8 The Lorian Feb. 26, 2015 Sports

8 lessons I learned as a sportswriter

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Ryan GRahamsports editor

Ive been a sportswriter for the Telegraph Herald for a little over a year now. During that time, Ive learned a thing or two about the sports media industrythings the average person doesnt realize until theyre the one holding a recorder and sprinting after the team bus as it pulls out of the parking lot. 1. High school kids dont know how to speak

With a few exceptions, this is almost always true. Some running back will go for 250 yards and three touchdowns, youll catch up with him after the game, ask him your well-researched and poignant question and hell respond: Yeah, I felt good out there, like, with my teammates who were helping and, um, coach really gave me, well, I mean, he believed in me, and us, so it was good.

Gee, thanks for the analysis, Joe Buck. 2. Overtime sucks

Youd think covering an overtime game would be exciting for a journalist. No. No no no, a million times NO. Writers have deadlines. When that kid ties the game with a three from the corner as time expires, youre filled with nothing but dread. You start doing the mental math: OK, we go to press at midnight. Its 10:30 right now. By the time Im done getting quotes, itll be like 11:15. Unless theres a second overtime. GAH THERES NOT ENOUGH TIME!3. Coaches REALLY dont like losing

Some handle it better than others, but yeah, like most people, coaches dont particularly enjoy failing at their jobs. Whenever youre talking to the losing coach, its important to put a positive spin on your questions. Ask things like, What do you guys need to improve on moving forward?

That goes over a million times better than: Why did you guys suck tonight? 4. Covering Illinois high school sports is awful

I have a bone to pick with the IHSA. You people need to learn how to use the damn internet. High school statistics are never easy to find, but some states make it easier than others. Iowa has quickstatsiowa.com, Wisconsin has wissports.net. Illinois is stuck in the Paleolithic era and has nothing. No statistics, no rosters, no schedules or resultsnothing. Sure, you can use MaxPreps, but half the time, a teams roster hasnt been updated since 2009. Get your s#!% together, Illinois. 5. Sports Information Directors are helpful (sometimes)

Sometimes, sports information directors are cool and helpful and do their job. Like our own Jim Naprstek, who holds press conferences and helps by grabbing players for you after games. Other SIDs are up in their office watching porn or something, so journalists are forced to sprint onto the court/field/gym out of fear that everyone is going to jump on an airplane to Dubai immediately after the game, leaving us without quotes or a story. 6. Editors make mistakes

As an editor myself, Ill be the first to admit that it happens. Sometimes, the smallest error can throw off an entire article. In an article on a Clarke basketball game, I wrote: David Neis struggled, shooting 7-21 from the field. I formatted it wrong. 7-21 should have been 7-of-21. But the editor left out the two, so it read David Neis struggled, shooting 7-of-1 from the field.

Any player shooting 700 percent from the field certainly isnt struggling. Theyre also a wizard, which, if that were the case, should have been included in my lead. But it happens. Sometimes you try to write an article on a basketball game and you end up writing about wizards. 7. Never drink before games

This was ONE time and I had ONE beer, OK? Im 21; its not illegal to have a beer with dinner before a game. It is, however, a really bad idea. Midway through the game, I was on the verge of passing out in the press box. It probably didnt help that my pregame meal was a Culvers butter burger and cheese curds. Fun fact: cheese curds and beer are actually the two main ingredients in Advil PM. 8. No one cares that youre a sports journalist

When I first got into journalism, I thought people would see me out there and think, Oooh, whos that guy? He looks so important and interesting! He gets his own press box AND he wears a sweater!? I dont know about you, but Id date him!

Yeah, that never happens. Chicks dont dig journalists.

Duhawks to host regional qualifierby Drew Brashaw | asst. sports editor

The Duhawk matmen will play host to the 2015 NCAA Division III Central Region qualifying tournament this Saturday at the Dubuque Five Flags Center.

130 wrestlers from 13 colleges are slated to compete, with the top three finishers in each weight class earning spots in the NCAA Division III Cham-

pionship tournament in Hershey, PA on March 13-14.

For Head Coach Randy Steward, this weekend has been circled on the calendar all season long.

Were just trying to keep every-thing in perspective and keep pointing to the regional tournament, Steward said. Thats what weve been training for the whole season. Our goal, obvi-ously, is to put ten kids through (to

nationals). But whether we do or not, if we get two or three kids through and they do well, we can still finish in the top-ten in the country. Thats the for-tunate thing about wrestling.

Along with all eight members of the Iowa Conference, the tournament will feature wrestlers from Augustana College, Cornell, Huntingdon College, Knox College, and University of the Ozarks.

Sophomore Therese McMahon drives the lane in the Duhawks 65-58 loss to Wartburg. Poor second half shooting by the Duhawks proved to be the difference.

photo by maDDy cole

Duhawks bounced in 1st roundLoras season is cut short by Wartburg in the opening round of the Iowa Conference Tournament

by Frank FernanDez | sportswriterWith an NCAA tournament bid

secured, the Duhawks headed into back-to-back conference road games with a chance to finish with double digit wins in Iowa Conference play. The first game brought the Duhawks to Pella for a matchup with the Cen-tral College Dutch.

The Duhawks struggled in the first half, but were able to even the score with under five minutes remaining thanks to senior Victoria May. The captain dominated the inside, mak-ing her presence known with eight straight points to give the Duhawks a 24-21 lead at the half.

