I took the weekend off, but four local girls basketball teams were on the clock and performed quite nicely, to say the least.

How about University? What a story the Trailblazers have been during the tournament. Unranked and off the radar heading into sectionals, coach Bill Thornburgh's group has met every challenge in such impressive fashion.

On Saturday, University (20-6) disposed of Class A No. 4 Northeast Dubois with a 69-53 win at the Jeffersonville Semistate, punching its ticket to the state championship game this coming Saturday against FW Canterbury (20-5). The girls, with only one senior on the roster, have made school history with each win during the tournament...and that's just fun to talk about. With standout sophomore point guard Bria Sneed in foul trouble, the Blazers got 22 total points of their bench to help in Saturday's win. Erin Bortz scored 14 for University, while Katie Adlam added 13.

I don't know about you, but I'll be pulling for University on Saturday. I know I'm not supposed to say that, but I think many people are in the same boat.

In Class 2A, Heritage Christian survived in impressive fashion yet again by taking down Austin 82-66. Reading and hearing about Heritage Christian might seem a little monotonous, but what's so telling about these girls is that they continue to win with perhaps the biggest target on their back. Coach Rick Risinger has so many weapons and so much depth that it's almost scary. This Saturday, the Eagles have a showdown against undefeated Oak Hill (26-0) for the state title, which follows the 1A game at about 12:30 p.m.

And if it weren't for University, perhaps the best story during the girls tournament has been Class 3A Chatard...who won another close one on Saturday, ending the season of Vincennes Lincoln with a 56-51 overtime win. The Trojans have played in some nail-biters all tournament, earning close wins against Northwest and Roncalli during sectionals before eeking out two straight two-point wins at regionals. That's a sign of a tough team, I do know that much. This coming Saturday, Chatard is set to battle Plymouth (21-4) for a tip-off at 6 p.m.

Finally, in Class 4A, Carmel handily defeated Columbus East on Saturday 66-44 behind a huge 25-point performance from Chrissy Steffen. Talk about confidence. Following the Greyhounds (22-4) since the start of sectionals, it looks as though their confidence has been built at each step along the way...and that's a frightening thing for their state title opponent, defending champ South Bend Washington (23-2). Don't think for a minute that Carmel will be intimidated by Washington, as the Hounds have already won a big "underdog" game against No. 1 Ben Davis at regionals.

Here's a cheers for Central Indiana, getting representation in all four classes on the biggest stage this Saturday. I know many people will want to comment about the fact that three of the four schools are private, but I think people should be careful about that stuff. These student-athletes are busting their tails day in and day out, no matter which school they go to. Leave the public-private debate for dinner coversation with your friends, or other message boards.

VOTE NOW!

Thomas Finchum, a local diver from Lutheran featured in the February issue of HSSTM, has been named one of 11 finalists for the James Sullivan Award. The award is presented annually to the nation's top athlete, which will be announced on April 1 and is based on 2007 calendar year accomplishments.

If you click this link, you will be taken to a page on the USA Today site where you can vote for Finchum. Spread it around...once you see the list of nominees, you'll know this is quite an honor and it won't be easy to win. Either way, just the nomination is quite an accomplishment for Finchum.

ONE MORE THING

I find it hard to not comment about the Butler-Drake game on Saturday. First off, what a treat to be in Hinkle...the place was awesome and it's just an incredible sight to see it packed to standing-room only.

I'm not normally one to complain about officiating, and I certainly don't think the the calls going against Butler were the reason they lost the game. But I will say that it's disappointing to know that an officiating crew can, at their own discretion, completely destroy the flow of a game. As exciting as that game was, it could have been so much better if every single ticky-tack foul didn't get a whistle. The reason I say that the officials didn't decide the game is that the Bulldogs were unable to make wide open layups and make key free throws. That will kill you every time, and the problem with layups didn't just start on Saturday.

Yes, it's true. The day has finally come where I am able to blog. I know, I know -- I'm sure everyone has been holding their breath and has been strapped to their computer chairs for the past two weeks on end (who am I kidding? This is the intern we're talking about here...I'll just keep my mouth shut, get some doughnuts for everyone and finish my TPS reports).

Regardless, I have been here at HSSTM Central Indiana for more than a month now, and I can honestly say it has flown by. I've had the pleasure of closely working with Brian Moore and Dave McConnell, along with the rest of the HSSTM staff.

I had no clue what to expect when I first started. I didn't know that I would drive in a Hummer for the first time in my life to go to a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event at Warren Central, where I would see Clark Kellogg and gawk at him like a seven-year-old, star-struck Neanderthal.

I didn't plan on being able to go to the Indiana Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches' Conference that was in the end of January, where I would see how devoted the track coaches were to help out their squads.

And I certainly didn't expect to learn as much as I've already learned about the surrounding area high schools.

I love Indiana high school sports, but I've never delved into the schools that geographically revolve around Indianapolis. I'm originally from Northwest Indiana, where I attended Lake Central High School, so I've heard of the Carmel teams and Hamilton Southeastern teams among others because, frankly, they've beaten the snot out of a lot of the competition from my area. (I'm still a firm believer, though, that Northwest Indiana high schools are some of the most competitive in the state.)

But now I've been able to learn about the other Central Indiana high schools that make the region so strong, too: Lapel, Perry Meridian, Cathedral, Roncalli and others. The Chico Adams story alone has been worthwhile. The kid has gone 53-0 the past two wrestling seasons -- I get weak in the knees just thinking how quickly he would beat me in a match.

Through the first month of my time here, though, the most important thing I've witnessed involves the actual production of this magazine and Web site. The amount I've learned about what it takes to run and produce a magazine is something I will never take for granted. It's not a simple task by any means.

Sappiness aside, I'm thrilled to start this blog, where I guarantee there will multiple future references to Brad Stevens and the Butler Bulldogs basketball team. Although I eat, sleep and drink Bulldog basketball, I'll be sure to get my feet wet and check out what's happening around the area as well. The girls basketball state finals on March 1 and the boys basketball sectionals already have me on the edge of my seat.

Sorry this blog isn't as long as it could be, but I have to go wash Dave's car and pick up Brian's dry cleaning after I make a couple rounds of coffee. Have a good weekend, and be sure to watch the Butler-Drake BracketBuster game tomorrow at 5 p.m. on ESPN2.

Wow...this week has flown by. I haven't blogged since Monday, but didn't realize it because, as they say, time flies when you're having fun.

Except for one thing: I despise this weather. I'm over it. I'm not even asking for 80 degrees and sunny...just 60 degrees and cloudy would be fine.

In these last four days, HSSTM has but to bed the March issue (in other words, it's off to the printers). The March issue will hit Marsh and Blockbuster locations around Central Indiana next Friday, Feb. 29.

