Can the X’s catch Wichita?

On Tuesday night, the Sioux City Explorers were no-hit by Will Savage of the Wichita Wingnuts, losing the game 1-0.  With the loss, the X’s fell 5 games out of first place with 11 games left to play in the first half.

If Sioux City is going to catch the ‘Nuts, they better get things together real quick.  The Explorers only scored 1 run in the first 2 games of their crucial 4 game series with Wichita.  Offense was not supposed to be this team’s problem at the start of the season but pitching is definately not the problem.

Rookies Trevor Fox and Michael Campbell have joined with holdovers Nick Singleton and Ty Marotz to form a strong pitching rotation nucleus.  Steve Spurgeon is not to be forgotten as well.  In fact, Spurgeon and Fox are candidates for the All-Star game.  Brett Reid has been dominant as a closer and David Trahan and Tyler Meigs have been superb in their set-up roles.  Consider that the Explorers team ERA is third best in the league and they lost Griffin Bailey to the New York Yankees organization.

So the X’s need the bats to come alive in order to catch Wichita.  Alex Llanos is only hitting .257 and has slowly moved down in Les Lancaster’s batting order.  Llanos has traditionally been a slow starter but his slow start has lasted the entire first half this time around.  Brandon Jones struggled with the bat and he was released.  Lancaster has added big bats LF Justin Nelson and 3B Landon Camp but Sioux City still has not put everything together.

By the way, far be it from me to correct the Sioux City Journal, but I will anyway.  Their headline on Wednesday said that it was the first time that somebody has ever thrown a no-hitter against the Explorers in their club history.  That is not correct.  On August 19, 1999, Gino Caruso of the Schaumburg Flyers threw a perfect game against Sioux City at Alexion Field in Illinois.  Ed Nottle was still the manager at the time.

Pointless

So, I just got through watching a new show on HBO.  Its called Joe Buck live.  It is HBO’s latest attempt to put a provocative sports talk show together on cable TV.  Instead, they put together a lot of dribble and drabble and pointless conversation in an hour long format.

First, there is the host.  Bob Costas once hosted this show but he apparently had better things to do so HBO hired Joe Buck, the Fox Sports announcer who’s father Jack Buck is rolling over in his grave right about now.  Buck has always had a biting, sarcastic type of humor — something I can appreciate.  However, I didn’t laugh at any of his lame jokes and the word old seemed appropiate.  Buck thought he was a version of David Letterman or Conan O’Brien and he was a version — a bad one.

Then, there was his guest list.  Buck got lucky and booked Brett Farve on his first show.  We are now in the middle of another Farve off-season retirement watch so he became the reason everybody wanted to watch this show.  Will Farve comeback and play for the Vikings?  His answer to that question from Buck was:  maybe.

It was good that Farve spoke to the media to clear up some of ESPN’s reporting.  However, the interview seemed to be rehearsed.  Several times, Farve and even Buck referred to talking before the show.  That’s a no-no in Interviewing 101.  Nobody was there before the show, we only see the show itself.  Farve didn’t say much other than what we all new in the first place — if he’s healthy, he’ll play for the Vikings.  If he’s not healthy, he’ll stay retired.  See that took about 5 seconds, we could have been spared the rest of the show.

Because the rest of the show was simply dreadful.

There was a recorded piece with Buck and New York Mets 3B David Wright.  They were eating lunch in a New York bistro and the conversation was about being a celebrity in the Big Apple.  Wright seemed like a nice guy but Buck was more interested in making dumb one liners and grabbing the attention away from Wright — his interviewee.  Another violation of Interviewing 101.

Next, we go back to the studio for Buck interviewing Michael Irvin and Chad Ochocinco Johnson whatever his name is.  Irvin was busy laughing and Ochocinco was busy trying to defend himself.  The best part of the interview was when Buck told Ochocinco that he embarassed his quarterback and his teammates in the media and Ochocinco asked him when he said it.  Buck had nothing!  Nothing at all!  I could see the egg in his face.  He tried to laugh it off but Chad wouldn’t let him off the hook.  Lack of preperation on Buck’s part and it showed, another violation of Interviewing 101.

