CRYSTAL BLUE
So not all of the news out of Butler is about the football team. But it seems like all of the news coming out of Butler is good news, at least. Circle High product Crystal Blue, a 5-foot-11 freshman hitter for the Grizzlies, has been named a first-team NJCAA Division II All-American.
Sunflower Slate salutes you, Ms. Blue. And props to whoever maintains the Butler volleyball site. Nice work.
Here’s the release from the Butler athletic department on her honors:
That might be the wildest finish I’ve ever seen to a football game — much less a national championship game.
Butler blew a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter. Then Snow came back, tied the game and forced overtime. Then Wichita East product Demonte Hill made the heads up play of the decade for the Grizzlies, jumping on the football in the end zone after the Badgers blocked a Logan Ortiz field goal in double overtime. It’s the Leon Lett rule … after the kick had been blocked no Snow player needed to touch it and it would have been a change of possession … but two Snow players ran in and tried to down the ball! Hill — and I have no idea why he was even in that area– pounced on the ball in the end zone for the touchdown. Then Forlando Johnson intercepted a pass to seal a 37-30 win in the Top of the Mountains Bowl in Sandy, Utah, aka the official NJCAA national championship game.
And I saw it and still don’t believe it. And Zac Clark had the game of his life and might be headed to Oregon. And Butler is the NJCAA champ for back-to-back seasons and the fifth time in the last 11 years.
I’m out.
-TA
BUTLER COACH TROY MORRELL
Here we are again in early December. And here we are again with the Butler Grizzlies getting ready to play for another national title. I suppose that’s the sort of thing that never gets old.
As far as coverage leading up to the game, if you’re reading The Eagle you can see we’ve been pumping this game up a little bit, starting with an article on Monday about the hassles of getting everybody to Salt Lake City for the game, to today’s Bob Lutz column on Butler QB Press Taylor.
There’s lots of stuff going on with our state colleges and jucos — thought I’d catch up with everybody in a Lutzian-style quick hits form. Had a couple of days off (which I thoroughly enjoyed) and filled it up with a WSU basketball game (thanks Carol and Charlie), the new Bond movie, lots of laundry and a round of golf. Not a bad mid-week weekend. I call it the I Am Legend shift.
Let’s roll it:
Hope springs eternal in the human breast: Man never is, but always To be blest.
-Alexander Pope
At Galen Blackmore Field in El Dorado, you could hear a pin drop for about three hours on Sunday afternoon.
Coincidentally, that was about the same time the No. 3 Grizzlies were getting the scare of their lives from Garden City.
There’s a story in today’s paper about Butler linebacker Jarett Wright, who is having a breakout season for the No. 3-ranked Grizzlies.
I’m pretty proud of myself that I got Butler defensive coordinator Tim Schaffner to A) Actually call me back and B) Actually do an interview. Schaffner is notoriously press-shy and also … extremely intimidating. But dude called me back and was … eloquent. He had a lot to say and was rightfully proud of the middle linebacker position at Butler and how it has become kind of an “in-state” position for the Grizzlies. Trust me, if you can get a Kansas kid to fill this, maybe the most important spot on the defense, year-after-year with Division I-talent, well, you’re going to win a lot of championships. Oh, And his wife coaches the Butler spirit squad. Which is also cool.
All of the schools from the Jayhawk Conference — East and West — convened in Wichita this morning at the Airport Best Western for Media Day, and as always, much hilarity ensued.
There were a lot of highlights from the day … I got to see a lot of old friends and colleagues, and an old college classmate who is now the cream of the crop for women’s coaches on the junior college level. There’s a lot to be said for finding a place you like, close to home, and building something out of nothing. Emily, are you listening?
Let’s run this down. We’ve got a lot to go over.
1. Steve Eck, Steve Eck, Steve Eck.
ECK
Coach Eck and Media Day are an interesting fit. I walked into the hotel at the same time as he did and asked what he thought of these things. I got a look, and a laugh. There’s a lot of bluffing that goes on at these things, and Coach Eck, while he isn’t bad at putting on a poker face … isn’t fooling anybody. That’s just the way it is. And his team got picked to finish first, which I’m sure irked him to no end. I talked to a lot of coaches who say they’ve signifigantly scaled back their recruiting efforts in Wichita since he took over. One look at his roster (eight City League kids) lets you know why. They’re not sure how bad he’s hurt yet, but Southeast’s Adonis Gantt (a Division I signee at Georgia Southern) hurt his knee at a jamboree in Dallas over the weekend, which is bad news. On the good news front, last year’s leading scorer, Chris Rhymes, tore his ACL at the Region VI Tournament and the Tigers finished second without him. He’s doing well at Cal State-Fullerton, thank you very much. Good for Chris.
Butler freshman forward Mikenna Greathouse set a school record with five goals in a win over Dodge City earlier this week, a very commendable accomplishment and much deserving of props from Sunflower Slate.
Here’s the release from Butler’s Matt Jacobs:
Saturday’s football game between No. 5-ranked Butler and Coffeyville at Coffeyville will be televised on Kansas Now 22, the second game for the Grizzlies to be on T.V. this season. Now 22 did a great job with Butler’s game at Garden City a couple of weeks ago.
Here’s the release from the station: