Friday Night Playoff Hockey

After a wild week of pre-regional action, the first regional games begin tonight. The only West Michigan team that's on the dance card for this Friday evening is Forest Hills Northern/ Eastern, which takes on Haslett-Williamston at Suburban Ice in East Lansing. Game time is 8 p.m. Good seats still available. FHN/E appears tonight based on its 4-3 nailbiter against DeWitt and a 5-2 cuticle

Pre-regional Scores

Thursday ScoresGRCC 4 EGR 1Mattawan 4 Christian 1Kentwood 8 Kal. United 0TC West 8 Manistee 1Wednesday ScoresMona Shores 9 Grand Haven 0Portage Central 2 Jenison 1Hudsonville 5 Grandville 1Rockford 6 Lowell-Caledonia 3FHN/E 5 FHC 2Cadillac 3 Big Rapids 2 (OT)TCC 3 Alpena 2 (OT)Tuesday Night ScoresKentwood 8 Wayland 0GRCC 8 Kenowa Hills 1East GR 2 West Catholic 1TC West 5 Bay Reps 3Mattawan 5

This weekend's top gathering appears to be the 21-team NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Georgia. The headlining teams include Tennessee, Texas A&M, DePaul, and Michigan.

GRCC 4 EGR 1

Don't let the final score fool you. This was a 15-round slugfest. GRCC and EGR went toe-to-toe for 41 minutes and 3 seconds until the Cougars' John Dery delivered the knockout punch in the form of sick wrister from the left dot late in the third. The goal broke a 1-1 tie and silenced the rowdy EGR student section, while propelling Catholic Central to the win and a berth in the regional finals

Prep Hockey TV Highlights

Was really great to see FOX-TV's Brent Ashcroft and WOOD-TV's Larry Figurski chatting amiably with each other between periods at the GRCC vs. EGR game tonight. That kind of sportsmanship sets a good tone for the players. (Of course, Ashcroft did later get 2 for roughing when he started jockeying for position along the glass). Seriously, you know that these guys are working extra hard these

Petoskey, Soo break record in 6 OTs

Saulte St. Marie and Petoskey battled for 92 minutes and 34 seconds last night -- nearly 6 complete overtime periods -- before the Soo scored the game-winner in a 2-1 playoff victory. The game now stands as the longest game in the MHSAA record books, surpassing the previous record held by GRCC and Mattawan. Those two teams played a 6-OT game (86 minutes, 55 seconds) in the March 2006 state

Thursday Night Playoff Hockey

Back in West Michigan after a trip to the D, and revved up for tonight's playoffs. A couple of the games are acknowledged mismatches, with new programs and young players taking on established programs with all-state caliber players. Down in K-town, there's a rubber-game matchup between two long-running programs trying to regain some luster and continue their run in the D-3 playoffs. Finally,

Blogging Mona, Paris & the Battle at Lakeshore

As I’m sitting down to record the results of the Mona Shores vs. Grand Haven playoff game, like a lot of hockey fans, I can’t stop thinking about Paris Hilton. I saw last night on the news that Paris is looking for a new BFF and taking her search to reality television, which naturally caused me to wonder, what would happen if I were to somehow win the series and become Paris’s new best friend

Uni Watch Interview

I have a new interview up in the webiverse today, thanks to Paul Lukas of the spectacular Uni Watch blog, a daily collection of commentary, links and images about the wide and eclectic selection of sports uniforms out there (old-time zinesters will remember Paul from his excellent Beer Frame as well). His approach really speaks to me...I realized it only very recently that while I'm a pretty avid sports fan, I'm not that interested in stats and numbers. When I talk to my friends about sports, I'm not talking about plus/minus or quarterback ratings, I'm talking about the Pirates alternate cap or the Chargers powder blue jerseys. I love to watch the games, and I love the way they look...I've always dug logos and uniforms, and to find a place so devoted to their study is a wonderful thing.

It was also great to do an interview with someone outside the comics milieu...as much as I love talking with all the various sites and podcasts out there, the questions, by necessity, tend to be along the same lines. To mix it up a bit was a blast!

And as a welcome to any regular Uni Watch readers making their first visit here, here's an alternate version of the Mets girl illo posted in the interview. It's the same drawing, except that here she's wearing the 2008 version of the Mets jersey...the differences are slight, but I'm sure the Uni Watchers will notice!

FOX Highlights

Here are some highlights of three games last night, including Rockford-L/C, Hudsonville vs. Grandville, and Forest Hills N/E vs. Forest Hills Central.

Forest Hills N/E 5 Forest Hills Central 2

Northern/Eastern beat Central in the hockey battle between Forest Hills schools on Wednesday evening. Central got on the board early on a goal by Sam Carlson. N/E answered shortly after that with an unassisted goal by Luke Swardenski and the first period ended knotted at 1-1. N/E scored the only goal of the second period on a tally by soph Keenan Sullivan to put them up 2-1. Central answered

Hudsonville 5 Grandville 1

Hudsonville scores first on a deflected shot from the point with the goal going to Alex DeCorte(Alex Host, Parker Host). They tally another when Parker Host (A Host, DeCorte) throws a shot out from behind the goal line and deflects off a Grandville defenseman into the net. Grandville answers back when Ian Straayer(Andy Grypma) rips a shot past Eagles goalie Pete Herman. Hudsonville scores late in

Portage Central 2 Jenison 1

The Jenison Wildcats traveled South to Kalamazoo tonight to play the Portage Central Mustangs in the Pre-Regional Championship game. Portage Central's Jared Hook started things off tonight with an unassisted goal at the 9:36 mark of the first period. Hook's linemates Cody VanderVeen and Erik Hoffman were forcing the Wildcats to dump the puck out of the zone, when Hook intercepted a clearing

Cadillac 3 Big Rapids 2 (OT)

Another physical contest between two rival teams, but Cadillac gets the win 9 seconds into OT. It was their third win against Big Rapids this season, and the win lets the Vikings advance to the Regionals at Gaylord on Saturday. Scoring started early for Big Rapids when Tom Hancock picked up a loose puck at the blue line and with a Cadillac player reading the "wash and wear" instructions on his

Rockford 6 Lowell-Caledonia 3

Rockford squared off against a very determined Lowell/Caledonia team tonight. With 10 seniors in the lineup for L/C, it was bound to be an excellent game. Score was tied at 1-1 after 1 period. Rams get a goal from Dan Cuickshank while L/C gets one to tie it up by Jordan Steger. Rockford open up a 3-1 lead after 2 with goals by Travis Guest and Tyler Glass. L/C scores 2 to tie it up at 3-3 with 5

Mona Shores 9 Grand Haven 0

Mona Shores scored 3 in the first period, then 6 in the second to end the game early against Grand Haven by a 9-0 tally after 2 periods. GH looked spent after Monday night's 5 OT marathon against RP. Shots on goal were 30-5 Shores. JC Boyd had four goals for MS. Other goals were scored by: Mike Soto with two, Adam Meloche, Austin Zaloga, and Eric Moblo with his first varsity goal. Assists were

Nic Hoch, the radio announcer and student manager for the University of Alabama softball team, has started a blog about the Crimson Tide for this season. Nic posts frequently, so give it a look. I've created a new area in my links section (see right-hand column) for "Unofficial Team Pages" and my first entry there is a link to Nic's page.

Wednesday Night Playoff Hockey

Awesome games tonight, featuring some of the area's best teams. I'm fortunate because I have to be out of town this evening on business. I say "fortunate" because I don't have to choose which game to attend. There are so many great choices -- rivalry games and senior-laden teams squaring off -- that I don't even know how I'd begin to choose. Reality: any game you go to this evening will be

GRCC, EGR to face off in pre-regional final

Grand Rapids Catholic Central and East Grand Rapids earned the right to play in the final of pre-regional #35 by virtue of wins over Kenowa Hills and West Catholic, respectively.The GRCC Cougars, ranked #1 in D-3, got hat tricks from Paul Ziemke and John Dery, plus individual goals from Kevin Boman and Tyler Godfrey in an 8-1 victory over the Knights of Kenowa Hills. The Cougars had 45 shots on

Kentwood 8 Wayland 0

The Falcons got off to a strong start in the state playoffs with a convincing 8-0 win over the Wayland United team. Kentwood was lead by captain Tyler Copeland (2 goals, 2 assists), Matt Herman (2g, 1a), Anthony Pino (1g,1a) and Miguel Rodriguez. Shots were 21-8 in favor of East Kentwood.

2008 NHL Trade Recap

Good bye, Matt Cooke; Hello, Chris Simon





Before anyone passes judgement on Chris Simon, please read this piece from Sports Illustrated.

A poetic posting by an anonymous parent

The WMHSH Blogger writes: "I did not write the following. This was posted as a comment on one of my blog postings a little while ago. It was too good to stay in the background, so I'm blogging it here. It's giving me a lump in my throat and my kid is only a sophomore. If your kids is a senior, please treat yourself to this post. And to the author...whomever you are, thanks." These next few

Free Coffee + Hockey = Blogger Nirvana

Regular readers of the Blog may know about my coffee jones. As a service to Blog readers, I wanted to let you know that Biggby's (which used to be called Beaners) is offering free java at its Grand Rapids locations tonight. Seems that the guys based in Seattle (ie, Starbucks) are closing their stores for three hours of training tonight from 5:30-8:30 p.m., so East Lansing-based Biggby's is

Tuesday Night Playoff Hockey

Grand Rapids Catholic Central vs. Kenowa Hills (6 p.m. @ Griffs) - While the two-time state finalists from GRCC have a depth of senior talent that is unmatched in West Michigan, Kenowa Hills is the kind of team that could pull an upset against the Cougars. The KH Knights are one of those teams that usually "hangs around" thanks to their goalie, Zac "Fuzzy" Smith, and the defensive corps, as

Grand Haven 3 Reeths Puffer 2 (5 OT)

Quite a game on the Lakeshore last night, with Grand Haven outlasting Reeths-Puffer in five overtimes. Both coaches sent me notes this morning to say what a great game it was and to offer kudos to all players on both teams. The goalies stood on their respective heads and made numerous game-saving stops in regulation and OT. Sounds like Grand Haven's tender Sean Kittredge was the #1 star,

Mona Shores Blogger Reviews the Game

Casual fans of Mona Shores Sailors hockey could not be blamed if they didn’t notice the changes with the Sailors Monday night at the opening Regional Playoff game against the coalition forces from Muskegon Catholic Central, Spring Lake, and North Muskegon at the Lakeshore Sports Centre. It seems for the past week, the MS players got together in a show of unity and agreed to grow out

FOX 17 Sports Highlights

FOX TV, where they do things fair and balanced, was out on the town tonight, capturing Prep hockey on the tape for a lengthy highlight reel. Click here to see moving pictures on the Internets of the following hockey contests: Rockford-Ottawa/Union, Mona-MCC, FHNE-Dewitt and FHC-Northview. Actually, you'll have to click on "Prep Hockey 2/25/2008" once you get to the Fox site.

FHN/E and FHC earn rematch

The third time will be the charm for one of the Forest Hills hockey teams, as they both won tonight. Forest Hills Northern/Eastern and Forest Hills Central will face off on Wednesday, February 27 at 7 p.m. for the right to play in the regional final Friday night. The game is scheduled for Griff's Icehouse, which should be filled to capacity given recent crowds when these two rivals have played

Grandville 5 West Ottawa 1

Grandville got off to another fast start with Senior Tom Lorenz scoring 36 seconds into the game. assists went to Ryan Ihrig and Alex Stickland. The Bulldogs added a powerplay goal from Andy Grypma (Andrew Clemmens, Tory Tompkins) to close out the 1st period scoring. The Panthers got on the board early in the 2nd on a goal from Noah Mihos (David Broome). Grandville tallied 2 more goals from

Rockford 9 Ottawa Union 0

Rockford was able to advance to the 2nd round of the playoffs with a 9-0 win over Ottawa Union from the Grand Rapids City League. The Rams get goals from 9 different players in the win. Christian Van Portfliet records the shutout in goal. GR Union/Ottawa battled hard to the end. A note from our Rockford Blogger: "The Rockford teams offers its congratulations to GR Union/Ottawa and their 1st

Portage Central 3 Portage Northern 1

The Portage Central Mustangs completed a season sweep over crosstown rival Portage Northern tonight with a 3-1 victory at the Annex in Kalamazoo. Emotion ruled the first period as both teams traded great scoring chances. The Mustangs jumped ahead with only 4:17 remaining in the opening period when Jeremy Renda intercepted a clearing attempt in the Huskies zone. He found Matt Ragains in

Big Rapids 3 Gaylord 2

Playoff hockey at its best in Big Rapids tonight, a very physical game and lots of run and gun. On the strength of 3 power play goals, Big Rapids gets by Gaylord 3-2 tonight at Ferris State. Despite being outshot 33 to 27 by the Gaylord Blue Devils, Big Rapids scores once in each period with power play goals in the first by Mike Hickson (assist to Paul Goggins and Tom Hancock), in the second by

Lowell-Caledonia 10 Creston-Central 0

L/C wins big, lead by junior Joel Morgan with 3 Goals 2 Assists. Coach Ballard offers the following statement: "Lowell/Caledonia would like to applaud the Central/Creston Team on their love of game shown by the desire and continuous effort they put out in the game while being a clean and respectful Team. We (L/C) know you have had a tough season but respect your efforts your a very nice

Mona Shores 3 Muskegon Catholic Central 0

The WMHSH Blogger notes: "For all the critics of the raving blogger, I wanted to let you know that he wrote the post below as a quick update. Call it proof that he's 1.) not biased and 2.) capable of being pithy. I am hoping he'll give us some literary love tomorrow."Muskegon Catholic Central played an inspired game and freshman 'tender Tommy Marine was tall in net for MCC. Mona threw 42

Secura.

About a week or so ago, my pal Jay Geldhof suggested on his blog that he and I take a crack at drawing the same character...we settled on Aayla Secura, that blue Jedi chick from the Star Wars prequels, and got to it. We agreed to post them today, and although he beat me by a good six hours, I managed to bring it in on time.

The results are pretty good, I think...there're some coloring issues on my end that I think coulda worked out better, but overall, I guess I'm happy with it. I especially like the way Jay handled the lightsaber on his piece, and while I'll blame the underwhelming quality of mine on time constraints, in reality I could've had another three weeks and it probably wouldn't matter.

Also, following the big guy's lead, I'm posting the sketchbook page in which I worked out a bunch of possible poses before settling on one. I might take another crack at it if I get the itch!

Diablos 1 - Nemesis 0: A Big Night For Diablos Everywhere

Diablos around the world had reason to celebrate last night. First off, your hometown club has finally scratched and clawed their way to the lone spot on top of the D1 West standings. They earned two points by defeating the Nemesis 1-0 in a hard fought, chippy, and (needless to say) defensive battle.

Johnny "J.D." Driscoll had the lone, shorthanded tally with a wicked wrister over the blocker of the Nemesis 'tender. The Diablo plumbers kept the explosive Nemesis offense from getting any good looks and goaltender Justin Alderink turned away all 30 shots to earn the shutout.

The Diablos are now the owners of the best record in the D1 West division and will be playing the Buccaneers next Saturday at Breck Arena.

Ecstatic as you might be over the hockey game, that was not the only Diablo triumph last night. The Diablos favorite stripper turned screenwriter, Diablo Cody, won an Oscar (slightly less prestigious than the AHA D1 Title) for Best Original Screenplay for her movie Juno. How much do we love Diablo Cody? Watch.



Unfortunately for the rest of us, this screenwriting thing is working out because we'd really like to see her back on the pole.

Advance Hockey Coverage

It's Monday and that means a healthy dose of stories from the local Advance newspapers. A great story on Ottawa Union's 6-5 OT win over Kalamazoo United to cap the OU team's regular season. You can also read the recap of the Rockford Rams upset victory over Mona Shores last week, and revisit Lowell-Caledonia's title-clinching victory over West Ottawa. There's also reportage about Grandville

Monday Night Playoff Hockey

Grandville vs. West Ottawa (7 p.m. @ Georgetown) - After a mid-season stumble, Grandville is playing some of its best hockey in recent weeks, anchored by outstanding goaltending from junior Ryan Wysocki. The Bulldogs offense runs through seniors Andy Grypma and Ian Straayer, who each registered 30+ points on the season. The Panthers sport a more balanced attack, paced by Jed Grooters, Matt

Janecyk featured in GR Press

Nice story in today's GR Press about one of the best goalies -- and nicest kids -- in West Michigan: GRCC senior Adam Janecyk. Janny sports a career record of 53-9-2, a .912 save percentage and a 2.02 goals-against average in 64 varsity games, according to the Press, which highlights his decision to forgo juniors to play high school hockey as a senior and try to win a state championship. I

WMHSH Blog Scholarship

I've always been a fan of the notion that athletics teaches you life lessons. And, as I've blogged a few times this season, I do believe that the phrase "student-athlete" is properly stated and the words are in their proper order. With that in mind, I'm pleased to announce that the West Michigan High School Hockey Blog will be offering a $1,000 scholarship to a graduating senior who played

This weekend's major event, the Palm Springs Classic, is now complete; one can find all the results by clicking on the link and then scrolling down to the chart listing all games.

With 24 teams each playing five (or six) games with preordained matchups and no playoff brackets, there cannot really be a definitive winner. Having said that, there did appear to be a standout team, namely the UCLA Bruins. As noted in this UCLA athletics release, the Bruins "...went 5-0 this weekend with four victories over Top 20 teams." The ranked teams mowed down by UCLA were Northwestern, Hawaii, Baylor, and Georgia, with UMass the remaining team. Further, as the article notes, UCLA senior pitcher Anjelica "Jelly" Selden seems to be regaining the form of her frosh and soph seasons in Westwood.

Stanford, one of the teams that played six games, won its first five, before dropping its finale to Texas; the loss was the Cardinal's first of the season.

The most interesting body of work for the tournament arguably belongs to San Diego State. The Aztecs went 2-3, but the victories came over Arizona and Northwestern, two teams that have spent time this season at (or near) the top of the national rankings.

***

This afternoon, I was watching a little of the Notre Dame-at-DePaul women's basketball game on ESPN-U. During halftime, the interview guest was none other than Blue Demon head softball coach Eugene Lenti. Noting that he had a senior-laden team this year, Lenti expressed optimism about DePaul's chances of making it back to the Women's College World Series.

Another development, which has been public for a while but was news to me, is the arrival at DePaul of former University of Texas pitching star Cat Osterman as pitching coach. As this article describes, however, Osterman will not be available on a regular basis to the Demon pitchers, due to a heavy traveling schedule with the U.S. national team heading into this summer's Beijing Olympics.

