Pointers Everywhere

Pointers Check Cancer, Rout Falcons

2012-01-29T00:34:00.000-08:00

It was a magical night for the UWSP Pointers and their fans. When the UW River Falls Falcons came to town no one thought that it would be an easy game for the Pointers, but the Pointers jumped out to a big lead and coasted to victory on Saturday night.

The Pointers dominated the game from the early moments, but struggled to capitalize on their chances. It took until almost the halfway point of the period but hard work from Travis Erstad and Harrison Niemann below the goal line paid off. Luke Nesper walked out from behind the net and roofed it to give the Pointers the lead.

Three minutes later the Pointers went on the powerplay and they made the Falcons pay. Kyle Heck scored his team leading 12th goal of the season to give his team the two-goal advantage. He took a cross slot feed from Andrew Kolb and made no mistake. Nesper was also credited with an assist.

Three minutes later it was all but over when the Pointers' assistant captain Jerry Freismuth scored on an almost identical play. This time it was Chad Boekman sliding the puck across the crease to the wide open Freismuth. The other assisting player was Nick Kenny.

Harrison Neimann (93) jumps past a Falcons' defender.

The Pointers seemed to lack discipline and focus for much of the second period, taking a total of 5 penalties. Finally the Falcons made the Pointers pay when John Bullis scored with assists from Adam Cardwell and Alec Hagaman. It was an even strength goal, but the Pointer defense was already tired when the play occurred.

UWSP buckled down in the third period and iced the game with a beautiful individual effort from Andrew Kolb. He found space on the rush, split the defense and the sniped the puck top shelf to restore the Pointers' 3-goal lead. Kent Detlefsen had the only assist on the play.

It was a strong outing in net by Brandon Jaeger who stopped 10 of the 11 shots he faced. The Pointer defense did a great job of keeping pucks away from Jaeger throughout the game. The NCHA leader in saves, Scott Lewan finished with 18 more on 21 shots and took the loss.

The Pointers return to action on February 3-4 with back to back games against St. Scholastica and UW Superior. The Pointers' overall record improves to 10-8-3, and 6-5-3 in the NCHA.

Box Score

Audio Highlights:

Packers Reaction

2012-01-17T19:55:00.000-08:00

Perhaps the only thing more intriguing than watching a 15-1 football team get demolished at home, is watching the drama that ensues on social networking sites such as Twitter. Here are a few responses to some of the more notable tweets from the last 48-plus hours.

Ben Duronio (@Ben_Duronio): “If the Packers went 16-0 they only would have had 4 wins against winning teams. Wow so overrated.”

It is unclear whether Mr. Duronio was being sarcastic or not. He is, after all, a former stats analyst with ESPN Stats and Information. Regardless of the intention, this is a view held by many fans around the country.

First and foremost, NFL teams have zero control over the makeup of their schedules. A team can only beat the teams the league places on their slate, so using strength of schedule as the primary source of an argument for a team’s ability level is flat out invalid.

Second of all, the Packers’ lone loss was to the Kansas City Chiefs, a team with a losing record, so the Packers did, in fact, beat four teams with winning records this season. Since they played the Detroit Lions twice, five of their, league- best, 15 wins came against teams who, not only had records above .500, but, who made the playoffs.

While we are on the subject, the New England Patriots didn’t beat any teams with winning records. Does that make them overrated too?

Bob McGinn (@BobMcGinn), Packers’ beat writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “Lambeau Field was half empty with 3 min. left. Ryan Pickett said he couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t either. Fans basically same everywhere.”

Much like the 72,000 plus fans in attendance couldn’t believe it when the Packers’ defense failed to finish the last six seconds of the first half and allowed a Giants’ touchdown on what was nothing more than a glory lob.

The harsh reality is: the Packers didn’t exactly put on a show worth watching.

The turnover- laden game, which featured an offense plagued by miscues, promptly led to the demise of, what records would tell us, was the best team in the NFL during the regular season.

Attribute the struggles to whatever you wish. An emotional week in Green Bay, too much time off, a lack of preparation, the list goes on and on. At the end of the day, it was just poor football.

Did the fans owe it to their team to gut out the last hopeless minutes of an uninspired effort to show appreciation for what was a respectable season? Perhaps. But the case could be made that the men in green also owed it to their fans to show up and play football.

It’s no secret that America is becoming less of a “rah-rah” society, especially as it pertains to professional sports.

Frustration can boil over quickly these days, it’s the nature of the beast. Fans pay top-dollar to watch full grown men who make, sometimes, gross amounts of money to play a child’s game at a high level.

With increasing salaries and increasing ticket prices comes an increased expectation. While these athletes are human, it is completely acceptable for fans to expect to see their team perform to the best of their abilities. That did not happen on Sunday.

Jermichael Finley (JermichaelF88), Packers tight end: No matter how talented you are, not everybody is going to like you. But that’s life, just stay strong. So that’s for all you FAKE mofo’s.”

No one with any football sense could possibly doubt the talent and potential that Finley possesses. The guy is a flat out freak. At six feet, five inches tall and 247 pounds, he is a nightmare matchup for almost any defense, too fast for a linebacker and too big for a defensive back to reasonably tackle.

Yet, the dominance just hasn’t been there.

To his credit, Finley has been making some progress. After being injured for the bulk of the Packers’ Super Bowl run a season ago, the fourth-year tight end posted career highs in touchdowns (8) and receiving yards (767) this year while tying his career mark in receptions (55).

Numerous drops in key situations have hurt his cause in Green Bay. It’s quite possible that it is difficult for fans to stomach a player who throws a five second party when he catches a ball that goes for more than six yards after he dropped the previous pass.

Take the outburst JFin had on Sunday after making his first catch, for example. That’s right Jermichael, slap your helmet, you just picked up ten yards. Too bad you could have had 15 more if you held on to the pass before that which hit you square in the hands, not to mention the seven or eight that were available on the dropped pass following that catch.

The underachieving becomes even harder to take when a fellow tight end, Rob Gronkowski, of the Patriots, who is of similar size, grabs more touchdown catches in a season than Finley has in his career.

When will it truly be the “Year of the Takeover?”

An amazing season comes to a disappointing end.

In many ways, the Green Bay Packers overachieved during the 2011 season. Honestly, no one looks at the schedule before the season begins and thinks, “Yup, my team is going to go 15-1.”

The team that played better on Sunday walked away a winner. That’s all a true sports fan can ever hope for.

Pointers Topple Titans

2011-12-09T11:10:00.000-08:00

The UW-Stevens Point men's basketball team downed UW-Oshkosh 66-52 in a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchup Wednesday night at the Quandt Fieldhouse.

The Pointers wasted no time starting out an a 16-2 run in the games opening minutes.

Point padded its lead with 20 points in the paint in the first half.

A 59.3 percent shooting effort from the floor gave UWSP a 17-point edge heading into halftime.

In the early part of the second half it appeared as though the Pointers picked up just as they had left off. Timely turnovers and strong defense helped push the lead to 21.

Facing their largest deficit of the game, the Titans began to slowly chip away. Oshkosh managed to cut the Pointer lead to nine with just under two minutes remaining in the contest.

The Pointers shot 5-6 from the free throw line down the stretch to put the game on ice.

John Flanigan led the charge for the Titans with 21 points.

Tyler Tillema contributed 21 of his own for UWSP.

The Pointers improve to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in the WIAC.

A big match up is looming this weekend as the Pointers travel to Rock Island, Ill. to take on fourth-ranked Augustana on Saturday.

Pointers Stung by Yellowjackets

2011-11-14T08:16:00.000-08:00

Pointer F Johnny Meo (81) has his pass blocked by a sliding Yellow Jacket.
Photo Credit: Tom Kujawski

The UW-Stevens Point men's hockey team fell to UW-Superior 5-2 on Saturday night at K.B. Willett Arena in Stevens Point.

The Pointers struck first courtesy of a powerplay goal from Kyle Heck early in the first period.

The lead was short lived as Superior's Jeff Forsythe knotted the game at one just over a minute later.

Things began to get chippy early in the contest. The two teams combined for 11 penalties in the first period, including a checking from behind penalty issued to Point's Brandon Busse that resulted in his ejection.

Pat Dalbec put the Yellowjackets ahead in the opening minutes of the second with a shorthanded goal. Point's Nick Kenney quickly answered to even the game 2-2.

Tyler Klein lit the lamp with six minutes and change remaining in the second and shifted momentum in Superior's direction for once and for all.

The third period was all Yellowjackets. Dalbec dealt the decisive blow when he found the back of the net with under four minutes to play.

Justin Faryna added one more in the final seconds when he was tripped on a breakaway toward an empty net and was awarded the goal, the second shorthanded score of the night for Superior.

Dalbec finished the contest with two goals and an assist, while Forsythe collected a goal and an assist of his own.

Six different Pointers recorded a point in the loss.

This weekend, the Pointers travel to UW-River Falls for their first full road series of the season. The 12th-ranked Falcons skated to a tie with St. Norbert on Saturday.

Faceoff for both games is slated for 7 p.m.

Pointers and Yellow Jackets Skate to a 3-3 Tie

2011-11-11T21:47:00.000-08:00

By: Chris O'Brien

The Pointer Men's Hockey Team skated to a 3-3 tie with the UW-Superior Yellow Jackets Friday night in Stevens Point despite falling behind early in the contest.

The Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 1-0 lead only four minutes into the game when Tom Budziakowski fired a shot over the glove of Pointer goalie Nick Graves. Derek Stauber had the lone assist on the play.

At the 14:30 mark of the first period the Yellow Jackets scored when Tyler Klein put in a rebound goal off of the original shot taken by Andy Singerhouse who picked up the assist.

The Pointers came out strong in the second period when Nick Kenney scored unassisted on a shot that was saved at first by Yellow Jacket goaltender Drew Strandberg, but the puck trickled past him and over the line cutting the lead to one in favor of the Yellow Jackets.

Superior came right back only 2 minutes later when Justin Faryna scored on the power play on assists from Tanner Dion and Tyler Klein. Klein led scoring for the Yellow Jackets with a goal and an assist.

The Pointers came back very similar to the last 2 games that also went into overtime. Jon Bockmann scored a power play goal from the point on assists from Jerry Freismuth and Harrison Niemann.

Will Aide rounded out the scoring for the Pointers when he roofed a rebound over the blocker of Strandberg. Scott Henegar had the assist on the play. The Pointers out shot the Yellow Jackets 37-27. Graves had 24 saves and Strandberg stopped 35 Pointer shots.

Pointers will host the Yellow Jackets Saturday night at K.B Willett Arena. Puck drops at 7PM. Listen live on 90 FM WWSP Stevens Point Your Only Alternative for Pointer Sports.

Pointers Falter on Senior Day

2011-11-09T15:32:00.000-08:00

Keith Ingram (22) runs the ball while Mo Barti (71) looks on.
Photo Credit: Tom Kujawski

By: Mason Meulemans

Stevens Point - The final home game for the Pointer’s Senior this year wasspoiled by the Titans of UW Oshkosh on a beautiful Saturday afternoon atCommunity Stadium at Georke Park.

Nate Wara led the Titans offense to aimpressive victory over the Pointers, in which for the three quarters heplayed, Wara looked comfortable running the Titan spread-option offense andfrustrating the Pointers all afternoon.

This game was a game of two halves. Entering halftime, the Pointers trailed theTitans 21-14, and to be frank, the Pointers were lucky they were only downseven points. The first half for theTitans included a missed chip shot field goal and on a long run into the endzone, a Titan running back had the ball knocked out of his possession beforecrossing the end zone line and after the ball bounced out of the back of theend zone, the Pointers were given a touchback.

Notable standouts for the Pointers included safety JoeMleziva, in his final home game for the Pointers, gave up a touchdown earlyover the middle. But on the nextpossession, he picked off Wara backed up in Pointer territory and forced thefumble out of the back of the end zone that took away a Titan touchdown.

The second half for the Pointers featured a more realisticperspective on the momentum of the game. After a touchdown late in the first half, the Titans scored again earlyin the third quarter and never looked back.

Pointer sophomore quarterback Mitch Beau took a beating allday as the Pointers lost the game 38 – 24. Showing toughness late in the game in irrelevant time, Beau repeatedlypick himself up off the ground favoring his ankle, but stayed in for the gamerunning the offense as usual.

The lackof a running game all day also hurt the Pointer offense, meanwhile theircounterparts in the Titans were able to run their offense effectively off ofplay-action carving up the Pointer defense for 684 yards on the day.

The Pointers finish the season this Saturday as they head toUW Platteville. Kick off is set for 1:00.

Golden Gusties Steal One in Overtime

2011-11-05T21:23:00.000-07:00

By: Chris O'Brien

The University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point Men’s Hockey team fell 2-1 in overtime to the Gustavus Adolphus College Golden Gusties in a non-conference showdown at K.B Willett Arena in Stevens Point on Saturday.

Golden Gustie Captain Ross Ring-Jarvi scored the game winner on his own rebound when he beat Pointer Goaltender Nick Graves who could not recover fast enough to stop the second attempt by Ring-Jarvi. Ring-Jarvi scored both Golden Gustie goals who won their first game of the season.

Both teams had trouble scoring and it was not until the 14:22 mark of the 2^nd period when Ring-Jarvi scored an unassisted power play goal. Ring-Jarvi skated the puck into the slot and fired a lazer past the shoulder of Graves to earn the 1-0 lead.

The Pointers controlled play towards the end of the 2^nd period getting a lot of shots of Gustavus’s wall of goaltender John McLean who stands at 6’8” tall and weighs in at 215 pounds.

The Pointers could not solve the massive goalie until the 1:55 mark of the 3^rd period where Luke Nesper fired in a shot from the low slot and beat Mclean blocker side on assists from Kyle Politz and Kevin Gibson. The goal was Nesper’s first of the season and gave the Pointers a much needed momentum boost.

McLean stood tall for the Gusties and made 36 saves on 37 shots. McLean played well and was a tough guy to score on, said Pointer Head Coach Chris Brooks. Coming into the game McLean had played in one game where he made 21 saves on 24 shots and allowed 3 goals.

Penalties were a problem all game for the Pointers who committed 9 infractions for 18 minutes. Fortunately the Golden Gusties could only muster up one power play goal all game. The Golden Gusties also were very successful on the penalty kill and did not allow any Pointer power play goals.

The Pointers outplayed the Golden Gusties throughout the 3^rd period and much of overtime. The team competed hard, but sometimes tried playing the easy way and gave away the puck too many times, said Brooks.

“I told them to play with confidence and good things will happen,” said Brooks.

With the loss the Pointers record now stands at 2-3 overall and 1-2 against non-conference opponents. Pointes Goaltender Nick Graves played in his 3^rd game this season and made 24 saves in the loss.

The Pointers will look to rebound after the loss when they take on the University of Wisconsin – Superior at home next weekend Friday and Saturday. The puck drops at K.B Willett Arena both nights at 7 PM.

Saints Win in Try 3

2011-10-24T15:33:00.000-07:00

Friday WIS 7- CWS 5 10/22/11

Familiar faces helped the Saints, but it was not enough as they fell 7-5 to their in-state rival the Wisconsin Rampage Friday at K.B Willet Arena. The Saints started off the scoring just a minute into the game when Ian Dart scored his first goal in his first game with the Saints this season. Dart played for the Saints last year and he made an immediate impact on the ice Friday. The Rampage came back towards the end of the first period when Jakob Smith scored on Wisconsin’s first power play of the game and was assisted by Trevor Sabo and Christopher Wachal on the play. A minute later a Rampage penalty gave the Saints their first power play and they made it count when Jeremy Ebert launched a rocket after Colin Van Hauter won the faceoff just 3 seconds into the man advantage. The first half of the 2nd period saw the Saints play well, but penalties gave the Rampage plenty of chances and scored 3 goals in the period. Thomas Tambourine scored his first of two goals on the night and added an assist on Daniel Kerr’s go ahead goal just 10 seconds after their 2nd goal of the game. Daniel Kerr had a 3 point night for the Rampage as well and chipped in a goal in the 2nd and 3rd periods as well as an assist. Cody Miller recorded a goal and Tambourine had his 2nd one in the 3rd to round out the Rampage scoring. The Saints scored 3 goals in the 3rd after being shut out of scoring during the 2nd stanza. Goal scorers were Ebert who scored his 2nd of the game on a pretty breakaway goal. Later Kenyon Godfrey scored and rounding out the Saints scoring was Mike Mitch who also played in his first Saints game this season. Jake Adams played well for the Saints and had 28 saves. Kyle Wiener recorded 25 saves for the Rampage. The Rampage outshot the Saints 35-30. Saturday 10/22/11 WIS 5-4 CWS F/OT The Central Wisconsin Saints fell in overtime to the Wisconsin Rampage 5-4 at KB Willett arena Saturday night. The Saints gave up a goal early to the Rampage when Caleb Stolzman tipped in a Conner Dillon shot to start the scoring off for the night. Max Culp came back with 2 goals in the 1st to give the Saints a 2-1 lead going into intermission. The First goal was let in by Cason Kirkpatrick who ended up putting the puck into his own net. Culp then added his second on the night on the power play and Colin Van Hauter picked up the assist on the play. The Saints would add to their lead in the 2nd period when Van Hauter would get a breakaway goal on a pretty pass from Jeremy Ebert. Later in the period the Rampage would strike back on a goal from their leading goal scorer Christopher Wachal on assists from Corey Collum and Jakob Smith. The Rampage would tie the game on a power play goal from James Walsh in the 3rd period. Wisconsin went 3 for 8 on the power play for the night. Ebert would recover the lead for the Saints mid way through the 3rd with a goal moments after getting out of the box on an assist from Van Hauter. Van Hauter ended his night with 3 points and Ebert had a goal and an assist to his credit. Brenner Blankenship would tie the game up late in 3rd on an assist by Cody Miller. At the end of regulation the Saints had a power play to give them a 4 on 3 advantage that came up empty. Van Hauter would later be penalized for a knee collision with Jakob Smith which gave the Rampage a power play for the remainder of overtime. Rampage Captain Cody Miller would sneak in the game winner in overtime to give the Rampage the victory. Goaltender Cason Kirkpatrick had 29 saves on 33 shots attempted. Saints goalie Garret Avery had 33 saves on 38 shot attempts from the Rampage. Sunday 10/23/11 WIS 3-5 CWS F The Saints came out hard trying to come out of the three game series with one win for their efforts. Kenton Grulkowski was on the ice for warmups, but couldn't skate in the contest. Jake Adams got the start in net against Andrew Putterman for the Wisconsin Rampage. Max Culp got it going early with a power play goal. He carried the puck out from behind the net and buried it shoreside as Putterman had left the post. Mike Mitch was credited with an assist on the play. The Rampage responded on the power play with a goal by Thomas Tamborine. His shot from the point threaded the needle on the way to the net and past a screened Jake Adams. Rampage captain Cody Miller was credited with the only assist on the goal. The Saints took the lead again with Colin van Hauter's 2nd goal of the season. A three on one with Jeremy Ebert and Ian Dart developed. Van Hauter shoveled the puck across to Ebert on the far post, but it deflected off a defenseman's stick and into the net. Wisconsin got it back on the power play when Daniel Kerr found the back of the net. Traffic in front causeda rebound that Kerr deposited in the net for his 13th of the season. The second period was a much better defensive effort from both teams. The Saints sent a parade to the penalty box but they managed to kill off all of their shorthanded time. Jake Adams made some great saves to keep his team in the game. Max Culp finally broke through in the 17th minute when he snuck around the net and caught a perfect pass from Kyle Harnish. He seemed to whiff on the puck as it hit the heel of his stick, but it slid through Putterman's five-hole and into the net. Another answer from Wisconsin came before the period ended as Daniel Kerr picked up a rebound in front of the net and scored on the empty net as Adams had slid across to make the first save. The Saints took over in the second period to seal their first home with of the season. Kyle Harnish scored with some hard work down low; he stole the puck and wired it into the net. They managed a 2-goal lead when Ian Dart scored his second goal of the weekend. Jeremy Ebert fed him the puck on the power play and he buried it. Jake Adams held strong with 26 saves and the Saint moved to 2-8-1. Wisconsin's record swells to 13-7 after the three game series. Central Wisconsin heads to Indianapolis for a three game series against the Inferno starting on Friday, October 28th.

