The annual Soccer Alumni Game was played this past Saturday night, despite the very real fear of cancellation due to the monsoon that hit the area last week and dumped several inches of rain on Marshall.
Rain in August. In Marshall, Texas. What is the world coming to?
That's a subject for another blog, however. The Soccer Alumni Game is always a big event for men's soccer here, and there was an added attraction this year with the first Women's Soccer Alumni Game. Attendance and participation was a bit down for the women's game, but a lot of that is attributed to the newness of the idea as well as the fact the game was briefly cancelled on Friday before being back on again thanks to Marshall High School's willingness to let us use their turf field in Maverick Stadium.
I missed the game again this year, but I always have a good reason. It's typically played on the final weekend before the season opener, and it's always the last opportunity I have to take my wife on a real date before I go into ETBU hibernation until Christmas. Looking at the schedule, I won't have a Saturday available for anything other than Tiger athletics until the holiday season, so the Alumni Game usually has to take second place on this weekend.
But it's always a popular, exciting game. My good friend and unofficial assistant, Jason Soles, of the ETBU Admissions Office, serves as the coach of the Tiger Alumni. And with the weapons at his disposal, armed with several returning All-Americans from years past, well, Soles likes to claim that the Alumni Game is the toughest game on the Tigers' schedule every year.
This year apparently was no different. The current Tigers clipped the Alumni last season, and for a solid year I've had to listen to my buddy claiming the fix was on. Saturday night, it was former Tiger All-American Bryce Morrow scoring a goal in the opening minutes and then making it stand up for a 1-0 win, giving the Alumni the mythical bragging rights for at least another year.
It's got to be a strange night for Coach Alonzo, too, however. As coach of the current Tigers, the game was started a few years ago as a way to bring the old guard back and also to give the current team a very nice, competitive tuneup heading into the season. Knowing Alonzo, yes, his intention every year is to beat his old guys with his new ones. But also knowing Alonzo, he is full of pride every time he sees the old guys come back and work their magic on the pitch again. After all, there are a few of those alumni who helped bring back-to-back NCCAA national titles to ETBU in 1998 and 1999, and memories are always nice -- especially the good ones.
The Tigers will open on the road this Saturday over at Texas College in Tyler, and ETBU actually won't have a men's soccer home game until Sept. 13. The ladies will kick things off with home games Friday and Saturday, the first home games on campus for the new school year. Hope to see you there.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Back In Business
Well, it's mid-August. The fall athletes are back on campus. And it's cloudy and rainy outside. Everything is back to normal in East Texas...
The 2008 Tiger football team has been on campus now for about a week, getting ready for the season opener on Sept. 6 against St. John's. It's an exciting time to be an ETBU football fan. I didn't really say much here on the blog last spring about it, but this is a big game for our program. It's about as big as a season opening, non-conference game can be, I guess.
When you talk about signature programs in college football, you think of a few like Notre Dame, maybe Texas, maybe USC, etc. In Division III, there are a handful of those kinds of teams. St. John's is one of them. Their coach (John Gagliardi) is a legend. He's been at SJU now for over 55 years and is averaging about two losses -- TWO losses -- per season. That's absolutely ridiculous. The Johnnies are national title contenders every season, including this one.
ETBU coach Mark Sartain talked about putting the Tigers on a national stage when he took the job back in December of 2006. There's two ways of doing that -- one, of course, is to make the playoffs, which we've done only once in eight years. The only other way is to schedule top national opponents, such as St. John's. This is the Tigers' opportunity, for one big weekend, to participate in a true national game of the week.
Why is it a national game of the week? You've got the established power taking on a team looking to head in that direction. You've got North vs. South. You've got Minnesota against Texas. Our athletes against their football players. Whatever comparison you want to make, it applies to this game.
The Tigers will get another dose of this in a couple of months when we go out to California to face Azusa Pacific, which is a top-notch nationally-reknowned NAIA program. Texas against California. That one will also carry some juicy storylines in that regard.
