It’s not the likes of Hammond, Lake Charles, Nacogdoches, Thibodaux, Beaumont or Huntsville… not that there’s anything wrong with those great towns.
But here, there’s crystal clear blue water as far as the eye can see; million dollar mansions along the beachfront; and tons of palm trees growing every 10 yards.
I’m talking about Corpus Christi – the home city of one of two of the newest members of the SLC – Texas A&M-Corpus Christi - and the Thursday night opponent of the Lady Demons.
It took right at 7 hours to get here as we ventured out of Natchitoches at 7 a.m. Wednesday on a charter bus, but it was well worth the trip when we finally arrived in the city.
The team hotel sits right on Shoreline Blvd., just across the street from the seawall that touches the Gulf of Mexico. Along the boulevard is an abundance of attractions including the U.S.S. Lexington Museum which features the actual aircraft carrier that served during World War II. Then there’s the Texas State Aquarium, The Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History… I can go on and on and on.
Trips like these are usually taken when competing in Thanksgiving or Christmas tournaments.
But thanks to the SLC for adding Corpus Christi, this trip will be second nature.
And to think, we get to visit San Antonio on Friday and Saturday.
Matt Bonnette, Assistant Sports Information Director
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Watching the Saints on Waikiki
It's strange seeing an NFL game kick off at 8 a.m., with the screams of an agitated mackaw (however you spell it, the bird on the Fruit Loops cereal box) booming from a nearby grove, but that's the scene here in Hawaii on Sunday morning as we pack our bags for tonight's red-eye flight home.
(BTW, this is Doug Ireland using Patrick Netherton's blog space. What has it come to in Hawaii? I have to pinch hit for him last night on the radio, because he's ill, and now I have to assume his identity to post my blog because I can't access my own? Good news is, the phrase "better living through pharmaceuticals" applies to Patrick, who looked the color of the sand on Waikiki Beach yesterday but after bedrest and prescription medication, he's up and at 'em today. Thanks, he says, for the flowers, cards and letters!)
Coach Leon Johnson and trainer Ed Evans are crossing the island to see the fabled Bonzai Pipeline on the Northshore, something I have yet to do in three trips here but have at the top of my wish list. They snuck out under cover of dawn, being two fellows who don't mind seeing the sun rise.
Except for last night's ball game, and Patrick's swoon, this has been another wonderful trip to paradise. The game wasn't a total loss, as Luke Rogers said a few minutes ago -- the team fought through a ton of adversity, both from their inability to make shots and the unwarranted exit of coach Mike McConathy. A lot of teams I've seen would have been blown out last night. These Demons have definitely got a pile of "comebackabililty."
Today they'll crunch as most shopping and sightseeing as possible into the next 5 hours. The team meets at California Pizza Kitchen at 3 (7 back home) and after a wonderful dinner begans heading to the airport. We pull back into Prather Coliseum's parking lot, if all goes on schedule, at noon.
By 1, the Demons will be, true to their creed, back to work. Weightlifting and practice awaits. Improvement doesn't come easy.
But shopping comes first today!
(BTW, this is Doug Ireland using Patrick Netherton's blog space. What has it come to in Hawaii? I have to pinch hit for him last night on the radio, because he's ill, and now I have to assume his identity to post my blog because I can't access my own? Good news is, the phrase "better living through pharmaceuticals" applies to Patrick, who looked the color of the sand on Waikiki Beach yesterday but after bedrest and prescription medication, he's up and at 'em today. Thanks, he says, for the flowers, cards and letters!)
Coach Leon Johnson and trainer Ed Evans are crossing the island to see the fabled Bonzai Pipeline on the Northshore, something I have yet to do in three trips here but have at the top of my wish list. They snuck out under cover of dawn, being two fellows who don't mind seeing the sun rise.
Except for last night's ball game, and Patrick's swoon, this has been another wonderful trip to paradise. The game wasn't a total loss, as Luke Rogers said a few minutes ago -- the team fought through a ton of adversity, both from their inability to make shots and the unwarranted exit of coach Mike McConathy. A lot of teams I've seen would have been blown out last night. These Demons have definitely got a pile of "comebackabililty."
