Game 91
Galesburg @ Alleman (Boy's Basketball)
(1/14/11)
Note: I have lept into picture taking, some photos in today's blog
Gas prices continue to fluctuate. On Wednesday or Thursday (the days run together for me during basketball), gas prices were $3.04 in Galesburg and $3.01 in Bushnell. In fact, the price in Bushnell was the lowest price at the pump I have seen in weeks. By Friday, fuel prices jumped back up, here are various prices at the pump.
Gas Prices (1/14/11)Macomb - $3.19
Monmouth - $3.14
Milan - $3.18
Rock Island - $3.19
Normally, Monmouth has the highest prices of these areas, and the entire western side of Illinois, actually. Very surprised to see the Maple City with the lowest price on my trip. The lowest prices I usually see on this side of the state are in Bushnell, which is pretty odd.
My late lunch today was, you guessed it, Subway. Today's choice was Tuna on Wheat with pickles, black olives, lettuce, and tomato.
Many thanks to Alleman Athletic Director Steve Smithers for alerting me to a road change outside of Alleman High School. The one-way that runs in front of the school switched directions last summer. It now runs from south to north, as opposed to north to south.
There is parking along that street outside of the school, but only for the early birds. I'm almost always an early bird, so as I pulled up to Alleman right around 5:00, I was able to reserve premiere parking. In fact, I beat the Galesburg bus to the gym by a good 15 minutes.
I settled into my broadcast booth, which is a very unique set up. In the middle of the bleachers on each side of Don Morris Gym, there is a tunnel. When I plugged in my extension cord beneath the bleachers, it appeared as though there may have been locker rooms. I confirmed that with my broadcast partner Jimmie Carr, and he affirmed my assumption. Over the tunnel, bleacher rows have been added with tables for the media. Our broadcast setup is across from the scorer's table. There is a similar setup opposite of our table for the scorer's table and another press row for newspaper writers.
Steve Smithers and Alleman coach Bob Szorc were sitting on one of the benches, so I spoke with them for several minutes. In getting the skinny on the Pioneers with coach Szorc, I mentioned I had seen his team just once, and that was at the Genesis/PSP Iowa/Illinois Shootout before Christmas. Alleman lost to Pleasant Valley, 48-27. He told me that wasn't a very good weekend. The night before, his team made the long road trip to Quincy. The team arrived home even later than usual that night, as Szorc said the bus took a detour through Macomb and got lost. I asked what detour, and he said he had no idea. Before their game against Pleasant Valley the next day, two players were involved in a car accident on their way to the school.
Due to my backlogged schedule, my preparation for broadcasts has taken a hit, which is due to a couple of things. First off, today being Friday is always tough in getting things ready for the weekend, especially with tournament play on Saturday and Monday. In addition, tonight we have two Galesburg broadcasts, and getting equipment organized and delivered to the gym for my out of town broadcaster on the Silver Streaks girl's game, Dave Lezotte (play-by-play announcer for the Clinton Lumberkings). I will also be away from the office three days next week. Monday, because of my three Galesburg games, and then vacation days on Tuesday and Wednesday for my southern Illinois road swing to Carmi-White County and Benton. In addition, my new sports show, Sportsline has taken any additional time during the work day. Having all of this going on fuels my fire for doing what I do. I love working under pressure, and having so much going on is helping me improve time management and organizing my day.
The Galesburg sophomores overcame Alleman in the prelim, 58-52. The young Streaks improve to 5-11 on the season, but they have a couple of close losses that should have been wins (they played well enough to win, just couldn't close the game). It's a nice group with some talented players, and Jimmie mentioned a freshman, Bo Purifoy, and he expects big things from him. Purifoy played with the freshman early in the season, and was consistently scoring around 25 points/game before being moved up. WGIL broadcaster Jim Lee mentioned during the sophomore game, "Anybody named Bo has to be good." I replied, "only if it's spelled B-O." Jim's partner Brad Bennewitz reminded of us former Silver Streak standout, Beau Shay, who went on to walk-on at Clemson. This led into a conversation on the whearabouts of Bo Jackson. Jimmie said that he is living in the Chicago-area, but not sure what he was doing. In some research, I found that he formed the Bo Jackson Elite Sports Complex with former big leaguer John Cangelosi in Lockport, IL. Jackson now lives in Burr Ridge, IL.
I met Silver Streak fan Dennis Jacobs. He is a friend of Jimmie's, and introduced me before the game. Dennis and I talked extensively about the great season's both Galesburg teams are having this year. He was also very complimentary of IHSSN.net. He said that when he retires from the railroad, he would want to work for me on the website. He's hired! Dennis said growing up, he would watch John Thiel's practices at Galesburg High School as a kid, when he walked home from school, and was a student manager for the team, in high school.
