I'm very excited to announce that I am enhancing my Bulgaria Month activities with some hard-hitting, College Heights Herald-honed investigative reporting.
Will advise as events warrant!
Props again to the BMDepGM for tipping me off to the USA Today coverage of this story. I found the last sentence of this Sofia Echo version illuminative of Bulgarian life: "Perhaps Bulgarians' new-found love of fast food could be attributed to its novelty value?"
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Bulgaria Month, June 4
Organized crime is said to be an unusually big problem in Bulgaria, and here's a story from Today's Sofia Echo that might lend credence to the notion. Meanwhile, the BBC reports that three players missing from Bulgaria's 1-1 March tie with Ireland could prove useful in Saturday's key rematch.
In other news, here's my shopping list for the Bulgarian dishes I plan to make over the course of Bulgaria Month:
Vipava Corba
Zelenchukova Supa
Bob Chorba
Banitsa
Sirene po Shopski
Tikvenik
Gyuveche
In other news, here's my shopping list for the Bulgarian dishes I plan to make over the course of Bulgaria Month:
- 5 Large Potatoes
- 1 Pound Sauerkraut
- 4 Cups Vegetarian bouillon
- Butter
- Salt And Pepper
- Flour
- Olive Oil
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- Plain yogurt
- 5 carrots
- stalk celery
- 2 cans pinto beans
- 200g white beans
- 4 bell peppers
- medium-sized cabbage
- 2 onions
- 7 tomatoes
- 1 beetroot
- 1 tsp. paprika
- eggs
- sunflower oil
- parsley
- 4 hot peppers
- Mint
- 1 pound+2 packets of phyllo dough
- 600 grams of cheddar and mozzarella mixture
- 1,050 grams of feta cheese
- soda water
- spinach
- 2 roasted peppers
- oregano
- 3 Pounds Pie Pumpkin
- Brown Sugar
- Cinnamon
- Walnuts
Vipava Corba
Zelenchukova Supa
Bob Chorba
Banitsa
Sirene po Shopski
Tikvenik
Gyuveche
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Bulgaria Month, June 3
The country's first cases of swine flu, the heart-attack death of a mayor while competing in the Bulgarian version of Survivor and Motley Crue's first concert in the country are among the stories in today's news. Furthermore, the country is turning its attention to Saturday's soccer game with Ireland.
A Kentucky schoolboy friend of mine about 10 years ago decided to become a fan of European football. Stephen started reading all sorts of books, monitoring Internet sites, ordering videos, etc., and manufactured for himself a deep love for all doings on and around the pitch. So, according to Stephen, even a draw would likely eliminate Bulgaria from contention for a World Cup berth. Bulgaria's hasn't done much in World Cup competition since reaching the semifinals in 1994. Stephen says this was the equivalent of Mississippi State winning the Sugar Bowl and finishing fourth in the national polls.
The big star Bulgarian player on that 1994 team was Hristo Stoichov, who in 2003 was voted by the Bulgarian Football Union as the country's "Golden Player" of the last 50 years (very cool award). He went on to a short, mostly unsuccessful and highly controversial tenure as coach of the Bulgarian national team. This guy sounds a little bit like Pete Rose.
A Kentucky schoolboy friend of mine about 10 years ago decided to become a fan of European football. Stephen started reading all sorts of books, monitoring Internet sites, ordering videos, etc., and manufactured for himself a deep love for all doings on and around the pitch. So, according to Stephen, even a draw would likely eliminate Bulgaria from contention for a World Cup berth. Bulgaria's hasn't done much in World Cup competition since reaching the semifinals in 1994. Stephen says this was the equivalent of Mississippi State winning the Sugar Bowl and finishing fourth in the national polls.
