Of course the first post of the season is a sad one. Jr WR Donnie Wilson is going to miss a big chunk of the season with a torn up, and surgically repaired, thumb, according to his facebook page. That is too bad as he is one of the most talented kids we have coming back.

This is awful news. As you know, I think quite highly of Wilson's ability. The kid has a future as a WR, imo. This stinks. He's a terrific kid, too.

Yeah, the two biggest things to be excited about for City this year were Java Oliver and Donnie Wilson.

Donnie said he hurt it playing football and that he was going to miss about half of the season.

I'm anxious to see Ryan Washington under center, if he gets that opportunity this season. That kid, like his brother, has a lot of physical tools. Hopefully he takes full advantage of them.

Ryan is pretty raw. He is going to be a bit of a project IMO. He has some physical tools for sure, and I sure would feel better if he was 6'3" like Rodney.

I want to wish a speedy recovery to Mr. Donnie Wilson. His health and well being is first and foremost.

yep. Resist the urge to get back on the field too soon, and to do permanent damage.

There's no reason to sit out just because. If he's cleared by doctors he should get on the field. But only when he's cleared by his doctor.

In my opinion, this kid's future is in football — or at least he has a better shot at a good scholarship in football than in basketball — and the junior year is HUGE for recruiting purposes. I'm sure he, his parents and coaches are well aware of that. Not that they'll push him back too fast, but scouts are going to want to see something on tape if at all possible from the junior year.

The City training staff has always struck me as fairly conservative. I can't ever recall them sending a player back out there too early. Which when you are dealing with kids this age, who will probably never play again after high school, is the right thing to do.

I do agree that Wilson's future is on the gridiron. Unless he finds an outside shot, or some handles, he is a back of the bench HS basketball player.

Just a reminder that Giorgio Karallas will be among the competitors tomorrow evening at the Grange Insurance North-South All-Star Classic at North Central High School in Indianapolis. Taylor James from La Porte will also be playing. The game can be seen online at www.broadcastsport.net

Good luck to Giorgio. City is going to miss that kid this year.

Many of them were already at college.

Picked up my copy of the 2012 Indiana Football Digest at Reader's World inside the Marquette Dungeon this afternoon. One thing I noticed is coach Jeff Karras will not be returning to the Wolves sideline this season after his much ballyhooed departure from South Central to come here last season.

Here's Paul R. Condry's profile of the 2012 Michigan City Wolves:

Head Coach:

Michael Karpinski
4th Season
Overall Record 8-22 (.266)
Record at MCHS: 1-9 (.100)
High School: Hastings (MI) (1987)
College: Hillsdale (1991)

Coaching Staff: Scott Ormsley (DC), Doug Robertson, Ron Gaston, Willie Henderson, Nick Stimac, Mike Walker, Tim Gault, Bill Karpinski

2012 Schedule:

8/17 GARY ROOSEVELT
8/24 at South Bend Washington
8/31 at Chesterton
9/7 VALPARAISO
9/14 at Merrillville
9/21 LAKE CENTRAL
9/28 at Portage
10/5 LA PORTE
10/12 CROWN POINT

2011 Results

Gary Roosevelt W, 46-0
South Bend Washington L, 40-21
Chesterton L, 48-14
at Valparaiso L, 38-21
Merrillville L, 38-0
at Lake Central L, 35-9
Portage L, 12-7
at La Porte L, 28-14
at Crown Point L, 24-7
SECTIONAL
Chesterton L, 28-7

Impact Players
Name, HT, WT, Class, Position
Ryan Washington 6-0, 180, So., QB
Anthony Lemon 6-0, 170, Jr. QB/DB
Ryan Jones 5-9, 170, Jr., RB
Marcus Horton Jr. 5-6, 155, Jr., RB
Cameron McFarrin 5-6, 155 Sr., RB
Donovan Wilson, 6-3, 185, Jr., WR
Scott Kaletha, 6-1, 175, Jr., WR
Joe Kosakowski, 6-3, 185, Sr., WR
Marquis Martin, 5-11, 165, Sr., WR
Marcus Swartzlander, 200, Sr., TE
Scott Paull, 6-1, 225, Jr., OL
Alante Nichols, 5-11, 265, Sr., OL
Hunter Worblewski, 6-4, 270, So., OL
Lu Wang, 6-1, 230, Sr. OL/LS
Jacob Kubath, 6-2, 255, Jr. OL
Ryan Venters, 6-3, 290, So, OL
JaVarrie Oliver, 6-3, 230, Jr., DL
James Washington, 5-10, 225, Sr. DL
Daniel Lemon, 6-2, 240, Sr., DL/P
Michael Simmons, 5-11, 270, Sr., DL
C.J. Sanders, 5-10, 205, Sr., LB
Erik Rose, 6-2, 215, Sr., LB
Joe Fox, 5-9, 200, Sr., LB
Jacob Hauskins, 5-10, 165, Sr., DB
Zakery Chappell, 5-11, 170, Sr., DB
Erik Stevenson, 6-1, 170, Jr. K

