Varsity Kansas - The Blog

by joanna

I wrote a Garrett Gould story for today’s paper, and it was in the paper because of this blog. I like to think that I have a pretty good handle on the top athletes and top teams and the goings-on around here just because I talk to so many different people through my job. But there’s no doubt that there are things that I just don’t know about.

And that’s where you, the loyal readers and posters of this blog come in. I do pay attention to what you guys say, I note the players that you mention, I check into the story lines you talk about. Which is where the Garrett Gould story came from.

So thanks to you. Man, I’ve got a tear in my eye. This is embarrassing.

Want to know more about Gould? Check out below.

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I know this is kind of late, but congrats to the former Goddard baseball standout. Wichita State would have been a great place for him, but to get $600,000 to do something you love is hard to turn down.

Important to note is that $100,000 of that is designated for school.

I had the chance to see Watkins play several times this past season and came away impressed every time.  He’s a very talented player, obviously, but his poise often set him apart from the rest.

By J. Long

Flipping through the page’s of Clifford Normore’s photo album was the perfect finishing touch.

Hopefully you got a chance to check out my story from Sunday, “Playing on a Different Field,” looking at the declining rate of blacks in youth baseball. While I’ve already shared my thoughts about this subject (here) there’s something that I didn’t get a chance to really get into. The historical value of blacks in baseball.

I’m not a history buff, but one of the byproducts of baseball losing black youth is that the the struggles and successes of the pioneers who came before them could ultimately be forgotten. I grew up playing baseball. I loved playing it the moment I stepped on the field at five. However, I didn’t love the game until about the age of 12. I fell in love after learning the plight that people of color and those that helped them had to endure just to swing a bat at a little white ball.

I truly believe that you can’t have love for something until you sit back and take the time to appreciate what that object of admiration has been through.

That’s why after spending all that time out in neighborhood centers and on the phone with so many people it was Mr. Normore’s photo album that gave me that unique feeling. The type of feeling you get from listening to your favorite old-school jam or seeing a show  you used to plan your life around. Seeing all of those black kids on the diamond in his pictures reminded me of the love I once had and brought to my attention that its up to me to help others discover that love.

by joanna

I was surfing the net — while I’m supposed to be editing copy tonight — and found this story and this column on the Georgia baseball players who allegedly conspired to have a pitch hit an umpire in the face.

I was blown away reading this story because it’s so unbelievable. I mean, is this really what this world is coming to? It’s bad enough that parents are attacking coaches and umps and referees — physically as well as verbally — but now the kids obviously think it’s OK to do this? I truly makes me sick to my stomach.

We all get angry. It’s a part of life. But when does the breakdown occur when you pass from — I’m pissed and I’m yelling, maybe even throwing something — to trying to hurt someone? It boggles my mind.

by joanna

As I was heating up my Healthy Choice french bread pizza — it’s not too bad, actually — I was talking to my co-worker about how I have two of my boys, 5 and 3, in swim lessons and T-ball. My 5-year-old plays T-ball, while my 3-year-old is in his first year, which is micro T-ball, essentially learning the fundamentals, playing games that have nothing to do with baseball and whining because it’s so hot (ooops, that’s me).

Anyway, my point is that assistant sports editor Tom Seals made the oh-so-snarky comment that “Caring parents wait to get their kids involved in organized sports when they’re 7″ or something like that. What I heard was “You are the worst parent ever for subjecting your child to sports at such a tender age.”

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by joanna

I’m sure I’ll be accused of keeping a so-called controversy alive or of baiting people. But really, this is about an impressive kid who exchanged a couple e-mails with me.

Any reader of this blog has probably seen the furor over Independent and its baseball and softball teams. Seems there were some issues with the fans at both sites and it wasn’t the best situation.

I recently got an e-mail from Marshall Frey, the recently graduated catcher for the school’s baseball team. He wrote a very intelligent, well-thought out e-mail, and I’m going to share a few parts with you.

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by joanna

Not sure how I missed this, but we ran the all-state baseball teams in Tuesday’s paper. Man, I am truly slacking. Sorry folks. (Did anyone else follow up `sorry folks’ with ‘park’s closed’)

Any surprises on these teams? I’m not sure if this coaches association is like basketballs, which doesn’t put a player on if the coach isn’t a member of the association. I always thought that was pretty shady.

by joanna

With Goddard’s loss in the 6A baseball final on Sunday, it officially ended the 2007-08 school year and sports season. Unblievable, huh?

