Good Year For The Outlaw

Well, another NBA “Lottery” has come and gone, and yet another fixed result has been achieved. Don’t think it’s fixed? Then why won’t they pull the ping pong balls in public?

It’s fixed. Big time. Congrats, Chicago, your pathetic Bulls again get something they don’t deserve.

BTW, the Minnesota Timberwolves remain the franchise the league loves to screw. Twelve times the T’wolves have been in the lottery in their 20 year existence. Why? Well, how about this little fact: In 12 lotteries, the Wolves have moved DOWN in the order from where they should pick seven times. In each of the other five times, they stayed where they should pick, based on win-loss record. Twelve total times and you haven’t gotten lucky ONCE?

“Nah, it’s not fixed,” says David Stern. Um, David, yes, it is, and this year anyone outside of Chicago knows it, and most IN Chicago know better, too.

This rigged lottery crap has been going on since the first one, even when they drew out in the open. See for yourself.

After not watching more than two laps of NAZICAR racing all year, I flipped away from NBA playoff action for a few minutes to see what indeed was up these days in the world of big league stock car racing, the once-great sport that has been ruined by a greedy, bigoted sanctioning body. Thought I’d “give ‘em a shot”, and see if there was any reason to go back to watching.

First, what was I hoping to see?  Well, for starters, I was hoping to see a) Toyota getting pummeled; b) Darrell Waltrip not allowed to speak on the broadcast; c) less religion; d) the ability to tell exactly what kind of car a driver was wheeling just by looking at it. Those things would be nice.

What did I actually see? Cars that are still identical except for decals (sucks), the ones with “toyota” on them doing well (sucks), and Darrell Waltrip not only talking about religion (as usual) but also excited about the fact that a car sponsored by Dr. Dobson and Focus on the Family (pure evil man and organization) was running well, and then I had to listen to Darrell tell us how he couldn’t wait to see Dr. Dobson at the upcoming National Day of Prayer.

Um, dudes, this is freakin’ sports, not a revival meeting. Nor is it supposed to be a commercial for christianity. But, sad to say, the reasons I left NAZICAR behind are still quite prevalent on the broadcasts. And I can only imagine what the rest of the day was like, I only watched about 30 (of 188) laps. Wow.

Full disclosure: I am the PA announcer for the Peoria Rivermen hockey team, and have been for 11 of the last 12 years. I love hockey. I desire to see the Rivs draw better. The front office works incredibly hard to try and draw more fans to Rivermen hockey fans. That being said…read on… 

My good friend (and solid reporter) Dave Eminian is correct in today’s column in the PJStar when he says the Rivermen front office staff has struck some attendance gold in the last couple of months:

The Rivermen have hit a home run on a new marketing strategy, which is to bring in celebrities from soap operas, to Nickelodeon and Disney TV shows, pro wrestling and post-game concerts.

It has helped the franchise turn the corner at the box office, quite a feat at a time when most minor-league hockey teams are showing downtrends in attendance.

What David unfortunately does NOT mention is this year’s average attendance, which is now 4,194 per game. That figure ranks a lowly 21st in the 29-team AHL. That puts the Rivermen about 900 UNDER the league average, but ahead of fellow Illinois AHL teams in Rockford (25th at 3,683) and Quad City (27th at 3,432). Chicago (6,981, 4th in the league) is the best-drawing AHL team in the state.

Further, this year’s average is almost 200 below LAST year’s final average (4,386), which belies Dave’s comment that the we’ve “turned the corner”. Maybe from beginning of this year to the current date, but not when one compares the past.

Here’s the past few years:

2005-2006 - (1st year in AHL) - 4,7

2004-2005 - 4,785 (last year in ECHL), 10th overall out of 28

2003-2004 - 5,101, 3rd overall out of 31 teams!

2002-2003 - 5,394, 4th overall out of 27

As a matter of fact, this year’s attendance is lower than any since the team moved from the IHL to the ECHL in 1996. For the record, Dave used to give weekly updates in his column on Rivermen attendance, but they have not been there so much this year.

