...And Again

Will gives us the "If/Then" for the WVIAC Men here:
www.wviac.org/News/mbball/2009/2/26/mbkb22809preview.asp?path=mbball

Long story short for Concord: The Mountain Lions are virtually locked into 10th place. The two most likely opponents in the first round of the conference tournament on Tuesday are Shepherd or Fairmont State.
Concord snapped an 11-game losing streak with an 89-77 win over Shepherd January 24th at the Carter Center. Two days later, the Mountain Lions sprang a dramatic 83-81 upset of Fairmont State at the Joe Retton Arena.
So it's fair to say the Rams and Fighting Falcons would love to have the chance for some payback.

Saturday's Concord-Bluefield State doubleheader is scheduled for 1:40 pm EST, on Classic Rock 102.3 FM The New River and theriver102.com.

And Now, It's Time For A Breakdown

The last day of the WVIAC basketball regular season is shaping up to be "Scenario Saturday."
Even after last night's loss to first-place Charleston, Concord still has a shot at getting home court for the first round of the league tournament Monday night. But the Lady Lions will need some help.

Associate Commissioner Will Prewitt, who knows far more about such things than I ever could, explains the variables and permutations for the women's teams here:
http://www.wviac.org/News/wbball/2009/2/26/wbkb12809preview.asp?path=wbbal

We'll have the Concord-Bluefield State doubleheader Saturday afternoon at 1:40 pm EST on Classic Rock 102.3 FM The New River and theriver102.com.

CU-UC WBB, Tonight

Concord continues its basketball "Charleston Week" when the women's teams meet tonight at the Carter Center.

The Lady Lions dropped a 76-67 decision to the Golden Eagles at the King Gymnasium on December 13, despite shooting 45.6% from the field. Charleston's "Miss Double-Double," Jihan Williams, went for just that on that night, with 15 points and 14 rebounds.

Turnovers were decisive in that meeting. Concord gave away the ball 29 times, to 18 for UC. Concord was in the midst of a five-game stretch in which it averaged 27 turnovers a game while the backcourt rotation was still getting sorted out. Now, with that rotation long since set, the Lady Lions have averaged a comparatively minuscule 11.4 turnovers in their last five games.
Taking care of the ball will be paramount for CU against Charleston tonight. The UC defense is leads the WVIAC in allowing conference opponents to shoot only 37.2%, and the Eagles surrender just 55.9 ppg in WVIAC games.

Concord is off a lackluster performance in a 75-57 loss to West Virginia State on Saturday. The defeat ended Concord's five-game winning streak and jeopardized their chances to finish in the top eight in the league -- and get home court for the first round of the conference tournament. Still, Concord can clinch a top-eight finish by defeating the second-place Eagles tonight. A loss would send CU on the road on Monday.

Meanwhile, Charleston is guranteed home court on Monday has the inside track on the top tournament seed. The Eagles currently trail West Liberty State in power rating points, but will sew up first place with a win tonight and another Saturday afternoon against WVSU.

So there's much at stake in what should be a playoff-like contest. You can hear the game on the air on Classic Rock 102.3 FM The New River, and on-line at theriver102.com. Air-time is 6:40 pm EST from Athens.

Concord vs West Virginia State Preview

One streak going, one streak over.
The Concord basketball teams host West Virginia State in a WVIAC doubleheader Saturday afternoon. The Lady Lions are aiming for their seventh consecutive victory, while the CU men saw their five-game winning streak snapped by Glenville State.
The Concord women took a big step closer to a finish in the top half of the WVIAC -- and home-court advantage in the first round of the conference tournament -- with their dramatic 62-60 win at the Lilly Gymnasium Thursday night. By contrast, the Mountain Lion men's hopes for a top eight finish may have gone away after their 82-70 loss to the Pioneers.

Both Yellowjacket teams are being pressed by Adlerson-Broaddus in the conference standings. The WVSU men are in first place, 17 power rating points ahead of the Battlers. The Lady Jackets currently hold the 8th and final upper-half spot, but by less than three PR points over A-B.
Meanwhile, Concord's advantage over WVSU for 7th in the league is a narrow 4.7 points.
The CU men are in 10th, and their remote chances for a top eight finish would be greatly enhanced with an upset. So there's a lot at stake on Saturday.

