Qvale story shatters hits record on Press site

So out of nowhere late Saturday night, I found out Williston standout offensive lineman Brent Qvale had verbally committed to play football for Nebraska. This wasn't shock, since I had heard he was leaning toward the Cornhuskers.

What has shocked me is the love for this small recruiting story. On Sunday, the story received the most single-day hits in the short history of TheDickinsonPress.com with 3,723 from midnight Sunday to midnight Monday. As of 3:22 p.m. Monday, the story is well entrenched as the top-read story in our Web site's history, easily surpassing the story I wrote when Dickinson native Kyle Steffes signed a free agent contract with the New York Jets.

Here is the copy from our site's admin (UPDATE -- noon Tuesday count):

Mostly, we have Huskerpedia.com to thank for this. According to Google Analytics (which is awesome by the way), 4,311 hits on our site in the past two days have come via a link to the story they posted on their site. What's even more interesting is that only one-third of those hits are coming from the state of Nebraska, which tells you just how far love for the Cornhuskers spreads.

This is whole deal is simply amazing to me.

Posted by: monke on 8.18.2008 at 9:19 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Back to Business

So, guess what? The blog is back!!! Classes began at some area high schools today, so I feel it's only appropriate that "Monke Business" gets back to business. I'll be throwing more and more stuff up as the days go by. I would like to make at least five posts a week (that's a lofty goal, but achievable). So, those six of you who keep bugging me about posting, start spreading the news.

To bring back the blog, here's a cool video that's been running throughout the Olympics. It features some of my favorite athletes of all time (Jordan, Pre, McEnroe, Lance, Rooney) and happens to have one of my favorite songs - "All These Things I've Done" by The Killers playing in the background. Enjoy.

Posted by: monke on 8.18.2008 at 9:11 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Baseballs don't like cars

If you come to Southside Municipal Ballpark for a game next year, don't park close to the stadium.

This is what Cole Frenzel did to my car on a foul ball one swing before he jacked a three-run homer in the second inning against Fargo Post 2 today.

I thought parking behind the Fargo bus might help me avoid getting my car smacked on the final home game of the year for the Roughriders ... as you can see, it did not.

Posted by: monke on 7.27.2008 at 4:06 PM | Comments (3) | Permalink

Some quick notes before vacation

I know posts have been light lately, but hey, that's summer for you. I'm off until next Monday but before I go, here's a couple interesting nuggets you might like.

-- Galen Morton is out as Dickinson State's sports information director/assistant track and cross country coach. The distance crew at DSU will miss him, he was a big asset for them and he's been a good S.I.D., putting in lots of late hours to get stats on the Internet and such. Morton is moving back to California to be with his family and teach science at a high school 15 minutes away from his home. Hey, family comes first sometimes.

-- On a similar DSU coaching note, Jace Schillinger is out as assistant football and track coach. Schillinger is the new head football coach at Park High School in Livingston, Mont. This is a great move for Jace. He is going to be a good young coach and it wouldn't surprise me if he one day found his way back to the college ranks.

-- The Killdeer Mountain Roundup Rodeo is coming up Thursday and Friday. It's a PRCA rodeo, just like the Roughrider Days Rodeo here in Dickinson. If you live in Killdeer or are a rodeo fan, chances are you're already checking it out. But if you're a rodeo newb and liked the Dickinson rodeo, I recommend make the 30-minute drive to Killdeer and check it out.

-- The Dickinson Roughriders American Legion baseball team suffered the fourth loss of their season on Wednesday afternoon when Rapid City Post 320 pitcher Adam Carroll tossed a seven-inning no-hitter to beat the Riders 2-0. Grant Kovacs only allowed three hits and walked three for Dickinson. Unfortunately, two of his walks led off innings and those players eventually scored the game's only runs.

-- The Dickinson Roughriders alumni baseball games are scheduled for the Fourth of July at Southside Municipal Ballpark. Some pretty decent former players are going to be playing in these games, I recommend you check it out. The first game starts at 4 p.m. The second game is at 6 p.m.

Posted by: monke on 7.02.2008 at 6:30 PM | Comments (7) | Permalink

Bronc riders like coming to N.D.

Just got off the phone with Morgan Forbes, the 18th-ranked saddle bronc rider in the PRCA world standings. He is one of eight ranked bronc riders coming to the Roughrider Days Rodeo this weekend. The top cowboy on that list is J.J. Elshere of Quinn, S.D. Elshere is ranked third in the world standings and was the 2006 National Finals Rodeo average champion.

Forbes said one of the big reasons for the amount of quality bronc riders coming to the three-day rodeo is because of the quality of stock that is traditionally provided for them here. Elshere made similar comments.

Southwest N.D. has always held their saddle bronc riding to a high degree and have produced solid cowboys for a long time. For example, Dickinson's Dusty Hausauser is currently ranked 26th in the world standings and has won two rodeos this season. Unfortunately, he won't be able to attend the Roughrider Days Rodeo for a second consecutive year, something I bet Hausauer isn't happy about.

Anyway, if you like bronc riding, check out the Roughrider Days Rodeo this weekend. Here is a list of the bronc riders coming, along with their world ranking.

3, J.J. Elshere, Quinn, S.D. (Monday)
18, Morgan Forbes, Kaycee, Wyo. (Saturday)
22, Bryce Miller, Buffalo, S.D. (Saturday)
24, Chad Ferley, Oelrichs, S.D. (Sunday)
28, Rollie Wilson, Buffalo, S.D. (Monday)
45, James Willert, Kadoka, S.D. (Monday)
46, Jesse Bail, Camp Crook, S.D. (Monday)
49, Marty Hebb, Eagle Butte, S.D. (Saturday)

Some notable locals: Kane Gjermundson, Marshall; Ty Manke, Hermosa, S.D. (standout at National American); Lee Steffan, Mandan; Tate Eck, Kindred.

Posted by: monke on 6.26.2008 at 2:58 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink