Rick's Rants: February 2009 Archives

I don't think this qualifies me as an NFL draft geek, but I did spend more than an hour this morning watching NFL Network coverage of the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Why? Wanted to see my guy, Aurora's Larry English of Northern Illinois, of course. And, Alex Magee of Purdue (and Oswego).

For what it's worth, I saw Magee, a defensive tackle/defensive end who is 6-foot-3, 298 pounds, run a 5.05-second 40-yard dash and saw that he did 30 reps (of 225 pounds) in the bench press drill.

English, according to the analysts, is one of the "conversion guys" who played as a down, rush defensive end in college who is being considered as an outside linebacker in a 3-4 pro alignment. They compared the guys in this group to former Michigan and current Pittsburgh Steeler standout Lamar Woodley, who always had a hand on the ground at DE in college but has made the conversion to OLB.

The main difference? The rush lineman is always going forward. The linebacker, of course, can rush the quarterback but often is dropping back and/or turning to cover tight ends/receivers/backs in pass coverage.

What else I learned? To make that conversion, Larry is gonna have to have good hips. Wonder if he can dance?

Oh yeah, English is listed at 6-foot-2 and 274 pounds. That means he has put on 19 pounds and lost an inch since preseason camp last fall at NIU, when he was listed at 6-3, 255 in the media guide for his senior year. And that, of course, means someone on staff at Northern has failed to master ruler reading 101.

Did see English run a 4.77-second 40 and do 24 reps in the bench press.

And, I heard NFL Network's draft guru Mike Mayock gush: "I pulled out the tape and saw him dominate against Minnesota. He's a great edge rusher."

And cutting in in the background (it was either Charles Davis or host Rich Eisen) said, "Check the Tennessee tape, too."

So, do I have a better handle on where our local guys will go in the draft?

Not a clue, but I am beginning to learn the language.

Kudos of the day to a couple of the good guys from the area coaching ranks:

Greg Burks and Bill Sambrookes, head coaches of the girls and boys basketball teams, respectively, at Hinckley-Big Rock, went back-to-back Thursday and Friday when their teams won titles.

Burks' girls squeaked past arch-rival Newark Thursday to claim the Serena Class 1A Sectional title. Sambrookes' boys edged Indian Creek 68-61 on Friday to claim the Little Ten Conference's regular-season title.

This was Burks' first season at the helm after several years of assisting legendary Larry Peppers, who started the program but was unceremoniously bounced last spring after 30-plus years. It wouldn't have been easy under any circumstances, but was made even tougher by the way Burks' good friend was let go.

Sambrookes and Co. get to try it again next week on their home court when they host a 1A Regional that will feature five Little Ten teams in the eight-team field.

And Burks' girls have one more hurdle to clear in Dakota. A win at the Elgin Community College Supersectional on Monday sends them to state. Greg, you and your girls certainly look the part.

Don't know him well, but I've been impressed with DeKalb's young boys basketball coach Dave Rohlman in our brief encounters as I've covered Western Sun Conference boys basketball the past couple years. That's why the story about him having senior point guard Darius McNeal intentionally miss a pair of free throws in a recent game in Milwaukee didn't surprise me. The extenuating circumstances made it the right, and classy, thing to do.

It's nice to see a good story get some national attention.

It must run in the family. A couple decades ago (now that's scary) I covered the Barbs for the DeKalb Daily Chronicle when they were coached by Dave's uncle, Art Rohlman, who will retire this year as athletic director at Elgin High School.

Art was a class act, too, although a bit more exciteable on the bench. I'd bet he had more technical fouls credited to him in his coaching career than his nephew ever will.

Aurora native Jay Miller has been selected as the head coach of the USA Softball women's National Team.

Miller, 52, is in his seventh season as Mississippi State University women's softball coach. Now in his 27th season as a collegiate head coach, Miller has a 932-581 record.

He will serve during the next four years as USA Softball tries to get the sport back on the Summer Olympic Program. Softball won't be an Olympic sport in the 2012 event but could be reinstated in a vote this October, making it part of the 2016 Olympics.

Miller will coach the team this summer in the Canada Cup, the World Cup in Oklahoma City, the Japan cup and Pan Am qualifier in Mexico.

He was on the coaching staff that selected the American team that won the gold medal in the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. In 2007 he led the USA Junior National Team to the gold medal at the Junior World Championships in the Netherlands.

It didn't pay to be late, or early for that matter.

"The gym is at capacity. Fans will be admitted as room becomes available."

That's the sign that greeted fans arriving up to 90 minutes before the tip-off of Friday's varsity game when Aurora Central played at Marmion Academy. The gym was packed before the sophomore game, an eventual 40-point Cadet blowout, had reached halftime.

Fans were being allowed in only as another departed, which wasn't happening often. Some, spent more than an hour standing in the bone-chilling cold waiting to get in and I'm not sure they all made it in.

That won't likely be the case when the teams have their only scheduled regular season meeting next season under the new Suburban Christian Conference schedule. It, too, is slated to be played at Marmion, but we've learned it's very likely the game will be played at a different venue.

They haven't dotted all the I's and crossed all the T's yet, but ACC at Marmion Academy will very likely be part of the tripleheader for the 13th Annual High School Hoops Showdown at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates.

Plenty of good seats will be available, guaranteed.

The event, which has included Batavia twice in the past three years and West Aurora once, is one of two events staged each year by The Integrity Group founded by R.M. Rylko and broadcaster David Kaplan. They also stage the two-game City-Suburban Showdown each year at Northwestern.

Organizers will be hoping an ACC-Marmion Academy rivalry matchup will be a good draw. This year's lineup included a rivalry matchup between Barrington and Hoffman Estates Conant that didn't draw as well as expected.

And we understand that if organizers have their way, the tripleheader will have another draw that is likely to lure Fox Valley area hoops fans. Tentative plans call for the event's lineup to be filled out by a Neuqua Valley-West Aurora contest and another involving Chicago St. Patrick-Jacobs.

The date? January 23rd, which won't conflict with tournaments and shootouts scheduled over the weekend that includes Martin Luther King Day.

We'll keep you posted when final details become available.

"No comment," Mike Gaspari said with a grin as I approached him and Glenbard South Athletic Director John Treiber Friday night during their teams' sophomore boys basketball game.
Gaspari, Batavia's AD, was trying to watch his son Noel play but knew what I wanted.
Published reports this week indicated all is not rosy under the Western Sun (Conference) skies.
Several schools, notably Yorkville, Rochelle and Kaneland, have growing concerns about the growing enrollment difference between bigger schools like Geneva and Batavia (both nearing 2,000 students) and the smaller schools in the three-year-old league which are in the 1,000-student range.
The crux of the matter is that with the troubled economy, projected development in some of the Western Sun communities isn't coming as fast as expected when the league formed. And the league's athletic directors had held their monthly meeting Friday morning.
The result?
Those athletic directors are going to continue to meet regularly and keep discussing the situation.
"I don't think they've given (the new league) enough time," said Gaspari, noting that he is happy with the conference as it is. Treiber echoed those comments.
It's possible the league could expand from its eight members and go with a two-division format in a sport like football, but that might be easier said than done. Unless it went to a 16-team league, there would still be the issue of cross-over games and how to handle them.
Bottom line?
Stay tuned.