Oops!

What do you get for winning the NIT? West Virginia got a shirt that had their name spelled wrong! The big question is.....did any of the Mountaineer fans actually notice?!?!?

It's Bristol Again...

Once again I made the trip to Bristol, Tennessee for the holy grail of race tracks for NASCAR fans. I was never really into NASCAR until a few years back when a co-worker offered me a ticket to the race in Bristol just a few short days before it was happening, I took the ticket and drove there by myself and I've been a fan ever since...and will go there every year for the spring race for as long as I can.

There are many of you that do not understand why people go to NASCAR events as cars just go around in a circle for three hours....you think...BORING....I used to be one of you, until I went to Bristol.

It's 160,000 fans packed around a 1/2 mile track with 43 cars fighting for every inch of space. To put it this way...it's Lambeau Field with a race track inside with twice as many fans...most rooting for 1 of 43 divers and hating the others..some are hated more than others...people both love and hate guys like Jeff Gordon, Dale Junior, Jimmie Johnson, etc....every one hates the Kyle and Kurt Busch...Those darm Busch Boys....but that's a whole different story.

Whether you like racing or no...you'll have a good time....arrive at 7am if the race starts at 2:30pm or 7pm. If you don't you may wait 5 hours to get near the track......think about it 160,000 people in a town that basically has one to the track...it can get ugly. Once you are there, you'll experience something you've never experienced before in sports. Every one is friendly, you can get lots of free stuff from sponsors...the drivers are out signing autographs before the race. NASCAR is the most fan friendly sport out there. Could you imagine Brett Favre spending 30 minutes signing autographs two hours before the game..NOPE...or how about Donald Driver hosting a TV show just 90 minutes before a game...NOPE...Kenny Wallace does that in NASCAR..It's a whole different world.

Now, if you've never gone to a race before and want to go, you can go to a different, bigger track, ie...Chicagoland, or Michigan in our area, but you may not have as much fun. I won't ever go to a big track, unless it's maybe Daytona or Talladega for historic reasons. You have to go to Bristol...the short track is where the real entertainment is.

They say there are things that every sports fan must do in their lives...ie...attend a world series, go to the Olympics, watch a game at Fenway Park, go to Lambeau Field....and go to a race a Bristol.

If you ever get the chance.....take it....just get there early.

All-FVA Boys Basketball Team

2006-07 All-Fox Valley Association Boys Basketball Team

FIRST TEAM
Juston Wara, Oshkosh North*
Tim Jarmusz, Oshkosh West*
Austin Meier, Oshkosh West*
Matt Coenen, Appleton East
Eddie Gilgenbach, Fondy
Amadou Fofana, Appleton West

2ND TEAM
Reed Becker, Neenah
Alex Welhouse, Kaukauna
Jordan Giordana, Kaukauna
Eric Wall, Kaukauna
Derek Hirosky, Kimberly

HONORABLE MENTION
Sam Munson, Fondy
Matt Clarke, Appleton East
Mike Mullins, Appleton East
Brady Borgardt, Oshkosh West
Dan Handrich, Kimberly
Kahlil Trocme, Neenah
David Goodman, Neenah
Patrick Schreiner, Appleton East
Nate Wara, Oshkosh West
Justin Ziegler, Neenah

ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
Austin Meier, Oshkosh West*
Juston Wara, Oshkosh North
Reed Becker, Neenah
Eric Wall, Kaukauna
Patrick Schreiner, Appleton East

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Tim Jarmusz, Oshkosh West*

COACH OF THE YEAR
John Meilke, Appleton East

*Unanimous Choice

ALL FVA GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAM

2006-07 All FVA Girls Basketball

FIRST TEAM
Heidi Baerenwald 11 Appleton East G
Laura Ebbens 12 Appleton West G
Rachel LuteyN 12 Fond du Lac C
Tricia Van Vreed 12 Kimberly F
Mel Kulibert 12 Neenah G

SECOND TEAM

Jackie Arnold 12 Appleton West F
Emily Van DeLoo 12 Kaukauna G
Brittany Buss 10 Kimberly F
Becky Wyngaard 12 Kimberly G
Michelle Boeder 12 Oshkosh West G

FONDY HONORABLE MENTION

Ashley Nault 11 Fond du Lac F
Nicole Sinnen 11 Fond du Lac F

DEFENSIVE TEAM

Amanda Greisch 12 Appleton North F
Rachel Luteyn 12 Fond du Lac C
Nicole Sinnen 11 Fond du Lac F
Emily Van DeLoo 12 Kaukauna G
Katie McMorrow 12 Kimberly G
Sarah Sturn 12 Neenah G

