I’ve got a quick update on Fran Case, mother of Cooper boys basketball coach Marc Case.

Fran has been moved from Hendrick to Sears Methodist Home and is doing better. She’s talking a bit and moving her right leg. Her balance is better, and she’s been able to chew food.

Coach Case said she’s still got a long way to go, but that she’s made progress over the last six weeks and that, on most days, her spirit and sense of humor are good. So, things are looking up, which is certainly good news.

Posted by · March 30, 2007 5:45 PM · Comments (0)

Former Wildcat Danieal Manning made headlines all season with the Chicago Bears, culminating with his appearance in the Super Bowl as the team’s starting free safety.

Now another former Abilene Christian University star is getting some attention. Golfer Jeev Milkha Singh — the driving force behind ACU’s 1993 Division II national championship — is featured in Sports Illustrated’s Masters Preview that hit mailboxes across the country recently.

Veteran SI writer Alan Shipnuck details Singh's golf journey and how he earned his way into a group of 18 making their Masters debut. Singh will, in fact, be the first Indian to play in the Masters. He is already the first to compete on the European Tour and the first to compete in college in America.

To be sure, it was a long trip. In 2006, Shipnuck said, Singh played 39 tournaments in 17 countries on four continents. He finished in the top 10 on 20 occasions, winning twice in Japan, once in China and again in Spain at the Volvo Masters, the European Tour’s season-ending tournament.

Shipnuck’s story is available online at http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/article/0,28136,1603557-1,00.html.

Posted by · March 30, 2007 12:46 PM · Comments (0)

There is a short story in Wednesday's paper about an incident that happened on a Cooper tennis trip. In short, one of the boys was injured and had to be treated at a hospital Thursday night following what principal Gail Gregg called a non-tennis related injury.

Now, I know there are already rumors flying about hazing, but I didn't use that word in my story. I don't plan to use it unless it is deemed by Gregg that what happened was, in fact, a form of hazing. The incident is being investigated and the results of that investigation should be known within the next couple of days.

But before you start worrying about the state of high school athletics and bemoaning the lack of character in kids these days, take a breath and give this time to work itself out. I think that, once it does, this will go down as kids being kids and kids making a bad decision — a decision that, in all likelihood, had no sort of malicious intent behind it but was instead just a group of teenage boys acting like, well, teenage boys.

If that’s not the case, I will certainly report the facts. I will do the same if the opposite is found to be true. Either way, let’s hold off on passing judgment until we actually know what happened.

Posted by · March 27, 2007 11:44 PM · Comments (0)

A pair of Abilene football players has decided to continue their careers at Hardin-Simmons University and coach Jimmie Keeling.

Cooper offensive tackle Chris Greene and Zach Overby of Wylie, an offensive and defensive lineman, are now Cowboys.

Greene will play tight end for Keeling, while Overby will likely play defensive end.

Posted by · March 27, 2007 1:03 PM · Comments (0)

This is just something that's bothered me for years that came up in discussion the other day: why can't we get a shot clock in high school basketball?

I know the whole idea of "stall ball" is to level the playing field, but look at Georgetown, now in the Final Four. The Hoyas play the Princeton system incredibly well, and the whole idea of that system is to help level the playing field. Ivy League teams win with it all the time, and when an incredibly athletic team like Georgetown plays it, the thing works even better. And it can be done, obviously, with a shot clock.

Now, like I said, I understand the slow down and I know why teams use it. But, quite simply, it isn't any good for the fans. It is, in fact, boring. If you can't run the floor, run the Princeton - or something with the same idea of dictating your own pace.

My recommendation would be for the UIL to vote in the shot clock, giving schools and coaches two years to set up their gyms and practice with it. First, it's better for the fans. But even more, it would help these athletes prepare themselves better for the college game many of them hope to one day play.

Just my ramblings ... for what they're worth. What do you think?

(And don't even get me started on the problems with high school softball pitching rules.)

Posted by · March 26, 2007 7:26 PM · Comments (0)

A former Cooper Lady Cougar is now a national champion.

Freshman guard Kelsey Wasmer helped Odessa College to the NJCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship Saturday night, as OC downed Central Arizona 73-50. The Lady Wranglers finished the season 32-2, handing Central Arizona only its third loss of the year in the championship game.