Coming Monday: Playoff Previews, Special News

Check back in the morning for previews of Monday night playoff games as well as a special announcement that will be of interest to student athletes who played hockey in 2007-2008.

OK Conference Tiers Slated

Have heard from a few coaches, who just returned from the OK Conference meeting where the tiers for next year have been set. The following are the tiers that were sent to me, though they have not been confirmed with the OK Conference itself. Tiers as follows:Tier I East Grand Rapids East Kentwood Forest Hills Central Forest Hills Northern GR Catholic Mona Shores Rockford Tier II GR West

Players of the Week

Playoffs start tomorrow, and the WMHSH Blog wanted to get a head start on all that is going on this week. So here today, you'll find the "Players of the Week." As with last week, there's a boatload of them, including a few that didn't necessarily impress with stats, but they came up big in a game or really reinforced the meaning of what it is to be a team player. Each of the players gets an

Bracketology...and more

You can check the MHSAA playoff listings, including all dates and times, by clicking here. If you're more of the visual learner, you're probably interested in the playoff brackets, which you can find by clicking on the links below:Division 1 BracketDivision 2 BracketDivision 3 Bracket

MVP

Share your opinion on who is the Most Valuable Player in West Michigan hockey. Not necessarily the "best" high school players on the left side of the state (though there certainly are some all-state caliber players), but the kids who are most valuable to their teams. Who is the Steve Nash type player, the one kid who if you removed him from the team...well the team wouldn't have the same success

OK CONFERENCE FINAL STANDINGS

Congratulations to Lowell-Caledonia, Forest Hills Central and Muskegon Mona Shores on their OK Conference Championships. All three were involved in great title races, which weren't decided until their final games of the conference season. By virtue of their title wins, L/C and FHC will move up to Tier 2 and Tier 1, respectively. In accordance with League rules, Grandville and Grand Haven

Diablos vs. Nemesis

Not just for some of the marbles...



We don't have the building or the banners, but we all have a little pitchfork wielding diablo running around inside us.


View Larger Map

Later today: Playoff Coverage

Coming later today, we'll be blogging everything you need to know about the MHSAA hockey playoffs, including West Michigan matchups, brackets and pre-game notes. Pucks start dropping tomorrow night, so visit the Blog to be prepared!

The Morning After

Some quick notes and thoughts on the morning after the last regular season games for the year. Plenty of action this week, including meaningful games that decided conference championships and some "off the ice" items that generated plenty of discussion and commentary.First off, congratulations to Hudsonville's senior forward Alex Host who became the leading scorer in the school's history. He

Reeths-Puffer 3 Muskegon Catholic Central 2

The crosstown rivals finally meet for the first time this year on the last game of the regular season. The first period was a defensive battle with both teams feeling the other one out. MCC had three visits to the penalty box in the first period, at one time giving the Rockets a 5-3 advantage for 1:35. Both teams held serve--no goals scored. About five minutes into the second period

AA Gabriel Richard 5 Grandville 4

The final regular season game found the Grandville Bulldogs traveling to the famous Yost Ice Arena on the campus of the University of Michigan. The Dawgs got off to a great start by getting 1st period goals from Andy Grypma , Zach Brouwer and Alex Stickland. The Fighting Irish answered back with a late goal from Matt Kolevar. The 2nd period saw AA Gabriel Richard tying the game with powerplay

WMHSH Blog Scoreboard

Saturday ScoresGRCC 3 Howell 3Portage Nthn 10 E. Lansing 3FHC 5 Rockford 3Reeths Puffer 3 MCC 2Hudsonville 4 West Catholic 1South Christian vs LakeviewGrandville vs Gabriel RichardWest Bloomfield 10 Ottawa Union 2Friday ScoresMona 4 Kentwood 3FHC 9 Kenowa Hills 1H'ville 7 Jenison 2Wayland 6 Northview 5Portage Central 3 EGR 2GR Christian 4 Grand Haven 1Big Rapids 2 Bay Reps 0

GRCC 3 Howell 3

On senior night at Griff's, Grand Rapids Catholic Central skated to a 3-3 tie against a spunky squad from Howell in a game that looked like pond hockey at times. Both teams had lots of end-to-end rushes and breakaways, and there was no shortage of wheeling and dealing. Clayton Brackett scored a pair of goals and Kevin Boman added a goal and assist to pace the Cougars. Adam Janecyk had 23

Portage Northern 10 East Lansing 3

The final tune up before MHSAA Pre-Regional action in Kalamazoo was won by Portage Northern this afternoon. East Lansing put up a valiant effort in the opening period, but could not keep up with the Huskies relentless offense in the final two periods. Northern's three captains led all scorers in this contest. Nicco Braganini (3 goals), Kevin Campbell (1 goal, 4 assists), Doug Wheelright (1 goal,

Mona Shores 4 East Kentwood 3

Blogger's Note: A filing from my raving reporter up in the Shores area. If you don't like his prose, you can refer to the box score or my own mundane report. Honestly, though, this may be his best effort yet -- in the humble opinion of the WMHSH Blogger. Without further ado...Doc TG Boyd (no relation to MS coach Bob White-Boyd) in Muskegon knows hockey. So when he labeled me a grinder

Photos?

Does anyone have a digital camera? Have a friend or loved one (does anyone love a Diablo anyway?) come to the game and take some action photos and send them to me. I'll post them as soon as I get them.

We're missing too many Kodak moments.

Hockey Night in West Michigan

Where does the time go? Here it is February 23rd, and I'm having a bit of an existential crisis. Two things have happened that have me considering the fleeting nature of time and my own mortality. First, my oldest child turned 18 yesterday, which is a mind-blower. Wasn't it just a few months ago that I was holding her hand and walking her to her first-grade classroom? Second, and more

Tier 1 & 2 Title Coverage

Our friends at FOX have highlights of both title games in Tier 1 and Tier 2 that are available here. Also, the Grand Rapids Press dispatched reporters to both games, and the stories can be found here. On a February night with the hoops playoffs going on, it's great to see the coverage for hockey.

Pulling the goalie, Vince Lombardi and 2nd place

I've known Kentwood Coach Todd Bell for four years, and my son played for him for three years of travel hockey. Like any coach, Bell hates to lose, but he hates ties even more. So when Bell pulled his goalie with about 25 seconds left in a 3-3 tie against Mona Shores, I wasn't surprised -- even though most everyone else in the Kentwood Ice Arena seemed to be, including the Mona Shores

Forest Hills Central wins Tier 2 Title

Forest Hills Central put on an offensive clinic, scoring 4 goals in the first and 3 in the second to cruise to a 9-1 victory over Kenowa Hills. Drew Preston and Evan Hess each scored a pair of goals, while forward Morgan Feenie had 4 assists to pace the Ranger attack. Derek Hess registered the win between the pipes for Forest Hills. The victory gives Forest Hills Central the OK Tier 2

Mona Shores wins Tier 1 title

Mona Shores senior JC Boyd scored with 1.7 seconds left to lift the Sailors a 4-3 win over Kentwood and the OK Conference Tier 1 title. The game-winner capped a comeback by Mona Shores, which had dug itself a 3-0 hole through most of two periods. Kentwood scored first, on first period goal that was shot through traffic by Anthony Pino. Senior captain Tyler Copeland added a pair of second

Hudsonville 7 Jenison 2

No details on this game, but the win puts Hudsy into second place in OK Tier 2 for the season.

Grandville 2 Forest Hills Northern./Eastern 2

On senior night, Grandville welcomed the visitors from FHNE. Early in the 1st period Grandville capitalized on a delayed penalty call with Ian Straayer scoring the 1st of his 2 goals on the night. The ice soon tilted toward the Grandville net with FHNE peppering Grandville goalie Ryan Wysocki with shot after shot. The score remained 1-0 until early in the 3rd when Straayer scored his 2nd of the

Portage Central 3 East Grand Rapids 2`

The Pioneers built a 2-0 lead in the first on goals by Ekco Morgan and Joe Glendenning, but PC battled back with two goals by Jared Hook to tie it up in the third. PC's Erik Hoffman got the game-winner with two ticks left in the game to lift the Mustangs to the victory at the Annex in Kalamazoo.

Big Rapids 2 Bay Area Reps 0

It was senior night in Big Rapids and Mom's and Dad's were remembering when....when skates cost $25, sticks were $10 and the best part of the game was a snack in the locker room...win or lose. Times sure changed, the kids grew and we all know what hockey sticks cost now. The senior class always wants to win its last regular season game and that is exactly what Big Rapids did, beating the Bay Reps

Wayland 6 Northview 5

Friday Night Hockey

Tonight is what high school hockey in late February is all about: Big games that will decide championships, hot teams on win streaks facing off, and squads looking to play spoiler. All of the games tonight are worth watching, but there are a few that are especially noteworthy.Kenowa Hills vs Forest Hills Central (8 p.m. @ Patterson) - If Forest Hills beats Kenowa tonight, they are the

Steve Nelson: Media Whore

Watch around 3:00. Norm Sucks.

http://www.kare11.com/video/player.aspx?aid=63476&bw=

The Wisconsin Badgers will administer a four point beatdown on the Gophers this weekend, Nelson. And Keith Ballard is a pussy.

I just found the tournament website for the 24-team Palm Springs Classic, which starts tomorrow and runs through Sunday (if you go to the tourney website, you'll need to scroll down a bit to see the list of participating teams and the schedule).