Key Losses

Name Pos College
Giorgio Karallas LB St. Joseph's
Trent Ormsby, DL Marian
Kevin Kreigbaum OL Benedictine
Josh Gondeck TE Marian
Anthony Catchings III RB/LB
Marcellus Willis DB Indianapolis
Joel Hirsch QB

Tournament History
Sectional: None
Regional: None
Semistate: None
State: None

Michigan City had their third different head coach in 2011 as Michael Karpinski took over the Wolves program. Unfortunately for the Wolves, it was a rough start under Karpinski as they struggled through a 1-9 season, with their lone victory a 46-0 decision over Gary Roosevelt in the season opener. The stability of having the same coach for the second straight season should help the Wolves be a much better team this year, and having 15 returning starters back under his system can only benefit the Michigan City team in 2012 as well.

Sophomore Ryan Washington got a few starts last year, and returns as the Wolves' quarterback this year. Junior Ryan Jones appears to have secured the starting running back position for Michigan City this season.. Two of the team's top athletes return at wide receiver in juniors Scott Kaletha (6'1, 175) and Donovan Wilson (6'3 ,185). The Wolves have three starters back along the offensive line from last year as tackle Jacob Kubath (6'2, 265) returns for his junior year and is joined by returning senior guards Alante Nichols (5'11, 265) and Lu Wang (6'1, 230). Junior Scott Paull steps in to replace All-Duneland performer Kevin Kreighbaum at center for the Wolves this season.

Nine starters are back defensivly for Coach Karpinski's 3-5 scheme this season. The defensive line should be solid as junior Javarrie Oliver and senior James Washington return at the end spots, while senior Daniel Lemon is back at the nose tackle spot. All-State linebacker Giorgio Karallas has moved to St. Joseph's College; however, seniors Erik Rose and C.J. Sanders return at linebacker this season for Michigan City, while in the secondary, seniors Jacob Hauskins and Zach Chappell return, as does junior Anthony Lemon. Daniel Lemon will also handle the punting duties for the Wolves while junior Erik Stevenson returns as the placekicker.

Coach Karpinski has a solid group of juniors and seniors and says his team is very coachable and understands the team concept very well. Combine that with an unbeaten freshman class, and things could be looking up for the Wolves in the future. "If we can continue to play at a high level for four quarters, and not just in spurts, we'll be successful," he says of this year's team. "I'm excited about our skill players, and if they can make plays, and our young offensive line can come together, we'll be ok."

The August issue of MAB monthly has the 2012 Region Football Preview including a feature article entitled "Fun Facts About Michigan City Football" by yours truly.

http://midamericabroadcasting.com/files/Au...MAB_Monthly.pdf

Well Donnie Wilson will be out the first half of the season due to thumb surgery. Let's hope we have other skill players ready to step in. A lot of this season will rest of the arm and legs of Ryan Washington.

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Yes we will miss Donnie but unfortunately injuries do happen. He is still part of our team and we look forward to when he is healed. I need to get down and pick up my copy of this magazine, thank you for posting it. Incase everyone has forgotten--our Wolves JV team went 6-3 last year. They are very proud of this and plan on doing the same this year. Yes there is work to be done but this is the first year we have had depth in the line and not just a couple key players. It is more important to have a team that plays well together because they are equal than to have one stand out. The bottom line is---no matter how well prepared your team is there will be hurdles to jump. The important part is to get the kids willing to go the highest they can, all game and all season. Hope to see everyone at Friday nights scrimmage and there will be Wolves glasses, stadium blankets and lunch coolers for sale that evening. We need to get this town fired up and get the adrenaline going. GO WOLVES !!!

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Thank you for posting. We are very excited to see this season and hope that everyone comes out to the games on Friday nights or JV on Saturday mornings to support this great group of young men.

I will say one thing, for a 1-9 they played harder than any City team I have seen in a long time. It was really telling when one of the opposing coaches asked to address our huddle last year ( I want to say it was Chesterton) and talked about how hard the kids played, and how gutsy they were.

I am looking forward to the season. Hopefully the lines hold up, and allow the skill players to showcase those talents.

Rodney was on a great arc up, but the coaching change just killed him. He really was responding in the system Buz had, but more than that, I think Buz looked to utilize his skill set better. I never saw that during Rodney's senior year. I think if the coaching staff had remained the same, Washington would be playing on a division 1 football team somewhere.

When you get your magazine make sure you turn it to the very last page and read Paul Condry's editorial entitled, "Are You Really In It For the Kids?" It was very well written. I especially liked the paragraph where he mentions how some of our football programs are going through three and sometimes four coaching regimes during a student athletes four year cycle of high school and if a kid can survive that type of dynamic that will be more than ready to handle any type of situation that the real working world throws at them when the time comes.