Also, Dave McConnell, Phil Temple and I went downtown for the NFL Combine. I tried to rush the entrance to the field and meet Peter King, but my colleagues wouldn't let me. (And yes, I know I basically just said I'd like to meet Peter King instead of someone who'll be a top 10 pick in the upcoming NFL Draft...what do you expect, I'm a writer.

On another housecleaning note, I will be at the National Football Foundation Banquet (with Temple & Temple) tomorrow evening. The NFF, which is a part of the college football Hall of Fame, recognizes those student-athletes who not only perform on the field, but perform in the classroom and community as well. You can find out more information here.

Friday's Musings:

• Hamilton Southeastern boys basketball got 34 points and 11 rebounds from Chris Carlino last night, but fell to No. 2 Lafayette Jeff, 80-77. The good news is that HSE is getting outstanding play from their post players heading into sectionals. The bad news is that the Royals got 26 points and nine rebounds from Charlie Duffy as well. HSE will need better defense in order to stop sectional rival and No. 3 Carmel.

• Speaking of Carmel, there's been quite a buzz about the Class 4A Greyhounds boys basketball team falling to Lafayette Central Catholic, a ranked Class A school, 86-75 earlier this week. This is the beauty of Indiana high school basketball, folks. That David vs. Goliath thing never quites goes away - and when two good teams meet, regardless of class size, anything can happen.

• If you have a chance, and you're into gymnastics, you might want to take note of this weekend's huge gymnastics event. DeVeau's Gymnastics will host "The Circle of Stars" this weekend at the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indy. The meet runs Friday through Sunday and is expected to feature 3,800 gymnasts between the ages of 5-18.

• The state bowling finals are this weekend at Anderson. Cooper's Sport Bowl will host the event, where Shelbyville's Alex Hill will be going for his second consecutive boys individual title. Lawrence North's girls team could be one the local favorites to emerge.

• Last, but not least, the boys state swimming finals are tonight and tomorrow at the Indiana University Natatorium, on the campus of IUPUI downtown. North Central, Carmel and Hamilton Southeastern will challenge Chesterton for the team title. For a look at the boys state finals, click here.

Enjoy the weekend!

If you're a fan of high school sports, you had to be on the edge of your seat this weekend, whatever event you happened to be at. Here at HSSTM, we certainly were.

On Saturday, I headed out to Mt. Vernon to catch some of the girls basketball tournament. The regionals are always, in my humble opinion, the most difficult step for any team searching for an elusive state title.

As I drove to Fortville, I had the Eagles debut 1972 album playing. And as I approached Mt. Vernon H.S., the final track began to play, a little known, non-hit called "Tryin." Here's what I heard as I pulled my car in to the packed parking lot:

"I'm just arriving in the city
and there's music on my mind
lookin' for my destination and
my home is far behind
'Cause it's a long road ahead
and you can make it in the end
and I'm gonna make it with my friends
And I'm tryin'..."

What a fitting tribute to this brutal day of basketball. Two games in 12 hours. A trip to the semistate hanging in the balance. Think about how true those lyrics are. The final destination is Conseco Fieldhouse in two weeks. There's still a long road ahead. But these teams are made of teenagers, most of whom are friends and don't want to see their journey end.

Pretty weird to hear that song at that moment. And pretty cool, too. For a recap of the girls basketball regionals, as far as Central Indiana teams are concerned, click here.

What else went down this weekend? Plenty...

The boys basketball tournament drawing took place last night. Our old friend, The Mind, breaks it all down here.

Individual wrestling state champions were crowned at Conseco over the weekend. I have to give a shout-out to my alma mater's own 103 pound state champ, Ethan Raley. The Indian Creek freshman went 33-0 and defeated previously unbeaten Casey Kenney of Jay County in the finals.

Raley was one of five locals to capture individual crowns. New Palestine's Kyle Ulrey (46-0) defeated Martinsville’s Briar Runyan at 152 pounds. A two-year, epic rivalry continued as Cathedral sophomore Brandon Wright (44-2) defeated Anderson Highland’s Camden Eppert in the 112 pound final. Eppert had defeated Wright in last year’s 103-lb. final, but had defeated the top-ranked Highland star twice before in this tournament. Lawrence North’s Cashe Quiroga won the 119-pound final with a 12-6 victory over Alex Weinzapfel of Evansville Mater Dei. And HSSTM January cover subject Chico Adams successfully defended his heavyweight crown at 285-pounds with a 3-2 victory over Winchester’s Adam Chalfant. Chico ends his high school career with two state titles and 107 consecutive wins. For more on the state finals, click here. 

Check back to HSSTM.com often for updates, scores and highlights. And remember - we're all tryin...

I know you missed me. Don't lie. And now that I'm done feeding my ego, let's get to a long list of notes this Friday.

• Had a phone interview last night with Eric Gordon. Unfortunately, I don't have much "news" to pass along. I was prohibited from asking the North Central grad his thoughts on the "situation" down at IU this week. Aside from wanting to have a great quote to put in this space, I was actually OK with the media relations department telling me to just not ask. That's not really what we're here for...you can read the paper if you'd like to be surprised by more canned responses. As for the interview, you can look forward to a follow-up story on our first cover boy, Mr. Gordon, in our 1st anniversary issue coming in April. I did ask him if he knew his cover ended up on Ebay (keep in mind we're a free magazine), to which he replied, "Oh man, really? That's crazy...it better have sold for a lot."
• What a weekend on tap in high school sports. I'll be headed to Conseco this evening for the first round of the individual wrestling state finals. There's loads of local grapplers hitting the mats, which you can read about by clicking here. Several undefeated wrestlers will be trying to close out their quest with ultimate immortality, including 103-pound Ethan Riley of Indian Creek (29-0), Kyle Ulrey of New Palestine at 152 (42-0) and heavyweight Chico Adams of Perry Meridian (47-0). I will admit that I've never wrestled, but just watching the state finals and other matches over the years, wrestling has to be at the top of the list for "most intense 2-6 minutes in high school sports". It's me and you, baby, mano-a-mano. We'll have magazines at the Varsity Club Restaurant at Conseco all weekend (until they run out), so be sure to stop by.
  
