Time to take this column to the next level, I think. Last week my sons were invited to a birthday party at the O’Fallon Civic Center. I knew St. Peters had the “Rec Plex,” but I was completely unaware O’Fallon had constructed such a beautiful facility. I know of the controversy of changing the name; that is not the issue I wish to address. My question is this: Why does St. Charles City not provide the same services, yes, they would be considered services, that both St. Peters and O’Fallon provide? Why is there not a “civic-center” in beautiful St. Charles? My boys were there on a Saturday evening the place was full of both adults and children. Some were swimming, some were playing basketball; as I walked down the hall I noticed a number of the meeting rooms full. I could only wonder what crafts or topic of discussion might have been going on.
My friend and former swimming buddy Greg Almus informed me that he must go to the Rec Plex to swim. My question is WHY? So here is what I am going to do. The following e-mail will be sent to each and every member of the St. Charles City Council.
An open letter to the members of the St. Charles City Council:
Why is it St. Peters and O’Fallon have such beautiful civic centers for their residents to utilize and St. Charles does not? Please do not respond in a “chop-logic” manner. I have served as a Councilman and Mayor of a small bedroom community prior to moving to St. Charles, and recognize responses that “talk in circles.”
Further more, would you be willing to introduce legislation and support the construction of such a facility? Would you go so far as to make it a priority so that failure of such a project might be an issue in the next election for St. Charles City Council?
It would only be fair to inform you your response will be published in The First Capitol News, and that your response will be treated with the respect it deserves. I would be foolish not to be aware that some of you have issues with the FCN – warranted or not. I would only hope that you are not foolish enough to think, “guilt by association is logical.” The first lesson in any “Logic” class teaches it is not.
Most importantly I would like a response from Mr. Riddler (president) and Mr. Kneemiller (my councilman). Should I not receive a response I will be in contact with you again. Thank you for your attention in this matter.
Stay tuned ladies and gentlemen. Next week I hope to be able to shed some light upon this topic.
Another question Almus had for me had to do with youth baseball. He was wondering what exactly made a good youth baseball manager; it was a valid, and important question. With a little research I found out the “expert” on youth baseball coaching is a gentleman out of Alamo California, John T. Reed. In this week’s edition you will find some of his comments on “…common mistakes youth baseball coaches make.” If you like what you read you can purchase his book, Youth Baseball Coaching.
Due to prior commitments I was unable to attend the St. Charles/St. Charles West basketball games this past Friday. Luckily our minor league reporter, Louis Launer was in attendance and covered the game. What I can tell you is to mark the week of February 20-24 on your calendars, as that is the week Duchesne will be hosting the district tournament. On the girls side of the ledger it looks like it is going to come down to St. Charles and Duchesne. The boys’ crown should come down to St. Charles, St. Charles West and Duchesne. Anyway you look at it high school basketball junkies will want to be there.
Speaking of Duchesne boys’ basketball, the St. Louis Post Dispatch reported in January 24th’s edition that Duchesne junior Zach Plackemeier scored 42 points in Duchesne’s 71-52 title game win over GAC-South’s Howell. As regular readers of this column know, one of my collateral duties is the voice of the Lady Titans at Trinity Catholic High School. During last Monday’s game against Cardinal Ritter I mentioned to the official score keeper, Dwayne Lund, how Plackemeier had lit up the scoreboard in the finals. “He sure did,” said Lund, “but I don’t know where they got 42 points. I had him down for 47.” I suspect one could argue what’s the big deal over 5 points – except Plackemeier is on target to break the school’s scoring record next season. And, as any basketball junkie knows, the official scorekeeper is just that; his data is what is official. Now, something may have been miscommunicated when calling in the statistics to Stats on Line, but the fact remains, according to the official scorer, he had 47 points. Wouldn’t it be a shame that he would fall 4 points short of the school record next year, when in reality the record was his? Stay turned for further developments in this story.
See you next week; hopefully we have some input from some Council members.
League Names Information Director From Rivercity Rage
Weekly contributor to First Capitol News
By: Mike McMurran
Sports Editor
Mike Thompson, Director of Media Relations for the RiverCity Rage Pro Indoor Football Team has been named as the Director of Information for the National Indoor Football League. Thompson will team with Morris Groves, Rage Director of Operations who holds the title of Media Director for the NIFL, as well. The two will also continue in their respective roles with the Rage while serving the dual capacity for the league.