Again, I have been part of the Rivermen culture since I moved here in 1996. I love hockey. I cannot understand why the team cannot consistently draw the 6-7,000 fans it draws on occasional Saturday nights.

So I’m asking those in the Peoria blogosphere: Why? Why are there not more fans at games? What do you desire the team do to attract you to go to a game? More promotions? More fights on the ice? Less fights? Cheaper concessions? What is it?

Hockey is tremendous fun when it’s viewed live. You DO NOT need to “understand” the game to enjoy it. Heck, there’s really only two confusing rules: icing and offsides, which become completely understandable after you get a quick, easy-to-grasp explanation. Other than that, it’s a lot like basketball…teams pass and skate and try to put the “ball” (in this case, of course, a puck) into the goal. And it’s a lot like football…teams hit and defend and try to stop the other team from getting the puck across the goal line and into the goal.

So what is it going to take to get the attendance this sport deserves in Peoria (and Rockford and the QC for that matter)? What would make you go to the game?

Wow, time flies. Has is really been two weeks since I posted anything new? My life is too busy.

So we’ll get back into it with some observations from the last month of headlines.

Indiana had to fire Kelvin Sampson after he continually cheated and left them no option. This from the guy, btw, that was chairman of the “ethics committee” for the main college basketball coaches association.

So once-proud Indiana is left to pick up the pieces. Who should they hire? Let’s analyze:

They need a guy who can come in and run a clean program, a disciplinarian who can clean up the current mess, and still recruit well enough to attract Big 10-level talent. He needs to somehow find kids who can win 20 games every year and make the NCAA’s (an Indiana expectation), yet the new guy should be able to graduate 98% of the players to show the higher-ups on the board of regents that the schoolwork comes first.

I wonder (…Robert…) if there’s ever been a guy (…Montgomery…) who could coach a team to 20 win seasons annually (…”Bobby”…) while still running a clean program and graduating 98% of the athletes (…Knight…).

 Hmmm…. I wonder if there is such a guy out there, and I wonder if Indiana would ever consider a coach like that to be an asset. Hmmm….

In the past few days, every time…EVERY time…I’ve turned on a sportstalk radio station, be it in Chicago, Peoria, the Quad Cities, or New York or Minneapolis via internet for that matter, the discussion is the same.

Are they talking Spring Training baseball, a very exciting time for all teams? Nope.

Are the talking about the stretch run in the NHL or NBA? Nope.

Maybe they’re talking about the soon-to-descend-upon-us college hoops March Madness? Um, no.

Oh, wait, I know! NAZICAR season just started with the big Daytona race. Gotta be it, right? No again.

What are talking about? Yep. The frickin’ NFL. I’ve heard Mel “What The Hell Do I Actually Do?” Kiper ranting on ESPN about potential 5th round draft choices at the all-important punter or tight end positions. I’ve heard other hosts rambling on about how Bubba Joe Bob Hickaburger can squat 450 a hundred times, or how Latonzalicious Jackson runs a 4.32 40-year dash without pads, but slows to 4.38 with pads. I’ve heard how Studly McOverrated QB is 6-4 and can see over lineman and can get the ball from his hand to a wideout on a 12 yard hitch pattern in 2.73 seconds, about .04 seconds faster than Sexy California Dudewacker, who’s also only 6-3 1/2, btw.

Interestingly, btw, you don’t hear about their college grades or their steroid test results…but I digress. Bottom line:

I…DON’T…CARE.

And nobody else does, either, except for 31-year old Geech Puckerbrush sitting, unshowered for days, in Mom’s basement gearing up for the next big season of Fantasy Football.  

Talk baseball. Talk hockey. Talk stock cars. Hell, talk bowling and golf. Just DROP FOOTBALL FOR A DAMN WEEK. Hell, the damn draft…another overrated and overhyped phenomenon, is still over a month away. Just shut up about football for one stinkin’ week. That’s all I ask. Sheesh.