I've had the opportunity to go out and watch a couple of practices already, enough to have a first-look opinion. The Tigers are interesting. The coaches welcomed 146 players last Wednesday for fall camp, including about 60 freshmen and a dozen or so transfers. We typically take media guide photos on reporting day, so I had the opportunity to see these guys up close.
Physically -- and again this is my opinion -- this is the most impressive-looking ETBU team we've had in nine years. I'm talking about just pure physical, athletic-looking guys. Fans of the Tigers will be shocked to see this team in uniform compared to some in the past. They look like -- and not meaning to slight anyone who's worn an ETBU uniform in the past, by any means -- but these are just different-looking players.
None of that translates into a single win, touchdown, or even first down, unfortunately. But ETBU should be a much more explosive, exciting team to watch this season -- on both sides of the ball. If the opener were today, there would be 10 players who have started games at ETBU on the field on defense. Offensively, the team speed is three times better than last, with an offensive line that returns five starters. And there's a deep class of talent at quarterback, led by incumbent starter Stephen Oehlschaleger.
We are expecting an exciting year. You have to practice and perform in games, of course, and the Tigers have their work cut out for them with arguably the toughest schedule the program has ever faced. But it will be interesting to see this team unveil itself in less than three weeks up there in Minnesota.
The 2008 Tiger football team has been on campus now for about a week, getting ready for the season opener on Sept. 6 against St. John's. It's an exciting time to be an ETBU football fan. I didn't really say much here on the blog last spring about it, but this is a big game for our program. It's about as big as a season opening, non-conference game can be, I guess.
When you talk about signature programs in college football, you think of a few like Notre Dame, maybe Texas, maybe USC, etc. In Division III, there are a handful of those kinds of teams. St. John's is one of them. Their coach (John Gagliardi) is a legend. He's been at SJU now for over 55 years and is averaging about two losses -- TWO losses -- per season. That's absolutely ridiculous. The Johnnies are national title contenders every season, including this one.
ETBU coach Mark Sartain talked about putting the Tigers on a national stage when he took the job back in December of 2006. There's two ways of doing that -- one, of course, is to make the playoffs, which we've done only once in eight years. The only other way is to schedule top national opponents, such as St. John's. This is the Tigers' opportunity, for one big weekend, to participate in a true national game of the week.
Why is it a national game of the week? You've got the established power taking on a team looking to head in that direction. You've got North vs. South. You've got Minnesota against Texas. Our athletes against their football players. Whatever comparison you want to make, it applies to this game.
The Tigers will get another dose of this in a couple of months when we go out to California to face Azusa Pacific, which is a top-notch nationally-reknowned NAIA program. Texas against California. That one will also carry some juicy storylines in that regard.
I've had the opportunity to go out and watch a couple of practices already, enough to have a first-look opinion. The Tigers are interesting. The coaches welcomed 146 players last Wednesday for fall camp, including about 60 freshmen and a dozen or so transfers. We typically take media guide photos on reporting day, so I had the opportunity to see these guys up close.
Physically -- and again this is my opinion -- this is the most impressive-looking ETBU team we've had in nine years. I'm talking about just pure physical, athletic-looking guys. Fans of the Tigers will be shocked to see this team in uniform compared to some in the past. They look like -- and not meaning to slight anyone who's worn an ETBU uniform in the past, by any means -- but these are just different-looking players.
None of that translates into a single win, touchdown, or even first down, unfortunately. But ETBU should be a much more explosive, exciting team to watch this season -- on both sides of the ball. If the opener were today, there would be 10 players who have started games at ETBU on the field on defense. Offensively, the team speed is three times better than last, with an offensive line that returns five starters. And there's a deep class of talent at quarterback, led by incumbent starter Stephen Oehlschaleger.
We are expecting an exciting year. You have to practice and perform in games, of course, and the Tigers have their work cut out for them with arguably the toughest schedule the program has ever faced. But it will be interesting to see this team unveil itself in less than three weeks up there in Minnesota.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Poll: Sports Movies
Some of you might have noticed the addition of "fan polls" to the right of the page here on TigerBlog. Well, at least to this point, a few of you have.
