"DA" Andy Blog
| Top Ten Region Girls and Boys Basketball Teams 1/20/13 Girls 1. Merrillville 2. Michigan City 3. Lake Central 4. West Side 5. Lowell 6. Portage 7. Noll 8. Whiting 8. LaPorte 10. Hobart Boys 1. Munster 2. Andrean 3. Merrillville 4. Lake Central 5. Noll 6. Valpo beat Portage, 11 x wins over Chesterton 7. Chesterton 8. Bowman 9. West Side 10.Wallace 2012 Girls Basketball Sectional Blog Feb 2012 At MAB we have done more Live Regular Season Broadcasted Girls Basketball games than any other entity in the Calumet Region. And we have done this the last 3 years at MAB with the help of AD’S, Coaches, and Broadcasters like Bob Potosky, JT Hoyo, Bernie Goin, Brandon Vickrey, and Rich Sapper. Great Job MAB Team!!! ‘THE HEART OF AMATEUR SPORTS” Now for the Calumet Region Girls Basketball Picks 4A Sect 1 WEST SIDE OVER MORTON LOWELL OVER HIGHLAND LC OVER MUNSTER EC OVER WEST SIDE LOWELL OVER LC LOWELL OVER EC CENTRAL IN THE FINAL LOWELL POUNDED EC IN THE REGULAR SEASON, EC HAS ALREADY BEATEN WEST SIDE, LC AND MUNSTER COULD BE WILD CARDS HERE, BUT THERE BIGS HAVE TO BE READY TO SHINE. AND KATIE BOBOS IS READY TO LEAD THE DEVILS TO THE REGIONAL. AT MUNSTER TEAMS HAVE STRUGGLED WITH THE SHOOTING BACKGROUND FOR YEARS, THOSE TEAMS THAT HAVE PLAYED THERE HAVE AN ADVANTAGE. 4A Sect 2 CP OVER PORTAGE LAPORTE OVER CHESTERTON MICH CITY OVER HOBART MERRILLVILLE OVER VALPO LAPORTE OVER CP MERRILLVILLE OVER MICH CITY MERRILLVILLE OVER LAPORTE THE 20-0 PIRATES ARE THE HEAD OF THIS CLASS HERE, 2 VICTORIES OVER MCITY. THEY WILL SOLVE THE PATTERNS OF SKEETER HEATH AND THEY HAVE A GAME OF DESTINY COMING WITH VAUNTED PENN. CP HAS LOST TO LAPORTE THIS YEAR,.EQUIHUA’S DOGS COULD BE A BIGGER CHALLENGE TO MERRILLVILLE, IF THEY START HITTING THERE 3’S AND INGRAM IS READY FOR PRIME TIME, AT THE POINT .THEY MAY MAKE THE FINAL. RAVEEN MURRAY IS AN INDIANA AL L -STAR AND HER COUSIN VICTORIA GAINES, MAY BE THE BEST FROSH PLAYER IN THE STATE AND IS STARTING TO HEAR FROM DIVISION 1 SCHOOLS ALREADY, AJ DOWNS MAY BE THE BEST ON THE BALL DEFENDER IN THE REGION TOO, COOPER FOR MC MAY BE OUT FOR THE SECTIONAL DUE TO A COACH’S DECSION. MCITY NEEDS TIKA MURPHY TO LEAD THEM ALL 4 QTS VS MERRILLVILE NOT JUST IN SPOTS. 3A Sect 17 HAMMOND OVER WALLACE GRIFFITH OVER GAVIT HAMMOND OVER CLARK GRIFFITH OVER VELT GRIFFITH OVER HAMMOND IF GRIFFITH BEATS VELT THEY WIN HERE, COACH TOM GOLUMBACK CAN FLAT OUT COACH DEFENSE. EVEN THOUGH HE DOESN’T HAVE A GIRL OVER 5’7 TO START THE SEASON, HE WINS IN PLAYOFF TIME AT HOME. 3A Sect 18 KNOX OVER ANDREAN KV OVER RENSSELAER KNOX OVER CALUMET HC OVER KV HCENTRAL OVER KNOX WHOMEVER WINS BETWEEN KV AND HC, WINS HERE! BLAYR POSTON AND KRISTEN ROPER GET THERE REVENGE FROM THE REGULAR SEASON ,FOR COACH NELSON. POSTON IS ONE OF THE BEST PLAYERS IN THE REGION PERIOD, AND SHE WILL HAVE A SHOT TO BE SEEN MORE AT THE REGIONAL. 2A Sect 33 WHEELER OVER NOLL BOWMAN OVER RF WHEELER OVER EDISON WHITING OVER BOWMAN WHITING OVER WHEELER WHITING WILL HAVE WHEELER’S NUMBER HERE, LED BY BLACKWELL, BUT GERMAN AND THE EAGLES ARE THE DARKHORSE HERE. WILL WE SEE THE EAGLES BLOWN OUT BY CHESTERTON AND GOSHEN OR THE ONE THAT BEAT BOONE SOUNDLY AT BOWMAN? 2A Sect 34 WINAMAC OVER NJSP BOONE OVER ROCHESTER WINAMAC OVER NN BOONE OVER HEBRON WINAMAC OVER BOONE WINAMAC HAS BOONE’S NUMBER AND THE WOLVES WILL NEED STRONG POST PLAY TO MOVE ON. CAN CANDY’S CREW BRING THE PRESS, TO LEAD THEM TO THE REGIONAL? WITH THE ROUND ROBIN GONE IN THE DAC AND THE SOUTH COUNTY GONE, I BELIEVE BOONE NEEDS TO CONTINUE TO TOUGHEN THE REGULAR SEASON TRAIL. 1A Sect 49 MTWP OVER 21ST CC OVER WASH TWP MTWP OVER LACROSSE KOUTS OVER CC KOUTS OVER MORGAN LEXI SIPPEL AND KOUTS SHOULD ROLL HERE. 1A Sect 51 ARGOS OVER SC OD OVER CULVER WESTVILLE OVER MARQUETTE TRITON OVER ARGOS OD OVER WESTVILLE OD OVER TRITON JT HOYO SAYS OD WILL BEAT TRITON. OD HAS MULTIPLE PLAYERS THAT CAN SCORE AT ANYTIME IN THE OFFENSE OR ON THE SECONDARY BREAK. I BELIEVE THE ROAD WARRIOR JT HERE. HE IS THE ONLY PERSON I KNOW OF TO SEE BARR- REEVE, CANTERBURY, AND OD. HE KNOWS 1A BASKETBALL AND I WOULDN’T WANT HIS GAS CARD BILL. THOSE ARE MY PICKS . AND NOW THE BAD NEWS, NO REGION TEAMS TO THE SEMISTATE THIS YEAR. TEAMS LIKE PENN AND BENTON CENTRAL STAND IN THE WAY. FOR EXAMPLE PENN HAS BLOWN OUT MANY REGION TEAMS AND BC BLEW OUT WEST SIDE WHO GRIFFITH BARELY BEAT RECENTLY. YES THE PIRATES ARE 20-0, BUT CAN THEY BEAT PENN???? IT’S BEEN A GREAT YEAR, INTERACT WITH US ON FACEBOOK AS MID AMERICA BROADCASTING LLC or on TWITTER AS mabsports!!!! Well it has been awhile and I have been busy writing articles for MAB Monthly too. Well here are some thoughts from my view as a fan of HS, College, and Pro Sports. December 27, 2011 1. Why did it take 4 years for the Bears to figure out Caleb Hanie can’t play? 2. Did Jerry Angelo really draft Michael Haynes ahead of the Ravens Terrell Suggs? 3. Why do the Bears keep drafting OL that keep getting hurt? 4. If Richard Hamilton was a problem in Detroit, now all of a sudden he isn’t with the Bulls? 5. Does not having class basketball really solve the Charter School issue? 6. Why do you get a voucher to go to a parochial school only if you attended a public school the previous year, if isn’t meant to hurt Public Schools? 7. In Football, Wheeler trailed RF at the Half, and beat Andrean, yet the media still takes shots at the GSSC? 8. Key players within the last 2 years transferred to many of the top schools in the area. This in basketball with better overall team records? Does that mean that we no longer mention it or should they always be considered a player from where they graduated only? 9. Is it me or I don’t remember Mitch McGary being a possible 1st round NBA Draft pick at Chesterton. He was a good player so I guess Prep Schools made him great? 10. Bonzi Wells got cut this week but there are still 16 Indiana HS Players in the NBA. Maybe the Pacers can change their name to the Marion County All Stars, 11. Is it me or would Eric Gordon be a great fit with DRose and the Bulls, thanks Hank for that idea. 12. Some HS coaches need to realize that it’s ok to admit, that there are other good players than yours. 13. It’s ok to be on the Hawks Bandwagon, at whatever age you started to like Hockey. 14. When you choose to play NFL Football, don’t you take the risk of concussions by playing? 15. I actually stump Bob Potosky on Indiana HS Football Trivia. But only once in a while. 16. How many miles does the Region Sports Desk’s JT Hoyo put on his car on his trips to Hamlet? 17. Rich Sapper really is a Kurt Warner fan and thinks he is a Hall of Famer. Just kidding Rich,he is a Hall of Famer though. 18. How much tax money per Colts win this year paid for that Lucas Oil Stadium. But we can’t get a Cline Ave.bridge to nowhere fixed? 19. Why did the Bears not build a Retractable Dome if they could have had a Super Bowl? 20. George McCaskey used to work for Ted Phillips, now Virginia he is his boss? 21. What do all these bankruptcies mean in the newspaper world? I guess internet media is where it is at? 22. Is Greg Oden really the next Sam Bowie? 23. If the Cubs don’t sign Fielder who plays 1B? 24. Do the Bears have a possible three way trade with the Cubs and Red Sox for WR Jeff Samardzjia? 25. What will Robin do if Adam Dunn is really done? 26. Who has played on more teams Kenny Lofton or LaTroy Hawkins? 27. Why do media who show up a minute before the game, always expect a ringside seat? How bout showing the school some respect and showing up at least 15 minutes before tipoff or is it me? 28. Is putting all of the HS scores in the paper a lost art or do the schools just not send it in anymore? Now you know why we try to share scores with you when possible, on Facebook. 29. An AD told me recently that a school brought zero fans to a Girls Varsity BB game, how do you pay for 3 Officials in that one? 30. Will DAC teams play Bowman once the Round Robin is gone in Basketball? 31. How many leads can Purdue lose this year in basketball and what did Hope do to get an extension in Football? 32. Why did IU Football get rid of Bill Mallory in the first place? 33. IU Basketball 12-0 and a Yogi on the way next year, can we finally say Good Knight? 34. Will the Parochial Football problem be Bobby Cox’s Class Basketball problem as it was for Blake Ress? 35. If you like the IHSAA is that like being a Yankees fan? 36. Does the third official make calls in basketball just to stay involved? 37. If San Diego State is in the Big East where is the Big West, be Pacific? 38. What did the Bears really gain from the Dallas trio? 39. Whatever happened to DePaul Basketball? 40. To all who may be concerned some of us think a lot of administrators and coaches who discourage poor sportsmanship, chants, and behavior that is unbecoming of anyone’s HS student body public or private, believe it or not, it is worth the effort to stop it every time and inappropriate is still your call among your HS students. PLEASE SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON MID AMERICA BROADCASTING LLC ON FACEBOOK OR THROUGH TWITTER as mabsports. These thoughts are not necessarily the thoughts of Mid America Broadcasting, LLC. Region Girls Basketball Coaching Changes The days of one coach at a school for a long period of time may be long gone as another coach leaves Crown Point in Mike Cronkhite. He had replaced Scott Reid who had taken over for Tom May's long time position. 48 RIF's at CP may have played a role here. Calumet and Clark have had Girls Basketball Coaching Changes also and there are lots of new Football Coaches around the state too here in the region at Bowman, Clark, Hammond High, Gavit, KV, and Hobart just to name a few. There have been a number of coaching changes because of new factors such as school budgets - RIF's, AAU Basketball - year round, and School Accountability have replaced over zealous parents and administration of yesteryear. It is a new era in education that will affect Sports Coverage. Currently Calumet, Roosevelt, Morton, Hammond High, and EC Central are on the brink of state takeovers and this could be a huge factor in sports, if these schools are merged or closed, in that only 50% of the existing staff could be brought back, if this option is chosen, it could effect coaches. Also the emergence of Charter Powers like Bowman and Indy Metro in Basketball. Metro feeds in students from 22 school districts.State voucher laws passed recently could increase the enrollments at Parochial schools too, turning already super sports powers like Luers, Cathedral and Dwenger, into elite Nationwide programs across the state. Multiplier talk may be back again. If you think about it since Tom May, Greg Kirby,Tom Megeysi, and Renee Turpa patrolled the sidelines in the DAC, there have been many coaching changes - at Valpo, CP, Mich City, and Portage. The one constant has been Jack Campbell at Chesterton with longtime assistant Fred Mitchell. Ironically Chesterton won the Sectional this year. A couple of new coaches in Mike Megeysi at MC, Leslie Iwema at LC and Chris Siebert at Portage look to have powerhouse teams, the next few years. Players like Portage's Junior to be Nikki Monahan come to mind right away as a Junior next year and LC and MC are loaded with talented underclassman. Also not to forget to mention two great athletes at Merrillville in Senior to be Raveen Murray and Soph to be AJ Downs coming back next year for Coach Amy Govert. No NWI team jumped the hurdle in 2011 to the Girls BB Semistate, but their is some talent coming back in 2012 and 2013 that may match Merrillville's 2010 run. Thanks, Andy Wielgus MABC,LLC - you can contact us on Facebook at Mid America Broadcasting LLC. Andy Blog Not a bad time to be a Chicagoland /NW Indiana Sports Fan in the Last 5 Years, this is not an all inclusive list. 1. White Sox win the World Series. 2. Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup. 3. 2 of the best 5 basketball players on the planet, are from Chicago, Rose and Wade. 4. Bears go to the Super Bowl and NFC Championship. 5. Well the Cubs, are the Cubs - Lou did win a division twice though. 6. Butler Basketball, I know it's Indy but we claim them anyways. 7. Basketball - Wheeler, Bowman, Wallace, Munster, EC Central, Merrillville Girls Basketball, and Noll in the State Finals. 8. Lowell Red Devil Football to the State Finals 9. Andrean Baseball back to back state champs. 10. Railcats Baseball and Manager Greg Tagert has been a success. 11. VU Basketball a success in The Horizon League. 12. NWI College Stars - Luke Harangody, Jeff Samardzjia, Michael Neal, E'Twan Moore, Robbie Hummel, Scott Martin, Josh Mayo, Becca Bruszewski, and others have put the Calumet Region on the nation scene again. 13. Crown Point Wrestling and other teams and individuals. 14. Gregg Popovich and the Spurs, he is from Merrillville. 15. Dan Dakich and Dan Plesac two region stars are now media stars. Thanks, Andy Wielgus you can reach us on Facebook at Mid America Broadcasting LLC Congrats to IU Recruit and Washington Hatchet Cody Zeller on winning Mr. Basketball. The two time 3A state champion scored 20 points and had 18 rebounds against Culver Military Academy in the 61-46 State Final win. Nic Moore of Warsaw finished second in the voting and Dee Davis of Bloomington South and Marquis Teague of Pike tied for Third. Dave Verta of Hammond Clark has stepped down as Football coach at Hammond Clark and Larry Moore has stepped down as Basketball Coach at Hammond High. Jon Steinhilber is the new Baseball Coach at Hebron. Ryan Turley is the new Football Coach at Hobart. Becca Bruszewski of Wheeler concluded her career at ND with a NCAA Runner up to Texas A & M. run in her Senior year which included victories over Tennessee and UConn in the tournament. The Irish had never beaten Tennessee in twenty tries, they were 0-20. Butler and ND making runs in the NCAA Mens and Women's Tourney will be memorable. Congrats to the Butler Bulldogs and there Asst SID Crown Point's Josh Rattray on the run, Josh broadcasted and worked with many of us in the Region and is a great guy. Josh played Tennis at Crown Point and Basketball at Crown Point for Tom Johnson, and he is a Butler Grad. He previously did SID work for Cleveland State and Michigan State. His parents are graduates of Calumet High School and still reside in CP. Also former Crown Point Star Alex Webster is an Asst Basketball Coach at Butler in Women's Basketball, she played for Tom May at Crown Point. Thank you again to Andy Viano and the Railcats for your hospitality. Week One saw the Calumet Warriors win the 1st Joe"Moose" Gates Classic 10-6 over West Side. Joe's no. 45 is retired at the US Steelyard. Week Two saw victories for Morton 6-5 over Gavit, Wash Twp 10-1 over Kouts and RF 7-6 over EC Central. Thanks to JT Hoyo, Bob Potosky, and Rich Sapper for their help on the call of these games. Also we had our Softball opener LC defeated CP, look to our archive to listen to these games or listen live, just click Listen Live on www.midamericabroadcasting.com and scroll down. Look for our MAB Monthly and Baseball Program for April on the website too, thanks to Rich and Josh for their work on this and Hank with his roster and website work. Thanks, Andy Wielgus Sectional Football Realignment Thoughts 1. Mishawaka will be tough to beat in 4A football up North. 