Dave Campbell's annual bible of Texas Football hit the newsstands earlier this month, and with it comes the prediction of ETBU's football team finishing fifth in the American Southwest Conference.
The Tigers, who have finished 5-5 each of the last two seasons, are picked fifth behind Mary Hardin-Baylor, Hardin-Simmons, Mississippi College and Louisiana College. Rounding out the bottom four behind ETBU are Sul Ross, Howard Payne, Texas Lutheran and McMurry.
It's going to be an interesting year in the ASC. ETBU is in its third year under Coach Mark Sartain and the Tigers will field one of their most experience teams in the history of the program in terms of upperclassman leadership. ETBU, which marks its 10th season of football since returning to the gridiron at the beginning of this decade (man how time flies by!), could have as many as 25-30 seniors on the field by the time the Tigers kick off the season Sept. 5 against Wisconsin-La Crosse. Another 30-40 players will be classified as juniors, giving ETBU between 60-70 players either in their junior or senior seasons once the roster is all sorted out.
McMurry is picked last in Texas Football, but the former Indians will be run by former D-1 coach and offensive guru Hal Mumme. Mary Hardin-Baylor and Hardin-Simmons, as always, are the flag-bearers of the ASC entering the season and both those teams will be top-notch once again.
Spots 3-5 in the standings could probably be a coin toss at this point. The Tigers are in that group certainly, along with Mississippi College and Louisiana College. The Wildcats will be in a big year under head coach Dennis Dunn, their fourth under the former Shreveport Evangel coach. And the Choctaws will be better under head coach Norm Joseph after a couple of up-and-down years, with last year being down from the start with the injury loss of quarterback Adam Shaffer in the season opener.
It's going to be a fun year. The Tigers have adopted the slogan "Close and Overtake" as part of their motto, which can be found on the team's new shield logo unveiled on the football web page. Lights, again, will bring the first night games to campus this fall. And don't forget ETBU will be playing its first full 10-game schedule against D-III only competition this season.
Players arrive for fall workouts Aug. 15, and it will be here before you know it.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Lights Lights Lights
The starting times you see on the 2009 Tiger football schedule are not typos. ETBU will play the first home night games in the 10-year history of the program this season pending the addition of lights to Ornelas Stadium for the first time this year.
The lights are set to go up sometime this summer and will give ETBU lighted facilities at all of its outdoor venues for the first time in the university's history.
As has been noted in the past, the East Texas heat can be brutal on fans and players alike in September and October. Travel issues with ETBU's first visitor, Wisconsin-La Crosse, have caused the Tigers to schedule their season opener at 11 a.m. to again try and beat some of the heat issues. But beginning with the second home game, against Texas Lutheran on Sept. 26, home games will be able to be played under the lights and hopefully in temperatures a little more conducive to football.
The lights are set to go up sometime this summer and will give ETBU lighted facilities at all of its outdoor venues for the first time in the university's history.
As has been noted in the past, the East Texas heat can be brutal on fans and players alike in September and October. Travel issues with ETBU's first visitor, Wisconsin-La Crosse, have caused the Tigers to schedule their season opener at 11 a.m. to again try and beat some of the heat issues. But beginning with the second home game, against Texas Lutheran on Sept. 26, home games will be able to be played under the lights and hopefully in temperatures a little more conducive to football.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Walking Up
Got a bit of a good feeling over the weekend watching the Texas Rangers' game against the Oakland Athletics on FSN Southwest. Rangers star Josh Hamilton was walking up to hit and his "walkup music" was a first for me -- "Saved the Day," by Christian group Phillips, Craig and Dean.
In a day when filthiness and outright deplorable material fills the television and radio, not to mention IPods and cd players, it was refreshing to hear Hamilton's display of faith in front of the Rangers' largest crowd of the season. Hamilton's story is no longer a secret -- the demons of his past drug and alcohol abuse haunt him wherever he goes but he has made it back to baseball and is at peace with himself and with God. And as Josh will readily tell anyone who will listen, it was the power of Christ that got him through that dark period in his life and every waking minute of his day today.
