Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Coach Peve on with Bobby Hebert Wednesday
Although he's vacationing, Coach Bradley Dale Peveto is hardly taking off. He will join Demon legend Bobby Hebert and WWL-AM 870 sports talk show co-host Deke Bellevia on New Orleans' big AM radio station Wednesday evening at 6:35. Tune in!
Monday, July 13, 2009
Summertime thoughts on the upcoming football season
Instead of complaining about the pain, I should feel thankful I made it 45 years without having surgery. But, wanting to be in tip-top shape for the upcoming football season, I decided to have a problem taken care of. The bad news is, I have been/will be out of commission for about 10 days. The good news, this has given/is giving me (plenty of) time to daydream about Fall Saturdays in Natchitoches and other places the Demons will visit.
NSU's defense will be tested early in the September 5th season-opener at Houston. The Cougars averaged almost 41 points a game last year, and it's not that much of a stretch to mention the UH quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate in the same sentence. However, in cases like this, the best chance for an upset comes in the first game of the year. Both teams will still be coming together, and the defense is usually ahead of the offense. I'm not predicting a Demon win, but if NSU plays UH of Conference USA to, say, within 10 points, that will certainly set a great tone for the year, and boost the already high excitement level.
The next week, NSU makes the short trip to Grambling. This is a return game from last year, when GSU came to Natchitoches in a game postponed to a Sunday afternoon because of one of the many hurricanes/tropical storms which have passed through in recent years. Simply put, NSU should/will handle the Tigers in a battle of two veteran teams. This will give offensive coordinator Todd Cooley a chance to open up the playbook and let his quarterback (John Hundley or transfer Tyler Wolfe) build some confidence against a pretty stout SWAC defense.
Week three should provide one of the most electric atmospheres in Turpin Stadium history. Home opener, first time Bradley Dale Peveto leads the Demons onto their home field, first game on the new and absolutely beautiful turf, and all this in front of live television cameras, as NSU battles North Dakota. The Fighting Sioux play in the same conference as Cal Poly, which brought a very impressive team to Natchitoches last year. Interestingly, NSU is one of three Southland Conference teams North Dakota will play this season (along with SFA and UCA). The Fighting Sioux will have two weeks to prepare for the Demons, after opening the season at Texas Tech.
Up next, NSU makes what seems like a yearly visit to Waco, Texas, and a date with the Big 12's Baylor Bears. Last season, the Demons missed on a couple of early opportunities to make big plays. That was also the coming out party for then-freshman QB Robert Griffin, who had an impressive year for the Bears. However, something tells me the Demons will play Baylor much closer than a year ago. In fact, I predict it will be anyone's ball game going into the fourth quarter. And when you are the underdog, that's all you can ask for in a game like this--a chance to win late.
After the only bye week of the year, NSU will open conference play at home against the University of Central Arkansas. The Bears no longer have record-setting QB Nathan Brown, and his OC is now in charge of the Demons' offense. Payback will be heck, as the Demons avenge last season's loss which severely damaged their conference title hopes.
The UCA game is the first of seven straight against SLC teams. You will get to see Texas State, Southeastern, and SFA at Turpin Stadium, while the Demons hit the road to McNeese, Sam Houston and Nicholls. The conference season is some three months away, and a lot can happen between now and then. However, I will say this...I--and many others--will be surprised if NSU does not compete for the league title. In all of the pre-season excitement, it's easy to forget that this is--at several spots--a first-year coaching staff. And while the Demons have some very talented players returning, they also lost some talented players.
One thing, however, should tell you where Coach Peveto's mindset is going into the season. On the NSU poster schedules, the last game listed is not the regular-season finale against SFA. There is one more entry. November 28--First-Round of the FCS Playoffs.
Now that is a winning attitude!
Tony Taglavore
Demon Sports Network
NSU's defense will be tested early in the September 5th season-opener at Houston. The Cougars averaged almost 41 points a game last year, and it's not that much of a stretch to mention the UH quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate in the same sentence. However, in cases like this, the best chance for an upset comes in the first game of the year. Both teams will still be coming together, and the defense is usually ahead of the offense. I'm not predicting a Demon win, but if NSU plays UH of Conference USA to, say, within 10 points, that will certainly set a great tone for the year, and boost the already high excitement level.
The next week, NSU makes the short trip to Grambling. This is a return game from last year, when GSU came to Natchitoches in a game postponed to a Sunday afternoon because of one of the many hurricanes/tropical storms which have passed through in recent years. Simply put, NSU should/will handle the Tigers in a battle of two veteran teams. This will give offensive coordinator Todd Cooley a chance to open up the playbook and let his quarterback (John Hundley or transfer Tyler Wolfe) build some confidence against a pretty stout SWAC defense.