Next up was Buck talking with 3 of his childhood buddies and they talked about nothing.  One of them was a comic on the Howard Stern show and he stole Buck’s show, with his cursing and one-liners making Buck look like a fool for putting this loud mouth on a sports show.  This guy was kind of funny but again, WHAT WAS HE DOING ON A SPORTS SHOW?

Lastly, Buck gave some opinions on some sports issues, most notably Michael Vick and sterioids in baseball.  On Vick, Buck said he deserves a second chance.  That was the first time all night that I agreed with him.  On steroids, I still don’t know what he said.

And the show ended the way it started — pointless.  Buck’s show won’t air again until September — hopefully by then I will have canceled my HBO subscription

Floyd out at USC

When Tim Floyd was the Head Coach at Iowa St, I interviewed him a couple of times.  One time I talked with him was in person when he came to Sioux City to speak at the Cyclone Club.  He had this sly and crooked kind of smile.

 I teased him about not liking his clothes because he always seemed to throw his jacket on the floor during the game and slowly would strip of layers as the game progressed.  The truth is that I was impressed with the man’s desire to win and Ames is not an easy place to win at.

I had always heard rumors about possible misdoings in Floyd’s basketball program but nothing was ever proven, nothing was ever brought to light and I never thought anything of it.  At Iowa St., Floyd won 81 games in 4 seasons and took the Cyclones to the NCAA Sweet 16.  Floyd took the program where nobody thought it would ever go again.

Now, Floyd is partially, if not fully disgraced with the allegations that he engineered a deal to pay O.J. Mayo to play for him at USC.  Floyd announced his resignation yesterday and his future in college coaching is in doubt.

I have always wondered whether its more important to win at all costs or lose with integrity.  Nobody likes a loser but nobody likes a cheater either.  Some players and coaches don’t want to lose so badly that they will try and win at all costs, even if it means bending the rules.

Mark McGwire is pretty much in baseball exile because it looks like he cheated — he took performance enhancing drugs and his induction in the Hall of Fame is unlikely.  Tim Floyd looks like he cheated — it appears that he has paid a player to play for him.  What should his punishment be?

My impression of Floyd was that this was a guy who would win at all costs and apparently that impression was dead on.  Floyd has disgraced himself and put into question every school that he has coached for, should the allegations are true.  Iowa St. has never been the same since Floyd left — in fact it got worse when his replacement Larry Eustachy left in disgrace and controversy and hasn’t been heard from since.

So Cyclone fans, do you treasure those years of winning under Floyd in the mid 1990’s or do you wonder whether Iowa St. won those games on the up-and-up?  You can thank Tim Floyd for that.

Koolstra to take reigns at Heelan

Bishop Heelan High School announced on Tuesday that Darron Koolstra is the new Girls Head Basketball Coach, according to Activities Director Jason Pratt.

Koolstra was not the school’s first choice but he became the last choice.  The school had offered the position to former Hinton Girls Head Coach Matt Leary, who initially accepted the position.  However, on Saturday May 30, Leary changed his mind and resigned, saying that he had too many committments.

Koolstra was the Assistant Head Coach at North High School and helped Head Coach Kirk Walker win a state championship in 2009.  Koolstra was part of 2 state titles with the Stars.

Heelan won the girls state title in 2008 and made it to the finals this past season.  Head Coach Doug Moody stepped down after accepting a similar position in the Omaha area.  The Crusaders return Senior Carli Tritz — who was voted the MVP of the entire state tournament in 2009 and has accepted an offer to play basketball at Creighton.  All-Tournament Selection Millie Niggeling also returns for Heelan, giving Koolstra a dynamic duo from with to work with.

Koolstra was an assistant in the North basketball program for 11 years — 5 with the girls and 6 with the boys.  He spent 1 season as freshman boys Head Coach at South Sioux City.  Koolstra is a native of Little Rock, IA and played 2 years of college basketball at Westmar in Le Mars.

Bad Umpiring

The Sioux City Explorers have been playing baseball for 17 seasons and it seems like every year, there has been problems with umpires.  2009 is no exception.

