The Day After

#2 posting 3.19.2006

POINT PARADE
MN
AAAA
Kiara Buford, St. Paul Central 33 vs Roseville 71-52
Jillian Schurle, Hopkins 29 vs Bloomington Kennedy 65-48
AA
Hannah Linz, Eden Valley-Watkins 27 vs MN Valley Lutheran 51-58

DOUBLE VISION
Vision was single yesterday

MN Coaches Hall of Fame 2006
Dave Burgett, Cloquet, Esko
Roger Hansgaard, Brooklyn Center, Concordia Roseville
Janet Karvonen, New York Mills player, Media
Dale Wallin, Spring Lake Park

STATE CHAMPS PARADE
IL
AA: Bolingbrook
A: Hillsboro
IA
1A: IKM
2A: North Butler
3A: Norwalk
4A: Des Moines Roosevelt
MI
A: Southfield-Lathrup
B: Detroit Renaissance
C: Houghton
D: Frankfort
MN
A: Fulda
AA: Cannon Falls
AAA: Benilde-St. Margaret's
AAAA: Hopkins
NEB
A: Bellevue East
B: Gretna
C1: Crofton
C2: Ravenna
D1: Humphrey St. Francis
D2: Newcastle
ND
A: Mandan
B: Bottineau
SD
AA: Sioux Falls Roosevelt
A: Dell Rapids
B: Mitchell Christian
WI
D1: Ashwauebon
D2: Monroe
D3: Cuba City
D4: Flambeau
Congratulations to all teams.

MN Tournament Wrap
Championship game Redux
AA
Here is the Fargo Forum's view of the Cannon Falls/Crookston game. http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=121057&section=Sports

Third Place aren't covered in depth by the big Twin Cities papers. If you want details you have to go to the local coverage area. I wasn't there to view the games. Here are some reports.
AA
Here is a result from the Mankato Free Press about the third place game between MVL and EVW http://www.mankatofreepress.com/sports/local_story_078010636.html?keyword=secondarystory The St. Cloud Times covers the action for EVW, here is their side of the story http://www.sctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060319/SPORTS/103190040/1002
A
Barnum captured the third place game against Ada-Borup. Here is the Duluth News Tribune's story. http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/sports/14136563.htm Well that seemed more like an AP feed. Here is a real story from the Fargo Forum about the Ada-Borup side of things. http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=121056&section=Sports

CRYSTAL BALL.
It ink isn't even dry on this year's season when the speculation begins on 2007. Here is what the crystal ball has in store:
A: Fulda
AA: Winona Cotter
AAA: too murky
AAAA: St. Paul Central

Well the high school season is over. I have been to over 75 games (and they all seem like they were in the last three weeks). The season just flew by. I got to see a lot of good teams and good players. I am still digesting the newspapers and internet information. I will be publishing my guides in the fall, close to the first weekend in October when the MN Girls HS coaches have their convention.

I was at two High School State Tournaments: Iowa and Minnesota. I also made it to a Wisconsin sectional game.
These are my favorites during the post season:
Flag men waving you into parking spots at the River Falls Sectional in Wisconsin. That indicated to me it was a big time event, and the crowd was big time as well. They even had "neutral seating."
Six day event: Iowa runs their tournament at one site with all 32 teams playing on the Wells Fargo floor. There are six games from Monday through Wednesday with only 15 minutes of warm up. That seemed to work out fine for the teams. I never read in the papers "We didn't have enough warm up time," as a reason for losing. I like the six days because I can see everyone and everybody.
Seedings: ND, SD, and Iowa seed their tournaments. It is time that Minnesota get that straight. It worked out this year in AAAA and AAA that the two top teams faced each other in the finals, but what kind of rip off tournament would it be if Hopkins had to play Kennedy at 10 am on Wednesday morning?
Band: Most bands play the ordinary 25 year old songs recycled over and over again. Ada-Borup, however, was a breath of fresh air in a stale environment. They had a jazz feel, used some guitars, and had some singers. The crowd got into it, and press row appreciated it.
Tight games decided in the last seconds: More so in Iowa. Kelsey Bolte of Battle Creek-Ida Grove making the shot at the buzzer to advance to the semis 59-57. #8 Audubon dumping #1 Davenport Assumption 72-66; Cedar Rapids Xavier edging Spirit Lake 30-29; Cedar Rapids Jefferson surviving and upsetting #1 Dowling Catholic 57-55. There wasn't as many nail biters in MN, but the Kennedy vs Central game had all that at 53-51. The class A Semis were tight with a four point spread for each. And Hopkins putting on a tour de force in the last 12 minutes for a strong dramatic exclamation point to the year.

Not Liking:
Arena food. Overpriced and unhealthy. That is everywhere. It is robbery.
Empty seats: More so in MN. It seems like in the past if your team was done in the districts/regions/sections/ you would come to get the feel for the tournament. I don't see that happening very much anymore. It is too bad because there were some good games. The sense of community is not as strong as it once was. Even section finals are rather ordinary affairs at the AAAA and AAA level at least. I hope that feeling isn't dead, or on life support.
TV Timeouts: They drag the game on too long, ruin momentum and are a general nuisance.
All Tournament balloting: They announced an MVP from our ballots. We media types are generally handed a ballot with all the players of all the teams making the tournament before the championship game. We are supposed to turn it in at halftime. First off no one voted for MVP that was a decision made by who knows who. After the first game I circled my MVP. But even then the second half comebacks in the two late games may negate that. I also don't like the fact that all 10 players are from the semifinalists. What a joke. A player may have had a great game and been beat in the quarters, but no one was there to see the action, or their hometown paper/radio already took off back home and their votes go uncounted. That system needs to be changed.

What is up next?
For me I will be reintroduced to my wife.
I will catch up on some zzzs, no more 1 am postings.
I will eat better food, no fast junky food, or arena food...well maybe after Ellsworth is done in the boys tournament.
I will catch up on the paper work that has piled up in my office.
I will continue to put up interesting facts as they pertain to the season. I have a good mountain of data, it depends on what questions I ask of myself how that data will dance.
I will continue to post, maybe not three/four times a day, but at least once a day. There will be news of Coaching changes, player moves, spring all star games, AAU, summer leagues, summer all star camps/games. Hawaii plays in the spring and I will track that action, but unfortunately not attend any games on Waikiki Beach. I will also be looking for any information you can send me. Go to my profile page and e-mail me if you have some news/information.

Next posting Tomorrow, but I haven't decided if it will be AM or Afternoon. Of course Thorpe on a Soap Box is due out tomorrow, but he may be golfing or softballing.