The big star Bulgarian player on that 1994 team was Hristo Stoichov, who in 2003 was voted by the Bulgarian Football Union as the country's "Golden Player" of the last 50 years (very cool award). He went on to a short, mostly unsuccessful and highly controversial tenure as coach of the Bulgarian national team. This guy sounds a little bit like Pete Rose.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Bulgaria Month, June 2
Most of the media sites are in Bulgarian, but there are a couple I intend to monitor during Bulgaria Month. In today's news were the following two tidbits.
From http://news.dnevnik.bg/: "Bulgaria dropped from the top of the rankings in terms of highest spikes in housing property prices, with an increase of just 3.3% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2009, according to the latest report of British property advisors Knight Frank. The country slipped to ninth spot from year-ago’s second, when home prices skyrocketed by 30%. ... Israel strode atop of the first-quarter table with a 10.9% increase, followed by the Czech Republic, where home prices soared by 9.9%. Bulgaria was leapfrogged also by Switzerland, India, Indonesia and Russia. Dubai and Singapore trailed at the bottom of the table with falls of 32% and 23%, respectively. Thirty of the 46 countries in the ranking saw their housing property prices collapse, with Dubai and Singapore again marking the steepest drops of a respective 40% and 16.2%. The worldwide economic deterioration and the mounting unemployment continue to pinch the global housing market, according to the analysts, who predict that the sector will stay in the doldrums by the end of the year."
And from http://www.sofiaecho.com/: "At noon on June 2, sirens sounded in honour of one of Bulgaria's most beloved heroes and revolutionaries, poet and rebel Hristo Botev (1848-76). Following custom, people stood still for a minute until the sirens stopped. Even traffic on Sofia's busy roads was halted for one minute. The sirens are a reminder to remember the day on which Botev died after several days of fighting the Ottoman army in the days when Bulgaria was under Ottoman rule. The sound of the sirens at noon marks the beginning of a minute of silence in honour of Botev and his comrades who fought on the last day of the April uprising in 1876."
According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hristo_Botev, Botev in 1848 was born a liberal teacher's son from a southern Bulgarian mountain-valley town. He goes away to study in Ukraine and falls in love with Russian, Polish and French revolutionary writing. When he was 19, he returns home to substitute teach in place of his sick dad and speaks at a nationalist festival that his dad had actually helped launch. It turns out to be a screed against Ottoman rule and wealthy, Uncle-Tom Bulgarians, and it gets Botev pegged as a rabble-rouser. Feeling the heat, he again skips town--this time for Romania, a popular destination for Bulgarian exiles.
Over the next few years, Botev lives hand-to-mouth, writing poetry and befriending Vasil Levski, the key organizer of Bulgarian insurgency from Romania. This had to be absolutely great. Oh, what a perfectly heady gas it must've been to spend ages 20 to 25 sleeping on couches and spewing out poems with titles ranging from "Patriot" and "Epistle (to the Bishop of Tarnovo)" to "To My First Love" and "In the Tavern" that come to be received as the moral compass for a bunch of fast-talking, jittery revolutionaries! At some point along this era, Botev marries a woman named Veneta with a son, Dimitar, and they eventually have a daughter of their own, Ivanka.
But, alas, the fun and games end when Levski is tried (for treason, I suppose) and executed on Feb. 19, 1873. This splits the Bulgarian revolutionary movement in Romania. Botev is the voice of a camp that says now is the time to gather a revolution, while there forms another, more moderate position that suggests regrouping, retooling and waiting for the next train. When the leader of that group becomes ill and steps out of the scene, Botev becomes the singular head of all things "Take Back Bulgaria."
If you've read this far, I encourage you to scroll down to the "Death" section at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hristo_Botev. Here's some lively writing involving Botev and his band disguising themselves as gardeners, seizing control of an Austro-Hungarian passenger steamship but eventually converting the captain to their side, kissing the homeland upon their invasion across the Danube (only to find the locals not very interested in confronting the Ottomans) and, despite limited training and equipment, putting up a sticky and inventive mountain defense against the authorities that exploited the Ottomans' custom of suspending any operations at nightfall. Botev took a bullet to the chest on May 20, 1876, and died.