  
• I'd like to take a moment to congratulate Warren Central track and field coach Dennis McNulty, who is racking up just as many coaching honors as he is state titles. This month alone, McNulty, a firey fellow, was named a finalist for National Coach of the Year by the National High School Athletic Coaches Association, which will be announced in June in Colorado. On Feb. 1, the Indiana Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches named McNulty its Indiana Coach of the Year. And on Feb. 7, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) selected McNulty as the Central Sectional Coach of the Year (coaches from Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin). Deep breath. That was a mouthful. "I am quite humbled by all of this," McNulty said.
• Not to shamelessly self promote our magazine, but we received good word this week that the Central Indiana franchise of HSSTM (that's us, duh) has the highest Web site traffic of any other franchise around the country. By a longshot. While this is good news, it's certainly not the end of it...we need your help. If you like what we're doing here with the mag and the online portion, please spread the word to friends, family and anyone else interested in high school sports. We can do all the promotion and magazine ads and everything else, but the simple fact is that word of mouth is the most powerful avenue to get new visitors and readers (and possibly advertisers). Brian and I might not always be blogging every day, but we consistently update other parts of the site (mainly the Showcase stories on the homepage) to give people a reason to come back every couple days. In advance, thanks for your help and support.
• As far as the hardwood is concerned, let's just say there's a lot going on this weekend. On the boys side, three showdowns are on tap: tonight, red hot Brownsburg (15-3) takes its 13-game winning streak on the road for a conference battle with Lafayette Jeff (18-1), who has a 13-game streak of its own. Then on Saturday, Lawrence North (15-4) travels down to Bloomington South (16-1) for another great match-up. Also, in a marquee small-school contest, Guerin Catholic (15-4) travles to take on Lutheran (14-4). On the girls side...that's obvious, regionals take the court tomorrow. Our very own Brian Moore will be headed to the Mt. Vernon (Fortville) Regional while our boss, Phil Temple, is headed to Southport.
• We received a humbling announcement this morning from Hamilton Heights High School. Junior student Tyler Shook has been diagnosed with inoperable cancer in his face and skull. Tyler is currently going through chemo and radiation treatments and there is a way you can help the Shook family. The Key Club at Hamilton Heights is trying to help raise money, and the Applebee's in Noblesville has agreed to donate 15 percent of their sales this Monday, Feb. 18th to his cause. You MUST bring a flyer to the restaurant, so please email assistant athletic director Ruth McKinney at rmckinney@mail.hhsc.k12.in.usfor more information and the flyer. HSSTM wishes Tyler and his family all the best through this very difficult time. 

Ah, Valentine's Day. A day where men everywhere wait until the last minute to purchase a box of chocolates and flowers in hopes of fulfilling the duties of Cupid. A day where women wait for the aforementioned items to arrive so that it will prove their man's valor.

At HSSTM, we've got but one Valentine - high school sports. We love this time of year: the tournaments, the anticipation, dashed hopes and fulfilled dreams. And each month, HSSTM sends out it's card, candy and flowers via a free monthly magazine.

Onto the high school sports news...

• Indian Creek will induct the school's first athletic Hall of Fame class this Friday, Feb. 15 at halftime of the Braves rivalry game against Brown County. Members of the class include Kip Brownfield (boys basketball), Mike Dennis (swimming, school record-holder in 200 IM, 100 Fly, 100-breaststroke, 200 Free Relay), Ryan Posey (tennis), Rob Ray (football), Mark Sisson (track/cross country, school record-holder in 2-mile run, 1979 state champion), Delbert Teeters, Nancy Teeters, Russell Teeters, Natasha Weddle (girls basketball, All-State and Indiana All-Star).

• The No. 2 Carmel boys basketball team might hope that the old adage about losing a game before the tournament is a good thing holds true. In fact, they have to believe that after the Greyhounds fell to Warren Central, 72-68, in overtime last night. The Warriors were led by Josh Jones' 19 points, including a go-ahead drive to the basket with 45 seconds left that put Warren up for good. There were eight ties and six lead changes - in the fourth quarter and overtime alone. Things got a little chippy between the two MIC rivals at times and Warren was whistled for two technical fouls. But in the end, the Warriors got a big win and knocked Carmel out of the unbeaten ranks.

• State wrestling finals (individual) begin tomorrow, details here.

• Dave McConnell takes a look at the upcoming girls basketball  regionals here.

• And finally, we'll be bringing you a look at the upcoming boys hoops tournament (the draw is Sunday!)

Not many surprises last night as the first games of the girls basketball sectionals got underway, but that could certainly change. Here's a wrap-up of some of last night's games, as well as some interesting match-ups to look forward to.

• Our February cover ladies at Lapel started things off with a 66-32 coasting against Muncie Burris. The offensive balance continued, as Elizabeth Jennings, Courtney Prater and Betsy Guion each chipped in 13 points. Next up, the Lady Bulldogs face Wapahani (12-9) in Friday's semis at 6 p.m., hosted by Elwood.
• Also in 2A, Sectional 43 host Heritage Christian rolled to the next round with a 75-37 win over Park Tudor. It's a big night at the Heritage gym tonight, as Scecina faces Ritter followed by Indian Creek vs. Triton Central.
• Jumping to 4A, the marquee early-round contest between No. 7 Carmel and No. 13 Hamilton SE didn't disappoint, as the Greyhounds held off a late surge by the Royals and avenged four straight losses to HSE with a 56-51 win. Another Hamilton County school awaits after Fishers (16-5) beat Zionsville...the 'Hounds and Tigers will now tip off in Friday's semis.
• In the 4A Avon sectional, Pike notched a mini-upset of Brownsburg last evening to earn a semifinal game against the host Orioles on Friday. The other semifinal on Friday is one of the more intriguing, with No. 1 Ben Davis set to face Decatur Central (16-6). Ben Davis is undoubtedly the heavy favorite, but if there's a team that can scare them in this sectional, it's going to be the 'Hawks.
• Sectional 10, hosted by Arlington, has all signs pointing to a sectional championship showcase game between No. 4 Lawrence North and No. 8 North Central. The Panthers soundly defeated Lawrence Central last evening and have Broad Ripple in the semis, while the Wildcats have to get through Arlington tonight and a Friday semifinal against the winner of the Cathedral-Warren Central contest.
• In perhaps the most "unknown" sectional in 4A, Sectional 11 hosted by Southport, things are looking interesting. After Franklin Community beat Southport last night, the Grizzly Cubs have earned a Friday game against Franklin Central. In a big double header tonight, Center Grove will face Greenwood while Whiteland is set to play Perry Meridian.
• Shifting to 3A, Maggie Boyer and her Lebanon squad avoided a repeat of last season by winning their sectional opener against North Montomgery, led by Boyer's 31 points and 10 boards. The sectional host Lady Tigers now have a Friday semifinal game against Sagamore Conference foe Crawfordsville, a team they lost to by 11 points back on Nov. 30. The other semifinal pits Danville against Western Boone. Can the two Boone County rivals, Lebanon and WeBo, make it to the title game for another heated battle?
• The defending 3A champ has been beat, with Chatard taking down Brebeuf last evening for the second time this season. Heavy favorites in the Beech Grove sectional, the Trojans will face Northwest in the semis while the host Hornets and Roncalli square off in the other semifinal.