Each team in tomorrow's doubleheader appears in the most recent NCAA national statistics:

• State's Ted Scott is second in the country in scoring at 24.4 ppg. He's one of four WVIAC players in the nation's top seven.
• The Yellowjacket men are third in the nation in scoring (91.1 ppg). West Liberty State is the leader at 100.4.
• The WVSU men are 5th in blocked shots (5.7/game), 9th in 3-pointers per game (9.5) and 11th in field goal percentage (.498).
• State's Kenny Carter is 9th in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.58).
• His teammate, Ricky Jackson, is 10th in field goal percentage (.637).
• WVSU's Darren Jones is making 45.5% of his 3-point shots, 9th best in the nation.
• Concord freshman Cory Willard is 11th in that category (.450), with the Lions' Matt Parker 35th (.408).
• Willard is 4th in 3-pointers per game (3.7), with Parker 46th (2.7).
• WVSU's Brittany Mingo is the 7th-highest scorer among Division II women (22.8 ppg).
• The Lady Jackets are 3rd in the nation in fewest turnovers per game (13.7).
• Here's an interesting stat: The Concord women are 15th in fewest fouls committed per game (14.6).

The Concord women earned a gutty 62-56 win at West Virginia State January 8th. Two days later, the Yellowjacket men took command early and ran away to a 109-78 victory in Fleming Hall.

Of course, you'll hear both games of tomorrow's doubleheader on the air on Classic Rock 102 The New River (that's 102.3 on your FM dial) and on-line at theriver102.com. The broadcast begins at 3:40 pm EST with the Lady Lion Preview show. The women's game starts at 4:00, with the men due to tip off at 6:00.

Behind The Five

Concord's women's and men's basketball teams have earned a lot of attention for their five-game winning streaks.
Let's look at some of the numbers that went into the making of The Fives.

Ladies first.

• The Lady Lions are shooting .535 from the field, while holding their opponents to .277.
• The average margin of victory: 75.4-47.6.
• The normally turnover-prone Lady Lions have 94 assists and 76 turnovers during the streak. That's a 1.23 assist-turnover ratio, compared to their 0.72 ratio for the season.
  
• Concord has outrebounded its opponents by an average of 37-29.
• The Lady Lions are .825 from the free throw line.
• Reigning WVIAC Player of the Week Amber Schowalter's numbers during the streak: 19.6 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 2.2 spg, .732 FG (41-56), .842 FT (16-19)
• Sierra Brown is shooting .571 in the last five games, including three huge shots in crunch time of Saturday's big 65-63 win over West Virginia Wesleyan.

Tonight, Concord visits Glenville State. The Lady Pioneers stole a 61-60 win in Athens back on December 6th, even though Concord outshot GSC .489-.354 from the field and .429-.304 from three-point range.
The big differences in that game were turnovers (18 for Concord, 8 for Glenville State) and offensive rebounds (a 17-7 advantage for GSC).
Note: The Lady Pioneers had no answer for Schowalter that day; she finished with 21 points and 18 rebounds while shooting 9-13.
The Lady Lions are in 7th place in the WVIAC and need a win to stay in the upper half of the league. Plus, they should be keen on a little payback after letting the December 1st game get away.

Now, for the numbers behind The Five for the men....

• Concord is shooting a remarkable .597 from the field.
• The Mountain Lions are an even more remarkable .492 from 3-point range.
• Another something remarkable: Concord has a 166-156 edge in rebounds.
• CU's assist-to-turnover total: 109-57. That, too, is remarkable.
• Cordale Boyd's numbers: 18.2 ppg, 21 assists-10 turnovers, 24 rebounds, and .695 FG (41-59).
• Rafee Smith's numbers: 13.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg, .571 FG (32-56).
• Derek Calloway, the Lions' X Factor: 18 points, 28 rebounds, 10 steals.
• Cory Willard's numbers: 16.6 ppg, .491 on 3-pointers (27-55), .483 FG (28-58).
• Matt Parker has been nearly unstoppable: 21.2 ppg (tops on the team during the streak), an amazing .757 on 3-pointers (28-37) and .589 FG (33-56).
• The last two games, Thomas Brown has elevated his performance: 25 points, 10-16 FG, 12 assists-five turnovers, six steals, 4-5 3-pointers. With Ruston Jessee out for the foreseeable future after foot surgery, the Lions need Brown to improve his play. And he has.

