August 2008 Archives

Fifth-year senior defensive end & Marmion Academy alumnus Larry English has played in Northern Illinois season openers at Maryland, Michigan, Ohio State and at Soldier Field against Iowa and has a pretty good idea of what several true freshman will feel tonight when the team opens against Minnesota at the 64,500-seat Metrodome

Coming out of high school, you don¹t get the whole grasp of it until you make the trip.
My first trip to Maryland (and 51,500-seat Byrd Stadium) was the main one.
It was that much more exciting because I had never seen anything like it.

When I ran out on the field at Maryland I kind of just looked up and I saw how high the stands went up and all those people screaming and yelling.

That's a memory I¹ll have forever. To this day, that¹s one of the most vivid pictures I've got, that first time, running out on the field in front of that many fans at such a big venue.

Year in and year out (the opener) is always something you look forward to.
It¹s always something you've got circled on your calendar and you¹re watching that countdown clock in the lockerroom that says "only 89 days to." You watch that clock the whole year.

I remember in the third quarter of that game (defensive end) Ken West got a sack and forced a fumble. (Linebacker) Jason Hawkins picked up the fumble and took it back for a touchdown. I sprained my ankle on that play but I¹m running down the field, limping.

Editor's note: English missed several games then was injured in practiced and was granted a medical redshirt season.

English Class will appear Wednesday's during college football season, except for this one.

BREAKING NEWS: Aurora native and Waubonsie Valley alumnus Michael Bowden will make his major league debut today against the Chicago White Sox at Fenway Park in Boston, according to a Boston Herald internet report.

Bowden, 21, was 0-3 with a 3.38 earned run average for Class AAA Pawtucket in six starts. Prior to his call up, the big right-hander went 9-4 with Class AA Portland.

Bowden could not be reached for comment immediately, but on Thursday he told the Beacon News via text message that he did not expect a call up any time soon. However, Red Sox starter Josh Beckett went on the 15-day disabled list prior to the start of the Red Sox's series with the White Sox.

According to this story from the Providence Journal, BoSox manager Terry Francona said of Bowden: "It's a little bit of a rapid ascent for him, but we all feel he can handle it. It's going to be an exciting day for the organization."

Tonight is Week 1 of the 2008 IHSA football season, and The Beacon News is at West Aurora for the 116th meeting between West and East.
Beacon football writer Jim Owczarski is on site, and will be blogging LIVE - interact with Jim throughout the contest here.

Ken Mastrole.

That's right. You know him.

He was a pre-season backup for the Bears during the 2002 pre-season, and boy, did he light Chicago afire.

So much so that I remembered the fact that he existed, but not his name. I remembered he torched the Rams in a pre-season game and the next day The Meatheads were calling for him to be the QB. (Click here for the official box score of that game)

Only to see him cut days later. (see. 2008: Haine, Caleb)

uh, no, he's not. Northern Illinois coach Jerry Kill won't reveal his starting quarterback until Saturday morning for that night's game (6 p.m., Big Ten Network) against Minnesota. Either redshirt freshman Chandler Harnish or senior Dan Nicholson will get the nod. They've split time in camp with Harnish getting more work with the No. 1s than Nicholson, who was slowed in his recovery from shoulder surgery.

Nicholson has had good practices this week, testing the shoulder more and more. Kill insists he doesn't like to rotate QBs but might make situational changes.

On the two deeps listed in the game release, Geneva redshirt freshman Pat Schiller is backing up middle linebacker Tim McCarthy. Boone Thorgesen (Kaneland) did not make the two deeps at safety. Neuqua Valley's Anthony Antonacci, who moved from defensive line, is the No. 2 fullback.
Right guard Jason Onyebuagu, who returned to practice this week, could be held back as he recovers from offseason knee surgery.

this is what's great about this thing called the innernet.

i was talking with a buddy about how fast a human being could actually go after watching The Bolt clown everyone in Beijing and still run a 9.69 and lo and behold - days later this story comes out!

a tease: As astonishing as Usain Bolt's record-breaking 100-meter sprint was, his time of 9.69 seconds is nowhere near what biostatisticians predict is the natural limit for the human body.

And, since its almost impossible to find what you want on YouTube anymore with the idiots who Rick Roll and the suits who pull vids for use violation, here's some "old school" youtube grainy-ness...

how the White Sox were given a reality check over the weekend by the Tampa Rays?....

how the Bears are liars, and bad offensive personnel evaluators?...

or...

the one good thing that happened this weekend, which was Winfield native and Black Sheep tour pro Kevin Streelman finding himself in contention again , and missing a four-man playoff at the Barclays...
which led to this thought from ESPN.com's Jason Sobel:

Like the Player of the Year award, ROY is voted on by PGA Tour members, but we've got to believe that (Chez) Reavie still holds a slight advantage over Streelman. With three playoff events and a full Fall Finish slate left, however, it's still very wide open.

Kevin's a great player, and an even better guy, so root for him in these next few weeks.

so this was it...

the last Olympics with baseball and softball, and Team USA chokes gold away in both sports...

not to say the US is best in baseball - especially with minor leaguers playing for the team - but there is NO excuse for the softball team to go down without gold...

anyway...

how much Olympic have you watched since Michael Phelps wrapped up his 8th gold medal?

