Indiana High School football: Week 1

It seems like the summer goes way too fast and before we know it, it's time for two-a-days to start. And, a few weeks later, school starts with the first game of the season normally that same week. For the first time in my life, I will be missing Week 1 of the Indiana High School football season. It's a tough streak to break at 33 years, but I will definitely make up for it in the 14 weeks following.

Below are the Indiana Football Coaches' Top 10 polls for each of the five classes:
Class 5A
1. Carmel (defending state champion)
2. Warren Central
3. Fishers
4. Ben Davis
5. Fort Wayne Snider
6. Penn (defending state runner-up)
7. Center Grove
8. Avon
9. Lawrence Central
10. Pike
Receiving votes: Lake Central, Chesterton, Hamilton Southeastern, Crown Point, Merrillville and Castle

Class 4A
1. Indianapolis Cathedral (defending state champion)
2. Fort Wayne Dwenger
3. Evansville Reitz
4. Columbus East
5. East Central
6. Indianapolis Roncalli
7. Mishawaka
8. Leo
9. Concord
10. Hammond Morton
Receiving votes: South Bend Washington (defending state runner-up), Jasper, Pendleton Heights, New Palestine, New Haven, Delta and Griffith

Class 3A
1. Indianapolis Bishop Chatard (defending state champion)
2. South Bend St. Joe's (defending state runner-up)
3. Jimtown
4. West Lafayette
5. Eastbrook
6. Evansville Memorial
7. Mishawaka Marian
8. Charlestown
9. Hamilton Heights
10. Western Boone
Receiving votes: Brownstown Central, Indian Creek, Corydon Central, North Montgomery, John Glenn, Heritage Hills and Brebeuf Jesuit

Class 2A
1. Fort Wayne Bishop Luers (defending state champion)
2. Evansville Mater Dei (defending state runner-up)
3. Guerin Catholic
4. Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter
5. Heritage Christian
6. Bremen
7. Andrean
8. Speedway
9. North Putnam
10. Churubusco
Receiving votes: Tipton, Wheeler, Northwestern, Shenandoah, Southridge, Paoli, Fountain Central, Rensselaer Central, North Posey and North Judson

Class 1A
1. Lafayette Central Catholic (defending state champion)
2. Linton-Stockton
3. Sheridan
4. Indianapolis Scecina (defending state runner-up)
5. Pioneer
6. Milan
7. Indianapolis Lutheran
8. South Adams
9. Perry Central
10. Rockville
Receiving votes: South Newton, Southern Wells, North Central (Farmersburg), Whiting, Adams Central, Union City, Culver, Attica, North Miami, Frontier, Winamac and North Vermillion

Week 1's more interesting meetings:
Elkhart Central at Elkhart Memorial (Charger Field) -- The Mangy Lion match-up is always quite the intriguing one, despite it not being a notable game when looking at all games around the state. Elkhart Central head coach Levon Johnson is trying to build the Blue Blazers' program back to what it once was with legendary former head coach Tom Kurth. Elkhart Memorial is starting over from scratch with former Concord offensive coordinator Bill Roggeman at the helm. I wish coach Roggeman the best of luck in leading the Chargers, as he was my offensive coordinator when I played at Concord. My pick: Elkhart Memorial

2A#1 FW Luers at 5A#5 FW Snider (Spuller Stadium) -- On paper, this Summit city rivalry doesn't look to favor Luers, simply because they're 2A and Snider is the bigger 5A school. Non-sense! Regardless of the fact that Luers head coach Matt Lindsay has won 9 state titles for the Knights, he just can't seem to beat the Snider Panthers. In the last 10 years, Snider is 8-2 vs. Luers. My pick: FW Luers

2A#5 Heritage Christian at 2A#4 Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter (Lucas Oil Stadium) -- Heritage Christian has only had a football team in existence for 10 years and head coach Ron Qualls is already succeeding with flying colors. He's made two consecutive trips to the state championship game, winning the 2008 state title with a 14-1 record over Lewis Cass, 17-14. Their lone loss that year was to Ritter by a touchdown. Ty Hunt and Ritter have pretty much owned the new-to-football Eagles, taking eight of nine.
My pick: Cardinal Ritter

Heritage Hills at 2A#2 Evansville Mater Dei (The Reitz Bowl) -- These two haven't seen each other on the gridiron since the 2006 season. Mater Dei beat Heritage Hills in the game, 30-7. They both have rich football traditions and are notorious for representing their respective classes in the state finals. Current Chicago Bears QB Jay Cutler is a Heritage Hills graduate. My pick: Mater Dei

4A#1 Cathedral at 5A#4 Ben Davis (Giants Stadium) -- As dominant as the Cathedral Irish have been in recent years in the 4A state tournament, they've been the complete opposite against the Ben Davis Giants. The two have only played five times since the 1994 season, but Ben Davis is 5-0 in those meetings, including at 24-21 overtime thriller at Lucas Oil Stadium last season in Week 1. Cathedral always reloads and this five-game streak vs. BD is bound to come to an end. My pick: Cathedral

Merrillville at 5A#2 Warren Central (Warrior Stadium) -- This is always one of the more blockbuster games of Week 1 and turns out to be a blowout in Warren Central's favor. It's turned into a mini-rivalry and a dandy it's become. The Warriors are just 3-2 vs. the Pirates. Steve Tutsie is back as head man at Warren after John Hart had a four-year stint, including the controversial '09 state title over Carmel in double overtime. Tutsie had a short two-year run previously at WC, going 23-4 with state championship in '06 over Carmel. Recently, Tutsie has been an assistant coach under Hart the past four years. This might be one of the bigger games in the state this weekend. My pick: Warren Central