We decided to add this feature for several reasons. First of all, I personally love voting in fan polls on the Internet myself. No need to wait until November to exercise your right to vote. It's a great method of interaction and creates opportunities for discussion, which is vital in sports and among sports fans.
Also, it can give you an idea of just how many people read your site, or your blog, in this case. Each poll we've produced over the last month or so has had an increasing number of votes. Now, that could mean the same person is voting a bunch of times. In that case, I thank the two or three people out there in cyberspace who regularly visit TigerBlog!
But getting serious now... the latest poll was about the greatest sports movies of all time. The choices posted were ones that I could think of at the moment. And the winner is...
Hoosiers. Great sports movie focusing on, of course, basketball. I've seen it at least 50 times and never, ever get tired of watching it. Rumor has it that Jimmy Chitwood was recruited to play at then-East Texas Baptist College but he declined because we pumped too much air in the basketball down here in Texas...
Little disappointed that "Rocky" didn't get more love. Personally, I put it in one of my top 10 movies of all time. Again, it's one of those movies I just can't put down. Now, there's not a referee or boxing official in the world that would allow a fighter to continue that was as pulverized as Rock against Apollo, but that bit of make-believe aside, Rocky is just a feel-good story that has something for everybody -- blood, gore and violence, not to mention sports, for the guys, and a love story for the gals.
Maybe some of you didn't vote for Rocky because of what I call "Rocky fatigue." 25 sequels will do that to you I guess.
"Remember the Titans" got some love figuratively, meaning it got a vote. As did "Major League" and "Field of Dreams." Can't believe no one stepped up with at least one vote for "Kicking and Screaming," the Will Ferrell classic on the pitch.
And "The Longest Yard" probably needed some clarification -- I should have stressed that it was the original, with Burt Reynolds as Paul Cruwe. Yep, that probably would have made a difference.
The biggest mystery coming out of the poll? The one vote for "Other." Now I have to guess what that "other" is. "Raging Bull?" "Semi-Pro?" "Caddyshack?" "Kingpin?"
Watch for more polls in the future and don't hesitate to vote... many times if needed. Make your vote count!!!
DW
We decided to add this feature for several reasons. First of all, I personally love voting in fan polls on the Internet myself. No need to wait until November to exercise your right to vote. It's a great method of interaction and creates opportunities for discussion, which is vital in sports and among sports fans.
Also, it can give you an idea of just how many people read your site, or your blog, in this case. Each poll we've produced over the last month or so has had an increasing number of votes. Now, that could mean the same person is voting a bunch of times. In that case, I thank the two or three people out there in cyberspace who regularly visit TigerBlog!
But getting serious now... the latest poll was about the greatest sports movies of all time. The choices posted were ones that I could think of at the moment. And the winner is...
Hoosiers. Great sports movie focusing on, of course, basketball. I've seen it at least 50 times and never, ever get tired of watching it. Rumor has it that Jimmy Chitwood was recruited to play at then-East Texas Baptist College but he declined because we pumped too much air in the basketball down here in Texas...
Little disappointed that "Rocky" didn't get more love. Personally, I put it in one of my top 10 movies of all time. Again, it's one of those movies I just can't put down. Now, there's not a referee or boxing official in the world that would allow a fighter to continue that was as pulverized as Rock against Apollo, but that bit of make-believe aside, Rocky is just a feel-good story that has something for everybody -- blood, gore and violence, not to mention sports, for the guys, and a love story for the gals.
Maybe some of you didn't vote for Rocky because of what I call "Rocky fatigue." 25 sequels will do that to you I guess.
"Remember the Titans" got some love figuratively, meaning it got a vote. As did "Major League" and "Field of Dreams." Can't believe no one stepped up with at least one vote for "Kicking and Screaming," the Will Ferrell classic on the pitch.
And "The Longest Yard" probably needed some clarification -- I should have stressed that it was the original, with Burt Reynolds as Paul Cruwe. Yep, that probably would have made a difference.
The biggest mystery coming out of the poll? The one vote for "Other." Now I have to guess what that "other" is. "Raging Bull?" "Semi-Pro?" "Caddyshack?" "Kingpin?"
Watch for more polls in the future and don't hesitate to vote... many times if needed. Make your vote count!!!
DW
Monday, June 16, 2008
Website Launch
If you're reading this post in TigerBlog, you've most likely discovered that we've launched a new ETBU website.
A great deal of my time over the last 1 1/2 months or so has been designing the new athletic pages on the website. We wanted to make the new site as informative as possible while also keeping it somewhat easy to navigate. A problem with our old site was that it had become almost impossible to navigate and locate information in a timely manner. We hope the new site, at least our athletics pages from my perspective, might be a little easier.
There's nothing drastically different from the old site to the new, but I can tell you it is much easier to work with and navigate. Hopefully as you will see over the coming weeks that it is also much more colorful and will have more photos/features. TigerBlog is a main feature on every athletics page, of course, and I'll hopefully be adding more as time and manpower allows.
Let us know what you like about the new site, and maybe some suggestions for features and other ideas to include. If I can make it happen and think it would be a quality addition, we'll certainly consider it.
A big thanks goes out to ETBU webmaster Mr. Brandon Diffey, who has been working on the new site longer than any of us -- months and months and months of work went into the launch of the new site and Brandon was behind it all with some help from student workers.
I am continuing work on adding the links to various sections, which can be tedious and time-consuming, so please be patient Tiger fans. We hope to have everything linked up and ready to go full-bore by the time the Tigers and Lady Tigers come back to campus in the fall.
Go Tigers...
DW
A great deal of my time over the last 1 1/2 months or so has been designing the new athletic pages on the website. We wanted to make the new site as informative as possible while also keeping it somewhat easy to navigate. A problem with our old site was that it had become almost impossible to navigate and locate information in a timely manner. We hope the new site, at least our athletics pages from my perspective, might be a little easier.
There's nothing drastically different from the old site to the new, but I can tell you it is much easier to work with and navigate. Hopefully as you will see over the coming weeks that it is also much more colorful and will have more photos/features. TigerBlog is a main feature on every athletics page, of course, and I'll hopefully be adding more as time and manpower allows.
Let us know what you like about the new site, and maybe some suggestions for features and other ideas to include. If I can make it happen and think it would be a quality addition, we'll certainly consider it.
A big thanks goes out to ETBU webmaster Mr. Brandon Diffey, who has been working on the new site longer than any of us -- months and months and months of work went into the launch of the new site and Brandon was behind it all with some help from student workers.
I am continuing work on adding the links to various sections, which can be tedious and time-consuming, so please be patient Tiger fans. We hope to have everything linked up and ready to go full-bore by the time the Tigers and Lady Tigers come back to campus in the fall.
Go Tigers...
DW
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
The Big Tenn
Saw a familiar face down at the football fieldhouse this morning taking pictures of football camp participants.
Fans of Tiger football and a lot of opposing d-linemen will remember Littleton Dean. Littleton, a high school star in Tennessee, was originally signed out of high school as a linebacker by the University of Arkansas but ended up playing the final three years of his eligibility at ETBU from 2002-04. By the time he saw the field in a Tiger uniform he had been converted to a defensive lineman.
You don't see a lot of six-foot, maybe five-eleven, 200-pound defensive linemen in college football. But when Littleton arrived at ETBU, the Tigers' middle linebacker spot was manned of course by the program's all-time leading tackler Greg Washington. And Washington was necessarily ready to give that spot up, so Dean had nowhere to go as a standup linebacker.
But he was quick as a cat, and he was as aggressive a player as has ever come through this program. He also had a knack for finding the ballcarrier and doing it rather quickly, no matter where he was. So entering the 2003 season, coaches put Littleton in a defensive tackle position right next to big 300-pounder Thomas Young-Davis.
You'll remember what happened over the next 12 games. Dean earned All-America honors as the Tigers went 9-3 and advanced two rounds deep in the playoffs. He created havoc all over the field, and it was him bursting through the line to block Trinity's extra point in overtime that gave the Tigers a 42-41 win in the first round of the playoffs in Ornelas Stadium.