Anyone with 1/2 of 1/3 of 1/10th of a brain has his doubts the honesty of Roger Clemens after hearing his wild, rambling, disjointed stories being told yesterday in the Congressional Hearings.

So how in hell did the hearings turn into partisan politics? Every GOP member of the committee rushed to Clemens’ defense - inexplicably - while the Democratic members hammered away at his obviously suspect stories and claims. Why? Is it because he’s from Texas, and for some reason, these people STILL don’t want to piss off Georgie boy? Is it because he was the rich one being questioned and the former trainer who’s story contradicts Clemens’ story is “an average middle class Joe”? What is it? Whatever it was, it made those GOP’ers yesterday appear to be morons.

An aside, we do have the video of Roger finally telling the truth:

When it comes to sports entertainment, I’m going back to watching the WWE over NAZICAR.

Why?

Because the WWE is less scripted.

Super Bowl Sunday. America’s “Big Game”. And it usually turns into a big fest for rednecks nationwide to go all “‘mur-a-kin” for their beloved (read: overrated) NFL.  Don’t get me wrong. I like football. Casually interested, is what I’d call me. But it’s NOT the best game. It’s among the easiest to understand (”them boys is gotta take that pigskin and get it over that there goal line to get points”), and it revels in good ol’ fashioned blood and violence, making it the choice of a large percentage of the population. Nothing wrong with that, it’s just overrated. Oh, and we love the blood and violence and macho showboating, but for Supreme Being’s sakes don’t you DARE partially expose a breast for 1/100th of a second. But that’s another story.

On this day, I get a big kick out of a bunch of guys getting their jersies (made in China) out of their Mexican-built dryers, hopping into their Canadian-built pickups, driving thanks to their Middle Eastern fuel, putting on the “made in Taiwan” Orange County Chopper $9 sunglasses, heading to WalMart (where everything except the food is also made in China), buying a couple of frozen pizzas (made in America, created in Italy) and some chips and salsa (Mexican heritage), heading home to plop down on their Hong Kong-built sofa, turn on the Japanese TV, and find the network created by the Australian.

All for a good ‘ol game of “‘mur-a-kin” football. The only thing American about the game is the actual game (again…overrated) and the beer (equally overrated), two things that combine to dumb down the country.

But the commercials are awesome.

At the ”Young Stars” event preceding the NHL All-Star game this weekend, there were 16 players. Four of them were native Minnesotans. Rookies from all over the world who are now in the NHL were all eligible and considered for the game, and 25% of the final roster came from one midwestern state. That’s why they call it “The State Of Hockey”. Period. 

As a lifelong fan of any and all of the athletic programs at the University of Minnesota, you can imagine how frustrating and embarrassing the football season was this season: 1-11, quite possibly the worst team fielded in the Big 10 in many years, and that includes some ugly Illinois, Indiana, and Northwestern teams.

Prior to this season, the Gophers had appeared in bowls for six straight years behind the leadership of Glen Mason. But as with many programs, with wins eventually come even higher expectations, and Mason was canned for not quite winning enough. I was not happy with the firing. After 30 years of mediocrity since the last Minnesota Big 10 title (1968), Mason came in in the late 90’s and turned the program around. He did it by building the most awesome running attack in college football, a record-setting show that featured a succession of solid running backs. The best of them were Laurence Maroney and Marion Barber III.

So, with no enjoyment in the new Gophers under Tim Brewster (he’d better turn it around QUICK, but that’s for another time), Gopher fans have to find solace in watching Maroney and Barber exceed expectations in the NFL. Well, after today’s New England victory, the Patriots (Maroney’s team) and Barber’s Dallas Cowboys have played a total of 3 postseaosn games. New England is going to the Super Bowl, of course, and Dallas was upset in their first playoff game last week by the New York Giants, but in those three games, Maroney and Barber have run for over 120 yards in EACH of them.

