It is that time of year again and no I am not talking about the baseball playoffs or college football or the other great things about the fall.
One of the things I have come to enjoy and hate at the same time has become Senior Days. Coach Keeling always says it is a special thing to be a senior. I use to think it was just coachspeak, but the more I am around college athletics the more I realize like his more often than not exactly right.
Those Senior days are so emotional for the players, parents and coaches. We try hard to take of our seniors and show them how much they are appreciated. For this sometimes big ol’ gruff guy, those senior days often soften me up and I have to admit I have had to wipe the tears away a few times.
It really is a special thing to be a senior. For our kids that go through what they do on a daily basis year round to compete in what is really just a few games is remarkable. To make it through four years is pretty much mind boggling.
The commitment level is something they will take with them for life. The friendships they will take for life. College athletics is really about molding young men and women for life. I am so thankful that I get to be a small part of that. Winning is great, but life lessons are also learned from the tough loss. Coming together for a common goal those are things that any employer should be looking for.
In this blog I am going to copy a couple of things I have seen several places, but I took them directly from a former player’s Facebook page. It is from someone that knew what it was like to play through pain, both physical pain and emotional. I saw him in near tears and obvious pain getting a treatment on a painful foot in my hotel room when I was rooming with the athletic trainer on a road trip. It was that same painful treatment every day of the season just so he could practice and play a game for what. I think the following quote tells you for what.
“People don't play sports because it's fun. Ask any athlete, most of them hate it, but they couldn't imagine their life without it. It's part of them, the Hate/Love relationship; it's what they live for. They live for the practices, parties, cheers, long bus rides, invitationals, countless pairs of different types of shoes, water, Gatorade, & coaches you hate, but appreciate. They live for the way it feels when you beat the team next to you by 1 point in overtime, and you know those 2 extra sprints you ran in practice were worth it. They live for the way you become a family with your team, they live for the countless songs you sing in your head when you’re running ALL those suicides. They live for the competition, they live for the friends, the pain, heartaches, and the memories, and it’s who THEY ARE. It's who WE ARE. WE ARE ATHLETES.”
A pet peeve of mine is when people just automatically downplay Division III athletics. You hear quotes like it is just like high school or glorified intramurals. Division III athletics is so much more than that. It is the same as other levels, but a football player might run a 4.6 instead of a 4.4 or a lineman might be 6-1, 250 rather than 6-5, 325. It doesn’t mean they are here because they couldn’t play at a scholarship school. Some of them that is true, but we have a lot of players that turn down scholarships to come to Hardin-Simmons and other schools like them.
This quote comes from the same person referenced above, but it was written by a former Division III player and is kind of the Division III creed, but the words ring so true.
“It's not about getting a scholarship, getting drafted, or making Sports Center. It's a deep need in us that comes from the heart. We need to practice, play, to lift, to hustle, to sweat, to compete. We do it all for our teammates. We don't lift weights with a future Olympic wrestler; we lift with a future doctor. We don't run with a future Wimbledon champion; we run with a future CEO. It's a bigger part of us than our friends and family can understand. Sometimes we play for 200,000 fans, sometimes for 25. But we still play hard. You cheer for us because you know us. You know more than just our names. Like all of you, we are still students first. We don't sign autographs for money. But we do sign graduate school applications, MCAT exams, and student body petitions. When we miss a kick, or strike out, we don't let down an entire state. We only let down our teammates, coaches, and fans. But the hurt in our hearts is the same. We train hard. Lift, throw, run, kick, shoot, dribble, and lift some more, and in the morning we go to class. Still the next day in class we are nothing more than students. It's about pride; in ourselves, in our school. It's about our love and passion for the game. And when it's all over; when we walk off that court or field for the last time, our hearts crumble. Those tears are real. But deep down inside, we are very proud of ourselves. We will forever be what few can claim: College Athletes.”
As we come to the end of our fall sport seasons and you see a senior, be sure to let them know how much you appreciate them and how much you care about them and what they have done for our university.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Seasons Change ...
What is going on in Abilene, we have actually had a fall-like fall. The weather has been brisk and damp, we have had cold and warm. I think I kind of like this actually having seasons.