Northwood at 3A#4 Jimtown (Knepp Field) -- The State Road 19 rivalry has become all that it's measured to be in northern Indiana. The Panthers and Jimmies face-off for the 16th season in a row. Jimtown leads the series 10-5, but you wouldn't know that if I hadn't just told you. It's football tradition at its best. Former Jimmie standout Mike Campbell is 42-11 in his first four years taking over for legend Bill Sharpe. Campbell already has three sectional and two regional titles in just four years. Northwood's Scott Hoover isn't too far behind in Nappanee. One sectional in his first three campaigns since taking over for long-time coach Rich Dodson, but is just 21-15 in those three years. It's extremely tough to beat Jimtown at Knepp Field. My pick: Jimtown

Valparaiso at 5A#6 Penn (Freed Field) -- Last season's runner-up, the Kingsmen have much to prove. I seriously doubt that had planned on being embarassed 54-0 at the hands of the Carmel Greyhounds in the state championship game. Cory Yeoman (97-23) enters his 11th at Penn taking over the reigns pretty well from Hall of Fame coach Chris Geesman. Yeoman and crew have won 14 of their 16 tilts with the Valparaiso Vikings, but they haven't really been lopsided affairs. Five of the 16 were decided by seven points or less, including two overtime games. Penn is out for redemption. My pick: Penn

3A#10 Western Boone at 1A#3 Sheridan (Blackhawk Field) -- You can't say enough about the class that Sheridan head coach Larry "Bud" Wright has shown in his 47 years leading the Blackhawks. He has gone 370-158 in those 47 seasons, while winning nine state titles and being runner-up twice. He'll coach high school football at Sheridan until the day he is ultimately ready to retire. His two sons are both successful coaches as well. Kent is in his 12th year at Lebanon (57-56). Kevin is slightly more successful than his brother, winning three state titles at Warren Central ('03-'05) and 2011 at Carmel. Western Boone comes to Blackhawk Field on Friday and it'll be a battle of farmboys and a good one at that. My pick: Sheridan

Stay tuned to my blog throughout the 2012 high school, college and professional football seasons. I will make my picks for each level of football and share them with you here each week.

2012 Notre Dame football: 37 days 'til Dublin!

This coming Saturday (July 28th) puts the 2012 Notre Dame football countdown at 35 days (five weeks) until the Fighting Irish clash with the Navy Midshipmen at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland. It will be a 9:00 a.m. EST start time, which is five hours later at 2:00 p.m. in Ireland.

Yes, there is quite a ways to go before all is settled at each position. The upperclassmen are having their own separate workouts sessions and most of the freshmen aren't even on campus just yet, but I can't help but think that the college football season is quickly approaching and will be here before we know it!

The biggest decision that Brian Kelly has to make to begin his 3rd season as head coach at Notre Dame is at the quarterback position. At this point in the summer, there are four quarterbacks that could possibly start when the Irish open vs. Navy on Saturday, September 1st in Dublin.

QUARTERBACK
Junior Tommy Rees (6'2, 210) seems to be the most logical choice, simply because of his experience as a starter thus far in his young collegiate career. His consistency is what most question when it comes to Rees being the leader of the Irish offense in 2012. Tossing 20 touchdowns, he did seem pretty faulty when it came to critics and alumni, as he threw 14 interceptions during his sophomore campaign. The third-year signal caller did complete 269 of 411 passes (65.2%) for 2,871 yards. Another reason why Rees might be in question is the off-season trouble that he had with the police. Rees was picked up one weekend night, receiving a DUI. He refused arrest initially by the South Bend police officer, which caused more media attention and questions about his status for the fall.

The only other quarterback on the Irish depth chart is junior Andrew Hendrix. Hendrix (6'2, 220) saw a decent amount of playing time, but it was mainly in mop-up duty or to bail Rees out of situations that the Irish shouldn't have been in. He is more dependable as a running quarterback, at least that's what he showed he does best. Throwing just 18-for-37 (48.6%) for 249 yards, one touchdown and two INT's, Hendrix has plenty to show in camp coming up soon. He ran the ball really well behind center last Fall, carrying it 25 times for 162 yards and a TD, a 78-yarder at Stanford.

Sophomore Everett Golson (6'0, 185) showed the in Blue-Gold Spring game that he's very capable of competing for the starting job. With his legs and arm, Golson was turning heads throughout Notre Dame Stadium. Freshman Gunner Kiel (6'4, 210) from Columbus East High School (Columbus, IN) was an early enrollment in January for the Spring semester and got an early edge in learning coach Kelly's offense. The fifth QB on ND's roster is sophomore Charlie Fiessinger (6'1, 185). More than likely, Tommy Rees will get the nod because of the experience factor, but don't be surprised to see both Andrew Hendrix and Everett Golson getting their due time, depending on the situation against certain opponents. Gunner Kiel could also see some time, but it's hard telling what Brian Kelly and his staff have in store for the 2011 indiana Mr. Football.

