Watching the Saints on Waikiki

It's strange seeing an NFL game kick off at 8 a.m., with the screams of an agitated mackaw (however you spell it, the bird on the Fruit Loops cereal box) booming from a nearby grove, but that's the scene here in Hawaii on Sunday morning as we pack our bags for tonight's red-eye flight home.

(BTW, this is Doug Ireland using Patrick Netherton's blog space. What has it come to in Hawaii? I have to pinch hit for him last night on the radio, because he's ill, and now I have to assume his identity to post my blog because I can't access my own? Good news is, the phrase "better living through pharmaceuticals" applies to Patrick, who looked the color of the sand on Waikiki Beach yesterday but after bedrest and prescription medication, he's up and at 'em today. Thanks, he says, for the flowers, cards and letters!)

Coach Leon Johnson and trainer Ed Evans are crossing the island to see the fabled Bonzai Pipeline on the Northshore, something I have yet to do in three trips here but have at the top of my wish list. They snuck out under cover of dawn, being two fellows who don't mind seeing the sun rise.

Except for last night's ball game, and Patrick's swoon, this has been another wonderful trip to paradise. The game wasn't a total loss, as Luke Rogers said a few minutes ago -- the team fought through a ton of adversity, both from their inability to make shots and the unwarranted exit of coach Mike McConathy. A lot of teams I've seen would have been blown out last night. These Demons have definitely got a pile of "comebackabililty."

Today they'll crunch as most shopping and sightseeing as possible into the next 5 hours. The team meets at California Pizza Kitchen at 3 (7 back home) and after a wonderful dinner begans heading to the airport. We pull back into Prather Coliseum's parking lot, if all goes on schedule, at noon.

By 1, the Demons will be, true to their creed, back to work. Weightlifting and practice awaits. Improvement doesn't come easy.

But shopping comes first today!

Happy occasion in Hawaii

HONOLULU – How could you NOT have a happy occasion in Paradise?

It’s hard for the NSU basketball team to imagine, other than the sting of a couple of bitter losses in last year’s Rainbow Classic. They’ll get a chance to walk off the court happier Saturday night.

But before we even landed in Honolulu Thursday evening, we learned of a happy event for one NSU alumnus today. At the Houston airport, we met the Maxfield family from Tyler, Texas, whose son Ryan is a very proud 2004 NSU graduate now pursuing his doctoral degree in international relations and political economics at Cal-Irvine.

Ryan was a four-year member of the Spirit of Northwestern Marching Band and the Purple Haze pep band. His parents, Preston and Jacqueline, are big Demon sports fans like their son, who treasures the memory of playing in Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium when the Lady Demon basketball team went to the 2004 NCAA Tournament.

Preston sat in a parking lot in Tyler last March and listened to the Demons beat Iowa in the men’s NCAA Tournament.

What brought them to Hawaii was the Friday wedding of their daughter, Amber, to Carl Nona. They work at the same large Houston-based law firm, and the couple and Amber’s parents had the same flight to Honolulu that the Demons did.

Ryan was flying separately from Los Angeles. The family was planning a fun-filled weekend, and the father of the bride, the groom and the brother of the bride made a late add to their itinerary: they asked for tickets to Saturday evening’s basketball game!

Carl and Amber have dated for four years and have been engaged for the last two.

As for Ryan, he graduated from NSU with honors with a double major of political science and music performance.

… On the eight-hour flight from Houston, many of the NSU players and coaches were enthralled by the in-flight movie “Invincible,” the story of a blue-collar bartender who defied the odds to try out and make the Philadelphia Eagles’ roster in the late 1970s.

“If that doesn’t get your heart thumpin’, nothing will,” said head coach Mike McConathy, who gives the movie a big pair of thumbs up.

Reading on the flight: while I polished off “Thunderstruck,” the dual story of Marconi’s development of wireless communications and a riveting murder case in London before World War II, coach McConathy was reading an updated version of the Bible.


--Doug Ireland

Demons enjoy Saints win over Cowboys

Former Demon and Former Saint Bobby Hebert as Grand Marshall of the 2006 Natchitoches Christmas Festival of Lights.

It’s easy to figure former Saints quarterback and NSU graduate Bobby Hebert thoroughly enjoyed New Orleans’ rout of Dallas in NFL action Sunday night.

The excitement in his voice was obvious listening to his post-game radio show on 870 -AM WWL – even though he had picked Dallas to win. “Hey, you gotta be objective! The Saints had a lot to overcome in this game, but this is definitely one time I’m really happy to be wrong,” he told one caller.

Bobby (shown above throwing candy as grand marshal of the 80th Annual Natchitoches Christmas Festival parade Dec. 2) was speaking for a legion of Saints fans thrilled with their team’s blowout of their next-door neighbors. The match-up is always fun to watch, as much as for the fan enthusiasm as for any other reason.

It extended all the way to the NSU Cheerleaders. Sitting next to each other at a local Chili’s restaurant Sunday night were Afton Brunett, a freshman education major from New Orleans, and Stephanie Farish, a junior psychology major from Irving, Texas.

As you might guess, Afton was wearing Saints gear – a No. 87 Joe Horn jersey and a black and gold Santa hat with “Saints” in gold lettering – and Stephanie had on a No. 81 Cowboys jersey. “I know, it’s T.O., but I couldn’t get a Tony Romo jersey,” she sheepishly explained after No. 81 dropped yet another catchable pass. “I’ve got to have my Cowboys jersey on for the games.”

The cheerleaders were quite well versed on their teams and avidly watched every play, and yes, cheering. They agreed on one thing – “Sean Payton is really good looking,” said Afton. And give Stephanie credit, when things turned sour, she didn’t quit rooting openly and ardently for her team.

The crowd at Chili’s was pretty evenly split between the rivals, but late in the game most Cowboys fans headed home early and some Saints fans, like avid NSU supporter and professor Dr. Ron McBride, dropped by to enjoy the waning moments. Ron donned his No. 25 Reggie Bush Saints jersey, his Saints cap and his Saints warm-ups for the occasion. He has the equivalent, of course, in purple and white Demons gear.I

Reconnecting with 70s Demons

Turns out Marquette basketball coach Tom Crean had a former Demon who helped him climb the career ladder.

Crean worked on the coaching staff at Alma College under Ralph Pim, who was an assistant coach at NSU under Tynes Hildebrand in the late 1970s.

Pim is now intramural sports coordinator at the United States Military Academy. Yes, at West Point, where every cadet not involved in intercollegiate athletics is required to participate in intramural activities each weekday afternoon at 4.

Pim spent breakfast Saturday at the Hilton Milwaukee City Center with Demons coach Mike McConathy and staff, remembering his days in Natchitoches and talking basketball. He was extrememly disappointed to learn that Friday's blizzard denied him the chance to reconnect with former Demon assistant coach Derwood Duke, whose plans to attend the Marquette tournament were scrapped by the storm.

Pim and trainer Ed Evans spent time telling Eugene Christmas stories. Pim left in 1978 and Evans arrived as a graduate assistant trainer a year later.

Pim and Crean stay in contact. Pim flew in for the weekend tournament to see four good games and to check out the Demons.

Also during breakfast, the Demon coaches visited with a couple of their counterparts from North Dakota State, which will play Marquette tonight in the tournament championship game. There were naturally some strategic exchanges since NDSU beat Princeton, who the Demons face this evening, and conversation about the vast contrast in styles in the two semifinals. NDSU doesn't attack, but Princeton simply plods with its pass-heavy, screening offensive sets that chew time off the clock. After watching that game, the NSU-Marquette contest looked like it was in fast forward mode.

BTW, Marquette staffers and media covering the Golden Eagles were surprised and impressed by the Demons. Surprised that NSU would run and press against Marquette, and impressed with the depth, fearlessness, tenacity and athleticism the Demons displayed. Pim and the NDSU coaches echoed those sentiments Saturday morning.

Former Demons forward Rob Sutherland (1973-76), a Hales Corners, Wis., native and resident, was behind the NSU bench for the Marquette game. He visited Shreveport last year to attend the wedding of former NSU teammate Bill McKellar's daughter, and met Coach Mike at the event. When the Demons showed up on the Marquette schedule, Sutherland got in touch with McKellar and then McConathy and was impressed with the depth and athleticism of the Demons in their game against the nation's No. 8-ranked team.

Sutherland was recruited to NSU by Jack Hearron, another Hildebrand assistant. Hearron works at the Oklahoma School for Math and Science in Norman, and reunites with the Demons each time NSU plays at his alma mater, Oklahoma State. Hearron became close with the McConathy family when he recruited Mike, albeit unsuccessfully, in the early 1970s. Hearron played for legendary coach Henry Iba at OSU, just as his dad did.

There IS such a thing as ...

… a free lunch.

The Demon basketball team found out the nice way today, thanks to the havoc created by Milwaukee’s worst blizzard in two years.

The storm passed, ironically, just after the Demons were the beneficiaries of kindness from the Wisconsin Laywers, the state bar of Wisconsin. The group was hosting a tax law seminar at our hotel, the Hilton City Center, but hardly anyone who was supposed to attend could make it.

The bar association had a wonderful buffet luncheon set up outside its meeting room. The few folks who were able to attend enjoyed their lunch. Meanwhile, the Demons rolled back into the hotel lobby after their midday shootaround at the Bradley Center, site of tonight’s game.

Timing is everything. Somebody around the front desk asked our coaches if the team would want some free food that was going to be otherwise thrown away, and explained the circumstance. It wasn't a tough decision.

