Congratulations, you have qualified for post season football in Iowa. No, you are not in the playoffs. Only those who win this first game are actually in the playoffs. This is actually a sub-state game. No, the host school doesn’t get to keep the gate that is all going to the state high school athletic association. Of course there will some good games. After all, the second place team in one district will be playing the third place team from a different district. Yes that does also mean that the first place team will be playing the fourth place team from those same districts. This was the fate of the Panthers of Creston High School.
The Panthers, making their first post season appearance since 2005, faced a tough opponent in the defending Class 3A champions, the Crusaders of Bishop Heelan High School. These two teams did have one common opponent this year. Both teams played the Harlan Cyclones this season. Heelan lost 24-6 at Harlan in a non-district match while the Panthers lost 44-0 in district play. That was the Crusaders only loss of the season. Creston entered the contest with a 5-4 record.
Perhaps the best way to explain how this game went is to tell you that the fourth quarter of the game was played mainly by freshman while Creston kept their varsity in the majority of the game. This game was complete domination by the Crusaders as is shown in this video from the Sioux City Journal. The Crusaders came out on top of this game 66-2.
Now I have to admit, my oldest two children are students at Heelan. I go to every sporting event that I can and am a big fan. In the midst of the 38 point second quarter, I was beginning to feel sorry for the fan and players from Creston. The biggest question that comes to mind though is why does the state feel the need for this extra round of playoffs? There are a couple of ways to look at this.
Firs t of all, for those that support this decision, this gives twice as many boys in Iowa the chance to participate in post season play. While this game and a few others came out very ugly, this scoreboard shows that there were some close games as well. In the District 1 vs. District 8 matchup that took place in this part of the state, two of the third place teams beat the second place teams on the road. The first to fourth place matchups were another story.
For those that do not support this round of football post season play, it is another way for the state athletic association to pick up money. They keep the vast majority of the money from the gates. While attendance was down a little bit from the regular season, it was still a descent crowd in Sioux City. Also, this means that if a team advances to the state quarterfinals, they will play four games in two weeks time with the last regular season game on Friday, October 23rd, the Sub-state game on Wednesday, October 28th, the first round playoff game on Monday, November 2nd, and the quarterfinal game on Friday, November 6th.
For those boys that lost this first game, yes it may be crushing, but at least they can say they participated.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
An Iowa Tradition Becomes Healthier
This week in Iowa, the high school football season will come to an end for the vast majority of the boys across the state. While many will head on to basketball, wrestling continues to be huge in the state of Iowa. That is in big part that the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa are all major powers in NCAA Wrestling.
While wrestling continues to be very popular, as a friend said tonight, it can be the hardest sport by far on the parents. Our kids come home absolutely exhausted, we have to watch them get tied up in knots, and worst of all, we have to watch them starve themselves in order to maintain their weight.
When I was in high school, yes that has been a few years ago now, I remember teammates who basically would go a week without eating anything. After finally weighing in, they would gorge themselves before we started wrestling that night. This was very unhealthy and could cause permanent damage to the kids.
That is why the Iowa High School Athletic Association, as well as every other state in the country, has adopted strict rules on weight loss. A person can only lose a certainly percentage of body fat. Plus, at the beginning of the season, a wrestler has to gradually cut weight. Because of their body fat percentage, most wrestlers have to wrestle at higher weight class than what they plan at the beginning of the season. The IHSAA even has a video explaining the weight loss rules and guidelines on their website.
It is important for the student athletes to get ready for wrestling and their weight loss in a gradual descent. A weight loss plan will help the wrestlers get to the weight they need to be at and their body fat percentage at the right level, before the season starts or shortly after the season starts. This will take them away from having to starve as the season goes on. The wrestlers should start eating a healthy diet and being smart about their calorie intake now.
During the season, the athletes need to make sure they keep taking in healthy calories. Starvation will do nothing but hurt the body and make the wrestler weaker and more likely to become ill or injured. Perhaps the smartest addition to high school wrestling over the past years is the two pound rule. This rule is that after the holiday break, each weight class moves up two pounds to make it easier on the wrestler.
While wrestling can be a very grueling and demanding sport, the rules have changed to help the athletes and make it easier on them. Wrestling can also be a great sport for these boys and teach them valuable life lessons. All of this will lead to wrestling continuing to grow in popularity.
While wrestling continues to be very popular, as a friend said tonight, it can be the hardest sport by far on the parents. Our kids come home absolutely exhausted, we have to watch them get tied up in knots, and worst of all, we have to watch them starve themselves in order to maintain their weight.
When I was in high school, yes that has been a few years ago now, I remember teammates who basically would go a week without eating anything. After finally weighing in, they would gorge themselves before we started wrestling that night. This was very unhealthy and could cause permanent damage to the kids.
