The fireworks went off before the sun was up for NSU fans on July 4, 2007.
Unveiling the Top 100 Players in Demon Football History was a blast. It got extra sparkle thanks to the webmaster of www.nsudemons.com, NSU graduate Luke Brouillette, who works at CP-Tel of Natchitoches, the official web provider for NSU Athletics.
If this sounds like a commercial, I'm sorry. It's a tip of a cap to a guy, and a company, who have been behind the scenes supporting NSU Athletics and providing us a unique web home.
Luke's latest step on the extra mile path came before most of us were stirring on one of the most stirring days of the year.
He was up and at 'em early before dawn today, putting in motion a flash page introduction featuring the Top 100 collage of the head shots, from their college days, of the 100 players selected by fan vote and a blue-ribbon committee as the best in the 100 years of NSU Demon football.
Thanks, Luke! Also, gratitude goes to Brian Seiler, Matthew Bonnette and Sonny Carter.
Seiler, an intern in the athletic department and SID office, did countless hours of research over the past four months to provide the foundation for the Top 100 selection process and then to locate many of the pictures you will see of the honorees.
Bonnette, our multi-talented assistant SID, came to me about six weeks ago with the idea of putting the head shots of the Top 100 on the cover of the 2007 media guide. I just didn't get what he was pitching, but as it came together, I realized once again, Matt hit it out of the park. What a great concept, and executed brilliantly by Mr. Bonnette! He, too, did an incredible amount of digging around to collect photos of each of the 100 -- from their college careers at Normal/NSC/NSU.
There, he got a big assist from Watson Library archivist and all-around great guy Sonny Carter, somebody who truly appreciates photography. Take a look at his website, www.sonc.com, and you'll enjoy his talents behind a camera.
Take a look at what we're calling for today's purposes the "Top 100 Collage" of the 100 head shots, and you'll enjoy the fruits of his research. Sonny helped locate many of the photos used in the collage that will indeed be the cover of our 2007 football media guide when it comes out July 24.
Of course, there was the usual helping hand from NSU photographer Gary Hardamon and his predecessor, Don Sepulvado.
All so we could have a special Independence Day celebration of NSU football history. Thanks, guys!
Doug Ireland, SID
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
'Bama can't go back to Wells too often
As Gilda Radner's Emily Latella character on the original Saturday Night Live TV show in the 1970s used to say:
"Never mind."
Today in Tuscaloosa, our hero Jim Wells recanted his retirement. He will be the Alabama baseball coach for more seasons to come. Last Thursday, he stunned the college baseball world with his announcement that he was retiring at the age of 52, after 13 great years with Alabama following five sensational seasons as head coach at his alma mater, Northwestern State.
Today, he essentially quoted Emily Latella.
Knowing Jim, who has a zany sense of humor and was one of the campus clowns during his days as an undergraduate at NSU in the late '70s, it wouldn't surprise me if he actually did quote Radner's character when he met with the Alabama media Wednesday afternoon.
In a statement earlier in the day, Wells said as he got away from the job, he began to realize he really had rushed into a decision and wasn't ready to step away. Good for baseball, good for Alabama, good for NSU to have one of our own remaining among the most prominent and successful college baseball coaches in the country.
More than one former Demon who played for Wells has made the same comment to me this afternoon: look out, world, the Tide will be rollin' next year. It's not like Jim Wells to be anything less than firm in his decisions. He will be at his all-time best and any Tide player not ready to work harder than he ever has before, might as well check out other options prior to September.
Also, the unanimous view from this corner of Wells' world is expect Alabama to be a serious College World Series contender in 2008. He said as much to one returning pitcher in the weeks following the season, according to one newspaper report.
Jim Wells isn't one to make such statements casually.
Doug Ireland, SID
"Never mind."
Today in Tuscaloosa, our hero Jim Wells recanted his retirement. He will be the Alabama baseball coach for more seasons to come. Last Thursday, he stunned the college baseball world with his announcement that he was retiring at the age of 52, after 13 great years with Alabama following five sensational seasons as head coach at his alma mater, Northwestern State.
Today, he essentially quoted Emily Latella.
Knowing Jim, who has a zany sense of humor and was one of the campus clowns during his days as an undergraduate at NSU in the late '70s, it wouldn't surprise me if he actually did quote Radner's character when he met with the Alabama media Wednesday afternoon.
In a statement earlier in the day, Wells said as he got away from the job, he began to realize he really had rushed into a decision and wasn't ready to step away. Good for baseball, good for Alabama, good for NSU to have one of our own remaining among the most prominent and successful college baseball coaches in the country.
More than one former Demon who played for Wells has made the same comment to me this afternoon: look out, world, the Tide will be rollin' next year. It's not like Jim Wells to be anything less than firm in his decisions. He will be at his all-time best and any Tide player not ready to work harder than he ever has before, might as well check out other options prior to September.
Also, the unanimous view from this corner of Wells' world is expect Alabama to be a serious College World Series contender in 2008. He said as much to one returning pitcher in the weeks following the season, according to one newspaper report.
Jim Wells isn't one to make such statements casually.
Doug Ireland, SID
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Too bad for Tank, terrific for Tory Collins
Now we see why the NFC Champion Chicago Bears were so interested in Demons' defensive tackle Tory Collins.
Monday, the Bears said goodbye to troubled defensive tackle Tank Johnson, whose recurring brushes with the law were too much for the organization to tolerate any longer.
That is exactly what head coach Lovie Smith anticipated and exactly why he and the Bears brass was so eager to sign Collins after he wasn't chosen in April's NFL Draft.
Collins was impressive in mini-camp workouts and has clearly moved up in the Bears' pecking order. No guarantee he'll make the final 53-man roster, but no doubt his stock went up as Johnson's tumbled.
Here's what the Bears figured out that other NFL teams didn't: in last year's season opener at Kansas, Collins tore his biceps, and didn't tell anybody. He also started last year bigger than ever before so he wasn't quite as quick off the ball. As the season went on, he got back to his optimal playing weight, but he was still essentially playing one-armed, although it wasn't obvious. His production was down, but he still played well enough to earn first-team All-SLC, first-team All-Louisiana and All-America honors.
In January he had surgery on the biceps muscle. By May, he was turning heads in the Windy City. Who knows, by the end of the NFL's 2007 season, he may be cashing a Super Bowl check.
A telling footnote about "T.C." -- when he came back to NSU following the Bears' mini-camp, one of his first visits was with academic advisor for athletics Julie Lessiter, to thank her for what she's done for him, and to ask her to help him chart the course so he can complete his undergraduate degree.
This young man from New Orleans has been through incredible trials during his Demon days, with Hurricane Katrina wiping out his family's home and scattering them around the country; his older brother's sudden passing, inexplicably, after his safe return from service in Iraq; and the recent drowning of his friend, LSU star and New England Patriots player Marquis Hill.
He's been tested, and he still stands tall. Forget his considerable athletic ability, I think it's his heart that will assure Tory Collins makes it in the NFL, and more important, in life.
Doug Ireland, SID
Monday, the Bears said goodbye to troubled defensive tackle Tank Johnson, whose recurring brushes with the law were too much for the organization to tolerate any longer.
That is exactly what head coach Lovie Smith anticipated and exactly why he and the Bears brass was so eager to sign Collins after he wasn't chosen in April's NFL Draft.
Collins was impressive in mini-camp workouts and has clearly moved up in the Bears' pecking order. No guarantee he'll make the final 53-man roster, but no doubt his stock went up as Johnson's tumbled.
Here's what the Bears figured out that other NFL teams didn't: in last year's season opener at Kansas, Collins tore his biceps, and didn't tell anybody. He also started last year bigger than ever before so he wasn't quite as quick off the ball. As the season went on, he got back to his optimal playing weight, but he was still essentially playing one-armed, although it wasn't obvious. His production was down, but he still played well enough to earn first-team All-SLC, first-team All-Louisiana and All-America honors.
In January he had surgery on the biceps muscle. By May, he was turning heads in the Windy City. Who knows, by the end of the NFL's 2007 season, he may be cashing a Super Bowl check.
A telling footnote about "T.C." -- when he came back to NSU following the Bears' mini-camp, one of his first visits was with academic advisor for athletics Julie Lessiter, to thank her for what she's done for him, and to ask her to help him chart the course so he can complete his undergraduate degree.