Wasmer was a standout at Cooper, averaging 18 points, 6 rebounds and almost 2 steals per game her senior season. Another name that may be familiar to District 3-5A fans is Whitney Davis - she's also a freshman guard at Odessa College and played her high school basketball at Odessa High. The biggest name on the roster is probably that of LaDe'sha Stoudemire. If that name sounds vaguely familiar - at least the last name - it is. Her older brother is NBA all-star Amare Stoudemire. She's a sophomore, last year earning all-conference recognition and playing in the all-star game.

Wasmer was key in getting the Lady Wranglers - who won the national title in 1986 and 1991 and lost in last year's title game - to the championship game, scoring 11 second-half points and hitting three of the team's 10 3-pointers in a 77-66 win over Seward County (Kan.) in Friday's semifinal. She scored nine in the title game.

Posted by · March 25, 2007 12:21 AM · Comments (0)

Just a quick, sad note for all District 3-5A fans:

I've heard that Mary Quisenberry suffered a heart attack last evening and has passed away ... I'm sure John, her husband, along with Coach Quis and the rest of the family would appreciate any thoughts and prayers ...

If I hear anything else I will pass it along ...

Posted by · March 22, 2007 1:24 PM · Comments (0)

Well, the deadline for All-Big Country basketball teams has come and gone, so now I’m buried under a stack of names and stats that number somewhere between 150 and 200. That’s a great thing … lots of kids from Abilene and the area had great seasons this year, and we’re going to do the best we can to pick out the top few. Look for those stories in the coming weeks.

But right now I wanted to let you know about a state competition coming up this weekend. The powerlifting state meet will be in Houston Saturday, and Abilene will have eight lifters.

AHS has six lifters: Jordan McCoy (132s), Mark Weaver (165s), Garrison Hardin (220s), Mitch Harvey (242s), Michael Ysa (275s) and Zach Sartor (super heavies). Cooper’s two representatives will be Jevon Powers at 148 and Jeff Hay at 242.

Hitting the road to Houston might be a stretch for most folks, but if you happen to see any of these guys before they take off, wish them luck.

Posted by · March 22, 2007 12:06 AM · Comments (0)

Looks like former Cooper star Dominic Rhodes will get off with a slap for his recent arrest.

Rhodes, who probably should’ve been the Super Bowl MVP, left the Colts a few weeks ago for a bigger check in Oakland. But, before he left, he was pulled over by state troopers and charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated and operating a vehicle with a blood-alcohol level greater than 0.08. (He was speeding, 81 in a 55)

Today Rhodes appeared in court and pleaded guilty to reckless driving after prosecutors dropped drunken driving charges against him. He was fined $1,000 in exchange for the plea and sentenced to 180 days in jail. He won’t be spending his summer in lockup, though, because 178 days were suspended and he received credit for two days.

The additional charged were apparently dropped because of “evidence problems,” though we don’t know exactly what that means. It would seem someone didn’t fill out the right paperwork or something of that nature. Had those charges not been dropped, Rhodes might have been in bigger trouble. The charges that didn’t hold were of the Class A variety, which would have carried up to a year of jail time.

I am not in the business of judging others, but this is not the first time Rhodes has gotten in trouble with the law. There were domestic battery charges filed in 2002 as well, but he avoided prosecution there, too, going into a diversionary program and mental health counseling.

He didn’t really get anything but a mark on his public image on this one, but maybe this was enough of a scare for him to get straight. Hopefully it was.

Dominic’s a good guy – I’ve talked with him on multiple occasions. He comes back to Abilene and does a lot with kids. All of his commendable actions, though, don’t erase his poor decisions. Whether he likes it or not, he’s in a position to have lots of kids – and adults for that matter – look up to him. He needs to be cognizant of that fact.

Oakland certainly doesn’t carry the shiny image that Indianapolis does, but it certainly isn’t Cincinnati. I for one hope Rhodes will do well with the Raiders – both on the field and off.

Posted by · March 21, 2007 4:01 PM · Comments (0)

I said after last week’s games that the crosstown baseball matchup was going to be a good one, and I was right. Both teams hit well, but at the same time both got strong performances on the mound.

There would have been many more at-bats going for hits, too, but the outfields were both outstanding. Abilene High’s Michael Sullivan was all over the place in right, and Cooper center fielder Lane Wise and left fielder Andrew Squyres were equally impressive.

While Cooper came out on top, this might be one of those that in 10 games, each might win five. And this meeting might have turned out a little differently, though, if not for an error-turned-out in the bottom of the third.