Thank God for the power that changes lives.
Tigers Roar! DW
In a day when filthiness and outright deplorable material fills the television and radio, not to mention IPods and cd players, it was refreshing to hear Hamilton's display of faith in front of the Rangers' largest crowd of the season. Hamilton's story is no longer a secret -- the demons of his past drug and alcohol abuse haunt him wherever he goes but he has made it back to baseball and is at peace with himself and with God. And as Josh will readily tell anyone who will listen, it was the power of Christ that got him through that dark period in his life and every waking minute of his day today.
Thank God for the power that changes lives.
Tigers Roar! DW
Monday, June 1, 2009
Welcome Back!
I could spend a lot of time in the next few paragraphs giving excuses/reasons/explanations as to why I haven't posted an entry to the blog since last October. But that would only be a waste of time so let's just jump right back in...
A lot has happened here at ETBU since I last went online here on the blog. Most recently, we can start with today being the first day of the Dub Oliver administration here at ETBU. Dr. Oliver comes to ETBU from Baylor and the anticipation of his arrival has finally culminated with him actually being here as the 12th President of our university. Welcome aboard, Dub! You're officially a Tiger now, and we all know a Tiger can take out a Bear any day...
A few weeks late but here's my official congratulations and thanks to the 2009 Lady Tiger softball team. What a fun ride this past spring was! ETBU came from out of nowhere to jump to the top of the ASC East Division again, and the Lady Tigers are poised to stay there for awhile with back-to-back stellar recruiting classes. From what I've seen and heard regarding next year's class, it could be even deeper and talented once again, so the Lady Tigers should be even more of a factor again next spring...
The Tiger football team -- or at least 13 members of the group -- had an interesting weekend overseas. What started out as a scheduled week-long stay in London to do construction and mission work for The Elam Institute turned into something only Hollywood could imagine. Apparently the British government wasn't too keen on a small group of college football players entering the country, and the Brits' immigration department saw it as an opportunity to flex its muscle and detain our contingent at Heathrow Airport. The Tiger players and coaches are safely back home now but have an experience to talk about for the rest of their lives. Read more about their adventures across the pond on Coach Sartain's blog at http://www.tigersinlondon.blogspot.com/.
Lots more to talk about as the summer progresses, but I'll try to stay up to date with the news -- and the blog, for that matter.
Tigers Roar! DW
A lot has happened here at ETBU since I last went online here on the blog. Most recently, we can start with today being the first day of the Dub Oliver administration here at ETBU. Dr. Oliver comes to ETBU from Baylor and the anticipation of his arrival has finally culminated with him actually being here as the 12th President of our university. Welcome aboard, Dub! You're officially a Tiger now, and we all know a Tiger can take out a Bear any day...
A few weeks late but here's my official congratulations and thanks to the 2009 Lady Tiger softball team. What a fun ride this past spring was! ETBU came from out of nowhere to jump to the top of the ASC East Division again, and the Lady Tigers are poised to stay there for awhile with back-to-back stellar recruiting classes. From what I've seen and heard regarding next year's class, it could be even deeper and talented once again, so the Lady Tigers should be even more of a factor again next spring...
The Tiger football team -- or at least 13 members of the group -- had an interesting weekend overseas. What started out as a scheduled week-long stay in London to do construction and mission work for The Elam Institute turned into something only Hollywood could imagine. Apparently the British government wasn't too keen on a small group of college football players entering the country, and the Brits' immigration department saw it as an opportunity to flex its muscle and detain our contingent at Heathrow Airport. The Tiger players and coaches are safely back home now but have an experience to talk about for the rest of their lives. Read more about their adventures across the pond on Coach Sartain's blog at http://www.tigersinlondon.blogspot.com/.
Lots more to talk about as the summer progresses, but I'll try to stay up to date with the news -- and the blog, for that matter.
Tigers Roar! DW
Friday, October 10, 2008
Tiger Bites: ETBU vs. Hardin-Simmons
Some personal notes/tidbits from the history of the ETBU vs. Hardin-Simmons football series:
-- The Cowboys have never scored less than 20 points in a game against the Tigers. That would be less than 21 points in a game, but HSU didn't get to get the now-infamous extra point in overtime back in 2003, a point that helped the Tigers get the ASC's automatic playoff bid under the old three-way tie system of point differential. (I guess our HSU Baptist brethren will always have bad blood toward us for that... even though it was just playing by the rules as they were written at the time, good or bad). For the record, the tiebreaker rule was changed after that season.
-- There haven't been many years in the rivalry where I can honestly, truly say I thought ETBU had the better team. One of those was that 2003 game, although HSU was certainly a stout bunch back then. I think last year's game in Ornelas Stadium was also a free-for-all, and the Cowboys simply made more plays on both sides of the ball to get the win.
-- Other than that 2003 overtime classic, none of the games in Abilene have been remotely close. The Cowboys put up a very easy-seeming 69 on us back in 2001, and the lowest point total HSU has put up in the other games was 31 back in 2005.
-- Over the years I think most ETBU followers and fans have grown to respect the Cowboys simply because Hardin-Simmons wins every year. I mean, last year was considered a bad year for them and they lost two conference games. That's it. You have to respect a bunch that never ever expects to lose...because that means they don't do it very often.
-- My most meaningful personal memory over the last eight years of this series is, ironically, a game I wasn't even attending. During Hardin-Simmons week in 2003, I had to undergo emergency surgery (I had a "ripe gallbladder that had gone bad) and I was forced to stay home and listen to the game on the radio. There I was, lying up in bed, listening to a bedside clock radio and trying not to get too excited as to rip the stitches out of my gut. The Tigers and Cowboys didn't do me any favors that day, and at the end of it I felt even sicker after HSU had pulled out that 20-14 overtime win. Never in my mind did I ever consider that ETBU would get a second shot at the postseason later, until Coach Harris pointed out the tiebreaker situation going into the UMHB game. Knowing those rules gave our coaches a definite plan going into the UMHB game a couple weeks later, something I'll probably touch on when the Cru visits ETBU in a few weeks.
Looking back, I will agree that yes, the situation and the rules totally wouldn't have been even considered remotely fair had the shoe been on the other foot, but playing by them shouldn't be considered wrong by anyone either. Luck of the draw had us playing UMHB later than HSU, and we had the luxury of playing by the tiebreaker rules. And we all finished 8-1 in the conference, something I don't really honestly think will ever happen again. Those were three very good football teams at ETBU, HSU and UMHB that year -- quite frankly, every one of them should have gotten into the playoffs. The team that upset us that year in the second round -- Lycoming -- would not have finished in the top three of our conference.
See you Saturday.
-- The Cowboys have never scored less than 20 points in a game against the Tigers. That would be less than 21 points in a game, but HSU didn't get to get the now-infamous extra point in overtime back in 2003, a point that helped the Tigers get the ASC's automatic playoff bid under the old three-way tie system of point differential. (I guess our HSU Baptist brethren will always have bad blood toward us for that... even though it was just playing by the rules as they were written at the time, good or bad). For the record, the tiebreaker rule was changed after that season.
-- There haven't been many years in the rivalry where I can honestly, truly say I thought ETBU had the better team. One of those was that 2003 game, although HSU was certainly a stout bunch back then. I think last year's game in Ornelas Stadium was also a free-for-all, and the Cowboys simply made more plays on both sides of the ball to get the win.
-- Other than that 2003 overtime classic, none of the games in Abilene have been remotely close. The Cowboys put up a very easy-seeming 69 on us back in 2001, and the lowest point total HSU has put up in the other games was 31 back in 2005.
-- Over the years I think most ETBU followers and fans have grown to respect the Cowboys simply because Hardin-Simmons wins every year. I mean, last year was considered a bad year for them and they lost two conference games. That's it. You have to respect a bunch that never ever expects to lose...because that means they don't do it very often.
