SportsBuzzard 3

Why not Yoga?

We have one week of football under our belts and most teams are looking pretty good.   There are always  some teams coming out of the gates a little rusty, but that's to be expected.    I can't help but think, though, that with a little help from Yoga  in the off season those rusty moments would be no more!



Please don't go judging me, or anyone else who is a firm believer in the benefits of Yoga.    Given all the recent discussion about concussions--alternatives for football training need to be explored.

If you think teams need to hit and hit during practice to be successful on Friday, you better read the article about coach John Gagliardi and his success with alternative training methods. Click Here 

Last week I gave evidence that Pilates was a viable option for football training, and big Mr. Editor put the article as a feature in a pink box, nice.

Undaunted, I present here evidence on the benefits of Yoga and football:

Example #1--Terrapins

Example #2--Donald Driver

Example #3--Lobos

So, why not Yoga? Yoga works the entire body and mind, and that may be an x-factor that could help west river teams compete against east river teams.  

I hope the West River teams, being behind in their technique and all, according to one particular blogger, will take note and join the Yoga force.  It's good stuff!!

Sod Buzzard

Sixier By The Minute

The first full week of action in high school football kicks into gear Friday.  ER#1 could have his hands full as there are several cross state battles that could be feast or famine for our eastern most leaning buzzard. Hot Springs travels to Madison looking to rebound this week, Crow Creek travels to 1-0 Cheyenne-Eagle Butte, the big green machine from Hill City travels to Mobridge, South Central travels to Scotland, Sunshine Bible is at Lower Brule for an afternoon matinee, Timber Lake goes to Herried-Selby, and I’m including my (un)beloved Valentine Badgers who travel to Chamberlain.  I think three wins from the westerlies is likely. 

In the Pheasant Belt, all teams are in action.  Lower Brule will likely get spanked by SBA and the Jones County Junior Coyotes likely won’t fair much better against the Scrappy Lap Dogs from Philip.  Bennett County sounds to be down a few of their studs this week, but they should still put a half hundred on St. Francis.  Getting those out of the way,that means were at my six for the week:

6.  Red Cloud at Todd County – Two teams looking to pick up where they left off last year with successful seasons.  Kornely’s Flying Circus replaces their all state QB and their main RB from last year’s 9-2 team.  Red Cloud returns a good nucleus of players.  I see the Crusaders pulling this one out in a close one 26-24.

5.  South Central at Scotland – Two teams with a young core, this could be a good matchup in the next couple years.  South Central will go east and come home with a 24-14 win.

4.  Winner at Stanley County -  The Warriors look to follow up on last week’s win in this battle of Big Dakota Conference foes.  The Warriors will look to control the clock and hit a few long balls through play action, while Stanley County looks to third year QB and coach’s son Josh Rogers.  I’m picking Winner 30-6.

3.  White River at Lyman – The Tigers head north on 83 and west on I90 to battle the Lyman Raiders who wear red from Lyman County.  Lyman was gutted by graduation, but has some strong athletes.  White River is going to be big up front and try to run the ball.  I’ve got Lyman 28-12.

2.   Colome at Kimball -  It’s not just you seeing green, it’s Kiotes with a K and Cowboys with a Z.  Zach Harter, that is.  The gifted senior QB will  lead the Cowboys to victory in the season opener 34-20 over Kimball.

1.  Bridgewater-Emary/Ethan at Gregory – Gregory looks to rebound after a disappointing season last year.  They start the season with the Van Leur led Seahawks from south and east of Mitchell.  They are one of the more consistent programs in the state.  Should be a dandy against the Braun and red Gorillas.  I’m seeing the BEE going home with a close win 30-26.

Good luck and safe travels to all teams.

PLOW ON, MY FRIENDS!

 

Sod Buzzard

Choking on the Seeds

It is officially week one of high school football in the great state of South Dakota and here in the Pheasant Belt (wink, wink, Bruce.) As we begin to move forward with our second week of action, the landscape of 11B football was altered drastically last week. Preseason contenders Tri Valley, Aberdeen Roncalli, and McCook Central-Montrose all started the year the same they ended last year with a loss. In 11A, BHC contender Hot Springs suffered a first round knockout at the hands of Winner, West Central lost it’s first regular season game in half a decade, and STM showed Douglas that even with white helmets, the spankings feel the same, especially when mercy rules are ignored. This resulted in a shake up of the meaningless polls maintained by multiple reporting agencies, which impacts the landscape of football about as much newly elected senators and representatives clean up Congress. It does send out a clear message that this season is up for grabs and you have to show up and win the games to come out ahead. And those wins mean the coveted power points. Which brings me to my point…..

