Figured it was time for an update on our out-of-state Division I basketball players … SDSU and USD players are easy enough to track down. So here’s how the out-of-staters are faring so far this season. 

Michael Tveidt (junior from Pierre), 8.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg and has started all 20 games at NDSU.

Adam Templeton (redshirt junior from Rapid City Central), 6.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.0 apg –started 21 of 22 games at Drake.

Colton Iverson (freshman from Yankton), 5.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 30 blocked shots in 21 starts at Minnesota.

Sam Willard (sophomore from Pierre), 6.3 ppg, 7.1 rpg in 17 starts at Pacific.

Joe Krabbenhoft (senior from S.F. Roosevelt), 8.5 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 2.4 apg in 20 starts at Wisconsin.

Zach Finley (junior from Rapid City — St. Thomas More), 5.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg in 17.9 minutes per game at Princeton.

Alexis Yackley, (freshman from Onida), 2.6 ppg in 8.1 minutes per game at Iowa State.

If I’m missing somebody, let me know.

- Padraic

I’m sure nobody else cares but me, but I am actually looking forward to two major sporting events this weekend: The finals of the Australian Open and, oh yeah, that little thing called the Super Bowl.

Well, I actually only watch tennis on television during the four major events, which all happen to be on ESPN this year.

Something tells me that the Sunday 1:30 a.m. Australian Open men’s final between No. 1 Rafael Nadal and No. 2 Roger Federer will be a tennis match for the ages. Federer, who lost his top-ranking last fall after more than 200 consecutive weeks atop the tennis world, has a chip on his shoulder to regain his ranking. And I have a hard time believing that he does not want it bad despite his notions that he is not uber-competitive.

Nadal barely survived a matchup against fellow Spaniard Fernando yesterday in what became the longest match in Australian Open history, a five-hour-and-14-minute showdown that ended with a 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-7 (1), 6-4 result. Federer had a tough, three-set win over the last American remaining in the Open, 6-2, 7-5, 7-5.

Both are tired, and both have been involved in some close, classic matches in the past. It will be tennis’ version of Magic-Bird.

The major reason to watch: Federer is going for his 14th Grand Slam event title.

I can’t wait, and I’m usually up at 1:30 a.m. anyway.

- Russo

Step right up! As the big game, No. 43 to be exact, gets ready to tee off Sunday afternoon, the betting action is already way out of control. 

And I am not just talking about the who is going to win type of bet either. Pittsburgh is about a 7 point favorite for those of you keeping track. 

For those that live on the fringe (DUFFY),  one can bet on how long the National Anthem is going to last. *Hint the early take is just about two minutes. Go Jennifer Hudson!!!   

Or what number (odd or even) will the player be wearing when the first TD is scored?

It gets better, you can bet an almost anything about the game and then some. Will LeBron James score more points in his NBA game than either Arizona or Pittsburgh? The list is endless and I mean endless.  

I guess it makes it more interesting for some. It should be a busy day;  the game itself, the ads of course, FOOD, Bruce Springsteen, FOOD, who will actually win the game, checking on your bets and FOOD.

P.S. My favorite. What color will the Gatorade be that is dumped on the winning coach?

My pick is yellow!!!

Happy Super Bowl! May you all find something fun to keep you busy, on or off the field.

Oh yeah pitchers and catchers report in 2 weeks!!! 

-Lenn       

Media Day during Super Bowl week can best be described by paraphrasing Winston Churchill:

Never have so many gathered to hear so few say so little.

The best thing coming out of this week’s madness of nothing sound-bites and pointless teamspeak, was the Dude in a Dress, some South American male reporter in blond wig, layers of make-up, gown and high heels.
Last year it was an amorous female in a wedding dress shouting marriage entreaties to New England’s Tom Brady, now probably thinking positively of his blown-out knee keeping him from having to face that husband-hunter scenario again this year.
Then there was Pittsburgh’s Santonio Holmes using the occassion to push a personal anti-drug message.

All very nice and heart-warming, but Media Day seems to have become an event where anything but football and a, well, fairly important game coming up, is discussed.

Could be that teams don’t want to say anything that could wind up as bulletin-board inspiration for the other guys on Sunday.

Could be they’re just as bored with the whole pre-game lead-up as the rest of the world.

Let’s line ‘em up, and kick it off. Play, already.

–Jim Holland–

I know that college football wrapped up its season in early January, but since I am already missing Saturdays full of football I have circled Feb. 4.

No there are no college football games going on that day, but it is National Signing Day for football recruits around the country. Being an Iowa fan, it is usually a day that brings a couple of big names and a group of unknowns.

There is a lot of hype and buildup to the event that are probably not a good thing for high school seniors to be going through. Recruiting gets more and more intense every year.

Should there be an early signing period? Yes, probably. Is threre going to be? Probably not. But for all its faults, I can’t turn away. Even when a boatload of top talent goes to schools like Texas, USC, Ohio State and others I have no real taste for I still love soaking it all in because I am a college football junkie.

And besides after Wednesday it takes forever for the NFL Draft to get here.

 Jeff

You know that one person’s still out there - the one person who believes that a running back projected as a first-round NFL draft pick should come back for college.