The other day, an American Association umpire called a catcher’s balk.  I have never heard of a catcher’s balk before so I had to look it up.  Rule 4.03 (a) in the Major League Baseball Official Handbook:

The catcher shall station himself directly back of the plate.  He may leave his position at any time to catch a pitch or make a play except when the batter is being given an intentional bases on ball, the catcher must stand with both feet within the lines of the catcher’s box until the ball leaves the pitcher’s hand.

So, what does that mean?  In the play where the umpire called the play, there was a runner at third and he broke home.  Apparently, the umpire said that the pitcher did not release the ball before the catcher moved out of position.  Apparently, the umpire has such amazing eyesight that he could keep an eye on the pitcher, the catcher, the runner, and the ball all at the same time.  Kind of hard to believe when the umpires can barely tell a ball from a strike.

The fact of the matter is that umpires in the American Association tend to have a great opinion of themselves.  The umpires in this league are mediocre at best and the league does not have and never has had a proper method making it better.  In fact, I think the umpiring has gotten worse.

Les Lancaster — manager of the Explorers — has already been ejected 3 times this season arguing with the arbitors.  One of which was arguing the catcher’s balk.  I can’t blame him.  In fact, Les might consider buying a ticket after his next ejection, go into the stands and yell at the men in blue until he turns blue.  I would pay money to see that.

The league has got to find a better way of finding better umpires.  Whether its by better pay, better teaching, or finding a way to work with professional baseball to give the umps a chance to move to the affiliated minor leagues, there has to be a way to get better umpires.  Without better umps, the game and the league is fast becoming a joke.

Goodvin lands East job

Its not official, but it appears that the new Head Football Coach at East High School will be Bob Goodvin.

KCAU-TV first reported it on Tuesday night but when I called East High School on Wednesday, they would not confirm it.  No official announcement will be made until June 9 when the appointment will be formally approved by the Sioux City School Board.

I had heard that Goodvin was definately a candidate and that East High was looking to promote from within so the decision makes sense.  Goodvin is a veteran coach of 26 years in Sioux City.  He served at West High for 12 years, spent 5 seasons as an assistant at Morningside College and has spent the last 5 seasons as the Black Raiders Offensive Coordinator.  Goodvin was 1 of 3 finalists to replace Walt Fiegal as Head Coach in 2004.

Goodvin will replace Steve Zediker who resigned following a difficult 2-7 season.   Zediker went 22-23 in his 5 seasons as the Head Coach but had 2 straight seasons at 2-7.

Goodvin will have a job ahead of him to rebuild a once proud football program.  The Black Raiders have been dwindling in numbers on the football squad over the last several seasons and Goodvin will have to first try and increase them.  He does have a strong set of receivers returning from last year’s team with Junior Quenton James and Senior Britt Anderson.  However, Goodvin will be hard pressed to replace star QB Taylor Pollow, who has moved on to Morningside.

I think the main priority will be the lines — both offensive and defensive where East was woefully small and suffered from lack of depth.  Whoever will be Goodvin’s defensive coordinator will have the toughest job.  Goodvin knows how to coach.  As a 1979 Sioux City East grad, he’ll be plenty motivated to turn things around.

Sioux City Explorers Preview

The new season of Sioux City Explorers baseball begins on Thursday, May 14 with the X’s taking on the El Paso Diablos.  I can’t believe the season is already here but it is.  The home opener will be Friday, May 22.

The expectations will be higher for this team than ever before.  Sioux City won the 2nd half last season and made the playoffs for the first time in 6 seasons but got swept by eventual champ Sioux Falls in the first round.  The X’s have a lot of familar faces but have a lot of new ones, particularly on the mound.

Here’s my preview for the upcoming season:

Starting Pitching

Let’s start with the bad news first. The Explorers – on paper – do not have an experienced starting rotation but the X’s do have an ace. Nick Singleton had talked about retirement last season but after getting hurt in August, he is motivated to come back and he may have something to prove. I think not pitching in the playoffs really motivated him to play again this season.

