Sports Central

The PBL wheel of drama continues...

Earlier this week, the Halifax Rainmen fired coach Rick Lewis basically citing a lack of performance, especially given the Rainmen's back-to-back losses last weekend - to Vermont and then to Manchester. This apparently paved the way (if it's not directly related, it's at least awfully coincidental) for the return of star Eric Crookshank, who had been suspended for the remainder of the season when Lewis was at the helm. Crookshank was reinstated today, just in time to face Vermont this weekend at home in Nova Scotia, after Vermont plays at Buffalo the night before. 

Halifax is a good team, and Crookshank only helps their cause, so I expect the Fan Van folks to witness a great game on Sunday afternoon. The game will be Web cast on www.at-sportstv.com at 3 p.m. This was a decent source to catch the Vermont-Rochester game, so fans will definitely want to tune in again on Sunday.

Also, I am expecting word from the league soon...whatever that means...about something...big. Now, all three of my calls to the league have been met either with a voicemail that has so far gone unanswered or a secretary who says, "they aren't talking right now, they'll contact you when they are ready to make a statement." Not even a "no comment," not even a hint as to what's going on - and clearly something is otherwise I wouldn't be getting the "uhhh..." treatment. 

Also, in other bad news in minor league basketball, the CBA, where former Frost Heaves Aaron Cook and Kevin Mickens played last season, is closing up shop this week far earlier than its March schedule originally called for. Neither Cook's nor Mickens' team was still involved with the league at this point in the season, and the league is down to four teams and will have a hurried-up playoffs/championship series this week. They say it's the economy, and obviously I believe that, but I wonder what else caused its ultimate demise??

Amended radio info

I have a little clarification to make about the radio and the Frost Heaves this season. While there isn't a radio deal yet, fans can still hear the home games (Barre for sure, Burlington is still a possibility) on the Web. Rumor has it that even if a radio deal doesn't come to light, fans may still be able to hear all games - home and away - online. More on that is sure to be out soon, I would think.

-Anna Grearson

No radio?!

So as the PBL season gets closer, one things seems to get further away...a radio deal for the Vermont Frost Heaves.

Steve and Joe will still be able to be heard calling some games - local high school basketball and hockey, for one thing, but just the Barre home Frost Heave games, however. And online only, for that matter. I don't know all the details as to why there is no radio deal, but at least you fans out there have SOMETHING. Your thoughts on this?

-Anna Grearson

John Williams info

A friend of mine went to Bryant the same time newly signed guard John Williams was there, and my friend is a big basketball fan, so I asked him what he remembered of this guy. Apparently Williams was one of the only Division II players invited to the Portsmouth Invitational - a pre-draft, invitation-only camp in Virginia. Players who went in 2008 included Georgetown's Patrick Ewing Jr., UMass' Gary Forbes, etc. In 2006, when Williams went, Jose Juan Barea of Northeastern, who also played against UVM a bunch, was also there. 

--Anna Grearson

MMA news

I had heard from several people about former Spaulding student Aaron Fondry's recent success in the world of mixed martial arts, and Spaulding wrestling coach Darren O'Meara also sent me this bit of news about another athlete with local ties who has made an impact in the world of MMA:

"Hi Anna,
...Last night, Mike Brown, a former Norwich wrestler and 2000 Norwich graduate, won the WEC featherweight title when he beat Urijah Faber. Faber is considered one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world. I know Mike wrestled in high school in Maine, as well. I have given you some links. Not sure if you guys can do anything with this, but I thought it would be good to let you know anyway.

http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.detail&gid=15695"

Thanks to Darren for sending that along.

Any other news out there??

--Anna Grearson

ABA president jailed...

I had heard this from a few people, but I didn't quite believe it until a former fellow sportswriter emailed me a link to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution story about the American Basketball Association's president and chief operating officer.

AJC story

It seems like the Frost Heaves made the right move at the right time, if all of this turns out to be true...

--Anna Grearson 

schedules! but not Frost Heave schedules...

So Halifax and Manchester released their schedules yesterday and today. I can only hope the Vermont one is right behind them. Both teams play Vermont, so there is a few dates Heaves fans can plan on, and the good news about the away Manchester games is that they're 2:30 p.m. Sunday games - that should add significant Vermont fans to the crowd at SNHU.

What should also add significant fans to the SNHU gym is all of the Millrats' recent signings. Check out their Web site off the main PBL site - www.pblproball.com - and take a look.