Personally, I haven't seen much - though I did watch Usain Bolt clown everyone in the 100 - that was freaking amazing....

to me, specifically, this coming Sunday on 560 AM...

I was out at TopGolf in Wood Dale for a taping of the Sunday radio extravaganza, Golf Chicgo! Radio Show

Make sure to tune in on Sunday!

Lots of lame things happen on a day to day basis, but this is right up there with lamest of all time...
Home SMRT.wav">"Players pass out, get sick during extreme battle."
what?
It's a video game.
"updating the game with one of the longest - and most physically grueling - video game fights ever. "

Ya - that's what the guy said. Sorry, unless you're the one actually getting kicked, punched, triple back + left + right + up + down + down + down + joystick wobble up + back danced on your freakin head with a triple roundhouse to your ACL, it's not "physically grueling."

Sorry.

18 hours of your loser @$& sitting in front of a tv playing a video game doesn't count

who was the best player I've ever seen get a triple bypass?

Yaaaaaazz..

for turning pro either after high school (or if in sports like golf and tennis much younger) when these idiot parents let their kid drop out of school to master a video game.

that's just dumb.

Yup. This is our guy.

could we have Dong Dong flipping and flopping his way to world glory on the Trampoline.

But there won't be baseball after this year. Go figure...

that you've seen Frenchman Alain Bernard before?

I mean, before he competed in this year's Olympic Games? You know, that nagging thought, but you can't put your finger on it?

You're right.

You did.

Chad Johnson.

What a goof.

The dude wants to legally change his last name to "Ocho Cinco".

Where have we seen this before?
Oh, that's right.... (it's at the 27 second mark)

to offend an entire nation of, I don't know, a billion people...not to mention a few more billion worldwide...

here's the link - D'OH!

at the start of the season, who would have thought this....

actually, right now, on Aug. 12, who would have thought these are the front runners for baseball's awards

AL Cy Young - Cliff Lee, Cleveland Indians
AL MVP - Carlos Quentin, Chicago White Sox

NL Cy Young - Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants

The NL MVP race has a ton more familiar names in it - former MVPs Ryan Howard (Phillies) & Matt Holliday (Rockies), Lance Berkman (Astros), and you figure that either Derrek Lee and/or Aramis Ramirez of the Cubs will get some votes....

But again, who would've thunk it?

that you'd see this from the Eastern Seaboard Programming Network?

"So for me, this is now Carlos Quentin's award to lose. But I'm betting some of you might beg to differ. And of course, that's what we're here for."

catch it!

nah, you dont have to. But i will admit it was pretty damn cool to see a fellow Tinley Park native Christine Magnuson suprise the world and win the silver medal in the 100-fly last night.

She's a fellow Victor J. Andrew alumnus, and I did feel a sense of pride seeing her do that. And, I won't lie - it was nice to see the TP get some love. Usually, when they talk about Tinley Park in these arenas, it's called "Chicago" (i.e. the World Music Theater or Tweeter or whatever its called now)...

Congrats Christine! I hope Zabrocki throws you a parade up Oak Park Ave. and down 159th for a rally at VJA. You deserve it!

Also - (before or after, i forget) I watched Magnuson, I did not see "the greatest relay in the history of the world!" in the 4x100 men's free in which the Americans upset the French.

I'm watching the games and boom! the box goes out. (That's Milwaukee for you) - and so we're waiting for the thing to reboot ... waiting ... waiting... and then it pops back in just in time to see Michael Phelps going crazy and the NBC announcer popping a capillary.

unreal!!!

another Olympic note - TV does not do indoor volleyball justice. the game looks so slow on television...i realize they want the up-top angle to see the whole floor, but there's got to be some different angles they can use to give people a feel for how quick those players really are, and how fast those attacks come down....

Good for the PGA and its signature event, the PGA Championship - The Monster that is Oakland Hills is giving these players a US Open-type test, and I think it's safe to say that this major - the last - is no longer one to be mocked.

I don't think we're going to see winners like Shaun Micheel, RIch Beem and David Toms.
This major is now one that only the best of the best is going to win.

Sure, there are exceptions to every rule (see Ben Curtis & Todd Hamilton at the British Open), but those exceptions are getting rarer.

i dont care if he's 11...

BISMARCK, N.D. - Golfing for just the third time, 11-year-old Allan Saylor was whacking the ball around with a friend, not even keeping score.

A hole-in-one? No big deal. The sixth-grader fired the ace Wednesday on the 150-yard, par-3 sixth hole at the neighboring Mandan Municipal Golf Course, using a driver borrowed from his buddy.

ugh.

The great part about golf is that there is always a back nine, so if you somehow didn't get your fill on the front side - there's always more to be had after the turn. That's what this part of the Beacon News' weekly golf coverage will do for you

We all know how important custom fitting is in the game of golf, so read on for some useful links & info on TMPLabs, TaylorMade and Olympia Fields.

