Cheap Seats Blog

Having Three “Home” Teams is Difficult!

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 07:36:41 -0500

You know, there were a few things I didn’t think through real clearly when I started MiamiCountySport.com two and a half years ago. But that’s really nothing new for me.
Now, in my defense, when this idea first came up in the spring of 2008, there was a promise by certain individuals who will remain nameless of a partnership, and at least some help in coverage for Louisburg and Osawatomie sports.
Well, when we launched in September 2008, I did have some help. My assistance in Osawatomie lasted about five football games. My Louisburg connection lasted two football seasons, but just football nothing else. So for the most part it’s been just me.
As the old saying goes “Hindsight’s 20/20”, and if I knew in the summer of 2008 what I know now, the coverage of the site would probably be a lot different, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way, and I’m proud of what we’re providing for the kids at Paola, Osawatomie and Louisbug High Schools.
My only regret right now is that I can’t extend coverage past the varsity level. There’s a bunch of great kids toiling away in junior varsity and freshman competitions, and for some, that will be as far as they ever get, but I simply cannot make it to that many games. This fall, between the three schools there are 11 varsity level sports, I try to make as much as I can, but impossible does not nearly begin to describe what I face each week when I make out my coverage schedule.
That leads me to my other great dilemma. I now have three “HOME” teams!
First, let me say, I’m a Paola Panther through and through. I was born in Paola, I was educated in Paola, and I’ll probably be buried here too. So, the Panthers are my “home” team. Always have been and always will be.
With that being said. I have been in the newspaper business all my life. My grandfather was a newspaper man, my dad was a newspaper man, and my college degree is in journalism and mass communications. So, doing what I do now is in my blood, and I’m kind of proud of my heritage.
But, I’m also a Louisburg Wildcat. You see, I spent nearly the first ten years of my newspaper career in Louisburg at the Herald. My two oldest daughters were born while we were in Louisburg, and some of our closest friendships were made while we were living in that community.
I’ve thought about this several times, when I look out at the Wildcat Volleyball team and see Colleen O’Brien, I think about writing stories about her parents Barry and Barb and their exploits as football, volleyball and basketball players at Louisburg High School. I see Kate Dixon and remember writing about her mom on the volleyball court and all the years I spent visiting with her grandmother Connie at Louisburg Elemenatry School, and I watch Kody Cook run the Wildcat offense on the football team and remember his dad playing for the Wildcats.
So, it’s pretty easy for me to be a “Wildcat” also, in fact, if situations hadn’t changed in the mid 1980’s we might still be living in Louisburg to this day, but that’s history, and it can’t be changed.
Now, when it comes to being a “Trojan” well, that’s a bit more difficult. Being born and raised in Paola in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, let’s just say it wasn’t “cool” to associate with Osawatomie people. In fact, it was about like the United States and the Soviet Union. It was like we were the good guys, and they were not, the two really didn’t mix, and the feelings were mutual.
It made for some really heated sports contests, and, quite frankly I couldn’t have cared less back then if the Trojans ever won a game. When was the last time you saw a basketball player, after fouling out on their opponents home court, and of course, taking a ton of harassment for it, turn at half court and flip off the home fans with not one, but two hands? It happened in Paola, my senior year, and I’ll remember it for ever, like it happened yesterday. My, my how things have changed!
It’s not like that anymore, and for the most part it’s a good thing. I’m sure there’s people out there that long for things to go back to the way they were and have the Panthers and Trojans as bitter rivals, but that’s just not going to happen. Part of me is saddened, because I see, not too many years down the road the day when Paola and Osawatomie don’t play each other in football, and the end of that Tom-Tom game traditions would be a shame.
But the bitter rivalry days are over, and that’s a good thing, because 30 years ago, I couldn’t do what I’m doing now. I couldn’t say I’m a “Trojan” guy, but I can now, and I’m glad that it’s that way.
Just a case in point, while I watched the Panthers defeat the Trojans last Friday night by a series record score, part of me reveled in the fact that the Panthers were doing so well, but another part of me felt the disappointment the Trojans players, coaches and fans had to feel. I was on the losing end of a game like that against the Trojans my junior year, I remember how I felt, and I could now look at it through the Trojans eyes also. It hurt for me back then, and I hurt for me now.
Those feelings of empathy for the Trojans didn’t diminish the feelings of happiness for the Panthers, they just continue to drive home the point that I now have three “home” teams and I fell good when they win and bad when the lose, even when they’re playing each other.
So, while the point of this blog is the fact that with three “home” teams, it’s hard sometimes to compliment one without the slighting one of the others, it’s always going to be my intention to give the kids that participate in the sports programs at each of the three schools all the support that I can.
I will, to be best of my ability try and keep messages positive, but sometimes, positive for one is negative for the other, it’s a fact of life, and I’m not always going to be able to avoid it, so forgive me, in advance, if something I write compliments one school, but not another. Please don’t tell me “you’re a Paola guy.” The fact is, I’m a “Paola” guy, a “Louisburg” guy and an “Osawatomie” guy. I do this for the kids, and every school has great kids, doing amazing things and playing their hearts out for their team.
I hope that each and every one of those players take the field and give 110% for their team, if they don’t they’re not only hurting themselves, but their team mates, their fans and their school, and that would be a shame. But in the end, it’s just a game, and everyone needs to remember that.

