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Aaron Robinson of Benton in total control of his opponent Nick Milanos of Hillsboro in the 3rd place match of Class 1A 140 lbs.

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Illinois Wrestlers Shine at State Meet

March 2010 • Vol. 3 No. 8

2 l march 2010 l

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Publisher/Editor Jim Muir

Account Executive Cheryl Hughey

PhotographersChristopher KaysCeasar Maragni

Contributing WritersTeri CampbellJohn D. HomanRoger LipeCeasar MaragniSherry MetzgerMario Moccia Jim MuirMike MurphyJoe Szynkowski Nathan WheelerTom Wheeler

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For more information regarding Southern Illinois Sports Connection call Jim at 618-525-4744. For advertising information, call Cheryl at 618-353-8515.

l march 2010 l 5

The LineUp

Murf’s Turf...............................34

Ask the AD..............................28

JALC Journal...........................12

In Focus...................................37

Faith on the Field....................15

Publisher’s Greeting..................6

Ask the Coach...........................10

Ask the McDocs......................41

Around the Horn .....................9

RLC Report.............................16 20

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6 l march 2010 l

Publisher’s

greeting

G reetings and welcome to the March issue of Southern Illinois Sports Connection.

This month will bring us another transition time here at SISC as we get set to move from the hard court to spring sports that include track, baseball and softball. And of course before we start checking track times and reporting on the top baseball and softball players in Southern Illinois next month we’ll also close the book on another remarkable basketball season here in the region – yet another year when com-munities throughout the state are gripped by March Madness.

While I take care of a variety of jobs here at SISC one of my main roles is that of ‘fan.’ In short, I love SISC and I love the Southern Illinois sports’ scene. It should be noted that this is not a passing fancy love affair it’s one that has gone on for decades and decades. And along with being a fan I consider myself somewhat of an historian. I often tell the story, usually poking a little fun at myself at the same time, that I sometimes can’t remember what I had for dinner the night before but I can remember the scores of basket-ball games from the 1960s.

And it’s that love affair that makes me enjoy stories like the ones that often appear here in SISC – stories that take us all on a little trek down memory lane.

This month’s SISC features one of those stories that recalls the remarkable career of Keil Peebles, with-out question one of the greatest high school basketball players that ever laced up a pair of sneakers here in Southern Illinois. I think you will enjoy the story on Peebles, written by monthly SISC contributor Tom Wheeler, who in my opinion holds the distinction of being “THE” all-time Southern Illinois sports historian.

And along with the story about Peebles we also run the gamut this month covering stories on tennis, bas-ketball and major league baseball. Heck, this month we even have a story on mixed martial arts. Without question, it’s a true smorgasbord edition, with a little something for all sports fans to nibble on. So without further rambling on my part, latch on to your favorite sports nourishment in this month’s magazine and en-joy.

As always, thanks to our faithful advertisers and also to our wonderful monthly readers – all the best to you and God Bless!

All the best and God Bless!

Jim MuirPublisher, SISC

l march 2010 l 7

8 l march 2010 l

l march 2010 l 9

Around the

hornBy Sean Patrick

If Philadelphia is the City of Brotherly Love, don’t expect the McGwire boys to be setting up

residence there anytime soon. After a one month hiatus for me, there’s a lot to talk about, and the McGwire saga is number one on the list.

The story and photographs about Mark and Jay McGwire are amaz-ing. If Mark says he didn’t take steroids and HGH to avoid injury, not to look like a bodybuilder, then he must have been referring to the picture I saw of him and his brother side by side with Mark flexing a bicep and his “I look like I spent a week laying on the sun with a constant drip of dianobol in my arm” brother in his speedo-clad body-builder pose. If that photograph is any indication, then Mark was actu-ally telling the truth about that one.

Let me leave you with this thought: would Bug Selig embrace a staff with Rafael Palmiero as the manager, Mark McGwire as the hitting coach, Roger Clemens as the pitching coach, Barry Bonds coaching first, Sammy Sosa coach-ing third, and Javier Lopez in the bullpen? If it is OK for one how about the rest? It could happen, but probably in California.

Here are a few final thoughts about this year’s basketball season. For the few hundred people who made it out to a Logan men’s bas-ketball game this year, way to go!

In terms of record and performance, they were the college team to watch in this area. Everybody talks about the future, but the present is just as important. I’ve seen what the future can look like with the SIU women’s team this year, and I hope the predictions are true.

Congrats to all the local high school teams regardless of record. Prep players make the commitment and sacrifice the time to represent their school and community. Win or lose, extra-curricular involvement at the high school level is very important for anyone, athlete or not. For no pay and no reward beside the lessons learned through making a commitment to something, teenagers who participate, and possibly excel, deserve our applause.

As much fun as I had traveling around with the Terriers and the Salukis this year, I’ve had March 1 circled on my calendar since last spring. That’s the first day of official practice for area baseball and softball teams. I’m excited about my second year coaching at the prep level. Now let’s keep our fingers crossed for some dry weather and sunny skies.

There’s more live baseball and softball around Southern Illinois this year than ever before. Budget problems are forcing local collegiate teams to stick around here and bundle up a little more this year than head South in search of warmer climates. Get out to a game. I think the only team that charges admission in the entire area is the SIU softball team, and paying a few bucks to see them play is well worth the price. High school squads will be cranking things up at your local ballpark by mid-March. Take advantage of the opportunity to make out to a game or two this spring. Besides baseball and softball, don’t forget about track and field either.

Looking at the calendar of events for the month of March and April, the first Cardinal game on the radio this year is March 6. The first television game is March 13. Opening Day is April 5 and the home opener is April 12. It is here. As Thin Lizzy sang, “The boys are back in town.” The next big day on the schedule is May 28 – the first Cards/Cubs matchup of the year. A 1:20 p.m. start at Wrigley Field. I have class that afternoon, but I think I already feel a cough coming on.

I got choked up watching the MLB network the other day when Jack Buck was named the fourth best broadcaster of all-time on Prime 9. As he said so many times: thanks for your time, this time, until next time, so long … when we go Around the Horn.

10 l march 2010 l

Sesser-Valier’s Brian Gibson: Coach Gibson has coached foot-ball at SVWW for 16 years after a two-year stint at Pana. He has also coached baseball (eight years at Waltonville) and Sesser-Valier Jr. high baseball for four years (this years seniors was state cham-pions in 2006 and third in 2008.) After coaching S-V Jr. High girls for two years he moved up to the varsity girls the past two years and won the Black Diamond Confer-ence West both years (18-8) this year.

Coach Gibson says “I have been fortunate in my years of coaching that I have had a bunch of great athletes that have played for me. Actually, there is not as much dif-ference in coaching girls that peo-ple may say. There are differences in their physical ability. Boys, for the most part are stronger, can run faster, and jump higher but it’s all relative to the competition

that you play. It’s not like our boys’ team can play above the rim while the other team can’t. I think many people have the misconception that girls are more emotional and aren’t committed to winning. I have not seen this in my time coaching the girls. My players this year was so focused on getting better each and every day that we never had a bad practice. We made bad plays, but not because of a lack of effort.”

“One difference is that a lot of sports seem to come more natu-rally to boys. Boys are more likely to make a play just by using their athletic ability. Girls, on the other hand, are more successful when they play with the proper funda-mentals. It’s a lot of fun to see players develop by doing things the correct way. Both boys and girls play with maximum effort. There are people who have never watched a girl’s basketball game and then when they finally come

they can’t believe how hard they play. If you try to compare the two, you are mistaken. Boy’s basket-ball and girls’ basketballs are two different things. The girls’ game is more of an old school fundamen-tal, play as a team sport, while many times in boys’ basketball a team can make “highlight film” plays but commit many more fun-damental mistakes. Also the boys’ game is so much faster.”

Carterville High School’s Todd Rogers: Coach Rogers is in his seventh year as varsity girls basketball coach in Lion country while also serving as the schools athletic director and assistant prin-cipal at the high school. At Oblong High school Todd coached the boys in basketball, baseball and golf; he was also the Lions boys’ golf coach one year. His father was a long time junior high basket-ball coach in Robinson and Todd

l march 2010 l 11

grew up in a gym with his Dad. In his seven years as girls coach in Carterville he has won the Black Diamond conference four times.

“First of all, I will say that I have been very blessed to have great, hard working kids in every-thing I have coached,” Rogers said. “I have always had kids who work hard, do well in school and do not cause any discipline issues. I have also had the opportunity to coach several talented kids.”

“The first thing I would say about coaching boys and girls is that I made an effort to coach all kids regardless of their gender as athletes. I still say I coach basketball, not girls’ basketball. One big dif-ference is crowd size. As a girls coach there are many times that everyone in the gym can hear what I have to say. That does not seem to be the case in boys’ basketball games. It’s my opinion that girls have an easier time handling emotions of a game. In my experience as a coach and athletic director, I have seen a lot of both boys and girls basketball games, and I see more situations in boys games where emotions get the best of players.”

