With the Cowboys and Cowgirls having the weekend off, it is still a good opportunity to watching a little basketball this weekend.
Instead of the A-A, go to the LHS gym. Both Laramie teams will be facing the Cheyenne schools, with the Lady Plainsmen hosting Cheyenne Central tonight at 7:30 p.m. and the Plainsmen taking on East Saturday at 3 p.m.
Both home games will be the respective Senior Day games.
By going to the boys' game on Saturday, you can also help out a LHS student, sophomore Marty Coburn, who is currently in Denver getting treatment for a bone cancer, osteosarcoma.
The Plainsmen, under head coach Jason Mountain, will hold a couple of fundraisers; a 50/50 raffle, along with proceeds from the pop shoot after the game going to the Coburn family. There will also be a donation box at the door. Shirts entitled "Maroon Mayhem for Marty" from the Brown & Gold Outlet will be handed out free to the first 155 fans to arrive for the game.
Just a couple of weeks before regional play, both Laramie teams are looking good, with the Plainsmen 5-2 in East Conference and 10-10 overall and the Lady Plainsmen 4-3 and 15-4
Friday, February 18, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Hell on Earth is still better than Provo
We should be used to it by now ... the insults, that is.
Go ahead, rest of the country, give it your best shot.
Laramie and Wyoming are a joke. We're all racist, cowboy hicks. We're stupid, we have no class and we're behind the times.
Did I say we're cowboy hicks? I did but I'll say it again.
Oh yeah, apparently Laramie is Hell on Earth.
We've heard it all before, especially with the media is town from other parts more sophisticated. It gets really old. When a national writer comes to town, the story will eventually mention cow town, tumbleweeds or high noon. Never fails.
Oh yeah, and the wind blows. So frickin what.
Is Laramie and Wyoming the perfect place to live? Not at all. In fact, we often complain about many of the same things that outsiders come in and make fun of us about.
We complain, but many of those things are why we live here. Personally, I like being about five minutes away from anything in town. I like knowing that I have neighbors I can count on. I like it when people in the grocery store smile at you and say, "have a nice day." I like it that I don't read about violent crime every day in the local newspaper.
Is Laramie and Wyoming the right fit for everybody? No. But this is my home. I live here because I want to live here.
On Monday, Dick Harmon of the Deseret News in Salt Lake City tweeted on San Diego State head coach Steve Fisher's comments during the Mountain West Conference basketball teleconference. Fisher criticized the UW administration for firing Cowboys' head coach Heath Schroyer during the regular season.
Truthfully, I don't have a problem with Fisher's remarks. It's one coach sticking up for another coach. Coaching is a brotherhood, a fraternity. I get that.
I do have a problem with Harmon's tweet. It's kind of like the friend or relative who others complain about. I can call him or her an idiot, but if you do, I'm going to kick your ass.
Here's what Harmon tweeted:
"Until they get a major shopping mall in Laramie, a coach would be crazy to take his wife there for a job. Hell on earth."
Since when did a shopping mall define the quality of a community? Really, a shopping mall? We got the Super Wal-Mart and an Applebees, what more do you need? Of course, I'm just a cowboy hick.
Thank goodness Provo has a mall. Otherwise, BYU men's basketball coach Dave Rose would never coach there. Obviously, if not for a mall in Salt Lake City, Kyle Whittingham's wife would have left him when he got the Utah football job.
When UW athletics director Tom Burman interviews his first coaching candidate, his first question has to be, "Can you live in a town that doesn't have a major shopping mall? Your wife says no. OK, thanks for applying."
I guess UW should have been in Casper all along. At least Casper has a mall.
Maybe not having a mall is a problem for some coaches' wives. I don't really know, nor do I care.
Oh, and Dick, I'll tell what Hell on Earth is ... not being able to buy a beer on Sunday.
Who would want to live there?
Go ahead, rest of the country, give it your best shot.
Laramie and Wyoming are a joke. We're all racist, cowboy hicks. We're stupid, we have no class and we're behind the times.
Did I say we're cowboy hicks? I did but I'll say it again.
Oh yeah, apparently Laramie is Hell on Earth.
