blog: Chris Wright Rubs Off

By Tom Archdeacon | Wednesday, December 3, 2008, 12:26 AM

This is my 20th season covering the Dayton Flyers and about my 50th following them as a kid growing up, a UD student in the late 1960s and early ’70s and then a Florida sportswriter checking out their box scores from afar.

Chris Wright is certainly one of the better players I’ve ever seen wear a Flyers uniform and by the time he’s done at UD, he may well be in the same class as Roosevelt Chapman, Donnie May, Donald Smith, Johnny Davis and Jim Paxson Jr.

Off the court, he already is one of the best guys ever as far as friendliness, engaging conversation and flat-out charisma. And here’s what happens to a team when your star —one of your leaders — is like that.

It rubs off.

And it makes it a lot more difficult for a bad actor, a malcontent to flourish on the team.

I know its still the early stages of the season, but this Flyers bunch appears to have some of the best team chemistry I’ve seen from a UD ball club. The players get along. They feed off each other.

I think some of that has to do with Wright.

Take for instance Tuesday night after the game. I didn’t have long to come up with a story, so I was trying to do something real quick — and a bit off the basketball mark — on Charles Little and his ballet class.

I first talked to Little about it in the hallway outside the Flyers dressing room and the 6-foot-6 senior — another good guy on this team — seemed a bit self conscious about it and didn’t expound a whole lot. But he did say that Wright was taking a tap dancing dancing class, as well.

Inside the dressing room, I headed straight to Wright, who hadn’t had the best of nights. He played just 13 minutes and fouled out with eight points and three rebounds, his lowest game totals of the season.

And yet when I asked him about tap dancing, he didn’t flinch. He got into talking about his class and said when he’s out there tapping away, he thinks of Dancing With the Stars, and famed hoofer Gregory Hines and he says to himself, “If Warren Sapp can dance, I can dance.”

He said on a tap dace scale of 1 top 10 he saw himself as a 6.

Then he told a funny story about getting started in his tap class:

“I remember walking in the tap dancing store and saying, ‘Can I get the biggest tap shoes you got?’

“They said, ‘You got to be kidding.’ They didn’t know I was a taking tap. I told ‘em, ‘I’m not joking.’ And a little girl who was there — she was six — she asked her momma, ‘Is he a tap dancer, Mommy?’

“Her mom said, ‘Yeah, he’s a tap dancer.’

“I had to tell her, ‘No no, I actually play for the University of Dayton basketball team. I’m just doing this for my class and I really enjoy it — I think it helps me to be in a different environment, a different setting — but, truthfully, I’m more of a basketball player.’”

Little sits maybe 20 feet away from Wright in the Flyers dressing room and he watched from afar as the tapper expounded on his dance class.

“What’d he say?” Little asked as I walked past.

“Man, his quotes stuffed yours, ” I teased.

That’s when Little pirouetted away from self consciousness and soared in his own right. Explaining why he didn’t take tap, as well, he smiled:

“Chris wears a size 14 shoe, but I wear a 17. They don’t make tap dancing shoes in my size.”

For my purposes, Little really scored — he gave me the walk-off line for my column in today’s paper — but I think Wright deserves the assist on it.

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blog: Alter channels Bobby Kennedy

By Tom Archdeacon | Saturday, November 29, 2008, 01:53 AM

CANTON — He didn’t give his team a pregame pep talk.

The last time Alter head coach Ed Domsitz addressed his players before Friday’s Division IV state championship game with Steubenville at Fawcett Stadium was earlier that day back at the team hotel.

That’s when he shared something with them that had inspired him when he was their age.

“When I was 17 or 18 years old, I was a big Robert Kennedy supporter,” Domsitz said. “He would close his campaign stops with a quote from George Bernard Shaw and at that point the newsmen always knew to head off and get back on the bus.

“Kennedy would say: ‘Some men see things as they are and say ‘Why?’ I dream things that never were and say ‘Why not?’

“That’s just the way I always felt about things, the way I looked at life. I talked to the team about it. I said, ‘What Kennedy was saying was that some people can sit around and moan and complain that things never happen. But others can go out and make things happen.’ That was the ‘why not? The why not us ? The why not now?”“

Alter scored the second time it had the ball and went on to overwhelm previously-unbeaten Steubenville, 21-6, to win the the school’s first-ever football title. The Knights finished with a whopping 384 yards of offense and amassed 21 first downs compared to Steubenville’s 6. They held the ball nearly 30 of the 48 minutes in he game. And on defense Alter held the Big Red — a team that had averaged 38.4 points in its four play-off games — to just one score.