There isn't anything new to report about Vermont signings, that I am aware of officially anyway.

-Anna Grearson

Ironic find on the AP wire

After the uproar after this weekend's Spaulding/Montpelier football game, I found this story on the Associated Press wire tonight. I have my own opinions, of course, on both games, but I'll let you all decide for yourselves what is just plain wacky about these lop-sided games.

-Anna Grearson

A 91-0 football game tough for both sides to take

By TIM REYNOLDS

AP Sports Writer

ESTERO, Fla. — The Estero High football staff gathered in head coach Rich Dombroski’s office late Friday, almost in stunned silence.

Earlier that night, Estero lost to Naples High by 13.

Not by 13 points. By 13 touchdowns. That’s right: Naples 91, Estero 0.

The rout fallout has been growing since the game ended.

“Hey,” offered Estero defensive line coach Pat Hayes after the one-sided affair, “I didn’t even know 91 was a multiple of seven.”

With that, the coaches all got a much-needed laugh.

A half-hour away in Naples, Eagles coach Bill Kramer — the man on the winning end — could use one of those.

He looked at the scoreboard late in the game, saw 91-0, and said he felt sick to his stomach. Kramer’s team ran only 31 plays and he kept most of his best players on the sideline — for the entire game in some cases. But still Kramer knew what was coming.

Soon after the game ended, his inbox began filling with angry e-mails, some from Estero parents wondering why so many points were necessary, some from Naples parents wondering why their kids didn’t play more in an effort to pad their stats.

“There’s only one way to describe it,” Kramer said. “Just bizarre.”

The schools aren’t far off in size: Estero has about 1,400 high schoolers, Naples roughly 1,700.

But the pedigree of the football programs couldn’t be more different.

Estero is rebuilding from the lowest level, with Dombroski in his first year at the school and having inherited a program that had simply crumbled. Naples is the reigning state Class 3A champion, and a contender to win the title again. Naples has players committed to Division I schools like Ohio State already and a roster filled with talent at every position. Estero has no college prospects and only about 25 healthy or so players remaining on its roster.

“Some of us, most of us, well, all of us were intimidated,” said Tyler Eastridge, a free safety who may be exaggerating when he says he weighs 150 pounds.

Naples led 70-0 at the half; only four of the 1,420 games reported by member schools to the Florida High School Athletic Association this season have seen teams score more than 70 points.

“It was David versus Goliath,” Dombroski said, “and David didn’t have a stone to throw.”

The national record books are incomplete, but a score like 91-0 won’t register a blip on the list of all-time defeats. It wasn’t even the most lopsided score in the country this weekend — in Ohio, Beechcroft beat Centennial 96-0, taking knees on plays in the fourth quarter to avoid triple figures.

According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, five teams have scored more than 200 points in a game, with the record believed to be 256 by Haven (Ky.) High in 1927.

Dombroski isn’t blaming Naples.

“Naples did absolutely nothing wrong,” Dombroski said. “We just didn’t do anything right.”

Kramer has been in this spot before.

In 2001, the Golden Eagles scored 63 first-quarter points and beat Lely High — ironically, where Dombroski’s girlfriend teaches today — 85-0, and Kramer suddenly became the target of perceptions that he intentionally ran up the score.

But in that game, just as on Friday, Naples had some of its starters not play at all, and others just for one or two series.

“We’ve been through it before and you never want to go through it again,” Kramer said. “There were people ready to burn my house.”

It’s an unsettling time again.

The Naples Daily News ran a poll asking if Kramer and his team “should be ashamed” over the result, and by Monday afternoon, the vote was nearly dead-even: 239 no, 225 yes.

Hearing that, even Dombroski shook his head. He e-mailed Kramer on Monday to reiterate that Naples did nothing wrong, but that’s hardly the only opinion swirling around Naples these days.

“My daughter plays basketball and there’s a local team that’s really good and when they’re about to score 100, there’s no polls about that,” Kramer said. “When the local lacrosse team wins 24-0, where’s the outrage? Or when kids win 6-0, 6-0 in tennis? We score 10 touchdowns and everybody loses their minds.

“The real irony is we’ve got some of our parents upset that their kids didn’t play or didn’t play enough. And you just say, ‘Wow.”’

Dombroski knew when he took the Estero job that there would be days like Friday, but he said the 91-0 thumping might help him turn the program around.

