Varsity Kansas - The Blog

by joanna

If you’re not familiar with Bishop Carroll girls coach Don Racine, he’s a big guy from the East Coast. He’s very gruff, can be a little scary at times and intimidating most of the time. Now, he’s one of my favorite people because there’s nothing better than when you can make the cranky dude smile.

I especially liked him when I heard the following story that my boss, Kirk Seminoff, likes to tell.

Back during the 1994-95 season, Kirk wrote a game box on a Carroll game, a blowout, of course. It was a game that Carroll could easily have scored more than 100 points, but didn’t. See, a Racine-coached team has never scored more than 100 points. Now if you think about how much Carroll has dominated girls basketball, especially in the early years, and how bad other teams have been, that’s truly amazing and a tribute to Racine.

Anyway, in the game box there was a spot that said “What it means.” Kirk wrote “Don Racine is a nice guy.”

Well, that turned into a T-shirt — with Racine’s face and the line “What it means: Don Racine is a nice guy — made by Carroll folks and that found its way to Kirk and my former co-worker, Duane Frazier. Kirk still has his shirt. Not sure if Duane does, but he said he told his wife she couldn’t wear the shirt to bed anymore. Seems that waking up to Racine’s face scarred him — and scared him.
I bring this up because Carroll beat West 73-10 tonight. Another night when Racine could have let his players go crazy and completely embarrass West. But that’s not his style. You gotta love that about him.

By the way, Carroll once lost a game 9-4 to Heights. That was in 1981-82. How do I know? Kirk just looked it up. He’s the man.

By Joanna

I should have posted on this yesterday, but got busy with way too much other stuff.

But the death of former Clifton-Clyde football coach Ed Buller means two of the three winningest coaches in Kansas history have died in the past few months. First it was Kapaun’s Ed Kriwiel, who had 297 victories, and now Buller, who had the most, with 335 wins.

Buller was 91 and died one day after his birthday.

Click here for the story.

Tonight Little River girls coach Shane Cordell will go for his 500th victory. Congrats to him. He’s a good man and a good coach.

Wichita should have its first 500-game winner next basketball season when Bishop Carroll girls coach Don Racine will likely get it — or get really close. He’s at 479 heading into tonight’s game with visiting Northwest. He has the most wins of any City League coach. Southeast’s Carl Taylor hit 251 - -best for boys — during boys tournament week.

Racine continues to set records in the City League with consistently strong basketball teams. He’s won one 5A title and could have another shot at it this year. Certainly the two other longtime powers in girls basketball, Bishop Miege and St. Thomas Aquinas, have been struggling.

JL: I’m a little hurt, if not totally angry, that you stole my “Top 5″ idea and used it on your favorite venues. I thought we agreed yesterday that we would do a dueling “Top 5″ on our favorite coaches to interview and cover. Way to steal my thunder and my fans, too.

JC: Get over it, Jeff. Quit whining. Feel free to blog as much as I do.
What’s our top five topic going to be today? Let’s do the five favorite coaches to interview. Wait a second, is this all-time or current coaches?

JL: This is all-time. I realize you will have a much larger frame of reference since you’ve been doing this twice as long as me, but I feel like my list can be just as interesting and thought-provoking. I mean, I’ve met a lot of characters in six years.

JC: Fine, so I’m old. Get over that, too, young ‘un. All right my No. 1 is Dale Faber, who coached at Bishop Carroll and was excellent. He was hilarious, win or lose. But the best quote he ever gave me actually got him in trouble. It came after a particularly ugly loss. I asked him about how ugly it was. He said, “It was uglier than watching Roseanne Barr and I play one-on-one naked.” He had a funny comment about every situation and it was tough to listen to him when he was actually serious because you were waiting for the punch line.

JL: I missed the Dale Faber days at Bishop Carroll unfortunately, but I’ve dealt with him a little bit now that he’s the men’s basketball coach at Friends. As for my No. 1, I’m going with Ronnie Allen, the boys basketball coach at East. I don’t know if I have a particularly good reason, but there’s just something about the guy that puts me at ease when I’m talking to him. Even though he calls me “Lutz” and I don’t think he knows my first name, we’ve developed a good rapport over the years. I try to make him laugh sometimes, and I’m successful about two times out of 10.

