Solid results at Nebraska and a look at the MVC race

We’ve officially hit the middle of the indoor track and field season …..

Nebraska

Last week I talked about how we’ve never beaten Nebraska.  And we still haven’t.

But this year was a lot closer than normal on the ladies side.  Here were the team scores:

Women: Nebraska 164, Wichita St 132, Colorado St 131, Illinois St 96

Men: Nebraska 195, Wichita St 123, Colorado St 96, Illinois St 95

The 32 point margin is the smallest margin we’ve had against the Cornhuskers.  The past five years we’ve lost by 49, 57, 107, 160 and 84 points so in that regard it was a successful weekend for the ladies.  Nebraska might be a little bit down this year but they’re still very good.  We were also able to edge out Colorado St by a single point for second place.  CSU has long been one of the best non-BCS track and field schools for many years and they gave us all we could handle.

Our men had a solid meet but Nebraska was just very, very good Saturday.  Going into the meet we had them beating us 184-137 and it was very close to that.  We also had CSU at 128 so defeating them handily was a good victory for our men.

Our in conference opponent Illinois St finished fourth in both meets and had some outstanding performances but they didn’t enter the meet in a way to maximize points so we know they are better than they appeared.

We’ve come away from this meet in the past feeling demoralized and this weekend we came away feeling good.  We know there is a lot of work to do but we like where we’re heading at this point.

A week off

There will be some Shockers competing next weekend but my group will be taking the week off.  Our multi’s and pole vaulters will head to UNI (site of the MVC Indoor Championships) while a few distance runners and throwers will go to Pittsburgh St.

The sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers will take the week off but it doesn’t mean we will “take the week off”.  I like to look at our indoor season in three parts.  Before the holidays was like the preseason.  The first three meets we’ve had so far are like the regular season.  And the last half of our season is the championship season.  Even though the MVC meet is the only “championship” meet (besides NCAA’s), I like our kids to think of our upcoming meets at the Air Force Academy, home and K-State with a championship mindset.  It’s time to get geared up and start putting up some great marks.  Some of the athletes need to do so in order to make our conference team (32 athletes) while our top athletes need to be ready to score the majority of the points to help us win championships.

The weekend off will let us do a couple things.  It lets us get healed up from the various aches and pains many of the athletes get at this time of the year.  It also lets us focus on a good, solid week of training without worrying backing off at the end of the week for the meet.

I like how our group is developing and working together so far.  Now it’s time to take that great foundation we’ve laid and finish the indoor season strong.

A look at the MVC

Even though it’s still pretty early, the MVC picture is starting to develop.  Fortunately the Shockers look to be in the hunt for a couple of championships in five weeks!

Let’s look at the men first …

We thought our men would be pretty good this year and they’ve proven us right so far.  Even though we have been without three guys who should be MVC scorers (Shazz Lindo, Tate Annis and Jake James) we still look like the team to beat on paper.  It’s still too early to tell but I would imagine Indiana St will have something to say about that as well as Illinois St.

The Indiana St men have been tough for us to beat (although we defeated them outdoor last year).  They look to be a little down right now but they have so much experience of winning that they have our total attention.  Illinois St is a rising team under second year head coach Jeff Bovee.  They probably have the best team on the track but they are lacking field event athletes that can score.

Southern Illinois and Northern Iowa have had some good early season performances but I don’t think they are in the title hunt for the indoor season yet.  They could prove me wrong because they have a lot of terrific athletes, but they don’t have the depth of the three teams I’ve mentioned before.  I would also put Loyola in that category.

For the women …

We’ve had a really good start to the year even without Nikki Larch-Miller.  We continue to hope we have her for the MVC Championships but our women are preparing to go to battle without her.  Anything she can give us would be a bonus to an already strong team.

However, Indiana St will still be a very difficult opponent.  They’ve started the indoor season strong too and we’ve gone back and forth with them in recent years in the championship competition both indoors and out.  They’ve got a well-balanced team and a lot of experience of winning so they will be tough to beat.  We respect them tremendously.

Beyond that I’m not sure there is another team in the title hunt.  SIU, Illinois St and Missouri St certainly have quality teams but I don’t think they’re to our level yet.  Give them another year or two and they’ll be there.  Drake is vastly improved and had a good meet this weekend but, like in previous years, they lack the depth needed to battle for a trophy finish.

We are feeling optimistic about our prospects for the MVC Indoor Championships in five weeks – but much is still yet to be done!

Movies!!!

I saw the much talked about movie The Revenant starring Leonardo DiCaprio.  It was based on a true story about a frontiersman in the 1820s that fights for survival amongst a horrible series of events that includs a terrible bear attack.  DiCaprio has received a bunch of acclaim for his performance and I would agree it was fantastic.  I really enjoyed the movie but I could see where some people wouldn’t.  It was a little long and slow in parts (146 minutes) and was pretty dreadful for most of the movie.  However, it was beautifully shot and very effective in showing how much he struggled to survive every obstacle.  It was also in the winter and made me cold, by the end of the movie I had put my winter coat on.  I must’ve been having a lot of sympathy for DiCaprio’s character haha!  Good movie if you’re patient.  8/10

Next time

I’m going to take a week off of blogging but will be back in two weeks after our meet at the Air Force Academy.

Until then, thank you for reading and Go Shocks!

