Back In Black

I picked up the general Athletic Department phone late yesterday afternoon (that's what you do when your wonderful secretary retires and there is no replacement yet)and much to my delight, former Demon wide receive standout Nathan Black was on the other end of the line. Nathan is living in his hometown of Baton Rouge and is in the "Performance Enhancement" business (aka "Personal Training"). He was calling to fill one of the most valuable roles that an alumnus can undertake for their alma mater....that of referring a young person to NSU. Specifically, he wanted to talk with women's track coach Mike Heimerman about a young lady he thought would be a great fit for our program.

Nathan also took a minute to talk about his excitment over the fact that Bradley Dale Peveto, who was on staff early in Nathan's career at NSU (wonder if Nathan was one of the offensive guys who used to sneak into the defensive position meetings to hear Peveto's fire 'em up speeches), was now head coach for the Demons.

As an aside, I will never forget the 70+ yard TD pass Nathan caught from Craig Nall early in that 2001 playoff game at Montana. The pass was perhaps 20 yards in length and Nathan, who had very good wheels, outrun the Griz secondary to the end zone. I have never heard 20,000+ fans go from being so loud as the ball was snapped to so quiet as Nathan raced down the sidelines.

It's always good to hear from former Demons, which I do on a regular basis, and pledge to try to be more diligent in sharing those connections with our fans on the Daily Demon blog.

Greg Burke, Athletic Director

Happy about new Demons

There's no doubt about the affection the NSU community, and the NSU athletic department, has for the Antilley Family. Father David and son Davey have been loyal supporters of the university and have volunteered their help for nearly 20 years on statistics crews for NSU football, basketball and baseball. Davey, an instructor in the same NSU journalism program where he earned his undergraduate degree, is ever-helpful in his job to so many people and to the NSU athletic department.

That's why everyone who knows Davey and his wonderful family is so thrilled about the recent birth of twin sons Jacob and Joshua (no doubt future NSU stat crew members!). Wife and mom Janna has been a joyful addition to the NSU athletic family, along with her daughter Lelia.

In the above picture, Janna is holding Jacob Lawrence. Lelia is in the middle with her cheerleading outfit on. Davey is holding Joshua David.


E-mail congratulations to antilleyd@nsula.edu if you'd like!

Monday Night reaction

What a heartbreaking loss for Demetrius Bell, Terrence McGee and the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football!

But it was not without highlights for the two former Demons. McGee received repeated praise by the ESPN announcing crew, especially former Tampa Bay head coach Jon Gruden, before he made a clutch breakup against star Patriots receiver Randy Moss on a two-point conversion play that momentarily seemed to give Buffalo a big advantage late in the game, leaving New England behind by five.

As for Bell, he seemed to make a good impression, based on the story in the Buffalo News this morning by Allen Wilson about the Bills' retooled and inexperienced offensive line:

Second-year left tackle Demetrius Bell and rookie guards Eric Wood and Andy Levitre held their own against the New England Patriots' defensive front seven for most of a disheartening 25-24 loss Monday night.

Bell got the left tackle job when the Bills surprisingly released Langston Walker, who was anointed as their guy after trading Jason Peters to the Philadelphia Eagles.

But the coaching staff grew increasingly impressed with Bell, a seventh-round draft pick who didn't play football at any level before 2005 and had only two years at left tackle at Northwestern (La.) State. Despite a sore back that sidelined him for a couple of weeks in the preseason, the Bills felt the time was right to give him a chance.

For the most part, Bell didn't let the team down Monday night. He made some nice blocks on run plays and protected quarterback Trent Edwards pretty well until late in the game.

"There were a lot of things I could have done better," Bell said. "For the most part, I finished every play and played every play. I didn't leave any doubts in my mind as far as playing hard and as far as working my techniques. But towards the end I kind of got out of my comfort zone. It was poor technique that got me beat. But overall, I had a hard-fought game."

If there was one thing Bell has to improve on it is penalties. He was flagged twice for failing to line up on the line of scrimmage and once for a false start. He also was penalized for holding, but the Patriots declined it.

"It wasn't inexperience," Bell said. "It's just making sure my head is even with the butt of the center. It's my job to get up on the line. On the false start, it was a lack of concentration. Those are mistakes I'll get cleaned up."

Guice lands in Winnipeg

Rookie free agent receiver Dudley Guice made it until the last round of NFL cuts with Tennessee and has quickly headed north of the border to the Canadian Football League. He's joined the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and already is turning heads, according to Ed Tait of the Winnipeg Free Press:

"Talk about favourable first impressions: leaping off the page at Friday's practice was new receiver Dudly Guice Jr. He was recently cut by the Tennessee Titans, but is a big target at 6-foot-4, looks to have solid hands and is very smooth. "He appears to be a very gifted athlete out there. He's going to come along rapidly," said head coach Mike Kelly... If you want to check out more on Mr. Guice Jr., check out his website at: http://www.dudleyguicejr.com/."

Condolences notes for Stephens family

For any Demons wanting to express condolences to the family of John Stephens, his mother Thelma Stephens can be reached at 418 Douglas Street, Springhill, LA 71075.

The Demon great was laid to rest in his hometown yesterday. He died in a one-vehicle wreck last Tuesday night.