My second choice, someone who could have easily been No. 1, is Bobby Bribiesca, the soccer coach at Northwest. Even though soccer isn’t completely on my radar as a sports fan, I haven’t dealt with a coach during my time at The Eagle who is as passionate about his sport as Bribiesca, one of the original City League soccer coaches. He makes me wish I knew more about soccer, because I think it would be fun to shoot the breeze with him and I know he talks about the game a lot. He’s probably the most consistently nice person I’ve met on this job — he never has a negative comment, never raises his voice and never shows even an ounce of bitterness or anger over a loss.

JC: These are so thought-provoking. But I thought we were only doing basketball coaches, Jeff. Now I’ve got to think even harder. Thanks a lot.

I like Ron Allen, too, because he always has something smart alecky to say to me. I think he knows my first name, though. And Bobby B., what a great guy, especially because he’s always available.

My No. 2 would have to be Collegiate’s Mitch Fiegel. The guy can talk. Ask him one question and he’s gone. He gives so much information in such a short span that he makes my job easy. Besides, is there really a nicer guy out there. OK, maybe Bribiesca trumps Fiegel, but it’s not by much.

Trying to come up with my No. 3 was a little tougher because Jeff messed everything up by going outside basketball. But I’m going with Carroll football coach Alan Schuckman. I genuinely like this guy — he’s so classy, so kind, such an outstanding coach. He’s always friendly, win or lose, always makes his players available, provides all the media with the nicest preseason information sheet. I could go on and on. Hmmm, maybe I should make him No. 1.

JL: You sound like a correspondent with all this love for Mitch Fiegel, who gets plenty of props from the college students just breaking into the business. I’ve got a little internal debate going about my No. 3 choice, but I’m going to go with Joe Auer, the boys basketball and former baseball coach at Heights. My father has had a few run-ins with Joe over the years, and I wonder sometimes if Joe holds that against me. I hope not, because I really like the guy, and he’s always completely honest when I interview him after a game. He starts talking before you even ask a question, which makes a reporter’s job much easier. He’s another guy that’s good to shoot the breeze with, because he’s a baseball fan like myself. He gets marked off a few points for being a White Sox fan, though. But nobody’s perfect.

JC: I’m with you on Auer, Jeff. Truly a good interview. I especially like that sometimes his quotes show him for the government teacher that he is. I give him extra props for once listening to my 5-year-old sing his entire Christmas song that he was singing in a preschool program. It was the longest song I’ve ever heard. As for Ebright, a very nice guy, who I only see in football season.

Onto No. 4.

Hutchinson football coach Randy Dreiling. This guy cracks me up. It’s not that he’s Faber-funny, nor is he Schuckman-nice. He’s just cool and funny and crass and will say whatever he thinks no matter what. He’s ripped me for not picking his team in our weekly predictions, he’s called me out for being a jinx, he’s been more honest than most people could ever be, he’s said things I could never put in the paper, he’s made fun of my football throwing motion.

And yet, I love interviewing him.

JL: I know I’m running a little bit behind on responding to your choices, but I have to give my thoughts on Alan Schuckman. I always get a little tounge-tied with him when I interview him after games, mostly because all the Carroll games I’ve covered have been played in sub-zero temperatures and it’s all I can do to keep my lips from sticking together when I talk to him. But speaking of Carroll, my No. 4 is their baseball coach, Charlie Ebright. This is a classic example of quantity over quality. Charlie doesn’t always necessarily give me the best quotes or information, but I’ve covered his team so much that we’ve become sort of like comrades and I’ve pretty sure I’ve memorized his cell phone number from calling him so much for preview stories in the spring. I also identify with his team somewhat (My diploma from North just got taken away for writing that) and I’ve gotten along with his players — guys like Bryan Bye, Josh Bird and Ryan Jones.

What I like about our lists so far is that we haven’t had any duplicates. It speaks well to our different personalities, taste in people, and ability to get along with each other about 45-percent of the time. My No. 5 is Andover Central girls coach Stana Jefferson. I’ve questioned her ability in the past because she seems sort of passive sometimes, but I’ve figured out within the last year or so that she’s just always in control, and her calm demeanor carries over to her team’s style of play. She’s another one I can get along with off the floor, and we had some interesting conversations during the Class 4A basketball tournament last season. She thinks I jinx her by predicting success for her team, so I’ll go ahead and do it one more time: Stana, your Jaguars WILL win the state championship this season!

JC: And finally, my No. 5 is former Carroll wrestling coach Jamie Finkeldei. My feelings on Jamie are strong because he always hooked me up at state wrestling. Covering the state wrestling tournament, especially when it was 4A, 5A and 6A, is no easy task because you’re trying to keep on top of everything and miss nothing. I rely so much on coaches to keep me up-to-date on not only their team and wrestlers but whoever else is doing well or was upset. Jamie always did just that. I’d make my rounds of the mats, talking to coaches, and I’d always stop by where Jamie sat. He’d give me everything I needed and more.

JC: I’m a big fan of Stana myself. We talk more than basketball, mainly due to both of us having young children.
Well, that’s it. Our first Top 5 chat is finished. I know I had fun and Jeff is agreeing with me (maybe we actually get along 46 percent of the time).

We want to do this again, but we want to know if you liked it or hated it. And feel free to give us some topics to try.

We’re out.

I was stunned to read of the death of East soccer coach Mike Anderson (click here) on Jan. 14. He was only 56 and he had a brief illness. (Sorry I’m commenting on these deaths so late. Again, I was on leave.)

Mike was a longtime soccer coach, and someone I talked to fairly often. I know the soccer community is definitely mourning his death.

Ed Kriwiel’s death was less surprising, but no less sad. When I first came to Wichita in 1996, my then-co-worker Duane Frazier told me before going to cover my first City League girls golf meet — Just look for Eddie Kriwiel. He’ll help you out.

Sure enough, he did. I never thought of him as Eddie as the long-timers did, but I always appreciated his kindness and quick smile. He was always willing to do an interview, too.

Feel free to treat this as a place to put your memories. I know we had a place to post thoughts on Ed Kriwiel’s death on Kansas.com shortly after he died, but maybe you didn’t get a chance. I’d love to hear thoughts on Mike Anderson, too.

One of the worst parts of this job is writing obituaries because it’s so sad. I’ve written many in my time, including the deaths of young coaches, young athletic directors. It’s tough to write, but I so enjoy hearing people talk about all the wonderful memories they have of those people.

I had a parent e-mail me regarding my comments on Carl Taylor in a previous post and wanted to know what my thoughts were on boys coach Eric Hofer-Holdeman.

He’s one of the coaches I truly like and I’ve always been impressed with his ability to not freak out. At least on the outside. I’ve been around waaaay too many coaches in my lifetime to not be fully aware that they all freak out about games, players, strategies. Some let the world know, some internalize, some are a mixture of both.

I once wrote a story on Hofer-Holdeman and talked about his quiet nature, yet in the past few years, he has become more vocal. Now, he’s nowhere near as vocal as the majority of coaches, but more vocal for him. And he does own the loudest clap in the area.

On a personal level, what I’ve always liked about Hofer-Holdeman is he’s just as quick to talk basketball with me as he is to ask after my husband and kids.

How about Southeast coach Carl Taylor hitting this milestone? What a truly amazing feat, considering the City League has long been thought of as the state’s top basketball league. It’s a league that frustrates many of its coaches, though, because the teams all tend to beat up on each other. No game is a guaranteed win. Yet Taylor has found unbelievable success year in and year out.

Taylor is a favorite of mine — although, I have to admit, there’s few coaches I don’t like. But he does scare me a bit. If you’ve ever seen him coach, you know this man has a fire in him that runs deep and strong. If you’ve ever seen him chew out one of his players — always deservedly so — you almost feel a twinge for the kid, glad that you’re not on the other end of it.
Well, after a Southeast loss, Taylor’s at his best quote-wise. When he wins, you get “That’s how we should play. We did what we are supposed to do.” But when the Buffaloes lose, oooh, he has no problem breaking down specifically what happened. Approaching him, though, isn’t the easiest, and I’ve been dealing with him for 12 seasons now and we have a solid relationship. But he’s still got that fire in his eyes and it’s tough to not feel a little bit concerned that you might bear the brunt of his anger.

