From the sidelines
If you know me well, you know I am a television junkie.
I love sports, comedies, dramas, even some reality shows. So, I thought it would be fitting to preview the Marion High School spring sports teams with some analogies to some of my favorite current television shows (and one that is currently off the air).
GOLF: "The Big Bang Theory"
This show, which is new this year, features two of the nerdiest 20-somethings you ever will meet as the main characters.
But they also are some of the smartest guys you ever will meet, complete with degrees and science awards they were winning while still in their teens.
It's not the characters that resemble this golf team, but instead the name of the show, because these guys can bang the ball with the best of them.
Keith Jones, Luke Gordon, and Jake Bredemier (all seasoned vets with state tournament play under their belts) will anchor the squad that finished tied for third last season in 3A.
When those three are on, they will push for tournament championships in the two and four-man groupings at nearly every event. If one more golfer can step it up and become another "big banger," these Warriors will be tough to beat.
Baseball: "Lost" (but I am going with the opposite here and will call them "Found.")
The name of this show kind of speaks for itself. But to go more in depth, it's about passengers of a huge airliner who crashed on a uncharted island and are, well, lost.
But I am going to go with the opposite of the MHS baseball team and call them "Found."
After a tough season last year with only one victory against Hillsboro, it appears early on there will be no repeat this season.
Third-year coach Shaun Craft is starting to settle in (although he says each year he puts more pressure on himself and the players to succeed, which is a good thing) and he has 20 players this year, allowing for a full junior varsity squad as well.
This will help the varsity guys concentrate on their games, and the younger ones develop at the JV level.
Five seniors are in the lineup, led by shortstop and pitcher Calvin Jeffrey, who hit better than .500 a year ago.
Brian Fruechting took a few lumps on the mound as a freshman last season, but that could help him return to his form when he dominated summer-league competition.
It's safe to say this team is starting to "find" itself, and should compete in the tough Mid-Central Activities Association this season.
Softball: "The George Lopez Show."
George Lopez is one of the funniest comedian/actors I've seen in a while, but it's not the humor of his show that reminds me of the Warrior softball team.
Instead it's the idea, and ideals he and his family talk about in the show, that remind me of the team.
In the show Lopez's parents came to the United States from Mexico (and his wife's family Cuba) as blue-collar workers knowing what it meant to work for things they wanted in life.
He then instilled those values in his own family on the show.
The softball team was the same way last year, working hard for every opportunity that came its way.
As a team the players may not have been the most talented on the field, but they never seemed to show it, and battled everyone until the end.
Six seniors return from last year's squad, and you better believe they will bring the same grit and determination to the field as they did last year.
The younger players will benefit from paying attention to the work ethic of their upperclassmen teammates.
Track and field: "Grey's Anatomy" (but I am going to call it "Grant's Anatomy.")
Okay, so maybe I shouldn't admit it, but I do like "Grey's Anatomy." The program that not only shows doctors physically dissecting patients, but it also dissects the personal lives of dozens of surgeons at Seattle Grace Hospital.
What the MHS track and field team does to remind me of the show starts with their head coach Grant Thierolf.
He strikes me a coach that not only dissects everything there is to know about the ins-and-outs of the sport he is coaching, but also the ins-and-outs (strengths and weaknesses) of each of his athletes.
That kind of coaching rubs off on his athletes, and transfers into victories and medals on the track and in the field.
Last year the talented Warrior girls took home the 3A Marion regional crown, and earned a fourth-place finish at the state meet — the most successful year in more than 30 years.
The boys did not see as much success, but they did earn a medal at the state meet, and qualified for six events.
Like the softball players, these athletes use constant hard work preached by the coaching staff to find the success they do.
But just like breaking down film during football season, the track and field staff stresses minute details in their athletes' form to be the best they can be.
So there you have it.
The four MHS spring sports teams as related to my favorite TV shows.
I know, I know, and I called the two guys on "The Big Bang Theory," nerds.
