Better Know an MLB Team: Part 4

I haven't had an entry for a while and honestly, there hasn't been may interesting national sports news. So I will wow you with the history of the Toronto Blue Jays.

In 1976, the American league voted to expand to Toronto. The name Blue Jays was selected in a "Name the Team" contest with over 4,000 choices. In 1977, Doug Ault hit two homeruns in the clubs first win, 9-5 over the Chicago White Sox. On June 26th, the Jays scored 24 runs on 24 hits to be Baltimore 24-10. So, the Orioles were terrible back then too. In 1981, Bobby Cox became the Jays new manager. In 1982, Beer was served at a exibition game and it was $1.75. In 1983, the Jays finished above .500 for the first time, but were still nine games back of first. In 1985, the Jays won 99 games and their division, but lost to the Kansas City Royals in 7 games of the ALCS. In 1992, the Jays won their first World Series by defeating the Atlanta Braves to become the first Canadian team to win the Series. In 1993, the Jays Joe Carter (right) hit a 3-run homerun in the bottom of the nineth to win back-to-back World Series. They have really struggled as a team since then even though they have had some great players.

This season, the Jays are playing average baseball. They are currently in third in the AL east but 11.5 games behind the Bo Sox. They are 20-17 at home and 13-19 on the road for an overall record of 33-36. They are 12-13 in 1 run games and 4-3 in exta innings. They have a decent offense and a average pitching staff. Their ace, Roy Halladay is 7-2 with a 4.37 era. Their offense is lead by Alex Rios who leads most of the offensive categories. He is hitting .295 with 15 homeruns, 39 RBI's and 50 runs scored.

Info from www.mlb.com

Sport Shorts

See what Jon Gruden says about Zac Taylor. He is very complimentary and if you read between the lines Zac has an excellent chance to make the tea.

Tampa Bay

Yesterday we talked about the 2007 recruiting class for the NU basketball team. Who is NU's top 2008 player we are going after. Right now it is J'Mison Morgan out of Dallas Texas. Nebraska, over the years, have landed some of the best talent in the nation with Rich King, Dave Hoppen, and Tyrone Lue but J'Mison would be the best we have ever had.

J'Mison Morgan is a 6'10" center and is well developed weighing 275 lbs. He is rated #48 by Rivals.com. He has already had nine offers including Nebraska. UCLA, Kansas, Arizona, Georgetown, and Georgia Tech have also given him offers. Kentucky has also shown interest. This will be a tough one to land but at NU, he will be a star and is the type of player who can take us to the top of the Big 12.

Watch how this develops and we will hopefully add a premier player for the 2008 class. The source for much of this information comes from Rivals.com.

NU Basketball

Nebraska has had its 2007 recruiting class rated by some as 10th in the Big 12. Some good players are coming in but there are no Kevin Durants. Maybe no Alex Marics. Hopefully a Charles Richardson because we will miss him dearly. NU should be improved this year but even with Doc Sadler at the helm, don't get your sights set too high yet.

According to Rivals.com, NU has no four star players coming in 2007. They are laced with three and two star players. At point guard, we have three star players Steve Harley and Josh Miller. Two star player Josh Richardson is also a two star point guard. This is such an important position to get a key person to step forward. Charles Richardson was so consistant last year and very underrated. Point guard is where it all starts and NU found out a few years ago that losing your quarterback on the basketball floor messes up your chemistry and players don't produce to their ability when this position is not strong. We need one of these player to step up or we will need to look at a JR Stowbridge or one of our other guards to play this position.

Steve Harley is a JUCO player from Maryland and played for Temple Hills College in Texas. He is 5'11" and 170 lbs. His only offer came from Nebraska. He was looked at by Utah also. He made the NJCAA All-Star game in Texas.

Josh Miller comes to us from Cincinnati Ohio. Miller looks like our most promising point guard recruit. He was offered six scholarships with one being from Rhode Island. He is small at 5'8" and only 160 lbs. He was rated at the 12th best player in Ohio. He is small but quick and can handle the ball. He will be a project or Doc Sadler and staff to get him ready for the Big 12.

Brandon Richardson is from California. He is the tallest of the PG recruits at 6'1".

Nebraska also has three shooting guard recruits and two are all rated three star rated and one is a two star by Rivals.com. The shooting guard position is also key as NU needs scorers. Besides Ryan Anderson at forward last year, we didn't have any great shooters from the outside.