Jimmie was off to interview Alleman coach Bob Szorc and assistant coach Frank Dexter. Dexter was our special halftime guest, and a Galesburg graduate. He played under John Thiel, and went on to a very successful coaching career, most notably with the Moline Maroons. Jimmie's final question was if he would ever be a head coach again. Dexter replied, "Never say never."
Galesburg @ Alleman (Boy's Basketball)
(1/14/11)
Note: I have lept into picture taking, some photos in today's blog
Gas prices continue to fluctuate. On Wednesday or Thursday (the days run together for me during basketball), gas prices were $3.04 in Galesburg and $3.01 in Bushnell. In fact, the price in Bushnell was the lowest price at the pump I have seen in weeks. By Friday, fuel prices jumped back up, here are various prices at the pump.
Gas Prices (1/14/11)Macomb - $3.19
Monmouth - $3.14
Milan - $3.18
Rock Island - $3.19
Normally, Monmouth has the highest prices of these areas, and the entire western side of Illinois, actually. Very surprised to see the Maple City with the lowest price on my trip. The lowest prices I usually see on this side of the state are in Bushnell, which is pretty odd.
My late lunch today was, you guessed it, Subway. Today's choice was Tuna on Wheat with pickles, black olives, lettuce, and tomato.
Many thanks to Alleman Athletic Director Steve Smithers for alerting me to a road change outside of Alleman High School. The one-way that runs in front of the school switched directions last summer. It now runs from south to north, as opposed to north to south.
There is parking along that street outside of the school, but only for the early birds. I'm almost always an early bird, so as I pulled up to Alleman right around 5:00, I was able to reserve premiere parking. In fact, I beat the Galesburg bus to the gym by a good 15 minutes.
I settled into my broadcast booth, which is a very unique set up. In the middle of the bleachers on each side of Don Morris Gym, there is a tunnel. When I plugged in my extension cord beneath the bleachers, it appeared as though there may have been locker rooms. I confirmed that with my broadcast partner Jimmie Carr, and he affirmed my assumption. Over the tunnel, bleacher rows have been added with tables for the media. Our broadcast setup is across from the scorer's table. There is a similar setup opposite of our table for the scorer's table and another press row for newspaper writers.
Steve Smithers and Alleman coach Bob Szorc were sitting on one of the benches, so I spoke with them for several minutes. In getting the skinny on the Pioneers with coach Szorc, I mentioned I had seen his team just once, and that was at the Genesis/PSP Iowa/Illinois Shootout before Christmas. Alleman lost to Pleasant Valley, 48-27. He told me that wasn't a very good weekend. The night before, his team made the long road trip to Quincy. The team arrived home even later than usual that night, as Szorc said the bus took a detour through Macomb and got lost. I asked what detour, and he said he had no idea. Before their game against Pleasant Valley the next day, two players were involved in a car accident on their way to the school.
Due to my backlogged schedule, my preparation for broadcasts has taken a hit, which is due to a couple of things. First off, today being Friday is always tough in getting things ready for the weekend, especially with tournament play on Saturday and Monday. In addition, tonight we have two Galesburg broadcasts, and getting equipment organized and delivered to the gym for my out of town broadcaster on the Silver Streaks girl's game, Dave Lezotte (play-by-play announcer for the Clinton Lumberkings). I will also be away from the office three days next week. Monday, because of my three Galesburg games, and then vacation days on Tuesday and Wednesday for my southern Illinois road swing to Carmi-White County and Benton. In addition, my new sports show, Sportsline has taken any additional time during the work day. Having all of this going on fuels my fire for doing what I do. I love working under pressure, and having so much going on is helping me improve time management and organizing my day.
The Galesburg sophomores overcame Alleman in the prelim, 58-52. The young Streaks improve to 5-11 on the season, but they have a couple of close losses that should have been wins (they played well enough to win, just couldn't close the game). It's a nice group with some talented players, and Jimmie mentioned a freshman, Bo Purifoy, and he expects big things from him. Purifoy played with the freshman early in the season, and was consistently scoring around 25 points/game before being moved up. WGIL broadcaster Jim Lee mentioned during the sophomore game, "Anybody named Bo has to be good." I replied, "only if it's spelled B-O." Jim's partner Brad Bennewitz reminded of us former Silver Streak standout, Beau Shay, who went on to walk-on at Clemson. This led into a conversation on the whearabouts of Bo Jackson. Jimmie said that he is living in the Chicago-area, but not sure what he was doing. In some research, I found that he formed the Bo Jackson Elite Sports Complex with former big leaguer John Cangelosi in Lockport, IL. Jackson now lives in Burr Ridge, IL.
I met Silver Streak fan Dennis Jacobs. He is a friend of Jimmie's, and introduced me before the game. Dennis and I talked extensively about the great season's both Galesburg teams are having this year. He was also very complimentary of IHSSN.net. He said that when he retires from the railroad, he would want to work for me on the website. He's hired! Dennis said growing up, he would watch John Thiel's practices at Galesburg High School as a kid, when he walked home from school, and was a student manager for the team, in high school.