Concord gets a chance at payback tonight at Glenville State. Back on December 6th, the Pioneers bolted out to a big early lead, then hung through a wild and wacky finish and escaped Athens with an 81-80 win in overtime.
Both CU and GSC have become much different teams since then. But the Pioneers have what Concord wants: A spot in the top half of the conference. Tonight is the second of four straight games in which the Lions face a team ahead of them in the league standings. So the power rating points are there for the taking.
Note #1: Matt Parker injured his left (non-shooting) hand during last Saturday's 101-81 blow-by over West Virginia Wesleyan. How it will affect his performance remains to be seen.
Note #2: The Pioneers are on a three-game winning streak, part of a streaky season. Before this, they lost three straight, which followed a four-game win streak, which followed losing three straight, which followed winning six in a row, which came after a two-game win streak preceded by two straight losses, and ... you get the idea.


Of course, you'll hear both games of tonight's doubleheader on the air on Classic Rock 102 The New River (that's 102.3 FM, to be specific) and on-line at theriver102.com. We'll start with the Lady Lion Preview at 5:10 pm EST.

Something To Listen For

The Princeton Rays and Bluefield Orioles -- bitter arch-rivals on the field -- announced Wednesday they're joining together for a very worthy cause.
The two teams will play in the "2009 Nights of Hope Mercer County Baseball Series" July 29 & 30 to raise awareness of and funding for the fight against breast cancer. More details will come ITH in the weeks and months to come.
In the shorter term, you'll hear a unique joint interview with P-Rays General Manager Jim Holland and Baby Birds GM Mike Showe during halftime of each game of the Concord-Glenville State college basketball doubleheader Thursday 19 February on Classic Rock 102 The New River and theriver102.com.
The women's game starts at 5:30 pm, and the men are scheduled to tip off at 7:30. We'll start our broadcast at 5:10.

College basketball has been helping to fight breast cancer for years (Concord has its annual "Pink Zone" event last weekend), and it took on added poignancy this year with the recent passing of legendary coach Kay Yow. It's good to see baseball take up the cause as well.
If you'd like more information on the "2009 Nights of Hope Mercer County Baseball Series," call the P-Rays at (304) 487-2000, the Bluefield Orioles at (276) 326-1326, or the local chapter of the American Cancer Society at (304) 327-8770.

Musings from the Weekend

Congratulations to Concord's Amber Schowalter, named today as the WVIAC Women's Basketball Player of the Week. Her winning the award was a complete no-brainer and her performance lately has been instrumental in the Lady Lions' move up the standings.
I'll explain further a little later, and will discuss the men's team too. Right now it's an exciting time for Concord basketball.


Congratulations as well to Matt Kenseth for his victory in the Daytona 500. It says a lot about him that the main reaction to his win was the outpouring of kind words from the racing media, who've spoken at length about how nice a guy and how deserving a champion Matt is.

Matt is a fellow Cheesehead. Way, way, way back in the day he and I crossed paths at the Madison (WI) International Speedway. He was an upstart 22-year old hot shoe and I was host of a weekly radio motorsports program. I'd seen Matt drive a couple times and arranged an interview after a Friday night's feature racing at MIS.
Matt's father, Roy, was downright tickled that someone from the media wanted to talk to his son. Roy's a nice guy, too. Must be where Matt gets it.
Matt had done well that night, doing his usual smooth job of working to the lead from the back of the field. Afterward, we sat down in Roy's RV, did the interview, and, being Cheeseheads, had a couple beers and talked about racing. And the Green Bay Packers.
(Part of the stereotype of Cheeseheads is true -- most of us love the Packers. Which gets me to thinking that my interview with Matt at MIS was so long ago that Brett Favre was coming off just his first full season as a starting quarterback ... but I digress)
I wish I had kept the tape from that interview.
After that, it seemed like a mere eyeblink until Matt got a Busch Series ride, moved up to the Cup series, and won the Winston Cup championship in 2003.
Now he can add "Daytona 500 Champion" to his resume.
It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

Concord Basketball at Davis & Elkins

We've taken one of the now-famous WVIAC 3-1/2 Hour Road Trips for the Concord basketball doubleheader tonight at D&E.
We'll broadcast both games starting at 5:10 pm EST on The New River 102.3 FM, and on our website, theriver102.com.