Louisburg is favorite for Volleyball Sub-State

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 16:19:17 -0500

Now don’t take this as gospel, and don’t go and book rooms in Salina, at least not yet, but a week from now, the Louisburg Wildcat Volleyball team should be practicing for their shot at the big time, the Kansas Class 4A State Volleyball Tournament.
I don’t have a crystal ball, and I’m sure not very good at predicting the future, because if I was, I’d have won the lottery, and I’d be sipping some cool beverage in some exotic location, but I’m not, an the way my luck runs, I’m not going to any time soon either.
No, all I have is my own two eyes, and the time it takes to watch quite a bit of volleyball with a bunch of different teams through the course of a season.
When the sub-state tournament assignments were made by the state, it was pretty obvious that the Louisburg Sub-State was going to be a three team race, with the favorites being the Wildcats, along with their Frontier League comrades, the Spring Hill Broncos and the Paola Panthers.
The remaining five team are the Fort Scott Tigers, the Anderson County Bulldogs, the Iola Mustangs, the Prairie View Buffalos and the Osawatomie Trojans.
Let’s face it, there’s just no “Powerhouse” team in this sub-state. It’s about as evenly matched as it can be, so even in fact that the state did just the opposite this year in assignments than what they did to Paola two years ago when it was their turn to host a sub-state.
In 2008, if you remember, the Panthers had one of the best teams in the eastern half of the state, and one of the top two teams in the Frontier League. And what, in it’s infinite wisdom did the state do that year?
All the KSHSAA did in 2008 was load up the Paola sub-state with the St. James Thunder and the Ottawa Cyclones. St. James was the NUMBER ONE ranked team in the state in ALL Classes that year, and Ottawa was the number four ranked team in Class 4A.
All THREE teams deserved to be in the state tournament, but only one could go. The Thunder, of course, wiped out the field in the sub-state and the state tournaments that year, (and last year too!). But the point is, two of those three teams didn’t stand a chance!
Well, that’s not the case this year, quite the opposite, I think there’s three teams again that have a chance to win this year’s sub-state at Louisburg, and here’s my take on it in ascending order.
Third, the Paola Panthers. Just about a month ago, I had the Panthers in the favorite spot. And, that’s interesting, because they had just come off a lackluster performance in the Baldwin Tournament, and were not playing very good volleyball. But something happened between the Saturday playing of the Baldwin tournament and the next Tuesday when the Panthers traveled back to Baldwin to take on the Bulldogs in a Frontier League match.
The Panthers destroyed the Bulldogs on their home court that night and really started to play “Panther Volleyball”, and that continued for the better part of September and October. Although the Panthers stock slipped a bit following the Spring Hill Tournament, that was more a product of the rise of Spring Hill rather than bad play by the Panthers.
But the Panthers stock slipped badly last weekend at the Frontier League Tournament, when they went 1-5 on the day, and have started to tinker with their line-up which has caused confusion at times, and seriously damaged their changes, at least in my opinion.
Second, the Spring Hill Broncos. Like Paola, the Broncos fortunes have risen and fallen through the course of the last couple of weeks. As I said above, the Broncos rose to the top of my favorite list after their performance in their own tournament. The took on all comers, falling short of the championship, but playing good, inspired volleyball against some very difficult, bigger class schools. Plus they defeated their two sub-state rivals in head to head matches, and rather easily.
But again, like Paola, the Broncos were not sharp in the Frontier League event, and were beaten badly by Louisburg, and although they beat Paola, they won the first game 31-29 before losing the second 25-10. If one point would have gone the other way late in that first game, the Panthers would have won, and the outcomes of later matches might have been different. The Broncos struggled to a 2-5 record in the tournament and have to have confidence issues heading into next weekend.
First, the Louisburg Wildcats. Let me preface these remarks by saying, there’s a whole host of reasons why I think the Wildcats will win this tournament, and one very big reason why they might not.
We’ll get the bad news out of the way first -- host teams seldom win their own sub state tournaments. I don’t know why, but just look back a couple of years, 2009, at Spring Hill, Paola defeats Ottawa for the championship. 2008, at Paola, well, I already told you about that one.
So, now that I’ve told you why the Wildcats have a big strike against them, I’ll tell you a few reasons why I think they will succeed.
First and foremost, they’re playing pretty good volleyball, at the right time of the season. They have the best front row of the three team’s I’ve mentioned and when they’re on, they can hit with just about anyone. Marisa Mackey, Colleen O’Brien and Emily Lemke are very tough, and they you bring in Anna Bell off the bench and there’s very little drop off in play. Kate Dixon is efficient and accurate in distributing the ball, and every one of those girls know how to get down to the floor to dig and return shots.
Second, and maybe most importantly, they’ve played, AND BEATEN, every team in the tournament with the exception of Anderson County, and with apologies to the Bulldogs, I don’t think they will be a factor in the event. Every other team the Wildcats might face in the bracket they have played and beaten, some multiple times.
The Wildcats are not a lock, they haven’t been an unbeatable team this season, far from it. They have a nasty habit of not finishing games, getting ahead and then not putting teams away. But they demonstrated a bit more of a killer instinct on Saturday, and if they can harness that, they can win.
Anything can happen, witness the Panthers last year. It’s a one and done, three game sprint, but right now, for my money, I’m betting on the Wildcats.