Ola Dagunduro's brother Adeola comes to us from California also. Adeola will get playing time this season. He was offered eight scholarships with it coming down to Penn State and NU. Miami Fla., UNLV, and Pepperdine were also some of the college teams he received offers from. He is a JUCO player from Lancaster Antelope Valley College in California. He is 6'5" but needs to put on some weight. Odd after seeing how big Ola is. Adeola scored 18.1 points a game and averaged nine rebounds last year. He will need to work on his free throw shooting (65%) and his three point shooting (26%).

Our other three shooting guard recruit is Toney McCray. He had five offers. Three of those offers came from Washington St., Georgia, and Baylor. Toney is 6'6" and is from Missouri City, Texas High School. He averaged 16 points per game and six rebounds.

Our two star recruit at shooting guard is Rishawn Norwood. He is 6'3" and comes to NU as a JUCO player from San Antonio Junior College. NU gave him his only offer for a scholarship.

NU had one recruit sign at small forward. He is Alonzo Edwards out of a high school from Houston, Texas. He had some impressive offers. Bobby Knight at Texas Tech made an offer. USC, who recruited the top high school player in America, O.J.Mayo, tried to get Alonzo. Wyoming also made an offer. Alonz is 6'7" and 215 lbs. Pretty big for a small forward.

At power forward, Nu recruited a three star and a two star player as rated by Rivals.com.

NU's three star recruit at power forward has been called a "project". He is Shang Ping. He should get some playing time this fall. He is 6'9" and weighs 225 lbs. He is a JUCO player from East Peoria Illinois Central College. He was offered three scholarships by Butler, Pacific, and NU. Oklahoma St also showed interest. His mother and father both played for the Chinese national team.

The ninth and final recruit is a two star power forward coming from the Sheridan JUCO College in Wyoming. He received his only offer from NU although there was some interest from Texas A & M.

Nine players coming in, if they all qualify academically, and it looks like two players will have their scholarships taken away on the previous roster. That will be interesting.

Look to Josh Miller, Adeola Dagunduro, Toney McCray, Alonzo Edwards, and Shang Ping getting some early playing time. It is uncertain as to who, if any, will get redshirts. Possibly some of the two star recruits. Steve Harley may be a surprise.

This writer is extremely excited for the upcoming season. Doc Sadler will put the pieces of the puzzle together. Give him time and Don't Expect Too Much Too Soon!!

Major Source of Information comes from Rivals.com

NU Season Preview

The Big 12 season starts with Iowa State in Lincoln. This writer thinks this will be our easiest game of the year. Iowa State returns five offensive starters and five defensive starters from a team that was 4-8 for the season and 1-7 in the Big 12 in 2006. They will be led by first year coach Gene Chizek, the defensive coordinator from the Texas Longhorns. They will return QB Bret Meyer. NU wins easy.


Tigers will not lay down for Huskers

The next Big 12 game is at Missouri. Missouri returns eight offensive starters from a team that wa 8-5 in 2006. Chase Daniel returns and will be throwing to tight ends Marin Rucker and Chase Coffman. Both tight ends were recruited strongly by NU. Missouri returns both their kickers and five defensive starters. Two years ago in Missouri, NU was beaten badly. This year's game is a toss-up.

That puts us with three wins, one loss, and two tossups at this point of the season. The other toss-up game was Wake Forest and the loss was USC.

Crete player commits

John Levorson of Crete has committed to Nebraska as part of the 2008 class. He becomes NU's tenth 2008 recruit. He is 6"3" and 185 lbs.

Sport Shorts

Sean Fisher from Millard North is coming to Nebraska. My guess is he will be a safety. He is 6'5" and very fast. Another great player coached by Freddie Petito. This is one of NU's greatest recruits for 2008 and they have a bunch. The 2008 recruiting class will be the best since Bill Callahan has taken the helm.

Alex Gordon goes to .205 tonight as the Royals are destroying the Cardinals 17-8. What has happened to the Cardinals. Any insight Cardinal fans? Pitching is atrocious!

Joba Chamberlain has moved to AA ball for the Yankees. He struck out six of the first seven batters he faced in his debut. He pitched five scoreless innings. Great job.

