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.