William Allen- Teacher & Soldier

The following is a sermon which was given at First Presbyterian Church in Galesburg on Memorial Day 2013 in honor of William Allen who gave his life for his country in WW2.

Time To Remember

I did not attend theology school but I will have you know, I did sleep at a Holiday Inn Express. Some probably expect me to give a sermon connected to sports. I did think about a sermon entitled “Jump Shots and Jesus”, but my wife vetoed that. I even thought about one entitled “Wisconsin and Heaven- The Same Area Code”, but Carl Strauch warned I might be excommunicated.

I really appreciate the opportunity to speak this morning. I am going to share a story involving the death of a soldier in war. This week we saw a tremendous tragedy take place in Oklahoma. The story of my soldier and of the Oklahoma tornado, beg the question, ”Why?”  In the book, “When Bad Things Happen to Good People,” Harold Kushner states, “It is not because God intended it or planned it. Bad things happen to good and bad people because we live on earth, and earth is not a perfect place.”

Mark Retiring

Brother Mark is retiring after 39 years of teaching in the Clinton, Ia schools. Mark is a 1967 grad of the prestigious Savanna High School. (It was really the Illinois Math & Science Academy first). He went on to be a political science major at Knox College. Upon graduating, he took a variety of jobs before deciding to get a teaching certificate. He chose to go to the University of Arizona at Tucson for his degree as at that time they did not have out of state tuition.

He applied in Arizona as well as in the Savanna area. He was hired to teach at Lyons Jr High in Clinton. Ironically it is where our mother got her first teaching job. After a few years, he transferred to Clinton HS, where he has been since.

Sunday, May 26

This is a picture of Bill Allen with his
12 year old brother outside the family
farm in Alta, IL before Bill left for Europe.
This would have been the last time Ben
saw his brother. 

Sunday, May 26, I have the privilege of delivering the sermon at 1st Presby at both the 9:00am and 11:00am services. With this being Memorial Day weekend, the theme of my message is going to be talking about Bill Allen. He was a Knox grad, who taught at Galesburg High School. He chose in 1943 to enlist in the Army to fight in WW2. His division fought in every major battle in northern Europe.

He was a prolific writer and wrote letters to his parents, his family, and to friends back in Galesburg. The Allen family kept all of the letters and shortly after the war, they published the letters in a book.

The letters describe life from boot camp in Georgia, staging in England, liberating France, and fighting to within miles of Berlin. Bill Allen was killed in April of 1945, just 19 days before V-E Day. His story is a story of courage, commitment and sacrifice. His letters give a first hand account of life as a soldier.

I would like to invite you to attend either service on May 26 as I share this story.

Peyton Manning's Lesson for Basketball

This is article compares the simplicity of the "Manning passing game" with the simplicity of the ball screen offense. The comparison could be made to a lot of styles in sports. The philosophy is the Bob Knight philosophy- do a few things really well vs. the Dean Smith philosophy try to do a lot to be able to surprise the opponent. This could be true also of the philosophy of Syracuse- we are only going to play 2-3 zone, but we are going to play it really well.

By Beckly Mason

Peyton Manning is often described as a wizard, and genius, and all that may be true. But as Grantland’s Chris Brown writes, he didn’t earn that reputation by mastering complex plays.

His story on Manning and the Bronco offense that No. 18 imported from his time with the Colts got me thinking about, what else, basketball, and specifically about the effecitiveness of the spread pick-and-roll offense.

Butler Use of Stats

Article from SI.com on Butler's use of the area of statistical analytics.....  by Pete Thamel.   VERY GOOD STUFF!!!!

The formal basketball career of Drew Cannon ended in eighth grade as the sixth man of his junior high team. In college at Duke, Cannon's only hoops experience came from an intramural team called the Norse Forse.
When Cannon graduated with a degree in statistics last spring, he had modest expectations of finding a job right away. "We were hoping he would not be living in the basement," said Jim Cannon, his father. "That was our goal. And his."
Instead of toiling in the basement, Cannon spent the season on the Butler bench and will be with the team when the Bulldogs play Bucknell in the NCAA tournament on Thursday. Cannon's experience interning with recruiting analyst Dave Telep and his advanced writing about basketball analytics gained the attention of Butler coach Brad Stevens, who offered him a job as a graduate manager this summer.

IBCA All-State

Jessica Lieber was selected to the 3rd team for the IBCA All-State team.

Some of the players we played against or from the area....