That’s going out and making things happen.

Alter is one of the best teams I’ve seen come through the Miami Valley in decades. Not just how they play, but how they are coached.

Ed Domsitz, the old school coach with the brand new trophy, knows just what to do…and say.

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blog: Mercer on UD — “They’re in for a great season.”

By Tom Archdeacon | Tuesday, November 25, 2008, 11:22 PM

After Dayton dismantled Mercer, 71-53, Tuesday night, I went to the visitors’ dressing room rather than UD’s quarters because I thought the Bears might be able to add some real perspective on the capabilities of the Flyers and how they stack up with teams from some of the name basketball conferences.

Earlier this season Mercer had gone into Alabama and won and did the same at Auburn. They led Georgia Tech last Saturday by 18 points with 12 minutes left before falling in overtime.

Two things — well, three, if I count how banged up they were afterward — stood out.

The Mercer players — as was Coach Bob Hoffman — could not have been more gracious and complimentary when it came to the Flyers. They were a class act. And they were impressed:

“That’s definitely the best team we’ve faced so far,” said Daniel Emerson, the Bears 6-foot-8 junior forward. “Georgia Tech was good, but as far as a team that plays together and has overall athleticism, this is definitely the best.”

The Bears also were blown away by the atmosphere in UD Arena. Not just the players, but Hoffman, who has been coaching nearly 30 years as an Oklahoma assistant, a head coach at Texas Pan American and Oklahoma Baptist, a head women’s coach at Southern Nazarene and in both the NBA Developmental League and the American Basketball Association.

“This place is awesome,” Hoffman said. “I’ve been to a lot of places in my career, but this place is unique. They’ve really got it going. Just the way they’re on top of you and the way the students are into it. You can tell (the fans here) really understand the game at a high level.”

Emerson, who led Mercer with 13 points, agreed: “To play here is amazing. Fan-wise this is the most impressive place I’ve ever seen. They give their team a great home court advantage.”

The Flyers do have a tremendous home court advantage, so this weekend’s trip to Chicago — for games against Auburn and especially Marquette in the Invitational Challenge tournament — will be an even better indicator of just how good this UD team can be this year.

It’s likely Mercer would have fared much better had its star player — point guard James Florence — not suffered a groin injury early in the first half. He only played 12 minutes total Tuesday night, just three in the second half. He had been averaging 23.3 points per game, but against Dayton scored just two.

Yet even had he played at his peak, I don’t think Mercer could have handled the intense Flyers’ attack on this night. Hoffman seemed to be of the same mind set::

“We’ve played some good teams in the other games and each time we were able to land the first punch. Tonight their coach had them ready and they ran their stuff so well. If you’re not engaged they’ll run right over you. We were close to being knocked out tonight.

“Dayton makes it rough on you from the start. We had some break-always, some easy lay-ups, but with Dayton there were no easy lay-ups. There were no easy shots.”

Against Mercer, Flyers sophomore Chris Wright had 16 points that included two bring-the-Arena-to-life ally-oop dunks, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots As Emererson put it later: “Wow!”

Charles Little — a “stud” Emerson called him — had 11 points and point guard London Warren was every place with six assists, three steals and two blocks to go with four pints and two rebounds.

“With the guys they have and the way they play,” said Emerson, who was sporting a shiner from an errant Flyers elbow while battling for a rebound, “I think they’re in for a great season.”

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blog: WSU — lacking confidence and a shooting touch

By Tom Archdeacon | Monday, November 24, 2008, 11:54 PM

I’ve got to say, beyond the court it’s a lot more fun at Wright State basketball games than it’s ever been.

“Bob Grant’s got a good thing going now,” Jon Ramey — the former WSU player from the 1993 NCAA Tournament team and the current Smith Barney financial advisor and active WSU alumnus — said Monday night as stood among the leather couches in the court-level Platinum Lounge and pointed to the Nutter Center stands where another decent crowd had come to see Wright State tangle with Miami.

“Look at all this,” Ramey said. “This is great.”

Granted many in the crowd of 5,517 Monday night showed up thanks to 2-for-1 ticket deals and even some ticket give-aways. And that has drawn fire in some quarters, Giving tickets away cheapens the product detractors say.

But I think it gives the place some life, a real buzz that too often has been missing in some recent years.