That’s right, the leading rushers in the postseason are BOTH ex-Minnesota Gophers, and they were record-setting teammates for Glen Mason. Somewhere, Glen Mason is sitting in a recliner smoking a big cigar, wondering if the University of Minnesota realizes yet the mistake it made in letting him and his vaunted running game (and obvious recruiting ability FOR that running game) go away.   (more…)

A couple of years ago, the St. Louis Blues signed Patrick Lalime, a former all-star goaltender who had been the starting goalie for the Ottawa Senators for five years prior to the infamous “lockout” season. Several NHL goalkeepers had trouble adapting to the new rules when hockey returned, and based on his statistics, Patty Lalime was one of them.

He had a woeful season in St. Louis that included a demotion to Peoria, where the Rivermen were playing their first season in the AHL. Much was made of Lalime’s contract, which paid him more than the rest of the Rivermen team combined. (more…)

This week we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first black player in the NHL, Willie O’Ree, who was called up this month in 1958 by the Boston Bruins. O’Ree, who had lost the vision in his right eye in a junior league game long before his call up, kept that fact secret from the Bruins, because he wanted to play in the NHL so badly. There were only “The Original Six” teams back then…imagine how hard it was to make it when only the absolute best 120 players made it to the show.

A two sport star, O’Ree tried baseball first. Unfortunately, as he left his native Canada and landed in Southern Georgia to try out for the Milwaukee Braves organization, he encountered racism for the first time in his life, when he saw restrooms that had “whites only” and “blacks only” signs on them. He later came back to hockey. O’Ree’s NHL career consisted of only 45 games. He was fast and tough, but according to the USA Today story about him this week, the Bruins needed him to score. In that respect, he struggled, scoring only 4 goals. He was sent back down the next season, where he played 15 more years in the minors.

Sadly, much like Jackie Robinson before him, O’Ree has had to live with the death threats and racial taunts. But, here’s the important part and the point of this post: those death threats did NOT happen in 1958, or in his minor league hockey career.

(more…)

A friend asked me today if this year’s edition of the Peoria Rivermen were a good hockey team? I said they were. He asked if they were over .500, I said “yes and no”. He was confused. Moreso than normal.  

So, are the Rivermen over .500 or not? Depends on how you look at it. Peoria’s record is 18-11-3-4. That’s the new hockey math. The first two numbers are self-explanatory and suggest the Rivs are way over .500. But the last two numbers (which are one too many) show you “overtime losses” and “shootout losses”.

Technically, the Rivermen have won 18 games…and lost 18 games. However, since they took seven of those 18 losses into overtime, games that used to show up as “ties” in the standings, the Rivermen have scored 43 points out of a possible 72, for a “points scoring percentage” of .597. So, for the purpose of promoting the team from the “glass half full” side, it is logical and acceptable to say the team is “over .500″.

But if one prefers half empty, and takes simply wins v. losses, the team is playing exactly .500 hockey.

It’s semantics, and it’s hockey math. Oh, and it’s the whole four-numbers thing in the standings is completely unnecessary. Peoria gets two points for wins, no points for regulation losses (second column), one point for overtime losses (column three) and one point for shootout losses (column four). So it doesn’t make any difference, and there doesn’t need to be a fourth column. A loss is a loss, eh? The Rivs are 18-11-7. There. That makes a whole lot more sense.

…baseball!

What a joke this thing has become. It’s mostly about two things: longevity (and thus gaudy numbers) and where a player played.

Rich Gossage is the only inductee this year. Rich Gossage is deserving, and should be elected. But look at who is still waiting: Jim Rice, Bert Blyleven (best pitcher not in the Hall), Andre Dawson, and scores of great veterans who no longer get voted on, but must rely on the “veteran’s committee” to get in, such as the best hitter ever not currently in the Hall, Tony Oliva.