We've heard it all before, especially with the media is town from other parts more sophisticated. It gets really old. When a national writer comes to town, the story will eventually mention cow town, tumbleweeds or high noon. Never fails.
Oh yeah, and the wind blows. So frickin what.
Is Laramie and Wyoming the perfect place to live? Not at all. In fact, we often complain about many of the same things that outsiders come in and make fun of us about.
We complain, but many of those things are why we live here. Personally, I like being about five minutes away from anything in town. I like knowing that I have neighbors I can count on. I like it when people in the grocery store smile at you and say, "have a nice day." I like it that I don't read about violent crime every day in the local newspaper.
Is Laramie and Wyoming the right fit for everybody? No. But this is my home. I live here because I want to live here.
On Monday, Dick Harmon of the Deseret News in Salt Lake City tweeted on San Diego State head coach Steve Fisher's comments during the Mountain West Conference basketball teleconference. Fisher criticized the UW administration for firing Cowboys' head coach Heath Schroyer during the regular season.
Truthfully, I don't have a problem with Fisher's remarks. It's one coach sticking up for another coach. Coaching is a brotherhood, a fraternity. I get that.
I do have a problem with Harmon's tweet. It's kind of like the friend or relative who others complain about. I can call him or her an idiot, but if you do, I'm going to kick your ass.
Here's what Harmon tweeted:
"Until they get a major shopping mall in Laramie, a coach would be crazy to take his wife there for a job. Hell on earth."
Since when did a shopping mall define the quality of a community? Really, a shopping mall? We got the Super Wal-Mart and an Applebees, what more do you need? Of course, I'm just a cowboy hick.
Thank goodness Provo has a mall. Otherwise, BYU men's basketball coach Dave Rose would never coach there. Obviously, if not for a mall in Salt Lake City, Kyle Whittingham's wife would have left him when he got the Utah football job.
When UW athletics director Tom Burman interviews his first coaching candidate, his first question has to be, "Can you live in a town that doesn't have a major shopping mall? Your wife says no. OK, thanks for applying."
I guess UW should have been in Casper all along. At least Casper has a mall.
Maybe not having a mall is a problem for some coaches' wives. I don't really know, nor do I care.
Oh, and Dick, I'll tell what Hell on Earth is ... not being able to buy a beer on Sunday.
Who would want to live there?
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Always a Plainsman
Several years ago (1999 to be exact), I left Laramie and the Boomerang to work at a paper in Mount Vernon, Wash.
I was pleasantly surprised and honored to receive a plaque from Laramie High officials for my work in covering LHS athletics for 13 or so years. On the plaque, it says, "Forever a Plainsman."
As it turned out, I came back to Laramie and the Boomerang in 2001 and no, I did not give the plaque back. I'm keeping that baby.
While I'm not a Laramie native (I have lived here for over 20 years, so I do call Laramie my home), I was never an actual Plainsman. But when a sportswriter covers a high school or team for several years, you do feel like you are part of the program.
With that said, I haven't covered Laramie High sports for a couple of years now, but that doesn't mean I don't pay attention to what is going on at the LHS courts, fields, pools and whatever they compete on.
As my dog Sam says on my blog, "I'm watching you," that could also be said of my interest in LHS sports. Even though I work in Cheyenne and edit Cheyenne high school athletics for the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, I often find myself late on a Friday night wondering how Laramie did in basketball or whatever the sport season is.
This past weekend, the Lady Plainsmen swept Gillette and Sheridan, handing the Lady Broncs their first loss of the season. The Plainsmen split on the road, losing to Gillette but avenging an early-season loss to the Broncs.
There's also a little fun fact that both teams are coached by former Plainsmen -- Rod Tyson coaches the girls and Jason Mountain the boys.
I'm dating myself but I covered Tyson when he played for the Cowboys and Mountain when he played for the Plainsmen. Yes, I'm that old.
Of course, any good LHS fan knows what kind of coach Tom Hudson is with his swim program. The Plainsmen are solid favorites to win yet another boys' state title.
It's a good time to be a LHS fan, and yes, I'm still watching.
I was pleasantly surprised and honored to receive a plaque from Laramie High officials for my work in covering LHS athletics for 13 or so years. On the plaque, it says, "Forever a Plainsman."
As it turned out, I came back to Laramie and the Boomerang in 2001 and no, I did not give the plaque back. I'm keeping that baby.
While I'm not a Laramie native (I have lived here for over 20 years, so I do call Laramie my home), I was never an actual Plainsman. But when a sportswriter covers a high school or team for several years, you do feel like you are part of the program.
With that said, I haven't covered Laramie High sports for a couple of years now, but that doesn't mean I don't pay attention to what is going on at the LHS courts, fields, pools and whatever they compete on.
As my dog Sam says on my blog, "I'm watching you," that could also be said of my interest in LHS sports. Even though I work in Cheyenne and edit Cheyenne high school athletics for the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, I often find myself late on a Friday night wondering how Laramie did in basketball or whatever the sport season is.
This past weekend, the Lady Plainsmen swept Gillette and Sheridan, handing the Lady Broncs their first loss of the season. The Plainsmen split on the road, losing to Gillette but avenging an early-season loss to the Broncs.
There's also a little fun fact that both teams are coached by former Plainsmen -- Rod Tyson coaches the girls and Jason Mountain the boys.
I'm dating myself but I covered Tyson when he played for the Cowboys and Mountain when he played for the Plainsmen. Yes, I'm that old.
Of course, any good LHS fan knows what kind of coach Tom Hudson is with his swim program. The Plainsmen are solid favorites to win yet another boys' state title.
It's a good time to be a LHS fan, and yes, I'm still watching.
The Cowboys never lose when I'm there
I'm not sure what all the fuss was about. The Wyoming men's basketball team hasn't lost a game that I have been at this season.
OK, Saturday was the first game that I watched in person this season.
Considering that I covered in the neighborhood of 500 Cowboys basketball games in the A-A in my previously illustrious or lackluster sportswriting career (depending on who you ask), I'm wondering what took me so long this season?
What did I miss? Evidently, I'm in that new Geico commercial where there's a guy living under a rock.
Actually, I know what I have not been there to witness. Hey, I got the Internet, you know.
If it's on the Internet, then it has to be true.
It's been a long, strange trip to my first Cowboys game this season, and I'm not talking a Jerry Garcia trip. Between working as a news copy editor at the Wyoming Tribune Eagle and traveling back and forth to Denver to be with my wife who has been in various hospitals since October, I just haven't been able to make it.
In fact, I've been to just one Cowgirls game this season as well. Now that I think of it, the Cowgirls haven't lost a game that I sat courtside at this season. Maybe I should go to more, although the home schedule is down to just a couple of games remaining.
With that said, I probably got a few "didn't you used to be Richard Anderson" glances from formerly fellow media, sports information workers and maybe even a few fans in the stands. Not my fans mind you, but UW basketball fans.
No longer with the luxury of media parking, I had to walk a distance to my car and head over the hill to Cheyenne after the game. Instead of adjourning to the media room for the various interviews with players and coach, I had to settle for the tail-end of the Cowboys broadcast on the radio.
In doing that, I had my lead written, if I were to write.
Granted, the Cowboys' 77-67 win over TCU was nothing to write home about. And remember, Wyoming and TCU were playing to get out of last place, at least for a few days.
Wyoming can now proadly proclaim that it is No. 9 in the Mountain West Conference, which is way better than No. 10.
At the same time, it was nice to see the Cowboys make the plays down the stretch, something I have heard them not do on the radio this season and something I have not read them do in the various media reports.
I also saw a lot of smiles, on and off the court, which is a jolt of adrenalin that doesn't involve Red Bull. Maybe, just maybe, there is some optimism for the Cowboys in the future.
I remind you that TCU is 1-10 in league play, to 2-9 for Wyoming.
We'll see what happens down the stretch. The Cowboys were able to break an eight-game skid which transpired to over a month since their last victory. Now all they have to do is end a 19-game losing streak on the road when they travel to Salt Lake City Wednesday to face the Utah Utes.
