The Locker Room

in response ...

2008-05-16T14:32:44Z

Plenty of mistakes are made in The Locker Room.

But the response made recently about former Niles West High hoops star Nik Garcia cannot go without comment.

Nik Garcia, one of the top prep basketball players in the state, is about to finish his junior year at Niles West High. He has ALREADY announced that he is transferring from Niles West because the hoops program is, in his words, "a shambles." That makes him a soon-to-be FORMER Niles West High hoops star.

The hope here is that he works his way up the shoreline and lands at Waukegan High. We can use him!

Who the heck is ranking these players?

2008-05-16T02:49:52Z

If you want to rank Brandon Paul of Warren as the No. 1 soon-to-be-senior boys basketball player in the state, go for it. After all, he is committed to the University of Illinois.

Brandon is not the problem.

Nor is ranking former Niles West star Nik Garcia No. 10.

However, when Web site ChicagoHoops.com lists the top 30 soon-to-be-senior boys basketball players in the state and does NOT include Zion-Benton High's Ronald Steward on it, the list is wrong.

That is as a bad an omission as you will see on any list of top players this season.

Terrible.

Gotta give the A.D. at Waukegan High some credit

2008-05-13T15:45:05Z

Waukegan High athletic director Dave Perkins may be way, way, way too conservative for some tastes, and may be a stickler for the letter of the IHSA law in a community in which we're pretty used to following the spirit of the law.

But you've got to give the guy credit for focusing on the all-important job of making sure as many of our Bulldog athletes as possible get to put their athletic skills to use at the collegiate level.

One of the key things a high school athletic program can do is make sure a school's student-athletes get a chance to take their game and brain to the next level.

In just one year on the job, Perkins has made a special point of making sure that happens ... and Waukegan's student-athletes -- now and in future years -- will benefit from it by getting an all-important college education.

So while Perkins sadly continues to not lead the bandwagon to get lights and artificial turf for the school's football field, our Bulldog cap is tipped in his direction for putting the school's student-athletes in position to succeed at the next level.

If you're looking for a team that'll be on the rise in 2008-2009 ...

2008-05-08T02:56:52Z

You probably don't have to look any further than Libertyville High, where the dynamic duo coaching team of Tiffany Taylor (head) and Laura Allen (assistant) has recently taken over.
The two have spent the last couple of years coaching cheerleading at Round Lake High, where they've been fighting a losing battle on a couple of fronts.
The change to Libertyville should energize them as well, plus they will now have the numbers to work with that they couldn't get at Round Lake.
Also, with Stevenson's longtime coach now retired, there is an opportunity for Libertyville to step up and join the ranks of the elite cheer programs in the North Suburban Conference.
The guess is that is exactly what will happen.

The sport has come a long way

2008-05-06T23:40:56Z

On the list of sports that are getting better as they're getting older, high-school softball is right at the top.
Back in the day, the sport was all about having a pitcher who could throw bullets and every batter was a walk or strikeout.
Then, came the slap-happy generation in whcih every girl was taught to bat left-handed and do this thing where they start running to first and slapping at the pitches with their aluminum bats.
Now, the sport has finally evolved to where it's actually very entertaining. The hitting has caught up to the pitching, and big thumpers who can turn games around with one swing of the bat are now integral in every lineup. That has also put a premium on defense. There have been more great defensive plays made in the last five college World Series than there were in the 20 prior years.
Defense, hitting and the infusion of the long ball have made this a very entertaining sport.

Z-B sophomore star has time on his side

2008-05-02T02:54:08Z

Can't think of a single reason why Zion-Benton High sophomore basketball star Lenzelle Smith needs to make a hasty decision about where he's going to play college basketball.

One of the top students in his class academically, the 6-3 guard/forward has already reportedly been offered scholarships by Illinois, Northwestern, Southern Illinois and Purdue.

That said, best he wait so that he can size up where he will best fit in at the next level.

There is no rush. As in just about everything in life, haste in recruiting makes for waste.

Good luck Lenzelle.

P.S. -- I luv the DePaul Blue Demons

2 huge prep track meets in area on SAME night

2008-04-30T03:19:25Z

Why?
Why not run either the North Suburban Conference girls track meet or the Lake County boys track meet on Friday? Running them at the same time on Thursday means the two major events will have to share the spotlight.

Incidentally, the marquee race at the NSC girls meet just might be the 200-meter dash. If Zion-Benton star Aireonna Bailey and Lake Zurich star Olivia Allen actually go head-to-head in this race, it should be worth the price of admission.