That is why the Iowa High School Athletic Association, as well as every other state in the country, has adopted strict rules on weight loss. A person can only lose a certainly percentage of body fat. Plus, at the beginning of the season, a wrestler has to gradually cut weight. Because of their body fat percentage, most wrestlers have to wrestle at higher weight class than what they plan at the beginning of the season. The IHSAA even has a video explaining the weight loss rules and guidelines on their website.
It is important for the student athletes to get ready for wrestling and their weight loss in a gradual descent. A weight loss plan will help the wrestlers get to the weight they need to be at and their body fat percentage at the right level, before the season starts or shortly after the season starts. This will take them away from having to starve as the season goes on. The wrestlers should start eating a healthy diet and being smart about their calorie intake now.
During the season, the athletes need to make sure they keep taking in healthy calories. Starvation will do nothing but hurt the body and make the wrestler weaker and more likely to become ill or injured. Perhaps the smartest addition to high school wrestling over the past years is the two pound rule. This rule is that after the holiday break, each weight class moves up two pounds to make it easier on the wrestler.
While wrestling can be a very grueling and demanding sport, the rules have changed to help the athletes and make it easier on them. Wrestling can also be a great sport for these boys and teach them valuable life lessons. All of this will lead to wrestling continuing to grow in popularity.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Is it smart to go ahead and take on a challenge when the risk may outweigh the benefits? Football fans all across the Dakotas will be finding out on Saturday as the Fighting Sioux of the University of North Dakota face off in Grand Forks against the Cougars of the University of Sioux Falls. The danger in this game for the Fighting Sioux is that they are expected to win, and to win big. If they do not, they will lose more than they can ever expect to gain from beating an NAIA school.
For the Fighting Sioux, they are still in a transition period of moving to Division 1 athletics. This can make scheduling very tough as they are facing an interesting combination of opponents with everything from NAIA, to NCAA FBS, NCAA FCS, and NCAA Division II teams. They had a great showing to start of the season playing in Lubbock, TX against the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
At this point, it can be tough for NCAA transitional schools to schedule opponents. There are multiple schools that have had to find NAIA schools to compete against. This is normally not a bad thing but the University of Sioux Falls just happens to be the defending National Champions as well as the #1 ranked team in the country.
Now I am not saying that the Cougars will win in Grand Forks this weekend but I think it can be quite a battle. For one thing, the Cougars have nothing to lose and everything to gain. No one expects them to be much in the way of competition for the much bigger Fighting Sioux. That may be just the extra motivation that the Cougars need. This is a very talented football team. In watching them play last weekend, they did not come close to truly opening the playbook and they were much better than their opponent. They hit harder, they were much faster, and they executed better than many of the teams that I have watched play over the years.
The biggest factor of the game will be whether the Cougars can handle the physical part of the game. There will come a time in which the Sioux will start smacking the Cougars around, will the Cougars be able to answer? Also, while there is obvious talent and athletic ability on the field for Sioux Falls, will they be able to match the depth of UND?
While the battle will be waged on the field, the teams, plus the fans, will face off against a mutual opponent that day as well. In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Fighting Sioux are holding Sioux Strong. Each team will be wearing pink wristbands and there will be pink shirts for sale for the fans.
For the Fighting Sioux, they are still in a transition period of moving to Division 1 athletics. This can make scheduling very tough as they are facing an interesting combination of opponents with everything from NAIA, to NCAA FBS, NCAA FCS, and NCAA Division II teams. They had a great showing to start of the season playing in Lubbock, TX against the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
At this point, it can be tough for NCAA transitional schools to schedule opponents. There are multiple schools that have had to find NAIA schools to compete against. This is normally not a bad thing but the University of Sioux Falls just happens to be the defending National Champions as well as the #1 ranked team in the country.
Now I am not saying that the Cougars will win in Grand Forks this weekend but I think it can be quite a battle. For one thing, the Cougars have nothing to lose and everything to gain. No one expects them to be much in the way of competition for the much bigger Fighting Sioux. That may be just the extra motivation that the Cougars need. This is a very talented football team. In watching them play last weekend, they did not come close to truly opening the playbook and they were much better than their opponent. They hit harder, they were much faster, and they executed better than many of the teams that I have watched play over the years.
The biggest factor of the game will be whether the Cougars can handle the physical part of the game. There will come a time in which the Sioux will start smacking the Cougars around, will the Cougars be able to answer? Also, while there is obvious talent and athletic ability on the field for Sioux Falls, will they be able to match the depth of UND?
While the battle will be waged on the field, the teams, plus the fans, will face off against a mutual opponent that day as well. In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the Fighting Sioux are holding Sioux Strong. Each team will be wearing pink wristbands and there will be pink shirts for sale for the fans.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Google is everywhere
Google is truly everywhere and can do just about anything. I discovered a handy little trick today with my cell phone and it interested me enough that I decided to see what all Google and can do and I was amazed at everything that was out there.
