian Creek
Greencastle vs North Putnam
Cloverdale vs South Putnam
Cascade vs Speedway
Avon at Zionsville
Brownsburg at Nobleville
Plainfield vs Decatur Central
Mooresville at Whiteland
Tri-West at Fountain Central
Danville at Owen Valley

Saturday's games -
Monrovia at Edgewood
Greencastle at Tri-West
Cloverdale at Owen Valley
Cascade at Danville
South Putnam vs Riverton Parke
Avon vs Indpls. Washington
Plainfield vs Richmond
Tri-West at Greencastle

The best game I believe will be between Plainfield and Richmond on Saturday. I also think the Avon vs Washington, Tri-West vs Greencastle, and Cascade vs Speedway games will also be close contests. I'm also interested to see the Monrovia vs Edgewood score.

Have a good day and stay warm.

FW Mad Ants and Accepting Reality

I happened to watch NBA Access today with Ahmad Rashad and they had a segment on the Fort Wayne Mad Ants in the NBDL. They had an interview with their head coach, Kent Davison and he said that he wanted his players to do what they do best. If you're a penetrator, penetrate. If you're a shooter, then hit your shots more than you will miss them. If you are a defenseive stopper, then I better not see the guy you're guarding get an easy, uncontested shot off. I see players all the time who are playing outside of their ability level. I do understand that if you don't have a point guard that can handle the ball, then someone will have to fill that role, but if you aren't a shooter, then why are shooting? When looking at what Coach Sfera has posted on the Powerbox Basketball Blog about the Butler Way I was intrigued that it included "Accepting Reality" as a part of the Way. But really digging deeper, I interpret that to mean that you can only do what you are capable of at that moment in time. You can't pretend to be someone else if you don't have the skills. But, and it's a big but, you can take the steps to eventually acquire the skills to do something that you couldn't do before. These skills that I am talking about are skills that you need to develop on your own, in your driveway, by yourself or possibly with a buddy. You can't acquire these skills simply by playing games. You don't become a good shooter in games without working on your shooting with no one in the stands. And you definitely can't become a good ballhandler by just playing games, it takes initiative, drive, and a commitment to get better every day. If you think about it, if you don't get better on your own, and just play games, and everyone else does the exact same thing, then no one is getting any better than you were the year before, you have the exact same repertoire of moves that you had last year. I have seen kids in the 8th grade be very good and not get any better by the time they graduate because they thought they were good enough and didn't have to work hard. And when you don't progress you stay at that 8th Grade good enough level even when they are a senior in high school and you can already guess how much playing time that he got his senior year.

There are three players from Indiana colleges playing for the Mad Ants this year -

Earl Calloway - Indiana

Ron Howard - Valparaiso

Rod Wilmont - Indiana

Have a good weekend and thanks for reading.

End of Season for Colts

As I was watching the Colts-Chargers game today, I felt the usual feeling that I normally have about all Colts games; Never think that they cannot pull something together and wind up with a win. I don't ever think the Colts are out of any game. I have seen Manning lead comeback after comeback for years and I think when you see it over and over, there is no thought that the Colts are going to lose. When that game was over, I just sat there waiting for another quarter for the Colts to come back and win. I just sat there stunned...waiting...wanting for the clock to say 5th Quarter. But no, it's over. A season filled with injuries in which the Colts still pulled through in many situations. They fell to the Pats, which is understandable, but led by 10 with like 4 minutes to go. Then the next week fell to the Chargers without around 9 starters and came up just short as Vinatieri missed a field goal. The Colts' arguably best defensive player Dwight Freeney was injured and placed on IR for the rest of the season. And if there ever was a game when Dwight's presence would have been needed it was this one. I can't remember one hand being laid on Philip Rivers, or Billy Volek for that matter, the entire game. Speaking of Volek, I was impressed with what he did in the 4th Quarter. He stepped right in for whatever injury Rivers seemed to have. I saw him run onto the field after returning from the locker room and he wasn't having a very tough time running/jogging, then he never put back on his helmet. Another mention of Rivers has to be the notion that he was expelling a lot of energy jawing with the Indianapolis during his exit to the locker room and as the game was coming to an end. The way that he led the Chargers was very Manning/Brady-like and I have gained a lot of respect for him this year for his on-field performances, but the way that he was yelling at the fans while going to the locker room to get his leg checked out was just classless. I am glad that CBS focused on him when the game was coming to an end and he was turned around and "taunting" the Colts' fans. To me that speaks more than anything. I don't care that the Chargers won, but I do care that their leader is more privy to yelling at the Colts' fans than maybe congratulating Volek, who led finished the game and pulled out a win. There have been many instances this year when Rivers and Tomlinson have had spats on the sidelines and if this is how the second/third face (L.T. and Gates) of the Chargers is going to play the game, then if I was Norv Turner, I would definitely look at playing Volek. Enough on that. The Colts' defense gave up a lot of yards and the offense looked out of sync, the running game was pretty much nonexistent, Addai and Sanders got injured but came back, Harrison wasn't Harrison, there wasn't the "fly to the ball" and drill somebody attitude from the Colts defense, and there definitely wasn't the BIG HIT that you seem to get every game from the Colts, (last week was Darrell Reid on special teams). Add all these things up and the Colts just didn't play a good game. Plain and simple. They just didn't do what they do best. It's just sad that it happened when it did. Great job Colts on another AFC South banner and posting the second best record in the AFC. Congrats to Coach Dungy for 6 straight playoff appearances! I don't know if he'll be back, I hope so, but if he is ready to walk away, then that's his decision. Congrats Colts to a great year!

