We don't write papers, we build scrapbooks
We don't write papers, we build scrapbooks
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It had been five years since the EPC Wildcatz had beaten the Forreston Cardinals, and six years since they made it into the IHSA playoffs. And while head coach Jared McNutt always held his head high and ignored the noise ... there was plenty of grumbling going on behind closed doors. There's still a major murmur permeating the program, but after Friday night's 36-16 dominating win over the Cardinals in Pearl City, it's the kind of rumbling people don't want to make public – not because it is o...
The pre-game strategy plan for the Scales Mound Hornets was pretty simple – avoid unforced errors. If you don't make mistakes, you aren't handing your opponent any points. But in game one of their home conference battle with West Carroll ... the Hornets didn't listen. The Thunder jumped out to the early 5-0 lead without making a kill. All five points came off of Hornet hitting errors, so coach Keri Werner burned a time out to calm them down. It didn't work. Everything that could go wrong – did...
The Galena Pirates are the reigning Class 1A State Champions in Volleyball, so it only made sense that as long as they kept winning, they would hold the top spot in our area Power rankings. But all of that changed Tuesday night when the Stockton Blackhawks went into Galena and knocked off the Pirates in two games to topple them out of the top spot. "It was the most determined I've ever seen this team," said head coach Maddie Pontius. "When they walked into that gym, you could see it on their...
The phone calls came in shortly after the Freeport City Council reversed course and voted to approve the Grant Application program in cooperation with Highland College and the Freeport Park District. “If you hadn’t posted that story, I don’t think anything would have changed. I had a lot of people telling me they called.” We posted our story – You Better Sit Down For This One – late Thursday night. By Sunday night, it had received over 750 hits on our website. But there was still no way of know...
Many years ago, when we found out the hard way that I was allergic to Morphine, I had my brush with death and was lying in an ICU bed in Freeport. Now, as a patient, I have always done what I was told – no matter how much it might hurt – so my ICU nurse, who. I knew personally and was a friend, used the joke for many years that she knew first-hand how “good in bed” I was. That nurse was LuAnn Jordan. For the longest time, my wife even teased that I like LuAnn more than I liked her, and used Lu...
We all got the little card in the mail from the County Clerk, and if you filled it out and mailed it back in, you probably already have your mail in ballot for the upcoming election in November. But even if you only glanced over it and threw it away, people can still begin to vote on September 26th down at the Stewart Center in Stephenson County. So, why are we running a story about this, and more to the point – why should you care? Glad you asked. The real campaign is about to go into high p...
"She's a fantastic player," said Bronco senior Kaylynn O'Haver. "Trying to stop her was not easy." Forreston's Jaiden Schneiderman was dominant in their conference battle against the Broncos. With nine kills in game one, and seven more in game two, for a grand total of 16 kills on the night. Nobody in purple had more than seven. Going up against such a potent weapon was not easy for Orangeville, and they knew it. Trying to trade power for power wasn't going to work, so the Broncos made use of...
There is a well-known axiom in politics ... "People get the government they deserve." The whole point behind the saying is that if voters don't pay any attention when casting their vote – or worse yet – don't bother to vote, then they should not be surprised when the government they put into office is completely inept. Just when you thought the "foolish four" of Freeport couldn't do anything else to harm their community, the witless wonders surpass your worst expectations. The State of Ill...
In public, Eden Dietz is the quiet tall kid who is quick with a smile, but comments after games have to be dragged out of her. "Oh, that's not 'Ed'," stated Panther senior setter Alyssa Daughenbaugh. "You should hear her in practice." "Ed?" "Yeah, Ed, or Eddie, or big Ed ..." "Basically, they call me everything but my real name," Eden stated. But whatever name she might go by, the Panther middle hitter had an amazing night against the Pearl City Wolves Thursday – recording nine kills, an ace ser...
EPC made a statement Friday night in their conference match-up at home against Fulton. Simply put – Speed Kills! When EPC squared off against Galena in week one of the season, everyone you talked to who "followed" NUIC football saw it as a playoff for the playoffs – the loser would probably never get five wins when you considered the strength of the NUIC. And even the winner was only expected to be 5-4 at best. Well, after blowing past a playoff favorite 46-22, everyone is being forced to think...
As the EPC Wildcats were running away from Fulton down in Pearl City, a murmur was building throughout the stadium ... "Have you seen the Lena score? Stockton is beating them!" At first it was dismissed, an early score means little, but then as the updates kept coming in, it became very apparent – the game of the week was taking place to the north. Stockton brought their A-game to Lena, and couldn't care less that it was the Panther homecoming – the Blackhawks were looking to spoil the par...
What’s In A Name? A Rose, by any other name, would still smell just as sweet. OK, my apologies for going back into teacher mode during the unit on Shakespeare, but the reason for the quote popping into my head was because I was sitting at my desk late last night, spacing off, when it suddenly occurred to me just how many “names” I’ve got. I mean, my name is Dan Stevens, but when at the eye doctor this past week, they repeatedly called me “Daniel” – which I guess is in an attempt to not offend...
