Dane Simoneau making case for MIAA Offensive MVP

Oct. 19, 20097:54 p.m.
SUNFLOWER SLATE INTERNATIONAL HQ

SUNFLOWER SLATE INTERNATIONAL HEADQUARTERS/AKA MY DESK

First things first: Yes, I did think the Jayhawk Media Day was today. Yes, it is next Monday. Yes, I got up before my pre-set 10 a.m.-11 a.m. wake-up call and was going about my day when I called Mike Kessinger circa 7:30 a.m. to ask if he was in Wichita yet and he said, in not so kind words, that it wasn’t until next week. These long nights at Sunflower Slate International Headquarters are really getting to me. So you’ll have to wait until next week to hear what’s going on with Steve Eck.

Onto bigger (and better) things.

Mainly, I think Washburn sophomore quarterback Dane Simoneau should be in the discussion for MIAA Offensive MVP at this point. Numbers don’t lie.

DANE SIMONEAU (WU REVIEW PIC)

DANE SIMONEAU (WU REVIEW PIC)

The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Salina Sacred Heart product leads the league in passing and total offense with 2,265 yards, 23 Tds and just 6 interceptions. The thing that struck me watching him pick apart Pittsburg State on Saturday was the zip in which his passes were thrown. He looked like he was playing shortstop out there the way he was zinging it around the field (which he also does for the Ichabods, BTW). Check that, he looked D-I.

But here’s the thing, I think, that makes him a real candidate: His team is winning. I know WU coach Craig Schurig had to make a tough decision last year to bench his starter midway through the season and go with Simoneau, but now CCS looks like a genius. And now the Ichabods are No. 16 in the country and have a legitimate shot at making the playoffs.

If you think I’m crazy for putting this out there, just ask yourself this: If not Simoneau, then who else? I think the NW Missouri trio of QB Blake Bolles, WR Jake Soy and RB Laron Council each make good cases, but nobody means as much to their team as No. 9.

I’m out TA

By Tony Adame | Filed under MIAA, Washburn, football | Comments (2)

Saturday’s scores (10/17)

Oct. 17, 20097:31 p.m.

Got a chance to watch the Pitt State-Washburn game this afternoon … wow … Pitt State is bad. And Dane Simoneau is really good. Also, Fort Hays State picked up the HUGE win over Nebraska-Omaha.

And Southwestern finally won a game. And that might be the biggest surprise of the day.

Here’s the scores from Saturday:

MIAA

No. 20 Washburn 55, Pittsburg State 3

No. 5 NW Missouri 45, Emporia State 12

Fort Hays State 31, Nebraska-Omaha 20

KCAC

No. 16 McPherson 52, Kansas Wesleyan 38

Southwestern 34, Bethany 21 … I say it again, WOW

Sterling 47, Tabor 21

Saint Mary 42, Bethel 27

No. 14 Friends 28, Haskell 7

JAYHAWK

No. 4 Butler 38, Independence 0

No. 3 Fort Scott 59, Highland 17

Garden City 46, Dodge City 0

Air Force Prep at No. 20 Hutchinson (3-3, 2-3), 7 p.m.

By Tony Adame | Filed under Jayhawk, KCAC, MIAA, football | Comments (4)

Saturday’s games

Oct. 16, 20097:44 p.m.

Our marquee matchup for Saturday is looking like the PSU-Washburn tilt in Topeka, which FYI is going to be televised on Cox Channel 22 starting at 1 p.m. Although, I’m not sure if anything is bigger this weekend than the Washburn-ESU volleyball tilt … I’m not kidding, that’s the place to be.

And there’s this … Hutchinson C.C. running back Romero Cotton — presumably the only prep athlete in Kansas history to win four state titles in wrestling and football — was sentenced to 38 months in prison yesterday.

Here’s a look:

MIAA

Pittsburg State (4-3 overall, 2-3 MIAA) at No. 20 Washburn (5-2, 3-2), 1 p.m. — This is a make-or-break game for both teams. If Pittsburg State wins, the Gorillas have a legitimate shot at finishing 8-3 and salvaging the season. Lose, and 6-5 is a real possibility. Washburn can’t afford to lose here and then go on the road with its playoff hopes riding on an upset of No. 5 Northwest Missouri next week.