New Stream News!

2011-10-21T08:14:00.000-07:00

Pointers Everywhere is proud to present our new network addition. Check out our UStream page for live Central Wisconsin Saints Broadcasts starting tonight at 7:00 PM. In the future we will be broadcasting student shows and opinion audio blogs. This will be a temporary channel until WWSP gets our new stream working. This should follow in the next few weeks. Thanks for listening to 90FM Sports!

Free live streaming by Ustream

Brewers - Beast Mode Saves Season

2011-10-09T09:52:00.000-07:00

By: Mason Meulemans

On a night that some are calling the greatest of regular season baseball ever, that featured extra inning games deciding the final playoff slot for both in both leagues, the Brewers were a quiet story in anywhere outside Brewer nation. Setting a club record with 96 wins this year, the Brewers clinched the number two spot in the National League and gained home field advantage over the Arizona Diamondbacks. “It's special. We recognize that we're a really tough team to beat here," said left fielder Ryan Braun per MLB.com. Braun stated exactly what Brewer fans were ecstatic about on the final night of the regular season.

Another storyline that Brewer fans were following was Ryan Braun’s chase for the National League Batting Title. Earlier in the day, New York Met’s shortstop Jose Reyes went one for one then left the game. The one hit came on an infield bunt in the first inning, and it was made known after the game that Reyes had pulled himself to preserve his lead in the Batting Title. A move that even Sterling Archer would cringe at in shame. This forced Ryan Braun to go three for four that night to win the title. Not reaching base in either of his first two at bats, Braun was officially defeated for the title.

Once Braun was eliminated in the Batting Title race, the new back-story to the Brewers season ending was the Most Valuable Player award and how Milwaukee had two names in contention. For the better part of the last decade, Brewer fans have watched both Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder develop into one of the best tandem hitters in Major League Baseball, and it would only be a perfect ending to their tenure together if one of them were to win an MVP. Both are top 10 players in almost every major offensive statistic for the National League, including Fielder ranked number two in home runs, RBI’s, and on base percentage (the percentage of at bats that the hitter will make it on base). Under first year manager Ron Roenicke, Braun was much more active on the base paths this year finishing with 33 stolen bases, giving Braun his first thirty and thirty season (30 home runs with 30 stolen bases).

Matt Kemp of the Dodgers is the statistical favorite to win the MVP for the National League. He leads in almost every major offensive category and also contributed 40 stolen bases, only one home run short of a forty and forty season. Being teammates, Braun and Fielder will pull votes away from each other, which in the long run hurts Braun, who many are favoring over Fielder. Braun’s only chance to win is if the voters favor the fact that he played on a winning ballclub this year. Kemp was the one shinning star on a very bad Dodgers team, and it is well known some voters will often favor a winning player over the statistical freak, lets hope it’s the trend at year’s end.

Not enough credit can be given to the front office of the Milwaukee Brewers this year. It’s been the efforts of General Manager Doug Melvin and the fiscal commitment of owner Mark Attanasio that have propelled this team into one of the most fascinating and fun teams to watch this year. With roster moves that included bringing in pitchers Zach Greinke and Shaun Marcum, the Brewers were instant contenders for the NL Central Division, and brining it all together was new manager Ron Roenicke. A bench coach for the Angels just a year ago, Roenicke was able to keep this team playing at a high level all season, including a second half that was one of the best in Brewer history. Very rarely this season did Brewer fans get to question Roenicke, because he often did what a fan of the game would do. He treated this team almost as if it was a video game, keeping this young squad interested throughout the year. Being active on the base paths and playing small ball was style unfamiliar to this team, but he sold the concept and the team couldn’t have gotten a better product. Shocking fans, the Brewers were winning games using suicide squeezes and moving players around the bases.

Like any good players manger, the trust went both ways for the team. Being one of the youngest teams in the division, the status quo would often drain this team and frustrate them in previous years. Managers Ken Macha and Ned Yost would often favor less antics and more professionalism in the game. This year we saw the emergence of an alter ego, people switching from “the belt” to “beast mode” in months, and a player’s 0 for 45 streak brought a team together. Nyjer Morgan, AKA Tony Plush, was the best position player addition to the squad. His creation of “beast mode” and post game interviews ignited Brewer fans and caused this team to laugh all year. Tweeting as Tony Plush, Morgan asked Milwaukee what to do on his day off in the town, an hour later he posted a picture of himself flying a kite, saying thanks for the suggestion. He’s the perfect kind of crazy for this team, almost like the youngest brother who’s the most immature at dinner. The team was the kids’ table at Thanksgiving, loud and obnoxious with inside jokes, but could take the adults outside and crush them in sports. Roenicke was the perfect enabler to a team that needed to have fun.

It’s a great time to be a fan of sports in Wisconsin in general, but the Brewers are making a different kind of noise from the rest. Sure the Packers won a Super Bowl, and the Badger’s Russell Wilson looks like this year’s Cam Newton, but its been a long time since the Brewers were serious contenders for a pennant and Milwaukee is just waiting to erupt for a team of their own. Let’s face it, there is no greater feeling than hearing Bob Uecker plugging a Usinger’s sausage in October.

Do You Know Sports?

2011-09-13T22:25:00.001-07:00

Do you want to share your knowledge with Central Wisconsin? Do you want valuable experience and fun? Do you want a job next year? Do you want to be on the radio?

I the answer to any of these questions is yes then you are in luck. It's time for 90 FM Sports. 90 FM is the student radio station on campus and the sports department is having its very first meeting this Wednesday, September 14th from 5pm-6pm.

90 FM is a great way to get involved on campus with tons of opportunities even if you do know that much about sports or don't want to be on air. Opportunities include:

Play-by-Play Announcing for Pointer and Community Events
Color Analysis for Pointer and Community Events
Talk Show Hosting
Interviewing
Audio Production
Podcasting
Writing
Filming
Photography
News Reading
Much More...

Contact Sports Director Adam Qutaishat at aquta046@uwsp.edu for more information or if you cannot make the meeting

Pointers Spoiled By Pioneers In Spud Bowl

2011-09-12T12:40:00.000-07:00

By: Mason Meulemans, Station Manager - 90 FM

The Pointers posing with the money they raised for Breast Cancer Awareness

There could not have been better weather for the UW Stevens Point football team to be kicking off their home schedule with the 25th Annual Spud Bowl and 2nd Annual Pink Game. Game time temp was in the mid 70’s, a slight breeze out of the Northwest, and not a cloud in the sky. Unfortunately for the Pointers, the weather was only one of the few things going right for them on Saturday.

The Pointers struggled from the start, and the Pioneers of UW Plateville came out looking sharp for the WIAC Conference opener. The Pointer offense transitioning from a spread style last year to a power running style this year looked confused and rusty. The running game was pedestrian at best early on. There were only a few glimpses of a playmaker in running back Keith Ingram as he was limited early with an ankle injury eventually causing him to sit the second half.

The first score of the game came midway through the first quarter when Pioneer QB Nick Anderson connected with a wide open receiver Aaron Loferski for a 36 yard TD pass down the left sideline. Anderson, able to pull the Pointer safety forward on a play action out of the shotgun, capped off a six play 95 yard touchdown drive that only took 2 minutes off the clock.

Quarterback Casey Barnes (8) looks to the sidelines

The Pioneers defense continued to dominate into the second quarter when Pointer QB Casey Barnes was taken down in end zone during an attempted end around for a safety, making the score 9-0 in the early part of the quarter.

The Pointers had one impressive drive midway through the second quarter when they ran 15 plays for 56 yards, and entrusted kicker Jered Fohrman to convert a 51 yard field goal attempt. The drive included four first downs with three coming on third down. The most impressive being a 3rd and 15 on the Pointer 17 yard line, when Barnes rolled out to his left and connected with running back Faraji Starks for 25 yards. After the drive, not much went the Pointer’s way the rest of the game.

After a Brandon Matznik punt pinned the Pioneers down on their own 1 yard line, the Pioneers had two false starts, bringing them back literally inches away from their own end zone. On first down, Anderson threw down the right sideline towards Darin Blaser only to have the ball snagged out of the air by Pointer defensive back Kody Morgan on an acrobatic play. As Morgan was being dragged down, he attempted to lateral the ball near the Pioneer 30 yard line; the lateral fell well behind Pointer safety Colton Zimmerman and was picked up by Blaser, who carried it up to the Pioneer 46 yard line.

Now in the no huddle offense and looking to move with less than a minute on the clock, the Pioneers immediately snapped the ball and threw down the left sideline where Loferski once again made an athletic grab getting the ball down to the Pointer 19 yard line.

After a couple of runs by the Pioneers to get the ball down to the goal line, they were faced with a first and goal on the Pointers one yard line. With no timeouts left, many expected Anderson to throw a jump ball in the end zone to try and score quickly without killing the clock. When Anderson broke huddle he had good matchups on the outside with Leforski to his left with a one on one matchup.

After the shotgun snap was handled; he gave it running back Lee Vlasak to the right side of the line, where he dragged defenders into the end zone with one second left on the clock. When the dust settled the Pioneers had gone 99 yards in 6 plays, the Pointers trailed 16 – 3 at halftime.

Vlasak would add another touchdown in the third with a one yard run as he dominated the day with an impressive 119 yards on 32 rushes with two touchdowns. Second year starting quarterback Nick Anderson looked sharp as he was very efficient on the day with 152 yards and his one touchdown toss. The final score of the game came from Pioneer kicker Zach Litchfield hitting a 45 yard field goal making the game 26 – 3.

For the Pointers, quarterback Casey Barnes showed signs of impressive quarterback play as he was nine of sixteen for 107 yards. Barnes moved well in the pocket not getting sacked and threw a strike over the middle receiver Mike Mullins for 29 yards. It’s obvious this offense is going to need to get some sort of chemistry going as the Pioneers were in the Pointer backfield all day in both the running game and passing game.

Defensively, linebacker Curtis Krump looked impressive in a defense that was being gashed all day. Krump had 9 total tackles, including a sack and two tackles for loss. Justin Scray also played well with nine total tackles with one being for a loss.

The one area the Pointers arguably played better than the Pioneers was in the special teams. Both punters looked strong pinning their opponents down in the red zone, but Pointer punter Brett Matznick had three punts inside the 20 yard line, including one that was downed inside the one yard line. Pointer kicker Jered Fohrman hit a 51 yard field goal in the second quarter and also looked good on kickoffs keeping the Pioneers returners moving around.

It’s obvious the Pointers have glaring holes on both sides of the ball, but if their offense continues to struggle, they are looking a long season of ugly football. If Casey Barnes can develop some chemistry with receivers Marc Young and Mike Mullins, the offense could have success in the off-set I formation that they seemed to favor on Saturday. But if the opposing linebackers can focus all of their attention on the running game, the offense will struggle to pick up yards on early downs, causing more third and long situations.

The Pointers are idle this week as they prepare to take on Albion on September 24th.

Alcohol and Professional Sports

2011-08-19T19:16:00.000-07:00

These are two things that have really become synonymous, as soon as you come of age you drink when you watch sports. It has become a point of pride for many organizations, to have the move inebriated fans. It is part of the culture of sports. Every broadcast is littered with beer commercials and every party and concession stand are filled with sponsor beers. It is almost impossible to separate these two things anymore, can you imagine if liquor was banned at professional sporting events? That will not happen in my lifetime. My goal is to simply examine the state of the relationship between alcohol and professional sports.

It has been apparent for a long time that alcohol and professional sports are connected. Tailgating, concessions, viewing parties and everything in between is evidence of the cultural entrenchment of alcohol connections. Whenever you see sports fans on television 9 times out of 10 you will see at least one person with an alcoholic beverage. Every commercial break contains at least one beer commercial and stadiums like Miller Park and Coors Field serve as giant monuments to this partnership.

When you go to a viewing party to watch a game you are expected to drink. When you go to a game live, if you are of age, you are expected to drink. My first beer was at a Buffalo Sabres' game. I was 20 and my cousin bought me a Labatt Blue. That may seem like a harmless anecdote but it was 1 of 2 beers I drank before I was legally able to drink. This tells me two things, there is a cultural pressure to drink at games and there is also a limited amount of oversight as to exactly who can drink at these games.

Is this something that society should just accept? To some extent that may not be too far from the truth. Much like consuming alcohol in the world at large it is the excess and rampant overuse of alcohol that is the issue. It isn't alcohol, but the culture surrounding it that needs to change. Not only is excessive drinking the cause of discomfort at the ballpark or arena, but it can be extremely dangerous as well.

We all know about the obnoxious and belligerent fans who get loaded past the point of decency and make the game less fun for those around them. This baffles me. Why would you go to something as expensive, exciting and memorable as a live professional sporting event and get so inebriated that you can neither remember nor enjoy that event? You aren't just hurting those around you, but you are hurting yourself. This type of drinking at sporting events should stop for everyone's sake.

Besides the annoying factor of these fans is the danger factor. Obnoxious drunks can start potentially dangerous altercations with other surrounding fans (whether they are just annoyed or drunk themselves). Then there is the dangers of the venue itself. The number of stories about fans falling to their deaths at sporting events in the past few years is steadily increasing. Videos on youtube also tend to show the logic and intelligence blocking powers of alcohol on sports fans. There is even more danger for the those responsible fans after the game. Think about the crowded parking lots after any game you've been to. Now think about the many dangers of drunk drivers. Now think about the number of people in that crowded parking that could have blood alcohol levels above the legal limit. It's a little scary and it gets more frightening each year.

What made me examine this problem, which is not only exclusive to the United States? It was an innocuous experience at a Milwaukee Brewers game this year. I was at the game with my girlfriend and we had driven to the game from her house. Because we drove I decided not to drink since I like baseball more, giving her free reign to drink, although she decided not to have more than one drink. Upon arriving at our seats we found we were surrounded by the majority of a small Wisconsin town who had all come together on a bus. This gave all the members of the group a chance to get hammered before the game. Many did drink on the bus. The rest were drinking at the game. After some time members of the group asked me why I wasn't drinking. I responded that I was driving and that simply wasn't a good enough excuse. When I said I didn't want to they seemed flabbergasted.

This is a problem of culture. If someone says they are driving they should be celebrated for refusing liquor. If they simply don't want to they shouldn't be pressured into it by those around them. They fact that these excuses make no sense to fans is dangerous. If this doesn't change, and it probably won't naturally, you can expect to see a series of increasingly tragic events that will eventually lead to restrictions on drinking. It just seems senseless that it should come to that.

Pointers Year in Review

2011-08-12T23:13:00.000-07:00

The University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point continues to gain prestige for its sports programs. The Pointers concluded a highly successful 2010-11 campaign and are set to begin their new season as football training camp opened today. Let's take a look back at an extraordinary season for Pointer Sports.

The season started strong with good performances turned in by both Pointer Football and Pointer Volleyball. It was made even better by the incredible season turned in by the Pointer Women's Soccer Team. Putting together a perfect conference record and a deep NCAA run cemented them as a top team in the country. They are ranked 15th in the nation going into next season.

The National Champion Men's Basketball team performed well and finished the season strong despite losing Jared Jenkins, Ross Forman, Evan Sweeney and Matt Moses. Lou Herd, Jarrel Harris and Scott Hoezel lead the team to another strong season, but they came up short of defending their title. Pointer Men's Hockey started off poorly at home, but put together a nice run and turned their season into a successful one in the playoffs. Leaders Max Bobrow, Kyle Heck and Johnny Meo will be returning next season.

Spring was all about the highly touted Baseball team the also went on to an incredible season. They were stopped just short of winning it all. Men and Women's Track & Field also competed at high levels, as did cross country and swimming & diving. The Pointer's Wrestling team completed their status a individual sport powerhouse with an incredible team. All-American Ben Engelland finished second at the NCAA Championships in his senior season.

All of these great finishes lead to the Pointers placing 9th in the Directors Cup, finishing in the top-10 for the 6th time in the last 10 years. They also finished 1st in Men and Women's Sports in the WIAC and 1st in Men's Sports in the WIAC.

Two familiar faces in Pointer Sports left the program in the 2010-11 season. Athletic Director Frank O'Brien retire on January 1st, and Hockey Head Coach Wil Nichol left for the NHL at the end of the season. Daron Montgomery will be the next Athletic Director and Chris Brooks will replace Nichol behind the bench.

Three seniors will be playing professionally next year. Senior Garrett Suter signed a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL, the team affiliated with his older brother Ryan's NHL club: the Nashville Predators. Basketball and Football star Jared Jenkins signed a contract with the NFL's Detroit Lions for the 2011-12 season. Finally Pointer's Pitcher Scott Williams will be joining former Pointer Jordan Zimmerman in the Washington Nationals' Organization after signing with the team as a free agent. Cody Koback was also selected by the Boston Red Sox in the MLB entry draft.

Congratulations to all the departing Pointers' players and staff on wonderful careers and congratulations to everyone involved in Pointer Sports on a great season. The Pointers' quest for the Directors Cup begins again in just a few weeks and Pointers Everywhere will be there to provided the best independent coverage available.

NFL Offseason Set To Begin

2011-07-26T11:15:00.000-07:00

With the lockout ending yesterday the NFL is primed for a free agency period unlke any in the past. This includes the Green Bay Packer. Coming off a Super Bowl victory the Packers do not have a lot or pending free agents, especially players who are particularly indispensable. That being said the Packers are prepared to let several players from their championship team walk away this offseason.

Packers free agents include RB Brandon Jackson, FB Korey Hall, WR James Jones, PK Mason Crosby, OG Daryn Colledge, DE Cullen Jenkins, DL Johnny Jolly and CB Josh Bell. It is unknown which of these players will be retained next season and beyond.

Jackson played a vital role filling in as the starting running back with the injury to Ryan Grant. The rise of James Starks could make him expendable. James Jones was an asset in the playoffs, but he may have priced himself out of Green Bay with that performance. He may command too much money for a #3 receiver on the depth chart,

Cullen Jenkins and Johnny Jolly are great additions to the defensive line and it seems like these two are likely to be retained. Mason Crosby has been great in his Packer career and will almost certainly be resigned.

These will not be the only players departing Green Bay, if they do in fact leave. A source has informed us here at Pointers Everywhere that LB Brady Poppinga, OT Mark Tauscher, LB Brandon Chillar and LB Nick Barnett will not be in Green & Gold in 2012. Barnett himself confirmed this when asked.

So while the Packers will look much the same as the Super Bowl winning version come August, there will be some noticeable absences in the lineup. The biggest area of concern they will need to address in free agency will be on the offensive line and some depth in the secondary and in their LB corps. It should be a fun couple of months.

Interview with Taylor Vichorek

2011-06-25T21:17:00.000-07:00

By: Adam 'Buffalo' Qutaishat

Working (and skating) at the Central Wisconsin Saints' Tryouts this weekend was an amazing experience. One of my favorite part though, had to be meeting New Jersey Devil's prospect Taylor Vichorek. He happens to be the son of Saints' head coach Mark Vichorek.

The first thing you notice about Taylor is his size. He is absolutely huge! 6'8" 250 lbs. Think Tyler Myers crossed with Zdeno Chara. After talking to Taylor, I came to realize that he really knows hockey. Here is a link to our whole interview.

Here is a rather famous video of Taylor on youtube:

What About Prince?

2011-06-10T14:31:00.000-07:00

With the turnaround that the Milwaukee Brewers are currently enjoying it has been easy to overlook the biggest issue in the upcoming off-season. That will, of course, be the loss of hitting dynamo Prince Fielder to free agency where he will likely fulfill his potential as a designated hitter in the American League. With the season that the Brewers and Fielder are putting together right now it was easy to forget.

The Brewers, however, decided to remind me. They drafted Trent Boras in the 30th round of the MLB entry draft. Trent Boras will play for USC this year and likely will not enter the Brewers' system. The main headline for Boras is that he is the son of Prince Fielder's agent Scott Boras.

Let me make one thing very clear: This will not effect the deal at all. Price will still become a free agent and the Brewers will not be Scott's new favorite team. First off he's already had one son, Shane, drafted in St. Louis. Secondly he is a hard nosed professional who would not let something like this get in the way of his job.

I do believe the Brewers selected Boras because he's a good prep player and they want to be in the picture in the future. However this just simply reminds me that Fielder remains unsigned and that the Brewers will be looking for a new first baseman next season.

On one side of the coin this is tragic for Brewers' fans. He has been incredible for the Crew. He is 3rd overall in career homeruns and holds the record for single season RBIs. He is a fan favorite and he is loved by his teammates. Keeping him around would give the Crew a formidable lineup for quite some time.

That all being said, it would take a miracle to keep Prince in Milwaukee. Instead we have to look at some other options to fill the hole. The first way to look at it is within the organization. That gets dicey are the Brewers have approximately 0 position players ready for the big club next season. The only player available would be Mat Gamel, who is currently the starting first baseman in Nashville after playing many seasons at third base.

The good news is that he is actually more comfortable at first base defensively and that he has tons of potential as a hitter. The bad news is he hasn't made it count in the majors and that will be a huge step down from last season. Another option from inside the system would be resigning Mark Kotsay who has some first base experience.

Free agency is another option. While Fielder and Pujols are out of the question there are some lesser knows available. Jorge Cantu is an intriguing option out of San Diego. He hits pretty well and could be a fill in player. Lance Berkman is a free agent as is Michael Cuddyer and both could be had for cheaper than Fielder (unless Berkman continues his hot season) and could play first base. Another option could be bringing back Felipe Lopez. The former second baseman and shortstop could also play first and could help fill the hole. Lyle Overbay and Carlos Pena are other FA 1st basemen.

It seems likely to me that the Brewers will pass on a free agent and go with a player like Gamel or a fill in like Overbay because as they are proving this season, you can have a hole in your order as long as he can play defensively. Yuniesky Betancourt is that hole this year, but he has been holding his own on defense. With Nyjer Morgan plugging the other perceived hole in center field the Brewers have few problem areas and can still win.

This means that leaving first base a little weak and pursuing a nice short stop and possibly an outfielder or 3rd baseman (if Morgan deteriorates or McGehee can't get out of this slump) would make 1st base a similar position to short this year. The rest of the pieces will still be there. Moving Weeks to the 3 spot and having Braun bat 4th could give the Brewers a similar 1-2 punch. This would give Gamel some time to develop and make this roster just as strong.

Ultimately losing Prince Fielder will be sad. All is not lost and with the right moves the Brewers will be almost as successful without Prince as they were with him. He will likely be one of those "all-time" players in Milwaukee and we will all be glad he played here. But it might be time to start saying goodbye and let the good times keep rolling on.

(Images used without permission)

Saints Hire Vichorek

2011-05-29T22:00:00.000-07:00

The Central Wisconsin Saints have announced the hiring of Head Coach Mark Vichorek for the 2011-2012 season.

Mark Vichorek has a wealth of hockey knowledge from many years in the hockey world. Mark hails from Moose Lake Minnesota. He played Junior hockey for the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL for one year and was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1982 entry draft. Mark went on to play 4 years at Lake Superior State University on a full ride scholarship from 1982-83 thru 1985-86 seasons. He set a team record for most consecutive games played at 162 as well as being team captain his senior year and an alternate the previous two years at LSSU. He was also named Freshman of the year in his first season with the team.

Mark signed a 2 year contract with the Hartford Whalers (Carolina Hurricanes now) hockey club after graduation. He played 100 professional games his rookie season and won a Turner Cup Championship in the International League with the Salt Lake Golden Eagles. Mark played for several professional teams over a 7 year span and played 562 games in that time. Mark retired from playing in 1993 and turned to coaching.

Vichorek in his
Entry Draft Photo

Vichorek coached for the Michigan Tech Huskies in the WCHA. He was also General Manager/Head Coach of a Minor professional team and 2 Junior teams along the way. The Northland Voyagers out of Duluth in the mid 90's and the Lakeland Jets of the NAJHL out of the Detroit area as well. Mark Coached 6 years at his old High School in Moose Lake and was a Bantam coach and Player Development Director for 2 years in the Cloquet, Minnesota Amateur Hockey Association. For the past several years he has coached several teams in the International Cup tournaments held in Blaine, Minnesota. He also helps make contacts for College recruiters and players to help further their careers at the next levels.

Vichorek's son Taylor plays
for the Trenton Devils of the ECHL

Mark is married to Bette, his wife of 26 years and has a son, Taylor that is playing professional hockey for the New Jersey Devils organization after 1 year of D-III hockey at Hamline University in St. Paul, MN. Mark and Bette also have a daughter Montana that will be in her Senior year at Bemidji State University where she was named captain of her team for next season.

Brewers Roster Finally Coming Into Focus

2011-05-28T13:00:00.000-07:00

I spent some time in the off season discussing the incredible roster that the Brewers were assembling in the off season. I was very excited to see the roster they constructed. The unfortunate results of this roster disappointed me at first. I have come to find that their early struggles were due more to a lack of organization depth than actually talent. Injuries decimated the Brewers starting lineup, rotation and even their bullpen. That depth was what the Brewers gave up in order to acquire Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum, so I'm okay with that scenario.

The Brewers have returned to full strength and they are showing exactly how good of a baseball team they can be. A recent 6 game winning streak was just the most obvious evidence of an extended stretch of excellent play from the team. Getting Zack Greinke, Nyjer Morgan, Corey Hart, Latroy Hawkins and Jonathan Lucroy back from injury is a huge boost to a team that was already boasting some very talented players.

The Rotation

The starting rotation is one of the best rotations that the Brewers have ever assembled. Shaun Marcum has really taken off in the National League he has a sub .300 ERA (.280) and a WHIP of 1.05. He has been dominant and has been the Brewers most consistent pitcher this season.

Randy Wolf has continued to show that the adjustments he made in the second half of 2009 were the right ones. His pitching has been brilliant at times and with the exception of a few games where he has been lit up, he has been a great 4th option for the Brew Crew. He has transitioned well into the late spots in the rotation and is an asset to the team.

I might be a bit biased, but I love Chris Narveson. He is such a dominant pitcher when he's on his game. He's fun to watch and he inspires confidence. He blazed into the season and has suffered a few setbacks including his latest start. This is to be expected from your number 5 starter and hopefully he will continue to improve.

Yovanni Gallardo struggled early in the season but is now putting up the wins that were expected of him. He has maintained a consistent level of play for the past few weeks and if he continues this trend, he should be the ace the front office believes him to be by seasons end.

Zack Greinke has struggled somewhat since his return, but he is starting to click and it will only be a matter of time before he joins Gallardo and Marcum as bonifide aces. With these three and Narveson and Wolf as strong second tier starters the Brewer rotation is something batters will not be looking forward to.

The Bullpen

Having Marco Estrada start the season in place of Zack Greinke allowed the Brewers to see what they had in the young prospect. He delivered and earned himself a spot in the bullpen. He is the type of relieve who fills me with confidence. He can handle long relief and makes the loss of Manny Parra much less of a hit to the team.

Sergio Mitre was a great acquisition from the NY Yankees and he has been phenomenal this season. He has been lights out and stabilizes the Brewers' 'Pen. With a 1.00 WHIP and 1.71 ERA he clearly has been getting the ground balls that he needs.

Kameron Loe has appeared in 27 games this season and he has been the picture of consistency in Milwaukee. He had one bad inning and his numbers reflect that, but his overall season has been excellent. Kudos to Doug Melvin for grabbing Loe and making sure he had a chance in the big leagues last season, because it sure is paying off now.

John Axford struggled early in the season, but has now settled into his closer role and has served the Brewers well. With Takashi Saito and Latroy Hawkins injured to start the season it looked a little dicey in the closing spot, but Axford has recovered well and shown the Brewers that he wasn't just a flash in the pan.

These three have been the greatest success story in the bullpen. Latroy Hawkins has also been stellar although he hasn't seen a ton of action as of yet. Mike McClendon has pitched well and Brandon Kintzler was also a good option, although he is currently on the DL. Another name that fans would love to see this season is Mark DiFelice who could be an option if another reliever goes down.

There have been struggles for the bullpen as well. Mitch Stetter and Sean Green have been abysmal and are no longer on the active roster. Takashi Saito is still injured as is Manny Parra and Zack Braddock has been out for much or the year as well. Tim Dillard has only pitched one inning of baseball and he gave up 2 runs.

Still the idea that the Brewers could potentially have too many good relievers if Saito, Kintzler, Braddock and Parra can return they would have to make some very tough roster decisions. While this sucks on a human level, it is a general manager's best friend because it tells him he is making the right personnel decisions.

Infield

Prince Fielder is having a nice bounce back season and could very easily challenge his own RBI record. The project of projects at 2nd base has been living up to his lofty potential as well. Rickie Weeks has been a model lead off man and ranks in the top 10 in NL home runs.

Jonathan Lucroy should be an All-Star. He is the 2nd ranked catcher in the NL in RBIs, 1st in HRs and 1st in Batting Average. These are All-Star numbers and he has only played 33 games. He has really been doing a great job and the Brewers have an asset they should lock up long term.

Yuniesky Betancourt has been exactly what people though he would be, a place filler. He has some spectacular plays followed by some brutal errors. His Batting Average and OBP are bad, but he has the potential to break out. What's nice is that the Brewers only need him to be average to succeed, which is good, because that's all he is.

Will Nieves is a run of the mill backup catcher, although I would have liked to see George Kottaras due to his hitting ability off the bench. Craig Counsell is good (and old) and the addition of Josh Wilson should help off the bench filling in.

Outfield

Nyjer Morgan has been a revelation in center field. He has a rather small sample size and some serious attitude issues, but I am overlooking those things for the time being. The perceived weakness in center field has faded somewhat with the addition of Morgan and that makes the Brewer order even more dangerous.

Ryan Braun settled on a huge contract and hasn't let that effect his play at all. He should be on the All-Star team for the 3rd consecutive year. His contract make the loss of Fielder at the end of the season a much less painful blow.

Corey Hart had a tough go of it to start the season. He began on the DL and when he returned to the lineup he wasn't hitting well. Luckily that hasn't continued and a 3 HR effort has made fans remember why the like him in the 2 spot so much.

Carlos Gomez is a defensive fill in and bench player and that's all he will ever be in the MLB. Mark Kotsay is a savvy veteran and is good to have on the bench. Brandon Boggs needs some more time to develop, but he has some pop in his bat and could be good down the line.

The Brewers are starting to come together and it will be a race to the playoff, but I'm starting to gain confidence in their ability to come out ahead.

Pavelski Shines in Game 1 of the Playoffs

2011-04-15T09:25:00.001-07:00

By: Chris O'Brien

Joe Pavelski has local ties to the Stevens Point area. He went to Stevens Point Area High School and led the Panthers to a WIAA State Championship in 2002. Later in his career he found himself at the University of Wisconsin; during his Sophomore campaign (2005-2006) he was a top scorer and helped the Badgers win the school's 6th NCAA Title.

Five years later he has become a legend in the NHL Playoffs for the San Jose Sharks. Pavelski added to his playoff goal total by netting the overtime game winner in Game 1 of the Sharks Western Conference Quarter Final series with the rival Los Angeles Kings. In 41 playoff games he has 16 goals and 13 assists for a total of 29 points.

In overtime Pavelski flew in from the neutral zone, received a pass from teammate Kyle Wellwood and ripped a wrist-shot to the top right corner beating King's goalie Jonathan Quick to give the Sharks the victory in Game 1. The OT winner is the 3rd of Pavelski's career and I bet there will be more as the playoffs roll on.

Joe Pavelski is by no means the fastest skater or largest player on the ice, but what makes him such a great asset to any team is his playmaking, positioning and his amazing shooting capabilities. His nick-name is "Little Joe," but he plays a much bigger game then that, especially in overtime. Never underestimate his hockey smarts or he will make you pay if you leave him open anywhere on the ice and just like last year Pavelski is showing that he is clutch playoff performer.

(stats from sharks.nhl.com)
(Image used without permission)

90FM Sports Trivia 42 Food Cup Bracket

2011-04-13T20:30:00.000-07:00

Saints End Season With a Bang

2011-03-13T11:11:00.001-07:00

Saints' Captain Gavin Palm (23)

The Central Wisconsin Saints ended their 2010-2011 season with a 5-3 victory on Saturday night. They showed plenty of emotion and team spirit in the game as they defeated the streaking Michigan Ice Dogs. It was a bittersweet ending for a team that was hoping for more in the franchise's first Lakes Cup Final Four.

The Saints lost on Thursday night to the Chicago Hitmen and on Friday night to the Motor City Chiefs. Michigan was on a 4 game winning streak and had beaten both other teams in the tournament. Chicago and Michigan will head Boston, Massachusetts for the national championship next weekend.

Rikard Lundin exploded for his first career hat trick and captain Gavin Palm recorded a Gordie Howe hat trick in the goal and fight filled affair. Nicholas Hollendonner received the start for Central Wisconsin and made 30 saves in the winning effort.

The 1st period was a seesaw affair that saw 4 goals spilt between the two clubs. Rikard Lundin started with his 1st of the game early on the 1st period. Gavin Palm had the assist on the play. Michigan respond quickly as Tyler Textor's slap shot from the point found the net behind Hollendonner.

Lundin put the Saints back in front later in the period with his 2nd goal. Alex Lucas was credited with the assist on the play. Aric Bergerman tied it up less than five minutes later he was assisted by Michael Ringholz. Both Bergerman and Ringholz recorded 2 points on the night.

The Saints started early in the 2nd period as some real hard work around the net lead to a Max Culp goal. Gavin Palm recorded his second assist of the game and Kyle Althen was credited with the secondary assist. Michigan continued to respond with a goal by Jeffrey Barton.

The Saints took the lead once more on a great individual effort by Gavin Palm. The Saints captain deked around the defender, cut to the outside and then drove the front of the net to power it home. Palm was immediately mugged by the Ice Dogs defense and he wasn't having any of it. Palm proceeded to pound the opposing player into the ice. At the same time Magnus Johansson, Calvin Steinhoff and Nicholas Stirmel were all engaged in battles of their own. The 8 players were ejected from the game to a warm ovation from the crowd.

The Ice Dogs managed to get back into it in the 3rd period with another goal this one from Ringholz. 3 is all they would get as Hollendonner and the Saints defense shut the door from that point on.

Saints' Forward Alex Lucas (10)

Central Wisconsin to the lead for good with under 8 minutes to go in the 3rd with a goal from Alex Lucas. He and Nick Stirmel crashed the front of the net and forced it on over the goal line. Stirmel was credited with the assist on his Birthday.

Lundin completed the hat trick as the gave wound down giving the Saints an insurance goal. The low scoring blue liner was mobbed by his teammates after his 3rd of the game as hats poured down onto the ice. Kevin Choi and Max Culp were given the assists on the goal.

The Saints had a great season but ultimately came up short. They will reload for next season starting in June with tryouts. Congratulations to all of the players moving on to other teams. We will report on those transactions as the information becomes available.

Saints Come Up Short in Lakes Cup Opener

2011-03-10T21:58:00.001-08:00

The Central Wisconsin Saints fell into a 4-0 hole to start their Lakes Cup campaign and couldn’t complete the rally as they fell 4-2 to the Chicago Hitmen on Thursday night.

The teams traded chances early before Jonathan Stevanovich sniped the top corner of the net on the powerplay. The Hitmen increased their lead to two when Tyler Cosentino scored just over 3 minutes later.

The second period saw the action dominated by the faster Chicago club. A powerplay goal by Connor Quinn was followed quickly by a coast-to-coast beauty by Brandon Krichens.

In the third period the Saints finally came out of their shell and started to up the pressure. Max Culp finally broke the shutout at 12:19 on the powerplay. Gavin Palm was credited with the only assist on the play. With less than 4 minutes to play Beau Posey took a Michael Tiberi pass and put on a show flying past defenders and scoring top-shelf.

The Saints could not complete the comeback. Both teams received their share of great goaltending. For Chicago William Krafcheck stopped 19 shots including a pair of spectacular saves. Central Wisconsin goaltender Josh Pettoruto turned away 40 of the 44 shots fired on net by the Hitmen.

The Saints return to action on Friday at 8:30 against the Michigan Ice Dogs.

Suter Signs with the ECHL's Cincinnati Cyclones

2011-03-08T10:32:00.000-08:00

Garrett Suter

By: Chris O'Brien

Garrett Suter the captain and leading scorer of the UWSP Men's Hockey team signed with the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL recently. The Cyclones are the affiliate of the Florida Panthers and the Nashville Predators of the NHL. The Predators own the rights to Suter and his brother Ryan currently plays for them as a defenseman.

Garrett is a 3 time All-WIAC selection in hockey and has been named to the All-NCHA team 3 times. He was named to the first team in the 09-10 season and earned Honorable Mention this season as well as in 08-09.

Suter led the Pointers in scoring this season and was the leading scorer among defensemen in the NCHA. Good luck to Garrett in the future and we hope to see you skate for an NHL team very soon.

Documentary Wins Award

2011-03-05T12:30:00.000-08:00

The Documentary: The Grote Household has won 3rd place at the annual WBA Student Awards. It was created by Adam Qutaishat and Jessie Szprejda. Congrats to those two and 90FM WWSP. Check it out here.

NCAA Tournament Preview

2011-03-04T08:02:00.000-08:00

by Emma Cristan
March Madness (division three style of course) begins today for the Pointers in Mequon Wisconsin at Concordia University where they will take on the Green Knights of St. Norberts College, De Pere Wisconsin.

A member of the Midwest Conference, the Green Knights beat Grinnell college to win the Midwest Conference tournament and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. St. Norberts enters the tournament with a record of 20-5. UW-Stevens Point beat out this team in the first round of the 2009-2010 tournament at home, and it would come as no surprise if the Pointers did it again on the road today.

A few may be wondering why, with such a high national ranking (third as of Monday 2/28), the Pointers did not receive at home play in the first and second rounds. According to the NCAA, if both the mens and womens teams are in contention to host a first match up, they will consider the teams at home history. Since the men's team hosted the first round last year, the home court advantage was given to the women's team, who also won the WIAC tournament, and have been top 25 ranked all season, also ranked third as of this weeks standings. The women will play host to the women of St. Norberts in their first round game. Simpson(21-6) and Concordia-Moorhead(21-6) will also play in Stevens Point this weekend. The NCAA graciously awarded the men a first round game close to home in hopes that many Pointer fans could be in attendance, traditionally a huge factor for the team.

The Pointer men have been chosen by D3hoops.com to take the Augustana bracket, and to head once again to the final four. There are two other real contenders in this bracket in Augustana(24-3) and St. Thomas (24-3). While Augustana may be a real threat to the Pointers final four chances, St. Thomas is not, as their team has a history of disappointing in tournament play. Two years ago they went into the tournament ranked first and were out before the sweet sixteen.

If the Pointer men win this evening they will face the winner of the Luther(18-8) at Concordia-Wis(23-4) game on Saturday. If they win that game they could be granted home court advantage for the Sweet Sixteen.

Tip off is set for tonight at 5:30pm in Mequon. You can listen live at the Pointer Athletics website.

Pointers Fly over Falcons, Take WIAC Championship and Automatic Bid to NCAA Tournament

2011-02-28T14:35:00.000-08:00

by Emma Cristan

Shots from three point range were the story of the afternoon when the Pointers defeated the Falcons of UW-River Falls 79-56, securing a place in the NCAA tournament, and winning a third consecutive WIAC tournament.

Three point contributors were Jerrel Harris and Vinny Ritchay with 4 a piece, Louis Hurd and Jordan Giordana with 3 a piece, and bench player John Johnston a freshman contributed 1 for a combined total of 15 connections from behind the arc. This number tied a WIAC record for most three pointers in a game.

Jarrell Harris was the leading scorer for the Pointers with 18 points. Scott Hoelzel led the team defensively with 12 rebounds, while captain Louis Hurd contributed a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Shane Manor lead the Falcons with 15 points.

With the crucial win the Pointers not only received the WIAC honors and a trip to the NCAA tournament, but also improved their at home record to 14-0 for the season, and won their 12th game by a margin of 20 points or more.

The Pointers will return to action this Friday in the first round of the NCAA tournament against St. Norberts College at Concorida Univeristy-Mequon. More information on the NCAA tournament to follow.

Pointers Prevail Again, Advance to WIAC Tournament Finals

2011-02-25T20:43:00.001-08:00

by: Emma Cristan

The UWSP men's basketball team did it again at Bennett Court on Wednesday night defeating the Yellowjackets of UW-Superior 84-52, securing their place in the WIAC tournament finals.

While the Yellowjackets matched the Pointers both offensively and defensively from the get go, the Pointers pulled away early in the match following a momentum building dunk by Scott Hoezel. From there the Pointers dominated all aspects for the rest of the night.

While Senior Louis Hurd contributed scoring wise with 22 points on the night, the Pointers have to give credit to Jordan Giordana who came off the bench to score 17 points, 15 of which came from behind the arc. As a team the Pointers shot 53% from the three-point zone, totalling 10 three pointers, 5 of which came from Giordana.

Nick Krull contributed to the defensive game with 8 rebounds. Jarrell Harris continued to be an important contributer for the Pointers with 15 points of his own.

Leading scorer for the Yellowjackets was Dan Culy with 12 points and 5 rebounds.

The Pointers return to action tomorrow afternoon, playing host to the Falcons of UW-River Falls and the WIAC tournament championship game. Game time is set for 3pm at Bennett Court.

Documentary: Buffalo Goes to Practice

2011-02-22T19:51:00.000-08:00

I got a chance to practice with the Central Wisconsin Saints last week. Here are some interviews and pictures of the event. A video will be posted soon as well. Thanks to the Saints coaches and players for being great sports.

Photo Gallery

Images Taken By Zachary Knapton

Get to Know a Saint: Alex Lucas, John Gangnon & Steve Salak

2011-02-22T19:27:00.000-08:00

Here are the three interviews from this Sunday's game.

Audio Courtesy of WWSP 90FM, Stevens Point.

Alex Lucas

John Gangnon

Steve Salak

Graves Shuts the Door On Blugolds, Pointers Advance

2011-02-19T22:41:00.000-08:00

By: Adam 'Buffalo' Qutaishat

It was one of those nights for Nick Graves. He took the team on his shoulders and made sure that the Pointers would advance to the next round of the NCHA playoffs. The Pointers defeated the Blugolds of UW Eau Claire in the second game of the series 1-0 and went on to win the 20 minute mini-game by the same score.

The Pointers tightened up their defense and were able to limit the Blugolds forwards to just 19 shots. The shutout was Graves' 2nd of the season. He out-dueled Eau Claire's Brandon Stephenson who stopped 19 shots of his own and made some very difficult saves.

The Pointers had to wait a long time for the only goal of the game but it finally came courtesy of Sean McNeely. Max Bobrow had to only assist on the play. McNeely scored his 3rd of the season on the power play with a heavy slap shot from the point stick side on Stephenson.

The held on for the last 7+ minutes to force a 20 minute mini-game with the Blugolds. Eau Claire jumped on the Pointers early. Nick Graves had 13 saves in the Mini Game and practically stood on his head several times to keep his clean sheet.

The best save of the night came courtesy of Stephenson as he absolutely stole one from John Madden. A rebound attempt was behind Stephenson who was falling backwards. He reached back and somehow snatched the puck out of the air as it was about to cross the goal line.

The Pointers took the lead just a few minutes later as Nick Polaski never quit on the play and drove the puck into the net on the power play. It was a 3rd effort that finally put the biscuit in the basket. The other Pointer who took a crack at it was Kyle Politz and Korey O'Brien was the one who put the puck on the net. It is Polaski's second of the playoffs.

UW River Falls on their Mini Game as well pitting them against the fear St. Norbert Green Knights in next weekend's semi-finals. The Pointers will take on the #2 ranked UW Superior Yellow Jackets. Those games will take place in Superior next Friday and Saturday at 7 PM.

Pointers Out-score Pioneers, Finish Season Undefeated at Home

2011-02-19T15:26:00.000-08:00

By: Emma Cristan

Jarrell Harris (25) (Image Taken by Zachary Knapton)

It was senior night at the Quant Gym as the UW-Stevens Point mens basketball team defeated UW-Plattville 82-54. Senior Louis Hurd did not disappoint in his last regular season home game, leading the Pointers with 17 points. With the win on Wednesday not only did the Pointers finish perfect home court run for the season, but also clinched at least a share of the WIAC title.

Althought the Pointers got off to a slow start, not holding a lead until the 2:17 mark in the first half, a 7-2 run gave the Pointers the momentum needed to go into the locker room on top at the half.

Lou Herd (44) Inbound the ball.

(Image Taken by Zachary Knapton)

The Pointers kept the momentum going into the second half, outscoring the Pioneers 45-24 after half time. The Pointers made 18-24 shots from the field in the second, shooting 75%.

Each senior contributed greatly to game play, as mentioned above Hurd led the Pointers with 17 points for the night, Nick Krull led with 6 assists and had six points, Vinny Ritchay added 10 points and a game high 7 rebounds. Scott Hoelzel also had a strong game.


Nick Krull (42) gets the ball to Devon Jackson (21) (Image Taken by Zachary Knapton)

With the win, the Pointers receive a first round bye in the WIAC tournament and clinch a share of the first place seed in the WIAC. The Pointers play UW-LaCrosse when they return to action on Saturday February 19th at 3pm. With a win, they will be one step closer to holding the number 1 seed alone.

The Blugolds Put the Pointers on Ice

2011-02-19T13:55:00.000-08:00

Friday Night marked the return of NCHA Playoff Hockey to K.B Willet Arena. The 4th seeded Pointers fell to the 5th seed Eau Claire Blugolds 4-2. Both teams came out flying on the ice, but 3 minutes into the 1st period a John Madden interference penalty set up the Blugolds on the power play. Only 3 seconds into the power play Eau Claire's Travis Peckscamp opened the scoring after Andrew McCabe won the face-off in the Pointer's end making the score 1-0 in the 1st.

In the 2nd period UW-Eau Claire increased their lead in the game to 2-0 when Bryce Wilcox took a shot from the slot that trickled between the legs of goaltender Nick Graves. Wilcox was assisted by Jared Williams and Jimmy McCusker on the play.

The rest of the period turned into a battle royale as the Pointers feeling a sense of frustration began to try and find their way back into the game via post-whistle scuffles and a little bit of goaltender interference. Johnny Meo and Garrett Suter the captains for Stevens Point rallied the rest of the team and became an important part of the comeback.

After all of the penalties had nearly expired the Pointers found themselves on the power play and Nick Polaski scored to pull the home team within one goal midway through the 2nd on assists from Kent Detlefsen and Garrett Suter. The Pointers were not done there when Freshman Tyler Krueger scored his first career goal as a Pointer on a rocket shot from the point set up by Chad Boeckman and Johnny Meo. The Pointers battled back to tie the game up before the 2nd intermission.

Unfortunately for the Pointers the Blugolds scored a goal from Andrew Wilcox on a bad turnover by the defense giving him a juicy one on one opportunity against Graves that he converted on. The Blugolds neutral zone trap style defense stumped the Pointers the rest of the game and eventually gave up the empty net goal to Eau Claire's Andrew McCabe with 55 seconds remaining sealing the win.

The Pointers will be taking on the Blugolds again on Saturday February 19th at 7PM. If you can't make it down to K.B Willett Arena don't worry the game will be broadcast on 90 FM WWSP with play-by-play brought to you by Buffalo and Mason "the Mule Man" Meulemans!

(Photo taken by Chris O'Brien)

Defense Dooms Saints

2011-02-15T14:15:00.000-08:00

A series of defensive lapses proved costly as the Central Wisconsin Saints fell to the Wisconsin Rampage 8-5 in the rubber game of a three-game weekend series Sunday afternoon at K.B. Willett Arena.

The Saints found themselves trailing 1-0 at the first intermission. Magnus Johansson quickly knotted things up with the first of three power-play goals for the Saints just over a minute into the second period.

Soon after, Gavin Palm followed suit and gave the Saints their first and only lead of the game with a power-play goal of his own.

The excitement would be short lived as Mark St. Martin found the back of the net just five seconds later on a shorthanded goal that tied the game up at 2-2.

Justin Kavanagh's goal about mid-way through the second gave the Rampage a lead that they would not relinquish.

Johansson finished the game with a goal and three assists for the Saints.

These two in-state rivals will meet again in the first round of the Great Lakes Junior Hockey League playoffs.

The Saints close out the season with a three-game series against the Indianapolis Inferno. Saturday and Sunday's games will be held at Willett Arena. Saturday's faceoff is slated for 3 P.M.

Salek Helps Saints Get Even

2011-02-13T13:01:00.001-08:00

After a night that saw a total of 12 goals, you would not expect it to be a goaltender on display Saturday night at K.B. Willett arena. But Stephen Salek made everyone take notice with a 44 save effort including a couple of spectacular stops. The Saints defeated the rival Wisconsin Rampage by a final score of 4-2.

Salek was the impetus behind the Saints' first victory over the Rampage since the second game of last season's first round playoff loss. Midway through the first period Salek was caught behind the net trying to get the puck up the boards, he mishandled it and it went right on the tape of the league's 2nd leading goal-getter Nicholas Reuter. He bailed himself out by diving back into the net for an unbelievable desperation save.

In the third period he looked Dominic Hasek-like as he twice dropped his stick to make plays. On the first chance Mark St. Martin had the puck behind the goal line and was walking out to the front of the net. Salek had lost his stick on a previous save, but came out and snatched the puck out of the air anyways. Later in the period he and a forechecking forward were racing to the puck. Salek ditched his stick for some speed and jumped on the puck, freezing play.

Salek was not the only Saint to have a big game. All-Star forward Alex Lucas was also lighting up the scoresheet for the Saints. Lucas had a Hat Trick and also picked up 22 minutes in penalties eventually being ejected from the game in the 3rd period. Lucas look stung after taking a puck to the face in the 1st period, but responded with a goal just moments later.

He got his second of the game on the powerplay in what was a complete reversal of fortunes from Friday night's game. Lucas drove to the front of the net and just powered it past the goaltender with a couple of great efforts. The goal was unassisted.

At the end of the period the Saints set up the Rampage for a great opportunity. Rikard Lundin took an undisciplined unsportsmanlike conduct penalty giving Wisconsin 2 minutes of powerplay time to start the 2nd period. They took full advantage as Nicholas Reuter scored his 45th goal of the season. He was assisted by Joseph White.

The Saints would finally respond late in the 2nd when their resident "little ball of energy" Kyle Althen fired one into the net. Althen took a 2-on-1 pass from Max Culp and buried it. Althen was extremely fired up about the goal. Head Coach Mike Stanaway said "That was a crucial goal there, we were kind of sitting back a bit. To be able to get that goal and establish a two goal lead in the 2nd period was a huge momentum shift for us." Kevin Choi got the other apple on the play.

Wisconsin worked hard in the 2nd and were rewarded with another goal this time by Brenden Bednarz. With just over 2 minutes left in the period he scored an unassisted goal. It was Bednarz 2nd goal of the series. He had gone 2 games without scoring prior to Friday's.

The Saints got their 2 goal lead back when Lucas completed his hat trick. Lucas got assists from Brett Sutton and Calvin Steinhoff. Sutton's assist was particularly important as he has a point in every single game he has played with the Saints. The line of Lucas-Sutton-Johansson combined for 5 points on the evening.

Lucas was eventually tossed from the game after arguing with referees from the penalty box after what he deemed to be a poor tripping call. The Saints however call a timeout and settled their game down. They began to play a trap to kill time and prevent shots on Salek. "We dropped right into a trap. Being that this team stretches the puck as much as they do, we wanted to go ahead and shut that down." said Stanawayw when asked about the game plan.

The Saints complete the series on Sunday morning at 10:30 AM at K.B. Willett Arena.

Box Score

Highlights:

Audio Courtesy of WWSP 90FM, Stevens Point

Postgame Interview 2-12

2011-02-13T13:01:00.000-08:00

Our postgame interveiw with Saints' Head Coach Mike Stanaway.

Audio Courtesy of 90FM WWSP, Stevens Point.

Get to Know a Saint: Kevin Choi and Thor Thorson

2011-02-12T20:14:00.000-08:00

90FM's Jessie Szprejda sat in with Saints' tough guy Kevin Choi. Here are the results:

Audio courtesy of WWSP 90FM, Stevens Point.

Saints' Play-by-Play announcer Buffalo got the opportunity to interview Saints' D-man Thor Thorson. Here's what he had to say:

Audio courtesy of 90FM.

Documentary: The K.B. Willett Arena

2011-02-12T20:11:00.000-08:00

Here is a clip we produced on the Saints' and Pointers' Home arena:

Audio courtesy of WWSP 90FM.

Get to Know a Pointer: Britta Petersen

2011-02-12T16:22:00.001-08:00

Nathan Woelfel sat down with Britta Petersen of the UWSP Pointer Women's Basketball team. Here's what she had to say:

Audio courtesy of WWSP 90FM, Stevens Point.

Special thank to Britta Petersen.

Interviews from 2-11-11

2011-02-12T13:55:00.000-08:00

Here is an interveiw with Saints' Head Coach Mike Stanaway.

Here is a new segment we like to call the Hockey Illuminati

Special thanks to Coach Mike Stanaway, Jacob Gross, Chris O'Brien and Kevin Lennon

Get to Know a Saint: Ian Dart and Magnus Johansson

2011-02-12T13:32:00.000-08:00

Saints' Forward and Iron Man Ian Dart sat down with Josh Philon from 90FM. Here's what he had to say.

Part of an ongoing series, brought to you by 90FM WWSP Stevens Point.

Saints' Leading Scorer and All-Star Magnus Johansson sat down with Emma Christan from 90FM. Here's what he had to say.

Part of an ongoing series, brought to you by 90FM WWSP Stevens Point.

Special Thanks to Ian Dart, Magnus Johansson, Emma Cristan and Josh Philon

Saints Comeback Comes Up Short

2011-02-11T16:02:00.000-08:00

The Saints gave up four unanswered goals in the 1st and 2nd periods and never truly recovered as they were defeated by the rival Wisconsin Rampage club 7-5. The Saints entered the game trailing the Rampage in the Western Division for the #2 seed. They now fall even further back and will likely be the #3 team heading into the post season. They will, coincidentally, be matched up with this same Wisconsin team.

The Rampage made the Saints pay for undisciplined penalties all game long. The Saints went down by two men early in the 1st period and Mark St. Martin used time and space to wire a screened shot that went through the legs of Saints goaltender Josh Petteruto. It was St. Martin's 23th goal of the season. He was assisted by Joseph White and Brenner Blankenship.

St. Martin, the Rampage Captain, got his second point of the game just :21 seconds later. On an eerily similar play St. Martin worked into space and was patient enough to wait for the play to develop. This time though his shot was deflected out in front by Nick Reuter and into the net. Robert Bann also got a stick on the puck before it got to Reuter and he received the other assist on the play.

The Rampage weren't done there. Just over 3 minutes later they went back on the power play and kept their success coming. This would be a theme of the night as the Rampage went 5 for 10 with the man advantage. That accounts for all but one of their goal that were not on the empty net. This time though, it was Brendan Bednarz who struck paydirt. After an end-to-end rush by Patrick Sofer he finished off the 1-timer in front of the net. Justin Kavanagh got credit for the secondary assist.

Just to add insult to injury the Rampage got their 4th goal early in the 2nd period. Mark St. Martin cashed in his 24th goal of the season on another power play. This one came off the rush as St. Martin was the 3rd man into the zone and none of the backchecking Saints marked him on the way back in. Joseph White finally found the score sheet with the only assist on the play.

The Saints finally got on the scoreboard in he least likely of ways. John Gagnon was absolutely robbed on a great glove save by Rampage keeper Matt Rowe on a glowing shorthanded opportunity. On he ensuing faceoff however Mike Mitch won it to Gagnon who buried the short handed goal and gave the Saints some momentum. This took place during a 5 minute penalty kill as Alex Lucas was in the box for elbowing. Thor Thorsen got the other apple on the Saints' first goal.

Just a few minutes later they got solidly back into the game. Max Culp finished off a great two on one with Kevin Choi. Choi began the game as a forward but was switched with Michael Tiberi after the 1st period. The move looks brilliant for coach Mike Stanaway as it was Choi who made the play happen. Culp had missed on a 2-on-1 with Gagnon earlier on the shift. He made up for it by making no mistake on his next chance.

Reuter got his 2nd goal of the game to end the Saints' run. St. Martin got the assist on the play. These two players were dominant all night and the Saints did not seem to have an answer for them. Both players are among the top-10 point getters and goal scorers in the GLJHL.

Saints Forward Mike Mitch (5) Celebrates a goal.

Brett Sutton got his 1st of the game just a few minutes later continuing his hot streak. Magnus Johansson and Rikard Lundin got the assists on the play. Sutton had 12 points in 6 games for the Saints coming into the contest and Johansson leads the team in scoring.

The would connect again at the beginning of the 3rd period to draw within one goal. Twisting off a defender he swivel into the slot and roofed it glove side on his backhand. Johansson was credited with his 2nd assist of the game as he faked a slapshot and instead hit Sutton on a tape-to-tape slap pass. Gavin Palm got the other helper. The Saints' 4th goal came on the powerplay.

Nick Reuter completed his hat trick later in the 3rd period getting assists from the other Wisconsin stars in Mark St. Martin and Joseph White got the assists. White is also among the top-10 point getters in the GLJHL. Reuter's hat trick moved him into 2nd in the league with 44 goals in 33 games. He trails Cameron Dimmitt of the Michigan Mountain Cats.

Not to be outdone Brett Sutton decided he needed to finish his own hat trick with 2:25 left in the game. Sutton popped his 3rd of the game on a rebound and charged up the Saints' bench. It was a huge goal at the time because the Saints scored it with the goaltender still in the net. It gave them the opportunity to pull the goaltender and only need 1 goal to tie.

It was all over less than a minute later when Joseph White scored on the empty net. Reuter and Brendan Blankenship got the assists on the play. The Saints pulled Petteruto again but couldn't generate any offensive pressure. Mike Mitch came up with a huge save in front of the empty net but the Saints couldn't score and the Rampage got the win.

The Saints return to action Saturday night Ferurary 12th at 7:00 PM as they will take on this same Wisconsin team. The game will be played at K.B. Willett arena in Stevens Point and broadcast live on 90FM WWSP.

Highlights:

New Scion xB at Saints Game Friday

2011-02-10T01:05:00.000-08:00

The brand new, limited edition Scion xB Release series will be on display Friday when the Central Wisconsin Saints take on the Wisconsin Rampage. This vehicle is one of only 2,000 that was produced for by Scion. As part of their sponsorship of junior hockey in Central Wisconsin, Mark Motors will have a new Scion xB Release Series in front of K.B. Willett arena for fans to check out before and after the game.

The vehicle has won numerous awards and is a multiple "Top Saftey Pick". Edmonds.com writes:

"[The Scion xB has a] Peppy four-cylinder engine, spacious interior, numerous optional add-ons, audiophile-friendly, funky styling."

Mark Motors carries a full line of new Scion vehicles including the tC, the xD and the xB, as well as new and used Toyota vehicles. Mark Motors is a proud sponsor of Central Wisconsin Saints Hockey. Tune in on Friday night for an interview with a Mark Motors sales representative.

Interview with Mark Motors General Manager Tim Durigan:

For more information on Mark Motors and pricing information visit their website here.

"Heck" of a Night

2011-02-10T00:56:00.000-08:00

By: Adam "Buffalo" Qutaishat

Senior Goaltender Steve Hamilton (35)

Started the game and played just over 2 minutes

on Senior Night at K.B.Willett Arena

You couldn't have asked for a better night at the arena on Saturday night as the UW-Stevens Point Pointers won a thrilling game against the UW-Superior Yellow Jackets. With their 4-3 victory the Pointers solidified their hold on the third seed in the NCHA Conference Standings.
Stevens Point native Kyle Heck got his second goal in the last two games by stuffing a rebound on behind Yellow Jacket goaltender Garrett Tinkham. Heck's two point night capped what has been a great weekend for the freshman center. He played strong defensive hockey as well as providing a solid forecheck. Nick Kenney assisted on the goal.

The Yellow Jackets immediately responded with a goal by Jeff Forsythe as he took a fluttering shot the fooled Pointer goaltender Nick Graves. The puck may have hit the stick of a Pointer defenseman causing a change in direction. The goal was assisted by Superior captain Talon Berlando and Chris Moteus. It came just 25 seconds after the Pointer goal.

The Jackets grabbed their only lead of the game thanks to Justin Faryna. His power play tally at 7:09 of the 2nd period was the only goal scored with the man advantage all night. It was also the only goal of the 2nd period. He got help from Talon Berlando and Jeff Forsythe, giving both those players multi-point nights.


Garret Suter (20) and Nick Polaski (23)

Point responded early in the 3rd period thanks to the double-digit line and leading goal getter Max Bobrow. Kent Detlefsen wired a shot from the point, it got through and Bobrow laid the perfect tip on the puck. It found the top corner and the Pointers were back early.

The then got the lead courtesy of one of the luckiest bounces of all time. Harrison Niemann dumped the puck into the zone. A strong forecheck from Chad Boeckman caused the Superior defenseman, Chris Moteus, to panic. Moteus overskated the dump-in and the puck deflected off his foot, past Tinkham and into the net. Boeckman and Garrett Suter were credited with assists on the play.

The Jackets rebounded quickly for a second time, scoring the equalizer 13 seconds later. Joey Massingham sniped a quick wrister off the rush that beat Nick Graves. Pat Dalbec was credited with the only assist on the play. Despite the outpouring of goals both goaltenders lived up to expectations with strong efforts.

It was Nick Kenney who finally became the hero for the Pointers. Some prolonged pressure on the Jaclets zone led to multiple chances for Kenney, Heck and Bobrow. The Jackets and Tinkham held out as long as they could but Kenney eventually buried a rebound with just 1:16 remaining in the game. Heck got the assist on the play.

Point's defense held strong and finished off the game much to the delight of the Rowdy Crowd. The Pointers return to action Friday, February 11 at 7:30 PM in Menominee against UW-Stout.

(Photos Courtesy of Adam Qutaishat)

Box Score

Highlights:

Super Bowl XLV Wrap-Up

2011-02-08T19:02:00.001-08:00

By: Mason Meulemans

Three words: Super Bowl Champions. It just sounds right rolling off the tongue, especially with a north woods accent. The entire state of Wisconsin shut down Sunday night when Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers took to the field in Dallas, Texas to compete for an opportunity to bring back the Vince Lombardi trophy to Green Bay; a feat that hasn’t been done in 14 years. We all are aware of how important this game was to not only the community of Green Bay, but the entire state of Wisconsin (and the U.P., because let’s face it, they’re just one cheese curd away from succeeding from Michigan). But as a die-hard football fan, how could you not walk away from this game feeling like your were just a part of American culture that would be remembered for years to come.

The NFL is King

For a second consecutive year, the Super Bowl was the most watched program in American history, topping last year’s game and the series finale of MASH. Over 100 million people watched the game, and there are some reports stating that the number was just under 150 million. The pure volume of consumers that are watching a single program makes companies drool at the opportunity to get there product visible. We saw everything from pugs crashing through windows, to Eminem selling himself for a fee car. The Super Bowl really brings out the strangeness in American Culture. Earlier in the week, employees of steel factories in Pennsylvania received a memo informing them the company will not tolerate personal days on the day after the Super Bowl, but instead would charge each employee with a sick day. The impact of this game went far beyond the boundaries of the communities involved in the game. International markets, snack foods, alcohol; the list goes on and on of the areas that wait year round for one day in early February. I’ve always been an advocate of making Super Bowl Sunday a national holiday, and so what if my criteria for a Presidential candidate include his/her position on the NFL. I’m not obsessed, I’m overly passionate.

Why the Packers are America’s Team

I’m not about to sit here and tell you why Packer fans are better than any fans out there, oh wait, yes I am. Every hotel within walking distance of the stadium was sold out, bars were packed, and no one outside of Packer Nation could understand why? And no, I’m not talking about Dallas, Texas, I’m referring to Green Bay. Packer Backers from all across the nation felt they had to return to the Mecca, Lambeau Field, to honor the glorious tradition of having the Packers be a part of a community, not a sports franchise. So not only could you not find a hotel room in Dallas, but the city in which the team had left the Monday before the big game. So although the game was in Dallas, Lombardi Ave was bouncing like it was a home game against the Vikings. So why does this make the Packers America’s team? It’s not that Packer nation is the largest demographic in the NFL, the Packers are just likeable. Three teams always come to mind in this discussion; Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers, and of course the Dallas Cowboys. First, calling yourself “America’s Team” and using it to promote your team, comes off as just arrogant. Dallas has an owner who refuses to do anything outside of what he wants to do with the team, they have a quarterback who can’t stay out of the back page gossip columns, and a stadium that is the envy of 31 NFL teams. The Steelers have been successful in the past couple of years, which immediately invokes jealousy from every other team’s fans. They have a quarterback who has been accused of sexual harassment and rape on multiple occasions, and a linebacker that leads the league in fines for head-to-head helmet hits.

The Packers are likeable. Is that good enough for you? Their quarterback is a player that 23 other teams in the league passed on and had to sit behind a legend for 3 years and has never once taken a shot at anyone who has said anything against him. Our all-pro linebacker is a third generation NFL player, and who’s number one attribute is not skill, but his non-stop motor that refuses to quit. Our coach is the same coordinator that passed on Aaron Rodgers in the draft, only to be hired to coach him up into a Super Bowl MVP and year later. Our General Manager had to make one of the most controversial personnel decisions in league history, and not only got it right, but couldn’t have been more correct.

So the Packers are not the most loved team in the NFL, they are just the least hated. And if that qualifies them to be considered America’s team, than I am perfectly ok with that!

A trip to Disneyworld, a brand new Camaro, and the metaphorical monkey lifted off his back later, Aaron Rodgers can finally say, “Brett Who?” But doesn’t.

Is there really any question in regards to the most influential player on the field Sunday? There were countless opportunities for the Packers to fold throughout the game on Sunday, but they never did, behind the will of Rodgers. I stated last week that the Packers did not have to run the ball to be successful in the Super Bowl, but I was not expecting Mike McCarthy to neglect it like Joe Dirt in a trash can. At the end of the third quarter, myself and the majority of Packer nation were going fetal in the corner and asking for a brown bag to help with the breathing. The Steelers had cut the lead down to single digits and were on the fringe of field goal position to start the fourth quarter. But one fumble later, and a drive that will go down as one of the most important in Packer history that concluded in Rodgers finding Jennings in the back corner of the endzone, Packer nation had taken a complete turn for the better and were once again carrying a swagger that was not going to be beaten. Rodgers willed this team to victory, and if anyone wants to argue that, they need to take the pencil out that is stuck in their eye and watch his performance in the fourth quarter.

Rodgers threw for over 300 yards with three touchdowns and a performance that will resonate throughout Packer history. This all being accomplished along with five huge drops by what is considered to be the best receiving group in the NFL. After the game, Rodgers sat down with the ESPN crew and they asked him if he felt redemption towards all of his doubters, primarily those who favored Favre over him in 2008. And with his trademarked soft swagger that he talks with, he once again took the high road and said this was more about rewarding Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy for putting the trust in him to lead this team. I do not know the genuine feelings Rodgers has towards Favre, he could have hatred towards Favre that I could never understand, but not once has he expressed any feelings to make the public feel that way. He has done nothing but remained a role model for all quarterbacks out there, and is most likely in the process signing an endorsement deal for promoting a new product in “Mr. Rodger’s Neighborhood.”

Final Thoughts on Sunday… or the Ones that I Can Think of Right Now

· Did anyone else see Joe Jurevicius on the field Sunday? I’m referring of course to Jordy Nelson who had 9 catches for 140 yards and a touchdown, not a bad time to have a career game. And no, I’m not making this statement based off the fact that Nelson and Jurevicius are both white receivers (bet you didn’t notice that), but in the manner in which they both play the game. They are both tall slot receivers who during their peaks had the ability to work the middle of the field and were deceptively fast. Jurevicius made his run with the Buccaneers, and never really panned out anywhere else. Nelson has one year left on his contract, and with the comments that James Jones made in the press last week about desiring to be a number 1 reciever in the NFL, I think you see Jones hit the road and Nelson extended to one day replace Donald Driver, who plans to play out the two years he has left on his deal.

· James Stark averaged over 4 yards a carry on Sunday, and even on a drive in which the Packers needed to run the clock, McCarthy threw the ball on 3^rd and long. McCarthy will never be a run first play caller, but I really felt he got lucky on Sunday with the play selection. Thankfully Rodgers was playing as if he could take down the 85 Chicago Bears.

Looking Ahead Already?

As I write this, the Green Bay Packers are entering Lambaue field to celebrate the win with 60,000 roaring fans, but I find myself looking up draft prospects and the list of potential free agents in the league. The Packers get the honor of having 32^nd overall selection this April, and I’m not even going to start to tell you who they might pick. Von Miller of Texas A & M was considered a late first round pick 2 months ago, but now there isn’t a general manager in the league who doesn’t value him in the top 10 overall selections.

The Packers can use help in 4 areas, and of course Ted Thompson will not draft for those areas, he’ll select the best player available as always and look at the results. The Packers could use another compliment to Matthews as a pass rusher on the weak side, another offensive lineman of any position, inside linebacker, and cornerback. Inside linebacker and cornerback are not areas that need attention immediately, but do present depth issues. If Hawk or Bishop would have went down this post season, the Packers do not have anywhere near the success that they did, and I see Nick Barnett packing up his bag and leaving town this offseason. With Barnett’s continuous distraction during the Super Bowl, and overall athletic ability within a 3-4 defense, Barnett simply does not fit in Green Bay. Look for him to make a Jonathon Vilma transition back to a 4-3 defense and have success doing so, he can still play. And when Charles Woodson went down, Dom Capers couldn’t do anything to prevent 5 yards a play to Big Ben and Pittsburgh. Woodson is worn down every year, I see them starting to prepare a potential replacement to fit in as a Nickel to Williams and Shields down the road.

What to do with the Injuries?

Ted Thompson may have his hardest training camp approaching this August. He has just won a Super Bowl with 15 players on Injured Reserve. What will happen to all of these players? Finley, Barnett, Grant, Tauscher, Chillar, Popinga. These players are all expecting to receive roster positions next year, so what happens to the players that won a Super Bowl. Players like Frank Zombo or Eric Walden, huge contributors during the post-season, now must once again compete for an NFL roster spot as if the past 6 weeks never happened. But as we have all seen in Ted Thompson, he admits to making mistakes and is not afraid to let players go (Brian Brohm anyone?). All I have to say is, “IN TED I TRUST!”

Pointers Humble Saints

2011-02-08T07:35:00.003-08:00

Written By: Adam "Buffalo" Qutaishat

The Pointers' Double-Digit Line

The Pointers entered the weekend one game back of the top four in the NCHA. After Friday night's game they don't need to worry about that anymore. The Pointers' 3-1 victory over St. Scholastica Saints helped them leapfrog UW-Eau Claire, giving them some prime real estate in the hunt for home-ice advantage in the playoffs.

In the first frame neither team could solve their opponent's goaltender. Nick Grave stood tall in the Pointer net. He stopped all 11 shots he faced in the opening period on his way to a total of 25. Brendan Poderzay manned the St. Scholastica net and stopped 4 shots in the first, he finished the game with 25 as well.

The deadlock was broken at 9:00 of the second period when Jon Bockmann launched a rocket that found the back of the net. The power play marker was his third goal of the season. He was assisted by his defense partner Garrett Suter and Johnny Meo.

The Championship Belt

It took a little over 10 minutes for the next goal to be scored, but freshman Kyle Heck broke through with under a minute left to play in the second period. Imitating a rowdy crowd member from earlier in the game Heck leapt into the boards doing Aaron Roger's championship belt in an inspired bit of celebration. Sean McNeely got the only helper on the play.

The game got very chippy in the third period with frequent scrums and battles after the whistle was blown. On several Occasions punches were thrown and the penalty boxes were crowded. Both teams played with a ton of heart and a chip on their shoulders. The Pointers were able to take advantage on the scoresheet however. The Saints never managed to score on the power play.

Pointer grinder Donnie Hallmark got a goal early in the third when he loosed a quick snapshot top shelf to beat Poderzay. He got an assist from Jon Bockmann on the play. Bockmann man had a two point night with a goal and an assist.

The Saints eventually would draw within one goal after Jeremy Dawes scored with and assist from captain Daman Milsom. Dawes was the Saints top forward on the night and he crammed a rebound past Graves to break the shutout bid. The goal came with 12:49 remaining in the third but they were never able to get closer than two.

(Photos Taken By: Adam Qutaishat)

Box Score

The Pointers' 3rd Line Breaks into the Zone.

The Pointers returned to action on Saturday when the took on UW-Superior. Stay tuned to Pointers Everywhere for a recap of that game as well.

Highlights:

What you should watch for in Super Bowl XLV

2011-02-02T15:43:00.000-08:00

By: Mason “The Mule Man” Meulemans

As the Green Bay Packers stepped off their team flight on Monday, they are favored to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers by 2.5 points in Super Bowl XLV (45 for those of us who forgot 5th grade math). Although the Las Vegas odds-makers are in favor of Green Bay, I’m going to tell you how this game is actually going to play out in every area.

***

Packers Offense vs. Steelers Defense

So far the hype of the Super Bowl has been on the stars of each side. Aaron Rodgers is the hottest Quarterback in the postseason since Kurt Warner’s postseason run two years ago, and Troy Polamalu just won the Defensive Player of the Year award on Tuesday. But as I look at the rosters for both teams on this one, two glaring things pop out; Pittsburgh’s linebackers and Green Bay’s wide receivers.

Aaron Rogers: Do Werk!

Up until the last minute of the pre-game show, you’re going to hear about how Green Bay needs to run the ball in order to take control of this game. I’m going to go ahead and call “Shenanigans!” Now don’t get me wrong, I love the matchup of the zone blocking scheme of Green Bay’s offensive line against the 3-4 blitzing scheme that Dick Labeau has perfected throughout his years as being a coordinator.

Zone blocking is meant for teams that run a 3-4, as a lineman, your responsibility is to block in one direction, whatever guy is in that area, he is the blocker’s responsibility. So in case you don’t understand, you could see Scott Wells block 11 different defenders throughout the game, he will never be locked in on one guy.

The fate of this offense is dependent upon the Packers wide receivers. For the past two years, Packer fans have seen the talent this wide receiving corps has, and now the country is finally giving them the credit they deserve. When the Packers move to their 4 receiver set, there isn’t a team in the NFL that can match up man-to-man and keep with them (evident as in the Falcons game, which was a top five scoring defense in the league this year) .

And there is little debate the linebacking corps for the Steelers is considered the best in the league (Harrison, Woodley, Farrior, and Timmons). At the same time however, this well known fact is sometimes the death of the Steelers. At times, the Steelers will never sub out any of these linebackers and try to match them up against 4 or 5 receiver formations, and they get burned in doing so.

These linebackers are some of the most fearful in the NFL because they can rush the passer, blitz, and stuff the run. The one thing these linebackers struggle with is covering the spread offenses in the NFL. If these linebackers challenge Rodgers in any kind of way by showing blitz and not dropping into their zones quick enough, Rodgers will carve them up better than Chevy Chase with an ice sculpture.

Look for Rodgers to work the flats and the middle of the field 8-15 yards away from the line of scrimmage. It’s in these areas that zone defenses tend to struggle with the most because of the personal in those areas. In a 3-4 defense, those areas usually are guarded by either cornerbacks or linebackers, both of which the Packers will exploit.

Troy Polamalu: The Hair

Currently, no one has higher stock in the NFL than Aaron Rodgers. And why not? His worst statistical performance in the playoffs came in a win against the Bears in the NFC Championship, a team that had already seen him twice this season. As a Packer fan, I’m okay with this.

Rodgers can make every through a NFL quarterback is asked to throw, and his physical talents are finally being noticed by everyone in the country. The one concern I have with Rodgers (and it’s not much of one) is his ability to control his emotions early in this game.

Aaron’s first pass in the playoffs was a throw against his body, into the middle of the field, to a receiver that never had a chance to get his hands on the ball as Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie picked it off and took it into Green Bay territory. With the bye week, media chaos, team “photo-gate,” there are so many things that can cause a glitch in an offense that has had little trouble moving the ball in the past month.

I look for Rodgers to have another career game in the biggest spotlight possible. Rodger’s will throw for 300 yards with 2 touchdowns, but more importantly Rodgers ability to move within and outside the pocket will prevent as many as 3 sacks and open up a defense that is going to be exploited already.

***

Steelers Offense vs. Packers Defense

This match-up is going come down to one stat, 3rd down efficiency. We all know the Steeler way, run the ball and use Big Ben to make plays in key situations, and you can’t argue the results it’s gotten. As I discuss this match up with some friends that I consider pretty intelligent when it comes to football, one thing always comes up, “Big Ben is overrated.”

I hear what you’re saying. Big Ben will never win a league MVP, he’ll never win a Offensive Player of the year award, he’ll never put up the stats that Brady, Manning, Brees, and Rodgers will put up. What Big Ben will do for you is take the ball with two minutes left, and drive his team to a victory.

Clay Matthews: the "Bloodline"

Going into this season, Big Ben had 9 fourth quarter comebacks, his most famous being in the Super Bowl two years ago and hitting then Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes in the corner of the endzone, which to this day is considered one of the best postseason grabs along with David Tyree of the Giants against the Patriots, and Dwight Clark making “The Catch” against the Cowboys in the 80’s.

If Big Ben throws over 35 times this game, the Steelers have no chance of winning this game. That is too many opportunities for this talented Green Bay defense to get sacks, hit Big Ben as he throws, deflect passes, or best yet, intercept the ball.