Northwestern, ranked No. 2 and 3 nationally in the two major polls, will be playing in Palm Springs. So will UCLA, Arizona, Oklahoma, and LSU, all of whom are ranked in (or near) the top 10. The U.S. national team is also included in the field.

Elsewhere this weekend, consensus No. 1 Alabama will play in the Florida International University tournament.

Arizona State and Texas A&M, each of whom is in the top 4 of both national polls, are both in action this weekend. The Sun Devils host what looks to be a low-key tournament, a pattern they will be repeating for the next couple of weekends thereafter (see ASU's homepage in the links section to the right, for the team's schedule). The Aggies, too, will be hosting a tournament this weekend; similar to ASU's, the A&M tourney lacks "big name" opposition.

***

Given how cold February tends to be in the midwestern and northeastern United States, college softball teams from these regions typically will travel to warmer climates to play in tournaments at this time of year. In recent weeks, however, some snowbelt teams have been staying home -- and under a dome.

I've tried to find pictures online of softball being played on what ordinarily would be a baseball or football field, with some success. There's a nice photo gallery from the February 9-10 tournament at North Dakota State's Fargo Dome. For the 2007 Northern Iowa UNI-Dome Classic, I found two galleries (here and here); you might want to check back here to see if 2008 tourney photos appear at some point. Finally, Minnesota has hosted a tournament at the Metrodome in recent years; here's an article from 2005 with a photo.

Lowell-Caledonia wins Tier 3 Title

L/C wins Tier 3 with a convincing 9-2 victory over West Ottawa. Lowell/Caledonia's seniors came out to stake their claim to the OK Conference T3 title. L/C jump out to a 2-0 lead after 1 and added two more in the second period before West Ottawa got on the board. The Panthers could not keep pace with L/C, which was lead by seniors Jordan Steger (4 Goals 1 Assist) and Jon Kuzava (2 Goals 3

Kenowa Hills 5 Reeths-Puffer 2

It sucks when you're late to a game, but it's even worse when you walk in with less than 5 minutes gone and the score is already 2-2. Puffer had scored just 10 seconds in to the game on an unassisted goal by Joey Sterrit. Kenowa answered back 36 seconds later on a Ryan Gerke goal (assists to Jared Folkringa and Joe Hankins). The teams waited for another four minutes before the red light came

SWMHSHL Champs: Portage Central

Portage Central notched a 5-0 victory over the Kalamazoo Blades in the championship of the SWMHSHL. Eric Hoffman led the Mustangs with 3 goals and 1 assist. Line mate Jared Hook added 2 goals and 2 assists. Brogan VandeVelde stopped everything that the Blades threw at him to earn the shutout. The pre-game hype had the Annex in Kalamazoo buzzing because the previous meeting between these two

Grandville 4 West Catholic 1

Grandville jumps out to a 3-0 1st period lead with goals from Ian Straayer(2) and Andy Grypma. Mike Judy scores for West Catholic in the 2nd to make it a 2 goal game. Grandville's Zach Brouwer adds a 3rd period goal to seal the win. Grandville goalie Ryan Wysocki makes 25 saves for the win, while West Catholic's Spencer Boorsma makes 28 saves.

Muskegon Catholic Central 4 Manistee 2

Manistee rolled into the Lakeshore Sports Center for the second game with MCC in a week. The tandem of Joey Tomczyk from Dan Peterson scored two goals in the opening stanza to give Manistee the opening edge, but the Crusaders answered with three consecutive goals (Jared Panozzo from Noah VanBergen and Evan Valk; Steve Westerberg from Panozzo; and Chris Kendro from Kyle Kampenga and

I promise you, I will never inflict seriousness and earnestness on you like this ever again. But what's worse? Putting up with reading one humorless blog entry or dealing with three more eons of Bush rule?

I have been a volunteer for the Barack Obama campaign since August of 2007. I have never felt as passionately about a candidate as I do about Barack Obama. I could go into my reasons but I am not here to sell him to you. Merely express my thoughts about today.

I headed towards Reunion Arena around 11am. Along the way, I met a girl my age and we started talking about everything from music to movies to our disgust at the way America has turned over the past 7 years. Yeah, it's a long walk. We both talked about the fact that we were both in our late twenties (me 27, her 28) and that a Bush has been either our Vice President, President or Governor our entire lives. It's a sickening thought.

But then (and this is the part where you can feel free to dismiss this whole blog entry as "cheesy") we got to Dealey Plaza. The deafening sound of the three news helicopters that hovered above drowned out the fountains. There were dark storm clouds to the south. Then the only thing that could possibly overpower the din of the hovering helicopters happened. The clock at the Old Red Courthouse struck noon and the bells peeled or tolled or whatever it is exactly they do. Metallica seems to think they toll, so let's go with toll.

Let me back up a little. I was raised by my Mom who is a history teacher. To say that we are a family of history buffs is putting it extremely lightly. My favorite things to watch as a kid were those Time Life videos that covered the 20th Century a decade at a time. I would stay up past my bedtime reading this under the covers with a flashlight:



And I remember, as a kid, feeling an overwhelming feeling of sadness for the people who attended the Robert Kennedy rally at the Ambassador (RIP) Hotel in Los Angeles. Because even as a kid, I realized how hopeful they must have felt listening to Robert Kennedy speak. In the context of 1968 and Vietnam and the recent assassination of Martin Luther King, it must have felt like they at least had this one thing left to cling to for hope. They had one reason to be hopeful. And to have that violently ripped out from under them is unfathomable.

So back to the bells and for whom they toll and all that stuff. I don't know why but walking across Dealey Plaza today with the kinetic excitement of helicopters hovering and bells ringing and people flooding in from all directions made me kind of realize how hopeful those people probably felt that night at the Ambassador. There's a shitty unjustified war going on, people who are trying to make a change or bring about some small parcel of justice in the world are getting assassinated and young people seem to finally be tired of being spoken for by old white men who don't care about them. It's the first time in my life that supporting a candidate actually seems to mean sending a message.

I never got into the rally. And I have never been happier. I didn't get in because there were already 20,000 people who camped out to get inside. And another 10,000 or so who stood outside hoping to get in. That's 30,000 people in my city who represent the hundreds of thousands of others who also want change. So I walked back to my office in time to watch the entire speech online. To say I am hopeful is an understatement.

Wednesday Night Hockey

Portage Central vs. Kalamazoo Blades (7 p.m. @ Wings) - The finals of the SWMHSHL tournament should prove pretty interesting as it matches regular season league leader Portage Central against a surprising Blades team, which beat Portage Northern in OT to make it to the 'ship. The Blades are, no doubt, seeking a large measure of revenge, after Portage Central mercied them 8-0 in the last meeting

Diablos vs. Muskies Recap

Diablos Gaff The Muskies

Sunday, February 17, 2008.

Bloomington, MN. In an unprecedented display of offensive firepower the AHA D1 Diablos Hockey Club dominated a depleted Muskies team, skating without two of its top three scorers, at the Bloomington Ice Gardens Sunday night. Ironically, the Diablos did it minus their own top three scorers of C Ted Reiff, LW John Driscoll, and C Steve Nelson. The Diablos set club records for goals scored in a game with 8, goals scored in a period with 5 in the 3rd, shots on goal with 43, shots allowed with 9, points in a game for an individual player with RW Dean Groth's 4 (2g, 2a) and fewest penalty minutes in a game for the team with 0.

The game followed a team meeting brought on by a lackluster performance by the Diablos in an exhibition game against the TCGHA BG Moose White team the day before at Mariucci Arena. In that game the Diablos failed to control play and ended up out shot and out skated, lucky to escape with a 1-1 tie. In the team meeting Captain Todd Ewing exhorted the Diablos to move their feet, get open, pass the puck and shoot, shoot, shoot. Apparently the Diablos followed their captain's words with deeds.

On the opening shift of the game the Diablos took the puck deep into the Muskies zone and carried play hard to the net forcing Muskies sub-goalie Dave Homel (Renegades) to cover up. Homel had no idea where the puck was and only a quick whistle saved an early goal as the puck's momentum carried it slowly into the net behind Homel. It was a sign of things to come. At 14:23 of the 1st period D Andy Claypool single handedly carried the puck up the left side into the Muskies zone and fired a low shot on net beating Homel five-hole for Claypool's first AHA regular season goal. At 9:56 of the
period the Diablos added another tally when C Peter Sinesio fired home a pass from RW Dean Groth.

The second period opened with a sign the Muskies weren't out of it yet and proof that goaltending can be an adventure. Diablos goalie Justin Alderink skated out high in the zone to play a puck that had split the Diablos defenders. Alderink, normally the best, most reliable passer on the team, tried to move the puck up the right side, but instead fanned on the attempt. Muskies forward B. Hirano, that team's second leading scorer, was in on Alderink on the fore check and picked up the loose puck. The helpless goalie could only look to the heavens as Hirano buried the puck in the open net unassisted at 16:07. It was Alderink's second misadventure with the puck of the night, though the first he had to pay for, and his teammates demanded that he stay in the net for the remainder of the game. The Diablos got the goal back at 11:53 when Dean Groth scored his first of the game with an assist from Peter Sinesio.

The Diablos had dominated play for two periods, but the score was only 3-1 to begin the 3rd. Then the bottom fell out for the Muskies. The Diablos used their longer bench and more rested skaters to put the game away beginning with D Ryan Carroll's power play blast for an unassisted goal at 13:07. At 9:35 C Jarick Losey scored on a hardworking cycle in the neutral zone of LW Rocco Bonello to RW Mat Lindquist back to Bonello and over to Losey. Bonello and Lindquist picked up assists on the play. At 6:44 Dean Groth scored his second of the game on a feed from D Pieter VanZyl at the point. RW Monique Lindquist picked up an assist on the play along with VanZyl. At :34 C Todd Ewing and the top line were finally rewarded after skating hard all game when LW John Blasingame went into the corner to gather a loose puck. Blasingame fired hard to Ewing standing in front of the net and Ewing buried the puck high over Muskies goalie Homel. Scoring closed out much as it had begun when Peter Sinesio picked up is second of the game with an assist from Dean Groth.

In all, eleven of the fourteen Diablos skaters picked up at least a point in a game that was a total team effort. While RW Dave Christenson and D Greg Smith and Mike Monroe didn't factor on the official score sheet, they all factored unofficially with their strong play. The Diablos stayed out of the penalty box, skated hard, passed and shot the puck. Shots on goal for the Diablos 13-13-17 for 43; for the Muskies 1-5-3 for 9.

Stars of the game:

#1 RW Dean Groth
#2 C Peter Sinesio
#3 D Andy Claypool

Up Next:

The Diablos face their co-first-place team the Nemesis on Sunday 02-24-08 at 9:00p at Richfield East. - JB

Players of the (2) Week(s)

The WMHSH Blogger's travels and hectic schedule resulted in me blowing a very important deadline: naming the Players of the Week. That's a shame because there were some standout performances the week I was gone, especially in the McMichigan Cup, the Trenton Showcase and the MCC tournament. The momentum carried forward for a couple of players into this week. So here, readers, is an extended

Advance Coverage

Lots of hockey coverage in the Advance papers this week. Read about the resurgence of the East Grand Rapids Pioneers hockey team as well as a recap of Mona Shores 3-1 win over FHN/E. You can also check out a report on East Kentwood's victory over Grandville and a nice story on South Christian's 3-2 win over Wayland. Plus, there's an article on Lowell/Caledonia's 3-1 win over South Christian,

Fastest Man on Skates

Literally made me shiver.

Diablos 8 - Muskies 1

An unheard of output by the team which is usually stingy in this category. Goals? Nope - Shots. 43 to 9???!!! Insane in the Membrane!



Official AHA Scoresheet - TR

Liveblogging the Jason Kidd Press Conference

3:32pm - Jason Kidd commenting on his new number choice (as Josh Howard has #5 already): "Well, #2 is good since it's my second time here. I looked at it for a long time and if you turn over the number 2, the curves kind of look like the number 5. Just the curves." Ummmmmm yeah ok, whatever dude!

3:36pm - Donnie Nelson doesn't want to answer the question of if it was possible to negotiate the trade without losing Diop. "When you are doing a deal for one of the greatest players in the history of the game...." Did you hear that kids? Wilt Chamberlin is BACK from grave! Lock up your daughters!

3:38pm - Avery Johnson: "JJ Barea is not starting anymore!" My friend Chad will be crushed. He's not gonna take this very well.

3:39pm - "Jason, over here, question! Besides Barea, do you feel like there's as much or more talent on this Mavericks team than the New Jersey team in the playoffs?" Did you hear that, JJ Barea? Remember that brief time you were the starting point guard? Now you are a punchline. Hope you enjoyed it, kiddo!

3:41pm - Mike Doocy asks Mark Cuban about how stressed he has been over the past week or two regarding the trade. Mark Cuban takes that as an opportunity to make some bad jokes. And then laugh at his own bad jokes. Hey, somebody's gotta!

3:43pm - Final question. Some banal thing about "Are you excited to be back and are you excited for the challenge?" Here's where Jason Kidd could have won me over. This is where you say something like "Nope, not really that excited about the challenge." Because what's funny is that he gave the standard "I love to rise to a challenge....it's what this sport is about..." answer with the same amount of enthusiasm that I displayed when I had to verify my business mailing address for the Yellow Pages about an hour ago.

And that was that. Welcome back, Jason Kidd. Catch the Mavs fe...................oh, wow sorry about that huge yawn.........fever. Catch the Mavs fever!

If ANYONE Even Mentions That Horrible "You Had a Bad Day" Song....

It's a bad day. Scratch that. Yesterday was a bad day and today has decided to follow the path of least resistance and be shitty as well. Which usually starts to indicate the start of what is called a "very bad week", the type that tends to end in a terminal disease misdiagnoses or something equally wacky and disheartening.

I blame all of this on Mark Cuban. Devin Harris left at 7am for New Jersey today. New Jersey is actually not that bad of a place. And he will get to hang out with Jay-Z instead of Mark Cuban. I honestly want to see Devin Harris flourish and I hope he does really well wherever he is playing. Really, which one of these owners would you rather report to?:



*OR*




I only hope they do something like announce that the baseball season will now run 12 months a year, continuously and that baseball will pre-empt any other sporting event on television. That would be neat! I would go get a cheeseburger and some onion rings but beef is apparently now tainted. So I will sit here and eat dry Cheerios and try to derive some inspiration from the view from my downtown office window. Oh yeah, forgot that my office window faces this:



Yeah, I may just swivel my chair around and eat my dry Cheerios while staring at the County Jail. It's turning out to be that kind of day and perhaps week.

Ok Conference races coming down to the wire

I've never been very good at "playoff math" -- the formulas and figuring that you do to determine who has a chance to win the league title and who has to win or lose which games. Fortunately, Coach Mike Ballard has tutored me on the subject and here's the sum of it: the OK Conference races are coming down to the wire this week in all three tiers. In Tier 1, it comes down to the Muskegon Mona

South Christian 3 Northview 2

GRCC 5 Portage Central 4 (OT)

Portage Central built a 4-1 lead on a Jared Hook hat trick, before the Cougars battled back to tie it in regulation. John Dery netted the game-winner with less than a minute remaining in the extra session. Adam Schmieder got the win in net for GRCC.

Jammie Pants

Photo-reffed from a picture I can't seem to relocate.

oops!

When I said all that stuff about starting this blog to prove that Keith Van Horn was important and special, I certainly didn't mean it in this kind of way. I didn't know that he would be the missing part of the puzzle that causes us to lose Devin Harris and DeSagana Diop (and Hassell) for Jason Kidd. Damn you, Keith Van Horn! I take it all back. I was only a fan of yours in an ironic, tongue-in-cheek way.

Prediction #1:

Losing Diop will end up being a huge problem for us. Rebounds? Forget about those.

Prediction #2:

Jason Kidd's ego will come into play in a negative way at some point. (Courtesy of Captain Obvious)

Prediction #3:

The instant gratification that this deal seems to be aiming to ensure will end up not being quite so, well, gratifying.

Prediction #4:

Devin Harris will end up being a very sweet deal for someone, if not immediately for New Jersey.

Prediction #5:

Police called out to investigate a domestic dispute between Kidd and ______________ at Kidd's gated Frisco home.

If my foam ROWDY LOUD AND PROUD finger could be bent to make either a thumbs down or a middle finger, it would be doing so right now.

The University of Arizona will surely drop from the No. 1 national ranking, following three losses this weekend -- to Northwestern, Texas A&M, and Nevada -- at the Kajikawa Classic hosted by Arizona State. Northwestern compiled a perfect record at the tourney, including a win over A&M. The host Sun Devils also went undefeated, with the school's official athletics website proclaiming ASU the tournament champion. Skeptics will note, however, that the Devils did not play as tough a schedule as did some other teams.

At the Time/Warner Cable Invitational in Austin, Texas, the University of Michigan finsihed as the only undefeated team, taking a Sunday game from Penn State, and Friday games from Cal State Fullerton and the University of Texas (Saturday's action was rained out).

SWMHSHL Semis

Sounds like the Blades-Portage Northern semi was a thriller, with the Blades netting a 4-3 win in overtime. Blades junior Scotty Simmons capped his hat trick with the game-winner with 3:49 gone in the extra session. Meanwhile, over on the other side of the bracket, Portage Central cruised to a 5-0 victory on a pair of goals each from Matt Ragains and Cody Vanderveen. The teams will meet

Rockford 3 Mona Shores 1

In analyzing the MS vs. Rockford game last night, I can only come up with this explanation as to why the Sailors lost to the Rams on Saturday night:- Poor ice condition combined with biased officiating, bad equipment, improper rink lighting, and questionable music selection. Where were the Village People when the Sailors really needed motivation? It truly is fun to stay at the YMCA.Actually

Wayland 3 South Christian 2

Wayland had not won a game since January 18th. After a severe beating by Lowell/Caledonia friday night 10-0 (mercy rule after 2), it looked like the Wildcats were ready to pack up their hockey bags and trade them for golf bags. South Christian had just played a great game with Lowell/Caledonia on Thursday losing 3-1 with Lowell/Caledonia scoring an empty netter. The stage was set for the

Saturday Scores

Northville 3 GRCC 0Rockford 3 Mona Shores 1EGR 2 Durand 1FHC 7 Grand Haven 2Wayland 3 Grand Haven 2Kenowa Hills 7 Jenison 1Portage Central 5 Eagles 0

Fox 17 highlights the Janecyks

Former high school hockey player and present FOX-TV sports guy Tim Doty has done up a nice feature story on GRCC's two-time all-state goalie, Adam Janecyk, and his dad, Bob, who played goalie in the NHL for the Blackhawks and the Kings. Bob assesses Adam's skills and he's not just a typical goalie dad saying his kid has a great glove hand -- he's a scout for the Ottawa Senators (and a smart one,

Mona Shores 4 EGR 3 (OT)

Those who consider the Raving Reporter to be a long winded blowhard and a danger to the purity of the game are encouraged to stop reading HERE and skip to the next story. As humans, God blessed us with opposable thumbs. This is so that we can text message one another. When you have to submit your hockey scores to a multitude of reporting agencies such as the WMHSHB, texting is

Diablos vs. Muskies

Get the tip-ups and the coolers ready.