-- My most meaningful personal memory over the last eight years of this series is, ironically, a game I wasn't even attending. During Hardin-Simmons week in 2003, I had to undergo emergency surgery (I had a "ripe gallbladder that had gone bad) and I was forced to stay home and listen to the game on the radio. There I was, lying up in bed, listening to a bedside clock radio and trying not to get too excited as to rip the stitches out of my gut. The Tigers and Cowboys didn't do me any favors that day, and at the end of it I felt even sicker after HSU had pulled out that 20-14 overtime win. Never in my mind did I ever consider that ETBU would get a second shot at the postseason later, until Coach Harris pointed out the tiebreaker situation going into the UMHB game. Knowing those rules gave our coaches a definite plan going into the UMHB game a couple weeks later, something I'll probably touch on when the Cru visits ETBU in a few weeks.
Looking back, I will agree that yes, the situation and the rules totally wouldn't have been even considered remotely fair had the shoe been on the other foot, but playing by them shouldn't be considered wrong by anyone either. Luck of the draw had us playing UMHB later than HSU, and we had the luxury of playing by the tiebreaker rules. And we all finished 8-1 in the conference, something I don't really honestly think will ever happen again. Those were three very good football teams at ETBU, HSU and UMHB that year -- quite frankly, every one of them should have gotten into the playoffs. The team that upset us that year in the second round -- Lycoming -- would not have finished in the top three of our conference.
See you Saturday.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Up Close With The Tigers
Hopefully you have been noticing a newly-added feature to our upgraded ETBU athletics website, the Up Close section down the left side of the main pages for our sports.
While the site is really not quite finished (not sure it will ever be, because I keep getting all these ideas and I end up changing everything!), we will definitely be keeping Up Close. I try to highlight a player or two each week during the season in hopes that by the end of the year everyone in a Tiger or Lady Tiger uniform will have been featured.
Some sports will have to linger with theirs into the offseason, especially football. To combat that I have gone to two football players in the section instead of one. But we will eventually get to everyone.
If you might be wondering how we come up with the little survey there, that asks the players about their favorite types of things, etc. I give each player at the beginning of the year a bio sheet for them to fill out. This includes athletic information such as their high school, their high school accomplishments, their career plans, etc. The bulk of this information goes in the bios of the players in the media guides.
But I wanted to add the Up Close section to the website, so I attached another page to this year's bio sheets. It's up to the players to decide whether or not they want to answer every question, hopefully they fill it out completely enough to sound interesting.
The questions range from "Who is your favorite superhero?" to "The best advice you could give a child is..." Hopefully the answers are fun and enlightening at the same time. I know I have some fun reading each of them as they are posted to the site.
For some who might be wondering, there are a few trends and popular answers coming so far on the bio sheets. Most everyone lists a parent or close family member as the "person I most admire." The Dark Knight, to this point, has been the most popular movie in the past year for our student-athletes, and not surprisingly, Batman follows as the most popular superhero.
Most student-athletes list the sport they are involved with as the reason they chose to attend ETBU. That's really not a shocking thing, and it tells us that athletics is an important part of our university life.
The "most interesting person from the Bible," ranges to anyone from Paul or Job, usually. I must say here that on most of the bio sheets I included, (other than Jesus). Duh, that would be like saying the most interesting person on your birthday was, well, you. Jesus is The Most Interesting Person in the Bible, period. But I wanted the answers to the bio question to vary this year.
Most TV shows that aren't missed among our student-athletes are stuff like Grey's Anatomy or CSI. Michael Phelps has been a popular "Favorite All-Time Athlete." And, for favorite U.S. President, it's almost a dead heat between Bill Clinton, Abraham Lincoln and George W. Bush.
That's a quick, minor overview of the survey taken of our fall athletes with their bio sheets. We've still got basketball and baseball and softball to come, of course, so the information will be expanding further. Maybe. Or maybe not -- maybe the consensus of the fall is that everyone has pretty much the same favorites here at ETBU.