One of the things you will see Dom Capers do is match up his secondary with specific intents of throwing Big Ben off his rythym. Charles Woodson will match up with Hines Ward, whether it’s in the slot or outside, where Ward goes, Woodson will follow.

Rashard Mendehall

Tramon Williams is the equivalent of Aaron Rodgers on defense, there is no hotter stock in the NFL. Williams will be in the hip pocket of speedy wide receiver Mike Wallace all game long and one bad throw in Williams’ direction could mean 6 points on the board for the Packers.

Finally, Sam Shields may be the X-factor for this Packers defense. I look for Shields to have the same impact on this game as he did the NFC Championship. Saying that, I’m not expecting another 2 interceptions and a strip sack, but I am expecting he is going to see the ball come his way as he will be matched up on Antwaan Randle El just like Woodson will be with Ward.

In the last two months, Shields has played with a swagger that has elevated him to more than just an undrafted rookie, but a legitimate nickel corner in the NFC’s best scoring defense.

Pittsburgh will take the same approach to this game as they have with every game the entire season. Look for the running game early and often and Big Ben will have to convert on 3rd down, whether it’s him making plays on his feet or simply eluding defenders within the pocket to by more time. They operate slowly and methodically which sometimes throws opposing offenses out of rhythm.

***

Special Teams

Tim Masthay: The Key

Tim Masthay may be the hottest punter in the league, and Jarret Bush is finally proving why Ted Thompson has stuck with him for the past couple of years. Crosby is solid inside of 45 yards, outside you literally flipping a coin. Steelers have nothing that really scares me.

Outcome:

Packers 38 Steelers 34

Redzone defense comes up big for the Packers holding the Steelers to key field goals instead of touchdowns.

MVP: Aaron Rodgers, but Tim Masthay may the key with pinning the Steelers into deep territory like he has done so for the past couple of months.

Key Matchups: Jordy Nelson and James Jones against the Steelers linebackers. Can they push the linebackers deep enough to allow for some kind of running game.

Un-sung hero: Eric Walden – The Steelers are going to look to run to their left side 70% of their running plays. Eric Walden steps up big along with Cullen Jenkins.

(Images Used Without Permission)

Ted Thompson: Best GM ever?

2011-01-29T17:07:00.000-08:00

Packers' GM Ted Thompson

With the Green Bay Packers playoff run to the Super Bowl, my roommate and I got into an argument about the importance of Ted Thompson. I said Thompson has made too many mistakes to make up for his good picks. My roommate consistently tells me Thompson is amazing, pretty much because of Aaron Rodgers. The argument went on for hours so I figured I'd publish my opinion to make it obvious that I am right.

Ted Thompson has been receiving a lot of credit for the collection of talent he has brought in. Only six players on the team were brought in before Thompson joined the team (Donald Driver, Chad Clifton, Mark Tauscher, Nick Barnett, Scott Wells, and Cullen Jenkins) with all of them being starters, showing the stamp Thompson has put on his team. However, before you decide to consider Thompson the greatest GM in NFL history, let’s just take a glance at some of his moves (or non-moves).

Aaron Rogers...like you didn't know.

Let’s start with the man who took over for the greatest Packer of all time, Aaron Rodgers, Ted Thompson's first draft pick. Considered by NFL draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. to be the number one pick of the draft, Rodgers was passed over and fell all the way to number 24 before the Packers drafted him. With Brett Favre being 36 and no other QB on the roster, it was a no brainer pick. Really, anyone of us would’ve made that pick.

Besides Rodgers, the Packers only have one other starter from that draft in Nick Collins. Now you may say, “Two perennial Pro Bowler, sounds like a good draft to me,” but two starters out of 11 draft picks, pretty poor.

His second off-season was much better, with three starters in A.J. Hawk, Daryn Colledge, and Greg Jennings. He also brought in Ryan Pickett, Tramon Williams, and Charles Woodson through free agency. By far, his best off-season in Green Bay.

In 2007, Thompson dropped the ball, badly. While Desmond Bishop and Ryan Grant have become better than anyone could have expected, the rest of the off-season was a train wreck. Justin Harrell at 16? Brandon Jackson at 63? I may give him James Jones, but his consistently poor hands have made this pick not as good as it could be. Mason Crosby has been inconsistent, but I loved the pick at the time. Another 11 picks and only Bishop and Crosby are starters or major contributors.

However, the biggest mistake made was the trade he didn’t pull. If I were to tell you, for a 3^rd or 4^th round pick, you could get a receiver who would get 98 catches, 1493 yards, and 23 touchdowns, you would do it, right? Well Thompson, said no to Randy Moss, who posted career highs in yards and touchdowns with the Patriots, who went 18-1, losing in the Super Bowl. Even if Moss had only a thousand yards and 10 touchdowns, you can’t tell me the Packers wouldn’t have had a better chance at winning the Super Bowl with him, than without him.

Picture this: Packers win the Super Bowl. Favre more than likely retires. Rodgers becomes the starting quarterback. Packer fans aren’t split for the way the Favre situation was handled. Is this that much of a stretch? Absolutely not. Favre was chasing another Super Bowl ring. He had become the leader in every statistical category for QB’s in NFL history. What else did he need to achieve?

If you couldn’t tell, I’m a huge Favre fan and was extremely upset by the situation. I didn’t understand all the backing for Rodgers just because of one half of football against the Cowboys. Obviously now the decision looks to be a genius move because of Favre’s injuries and legal debacles and the ascension of Rodgers, but it all could’ve been remedied with one 4^th round draft pick.

Jordy Nelson

It was a tumultuous off-season of Favre and how the situation was handled, but first Thompson botched another draft. Jordy Nelson has become a solid receiver and extremely reliable, but he is the same type of possession receiver James Jones and Donald Driver are. With such an emphasis on quick throws and run after the catch in the Packers offense, doesn’t a player like DeSean Jackson seem to be a better fit? How about his impact on the Packers anemic return game? I am not upset with the Brian Brohm selection, even though he has flamed out. I am not upset about the Pat Lee selection, even though he hasn’t turned out. But Jordy over DeSean, come on Thompson. It just seems so obvious.

(Just an FYI, I didn’t even mention Jermichael Finley in that paragraph. Who saw that one coming? )

In 2009, Thompson redeemed himself and hopefully started becoming the amazing GM he is supposed to be. B.J. Raji (I wanted Michael Crabtree, but Raji has been amazing), Clay Matthews, Quinn Johnson, T.J. Lang, Jarius Wynn; all consistent contributors.

Last off-season and during the season, Thompson has made an incredible amount of moves and they all have been better than advertised. Bryan Bulaga, James Starks, Sam Shields (praising this guy all season, not sure why he isn’t returning more punts/kicks), and all the linebackers no one has ever heard of.

Congrats to the Packers and all their success, Thompson deserves a lot of credit. We just need to make sure before we praise him in the same way we do Ron Wolf, that we know the facts. Green and Yellow, Green and Yellow, Green and Yellow, Green and Yellow!

(Images used without permission)

Pointers Thrash Blugolds

2011-01-29T13:52:00.000-08:00

Nick Graves (30) sets to make a save

On Cancer Night at K.B. Willett Arena, everyone was a winner. Unless you were a Blugold fan. The Pointers, who were wearing pink accents on their jersey and auctioning off game jerseys to support Ministry Health Care, were in control from the very start and cruised to a 6-1 victory.

The Pointers played a very impressive all-around game getting a great mix of defense, offense and goaltending. 10 different Pointers factored in the scoring and 4 players scored in the rout of their conference foes. Chad Boeckman and John Madden each scored twice while Johnny Meo and Max Bobrow also potted goals for the home team.

The Pointers also received help from all 3 of their units getting 2 power-play goals, 2 even-strength goals and even 2 short-handed goals. Both of those goals came on the same shift thanks to Chad Boeckman. Opening the scoring at 16:32 of the 1st Period Garret Suter raced down the left wing and slide the puck across the goal mouth. It deflected off of Boeckman's leg and into the net. John Madden received the other helper on the goal.

Just over 1 minute later Boeckman struck again as John Madden dropped the puck back into the slot on the rush. Boeckman took the pass and made no mistake, rifling one top shelf to match the Pointers' season total for short-handed goals in one shift. Sutter received an assist on this goal and finished the night with 3 helpers.

Eau Claire came out with some intensity in the second period but the Pointers stayed with them. They surrendered power-play tally to Tyler Jundt at the 9:01 mark. Jundt launched a shot along the ice that pin balled off of 3 Pointers in front of the net and found pay dirt behind Nick Graves.

Johnny Meo (81) isn't scared of anyone

That was as close as the Blugolds would come. With 2:18 remaining in the 2nd John Madden scored his 1st of the game. On what seemed to be an endless shift for the Pointers, who were hemmed in their own end, Madden rushed around a defenseman and powered the puck into the net. Luke Nesper was credited with the assist.

With under a minute remaining in the period Johnny Meo took a pass in the slot from Harrison Niemann and Buried one high-glove side and the Pointers were riding high going into the 3rd period. Meo took advantage of what the Pointers seemed to want to do all night, shoot high-glove on Scott Pederson, who had a sub-par game in the Eau Claire net.

The 3rd period was more of same for UW-SP as they received a 5-on-3 Power-play and took full advantage of it. Just 12 seconds into the man advantage John Madden finished off his big 4 point night with his 2nd goal to give the Pointers a 4 goal lead. Suter and John Bockman got the assists on the play.

The Pointers Celebrate their victory in their Pink Accent Jerseys

Finally the Pointers' leading goal getter refused to be left out and Max Bobrow scored his 8th goal of the season to extend Point's lead to 5. Brandon Busse and Nick Kenney were give assists on his goal.

Nick Graves was not tested too much, but played well when called upon. He finished the night with 26 saves on 27 shots. He moves to 10-8 on the season. The Pointers rise to 3rd in the Conference where they are 6-7 (they are 10-10 overall).

Pointer Men's Hockey returns to action next weekend when the host St. Scholastica on Friday night at 7:00 PM.

(Photos Courtesy of Kokie Larson)

Box Score

Highlights courtesy of 90FM

Wrestlers Hang On

2011-01-25T19:38:00.000-08:00

It came down to the last match, but the #8 UW-Stevens Point wrestling team prevailed over UW-Parkside 24-15 in a non-conference dual on Tuesday night at the Berg Gym.

Freshman Brad Kuehn got the Pointers rolling in the night's opening match at 125 pounds, pinning Parkside's Martino Balsiger late in the second period.

The Rangers would tie things up in the next two matches with wins from #4 Cody Zimmerman and Arik Yde.

Ben Strobel got Point back on track with a gutsy effort at 157 pounds. Strobel, who was trailing by 2 at the end of the second period, outscored Parkside's Dave Edwards 5-1 in the third period.

"(Ben) wrestled very tough", said UWSP head coach Johnny Johnson. "He's got a motor and he goes for seven minutes and wrestled hard and found a way to win the match. "

The Pointers led by only 3 points entering the evening's final match up. A timely pin from #10 Steve Wozniak sealed the deal UWSP.

With the win, the Pointers improve to 9-7 overall. The win also marked Johnson's 126 dual meet victory, making him the winningest wrestling coach in school history.

"It just means I was here longer than the coach before me", said a smiling Johnson. "It's nice to get those things, but for me, I just want to keep going in there and help those guys get better every day.

Point will not return home until February 18 when they host Augsburg College.

UWSP 24 UWP 15
125: Brad Kuehn (UWSP) p. Martino Balsiger (UWP) (4:43)
133: Cody Zimmerman (UWP) def. Jordan Kust (UWSP) (7-3)
141: Arik Yde (UWP) def. Shane Sweeney (UWSP) (5-3)
149: Kris Magruder (UWSP) received a forfeit
157: Ben Strobel (UWSP) def. Dave Edwards (UWP) (14-12)
165: Matt Gille (UWP) def. Jordan Schulte (UWSP) (2-0)
174:Luke Rynish (UWP) def. Ryan Conat (UWSP) (9-4)
184: Ryan Woods (UWP) def. Coulter Nyenhuis (UWSP) (12-5)
197: Chad Gregory (UWSP) def. Curtis Hines (UWP) (9-3)
285: Steve Wozniak (UWSP) p. Vince Depp (UWP) (5:20)

Pointers Put The Hurd On Titans

2011-01-06T06:38:00.000-08:00


Jordan Brezinski (45), Tyler Tilema (4), Jerrel Harris (25), Louis Hurd (34) and Vinny Ritchay (3) look on as Nate Wara (44) shoots free throws in the 2nd Half of Wednesday's game.

Louis Hurd led the way with 16 points and got some help from the Tilema brothers as the UWSP Pointers trounced the Titans of UW Oshkosh 76-47. Tyler Tilema finished the night with 11 points and 2 blocks while his brother Dan had 9 points and 8 rebounds.

The Pointers came out firing and seemingly scored at will against a seemingly over matched Titans defense. On the other side of the coin the Titans couldn't seem to make a flush with a deck of hearts. In the 1st half they shot 31% from the floor and just 16% from beyond the arc. In the 2nd half they shot 38% of their field goals, missed all 5 3-pointers attempted and also missed nearly half of their free throws (shooting 57%).

The Pointers on the other hand were pictures of consistency shooting 59% (50% on 3s) in the 1st half and 52% (57% from downtown) in the 2nd. The Pointers slowly built their lead throughout the game, never trailing they ended the game with their biggest lead of the night.

Hurd paced the Pointers shooting 5 of 6, 1 of 2 from 3 beyond the arc. He was a perfect 5 for 5 from the penalty strip and had 2 steals and 2 assists. His 27 minutes led the team. Dan Tilema played 23 minutes and recorded 1 steal, 9 points and a team high 3 assists and 8 rebounds.
The other Tilema brother Tyler had a big night shooting 4 of 7 for 11 points with 1 assist, 1 steal and a team leading 2 blocks. Jordan Giordana played well going 3-4 with a pair of 3-pointers. He added a steal and a rebound to those 8 total points.

Louis Hurd (34) Inbounds the ball

The pointers spread the ball around with plenty of help coming from starters and bench players alike. 13 players recorded points for the Pointers and 6 scored more than 4 points; 3 starters and 3 bench players.

The Titans were led by Paul Wojahn with 8 points. Sam Mageland came off the bench and provided a spark with some quick ball movement at the point guard position but he couldn't overcome the Titans abysmal shooting percentage.

Besides shooting 35% on the night the Titans turned the ball over 18 times. In a game where the opposing team beats itself the Pointers easily should have won by more. Defensive lapses and offensive mistakes made the score closer than the game itself was. The Pointers were uncharacteristic in some sloppy play and got into some foul trouble in the second half.

They will need to sort out those issues quickly, because they host UW La Crosse on Saturday, January 8th at 3 PM. We will have the game for you live on 90 FM. They will then host Macalester College on the 10th in a makeup for the game that was snowed out last month.

Box Score

Rose Bowl Live Blog

2011-01-01T13:51:00.000-08:00

Badger Marching Band and the Sea of Red

Badgers' fans out in force (including my sister And fellow blogger Nadia) tons of red in the overhead shots.

Wisconsin 19, TCU 21 - Final

Badgers at the Rose Bowl

If Scott Tolzien can keep his completion percentage up and maintain an efficient balance with the run game the Badgers will be just fine. It will also be interesting to see how TCU's O-line holds up against J.J. Watt. Andy Dalton could be a deciding factor, he's a very underrated QB.

TCU wins the toss but defers, Badgers elect to receive. They need a strong statement drive here.

4:12 PM: we have kickoff.

On the 1st play from scrimmage Montee Ball breaks off a huge one. 40 yards thanks to a huge hole and some good burst into the secondary.

Ball is in the zone! Another big run makes up for an early false start. Then picks up the 1st down.

10:43 1st Quarter: Tolzien throws for the 1st time, good protection and throw Nick Toon makes his second mistake of the drive and drops the ball. (He was the one who was offsides)

10:39 1st Quarter: Phillip Welch puts up a Field Goal. 3-0 Wisconsin.

8:45 1st Quarter: J.J. Watt sighting, deflecting a pass, he is a very dominant player!

Jimmy Young and Andy Dalton are making this a very time consuming and unorthodox 1st drive.

6:15 1st Quarter: Dalton pump-fakes and finds Bart Johnson from 23 yards out for the score. 7-3 TCU.

The 2nd drive for the Badgers has been Tolzien's. Ball still running well. Set up the play action. Give Ball credit for that.

3:14 1st Quarter: John Clay finishes a great drive with a 3 yard TD run. 10-7 Wisconsin.

:36 1st Quarter: Dalton takes it in himself on a much more efficient drive. 14-10 TCU

Badgers are doing a great job of stopping the run, but Dalton is throwing and running very effectively against them. They need to adjust to him in order to start to slow down their offense.

12:32 2nd Quarter: Clay goes over the top on 4th and 1. Clay has been good in short situations. Ball great all game. White hasn't shown too much yet.

Montee Ball is close to 100 yards in the 1st Half!

8:38 2nd Quarter: Welch misses a 38 yard FG, this could be huge because they have so far proven that they cannot stop TCU's offense.

7:45 2nd Quarter: Badgers defense comes up with a big stop. Big statement and keeps the offense from having to do too much.

6:20 2nd Quarter: Toon drops another one and a 3 & Out for the Badgers offense.

6:19 2nd Quarter: Brad Nortman goes with the fake punt on 4th & 9 picks up the 1st. Wow!

I have to wonder why the Badgers have moved away from Montee Ball on the run game. 100+ yards in the 1st half and yet they continue to put White and Clay in. Baffling.

:01 2nd Quarter: Welch pumps it through for another FG. 14-13 TCU.

Great 1st half of football. We'll see if the Badgers can dig deep in the 2nd half and use their size to tire out the smaller Horned Frogs.

2nd Half is underway and J.J. Watt causes his 2nd false start.

13:31 3rd Quarter: Westley gets a 33 yard catch and run as TCU continues to roll through the air.

11:55 3rd Quarter: Shivers runs it in for a short yardage TD and TCU increases their lead. 21-13 TCU.

TCU brings Tank Carter with the blitz on 3rd down and he gets the sack. That ends a drive engineered by Tolzien with help from Ball and Toon. Badgers now need to start winning the field position battle.

TCU and Dalton are just picking apart the Badgers secondary. Not good coverage.

Watt draws another penalty and the Badgers get the ball back. A great punt gets them some bad field position for the 2nd straight drive.

Badgers are not getting any help from the referees who are all but refusing to call pass interference on TCU.

Badgers get a stop and will begin a very important drive at 7:23 of the 4th quarter.

6:31 4th Quarter: John Clay breaks off a huge 30 yard run and the Badgers are right back in this one!

2:00 4th Quarter: Ball drives it into the end zone, touchdown Badgers. The 2 point conversion is knocked away. 21-19 TCU.

Badgers on the Goal Line

Onside kick is recovered by the Horned Frogs and the Badgers are in dire straights.

The Badgers put up a good fight, but in the end TCU was just a little better and got a few more bounces. I can't help but think the long layoff hurt this club with regards to momentum. The Badgers secondary just couldn't match up and they fell just a bit short. Never the less it was a great season for the Badgers and they should be extremely proud.

Badgers MVP: Montee Ball
TCU MVP: Andy Dalton

(Images Courtesy of Nadia Qutaishat)

Brewers Off Season

2010-12-30T21:10:00.000-08:00

Zack Greinke

It's winter break, a time that most people wouldn't imagine thinking about baseball. For me that should be especially prevalent as winter is the time that I watch so much hockey my eyes start to hurt and all of my sentences tend to start with "faceoff to the left of Miller". I should be playing NHL 11 right now, but instead I find myself daydreaming about April and opening day. Am I mad you ask? No, but Doug Melvin has managed to get me very excited about the start of Brewer season!