Much ado has been made about the revised playoff format. Modifications that started in earnest clear back about a decade ago. The straw that broke the camel’s back seemed to be when a dang good one loss Burke Bulldog team was on the outside looking in at the playoffs after power points were tabulated in their region. The wild card allowed teams with high power points to bump the four seeds in regions, and I do think this has helped, BUT there have been many situations in which the one seed in the effected region has a much tougher game as a result of this than the two seeds. I bring this up not to turn it into spilled milk, just to note that no system is perfect – as I have said many times, I stand by the premise that you have win the game ahead of you. If you don’t win the first playoff game, don’t gripe about not making it to the state championship game.

We are now seeding teams and basing the quarterfinal games on the arbitrary and BCS like measurement of our power points. Calling a spade a spade, the bullseye for this rule falls onto Region 3, 11A. The east river elitists were in a tizzy with last year’s Todd County team qualifying for the semis, than getting stomped by Milbank. All of those teams that got beat out that is. That didn’t win their games. Were they likely a better football team than the Falcons? I guess the question I would ask is what difference does it make now? They ended their year with a loss, just like Todd County. And every other 11A team not from Milbank. Just like all but six teams who were in the playoffs. And to even further stir the pot, I can’t help but wonder if the concept of T.C. being a reservation school didn’t creep into some minds as well. To further my point, even with Milbank getting that lopsided win, people still cried around about STM getting the easy way into the finals? Pardon me? Belle and Dakota Valley in sound fashion? Milbank is viewed as deserving because they won, but STM is viewed as lucky to have gotten there because of a weak schedule and region. Come on folks, let’s be objective here.

For all of these years, folks a little more quietly grumped around that Winner had it easy. Most years however, Winner put up a fight in the playoffs and wasn’t an easy out. They did benefit from a region softer than others…. in football. Looking at the big picture, I don’t recall teams begging for a shot to go through Jesse Lebeau’s Pine Ridge basketball teams of the 80’s. Or Jesse Lebeau’s Red Cloud teams of the 90’s. Or Jesse LeBeau’s Little Wound team a few years back. I’d like to think that some of Jim Drake’s Winner teams could have competed well at state basketball tournaments (91, 95, and 02 come to mind), but just couldn’t get past those teams who outscored and therefore defeated them. There was no public outcry over this, at least none that I recall. And I sure don’t remember any of those schools begging to get into Region 3 of State A wrestling. Andy Tate’s Mitchell teams of the 90’s and early naughts’, the Pierre squads of the late 80’s, Huron for the last several years, there were some solid schools. Or last year as Winner went to B in wrestling. I took in that regional tourney in Wagner. That was some impressive competition to say the very least. There were several returning state placers that went home a week earlier than the year before. Anybody want to join Bon Homme, Parkston, Burke-Gregory, and Wagner for your shot to get to state? Didn’t think so.

You don’t need to explain to me that this effort is made to get the best competition in football playoffs. Then why do we continue to bank on power points? They can be manipulated as well. While the state is in charge of setting schedules, if you are a quality program in a crappy conference, what is your incentive to leave? Maybe you know with your conference schedule you are likely to get at least four out of five wins year in and year out. Win one of your out of conference games and go 5-3 in a down year and - wah lah – playoff berths have arrived again. Quite honestly, I’m pulling for a Little Wound, Cheyenne-Eagle Butte, or Pine Ridge to have stellar regular season. Go ahead poor Harrisburg who thinks they got jobbed last year or West Central who seem to be upset prone in the playoffs the last few years, enjoy that drive on a Monday night. And then if one of those teams lose out yonder, I’ll be the fat bald guy doing cartwheels across the Platte-Winner bridge.

If we are going to do this, than let’s seed out region tournaments in wrestling, golf, cross country, and track. Let’s seed volleyball and basketball top to bottom. Not just football. If your response is that there are no power points in some of these sports and no way to do it, my response is that the SDHSAA could do it if they wanted to do so. Bust up the conferences and make everybody play teams from within their classes only. Forget about rivalry games and don’t plan on seeing the same teams back to back years. That’s the only way you could call it fair to everyone. It boils down to this - because a handful of east river schools cried loud enough, they got the rule changed for one sport.