Our very gracious hosts were Dennis Price, the media coordinator for Wisconsin Lawyers; Timothy A. Clark, the group's program attorney; and administrative assistant Anita Klan.

It was an unexpected surprise that filled the gap created when the tournament luncheon, scheduled for noon, was cancelled due to the storm.

It was more enjoyable to meet some wonderful Wisconsin folks whose kindness came out of the blue -- er, white drifts of snow blowing through downtown.

The Demons were very relaxed at their shootaround and had a great practice Thursday morning before leaving Natchitoches. Let's hope it translates into a super game tonight against Marquette!

Blizzard Warning

The phrase "Blizzard Warning" is what the Demons awoke to this morning.

The very biting, cold wind had been replaced by what local news stations are referring to as the worst storm in more than two years in Milwaukee. Schools are closed, businesses closing and the snow is falling at 1-1/2 inches per hour. The wind is hitting 40 mph and the wind chill is 15 degrees.

The picture at the top is a shot from my hotel window in downtown Milwaukee early this morning. I hope you can see the snow falling vertically like rain.

The good news for the Demons as they get set to take on Marquette tonight is that the Bradley Center is just a few blocks away, so if necessary, we can slide our way over there, literally.

The National Weather Service just issued a warning saying that "if you go outside, you go at the risk of your own life."

Wow.

March Madness Extends Into November

At Northwestern State, advertising is not measured in millions of households or millions of dollars, it is measured in hundreds or thousands of dollars and thousands of households.

And yet, in advertising and television circles, you hear about the millions of households watching a given program, ratings and shares. None of that has really meant anything to NSU…until now.

With Jermaine Wallace’s shot as THE defining play of the 2005 NCAA Tournament, everyone around the athletic department at NSU knew that the benefits would be impressive. The $107,000 to the general scholarship fund. The countless mentions, front page stories and even the domination of the “One Shining Moment” highlight montage at the end of the tournament.

But surely the good pub will stop there.

It has not.

CBS has begun airing a promo for its NCAA Tournament coverage. Who gets mentioned? Of course George Mason, the Cinderella of all Cinderellas that made it to the Final Four. The Florida Gators? Of course, they won the national championship. The only other team very noticeably included in the highlight?

The Northwestern State Demons with Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery’s call of “Oh my goodness, Northwestern wins!”

The Demons are in that commercial at least three times (Tyronn Mitchell jumping, the Demons jumping on the sideline, a sideline shot of Mike McConathy clapping with the team celebrating the comeback behind him).

The reason I began this story talking about ratings? Because the CBS NCAA promo was running during the NFL coverage on CBS. The NFL is a runaway juggernaut of ratings, with almost every sports fan in America watching. So the fact that the promo runs during that time means that tens of millions of people see NSU again.

No longer can the NSU athletic department talk about buying a billboard in Natchitoches or putting a radio spot on the local airwaves without realizing that with one stirring comeback and one miracle shot, anything they can pay for would be dwarfed by something they didn’t have to buy.

And as anyone in advertising will tell you, the more people who see you the better, the lower the price the better.

Being able to advertise to millions of people for free? Priceless.

Stillwater first, now Louisville

The week long road trip with the Demon basketball team continued as we loaded up a Continental Express plane and flew from Oklahoma City to Houston, then Houston to Louisville Thursday afternoon.

The three days we're spending in Louisville began with a night practice on the UL campus in the volleyball gym. Freedom Hall, the home of the Cardinals, is not available due to a cattle show being held until Friday.

On Friday morning, the team loaded up into three vans and headed for nearby Seneca High School where the team practiced from 7:30 a.m. to 9. What was interesting about this practice, nearly 200 of the school's students filled the bleachers to watch the Demons go through their preparations for Saturday's contest.

Demetrius Bell joined the team later Friday morning after playing in the Demons' final football game of the season Thursday night at Stephen F. Austin.

On Friday afternoon, Patrick Netherton and myself headed to Churchill Downs to catch some live horse racing. After that, the team loaded up and headed off into different directions.

One group when with Coach Mike to Bowling Green and to the Corvette assembly plant while the other crew jumped in the vans with Coach Slessinger and Coach Moore to visit the Muhammad Ali Museum.

The team gathered for a meal at a local buffet restaurant for dinner before studying films for Saturday's game.

A local television station ran an interview with UL head coach Rick Pitino during its six o'clock sports segment, and this is what Pitino said about the Demons...

"This is definitely the toughest team I've played in a season opener in my 32 years of coaching."

Life on the road with the Demon basketball team

No one can argue the amount of time spent at the office in the sports information field. Weeknights, weekends, holidays, etc., etc., etc.

But there are times when “work” is anything but.

That time is occurring to me this week as I’m getting to make my first trip with the Demon basketball team in my three-and-a-half years at Northwestern.

It all started Monday night at 7 when we rolled out of the Prather Coliseum parking lot en route to Denton, Texas – halfway from our first destination, Stillwater, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

After a morning practice at North Texas on Tuesday, we packed up and headed north for Stillwater.

After arriving around 4:30 yesterday afternoon, I got to step foot for the first time in the ever-popular Gallagher-Iba Arena on the OSU campus. I definitely was not disappointed.

Positioned high into the air, 13-thousand plus orange seats are almost literally stacked on top of one another in steep fashion. Out in the lobby of the arena are a few memorabilia displays – one containing things from my all-time favorite football player, Barry Sanders.

While the team was warming up before the short practice, Patrick Netherton and I fired off some three-pointers, most, of course, didn’t go it. But Patrick did make more than he made last year (0-for-15 I think) and I rolled off three-straight 3s before tossing up an air-ball. That was my stopping point. BTW, Jermaine Spencer had a couple of assists off those treys.

After my play time, I was able to sneak away and make my way into the OSU football stadium that is right outside the basketball arena. OSU is playing host to Oklahoma this week, so outside of GIA was a tent city of students camping out, waiting to get their ticket to the big contest. Some said they had been there for 23 days.

It’s now 10:35 Wednesday morning… gameday! We’ll head to shoot-around at 11:15 then play tonight at 7:05.

We’ll head to Oklahoma City tomorrow to fly out for Louisville. There, the Demons will take on Rick Pitino’s Cardinals at noon on Saturday. But prior to then, a lot is to be seen and visited… Churchill Downs, Louisville Slugger factory, Muhammad Ali Museum and maybe even Valhalla Golf Course (site of the 2008 Ryder Cup).

Stay tuned for more.

Coming through in the crunch

Chuck Bourg.

For anybody in the NSU athletic department, if there’s a problem, Chuck is usually able to provide a solution. He directs the athletic facilities and equipment and is the ultimate jack of all trades.

Friday afternoon, his trade became telephone repair. After lunch, phone lines serving press row at Prather Coliseum died.

Campus telephone repair man Dale Martin was out of town and his cell phone signal was weak.

All this meant was that the radio broadcasts of the game, both for the Demon Sports Network and Utah State, were kaput.

Except Chuck, and Donna “Momma D” Anderson of the university police office, managed to find the solution. It took some hands-on engineering and also some technical advice from outside, but bottom line is, once again, for the 1,023,377th time, Chuck is our hero!

Greeted near The Grove

Several hundred Northwestern fans were at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss., last Saturday to cheer the Demons against the Ole Miss Rebels. No doubt most of them enjoyed tailgating in the fabled Grove, one of the great traditions in college sports.

The Grove is a tree-shrouded area around the stadium where tailgating reaches extravagant levels, complete with fine china under some tents. So I’m told – I had to work and never got out there.

But I was able to bump into a few former Demon football players on the field before the game, and in the stands and even the press box.

Talented tailback Danny Alexander (1991-94), who lives near Oxford and is in the real estate business, brought his nearly teenage daughter and her young friend to the game. They make it back to Natchitoches nearly every year. She was wearing a Demon football camp T-shirt.

Rugged offensive guard Bo Milton (1990-91) brought a buddy to the game. Bo is coaching and his Brookhaven (Miss.) Academy team enters the playoffs with just one loss.

Quarterback and Graduate N Club Hall of Famer Butch Ballard sat with his brothers and nephews in the stands. Butch (1974-75), who sparkled in his debut as color analyst on the Demon Sports Network two weeks ago (not coincidentally, the Demons won!) will be back in the booth for the final two games vs. McNeese and SFA. He made one of the longer trips to Oxford, coming from his home in Huntsville, Texas.

Surely Kent Willoughby wins the honors for the longest trip by a former Demon player to attend Saturday’s game. Willoughby was an end for coach Jack Clayton’s teams, lettering all three years (1960-62) when you could only play three years. He lined up alongside Pro Football Hall of Famer Jackie Smith and other Demon standouts like Corwyn Aldredge Sr.

Willoughby now lives in the Denver area, where he is a ski instructor and a rabid mountain climber. Those are pretty extreme avocations for a fellow who coached football in south Louisiana at Terrebone High School after graduating from Northwestern. He spent 30 years in education, mostly in administration, and was a fascinating guest at halftime on the Demon Sports Network broadcast.

While running through the list of former players, I’m sure I missed a few in Oxford (including the omnipresent combination of David and Stuart Wright, along with Britt Brittain), but two must be mentioned – both also with south Louisiana ties. Of course, that’s Ole Miss head coach Ed “Be-Be” Orgeron and his South Lafourche High School and Demon football buddy, Bryan Arceneaux.

Orgeron lettered on the defensive line from 1980-83, and was voted permanent team captain in 1983, receiving one of the first Joe Delaney Memorial Leadership Awards. He then coached two years under Sam Goodwin.

