Three nice splashes of national attention developed this week for NSU Demon basketball, amid the bustle of football's National Signing Day.
1) ESPN.com, this week on its college basketball page, ran a feature story which discussed how predicable last year's NCAA Tournament was, on the heels of the upset-filled and wildly-entertaining 2006 NCAAs.
Not only was there mention of the Demons' win over Iowa, but the photo accompanying the story was of Demon forward Jermaine Spencer poking out his "Northwestern State" jersey in the post-game celebration at Auburn Hills.
While I was covered in football signing day work, thanks to sharp-eyed assistant basketball coach Mark Slessinger, this didn't pass us by.
2) Speaking of that game, there will be a story in the official 2008 NCAA Tournament game program (I believe just for the first nad second round games) on great buzzer-beating shots in the tournament. Naturally, writer Michael Bradley wanted to talk with NSU's Jermaine Wallace, which happened Friday. We'll try to get access to the story after its publication and share it here.
3) Also Friday, Dana O'Neil of ESPN.com talked with Coach Mike McConathy, sons Michael and Logan, and the patriarch, John McConathy. She is doing a story on the number of sets of brothers playing college hoops on the same team this season. When she learned of the special family ties at Northwestern, she was very interested in talking to the three generations of McConathys. It is fascinating to note that John played with his brother Leslie, and now his grandsons Michael and Logan are playing together, for the Demons 50+ years later.
Doug Ireland, SID
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Former Demon volunteer assistant Joe Ferguson fighting for his life
The alarming news broke this morning that Joe Ferguson, the Shreveport native who became a record-setting quarterback, was again battling cancer.
Ferguson assisted his high school coach at Shreveport-Woodlawn, A.L. Williams, as a volunteer assistant coach at NSU for several seasons. Joe lived in Natchitoches in the off-season when he wasn't playing QB for the Buffalo Bills. This was in a day when the NFL teams did not have year-round training, and spring mini-camps. So Ferguson went through spring practice and spent June and early July throwing passes to the NSU receivers.
Mark Duper, the Demon track and field All-America sprinter who became an NFL All-Pro after beginning his football career as a junior at NSU, gives Ferguson credit for his success. A lot of Demons from that day also remember Joe being so unselfish and ego-free.
Here's today's story from www.buffalobills.com ... and an e-mail address to use to send notes of encouragement to Joe and his incredible wife, Sandy, along with a website to keep track of his condition:
Joe Ferguson Again Fighting For Life
by Chris Brown, www.buffalobills.com Last Updated: 2/4/2008 2:08 PM ET
After a successful battle against Burkitt's lymphoma almost two years ago, former Bills quarterback Joe Ferguson is now facing a new and more serious fight with cancer. A few weeks ago Ferguson was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia.
Currently in the intensive care unit at the world-renowned M.D. Anderson cancer treatment center in Houston, Ferguson's condition improved slightly Monday.
"He had a good night and is beginning to get some of his color back," said Ferguson's wife Sandy. "He is still on the oxygen but both his blood pressure and heart rate are lower. Joe's blood count is still low, but better than it was previously."
The former Buffalo signal caller (1973-84) developed pneumonia over the weekend and was on as many as five antibiotics. He also underwent a series of blood transfusions to boost his white blood cell count before being taken to the ICU Sunday.
Ferguson successfully battled pneumonia in his first bout with cancer back in 2005, but it took him six weeks as he spent nine days in the hospital and four days in intensive care.
"That scared me more than the cancer almost," said Ferguson back in 2006 of his first battle with cancer. "Once I got pneumonia I really got down and was really sick. That scared me more than anything else."
The 57-year old Ferguson has been at M.D. Anderson for about a week since being diagnosed.
"Our doctor initially was not as positive as had been previously with the Burkitt's Lymphoma, but wanted to wait on a few more tests to decide the treatment," said Sandy. "When the tests came back Joe had the best type he could have had with the success rate better than some of the other subtypes of AML."
Ferguson went through a physically taxing schedule of chemotherapy in late 2005 and early 2006 before finally beating his previous form of cancer. Unfortunately chemotherapy, as effective as it can be in treating cancer, has its drawbacks.
