Happy New Year
I hope that you have had a great time during the holiday season and let me be the first to wish you a Happy New Year.
It’s been a whirlwind tour for me personally since the week before Christmas.
I drove to Shreveport on the night of Dec. 14th for the games on the 15th at Louisiana College. I set up shop in Shreveport for three days. On Saturday, I drove down to Pineville to call the two games. The Cowgirls pulled away late from the emerging Wildcats and then the Cowboys won on a last second shot by Steven Luckey. With it being an afternoon game, I drove back to Shreveport to file my stories to the media and also the web site.
I then had a day-and-a-half to kill in Shreveport before heading to Clinton, Miss., for the Monday night games. After the games, I drove all the way back from Clinton. I pulled into Abilene at about 5:30 a.m. Man, does that drive get longer every year.
After playing with my four-year old for a little bit and seeing my wife for the first time in four days, I was off to bed at about 7:30 a.m. and I did not wake up until 5ish in the afternoon.
I made it to work on Wednesday for a few hours and then started one of the few down times during the whole school year. My in-laws were here on Friday through Sunday and then on Monday I drove to Oklahoma for some more family time.
I came back to Abilene on Thursday and then went on to Georgetown on Friday afternoon to call the women’s game against Buena Vista. What an exciting game with Mollie Brawner hitting the game-winning 3-pointer with less than a second remaining. I then headed up the Interstate to Temple where I stayed the night. LaQuinta Inn and I have become good friends over the years. There seems to be one in about every town we stay in and if I can get in that is where I stay.
I got up on Saturday and drove to Arlington for the men’s game on Saturday. After the game. I went back to Oklahoma to pick up my wife and kid, who had stayed at grandma’s for a week. It was back to Abilene on Sunday and finally home and the normal travel schedule can get started.
I had started to feel like I was a long-haul truck driver. The Cowboys and Cowgirls return home for a Thursday night game against Ozarks.
It was good to see some former players on the road this weekend. I saw one of my favorite all-time Cowgirls Lauren Harris, who was in Georgetown to see sister Kristen play for HSU. I didn’t get to talk to here, but last I heard she was a strength coach at Ohio State.
I got see one of my all-time favorite Cowboy baseball players, Michael Popino on Saturday at UTA. He was there supporting the alma mater. He works in Plano now and always makes it out when we are in the Metroplex. It is nice to have those loyal alumni out there.
I hope to see you guys out at the game on Thursday against Ozarks. It is turning to crunch time for both teams as we are just three games away from ASC West play.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Hoops Junkie
I am by admission a men’s college basketball junkie. It has always been my favorite sport to watch, follow and cover.
It used to be, I would get in trouble the week of Thanksgiving because back in the day when the Maui Tournament and the Great Alaska Shootout were the only two big preseason tournaments, I would watch all of the games until like two or three in the morning. Growing up I was (gasp!) the biggest OU Basketball fan. I know an OSU fan can’t be an OU fan, but I loved Billy Tubbs’ run and gun style. Believe me I came around to the right way of thinking.
I even got “punished” by the school one year when I was in junior high, because they refinished the floor every Christmas and it is about a week process. I tried to get on the court a day early and it was not totally dry. They had to put on another coat of finish. My punishment was to pick up the commodities for the school cafeteria from the county.
I have always been enthralled by the 3-point line. You wouldn’t know it by watching me shoot now, because I am somewhat out of practice, but I used to shoot more baskets than maybe anyone. I lived in the basketball gym. My parents never had to worry about me or where I was for the most part, because if you wanted to find me I was at the gym. Often times it would be after midnight when I would come home. I even had my own key, because the coaches got tired of me bugging them for it. I could shoot baskets for hours by myself.
I have watched many great players and games in person. I had the privilege of sitting court side at Gallagher-Iba, the No. 1 basketball venue in the country, for every home game for four years. The games were fun, but the biggest thrill of my basketball fandom is watching Eddie Sutton’s practices. I would sneak away from my cubicle in the Sports Information office to watch practice as often as possible.
I have never seen anyone mold a team like he did. They way he would tear them down and build them back up in the course of a practice. I have always loved practice more than the games. About every day at 3 o’clock you can find me in the gym during practice for at least part of it. I love being around the gym, being around the guys and just being around the game. I will even still play a few games of horse every now and then (Casey I will get you before the end of the year).
It takes a lot to impress me on the basketball court. Two games stick out in my memory. Brent Price hit for 56 points in a game for OU back in the early 1990’s. He hit 11 3-pointers and Randy Rutherford of OSU put up 45 points on Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse in 1995. I think he had 10 3-pointers.
All of that leads me to what I saw on Monday night and it goes toward the top of the list of the most impressive things I have seen on the basketball court. In the first 11 minutes of the game against Mississippi College the Choctaws, who had made 21 3-pointers in six games this season, made 9-of-10 from downtown. Three of them were banked in and the rest were nothing but net. They came from five different players.
Needless to say, HSU never recovered as MC hit 11-of-13 treys in the first half.
That said, I think it could be a good year for the Cowboys and Cowgirls. Both had many questions coming into the season, but I think the questions have been answered and I expect both to make deep runs in the postseason.
Both teams have had some big losses, but they have also shown some of the signs of good teams. Winning on the road, overcoming deficits and getting better as the season goes on.
It used to be, I would get in trouble the week of Thanksgiving because back in the day when the Maui Tournament and the Great Alaska Shootout were the only two big preseason tournaments, I would watch all of the games until like two or three in the morning. Growing up I was (gasp!) the biggest OU Basketball fan. I know an OSU fan can’t be an OU fan, but I loved Billy Tubbs’ run and gun style. Believe me I came around to the right way of thinking.
I even got “punished” by the school one year when I was in junior high, because they refinished the floor every Christmas and it is about a week process. I tried to get on the court a day early and it was not totally dry. They had to put on another coat of finish. My punishment was to pick up the commodities for the school cafeteria from the county.
I have always been enthralled by the 3-point line. You wouldn’t know it by watching me shoot now, because I am somewhat out of practice, but I used to shoot more baskets than maybe anyone. I lived in the basketball gym. My parents never had to worry about me or where I was for the most part, because if you wanted to find me I was at the gym. Often times it would be after midnight when I would come home. I even had my own key, because the coaches got tired of me bugging them for it. I could shoot baskets for hours by myself.
I have watched many great players and games in person. I had the privilege of sitting court side at Gallagher-Iba, the No. 1 basketball venue in the country, for every home game for four years. The games were fun, but the biggest thrill of my basketball fandom is watching Eddie Sutton’s practices. I would sneak away from my cubicle in the Sports Information office to watch practice as often as possible.
I have never seen anyone mold a team like he did. They way he would tear them down and build them back up in the course of a practice. I have always loved practice more than the games. About every day at 3 o’clock you can find me in the gym during practice for at least part of it. I love being around the gym, being around the guys and just being around the game. I will even still play a few games of horse every now and then (Casey I will get you before the end of the year).
It takes a lot to impress me on the basketball court. Two games stick out in my memory. Brent Price hit for 56 points in a game for OU back in the early 1990’s. He hit 11 3-pointers and Randy Rutherford of OSU put up 45 points on Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse in 1995. I think he had 10 3-pointers.
All of that leads me to what I saw on Monday night and it goes toward the top of the list of the most impressive things I have seen on the basketball court. In the first 11 minutes of the game against Mississippi College the Choctaws, who had made 21 3-pointers in six games this season, made 9-of-10 from downtown. Three of them were banked in and the rest were nothing but net. They came from five different players.
Needless to say, HSU never recovered as MC hit 11-of-13 treys in the first half.
That said, I think it could be a good year for the Cowboys and Cowgirls. Both had many questions coming into the season, but I think the questions have been answered and I expect both to make deep runs in the postseason.
Both teams have had some big losses, but they have also shown some of the signs of good teams. Winning on the road, overcoming deficits and getting better as the season goes on.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Crosstown Showdown Is Already Here
It has been a quick start to the basketball season as both teams have already played two conference games and THE BIG GAME is already on the horizon.
There is something special about the Hardin-Simmons and McMurry games. Not only is it a strong rivalry with all four teams having quality programs there is just something different about the two fan bases. McMurry fans get louder and at the same time, even when things are going good, Hardin-Simmons has had a more reserved crowd. That tends to lead to a view from the HSU fans that McMurry fans are loud and crude and the McMurry fans think that HSU fans are stuck up or uppity.
I don’t think either is the case. It is part of what makes this game such a different game than almost any on the Division III level. There is pride and passion on both sides and both teams will do whatever it takes to win.
When I first arrived at Hardin-Simmons in late February of 2000 I was totally oblivious to what Division III was all about. Honestly, I had never heard of McMurry and I even misspelled it the first release I wrote (who knew that there was not an a in the name). However, I got indoctrinated into the rivalry early on. I think it was the second week I was here we played McMurry in the Sweet 16 and the Mabee Complex was packed. I came from a place that did not support women’s basketball at all and to actually see a packed house was a shock to me. It was the fourth time the two teams had met that season and I found out quickly that both schools didn’t like each other (at least on the court).
Not every game has been as intense as that one, but for the most part they have been. McMurry made great strides in their women’s program and we made great strides in our men and now a series that was once dominated by the HSU women and McMurry men has again become the fierce rivalry because the teams are competitive. You can’t tell who is going to win the games with 95 percent certainty before the game.
This year there is another interesting story line. McMurry’s women are coached by Veronica Snow, who played at HSU and for the last five years has been a professor in the P.E. department. Veronica and I have had a good relationship, and I am even teaching her former class next semester. She was always nice to me and the fact that her office was right close to mine made our talks about athletics even more frequent. It is going to be different looking down to that McMurry bench and actually see someone that I like and respect. In fact, I want here to do well at McMurry except for when we play of course.
The men’s game will probably be another knock-down drag-out. If there is one thing that I can take away from Ron Holmes’ teams is every time they step on the court they play hard. The talent levels have varied, but every team that he has produced will play extremely hard. I expect that Saturday you will see his team play even harder than I have ever witnessed. With two straight losses on its home court, those boys from McMurry will be foaming at the mouth to get on the court against the Cowboys. Coach Howard’s team will have to be ready to respond.
It is only Tuesday and I am already amped up for one of my two favorite nights of the school year.
I am going to start ending my blog with an update on a former Cowboy or Cowgirl. This week’s update is Beth Ulrickson Jillson. Beth is in her first season as the head coach at Texas Woman’s University and is off to a 1-3 start. Beth had been an assistant for Julie Goodenough at Charleston Southern and prior to that was the Director of Basketball Operations at Oklahoma State. Beth is married to former Cowboy footballer Zane Jillson.
If you are a former athlete and would like to let me know what you are doing these days or you have something you would like to see covered in this blog or you just want to say hi please e-mail me at cgrubbs@hsutx.edu.
There is something special about the Hardin-Simmons and McMurry games. Not only is it a strong rivalry with all four teams having quality programs there is just something different about the two fan bases. McMurry fans get louder and at the same time, even when things are going good, Hardin-Simmons has had a more reserved crowd. That tends to lead to a view from the HSU fans that McMurry fans are loud and crude and the McMurry fans think that HSU fans are stuck up or uppity.
I don’t think either is the case. It is part of what makes this game such a different game than almost any on the Division III level. There is pride and passion on both sides and both teams will do whatever it takes to win.
When I first arrived at Hardin-Simmons in late February of 2000 I was totally oblivious to what Division III was all about. Honestly, I had never heard of McMurry and I even misspelled it the first release I wrote (who knew that there was not an a in the name). However, I got indoctrinated into the rivalry early on. I think it was the second week I was here we played McMurry in the Sweet 16 and the Mabee Complex was packed. I came from a place that did not support women’s basketball at all and to actually see a packed house was a shock to me. It was the fourth time the two teams had met that season and I found out quickly that both schools didn’t like each other (at least on the court).
Not every game has been as intense as that one, but for the most part they have been. McMurry made great strides in their women’s program and we made great strides in our men and now a series that was once dominated by the HSU women and McMurry men has again become the fierce rivalry because the teams are competitive. You can’t tell who is going to win the games with 95 percent certainty before the game.
This year there is another interesting story line. McMurry’s women are coached by Veronica Snow, who played at HSU and for the last five years has been a professor in the P.E. department. Veronica and I have had a good relationship, and I am even teaching her former class next semester. She was always nice to me and the fact that her office was right close to mine made our talks about athletics even more frequent. It is going to be different looking down to that McMurry bench and actually see someone that I like and respect. In fact, I want here to do well at McMurry except for when we play of course.
The men’s game will probably be another knock-down drag-out. If there is one thing that I can take away from Ron Holmes’ teams is every time they step on the court they play hard. The talent levels have varied, but every team that he has produced will play extremely hard. I expect that Saturday you will see his team play even harder than I have ever witnessed. With two straight losses on its home court, those boys from McMurry will be foaming at the mouth to get on the court against the Cowboys. Coach Howard’s team will have to be ready to respond.
