Leelanau Sports Guy’s World

Sports Dude, I just can’t win!

Read Horton, Michigan upset No. 11 MSU 72-67 at Yahoo! Sports

Liz Shimek keeps setting records and recently became the first Spartan woman to reach the 1,000 mark in both points and rebounds.

Read Making her mark at the Record Eagle

Maurice Ager and Paul Davis stepped up. They knew they had to and both delivered. Ager scored 28 points and Davis had 23 points and pulled down 10 boards as MSU defeated No. 9 Indiana 87-73 to earn the Spartans their first Big Ten win of the season. Next up for the Spartans is a road trip to No. 19 Ohio State.

Read Michigan State’s big two get first Big Ten win at CNNSI.com

I am sure it’s not the start Tom Izzo wanted in the Big Ten. But he probably isn’t absolutely surprised either. The Spartans who normally only have problems on the defensive end (and still do) are also having trouble putting the ball in the hole. Some questions I have after the 82-63 loss at Wisconsin.

What’s wrong with Maurice Ager? His shots aren’t falling, maybe he is forcing, but the Spartans need their best player to be consistent.

Why doesn’t the ball go inside to Paul Davis? From what I saw in the first half it’s because he wasn’t in the post. He was always hanging out outside. Get down on the block and then get him the ball.

Can Drew Neitzel guard anybody? He might be running into some hot players, but it seems like a common highlight is him jumping at someone at the last minute trying to get a hand in the face. I know he is chasing players around, but right now it seems like he can’t stop anyone one-on-one.

Shannon Brown scored a career-high 31, and that was one of the lone bright spots according to Izzo. The Spartans need to shape up quickly with Indiana at home and then a trip to Ohio State after that. An 0-2 Big Ten start doesn’t eliminate the Spartans from the Big Ten title, but they can’t afford to many more flat performances.

Read Wisconsin routs No. 7 Spartans 82-63 at Yahoo! Sports

Glen Lake’s Liz Shimek scored 18 of her 22 points in the second half to help Michigan State defeat Penn State 75-53 in Big Ten play. During the game Shimek pulled down 8 rebounds giving her 968 for her career to became the all-time MSU leader in that category. MSU is ranked #11 with a 11-3 record, and is 2-0 in the Big Ten.

Read No. 11 Michigan St. 75, Penn St. 53 from AP Sports

It was an amazing year for northern Michigan sports fans. Glen Lake’s Liz Shimek (#3 on the list) helped the Michigan State Spartans advance to the NCAA Women’s title game for the first time in school history. Take a look at the recap of the top 10 stories from the Record Eagle.

Read Eight days, three titles ranked No. 1 in the Record Eagle

Liz Shimek is off to a roaring start in her senior season at Michigan State. She has already captured a Big Ten player of the week award, scored at least 26 points four different times and established a career high 29 points in the win over Detroit Mercy. MSU is off to a 5-2 start and is currently ranked #13.

Read Shimek carries MSU in the Detroit News

I love the 3 day weekend, doesn’t get much better than that. We did all the usual stuff, swimming, sitting at the beach, cookouts, smores, and I even found time to have another live fantasy football draft. As a bonus, a gentleman was fishing in his kayak out on Lake Michigan and caught a beautiful salmon. His wife doesn’t like it so he gave it to us. I grilled it last night and it was delicious, a great way to end the weekend!

Here’s my thoughts from the football games I got to watch.

MSU 49 - Kent State 14 - Was about what I expected. Lots of offense and some holes in the defense. Stanton was solid, but the best player on the field was sophomore Jehuu Caulcrick. He finished with 114 yards and 3 TDS to lead the MSU ground game. Freshman Javon Ringer also ran for 69 yards and showed some flashes of his potential. If the defense can tighten up a bit this team can definitely go to a bowl and make some noise in the tough Big Ten.

Michigan 33 - Northern Illinois 17 - I am sure Michigan fans were a little nervous at first, but Michael Hart and the Michigan offense was too much. Henne looked good and the receivers made some great catches. Michigan’s defense is going to be the key to their season though. They gave up a couple of big plays and long drives that could prove deadly against the top teams in the Big Ten.