Kansas Triangular and Shocker Prelude recaps and a long home winning streak for WSU

It was a busy weekend of track and field for the Shocks …

The WSU-KU-KSU Triangular

The second annual triangular between the three D1 schools in Kansas was a heckuva meet.  Here were the team scores:

Men:  Kansas 126, Wichita St 110, Kansas St 109

Women:  Kansas 128, Kansas St 125, Wichita St 95

Looking at the team scores you might think that we struggled but, overall, I think we did pretty well.  On the men’s side we were without four athletes that could’ve made a difference in point scoring (Shazz-Michael Lindo, Tate Annis, Jake James, Kaden Griffin).  With those kids I think we would’ve been very close to winning the meet.  On top of that KU and KSU have really good teams this year.  I think KU has their most well rounded team since I’ve been at WSU (10 years).  I expect both teams to battle Texas for the Big 12 titles this year.

I mentioned last week that Nikki Larch-Miller wouldn’t be competing for the women.  With her it would’ve made it much closer as well.  Did you see our men’s basketball team play without Fred VanVleet earlier this year?  Well our women have a similar type need for Nikki.  Hopefully she’ll be ready to compete again soon.

In the two years of the meet we have found that the host seems to get a big bump in scoring – which makes sense.  Next year we host this meet and we expect to see the same kind of bump for WSU.

Our kids competed hard and had a lot of good early season performances.  The coaches have talked about how having this meet later in the indoor season might yield even better marks but it appears that it will continue to be in the middle of January for the foreseeable future.

It’s a fun meet and a good way to get our season really rolling.

Shocker Prelude

After competing in Lawrence Friday night, we got home to Wichita around midnight and then was back up and at it Saturday morning hosting the Shocker Prelude.  The coaching staff was a little bleary eyed at 8am as we were setting up the facility but fortunately the kids on the team came rested and ready to go.

We had several athletes double back from Friday to compete in one event, but mostly it was athletes who didn’t compete the day before.  It was a great chance for some of our developing athletes to place high and be relied on for scoring.  We had a strong field on non-D1 teams and this is how the scoring came out:

Women:  Wichita St 216, Emporia St 171, Oklahoma Baptist 166, Angelo St 122, Friends 121

Men:  Friends 147, Wichita St 132, Oklahoma Baptist 122, Emporia St 111

Even though many of our top athletes weren’t competing we were still trying to win the meet.  Most D1 schools in this kind of a meet wouldn’t have scored it because there’s a possibility they would lose but that’s not how we like to do things.  We think all meets should be scored and an effort to cover the events should be required by all teams.  It makes it more fun for all involved.

Take this meet for example.  Friends University has done a great job building a terrific NAIA team and winning this meet has got to put a pep in the step of everyone associated with their men’s team.  If it was a non-scored meet then we would’ve just been standing there watching some events and hoping for some fast times.  Coach Rainbolt noticed we were losing the men’s meet late in the day and tried to get me to consider not scoring the 4x800m relay (we didn’t have a team).  He was joking but even in a situation like this he’s a competitor and doesn’t want to lose.

Congrats to Friends on a great meet and good luck in your upcoming KCAC and NAIA meets!

I have a lot of other thoughts on how track and field should be run but that’s for another time. J

Women’s winning streak

We started hosting track meets in the Heskett Center in 2009.  Since then we’ve had 13 scored meets (usually one in January and one in February).  Our women have won all 13 meets, defeating 54 opponents in the process.  There have been some really good teams come to the Heskett Center over the years and our ladies have defeated all of them, as well as winning a couple of Shocker Prelude meets with our developing athletes.

I think that’s a tremendous accomplishment.  If we are able to defeat another group of good teams on February 13 in the Herm Wilson Invitational (UT-Arlington, North Texas, Oral Roberts, UMKC), we would head into next year’s Kansas Triangular with an interesting motivational tool. 

The closest meet our women have had was winning by 18 points in last year’s Shocker Prelude.  Our men have won 9 of the 13 meets.

If you were to make it a won/loss record total, our women would be 54-0 at the Heskett Center and our men 44-4 (losses to Sam Houston St, UT-Arlington, Emporia St and Friends).

Cool stuff!

Next week

This week we head to Lincoln, Nebraska for two meets.  Friday we compete in the Nebraska Wesleyan Invitational held on the campus of Nebraska which we’ll use to give some kids the opportunity to compete on back to back days again.

But Saturday will be the main focus in a scored quad meet with Nebraska, Colorado St and MVC opponent Illinois St.  Speaking of streaks, I’ve never been part of a team that beat Nebraska in a scored meet like this (and we compete against them every year).  They have one of the most consistently well rounded and deep teams in the nation every year and have just been too tough for us.  We had one meet around 2009 that we got within 10 points but usually it has been a pretty humbling experience in Lincoln.

Colorado St and Illinois St both have really good teams as well so it should be a great meet!

Movies!!!

It was a very busy week so the only movie watching I was able to do was on my DVD player – and usually while working!  I did happen to see an early Paul Walker movie called Joy Ride that probably paved his way to the more well-known Fast and Furious franchise.  It was a pretty solid road movie about two brothers who get constantly stalked by a crazy guy driving a semi.  It reminded me of an old movie directed by a young Steven Spielberg named Duel.  That was a great and simple movie that is available to watch for free on YouTube.

I have not seen the new Star Wars movie and probably won’t.  I’ve heard it’s good but has only made $1.5 billion so far.  Slackers.