Why is Oliva not in? One, his career numbers are not “big enough”, which is not his fault, as he played much of his career on bad ankles, bad heels, and terrible knees…injuries so bad they probably shortened his career by 6 years (and therefore by 1,000 hits, 500 RBI, 150 homers, and certain first-ballot induction). Should injuries be the reason he’s not in the Hall? Absolutely not. He was the best hitter in baseball from 1965-1973. The most feared combination of power and average. Are there other reasons he’s not in the Hall?

Certainly. Reason #2 is he spent his entire career in Minnesota. Don’t get me wrong, lots of Hall of Famers played in “smaller” markets for their entire career. But they had the huge, gaudy, extra-large stats that only come from playing 20+ years and because of that were no-brainers. But guys like Oliva, in which the voters have to know enough about baseball history to look beyond the stats, suffer from not being a Yankee or Dodger for at least part of his career.

If Tony Oliva had played even two seasons in New York or Los Angeles, he’d already be in the Hall.

As it is, the Baseball Hall of Fame is not a legitimate entity in my eyes. Not until Blyleven, Rice, and Oliva are in. When they’re in, then I’ll care about it and someday might give my money to it. Until then, the baseball hall matters not to me. Not one bit.

So, the scoreboard is: I won’t watch baseball until the steroids are gone, and I won’t take my family to visit the Hall until the right players are in. Baseball…America’s once-great pastime…is on a terrible slide.

True hockey fans know and accept that fighting - not the gratuitious, do-it-because-you-do-it-every-game style, but the “time to stick up for myself and my teammates” style - is a major part of adult hockey. Many newbies to the sport feel it has no place in the game, all the while enjoying the mugging that is every college basketball rebound and the controlled violence that is every helmet-first football tackle.

Sunday afternoon’s Peoria Rivermen game showed exactly why fighting has been, is and always should be part of the sport’s allure. The three largest sustained moments of crowd excitement yesterday? The three battles. The turning point in the game? The final of the three bouts, when Rivermen winger and Blues prospect Nikolay Lemtyugov dropped his gloves for the first time since coming to North America, and pummeled a Quad City defenseman who had been dogging him and shoving him for an entire shift.

The result was a huge ovation, a huge turn of emotion, and a wake up call to his teammates (Peoria was trailing 2-0 at the time, and while playing hard, were becoming increasingly frustrated - having scored but 1 goal on Quad City goalie Brent Krahn in over 95 minutes of hockey covering Sunday and the previous night.

Jean Guy Trudel scored just over a minute later, and scored again a couple of minutes after that. When Steve Wagner blasted home a slapper with 1.1 seconds left in the period, the Rivermen went to the locker room up 3-2, thanks in no small part to Lemtyugov’s decision to stand up for himself.

PJ Star writer Dave Eminian correctly awarded Lemtyugov the game’s “Third Star” afterwards, based solely on that momentum-turning, crowd-arousing bout. Several other sports staffers at the paper, good friends of mine, think that fighting should be outlawed. Astute hockey observers know better.

Tom Brady was named the NFL MVP yesterday after his record-setting season. It became clear about midway through the season that he was going to win. QB’s and running backs usually do.

But Brady has always been good. Three Super Bowl rings in seven years, he’s already come to be known as a great player. The true “Most Valuable Player” in the NFL turned out to be his new teammate, Randy Moss.

Tom Brady, an already great player, became super human this year by throwing 50 touchdown passes. Did he improve that much over past seasons, or was it something else. It was something else.

Brady is still Brady, but having Wes Welker and Randy Moss gave him a great set of wideouts for the first time in his career, and Moss’ presence makes everyone around him that much better. Plus, Moss got a record of his own: 23 touchdown receptions in the same season. Incredible.

A little trivia for my sports-minded friends for tomorrow at work: The two greatest NFL offenses of all time (’98 Minnesota Vikings/’07 New England Patriots) have but one thing in common: Randy Moss.

That’s not a coincidence.