The problem that plagued Rodney his senior year was that he didn't have the coverage from the line. A QB is only as good as his line allows him to be. I have heard rumors that he isn't playing football at all anymore in college.

Yeah, the line has always been issue number one for City. It seems like we are always 20-30 pounds smaller than everyone else's line. If we get good line play, we usually have a pretty good season.

It really would be too bad if Washington wasn't playing anymore.

I had no idea that Washington skipped summer workouts. Well that explains a lot of why the team never seemed on the same page that season.

I didn't realize there was a BROWN team...What could you possibly mean by that?

Wait. Are you saying what I think you are saying?

I'm just saying that if I understand the context correctly, that is an incredibly serious accusation. Like libelous territory.

I highly doubt the term "brown team" has racial connotations.

If Cates or Schreiber made the post, we could ask them to clarify "brown team" but since you made the post, I'd like to hear your explanation of "brown team"

I'm not so certain it doesn't....maybe if he would clarify, we'd all be in the know....

Why would you think it's about race? Because of the use of the word brown? What if it was the "green" team? Would that have racial connotations toward the Irish?

I read his post....re-read his post...thought about it....and that's the conclusion i came up with. I asked him to clarify because maybe I misunderstood his point. He chose to pass the buck....obvilously someone thought the same thing or they wouldn't have brought up being liable....
If he had used green, yellow, orange or any other color not associated with MCHS...I would have asked the same question.

Most teams during the summer conditoning period break up into groups that is lead by a captain and compete against each other. These teams either have a color or name added to the group. They also may have to wear shirts matching there team color as a team building exercise. Example the orange team vs the red team. The winners usually get some type of awards-like the first pick of equipment or less sprints etc... I believe the brown team reference was with this in mind.

Personally, I think he was just repeating a label someone else gave and that's why he said that person would have to clarify. I don't think Jesse is being racist. And frankly, it's attitudes like that that keep racial tension alive in this community. Brown could have been chosen as the color to denote the team because the color brown is quiet and mundane. Maybe those players aren't the best, or they are not consistent, so they are labeled as brown. If they are great players with a lot to offer, then they could be labled red or yellow.
Not everything that is said or done is about race. It's time people stop thinking that way. I know there is racism, I have been a victim of it myself, but to look for it around every corner is what helps to keep it alive.

That was a factor, but shoehorning him into an option offense was the dumbest thing imaginable. It was a disaster from the start. It's like having a Ferrari but never driving it more than 20 mph. Too bad, too, because it destroyed what could have been a very good football career.

Ya, the offense was bad. From what I remember from the playoff game was that he had a few fumbles too!

By then, his confidence was completely destroyed. That season has never sat well with me at all. You have a first-year coach, but one who was on the staff they year before and saw what Rodney was capable of, yet still completely altered the offense to fit the coach's strengths. That's why I've always admired John Snyder in Chesterton. He'll tailor his offense to the talent he has, not make them adapt to him.

Welcome to the board!

I never referred to anyone as being a racist. I simply asked a question. Please don't judge me because i asked him what did he mean by Brown Team. You didn't even have to respond to the question...it was for him to answer. He didn't which left the door open...as I said I was not the only person to wonder what he meant. I'm sorry you've been a victim of racism...I'm probably one of the least offendable people you would ever meet but when people make statements or posts that I may not understand, I question them...if that's seeing racism around every corner then you must be on a short block.

Thanks for the clarification....that's all I was asking for. While it wasn't my intention to ruffle anyone's feathers by asking for clarity, I'm not sorry for asking the question....

thanks...cuz I truly didn't know what you meant....appreciate the explanation...

How did the scrimmage look yesterday? I missed it.

Didn't go either, too hot and had to work.

A little of both on the "young" thing. Sophomore QB, obviously, lost some good senior leaders from last year, but it's not atypical, necessarily. Still, I don't know that there will be a ton of seniors in key positions. Way too early to know anything of value, though.We'll know more on Aug. 25 after the South Bend Washington game.

City scrimmages at New Prairie this Friday, and then opens August 17th with the newly Karros led Gary Roosevelt Panthers.

I heard that the scrimmage starts at 6:00 pm at New Prairie. Hope to see some City support out there because even though it is a scrimmage the kids are fired up and wanting to get this season rolling. I have heard they are as excited about this season with their new coach as we are going into our second year with Coach Karpinski. Good luck to both teams and may you have a safe season. GO WOLVES !!!

Any idea if that is 6 our time or their time? I made that mistake before, I can't remember which way it was.

I was told that was 6 our time.

Well, I went to the scrimmage and it looks like we have some work to do. NP ran right up the gut on us with ease. Also looks like we may need some help running the ball on Offense. Hopefully, this improves or it will be another long year in the Duneland.