View Larger Map

Friday scores

Hudsonville 4 Kenowa Hills 2Mona Shores 4 East GR 3 (OT)Rockford 6 Reeths Puffer 3Big Rapids 4 Forest Hills NE 2Manistee 1 Muskegon Catholic Central 0West Ottawa 5 Northview 1Northville 7 Kentwood 0

Big 'uns

Well, what did you expect with a title like that?

Free admission, skating at Kentwood tonight.

Wear your hockey jersey -- any team -- and you can get into the East Kentwood game versus Northville tonight at Kentwood. EK has teamed up with Hockey Weekend Across America on the promotion. Additionally, you can skate for free after the game (from about 9:30 to 10:30 p.m.) Skate rental is $2, but skates are limited, so bring your own blades if you have 'em.

Portage Central 5 Portage Northern 4 (OT)

Crosstown rivals. Yankees vs Mets. Cubs vs White Sox. Rangers vs Islanders. Add Portage Central and Portage Northern to the list. PC and PN have been the top two teams in the SWMHSHL all season and they put on a show that would keep all of us on the edge of our seats tonight. Portage Central won the contest 5-4 and finished the regular season as Undefeated League Champions. But........Portage

Mattawan 4 Kalamazoo Blades 3

Make up games in the middle of a league tournament seem to be anticlimactic, but the Mattawan Wildcats were determined to prove a point tonight as they defeated league rival Kalamazoo Blades, 4-3. Austin Pence started the scoring for Mattawan when he chipped in a rebound shot from Steve Beaudet. Blades goalie John Lloyd appeared to have the puck covered but it squirted between his pads and the

Luongo on the Wrong Meds

Here is an extended version of last night's highlights from NHL.com. Sorry if you don't like "Dumb or Dumber", there's always the mute.


Of course, there was a fight - but Rolston? Actually there were two... Rolston vs. Burrows & Rolston vs. the Linesman.


Burrows got an extra two for the instigator, but the ref's forgot the rule which says that if you've got a visor on, it's an extra two for instigating. Oh and let's not forget the bogus roughing call on Burns at the end of period 2 that led to Kessler's tying goal. Man - what's the deal with the refs this year?

Plays That Didn't Show Up On SportsCentre - India

Unfortunately, they don't have TSN in New Delhi - so I missed these plays from last week (not including Richard Zednik's new scar, which will never make this blog unless it finds its way onto a Deicide video).

First one - nice toe drag by Burnsy.


Next - the spin-a-rama by Ryan Shannon of the Diablo-hated Nuks vs. Chicago.


Wait a second... was that Khabibulin? Are you thinking what I'm thinking...?


Both against the Blackhawks, & the Bulin Wall, & Denis Savard - the inventor of the spin-o-rama. And finally, in the same Blackhawks / Nuks game, how 'bout a little scrap. Of course, Adam Burish is a badass - he's a Wisconsin Badger. Hey Nelson, when's the last time Keith Ballard won a fight?


Oh, and I just got done watching Burns and Koivu make Luongo look like he took the wrong medication tonight. Outstanding 2 points. Hopefully highlights later.

The jewel of this weekend's set of college softball tournaments is the Kajikawa Classic hosted by Arizona State. In addition to the Sun Devils, the field includes top-ranked Arizona, Texas A&M, and Northwestern (the latter two teams are also ranked within the top 7 nationally). ASU and U of A will not play each other in this tournament.

Elsewhere, the University of Texas hosts the Time/Warner Cable Invitational. The Longhorns are right around the border of the national top 25 (in it, according to one poll, and out of it, according to the other). Two other participants, Michigan and Cal State Fullerton, are in the top 25, with Penn State rounding out the field.

To My Dearest, Sweetest Valentine....Devean George

Hi Devean,


I hope this note of love finds you well. I know I don't tell you this often enough but I really love you. Truly. Not even necessarily for your mad skills on the court. I mean, I think you have some skills. But recently, and I don't know what prompted this, I started to realize what a bad ass I think you are.

I know that there are some 35 year old point guards in the league who some people seem to think are the magical elixir which will bring the Mavericks that title they are so hungry for. Now you and I know that's not very smart. Because a chance at a title on the back of a 35 year old point guard who will cost the Mavericks more than Roy Tarpley's eight-ball budget is too risky and not a very good long term plan. I'm glad you and I know that.

I sure am sorry your boss is a dick. One time I worked on this TV show and my boss was a dick and it was really bad. It must be pretty humiliating to have your big-mouthed boss denying for weeks that there were trade talks and that you were involved only to find out that those talks were a reality. No offense but your boss needs to stick to dancing with Marie Osmond.


Anyways, I hope you have fun in Phoenix. I almost think it would be funny for you to brick a couple of shots to get some of your frustration out.

Hearts and Hugs,
Amanda

Mona Shores 3 Forest Hills N/E 1

Ever since Zednik got kicked in the throat by Jokinen, I’ve been obsessed with the vulnerability of my carotid artery. We don’t often think about the carotid until it’s too late. So, I‘ve taken to wearing protection around my throat, including my neckguard or in a pinch, a scarf or a bow tie, and not just on the ice, but off the ice as well. Even working as a desk jockey, dangers lurk around

Lowell-Caledonia 3 South Christian 1

South Christian gave Lowell/Caledonia a run for the money in the upset bid playing a disciplined system. After a scorelees first L/C scored on two power play goals, the first by Drake Chittenden assisted by Jon Kuzava and Jorden Steger, the second in a role reversal was Steger scoring from Kuzava and Chittenden. South did not let it rest, though, and scored less than a minute later to make

Kentwood 4 Grandville 0

Coming off 6 straight losses, Kentwood welcomed Grandville in this Tier 1 battle. After a scoreless 1st period, Kentwood got a powerplay goal from Brennan McBride with assists to Kyle Harrison and Joey Shirely. That proved to be all they needed for the win. Kentwood adds goals from Miguel Rodriguez (2) and Ben Grover. Assists on the night went to Jeff Sanders(2), Grover and Tyler Copeland.

Hudsonville 5 Reeths-Puffer 1

The four-horse-race for the top spot in Tier 2 was narrowed a three-horse-sprint on Wednesday night with Hudsonville’s convincing 5-1 win over Reeths-Puffer at Lakeshore Arena. The Eagles took the early lead three minutes in when Parker Host found Jordan Jonker who slipped it past Aaron Young (26 shots – 21 saves) for the score. The Rockets came back just 48 seconds later when Ben Sikkenga

EVERYONE CALM DOWN!

The Jason Kidd trade is not final. Call me crazy but I adore the idea of an earth shattering trade being held up by Devean George.

This trade is a horrible idea. I don't care what anyone says. I am even able to put my intense dislike of Jason Kidd aside and admit that he is a great player who could contribute a lot to the Mavericks. But the cost is too high. I mean beyond the $40 million dollars and draft picks and enduring the Jason Kidd for Crest Cadillac commercials. Losing Devin Harris and Diop is foolish. I am not as upset about the prospect of losing Stackhouse.

Oh and by the way, throwing Devean George into a game out of spite is kind of retarded and lame.

The latest word on the street is that the trade is going through. My eyes hurt from rolling so hard.

The Lust Issue

Because I live in a conservative-ass city where the puritanical age never really ended, all the local "alt-weeklies" are either hopelessly stodgy or corporate-run toilet paper. So it's nice to do the occasional job for out-of-town clients like Detroit's Metro Times, whose annual Lust Issue is on the stands this week. Among other scandalous features is the sex survey...the answers and opinions to an online questionnaire leave little to the imagination, and I was happy to provide spot illustrations for a few of them.

Happy Valentine's Day from the Diablos

Wednesday Night Hockey

Muskegon Mona Shores vs Forest Hills N/E (6:30 pm @ Patterson) – This one could, effectively, decide the Tier 1 title. A win by Mona gives them a huge advantage over 2nd place Forest Hills N/E and nearly kills any chance for Kentwood to catch them. A win by FHN/E, on the other hand, makes things a bit more interesting. Here's the thing: Mona is in kind of a funk lately, and Forest Hills

Advance hockey coverage

The Advance papers have coverage of Grand Haven's win over Lowell-Caledonia, as well as a gritty contest between Ottawa-Union and Creston-Central. Plus you can read about Kenowa Hills getting back on the winning track with victories over West Catholic and Grand Haven. There's also a story about Forest Hills Central triple-OT win in the McMichigan Cup.

Big Rapids 3 Portage Northern 2

If "turnabout is fair play," then the Big Rapids Cardinals have evened the score. After losing to Portage Northern a few weeks back in the Monroe SMCC tournament by a score of 3-2, the Cardinals felt they had a score to settle. And they did tonight at the Annex in Kalamazoo by the exact same score. Nick Goodfellow started the scoring for Big Rapids at the 2:09 mark of the first period.

Today's Arizona Daily Wildcat offers its season preview of the two-time defending NCAA World Series champions' prospects for the 2008 season.