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Tricia Van Vreede 12 Kimberly

COACH OF THE YEAR
Doug Follis - Fond du Lac

2007 WHCA All-State Hockey Team

Wisconsin Hockey Coaches Association
2007 ALL-STATE TEAM
FOR RELEASE on Tuesday, March 6th

24 Member First Team

Forwards
12 Justin Johnson, Eau Claire North***
12 Travis Erstad, SPASH**
12 Tedd Falk, Homestead**
12 Isaiah Bennis, Eau Claire Memorial
12 Scott Pavelski, SPASH**
12 Karl Burns, USM**
12 Zach Kohn, Arrowhead
12 Ryan Smet, Fond du Lac
12 Ian Andrews, Sheboygan
11 Cody Lettau, Fond du Lac
11 Jefferson Dahl, Eau Claire Memorial
11 Seth Soley, Eau Claire Memorial**

Defensemen
12 Alex Gerke, Tomah***
12 Josh Nelson, Wisconsin Rapids**
12 Evan Jeszka, Kettle Moraine**
12 Tyler Gross, Fond du Lac
11 Brady Keegan, Eau Claire Memorial
11 Ted Behrend, Oregon
11 Tyler Krueger, SPASH
11 Tim Smith, Superior

Goaltenders
12 Nick Niceswanger, Tomah***
12 Randy Willis, Fond du Lac
12 Al Armour, Hayward
11 Brady Sand, Eau Claire Memorial

Fondy Well Represented on All-Badgerland Team

BADGERLAND HOCKEY CONFERENCE
ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
2006 - 2007


FIRST TEAM

Forwards:
Tommy Westmark Appleton Sophomore
Ryan Smet Fond du Lac Senior
Ian Andrews Sheboygan Senior

Defensemen:
Tyler Gross Fond du Lac Senior
Brad Elvers Waupun l Senior

Goalie:
Randy Willis Fond du Lac Senior

*Denotes Unanimous Selection by the Coaches

SECOND TEAM

Forwards:
Cody Lettau Fond du Lac Junior
Kyle Walbrun Neenah Junior
Derek Teachout Waupun Senior

Defensemen:
Jake Wild Beaver Dam Junior
Rob Moore Notre Dame Junior

Goalie:
Josh Lehr Appleton Junior

HONORABLE MENTION

Forwards:
Appleton: Ryan Campbell (12) Pat Hunter (11)
Beaver Dam: Kurt Roeder (12)
DePere: Tom Tollefson (12)
Fond du Lac: Mike Jones (11)
Green Bay: Eric Janssen (11) Josh Frinak (11)
Neenah: Will Mitchell (12)
Sheboygan: Spencer Friedl (12)
Waupun: Jake Umentum (12) Joey Dolgner (11)
Tom Glomski (11)

Defensemen:
Appleton: Mike Lindeke (12)
DePere: Kody Hansen (12)
Fond du Lac: Casey Holmes (10)
Neenah: Andrew Ernst (12)
Notre Dame: David Gray (12)
Sheboygan: Jarred Lucas (10)


Goalies:
Neenah: Drew Chaney (11)
Sheboygan: Kyle Neurohr (10)


CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS:

NORTHERN DIVISION: SHEBOYGAN

SOUTHERN DIVISION:
APPLETON—Co-Champions
FOND DU LAC—Co-Champions

SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD: SHEBOYGAN

SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARD: First Year for this Award

Badgerland Hockey Conference
Scholar Athlete Award

BHC Scholar Athlete Award for all qualifying players to recognize the outstanding “student athletes”in our conference.

To earn the award the athlete must meet the following criteria:
· Must be a senior
· Must earn a varsity letter for 2 seasons in hockey during career (exception to new hockey programs – 1 season)
· Must have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher through 7 semesters or equivalent (10 Trimesters)
· Must have 0 athletic code violations during HS career

Mike Lindeke Appleton
Ryan Campbell Appleton
Tyler Wanke Appleton
Nick VandenHeuvel Appleton
Andy Miller Appleton
Kurt Roeder Beaver Dam
Tom Tollefson DePere
Ken Rovinski Green Bay
Will Mitchell Neenah
Andrew Ernst Neenah
Nate Kaufman Neenah
Ian Andrews Sheboygan
Mark Robitaille Sheboygan
Paul Towne Waupun

BADGERLAND HOCKEY “OFFICIALS OF THE YEAR”

Brad Roethlisberger Green Bay

Brian VanAdestine Green Bay

Fondy Hockey: Simply the Best

Congratulations to the Fond du Lac boys hockey team for winning their first title in school history this weekend with a 3-1 win over Superior in the state title game at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison on Saturday afternoon.