Singleton was the Pitcher of the Year in the American Association a year ago. The Montgomery, Alabama native went 8-4 with a 2.24 ERA in 16 starts. He was snubbed from the All-Star team by St. Paul manager George Tsamis and Singleton made him eat his words. In early August, Singleton’s elbow got sore and he missed the rest of the season. Lancaster and new Pitching Coach Bobby Post will have to carefully monitor Singleton’s pitch count this year and make sure he doesn’t overdue it.

Behind Singleton, there’s some uncertainty. Lefty Tim Layden is back but was among the league leaders in walks a year ago. I think Layden would be an ideal lefty set-up man out of the pen but he’s needed in the rotation. Lefty Curt Pasma will occupy one spot but has never started before. Pasma has spent the last 2 seasons in the Milwaukee Brewers chain. Rookie Trevor Fox has shown some flashes in spring practice but has never pitched professionally but is another left-hander. The 5th spot will probably be Jeff Jamnik, who Sioux City just acquired from Grand Prairie for a player to be named later. LS-2 Steve Spurgeon and LS-1 Tyler Meigs could also be in the mix.

Sioux City must be asking themselves where is Matt Kretzschmar? The righty was dominant out of the bullpen last season and was expected to be converted to a starter this season. Matt, however, decided to retire. It’s a shame because he had a good chance to be picked up by an affiliated team this year if he had come back. Alexander Francisco – 2nd all-time in Explorers history in wins – got an offer to play baseball in Mexico. Cameron Cheek decided to retire after getting a good job offer in Florida. All 3 will be missed.

Bullpen

The good news is that Brett Reid, who set an X’s record with 24 saves last season, is back as the Explorers closer. Reid has a devastating slider along with a solid fastball and is one of the elite closers in the AA. Ty Marotz is back as his set-up man. Marotz is a strikeout artist with one of the nastiest curve balls I have seen in the league. To replace Kretschmar, the Explorers acquired LS-1 Tyler Meigs. With Joliet last season in the Northern League, the righty went 2-7 with a 3.63 ERA and 7 saves with 53 appearances. He is a workhorse and hopefully the X’s won’t need him to start because Meigs gives Sioux City a solid 1-2-3 punch in the pen.

Whoever is not needed in the rotation will be used at the back end of the pen. There is Rookie Lefty Michael Campbell plus Righties Mike Koons (LS-1), David Trivett (Rookie) and Spurgeon. Spurgeon has the most experience, having spent 3 seasons in the Chicago White Sox chain.

Infield

The anchors of the starting line-up will be 1B/DH Walter Young and 2B Alex Llanos. There is no doubt that the X’s would not have gone to the playoffs without the acquisition of Young. The former Baltimore Oriole, instantly became a fan favorite, hitting .367 with 5 HR and 29 RBI in only 26 games. Young gave the line-up instant credibility when he arrived on the scene. Suddenly, the X’s had one of the most feared hitters in the league. Wichita paid him the ultimate respect by putting the David Ortiz-Ted Williams shift but realized that Young can hit to all fields.

Llanos is back for his 4th season with the Explorers and is moving up the ladder in all the X’s offensive categories. Last season, Llanos had another solid season – hitting .303 with 10 HR and 60 RBI. Had Llanos started the season strongly, his numbers would have been even better.

SS Nick McCoola and 1B Derek Schermerhorn will also return to lead a solid infield. McCoola was an all-star as a rookie in 2008 but tailed off a bit last season, hitting just .251. Schermerhorn was not wanted by his hometown team in Wichita so Lancaster acquired the infielder and he hit a respectable .264 with 36 RBI. Derek is at his best when he is driving the ball to right field; McCoola can hit to all fields and both players will be expected to increase their numbers to solidfy the bottom of the X’s order.

At 3B, Sioux City welcomes back Brandon Jones. Now an LS-3, the X’s traded Jones to the Frontier League after the 2007 season and Jones tore up the league, hitting 18 HR and 75 RBI. Jones will see a lot more breaking balls in the AA so he’ll have to make an adjustment. Still, he has a gun for an arm and is a very athletic third baseman.

