Want to see what Roller Derby is about? Here’s some poor, Internet quality video I shot last night from the cheap seats.

Rollergirls of Southern Indiana: Spring Break from Justin Williams on Vimeo.

It was a fun time and definitely something that five years ago would never have been in Evansville. Good job, girls!

Our friends, The Rollergirls of Southern Indiana have their home opener tonight at Swonder Ice Rink. They are skating against the Rollergirls of Central Kentucky.

Doors open at 6. Bout starts at 7. Tickets on sale at the door for $12.

We’ll be down there snapping photos and taking some videos to upload here. Come out, say hello, and watch girls be violent.

photo courtesy of mrquick

After a lackluster first day, the last three days of the NCAA tournament have been fantastic. Tight finishes, overtime, and a few Cinderellas have made their way into the Sweet Sixteen.

Unfortunately, the only halfway local teams still in play is Louisville, Western Kentucky and Tennessee (Bruce Pearl!). IU didn’t make it out of the first round and Purdue succumbed to a much more experienced Xavier.

Things are definitely up in the air in terms of who is going to come out on top in the It’s Evansville Bracket Challenge. After the first four days of the NCAA tournament, here is the top 5:

1. Michael Weber - 50 Points
2. Bryan Sulcer - 48 Points
3. Brian Hambidge - 46 Points
4. Kyle Evans - 45 points
5. Tony Gumbel & Anonymous - 44 Points

I’m hanging tight in 7th place with 43 points. Luckily, I still have my entire final four in play, and only Duke has tarnished my Elite 8.

How’d your bracket survive?

photo courtesy of Getty Images

The next two days are the greatest two days of the year. Unofficially, business shuts down, classes are cancelled and everyone gathers around the TV to watch 12 hours of college basketball a day.

I’ll be leaving this thread up and throwing in some comments during the day. If you’re watching the game, come chat in the comments. I’ll also leave my Webcam up on Yahoo Live! for a while if you want to make fun of me visually.

The full schedule is below. I bolded the local schools of interest.
Game on!

11:20 - (3) Xavier vs. (14) Georgia
11:25 - (1) Kansas vs. (16) Portland State
11:30 - (5) Michigan State vs. (12) Temple

1:30 - (6) Marquette vs. (11) Kentucky
1:50 - (6) Purdue vs. (11) Baylor
1:55 - (8) UNLV vs. (9) Kent State
2:00 - (4) Pittsburgh vs. (13) Oral Roberts

4:00 - (3) Stanford vs. (14) Cornell

6:10 - (2) Duke vs. (15) Belmont
6:10 - (6) USC vs. (11) Kansas State
6:20 - (4) Washington State vs. (13) Winthrop
6:25 - (8) BYU vs. (9) Texas A&M

8:40 - (7) West Virginia vs. (10) Arizona
8:40 - (3) Wisconsin vs (14) Cal State Fullerton
8:50 - (5) Notre Dame vs. (12) George Mason
8:55 - (1) UCLA vs. (16) Mississippi Valley State

Indiana is basketball country and with March Madness upon us, it’s only fitting that It’s Evansville joins the rest of the world in setting up an NCAA Bracket pool. The bracket challenge is free for anyone to play. All you need is a Facebook account and the CBS Sports bracket application.

The tournament’s first game is Tuesday night, but the real festivities start on Tuesday, so make sure you get your bracket filled out.

Let the trash talking commence!

Join the It’s Evansville Facebook Bracket Challenge

I went to the UE game this evening and shot some photos. Hopefully a few of you will enjoy these.

Continue reading Mens Basketball: UE vs. Hanover Photos…

photo courtesy of Courier & Press

West siders are doing backflips as the Reitz football team will be playing for the 4A state title next Saturday in Indianapolis. Reitz defeated the 6-time state champions Indianapolis Cathedral 35-34 Saturday night.

In college sports, IU won the Old Oaken Bucket game against Purdue on Saturday for the first time since 2001. Indiana’s win solidified their chances of going to a bowl game for the first time since 1993. IU rolled through most of the game, but had to overcome a 21-point rally by the Boilermakers in the second half to secure they will play 13.

IU basketball also played over the weekend and put up 100+ points on Longwood.

The injury plagued Colts eeked out a 13-10 win against the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday afternoon. Besides the injuries to our defense and receiving core, kicker Adam Vinatieri is suffering from some sort of mental or physical ailment. That’s the only thing I can think of to explain his missing of 2-4 field goals in the game. The Colts play the Atlanta Falcons on Thanksgiving night.

Now that the weekend is past us, let’s do a bit of cleanup on what you might have missed.

• UE’s men’s basketball team lost their home opener Sunday night to Samford 49-48. [C&P]

• The EPD had a mock shooting at Eastland Mall last night to train mall employees on how to deal with it if the situation were to arise. [C&P]

• Hacienda on the east side caught fire last night. The restaurant plans to reopen for dinner tonight (5PM). [ABC25]

• What a mess. Peyton Manning had 6 interceptions, and Adam Vinatieri missed a game winning field goal to hand the Colts their 2nd straight loss. [Colts.com]

New York Yankees manager Joe Torre turned down a 1 year, $5 million contract today and ended his year run as the manager of baseball’s most storied franchise. Torre rejected the contract because of the $2.5 paycut and performance based incentives outlined in the 1 year deal.

The leading candidate for the Yankees manager position is Evansville’s own Don Mattingly. Mattingly is presently the team’s bench coach, but was the team’s first baseman from 1982-1995. Mattingly’s agent, Ray Schulte, has refuted recent claims that Mattingly doesn’t think he is ready for the managerial position claiming those stories were fabricated. Also in contention for the job are Joe Girardi, Bobby Valentine and the Cardinals’ Tony La Russa.

Speaking of local Major League talent, Jamey Carrol and the Colorado Rockies swept the Arizona Diamondbacks to make it to their first World Series in franchise history. Not bad for a Castle boy. Go Rockies!

photo courtesy of Newsday