Speaking of seasons, if you look on your calendar it is almost basketball season. Can you believe the teams will hit the gym for the first time on Thursday for real practices?
It has been an interesting fall around here. Going into the football season every team has optimism and I think rightfully so in the case of the Cowboys. Lots of starters returning, led by an All-American quarterback it looked like it would be a banner year. Several injuries later and the Cowboys are 2-4 and looking just to survive the season.
One thing about this year there has been no quit in the Cowboys. I have watched every second of every game and I have not seen very many plays, if any, the entire year where the Cowboys did not give great effort. That has been a trademark of the Cowboys teams of the past. They play hard and give maximum effort. It is sad that the Cowboys big postseason plans came to screeching halt thanks to some significant injuries. The silver lining is the Cowboys will return a lot of experienced talent for next year. If some of the injured guys come back healthy next year the expectations will again be high for this team.
The Cowgirl soccer team is a couple minutes away from an unbeaten record, as it stands they are 10-1 and have won 10 straight games. HSU has increased its ASC unbeaten streak to 114 straight games and the Cowgirls have a stranglehold on another regular-season title. The amazing thing about the Cowgirls is they are a relatively young team. Three of the top four scorers on the team are freshmen.
The men’s team has also put themselves in a great position to host the conference tournament. The Cowboys need to win their five remaining games, including one against Mary Hardin-Baylor. The Cru, led by former Cowboy Brad Bankhead is 7-1. The Cowboys are in second-place at 5-0-2 in league play.
The men’s team has the right to host the tournament this year if both the men’s and women’s teams win the ASC. If both HSU team’s won the regular season, the women’s tournament would be at the No. 2 team and HSU would be the No. 1 seed.
The volleyball team has come on strong and is now 12-5 on the year and in first place in the ASC West. The Cowgirls have a big match at McMurry on Wednesday and then will co-host the ASC Crossover with McMurry this weekend. Friday night the Cowgirls will celebrate senior night to honor Sam Lucien, Chelsie Fowler and Kaela Parnell. The winner of the ASC East hosts the ASC Tournament this season.
The women’s cross country team has been more competitive this year and has a chance for a strong finish at the ASC meet this year. The men have struggled to field a full team.
The golf and tennis teams are about through the fall non-traditional seasons. Both have had solid seasons.
Be sure to come out and support your HSU teams this weekend. This is a busy weekend for everyone, but our kids enjoy your support.
Speaking of seasons, if you look on your calendar it is almost basketball season. Can you believe the teams will hit the gym for the first time on Thursday for real practices?
It has been an interesting fall around here. Going into the football season every team has optimism and I think rightfully so in the case of the Cowboys. Lots of starters returning, led by an All-American quarterback it looked like it would be a banner year. Several injuries later and the Cowboys are 2-4 and looking just to survive the season.
One thing about this year there has been no quit in the Cowboys. I have watched every second of every game and I have not seen very many plays, if any, the entire year where the Cowboys did not give great effort. That has been a trademark of the Cowboys teams of the past. They play hard and give maximum effort. It is sad that the Cowboys big postseason plans came to screeching halt thanks to some significant injuries. The silver lining is the Cowboys will return a lot of experienced talent for next year. If some of the injured guys come back healthy next year the expectations will again be high for this team.
The Cowgirl soccer team is a couple minutes away from an unbeaten record, as it stands they are 10-1 and have won 10 straight games. HSU has increased its ASC unbeaten streak to 114 straight games and the Cowgirls have a stranglehold on another regular-season title. The amazing thing about the Cowgirls is they are a relatively young team. Three of the top four scorers on the team are freshmen.
The men’s team has also put themselves in a great position to host the conference tournament. The Cowboys need to win their five remaining games, including one against Mary Hardin-Baylor. The Cru, led by former Cowboy Brad Bankhead is 7-1. The Cowboys are in second-place at 5-0-2 in league play.
The men’s team has the right to host the tournament this year if both the men’s and women’s teams win the ASC. If both HSU team’s won the regular season, the women’s tournament would be at the No. 2 team and HSU would be the No. 1 seed.
The volleyball team has come on strong and is now 12-5 on the year and in first place in the ASC West. The Cowgirls have a big match at McMurry on Wednesday and then will co-host the ASC Crossover with McMurry this weekend. Friday night the Cowgirls will celebrate senior night to honor Sam Lucien, Chelsie Fowler and Kaela Parnell. The winner of the ASC East hosts the ASC Tournament this season.
The women’s cross country team has been more competitive this year and has a chance for a strong finish at the ASC meet this year. The men have struggled to field a full team.
The golf and tennis teams are about through the fall non-traditional seasons. Both have had solid seasons.
Be sure to come out and support your HSU teams this weekend. This is a busy weekend for everyone, but our kids enjoy your support.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Time and Place
OK, I like to think I know a little about sports. I did choose early in my life what I wanted to do and have a wonderful job that I love covering sports. I will have fun with our coaches telling them what I think about their strategy and lineups and those kinds of things. For the most part, they know that it is my way of trying to keep them loose.
We at Hardin-Simmons are blessed to have great coaches, who first love their kids and second love their job. It is not all about wins and losses, but the wins sure are nice and the losses sure are painful. I have yet to come across coaches that didn’t want to win and would do whatever they thought was right to win.
All of our coaches put in a ton of time every day to have successful programs and there is not one of them that does not prepare his or her team to win a game. Not one that has ever gone out of their way to try to lose a game. The coaches do what they have been trained to do to make their teams successful.
What people on the outside looking in don’t see is the time and effort the coaches put into recruiting, practicing, fundraising, promoting, being counselors on and off the field or court, preparing game plans, watching film and all of that comes before the actual game.
Most rational people understand the job they do, but when irrational people think that they know more about what is going on with a team and they think they know how to deal with it bugs me to no end. Coaches understand that dealing with parents or fans is also part of the job, but remember there is always a time and a place for everything.
The emotion of a big win or a tough loss makes people handle emotions in a different way. One thing we at HSU have always done, at least since I have been here, is win with class. When it happens we lose with class as well. Every game that is played there is a winner and a loser and it is not always your team that wins.
I encourage each and every fan out there to savior the wins and be disappointed in the losses, but always remember that our coaches and our kids give every amount of effort they have into winning. It does not always happen. If you have a problem with a loss, deal with it personally. Don’t take it out on the kids or coaches, because I can promise you one thing they take every loss as hard if not harder than any fan out there.
We at Hardin-Simmons are blessed to have great coaches, who first love their kids and second love their job. It is not all about wins and losses, but the wins sure are nice and the losses sure are painful. I have yet to come across coaches that didn’t want to win and would do whatever they thought was right to win.
All of our coaches put in a ton of time every day to have successful programs and there is not one of them that does not prepare his or her team to win a game. Not one that has ever gone out of their way to try to lose a game. The coaches do what they have been trained to do to make their teams successful.
What people on the outside looking in don’t see is the time and effort the coaches put into recruiting, practicing, fundraising, promoting, being counselors on and off the field or court, preparing game plans, watching film and all of that comes before the actual game.
Most rational people understand the job they do, but when irrational people think that they know more about what is going on with a team and they think they know how to deal with it bugs me to no end. Coaches understand that dealing with parents or fans is also part of the job, but remember there is always a time and a place for everything.
The emotion of a big win or a tough loss makes people handle emotions in a different way. One thing we at HSU have always done, at least since I have been here, is win with class. When it happens we lose with class as well. Every game that is played there is a winner and a loser and it is not always your team that wins.
I encourage each and every fan out there to savior the wins and be disappointed in the losses, but always remember that our coaches and our kids give every amount of effort they have into winning. It does not always happen. If you have a problem with a loss, deal with it personally. Don’t take it out on the kids or coaches, because I can promise you one thing they take every loss as hard if not harder than any fan out there.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
And So It Begins
After a long offseason, our teams finally hit the courts and fields for the first time this week and what an exciting week it was.
After a shaky first half the Cowboys showed off some of why the preseason expectations were so high for the program. The Cowboys were behind 21-7, but put on a 41-10 rout on Whitworth over the last 31 minutes of the game. We saw some very encouraging signs from a team that has said its goal is to win every game.