After Cooper jumped to a 1-0 lead in the middle of the third, Abilene High had a great chance at tying it up in the bottom of the frame. After Bryson Walker led off the inning with a strikeout, Jet Ellis hit a nice shot to left field for a standup double. Jace Leedy, then, connected to send one back to left.

Squyres made the catch, but as he was transferring the ball from his glove for the throw, the ball dropped to the grass. The umpires had a short conference and, when it was over, the call was that the ball was dropped, leaving Leedy safe on first. Cooper coach Terry Couch immediately took the field and questioned the home plate umpire. The two had a brief meeting (he told Couch he didn’t see the play), and Couch then called over the second ump. After their conversation, the two officials conferred again.

They came out of the meeting and changed the call, giving Squyres the catch and sending Leedy back to the dugout.

This, of course, brought AHS coach Scottie Sanchez onto the field, but the only thing he could really argue was over the way the officials handled the call.

The result was that instead of having two on with one out, the Eagles had a pair of outs and only one runner – a runner left stranded when Justin Carroll hit into a 6-3 groundout in the next at-bat.

I’d have to see a replay to know for sure, but it sure looked to me like the umps got it right the second time around. It’s too bad it had to take the back-and-forth discussions, really, but the good thing was they got it right.

Abilene High fans shouldn’t get down, though, after this one. Like I said, the teams were really pretty evenly matched. The Eagles, actually, might have won if not for a couple of mistakes on the base path. Coach Sanchez believes a lot of the mistakes his team made today were simply a result of youthful over-exuberance, and I’d have to say he’s probably right. Look for those players to learn from this one and be smarter the next time out.

I mentioned a few to look for in my previous post, and I want to do it again with Cooper pitcher Nathan Jekel. He transferred this season to the school and is making an impact quickly. He has good ball control and can work the plate well. He went all eight in the complete-game win, throwing just more than 100 pitches - roughly 60 percent for strikes.

And I know he was on the mound when Cooper won it in the eighth, but Abilene High's Michael Stillwell was pretty impressive in relief. He struck out four of the first six batters he faced and was killing Cooper with his off-speed pitch late in the count.

Posted by · March 20, 2007 11:59 PM · Comments (0)

It’s a bit late, but wanted to add a blog for the day.

I got to take in Cooper/Odessa High baseball today, and both teams looked solid. Cooper probably could have won the game (the Bronchos won, 7-3), but Cooper’s Andrew Jacques had a few pitches get away from him in the fourth, helping OHS to a five-run frame.

That said, the Bronchos are going to win a fair amount of games this season because of their solid hitting. The strike zone was pretty large today, and pitches going outside at the numbers were getting called for Ks. That can be a tough spot to hit, and Jacques was placing the ball pretty well there and around the plate. OHS, though, managed to track a lot of those balls down. The big thing was that not only were the Bronchos making contact, they were driving the ball, getting it past the infield for a solid base hit.

For Cooper, both Jacques and Zach Stewart looked good at the plate, and Kolter Harless was solid at first. Jacques also proved he can hang in a long game, throwing 126 pitches in the loss.

(Odessa's Tito Gavaldon, by the way, was incredibly efficient, throwing 96 total pitches, 66 for strikes. He read the strike zone well early and was constantly getting Cooper to chase his pitches for ground-outs and pop-ups.)

For OHS, there were several standout performances. Catcher Hector Aguilar was a force at the plate with three hits, while three other Bronchos — leadoff Michael Herrerra, cleanup Virgil Mancha, centerfielder Sal Covos and left fielder Daniel Rivas — had a pair of hits. The Bronchos were sharp in the outfield too and had several highlight plays. One to watch this season will be shortstop Hector Aguilar.

Cooper has the pieces to make a nice run, too, but will need to be sure to have a steady performance on the mound through all seven.

I’m looking forward to Tuesday’s crosstown game. It may be a nice early season battle.

Posted by · March 17, 2007 11:17 PM · Comments (0)

While the high schools didn’t take a break entirely during spring break, the schedule has been a little less hectic this week. In the week ahead, though, there will be plenty of events coming up that we’ll be covering in the Reporter-News.

On Sunday I’ll be out at ACU to catch a pair of ACU baseball games. Monday we’ll have coverage of the Abilene High/Midland High boys soccer match, and then on Tuesday I’ll be out covering Abilene High/Cooper baseball. Also on Tuesday, it looks like we’ll have coverage of Abilene High girls soccer.