There were a lot of great moments throughout this year, a whole lot of success in the Wichita area in all the sports, whether it was football and basketball or bowling. We compiled a nice wrap-up page in sports with pictures, a list of team champions and some quotes.  

There were so many high moments — Andover Central girls going undefeated and winning the 4A basketball title, Southeast winning the 6A title, Trinity winning the 3A boys title. Andale, Garden Plain and Hutchinson all won in football and Bishop Carroll got to the championship game in 5A football but made a bigger statement in my mind of suspending some key kids for the game because they broke team rules. That says so much about that administration.

There were some down moments, such as West struggling in all sports, Goddard girls losing in the championship game of 6A basketball, the Wichita area only coming away with one title — Andale-Garden Plain softball — outside of track this weekend.

The saddest things were the deaths — Ed Kriwiel, Hanston’s Jerry Slaton, Stan Pulliam.

East’s Arthur Brown committed to Miami and then graduated early to get started. Northwest’s Chris Harper committed to K-State, took it back, committed to Oregon and then graduated early to get started out there as a quarterback. East’s Bryce Brown has committed to Miami, too.

The Wichita area has shown itself to be a hotbed for girls basketball and baseball this past year (not that it’s the first).

So there were a lot of high points and some low points. While Wichita area didn’t come away with as many titles as it would have liked to this weekend, many teams put themselves in the position to win — Goddard baseball, Carroll softball, Kapaun baseball, Andale-Garden Plain baseball and softball, Kapaun soccer, Maize soccer, Independent baseball and softball, Udall softball. That’s impressive

Overall it was a great year.

Now tell me your memories — good and bad.

Writing on deadline can be a tricky deal. If you read my story for today’s paper, I focused on the fourth inning when things went way south for Wichita Independent in last night’s championship game. That’s mostly because, at that point, it was after 9 p.m. and I thought the Panthers would have a very difficult time coming back. And indeed that was the case. However, I failed to capture Independent’s attempt at a comeback. The Panthers are a good team — obviously — and they showed that last night overcoming that brutal fourth inning and chipping away. As coach Jamie Fowler pointed out, they actually had the winning run at the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning. That note — a relatively important one, at that — wasn’t included in my story. My point to this is I hope my story didn’t insinuate the Panthers quit after the fourth inning. That wasn’t the case.

As for softball, I found my new favorite high school coach to cover. Corey Lyon impressed me tremendously this weekend. Obviously he’s a great coach, but he also delivered a lot of great, well-thought out comments in speaking with me after tournament games, even after Independent’s loss in the yesterday’s title game. And I appreciate that. He talked about a lot more than softball and more to what he was really trying to get his girls to take away from their trip to state. He got choked up in speaking with me after the final game yesterday, and I thought that was pretty cool for the young kid with the cool shades and soul-patch goatee, who less than an hour before was ejected for standing up to the umpire on a play he believed could cost his team the championship, to show some emotion afterward — whether it was voluntarily or not. He’s a good guy who his team respects a lot.

Final note: Unfortunately, because of a few ‘bad apples’ the Independent fan base got bad name for itself this weekend in Manhattan. There were three incidents, all directed at umpires, I personally observed that I was stunned to witness. One of which ended when tournament administrators had to physically restrain a man and threaten to call the cops after he rushed the umpires after a game. I’ve covered 3A baseball for three years and there are a lot of great people running and help running the tournament who had some very nasty observations about what they saw from Independent fans. There’s that cliche about how most people form an opinion in the first few seconds after meeting someone. Well that goes for a weekend of state baseball and softball, and those first few seconds — in this case, days — didn’t go too well. Looking at the respective rosters, I’d imagine Independent baseball and softball have a great chance to be back to Manhattan next year. I hope the fans realize they’re in a hole as far as public opinion goes when they get back to Manhattan, and I hope they do everything they can to change that opinion. I talked to a lot of friendly, sportsmanship-minded fans on the Independent side this weekend, and I hope they are the ones that the tournament officials remember after the next trip to state.

Congrats on two great seasons.

Post by Jordan Bass

Kapaun goes down in order in the top of the sixth.