Published: October 13, 2009 12:23 am         

Ramblin' Reck: Terre Haute comes in 186 on Sporting News' top 399 sports cities

We're No. 186.

In the latest rankings of top sports cities in the country by The Sporting News, Terre Haute is No. 186 with 399 cities ranked by the publication.

Terre Haute is ranked behind other Missouri Valley Conference cities, but ahead of such places as Fort Wayne, Valparaiso, Providence, R. I., Clearwater, Fla., and Springfield, Mass., to name a few.

TSN bases the rankings on point values assigned to various categories but not limited to won-lost records, postseason appearances, applicable power ratings, number of teams and attendance.

No doubt about it, having the training camp of the Colts and state and college cross country championship meets here helps boost our ranking.



• Teams end streaks — Some Indiana high school football teams recently broke some losing streaks.

Edinburgh beat Indiana School for the Deaf for its first victory since gaining a forfeit in 2004 (52 games) and since defeating Indiana School for the Deaf in 2002 — 68 games.

Indianapolis Howe bested Indianapolis Northwest 16-12 to snap a 17-game losing streak.

In the area, Owen Valley and Paris, Ill., both got their first victories of the season on Oct. 3 and both teams won again last week.

Meanwhile, Casey remained undefeated and Marshall won its sixth game in a row in Little Illini Conference games.

• Tom-Cattin' It — As noted last week, Meghan Potee of Noblesville was the individual champ/medalist in the Indiana girls golf state finals. Her grandmother, Marcia Potee Pickett, lives in Terre Haute. … IUPUI has gotten two commitments in men's basketball. One came from 6-foot-9 Mitchell Patton of South Knox who has been a key to the Spartans compiling a 35-12 mark the past two seasons. He averaged 15.3 points, 7.9 rebounds and 3.9 blocks as a junior. The second commitment came from 6-7 Donovan Gibbs of Louisville Iroquois in Kentucky. He averaged 15.6 points and 8.5 rebounds as a junior and was Region 6 player of the year in Kentucky. … Bridget Sloan, a junior at Tri-West, has been named to the U. S. gymnastics team that is competing in the World Championships in London. She won a silver medal in the 2008 Olympics.

In last week's Sagarin college football rankings, Indiana State was 224. Valparaiso was 243rd out of 245. … Because of some problems reported by the school in men's basketball, Southern Indiana has been banned from postseason competition in the Great Lakes Valley Conference and NCAA Division II Tournament. … Art Schlichter, former quarterback for Ohio State, the Colts and others, has been helping coach the Tell City football team. Indiana State grad Don Hitz is the coach. … NASCAR made lots of fans happy by setting constant start times for its Sprint Cup races in 2010. The Indianapolis race will begin at 1 p.m., meaning it will begin about 20 minutes after the hour. … The International Olympics Committee voted to add golf and rugby to the schedule for summer games. … The first United Football League game was played last week. The Las Vegas Locomotives defeated the California Redwoods 30-17.



Tom Reck may be contacted by telephone at (812) 232-3231, by email at tm_reck@yahoo.com or by mail at 4284 South 5th Street, Apt.. 3, Terre Haute, IN 47802.