First Team
Sarah Livingston- Morton
Jaqui Grant- Maine South

Second Team
Olivia Elger- Richwoods
Ashton Williams- Springfield

Daniels Advances

Freshmen Lexi Daniels advanced in the 3 point shooting contest at Dunlap. Lexi sent home 8 three pointers to tie for first place in the Regional.

Haley Kelso, Jess Lieber, and Allison Mangieri each knocked down 5 threes to just miss advancing.

Lexi will next shoot at the Washington Sectional on next Thursday at 6:00pm. If she advances, she will be going to Redbird for the state finals!!

Right Voices

My mother was wonderful. I know I am biased, but my mother was wonderful. The thing my mother was so good at was to make me feel good about myself. Yes, she sometimes was critical of my choices but she never seemed to be critical of me. She had the ability to separate my behavior/choices from me as a person. Quite simply she was supportive, loving, and full of praise.

I remember when I got a D in French. It was the last term of my junior year. I figured summer vacation was not going to be good. While she was supportive of me, she was not supportive of not working and doing well in schoool. This was my only D in school. 

She was not home when I got home, so I just left the report card on the kitchen table before going out with my buddies. That evening the only thing my mother said was, "Evidently foreign languages aren't your thing." I was shocked, but I think she recognized that I knew I had screwed up.

Jessica Howard Recognized at Knox

Jessica Howard received recognition this past week for her performances. A nice article here....

http://prairiefire.knox.edu/news/2013/1/30/GEN_0130134009.aspx?path=general

Senior Week- Sabrina's Look

Senior Night this week vs. UTHS on Thursday. Time goes by pretty fast. We have a great group of six senior players and two senior managers. They have represented their school and community so well. I asked the underclassmen to talk about the seniors…

This is from Sabrina.

Who is a senior you really did not know going into the season but have really got to know them this season?

Going into the season I really didn't know Dani Teel but now I have really gotten to know her this season. 

Senior Week- Chloe Anderson

Senior Night this week vs. UTHS on Thursday. Time goes by pretty fast. We have a great group of six senior players and two senior managers. They have represented their school and community so well. I asked each of them to reflect on their basketball careers. As I receive their replies, I will post them.

This is from Chloe Anderson.

When you were younger, was there a male or female player you watched who inspired you? What was it about them or their game that drew your attention?

            My mom always used to play basketball with me and coach my YMCA basketball teams. She really inspired me because she used to play and it was something we could have fun doing together. All my brothers and I used to play pig and around the world in the driveway so I wanted to play to be with my brothers too. Lastly, watching my two older cousins, Claire and Lia, play Girls' Varsity Basketball for the Streaks really inspired me to further pursue playing basketball.

Senior Week- Dani Teel

Senior Night this week vs. UTHS on Thursday. Time goes by pretty fast. We have a great group of six senior players and two senior managers. They have represented their school and community so well. I asked each of them to reflect on their basketball careers. As I receive their replies, I will post them.

This is from Dani Teel.

 When you were younger, was there a male or female player you watched who inspired you? What was it about them or their game that drew your attention?

When I was younger, I always watched Illinois basketball (obviously) and for some reason I just loved Corey Bradfort.

Senior Week- Lexi's Look

Senior Night this week vs. UTHS on Thursday. Time goes by pretty fast. We have a great group of six senior players and two senior managers. They have represented their school and community so well. I asked the underclassmen to talk about the seniors…

This is from Lexi.

Who is a senior you really did not know going into the season but have really got to know them this season?

I didn't really know Sharron.

Senior Week- Allison Mangieri

Senior Night this week vs. UTHS on Thursday. Time goes by pretty fast. We have a great group of six senior players and two senior managers. They have represented their school and community so well. I asked each of them to reflect on their basketball careers. As I receive their replies, I will post them.

This is from Allison Mangieri.

When you were younger, was there a male or female player you watched who inspired you? What was it about them or their game that drew your attention?

When I was younger, I looked up to Libby White. For some reason, I was obsessed with her haha.  She gave me her number at one of the camps and told me to call her if I wanted to go shoot around at the YMCA with her.  I was always too scared to call her because I didn't want to embarrass myself!

Senior Week- Jessica Lieber

Senior Night this week vs. UTHS on Thursday. Time goes by pretty fast. We have a great group of six senior players and two senior managers. They have represented their school and community so well. I asked each of them to reflect on their basketball careers. As I receive their replies, I will post them.

This is from Jessica Lieber.

When you were younger, was there a male or female player you watched who inspired you? What was it about them or their game that drew your attention?

A basketball player I always looked up to was Deron Williams! I learned a lot of things from watching him on tv and mostly in person! The way he handled the ball and was a leader to his team really inspired me!