“Over the time of my coaching experience, girls’ basketball has continued to become more com-petitive and physical to the point that it is difficult to really see any differences other than physical differences. There are really not many differences. They are all high school kids.”

Carmi White County’s Eric Dixon: Coach Dixon followed in the footsteps of his father the legendary Don Dixon, at Carmi in girl’s basketball. Coach Dixon was boy’s track (97-99) and is cur-rently boys and girls cross country coach (his girls won two conference championships) while the past nine years in girls basketball he has won five regional championships and three conference titles.

Coach Dixon says “There is no difference, you approach the sport the same. The fundamentals, shooting, defense, boxing out, all the same. Know-ing the difference in each athlete and how they handle situations are the same.”

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JALCJournal

By Teri Campbell

The John A. Logan College men’s basketball team is having a banner year.

The Volunteers, who are ranked No. 13 in the nation, went un-defeated through January and lost only twice in Feb-ruary, setting a school record for consecutive wins with 15. They fin-ished the regular season with a record of 23-6, claiming the Great Rivers Athletic Conference title with a league mark of 14-2.

Mark Imhoff, head coach of the Volun-teers, became Logan’s winningest men’s bas-ketball coach this season, sur-passing Tom Ashman’s mark of 295 career victories. Imhoff says experience was key to the team’s success.

“It certainly helps to have eight sophomores on the squad,” Im-hoff said. “These guys had a lot of playing time and game experience under their belts, and that helped prepare them for the league race. Our depth has also been a factor. This is probably the most depth I’ve had on a team in my 15 years

Volunteers Win Conference Championshipas head coach.”

The Vols’ achievement wasn’t totally unexpected.

“These players had s u b -

stantial success last year so we were looking for good things from them,” Im-hoff said. “I think the success they had as freshmen probably served as a driving force, moti-vating them to work hard to try to accomplish what they have this season. They did a heck of a job in January and February, stringing together a bunch of wins in a very tough league.”

Behind the talented sopho-more trio of Jesse Perry, Laz-eric Jones, and Kenny Harris

and a solid supporting cast, Lo-gan scored over 82

points per game in conference play. Perry, a 6-foot-8 forward from St. Louis, averaged a double-double with 17 points and nearly 11 rebounds per game. Jones, the Vols’ point guard from Chicago, averaged 14.7 points while dishing out a team-best 4.8 assists per tilt. St. Louis native Harris, a 6-foot-6 forward, added 12.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game.

Perry believes hard work con-tributed to winning the champion-ship.

“We put in a lot of time and ef-fort in the classroom and the gym

l march 2010 l 13

and it paid off,” Perry said. “It all starts in practice. We work really hard in practice. We’re very competitive and every day we push each other to get better. We have a lot of tough guys on this team with a ‘can’t lose’ attitude, and I think that’s why we’ve been able to win so many games.”

With the regular season wrapped up, the Vols’ fo-cus has turned to postseason play and the Region 24 Tournament.

“It’s great to be conference champs. That was one of our goals, but now it’s a brand new season,” Imhoff said. “Our next goal is to win the tournament. There’s a lot of parity in this league, and we know we’ll have to take it one game at a time.”

Perry shares his coach’s high expectations for the postseason.

“We want to win the tournament so we can go to nationals,” Perry said. “That’s the ultimate goal. We’re going to work hard so we can be both conference and region champs.”

For more information on Logan basketball, visit the JALC athletics web site at: www.jalc.edu/athletics.

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l march 2010 l 15

From the moment I heard that state-ment in April of 2007, it has served as a glaring spotlight into the deepest recesses of my soul. It was spoken by my friend and colleague in sports chaplaincy, John Ashley Null, in sum-mary of the 16th Century Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer’s writings. Ashley has been translating Cranmer’s work from Medieval Latin shorthand into contemporary English.

This statement has helped me an-alyze and evaluate my heart’s affec-tions, wise and foolish. It has encour-aged me when I have wisely chosen actions and attitudes which are reflec-tive of a pure heart and loving mo-tives. It has also served as the Lord’s piercing arrow of conviction when my behavior has been driven by a heart sullied by selfishness and folly.

We in the Evangelical Sports Min-istry community have been woefully silent about many issues which shape the world of sport. Let’s purpose to-gether to lovingly embrace the world of sport and to thereby transform it by living out the truth of Scripture in our daily activities, relationships and deci-sion making in that world. It is far too easy to stand outside sport and to be critical of its ethics. It is too convenient for us to stand beside sport and to toss Christian clichés at it. It is too an-tiseptic for us to dabble in the culture of sport and to somehow pretend that if we deny what we see, that we’re not responsible for it. It requires little

Faith on theField

By Roger Lipe

thought and less personal introspec-tion to pretend that we have fulfilled our mission by using the world of sport as a platform for a slick presentation of a Gospel message while we close our eyes to the practices and values of the sports world and don’t even at-tempt to be agents of godly reforma-tion within it.

Over the next several weeks, I’ll use Dr. Null’s statement as a micro-scope with which to examine some of the issues in the sports world and I will attempt to bring a Christ-honoring perspective to these issues. I would welcome your comments, questions or additions to the list of issues to be addressed. I will not presume to have the definitive answer to any of the is-sues, but I will be pleased to begin the discussion. We have been silent and benign for too long. We will certainly also apply scripture to this discussion because of its enduring, penetrating power to discern our hearts’ intentions and attitudes. “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

The issues to be discussed in-clude:

• Performance enhancing drugs – how some Christian athletes justify their use.

• Integrity re: contractual obliga-tions – who is obligated by the contract?

• Respect for opponents, game officials and others in sport – how to restore it in the era of trash talk?

• Racism in sport – how shall the Community of Christ ad-dress this issue?

• Pride and its effects upon sport culture – where has

humility hidden itself?• The “win at all costs” sports

ethic – how do we counter this with Christ-honoring values?

• Abuse of players – how do we respond when we encounter the abuse of players?

• Class division in sport – who are the elite and how do they take advantage of others?

• Cheating in sport – is it only cheating when you get caught?

More on John Ashley Null - Dr.

Null, an orthodox, Protestant Anglican and adherent of historic, Reforma-tional Theology, is canon theologian for the Episcopal Diocese of Western Kansas, visiting fellow at Cambridge, visiting research fellow at Humboldt-Universitat in Berlin, and recent re-cipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. He received his MDiv from Yale Di-vinity School and a PhD from Cam-bridge. As one of the world’s foremost experts on Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556), Dr. Null is a well-known speaker and writer. He also has a long history as a chaplain to elite athletes, serving as the resi-dent Protestant Chaplain in the Olym-pic Village during the Athens 2004 Games and many other major sport-ing events. He is also the author of Thomas Cranmer’s Doctrine of Re-pentance — Renewing the Power to Love.

“What the heart loves, the will chooses and the mind justifies.”

16 l march 2010 l

We are at that busy time of the year when many of our

sports at Rend Lake College overlap as some seasons come to a close while others are just getting started. Here’s an up-date on what’s going on.

Women’s Basketball: Coach Ashley Allen and crew are coming off a two-game win-ning streak as they head into their final game of the season at Lake Land. At 16-12 overall and 9-5 for second place in the Great Rivers Athletic Confer-ence standings, the Lady War-riors are in good position to host in the first round of the Region XXIV tournament.

Men’s Basketball: The War-riors likely clinched home court advantage in the first round of the Region XXIV Tourna-ment with an action-packed 96-94 overtime win, Homecom-ing night, against Olney Cen-tral College. The Warriors are led by Head Coach Tim Wills, sophomore guards Jimmy Abraham (14 ppg) and Reggie Reed (12 ppg), and sophomore forward EJ Randolph (12 ppg). The team still has Lake Land to play to wrap up the regular season.

Wrestling: Led by sopho-

RLC Report

By Nathan Wheeler

more All-American Eric Ellington, five Rend Lake College wrestlers qualified at the Midwest Region for a spot at the NJCAA National Championships, Feb. 25. It is the most national qualifiers RLC has had in four seasons of wrestling at the college. Ellington outdid his billing by becoming a back-to-back Midwest region champion at 133 pounds - the toughest weight class there with five competitors ranked in the top 10. Coaches at the tournament honored Ellington by voting him “Most Outstanding Wrestler of the Tournament.” The 19-year-old from Fairview Heights, Ill., went 3-0, beating his opponent in the opening round 7-3, 9-3 in the semifinals and winning the championship 2-1.

The four freshmen who quali-fied for RLC are Jared Ernst (Ma-homet, Ill.) at 141, Mitch Alberstett (Davis, Ill.) at 187, John Jones (West Frankfort) at 197 and Jon Clark (Jeffersonville, Ind.).Coach Kevin Tate is in his fourth season as wrestling coach at RLC. As-sistant Coach JC Gaunt is in his first season. Tate has coached three NJCAA All-Americans in El-lington, Matt “Bubba” McLaughlin and Aaron Jones. McLaughlin is now wrestling at the University of Wyoming and Jones wrestles at Northwestern University.