No. 5 Northwest Missouri (6-1, 5-0) at Emporia State (1-6, 0-5), 1 p.m. — This one will get ugly. The Hornets get Truman next week in the only chance either team has to win an MIAA game this season. Sad state of affairs up the turnpike.

Nebraska-Omaha (5-2, 4-1) at Fort Hays State (4-3, 2-3), 2 p.m. – Here it is. Fort Hays gets another chance to win a meaningful MIAA game. That they get it at home is a huge plus. They lose this one and it’s back to pretender status.

KCAC

No. 16 McPherson (4-1, 3-1) at Kansas Wesleyan (4-1, 3-1), 1:30 p.m. — McPherson can’t lose again if it wants to stay in contention for both the KCAC title and an NAIA Tournament bid, and this will be a true test. Kansas Wesleyan has similar goals, but must still play Friends and Ottawa. If the Bulldogs can find a way to win, they should cruise to 7-1 with their next two games against the league’s winless teams.

No. 14 Friends (4-1, 4-1) at Haskell, 1:30 p.m. – I got to spend some time with Monty Lewis on Wednesday after KCAC hoops media day, and of course I grilled him about his running game, which has fallen off the map this year. The Falcons won the last three league titles by running the rock better than almost anybody in the country, but this year they’re having to rely on passing. But does he still have an ace up his sleeve? Maybe, but I’m not saying quite yet. It would ruin the fun.

Saint Mary (1-4, 1-3) at Bethel (1-4, 1-3), 1:30 p.m. – Bethel wins its second straight here. If you haven’t seen defensive lineman James McCartney play yet, you might wanna catch the Threshers this season. He’s something else.

Bethany (4-1, 3-1) at Southwestern (05, 0-4), 1:30 p.m. — The Swedes couldn’t have a better opponent on their schedule after last week’s deflating loss to Bethel on Homecoming. Remember, Bethany led 16-3 with 10 minutes to play and turned it over 3 times in its own red zone. Ouch. But The Jinx doesn’t apply to football anymore, and the Moundbuilders play slumpbuster better than anybody.

Tabor (0-5, 0-4) at Sterling (2-3, 1-3), 1:30 p.m. – Time to catch some Zs.

JAYHAWK

Independence (2-4 overall, 2-2 Jayhawk) at No. 4 Butler (5-1, 4-0), 1:30 p.m. — It’s still two weeks from the Halloween showdown between the Grizzlies and No. 3 Fort Scott, and with winless Highland up next week, this should be Butler’s last real test before facing the Greyhounds. The Grizzlies have the top-ranked defense in the league, and cornerback Darron Edwards is tied for the league lead with three interceptions.

Highland (0-6, 0-4) at No. 3 Fort Scott (6-0, 5-0), 1 p.m. – Fort Scott rolls here, beats Air Force Prep next Friday and takes 8-0 into the Butler game. But here’s the thing … they play again two weeks later in the Region VI title game, right? I think if either team wants a shot at the national title, it’ll need to win both games.

Garden City (3-4, 2-3) at Dodge City (0-6, 0-4), 1:30 p.m. & Air Force Prep at No. 20 Hutchinson (3-3, 2-3), 7 p.m. – I did a double-up on this one because it is shaping up, in my opinion, that the Garden City-Hutch and Coffeyville-Independence games on Oct. 31 will be for the third and fourth playoff spots in Region VI. Let me know if my math is off.

I’ll be posting updates on scores tomorrow, so come on back now, ya’ hear?

-TA

By Tony Adame | Filed under Jayhawk, KCAC, MIAA, football | Comments (0)

KCAC BASKETBALL MEDIA DAY/ALL ACCESS

Oct. 15, 20099:36 p.m.
HE'S A LEFTY

HE'S A LEFTY

So Friends men’s basketball coach Dale Faber walks up to the podium to speak at the KCAC’s media day on Wednesday at Friends and … well, you probably can guess how it went. Here’s the first words out of his mouth.

FABER: I’d like to go ahead and accept the 2009-2010 KCAC coach of the year award. It worked for Obama, so I figured it’d work for me.

The whole thing seemed like it it went by very quickly, mainly because the coaches were on top of things — TRANSLATION — nobody, comment-wise, went off the reservation, which can make these things seem like they last an eternity. Sunflower Slate even got a shout-out from new Southwestern men’s coach Matt O’Brien, who it turns out is a big Entourage fan like myself.

