A little this and that for the first column of 2023.

In the United States, the highest paid public employee in 40 of the 50 states is either a football or basketball coach. Interpret that statistic any way you wish.

Former Marquette University Head CoachAl McGuire was asked if he ever wanted to coach in the NBA. The late Hall of Famer reportedly said,“I do not want to coach in a league where the players make more money than the coach.”

Seven out of 10 United States Olympians were multi-sport athletes in high school. Today it is estimated that 50% of high school athletes in the United States play multiple sports in high school. And that number continues to dwindle.

More than 2,000 high school athletic directors were asked in a recent national survey what they like least about their job; 62.3 percent said it was “dealing with aggressive parents and adult fans.”

Quarterback Josh Weiss of Cedar Grover- Belgium threw a state record 59 touchdown passes in 2016.

Just under 80% of high school officials quit after the first two years on the job. Unruly adults and aggressive parents are cited as the primary reason for them hanging up their whistles.

Despite having less than conclusive evidence, I believe I witnessed something quite unexpected during last week’s Hastings Basketball Tournament. Right before my eyes a player took a 17-foot jump shot from just outside the free throw lane. Shocked, I turned to my partner and asked “Did you see that?” She answered “What?” I said, “A player took a 17-foot jump shot.” She rolled her eyes and said “You are seeing things. That was obviously a three pointer.” I continued to insist I had seen something only a handful of people over the last 10 years have caught sight of on the basketball court – a shot that was not either a three pointer or inside of five feet. My partner and others scoffed even more when I shared a blurry, grainy camera image of the seldom-seen event. Despite mocking commentary from family, friends, and colleagues, I know what I saw that night in December.

NCAA Division 3 schools do not give athletic scholarships. However, some 250 NAIA schools in the United States do award athletic scholarships. Cardinal Strich in Milwaukee and Viterbo University in La Crosse are the only NAIA schools in Wisconsin.

Beginning in 2023-24 there will be 12 states that will use a shot clock in basketball.

This one will draw the ire of many Prescott fans. Leading by two points with about five minutes remaining, Irondale went into a ministall. An avalanche of jeers lobbed at the Irondale bench. “Play the Game!” “Come on!” “Boring!” “This ain’t basketball!” and cries of “Give Me a Break” bounced off the walls of the Hastings gymnasium. I guess it’s my Nebraska prairie upbringing, but if you have the lead and have had a tough time solving Prescott’s 1-3-1 defense, why would you not force Prescott to come out of their zone and play man to man with your opponents a foul or two from putting Irondale in the bonus. That is the primary reason I am opposed to the shot clock. Stalling in basketball will be essentially eliminated with the addition of a shot clock. It will remove the only equalizing factor an average team with good handlers have against a more talented team.

The winner of the Wisconsin Mr. Basketball Award in 2011 was Nimrod Hilliard IV from Madison East. Easily one of the greatest names in Wisconsin Basketball History.

At 25, Phelps High School has the smallest enrollment of any public school fielding a boys basketball team. The Knights have six players listed on their roster, smaller than a few area coaching staffs. Mercer High School with an enrollment of 42 is the smallest public school with a competing girls basketball team.

Don’t forget to nominate a deserving individual for the Prescott Hall of Fame. Nomination deadline is June 1, 2023.

As we inch closer and closer to high school and college tournament basketball, local cable channels will begin to air arguably the greatest sports movie of all time: “Hoosiers.” Aside from the foolish Gene Hackman-Barbara Hersey love story, Hoosiers contains all the elements of a good sports movie. Actors who can actually play basketball, impressive game recreations, and a tremendous musical score make for a wonderful film.

And what about the coaching tactics employed by Huskers Head Coach Norman Dale? The irony is many of those who cheer on the tactics used by the fictitious coach whilst sitting on their living room couches would today be among the first people to call the athletic director or the high school principal to complain about such methods.

The last state to have a one class state basketball tournament was Indiana. It was in 1998 when the Hoosier state moved to a multi-division state tournament as all other 49 states had done previously. Wisconsin moved away from a one class tournament after the 1971 season.

I wonder how many current high school basketball players have ever played basketball in a haymow or hay loft? No, not a refurbished barn with a painted floor and rims with glass backboards. Growing up in Nebraska, the haymow was the closest thing we had to an indoor court and back then only the high school principal and basketball coach had keys to the gym.

Mark your calendars. The 23rd Annual CAB Company Banquet will be held on Friday, March 24 at the Old Ptacek’s Banquet Hall. Tickets will be available soon.

Mickey Crowe remains one of four Wisconsin High School boys basketball players who scored 1,000 points in a single season. Crowe accomplished the feat in 1974-75. One has to wonder how many points the St. Nazainz JFK Prep High School All American would have scored had there been a three-point line.

Back in 1934, the average length of a Major League Baseball game was just over two hours. Two decades later time jumped to two and a half hours to complete a nine-inning game. Today, the length of the average Major League Baseball exceeds three hours. It will be interesting to see if the adoption of a pitch clock for the coming season will have the desired effect.

Headshaker of the week: The definition of rabbit ears is to have “acute sensitivity to criticism.” As a player, it certainly is no compliment when spectators yell “rabbit ears” from the bleachers. Last week a coach from a school across the river responded to opposing fan criticism by making eye contact with fans clapping vigorously for a solid 10-15 seconds. An immature teenage athlete with rabbit ears is one thing, but an adult, and a supposed mature one at that, is another. High School coaches with rabbit ears? It’s a headshaker.

Happy New Year everyone.