Archive

Archive for June, 2009

Mallards recap 6/5

June 6, 2009 Comments off

Make it two walk-off wins on the week:

by Jordan Schelling
Categories: Uncategorized

Mallards recap 6/4

June 4, 2009 Comments off

Mallards extend win streak to 5 games:

by Jordan Schelling
Categories: Uncategorized

Mallards recap 6/3

June 4, 2009 Comments off

Another win for the Mallards at the Duck Pond:

By Jordan Schelling
Categories: Uncategorized

Woods chips in to win Memorial Skins Game

June 3, 2009 Comments off

The last two nights, I haven’t been able to watch a lot of sporting events live while I’ve been at the Duck Pond covering the Madison Mallards for The Badger Herald. In fact, my only exposure to anything non-Northwoods League has been SportsCenter in the office while posting stories.
Today, however, I was fortunate enough to catch the Memorial Skins Game live on the Golf Channel this afternoon. And it didn’t disappoint either.
Two foursomes teed it up on the back nine at Muirfield Village today, but the one everyone was buzzing about was the second group, which featured Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus going head-to-head for just the second time ever.
Nicklaus and Woods stole the show as they won the 11th and 13th holes, respectively, giving them two skins apiece. Cink took the 14th hole, putting him just one behind the two leaders. The next four holes, however, went off without anyone winning a skin.
So they had a closest to the pin chip-off, with the winner getting four skins and will be the winner of the group. Stewart Cink went first, hitting his chip within about five feet.
Next up was Woods. His shot is guaranteed to be shown about 100 times tonight on ESPN. With the Skins Game on the line, Woods stepped up and chipped in. Nicklaus couldn’t match him, so it was up to Kenny Perry. He lined it up well and had enough speed, but it just burned the outside edge and rolled past the hole.
Woods, as usual, shines under pressure in the big moment.
But the best part about the Skins Game wasn’t really the shot by Woods, it was the chance to listen in to the conversation between the players and see the way they interact with each other outside the confines of a typical PGA TOUR event.
“Can you even let us have one day in the sun?” remarked one of the other players in the group after the crowd erupted following Woods’ chip-in.
He certainly has a knack for the big moment, and though the audience wasn’t that of a major this afternoon, his peers were watching and he couldn’t show any weakness regardless of the prize.
Categories: Uncategorized

Mallards recap 6/2

June 2, 2009 Comments off

Another win for the Mallards:

by Jordan Schelling
Categories: Uncategorized

Mallards look for sweep of Honkers

June 2, 2009 Comments off

After last night’s thrilling walk-off win, the Madison Mallards are set tonight to face the Rochester Honkers for the second game of their two-game set at the Duck Pond.
I wasn’t sure what it would be like covering the Mallards this summer for a couple of reasons.
First, I didn’t know until yesterday afternoon if I would be able to get into the game or not due to some communication issues with the staff. Second, as much as I enjoy baseball, I’ve never covered it for the newspaper before.
Finally, the Mallards are in an interesting limbo between professional and collegiate ball — it’s officially referred to as a minor league internship — and I wasn’t sure how much access I would have to the players and coaches.
Well, after last night’s game I realized I enjoy covering the team as much if not more than any team at the University of Wisconsin. Perhaps this is because I have no school- or fraternity- or work-related responsibilities interfering with my ability to cover games and write stories at midnight or later.
Or maybe it’s because I love baseball so much and now I know I want to be a baseball writer someday.
The first pitch is still three hours away and I won’t be leaving for Warner Park for at least 1 1/2 hours, but I’m excited for tonight. Witnessing the first walk-off home run in Mallards history is something I won’t soon forget, regardless of whether or not I was able to cheer for Harold Riggins and the Mallards as the celebrated.
Tonight’s matchup features a pair of Big Ten hurlers with Purdue’s Matt Jansen taking the hill for the Mallards and Zach Robertson of Iowa getting the nod for the Honkers.
Each pitcher started their team’s respective season opener. Jansen took the loss against Alexandria, allowing four runs in five innings, and Robertson delivered an impressive six-inning shut out performance in Rochester’s 5-3 win over Mankato.
Check back here or at The Badger Herald later tonight or tomorrow morning for a recap of tonight’s action.
Categories: Uncategorized