As I stuck my coat sleeve in Diane’s face, those were the first words I said to her as I arrived home last night from the bowling alley.

Why did I smell so nice? Because for the first time in my life, I spent three hours in a bowling alley…that was smoke free!

What a difference it made. For once, I played league without coming home with stinking clothes, wreaking hair, and an overall grimy feeling, like you do when you come home from being around smoke all night. 

Here’s the amazing thing: We have 12 teams in the league. 48 guys. Now, add the four or five employees, about a dozen friends watching the bowling, and another dozen or so in the bar. Roughly 70-75 people in the place. The owner did a little impromptu survey, and we determined there were nine smokers in the building. Nine. Out of 75. To their credit, not one of them had a problem with the new law. But think about it. On an average night, nine people - out of 75 - smoking would have caused 75 to go home wreaking of wretched, stale, smoke.

Not anymore. And they say government can’t make the tough decisions and do the right thing.

Scenario: I’m sitting at the computer, TV over my left shoulder is tuned into ESPN, Chris Berman and the boys are talking football. Diane is over by the vanity, preparing for the day.

I’m not paying attention, but apparently the announcers said something about Green Bay and a certain offensive position, bringing this retort from Diane:

“I don’t know if it’s a good thing to be the tight end for the Packers.”

Ah, yes, out of the mouths of babes. And she is a babe.

Denver Broncos punter/kicker Todd Sauerbrun didn’t have a good day yesterday. He kicked the football directly to Devin Hester not once, but twice (in the same quarter!). Then, when he finally figured out that wasn’t a good idea, he decided to punt right into the outstretched hands of Charles Tillman, resulting in an easy (even for the pathetic Bears’ offense) 18-yard scoring drive. By my calculations, if Sauerbrun and the Broncos had half a brain, they would have won  yesterday’s game 34-16.

To find out what makes this guy tick, this intrepid reporter has acquired Mr. Sauerbrun’s Daily Planner for Tuesday, November 27th:

7am - Guzzle cup of scalding hot coffee

8am - Run up and down stairs with scissors in hand

9am - Stick fork in wall socket to check power

10am - Insert angry ferret into pants

11am - Cut down tree with chainsaw, always making sure to be cutting “up”, with chain over my head

12pm - Try to steal raw meat from Michael Vick’s pit bull

1pm - Shave dry

2pm - Reach into aquarium, try to grab Piranha

3pm - Jog in center lane of interstate

4pm - Cover body in honey, enter bear exhibit at zoo

5pm - Wingwalk on F-15 in stocking feet

6pm - Have dinner with Mike Tyson, tell him he’s “a big sissy”

There you have it, a day in the life of Todd Sauerbrun. This should help explain yesterday’s behavior.

1. The defense is overrated, and has trouble stopping the pass AND the run.

2. The offense, when Rex Grossman is on the field, is equally inept.

and

3. Devin Hester is the best return man in the history of professional football.

No Devin Hester today, and that Chicago team gets beat by three, maybe four touchdowns. As it is, they’re still alive (but will miss the playoffs anyway) thanks to Hester.

Any team that kicks the ball to this man the rest of the season needs to fire their head coach, special teams coach, punter, and kicker immediately. During the game. I mean seriously, we all know Mike Shanahan is a cocky coach, but there’s a fine line between having big brass ones and being certifiably nuts. Shanahan crossed the line into certifiable today, without a doubt.

Oh, and if I were the Bears, I’d refuse to accept this “victory”. They have followed up being the weakest Super Bowl entrant ever with being the weakest 5-6 team ever. Without Hester, this team is 2-9 at best. And as long as Lovie Smith (dumbest coach this side of Minnesota’s Brad Childress) sticks with Grossman, the Bears will remain mediocre at best, awful most of the time.

