Everyone I've talked to, from NSU in-house sports analyst and long-time employee Thomas Foster to boosters who have watched practice to some from within the program, have told me how good they think J.P. Davis' Demon baseball team is going to be this year.
Apparently, there are others a bit further removed from Natchitoches who think the same thing.
Former NSU baseball clubhouse manager Ray Meade, now living in Tennessee but still very much in-tune with what is happening on the NSU athletic scene, called to tell me about the Demons being the topic of conversation on the national Rivals.com radio morning show recently. The discussion centered around teams, outside of the preseason 25, that might make some postseason noise....and the NSU Demons were included in that category.
Also mentioned was the rich coaching history that has been a part of Demon baseball for the past two decades and how those coaches have moved on to head positions at major programs, starting with newly retired Alabama skipper Jim Wells in 1990 and continuing with Wells' former graduate assistant, Mike Bianco (Ole Miss); Dave Van Horn (Nebraska and now Arkansas); his pitching coach, Rob Childress (Texas A&M); John Cohen (Kentucky and now Mississippi State); and Wells' replacement at Alabama, Mitch Gaspard.
Southland Conference preseason polls, by the way, have picked the Demons middle-of-the-pack at best.
I like the Rivals.com prognosticators better.
Greg Burke
Athletic Director
Friday, February 19, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
The way it ought to be
NSU-McNeese is a great rivalry. In any sport.
In men's basketball, it's the ideal rivalry - even down to after the game ends.
It's been a tradition since McNeese head coach Dave Simmons left the NSU Demon basketball staff to take over as the Cowboys boss, that NSU supporters cook for both teams after they play at Prather Coliseum.
Now McNeese is returning the favor. The Cowboys fed both teams a wonderful brisket dinner at Burton Coliseum after last night's Demon win. You talk about sportsmanship and building relationships, that's what we saw during and after.
That postgame hospitality is nothing new in many sports, but it's always great to see.
In men's basketball, it's the ideal rivalry - even down to after the game ends.
It's been a tradition since McNeese head coach Dave Simmons left the NSU Demon basketball staff to take over as the Cowboys boss, that NSU supporters cook for both teams after they play at Prather Coliseum.
Now McNeese is returning the favor. The Cowboys fed both teams a wonderful brisket dinner at Burton Coliseum after last night's Demon win. You talk about sportsmanship and building relationships, that's what we saw during and after.
That postgame hospitality is nothing new in many sports, but it's always great to see.
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