Several area volleyball teams have been getting attention lately as the region looks to see which ones look like contenders this season. But one team flying under the radar is already looking like all the pieces are beginning to fall into place. The Eastland Cougars opened up their home season with a solid 25-16, 25-16 sweep over Dakota. But while the scores were identical, the games were far from it. In game one, Eastland charged ahead early – prompting Dakota to call time out on a kill by T...
Stockton fans loved to refer to their matches against Lena-Winslow as a rivalry, but in volleyball, that was hard to swallow. I mean, after all, for it to be a rivalry, both teams had to be capable of winning. And the Blackhawks hadn't beaten the Panthers in several years. All of that changed Thursday night in Lena. The Panthers are a solid team, and will only improve over the course of the season, but Stockton simply dominated play in every aspect. At the net, Stockton amassed 23 kills and two...
On their second play from scrimmage, the Lena-Winslow Panthers introduced Fulton to junior speedster Alec Schlichting. Sixty-seven yards later, it was 6-0 Panthers, and only 2:04 of game time had elapsed. The play was a basic element of the Panther playbook, quarterback Kasch Lessman would often hand off the ball to Aiden Wild on a dive, but then after softening up the defense Lessman would fake the handoff to Wild and give it to Schlichting. Fulton had a hard time defending it. The second time...
Every once in a while, we will be going through our normal routine when suddenly something comes up that sparks a memory in our hearts. For me, it just happened this past week when a girl I used to date back when I was living in New York City popped back into my head. Her name was Joan Labisi, and she was the best friend of the girl who did the books for the Wall Street head-hunting firm I was working for back in 1986 when I first moved to New York City after graduating college. Now, to be...
Stockton had been running cross country for several seasons, but this year was the first for their new co-op with Lena-Winslow. The Panthers had several boys from their track team looking to get involved in Cross Country, and as luck would have it – the Lena-Winslow Boys make up the entire roster of boys for the new co-op, while Stockton makes up the roster for the girls. Be that as it may, the team just claimed their first meet title by edging past West Carroll for first place of last W...
The Warren Warriors and Pearl City Wolves came into their non-conference battle on Monday in Pearl City with two very different goals in mind. For the Wolves, it was a trap game. After finishing fifth at the Oregon Tournament, they had arch rival Lena-Winslow coming on Thursday, so ... how do you get motivated to play a team you blew out on day one of the season? And for Warren, the Warriors – who are easily one of the youngest varsity teams anywhere – they were looking for improvement. In game...
Pearl City and Warren were locked in a back-and-forth match in game one of their non-conference battle to open the season. Serving errors by the Wolves, (5 in game one) were keeping the Warriors close, but Warren was also paying some exceptional defense. At one point, Warren setter, Averi Sabinson, went up for a kill, but the ball was blocked right back at her by Pearl City's super-soph, Danica Stager. But in one deft move that would have made the Sportscenter highlights, Sabinson, reached down...
Stockton was in complete control in game two of their non-conference match against Morrison, but the crowd was excited and chanting – for a very good reason. Entering the night's action, senior setter, Kacy Wright needed ten assists to reach the 1000 mark for her career. And with the Blackhawks in front 20-10 in game two, she was one set away. The pass came to her, and she put it up for Maddie Mammoser who blasted it down as the gym went wild and time out was called. Wright was presented with a...
I apologize for the rather crude headline, but … there is simply no other way to accurately say it. Let us take in some brief – very brief – history. About a month ago, if you will remember, we reported on how Fehr Graham had obtained a windfall for the City of Freeport. No less than $14 MILLION dollars in grants for use on their various infrastructure projects. These were grants – meaning they were free money – the City would not have to pay them back. So, the immediate thought was – the Cou...
In spite of all the summer leagues, conditioning and pre-season practices, every coach will tell you that you're never quite sure how the first match will go ... until you play it. Lena-Winslow opened their season at home against East Dubuque, but in game one – the Panthers did everything they could to give the game away. Service errors happen – especially when you're being aggressive. So, having one or two in a game – or even three – does not raise an eyebrow. A weaker team that is struggling w...
Lena-Winslow head coach, Ric Arand, summed up Friday night's opening contest at Morrison the best. "I told the guys, this was a battle of attrition," coach Arand explained. "Both teams had so many guys going down with cramps, and it was like which team is going to be able to put all eleven guys in the right spot." There was a lot of leg cramping due to a cool but heavy air, and as Arand pointed out – everyone might be in shape, but they are not yet in "game" shape. "We do a lot of sprints, a...
Bronco sophomore, Hayden Schofield was almost super-human Saturday against Alden-Hebron. He ran the ball for 170 yards and scored twice – including a 98 yard break away early in the second half – but he also had a kickoff return for a touchdown. The problem was, it wasn't enough. While Schofield did everything he could to carry the Broncos, but a collection of mistakes in almost every aspect of the game proved to be too much for Orangeville to overcome as Alden-Hebron claimed the 36-22 vic...
My daughters came up with a term whenever people would whine or complain, or come across acting like a wimp. “You big Nancy!” Living in a house full of girls, I’ve never had to call my manhood into question. I mean, yes, that was me putting on bracelets and a tiara when I played Pretty, Pretty, Princess during their Kindergarten years. And yes, I would pretend to be a flaming homosexual whenever I did one of my “Maurice” routines when I fixed them breakfast and sent them off to school. (Every Fr...
