The seeds are set, the brackets are in place…now all that’s left to do is play the games.   Actually, there’s one thing I like to do before the action starts, and that’s try to pick the winners.

DIVISION 1, Marshfield Sectional

The local sectional is now like the other seven across the state, in that teams are seeded across the sectional, and not just by the regional.   Whether that’s good or not, depends upon your perspective…but the upshot is that a local team may not get as far as the sectional final.

Eau Claire North is the two-time defending champion of this sectional, but the Huskies are only a #5 seed this time around.   Still, that’s no death blow to their chances, since North advanced to state despite being seeded 5th last season…out of seven teams, in their own regional.

Here’s why ECN could make another run to Madison: no one else in the sectional has a 6-11 University of Wisconsin recruit (Evan Anderson).  Plus, the Huskies have a lot of other important elements: an outside shooter (Drew Frase), a slasher (Tyler Sonsalla), and a solid point guard (Alex Cole).  Beyond that, ECN has some good depth.

Here’s why ECN might not make another run to Madison: inconsistency.   If the Huskies play the way they’ve been playing lately, in wins over River Falls and Memorial, North can run the table through the sectional.   If they play like they did in their last loss, at home to Chippewa Falls, then the Huskies are very vulnerable.

As I see it, any number of teams could win this sectional.  In order of their seeds, it’s Antigo, Superior, Wausau West, EC Memorial, or EC North.  Merrill and Chippewa Falls are the longshots.  

Still, this blog is about picking the winners, so here goes:  In the regional semifinals, I’ll take River Falls to beat D.C. Everest, North over Wausau East, Memorial over Rhinelander, Merrill over Hudson, Wausau West over Menomonie, with Chippewa Falls upsetting Marshfield.  
Regional finals: Antigo edges River Falls, North nips Memorial, Wausau West wins over Merrill, with Superior beating Chippewa Falls. 
Sectional semifinals; North over Antigo, Wausau West defeats Superior. 
Sectional final: Wausau West avenges its losses in the last two sectional finals, and knocks out North.

Other sectional winners: DePere, Madison Memorial, Oshkosh North, Milwaukee Hamilton, Milwaukee King, Menomonee Falls, and Verona.

DIVISION 2, Durand Sectional (at UW-Stout)

Northwestern is the defending champion, and even without standout senior Steve Tecker, who’s been sidelined all season with a hip injury, the Tigers only have a few non-conference losses.  This is a polished, athletic club, that knows how to share the basketball.  With 6-8 Donnie Hissa (a Notre Dame baseball recruit), Northwestern has a solid presence inside.   There have been some rumblings that Tecker will return to the court for the postseason, but I’ll believe it when I see it (or read about it).  There seems to be too much at stake for Tecker’s future to risk…but, stranger things have happened in high school sports.

Regional quarterfinals: Northwestern, Spooner, Osceola, New Richmond, Bloomer, Altoona, Baldwin-Woodville, Mosinee, Medford, G-E-T, Adams-Friendship, Nekoosa, Witt-Bern, and Lakeland.
Regional semifinals: Northwestern, Osceola, Rice Lake, Altoona, Onalaska, G-E-T, A-F, Witt-Bern.
Regional finals: Northwestern, Rice Lake, Onalaska, Adams-Friendship.
Sectional semifinals: Northwestern, Onalaska
Sectional final: Northwestern 

Other sectional winners: Seymour, Portage, Port Washington

DIVISION 3, EC North Sectional

I’ve had the good fortune to be on hand, start to finish, for both of Fall Creek’s wins over EC Regis this season.  It wouldn’t surprise me if either team wound up advancing to state, but based on what I’ve seen with my own eyes, I think the Crickets have just a bit more than the Ramblers this season.   If they played 10 games, I think FC wins at least 6.   That’s enough for me to say that the Cricket Crazies will be making another trip to Madison in a few weeks.

Regional quarterfinals: SCC, SCF, Webster, Glenwood City, Regis, O-F, Mondovi, Colfax, Flambeau, Ladysmith, Washburn, Fall Creek, Colby, Neillsville, Thorp.
Regional semifinals: SCC, Glenwood City, Regis, Colfax, Hurley, Ladysmith, Fall Creek, Thorp.
Regional finals: SCC, Regis, Hurley, Fall Creek.
Sectional semifinals: Regis, Fall Creek
Sectional final: Fall Creek

Other sectional winners: Marathon, Cuba City, Dominican

Division 4, Onalaska Sectional

Regional quarterfinals: McDonell, Elmwood, Eleva-Strum, Alma/Pepin, New Lisbon, Lincoln, C-FC, Augusta, Royall, Wonewoc-Center, Kickapoo, Hillsboro, North Crawford, Cassville, River Ridge, Potosi.
Regional semifinals: McDonell, Eleva-Strum, New Lisbon, Augusta, Royall, Hillsboro, North Crawford, Potosi.
Regional finals: McDonell, New Lisbon, Royall, North Crawford
Sectional semifinals: McDonell, Royall 
Sectional final: McDonell

Division 4, Spooner Sectional

Regional quarterfinals: South Shore, Siren, Solon Springs, Drummond, Clayton, Bruce, Turtle Lake, Luck, Prentice, Gilman, Mellen, Rib Lake, Marshfield Columbus, Owen-Withee, Northland Lutheran, Loyal
Regional semifinals: South Shore, Drummond, Clayton, Luck, Gilman, Rib Lake, Marshfield Columbus, Loyal
Regional finals: South Shore, Clayton, Rib Lake, Marshfield Columbus
Sectional semifinals: Clayton, Marshfield Columbus
Sectional final: Clayton

Other sectional winners: Benton, Wausau Newman

So there you have it.  As always, feel free to agree or disagree with these picks…but do so by posting your selections in the comment section below.

See you down the tournament trail…

-BOB BRADOVICH

Posted under Hometown Sports

As I logged onto the website from which I add new posts to the Hometown Sports Blog, pondering what I may write for my next blog post,  I noticed a nice, round number for the number of previous posts: 100.  As the J. Peterman character on “Seinfeld” once said, “That certainly is a lot of words.”

“Seinfeld” had an episode in which the series reviewed the previous 100 episodes, so since I’ve referenced that TV show more than a few times (in this blog and on the air), I’ll take this opportunity to take a look back at just what the heck I’ve been talking about.

It hasn’t just been me, either.  My News 18 Sports colleagues Bill Port and Stephen Kelley have helped the cause as well.  Bill is responsible for four posts, with Stephen writing two.  Four blog posts were basically the product of people outside of the News 18 Sports department.  In those “Border Battle” posts, I simply cut and pasted e-mail responses I’d gotten from friends of mine, after I asked them, via e-mail, to predict what they thought would happen this past fall when Wisconsin went to Minnesota in Big Ten football on a Saturday, with the Packers playing the Vikings on Monday Night Football two days later.

Being that we at News 18 spend a majority of our time at work covering high school sports, it probably comes as no surprise that we’ve spent the majority of these blog posts talking about high school sports: WIAA-related topics are the theme of 38 posts.     

The Packers are a big deal for us as well, as evidenced by 24 GBP-themed posts.   In 7 other posts, we discussed other NFL topics, and of those 31 posts, the name “Brett Favre” appeared in 16 of them.  (I may need to check my math, because that number seems a bit low…even so, Favre is the most-talked about individual in the blog)

University of Wisconsin athletics were referenced in 10 blog posts, with 3 others devoted to NCAA Division I sports.   Two blog posts dealt with WIAC sports.

Major league baseball posts: 8.   Eau Claire Express: 5.  

Eight other posts fell into the “other” category, including my very first blog post, which was a riveting passage saying that I was entering the “blogosphere.”  Thankfully, that word has not been written again in subsequent blogs…until now.

Plenty of blog posts dealt with multiple topics, which is why those numbers I’ve mentioned don’t add up to 100.  Trust me, there are 100 posts prior to this one.  If you don’t trust me, that’s fine–you should trust the fine folks at Word Press, who provide the software to us so I can pontificate on any number of topics.

We’ve picked games, offered opinions, provided commentary, and generally tried to expand upon what we do during our nightly sportscasts.   It’s another way for us to show our commitment to covering sports from our home base in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

We’ve gotten some good comments from you, the reader, as well.   For that, we say thanks, and keep them coming.

We’ll keep blogging….

-BOB BRADOVICH

Posted under Hometown Sports

The WIAA brackets are out, which means it’s time to start speculating about which teams will make it to Madison for the boys and girls state tournament.   Generally, I make my best picks with a minimum of research…if I spend too much time agonizing over stats and records, often “paralysis by analysis” sets in.