Arceneaux lettered on the D-line from 1981-84, helping the Demons win the Gulf Star Conference title his senior year, and he also helped coach after his playing days ended.

Both those colorful characters are also still helping the Demons. Orgeron asked Ole Miss to play NSU and give the Demons a two-year contract, resulting in a reported $650,000 lift to the athletic budget over two seasons. Arceneaux hosts the Demon coaching staff each summer on a deep sea fishing expedition out of Grand Isle and is one of Coach Scott Stoker’s close friends and confidantes.

The Man Beside the Man Behind the Mic...

Calling football games as the "Voice of the Demons" is a remarkable experience, when (hopefully) thousands of people are hanging on every word, hoping for that key play to win the game. What most people don't understand though, is how much having a good right-hand man means to a quality broadcast.

My right-hand man? David Antilley II: statistician, engineer, yardage calculator, technical guru.

Most people know Davey from his work teaching hordes of young journalism students the ropes in TV. I know Davey because he is the only person I know who beats me to the stadium for the broadcast.

In a typical football broadcast, Davey is responsible for setting up the equipment. Simple, right? A couple of headsets, a mixer and you are good to go? Nope.

Wireless mic, wireless FM modulator, codec box, additional mixer, two headsets, two radio monitors, miles and miles of cords and cables, not to mention my own mini-disc player that I stick him with for pre-game interview and taping the game.

Setting that stuff up takes not only time, but talent, a ridiculous attention to detail and a lot of patience. Davey gets to the booth around three hours before kickoff, if he didn't set the equipment up earlier that morning or the day before, and begins the unpacking process. All of the cords to connect to power, connect the boxes and headsets to each other, connect the wireless mic and receivers in, everything has to be accounted for and arranged.

Only then can he actually hook everything up. By the time he gets done (usually 30 minutes to an hour), he then has to get all of the stat stuff out because Davey also keeps stats during the game and helps me with yardage calculations for long and short gains by the Demons.

Basically, when I walk into the radio booth, I sit down in front of my headset, put it on and start talking. In this setup, I have the easy job.

So the next time you think the broadcast sounds pretty good, or you hear me rattle off someone's stats during the middle of the drive, or wonder how I knew that run was 58 yards by the time the runner is tackled, know that it is Davey Antilley who makes that happen.

Davey is an integral part of the broadcast, giving his time and effort and considerable technical expertise to a job many people don't even know he does. So if you see Davey before the game or around campus, please thank him for a job well done. I always make sure to thank him after every broadcast.

Oh, and did I mention he does this for free??

New look Demons sure to create excitement on the diamond

Don’t look now, but baseball season is creeping up.

The Northwestern State Demons capped off their 2006 fall practice schedule last Saturday with the annual home run derby and the new season is now just three months away.

The Demons, who return just 12 players and two starters (pitchers Drew Brown and Fraser Robinson) from last year’s SLC tournament title game appearance team, welcomed a slew of newcomers when fall practiced began the first part of October.

“We’ve got a lot of new faces,” said NSU head coach Mitch Gaspard. “But these guys love to compete. That’s what’s so exciting about this team.”

Headlining the list is shortstop transfer Brandon Richey from LSU-Eunice. Richey earned JUCO All-American honors last season after leading the Bengals to the JUCO World Series championship. He batted .424 behind a school record 98 hits, 21 doubles, 32 stolen bases, 85 runs scored, and a .514 on-base percentage. His .693 slugging percentage ranks second on the LSUE records chart while his 11 home runs last season ranks third.

Also signing with the Demons from that team is first baseman Leonard Porché. Porché hit .358 last season with nine home runs and 56 RBI – third most in school history.

Dylan Libadisos, this year’s home run derby champion, joins the team from Highland Community College where he earned All-American Honorable Mention honors along with first team All-Conference and All-Region accolades. He was named the Region IV MVP after belting 13 home runs and 47 RBI with a .385 batting average.

Two left-handed pitchers, Jason Grace and Jason Troth, are expected to make an immediate impact for the 2007 season.

Grace, a transfer from Seminole State in Oklahoma, helped his team to a conference championship after posting a 2-2 record with a 2.25 ERA. He whiffed 30 batters in 32 innings pitched and posted an amazing 0.25 ERA in conference games.

Troth tossed 82.2 innings at Weatherford College, posting a 7-3 record and a 3.05 ERA. He also finished 6-1 in conference games.

Although the 2007 schedule has not been officially released, I can fill you in on a few dates.

NSU will host the 2007 Southland Conference baseball tournament May 23-26. It’s the second time in three seasons the Demons have hosted the event.

The Demons will kick off the season with the NSU Round Robin Feb. 9-11 with Texas State and Dallas Baptist visiting.

Mar. 6 will be a big home game with Louisiana-Lafayette visiting and NSU will host SLC foes Southeastern Louisiana (Mar. 23-25), Stephen F. Austin (Apr. 6-8), Nicholls State (Apr. 20-22), Sam Houston State (May 4-6), and newcomer Central Arkansas (May 17-19).

Attractive road games have the Demons playing at the Southern Miss tournament (Feb. 16-18), at LSU (Feb. 21) and in a three-game series at Houston (Mar. 2-4).

Check back on nsudemons.com in a few days to find the complete schedule along with the 2007 roster and player profiles.

Costume memories

Coach Scott Stoker with 6 year old daughter Zoe - who is dressed as Demon Quarterback Roch Charpentier


Demons on Halloween. Spooky, huh? Hilarious may be closer to the truth.

Tuesday brought us former Lady Demon basketball player Katie Harris, in her first year assisting Chuck Bourg in managing the NSU athletic facilities, dressed up to look like Chuck.

She had a beard marked on her face. She was wearing a pale white skull cap to reflect Chuck’s shaved (perhaps\ partially balding) head. And, of course, she was working hard.

All in all, a nice effort from Katie, whose favorite Halloween costume growing up was a California raisin.

There were many different responses to a quick survey of athletic department employees Tuesday afternoon. A couple costumes kept coming up – Superman (Lady Demon basketball assistant coach David Aguilar, Demon hoops assistant Jeff Moore and assistant athletic trainer David Berkeley-Tuckmayer) and a scary witch (Lady Demon assistant basketball coach Trina Frierson, assistant athletic trainers Erica Hargis and Stephanie Rogers).

Speaking of scary, Demon Sports Network play by play man Patrick Netherton’s favorite costume growing up was his portrayal of Jason Voorhies from the “Friday the 13th” movie series, complete with hockey mask.

Basketball coach Mike McConathy said his favorite costume really fit under the Superman category. No, it wasn’t an Opie outfit – that wouldn’t have been dressing up. He liked being a Pittsburgh Steeler football player, and nobody other than athletic director Greg Burke (an avowed Cleveland Browns fan) could argue.

Speaking of rough and tumble get-ups, how about wearing wrestling gear? That was Lady Demon volleyball coach Brittany Uffelman, whose dad is one of the great prep wrestling coaches in Wyoming history.

On the other hand … her assistant coach, Mandy Paulson, was a Cabbage Patch kid … Lady Demon basketball coach Jennifer Graf had her strawberry shortcake costume, growing up in strawberry land outside Loranger … football, baseball and track administrative assistant Elizabeth Holloway was a little Geisha girl … Liz Yeaman, who keeps the athletic administrative staff straight, was Raggedy Ann.

We found two hobos – Liz’s assistant, Alison Cadwallader, and Cathy Martin, the men’s basketball administrative assistant. There were two Cleopatra’s as well – softball player Kristen Lindley, who assists in the athletic offices, and assistant trainer Katie Cooper.

Head athletic trainer Ed Evans remembers being a cowboy, as does assistant men’s basketball coach Mark Slessinger. Compliance coordinator Dustin Eubanks enjoyed being a pirate (now he’s quite the opposite, but he is a Pittsburgh Pirates fanatic) and also Spiderman (he still shows great stick-to-it tenacity).

Academic advisor and senior woman administrator Julie Lessiter recalls dressing as a skeleton before Halloween was discontinued in England due to hooliganism. Speaking of scary – Greg Burke liked his ghost getup.

Our buddy Coach Black grinned remembering his tiger costume. Wide receivers coach Broderick Fobbs recalls being The Incredible Hulk. Assistant sports performance coach Ben Larson once dressed up as a shark. Basketball assistant Bob Austin was Ernie, of Sesame Street fame.

There couldn’t have been a better fit than the angel costume on Gerri Lacour, the administrative assistant to the office of athletic services.

Ticket manager Zach Williams was a Rubik’s Cube. Marketing and promotions director Tenille Barmore was “Popple.” Softball player and administrative office assistant Cary Bruno loved her sunflower costume.

Sports information administrative assistant Ronnette Pellegrin was a mad scientist. Assistant SID Matt Bonnette was a vampire many times, complete with face paint and hair dye. His brother Michael, now the SID at LSU, once was a mummy, wrapped up in actual athletic tape. Taking off that costume assured it was a one-time-only event.

SID and marketing interim Brian Seiler and his SID student assistant buddy Adam Jonson both were football players. Assistant trainer Jason Parker was a baseball player.

Me? I remember wearing my dad’s World War II Army Air Force pilot’s gear, complete with the radio headset he used flying Gen. Hap Arnold around South America. I still have the jacket and cap.

Assistant football coach Johnny Nagle said he was so old that they didn’t have Halloween growing up in Gloster, Miss.