Littleton has gone on to play some Arena Football, with Laredo in the AF2 league. In talking to him this morning he had received an offer to try out with the arena team in Odessa, but was leaning toward hanging it up. He was just stopping by to work out in the newly-refurbished Tiger weight room, which several former Tigers have done over the last couple of years.
He still looked like he could jump a snap count too, and hit the quarterback before he ever turned around. That was Littleton Dean right there.
Fans of Tiger football and a lot of opposing d-linemen will remember Littleton Dean. Littleton, a high school star in Tennessee, was originally signed out of high school as a linebacker by the University of Arkansas but ended up playing the final three years of his eligibility at ETBU from 2002-04. By the time he saw the field in a Tiger uniform he had been converted to a defensive lineman.
You don't see a lot of six-foot, maybe five-eleven, 200-pound defensive linemen in college football. But when Littleton arrived at ETBU, the Tigers' middle linebacker spot was manned of course by the program's all-time leading tackler Greg Washington. And Washington was necessarily ready to give that spot up, so Dean had nowhere to go as a standup linebacker.
But he was quick as a cat, and he was as aggressive a player as has ever come through this program. He also had a knack for finding the ballcarrier and doing it rather quickly, no matter where he was. So entering the 2003 season, coaches put Littleton in a defensive tackle position right next to big 300-pounder Thomas Young-Davis.
You'll remember what happened over the next 12 games. Dean earned All-America honors as the Tigers went 9-3 and advanced two rounds deep in the playoffs. He created havoc all over the field, and it was him bursting through the line to block Trinity's extra point in overtime that gave the Tigers a 42-41 win in the first round of the playoffs in Ornelas Stadium.
Littleton has gone on to play some Arena Football, with Laredo in the AF2 league. In talking to him this morning he had received an offer to try out with the arena team in Odessa, but was leaning toward hanging it up. He was just stopping by to work out in the newly-refurbished Tiger weight room, which several former Tigers have done over the last couple of years.
He still looked like he could jump a snap count too, and hit the quarterback before he ever turned around. That was Littleton Dean right there.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Football in Croatia
Got the first report of the activities of ETBU football's nine-player delegation on a mission trip to Croatia. The group left last weekend for a two-week trip to Pozega, a bustling economic hub in the former war-torn region of the Balkans.
Head coach Mark Sartain, assistant coach David Banks and nine Tiger football players made the trip with the purpose of helping build/renovate/repair a church there in Pozega. Sartain called back to the States Wednesday to give an updated report of the group's progress, which has been nothing short of amazing by all accounts.
The group's main objective was the demolition/remodeling of an underground kitchen at the church. A concrete wall had to be destroyed and cleaned up and then the players helped pour new concrete into the structure.
The amazing part of the group's job was that organizers with Advancing Native Missions expected the job to last most of the two weeks Tiger football was there. Sartain and his bunch got the job done in three hours. That's good for the church of course. But now, after just three days into the trip, with another 1 1/2 weeks to go, the group is looking for new stuff to do that wasn't originally planned.
The ETBU group has been invited to a local graduation ceremony and to attend church this weekend, where the players will have the opportunity to discuss their lives and faith at youth meetings. They have been received by the younger population in Pozega as rock stars almost -- American football is still quite the mystery overseas in some parts. And by and large Croatians don't see many large, rocked-up individuals who spend their time banging heads and crashing into each other.
There is a group of neighborhood kids who have also taken to the Tigers. Every day a football game breaks out in the street, with Tigers and locals mingling together. Sartain said the local kids are also amazed with the brand of "ladder golf" the Tigers have brought with them to Croatia.
The main thing is that it appears the Tigers are getting a chance to share the Gospel, and that is the most important thing on this particular venture. Continue to pray for their safety -- Pozega has a very large, traditionalist Catholic population that is largely unfriendly and downright hostile toward Protestants of all kinds -- and that God can use them further to spread the Good News.