Here’s how it went down, giving you the team, last year’s record and finish and where they’re predicted to finish this year, by the coaches, media and yours truly:

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By Tony Adame | Filed under KCAC, basketball | Comments (0)

Chuck Broyles

Oct. 12, 200912:37 a.m.
CHUCK BROYLES

CHUCK BROYLES

If you haven’t read my article yet that ran in Sunday’s paper about the current state of the Pittsburg State football program, please check it out here.

I went on the road early last week to head to southeast Kansas, first to Pittsburg to talk to several people for the article, including head coach Chuck Broyles, and then to Parsons to meet with Wayne Gilmore, who runs www.teamkong.net, a PSU fan site. You could say the whole trip was born out of PSU’s three-game losing streak to start MIAA play, but it’s bigger than that.

So … what was the impression I came away with?

Mainly, Coach Broyles is still the man. Three-game losing streak be damned, he still runs that town, although it’s not necessarily Shangri-La anymore.

Here’s how it went down:

I met with Assistant AD Dan Wilkes first, who was my de facto tour guide for the day. First was an interview with Dennis Gatewood, who is the Gorilla Club President. He’s been going to games for over 30 years, and his message was pretty clear: if you’re not with us, you’re against us. Dude doesn’t have a whole lot of patience for bandwagon-type fans. Ended with him, headed down to the weight room to talk to Kendall Fisher, a Garden Plain product and stud wideout for PSU. On the way, I passed former QB Mark Smith in the hall, who is now the QB coach for the Gorillas. That was cool. Talked to Kendall for a few minutes (pulled him out of the weight room) and I could tell the losses had worn on him. If you’re around athletes long enough you kind of get a feel for when something’s weighing on them, and I definitely felt that way after talking to him, especially when he said he’d been hearing stuff in his classes. Ouch.

Then I went to meet with PSU president Steve Scott. He straight up told me he didn’t make it a practice to talk about sports, so I guess that was his way of telling me I’m lucky to get an interview. His office … wow. It’s nice to be King, right? OH, and there was also a Lane Lord sighting in the parking lot on the way to see the prez. Think they’re happy to have him there? Lane Lord, that is.

Then it was time to meet with CCB.

Now here’s the thing about interviewing Coach Broyles … he’s Chuck Broyles. And he knows it. Here’s a snippet from the first couple of minutes we talked:

ME: So there’s things that people are saying about the program, about how it’s fallen off a bit and maybe they’ve got some questions about the direction it’s headed in.

CHUCK: Well if they’re saying it, they’re not saying it to me.

ME: Probably not.

And we went from there. He talked to me for a good 10-15, answered every question, and didn’t avoid any topic I brought up. And I respect that. I mean, we’re talking about a guy who once told me he was going to watch Smokey and the Bandit on the PSU jumbotron in the offseason. In the words of my generation … how player is that?

After my interview with CCB, I hit a sports bar (not for drinks, people) to meet with a couple of fans for lunch, then it was off to Parsons, where I met with Gilmore at his optometry office because, well, he’s an optometrist. Wayne was really insightful — no rah, rah, nothing like that, just straight talk. And he gave the story an angle it had been missing to that point.

Then it was back to the ICT and my beautiful apartment in Old Town. Just kidding, it’s not that nice.

Like I said, give my story a read if you have a chance.

Yours truly,

TA

By Tony Adame | Filed under MIAA, Pittsburg State, football | Comments (0)

It’s never too late for Roll Call/Let’s look ahead

Oct. 9, 200911:48 p.m.
WHERE'S MY ROLL CALL, PRIVATE ADAME?!?!?!?

WHERE'S MY ROLL CALL, PRIVATE ADAME?!?!?!?

It’s never too late in the week for Roll Call, right? Of course not. Put it off a little bit because, like I said, I wanted to make sure everybody got in, then I went out of town, then my dog ate my homework … whatever. So let’s make this a Roll Call/Let’s look ahead post.

Here we go:

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By Tony Adame | Filed under Jayhawk, KCAC, MIAA, Roll Call | Comments (0)

Butler, Bethany and everything else that happened this weekend

Oct. 5, 200911:10 p.m.
ROSS DAUSIN (EL DORADO TIMES)

ROSS DAUSIN (EL DORADO TIMES)

Over 4,000 people pack into Gowans Stadium in Hutchinson for a lights-out thriller of a game between two nationally ranked teams … A quarterback getting a new lease on life leads a once-proud program to 4-0 and its first national ranking since 2002 … And my Dead Red Ravens? Maybe they’ve got a little life in them after all.