“We won’t forget this. I won’t forget this,” said Dombroski, whose freshman program is off to a 4-1-1 start this year, a sign that better days could be ahead for Estero. “We’re not going to lay down. We’re going to fight for 48 minutes, every time we’re out there.”

So on Monday afternoon, when school got out at 1:45, the Estero High football team headed to its locker room and prepared for practice. New scouting reports were waiting for them, and soon the team headed onto the field for practice, their blue jerseys whipping in the wind as they stretched.

“Our team might not be winning or might not be on top right now,” said right guard Mike Perez. “But we all have to do the best we can do. We can’t forget that.”

And so, they were back to work, which they’ll need. This week, Estero plays Cape Coral — a team that nearly beat Naples.

Oh, and another...

Like this isn't becoming a routine...

And yes, of course it's nice to have these teams "sit out" now and not in the middle of the season, it is only pushing back the release of the schedule. Every time I see a Frost Heaves fan out and about, the number one question, without a drop of a doubt, is: "Hey, when's the schedule coming out?"

I

have

no

idea

either.

Here's the official word from the PBL Web site, www.pblproball.com:

"

READING RAILERS TO SIT OUT 2009 SEASON

10/02/2008 4:34 PM

(Chicago, IL)… The Premier Basketball League announced today that the Reading Railers will not participate in the upcoming PBL season. The Railers will continue marketing efforts while working with the Sovereign Center for their planned return for the 2010 PBL season. “While we are disappointed for the basketball fans in Reading, the league is first and foremost concerned about making sure our teams are both financially sound and have venue dates that optimally give the organization the best chance for success.” stated Premier Basketball League President and Chief Executive Officer Thomas Doyle. “We have to know our teams are 100% ready to go in the off-season. This ensures that the product provided across all our markets is consistent with the mandatory standards which we require at the league level.” Reading Railers co-owner Jim Stec commented, “We came to the conclusion with the league that the Railer organization was not where we needed to be in order to move forward with the 2009 season.  It is our intent to continue to market the team to our fans in Reading, work with the Sovereign center to secure optimal dates and look forward to a successful return in 2010.” "

--Anna Grearson

Big Millrats' signing

I got this release yesterday, and now that word has spread considerably about the newest Millrat...here ya go:

"(October 1, 2008 Manchester, NH): The Manchester Millrats of the Premier Basketball League (PBL) announce the signing of Desmond Ferguson, pending league approval.  Per club policy, terms of the contract were not released.   

The sharp-shooting 6'7 guard was an All-CBA First Team selection in each of the last two seasons.  In 2003-2004, Ferguson played with the NBA's Portland Trailblazers.

Last season he helped lead the Yakama Sun Kings to a 43-5 regular season record, while scoring 18.5 points per game on 44% shooting from beyond the arc.  He also won the CBA's three point contest at the 2007 CBA All Star Game.  Ferguson was named the 6th Best Player in all of the Minor Leagues in February by ProBasketballNews.Com.
 
Ferguson's basketball career has also taken him to various countries overseas including the Netherlands, Italy, the Philippines, Lebanon, the Dominican Republic, Bulgaria, Germany, and Venezuela. 

"It's great to have one of the best three-point shooters in minor league basketball join our team," said Millrats Head Coach Rob Spon.  "His nickname, 'Moneyball', speaks for itself.  After coaching against him for a couple of years, it will be nice to have 'Moneyball' on our side!  He has a quick release and can get his shot off against anybody.  He also brings veteran leadership to the team on and off the court".

Manchester is looking to build on it's inaugural 28-win season, as the second year franchise enters its first year in the Premier Basketball League, and Ferguson is a great start.

"I've known Coach Spon for a while and he was very persistent in recruiting me to play in Manchester. And I had a great feeling after speaking to <Millrats principal owner> Jason Briggs, so we got it done and now I'm a Millrat," explained Desmond. "I've heard nothing but great things about the franchise and the city, and I'm ready to come to camp and help us prepare to win a championship."

The Millrats plan to sign the remainder of their players following an October 11th and 12th Veteran's Camp.   The camp will be held at the Rockingham Athletic Club located at 175 Plaistow Road in Plaistow, New Hampshire. The camp sessions will be held from 9:00 am - 11:00 am and 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm each day, and are open to the public."

...so, what do all you Heaves fans think of this?

--Anna Grearson