Projected playoff pairings

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Projected playoff pairings, through Friday’s games. Official pairings, including game times and dates, will be posted by the WHSAA.

Class 4A
(8) Rock Springs at (1) Natrona
(5) Cheyenne Central at (4) Cheyenne East
(6) Kelly Walsh at (3) Sheridan
(7) Evanston at (2) Gillette

Class 3A
(4W) Cody at (1E) Riverton
(3E) Buffalo at (2W) Star Valley
(3W) Green River at (2E) Douglas
(4E) Lander at (1W) Powell

Class 2A
(4W) Kemmerer at (1E) Big Horn
(3E) Glenrock at (2W) Lovell
(3W) Mountain View at (2E) Newcastle
(4E) Wheatland at (1W) Lyman

Class 1A 11-man
(4W) Rocky Mountain at (1E) Lusk
(3E) Upton-Sundance at (2W) Burlington
(3W) Shoshoni at (2E) Southeast
(4E) Lingle at (1W) Cokeville

Class 1A six-man
(4N) Meeteetse/Kaycee/Hulett at (1S) Snake River
(3S) Guernsey at (2N) Meeteetse/Kaycee/Hulett
(3N) Meeteetse/Kaycee/Hulett at (2S) Midwest
(4S) Hanna at (1N) Dubois

Week 8 picks: Hosting in the first round of the playoffs, and what it means to Meeteetse, Cokeville and Pine Bluffs

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Only one playoff seeding question (or triangular playoff possibility) will not be answered by the time games are done Friday night.

The lone exception to that comes in the Class 1A six-man North Conference — and the seeding means everything to the Meeteetse Longhorns.

With a victory over Hulett on Saturday, the Longhorns would secure a first-round home playoff game, a feat the program has not accomplished since 2001.

Even with a loss, the Longhorns tie Hulett and Kaycee for the second, third and fourth seeds from the 1A six-man North Conference and have a one-in-three shot of hosting in the first round anyway.

If the Longhorns get the chance to host in the first round, they’ll break one of the longest such droughts in the state; only seven schools have longer first-round home playoff game droughts than Meeteetse does, and none of those seven schools has a chance this year to break their streak like Meeteetse does on Saturday.

Of the 24 teams still in the running for the 20 first-round host slots, 19 hosted in the first round either last year or in 2010; the five exceptions, in addition Meeteetse, are Riverton, Burlington, Hulett and Upton-Sundance.

Riverton, which has already secured the top seed from the 3A East, will host its first  playoff game since 2004; Burlington, win or lose this week against Cokeville, will host its first playoff game since 2008.

Hulett, Meeteetse’s opponent on Saturday, is trying to backdoor its way into a home playoff game, which would be the school’s first since 2008. And Upton-Sundance, which, technically has never hosted a playoff game as a combined program, is trying to put a home playoff game into the communities for the first time in several years; Upton last hosted in 2006 and Sundance in 2005.

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On the other side, some schools have made hosting in the first round an annual tradition — especially in Class 4A.

For the second consecutive year, the same four schools (Natrona, Gillette, Sheridan and Cheyenne East) will host first-round playoff games. Gillette is hosting in the first round for the sixth consecutive year, while Sheridan will open the postseason at home for the fifth year straight and Natrona for the third year in a row.

Douglas has all those 4A schools topped, as the Bearcats, by virtue of their second-place finish in the 3A East, will host in the opening round for the seventh year in a row.

But none of those schools has a stranglehold on first-round home games like Southeast and Cokeville do.

Although Southeast’s hosting responsibilities are not cemented entering this week — the Cyclones have to beat Upton-Sundance Lingle and hope Upton-Sundance loses to Lusk on Friday to wrap up the 1A 11-man East’s No. 2 seed — the Cyclones, with a win and help, will open up the playoffs at home for the 16th consecutive year.

Cokeville, meanwhile, has already locked up one of the top two seeds in the 1A 11-man West and will host a first-round playoff game for the 20th consecutive year. The last time the Panthers missed out on the first-round hosting duties was 1992, when they failed to qualify for the postseason at all.

In addition, Lovell, Lusk and Dubois have also secured first-round hosting rights for the third consecutive year.

