By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette

Panorama and ACGC’s baseball and softball seasons are officially underway. Baseball players hit the diamonds last week, and the softball players did so this week. Just like we do at the Guthrie County Times Vedette each season, our summer sports guide will be releasing soon with interviews from the respective coaches of both schools. They both have their teams, and me, excited for the summer.

The ACGC baseball team is led by Nick McCool. His Chargers reached double-digit wins at 10-14 after only winning two games the previous season. Plus, against 1A competition, the Chargers went 10-2. That’s the unfortunate reality in the West Central, as you are going to up against some bigger schools. The team did get some solid production out of seniors, but ACGC returns its two best hitters in Tommy and Will Skram. It will be fun to see how the rest of the season goes for them.

For ACGC softball, the girls had a down season last year, finishing 2-21. This was partly expected, due to losing a large and talented senior class heading into the year. With those seniors gone, a young crop of talent stepped into their places and gained plenty of worthwhile experience that should help them greatly this season. Karli Kautzky was the team’s best hitter last season and is expecting another great year. Tyler Merical’s team could improve a great deal this season, and it will be enjoyable to follow along.

On the Panorama side, the baseball team had its own struggles, and they happened in a similar manner to the ACGC softball team. The Panthers had many talented seniors in 2023-2024 who led them to double-digit wins. Replacing them was difficult. The team went 5-18 with several close losses. With fewer seniors to replace this season, and younger players gaining plenty of experience last season, Coach Brian Bahrenfuss says the Panthers could start to right the ship this season.

Panorama softball struggled in the West Central last year, finishing at the bottom of the conference despite winning nine games. The WCAC is no joke, plus the Panthers were leaning on young talent. But that young talent absolutely produced. The four best hitters for the Panthers were an eighth-grader, two freshman and a sophomore — all who put up solid stats, all who are returning. Plus, two of those great hitters, Lexi Galvan and Andrea Knode, were the team’s best pitchers last season. Head Coach Ismael Galvan told me his seniors are leading the way, and his younger players are following along. With plenty of playing time gained last season, and with few players to replace, it is entirely possible that these Panthers hit double-digit wins for the first time since 2021.

Baseball and softball were not my favorite sports growing up, but as time has gone on, I’ve gained a deeper appreciation for both. Baseball is America’s past time after all, and softball brings its own charm to the plate as well. It will be fun to follow along this summer.

Reach out with comments, suggestions, story ideas and more to cyote@dmcityview.com.

By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette

While watching game one of the NBA Western Conference Finals, I couldn’t help but notice that ESPN was turning down the volume on the crowd in the some of the biggest moments in this instant classic, which featured double overtime between two of the game’s biggest super stars and two of the most talented teams the league has seen.

The game was being played in Oklahoma City, known for having one of the loudest, most passionate fanbases in the NBA. As the clock wound down to its final moments, big shot after big shot was being hit, and the OKC crowd was going ballistic. But you wouldn’t be able to tell this if you were watching at home. I had to find full game highlights to hear it. Skip to 13:30 in the video to hear for yourself. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the back-to-back league MVP, hits a game-tying shot as time winds down, but the crowd noise is quieted so we can hear Mike Tirico.

Don’t get me wrong, Tirico is my favorite announcer in all of sports. But why quiet the fan noise so we can hear him? Massive crowd pops are one of the best things about sports. An entire arena with fans jumping and screaming at the top of their lungs is part of what makes these games so entertaining. I wasn’t the only one who noticed.

This video shows the ESPN broadcast being drowned out after a Jayson Tatum game winner in the 2022 playoffs. Mike Breen (another excellent commentator) can barely be heard over the Boston crowd (another notoriously raucous fan base). I mean, how much better does that sound? Listen to this Portland crowd for a recent WNBA game. Fans are going nuts for this clutch basket, and it only adds to the product.

Fans watching at home also complained that the New York Knicks crowd, again, another famous fan base, seemed way too quiet on the broadcast. This, despite Jalen Brunson orchestrating the second-biggest fourth-quarter playoff comeback of the last 30 years. Inside the building? A much different story. This Knicks fan put together an edited version of the broadcast that accurately reflected the crowd noise. It sounds so much better. It sounds like sports.

I decided to find some of my favorite crowd pops over the years from various sporting events. Crowds going bananas during big moments scratches that ear worm for me. A recent one: Nate Heise’s go ahead three against Houston this season. Three seasons ago, Reiss Nelson scoring for my favorite soccer team capped off an insane late comeback against Bournemouth with a wonderful strike, sending the north London crowd into a frenzy. For you older wrestling fans, there’s probably no moment louder than Mankind defeating The Rock for the WWF title thanks to Stone Cold Steve Austin.

So, please, ESPN, ABC, NBC or whichever it may be, leave the crowd noise alone. It’s part of why we watch.

Reach out with comments, suggestions, story ideas and more to cyote@dmcityview.com.