According to his physicians it's common for patients to develop forms of leukemia as a result of previous chemotherapy treatments. That appears to be what has happened with Ferguson.
Last week Ferguson finished his first round of chemotherapy to battle the newly developed leukemia. He will remain at M.D. Anderson through the month of February after which his bone marrow will be tested to see if the leukemia is in remission.
"If it is in remission they will continue with the chemotherapy for six more treatments," said Sandy. "But they will be four-day treatments and given as out-patient."
Sandy maintains a website to update friends and fans of her husband's condition at this link (http://www.hickman.k12.ca.us/joef.html).
Fans can also send personal e-mail messages of support to Ferguson at Jferguson@lindsey.com.
Ferguson and his wife credited their strong faith in pulling them through Joe's first battle with cancer. They genuinely appreciate the well wishes and prayers they've received the past few years.
"Thank you for your outpouring of love and support," said Sandy. "They have been extremely healing for Joe and our family."
"You've got to believe that support works," said Ferguson following his first battle with cancer. "And I believe it does because it gave me comfort."
Ferguson assisted his high school coach at Shreveport-Woodlawn, A.L. Williams, as a volunteer assistant coach at NSU for several seasons. Joe lived in Natchitoches in the off-season when he wasn't playing QB for the Buffalo Bills. This was in a day when the NFL teams did not have year-round training, and spring mini-camps. So Ferguson went through spring practice and spent June and early July throwing passes to the NSU receivers.
Mark Duper, the Demon track and field All-America sprinter who became an NFL All-Pro after beginning his football career as a junior at NSU, gives Ferguson credit for his success. A lot of Demons from that day also remember Joe being so unselfish and ego-free.
Here's today's story from www.buffalobills.com ... and an e-mail address to use to send notes of encouragement to Joe and his incredible wife, Sandy, along with a website to keep track of his condition:
Joe Ferguson Again Fighting For Life
by Chris Brown, www.buffalobills.com Last Updated: 2/4/2008 2:08 PM ET
After a successful battle against Burkitt's lymphoma almost two years ago, former Bills quarterback Joe Ferguson is now facing a new and more serious fight with cancer. A few weeks ago Ferguson was diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia.
Currently in the intensive care unit at the world-renowned M.D. Anderson cancer treatment center in Houston, Ferguson's condition improved slightly Monday.
"He had a good night and is beginning to get some of his color back," said Ferguson's wife Sandy. "He is still on the oxygen but both his blood pressure and heart rate are lower. Joe's blood count is still low, but better than it was previously."
The former Buffalo signal caller (1973-84) developed pneumonia over the weekend and was on as many as five antibiotics. He also underwent a series of blood transfusions to boost his white blood cell count before being taken to the ICU Sunday.
Ferguson successfully battled pneumonia in his first bout with cancer back in 2005, but it took him six weeks as he spent nine days in the hospital and four days in intensive care.
"That scared me more than the cancer almost," said Ferguson back in 2006 of his first battle with cancer. "Once I got pneumonia I really got down and was really sick. That scared me more than anything else."
The 57-year old Ferguson has been at M.D. Anderson for about a week since being diagnosed.
"Our doctor initially was not as positive as had been previously with the Burkitt's Lymphoma, but wanted to wait on a few more tests to decide the treatment," said Sandy. "When the tests came back Joe had the best type he could have had with the success rate better than some of the other subtypes of AML."
Ferguson went through a physically taxing schedule of chemotherapy in late 2005 and early 2006 before finally beating his previous form of cancer. Unfortunately chemotherapy, as effective as it can be in treating cancer, has its drawbacks.
According to his physicians it's common for patients to develop forms of leukemia as a result of previous chemotherapy treatments. That appears to be what has happened with Ferguson.
Last week Ferguson finished his first round of chemotherapy to battle the newly developed leukemia. He will remain at M.D. Anderson through the month of February after which his bone marrow will be tested to see if the leukemia is in remission.
"If it is in remission they will continue with the chemotherapy for six more treatments," said Sandy. "But they will be four-day treatments and given as out-patient."
