Former Drake Kicker Has Shot At Starting Job In NFL
Mitch Holthus, the radio voice of the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs, said Tuesday that former Drake kicker Billy Cundiff has a solid shot at the starting job after recently signing with the team.
Cundiff, who set seven Pioneer Football League records while at Drake, tied an NFL record with seven field goals for the Dallas Cowboys during a Monday game against the New York Giants in 2003.
Two CAA Players To Take Part In 2008 NFL Combine
RICHMOND, Va. – Former Delaware quarterback Joe Flacco and Richmond wide receiver Arman Shields will be representing CAA Football in this week’s NFL Combine in Indianapolis, Ind.
The "Golden Goose" Looks to Continue His Ascent
Ladies and gentlemen, I have a confession to make, I’m absolutely in love with quarterback Josh Johnson of the San Diego Toreros. Ever since my good friend Jon Bresnen watched him play against Morehead State this season and told me about him, I was convinced I had to see this kid for myself. Bresnen raved about Johnson’s flawless ball placement and told me that many of his receivers dropped balls that were placed right on the money. As much as he was raving about Johnson, you would think Bresnen had just witnessed the best game of the season for the immensely gifted signal-caller. A quick look at the stats and I realize that he watched Josh Johnson turn in one of his worst performances of the season. He only completed 14 of his 27 pass attempts for 211 yards and two touchdowns. Those are certainly not the worst numbers I’ve ever seen by any means, but not the best either. Johnson also rushed 16 times for 74 yards, an average of 4.6 yards per carry. Those numbers are overall, pretty impressive if you ask me.
Ivy League director Orleans to retire
The only full-time executive director the Ivy League has employed is retiring.
Jeffrey H. Orleans will step down June 30, 2009, after 25 years of service to the Ancient Eight. Amy Gutmann, president of the University of Pennsylvania and chair of the Council of Ivy Group Presidents, made the announcement yesterday in a statement.
Richmond's Top Receiver Arrested
WR Kevin Grayson is suspended from football activity, and faces fight-related charge.
Kevin Grayson, the University of Richmond’s leading receiver last season, has been arrested and charged with malicious wounding after a fight with another student at a campus fraternity house on Feb. 8.
UR announced yesterday that Grayson has been suspended indefinitely from all football-related activities but remains in school. Whether Grayson will take part in spring practice, which begins later this month, is to be determined.
Pending Football Slate at Grambling to Include Northwestern State
GRAMBLING — Grambling will announce a 2008 football schedule, perhaps as early as today, that includes a new home-and-home deal with Northwestern State.
That leaves at least one more non-conference date still to fill. GSU will open next season at Nevada.
“I’m hopeful I can release a schedule in the coming days,” said Grambling athletics director Troy Mathieu. “I’m just waiting on the actual contracts to get in.”
Streaming Out Loud, Lehigh and Lafayette Use Webcasts
Lehigh and Lafayette providing varsity game coverage over Internet, which is a boon to recruiting.
Lehigh University and Lafayette College are making it easier for fans to see their athletic teams live and in color, even when they can’t make it to the games.
While both schools have made use of local television over the years – Service Electric, RCN, Channel 69 – Lehigh and Lafayette are taking it to another level with live streaming video broadcast of home contests over the Internet.
The webcasts of football, soccer, basketball, wrestling and other sports are becoming increasingly popular for a variety of reasons. They allow alumni and the athletes’ families and friends to watch events, plus they are a recruiting tool.
ISU Defensive Coordinator Scott Leaves to Coach Tulsa LBs
TULSA, Okla. — Galen Scott, who served as an assistant coach at Illinois State for seven seasons following a standout playing career for the Redbirds, was hired Monday to coach the linebackers at Tulsa.
“Illinois State is obviously a very special place, but this is a great opportunity for my career,” said Scott, who was ISU’s defensive coordinator the past two seasons. “I appreciate everything that Coach (Denver) Johnson has done for me, personally and professionally, and I wish him and the rest of the staff nothing but the best.”
Columbia Athletics Is Overdue for a Redirection
For a university made up of a small undergraduate population in a modern urban environment and that prides itself on thought-leadership, few policies could be as myopic, anachronistic, and ill-fitting than Columbia’s approach to recreation and athletics. Minor adjustments in degree will not suffice. A major change in kind is overdue.
The Great Divide
Financial-aid initiatives spur fears of Ivy League arms race.
Since its formation in 1954, the Ivy League has been perhaps the most stable conference in Division I. It has enjoyed a remarkable level of parity and is still the only D-I league whose membership has never changed.
But the distribution of financial aid money - and its effect on athletics - is threatening to upset that balance. The richest Ivy League schools are offering more and more money to students and are gaining an insurmountable advantage in recruiting, Penn Athletic Director Steve Bilsky said.
“What’s inevitably going to happen is that there’s going to be a divide in the league,” he said. “Not based on philosophy, but on resources.”
FAMU/Southern Game Back for 2008
Florida A&M University, in co-operation with officials from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and member schools, announced Monday the resolution of a conflict on their 2008 schedule which will allow them to play Southern University in Baton Rouge.
The two longtime rivals will play in A.W. Mumford Stadium on the Southern campus on October 18, 2008, a move from the originally contracted date of September 20.
Florida A&M will now play 12 games in 2008 with the addition of the Southern game, with one open date on September 13.
Pascagoula Back Touted As Gamer By Comegy
Jackson State football coach Rick Comegy said he’d be signing up to three more recruits after the Feb. 6 signing day passed last week. However, he didn’t plan on finding one of those guys at the grocery store.
“I was shopping one day and met a guy who coached over at Millsaps,” Comegy said. “He said, ‘Coach, have you heard of this guy Vick Ballard?’ I said no.
“He said, ‘Man, I’m telling you coach. …’ “
UCA's Conque Praises Mostly-Broad Recruiting Class
University of Central Arkansas football coach Clint Conque got a little bit of everything in his 2008 recruiting class.
Except … “big uglys.”
The ink was barely dry on the list released Wednesday when several supporters called Conque to question why the UCA staff didn’t sign an offensive lineman.
That was intentional, Conque said, during his analysis of the current recruiting harvest in a Thursday afternoon news conference with the media and supporters.
End Result of Last Year Sends UCA On Mission
With a lot of returnees going into this season from a team that finished a surprise second in the Southland Conference, University of Central Arkansas football coach Clint Conque was initially worried about complacency.
Black athletes helped bring glory to early Cornell football
Cornell’s Holland starred on the field and in the classroom.
In the 1930s, no one questioned black Cornellians playing alongside their white classmates on athletic teams. In competitive sport, winning and athleticism were highly valued.
In 1935, Jerome Heartwell Holland of Auburn enrolled in the New York State College of Agriculture. Holland had graduated from Auburn High School, where he had participated on sports teams.
Holland’s personality and good sportsmanship on and off the field made him popular; he joined the Booker T. Washington Club, but he was also a member of Omega Psi Phi; Sphinx Head, the senior honor society; Aleph Samach, the Junior Honor Society; Scarab, an agricultural and hotel administration society; the Football Club; and he was a Wearer of the “C.” He played on the freshman and varsity football teams.
Holland came to Cornell during what is called the Snavely Era (1936-1944), when Coach Carl Snavely led the football team. At that time, there were three-All America players for Snavely’s Big Red; one was “Brud” Holland.