2. Hobart being moved out of their sectional, will not bring back the Glory Days. 3. EC Central will right away be in the middle of the pack in their 4A Sectional. 4. SB St. Joseph's will take over where Andrean left off in 3A, only three region teams left here in 3A. 5. Andrean will dominate in 2A, but with Luers looming it will be no cakewalk. 6. Rochester Football playing region teams that's a travel game. 7. Carmel going South in Football helps the DAC 5A powers. Sectional Thoughts on Non Football Sectionals in Region 1.2A Sectional 33 Boys Basketball Meat grinder Bowman, Noll, and Wheeler Oh My! 3 of the last 4 State Finalists in the North, in 1A and 2A. 2. Griffith being moved out to join the Hammond and Gary Schools, Tom Golumbeck and Griffith Girls Basketball should dominate - Clark vs Griffith in Baseball should become a rivalry, the Panthers won't miss the 59'ers in the Baseball and Softball sectional. 3.In 2A Whiting, Noll, and Wheeler are three good baseball teams matching up and add Bowman Girls Basketball to match up with Wheeler too. 4. In 1A Boys Basketball - don't discount these charters -Campagna Academy, 21st Century and Lighthouse - look what Indy Metro did with only 8 players and taking kids from 22 different school districts you never know, Who are the Indy Metro Pumas? 1A State Champs now. Even though Morgan beat them, the Bowman Eagles moving up helps the PCC teams. 5.Hanover Boys Basketball moving up to 3A, at least they don't have to deal with the 3 powerhouses Bowman, Noll, and Wheeler but still Andrean.Hanover and KV could become a bigger rival, could there be a new conference on the horizon again? Boone, KV, Rensselaer, Hanover, Judson, and Wheeler? Some of the Top HS Boys Basketball Players I have seen play this year and in one case Nic Moore last year, I have not seen Marquis Teague play 1. Brandon Dawson - Lew Wallace - Michigan State 2. Kevin " Yogi" Ferrell - Park Tudor - IU 3. Cody Zeller - Washington - IU 4. Nic Moore - Warsaw 5. Glenn Robinson III LC - Michigan 6. Darwin Davis - Bloomington South - Xavier 7. Spike Albrecht - CP - possibly Brown? 8. Joe Crisman - Munster - Loyola 9. Adonis Filer - Noll 10. Brandon Clark - Merrillville - Santa Clara 11. Jerrick Suiter - Valpo - TCU baseball 12. Nick Davisson - Andraen 13. Jared Smoot - CP - Navy 14. Dejuan Marrero - Bowman 15. Ronnye Beamon Jr. - Noll 16. DJ Ballentine - Kokomo 17. Jeremiah Jones - Merrillville 18. Austin Richie - Lowell - Western Michigan 19. Brandon Grubl - Morgan Township 20. Ricky Carbajal - Munster 21. Jerrick Ware - EC Central 22. Brian Stolarz - Munster 23. Oljawon Edwards - Michigan City 24. Keith Mahler - Highland 24. Adam Butterfield - Valpo 26. Najee Bailey - Wheeler 27. Ricky Garcia and Dean Flores - Edison 28. Adam Bosak - Andrean 29. Evan Warden - Western 30. Jermaine Myers - CMA 31. Armon Bridgeforth - Kokomo 32. Trevon Bluiett - Park Tudor 33. Tylor Wideman - LC 34. Clay Yeo - Triton 35. Anthony Jackson - Indy Metro 36. Elijah Ray - Bowman 37. Griffyn Carpenter - Triton IHSAA Boys Basketball State Finals Picks 4A Bloomington South wins over Kokomo, DJ Ballentine in the running next year for Mr. Basketball for Kokomo though. 3A Washington over Culver Military Academy, Too much Zeller, a Hatchet repeat. 2A Park Tudor over Noll in a thriller - in a close game Ferrell vs Filer should be the best game of the day. 1A Triton over Indy Metro, Trojans Same Team, Same Dream, Great Defense- Griffyn Carpenter goes out a winner! IHSAA Boys Basketball Semi state Picks 4A Munster over Kokomo, Bloomington South over North Central Munster will win in a close game as always, can the NC Panthers survive and repeat, or will this be the year for the Bloomington South Panthers, I think it is. 3A Columbia City over CMA, Washington over Batesville Zeller to repeat in my view here for the Hatchets. 2A Noll over Tipton, Park Tudor over Forest Park Adonis Filer vs Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell after he beats the Forest Park Rangers, Picnic Baskets? A second GSSC title in two years if Noll wins, How bout that GSSC. 1A Triton over Rockville, Indy Metropolitan over North Daviess With Bowman out, Triton is on a mission. Andy Girls Basketball Blog Kudos to Dori Downing - Winning the GSSC Conference Tournament - GSSC Coach of the Year, and Retiring at Calumet. Region Player of Year Claire Holba Chesterton going to IUPUI Coach of the Year Mike Hamacher Hobart Comeback Player of Year Brooke Gardner Chesterton Rebounders of the Year Katie Buehler RF and Tori Bliss Portage Best Defense for their Class 4A Hobart, Class 3A Griffith, 2A Boone Grove, 1A Morgan Twp. Best Athlete Raveen Murray Merrillville Most Underrated Princess German Bowman Most Talented Team Offensively Michigan City Teams that Rebounded in the 2nd Half to play well in the postseason - Portage, Wheeler, and LC Frosh/Soph Underclassman to look out for AJ Downs Merrillville, Blayr Poston Han. Central, Nikki Monahan Portage, and Jessica Bell LC Congrats to the 4 2011 State Champions! 1A Vincennes Rivet, 2A Fort Wayne Luers, 3A Evansville Memorial, and 4A Jeffersonville! Thanks you can reach us on Facebook at Mid America Broadcasting LLC Boys Sectional Picks Sect 1 Munster Sect 2 Merrillville Sect 17 Wallace Sect 18 Andrean Sect 33 Noll Sect 34 North Judson Sect 49 Bowman Sect 50 Triton I look for Munster to win their Sectional 1 - too deep, too big, and athletic for the other teams, especially at the Guard spot. Sect 2 Merrillville is the most talented team here, but it would not surprise me to see an upset or two at MC, if that's the case CP/Valpo have a shot. In 3A Guard play and FT shooting is a factor for El Dubb in Sect 17. Roosevelt has added some players and they know the Hornets, Look for Wallace to prevail, Sect 18 - Andrean has beaten these teams in their Sectional and will again.In 2A Noll wins here. Wheeler poises the best challenge in my view to BNI ,match up problems galore with Noll, for the other teams. Edison has won 17 games a school record, and Hanover has beaten Highland, with good guards.The Bluejays will be awaiting Noll on their home floor in the Regional. In 1A Bowman and Triton will win their sectionals respectively, but a great season for Whiting, Kouts, and Morgan. Next year Bowman and Whiting go to 2A, so that will jumble things next year. Girls Northern Semistate Blog Listen to 2 Semistate Games this Saturday on www.midamericabroadcasting.com and you can interact with us on Facebook as Mid America Broadcasting LLC or get our updates as mabsports on Twitter. This week I went 2-2, Getting Canterbury and BC right. Now for this week - In 4A Penn will get by Mccutcheon, and the mighty 81 game win streak is over for Ben Davis. Carmel vs. Penn next week in Fort Wayne. The Lady Kingsmen have beaten Elkhart Memorial twice. In 3A Fort Wayne Concordia will outscore Benton Central in a high scoring game. Concordia vs. Evansville Memorial in the Final. In 2A Fort Wayne Luers will end the Culver run, with Former Griffith Assistant Eric Scheub. And Fort Wayne Canterbury will continue to roll in 1A and will play Vincennes Rivet again the following week. All in all, I see 3 Fort Wayne teams getting to the State Finals in their hometown next week - Concordia, Luers, and Canterbury. 2011 Girls Basketball Regional Review First off, I only did Ok in my Sectional Picks, 1-1 in 4A, 3A 2-0, 2A 1-1, and 1A 1-1, for a total of 5-3 on the Sectional Winners, nobody picked Oregon Davis to lose, Michigan City and River Forest are the only ones I missed. 4A at Valpo - Chesterton's dynamic duo Brooke Gardner and Claire Holba will be a bit too much for Lake Central, however last year's title match up will happen this year as Memorial will be playing Ben Davis in two weeks. An injury helped out the Bucs last year and the Chargers will be tough to beat at this year's Valpo Regional. Chesterton over Lake Central Elkhart Memorial over Penn Elkhart Memorial over Chesterton 3A at Rensselaer - A great year for Gary Roosevelt Coach Melonie Martin will end at the hand of the Bison, and this year Griffith's defense will not make the girls from Oxford sing the blues. Benton Central is the best team on Offense in this Regional, and they faced the Tom Golumbeck' s Defense last year. Benton Central over Gary Roosevelt Griffith over Culver Girls Academy Benton Central over Griffith 2A at Culver The Cinderella run for Wheeler's Coach Marc Bruner will end in Game One with Culver's size. The Railroaders play the toughest schedule here and they will make the trains run on time here. Garrett over Fairfield Culver over Wheeler Garrett over Culver 1A at Caston -Bowman Academy will figure out the girls from Francesville -West Central and there tough D in Game One with Princess German and then to fall to the eventual 1A State Champ Fort Wayne Canterbury in the Final. Bowman over West Central Fort Wayne Canterbury over Triton Fort Wayne Canterbury over Bowman We will be broadcasting the 3A Girls Basketball Regional at Rensselaer Live,Check us out on Facebook at Mid America Broadcasting LLC or get our updates as mabsports on Twitter. Thanks, Andy Wielgus Region Realignment Time In Football - In 4A EC Central and Coach Stacy Adams could move right to the middle of the 4A pack behind Hobart, Griffith, and Hanmond Morton right away with QB Everette Coleman. The Cardinals will make a bigger impact then Clark in my view in 4A. In 3A the addition of Lew Wallace is not a big move, but Andrean being out of 3A is. It is now wide open even more, with New Prairie moving to 4A. Calumet and Gavit are the only other Region teams here, but they were always in the background with Andrean's presence. In 2A Boone Grove is a few years away and so is Edison, but the addition of Andrean, has just made things tougher for Wheeler, a great Bomber team and now the Niners? Oh My! BNI moves down to 1A and will compete right away, but they are still behind South Central, Whiting and Culver, who are the best here but that could change as BNI has added busing to it's school. Remember Noll is a 3A State Champion under Jerry Vlasic, and there Boys Basketball team is top notch in 2A this year. In Basketball, Whiting is moving to 2A, that in itself is a step up. However, the bad news for the rest of 2A is that they brought the Bowman Eagles with them. What a Boys Basketball sectional it may be with Bowman, Wheeler, and BNI. Two state champs and Noll. In 3A, Hanover Central moves up and they will have to adjust to the Basketball played in North Lake County and not the PCC. Hanover Central it is time to consider conference realignment and out of the PCC, for Football and to compete at the 2A and 3A level. The future of these conferences is a different blog for a different day, from where do Hanover and Boone go, for Football etc, and the tired story of Wheeler Football and close competitive games. Another part of the story is Charter Schools - Campagna Academy and 21st Century Charter are in. And the Lighthouse Charter in 2012-2013. Also, Hammond's new Charter School will be in the mix soon and what the Accreditation situation in 5 Northwest Indiana High Schools and there future will hold is unknown. Hopefully, those schools will make the achievement scores they need and this will be a story that won't be necessary, and we wish them the best. And how this will affect athletics, could be more significant than one thinks financially and otherwise. Say for example the company that owns Charter School A acquires the rights to Public School B. All of a sudden a Charter School Organization that owns hundreds of schools nationwide could become a key player in how athletics are played out here in Indiana. It is already going on with many charter schools disregarding conferences, playing as independents, disregarding geography, and playing teams from all over the country. It has happened in other states before Indiana and it is going on here too. Education reform could re -landscape schools and the way sports are done. There could be a day in the near future where a student- athlete could pick or choose any school they want. Not to say that I agree or disagree with any of this, but this is reality in the Education Reform era of today, as a possibility. Thanks, Andy Wielgus MABC, LLC.- You can send your comments to Mid America Broadcasting LLC on Facebook. Top Moments in Region Basketball Post Season History 1. Crown Point wins back to back crowns in the Eighties under Tom May with Anne Kvachkoff and Nancy Cowan 2. EC Roosevelt's championships and the Pollard era in the Seventies. 3. Lake Central winning a state title in 1994 under Tom Megeysi. 4. LC and Kelly Komara's run to be a State runner up and a loss to Martinsville, two of the best teams in that era. 5. Valpo winning 5 semistates 82, 91, 92, 96, and 00, especially the Kirby era. 6. Hebron's relentless bunch with Lauren Bechtold - 2001 1A State Runner Up. 7. Merrillville breaks the deadlock and gets the Region to the State Finals in 2010. 8. Gary West Side loses a close State Final under Rod Fisher. 9. Tie - Morgan Township makes the 1A State Final 1998 and Crown Point's Cinderella run, May's last trip to State Finals. 10. Highland and Griffith teams, that have almost made it under Coach Huppenthal and Coach Golumbeck. Thanks, Andy Wielgus - you can reach us at Mid America Broadcasting LLC on Facebook. MAB Girls BB Sectional Picks - LC is really coming on strong, EC will be a challenge in game one with size, West Side is not as deep as a typical Rod Fisher led club this year, Antoinette Taylor is the Sectional's best player, Carolyn Sandrick is the leader for LC with some strong underclassmen. 