Our football coverage this fall on CD 107.9 ended with Metamora’s thrilling victory over Morris in the IHSA 5A finals. Congrats to Coach Ryan and the kids, and the whole town for that matter, on the title. I’ve heard good things about our championship coverage, which included Dave Murphy and Rich Draeger in the booth and Mark Bixler on the sidelines. Bix got Pat Ryan on twice during the game, so for those who’d like to hear it, it’s archived over at Jason Plank’s website: www.jmpsports.com.

We’ve already segued into basketball coverage, as our busy fall now turns into our busier winter.

Same two teams still in it, same station still on it!

1pm Saturday - Marion at Metamora on CD 107.9 and www.cd1079.com

5pm Saturday - Galena at North Fulton on CD 107.9 and www.cd1079.com

The local clubs are getting whittled down. We’ll have two games on this Saturday, both on CD 107.9 and www.cd1079.com:

At 1pm - 5A - Metamora at Pontiac, Dave Murphy and Rob Paullin on PBP.

At 6pm - 1A - North Fulton at Stark County, Leon Groover and Bob Wagner on PBP.

Hope everybody gets a chance to listen!

Our stations will be at three different games Saturday:

On CD 107.9 and www.cd1079.com:

1pm - 4A Game - Decatur St. Teresa (7-3) at Dunlap (9-1). Dave Murphy and Rich Draeger on PBP.

7pm - 1A Game - Lewistown (10-0) at North Fulton (8-2). Leon Groover and Bob Wagner on PBP.

On AM 1560, WBYS and www.wbysradio.com:

7pm - 2A Game - Orion (10-0) at Farmington (6-4). Dave Murphy and Mark Bixler on PBP.

Tony Z will have his halftime scoreboard show on all games. Tony will get up to the second scores by text message from games involving Richwoods, Metamora, Washington, IVC, Stark County, Princeville, Aledo and every other team in this part of the state.

I’m very proud of our guys and our stations. Eight football games in two weekends on two stations, utilizing a total of seven play-by-play announcers and three studio engineers. I don’t think any other group of stations in the state has done that many games over the first two weeks of this year’s playoffs, plus we give steady updates from those other games around the state through use of stringers sending texts from nearly every game.

Between this and severe weather, this is what live local radio is all about. If anybody among the few folks who read this hear any of the coverage, let me know how we do.

I know, I know, don’t blog about work. But I’m so excited about this weekend, I’ve got to print our radio stations’ schedule:

Friday night on CD107.9 and cd1079.com:

 7pm - Mt. Zion (6-3) at Dunlap (8-1), 4A. Dave Murphy and either Rob Paullin or Rich Draeger on PBP. Live reports from North Fulton (7-2) at Lexington (7-2), 1A, (w/Mark Bixler).

Friday night on AM 1560 WBYS and wbysradio.com:

7pm - Farmington (5-4) at Fieldcrest (8-1), 2A, Leon Groover and Bob Wagner on PBP. Live reports from North Fulton (7-2) at Lexington (7-2), 1A, (w/Mark Bixler).

Saturday afternoon on AM 1560 WBYS and wbysradio.com:

2pm - Colfax Ridgeview (5-4) at Lewistown (9-0), 1A. Leon Groover and Bob Wagner on the PBP.

Saturday afternoon on CD 107.9 and cd1079.com:

1pm - Hillcrest (6-3) at Richwoods (8-1), 6A. Mark Bixler and either yours truly or Rich Draeger/Rob Paullin on PBP.

3pm - Normal U-High (5-4) vs. Woodruff (7-2) at Peoria Stadium, 5A. Dave Murphy and Rob or Rich on PBP.

Yep, Billy, we’ve got your Warriors on live Saturday afternoon!

Of course, at halftime of all games, we’ve got Tony Z back at the studio updating scores from around the state as playoffs begin this Friday night. And the games are also available at Jason Plank’s website, JMPSports.com, where he also archives all games if you want to download a copy. Hope everyone listens either on air or online!

Updated to show full coverage of Farmington vs. Fieldcrest on Friday night. We decided to ADD to the schedule. We gotta be nuts! We’re goin’ crazy!