RUNNING BACK
In recent years, the Irish offense has had no problem finding receivers to contribute. This year, the backfield is catching up and will be just as stacked as there are four running backs that will all see an ample amount of time. Senior Cierre Wood comes back to lead the Notre Dame ball carriers, just as he did in 2011 with 1,102 yards on 217 carries (5.07 per carry) with 9 touchdowns. With the graduation of Jonas Gray, Wood made room for three teammates that will help share the load on the ground. Senior Theo Riddick is converting back to running back from wide receiver and he brings quite a bit of speed. Sophomore George Atkinson III adds a little more punch and will try to press the kickoff return records of yesteryear. GAIII returned 35 kicks for 915 total yards and a 26.1 yard average and also returned two for touchdowns and looks to be a lightning quick part of the ND backfield. A few newcomers are going to give it their best to make their presence known in South Bend. Incoming freshmen Will Mahone (Austintown, OH) and KeiVarae Russell (Everett, WA) will hit camp in August with thoughts of contributing right away. One newcomer that will have to wait until 2013 to put on his Notre Dame blue and gold is Amir Carlisle. Carlisle transferred from USC just before classes started in January. He got himself enrolled just in time for the spring term to start. Unfortunately for Carlisle, he saw action for the USC Trojans and carried the ball 19 times for 118 yards before knee and ankle injuries kept him off the field for the remainder of 2011.

WIDE RECEIVER
Despite All-American Michael Floyd graduating and being drafted in the first round of the NFL draft by the Arizona Cardinals, Notre Dame's receiving corp doesn't look as bleak as most would think. There are a few that are going to surprise people. Believe it or not, 5th year senior John Goodman (Dwenger HS) from Fort Wayne is said to be one that will be putting up big yards. He's 6'3 and 207 and has the similar build of former ND receiver Jeff Samardzija. Goodman wasn't even a second tier guy last year. He only caught seven balls for 65 yards (9.3 per catch). Robby Toma might become one of the key speedsters. Coming on more in the second half of 2011, Toma wound up with 19 receptions for 207 yards (10.9) and a TD. TJ Jones will catch a lot of eyes, but it's not like they haven't seen him in action prior to this fall. Jones pitched in with 38 grabs for 366 yards (9.6) and 3 TD's. Sophomore DeVaris Daniels could prove to be a guy to breakout and make some catches where needed. Two freshmen will cross the radar and try to move their way up the ladder for playing time. Chris Brown (Hanahan, SC) Davonte Neal (Paradise Valley, AZ) and Justin Ferguson (Pembroke Pines, FL) are said to be a steal at wideout for Brian Kelly.

TIGHT END
Hands down, Tyler Eifert is the best tight end in the nation, as long as he's thrown the ball consistently. He has the potential and athleticism to surpass the expectations and stats of former Irish TE and current Minnesota Vikings TE Kyle Rudolph. Sophomore Ben Koyack will be one that will shock opponents, simply because he was holding a clipboard last season, for the most part. He bulked himself up over the winter months and is a stout 6'5 and 253 pounds. Jake Golic, Alex Welch and linebacker-turned-tight end Troy Niklas will all three be a big part of the tight end lineup, whether it be catching passes or being that TE that stays in and pass blocks.

OFFENSIVE LINE
The offensive line will be a very protective line for whichever QB lines up behind them. Here is the makeup of the 2012 offensive line:
Left Tackle:   Zach Martin
Left Guard:    Chris Watt
Center:           Braxton Cave
Right Guard:  Conor Hanratty
Right Tackle: Christian Lombard

Fellow fifth-year senior Mike Golic, Jr. will be Cave’s backup at Center and was a nice fill-in while Braxton was injured during part of 2011. Junior Tate Nichols, along with sophomores Jordan Prestwood and Brad Carrico will contribute to the depth on the o-line. There are a couple incoming freshmen that could possibly see some playing time as true freshmen. Mark Harrell (Charlotte) and Ronnie Stanley (Las Vegas) will more than likely see some solid time this fall during the first semester on campus.

DEFENSIVE LINE
Kapron Lewis-Moore has definitely put in his fair share of time on the Irish defensive line. The fifth-year defensive end will help anchor a three-man front in Kelly’s 3-4 scheme. He will do so along with junior Louis Nix III and sophomore Stephon Tuitt. The three combined for 97 total tackles (39 solo), 11.5 tackles for a loss and 4 sacks. They’ll be back and better than ever when camp opens up in the next couple weeks. True freshman Sheldon Day (Warren Central HS, Indianapolis) will be a key contributor right away, as he’s already ahead of schedule. Day played in the annual spring game in April and was enrolled in classes at Notre Dame in January. Senior Tyler Stockton, junior Kona Schwenke and another freshman in Jarron Jones (Rochester, NY) will look to spread their wealth and get some playing time.

LINEBACKER
It says quite a bit about the Notre Dame football program when a guy like Manti Te’o could have done two other things in life than come back to South Bend for his senior season. He could have gone on a mission trip as a part of his religious obligations or he could have entered the NFL draft and probably have a seven-figure income right about now. Instead, he’s back as a vital part of the defense for the Irish.  

Like Rees, Te’o’s inside linebacker partner Carlo Calabrese got into some of the same trouble, but not as hefty as Rees. Calabrese’s fate is still yet to be determined in a court of law. Senior Dan Fox, junior Kendall Moore, junior Prince Shembo and sophomore Ishaq Williams are all combining to be one of the better line backing corps in the country. They’ll be a lot quicker than last season. Freshman Romeo Okwara (Charlotte) will be another key addition that could also step in right away.