It is only Tuesday and I am already amped up for one of my two favorite nights of the school year.
I am going to start ending my blog with an update on a former Cowboy or Cowgirl. This week’s update is Beth Ulrickson Jillson. Beth is in her first season as the head coach at Texas Woman’s University and is off to a 1-3 start. Beth had been an assistant for Julie Goodenough at Charleston Southern and prior to that was the Director of Basketball Operations at Oklahoma State. Beth is married to former Cowboy footballer Zane Jillson.
If you are a former athlete and would like to let me know what you are doing these days or you have something you would like to see covered in this blog or you just want to say hi please e-mail me at cgrubbs@hsutx.edu.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Are You Ready For Some Hoops?
I hope all of you and your families had a great Thanksgiving holiday. It is so hard to believe we are already into the Holiday season and another semester is coming to a close.
The basketball teams have jumped right into their season and it is a busy week for especially the Cowboys this week. HSU will take on regional foe Trinity on Monday and then go to Sam Houston State for a game against the Division I Bearkats on Thursday.
That game will give me a chance to see old friend and former HSU broadcaster John Wilson. Wilson is a Sam graduate and works in College Station. It seems impossible that he has been gone from here for nearly four years.
The Cowboys will return home and join with the Cowgirls to start conference play on Saturday afternoon against LeTourneau. The Cowboys split with LeTourneau last year including a win in the ASC Tournament. The Cowgirls will look to get back on the court after a 13 day layoff.
We are trying something new this year with most of our games being on at least an Internet broadcast, both home and away. We will be utilizing students for our home games this year and either myself or Al Pickett will handle the road games. The use of students is to get them some experience in broadcasting games, so bear with them as we use this as a teaching tool. When we get to West Division play our six games out of Abilene will be on the radio as well with Chad and Al. This is a new adventure for us, but we want you to be able to hear our games, even if you can’t be there in person.
We had a surprisingly good student crowd in the men’s opener on Tuesday. With the students out for Thanksgiving break, we were not expecting much as far as attendance. Those who were there were treated with a good game, as the Cowboys dominated from the opening tip. The Cowboys and Cowgirls are both playing up-tempo pressing styles this year and should be entertaining to watch, so we hope you will find your way to the Mabee Complex.
The academic All-ASC teams are out for the fall sports and once again HSU did quite well. We had 37 non-freshmen student-athletes in the four sports with 3.0 GPAs or better. That was the second most in the league to the 38 of ETBU and Miss. College, but both of those two have more sports with cross country teams. It always amazes me when I send in the nomination forms of the number of student-athletes that get it done in the classroom as well.
The basketball teams have jumped right into their season and it is a busy week for especially the Cowboys this week. HSU will take on regional foe Trinity on Monday and then go to Sam Houston State for a game against the Division I Bearkats on Thursday.
That game will give me a chance to see old friend and former HSU broadcaster John Wilson. Wilson is a Sam graduate and works in College Station. It seems impossible that he has been gone from here for nearly four years.
The Cowboys will return home and join with the Cowgirls to start conference play on Saturday afternoon against LeTourneau. The Cowboys split with LeTourneau last year including a win in the ASC Tournament. The Cowgirls will look to get back on the court after a 13 day layoff.
We are trying something new this year with most of our games being on at least an Internet broadcast, both home and away. We will be utilizing students for our home games this year and either myself or Al Pickett will handle the road games. The use of students is to get them some experience in broadcasting games, so bear with them as we use this as a teaching tool. When we get to West Division play our six games out of Abilene will be on the radio as well with Chad and Al. This is a new adventure for us, but we want you to be able to hear our games, even if you can’t be there in person.
We had a surprisingly good student crowd in the men’s opener on Tuesday. With the students out for Thanksgiving break, we were not expecting much as far as attendance. Those who were there were treated with a good game, as the Cowboys dominated from the opening tip. The Cowboys and Cowgirls are both playing up-tempo pressing styles this year and should be entertaining to watch, so we hope you will find your way to the Mabee Complex.
The academic All-ASC teams are out for the fall sports and once again HSU did quite well. We had 37 non-freshmen student-athletes in the four sports with 3.0 GPAs or better. That was the second most in the league to the 38 of ETBU and Miss. College, but both of those two have more sports with cross country teams. It always amazes me when I send in the nomination forms of the number of student-athletes that get it done in the classroom as well.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
So Long Fall
Sorry I have been out of the loop for a while, it has been an extremely busy two weeks, which means that it has been two good weeks for our teams. The changeover from one sports season to another is always one of the most trying times of the year in my office.
First of all congratulations to the women’s soccer team for winning the American Southwest Conference title for the fifth straight year. It amazes me how this team was able to preserve and stay on top with the amount of injuries it had. The Cowgirls played the conference final with five starters out with injury and were still able to come away with a rather easy 2-0 victory. HSU then defeated old rival Trinity in penalty kicks in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. All-American Christi Carr recorded two saves in the penalty kick session. The Cowgirls season came to an end with a 1-0 loss to Emory on Saturday in Atlanta, but it was still a year they can be proud of. The biggest disappointment you feel after the season is for the seniors, as they come to the realization that they will never strap on the boots again and play. Thanks to Laura Newbrough, Beth Craig, Jessica Flobeck and Regan Cappella for a great career, you had one of the best senior classes in school history and hopefully your time as Cowgirls will be remembered for all of the good times.
The men’s soccer team ended its season with a loss in the ASC Tournament to Mississippi College. The Cowboys had a good season in a rebuilding year. HSU only had two seniors on the team Colt McKee and Ryan Flanigan. Both were all-conference players, unfortunately Ryan’s season ended early with a broken shin earlier in the year. They will be missed as they were key parts of two ASC titles in their career.
The volleyball team advanced to the American Southwest Conference final for the third straight year and dropped a heartbreaking five-setter to Texas Lutheran. The Cowgirls lose two instrumental pieces in the turnaround of the HSU volleyball program – Chelsea Buetow and Megan Lawrence. Those two were here when the program was not very good and in four years changed the team to one that competes for the ASC title every year. They will be missed.
The football team finished its season with a 71-56 win over McMurry in the Wilford Moore Trophy game. The Cowboys have won all 10 meetings since the trophy was first presented. The game was a microcosm of the season as the offense was virtually unstoppable and the defense allowed 56 points and nearly 600 yards. The offensive numbers the Cowboys but up this year were amazing and the good news is the Cowboys will return seven starters on offense and will return nine starters on defense. HSU extended its string of winning seasons to 16 which is the 12th longest streak in the nation in all divisions with its 6-4 record. Mychal Carrillo had a brilliant year with over 1,000 yard receiving and Quinton Jones capped one of the best careers ever by an HSU running back with over 3,000 yards. Those two will be greatly missed along with Jordan Daniel and James Arnold on the offensive line. Defensively, the Cowboys lose Eric Daniels and Brice Johnson at middle linebacker, Randy Snyder and Derek Lewis at defensive end and Sid Gutierrez at defensive tackle. HSU will also miss backups Jordy Bernhard and Josh Sepeda at running back and Teddy Morgan in the secondary. That is not a lot of seniors to replace, although the quality is amazing. Coach Keeling always says one of the program’s goals is to have seniors. IF they can make it to be seniors that means they have persevered through the journey.
A hats off to all off the seniors in all of programs for a career well done and also congratulations go out to all of the players that have won All-Conference awards in the last few weeks. You are the best of the best and the awards should not be taken for granted.
Basketball season is right around the corner with the men opening the season one week from tonight at the Mabee Complex against Southwestern. The Cowgirls open this weekend on the road at the Trinity Invitational. Be sure to get out and see the teams in action, because both teams are going to be fun to watch this season.
First of all congratulations to the women’s soccer team for winning the American Southwest Conference title for the fifth straight year. It amazes me how this team was able to preserve and stay on top with the amount of injuries it had. The Cowgirls played the conference final with five starters out with injury and were still able to come away with a rather easy 2-0 victory. HSU then defeated old rival Trinity in penalty kicks in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. All-American Christi Carr recorded two saves in the penalty kick session. The Cowgirls season came to an end with a 1-0 loss to Emory on Saturday in Atlanta, but it was still a year they can be proud of. The biggest disappointment you feel after the season is for the seniors, as they come to the realization that they will never strap on the boots again and play. Thanks to Laura Newbrough, Beth Craig, Jessica Flobeck and Regan Cappella for a great career, you had one of the best senior classes in school history and hopefully your time as Cowgirls will be remembered for all of the good times.
The men’s soccer team ended its season with a loss in the ASC Tournament to Mississippi College. The Cowboys had a good season in a rebuilding year. HSU only had two seniors on the team Colt McKee and Ryan Flanigan. Both were all-conference players, unfortunately Ryan’s season ended early with a broken shin earlier in the year. They will be missed as they were key parts of two ASC titles in their career.
The volleyball team advanced to the American Southwest Conference final for the third straight year and dropped a heartbreaking five-setter to Texas Lutheran. The Cowgirls lose two instrumental pieces in the turnaround of the HSU volleyball program – Chelsea Buetow and Megan Lawrence. Those two were here when the program was not very good and in four years changed the team to one that competes for the ASC title every year. They will be missed.
The football team finished its season with a 71-56 win over McMurry in the Wilford Moore Trophy game. The Cowboys have won all 10 meetings since the trophy was first presented. The game was a microcosm of the season as the offense was virtually unstoppable and the defense allowed 56 points and nearly 600 yards. The offensive numbers the Cowboys but up this year were amazing and the good news is the Cowboys will return seven starters on offense and will return nine starters on defense. HSU extended its string of winning seasons to 16 which is the 12th longest streak in the nation in all divisions with its 6-4 record. Mychal Carrillo had a brilliant year with over 1,000 yard receiving and Quinton Jones capped one of the best careers ever by an HSU running back with over 3,000 yards. Those two will be greatly missed along with Jordan Daniel and James Arnold on the offensive line. Defensively, the Cowboys lose Eric Daniels and Brice Johnson at middle linebacker, Randy Snyder and Derek Lewis at defensive end and Sid Gutierrez at defensive tackle. HSU will also miss backups Jordy Bernhard and Josh Sepeda at running back and Teddy Morgan in the secondary. That is not a lot of seniors to replace, although the quality is amazing. Coach Keeling always says one of the program’s goals is to have seniors. IF they can make it to be seniors that means they have persevered through the journey.
A hats off to all off the seniors in all of programs for a career well done and also congratulations go out to all of the players that have won All-Conference awards in the last few weeks. You are the best of the best and the awards should not be taken for granted.
Basketball season is right around the corner with the men opening the season one week from tonight at the Mabee Complex against Southwestern. The Cowgirls open this weekend on the road at the Trinity Invitational. Be sure to get out and see the teams in action, because both teams are going to be fun to watch this season.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Trying To Defend Three Titles
Wow! Can you believe that the fall is already winding down?
Congrats to the soccer and volleyball teams for clinching a spot in the ASC Tournaments this weekend. It will be interesting to see how all three teams handle the task of defending their conference titles.
Everyone knows that all three teams have way different personnel than a year ago, but they still have a lot of that been-there-done-that experience.
One would think the men’s soccer team would have the toughest challenge to repeat, not that the other two have easy roads. The Cowboys are an interesting story, as they have lost a lot of their punch since a year ago with David Salas and Nick Sager graduating and Ryan Flanigan getting hurt this season. Those three were keys in the Cowboys three-win run to the tournament title last year, but the resilient group of talented players have found ways to play as a team and did what it took to get a chance to defend their two consecutive titles.
HSU will have to play Mississippi College in the first round (a team they lost to 4-0 in the regular season), then would have to play the host Ozarks and possibly play Mary Hardin-Baylor in the final. If that were to happen, it would be the direct opposite of their run last year that saw them beat UMHB, Ozarks and Mississippi College in the final. Don’t count out coaching veteran Dan Heger to come up with a way to get it done.
A quick shout out of congratulations goes to former Cowboy All-ASC player Brad Bankhead who has done a good job with the UMHB program in his second season. The Cru beat the Cowboys 1-0 with a late goal on Saturday and he has his young team playing as one of the favorites going into the tournament. Bankhead’s team has taken on his overachieving, tough demeanor and it is good to see one of our own doing well (even if it is against us sometimes).
The Cowgirl soccer team has put itself in the position to host its fifth straight conference title, but it has been nothing but easy. The Cowgirls have fought through injuries all season long and have lost their All-American forward Amy Kuykendall and probably leading scorer Jordan Morley for the season. It has been a testament to the program for the team fighting through the injuries and finding ways to win close games. HSU has always been known for its offense, but the Cowgirls’ post season success will be built around its defense. Expect some close games the rest of the year.