Sandy maintains a website to update friends and fans of her husband's condition at this link (http://www.hickman.k12.ca.us/joef.html).
Fans can also send personal e-mail messages of support to Ferguson at Jferguson@lindsey.com.
Ferguson and his wife credited their strong faith in pulling them through Joe's first battle with cancer. They genuinely appreciate the well wishes and prayers they've received the past few years.
"Thank you for your outpouring of love and support," said Sandy. "They have been extremely healing for Joe and our family."
"You've got to believe that support works," said Ferguson following his first battle with cancer. "And I believe it does because it gave me comfort."
Monday, February 04, 2008
Coach Mike saw Knight's retirement coming
The news was stunning to most Monday night but not to Demon basketball coach Mike McConathy, who predicted during our 2007-ending trip to Texas Tech that legendary coach Bob Knight was in his final season.
Knight handed the reigns of the Red Raiders program over to his son Pat on Monday, in a sudden and surprising move.
But Coach Mike felt it coming. He has some friends who are friends of Coach Knight, and from what he'd picked up from them and through the grapevine, he said while we were in West Texas that it wouldn't surprise him if this season was Knight's last one.
Turns out it was, and that makes the Dec. 29 visit to Lubbock something that I'll treasure a lot more than I would have otherwise. Knight is the kind of figure who tends to create either reverence or revulsion. His career has been well documented and debated. Bottom line is that Knight is the winningest Division I men's basketball coach ever, and nobody can deny that he loves the game of basketball, coaching and teaching.
So let me tell you what I saw and heard while in Lubbock:
Assistant coach Mark Slessinger, who grew up in Bloomington, and whose mother has been an usher adjacent to the Indiana bench for more than 20 years, has tremendous respect for Coach Knight and had to be thrilled to coach against him. It was an added bonus that one of Knight's closest friends, retired Bloomington sports editor Bob Hammel, was on hand for the game and sitting next to the Demons' bench. Sless was able to greet Mr. Hammel before the game and they had a nice visit.
Sless brought along on the trip his copy of Knight's autobiography, co-authored by Hammel. It was never his intention to get it autographed, but he was persuaded to put his professionalism aside and get a keepsake that his kids and others would treasure. Both Coach Knight and Hammel kindly inscribed it to Sless and the book was returned to him before the team rolled out of Lubbock.
Coach Knight didn't take the court until about a minute before lineups were introduced. He walked straight down to visit with Coach Mike, and quickly brought up their common friends. He was very gracious and asked Coach Mike if he could join Knight and Hammel for dinner that evening. Unfortunately the team's travel had us leaving for Stillwater after the game -- that's one time I wished we were flying on a puddle jumper, so McConathy could have enjoyed an evening with a seminal figure in college coaching.
After the game, talking with my counterpart at Texas Tech, I learned that Knight had expressed his admiration for Coach Mike and his approach to the game and to the NSU program. Whatever else you may read or hear about Knight, you have to understand he is deeply committed to his players, staff and support group, and to their benefit. That's common ground with McConathy.
As people at TTU told me during our football visit there, if you are in Knight's circle, it's wonderful. He is an engaging personality and ultra-loyal supporter for those folks. Stand with him and he will stand for you.
My lasting memory of Coach Knight will be how the game ended that day. It was a rough afternoon for the Demons, who overcame a miserable first half and battled gamely in the last 20 minutes. Still, the Red Raiders hit the 95-point mark with well over three minutes left to play. They didn't score again.
It wasn't by accident. Many "big time" coaches would have left in their top players, and left the throttle open now matter who was on the floor, especially if they were subs who didn't get a lot of opportunity to play. Not Coach Knight.
He had the little-used players out there for the final several minutes. When the score got to 95, it was interesting to notice Tech players passing up open jumpers and working the ball around the Demons' defense. It was obvious if you thought about what was happening -- Coach Knight had told his players, in essence, "the only way you shoot is if you have a layup. I won't keep you from scoring, but you will have to earn it. We're not going to show up this team. You have to respect the game and the opponent no matter what the situation."