We’ll get a bit of a break midweek, but then be back outside on Friday to catch Wylie baseball and softball, McMurry baseball and the All-American Classic at ACU. Saturday ACU will host the Oliver Jackson Open, and we’ll also bring you Abilene High/San Angelo Central baseball, Abilene High softball and McMurry baseball.

So it’s gonna be a bit hectic around here this week ... but that really isn’t too different from most weeks in the spring.

Posted by · March 16, 2007 7:42 PM · Comments (0)

Well, I've gone back and forth and back again on some of these picks ... this year just seems to be tougher than it's been for some reason. Some of these I've even changed in the 10 minutes leading up to the tipoff deadline, but I guess I'll have to stick with what I've got.

So here they are. My picks.

Round of 64
Florida over Jackson State
Arizona over Purdue
Old Dominion over Butler
Maryland over Davidson
Notre Dame over Winthrop
Oregon over Miami (OH)
Georgia Tech over UNLV
Texas A&M-CC over Wisconsin (just because I told Tori I would)
Kansas over Niagara
Kentucky over Villanova
VA Tech over Illinois
Southern Ill. over Holy Cross
Duke over VCU
Pitt over Wright State
Gonzaga over Indiana
UCLA over Weber State
UNC over Eastern Kentucky
Michigan State over Marquette
Arkansas over USC
Texas over NM State
Vandy over George Washington
Washington State over Oral Roberts
Texas Tech over Boston College
Georgetown over Belmont
Ohio State over Central Conn.
Xavier over BYU
Tennessee over Long Beach State
Albany over Virginia
Louisville over Stanford
A&M over Penn
Creighton over Nevada
Memphis over North Texas

Round of 32
Florida over Arizona
Maryland over Old Dominion
Oregon over Notre Dame
Georgia Tech over A&M-CC
Kansas over Kentucky
Southern Ill. over VA Tech
Pitt over Duke
UCLA over Gonzaga
UNC over Michigan State
Texas over Arkansas
Washington State over Vandy
Georgetown over Tech
Ohio State over Xavier
Tennessee over Albany
A&M over Louisville
Memphis over Creighton

Sweet 16
Florida over Maryland
Oregon over GA Tech
Kansas over Southern Ill.
UCLA over Pitt
UNC over Texas
Georgetown over Washington State
Tennessee over Ohio State
Texas A&M over Memphis

Elite Eight
Florida over Oregon
Kansas over UCLA
Georgetown over UNC
Tennessee over A&M

Final Four
Kansas over Florida
Georgetown over Tennessee

Championship
Kansas 83, Georgetown 74

Posted by · March 15, 2007 11:26 AM · Comments (0)

There are some great college baseball teams here in Abilene, and right now the best of the three is Abilene Christian University. The Wildcats (19-5) rode a nine-game winning streak into a two-game series against a perennial D-II power, No. 10 Delta State, and have moved up to No. 7 in Collegiate Baseball’s weekly poll.

The Wildcats lost both of their games at Delta State, but will be home to take on Cameron at 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday (the games were moved from Friday/Saturday) in a pair of doubleheaders.

And now we get to the crux of this post ... the stands will be relatively empty. Crutcher Scott is a great place to watch baseball. ACU is, right now, one of the best Division II teams in the country, and the Wildcats seem to be getting better. If you’re a baseball fan — I’m not, to be honest, but I hear they’re out there — get out there and catch a game or two.

There is a small but vocal group of fans that shows up regularly at Crutcher Scott but, as good as these young men are, it should be larger. Another reason there should be a larger attendance figure is the simple fact that, thanks to MasterScapes, there is no cost to attend an ACU baseball game. MasterScapes has covered gate fees for several years at ACU, meaning family friendly weekend entertainment is available 100 percent free.

It's spring break, so many of the students won’t start filing back into the dorms until Sunday afternoon. There ought to be plenty of seats available. Grab one — or two — and treat yourself to a great afternoon.

(Or two).

* If you’d like to get involved with ACU baseball or the 9th Scholarship Fund, get in touch with “fan extraordinaire” Cathy Haught at cathyhaught@mac.com.

Posted by · March 14, 2007 11:59 PM · Comments (0)

Okay, so it’s not exactly local, but there is obviously a big basketball tournament coming up and I thought I’d set up a contest for everyone out there.