Today they'll crunch as most shopping and sightseeing as possible into the next 5 hours. The team meets at California Pizza Kitchen at 3 (7 back home) and after a wonderful dinner begans heading to the airport. We pull back into Prather Coliseum's parking lot, if all goes on schedule, at noon.
By 1, the Demons will be, true to their creed, back to work. Weightlifting and practice awaits. Improvement doesn't come easy.
But shopping comes first today!
Friday, December 15, 2006
Happy occasion in Hawaii
HONOLULU – How could you NOT have a happy occasion in Paradise?
It’s hard for the NSU basketball team to imagine, other than the sting of a couple of bitter losses in last year’s Rainbow Classic. They’ll get a chance to walk off the court happier Saturday night.
But before we even landed in Honolulu Thursday evening, we learned of a happy event for one NSU alumnus today. At the Houston airport, we met the Maxfield family from Tyler, Texas, whose son Ryan is a very proud 2004 NSU graduate now pursuing his doctoral degree in international relations and political economics at Cal-Irvine.
Ryan was a four-year member of the Spirit of Northwestern Marching Band and the Purple Haze pep band. His parents, Preston and Jacqueline, are big Demon sports fans like their son, who treasures the memory of playing in Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium when the Lady Demon basketball team went to the 2004 NCAA Tournament.
Preston sat in a parking lot in Tyler last March and listened to the Demons beat Iowa in the men’s NCAA Tournament.
What brought them to Hawaii was the Friday wedding of their daughter, Amber, to Carl Nona. They work at the same large Houston-based law firm, and the couple and Amber’s parents had the same flight to Honolulu that the Demons did.
Ryan was flying separately from Los Angeles. The family was planning a fun-filled weekend, and the father of the bride, the groom and the brother of the bride made a late add to their itinerary: they asked for tickets to Saturday evening’s basketball game!
Carl and Amber have dated for four years and have been engaged for the last two.
As for Ryan, he graduated from NSU with honors with a double major of political science and music performance.
… On the eight-hour flight from Houston, many of the NSU players and coaches were enthralled by the in-flight movie “Invincible,” the story of a blue-collar bartender who defied the odds to try out and make the Philadelphia Eagles’ roster in the late 1970s.
“If that doesn’t get your heart thumpin’, nothing will,” said head coach Mike McConathy, who gives the movie a big pair of thumbs up.
Reading on the flight: while I polished off “Thunderstruck,” the dual story of Marconi’s development of wireless communications and a riveting murder case in London before World War II, coach McConathy was reading an updated version of the Bible.
--Doug Ireland
It’s hard for the NSU basketball team to imagine, other than the sting of a couple of bitter losses in last year’s Rainbow Classic. They’ll get a chance to walk off the court happier Saturday night.
But before we even landed in Honolulu Thursday evening, we learned of a happy event for one NSU alumnus today. At the Houston airport, we met the Maxfield family from Tyler, Texas, whose son Ryan is a very proud 2004 NSU graduate now pursuing his doctoral degree in international relations and political economics at Cal-Irvine.
Ryan was a four-year member of the Spirit of Northwestern Marching Band and the Purple Haze pep band. His parents, Preston and Jacqueline, are big Demon sports fans like their son, who treasures the memory of playing in Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium when the Lady Demon basketball team went to the 2004 NCAA Tournament.
Preston sat in a parking lot in Tyler last March and listened to the Demons beat Iowa in the men’s NCAA Tournament.
What brought them to Hawaii was the Friday wedding of their daughter, Amber, to Carl Nona. They work at the same large Houston-based law firm, and the couple and Amber’s parents had the same flight to Honolulu that the Demons did.
Ryan was flying separately from Los Angeles. The family was planning a fun-filled weekend, and the father of the bride, the groom and the brother of the bride made a late add to their itinerary: they asked for tickets to Saturday evening’s basketball game!
Carl and Amber have dated for four years and have been engaged for the last two.
As for Ryan, he graduated from NSU with honors with a double major of political science and music performance.