4A Sectional One at Munster LC over EC Central West Side over Morton Lowell over Highland LC over Munster West Side over Lowell LC over West Side MAB Sectional 2 Great draw for Portage, CP will get to the final and fall to either MC or Hobart, the Wolves are healthy and Hobart will have trouble with there size. Chesterton, Valpo, and Merrillville - Murray and Stokes are as talented as anyone and the Trojans are at home with Holba and Gardner. Portage over LaPorte CP over Valpo MC over Chesterton Hobart over Merrilville CP over Portage MC over Hobart MC over CP 3A MAB GIRLS BB SECTIONAL PICKS Roosevelt Sectional 17 - Roosevelt has the most talent in this sectional and plays the toughest schedule. Velt over H High Gavit over Wallace Velt over Clark Velt over Gavit Sectional 18 - Calumet's Dori Downing ends her career this year, but will beat Knox before falling to Griffith, no one in this sectional will score 45 points on Coach Golumbeck's bunch. Calumet over Knox Andrean over KV Griffith over Calumet Andrean over Rensselear Griffith over Andrean. 2A Sectional 33 at Noll Is this the year the Ingots finally win one? Blayr Poston vs Katie Buehler 52-48 HC the first time, Marc Bruner's Lady Bearcats could be the darkhorse, I think the best rebounder in the area and one of the area's best athletes in Katie Buehler wins this one if the Ingots hit their free throws. RF over LS HC over Noll RF over Wheeler RF over HC Sect 34 at North Newton Culver vs Boone in the Semifinal, JT says Culver has too much size for the Wolves, I agree. Culver over Hebron Winamac over NN Culver over Boone Winamac over NJ Culver over Winamac 1A Sectional 49 at Morgan Kouts 4 year run ends to Bowman. To the Regional with Mariah Jordan and Princess German, who beat Chesterton this year. Bowman over Kouts Whiting over Wash Twp Bowman over Lacrosse Morgan over Whiting Bowman over Morgan Sect 50 at OD Coach terry Minix and OD are too good for this field. OD over Marquette Triton over SC OD over Westville Triton over Argos OD over Triton Chicago Bears Memories in my lifetime! 1. 85 Bears win the Super Bowl 46-10 over Patriots. 2. Bears win NFC Championship in 85, in the snow over Rams. A shut out and they shut down Eric Dickerson. 3. Bears advance to the 2006 Super Bowl over Saints. 4. Walter Payton breaks Jim Brown's rushing record. 5. Sean Landeta's miffed kick in 85, Bears shut out Giants. 6. Bears beat the Giants and go to the Playoffs in 77, on Bob Thomas' Kick in The Meadowlands. 7. 2006 Hester returns kicks in miracle comeback over Arizona. They are who we thought they were game - Dennis Green. 8. Bears beat Dallas and Danny White 44-0 in 85. 9. Walter Payton's last game as a Bear 1987, vs the Redskins. 10. Mike Singletary's last game, a victory over the Steelers. 11, Fog Bowl vs. Eagles 12. Touchdown by Hester vs. Colts in Super Bowl 13. Fridge TD vs. Pack 85 14. Erik Kramer's big passing year 15. Ditka chewing out Harbaugh 16. Super Bowl Shuffle 85 17. Payton rushes for 275 vs. Vikings 18. Doug Plank's hits 19, The 46 defense 20. The Pieces are in Place - Wannstedt 21. Flutie at QB in playoffs disaster 22. Spare Bears 23. First Round Busts Enis, Thomas, and Mcnown 24. Todd Bell's hit on Washington 1984 25. Tragic Passing of Walter Payton 26. Jauron's lucky year. 27. Don Majkowski blown call 28. Losses in Playoffs to Skins 29. Jay Cutler trade 30. McMahon traded to Chargers. Thanks, Andy Wielgus MABC, LLC. - GO BEARS! You can reach us at Mid America Broadcasting LLC on Facebook! Andy Blog Where have all the Point Guards gone in Region Girls Basketball? After watching a lot of DAC Girls Basketball this year. I find myself wondering if this is really the conference that produced Nancy Cowan,Cassie Pruzin, and Kelly Komara? Their are a lot of players playing the Off Guard or 2 Guard score first mentality at the Point. Yes, Point Guards can score but there role is to get their team settled, make free throws, to run the offense, and Yes to handle the ball on the perimeter, please. This year I have seen more turnovers on the perimeter, steals off the dribble, can't break a press unless I get my own shot to the hoop off the dribble, and just plain poor passing, poor free throw shooting, and dribbling then ever. Yes these DAC guards can score AAU Two Guard style, but can they control tempo, keep leads, and break presses, without throwing bad passes? The Region wonders why they struggle at the higher levels, maybe get back to having your point guard, be your point guard and not the girl who scores 30 or who shoots three's first or dribble drives first and run the offense second? Maybe it is endemic with all the Tom Megeysi's and Tom May's being out of the conference, heck even slow down Campbell ball is playing AAU Huck and Chuck style. Maybe I miss the days of a Point Guard being a Point Guard or a reflection of their High School coach and not their AAU team? A good example of a Point Guard that was able to do this that I have seen in the Northern part of the state, was Melissa Lechlitner at South Bend St. Joseph's who just finished at ND, yes she could shoot and score but she ran her team's offense or break first.Look for an interview with her in the up coming issues of the new MAB Online Magazine. Hopefully I have made my Point? You can contact us at Mid America Broadcasting LLC on Facebook or as mabsports on Twitter. Thanks, Andy Wielgus MABC, LLC. 4A 2010-11 Indiana HS Girls Basketball up North! The Duneland Athletic Conference Girls Basketball conference race is now all tied up. And we will have the big game for first place on MAB, between the Chesterton Lady Trojans and the Michigan City Lady Wolves. The Girls Basketball sectional at Chesterton, has 5 really good teams - Hobart, Michigan City, Crown Point, Chesterton, and Merrillville - which is coming on again with two big wins over Portage and Valpo. Melanee Stubbs and Raveen Murray had 21 points each vs. Portage and AJ Downs added 14. 2-11 Portage has lost 6 games by 5 pts or less and Nikki Monahan and LSU Track recruit Tori Bliss are a good inside out combo. Nikki's dad Grant played at Portage for Greg Kirby in 1982, 83, and 84 and her uncle Mike played for Morrie Goodnight and Greg Kirby at Portage. Valpo is very young, but has lost to Michigan City by only three. Up North I still see Elkhart Memorial and Snider as the teams to beat in their respective 4A Regionals. Northridge and Penn are very good also.Northridge beat Crown Point 52-35 in the Rumble. In the other 4A Girls Basketball - Calumet Region Sectional, the young Lake Central Lady Indians under Coach Leslie Iwema won over the LaPorte Lady Slicers 56-40, lost to CP 92-89 in OT, and they have beaten Merrillville. They have a young team too, that is coming on as the season goes on with good rebounding and upcoming frosh and soph.players. And I think that they may win their sectional. Antoinette Taylor leads Coach Fisher and West Side into this sectional and she scored 28 pts on MAB vs. Chicago Marshall in the Gary Holiday Tourney. Also, EC Coach and St. Joseph's in Dyer Grad and Andrean Grad - Eric Kundich and his EC Central Lady Cardinals have size and have played a tough schedule, see their website on www.midamericabroadcasting.com - done by Hank Kilander.The other schools would be longer shots to win it, but don't count out Munster, Highland, and Lowell to win a game or two. Highland Coach Tracie Mezera coached under Jack Campbell at Chesterton and is the All Time leading scorer in River Forest Girls Basketball History and is in their RF Hall of Fame, she played at Grace College. At RF she played for Coach Al Detterline. But in 4A it all comes down to the Ben Davis Lady Giants who beat North Central soundly this week. The UConn Huskies of Indiana have their win streak in the Seventies and I believe they are heading to Fort Wayne to win it again. Many believe that last year's Lady Giants were the best ever in Indiana, including Bob Potosky and Bernie Goin. On a sideline note - how about this 2A rebounding machine - Senior Katie Buehler at River Forest, 20 Points and 14 rebounds vs Defending GSSC Champ Calumet and 18 Points and 19 rebounds vs. Whiting, in the same week. Another Sideline note - Look for the new MAB online magazine coming soon, and look for the bylines by Mid America's webmaster Hank Kilander - in the 2010-2011 Hoosier Basketball - Calumet Region Basketball Previews section, put out by Garry Donna. A Hoosier Basketball Link is on our Links Page. I found it at Kmart, it is also can be found throughout Indiana at retail outlets. Also look for Mid America's Rich Sapper and Bob Potosky, in articles they wrote for the new Indiana Basketball Magazine, avaliable at The Fieldhouse in Merrillville or see their link on our main page. Thanks, Andy Wielgus, MABC, LLC. You can contact us on Facebook at Mid America Broadcasting LLC or get our updates as mabsports on Twitter, you can reach our emails on our contact page on the Mid America website or on our sportsjuice.com page just hit Listen Live. Must See Northern Indiana After the Holiday Girls Basketball Matchups! 1. 1-6-11 8-4 EC Central at 9-3 West Side, two favorites in the sectional, a great year for Coach Eric Kundich at EC, SEE EC GIRLS BASKETBALL PAGE ON OUR MAIN PAGE! 2. 1-11-11 13-1 Snider at 12-1 Luers, can the SAC get two state finalists in the hometown state final? 3. 1-14-11 8-3 Chesterton at 11-2 Michigan City, can the Wolves avenge the first loss? 4. 1-21-11 11-2 Michigan City at 11-2 Crown Point. Can the Dogs rebound from being outscored 18-3 in the 3rd quarter - Rumble game vs. Northridge? 13-0 Elkhart Memorial at 11-1 Northridge, Can the Chargers get revenge from last year's loss to Northridge? 5.1-27-11 11-1 Hobart at 11-2 Crown Point, Can the Brickies dominate the Dogs and maybe win the Sectional? 11-1 Northridge at 9-3 Plymouth, Coach Cox is a great tactician at Rocky Top! 6. 1-29-11 9-3 West Side at 7-4 Griffith, Up tempo vs. the Griffith Coach Tom Golumbeck Defense! 7. 2-1-11 12-1 Boone Grove at 7-2 Kouts, Can the Fillies hang with the Lady Wolves after their Rumble victory over Lowell? 8. 2-2-11 13-0 Elkhart Memorial at 10-1 Penn, Who are the Queens of Michiana Girls Basketball? Thanks, Andy Wielgus You can respond on Facebook at Mid America Broadcasting LLC. On the road with MAB Two great venues this week as I attended the Merrillville at Crown Point boy-girl basketball doubleheader and the Gary Holiday Tourney. The first two games at CP were well attended. See what happens if you get rid of that silly bobbin round robin. CP's girls improved to 10-1 with a run and gun/huck and chuck style basketball. The bucs tried to run with CP, but they only have 2 players with consistent playing time from last year. CP slowed it down the last 5 minutes or so to win. Consistent point guard play is the key for the Lady Dogs with Kelly Gross. On the boys side the Pirates dynamic guard duo of Clark and Jones did not disappoint in the first half with great athleticism and up tempo basketball, to lead 34-25 at the half. CP's Dejan Stefanovic saw his first action of the season and hit a three, also Zac Bostian who had collapsed on the court vs.Mich. City played a few minutes. The big boys Smoot and Seay sort of neutralized each other. But in the third quarter my choice for DAC MVP Spike Albrecht took over. He means more to his team then any 1 player except BJ Dawson at Lew Wallace. He scored 30 pts before fouling out and the game was tied going into the 4th, the bucs could not stop him. The Pirates got away from the up tempo in the 2nd half too much. That is what they do, not a control game which let the Dogs back in. Both games I have attended at CP have had bizarre happenings - a possible fight at the MC game with Crary and Edwards. The Wolves coach getting a technical, and then having his AD coming out of the crowd to settle him down and then they sat in a 2-3 zone and let the dogs run out the clock. And this game had a half court shooting contest at half where kids were shooting half court shots for a dollar bill. And the game started in the 2nd half and no one swept the floor after over a hundred kids were all over the court.Then the officials lose track of the free throw count with 22 seconds left in a 6 pt. game and allow 6 seconds to go by and an in bounds before they realize six seconds have gone by and they missed a two shot free throw, a debate ensued with Coach Swan. And Merrillvile won by 7. Gary Holiday Tourney notes 1. Due to a fall from a ladder West Side Girls Coach Rod Fisher did not coach in the tourney. 2. Marshall Lady Commandos coach Dorothy Gators has the most wins of any coach ever in ILLINOIS History with several state titles. 3. MAB and EC football Asst coach Hank Kilander has attended every Gary Holiday Tourney since 1989. 4. Brandon "BJ" Dawson won the MVP averaging 31ppg. 5. Bob The Bullseye Guy" Owen and Shirley Owen help out with shooting at Lew Wallace. 6. Former East Chicago Point Guard Johnny Ryan is an Assistant at Wallace for Coach Thomas. 7. Former PNC Coach Grayling Gordon is an assistant at West Side. 8. Wallace shot 52 Free Throws in its 88-62 win over West Side. 9. Detroit Cody and Lew Wallace play again this year. 10. Cody has a win over a HS from Toronto. 11. Marshall's boys team has four different players with the last name Sykes, Kiefer Sykes had 21pts and was our player of the game in their third place win over West Side 70-53. 12. Arnold Wilson is only a freshman and a starter for West Side. 13. West Side's Antoinette Taylor had 28 points in the championship OT. loss to Marshall. 14. West Side's girls and Wallace's boys are the favorite in the conference and both teams are in the favorite mix for the postseason. 15. Former Lady Cougar Ashley Cheairs filled in for Coach Fisher. 16. The all - conference football players in Gary were honored Wednesday night. 17. Three games were covered by MAB and they are on our archive just click Listen Live. 18. Hank Kilander and our MAB Executive Producer Rich Sapper on the Boys championship call. 19. Wallace's Isiah Carter transferred from Lake Station Edison. Congrats to Edison as they beat the Portage Indians 63-59, in OT., Ricky Garcia had 19pts, first time Edison has beaten the Tribe, since the Greg Kirby Portage era 1982-83. Thanks, Andy Wielgus MABC, LLC. You can reach us on FACEBOOK as Mid America Broadcasting LLC. After the Holiday Some Must See Boys Basketball Games 12-28 Merrillville at Crown Point- Can the Bucs dominate on the road? Smoot vs. Seay, Albrecht vs. Jones. 