Among the topics discussed in the article is the arrival of two first-year players, Brittany Lastrapes and Lauren Schutzler, each of whom has an older sister who achieved softball prominence at a rival school -- Dominique Lastrapes at Washington and Lindsay Schutzler at Tennessee.

Also, as was covered in a previous Daily Wildcat article, longtime coach Mike Candrea is taking the collegiate season off (most of it, anyway, in what the article calls a "partial leave") to coach the U.S. Olympic team, with veteran assistant coach Larry Ray filling in as skipper.

Coming Later: Players of the Week

Sorry, folks, but have been smoking busy today. Will work on POWs. Thanks for patience this week.

SWMHSHL Tourney: Blades 9 United 1

The second game of the SWMHSHL playoffs began in unusual fashion tonight. Kalamazoo United, the leagues last place team, jumped ahead on the scoreboard when Brian Phillips beat Blades goaltender John Lloyd on the short side for a 1-0 lead. It was a shorthanded goal for Phillips with Matt Shettner earning the only assist. United then had 2 more great scoring chances on the same penalty kill, but

SWMHSHL Tourney: Eagles 3 Mattawan 2

The Kalamazoo Eagles battled hard tonight against league rival Mattawan and earned a 3-2 victory in overtime. Mattawan outplayed the Eagles in every aspect of the game except one. Scoring Goals. The Wildcats outshot Kalamazoo 45 to 18, but Eagles goaltender Joey Ballmer earned the #1 star in this game. The two goals he allowed were both powerplay goals.Mattawan got on the scoreboard first when

EGR 5 Rockord 4

Got a couple of text messages with the game score, but no stats. Here's a link to a report on the game in the GR Press. Plus, some bonus highlights from our guys at FOX-Sports.

Start Making Super Bowl Plans for 2014!

Tony Romo opens his mouth again

Pardon my obnoxiously large font here, folks. But I have to get this out of my system:

TONY ROMO PLEASE SHUT THE FUCK UP. SERIOUSLY DUDE, YOU'VE MADE IT CRYSTAL CLEAR THAT YOU AWWWWW SHUCKS-ED YOUR WAY INTO BOTH THE COWBOYS QUARTERBACK JOB AND THE PANTS OF A FEW STARLETS OF QUESTIONABLE INTEGRITY. PLEASE STOP NOW. YOU SERIOUSLY CANNOT BE THIS STUPID

Seven years, huh? Why exactly is he playing football? Wouldn't it be easier to bypass all that pesky "playing" "training" "practicing" and "working" in favor of just selling GMCs or whatever you apparently would rather be doing with your time?

Tony Romo is to Brett Favre what Dane Cook is to comedy.

I bet Tony Romo LOVES Dane Cook. Jessica already did.

The Dallas Mavericks and the Dallas Cowboys should be congratulated. They sure do know how to really turn it on when it totally does not matter.

Tony Romo throws for 87 yards including a touchdown to Terrell Owens? That's pretty neat. I'm trying to think of a place where that could have been more useful. Oh yeah, the first round of the playoffs against the Giants. That would have been swell. Nick Folk was perfect in yesterday's Pro Bowl. It's almost like, had the Cowboys offense (lead by Pro Bowl superstars Romo, Owens and Witten) been able to get Nick Folk close enough, the Cowboys could have perhaps evened the score up a little with field goals. I think the moral of the story is that in terms of priorities, playing well when it counts comes in a distant third behind trips to Hawaii and jello shots in Cabo. Apparently the only chance that the Cowboys won't choke in the post-season is if Cancun somehow scores an expansion NFL franchise. Then when the Cancun Jagerbombs make it into the playoffs and secure home field advantage, the Cowboys will know what to do. I just hope they can find some of those funny t-shirts with a hard-body in a bikini airbrushed on them. And a hat that can accommodate two Miller Light cans effectively.

The Mavericks also seem to be itching for an early start to their summer break based upon how poorly they fared against the Pistons last Sunday and the New Jersey Nets last night. Jason Kidd was kind enough to point out to the Mavericks that with Devin Harris out, the Mavericks have no point guard. Even resorting to trying to knock Vince Carter unconscious proved to be fruitless. The Mavs had a nice little streak going with three straight victories (all, eerily, were 9 point victories) but beating teams like the Memphis Grizzlies by 9 points is hardly any way to earn respect. With Boston bringing prestige back to the long ridiculous Eastern Conference, the days of a Spurs-Suns-Mavs dominated NBA seem to certainly be at an end. Let's see if the Mavs can handle Philadelphia tonight. I hear that the 76'ers have really fleshed out their lineup by allowing some of the Wachovia Center's janitorial staff try their hand at free throws and layups. Maybe it's time the Mavs started letting the ManiAAcs or the Mavs Dancers or (dear sweet baby Jebus, forgive me for writing this) Mavs Man call some plays. Yes, I just claimed that the Mavs might play better if the mascot with severe third-degree burns covering his body was allowed to contribute more.

While I am complaining about the Cowboys and Mavs, I would also like to point something out. A surefire way to convey your doucheness without having to open your mouth and proclaim your love for things like Nickelback, the MTV show Cribs or your aspirations to get bigger rims on your Denali is to sport the hallmark douche-king hairstyle.



It's a proven fact that you cannot play to your full potential and can endanger your team's performance in the playoffs with that hair-don't. Don't believe me?:

SWMHSHL Tournament

The SWMHSHL Tournament is scheduled to begin tonight, despite the fact that not all league games have been played because of cancellations. The tournament features the six teams, plus two "guest" teams that play the top two seeds in a tune-up game. What that means is this: regardless of whether PC or PN win or lose, they still move into the next round. Kind of a neat idea that lets the top

Poiple

FOX Highlights

Our guys at Fox 17 have 2,000 pounds worth (that's a ton) of prep hockey highlights tonight, including the McMichigan Cup games and the MCC tournament, plus another game. They must have done nothing else but high school hockey tonight!

With the possible exception of Tennessee (ranked No. 6 and 11 in the two national polls), none of the biggest name teams nationally blew away the field at their respective opening-weekend tournaments. Consensus No. 1 Arizona was idle, but Arizona State and Texas A&M, each of which was ranked No. 2 in one poll and No. 3 in the other, were in action.

The Lady Vols went 5-0 in the Cathedral City Kickoff, but tempering this result somewhat is that they didn't play Texas A&M. The Aggies went 4-1 in the event, losing on opening day in what was probably the weekend's biggest shocker -- a 5-1 drubbing by Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (which ended up with a 2-3 record).

Arizona State and UNLV each went 3-1 in the tournament hosted by the latter (the Sun Devils lost to UNLV, whereas the Rebels lost to Loyola of Chicago).

UCLA finished with a 4-1 record in its own tournament, splitting two games with Oklahoma. The Sooners apparently engaged in some creative scheduling, taking the middle day of the UCLA event off and going over to Cal State Fullerton to play a couple of games; OU, now 3-2, lost a game to the Titans.

Finally, at the Florida Atlantic University tourney, the top teams were Maryland and Michigan, each ending up with one loss -- to each other.

FHC Wins McMichigan Cup

Forest Hills Central and Rockford squared off in the championship game of the McMichigan Cup, having cruised to easy victories in their first 2 games of the tourney. After a scoreless 1st period, FHC jumped to a 1-0 lead on a goal by Nick Covert (assisted by Aaron Byers) at the 9:12 mark. FHC followed that ups with a goal just :35 later by Evan Hess (assisted by Drew Preston). Rockford was

MCC wins tourney

Congrats to Muskegon Catholic Central, which won its own MCC tourney, with a 7-0 cruise through the finals against Oxford. Northview nipped Wayland 4-3 in the consolation game. There's some coverage of the tournament on the Muskegon Chronicle's MLIVE site.

Scores

Saturday ScoresTC West 5 SMCC 4TC Central 3 PHN 1Novi 4 Mona Shores 1Northville 5 FHN/E 1GRCC 5 DCC 5Cadillac 10 Cheboygan 2Big Rapids 3 EGR 2 (OT)DeLaSalle 5 Kentwood 1Grandville 5 Portage N. 4Reeths-Puffer 4 Christian 3 (OT)Kal. Eagles 1 Jenson 0FHC 4 Rockford 3 (3OT)Kenowa Hills 3 Grand Haven 1Northview 4 Wayland 3MCC 7 Oxford 0Stoneybrook 2 PC 1Friday ScoresOLSM 3 Mona Shores 2Davison 5

Big Rapids 3 EGR 2 (OT)

East Grand Rapids had no problem producing power play shots tonight in Big Rapids. They just had a problem getting the puck by Cardinal goaltender Bob Butterfield as he turned away 16 power play shots through the first two periods and 27 total shots on the night to get 3 to 2 OT win at home.Each team look to control the momentum in the first period, but it was East Grand Rapids who dominated,

Mona Shores vs. Novi

Before the game, while you are staring at the zamboni going around in a circle like a really slow Nascar time trial, you have time to think about stupid things, like PCVS, the new disease I self diagnosed. It’s probably not as debilitating as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), but Phantom Cell phone Vibration Syndrome, where you always feel your cell phone vibrating in your pocket, even when it’s

Trenton Showcase Updates

Some updates from today's Showcase, courtesy of coaches and correspondents down in Trenton:TC West 5 Monroe St. Mary's Catholic Central 4 (OT) -- After playing the late game last night, TCW was not exactly primed to play an early game on Saturday, and it showed. The Titans looked kind of tired and sluggish for two periods, but managed to dig deep into the reserves for the win. TC West got on

Big Rapids 4 Midland Dow 2

A balanced scoring effort and some strong special teams allowed Big Rapids to come out on top against Midland Dow 4 to 2 at Ferris State on Friday evening. Scoring opened in the first on a goal by sophomore Michael Hickson at the 10:54 mark as he was on the receiving end of a nice pass off the wall from Paul Goggins and then went top shelf – wide side to start the scoring for Big Rapids. The

Muskegon Catholic Central 6 Northview 0

The opening game of the Muskegon Catholic Central Tournament held at Lakeshore Sports Center had MCC facing off against Northview. MCC blasted the game open with first period goals by Aaron Duplissis, Evan Valk, Adam Pieczynski and Kyle Zeppenfeld. The Crusaders added two more third period goals by Trevor Stever and Pieczynski, with senior netminder Luke Kordecki earning the shutout. MCC

McMichigan Cup on FOX 17

Video highlights of three games tonight, including Rockford's win over Jenison, Forest Hills Central's victory over the Kalamazoo Eagles and the Portage Northern-Christian High matchup. Scores are listed to the right. Still looking for a final on the Reeths-Puffer vs. Grandville game. Looks like Rockford will take on Forest Hills Central tomorrow in the championship game of the McMichigan Cup

By Popular Demand

Enough football talk...time to get back to what this blog is all about. Namely, cartoon T & A!