The legend of Botev grew not only in Bulgaria but also in Russia in the decades following his death, and today he's a national icon. In addition to a bunch of streets and public buildings, a number of soccer stadiums and teams are named after Bodev, including http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PFC_Botev_Plovdiv.
Given all of this, I hereby expand the list of topics of my Bulgaria interest:
-- Bulgarian National Revival,
-- feuilletons,
-- bashi-bazouks,
-- the Paris Commune,
-- the organized-crime problem,
-- NATO membership after being on the losing side in two world wars,
-- the Bulgarian Orthodox Church,
-- Saints Cyril and Methodius,
-- music,
-- food,
-- John Ross Beryle (U.S. ambassador to Bulgaria),
-- star speedskater Eugenia Radanova,
-- 2014 Olympics candidacy and
-- the June 6 soccer must-win vs. Ireland/Hristo Stoichkov.
From http://news.dnevnik.bg/: "Bulgaria dropped from the top of the rankings in terms of highest spikes in housing property prices, with an increase of just 3.3% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2009, according to the latest report of British property advisors Knight Frank. The country slipped to ninth spot from year-ago’s second, when home prices skyrocketed by 30%. ... Israel strode atop of the first-quarter table with a 10.9% increase, followed by the Czech Republic, where home prices soared by 9.9%. Bulgaria was leapfrogged also by Switzerland, India, Indonesia and Russia. Dubai and Singapore trailed at the bottom of the table with falls of 32% and 23%, respectively. Thirty of the 46 countries in the ranking saw their housing property prices collapse, with Dubai and Singapore again marking the steepest drops of a respective 40% and 16.2%. The worldwide economic deterioration and the mounting unemployment continue to pinch the global housing market, according to the analysts, who predict that the sector will stay in the doldrums by the end of the year."
And from http://www.sofiaecho.com/: "At noon on June 2, sirens sounded in honour of one of Bulgaria's most beloved heroes and revolutionaries, poet and rebel Hristo Botev (1848-76). Following custom, people stood still for a minute until the sirens stopped. Even traffic on Sofia's busy roads was halted for one minute. The sirens are a reminder to remember the day on which Botev died after several days of fighting the Ottoman army in the days when Bulgaria was under Ottoman rule. The sound of the sirens at noon marks the beginning of a minute of silence in honour of Botev and his comrades who fought on the last day of the April uprising in 1876."
According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hristo_Botev, Botev in 1848 was born a liberal teacher's son from a southern Bulgarian mountain-valley town. He goes away to study in Ukraine and falls in love with Russian, Polish and French revolutionary writing. When he was 19, he returns home to substitute teach in place of his sick dad and speaks at a nationalist festival that his dad had actually helped launch. It turns out to be a screed against Ottoman rule and wealthy, Uncle-Tom Bulgarians, and it gets Botev pegged as a rabble-rouser. Feeling the heat, he again skips town--this time for Romania, a popular destination for Bulgarian exiles.
Over the next few years, Botev lives hand-to-mouth, writing poetry and befriending Vasil Levski, the key organizer of Bulgarian insurgency from Romania. This had to be absolutely great. Oh, what a perfectly heady gas it must've been to spend ages 20 to 25 sleeping on couches and spewing out poems with titles ranging from "Patriot" and "Epistle (to the Bishop of Tarnovo)" to "To My First Love" and "In the Tavern" that come to be received as the moral compass for a bunch of fast-talking, jittery revolutionaries! At some point along this era, Botev marries a woman named Veneta with a son, Dimitar, and they eventually have a daughter of their own, Ivanka.
But, alas, the fun and games end when Levski is tried (for treason, I suppose) and executed on Feb. 19, 1873. This splits the Bulgarian revolutionary movement in Romania. Botev is the voice of a camp that says now is the time to gather a revolution, while there forms another, more moderate position that suggests regrouping, retooling and waiting for the next train. When the leader of that group becomes ill and steps out of the scene, Botev becomes the singular head of all things "Take Back Bulgaria."
If you've read this far, I encourage you to scroll down to the "Death" section at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hristo_Botev. Here's some lively writing involving Botev and his band disguising themselves as gardeners, seizing control of an Austro-Hungarian passenger steamship but eventually converting the captain to their side, kissing the homeland upon their invasion across the Danube (only to find the locals not very interested in confronting the Ottomans) and, despite limited training and equipment, putting up a sticky and inventive mountain defense against the authorities that exploited the Ottomans' custom of suspending any operations at nightfall. Botev took a bullet to the chest on May 20, 1876, and died.
The legend of Botev grew not only in Bulgaria but also in Russia in the decades following his death, and today he's a national icon. In addition to a bunch of streets and public buildings, a number of soccer stadiums and teams are named after Bodev, including http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PFC_Botev_Plovdiv.
Given all of this, I hereby expand the list of topics of my Bulgaria interest:
-- Bulgarian National Revival,
-- feuilletons,
-- bashi-bazouks,
-- the Paris Commune,
-- the organized-crime problem,
-- NATO membership after being on the losing side in two world wars,
-- the Bulgarian Orthodox Church,
-- Saints Cyril and Methodius,
-- music,
-- food,
-- John Ross Beryle (U.S. ambassador to Bulgaria),
-- star speedskater Eugenia Radanova,
-- 2014 Olympics candidacy and
-- the June 6 soccer must-win vs. Ireland/Hristo Stoichkov.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Requiem for Morehead State
The program's all-time scorer is Ricky Minard, who totaled 2,381 in four seasons, 2001-04. But the best Eagle scorer ever would be Dan Swartz, who totaled 1,925 in three seasons, 1953-56 (before freshman NCAA eligibility). He averaged 27.5 per game during his career--including 28.6 as a senior. Both are Morehead State records.
I've literally never heard of either of these guys.
In 1963, Harold Sergent made All-America and earned Ohio Valley Conference player of the year.
I've never heard of this guy.
During the 1983-84 season, Morehead State at one point won 12 straight games en route to a 25-6 finish, including an OVC tournament championship. Coach Wayne Martin was named OVC coach of the year (for the second time in three seasons). Earl Harrison and Jeff Tipton were named All-OVC, and Pate Clements was named to the conference's all-freshman team. Morehead went to the NCAA tournament, beat North Carolina A&T by one and then bowed to Louisville, 72-59.
In the winter of 1983-84, I pretty much did nothing but watch college basketball once the NFL season was over. I still wasn't old enough to have a driver's licence, and I never went on one of those dates where a parent drove me and some girl to a movie or whatever. OK? The point is that I did nothing but watch television, and usually I watched sports.
And I've never heard of any of these guys.
Rooting for the Eagles last night as they put up a decent fight against top-seeded Louisville before losing 74-54 in the first round of the NCAA tournament, I realized just how little I knew about Morehead State basketball. Not only did I grow up near Murray, one of the OVC hotbeds, I also attended Western and wrote about basketball for the college and local newspapers in Bowling Green. Then, even after moving to Washington, D.C., and Cary, N.C., I made probably a dozen or more I-64 pitstops in Morehead, at one of the exit restaurants, the university cafeteria or the downtown Mr. Gatti's. I might've even gotten my haircut once in Morehead. Still, I knew next to nothing about the Eagles--except that, for some reason, Morehead State Guy Minnifield spelled his name differently than UK Dirk and U of L Frank and that Kyle Macy coached the Eagles for some seasons recently.