But here’s the hard truth: Running backs have only a short shelf life. It is shorter than probably any other athlete’s at any other position in any sport. And if they get the chance to go to the pros as a high draft pick, they should take it. Because, you never know when that talent will dry up or give way to injury.

Case in point: LaDainian Tomlinson. He stayed for his senior year of college, but that is not my point. Right now, he is going through an on-and-off dispute with the general manager of the Chargers after his sole down year.

Story

Yes, controversy even finds the quietest, hardest working athlete.

Tomlinson led the NFL in rushing in both the 2006 and 2007. He was also the face of the team for the past half-decade. Hampered by injury this year, he did not come close to the form he showed during previous seasons.

Now, despite having three years left on his contract, the Chargers are pondering trading him or negotiating with him to reduce his salary.

So now, if you are LaDainian, you are thinking about you were everyone’s top player in the league in August. But now, you have choices: 1. Renegotiate with the Chargers for a lower salary to finish your career with the team, or 2. Don’t budge and let the team trade you, or 3. Be released.

What do you think?

- Russo

Kay Yow coached at NC State for 34 seasons. But her fight for women’s sports and raising funds for cancer research became as great a part of her legacy.

North Carolina State’s Kay Yow, the Hall of Fame women’s basketball coach who won more than 700 games while earning fans with her decades-long fight against breast cancer, died on Saturday. She was 66.

Yow, first diagnosed with the disease in 1987, died Saturday morning at WakeMed Cary Hospital after being admitted there last week

Yow had a record of 737-344 in 38 years — 34 years with the Wolfpack — in a career filled with countless milestones. She coached the U.S. Olympic women’s team to a gold medal in 1988; won four Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championships; earned 20 NCAA tournament bids; and reached the Final Four in 1998.

She also was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2002; North Carolina State dedicated “Kay Yow Court” at Reynolds Coliseum in 2007.

But for many fans, Yow was best defined by her unwavering resolve while fighting cancer, from raising awareness and money for research to staying with her team through the debilitating effects of the disease and chemotherapy treatments. In her final months, Yow was on hormonal therapy as the cancer spread to her liver and bones.

She never flinched or complained, relying on her faith as the disease progressed. She commonly noted there were other patients with “harder battles than I’m fighting” and said it was inspiring for her to stay with her team.

“If you start to dwell on the wrong things, it’ll take you down fast,” Yow said in 2007. “Every morning, I wake up and the first thing I think of is I’m thankful. I’m thankful for another day.”

Coach Kay Yow a true champion, in every sense of the word.     

-Lenn

I went to Mitchell for the Hanson Classic because I really wanted to watch three games — Red Cloud-Sisseton, St. Thomas More-Sioux Valley and Platte/Geddes-Madison — and it didn’t disappoint.

It was some great basketball (in a great venue) by a bunch of teams that are probably going to be back in Rapid come March for the Class A tournament. Obviously Red Cloud and STM won’t both make it, and maybe neither will with Lead-Deadwood, Custer, Hill City and Hot Springs all looking to spring an upset.

Still, the Class A and B ranks look to be where all of the intrigue is at this year (sorry Class AA, it’s pretty obviously SF Lincoln and everybody else).

Who is your favorite with the “unbeatable” Madison Bulldogs and their two SDSU-signees getting dropped by Platte? Are we looking at another Red Cloud-STM clash for the Region 8A title or can somebody crash that party? Look out for the ‘Saders. They’re looking like a completely different team than the one that was beaten by Custer in the LNI.

Will White River be able to make another run in Class B? I voted for Mitchell Christian No. 1 this week after having Hanson in the top slot the first few weeks of the year. From what I saw Mitchell Christian and Langford are both better than the Beavers (so is White River).

Parkston, while unbeaten, isn’t nearly as good as the rest of the top 5 (or top 8 or so) in Class A, although David Maxwell is very, very good. 

- Padraic 

A couple of proposals being advanced by South Dakota High School Activities Association advisory committees would either limit the number of football teams qualifying for the playoffs to eight per division, thereby eliminating the first round of the playoffs, or keep the format as is but start the season a week earlier.

The idea is to eliminate the compression of the playoff schedule which has games played on a Thursday-Monday-Saturday turnaround.

The first proposal would save us all the many blowout first-round games involving teams that probably don’t belong in the playoffs to start with. I like this idea. A lot.

How much sense does it make to have 16 of 17 11AA schools get to the postseason? No sense at all.

The second idea, pushing the start of the season further into August than it is now, should be summarily rejected. Starting two-a-days yet another week earlier in the heat of August is just asking for trouble with a high school athlete, I don’t care how careful coaches are about avoiding the heat of the day or allowing water breaks.

For my money, a play-off berth should be a reward of a good season. What say you?

-Jim Holland-

I thought my head was going to explode when I watched this video clip.

I mean grown men, not to mention multi-millionaires arguing over which stable of running backs should be called “Smash and Dash.” It seems to be a worthwhile argument.

I can’t say I’ve ever watched a bunch of grown discussing which pair deserves to have a nickname that rhymes. And certainly not after all of them had terrible playoff performances in losses to visiting underdogs.

By the time I watched the whole thing, I was half waiting for the three of them to settle the dispute with a good old fashioned dance off. “Keep it safe, keep it sexy, and, above all, turn up the night.”

Andrew