Next time

I’ll probably do the usual and recap the week!

Until then, thank you for reading and Go Shocks!

Teaching moments at Nebraska, we are ranked #13/#16 and a runner edges a wrestler

“Sometimes you eat the bear, and well, sometimes the bear eats you.” 

“Teaching moments” at Nebraska

I don’t know the origins of the above quote but the first time I heard it was on the movie “The Big Lebowski”.  It’s a quote that describes the bipolar nature of life and nothing could be more accurate to describe this past weekend of WSU T&F.

Our team traveled to Lincoln, Nebraska, for our annual indoor meet with the Huskers (that also included Oral Roberts).  I mentioned last week that it’s been since the 2006 outdoor season that we’ve beaten Nebraska and that unfortunate string continued this weekend.

TEAM SCORES

MEN- Nebraska 164, Wichita St 102, Oral Roberts 39

WOMEN- Nebraska 155, Wichita St 106, Oral Roberts 44

So, as a team, we kind of got our butts kicked.  I thought we had a chance to keep the women’s meet pretty close but things didn’t go our way and we had some of our first significant negative events of our indoor season.

The college track and field season is a long grind and has many ups and downs, especially when you have a roster as large as ours (130 total between men and women).  Not every meet is going to be awesome, just like every NFL team or college basketball team will have off games.

I’ll get the negative out of the way first because there are definitely a lot of positives to get to.  For my group the most significant negatives were a few injuries that occurred.  In my mind I had circled this week as a week we needed to just kind of “get through” because we are still training at a very high and intense level, as well as competing in back-to-back days for the first time this year.  It was very important for our team to compete in back-to-back days (we had a small college meet on Friday in Nebraska) because that’s the way the MVC Championships will be in just over a month.  We don’t want that to be the first 2-day meet of our season, so in that regard this weekend was successful in that MOST of our athletes got through it successfully.

However, when you compete over 90 athletes the chances of an injury in a week like this are pretty high.  Two of my top girl sprinters went down on Saturday.  I think one of them is not serious but the other could be, and when I say serious I mean their indoor season could be over.  I am anxiously awaiting what our trainers say when they re-evaluate them today (Sunday) after getting back late Saturday night.

We also held out a few athletes at the end of the meet because of some typical aches and pains that result in competing two days in a row.  That’s a frustrating thing for a coach when you are wanting to run a good 4x4 relay but you have to see the big picture (and I had seen two girls go down already).

Track and field is a tough sport and injuries are going to happen every year.  That bear got a couple of our kids this weekend.

On the other hand we had a lot of athletes “get the bear” by competing great over the weekend!  As a team our distance runners are looking fantastic and they virtually dominated Nebraska Saturday.  I was very happy with a lot of the sprinters and hurdlers as well.  Usually Nebraska’s track is hard to compete on because it’s the only 200m banked track we see during the indoor season, but there were lots and lots of personal bests this weekend and when we get totally healthy I think we will be a tough group to deal with at the MVC Championships.

Without the above mentioned injuries the meet scores would’ve been something like 140-120 on the women’s side and, for competing against one of the best all-around teams in the nation, that would’ve been a solid result.

So all in all it was a good weekend and one that we can learn from (both coaches and athletes). 

Another big scored meet this week

We will head to Cedar Falls, Iowa, this weekend for another really good scored meet on the site of the MVC Indoor Championships.

Like at Nebraska, there will be a small college meet on Friday and the main attraction on Saturday.  I envision having some of our athletes compete Friday but the majority of my group will wait until Saturday.  There are many reasons this meet is important but one of the most significant is that our multi-event athletes will get to compete in their first Heptathlon (men) and Pentathlon (women) of the season.  It’ll be their only one before the MVC Indoor meet.

Our opponents will all be from the MVC:  Northern Iowa, Indiana State and Drake.

Scouting report

Northern Iowa has also been a strong program in track and field and this year they appear to be as good as they’ve been in a long time.  Just this past week their women beat Iowa, Iowa St and Drake to win the “Big 4” track meet that determines the best team in Iowa.  Their men lost to Iowa but beat Iowa St and Drake.  They will be a formidable opponent, especially on their home track.

Drake always has some good athletes but they usually aren’t able to field a deep team that you need in a meet like this.  They beat Iowa St on both the men’s and women’s sides this weekend (Iowa St focuses on distance events) and will have some excellent athletes to contend with Saturday.

Indiana State is the defending MVC Indoor Champions for both the men and women.  Last week they were ranked #19 on the men and #20 on the women in the National Dual Meet Rankings released by Track & Field News (we were #13 and #16).  We know they will be a tough team again this year and it’ll be fun to compete head to head with the Sycamores.  Last year we had a similar meet with them at Air Force and they defeated us – hopefully this year will be different.

Speaking of national rankings

As I just mentioned this was the first week of the Track & Field News National Dual Meet Rankings and we were excited to see the Shockers #13 on the men and #16 on the women.  The rankings are described as this …

“To be considered for a ranking, a team must compete in one or more dual meets (defined as a scored meet between four or fewer teams) during the indoor season.  Ranking criteria include win/loss record, strength and depth of schedule, and quality and breadth of marks.  The rankings reward teams that take dual meet competition seriously.”