So…here goes:

BOYS HS HOCKEY

Eau Claire Sectional

The only question mark in this bracket is when some of the games will be played.  With both Eau Claire’s Hobbs Ice Center and the Chippewa Ice Arena slated to host home games in both the boys and girls bracket, the respective athletic directors and rink managers have some decisions to make.   I’ve made a decision, and it’s an easy one: Memorial will win this sectional.  I say that, knowing that the only person who may disagree with my pick is Old Abes head coach Mike Schwengler–not because he lacks confidence in his guys, but he doesn’t like anything that could lead to overconfidence.   Still,  Memorial is by far the most talented team in this bracket, and if the Abes get knocked off and don’t win this sectional, it’ll be one of the biggest upsets in local HS hockey history.   If Memorial gives up more than a few goals along the way to a sectional title, it’ll be a shock.   If the Old Abes don’t have at least two running clock games, it’ll be a surprise…(sorry, Mike)

Regional semi’s: Marshfield over Ashland, Rice Lake over Medford, Chequamegon/Phillips over McDonell
Regional finals: Memorial over Marshfield, Chippewa Falls over North, Rice Lake over Altoona, Hayward over Chequamegon/Phillips
Sectional semi’s: Memorial over Chippewa Falls, Hayward over Rice Lake
Sectional final: Memorial over Hayward

Superior Sectional

The host Spartans are in a tougher bracket than Memorial, but still, the combination of talent, tradition, and home ice advantage will be unbeatable, as Superior advances to state for a 33rd time.   FYI, the WIAA state boys hockey tournament dates back to 1971…so, in other words, me saying the Spartans will be traveling to Madison in March is like meteorologist Doug Michaels forecasting that snow will fall in the capital city sometime during that same month. 

Regional semi’s: Baldwin-Woodville over Webster, Somerset over Barron, Hudson over Spooner
Regional finals: Superior over Baldwin-Woodville, River Falls over Amery, Menomonie over Somerset, New Richmond over Hudson
Sectional semi’s: Superior over River Falls, New Richmond over Menomonie
Sectional final: Superior over New Richmond

Other sectional winners: Wausau West, Wisconsin Rapids, Stoughton, University School, Appleton, & Middleton

GIRLS HS HOCKEY

Medford Sectional

One of these years, the ECA Stars are going to break through and make it to state.  Maybe next year….I just don’t think it’ll be this season.   The Stars don’t lack for talent, but they have the misfortune of being placed in a sectional bracket with perhaps the 2nd-best team in the state: the Central Wisconsin Storm (a.k.a., Mosinee Co-Op).  Neither name does justice to the fact that the team draws girls from Mosinee, Wausau West, Wausau East, and D.C. Everest High Schools…which means, the Storm has a pool of 5,361 students from which to draw.   Still, there are plenty of other reasons the Storm will likely wind up at state: they’re well-coached, they have veteran players who’ve tasted success in the past, and they simply have more talent than the rest of the sectional.

Regional finals: ECA over Tomahawk, Northland Pines over Medford, Marshfield over Rhinelander/Antigo, and Central Wisconsin over Lakeland
Sectional semi’s: ECA over Northland Pines, Central Wisconsin over Marshfield
Sectional final: Central Wisconsin over ECA

Hayward Sectional

I had a few chats with St. Croix Valley Fusion head coach Matt Cranston during last year’s state tourney, and came away with the feeling that he understood his team very well.  He seemed to always find that balance between being a motivator and being a dad; between being supportive and confrontational.  Cranston will have to “coach up” his players a bit for this postseason, especially after a late-season loss at Hudson.  Despite that defeat, the Fusion still got the #1 seed, but with the Raiders grabbing the #2 seed, a potential third meeting awaits in the sectional final.   Hudson’s got some tradition on its side: after all, the Raiders won the first two girls state tournaments.   But St. Croix Valley has the recent tradition on its side (the ’09 state title), and after a long, grueling season, which included many Minnesota opponents, I think the Wisconsin postseason is when the Fusion will play its best hockey…the coach will see to it that it happens that way.

Regional finals: St. Croix Valley over Superior, Chippewa Falls over Webster, Hayward over Menomonie, Hudson over New Richmond
Sectional semi’s: St. Croix Valley over Superior, Hudson over Hayward
Sectional final: St. Croix Valley over Hudson

Other sectional winners: Fond du Lac/Waupun, Sun Prairie

So there you have it.  Feel free to agree or disagree with these picks, but if you do either, please do it on the comment section below.  Drop some knowledge on us, explain your rationale, and have some fun… because after all, it is high school sports.

One prediction about which I’m very confident: when the WIAA state hockey tourney begins on March 4, I’ll be there covering it.