Men’s and Women’s Track and Field: Rend Lake College could be the favorite to win the

men’s indoor junior college track and field national championship, March 5 and 6, at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Ill. The Lady Warriors will also be in the mix for its spot on the podium. The last time RLC competed for an indoor national title at EIU was the 2008 season when Rend Lake brought home both the men’s and women’s titles.

While there is no official team ranking through the NJCAA, RLC men are tied with Iowa Central for the most top-ranked qualifiers of any team going into the champion-ship meet, according to Direct Ath-letics (www.directathletics.com).

“I believe it’s us and Iowa Cen-tral,” said RLC coach Eric Alberter. “That’s who you’ll want to look for.”

Based on Direct Athletics’ per-formance lists, it looks as though South Plains CC and New Mexico JC will be the teams to beat for the women’s national championship. Others are Iowa Central and RLC. Lady Warriors track and field is the only women’s program at RLC to have won a national champion-ship.

Four RLC athletes currently ranked #1 in their events are Stephen Sambu in the 3,000m (8:08.03) and 5k (13:51.59), James Grantham in the mile run (4:09.32), Michael Hartfield in the long jump (24-07.75) and Julia Sambu in the 5k (17:41.71) and 3k (10:19.43). Overall, 26 student-

Sports Update

l march 2010 l 17

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athletes from RLC have qualified to compete at the indoor championships.

Baseball: It may not feel like it outside, but base-ball season is here. Rend Lake College kicked off its spring 2010 baseball campaign with a trip to Mississippi, Feb. 19-20. Coach Tony Etnier and crew drove the four hours and finished with four losses and no wins to Northwest Mississippi and Meridian, but at least it was sunny. Great Rivers Athletic Conference games will begin March 18 with Olney Central.

The Warriors finished the fall at 8-2-2 and Etnier is excited about his lineup and what is to come this spring. The young team finished 15-30 last season – a lackluster follow-up to a Region XXIV Cham-pionship in 2008. Newcomers to the Spring lineup include Justin Marcotte of New Hampshire and freshman pitcher Nathan Dorris (Marion, Ill.) who has been listed by Baseball America among the early top-10 Major League Draft prospects from junior colleges across the U.S.

Tennis: The team and Coach Dave Junkins will kick off its six Spring matches March 26 with a trip to the Greenville Invitational. In the fall, freshman Lindsey Waters became the first signed women’s tennis player at Lindenwood University’s campus in Belleville.

Softball: Coach Dave Ellingsworth and crew will return to the diamond for their Spring campaign. It all starts March 1 with a home opener against Florissant Valley. Ellingsworth welcomes back 11 sophomores and seven freshmen.

Men’s Golf: Coach Dave Smith and the Warriors golf team will get into the swing of things March 18 with the Goose Pond Colony tournament. Five out-ings later, the team will be competing in the Region XXIV Tournament (May 2-3) for its chance to go to the national championships. Last year, sophomore Leroy David Griffin became RLC’s first-ever national golf champion.

Women’s Golf: Ranked fourth in the nation, Cindy Corn’s Lady Warriors will be looking to continue its success in the fall when it set two new records at the college. With the addition of Jessica Pigati of Indiana, the team should be in great shape to make a good run for nationals this year. Their Spring season starts March 5 with The Shootout at Aguila.

For complete schedules, rosters and results from athletics at RLC, visit the college online at www.rlc.edu/warriors.

18 l march 2010 l

Story and Photos by Ceasar Maragni

It’s been a long, long time since Richard Kelley of Car-bondale has seen one of his childhood heroes, Marty Marion, 63 years to be exact. That all changed on a

recent Saturday in downtown Marion when Fox Sports Cards hosted an autograph signing appearance for one current and five former St. Louis Cardinals baseball players.

Kelley, who along with son Mike, operates the famous Gi-ant City Lodge Restaurant in Makanda, says that he’ll never forget the 1946 Cardinals Red Sox World Series. He said “My dad was a big Cardinals fan and when I was 12 years old he managed to get two tickets to the 1946 World Series at Sportsman’s Park. A produce salesman got tickets for us and a room at the Mayflower Hotel. I’ll never forget it. Marty Marion was one of my favorites from that era. I haven’t seen him since.” Kelley was going to have Marion autograph his program and ticket stub from that World Series.

Kelley wasn’t the only longtime fan there to see former

REDBIRDS PAST AND PRESENT VISIT MARION

Eleven year old Peyton Overturf of West Frankfort seemed pretty happy to have his picture taken with St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Brendan Ryan.

Richard Kelley of Carbondale with his origi-nal ticket stub from the 1946 World Series held in Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis.

Former Cardinals shortstop Marty Marion autographed this large helmet for Kevin Meyers of Warrenton, Missouri.

Former Cardinals seated from left to right were John Costello, Glenn Brummer, Ken Reitz, George Altman and Marty Marion.

Marty Marion’s World Series ring.

l march 2010 l 19

REDBIRDS PAST AND PRESENT VISIT MARIONCardinals Marty Marion, George Altman, Ken Reitz, Glenn Brummer, John Costello and current Redbird shortstop Brendan Ryan. Retired educator and longtime area bas-ketball and football official Ken Hungate of Benton was there. So was Carbondale bookstore owner Carl Rexroad. So was former Cairo Mayor Jim Wilson. As he stood in line, Wilson was sporting a stunning red leather Cardinals jacket. He added, “I drove all the way from Cairo to get Marty Marion to autograph my coat. As a boy, I saw him and other Cardinals during spring training in Cairo.” The St. Louis ball club held spring training there for just one year, in the mid 1940’s. Oddly enough their number of games in River City were cut short by the wrath of the Ohio and Mis-sissippi Rivers. It turns out that it was a wet spring that year and the Cardinals soon found their playing field under four feet of water that had seeped over the levees there. Sadly for Cairo baseball fans, the team had to return to St. Louis and finish spring training at Sportsman’s Park.

Cardinals shortstop Brendan Ryan, left, and former Cardinals pitcher John Costello were kept busy signing at the event.

Some autograph seekers had even carefully marked exactly where they wanted the ballplay-ers to sign their items.

Former St. Louis Cardinal Glenn Brummer, center, can’t contain his laugh in reaction to comments by former Redbird Ken Reitz.

20 l march 2010 l

The Southern Illinois District of USTA is looking forward to continued success in the region

By Sherry Metzger

I am sure most of you, by now, are ready for warm summer days. I am especially excited for the sum-mer season to arrive — in order to play tennis. I have played many sports in my life, but for me, ten-nis has been the most fulfilling and rewarding one.

Many of you may not be aware of the physical, mental, and emo-tional benefits tennis can provide. Studies have shown tennis to be the most healthful activity for an in-dividual to participate in. Besides providing great exercise, tennis also improves the immune system and develops social skills. Tennis is a sport that can be played late in an individual’s life. I know many people who are still playing tennis at sixty and seventy years of age.

l march 2010 l 21

Tennis provides an opportunity for both individual and team success. I have met many new people and have developed lifelong friendships from my participation in tennis.

One of the great things about tennis is the fact that it does not require spending a lot of money to play. As long as you have a racquet, shoes, and tennis balls; you are ready to conquer the court — and there are many avail-able courts to facilitate a match.

Southern Illinois District players have experienced many tennis accomplishments throughout the years. A USTA League Women’s 3.5 team and a USTA League

Men’s 3.5 team both advanced to the USTA League National Championships in 1986 and 1987 respec-tively. In recent years, both men and women’s teams have advanced from the local league to state competition. On the junior side, our USTA Jr. Team Tennis program has been a leader of the Midwest Section in membership (participation figures rela-tive to USTA membership) for many years. Tennis has expanded in our local area resulting in many high school teams and several accomplished col-lege teams. Let’s keep moving forward and develop a USTA League for adult participation.

Now, you are saying, I would love to play, but I do not have anyone to play against. Well, that is where I come into action. I am the Southern Illinois Dis-trict USTA (United States Tennis Association) Adult League Coordinator. I am currently forming adult teams and encourage everyone interested to sign up. The only eligibility requirements are to be eigh-teen years of age (by the end of 2010) and a USTA member (annual membership fee of $42). Whether you are new to the game or a former player there is a spot on a team for you!

There are many levels and divisions of USTA League tennis (men’s, women’s, combo, tri-level, mixed, and seniors) that are available. Matches in Southern Illinois will begin in late spring and end in late fall. Now is the time to plan and prepare to play, so that when the sun is out and the snow has melted, you are out on the tennis court doing what you love to do – playing tennis!

Since becoming the league coordinator in Janu-ary, I have been contacted by numerous tennis players throughout the Southern District. Their en-thusiasm to rebuild the USTA League program has motivated me to reach as many people as possible to accomplish this task. I want tennis to come to the forefront of sporting activities in Southern Illinois. I know with your help, we can be successful.

See you out on the courts!

(Sherry (Anderson) Metzger is a Benton native and is coordinator of Southern Illinois District USTA (United States Tennis Association) Adult League. Anybody wanting more information about USTA can contact Metzger at sitennnisace@yahoo.com.

