Sneak preview

Checking out the competition

My friend and colleague Cindy Eggert Johnson posted some video clips from the Menomonee Falls Junior Indians fifth-graders final game of the season. (Cindy's son plays on the Falls squad.) The Falls (5) lost to Catholic Memorial, 21-19. Check out Cindy's clips here.

Junior Blue Dukes slide show

This is a bit of an experiment -- I am trying out Picasa 3's slideshow movie maker function:

Saturday's game video: 2nd half is now online

Highlights from Saturday's Game

Long Run #23



Long Pass



Tackle for Loss



Crunch!



Great Fans



Will Fights for Yards



Good Punt Return

Saturday's game video partly online

I've posted Part 1 of Saturday's game to Youtube. It's about 9.5 minutes long:

Junior Blues Dukes 6, Nicolet 6

Led by a ferocious sideline-to-sideline defense, the Junior Blue Dukes overcame an early score and battled the Nicolet Squires to a 6-6 tie at Good Hope School on Saturday afternoon.

It's been a wonderful season. Watch your email and this blog for details in the near future about our post-season party.

Some of the things that made this team great:

We had the defense!


We had the cheer squad!


We had the coaching!


We had the toughness!


We had the spirit!


We had the fans!


We had each other!


Photos by Karen and Jim Higgins

WHITE Game Jerseys for Saturday's playoff game

Excerpted from a Coach Sanders email:

Congratulations to our team on another outstanding win! It was great to see the boys bounce back. I watched the film clips [thanks Jim!] and I have to say that this was one of our best games this season. Wauwatosa East was bigger than we were, but the boys were able to execute and succeed due to their commitment and determination. Special thanks are due to the coaching staff: Kurt Alt, Jon Bassindale, Joe Fisher, Dan Hess, Steve Hummer, Doug James, and Mark Kortebein for their unsung contributions to this team. Their efforts this week were especially critical to our defensive dominance and the introduction of new offensive formations.

Thank you to all the parents who volunteered and contributed to the Junior Blue Dukes program – we couldn’t do this without you!

Our playoff game is against Nicolet at Good Hope Field, at Good Hope School on the southwest corner of 57 and Good Hope Rd. The game is NOT at Nicolet High School field. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30pm, please have your son there at 12:45pm dressed and ready to go in their white jersey, blue game pants, full pads and helmet.

When I coached teams in the past, parents sometimes gave the coaches gift certificates or other presents. This was a very nice gesture, but for me coaching is its own reward and I don’t expect such generosity. I would prefer that IF parents decide they WANT to give something, they instead put their contributions toward an end of season pizza party for EVERYONE.

P.S. Jane Friesch is organizing the post-season fest for us. Stay tuned for further details.

Game Day video clips

Determined running by #45



Great cutback by #40



Touchdown run by #33



Extra point catch by #85



QB keeper for a big gain

Game Day images

Karen Higgins photo Listening to the coaches. From jbd-10-11-08-karenphotos Karen Higgins photo. Driving for a touchdown. Our Game Day crew, led by Charley Weber and Dani Turer. I believe we set a record for number of youth in the booth.

Junior Blue Dukes 13, Tosa East 0

Led by a strong power-running game between the tackles and an opportunistic defense that recovered 3 fumbles, the Junior Blue Dukes shut out the Tosa Red Raiders, 13-0, under the lights at Lubar Stadium in Whitefish Bay.

I talked with a Tosa coach after the game. He said complimented the stadium and said he hoped his team could have a home field like that someday.

Saturday game reminders: 5:30 p.m. kickoff, BLUE jerseys, volunteer schedule

Coach Sanders has asked that the boys be in their BLUE jerseys and be at the stadium at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Kickoff is 5:30 p.m. It is likely to be cooler outside than at many of our other games, so please keep that in mind.

Here is a reminder on the volunteer schedule for Saturday's twilight tilt at scenic Lubar Stadium in Whitefish Bay:

Concessions, 1st half: Ken Presberg, Cathy Heston, Jane Friesch

Concessions, 2nd half: Patty Floyd, Nicole Pryor, Carolyn MacIver

Chain gang: Scott Siebert, Dave/Anne Fergus, Phil Heston

PA announcer: Charley Weber

Spotter: Jackson Weber

Stats/Spotter: John Friesch

Timekeeper/Scoreboard: Dani Turer

DJ/Sound Engineer: Wes Bassindale *(Wes, please let me know if you can make it)

Thanks to all of you volunteers, who make it possible for the coaches to concentrate on coaching.

Jim Higgins
jimhiggins[atsign]gmail.com

An inspiring football story

Talk about mentally tough teams: Read Rick Reilly's column in the ESPN mag about a Minnesota high school team that has only 19 players.

Learning From Adversity

The Junior Blue Dukes battled, but lost to a tough Homestead team 13-0 Saturday at the River Barn Park in Mequon. I think it would be fair to say that a few explosive plays made the difference -- Homestead had them and the Junior Blue Dukes didn't.

A few video highlights from the Junior Blue Dukes point of view:

Friday practice, Friday Homecoming, Saturday game reminders

Messages boiled down from several Coach Sanders emails:

Friday practice: Will be from 5:15 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. It is ending early so boys can get to the High School game at 7 p.m.

Friday Homecoming game: Per Coach's instructions, wear BLUE jerseys to the High School game. Your songs should sit with the other Junior Dukes players by the high school kids cheering section (near the 20-30 yard line).

Saturday's game: Boys should wear their WHITE road jerseys to the game against Homestead at River Barn Park. Boys should be in full uniform and at River Barn by 12:45 p.m. Scheduled kickoff is 1:30 p.m.


River Barn Park on Green Bay Road one mile north of Brown Deer Road. The field is on the east side of Green Bay Road.
Using I-43 North

· Take the West Brown Deer Rd. exit.

Stay Straight (West) on Brown Deer Rd. for 2.2 miles.

· Exit Brown Deer Rd. at N. Green Bay Rd./Highway 57. Take the north ramp.

· N. Green Bay Rd./Highway 57 becomes N. Cedarburg Rd./Highway 57.

· River Barn Park is on N. Cedarburg Rd. about 1.2 miles north of Brown Deer Rd.