Thompson, a long time local radio air personality, has been Media Relations Director for the Rage for the past year. He also serves as the voice of the RiverCity Rage doing their play by play on their game day radio broadcasts. During his tenure, the Rage has seen their visibility tremendously increase in the St. Louis sports market.
We are thrilled to have Mike come onboard to help raise our awareness both at the local and national level. He has done a fine job in St. Louis and we felt it would only compliment the work that was already being done in St. Louis by Morris Groves. It was a natural fit.” stated Carolyn Shiver, NIFL President.
The new role for Thompson was discussed when the NIFL held their fall league meetings in St.Louis in November, but it was not until the winter meetings that concluded last week in Houston that Thompson received the appointment.
“I am excited about the challenge. There is no question that I will have a lot on my plate, but it will be a labor of love. Everyone can rest assured that it will in no way diminish my role with the Rage, in fact, it will only enhance it.” stated Thompson.
The NIFL is in it’s sixth season and will begin play in March 2006. Twenty four teams ranging from Pasco, Washington to Miami, Florida to Billings, Montana, to Beaumont, Texas will vie for the league title during the season that will conclude at the end of July.
The Rage who will make Savvis Center their home in 2006 will open their season on the March 17 on the road before returning for their home opener on March 26.
GAC Basketball
St. Charles West Pulls Out A Thriller
Kramer Soderberg, Bob Barton First Capitol News PhotoBy Louis J. Launer
It wasn’t a buzzer beater, but it was one of the most exciting games of the 2004-05 high school basketball season. St. Charles High School may have the height, but St. Charles West held the strategy of a basketball team. From the opening tip-off, the packed house of fans knew that this basketball game was going to be close.
The St. Charles Pirates scored first and some West Warrior fans thought that the Pirates were going to dominate early. Unfortunately, West kept their composure. On the first whistle for a Pirate team foul in the opening minutes, the Pirates appeared to be rather rattled. Head Coach Gary Wacker argued with officials from the very start. St. Charles West appeared more relaxed with head coach Terry Hollander focusing on the team’s game plan.
Josh Harrellson, a 6’8” tower of a Pirate forward, scored 23 points and was there to block many of the St. Charles West shots. He even included one slam-dunk in the game. Clay Zerr, a 6’ 6” senior guard, scored 11 points. Two of his baskets were from the 3-point range.
The night belonged to St. Charles West’s Kramer Soderberg. The 6’ 2” senior scored 34 points, one of them out from 3-point range. But he was able to get the loose balls that the Pirates could not keep. Brian Maurer of the Warriors scored 19 and had 2 three-pointers.
Both teams played their own games in the first half. By the end of the half, the Warriors took advantage of some fouls that the Pirates committed and also used their timeouts wisely. West led 32-28 at the half. Fans for both sides thought it could go either way.
The Pirates regained some composure in the second half, but the Warriors remained consistent in ball control and finding the open man. After 3 quarters, the score remained close, with West still leading, 44-42.
Offense and defense made the difference. West played both very well. All game long, West’s players stayed in the middle, trying to keep Pirate forwards from using the center lane to shoot. In the fourth quarter, the Pirates resorted to shooting out in the three-point range as West’s lead was as high as 11 at one point in the fourth quarter. With 3 minutes remaining, St. Charles West took advantage of the bonus situation both teams had. On ever foul, the Warriors went to the line and concentrated on simple set-shots, which gave St. Charles West a 71-64 victory over archrival St. Charles High.
After the game, St. Charles West’s head coach Terry Hollander was relieved that his team was able to win. But for St. Charles High, who had such a good start and such a good season so far, the season might be starting to crumble. After the game a source that preferred to remain anonymous said that the St. Charles Pirates lacked discipline. Terry Hollander’s St. Charles West teams over the years have been known to be very disciplined and focused on the game. SCW’s victory over SCHS proved that discipline and dedication is what wins basketball games.
St. Charles West High School Alumni Association Announces Fifth Annual Alumni Basketball Tournament To Be Held March 17-18
The St. Charles West High School Alumni Association is currently planning the Fifth Annual S.C. West Alumni Basketball Tournament to be held March 17-18, 2006 at S.C. West H.S. The tournament will include team competition on both Friday, March 17th and Saturday, March 18th and an optional skills competition on Friday before team play. The tournament will offer Rookie and Veteran Division play. To register for the tournament or receive more information, please contact Dave Riazi at 636-949-2993.