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l march 2010 l 23

Photos and story by Ceasar Maragni

This year’s annual Southern Illinois Boat and Fishing Show held at the Williamson County Pavilion was a big

hit once again with area boaters and fisher-men. With free admission and a wide array of vendors offering glimpses of the latest and greatest gear and gadgets for area anglers, the show seemed to help ease the pain of those suffering withdrawal symptoms while awaiting the spring thaw.

For many of the attendees like Jeff Davis from the village of Texico, located north of Mt. Vernon in Jefferson County, it was an event he had been looking forward to. He said, “I’m strictly a bass fisherman. I fish all around here. I fish Rend Lake, Miller Lake, Newton Lake and Lake of Egypt. This show is awe-some!”

Some, like Jack Yates of Harrisburg, it also offered a chance to learn more about a new type of fishing he was getting interested in. Yates explained, “I normally fish for crappie and bass, but I’m really getting interested in what they call drifting for catfish. Channel cat is really good eating.”

The Southern Illinois Boat and Fishing Show has become a popular event at the Wil-liamson County Pavilion, but had to be can-celled last year when an ice storm caused serious damage to the roof at the facility. It was rather obvious that vendors and guests were happy to see it return this winter. Pro-fessional fisherman Tony Lane of Alton said, “I love this show. There’s plenty to do around Marion and this location is easy to get to.”

BOAT AND FISHING SHOW DRAWS A BIG CROWD TO MARION

Jeff Davis of Texico scoops up a vari-ety of plastic worms to purchase at the annual Southern Illinois Boat and Fish-ing Show.

A visitor at the Boat and Fishing Show eyes the sticker on a $47,000. Ranger bass boat. After a quick glance, he smiled then moved along. Just as well, because the boat sold the first day of the event.

Rend Lake Marina owner/opera-tor Steve Vercellino, left, answers a question about the 18 foot 8 inch Ranger bass boat for Jerry Pritchett, right, of Marion.

Pontoon boats were on display at the show.

An orange salamander plastic bait.

Jack Yates, left, of Harrisburg shops for a new fishing rod with the help of professional angler Tony Lane of Alton.

24 l march 2010 l

Southern Illinois wrestlers completed a standout year with a great showing at the IHSA state individual wrestling tourna-ment held Feb. 21 at Assembly Hall in Champaign.

Seniors Aaron Robinson, of Benton and Jake Miller from Murphys-boro took third place, completing sterling careers at their respective schools.

Robinson finished the year with a 34-4 record and was ranked second in the state throughout the season at 140 pounds. Robinson faced eventual champion Guy Kirby from Gibson City in the semifi-nals and dropped a 6-0 decision. In the wrestle-backs competition, Robinson pinned Nick Milanos from Hillsboro with 39 seconds left in the first period to grab a third-place finish.

Miller, of Murphysboro, pinned fifth-ranked Elliott McClure of Gib-son City to finish in third place. Miller’s victory marked three straight years that he finished third.

Also in Class 1A, junior Tanner Crum, of Mount Carmel, finished third, beating Matt Hugenburg from Quincy Notre Dame.

In Class 2A Carbondale sophomore Zane Richards finished sec-ond at 125 and senior Prentice Thomas took third at 119. Also Mount Vernon sophomore Blake Stricklin finished third at 135.

Southern Illinois Wrestlers Shine at State Meet

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Southern Illinois wrestlers completed a standout year with a great showing at the IHSA state individual wrestling tourna-ment held Feb. 21 at Assembly Hall in Champaign.

Seniors Aaron Robinson, of Benton and Jake Miller from Murphys-boro took third place, completing sterling careers at their respective schools.

Robinson finished the year with a 34-4 record and was ranked second in the state throughout the season at 140 pounds. Robinson faced eventual champion Guy Kirby from Gibson City in the semifi-nals and dropped a 6-0 decision. In the wrestle-backs competition, Robinson pinned Nick Milanos from Hillsboro with 39 seconds left in the first period to grab a third-place finish.

Miller, of Murphysboro, pinned fifth-ranked Elliott McClure of Gib-son City to finish in third place. Miller’s victory marked three straight years that he finished third.

Also in Class 1A, junior Tanner Crum, of Mount Carmel, finished third, beating Matt Hugenburg from Quincy Notre Dame.

In Class 2A Carbondale sophomore Zane Richards finished sec-ond at 125 and senior Prentice Thomas took third at 119. Also Mount Vernon sophomore Blake Stricklin finished third at 135.

Southern Illinois Wrestlers Shine at State Meet

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81. Zane Richards of Carbondale is tied up by Christ Divito of Lombard (Montini) during the Class 2A 125 lbs. semi-finals. Richards won his semi-final and went on to earn second place.

2. Zane Richards of Carbondale man handles his opponent in the Class 2A 125 lbs. semi-finals, Christ Divito of Lombard (Montini).

3. Mt. Vernon’s Blake Stricklin sizes up his opponent in the 3rd place match of Class 2A 135 lbs.

4. Aaron Robinson of Benton sizes up his opponent Guy Kirby in the Class 1A 140 lbs. semi-finals. Robinson would fall to the eventual state champion Kirby, 6-0.

5. Prentice Thomas of Carbondale ties up Clayton Bass from Yorkville during the 3rd place match in Class 2A 119 lbs.

6. Aaron Robinson of Benton grapples Buddy Daly of To-lono in the Class 1A, 140 lbs. wrestle-backs.

7. Benton coaches Neil Wilson and Duane Bean watch on during Aaron Robinson’s semi-final match.

8. Kyle Boarders of Herrin picks up Luke Standley of Peters-burg (PORTA) in the Class 1A 130 lbs. wrestle-backs.

9. Prentice Thomas of Carbondale has his hand raised after his 3rd place victory.

10. The Murphysboro coaching staff looks onward during Jake Miller’s 3rd place match.

Photos by Christopher Kays

26 l march 2010 l

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15 11. Marshall Anderson of Herrin tries to grapple Colby Dolliger of Kankakee (McNamara) during the consolation semi-finals of Class 1A 150 lbs.

12. Jake Miller of Murphysboro sizes up his opponent during the 3rd place match of Class 1A 145 lbs.

13. Tyler Rice of Pinckneyville tries to get loose during his consolation semi-final.

14. Prentice Thomas of Carbondale ties up Clayton Bass from Yorkville during the 3rd place match in Class 2A 119 lbs.

15. Jake Miller dominates his opponent Elliott McClure of Gibson City (G.C. Melvin-Sibley) during the 3rd place match of 145 lbs.

2010 State Wrestling Meet

28 l march 2010 l

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Ask the AD

By Mario Moccia

With the “Surf Turf” at Boise State and talk of Eastern Wash-ington installing a red turf to their new football stadium, has there been any discussion about SIU installing a multi-colored turf our new football stadium?

We have never considered going to a Maroon turf at the new football stadium, but did look at some differ-ent turf options before deciding on a traditional green turf (one of the ver-sions we didn’t select had alternating lighter and darker shades of green every five yards). We did decide to make the end zones Maroon, which I think will add some color and pop to the new field.

Why was a women’s basketball game scheduled on the same day as Super Bowl Sunday?

I asked Missouri Valley Confer-ence Senior Associate Commission-er Patty Viverito this question, and she responded that all conference women’s games were scheduled by the league on Friday and Super Bowl Sunday that weekend. The de-ciding factors were television sched-ules and facility conflicts.

I have watched SIU games (and other MVC games) on Fox Sports High Def channel (with a high-def flat panel TV) and the quality does not compare to the Big Ten Net-work. Are there any plans to im-prove the Valley productions so

the broadcasts are truly high-def?I consulted with associate commissioners Mike Kern and Jack Wat-

kins of the Missouri Valley Conference on this, and they are both big proponents of HD, but it is costly. The going rate would be an addi-tional $4,500 per broadcast. If the MVC upgraded to HD on all of the league telecasts, it would have to cut back on the number of telecasts by one-third to stay within its budget. The Mountain West Conference televises all regular-season games in standard def and the men’s tourney in HD, and this may be a model we consider in the future.

Can you comment as to why you think recruited players are choosing to leave the program early rather than play their full career at SIU?

Student-athletes choose to leave prior to their eligibility being ex-hausted for several reasons. In my short tenure, I have heard every-thing from homesickness, not fitting in with the team/coach, injury, lack of playing time, girlfriend/boyfriend issues, and illness with a relative, and several others. At the end of the day we (coaches and administra-tors) have a great desire to retain our student-athletes through their matriculation from freshmen through graduation, just as the University does with the general student body. I believe retention makes a team stronger and a gives you an opportunity to have upperclassmen and women in the program on a consistent basis, which in turn gives you the one of the best opportunities to be successful.

Can you elaborate on how SIU was chosen to host ESPN Col-lege Gameday? Was SIU approached first, or did SIU or the MVC Commissioner Doug Elgin approach ESPN or State Farm?