OK, that might be the Clair Bee version, but I firmly believe he told the Red Raiders nothing other than a layup was acceptable, trying to keep the score under 100.
Then, at the end of the game, I watched for the postgame handshake. We'd watched tapes of three games on the bus ride out, and let's just say that Coach Knight gave the courtesy handshake and then turned for the locker room at the end of those games. Didn't have a word for the opposing coach, didn't greet the assistants. That's not all that uncommon in the high end of college hoops. It's been his style for years. To each, his own.
But he met Coach Mike, shook his hand, and then put his right hand on Coach Mike's shoulder. In fact, he wanted to have a conversation, but Coach Mike didn't notice (much to his chagrin later, hoping he didn't offend Coach Knight). Instead, McConathy went down the line as he always does, even in the crazed excitement after the game-winning NCAA Tournament shot over Iowa, even after the most painful losses. He shakes every hand of every opponent and his team does, too. It's been his style for years.
I'll always wonder what Coach Knight would have said to Coach Mike. Clearly, it was going to be something encouraging. And he didn't have to take that tact. So say what you will about Bob Knight, and there's been plenty said -- but college basketball took a hit today, in my view.
Doug Ireland, SID
Knight handed the reigns of the Red Raiders program over to his son Pat on Monday, in a sudden and surprising move.
But Coach Mike felt it coming. He has some friends who are friends of Coach Knight, and from what he'd picked up from them and through the grapevine, he said while we were in West Texas that it wouldn't surprise him if this season was Knight's last one.
Turns out it was, and that makes the Dec. 29 visit to Lubbock something that I'll treasure a lot more than I would have otherwise. Knight is the kind of figure who tends to create either reverence or revulsion. His career has been well documented and debated. Bottom line is that Knight is the winningest Division I men's basketball coach ever, and nobody can deny that he loves the game of basketball, coaching and teaching.
So let me tell you what I saw and heard while in Lubbock:
Assistant coach Mark Slessinger, who grew up in Bloomington, and whose mother has been an usher adjacent to the Indiana bench for more than 20 years, has tremendous respect for Coach Knight and had to be thrilled to coach against him. It was an added bonus that one of Knight's closest friends, retired Bloomington sports editor Bob Hammel, was on hand for the game and sitting next to the Demons' bench. Sless was able to greet Mr. Hammel before the game and they had a nice visit.
Sless brought along on the trip his copy of Knight's autobiography, co-authored by Hammel. It was never his intention to get it autographed, but he was persuaded to put his professionalism aside and get a keepsake that his kids and others would treasure. Both Coach Knight and Hammel kindly inscribed it to Sless and the book was returned to him before the team rolled out of Lubbock.
Coach Knight didn't take the court until about a minute before lineups were introduced. He walked straight down to visit with Coach Mike, and quickly brought up their common friends. He was very gracious and asked Coach Mike if he could join Knight and Hammel for dinner that evening. Unfortunately the team's travel had us leaving for Stillwater after the game -- that's one time I wished we were flying on a puddle jumper, so McConathy could have enjoyed an evening with a seminal figure in college coaching.
After the game, talking with my counterpart at Texas Tech, I learned that Knight had expressed his admiration for Coach Mike and his approach to the game and to the NSU program. Whatever else you may read or hear about Knight, you have to understand he is deeply committed to his players, staff and support group, and to their benefit. That's common ground with McConathy.
As people at TTU told me during our football visit there, if you are in Knight's circle, it's wonderful. He is an engaging personality and ultra-loyal supporter for those folks. Stand with him and he will stand for you.
My lasting memory of Coach Knight will be how the game ended that day. It was a rough afternoon for the Demons, who overcame a miserable first half and battled gamely in the last 20 minutes. Still, the Red Raiders hit the 95-point mark with well over three minutes left to play. They didn't score again.
It wasn't by accident. Many "big time" coaches would have left in their top players, and left the throttle open now matter who was on the floor, especially if they were subs who didn't get a lot of opportunity to play. Not Coach Knight.