… On the eight-hour flight from Houston, many of the NSU players and coaches were enthralled by the in-flight movie “Invincible,” the story of a blue-collar bartender who defied the odds to try out and make the Philadelphia Eagles’ roster in the late 1970s.
“If that doesn’t get your heart thumpin’, nothing will,” said head coach Mike McConathy, who gives the movie a big pair of thumbs up.
Reading on the flight: while I polished off “Thunderstruck,” the dual story of Marconi’s development of wireless communications and a riveting murder case in London before World War II, coach McConathy was reading an updated version of the Bible.
--Doug Ireland
Monday, December 11, 2006
Demons enjoy Saints win over Cowboys
Former Demon and Former Saint Bobby Hebert as Grand Marshall of the 2006 Natchitoches Christmas Festival of Lights.
It’s easy to figure former Saints quarterback and NSU graduate Bobby Hebert thoroughly enjoyed New Orleans’ rout of Dallas in NFL action Sunday night.
The excitement in his voice was obvious listening to his post-game radio show on 870 -AM WWL – even though he had picked Dallas to win. “Hey, you gotta be objective! The Saints had a lot to overcome in this game, but this is definitely one time I’m really happy to be wrong,” he told one caller.
Bobby (shown above throwing candy as grand marshal of the 80th Annual Natchitoches Christmas Festival parade Dec. 2) was speaking for a legion of Saints fans thrilled with their team’s blowout of their next-door neighbors. The match-up is always fun to watch, as much as for the fan enthusiasm as for any other reason.
It extended all the way to the NSU Cheerleaders. Sitting next to each other at a local Chili’s restaurant Sunday night were Afton Brunett, a freshman education major from New Orleans, and Stephanie Farish, a junior psychology major from Irving, Texas.
As you might guess, Afton was wearing Saints gear – a No. 87 Joe Horn jersey and a black and gold Santa hat with “Saints” in gold lettering – and Stephanie had on a No. 81 Cowboys jersey. “I know, it’s T.O., but I couldn’t get a Tony Romo jersey,” she sheepishly explained after No. 81 dropped yet another catchable pass. “I’ve got to have my Cowboys jersey on for the games.”
The cheerleaders were quite well versed on their teams and avidly watched every play, and yes, cheering. They agreed on one thing – “Sean Payton is really good looking,” said Afton. And give Stephanie credit, when things turned sour, she didn’t quit rooting openly and ardently for her team.
The crowd at Chili’s was pretty evenly split between the rivals, but late in the game most Cowboys fans headed home early and some Saints fans, like avid NSU supporter and professor Dr. Ron McBride, dropped by to enjoy the waning moments. Ron donned his No. 25 Reggie Bush Saints jersey, his Saints cap and his Saints warm-ups for the occasion. He has the equivalent, of course, in purple and white Demons gear.I
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Reconnecting with 70s Demons
Turns out Marquette basketball coach Tom Crean had a former Demon who helped him climb the career ladder.
Crean worked on the coaching staff at Alma College under Ralph Pim, who was an assistant coach at NSU under Tynes Hildebrand in the late 1970s.
Pim is now intramural sports coordinator at the United States Military Academy. Yes, at West Point, where every cadet not involved in intercollegiate athletics is required to participate in intramural activities each weekday afternoon at 4.
Pim spent breakfast Saturday at the Hilton Milwaukee City Center with Demons coach Mike McConathy and staff, remembering his days in Natchitoches and talking basketball. He was extrememly disappointed to learn that Friday's blizzard denied him the chance to reconnect with former Demon assistant coach Derwood Duke, whose plans to attend the Marquette tournament were scrapped by the storm.
Pim and trainer Ed Evans spent time telling Eugene Christmas stories. Pim left in 1978 and Evans arrived as a graduate assistant trainer a year later.
Pim and Crean stay in contact. Pim flew in for the weekend tournament to see four good games and to check out the Demons.