DEFENSIVE BACKS

Harrison Smith is now a Minnesota Viking after they took him with the 29^th overall pick in this past April’s draft. There will be plenty of experience back at the Cornerback and Safety positions, which will be a blessing in disguise from the lackluster play by some DB’s from the past couple seasons.

Fifth-year seniors Dan McCarthy, Chris Salvi and Jamoris Slaughter are three veterans along with senior Zeke Motta that will all patrol “center field” in the defensive backfield. Juniors Lo Wood and Bennett Jackson bring back minimal experience at each cornerback position. Five incoming freshmen might get to see what they’re made of right away. Tee Shepard (Fresno, CA), Nick Baratti (Tomball, TX), C.J. Prosise (Petersburg, VA), Elijah Shumate (East Orange, NJ) and John Turner (Indianapolis) might all be thrown into the fire, just to see who’s got what it takes to stop the big plays and prevent the long ball.

It’s almost scary to think that so many things about this Notre Dame Football squad can be looked at as unknowns and it’s almost August! Now that this will be Brian Kelly’s third year in South Bend, he’s well aware that the stakes are much higher and expectations are through the roof from alumni and all fans across the country. Kelly has gone 8-5 in each of his first two seasons for the Irish. Notre Dame already has been said to have the toughest schedule in the country and they haven’t played a down yet.  

The pressure is always on and the spotlight is always going to shine directly on the head coach at the University of Notre Dame. Brian Kelly knows the task at hand and how he can accomplish what needs to be done to get Notre Dame Football back to the prominence that it was once known. The first thing on Kelly’s 2012 agenda will be quite the trip to open up the season and could help springboard his Irish in the right direction right away. Every college football eye will be watching on Saturday, September 1^st as Notre Dame opens up shop against one of their bigger rivals in Navy. They’ve played at The Meadowlands in East Rutherford, NJ. Notre Dame has played Army at Yankee Stadium. Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland is going to be such a different experience for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. They will kick off 2012 playing in the motherland of the Irish. There’s no better way to begin a season than that!

Cubs sweep Diamondbacks: Things are looking up, but Dempster/Garza on trading block...

Current state of the Chicago Cubs...
For too many realists, it's hard to admit. But for optimistic people like myself, I see things turning around on the north side of Chicago. It's not happening at a rapid rate like all the die-hard Cubs fans would like, but it is in fact happening.

This weekend's first series back from the All-Star break was a big first step in the right direction. The Cubs swept the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-1, 4-1 and 3-1 Friday through Sunday to give itself a 3 game cushion between themselves (36-52) and Houston (33-55), last place in the NL Central. With a 12-4 record since starting their home series with the Mets, the Cubs have caught the eyes of everyone in the rest of the league.

They're getting contributions from everyone in the lineup and intrical parts off the bench. Reed Johnson has started some games in CF in place of David DeJesus because of pitching matchups. Tony Campana gets into a game and steals at least one base, if not more, being one of the fastest in the league. Steve Clevenger gives Geovany Soto a day off here and there or if he's a better bat against a particular pitcher. Jeff Baker is another situational substitution, no matter where it is on the diamond. He's been on a hot streak lately when he appears in the lineup. Since June 25th, Baker is 9-for-25 (.360) with two home runs, six RBI's, four doubles and five runs scored. Luis Valbuena might be what the Cubs need at third base with Ian Stewart on the DL for at least another six weeks and the fact that there have been questions at the hot corner all season. Joe Mather has had streaks of promise and has contributed as expected, a bench type player.

President Theo Epstein and GM Jed Hoyer are putting together what they think will be a winner. Building around players like Starlin Castro, Anthony Rizzo, Darwin Barney and Bryan LaHair is probably a good thing. None of those players are going anywhere, no matter what rumors have circulated during this 2012 season.

Pitchers Ryan Dempster (5-3, 1.68 ERA this season) and Matt Garza (5-7, 4.02 ERA) are both rumored to be the talks of possibly being traded. It's hard telling which of these two will be sent to another squad for prospects, yes I said prospects. In the end, the Cubs normally wind up trading any prospects that they receive in a trade. There are a few exceptions, like Anthony Rizzo. He's a keeper for quite a while at first base.

For the time being, Dale Sveum has figured out a starting lineup that is working pretty darn well.

CF: David DeJesus (or Reed Johnson)
SS: Starlin Castro
1B: Anthony Rizzo (or Jeff Baker)
LF: Alfonso Soriano
RF: Bryan LaHair
C:  Geovany Soto (or Steve Clevenger)
2B: Darwin Barney
3B: Luis Valbuena 
SP: Ryan Dempster, Matt Garza, Travis Wood, Jeff Samardzija, Paul Maholm

The bullpen is really becoming a dependable asset to this ball club. James Russell, Shawn Camp, Jairo Ascencio, Manny Corpas, Scott Maine and believe it or not, Carlos Marmol are beginning to gel with each other and compliment the starting rotation like a bullpen should do.

Yes indeed, things are looking up for the Chicago Cubs. Through 88 games, they're 36-52 (.409) but are playing the best baseball in the major leagues. They are 13.5 games behind the Cincinnati Reds in the NL Central on July 15th. There are 74 games left in the regular season and there is plenty of room for much needed improvement throughout the rest of 2012.

