Crescent City Demons

A trip to South Louisiana last week for the annual NSU Alumni Association New Orleans area reception resulted in visits with several former NSU athletes.

Bobby Hebert took a break from his sports talk show on WWL for a quick Thursday afternoon lunch and was headed to Baton Rouge for the LSU spring game on Saturday, hoping that his son, T-Bob, would continue to establish himself as a starting offensive lineman for the Tigers in his redshirt sophomore year.

That night at the alumni reception, former NSU hard-hitting safety and Holy Cross alumnus Neil Ponstein, joined by his parents and his fiance', Nicole, attended along with two of the best feet to ever tote the pigskin for the Demons, Deon Ridgell, who has been working in student services at Xavier University for the past nine years.

Also in attendance was former gridder Mike Ginart, and his wife, Alice. More on Mike in a moment.
Friday morning's breakfast with 1980's stars John Kulakowski (on spring break from his job as principal at Bonabel High School) and NFL veterans Al Edwards, and Randy Hilliard was full of laughs and reminiscing.

Finally, lunch with Ginart, who is an attorney in Chalmette, in the French Quarter at the Rib's Room of the Royal Orleans Hotel was scrumptous, to say the least. Of course, when I saw former Lady Demon softball player Margaret Patterson and learned that she is the food and beverage manager for that establishment, it came as no great surprise to me that the fare was so top notch!

Greg Burke
Athletic Director

Bills trade could pave path for D-Bell to emerge

Opportunity knocks, it seems, for 2007 Demon football All-America offensive tackle Demetrius Bell.

His NFL team, the Buffalo Bills, finally shipped off multi-talented but malcontent starting left offensive tackle Jason Peters Friday, dealing him to the Philadelphia Eagles, where stadium full of malcontents historically watches the Eagles play. (Sorry, couldn't resist).

This trade may be as much a testament of faith in Bell as it is an instant dose of asprin for a 300-pound-plus migrane in the Bills' front office. Peters is gone, and maybe, Bell steps in at right tackle. Lead journalist Chris Brown says as much in his post on www.buffalobills.com - check it out.

http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-1/filling-the-left-tackle-void/875d1c0f-a415-4ef3-98dc-0bc42fdee6d7

Wedding reunion

The rainy weather this weekend didn't dampen former Lady Demon volleyball teammates in town for the wedding of Beth Freeland, who came back to Natchitoches to walk down the aisle. Among those back was Shannon Puder, in from Aurora, Col., where she manages a bakery.

Delaney Bowl a big success

I've been around NSU spring football games, or the "Delaney Bowl" as it has been called since 1990, for the better part of 25 years and have to say that the one held this past Wednesday has to rank in the top 2-3 during that time period.

The crowd, which I would conservatively say was in the 2,000 range, is in part a testimony to the interest surge over the hiring of Bradley Dale Peveto as head football coach. To BDP's credit, he and his staff have done their part since arriving in town, making countless public relations appearances and actually going door-to-door throughout the Natchitoches business community.

Other promotional activities scheduled as part of the Delaney Bowl event by the NSU marketing staff also helped attract fans and made it a fun atmosphere once they arrived. The newly established Student Alumni Association continued to gain steam with its pre-game tailgate party, the video board made its Delaney Bowl debut, having a "Spirit of Northwestern" pep band and the cheerleaders in attendance gave the event a September Saturday feel, and it also was good to see former Demon football players conspicuously in the crowd. Some, including Texans Butch Ballard from Huntsville and Jack Serpas from Houston, were hanging around for Coach Peveto's golf tournament the next day. Another nice feature was the introduction of some faculty members, along with members of the NSU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, on the field at halftime as part of National Student-Athlete Month.

All in all, as I drove home on Wednesday evening, it felt good to be a Demon.......and it's just getting better every day!!

Greg Burke
Athletic Director

Are you ready for the Delaney Bowl tonight?

Need to get your juices flowing for tonight's Delaney Bowl? Here's a preview from veteran Alexandria Town Talk writer Jeff Matthews:

http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20090408/SPORTS/904080317/1006

For a unique perspective on Demon football, read this story about two players going through their first spring practice -- in fact, their first college practices at all. Kelly Morris at the Shreveport Times talked to NSU newcomers Jeremy Dowden and Cord Larsen:

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20090408/SPORTS02/904080338