The pick to click? Aireonna

There's a reason Lake Forest High has a great soccer team

2008-04-24T14:50:56Z

There are two keys to having a quality prep soccer program, and neither key has to do with having a great coach because we are going to assume, for the sake of argument here, that all prep coaches are created equal. We know they're not, but we're going to say they are.

Key No. 1: A very, very strong travel soccer program in your community.

That's why Libertyville High has been good for so long, and that's why Lake Forest's girls program is so strong this season. In fact, there are two good travel soccer programs in Lake Forest.

Key No. 2: Getting your elite players to play high school ball during the season rather than travel ball. Actually, Lake Forest has been stung by this, with a couple of their better players taking a pass on prep soccer in order to concentrate on club soccer. Still, ehough are playing with the Scouts that they are the feel-good story of this spring at 9-0-0.
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Best/worst events to watch at a prep track meet

2008-04-19T04:21:27Z

Best in boys meets
1) high jump
2) long jump
3) 100-meter dash
4) pole vault
5) 400-meter relay
Worst in boys meets
1) triple jump
2) shot put
3) 3,200 relay
4) 3,200 run
5) 1,600 relay
Best in girls meets
1) high jump
2) long jump
3) 100-meter dash
4) 400 relay
5) shot put
Worst in girls meets
1) Pole vault
2) 3,200 run
3) 3,200 relay
4) triple jump
5) 1,600 run

In the Locker Room, we do not have Blackhawks fever

2008-04-15T22:59:55Z

There were four reasons for the increased interest in the Hawks, a bad team that didn't even make the SIXTEEN-team playoffs:
1) The Bears stunk so we couldn't cheer for them.
2) The Bulls stunk so we couldn't cheer for them
3) The Fighting Illini basketball team stunk, so we couldn't cheer for them.
4) Northwestern's basketball team stunk, so we couldn't cheer for them.
In desperate need of hopping on someone -- anyone's -- bandwagon, the Hawks, a non-playoff team in their own right -- were the last team standing.
Besides, the Hawks glorified the return of Bobby Hull, the tarnished jet. Have you ever read the kind of husband/father he was? Why, on earth, would we welcome back with open arms someone like that. Time erases some things, but not the kind of stuff this "family" man did.

Fan interest in Chicago-area pro sports teams

2008-04-15T15:19:05Z

1) Chicago Bears
2) Chicago Cubs
3) Chicago Bulls
4) Chicago White Sox
5) Chicago Black Hawks
6) Chicago Wolves
7) Chicago Fire
8) Chicago Rush
9) Chicago Shamrocks
10) Chicago Sky

So, what is replacing golf as the recreational sport of choice?

2008-04-14T15:21:50Z

All reports suggest that the number of rounds of golf being played on golf courses throughout the country are down as the economic realities of the world and the time it takes to play a round have turned into a lethal combination for the sport.

That said, if fewer people are playing golf, what sports are more people playing? It doesn't seem like the number of runners is way up, and area tennis courts are still, for the most part, empty 24/7. And bowling alleys aren't hopping any more than usual either.

So, where are people spending their recreational hours these days?

AAU ball is now bigger than high school ball

2008-04-08T03:42:32Z

At least that's how the report came across that aired during the semifinals of the NCAA men's hoops tournament. The so-called experts said that college coaches are now dealing with AAU coaches and that AAU ball is way more important than high school ball.

While there may be some truth to that, there is still no substitute for the enthusiasm and energy that comes from a high-school student-fan section when it has a winning team to support.

No AAU program can duplicate the noise that was made when Ronad Steward of Zion-Benton hit the halfcourt shot to beat Evanston in the semifinals of the IHSA playoffs.

That's why high school ball is important.

The thing we do best in The Locker Room is ...

2008-04-04T23:00:54Z

tell other people how to spend their money.
Today, the people being told how to spend are the men and women in charge of financing at Waukegan High.
The thinking is that big bucks are needed to bring the Weiss Field athletic complex up to the standards of places like Carmel and Libertyville. One great addition would be installing artificial turf on the football field. Another would be installing lights. Another would be the construction of new locker rooms, new washrooms and a new concession stand. As for who's going to pay for all this, the response is that you ask too many questions.

Waukegan hoops needs just one thing ...

2008-04-01T01:10:26Z

It needs a 6-foot-6 kid who is a rebounding fiend to somehow materialize in the school hallways.

With Mike Springs (point guard), Colin Nickerson (shooting guard) and Jereme Richmond (small forward), the pieces of the Bulldog puzzle that's missing is a big man in the middle who can defend opposing centers as well as get the ball off the glass to start the break.

Is there NOBODY in a school of 4,000 who's 6-6 and can play basketball?

You would think that the opportunity to play with Richmond would attract some big player to the Dog Pound. Here's hoping that happens.