You had better not be talking camera man!

I have ironically working on this blog all week, and it all came to a head last night at Wichita Heights in the girls soccer game between Heights and Kapaun. After spending the last week doing my best to stick up for the brave men and women who officiate games, I couldn’t believe my ears last night.

Alright, now gather round. It’s story time!

From the time I arrived at Heights, the only words out of my mouth were, “I’ll take a hamburger, thanks,” at the concession stand during halftime.

So you can imagine my surprise in the middle of the second half when a linesman passed me running down the field and said, “You had better not be talking camera man! One more word and you are leaving!”

“Huh?”

“Did you say something?!”

“No.”

This exchange was followed by a smug look on his face that nonverbally said, “Just give me a reason pal. I heard what you said.”

Now, I have no way of knowing what he thought he heard me say. It was about the same time a fan in the stands behind me made a crack comparing the referee’s white beard to Santa Claus. Maybe that was it.

I don’t know.

The reason I got into sports writing is that I love competition. Every time I go to a game, I am hoping to see a close, competitive contest. And the Heights 3-2 win over Kapaun was a great game.

But believe me when I say that I really have no rooting interest in the outcome of a game as far as who wins.

The unbelievable assumption by this linesman, was not only was I going for one team over the other, but that I was emotionally invested enough to be yelling at a referee.

I tried to talk to the linesman after the game in an attempt to get to the bottom of what happened. But he bolted instantly and I didn’t get the chance.

The following is what I had been working on all week leading up to this incident. It is not something taken away from one game, but my observations over the course of three years of covering sports.

In the last three years of covering all types of sports in every season, I can count on one hand the number of outcomes that weren’t, “the ref’s fault.”

I cringe to think of the trillions of people who have spent the entire drive home furiously, red in the face, veins throbbing, blaming the result on an, “incompetent,” referee.

There comes a time when a ref owes an official explanation of a decision they have made. And believe it or not, there is a person designated to demand that explanation; the head coach.

Not the players, not the student section, not dad, not mom, especially not the camera man, and not anyone but the one and only head coach. If you are not the head coach, settle down a little bit.

One of my favorite things to see is both sides of a venue mercilessly voicing displeasure over the way a game is called. I am standing on one sideline, so I can only hear that side clearly.

But when the far side screams something at an official, the near side will scoff at how foolish those idiots over there are, right before taking a deep breath and pulling the trigger on an equally absurd statement.

Believe me. You sound exactly like those folks on the other side. You aren’t any more holy, or clever.

Take it from a truly impartial observer, you sound ridiculous when you let the ref have it. And by, “it,” I mean one of a million clichés.

One of the best ref clichés is, “Call It Both Ways.” I get what it means when you break down the English. It is a call for consistency. And because being judged as consistent is the highest praise an official can receive, to be inconsistent must be the biggest putdown.

The problem is, “Call It Both Ways,” has been used so much that it has completely lost all of its meaning. It is simply a vibrating pocket of air. The public release of this phrase should be considered as socially unacceptable as the public release of a similar pocket of air from the other end of the human body.

To give you an idea of how much brain activity that goes into, “Call It Both Ways,” I can, and will always, be able to point to this year’s 5A state championship basketball tournament in Topeka. After hearing a fan say, “Call It Both Ways,” for the 734^th time, my curiosity got the better of me. I gathered all my strength and strained to make the tremendous effort it took to shift my gaze to the scoreboard.

The call in question evened up the team fouls at 5-5.

“Call It Both Ways,” indeed.

Another of these clichés is, “How Much Are They Paying You.” This one can take many different forms, but the implication here is that one team or the other has paid off an official in order to get them to throw the game.

Because, even in these hard times, nothing is more lucrative than putting on a striped shirt and fixing high school sporting events.

Exactly how do these transactions go down? Is there a secret exchange of briefcases? Maybe it takes place in a secret mowed clearing in the middle of a wheat field. Are there codes and secret handshakes?

Perhaps there is an underground bidding war before the season starts in a bunker underneath a football field somewhere. I wonder what kinds of precautions are taken to ensure no one is tailed.

Or, are you trying to say that a coach or athletic director has slipped an official a five, 10, or even 20 dollar bill just before the game?

Just right out in the light of day?

I know you are risking your ability to ever officiate again, but here’s 10 bucks. Go get yourself a nice cheeseburger after the game.

Then there is the good old, “What Game Are You Watching.” If the referees are in possession of technology that allows them to be secretly watching TV from the inside of their glasses or contact lenses, I want it! If they are unwilling to share it with me, the least they could do is give me some score updates.

Come on guys, a little common courtesy.

They could be listening to another game on the radio through an ear bud with the wires strategically hidden underneath the striped shirts.

But that wouldn’t be watching another game at all would it. And besides, AM reception inside a gym is tough to come by.

How about keeping it simple with a, “You Have Got To Be Kidding Me.”

Ah ha ha! You should see the look on your face! I got you good! No, but really, there is no foul on the play. I was just razzing you.

Let the game be the game. If a call doesn’t go your way, it is up to the players to pick themselves up and take it out of the official’s hands.

The Sports Anchors

I thought maybe the most interesting part of the anchor panel was the generational gap between Chris, and Bruce and Jim. There were some big differences in approaches to the job between Chris, and the old guard.

I know Bruce kind of felt bad that he had painted a doom and gloom picture of things. My response to him was no kidding. I should have been golfing all day, but instead I had to go listen to some jerk run his mouth.

But the picture he and Jim painted was of the job they were hired on to do in the '80s. The job is still there to be done, just not in the same way.

Keep in mind, Bruce can barely turn a computer on, let alone use one once he gets it started. And he really has no desire to learn. If you shared his tech savvy, you would have a pretty bleak outlook of the future as well.

This generational gap is visible even within KWCH. Jenn Bates and Bryan Holmgren both shoot and edit all their own video, write scripts, and anchor. Then, they turn around and write and post their own web stories.

I think this is the job Chris does, and is the job that anyone getting into this field can look forward to.

As for stations being corporately owned, I think the key is to keep the stories local, and show how much you enjoy what you do. Things can get watered down, but while the ownership may be around a board room table, multiple states away, you as a reporter, are still a part of the community.

INCOMING!!

I’m really not one to complain, and as a person from a town that is sans baseball diamond, maybe I should keep my big mouth shut.

But can we start to rethink the design on some of the bat and ball complexes?

Covering some games a couple of weeks ago, I was reminded of a trend I would have liked to forget. Four different games were taking place with varsity and junior varsity baseball and softball games all going on at once. And the way the park was set up, all four home plates were tucked in together and facing out.

This setup makes it extremely convenient to jump from game to game, and (most importantly) lends itself to a centralized concessions cart for easy access to delicious hamburgers and beverages.

It also means that as you watch one game, you are sitting directly in the shared foul territory of the three other games with your back turned.

Think Denard Span of the Minnesota Twins giving his mother a souvenir in a spring training game this year.

If you are lucky enough, someone from the other crowd will yell, “heads up,” just in time for you to turn your head in an attempt to spot the incoming projectile, right before it hits you in the face. Or, you can take the hit on the back of the head with no warning and take the pain as you would ripping off a bandage; instantly with no warning.

Me, I’ve been hit in the head enough that it would be hard to incur any further brain damage. And as a former catcher, being pelted with a baseball doesn’t bother me. But using a ton of protective gear to knock down a ball you see coming the whole way is different.

It isn’t just the spectators in danger of getting a knot on their heads like Hasim Rahman after fighting Evander Holyfield.

The games themselves have to be stopped due to baseballs raining down on the softball diamond. This could provide my camera with the opportunity to capture a hilarious lowlight. Or it could provide a situation where no one is laughing but the dentist who just had his overseas vacation paid for.

Most of these diamonds have already been built. The damage is done. But if anybody is considering building a new complex, please consider the fact that balls don’t always stay within the field of play.

If you have ever been drilled with a foul ball, please share your story.

Catch it Kansas

I would call it CATCH IT DOMINANCE, but Jenn Bates beat me to it.

What we do, is...cover everything high school sports.

We have the unique perspective of print (Catchitkansas.com) and TV! I am paid (20 cents an hour) for web, TV, and if my story is good enough, live TV!

All for 20 cents per hour!

If you want to work in sports, you had better LOVE the competition!

I get to work with Bruce Haertl and that wacky Jenn Bates (that skirt and heels shit...only cause we get HAMMERED together, and she LOVES IT!)

But really, here is our competition

5A blog (Day 1)

My colleague (OK, boss) Joanna Chadwick just said, “Hey, Jeff, can you start a 5A blog?” I’m game for that, but today at the tournament has been sort of a cluster so far, so I’m still trying to sort everything out. I don’t have a lot of good inside information for everybody yet, but it appears that the Wichita-area teams are playing for second, at least for second at the end of day one.

I’m not going to pretend I know how to compute the multitude of scoring opportunities for each wrestler and team, but going into the semifinals, Emporia is leading 5A with 72 points. That’s 16 points ahead of second-place Andover Central and 19 ahead of Arkansas City, which is in third.

I think it could take some upsets for the two “AC” schools to catch up, because Emporia put seven wrestlers into the semifinals and the ACs have five apiece. Of course, if the ACs win their semifinal matches and Emporia loses some of its, the standings could look very different at the end of the night. We’ll just have to wait and see.

For now, though, I’m just trying to take some deep breaths and feel confidence in my ability to figure all of this out. Wish me luck.


YEAH! WISH ME LUCK! That is Gomer...Jeffery Lutz! At Catch It...we know what is going on and are not caught off guard!

Long live Jonathan Long and Jeffery Lutz!

When Jenn said we have no competition, its cause that post is our...competition?

If you think Catch It has competition...reply...please!

Another successful KS freshman at OU

About a week ago, Chris Parker wrote about the college success of Chase Nelson and Kendrick Maple of Wichita Heights, and Tyler Caldwell from Goddard.

I am going to expand on it and throw in Joanna McFarland from Derby, another Kansan from the class of 2009, who like Maple and Caldwell is an Oklahoma freshman.

McFarland has logged some good minutes this year as a freshman on the University of Oklahoma Lady Sooners basketball team and has added 137 points with 134 rebounds to the OU total on the year. She is also the team’s third-leading shot blocker with 10.

After a 77-72 overtime win for Oklahoma over Notre Dame last night, McFarland’s Lady Sooner team is one win over Kentucky away from the women’s Final Four in San Antonio.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with the McFarland family last year and all though it kills me to be for OU, I can’t help but to pull for this team as long as McFarland is on it. Although they are ferociously competitive, you couldn't ask for a nicer family.

And believe me it is a struggle for her siblings to approve of their sister’s team as well. Sister Jessica and brother Jacob are both K-State alums and sister Jackie went to Colorado. Jessica and Jackie both played basketball for their respective schools before going on to pro careers overseas.

However it will be no problem for any of the four of us to pull for the Lady Sooners, who are three wins away from a national championship (or, realistically, two wins away from, at the very least, a shot at ending UConn's winning streak).

For the next four years, with another of the Wichita wrestlers Kyle Detmer, Caldwell, Maple, and McFarland, consider me an OU fan.

Ugh. I guess it will be the next five years when you throw in Blake Bell.

This is the last I am gonna talk (on this blog to this class or to any KU fans that i know).

KU, and this is hindsight mind you, had been sleepwalking through a lot of games down the stretch.

And while I'm at it, they did the same thing in the non-conference early in the year too!

