2011-2012 Official Wolves football thread |
2011-2012 Official Wolves football thread |
Jun 27 2011, 07:58 AM
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Spends WAY too much time at CBTL Group: Admin Posts: 16,460 Joined: 8-December 06 From: Michigan City, IN Member No.: 2 |
http://posttrib.suntimes.com/sports/613986...ick-around.html
QUOTE Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. New football coach at Michigan City. Really excited about the gig. Sees unlimited potential in the “sleeping giant.” Plans to stick around and really build something at Ames Field. Sound familiar? Craig Buzea said all that in 2007 when he stunned Portage by leaving for the downtrodden Wolves. After three years and some significant progress, he left for Homewood-Flossmoor, and the program once again was in tatters. Eric Schreiber said all that last summer when he took over for Buzea. One season and one win later, he left to take the top job at Hammond High. Enter Michael Karpinski, Michigan City’s new head coach, who was approved last week by the school board. He’s really excited about the gig. He sees unlimited potential in the “sleeping giant.” He plans to stick around and really build something at Ames Field. And he means it. Honest. “I’m excited to add some stability,” he said. “I’m not planning on going anywhere. By no means am I looking at this as a stepping stone. I’m looking to build something here. I understand people have heard that before, but you don’t understand — my wife will kill me if we move again.” Indeed, Karpinski’s no nomad. He’s no football mercenary. Heck, he only went after this job because he lost his teaching job at Franklin Central during a reduction-in-force that gutted the school district. The 43-year-old spent the last eight years coaching at Franklin Central — a former powerhouse that won four state championships between 1980 and 1990, but has fallen on hard times lately. After six years as an assistant, he was the head coach the past two years, going 7-13 with a pair of close losses in sectional openers. Before that, Karpinski coached for six years at the University of Indianapolis, where he wound up after playing cornerback at Hillsdale College. Hillsdale is about 90 miles from his hometown of Hastings, Mich., where he was a high school quarterback. Moving to Michigan City brings him much closer to home — and gives him a teaching job and an exciting opportunity. “I just feel real blessed to be right here,” he said. The Wolves can only hope he sticks around and helps the moribund program (no conference or sectional titles since Rogers and Elston were consolidated in 1995) realize the potential it briefly showed under Buzea. After just four practices, Karpinski has been particularly impressed with the enthusiasm the players have for the game, for him and for his new system. It’s easy to assume that the Wolves would be jaded and cynical while dealing with yet another new coach making the same old promises. But Karpinski was thrilled to find that they’re not like that at all. “I sure haven’t noticed it,” he said. “They sure haven’t shown it if that’s the case. They’ve been working their tails off and have done everything I’ve asked of them. I’ve come in with a lot of enthusiasm, and they seem to have responded.” Karpinski made a good impression with his first practice. Rather than the usual morning workout, he brought his team to Ames Field — probably the coolest football stadium in the region — under the lights on Monday night. And while it took more than a half hour just to teach the kids how to warm up and break the huddle — “baby steps,” Karpinski said — things quickly came together. He introduced the players to his offense — a traditional power-I. Not as complicated as Buzea’s multiple-set spread offense, not as one-dimensional as Schreiber’s option. “It’s basic football,” Karpinski said. “In today’s game, it seems like a lot of coaches try to get too cute. We’re going to come out and run the football, be physical, and we’re really going to stress blocking and tackling — shoot, that’s usually what it comes down to. We’re going to play power football, fire off the ball and really be physical out there.” Karpinski insisted he’s not daunted by the enormity of the task, trying to wake up the sleeping giant. But he’s got his work cut out for him. The football program always has taken a backseat to basketball. And the relentless losing has made it even tougher to convince kids to come out for the team. Karpinski said he’s ready for all of that. He also said he’s not intimidated by the meatgrinder that is the Duneland Conference, a brutal schedule that makes rebuilding difficult — and painful. He knows the drill; at Franklin Central, he played state powers Lawrence Central, Pike and Columbus North every year. “I just know it’s an unbelievable conference, and I’m excited,” Karpinski said. “I’m ready for the challenge.” Heard that