He had the little-used players out there for the final several minutes. When the score got to 95, it was interesting to notice Tech players passing up open jumpers and working the ball around the Demons' defense. It was obvious if you thought about what was happening -- Coach Knight had told his players, in essence, "the only way you shoot is if you have a layup. I won't keep you from scoring, but you will have to earn it. We're not going to show up this team. You have to respect the game and the opponent no matter what the situation."
OK, that might be the Clair Bee version, but I firmly believe he told the Red Raiders nothing other than a layup was acceptable, trying to keep the score under 100.
Then, at the end of the game, I watched for the postgame handshake. We'd watched tapes of three games on the bus ride out, and let's just say that Coach Knight gave the courtesy handshake and then turned for the locker room at the end of those games. Didn't have a word for the opposing coach, didn't greet the assistants. That's not all that uncommon in the high end of college hoops. It's been his style for years. To each, his own.
But he met Coach Mike, shook his hand, and then put his right hand on Coach Mike's shoulder. In fact, he wanted to have a conversation, but Coach Mike didn't notice (much to his chagrin later, hoping he didn't offend Coach Knight). Instead, McConathy went down the line as he always does, even in the crazed excitement after the game-winning NCAA Tournament shot over Iowa, even after the most painful losses. He shakes every hand of every opponent and his team does, too. It's been his style for years.
I'll always wonder what Coach Knight would have said to Coach Mike. Clearly, it was going to be something encouraging. And he didn't have to take that tact. So say what you will about Bob Knight, and there's been plenty said -- but college basketball took a hit today, in my view.
Doug Ireland, SID
Quick postscript on D-Bell in El Paso
NFL Draft analyst Josh Buchanan, our eyes in El Paso, says the "Texas vs. the Nation" all-star game experience was a good one for Demon All-America tackle Demetrius Bell.
Watching the game Saturday on CSTV, NSU head coach Scott Stoker was pleased. He sent a text message to Demon basketball coach Mike McConathy, who brought Bell to NSU, saying that the big fella had played well.
My TIVO didn't catch all of the game, and I am not a coach or an analyst, but it looked like he got in about 12-15 plays in the third quarter at least, and was pretty solid. He allowed one QB hurry, maybe on his first play, but was dominant at times on other plays. He showed he still can move in spite of adding weight, as NFL scouts said he needed to do. He weighed in at 304 pounds in El Paso.
Here's Buchanan's final report:
"He did fairly well. People are talking 6th round right now. I think the area scouts will talk higher on him once he works out at Indy (in the NFL Combine later this month). I have heard as high as 5th round.
"Add the Chiefs to those showing heavy interest in bell. Seven scouts stayed for the game and they all were looking at Bell. They represented the Browns, Colts, Packers, Titans, and Chiefs."
From what I saw in the Super Bowl, the Patriots, also said to be watching Bell closely, have good reason to do so!
Up in Oklahoma City, Demons great and two-time Giants' Super Bowl champion linebacker Gary Reasons has to be smiling.
Doug Ireland, SID
Watching the game Saturday on CSTV, NSU head coach Scott Stoker was pleased. He sent a text message to Demon basketball coach Mike McConathy, who brought Bell to NSU, saying that the big fella had played well.
My TIVO didn't catch all of the game, and I am not a coach or an analyst, but it looked like he got in about 12-15 plays in the third quarter at least, and was pretty solid. He allowed one QB hurry, maybe on his first play, but was dominant at times on other plays. He showed he still can move in spite of adding weight, as NFL scouts said he needed to do. He weighed in at 304 pounds in El Paso.
Here's Buchanan's final report:
"He did fairly well. People are talking 6th round right now. I think the area scouts will talk higher on him once he works out at Indy (in the NFL Combine later this month). I have heard as high as 5th round.
"Add the Chiefs to those showing heavy interest in bell. Seven scouts stayed for the game and they all were looking at Bell. They represented the Browns, Colts, Packers, Titans, and Chiefs."
From what I saw in the Super Bowl, the Patriots, also said to be watching Bell closely, have good reason to do so!
Up in Oklahoma City, Demons great and two-time Giants' Super Bowl champion linebacker Gary Reasons has to be smiling.
Doug Ireland, SID
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