Rian Pearson

Riding a three-game losing streak, Toledo desperately needed to win to gain momentum going into conference play.

They did so in historic fashion.

The Rockets trounced an overmatched NAIA opponent Indiana-Northwest 107-43 on Jan. 3, the first time UT has scored over the century mark since 2003. The 64-point victory was also the fifth largest margin of victory in school history.

“I thought tonight’s game was good for a lot of reasons,” UT Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. “When you are playing non-Division I, you want to make sure you are not playing down to the competition. I don’t want to play down to competition and have our guys not be able to handle success, they need to grow up and mature and I thought tonight from start to finish we played with discipline and focus.”

With the win, Toledo enters Mid-American Conference play with an 8-6 record. Indiana-Northwest drops to 2-13 on the year.

Sophomore guard Rian Pearson recorded 19 points, 13 rebounds and a career-high five assists in 21 minutes. His double-double was a team-best fourth of the season.

“This was a confidence game for us, it was pretty fun to get our confidence back.” Pearson said. “Coach just told us to keep it going and don’t let up.”

Junior forward Matt Smith (8 of 9) scored a team-high 21 points while freshman point guard Juice Brown (8 of 14) racked up 20 points and eight assists. Junior guard Dominique Buckley (3 of 5) was the final Rocket in double figures with 15.

The Rockets started off fast scoring the game’s first six points and cruising to an 18-3 lead in the first five minutes. In a half in which the team shot nearly 66 percent (23 of 35), Toledo led by as many as 44 and took a 66-24 advantage to the half.

The second half didn’t see a letdown from the Rockets as the team tightened up defensively, holding Indiana-Northwest without a field goal for the first nine minutes as UT opened up on a 17-1 run.

“I thought we showed maturity and never played down to the competition,” Kowalczyk said. “I think it is important for our confidence.”

Toledo will hope to stay in the win column when it opens up conference play in Mt. Pleasant, Mich. on Jan. 7 at Central Michigan (5-8).

Tags: basketball, college, indiana-northwest, redhawks, rian, Rockets, Sports, Toledo, university

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 4th, 2012 at 3:00 am and is filed under College sports, Rocket Basketball, Sports.
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Toledo wide receiver Eric Page and running back Adonis Thomas have both been named to preseason award watch lists.

Page, a junior out of Springfield High School in Toledo, is one of 40 players in the nation to be named to the watch list for the Walter Camp Award, given to the nation’s top player of the year. Page and Northern Illinois’ Chandler Harnish are the only two Mid-American Conference players listed.

Page received First-Team All-American honors as a kick returner last year. He ranked fourth in the nation in return average (31.8 ypr) and led the nation with three return touchdowns.

Adonis Thomas

He also tied for fifth in the nation with 94 catches at receiver for 1,081 yards. He was selected as First-Team All-MAC at wide receiver and kick returner.

Thomas, a senior from Newark, N.J., is one of 51 rushers from across the country selected to the watch list for the Doak Walker Award, which is given to the top running back in the nation. Thomas was the lone MAC member among the 51 named.

Thomas earned Second-Team All-MAC honors last season leading all rushers with 1,273 all-purpose yards and eight touchdowns. Temple’s Bernard Pierce received First-Team honors last year for the second-consecutive season despite finishing with 458 less yards than Thomas.

The lists will be narrowed down to 10 semifinalists on Nov. 11 and the winner will be named live on ESPN on Dec. 8.

Tags: Adonis Thomas, Doak Walker Award, Rocket football, Sports, University of Toledo

This entry was posted on Monday, July 18th, 2011 at 2:47 pm and is filed under Rocket Football, Sports.
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Aaronimink Country Club in Philadelphia is the site of this week’s AT&T National Tournament sponsored by Tiger Woods. The problem is that the top 14 players in the world decided they have more important things to do. It’s beginning to look a little like a Nationwide event. Bubba Watson is taking his long drives to Paris. Not the Texas one, the one with the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and big appearance fees. Others decided it is a good time to work on their tans or take out the trash. Truth be known Tiger has fallen in the eyes of his fellow pros. He has refused to support lesser tournaments around the PGA Tour for some years and has only done what is good for Tiger. Maybe other players are making a statement about that. How quick we forget from where our bread cometh.