State Farm, in consultation with ESPN, made the original call to MVC Commissioner Doug Elgin in the summer of 2007, inquiring about bringing ESPN’s College GameDay to Carbondale for the Creighton game the upcoming season. Doug tells me that the atmosphere in SIU Arena and the intensity of the SIU-CU rivalry were the main selling points.

What is the rationale for scheduling Chicago State in men’s basketball and are you concerned about their traditionally low RPI?

We are aware of their RPI, but we are eager to have a game in the Chicago area. Next year, we are fortunate to be playing in a non-con-ference tournament in Chicago in November, but I would like to estab-lish a game in the Chicago area each year, since we have our largest pocket of alumni (35,000-plus) there. Our options seem to be Loyola-Chicago, UIC, Northwestern and DePaul. As in the past, we can’t get the two BCS schools to return the game to Carbondale. We have also been unable to negotiate a working date with UIC and Loyola, so we are glad to get a contract with Chicago State. It is important to then schedule a high RPI team to offset this particular game. With Purdue in the non-conference tournament next year, we are very hopeful of

l march 2010 l 29

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playing them. They are currently No. 7 in the RPI, and we expect them to be strong again next year. In addi-tion, we are looking at regionalizing the schedules of all of our teams in an effort to save as much money as possible. Chicago State is a trip we can take by bus or train and is a huge cost savings versus a flight.

What is the date of the spring football game and what festivities are planned? Will it be played at McAndrew Stadium?

The spring football game will be played on Satur-day, April 17, at McAndrew Stadium, and is tentatively scheduled for 1 p.m. We are planning on having an-other great Spring Game event, but are still in the early stages of planning. We will be sitting down in the next few days to map out all the plans that our marketing department has come up with and will announce the full slate of activities on www.siusalukis.com very soon, so be on the lookout for it.

30 l march 2010 l

Orlando Jarrett in action against Nashville.

From where I SIT

By Tom Wheeler

Phenomenal, exceptional, ex-traordinary, unique, brilliant, special, competitor and incom-

parable are adjectives that have been used to describe one of my all-time

favorite basketball players from the south.

He is one of those “legends” from the past that I was blessed to meet when he was a sixth grader and then got to follow his very successful bas-ketball career. Let me refresh your memory about Johnston City’s Keil Peebles.

As a teacher at Washington Junior high in Johnston City I remember how excited the kids were as two Lincoln players were coming ‘into town’ to play basketball for Coach Joe Cas-trale. Lincoln was an elementary school east of the City and it was big news when their two best players Steve Weece and Peebles (only a sixth grader) were coming to town to play.

This move paid off for Coach Cas-trale as Peebles eighth grade team finished second to Centralia in the 1971 state junior high tournament that was played at the Johnston City High school gym. Keil had picked up a boat full of fans but who would have thought in 1971 that someday that gym would be referred to as “Peebles Palace” in reference to Keil and his younger brother Neal.

Before Keil left Johnston City he became a “Letterman Magazine” All-American, three time All-State selec-tion, and the leading scorer in Indian history (2,324 points) and only the second basketball player to have his jersey (No. 32) retired, the other being Tommy Thomas whose record Keil beat. Brother Neal ended up being third on this list.

While talking to Anna-Jonesboro’s assistant basketball coach Mike Ch-amness recently Kiel’s name came up. Coach Chamness had heard of him but wanted to know how big he was. I laughed and explained he was listed sometimes at 5-feet-10 but was

only 5-feet-8 and 160 pounds in high school. The ‘rookie’ was built more like a fire plug than a sharp shooter but was very strong. In fact, many fans do not realize Keil played foot-ball his sophomore year for Coach Jan Jansco and started on the varsity as a halfback in their opening game against Marion but a broken arm stopped his football career. I also told Mike that Keil got higher on his jump before releasing it than any player I have ever saw, and his range of 25-30 feet out was routine. As strong as he was, he once met his match at the Eldorado tournament when he went after a loose ball with Metropolis’ Nor-man Goodman, (6-feet-4 and 220 pounds), a man-child who ended up

Bomb’s Away!

l march 2010 l 31

playing nose guard at the University of Missouri. Guess who missed the next game?

There were so many highlights for Keil in the ‘City.’ He hit 27-of-30 free throws against Marion in 1973 which was the second most made in state history. Ironically, first place was by Goreville assistant coach and Cart-erville All-Stater Matt Crain who hit 33-of-35 free throws against Vienna in 1989. His sophomore year he was the leading scorer in the south at 32.0 points per game, second that year was Goreville’s Greg Cruise at 30.9. Eldorado coach Bobby Brown was quoted back then saying “Peebles and Dennis Smith are the best play-ers in the south.” Centralia’s Jeff Car-ling brought his Orphans’ team down to Johnston City to see the long-range gunner and said “Peebles is the pur-est shooter I have seen in my lifetime.”

His sophomore year he opened with 54 points in a win over Marion where James Orr had 24 for the losers while the next year he had 51 points in the opener against the Wildcats. At Edwards County he chalked up 52 and in the old popular Pyramid tourna-ment he erupted for 54 points over the West Frankfort Red Birds which was only the second time the Indians had ever won this prestigious tournament in 26 years. (The only other champi-onship was when Tommy Thomas led the Indians to victory).

I asked Keil recently who he hated to have guarding him and he quickly said “no one.” When I asked him to explain he simply said “in Coach Rick Babington’s offense I always had an-other pick to go to, if one guy stopped me there would be another pick set, sometimes I used four or five before I got my shot off or found someone wide open under the basket.” He added that without his teammates he couldn’t have scored like he did. He mentioned classmates Jon Pyle,

Bruce Thomas (Tom-my’s brother), Larry Linton and Benji Hans-ford who all also played with him in junior high. His brother Neal played with this group as a sophomore and big Dan Hunsinger moved in to town from Herrin their senior years.

Keil gave ex SIU coach Jack Hartman credit for changing his shot when he was 11 years old at a SIU basketball camp which Keil attended for many years. Keil had dreams of being a Saluki but was not offered a schol-arship by then coach Paul Lambert. He wanted to stay close to home so signed with SIU Ed-wardsville but the University of Ten-nessee, Loyal of Chicago and Kansas State was also interested in him.

Edwardsville Coach Jim Dudley was certainly thankful that Keil, and later brother Neal, became a Cougar. Keil became the schools all time scor-ing leader with 1,824 points leading the team in scoring all four years. This record was broken by Jason Holmes in 1997 and Keil held the career free throws record, .866 for twenty years before Ty Moss, currently a Carbon-dale High School assistant shot .869. Many did not realize at SIU-E Keil also set the school record for assist with 437. He also led his team in assists three years and was the first player to record over 100 assist in those three years.

This fall Keil received one of his greatest honors when he was placed in SIU-E’s Athletics Hall of Fame, a very deserving honor. He graduated with a degree in physical education but fresh out of college he went to

work for CIPS a position he still holds. His youngest son Grayson is a sev-enth grader with a good future in Indi-an high school coach Wade Thomas rebuilding plan. Keil stays active in basketball by helping freshman coach Mark Armes with the “Little Indians” fifth and sixth grade program.

If you’re a southern Illinois basket-ball fan who saw Peebles play I am sure you agree with the adjectives I used to describe him. I am also sure that you have asked the same ques-tion Johnston City Athletic Director Ross Babington asked me at a recent Indian game as Keil and Grayson walked by.

“How many points would he have scored if there had been a three-point line when he played?”

Think about that!

Johnston City’sKeil Pebbles

32 l march 2010 l

By Joe Szynkowski

Different sports require different types of athletes.

Baseball players are gener-ally quick with their hands and quicker with their eyes. Soccer players pos-sess staggering endurance and are light on their feet. Hockey players are gritty, tough and unafraid of losing a few pearly whites.

What about mixed marital art fight-ers?

Well, the answer is – all of the above.

“Most of them are starting out as great athletes before they get into fighting,” said Tim Fickes, owner of Dojo USA in Carbondale. “Whether they played football, baseball or bas-ketball in high school, they are usually good at what they do.”

The sport of mixed martial arts has ancient roots that go back to the ear-liest forms of wrestling, karate, judo, kick boxing and Tae Kwon Do, and ex-

Fight Nightploded onto the United States scene when the Ultimate Fighting Champi-onship was formed in 1993.

Fickes has seen the sport of fight-ing catch fire locally and nationally in the past two decades.

“I was at the first bare-knuckle match in Illinois in 1992,” Fickes said. “There’s always a lot of action. There’s almost always a conclusion. It’s quick, fast and exciting and you al-ways know who wins. A lot of times in boxing, football or basketball there’s a question about a judge or official … once in a while we’ll have a contro-versy but not very often.”

Fickes also owns Kage One MMA, a company that promotes fights around the area. He was recently named the top amateur fight match-maker and the top promoter in the Midwest by “Ground N’ Pound,” an In-ternet radio show out of St. Louis that focuses on MMA.

