SPORTS
Page C2 • Sunday, January 19, 2014
Northwest Herald / NWHerald.com
SUNDAY’S INSIDE LOOK
POP Prep Zone
Take2
QUIZ
I’m just
Tom Musick and
Jon Styf
with Joe Stevenson – joestevenson@shawmedia.com
as told to Jeff Arnold
Saying
jarnold@shawmedia.com
FACE OFF Ben Murray School: Jacobs Year:Senior Sport: Basketball, baseball
1.
What’s a movie line that you frequently quote with your friends?
T
he Cubs unveiled their first official team mascot in team history when they introduced Clark the Cub. Sports editor Jon Styf and columnist Tom Musick discuss:
“Left side! Strong side!” from “Remember the Titans”
It’s not something I really dreamed about or imagined, so when I first got the job, it was just all so exciting. But then you realize
If you were a soap opera character, what would 2. your name be? (Your middle name and the street
you’ve got a job to do. You start to get integrated within the program. Now that I’m a couple months into it, it’s almost like that it’s just my job that I come into every day. People on my floor and people I know are like, ‘Wow – you’re a manager’ and I just say, ‘Well, it’s just another day at work’. But it’s still pretty cool. There isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t stop and think about how great of an opportunity I’ve got here.
you grew up on). Lee Rustic
3. What would you like to change about your sport? Give somebody a couple extra points if they hit a shot from behind halfcourt
4. What’s your favorite cereal? Chex. I’m a simple guy.
Musick: Fine, I’ll say it. I like
5.
Which one of your competitions in the last year was particularly memorable? The sectional championship in baseball beating DundeeCrown at Huntley. You can’t beat winning a sectional.
Gaby DeJesus School: Crystal Lake South Year: Junior Sport: Basketball, track and ield
1. What’s a movie line that you frequently quote with
your friends?
“You missed! How could you miss? He was three feet in front of you?” from “Mulan.” If you were a soap opera character, what would 2. your name be? (Your middle name and the street you grew up on). Aquino Plum
3. What would you like to change about your sport? I would take away the over-and-back rule in basketball.
4. What’s your favorite cereal? Lucky Charms
5.
Which one of your competitions in the last year was particularly memorable? Last year when we played at Prairie Ridge, we came back to win at the very end. It was very intense. I remember the go-ahead play we had and I threw a pass to Sara Mickow against their press and she got the basket.
Trevor Symbal School: Huntley Year: Senior Sport: Wrestling, baseball
1.
What’s a movie line that you frequently quote with your friends? “Milk was a bad choice!” from “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.” We quote that movie and “Step Brothers” a lot. If you were a soap opera character, what would 2. your name be? (Your middle name and the street you grew up on). Michael Thunderridge
3. What would you like to change about your sport? For wrestling, being able to eat more.
4. What’s your favorite cereal? Reese’s Puffs
5.
Which one of your competitions in the last year was particularly memorable? Our meet against Cary-Grove this year was a good bounceback for us. They beat us bad last year and even though we lost, that helped us into a good rest of the season. It showed us we came out strong and set a standard for where we were at.
8SPORTS SHORTS
Canucks coach Tortorella, Flames have altercation VANCOUVER, British Columbia – An altercation broke out near the Calgary Flames’ dressing room during the first intermission of their game against the Canucks in Vancouver on Saturday night. CBC, which televised the game, showed Canucks coach
John Tortorella attempting to go into the Flames locker room at Rogers Arena, with Calgary enforcer Brian McGrattan pushing him away. Flames goaltender coach Clint Malarchuk came out of the Flames dressing room after Tortorella and McGrattan were separated. Malarchuk followed Tortorella, but was restrained
Ian May grew up loving Michigan State basketball. Now, the 2013 Cary-Grove graduate spends 40 to 0 hours a week inside the Spartans program, working as one of 12 student managers. His duties include breaking down video, assisting at practices and carrying out various game day duties. The job, which is unpaid, has given May a new perspective – both on basketball and on the team he grew up cheering for.