Total prize money on the tour in 1996, pre-Tiger, was $70 million. In 2011 the PGA Tour hit $70 million in prize money in the 12th week of the season at Doral. Total regular season prize money on the PGA Tour in 2011 is approximately $237,000,000. That is just a mere 338% increase in 15 years with Mr. Woods on the tour. In addition, the four playoff events will add $32 million to players’ pockets and another $10 million goes to the FedEx Cup winner. Add it all up and you are talking about real money here. Tiger has added a lot of dollars to everyone’s pockets in and around the golf world. The kids on tour might want to consider from whence the butter for their bread has come.

The AT&T is played on great golf courses, pays homage to American military personnel, and has a $6.2 million purse, nothing to sneeze at. Its timing two weeks after the U. S. Open and two weeks prior to the British Open should fit well with scheduling. Where is everybody? There is so much money on the tour these days that a player just barely keeping his card in the top 125 for the year will win close to a cool million not counting sponsor money. They can be more selective where and when they decide to play. The players can only play so much but they better reconsider how they set up their schedules in the future.

Tiger has definitely fallen from grace in the public and has lost his fear factor among the other players. Beware the sleeping Tiger! He will get healthy one of these days and I suspect will return to his winning ways. You know what they say, “It’s not nice to make Mother Nature angry.” The same can be said for El Tigre. DJ, Rickie, Bubba and Rory better enjoy themselves now cause the day of reckoning will come.

You can read more articles by Fred at Back 9 Blog

Tags: Fred Altvater, Golf, Sports, The Back 9, Tiger Woods

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 30th, 2011 at 3:20 pm and is filed under Sports, The Back 9.
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With her win Sunday at the Wegman’s LPGA Championship, 22 year old, Yani Tseng became the youngest golfer ever to win 4 majors. She finished at –19 under par for the tournament 10 shots better than the rest of the field. She dominated the entire week. Let the Tiger Woods and Annika Sorenstam comparisons begin.

Tseng only needs to win the U. S. Women’s Open, July 10th at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado to complete the career Grand Slam. Of her 7 wins since joining the LPGA Tour, four have been majors. Her first major win came at the McDonald’s LPGA Championship in 2008 followed by The Kraft Nabisco and The Women’s British Open in 2010. She also was named Rolex Rookie of the Year in 2008 and the second youngest player ever to win the Rolex Player of the Year in 2010.

Her LPGA Championship win was her third title this year to go along with 8 top 10 finishes in just 10 starts. Not a bad year so far. Since joining the tour in 2008 she has a total of 7 wins and 40 top tens in 80 events. A 50 percent top ten ratio is pretty amazing. No one currently on any tour PGA, European, or Asian can come close to that number.

The LPGA does not get the vast media attention that the PGA and European men’s tours receive. The LPGA schedule only has 12 tournaments in the continental United States. It is a worldwide tour and has had a tough time gaining mass acceptance. It drastically needs a dominant player to step into the shoes left void with the retirements of Sorenstam and Lorena Ochoa. Tseng, a native of Taiwan, is trying to Americanize her image by learning English and residing in Orlando.

Yani Tseng demands attention. If the sports media wants to talk about Rory McIlroy as the next great thing they first have to respect the fetes of this unassuming, long hitting female golfer who is establishing the “Tseng Dynasty” and leaving every other professional golfer in her dust.

You can read more from Fred on the Back 9 Blog

Tags: Fred Altvater, Golf, Rory McIlroy, Sports, The Back 9, Yani Tseng

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 28th, 2011 at 7:26 am and is filed under Sports, The Back 9.
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Matt Mahalak was drafted June 25 by the Caroline Hurricanes with the 12 pick in the sixth round of the 2011 NHL Draft.

The 18-year-old Monroe, Mich. native was one of only eight goalies invited to participate in the NHL draft combine from May 30 to June 5.

Mahalak played this season with the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League. He went 8-8-4 with a .908 save percentage and 3.07 goals against average. He played the 2009-10 season with the Youngstown Phantoms of the United States Hockey League.

See the June 29 issue of the Toledo Free Press Star for a feature on Mahalak.

Previous coverage: Mahalak ‘made it through’ NHL combine, ‘did well’

Tags: hockey, Matt Mahalak, NHL, Sports

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 25th, 2011 at 5:53 pm and is filed under Sports.
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University of Toledo quarterback Dwight Macon has been released from the hospital on June 15 after being involved in a car accident the previous day.