Demon football coach Scott Stoker was typically stoic and wouldn’t spill the beans on his childhood attire, but he melted like a Hershey bar in a microwave when asked about his 6-year-old daughter Zoe. They went trick-or-treating last night. Want to guess what she went as?

But of course – a football player. And not just a random player.

No, not number 10 for Daddy. Number 15, Roch Charpentier’s jersey!

Back in business

After a hiatus brought about by the production of basketball media guides and the hubbub of homecoming preparations, we’ll resume the (almost) daily diary entries here – we promise.

Trust me; the delay hasn’t been due to a lack of information, just our inability to find time to pass it along. We’ll do better.

There’s a mental scrapbook full of homecoming scenes and reunions. There’s plenty of notes to catch up on, and who knows what the next hour will bring!

BTW, take a few minutes Wednesday at 2 to drop by www.nsudemons4kids.com as we host our first chat session, this one featuring senior defensive end Ed Queen. We’re going to be featuring lots of Demons visiting online with kids in upcoming weeks on this new and wonderful site.

Back with more later!

A worthy choice

Pictured above is Jason O'Brien (#23) with members of the 1966 Football Team and Ms. Nellie Clayton, wife of Coach Jack Clayton.

One wonderful sidelight of the 40th anniversary reunion of the unbeaten 1966 Demons football team last weekend was the recognition of this year’s recipient of the Jack Clayton Memorial Scholarship.

Senior safety Jason O’Brien is an honor student in health and human performance. He is a four-year letterman and a three-year starter for the Demons, and nobody on the team bleeds purple more than J.O.

If you want to see raw emotion, watch him as he roars out of the tunnel and through the purple smoke before the last two home games, Oct. 28 against Texas State and Nov. 11 against McNeese. It’s nothing new – his motor has been running hot since the day he put on a Demons jersey.

He is the kind of player Coach Clayton would have loved. So it’s great that Mrs. Nellie Clayton (shown in the center in the above photo) was there as always for the pregame presentation of the Clayton Scholarship trophy, along with members of the 1966 team who were influential in creating the beautiful Clayton Plaza behind the south end zone at Turpin Stadium.

The plaza is more than a shrine. It’s a fund-raising mechanism. Many NSU supporters have contributed to the scholarship in return for having their names on bricks in the plaza. Several of coach Clayton’s players are among the kindest donors.

Demon stars in Tigertown

The phone rang Tuesday morning and it was an LSU campus number I didn’t recognize, but the voice was very distinctive.

“Who’s your favorite Demon baseball player of all time, Doug?” he asked.

“Do batgirls count?” I replied, thinking back to my days as a student, when Yvette and Collette Coburn, the beautiful and charming twins from Anacoco, were good reason to take in games at Brown-Stroud Field.

After he stopped laughing, Terry Joseph said hello.

Joseph, the three-time first-team All-SLC centerfielder, a two-time Academic All-American and the 1995 SLC Player of the Year, is coaching at LSU.

No, not on the Tigers’ new baseball staff. He’s coaching football.

And so is another former Demon and SLC Player of the Year, Tony Joe Maranto. T.J. and Tony Joe are on Les Miles’ staff. Maranto was the 1997 SLC Defensive Player of the Year and an All-America safety for the Demons coached by Sam Goodwin.

It was great to hear from them, if only for a moment.

“After the Florida debacle,” said Terry, referring to LSU’s loss to the Gators last week, “we all have a lot to do.”

They will be in Baton Rouge this weekend when LSU entertains Kentucky, and hope to cross paths with Demons heading through town on their way to Hammond for Saturday night’s football game at Southeastern.

Opie's Open

You want to know how different NSU men's basketball coach Mike McConathy is? He is the only college basketball coach I know who would allow a golf tournament raising money for his team to be called the "Opie's Open." Could you imagine Mike Kryzyzewski's childhood nickname being used in public as the name of a big golf tournament at a country club? Me neither.

One of my favorite aspects of playing in Opie's Open (besides the food of course) is the prizes that you win after. There is no more creative prize awarder (if that is a word) than Opie. At most golf tournaments, you might win a bag, or a club, a gift certificate to a golf store, or the all-time leader, a box of balls.

That is not the case at Opie's Open. The first thing you noticed upon walking up to Southern Trace Country Club in Shreveport were the large boxes stamped with HSN.com on them. Anyone who would think to give a bunch of golfing hacks something from the Home Shopping Network is a genius.

What was inside the box? Indoor barbecue grills. My team's prize for placing third in the tournament? A massive tool belt to accomdate all of your gardening tools, complete with knee pad and tools included.

And what did the winners get? Exactly what you would expect from a man coming off of the most incredible season of his professional life. The beautiful framed photos availble to you on nsudemons.com: the game-winning shot from Jermaine Wallace, and a beautiful panoramic floor view of the Demons in the second round of the NCAA tournament against West Virginia (a remarkable shot by NSU's Gary Hardamon).

The food was great, the prizes unique and the turnout strong.

Just an average year for Opie's Open, a tournament put on by a much more than average man.

Generations meet at Academic Achievement Banquet

Shown above: Softball outfielder Cary Bruno, Retta and Rev. James Poole, Lady Demon sprinter Deidra Truss

It’s always inspiring to attend the annual Academic Achievement Banquet hosted by Kent Gresham at The Landing Restaurant downtown. Student-athletes who made the Dean’s List in the last academic year are invited to a wonderful dinner alongside many of those who have donated endowed academic scholarships benefiting athletics.

Any given semester, says academic coordinator Julie Lessiter, at least a third of NSU’s athletes make the Dean’s List. There were more than 130 eligible to attend last night’s event – some missed because of class conflicts.

Seated together were two track sprinters from different eras. The Rev. James Poole and his wife, Retta, sat with the recipient of the James Poole Track Scholarship, Lady Demon 400 meter standout Deidra Truss. It was during casual conversation that Rev. Poole, who competed for the Demons in the late 1940s, and Deidra realized they each were quartermilers, just from different generations. It was fascinating to listen to them comparing notes on track surfaces and competitions.

“I get faster every year,’ said Rev. Poole.

Also at our table was softball outfielder Cary Bruno, recipient of the Retta Strickland Poole Athletic Scholarship. She’s trying to fill the fleet shoes of All-SLC outfielder and career stolen base leader Sarina Noack, and she was all ears listening to the sprinter talk.

Deidra told us that NSU is going to compete next spring at the Drake Relays, which is especially tremendous news. Six-time Demon All-American Brian Brown, a two-time national high jump champion while at NSU, is the Drake Relays executive director.

Golden Gaspard name rich in Demon history, perhaps LHSAA as well

Another great story about a former NSU Demon football player was featured in Bob Tompkins’ “Tales from the Crossroads” series in the Alexandria Town Talk newspaper (www.thetowntalk.com) today.

“The right man” tells about Cottonport native and former NSU center Kim Gaspard, who is one of the leading contenders to succeed the retiring Tommy Henry as the commissioner of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association. Gaspard, principal at Airline High School in Bossier City, is among six finalists who will interview with the selection committee Thursday.

Kim is the younger brother of Steve Gaspard, who played on the Demons’ unbeaten 1966 team that reunites on campus Saturday to mark its 40th anniversary. Their father, Jimmy, played on the Demons’ unbeaten 1939 team. Kim played for the Demons in the mid-1970s, lettering in 1974-75.

Lady Demon coaches make a pit stop

One of the great things about NSU is the sense of teamwork among the coaches and student-athletes from the various sports. Case in point – last Thursday morning.

Football coach Scott Stoker and I were cruising toward Bossier City, for the regular Demon QB Club Luncheon at Ralph & Kacoo’s Seafood Restaurant, being chauffeured by the incomparable Britt Brittain. For the first time this season, Stoker was able to get away from his office before 11 for our hour-long trip north.

For the first time this season, we were going to arrive before noon, giving Stoker and the media time to do interviews and allowing everybody a comfortable visit inside while waiting on our meals.

Then the tire blew. Britt saw a small piece of metal in the road, thought he had avoided it, but it must have been so light that it blew into the left rear tire about two miles south of the Ajax exit. There we sat, at 11:17, stranded, with a coach who needed to be in Bossier City 40 minutes later and with no way to cover the 40 miles to get him there.

Enter our heroes, Jennifer Graf and Brittany Uffelman, head coaches of the Lady Demons basketball and volleyball program. Graf just bought an SUV from local dealer Calvin Braxton, and still has her Jeep. She answered our call for help, and got Coach B to drive the SUV up for our use getting Stoker to Bossier City, as Graf led the way to us in the Jeep.

Somehow the two coaches got across town to Graf’s house and up I-49 20 minutes to us in about 35 minutes – there must not have been any state troopers in the neighborhood that morning. We jumped in Graf’s new vehicle and Britt steered us to Bossier City in time for Stoker to walk in at 12:45, visit with the supporters and media for 20 minutes to brief them on the upcoming game, and all was well that ended well.

Assists are stats in basketball and volleyball. Credit coaches Graf and Uffelman with big ones!

DJ GB the AD

Lots of us around Natchitoches have our radios tuned in to 100.7 KZBL FM, not only because it’s the home of the Demon Sports Network, but because we enjoy the music and personalities.

KZBL showcases characters such as Johnny Earthquake, the alter ego of local attorney and band leader Rodney Harrington, an NSU grad from the mid-1970s. C-Rod, as friends have been known to call him, hosts “The Jammin’ with Johnny Show” Wednesday mornings from 8-9 and Friday afternoons from 4-5ish, often welcoming guests and co-hosts.

