June 19th, 2008

The Indiana/Kentucky All-star Basketball Game

Dave Miller

Mike Knezevich and I had the broadcast this year of the annual Indiana-Kentucky high school basketball all-star series on AM 1230 WJOB in Hammond and www.heyregion.com and www.rrsn.com.  which was played for the first time in a 1 week format.  The Friday night games were played at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.  The series after a 14 year absence switched to a new venue in Kentucky on Sunday, the Louisville Gardens,

In the girls games, Kentucky completely dominated their counterparts from the Hoosier state defeating them 76-59 and then humiliating them in Louisville 101-62.  In both games, Indiana never had the lead.  The tone was set early in the Louisville game as Kentucky jumped out to an 18-0 lead and were never threatened, 

The Indiana boys barely escaped with a 1 point 83-82 victory on Friday night.  The Hoosier never had the lead in the first half and need two free throws in the final 1.3 seconds by Alex Young to insure victory.  The rematch on Sunday was won by Kentucky 95-78 and was never as close as the final score might indicate.  Indiana never lead and as the game progressed, Indiana just seemed to be treading water taking 1 step forward and 2 steps backwards.

Much has been written about the state of the all-star series which has been a staple in June since 1940 for the boys and 1976 for girls.  Let’s face it, things are not the same as they were in the 60’s 70’s or even the 80’s.  I’m sure that all of you have seen the movie Hoosiers which is loosely based on the 1954 Milan basketball team which upset Muncie Central to win the state championship.  Not only in the small towns but also in the large cities, the place to be on basketball game night was in the local gym.  Kids today only go to games if their friends are going and most of the time they don’t watch the game but instead exchange conversation with their friends.  This doesn’t happen in just basketball but it happens in all high school sports.  The climax to the basketball season was always the annual Indiana-Kentucky all-star basketball series which gave bragg’in rights to the state who won the game.  I got hooked on the series back in the early 60’s because my high school alma mater East Chicago Washington always had great teams and players who were selected to represent Indiana.   I can remember attending my first game at Butler Fieldhouse on a Saturday night in June in 1962 where the temperature was in the 90’s and over 13,000 fans filled the arena.  The programs were shaped as fans and it was amazing how almost all of the fans in attendance were rooting for the Hoosiers.  They could not let their team lose to Kentucky.  Losing to Kentucky left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth then as it is now.    

The focus today is different than it was back then.  Colleges are requiring their recruited athletes to be on campus and start summer school.  They just can’t let kids be kids.  Expenses have gone thru the roof.  Getting corporate sponsors is not as easy as it was.  These are a couple of the reasons why the series has gone to a 1 week format.  Kentucky is thrilled over defeating Indiana 3 of the 4 games this year.  They can’t wait until next year.  The Louisville Gardens will do as a temporary home for the games in Kentucky but they plan on moving the series to the yet to be completed new downtown arena in 2010 which will seat over 20,000 and will also be the new home for the University of Louisville’s men’s basketball team.   I’m sure that the game director in Kentucky Dave Satterly and his staff are already looking into ways to improve on all aspects of their efforts.  For the first time the game in Kentucky was played on a Sunday and Fathers Day at that. 

The Indiana games were played on Friday night for the first time.  We can give 1,000 reasons for the poor attendance which was just over 5,000 the lowest paying crowd in recent memory.  When Pete Smith took over as game director in Indiana, he told the Indianapolis Star that he was only interim and would do it for just 1 year. 

It’s easy to knock the game and say everything that is wrong.  I would instead take the high road and try to positively promote the game.  After the junior game, Damion Mc Gee of Gary Lew Wallace high school who was a member of the Indiana junior squad was quoted as saying how much he enjoyed the experience and looked forward to next year when he has a chance to make the all-star team. 

I’m not sure what the answers are.  Maybe sell tickets at the schools of kids who have made the team and offer the schools a percentage of the tickets sold.   Or maybe a corporate sponsor can offer their product such as a hamburger, taco and a soft drink if Indiana wins both games.  Are these ideas corny?  Sure they are but I see NBA teams using them all the time like if their team scores 100 points and wins the game.  I think you get the idea. 

Let’s hope the series continues for a long time.  I would hate to see it end.  As the old saying says, you don’t know what you have until you lose it.

May 27th, 2008

More Baseball

Dave Miller

The baseball sectionals began yesterday at sites across Indiana and I was particularly interested in Lafayette Central Catholic which hosted their own tournament, Michigan City Marquette Catholic, Andrean and Brownsburg.  I also wanted to keep tabs on Crown Point.  The Bulldogs ranked number 1 through out the season opened their tournament run playing the host Slicers in La Porte.  La Porte is almost always good and their tradition is second to none. 