Trust me - it's open to the public, and it's more affordable than you think...

TORONTO - Greyhound has scrapped an ad campaign that extolled the relaxing upside of bus travel after one of its passengers was accused of beheading and cannibalizing another traveler.

The ad's tag line was "There's a reason you've never heard of 'bus rage.'"

that's basically what the NFL is telling its fans, or at least the ones that like to sit outside its stadiums and cook steak, drink beer, chuck footballs, pee in lakes, fight each other, toss bags, harass passerby, fall down and basically have lots and lots of fun!

the NFL doesnt want you tailgating anymore, at least not during games.

This says that "(Brett) Favre is a part of the team's 80-man roster but is officially on the Packers' non-football injury list, which means he could be activated at any time."

I wonder what "non-football injury" is listed...

Is it:
A) Brain Cramp
B) Hurt Feelings
C) "The Itch" really isn't a desire to play

we know that Roger Goodell has control issues...he believes he's the most powerful man in the world, and routinely tries to influence things beyond his reach as the commish of a sports league...

here's another example...
NEW YORK (AP)--The NFL implemented a new code of fan conduct Tuesday, warning that spectators who misbehave will be ejected from stadiums and barred from coming back.

The policy, first recommended by commissioner Roger Goodell at league meetings in April, is aimed at conduct that the league said "detracts from the gameday experience."

It includes bans on:

-- Behavior that is unruly, disruptive, or illegal.
What a start to this thing...but it only gets better...

-- Drunkenness and signs of alcohol impairment that result in irresponsible behavior.
Really. I mean, really?

--Foul or abusive language or obscene gestures.
HA! This is the NFL right? They still serve beer, right?

-- Interference with the progress of the game, including throwing objects onto the field.
This is the only thing I think is reasonable to suggest here, mainly because in football, this rarely happens - snowballs at Santa Claus, beer at Browns notwithstanding...

-- Failing to follow instructions of stadium personnel.
Has anyone ever, ever seen "stadium personnel" that isn't either A) requesting $8 for a beer out of that case strapped to their back, or B) the jacketed security guy pummeling your kidneys...

-- Verbal or physical harassment of fans from the opposing team.
No, it's still not OK to wear that Favre jersey, or AP jersey to Soldier Field...you will still get your ass kicked up and down Lake Shore Drive....

Ozzie Guillen has done it again.

his team is in a free fall. Everyone is hurt. The guys that aren't hurt aren't very good. they can't pitch. They can't catch. They can't hit, and yet Ozzie is on the Yahoo! homepage right now because he admitted he's ordered guys hit on purpose.

who cares?

Everybody.

This is the type of thing that will get everyone fired up and pull the attention off the guys on the field who aren't pulling their weight and getting the job done.

This is just another example of Ozzie being smarter than everyone else, when everyone is thinking "how dumb is he?" for saying such a thing...

and oh, how the mighty have fallen. I've been waiting for years to see one (or both) of these kids crash and burn...

with no Tiger Tiger Woods y'all...

Sunday at Firestone should have been the PGA Tour's coming out party without El Tigre - Philly Mick, Mr. Vijay, the likeable Appleby and the non-fat Lee Westwood battling down the stretch.

Instead we watched several of the world's best puke down their legs the entire final round, with Mr. Vijay finally having the nerve to sink a 4-footer to win....

I'm still excited about this week's PGA, but this weekend's performance me think that a guy outside the top 75 in the world will win it

who cares if the Sox have no bullpen....

or defense....

that Joe Crede has the back of a 56-year-old cement worker....

that Jose Contreras is a 56-year-old cement worker...

that Clayton Richard isn't better than either Royce Clayton or Richard Marx...

doesn't matter. K-Will finally got his white whale in Junior Griff, and now he'll watch his pitching staff implode like a while whale would if it swam in a sea full of Alka-Seltzer...

In the notes offered up at last week's 2008 football preview, Big Ten p.r. wags noted that the league sent a record eight teams to bowl games in 2007. It matched a record set in 2003.

It was also noted that for the first time, 10 of the 11 teams in the league were "bowl eligible."
With the 12-game schedules now in place, that takes at least a 6-6 record. Only 1-11 Minnesota was ineligible.

Good stuff? Sure. But upon closer inspection of this year's composite Big Ten schedule, I'd venture to say the league should match that record every year.

Yes, there's tough competition up and down the line for each team as it plays eight conference games, four at home, four on the road. But then, there's those other four games.

Some are tough. Take three-time defending champ Ohio State. They travel to Southern Cal for a non-conference tilt this season. The Trojans return the favor next year. The previous two years, coach Jim Tressel had a home-and-home with Texas. He wants those games to stay in the national title hunt each year.

His other non-conference games this year? Hosting Youngstown State, Ohio University and Troy.

His Buckeyes are one of nine teams in the league that will play seven of their 12 games at home this year. Illinois only plays six, but has two "neutral site" games, playing Missouri in St. Louis and Western Michigan at Detroit's Ford Field. Indiana plays eight games at home this season.

Get that home field edge every year (and they do) and you should have a boatload of bowl eligibles.