In the second half, the Duhawks were able to build a commanding lead when freshman Lauren Stan-ich knocked down a three. However, poor ball control and foul trouble al-lowed the Dutch back into the game.

We had a number of chances to put them away, but we allowed them to stay in the game and they took advantage, said head coach Justin Heinzen.

Centrals Kenzie Vander Molen led the charge and swung the mo-mentum in their favor.

With the score tied at 59 and time running out, sophomore Kat Cabre-ra put up an off-balanced shot that rimmed out and sent the game to overtime.

In the extra period, Vander Mo-len took control, scoring 10 of the Dutchs 15 points. The guard proved to be too much for the Duhawks, as they fell 74-70.

The Duhawks knew they had to have a short memory, as they trav-eled to Indianola for a matchup with the Simpson College Storm in their last regular season game of the year.

The game was a tale of two halves for the Duhawks. In the first half, they showed their ability to domi-nate. Loras came out of the gate hot, hitting their first three shots to take a 10-2 early lead.

T h e D u h a w k s c o n t i n u e d t o demonstrate their offensive prow-ess, working the inside and cashing in on easy buckets. Sophomore Lori Obendorf put up 13 in the first half, using her size to her advantage.

Our presence inside really gave us the early advantage and we knew that was our best chance to set the tone for the game, said Obendorf, who finished with a career-high 21 points along with her 10 rebounds and four blocks.

Along with impressive offense came airtight defense. The Du-hawks shot 55.6 percent and limit-ed the Storm to only 36.0 percent. Obendorf provided the exclamation point with an emphatic block at the halftime buzzer, as the Duhawks led, 39-23.

The second half proved to be a re-versal of fortunes, as the Duhawks struggled to find an answer against Simpsons offensive attack. An 18-0 run by the Storm brought them with-in two, setting the stage for a fight to the finish.

The Storm pulled ahead for the first time behind the long-range on-slaught by Whitney Van Wyk, knock-ing down a trio of threes in the half. The teams went back and forth from that point on, even up to the games final seconds.

Down one with 3.4 seconds left, Obendorf had her shot rejected and the Storm corralled the ball. A foul sent them to the line, connecting on both to extend the lead to three with little time remaining. With one last chance, junior Kaitlin Phil-lips hustled up court and buried a last-second trey to tie it up, and the Duhawks headed to their second overtime in as many games.

In overtime, the Duhawks were able to go back to what worked so well in the first half, getting the ball into the post and letting their bigs take advantage. Victoria May was able to draw contact inside and hit both free throws to give Loras the lead. Suffocating defense by the Duhawks shut the Storm down and they were able to pull out the 70-65 victory, securing a season sweep of Simpson.

With their regular season over, the Duhawks entered post-season play at the No. 4 seed, setting them up for a first-round tussle with Wart-burg.

Loras swept the f i fth-seeded Dutch in their two regular season matchups, but when the teams met in the AWC Tuesday night, Wartburg got its revenge.

The Duhawks led by three at half, but an abysmal shooting second half proved to be their undoing. Loras shot 23.5 percent from the floor in the second, and fell to the Dutch, 65-58.

Phillips led the Duhawks with 19 points, seven rebounds and five as-sists before fouling out late in the game. Carly Goede and Obendorf both chipped in with eight.

The loss marks the final game for seniors Victoria May and Goede. May closed out her Loras career av-eraging 11.5 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. At seasons end, May led the Iowa Conference in shooting percentage with a mark of .593, followed closely by Obendorf, who finished second in the conference at .579 percent.

In her first year as a Duhawk, Goede started all 26 games, averag-ing 10.1 points and providing some much-needed outside shooting for the Duhawks.

wrestling

wartburg 65, loras 58Iowa Conference Tournament

Wartburg (16-10, 6-8)Player ...................... FG 3pt FT Reb Ast PtsMorgan Neuendorf ....3-6 1-3 8-8 4 4 15 Kailey Kladivo ......... 5-14 0-0 4-5 9 0 14Katie Sommer ...........2-6 1-5 3-4 5 2 8Holly Halstead ..........2-2 1-1 3-4 3 1 8 Bobbie Burrows ........ 2-4 2-3 0-0 1 2 6 Allison Emrich ..........3-4 0-0 0-2 3 0 6Mary Brown ............... 1-3 1-3 1-2 1 1 4Kristie Sommer ......... 0-2 0-2 2-2 9 0 2 Miranda Murphy ...... 1-4 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 Team ................... 19-45 6-17 21-27 38 11 65

Loras (15-11, 9-5)Player ...................... FG 3pt FT Reb Ast PtsKaitlin Phillips ......... 5-13 3-5 6-8 7 5 19Carly Goede ............. 4-12 0-2 0-0 3 2 8 Lori Obendorf ........... 2-7 0-0 4-4 12 0 8Victoria May ............ 3-10 0-1 1-1 6 1 7 Megan Jones ............. 2-4 0-1 1-1 3 0 5Kathleen Cabrera ......2-8 0-2 0-0 3 0 4 Terese McMahon ...... 1-6 0-0 1-2 1 0 3Erin Weaver ............... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 2 Miranda Chapman ....0-2 0-1 2-2 0 0 2 Lauren Stanich .......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Naomi Phillips .......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Team ................... 20-64 3-12 15-18 38 8 58