Lorain County Football Conference Predictions

Patriot Athletic Conference
Stars Division	Overall	Conf.
Buckeye	8-2	6-1
Black River	7-3	6-1
Wellington	3-7	3-4
Keystone	4-6	3-4
Firelands	3-7	2-5
Brookside	3-7	1-6
Patriot Athletic Conference
Stripes Division	Overall	Conf.
Clearview	8-2	7-0
Columbia	9-1	6-1
Lutheran West	5-5	4-3
Fairview	3-7	2-5
Brooklyn	2-8	1-6
Oberlin	1-9	0-7
Southwestern Conference	Overall	Conf.
Avon Lake	8-2	7-0
Olmsted Falls	9-1	6-1
Brecksville	5-5	5-2
Amherst	7-3	4-3
North Olmsted	6-4	3-4
Westlake	3-7	2-5
Midpark	2-8	1-6
Berea	1-9	0-7
West Shore Conference	Overall	Conf.
Avon	10-0	6-0
Elyria Catholic	8-2	5-1
Rocky River	8-2	4-2
North Ridgeville	7-3	3-3
Midview	3-7	2-4
Vermilion	3-7	1-5
Bay	1-9	0-6
Other	Overall
Elyria	3-7	3-4
Lorain	2-8	1-6

Lorain County Football Preseason Team Rankings

Here are my pre-season rankings with their predicted final records:

1. Avon 10-0, 6-0 – The Eagles graduated several players from last year's 10-0 team. There's still a lot of talent remaining. Will finish 2011 with 22 regular season wins.
   
   
2. Avon Lake 8-2, 7-0 – Meet the new Shoremen superstars: QB/P Chris Jedlicka, RB Dontez Smith, FB/LB Nick Skuggen, TE/DT Jake Young, OT T.K. Burk, OG/NT Nick Stueber, C/DE Ryan Pivcevich and CB Brett Bass. Avon Lake will make it 13 play-off appearances in 14 years despite moving up to Division 1 in 2011.
   
   
3. Elyria Catholic 8-2, 5-1 – Another team that will re-load after graduating several superstars. They should make an easy transition to a new offense and a new conference. Jeremy Holley replaces record-setting QB Danny Reaser. Panthers fans don't worry. Holley is 6-5 and has an arm every bit as strong as Reaser.

Lorain County High School Football Week 1 Predictions

Football starts tonight. Here are my predictions with the winner listed in bold.

Clearview at Elyria Catholic - I will covering this game for WOBL radio - tune in to 1320 AM or listen online

Avon Lake at Avon
Columbia at Cleveland Central Catholic
Elyria vs. Amherst
Firelands at Lutheran West
Keystone at Monroeville
Midview at Lorain
Oberlin at Lutheran East
Vermilion at Huron
Wellington at Norwayne
Westlake at North Ridgeville
Woodward at Brookside

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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Pirates 5, Reds 3

The Big Dig

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Ubaldo is coming to Cleveland

The Cleveland Indians made three trades in the last week.

1. First they acquired Kosuke Fukudome and cash from the Chicago Cubs for minor leaguers Abner Abreu and Carlton Smith. 
2. Then the Tribe picked up Ubaldo Jimenez from the Colorado Rockies for minor leaguers RHP Joseph Gardner, RHP Alex White, LHP Drew Pomeranz and 1B Matt McBride.
3. Finally, they trade IF Orlando Cabrera to the SF Giants for minor league OF Thomas Neal.

No question, Jimenez was the big acquisition of the weekend and the subject of this post.

Why I like this deal:

AIW Wrestling Girls Night Out 4

Results from last night's final card at St. Gregory's Byzantine Hall in Lakewood Ohio.

1. Eric Ryan forced Michael Façade to pass out in a submission hold giving Ryan the victory in a triple-threat match involving Kobald.
   
   
2. Rickey Shane Page defeated Mad Man Pondo (with Natalie) in a No Disqualification match.
   
   
3. Bobby Beverly pinned Gregory Iron
   
   
4. Johnny Gargano defeated Chest Flexor due to referee's decision when Flexor was unable to continue after receiving 13 consecutive chair shots at ringside.
   

2011 WOBL radio

This is my 5th year covering high school football in Lorain county Ohio. Below are the list of games on this year's schedule. You can also listen to 2010 games.

