Pitching with Pritch
Busy, busy week in the world of college athletics as well as the local scene. Some of it was just the usual, but there were also some bombshells hitting various sports.
Locally things went pretty well. The volleyball team won a five-game set at Julesburg, Colorado and that should be a confidence builder for them. The cross-country team ran well at Kearney which is always a very tough meet, but it also gives them a chance to run at the same place the state meet will be held and that is great experience for them.
Then there was the football game at Benkelman. The last couple of games have come down pretty much to the team that had the ball last wins and the Plainsmen were on the short end of those two games, but this time they pretty much had it at the end and put it in the end zone for a big district win.
The Perkins County – Dundy County Stratton game score-wise on paper looked as if the basketball season had started early at 66-58. That is a lot of scoring for a football game, but sometimes you see more of those in 8-man than in 11-man games.
Scoring however seems to be on the rise. Friday night scores in a quick look on the NSAA web page had 35 teams that scored 50 or more points. Fifteen had 50 or more, 12 had 60 or more, seven had 70 or more and three had 80 or more.
Not all of them were 8-man teams. One of the teams that hit 70 was a Class A team that shut out their Class A opponent. I think I would enjoy the 66-58 game more than a 70-point shut out. A question I heard was who got the plaques after the PCS and DC-Stratton game? He thought anyone who made a tackle should have gotten a plaque. I think the game was better than that; it was just a good night for offense.
The other football team in the State of Nebraska, The Huskers, won on the road at Illinois and did it in a pretty good fashion. No need to warm up the second-team quarterback in this game as Tanner Lee played pretty well.
The Huskers ran the ball well, played defense pretty well and got off the field with their second Big 10 win of the season. They now start playing the real competition in the Big 10 for a few games. Wisconsin comes to town next week and we will see if the Big Red can stand up to a team that does things pretty well.
This week also saw the Big 10 teams playing on Friday night, going up against high school football games in all the states of the conference. There were not too many teams in Nebraska that changed their nights, but some did.
The University offered Memorial Stadium to schools and some of the Lincoln schools played there on Saturday. I did read a number of articles that most of the schools in the state were not in favor of moving their games because it messed up other activities or just because Friday night should be reserved for high school football. I think Nebraska playing on the road is one thing but if they play at home then the high schools will feel the sting of smaller gate receipts at a much higher amount.
Another move this week was the firing of the athletic director at Nebraska and replacing him with an interim for at least two months. Dave Rimington, former Husker All-American, was the man picked to run the athletic department until a new AD is hired and the target date was Thanksgiving. Rimington stated right away he was not a candidate for the position but “just here to calm things down.” He gets $50,000 per month for his calming work. I would but pretty calm if I were in that position.
The other news was the Adidas Shoes and coaches and players getting money of all things to wear the Adidas shoes and stuff. The only big name coach who may have bit the dust already appears to be Rick Pitino. More to follow on this as the surface probably just got scratched a little with the first round of news.