There is no “right” way to seed these playoffs in any sport. My suggestion is and always will be to stick with geographic rivalries. In truth there isn’t much better than knowing you knocked off your neighboring town and the last game they played came with a defeat at your hands. I maintain that part of the beauty of the playoffs is relishing your opponents loss sometimes just as much as savoring your victory. Right Black Hills Conference? Quick show of hands, how many folks in the Hills and more accurately most of those residing west of the moat loved seeing the Evil Blue Empire fall from grace twice last year in state championship games? (Point awarded, Sod Buzzard.) And if the folks in Martin weren’t on board before the baseball season, they are now. And McIntosh. And maybe even Pine Ridge now? I just can’t keep up.

I am all for seeing a deserving champion crowned. Does that mean the best team won it? I guess that depends on whose rose colored (or blue, or maroon, or scarlet, or Kelly green, or Columbia blue, or purple, or whatever color you bleed) glasses you are wearing. What I do know is the team that wins four playoff games deserves to be called the state champions. And if you don’t, looks like there are areas to improve. Work on it to achieve it. Or change the system in hopes of making you feel better about not playing good enough to win your last game.

PLOW ON, MY FRIENDS!

Groovy

Fearless 5 Forecast: Week 2

It should be another interesting week of football in the AA ranks. Four of the five west river teams play schools on this side of the river. The other, Douglas, is idle until next week.  The 4 GDC AA's will square off with each other in the Rushmore Bowl. Unfortunately neither Friday night tilt includes Sturgis and Stevens playing each other which is the game I think everyone is interested in seeing. That being said it is still too early in the season to make assumptions of who is the real deal and who isn't. I still believe that Stevens and Sturgis are the two teams to beat but only time will tell. Here are my picks for week 2.

RC Stevens vs Spearfish:
In the opener of the Rushmore Bowl Stevens rolls in convincing fashion. Spearfish just doesn't have the depth or the athletes to hang with Stevens' well balanced attack. Hayden Hast has a big night through the air and Stevens wins going away 52-14.

Sturgis vs RC Central:
This one is a little closer than a lot of people believe it will be. Central is stingy on defense and helps keep the game close. Too much Clint Wilson on the ground and Sturgis' air attack helps loosen up Central's backers. Sturgis wins 14-3.

Collin Boechler

SCORE UPDATE 72 - 6 REALLY????

I have wanted to write an article like this for SO long.  Things like this seem to trigger a wide range of emotions from fans, parents and even people that don't watch football, but see a score like this in their local newspaper the next day.  In this article I want to give perspective on BOTH sides of the fence and hope you can open up your mind to EQUALLYconsider eash side for a brief moment.

When is enough actually enough???  When the score was 50-0, were you still worried that you might not win???  Why would you "humiliate" another team like that???  What are you guys trying to prove???  What message are you sending to our kids???   Sound familiar?  We have all had these type of questions following a game like this.  Its even uncomfortable being a fan in the stands (either side) for a game like this.  Who gets embarrassed more?  I have been accused of "running up the score" before, so I know what it feels like, but have been on the other side to.  I GET IT....I REALLY DO.   NOT AN EASY SUBJECT

Now from a coaches perspective.  There are so many things about a "real" game that you cannot duplicate in ANY practice.  The crowd cheering from the stands.  We all know how this "pumps" you up during a game.  Just ask any NFL player about "home-field advantage"  and what a difference a crowd can make.  Also, these kids we're coaching are sick and tired of hitting each other for the past 2 weeks and can't wait to line up against someone different.  As a coach, when this happens, we think differently.  What SHOULD we do?  Tell our kids NOT to play hard?  (That's how kids get hurt).  Pull the starters even earlier?  Remember, the replacements are trying to impress their coaches for future playing time.  Take a knee?   As you can tell there aren't a lot of options a coach has at this point.  We go into a different mode so-to-speak.   We don't notice the score, but are trying to implement certain things for the future to see if they work or not.  We know we will face "stiffer" competition (think Dakota Dome) in the future, and need to find the right balance between playing time for our starters, implementing multiple schemes, finding out what we're good at, and what needs to be improved.  Remember we still need to get better for those last 2 games of the season.

So, when you see a lop-sided score like this in the future, give the coaches a break.  They don't set the schedule or decide what the other side brings to the table.  Also, to the coaches, remember what it's like to be on the other side of the field when you're losing like this with  NO sign of recovery. 

I hope you  all can see BOTH sides of fence from here. 

Collin

Collin Boechler

11 Man - Game(s) of the Week!!

Well its hard not to pick which games to watch this weekend.  The annual Rushmore Bowl is here again.  I just have to say how IMPRESSED I am with how well the Black Hills schools and businesses do during this event.  This is a HUGE fundraiser for ALL 4 schools.  All proceeds are split evenly among these schools to help support extra-curricular activities (NOT JUST SPORTS).  From one night of football these 4 schools received a check for $30,000 last year.  I love to see all the school spirit on display on a Friday night and for every one's enthusiasm and anticipation for this night all year.  Thanks to the numerous volunteers that help make this possible.  Please go this weekend, I cannot think of a better way to start Labor Day Weekend than to go to these 2 games.

THIS FRIDAY NIGHT

5:00 pm - Stevens vs. Spearfish

8:00 pm -Central vs. Sturgis

As far as predictions go......that's NOT my role here......There are people on here that are way better at that stuff than I am.  (OK, I'm lying....I have my predictions, but they will stick with me)

Collin

East River 1

East vs West; Score Card ‘week zero’

 You better celebrate now West River. Trackman, you know it was a stellar weekend for the West. Where is this WestRiver#1 guy? Is he at the county fair somewhere?

11AA
Yankton 9 RCC 0

Watertown 46 Spearfish 13

Brookings 14 RCS 42

Brandon Valley 14 Sturgis 27

 

week zero (2-2) E83 – W82
 
11A/B

week zero (0-0) E0 – W0

 

9AA/A/B
Kimball 44 Lower Brule 6


 
week zero (1-0) E44 – W6


Overall (3-2) E127 - W88

Mr. Pink

30 for 30

It seems lately ESPN has been worried more about the love life of Tiger Woods or the ankle of Brett Favre.  Constantly showing more of the dark sides of sports than the light, but with their 30 for 30 series they have struck gold.  From the first 30 for 30 film they aired till tonights on the 1982 LLWS Champion Kirkland, Washington I have cleared my night to watch.  Each film seems to draw at different heart strings and mixes up memories and emotions that were all but forgotten.  I can sit here confidently and say that more than one has had me crying my eyes out without knowing why.  Watch the "Guru of Go" about Paul Westhead and Hank Gathers and you will realize what I am talking about.  Whether it was the story of Len Bias, Reggie Miller or OJ Simpson each film has gone above and beyond my expectations.  For those of you that havent had a chance to catch any of the series you dont know what you are missing.  To relive classic sports moments of the last 30 years in the eyes and voices of those involved has been incredible.  So please ESPN dont stop at 30 keep making these films, because great stories of yesteryear will always trump dark stories of today.

If you have watched tell me what films stood out the most to you.....

SportsBuzzard 1

9 MAN GAME O’ THE WEEK: NEW UNDERWOOD TIGERS vs KADOKA KOUGARS

Do buzzards and crows mix? Ditto Tigers and Kougars?

Well, the answers to those questions will become clearer on Friday at 7 p.m. MST when the Sports Buzzard will cover this week’s 9 man Game O’ the Week live from the crow’s nest in Kadoka. That’s right, listen to the game live and join in the interactive chat when the Tigers square off against the Kougars.

We have already given in-depth coverage of the Tigers and their quest to run deeper into the playoffs come post season: Click here for Tiger pre-season information.

Both teams had bye weeks last week so it remains to be seen what tricks the 9A Kougars and Coach Chad Eisenbraun have up their paws for the Tigers. One thing is for sure, the Kougars sport some beeeeeeeef on their line as their roster includes seven players that are +200 lbs. Click here to see the Kougars roster.  You can bet that Tiger Coach Clint Nelson has been thinking of ways of offsetting the Kougars size advantage.

The question that lingers though is whether the Kougars have the speed necessary to stop Mr. Alex Anderson? Listen live starting at 7 p.m. on Friday for all the action!



Alex Anderson leads the Tigers through a pre-season drill.

East River 1

East River Dominates; Kimball, Watertown, and Yankton Spank West River

After week “zero” East comes out on top of the West again!

Kimball blows past Lower Brule 44-6, Watertown thumps Spearfish 46-13, and Yankton shuts-out Rapid City Central, the largest school in the State, 9-0.

Overall, another solid weekend for East River. Is this an indication of what is to come for the rest of the season?

Does anybody know if Brookings is still missing a bunch of players? Did Brandon Valley graduate every starter from last year? They are going to be really down for a couple years.

ER#1