Trenton Showcase: GRCC Wins Thriller

Grand Rapids Catholic Central came back from a 2-0 deficit with three goals in the third period to defeat Brother Rice, ranked #2 in Division 2, at the Trenton Showcase."We showed some serious heart," said Coach Alan Kranzo, who himself showed some serious guts. With the Cougars trailing 2-1 and 2:12 left in the game, Kranzo made one of those coaching decisions that would either prove disastrous

WZZM To feature Cougars

Got a note from a broadcaster over at WZZM, saying that they will have a feature piece on Grand Rapids Catholic Central's hockey team on the news tonight at 6:20 p.m. EST. Hoping that they'll post it on the website, since GRCC players and many of the families and fans are over in Trenton at the Showcase. Will post a link to the Website if and when they put it up.

Trenton Showcase Update

Talked to some fans and coaches down in Trenton and here are results with some summaries, based on conversations I was able to have with coaches or hockey dads. A pretty good showing by the 7 West Michigan teams, who post a collective 2-4-1 record for the day, though most were 1 goal games (FHNE lost by 2 but one was an EN with about 15 seconds left.)Farmington 5 Traverse City West 1 -- The

Trenton Showcase Internet Radio

Got an email saying that you can listen to a Web broadcast of some of the games being played in the Trenton Showcase. Click here for the link.

Trenton Showcase: Kentwood nipped in OT

Davison 5 Kentwood 4 (OT) - The Falcons "played awesome," according to Coach Todd Bell. "We were down a couple of times and we came back. We played great." Tyler Copeland, Jeff Sanders, Kyle Harrison and Travis Miller scored for Kentwood. Zach Bresko had 23 saves. Game winner came on a kid stepping out of the penalty box in OT and scoring on a breakaway. "You hate to lose that way, especially

Dear Fellow Tenants of the Brewery Building:

1. The Grizzled Man Who Owns the Saddle Store on the First Floor and Bathes in Stetson in the Elevator - Please stop taking "Puerto Rican baths" in the elevator. Your cheap cologne burns my nostrils and the fact that you work around leather means that the combination of your Stetson and your tanned cow hide scents makes you smell like the inside of a hobo's coffin. Also, you only ever ride the elevator to the second floor. That means that you can't bring yourself to walk up one flight of steps. Is that really the Cowboy way? And I don't mean "Cowboys Way" as in the football team because we all know that their way is to find an easy out.

2. The Morbidly Obese Woman Who Has No Less Than Three Sacks of McDonald's in Her Hand Every Time She Gets on the Elevator - Now, I will assume that you are the one that goes and grabs lunch for everyone in the office. That being said, why do you have to mouth breathe so hard every time we ride the elevator together? I feel like I am riding inside your own personal iron lung. Also, yes the elevator at work gets stuck sometimes. But that doesn't mean that every time you board it you get to make a joke about hoping "this thing don't get stuck" but then reassuring me that you "got enough Mickey D's to make it until they unstuck it."

3. The Elderly Man Who Appears to Smoke for a Living - Please keep smoking. The only time I have ever heard you speak, you mumbled the words "pussywillows and weirdos" in the most terrifying voice I have ever heard spring forth from a human. So, you know, keep on keepin' on.

4. THE WOMAN WHO TALKS ON HER CELL PHONE IN THE BATHROOM (AS IN WHILE SHE'S IN THE STALL) - I've had to refrain from confronting you many times. You need to realize where and when to make personal calls. I know about your son's girlfriend's period being late. I know about your mother not taking the right kind of osteoporosis medicine. I know about the antiques you think you deserve from your soon-to-be ex-husband. I know about the fact that you don't like the way your pantyhose make your legs look. I don't need to know any of this. Yet, you don't stop. You apparently only feel comfortable making the most personal of phone calls when you are inside a stall in your office building's bathroom. You are actually a running joke amongst the female workers on this floor. We have been following the progress of your nasty divorce via your loud phone calls. Please get a different job in a building very far away from my office building. You are talking into a bluetooth while you are on the toilet. That's fucking gross. Please go away forever.

Friday Hockey

Blogging this morning from 28 floors up, looking over the foggy San Francisco skyline and thinking about all the great hockey going on back in the big mitten that is home. Sigh.Lots of great tournament games tonight, including the second round of the McMichigan Cup, the Muskegon Catholic Central tournament and the opening day of games for West Michigan teams at the Trenton Showcase. Friday

Detroit Free Press gives Dallas some love

This blog is dedicated to high school hockey players in West Michigan, but we still think that one of the better stories of the season was the one we wrote about Dallas Covasos, the Wyandotte team manager who got a shot to play and scored a goal in the East-West Invitational hosted by GRCC last month. We told Dallas' story here. So we're pleased that the Freep has told the story to a wider

FOX Highlights of McMichigan Cup

Our friends over at FOX Sports offer some video highlights of McMichigan Cup games on the website. Also, the Rockford vs. Grandville matchup was a league game, so you can find a box score on the GR Press site.

OLSM 3 Mona Shores 2

I'm not sure what's been more of a struggle, being a part of the current slump the Mona Shores Sailors are mired in, or defying the writer's strike, now in its third month as I continue to cross the picket lines and submit summaries to the WMHSHB. I've been referred to as a "scab" by my peers, had ink thrown at me, had my hands Superglued to my keyboard, and been the victim of numerous

McMichigan Cup Update and Pix

Thanks to Randy Ellen for checking in with scores from the opening night of the McMichigan Cup tournament down at Southside. Randy is shooting the games, and you can check out game photos here at his site, where you can purchase shots of the games.

Rockford 6 Grandville 0

Interesting situation here, as I received updates from correspondents at both Rockford and Grandville. So here are both, in their unedited forms. Pretty balanced reporting in my opinion.STORY 1: Rockford and Grandville faced off tonight in a game with multiple story lines. It was a league game, McMichigan Cup Tournament game and a game to see who stays in Tier 1 for next year. The game

Welcome to Year 3 of the College Softball Blog!

I always like to start each season with a photo. The one above features me in my office at Texas Tech University, standing alongside two softball schedule posters I have up on the wall, for last year's Arizona and Texas Tech squads.

As always, the initial, nonconference, weeks of the schedule are dominated by tournaments in warm-weather locales. A little bit of play begins today, with more action getting underway Friday and Saturday. Here are some highlights, with links to tournament websites...

UNLV tourney, featuring among others Arizona State, Washington, and Texas Tech (the two Pac-10 teams will not meet).

Oregon State, Texas A&M, and Tennessee are in the Cathedral City Kick-Off.

Oklahoma is among the teams participating in UCLA's tourney.

Finally, Michigan and UMass are in the field for the Florida Atlantic University Kick-Off Classic in Boca Raton.

For a comprehensive list of all games taking place this weekend, go to Ultimate College Softball (see the links section to the right), then select UCS Forum, and then Scoreboard.

Internet Dating

A couple do's and don't's...well, actually, just don't's...when it comes to internet dating, from the current issue of Richmond Magazine. Ladies, don't use your glamour shots for the profile pic...and dudes, don't lie about your height!

Duty calls (unfortunately)

Well, folks, duty calls and I have to head out of town on business for the next week. That means two things:First, I have to miss a ton of great hockey...important league games, the McMichigan Cup, MCC Tourney and the Trenton Showcase. That is a huge bummer.Second, since I won't be here, I need your help! I'll be counting on all of YOU to email, call, text message or post on the Blog with

McMichigan Cup Starts Tonight!

There is plenty of Thursday night hockey this week, thanks in large part to the annual McMichigan Cup Tournament, hosted by Grandville High School at South Side. The teams participating this year include: Rockford, GR Christian, Kalamazoo Eagles, Portage Northern, Forest Hills Central, Jenison, Reeths-Puffer and, of course, Grandville. There will be a new champion this year, as two-time

Reschedule Notes

All the snow has lead to a boatload of cancellations over the past few weeks. Rescheduling this late in the season is proving problematic because of MHSAA rules about the maximum number of games a team can play week, plus the prior commitments to do showcases and tournaments. For a few teams -- like Muskegon Catholic Central and Reeths-Puffer -- they are trying ot make up multiple