MY COLUMN - MIKE MCMURRAN
The things we do for our kids! Regular readers of this column know that I am a football guy – hard-core, through and through. So why then, this past Saturday morning, was I watching non-stop soccer from 8 a.m. until 2:20 p.m.? ‘Cause of my kids, thank you. It started out with Joe having an 8 a.m. contest at Tony Glavin’s indoor complex. As luck would have it, Dee (Joe’s younger brother, thank you) was dressed out and ready to play, because he was scheduled to play at 9 a.m. (Not a mandatory game) When the opposing team failed to show, Dee’s squad, at least those present, were invited to play. Let me say this: It is a big deal when a kindergartener is invited to play against his second grade brother. I only wish I would have had a camera on the play where Dee took Joe’s legs out from beneath him. I’m not sure who was the most surprised, Joe, Dee or me.
At 9 Dee’s team was scheduled to play, so Joe and I stuck around until 9:30 or so, when Joe had another game scheduled with his outdoor team, the Falcons of the Academy of the Sacred Heart. Luckily Joe’s 9:45 game was at Woodand Park, less than 400 yards from the Glavin complex. I left Dee behind under the watchful eyes of Sue Solomon, who was supervising her youngest son Adam Solomon, who was training in the Glavin Dr. Pepper League. Of course her oldest son, Alex Solomon plays on Joe’s Falcon team, so I knew sooner or later we would all meet up. Joe’s team, the Falcons, won rather handily; in the mean time, Dee was invited to stick around for his third game in three hours at Glavin. And why not, in addition to Adam, two of Dee’s classmates, Parker Green and Evan Lemke train in the league. The good news is that all four of the lads play fall soccer for yours’ truly – which will be exciting next August.
Now, where was I? Ah, yes – Joe’s outdoor game was over at 10:45 and Dee was finished, almost, at Glavin’s. Time to go home? No way. Maggie, remember Maggie, my favorite daughter, she had an 11:45 game at Woodland. If me and the boys would have gone home, we would have literally had to turn around and gone right back to Woodland. So, being the good baseball coach I am, me, Joe and Dee took out our baseball gloves and played catch right there at beautiful Mueller Park. Finally, a break from soccer. Short lived though, as Maggie and Lynn arrived for Maggie’s game, I was told to put the gloves away and watch the game.
For some reason Maggie’s game started late, and by 12:45 I had to leave – Dee had his only regularly scheduled game of the day, a 1 p.m. contest at Glavin. I apologized to Tammy Francis, Maggie’s coach’s wife, for leaving early; she understood fully. Dee’s 1 p.m. game started on time, but for some reason Dee wasn’t playing up to his normal self. Hell, I was tired and all I had done was watch soccer all morning. Dee was playing in his fourth game since 8 a.m. At 2 p.m. we were all soccered out – no more games.
There is an up side to this whole story. Because of all the soccer on Saturday, there were no games scheduled on Sunday – so I was allowed to dedicate most of the afternoon to smoking some chickens. I’ve not yet looked at the calendar, but I am confident that next weekend will be just as hectic. The things we do for our kids.
United Hockey League
River Otters Try to Look Ahead
Injuries and Trades Make No Difference
By Louis J. Launer
A team in last place in the overall United Hockey League standings can have lots of frustrations. Not having the home team wear their St. Patrick’s Day jerseys can add insult to injury. That’s what happened last Friday night when the River Otters hosted the Fort Wayne Komets on a night where everyone is supposedly Irish.
It is usually a custom in the UHL for the visiting team to bring along their home white jerseys, so the actual home team can wear special jerseys. It’s a minor league tradition. Somehow, the Fort Wayne Komets were not notified and the team brought only their away black jerseys, which would have clashed with the Otters’ Kelly green jerseys. At the last minute, the Otters switched back to their regular home white jerseys, disappointing many fans that were there to bid on St. Patrick’s Day jerseys, benefiting Dollar Help.
To add to problems, within the first minute of that game, Fort Wayne’s Matt Hunter scored two quick goals within the first minute of the game to give the Komets a 2-0 lead. But the River Otters did come back. Scott Dobben, who was acquired at last Tuesday’s trade deadline from the Motor City Mechanics, scored two goals also in the first period to tie the game at 2. Mike Richards, acquired in February scored late in the first period to give the River Otters a 3-2 lead. The lead continued into the second period, where the River Otters depended on their goaltender Brendan “Stick” Cuthbert, who stopped 40 shots in the entire game. Cuthbert has been filling in for the injured Kevin Reiter, who could be out for the rest of the season.
Hunter of Fort Wayne completed his hat trick by scoring in the third period, tying the game at 3-3. The River Otters just couldn’t put any defense together at the beginning of the third. Komets’ all-star representative Guy Dupuis scored the game winner for the Komets, a slap shot from the top of the right face-off circle, to give the Komets a 4-3 victory.
The River Otters try to play the role of spoiler, since they have no chance to make this year’s Colonial Cup Playoffs. They didn’t even try on last Saturday’s game against the Kalamazoo Wings, played in Michigan. The Wings who could be a high seed in the playoffs had 63 shots on goal against the River Otters and naturally beat Missouri, 7-2.