Lions 21 - Bills 7 - The Lions needed this win badly heading into the regular season. The defense looked sharp and the ground game was working well. Losing Garcia does hurt, but they will overcome this. Harrington is the man and look for him to lead the way early this season. A fast start is critical to this Lions team.

MSU star forward Liz Shimek scored 5 points and grabbed 5 rebounds in helping the USA Women’s Team defeat Serbia & Montenegro 79-53 and capture the gold medal. Shimek averaged 7.3 points and 6.6 rebounds as Team USA finished with a 7-0 record.

Read the articles below for more info…

USA Women Are Golden With Overpowering 79-53 Title Game Victory Over Serbia & Montenegro - USA Basketball article

Shimek, U.S. golden - Record Eagle article

Liz’s USA Basketball Bio

Current MSU and former Lady Laker star Liz Shimek scored 6 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in a 118-67 win over Russia, to help the U.S. Women’s team advance at the World University Games.

The U.S. now plays Serbia & Montenegro for the Gold Medal on Friday.

USA Women Clinch Gold Medal Game Berth With Dominating 118-67 Semifinal Win Over Russia - USA Basketball article

Shimek helps U.S. cruise to victory - Record Eagle article

Glen Lake grad earns trip to Turkey for University Games
Record Eagle article by Jeff Peek

Traverse City - It’s official.

“Just to be one of the 16 finalists is a great honor, so I’m pretty excited to make the team,” Shimek said Tuesday evening from the team’s camp at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. “It’s been a great experience so far. I’m just taking it day by day and having fun.”

Read the entire article.

My View: Next year at this time, we will be watching her play in the WNBA!

University Games squad opens play Aug. 10 in Turkey
Lansing State Journal article by Ricardo Cooney

Liz Shimek needed a bit of a refresher course in geography on Monday morning in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Shimek, the Spartans leading scorer (14.8) and rebounder (9.1) last season for a Spartan team that earned a spot on the 12-member team that will compete from Aug. 10-19 in Izmir, Turkey at the World University Games.

Read the entire article.

My View: Congrats to Liz! This will be quite an honor heading into her senior season. The Lady Spartans should be a very good team next season and should continue right where they left off.

Glen Lake grad vies for spot in World University Games
Record Eagle article by Mark Urban

Traverse City - Former Glen Lake standout Liz Shimek has already shown her basketball team is one of the best in the country.

Tonight she’ll find out if she made the 12-member squad that will travel to Izmir, Turkey, for the Games on Aug. 10-19.

Read the entire article.

My View: Shimek continues to amaze nationally, no surprise to Leelanau County fans, and is a finalist for the World University Games women’s team. She is continuing her amazing athletic career and will go down as one of the best (if not the best) Leelanau County athlete ever!

Enterprise article by Amy Hubbell

You would have thought Glen Lake changed its school colors if you didn’t know better.

In just a 24-hour period, students organized the event that capped Liz Shimek Day in Kasson Township, as declared Monday night by the Kasson Township Board. Although her parents’ farm at the corner of County Road 669 and M-72 has a mailing address of Empire, it is located in Kasson Township.

Read the entire article.

Here’s a couple of articles from the Record Eagle…

Spartans eye first national championship tonight - Record Eagle article by Mark Urban

All of northern Michigan is excited for the game featuring local star Liz Shimek. I know I will be watching and cheering for the Spartans.

Opening Day Tiger fans optimistic - Record Eagle article by Jeff Peek

A look at what northern Michigan Tigers fans think of the upcoming season. I think they have a great shot at the division. Minnesota will be tough, but if they can hold their own against Kansas City, Chicago White Sox and the Cleveland Indians they will do it. A .500 record against the Twins would be a plus as well! The offense will score runs, but it will still come down to starting pitching. If Jason Johnson can return to the form he had in his last season in Baltimore, they will win the division!