Outfield

Another Jones is back with Sioux City and that’s former Heelan Crusader Dustin Jones. DJ started the season in right field, moved to center when Jason Tuttle got hurt, and never gave the spot back. Jones was among the league leaders in walks and on base percentage, hit .281 and stole 24 bases. Jones has a ton of potential and the X’s hope he has a breakout season in 2009. He has all the tools but has not shown power just yet. If he decides to start pulling the ball, he will.

Flanking Jones will be 2 veteran newcomers – Carlos Arroyo and Anthony Webster. Arroyo was acquired by the X’s for Paige Dumont in a trade with Edmonton. Arroyo led the Golden League in hits with 134 a season ago. He was 2nd in doubles with 29. Arroyo spent 5 seasons in the Seattle Mariners chain plus one year with the Kansas City Royals organization. He has some speed and Lancaster may use him in the leadoff role, pushing Jones to the 2nd spot.

Webster, meanwhile, has a ton of experience, making it as high as AAA in 2006 with the Texas organization. A former 15th round pick by the Chicago White Sox, Webster hit .229 with AA Altoona in the Pirates chain before being released. He has never played in the independent leagues before but should be a centerpiece in the middle of the line-up.

Catcher

 The X’s decided to trade Chris Grossman to Brockton of the Can-Am League and now have 2 options to fill his shoes. LS-3 Justin Telham hit .284 with 5 HR in 36 games with Windy City of the Frontier League last season. Telham had spent 2 ½ seasons in the Houston Astros organization. LS-2 Dan Jordan spent the last 3 seasons with the Chicago White Sox chain, but is only a career .212 hitter. Telham gives the X’s a little more offense and Jordan gives Sioux City a little more defense. Rookie Andrew Franco gives Sioux City some depth.

Outlook

Without a doubt, I am concerned about the depth of the starting pitching. Losing Francisco, Kretzschmar, Cheek, and Dumont hurts a ton. But the X’s used a young pitching staff to great success a year ago. Sioux City made their run in the 2nd half last season thanks to great pitching and an aggressive style of hitting. Lancaster likes to run, bunt, and hit home runs. Young, Webster, and Brandon Jones all have the capability to hit 15 or more homers this season. Arroyo and Dustin Jones will steal a lot of bases. There is very little weakness in the everyday line-up. The X’s seem to be poised for a return trip to the post-season. Sioux Falls is not as strong as last year. Lincoln also lost a lot from a year ago. Wichita will adjust under a new manager. St. Paul, like Sioux City, doesn’t have pitching depth. The Explorers have a great shot to take control of the Northern Division. Starting the season with 6 games in Texas won’t help. But here’s hoping a return to the playoffs will happen.

Don’t forget to tune in to all the action on 1360 KSCJ!

Time to pack it up Brett

It looks like the Brett Farve saga is not over, yet.

The Minnesota Vikings are wooing the future Hall of Famer into coming north to finish his career in purple.  The Vikings are in desperate need of a quarterback to take them to next level and Brad Childress is meeting with Farve over the next couple of days to make sure Farve is that man.

Look.  Farve is going to Canton — there is no doubt whatsoever.  He has thrown 464 career touchdowns and for over 65,000 yards.  He won a Super Bowl with Green Bay.  He is one of the greatest QB’s to ever put on a uniform.

But, he threw 22 interceptions last season for the New York Jets.  He looked slower and his passes were often underthrown and behind his receivers.  He doesn’t have the arm strength that he once had.  So when he tries to force the action and rifle one, it turns into a pick instead of a touchdown.  Farve is no longer the Farve of old.

Maybe a new system in Minnesota would help.  Maybe the prospect of playing Green Bay twice in one season would help even more.  Maybe the juices are still flowing.  Maybe Childress will succeed in convincing him to come back.  Certainly Farve would be better than Sage Rosenfels and Tavarious Jackson who are Childress’ alternatives.

