That's what it might have appeared former Demon football player John Dippel was doing Friday night at the AllTel Arena in North Little Rock during the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Dippel was seated on the scoretable, in the first seat next to the visiting team's bench, watching the Southland Conference Tournament champion UTA Mavericks take on top-seeded Memphis.
Actually, Dippel works in the management staff for the AllTel Arena, and his seat was surely a function of his job. But he had the best view in the house of how UTA remained competitive with Memphis, despite the final 87-63 margin. It was a 10-15 point game until about the final 10 minutes of play and never faded into a typical 1-16 first-round hammering.
Dippel also had insider access, although not nearly as precious, last February when his former coach at NSU, Sam Goodwin, was one of the 12 inductees in the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame ceremonies held on the arena floor.
"Dip" was a two-time Academic All-America selection in 1994-95, winning first-team honors in 1995.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Back in the business
Former Lady Demon volleyball coach Leigh Mullins, who turned around NSU's program before moving to North Carolina, is getting back into college coaching.
She will be announced Thursday as the new head coach at Campbell College in the Tar Heel State. The director of athletics there is Stan Williamson, former AD at Nicholls and a Louisiana Tech graduate.
Leigh has been a frequent visitor to Natchitoches since leaving at the end of the 2005 season to relocate with her husband Ty and their baby girl Avery. Ty, a helicopter pilot in the military, does most of his work out of that area.
Once Avery was big enough, Leigh started substitute teaching and quickly was persuaded to become principal of a private school by parents impressed with her disclipline and approach.
Good luck to her in this new position; watch to see Campbell make progress in volleyball!
She will be announced Thursday as the new head coach at Campbell College in the Tar Heel State. The director of athletics there is Stan Williamson, former AD at Nicholls and a Louisiana Tech graduate.
Leigh has been a frequent visitor to Natchitoches since leaving at the end of the 2005 season to relocate with her husband Ty and their baby girl Avery. Ty, a helicopter pilot in the military, does most of his work out of that area.
Once Avery was big enough, Leigh started substitute teaching and quickly was persuaded to become principal of a private school by parents impressed with her disclipline and approach.
Good luck to her in this new position; watch to see Campbell make progress in volleyball!
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Big winds
There's half a backstop now at the Demon Diamond.
High winds swept through the area today and damage resulted at the NSU softball field. The field tarp, although staked down and weighted, was pulled up and carried into the third base side of the backstop. The weight of the tarp and the force of the wind bent poles, tore loose cables and netting, and also damaged the bullpen fence behind the NSU dugout.
Campus police sounded the alarm shortly after 11:30 and quickly a crew including police, staff from the campus grounds crew, athletic facilities director Alan Pasch and assistant Katie Harris, and the softball coaches and athletic administrators were fighting the winds for control of the tarp.
It took probably five minutes for the crew to gain enough manpower to pull it down. The tarp was shredded. Eventually, players and others helped load the tarp onto a flatbed.
As coach Becky McMurtry pointed out, the good news is nobody was struck by the stakes that were ripped up by the force of the wind pulling the tarp from the ground. The Weather Channel indicated winds were gusting up to 32 mph; I have to believe there was a lot more force at times, based on this damage and other sights around campus and Natchitoches.
Ironically, as the NCAA Basketball Tournament began tonight with the Opening Round Game in Dayton, it was nearly exactly seven years ago a severe storm hit Natchitoches early on the Monday morning the Demon basketball team was heading out of town to catch its flight to Dayton. Wind damage that morning included a tree knocked into the roof of my bedroom and miles away, damage to Lady Demon basketball coach James Smith's house and the near demolition of his neighbor's home.
Talk about the Ides of March.
Doug Ireland, SID
Monday, March 17, 2008
Happy Second Anniversary
"Demons can win it with a three, tie it with a two.
"Rogers, to Forges. Forges with a 3, right wiiiinng, no good (audible crowd moan).
"Wallace has the rebound, tipped out long.
"With three, with two, Wallace, right corner, YESSSSSSSSSSS! YESSSS! Cinderella! YESSSS! (crowd roaring)
"A half second, Brunner lobs it ahead, shot is no good, DEMONS WILL WIN IT! THE NORTHWESTERN STATE DEMONS HAVE DONE IT! (crowd erupts)
"CINDERELLA HAS COME TO AUBURN HILLS. The Northwestern State Demons, Sixty-four, Sixty-threeeeeee!"
March Madness on St. Patrick's Day, 2006 ... great call by Patrick Netherton, Demon Sports Network.
"Rogers, to Forges. Forges with a 3, right wiiiinng, no good (audible crowd moan).
"Wallace has the rebound, tipped out long.
"With three, with two, Wallace, right corner, YESSSSSSSSSSS! YESSSS! Cinderella! YESSSS! (crowd roaring)
"A half second, Brunner lobs it ahead, shot is no good, DEMONS WILL WIN IT! THE NORTHWESTERN STATE DEMONS HAVE DONE IT! (crowd erupts)
"CINDERELLA HAS COME TO AUBURN HILLS. The Northwestern State Demons, Sixty-four, Sixty-threeeeeee!"
March Madness on St. Patrick's Day, 2006 ... great call by Patrick Netherton, Demon Sports Network.
Sorry no posts Sunday from Katy
The wireless connection courtside at the Merrell Center was unavailable to most of us on press row for some mysterious reason. It got fixed sometime late in the game. Oh, well. Will try to catch up on sights and sounds for you as the much calmer than hoped week goes along.
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