More on the trip will be coming once they return.
Head coach Mark Sartain, assistant coach David Banks and nine Tiger football players made the trip with the purpose of helping build/renovate/repair a church there in Pozega. Sartain called back to the States Wednesday to give an updated report of the group's progress, which has been nothing short of amazing by all accounts.
The group's main objective was the demolition/remodeling of an underground kitchen at the church. A concrete wall had to be destroyed and cleaned up and then the players helped pour new concrete into the structure.
The amazing part of the group's job was that organizers with Advancing Native Missions expected the job to last most of the two weeks Tiger football was there. Sartain and his bunch got the job done in three hours. That's good for the church of course. But now, after just three days into the trip, with another 1 1/2 weeks to go, the group is looking for new stuff to do that wasn't originally planned.
The ETBU group has been invited to a local graduation ceremony and to attend church this weekend, where the players will have the opportunity to discuss their lives and faith at youth meetings. They have been received by the younger population in Pozega as rock stars almost -- American football is still quite the mystery overseas in some parts. And by and large Croatians don't see many large, rocked-up individuals who spend their time banging heads and crashing into each other.
There is a group of neighborhood kids who have also taken to the Tigers. Every day a football game breaks out in the street, with Tigers and locals mingling together. Sartain said the local kids are also amazed with the brand of "ladder golf" the Tigers have brought with them to Croatia.
The main thing is that it appears the Tigers are getting a chance to share the Gospel, and that is the most important thing on this particular venture. Continue to pray for their safety -- Pozega has a very large, traditionalist Catholic population that is largely unfriendly and downright hostile toward Protestants of all kinds -- and that God can use them further to spread the Good News.
More on the trip will be coming once they return.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Ratcliff makes pro football team
ETBU has its first pro football player in... its all-time softball home run king?
Allison Ratcliff, who slugged 34 home runs with the Lady Tigers from 2003-06 and is still the leading home run hitter in the ASC, tried out for and was accepted to the East Texas Saberkats of the National Women's Football Association (NWFA). The team held an open tryout this past Saturday in Marshall and will conduct another tryout in a couple of weeks.
I talked with Allison this morning and she's excited of course, but still not quite sure of what she's getting herself into. The team's coaches told her Saturday they envision using the former ETBU slugger at defensive tackle and/or center. Al was impressive enough in her tryout that she was already named team captain as well, she said.
"I don't know what all that means really other than I will have a big 'C' on my jersey," Al said with a chuckle.
The Saberkats will begin playing in the NWFA next spring. Al is currently an assistant softball coach at Waskom High School near Marshall.
Best of luck to this former Lady Tiger who certainly made an impact in a lot of areas here at ETBU during her days as a student-athlete. Al was a dynamite softball player, particularly with a bat in her hands; she was a good student, being named to the ASC's All-Academic team; and she was very active in campus groups such as the BSM.
Now apparently she'll get the chance to blaze new trails on the football field.
Allison Ratcliff, who slugged 34 home runs with the Lady Tigers from 2003-06 and is still the leading home run hitter in the ASC, tried out for and was accepted to the East Texas Saberkats of the National Women's Football Association (NWFA). The team held an open tryout this past Saturday in Marshall and will conduct another tryout in a couple of weeks.
I talked with Allison this morning and she's excited of course, but still not quite sure of what she's getting herself into. The team's coaches told her Saturday they envision using the former ETBU slugger at defensive tackle and/or center. Al was impressive enough in her tryout that she was already named team captain as well, she said.
"I don't know what all that means really other than I will have a big 'C' on my jersey," Al said with a chuckle.
The Saberkats will begin playing in the NWFA next spring. Al is currently an assistant softball coach at Waskom High School near Marshall.
Best of luck to this former Lady Tiger who certainly made an impact in a lot of areas here at ETBU during her days as a student-athlete. Al was a dynamite softball player, particularly with a bat in her hands; she was a good student, being named to the ASC's All-Academic team; and she was very active in campus groups such as the BSM.
Now apparently she'll get the chance to blaze new trails on the football field.
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