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However, the seven schools with playoff hosting droughts longer than Meeteetse will all see their streaks extended at least one more year.

Rawlins and Laramie both haven’t hosted a playoff game since 2000, while Torrington hasn’t been at home for a postseason game since 1996. Three schools — Cheyenne South, Farson and Wyoming Indian — have never hosted a playoff game.

The seventh school on that list has the most surprising streak. Despite an overall program winning percentage above .500, 12 all-time playoff qualifications, six postseason victories and three title-game appearances, Pine Bluffs hasn’t played a playoff game at home since 1948.

That’s 64 years, if you’re counting.

The 1948 season for Pine Bluffs was a special one: The Hornets won the Southeast six-man crown and beat Jackson in the state semifinals before hosting Byron for the state title. Byron won that game 44-0 in far eastern Laramie County; Pine Bluffs hasn’t hosted a playoff game since then.

Pine won’t host in the playoffs this year, either. The Hornets have to hope for Lingle to beat Southeast to qualify for the Class 1A 11-man playoffs, and even if they get in, they’ll be the No. 4 seed out of the East Conference, which means no home games no matter what.

Sorry, Hornet faithful. We can hope Year 65 will be the lucky one.

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Here are this week’s picks, with the teams I think will win in bold and the teams I think will make every attempt possible to prove me wrong in the regular type:

Thursday
Class 1A 11-man
Shoshoni at Wyoming Indian
Friday
Class 4A
Cheyenne Central at Kelly Walsh
Cheyenne East at Sheridan
Cheyenne South at Rock Springs
Evanston at Laramie
Gillette at Natrona
Class 3A
Cody at Worland
Green River at Powell
Lander at Riverton
Rawlins at Buffalo
Star Valley at Jackson
Torrington at Douglas
Class 2A
Big Piney at Lovell
Glenrock at Moorcroft
Kemmerer at Mountain View
Lyman at Greybull
Newcastle at Big Horn
Pinedale at Thermopolis
Tongue River at Wheatland
Wright at Burns
Class 1A 11-man
Cokeville at Burlington
Lusk at Upton-Sundance (at Upton)
Rocky Mountain at Saratoga
Southeast at Lingle
Wind River at Riverside
Class 1A six-man
Guernsey at Dubois
Snake River at Farson
Ten Sleep at Hanna
Saturday
Class 1A six-man
Hulett at Meeteetse
Kaycee at Midwest
Open: Normative Services, Pine Bluffs.

Last week: 28-3 (90 percent). This season: 201-35 (85 percent).

There they are, the final picks of the regular season. How do you see the playoffs shaping up, based on what might happen this week? Anything jump out to you as intriguing or interesting on the Week 8 schedule? Feel free to post your thoughts below.

(And how did I get to this point and NOT mention that two games in Week 8 pit undefeated teams against each other: Gillette-Natrona in 4A and Big Horn-Newcastle in 2A? The Ram-Dogie game starts at 1 p.m. in Big Horn; the Mustang-Camel showdown starts at 7 p.m. in Casper. If I still lived in Wyoming, I’d just call in sick to work and go to both.)

–patrick

Updates: Lovell, Newcastle, Pinedale

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A little more specialized web searching gave me a couple more results I had been missing:

Found the score for Lovell’s 20-0 victory over Laurel, Mont., on Sept. 28, 1935

Found the score for Lovell’s 26-0 victory over Columbus, Mont., on Sept. 24, 1937 (I knew Lovell had won the game; this update notes the score)

Found the date and location for Lovell’s 54-0 loss to Billings, Mont., on Oct. 9, 1926 (in Billings)

I also knocked three coach listings off the Coaches Project listings — I got first initials for Lovell coach G.E. Hatfield (1924-25), the name for Lovell’s coach in 1926 (William Ash), first initials for Newcastle coach J.J. Wadsworth (1928) and also found Pinedale’s coach in 1940, W.L. McLoney. (Whether G.E. Hatfield is the same person as George Hatfield, who was the head coach at Worland in 1923, I’m not sure, but my gut tells me it is….)

All the updates have been made on all the relevant pages.