Date	Game					Listen
8/26	Clearview 6		at	Elyria Catholic 45			Listen | Summary
	Game begins at 1:01:50; 2nd half begins at 2:28:15
9/02	Clearview 14		at	Vermilion 21			Listen | Summary
	Game begins at 1:12:35; 2nd half begins at 2:35:36
9/9	Vermilion 0		at	Firelands 34			Listen | Summary
	Game begins at 1:10:18; 2nd half begins at 2:36:30
9/16	Wellington 56		at	Columbia 35			Listen | Summary
	Game begins at 41:27; 2nd half begins at 2:19:13
9/23	Firelands 20		at	Oberlin 0			Listen | Summary
	Game begins at 33:15; 2nd half begins at 2:01:15
9/30	Keystone 8		at	Brookside 13			Listen | Summary
	Game begins at 1:08:15; 2nd half begins at 2:22:05
10/08	Black River 21		at	Wellington 48			Listen | Summary
	Game begins at 43:05; 2nd half begins at 2:16:35
10/14	Olmsted Falls 28		at	Amherst 21			Listen | Summary
	Game begins at 1:07:10; 2nd half begins at 2:42:30
10/21	Brookside 0		at	Wellington 52			Listen | Summary
	Game begins at 1:00:00; 2nd half begins at 2:37:50
10/28	Midview 41		at	North Ridgeville 0			Listen | Summary
	Game begins at 1:11:58; 2nd half begins at 2:42:40
11/05	Manchester 24		at	Black River 49			Listen | Summary
	Game begins at 44:53; 2nd half begins at 2:17:12
11/12	Black River 14		at	Girard 56			Listen | Summary
	Game begins at 34:38; 2nd half begins at 2:10:10

Jimmy Buffett Concert

Awesome night at Blossom Music Center for the show. Below is the set list and photos:

1 The Wino And I Know
2 Fruitcakes (Cuyahoga Falls version)
3 Off To See The Lizard (Aussie Lyrics)
4 Grapefruit-Juicy Fruit

AIW Wrestling at St. Gregory's Byzantine Hall

Results from last Sunday's card in Lakewood Ohio.

1. Kobald (with the Batiri) won a six-pack scramble pinning AERO in a match also involving Sugar Dunkerton, Low Rider, the mighty Sabbath and Maximo Suave.
   
   
2. B.J. Whitmer defeated Eddie Kingston via Peruvian necktie submission
   
   
3. Tursas (substituting for Tommy Mercer) and The Chad went to a no contest. Afterward Tursas destroyed Chest Flexor.
   
   
4. Team Duke (The Duke, Mr. RBI Izeah Bonds, Corey Winters, Ben Fruith and Dasher Hatfield) beat Team Castle (Dalton Castle, K-Fernandez, Joey the Snake, Luis Diamante and Isaac Montana) when the Duke pinned Fernandez after hitting a sit-down tombstone piledriver.
   
   

Parma 5K race, 2011

Ran the Parma 5k last weekend with my buddy, Kevin Kowel.

Outer Banks, North Carolina

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WOBL / WDLW Football Schedule - 2011

High School Football is coming soon. Here's the upcoming radio schedule for 2011.

AM 1320 WOBL	AM 1380 WDLW
Week 1: Clearview @ Elyria Catholic	Week 1: Avon Lake @ Avon (Thursday);               Lorain @ Midview
Week 2: Clearview @ Vermilion	Week 2: North Olmsted @ Elyria
Week 3: Vermilion @ Firelands	Week 3: Lorain @ Avon
Week 4: Wellington @ Columbia	Week 4: North Ridgeville @ Avon
Week 5: Firelands @ Oberlin	Week 5: Berea @ Amherst
Week 6: Keystone @ Brookside	Week 6: Elyria Catholic @ North Ridgeville
Week 7: Black River @ Wellington	Week 7: Cuyahoga Falls @ Elyria
Week 8: Olmsted Falls @ Amherst	Week 8: Brecksville @ Avon Lake
Week 9: Brookside @ Wellington	Week 9: Avon @ Midview
Week 10: TBD	Week 10: TBD

AIW Wrestling at St. Gregory's Byzantine Hall

Results from this weekend's card in Lakewood Ohio featuring Day 1 of Absolute Intense Wrestling’s Todd Pettengill Invitational. The big event of the weekend is a 24-man tournament. Night one included 12 opening round matches in the tournament and night two will see the quarter-final, semi-final, and final rounds of the tournament.

Avon Lake, North Ridgeville and Brookside moving up

Ohio High School Athletic Association released its divisional changes for football last year. In Lorain county, there were three teams affected. Avon Lake and North Ridgeville were moved from Division 2 to Division 1. Brookside moved from Division 4 to Division 3. All Ohio High School Regions (.pdf)

Cleveland 10K race, 2011

Ran the 2011 Cleveland 10k race earlier today which marks my first ever race of that distance. Official time was 58:29 (91 seconds under goal). Below are some of the memories of the event.


Joel Peebles and Andrew Gerber getting psyched up for the race in front of the Great Lakes Science Museum.

NFL Draft Thoughts - Day 1

The Browns traded down in the first round too far and did not receive enough in return.

Let's look at this. Moved from #6 (WR Julio Jones) to #21 (DT Phil Taylor) in exchange for:

• moving from #70 to #59,
• pick #124,
• 2012 first and fourth round draft picks approximately #27 and #120.

To compare, New England's Bill Belichick traded down from #28 to #56 in exchange for a 2012 first round draft pick.

Everyone on TV says history (Mike Ditka / Ricky Williams, Herschel Walker) will be on Cleveland's side in this trade. I point to two years ago when all the Browns have left from the Mark Sanchez deal is C Alex Mack.

I never heard of Phil Taylor and at least he fills a huge need. Colt McCoy still needs help offensively (WR, RT, RB). While we're at it, the Browns still need to plug holes on defense (DE, CB, S) as well.