It all happened Saturday, and I thought I’d go over it today because I’m moving Roll Call back to Tuesdays … no big deal, just a few of the leagues don’t get their Player of the Week awards out until Tuesday and I want to get them all in.

Let’s look at what we’ve got …

MIAA

No. 12 Washburn 28, Fort Hays State 14 — I wasn’t so much impressed that Washburn won as I was that FHSU almost won. Is that so wrong? I think the Tigers have a good team and could pull off an upset if they’re hitting on all the right cylinders, which they’ll have to do because the rest of their schedule is BRUTAL. As far as Washburn … QB Dane Simoneau isn’t a star in the making, he’s a star.

Pittsburg State 21, Missouri Southern 13 – Pittsburg State breaks a three-game, MIAA losing streak with a win against one of the downtroddens. Don’t know that it proves anything, and questions still need to be answered in Gorilla Country.

Neb-Omaha 34, Emporia State 13 – Hornets play Truman Oct. 24 in last winnable game of the season. Then what?

KCAC

No. 24 Bethany 27, Kansas Wesleyan 21 – Steven Baker started for Bethany back in 2003, 2004 and 2005. Then he started coaching. Then this year he decided to come back. Then Saturday he threw for 326, 2 TDs and no picks in the Swedes’ win over rival KWU, a battle of unbeaten teams. And now … he’s got Bethany ranked for the first time since 2002. They’ve got Bethel on Saturday for Homecoming, and don’t sleep on the Threshers.

No. 15 Friends 15, Bethel 7 — I’m not sure what to think of Friends. They’re doing what they have to do right now, but we won’t know if they’re the team until they get a true test against a good team. Until then it’s just smoke and mirrors, baby.

No. 10 Ottawa 54, Southwestern 16 – Here’s a thought: Why don’t all the teams in the KCAC put together their own records as far as stats, send them to me, I’ll sort them out and then we’ll have some sort of all-time leaders in the KCAC? That way, we can say once and for all that Ethan Haller is the greatest (statistically) KCAC qb of all-time.

Peru State 19, Tabor 7 — Tabor-Southwestern game in November will be one chance for either team to win a game.

No. 18 McPherson 21, Sterling 0 — Linebacker Jeff Paulson continues to make his case for All-American honors for the Bulldogs, who don’t necessarily need Ottawa to lose to make the NAIA playoffs … but they do need to win out.

JAYHAWK

QUICK QUESTION: HOW MANY KJCCC PLAYERS HEAD TO MANHATTAN NEXT SEASON? GUESS RIGHT AND THERE’S A PRIZE!

No. 4 Butler 13, No. 13 Hutch 10 — Talked to Jeff Lutz, who covered this game for us, and he said there was a nice crowd, but they never got much to get excited about it. Hey, that’s a 13-10 game for you. As far as Butler … both No. 1 Blinn and No. 2 Navarro won Saturday. What that means is on Oct. 31, when Blinn plays Navarro and Butler plays Fort Scott, the winners of those two games will have the inside track to play in the national championship game. I think. For Hutch, now, its a matter of making a bowl.

No. 3 Fort Scott 31, Independence 9 — I’m telling you … Jasmin Hopkins is nice.

Coffeyville 35, Garden City 0 — Didn’t see this one coming. Injuries have slowed GCCC … but wow. Looks like the Coffeyville-Independence game will be for fourth playoff spot.

Air Force Prep 30, Highland 10 – zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

By Tony Adame | Filed under Jayhawk, KCAC, MIAA, football | Comments (3)

Saturday’s games

Oct. 2, 20098:37 p.m.
EVERYBODY IN?

EVERYBODY IN?

Just taking a look at Saturday’s games … and trying to wrap my head around the fact that, yes, Pittsburg State could be 0-4 in the MIAA come tomorrow evening. Also, there’s a game in Hutchinson … did you know that? Their student body is doing a whiteout, Penn State-style.

Here you go:

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By Tony Adame | Filed under Jayhawk, KCAC, MIAA, football | Comments (0)

Sunflower Slate Q&A with Washburn LB Zach Watkins

Sept. 30, 20095:29 p.m.
ZACH WATKINS

ZACH WATKINS

I caught up with Washburn senior linebacker Zach Watkins on Wednesday afternoon and came away extremely impressed — and ready to dole out some serious Sunflower Slate karma.