–patrick

Playoff scenarios entering Week 8

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Wyoming high school football playoff scenarios entering the final week of the regular season (2A West, 1A six-man North updated 10-13):

Class 4A
Gillette and Natrona: In. Nos. 1 and 2 seeds. They play each other for seeding this week.
Sheridan and Cheyenne East: In. Nos. 3 and 4 seeds. They play each other for seeding this week.
Kelly Walsh, Cheyenne Central: In. Nos. 5 and 6 seeds. They play each other for seeding this week.
Evanston: No. 7 seed with win. No. 8 seed with loss AND Rock Springs loss. Tie for 7-8-9 spots (and triangular playoff to break) with loss AND Rock Springs win (playoff between Evanston, Laramie and Rock Springs).
Laramie: No. 7 seed with win AND Rock Springs loss. Tie for 7-8-9 spots (and triangular playoff to break) with win AND Rock Springs win (playoff between Evanston, Laramie and Rock Springs). Tie for 8-9-10 spots (and triangular playoff to break) with loss AND Rock Springs loss (playoff between Laramie, Rock Springs and Cheyenne South). Eliminated with loss AND Rock Springs win.
Rock Springs: No. 8 seed with win AND Laramie loss. Tie for 7-8-9 spots (and triangular playoff to break) with win AND Laramie win (playoff between Evanston, Laramie and Rock Springs). Tie for 8-9-10 spots (and triangular playoff to break) with loss AND Laramie loss (playoff between Laramie, Rock Springs and Cheyenne South). Eliminated with loss AND Laramie win.
Cheyenne South: Tie for 8-9-10 spots (and triangular playoff to break) with win AND Laramie loss (playoff between Laramie, Rock Springs and Cheyenne South). Eliminated with Laramie win. Eliminated with loss.

Class 3A East
Riverton: In. No. 1 seed.
Douglas: In. No. 2 seed.
Lander: No. 3 seed with win AND Buffalo loss. No. 4 seed, win or lose, with Buffalo win. Tie for 3-4-5 spots (and triangular playoff to break) with loss AND Buffalo loss (playoff between Lander, Buffalo and Rawlins).
Buffalo: No. 3 seed with win. Tie for 3-4-5 spots (and triangular playoff to break) with loss AND Lander loss (playoff between Lander, Buffalo and Rawlins). Eliminated with loss AND Lander win.
Rawlins: No. 4 seed with win AND Lander win. Tie for 3-4-5 spots (and triangular playoff to break) with win AND Lander loss (playoff between Lander, Buffalo and Rawlins). Eliminated with loss.
Torrington: Out.

Class 3A West
Powell: In. No. 1 seed with win. No. 2 seed with loss AND Star Valley loss. Tie for 1-2-3 (and coin flip to break) with loss AND Star Valley win.
Green River: In. No. 1 seed with win AND Star Valley loss. Tie for 1-2-3 (and coin flip to break) with win AND Star Valley win. No. 3 seed with loss.
Star Valley: In. Tie for 1-2-3 (and coin flip to break) with win AND Green River win. No. 2 seed, win or lose, with Green River loss. No. 3 seed with loss AND Green River win.
Cody: No. 4 seed with win. Tie for 4-5-6 (and triangular playoff to break) with loss AND Jackson loss (playoff between Cody, Jackson and Worland). Eliminated with loss AND Jackson win.
Jackson: No. 4 seed with win AND Cody loss. Tie for 4-5-6 (and triangular playoff to break) with loss AND Cody loss (playoff between Cody, Jackson and Worland). Eliminated with Cody win.
Worland: Tie for 4-5-6 (and triangular playoff to break) with win AND Jackson loss (playoff between Cody, Jackson and Worland). Eliminated with Jackson win. Eliminated with loss.