Today’s co-host was Greg Burke, our outstanding athletics director – and a huge rock music fan. Greg and Johnny introduced songs, asked music trivia questions of the listeners while giving away tickets to Saturday’s Demon football game, and visited about music and NSU sports.

GB the DJ had a couple of interesting dedications. The KZBL studio is located on Jefferson Street and at the same time Greg and Johnny were discussing the Demons’ game against Arkansas-Monticello, the UAM buses drove past the studio. Prompted by a caller, the co-hosts dished out the novelty song “The Boll Weevil” by Brook Benton. Seriously.

The song begins:
“Let me tell ya a story about a boll weevil;
Now, some of you may not know,
but a boll weevil is an insect.
And he's found mostly where cotton grows.
Now, where he comes from, hmm,
nobody really knows.
But this is the way the story goes.”
Really!

Burke also couldn’t resist dedicating the song “Simply Irresistible” to Lady Demon basketball coach Jennifer Graf. Before you get the wrong idea, you need to know that Graf and former assistant Kia Converse convinced the music-loving AD to join them in a karaoke contest singing that song while they were attending a Southland Conference spring meetings in Galveston a couple years ago.

Let’s just say GB is a much better DJ than a vocalist, or so I’m told.

He is a near-savant when it comes to his knowledge of 1970s and 1980s rock and pop music lyrics and artists. He traces it back to his days as a high school band member, but it can’t be sheer coincidence that he grew up in Alliance, Ohio – not that far south of Cleveland, home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Burke, an avid concert-goer then and now, told the listeners that one of his greatest regrets from his youth was passing up a free ticket to a mid-1970s Earth, Wind and Fire concert.

Can’t argue that!

The show went over the normal hour “because we can,” said Johnny. Good for Greg’s parents, who were in town all week from Ohio and no doubt were thrilled to hear their hard-working son plugging NSU athletics and enjoying one of his lifelong passions, music.

Long run, long ago

Theophile Scott ran that kickoff back 96 yards, 65 years ago under the lights in Shreveport on a crisp Oct. 4 evening, and because he did, the Louisiana Normal Demons tied the Gentlemen 6-6.

He made five Centenary defenders whiff. Just ran right at them, and then left them nothing but air.

Seeing is believing. Wednesday, Mr. Scott was in his hometown for a book signing party at the Book Merchant in Natchitoches, and he dropped by the office with a little gift.

At my request, he brought a copy of the game film from that 1941 contest, and a DVD showcasing the long run.

Mr. Scott, also a great athlete at St. Mary’s School in Natchitoches before his days as a Demon, has written a stirring book called “Beat Tech.”

It tells the inside story of the great Demons-Bulldogs football rivalry between Normal and Louisiana Polytechnic Institute in the days before World War II.

Fans of both schools, Northwestern and Louisiana Tech, will enjoy this gem. It’s already a hot seller.

Mr. Scott is living in Shreveport now, and is a regular attendee at the Thursday Demon QB Club luncheons at Ralph & Kacoo’s Restaurant in Bossier City.

We’re going to have to show his run up there tomorrow. Truly, you have to see it to believe it. A lot more fans saw Billy Cannon’s Halloween run for LSU, but Mr. Scott’s long run was equally stirring in its own right.

He managed to come across the film several years after the play. Centenary had disbanded its football team a few years after the war, and never returned to the field. A friend at the college knew that a lot of equipment, film, and other things were being thrown away. Mr. Scott was coaching high school football and got a tip from his friend, who provided some equipment and a canister of film that wasn’t labeled.

Imagine his surprise when it turned out to be that 1941 matchup, with one of many great plays he made as a Demon.

We’ll make a copy of the game and have it available at Watson Library, and another copy will make its way to the Demon football offices. Maybe today’s Demons could get a kick out of seeing it!

Wedding footnote, hoop scoop

Observation after assistant basketball coach Mark Slessinger’s wedding last Saturday night: first time we’ve ever seen Coach Sless completely satisfied with the officiating.

The Slessingers left this morning for their honeymoon in Jamaica. Head coach Mike McConathy literally had to tell Coach Sless to leave the office; he had come by for an hour on Monday afternoon, and again Tuesday morning!

Speaking of Coach Mike, he is one of the “featured speakers” for an Oct. 26 roast in Bossier City honoring one of his mentors, and a proud Northwestern alumnus, Coach Billy Montgomery, who represents Bossier Parish in the state legislature and is one of the state’s most influential and effective public servants.

Scenes from a wedding

Assistant men’s basketball coach Mark Slessinger completed his best recruiting job Saturday evening when he exchanged wedding vows with the former Toni Purvis.

He’s a native Hoosier, growing up in Bloomington, Indiana, where his mom was an usher at Indiana basketball games, working the area immediately behind the bench where Bob Knight prowled for so long.

A Slessinger family friend at the wedding told a story about Coach Knight that sounded like something Mike McConathy would do. The man and his son got front-row seats for an early season Hoosiers home game, but got lost in Assembly Hall and wound up in a tunnel – the same tunnel the team used to access the floor from the locker room. The team was warming up, but there in the tunnel was Coach Knight, who quickly walked up, pleasantly asked if he could help, and actually walked the duo to their seats!

The new Mrs. Slessinger, BTW, is a North Carolina native. So if there’s a Hoosiers – Tar Heels hoops matchup, it could briefly stress family ties.

Toni’s father was a paratrooper who was stationed at Fort Polk in the mid-1970s.

The ceremonies were slated to be held outdoors, in the beautiful back yard of the Prudhomme-Roquier House on Jefferson Street, but a thunderstorm about an hour before the wedding moved things inside.

It also set up a funny moment. With the wedding party standing at the fireplace in the small living room, guests were watching from the wings, literally. Those who weren’t seated in the room were lined up on the staircase, or looking through windows from the porch (as I was) or looking in from the doorway to the anteroom off the living room (where coach McCoanthy was standing).

So Greg Burke, Chris Maggio, David Stamey, Andy Perot and I shared the perfect angle to see the funniest moment of the evening.

The groom was standing with his back to us, so that we could see the left side of his face as he looked forward. He was standing at an angle, with the bride and her attendants facing us. He was also facing coach Mike.

That set up McConathy, who waited until a few minutes into the ceremonies before catching Sless’s eye, and making the timeout signal, then using the 30-second timeout signal to bring a chuckle to the groom and those of us on the porch.

Our friend “Coach Black” was the official greeter for the ceremonies, decked out in a classy looking tuxedo. Also in attendance – new McNeese head coach and longtime NSU assistant Dave Simmons and his wife, Denise, who ruled the dance floor.

Thundering Bull

Sidney Thornton will always rank among the great running backs in NSU history, and now he’s working on a great comeback too.

In Tuesday’s Alexandria Daily Town Talk (www.thetowntalk.com) sports section, award-winning writer Bob Tompkins profiled the man once known as the “Thundering Bull” for his powerful build and sprinter’s speed.

The “Tales from the Crossroads” story is entitled “Fallen Bull.”

It is an unvarnished account of Thornton’s life, which has been a turbulent journey since his days on the NSU campus as an All-American running back and MVP of the Blue-Gray All-Game in 1976, running for 151 yards and two touchdowns.

Thornton, 52, is recovering from a major stroke and living in Shreveport. There, former NSU teammates Kenny Meeks and Rudy Hines are among those who are very close to Sidney.

Among those quoted in the story: former players Butch Ballard, Meeks and former NSU assistant coach Gene Knecht.

From Running Back Popper to Human Back Popper

One of the best parts of being the "Voice of the Demons" is meeting the players and coaches. There are so many guys that I have had the pleasure to meet and talk to as players, and it is especially gratifying to see some of them as they get into the "real world."

One of those opportunities came Saturday night after the Demon footballers defeated Delaware State. During the second half, our sideline reporter, Jack Brittain, tracked down former walk-on safety turned integral starter and recent graduate Bruce Woods. On the various flights that we had taken, Bruce had become one of my favorite players. Always fun to talk to, with the kind of voice (deep and rich) that 99% of the broadcasters in America would die for.

I caught up with Bruce after the game and got to hear about how he is in Dallas making his way through school to become a chiropractor. He loves the talent on this Demon team and thinks they could be one of the best teams in a while once they get some seasoning and get settled in.

The thought of chiropractors has always unnerved me a little bit, with the loud pops and cracks and twisting and wrenching of the various joints. However, Bruce promised me that he would "take care" of me once he gets finished with his schooling.

If Bruce Woods is half as good a chiropractor as he is a person, then I will take him up on that offer.

Not Your Ordinary "Coach"

Sometimes in life, you’re lucky to meet people in the spotlight, or, celebrities, so to speak.

Most of the time, it’s just a handshake and a polite hello… and then they’re gone.

This past Saturday night when the Northwestern State Demons opened their home football season against Delaware State, I got to meet one of those celebrities and was quite surprised by how down-to-earth he was.

The game was televised nationally on CSTV and doing the play-by-play was none other than Jonathan Coachman, or, better known as “Coach”.

Many people have never heard of Coach, but if you’re an avid World Wrestling Entertainment fan like myself and fellow co-workers Ronnette Pellegrin and Stacy Morgan, you’d know Coach very well.

Coach’s current role on the sports entertainment program is the Executive Assistant to WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. He's the "brown-noser" who kisses up to the boss and loves to make all the fans hate him.

To be able to talk to Coach outside of his character was very enjoyable and such the opposite as his on-air persona.

During the 15 minute conversation prior to the kickoff of the football game, Coach was more than willing to talk about, not only his “acting” gig, but also is aspirations of becoming a full-time sportscaster.

