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The Burrall Blog – What a Win!
8/30/09 – 3:44 PM
Summing up Newcastle football’s season-opening win over Custer probably can’t be done efficiently, but I’ll try.
Now with a 5-man line, the Dogies’ defense showed that it could be much better. It was quite good on Friday. The secondary covered Custer receivers well and may have frustrated them into some drops.
So, how did the move of Jeremy Beehler to running back work out? Well, how about 28 carries for 196 yards and a touchdown? How about a 59-yard run and a 33-yard TD run? Beehler knows, I’m sure, that teams will start keying on him, but I’ll be surprised if that stops him. Now, the Dogies did barely throw the ball on Friday, and they will probably want to establish at least some sort of a passing game soon.
And then, there are the guts of new head coach Matt Conzelman. It was a calculated risk, but a risk nonetheless, when Newcastle successfully went for the 2-point conversion and the win in the second overtime. Matt said to me after the game, “I just know I didn’t want to play another overtime against [Custer].”
I can’t blame him. The Wildcats’ offense was coming together after it had struggled most of the game. Anyway, the formation for an extra point was in place, including the “swinging-gate” — and then the ball was snapped right to holder Trey Sylte, who had run for the Dogies’ second-OT touchdown just minutes before. Sylte made a mad dash to the goal line as Wildcat defenders converged — and just barely crossed the goal line for the winning points.
Some streaks were broken with Newcastle’s 15-14 win. A streak of losses to South Dakota teams dating back to 1989 ended. Also ending was a 9-game losing streak to Custer, dating back to 1991. And, this was the Dogies’ first season-opening win since 2001.
If you don’t have plans for Friday night, maybe you should consider coming to Schoonmaker Field when the Dogies host three-time defending 1A champion Southeast with a 7:00 PM kickoff. Newcastle will be tested in this one almost certainly, but the Dogies play hard and with enthusiasm. I’ll think you’ll enjoy watching them.
Of course, hear it Friday starting at 6:20 on AM 1240 KASL and here at kaslradio.com. Just click on that link at the top of the page that says, “Live Dogie Broadcast.”
The Burrall Blog – Dogie Football Time
8/14/09 – 4:00 PM
As Newcastle High School football prepares to open a new season, there’s a new head coach. Matt Conzelman visits with KASL Sports Director David Burrall.
The Burrall Blog – Sports and Stupidity
8/13/09 – 8:28 PM
Will it ever end?
Michael Vick is back in the NFL, as the Philadelphia Eagles have signed him. Now, he isn’t fully reinstated, so he cannot yet play in a regular season game (or in the first two preseason games), but still, stupidity has been rewarded. Vick, who led a particularly brutal dog-fighting ring, served nearly two years in prison. To his credit, he has expressed remorse. But, here’s my idea: Why isn’t this guy working in an animal shelter? Tell me how his return so soon to the NFL will make a difference for this guy. It won’t, of course. He will make a lot of money, and therefore have the temptation to do something else heinous. I’m not saying he will; I’m saying he could.
Stupidity has also been rewarded in the case of NFL wide receiver Donte Stallworth. Yes, he was suspended for a season from playing. That isn’t the big problem, though. The big problem was that for killing a man with his car after a full night of drinking, Stallworth made a plea deal and was in jail for a week. Yes, a week. He killed a man and spent a week in jail. Tell me how this serves justice. Tell me how this teaches this punk a lesson. It doesn’t, of course. Donte Stallworth could be back on a football field in 2010 when he should be locked up. And, maybe the judge that made this ludicrous decision should think about another line of work, because he sure as hell shouldn’t be on the bench.
And stupidity reigned briefly recently in baseball. During a Phillies-Cubs game at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Philadelphia outfielder Shane Victorino was chasing a fly ball on the warning track in left-center field when he suddenly found himself doused by beer. Some moron threw a beer at Victorino. This is different than the incident in the World Series of 50 years ago. White Sox outfielder Al Smith was the subject of a famous photograph, in which he was doused by beer, but a fan was trying to catch a home run ball and spilled his beer on Smith. That was accidental. What happened with Victorino was not. Victorino has handled this as well as can be. He filed a police report, but won’t press charges. He said it was part of the game. That’s noble, but it doesn’t change the fact that he was physically assaulted. The idiot who did this would certainly be in jail otherwise. He was removed from Wrigley Field, but that isn’t good enough. This guy should never, ever, be allowed in a major league ballpark again. The technology is available to do this. There are too many great baseball fans, especially in Chicago, to let imbeciles like this one take part.
No, I guess it will never end.
The Burrall Blog – The Same Team, Only Different
8/8/09 – 11:50 PM
DENVER — Just got back to my brother’s home from watching the Rockies and Cubs. Though they lost tonight, Colorado has played remarkably well since the long-overdue firing of manager Clint Hurdle in May. As of this writing, they are 40-18 since being 12 games under .500 in early June and one game behind the Giants’ National League Wild Card lead.
Jim Tracy has made a great difference since being hired as manager. Everyone is accountable. Everyone knows what is expected of them. Rockies’ relief pitchers who couldn’t get hitters out are now at Triple-A Colorado Springs or in another organization, instead of being coddled or ignored by Hurdle. With that exception, the Rockies’ personnel is basically the same as it was when the team was playing abysmally in April and May.
Can a managerial change make that much difference? Well, it can and has before. And it has with the 2009 Rockies, who went from possibly the most underachieving team in the majors in the first six weeks of the season to a team seriously contending for a playoff berth.
I know this: I cringed watching this team early on this year. They looked like they knew they were going to lose. But since the change, they not only think they can win, they expect to win, and it’s almost a shock when they don’t. Now, I don’t cringe watching the Rockies. I savor it. Whatever happens this year, they’ve made the turn back into one of the National League’s best teams. Now, if only the owners, who seem to be more interested in their holier-than-thou attitude (witness the incomprehensible barring of excellent radio play-by-play man Jeff Kingery from the team charter for the rest of the season) than spending money to make the team even better, would sell the team to someone who has a clue, so they can get rid of the general manager and baseball operations people that don’t have a clue, being a Rockies’ fan would be even more enjoyable than it already is.