These rankings, as opposed to the USTFCCCA National Rankings, are a measure of team strength.  The USTFCCCA rankings are a measure of your upper level national athletes.  A couple years ago we had Aliphine Tuliamuk-Bolton and just having her resulted in a high ranking but it didn’t necessarily mean we had a deep and balanced team (although we did).  We prefer the Dual Meet Rankings and we hope to stay ranked throughout the season.

By the way, the MVC is well represented …

MEN- #13 Wichita St, #19 Indiana St, #23 Southern Illinois

WOMEN- #12 Southern Illinois, #16 Wichita St, #20 Indiana St

This past week Nebraska was #5 on the men and #14 on the women, rankings we feel they were very deserving of.  Also of note are the rankings of Kansas St (#3 women, #10 men) and Kansas (#19 women, #22 men).  So after next week we will have competed against four top-25 teams on both the men’s and women’s sides in three weeks.  No one can say our strength of schedule is lacking!!!

You can find the complete rankings here.

“W” Movies

This is the 22nd of a 24 part series (we’re almost done!) where I list movies I own by letter (I don’t have any movies that begin with Q, X or Z but I do have some that start with numbers).  I currently own a small collection of 179 movies (and growing most weeks) on DVD.

Most of the movies I own I had previously seen and enjoyed immensely.  Some are movies that I had not seen but was curious about.  Some were gifts from people with bad tastes in movies.

I own six “W” movies, here is the list from best to worst …..

Movie Name (year made, length, MPAA rating, IMDB rating, Worldwide box office)

Without Limits (1998, 117 min, PG-13, 7.2, $777k) – This is the better of the two movies made about the great Oregon distance runner Steve Prefontaine (The other was called Prefontaine) starring Billy Crudup as Pre and Donald Sutherland as Oregon coach Bill Bowerman.  For someone whose life is track and field this movie is about as good as it gets.  It wasn’t a perfect movie but it was true to the story of Prefontaine and packed with lots of track and field action.  This is a movie we’ll put on during a trip on the bus with Wichita State, especially when we’re traveling from Portland to Eugene, Oregon.  It’s interesting to wonder what Prefontaine would’ve done if he didn’t pass away in his prime.

The Wrestler (2008, 109 min, R, 7.9, $44m) – A movie about a professional wrestler who is struggling with the end of his career and what he’ll do next.  Starring Mickey Rourke, this is a great movie about the end of a famous athlete’s career and what these guys go through to hang on as long as possible.  As a kid I loved professional wrestling and even though I’m not interested in it anymore I’m still fascinated with what happens to these guys later in life.  This is detailed very effectively here by director Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan), but this is Rourke’s film from beginning to end and it basically resurrected his acting career.

Walk the Line (2005, 136 min, PG-13, 7.9, $186m) – This biopic of country singer Johnny Cash was played extremely well by Joaquin Phoenix.  I was never a big fan of Cash’s music before watching this movie but afterwards I became one.  I thought Reese Witherspoon did a good job of playing June Cash as well but Phoenix’s presence was undeniable.  Both stars sang all the songs themselves and learned to play the musical instruments as well, and for that I have great respect.  This is a really good movie that any fan of music would probably like.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971, 100 min, G, 7.8, $4m) – I don’t own many children’s movies and I’m not sure I’d put this one in that category either although it is rated G.  I think it’s a brilliant movie that must’ve been significantly misunderstood upon release since it only made $4 million.  Since then it has become very well-known and even beloved by many.  Gene Wilder is perfect as the funny and sometimes shady Willy Wonka.  An interesting tidbit is this was the only movie ever for the child star Peter Ostrum who played Charlie.  You don’t have to be a kid to enjoy this movie!  ”So much time and so little to do.  Wait a minute.  Strike that.  Reverse it.  Thank you!”

Wolf of Wall Street (2013, 180 min, R, 8.3, $392m) – Based on the true story of wealthy stock-broker Jordan Belfort (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and his rise and fall through corruption and greed.  Even though this movie is towards the bottom of this list I still really liked it – this is just a good list of movies this week.  The first half of the movie is mostly crazy sexual acts and the rise of Belfort’s empire while the second half of the movie (which was more interesting to me) detailed the fall.  I know some people who think this was one of the best movies ever – and it does have a very high rating of 8.3 on IMDB – but I thought the sex stuff was just too much and took a little bit away from the story, which was very good.  Nonetheless it’s very entertaining throughout.

War of the Worlds (2005, 116 min, PG-13, 6.5, $591m) – This is not a movie I would normally buy (big budget action) but I took a chance.  I would say I was underwhelmed for a movie with Tom Cruise and Steven Speiberg attached.  Earth is invaded by alien tripods and Cruise and his family fight for survival.  There were some cool special effects but I’m just not that interested in movies where that’s the main draw.  It’s not a bad movie by any means, it’s just one that wore me out eventually.  I would’ve preferred it be about 20 minutes shorter.

All of these movies are excellent except the last one!

Next week

I’ll be back to talk about our trip to Northern Iowa and our battle with three conference opponents.  I don’t have any movies that begin with X and only one that has a Y so it’ll be a short report.  That movie stars Jim Carey if you want to try and guess.

Until then, thanks for reading and Go Shocks!

We lose a heartbreaker in the battle of Kansas, the Power 5 make their first big moves and Chevy's finest movie

It was a big weekend of track and field for Wichita State so let’s get right into it!

First ever WSU-KU-KSU Triangular

It’s been a long time coming but we were finally able to get the three Kansas DI schools together for a scored and meaningful track meet Saturday in Manhattan.  Here were the final scores:

MEN:  Kansas St 117, Wichita St 116, Kansas 105

WOMEN:  Kansas St 144, Wichita St 101, Kansas 97

COMBINED (traveling trophy):  Kansas St 261, Wichita St 217, Kansas 202

                                                                                                      

Ahhhh that one point on the men’s side!  The way it worked out was the triple jump ended up being the last event going so believe it or not it came down to a battle between the fifth and sixth placed guys who were only separate by a few centimeters.  We came up on the short end but it was a great early season test for our crew and hopefully the beginning to a great rivalry on the track between the three schools.

As with most track meets only a few people actually knew how close the meet was.  We really need to work on our presentation because a close meet with a meaningful 4x4 at the end is about as exciting as a sporting event can get!

Next year we’ll be at KU for this meet and we’ll host in 2017.  I’m already thinking of ways to make it a great experience for anyone attending.  It could be a fantastic meet for spectators and possibly television!

How did we do?

Obviously we wanted to win this meet and coming up one point short was tough to take for the guys but the only reason we got that close was because of a couple of KSU DQ’s in the 200m so we probably ended up where we should’ve.  I think our kids competed well for this early of a meet and on a facility they aren’t too familiar with (and with the Big 12 events).  KSU’s indoor track is very tight and our kids did a great job turning in times that were near or better than their indoor personal bests.

From looking at results from around the MVC I would say that it looks like we did well this weekend.  It’s still too early to tell much of anything from that but I think it’s better to have a strong start and maintain a consistent level of performance than relying on a big improvement at championship time.

So far, so good.

Shocker Prelude

We also hosted the Shocker Prelude on Friday night in the Heskett Center for those kids who didn’t make the trip to Manhattan.  It was a great opportunity for some of our younger and developing athletes to win events and compete towards the front when normally they may be in the shadow of our top athletes.  I thought those kids did a great job and we’re looking for several of them to make the team and score points at the MVC Indoor Championships in less than six weeks.

What did I do with my day off Sunday?

I went recruiting.

Upcoming …..

We will be similar to last week with a small college meet on Friday and a triangular on Saturday.  Both of these meets will be in Nebraska’s Devanny Center, home of a 200 meter hydraulically banked track.  This will be the only regular season meet where we’ll run on a banked track.  Since we are not very familiar with that type of track it will be an adjustment for our kids, but once they get the hang of it they usually run pretty well.

Our opponents on Saturday will be the highly ranked Cornhuskers as well as Oral Roberts University.  We should beat ORU pretty easily but defeating Nebraska will require a significant effort.  We’ve never beaten them in a scored meet since 2006 and this year they are very strong again.  Hopefully the Shockers are ready to give them a battle!

The NCAA Power 5 make some new rules

For any of you that are interested in this sort of thing, the NCAA and the Power 5 conferences (SEC, Pac-12, Big 12, ACC and Big 10) had their convention and voted some new rules into effect.  The main one is the “cost of attendance” policy.  Basically now schools cover expenses up to the cost of attendance which is beyond what a normal scholarship allows.  What that means is that full scholarship athletes (mostly football, basketball and volleyball) can receive somewhere between $2000 and $4000 more per year to help cover things like travel and other college kid expenses.  Conferences not part of the “Power 5” can choose to apply this to their schools or not – just depends on how much money you have.

I’m not going to go on a rant here but if you want to know how I really feel about this feel free to meet me at a local establishment and we’ll talk about it over a beverage.

There were some other things established but nothing that is too interesting for here.  I’m sure this is just the beginning of what should probably be referred to quasi-amateur sports (football and basketball college athletics).

 “V” Movies

This is the 21st of a 24 part series (we’re almost done!) where I list movies I own by letter (I don’t have any movies that begin with Q, X or Z but I do have some that start with numbers).  I currently own a small collection of 179 movies (and growing most weeks) on DVD.

Most of the movies I own I had previously seen and enjoyed immensely.  Some are movies that I had not seen but was curious about.  Some were gifts from people with bad tastes in movies.

I only own four “V” movies, here is the list from best to worst …..

Movie Name (year made, length, MPAA rating, IMDB rating, Worldwide box office)

Vacation (1983, 93 min, R, 7.4, $61m) – The original that started it all and spawned at least three sequels starred Chevy Chase and was directed by Harold Ramis.  This is probably Chevy Chase’s most recognizable role as Clark Griswold and has classic scene after classic scene.  The only sequel, in my opinion, that is close to this one is Christmas Vacation, but even it doesn’t come close having the amount of laughs as this one.  Did you know the original ending didn’t involve the theme park and rollercoasters?  Originally Clark goes to Roy Wally’s house with a BB gun and then on the plane ride home (which is the wrong plane) Clark snaps and hijacks the plane.  Apparently the test audiences didn’t like it and the theme parks scenes were hastily shot.  Great movie, lots of laughs and Chevy Chase at his best!

VHS (2012, 116 min, R, 5.8, $100k) – This (and its two sequels) are referred to as found footage “horror anthology” because it’s a collection of short films put together to make a feature length movie.  In VHS there is also a wraparound story that supposedly ties everything together.  The plot is a group of young punks are hired to rob a house and get a rare VHS tape and when they watch the tapes they get more than they bargained for.  I thought it was such a cool idea for a movie that I bought #2 (see below).  If you get tired of one part of the movie, don’t worry it’ll be over soon and another original story is soon to follow.  I don’t know how this movie didn’t get popular enough for a national release but unfortunately it didn’t so not too many people have seen it.

VHS 2 (2013, 96 min, R, 6.1, 21k) – I could easily put this one ahead of the original, and in many ways it’s superior, but it’s basically the same idea.  There are fewer short films in this one (four compared to six in the original) but they are of a little better quality because they probably had a little more money to work with.  The great thing about these movies are the parts are so short it’s easier to be creative because you don’t have to stretch the idea for 90 minutes.  Also each different section of the movie is made by a different film maker so it keep the movies very fresh.  If you like horror movies and haven’t seen any of these make sure to check one out.

Vegas Vacation (1997, 93 min, PG, 5.9, 39m) – This was the final of four “Vacation” movies (although there was also Hotel Hell Vacation in 2010 that was only on video and some sort of new version of the original Vacation being released this October).  This version was decent but by 1997 Chevy Chase’s popularity and comedic skills had deteriorated.  This was basically a family movie as compared to the more adult humor of the original.  It’s not a bad movie, and some of the parts are quite funny (especially gambling at the cheap casinos) but the best parts probably include Randy Quaid as Cousin Eddie.  I acquired this move in the Vacation DVD pack so I’d say it was worth the $5.  For lovers of the series it’s a bit of a letdown but as a cheesy family film it’s not too bad.

Next week

I’ll be back to report on our first overnight trip of the year to Lincoln, Nebraska, as well as talking about six “W” movies that include one of the best track movies of all time, a professional wrestler and a wolf.

Until then, thanks for reading and Go Shocks!

Thanksgiving Break, we sign 5 new Shockers and Nebraska barely beats Old Men (not a Pellini joke)

The busier I am the shorter the blog – so this one will be pretty short.

Track

It’s Thanksgiving break so obviously it was a short week of practice.  Basically we worked out Monday and Tuesday then gave the team the rest of the week on their own to go home and enjoy the holiday with their family and/or friends.

Coach Rainbolt made a good point how this marked the first of six straight weeks that are different.  We’ve been in a routine for most of the fall and now we have 1) Thanksgiving week 2) Intersquad week 3) Finals week and then 4-5-6) Winter break.  It will take our athletes being disciplined and focused over that time period to come back ready for a successful indoor season.  So far we’ve had a good fall so we can’t afford to lose ground in the coming weeks.

This is a big week in our program.  We have our annual Intersquad Meet on Friday where our team is divided into Gold, White and Black and compete for the traveling trophy along with a bunch of our alumni (Gray).  It’s a very fun and exciting way to finish our fall semester and at the same time see how our team looks heading into the break.  The field events begin at 10:30am and the running events begin at 1:00pm at the Heskett Center.  If you can’t make it be sure to tune in online for the livestream.

We also have our annual team banquet after the meet on Friday night.  It’s a great way to celebrate last year’s seniors and to kick off the 2015 year.  After the banquet we get together with our alumni (old and new) to socialize and mostly talk about Shocker Track & Field!

We hope to see you at one of the above events on Friday!

Recruiting

We have released our list of signees for the early signing period.  HERE THEY ARE

Even though the list is only five athletes we have definitely addressed some of our needs.  We were looking to improve in the 400/800 area for the women as well as finding a triple jumper on the men’s side.  We still have some key areas of need that we are working on as the next signing period approaches in April.  And who knows, we may even add an athlete or two in January that will be on our team immediately!

Recruiting never stops.

“N” Movies

This is the 14th of a 24 part series (are you bored yet?) where I list movies I own by letter (I don’t have any movies that begin with Q, X or Z but I do have some that start with numbers).  I currently own a small collection of 178 movies (and growing most weeks) on DVD.

Most of the movies I own I had previously seen and enjoyed immensely.  Some are movies that I had not seen but was curious about.  Some were gifts from people with bad tastes in movies.

I own 6 (or 7 see below) “N” movies that are VERY different so here is the list from best to worst …..

Movie Name (year made, length, MPAA rating, IMDB rating, Worldwide box office)

Nebraska (2013, 115 min, R, 7.8, $17.6m) – There are a few reasons I love this little independent movie.  First of all it was made by Alexander Payne (who also made Sideways which I love) and I generally like his movies a lot.  Also it’s set in the Midwest so I feel like I’ve driven through a lot of places that are portrayed in the movie.  Finally, it was the last movie I ever saw with my dad who passed away this year and the father/son road trip storyline is one that we could definitely relate.  On top of that it’s just a really good movie.  It’s funny and interesting throughout, I say check it out if you haven’t seen it!

No Country for Old Men (2007, 122 min, R, 8.2, $171m) – This barely lost out to Nebraska and is really a great movie.  Another great effort by the Coen Brothers (Big Lebowski, True Grit) that is memorable for me because of how simple it is.  There is so much of the movie that has no dialogue or music.  It’s very dramatic and will keep you on the edge of your seat until the end.  Javier Bardem plays the role of bad guy as good as could be, I would never want to see that guy at a hotel I was staying in!

North Dallas Forty (1979, 119 min, R, 7.0, $26m) – Nick Nolte stars in this movie based on a true story (sort of) about a professional football team.  It was based on a book by a former Dallas Cowboys player who told the previously untold stories of the darker side of pro football like drugs, steroids, parties, etc.  Nolte does a great job playing a guy just trying to hang onto the team and the scenes of him getting out of bed after a game or sitting in an ice tub makes your bones and joints ache just watching.

Nail Gun Massacre (1985, 85 min, NR, 4.0, $??) – One of the best BAD movies of all time!  I stumbled across this terrible low budget movie at when I was a kid and it left an impression on me.  It was so, so, so bad that after a while I started laughing and before I knew it I was laughing through most of the film.  It wasn’t supposed to be funny – it’s just that bad.  The plot doesn’t matter (a crazy killer terrorizing with a nail gun) and the acting is atrocious (you can actually see people reading lines off paper) but it does have a quality that makes it hard to not watch.  Some people like to think Plan 9 from Outer Space by Ed Wood is the worst movie ever and this is definitely in the same category!

Necessary Roughness (1991, 108 min, PG-13, 6.0, $26m) – It’s not a bad sports movie, it’s just a little on the light side (compared to North Dallas Forty) for most people to remember.  Scott Bakula (remember him from Quantum Leap) plays an aging college quarterback who is brought in to help revive a struggling football program (I guess they didn’t have the same rules we do today about age limits).  There’s a lot of funny stuff in this movie and it’s all pretty innocent family fun.  But you really can’t take a movie too serious that has Sinbad and Kathy Ireland on the same team as the guy from Quantum Leap.

Nymphomaniac (Volume I and II) (2013, 118/123 min, NR, 7.1/6.9, $12.4m) – Ok, so obviously by the title you can probably gather what these movies are about but they’re probably not what you might think they are.  If you think you’re sitting down to watch some kind of pornographic movie then you would be wrong – although there is a lot of adult subject matter – I think the film maker was trying to make this movie in a way that would drive away people looking for that.  If you have an open mind and can watch these two movies as more of a clinical case study then you will probably find them interesting.  If you can’t then I would avoid them all together.

This is a pretty good and diverse list this week!

Next week

I will give a full report on how the Intersquad Meet goes as well as delving into my collection of ”O” movies.  There’s only five of them and a couple start with the word Office and Old.  You know them too – classics!

Until then thank you for reading and Go Shocks!

Shocker Cross Country is off to a fast start, Dorf got married and I own a lot of "D" movies

Another week has rolled by and we’re starting to see what kind of team we have this year.

I have to start with our cross country team because they really ran well this weekend at Nebraska.  Obviously I’m not an expert on distance running but I’ve been around a lot of great coaches and athletes in my lifetime.  We’ve had some really good cross country teams at WSU and some really average ones.  It looks like we have a couple of really good ones this year and so far they are undefeated through the first two meets of the fall.

We thought our women’s team would be pretty solid but they appear to be coming around more quickly than we thought.  There’s a good mix of veterans and rookies and you never know how long it will take to mesh.  After easily defeating the likes of Nebraska, Air Force, Northern Iowa, Miami and Northern Colorado this weekend on top of edging Kansas State two weeks ago, I have to imagine they are starting to turn some heads.

Same for the men in terms of turning heads.  It wasn’t as easy but they beat all the same teams this weekend and seem to be coming together very nicely.  Coach Hunter’s teams don’t have any superstars and seem to be working together to prove the preseason MVC rankings of fifth and sixth wrong.

The next meet will be a step up in competition at the University of Arkansas in two weeks.  I’m going to travel over with the team so I’ll be able to see their progress in person.  Good stuff!

As for the rest of the team, it will take a little longer to see what we have although after a few weeks of practice I think we are cautiously optimistic.  We had another good week of practice and the newcomers are starting to look less like newcomers than a few weeks ago.  We’re about midway through our preseason conditioning phase and each week is better than the previous.

In preseason conditioning we have two main goals.  The first is to, obviously, get the team into shape.  Basically we’re trying to get everyone to the point of being able to train specifically for their event in about six weeks.  If they have done a nice job in the summer then this phase is usually fun.  If they haven’t done a good job in the summer then it’s pretty miserable.  Luckily we’ve had a lot of fun so far.

The second part of preseason conditioning is trying to get the team to become more of a “team”.  We purposely have large groups of athletes running, jumping and lifting together so they can get to know each other.  We demand our team come together at championship time but it’s a whole lot easier if they can come together earlier in the year.  It’s very tough because we have over 60 athletes on each team and just getting to know most of your teammates is very time consuming.  So far we’ve mostly just focused on learning to practice together but we’ll have some other team building activities coming up in the last few weeks conditioning.

The newcomers, and especially the freshmen, are always the last to figure out the “team thing”.  They have a lot on their plate when they first get to campus but pretty soon we will be expecting them to get up to the level of their teammates in terms of teamwork and work ethic.

Like I’ve said before, so far so good, but it’s really too early to know what kind of team we have.

Coach Hetzendorf gets married!

For the second time in as many months, one of our coaches got married this weekend.  Our throws coach (and my former teammate at Kent State) John Hetzendorf got married to Amber McGown in a beautiful outdoor ceremony in Wichita.  Amber was a terrific distance runner for Cornell and Oregon and we have already decided to recruit their kids.

My job for their wedding was to play certain music before and during the wedding ceremony.  I’m not sure what Amber was thinking putting me in charge but luckily I didn’t mess it up and everything turned out great.  Even the forecast of rain stayed away – I’d say it was a good way to start for the Hetzendorf’s!

Congrats to John and Amber!