Coaching discipline

Today kids need structure and rules. This leads to quality learning and building a framework of high moral character. The hard part is making the rules clear and concise. The coach must define his role to the team. At the college level today, this is done.

One of the biggest job of the coach after defining the rules is defining the consequences of what happens when a team member breaks the rules. These must be followed through or the whole idea of discipline goes out the window.

Rules and consequences must be in writing. All of this must be communicated and understood by the entire team.

Consequences of breaking rules must then be followed by appropriate action by the coach. Discipline is defined as "training that corrects, molds, or perfects the moral character of the teammate that broke the rules."

Kids know the difference between right and wrong. Players must respect their coach and the coaches will respect the players.

It appears that Maurice Purify has been a good teammate up until five weeks ago. Only the coaches and players really know this. We shouldn't make judgements as to what is best for a player as we haven't spent an hour with any of them. Maurice Purify's teammates should be very upset with their teammate! If not, something is wrong. Purify will need to go above and beyond to earn his teammates respect from here on out.

All of us have made mistakes and we pay for them. If you say you have never done anything wrong then you are already mistaken and youhave become judgemental which is even more wrong.

Lets let the coaching staff take care of Mr. Purify and hopefully get him back on track. Fans only care about how many weeks he will get suspended or if he will get kicked off the team. Only the coaches know the whole story.

What ever the coaching staff decides is best for the team and molding his players into becoming better examples is up to them. Our job as fans is to cheer for the players on the field!! We have a talented bunch of kids. Let's put our attention to supporting the players and not what should be done to one of the players when he broke a couple of rules. We don't set the rules. The university and the coaches do.

Do you know what the rules and consequences are for each rule. So then how do you think you know how long a player should be suspended? How do you know what it takes to mold that individual's moral character for the future.

Most fans will think that whatever is decided will be done so that NU can win more games. This writer doesn't feel Tom Osborne let Lawrence Philips play because all he wanted to do was win. He was doing everything the could to mold him into a better person and as we know it didn't turn out real well but he did what he thought was best. What would have happened to Johnny Rodgers if he would have been kicked off the team for armed robbery? We will never know but this writer thinks the best decision was made to make him a better person.

This writer is looking forward to a very exciting year of football with a very tough schedule. Let the coaches do the coaching and the fans do the cheering and we will all win!

Sport Shorts

Alex Gordon was 3-4 tonight and raised his average to .198. This was the day this writer said he would hit .200. Watch tomorrow night and he will get there. Royals win 8-1 over the hapless Cardinals. The Royals are playing good ball and Brian Bannister pitched great tonight.

Corey Young is gone at NU. This writer looks to him joining three other Millard North players at Iowa. He was a tremendous hitter and special teams player.

Craig Brazell will go to KC sometime this year. He is having a great season in Omaha this year. Boy would this writer like to see Brazell, Butler , and Huber play. Then drive to Davenport, Iowa and watch former NU player Brandon Buckman play. What a season he is having in A ball with Quad Cities. If you are a baseball fan at all you have to go see the Omaha Royals play.

Joba Chamberlain is doing well

Joba Chamberlain is doing well in A ball at Tampa for the Yankees. He is 4-0 with an ERA of 2.03. He has 51 strikeouts with only 11 walks.

Rice, Louisville, UC-Irvin, and Mississippi State have advanced to the College World Series. Rice beat Texas A & M to advance. Oklahoma State was beaten by Louisville.

Former NU players Adam Stern and Jamal Strong are both playing AAA ball. Jeff Christy has moved up to AA ball.

Adrian Hilburn of City College of San Fransisco has verbally committed to Nebraska. He is a wide receiver who has run a 4.4 40. He has been recruited by Dennis Wagner and played with Zac Lee, who is a future QB starter for NU.

Invincible

Watched this movie tonight about Vince Papale. It was called "Invincible". Great show about a nobody that tries out for the Philadelphia Eagles in 1976 when Dick Vermeil becomes their new head coach. It is a true story about a guy with a lot of heart!

This writer is afraid Maurice Purify is not invincible. Look to Todd Peterson to have a breakout year. With Nunn, Swift, Holt, Niles Paul, and many others we will have a great group of receivers.

