Santana Takes 2006 A.L. Cy Young Award

Congrats to Johan Santana on winning his second-career Cy Young Award. Santana went 19-6 with a 2.77 ERA and while striking out 245 in 2006.

Morneau Wins A.L. MVP

Congratulations to Justin Morneau for edging Derek Jeter to win the 2006 American League Most Valuable Player Award!

The twins were well represented in postseason awards as Johan Santana won the 2006 Cy Young Award also.

Blue Dragons Coach Happy to be Home

(Originally published in Nov. 10 Hutchinson Collegian)

Home, sweet home.

There is nothing like it for the Blue Dragons, or for their head coach, Ryan Swanson.

“Since I’ve started coaching, I’ve lived in towns of 5,000 people and towns of 1 million people,” Swanson said. “So I’ve tried a bunch of things, but this (Hutchinson) is home.”

Swanson, who grew up in the area and is a former Blue Dragon player himself, looks to create excitement with the fans by recalling his younger days.

“We appreciate fans of any age,” Swanson said. “But it’s those little ones that run out on the floor and slap the guys’ hands before the game and hang all over them, that’s what it’s about.”

How is he so sure?

“I would know; I was one of those little kids,” Swanson said.

Whether excitement is lacking or not, his team is 2-0 after the Quarterback Classic at the Sports Arena on Nov. 3-4.

The Blue Dragons (ranked No. 26 in preseason poll) opened its season with a 92-74 win over Hamilton College on Nov. 3.

After showing a bit of nerves – missing shots early – the Dragons found their rhythm as the first half neared its end.

Tied at 26-all, Hutchinson closed the first half on a 20-13 run that put them ahead 46-39 at halftime.

The Blue Dragons worked their lead to 55-45 when they went on a 17-0 run to take over the game and put it out of reach for the Hamilton Aliens.

While not showing impressive shooting numbers (34 of 91 overall), the Dragons out-rebounded the Aliens 71-43, including 31 offensive boards.

Coach Swanson took notice of those stats.

“Ricky Bowles was an absolute monster out there on the glass,” Swanson said. “Bobby (Davis) had 10 rebounds and Nate (Brumfield) had nine. Those are good numbers.”

Nate Brumfield, sophomore, led the scoring attack for the Dragons with 22 points and Nolan Richardson, sophmore, added 21.

HCC 76, Des Moines 69

Hutchinson faced the Des Moines Area Bears on Nov. 4, for their second game of the Quarterback Classic.

Despite trailing 37-36 at halftime, the Dragons charged back with Nolan Richardson leading the way.

Richardson shot the Dragons into the lead while scoring 19 of his game-high 29 points in the second half.

“Nolan was big for us in the second half when we got a little bit of a cushion,” Swanson said. “He can score in bunches, and that’s what he did in the second half.”

Overall, the Dragons shot 44 percent compared to the Bears’ 47 percent but the difference was, once again, rebounds and Hutch out-rebounded Des Moines 47-30.

Hutchinson will face stiff competition in Nov. 10-11’s Kwik Shop Classic. The Dragons play No. 1 Midland on Friday, Nov. 10, at 7:30 p.m. in the Sports Arena. Saturday, Nov. 11 will feature the Dragons against Shelton State at 7:30 p.m. at the Sports Arena.

Campus Reaction to Election

(Originally published in Nov. 17 Hutchinson Collegian)

When all the Nov. 7 election dust settled, the Democratic Party found itself with new majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Pundits maintain the takeover occurred primarily because of dissatisfaction with the Iraq war.

Local races were also watched closely by several individuals on the Hutchinson Community College campus.

Dr. Mary Coplen, a psychology instructor at HCC, gave her approval of the passing of the USD 308 bond proposal.

“I was so pleased to see the community and the city of Hutchinson support the public school,” Coplen said.

Coplen sees change coming for national politics as well with the Democratic takeover in Congress.

“I think the democrats will take care of the people,” she said.

HCC English instructor Dan Spees admits that there was one main issue that mattered to him – the war in Iraq.

“My main and most important hope – more than anything else – is that we’ll start some kind of withdrawal of our troops,” Spees said.

Spees also expressed concern over the amount of money candidates are spending on their campaigns.

“I think that we need meaningful campaign finance reform,” he said.

He may be right.

The 2006 election was the most expensive election ever. Campaigns spent a total of $2.6 billion to get their messages across.

So, with all the headaches and expenses of campaign season over, voters are content to take a break, right?

Not so, according to Coplen.

“Now I’m ready for the presidential election.”