UNI: Wanless knows pressure of competition
Falls, Ia. - Terry Wanless has two distinct advantages over his competition to become athletic director at Northern Iowa: He’s the only hopeful to have been a football coach, and he’s the only one currently serving as the athletic director of another school.
The life, and final days, of Stuart Gaussoin
Former PSU receiver had his troubles, but never lacked for friends
Sometimes, it’s not just the losers who are lost.
The end for Stuart Gaussoin came on April 29 in a Beaverton hotel room, on a day when he felt he could no longer face the world in which he was living.
The pint-sized guy with the colossal heart, who lived to make his friends happy, cashed out with a lethal combination of booze and pills.
The tears of his loved ones, the many whose lives he touched in his 49 years, will flow for a while.
“These have been the toughest two weeks of my life,” long-time pal and former teammate Roger Daniels says, “knowing I won’t be getting another call from Stewey.”
NDSU finishes NCAA self-study
The countless pages of paperwork that have gone into North Dakota State’s reclassification from NCAA Division II to Division I is almost over. The school said Monday it received full approval of the NCAA Division I Committee on Athletics Certification.
The positive recommendation now goes to Division I Membership Subcommittee, with the final step a move to active status by the NCAA Management Council.
NDSU is expected to be considered a full-fledged Division I member in the 2008-09 school year.
NDSU’s “self-study” was reviewed by the NCAA committee and approved with no conditions.
Mitchell signs with Tenn. Tech
RUSSELLVILLE - Caleb Mitchell couldn’t imagine choosing just one sport to play.
So he didn’t.
A safety and wide receiver for Russellville’s football team and a center fielder for the baseball team, Mitchell decided to continue pulling double duty in college. That’s why the Russellville senior decided to sign Monday with Tennessee Tech of the Division I FCS Ohio Valley Conference.
Hall of Fame On Resume for Four FAMU Football Coaches
Tim Edwards one day may regard his term as a coach at Florida A&M in much the same way his boss Joe Taylor remembers the years he spent in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association.
While Taylor credits the oldest historically black conference for opportunities that led to his future success, coaching at FAMU is Edwards’ chance to be part of an era that could further enhance their legacies as coaches.
Incoming Seawolf Kicker OK After Shooting
TAMPA - University of Florida lineman Matt Patchan and Stony Brook University kicker Wesley Skiffington were shot at Sadie Park in Brandon on Friday night, but their injuries were not life-threatening.
Debbie Carter, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman, said Skiffington and Patchan were at the park with a group of friends at 9:58 p.m. when another group of individuals approached them. Carter said an unknown black male, described as between 6-foot and 6-4 and 220 pounds, started shooting at the crowd.
Albany Standout Signs With NFL's Giants
East Rutherford, N.J. – The Super Bowl champion New York Giants announced on Monday, May 12 the signing of seven players who attended last week’s rookie mini-camp on a tryout basis, including former University at Albany standout offensive lineman Jacob Hobbs.
APR is good, but widens gap
The NCAA needs some sort of mechanism to keep the term student-athlete from becoming an oxymoron.
No argument there.
The annual Academic Progress Rate report is the sanctioning body’s latest attempt at putting an emphasis on classroom work, and it appears to be working.
In the latest report, released last week, scores were up nationally compared to four years ago when the NCAA first started the program.
Schools from small conferences - like Idaho State and other Big Sky members - tend to find themselves in a no-win situation when it comes to the APR.
Southeast's route to athletic success may run through St. Louis
The gateway to success for Southeast Missouri State athletics — both in competition and in the bank account — may be in St. Louis.
The review of the university’s athletics department, which was presented to officials last week, stressed the importance of that market. Bill Carr, whose Carr Sports Associates firm conducted the review, and Board of Regents member James Limbaugh reiterated that point on a couple of occasions Friday during meetings.
The review notes that 16,000 of Southeast’s 58,000 living alumni are in St. Louis, but the athletic department’s “participation in that market has been inconsistent and random.”
Limbaugh agreed: “There has been more of a random, ‘Let’s see what works.’ There has to be a much more focused effort.”
The review also said “only 18″ of the booster club’s 360 individual members lived in metropolitan St. Louis while 326 lived in Cape Girardeau or Scott counties.
Some consider review a waste of money
The recent review of Southeast Missouri State athletics that cost the university $45,000 was interesting.
Southeast women’s sports will apparently get a boost financially, which is nice, although considering the success of the majority of those teams, I’d say they’re doing pretty good as it is.
The addition of an assistant athletic director to aid in fundraising is a positive move because that’s one area that could use an upgrade. But did Southeast administrators need an outside group to tell them that?
I’d say the vast majority of people who follow and support Southeast athletics are primarily concerned with two things: success in men’s basketball and football, which has been sorely lacking since the move up to Division I.
The review was not designed to address football and men’s basketball specifically, which is why many of the Internet comments I’ve read and people I’ve talked to seem to believe the whole endeavor was a big waste of money.
What ever happened to… MSU’s ‘Iron Tumbleweed’
Former Montana State star running back Don Hass remembers who gave him his nickname “Iron Tumbleweed.” To this day, however, he can’t explain why he got it.
“I knew Norm, because he was from Terry,” Hass said. “(The nickname) just started showing up in the newspaper.”
It likely had something to do with the fact that Hass was darn good running back, though he’d be the last one to acknowledge it. He probably wouldn’t have gone to Montana State if he couldn’t run the football, he said matter-of-factly.
But he ran the ball often and well at MSU, particularly during his junior and senior seasons, when he wrote his name all over the record book.
Delaware, Delaware State Discuss Regular Season Game
NEWARK — University of Delaware and Delaware State athletic department officials have had preliminary discussions about scheduling their first regular-season football meeting, UD athletic director Edgar Johnson said Thursday.
The schools met for the first time in the 2007 NCAA Division I-AA playoffs, a first-round game won handily by the Blue Hens 44-7 at Delaware Stadium.
Prior to that, new Delaware president Patrick Harker had pledged to end UD’s perennial resistance to scheduling its in-state neighbor.
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