Lafayette Central Catholic is the easiest team to talk about because they do not begin play until Wednesday when they host Rossville.  Michigan City Marquette Catholic easily won their opening game cruising to a 13-3 win over Westville in the South Central (Union Mills) sectionals. 

Andrean struggled but managed to defeat Kankakee Valley 6-0 in the Griffith sectionals.  KV had runners on in almost every inning but could not get the big hit to dent the scoreboard.   

Crown Point had a relatively easy time in defeating the Slicers 12-5 in a game that was not as close as the finals score showed.  One thing I have learned about the Bulldogs is that they can hit and they are never out of a game until the 21^st out is recorded. 

May 16th, 2008

High School Baseball

Dave Miller

I know that the weather has been pretty lousy so far this spring but the high school baseball regular season is almost over and the tournament pairings were released yesterday?  As customary, the tournament begins through out the state at sectional sites on Memorial Day May 26^th.  Depending on whether a site has lights determines how many games are played next Monday.  

I’m certainly no expert but up in the region there are 2 games which stick out like a sore thumb and will have the attention of baseball junkies through out the area.  The Lake Central Indians plays the host Munster Mustangs and over in La Porte the host Slicers play the Crown Point Bulldogs.  La Porte is always dangerous especially at home and Crown Point has a great hitting ball club and has been ranked in class 4A either number 1 or 2 almost the entire season. 

There are so many teams to talk about and I don’t want to leave anyone out but, I’ll be very interested to follow the results of Andrean, Lafayette Central Catholic, Brownsburg and Michigan City Marquette Catholic. 

One of the burning questions that always is talked about this time of the year is why does US Steelyard, home of the Railcats host a baseball tournament especially the semi-state?  That’s a great question so I asked Bill Terlicky general manager of the Railcats that question and you know what is answer was, no one has asked them.  Now come on Northwest Indiana schools, we have a great, and I mean a great facility in our area and no one has asked the Railcats to host any part of the tournament.  Now this would have to be done well in advance so that the Railcats schedule can have the Railcats playing on the road that week-end but let’s get it done. 

On a final note, Regional Radio Sports has always broadcast baseball. In fact, we broadcast close to 20 games again this year on WEFM in the Railcats Challenge.   We think baseball should be covered from the sectionals to the state finals if a local team is playing.  Unfortunately, it does not look like we will be broadcasting any tournament baseball this year.  We want to support the student athletes in a positive way but we also need the support of the communities especially the Michigan City community where WEFM is located to make that happen.  This year the support is just not there so we will not be broadcasting any tournament games but we certainly wish all of the teams the best of luck.  If anyone has any questions or would sponsor at the last minute all or any portion of the tournament including any school,  please contact me at Regional Radio Sports (219) 864-4173.

May 12th, 2008

INDIANA-KENTUCKY ALL-STAR SERIES

Dave Miller

We’re already half-way thru the month of May and next month we look forward to the annual Indiana-Kentucky all-star series.  The series will be played in one week with the Indiana game scheduled for Friday June 13^th at the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.  After a 12 year absence, the Kentucky game returns to Louisville on Sunday June 15^th and will be played at the 5,600 Louisville Gardens.  The games will be played in 1 week instead of the customary 2 week-ends much to the dismay of many players and fans who liked the 2 week format.  The reason for the shift were numerous but the move was highlighted by the concern of the organizers who saw that many of the kids were required to be on their college campuses in June for summer school not allowing them to participate in all of the all-star activities.  In fact, Lauren Taylor of Brownsburg will not be able to participate for the Indiana girls due to being required by the university of her choice New Mexico requiring her to be on campus for summer school.  

In looking over the rosters of the teams, I think that all four games should be very competitive.  Kentucky’s Mr. Basketball Darius Miller is ticketed for Kentucky and Scotty Hopson, who was a Mc Donald’s All-American is going to Tennessee.  Kentucky’s Miss Basketball Tia Gibbs will be attending Vanderbilt.   The Indiana girls have 5 girls over 6 feet and four others who are 5’ 11” so height should not be a problem.  The Indiana boys have several players in the 6’ 5” range so it looks like they will be very athletic but maybe a little short in the height department. 

The all-star games can be heard in Northwest Indiana on Regional Radio Sports on their affiliate AM 1230 WJOB in Hammond.