Here’s the skinny on Watkins — the 6-foot, 235-pound linebacker from Independence, Mo. (hometown of Harry Truman) is only the second player in Washburn history to go over 400 tackles, with 403, and could break the career mark of 459 this season. He’s had 100 tackles in each of his first three seasons; 100 in 2006, 143 in 2007 and 119 in 2008 and has led the Ichabods to a No. 17 ranking and 4-1 record this season.

Dude didn’t really want to give himself too much credit — but that’s what we’re here for. Gotta love when your linebackers wanna talk more about their defensive line than themselves. And his pregame music? Killswitch Engage. The Ichabods have got Fort Hays State coming to town on Saturday in Topeka.

Here’s our talk:

Sunflower Slate: You’re in your final year at Washburn and closing in on a pretty lofty record in the career tackles mark. In the middle of all of it do you ever catch yourself thinking about your accomplishments?

Zach Watkins: I really haven’t because I’ve been so focused on trying to help this team win games and be a leader out on the field. I get so wrapped up in the day-to-day stuff that all the personal stuff … I just never think about it.

SS: Did you think you’d have this type of impact coming out of high school?

ZW: You can’t go into college football thinking you’re going to be the best player, but once I got on the field I felt like I could definitely make an impact. As the years progressed I feel like I’ve become more of a leader and a player that the other teams need to prepare for.

SS: You’ve been on some teams that have come really close to being great but couldn’t seem to quite get over the hump when it came to the heart of MIAA play. What is it about this group that you think is different?

ZW: My sophomore year we made the playoffs, but we do feel like we’ve fallen short a couple of times. We feel like we’ve got a special group this year … we’re excited about keeping up what we’ve started this season.

KILL THE QUARTERBACK. KILL EVERYBODY.

KILL THE QUARTERBACK. KILL EVERYBODY.

SS: We’ve all got the idea  — well at least I do — of the stereotypical middle linebacker who is kind of the frothing at the mouth, always ready for battle type of guy. Do you fit into that role? What are you like before games?

ZW: I feel like I’m pretty laid-back, and I’m not against pulling a prank … but when it comes to practice and to games I definitely am able to get that really intense focus and put everything else aside. I feel like I’m a hard-nosed player and to have any type of success I’ve got to be able to get into that mode. And it doesn’t hurt to have a great d-line.

SS: Nice. Giving the d-line props is never bad.

ZW: Without them I’m not going to get where I need to be. They play the way they do and it makes my job a lot easier.

SS: So what are you listening to before a game? Anything in particular?

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE

ZW: (Laughing) That’s easy. Killswitch Engage.

I show my age and have him repeat the name of the band several times.

SS: What about away from football? What do you do for fun?

ZW: Play a lot of basketball, a lot of golf. We’ve got a group of seniors who have been together for four or five years and we’re pretty close. Just typical college-kid stuff … anything competitive usually catches our attention.

SS: Are you any good at golf?

ZW: Consistent low 80s.

SS: Last question. Biggest hit ever? College, high school, pee-wee football … what’s the biggest?

ZW: Mo-Kan All-Star game, senior year of high school. Tight end came right across the middle.

SS: Thanks for doing our Q&A. Best of luck this year.

I’m out. TA

By Tony Adame | Filed under Q&A with Sunflower Slate, Washburn, football | Comments (0)

Roll Call

Sept. 28, 200910:38 p.m.
ZACH WATKINS (WU ATHLETICS PHOTO)

ZACH WATKINS (WU ATHLETICS PHOTO)

Roll Call is light this week, but still packs a punch, starting with Washburn linebacker Zach Watkins, who is going to become the Ichabods all-time leading tackler at some point this season.

As far as who won what this weekend. .. Kansas Wesleyan managed to pull out a miracle with a Hail Mary against Bethel and Fort Hays State managed to beat Emporia State with Oktoberfest AND Homecoming swirling around them Out West. I guess you could call me easily distracted.

And please, do yourself a favor and click on the Watkins link above. I’m loving that hair. I’ll tell him when I talk to him on Wednesday. And pray he’s not mad.

Let’s go:

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By Tony Adame | Filed under Jayhawk, KCAC, MIAA, Roll Call | Comments (1)