Class 2A East (updated 10-15)
Big Horn, Newcastle: In. Nos. 1 and 2 seeds. Play each other for seeding this week.
Wheatland, Wright, Glenrock, Burns: In competition for the 3 and 4 seeds. Six possible outcomes. First, with a Wright win over Burns: if Wheatland and Glenrock both win, Wheatland, Glenrock and Wright tie for 3-4-5 (triangular playoff to break); if Wheatland wins and Glenrock loses, Wheatland is No. 3 and Wright is No. 4; if Wheatland and Glenrock both lose, Wright is No. 3 and Glenrock is No. 4. Second, with a Burns win over Wright: if Wheatland and Glenrock both win, Glenrock is No. 3 and Wheatland is No. 4; if Wheatland wins and Glenrock loses, Wheatland is No. 3 and Glenrock is No. 4 (Glenrock wins tiebreaker due to victory over Wheatland); if Wheatland and Glenrock both lose, then Burns, Wheatland, Wright and Glenrock tie for 3-4-5-6, but Wheatland is No. 3 and Burns is No. 4 (Glenrock falls out of 4-way tie due to loss to Moorcroft, Wheatland wins 3-way tiebreaker due to victories over Wright and Burns).
Moorcroft, Tongue River: Out.

Class 2A West (updated 10-13)
Lyman: In. No. 1 seed.
Lovell: In. No. 2 seed.
Mountain View: In. No. 3 seed with win. No. 4 seed with loss.
Kemmerer: No. 3 seed with win. No. 4 seed with loss AND Greybull loss. Eliminated with loss AND Greybull win.
Greybull: No. 4 seed with win AND Kemmerer loss. Eliminated with loss OR Kemmerer win.
Pinedale, Thermopolis, Big Piney: Out.

Class 1A 11-man East
Lusk: In. No. 1 seed with win. No. 2 seed with loss.
Upton-Sundance: In. No. 1 seed with win. No. 2 seed with loss AND Lingle win. No. 3 seed with loss AND Southeast win.
Southeast: Not in yet. No. 2 seed with win AND Lusk win. No. 3 seed with win AND Upton-Sundance win. Out with loss.
Lingle: In. No. 3 seed with win. No. 4 seed with loss.
Pine Bluffs: No. 4 seed with Lingle win. Out with Lingle loss.
Normative Services: Out.

Class 1A 11-man West
Cokeville, Burlington: Nos. 1 and 2 seeds. They play each other for seeding this week.
Shoshoni: In. No. 3 seed.
Rocky Mountain: No. 4 seed with win. Tie for No. 4 seed (and triangular playoff for spot) with loss AND Wind River win (triangular playoff between Rocky Mountain, Wind River and Saratoga). Out with loss AND Wind River loss.
Wind River: Tie for No. 4 seed (and triangular playoff for spot) with win AND Saratoga win (triangular playoff between Rocky Mountain, Wind River and Saratoga). Out with Rocky Mountain win. Out with loss.
Saratoga: No. 4 seed with win AND Wind River loss. Tie for No. 4 seed (and triangular playoff for spot) with win AND Wind River win (triangular playoff between Rocky Mountain, Wind River and Saratoga). Out with loss.
Wyoming Indian, Riverside: Out.

Class 1A six-man North (updated 10-13)
Dubois: No. 1 seed.
Meeteetse: In. No. 2 seed with win. Tie for 2-3-4 seeds (coin flip to break) with loss.
Kaycee: In. No. 3 seed with Meeteetse win. Tie for 2-3-4 seeds (coin flip to break) with Meeteetse loss.
Hulett: In. Tie for 2-3-4 seeds (coin flip to break) with win. No. 4 seed with loss.
Ten Sleep: Out.

Class 1A six-man South
Snake River: No. 1 seed.
Midwest: No. 2 seed.
Guernsey: No. 3 seed.
Hanna: No. 4 seed.
Farson: Out.

Hopefully everything checks out.

–patrick

Week 7 picks: Green River’s lucky number is…

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Week 7 in your program, Week 2 for the game of the week graphic…. click for a larger version, if you wish.

This week’s picks. Projected winners in bold; hopefully your computer can read bold type.