Both CU teams are on three-game winning streaks, and it's an important night for each of them.

The women are in 9th place, one spot shy of hosting a first-round game in the conference tournament. D&E is in 14th and in the midst of a brutal stretch of their schedule. Their last three games were against the 8th, 6th and 2nd place teams, and after tonight they visit league-leading Charleston and 7th-place West Virginia State. Then they host 5th-place West Virginia Wesleyan, then visit Glenville State (10th) and Alderson-Broaddus (8th).
So the Lady Senators absolutely must win tonight to keep alive hope of a significant move up the standings.
Concord is coming off three straight blowout victories and will have to avoid looking ahead to Saturday's big game against Wesleyan. Some standout Lady Lion performers lately have been:
Amber Schowalter: 33 points, 14 rebounds, 14-19 FG in the last two games....
Holly Bibb: 11-20 3-point FGs in the last three games....
Sarah Tuggle: 10 assists vs. 2 turnovers in the last two games.

The men have ridden some hot outside shooting to their three-game win streak.
In Monday's easy win at Salem International, Matt Parker hit 8 3-pointers and, after a slow start Cory Willard knocked down six. In last Saturday's win over Ohio Valley, Willard hit his first six 3-point shots and wound up 8-10 from the arc. Parker lit up Bluefield State in the game before that, hitting 7-9 from long distance.
The undersized Mountain Lions will go as far as their outside shooting will take them. Over the course of their three-game streak, they're shooting .479 (34-71) from beyond the arc. With numbers like that, finishing in the top half of the conference is not out of the question.
Tonight, they run up against a D&E that can also fling it. The Senators come in shooting 3's at a .356 clip (compared to Concord's .364) and have two of the WVIAC's leading long-range shooters in Tim Turner and Danny Manuel.
Combined, Concord and D&E average nearly 48 3-point attempts per game. We could be in for a shootout tonight. Should be fun.

Musings on Brett Favre

So, Brett Favre has retired, this time, we're told, for good.
There will be another round of media genuflecting, just not nearly as much as when Favre "retired" last year. Much of the focus this time around will be on his one ultimately frustrating season with the New York Jets, rather than on his 16 largely successful seasons in Green Bay. Which is fine.
As a expatriate Cheesehead, I've found fascinating how Favre is perceived outside Packer Nation. Most non-Wisconsinites rave about Favre and glowingly throw around words like "gunslinger," "toughness" and, of course, "he loves to play the game."
But ask a real Cheesehead about Favre, and you'll get a reaction similar to one you'd get if you'd ask a guy who had a lenghty and passionate relationship with a beautiful woman.
Sure, it was great, sure, it was exciting, and the time together was certainly unforgettable.
But wasn't completely blissful. There were a lot of tough times, too. A lot of mistakes, a lot of questionable decisions. So, while you watch the innumerable Favre retrospectives, remember that there are a lot of Cheeseheads reliving a little heartbreak.
We'll be OK. We just need a little time.
At least now we'll finally get some closure.

Introduction

The beginning is always a good place to start. And the first entry here at Inside The Headset fits the bill as a good place for an introduction.

My name as Kyle Cooper. You may know me as the play-by-play voice of the Princeton Rays (Appalachian League affiliate of the 2008 American League champion Tampa Bay Rays) and the Concord University Mountain Lions (member of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and NCAA Division II). Those two teams and the leagues they play in will, understandably, be the focal points of Inside The Headset.

I've been in broadcasting for more than a few years and I'd like to think I do a passable job on the air. It's a profession I take very seriously and Inside The Headset will reflect that. Be forewarned: While I'm a pretty laid-back guy, one thing that never ceases to irritate me is bad broadcasting. So expect some, um, commentaries on sports media -- good and bad.

But ITH won't be limited strictly to sports or sportscasting. Which will be the fun part. Who knows where this blog will lead? Wherever it goes, here's hoping we all enjoy the journey.