I have said it before and will say it again if there is any coach in America that I want to win one game it is Marcus Wood. He always seems to come up with a plan, even if he clearly does not have the best team. Don’t bet against the Cowgirls getting one for the thumb (their fifth straight ASC title) this weekend, although it could be one of the most competitive ASC tournaments in years from start to finish. Coaches don’t like to compare teams, but if I know Woody as well as I think I do, a win this weekend would probably be the most rewarding of all of his ASC titles.
Coach Sabrina Bingham’s volleyball team is one of the favorites for the ASC title. Again the league is so balanced at the top with any of the six teams having a shot at the title. The Cowgirls will play the winner of East Texas Baptist and McMurry to get to the final. HSU has the bullets for the fight, they just have to come out firing. The players have the experience of winning the title, but it will be the first go-around for its first-year head coach. I have seen nothing to think that she won’t be able to handle the postseason. I always go with the team that has the best player’s and the Cowgirls might have three of the top six players in the entire league.
Be sure to stay tuned to this web site this week to keep up with all of the action.
In case you have missed it the Cowboy football team is putting up some unbelievable offensive numbers. They have the chance to have a 1,000-yard back in Quinton Jones, a 1,000-yard receiver in Mychal Carrillo and a 3,000-yard passer in Justin Feaster. The 1993 team with Matt Carroll, Collin McCormick and Kevin Beam are the only trio in school history to pull off the trick.
Just a couple of quick web site notes. Make sure you vote on the question on the front of the site. We are looking into streaming options for our games for the future. Also, there is a big surprise coming to the site on Nov. 15.
Be sure to make it out to the ASC Women’s Tournament at the Soccer Complex. The Cowgirls play at 11 a.m. on Saturday, before the football game, and if they win will play at 1 p.m. Sunday and a raucous home field advantage would be appreciated by the Cowgirls.
Congrats to the soccer and volleyball teams for clinching a spot in the ASC Tournaments this weekend. It will be interesting to see how all three teams handle the task of defending their conference titles.
Everyone knows that all three teams have way different personnel than a year ago, but they still have a lot of that been-there-done-that experience.
One would think the men’s soccer team would have the toughest challenge to repeat, not that the other two have easy roads. The Cowboys are an interesting story, as they have lost a lot of their punch since a year ago with David Salas and Nick Sager graduating and Ryan Flanigan getting hurt this season. Those three were keys in the Cowboys three-win run to the tournament title last year, but the resilient group of talented players have found ways to play as a team and did what it took to get a chance to defend their two consecutive titles.
HSU will have to play Mississippi College in the first round (a team they lost to 4-0 in the regular season), then would have to play the host Ozarks and possibly play Mary Hardin-Baylor in the final. If that were to happen, it would be the direct opposite of their run last year that saw them beat UMHB, Ozarks and Mississippi College in the final. Don’t count out coaching veteran Dan Heger to come up with a way to get it done.
A quick shout out of congratulations goes to former Cowboy All-ASC player Brad Bankhead who has done a good job with the UMHB program in his second season. The Cru beat the Cowboys 1-0 with a late goal on Saturday and he has his young team playing as one of the favorites going into the tournament. Bankhead’s team has taken on his overachieving, tough demeanor and it is good to see one of our own doing well (even if it is against us sometimes).
The Cowgirl soccer team has put itself in the position to host its fifth straight conference title, but it has been nothing but easy. The Cowgirls have fought through injuries all season long and have lost their All-American forward Amy Kuykendall and probably leading scorer Jordan Morley for the season. It has been a testament to the program for the team fighting through the injuries and finding ways to win close games. HSU has always been known for its offense, but the Cowgirls’ post season success will be built around its defense. Expect some close games the rest of the year.
I have said it before and will say it again if there is any coach in America that I want to win one game it is Marcus Wood. He always seems to come up with a plan, even if he clearly does not have the best team. Don’t bet against the Cowgirls getting one for the thumb (their fifth straight ASC title) this weekend, although it could be one of the most competitive ASC tournaments in years from start to finish. Coaches don’t like to compare teams, but if I know Woody as well as I think I do, a win this weekend would probably be the most rewarding of all of his ASC titles.
Coach Sabrina Bingham’s volleyball team is one of the favorites for the ASC title. Again the league is so balanced at the top with any of the six teams having a shot at the title. The Cowgirls will play the winner of East Texas Baptist and McMurry to get to the final. HSU has the bullets for the fight, they just have to come out firing. The players have the experience of winning the title, but it will be the first go-around for its first-year head coach. I have seen nothing to think that she won’t be able to handle the postseason. I always go with the team that has the best player’s and the Cowgirls might have three of the top six players in the entire league.
Be sure to stay tuned to this web site this week to keep up with all of the action.
In case you have missed it the Cowboy football team is putting up some unbelievable offensive numbers. They have the chance to have a 1,000-yard back in Quinton Jones, a 1,000-yard receiver in Mychal Carrillo and a 3,000-yard passer in Justin Feaster. The 1993 team with Matt Carroll, Collin McCormick and Kevin Beam are the only trio in school history to pull off the trick.
Just a couple of quick web site notes. Make sure you vote on the question on the front of the site. We are looking into streaming options for our games for the future. Also, there is a big surprise coming to the site on Nov. 15.
Be sure to make it out to the ASC Women’s Tournament at the Soccer Complex. The Cowgirls play at 11 a.m. on Saturday, before the football game, and if they win will play at 1 p.m. Sunday and a raucous home field advantage would be appreciated by the Cowgirls.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
It's The Best Time of the Year
I don’t know about you, but as a sports fan this is my favorite time of the year. It seems like every day there is another big event going on, whether it is the baseball playoffs, the NFL, college football or the start of college basketball practices.
Today is the start of basketball practice at HSU and both teams are ready to get going. There will be a lot of new faces on both teams, but it could be some of the most talented teams that both programs have had.
It is stretch time for the fall sport seasons and both soccer teams and volleyball have a good shot at the postseason. The football team needs help to make the postseason. The Cowboys would need Mississippi College to defeat Mary Hardin-Baylor this weekend and then all three of those teams would need to win out. That would make the ASC a three-way tie and the champion would be determined by draw.
The Cowgirl soccer team looks like a lock to host its fifth straight American Southwest Conference Tournament. If you haven’t noticed what the Cowgirls have done it is amazing. They are 13-1 on the year and they have pushed their conference unbeaten streak to 91 matches. In the 89-0-2 stretch, the Cowgirls have outscored their opponents 577-21.
Sabrina Bingham’s volleyball team is in very good shape to win the West Division title. The ASC tournament will be at either UT-Dallas or East Texas Baptist this year. The Cowgirls recently ran off a 12-match winning streak to start conference play.
Dan Heger’s soccer team needs a couple more wins to secure its spot in the ASC Tournament. The Cowboys are in a three-way tie for fourth place. HSU would like to defend its two straight ASC titles.
It is amazing to me that we are down to the final two weeks of the regular season for volleyball and soccer. It has not even come close to getting cool so it is not feeling much like fall around here.
This weekend is homecoming and the Cowboys will host Howard Payne. It will be good to see old colleague Julie Goodenough, who will be inducted into the HSU Athletic Hall of Fame. It is a much deserved honor, who put the Cowgirl basketball program on the national map.
Today is the start of basketball practice at HSU and both teams are ready to get going. There will be a lot of new faces on both teams, but it could be some of the most talented teams that both programs have had.
It is stretch time for the fall sport seasons and both soccer teams and volleyball have a good shot at the postseason. The football team needs help to make the postseason. The Cowboys would need Mississippi College to defeat Mary Hardin-Baylor this weekend and then all three of those teams would need to win out. That would make the ASC a three-way tie and the champion would be determined by draw.
The Cowgirl soccer team looks like a lock to host its fifth straight American Southwest Conference Tournament. If you haven’t noticed what the Cowgirls have done it is amazing. They are 13-1 on the year and they have pushed their conference unbeaten streak to 91 matches. In the 89-0-2 stretch, the Cowgirls have outscored their opponents 577-21.
Sabrina Bingham’s volleyball team is in very good shape to win the West Division title. The ASC tournament will be at either UT-Dallas or East Texas Baptist this year. The Cowgirls recently ran off a 12-match winning streak to start conference play.
Dan Heger’s soccer team needs a couple more wins to secure its spot in the ASC Tournament. The Cowboys are in a three-way tie for fourth place. HSU would like to defend its two straight ASC titles.
It is amazing to me that we are down to the final two weeks of the regular season for volleyball and soccer. It has not even come close to getting cool so it is not feeling much like fall around here.
This weekend is homecoming and the Cowboys will host Howard Payne. It will be good to see old colleague Julie Goodenough, who will be inducted into the HSU Athletic Hall of Fame. It is a much deserved honor, who put the Cowgirl basketball program on the national map.
Monday, October 15, 2007
THOSE WHO STAY WILL BE CHAMPIONS
Any player that has come through the Hardin-Simmons football program has heard this phrase uttered by Coach Keeling and it is even on a sign above the door in the locker room.
THOSE WHO STAY WILL BE CHAMPIONS
I was watching some of pregame NFL shows and heard them talking about how Randy Moss’ attitude has been great all season. He has fit in well with his teammates and has been a model citizen. That is not surprising. When he was playing with the Raiders and was losing his attitude was deemed poor. Now he is a model citizen. I don’t know him, but the leopard hardly ever changes its spots.
I think his attitude boils down to one thing – he is winning. It is a lot easier to do the right thing when things are going your way. What you do when you are down or face adversity is the true measure of your character.
There are plenty of life lessons learned from playing athletics. It is easy to give up when things don’t go your way. That is the easy way out. I have a ton of respect for those who have gone through hard times and have found the will to stick it out. If you talk to them down the road they are a lot stronger person for that.
There is a group of men’s basketball players that went through that from the transition of coaches about seven or eight years ago. Bryan Conover, Jordan Clower, Jason Eaker, Jonas Fuller, Carl Thompson and others are a group that went through some tough times and not a lot of wins. They went through those tough times together and showed great class in doing so. Those guys will be prepared for whatever they end up doing in life and I know at least three of those people are involved with basketball and will be or already are great coaches.
We have had kids, like all schools have; go through deaths in the family, divorce, financial problems at home, etc. They went through a lot to stay on their teams. They were able to stick it out and make the best of their situation. Often times it is their teammates and coaches that help them get through the tough times.
I understand that things happen and for whatever reason a person needs to leave their team. It could be to concentrate on academics, it could be to get another job to pay for school, or various other reasons. It is even acceptable when you have another year of eligibility left, but you don’t want to play anymore and you tell your coaches. That is fine, at least the coaches have a chance to recruit and replace them.
What is hard to understand is why someone would quit on their teammates in the middle of the year and give up just because things get a little hard. Those tough times are what make you stronger. To put in all of the hard work, the extra weight training in the offseason, to go through the highs and lows together and then when things don’t seem to be going your way you quit that is hard to understand. When you have done it once it makes it easier to do it again later on in life.
I guess that everything is supposed to be easy.
THOSE WHO STAY WILL BE CHAMPIONS
I was watching some of pregame NFL shows and heard them talking about how Randy Moss’ attitude has been great all season. He has fit in well with his teammates and has been a model citizen. That is not surprising. When he was playing with the Raiders and was losing his attitude was deemed poor. Now he is a model citizen. I don’t know him, but the leopard hardly ever changes its spots.
I think his attitude boils down to one thing – he is winning. It is a lot easier to do the right thing when things are going your way. What you do when you are down or face adversity is the true measure of your character.
There are plenty of life lessons learned from playing athletics. It is easy to give up when things don’t go your way. That is the easy way out. I have a ton of respect for those who have gone through hard times and have found the will to stick it out. If you talk to them down the road they are a lot stronger person for that.
There is a group of men’s basketball players that went through that from the transition of coaches about seven or eight years ago. Bryan Conover, Jordan Clower, Jason Eaker, Jonas Fuller, Carl Thompson and others are a group that went through some tough times and not a lot of wins. They went through those tough times together and showed great class in doing so. Those guys will be prepared for whatever they end up doing in life and I know at least three of those people are involved with basketball and will be or already are great coaches.
We have had kids, like all schools have; go through deaths in the family, divorce, financial problems at home, etc. They went through a lot to stay on their teams. They were able to stick it out and make the best of their situation. Often times it is their teammates and coaches that help them get through the tough times.
I understand that things happen and for whatever reason a person needs to leave their team. It could be to concentrate on academics, it could be to get another job to pay for school, or various other reasons. It is even acceptable when you have another year of eligibility left, but you don’t want to play anymore and you tell your coaches. That is fine, at least the coaches have a chance to recruit and replace them.
What is hard to understand is why someone would quit on their teammates in the middle of the year and give up just because things get a little hard. Those tough times are what make you stronger. To put in all of the hard work, the extra weight training in the offseason, to go through the highs and lows together and then when things don’t seem to be going your way you quit that is hard to understand. When you have done it once it makes it easier to do it again later on in life.
