Tighten your seat belts, as a lot of information and off-the-wall thoughts are headed your way! Let’s begin with the Milwaukee Brewers claiming their first World Series championship in franchise history by defeating a look-alike Tampa Bay Rays team in five games. The way both teams played with fundamental baseball skills in advancing runners without a reliance on home run power, defensive prowess, and a balance of starting and relief pitching was refreshing to watch. I think most fans and baseball purists are growing tired of a constant stream of home runs, strikeouts, or walks!
You have to think that a change is coming to the rest of MLB after seeing the success of these two teams and how they played the game. I know that the good people of Wisconsin are still celebrating with brats and beer in honor of their beloved Brew Crew! With apologies to the late Brewer broadcaster Bob Uecker, “everyone must be in the front row”, particularly if you’re a Cheesehead!
Are you ready for some hardwood action? Girls high school hoops practice officially started Friday the 31st, with the boys to follow this coming Friday, November 6th.
Meanwhile, at the college level, the men begin play this week with Ohio State at BYU, Wright State hosting the Air Force Academy, New Jersey Institute of Technology coming to UD Arena to face the Flyers, and Miami at James Madison (will be a hard act for the RedHawks to duplicate last year’s 31-0 regular season mark!).
On the ladies’ side of action, the Lady Buckeyes host Illinois-Chicago, the Lady Raiders face Loyola Chicago, and in keeping with the Land of Lincoln theme, the Lady Flyers take on Illinois State. Only the Lady ‘Hawks break from the norm by hosting James Madison.
Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of the OHSAA football playoffs as some outstanding matchups will take place in week two of the six-week extravaganza. Entering the tournament I thought it was interesting the area teams that qualified to participate at the different division levels. The mighty MAC, as seemingly always, had seven schools represented, likewise the SWBL. The GWOC placed six teams, the WOAC five, and the MVL had only three, the fewest since the playoffs expanded beyond eight teams per region in each of the seven divisions. In my opinion, I thought the MVL, other than Tipp and Troy, was a little weaker overall than normal, although Butler, Fairborn, and Xenia might question that!!
This Friday’s brackets feature:
Troy traveling to Lima Senior in D-II; Tipp hosting Goshen in D-III; and in D-VI Versailles (after a win over Portsmouth West and a 340-mile round trip) hitting the road again at Cincinnati College Prep. It’s a good thing gas is cheap. Not!!
In D-V, Arcanum tangles with #1 seed Graham in St. Paris while Preble Shawnee ventures to Waynesville and Coldwater makes it way across the state to Wooster Triway. In D-VI, Covington goes to face a tough Deer Park squad while #1 seed Tri-Village hosts last year’s state division V-II champion, the St. Henry Redskins, in what should be a titanic struggle!
Finally, in D-VII it’s Fort Loramie at #1 Marion Local, Fort Recovery at Minster, and the #2 seed Ansonia Tigers hosting New Bremen. Lots of good competitive games to choose from this Friday!!
Girls volleyball play moves into regional semifinals play with the following area teams moving on down the tournament trail towards a berth in the state finals at Wright State: Arcanum and Versailles in D-V; Anna and Fort Recovery in D-VI; and Fort Loramie and Russia in D-VII. Dig, set, spike!!
Congratulations to the following cross country teams and individuals who qualified to run at the state meet Saturday at Fortress Obetz in the Columbus area:
The Versailles girls finished 3rd in D-III while Minster’s girls won the D-IV competition. Individual qualifiers in D-IV included Anna Yeomans and Claire Barga of Ansonia; Michaela Flora and Claire Stull of Newton; Alice Larson of Covington; and Ella Eshleman of Franklin-Monroe.
On the boys’ side, the Versailles boys took home a D-III regional trophy paced by first-place finisher Jackson Spitzer, who ran a 15:05 on the Troy 5,000-meter course. In D-IV, defending state champion Bennett Lehman of Ansonia won another regional crown with a 15:28, while Russia’s boys claimed the team title, led by Paxson Bixler’s 2nd-place finish. Qualifying as individuals were the Tranthams of Tri-Village, Coleman and Carter. Best of luck to all as they compete with the best in Ohio!
What an unbelievable finish to what was a mediocre, mistake-filled game between Indiana and Minnesota! Back-to-back 60-yard field goals ended regulation, then a great touchdown catch in overtime helped the Hoosiers win 23-16. IU moves on towards another playoff berth in defense of their national championship while the Gophers will still make noise the rest of the season on their way to a bowl bid.
THE looked like they would have rather been at the beach or Disneyland than playing in the Coliseum against USC. The Bucks didn’t seem to be in sync or inspired the entire game, with their freshman QB doing the best he could. Next up, Oregon at the ‘Shoe.
Finally, from the Dayton Daily News, comes this piece of information. A single Barn Owl family can consume as many as 3,000 rodents in a single year! Relying mainly on excellent low-light vision, it’s their hearing that gives them a true advantage. You almost have to feel sorry for any little critter that scurries about in the night! Just thought you needed to add this to your list of forgettable trivia!! Have a great week!
