RACE DAY!!!!!

Today was the Jingle Bell Run 5k. It was 27 degrees and sunny with very little wind. My official time was 29:09 , which isn't too bad considering the conditions. I went out a little too fast and that hurt me at the 3k mark. Here are my splits:

1k - 5:47
2k - 5:37
3k - 5:48
4k - 6:00
5k - 5:57

I finished 743rd out of 1,826 runners and 45th of 72 in my age group (M 30-34). My next race will be sometime in March and I hope to be better prepared and in shape than I was today.

The Brownsburg boys basketball team was over-matched last night against a strong Zionsville team. Zionsville is ranked 5th in the polls and 13th in the Sagarin ratings. The Dogs fell behind 45-27 at the half and it didn't get much better in the second half, leading to a 82-44 defeat. Zionsville shot 53% from the field and hit 14 three pointers. BBurg only shot 33% from the field. Jacob Eldridge led the Dogs with 13 points. It doesn't get any easier tonight as the Dogs host Pike. Pike is 8th in the polls and 7th in the Sagarin ratings.

The BBurg girls basketball team travels to Harrison tonight in what should be an easier game than what the boys have. According to the Sagarin ratings, BBurg is a 30 point favorite. Brownsburg is 5-3 while Harrison is 8-0, even though both teams have played opponents that are a combined 39-26. BBurg has not lost to Harrison since the 2003-04 season.

Bulldogs have strong third quarter, but the other three were weak

The Brownsburg girls basketball team got behind early and were in a 25-18 halftime deficit at Center Grove. Whatever was said by coach Amy Brauman in the locker room must have worked as the Dogs put up a 17-6 third quarter to take a 35-31 lead after three quarters. The problem with having a big quarter is the letdown that can follow, as was the case last night. The Bulldogs could only muster 2 points in the entire 4th quarter while surrendering 15 to the Trojans in a 46-37 loss. BBurg's leading scorer, freshman Stephanie Mavunga, was held scoreless on the night. The Dogs were led by Ryne Carr's 9 points and 8 points from Lindsey Dall. The ladies travel to Harrison on Saturday night. In the last 10 games against Harrison, the Dogs are 7-3, with those three losses by a combined total of 6 points. It is a series that we have dominated over the last few years. Even last year's 4-17 team beat Harrison by 15 points.

The Braves have designated Ryan Church for assignment as a result of Rafael Soriano accepting his arbitration. This will not be the last domino to fall after Soriano's surprising move.

The Redskins have released kicker Shaun Suisham after a recent run of crucial missed field goals. Suisham was 14-of-14 going in to the second half of the Cowboys game three weeks ago, but missed two in the second half of that game, a 7-6 loss. He also missed a 23-yarder that would have clinched a win against the Saints last Sunday. Graham Gano won the tryouts for the position and will kick for the Skins this week. Gano is fresh out of the UFL where he was 13-of-16 field goals and made all 20 extra points.

Drew Duffin was named Ball State football's MVP this season. Drew had 53 tackles, 6 TFL, 1 force fumble, and one fumble recovery this year. Duffin and Alex Knipp were honored for their contributions off the field. The top freshman awards were given to Eric Williams and Travis Freeman. Kyle Kuntz and Ian McGarvey won special teams awards. Brandon Crawford won an award for being an inspiration to his teammates. QB Tanner Justice won the BSU academic award.

Who is going to close for the Braves this year???

Last week, the Atlanta Braves signed Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito to one-year deals to firm up the bullpen after offering arbitration to Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano. I assume that the Braves expected both relievers to decline arbitration and become free agents. However, yesterday Soriano accepted arbitration and will be pitching for the Braves next year. That leaves us with two closers and a bunch of set-up men in a bullpen that will cost the team $25 million in 2010. I think there is something else going on behind the scenes, maybe a trade of Soriano, Derek Lowe, or Javier Vasquez to relieve some of the payroll problems that we are now in. The winter meetings are this week, so we will see.

