Thursday, December 16, 2010

LCT seeds

The official seeding of the upcoming LeFlore County Tournament was decided in a meeting Wednesday night.

As you may recall, I tried to predict the seedings in a blog yesterday.

For the most part, I did okay. I was pretty close to money on the boys, only missing four seeds. I had Heavener third and Spiro fourth while the coaches flip-flopped those two. I also had Wister sixth and Panama seventh, which was reversed in the official seeding.

On the girls, I was not nearly as good. I expected Howe to get the top seed with Heavener second but the coaches had Heavener on top and Howe second. The big surprise was Spiro’s girls got the third seed while I expected the Lady Bulldogs to be eighth. Talihina also came in at fourth while I thought the Lady Tigers would be fifth.

I thought Bokoshe would be third and Whitesboro fourth based on records and rankings. Bokoshe wound up fifth while Whitesboro is seventh. Wister was sixth in the seedings while I thought the Lady Wildcats would be seventh.

Poteau was eighth (I had the Lady Pirates at sixth). LeFlore and Cameron were ahead of Pocola for the tournament while I had the Lady Indians ahead of those two.

No complaints. The coaches did a good job as usual. As you may know, the finals will be held in Spiro. Other games will be held at Panama and Heavener. CASC will not host any games for the first time in longer than I can remember.

The top three teams get byes during the first round. Here are the first-round matchups for the boys:

Heavener vs. Bokoshe; Cameron vs. LeFlore; Panama vs. Pocola; Wister vs. Whitesboro; and Arkoma against Howe.

Should be some pretty good games. Panama and Pocola will be good, no matter what the seedings or records say. Also, the Arkoma and Howe game should be a good one. Then, in the second round, Talihina faces either Arkoma or Howe; Poteau takes on the Wister/Whitesboro winner; Spiro meets Panama or Pocola while the winner of Heavener/Bokoshe takes on Cameron or LeFlore.

Here are the games for the girls: Talihina vs. Arkoma; Bokoshe vs. Pocola; Wister vs. Cameron; Whitesboro vs. LeFlore; and Poteau vs. Panama.

And in the second round, Heavener will play the winner of Panama/Pocola; Howe faces off against either Whitesboro or LeFlore; Spiro takes on Wister or Cameron; and Talihina plays either Bokoshe or Pocola.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Seeding the county teams

Tonight is a big night for basketball players, coaches and fans in LeFlore County.

The high school basketball teams will be seeded for the upcoming LeFlore County Tournament to be held Jan. 17 through Jan. 22 with the finals to be held at Spiro.

About the only sure thing about the seeding is Talihina’s boys will be the top seed for the boys. After that, it is a coin flip. Talihina’s boys and Heavener’s girls will be defending their championships.

And out of the goodness of my heart, I will give you what I expect will be the seedings for the LCT.

First off, for the girls.

Heavener and Howe will be the top two seeds, although it could go either way. Both teams have one loss from last week in tournament games.

I think Howe will be awarded the top seed with Heavener second. The next few seeds will be a tough call but based on the records and rankings, Bokoshe will be third and Whitesboro fourth. Talihina is the fifth seed followed by Poteau and Wister.

For the eighth seed, my guess is Spiro with Panama ninth and Pocola 10th. LeFlore is 11th followed by Cameron and Arkoma.

On the boys’ side, Talihina is an easy choice as the top seed followed by Poteau and Heavener. The Pirates handed the Wolves their only loss and deserve a better seeding based on the head-to-head meeting.

Spiro is fourth followed by Cameron in fifth and Wister sixth. Cameron and Wister have split their two meetings with the Jackets winning by a larger margin at home for the difference. An improving Panama team is seventh followed by Arkoma at eight.

The ninth seed will likely be Howe with Whitesboro and Pocola following. LeFlore and Bokoshe will probably be the two bottom seeds.

As a disclaimer, this does not necessarily reflect the best teams in the county, just how I feel they will be seeded. For instance, I believe Poteau's girls are better than some of the teams ranked above them, but the Lady Pirates have only one win. They have also played a difficult schedule, which should help them in the county tournament. Another team which could cause problems is the Spiro girls, which have most of their players back from last year but got a late start because of the football playoffs.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Molly's big day!

It’s worry day in the house of Craig.

Our puppy Molly is getting her first hair cut! Yes, she is seven months old know and in definite need of a trim.

But still, I wonder…will she be okay? Will she cry? Will she come out of the haircut with some silly bandana or bow in her hair? Will I actually be able to see her eyes after this? And…just how much is this going to set me back?

I am not used to having a dog who needs haircuts. Most of my dogs have typically had short hair. And no, it is not necessary for any of you reading this to say something like “at least they had hair!” Ha ha.

This is a new experience for Molly and me. It’s almost like a child getting the first do...or don’t. Should I ask for a lock of her hair that has been shorn? Probably not, I could always find some in the corner of some room from where she has shed.

I also wonder how she will like her new haircut, or will she notice. Will Molly (like some female people I know who will remain nameless) expect everybody to make a big fuss about her style? Does she expect the grandparents to come over to check out her new style? Are pictures required?

Probably not. Molly does not worry about her hair that much. She is okay with baths, but don’t bring a hairdryer anywhere close to her. Molly does not like the air blowing on her. The brush is not her favorite object either.

Must be something about all the hair tied together, plus she would rather play with the brush.

I feel sorry for the dog groomer. Hopefully I can pay before she takes on Molly. I fear afterwards, the price will double and Molly will be on the dreaded Do Not Groom list.

We have had Molly since August. She has almost doubled in size and not lost any of her attitude. Molly expects everything to revolve around her and she wants to be involved in whatever is happening.

If I go somewhere, by gosh, Molly thinks she should go and pouts and cries if she can’t. This does not apply to my going to work. I have a feeling she goes back to sleep so she will be wide awake when I get home.

I must admit, my work output at home has dropped considerably since the arrival of Molly. She does not feel like I should be sitting in front of the computer. I should be throwing her toy or petting her. If she is being ignored, Molly barks, scratches my leg or finds something that will show her irritation. That reminds me of some…never mind.

Lately, I have been buying her these monster chew sticks to try and keep her at bay while I work. The little ones just don’t work. For Molly, size does matter and…wait, that did not sound right. Let’s just say she loses her little chew toys, okay?

So when I get home from work this evening sometime after 5:30 (you know, after it is dark!), I will get to see a new Molly. Maybe she will come with a new attitude. But I doubt it.