We know the middle infield (Castro and Barney) aren't going anywhere. Rizzo should be a Cub for as long as he's got the ability to be on the field everyday. Soto really hasn't had a great season since his Rookie of the Year campaign in 2008. Valbuena is at third for the time being and he's producing like he was brought in to do. He's a spark plug for Sveum's crew and you never know exactly when his bat will show up for a multi-hit game. David DeJesus and/or Reed Johnson can platoon center field, as far as I'm concerned. Play them situationally with the opposing pitcher and they'll both be great in the field with their stellar defensive play. LaHair has made a comfortable transition from first base to right field with ease. He's hitting well still and when Rizzo was called up for his bat, LaHair welcomed him to play first and he gladly took up right field. Alfonso Soriano is now hitting with a lighter bat and leading the Cubs hitting attack.

The second half could bring surprises and it could turn out good for our beloved Cubs. They could overtake Milwaukee to at least finish in fourth place in the Central. That wouldn't be a bad thing in year one of the Epstein/Hoyer era. After all, they didn't help guide the Boston Red Sox to a World Series title their first season...

This may not have the star-powered names that the Yankees, Cardinals, Red Sox and other teams that have recently won World Series titles, but they're playing great as of late. These guys are doing what it takes to win ball games at any cost.

The National League won the 83rd Annual All-Star game Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City 8-0 over the American League, winning their 3rd straight "summer classic." It makes a big statement that they came to play and they were once again bound and determined to have home field advantage in the World Series.

During the first half of the 2012 season, the New York Yankees (52-33) and Texas Rangers (52-24) hold the best records in the Major Leagues thus far. The Washington Nationals (49-34) are surprising all in the National League, but the Pittsburgh Pirates (48-37) and right on their heels to lead the NL. These surprises bring up a lot of loaded questions of the could, will, won't, might variety. From the looks of it, if they can sustain their leads, there may be a "changing of the guard" in a couple of divisions.

NL EAST
Are the Nationals going to be able to hold onto their current 4 game lead over the Atlanta Braves (46-39)? Is a rotation with Stephen Strausburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmerman, Edwin Jackson and Ross Detwiler tops in the East? The Braves have what it takes with their experience. This is Chipper Jones' last go-around before he retires and he's been hitting the ball pretty well leading up to the All-Star break, not to mention guys like Freddie Freeman, Dan Uggla and Michael Bourn helping Chipper provide leadership and production. The N.Y. Mets (46-40) are just half a game behind Atlanta and 4.5 games back of Washington. Dillon Gee possibly being shelved for the remainder of the year won't help the Mets' rotation. It might be tough for Johan Santana, R.A. Dickey, Jonathon Niese and Chris Young to take the boys from Flushing to the playoffs. 
  
NL CENTRAL
Can this be the year the Pirates keep the ship on track and fend off the feisty Cincinnati Reds (47-38) and defending World Champions in the St. Louis Cardinals (46-40)? The Reds are just one game behind Pittsburgh and St. Louis is trailing by only 2.5 games. Cincinnati has just a .248 team batting average. Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, Brandon Phillips and company might be able to hit the long ball, but that's not going to get them back to the postseason. The Cardinals, might be in some trouble, but they're within striking distance of Pittsburgh and we all saw them overcome trailing by 8 games last season to win the Wild Card and eventually won the franchise's 11th World Series. Lance Berkman should return from his DL stint when play resumes from the All-Star break this Friday. Clint Hurdle's Pirates hold the best home record in the major leagues at 29-14 so far at PNC Park this season. Playing this well at home is one thing, but tightening up on the road, where they're 19-23, might get the Pirates over the hump and back to being a playoff team.

NL WEST
The West will be won by either Los Angeles or San Francisco, unless Arizona decides it wants to be a dog in this Divisional or perhaps the Wild Card hunt. Matt Kemp comes off the DL on Friday to help aid a fading Dodger offense that's missing another outfielder currently on the DL in Andre Ethier. Pitching depth in the Giants' rotation with Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, Madison Bumgarner, Barry Zito and Ryan Vogelsong providing Bruce Boche with a solid 1-5 lineup that can match up with any lineup. It's tough to say how the Arizona Diamondbacks will respond in the 2nd half of the season. Jason Kubel led the desert dwellers with 60 RBIs. Outfielder Justin Upton could possibly be dealt to Atlanta any day now.

AL EAST
The Yankees will more than likely take the East crown with ease, despite having LF Brett Gardner and Closer Mariano Rivera on the DL. Raul Ibanez is a nice fit in left and Rafael Soriano has settled into the closer role pretty comfortably. The Bronx Bombers were 20-7 in June and are 5-3 to start July and have a 7 game cushion on the Baltimore Orioles for the East division lead. This is the tightest division in baseball. Each team is .500 and above and with Boston and Toronto tied for last (43-43), the two are just 9.5 games back  from the 1st place Yankees. Tampa Bay usually makes a surge in the 2nd half and I honestly wouldn't put it past Joe Maddon's crew. Evan Longoria should be back at 3B sometime soon, but he's no savior, even though he could help the Rays out on the left side of their infield. Buck Showalter has his Orioles believing that they can catch the Yankees or at least vie for one of the now two Wild Card spots, which isn't totally out of the relm of possibility.