Let's take a brief look at the moves Melvin has made over the summer. At the winter meetings he traded top prospect Brett Lawrie to Toronto in exchange for Blue Jays' opening day pitcher Shaun Marcum. He also trade Carlos Villanueva to that same Blue Jays club for a player to be named later. He signed Will Nieves and Mike Rivera to contracts and they will compete with George Kottaras to back up Jonathan Lucroy behind the plate. He also claimed Orioles reliever Pat Egan in the Rule 5 draft.

Then in the shocker of the summer he traded shortstop Alcides Escobar, center fielder Lorenzo Cain, reliever Jeremey Jeffress and pitching prospect Jake Odorizzi to the Kansas City Royals for former Cy Young winner Zack Greinke, shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt and cash. He followed this up by resigning Craig Counsell, claiming Roque Mercedes off waivers and signing setup man Takashi Saito.

This summer has been every armchair GM's wet dream. Every conceivable move to make the Brewers win now was made. The farm system has been weakened, but the Brewers are poised to make the playoffs in a big way. Prince Fielder will get another year in Blue and Gold and the Brewers should be very fun to watch.

* * *

Let's take a look at what the team will look like headed into the season:

Left Field Center Field Right Field

Ryan Braun* Carlos Gomez Corey Hart*

Brandon Boggs Chris Dickerson Chris Dickerson

3rd Base Shortstop 2nd Base 1st Base

Casey McGehee Yuniesky Bentancourt Rickie Weeks Prince Fielder*

Matt Gamel Craig Counsel Craig Counsell Casey McGehee

Catcher

Jonathan Lucroy

George Kottaras

Starting Rotation

Yovanni Gallardo*

Zack Greinke*

Shaun Marcum

Randy Wolf*

Chris Narveson

Bullpen

Closer - John Axford

Setup - Takashi Saito

Long Relief - Mark Rogers

Mike McClendon

Zack Braddock

LaTroy Hawkins

Kameron Loe

(* denotes a player who has played in an all star game)

* * *

Looking at that projected lineup you have to be excited for the season to start. The Brewers actually have a chance this season. They will compete with the Cardinals and the Reds for the Central Division. Let's break it down by position.

We'll start in left field where superstar Ryan Braun will return. He had a great season last year and will likely bounce back to have even better home run numbers than the did last year.

At center field Carlos Gomez is the starter due to Lorenzo Cain's departure. He will provide a steady defensive presence and is very quick on the base paths. He has had a lot of trouble getting on base in his major league career. Could this be the year he breaks out as the projected weak spot in the order?

In right field Corey Hart decided to take his game to the next level. He was a pleasant surprise for the Brewers who didn't even have him in the opening day lineup. Hart finished as an all star and was 2nd on the team in HRs and 3rd in RBIs.

Yuniesky Betancourt

At 3rd base we have the very solid Casey McGehee, who I thought should have been an all star last season. He provides nice power and clutch hitting late in games to compliment the other sluggers on the club. McGehee's 104 RBIs led the team. He was one of three Brewers to hit for over 100 RBIs (the other two were Corey Hart and Ryan Braun)

Penciled into the starting shortstop job is Yuniesky Bentancourt. He led the Royals in RBIs last season in a bounce back year. He is a fairly good hitter with some pop in his bat. He also has some good range and has shown some defensive flash. He has also shown a penchant for defensive miscues and has struggled mightily in the past. He has put up a negative WAR for several seasons.

The question is: is this really a downgrade from Escobar? Escobar never really got it together as a batter, struggling to get on base and also to hit with power. Escobar batted .235 with 4 HRs and 41 RBIs. He also committed many errors that a seasoned veteran may not have made. So Betancourt may not be the downgrade many believe him to be.

Rickie Weeks will be back on 2nd Base after playing his best season as a pro. Weeks had great success as the Brewers lead off hitter, providing both a steady OBP and some power hitting. If Weeks continues to improve he could be one of the best lead off hitters in the NL next season.

Prince Fielder with take and encore for the Brewers as they were not able to trade him during the off season. With the way the Brewers order is shaping up pitchers will not be able to walk Fielder this season. His OBP was an incredible .401 last season, but his RBI and HR totals suffered. If he can bounce back there is no telling the type of season he could have.

The starting catcher will be Jonathan Lucroy, who will be playing his first full season. Lucroy was impressive as he stepped in for the injured Greg Zaun. He had very solid numbers at the plate. More importantly he called games and played defense like an experienced veteran, which is very exciting for a rookie catcher.

A potential batting order: 1 Weeks 2 Hart 3 Braun 4 Fielder 5 McGehee 6 Betancourt 7 Lucroy 8 Pitcher 9 Gomez

Pretty Scary.

Shaun Marcum

If you look at the starting rotation you have to be excited! 3 opening day starters from last season. Gallardo broke out as an ace last year. Zack Greinke is another ace. I have been say that the Brewers need that. A legitimate ace to take some of the pressure off of Gallardo and Melvin did it. He also got Shaun Marcum, who was a solid pitch in the AL. Randy Wolf put together a strong second half last season and should be looking to bounce back. Chris Narveson is full of potential. This could be a sleeper group for the best rotation in the majors.

The bullpen is full of youth and at the same time there is a sprinkling of veteran presences. John Axford was a thrilling closer in his 1st season last year. Zack Braddock and Mike McClendon were also very good in their rookie campaigns. Kameron Loe had a great season in his return from injury and was arguably the Brewers best reliever. LaTroy Hawkins will attempt to return from an injury marred season and join veteran Takashi Saito as a setup option. Mark Rogers made his long awaited debut for the Brewers and should be a great flame thrower out of the bullpen.

* * *

Carlos Gomez

With all that being said the Brewers could still plug a few holes before the season starts. 1st getting a free agent outfielder to compete with Carlos Gomez for the starting job in center field. I like Boggs and Dickerson as backups, but I don't trust them to push Gomez to get better. A veteran in the vein of Jim Edmonds last season could help make the team better.

Yuniesky Betancourt is a very nerve-wracking choice for shortstop. A good utility man behind him could do nothing but benefit the Brewers. Craig Counsell is a good player but at his age his ability to be an everyday starter is called into question. A guy like ex-Brewer Felipe Lopez might be a good signing. The Brewers would have to give up a 1st Rounder to get him, but at this point with the going for it anyways, it might be the right move.

Another flame thrower in the bullpen might help too. These moves could happen or they could stand pat. either way, this will be a very fun club to watch this year. For the 1st time in a long time I am allowing myself to be very optimistic about a sports team. I also know that even if they crash and burn, it will still be a very special team and people will probably enjoy watching them anyways.

What do you think of the Brewers' Off Season changes? Tell us in the comments section.

Adam Qutaishat

(Images used without permission)

#13 Wesleyan Downs Pointer Women

2010-12-11T13:57:00.000-08:00

It was a tournament-type atmosphere inside of Berg Gym on Saturday afternoon where Illinois Wesleyan defeated the UWSP women's basketball team 76-72.

The 13th ranked Titans and the 18th ranked Pointers womens basketball teams braved the elements for a rematch of last season's Division 3 Sweet Sixteen match up.

Point gained the upper hand early, opening up the contest on an 11-3 run. It wouldn't be long until Wesleyan began to close the gap. The Titans took their first lead about midway through the first half.

Stacey Arlis would beat the buzzer on a put back to end the first half, giving the Titans a 1 point lead at the break.

The Pointers regained the lead at the 17:38 mark of the second half, but would quickly fall victim of a 9-0 Wesleyan run.

An 11-0 run and the timely free throw shooting of sophomore guard Sam Barber would keep Point in the game late. Barber hit two free throws capping off the run and giving the Pointers the lead with 8:08 remaining. She would tie things up late with another free throw with under 3 minutes to go.

Hope Schulte would ice the game for the Titans with her two foul shots at the end of the game.

Britta Petersen had a game-high 22 points and hauled in 7 rebounds and Andrea Flease added 5 assists for the Pointers.

Arlis provided 20 points to the Titan attack.

The loss drops Stevens Point to 7-2. The women will return to action on the 19th as they host MSOE, tip off is slated for 2 P.M. at the Berg Gym.

IWU 45 31 76
UWSP 44 28 72

Pointers Pin Pioneers

2010-12-09T19:34:00.000-08:00

The UWSP wrestling team won the first five matches on their way to defeating UW-Platteville 40-3 Thursday night at the Berg Gym.

Sophomore Ryan Conat got the Pointers rolling with his 12-4 victory at 174 pounds.

Second ranked Ben Engelland solidified his ranking at 184 pounds by earning a first period pin, the first of 3 consecutive pins for Point.

The night's marquee match up was at the 125 pound weight class and featured sixth ranked Joe Mileski of Stevens Point and tenth ranked Mack Drees of Platteville. Mileski enjoyed a 2 point advantage at the end of two periods. Drees cut the lead to 1 with an escape early in the third but failed to score in the remainder of the match. Mileski would earn a decision by a count of 5-4.

Allen Fish recorded the lone Pioneer victory, taking advantage of an escape in the third period, winning 1-0.

Bill Langford wrote a fitting conclusion to the Pointer victory with a thrilling overtime win in the final match of the evening. Langford erased a third period deficit with a reversal and a take down in the waning moments of the match. He would secure his victory by scoring a take down in a sudden death overtime, winning by a score of 9-7.

With their second consecutive conference dual victory, the ninth ranked Pointers improved to 4-2 overall and 2-0 in the WIAC. They travel to Iowa this Saturday to compete in the Dubuque Duals.

Box Score:
UWSP 4-2 (2-0) 40 UWP 0-2 (0-2) 3

Match started at 174 pounds.
125: Joe Mileski (SP) def. Mack Drees (P) (dec. 5-4); 133 Allen Fish (P) def. Jordan Kust (SP) (dec. 1-0);
141: Shane Sweeney (SP) def. Spencer Peterson (P) (maj. 10-1); 149: Kris Magruder (SP) def. Bobby Bennett (P) (maj. 12-4); 157: Ben Strobel (SP) def. Peter Crocco (P) maj. 14-3); 165: Langford (SP) def. Jon Quamme (P) (dec. 9-7); 174: Ryan Conat (SP) def. Nathan Schmitz (P) (maj. 12-4); 184: Ben Engelland (SP) def. Abe Graziano (P) (pin 1:51); 197: Chad Gregory (SP) def. Mike Harman (P) (pin 2:38); 285: Matt Cuadra (SP) def. Fabain Becerra (P) (pin 2:20)

Attendance: 133
Time of match: 1h 33m

Pointers Get Back On Track

2010-12-08T19:05:00.000-08:00

A second half surge helped the UWSP Pointers men's basketball team to a 72-61 victory over UW-Whitewater Wednesday night at the Quandt Gym.

Things were not looking good early for the 4th ranked Pointers. The Warhawks opened the game on an 11-2 run and with the help of 4 three-pointers, would lead by as many as 12.

Point would start to push back towards the end of the first half, at one point cutting the deficit to 6 until Whitewater extended their lead to 8 at the half.

The second half would be an altogether different story. The Pointers began the half with a 20-8 run of their own and would take their first lead of the game with 16:17 left in the second at 40-39.

After a bit of back and forth scoring, Point put together an 11-2 run and began to pull away with their lead growing to as large as 13.

Jerrel Harris and Dan Tillema each had 15 points for the Pointers. Tyler Tillema contributed 14 points and 7 rebounds to a Stevens Point bench that outscored Whitewater's 19-0.

Alex Edmunds had a game high 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Warhawks.

The win puts Stevens Point at 5-1 overall and 2-1 in the WIAC.

UWW 35 26 61
UWSP 27 45 72

Attendance: 1610

UWSP women's soccer recap

2010-12-08T08:51:00.000-08:00

The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Women’s soccer team had another phenomenal year, finishing 18-2-2 and advancing to the NCAA Division III Sweet 16. The Pointers went to overtime in their Sweet 16 match, eventually losing on penalty kicks as Denison University (Ohio) made all five, while the Pointers made four.

After another successful season, five Pointers were awarded with All-WIAC (Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Conference) honors. Senior Midfielder Mary Jean Cornelius earned her third consecutive first team honors, along with the All-Sportsmanship team. Other Pointers joining Cornelius on the All-WIAC first team: Senior Forward Vicki Bieschke, Senior Goalkeeper Liz Hunter, Senior Defender Kelly Lloyd, and Junior Defender Lauryn Semling.

“We were so successful because we genuinely like each other,” Bieschke says. “How can you not succeed when you are giving 100% for each other?”

Head Coach Sheila Miech was awarded WIAC coach of the year, the ninth of her career at UWSP.

With their third consecutive WIAC title, the UWSP women have been extremely successful recently, especially the seniors. Over their four years in the program, they are 69-15-5, along with three consecutive conference titles, four trips to the NCAA playoffs and three Sweet Sixteen appearances.

“I will miss seeing my teammates every single day and how much fun we had when we were ALL together,” Bieschke says.

Thank you for your four wonderful years at UWSP seniors Liz Hunter, Ashley Anders, Vicki Bieschke, Mary Jean Cornelius, Andrea Peiffer, Kelly Lloyd, and Stephanie Wolf.

Saints Hang on Against Mountain Cats

2010-12-03T23:53:00.001-08:00

Highlights from the 12/3 as the Central Wisconsin Saints defeated the Michigan Mountain Cats 6-4.

Audio courtesy of 90FM WWSP Stevens Point. Broadcast live.

Play-by-Play Announcer: Adam Qutaishat
Color Analyst: Kevin Lennon

Saints Interviews 10/3

2010-12-03T23:50:00.000-08:00

Saints' Head Coach Mike Stanaway gives his Post Game thoughts after the Saints' 6-4 win over the Michigan Mountain Cats.

This interview was recorded live on 12/3 on 90FM WWSP Stevens Point.

Announcer: Adam "Buffalo" Qutaishat

Buffalo sat down with Todd Depner, owner of Elite Muscle & Fitness and Person Trainer to the Central Wisconsin Saints. Audio Courtesy of 90FM.

Get to Know a Saint: Cole Patza and Mike Mitch

2010-12-03T23:42:00.000-08:00

Saints' Defenseman Cole Patza sat down with 90FM's Sam Schwanebeck. Here's what he had to say.

Part of an ongoing series, brought to you by 90FM WWSP Stevens Point.

Saints' Forward Mike Mitch sat down with Saints' announcer Adam "Buffalo" Qutaishat. Here's what he had to say.

Part of an ongoing series, brought to you by 90FM WWSP Stevens Point.

Thanks to Cole Patza, Mike Mitch, Adam "Buffalo" Qutaishat and Same Schwanebeck

Documentary: The Grote Household

2010-12-03T23:31:00.000-08:00

A Documentary created by 90FM WWSP Stevens Point, describing the battle of the Grote Family and the three Saints' Players who lived in their home, Gavin Palm, Beau Posey and Kyle Harnish.

Special Thanks to Gavin Palm, Beau Posey, Jessi Szprejda and Jacob Gross

A live interview with Mendy Grote as she discusses the trials she and her family have endure while battling the Village of Park Ridge, WI.

Broadcast 12/3 on 90FM WWSP Stevens Point.

Thanks to Mendy Grote and Adam "Buffalo" Qutaishat.

Pointers Jump over Johnnies, Produce Win for First Home Game

2010-11-23T19:30:00.000-08:00

Using a 13-0 scoring run late in the first half, the Pointers gained momentum and held a commanding lead for the rest of the afternoon.

While the Johnnies started off with the lead, it wasn’t long before the Pointers took back control. With 5:48 left in the first half, the Pointers dominated the floor with 13 unanswered points.

The Pointers kept that momentum and lead through the beginning of the first half. Leading the way was Dan Tillema with back-to-back three pointers early on. In addition Louis Hurd started the second half with his own shot from behind the arc. The Pointers kept a lead of 15 points or more for the rest of the day.

Leading scorer Jarrel Harris walked away with 14 points on the day. In addition Dan Tillema, Tyler Tillema and Scott Hoelzel put up double digits as well.

The starters were not the only impressive contributors. The Pointer bench players scored a combined 28 points, to the Johnnies 14.

Defensively and offensively the Pointers played strong, forcing 19 turnovers, and shooting 58% on the floor. In addition the three point attempts were strong, at 48%.

The Pointers return to action this Saturday, November 27th at Bennet Court, hosting the Eagles of Edgewood College at 7pm.

Pointers Can't Solve O'Brien as Knights Sweep

2010-11-14T22:42:00.000-08:00

The UWSP Pointers could not capitalize on their chances and in the end it cost them. The Pointers fell 2-0 to the St. Norbert Green Knights who swept the weekend series. The Pointers dominated play for a majority of the first two periods but were outshot 17-4 in the 3rd period.

The Pointers carried the play in the 1st and outshot the opposition 10-3 but were unable to score despite strong play and numerous power play opportunities. The story of the period and the game was B.J. O'Brien the goalie for St. Norbert. He stopped 25 shots, many of them difficult saves.

Nick Graves was no slouch in the UWSP net with 24 saves of his own. He was strong in the first two periods despite not facing too many shots. In the 3rd he kept the Pointers in the game until he was beaten with about the 7 minutes remaining in the 3rd period.

St. Norbert got goals from Johan Ryd and Brandon Longley. Scott Pulak assisted on both goals. Longley's goal came with Graves on the bench as the Pointers opted for the extra attacker. The Pointers seemed tired and did not play with much intensity in the final minutes.

The Pointers return to action next weekend against UW Stout with 7:00 PM games on both Friday and Saturday.

#3 Green Knights edge #10 Pointers 3-2

2010-11-12T22:20:00.000-08:00

It was an incredible atmosphere at K.B Willet Arena on Friday November 12. There were free white T-shirts for the first 1000 fans and it was the site of the annual "White Out" game when the #10 UW Stevens Point Men's hockey team hosted the # 3 and bitter rival St. Norbert College Green Knights.

The Green Knights opened the scoring at the 9:31 mark in the first period when Brandon Longley snuck in a juicy rebound past Pointers goalie Nick Graves. He was assisted by Nick Tabisz and Johan Ryd.

At 14:07 of the 3rd the Pointers evened the scoring with a goal by Kyle Politz who deflected in a Garrett Sutter shot. Also credited with an assist was Johnny Meo.

In the 2nd period the Green Knights struck a hard blow to the Pointers when they scored two goals just 11 seconds apart. The first was scored by Tabisz off a assist from Kyle Stroh. The 3rd and final goal for the Green Knights came from Ryd who was assisted by Adam Hammerbeck and and Scott Pulak which earned the Knights a 3-1 lead heading into the final stanza.

In the 3rd period the Pointers came within one goal of the Knights with a goal scored by Nic Polaski at the 4:17 mark. He was assisted by Harrison Niemann to make it a 3-2 hockey game. That would be the end of the scoring as both goaltenders stopped the rest of shots they faced in the game.

Nick Graves stopped 17 shots and B.J O'Brien had 19 saves for the Green Knights. These two teams will meet again Saturday November 13th at 7 P.M at K.B Willet Arena. The game will be brought to you live on 90 FM WWSP Stevens Point.

(Image Used Without Permission)

Zombie Apocalypse Mock Draft

2010-11-09T15:40:00.000-08:00

Thanks to 90FM's music director Taylor Christian for the on-site updates and analysis.

Round 1:
Emma- Chuck Norris, A bit obvious but how can you lose with a man on your team who can power new York with a round house kick?
Justin- Billy Zane
Buffalo- Samuel L. Jackson, Zombies and snakes are a different story.
Mason- Ving Rhames
Q- Max Brooked, Literally wrote the book on zombies, guaranteed winner
Harley- Lady Gaga, Who knows, maybe zombies are repelled by crazy

Winner : Q

Follow the link for more Zombie Stomping Mania!