But Fickes isn’t just a business man. He owns black belts in five tradi-

tional martial arts and has been fight-ing and teaching for 30 years. His stu-dents at Dojo USA, which has been in Southern Illinois for eight years, respect his experience.

“He’s a great trainer,” said 23-year-old MMA fighter Chris Dalton. “He has the best tactics and he adapts with certain fighters’ styles. Training really increases the week before a fight. We work on a whole bunch of techniques and hard strikes.

“I pride myself on not really taking a lot of punches. I try to be as elusive as possible and use a lot of head move-ment.”

Dalton helps to support Ficke’s ‘fighters-are-great-athletes’ theory. He is the Marion High School football program’s all-time leading rusher and went on to play baseball at Rend Lake College. His football experience has helped him learn the art of fighting.

“There are differences and similari-ties to football,” Dalton said. “When I was running the ball I was really just

The fast and exciting sport of Mixed Martial Arts fighting is sweeping the nation and Southern Illinois

Greg Wilson secures a rear naked choke hold against Blake Williams for the 145lb title fight. Photo by Antonio Martinez

Chris Dalton throws a cross punch at his opponent Marc Jones. Photo by Antonio Martinez

Photo by Jeff Gist

l march 2010 l 33

focused on what hole I had to hit in-stead of now, where I’m focused on jabs instead of sweeps or isos. But defense is pretty similar. Learning how to counteract a punch is a lot like learning how to read defenses from the backfield.”

Brody Jeters – another student of Fickes – draws on his high school wrestling experience to succeed in the caged ring of MMA fights.

“I’ve got a good strength and con-ditioning coach and Tim is a great in-structor,” said Jeters, who wrestled at Herrin High School. “The one-on-one competition in fighting is what drew me in. I guess I like the pressure of depending only on myself and I play off that.”

We know what hooks athletes to MMA, but what makes the sport so at-tractive to fans?

“People like violence,” Jeters, 26, said. “It’s just a good sport. It tests people’s will and strength and helps people overcome obstacles. I’ve got

a couple good lumps on my head, but nothing too bad.”

“People like blood and violence,” Dalton said. “It reverts back to the old gladiator days. It’s in a cage, some-one might get hurt. I think that’s what people want.”

Marion’s Black Diamond Harley-Davidson recently hosted its first-ever MMA fight, pairing with Fickes’ pro-motion company to give Southern Il-linois fans a taste of what has made the sport a nationwide phenomenon. “Fight Night” was a smashing suc-cess, with an estimated 700 fans packing the warehouse behind Black Diamond’s showroom.

Black Diamond Marketing Direc-tor Jeremy Pinkston said Fickes was easy to work with during the planning stages of February’s event.

“It’s definitely been a learning ex-perience,” Pinkston said. “We worked with Tim on putting the fight together for a month. We have a partnership with UFC and decided to jump on the

MMA bandwagon. We definitely want to try to branch out. We are always about entertaining the community.”

Fickes was happy with the turnout and said there are a lot of issues that come with promoting a fight that the general public might not realize.

“There’s coordination with doc-tors, officials, the state and a number of things I have to fulfill to be legal,” he said. “And a lot of thought goes into who fights who. You can’t just look at weight class and experience. You have to look at individual fighting styles. We do that and I think that’s what separates Kage One from other promoters.”

Fickes will sponsor another MMA event at Harrah’s Casino in Metropo-lis on March 20. For more information Fickes can be reached at 618-967-9513.

Joe Szynkowski is a freelance writer for SISC. He can be reached at joeszynkowski@hotmail.com.

“I was at the first bare-knuckle match in Illinois in 1992. There’s always a lot of action. There’s almost always a conclusion. It’s quick, fast and exciting and you always know who wins. A lot of times in boxing, football or basketball there’s a question about a judge or official … once in a while we’ll have a controversy but not very often.”

– Tim Fickes, owner of Dojo USA and Kage One MMA –

Rick McGraw closes in on Josh LaBree with cross punch in the kickboxing title fight. Photo by Chris Nash.

Quartus Stitts traps the right arm of his opponent Blake Chatem for a take down. Photos by Antonio Martinez

Louis Dewert secures high mount as Chris Sorenson defends against Dewert’s hammer punches. Photo by Antonio Martinez

34 l march 2010 l

Murf’s

Turf By Mike Murphy

Maybe I am pushing it a bit but I need sunshine and plenty of it. I used to use

sports as my escape pod from the crazy world. I didn’t even glance at the front page of a newspaper or pay attention to radio/televiion news but when it was time for sports, I was all glued.

I am older now and have been on the inside more and more and see, not only what happens on the inside but the reactions and maneuvering done on the out-side.

I guess I am trying to get some of my innocence back but it’s hard to do. Players kicked off teams, drugs in high school, ath-letes caught up in scandals and then the media circus that fol-lows.

I had been OK with Mark Mc-Gwire walking away from base-ball because I believed his con-science had made him go into a self-imposed exile. Then he sud-denly appears back on the scene and we get the ensuing media circus now topped off by his brother’s book which of course promises to tell the true story. I wonder which true story that one is.

Some have recently said Big Mac is still an icon who saved baseball while others view him as the poster boy for the Steroid Era. I still remember the summer

Ready to Jump into Springwhen Big Mac and Slammin’ Sam-my had their long-ball contest. It did revive interest in baseball but did some baseball execs know what was going on and turn away from the problem or was it as sim-ple as there was no drug testing then and everybody did it.

I guess I will tune Big Mac out as baseball season is here and it brings back all the memories of listening to games on my grand-father’s front porch or piling in my dad’s station wagon and making a whirlwind trip with buddies to a Fri-day night game.

Maybe there were more scan-dals and cheating in years past but I’m kind of glad we didn’t know about them all. In our current technological-savvy society every-body can become an instant re-porter by clicking pictures on their cell phone or even recording a few seconds of video. Then there’s al-ways YouTube!

This year some learned of a college basketball player’s deci-sion to leave the team from his Facebook page. The topic was up in chat rooms before the school had even released a statement. People tweet on twitter and some professional athletes have even tried to do it during games. Thankfully the league powers stepped in, but had to rewrite the rule books to cover the is-

sue. The sports networks are all ei-

ther owned by the same parent company (ABC/Disney/ ESPN), I tend to get it all confused, or com-peting sports networks are try-ing get a piece of the pie. Think about this, 15 years ago had any-one ever heard that much about Fox Sports? Then they get some rights to NFL games and BAM, an-other player with deep pockets.

One of the few “local” angles that remain is high school sports on radio. However, many now use cell phone equipment to save on installing phone lines. Many times they sacrifice a little quality to save a few bucks because they know those folks that can’t make it to the games will still listen.

I know I am getting curmud-geonly; maybe I need an after-noon doubleheader at Old Busch Stadium to shake loose the cob-webs.

Whoops, I forgot, no double-headers and Old Busch is gone, apparently along with some of my innocence.

Let’s Meet Here Next Month

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l march 2010 l 37

InFocus

By Ceasar Maragni

Most men have no trouble re-calling their first car. Wheth-er it was a cool Corvette or a

banged up Buick, it’s a memory that stays with us. Mine was a 1952 green Chevy.

Many of us also remember our first “real” baseball glove. Mine was a four-fingered Rawlings Willie “Pud-din Head” Jones Playmaker model. It was a hand me down that I got from my parents’ friend in St. Louis. I was a Cardinals fan, but I learned to love that old piece of leather, even if Jones did play for the Philadelphia Phillies.

As the years passed I lost track of that old glove and I’ve regretted it ever since. I did have enough sense to save its replacement, a MacGregor Field Master Professional Model that I used through college and beyond. My son even used that same glove in his earliest days of Little League play. It wasn’t long though until he was ready for his own new glove. Brett knew exactly what he wanted. It was a Rawlings Dave Conception signature model. Even though he was a Cardinals fan like me, we were both in awe of those great mid-70’s Cincinnatti Reds ball clubs which featured Conception at shortstop.

According to one of America’s leading authorities and collectors of base-ball gloves, Joe Phillips of Dallas, the largest selling model baseball glove of all time was the Bill Doak model by Rawlings. First manufactured in 1922, it became the longest lasting glove, still selling up to 1953, when it was discon-tinued. Phillips says it was a top of the line glove, calling it “a famous glove.” I asked Phillips why that was so. He said, “That glove changed the way gloves were made.”

Doak was a pitcher with the Cardinals and up to then, baseball gloves were flat. Doak went to the Rawlings factory there in St. Louis and asked them to create a glove with a web laced between the first finger and thumb, thus form-ing a pocket. From that point on, gloves were never the same.

Phillips too has fond memories of his first baseball glove, saying, “My grandmother thought I’d be thrilled with the new catcher’s mitt she bought

me one year. But, I was an infielder, and my first good glove was a Johnny Groth model infielder’s glove. I really liked that glove. I wish I still had it. My next glove was a Rawlings Brooks Robinson 1973 model and I still have that one.” Phil-lips added that Mickey Mantle signature gloves have been the biggest sellers over the past fifty years. There are currently no Mantle-style gloves being produced. Phil-lips worked for Nokona gloves for over 30 years and is about to wrap up his latest book on baseball gloves, a history of No-kona gloves.