Unfortunately, right now the buzz has left the court. The 0-3 Raiders — who were blown out by Miami, 55-37 — are playing some dismal basketball. They look like a team with little confidence and a dearth of on-court leadership.

Their two returning stars — Todd Brown and Vaughn Duggins — are struggling. Duggins was 3-for-10 from the floor Monday night, Brown was 0-5 and by night’s end, he was passing up some shots, hung his head after another bad miss and his body language seemed to underscore a sudden lack of confidence.

Through three games this season, Brown and Duggins are a combined 14-for-54 from the field. That’s just 25.9 percent shooting. And Monday night the rest of the team wasn’t much better. As a whole, the Raiders (13-for-49) shot 26.5 percent. Add an inconsistent inside presence — and the lingering effects from food poisoning on the team’s bus ride back from Central Michigan Saturday — and you get a forgettable performance like this one

I think Brad Brownell is a very good coach and will eventually right this ship, although it won’t be easy. Eight of the Raiders next 10 games are on the road and that includes the looming Dec. 14 date at Wake Forest.

I see some real promise in juco transfer Cory Cooperwood and in sophomore Cooper Land with his outside shot. I like Kyle Pressley’s physical style and, Monday night, junior guard John David Gardner — 12 points, three assists, three steals — gave the Raiders some of their only inspired play. It was his best game ever as a Raider — something no teammate can equally claim from the Miami game.

It’s just too bad in this early effort to showcase its product to new basketball fans, WSU has stumbled on the court.

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blog: The Animal, Beanie’s Swan Song and other OSU memories

By Tom Archdeacon | Saturday, November 22, 2008, 09:23 PM

COLUMBUS — Here are five things I’ll remember from Ohio State’s 42-7 victory over Michigan Saturday at the Horseshoe:

1 — Receiver Tyson Gentry, left wheelchair-bound after a hit in spring practice in 2006, raising an arm into the sky to salute the cheering OSU crowd and then rolling out onto field, the last of 28 seniors to go through the corridor of former players known as the Tunnel of Pride.

Halfway through he was surrounded by the ex Bucks, who congratulated him, reached for high fives and told him how proud they were of him.

No one was more moved than teammate Kurt Coleman, the junior safety from Northmont High, who made that devastating hit on Gentry in 2006.

The two bonded after that and Gentry brought that up to the team before the Michigan game.

“Thursday night he told me what I did to him was the best thing that happened to him,” Coleman said quietly. “I didn’t understand and then he said it again at chapel Friday. He said it made him into a great person. … And when he rolled out there through the Tunnel of Pride before the game, I was so proud of him. He and his family have given me so much.”

2 — Quarterback Todd Boeckman — who lost his starting job to freshman Terrelle Pryor after game three and saw very little playing time since — being joined by his tearful parents on the field, then in the fourth quarter having one teammate after another come up to him on the sidelines and telling him to listen to the crowd chant his name..

Jim Tressel finally put the St. Henry High product into the game and Boeckman promptly completed all three of his passes, made two perfect throws, a 46-yard completion to Brian Robiske and an 18 yard TD toss to Brian Hartline.

Fellow seniors heartily embraced him. Guard Jim Cordle lifted him up and then, as he came off the field, Boeckman was met by linebacker James Laurinaitis, who ran out and gave him a chest bump.

Boeckman is beloved by man of his teammates.

3 — We likely were seeing the last of Beanie Wells’ one-man shows in the Shoe. This time next year he’ll almost certainly be in the NFL. With a rookie salary cap soon to come, foregoing his senior season would make economic sense now.

And the pros who have watched the three Michigan games in his career will be clamoring for him. The sculpted 237-pound junior opened Saturday’s game with a 59-yard touchdown run and had 137 yards when he finally left the game with a tweaked hamstring. By then he’d already passed Dayton’s Keith Byars for fourth on the all time OSU rushing list with 3,279 yards.

Last year he ran for 222 yards — including a 62 yard TD jaunt and another one-yard score — against the Wolverines. Freshman year he ran 52 yards for a score against them.

4 — Seeing the Animal — Joe Laurinaitis — the former Legion of Doom pro wrestler whose linebacker son James has been the heart and soul of the OSU defense this year, hobble across the back of the end zone late in the game. James’ mom followed, as did his sister, his grandparents and a few other relatives and friends..

“They were nervous wrecks all week,” James said of his folks. “Every time I talked to them, my mom was crying. They’re so wrapped up in everything I do …And that’s why they stormed the field afterward. They wanted to be part of something special.”