Round 2:
Harley- Gabriele Reece, Another lady, re-population won't be an issue here.
Q- Ole Inar, Not even gonna try spelling that one, but shooting and moving is a prized skill
Mason- Lebron James, Lots of risks with these minorities, but it might just pay off.
Buffalo- Randy Johnson, There's gotta be some merit in having the accuracy to peg a pigeon.
Justin- Michael Vick, Methinks there might be some issues with Vick leaving people behind that he had money on.
Emma- Clay Matthews, I don't think tackling a zombie is going to have as much of an effect as it did pre-apocalypse

Winner: Q

Round 3:
Emma-Jesus. Technically a zombie himself, so the risk of going Benedict Arnold on you is abnormally high
Justin- General Patton and his Sherman Tank, Tanks are always a nice touch
Buffalo- Frank Sinatra, Who wouldn't like smoking zombies to 'fly me to the moon'
Mason- George Washington in a Charger, Cherry Tree my ass.
Q- John Dillenger, Scary? Yes. Effective? Most certainly.
Harley- Hellen Keller, Silent but deadly .

Winner: Buffalo

Round 4:
Harley- House. Intelligence is an underrated value in a zombie apocalypse.
Q- MacGyver, Have a stone, a string, and a battery? Hello zombie nuke
Mason- Leroy Gibs, Shenanigans, a loss for mason
Buffalo- Tom Selleck's Moustache, Intruiging, cutting out all the dead weigh attached to the stash just might help.
Justin- McKay from the Shield, Don't know him myself, but I like what I was told of him.
Emma- Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Undead is undead, I see the merit here.

Winner: Buffalo

Round 5:
Emma- Sean of Sean of the Dead. Narrowly squeezes by in the movie, and that worries me.
Justin- William "Defense" Foster, Too obscure for me.
Buffalo- Mace Windu, A dead character hurts the chances, but a light saber takes care of zombies real nice and easy.
Mason- John Conner, A shockingly good selection.
Q- Ash from the Evil Dead, Oh Lordy! Q tacks up a victory on this one.
Harley- Leelo from the Fifth Element, Women, women everywhere, I like Harley's style

Winner: Q

Round 6:
Harley- Que Quag, Props for the research, I love this pick.
Q- Hermoine Granger. Magic can't hurt, but it's kinda like cheating.
Mason- Lenny, Put some bunnies across from the zombies and he's unstoppable.
Buffalo- Batman, Chances are he has some anti zombie spray on that belt.
Justin- Captain America
Emma- Voldemort, Perhaps a bit too uncontrollable to be real reliable.

Winner: Harley

Round 7:
Emma- Chris Redfield.
Justin- Regina, A quality vintage game reference, scores some points.
Buffalo- Subzero
Mason- Solid Snake
Q- Gordon Freeman, Beautiful.
Harley- Duke Nukem, he'd probably promise to be there in a minute and take hours.

Winner: Q

Round 7:
Harley- Matthew Pagel, Size doesn't matter to zombies
Q- Taylor Christian, Bias aside, I live for this moment.
Mason- Chris marks, Anyone who stores a zombie book in their bathroom is packing some skills.
Buffalo- Dana, Banking on some hidden violent nature.
Justin- Buffalo
Emma- W, One of the only three staff members to really have thought out the zombie situation. A good choice.

Winner: Emma

Awards:
Sexiest: Harley
3rd Place: Buffalo
2nd Place: Harley
1st Place: Q

Cross Country Teams Prepare For Regionals

2010-11-07T15:29:00.000-08:00

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point men’s and women’s cross country teams recently ran at the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Conference (WIAC) meet hosted by Eau Claire on October 30^th.

The men’s team won the 2010 WIAC title, their first since 2008. With the title, UW-Stevens Point now has five conference titles, all since 1981 and all under Head Coach Rick Witt. “This team doesn’t care who gets the credit,” Witt says. “We don’t have any superstars. They do what they are supposed to do, as long as the job gets done.”

“Coach Witt has so much experience when it comes to running,” Terry Witkowski says. “He has done as solid a job helping everyone realize what they need to do individually to run their best.” Joel Heroux agrees. “He has so much experience it's amazing to just sit down and listen to the stories he has.”

The women’s team was the runner-up at the 2010 WIAC cross country meet, a real accomplishment for a team going up against two top 15 teams in the nation and few expectations coming into the season. “A lot of team’s didn’t see us coming, but we are now a threat,” Brittany Dantinne says.

Head Coach Megan Craig knows why the team has become a contender this year, “They caught the running bug. They didn’t know if I was crazy when I told them that they were great runners, but they are now believing what I say and in themselves.” Shaun Krueger echoes Coach Craig’s assessment, “Sarah Glunn and I put in the hours and the miles during the summer we might not have in previous years. We were so motivated, we all believed we could be contenders.”

The women’s team agrees with the men’s assessment of their head coach as well. “Coach Craig knows her stuff,” Kelly Haen says. “She can relate well to us and pushes us very hard.” Dantinne agrees, “With being a Pointer Alum, she’s been through it all and has taken us to the next level. We are so lucky to have her.”

With Regionals coming up November 13^th, both coaches are getting ready to head down to Rock Island, IL. “We have to put ourselves in a chance to win and then have a little luck,” Coach Witt says. “We could run today and win; run tomorrow and take last.” Coach Craig knows her team is definitely ready for the Regionals, “We have unfinished business.”

Saints Sweep Feds

2010-11-07T13:12:00.000-08:00

Apologies to those who wanted to hear highlights from this afternoons 12-2 victory for the Saints, we had a malfunction in our recording equipment and are unable to have those for you. Hopefully we'll get it all sorted out by the next game on December 3rd. Thanks for listening.

Buffalo

Saints Stomp Feds

2010-11-06T11:12:00.000-07:00

Here are the highlights of the CW Saints' 10-4 victory over the Fort Wayne Federals from 11/5/10:

Apologies for the mistake at the beginning of the clip

Here is an interview with head coach Mike Stanaway, thanks to Coach Stanaway for taking the time to talk to 90FM.

Warhawks sail past Pointers

2010-11-03T21:39:00.000-07:00

The Pointers as a whole put up a valiant effort on Saturday October 30th at Perkins Stadium in Whitewater, but the defending Division III Champion Warhawks proved too much to be stopped.

Turnovers became a downfall quickly as a first quarter fumble and turnover resulted in the Warhawks first touchdown of the game. Another fumble in Pointer territory during the second quarter led to the second touchdown of the game leaving the Pointers scoreless and down by 14 at the half.

The second half began similar to the first with a pick thrown by Quarter Back Jake Swank, a turnover which produced a third touchdown for the Warhawks. 18 seconds later the Pointers redeemed themselves with a 60 yard touchdown thrown to Anthony Aker.

A second touchdown to Aker with 14.5 seconds left in the 3rd quarter narrowed the Warhawk lead to just 10 points. The remaining scoring of the day came only from field goals as neither team could get it into the endzone.

A strong Pointer defense showing held the Warhawks to their closest score margin so far this season. The Warhawks defeated the Pointers 27-14

The Pointers return to game play this Saturday at UW-River Falls.

Pointers down Eagles

2010-10-26T21:00:00.000-07:00

A balanced offensive attack led the UW-Stevens Point Pointers over UW-La Crosse Eagles by a score of 31-17 at Community Stadium on Saturday.

Point faced an early 3-0 deficit when the Eagles' Justin Huinker capped of their opening drive with a 42-yard field goal.

Mike Griffin would get the Pointers on the board, scoring on a 21-yard run. Kyle Fuhrman would follow suit, finishing off an 8-play, 76-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run of his own at the end of the second quarter.

UWSP's Jared Jenkins

The second half was all about the aerial attack. Pointer quarterback Jake Swank would hook up with Jared Jenkins for 2 touchdowns from 23 and 5 yards respectively, giving Point all of the cushion they would need.

Jenkins would finish the day with 7 receptions for 177 yards and 2 touchdowns. He would later be named WIAC player of the week for his effort.

Griffin would lead all rushers with 122 yards on 25 carries.

Curtis Krump would lead the first string defense, which only allowed 3 points, with 8 tackles.

UWSP (5-2 overall, 3-1 in the WIAC) will face a stiff road test this week when they head to Whitewater to face the top-ranked and defending National Champion Warhawks.

Recap 10/9 vs UW Oshkosh

2010-10-11T18:38:00.001-07:00

Jenkins will juke your jock off! (say that x3 fast)

Coach John Meich could not have asked for a better day this past Saturday. It was a beautiful Homecoming day for the Pointers, and after being down 14 points early to the Titans of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, the Pointers charged back and were able to celebrate Homecoming with a 41-17 win.

The Titans came into Stevens Point with confidence after a victory over UW La Crosse the previous week, compared to the slumping Pointers, who the previous Saturday, had lost the of Blugolds of UW Eau Claire. Nate Wara, the starting quarterback for the Titans, scored first in the game with a 22 yard scramble up the middle of the field and eventually getting to the front-left pylon of the endzone. Wara was the story of the day for the Titans. He threw for 18 of 28 for 128 yards with one interception, and also contributed 21 rushes for a net of 50 yards. Although it looked as though Wara controlled the game with his accuracy and running game, he struggled to control the ball, contributing 4 fumbles with his one interception.

The Story of the day for the Pointers was the athleticism of the offensive skill players. On the day, Pointer quarterback and converted wide-receiver Jake Swank threw 4 touchdown passes, 2 of which were caught by Jared Jenkins. Swank went 13-32 for 228 yards and threw 2 interceptions. Swank continued his season long accuracy problems on Saturday as he failed to hit open receivers on a number of occasions.

The receivers for the Pointers showed their athleticism all day. Jared Jenkins made a touchdown catch in the first half that was eerily similar to that of Minnesota Vikings Sydney Rice’s TD catch in Chicago last season. Not to be outdone, Theo Maglio made a spectacular 44 yard reception late in the first half, which to quote Color Analyst Adam Qutaishat, “was the best Superman impression any human being could pull off.”

Although the Pointers won convincingly, look for their struggles to continue down the road as the weather gets colder, Jake Swanks accuracy issues will only get worse. The Pointers cannot count on their big play receivers to bail out Jake Swank’s inaccuracy issues for the rest of the year.

Jake Swank

(Images used without permission)

Here We Go Again

2010-10-04T08:46:00.000-07:00

Brett Bielema with the Wisconsin Badgers

Bielema is letting us down. Since he became head coach, they have not been frontrunners. In 2007, Bielema's second season, Wisconsin was preseason #7. After a couple close wins over unranked opponents, the Badgers lost to unranked Illinois. Two losses later, the Badgers were unranked and disappointed. The next year, 2008, Wisconsin comes in at #13 and again loses to an unranked opponent. Following four more losses, the Badgers were again unranked.

Why does this always seem to happen? What are they missing that prevents them from being a consistent title contender? Since the Badgers have stopped running the option with Brooks Bollinger in 2003, the Badgers

quarterbacks have become more like the dropback quarterbacks of the NFL. While Wisconsin fans may remember fondly the likes of Jim Sorgi and Jon Stocco, neither quarterback warranted any real NFL consideration. The Badgers need a big-time NFL prospect at quarterback to take the next step. From Chris Chambers to Lee Evans, Ron Dayne to John Clay, the Badgers have had NFL talent at the skill positions. The only position lacking is the quarterback position.

Scott Tolzien

Scott Tolzien had me believing that this year would be different. I know he is not an NFL prospect, but he has the pieces around him and had shown last year that he could lead this team with his arm. This is what happens as a Badger fan. We see promise and immediately its National Championship hopes. Wisconsin just doesn't have the athletes to make a run at a title. They have the system and players to compete in the Big Ten, but only in down years for Ohio State and/or Michigan. Until Wisconsin has a big-time 5 star prospect at quarterback join the team, the Rose Bowl is our only hope.

(Images used without permission)

Please Nevada, Do it For Me!

2010-09-29T23:17:00.000-07:00

The Boise St. Broncos

The Boise State Broncos are on their way to the College Football National Championship game and it seems to me that I am the only one who is appalled. Don’t get me wrong, they have a solid team, one that deserves some respect. The problem is simple: they should not have the chance to play in the National Championship game.

The big reason is their affiliation with the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). They made an effort to make their schedule more difficult, scheduling Virginia Tech and Oregon State, both ranked in the preseason polls, to make up for their horrific conference schedule. Even Wyoming wasn’t a slouch, despite the 51-6 pounding that Boise put on them. However, with Virginia Tech losing to James Madison (a Football Championship Series (FCS), former D-1AA team) the Boise State victory loses some of its credibility. N

Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick

Now, the WAC schedule only remains ahead of Boise and, besides the Nevada Wolf Pack, the rest of the conference is wretched. (Congratulations are in order to Nevada, for cracking the top 25 AP poll for the first time since 1948.) Nevada will be the only test the rest of the way for the Broncos. And no offense to Nevada Quarterback Colin Kaepernick, but the Wolf Pack just doesn’t have the players to hang with Boise State.

My only hope is that Alabama, Ohio State, and Oregon win out so that I don’t have to watch Boise in the title game. So please Nevada: please, please, pretty please, beat Boise! I really don't want to root for the Buckeyes against Bucky.

(Images used without permission)

Pointers Cruise Over Brits

2010-09-26T10:24:00.000-07:00

The UWSP Pointers were in control from the opening drive as they defeated Albion College 59-14.

The offense made a statement early as Kyle Fuhrman capped off a 16 play, 90 yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.

The defense would not be outdone as Joe Mleziva returned an interception 50 yards for a score on their first time out, stretching the pointer lead to 14.

Peter Peterson would make sure that the special teams had their chance to get on the action when he scored on a 45-yard punt return on the next Brits possession.

Albion would fight back in the second quarter as Clinton Orr would finish off a 14 play, 98 yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run. However, the extra point would miss and the Pointer lead would remain 15.

Point would come right back, scoring on their next two possessions. Jake Swank hooked up with Anthony Aker for a 69-yard touchdown on the ensuing drive. Fuhrman would find the end zone for the second time on the following drive on a 1-yard touchdown run.

Jared Fohrman would tack on a field goal making the score 38-14 Pointers at the half.

The second half was all Pointers as they scored 21 unanswered points for the second time in the game. Swank would connect with Jared Jenkins for his second touchdown of the game. Fuhrman found the end zone for the third time and Mike Griffin got himself on the score sheet with a 1-yard touchdown run of his own.

All of the scoring occurred while the Point defense held Albion scoreless in the second half.

Community Stadium at Goerke Park

Griffin would lead the Pointers in rushing for the second week in a row as he gained 86 yards on 11 carries, while Swank would finish the day 14 for 24 with 193 yards passing and 2 touchdowns.

Brandon Bruger led the defense as he had 2 of their 3 sacks.

The win puts Stevens Point at 2-1 heading into next week's conference opener at UW-Eau Claire.

Pointers Too Much for Miners

2010-09-18T15:08:00.000-07:00

It may not have always been pretty, but it was a win none the less. The UWSP Pointers capitalized on 5 Missouri S&T turnovers to win 29-10 and improve to 1-1 on the season.

Colton Zimmerman set up the first scoring drive when he came up with an early interception that put the Pointers deep into Miners' territory. On the next play, quarterback Jake Swank connected with Jared Jenkins for a 6-yard touchdown pass, giving Point an early 7-0 lead.

After the two teams traded field goals to round out the first quarter, Zimmerman struck again, this time taking an interception 42 yards for a touchdown. Making the score 17-3.

The Miners would show some life on their ensuing possession, moving the ball with ease. After a few big plays, the drive ended in Steve Watson finding Dexter Bryant in the back of the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown strike, pulling S&T within a touchdown.

Jared Fohrman would make two more field goals before halftime, making the score 23-10 in favor of UWSP.

The second half was relatively uneventful. The Pointers had two drives deep into the redzone, only to settle for Fohrman field goals on both trips.

Point's offensive struggles continued as Swank didn't complete a pass in the second half until well into the fourth quarter and ended up an abysmal 7-21 passing for only 56 yards. Kieth Ingram also was pulled in favor of Kyle Furhman when he had trouble hanging onto the ball in the second half.

Mike Griffin led the Pointers in rushing as he went for 138 yards on 20 carries. Fohrman ended the day 5 for 6 on field goals with his only miss coming from 57 yards in the first half.

Matt Lunder contributed 2 sacks.

Starting Fullback Mike Griffen led the Pointers in rushing.

UWSP will be home next weekend to face Albion College (Mich.). Kickoff is 1 P.M. Saturday.

(Images used without permission)

Pointer Men's Basketball 2010 Recruits

2010-09-06T18:08:00.000-07:00

Can the new recruits make up for the loss

of Matt Moses? (Above)

The school year has barely begun. Schoolwork still seems exciting, new experiences are waiting just around the corner, but for six men new to UW-Stevens Point something even bigger looms on the horizon. These six are the most recent recruits to the Pointer men’s basketball team, reigning Division III National Champions.
Most anyone on campus can tell you about the exciting events of last spring when the UWSP men’s basketball season went from impressive to spectacular in the course of an NCAA tournament. While playing host to the first three rounds of the tournament the Pointers vanquished all the opponents in their way, took a trip to Salem Virginia and brought the Walnut and Bronze trophy back to Stevens Point. However at tournaments end the Pointer men and all of UWSP said goodbye to three valuable seniors including Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four, Matt Moses. Also graduating were seniors Ross Foramen and Even Sweeny. The question we ask now is, who can fill those shoes? Obviously key returners will be players like Dan Tilema, Louis Hurd, Jerrel Harris, Vinny Ritchay, and Jared Jenkins (once he returns after football season). In addition to these veterans however are the six men that Bob Semling has chosen to continue their basketball days as Pointers.
The new recruit class includes two transfer students. The first DeVon Jackson is a sophomore guard from Milwaukee Rufus King and Williston State in North Dakota. The second is Jamie Mauch a junior forward from Morreton ND and North Dakota State College of Science. Both of these Junior Colleges have impressive teams that have done well in their individual conferences as well as tournament play. The Williston State team was conference as well as regional champs during the 2009-2010 season. NDSCS ended the season at 23 wins and 9 losses overall. Mauch’s stats show a game with an average of 8.5 points per game and ended the season as the 4th highest scorer at 256 points total. However he is at 34.4% behind the arc, something the Pointers can certainly use in the upcoming season. Jackson averaged nine points per game with Williston State. In addition Jackson having come from Rufus King IB High School in Milwaukee certainly gives him an edge as well, not only coming from a powerhouse program, but also presumably having played with current team member Jared Jenkins also a graduate of Rufus King.

The Nation Champion Pointers

The four new freshmen joining the Pointers are Adam Abegglin a forward from Krakow/Pulaski High School, John Johnston a guard from Whitefish Bay High School, Blaine Mueller a guard from Watertown, and Scott Pohle a guard and forward from Ballwin Missouri. Abbeggien averaged 16 points per game with the Red Raiders of Pulaski High and was a First Team All-Fox River Valley Conference player his senior year. Johnston averaged 15 points per game his senior year and won the North Shore conference title as a Blue Duke. Mueller had a career high 26 points during a game against Wilmot his senior year, while averaging 13 points per game that season. Pohle was named one of the top players in the St. Louis area by ESPN’s Rise magazine and was his high schools all time leading three-point goal scorer.
While it is not clear at this point how many returners will be coming back this season, with the new recruits added there is a surplus of players. Only 15 men are allowed on the roster meaning at least three men will not end up playing this season for the Pointers. Coach Semling has a great group of players to choose from, and traditionally he not only uses performance in practice as a factor for making the roster, but also takes into consideration how the new players associate with the current team and coaching staff. Only time will tell once practice begins in about a month who will make the cut and who will watch the season from the student section.