before, too, right? Every coach has said that. But the hard truth is nobody in the 16-year history of Michigan City High School has proven to be up to that challenge. Not for any extended period of time, at least. Will Karpinski be any different? He sure seems to think so. But, of course, it’s too early for anyone to tell. He won’t really get a feel for how well his new players can handle his system until they put on the pads in August. And the Wolves won’t really get a feel for Karpinski until they sweat their way through those two-a-days. But Karpinski feels good about what he has. And while he knows these kids and this community have been burned before, he hopes the feeling is mutual. “Kids are the same all over,” he said. “I think these kids are really looking for someone to step up and lead and fight for them. And I’m that guy.” |
Oct 4 2011, 08:56 AM
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#2
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Spends WAY too much time at CBTL Group: Admin Posts: 16,460 Joined: 8-December 06 From: Michigan City, IN Member No.: 2 |
http://www.thenewsdispatch.com/articles/20...85497979657.txt
QUOTE Sorting out a heartbreaker By Adam Parkhouse Home Cookin' Published: Monday, October 3, 2011 4:13 PM CDT For some reason, it just wasn’t good enough. Michigan City’s offensive line did a much better job protecting the quarterback Friday against Portage. It was far from perfect, but a leaps-and-bounds improvement from a week earlier. The defense was amazing. Specatacular, even. If not for a special teams mistake and an offensive turnover, City’s defense very easily could have pitched a shutout against a team that previously beat Duneland Conference powers Merrillville and Chesterton. But it wasn’t enough. Somehow, some way, the Indians escaped Ames Field with a 12-7 victory despite producing just 59 yards of total offense. * The tide of the game turned on one play, a third-and-13 call early in the fourth quarter. City coach Michael Karpinski called a pass play, which I agreed with. In fact, before the play, I turned to a reporter and said, “If they run the ball here, I’m gonna lose my mind.” There had been one or two other conservative play calls in similar situations earlier in the game, and this time I just wanted to see the Wolves go for it and be aggressive. Well, they did, and it went horribly wrong. Coverage downfield was good and protection eventually broke down. When it did, City QB Joel Hirsch went backward, was wrapped up and eventually stripped of the ball. The fumble return went all the way to City’s 3-yard line and Portage scored the game-winner on the next play. It was a devastating turn of events and you could just feel that the game had slipped away in that moment. City did have a few more chances with the ball, but couldn’t come up with a scoring drive. It would have been a huge win in a season filled with blowout losses, but instead the Wolves DAC losing streak reached 12 games. In the loss, though, two things were apparent. First, and in case this hasn’t been made perfectly clear, City linebacker Giorgio Karallas is a bad, bad man. Even on struggling teams, City has managed to have some good players at linebacker over the years. Durrell and Lemon Kelley come to mind as two of the better ones. Javan Lee is another. That said, Karallas takes a back seat to no one. The kid is in on every single play. He’s always around the ball and when he gets his arms on a ball carrier, the kid’s going down. It’s that simple. In a disappointing season, Karallas has been a true bright spot. Secondly, Friday’s result shows me definitively that the team has bought into Karpinski and his staff. The Wolves have gradually started playing a better brand of football over the last few weeks, and that’s a direct reflection of a coach’s philosophy taking root. Look, I’m not here to tell you that the Wolves are a contender to win the sectional. I won’t even tell you they’re gonna win another game. At this point, that stuff is secondary. This year is, hopefully, about starting something bigger. It’s about rallying behind a coach and a program and getting in on the ground floor of something you think has a chance to be something greater. So, yeah, the Wolves lost again Friday night. Whether or not they deserved better is immaterial. You just need to see that arrow continue pointing up. As long as it is, City football is headed in the right direction. Last week I went 8-8 against the number, bringing my season record to 24-24. That’s about as middle-of-the-road as it gets. Here are my Week 4 picks (spreads courtesy of ESPN.com’s Pigskin Pick’em contest): Bills -3.5, Bears -6.5, Titans +1.5, Cowboys -3.5, Vikings -1.5, Redskins +0.5, Saints -7.5, Eagles -6.5, Steelers +3.5, Falcons -4.5, Giants -1.5, Packers -13.5, Patriots -4.5, Dolphins +8.5, Ravens -3.5, Colts +9.5. |
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