The defense recorded four sacks and the top three tacklers for the Cowboys in the game were defensive linemen. I will do some research on it this week, but I can’t remember a time that the Cowboys top three tacklers in a game were all defensive linemen.
The offense also hit its stride after a couple of stumbles in the first half. The kicking game also improved greatly over the game as special teams led directly to 21 points for Whitworth in the first half.
Playing With a Heavy Heart
It was also a sad week around the football program as HSU Athletic Hall of Famer Larry Wartes passed away. Larry has been a fixture at HSU games for the last 20 years as son Alan is the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator and for the last four years grandson Seth Higgins has been a Cowboys on the varsity and and JV team.
In a beautiful ceremony on Friday, it was evident what a great man Larry was and the lives he touched. Seth spoke to the crowd on behalf of the family and it was amazing to see someone so young give a poised and exceptionally poignant message.
Our prayers are with Alan, Sharon, Abbey and Erin along with Seth and the whole Wartes family.
Soccer
The soccer team played to a tie with Division II UT-Permian Basin in its opener. Chris Hunter scored the goal for the Cowboys, who looked like they are poised to compete for a conference title.
The Cowgirls lost in overtime to arch-rival Trinity, but All-American goalkeeper Christi Carr was stellar with 12 big saves.
Both teams are home this weekend for an exciting event on campus. They will host the ASC-SCAC challenge on Friday and Saturday. Friday the Cowgirls will play Austin College at 10 a.m. on Friday and Rhodes on Saturday at noon. The Cowboys play Trinity on Friday at 4 p.m. and Southwestern on 5 p.m. Saturday.
Come out and support the soccer teams this weekend.
Volleyball
The Cowgirls picked up two regional wins on Saturday with 3-0 blankings of Dallas and Hendrix. The Cowgirls are 2-1 on the year after a close loss to perennial South region power Austin College on Saturday.
HSU will play in the Southwestern Tournament this weekend in Georgetown.
Cross Country
The cross country teams will have their first true race of the season on Saturday at Nelson Park. The teams competed in a Twilight relay last Tuesday against McMurry and ACU.
After a shaky first half the Cowboys showed off some of why the preseason expectations were so high for the program. The Cowboys were behind 21-7, but put on a 41-10 rout on Whitworth over the last 31 minutes of the game. We saw some very encouraging signs from a team that has said its goal is to win every game.
The defense recorded four sacks and the top three tacklers for the Cowboys in the game were defensive linemen. I will do some research on it this week, but I can’t remember a time that the Cowboys top three tacklers in a game were all defensive linemen.
The offense also hit its stride after a couple of stumbles in the first half. The kicking game also improved greatly over the game as special teams led directly to 21 points for Whitworth in the first half.
Playing With a Heavy Heart
It was also a sad week around the football program as HSU Athletic Hall of Famer Larry Wartes passed away. Larry has been a fixture at HSU games for the last 20 years as son Alan is the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator and for the last four years grandson Seth Higgins has been a Cowboys on the varsity and and JV team.
In a beautiful ceremony on Friday, it was evident what a great man Larry was and the lives he touched. Seth spoke to the crowd on behalf of the family and it was amazing to see someone so young give a poised and exceptionally poignant message.
Our prayers are with Alan, Sharon, Abbey and Erin along with Seth and the whole Wartes family.
Soccer
The soccer team played to a tie with Division II UT-Permian Basin in its opener. Chris Hunter scored the goal for the Cowboys, who looked like they are poised to compete for a conference title.
The Cowgirls lost in overtime to arch-rival Trinity, but All-American goalkeeper Christi Carr was stellar with 12 big saves.
Both teams are home this weekend for an exciting event on campus. They will host the ASC-SCAC challenge on Friday and Saturday. Friday the Cowgirls will play Austin College at 10 a.m. on Friday and Rhodes on Saturday at noon. The Cowboys play Trinity on Friday at 4 p.m. and Southwestern on 5 p.m. Saturday.
Come out and support the soccer teams this weekend.
Volleyball
The Cowgirls picked up two regional wins on Saturday with 3-0 blankings of Dallas and Hendrix. The Cowgirls are 2-1 on the year after a close loss to perennial South region power Austin College on Saturday.
HSU will play in the Southwestern Tournament this weekend in Georgetown.
