Don’t how my graduate assistant, Josh Houchins, did running class today on WGEM SportsCenter. Unfortunately, too much work in the office kept me from my appointed radio rounds today. Yet, I’m not too busy to take a look in the grade book. Here we go:
If she keeps on firing, Torie Bunzell might get a "400" strikeout ball this year, too. (Photo courtesy of QU Sports Information)
A — Torie Bunzell. The Quincy University sophomore is rewriting the record books this spring. I gave the team a “B” a few weeks back, but Bunzell deserves her own “A.” Thanks to her, the team has tied the school record for wins inside the Great Lakes Valley Conference (15) and the Lady Hawks have a chance to be the No. 1 seed at the league tournament. She’s just the 65th player ever to strike out at least 300 batters in a season. Going into a Wednesday twinbill with Truman State, Bunzell had 327 strikeouts. There’s a chance she could become just the 12th pitcher in the history of NCAA Division II softball to reach the 400-strikeout barrier in a season.
B — Dikembe Mutombo. It looks like Mutombo’s career is over after he suffered a knee injury Tuesday night in Houston’s first-round playoff series with Portland. Mutombo will be remembered by many for his finger-waving after blocks that helped make him a four-time winner of the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year Award. More important, Mutombo used his NBA riches to help his homeland of Kinshasha in the Congo. He built a hospital there among other things. If more NBA players would make like Mutombo, the league would be much better off.
C — Culver-Stockton College. The Canton, Mo., school has turned to Joel Dant as its new athletic director. Dant, a Hannibal native, is coming back to his alma mater. The 1970 C-SC grad has a lot of work to do. The school’s athletic teams struggled mightily this season. Thanks to a strong spring, the department has a .308 winning percentage this season — a far cry from the .176 winning percentage C-SC had after its fall and winter sports. Dant’s background is in corporate human resources. It will be interesting to see if the outside-the-box hire pays dividends in more wins for C-SC on the field.
D — Acacia Elementary School. Now showing on the latest installment of “Real Sports” on HBO is a segment about how the school has turned to games like “shadow tag” to keep kids safe on the playground. There are even some schools out there who let kids jump rope … without the rope. Huh? Acacia even has a no touching policy and doesn’t allow students to give “high fives.” However, “air fives” are acceptable. And we wonder why we’re so soft.
F — Vinny Del Negro. This is what you get for having a rookie coach in charge of our team. The Bulls ran out of timeouts in regulation of both playoff games in Boston. VDN, who looks better suited to be a mortician than a basketball coach, lucked out when Paul Pierced gagged off a late free throw in Game 1. Had he made the second of two free throws in Saturday’s opener, the Bulls would have had to take a 60-foot heave, which is what happened in Game 2 after Ray Allen sank what proved to be the game-winning 3-pointer with two seconds left. VDN doesn’t think he did anything wrong. Bulls fans should pray his game management gets better when the series resumes Thursday in Chicago. I’m not holding my breath.