Playing to just get by...we'll turn the switch on when we need to.

Texas (nut punching) Tech almost beat them in the Big XII tournament.

But...just turn the switch on. Watch us waste you!

Ops! The NCAA tournament isn't that forgiving!

Is that on Self? Or the players who left tears on the court instead of effort.

Did KU sleepwalk through the UNI game, and who is to blame?

DOWN GOES FRAZ...KU!

As a K-State fan, let me first say that there has never been a time in my life I can remember when K-State went further in the tournament than KU.

So, allow me to gloat just a little.

Hey KU fans! I know you have won a bizillion Big 8 and Big XII championships, not to mention a couple of national titles since 1988.

All very true.

But...WHERE ARE YOU GUYS WATCHING THE K-STATE GAME THIS WEEK!

I know, K-State will be lucky to win every game in front of them, even though they stomped Xavier's guts out earlier.

It is supposed to be hard! It's the Sweet 16! There are legit teams here. It's not like the second round where you get to play nobodies like Northern Iowa.

Knowing folks in the locker room after the bomb exploded...I can give you a quote.

"What KU left on the court, they made up for in the locker room."

What that means is that, if they had played to their potential, THEY WOULD HAVE WON A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP.

But they spent all the energy--that would have won the game--crying afterword.

Everybody was crying (Adam Morrison) uncontrollably, except...Xavier Henry.

Xavier was cracking smiles and looking like he could care less. Why would he care? He's in the draft. Millions await. Who cares about NCAA championships and doing it wrong!

Ohh, Marcus Morris, weeping uncontrollably. We are still the better team! Marcus pleads!

Yes. You are WAY better.

That is what makes this victory so sweet for every one else! All you had to do is play to your potential!

But instead, you will live the rest of your crying lives, wondering what would have happened if you had spent the energy you gave to crying afterword to the game itself.

Ali Farokhmanesh's 3-pointer...the biggest shot I have ever seen (Laetner included)! King Kong Balls!

I was looking for a reason to crack into the 18-year-old scotch, and Ali...you gave it to me.

Wildcats! GET EXCITED! This doesn't happen every year!

Smith Center

With the success the Smith Center Redmen have enjoyed over the past few years, comes a deep loathing from everyone not associated with the team. The Redmen, like the Yankees, Patriots and Red Wings, are constantly up against hoards of people who want nothing more than to see them fall.

I was one of those people.

New York Times writer Joe Drape recently released the book, “Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains with the Smith Center Redmen.” Drape moved to Smith Center and chronicled the undefeated state championship football season of 2008.

I picked up this book, not wanting to become a fan. I fought with every ounce of my being to resist liking this Kansas football juggernaut.

My fight did not last long.

Reading this book, it becomes instantly apparent the heights the Redmen have reached, are the result of a big hoist from every last member of the Smith Center community. The adults view the school system, and more importantly, the students in it, as the heart and soul of the town. And they are all deeply invested in making sure the kids succeed, on and off the fields of competition.

There is a philosophy in which all students are viewed and even loved, as if they were the biological offspring of everyone in town. It is one singular group; mentors tirelessly working to give the youth every tool, and every advantage necessary to grow into upstanding citizens.

Of course there is a special sense of pride when one’s own kid makes a play, but this community does not talk about my son, as much as our boys.

This is a structure that stoked jealousy in me. Not the kind of putrid, infuriating jealousy caused by a sports dynasty, but a thought provoking, awestruck kind of jealousy.

It is possible for a poison, me first, attitude to creep into the fabric of small towns. Unfortunately, it is a phenomenon that usually starts with the so called, “grown-ups,” and trickles down to affect the youth, who find themselves as pawns in an adult-sized version of a high school popularity contest.

While it is always better to win than lose, the more pressing issue is how my kid performed individually. Because if my kid looked good, then I look good, and have maintained my status within the community. And if I am lucky enough to have my kid play a great game, then just maybe, I will move up in status.

