Poor Conditions... Lions Persevere

Anyone planning an outdoor activity this spring would be well-advised to check the Louisville High School Track and Field Schedule then plan the event on the day before or after a Lions' meet.

I admit to being a weather-wimp (see previous posting) but it seems to be one of those years when the teams can't catch a break.  The conditions seem to be getting worse as the latest meet held at Malcolm featured rain, falling temperatures and a brief bout with sleet while the day before and after would have been excellent days for a meet.

Early forecasts show Tuesday's weather predicted to be good for the Yutan Invite.  But if the trend continues, keep the rain gear ready for the meet and plan the picnic for Wednesday.

Thank-You, Bennington!

After spending most of last Tuesday afternoon in the cold and wind at the Conestoga Triangular, I was grateful to hear that Bennington had postponed the Badger Relays!  I'm fairly certain there are others who felt the same way.

I'm a big track and field fan..... when the conditions are bearable. 

Two More State Tidbits

Besides Mead, I was pulling for Ralston, Syracuse and Sterling in class B, C1 and D2, respectively, as each has a Louisville tie.

Ralston and Syracuse are coached by Louisville alums.  Bill Heard, class of '94, led the Rams to a Class B championship while Mark Hrabik, who graduated from LHS in 1976, took the Rockets to the C1 state tournament.

Jese Salberg, point guard for the Sterling Jets, celebrated his team's state title with grandparents Chris and Karen Salberg, both of whom graduated from Louisville.

Mead Wins

Congratulations to the Mead Raiders for winning the D1 basketball championship this weekend!

With E-M earning the C2 title last year, the East Central Nebraska Conference has had earned the honor of one of the best basketball conferences in this part of the state.

The Raiders qualified for the state tourney with the second of two wild card bids after losing to Bruning-Davenport in the district finals.  As it turned out, three of the six district finals were decided by fewer than three points. Had the ball bounced the other way and another outcome resulted from those district games, Mead wouldn't have gotten the wild card and, therefore, no state championship.

Just goes to show you what happens when a team takes advantage of an opportunity.  Mead has a championship and all the accolades that go with it.  I was cheering for the Raiders all the way.... I've been impressed with the Johnson-Moline combo for the past three seasons and was happy for the duo and their coach, PJ Quinn.

ECNC Basketball State Tournament Hopes

The East Central Nebraska Conference still has two teams in the hunt for district titles and automatic trips to the 2009 Boys State Basketball Tournament.

Weeping Water's win over Louisville pits the Indians against Freeman for a district title and a ticket to C2 state while Mead must defeat heavily favored Bruning-Davenport to get to the D1 State Tourney.

With Elmwood-Murdock losing to Fremont Bergan, the Knights must rely on a wild card to return to Lincoln.  One of the two wild cards will most likely go to C2 ratings leader, Axtell, an upset loser last night.  Using the latest NSAA power ratings, E-M will be rooting for Freeman to defeat Weeping Water and Ravenna to beat Blue Hill in district finals on Monday.  Should one or the other lose, the final wild card bid would go their way leaving the Knights at home.

Johnson County Central carries ECNC hopes for a district championship and a visit to next the girls state tourney March 5-7.  Mead's upset loss in the subdistrict and subsequent losses by other rated D1 squads have eliminated the Raiders from wild card contention.

The odds are good that the ECNC will be sending at least one team in both the girls and boys State Tournaments.  That's good for the conference which has a history of strong showings in Lincoln.

Added 3-4-09..... glad to see that I dismissed Mead's chances of a wild card berth and will be in the D1 field at the state tournament.  The ECNC won't have a representative in the girls tournament this weekend but will have two teams in the boys tourney with E-M joining the Raiders as a wild card entry with the Knights gaining a C2 bid.

Next Bond Issue Meeting -- 7:00 p.m., Wed., February 11, 2009

There was a nice size crowd at the Bond Meeting last evening.  I'm guessing there was a 50% increase over the previous meeting two week ago. 

It's good that people are taking an interest, just not certain how anyone knows when the meetings are scheduled.  Nothing in the most recent school newsletter, nothing in the local newspaper, no apparent agenda that is posted. Future meetings are scheduled at the end of the just completed meeting. I suppose the information is spread through word-of-mouth..... that's good.

Just my observation.... this bond issue will certainly pass if the final vote is taken from those at the meetings as there seems to be a selected group that are always present. But for it to be approved by the voters of the district, there needs to be input from a wider sampling of the general population. 

I know you can't force people to attend but if they aren't aware of the meetings, the decision to be there has already been made for them.  And I believe that most people, if they aren't aware of the details of a project and aren't in the decision-making process, will vote no. 

For the record, the next meeting is at 7:oo p.m., Wednesday, February 11 in the high school library.  

All In Favor..... Stay Seated!

Imagine if parents allowed their children to play along the sidelines during a high school football game.  What if elementary age kids could sprint along with the high school athletes during the 100 meter dash or we permit kids to run with the cross country athletes at invitationals?

Of course, no one would allow this to happen, yet parents permit kids to run along the sideline of basketball games just inches away from the athletes on the court and officials who oftentimes are running backwards, sometimes near the sidelines and beyond.

This situation was evident during last weeks games against Palmyra.  I was hoping this was just a one game thing yet it was even worse in the games with Yutan on Thursday evening.

At Louisville basketball games, I usually sit near the northwest corner of the court and have a great view of the north side.  The traffic along the sideline is thick.  Kids seem to have no fear concerning the sideline and think nothing of stepping onto the court to avoid kids running the opposite direction.  Fortunately, we haven't had a collision between players/officials and kids entering the gym or leaving for whatever reason.... yet.

When game officials have to wait for sideline traffic to clear before administering an inbounds play or need to ask children who are already sitting on the floor, slowly stretching out within inches of the sideline markings, to sit in the bleachers, I just want to repeat what a referee asked of the crowd after having to dodge kids while attempting to officiate a game.... "Is there a parent here?"

I'm all for school spirit and appreciate elementary students wishing to support their high school heroes but if the students don't sit with their parents, the parents need to at look after their kids, see where they are sitting and know how many times their child felt it was necessary to leave the gym.  Kids should be instructed by their parents that the only time to leave the gym is during a stop in the action; i.e., time-outs, quarter breaks and half-time.  Other then that, kids should stay seated.

This is the responsibility of the parents to insure the safety of all concerned.  It is not the duty of administrators or faculty to discipline children during a basketball game.

It may be time for Louisville to ban sitting on the first row of the bleachers.  This will widen the concourse for those that really need to leave the gym.  But that's merely an end run around the problem that wouldn't need fixing if the kids simply watched the games.