Obviously, the Browns have plenty of holes so the extra picks will come in handy too bad only one of the extra three picks is in 2011's draft.

Another disappointment in the round of 16

My biggest fear coming into this weekend was OSU would go cold offensively and/or get into foul trouble. The former happened tonight as the Buckeyes couldn't buy a basket in a 62-60 loss to Kentucky.

Here are some random thoughts:

• With Ohio State struggling from the field, it would make sense to let Jared Sullinger go to work on UK's Josh Harrelson. Instead, Harrelson was able to guard Sullinger straight up eliminating his passing skills and eliminating open looks for the Buckeye's three-point shooters.
  
• William Buford was ice cold. Buford? Buford? (Ben Stein Ferris Bueller voice). Him taking the last shot was a mistake. OSU coach Thad Matta should have called a time out to get the ball into the hands of Jon Diebler, after all the senior from Upper Sandusky tied the game with a three. It would have been nice to see him attempt to the game-winner.
  
• From a David vs. Goliath standpoint, a great game. Brandon Knight did nothing tonight until the game was on the line and hit the game-winner with 5 seconds left.
  
• Jared Sullinger tells the media afterward he will return for his sophomore season. I'll believe that when I see it.
  
• "I wonder if Jim Tressel received any emails about the whereabouts of the Buckeyes offense but just didn't tell anybody."

Final High School Basketball stats

GIRLS SCORING
Player, school	g	pts	avg
Ashley Montgomery, North Ridgeville	19	433	22.8
Lacy LeDuc, Avon Lake	20	369	18.5
Shanique Ogle, Lorain	19	343	18.1
Emily Julius, Avon	17	241	14.2
Ashley Shuster, Elyria Catholic	18	235	13.1
REBOUNDING
Player, school	g	pts	avg
Ashley Shuster, Elyria Catholic	18	209	11.6
Alexis McGhee, North Ridgeville	19	213	11.2
Emily Julius, Avon	17	183	10.8
Shanique Ogle, Lorain	19	202	10.6
Alexandria Harris, Lorain	19	156	8.2
Christine Lyzen, Columbia	19	148	7.8
ASSISTS
Player, school	g	pts	avg
Emily Taylor, Elyria Catholic	18	125	6.9
Hailey Schroeder, North Ridgeville	19	86	4.5
Martha Thompson, Lake Ridge	17	70	4.1
Natalie Wilden, Avon	18	72	4
Danielle Riolo, Columbia	17	58	3.4
STEALS
Player, school	g	pts	avg
Briana Rogers, Open Door	13	86	6.6
Ashley Montgomery, North Ridgeville	19	97	5.1
Lacy LeDuc, Avon Lake	20	96	4.8
Martha Thompson, Lake Ridge	17	68	4
Shanique Ogle, Lorain	19	63	3.3
Emily Taylor, Elyria Catholic	18	55	3.1
BLOCKS
Player, school	g	pts	avg
Alexis McGhee, North Ridgeville	19	68	3.6
Alexandria Harris, Lorain	19	63	3.3
Ashley Shuster, Elyria Catholic	18	58	3.2
BOYS SCORING
Player, school	g	pts	avg
Ron Willoughby, Avon Lake	18	324	18
R.J. Kauffman, Avon	20	325	16.3
Kody Bender, Elyria	20	320	16
Shakeem Jones, Amherst	19	304	16
Marvin Coleman, Avon	20	278	13.9
Chase Farris, Elyria	18	250	13.9
Michael Davila, Lorain	18	239	13.3
REBOUNDING
Player, school	g	pts	avg
Chase Farris, Elyria	18	184	10.2
Jerome Golson, Lorain	20	185	9.3
Claude Gray, Avon	20	173	8.7
Cody Northeim, Firelands	19	156	8.2
ASSISTS
Player, school	g	pts	avg
Brandon Murway, Avon Lake	18	83	4.6
R.J. Kauffman, Avon	20	85	4.3
Garrett Klekota, Amherst	19	76	4
STEALS
Player, school	g	pts	avg
Kyle Smith, Firelands	19	80	4.2

Amherst has familiar name, new head coach.

The final football opening in Lorain County was filled last night as the Amherst board of education approved Chad DiFranco as the new Comet head coach.

***Other Lorain County Head Coaching changes***

DiFranco, 37, started at Amherst in 1999 and has been an assistant coach for 12 years with the last six as the defensive coordinator. He has worked under Jeff Riesen – now the head coach at North Ridgeville, Keith Grabowski – now the offensive coordinator at Baldwin-Wallace College, and Kevin Fell – now the head coach at Elyria High School. Last year, DiFranco's unofficial title was assistant head coach.

He is also part of the legendary DiFranco family at Midview where his brother Troy is the head basketball coach. Chad DiFranco played football at Midview (class of 1992) and Ashland University. Middies head coach Bill Albright gave DiFranco his first assistant job out of college before going to Columbia where he is also was an assistant.

DiFranco will have some familiar faces in the early going next season. Week 1, Amherst plays Kevin Fell’s Elyria and in week 2, the Comets play Bill Albright’s Midview.