Jimmie was off to interview Alleman coach Bob Szorc and assistant coach Frank Dexter. Dexter was our special halftime guest, and a Galesburg graduate. He played under John Thiel, and went on to a very successful coaching career, most notably with the Moline Maroons. Jimmie's final question was if he would ever be a head coach again. Dexter replied, "Never say never."
During halftime of the sophomore game, I spoke with Mike Reynolds. We did our pregame interview, and then talked about the upcoming Martin Luther King Tournament, and also the Alleman/Rockridge game that was played out on Tuesday. He went and scouted that game. Reynolds also said that the team went to the Iowa/Ohio State game over the break for a team activity. Galesburg is still on winter break, going back on Tuesday.
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| Jimmie Carr "hard at work" interviewing Galesburg coach Mike Reynolds |
Galesburg jumped out to a 18-11 lead after the first quarter, boosted by Brandon Thompson's 9 points. The game was tied, 9-9, before a 7-0 run by the Silver Streaks. Alleman outscored Galesburg just 7-4 in the 2nd quarter, and the Streaks held the ball for the final 1:23 of the 2nd quarter, but missed a shot at the horn. Galesburg led 22-18 at the break.
We were up close and personal with the Alleman student section, directly to our right. As they stood the entire 1st quarter, we did some switching. Jimmie jumped down into the first row below the press table, and I moved to the far left side of the table to get a view. Not even sure if the WGIL guys could even see, they were in the row above us. Steve Smithers came over at the end of the 1st quarter and repositioned the students so we could get a view of that end of the floor. This is why I really enjoy broadcasting at Alleman. Everyone is so friendly and hospitable. Everyone we work with coming up to Alleman, is a class act.
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| Brandon Thompson on WAIK's postgame show |
It was another low scoring quarter out of the break, with the Pioneers winning 8-6 and pulling to within 2 points heading into the last 8 minutes. That's when Brandon "BT" Thompson took over. He scored 17 points in the 4th quarter, on his way to a 32-point game. He scored 61.5% of Galesburg's points in the 52-46 Silver Streaks win. Galesburg scored 24 points in the 4th quarter, while scoring just 28 points in the first three quarters. Was there any doubt, "BT" would be our First Glass "Breakout Player of the Game?"
Chad Thompson also scored in double figures for the Silver Streaks, netting 10 points. Tyler Yeocum led Alleman with 20 points. I was keeping turnover statistics, but there weren't many. Sometimes, when taking turnovers, I miss a few. Tonight, I had Alleman with 5 turnovers and Galesburg with just 3. It seems extremely low, but it's pretty close.
The cleanup crew at the gym turned on some music as we were packing up. Cranked over the loud speakers in the gym: AC/DC. As I walked out, one of the custodians apologized for the loud music, and I said I loved it. He mentioned it makes the night go faster.
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| My Rock Island recommendation: Dr. Gyro's on 18th Ave. |
Almost every trip I make to Rock Island or Alleman, I have to have a postgame meal at Dr. Gyro's. It's located near Rock Island High School, right across the street from Whitey's Ice Cream. It closes at 10:00, so sometimes I can't make it in time. Tonight, I pulled up at 9:49, and was able to get my take-out order. Since it was so late, I didn't want to mull over my decision, so I scanned the Daily Specials board when I walked in and quickly decided on the Greek Reuben before stepping to the counter. I also ordered a pop, and they have a self-serve fountain. I chose Pepsi, and sucked down an entire medium Pepsi while I waited, which was only about 4 minutes.
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| Despite its looks, the Greek Reuben at Dr. Gyro's is quite tasty |
Normally, I wait to eat until I leave Milan south on Route 67. Too many stoplights and turns to make until that point, and it's not always the easiest to eat. Everytime I pull the food out of the bag, I can feel my gut expand, with the massive weight of the food. It's heavy! The Greek Reuben is probably the messiest item on the menu, looks disgusting, but tastes delicous.
I arrived home around 11:30, resenting my house. It's been on the market for 8 months, and the drive to Macomb has really wore on me. It's not bad, I like driving, but it's more of an annoyance. Of course, I don't have any time to make a move right now, but I really hope it can sell this spring.
Back at it Saturday. Many broadcasters I talk to loathe the all-day tournaments. However, I mark them on the calendar with an exclamation point! First game at 11:00, so a couple quick morning coffees and a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and I'm off to the gym for 12 hours. Wouldn't want to spend a Saturday in January any other way.
Back at it Saturday. Many broadcasters I talk to loathe the all-day tournaments. However, I mark them on the calendar with an exclamation point! First game at 11:00, so a couple quick morning coffees and a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and I'm off to the gym for 12 hours. Wouldn't want to spend a Saturday in January any other way.
Game 91 Miles: 164
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