Dwight Macon

Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations Paul Helgren said that Macon was kept overnight at the hospital as a precaution and that he will be fine.

The redshirt-freshman quarterback from Steubenville was involved in the two-car accident outside of Taco Bell on Dorr Street. The circumstances leading up to the accident are still unknown but Helgren said that both cars involved were “wrecked.”

Macon is listed as the third-string quarterback on the UT roster behind junior Austin Dantin and sophomore Terrance Owens. He completed 6-of-9 passes for 107 yards and one touchdown in the 2011 spring game in April.

Tags: Dwight Macon, Rocket football, Sports, University of Toledo

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 15th, 2011 at 3:14 pm and is filed under College Football, Rocket Football, Sports.
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When it comes to summertime in the Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan area, most residents partake in the usual outdoor activities of the season: camping, fishing, swimming, going to the park, playing sports like baseball, basketball and tennis, or hitting their favorite course to work on that golf swing. A select few, however, gather their bows and arrows over at 6240 Benore Road to participate in a sport that has existed for centuries.

That sport is archery, and that club is Mudjaw Bowmen. Having been founded in 1953, Mudjaw Bowmen has been at its current location since 1971 and is the oldest known private archery club in the Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan area.

“I think the neatest thing about Mudjaw Bowmen is the camaraderie amongst the members,” Mudjaw Bowmen president Audrey Berning-Matell said in a phone interview with Toledo Free Press. “When I started as a new member, I didn’t know very much about compound bows, even though I just purchased one. I didn’t know much about hunting, and through talking to some of the long-time members and older members and also newer members, I’ve learned so much about the sport of archery. It’s just the neatest thing to do. It’s something you can do when you’re young, when you’re a little kid and something that you can do when you’re older.”

Berning-Matell has been a member of Mudjaw Bowmen since August of 2001, after she and her husband received a brochure about the archery club while at another sportsman’s club and decided to check it out. Both avid fans of the outdoors who met while they were in college at Toledo, archery was a natural progression for the couple. Berning-Matell has been a board member at Mudjaw Bowmen since 2002, served as the recording secretary and became president of the club in 2008.

“I’m not the normal chick,” Berning-Matell said. “I love the outdoors, and I think the guys at the club really see that and they really respect me for that.”

The club is spread out over 64 acres of land that includes two archery ranges, a storage building, large clubhouse and a practice area. The field archery range uses paper or NFAA (National Field Archery Association) scoring targets and is intended for target archers, while the hunter range uses primarily hunting shots with either hand-painted animal paper targets or 3-D animal targets. Inside the Mudjaw Bowmen clubhouse is an indoor shooting range that spans 22 lanes with a shooting distance of 20 yards or less and six designated shooting lines.

The Mudjaw Bowmen summer league began on June 1st and goes until mid-September, while the winter league runs from typically the first week of January until mid-April. The club also hosts a yearly Wild Game Dinner each February, as well as its’ Annual Game Awards Dinner each April.

To become a member at Mudjaw Bowmen, there is a $50 initiation fee which gets you a key to access the building and the restrooms, while club dues are $75 per year. Twenty work hours are required each year, of which at least five have to be in association with one of Mudjaw Bowmen’s shoots. If you are a senior and retired, membership is only $30. Individuals between the ages of 18-25 also have a membership fee of just $30.

“We really want the younger generation to come in — the younger families — to see that we really are a family-oriented club,” Berning-Matell said. “Anyone can be involved in archery.”

The club has just under 100 members, including the likes of professional archers Jamie Van Natta and Ben Cleland, as well as members from as far as Montana to Pennsylvania. Mudjaw Bowmen has also been frequented by the local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, as well as the Broncos 4-H Archery Club and St. Ursula Academy Archery Club.

“The younger generation really needs to know about being outside, not playing all the video games,” Berning-Matell said. “Yes, there is life outside.”