“D” Movies

This is the fourth of a 24 part series (if I don’t bore you all to death) where I list movies I own by letter (I don’t have any movies that begin with Q, X or Z but I do have some that start with numbers).  I currently own a small collection of 150 movies (and growing most weeks) on DVD.

Most of the movies I own I had previously seen and enjoyed immensely.  Some are movies that I had not seen but was curious about.  Some were gifts from people with bad tastes in movies.

Here is the list of my 15 “D” movies from best to worst (this is the most movies in any letter I own) …..

Movie Name (year made, length, MPAA rating, IMDB rating, Box office)

Dallas Buyers Club (2013, 117 min, R, 8.0, $55.1m) – You can hardly recognize Matthew McConaughey as a man diagnosed with AIDS in the early 1980’s.  He lost over 50 lbs for this role and the dedication to his craft was as inspirational as anything I’ve ever seen on film.  On top of that this is a great movie about a subject that is sometimes hard to talk about.

Django Unchained (2012, 165 min, R, 8.5, $425m) – Since Pulp Fiction I’ve always been a fan of Quentin Tarantino and this may be his best movie yet.  Brutal and funny with a completely different perspective on the issue of slavery, Django left a significant impression on me.  Jamie Foxx is one talented dude!

Dazed and Confused (1993, 102 min, R, 7.7, $7.9m) – One of Richard Linklater’s first movies and definitely one of his best.  It follows a bunch of high school kids on their last day of school.  It doesn’t really have a lot of drama but it’s a great snapshot of a time in life that is captured very well.  This was Matthew McConaughey’s first movie and what a great creepy guy he played!

Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964, 95 min, PG, 8.5, $9.4m) – One of director Stanley Kubrick’s most well liked movies despite the longest name ever, haha.  It’s a dark comedy about an insane general who tries to start a nuclear war while a bunch of bumbling politicians try to stop it.  The more I watch it the more I like this crazy old movie.

Death Race (2008, 105 min, R, 6.4, $75.6m) – You won’t see a lot of action movies in my collection but I am a Jason Statham fan and I loved the original Death Race 2000 movie (see below).  They did a great job making this movie stylish and funny while keeping it entertaining throughout.  Although it’s not the same story as the original it’s a great new version of the old absurd concept of killing people with your car.

The Departed (2006, 151 min, R, 8.5, $289m) – What’s not to like here?  A great action/drama with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars directed by Martin Scorsese.  I wouldn’t say this movie is the most original movie in the world but its fun and entertaining the whole way.  Jack Nicholson as a bad guy always makes a movie better!

Donnie Darko (2001, 113 min, R, 8.1, $1.2m) – This is a really weird movie where a teenager (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) has visions of a bunny rabbit that makes him commit crimes.  Yes, I said it was a bit weird.  But it’s really a great movie when you sit down and give it a watch.  It is full of emotions and great acting for a movie with such a small budget.

Death Race 2000 (1975, 80 min, R, 6.2, $???) – The plot is ridiculous (a cross country race where you gain points by killing people with you car) and the acting is atrocious (one of Sylvester Stallone’s first movies). But somehow it caught on as a cult classic and luckily I saw it as a kid.  You don’t watch movies like this to comment on its artistic beauty.  You watch it with your buddies and laugh at how ridiculous it is.

Dan in Real Life (2007, 98 min, PG-13, 6.8, $68.3m) – I’m a big Steve Carrel fan and this movie shows off some of his non-comedic talent.  There’s a part where he’s singing “Let my love open the door” with Dane Cook that motivated me to learn how to play a guitar so I could show off to girls.

Don Jon (2013, 90 min, R, 6.7, $30.4m) – Written and directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, this movie takes a completely different perspective on a “love story”.  Even though the subject matter is a bit risqué, I definitely found this movie very entertaining and thought provoking.

Deliverance (1972, 110 min, R, 7.8, $???) – A white water rafting trip that goes to hell is a pretty good summary of this classic starring Burt Reynolds.  This was a very controversial film in the 1970’s and still makes some people uncomfortable viewing it today.  One of the more beautiful scenes, however, is their version of dueling banjos – great stuff!

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988, 110 min, PG, 7.3, $42m) – This is a funny little movie with Michael Caine and Steve Martin who try to continually top each other by being seeing who can be the best con man.  There are some really funny scenes and a twist ending that seems appropriate for the two scoundrels.

The Doors (1991, 140 min, R, 7.2, $34.4m) – A biopic movie of the popular and controversial band The Doors with lead singer Jim Morrison.  It was directed by Oliver Stone so it has a bunch of weird scenes where he tries to be very artsy.  It’s entertaining but a little bit too long.  I like it but I probably would like a documentary of the band just as well.

Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982, 88 min, PG, 6.8, $18.1m) – This is an early Steve Martin film that was probably way ahead of it’s time.  It’s a parody of a detective story from the 1940’s or 1950’s where this movie is blended with scenes from older movies and stars like Cagney, Douglas, etc.  It probably needs to be watched more than once to appreciate it.  I’ve only seen it once.

The Da Vinci Code (2006, 149 min, PG-13, 6.5, $758m) – I always thought this was an interesting premise – clues in Da Vinci paintings that lead to religious mysteries that could shake the foundations of Christianity.  Unfortunately it never really connected with me but apparently it did with many others as it made over $700 million worldwide.

Whew that was a lot of movies!  Luckily next week I only have 4 “E” movies.

Go Shocks!