Cross Country
The cross country teams will have their first true race of the season on Saturday at Nelson Park. The teams competed in a Twilight relay last Tuesday against McMurry and ACU.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
We're Back
All of the fall sports have reported to campus and practice is under way for everything except soccer. They will start in the morning with testing and will both practice at 2:30 in the afternoon.
All of the fall rosters are on the web site now on the individual home page of each sport.
We will have pictures and previews up in the next few days for everyone.
I posted some volleyball video from the first practice this morning on to the site and you can expect some for soccer tomorrow afternoon.
It is amazing how you go for almost a month after Summer II until everyone gets here and the campus is almost dead, but when all of the freshmen get here for NSO and everyone returns it is a rush to see them back.
Stay tuned for hsuathletics.com, we are adding new content almost by the hour.
It is that time of year and you can start to get the feeling in the air of what is about to come.
Good luck to our teams this season, may they stay injury free and have competitive seasons.
All of the fall rosters are on the web site now on the individual home page of each sport.
We will have pictures and previews up in the next few days for everyone.
I posted some volleyball video from the first practice this morning on to the site and you can expect some for soccer tomorrow afternoon.
It is amazing how you go for almost a month after Summer II until everyone gets here and the campus is almost dead, but when all of the freshmen get here for NSO and everyone returns it is a rush to see them back.
Stay tuned for hsuathletics.com, we are adding new content almost by the hour.
It is that time of year and you can start to get the feeling in the air of what is about to come.
Good luck to our teams this season, may they stay injury free and have competitive seasons.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Put On The Pads Boys
The Cowboys put on the pads for the first time this year.
I have added some Video of that.
Things have looked very good so far. The defense is flying around and the Cowboys have added at least two and maybe more gamebreakers on the offensive side of the ball. There was a lot of talk between the offense and defense on the first day of pads and some competitive drills.
The team is working towards its first scrimmage on Saturday, with the young guys going at 10 a.m. and the older guys at 2 p.m. at Shelton.
The cross country team reported on Sunday evening and had their first run at 6 a.m. I was not out there for that one, but I will get some video soon.
Volleyball starts up on Wednesday and the soccer teams start on Thursday. I will have video from all three of those sports on hsuathletics.com.
I have added some Video of that.
Things have looked very good so far. The defense is flying around and the Cowboys have added at least two and maybe more gamebreakers on the offensive side of the ball. There was a lot of talk between the offense and defense on the first day of pads and some competitive drills.
The team is working towards its first scrimmage on Saturday, with the young guys going at 10 a.m. and the older guys at 2 p.m. at Shelton.
The cross country team reported on Sunday evening and had their first run at 6 a.m. I was not out there for that one, but I will get some video soon.
Volleyball starts up on Wednesday and the soccer teams start on Thursday. I will have video from all three of those sports on hsuathletics.com.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
It's Been A While
Okay, I admit it two things are ironic about my last blog. The first it was titled Keeping in Touch and yet I haven’t blogged since May 19th. The other is by not keeping up with the blog over the summertime it just lends itself to the misconception that we just take off for the summer and do nothing in athletics.
I will agree that the pace is a little slower in the summer, but if you kept the pace we do around here in athletics for the entire year the normal person would be totally burnt out in a year or less.
All of that being said I can’t tell you how excited that I can see right around the corner the fact that I will hear whistles blowing and pads popping and the sound of Heger saying you aren’t going to get a ring like that.
When you see over 150 games in about an eight month span and then you go four months not seeing much it all you really do start to miss the games. I have said in this space before that is one of the best things about my job is I get paid to watch a lot of games. By the Fourth of July I start to get the itch again to see a game.
I agree the content slows down in the summer but over the next few weeks you are going to see a lot of new stories and information on the web site, along with all of the schedules for 2008-09 (most of them are already up) and the fall sports rosters will be up soon after everyone reports. I will be updating the season previews in the next week or so and before you know it we will back into the game routine.
One of the things that you will see a lot more of this season is video. Not necessarily video streams of games (although you may see some) we are going to have interviews with coaches and players frequently and we are going to have more video highlights of games as well. I am going to have a new camera this year and we are going to make this more of reality than before.