AL CENTRAL
Robin Ventura has the Chicago White Sox (47-38) are coming into their own, now that they gained an extra power bat in the lineup with Kevin Youkilis starting at third base, recently acquired from the Boston Red Sox. I honestly see GM Kenny Williams making a move for a starting pitcher before the July 31 trade deadline. It would be smart on his part, anyway, if he wants his White Sox to be more than just a division winner this year. The Cleveland Indians are the squad that's really surprised most in the AL, but the Tribe just doesn't have enough power across the board to keep up with the White Sox or even keep the Detroit Tigers from overtaking them for second place in the Central. Detroit has a lot of youth, but Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera are ready to take things upon themselves to possibly lead Detroit on a second half push.

AL WEST
The Texas Rangers couldn't be hungrier than they were after losing the 2011 World Series to St. Louis. Losing their second consecutive World Series makes them want to break out of that spell and win the ultimate prize of that World Title. They've made due with the great talent that they have, even with pitchers Colby Lewis, Derek Holland, Neftali Feliz and Alexi Ogando all injured at some point this season. Texas signed veteran right-hander Roy Oswalt to help with the absence of those arms. The only competition in the West for Texas are the LA Angels. It took Albert Pujols quite a while to get adjusted to American League pitching and overall style of play. The Angels more than likely won't catch the Rangers if they keep up with a 4-man rotation. It's too long of a season to try to win a lot of baseball games with just four starters. Mike Scioscia is a great manager, but they surely need a fifth starting arm to get back to the playoffs.

Teams have played between 83 and 87 games in the first half. That puts them just a little over the halfway point in their seasons. There's obviously room for a lot of teams to improve on what they've already done and also plenty of time for seasons to implode. I'm a superstitious person, so I won't drop any names to possibly jinx their season(s) and send them down the tubes.

Cubs update: Rizzo getting his "call"? Pitching woes continue...

Is Anthony Rizzo ready for his promotion to Cubs...?
The main question on every Cubs fans' mind these days is this? When will Anthony Rizzo be promoted from Triple-A Iowa?? Supposedly, the 22-year old Rizzo will make his first appearance in a Chicago Cubs uniform for Tuesday night's home game vs. the New York Mets. That's the rumor anyways.

I hate that fans think that he is THE answer to all the Cubs' problems at the plate and in the field. We haven't even see him in action yet at the Major League level and fan and media are already assuming that he'll be a savior and saving grace for Northsiders.

Yes, he is hitting .349 with 23 home runs and 62 RBIs in 68 games for the Cubs' triple-A Iowa Cubs. The young Cubbie prospect also has 18 doubles, a couple, scored 48 runs and has 88 hits in those 68 games so far this season. The one thing that puzzles me is that Rizzo has struck out 51 times in his 252 at-bats (20%). It's obvious that he's a great hitter at the triple-A level and anywhere else he's played in the minor leagues, but will he be able to adjust quickly to major league pitching or will he continue to strike out 20-25% of the time, like Adam Dunn (White Sox) and Mark Reynolds (Orioles) have done in their recent pasts?

I like to think that I'm quite the optimist about a lot of things in life. I'm giving Rizzo a pretty open window of opportunity when he does get the call-up from Iowa. He's the most anticipated prospect to get called-up probably since Mark Prior made his first appearance after being drafted in 2001 by the Cubs out of USC. He'll have a tremendous amount of pressure on him as soon as his move to Chicago happens. At least he won't have to worry about his manager killing his throwing arm like Dusty Baker did over the years to Mark Prior and Kerry Wood.

Cubs manager Dale Sveum has tweaked his lineup in recent weeks just to get a feel of where Rizzo would fit once he was called up. Moving David DeJesus to CF to play Bryan LaHair in RF to keep both their bats and gloves on the field once Rizzo joins the team is just one move that will benefit them in the long run. DeJesus started in CF today (Sunday), Reed Johnson patrolling the turf out in RF and Jeff Baker took to the infield dirt at 1B. Joe Mather got the start at 3B, but the hot corner has been shared by a handful of Cubs this season. It's pretty obvious that they're missing the bat and glove of Aramis Ramirez, now in Milwaukee, at third base. But, since he didn't want to accept a one-year deal worth 16-18 million, he took a deal from the Brewers where he's getting paid like he wanted.

It's a really tough task for Cubs president Theo Epstein and General Manager Jed Hoyer to try to convert the Chicago Cubs into winners as quick as their beloved fans would like. We all know that this kind of thing doesn't happen overnight, but we would at least like to see a valiant effort out of them as management to give the Cubs their best foot forward and not make this fully a "rebuilding" year and consider it a "reloading" act. If only it were that easy.

Pitching, that's another set of woes...
There really isn't one pitcher in the rotationt that can be considered an ace pitcher on the Cubs' staff. Let's be honest, their struggling across the board. With the team at 24-48 overall, it's tough to peg exactly which arm isn't doing it for the rotation. They're all guilty of having bad outings, but things are just getting worse. Here's a look at what the arms that have been in the starting rotation have done so far...