A Good Read

Bill Simmons of ESPN and ESPN The Mag has figured out how to win in the NBA (or on any team for that matter). It's Chemacterility. Check it out!

"Chemacterility." Why haven't you heard the term before? Because I just made it up. But it's an amalgam of three concepts that have formed the foundation of the Duncan era in San Antonio: chemistry, character and (cap) flexibility"

Triple Threat to Power Box

Coach Sfera has updated and finished his new website at Powerbox Basketball! The former Triple Threat Basketball Blog will now be found through his website. Check the links on the side. It's not just about basketball but about all the aspects of life. Check it out

"Power Box Basketball was created in order to help today's basketball player and coach develop in areas of mental preparation, physical conditioning, and relational skills all while developing a strong foundation for life on and off the court."

Thanks Coach for the Update!

New Year's Resolutions - Sugar Bowl - Local Games

So with today being the First day of the year, I would think that it's only natural to set some resolutions for 2008. I think that starting new again is definitely a good thing to do. People get in a rut and stay in that rut for a long time. New Year's brings a new year and a new start. It's a chance to start over, go about things a new way, or completely reconcile things that have been hindering you.

I know the lose weight thing is always on people's minds, but I have really seen me put on weight this past year and I think it's time for me to do something about it. I am going to try and take off 20 pounds this year. I know that it will take a lot of work, but I seriously need to do something about my weight. My first step is going to be to eat smaller portions at meals and drink lots of water, cutting out all pop, soda, cola, basically anything that you can also get in a can, or a fountain drink.

My second resolution may sound weird but I am going to Man-Up on some things that I need to. Basically, step up and do what needs to be done, and not wait until later. Nip it in the bud, per se, before things accumulate to something of greater stature. This will take going outside my comfort zone, but I know that it is going to show growth.

And finally, another resolution that I am going to work on; procrastination. I wait until the last minute to do things all the time. I have found that it's not worth it. Do as much work as I can before I need to do it. I lost a lot of sleep last semester, because of stupid choices that I made.

I know that these are going to be tough for me but, I know that I need to do these things to be successful. I also know that I may not accomplish all these every time, but that I need to continue to do my best and if I have a dropoff, I know that I just need to fight it off and get back on track.

What are your resolutions?

I am watching the Georgia vs Hawaii Sugar Bowl Game right now and Hawaii is down 24 to 3. I was looking for this to be a little closer. I was hoping for a Hawaii win. I felt they weren't getting enough credit this year, but they aren't looking very good right now, but the announcers keep saying that they have had a bunch of comebacks this year. UPDATE Fumble by Brennan, recovered by UGA. I went to Hawaii in the summer of 2006 and it was an amazing experience. If anyone is thinking of going there, head to the island of Kauai. It is so peaceful and beautiful. There isn't any big city things like in Honolulu. One of the coolest things that happened to my wife and I, was when we were walking on a sidewalk in a very small town and we turn towards the road to see what was on the other side of the road, and both lanes of traffic stop for us to cross. It was the weirdest thing. I mean where in the continuous states would that happen! People on the islands are so nice and would do anything for you. Our tour guide said that there is basically no crime on the island. How weird would it be for the news to not have anything related to crime in it. What would they talk about?



Some local HS games this week-

Hendricks County Tournament - Should be very competitive



Local College Games this week -

DePauw vs Sewanee - Jan. 4

DePauw vs Oglethorpe - Jan. 6

Wabash vs Allegheny - Jan. 4

Wabash vs Hiram - Jan. 5

Marian vs Spring Arbor - Jan. 5

Rose-Hulman vs Translyvania - Jan. 5

Valpo at Butler - Jan. 5