Clark. I think he’s kind of cool. And I think he’d be really awesome if I were a 7-year-old watching a Cubs game this summer at Wrigley Field. Styf: I’ve got kids. The oldest will be 5 this summer. We won’t be going to a Cubs game together. I’ve been there. I enjoyed it when I was in college and soon after. I just am not so sure that a Cubs game is the family atmosphere they are trying to push on us with this new mascot. Musick: But he’s furry. And he wears his hat backward. And he probably would give you a fist bump if you asked for one. He seems like fun, and baseball is fun. If you’re a kid, what’s not to love? Styf: Really setting me up here. It’s slow, it’s boring for kids and it’s pretty expensive. There also are a lot of inebriated people. That’s my childhood Chicago baseball memory (though it was at Comiskey, not Wrigley). We went as a family, I got a beer dumped all over me by the drunk person behind me. We never went back to a Chicago baseball game. Musick: Hey now, my dad apologized for that and you know it. I get your point, though. On a lot of weekends during the summer, Wrigley is more of a bar than a baseball stadium. It’s great for bachelor parties and bachelorette parties and whatever other kind of parties someone wants to have. But that’s not every day. On a Monday evening against a ho-hum team such as the Miami Marlins, it’s just another baseball game, and I’ve always loved baseball games since I was in first grade or so. Styf: You had to go there with the Marlins thing, didn’t you? Rubbing salt on those festering Cubs wounds. I hear you. I love baseball. I love baseball in person. I would rather wait until my kids are 8, 9 or 10 before taking them to a game. At that point, maybe they won’t be so into the smiley bear. Right now, I’d rather take them to Disney World or a Kane County Cougars game to see mascots. Minor league baseball is the best place for that. But I get it. The bear isn’t hurting me. I hope he never will. I just think people see it as the team trying to distract fans of all ages from the pitiful product on the field. Musick: Well, yeah, that’s a good point. Better to take a picture with Clark the Cub instead of being forced to watch Chris Rusin the Cub. But the team is going to be great soon – after all, Theo Epstein said so – and it’s a good idea to get the young ones on the bandwagon as soon as possible. However, it’s tough to argue if you want to focus on the Cougars for this summer. As for the Cubs, maybe wait til next year?
by several members of Calgary’s staff and McGrattan.
Former NFL star Sharper arrested in Los Angeles LOS ANGELES – Former NFL star defensive back Darren Sharper has been arrested on suspicion of rape, the Los Angeles Police Department said. Sharper, who played 14 sea-
sons in the NFL with Green Bay, Minnesota and New Orleans, was arrested and booked Friday and released on $200,000 bail just before midnight. He faces a Feb. 14 court appearance. LAPD said it is investigating Sharper in connection with two sexual assaults that occurred in October and earlier this month in the West Los Angeles area.
[Coach Tom Izzo] is the kind of a guy whose passion just rubs off on people. Being around him day in and day out will change you in good ways and will make me a stronger person. I guess being around him was different than I expected because you’re used to seeing him when he’s on TV and you get more of his media persona. But then, you see him in practice and that’s a little more intense of an environment. I see a side of [Izzo] that I hadn’t seen before. That’s when you realize how good of a coach he is when he’s in practice and conditioning his players into being such a good team.
I’ve seen [college basketball] more from within the program. When you see it on TV, it’s almost like it’s not human and that it’s so far away. Now that I’m within it, the players are more like people to me. You realize that they’re just kids who go to class and want to have fun. I have more of a personal approach to it now. You realize that a lot of it is about winning, but these kids are here to play basketball and have fun, and that’s not something you see on TV. It’s like you see almost these robots who are out there to get big dunks. Now, I can see how things happen. It’s almost like watching the bread being made and seeing the final loaf of bread instead of just eating it.
Sometimes, the games get really serious. I remember when we played Columbia, which is a mid-major team, and it was a pretty close game and so things would get pretty heated – even among the managers, when things didn’t go well. When we’re winning, it’s more enjoyable, but when you’re losing, it’s more of a roller coaster than it was before (as a fan). So you just see everything differently. You say ‘live and die’ (with the team) and that’s totally how it is. It’s one organization, one family, one team – even when you’re a lowly manager and when you’re at the bottom of the totem pole. We’re all going to win together and we’re all going to lose together. We’re all just here to make sure we can win every single game and that’s only something you get when you’re within the program. As a fan, when you lose, you go back home or to your dorm or you read about it online. But for us, we’re here, we see the players’ reactions the next day. It gives you a new perspective. • I’m Just Saying is a regular Sunday feature. If there’s someone you’d like to see featured, write to me at jarnold@shawmedia. com or send me a message on Twitter @NWH_ JeffArnold.
Photo provided
Ian May (far right) is in his first year as a student manager for Michigan State. The Cary-Grove graduate says he is a stronger person for being around Spartans coach Tom Izzo (front) on a daily basis.
Another day, another 63 for Patrick Reed in Humana Patrick Reed broke the PGA Tour record for relation to par for the first 54 holes, finishing at 27 under Saturday to take a seven-stroke lead into the final round.
Mickelson surges in Abu Dhabi; McIlroy penalized ABU DHABI, United Arab
Emirates – Phil Mickelson surged up the leaderboard with a 9-under 63 to put himself in second place after the third round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, while Rory McIlroy was hit with a two-shot penalty for a rules infraction that dropped him into a tie for fourth. – Wire reports