5 — After the game, Coleman embracing Michigan safety Brandon Harrison from Chaminade Julienne on the field. ” I told him I’d see him back in Dayton over Thanksgiving and we’d get with Javon (Javon Ringer, the Michigan State running back from CJ) and talk about good times this year.”

Coleman will have plenty to talk about.

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blog: Area’s Craziest OSU-Michigan Celebration?

By Tom Archdeacon | Friday, November 21, 2008, 01:59 AM

I think this just may be the area’s craziest celebration of the annual Ohio State-Michigan game.

When halftime arrives Saturday, the folks watching the game on the various televisions at McSobers Saloon in Coldwater will head out into the parking lot where they’ll do a rag-tag reenactment of Script Ohio, the signature performance of the OSU marching band, a.k.a. The Best Damn Band in the Land.

At McSobers, some people bring along old instruments from home, others pick from the collection of plastic and homemade ones kept in the bar for just this occasion. Someone with a baton leads the snake-like procession — just as they do in Columbus — and one lucky person in the crowd will be chosen to tote the big, white sousaphone and dot the “i.”

The Script Ohio tradition at McSobers has been going on for the better part of three decades through two sets of owners and two different bar locations.

To help Saturday’s crowd mine its musical talent — actually they do it during every Bucks game — McSobers sells beers for 51 cents in honor of OSU linebacker Ross Homan, who graduated from Coldwater High and now wears No. 51 for Ohio State. And they sell 17 cent hotdogs in honor of OSU quarterback Todd Boeckman, who wears No. 17 and is from nearby St. Henry.

This is about The Best Damn Celebration I’ve heard of for this game.

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blog: In St. Henry, Boeckman embraced, not Tressel

By Tom Archdeacon | Thursday, November 20, 2008, 07:25 AM

No sporting event in the state is more anticipated than the annual Ohio State-Michigan football game. And no place in the area has the match-up been more anticipated than in St. Henry, the sports-mad Mercer County town of 2,300 that has more ties — per capita — to Buckeye football than any place in the state.

Seven St. Henry High players have gone to OSU to play football and three have become stars. Place’s like Fish-Mo’s tavern on West Main St. are decorated with Buckeyes souvenirs from floor to ceiling.

And yet this Saturday’s Nov. 22 game between the Bucks and visiting Michigan arrives with a previously unthinkable amount of mixed emotion — and in some cases outright disinterest — in St. Henry.

“Since I’ve been in the bar business, I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Matt Stelzer who runs Fish-Mos. “Some people who come in don’t even want to watch the (Buckeye) games now.”

What’s happened?

A lot of people believe Jim Tressel has turned one of their favorite sons into a Buckeye scapegoat. It’s not that the Ohio State football coach benched St. Henry bred quarterback Todd Boeckman in favor of freshman phenom Terrelle Pryor, it’s the way it’s been handled and how Boeckman — last year’s All Big Ten quarterback — has been exiled to the scarlet and gray version of Siberia.

“There was a lot of respect here for Tressel, but now a lot of people here have turned on him,” Stelzer said. “There a lot of dislike for him. Some just hate him. They feel he threw Todd under the bus.”

I detailed this story in a column that’s in today’s newspaper and on this web page.

When a veteran is replaced by a freshman player there are always going to be some bruised feelings and any coach — not just Jim Tressel — would draw fire from some quarters. But could this have been handled better? I think yes.

That point — more than just their kid being replaced — is what sticks in the craws of some St. Henry folks. Especially when they see how Boeckman has taken the high road in this and never spoken an untoward word about Tressel or the OSU program in public.

That fact is especially embraced by Boeckman’s teammates.

“I always knew how talented Todd was, but I’ve grown a new respect for him,” said senior linebacker and fellow captain Marcus Freeman.

“He’s a competitor and wants to be on the field — that’s got to be eating at him — but he’s doing all the right things. I see him on the sidelines and at practice trying to help Terrelle and that says something.

“A lot of guys — if their spot gets taken — they ain’t helpin’ nobody out. They got that ‘it’s-all-about-me’ attitude — but Todd isn’t that guy.”

Tight end Rory Nichol echoed that sentiment:

“He’s never backed away from being our leader. He still gets up and speaks in front of the team every Thursday like the other captains do. He’s doing everything he can to be a role model and set an example and a lot of guys here are really proud of him for that.”

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