Also during breakfast, the Demon coaches visited with a couple of their counterparts from North Dakota State, which will play Marquette tonight in the tournament championship game. There were naturally some strategic exchanges since NDSU beat Princeton, who the Demons face this evening, and conversation about the vast contrast in styles in the two semifinals. NDSU doesn't attack, but Princeton simply plods with its pass-heavy, screening offensive sets that chew time off the clock. After watching that game, the NSU-Marquette contest looked like it was in fast forward mode.
BTW, Marquette staffers and media covering the Golden Eagles were surprised and impressed by the Demons. Surprised that NSU would run and press against Marquette, and impressed with the depth, fearlessness, tenacity and athleticism the Demons displayed. Pim and the NDSU coaches echoed those sentiments Saturday morning.
Former Demons forward Rob Sutherland (1973-76), a Hales Corners, Wis., native and resident, was behind the NSU bench for the Marquette game. He visited Shreveport last year to attend the wedding of former NSU teammate Bill McKellar's daughter, and met Coach Mike at the event. When the Demons showed up on the Marquette schedule, Sutherland got in touch with McKellar and then McConathy and was impressed with the depth and athleticism of the Demons in their game against the nation's No. 8-ranked team.
Sutherland was recruited to NSU by Jack Hearron, another Hildebrand assistant. Hearron works at the Oklahoma School for Math and Science in Norman, and reunites with the Demons each time NSU plays at his alma mater, Oklahoma State. Hearron became close with the McConathy family when he recruited Mike, albeit unsuccessfully, in the early 1970s. Hearron played for legendary coach Henry Iba at OSU, just as his dad did.
Crean worked on the coaching staff at Alma College under Ralph Pim, who was an assistant coach at NSU under Tynes Hildebrand in the late 1970s.
Pim is now intramural sports coordinator at the United States Military Academy. Yes, at West Point, where every cadet not involved in intercollegiate athletics is required to participate in intramural activities each weekday afternoon at 4.
Pim spent breakfast Saturday at the Hilton Milwaukee City Center with Demons coach Mike McConathy and staff, remembering his days in Natchitoches and talking basketball. He was extrememly disappointed to learn that Friday's blizzard denied him the chance to reconnect with former Demon assistant coach Derwood Duke, whose plans to attend the Marquette tournament were scrapped by the storm.
Pim and trainer Ed Evans spent time telling Eugene Christmas stories. Pim left in 1978 and Evans arrived as a graduate assistant trainer a year later.
Pim and Crean stay in contact. Pim flew in for the weekend tournament to see four good games and to check out the Demons.
Also during breakfast, the Demon coaches visited with a couple of their counterparts from North Dakota State, which will play Marquette tonight in the tournament championship game. There were naturally some strategic exchanges since NDSU beat Princeton, who the Demons face this evening, and conversation about the vast contrast in styles in the two semifinals. NDSU doesn't attack, but Princeton simply plods with its pass-heavy, screening offensive sets that chew time off the clock. After watching that game, the NSU-Marquette contest looked like it was in fast forward mode.
BTW, Marquette staffers and media covering the Golden Eagles were surprised and impressed by the Demons. Surprised that NSU would run and press against Marquette, and impressed with the depth, fearlessness, tenacity and athleticism the Demons displayed. Pim and the NDSU coaches echoed those sentiments Saturday morning.
Former Demons forward Rob Sutherland (1973-76), a Hales Corners, Wis., native and resident, was behind the NSU bench for the Marquette game. He visited Shreveport last year to attend the wedding of former NSU teammate Bill McKellar's daughter, and met Coach Mike at the event. When the Demons showed up on the Marquette schedule, Sutherland got in touch with McKellar and then McConathy and was impressed with the depth and athleticism of the Demons in their game against the nation's No. 8-ranked team.
Sutherland was recruited to NSU by Jack Hearron, another Hildebrand assistant. Hearron works at the Oklahoma School for Math and Science in Norman, and reunites with the Demons each time NSU plays at his alma mater, Oklahoma State. Hearron became close with the McConathy family when he recruited Mike, albeit unsuccessfully, in the early 1970s. Hearron played for legendary coach Henry Iba at OSU, just as his dad did.
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