Hastings College basketball player Drew Billeter hit a hole-in-one at the Alma Golf Course on hole#1. Hole#1 is a 287 yard par four that plays a good 310 yards. A truly remarkable accomplishment as Drew is virtually in his second year of golf. Great job!

The Nebraska baseball team will lose some players to the 2007 draft. Watson and Wertz are going to the pros. Johnny Dorn will return and will be the ace next year. NU will need to recruit some major talent before next year's season. They will. Mike Anderson is a great coach. He may want to make some coaching changes before next year also.

In the next few days we will continue to review the 2007 season for the NU football team. Presently we have them beating Ball State and Nevada, losing to Southern Cal and seeing Wake Forest as a toss-up game.

Look for Denny Hamlin to win at Pocono with Jimmie Johnson taking second.

Can Cleveland and Lebron James win Game two against San Antonio? No. Cleveland will be down 2-0 after Sunday's game tomorrow. What will happen is there will be a ton of people watching the game and that is good for the NBA. Cleveland will make it close enough to keep our interest.

Sports Today Weekend Edition 6/9/07

Don't Forget to Vote for which story I made up!

Purify Suspended After Arrest

Nebraska receiver, Maurice Purify, was suspended indefinitely after being arrested on suspicion of DUI. Purify, who was speeding, was pulled over at 12:25 a.m. Friday. This comes just five weeks after being charged with assult. His future with the team is unknown.

12 Nebraska Players Drafted in MLB Draft

Eight current, one former and three recruited Nebraska baseball players were drafted in the MLB draft. Drew Bowman, a left-handed pitcher, was the highest draft pick. He was chosen in the fifth round by the Reds. Others to go, Matt Foust, RHP (6th-Pirates), Tony Watson, RHP (9th-Pirates), Luke Wertz, RHP (13th-Phillies), Steve Edlefsen, RHP (16th-Giants), Andrew Brown, 1B (18th-Cardinals), Cameron Robulack, 1B (20th-Brewers-Recruit), Ryan Wehrle, SS (20th-Yankees-Former Player), Charlie Shirek, RHP (23rd-White Sox), Jacob Diekman, LHP (30th-Phillies-Recruit), David Stewart, OF (31st-Nationals-Recruit) and Thad Weber, RHP (35th-Reds)

Barry Bonds Cat Gets into Medicine Chest

San Francisco Giants player Barry Bonds' cat was found eariler this week in Bonds' bathroom closet, where Bonds keeps his "medication". I don't want to say Bonds does steroids but not sure what in his closet could cause the cat to quadruple in size.

Newman Takes Pole

Ryan Newman takes his third straight pole this week at Pocono Raceway on Friday. This is Newman's fourth pole this year but has yet to win a race. Look for this week to be a great week for him. He came in second in last weeks race.

Kurt Busch is an Idiot

Kurt Busch was fined $100,000 and docked 100 driver points after nearly hitting Tony Stewarts jackman in Mondays race. Busch, who was frustrated after making contact with Tony Stewart, made jackman, Jason Lee (not the My Name is Earl guy) jump onto Stewarts hood to avoid injury. Busch has been suspended for the rest of the season. I hope Busch gets the message because this is just a stupid move on his part.

Locals to Play in Eight-Man All-star Game

There are a few local kids playing in the June 16th Sertoma Nebraska Eight-Man all-star game in Hastings. The locals playing for the west are Tyler Hamel, Arapahoe; Joel Hodgson and Andy McCarter, Overton; Jared Knoble, Axtell; Cory Morton and Lance Thorell, Loomis. The west will be coached by Glen Snodgrass, Overton; Craig Schnitzler, Kenesaw adn Troy Kleffner, Spalding.

Wie Needs to Take Some Me Time

Michelle Wie, who is currently in last at this weeks LPGA event, needs to take a break from golf. She has played terrible the last month. She shot an 11 over, 83 at Bulle Rock and is uncertain if she will finish tomorrow. She has complained of a wrist injury and if that is true, she needs to rest it. My question is, is she really hurt? or is she just the golfing worlds Anna Korvikova?

Sports Today 6/7/07

I would like more interaction with the readers, so every entry, I will put a story in that isn't true. Please vote which one you think is made up. Leave your vote in the comment section.

Schilling Pitches No Hitter-Well Through 8 2/3 Innings.