In 1993, before heading out on a trip around to each of Kentucky's 120 counties, I sent out postcards to all of the local tourism offices asking for information. I got back this handwritten note back from the Rowan County clerk:
"... As to history, that is a long, drawn-out affair. If you have some extra time here you might go to the public library here. They can fill you in on that. Our famous sports sons are Joe Magrane who went to school here, played ball, etc. He now pitches for St. Louis Cards. Steve Hamilton is now director of athletics at MSU. He was one of Morehead's best baseball players, pitcher, in the NCAA, also basketball NBA All-American. I'm not a sports person. I may have things turned around. He also coached MSU baseball for several years. Another 'son' is Phil Simms, star quarterback for N.Y. Giants. We also have a TV personality who fills in for Paul Harvey. Tom Martin, I think, is the name he goes by on the air."
In any event, last night I found the Morehead State men's basketball media guide and came up to speed. Before this season, Morehead State was 12-27 all-time against Louisville, 72-93 against Eastern Kentucky, 51-102 against Murray State, 31-72 against Western and 0-8 against UK. On the other hand, the Eagles were 27-4 against Berea. And Morehead has been bad news south of the border: 26-25 against Tennessee State, 21-12 against Tennessee-Martin, 51-49 against Middle Tennessee State and 66-61 against Tennessee Tech.
Morehead State's first season of men's basketball was 1929-30. The Eagles opened with a 25-37 loss to Sue Bennett College but finished 9-3.
Still thinking about the Eagles this morning, Virginia and I got out Basketball, The Dream Game in Kentucky to see what Dave Kindred had written about Morehead State back in 1976 (it's fun that Virginia, 8 weeks old Monday, is still little enough to enjoy any book that is being shown and read to her):
"Only those with iron will and strong heart survive in the Ohio Valley Conference. With Western, Eastern, Murray State and Morehead State as members from the beginning in 1948, the OVC became basketball's Hatfield-McCoy number. To confess admiration for an opponent was to risk confinement in a dark place. Maybe in some places basketball was a game. In Bowling Green, Richmond, Morehead and Murray, it was, in the words of the former Murray State coach Cal Luther, 'an emotional binge.' Luther said, "I've often wondered what an enterprising fellow could steal during one of our home games. The whole city police force attends the games, along with half of the state police. I'm aware of this because most of them call me for tickets and I oblige where I can because it never hurts to be friends with the law.' Life in the OVC, Luther decided after 14 seasons, was 'pure hell.'
"Adron Doran, then president of Morehead State and husband of Mignon, who played the organ at home games in a roller-rinkinsh, 5,000-seat arena, once stalked an official on the court during a game. (A photographer made pictures of the happening; Doran caused the film to be confiscated and exposed.) Struck in the face by thrown ice, Western Kentucky athletic director Johnny Oldham, Diddle's successor as coach, said he wasn't going back to Morehead anymore. Why? 'Because I've been there,' Oldham said.
"... In 1952 Morehead State and Tennessee Tech and Tennessee Tech began a game at 8:15 p.m. It ended at 10:45. In legend this was 'The Night the Clock Stood Still.' The Tennessee Tech timepiece was suffering a bad case of the slows, and the teams played 60 minutes of basketball, not 40. Eight Morehead players fouled out, leaving only four on the court. Resourceful coach Ellis Johnson, the old Ashland flash of '28 and UK All-America, peeled off his sports coat, undid his tie and ran to the scorer's table, where he pounded his fist and announced, 'Coach Johnson in for Morehead!' Recountings that value color over truth had Johnson dashing up and down the court with the players the last minute and 40 seconds. The next year, on arrival at Tennessee Tech, Johnson used the arena microphone to ask all spectators to 'please synchronize your watches.' That was Johnson's last year in the OVC.
"On a foundation laid by Ellis Johnson in a 15-year coaching job (176 victories, 158 losses), Morehead State came to rank second to Western Kentucky in number of OVC championships won or shared. Bobby Laughlin's teams won four championships in 12 seasons. Bob Wright added one and Bill Harrell won two before getting into trouble with Adron Doran. With some important OVC games coming up, Harrell left his top six players at home when Morehead went to Illinois State for a non-conference game. Illinois State cried fraud, embarrassed Morehead nationally--the affair was entitled 'The Missing Six'--and Doran didn't resist when Harrell said he would resign. Morehead shared the league championship that year. Crazy league."[1]
Basketball, The Dream Game in Kentucky is a great book.
[1] Kindred, Dave Basketball, The Dream Game in Kentucky (Louisville: Data Courier, 1976) 124-126.
I've literally never heard of either of these guys.
In 1963, Harold Sergent made All-America and earned Ohio Valley Conference player of the year.
I've never heard of this guy.
During the 1983-84 season, Morehead State at one point won 12 straight games en route to a 25-6 finish, including an OVC tournament championship. Coach Wayne Martin was named OVC coach of the year (for the second time in three seasons). Earl Harrison and Jeff Tipton were named All-OVC, and Pate Clements was named to the conference's all-freshman team. Morehead went to the NCAA tournament, beat North Carolina A&T by one and then bowed to Louisville, 72-59.
In the winter of 1983-84, I pretty much did nothing but watch college basketball once the NFL season was over. I still wasn't old enough to have a driver's licence, and I never went on one of those dates where a parent drove me and some girl to a movie or whatever. OK? The point is that I did nothing but watch television, and usually I watched sports.
And I've never heard of any of these guys.
Rooting for the Eagles last night as they put up a decent fight against top-seeded Louisville before losing 74-54 in the first round of the NCAA tournament, I realized just how little I knew about Morehead State basketball. Not only did I grow up near Murray, one of the OVC hotbeds, I also attended Western and wrote about basketball for the college and local newspapers in Bowling Green. Then, even after moving to Washington, D.C., and Cary, N.C., I made probably a dozen or more I-64 pitstops in Morehead, at one of the exit restaurants, the university cafeteria or the downtown Mr. Gatti's. I might've even gotten my haircut once in Morehead. Still, I knew next to nothing about the Eagles--except that, for some reason, Morehead State Guy Minnifield spelled his name differently than UK Dirk and U of L Frank and that Kyle Macy coached the Eagles for some seasons recently.
In 1993, before heading out on a trip around to each of Kentucky's 120 counties, I sent out postcards to all of the local tourism offices asking for information. I got back this handwritten note back from the Rowan County clerk:
"... As to history, that is a long, drawn-out affair. If you have some extra time here you might go to the public library here. They can fill you in on that. Our famous sports sons are Joe Magrane who went to school here, played ball, etc. He now pitches for St. Louis Cards. Steve Hamilton is now director of athletics at MSU. He was one of Morehead's best baseball players, pitcher, in the NCAA, also basketball NBA All-American. I'm not a sports person. I may have things turned around. He also coached MSU baseball for several years. Another 'son' is Phil Simms, star quarterback for N.Y. Giants. We also have a TV personality who fills in for Paul Harvey. Tom Martin, I think, is the name he goes by on the air."
In any event, last night I found the Morehead State men's basketball media guide and came up to speed. Before this season, Morehead State was 12-27 all-time against Louisville, 72-93 against Eastern Kentucky, 51-102 against Murray State, 31-72 against Western and 0-8 against UK. On the other hand, the Eagles were 27-4 against Berea. And Morehead has been bad news south of the border: 26-25 against Tennessee State, 21-12 against Tennessee-Martin, 51-49 against Middle Tennessee State and 66-61 against Tennessee Tech.
Morehead State's first season of men's basketball was 1929-30. The Eagles opened with a 25-37 loss to Sue Bennett College but finished 9-3.
Still thinking about the Eagles this morning, Virginia and I got out Basketball, The Dream Game in Kentucky to see what Dave Kindred had written about Morehead State back in 1976 (it's fun that Virginia, 8 weeks old Monday, is still little enough to enjoy any book that is being shown and read to her):
"Only those with iron will and strong heart survive in the Ohio Valley Conference. With Western, Eastern, Murray State and Morehead State as members from the beginning in 1948, the OVC became basketball's Hatfield-McCoy number. To confess admiration for an opponent was to risk confinement in a dark place. Maybe in some places basketball was a game. In Bowling Green, Richmond, Morehead and Murray, it was, in the words of the former Murray State coach Cal Luther, 'an emotional binge.' Luther said, "I've often wondered what an enterprising fellow could steal during one of our home games. The whole city police force attends the games, along with half of the state police. I'm aware of this because most of them call me for tickets and I oblige where I can because it never hurts to be friends with the law.' Life in the OVC, Luther decided after 14 seasons, was 'pure hell.'
"Adron Doran, then president of Morehead State and husband of Mignon, who played the organ at home games in a roller-rinkinsh, 5,000-seat arena, once stalked an official on the court during a game. (A photographer made pictures of the happening; Doran caused the film to be confiscated and exposed.) Struck in the face by thrown ice, Western Kentucky athletic director Johnny Oldham, Diddle's successor as coach, said he wasn't going back to Morehead anymore. Why? 'Because I've been there,' Oldham said.
"... In 1952 Morehead State and Tennessee Tech and Tennessee Tech began a game at 8:15 p.m. It ended at 10:45. In legend this was 'The Night the Clock Stood Still.' The Tennessee Tech timepiece was suffering a bad case of the slows, and the teams played 60 minutes of basketball, not 40. Eight Morehead players fouled out, leaving only four on the court. Resourceful coach Ellis Johnson, the old Ashland flash of '28 and UK All-America, peeled off his sports coat, undid his tie and ran to the scorer's table, where he pounded his fist and announced, 'Coach Johnson in for Morehead!' Recountings that value color over truth had Johnson dashing up and down the court with the players the last minute and 40 seconds. The next year, on arrival at Tennessee Tech, Johnson used the arena microphone to ask all spectators to 'please synchronize your watches.' That was Johnson's last year in the OVC.
"On a foundation laid by Ellis Johnson in a 15-year coaching job (176 victories, 158 losses), Morehead State came to rank second to Western Kentucky in number of OVC championships won or shared. Bobby Laughlin's teams won four championships in 12 seasons. Bob Wright added one and Bill Harrell won two before getting into trouble with Adron Doran. With some important OVC games coming up, Harrell left his top six players at home when Morehead went to Illinois State for a non-conference game. Illinois State cried fraud, embarrassed Morehead nationally--the affair was entitled 'The Missing Six'--and Doran didn't resist when Harrell said he would resign. Morehead shared the league championship that year. Crazy league."[1]
Basketball, The Dream Game in Kentucky is a great book.
[1] Kindred, Dave Basketball, The Dream Game in Kentucky (Louisville: Data Courier, 1976) 124-126.
Friday, March 20, 2009
RED! ... WHITE! ... RED! ... WHITE! ... RED! ...
Despite a late injury to its fantastic point guard and a blatant attempt by the officials to keep Illinois competitive late, Western Kentucky upended the higher-seeded Illini last night and advanced to the second round of the men's NCAA basketball tournament. The Associated Press is referring to this as an upset, as WKU was the 12th seed and Illinois the fifth, but the Hilltoppers were obviously the better team from the start.
WKU has to be the all-time leader in NCAA-tournament appearances under different coaches. Ed Diddle, John Oldham, Jim Richards, Gene Keady, Clem Haskins, Murray Arnold, Ralph Willard, Matt Kilcullen, Dennis Felton, Darrin Horn and now Ken McDonald--10 coaches--have each taken the Hilltoppers to the tournament. Rah.
Also:
-- $4 million in federal stimulus funds will pay for the Green River Intra-County Transit System--serving Daviess, Hancock, Henderson, McLean, Ohio, Union and Webster counties--to buy seven hybrid buses and expand its administrative offices and garage.
-- The boys' Sweet Sixteen high-school basketball state tournament has reached the quarterfinals, and my friend Stephen handicaps today's four games thusly: Grayson County (26-6) and West Jessamine (27-8) "should have fun playing each other, and one school will get a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the state semi-finals. ... The championship of Louisville. The second game features the two Louisville teams, Central (17-14) and Eastern (31-2). These are two of the legendary programs of the KHSAA ... Last year, Lexington Catholic (26-7) and Covington Holmes (33-2) met in the state semi-finals, with Holmes winning 57-50. Holmes then lost in the finals to Mason County and Darius Miller. Now they're back. ... The two best teams to come out of the mountains in years, Shelby Valley (31-4) from Pikeville and Elliott County (30-2) from Sandy Hook. Rupp will be a complete madhouse for this game. There were over 21,000 people there last night to watch Shelby Valley and Elliott County play their first-round games, and there should be even more tonight."
-- Madisonville's newspaper, The Messenger, puts a poll question on its front page every day, and readers can vote at http://www.the-messenger.com/. Yesterday's question was, Will Billy Gillispie be coaching UK next season? The results published today: Yes 48 percent, No 52 percent.
-- Martin County's unemployment rate held steady from January 2008 to January 2009, according to the Kentucky Office of Employment and Training. It was the only of Kentucky's 120 counties to not see an uptick in unemployment over the last 12 months.
WKU has to be the all-time leader in NCAA-tournament appearances under different coaches. Ed Diddle, John Oldham, Jim Richards, Gene Keady, Clem Haskins, Murray Arnold, Ralph Willard, Matt Kilcullen, Dennis Felton, Darrin Horn and now Ken McDonald--10 coaches--have each taken the Hilltoppers to the tournament. Rah.
Also:
-- $4 million in federal stimulus funds will pay for the Green River Intra-County Transit System--serving Daviess, Hancock, Henderson, McLean, Ohio, Union and Webster counties--to buy seven hybrid buses and expand its administrative offices and garage.
-- The boys' Sweet Sixteen high-school basketball state tournament has reached the quarterfinals, and my friend Stephen handicaps today's four games thusly: Grayson County (26-6) and West Jessamine (27-8) "should have fun playing each other, and one school will get a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the state semi-finals. ... The championship of Louisville. The second game features the two Louisville teams, Central (17-14) and Eastern (31-2). These are two of the legendary programs of the KHSAA ... Last year, Lexington Catholic (26-7) and Covington Holmes (33-2) met in the state semi-finals, with Holmes winning 57-50. Holmes then lost in the finals to Mason County and Darius Miller. Now they're back. ... The two best teams to come out of the mountains in years, Shelby Valley (31-4) from Pikeville and Elliott County (30-2) from Sandy Hook. Rupp will be a complete madhouse for this game. There were over 21,000 people there last night to watch Shelby Valley and Elliott County play their first-round games, and there should be even more tonight."
-- Madisonville's newspaper, The Messenger, puts a poll question on its front page every day, and readers can vote at http://www.the-messenger.com/. Yesterday's question was, Will Billy Gillispie be coaching UK next season? The results published today: Yes 48 percent, No 52 percent.
-- Martin County's unemployment rate held steady from January 2008 to January 2009, according to the Kentucky Office of Employment and Training. It was the only of Kentucky's 120 counties to not see an uptick in unemployment over the last 12 months.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Need to know
What do we need to know about a county? Here's the start of a list:
- Population
- Seat of government
- Life expectancy
- State championships in high-school sports
- Notable natives
- Local radio stations
- Public library locations and hours
- Sports facilities
- Web addresses for local news
- Good places to eat
- Parks-and-rec opportunities
- Signature events
- School performance
- Formation
- Key historical events
- Religious makeup
- Demographic makeup
- Where the richest people live
- Where the poorest people live
- Hospitals
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