SuSu Burke isn't a coach's wife but she knows the lifestyle. Her husband doesn't have an offseason, and really, neither does SuSu.
She is quite a supporter of NSU athletics and all the Demons and Lady Demons teams. She's also quite a teacher.
SuSu, wife of athletics director Greg Burke, was recently presented the Em Knipmeyer Excellence in Teaching Award as the year's outstanding faculty member at St. Mary's School. The presentation of a $500 award was made at a recent school assembly by Mrs. Jo Stamey, Mrs. Knipmeyer's sister.
Greg would be the first to say that SuSu is a huge part of his success, and it's nice to see her recognized for being just as special in her profession as her hubby is in his.
Doug Ireland, SID
Friday, October 05, 2007
Thursday, October 04, 2007
The option "cult"
It's not quite Blue Oyster Cult, but that is how Demon football coach Scott Stoker refers to the closed ranks of college football coaches whose teams employ the triple option offense out of a wing-T formation.
"I've tried, I really have, to get inside the circle and learn about it, but those guys keep it to themselves," Stoker said Thursday at the Bossier City-Shreveport QB Club lunch at Ralph & Kacoos. "The rest of us coaches, we get together and talk all day and night about what we do, but for the option guys, they have little cult thing going and nobody outside gets in."
It's ironic, because Stoker really admires Nicholls State head coach Jay Thomas, who he calls one of his better friends in the coaching ranks.
"We talk pretty much every week all year long, except this week," he said.
Scheming against the option offense Nicholls uses is a challenge for any team, because it's such a departure from what the rest of football does. In the 1970s, the Wishbone and the splitback veer were in vogue. Time shifted to the Pro I and the Option I, and now the spread offense, a variation of the West Coast Offense, is the most widely used basic scheme.
The option is somewhat like Chinese water torture. The theory goes that at some point, a defense is going to break. There are a lot of nuances and variables built into it, but basically Nicholls keeps chipping away hoping to take advantage of a momentary lapse. Play 55 plays well and 4 badly, and there's potentially 28 points allowed.
So, how did the Demons shut out the Colonels 9-0 last season?
"We guessed right, sometimes," said Stoker. "That's the truth. We guessed right and were lucky. We made a lot of good plays but we made some good guesses on our calls and they weren't so lucky.
"We were the first FCS team to shut them out, and that's something I bet won't happen again for a lot of years," he said.
Doug Ireland, SID
"I've tried, I really have, to get inside the circle and learn about it, but those guys keep it to themselves," Stoker said Thursday at the Bossier City-Shreveport QB Club lunch at Ralph & Kacoos. "The rest of us coaches, we get together and talk all day and night about what we do, but for the option guys, they have little cult thing going and nobody outside gets in."
It's ironic, because Stoker really admires Nicholls State head coach Jay Thomas, who he calls one of his better friends in the coaching ranks.
"We talk pretty much every week all year long, except this week," he said.
Scheming against the option offense Nicholls uses is a challenge for any team, because it's such a departure from what the rest of football does. In the 1970s, the Wishbone and the splitback veer were in vogue. Time shifted to the Pro I and the Option I, and now the spread offense, a variation of the West Coast Offense, is the most widely used basic scheme.
The option is somewhat like Chinese water torture. The theory goes that at some point, a defense is going to break. There are a lot of nuances and variables built into it, but basically Nicholls keeps chipping away hoping to take advantage of a momentary lapse. Play 55 plays well and 4 badly, and there's potentially 28 points allowed.
So, how did the Demons shut out the Colonels 9-0 last season?
"We guessed right, sometimes," said Stoker. "That's the truth. We guessed right and were lucky. We made a lot of good plays but we made some good guesses on our calls and they weren't so lucky.
"We were the first FCS team to shut them out, and that's something I bet won't happen again for a lot of years," he said.
Doug Ireland, SID
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Tickets, I need tickets!
That's always a conversation around the Demon football team, especially for road games, and none more so this season than this week for the visit to Thibodaux and Nicholls State.
There weren't a lot of ticket demands among the players for road games at Texas Tech and up in Boston, but this one is different.
"I need 50 tickets," was the answer by Albert Smith, who lives five minutes outside of Thibodaux, and Tyler Cheramie, who is from the deep bayou country in Galliano, about 45 minutes south. Ray Martin, from Lafayette, and C.L. Grogan, from Franklin, are looking for 2-3 dozen apiece. So are Blake Delcambre and Josh Daniels from New Iberia, and even true freshman snapper Bradley Russo of Thibodaux.
Smith said he had teachers from Central Lafourche High calling him hoping for the hookup.