This young man from New Orleans has been through incredible trials during his Demon days, with Hurricane Katrina wiping out his family's home and scattering them around the country; his older brother's sudden passing, inexplicably, after his safe return from service in Iraq; and the recent drowning of his friend, LSU star and New England Patriots player Marquis Hill.
He's been tested, and he still stands tall. Forget his considerable athletic ability, I think it's his heart that will assure Tory Collins makes it in the NFL, and more important, in life.
Doug Ireland, SID
Monday, June 25, 2007
Former Demon coaches making moves
Jim Wells and Eileen Schmidt made moves that made news last week.
The former NSU coaches left their current jobs, catching most by surprise, but making decisions that were perfectly understandable.
Thursday, Wells made what was to many a surprising call to retire after 13 seasons as the baseball coach at Alabama. Schmidt, after three years as softball coach at Kentucky, moved east to her alma mater, taking over as head coach at Virginia last Wednesday.
Wells' decision rocked the Crimson Tide nation and was one of the top topics in Omaha at the College World Series. Schmidt's move hadn't even been acknowleged as of Monday morning on the Kentucky web site or in the Lexington media, as far as I can tell, which is one excellent reason why she made a smart shift to UVA. Softball just isn't on the radar at UK, even though their athletic administration has been quite supportive. Considering the work she had invested, this could not have been a clear-cut decision for Schmitty.
She did a quite commendable job in her three seasons at Kentucky, although her record may not show it. My friends who watch LSU softball say that for the first time, the Wildcats have a legitimate SEC-caliber team, thanks to the work Eileen and former NSU assistant Melissa Inhouye have done in Lexington. To the UK administration's credit, they understood it was a long-term building project when they hired Schmidt away from NSU after the 2004 season.
Nonetheless, in the win-now or be-gone culture of "big time" collegiate athletics, Schmidt's shelf life at Kentucky was running short heading into her fourth season. It was probably going to be a pivotal year for her. At Virginia, she takes over an established program run by a friend and mentor of hers, Karen Johns, who retired. UVA is in a conference that top to bottom isn't nearly as tough as the SEC in softball, and for Eileen, it's her alma mater and she has identity there that she never would have anyplace else. She was happy at Kentucky but as she admitted, UVA is her dream job. Good for her - she's going to be happier and successful with the Cavaliers. If Inhouye isn't promoted at UK, look for her in Charlottesville as Eileen's assistant, continuing a tandem formed here at NSU.
BTW, Thomas Jefferson designed the core of the UVA campus. Charles Schultz, the cartoonist who gave the world Charlie Brown and the cast of Peanuts, lived on a mountain overlooking Charlottesville.
Coach Wells' decision to retire stunned many. He's still a young man, in his early 50s. Most people are convinced he will be back in coaching soon. He does love it, but it wouldn't surprise me if he goes into a business venture and never again sits in a college or pro dugout except as a special guest.
I believe he's about to be an all-world daddy to his three kids and he and Lisa will enjoy them growing up over the next few years. He deserves that chance, for sure. Wouldn't you do it if you could? Well done, on many fronts, Jim!
-- Doug Ireland, SID
The former NSU coaches left their current jobs, catching most by surprise, but making decisions that were perfectly understandable.
Thursday, Wells made what was to many a surprising call to retire after 13 seasons as the baseball coach at Alabama. Schmidt, after three years as softball coach at Kentucky, moved east to her alma mater, taking over as head coach at Virginia last Wednesday.
Wells' decision rocked the Crimson Tide nation and was one of the top topics in Omaha at the College World Series. Schmidt's move hadn't even been acknowleged as of Monday morning on the Kentucky web site or in the Lexington media, as far as I can tell, which is one excellent reason why she made a smart shift to UVA. Softball just isn't on the radar at UK, even though their athletic administration has been quite supportive. Considering the work she had invested, this could not have been a clear-cut decision for Schmitty.
She did a quite commendable job in her three seasons at Kentucky, although her record may not show it. My friends who watch LSU softball say that for the first time, the Wildcats have a legitimate SEC-caliber team, thanks to the work Eileen and former NSU assistant Melissa Inhouye have done in Lexington. To the UK administration's credit, they understood it was a long-term building project when they hired Schmidt away from NSU after the 2004 season.