I am hoping Farve will stay retired.  Too many players hang on too long and don’t know when to call it quits.  Joe Montana had a couple uninspiring years with Kansas City.  Johnny Unitas spent a season in San Diego and looked weird in powder blue.  On the other hand, John Elway retired after back-to-back Super Bowl wins.  Troy Aikman and Steve Young both didn’t want another concussion and walked away.

Farve is relatively healthy.  His family has been nothing but supportive and they, in fact, convinced him to play with the Jets last season.  Farve suffered from a torn biceps tendon a year ago, an injury that could heal by itself with rest.  The Vikings will want Farve to compete in the off-season program with the team, something he did not do last year because of his feud with the Packers.

Ultimately, that feud may decide whether Farve returns.  Farve loaths Packer GM Ted Thompson.  He may decide to play in Minnesota just to spite him.

But spite is not a good enough reason to risk your reputation.  It would just prove Farve as a bitter, old quarterback, trying to hang on to glory just a little too long.  Farve may or may not be the answer for the Vikings.  But the answer Farve should give Brad Childress is no.

Should the Big Ten expand?

Joe Paterno recently went on a rampage, saying that the Big Ten Conference should add a 12th team.  JoPa feels that the conference is slighted come playoff time when the Big 12, SEC, and ACC have their conference championships and the Big Ten teams are busy watching.  Paterno feels the conference isn’t getting the exposure that it should get with a conference title game.

I don’t know what Paterno is thinking but the conference championships are exactly what is wrong with college football.  If I had it my way, I would get rid of them all.  A school that is undefeated gains nothing by playing in a conference title game.  All it does is give it one more chance to lose a football game and not play in the BCS title game.

Now, if they got rid of the BCS format as it currently exists and went to a playoff system, then there would be a greater need for the conference titles.  However, right now, all they are are an excuse to sell a bunch of ads to Dr. Pepper and extend the college football season one more week, filling ABC’s programming and keeping the NFL away from Saturdays.

So, what if the Big Ten did expand?  Who would they get to come to the conference.  Paterno suggests Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Rutgers are possibilities.  All three are firmly entrenched in the Big East and I am sure that conference would try to resist any such move.  The travel would increase for Rutgers so I am sure the College of New Jersey would not move.  The Orange and the Panthers are more centrally located and would fit in nicely.

But its highly unlikely that either would move and upset the apple cart.  And Paterno is only thinking football in his argument.  The Big Ten does have other sports as well.  I am sure Tom Izzo at Michigan St. and other basketball coaches want nothing to do with Syracuse and Pitt during their season.

The only logical reason for the Big Ten to expand is Notre Dame.  The conference has courted the Irish a couple of different times and the Golden Domers have rejected the conference each time.  After all, they’re Notre Dame and why share the wealth with others?  When you have your own national TV contract and don’t have any problems filling your football schedule, why move?

The only way the Big Ten would get the Irish would be to allow them to keep their contract for home games and find some way on the schedule for Notre Dame to continue to play their rivals such as USC, Boston College, and the armed forces.  But that is too many games and Notre Dame doesn’t have any interest in substituting Iowa for Navy or Indiana for Air Force.

No, Notre Dame isn’t going anywhere and neither is Syracuse or anybody else for right now.  The Big Ten is happy as the Big 11 and there doesn’t seem to be any changes in the cards any time soon.

Sioux City sports has lost a class act

I learned, with dismay, that Curtis Anderson has been let go from his radio job from a competing station.

Even though Curtis was a competitor, he always had my respect.  Curtis is an easy going guy and easy to listen to on the radio.  I have always and still consider Curtis a friend.  Curtis has covered high school sports, the Sioux City Bandits, the Sioux City Musketeers and has hosted a daily sports talk show.  His resume is long and he has been a class act in everything that he has done.

Curtis was very talented doing the Muskies.  I have never broadcast hockey on the radio before and Curtis made it sound effortless.  He was a tireless worker, spending long hours on the bus with the Muskies (something I can relate too with the Explorers).  I am sure there are some stories there.

Hopefully, Curtis will land on his feet.  With his versatility and talent, I am sure that will happen.  If its here in Sioux City, that’s great.  If its not, then Sioux City sports will lose a good guy and a good broadcaster.