By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette

The state-qualifying meets for ACGC and Panorama boys and girls track were last night, and the student-athletes impressed. It is something I marvel at each year. Making it to state felt like a rarity when I was at high school, but between ACGC and Panorama, across many sports, it feels like the norm.

ACGC

The ACGC boys, coming off a second-place finish at last year’s state track and field meet, showed they still have what it takes. First-year head coach Jacob Lacey, who admittedly has been with the team for several years, proved he can get the Chargers to the big stage, winning this year’s state-qualifying meet at Audubon. The boys won four events: Brexton Schneider in the 110-meter hurdles (something he has made a habit of this season), Preston Kent in the 3,200-meter run, the sprint medley relay team of Joe Crawford, Schneider, Thomas Skram and Talon Noland, and the 4×110-meter shuttle hurdle team of Skram, Morgun Nolte, Collin Stringham and Schneider. Plus, plenty of top-10 finishes. It will be fun to see how the Chargers finish this season versus last.

The ACGC girls did not win their meet outright but still won an event and will be sending a few girls to the state meet. The 4×200-meter relay team of Meranda Gruber, Savannah Akers, Cadence Petersen and Nora Langgaard came out on top and will be heading to state.

Panorama

The Panorama boys will be sending at least two athletes to the state meet: Reed Draper and Syler Shaffer. These two were the most likely to advance to state based on their performances this season. Draper in the long jump, and Shaffer in the 400-meter hurdles, were both consistently placing in the top two all season long. It will be interesting to see how they stack up against the rest of the state.

As for the girls, a familiar name will be at state on the blue track in Des Moines: Kylie Rochholz. Rochholz has become a staple in postseason events in both track and cross country since her freshman year, and this year is no different. Despite running limited races this season due to rehabbing from an injury, Rochholz waltzed into the state qualifier by winning the 1,500-meter run and placing second in the 3,000-meter run. Both are impressive feats. Let’s hope she continues to add to her impressive list of accolades at state.

It is great that these two schools continually have some of the best athletes in the state. I often find difficulty in rooting for my beloved Lincoln Rails. We are not good at much, except for soccer, much to my delight. But, come postseason, at least one of these two schools will give me someone or some team to root for. When it comes to track and field, that gives me almost too much to keep track of. I hope it stays that way.

Reach out with comments, suggestions, story ideas and more to cyote@dmcityview.com.

By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette

This week, ACGC’s and Panorama’s golf and track and field teams have been competing for bragging rights within the West Central Activities Conference. One thing I have learned since covering sports for the two schools is that the competition level within the WCAC is no joke.

During the interviews for our various sports guides, I used to ask each coach what the competition level was like this year within the conference. Every single one, across each sport, boys and girls, always produced a similar response that boils down to, everyone’s good, all the time. So, when the conference meets roll around, it is typically a good litmus test for these teams on how they will perform come the postseason.

Track and field

ACGC boys track and field has not quite reached the height of last season’s state runner-up season yet, but there have been some solid moments. One of the team’s best performances at state came from their shuttle hurdle relay squad. The revamped group won at the conference meet and looks like they are on pace to return to state this year. Preston Kent has been excellent in the distance runs, earning third at the conference meet, and could join them.

The ACGC girls track team has seen solid performances from Cadence Petersen in the hurdling events. Plus, Cayden Boals picked up a silver medal in the shot put and has been throwing well all season.

The Panorama girls track team under Greg Thompson has made it a habit to send events to the state meet. Star distance runner Kylie Rochholz has been slowly but surely returning from an injury and ramping up her involvement. She earned two bronze medals at the conference meet in the 1,500- and 3,000-meter runs, signaling a return to form. Not to mention, Emma Walker’s performances in the shot put and discus (bronze at conference meet) have been solid this year.

As for the Panorama boys, Syler Shaffer has been excellent in the 400-meter hurdles this year and continued to impress, earning silver at the conference meet. Another standout for the boys has been Reed Draper in the long jump, who took home gold at the conference meet. Draper has been leaping like a fish out of water all season and looks primed for a run at state this year.

Golf

The ACGC boys golf team is led by Sayer Bireline-Huss. He is among some of the best young golfers in the conference and continues to show that week-in and week-out, including at the conference meet where he placed 21^st out of 65 golfers.

The Charger girls team has also put together some solid scores this season, including a win in their first meet of the season. They haven’t quite returned to that form since then but are still consistently shoot well as a squad. A DQ kept them out of placing at the conference meet, but the 399 they shot would have put them at fifth place, finishing in the top-half of the WCAC.

The Panorama boys golf team has qualified for the state meet the last two seasons. Losing their best golfer from last season to transfer stung, but the team is still scoring well. Brayden Galvan has been doing his best to pick up the slack by medaling at the conference meet. The team placed fourth, just two strokes shy of third place.

The Panorama girls golf team is being led by some young golfers with three of their best scores normally coming from freshmen like Anabel Pudenz, Alyssa Stanley and Avery Ambrose. Add in some solid juniors, and the future looks bright for this team after an eighth-place finish at the conference meet.