Boston Red Sox pitcher, Curt Schilling, had a no hitter through 8 2/3 innings before giving up a single to Shannon Stewart. Schilling got the next hitter to fly out to win the game 1-0. This would have been Schilling's first no hitter.

Mighty Ducks Fly Past the Senators

The Anaheim Ducks won the Stanley Cup on Wednesday. Even though it was a championship game, no one cared. The Cup Finals produced the lowest ratings in NBC primetime history. Please leave any comments on what you would change to make the NHL more exciting.

MLB Draft Makes No Sense

I think the MLB draft is odd. First of all, there is about 100 rounds to draft players. Second, no one knows a single person who is drafted. Third, even if you are a terrible team and you have a top 5 pick, that player doesn't have to sign with you. So, you are not going to get better if you use a draft pick and then don't get a player for it. Just sounds dumb to me and I would be irrate if I was terrible and no one wanted to play for me. For those who are Cubs fans, with the third overall pick, they selected third baseman, Josh Vitters (left) out of Cypress High School in California. For those Royals fans, they selected second overall with infielder Mike Moustakas (right) out of Chatsworth High School in California.

New Baby Watermelon Champion

We have a new Watermelon Eating Champion in Nebraska. Evan Jameson won the watermelon eating chamionship over the weekend, eating 2 1/2 slices of watermelon in 1 hour. He defeated last years champion, Derrek Jones who could only eat 2 1/4 slices. Jameson now goes on to the national championship in Hawaii starting in July.

Other Things

The Harlan County Lake has raised its elevation from 1926.44 on 1/2/07 to 1937.37 on June 5th. This is an increase of 10.43 feet.

The top shows this past year were:

1. The Sopranos Just finished its last show in its last season.
2. Boston Legal The writers have to have a blast with this one.
3. The Office Right in there with the Queen of Kings as the funniest show to watch.
4. King of Queens This comedy just had its last show ever also. Just a great show and the reruns and fun to watch also.
5. Andy Griffith My all-time best show. Still one of my best choices.
6. House Unpredictable doctor show. If you haven't watched it, do so.
7. The Riches Best new show on TV
8. Entourage Funny unpredictable show
9. The Shield Great cop show

Watch "Traveler". May be a hit soon! "How Things Are Made" is really good!!

This writer likes a lot of sports shows. Hockey is not one of them. All food shows are fun. 60 Minutes and Dateline are interesting. Inside Edition is entertaining.

And in sports, Alex Gordon had four hits today and raised his average to .190.

NCAA Baseball Tournament off to a wacky start!!

The trip to Omaha and the College World Series has begun. What a wacky start! It is proof that this year's winner will be hard to predict. Five of the top eight seeds were beaten. Those include #1 Vanderbilt, #4 Texas, #6 Florida St., #7 Arkansas, and #8 San Diego. The three winners were #2 Rice, #3 North Carolina, and #5 Arizona State.

How did the Big 12 do? Nebraska, Texas, Baylor, and Missouri were all beaten. Texas A & M and Oklahoma St. were the only Big 12 winners. Also Creighton was beaten.

Seven of the 16 #1 seeds were beaten. There were four teams in each regional. #3 seeds Oregon State, Louisville, and Oklahoma State won their regionals.

This will be an exciting year so get ready for anything and everything!!!

NU walkon is headed to Ohio University!

Matt Donahue of Fremont is no longer walking on at Nebraska. He is headed to Ohio University after he was offered a scholarship by them. He joins Noah Keller of Kearney. Ohio University is coached by Frank Solich.

Nebraska Deer Season Applications can be sent in June 11th!

Sports Today-Weekend Edition 6/3/07

12 Crushed After Soccer Match
Twelve people were crushed to death in Zambia after a soccer game. Zambia won the match against the Republic of Congo 3-0 but fans were in a hurry to leave after the game started and hour late.





Cavs Have a Chance in Finals
With a defense like the Cavs have, they have a chance in any game no matter who they are playing. The Detroit Pistons, who have a very good offense, didn't score 100 points in any of the games against Cleveland. I didn't get to see the game on Saturday night, but LeBron was amazing in game 5. Like John said in his entry, LeBron scored 29 of the last 30 points in that game. James took many difficult shots but rarely missed. I think the Spurs will win in 7 games because they have a very good defense along with offense and I think they have learned a lot by seeing what Detroit didn't do, which is double team James.