12-29 Gary Holiday Tourney Championships at West Side - A MAB tradition to cover, Munster in Marion Tourney with Marion, Roncalli, and Warren Central, biggest test until they play Valpo or Merrillville, Valpo plays Noblesville at Mackey Arena, How good are the Vikes too? Gotta love that Round Bobbin Robin? 1-3 Bowman vs. Noll - Could be Noll's only regular season loss? Noll has the Bigs to play with the Eagles, but the Guards? 1-4 Valpo at Merrillville - Duneland on the line, who is the king? 1-5 Noll at Wheeler - BNI gets the GSSC nod, Mims and Bailey are still getting used to each other in Union Township, 1-13 Munster at Highland- Really a Battle of the Bridge that is competitive? The Trojans are decent. Former CP Head Coach Tom Johnson an assistant at Highland 1-29 Noll at Whiting- Noll really better worry about these scrappy Oilers and Gio Cruz in the GSSC, Valpo at Munster - Expect great defense here, possible regional teams in 4A, Bowman at Luers - two state champion programs in 1A and 2A. 2-4 CP at Merrillville - Will the Dogs be at full strength with Dejan Stefanovic and Zac Bostian? 2-5 Munster at Merrillville - The Master vs. the Mentor, Hackett and East? A 4A Regional preview? 2-12 Peru at Warsaw - Two teams the region should look out for, Nic Moore and Warsaw especially. 2-18 Merrillville at Valpo - East vs. Otis for the last time or a preview of the sectional? 2-25 Riley at Munster - How good are the Stangs come Regional time? They should win the sectional. Riley and Washington are two of Michiana's best, Munster has already beaten the boys from Osceola, Penn. Thanks, Andy Wielgus - You can reach us at Mid America Broadcasting LLC on Facebook or get our updates as mabsports on Twitter. REASONS WHY THE DAC DOUBLE ROUND ROBIN BASKETBALL IS BAD FOR FANS! 1. SPLITS CROWDS FOR GAMES, NO DOUBT HURTS GATES IN REALITY. 2. GIRLS AND BOYS TEAMS ARE MORE ISOLATED FROM EACH OTHER'S PROGRAMS. 3. NO SENSE OF BASKETBALL REALITY IN THE STATE, VALPO VS. WARSAW AND PLYMOUTH ARE GONE FOR EXAMPLE, LAFAYETTE HARRISON VS. CP ETC. 4. WHO WANTS TO WATCH A BAD TEAM PLAY THREE TIMES, IF YOU DRAW THEM IN SECTIONAL. 5. WITH NO CLASS BASKETBALL YOU ARE OVER PLAYING YOUR HAND, EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT'S COMING GAME PLAN WISE. 6. LESS SPIRIT AT GAMES, NO RIVALRY, SPIRIT WISE WITH SPLIT GAMES. 7. A COMMUNITY CANNOT GET AS EXCITED ABOUT AN UNDEFEATED OR RANKED TEAM AS MUCH IN MY VIEW. 8. SICK OF HEARING EVERYONE IN THE DUNELAND IS TOUGH. HOW DO WE KNOW? YOU DON'T PLAY ANYONE ELSE, THIS ISN'T FOOTBALL? 9. WE DON'T PLAY THIS SCHOOL OR THAT SCHOOL NONSENSE, PLAY THE BEST, THE FANS WANT TO SEE IT. WITH EXCEPTIONS, COACHES SHOULD WONDER WHY THEY DON'T BEAT TEAMS LIKE WARSAW, COLUMBIA CITY, PENN, GIRLS BB ELKHART MEMORIAL, ETC. PLAY ALL COMERS WHO CARES IF THEY ARE URBAN, CHARTER, PAROCHIAL, SUBURBAN OR WHATEVER. 10. LESS MEDIA/BROADCAST COVERAGE IN REALITY, LESS CHANCE FOR MR. BASKETBALL/ALL STAR TEAM NO STATE RECOGNITION OUTSIDE REGION. 11. FINALLY! FROM WHAT I HAVE HEARD, FANS WHO PAY TO GET IN, DON'T LIKE IT. THANKS, ANDY WIELGUS SHARE YOUR VIEWS AT MID AMERICA BROADCASTING LLC ON FACEBOOK OR GET OUR UPDATES AS MAB SPORTS ON TWITTER! GSSC BASKETBALL BLOG 1. Noll has three Division 1 Players - Mt. Carmel Transfer - Adonis Filer, Ronnie Beamon, and Milos Kostic. 2. Purdue Coach Matt Painter has been seen on Chicago Avenue frequently. 3. Noll beat North Newton 71-19, and it will be a long year for the Spartans 0-4, so far. 4. Noll is the favorite in the GSSC this year. Noll is 4-0, 2-0 in the GSSC 5. Edison defeated 2A State Champ Wheeler 54-47, for the first time in 20 tries, dating back to the 93-94 season. 6. Edison has one of the area's best guard duos in Junior Ricky Garcia and Senior Dean Flores. Garcia and Flores combined for 36 pts in their win over the Bearcats. 7. Edison is 2-0 and 2-0 in the GSSC 8. Whiting is led by Junior Gio Cruz they defeated Calumet 77-63, he had 17, and he was our player of the game with 22 pts. vs. Marquette in a 64-36 win. 9. Whiting is 4-1, and undefeated in the GSSC so far too, what a start for the OILER UP CREW! 10.Whiting football star Juwan Simmons is coming off the Bench for the Oilers. 11.RF 1-3, got it's first win over Marquette 51-38 at home, Dylan McPhee 13pts for RF. 12. Calumet is off to a slow start in the GSSC, losing 90-61 to Noll and 77-63 to Whiting. 13. Marquette 1-3, got it's first win this week also, over Covenant Christian 58 - 52. 14. Noll travels to Lowell Sat. to take on the Red Devils. 15. Wheeler is led by West Side transfer Nigel Sims and Najee Bailey, Sims had 22 and Bailey had 9 in the loss to the Eagles. 16. Wheeler is 2-1, 1-1 in the GSSC. You can reach us at Mid America Broadcasting LLC on FACEBOOK or get our updates as MAB SPORTS on TWITTER. Thanks, Andy Wielgus MABC,LLC. DAC Boys Basketball Review - Top 4 are tough in DAC, Merrillville, CP, Valpo, and LC. LC beat Valpo last night 46-41, Merrillville beat Highland 82-53, and CP over LaPorte 59-43. Look for these 4 to battle it out in the DAC and then MC who beat Portage last night, Chesterton lost center to prep school, Portage - Tony Cheky Jr, at the guard spot, and LaPorte - lost 4 seniors including Demuth, to be second tier DAC teams in that order. What do you think? Share your thoughts at Mid America Broadcasting LLC on FACEBOOK or get our updates as MAB Sports on Twitter! LISTEN TO ANY OF OUR GAMES OR ARCHIVE ON www.sportsjuice.com and www.midamericabroadcasting.com THE HEART OF AMATEUR SPORTS! Top players for these 4 teams 1. Jeremiah Jones - Merrillville 2. Glenn Robinson Jr. - LC - Going to Michigan 3. Adam Butterfield - Valpo 4. Michael Albrecht - CP 5. Jared Smoot - CP - Going to Navy 6. Jerrick Suiter - Valpo - TCU for baseball 7. Dan Hummel - Valpo 8. Edward Seay - Merrillville 9. Tyler Wideman - Super Frosh at LC 10. Tony Cheky Jr. - Portage - Baseball for Michigan State Thanks, Andy Wielgus IHSAA STATE FOOTBALL FINALS BLOG/NOTES JOHN GOSS/BARRY POOLE AND A CALUMET REGION OFFICIATING CREW WORKED THE 4A GAME. JT HOYO OF REGION SPORTS DESK BROADCASTED HIS FIRST STATE FINALS GAMES ON THE CALL OF THE 3A AND 4A GAME, RIVER FOREST HEAD FOOTBALL COACH JEFF BEAN DID THE PRE GAME AND HALFTIME COMMENTS OF EACH GAME, SOON TO BE THE NEW LEADER OF THE IHSAA BOBBY COX, WAS INTERVIEWED BY BOB POTOSKY AT THE HALF OF THE 1A GAME, EVANSVILLE BROADCASTER MIKE SKHVARA WAS INTERVIEWED AT THE HALF OF THE 2A GAME, THE LIGHTS WENT OUT FOR 10 MINUTES IN FRIDAY'S 1A GAME. MID AMERICA BROADCASTING DID ALL 5 GAMES LIVE, FISHERS IS A FIRST TIME STATE CHAMPION, KENNY MULLEN OF LUERS - SCALE COMPUTING PLAYER OF GAME AND TRE ROBERSON OF LAWRENCE CENTRAL HAVE COMMITTED TO PLAY FOOTBALL AT IU, TONY SPRINGMAN OF DWENGER HAS COMMITTED TO PLAY AT NOTRE DAME, TED KARRAS OF CATHEDRAL HAS COMMITTED TO PLAY AT ILLINOIS, REMOUND WRIGHT - SCALE COMPUTING PLAYER OF GAME, OF DWENGER HAS COMMITTED TO PLAY AT STANFORD. CATHEDRAL GRAD AND FORMER PLAYER STEVE GUIDRY DID COLOR ON THE 1A, 2A, 3A, AND 5A GAMES. FOR THE 2ND YEAR IN A ROW MAB DID ALL 5 GAMES LIVE! EACH GAME WAS VERY CLOSE IN THE FIRST HALF. IT WAS NORTH PUTNAM'S, FISHERS, AND LAWRENCE CENTRAL'S FIRST TRIP TO THE FINALS. LCC WON A GIRLS VOLLEYBALL STATE TITLE 20 DAYS EARLIER. MATT LINDSAY IS THE AD AT LUERS TOO AND HIS SON KYLE IS ON HIS STAFF. FORMER CROWN POINT, ATTICA, AND HIGHLAND COACH BRAD SMITH IS AN ASSISTANT AT FOUNTAIN CENTRAL, FORMER PACKER AND COLT MIKE PRIOR IS A CATHEDRAL ASSISTANT, CONNOR BARTHEL'S DAD TIM IS THE QB COACH AT CATHEDRAL AND IS THE FORMER COACH AT LAWRENCE CENTRAL, FISHERS COACH RICK WIMMER WON HIS 2ND TITLE, HIS FIRST WAS AT ZIONSVILLE, HE ALSO COACHED AT MERRILLVILLE. LCC DANNY ANTHROP'S BROTHERS PLAY BASKETBALL AT PURDUE AND ST. JOE'S OF RENSSELEAR, VALPO WON THE RED GOLD SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD IT WAS AWARDED DURING A HALFTIME PRESENTATION. LUCAS OIL WAS GETTING READY TO HOST THE SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL GAME CHARGERS - COLTS, SO IT WAS A BUSY PLACE. THANK YOU TO THE IHSAA AND JASON WILLIE AND ASSOCIATED SPORTS AND IRA MAHER FOR ALL OF THEIR HELP. AND OUR MAB BROADCASTING TEAM BOB POTOSKY, JT HOYO, STEVE GUIDRY, HANK KILANDER, JEFF BEAN , RICH SAPPER, AND THEIR FAMILIES FOR ALLOWING THEM TO HELP FOR THE THANKSGIVING WEEKEND. ALSO TO THE VOICES OF THE FAN INCLUDING 3 MORTON FANS FROM THE SEMISTATE AND TOM KULAVIK, MELISSA LECHLITNER, JASON MOSS, AND MIKE BOZICH FOR TUNING INTO OUR MID AMERICA BROADCASTING LLC, FACEBOOK PAGE AND BROADCASTS THIS WEEKEND. THANKS, ANDY WIELGUS IHSAA State Finals Blog - Listen to all the Championship games on MAB and sportsjuice.com for the second straight year! Interact at Mid America Broadcasting LLC on FACEBOOK! Or get our updates on Twitter as MAB Sports! 1A Lafayette Central Catholic Knights - Wingback Danny Anthrop's brothers play basketball at Purdue and St. Joseph's college, LCC trailed for the first time in 2 years last week 8-7 to Churubusco, LCC has not given up more then 14 pts all year. LCC' s home field is just blocks away from Lafayette Jeff and is named Laroca Field or "THE ROCK". The AD at LCC is also a state champion baseball coach Tim Bordanet. Football Coach Frank O 'Shea is 38-2 at LCC and coached the Mccutcheon Mavericks previously. He coached major leaguer Clayton Richard at Mccutcheon. Frank's Dad used to be the head coach at Merrillville. Fountain Central Mustangs - Is in Veedersburg and trailed 20-0 before coming back to beat Guerin Catholic 22-20, in the last minute. The Mustangs lost 52-0 to the Knights last year in the 1A state final. Wabash River Conference 2A Fort Wayne Bishop Luers Knights - Kenny Mullen has committed to play football at IU, Rensselear was defeated for the second year in a row at the Semistate 42-21, it was 28-0 at the Half. Last year it was 52-21. Luers has recently won state titles in basketball and baseball. Basketball star Deshaun Thomas plays at Ohio State also Jaylon Smith's brother Rod Smith Plays Football at Ohio State. Luers defeated Monrovia 24-17 last year for the state title. SAC - Summit Conference. North Putnam - Scored all of it's 6 pts in the second half to defeat Mater Dei. First trip ever to the State Finals and first Semistate title. Hoosier Heartland conference. West Central Conference. 3A SBSJ Indians - Trailed Andrean in the HIDDEN LAKE FOG BOWL 21-7 at the Half at 5959 Broadway Father Eckert Field and came back to win. 2-5 at one point, a real cinderella story with a loss to Marian that they avenged. Defeated Leo 27-7 in the Semistate at School Field. Lost to Chatard in the 2007 Final. NIC Conference. Indianapolis Bishop Chatard Trojans - Another Kleinschmidt - Ryan stars for the Trojans, Chatard blew out previously undefeated Hamilton Heights and shutdown Indian Creek to three pts., in the Semistate. Purdue star Joe Holland played at Chatard. 4A Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger Saints - Most wins, 82 of any team over the last 7 years, RB Remound Wright committed to Stanford, Lineman Tony Springman to Notre Dame. Lost at the RDP - Inferno last year in the Semistate to the Red Devils and Brandon Grubbe. Wright and Jalen West are a dynamic backfield for Dwenger! SAC - Summit Conference. Indianapolis Cathedral Irish - Avenged a lost to Matt Mcintosh and Reitz at the Semistate 56-28, Defeated Cincy Moeller and lost tough ones to Michigan's Birmingham Brother Rice and East St. Louis. They also play St. Xavier in Ohio along with tough Indiana schools. Connor Barthel is having a great year replacing all stater Kofi Hughes who is at IU. Division One Lineman Ted Karras' father Ted is the head coach at Marian College and is related to All- Pro Detroit Lions Lineman Alex Karras, and his Uncle is Jeff Karras the coach at South Central in Union Mills who won a sectional for the first time ever in school history. Ted's Dad and Uncle starred at Hobart for Don Howell. 5A Fishers - Head Coach Rick Wimmer is 9-1 alltime vs.Valpo in his career. He won a state title at Zionsville and was the Head Coach at Merrillville before. Fishers had a tough road knocking out Carmel, HSE, Snider, and Valpo. Formerly a part of HSE, first trip to the State Finals and first Sectional., Regional, and Semistate title ever. Hoosier Crossroads Conference. Lawrence Central - QB Tre Roberson can flat out play and he is committed to IU. LC knocked out Warren Central 35-14 and had a huge comeback to defeat Avon before bouncing Bloomington North 41-17 last week. First trip ever to the State Finals! First Regional and Semistate title ever! Conference Indiana. MY PICKS TO WIN! - LCC, LUERS, CHATARD, CATHEDRAL, AND FISHERS! Indiana HS Football Semistate Blog 1. Will Northwest Indiana/Valpo get there with a big school 5A title this year? Best chance since Lake Central with Ben Brown vs. Bloomington South and the 80's Highland team that lost to Ben Davis 14-7 with Tommy Homco - LA/St. Louis Rams, Mike Stuckert - Cornell, Jason Evans- VU, Joe Munoz- Butler, and Tony Gillis- Navy. That was Ben Davis' 1st state title, a late fumble by Frosh QB Brian Guzik was a key play that I remember, a snowstorm win over Carmel in the Region Semistate and knocking out CP which had throttled them in the regular season, enhanced there momentum to the state title game. 2. Recent Region Semistates in 5A have been tough - Merrillville has been taken out by the likes of Carmel and the games have not been pretty for the region. 3. 5A - Hope for the Region - In that Fishers is inexperienced at this level and Valpo has the best D left in 5A. Fishers gave up a lot of pts. to Snider and Lawrence Central gave up 39 to Avon, with a great comeback. Tre Roberson can flat out play for Lawrence Central. Valpo has the best D. Some Valpo Offense advice from a region fan - don't throw the ball late in the game unless it is a need situation and catch the passes that are thrown by Andrie, if you don't like I saw at times the last two weeks, it could be a problem against Fishers or Lawrence Central. It is your Defense and Running game that will win you a State Title. 4. 4A - Dwenger has been giving up points. all year and Morton likes a high flying game on turf. Also Dwenger still has Lowell on it's mind and Morton plays more like a Fort Wayne school then Lowell. In 4A it's Cathedral - Reitz that matters in a Fight for your Reitz game in Indy next week and a State Title. 