This month, a 14-target NFAA papers shoot will take place on June 5th, in addition to a bow hunter education course on June 18th and Father’s Day Shoot on June 19th. The next general membership meeting will take place on July 6th at 7:30 p.m. For more information on Mudjaw Bowmen, visit mudjawbowmen.com

Tags: Archery, Bauman's Breakdown, Mike Bauman, Mudjaw Bowmen, Sports

This entry was posted on Monday, June 13th, 2011 at 10:13 am and is filed under Bauman's Breakdown, Sports.
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The official Nationwide show car is making a pit stop at Groulx Automotive on its way to the Alliance Truck Parts 250 race.

“It’s a big race weekend at Michigan International Speedway,” dealership owner Bobby Groulx said. “It will be a real nice event leading up to that. There’s a huge NASCAR following around us.”

The event is a joint effort between the dealership and its local Nationwide Insurance representative, Ignazio Cuccia.

“We’re going to partner up on this thing and try to make a real nice event out of it,” Groulx said.

The event is free to the public and will feature a NASCAR simulator, giveaways and concessions such as hot dogs.

Radio stations 94.5 WXKR and 106.5 WLQR will broadcast live from the dealership.

Groulx said he plans to test his skills in the NASCAR simulator and expects a large attendance. “Based on what we’ve heard, the turnout for these events has reached more than 500 people,” he said.

The show car will be on display June 17 from noon to 5 p.m. Groulx Automotive is located at 15434 South Dixie Hwy. in Monroe.

Tags: Groulx Automotive, Jason Mack, Nascar, Sports

This entry was posted on Friday, June 10th, 2011 at 1:44 pm and is filed under Nascar, Sports.
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Tiger Woods announced via his website, tigerwoods.com and Twitter that he would not be able to play in the upcoming U.S. Open to be held at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland.

“I am extremely disappointed that I won’t be playing in the U.S. Open, but it’s time for me to listen to my doctors and focus on the future,” Woods said. “I was hopeful that I could play, but if I did, I risk further damage to my left leg. My knee and Achilles tendon are not fully healed. I hope to be ready for AT&T National, the next two majors and the rest of the year.”

For Woods to start listening to his doctors and accept the fact that his injuries need to be completely recuperated in the short term to reach his long term goal of besting Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 major championships is somewhat monumental. He obviously tried to return to play too early at this year’s Masters and his knee and Achilles could not hold up to the stress of walking and playing. Woods is currently holding steady with 14 major victories, has not added to his collection since 2009 and now is losing another chance at a course that he is familiar with and has had some success in the past.

The problem is that Tiger is not getting any younger, he will turn 36 in December. The body endures a lot of stress during a golf swing especially a golf swing as violent as Tiger’s. He develops tremendous torque and a snapping effect on his left knee and leg during his down swing that over time has worn away the cartilage, and stretched the tendons and the ligaments in the knee. With Tiger in his mid 30′s injuries take longer to heal correctly and are more likely to cause lingering problems. It is hard for an athlete to reach peak performance if his body won’t allow it.

2011 has become another lost year for Tiger. He has not won a major tournament since the U. S. Open at Torrey Pines in 2009. He finished that event on a broken left leg and was forced to sit out the rest of the year recuperating. He also has not won any event since that pesky fire hydrant got in his way while trying to escape the wrath of his ex-wife upon her realization of his infidelities during Thanksgiving weekend 2009. What may be worse yet is that with this forced absence from the tour and competitive golf, his world ranking is taking a dive off of an extremely steep cliff.

The Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) system is based upon a two year rolling average. Tiger had a great 2008 and with the addition of the 2009 U. S. Open win he was able to maintain his lofty status in the ranking system. Now, however, with no wins in the second half of 2009 and none again in 2010 he is free falling in the rankings. Why is that important? Entry into the U.S. Open, British Open, and the PGA Championship are based on a player’s ranking in the OWGR. Tiger has fallen to No. 15 this week and if he cannot regain his championship form will continue to drop throughout the balance of the year. He has said that he will try to play again in another month. Will he be able to find the winning combination of power and touch or will his skills be diminished from the lack of tournament repetitions caused by his nagging injuries?

One thing is for sure that he does need to get properly healed both physically and mentally. I’m not sure which is more important, but my guess is that inside he knows that if he is not 100% physically he cannot win. If he cannot win he is not interested in just showing up. He is not just out on tour playing for the fans, endorsement money, and an income. He doesn’t need those things. He only has one goal in mind and that is surpassing Nicklaus for that 19th major win.