Week three should provide one of the most electric atmospheres in Turpin Stadium history. Home opener, first time Bradley Dale Peveto leads the Demons onto their home field, first game on the new and absolutely beautiful turf, and all this in front of live television cameras, as NSU battles North Dakota. The Fighting Sioux play in the same conference as Cal Poly, which brought a very impressive team to Natchitoches last year. Interestingly, NSU is one of three Southland Conference teams North Dakota will play this season (along with SFA and UCA). The Fighting Sioux will have two weeks to prepare for the Demons, after opening the season at Texas Tech.
Up next, NSU makes what seems like a yearly visit to Waco, Texas, and a date with the Big 12's Baylor Bears. Last season, the Demons missed on a couple of early opportunities to make big plays. That was also the coming out party for then-freshman QB Robert Griffin, who had an impressive year for the Bears. However, something tells me the Demons will play Baylor much closer than a year ago. In fact, I predict it will be anyone's ball game going into the fourth quarter. And when you are the underdog, that's all you can ask for in a game like this--a chance to win late.
After the only bye week of the year, NSU will open conference play at home against the University of Central Arkansas. The Bears no longer have record-setting QB Nathan Brown, and his OC is now in charge of the Demons' offense. Payback will be heck, as the Demons avenge last season's loss which severely damaged their conference title hopes.
The UCA game is the first of seven straight against SLC teams. You will get to see Texas State, Southeastern, and SFA at Turpin Stadium, while the Demons hit the road to McNeese, Sam Houston and Nicholls. The conference season is some three months away, and a lot can happen between now and then. However, I will say this...I--and many others--will be surprised if NSU does not compete for the league title. In all of the pre-season excitement, it's easy to forget that this is--at several spots--a first-year coaching staff. And while the Demons have some very talented players returning, they also lost some talented players.
One thing, however, should tell you where Coach Peveto's mindset is going into the season. On the NSU poster schedules, the last game listed is not the regular-season finale against SFA. There is one more entry. November 28--First-Round of the FCS Playoffs.
Now that is a winning attitude!
Tony Taglavore
Demon Sports Network
Lee Arthur and the General
Former Demon basketball player Lee Arthur Smith has come a long way since he was hoopin' it up for coach Tynes Hildebrand's Demons from 1975-77. His college career ended because the Chicago Cubs convinced him concentrating on baseball was his best move.
It was a good one. Known to millions of baseball fans as just "Lee Smith," the 6-foot-6 Castor native set the major league record with 478 career saves as a flame-throwing right-handed relief pitcher.
He hopefully will take his rightful place in Cooperstown at the Baseball Hall of Fame sooner than later. Sunday night, he was an invited guest at the Mid-Summer Classic, All-Star Weekend, for the celebrity softball game pairing entertainers, sports figures and retired stars. Lee Arthur, who comes by to visit Demon basketball coach Mike McConathy when he is around town, evidently had fun playing softball with another basketball coach of note - Bob Knight.
Lee Arthur was a popular figure when he pitched for St. Louis during his 18-year MLB career. Of course, during most of those years, he was on the other side of a heated rivalry, pitching for the Chicago Cubs!
The above photo was sent our way by one of the nicest guys in the media, O.K. "Buddy" Davis, longtime sports editor of the Ruston Daily Leader. He's vacationing in St. Louis for the All-Star Game.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Small World
Put this one under the "it's a small world" category.
At the same time, it reinforces my ongoing belief (and something I stress to our coaches and staff all of the time) that wearing NSU apparel as often as possible truly is a marketing vehicle for NSU Athletics.
My wife and I ventured north of Hot Springs, AR, this past Saturday to pick up our daughter from Brookhill Ranch Camp, which by the way is an outstanding camp which teaches young people Christian principles and reinforces the things that many parents teach their children every day. But I digress.
As I stood at the closing ceremony wearing my NSU t-shirt, a woman approached me and identified herself as the aunt of former Demon kicker Robert Weeks. We had a good visit about Robert, how much he enjoyed NSU, and how much I respect Robert and his family. Short and sweet but still meaningful.
On that day, because somebody saw an NSU t-shirt, they thought about our program when they otherwise might not have. There certainly is value in that and the more it happens, the higher the profile of NSU Athletics.
Greg Burke
Athletic Director
At the same time, it reinforces my ongoing belief (and something I stress to our coaches and staff all of the time) that wearing NSU apparel as often as possible truly is a marketing vehicle for NSU Athletics.
My wife and I ventured north of Hot Springs, AR, this past Saturday to pick up our daughter from Brookhill Ranch Camp, which by the way is an outstanding camp which teaches young people Christian principles and reinforces the things that many parents teach their children every day. But I digress.
As I stood at the closing ceremony wearing my NSU t-shirt, a woman approached me and identified herself as the aunt of former Demon kicker Robert Weeks. We had a good visit about Robert, how much he enjoyed NSU, and how much I respect Robert and his family. Short and sweet but still meaningful.
On that day, because somebody saw an NSU t-shirt, they thought about our program when they otherwise might not have. There certainly is value in that and the more it happens, the higher the profile of NSU Athletics.
Greg Burke
Athletic Director
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