There are more Demons in ticket demand than I mentioned above. Problem is, there are a limited number of complimentary player tickets available and rules to follow. Fact is, it's a tough call for the players to figure out who they can help and who they can't with the limits they have.
A former NFL player and his wife told me recently about how they handled Super Bowl tickets for family and friends. They didn't. Actually, they took care of the immediate family, and then simply apologized to everybody else because it was going to overwhelm them. Still, they got calls at the hotel on the night before the game.
I am sure that until the cell phones are turned off this weekend, plenty of Demon players will hear from family, friends and others hoping for help on tickets. What those folks need to know is this - the deadline is Wednesday afternoon each week to get ticket requests submitted!
Doug Ireland, SID
There weren't a lot of ticket demands among the players for road games at Texas Tech and up in Boston, but this one is different.
"I need 50 tickets," was the answer by Albert Smith, who lives five minutes outside of Thibodaux, and Tyler Cheramie, who is from the deep bayou country in Galliano, about 45 minutes south. Ray Martin, from Lafayette, and C.L. Grogan, from Franklin, are looking for 2-3 dozen apiece. So are Blake Delcambre and Josh Daniels from New Iberia, and even true freshman snapper Bradley Russo of Thibodaux.
Smith said he had teachers from Central Lafourche High calling him hoping for the hookup.
There are more Demons in ticket demand than I mentioned above. Problem is, there are a limited number of complimentary player tickets available and rules to follow. Fact is, it's a tough call for the players to figure out who they can help and who they can't with the limits they have.
A former NFL player and his wife told me recently about how they handled Super Bowl tickets for family and friends. They didn't. Actually, they took care of the immediate family, and then simply apologized to everybody else because it was going to overwhelm them. Still, they got calls at the hotel on the night before the game.
I am sure that until the cell phones are turned off this weekend, plenty of Demon players will hear from family, friends and others hoping for help on tickets. What those folks need to know is this - the deadline is Wednesday afternoon each week to get ticket requests submitted!
Doug Ireland, SID
Monday, October 01, 2007
Meat pie mania
First, apologies for a quiet blog over the weekend. Technology got the best of us, but like the Demon football team, it's a whole new ballgame this week and we are rarin' to go!
A few quick notes from the weekend trip:
There's a meat pie mania sweeping Lubbock, thanks to a radio interview coach Scott Stoker did Thursday morning with a Lubbock radio station. Stoker -- whose interview got rave reviews from the hosts, who said they wished Big XII coaches were as easy to talk with and as insightful -- was asked at the end of the interview about meat pies, and his description got a big reaction.
Listeners called the show hosts wanting more info, and my counterpart at Texas Tech, Chris Cook, had me bring over some meat pies. Of course, I bought Natchitoches Meat Pies, made by the company operated by NSU Athletic Association president Donald Horton and his wife, Pat ....
...Texas Tech fans also enjoyed listening to the Demon Sports Network online webcast of the game, according to a fan message board. There was a long string of comments, nearly all complimenting our broadcast crew for its professionalism, lack of bias and description of the game. It's one thing for an opponent's broadcast crew to get good reviews from the other side; it's remarkable considering the blowout nature of that game, which is a tough call for any broadcaster to keep things lively and yet relevant. Well done, Patrick, E.P., and Britt! ....
...The Demon Sports Network team was one short this weekend but with the best possible excuse. Davey Antilley, whose volunteer role as engineer and stat man is vital each week, got married Saturday to the charming Janna Kay Batson. Davey said that if she had wanted to get married in Kisatchie Forest at midnight Monday, he would have done it, but a Sept. 29 wedding worked best for everybody (except Patrick and E.P., who had to set up in his absence). Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Antilley, who are returning from their honeymoon in time for Davey to head to the Nicholls game on Saturday! ....
...Former Demon SID Tom Wancho and his wife Tracy were at the TTU game. Tracy is a Tech grad and was there for the alumni band performance (she was a twirler back in the day). Tom, who was at NSU from 1983-89, is doing great. They live in Austin. Tom had a kidney transplant three years ago and is leading as normal a life as a zany Tom Wancho could. No doubt he and NSU AD (and former intern colleagues) Greg Burke are pumped about the Cleveland Browns victory yesterday.
The Wanchos arrived in Lubbock Thursday afternoon. Tom heard the local radio sports talk show hosts raving about Coach Stoker's interview and how impressive he was, and said it really reflected well on NSU....
...Great also to see former Demon offensive lineman Brian Whaley, who lives in West Texas. He joined Greg Burke in the swanky visiting athletic director's box, along with www.goDemons.com daddy Don Harrison, the Montgomery native who is a great supporter of Northwestern....