Lately, the only way the River Otters can get two points and a win has been from a shootout. The team returned Sunday to Family Arena and hosted Rockford, a team most likely to be the top team in the Western Division when the playoffs begin after Easter. Steve Makway scored the tying goal and the shootout game winner as the River Otters defeated Rockford, 3-2. Although the loss for Rockford really didn’t make any difference on their position, it was finally the first time that the River Otters defeated Rockford this season.
Most fans who saw both the Fort Wayne and Rockford games this past weekend still are loyal fans of the team. But most of the fans are rather frustrated at the poor performance and the lack of effort by the organization to really get good talent to compete against UHL teams who years ago were doormats of the league, much like the River Otters are today.
“I’m ready for baseball,” said one fan who refused to be identified. “This hockey team has become a total joke. It’s disappointing for all of those players who really wanted to play to be on a team that has a difficult time getting a win.”
Two weeks ago, the Quad City Mallards, Motor City Mechanics and the River Otters made a trade right at the trade deadline that sent a fan favorite of Missouri’s to the Mallards. Frank Littlejohn, one of the team’s top scorers and a favorite of many fans, was sent to the Quad City Mallards in exchange for Mike Olynyk and Scott Dobben. Dobben had just been dealt to the Mallards from Motor City and was immediately sent to Missouri to complete the trade.
It was rumored that just after the all-star break and the release of River Otters’ head coach Kevin Kaminski that Littlejohn and a number of other players wanted to leave Missouri for other clubs, simply because they wanted to be on a winning club and have a better chance at playing in the Colonial Cup playoffs. Littlejohn is now on a team who does have a very good chance of making the playoffs. But the Mallards could face a tough Rockford, Fort Wayne, Kalamazoo or Muskegon—four teams who have a chance to go the distance in this year’s Colonial Cup tournament.
RiverCity Rage open season with win
Spank Katy Copperheads 69-33 on road
By: Mike McMurran
Sports Editor
The RiverCity Rage of the National Indoor Football League turned a first half Texas waltz into a football version of the Cotton-Eyed Joe in the final two periods, stepping up to outscore the Katy Copperheads 42-14 in the second half and get out of town with a 69-33 opening game victory in suburban Houston on Saturday night. The Rage is 1-0 on the new NIFL season and will host the Cincinnati Marshals on Sunday in the 2006 home opener at Savvis Center. The Copperheads fell to 1-1.
With Rage quarterback Clay Groefsema on target with his receivers most of the game, and operating behind a solid offensive line, the second half explosion left Copperhead’s coach Bryan Blake shaking his head. “I told my defense before the game that they were facing the most prolific offense in the NIFL. I just didn’t think they would roll over us the way they did in the second half. I guess you just can’t stop a fast moving train. They were on their game tonight, but you only improve in this game from facing the best, and we’ll learn from this one.”
For Rage Head Football Coach Mike Wyatt, the pre- game plan was fairly simple. Get to the quarterback, avoid turnovers on offense, and don’t let the big guy (ex-NFL running back Bam Morris) beat you. It worked to near perfection. “We kept pressure on their quarterback all night long and the four sacks we registered don’t even tell the full story. A lot of those hurried throws aren’t reflected in the stats. He had two scores, but we basically shut down Bam Morris (13 carries, 64 yards) and held on to the ball and didn’t hurt ourselves with penalties (one). I’d have to say it was impressive on both sides of the line, although I was a bit disappointed with our play on special teams. Our timing needs to improve, but that’s for practice on Tuesday.”
A 41-yard touchdown pass from Copperhead’s quarterback Mark Saldana to Jason Deml gave Katy it’s final lead of the game at 9-7 early in the second quarter. A Joe Bevis 18-yard touchdown interception and a 1-yard Groefsema to Hurtis Chinn TD pass put the Rage in front 27-19 at halftime. The lead would roll back and forth between 8 and 15 points before the Rage put the game out of reach in the forth quarter. Two touchdown runs of 1 yard each by Groefsema and a 34 yard TD rainbow aired out to a streaking Hurtis Chinn set the stage for the Rage- Marshal’s rematch at 3pm this Sunday. Reserve quarterback Anthony Fisher put the finishing touch to a nearly perfect Rage debut with a 2-yard touchdown run in the final two minutes.
Groefsema was 20 of 27 on the night, accounting for 7 Rage touchdowns (3 rushing, 4 passing) and 218 yards through the air. Rage receiver Hurtis Chinn caught 8 passes good for 140 yards and scored 4 TD’s. Moses Regular and Corey Bethany each had 5 catches on the night. The Rage were led in rushing by Sha-ron Edwards, who carried 19 times for 79 yards.
The Rage defense sacked Saldana four times, and coupled with an interception, the Rage defense kept the Copperhead’s starter on the run most of the evening, and he finally gave way to reserve Ryan Breedlove early in the fourth quarter who was also intercepted twice. “They pressured us from a lot of different angles and their defensive backs were right with our receivers most of the game. It was tough.” stated Saldana.
The Rage is 1-0 on the new NIFL season and will host the Cincinnati Marshals on Sunday in the 2006 home opener at Savvis Center with a 3 p.m. kick-off.