I know that was boring, but hopefully it gives you a pretty clear picture of what lies ahead during this week's sectionals. Here's some other news and notes, outside the hoops world:

• We're tracking National Signing Day as football stars across the state give pledges to their future college programs. I got a call from my buddy Derek Schultz at XL 950 this morning, so it's looks like I'll be going on the afternoon show to discuss area committments. In early this morning were two expected committments from Hamilton Southeastern, as DT Nick Sliger penned his name for Indiana University and LB Chris Carlino signed with Purdue. Do you think those two will have any fun playing for the Bucket the next four years? Check back tomorrow, as we plan on posting a Showcase on the homepage of every signing we can get our hands on.
• Girls swimming state finals are this Saturday at the IU Natatorium on the campus of IUPUI, with the finals heats starting at 1:00 in the afternoon. HSSTM wants to know, will anyone be able to "Catch 22"?
• The individual wrestling semistate is also this weekend. I have always thought, in any sport, semistate is the toughest round. Think of all the wrestlers that are one, two, maybe three matches away from earning the ultimate trip to the state finals. That's the kind of pressure that athletes feed off. It's also the kind of pressure that can tighten everything up. Best of luck to the guys.

From time to time, there's a night where a team simply isn't going to lose.

That was the No. 2 Carmel boys hoops team on Friday night, simple as that. The Greyhounds beat then-No. 6 Lawrence North for the first time in 18 years. But they didn't just beat them, frankly, they ran the Wildcats out of the gym by a final of 77-45.

I realize it was just one game. I'm sure LN realizes the same thing. But for Carmel, it was monumental. And it was done in front of a standing-room only crowd of roughly 4,000 hoop-crazed fans. I showed up about 10 til 7:00 and there wasn't an open seat in the place...40 minutes before tip.

Even during pregame, I got the sense that Carmel was all business. They were jacked up and it seemed as though every player, student and fan wearing blue and yellow had this game circled on the calendar for quite some time.

Then, it was proven in a matter of minutes. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, Mark Galloway's group used a flurry of offense and stout defense to explode for an 18-2 lead. The Greyhounds couldn't be stopped, and LN collectively looked like they didn't know what hit them.

By the way, Carmel point guard Daniel Moore can hoop with the best of them. The kid is special. He wound up with 19 points, eight rebounds and nine assists. Not a bad stat line, except for the fact that it still doesn't do him justice. Moore could be described as an athlete...an All-State soccer player that just happens to also have a shot at going D-I on the hardwood. He looks to pass first and shoot second, and he uses his body incredibly well to penetrate the lane.

As you can tell, I was impressed with the Greyhounds. Between Moore, Stuart Douglass, Jordan Brewer, Morgan Newton and Charlie Hansen, this squad has a lot of ways it can beat you. And perhaps the defensive unit was the most notable strength as anything else. I haven't seen No. 1 New Albany play this season, but I'd be hard pressed to think they could look much better than Carmel did on Friday.

But as impressed as I was on Friday, I'd have to say that I was a thrown off a bit when I saw the 'Hounds sqeaked one out on Saturday at Zionsville by just six points. After such an emotional win for a conference title on Friday, you can see how there could be a bit of a letdown the next night.

The question is, are the Greyhounds the slight favorite in 4A? They've got a shot to be undefeated heading into the tournament, as their biggest road block is a Feb. 12 showdown at Warren Central.


OTHER NEWS AND NOTES:

• After just writing about Carmel above, I'd rather not mention the school again right here. But it's pretty hard to ignore the fact that the Carmel girls swimming team qualified 23 athletes - four short of the maximum - to compete at this coming Saturday's state finals. That depth has put them in a position to win No. 22 in a row.
• Last week I mentioned the Chatard boys hoops team, and now the Trojans aren't making me look too good. After upsetting Cathedral to move to 12-2 on the season, Chatard lost back-to-back games to Roncalli and Anderson this weekend. Roncalli is playing tougher as the season progresses, so 3A Sectional 26 is looking more and more ridiculous as time passes. You've got Chatard (12-4), Roncalli (12-2), Northwest (13-3), Howe (10-5) and Beech Grove (12-3) all vying for the title.
• The fun starts this week for girls basketball teams across the state. Anyone care to go out on a limb and predict an "upset" sectional champion? If I had to choose an under-the-radar squad that could pull it off, it would be Fishers. That means the Tigers would have to beat Zionsville, then the winner between No. 7 Carmel and No. 13 Hamilton Southeastern, followed by a sectional title game against either Noblesville or Westfield.

Before we get started, a few off-the-wall things for you.

Did anybody happen to catch "60 Minutes" last night? I'm not one for the news-magazine format most of the time, but I have to give a tip of the hat to Scott Pelley for conducting one of the most intriguing interviews I've ever seen. Pelley sat down with FBI interrogator George Piro, who was the lone confidant/outlet for Saddam Hussein during the former Iraqi leader's time in prison. You can catch a clip of it here, but I don't have time to go find the entire interview for you.

Second, as my buddies here at the HSSTM office would be happy to attest to, I'm not much of a movie guy. But I will say that I watched two movies this weekend. I'm about three years late on this observation, but if you haven't seen it, go out and rent "Crash." It's a quite thought-provoking script about how race affects us in our everyday lives.

Now to high school sports, which is what I actually do for a living.

• The IHSAA wrestling state tournament is in full swing, and this past weekend there was tons of action to take in. Of note, New Pal qualified nine wrestlers for this upcoming Saturday's regional at Perry Meridian. Dominating at 152 pounds was Kyle Ulrey, who moved to 34-0 on the season. And Ulrey wasn't the only undefeated to come out of that sectional. At 171, Roncalli's Jacob Blackwell moved to 32-0 after his sectional championship match against New Pal's Max Begovich. And in a marquee match at 119, Franklin Central's D.J. Rackley pinned Shelbyville's Justen Lock to take his 32-0 record into regionals.
• In the team wrestling competition, this Wednesday's regionals have some really interesting matches to follow. Cathedral's depth will be tested in the opening round against a below-the-radar Pendleton Heights squad, and if the Irish move past the Arabians, a likely match against a tough Lawrence North team would follow. Those matches start at 6 p.m. at North Central. Also, the Beech Grove regional features a semifinal match between Perry Meridian and Roncalli. If the Falcons can get past the Rebels, they would likely face New Pal for the regional title.
• The girls basketball sectional pairing were announced last night, and I'm going to leave most of the analysis to my colleague Brian Moore for his blog tomorrow. But I did look over some of the scheduled games, and I thought Ben Davis got an interesting draw and will have to face a good Decatur Central team in its first game. Also, the Carmel vs. Hamilton Southeastern sectional opener will be one of the better games, with the winner likely to face an up-and-coming Fishers team.
• Finally, keeping tabs on one of our featured preseason girls ballers, HSSTM November covergirl Maggie Boyer of Lebanon has committed to play at Miami (Ohio). I've made a call to Lebanon to get a quick interview with Boyer, so look for that later this week on this blog or our Web site homepage. Congrats to Boyer, who is currently leading the area in scoring at 28.5 points per game.