My son won’t have to worry about wishing he still had that Dave Conception model glove when he gets to be my age. I’ve saved it for him. I keep it stored with a baseball in the pocket, along with a wal-let sized photo of him wearing that same glove at age 11 also tucked in there. It sits right next to my McGregor Field Master.

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No. 296No. 296• Mark Imhoff is now the all-time wins leader in men’s basketball at Logan

• He won his 296th game in his 15th season to break the record on Jan. 30 and has since surpassed the 300-win plateau

• Imhoff’s mentor, Tom Ashman, won 295 games, also in 15 years as Vols head coach

• Imhoff said he has no plans to retire anytime soon

That’s the number of wins that Logan’s Mark Imhoff has amassed as he recently became the winningest coach ever at the Carterville community college

By John D. Homan

(Logan Media Services photo)

l march 2010 l 39

Personal accolades make John A. Logan College men’s basketball coach

Mark Imhoff uneasy to put it mildly.But it would be unfair to him to

overlook his latest accomplish-ment as coach of the Volunteers. On Feb. 13, Imhoff won his 300th career game at nationally-ranked Wabash Valley College. Two weeks earlier, he won his 296th game at home against Southwest-ern Illinois, allowing him to move past his mentor, Tom Ashman, who won 295 games in his 15 years with the Vols.

Logan has since gone on to win the Great Rivers Athletic Confer-ence title and was the No. 1 seed in the Region 24 postseason tour-nament at press time.

“The number of wins is a re-flection of longevity (Imhoff is in his 15th year as head coach at Logan), having a good teacher in Coach Ashman, tremendous assistant coaches (Brent Baker, Gerad Good and now Kyle Smith-peters), and of course, talented players,” Imhoff said.

Imhoff, long known for his ag-gressive, in-your-face approach to coaching in an attempt to motivate his players, said it was Ashman who deserved more credit than him for the success of the basket-ball program.

“Without any question, he built the program,” Im-hoff said. “I was just fortunate enough to inherit a program that was in very good shape and even more for-tunate to maintain what we set out to do so many years ago.”

A native of Mur-physboro, the 52-year-old Imhoff

said the opportunity to first play for Ashman and then serve him as an assistant for 10 years (1985-1994) proved to be an immeasurable learning experience.

“Coach Ashman was very in-strumental in teaching me the right way to go about doing things as a coach,” Imhoff said. “For 25 years now, I have had the opportunity to interact with these young men and watch their progress and see many of them complete their edu-cation, move on to have success in other avenues of life after basket-

ball – basically become productive members of society.

“That’s more rewarding to me than the number of wins I have ac-cumulated. Like I’ve said before, I feel very fortunate.”

Ashman said his protégé de-serves any accolades coming his way. He has earned them, Ashman said, through hard work.

“Mark and I are both Murphys-boro guys and we go way back. We are actually second cousins. He played on a conference cham-pionship team I coached at Mur-physboro High School in 1975 and when the assistant men’s basket-ball position became available at Logan in 1985, I was glad to bring Mark in to work with me.”

Ashman said what he likes about Imhoff is that he is no phony.

“What you see is what you get with Mark. He’s straight up, a very honest guy. He does things right

and handles all his accomplish-ments well. His record (302-177 as of March 1) speaks for itself. It’s his accomplishment, not mine. I’m very proud of Mark.”

Whereas it was Ashman who refined Imhoff’s coaching skills, it was Mark’s father, Fred, who first got him interested in the game of basketball and taught him the fun-

“What you see is what you get with Mark. He’s straight up, a very honest guy. He does things right and handles all his accomplish-ments well. His record speaks for itself. It’s his accomplishment, not mine. I’m very proud of Mark.”

– Tom Ashman, former coach and winner of 295 games at JALC –

John A. Logan College men’s basketball coach Mark Imhoff discusses strategy with his assistant, Kyle Smithpeters, in recent game action. Point guard Lazeric Jones stands in the background. (Logan Media Services photo)

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ball.After graduating EIU, Imhoff

was hired at Sparta, where for three years he coached football, basketball and baseball at the ju-nior high and high school levels. He left Sparta to take a graduate assistant’s position in baseball at Morehead State University in Ken-tucky. There for two years, he had the opportunity to work for coach Steve Hamilton, who played three years in the NBA and for several years as a Major League Baseball player.

“That was also a great learning experience,” he said.

Imhoff earned his master’s degree in education with an em-phasis on counseling. He was then hired to teach and coach at DeLand-Weldon High School near Champaign in 1984. He was there for all of one year before the job as assistant men’s basketball coach at Logan opened.

“A chance to come back to Southern Illinois and help out my former coach meant a lot to me,” Imhoff said. “It certainly turned out to be the right move for me. Coach Ashman’s love for the game really

damentals of the game.“My dad coached at Zeigler

and Christopher in the 1950s and 60s,” Imhoff said. “He pretty much coached all sports – football, bas-ketball, baseball, track. I think I missed only one game in two years when I was in kindergarten and first grade and that was only because I was sick and my mother (Suzanne) wouldn’t let me go to the game.”

After his parents divorced, Im-hoff moved to Murphysboro with his mother. Although he enjoyed basketball and was a decent play-er, baseball was his better sport as a youth. Upon graduating high school, he enrolled at Logan.

“I actually played baseball here for Greg Starrick,” Imhoff said. “And after graduating Logan, I transferred to Eastern Illinois Uni-versity, but there was no more baseball. I wasn’t good enough. I went on to earn my degree in physical education.”

While still in college, Imhoff took an internship as a junior var-sity high school baseball coach in Charleston. He also student taught there and coached some basket-

influenced me.”JALC Athletic Director and head

baseball coach Jerry Halstead said Imhoff’s longevity has had a positive impact on the school.

“When describing Mark as a coach, some of the first words that come to my mind are work ethic, discipline and winner,” he said. “He pushes kids to stay on task to graduate here in two years. And that dedication to the classroom should not be overlooked.”

Halstead said 25 years is a long time to spend at one school coach-ing a sport, but Imhoff’s done a great job at Logan.

“It’s not just the work he does here as a coach,” Halstead said. “He is also involved in the commu-nity and is a great representative of the college.”

Imhoff said he would like to think he has developed a close bond with each of his assistants and offers nothing but praise for his current right-hand man in Smith-peters.

“Kyle’s a better X’s and O’s coach than I ever thought about being,” Imhoff said. “He’s done a great job here and will make for a good head coach someday. I’ve al-ways believed that if you can coach at this level, you can coach any-where. I believe in letting my as-sistants have free rein on the side-lines. And all three have coached their heads off for me. You want an assistant who aspires to be in your shoes. It makes him better and makes you better.”

Imhoff said the desire to coach still burns bright within him.

“The day it’s not there is the day I know it will be time for me to get out of coaching,” he said. “Right now, I want to get to the national tournament and win. That’s moti-vation for me. When I don’t want to do that anymore, I can wander off to the golf course.”a

JALC men’s basketball coach Mark Imhoff observes the action at a recent home game. (Logan Media Services photo)

l march 2010 l 41

Symptoms of shin splints:Pain over the inside lower half of the shin. Pain at the start of exercise which often eases as the session con-

tinues. Pain often returns after activity and may be at its worse the next

morning. Sometimes some swelling. Lumps and bumps may be felt when feeling the inside of the shin

bone. Pain when the toes or foot are bent downwards. A redness over the inside of the shin (not always present). Tingling in the foot is a particular red flag; it indicates compression

of the nerve.

What Causes Shin Splints?While there are many causes of shin splints, they can all be catego-

rized into two main groups. Overload (or training errors), and Biome-chanical Inefficiencies.

Overload (or training errors): Shin splints are commonly associ-ated with sports that require a lot of running or weight bearing activity. However, it is not necessarily the added weight or force applied to the muscles and tendons of the lower leg, but rather the impact force as-sociated with running and weight bearing activities.

In other words, it’s not the running itself, but the sudden shock force of repeated landings and change of direction that causes the problem. When the muscles and tendons become fatigued and over-loaded, they lose their ability to adequately absorb the damaging shock force.

Other overload causes include:Exercising on hard surfaces, like concrete; Exercising on uneven ground; Beginning an exercise program after a long lay-off period; Increasing exercise intensity or duration too quickly; Exercising in worn out or ill fitting shoes; and Excessive uphill or downhill running.Biomechanical Inefficiencies: The major biomechanical inefficiency

contributing to shin splints is that of flat feet. Flat feet lead to a second biomechanical inefficiency called over-pronation. Pronation occurs just after the heel strikes the ground. The foot flattens out, and then continues to roll inward.

