The busiest yet

With a mix of both prep and college sports, two homecomings and two long days in last Friday and Saturday, last week was by far my busiest of the fall sports season.

To start off the coverage Tuesday I saw Bottineau's volleyball team down Newburg-Westhope in Bottineau. Wednesday I covered my first Ladyjacks volleyball game, as they won their home opener.

Thursday I had a night off from coverage, but spent it stinking it up on my first night of league bowling. My average in Albany last season was 193, but in Bottineau I bowled games of 146, 144 and 142 for a 432 series, getting used to the alleys here might be a challenge.

Friday was Westhope-Newburg-Glenburn football's homecoming game approx. 30 miles west of Bottineau in Westhope. I saw the Sioux blowout the opponent Parshall-White Shield Braves 49-8 to win their third straight.

Saturday was another long day as all morning I attended the Newburg volleyball tournament. I witnessed two Newburg-Westhope wins in pool play, but had to leave early to make it back for the 2 p.m. DCB homecoming football game.
*side note- I found out that in this area, a sloppy joe is sometimes referred to as a slushburger. Strange.

The DCB homecoming football game was disappointing to say the least. They led the whole way, until late in the fourth quarter, when their defense broke down allowing Trinity Bible College to beat them 18-14. The DCB offense is still essentially without a quarterback, as again their passing attack was non-existent.

This week I have three volleyball matches to attend, I may skip the last one to go bowling though, I haven't decided. I also may travel back home to Central Minn. this weekend as all three football teams here are away. If I do so, I likely will attend the SJU homecoming game.

I appologize that this is such a long post and there are also going to be oodles of photos too, but the last thing is that I once again did poorly in my NFL picks this week going 8-8. I did pick the upset of Seattle over Washington, however.

Sioux freshmen quarterback Hunter Braaten runs in a first half two-point conversion last Friday.

Sioux senior Brandon Brodehl breaks a Braves tackle last Friday in Westhope. It was WNG's homecoming game.

Sioux sophomore Karlie Hancock tackles a Parshall-Whiteshield ball carrier.

Hancock here carries the ball past sprawling Braves defenders.

The referee kind of got in the way here, and I'm not sure who is doing the leaping, but he's hurdling a Braves defender.

Eagles Senior Hailee Sivertson attempts to spike one past the Stars' Whitney Page last Tuesday in Bottineau.

BHS junior Nora Ulrich serves last Tuesday in Bottineau.

DCB southpaw hitter Kate Helgeson slams home one of 18 kills last Wednesday in Bottineau.

DCB sophomore setter Allison Scherr blocks a TBC Lions shot last Wednesday.

Ladyjack hitter Kelsey Gullett gets a dig in last Wednesday's win over Trinity Bible College.

Scherr here hits a shot over to the TBC side.

 

Helgeson again winds up for a kill last Wednesday in a homecoming week win over TBC.



A member of the crowd, presumably of the hockey team tries to get the crowd going last Wednesday.

Everybody was Kung-Foo Fighting.



Look Ma, I'm flying!



DCB's Keith Osgood gets whacked, a penalty was called and for good reason, ouch.

The Trinity Bible College defense awaits the play call from the sidelines.

DCB's Dylan Ironheart (left) and Eliezer Oviedo (right) tackle TCB's Seth Peterson on a punt return last Saturday.

A weekend off/great visitors

Last week was much less stressful in my world. It was as if God threw me a bone.
Tuesday I saw a spectacular match, where Bottineau beat one of the better schools in the area in volleyball.

Thursday I drove 30 minutes to watch a 45 minute drubbing. However, from both events I got a few pictures to share. Friday I interviewed Bottineau's AD and Head Hockey Coach about Bottineau and Rugby combining for hockey this season.

Lastly, I had a wonderful time this past weekend as my Mother, my aunt, my Godfather and cousin, who came to visit and spend the weekend in Bottineau. It was a great weekend for the trip as I had nothing to cover. They stayed Saturday and Sunday night and left Monday morning. I made supper saturday (fajitas) and we went out to eat Sunday. We took lots of tours and played some Wii.

All in all it was a relieving and much less stressful week than weeks past. We even got done paginating and sending the paper early last night. If only this week would be so easy.

Also I went 9-7 on my NFL picks this week. Not the best, but still up .500. I am now 20-12 overall through the first two weeks. My best upset this week was Jets over Pats. 

Here are some pics from this week:

Newburg-Westhope Eagles senior Alisha Braaten serves last Thursday.

The waiting is the hardest part.

Eagles junior Taylor Kersten, who had an excellent serving night in a 3-0 sweep of Dunseith.

Eagles senior Kendra Thom forcefully spikes the ball to the Lady Dragons side of the net.

Bottineau Stars Whitney Page (Left) and I believe it's Kendra Suchor (Right) block an Our Redeemer's shot last Tuesday. The Stars won 3-2, in a hard fought comeback.

A busy weekend

It was not the best Bottineau homecoming ever sportswise this weekend. The volleyball team did take the defending Class B state champs to four games on Thursday; The football team led 14-0 after the first quarter against a touch St. Mary's squad Friday; and the volleyball team advanced to the gold division playoffs of the Glenburn tournament. However, they all were defeated.
     So, not as successful as a Braves/Stars fan might hope. Those weren't the only things I covered this past weekend. Saturday I spent a few hours up at Thunder Mountain Speedway snapping photos of the demolition derby and Sunday was the opener for the Dakota College at Bottineau Lumberjacks football team (they lost 14-0). I can only hope the outcomes in Bottineau can only go up from here.

Just as a note, I went 11-5 in my NFL picks this week. I messed up on the Pit/Atl game, the Min/NO game, the Stl/Ari game, the KC/SD game and the SF/Sea game. However, I did pick Houston to upset Indy and Washington to upset Dallas.