Winter has apparently decided to stick around for a little longer than a few days. Glad to see it was in time for the Colts loss on Sunday, you know, just to make everyone's mood's that much worse around Central Indiana.

What should brighten the mood? Perhaps a little high school sports news? Well, then you've come to the right place, we happen to have a little of that around here.

Let's dive in with swimming, since it inevitably makes us think of summer (I know, I know, bad joke). Hamilton Southeastern's girls team won the Hoosier Crossroads Conference championship meet, registering 519 points to Zionsville's runner-up 296.

The 200 Medley Relay team of Maegan O'Connor, Christian Jacobs, Lindsay Rogers and Carly Mercer set a new conference record at the meet. Records were also set by the Royals in the 200 Free Relay and 400 Free Relay. Rogers, one of our Dec. cover girls, set individual conference records in the 200 IM and the 100-breast stroke, while Sarah Clay (another Dec. cover girl) won the 1-meter diving event. The Royals are tuning up in hopes of topping Carmel's 21 consecutive state titles.

Some other notes on this glorious Tuesday:

• We're finishing up the February issue this week, so we'll be providing you sneak peeks at that over the coming days/weeks.

• The boys basketball Indianapolis City Tournament is going on this week, and we've got a showcase feature up that will let you track what's happening there.

• Got to give a little kudos and credit to my main man, Dave McConnell. The Mind scored an interview with the incomparable Cal Ripken. Bill Lynch, Tony Dungy, Cal Ripken, Brad Stevens? HSSTM's not doing too bad, huh?

• Had a great conversation with Greg Schellhase, the new athletic director at Guerin Catholic. The Golden Eagles have come a long way in the three years they've been in existence, building an athletics program from scratch. Keep an eye on them throughout the year.

For those of you who enjoy a few good links to help pass the time (though I highly recommend you get outside - it's nearly 60 degrees out there!), I've put a few together that you might enjoy:

-- Pat McKee at the Indianapolis Star did a neat interview with our Jan. issue cover subject, Chico Adams.

-- Last Friday I put together an Editor's Cut on North Central girls basketball star Briana Bass. You can check it out HERE or you can click HERE to read the 'Grill' interview from the Jan. issue of HSSTM.

-- Speaking of Editors' Cuts, we've archived them for your reading pleasure. Just go to our Central Indiana home page, scroll over the tab "Editors' Extras" and go down to "Editors' Cuts" for a full list.

-- We'll have a new video up on our Web site in the next few days, be sure to check it out.

-- For fun, here's some non-high school sports related links:

I found this to be hilarious - and true. Gene Collier of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote about the worst cliches in sports.

And for kicks, I'll pass along one of my Monday lunchtime reading staples, Sports  Illustrated's Peter King, who writes the "Monday Morning Quarterback" column each week. Gotta get geared up for next weekend's playoff showdowns, folks.

All for now...

High school swimming doesn't get a whole lot of pub on the HSSTM blog, so I feel it necessary to let you know just how crazy it can be.

Last evening, I went up to Hamilton Southeastern where the Royals, the No. 1 boys and No. 2 girls, were hosting a four-way meet with Carmel (No. 1 girls and No. 4 boys), Fishers and West Lafayette.

It was a relatively innocent trip, just to drop off some copies of our new January issue, and certainly wasn't the first high school swim meet that I've attended. It was probably the 50th, so none of what you are about to read came as a surprise to me.

I got there about 5:15 with the meet scheduled to start at 6. The stands were already half full and would later fill to hold about 300 spectators. I stood on the deck just having come-and-go conversation with Royals coach Andy Pedersen, HSE co-athletic director Greg Habegger and Fishers co-athletic director Jon Miles.

The start time quickly approached, and that's when the fun began. I looked at my watch and it read 5:53, which was the punctual time that the HSE boys team began its pre-meet chant.

When I say chant, I mean chant. If you've been to a swim meet, you know what I'm talking about. The Royals were in their home pool and wanted to let everybody know that they were there defending their turf.

Of course you can't understand a word of the chant, but that's not the point. And soon after the HSE boys were through with their display, the girls team took their turn and began an intricate calling of their own.

The girls are a little bit more creative, I have to say, including several hand gestures and mini dances along with their message. But once the HSE teams were done, were any of the visiting teams going to respond?

Have no doubt. Up next was Carmel, as their boys team got together for their own yell fest. Keep in mind, all of this overshadows the beat-box of several top-40 radio hits blaring loudly over the PA system.

The vaunted Carmel girls team next took their turn, clapping along with the beat as they let everybody know that they're in attendance. Fishers was next, but I never officially heard anything from West Lafayette.

The highlight of the pre-meet festivites had to come from one of the Carmel boys, as "Souldja Boy" played for everyone to hear. This guy, a taller fellow with curly hair and probably a senior, stepped onto the narrow deck that splits the competition pool from the diving pool. He went ahead and completed the "Souldja Boy" dance for everyone to see, much to the approval of his teammates.

This isn't the only place that this atmosphere shows up, but it's certainly one of the better places to attend a swim meet. Both Hamilton SE and Carmel have built high school and club programs that most could only dream of. It's intense and they have helped make it that way. At HSE, they made a move to put a set of bleachers on the deck right next to the action. Why? So that the Southeastern Swim Club youngsters can sit close and get an idea of what they aspire to be in 3-6 years.

It's events like this that make my job fun. I recently had a parent ask me what my favorite sport is to cover, and the first thought in my mind was football...because I've been a football junkie forever. But then I thought about it a little more, and it's really things like this swim meet that make you realize what high school athletics is all about. Especially with swimming, you've got such a tight-knit community and support system that just makes things a little more memorable and unique.

Just another Thursday evening on the high school circuit. By the way, the Carmel girls and HSE boys won the meet.

There's many drawbacks to Christmas and New Year's falling in the middle of the week, say on a Tuesday for example. But there's one huge benefit that overrides all - before you have the chance to blink, it's Friday already. Sweet.
To celebrate this occassion of a 2.5-day work week, followed by another four-day weekend, I've got kind of a scattered notebook of thoughts and observations for you. Enjoy, and an early cheers for 2008.