5. Andrean's and Phil Mason's State Title Ship rolled in with the Hidden Lake Fog at father Eckert Field on 5959 Broadway. As Blanco's injury did them in a Tale of Two Parochials. St.Joe was 2-5 at one time including a loss to Marian, what a turnaround! With St. Joe led by the QB Max Matthews, playing like a state champion, in the 2nd half. Their was a fog delay where were Buddy Ryan's Eagles and the Soldier Field fog? It reminded me in some ways of the Lowell - FW South game, when the Red Devils throttled the Archers with a RDP shellacking in the 2nd half after a poor 1st half. Chatard beat Hamilton Hts 49-7, they should be your 3A State Champ. 6. 2A/1A - Bob Holmes and Bremen with gadget plays and a great game plan almost beat Rensselear losing, 35-28 OT. Were the Bombers looking ahead? Luers is awaiting in Fort Wayne and still has too much for the Bombers, in the awaited no.1 and 2 matchup. Luers over Mater Dei in the State Final and LCC over Guerin Catholic in the 1A State Final, It could be 4 parochial state finals SBSJ - Chatard in 3A? Dwenger - Cathedral in 4A? Reitz may stop Cathedral though, Mcintosh is a great QB for them. 7. Listen to our Semistate preview on sportsjuice.com at 530pm this Wednesday from Beggars Pizza. Thanks for reading this and you can respond on FACEBOOK at Mid America Broadcasting LLC on FACEBOOK! Regional Info 1. Valpo has a huge advantage with a Division 1 Kicker in Sam Ficken, in Special Teams over Mishawaka. Mishawaka put the fourth in a row, big hurt on Penn 14-7 in Ot. 2. Concord QB Anthony Yoder is probably out, bodes well for Morton. Morton would host Dwenger in Semistate. 3. Valpo's last undefeated season was 1975 under Tom Stokes. 4. Northwest Indiana's last Big School Champ was not Hobart it was the Portage Indians in 1977 under Hall of Fame Coach Les Klein who defeated Reitz in the 3A State final, Mike Wishnevski was the star Rb, Mark Evans at QB, Kelly Campbell at TE, and a ferocious defense like Valpo's this year, knocked out defending state champ Merrillville under Hall of Fame Coach Kenny Haupt 3-0, who had Tom Jelesky and Tim Seneff who both starred at Purdue and Jelesky with the Philadelphia Eagles too. Mike Wishnevski became the Moonlight Graham story as he made it to Triple AAA baseball with the Mariners and was on deck to bat against the Yankees and never did. He went back to college in his thirties and finished a year playing football at the old Indiana Central which is now the University of Indianapolis and did well. 5. In 3A Could it be Chatard - Andrean again? 6. Luers - Ren. is looming at the Semistate? Luers could win 3A! 7. LCC has given up 6 tds all year in 1A enough said, 2 to Pioneer. 8. Could we be looking at 4 Parochial state title games 1A LCC - Guerin Catholic, 2A Luers - Mater Dei, 3A - Andrean - Chatard, 4A - Dwenger - Cathedral? How bout that Multiplier? You can respond to this blog at Mid America Broadcasting LLC on FACEBOOK and become a fan or get our updates as MAB Sports on Twitter! Thanks, Andy Wielgus SECTIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK QUESTIONS 1. Sectional 1 Has Crown Point recovered from the Homecoming loss to Chesterton, enough to compete with Valpo? Valpo isn't a passing team so this could help the DOGS. 2. Sectional 33 Who is the better running back in Biggs or Salary? Last time Culver/South Central hooked up it was 22-21 Culver. Look for Coach Karras to have his troops ready and he deserves the credit with these Satellites, does he have the most wins of any 1st year coach in the state, maybe Bob Potosky can configure the answer to that question. 3. Sectional 2 - Can Mishawaka beat Penn for the fourth time in a row in front of ten thousand Michiana HS fans? Penn needs it's Gold Rush offense to do, more Mishawaka's defense put a big hurt on it the last time? 4. Sectional 4 Where is Carmel, no more MIC? Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern formerly the same school now the same district, a new Elementary school is built every year it seems, in Hamilton county. 5. Sectional 9 Morton will have to travel to Concord for the Regional, how did that work out for Lowell this year? 6. Sectional 10 Concord awaits Morton at the Regional and then Fort Wayne Dwenger? 7. Sectional 17 Andrean at home with Glenn, Coach Mason may get it's awaited rematch with the Jimmies at Jimtown for the regional, according to Rich Sapper jimmies are the sprinkles on the top of the ice cream sundae 8. Sectional 25 Bombers and Bearcats, Wheeler's center is out, Bombers await Bremen/Bob Holmes and then possibly Luers. 9. Sectional 34 Lafayette Central Catholic has given up 4 tds all year, 1a state champ next question. How bout Guerin Catholic out of Hamilton County beating Sheridan, Hamilton County football is super this year, Fishers who beat Carmel, which is in this county also, HSE, and 3A undefeated Hamilton Heights. 10. Congrats to Illinois Mt. Carmel's Coach Frank Lenti on his 300th win for the Caravan, he has had players like Donovan Mcnabb and Simeon Rice. 11. Where does Jake Dixon go down in Portage history as a RB? Mike Wishnevski 1977 state champ, Jeff Veatch, Scotty Curran state runnerup, Joe Christian, Rob Wishnevski, Steve Ford, Brent Kingery, Kris Karagory, Antoine Brown, Albert Evans, etc. I encourage everyone to join our FACEBOOK page at Mid America Broadcasting LLC on FACEBOOK and share your comments, also our tweets are avaliable as MAB Sports on Twitter. Thanks, Andy Wielgus MABC, LLC. Here is my Sectional Corner dialogue questions to ponder? 1. In 5A with Warren Central, Center Grove, and Ben Davis out whose in, in the South? Pike, Law. Cent., Avon, Col. East, Col. North, or Brownsburg? 2. Tre Roberson is the best player in the state period. 3. What's happened to the mighty MIC? 4. Did Col. East or Law. Central whine about enrollment or did they play football and just win? Or do coaches do that only after a team like Carmel beats them like a drum? 5. Did Triton worry about seeding? With only one win and they won.Or maybe the media shouldn't? Can't they write about something relevant in their previews, like the games? 6. Some people think it is good to see the same teams week after week, I think it blurs your perception and it is egocentric? Just my view. 7. Why do some people downgrade the NCC because Lowell isn't as good, it's better then most 4A conferences this year? 8. I heard one unnamed coach say in the media that he thought about opening his offense up, you wait until week 10 to consider it? 9. How lucky can CP get - a last second win to beat Portage and now Munster? While letting Valpo and Merrillville beat each other up. 10. Has the Radtke era ended at Griffith? We shall see. 11. Where were the Wally critics Friday after the Griffith game at around 930pm in Hobart? 12. 4A Collision - Reitz and Cathedral in the South again? 13. 2A Collision - Luers and Renn up north? 14. Did South Central put in a late TD with it's starters in, to make it 52-0 vs. Winamac. I thought only another school in the region does this with late fg's and three onside kicks? 14. Join our FACEBOOK at Mid America Broadcasting LLC. These are not necessarily the opinions of MABC, LLC. just points to consider. Week 9 Blog Questions to ponder as we go into the tournament 1. How many varsity level players does Griffith have, Radtke has to be Coach of the Year, with so much going on this year. 2. Can Jake Dixon stun CP in Week One? What happened to CP vs. Chesterton? 3. Wheeler - Renn on a collision course, can the Bearcats handle the Bomber physicality? 4. Will Munster lose it's 11th in the last 14 in the Postseason play to LC? 5. West Side, Highland, or Hammond will get to the Sect. Championship in 4a which one will make it? I like Highland. 6. Mishawaka had to score 15 pts in 5 minutes to beat Sb Wash 29-28, Will the Caveman beat Penn for the fourth time in a row to get to the Regional? Penn drilled Adams 56-0 to close the year. 7. Who wins Sect. 33 Winamac, Culver, SC, or Whiting? It's Up for Grabs and not the diner on Calumet Avenue? Culver beat SC 22-21 earlier in the year, and Whiting always has battles with SC, including the Chain Gang getting tossed game, this year. 8. Does the Lowell Magic end this year in Sect. 10? Remember Midgett is a giant! 9. If Morton and SB Washington play in the Regional, it could be 61-60 on turf? 10. In 5A - their is Carmel, Warren Central, Center Grove and then everybody else capice? The Warren Commission will be called in if one of these three isn't in the state final. 11. Has RF ever played at the home of Stephanie White, Seeger? Is Seeger's Band led by a guy named Bob? How bout Bowman and Newton first time I think? 12. Andrean's sectional will be the Andrean Invitational again? A regional rematch with Jimtown? Hamilton Heights in the 3A State Final? 13. Can the Bucs ride Denzell Pierce and Raspopovich to the Semistate? 14. Is Gang Green - Valpo's D ready to shutdown everyone on the way to the Semistate vs. Carmel? Valpo plays Carmel in the regular season next year. 15. A .500 season for EC, after last year escapades.Coach Stacy Adams was still at VU then. Great job Coach Adams and staff including Coach Hank Kilander and Juda Parks, EC is going in the right direction again. 16. Reitz - Cathedral again in 4A in the South. Remember the Irish! It's who you are playing, not the record that counts, the Irish beat Cincy Moeller, the home of Ken Griffey Jr. this year soundly. 16. For the best coverage listen to our games each Friday through the state finals at 630pm on www. midamericabroadcasting.com and www.sportsjuice.com and our weekly show at 530pm on Wednesdays - MAB Weekly and T's Pizza Scoreboard at 1015pm on Football Friday nights on www. midamericabroadcasting.com and www.sportsjuice.com THE HEART OF AMATEUR SPORTS. Check us out on FACEBOOK and become a Fan at Mid America Broadcasting LLC. and on TWITTER as MAB Sports. Thank you to our show and game night crews JT Hoyo of Region Sports Desk and Joe Fadely of Region Sports Desk for their help on shows and games, Coach Tim Gault and Zach, Hank Kilander - Webmaster, Rich Sapper our Executive Producer, Bob Potosky - game prep, setup/play by play/host, Steve Guidry, Josh Hammers, Mike Madura - Munster Volleyball Game and Tom Kulavik - Marquette Volleyball and Web Input on games and shows. Check out our archive - just go to sportsjuice.com and hit any of our games/shows or hit High School on sportsjuice.com and scroll down to Mid America on sportsjuice.com - thanks to John Onorato of Sportsjuice for his help too. Thanks, Andy Wielgus, MABC, LLC. WEEK 8 BLOG At the Inferno on Senior Night to see a NCC match up Munster at Lowell. And we turned it up a notch for the broadcast as always with Bob Potosky, Coach Tim Gault, JT Hoyo on halftime and scoreboard and Coach Gault's son Zach. The first quarter saw some good defense, after the crowd had been relieved earlier in the day with the capture of the alleged honeybee shooter, which had been on everyone's mind. Lowell had only one practice this week and some of the boys had a makeshift practice in the park during the week. Munster had a smaller crowd then usual and they led 14-10 at the half due to a number of penalties and communication miscues, throughout the half by Lowell. Including a late hit out of bounds late in the half to keep a Munster drive alive. Lowell has to get this straightened out before the playoffs. Midgett scored all 10 pts for Lowell including a FG. But at least they played better in the first half with Munster then they did against Griffith, CP, Morton, and Hobart. Lowell came out fired up from the locker room and got an early turnover to turn the tide 17-14, and then proceeded to lead 24-14 in the second half. Munster's offense was too many dive plays and an incomplete fullback screen and a lot of vanilla that got them 7 yds for the third quarter. Munster needs to open things up with Egan and Wargo and let the chips fall where they may, or they will continue with the recent 3-9 post season record. To Munster's credit they opened things up real late with a pass play to Collison and then a FG by Smith, they recovered an onside kick and then it fizzled. Midgett had over 200 yds rushing and scored all of the points for Lowell, Juarez looked good but he is still recovering from injury. Lowell's Cover 3 defense played well led by their linebackers and a great game by Jeremy Crocker - he lived in the Mustang Corral backfield all night. Thanks for listening and reading this, and you can respond on Mid America Broadcasting LLC on FACEBOOK. - Andy Wielgus MABC, LLC. October 4th WEEK 7 BLOG Penn vs. Mishawaka was a great game on Homecoming. Mishawaka puts the big hurt on the Penn Homecoming and shocked the GO PENN GO Faithful 21 -14. Penn with their Gold Rush offense, which struggled with point of attack blocking all night. Mishawaka's Roberto Martinez and Sebastian Cameron lived in the Penn backfield all night! And Penn's Wild Bunch defense gave up over 14 pts for the first time this year. This should be a Sectional 2 rematch in 5A. Mishawaka 21 Penn 14 Final! Their may be a new King in Michiana and we are going back to the Stone Age with the Caveman of Mishawaka! As you may know Penn had not lost a NIC game for 24 years until recently.This was the first time also since 1985 that Penn had lost a home game in the NIC and the first time Mishawaka has won at Penn since 1977 OH MY! Mishawaka has now beaten Penn three straight times, who is the last team to beat Penn three in a row? An interesting note the year before Hall of Fame Coach Chris Geesman took over at Penn, "Gees" was broadcasting right next to us with Donnie Smith of RRSN, they were 0-10 and then 5-5 in his first year and the rest is history! Both of these teams have punishing defenses. The game was played at Freed Field on the Field Turf at Penn in front of 8,000 fans. Parking was a challenge but the good folks at Penn took care of us and we were set to TURN IT UP A NOTCH!!! The 1st quarter was played in 15 minutes with Mishawaka's no huddle attack, and then scoring occurred back and forth in the second. A 17yd punt by Mishawaka led to Penn's 1st TD a Randy Frederick to Andrew Campbell connection, Penn had the ball at the 32 of Mishawaka which helped this drive. Frederick was 9-9 passing in the 1st half for Penn. Region fans if Mishawaka who is 7-0 and # 3 ranked has a crutch it is Special Teams they had a punt blocked, a few wounded duck punts - one that led to a score, looked weak on xtra pts - barely making them, and we"re doing pop up video kickoffs. Mishawaka's Soph Qb Sam Schrader did a great job with the no huddle attack offense from the 2nd qt on, with a huge scamper in the second quarter. Schrader and Calvin Bonewits of Griffith do the best at the run game that I have seen this year. It was 14- 7 Mishawaka at the half as Penn blew a pass coverage and the long scamper by Schrader. Penn attempted a late 1st half FG that was missed. Mishawaka led 21-7 in the second half as teams exchanged turnovers as Mishawaka's Ben Versyp - yes he is a relative of Purdue coach Sharon Versyp, and Gary Yeoman of Penn had picks. Desean Prentice of Penn made 2 huge catches in the game and Campbell got his second td to cut it late to 21-14, but a late 1st down finished it. An interesting call in the game a punt was blocked in the second half by Penn, hit three Penn players and then Mishawaka recovered it down the field past the 1st down marker. Whose ball? Referee John Goss and his crew gave it to Penn? 5A NORTH RANKINGS AS OF TODAY WHO IS GOING TO LUCAS OIL? 1. CARMEL - IS DEVIN BRINSON HURT? CAN THEY BEAT THEIR RIVALS IN HAMILTON COUNTY? - SECT. 4 2. SNIDER STILL THE FAVORITE IN FORT WAYNE CAN THEY PLAY WITH CARMEL AT REGIONAL? - SECT. 3 3. VALPO - BEAT ALL COMERS! PENN, CP, CHEST, AND MERR? - SECT. 1 4. MISHAWAKA - SECT. 2 FAVORITE! 