Paola can win with one dimensional football

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 15:12:47 -0500

How many times do we watch and listen to football coaches preach about being a “balanced” football team?
Every coach expounds on the merits of having balance between the run and the pass. He will quote statistics of how you must first establish the run and that will open up the passing game. How if you can’t at least present the “threat” of throwing passes down field, teams will “load the box” and stop the running game and then suddenly your “one dimensional” offense will be dead in the water.
Well fans, I’m here today to tell you this, if the Paola Panthers are going to make a run deep in the playoffs, they will do it as a one dimensional team.
Now, this next statement is an oversimplification of the facts, because more factors were involved in the Panthers season opening losses to Baldwin and DeSoto than a few forward passes, but for the sake of my arguments right now, I’m here to tell you, one of the big reasons why the Panthers started out 0-2 and stand at 5-2 instead of 7-0 and heading for a REALLY BIG game against Louisburg in 10 day or so is this.
The Panthers started out the season THINKING they could throw the football! Now, the Panthers didn’t change their offense and go to a full fledged spread, tossing it around 40 times a game like the Osawatomie Trojans. No, they were more conservative, with Seth Kern tossing 29 passes in the opening two games.
For a Paola Panther offense, that IS a spread offense! And, there’s more to those stats, first, the Panthers completed just 10 of those 29 attempts, a woeful completion percentage, and they gained just 108 yards, that’s just not very good.
But, there’s more to those stats than meets the eye. It wasn’t necessarily bad for the Panthers to throw the ball that many times, but, it was more a product of when the passes were thrown. During the Baldwin game, a couple of times, the offense got down field, deep into Bulldog territory running the ball, and then all of a sudden, boom, three passes in a row, and the drive stalled. It just didn’t make sense.
Luckily for the Paola faithful, after those first two games, cooler heads prevailed and the Panthers scrapped the passing game and went almost strictly with a running offense. In the last five games, all blow out wins I might add, the Panthers have attempted just 10 passes, with one completion for a whopping 14 yards.
But the rushing attack, that has flourished! After running for 217 and 315 yard is each of the first two games, not bad for most programs, but anemic by Paola standards, the Panthers have ripped opposing defenses for 471, 386, 305, 541 and 544 yards. The last two represent new school records, and it doesn’t look like there’s any end in sight.
In fact, I’ll make this argument right now, even though the Panthers are almost exclusively a running football team, I will say right now they are far from “one dimensional.” I say this because the Panthers have more than one person that can torch a defense on the ground.
Look no further than this set of stats: Skylar Hawkins is getting the lions share of the carries and had 1171 yards so far this year on 138 carries. But, Tyler Henness has 811 yards on 67 carries and Seth Kern has added 406 yards on 67 carries, that’s 1217 yards on 134 carries -- nearly identical stats to Hawkins. When you add in Tanner Staats who’s picked up 266 yards on just 24 carries, it’s pretty easy to see why Paola can line up and beat most teams just running the ball.
Plus, the Panthers have the ability to take the ball up the middle, hit a crease at the tackle/tight end spot, or get to the edge and go outside. Teams that put 8-9-10 in the “box” better make sure they make the tackle within five yards of the line of scrimmage, because if they don’t these guys are off to the races.
In the Panthers latest record setting performance against Osawatomie last Friday night, Paola’s longest scoring drive was seven plays -- seven plays and it went for 46 yards and took 2:28 off the clock. Paola had THREE, one play drives, going for 35, 34 and 77 yards, they had FOUR more drives that lasted just three plays, the shortest at 11 yards and the longest at 49 yards. Those are possession numbers that most PASSING teams would envy!
Now, I’m not here to say the Panthers and win a state championship running the ball 50 times a game and never passing it, but I will say that it’s my opinion that the Panthers can go a long way in the playoffs without needing to throw a single pass.
Somebody out there might have the horses up front, the linebackers and the speed at corner and safety to contain the Panthers stable of running backs, who knows, it might be Louisburg in 10 days or so, but I know one thing, the Panthers have been fun to watch the last five games, and they’re going to be even more fun to watch in the next five games, and beyond, maybe all the way to a state championship!

