Woody's Tabloid Journalism

4-22-91

By Woody Guest Columnist

It was a pretty good week for Cobber sports.

Ya, right.

Pyle told me I had to start the column that way no matter how bad our week was. And he said I couldn't say anything bad about Moorhead State.

Now that he's a bigshot head coach, he says he doesn't have time to write as much. But he still wants to make dumb rules and limit my creativity. Typical coach.

Here's the deal. This whole pretty-good-week stuff, and all the sappy moralizing that usually follows, needs to change. More spice. More pep. Cobberville was never as dull as Pyle makes it seem. I should know. I spent a lot of good years here and nearly graduated.

In order to spice up the sports information stuff we need to think more in terms of tabloid-type headlines.

Everybody pretends reading that stuff is beneath them.

But a good headline with a hint of scandal or weirdness grabs people's attention. You can still tell the truth with the tabloid style, even if you have to make up the quotes. It's just that you're walking closer to the line. Here's how this column should be done every week.

Woody's Perspective: All The News That's Fit to Hint It was a pretty good week in Cobberville for rumors, scandal, temper tantrums and intrigue.

Was Siverson Forced Out?

Speculation persists on campus that new men's basketball coach, Duane Siverson, was forced out of his former position as the Lady Cobber coach because his team lost to St. Thomas three times this past season. St. Thomas won the NCAA title after beating the Lady Cobs in the NCAA's third round, keeping the Cobs from making their third Final Four appearance in five years.

Siverson, who led the Lady Cobbers to four MIAC titles, a 165-38 record, and an NCAA tourney appearance in each of his seven years with the program, denies he was forced out. Siverson claims that moving to the men's program was entirely his own decision.

Dr. Armin Pipho, Concordia's athletic director, is sticking to the Siverson story that there was no pressure to move on. But, Pipho went on to say, "Of course, we didn't like losing to St. Thomas, but that was not the only factor we considered in making the coaching change."

Pyle Admits Involvement With Many Women, Expands Focus Beyond Tall Blondes New Lady Cobber basketball coach, Jerry Pyle, admitted this week that he has been in contact with a large number of women and that tall blondes will no longer be his exclusive focus.

"Recruiting seems to be going well but it's hard to know with certainty at this point. We are graduating our top two post players, all-American Michelle Thykeson and leading-rebounder Kim Fierke. Our only returning blonde post on the varsity is sophomore Kara Shaw. I know Shaw is going to do a good job next year. And we can maybe move freshman Erica Hanson back inside. But I think we need to look for several more people who can play the post positions, even if they aren't blondes. "

Pyle said he expects to announce more major changes in the program's direction soon.

Burgau Issues Threat to Top Pitcher Bucky Burgau, Concordia's successful baseball coach, is getting results from a veiled threat he issued two weeks ago.

Junior Jeff Morken was the Cobber ace last season with a 7-3 record and a 3.99 ERA. He was also an Academic all-MIAC performer with a 3.98 GPA in Biology. But Morken got off to a shaky start this year, prompting Burgau's outburst.

"I have a simple rule for evaluating pitchers. Their GPA should be higher than their ERA," said "Baby Cakes"

Burgau. "Morken came up short last year and if he can't cut it this year we'll look for people who can."

Morken has gone 2-1 since Burgau's tirade, posting a 3.79 ERA in his last five outings.

Women's Cross Country Faces Grade Scandal Just one week after having her cross country team named the NCAA Division III's top academic team, Cobber coach Marion Strand received a grade report that sent shock waves through her program.

Strand, recently named the women's head track coach as well, confirmed rumors of a major collapse in her cross country team's GPA.

Strand's cross country team captured the MIAC crown last fall and went on to finish 9th at the NCAA National Meet. And her team's 3.64 cumulative GPA earned them the No. 1 ranking in the nation among NCAA Division III women's cross country teams. Members of that team included all-American Chris Fredrick, Molly Weyrens, Sharon Espeland, Peggy Savanick, Chris Godfrey, Clarissa Blair, and Margrete Lindstad.

Although limited by the privacy act from disclosing much of anything, Strand admitted that one of her top runners got a B-minus on a big test last Monday. "Worse yet, it was in her major," Strand said. "At this point we are only considering a one-meet suspension of the player in question. But, if we continue to suffer these kinds of blows, I'm going to have to rethink my whole decision to go into coaching."

Becker Credits Fast Women for Good Times Sophomore Cobber sprinter, Andy Becker, has posted several outstanding finishes and good times during the outdoor track season so far. Becker, who is also an excellent defensive back for the Cobber football team, credits the Cobber women distance runners for some of his improvement this year on the track.

"Those women won the cross country title last fall and are doing well in track now because they are dedicated athletes. They know it takes hard work to get better and they have been an inspiration to me. We run together sometimes in practice and the only one I can ever catch is Chris Godfrey. Having them to practice with has definitely made me faster."

Will Cornell's Stroke End Her Tennis Season?

Kelly Cornell, a junior from Thief River Falls who earned all-MIAC honors last year in tennis, is undergoing stroke rehabilitation this week in hopes of being competitive again soon.

Cornell, along with Moorhead freshman Julie Jamison, received word last week that they have been invited to the NCAA Division III National Golf Championship to be held at LaCrosse, Wisconsin, on May 6-8. Cornell was the medalist at last fall's MIAC Golf Meet. Jamison finished 3rd at the MIAC as the Cobs claimed the league title.

Cornell began work Tuesday on getting her golf stroke back in shape. She will have to decide soon how her preparation for the national golf meet is going to interfere with her tennis season. Cornell currently has a 6-3 record playing No. 3 for the Cobber tennis team.

The MIAC Tennis Championship Meet will be held May 3-4 at St. Thomas.

Baumgartner Sees Belltower as Problem Cobber hockey coach Steve Baumgartner thinks he has an explanation for his team's 1-7 start in MIAC play last season, a start that kept them out of the playoffs by one game even though they won their final twelve games of the year.

"Two years ago we made it to the playoffs and there was no bell tower on campus. Right? Last year we had the bell tower and we missed the playoffs despite having most of our team back from the year before. It doesn't take a genius to see the connection," said Baumgartner.

Jim Christopherson to Retire?

Cobber coach Jim Christopherson will carry a 160-60-5 career record into this fall's football season, his 23rd as Concordia's head coach. Christopherson's teams have won or shared 10 MIAC titles and two national championships. Christopherson's long tenure has prompted speculation as to when he might retire and who might be in line to replace him.

When asked about his retirement plans, the 53-year-old Christopherson admitted that retirement was a possibility. "I really don't plan on coaching more than another 20 years or so," he said. "I still really enjoy working with the fine young men we get to coach at Concordia and I feel fine. I'm just going to take things decade by decade.

"I don't expect to ever get the pressure to move on like Siverson got, because there's no way we would ever have to play St. Thomas three times in one year like he did."

These pages are maintained by Jerry Pyle pyle@cord.edu. These articles are copyrighted © and may not be published or reproduced without the express permission of Jerry Pyle.

Return to Perspectives Index Cobber Sports Home Page Concordia Home Page