User blogs

Hefferman: Kopach always off and running for Saluki baseball | Sports Column | Todd Hefferman | thesouthern.com Tonight A few clouds overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 62F Mika Zibanejad Jersey. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Updated: April 25, 2017 @ 3:52 am SIU's Connor Kopach slides into second base in the fourth inning, but is forced out as Austin Peay's Max Remy was able to keep his foot on the bag and hold onto the ball after making a difficult catch at Itchy Jones Stadium Tuesday. Todd Hefferman Todd Hefferman has covered SIU athletics since 2008. A University of Iowa grad, he is a member of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and a Heisman Trophy voter. Whenever Todd Hefferman posts new content, you'll get an email delivered to your inbox with a link. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. SIU's Connor Kopach slides into second base in the fourth inning, but is forced out as Austin Peay's Max Remy was able to keep his foot on the bag and hold onto the ball after making a difficult catch at Itchy Jones Stadium Tuesday. Ty King was one of the few pitchers from Tennessee Tech to even glance at the runner at second base Sunday, but there was a good reason for that.SIU's Connor Kopach never seems to be happy with first base. The junior second baseman set a Northwoods League record with 50 stolen bases last summer, and was looking for No. 26 this season in the fourth inning with a big lead off second base. Kopach, a 6-foot, 175-pound speedster out of Westmont, was about a third of the way toward third before sliding in ahead of Trevor Putzig's tag.It wasn't all out of instinct. "It's based on the pitcher's leg kick, and the pitch I think he's gonna throw here because it's a lot harder to get to third base," said Kopach, whose 26 stolen bases on 30 attempts this spring are more than he had his previous three seasons Rick Nash Jersey, combined. "It's a shorter throw. Just trying to figure out a lot of stuff, and just try to get the best jump possible."Kopach stole four bases in SIU's 13-8 win over the Golden Eagles, who were ranked 26th in the country by Collegiate Baseball. His four bags tied for the most stolen bases in one game this season in the NCAA, and were the most by a Saluki since 1992. Kopach's 26 steals on 30 attempts rank third in the NCAA. SIU's leadoff hitter went 3 for 4 Sunday to set the table for the Salukis (21-20), who finished off a three-game sweep with an unusual amount of offense. SIU scored 29 runs off 37 hits in the series after getting just 12 runs in its previous five games.Saluki first baseman Greg Lambert, who drove in seven runs Sunday, one off the school record, said it all started at the top."If he hits a single, it's basically a triple," Lambert said. "He gets on base and steals some bases, it helps some guys in the middle of the lineup, me, Ryan (Smith), Logan (Blackfan), Jake (Hand) relax at the plate. It makes it a lot easier to hit him in."With seven stolen bases this weekend, SIU earned its 70th swipe in 93 tries, the most since 1995. With three more steals, Kopach will enter the Salukis' top 10 all-time for one year and tie Jim Dwyer's 29 bags in 1971.  With 16 games left on the schedule, barring rainouts, Kopach could make a run at Bert Newman's record of 42 set in 1976.• MVC to host NCAA men's basketball regionals: The Missouri Valley Conference was awarded an NCAA men's basketball tournament regional in Kansas City in 2019 and a first/second-round site in St. Louis in 2020 by the association last week.The Valley will host a regional semifinal and final at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri, in 2019 and first and second-round games at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis in 2020. It will be the league's second time hosting at the Sprint Center, which had first and second-round games in 2013, and the fourth NCAA Tournament event at the Scottrade Center. The Valley hosted a men's regional there in 1998, second and third-round games there in 2014 and first and second-round games in 2016. I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site consitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.Drake was also awarded a first/second-round site in the 2019 tournament at Wells Fargo Center in Des Moines.The Valley has also hosted two women's basketball Final Fours at the Scottrade Center https://www.shopfornyrangers.com/59-pavel-buchnevich-jersey, in 2001 and 2009, and the men's Final Four at the Edward Jones Dome in 2005. Between 1998-2010, the Valley hosted nine NCAA men's or women's tournament events in St. Louis.• The NFL draft begins Thursday night in Philadelphia, live on ESPN beginning at 7, and runs through Saturday. Former Salukis Chase Allen, Josh Straughan and Deondre Barnett have received the most noise from NFL teams off this year's team.Former Saluki linebacker Jayson DiManche, who was out of the NFL in 2016, is back in with the San Francisco 49ers. He signed a free agent deal earlier this month. He played in 29 games between 2013-15 with Cincinnati and Cleveland after signing with the Bengals as an undrafted free agent.Tight end MyCole Pruitt is still with the Bears after joining them late last season. Pruitt played in all 16 games for Minnesota in 2015 as a rookie, starting three games, but only got into two last season before signing with Chicago https://www.shopfornyrangers.com/37-jimmy-vesey-jersey. Pruitt played in two games with the Bears, catching one pass for six yards.Former SIU defensive end Ken Boatright is fighting for a roster spot with the B.C. Lions of the Canadian Football League. Former Saluki safety Anthony Thompson, a Montreal native, played in all 18 games for the Lions last season after getting drafted in the second round. He had eight tackles on defense and six on special teams. TODD HEFFERMAN covers SIU athletics for The Southern Illinoisan. Contact him at todd.hefferman@thesouthern https://www.shopfornyrangers.com/46-marc-staal-jersey.com, 618-351-5087, or on Twitter at @THefferman. Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,racist or sexually-oriented language.PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.Don t Threaten. Threats of harming anotherperson will not be tolerated.Be Truthful. Don t knowingly lie about anyoneor anything.Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ismthat is degrading to another person.Be Proactive. Use the Report link oneach comment to let us know of abusive posts.Share with Us. We d love to hear eyewitnessaccounts, the history behind an article.