Jeff Samardzija 5-6, 4.34 ERA, 84 K's
Matt Garza 3-6, 4.07 ERA, 72 K's
Paul Maholm 4-6, 5.38 ERA, 49 K's
Travis Wood 1-3, 8.31 ERA, 29 K's
Randy Wells 1-2, 4.91 ERA, 11 K's
Ryan Dempster 3-3, 2.11 ERA, 66 K's (currently on Disabled List)
Chris Volstad 0-6, 7.46 ERA, 24 K's (currently at triple-A Iowa Cubs)

The bullpen is having its struggles as well, but what's new? James Russell, Shawn Camp, Casey Coleman, Jair Asencio, Scott Maine, Manny Corpas and Carlos Marmol are the make up of the current bullpen, but they've had help from others that are either on the DL, have been demoted or retired like Kerry Wood has already this season. This group of late-inning workers has taken its fair share of lumps in the first half of the season and it's turned them into a "save by committee" kind of bullpen.

James Russell 2-0, 2.53 ERA, 26 K's (1 save)
Shawn Camp 2-4, 3.29 ERA, 31 K's (1 save)
Scott Maine 0-1, 8.68 ERA, 15 K's
Carlos Marmol 1-2, 5.85 ERA, 23 K's (4 saves)
Jair Asencio 0-0, 3.00 ERA, 3 K's
Casey Coleman 0-1, 4.50 ERA, 10 K's
Manny Corpas 0-0, 0.93 ERA, 7 K's

Other bullpen contributors...
Rafael Dolis 2-4, 5.68 ERA, 11 K's (4 saves)
Michael Bowden 0-0, 7.45 ERA, 8 K's
Luis Castillo 0-1, 7.04 ERA, 6 K's
Rodrigo Lopez 0-1, 5.68 ERA, 2 K's
Kerry Wood 0-2, 8.31 ERA, 6 K's (has retired)

Only time will tell on how long it takes for the Cubs' pitching arms to recover and try to salvage something out of this dreadful 2012 season. The Cubs will get on some sort of hot streak and make a little something of this down year.

Getting swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks on the road this weekend, the Cubs head home to face the New York Mets starting Monday. It's time to turn things around. There are 90 games (24-48) left in the regular season and still a lot of room to make improvements. It all depends on what the front office does to help improve things on the field. Transactions have to be made. Possibly trading for a starting pitcher and/or relief pitcher. Promoting Anthony Rizzo to join the big league team from Iowa for a bat boost and depth in the field. The fans need something to get excited about and I'm hoping it's soon.

 

NBA Finals: Thunder's odds can be overcome...

The Oklahoma City Thunder might be down 3-1 in the NBA Finals, but I don't think I would count them completely out. I may seem like I'm going out on a limb here, but if there's one team that I think can overcome a 3-1 deficit, it's the Thunder.

Game 5 is in Miami on Thursday night (tonight), which obviously caters to the home team in the Heat, but they can be beaten at home, like most teams in the playoffs this year. The Heat will be pretty hyped up to wrap this NBA Finals in five games. The Thunder are going to do everything possible to keep Miami's "champaign on ice" and steal Game 5. They'd love nothing more than to head home to Oklahoma City down 3-2 with a chance to win two games to pull off the unthinkable task of winning a playoff series after being down three games to one.

I realize that teams leading a series 3-1 are 30-0 in Game 5 of those series all-time, but odds are meant to be defied!

There aren't a whole lot of people that actually want to see LeBron, D-Wade and company win at NBA Championship. The way that they came into being this "Big 3" that they're referred as, just makes sports fans cringe and want to throw up all over. No three professional athletes should put on a display like those fools did a couple years ago when it was announced in a prime time special on ESPN that Lebron James and Chris Bosh would be joining Dwyane Wade as members of the Miami Heat to start the 2010-11 NBA season.

Westbrook might have dropped 43 points on the Heat in an effort to try and help his Thunder in Game 4, but they came up short. Kevin Durant contributed 28, but their 71 combined needed to be that much more in order to make up for what their teammates didn't do. Serge Ibaka, Thabo Sefolosha, Kendrick Perkins, James Harden, Derek Fisher and Nick Collison all six only pitched in for 27 total points. It's no wonder that Miami outscored OKC in the final three quarters.

It's going to take Durant to lead the Thunder with his own 40-plus output. Westbrook needs to play just as smart, if not smarter than he did scoring 43 in Game 4. James Harden needs to start playing again like the Harden who is the 6th Man of the Year. Ibaka, Sefolosha and Perkins have to be more aggressive rebounding at both ends of the court. While they're at it, they might as well contribute an average of 8-10 points each. Nick Collison has to come off the bench like a mad man on a mission to ruin someone's day. He gets a little timid out there among Miami's big guys down low and doesn't play to his potential on the average night. Derek Fisher is as guilty as any coming off the OKC bench. He has 5 NBA Titles with the Los Angeles Lakers before signing with the Thunder in March. It's almost as if the youth of the Thunder isn't appreciating his veteran presence and his experience in the NBA Finals as much as they should.

The odds of Oklahoma City winning Game 5 at American Airlines Arena in Miami are pretty small. The city of Miami might actually be appreciative enough of their team if they were to win Game 5 for their fourth win in a row in the series and beat the Thunder in five. Or, we could see a surging Thunder team that puts together another three game winning streak in the playoffs. LeBron has had some time to rest his cramping quad muscles since his dramatic scenes from Game 4 and will probably hype of the Heat crowd right away in Game 5.

What I want to happen and what will happen might be two different things come midnight Thursday (tonight). The odds are obviously favoring the Heat to win Game 5 because they're on their home court. Stacking the odds against Durant, Westbook and the Thunder might be a bad idea. It may not matter to these two high octane scorers that they're not playing at home. They will be focused on winning one game at a time to get back home to Chesapeake Energy Arena and make history in front of their fans.