First for the trick; Google SMS will allow you to send a text inquiry from your text message enabled cellular device. Simply text message your search query to 466453 (“GOOGLE” on most devices), and
Google will text message back the results. You can inquire on local business information, weather, airlines, directions, area codes, zip codes, etc. To see a list of sample keywords go to the following web site: http://www.google.com/intl/en_us/mobile/sms/index.html for example: You are traveling to Miami and want to know the weather there. Send a text message to 466453, containing “weather Miami.” You will receive a text message indicating the current weather, plus a short term forecast.
I have two friends who recently started their own promotions business. They asked me for help with their access and storage needs and I led them to Google. With Google, these partners are able to share nearly everything and access it all from anywhere. They are using Calendar to track their events and bookings. They are using Docs to share excel spreadsheets that hold contact and budget information as well as to store their contracts.
They have been having a great time using Sites to create their own website. They haven’t done much as far as showing it to the public yet but it has become a great learning tool and soon they will be ready to show their website to everyone. However, to make their website easier to share and for people to remember, they are planning on using a web hosting site to host their site. They are posting pictures of their events using Picasa and can share this with everyone.
Perhaps the best thing about Google though is the website can be fun and the people working there always seem to be having fun. I recently stumbled across a slide show from Tech Republic. This slide show covers everything from Google in Pig Latin or Klingon to fun with Google Maps as they set up a street show for Google’s arrival.
As you can see, you really can use Google for a little bit of everything. Remember that if you are ever in Sioux City and looking for great Mexican food. Text Mexican 51101 to 466453 and it will lead you to La Juanitas, Navarette’s, or a host of other great places. Trust me, any of them are well worth the visit.
First for the trick; Google SMS will allow you to send a text inquiry from your text message enabled cellular device. Simply text message your search query to 466453 (“GOOGLE” on most devices), and
Google will text message back the results. You can inquire on local business information, weather, airlines, directions, area codes, zip codes, etc. To see a list of sample keywords go to the following web site: http://www.google.com/intl/en_us/mobile/sms/index.html for example: You are traveling to Miami and want to know the weather there. Send a text message to 466453, containing “weather Miami.” You will receive a text message indicating the current weather, plus a short term forecast.
I have two friends who recently started their own promotions business. They asked me for help with their access and storage needs and I led them to Google. With Google, these partners are able to share nearly everything and access it all from anywhere. They are using Calendar to track their events and bookings. They are using Docs to share excel spreadsheets that hold contact and budget information as well as to store their contracts.
They have been having a great time using Sites to create their own website. They haven’t done much as far as showing it to the public yet but it has become a great learning tool and soon they will be ready to show their website to everyone. However, to make their website easier to share and for people to remember, they are planning on using a web hosting site to host their site. They are posting pictures of their events using Picasa and can share this with everyone.
Perhaps the best thing about Google though is the website can be fun and the people working there always seem to be having fun. I recently stumbled across a slide show from Tech Republic. This slide show covers everything from Google in Pig Latin or Klingon to fun with Google Maps as they set up a street show for Google’s arrival.
As you can see, you really can use Google for a little bit of everything. Remember that if you are ever in Sioux City and looking for great Mexican food. Text Mexican 51101 to 466453 and it will lead you to La Juanitas, Navarette’s, or a host of other great places. Trust me, any of them are well worth the visit.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
When I was in high school , yes I know that was more years ago than most of you in this class, I 
remember my college search very well. I remember most of the people in my class thought I was crazy because I was collecting information from colleges all across the country and I wanted as many opportunities as possible. This was an important decision for me and I wanted as many possible choices as I could find.
remember my college search very well. I remember most of the people in my class thought I was crazy because I was collecting information from colleges all across the country and I wanted as many opportunities as possible. This was an important decision for me and I wanted as many possible choices as I could find. Now, I have a son who is a junior in high school and he is facing this same decision. He is lucky
enough however that the colleges have been coming to him. During his sophomore year, he took the ACT Plan test. At the beginning of this test, he gave them his name, address, phone number, and email address. I am sure he had no idea how much mail and email would end up coming his way. He is a smart kid and did very well on the test. Around the end of January, he just happened to check his email and he had nearly 50 emails from colleges all over the country. Big schools, small schools, some very prestigious universities and a few I will admit even I had never heard of. As all of his information has started flowing in, he has been overwhelmed at times at the amount of paperwork that is coming his way. He had to use a way to keep track of everything and start narrowing down his list.
To my surprise, he created an excel spreadsheet to track all of the schools he had received information from already. He has a second tab of the sheet in which he is tracking his top choices and what they offer for majors that he is interested in studying. Even more amazing, is that he has started following these schools on Facebook and Twitter. That has really helped for him to keep up to date with the athletic teams that he hopes to play for in the near future.
Technology has taken a tough slow process and made it easier and faster. When I requested information, I had to look up the address in a guide book, send it snail mail, and wait for something to finally come back. Thanks to the internet and today’s technology, a college or university can send out more information to more people than they ever dreamed of in my day.
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