Phil Simms headed to CBS studio spot on 'NFL Today' Simms headed to CBS studio for 'NFL Today'New York Giants6dSaints don't need vintage Adrian Peterson for deal to make sense6hMike TriplettCollege football's best (and worst) NFL factories21hLuke KnoxSources: Patriots likely to keep CB Butler14hArians' ideal QB a mix of Manning https://www.shopsenatorsonline.com/54-robin-lehner-jersey, Roethlisberger, Luck and Palmer -- with a dash of Couch20hJosh WeinfussEven before he turns 33, Smith combats his football mortality19hQB McCarron staying patient as trade unlikely13hMock draft provides plenty of fantasy football intrigue17hMike ClayMeet Obi Melifonwu, the NFL draft's biggest workout freak2dBrendan HallGarrett a No. 1 pick? Sapp says 'No, no, no'14hAdam SchefterNFL alternate realities: Biggest draft 'what if?' for all 32 teams6dESPN.comPhil Simms takes CBS studio spot on 'NFL Today'FacebookTwitterFacebook MessengerEmailcommentApr 19, 2017Associated Press FacebookTwitterFacebook MessengerPinterestEmailprintcommentNEW YORK -- Phil Simms is headed to the studio.A fixture as a game analyst at CBS for two decades, Simms will join the network's "NFL Today" cast for the upcoming season https://www.shopsenatorsonline.com/44-max-mccormick-jersey.Simms recently was replaced as the top game analyst at CBS by Tony Romo after the Cowboys quarterback retired. Simms and CBS Sports president Sean McManus had been discussing Simms eventually moving to "NFL Today" for several years. He has experience in a similar setting from his work on Showtime's "Inside The NFL.""When Sean told me he wanted me in the studio, I thought about it a bit," Simms said Wednesday. "I told him I would like to do [games] a bit longer. I love doing the games, meeting during the week with coaches and players, getting the inside info. It is the best."But I also thought that I will work in New York and watch all the games instead of prepping for two teams, and will have all week to study the league, and that really intrigued me."There are a lot of things I don't get to say on games I have a chance to say now. There are a lot of things I would like to talk about that I never would have talked about during games."Simms joins Boomer Esiason, Bill Cowher, Bart Scott and James Brown as part of the program. He says he's more than comfortable being part of that lineup, and looks forward to some pointed conversations among the group."James and I get along really well," he said, adding with a laugh, "on 'Inside the NFL,' we're always playing footsie because I want him to send it back to me so I can challenge something someone said, or make a comment."Boomer and I have known each other for years and we do not have thin skins Thomas Chabot Jersey, so we can say anything with each other."Of course, Coach Cowher, well, he's the coach, and we are going to disagree a lot because we were players and he was a coach Craig Anderson Jersey."We all love football, and I think that will come across, and I hope we talk about the aspects of the game I have opinions about that are different from what you hear on some other [shows]."McManus is certain that will be the case. His network received criticism for the Romo announcement that seemed to leave Simms in the cold. Instead, McManus believes the former quarterback who was part of two Super Bowl titles with the Giants is entering a new and productive phase of his broadcasting career."When the news hit that Tony Gonzalez would not be back on the show, this seemed logical," McManus said. "We had a number of discussions about it and I was excited about it, and [Simms] was excited."This will be good for viewers. Anyone who has watched just 30 seconds of 'Inside The NFL' will know that."One of the things I like best, Phil has strong opinions, but he has a way of doing it in a very respectful way. And you see the interaction they have on 'Inside The NFL.' It's really good stuff, a really good mix."Mixing in Thursday night games to Simms' schedule made viewers wonder if the workload had become too heavy. Simms strongly disputes that, noting that he felt last season was the best on Thursday nights for the network."A lot of people said it wore on me, and I am not going to say it physically was easy," Simms said. "I told everyone over the years, man when that game is ready to start, I never felt I was not completely prepared, and I couldn't wait for them to turn the camera on."So that stuff is not true, it was never to the level where I couldn't handle it."What about handling being absent from the broadcast booth after so many Sundays (and Thursday nights) behind the microphone?"Yeah https://www.shopsenatorsonline.com/9-buddy-robinson-jersey, the excitement of just being there, hearing the crowd, the prep and talking to the coaches and players who are such a part of it," he said. "But I will probably get over that pretty quick."FacebookTwitterFacebook MessengerEmailcommentSponsored Headlines Comments ABOUT COOKIES We use cookies to offer an improved online experience. By clicking "OK" without changing your settings you are giving your consent to receive cookies.