As if high school kids don’t have enough to worry about, trying to maintain their own reputations within the cruel world of adolescence, but they have now been given the burden of maintaining the popularity of…their parents?

And so, athletes enter team sports as lone-wolf individuals, with no real idea what it means to be part of a larger community. They never had a chance to learn what it means to be fully accountable to a group, more important than any individual.

6A Wrestling...WOW!

This year, Catch It Kansas orchestrated a massive amount of state wrestling coverage. On Friday alone, we had an all day live blog from the 6A and 5A tournaments, along with photos and around 89 videos, and a special wrestling edition of the Catch It Kansas Show. Our page views were through the roof.

Championship Saturday had two live blogs, one for the 6A fifth-place through championship matches, and one for 5A. Plus even more video and photos.

This massive amount of coverage was the result of two months of planning. And believe it or not, it was a greatly scaled down version of what we initially planned.

We figured it was better to use this year as a test run, so we know what to expect when we cover the event for real next year.

All of this coverage was the result of a mountain of work, but I don't think I have ever had so much fun doing so much work.

Part of it was due to the fact that 6-5A tournaments were at the INTRUST Bank Arena, where KWCH has a private luxury suite. Some of the most comfortable leather seats I have ever sat in, a living room with a high definition TV, and the best view in the house make it hard to have a bad time. Even though the wet bar was locked up tight.

I'm thinking about moving in and being the guy on the couch when the company uses the suite to entertain clients.

But mostly, it was because in 6A, which I was covering, Derby, Goddard, and Wichita Heights were separated by only 7 points going into the finals.

Derby, in first place with 148 points, had top-ranked Bradley Little in the 140-pound final, and Cody Shavlik in the 145-pound final.

Two-time defending state champion Goddard, had top-ranked Kaleb Bonilla in the 103-pound final, No. 2 Trey Houlden in the 140-pound final, No. 3 Dalton Beard in the 189-pound final, and No. 5 Josh Hicks in the 215-pound final.

Heights had top-ranked, and maybe the best pound-for-pound wrestler in the state, Daniel DeShazer in the 125-pound final, his cousin No. 2 Uylesses DeShazer in the 135-pound final, and No. 4 Hunter Jameson in the 160-pound final.

Translation--the team title was up for grabs with three local interest teams having a realistic shot.

Daniel DeShazer won his match for his second title in three years of high school wrestling, but Uylesses lost, meaning Heights settled for third.

Bonilla gave Goddard a win at 103, setting up a huge match between Little from Derby and Houlden from Goddard at 140.

Little had owned Houlden all year, beating him by 5 or 6 points in every match. But on the biggest stage, Houlden got a 2-point takedown with 10 seconds left in the match to beat Little by 1 point.

The Houlden win, along with a Shavlik loss in the next match made the team scores Derby 148, Goddard 145.5. Derby was done for the tournament and Goddard still had two dogs in the fight.

With all eyes on the 189-pound match, Dalton Beard, younger brother of Goddard legend and four-time state champion Boaz Beard, locked up Goddard's third-straight state championship in a raucous arena with a 3-2 win over Wichita Southeast's Alex Chaparro.

The win was Goddard's fourth in five years, and came in a year when the Lions had lost eight individual championships over the last two years. They were supposed to be down.

Guess not.

I can't wait for next year.

Wichita Eagle

Although it is somewhat of a rival organization (thanks Les for ruining my anonymity behind enemy lines) I enjoyed the trip to the Eagle.

Sports departments are truly a separate entity from news. In my experience at KWCH, everyone from sports to news has a much more lighthearted attitude than you would think. But in news, I think it is more of a defense mechanism. Joking around becomes the way of dealing with all the generally horrible things you have to report on daily.

Kirk Seminoff and Tom Seales attitudes reflected the laid back nature of a sports department. When the big news of the day is not a rape/murder of a teenager, but rather a coach blaming one of your columnists for booing in an arena, things at the office are pretty good.

I appreciated how they both talked about the lack of riches to be made, and that a good reporter will do a good job no matter what the subject. Kirk talked about two kinds of sports writers: those who are into sports and do it as a way to stay close, and those who are reporters who simply fell into sports as a venue to tell their stories.

I once read a boxing writer who said the key word to being a good boxing writer is the word writer, not boxing. He went on to say that too many people think that because they are knowledgeable sports fans, they would make good reporters.

I think this was Kirk and Toms' way of saying the same thing.

Again, although we work for rival organizations, I along with the rest of the Catch It Kansas staff, am a fan of Taylor and I was glad to hear the big wigs praise his writing.

Varsity Kansas used to be Joanna Chadwick and Jonathan Long. That was until Long made up a quote from Collegiate swimmer Josh Barrett without ever talking to Josh. I suspect this is the opening they were talking about. I think Taylor would fill in perfectly. He is a much better writer than Long in the first place.

On a side note, those tours make you feel like a monkey in the zoo. It was nice to be on the other end!

USA! USA! USA?

Growing up as a hispanic in Kansas, I can say that I am in an minority of hockey fans. Of course I love football like everyone else, but not as much as hockey. For my money, the Stanley Cup Playoffs make the best postseason in sports.

Living with my cousin Ryan (a Canadian whose brother actually has a maple leaf tattoo that says, "Made In Canada,") made the US, Canada Olympic hockey game on Sunday a MAJOR deal at my house. For the remainder of this story, picture Ryan decked out in an authentic No. 99 Team Canada Wayne Gretzky jersey, underneath an officially licensed Canada, Vancouver 2010 hoodie.

He, like every other Canadian, has said that there are only two medals that count in the Vancouver Olympics: mens and womens hockey gold.

Now, what made Ryan's head spin even more than the US's 5-3 win over Canada, was the fact that Canada clearly outplayed the US for the vast majority of the game. US goalie Ryan Miller simply stole it from the home team. Haha! In your face!

But the edge was soon taken off by the awful American post-game coverage of the win.

"How long before they compare it to 1980?" said Ryan, referencing the "Miracle on Ice."

Wow. Great question. There was no doubt in my mind that some ignorant, sensationalist moron would make that comparison. But surely any sports savvy journalist would see that NHL pros beating other NHL pros doesn't belong in the same breath as a group of college kids beating the best pros in the world.

But before these comparisons could be made, we must get to the fact that after losing the game, Canada would now implode.

Not Canada the hockey team, but Canada the country.

We take you live to our reporter at a Canadian sports bar for what will surely be the scene of a mass suicide.

Oops! Every single patron at the bar was singing "Oh Canada," loud and proud. Nice setup on the live shot. Truly a dark day for Canadians everywhere. And by the way, grab five random Americans off the street and I'll bet you at least three of them don't even know the words to, "The Star Spangled Banner."

Now, back to 1980.

Not even 10 minutes after the end of the third period, without even changing the channel, and here come the erroneous comparisons. Ugh.

Look, I know it was the eve of the 30-year anniversary and you desperately want to make that tie-in, but give me a break. Unlike Sunday, 1980 was the original "Pros vs. Joes." And unlike Sunday, the US win was in an elimination game.

We are joined now by Mike Eruzione, captain of the 1980 US hockey team, and game-winning goal scorer against the Soviets.

Mike, how does this win compare?

Well guys, it really doesn't. But thanks for marginalizing our accomplishment. Appreciate it.

By this point, Ryan has had a good laugh, and I no longer have a leg to stand on when it comes to rubbing it in. Not only do I know better as a sports fan, but I know better as an embarrassed part of the media that has overplayed its hand in the wake of what was a very good win.

The game was amazing. It had everything you could want, in the middle of an amazing atmosphere. I really hope a rematch in the medal round is on the horizon.

Win that game, and then we can go crazy sticking it to Canada.