The Stevens Point high school boys basketball program went through some lean times in the 2000's. One of the biggest high schools in the state had trouble fielding a competitive hoops team. Then 9 years ago Scott Anderson arrived to take over the program. Anderson had led a successful program at Neenah and also coached as an assistant at UWSP before taking the SPASH job. Anderson announced yesterday he is stepping down from his head coaching position at SPASH to spend more time with his family. Only 51, he leaves behind a legacy that will be hard to follow. Six consecutive Wisconsin Valley Conference titles and three straight state championships from 2015-2017. Now he will be the first to tell you that having great players like the Hauser brothers, Drew Blair and his son Trevor certainly makes the job of winning games easier. But not all coaches can turn talented players into winners. And coaching your own son adds it's own special pressures to the mix. The job search begins and it will certainly be a popular position for a coach on the rise to accept the challenge. And, make no mistake, it will be a challenge. When a program has been as successful as Spash boys basketball, anything less than competing for and regularly winning titles will be tough to accept.
Trevor Anderson will play for the Badgers this coming season after sitting out a year. He transferred from UW-Green Bay where nagging injuries limited his effectiveness. It will be interesting to watch if he gets a chance to jump into the backcourt mix and how his game will play in Madison. He's a guy, when healthy, that can get to the basket and shoot the deep ball. He was basically unguardable in high school.
Josh Hader has faced 41 batters this season…25 of them have struck out. The Brewers are 7-0 in games in which he pitches….Jacob Nottingham became the second Brewers catcher to catch a shut-out in his major league debut. The other was Darrall Porter in 1971.
We thought the aquisition of Eric Bledsoe migh have put Milwaukee over the top in their quest to make it past the first round of the NBA playoffs. He has been flat out terrible in this series with Boston. The Bucks shot 60% for much of the game last night and still lost. Much of that can be laid at the feet of Bledsoe and Parkers lack of defense. Bledsoe then had ther audacity to say to a reporters question that he “didn't know” who Terry Rozier is. Um, he's the guy that has torched your ass for the last two games. That should have been the reporters reply.
Elections have consequences…Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell refuses to bring proposed legislation to the floor that would protect special counsel Robert Mueller from being fired. McConnell said “I'm the one who decides what we take to the floor. That's my responsibility as Majority leader and we will not be having this on the floor”. Since, Mr McConnell, you seem to have abdicated your “responsibility” to be a check and balance against an out of control executive branch, it would seem the voters need to make sure that come November, you are no longer Majority leader………………..another Russian reporter investigating Russian ties to Trump campaign officials mysteriously falls from his fifth floor balcony. These guys must be the clumsiest and most unlucky SOB's in history….Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke described himself as a “geologist” this week. He's not…but then lying just comes as second nature for Trump's minions……Fox News is basically punting their journalistic ethics by coming to the defense of embattled talk show host Sean Hannity. We knew that, with the exception of Shep Smith, Fox is more interested in money and political agenda than integrity and ethics. But, by not responding to Hannity's ethical quagmire in any responsible way, they just re-inforce that view with the general public. At least that portion of the general public that has not injested the tainted Kool-Aid they serve up every day…..
Quotes Of The Day
“It's possible that Sean Hannity “did not know he was a client of Michael Cohen.”-Hugh Hewitt
“These guys will say literally anything. You almost have to admire the levels of rationalization and self-serving logic they construct. And Hugh Hewitt is among the masters.”-Jeff Questad
“Who would be stupid enough to seek the most scutinized job in the world when they'd filed for bankruptcy 7 times, had multiple women alleging sexual misconduct, had settled numerous cases of fraud, was known to conduct business with Russian oligarchs, and had Fredo for a lawyer.”-Ken Olin
“A colossal and broken narcissist? A blind wealth addict who does not comprehend or value humanity? The kind of guy who needs to serve his guests 1 scoop of ice cream and makes sure he gets 2? Actually literally, Not a metaphor.”-Sarah Silverman
“It's really something to see Times and Post reporters congratulating themselves for their Trump Pulitzers. I'd be more impressed if they apologized for the coverage that helped elect him in the first place.”-Melissa McEwan
Songs Of The Day…the late blues guitarist Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown was born on this date in 1924