He told me he just signed a new 2-year contract with the WWE, but after that, would like to go into television broadcasting as his career. He said that he’s engaged to be married and would like to start a family sometime soon, but is not able to take that step in life since he’s on the road 51 weeks out of the year.

He talked about the personality of the billionaire mogul McMahon and stated that he’s a tough guy to work for, but really takes care of all his employees. Coach noted that all the wrestlers are great to work with and did take notice that the chair bashing, table breaking, chest-slapping moves are real and they do hurt. He pointed out two inch-and-a-half scars on his head as proof.

After Saturday’s game, Coach headed back up to Shreveport where he was to catch a red-eye flight to Atlanta and then on to Toronto, Canada where he took part in Sunday night’s WWE Unforgiven pay-per-view.

You’ll be able to catch him live on the USA Network for WWE Raw tonight at 8 p.m.

"Amazing Race"... the Lady Demon way

The television hit reality show “Amazing Race” has nothing on this competition.

On Thursday, the Northwestern State Lady Demon basketball team split into three teams and competed against one-another in its own version of reality-TV gone mad… with the exclusion of TV of course.

The teams had to take a clue that would lead them to a certain destination. At that destination awaited a certain event in which the team had 20 minutes to complete in order to earn points. After the five events, the team with the most points was declared the winner and earn “bragging rights” for the remainder of the season.

“I have to say, the reaction of the players on the very first clue had me rolling on the floor,” said head coach Jennifer Graf.

That clue was stated… “H. Lee had no idea a building would be named after him. Enter this building and ask the woman in charge of us for the test you must pass.”

The woman in charge… Mandy Wamsley, Lady Demon basketball secretary. The building… Prather Coliseum as most… MOST, would know.

Not these teams. They all jumped into their cars and headed in different directions – away from Prather Coliseum!

“It was the funniest thing,” said Graf. “We had one team to see our academic advisor Julie Lessiter.”

Eventually, the first test, which required the teams to correctly name all of the Southland Conference schools and their mascots, was passed and on to the next item.

One event had the teams meeting NSU assistant coach David Aguilar on the Lady Demon soccer field to compete in an archery contest. Then the teams had to follow a clue to meet NSU supporter Steve Pezant in an open field for a skeet shooting battle.

“Each team had a 25 shot limit,” said Graf. “One team didn’t complete it while another did it on their 23rd shot.”

The winning team?

“Dorothy Knox nailed the clay on just her fifth try.”

After that, the teams met on the Demon football field to attempt a 10-yard field goal and then had to push the blocking sled from one side of the field to the other.

“Ashley Barnum walked right up and nailed the field goal. That was pretty impressive. But the blocking sled was the best. We had one team run up to the sled and couldn’t move it an inch. It was the funniest thing,” said Graf.
The final event took place on Sibley Lake where one person on each team had to set up on a wake board for five seconds. There was a 20-minute time limit and only one team was able to accomplish it.

“The players were a little apprehensive about going into the water,” said Graf. “But then, Shonte (Kennedy) decided to jump in and do it.”

The problem?

“She doesn’t know how to swim.”

Luckily, everyone in the boat had a life preserver on so she was never in danger. Unfortunately, Kennedy was unable to stay the whole five seconds and her team failed in the competition.

However, her team, made up of herself, Brittaney Isom, Deashia Johnson, Dorothy Knox and Ashley Barnum were the winners of the entire competition.

“Of course, Chassidy (Jones) and her teammates are protesting the outcome,” said Graf.

So what’s the reason for conducting such an event?

“We needed some type of team building and bonding,” said Graf. “We wanted to take a break from our conditioning and I wanted the girls to overcome some fears and accomplish something they may have never thought they would ever do.”

With the new season on the horizon, the tradition of the Lady Demon basketball program seems stronger than ever.

Demons Lee Smith, Brian Lawrence making news in MLB

Former Demon basketball player Lee Arthur Smith (1975-77) is major league baseball’s all-time saves leader, with 478, but that mark is apparently about to fall.

San Diego Padres relief ace Trevor Hoffman notched save No. 474 Thursday afternoon and the NSU sports information office got its first call from a sportswriter asking for help locating the man the rest of the country knows as Lee Smith.

He still lives in his hometown of Castor but stays active in professional baseball. He worked with the South African team in this spring’s World Baseball Championships and has been a roving minor league instructor.

Bruce Sutter, the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs bullpen ace who was inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame in July, made no bones about it – he told every media outlet he could that Lee Smith deserves a spot in Cooperstown, too.

Perhaps Hoffman eclipsing Smith’s magnificent mark, carved out during a 19-year MLB career mostly with the Cubs and Cardinals, among eight teams, will boost Lee’s chances for induction in Cooperstown in the next few years. He picked up voting support this year, BTW.

The Demons’ current major leaguer, pitcher Brian Lawrence, had a big part in many of Hoffman’s saves since 2001 until this season. Lawrence won 49 games for San Diego from 2001-05, and was their No. 1 starter for two seasons.

B-Law has been on the shelf this season after major shoulder surgery in February. He was injured on the opening day of spring training, tearing the labrum in his right (throwing) shoulder at the Washington Nationals’ camp after being traded there by the Padres in the off-season.

The 30-year-old East Texan, a 17th-round Padres draft pick after his senior season at NSU in 1998, told the Fredericksburg (Va.) Free Lance-Star last week his “arm feels great” and he’s “not far off” and could be ready for an October game “but I don’t think we’re trying to get to that.”

Brian, whose No. 27 NSU jersey was retired in January 2005, will be in an option year and is expected to be released by the Nats, but could be resigned at a lower salary than the $5.7 million option listed in his contract. He says he hopes to stay with the team because he feels good about the direction they’re going. He dresses out with the Nats every day and makes most road trips. He’s been living in the Washington area, not back in his off-season home in southern California.

He says “the ball is coming out of my hand better than it has in three years and I am not even 100 percent yet.” He is confident he will be much better than he was in his last two years with the Padres, when he says he “just thought I was getting older” but now thinks there was “probably something wrong in there.”

Bat Bubba has put the hammer down

It’s a sledgehammer about 10 feet tall, and the handle is more than 30 feet long.

But then, former Demon football player, student equipment manager and all-around gentle giant Matt Padgett has always been most comfortable with biggie-sized items.

His latest endeavor earned Matt a front-page story in Wednesday’s Natchitoches Times, complete with a photo of his graduate art project, “And God Said.” The story, by journalism student Willie Valrie, explains that Padgett’s work was the result of NSU sculptor Matt DeFord encouraging his students to “think outside the box.”

Matt’s display is made of steel products and a telephone pole. It sits in the common area between Magale Hall (the Fine Arts Building) and the University Police station.

Padgett, 6-3 and 350, needed about 10 days to finish the project. He hopes to work as a sculptor, possibly doing large commercial pieces like ones outside large buildings in metropolitan areas.

Matt became a rather big hit in 2000 and 2005 while he was handling the equipment manager’s job for the Demon baseball team. His trademark garb, which he first OK’d with coach Mitch Gaspard, were blue jean suspenders and a T-shirt. He enjoyed his work, and was hard to miss when he scurried out to pick up loose bats around the on-deck circle, thereby earning the nickname “Bat Bubba.”

When the Southland Conference champion Demons reached the 2005 NCAA Regional in Baton Rouge at LSU’s Alex Box Stadium, in his hometown, Matt became a media celebrity due to his appearance and his enthusiasm. After heavy rains struck during the NSU-LSU game, as the storm began to subside, a couple of LSU managers decided to do the old slip ‘n slide routine on the tarp covering the infield, to entertain the crowd and the teams.

They sent up spray. Bat Bubba nearly created a tsunami.

The CST TV cameras and the Baton Rouge Advocate loved the show, and so did everybody at the Box.

“The Way You Do the Things You Do”

Going to Las Vegas has its Temptations, even if it’s a business trip.

First-year Lady Demon volleyball coach Brittany Uffelman found that out Thursday.

Flying out of Houston to watch prospects play at a big tournament in Las Vegas, Coach B saw a fellow passenger fumble his French fries while waiting near the gate. Being the sweet person she is, and because for a volleyball player it’s second nature to hit the floor, Uffelman dove in and helped the gentleman try to clean up the spill and salvage anything that hadn’t been ruined.

So now the legendary Motown group The Temptations – yes, the group inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with Dion, Otis Redding, The Rolling Stones and Stevie Wonder in 1989 -- knows all about NSU and Lady Demon volleyball.

“Can I Get a Witness?” That had to be the question on Coach B’s mind when she quickly sent a text message trying to find out anything she could about the group. After all, she’s 24, and The Temptations are five years past their 40th anniversary.

Thanks to her kindness and outgoing personality, and a long flight delay, on Thursday evening, Uffelman was “My Girl” for middle tenor Otis Williams, the only surviving original Temptation, and his song mates.

The group, Grammy-nominated as recently as 2002, was extremely cordial and interested, she said. It didn’t hurt that she was wearing some NSU volleyball gear and she had Lady Demon schedule cards to hand to each Temp.

Perhaps if they someday make a match, they might root for a “Ball of Confusion” by NSU’s opponent. Picture the Temptations doing “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” between games 2 and 3 of a Saturday night match at Prather Coliseum, for their buddy, Coach B, and her girls.

Can you dig it? We’d all be on “Cloud Nine.” I can’t help it, I “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” although I know that’s “Just My Imagination.”

Memories of 9/11

It’s impossible not to reflect on 9/11 on the fifth anniversary of the tragic events of 2001.

The entire NSU athletic department was together, attending the always entertaining and mandatory fall semester department meeting, beginning at 7 a.m. that morning in the Stroud Room of the fieldhouse.

I was one of a few people at the meeting with a cell phone. Sometime about 8:30, I got a call from a good friend who was shaken up by what she was watching on television – something none of the five dozen of us in the meeting had any idea was unfolding.

The meeting was about to conclude, so I waited for it to wrap up a couple of minutes later and spread the word as quickly as possible. As I was explaining what I’d heard, athletic department icon Thomas Foster walked into the room and said the Pentagon had just been hit and the situation was unsettling.

I remember football coach Steve Roberts canceling practice that afternoon. I remember the confused discussion that ensued among athletic administrators around the nation, and certainly in the state and Southland Conference, trying to figure out what was prudent and appropriate. Some schools, very few, went forward with activities and games. I can remember thinking that if we were worried about security and logistics in the SLC, I couldn’t imagine how a BCS school could give any assurance of safety at its stadium that weekend.

Ultimately, all games in all sports for NSU and the SLC were postponed or cancelled through the weekend. That meant Demon QB Ben Beach and his family never saw his picture on the cover of the game program for the home game that weekend against Gardner-Webb.

An interesting byproduct of the cancellation of the G-W game was our entry into the scramble to fill the sudden open dates. The Demons were able to hook up with Oklahoma State for a game on Sept. 29, since both teams lost games on Sept. 15 and had open dates that weekend. The connection was NSU strength coach David Deets, who came to us from OSU (where he is now back, on staff as a fulltime coach, still with enough purple in him to greet and eat dinner with Coach Mike McConathy and the Demons basketball team last December a night before NSU toppled the Cowboys at Stillwater). Deets had close ties with the assistant AD in charge of scheduling at Oklahoma State.

When the football team took the field again, on Sept. 22 at TCU, we like to reflect on the thrilling 27-24 overtime win by a team that went on to reach the I-AA playoffs and nearly beat Montana in Missoula. I remember the pre-game ceremonies and the vibe around the stadium before kickoff in Fort Worth on a lovely September evening. Nobody knew what might be ahead, but we were truly the United States of America. You saw as much red, white and blue as you did purple in the tailgating area on that beautiful campus.

I heard today that one in five Americans knew somebody who was killed or injured on 9/11. I am fortunate not to be in that number and I hope you are too. But one former Demon football player was very close to the scene.

Carl Hazlewood, who graduated two years ago after helping the Demons win the 2004 SLC championship as a tight end, was a Naval Academy student and football player on 9/11. He came to NSU the next spring.

He had been at the World Trade Center, on the roof, three weeks earlier. He had friends who worked in the building. There were Navy graduates killed at the Pentagon.

Hearing Carl talk about how the campus in Annapolis quickly changed into a tightly guarded military installation, in part because at the time authorities considered it a potential target for terrorists on 9/11 and in the aftermath, was chilling.

I remember trying to reassure my friend when she called that morning. No foreign government would be involved in such an attack, I said, and I told her the world was about to see the best of America. That proved true, for a time. Hopefully today’s observances can rekindle some of that collaborative spirit and determination.

Not a Demon, but NSU has a soft spot for Joe Dumars

Joe Dumars is being enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame tonight and we all should be proud.

Joe grew up in Natchitoches. He was raised less than a mile from our campus, right across the street from a business owned by the Maggio family, and little Joe and little Chris Maggio spent days and nights playing together. Chris, of course, is now NSU’s Alumni Director. They’re still dear friends.

Joe’s charming mother, Ophelia, worked on campus, I’m told. When he was in high school, Joe spent a lot of time in Prather Coliseum playing pickup games against the Demon players of the day, really good players including Wayne Waggoner and Kenny Hale.

Joe was recruited by NSU, but chose to leave home and play at McNeese. He had a great career there and brought a lot of attention to the Southland Conference. What he did in 14 great NBA seasons is astounding – six All-Star Games, a 1989 Championship Series MVP award, and a 16-point career scoring average. For anybody who knows him or his family, it’s not surprising that he won the first NBA Sportsmanship Award and since then, the annual honor has been named the Joe Dumars Trophy.

Although I saw him play at Natchitoches Central High School for coach J.D. Garrett, I first met Joe and his parents when I was working at the Alexandria Town Talk, and had the opportunity to visit his home for a story I wrote. At times during his NBA career, on his very low-key visits home, I’d get a call from his mom asking if I could get the lights on in Prather because Joe needed to come work out. Excellence doesn’t happen by accident.

Since his playing days ended, Joe has become one of the NBA’s most respected executives in his role as the president of basketball operations for the Pistons. One thing that hasn’t changed, he deflects the attention, never seeking the spotlight. In February, he came home to visit when his brother David was in town as an assistant coach at McNeese and the Cowboys were playing the Demons at Prather Coliseum.

We didn’t know he was coming to the game – nothing unusual. Joe likes to, understandably, fly under the radar when he’s home. Otherwise there are just so many people, most of whom are well intentioned, wanting to visit him while he’s in to share time wit h his mom and family. Well, he sat up there in a white warmup suit, and it took just a few minutes before we noticed – seeing a commotion and a flow of well-wishers heading his way kinda tipped us off on press row.

Joe greeted friends and autograph seekers alike, graciously, in typical Dumars style. He did an interview with Brian Vernellis of the Shreveport Times and pointed out he’s a “Southland Conference guy” who still keeps track of the SLC scene regularly. He expressed his admiration for the Demons and coach Mike McConathy.

A month later, he showed it.

When NSU headed to Auburn Hills, Mich., for the NCAA Tournament, after a phone conversation early in the week with his old friend and then-NSU assistant coach Dave Simmons, Dumars rolled out the Pistons’ red (and blue) carpet. He made their practice facility (on a hill overlooking the Palace at Auburn Hills) available to the Demons even though he was out of town himself on Wednesday. He got back into town Thursday morning and attended practice – his office has a window looking out on the court. (His desk, by the way, is immaculate and lit by a small lamp. There’s a round table nearby that obviously is for small meetings, and there’s a bookcase and some family photos. I didn’t sneak in – there are curtains, left open, on the glass window looking out on the practice floor.)

Joe spoke to the team, at coach Mike’s request, at the end of the workout. He told them not to worry about the team names on the front of the jersey, that he’d played against the best players in the world, and nobody was any tougher than guys from back home in Louisiana. He told them he’d seen them play and he was sure they could win if they believed they could.

That evening, Joe and his son, Jordan (named for, yes, Michael Jordan, who said Joe was the toughest defender he ever faced) went to dinner with the Demons. The next day they were in Joe’s box at the Palace. At halftime, Joe had to leave for the Pistons’ game at New York that night, but Jordan and friends remained. At the end of the game, Jordan excitedly called his dad and told him the great news – the Demons won. That night, Joe talked to the New York Times about the Demons, and that story took up three quarters of the front page of the NYT’s Sunday sports section. What an incredible coup for NSU, courtesy of Joe Dumars!

Two days later, Joe was again in his box at the Palace, having flown in from Charlotte the night before. On that Sunday, he greeted a number of NSU fans in his box as they watched West Virginia end the season for the Demons of Destiny.

It was a thrill for our players (and coaches and staff) to have Joe be so kind and supportive, not to his college, but to the team in his hometown. Time and again that week, he demonstrated and expressed his admiration for a coach, a team and a program that carry the same “work hard” approach that helped Joe become, truly, one of the greats of the game.

The Basketball Hall of Fame is on a more grand scale; even, than the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, NY, or the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. In Springfield, MA, they honor a select few inductees from all around the world, not just the NBA or college basketball. It’s a truly incredible accomplishment to be enshrined – and nobody is more worthy than Joe. I’ll be watching tonight at 6:30 on ESPN Classic to see his shining moment in Springfield. I hope you do, too.

Baylor president has Natchitoches roots, Demon tie

First: that’s a “Demon tie” as in a connection to NSU football, not a tie that Dr. John M. Lilley would wear.

The 1961 Baylor graduate officially took office as Baylor’s 13th president on Jan. 1, 2006, after serving four years as president at Nevada.

While a youngster, Dr. Lilley lived in Natchitoches, as his father served as pastor of Westside Baptist Church.

He’s also related to former Demon linebacker James Lilley, one of the hardest hitting folks ever to wear the purple and white during his days playing for coach A.L. Williams, lettering from 1976-78.

Getting a history lesson from a history maker

Did you know the goalpost at the north end of Turpin Stadium is the original one that went up when the stadium was completed in 1976?

Robert Weeks knows.

The Demons’ sophomore kicker got that nugget from Chuck Bourg, whose job it is to know all about NSU’s athletic facilities. Bourg is the director of special facilities for athletics, and is also back in the equipment business handling football and other sports. So that brings him to each day’s Demon practice.

Kickers being kickers, they have a lot of down time during a two-hour practice. You can only kick so much before your leg gets tired – a lot like pitchers in baseball or quarterbacks in football.

So at some point, Weeks and the other kickers engaged Bourg in a discussion of the goalposts, wondering why the north end goalpost and uprights is sturdier. The uprights on that end tend not to lean to one side or the other, but on the south end, a windy day might create a little lean to one side on the south goal.

Bourg had the quick answer – it’s the 30th birthday for the north goal post. The south goalpost – at least the uprights and crossbar – came tumbling down for the first time at the end of the final regular-season game of 1997, the Thursday night, Nov. 20 showdown for the Southland Conference championship won by the Demons 38-24 over Stephen F. Austin. I get goose bumps remembering it, watching from the press box, wishing I was down on the field in the sea of Demons celebrating.