What's this I hear that Utah and BYU won't be in the Mountain West Conference next season? That darn rock.
There, I made it through this whole blog without mentioning the Heath Schroyer firing.
Well, almost.
OK, Saturday was the first game that I watched in person this season.
Considering that I covered in the neighborhood of 500 Cowboys basketball games in the A-A in my previously illustrious or lackluster sportswriting career (depending on who you ask), I'm wondering what took me so long this season?
What did I miss? Evidently, I'm in that new Geico commercial where there's a guy living under a rock.
Actually, I know what I have not been there to witness. Hey, I got the Internet, you know.
If it's on the Internet, then it has to be true.
It's been a long, strange trip to my first Cowboys game this season, and I'm not talking a Jerry Garcia trip. Between working as a news copy editor at the Wyoming Tribune Eagle and traveling back and forth to Denver to be with my wife who has been in various hospitals since October, I just haven't been able to make it.
In fact, I've been to just one Cowgirls game this season as well. Now that I think of it, the Cowgirls haven't lost a game that I sat courtside at this season. Maybe I should go to more, although the home schedule is down to just a couple of games remaining.
With that said, I probably got a few "didn't you used to be Richard Anderson" glances from formerly fellow media, sports information workers and maybe even a few fans in the stands. Not my fans mind you, but UW basketball fans.
No longer with the luxury of media parking, I had to walk a distance to my car and head over the hill to Cheyenne after the game. Instead of adjourning to the media room for the various interviews with players and coach, I had to settle for the tail-end of the Cowboys broadcast on the radio.
In doing that, I had my lead written, if I were to write.
Granted, the Cowboys' 77-67 win over TCU was nothing to write home about. And remember, Wyoming and TCU were playing to get out of last place, at least for a few days.
Wyoming can now proadly proclaim that it is No. 9 in the Mountain West Conference, which is way better than No. 10.
At the same time, it was nice to see the Cowboys make the plays down the stretch, something I have heard them not do on the radio this season and something I have not read them do in the various media reports.
I also saw a lot of smiles, on and off the court, which is a jolt of adrenalin that doesn't involve Red Bull. Maybe, just maybe, there is some optimism for the Cowboys in the future.
I remind you that TCU is 1-10 in league play, to 2-9 for Wyoming.
We'll see what happens down the stretch. The Cowboys were able to break an eight-game skid which transpired to over a month since their last victory. Now all they have to do is end a 19-game losing streak on the road when they travel to Salt Lake City Wednesday to face the Utah Utes.
What's this I hear that Utah and BYU won't be in the Mountain West Conference next season? That darn rock.
There, I made it through this whole blog without mentioning the Heath Schroyer firing.
Well, almost.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Why I'm a Packers fan
Growing up in South Dakota and living in Wyoming for over half of my adult life, I'm often asked why I'm a Green Bay Packers fan.
Most sports fans follow a team for a specific reason. I have a specific reason. I follow the Packers because of my dad.
My father, who passed away in 2002, was not a huge football fan. He loved to hunt and fish. He was more of a doer than a watcher. When he watched sports on TV, it was mostly boxing. Actually, he watched a lot of boxing on TV.
The problem with watching football on Sunday for my dad was that it interfered with deer hunting. That might have been my problem with deer hunting ... it interfered with football.
There was one game, in particular, that I do remember my dad watching. It was on Dec. 31, 1967.
If you're a real football fan or just a real Packers fan, you know what game I'm talking about - the "Ice Bowl" between the Packers and the Dallas Cowboys for the NFL Championship. The game proved to be one of the most famous games in NFL history.
What I remember the most about the game was not the minus 15 degree weather the game was played in, hence the name, the "Ice Bowl," or Green Bay quarterback Bart Starr's famous touchdown sneak off the block of Jerry Kramer to beat the Cowboys 21-17.
I watched the game, along with my family and others at a New Year's Eve (day) party at a neighbors cabin in the Black Hills. Many of the party-goers mentioned that they were rooting for the Cowboys. Someone asked my father who he was rooting for.
"I'm from Wisconsin, of course I'm rooting for the Packers," my dad responded.