How to Prevent Shin SplintsPrevention, rather than cure, should always be your first aim. In

order to properly treat shin splints and prevent them recurring, the causative factors must be taken into consideration. No matter how

Ask the

McDoc Dr. Kent McMahon

Sooner or later almost all runners experience pain in the calf or shin. There are

several types of overuse injuries that may develop in this region as a result of the repeated pounding from running. Shin splints, stress fractures, and chronic compart-ment syndrome have a common mechanism of development. Un-derstanding the circumstances that lead to these injuries is the key to preventing them.

The overall recurring theme that leads to overuse running injuries is excess training with inadequate recovery. Keeping this theme in mind one can now examine the specifics for how shin splints de-velop. Each foot-strike delivers a shockwave that travels up the leg. This energy must be absorbed by the musculoskeletal system. The harder the running surface the greater the shockwave. Soft grass, smooth dirt, asphalt, and concrete represent, in order of increasing “hardness”, the usual spectrum of commonly encoun-tered running surfaces. Concrete is very hard on the body and training on this surface should be avoided. Sports with the highest frequency of shin splints include long distance running, jogging, sprinting, cross country skiing, soccer, and volleyball.

What are Shin Splints?

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much rest, anti-inflammatories and massage are used, without correcting the cause of the injury; the symp-toms will continue to return.

Biomechanical problems such as overpronation and supination can be corrected using running shoes or insoles (or orthotics). Ensuring shoes/trainers are suitable your foot type and for the activity in question. Distance running shoes are specifically designed to provide padding and support for the biomechanics of endurance running. They help absorb shock and fa-cilitate efficient energy (motion) transfer. Matching the type of running shoe to the athlete’s specific biome-chanics, and proper shoe fit are important.

As a rule of thumb with running, distances should not increase by more than 10 percent per week. For example, if you complete a total of 10 miles one week, do not increase above 11 miles the next week. This helps to ensure the muscles are not overworked.

Shin splints can be caused by overly tight muscles in the lower leg, including the calf muscles (gastrocne-mius and soleus) and the shin muscles. Stretching on a daily basis and even receiving sports massage can help improve flexibility. However, the most important preventive strategy is not to repeat the mistakes that lead to the injury. Examine all the training variables – surface, shoes, training volume, intensity, workout type, hills, weather conditions, etc.

Shin Splints Treatment Treatment for shin splints is as simple as reducing

pain and inflammation, identifying training and biome-

chanical problems which may have helped cause the injury initially, restoring muscles to their original condi-tion and gradually returning to training.

What can the athlete do about shin splints?

Rest to allow the injury to heal. Apply ice or cold therapy in the early stages, par-

ticularly when it is very painful. Cold therapy reduces pain and inflammation.

Stretch the muscles of the lower leg. In particular the tibialis posterior, which is associated with shin splints.

Wear shock absorbing insoles in shoes. This helps reduce the shock on the lower leg.

Maintain fitness with other non weight bearing exer-cises such as swimming, cycling or running in water.

Visit a sports injury clinic for treatment and rehabili-tation.

Untreated shin splints can lead to a stress reaction mid-shaft in the tibia, which can eventually lead to a stress fracture. A stress fracture takes much longer to heal than shin splints.

Dr. Kent McMahon is a chiropractic physician who practices in West Frankfort, IL. He is a recent gradu-ate who received addition training in the diagnosis and treatment of athletic injuries. His office is located at 310 West St. Louis Street and can be contacted at 618-932-2137.

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l march 2010 l 43

By Tom Wheeler

I got the first letter from Coach Kevin Toney in November 2003. The West Frankfort Redbirds coach said: “its 4:50 AM and for the third year in a row I am sitting in the office reading your “Wheels 50 Wonderful Words of Wisdom on Being a Suc-cessful Coach” which I have referred to many times”

These ‘words of wisdom” he refers to is a list of 50 helpful hints I presented at the Mt. Vernon teachers Conference a dozen years ago. When-ever someone I knew became a varsity coach I would send them a copy, KT received his in 2001.

Something KT read in that list must have worked as the Red Birds were 24-7 including an Eldorado Holiday Tournament championship and a region-al championship win over a great Thompsonville team of Coach John Robinson. At the sectional at Eldorado the Birds defeated the host team before losing a heart breaker to Massac County when Matt Jacobs hit the winning shot with .08 seconds left. Craig Ramsey and Alex Hogg were leaders on this team.

The April 2005 letter from KT stated: “practice one begins with your 50 Words of Wisdom, I just hope this season goes better than the gym re-modeling but then all I can control is the practice schedule and our effort.”

The 2005-06 Redbirds’ team went 26-4 and

The ups and downs of coaching high school basketball turn small tidbits of wisdom into nuggets of pure gold

‘Words of Wisdom Come Back Around’ Kevin Toney’s senior year he was Most Valuable Player

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won the Eldorado Holiday Tournament and at the regional at Benton, over the host Rangers. At NCOE they defeated Vienna and then lost to Weber Township in the sectional championship. This team was loaded with ex-Little Wheels, Ryan Pat-ton, Josh Webb, Jory Dial, Ryan Kirkpat-rick, Daniel Cunningham, Zack Farkas and Martin Connaughty.

The May 2006 letter had this to say: “Thanks for the opportunity to be part of your coach’s round table at the Mt.Vernon conference. I’m not sure what I was doing with Coach Dick Corn, and Coach Mike Crews. Will I have the pleasure of coach-ing a young man with the confidence as Ryan Patton, or a kid as intimidated and out-of-place as I was as a freshman?”

Maybe KT should have remembered that he played for me at Christopher and was taught to take care of your own. This Red Bird team went 24-7, winning the con-ference and the regional at Crab Orchard over Vienna and 7-footer Brett Thompson. At home in the sectional they defeated a good Mt. Carmel team on a last second shot by Matt Weeks but lost to the Foxes of McLeansboro in the finals. Keith Jones, Kyle Brown and Dustin Wall were leaders of this team.

In June 2007 KT wrote: “I could look to the past with our teams’ moderate success or look towards the future with anxiety and anticipation. Maybe the right balance of learning from the past, living in the moment and planning for the future is the key?”

Another winning season 21-10, regional champs, conference champs and winners of their own Mid winter tournament (5-0). Success was large due to the leadership and hard work of seniors Mike Warren, Trey Jackanicz and Alex Gutierrez

In July 2008 Coach Toney gave a hint of his career playing for me as a three-year varsity letter winner at Christopher. “Should I reflect upon those “mature mo-ments” which meant tail chewing’s or sig-

Kevin Toney shooting over Zeigler’s Dennis Drust(current Carterville football coach)

l march 2010 l 45

nificant wins or how much you cared about the character of your players?”

I have to admit he was right, I did have some characters and he was one of them. Also, the only chewing I remember giving him was when he considered being a plumber instead of a coach. This letter was at the beginning of an-other victorious season, 17-11.Isaiah Simelton, Matt Brown and Matt Eader were leaders of this team that gave the Red Birds a five year record of 112-39 (.800 winning percentage).

The August 2009 letter showed a hint of what was to come: “Yes, I am still excited about this season,

too. This year No. 7 on your list “take care of business off the floor and business will take care of itself on the floor” appears to be most applicable. Not much varsity ex-perience will be minor concerns compared to this group’s tenden-cy to be late, ineligible or lethargic. Regardless I will coach them as if they were all- staters, from whom did I learn this?”

The team fell to 5-22 as seniors Lane Murphy, Patrick O’Keefe and Andy Johnson were the cream of the crop.

The September 2010 letter read: “another year and another set of challenges, like a losing

atmosphere, changing that atmo-sphere from last year, installing a sense of responsibility and reli-ability to these young men, con-ditioning, changing behavior and promptness to class. Oh yeah, then worry about basketball skills.”

It took the Red Birds 20 games before they got their first victory this year, a win over rival Benton. This didn’t mean the Birds didn’t put forth an effort because they did. And it didn’t mean they didn’t improve, because they did. It did mean that sometimes a coach is responsible for more than just winning games. Kevin Toney is a coach, but he is a teacher first. I watched him close at the West

Letters KT sends the first morning of practice

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Frankfort Mid-Winter Tournament and he coached just as hard as he did when he was winning. He was just as prepared, worked just as hard and most important never gave up on his team. Even this years’ opponents respected the Red Birds because of their coach. Senior leaders Ashten Ashtiani, Kendrick Simelton and Kyle Weeks were senior contributors.

Some other Red Birds who came to my basketball camp every Friday for four year include Gabe Tippy, Adam Wells, Jason Patton,

Kyle Fodor and Kyle Melvin who all played for Coach Toney his first two years. With so many Little Wheels in red and gray maybe that’s the reason I’ve followed the Birds so closely. This has some-thing to do with it, but the truth is Kevin Toney is “one of mine” – from the gangly freshman from Mulkeytown to one of the most re-spected coaches in the south.

The Red Birds are winners, just like their coach, regardless of what the scoreboard says some nights.

The Big Six -- (l-r)John Toigo, Bruce Tomei, Glenn Ramsey, Rob Dismang, Kevin Toney, Mike McCullough

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