Yet only once has Taylor gotten angry at me. One time after a loss at Northwest, I grabbed one of his players for an interview as he was walking out of the locker room. Taylor saw that and barked at me that I was never to talk to one of his players without talking to him. I was mortified because there were about 30 people standing there waiting for the players. I told him that, too. I said that he never had a problem with me grabbing a player when they won, so why did it change when they lost?

The next moment, with his response, solidified my respect for Taylor. He apologized. Now, if there’s any women reading this, you know men suck at apologies. And for all sports fans, we know coaches aren’t the most likely to admit they were wrong. But Taylor did.

So congrats Coach Taylor.

Many teams will fund-raise through the course of a year, hitting it especially hard right before the season starts. They might do it through selling cookie dough (my personal fave!) or through ads in programs or through discount cards.

Northwest’s boys basketball team has taken a different tactic — the Grizzlies will work for  donations. In an e-mail that coach Eric Hofer-Holdeman sent to a variety of people — including yours truly — he writes that his players will rake leaves, clean storage rooms, put up Christmas decorations, dust, vacuum, paint. All for the low, low sum of $5 an hour.

I could work those boys for a week! Alas, I think there’s some sort of conflict of interest there, so I won’t be hiring them. But I like the idea anyway.

Now if they were selling cookie dough ….

Mulvane’s football team might be 7-0, but as you’ll see in a story we ran today on the Wildcats — click here – there’s obviously more to this team and more to this town than simply playing football.

This was an enjoyable story to write because it’s pretty rare to have such raw emotion bared by such tough, strong men. But it was tough, as well, primarily because of my interview with Sam Keys’ dad, Mulvane assistant Phil Keys. Phil was amazing, willing to talk about his son’s death and what the memories mean to the team and to him.

I’ve done these types of stories before, but Phil got me when he said the following after I told him that I couldn’t imagine what he was going through.

He said ”You know that feeling you get on that first day in the spring, when it’s really warm and nice and you roll the windows down and you turn the radio up and you sing at the top of your lungs — that feeling doesn’t come anymore. That feeling sneaks in and you know something’s missing. That’s just the way it is.”

If that doesn’t hit you in the heart, I don’t know what will. I can’t imagine losing a child, and I certainly don’t know what the families of those four kids who died feel. But Phil gave me an insight there that made it all too clear.

Thanks to Phil, coach Dave Fennewald, Huldon Tharp and Jordan Gosch for opening up and talking about something that isn’t easy to discuss.

With the new districts released, we’ve found out that Heights and Carroll finally will be able to have seven City League games on their schedule. It’s a nice change for two of the league’s top teams because it makes it just a little easier to win the league title, which is based on winning percentage.

Still, not everyone is happy. Check out Mark’s comment:

The problem with unequal scheduling in City League can be reduced with the new districts. Now all the 6A schools in City League have exactly one non-league opponent in their district. Assuming that each of the six plays another non-league foe in the first six weeks of the season, each of them will have seven league games. Carroll and West will be in a district together, meaning they each have two non-league games in district. If they each play only league opponents the first six weeks, they would each also have seven league games. The only team out of luck in this scenario is Kapaun, which has three non-league district games, so can get only six league games. This is clearly unfair to Kapaun. Has any thought been given to a league schedule that designates six league games for every school, with the option that each school (other than Kapaun) schedule either an extra non-league game or a game with a league opponent that doesn’t count in the league standings? There is really no perfect solution when you have nine teams in a league and unequal numbers of district games, but the current setup really has a fairness problem.

Mark’s right, there’s no perfect situation. But it is better than it has been. This year Carroll, Heights and Kapaun only have six league games. It’s so tough to go undefeated in league, which is imperative when there’s only six games.

Heights coach Rick Wheeler and Carroll coach Alan Schuckman, whose teams have been league title contenders, winning two of the past three, just had to accept the difficulty.

Is it fair? No. But it’s the way it goes because this is a nine-team league.