I guess that everything is supposed to be easy.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
The Week of The Big Game
I wrote a few weeks ago about the youth of our fall sports teams and how it would take a while to develop some of that youth. I was right it would take some time, but it has happened a lot quicker than I anticipated.
Our teams are on a roll as we head toward the midway points of the season. The men’s soccer team has gone 5-1 since a 0-3 start, the women’s soccer team is 9-1 and winners of eight in a row, the volleyball team has won eight straight since a 3-4 start. The football team has won two in a row after losing the first two games of the season.
It is amazing what tradition and pride in the program can do for our student-athletes. They feel like they have to uphold the strong traditions of the past. It is a big motivator.
All four teams have legitimate ASC MVP contenders on their teams and they are all underclassmen. It looks like the teams have not only figured it out, but they have restocked their rosters with good young players. It is a testament to the great coaches we have on staff and the pride they take in keeping their programs at the top of the conference.
Several players did well at the ITA tennis tournament over the weekend. Freshman Lisa Mertz advanced to the semifinals of singles as did Ryan Waters in the men. Waters and Wade Morgan lost 9-8 in the doubles finals.
The golf season is under way and freshman (there is that word again) Ashley Luecke is off to a sizzling start. She won the first tournament of the year by 11 strokes.
This week there are some big games for the soccer teams this week. Both teams play at UT-Dallas on Thursday night. The Comets have been the Cowgirls’ toughest competitor over the last several years in ASC play and nothing less than a physical close match is expected. The Cowboys have a talented UTD on Thursday and play at Ozarks on Saturday. A couple of wins could put the Cowboys in a good spot to host the ASC Tournament.
The Cowgirl volleyball team plays at Sul Ross State on Wednesday, then returns home for games against Concordia on Friday and Howard Payne on Saturday. The HPU game was listed as noon on most early schedules. It was changed last week to a 11 a.m. game.
The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will be hosting its annual tailgate on Saturday. All students are encouraged to come by and have a burger or dog before the game.
Saturday is the big game for the Cowboy football team as the winner of the HSU-UMHB regular season game has won or shared the ASC title every year since 1998. It will be no different this season. Those who think the Cowboys are down this year need to come out and watch, because when these two teams play the records don’t matter. They are going to have a hard-hitting intense affair. Mary Hardin-Baylor is a talented team that is loaded with juniors and seniors. The Cowboys are a talented team that is loaded with freshmen and sophomores. Let’s see if the young guys can step it up another notch this weekend.
I have to admit there are certain games that get me fired up more than most. Most anything with McMurry brings out the intensity and you can feel it when you walk into the site of competition. The UMHB football game has become the same way. You know it is not just another game on the schedule, no matter coaches would like for you to believe. It is a big game and it is what makes college athletics great.
Can I remember plays from every game I have seen at HSU? No way. I have seen a lot of games, but I can almost instantly recall plays from the top of my head from every UMHB football game. Whether it was Josh McCasland sparking an offense, with a 50-something yard run on a muddy day in Belton in 2000. Or Jared Sanderson’s 14-tackle game in 2001 to preserve the Cowboys fourth straight conference title. In 2002, when the Cowboys had the ball inside the Crusaders 10 twice in the first quarter and having to settle for field goal attempts. The Cowboys were driving for the tying score when Matt Moskosky “fumbled” right in front of the Crusaders bench. P.J. Williams sticks in my head from that game as well. Man did he have some big games in his career against the Cowboys.
In 2004 the first game was filled with big plays on all sides, but Will Galusha’s interception return and long kickoff return turned the game into a blowout. In the return game in the NCAA playoffs it was Josh Kubiak’s coming out party when he picked off a pair of Jordan Neal passes and ran one back for a TD and the other deep into Cowboy territory.
UMHB did whatever they wanted that day in 2005 and recorded eight sacks.
In 2006 the first game a tipped punt and run back by Kubiak UMHB gave the Crusaders the momentum and a third quarter drive that seemed to take up the whole quarter took the Cowboys wind out of its sail.
The playoff game seemed to be going all the way of the Cowboys, until the bogus illegal substitution penalty gave the Crusaders a first down and they were able to take advantage and get the momentum back with a touchdown.
Who will be the Bryson, Rollins, Starnes, Williams, Fredenburg, Welch, Kubiak, Meyer for the Crusaders?
Who will be the Sanderson, McCasland, Rogers, Proctor, Gailey, Neal, Galusha or Moore for the Cowboys?
What will be the defining play of 2007? Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. Saturday.
Our teams are on a roll as we head toward the midway points of the season. The men’s soccer team has gone 5-1 since a 0-3 start, the women’s soccer team is 9-1 and winners of eight in a row, the volleyball team has won eight straight since a 3-4 start. The football team has won two in a row after losing the first two games of the season.
It is amazing what tradition and pride in the program can do for our student-athletes. They feel like they have to uphold the strong traditions of the past. It is a big motivator.
All four teams have legitimate ASC MVP contenders on their teams and they are all underclassmen. It looks like the teams have not only figured it out, but they have restocked their rosters with good young players. It is a testament to the great coaches we have on staff and the pride they take in keeping their programs at the top of the conference.
Several players did well at the ITA tennis tournament over the weekend. Freshman Lisa Mertz advanced to the semifinals of singles as did Ryan Waters in the men. Waters and Wade Morgan lost 9-8 in the doubles finals.
The golf season is under way and freshman (there is that word again) Ashley Luecke is off to a sizzling start. She won the first tournament of the year by 11 strokes.
This week there are some big games for the soccer teams this week. Both teams play at UT-Dallas on Thursday night. The Comets have been the Cowgirls’ toughest competitor over the last several years in ASC play and nothing less than a physical close match is expected. The Cowboys have a talented UTD on Thursday and play at Ozarks on Saturday. A couple of wins could put the Cowboys in a good spot to host the ASC Tournament.
The Cowgirl volleyball team plays at Sul Ross State on Wednesday, then returns home for games against Concordia on Friday and Howard Payne on Saturday. The HPU game was listed as noon on most early schedules. It was changed last week to a 11 a.m. game.
The Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will be hosting its annual tailgate on Saturday. All students are encouraged to come by and have a burger or dog before the game.
Saturday is the big game for the Cowboy football team as the winner of the HSU-UMHB regular season game has won or shared the ASC title every year since 1998. It will be no different this season. Those who think the Cowboys are down this year need to come out and watch, because when these two teams play the records don’t matter. They are going to have a hard-hitting intense affair. Mary Hardin-Baylor is a talented team that is loaded with juniors and seniors. The Cowboys are a talented team that is loaded with freshmen and sophomores. Let’s see if the young guys can step it up another notch this weekend.
I have to admit there are certain games that get me fired up more than most. Most anything with McMurry brings out the intensity and you can feel it when you walk into the site of competition. The UMHB football game has become the same way. You know it is not just another game on the schedule, no matter coaches would like for you to believe. It is a big game and it is what makes college athletics great.
Can I remember plays from every game I have seen at HSU? No way. I have seen a lot of games, but I can almost instantly recall plays from the top of my head from every UMHB football game. Whether it was Josh McCasland sparking an offense, with a 50-something yard run on a muddy day in Belton in 2000. Or Jared Sanderson’s 14-tackle game in 2001 to preserve the Cowboys fourth straight conference title. In 2002, when the Cowboys had the ball inside the Crusaders 10 twice in the first quarter and having to settle for field goal attempts. The Cowboys were driving for the tying score when Matt Moskosky “fumbled” right in front of the Crusaders bench. P.J. Williams sticks in my head from that game as well. Man did he have some big games in his career against the Cowboys.
In 2004 the first game was filled with big plays on all sides, but Will Galusha’s interception return and long kickoff return turned the game into a blowout. In the return game in the NCAA playoffs it was Josh Kubiak’s coming out party when he picked off a pair of Jordan Neal passes and ran one back for a TD and the other deep into Cowboy territory.
UMHB did whatever they wanted that day in 2005 and recorded eight sacks.
In 2006 the first game a tipped punt and run back by Kubiak UMHB gave the Crusaders the momentum and a third quarter drive that seemed to take up the whole quarter took the Cowboys wind out of its sail.
The playoff game seemed to be going all the way of the Cowboys, until the bogus illegal substitution penalty gave the Crusaders a first down and they were able to take advantage and get the momentum back with a touchdown.
Who will be the Bryson, Rollins, Starnes, Williams, Fredenburg, Welch, Kubiak, Meyer for the Crusaders?
Who will be the Sanderson, McCasland, Rogers, Proctor, Gailey, Neal, Galusha or Moore for the Cowboys?
What will be the defining play of 2007? Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. Saturday.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
What in the World Is A SID?
I get the question of what is an SID, probably at least once a month. In this week’s blog I am going to give you a snapshot answer to what an SID is and what they do.
First of all SID stands for sports information director and the short answer is, I am the liaison between our athletic programs and the public.
I guess about six years ago when we became the first Division III school in the country to go with a national sports web site (then it was fans only) now it is CSTV, the web became our number one tool of getting the word out to the public.
I have always sent press releases to the media outlets, both around Abilene and all over the state. I still do that, but it is an almost entirely different process. Before we did it on the fax and to send one press release to the 13 people that get all of our press releases usually took about 30 minutes. Now that is all done in an e-mail group that takes about 30 seconds.
Every since I became the SID at HSU, my number one goal was to update the web site with scores of our games on game day. That was not the norm here, or especially around the ASC. Sometimes it was Monday or Tuesday before weekend games results were posted.
It used to be that all that was on the Internet was the stats, roster and schedule. Now you have to have more information out there. Kids go the web for recruiting; in fact they can know all the need to know about us, before they are ever contacted by a coach.
There are other ways as an SID that I get the word out about our teams. I have a good relationship with the person on our beat at the local newspaper and continually feed them information and story ideas and we also are lucky to have three local television stations that cover us on a regular basis.
Now to what the SID really does. Many people think that we have a job that is just going to games all of the time. That is correct, we go to games all the time, but the games are the fun part of the job. Being able to watch the game is what makes all of the work leading up to a game fun.
Here is a checklist of what the typical SID is:
A writer – I write all of our releases, media guides, game notes and web content
A graphic designer – I design all of our media guides
An editor – not nearly as good as I should be sometimes
A webmaster –I do that for all of the HSU Athletics web site
A game-day administrator – Often times that includes helping with crowd control, but also finding workers for games.
A teacher – I try to teach the game-day students I have working for me to do things the right way.
A statkeeper – Yeah, I keep the stats at most of the games.
A public address announcer – You can hear me at soccer, baseball and softball.
A radio broadcaster – I do games on the road in basketball and baseball.
A photographer – I am not very good at that so I usually arrange to have a photographer.
Promoter – Almost any award that any of our kids receive is done through promotions from this office, it can be filling out weekly player of the week forms, filling out recommendations or sending promotional pieces to voters. Any academic awards, or regional or national awards come straight from this office. You know the game programs you get at a game. Those come from this office as well.
Advertiser – If the school paid for advertising in the paper in the amount of inches of copy that I provide to the paper it would be over $250,000 a year.
Those are some of the broader definitions of what an SID does. People ask me all the time what does it take to get into the profession.
I think the simple answer is the love of what you are doing. If you did not love it, you would burn out in a year. It is amazing the number of people that I have seen just in our conference go in and out of the business in my nine years in the ASC. It doesn’t take long to see the ones that enjoy the job.
You can be the best writer in the world, the best graphic designer or the most organized person in the world, but if you don’t love doing the job, you can’t fake it.
I think the rewarding part is the fact I get to be around college athletes that are good kids every day. My daughter gets to be around those players as role models. It is refreshing when you know the time and amount of effort those kids put into their sport.
If I didn’t get to meet, be around, and work with great people every day; there is no way that I would want to have the job I have. With the relationships that I have formed over the years there is no other job that I would want to have.
Around The Campus
The Cowboys got in the win column in football last week. It got a little too close for comfort at the end, but anyone that saw the first two games and then saw last week has to realize that we are getting better every week and that is all the coaching staff can ask.
Tuesday the Cowgirls were supposed to play ACU in soccer. The game started and HSU held a 1-0 lead before the lightning came in and postponed the game. It has been rescheduled for Oct. 16. The Cowgirls host UT-Tyler and Concordia this weekend at the HSU Soccer Complex.
The Cowboy soccer team went 1-1 last week and is now 3-1 in the very tightly-bunched standings of the ASC. It is another big week for the Cowboys as they host a greatly improved Concordia team and preseason favorite UT-Tyler.
The volleyball team swept three matches last weekend and is off to Mississippi College for the ASC Crossover Tournament this weekend. Kaela Parnell and Sam Lucien were named the ASC West offensive and defensive players of the week.
The tennis teams will host the ITA Tournament this weekend. This is a big tournament for the top individuals as far as playing for a berth in the ITA National Tournament and it also gives momentum heading into the spring season. You can follow the results on the front page of the web site this weekend.
It is now less than three weeks before the basketball teams will begin their practices for the upcoming season. It is hard to believe that we are already into the fifth week of the fall sports schedule.