Thursday
Class 2A
Pinedale at Lyman
Friday
Class 4A
Cheyenne East at Evanston
Cheyenne South at Gillette
Natrona at Laramie
Rock Springs at Cheyenne Central
Sheridan at Kelly Walsh
Class 3A
Buffalo at Torrington
Powell at Cody
Rawlins at Lander
Riverton at Douglas
Star Valley at Green River
Worland at Jackson
Class 2A
Big Horn at Tongue River
Burns at Glenrock
Greybull at Big Piney
Lovell at Kemmerer
Moorcroft at Wright
Thermopolis at Mountain View
Wheatland at Newcastle
Class 1A 11-man
Burlington at Rocky Mountain
Cokeville at Wind River
Lingle at Pine Bluffs
Lusk at Normative Services
Riverside at Wyoming Indian
Saratoga at Shoshoni
Upton-Sundance at Southeast
Class 1A six-man
Farson at Hanna
Midwest at Snake River
Saturday
Class 1A six-man
Dubois at Hulett
Meeteetse at Guernsey
Ten Sleep at Kaycee

Last week: 28-4 (88 percent). This season: 173-32 (84 percent).

So where did I go wrong? What game are you excited by this week? What game are you going to watch? Post some thoughts below.

–patrick

Updates: Burlington, Byron, Manderson, Star Valley, Evanston

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Using some slick web sleuthing, I knocked four games off the missing games list this week:

I found the result for Byron’s 18-6 victory over Manderson on Oct. 2, 1959, and also found the result for Byron’s 41-0 victory over Burlington on Oct. 6, 1949 (not Oct. 7 as previously thought).

The victory helps bump a couple of Byron streaks up a notch. The 1949 victory increases the winning streak the Eagles had from 1945-50 to what is now recognized at 27 games, tied with Buffalo’s recent streak for fifth-longest in state history (of course, the Eagle streak was reported to be in the 40-plus range; only 27 of those have been verified). Also, it bumps Byron’s unbeaten streak over that stretch to 27, again tied with Buffalo’s streak, this time tied for 10th all-time. The 1949 victory also increased Byron’s road winning streak in the stretch from 1945-52 to 18 games, now alone at third place in the state records, and bumped the unbeaten streak to 18 games, as well, tied for fourth-best all-time with another Byron streak from the late 1960s.

The 1959 victory increases Byron’s home winning streak in the span from 1953-61 to 31 games, increasing the state record Byron had, and of course increases the unbeaten home winning streak to 31, as well.

Also:

I found the date and corrected the location for Star Valley’s 54-0 loss to Salt Lake City East on Oct. 10, 1936 (the game was in Afton, not SLC)

I found the score and the date for Evanston’s 19-0 loss to Montpelier, Idaho, on Oct. 16, 1936 (I had the winner and the location, but not a specific score and not the date)

All of the updates have been made on all the relevant pages.

–patrick

Shrine Bowl names Cundall executive director, contributes $22,000 to Shriners Hospital

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Former Gillette and Greybull coach John Cundall has been named the new executive director of the Shrine Bowl.

Cundall was the head coach of the North Shrine team in both 2004 and 2011 and was an assistant coach for two other Shrine games.

T.J. Claunch, who was executive director for the past nine years, resigned his position, creating the vacancy for Cundall.

The Shrine Bowl Board of Directors also announced $22,000, the proceeds from the 2012 Shrine Bowl, would be sent to the Shriners Hospital in Salt Lake City.

The 2013 Shrine Bowl is set for June 8 in Casper.

–patrick

Playoff scenarios entering Week 7

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Here are the playoff scenarios entering Week 7:

Class 4A
In: Natrona, Gillette, Sheridan, Cheyenne East, Kelly Walsh.
Still in the hunt: Cheyenne Central, Evanston, Laramie, Rock Springs, Cheyenne South.
Out: No one.
What’s decided: Gillette and Natrona will be the top two seeds, no matter what. After that, it’s a race for qualifying and seeds. About the only team that can absolutely control its own destiny next week is Central, which would secure a playoff spot with a win over Rock Springs. South has the most work to do and could be mathematically eliminated next week if the right scenarios unfold, but even the Bison could enter the final week at 0-8 and still have a chance to make the playoffs if both Laramie and Rock Springs lose next week, as well.

Class 3A West
In: Powell, Green River.
Still in the hunt: Star Valley, Cody, Worland, Jackson.
Out: No one.
What’s decided: No much. Green River hosts Star Valley and travels to Powell to close the season, and those games will help decide who hosts and who travels in the first round. The only team that could be mathematically eliminated with a loss next week (excluding results of all other games next week) is Jackson.

