Published: October 13, 2008 11:17 pm            

Ramblin' Reck: Coming in at 165, TH cracks list’s top 200 sports cities

Coming in at 165, TH cracks list’s top 200 sports cities

TERRE HAUTE — The latest issue of The Sporting News has the publication's annual ranking of sports cities in the country and Terre Haute again is in the top 200.

To no one’s surprise, Boston is tabbed No. 1 thanks to the success of the Red Sox, Celtics, New England Patriots, Bruins and NCAA hockey champs Boston College.

Detroit is second followed by Dallas-Fort Worth, New York and Philadelphia to round out the top five. Chicago is ninth in the list and Indianapolis is 23rd; St. Louis ranks 40th.

Terre Haute had missed the cut for the top 200 a couple of years but is 165 this time. West Lafayette is second among Indiana cities at 72.

Others and their rank are South Bend 83, Bloomington 86, Muncie 127, Fort Wayne 189 and Evansville 205.

Missouri Valley Conference cities rate well. Des Moines is 87, Omaha 93, Peoria 142, Normal 143, Carbondale 147, Springfield 154, Cedar Falls 158, Wichita 177 and Evansville 205.

Burlington, N.C., is last in the list of 400 cities.

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n Special date — This year marks the 70th anniversary of a remarkable feat in major league baseball.

In 1938, Johnny VanderMeer of Cincinnati tossed back-to-back no-hit games, doing it against the Boston Braves in Crosley Field and following up against Brooklyn in Ebbets Field in his next start.

Ewell Blackwell of Cincinnati nearly duplicated the achievement 11 years later, ironically against the same two teams. He tossed a no-hitter against the Braves and, four days later, took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against Brooklyn when the Dodgers got their first hit and finished with two.

Speaking of baseball, another young man with local ties is in pro baseball. He is Ryan Groth of Florida, who played for Indian River and Oral Roberts.

He was drafted by San Diego in 2006 but did not sign, and was taken by the Angels this year and signed with the team.

He is the nephew of Charlie Vicars of Terre Haute. Charlie’s grandson, Cole, has had a nice fall season with Vincennes University and did some pitching in addition to playing the infield.

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n Tom-Cattin’ It — Chad Collins of Cloverdale had one of his best finishes on the PGA Tour this week, tying for 19th with a 9-under-par 271 score. He took home $47,350 and has earned more than $187,000 in his first year on the tour. He has four more events in his bid to maintain his spot.

n We have had the chance to hear former Indiana University player and coach Dan Dakich on his sports talk show on 1070 AM. He does a nice job and handles some controversial matters well.

n Purdue has received its third commitment for next year in men's basketball. Anthony Johnson, a 6-foot-3 junior shooting guard from Chicago Whitney Young, says he will sign with the Boilermakers.

n Butler is picked to finish fifth in the Horizon League in men’s basketball. Cleveland State is rated the team to beat.

n Southeast Missouri State canned its athletic director last week and put men’s basketball coach Scott Edgar on leave. This action was taken when the school was notified of possible violations by the NCAA.

n Fan favorite Jeff Foster is one of the familiar faces on the roster of the Indiana Pacers and signed a contract extension last week.

n Former North Central coach Glenn Andrew still is going racing and finished eighth in the feature for late models Saturday at O’Reilly Raceway Park.

n Ohio State, Penn State and surprising Michigan State are tied for first place in the Big Ten in football. OSU and MSU meet this week. MSU then faces Michigan, a loser to Toledo last week, and Wisconsin, beaten pretty well by Penn State.

Michigan State handed Northwestern its first defeat, beating the Wildcats 37-20.



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

        

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