First of all SID stands for sports information director and the short answer is, I am the liaison between our athletic programs and the public.
I guess about six years ago when we became the first Division III school in the country to go with a national sports web site (then it was fans only) now it is CSTV, the web became our number one tool of getting the word out to the public.
I have always sent press releases to the media outlets, both around Abilene and all over the state. I still do that, but it is an almost entirely different process. Before we did it on the fax and to send one press release to the 13 people that get all of our press releases usually took about 30 minutes. Now that is all done in an e-mail group that takes about 30 seconds.
Every since I became the SID at HSU, my number one goal was to update the web site with scores of our games on game day. That was not the norm here, or especially around the ASC. Sometimes it was Monday or Tuesday before weekend games results were posted.
It used to be that all that was on the Internet was the stats, roster and schedule. Now you have to have more information out there. Kids go the web for recruiting; in fact they can know all the need to know about us, before they are ever contacted by a coach.
There are other ways as an SID that I get the word out about our teams. I have a good relationship with the person on our beat at the local newspaper and continually feed them information and story ideas and we also are lucky to have three local television stations that cover us on a regular basis.
Now to what the SID really does. Many people think that we have a job that is just going to games all of the time. That is correct, we go to games all the time, but the games are the fun part of the job. Being able to watch the game is what makes all of the work leading up to a game fun.
Here is a checklist of what the typical SID is:
A writer – I write all of our releases, media guides, game notes and web content
A graphic designer – I design all of our media guides
An editor – not nearly as good as I should be sometimes
A webmaster –I do that for all of the HSU Athletics web site
A game-day administrator – Often times that includes helping with crowd control, but also finding workers for games.
A teacher – I try to teach the game-day students I have working for me to do things the right way.
A statkeeper – Yeah, I keep the stats at most of the games.
A public address announcer – You can hear me at soccer, baseball and softball.
A radio broadcaster – I do games on the road in basketball and baseball.
A photographer – I am not very good at that so I usually arrange to have a photographer.
Promoter – Almost any award that any of our kids receive is done through promotions from this office, it can be filling out weekly player of the week forms, filling out recommendations or sending promotional pieces to voters. Any academic awards, or regional or national awards come straight from this office. You know the game programs you get at a game. Those come from this office as well.
Advertiser – If the school paid for advertising in the paper in the amount of inches of copy that I provide to the paper it would be over $250,000 a year.
Those are some of the broader definitions of what an SID does. People ask me all the time what does it take to get into the profession.
I think the simple answer is the love of what you are doing. If you did not love it, you would burn out in a year. It is amazing the number of people that I have seen just in our conference go in and out of the business in my nine years in the ASC. It doesn’t take long to see the ones that enjoy the job.
You can be the best writer in the world, the best graphic designer or the most organized person in the world, but if you don’t love doing the job, you can’t fake it.
I think the rewarding part is the fact I get to be around college athletes that are good kids every day. My daughter gets to be around those players as role models. It is refreshing when you know the time and amount of effort those kids put into their sport.
If I didn’t get to meet, be around, and work with great people every day; there is no way that I would want to have the job I have. With the relationships that I have formed over the years there is no other job that I would want to have.
Around The Campus
The Cowboys got in the win column in football last week. It got a little too close for comfort at the end, but anyone that saw the first two games and then saw last week has to realize that we are getting better every week and that is all the coaching staff can ask.
Tuesday the Cowgirls were supposed to play ACU in soccer. The game started and HSU held a 1-0 lead before the lightning came in and postponed the game. It has been rescheduled for Oct. 16. The Cowgirls host UT-Tyler and Concordia this weekend at the HSU Soccer Complex.
The Cowboy soccer team went 1-1 last week and is now 3-1 in the very tightly-bunched standings of the ASC. It is another big week for the Cowboys as they host a greatly improved Concordia team and preseason favorite UT-Tyler.
The volleyball team swept three matches last weekend and is off to Mississippi College for the ASC Crossover Tournament this weekend. Kaela Parnell and Sam Lucien were named the ASC West offensive and defensive players of the week.
The tennis teams will host the ITA Tournament this weekend. This is a big tournament for the top individuals as far as playing for a berth in the ITA National Tournament and it also gives momentum heading into the spring season. You can follow the results on the front page of the web site this weekend.
It is now less than three weeks before the basketball teams will begin their practices for the upcoming season. It is hard to believe that we are already into the fifth week of the fall sports schedule.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Portland Trip
Like I said in my last blog traveling with the road crew is an adventure and our trip last weekend to Oregon provided some more writing material for the book.
The trip started at Abilene Regional and the first thing I hear when we get there is that our flight had been canceled. That is not a good thing when you are the one that was in charge of the reservations, especially with this crew. At some point our flight had been changed to 9:30 a.m. instead of the 2:30 we had arrived for. Fortunately American was able to get us on to a flight out of Dallas, but it did not leave until 9:15. That meant we had a six-hour layover in Dallas. The good news we got on a direct flight to Portland rather than to San Francisco and then to Portland.
Now how do you kill six hours in the Dallas airport? Fortunately for us John Neese’s girlfriend Melissa Lohnes lives and works close by and she offered to take us to dinner. That was a very nice gesture on her part, the problem was she drives a Pathfinder. Going to the restaurant it was Tim McCarry in the front seat, Al Pickett, Phil Ashby and I in the middle seat and Neese in the area behind the back seat. Neese by far had the most room of the four of us in the back.
After a very nice meal we made a trip to Barnes and Noble to get some reading material. It was only about two blocks, but it had to feel like two hours for Phil, who was stuck in the back seat between Tim and I (if you don’t know us we are two, how do I say this, portly fellows). He says he doesn’t need a chiropractor anymore because everything in his body was popped into place.
Once we finally got back to the airport we had a very uneventful flight. If you are going to have a three and a half hour flight and not be in first class it is always nice to be in the first row of coach with some extra leg room. It happened that is where my seat was. We finally arrived in Portland at about 11:30 PST and we got our rental car and to our hotel at about 12:30.
The next day we get up and around and we are going to look for some lunch. The boys want some seafood (I don’t eat things out of the water) so we type into the Hertz Never Lost system seafood and Tim decides on a place called the Dolphin. We travel to the Dolphin about 10 miles away and pull into the parking lot and see that the Dolphin is not only a seafood place, but also a place for exotic dancers. So we decide to move on down the road. We go to another seafood place that was very nice and they say the seafood was good. I had a club sandwich that was really good. We sat outside and it was about 68 degrees and sunny, a perfect day in Oregon. John, Tim and Phil had a Marionberry (not the former D.C. mayor according to Lexi our waitress) cobbler. Cobbler to them means a pie. Here is a picture of Tim’s pie as we are leaving and Phil’s pie (you decide which is which.)
After the meal we make the trip over to McMinnville. It was a very nice area and the whole countryside is covered with nurseries, wineries and about every type of crop you can imagine. We make our way to a space museum and I am not one that is awed by museums that much, but the Spruce Goose was an amazing site. I have attached video and a picture of the amazing plane that is wider than a football field. It was a great learning experience about something I had very limited knowledge. Here is a not very good picture from inside the big bird.
We then checked out the McMinnville downtown and headed over to the football field. It is a nice old downtown area. The campus is a big campus for the size of school and what amazes me about the whole area is the number of hanging plants. There are hanging from about every pole in town. After scoping out the campus, we headed back to the hotel. It was 34 miles and took us just over an hour. Needless to say it is not like driving to Alpine.
We were in a hurry to get back to the hotel to see my alma mater Oklahoma State play Troy in football. It was not a pretty game to watch. It was the most embarrassing loss since I have been a Cowboy fan. They didn’t lose to the Men of Troy or even to Troy Aikman, they lost to Troy for crying out loud. I did feel the need to text Zach Pickelman during the game and tell him that his Michigan team is not the worst team in a power conference in America. I think my Cowboys have that covered. This could be the year for Baylor, oh wait it can’t get that bad can it.
After the game was over it was time for bed. Normally I am not out cold by 10 o’clock, but I think the travel and time difference caught up with me. On Saturday when we woke up it was a great day outside. It was probably in the low 50’s and it had the crisp fall feel. We went to McMinnville and had breakfast (without the s), walked around downtown and headed to the game.
The game was quite entertaining if you like offense. Linfield is a unique place and their stadium was originally built in the 1920’s. It had covered seating on the home side and it turned out to be a great day for football. The Cowboys fought hard, but could not keep the Wildcats off the scoreboard and for the first time since the first year of the Jimmie Keeling era the Cowboys have lost the first two games of the season.
On Saturday night we headed into Portland for a nice meal at another seafood place. It was right on the river and in the middle of the entertainment district. We had to be at the airport by 5:30 a.m. so it was a short night and we made it home rather uneventfully on Sunday.
Other happenings from around the HSU campus this week
Congrats to the soccer teams for starting 2-0 in conference play. The men won their first two games of the year and both were one-goal games. Jorge Vega scored three goals and the young Cowboys proved the will be a force to be reckoned with in the ASC this year.
It was disappointing to hear that All-American Amy Kuykendall tore her ACL against Texas Lutheran. She is really a phenomenal player. It will definitely hurt the Cowgirls offensively, but if there is one coach that I think can lose his best player and All-American and still come out with results it is Marcus Wood. He beat a No. 1 Trinity team a few years ago with basically nine healthy bodies in the NCAA Tournament. He has proven year in and year out he can make adjustments on his team and keep them in the upper echelon of the teams in the NCAA Tournament. We hope for a speedy recovery for Amy.
The volleyball team went 2-0 last weekend and then last night beat a previously unbeaten team in McMurry to move to 3-0 in conference action. It was the home debut for Sabrina Bingham and there was a great crowd on hand.
The Cowgirl tennis team won five singles flights and two doubles flights at the ASC Individual Tournament. The Cowboys won flight one doubles and flight nine singles. HSU has won seven straight ASC women’s titles and six in a row for the men.
The women’s golf team beat five other ASC schools to win the UT-Dallas Invitational in their first tournament of the year. Freshman Ashley Luecke won the individual title by 11 strokes. Congrats to the Cowgirls.
The trip started at Abilene Regional and the first thing I hear when we get there is that our flight had been canceled. That is not a good thing when you are the one that was in charge of the reservations, especially with this crew. At some point our flight had been changed to 9:30 a.m. instead of the 2:30 we had arrived for. Fortunately American was able to get us on to a flight out of Dallas, but it did not leave until 9:15. That meant we had a six-hour layover in Dallas. The good news we got on a direct flight to Portland rather than to San Francisco and then to Portland.
Now how do you kill six hours in the Dallas airport? Fortunately for us John Neese’s girlfriend Melissa Lohnes lives and works close by and she offered to take us to dinner. That was a very nice gesture on her part, the problem was she drives a Pathfinder. Going to the restaurant it was Tim McCarry in the front seat, Al Pickett, Phil Ashby and I in the middle seat and Neese in the area behind the back seat. Neese by far had the most room of the four of us in the back.
After a very nice meal we made a trip to Barnes and Noble to get some reading material. It was only about two blocks, but it had to feel like two hours for Phil, who was stuck in the back seat between Tim and I (if you don’t know us we are two, how do I say this, portly fellows). He says he doesn’t need a chiropractor anymore because everything in his body was popped into place.
Once we finally got back to the airport we had a very uneventful flight. If you are going to have a three and a half hour flight and not be in first class it is always nice to be in the first row of coach with some extra leg room. It happened that is where my seat was. We finally arrived in Portland at about 11:30 PST and we got our rental car and to our hotel at about 12:30.
The next day we get up and around and we are going to look for some lunch. The boys want some seafood (I don’t eat things out of the water) so we type into the Hertz Never Lost system seafood and Tim decides on a place called the Dolphin. We travel to the Dolphin about 10 miles away and pull into the parking lot and see that the Dolphin is not only a seafood place, but also a place for exotic dancers. So we decide to move on down the road. We go to another seafood place that was very nice and they say the seafood was good. I had a club sandwich that was really good. We sat outside and it was about 68 degrees and sunny, a perfect day in Oregon. John, Tim and Phil had a Marionberry (not the former D.C. mayor according to Lexi our waitress) cobbler. Cobbler to them means a pie. Here is a picture of Tim’s pie as we are leaving and Phil’s pie (you decide which is which.)
After the meal we make the trip over to McMinnville. It was a very nice area and the whole countryside is covered with nurseries, wineries and about every type of crop you can imagine. We make our way to a space museum and I am not one that is awed by museums that much, but the Spruce Goose was an amazing site. I have attached video and a picture of the amazing plane that is wider than a football field. It was a great learning experience about something I had very limited knowledge. Here is a not very good picture from inside the big bird.
We then checked out the McMinnville downtown and headed over to the football field. It is a nice old downtown area. The campus is a big campus for the size of school and what amazes me about the whole area is the number of hanging plants. There are hanging from about every pole in town. After scoping out the campus, we headed back to the hotel. It was 34 miles and took us just over an hour. Needless to say it is not like driving to Alpine.
We were in a hurry to get back to the hotel to see my alma mater Oklahoma State play Troy in football. It was not a pretty game to watch. It was the most embarrassing loss since I have been a Cowboy fan. They didn’t lose to the Men of Troy or even to Troy Aikman, they lost to Troy for crying out loud. I did feel the need to text Zach Pickelman during the game and tell him that his Michigan team is not the worst team in a power conference in America. I think my Cowboys have that covered. This could be the year for Baylor, oh wait it can’t get that bad can it.
After the game was over it was time for bed. Normally I am not out cold by 10 o’clock, but I think the travel and time difference caught up with me. On Saturday when we woke up it was a great day outside. It was probably in the low 50’s and it had the crisp fall feel. We went to McMinnville and had breakfast (without the s), walked around downtown and headed to the game.
The game was quite entertaining if you like offense. Linfield is a unique place and their stadium was originally built in the 1920’s. It had covered seating on the home side and it turned out to be a great day for football. The Cowboys fought hard, but could not keep the Wildcats off the scoreboard and for the first time since the first year of the Jimmie Keeling era the Cowboys have lost the first two games of the season.
On Saturday night we headed into Portland for a nice meal at another seafood place. It was right on the river and in the middle of the entertainment district. We had to be at the airport by 5:30 a.m. so it was a short night and we made it home rather uneventfully on Sunday.
Other happenings from around the HSU campus this week
Congrats to the soccer teams for starting 2-0 in conference play. The men won their first two games of the year and both were one-goal games. Jorge Vega scored three goals and the young Cowboys proved the will be a force to be reckoned with in the ASC this year.
It was disappointing to hear that All-American Amy Kuykendall tore her ACL against Texas Lutheran. She is really a phenomenal player. It will definitely hurt the Cowgirls offensively, but if there is one coach that I think can lose his best player and All-American and still come out with results it is Marcus Wood. He beat a No. 1 Trinity team a few years ago with basically nine healthy bodies in the NCAA Tournament. He has proven year in and year out he can make adjustments on his team and keep them in the upper echelon of the teams in the NCAA Tournament. We hope for a speedy recovery for Amy.
The volleyball team went 2-0 last weekend and then last night beat a previously unbeaten team in McMurry to move to 3-0 in conference action. It was the home debut for Sabrina Bingham and there was a great crowd on hand.
The Cowgirl tennis team won five singles flights and two doubles flights at the ASC Individual Tournament. The Cowboys won flight one doubles and flight nine singles. HSU has won seven straight ASC women’s titles and six in a row for the men.
The women’s golf team beat five other ASC schools to win the UT-Dallas Invitational in their first tournament of the year. Freshman Ashley Luecke won the individual title by 11 strokes. Congrats to the Cowgirls.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Go West Young Man
I have gotten several responses on the blog and that lets me know people are reading. I have even had a couple of colleagues in the conference ask about it and they seem to be interested in writing their own blog for their schools.
It has been a whirlwind first two weeks to the school year and their have been some interesting results from our events so far. As conference play begins this weekend one thing has become very apparent. Last year we were so lucky to have senior-laden teams in a lot of our fall sports. We graduated some players a year ago that will no doubt be future Hall of Famers at HSU in several sports. From a quick count off the top of my head we had at least eight seniors from a year ago that are no doubters, they had that big of an impact on the school and their teams.
When that type of leadership is gone, you have to find new leaders and players have to step into new roles. That has been the case in several sports this season. Coaches use the non-conference schedule to get their teams ready for conference play and to make whatever adjustments are necessary.
I am totally confident in all of our coaches to adjust their teams around their personnel. All four fall sport teams lost players that were not only great players and leaders, but all four lost some players that were starters from the time they stepped on campus. That is the fun part about their job is to take a team and try to make it better from the start of preseason training all the way to the end of the year. Our coaches have excelled at doing that and I am sure they will again.
The men's soccer team has two seniors, one junior and the rest are freshmen and sophomores. There is a lot of talent on the team but it is young and will take time to develop. They are looking for an identity after graduating their top two scorers from a year.
The same thing is true on the football team. The defense lost eight starters from a year ago and the offense lost six starters. That is a lot of experience and talent to replace. It will take some time for those leaders to develop. It is a nice luxury to have guys that have started 20 or more games to lead a team like the Cowboys had last year.
The women's soccer team seems to be in the same situation. The Cowgirls had some strong leaders that were seniors last year. The team has a lot of talent returning, but when you talk about losing three seniors that started basically every game of their careers and two more that played key roles throughout their career and players have always looked to them for guidance there is going to be some bumpy spots. Different players are having to step into that role this year.
Volleyball lost maybe the best player to ever play for HSU in Virginia Aguilar and Holly Amerena was a solid floor leader. The Cowgirls have had to replace them and also have had to adjust to a new coach. That takes some immediate adjustments on their part as well. If you haven't noticed the Cowgirls have played a brutal non-conference schedule and are 3-4. They have played four teams that went to the national tournament a year ago. The Cowgirls played No. 7 Trinity tough, winning a game from them for the first time. HSU lost in five games to No. 22 Pacific Lutheran. They seem primed to start conference play.
All four teams are talented and all four will compete for the conference titles. It may take some time, but that is what makes athletics fun, seeing the teams develop over the year.
Another of the favorite parts of my job is the time I get to spend traveling with our teams. It is so nice to get them away from Abilene and see different parts of the country. It is also nice to see how our kids act when we go on the road. They are polite, respectful and most of the time are business-like in their approach to the trip. You really get to know players and teams a lot better when you get on the road with them for a few days.
I have traveled all over the United States with our teams and it is a learning experience each time. For as long as I have been at HSU, we have basically been known as the Road Crew. Some people have gone in and some have gone out, but basically it is athletic director John Neese, facilities director Tim McCarry, myself and then radio announcers Phil Ashby and Al Pickett. John, Tim and I have been on all of these trips over the years and it really is a fun experience to travel with this group.
There are so many stories that we should probably write a book some day, but then again no one would believe it. So we are off on another journey this weekend to the Great Northwest. It will be our first trip to Portland.
It has been a whirlwind first two weeks to the school year and their have been some interesting results from our events so far. As conference play begins this weekend one thing has become very apparent. Last year we were so lucky to have senior-laden teams in a lot of our fall sports. We graduated some players a year ago that will no doubt be future Hall of Famers at HSU in several sports. From a quick count off the top of my head we had at least eight seniors from a year ago that are no doubters, they had that big of an impact on the school and their teams.
When that type of leadership is gone, you have to find new leaders and players have to step into new roles. That has been the case in several sports this season. Coaches use the non-conference schedule to get their teams ready for conference play and to make whatever adjustments are necessary.
I am totally confident in all of our coaches to adjust their teams around their personnel. All four fall sport teams lost players that were not only great players and leaders, but all four lost some players that were starters from the time they stepped on campus. That is the fun part about their job is to take a team and try to make it better from the start of preseason training all the way to the end of the year. Our coaches have excelled at doing that and I am sure they will again.
The men's soccer team has two seniors, one junior and the rest are freshmen and sophomores. There is a lot of talent on the team but it is young and will take time to develop. They are looking for an identity after graduating their top two scorers from a year.
The same thing is true on the football team. The defense lost eight starters from a year ago and the offense lost six starters. That is a lot of experience and talent to replace. It will take some time for those leaders to develop. It is a nice luxury to have guys that have started 20 or more games to lead a team like the Cowboys had last year.
The women's soccer team seems to be in the same situation. The Cowgirls had some strong leaders that were seniors last year. The team has a lot of talent returning, but when you talk about losing three seniors that started basically every game of their careers and two more that played key roles throughout their career and players have always looked to them for guidance there is going to be some bumpy spots. Different players are having to step into that role this year.
Volleyball lost maybe the best player to ever play for HSU in Virginia Aguilar and Holly Amerena was a solid floor leader. The Cowgirls have had to replace them and also have had to adjust to a new coach. That takes some immediate adjustments on their part as well. If you haven't noticed the Cowgirls have played a brutal non-conference schedule and are 3-4. They have played four teams that went to the national tournament a year ago. The Cowgirls played No. 7 Trinity tough, winning a game from them for the first time. HSU lost in five games to No. 22 Pacific Lutheran. They seem primed to start conference play.
All four teams are talented and all four will compete for the conference titles. It may take some time, but that is what makes athletics fun, seeing the teams develop over the year.
Another of the favorite parts of my job is the time I get to spend traveling with our teams. It is so nice to get them away from Abilene and see different parts of the country. It is also nice to see how our kids act when we go on the road. They are polite, respectful and most of the time are business-like in their approach to the trip. You really get to know players and teams a lot better when you get on the road with them for a few days.
I have traveled all over the United States with our teams and it is a learning experience each time. For as long as I have been at HSU, we have basically been known as the Road Crew. Some people have gone in and some have gone out, but basically it is athletic director John Neese, facilities director Tim McCarry, myself and then radio announcers Phil Ashby and Al Pickett. John, Tim and I have been on all of these trips over the years and it really is a fun experience to travel with this group.
There are so many stories that we should probably write a book some day, but then again no one would believe it. So we are off on another journey this weekend to the Great Northwest. It will be our first trip to Portland.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
The Calm Before the Storm
It has been a quiet week around here so far and fortunately for the most part it will stay that way as we do not have a home event (other than a tennis tournament that is hosted all over town) this weekend. That is very rare for the fall. Also, with it being an off week for football the load has been lighter around here.
Monday's soccer game with the College of the Southwest was canceled, because the Mustangs lost too many players in a 14-0 loss to ACU on Sunday. It could have been another ugly score had they played.
Senior defender Laura Newbrough was named the ASC Soccer Defensive Player of the Week and also earned a spot on the D3kicks.com national team of the week. She was the first HSU player to be named ASC Player of the Week this season. HSU routinely leads the league in players of the week for the season.
Congrats to volleyball coach Sabrina Bingham on her first career win at HSU, a 3-0 blanking of Fontbonne on Saturday.
Another congratulations goes out to HSU football coach Jared Sanderson and his wife on the birth of their son Colt. He came in at over 9 pounds and everyone is doing well.
Monday's soccer game with the College of the Southwest was canceled, because the Mustangs lost too many players in a 14-0 loss to ACU on Sunday. It could have been another ugly score had they played.
Senior defender Laura Newbrough was named the ASC Soccer Defensive Player of the Week and also earned a spot on the D3kicks.com national team of the week. She was the first HSU player to be named ASC Player of the Week this season. HSU routinely leads the league in players of the week for the season.
Congrats to volleyball coach Sabrina Bingham on her first career win at HSU, a 3-0 blanking of Fontbonne on Saturday.
Another congratulations goes out to HSU football coach Jared Sanderson and his wife on the birth of their son Colt. He came in at over 9 pounds and everyone is doing well.
Monday, September 3, 2007
Whew - What A Weekend
Well the first weekend of games has come and gone and it is amazing every year you think you are ready and then it gets here and there are a 100 little things that you didn't get done in preparing for the season.
The Cowgirl Soccer team opened the season with a big win over Trinity in the first home contest of the year. It was the first time the Cowgirls have defeated Trinity in the regular season. HSU then went on the road Saturday to defeat Southwestern, 2-1. HSU tied both teams a year ago in the opening weekend.
On Friday, the Cowgirl volleyball team was beginning the Sabrina Bingham era at the UT-Dallas Tournament. HSU dropped its two matches on Friday, but returned with two big wins on Saturday to go 2-2.
Saturday was a crazy day. After setting up the press box and getting ready for the football game, I went over to the soccer field for the first game of the men's soccer season. They lost 2-0 to UTPB, but showed some promise for the season.
I rushed over to football to get ready for the game. Anyone that knows me, knows I am a technology junkie. One of the things I have done in the past is have livestats in front of the radio guys via linked computer. I have to borrow a laptop from technology services and it is linked via the network to the computer where the game stats are kept and they see the stats as they are updated. I received a new computer this summer and I did not have a program installed on it to connect the computers so that was the first thing that went wrong.
Then the game started and UWL had an amazing first half, although we seemd to gather some momentum toward the end of the half. When I went to print the stats for halftime, my printer I have been using for seven years now decided it was time for it to retire. So I was without a printer in the press box.
Well I took a deep breath and got ready for the second half, right as it is about to start the radio guys come in and say that the Internet stream was making a horrible high=pitched noise. There is nothing worse than that for a listener on the other end. I called the company that streams our games and don't get a response.
The reason was they had a system failure and they were down. They finally got the problem fixed about 11:30, but unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) our listeners did not get to hear the second half.
We have been working with Stretch Internet off and one for about four years now and I will go to bat for them, they have always been a great solution for us on the streaming side. They still are, they just had some problems that were out of their control. I know it was frustrating for some of our listeners and without us being on the radio this season it is the only option. Stick with us, I think it will eventually be a great solution for us and we will be streaming more games in more sports than ever.