Best Movie in the Last Year
John asked which was the best movie I have seen in the last year. To me, the best was Blood Diamond. It was a very good movie with Leo DiCaprio. I enjoy most movies with Leo, another of my favorites is Catch Me If You Can. My wife's vote is for The Pursuit of Happyness.








Cubs Are Struggling
Cubs have struggled on and off the field. They Cubs can't win a game and they are having problems in the club house. Two days ago, catcher Michael Barrett and pitcher Carlos Zambrano got into a fight. They say that is behind them now. Yesterday, skipper, Lou Piniella was ejected and now suspended for getting in the third base umpires face and kicking dirt on him. Lou disagreed with a call at third base even though it was the right call, which Lou agrees to now. Cubs have an easier June schedule than they did in May so hopefully they can turn it around. Cubs are winning 9-0 in the 5th inning. Royals are struggling as well and are down 4-1 in the eighth inning.


Local Man Wins Corn Eating Contest
A man won his 17th consecutive corn eating title. He ate 76 ears of corn in 1 hour, beating his own record of 68. Locals say that there is really no way of beating this man because he has the deadly combination of teeth and a place to put all that corn. When asked for comment, the champion said "I can beweev it. I won again. I fweel wike the happiest man eva." Congrats agin!!!

Tidbits

It will be Cleveland vs. San Antonio this Thursday in the beginning of the NBA Championship series. Look to San Antonio to win in six games. Having Cleveland in the finals will be a huge step for the NBA. People want to see a good kid like LaBron James, who will be a superstar, play. How in the world can a player in the NBA score 29 of the last 30 of his team's points at the end of a game. How unbelieveable is that? Many basketball fans have never really watched him play. This will be their first time because now they have a reason to watch. Get rid of the thugs and clean up the NBA. People want to see good basketball with athletes that want to win.

The Nebraska football game with Nevada will be on ABC at 2:30 on September 1st. Only about 12 weeks away. Bryce Givens, the best lineman recruit from Colorado, previously committed to Nebraska. Texas has now offered him a scholarship so his status could change. Let's hope not.

With a five run sixth inning, the NU baseball team remains in the NCAA playoffs with a 6-5 win over Monmouth. Today NU faces UC-Riverside in an elimination game at 4 pm. Look for Johnny Dorn to start.

Alex Gordon is batting .181. The Royals have 21 wins compared to 22 by the Cubs. The Cubs are having internal trouble right now and things are tough in Cubsland.

Look for Denny Hamlin to win at Dover today with Jimmie Johnson second.

"We are Marshall" is the best movie I have seen in the past year. What is yours?

If you like to fish for catfish, try the Republican River. It's the best fishing in years. How the river get the name "Republican"?

LaBron James/NBA

If Cleveland could get into the championship game, the NBA would go a long way in improving its fan base. This is the NBA's chance to improve its status. Did you know that more people watched the Indy 500 "rain delay" than watch the Utah/San Antonio game. That tells it all.

Sports Today 5/29/07

Cavs Are In Trouble for Tonights Game

For tonights game against the Detroit Pistons, The Cleveland Cavs are going to be without there point guard, Larry Hughes. Hughes sustained a partial tear of the plantar fascia in his foot while making a layup in the first quarter of Game 3. I thought that the Cavs were going to win this series but with Hughes out for tonights game, Cleveland will lose at home and lose in game 5 at Detroit.

Kansas Star Tears ACL

As I reported a couple days ago, Kansas star, Brandon Rush, did not enter the NBA draft. Part of the reason could have been because of a torn ACL. Rush could be out for up to six months after hurting his knee in a pick up game.

White a No Show at Minicamp

Former USC star LenDale White didn't show up for Titans minicamp. Titans coach, Jeff Fisher, was uncertain why White didn't show to camp. Reports say that White had troubles with his flight and was stuck at the airport. White has had problems this off season already by showing up for camp at 260 lbs and then suffered a hamstring injury.

In a previous entry, I was asked who I thought was Nebraska's best NBA player. I honestly have never be alive when Nebraska has had "great" basketball players. The best of my time was maybe Tyronn Lue.