• With Warren Central's hiring of former Evansville Reitz football coach John Hart recently, I've heard some different rumblings and opinions that seem to come up routinely when money is being spent. One of the arguments I hear is that it's ridiculous for schools to put all this money into coaches, new facilities and athletic funds when this money could be put elsewhere. One main point to this argument is that the money needs to be spent on education-based activities...AKA "learning." I see what people are saying, but I'd like to throw out the argument that a high school student can learn comperable and important lessons on the field of play as they can in the classroom. A good coach can be a vital parent figure to our area student-athletes. If a school has a good coach, in more ways than X's and O's, then the money is being spent wisely with the lessons they teach on the field - leadership, teamwork, adversity, success and many more. Athletics are about more than wins and losses, but let's be honest, the mainstays of football and basketball are what brings a little revenue to the school.
• The Cathedral boys hoops squad is off to a solid start, including last night's one-sided affair against Brebeuf. The Irish have started to show their inside-outside capabilities with junior Errick Peck low in the post and sharpshooters Sean Esposito and Patrick Paligraf on the outside. Throw in slasher Kelsey Barlow and you've got some versatility on the floor. Saturday night, Cathedral has its make-up game against Howe that should be the Irish's toughest test to date.
• One of the holiday tournaments taking place this week down south is the Shelby Shootout, where host Shelbyville notched a thrilling 76-75 win over rival Rushville last night. Josh Kredit-Phelps knocked down the game-winner with four seconds to play and totaled 29 points in the contest. The Golden Bears will be playing Roncalli on Saturday at 8 p.m. in the tournament championship after the Rebels beat Heritage Christian, 54-41.
• Well, the introduction of the McConnell Mailbag has been a resounding failure thus far. At least I can say that I tried. And in response to "Tim G." who posted a comment about the Mailbag introduction a few weeks ago, no, I will not need to pay royalties to Bill Simmons if I can't even post the Mailbag in the first place. But the thought of even being included in the same arena as Simmons is quite flattering...can I just have his job? I'd still like to answer questions whenever they might be asked, so feel free to post one here or e-mail me at dave.mcconnell@hsstm.com.
• Is New Year's Eve the most overrated "holiday" ever? Discuss. I say yes.
• Christmas in the McConnell family was a blast this year, with my 2-year-old nephew absolutely stealing the spotlight. And I was officially introduced to kid TV, having to sit through multiple episodes of the Doodlebops. I hope most of you don't even know what the Doodlebops are. If you care to be weirded out, visit www.doodlebops.com and tell me you expected to see blue, purple and yellow people.
• As a reminder, our January issue will hit Marsh and Blockbuster stores on Friday, Jan. 4. We will be sending out the digital copy a few days before, so if you haven't yet subcribed to the ditigal copy for free, you can do that here.

We seem to have a name for everything nowadays. The Friday after Christmas is known as “Black Friday” because it puts so many stores “in the black” (profit) for the year.

Well, what’s this – the Friday before Christmas – known as? Killing Time Friday? Mailing It In Friday?

The final work day before a long Christmas break is certainly bound to bring out the, uh, inefficient in all of us.

Except here at HSSTM, that is. You’ll find that we’re still hard at work today, neatly wrapping up the year. Notice our Showcase stories on the Web site, for proof.

Our own Austin Chadwick, from the corporate offices of HSSTM in Tulsa, Okla., recently scored an interview with Minnesota Vikings Pro Bowler and Rookie of the Year candidate Adrian Peterson. Check out the great Q & A if you have time (and let’s not kid ourselves, you’ve got the time today).

Also, we’ve put together a smaller version of the Holiday Tournament circuit story from the Dec. issue. If you’re making plans to catch some holiday hoops action, our guide to the tournaments over the next week will assist you in that endeavor.

And now, I present something totally non-high school sports related. Call it a Christmas gift from me to you:

My Top 5 Christmas Movies:

(5) White Christmas – Yes, it’s the one with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. Yes, it’s a cheesy musical with George Clooney’s aunt, Rosemary. And yes, it was made in 1954. But that doesn’t detract from the feel-good atmosphere of this flick. Every time it comes on, I have to watch it.

(4) The Santa Clause – I thought I’d put this on here for my kids. We watch it every year and Tim Allen was at his comedic prime (with “Home Improvement” when he made this in 1994. Then a couple nights ago it was on the Disney Channel. We watched half of it as a family and then put the kids to bed…and my wife and I came back downstairs to finish it.

(3) A Christmas Story – Who doesn’t love the “You’ll shoot your eye out” lines, the leg lamp masquerading as a major award and the bunny suit Ralphie is forced to wear? Added bonus: the story takes place in Northern Indiana. And TBS/TNT runs it for 24 straight hours each Christmas.

(2) National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation – One of the most quotable comedies ever. Chevy Chase at his best. (Jeez, I sound like Roger Ebert.) From crazy Cousin Eddie and his ridiculous dickie turtleneck to Uncle Louis’ hairpiece, it’s the ultimate example of the not-so-perfect Christmas.

(1) It’s A Wonderful Life – You’d think a 1946 black-and-white movie might have gotten passed up a long time ago. But there’s something about Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed that always pull me in. Life’s ultimate lesson taking place in the backdrop of our favorite holiday; even 60 years after it came out, it still resonates with millions every year.

Well, that’s my list. Hopefully you’ll catch a few of these over the next 4-5 days. From all of us at HSSTM, Happy Holidays!

 

As my son keeps reminding me, we’ve got just six days left before Christmas. And we’ll see if Santa is going to be kind to Central Indiana athletic teams over the holiday break, because there’s lots of action in high school sports between now and Jan. 1.

This Saturday, I’ll be at the Holiday Splash ‘N Clash at Hamilton Southeastern, with copies of the Dec. issue. The event begins at 8 a.m. and will showcase several teams from Central Indiana: HSE, Greenfield-Central, Anderson Highland and Roncalli.

Also on Saturday, the NWAC vs. IPSAC Challenge takes place at Howe H.S. The best of the Chicago-area schools vs. the best of the Indianapolis Public Schools (as it’s billed) features three big games: Tech vs. Gary Roosevelt (1 p.m.); Northwest vs. Gary Wirt (3 p.m.); Howe vs. Gary Westside (5 p.m.).

Lots of Holiday Tournaments taking place around the area next week – we’ll put a full breakdown up on Friday (and leave it up throughout next week) on the main page of our Web site for those looking to attend some quality basketball tournaments in the area.

Speaking of hoops, what a strong statement by the boys basketball team at Lawrence North last night. The No. 6 Wildcats defeated No. 2 Warren Central 67-45. LN was a force defensively, forcing Warren to shot just 26 percent from the field.

The Warriors kept fighting and clawing their way back into the game after deficits of 7, 9, 4 throughout the first three quarters, but in the end, Lawrence North used their height advantage to keep the Warriors at bay.

It seems as though Warren might be scratching and clawing in several high-profile matchups this season against the likes of Lawrence North, Cathedral and Carmel. After losing Mr. Basketball candidate Warren Offutt to a knee injury a few weeks back, the Warriors are going to have did deep against some talented teams. And I would expect nothing less from Warren coach Scott Heady, who will push the Warriors to execute and shoot the ball more efficiently.

In office related news, had a great meeting with Robb Vessely this morning. Vessely is the athletic director of Eastern Hancock, a Class 2A school in Hancock County. Vessely is doing great things for the Royals and mentioned the new facilities upgrades the school is working on as a way to centralize their football, baseball and softball fields.

Also got a fun e-mail from Heritage Christian AD Jeff Hester. Jeff highly suggested a book called “Walk On”  for anyone looking for a good holiday read. I’m going to try and add it as a last minute stocking stuffer and suggest you do as well. In a related note, Alan Williams will be speaking at Heritage on Friday, Jan. 25 at 6 p.m.

We just sent the Jan. issue off to press and I must second Dave McConnell when I say it looks great. There’s a high factor for visual appeal with this issue. I encourage you to pick it up beginning Fri., Jan. 4.

 

The past five days have seen some pretty darn impressive performances and accomplishments.

• To start off, what a showing by the Indiana School for the Deaf at last weekend's City wrestling tournament, where the Deaf Hoosiers finished a staggering second place to perrenial winner Cathedral. You may have read this stat before, maybe during the Deaf Hoosiers impressive run this football season, but they have a total of 49 boys enrolled at the school. 49. Think about that for a minute. Each earning second place individual finishes for Indiana Deaf were Jamie Johnson (285 pounds), Corey Burton (215) and Colin Analco (125). Here's a tip of the hat to the athletes themselves, as well as coach Mike Paulone and the rest of the administration for running such a fine athletic department.
• Not to be forgotten, North Central earned a boys-girls sweep at the Marion County Swimming Championships on Saturday, led by the girls 200 yard freestyle relay team of Amy Katz, Brittany Kent, Kristen Lewis and Lauren Massey setting a new county and school record with a time of 1:38.74. And the Lawrence North girls had an impressive finish in second place, getting a county record in the 100-yard butterfly from freshman phenom Julie Ogden.
• And what about the Warren Central boys basketball team? What a job early this season by coach Scott Heady, keeping his team hungry and downright driven after losing standout Walter Offutt for the season. After hearing the news of Offutt's injury, the Warriors went out and defeated then-No. 1 East Chicago Central at the Dec. 8 Challenge of Champions. Then, this past weekend Warren used a spark from guard Jarrin Forte to defeat rival Ben Davis, 73-62. The Warriors are now ranked No. 2 in the all-class coaches' top-20 and have a big one tonight as they host No. 6 Lawrence North.
• Sticking with the boys, how about Perry Meridian's impressive 61-58 upset of No. 17 Franklin Central? Sounded like a great game with a great finish. The Flashes came into that game undefeated at 5-0, rolling along, but this is one sign of many to come that parity will prevail this season. Very few teams have the ability to separate themselves from the rest of the state, which should make for very interesting months of February and March.
• Back in girls hoops, North Central guard Briana Bass played through a severely broken nose in Saturday's big win over rival and No. 10 Carmel, 56-30. Bass posted 20 points in that one, just two days after leaving a game bloodied in the nose. Gotta love a gritty performance like that.

I'll be posting an Editor's Cut on Thursday of my Dec. story on Tony Dungy and the All Pro Dad organization, so be on the lookout for that (if you're into that kind of thing, I don't know). Also, keep in mind that I'm trying to put together a weekly McConnell Mailbag, so feel free to e-mail me at dave.mcconnell@hsstm.com if you wish to ask a question or pick my brain.
Lastly, I'd like to take a moment to wish everybody a safe and happy holiday season. I know I'm looking foward to having a few days off with friends and family, and I bet many of you are thinking the same. Is it really almost 2008? Eeeesh...

It's never a good day when you drive to work and realize the CD player in your car is busted - especially when you've only had that car since July and nothing should be wrong with it. I'm a little frustrated, to say the least.

Anyways, we're having first review on the January issue today and I'd just like to come out and say that this one might be our most visually appealing issue yet. Our graphic designer, Grant Glas (proud graduate of Lawrence Central), has continued to make the layout of our magazine more eye-catching and fresh each month. You can subcribe to our digital magazine and have one newsletter and each issue delivered right to your e-mail inbox, a couple days before hard copies hit newsstands, by clicking here.

• The championship of the girls City Tournament is set for tomorrow night at Cathedral, as No. 3 Heritage Christian will battle No. 18 Chatard at 7:30 p.m. in a game between two undefeateds. The two teams also met in last year's City title game with Heritage notching a 51-28 win. Just gazing around some stats, did anybody know that Lady Eagles coach Rick Risinger has a 60-6 record through 2.5 seasons? Geez. Chatard's experience, led seniors Anna Boese and Caroline Schutzman, will have to figure out a way to slow down the junior trio of Kelly Faris, Emily Anderson and Claire Freeman.
• Kudos to Hamilton Southeastern diver and HSSTM December covergirl Sarah Clay, who broke a seven-year-old school diving record on Thursday evening in a dual meet win over Brownsburg. Clay posted a 309, breaking former state champion Kari Retrum's mark of 294.
• The Center Grove girls basketball team has notched a couple huge wins, 38-36 over then-No. 9 Bloomington South on Dec. 6 before Tuesday's 68-61 road win over No. 11 Martinsville. The Trojans are now 6-2 and have another marquee game Saturday night when they host No. 13 Terre Haute South.
• A couple of thigs to look forward to, the Indiana Football Coaches Association and Indianapolis Star are set to announce the winner of the 2007 Mr. Football award next Wednesday the 19th. Also on the 19th, Warren Central is scheduled to announce the hiring of a new football coach.
• A trio of sophomores have sparked some area boys basketball teams lately, showing that there's some up-and-coming talent in the area. Howe's Jordan Manuel is averaging 15 points, 10 boards and four blocks per game, while North Central's Terone Johnson and Washington's Ronald Ross are filling the stats sheet as well. Howe will be hosting No. 5 Cathedral on Saturday night.
• The first McConnell Mailbag will hopefully debut next week, but I need some participation people. You can post a comment on any blog with a question for me, or e-mail me at dave.mcconnell@hsstm.com. Questions can be geared toward anything in high school sports, something specific to the magazine, or I could even try to answer why the heck so many people tune in to watch Entertainment Tonight every evening.

 

We’re working on laying out the Jan. issue here in the office today, but there were a couple of things I wanted to get to before I huddle with the incomparable Grant Glas, our graphic designer, and The Mind of McConnell himself.

 

• One of the most heralded football programs in all of Indiana will be looking for a new head coach soon. Cathedral High School football coach Jim O’Hara resigned on Wednesday after six seasons and a 50-24 record that included a state title in 2006.