Panthers - Wildcats on Collision Course

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 10:23:38 -0500

With the beginning games of the District Playoffs set to start on Friday Night, there’s one thing that is almost a certainty once again this year.
When the Louisburg Wildcats come calling to Panther Stadium on Thursday, October 28, 2010, the game will determine the district championship, just as it has so many times before.
Now, before my friends in Osawatomie and Spring Hill get all upset with me, I know, both the Panthers and the Wildcats will have to face the Trojans and Broncos in the next two weeks, but the season so far has shown us the Panthers and Wildcats should get past their next two opponents to meet on the last Thursday of the month with the district championship on the line.
The only thing that could have made this better would have been if the Panthers hadn’t decided to take the first two games of the season off, resulting in surprising losses at home to Baldwin and DeSoto. It would have been nice if the two teams would have come into the game unbeaten, with the Frontier League Championship on the line also.
But the Wildcats will have that locked up by then, but the district championship will be another matter. Of course, it doesn’t really make a difference who wins or loses the district, with the Kansas High School Football Championship bracketing system, the only thing it means is the winner gets to play a second place district team. In theory, this makes the district champion’s next game easier, but in practice it really doesn’t make a whole lot of difference.
But the records won’t matter either, as both teams are now playing at a very high level. In fact, they could meet again in the sub-state championship game to determine which will advance to the state championship game later in November.
Now that would be a great thing!

I’m Baaaaaaack!

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 23:40:01 -0500

It’s going on Midnight on Thursday, and this is going to be brief. I’m just going to say I’m back, and I plan on writing something just about everyday, so check back often. It’s been quite hectic in my life, but I’ve had a great time this fall covering the local sports scene.
Football has been interesting to say the least, Louisburg has gotten off the start I thought they would and are sitting at 4-0 on the season. The Panthers and Trojans did not get off to great starts, but the Panthers have righted the ship and look to be on the right track. The Trojans on the other hand have problems, but we’ll talk about that later.
The local volleyball teams are all about where I through they’d be. The Panthers and Wildcats are playing well, and the Trojans are trying to learn how to win. The Panthers will play out and beat you with perseverance, they never let you rest. The Wildcats, well they can just line up and pound you, but they sometimes have problems with focus, and the Trojans, well, they are still learning to finish the game, when the do, they’re going to be tough.
Soccer is another story, the Wildcats are one of the top teams in the Frontier League. The Panthers, well they can’t seem to figure out how to put the ball in the goal. The Panthers have scored four, count ‘em four, goals on the season. But, they’ve done more with four goals than most teams, as they are 2-1-1 in games they have scored in, not bad, but unfortunately, they’ve been shut out seven times this season.
Finally the Cross Country teams have been running well. The Panther boys are again strong and solid top to bottom. The Panther girls have gotten surprising performances from some young runners, and are battling a few nagging injuries, but are placing well in their events. The Wildcats and Trojans all have quality runners, and are all improving week to week.
That’s it, I’m out for tonight, I’ll try and examine the football games tomorrow morning.