Just jaunt over to tournament.fantasysports.yahoo.com and join private group 137918. The password to enter the pool is Troy. But you've gotta get your picks in before the first tipoff Thursday morning. Yahoo makes it pretty simple to fill out a bracket, and it will take you only minutes – unless you’re like Tori. She’s a part-timer here who does a lot for us in the evenings. She tries to go into research mode around this time of year and is stressing now after doing so well last year. She has filled out so many versions of her bracket that I think she might have had Niagara winning it all in one of them.

(Seriously, I don’t think she went that far ... but she did have Xavier beating Ohio State ... and, yes, Tori, I’ve picked Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to stun Wisconsin, so I guess we all have completely baseless upset picks.)

This year’s bracket, though, seems to be tougher than in the past. I’ve been able to run through the thing most years, and have done pretty well – last year I even took the office pool, though I squeaked past Jacob thanks to a first-round upset by Montana.

The team giving me the most trouble is Notre Dame. I love my Irish, and they’ve had a great year. But losing depth early in the season kind of turned them into a live-by-the-3 team down the stretch, which worries me. If the trey isn’t falling, they’re going to be in trouble. Then again, if it is, they could make a run and go deep. The biggest problem, though, is that by changing just one team – especially in that bracket, I think – it gives you a domino effect and can change the rest of the thing completely.

But I’ll take my best shot – replete with so many lower-seed wins that I’ll likely see my bracket busted this year before the first weekend is through. But please join me ... I know the blog is new, but winding up in a pool all by myself would just be sad.

Posted by · March 13, 2007 11:57 AM · Comments (0)

Michelle Morris has asked me to get the word out about the upcoming District 3-5A gymnastics meet, and so I’m going to do just that.

Gymnastics is one of those sports that doesn’t get a lot of love in the media, and that’s really only because sports departments — at both newspapers and TV stations — play the numbers game. We have pretty limited resources and we work to fit 60 hours into 40 every week. So when it comes down to it, we have to base much of our coverage on what we feel more people care about. Unfortunately, that leaves many of the so-called second-tier sports feeling a bit left out.

That’s certainly not our intention, and we want to provide the best coverage we can for every sport at every school.

With all that said, however, let me just say that while it may not have a major fan base, gymnastic meets are great events. Covering a meet is a bit like trying to cover a three-ring circus with so many events taking place simultaneously, but that’s sort of what makes them so fun to watch.

These kids are some of the most athletic you’ll see, and the things they can do are impressive to say the least. And if you’ve got nothing else going on during the district meet, it would be worth the trip.

Both Abilene High and Cooper will have a boys and girls team competing at the 3-5A meet, taking place March 29-30 at Abilene High. Also competing will be Odessa High, Permian and San Angelo Central. Things will get started at 4 p.m. on March 29 (Thursday) and noon on the 30th. The teams will be fighting for a place in the regional meet April 10-11 in Odessa. The state meet will be May 3-5 in San Angelo.

I know there are gymnastics fans out there, so let me know what you think Abilene's chances are for regionals and state ... and if you have any photos from the meet you'd like to share, send them to me at shockleyt@reporternews.com and I'll get them up here on the blog.

Posted by · March 12, 2007 11:59 PM · Comments (0)

Welcome to Game Day.

You may have been here before, but we’re going through a bit of a reinvention. As of today, Game Day is no longer merely an occasional Cooper High School football in-game blog. Instead, it will be used to talk about everything Abilene when it comes to the world of high school and college sports.

The spring season is loaded here in Abilene. Right now at the Reporter-News we’re working to cover baseball, softball, track and field, golf, soccer, gymnastics and powerlifting, with most of those sports taking place at all three universities and four high schools. In fact, basketball just finished this weekend with Wylie’s loss in the 3A boys state championship game.

I’ll do my best to let you know what’s going on and what’s coming up and, with any luck, there will be daily rumination, meditation and cogitation — but I need your help. With so much going on there certainly won’t be a lack of topics for me to discuss, but there’s no way I will know everything going on around town.

So leave me some feedback. Comment. Let me know what’s going on. That doesn’t seem to happen often on our Web site for whatever reason, but I would love for this to become a hub of sorts for online chat about Abilene sports. Ask me what I know or tell me what I should know. Say something. This is your forum as much as it is mine.

Thanks for stopping in … hope to hear from you soon.

Posted by · March 12, 2007 2:00 PM · Comments (0)