Class 3A East
In: Douglas.
Still in the hunt: Riverton, Rawlins, Lander, Buffalo, Torrington.
What’s decided: Very little. Douglas will host a first-round playoff game, but after that, seeding is up in the air. Next week will be telling, though — the winner of the Riverton-Douglas game is the conference champ and earns hosting duties through the first two rounds of the playoffs, while Torrington would be mathematically eliminated with a loss to Buffalo.

Class 2A West
In: Lyman.
Still in the hunt: Lovell, Kemmerer, Mountain View, Thermopolis, Pinedale, Greybull.
Out: Big Piney.
What’s decided: Not much, but we do know Lyman would have to lose both of its final two games to lose the conference championship; a win either in Week 7 or Week 8 gives Lyman the conference title. Greybull would be eliminated from the playoff race next week with a loss to Big Piney. In between, it’s a mess.

Class 2A East
In: Big Horn, Newcastle.
Still in the hunt: Wheatland, Wright, Glenrock, Burns, Moorcroft, Tongue River.
Out: No one.
What’s decided: Big Horn will host a first-round playoff game no matter what. Newcastle will earn the same honor if the Dogies beat Wheatland next week. No matter what happens next week, though, the Week 8 game between Big Horn and Newcastle will decide the conference champion. Both Moorcroft and Tongue River would be mathematically eliminated with losses next week.

Class 1A 11-man West
In: Cokeville, Burlington.
Still in the hunt: Shoshoni, Rocky Mountain, Wind River, Saratoga.
Out: Wyoming Indian, Riverside.
What’s decided: The Week 8 Cokeville-Burlington game will decide the conference champion, no matter what happens next week. A ton of scenarios exist for deciding the final two seeds in this conference, as Shoshoni and Rocky Mountain (both 3-2 in conference play) have the upper hand on Wind River and Saratoga (both 2-3). Saratoga has the most direct affect on these scenarios, as the Panthers play both the Wranglers and Grizzlies in the final two weeks of the season.

Class 1A 11-man East
In: Upton-Sundance, Lusk.
Still in the hunt: Pine Bluffs, Lingle, Southeast.
Out: NSI.
What’s decided: Surprisingly little. The Week 8 Upton-Sundance/Lusk game will decide the conference champion, although, if either team loses next week, the chance exists that either one could slide out of hosting a first-round playoff game, and a slim chance exists that either one of those teams, with two losses the next two weeks, could slide to as far as fourth. Next week’s Lingle-Pine Bluffs game might end up deciding a playoff spot.

Class 1A six-man North
In: Dubois, Meeteetse.
Still in the hunt: Hulett, Kaycee, Ten Sleep.
Out: No one.
What’s decided: Dubois can wrap up the conference title if it can beat Hulett next week. Meanwhile, Ten Sleep would be eliminated from the postseason (and the other four would qualify) with a loss to Kaycee next week. The only Week 8 conference game pits Meeteetse against Hulett; the bulk of the seedings will likely be decided next week, although it’s possible a three-way tie for the second, third and fourth seeds could develop.

Class 1A six-man South
In: Midwest, Snake River, Guernsey.
Still in the hunt: Farson, Hanna.
Out: No one.
What’s decided: We’ll know (almost) everything after Week 7. The conference champion will be decided in Week 7 as Midwest travels to Snake River. Midwest is guaranteed to host a first-round playoff game, win or lose next week. The winner of next week’s Farson-Hanna game is in the playoffs and the loser is out. Farson has an outside chance of creating a tie with Guernsey and Snake River for the second, third and fourth seeds if the Rattlers lose to Midwest next week and if the Pronghorns can beat the Rattlers in the only South Conference game scheduled for Week 8.

Thoughts? Questions? Ideas? Post ’em below. We’re almost to the postseason and I’m excited to see what unfolds the next two weeks.

–patrick

Week 6 picks: 27 years in the making

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(Click for a little bit larger version.) Thinking about doing this every week. What would you think of something like this as an addition to the blog?