NU goes to Arizona regional

SPORTS SHORTS

Nebraska will be the third seeded team at the NCAA regional in Arizona. They take on UC Riverside in a 4 pm game on Friday. Looks like Watson goes the first game. Luke Wertz will be the starter the second game. The third pitcher will be Johnny Dorn and hopefully getting away from the Big 12 will help him get back on track.

Casey Mears used pit strategy to win the Coca Cola 600. All the favorites pitted and took full gas and tires and Mears "splash of gas" got him the win. This is the first win for Mears this season.

I forgot the Indy 500 hadn't finished and forgot to watch the end. Ashley Judd's husband won!

KC is struggling again as they lose to Baltimore 9-1. Alex Gordon is 0-3 and is batting .188. I believe he will break .200 by June 12th. I wonder when Craig Brazell will go to KC? He is 0-5 tonight as Omaha is beating New Orleans 8-3. He has hit 20 HR's in the minors this year and KC could use some power.

Denis Watson won the Senior tournament this weekend. It is his first victory in 20 years. This writer saw him win the Las Vegas Invitational in 1984.

Sports Today-Weekend Edition 5/28/07

Patriots Player is Missing

Marquise Hill, DE for the New England Patriots has gone missing after a jetski ride on Saturday. Hill was last seen on a jetski with a woman who was able to swim to a pylon after them both went into the water. The Coast Guard looked through the night on Saturday but have yet to locate Hill. Hill was not wearing a life preserver.

Update: A body, believed to be Hill's was found Monday. They are waiting for confirmation from the family.

Update: It was confirmed that it was Hill's body.

LeBron, Cavs Turn it on for Game Three

King James finally played like one in game three. James scored 32 points with 9 rebounds and 9 assists to beat the Pistons 88-82 to make the series 2-1. With no one losing at home yet, it's still anyones series. If Cleveland can win game 4 to tie it at 2 apiece, I think the Cavs will win the series.

Mears Gets His First Checkered Flag

Casey Mears gets the first win of his NASCAR career in North Carolina at the Lowe's Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600. Mears gambled at the end of the race by not taking more fuel and had just enough to finish the race and take his first drive to the winners circle. With this win, Hendrick Motorsports continues its domination.

Two Holdrege Girls Get Second at State

On May 19th Holdrege sophomore, Bronwyn Allmand, was defeated by Grand Island CC's Jaycie Schmidt in the finals of the class B No. 2 singles final. Schmidt defeated Allmand 7-5, 7-6. Duster, Marcelle Strydom, was defeated to Omaha Skutt Catholic's Elise Sambol in the class B No. 1 singles final. This is the third straight title for Sambol.

Josh Davis to Canada

A story fresh from Husker Extra!

Josh Davis lands in Canada

This from the "whatever happened to . . ." department:

Former Husker I-back Josh Davis signed this week with the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL.

Davis joined the NFL New York Jets in 2004 as a free agent and made the team out of training camp but was sidelined for the majority of the season with a knee injury.

Davis ended his NU career with 3,427 all-purpose yards.

Perhaps he'll again be taking handoffs from Eric Crouch, who is competing to become the Argonauts' starting QB.

HUSKER EXTRA

Sports Today 5/25/07

Kansas Star Not Declaring for the Draft

Brandon Rush, who led KU in scoring last season is staying for his junior year. Now Kansas has all but Julian Wright, who is declaring elgible for the draft, coming back for a run at their third Big 12 championship in a row. Kansas went 33-5 but failed to win it all again.

You know you are a red neck when...

A former stripper, Angela Harkness (31) was sentenced to 40 months in prison for embezzling more than $1 million. She embezzled from 2000 thru 2003, with help from a banker, Gary Jones, to start her own NASCAR racing team. She created Angela's Motorsports and entered a team into the Busch Grand National Series with featured driver, Mike McLaughlin.

Taking the Memorial Day Weekend Off

I will not be posting an entry over the busy weekend. You have better things to do than read a blog and I have better things to do than write a blog. I will be back at it on Monday with all weekend stories. Have a save and fun Memorial Weekend!

Sport Shorts

Gretna, coached by Scott Boehler, ended up third in the Class B Boy's State Golf Meet. Sidney (603) and Scottsbluff (607) were ahead of Gretna (613)at the end. Seven of the top eight players on Sidney and Scottsbluff were seniors. Gretna had one senior on its top five. Jared Gustafson, a sophmore, was third at the state meet and Ryan Boyer led the team. Look for Gretna, if they work hard in the off season to challenge next year for the championship in Class B.