Soccer

There’s no dedicated conference meet for soccer, but if there was, the Panorama girls soccer team would have a great shot at winning it. The girls are 9-1 this season and are technically leading the four-team WCAC. They slightly edge No. 3 Des Moines Christian, which is 9-1-1. It still surprises me the girls haven’t snuck into the top 15 thus far. They face No. 3 DM-C next week on Monday and then No. 9 Tri-Center (7-3-1) the next day. It will show how good the girls stack up against some of the best talent in 1A.

Reach out with comments, suggestions, story ideas and more to cyote@dmcityview.com.

By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

That phrase seems to be one of the most common and heralded of all time. Or is it?

The origin is attributed to Bert Lance, director of Office of Management and Budget under President Jimmy Carter. The saying is likely older than that, but that was its first mainstream use (as mainstream as budget management gets, anyway).

Either way, it is deeply rooted in truth. However, no one seemed to tell the NCAA. Either that, or, more likely, they just aren’t listening. The college football playoff has been needlessly expanded twice with more expansions possibly on the way. Now, they have brought the same mindset to the college basketball national tournament. It already expanded slightly a few years back when it added the First Four to take it from 64 to 68.

ESPN stated: “The primary driver of this move hasn’t been money, but rather access for at-large bids for power conferences. The expansion has been pushed by power conferences, which have grown throughout the course of the current deal.” This just two paragraphs after the source who broke the news stressed that there would be a profit.

Even still, the NCAA will try to sell this as a win for the little guy. More teams in the tournament means the potential for overlooked teams to get into the big dance. But that is clearly not the case. The first four games are currently played by two 16-seed teams and two 11-seed teams. The 16 seeds, which lose 99% of the time, do see some benefit from making the big dance. The payouts can sometimes fund the programs’ athletic departments in a massive way. The 11-seed games last year were played by NC State, Texas, SMU and Miami of Ohio. Three of those team’s aren’t exactly hurting for cash. Miami of Ohio was the only undefeated team heading into the tournament and had to win a play-in game just to be the 11 seed.

Just like the expansion of the College Football Playoff, this is only happening to benefit the major conferences that have lucrative TV deals with major broadcasters. At least in college football, it is presented as being as beneficial to the Group of Five schools. But, at least so far, neither the NCAA nor ESPN have shown an ounce of dignity to pretend like this expansion is anything but giving a handout to a team like Auburn that couldn’t stop complaining about missing the tournament despite finishing in the bottom half of its conference.

Major conferences will benefit from better seeding and more guaranteed spots while mid-majors will get the raw end of the deal and have to play even more games to advance further in the tournament. Mid-majors, which are already disproportionally affected by the transfer portal, are having their sporting lives made more difficult by the decision-makers at the NCAA. All this still has to go through committee votes, but it is being reported as a formality.

Don’t hold your breath waiting for the NCAA to cave to public pressure and fix this anytime soon, even if it is clearly broken.

Reach out with comments, suggestions, story ideas and more to cyote@dmcityview.com.

By Cyote Williams | Times Vedette

Believe it or not, I’m lacking things to write about this week. Sure, there is the Mike Vrabel and Dianna Russini drama, but this is not a tabloid. You can Google that situation if you want. It’s great if you like reality TV. Besides that, nothing much has happened this week that has grabbed major headlines. So, for this week, I’m doing a buy and a sell. One of my favorite podcasts does this each week, and I’m stealing it from them. Thank you, “Brilliantly Dumb Show.” Plus, I’ll throw in my favorite clip of the week.

Buy: The NBA Playoffs

I already wrote about the NBA Play-In and how exciting it was. So far, the first round of the playoffs have been just as exciting. There have been plenty of close games, big plays and developing story lines. If there was one thing I could sell about the playoffs, it is the late tip-times. Games played in the west routinely end well past midnight, and that is past my bedtime. Even so, all week long, I have found myself staying up late to watch the conclusion of these games. I can’t get enough of them.

Sell: The NFL Draft

I might be in the minority here, but I’ve never been a fan of watching the NFL draft. Case in point, it was last night, and I opted to watch basketball instead. It didn’t help that the Packers did not have a first-round pick this year, giving me even less reasons to watch. Of course, seeing who the new players who will be coming into the league is exciting. But, even so, the NFL media at this point in the season has next to nothing to talk about besides the draft and which prospects might go where. Mock drafts after mock drafts are released, trades are rumored and, every year, we find out that nobody seems to know much of anything. The mocks are wrong, teams do things we think are dumb, or smart, and none of it matters again for several months until the season starts.

Highlight of the week

This was the best clip I saw all week, and it is an early contender for the best clip I have seen all year. Have you ever thought that you really wanted to catch a foul ball? Well, you are really only half, or maybe ever a quarter, as determined as this Colorado Rockies fan who gave it his all on this foul ball.

Bonus clip, another foul ball moment, this one much more wholesome and heartwarming, and even lacking catching the ball, but still good enough to give you a smile today. 

Reach out with comments, suggestions, and story ideas to cyote@dmcityview.com.