IHSS Member of the Month
(May 2003)

Dennis Daugherty (statman) is our very deserving Member of the Month for May. Dennis did a tremendous job during the basketball season, posting scores and stats from numerous tournaments throughout the state, but baseball season is where Dennis has gained "super-hero" status on IHSS.

Our resident baseball expert, ChinMusic, had this to say about Dennis................
"Statman makes our job of putting up a good poll so much easier. By doing all the work of tabulating the games for all the ranked teams, it allows our posters to have a better grasp as to who is hot. When our team made a visit to Morrisonville, I got to see the statman in action. The highlight of the visit was seeing the little "hut" he sits in during cold games. Equipped with a space heater and attached to the dugout, this is the comfy way to watch those cold April games!"
RHawks had the pleasure of asking statman a few IHSS questions.

RHawks: How did you find IllinoisHighSchoolSports.com?
statman: I heard about it from some people who were talking about the website one night. Eventually I found it, started to check out some of the stuff at the end of the 2001-2002 basketball season, viewed more during the football season and at the end of the football season, with basketball season near, early November, I decided to register and start posting tournament schedules and scores of the different tournaments that I am associated with.

RHawks: Do you browse IHSS by active topics today or forum by forum?
statman: I try to check out the active topics everyday, and then usually the forums of the sports that are in season, spending a lot of time on baseball at this time. Usually check out the officials forum, and basketball quite often.

RHawks: How did you get involved with keeping stats for Morrisonville Mohawks baseball?
statman: Coach Bob Montgomery revived the Mohawk baseball season several years ago and was also trying get me to keep stats and help him with the program. At that time I was very active in umpiring, working games Monday thru Saturday , doing baseball and softball. A lot of nights I would work a varsity baseball game or softball game somewhere and journey back to do a jv game at Morrisonville after their varsity game. A few years ago, I had to give up my career as an umpire and that opened up the opportunity to do stats for the Mohawks. We now use turbostats with scorekeeper on palmpilot to update stats, and the coach downloads on to web site…a little on my stat keeping at http://216.124.139.2/base/dennis/dennis.htm I help keep the schedule page updated , and most of our games are linked to the Taylorville Breeze Courier for game stories. I also help coordinate the fundraiser, Game Day Triple Play. I call all the games into the local newspapers and this year I am writing an article in the Morrisonville paper.  

RHawks: What's the story behind the statman hut at the end of the Morrisonville dugout?
statman: As part of "my contract" to keep stats for the baseball team, I told coach I need to have a place to keep score on the very severe weather days that we play baseball in. As some of you may know, a trademark of Morrisonville is "being able to play games in any type of weather conditions" We have this love for the game and try to play whenever and wherever possible. We have always been fortunate to have the volunteers to get the field ready....well, back to the building....it used to be the ticket booth at the MHS gym, and with the help of the maintenance staff at MHS, they converted it into my scorekeepers' home. After one season of having the front open, a piece of plexi-glass was added so now, I am totally out of the weather. A heater was added, and once in a while, especially when it's real cold, windy, snowy etc. I have to journey into the dugout, to let all the players know how warm it is in "my hut" Their response is "go back to your room". Recently when we were playing a jv game prior to the make-up of the Rochester game, nine of our varsity players decided they would hide from me in my building. If you see ChinMusic, he will tell you there isn't room for nine players on our team to be in there. I thought I was at the circus and the little car had just arrived.

RHawks: Favorite umpires and why?
statman: Favorite Umpires...what a question, being an ex-umpire, I know and have worked with several umpires that we see all the time. It would be extremely difficult to say who my favorites are. I definitely know not to disclose my least favorite because I see them more than I see my favorite ones. Someone recently asked me if I could would l start umpiring again. My response is "NO...Because the longer I don't umpire the better I used to be"

RHawks: Favorite coaches or administrators?
statman: Coaches that have made an impact on me are: Baseball: Bob Montgomery has had a great influence on my life. He has an the ability to get all he possibly can from his players, coaching staff, and anyone associated with the program. His influence goes well beyond the baseball diamond. Two basketball coaches that I enjoyed working with were Carol Wilson, and Gary McCullough, and I can't forget all the assistants of the Taylorville girls program from 1996-2002. Working with these people gave me experiences that I will never forget. Also there are so many other coaches in several sports that I can go on and on and would still forget a lot of names. Coaches at Morrisonville when I was in school and all the Coaches when I came back in 1975, such as John Blackburn in 1974-75 when I helped scout and started back keeping score for the Mohawks basketball. Again there are so many, Jim Heinzmann, Ron Brachear, Rick Wagahoff, Ken Jones, etc. Upon reflecting on this question, I would say that had a major impact was my junior high coach, Larry King...he got me started in all this basketball stats and scorekeeper. Again, I could go on and on, I have had the good fortune to work with so many.