I'll be the first to admit, I'm not as versed in hockey as the other sports I've broadcasted over the years, but this run to the state title was as entertaining and enjoyable for me as any high school team I've covered.

In a day were people sometimes question a team's road to the state title, there always seem to be someone who says.."Oh their bracket was easy, or this team got beat so they didn't face the best." We'll that is not the case when it comes to Fondy hockey! Those young men, had to knock out Badgerland co-champ Appleton Untied in the Sectional Final just to get to state. No problem: 5-0 Cards. Then once in Madison it was #2 ranked and unbeaten Stevens Point in the quarterfinals. The Panthers were the highest scoring team in the state of Wisconsin with a the WHCA Player of the Year Travis Erstad and another player, Scott Pavelski, who's brother is in the NHL. No problem: Fondy 7 SPASH 3. In the Semifinals, it was #1 ranked and unbeaten Eau Claire Memorial. Goalie Rany Willis collected 16 saves in the 3rd period, some from his belly, as Fondy wins 2-1. Then in the state title game, Fondy looked across at the most storied high school hockey team in Wisconsin history. Superior. The Spartans have won a record 12 state titles and play most of their regular season against teams in Minnesota so they as good as it gets even though their record was a mere 16-9 heading into the final. Fondy is not intimidated though as they get the 3-1 win and the state title.

The thing I like about this run to Madison is that some names made headlines that maybe don't normally get the headlines for the team. Some guys that don't normally put the puck in the net contributed big time. Defenseman Jered Deli and 3rd liner Nate Hansen scored goals in the opener, while Paul Biolo was able to net the Cards first goal against Memorial when he left the penalty box to take a pass from Cody Lettau for a goal. In the title game it was Adam Hettenhaus who on a breakaway put the Cards up 3-1. Fondy's 3rd line as a whole played a large role in Madison, Hansen, Hettenhaus and Luke Baker got lots of ice time and were right there going head to head with some of the top lines in the state.

If you talk about the title though, it starts with goalie Randy Willis. Up in the press box, Willis was the talk of the tournament. His effort in the 3rd period against Memorial, which I mentioned earlier was the talk of the press box of the Alliant Energy Center. Most of the writers were asking "who is this guy and where is he going to play hockey after he graduates from high school?" Those that know much more about hockey were telling me that that was as good of a run by a goalie that they've seen in a tournament. Willis did not give up a goal in the pre-state tournaments as Fondy won all three games 5-0 and then gave up just 5 goals in Madison against the best competition had them talking.

I'd also like to thank Fondy head coach Ryan Sarazin for all of his cooperation down the home stretch of the season. Coach Sarazin was 100% cooperative with me getting ready for our radio broadcasts. If I asked him for anything, he gave it too me. Pregame interviews, stats, or anything, he made it easy for me to get ready for my broadcasts. Even when I asked what he mostly likely considered basic questions he answered them well as I tried to learn the sport a little bit better. We had one off the air conversation about rink sizes in hockey that I found facinating, but to a veteran hockey coach probably seemed very obvious. The coach spent a good five to 10 minutes enlightening me on how the size of the rink can change the way teams play the game. It was very informative to me, but to him was probably boring. He's a class guy and I appreciate everything he did for me down the home stretch of the season as I had my first taste of broadcasting hockey on the radio.

With that said if you are reading this blog and have listened to our radio broadcasts on KFIZ or are planning on listening to the podcasts at kfiz.com, please forgive me if some of my terminology was incorrect or I mixed in a few basketball references, but this was my first year doing hockey so I'm still learning. Don't get me wrong, I've always gone to the Cards games at the Blue Line, but always felt that I didn't know the game well enough to put out a good product. I know the basics from playing EA Sports' NHL Hockey on my Playstation in college. You should have seen the look on my broadcast partner Travis Jones' face when I'd mix in something like "sideline" or "The shot was no-good." I can tell you this, next season, we'll be sure to get more Fondy hockey games on the radio. and I'll be better at it...I hope!

Again, Congrats to the Cardinal Boys Hockey Team on a great year! Lots of guys are coming back.....is there a repeat in the bag? Let's enjoy the title now and think about that in a few months!