Leelanau Sports Guy at sportspig.com

Beach Bums begin search for new manager

Photo by John L. Russell

Jeff Isom turned the the Traverse City Beach Bums first season success into a shot in the big leagues. Isom is the new manager of the Helena Brewers in the Pioneer League. Helana is an affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Isom led the Beach Bums to a 57-39 record in their first season.

The Beach Bums will hold interviews over the next few weeks and hope to have a new manager in place by the end of March.

Read Jeff Isom moves on to affiliated baseball at TCBeachBums.com

Dennis Chase of the Record Eagle takes a quick look at the final week of the boys basketball regular season. Only one team really stand out in the county and that’s Leland. The Comets clinched the Cherryland Conference title on Friday. Suttons Bay, with a little help, could still clinch a share of the Northwest title with a win over Frankfort and a Kingsley loss at Glen Lake.

Read Parity in preps makes for wild league races in the Record Eagle

Saw this at Need4Sheed.com and it reminded me of lunchtime back in high school and doing all the crazy trick shots – over the backboard, off the wall, etc.

Anyway this is a video of Rasheed Wallace at practice losing (and winning some) Pepsi’s to Ron Harper while trying all kinds of trick shots.

Read Arenas Plays For Cash – Rasheed Plays For Pepsi at Need4Sheed.com

Northern Michigan baseball fans will get the chance to enjoy the Beach Bums at home or on the road as The Fox has once again signed on as the official home of Beach Bums radio broadcasts. I know I found myself listening to quite a few games and Chad Cooper, voice of the Beach Bums, does a great job at play-by-play. It didn’t hurt that the Beach Bums were also very competitive either! Here’s the details…

Providing the Beach Bums with over 120,000 watts of coverage between their simulcast feeds on 94.3 in Traverse City; 92.5 in Atlanta, Alpena and Petoskey; and 95.5 on the beach in Petoskey, The Fox gives the Beach Bums the 11th largest coverage area in all of minor league baseball.

“We’re excited to work with The Fox again in 2007,” said Beach Bums CEO and Managing Partner John Wuerfel, “We felt that being on The Fox last season really helped to enhance our radius for a fan base last season and we want to keep that growing to make sure that the Beach Bums are truly Northern Michigan’s team.”

I was blown away that the Beach Bums have the 11th largest coverage area in all of minor league baseball. That’s very impressive! The Wuerfel family has delivered on their promise of baseball in Traverse City and make it enjoyable for the entire family. If you haven’t been to a game yet, go in 2007 and see what you ‘ve been missing.

Read Beach Bums & The Fox partner up again in 2007 at TCBeachBums.com

For the latest Beach Bums news, visit their official site at www.TCBeachBums.com.

Photo courtesy of the Beach Bums

It’s the biggest win of the season, and it just might have moved Michigan State from the “bubble” tag and into the NCAA Tournament. Drew Neitzel scored 28 points, hitting 6 three’s, to lead the way as the Spartans ruined Wisconsin’s first game as the top team in the nation with a 64-55 win. It moves MSU to over .500 in the Big Ten (7-6) and also gave them their 20th win for the 8th time out of the last 10 seasons.

The Spartans did it in a way that has proven successful for a Tom Izzo team over the years – tough defense and rebounding. MSU outrebounded Wisconsin 41-24 and held the Badgers to 35.8 percent shooting.

Neitzel is showing he belongs on the big stage, but he’s getting some help. Raymar Morgan (12 points) and Travis Walton (13 points, 10 assists) were big once again and keep on improving as the season progresses. Walton was one of the key defenders in holding Alando Tucker (potential player of the year candidate) to 16 points, and only 2 in the second half.

As their confidence keeps growing they will be a very dangerous team during March Madness!

Read THE BIG ONE: MSU upsets No. 1 Wisconsin in the Detroit News

Updated: Just read this, it’s awesome! A real testament to Tom Izzo and what he has built at Michigan State…

Read Memorable footprint at Yahoo! Sports

This looks pretty cool, plus they have Bob Probert! Need I say more? Okay, I will. Michigan In Play! Magazine and president Jack Rosenberg have put together what appears to be a talented staff of writers and photographers to bring all kinds of Michigan sports coverage to you! It looks like there isn’t anything they won’t tackle! I’ll let them explain it to you…

Our Secret Weapon Is Our Content…Once You Read An Issue, You’ll Be Hooked!