Again we apologize for the problems and we stand behind Stretch.
Now to the second half of the football game, we got the ball first and immediately came down and scored and then got a three and out and was driving again before stalling out. From then on out UWL played great and they got the victory.
This is my eighth season at HSU and personally I think that is the best team we have faced in that time, including the 2000 year when we went to the semifinals. UWL is a very good team and we will be too. When you are starting new players all over the field it will take some time, unfortunately for the Cowboys they did not have that time before Saturday. The young guys were immediately thrown to the fire against a very good team.
One of the things that the weekend brought was a look at the updated Game Tracker. Our Internet provider CSTV, has really upgraded the Gametracker and have integrated features such as showing a player's picture when they are involved in a play. It is really a neat feature and if you have never had the opportunity to watch Gametracker on the Internet it is a nice touch, especially when the stream went down.
If you have ever wondered what it is like after a game - let me tell you it is a hectic couple of hours around here. Immediately after the game I come right over to my office and we print out what we call the books. It has all of the stats, play-by-play, etc from the game. We give those to the media covering the game and 10 to each team.
For a night game, I immediately send out an e-mail with the boxscore of the game to a prearranged media list. That way they can get the scores and the basics of the game. I also have a fax group send set up that goes to our opponents' media that are not on the e-mail list.
After that I update the web site with a box score and up-dated stats. This past Saturday was another challenge because we had men's and women's soccer and volleyball. I was able to update the men's soccer stats before the football game and volleyball and women's soccer finished up their games about the time the football game started.
I updated their stats on the web so at least the scores were on the web. At this point it was about 9:45 and the deadline for the ARN is 10:20 on Saturday so I need to have it to them by about 10 on Saturday's. I banged out a quick recap of all four contests (two volleyball and men's and women's soccer) and sent that out to the media list. Since the paper staffed the football game it was least imperative that I write that story before deadline so I wrote the football story after that. I then put the stories up on the HSU site and they were all on the web site with photo galleries for football and men's soccer by 10:45.
After that I followed up on a few e-mails about the stream being down and I updated the HSU pages on D3Football and D3kicks web sites. I also vote on a national poll for football so I checked the national scoreboard and prepared my ballot that is due on Sunday mornings. I finally walked out the door at about 12:30. I was back in the office by noon on Sunday. That is the day I work on players of the week nominations, do game notes for football and get ready for, what by our standards is, a light week in the fall.
I pride myself on getting the most information on our web site the fastest on game day. If at all possible there are results and updated stats of events the day of games on our site. If it is not updated, there has been a problem. If you notice something amiss on the site, please don't hesitate to drop me an e-mail. I am getting closer to having all of the rosters on the web for this year and all of the schedules are up.
The Cowgirl Soccer team opened the season with a big win over Trinity in the first home contest of the year. It was the first time the Cowgirls have defeated Trinity in the regular season. HSU then went on the road Saturday to defeat Southwestern, 2-1. HSU tied both teams a year ago in the opening weekend.
On Friday, the Cowgirl volleyball team was beginning the Sabrina Bingham era at the UT-Dallas Tournament. HSU dropped its two matches on Friday, but returned with two big wins on Saturday to go 2-2.
Saturday was a crazy day. After setting up the press box and getting ready for the football game, I went over to the soccer field for the first game of the men's soccer season. They lost 2-0 to UTPB, but showed some promise for the season.
I rushed over to football to get ready for the game. Anyone that knows me, knows I am a technology junkie. One of the things I have done in the past is have livestats in front of the radio guys via linked computer. I have to borrow a laptop from technology services and it is linked via the network to the computer where the game stats are kept and they see the stats as they are updated. I received a new computer this summer and I did not have a program installed on it to connect the computers so that was the first thing that went wrong.
Then the game started and UWL had an amazing first half, although we seemd to gather some momentum toward the end of the half. When I went to print the stats for halftime, my printer I have been using for seven years now decided it was time for it to retire. So I was without a printer in the press box.
Well I took a deep breath and got ready for the second half, right as it is about to start the radio guys come in and say that the Internet stream was making a horrible high=pitched noise. There is nothing worse than that for a listener on the other end. I called the company that streams our games and don't get a response.
The reason was they had a system failure and they were down. They finally got the problem fixed about 11:30, but unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) our listeners did not get to hear the second half.
We have been working with Stretch Internet off and one for about four years now and I will go to bat for them, they have always been a great solution for us on the streaming side. They still are, they just had some problems that were out of their control. I know it was frustrating for some of our listeners and without us being on the radio this season it is the only option. Stick with us, I think it will eventually be a great solution for us and we will be streaming more games in more sports than ever.
Again we apologize for the problems and we stand behind Stretch.
Now to the second half of the football game, we got the ball first and immediately came down and scored and then got a three and out and was driving again before stalling out. From then on out UWL played great and they got the victory.
This is my eighth season at HSU and personally I think that is the best team we have faced in that time, including the 2000 year when we went to the semifinals. UWL is a very good team and we will be too. When you are starting new players all over the field it will take some time, unfortunately for the Cowboys they did not have that time before Saturday. The young guys were immediately thrown to the fire against a very good team.
One of the things that the weekend brought was a look at the updated Game Tracker. Our Internet provider CSTV, has really upgraded the Gametracker and have integrated features such as showing a player's picture when they are involved in a play. It is really a neat feature and if you have never had the opportunity to watch Gametracker on the Internet it is a nice touch, especially when the stream went down.
If you have ever wondered what it is like after a game - let me tell you it is a hectic couple of hours around here. Immediately after the game I come right over to my office and we print out what we call the books. It has all of the stats, play-by-play, etc from the game. We give those to the media covering the game and 10 to each team.
For a night game, I immediately send out an e-mail with the boxscore of the game to a prearranged media list. That way they can get the scores and the basics of the game. I also have a fax group send set up that goes to our opponents' media that are not on the e-mail list.
After that I update the web site with a box score and up-dated stats. This past Saturday was another challenge because we had men's and women's soccer and volleyball. I was able to update the men's soccer stats before the football game and volleyball and women's soccer finished up their games about the time the football game started.
I updated their stats on the web so at least the scores were on the web. At this point it was about 9:45 and the deadline for the ARN is 10:20 on Saturday so I need to have it to them by about 10 on Saturday's. I banged out a quick recap of all four contests (two volleyball and men's and women's soccer) and sent that out to the media list. Since the paper staffed the football game it was least imperative that I write that story before deadline so I wrote the football story after that. I then put the stories up on the HSU site and they were all on the web site with photo galleries for football and men's soccer by 10:45.
After that I followed up on a few e-mails about the stream being down and I updated the HSU pages on D3Football and D3kicks web sites. I also vote on a national poll for football so I checked the national scoreboard and prepared my ballot that is due on Sunday mornings. I finally walked out the door at about 12:30. I was back in the office by noon on Sunday. That is the day I work on players of the week nominations, do game notes for football and get ready for, what by our standards is, a light week in the fall.
I pride myself on getting the most information on our web site the fastest on game day. If at all possible there are results and updated stats of events the day of games on our site. If it is not updated, there has been a problem. If you notice something amiss on the site, please don't hesitate to drop me an e-mail. I am getting closer to having all of the rosters on the web for this year and all of the schedules are up.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Game Week
Well it has been a long offseason and now it is again time for the games. There is no better way to start off the season than a couple of premiere national games in a couple of sports. The women's soccer team opens the season with old-rival Trinity. The two programs have a lot of mutual respect for each other and they have ended each other's season the last three years. First kick is slated for 2 p.m. on Friday at the HSU Soccer Complex on Grape Street. Be careful of the construction area next to the field when you go out. We ask that you go around the softball fieldhouse to get to the field.
The volleyball team plays two regional foes on Friday at the UT-Dallas Tournament. The Cowgirls will play nationally-ranked Southwestern to open the season and then will play UT-Dallas in a rematch of the ASC Championship last season.
The football team welcomes No. 7 UW-La Crosse to the Forty Acres on Saturday in what should be one of the best national games of the week. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. at Shelton Stadium. To get you warmed up for the game you can catch the men's soccer season opener against UT-Permain Basin at 3 p.m. at the HSU Soccer Complex.
All of the two-a-days are over and all of the hard work that goes into the offseason will start to pay dividends for the Cowboys and Cowgirls. We hope to see you at the games this week.
The volleyball team plays two regional foes on Friday at the UT-Dallas Tournament. The Cowgirls will play nationally-ranked Southwestern to open the season and then will play UT-Dallas in a rematch of the ASC Championship last season.
The football team welcomes No. 7 UW-La Crosse to the Forty Acres on Saturday in what should be one of the best national games of the week. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. at Shelton Stadium. To get you warmed up for the game you can catch the men's soccer season opener against UT-Permain Basin at 3 p.m. at the HSU Soccer Complex.
All of the two-a-days are over and all of the hard work that goes into the offseason will start to pay dividends for the Cowboys and Cowgirls. We hope to see you at the games this week.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Weekly Roundup
It’s been an exciting week around the campus as the football team is on campus and has gone through the first week of practice. There is some major competition going on all over the field for playing time.
We are still a week away from school starting so it will give the Cowboys another full week of football only to prepare for its tough opening stretch.
The soccer and volleyball teams begin their workouts on Monday in preparation for the season. All three of those teams are reigning conference champions and have plenty of returners on the team. The Cowgirl Soccer Team has been picked fourth in the preseason D3kicks.com poll. The Cowgirls made it home safely around 11:30 on Thursday night. Look forward to a slide show of pictures from their trip in the next week.
A couple of notes on a pair of former Cowboys playing professionally -- Ryan Shaughnessy Is playing for a team in Belgium and had a shutout of the first place team in the league in his debut. He also had the assist on the lone goal in the game. Jordan Neal continues to play for Malmo in the Swedish Football League. You can find his weekly ”Postcards from Sweden” on the Abilene Reporter News.
We are still a week away from school starting so it will give the Cowboys another full week of football only to prepare for its tough opening stretch.
The soccer and volleyball teams begin their workouts on Monday in preparation for the season. All three of those teams are reigning conference champions and have plenty of returners on the team. The Cowgirl Soccer Team has been picked fourth in the preseason D3kicks.com poll. The Cowgirls made it home safely around 11:30 on Thursday night. Look forward to a slide show of pictures from their trip in the next week.
A couple of notes on a pair of former Cowboys playing professionally -- Ryan Shaughnessy Is playing for a team in Belgium and had a shutout of the first place team in the league in his debut. He also had the assist on the lone goal in the game. Jordan Neal continues to play for Malmo in the Swedish Football League. You can find his weekly ”Postcards from Sweden” on the Abilene Reporter News.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Blog 5 From England
The HSU Cowgirls will fly back from London Gatwick on Thursday, August 15. Their preseason trip was very successful. The educational side of the tour included trips to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, The Globe Theatre where Shakespeare's plays are performed, The British Museum, The Tower of London, London Bridge, Westminster Abbey, Windsor, Eton College, Cambridge University and a ride on the World Famous London Eye. The Cowgirls very much enjoyed shopping at Harrod's, Picadilly Circus, China Town, The Covent Gardens and Cambridge.
On the soccer side the Cowgirls won one game and tied, 2 conceding no goals. The win was 4-0 against Cambridge United. The ties were against EPL sides Fulham and West Ham United, both with scores of 0-0. Coach Wood said about the games, "I am very pleased with how we played this early in the year.
We defended extremely well and some of the attacking ideas were starting to come together." The team also took part in training sessions led by staff from Tottenham FC. One of the sessions included two 13 year old boys who were on trial with Tottenham trying to earn a contract. The training sessions all took place at the Chigwell School.
On Wednesday night the team will take a stadium tour at Chelsea's stadium, Stamford Bridge and then will attend the English Premier League game between Fulham and Bolton.
On the soccer side the Cowgirls won one game and tied, 2 conceding no goals. The win was 4-0 against Cambridge United. The ties were against EPL sides Fulham and West Ham United, both with scores of 0-0. Coach Wood said about the games, "I am very pleased with how we played this early in the year.
We defended extremely well and some of the attacking ideas were starting to come together." The team also took part in training sessions led by staff from Tottenham FC. One of the sessions included two 13 year old boys who were on trial with Tottenham trying to earn a contract. The training sessions all took place at the Chigwell School.
On Wednesday night the team will take a stadium tour at Chelsea's stadium, Stamford Bridge and then will attend the English Premier League game between Fulham and Bolton.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Another Tie In England
The Cowgirls had another scoreless tie in their game today with West Ham. Coach Wood says the Cowgirls played well, but missed finishing three breakaways. The Cowgirls out shot West Ham 8-4 and HSU had 12 corners.
Jessica Flobeck and Amy Kuykendall will tell about the events of the day for Blog 4.