Of course, I picked Midwest for the inaugural version of this infographic… 🙂

By the way, the closest Midwest has come to breaking that 27-year streak and beating Guernsey in Midwest came in 1999, when the Vikings beat the Oilers 7-6 on a cold and wet night in the oilfield. This one still bothers me… I was a senior this year for Midwest and felt we had a pretty good team. I was the holder for our extra points and field goals and after we scored our lone touchdown of this game, I took my knee to receive the snap. But the ball was wet and never made it more than an inch above the ground; I shouted “Fire!” (although at the time, it probably sounded like a muffled “Faaaaaa!”), grabbed the ball and started rolling right. I threw the only pass I ever threw in four years of high school football and, well… Quack, quack. Hence the final score. Honestly, it’s the only play I remember from that game. Another reminder that 48 minutes of toil can often come down to one play — and in this case, the prolonging of a streak that’s now reached 27 years.

On to the picks. Projected winners in bold. A huge week this week — not as many easy picks as there have been the past couple weeks.

Thursday
Interclass
Natrona JV at Lusk
Friday
Class 4A
Cheyenne Central at Gillette
Evanston at Natrona
Kelly Walsh at Cheyenne South
Laramie at Sheridan
Rock Springs at Cheyenne East
Class 3A
Cody at Star Valley
Douglas at Rawlins
Jackson at Green River
Lander at Buffalo
Powell at Worland
Riverton at Torrington
Class 2A
Big Horn at Moorcroft
Big Piney at Pinedale
Burns at Wheatland
Kemmerer at Greybull
Lovell at Thermopolis
Mountain View at Lyman
Newcastle at Tongue River
Wright at Glenrock
Class 1A 11-man
Lingle at Normative Services
Riverside at Saratoga
Rocky Mountain at Shoshoni
Upton-Sundance at Pine Bluffs
Wind River at Burlington
Wyoming Indian at Cokeville
Class 1A six-man
Guernsey at Midwest
Hanna at Dubois
Hulett at Farson
Snake River at Kaycee
Saturday
Class 1A six-man
Meeteetse at Ten Sleep
Interclass
Natrona sophs at Southeast

Last week: 28-3 (90 percent). This season: 145-28 (84 percent).

So what say you? Any games that you can’t wait to see this week? Any upsets in the making? Any thoughts at all? Any ideas where I went wrong with my picks? Post ’em.

–patrick

My mistake

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I don’t know how to start this, or end this, or explain this, other than to apologize, ask for forgiveness and move on.

The only way I know how to start is to say I’m human. I make mistakes. Just look at the site updates category on this blog and you can see I’ve made my fair share of mistakes in dealing with games, dates, locations, players, coaches and a myriad of other pieces that come from 22,000-plus contests over more than a century. Several other mistakes may still exist on the site.

My most recent mistake, though, affected more people than I ever anticipated a mistake on this site could reach.

In short, I messed up. And I let a lot of people down.

The story goes something like this: Tonight, I received a call from my former colleague at the Casper Star-Tribune, Jack Nowlin, who was working on a follow-up to his solid work the past week with the Rawlins football team. His quick comment sent me lurching — he was counting, and he saw only 34 losses in a row for Greybull from 1978-82, not 35 as I have been listing on my streaks page and pimping on this blog.

So I counted, again. This time, I only came up with 34, too, just like Jack had.

The instant ramification is that now Rawlins alone has the state record for the longest losing streak, as the Outlaws broke their 35-game losing streak by beating Torrington last week.

The bigger fallout is that Jack — as well as a ton of other people, including you, the people reading this — was depending on me to put out the right information. Several other media outlets reported in the past few weeks about the streak and about Rawlins’ attempt to avoid breaking it. I wrote about it, too. A ton of other people read those stories and assumed those guys — and, through association, myself — had their information right.

Those other folks did. I didn’t.

To that end, I failed. And I’m sorry.

Sorry to reporters like Jack who were depending on me; sorry to editors who based their coverage decisions on the info I had posted on my site; sorry to the readers I misled; sorry to the players and coaches in Rawlins who thought they were only tied, not alone, with the longest losing streak in state history; sorry to the Greybull teams for needlessly adding to your misery and not allowing you that moment of relief when you knew you were no longer alone at the top; sorry to everyone, absolutely everyone, who was misled. You have a right to be upset with me, just as I am upset with myself.

Even though my mistake was unintentional, that does not justify the mistake, or the ramifications that arose from it. My only promise is to do my best to never allow it to happen again.

–patrick