O’Hara had to leave his alma mater due to the increasing pain of a ruptured disc in his back. “With a full load of teaching and trying to manage the program, it’s in the best interest of the school for me to give up the reins and take care of myself,” O’Hara told The Indianapolis Star. “It was a true honor to be head coach at Cathedral, (but) I have to try and get this body back into shape.”

The Irish had won 41 of their last 49 games under O’Hara, who did say that would like to return to coaching, should his body recover. Overall, O’Hara is 87-48 as a head football coach, which includes six seasons at Hamilton Southeastern.

 
As Cathedral athletic director Terry Fox pointed out Wednesday, it is a sad day for the Irish. O'Hara is a hard-working coach with a deep passion for Cathedral, the community, the student-athletes and the game of football. HSSTM wishes Coach O'Hara the best of luck in his recovery.

• Tough to see Briana Bass go down for North Central last night. The Miss Basketball candidate and University of Tennessee recruit had to leave the No. 5 Panthers game against No. 15 Fishers after taking an elbow to the face and bleeding quite a bit. North Central went on to defeat Fishers, 49-42, even without their star guard.

I spoke with Bass just a few short weeks ago for a piece that will be in the upcoming Jan. issue. She’s a great student-athlete, with a good head on her shoulders and completely embraces the role of a leader. And if there’s one thing I learned – she hates missing games and loves basketball deeply. I’d bet that she’ll be back as soon as possible. HSSTM wishes her the best as well.

• Quick musing: I think one of the most interesting dynamics in high school sports is the transition multi-sport athletes face as they end one season or sport and begin another, especially if they overlap. For football players from several Central Indiana schools, that’s certainly the case. Pike, Carmel, Chatard, Sheridan and others all have athletes who play winter sports such as basketball and wrestling. And the conditioning and style change to the mind and body force student-athletes to really show their mettle and maintain great focus.

Lastly, here’s wishing all students the best of luck with end of the semesters finals this week. It can certainly be a challenging time – with an extended holiday break lurking around the corner. Stay focused and study hard for those tests.

We often say here at HSSTM that we try to do things you don't see everywhere else, which is hopefully why our readers continue to enjoy our magazine and developing Web site. But there's also times when it's just not necessary, or a good idea, to reinvent the wheel.

Today, I'd like to introduce McConnell's Mailbag (not reinventing the wheel). The hope is to give each of you an opportunity to either post a comment on my blog with a question or e-mail me personally (dave.mcconnell@hsstm.com) if ANY question pops into your head. If there's interest, I will do a weekly or bi-weekly blog post called "McConnell's Mailbag" and answer your questions as best I can. Have some fun with it, and I'll do the same.

• As some of you have probably heard, Indiana University and coach Bill Lynch have received an oral commitment from Franklin Central stud running back Darius Willis. What a catch for the Hoosiers. I wrote in this space a couple weeks back about my feelings on the contract extension of coach Lynch, and this signing is one big step toward continuing the recent success of the program. Willis is a special player and will give IU a backfield threat it hasn't seen in years. Congrats to both Willis and and the IU program for keeping top talent in this state, and here's to Willis staying healthy in college.
• Here at the HSSTM office, we're hitting full stride with our January issue that will be sent off to press next week. I coordinated the photo shoot for the cover, which I do every month, but this one was especially entertaining with Chico Adams of Perry Meridian. Adams went 53-0 last season and is the defending heavyweight state champ, but just when you might think of a heavyweight as intimidating, Adams is just about as fun-loving and personable as you can get. Our feature writer Mike Beas wrote an extremely entertaining piece on Adams and his best friend and teammate, Brian Vest. It has to do with several eating competitions and their rise to Perry fame as the next best "Rob and Big" from the hilarious MTV reality show. The January issue will be out on Friday, Jan. 4.
• I was at the Challenge of Champions on Saturday at Hinkle and have a few anecdotes. In talking with Heritage Christian athletic director Jeff Hester, there have been some thoughts about somehow getting the Lady Eagles to play Ben Davis next season at a high profile tournament. Both teams are loaded with juniors and are top contenders for state titles this season. What a fun match-up that would be to look forward to. Second, I watched a good portion of the Howe-Luers game and Howe was running wild. If that team starts to display consistency, they will be a handful to deal with in 3A come tourament time.

I’ll just come out and say it…I’m a relatively young guy, 24 years old to be exact. And to make things just a little more interesting for me in the working world, nobody would think I’m 24 unless I’m wearing a full three-piece suit. Maybe.

It’s gotten to the point where it’s amusing at times, really. When I was 18 or 19 and people thought I was 15 or 16, it bothered me. Of course it did, I was a senior in high school and at that stage, older is cooler. And not that I’m some old sage these days by any means, but when I walk into a local high school and people mistake me for a student, I laugh. Because it’s funny, and frankly, I don’t really blame them.

This little excerpt leads me to bring you an HSSTM editor’s cut, giving you an inside look at interviews and experiences from our work at the magazine. In the current December issue, I sat down with Lawrence North boys basketball coach Jack Keefer for “Grill”…here’s some unpublished quotes and thoughts from talking with the well-known coach of a perennial power.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Personally, I had never met Jack Keefer prior to last month. That’s relevant because, in this business, it’s all about relationships and building trust. And with my “age discrepancy” disclaimer above, that adds to it. I’m going to walk into an interview and this guy, who has been around for decades, is going to think I’m in the introductory journalism class for the LN school paper.

Of course I knew about Keefer and his program at LN. Living in Indiana and covering high school sports, how could I not? But it never ceases to amaze me how people can judge somebody, judge a school, or judge a program when they are on the outside looking in. Or when they’ve never met somebody or talked with them before. About the only exception to this rule is Barry Bonds.

You hear the opinions of certain people or vast blanket statements about Keefer and his program at LN. I did not grow up around here, so all of my experience with this comes from the past 3-4 years. Having never met the man or spoken with him, the only professional and realistic way to approach the interview was to act like I had no idea who he was, other than the success he’s had over the past 32 years.

My approach with virtually any interview, especially when sitting down face-to-face, is to have an icebreaker. Perhaps a more personal question or statement so that I establish a more casual setting and much more of a conversation than anything else. A list of questions just isn’t how I roll, and I like it that way.

Walking into Keefer’s office, you get the sense that it’s Christmas year-round for him. It was green and red everywhere, and just about the only thing missing was the tree. So I introduced myself as we both took a seat on his red leather couch.

Before meeting with him, I sent him an e-mail to figure out a time and place and all that good stuff. I couldn’t help but realize that his e-mail address is used with the first name “John.” This was the icebreaker.

“So are you Jack or are you John?” I said as we both got comfortable