That's all an 8-year-old needed to know. If the Packers were good enough for my dad, they were good enough for me.
I also remember that many of the party-goers went snowmobiling at halftime. What? Snowmobiling? The game's not over. Are you nuts?
When Green Bay beat the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday for its fourth Super Bowl title and 13th championship as a franchise, I naturally thought of all of the years of being a Packers fan.
I remember crying the night Vince Lombardi died, even though my then 11-year-old mind thought he was a traitor for leaving Green Bay for Washington. I remember some very bad Green Bay teams after that. Yet, I always believed the Packers would win no matter what.
I remember wearing out a green sweatshirt with the number 86 on it. It wasn't really that close to looking like a Packers jersey, but I pretended it was and I was wide receiver Boyd Dowler, who wore number 86 for the Packers in the Lombardi years. Dowler caught a lot of touchdown passes in my back yard from Bart Starr. I remember liking running back Donny Anderson because ... his last name was Anderson.
I remember being excited when a young quarterback by the name of Brett Favre started throwing touchdown passes to Sterling Sharpe in the early 90s. The Packers were finally winners again, culminating with bringing the Lombardi Trophy back home in 1997 by beating New England 35-21 in Super Bowl XXXI.
The Lombardi Trophy is back where it belongs and I'm reminded, 43 years later, why I'm a Packers fan.
My dad is from Wisconsin, of course I'm rooting for the Packers.
Most sports fans follow a team for a specific reason. I have a specific reason. I follow the Packers because of my dad.
My father, who passed away in 2002, was not a huge football fan. He loved to hunt and fish. He was more of a doer than a watcher. When he watched sports on TV, it was mostly boxing. Actually, he watched a lot of boxing on TV.
The problem with watching football on Sunday for my dad was that it interfered with deer hunting. That might have been my problem with deer hunting ... it interfered with football.
There was one game, in particular, that I do remember my dad watching. It was on Dec. 31, 1967.
If you're a real football fan or just a real Packers fan, you know what game I'm talking about - the "Ice Bowl" between the Packers and the Dallas Cowboys for the NFL Championship. The game proved to be one of the most famous games in NFL history.
What I remember the most about the game was not the minus 15 degree weather the game was played in, hence the name, the "Ice Bowl," or Green Bay quarterback Bart Starr's famous touchdown sneak off the block of Jerry Kramer to beat the Cowboys 21-17.
I watched the game, along with my family and others at a New Year's Eve (day) party at a neighbors cabin in the Black Hills. Many of the party-goers mentioned that they were rooting for the Cowboys. Someone asked my father who he was rooting for.
"I'm from Wisconsin, of course I'm rooting for the Packers," my dad responded.
That's all an 8-year-old needed to know. If the Packers were good enough for my dad, they were good enough for me.
I also remember that many of the party-goers went snowmobiling at halftime. What? Snowmobiling? The game's not over. Are you nuts?
When Green Bay beat the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday for its fourth Super Bowl title and 13th championship as a franchise, I naturally thought of all of the years of being a Packers fan.
I remember crying the night Vince Lombardi died, even though my then 11-year-old mind thought he was a traitor for leaving Green Bay for Washington. I remember some very bad Green Bay teams after that. Yet, I always believed the Packers would win no matter what.
I remember wearing out a green sweatshirt with the number 86 on it. It wasn't really that close to looking like a Packers jersey, but I pretended it was and I was wide receiver Boyd Dowler, who wore number 86 for the Packers in the Lombardi years. Dowler caught a lot of touchdown passes in my back yard from Bart Starr. I remember liking running back Donny Anderson because ... his last name was Anderson.
I remember being excited when a young quarterback by the name of Brett Favre started throwing touchdown passes to Sterling Sharpe in the early 90s. The Packers were finally winners again, culminating with bringing the Lombardi Trophy back home in 1997 by beating New England 35-21 in Super Bowl XXXI.
The Lombardi Trophy is back where it belongs and I'm reminded, 43 years later, why I'm a Packers fan.
My dad is from Wisconsin, of course I'm rooting for the Packers.
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