Here are a few of the things that have gone on since I last blogged in the athletic department.
Ashley Huston won about 100 awards for her amazing season. The most amazing is she was named the Honda Award Winner as the Division III Female Athlete of the Year. She also won ASC Female Athlete of the Year, was the national field athlete of the year, was Academic All-American and was selected as the ASC representative for NCAA Woman of the Year. She truly had an amazing year, including three individual NCAA titles.
The summer time is always a fun time of the year, because not only are there always freshmen announcing they are coming to campus, there is always a buzz about some transfers. We will see some of those in a few weeks at football practice and the Cowgirl basketball team will now feature the two best rebounders in the ASC from a year ago.
On a sad note, Susan Keeling was diagnosed with colorectal cancer and has spent a lot of the summer under chemotherapy and radiation. The chemo part is over, but we still need to pray for Susan and Jimmie and the family.
We have not had any coaching staff changes in the offseason, which is a good thing in building continuity in our programs. We have had some of those years where we were pretty good in a lot of sports and this year seems to be looking that way.
Just wanted to say congratulations to a pair of former Cowboy and Cowgirls that ended up getting married, who have just added future HSU student-athletes.
Zane and Beth (Ulrickson) Jillson and Garet and Becca (Neal) Black have both recently had new additions to the HSU family.
Don’t forget to signup for our Hardin-Simmons Athletic Department page on Facebook. If you are a facebooker and want to join you can click here. Twitter is something new to me, but I think it is a great way to get information out quickly. You can join the twitter page here.
I promise it won’t be two months before I update again.
I will agree that the pace is a little slower in the summer, but if you kept the pace we do around here in athletics for the entire year the normal person would be totally burnt out in a year or less.
All of that being said I can’t tell you how excited that I can see right around the corner the fact that I will hear whistles blowing and pads popping and the sound of Heger saying you aren’t going to get a ring like that.
When you see over 150 games in about an eight month span and then you go four months not seeing much it all you really do start to miss the games. I have said in this space before that is one of the best things about my job is I get paid to watch a lot of games. By the Fourth of July I start to get the itch again to see a game.
I agree the content slows down in the summer but over the next few weeks you are going to see a lot of new stories and information on the web site, along with all of the schedules for 2008-09 (most of them are already up) and the fall sports rosters will be up soon after everyone reports. I will be updating the season previews in the next week or so and before you know it we will back into the game routine.
One of the things that you will see a lot more of this season is video. Not necessarily video streams of games (although you may see some) we are going to have interviews with coaches and players frequently and we are going to have more video highlights of games as well. I am going to have a new camera this year and we are going to make this more of reality than before.
Here are a few of the things that have gone on since I last blogged in the athletic department.
Ashley Huston won about 100 awards for her amazing season. The most amazing is she was named the Honda Award Winner as the Division III Female Athlete of the Year. She also won ASC Female Athlete of the Year, was the national field athlete of the year, was Academic All-American and was selected as the ASC representative for NCAA Woman of the Year. She truly had an amazing year, including three individual NCAA titles.
The summer time is always a fun time of the year, because not only are there always freshmen announcing they are coming to campus, there is always a buzz about some transfers. We will see some of those in a few weeks at football practice and the Cowgirl basketball team will now feature the two best rebounders in the ASC from a year ago.
On a sad note, Susan Keeling was diagnosed with colorectal cancer and has spent a lot of the summer under chemotherapy and radiation. The chemo part is over, but we still need to pray for Susan and Jimmie and the family.
We have not had any coaching staff changes in the offseason, which is a good thing in building continuity in our programs. We have had some of those years where we were pretty good in a lot of sports and this year seems to be looking that way.
Just wanted to say congratulations to a pair of former Cowboy and Cowgirls that ended up getting married, who have just added future HSU student-athletes.
Zane and Beth (Ulrickson) Jillson and Garet and Becca (Neal) Black have both recently had new additions to the HSU family.
Don’t forget to signup for our Hardin-Simmons Athletic Department page on Facebook. If you are a facebooker and want to join you can click here. Twitter is something new to me, but I think it is a great way to get information out quickly. You can join the twitter page here.
I promise it won’t be two months before I update again.
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