Alex Gordon continues to hit better and has raised his average to .191. He has three homers and had back-to-back two hit games on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Portland is first and Seattle is second in the NBA draft. This writer feels that Kevin Durant would be the best pick in the draft. Greg Odom will also be a great pick. Both teams will be improved next season with either one of these players.

Nebraska football recruits for 2008 include the best offensive lineman from Nebraska, Colorado, and Iowa. Throw in possibly the best QB in the nation in Blaine Gabbert and we have a great recruiting class already.

Right now the NU baseball team is down 1-3 against K-State in the Big 12 tournament. They are in the bottom of the 8th with K-State batting. Charlie Shirek pitched three innings giving up two runs. The problem is NU only has three hits. Nu hasn't come from behind all year so maybe tonight they............

Sports Today 5/24/07

I am trying to get more Nebraska sports news into this daily entry. If there are certain topics you would like to hear about, please let me know.

Nebraska Squeaks by A&M to Make it Through the Big 12 Opener

In the eighth inning of the game, with Nebraska leading by one run, A&M had the bases loaded with two outs and their best batter at the plate, All-Big 12 junior Blake Stouffer (left). Nebraska reliever, Matt Foust (right) started in a big hole by throwing 3 straight balls. Stouffer took strike one on the next pitch and swung over the top of two sliders to end the threat. Nebraska added one more run in the bottom of the eighth to 5th seeded A&M 5-3. Nebraska now faces eighth seeded Kansas State tonight at 7:30. Info from the Omaha World Herald

ESPN to Air Five Big 12 Football Games

Fox Sports Net agreed to sub-license the rights to broadcast five Big 12 football games in 2007 to ESPN. Three of the five will air on ESPN2 and the other two, on ESPN. This could be good news for Nebraska fans because ESPN might pick up the October 6th game against Missouri.

Info from the Omaha World Herald

Stop Blaming Other People!

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people try to blame everyone else for their problem(s). For example, don't sue McDonalds for serving coffee that is hot after you spill it on yourself. The same person would have sued McDonalds for serving them coffee that is too cold. This story that has got me fired up this time is the father of the late Josh Hancock, former Cardinals pitcher, is suing the restaurant that served Hancock alcohol. They are also suing the towing company whose truck was assisting a stalled vehicle. The owner of the stalled vehicle is being sued as well. Ok, so you are suing a restaurant for giving your son alcohol that he asked for, the towing company for helping a stranded person and a stranded person whose car stalled? You don't think it was your son's fault whose blood alcohol was twice the legal limit, he was speeding and using a cell phone. There was marijuana found in the SUV also. Please, stop blaming others for your own problems.

Info from http://msn.foxsports.com/?MSNHPHMN

Sports Today 5/23/07

Keyshawn to Announce Retirement

Keyshawn Johnson, formerly of the the Carolina Panthers, will announce his retirement sometime today. Johnson, who will turn 35 in July, played 11 seasons in the NFL. Johnson is expected to sign a contract with ESPN as a football analyst.

Portland Wins the Lottery

The Portland Trailblazers won the NBA Draft lottery on Tuesday. Seattle has the second pick, followed by Atlanta, Memphis and Boston. The top 5 picks should go:

#1 Greg Oden (F)-Ohio St.

#2 Kevin Durrant (F)-Texas

#3 Brandan Wright (PF)-North Carolina

#4 Al Horford (PF)-Florida

#5 Jeff Green (F)-Georgetown

Spurs Go Up 2-0 on Utah

The San Antonio Spurs have taken a 2 game advantage in the Western Conference Finals. They defeated the Utah Jazz 105-96. Tim Duncan scored 26 and added 14 rebounds, Manu Ginobili scored 17 points and Tony Parker scored 17 points and 14 assists. While the series is never over until a team loses at home, I think the series is pretty much over. San Antonio will win 1 of the next 2 games in Utah and finish the series in San Antonio.

Ducks Fly to the Stanley Cup Finals

The Anaheim Ducks closed out the Detroit Red Wings in game 6. Anaheim took a 3-0 lead but Detroit stormed back to make it a close game. The final score was 4-3.

Info from http://msn.foxsports.com/?MSNHPHMN