5. CP -2 3PT. LOSSES TO VALPO AND MERR.- SECT. 1 6. MERRILLVILLE 42-41 TO LAPORTE? LOST TO VALPO ONLY 51 YDS OF OFFENSE IN 2ND HALF VS. VALPO? - SECT. 1 7. PENN CAN THEY BEAT THE CAVEMAN? - SECT. 2 WILDCARD TEAM - JAKE DIXON AND PORTAGE WHO CAN STOP HIM? 380 YDS VS. CHESTERTON? - SECT 1. Thanks for reading this and listening, Andrew Wielgus MABC,LLC. - You can respond to us at Mid America Broadcasting LLC on Facebook and become a fan. - Next week at the INFERNO in Lowell for Munster/Lowell. SEPTEMBER 28th WEEK 6 BLOG Ames Field - what a beautiful venue to broadcast and see a game. LC dominated Michigan City in the 2nd half and won 31-0. It was Pop Warner night at Ames Field and I learned that Juan Marachial once pitched minor league baseball in this stadium from Coach Gault. It was nice to see the Girls BB Coach for the Wolves, Coach Mike Megeysi in the Press Box and I recall following his South Bend St. Joe Lady Indians to a State title and through their glory years with Rich Sapper and Bob Potosky. Rich was the official voice of those Indians and I had a chance to see some great talent at Alumni Gym including Candace Parker, Melissa Lechlitner, Dee Dee Jernigan and Kelly Watts the Electric Company, Skylar Diggins, Sydney Smallbone, and Aimee Litka. Coach Megeysi was our halftime guest. Thanks, Coach. The game itself was dominated by the physicality of the Blue Indians led by lineman #53 Nicholas Johnson, #23 RB Tanner Redlarczyk with over 100 yds and #10 Wr/Db Kramer Phelan with two nifty TD Grabs and a fumble recovery for LC. Wolves QB Rodney Washington had 25 carries and 46 yards. The loss of Craig Buzea, Tom Cicero, and his staff was evident as Coach Schreiber puts in his system and has Former Edison Coach Joe Fussell and Former Noll QB Star Bobby Kimp as Assistants helping out. LC could give a team a challenge in the Sectional, they took the Red Indians to OT 20-14, beat Munster last year in the sectional, and beat EC Central this year. For the MC Wolves it will depend if they draw a team like winless Elkhart Central. You can contact us on Facebook at Mid America Broadcasting, LLC or to get our updates on Twitter as MAB Sports or on My Space. Thanks for reading this and listening, and come on out to our scoreboard at T's Pizza on the S curve of Rt. 51 by the legendary Brickie Bowl, on Friday nights at 1015pm or our MAB weekly shows on Wednesdays at 530pm, see the front page for the schedule, and we will put you on the air with "THE VOICE OF THE FAN". Thanks, Andrew Wielgus, MABC, LLC. SEPTEMBER 21st WEEK 5 BLOG I attended the Hobart - Andrean game at the new Brickyard. And the Brickies played ok 14-10 in the 2nd half, until they faltered in the 4th quarter 27-10. The old Brickie Bowl had a real train and not a fake whistle going by and it is missed by all. But the new Brickyard has some nice amenities, especially the pressbox and scoreboard. The young Bricks led by Jamal Merritt - over 190 yards on the ground, showed some real competitiveness. But it was to much Blanco and Mckenna, as Blanco turned the Brickyard into the House of Blanco, with 3 long TD Scampers. One was scored without Joe Peco on the field, when he had a 15yd. penalty and was pulled out by the coach. Peco is the leader of the Bricks on D and Andrean only had 22 yds of offense in the first half besides the 80 yd. scamper by Blanco. A nice pizza place to go after the friday night game is T's Pizza in Hobart on the S Curve on Rt. 51, come on out and we will put you on the air at 1015pm on the Scoreboard Show, no media type hyped discussion, just region football fans talking about the games. How bout them Edison Eagles as they shocked Calumet and Ivan Zimmer 26-20! Great job by the Big Train - 6'2 220lbs RF Transfer Hasonie Walters he plays Basketball and is all - GSSC conference in Track too, 3tds in the game for Edison. Hasonie played his JH Football at Edison. And Jerry Castellanos is a good RB for Coach Mike Hepp too. Edison has some strong football and basketball teams at the JH, and they will be even better in a few years also. Next week two big games Valpo/CP, CP has struggled with Valpo recently and this should be a great game, between the 2 best defenses in the region! West Lafayette - Renn, 3A Champ taking on this year's possible 2A Champ? Renn. Bomber Nation fans will be pumped for this one! JT Hoyo is going down to see it from Region Sports Desk and I will be excited to hear how the game went. If you haven't joined our FACEBOOK go to Mid America Broadcasting, LLC on Facebook and become a fan are updates go to Twitter as well as MAB Sports. Thanks to everyone for reading this blog and special recognition goes out to our sponsors for supporting us and our broadcast crews, Thanks, Andrew Wielgus MABC, LLC. THE HEART OF AMATEUR SPORTS SEPTEMBER 13th WEEK 4 BLOG MAB had a great game this week and Griffith defeated Lowell 19-16. We were on the Visitors side and Lowell had a huge crowd. Griffith had the lead at the Half, thanks to there QB Calvin Bonewits and there runners Yost and Brinkley. Lowell came out of the Locker Room down and trailed at one point 19-3, there only 3 points on a 38 yd FG by Midgett, is there anything this kid can't do? It would have been good from 50yds. Then RDP showed itself as Midgett and the O - Line from Lowell put on a show and had the ball with a chance to tie it with a sure FG or win it, and a late fumble sealed it for Griffith. Observations 1. I have seen Lowell three times, and they are a great second half team, not so good in the first half. 2. Griffith is not real deep, they only dress about 35 kids and Reavis got hurt in the game. 3. Bonewits can run the Griffith Rush offense as good as anyone recently. 4. NWCC has 4 even teams Munster, Andrean, Lowell, and Griffith, on any given night they can beat each other. 5. Lowell has the best game night and biggest road fan base in the NWCC. 6. Hobart has a beautiful Brickyard, should be Don Howell Field, stadium but the only other win they are gonna get may be Highland in the Regular season. 7. KV will go winless unless they draw a Gary school in the sectional. 8. NWCC is full of great running QB'S Blanco, Bonewits, and Munster's QB are great runners. 9. Wheeler will not lose in the GSSC this year 28 in a row, but Jeff Karras wil get his kids fired up and ready to play the 2A media proclaimed powerhouse school with softball and basketball state titles. 10. Interesting Info Griffith's AD used to be Edison's AD, Crown Point's AD used to be Edison's Football Coach, Griffith Sup't Pete Morikis is forrmerly a Principal in Edison's and Hobart's district, Russ Radtke originally coached at North Judson San Pierre, Phil Mason was formerly the coach at Wheeler and Clark and his son PJ plays at the Univ. of Indy and was on the 59'er state title baseball team, Brad Stewart formerly of Lowell is now at KV, the voice of the Red Devils John Alessia is a Principal in Lake Central's district, Highland Qb Gunner Grider's Dad is a coach at Highland, KV AD Doug Greenlee used to be the football coach at KV, the basketball coach, and he is still the baseball coach, Highland's coach Ken Bye won a cluster playoff game at Michigan City Elston and beat Portage and Les Klein in the eighties, on that Portage team was Rob Wishnevski who was the RB and was traded straight up in a MLB trade for Candy Maldanado. Brandon Grubbe was great at Lowell but don't forget Pickett, French, Barker, Goetz, Gray, and Clemens, Former LC and Gavit Asst for Bill Melby, Jim Magrames who is an attorney, was an all state LB for Coach Marsh at Munster in 1987 and held the HR record at Munster in his era for Coach Shinkan, Mab anaylst Tim Gault is the former head coach at Knox and RF and he has been an assistant at Michigan City, Hobart, Tri West, Crown Point, Andrean, RF, and Wheeler. Coach Gault had NASCAR Driver Jeff Gordon as a student at Tri West. MAB Broadcaster Bernie Goin played for Coach Gault at RF, Roy Richards used to be the head coach at EC Central, and the Griffith blown up panther looks more mousy then catlike, in my opinion? Thanks, Andrew Wielgus please make your comments on our FACEBOOK Page - Mid America Broadcasting, LLC. - Congrats to my son Matthew's team, as his Big Green Hornets team beat the Blue Devils 33-0 to move to 4-1 also great job coach Scott Shabaz and his staff, The CP JR. BULLDOGS have the week off due to there fundraiser which I encourage everyone to attend, $5.00 at the Lake County Fairgrounds Industrial Building, for all the food and beverage you like, 6-11pm on 9-18-10, also thanks to County Line Orchard, Carriage Court, and T's for hosting MAB this week. SEPTEMBER 5th WEEK 3 BLOG 10 FOOTBALL QUESTIONS TO PONDER 1. When was the last time RF was 3-0? 2003 2. How many GSSC games has Wheeler won in a row? 22 3. How many weeks will Dylan Patrick be out for KV? 5-6 is what we hear? 4. When Highland plays Griffith, what is that called? THE BATTLE OF THE BIKEPATH 5. When RF plays South Central? THE BATTLE OF THE MINNOW BUCKET 6. We hear that Jake Dixon may play baseball at Portage this year? Like Tony Cheky Jr. played football? 7. Where will Matt Neal play his college football? Toledo, Illinois State - mid major 8. Which 1st year coach will win the most games? Flowers, Karras, Kilmer, St. Germain or Adams? Surprisingly it might be Karras, only Wheeler is a team that they shouldn't compete with and then the 1a sectional? 10. Which teams have the best shot beyond the sectional? 3a Andrean, 2a Renn, 5a Merr/Valpo/CP 4a Morton/Griffith/Lowell - this may be the end for the Devils streak - Concord/SBW/Plymouth, Playoff preview - 1a Lcc/Pioneer will knock out whomever 2a LUERS - RENN have a showdown, don't count out Cass, 3a West Lafayette/Jimtown are good again.4a Cathedral - Dwenger 5a Carmel - Warren Central rematch book it! 11. Best coverage on facebook? Mid America broadcasting on FACEBOOK and REGION SPORTS DESK ON FACEBOOK! Thanks, Andrew Wielgus go to Mid America Broadcasting, LLC. on FACEBOOK and become a fan AUGUST 31st WEEK 2 BLOG FRIDAY NIGHT EXCITEMENT AT THE INFERNO! MORTON AT LOWELL! LOWELL Fans were on edge, after there boys had taken a loss the week before to CP. The first question was eased as a familiar voice was on the PA John Alessia. There was some talk that he would be replaced because he is now a Principal in the LC district. The athletic govs showed there athleticism, but mistakes and penalties did them in. They outgained the Devils but the big plays by Midgett and Juarez did them in, in this one. As I ventured out into the construction of rt. 2, I pondered the decisions that I saw Friday night, a decision to go for 2 when it was 27-26 Lowell, was a tough decision by Roy Richards. Coaches have to go with there gut, and I noticed that the govs coaches were giving there input too, but that is what the head coach has to decide, and Roy Richards did. It was great to have the executive producer of MAB Rich Sapper back on the broadcast and the Region Sports guys joined us for the pregame, halftime, and scoreboard show at T's Pizza. Saturday saw a big victory for my son's team the Green Hornets over the Purple Vikings 19-0, my son Matthew had 6 carries for about 19 yds. I listened to Bob and JT's call on the St. Rita and Portage game, they held Aqui down but they were too physical and Portage needs to work on their passing game. A side note it was nice to see Tony Cheky Jr making plays for the tribe like he does for the big red on the diamond. His dad Tony Cheky Jr. played football for Les Klein and wrestled for Bruce Sheriff, I remember a game where Tony had a pass go in and out of his hands to almost beat Lew Wallace in 1985 and Tony Cheky Jr.'s mom is Becky Alderson who played basketball for the late hall of famer Bernita Adkins at Portage. I played alot of little league baseball, neighborhood football, and wiffle ball against Tony Sr. growing up in the Birdland subdivision of Portage across from Woodland Park in the seventies and eighties, and including Tony, some good players for Portage came out of our subdivision including Jim Wilkie who pitched in the Minor Leagues, Scott Bruce a leading scorer for Portage in basketball in 1985, Randy Coudriet who was a star runner in the late seventies for Bill Wilkie's x-country/track teams, a couple of Malone brothers who played football on the state team in 1977, and John Garcia the starting point guard in the pre - Kevin Mackey days in basketball. Thanks, Andrew Wielgus you can respond to this blog on FACEBOOK at Mid America Broadcasting, LLC AUGUST 22ND WEEK ONE BLOG I attended two games this week and a cp jr. bulldogs game. A dominating performance by CP over Lowell 37-6 and Whiting winning the Battle of 119th Street 23-0 over Clark. The Crown Point game was an overflowing crowd that filled the HS, St. Matthias, and Eisenhower Elementary parking lots. Lots of CP JR. Bulldogs kids in there jersys from the Green Hornets to the Blue Devils roaming around as they got into the game for free with there jersey including my son Matthew and his