Friday, April 03, 2020
Blades and Eagles-Fort Myers
For those of
you familiar with Fort Myers, you know that both of these teams are
located on the same road, not much more than a mile from each other.
Due to my
involvement with the ageing process, I have not been able to attend
games there this winter. The hip replacement has had me on the
injured reserve list, unable to travel for three months. We head back
down there in late March, just in time for Everblades' playoffs. The
FGCU basketball season winds down soon. It could have ended last
night.
The Eagles
have had a mediocre season. Within their conference, the ASUN
Conference, they finished at 7-9, with a loss last weekend to North
Alabama. That earned them the 6th seed in tournament play,
and they began on Tuesday night against Lipscomb. They split the two
games they played against Lipscomb this season, winning on February
4th, but losing on February 15th.
The Eagles
have been sparked on several occasions this season by a Canadian from
Milton, Ontario, named Jalen Warren. In their last game against North
Alabama, an overtime loss, he contibuted 19 points, shooting a
respectable 8 for 12 from the floor. He added 5 assists.
Coach
Michael Fry is in his third year as head coach at FGCU. Most of his
comments, even after tough losses are quite positive. After the North
Alabama game, he stated: “We felt like that was a game where, if
you had one more stop, one more free throw, one more made shot-then
you would be going home happy. It's unfortunate, but closing out
games, and finding ways to win is still something we're learning, as
a young team.”
The ASUN
Conference was led by Liberty, followed by North Florida, Lipscomb,
and Stetson. Games at this point in the season are either “one, and
move on”, or “One and Done”.
Last week,
the Florida Everblades entertained the Newfoundland Growlers. The
Growlers had defeated the Blades in the playoffs last year, setting
up a challenge for the Blades. They knocked off the Growlers on three
successive occasions, then tripped up the Jacksonville Ice Men on
Saturday night. The Blades sit three points behind the South Carolina
Stingrays, in second place. Even though the season ends in early
April, the Blades have qualified for the playoffs, for the 21st
time in the 22 years that they have been in business. Coach Brad
Ralph has guided them into the playoffs in the four years that he has
been behind the bench.
As I have
previously stated, coaching at this level is most difficult. At any
given moment, the parent club of the team can call up players. Rest
assured, they will usually take the best players. Just before the
Newfoundland series, Ralph lost four players in call ups. One of them
was Ken Appleby, who got the word to go to Milwaukee Admirals of the
American League.
Appleby has
had an outstanding season as a goaltender with the Blades. His record
is 28-8-5, and his goals against average is 2.49. He has been in the
pro ranks for five years, having played for the Oshawa Generals in
the OHL, picking up a Memorial Cup along the way.
Lukas
Craggs, Zach Magwood, and Blake Winiecki were the other key players
who got the call. The Ottawa Senators follow the same routine with
the Belleville Senators. When they have spots to fill, for a variety
of reasons, they make the call. Naturally, all players would love to
get the call, and stay there on a permanent basis. That rarely
happens.
Most local
Senator fans hope that they can go into this year's playoffs with a
full roster. In the past, they have lost sevearl key players to
Ottawa, when the parent club was not in line to contend in playoffs.
A little
sports news, from the Gulf Coast.
James Hurst
March 3,
2020.
# posted by James Hurst @ 11:56 AM 