The south end zone uprights and cross bar came down again the next season, also on a Thursday night, this time when No. 8-ranked NSU beat then No. 1-ranked McNeese State 14-10.

Another attempt came in 2000 when the Demons knocked off highly-ranked Troy State 24-17 with a stirring goalline stand (four downs from the 2 yard line or closer) in the final two minutes clinching the outcome. That happened at the north goalline; students rushed both goalposts, but the combination of security and the sturdy north goalpost stopped the attempts.

Weeks, by the way, noted that one of the two sets of uprights at Kansas last week seemed to bow inward slightly, narrowing the angle at the north end zone. Interesting that all of his record four field goals came at the south end, kicking into the scoreboard and the open end of the horseshoe-shaped Memorial Stadium.

The Pineville product found out he’d been voted SLC Special Teams player of the week when his grandmother called Tuesday night to congratulate him. He quickly visited www.nsudemons.com to get the whole story and by Wednesday, was well versed in the history of his achievement, having erased a nine-way tie for the school record.

UPDATE – Sophomore receiver Dudley Guice had another surgery on his broken jaw on Tuesday in Lawrence, Kansas, and is due to return home this weekend.

Tough break, class move

Demon receiver Dudley Guice suffered a broken jaw in Saturday night’s game at Kansas. He remained in Lawrence and had surgery Sunday. He could miss the rest of the season.

Sunday afternoon, Kansas head coach Mark Mangino took time to visit Guice at the hospital.

An hour before kickoff in Kansas

There's a lot of excitement from people wearing purple here in Lawrence. Of course, purple isn't the favorite color here - in fact, it's the most hated color, worn by arch-rival Kansas State. Folks here are nice but you do get a few double takes as you walk around historic Memorial Stadium -- the first collegiate stadium built west of the Mississippi River.

Quick notes ... assistant track and field coach Mike Heimerman, a native of Kansas, helped equipment guru Chuck Bourg drive the equipment truck up from Natchitoches. Mike is very excited, to say the least ... former NSU athletes here include former football players Dan Chase, Shelley Dickie and Gil Gilson (and, of course, Britt Brittain with the Demon Sports Network) and former Demon baseball pitcher Will McGuffey, who has been working with a minor league baseball team in Nebraska just eliminated from the playoffs last night in St. Paul, Minn.

Demon Sports Network engineer/stat guru Davey Antilley and I had the chance to tour fabled Allen Fieldhouse where the Jayhawks basketball team plays ... one of America's great sports venues. It sits on James Naismith Drive -- the inventor of basketball coached here, and is buried here. His successor was Phog Allen, for whom the fieldhouse is named.

Hoop scoop

Updates on Demon basketball coaches current and past …

… head coach Mike McConathy has been invited to be grand marshal of the Marthaville Heritage Festival Parade Saturday, Sept. 16 (later that day, the Demon football team plays its home opener against Delaware State at Turpin Stadium). He gets to throw candy to the crowd, and perhaps other goodies, too. Somehow I think there may be a Demon basketball T-shirt or two sailing out of his hands during the parade.

… Gabe Carter, a graduate assistant manager and a valued member of the basketball staff for the past two seasons, has waded through the job market all summer long, and has managed to stay in college basketball. The Arkansas native is now part of the basketball staff at Olney Central Community College in Olney, IL.
In an e-mail to friends and colleagues, Carter said in “my time at Northwestern, I learned so much as a coach, student, and person … and would like to thank you all. Hope to see or hear from you in the future.” Gabe was a class act and is certainly going to be a fine coach. His girlfriend is former Demon Angel Nettie Krepper, so we know Carter can recruit.

… Carter replaced Paul Weir on the Demons’ staff. Weir, you might remember, moved to Iowa as an administrative assistant in late spring 2005 after helping the Demons win their first Southland Conference championship.

Paul was on the Iowa bench last March 17 when the Demons rallied from 17 down in the last eight minutes and beat the Hawkeyes 64-63 on Jermaine Wallace’s last-second 3-pointer. He was already in agony all week long, trying to reconcile his competitive drive and his job with his emotions and pride in what the Demons had accomplished. Weir had become very close, as Carter did, with the Demon players and coaching staff. Throughout the 2005-06 season, he remained in close contact with the coaching staff at NSU. Can you imagine his conflicted feelings in the hours and days after NSU’s St. Patrick’s Day surprise?

So it was nice to see Tuesday that Iowa head coach Steve Alford has promoted Weir to the “director of basketball operations” job for the Hawkeyes. Former NSU sports information director Steve Roe (1981-85), who handles basketball for the Iowa SID office in his hometown of Iowa City, forwarded the announcement of Weir’s promotion.

Paul got his master’s in sport administration before heading to Iowa, and now is working on a doctoral degree.

Demon Football Things to Watch

Just a few things I will be eager to see when the season kicks off Saturday in Lawrence with the temperature in the mid 80s...

The Demon Pups: There is a lot of youth on this Demon team, with just seven seniors. I want to see how the kids play when they face another team for the first time, especially one the caliber of Kansas.

The OL: Perhaps the biggest question mark on the team, but also one with a ton of talent. There is no other unit in football that has to rely on each other so much, and there will be a lot of new starters and new guys leaning on each other. This unit could become very good...hopefully very soon.

QB: After a tremendous spring and fall camp, Roch Charpentier has made this a battle between he and Ricky Joe Meeks. Who will step up and seize control of the game? Head Coach Scott Stoker demands a lot of his QBs, let's see who can best handle those demands.

RB: Who totes the note? There are five guys with great talent back there, it's just a matter of who steps up. Massey, Skidmore, Lawrence, Earl or Etheridge?

Purple Swarm: Clearly the defense will need to help the offense out in the early going. They play a unique brand of defense and have a lot of potential playmakers behind the guys on front.

Ed Queen: Maybe my biggest player to watch. Watching Ed limp around last year trying to play through the sports hernia was painful. Now that he is healthy and ready to go, can he regain the form of two years ago, when he was dominant? And what does his presence do for Tory Collins? Surely they will go a long way in keeping double teams off of each other to make plays in the backfield.

Attitude: Much has been made of this team being very focused on the team concept, burying egos for the good of the team. I will be interested in how they respond to success or adversity. What will they do if they have a big lead, or protecting a small one? What happens when they get down quickly or a couple of bad plays happen in a row? Attitude could mean a lot to this team.

Those are some of the things that I will be keeping my eye on, and hopefully we will be able to give you some indication on how those are going.

Oh, did I mention the mid-80s temperature?

See you on the radio!

Coach B and the Lady Demons start with a win

Being superstitious, and super energetic, helped new Lady Demon volleyball coach Brittany Uffelman win her head coaching debut Tuesday night.

Ever since she took bus trips with her dad’s high school wrestling powerhouse in Wyoming as a child, Brittany has sat in the front right seat of the first row of any bus she rides. Leaving Tuesday afternoon for the season opener at Louisiana-Lafayette, coach Uffelman claimed that seat.

The lucky charm helped. Her team played poorly in its debut, she thought, especially in the first two games against a Lady Cajun squad that was playing its fourth match of the year. ULL took the first two games.

Uffelman was stern and passionate, players say, in her three-minute talk to the team before game three. The Lady Demons pulled together and swept the three remaining games to take the match, beating the Lady Cajuns for the third straight year.

The team pulled back into the Prather Coliseum lot shortly after midnight. The players scurred off to bed, due back to the weight room at 6:45 a.m. for a workout.

Coach B didn’t wait that long. She jogged the two miles across Cane River to her home in east Natchitoches.

The ladies still love Lanny

Since his appearance on the ABC TV show "The Bachelor" two years ago, the ladies of the world haven't forgotten former Demon linebacker Lanny Lawrence. If you don't know, or don't remember, check out the Demon Dust archives for the Feb. 13, 2004 story about Lanny's fan club.

What was a tsunami of inquiries pleading for us to get the girls in contact with their "ideal man," is now, at least on campus, a mere trickle of e-mails that pop in from time to time. It's not quite that calm in Lanny's world -- the internet doesn't allow us to fade away, and some fans are quite persistent.

Our most recent request came from Brazil over the weekend. Dani is going to college and doing a class project about reality shows. "Lanny is the favorite here, at my college," she writes. Could we give her Lanny's e-mail address? Please?

If I had a dollar for every one of those we got two years ago ... we could dome Turpin Stadium. OK, that's over the top, but we did get hundreds of requests to reach Lanny. We got pictures. We got poems ... and we forwarded them all his way -- when his e-mail box wasn't full.

There was no chance he could answer them all. We didn't see the half of it, he says. But occasionally, for one good reason or another, none of it having to do with romance, Lanny would reply.

As he said in an e-mail replying to our latest inquiry, "my goodness, will it never end?"

No, he knows, and so do we. But sometimes, he does write back. This time, because it was for a class project, he did.

He also tells us that his close friend and all-time Demon baseball pitching appearances king David "Bulldog" Balcer, our own version of Orel Hershisher on the hill, has moved to Minnesota. Balcer, recently the ticket guru at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, is now director of ticketing for the Target Center in Minneapolis.

Lanny is trying to join a lot of former Demon teammates like Brian Whaley, Will Broussard, Roy Locks and Germond Williams at next weekend's NSU-Baylor football game in Waco. Lanny is helping coach his brother's high school team, which has a game next Saturday, but he's trying to make both events.