Nonetheless, in the win-now or be-gone culture of "big time" collegiate athletics, Schmidt's shelf life at Kentucky was running short heading into her fourth season. It was probably going to be a pivotal year for her. At Virginia, she takes over an established program run by a friend and mentor of hers, Karen Johns, who retired. UVA is in a conference that top to bottom isn't nearly as tough as the SEC in softball, and for Eileen, it's her alma mater and she has identity there that she never would have anyplace else. She was happy at Kentucky but as she admitted, UVA is her dream job. Good for her - she's going to be happier and successful with the Cavaliers. If Inhouye isn't promoted at UK, look for her in Charlottesville as Eileen's assistant, continuing a tandem formed here at NSU.
BTW, Thomas Jefferson designed the core of the UVA campus. Charles Schultz, the cartoonist who gave the world Charlie Brown and the cast of Peanuts, lived on a mountain overlooking Charlottesville.
Coach Wells' decision to retire stunned many. He's still a young man, in his early 50s. Most people are convinced he will be back in coaching soon. He does love it, but it wouldn't surprise me if he goes into a business venture and never again sits in a college or pro dugout except as a special guest.
I believe he's about to be an all-world daddy to his three kids and he and Lisa will enjoy them growing up over the next few years. He deserves that chance, for sure. Wouldn't you do it if you could? Well done, on many fronts, Jim!
-- Doug Ireland, SID
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Happy Campers
Although their status isn't measured by scoreboards, NSU coaches are in a very important phase of their jobs in June and July.
It's camp season.
Boys and girls high school age down to pre-K enjoy instruction, competition and activities coordinated by the Northwestern coaching staffs each summer. Some sports get into the camp action during winter months (baseball/softball, for example, host Christmas break camps).
Here, and far, our coaches are dealing with some happy campers.
Just this Father's Day weekend, Prather Coliseum was teeming with teams. Coach Mike McConathy's annual Demon Basketball Team Camp attracted 62 high school boys teams from Louisiana and Texas for an action packed 36-hour stretch of competition, augmented by an hour-long clinic in which the Demon coaches and players demonstrated an array of their drills and skills for the campers.
Assistant coaches Jeff Moore and Mark Slessinger, along with staffers Bob Austin and D.J. Ross, were ringleaders for the circus-like atmosphere. And I mean "circus-like" from the aspects of (1) everybody having lots of fun and (2) instead of having three rings, the camp used four courts in Prather Coliseum and two more at the Health and Human Performance Building across campus. Needless to say, it takes a lot of work to host a camp, especially one with more than 500 players involved.
I mentioned "pre-K" kids, and again, there's Coach Mike and crew serving the interests of the NSU fan base. The "Father-Son Camp" has morphed into the "Parent/Grandparent-Child Camp" with dads and daughters, grandparents and grandkids, moms and sons, and oh, yeah, fathers and sons playing basketball together, competing and laughing. Watching the "pressure free throw competition" a couple weeks ago, with Demon players, kids and other campers heckling parents trying to stay in a shooting contest, was hilarious!
Across the street, The Demon Diamond was jammed full of young girls earlier this month for one of the softball camps offered by the NSU coaching staff of Becky McMurtry and Krystal Nichols. It was a brutally hot June weekend but kids and parents were bounding about, parents with umbrellas and video cameras and kids with bats and gloves.
If it's a big crowd of campers and celebrities you want to see, be here next Saturday, June 23, when the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame teams up with Coach Scott Stoker and the Demon football program. Their annual high school 7-on-7 passing tournament kicks off with a bang, as each year's class of Hall of Fame football inductees (this year's list is All-Pro linebacker Pat Swilling, All-Pro kick returner Brian Mitchell and Super Bowl quarterback Stan Humphries) join with returning HOF members to speak (briefly) to the 600+ campers and then visit with them on the sidelines throughout the morning of the tournament.
Camps don't just happen on campus. Saturday morning, Lady Demon volleyball coach Brittany Uffelman flew off to her home stomping grounds up in Wyoming. Over the next two weeks, she will stage camps in Wyoming and Montana with hundreds of volleyball-crazed kids. As fun as volleyball is to watch, there's only a handful of high school or club teams within hailing distance of the NSU campus, so following the lead of her predecessor, Leigh Mullins, Coach B has hosted camps away from campus where the players are. The Demon soccer and football staffs also have conducted camps in off-site locations.