The Redskins lost a thriller to the Saints 33-30 in OT. The Skins had a 7 point lead late in the 4th quarter when kicker Shaun Suisham missed a 23-yard field goal that would have given the Saints their first loss of the season. The Redskins are not a bad team, it's that they can't close games. In 5 games this year, the Skins have had the ball with 5 minutes or less left in the game and either ahead or down 3 points or less. They have lost all 5 of those games. The team could easily be 8-4 instead of 3-9. Next Sunday, the Redskins go to Oakland to play the Raiders. Oakland is coming off a big win against the Steelers, so they are playing well. The Skins are an early 1-point favorite with the over/under of 37. It looks to be a close, low-scoring game between two teams that are fighting for pride only.

The Brownsburg girls basketball team travels to Center Grove tonight. According to the sagarin ratings, Center Grove is a 10-point favorite. Cg is 4-0, but their opponents have a record of 13-18 so far, so they haven't really beaten anybody. CG beat the Dogs 65-38 last year and have beaten BBurg the last 8 years by an average score of 65-45. BBurg has not beaten Center Grove since 2000-01. But, the Dogs are 5-2 for the first time since 2002, so it may be a closer game than the numbers show.

Brownsburg boys split, the girls win, so do the Chippewas, and the Skins look for an upset

The Brownsburg boys basketball team split their two games this weekend. On Friday, the Dogs lost to Fishers 59-45. The game was tied at the half, but BBurg could not get over the top. It was a lackluster effort in the third quarter (Fishers 18-10) and it continued in the 4th (Fishers 20-14). Jacob Eldridge led the Bulldogs with 17 points. On Saturday, the Dogs played county rival Plainfield and won 72-54. The Quakers had played a 2-OT game the night before, so the Dogs looked to run. The game was close early, but BBurg used a 36-21 run over the middle two quarters to assure the victory. Torrey Nibbs led the Dogs with 21 points as it was the first game this year where he was not in foul trouble. Three other Bulldogs were in double figures as Jacob Eldridge scored 16, Kurtis Runyon had 15, and Levi Roach scored 12. The Dogs travel to Zionsville on Friday and then host Pike on Saturday.

The Brownsburg girls basketball team cruised to a victory over Danville on Friday night, 49-34. Erica Lesch and Stefanie Mavunga led the team with 10 points each. They used a 24-15 second half to put the game away. The team travels to Center Grove on Tuesday and Harrison on Saturday. Neither game should be very close as Center Grove is a top 10 team according to the Sagarin Ratings and Harrison is in the bottom 10 of Class 4A.

Central Michigan won the MAC championship on Friday, beating Ohio 20-10. MAC player of the year Dan Lefevour threw for 255 yards and 2 TDs and ran for 51 yards. In the game, Lefevour broke the D1 combined touchdown record and later in the game threw a touchdown pass that broke Chad Pennington's MAC passing TD record. CMU dominated the entire night on both offense and defense. They went out to a 10-0 lead before Ohio used a trick play to cut the score to 10-7. The Chippewas fired back to score a TD to make the game 17-7 at the half. Each team kicked a figgie in the second half for the final score. The bowl projections show that CMU will go to the GMAC bowl, while Ohio could stay in Detroit and go to the Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl. Other MAC projections show Temple to the International Bowl, Bowling Green to the Humanitarian and Northern Illinois to the Eagle Bank bowl. The bowl selections will be announced this evening.

The 3-8 Redskins host the undefeated Saints at 1pm today. The Saints are coming off a big Monday night win over New England and the Skins are reeling from a tough loss to the Eagles. I think the Skins defense can hold the Saints to 28 points, which is 9 below their average. However, I don't think that we can score more than those 28 points to get the win. We have to run the ball to keep the Saints offense off of the field. We have been held to under 90 yards rushing in 6 of our 11 games. New Orleans is a 9 point favorite and the over under is 47. It will be 36 degrees and Sunny in Landover today, so the weather could be a factor for a dome team like the Saints.