Five Years of Memories

By Karen Auerbach, NAU Media Relations

My time as a Lumberjack is coming to an end. As the Assistant Director of Athletic Media Relations under Steve Shaff for the past five years, I’ve had so many great times and amazing opportunities, and I will miss NAU and Flagstaff very much. My next adventure is taking me to Philadelphia where I will hold a similar title in the Temple University Athletic Department. Before I go, I wanted to recap some of the best memories I’ve had while working at NAU. I hate to rank any above any others, and there are certainly many exciting events that have happened in other sports that I didn’t work as closely with. But for the sake of this blog, here is a “Top 10” from my time at NAU.

#10 - Skydome Improvements in 2005 and 2008
While the Skydome has been impressive to me from the outside since I started working here, the inside has gotten some major improvements. In my first football season in 2004, the scoreboards were the type you'd find at a lot of high school fields. But we soon upgraded bigtime, to the current scoreboards and video boards that are now in place at both ends. My favorite was when Rob Morrison would put the animated Chicken Dance up there.

The turf that was in place for the first four football seasons I was here left something to be desired, so it was pretty exciting when we installed the RealGrass turf prior to the 2008 season. I give major props to the entire Dome staff for all their work in the constant putting down and taking up of the various turfs.

#9 - Alexis Buckley Swimming in the NCAA Championships
Although our swim and dive team is consistently strong in the WAC, and at least a few divers always advance to the NCAA Regional Championships, only once in my five years did a swim and dive student-athlete qualify and participate in the NCAA Championships. In March of 2006, which proved to be an extremely exciting time with the women's basketball team also earning an NCAA Tournament berth, Alexis swam in both the 500 freestyle and 1,650 freestyle in Athens, Ga. She did not advance to the finals in either event, but came so close in the 1,650 free after placing 19th.

#8 - Matt Leinart Using Ketchup as a Microphone in 2006
In a very rare opportunity, I somehow ended up at the final lunch of the Cardinals Training Camp in August of 2006. It turned out that at that lunch, all the rookies on the team were made to stand on their chairs and sing in front of everyone. There were a number of hilarious performances, but the most notable for me was Matt Leinart. The rumor was that he was, or had been, dating Paris Hilton at the time, so when he stood on his chair, grabbed a bottle of ketchup as his mic and started belting out a Paris Hilton song... I only wish I'd had a video camera.

#7 - NAU Athletics Embraces Social Media
Having been a Facebook user since before it was cool, I often tried to hide my use of it. A few years ago there were major concerns about privacy and the use of sites like that in general, and athletic departments all over the country were worried about what it could lead to. While concerns still exist, Facebook's use as a promotion tool for athletics has now been embraced, and I think it's great. Between Facebook, Twitter and blogging, NAU Athletics is really getting out there. I know I'll have no trouble keeping up on what's happening after I move back east.

#6 - Watching Kim Babcock Play Volleyball
Any fans of NAU volleyball since 2004 know who Kim Babcock is. You knew she was going to be great from the start, but injuries and illnesses kept her from her true potential until her senior year. But it was worth the wait to watch all 5 feet and 8 inches of her jump to an amazing height and slam the ball repeatedly over the net. Her 5.63 kills per game that year, 2007, ranked first among all players in NCAA Division I.

#5 - NAU TV Services Gets the Lumberjacks on National TV
The kind of television coverage that NAU sports have gotten over the last few years is unprecedented even at much larger universities. This is all thanks to the NAU TV Services Department, which has embraced athletics and made our football, basketball, volleyball and even some soccer games available to fans all over the country. With the university having its own Dish Network station, and FSN Arizona as well as Fox College Sports picking up a number of games, I've had friends from as far away as you can get telling me they saw one of our games on TV. It's pretty awesome.

#4 - Volleyball Wins Three Tournaments in 2008
With a brand new coach and a young team heading into the 2008 season, it was hard to know what to expect from the volleyball team. But under the guidance of Craig Choate and with the leadership of senior libero Brittany Stowers, the Lumberjacks went 8-1 to start the year and earned tournament titles at both of their home tournaments as well as one on the road. During the final match at Green Bay, Stowers tallied 52 digs to set NAU and Big Sky records and come close to the NCAA record. As an SID, nothing is more fun than writing about wins and positive records, and that team gave me plenty of both to write about!

#3 - Men's Basketball's Four Overtime Game vs. Portland State on January 4, 2009
After having been down in Phoenix on January 3rd, I had to battle torrential rain and then miles and miles of snow to make it in time for the men's basketball game against Portland State at 2:00 p.m. But I was so glad I made it in the end. The two teams battled through a thrilling four overtimes before the Vikings ultimately pulled out the victory. It was a heartbreaking loss for the Lumberjacks, but a game that will forever be in the history books.

#2 - Football at ASU in 2006
I rarely got to see an away football game due to conflicts with the volleyball schedule, but on August 31, 2006, I was able to attend NAU at ASU when the Sun Devils were ranked 24th in the nation. Only hoping that the Lumberjacks would keep the game close, you can imagine the excitement for NAU fans after the Lumberjacks scored first and were then tied with ASU 14-14 heading into the fourth quarter. The Sun Devils took over after that, but for three quarters it was one of the most exciting football games I've ever seen.

# 1- Women's Basketball Wins Big Sky Tourney in 2006
After unfortunately watching the men's basketball team lose in the Big Sky final to Montana in Flagstaff on the night of March 8, the whirlwind adventure began as Mitch Strohman and I drove to Phoenix at 4:00 a.m. the next morning to get to Sky Harbor and fly out to Pocatello, Idaho. We arrived a few hours before the women's quarterfinal game against Portland State which they won fairly easily. Next up was defending champs Montana, and the Lumberjacks won an exciting 73-66 decision to advance to the final. Weber State upset host Idaho State in the other semifinal, and NAU cruised to a 74-59 win against the Wildcats to win its first ever Big Sky Tournament title. The excitement after that game was one of the best feelings I've had as an SID. We had a viewing party in the Skydome for the NCAA Selection Show, and the next weekend went down to Tucson to play defending national champ Baylor in the first round. We lost that game, but the entire experience was something that I and I'm sure everyone involved will never forget.