RHawks: What players bring back great memories for you?
statman: I think that when I saw the Breeze-Courier Friday night (4/25/03) , it brought back so many memories of Allison Curtin. I started following that team in junior high for the paper, and when that group was freshman and sophomores I saw most of their games, covering them for the Breeze-Courier. As a junior , was the scorekeeper for all road games and kept stats and helped for all home games. Allison, Lora Weber and the many others provide many memories. Jim Allen and the 1975 Mohawks were my first experience on the floor at the Assembly Hall in Champaign, The 1973 team when Allen was a sophomore (my brother was a starting guard) and even though I was at SIU-Carbondale, I missed very few games. The many baseball players at MHS, and I know I am missing several...Rod Smith, James Whalen, Corey McQueen, Cade Snyder, Josh Badman and the rest of the Mohawks during the last several seasons. Again after being around all the sports for so many years, there are many more and my list would go on and on......

RHawks: Baseball,Basketball,Football....which one gets the nod as your favorite?
statman: Three Seasons during a year - Baseball/Softball, Football, Basketball....How can I pick a favorite? Covering football for the Breeze, mainly Central A & M for the last several years, Pana, Kincaid , some Taylorville, running the scoreboard for frosh-soph and a few varsity games at Taylorville. Then on to basketball-junior high at Morrisonville-Taylorville Lady Tornadoes Round Robin-Edinburg Turkey Tournament-back to doing all MHS games in 2002-03, running clock at several games in Taylorville, Waverly Holiday Tournament, Mohawk Classic, Edinburg Frosh-Soph Tourney, was going to cut back this past season probably to 140-150 games that I either kept stats or had some type of contact with (stats or tournament records etc) and then just journeyed and watched some others. And now baseball....baseball and more baseball...Mohawk baseball, summer baseball, one of the directors of the Palmer Morrisonville Recreation Association (PMRA), field director for PONY Baseball, help with PONY tourneys in July ending with the COLT League (15-16) World Series in Lafayette, IN followed by junior high baseball and yes, football (here we go again). I really don't know what the favorite is, it may take several more years doing this before I finally find out what is my favorite. In addition to baseball, softball, basketball and football, at times during the years I also officiated volleyball, started track meets, worked several years as an official at the IHSA Girls State Track meet.

RHawks: Members from IHSS you've met...and were they what you anticipated?
statman: Names are difficult for me this days (age) but everyone I have met......I would like to have met lots more. RHawks, ChinMusic, Althens, D-SAR, UpYours007, Ping Daddy and all the guys that showed up at Hooters after the holiday tourney, the ones in Peoria Friday and Saturday, (sorry I can't remember everyone's name), it was just great to get together with all of you. It makes it a lot more fun knowing who is posting and that we are helping to promote our favorite sports. I would like to thank all of the posters who have helped me with this baseball project . ChinMusic is looking forward to more of the get-togethers of the IHSS group. Anyone giving golf lessons, cheap, before the outing. I will probably just have to watch. Can't afford the insurance I would have to take out on all the others playing.

RHawks: Tell us about the Morrisonville Frog Jump.
statman: The Morrisonville Frog Jump started in 1972 as something to do at the Morrisonville Centennial. It was held behind an uptown establishment and had 23 entries. After the third contest, it became a part of the Morrisonville Picnic and Homecoming and has been held at Col Morrison's Waterhole at the end of July or the 1st of Aug. The jump now averages 450+ entries, and pays over $500 for 1st place. It is run by the Morrisonville Bullfrog Jumping Association, (of which I am a charter member). I have been involved from the beginning. The winner is determined by a total of three jumps from the Astroturf launching pad. What started as "lets do something crazy" has gone to "something almost out of control" The feature announcers for the jump are POA(Palmer Officials Association) members Don Huddleston and Johnny Fahl. I designed the official stat keeping system for the frog jump many years ago. I'm trying to get a computer program, but not quite done yet. Can we add a frog jump forum in July? I want the top position!

RHawks: Any last stories or comments you'd like to conclude with?
statman: In addition to stat keeping, I belong to many organizations and also serve as a Village Trustee for Morrisonville (Chairman of the Finance committee) I started keeping score for basketball, and baseball in 1964. I started umpiring youth baseball at that time. After attending SIU-C and returning to Morrisonville, I kept score for all teams during the years, from jr. high thru high school. In the mid 80's , I started covering football and basketball for the newspaper and traveling to lots of other games. I worked with Rick Wagahoff at Edinburg on doing stats for the Edinburg Frosh-Soph tourney, and picked up lots of other games. Started helping in Taylorville with the basketball and football programs and now have returned to do Mohawk basketball in addition to baseball. Too many things to remember....I was inducted into the IBCA Basketball Hall of Fame last year.

Over the years, I have had many memories from Coaches, players, officials, and fans of all the sports and I would like to thank everyone who has made these years so much fun. Posting scores during the tournaments and getting scores for all over the state was a lot of fun during March Madness this season. Look forward to many more years. One of my most memorable moments to remember was when I was totaling the book following the championship game of the 1997 Class AA Girls tournament and coach Goodroe came over and told me that I had be on the floor to get a medal. The second place medallion means so much to me. That and having the honor to travel to the shootout in St. Louis, and the trips to Chicago with the Lady Tornadoes will be things that I will never forget. Working with all the different sports programs, and all the different schools is a great honor for me. I would like to thank all the AD's, coaches, players, and the many fans that know me for the years and years of memories. I look forward to many more years with high school and youth sports!

Congratulations to Dennis, a tireless volunteer for the advancement of high school athletics.

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