-BOB BRADOVICH

Posted under Hometown Sports

Tuesday, the Eau Claire YMCA held a memorial service for the late Paul Christensen, an employee of the YMCA for the past 30 years, and nearly 300 people attended.

If you belonged to the YMCA, or even went there as a guest, it was hard to not know Paul, who dutifully worked the counter at Entrance A, on the southeast side.  Almost always, he’d be the first YMCA employee you’d see on your way in, and the last YMCA employee you would see on your way out.

If you were a YMCA regular, you’d do more than see Paul…it was impossible to not have a conversation with the guy, who seemed to know everyone who passed his desk.  At some point after I joined the Y following my move to Eau Claire in 1996, Paul recognized me as the new sports guy at that new TV station.  From that point on, I was almost always greeted by a bellow from Paul, along the lines of: “HEY…what the HE** are the Packers doing…”, and then we’d go on to discuss the daily minutiae of the goings-on at 1265 Lombardi Avenue in Green Bay, from why Brett Favre threw interceptions, why certain players were demanding more money in their negotiations, which coaches and GM’s were or weren’t doing their jobs properly, whether Favre should retire, and why on earth the team drafted punter B.J. Sander. 

Initially, I felt like the unarmed man in these discussions, because it was very clear that Paul held the information advantage–the guy followed sports like no other, and really knew his stuff.   Once I invested in a home computer, I got in the habit of browsing internet sports sites before I went to the YMCA, just so I’d have a inkling as to what Paul would want to discuss when I walked in the door.  

I began to kid Paul that he was the chairman of my “YMCA Focus Group,”  after realizing that I could get a sense of what was important to fans in the community by just listening to what people at the Y were talking about regarding local, regional, and national sports.

I’d see Paul at various athletic events in town, and when former News 18 weekend sports anchor David Kmiecik began hanging out with friends who were in a bowling league at Wagner’s Lanes, I’d see Paul there as well, and we’d continue our chats about all things sports.

I regret that I didn’t get to know him better.   It wasn’t until his final weeks that I found out that he was battling cancer…it was at that time, regrettably, when I finally learned his last name.  The majority of our conversations were in passing, and never lasted very long.  I’d always admired his spirit, his genuine warmth, and his enthusiasm for life.   If there was anyone who could have been bitter about the hand he’d been dealt in life–a life spent in a wheelchair due to spina bifida, and a life that ended with a cancer battle– it was Paul.   Still, no one ever heard the guy complain about that.   

I learned a lot more about Paul during his memorial service, and was reminded yet again that in the final analysis, the true measure of a person’s life is not how much money they’ve accumulated, but how many other people they’ve touched.  

One day after I attended the memorial service for Paul Christensen, I had a chance to interview Paul Monson for a story that I’ll be producing for the upcoming WIAA state tournament telecasts.  For those who don’t recognize the name Paul Monson, he is a manager with the Eau Claire Memorial H.S. hockey team. 

Paul’s had quite a run with Old Abes athletics.  He was a manager for the ECM boys basketball team when Trevor Kohlhepp was the head coach, which meant he traveled to Madison for the Abes’ state tournament appearance in 2003.  Paul also helped out with Memorial baseball under former head coach Casey Eckardt, as well as Old Abes softball with current head coach Brad Chapman.

Paul claimed he was “retiring” from his managerial duties when Kohlhepp stepped away from coaching to become an assistant principal at Memorial, but thanks to Kohlhepp’s friendship with Old Abes hockey coach Mike Schwengler and assistant coach Jeff Schemberger, Paul made the transition from the court to the ice.   Even after graduating from Memorial in 2004, Paul has remained part of the Memorial hockey program.  It’s hard to believe anyone was happier than he was when the Old Abes won a WIAA state hockey title in 2008.

Paul Christensen’s life was enriched when he was hired by YMCA Executive Director John Schaaf some thirty years ago–but there’s no question the YMCA got the better end of that deal.  Similarly, while Paul Monson owes a lot to any number of people at Memorial (especially Kohlhepp, Schemberger, and Schwengler), it’s rather clear that the Old Abes athletic program is better because of Paul Monson being part of the team.  

-BOB BRADOVICH

(The Eau Claire YMCA is establishing a Paul Christensen Memorial Fund.  Checks can be made out to the Eau Claire YMCA, with a notation that the donation is for Paul’s fund.  Checks can be dropped off at the YMCA, or mailed to: Eau Claire YMCA, 700 Graham Avenue, Eau Claire, WI  54701)

Posted under Hometown Sports