Wishful thinking, I know. Far-fetched yes, I'm well aware of that. Only time will tell, but that's why they play the games. Game 5 is tonight at 9ET on ABC. I'll be watching for sure and hope that OKC can defy all odds for the W.

GO THUNDER!!!!

4A Sectional 8 Championship: 4A#5 Zionsville 10, Noblesville 4

Game 6: Zionsville 10, Noblesville 4
Noblesville got their "home" fans excited from the start, despite being the visitor on the scoreboard. Sam Wides walked with a full count to lead off. He found himself at third just after he got to first. Zionsville pitcher Troy Kuhn attempted to pick off Wides at first, but instead threw the ball over Joel Trewartha's head and down the fence toward the field tarp, which allowed Sammy to dive head first into third base. Wides trotted home on Luke Porter's fielder's choice, getting the Miller faithful on their feet.

Zionsville came back with two runs in the bottom of the first to top Noblesville's score. Drew Small walked, but was forced out at second on Ben Kocher's fielder's choice. Kuhn doubled to give the Eagles second and third with one out. Parker Dunshee next hit an RBI groundout to Garrett Christman at second, but scored Kocher. Catcher Ryan Bertram hit an RBI double to left, scoring Kuhn for a 2-1 Zionsville edge after one.

After NHS went 1-2-3 in their half of the 2nd, Zionsville continued its scoring and broke open the scoring just a little.

With one out, Harry Farber singled up the middle. Cam Richey reached on an error at shortstop by Nick Vallier. Small singled just over Christman's head and into right to load 'em up. Kocher hit into a fielder's choice, scoring Farber. Next, Kuhn lined a two-run single up the middle to score Richey and Small. Dunshee joined the hit parade with his two-run double to deep right center. He tried stretching it into a triple, but was thrown out on the play (9-6-5) for the second out. Zionsville had just ultimately frustrated senior starter Kent Williams on the mound. He allowed 7 runs on 7 hits over his short 2.2 inning stint, which would be his final outing of his high school career. Sophomore Trevor Salmon came in with two outs in the bottom of the second and K'd Trewartha for the third out.

Salmon gave Noblesville coach Justin Keever 3.1 innings of relief work and helped calm down the Eagles' bats for a few innings.

The Millers got a couple more runs in the fourth. Andrew Wilson walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Christman walked as well. They both scored in the inning, cutting the Zionsville margin to 7-3 after four innings played.

Two outs in the bottom of the 5th frame and Nick Barrientos singled to keep the inning alive for the Eagles. He advanced to second on a Fansher error at first base. Farber drives Barrientos home with an RBI double. Cam Richey hit Farber in with a double of his own. Zionsville was now up 9-3 and in full command with two innings to go until their first sectional championship since 2007.

Nichols and Vallier struck out to start the sixth. Garrett Welch hit a two-out double, his third extra base hit of the sectional. Welch score to make it 9-4 two batters later on a Steven Jones single.

Zionsville chalked up one more run for good measure in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs, Dunshee walked and was driven in two hitters later by Joel Trewarth's single down the right field line for the final score of 10-4.

The favorite to win this Class 4A Sectional, Zionsville did just that. Noblesville ends a rough, tough season with a 14-18 record. Zionsville improved to 26-5 and will play in the Lafayette Jeff Regional at Loeb Stadium against Carroll (Allen) (23-7) at around 1:30 Saturday. Fort Wayne South (19-7) plays McCutcheon (24-7) in the first game at 11 a.m.

2012 4A Sectional 8 All-Sectional Tournament Team
P     Taran Murphy - Noblesville (5 strikeouts, win)
P     Wade Burtron - Westfield (6 strikeouts, win)
P     Parker Dunshee - Zionsville (8 strikeouts)
P     Trevor Salmon - Noblesville (3.1 IP, 3 strikeouts)
P     Seth Parrish - North Central (6 IP, 5 strikeouts)
C     Sam Wides - Noblesville (3 runs, 2 doubles)
C     Bailey Partlow - Westfield (3 runs, HR, 5 RBIs)
1B   Nevin Fansher - Noblesville (2 RBIs, 2B, 12 putouts)
2B   Andrew Riley - North Central (2 HRs, 5 RBIs in same inning vs. Fishers)
SS   Troy Kuhn - Zionsville (4 runs, 4 RBIs, 2 2Bs)
3B   Luke Porter - Noblesville (3 runs, RBI, 2B)
INF Nick Vallier - Noblesville (4 RBIs, 3 putouts, 7 assists)
UTIL Ben Kocher - Zionsville (6 runs, reached base 10 of 13 pl. app., 7 assists)
UTIL Garrett Christman - Noblesville (3 runs, 2 RBIs - both sac. flies)
OF   Garrett Welch - Noblesville (2 3Bs, 2B, 3 runs)
OF   Harry Farber - Zionsville (3 runs, 3 RBIs, 4 singles)
OF   Roman Baisa - North Central (3 RBIs, 3 infield singles, 7 assists)
OF   Nick Barrientos - Zionsville (4 runs, 3 RBIs, 4 singles)
OF   Cameron VanderBerg - Fishers (4-4, 7 RBIs, 2 HRs, 2 1Bs)
DH  Brandon Gray - Westfield (2 runs, 2 RBIs, 3 singles)