no. 30 Big Green Hornets jersey, his team is 2-1 in first place and they defeated the previously undefeated Red Raiders Saturday 20-0. They are having a big fundraiser at the Lake County Fairgrounds on Sept. 18th 6-11pm, all the food and drink for $5.00 and always a good time. Who will replace Brandon Grubbe at Lowell? Cole Midgett? The answer friday is that this is not the same Lowell team as a year ago, replacing Kennedy who lost to the Bedford North Lawrence Stars at Bloomington South, Yes Bedford is improving but this is the home of Damon Bailey and Hoosier Hysteria country. Losing Kirk Kennedy, Brad Stewart, and AD Don Bales to a football program may be compared in some ways to losing Don Howell and Tom Kerr in the same year . And the running game for Lowell Friday, did not bring back memories of French, Pickett, Gray, Goetz, Clemens, or Grubbe. Saturday started for me with a Big Green Hornets win for my son Matthew 20-0, Troy Grady and Eli Udchitz 8th Graders at Taft scored the Tds for Coach Scott Shabaz, and the youngest brother of Green Bay Packer Matthew Neal, Adam had at least 4 sacks and he is an 8th grader at Merrillville .Region fans two more Neals are coming Ryan who is a rb and a freshman, and Adam who is way over 6'0 as an 8th grader. The travel to Robertsdale and Fort Pioneer is always full of construction and when I finally arrived , there was plenty of pregame media and activities going on, by the way some people thought this webcasting would never take off when me, Bob Potosky, Rich Sapper, Mike Bozich, and Hank Kilander starting doing this 8 years ago - what are they saying now? The game was a show in the first half for Whiting's Juwan Simmons who is receiving D1 letters from IU, Ball State, and Louisville amongst others and he had 6 catches and a td in the game, Juwan's dad played basketball at EC Central in 1987. Whiting led the game 7- 0 at half and Clark could never get going with Rb Cameron Copeland who had some nice plays, and Alex Evanich who got ejected late in the game, so he will have to sit out next week against Calumet. Clark's Dominic Williams had several tackles for loss and if you play Clark you need to scheme for no.52 and a heavyweight punter in Zamora. The night was all about the Oilers, Jeff Cain got Simmons involved right from the get go and Clark could not cover him. Quiroz gained big yards as the Clark defense wore out in the 2nd half, lots of run blitzes really kept the Clark offense off balance with Hennessey and Aponte. Can Whiting play with Wheeler in the GSSC? One area of concern is snapping at least 10 bad snaps - on the ground, over Aponte's head, and all over the yard. Against a good team this will haunt the Oilers, but it is game one. The Freshman for Clark, Ramirez got into the game late and he is the brother of Clark Legends Mario and Mike Ramirez. Thank you to Tim Gault who did color for us at MAB GREAT JOB TIM. Also, thanks to the Region Sports Desk guys for doing the game video and the scoreboard show at T's Pizza, which was really good football talk pop and pizza. Thanks, Andrew Wielgus - please share your responses on Facebook to this blog or any of our games at Mid America Broadcasting, LLC and become a Fan and receive our updates. AUGUST 14TH, 2010 I Attended the Highland - Crown Point Scrimmage with my son Matthew under threatening skies. Interestingly, the game's parking lot was full with Lake County Fair shuttle traffic and buses. The Bulldogs looked considerably stronger with Sr. Austin Atherton at Rb., then Highland and they are team - CP, with some significant underclass talent.starting with Junior QB Joe Hopman and former Jr. Bulldog league star Braxton Rice who is a 6'5 Soph. Wr., 6'2 215 lb Jr. Te Tyler Kral whose younger brother Morgan pitched the CP Cal Ripken Little League to a state title, Jr. Austin Stanley had an int in the game, and Jr. Baseball player Jake Lindeman is back out as well. If I was CP I would think about focusing on the younger talent in the program, this year would be a success if they get a decent record and get a lot of exposure for these kids, for next year. They may be a future power in years to come, I have seen some of these kids play in CP Jr. Bulldogs and they are now Freshman and Soph., look for names like the ones I mentioned, and some other underclassmen like Freshman Nick Hanlon, Tristan Peterson, Soph. Skevo Zembillas, Mohammed Elayyan, and Freshman Rb Jonathan Wigmore, along with Ryan Neal who plays at Merrillville, and Brendyn Mckinnion to make some noise at CP as they dominated the Jr. Bulldog league with two straight undefeated and unscored upon seasons under Coach Scott Shabaz, Troy Grady,and Larry Hanlon for the Jr. Bulldogs Green Hornets Big Team Highland is a team that showed some flashes and I really liked the athleticism of soph. #28 Chris Aifuwa at the rb. spot. They are in for a challenge with Wheeler's qb Sam o" Shea and rb Jake Hidalgo next week, Highland did not have big roster numbers either and that could hurt them in there rugged conference and they really need improved play on the line to compete. Feel free to respond to us on Mid America Broadcasting, LLC on Facebook. Thanks, Andrew WielgusJuly 28th With Andre Dawson, Bruce Sutter, Dennis Eckersley,and Ryne Sandberg now being in the Hall of Fame. The X generation of Cub Fans now have there idols in the Hall. Will Mark Grace or Lee Smith be the next Ron Santo in 20 years? With Billy, Ernie, and Fergie in the Hall, the 69 cubs have there place in the Hall and all they need is Santo. The 69 Cubs had there own Hey Hey Holy Mackarel Record/Album in there day, just like the 85 Bears Super Bowl Shuffle. I grew up with WGN Cubs Baseball, Danley Garage Ads, the Leadoff Man, and Jack "hey hey" Brickhouse, the good kid Lou Boudreau - 1948 World Series MVP from Cleveland from Harvey,IL., Arnie Harris, Jack Rosenberg, and Vince Lloyd. My mornings always started with Ray Rayner as a kid and I still remember the 77 Portage Football team being on the Ray Rayner Show and his duck, and Cudley Dudley the Dog. I had a day off from Crisman Elementary when Portage and Les Klein won it all over Evansville Reitz 34-7 in the 3A Final, with Tribe legends like RB Mike Wishvevski, QB Mark Evans, TE Kelly Campbell, a ferocious defense and of course K Alex Mackenzie who made the 3-0 kick in the 4th quarter to beat defending State Champion Merrillville at Demaree Field and Coach Ken Haupt who had Tom Jelesky, Tim Seneff,and Kelly Keough. Three Big School DAC State Champs in three years 75,76, and 77, in the pre - Hobart Don Howell days! My question to the next generation is Should Sammy Sosa be a Hall of Famer? Barry Bonds, Mark Mcgwire, Roger Clemens, A ROD, Palmeiro, etc. This debate will go on for some time with this generation, but it shouldn't exclude the Ken Griffey Jr.'s and Frank Thomas' of the World who have not been accused of anything, but remember we never did get all of the names off the last Mitchell Report list. Well for now let's celebrate the Bows and the great 87 season 49 hrs, of THE HAWK ANDRE DAWSON, THE THIRD PLAYER IN HISTORY TO HAVE 4OO HR'S AND 3OO STOLEN BASES! WAY TO GO HAWK! I was at the Sandberg game, and I am not lying. I remember also the new Hall of Famer Whitey Herzog extollling Sandberg after the game for his play. Hall of Fame Inductions mean that NFL Training camps and two a days are around the corner, how many days until pads Bob Potosky? You can respond to this blog on FACEBOOK at Mid America Broadcasting, LLC or email our webmaster at hkilander@gmail.com, thanks for reading this blog and tune into any of our shows or games and TURN IT UP A NOTCH WITH THE HEART OF AMATEUR SPORTS, on www.sportsjuice.com and you can listen to our archive there at mid america broadcasting on www.sportsjuice.com too, including the Indiana State Finals from last year in Baseball, Softball, and Basketball. Check out the Bowman - EC BB game on the archive it's a classic with Bob Potosky and Hank Kilander, and I learned a new term in basketball from Bernie Goin "Floppers", in the Wheeler - Southwood game, and you can hear Rich Sapper on Highland vs. Boone Grove Basketball a great game, and an exciting New Prairie vs. Hobart OT affair. July 15th This is the time of the year when the fans get excited about football again now that Lebron mania is over. A last note on basketball - Pat Riley vs. Phil Jackson in the finals, The three kings vs. the king of three peats Kobe and Phil, Shaq/Fisher may sign in Miami, David Stern is loving this. Here are some questions and thoughts that come to mind in football? 1. Are we really thinking about Brett Favre again and is Michael Vick allegedly having some issues again? 2. It's time to start thinking about HS Football again and I will be looking to see the yearly reviews of the HS teams, you can go to www.rrsn.com to purchase the Indiana Football Digest. It is a review of all of the teams and I believe it is avaliable at All Stars in the Southlake Mall in Lake County, I always want to say the mall is in Merrillville when I know it is Hobart. Look for the MAB ad too this year. 3. Will Devin Hester really know the plays this year? 4. Will Mike Martz really get along with the other coaches? How will he use the tight ends? 5. Will Jay Cutler throw to the right team? 6. Is Charlie Weis really gone? 7. Will Lovie be gone mid season? How many former coaches on staff can take his place? 8. Will James Aldridge and Jaymar Johnson catch on with there teams? 9. How much will Michael Neal play for the Pack? 10. Will Kawann Short be a force for Purdue? 11. How much will Matt Ernest play at IU? 12. Who is the best QB in the region? O'shea, Raspopovich, Washington, Hoppman, Dixon, Aponte? 13. Who will play Qb at RF? Hanson, Young, Richie Pennington, JJ Pennington? 14. Will Keith Kilmer be successful at Lowell? 15. Will anyone win at LC? 16. Can Coach Hepp bring back the Eagles? 17. Is Coach Kennedy really in Bloomington? 18. Is Urlacher done? How bout Tommie Harris is he done? 19.Do the Bears have a Safety finally? 20. Will EC make it through the season with a coach? 21. Is this the year for Roy at Morton to go downstate? 22. Can anyone hang with Rensselear in 2a? 23. Will someone challenge Wheeler in the regular season? 24. Will Andrean reload in 3a? 25. How good is Portage ? Better then Valpo or Merrillville? Thanks, AW you can respond on FACEBOOK at Mid America Broadcasting, LLC or to our webmaster at hkilander@gmail.com. July 6th Indiana High School Baseball Down at the state finals I had a chance to work with Cathedral grad Steve Guidry. And we discussed the influence that Cathedral baseball is having in the MLB. Cathedral grad Tommy Hunter who went to the University of Alabama, just beat the White Sox recently 3-1 in 7 innings of work and Jake Fox is doing good things for the Orioles, as I saw him score a winning run for them recently, this is his third team, the Cubs and A's before Baltimore. Why did the Cubs get rid of him anyways, he at least provided some offense. Now a third promising player in Cathedral pitcher Dillion Peters who is bound for Texas in 2012, and he set the strikeout record for state finals games with 16. The region has produced great ones and some role players too, here is a list from the region including 1983 Rookie of the year - Ron Kittle - Wirt, Kenny Lofton - ECW, Dan Plesac - CP, Jeff Samardzja and the late Tim Bishop who I believed would have madethe majors, it if not for a tragic accident, - Valpo, Latroy Hawkins West Side, Wallace Johnson and Lloyd Mcclendon - Velt, the late Joe Gates - Wirt, Sam Rice - Morocco, Rob and Mike Wishvevski - Portage, Hal and Bobby Morris of Munster, Ron Reed and Chris Bootcheck - Laporte, and Tim Stoddard - ECW. But other areas of the state have had great players too like Scott Rolen of Jasper, Rodney scott of Arlington, and Andy Benes of Evansville. This year saw a 1a player from Cowan - Muncie area - a Catcher Justin O" Connell get drafted in the first round by the Devil Rays, and to along with the Cathedral duo - recent Indiana HS players have made a mark like Clayton Richard of Mccutcheon and Jeff Samardzja of Valpo. Look for players from Brownsburg, to leave there mark soon too, that are in the high minors, like Lance Lynn who pitched at Ole Miss. Also, the son of former Major Leaguer Lloyd Mcclendon - Bo McClendon of Merrillville who got drafted by the Tigers out of VU. In other words it was great to see Michael Neal, Gordon Heyward, and Luke Harangody get drafted, but baseball is leaving it's mark in the Hoosier state too! Here is a list of region baseball players who made the major leagues: P DAN PLESAC,LATROY HAWKINS, TIM STODDARD, JEFF SAMARDZJA CHRIS BOOTCHECK, RON REED, ROB WISHNEVSKI, AND BOB ANDERSON OF RON KITTLE, KENNY LOFTON, LARRY BIGBIE, AND SAM RICE IF WALLACE JOHNSON, 2B JOE GATES, 1B CLIFF FLOYD, LARRY BIGBIE, ROB MACKOWIAK, DON LARSEN, BOB ANDERSON July 3rd In the local media today there is an article about Former Munster Mustang 1986 and Boilermaker SS Jeff Kapp starting a Little Sluggers Academy in Chicago. I played softball with Jeff and he was a heckuva softball player and I remember playing with some great players around the area in several tournaments/leagues, that Hank Kilander would set up some of throughout the region. Softball is a great outlet for competitiveness. Hank had set up some great teams over the years and I enjoyed playing during that 1986 - 2000 era. Some of the names and nicknames that come to mind right away to me include the late Mike Stolarz who pitched with us for several years, the late Dave Nixon an umpire in Crown Point, Hank Kilander, Xavier "X man" Canchola, Mike Coppess, Grey Mcclintic, Johnny Seberger, Mike "Smoothie" Fechalos", Tim " Buddha" Fechalos, Mark and Jerry Pancini, Sammy Mynes, Chris"Goose" Gustafson, and his Ringer Brother Bobby, Doug Basham and Jimmy, John" Balls" Moehlenkamp, Kevin "Vinnie" Scott, Jeff Kapp. Eric Cadle, Jay Mueller, Jeff Pysh, Jeff Bastian, Kevin "Gumby" Kunz, Tony Terzarial, Ron Head, Scott and Steve Felton, Jeff Hartog, Jeff and Todd Harbrecht, Donnie Schoenbeck, Mark Hidalgo, John Doherty, Billy Cain, Matt Kachur, Mike Bozich, Tiny never knew his name but he was 6'4 and definately not Tiny that's what you get in softball, from my early days growing up in Portage in softball including some Hobart coed Tony Cheky, Sean Wilkie, Olsen Soberg, Louie and Chris Gonzalez, Ray Sierra, Jack Furgye, John and Rose