While the site is really not quite finished (not sure it will ever be, because I keep getting all these ideas and I end up changing everything!), we will definitely be keeping Up Close. I try to highlight a player or two each week during the season in hopes that by the end of the year everyone in a Tiger or Lady Tiger uniform will have been featured.
Some sports will have to linger with theirs into the offseason, especially football. To combat that I have gone to two football players in the section instead of one. But we will eventually get to everyone.
If you might be wondering how we come up with the little survey there, that asks the players about their favorite types of things, etc. I give each player at the beginning of the year a bio sheet for them to fill out. This includes athletic information such as their high school, their high school accomplishments, their career plans, etc. The bulk of this information goes in the bios of the players in the media guides.
But I wanted to add the Up Close section to the website, so I attached another page to this year's bio sheets. It's up to the players to decide whether or not they want to answer every question, hopefully they fill it out completely enough to sound interesting.
The questions range from "Who is your favorite superhero?" to "The best advice you could give a child is..." Hopefully the answers are fun and enlightening at the same time. I know I have some fun reading each of them as they are posted to the site.
For some who might be wondering, there are a few trends and popular answers coming so far on the bio sheets. Most everyone lists a parent or close family member as the "person I most admire." The Dark Knight, to this point, has been the most popular movie in the past year for our student-athletes, and not surprisingly, Batman follows as the most popular superhero.
Most student-athletes list the sport they are involved with as the reason they chose to attend ETBU. That's really not a shocking thing, and it tells us that athletics is an important part of our university life.
The "most interesting person from the Bible," ranges to anyone from Paul or Job, usually. I must say here that on most of the bio sheets I included, (other than Jesus). Duh, that would be like saying the most interesting person on your birthday was, well, you. Jesus is The Most Interesting Person in the Bible, period. But I wanted the answers to the bio question to vary this year.
Most TV shows that aren't missed among our student-athletes are stuff like Grey's Anatomy or CSI. Michael Phelps has been a popular "Favorite All-Time Athlete." And, for favorite U.S. President, it's almost a dead heat between Bill Clinton, Abraham Lincoln and George W. Bush.
That's a quick, minor overview of the survey taken of our fall athletes with their bio sheets. We've still got basketball and baseball and softball to come, of course, so the information will be expanding further. Maybe. Or maybe not -- maybe the consensus of the fall is that everyone has pretty much the same favorites here at ETBU.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Tiger Bites: ETBU vs. McMurry
Some notes and odd and ins about ETBU's football series against McMurry University over the years:
-- McMurry is the only team in the ASC never to have defeated the Tigers. That much you might already know. On the flip side of that, ironically -- McMurry's fellow Abilene ASC member, Hardin-Simmons, has never lost a game to ETBU in eight tries.
-- ETBU played its first home game in 50 years back on Sept. 23, 2000, against McMurry. Only thing was, it wasn't really a home game for ETBU -- the game was played at Marshall High School's Maverick Stadium, as Ornelas Stadium was still undergoing the final touches of construction. That game remains the only scheduled home game for ETBU to be played outside of The Jungle.
-- McMurry was ranked in the Top 25 nationally when it visited Marshall for the first time back in 2000. Since suffering a 28-14 defeat at the hands of a freshman-laden ETBU team that day, McMurry hasn't been ranked since.
-- Gary McClelland rushed for 279 yards and two touchdowns in the Tigers' first visit to Abilene to play McMurry, a 33-26 win for ETBU. That remains the single-highest rushing yardage in a game for a Tiger running back.
-- McMurry is 0-3 all-time on Ornelas Stadium. ETBU's wins in those three games, however, have been by just 10 points per game.
You can't talk about the ETBU-McMurry series without mentioning that very first game back in Maverick Stadium in 2000. The Tigers were literally running out a team full of first-year freshmen who most of which didn't know how to shave yet. McMurry was nationally-ranked but coming off a loss to an up-and-coming Mary Hardin-Baylor squad that year, as I remember, and the then-Indians were expected to be hopping mad and on the warpath against the young ETBU kittens...