Is he done? Have we seen the best of Tiger Woods? Only time will tell. If he does not succeed we have had the privilege to watch one of the greatest talents in golfing history play the game on the greatest golf courses in the world in our living rooms. Before he even turned professional in 1996 his amateur career was unprecedented. He won three consecutive U. S. Junior Amateur Championships and followed that with three consecutive U.S. Amateur Championships. He held 6 consecutive USGA National Championship trophies. That is a record that will never be broken. The only thing remotely close to that feat in amateur golf was Bobby Jones’ “Grand Slam” in 1930.

Woods has made miraculous shots when no other player in the world would have even tried to attempt the shot. He has blitzed the field in the biggest events, winning the 1997 Masters by 12 shots, the 2000 U. S. Open at Pebble Beach by 15 shots, and captured the “Tiger Slam” in 2000-2001, claiming all four major championship trophies in succession. Woods has 71 wins on the PGA Tour, 222 top 25′s in 271 career starts and is the all time leading money winner on tour with $94,728,667.00 He has also won around the globe in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East bringing millions of new fans to the game and vastly increasing the interest and television ratings of golf broadcasts.

Because of his tremendous desire to reach 19 major championships, his work ethic, and focus to detail, I do think that he will achieve his goal. If he can get himself healthy and mentally fit he should be able to play competitively well into his 40′s. That gives him at least 40 more chances to win a major. It’s hard to believe that Tiger won’t win another 5 titles over the next 10 years.

Because of his sordid extracurricular affairs, however, he has alienated a large portion of the world’s female population. With all of that negative energy directed his way it can’t be good for his healing capabilities and overall psyche. Karma can be a bitch. Good luck with that one Tiger.

Tags: Fred Altvater, Golf, Sports, The Back 9, Tiger Woods

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 8th, 2011 at 4:28 pm and is filed under Sports, The Back 9.
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University of Toledo football head coach Tim Beckman and his coaching staff are hosting the team’s third-annual Meet the Coaches fundraising event at Inverness Club on June 2 to benefit the Rocket Fuel program.

“It’s a good time,” Beckman said. “We get to talk some football. We get to mingle with some community leaders. It’s a good chance for everyone to get together and talk football in June.”

This will include talking football with general manager Tom Heckert and linebackers coach Bill Davis of the Cleveland Browns. Beckman was close friends with both members of the Browns growing up as all three of their father’s coached together at Adrian College. Several UT coaches recently traveled to Cleveland to talk strategy with the Browns’ coaches.

“We took half the staff down there,” Beckman said. “They aren’t coaching now because they’re on strike. So they helped clinic us and we helped clinic them. It was pretty cool. They are eager to talk football, too.”

The event will feature former UT coach Frank Lauterbur as Toledo celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Rockets’ 35-0 undefeated streak from 1969-71.

Meet the Coaches includes a live auction for field passes and other prizes along with wine tasting courtesy of Jim Cameron and Heidelberg Distributing.

The idea for the event came from Patrick Kenney, a CPA at Wilcox Financial.

“Patrick and I had lunch one day, and he started asking me about this,” Beckman said. “When I was down south, Urban Meyer did something similar called Coaches Corner. We came up with the idea for Rocket Fuel. Patrick had the idea to kick the program off with an event at Inverness. He came up with great ideas.”

Rocket Fuel is a donation program to raise funds for expenses not included in the team’s operating budget.

“It’s been able to buy things that make the Rockets better,” Beckman said. “It’s not about money going to me or the coaching staff. This money is going directly to the players to make them better.”

The funds have been used on things such as a cooling tub, a machine for freezing around arms and knees, fitted mouth guards and renovations to the weight room, locker room and team meeting room.

“The more we can raise, the better off we’re going to be with our facilities,” Beckman said. “You always try to get the best you can possibly get. It’s for the stuff our budget doesn’t cover. In Division I, you’d love to have your budget cover everything. We do this event so we can do things for our players. It helps in recruiting, and it helps us win.”

The event runs from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at Inverness Club located at 4601 Dorr St. Tickets are $100 per individual and $150 per couple. For more information, visit UTRockets.com or call the football office at (419)530-3500.

Tags: Rocket football, Sports, Tim Beckman, University of Toledo

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 1st, 2011 at 11:08 am and is filed under College Football, Rocket Football, Sports.
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