Arian Foster was my up-and-comer pick for this years fantasy season. Foster bursted out in week one, setting a Texans single game rushing record with 231 yards and scoring three touchdowns.

Anyways, here are a slew of photos from this past weekend:

Bottineau sophomore Hedi Artz getting one of her many digs Thursday in Bottineau against Kenmare.

Bottineau junior settr Ashley Aufforth trying to set a teammate up for a spike.

Aufforth and senior Alyssa Fugere attempt to block a Kenmare Honkers shot Thursday in the homecoming game.

Bottineau junior Whitney Page spikes one home against Kenmare last Thursday.

A Bottineau player (I think it's Mark LaCroix) hits Saints QB Preston Tescher and forces him to throw an interception.

BHS freshman Harrison Aide stiff arms a St. Mary's player and gets the ball inside the 10 yard line, setting up a Braves TD.

Saints QB Tescher attempts to complete a pass in the fourth quarter last Friday in the BHS homecoming game.

BHS junior quarterback Justin McCloud attempts to complete a pass and is about to get creamed last Friday in Bottineau.

Two spectators watch as the "herby derby" division is about to begin at the demo derby at Thunder Mountain Speedway north of Bottineau last Saturday.

A car is flipped over nearly upside down last Saturday at the demo derby.

Lumberjack's return man Eliezer Oviedo returning the opening kick off last Sunday in the Dakota College at Bottineau home opener.

DCB's Khaleb "Goose" Boehler wraps up Concordia's Chris Ludwig last Sunday in Bottineau.

Lumberjack's linebacker Marcial Ferreira tries to bring down Cobber QB Luke Gotta in DCB's 14-0 loss last Sunday.

Uh oh.

NFL predictions

Just in time for the start of the NFL decisions. About to hit up a Bottineau High School volleyball game, so I can't go into detail in my picks, but here they are:
NFC North:       
Green Bay: 14-2
Minnesota: 12-4
Chicago: 6-10
Detroit: 5-11
NFC East:
Dallas: 9-7
NY Giants: 8-8
Washington: 7-9
Philadelphia: 2-14
NFC South:
New Orleans: 14-2
Atlanta: 9-7
Tampa Bay: 7-9
Carolina: 1-15
NFC West:
San Francisco: 13-3
St. Louis: 8-8
Seattle: 5-11
Arizona: 3-13
First Round NFC playoffs:
Minnesota@ Dallas
Atlanta@ San Francisco
Round 2:
San Francisco@ Green Bay
Minnesota @ New Orleans
NFC Championship:
Minnesota@ Green Bay
NFC Champ:
Minnesota

AFC North:
Cleveland 10-6
Baltimore: 9-7
Pittsburgh: 8-8
Cincinnati: 8-8
AFC East:
New England: 12-4
Miami: 12-4
NY Jets: 4-12
Buffalo: 3-13
AFC South
Indianapolis: 14-2
Houston: 13-3
Jacksonville: 9-7
Tennessee: 8-8
AFC West:
San Diego: 9-7
Denver: 7-9
Kansas City: 4-12
Oakland: 2-14
First Round AFC playoffs:
Houston@ San Diego
Miami@ Cleveland
Second Round:
Miami@ Indianapolis
Houston@ New England
AFC Championship:
Houston@ Indianapolis
AFC Champ:
Indianapolis

Super Bowl XLV:
Minnesota BEATS Indianapolis

Brett Favre MVP.

I'm usually not too great at these picks, but just in case I have a good season, I figured I would put them up. I will also update how I'm doing every week.

Labor Day weekend

For most, Labor Day weekend is the last weekend of summer. It's a time to relax, spend the last weekend by the pool or lake and spend time with one's family.

For a sports journalist, it's just another weekend at the office. Saturday I worked all afternoon and into the evening. I began setting up the layout of the Courant, covered Bottineau football and finished up with taking pictures at the high school rodeo competition.

Sunday I came in after church to work for a few hours in the afternoon. Monday I wrote stories and did layout all afternoon and most of the evening.

Although I did get a few more hours off than normal (and suprisingly all the evenings) I still put in plenty hours of work while the majority of the rest of the country got to sip their favorite beverage and lay in the sun.

Here are some pictures from this weekend that I didn't publish in the paper:

Bottineau sophomore Trevor Wettlaufer catches a pass in warm-ups Saturday.

Wettlaufer carries the ball up field against Belcourt in Belcourt Saturday.

Bottineau junior quarterback Justin McCloud scrambles away from trouble Saturday.

McCloud throws a pass downfield Saturday.

Bottineau senior Jake Floven fights for extra yards after one of his three catches Saturday.

First blog post

Hello and welcome to my blog.

I hope to accomplish a few things with this blog. First, I would like to provide people with some brief news about sports happenings in the Bottineau area. Second, I will from time to time use this space as a place to talk about sports elsewhere specifically national sports, SCSU (my alma mater) sports and others. Lastly, I hope to use this blog to show friends and family some of the work that I have been doing while I have been living and working in Bottineau, N.D.

Some news:
Today I  covered the Bottineau High School football game in Belcourt. The two Braves squads fought back and forth, but Bottineau came out on top with a 26-18 victory. Bottineau fought off injuries to starters to down Belcourt on their homecoming game.

I hope to put up some of my unpublished pictures sometime in the future as it was a great day to take pictures (sunny and 70 degrees).

If you wish to read more about the game please buy the paper that I write for, the Bottineau Courant. If you would like to get a subscription email me (tylerohmann@gmail.com) and for a fee from $26-40/year (based on where you live) I will let you know how to obtain a weekly copy of the paper.

That's it for now. I will probably put up another post sometime next week, hopefully with some pictures.