Ground Hog Day? How about Ball Hog Day?

Have you seen that Bill Murray movie "Groundhog Day"? I have not, but my wife tells me that in the flick events just keep happening over and over again. Well over the years, especially since the age of the Internet, my Groundhog Days have taken a similar tone.

Google has this great thing called Google Alerts. It allows you to enter your search words into Google or Google News and anytime new webpages or articles come online, you receive an email link. It has saved me countless hours searching for news on Hillsdale football or just Hillsdale in general. I am always curious about what I will find everytime a Google alert shows up in my inbox.

February 2nd is the anniversary of an infamous date in Hillsdale sports history. On that fateful night in 1954, Bevo Francis of Rio Grande College scored 113 points against the Blue and White. Legendary Hillsdale coach "Rockin'" Rod Halsted was a member of that Dales team and probably hates Groundhog Day more than I do. Now I have only met Coach Halsted once but had heard many. many stories about the guy's temperment from my dad and Hillsdale grads who played for him. What surprises me the most is the fact that Halsted didn't punch the guy in the mouth after he got about 75. Maybe that memory is what made the Rocketman so mean as a coach.

Thanks to Google Alerts I get reminders of the anniversary over and over and over again as seemingly every other newspaper in America likes to throw Bevo's accomplishment into its "This Day in Sports" section. Papers from San Diego to Siam all had mentions that all ended up in my email.

My take on Wilt, Kobe, and yes Mr. Francis, is that they are all ball hogs. Pass it; will you? I have never seen the stats, but I wonder how many times Bevo launched it back in 1954.

Well, I won't have to hear about Bevo Francis for another 364 days.