Cheers from London! Today was a pretty busy day for us...we started with a practice session with another one of the Tottenham coaches. He had a lot of good pointers for us and definately targeted our weak spots from our game last night. While our legs are pretty tired and sore, it was an all around great practice. We had a few hours of free time after that, so many of the girls went to downtown London to a HUGE department store called Harrods. It's 6 stories and has everything from designer clothes to groceries to candy stores to sporting goods! All the girls were pretty amazed at both the size of the store and the prices. (Not in a good way!) By the time we got back from there, it was time to prepare for our game against West Ham United. They were very strong girls, but we held them well and did not give up many scoring opportunities. We had 3 or 4 really good attacks, but we were very unlucky with our finishing. Although our legs are getting a little fatigued, we keep remembering what a great opportunity we have been given to be playing in beautiful London with such beautiful cool weather, and that keeps us very motivated to play well.
We miss all our fans very much and can't wait to show y'all what we can do this year!! We'll keep you updated on how the game goes tomorrow...hopefully we can score some goals and get our first London win!!
Cheers!!
-Flo n' Amy
Jessica Flobeck and Amy Kuykendall will tell about the events of the day for Blog 4.
Cheers from London! Today was a pretty busy day for us...we started with a practice session with another one of the Tottenham coaches. He had a lot of good pointers for us and definately targeted our weak spots from our game last night. While our legs are pretty tired and sore, it was an all around great practice. We had a few hours of free time after that, so many of the girls went to downtown London to a HUGE department store called Harrods. It's 6 stories and has everything from designer clothes to groceries to candy stores to sporting goods! All the girls were pretty amazed at both the size of the store and the prices. (Not in a good way!) By the time we got back from there, it was time to prepare for our game against West Ham United. They were very strong girls, but we held them well and did not give up many scoring opportunities. We had 3 or 4 really good attacks, but we were very unlucky with our finishing. Although our legs are getting a little fatigued, we keep remembering what a great opportunity we have been given to be playing in beautiful London with such beautiful cool weather, and that keeps us very motivated to play well.
We miss all our fans very much and can't wait to show y'all what we can do this year!! We'll keep you updated on how the game goes tomorrow...hopefully we can score some goals and get our first London win!!
Cheers!!
-Flo n' Amy
Welcome To HSU
The Cowboy football team went through its first practice of the season and the thermometer pushed ever so close to the 100-degree mark. Jimmie Keeling welcomed over 170 Cowboys to the first day. There was a lot of intensity in the workout and it amazes me every year when I watch how quickly the new guys learn from the upperclassmen and coaches. I must say it was amazing to see some of the size that the Cowboys brought in. After going through much of spring drills with less than 10 healthy bodies on the offensive line, it was a nice sight to see around 40 offensive lineman get after it.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Its a Tie
Blog 3: Beth Craig and Laura Newbrough
Yes!!!! The team finally received a day off. We started our "lovely" day by traveling to Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guards. Afterwards, many groups ventured off on individual adventures. Some traveled to the Tower of London to see the crown jewels. Others went to the British museum, Westminster Abbey, Harrods, and the Globe theatre. I (Laura) went to see a midnight showing of "The Merchant of Venice" at the Globe. It was an amazing experience!!!! I (Beth) went to see the musical "Wicked" and overall the play was fantastic. The actors had the most amazing voices. Other than that the rest of the day was spent shopping and doing other types of tourist attractions.
Today, we started off the morning with a great breakfast and then a trip to Windsor. We spent our time touring the castle and shopping in small stores. Then we headed off to play Fulham. Everyone played wonderful and we ended up tying the premier league team.
Game Recap
The Cowgirls tied Fulham which is a premier team. It was 0-0, but HSU led in shots 5-2 and had eight corners in the game. The defense, which is expected to be the strength of the team, played very well according to Coach Wood.
Yes!!!! The team finally received a day off. We started our "lovely" day by traveling to Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guards. Afterwards, many groups ventured off on individual adventures. Some traveled to the Tower of London to see the crown jewels. Others went to the British museum, Westminster Abbey, Harrods, and the Globe theatre. I (Laura) went to see a midnight showing of "The Merchant of Venice" at the Globe. It was an amazing experience!!!! I (Beth) went to see the musical "Wicked" and overall the play was fantastic. The actors had the most amazing voices. Other than that the rest of the day was spent shopping and doing other types of tourist attractions.
Today, we started off the morning with a great breakfast and then a trip to Windsor. We spent our time touring the castle and shopping in small stores. Then we headed off to play Fulham. Everyone played wonderful and we ended up tying the premier league team.
Game Recap
The Cowgirls tied Fulham which is a premier team. It was 0-0, but HSU led in shots 5-2 and had eight corners in the game. The defense, which is expected to be the strength of the team, played very well according to Coach Wood.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Blog 2 From England
This blog comes courtesy of Lindsay Cogburn.
Today we got our first true taste of English soccer. We had a training session with one of the coaches of the Tottenham Hotspurs academy. My first thoughts were skeptical; thinking that it was going to be a three hour long session with no water breaks and continuous running, but to my surprise the fitness was done by skillwork. It really was a true taste of the game over here because I learned more about skills in the 2 hours we practiced than I have in a long time.
We started out practicing moves to ourselves, but one of the main differences I saw working with the Tottenham coach was he actually applied the move to a gamelike situation. Showing us when it was appropriate to use it, where on the field it should work, and the exact movement needed to beat the opponent. There were also two South African boys around the age of 13 that were practicing with us. We all noticed how good they were and we later found out that they were here for a tryout for the Tottenham team. It was really amazing to get the opportunity to learn and play with people that love the game of soccer, and have practically made it their life.
After the training session we got a chance to go into London for the first time together and ride the famous London Eye. After a long and involved train ride, almost losing our great goalkeeper Z for missing the train, and running through the train station we finally arrived in the city that we came here to see. The London Eye was really amazing and I'm so glad we got the chance to ride it. We got to see the whole city for what it's worth before actually getting to go in it. After that we walked around downtown, seeing the sights that many have only seen in pictures. Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, a double decker bus, China town, and we still have tomorrow when we get a whole day to do anything we want in the huge city.
Hopefully everyone will get to see everything they want to in the time we have this week. With a day off tomorrow from soccer, I'm really looking forward to our first game on Sunday. I can't wait to find out how great we will play against the women teams over here. So far...this has been a trip I will always remember.
Today we got our first true taste of English soccer. We had a training session with one of the coaches of the Tottenham Hotspurs academy. My first thoughts were skeptical; thinking that it was going to be a three hour long session with no water breaks and continuous running, but to my surprise the fitness was done by skillwork. It really was a true taste of the game over here because I learned more about skills in the 2 hours we practiced than I have in a long time.
We started out practicing moves to ourselves, but one of the main differences I saw working with the Tottenham coach was he actually applied the move to a gamelike situation. Showing us when it was appropriate to use it, where on the field it should work, and the exact movement needed to beat the opponent. There were also two South African boys around the age of 13 that were practicing with us. We all noticed how good they were and we later found out that they were here for a tryout for the Tottenham team. It was really amazing to get the opportunity to learn and play with people that love the game of soccer, and have practically made it their life.
After the training session we got a chance to go into London for the first time together and ride the famous London Eye. After a long and involved train ride, almost losing our great goalkeeper Z for missing the train, and running through the train station we finally arrived in the city that we came here to see. The London Eye was really amazing and I'm so glad we got the chance to ride it. We got to see the whole city for what it's worth before actually getting to go in it. After that we walked around downtown, seeing the sights that many have only seen in pictures. Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, a double decker bus, China town, and we still have tomorrow when we get a whole day to do anything we want in the huge city.
Hopefully everyone will get to see everything they want to in the time we have this week. With a day off tomorrow from soccer, I'm really looking forward to our first game on Sunday. I can't wait to find out how great we will play against the women teams over here. So far...this has been a trip I will always remember.
Greetings From England
Hardin-Simmons head women's soccer coach Marcus Wood and senior Regan Cappella are blogging from their trip to England. Here is their first installment.
Marcus Wood
The 10 hour flight was one of the better long flights I have experienced. The flight was not full so we had some room to spread out. I had plenty of time to read and the in flight movies were very good. At 4:00 am I watched 2 of the best episdoes of The Office: The Dundee Awards and The Office Olympics both had me laughing outloud.
When we arrived at London Gatwick Airport everything went pretty smooth. We got right on our coach (charter bus) and headed to The Chigwell School. At the Chigwell School we headed out to the pitch and had a practice session that allowed us to work the bugs out. I am sad to report that my team (the Veterans) lost to the Youngsters.
Walking off the practice field we planned on catching the tube into London but jet lag caught up so my group stayed in Chigwell. The Pub (Ye Old Kings Head) where we ate is where Charles Dickens wrote one of his books. Winston Churchill often ate at Ye Old Kings Head. Several of the girls went into London and I admire their ability to stay awake. I was asleep by 9:00 pm.
Today we practice with the staff of Tottenham Hotspur FC. We expect Martin Jol will have a nice session for us on the eve of their opening match of the EPL season. We then head into London for a ride on the London Eye and all the sightseeing. Our first match is Sunday against Fulham.
Regan Cappella
Cheers mate! Lets just say that our first day has been interesting...The flight was loooonngg and bumpy making it very hard to get decent sleep, but we did get pretty good food and movies. We then went ahead to our first practice with eyes half shut and did pretty good to beat the old farts as usual.
Tonight we will make our way out into London where we will get to ride on the London Eye and start our adventure in the city..Hopefully we get to see Prince William....but probably not! :)
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Welcome Aboard
It is an exciting time to be a member of the staff at Hardin-Simmons University. we have had some huge accomplishments over the last several years. As great as they have been, we are looking to even bigger and better things in the 2007-08 school year, which is right around the corner.
Congratulations to coach Shanna Briggs and the Cowgirls, who were named the top Division III team in GPA for the 2006-07 season. Only one team in the entire nation at all levels had a higher GPA than HSU, so what a great accomplishment for the team.
It will not be long before the fall sport teams show up for fall practice. The women's soccer team is set for a trip to Europe. Football will begin fall practices on August 13 in preparation for its opener on September 1 against UW-LaCrosse.
For those of you outside of Abilene, it has been a crazy year for weather in the Big Country. We have had an unusual amount of rain and believe it or not on August 8th it is hard to find a brown patch of grass anywhere. We have not yet had the stifling heat we are accustomed to. I don't think it has been above about 93 or 94 degrees before today. Maybe it will get hot some time about Sept. 1.
Progress is going on three construction projects relating to athletics. The Sandefer Fieldhouse is getting some new meeting room space. There will be three meeting rooms on the backside of the Fieldhouse where the storage garage used to be. The project was made possible by a generous donation by a loyal HSU supporter. Also a former Cowboy All-American donated some new office furniture for the Sandefer Fieldhouse for the coaches offices. That area will have a new look in the fall. A lot of the furniture is the original for the building that is almost 20 years old now.
Although rain has set the time line back some, work continues to progress on the new soccer fieldhouse that is being built on Grape Street. It will be a nice addition for the soccer teams in the future to have their locker rooms at the playing facility.
The whole Grape Street Complex has gone from a dream to reality in about five years. There is a softball game field and fieldhouse, a soccer game field with work on a practice field and fieldhouse and coming soon will be a track. If you haven't had a chance to be on campus in a while make a trip to Abilene this fall and check out the progress.
Congratulations to coach Shanna Briggs and the Cowgirls, who were named the top Division III team in GPA for the 2006-07 season. Only one team in the entire nation at all levels had a higher GPA than HSU, so what a great accomplishment for the team.
It will not be long before the fall sport teams show up for fall practice. The women's soccer team is set for a trip to Europe. Football will begin fall practices on August 13 in preparation for its opener on September 1 against UW-LaCrosse.
For those of you outside of Abilene, it has been a crazy year for weather in the Big Country. We have had an unusual amount of rain and believe it or not on August 8th it is hard to find a brown patch of grass anywhere. We have not yet had the stifling heat we are accustomed to. I don't think it has been above about 93 or 94 degrees before today. Maybe it will get hot some time about Sept. 1.
Progress is going on three construction projects relating to athletics. The Sandefer Fieldhouse is getting some new meeting room space. There will be three meeting rooms on the backside of the Fieldhouse where the storage garage used to be. The project was made possible by a generous donation by a loyal HSU supporter. Also a former Cowboy All-American donated some new office furniture for the Sandefer Fieldhouse for the coaches offices. That area will have a new look in the fall. A lot of the furniture is the original for the building that is almost 20 years old now.
Although rain has set the time line back some, work continues to progress on the new soccer fieldhouse that is being built on Grape Street. It will be a nice addition for the soccer teams in the future to have their locker rooms at the playing facility.
The whole Grape Street Complex has gone from a dream to reality in about five years. There is a softball game field and fieldhouse, a soccer game field with work on a practice field and fieldhouse and coming soon will be a track. If you haven't had a chance to be on campus in a while make a trip to Abilene this fall and check out the progress.
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