I've never seen a game before or since where you can pin the outcome solely on emotion. Those young Tiger pups swarmed all over McMurry and raced out to a huge lead, putting pressure on the quarterback, forcing turnovers, cashing in points. The Indians tried to rally in the second half but kept shooting themselves in the foot, and one of the biggest upsets to this day in ETBU football history was finished with a 28-14 Tiger win.
ETBU wouldn't win a game the rest of the year, finishing 2-8. But it was McMurry that seemed to reel the most from that loss, as the Indians haven't won a game in the series yet and now aren't even called the Indians anymore, by the way, thanks to that controversial ruling a few years ago concerning nicknames and mascots. Luckily for ETBU, no Tiger or other large feline has complained much to the NCAA about being offended...
It's not like the Tigers have just penciled in a win every year against McMurry, either. These games are typically close and hard-fought until the fourth quarter. Last season's game out there in Abilene went into overtime, after McMurry had jumped out to a quick two-score lead in the first half. The home team appeared ready to lock up a game-winning touchdown late in regulation when ETBU's Shea Harborth delivered the punt of his career out of the back of ETBU's end zone and past midfield. Huggie Frazier then sealed the Tigers' win in overtime by knocking away a pass in the end zone on the game's final play.
See you Saturday for another one in The Jungle.
-- McMurry is the only team in the ASC never to have defeated the Tigers. That much you might already know. On the flip side of that, ironically -- McMurry's fellow Abilene ASC member, Hardin-Simmons, has never lost a game to ETBU in eight tries.
-- ETBU played its first home game in 50 years back on Sept. 23, 2000, against McMurry. Only thing was, it wasn't really a home game for ETBU -- the game was played at Marshall High School's Maverick Stadium, as Ornelas Stadium was still undergoing the final touches of construction. That game remains the only scheduled home game for ETBU to be played outside of The Jungle.
-- McMurry was ranked in the Top 25 nationally when it visited Marshall for the first time back in 2000. Since suffering a 28-14 defeat at the hands of a freshman-laden ETBU team that day, McMurry hasn't been ranked since.
-- Gary McClelland rushed for 279 yards and two touchdowns in the Tigers' first visit to Abilene to play McMurry, a 33-26 win for ETBU. That remains the single-highest rushing yardage in a game for a Tiger running back.
-- McMurry is 0-3 all-time on Ornelas Stadium. ETBU's wins in those three games, however, have been by just 10 points per game.
You can't talk about the ETBU-McMurry series without mentioning that very first game back in Maverick Stadium in 2000. The Tigers were literally running out a team full of first-year freshmen who most of which didn't know how to shave yet. McMurry was nationally-ranked but coming off a loss to an up-and-coming Mary Hardin-Baylor squad that year, as I remember, and the then-Indians were expected to be hopping mad and on the warpath against the young ETBU kittens...
I've never seen a game before or since where you can pin the outcome solely on emotion. Those young Tiger pups swarmed all over McMurry and raced out to a huge lead, putting pressure on the quarterback, forcing turnovers, cashing in points. The Indians tried to rally in the second half but kept shooting themselves in the foot, and one of the biggest upsets to this day in ETBU football history was finished with a 28-14 Tiger win.
ETBU wouldn't win a game the rest of the year, finishing 2-8. But it was McMurry that seemed to reel the most from that loss, as the Indians haven't won a game in the series yet and now aren't even called the Indians anymore, by the way, thanks to that controversial ruling a few years ago concerning nicknames and mascots. Luckily for ETBU, no Tiger or other large feline has complained much to the NCAA about being offended...
It's not like the Tigers have just penciled in a win every year against McMurry, either. These games are typically close and hard-fought until the fourth quarter. Last season's game out there in Abilene went into overtime, after McMurry had jumped out to a quick two-score lead in the first half. The home team appeared ready to lock up a game-winning touchdown late in regulation when ETBU's Shea Harborth delivered the punt of his career out of the back of ETBU's end zone and past midfield. Huggie Frazier then sealed the Tigers' win in overtime by knocking away a pass in the end zone on the game's final play.
See you Saturday for another one in The Jungle.
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