ALL SYSTEMS ‘GO’ FOR RAGE COACH WYATT AS THIRD SEASON GEARS UP
Mike Thompson
Director of Media Relations
RiverCity Rage
NIFL
Media@ragefootball.com
Will the third time be the charm? RiverCity Rage Head Football Coach Mike Wyatt certainly hopes so, but knowing that hope is never enough to make things happen, Wyatt paused briefly last week in his office amidst playbook diagrams, phone calls and game film to give an honest answer to a question he’s pondered since the surprising, and most upsetting, playoff loss to the Cincinnati Marshals last July.
“If hard work is the answer, we’re already champions of the NIFL,” he said with a smile, “but I’ve been around this game long enough to know that every team, every coach, works hard in the off-season. The key is to be able to secure fresh talent, hit the ground running from the first practice, and get your team mentally focused on football.” While Wyatt is certain his team will come to camp next month ready to embrace the new season, he says the main challenge he faces is keeping that mindset in place with the Rage throughout the entire year, and certainly, come playoff time.
“It’s no secret we were one of the top teams heading into the playoffs last season, but toward the end of the year, I felt we let our guard down just a bit, losing the last two games of the regular season to Lubbock and Dayton. We tried to re-group mentally for the playoffs, but found we just couldn’t tune it up on a dime, and we ended up falling short of our goal of a league title. We opened the season well, but this year my job is to make sure we finish well. I really feel we have an even better squad than last year, these new additions are a huge boost to this football team, but we need to work on becoming more fundamentally sound.” Wyatt, entering his third year with the Rage as an award winning coach and general manager, finally admitted he does, in fact, hope the third time around brings home the football charm. “This team and this city deserve a championship,” he said, “with the improvements we’ve made and with the nucleus of our team from last season in place, I feel the talent is there, but we need to keep our focus on that prize throughout the entire season this time around. If we succeed there, I’ll feel good about our chances of holding an NIFL title trophy come the end of July.”
Ready to make an impact on Rage opponents in 2006 is new offensive lineman Fred Layne, a 6’3” 315lb rookie who is no stranger to success. Layne was a 3 time All-Gateway selection at Western Illinois and says that pass blocking is his strong suite. “I’m used to being an interior lineman, so playing on the edge is an adjustment,” says the Granite City native, “but I’ve worked too hard to let this chance slip by. I see this as a great opportunity to play pro football, so whatever changes need to be made in my game, it’ll happen. I’m excited about coming to St. Louis.”
Nine other new players have inked contracts with the Rage, including NIFL veteran defensive back Jabari Smith, who saw service last season with the Lubbock Gunslingers. Aggressive on the line with bump coverage and a great cover corner, Smith will add to the new and re-vamped defensive in 2006. Also on board is wide receiver Mario Patton, a 4 year NIFL vet who was second in receiving in 2004 behind league leader Scott Pingel of the RiverCity Rage. Patton, who played his college football at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, says it’s good now to have that kind of competition lining up with him. “Scott is one of the premier receivers in our league, and now I get the chance to compliment him, not compete against him. I’m looking forward to being on the field with other quality Rage receivers this season. We’re gonna light up the scoreboard!”
It’s talk like that that gets Wyatt excited. Coming off a year that found him accepting the NIFL awards for Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year, while also corralling the General Manager of the Year trophy, Wyatt says the last game of the season for the Rage in 2005 still looms as the biggest disappointment of his NIFL career. “The double overtime loss to Cincinnati in the playoffs actually hurt worse than losing the playoff game the year before, basically because we had beaten them twice in the regular season and we were the favored team to go all the way. I wondered time and again in the off-season if there was something I could have done, some play I could have called that might have made a difference in that one, but it was a lesson hard learned.”
That ‘lesson’ says Wyatt, is one he will address to his players when practices get underway in February. Simply stated, “It’s not always the team that has the best players, it’s the team playing the best in the playoffs. THAT’S the team usually accepting the trophy when all’s said and done. Look Tri-Cities, they came out of nowhere, got hot towards the end of the season, and ended up winning it all. I feel confident about our chances this season, but a bit of attitude adjustment is in order for the RiverCity Rage in 2006.”
From special teams, to the shut-em-down defense, to the high-octane explosive offense Wyatt’s teams are renowned for, it’s time to get on the same page, get with the program, re-learn the terms and gear up for what should prove to be an exciting NIFL season for the new look RiverCity Rage. A new home at Savvis Center, some new players ready to mark their mark on this team and this league, and the solid foundation of the returning veterans, players who know what it takes to bring it home, guys who have been there-done that in the NIFL. The playing for keeps gets underway for the Rage the weekend of Saint Patrick’s Day. The beginning of a season that should be absolutely charming!!