So, when I hear well-intentioned friends say to our coaches, "I guess you're resting up for the fall, right?", I wish they had the chance to leave their jobs to come by to watch the work these coaches put into their camps during the "down time." Camp season really never ends. While our coaches are on the road and on the phone and on the internet recruiting year-round, they are also urging coaches and players to come to NSU's camps.
These camps are useful and valuable. They generate money for NSU, help supplement coaches salaries and operating budgets, introduce many campers to the beautiful and friendly university campus, and provide exposure for prospective players to our coaching staffs, allowing our coaches to evaluate prospects for upcoming recruiting classes.
So, while vacations do happen this time of year, this isn't a lazy stretch for our coaching staffs. All they want right now are happy campers.
Doug Ireland, SID
It's camp season.
Boys and girls high school age down to pre-K enjoy instruction, competition and activities coordinated by the Northwestern coaching staffs each summer. Some sports get into the camp action during winter months (baseball/softball, for example, host Christmas break camps).
Here, and far, our coaches are dealing with some happy campers.
Just this Father's Day weekend, Prather Coliseum was teeming with teams. Coach Mike McConathy's annual Demon Basketball Team Camp attracted 62 high school boys teams from Louisiana and Texas for an action packed 36-hour stretch of competition, augmented by an hour-long clinic in which the Demon coaches and players demonstrated an array of their drills and skills for the campers.
Assistant coaches Jeff Moore and Mark Slessinger, along with staffers Bob Austin and D.J. Ross, were ringleaders for the circus-like atmosphere. And I mean "circus-like" from the aspects of (1) everybody having lots of fun and (2) instead of having three rings, the camp used four courts in Prather Coliseum and two more at the Health and Human Performance Building across campus. Needless to say, it takes a lot of work to host a camp, especially one with more than 500 players involved.
I mentioned "pre-K" kids, and again, there's Coach Mike and crew serving the interests of the NSU fan base. The "Father-Son Camp" has morphed into the "Parent/Grandparent-Child Camp" with dads and daughters, grandparents and grandkids, moms and sons, and oh, yeah, fathers and sons playing basketball together, competing and laughing. Watching the "pressure free throw competition" a couple weeks ago, with Demon players, kids and other campers heckling parents trying to stay in a shooting contest, was hilarious!
Across the street, The Demon Diamond was jammed full of young girls earlier this month for one of the softball camps offered by the NSU coaching staff of Becky McMurtry and Krystal Nichols. It was a brutally hot June weekend but kids and parents were bounding about, parents with umbrellas and video cameras and kids with bats and gloves.
If it's a big crowd of campers and celebrities you want to see, be here next Saturday, June 23, when the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame teams up with Coach Scott Stoker and the Demon football program. Their annual high school 7-on-7 passing tournament kicks off with a bang, as each year's class of Hall of Fame football inductees (this year's list is All-Pro linebacker Pat Swilling, All-Pro kick returner Brian Mitchell and Super Bowl quarterback Stan Humphries) join with returning HOF members to speak (briefly) to the 600+ campers and then visit with them on the sidelines throughout the morning of the tournament.
Camps don't just happen on campus. Saturday morning, Lady Demon volleyball coach Brittany Uffelman flew off to her home stomping grounds up in Wyoming. Over the next two weeks, she will stage camps in Wyoming and Montana with hundreds of volleyball-crazed kids. As fun as volleyball is to watch, there's only a handful of high school or club teams within hailing distance of the NSU campus, so following the lead of her predecessor, Leigh Mullins, Coach B has hosted camps away from campus where the players are. The Demon soccer and football staffs also have conducted camps in off-site locations.
So, when I hear well-intentioned friends say to our coaches, "I guess you're resting up for the fall, right?", I wish they had the chance to leave their jobs to come by to watch the work these coaches put into their camps during the "down time." Camp season really never ends. While our coaches are on the road and on the phone and on the internet recruiting year-round, they are also urging coaches and players to come to NSU's camps.
These camps are useful and valuable. They generate money for NSU, help supplement coaches salaries and operating budgets, introduce many campers to the beautiful and friendly university campus, and provide exposure for prospective players to our coaching staffs, allowing our coaches to evaluate prospects for upcoming recruiting classes.
So, while vacations do happen this time of year, this isn't a lazy stretch for our coaching staffs. All they want right now are happy campers.
Doug Ireland, SID
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