"A" for Academics

The annual "Academic Achievement Banquet" for the NSU Athletic Department was held last evening and I have to say that this is one of my favorite functions of the year to attend because it places emphasis on what is paramount not only for the athletic program but for our university.....academic success!

Kent Gresham and The Landing Restaurant once again donated a wonderful meal for all student-athletes whose GPA last year exceeded 3.0 either or both semesters. Dr. Randy Webb in a brief address lauded the student-athletes for their achievements and told them how well-prepared they will be for the future. A nice touch to this evening is having endowed scholarship donors in attendance and sitting with the student-athlete who is the designee of their scholarship. As a sidenote, the number of endowed athletic scholarships is now up to 58 through the hard work of someone who himself once sat at the Academic Banquet - Associate Athletic Director William Broussard. And finally, I would be remiss for not recognizing the hard work of our academic support staff - Jodie Heinicka, Carrie Crowell, and Cary Bruno - in planning the banquet but more importantly, for what they do throughout the year to help and encourage the academic success of nearly 400 student-athletes.

One final note - among the scholarship donors in attendance were Roddy and Ashley Rodriguez, parents of the late Kurt Rodriguez (#58) who was a four-year starter at linebacker for NSU and passed away unexpectedly a year or so after graduating. Kurt's parents established the scholarship in his memory and to this day continue to raise money for it. They are two very special people and it meant so much to me that they made the trip from New Orleans to Natchitoches for the banquet.

Greg Burke
Athletic Director

NSU leaps into the FTP world

The Northwestern State athletic department, in conjunction with JumpTV and Davey Antilly of NSU 22, has recently implemented a new video file sharing system to better promote not only Demon athletics, but also University news in general.

JumpTV, the website provider for NSU athletics, has created a separate FTP account that allows video to be downloaded. Television stations from around the world are able to log onto the site and pull the video clips or soundbites to run on their newscasts.

With the help of Antilley, this project is not only beneficial and helpful for stations in Shreveport and Alexandria who can not make it to Natchitoches but once a week, it's also extremely positive for the University in showing our dedication and willingness to continue a great professional relationship with the media while promoting our school.

Only one other school in Louisiana is currently doing this type of thing, and that's LSU.

Huge props needs to go out to Antilley for his time in shooting and editing the pieces.

Saturday night guests

1994 Demon All-America pitcher Reggie Gatewood and wife Tamara, and Lady Demon tennis great Vicky Simms Newsom and hubby Dr. Tommy Newsom, had their broods in tow Saturday night as they cheered on the Demons.

Tommy was our first assistant SID in 1991-92, right out of a football career at Austin College, and fell for his future bride while here. Tommy and Vicky moved to Waco, where he worked in the Sports Info office at Baylor, and he briefly was the media relations contact for the Southland Conference before entering the private sector as publisher/editor/janitor at the Little Elm (Texas) Journal.

He's come a long way. He's now president of the Art Institute of Dallas and vice chancellor of South University.

The Newsoms and the Gatewoods live near each other in McKinney, Texas. It is a small world! Joining Tommy and Vicky at Turpin were his parents, Don and Carol Newsom. Dad was a high school and college football coach who turned down a chance to join Jim Wacker's staff at North Dakota State for five reasons: Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska, he said, the states above Texas on the way to Fargo. He wanted no part of that climate.

The photo above is Team Newsom plus the Gatewood's blonde-headed boy, Tyler, the grandson of NSU president Dr. Randy and first lady Brenda Webb.

Reggie and Tommy made the trip to Colorado Springs two weeks earlier to enjoy watching the Demons at Air Force. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Tamara and Vicky enjoyed a man-free weekend with the kids!

We're baaaaaack

With apologies and a renewed commitment to revitalize the Daily Demon blog!

Inexcusable lapse in posting - yes, it seems technology has added work, not simplified it - but our bottom line is the Daily Demon Blog allows us a chance to recognize people, events and news which may not be able to reach you otherwise.

And it's fun.

So pardon the stall - and know that we'll aim for at least a blog post a day, but at least 3-4-5 each week.