...Fun visiting with Ben Barkley, who is the only Texas newspaper man who has action pictures of Sam Goodwin and Scott Stoker on his office wall. Ben was editor of the Leesville Daily Leader for several years and is now publisher of the Sweetwater Reporter, two hours south of Lubbock. Ben and his sports editor and another friend made the trip and will return when the Demons do on Dec. 29 for basketball....
...The Texas Tech sports information staff hosted the NSU media crew Friday night at The 50 Yard Line steakhouse. The hospitality was superior and if you are ever in Lubbock, The 50 Yard Line is No. 1 on your list of fine and fun dining, in my book....
...If you're wondering, the Demon team buses arrived home at 8:30 Sunday morning....
...Follow from the previous road trip: the Demons practiced on Friday before the Northeastern game at Harvard Stadium, the oldest college football stadium in the country. There were jokes about coach Stoker getting into Harvard, and coach Johnny Nagle having played in the stadium dedication game. BTW, NSU started the 2006 season at Memorial Stadium on the Kansas campus. That's the oldest stadium west of the Mississippi.
Doug Ireland, SID
A few quick notes from the weekend trip:
There's a meat pie mania sweeping Lubbock, thanks to a radio interview coach Scott Stoker did Thursday morning with a Lubbock radio station. Stoker -- whose interview got rave reviews from the hosts, who said they wished Big XII coaches were as easy to talk with and as insightful -- was asked at the end of the interview about meat pies, and his description got a big reaction.
Listeners called the show hosts wanting more info, and my counterpart at Texas Tech, Chris Cook, had me bring over some meat pies. Of course, I bought Natchitoches Meat Pies, made by the company operated by NSU Athletic Association president Donald Horton and his wife, Pat ....
...Texas Tech fans also enjoyed listening to the Demon Sports Network online webcast of the game, according to a fan message board. There was a long string of comments, nearly all complimenting our broadcast crew for its professionalism, lack of bias and description of the game. It's one thing for an opponent's broadcast crew to get good reviews from the other side; it's remarkable considering the blowout nature of that game, which is a tough call for any broadcaster to keep things lively and yet relevant. Well done, Patrick, E.P., and Britt! ....
...The Demon Sports Network team was one short this weekend but with the best possible excuse. Davey Antilley, whose volunteer role as engineer and stat man is vital each week, got married Saturday to the charming Janna Kay Batson. Davey said that if she had wanted to get married in Kisatchie Forest at midnight Monday, he would have done it, but a Sept. 29 wedding worked best for everybody (except Patrick and E.P., who had to set up in his absence). Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Antilley, who are returning from their honeymoon in time for Davey to head to the Nicholls game on Saturday! ....
...Former Demon SID Tom Wancho and his wife Tracy were at the TTU game. Tracy is a Tech grad and was there for the alumni band performance (she was a twirler back in the day). Tom, who was at NSU from 1983-89, is doing great. They live in Austin. Tom had a kidney transplant three years ago and is leading as normal a life as a zany Tom Wancho could. No doubt he and NSU AD (and former intern colleagues) Greg Burke are pumped about the Cleveland Browns victory yesterday.
The Wanchos arrived in Lubbock Thursday afternoon. Tom heard the local radio sports talk show hosts raving about Coach Stoker's interview and how impressive he was, and said it really reflected well on NSU....
...Great also to see former Demon offensive lineman Brian Whaley, who lives in West Texas. He joined Greg Burke in the swanky visiting athletic director's box, along with www.goDemons.com daddy Don Harrison, the Montgomery native who is a great supporter of Northwestern....
...Fun visiting with Ben Barkley, who is the only Texas newspaper man who has action pictures of Sam Goodwin and Scott Stoker on his office wall. Ben was editor of the Leesville Daily Leader for several years and is now publisher of the Sweetwater Reporter, two hours south of Lubbock. Ben and his sports editor and another friend made the trip and will return when the Demons do on Dec. 29 for basketball....
...The Texas Tech sports information staff hosted the NSU media crew Friday night at The 50 Yard Line steakhouse. The hospitality was superior and if you are ever in Lubbock, The 50 Yard Line is No. 1 on your list of fine and fun dining, in my book....
...If you're wondering, the Demon team buses arrived home at 8:30 Sunday morning....
...Follow from the previous road trip: the Demons practiced on Friday before the Northeastern game at Harvard Stadium, the oldest college football stadium in the country. There were jokes about coach Stoker getting into Harvard, and coach Johnny Nagle having played in the stadium dedication game. BTW, NSU started the 2006 season at Memorial Stadium on the Kansas campus. That's the oldest stadium west of the Mississippi.
Doug Ireland, SID
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