Feature stories – each issue explores sporting and leisure activities (the list of possibilities is endless) in great detail… it may be Lions, Wings, Tigers, Pistons, boating or dog sledding in the U.P. We strive to bring you the very best Michigan has to offer.

It’s available at over 365 locations around SE Michigan, and best of all, it’s FREE!

So there you have it, just go to www.michiganinplay.com and check it out for yourself!

Absolute Michigan has put together a great page that will help you get a jump-start on 2007 Detroit Tigers Spring Training. The Tigers will be out to prove that 2006 wasn’t a fluke and with the addition of Gary Sheffield in the middle of the lineup, I think they will. Pitchers and catchers report on Friday, which means spring can’t be far behind. Right?

Read Spring Training with the Detroit Tigers at Absolute Michigan

Record Eagle sportswriter Mark Urban takes a look at the big rivalry game between Michigan State and Michigan and how it could play a very big part in either team making the NCAA Tournament. My guess is that neither are going to make the “Big Dance” and both will be playing in the NIT regardless of the outcome Tuesday.

Read Tuesday’s loser will miss the NCAAs in the Record Eagle

Also, here’s another article from the Record Eagle about the annual winter sports card and memorabilia at the Civic Center.

Lake Leelanau St. Mary will join Traverse City St. Francis, Mt. Pleasant Sacred Heart and Gaylord St. Mary in the inaugural Beach Bums Division 3 & 4 Invitational Tournament. The tournament is set for Saturday, April 28th, 2007 at Wuerfel Park. Game 1 will feature the Eagles and Glads at 10 am, followed by Game 2 between Sacred Heart and Gaylord St. Mary at noon. A consolation game will be played at 2 pm and the championship at 4 pm.

Tickets will cost $5 per person for the entire day and a portion of the ticket proceeds going to each of the participating schools. You can purchase tickets from any of the schools or at the Beach Bums box office at (231) 943-0100.

My View: I was waiting for the Beach Bums to start hosting these kind of events. It’s a beautiful ballpark and it will be a thrill for the players and coaches to play on it. A few years ago I was coaching when St. Mary traveled down to the Sacred Heart Tournament and we played one of our games at Central Michigan University’s Theunissen Stadium. It was a great experience and a whole lot of fun.

The Beach Bums have alot to offer area baseball fans and players, and there will be lots of winners, regardless of the scores, at Wuerfel Park!

Finally catching up on reading some email and saw this from DraftSharks about the upcoming NFL Draft and in particular some rumors surrounding the Lions #2 pick.

Speaking of McNabb, there is one interesting trade rumor we heard last week: Detroit trades the #2 pick (Brady Quinn) to Philadelphia for McNabb and the 26th overall pick.

Detroit’s #2 pick is not an enviable spot, at least for them. They will probably be staring WR Calvin Johnson in the face, but after taking three 1st-round receivers since 2003 – Charles Rogers (miss), Roy Williams (hit), Mike Williams (miss) – they simply can’t go that route again. So the country’s best player is almost prohibited from being a Lion. QB is always an issue in the Motor City. Do they take Brady Quinn or JaMarcus Russell if available? Jon Kitna played well but got sloppy down the stretch, finishing with a league-leading 31 turnovers (22 INTs, 9 fumbles lost). He’ll be 35 this season too. Plus, RBs Kevin Jones (foot) and Brian Calhoun (knee) are facing major rehabs and there’s a chance neither will be ready for training camp. Draft Adrian Peterson? Trade the #2 pick for Clinton Portis? And here’s the worst part… The decisions will ultimately be made by the worst sports executive in America: Matt Millen.

McNabb? Wow, that would be something else, but he is so injury prone now, I wouldn’t bother. Clinton Portis would be interesting to trade for, but he also has injuries that sideline him from time to time. Seriously, I think the best thing the Lions could do is to draft Oklahoma RB Adrian Peterson. Kevin Jones isn’t proving to be very durable and the Lions could use a gamebreaker in the backfield. Peterson fits the bill.