Kliza, Brian and Amy Siver, Dave Parks, Ted Hansen and many sponsors like Hydads, Ronnie b's, Dawn Foods, Ace Hardware, Harbrecht Construction. Also the many leagues that I played in Lemon Lake, CP, South Haven - the late Myron Fessler was the director, Hidden Lake the late Tim Vesa was the director., Imagination Glen, Highland, and Hobart. Every time I now go to see my daughter play softball, I walk by the men's leagues and great memories come flooding back and the old competitiveness starts coming back and I smile and realize that I had a great time playing with some great teams - Hydads that beat State and National champs - Geisen's and Bridges a few times in the nineties, and people over the years and if I missed your name, thanks also, I know Hank can remember them all and maybe add them to the blog. And of course the theme song DO THE HUSTLE, that sparked a few major rallies, one coming back from 16-1 in one inning at Crawfordsville. As I run into all these guys at my kids games or in Northwest Indiana I always go back to the fun of that era before, during, and after games. Thanks, AW June 30th Blog 1970- 2010 40 years of HS Basketball in the Region. Who are the top 10 at the HS level in the region. Mr. Basketball"s get a high ranking automatically because they were the best of the best in the state there senior year! First Team - F Glenn Robinson - Mr. Basketball - Purdue no. 1 NBA DRAFT PICK state champ F Etwan Moore - EC Central - Purdue state champ C Jim Bradley - EC Roosevelt state champ G Roger Harden - Mr. Basketball - Kentucky G Delray Brooks - Mr. Basketball - Indiana Providence Second Team - EC Washington 1971 state champ - starting lineup of Trgovich, Bailey,Adell, Bridgeman, and Stoddard Could the second team beat the first team who will stop Bradley? Third Team F Dan Palombizo - Mr. Basketball F Luke Harangody - Big East player of year C Chris Hunter - Golden State, State champ G/F Shane Power - all time nw indiana scorer G Bryce Drew - VU - The shot enough said! Others to mention - Kenny Lofton - Arizona, Carson Cunningham - Purdue, Dan Dakich - IU, Tim Bishop, Tony Harris - New Orleans, 76'ers, Winston Garland - NBA Three teams, Teyon Mccoy - Maryland/Texas, Joey Wright - Texas Tim Mcalister - Oklahoma, Kenny Harris - VU, Rob Harden - VU, Fla, Nevada, Keith Gailes - Loyola, Keir Rogers -Loyola Jake Parker - Bethel, Matt Nover - IU, Jim Bullock - Purdue, Drake Morris - Purdue, Angel Garcia, Hunter Atkins - Loyola, Ole Miss, Brandon Cameron - Penn State, IUPUI, Gary Patterson IUPUI, Butler, Lonnie Randolph - Drake, Eugene Wilson,- Illinois, Patriots, James Borom, TJ Lux - NIU, Jamaal Davis Purdue, Cincy Brett Fedak Toledo, John Wilczynski,Akron Greg Tonagel VU, David Wayne Taylor, Scott Anselm VU, Mike Jones Ole Miss, VU, Renaldo Thomas Houston, Ricky Wright Providence, Carlron Oudie Baker Barton County, Corey Stokes, Mike Cash Bradley, Joe Hershman, Dan Stevens Loyola, Jake Kitchel ISU,Tellis Frank West. Ky, Wallace Bryant SF, Brian Asberry West Ky, Johnny Fort Iowa, John Hegwood SF, John Brugos Purdue, Bo Cucuz NW, Milan Petrovic NW, Tim Gabrish, Dave Polak, Rich Valavicius IU, Auburn, Brian Banks Nebrasks, Juda Parks ISU, Raynard Malaine , George Butler Georgetown, Rene Buster Glover Kansas State, Thad Garner Michigan, Walt Whitaker ISU, Jeff Markle VU, Jeff SimmonsVU, Milosh Pujo, Larry DemicAz, Dejuan Marrero, Tyrae Robinson, Glenn Robinson Jr., Jeff Furlin Ball State, Kevin Mackey, Steve Hendershot, Ricky Hise, Lou Stefanovic ISU, Josh Mayo UIC, Charles Macon - Ohio State, Curtis Jackson, Dion Campbell ISU, Kirk Manns Michigan State and Zach Novak - Michigan. What do you think email us your thoughts at hkilander@gmail.com or go to facebook at mid america broadcasting, llc. June 28th Memories of Merrillville Basketball With Jim East's impending retirement after next year, it has me recalling all of the Pirate basketball that I have seen. Starting with a cinderella Pirate team under Jim Vermillion that made the state finals in the late 70's after upsetting Noll with Thad Garner who went to Michigan and Walt Whitaker who went to Illinois State before losing in the final four. They were led by Tim Seneff, Tom Jelesky, Eddie Krol, Gregg Kemp,and Sharpshpooter Jeff Markle who went on to play ay VU. Seneff and Jelesky were stars on the 76 pirate football state champion team under Ken Haupt, and played at Purdue together before Jelesky finished his career with the Eagles in the NFL. As Jim East came in along with assistant the late Don Slys who was the tennis coach at Merrillville and whose son Mike is now a teacher at River Forest and an assistant for Courtney Quigg. The Pirates were loaded with talent like Lou Stefanovic who went on to play at Illinois State and played professionally in Europe. Lou has been coaching his two sons in the AAU circuit and hiis son Dejan started at CP this year and his younger son Sasha is an upcoming star in 6th grade. Along with Lou, the pirates had Bill Meade, Chuck Gans. Casey Carrabine who went on to play at the University of Denver, Randy Ban whose brother Eric is the Principal at CPHS, Jay Layman, and Lenny Schmidt - and yes I remember the fight with Kevin Cardo Cardenas of Portage. And we can't forget the manager of those teams Xavier Canchola the X man, the unofficial mayor of Merrillville. The pirates of this era were exciting to watch as they battled in the DAC against the likes of the Harden brothers at Valpo, Palombizo and Brooks at MC, Dermody of Laporte, and the Tribe bunch at Portage of Kevin Mackey, Brian Binder, the late Glenn Devries, Brian Sutherland, and Downtown Billy Pendleton. Great Pirate memories extended into the eighties with John Wilczynski who played at Akron, Dennis Metcalf, and Dan Green who I attended basketball camp one year at VU with. Pirate Power was seen by dominance in the DAC with several crowns and only one subpar season through all of those years and was highlighted by the run to the state title game in 95 with Ben Davis, led by Division One talent like Jamaal Davis who played at Cincinnati and Purdue and yes Hank he dunked on Lake Station and several teams, TJ Lux who played and starred at Northern Illinois and is currently on East's staff and Brett Fedak who played at Toledo. The late 90's was led by the Calumet, I mean Calumet region duo of James Borom and Lonnie Randolph that were two of the best pressure defense guards ever to play in the region. An underrated star in pirate lore is UIC star Josh Mayo who to this day I don't know why VU didn't recruit him. Eugene Wilson was one of the best all around athletes ever to play in the region, similar to the late Tim Bishop of Valpo who played with Bryce Drew, who played at VU and professionally in the NBA. The cinderella run of the pirate team led by a super freshman performance by Greg Hill in the Michigan City regional, that myself and Bob Potosky called. I can't mention pirate basketball without mentioning my aunt and uncle the late Ruby and Jerry Wielgus, Jerry was a pirate booster and fan who passed away in 1989, he was so upset when the Pirates lost to the Indians in football 3-0 in 1977, that he couldn't even talk to my dad and myself about the sectional game for a week. Finally all of the coaches that have come out of pirate basketball - Mike Hackett - Munster who has a 7th grade son coming up at Munster, Leo Bonin whose sons play for CP in AAU, - Blake - 7th grader at Taft and Bryce who will be a 6th grader at CP, currently coaches in the AAU ranks and at TF North before, Randy Stelter - Wheeler AD - 2 State titles this year, TJ Lux, Skeeter Heath and Steve Leonard retired from Lacrosse and Lowell. Lots of memories and the pirate ad's always welcome us when we broadcast. You can email our webmaster on this blog at hkilander@gmail.com or comment on facebook Mid America Broadcasting, LLC. Thanks, Andy Wielgus June 24th As a school person, fan, and a broadcaster this year. It has been an exciting one for student – athletes! The year began with several exciting football and volleyball matches. One that comes to mind right away is watching an Indiana – Illinois football matchup between Portage and St. Rita, in that game the Tribe held their own, but St. Rita running back Aqui put on a strong show of physicality. As I announced this game with RF and now VU grad Bernard “ Bernie” Goin. I also had the chance to witness a great upset, in RF beating Bishop Noll at Ray Madden Field, the Ingots have a great future ahead of them under Coach Bean with Rich Pennington, Mike Manning, Joey Puskac, Tyler Hanson, Ramon Diaz, and Hasonie Walters back in the mix next year. I enjoyed broadcasting the Ivy Tech Invitational also this year from Lucas Oil in Indy as well, highlighted by Ben Davis and Warren Central. I was able to see a team in Culver Community that really dominated Whiting in the sectional, and then the next week got handled by LCC. Look for Culver to be a favorite in their 1A sectional again. Another memory is Cathedral grad Steve Guidry, Bob Potosky, and I doing the call at the Inferno between Dwenger and Lowell, what a crowd, and what a heart Brandon Grubbe had throughout his career at Lowell, good luck at Butler. The football state finals saw a dominant offensive and defensive effort by LCC IN 1A, a great show by West Lafayette in 3a, and Evansville Reitz putting on a show in 4A, the night cap Warren Central – Carmel, was a heck of a game called by Steve Guidry and Hank Kilander, how bout that Trooper Offense guys! The basketball season saw for me a Cinderella run by RF in boys and girls basketball with the boys winning 15 games and the girls 14. RF had a great season under Head Coaches - Jason and Courtney Quigg and Jason was the GSSC coach of the year. Andrew Eskridge, Richard Perez, Jesse Allen, Ryan Smith, and Jack Zambrana had a great senior season thanks for the memories guys, the underclassmen led by Ricky Garcia and Hasonie Walters have a lot to look forward too. In girls basketball it was the dynamic duo of Katie Buehler and Bethany Galligan that led to an exciting season, Bethany with her ball handling wizardry and hitting threes. Katie Buehler the number one rebounder in Northwest Indiana - who put on a relentless defense and rebounding show every game. A game that I broadcasted that comes to mind is Highland – Boone Grove which went back and forth all night and was an exciting boys bb game, with Rich Sapper on the call, Rich is the unofficial voice of the LAC and Highland sports, Rich has done more Highland games than anyone I know, including 2 more this year. A MAB game I listened to was Bowman and EC. Hank Kilander and Bob Potosky had a great call, Hank knew everything about these student – athletes and I read several great comments about the broadcasters that were put on Harrell”s website, great job! The trip to Fort Wayne for the Girls finals, was new but I really liked the stadium, it had the old Market Square Arena feel, and what a team Ben Davis had one of the best ever! Also, it was nice to see a Northwest Indiana team come out of the locker room there in Fort Wayne. I think that Austin is still shooting threes in the 2a game. In the boys basketball finals Bowman and Wheeler get it done for the region, I am especially happy for Wheeler assistant Geoff Dan who I have known over the years, great job and great run. Coach Quigg on the call with Bernie Goin in 2a. RF this year was right in the sectional game, with Wheeler at the end in the Edison sectional, and I recall Andrew Rudakas wiping his brow as he realized they had survived an upset challenge. Also, Edison had a great 2 overtime game vs. Noll that myself and Matthew Wielgus witnessed. The 3A State final game between Wallace and Washington was a thriller and had a little of everything to offer, could this be a rematch DAWSON VS. ZELLER next year! Juda Parks, Hank, and Benie on the call. 4A Was the Terone Johnson show as Doug Mitchell’s North Central bunch dissected Warsaw. In Spring sports the Railcats Challenge with Bob Potosky, was our main venue with other baseball and softball sprinkled in. I saw some great action again this year, Whiting beating Griffith was exciting, Coach Lenz’s team was exciting to watch. We had a chance to see about 95 percent of the teams in the region. Great State Finals games were then on the docket for me as I saw three one run thrillers in softball from a sweltering Ben Davis press box, 1-0, 8-7, and 9-8. Wheeler was down 6-1 and then came back to win in 2a and in 3a Dwenger was down 7-1 and then came back to win. The 2nd state title for Wheeler this year with basketball, and three first time state champions in softball and then the rain came for 4a, which was eventually completed three days later, with Hamilton Southeastern winning over Terre Haute North 3-1. In both softball and baseball it was Bob Potosky, Steve Guidry, and myself on the call and you can find these games on the Mid America archive at www.sportsjuice.com . In baseball LCC had it’s closest call 4-2 in a final and in 2a Heritage Christian led by the identical twins the Ledbetter Brothers - who are bound for Wheaton College won 5-1, In 3a Andrean defeated Jasper 6-1 with Kenny Mahala leading the way with a three run double in the third and the pitching win to go to 10-0, 18-1 the last two years. The 4a game was special as Fort Wayne Carroll led by Austin Wise outdueled Cathedral”s Dillion Peters 1-0 IN 9 Innings, who set a 4a record for strikeouts with 16 and is bound for Texas in 2 years. Also, Carroll’s Justin Glass there home run leader with 16 is bound for Cincinnati next year. It’s been a great year to be a fan of sports and we have lost some figures this year that will be missed including Jim Anderson, Joe Gates, Luke DeBold, and Wally McCormick. On a personal note, Luke DeBold was a former student of mind at St. Joseph’s in Dyer and was a great person who did a lot in the academic and sports arena for Andrean and the University of Miami. I will always remember him as the excited sixth grade student in my first class, who was the most eager to learn of any student that I have ever had and a super person from a great family. Luke we all miss you. Finally, thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope you will listen to one of our broadcasts or you can email our webmaster at hkilander@gmail.com or bpotosky@midamericabroadcasting.com. Thanks, Andy Wielgus |
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