Lumberjack Talk

Casino del Sol All-Star Game Recap by Drew Zamora

2012-01-18T17:01:00.000-08:00

By Drew Zamora

This will unfortunately be my final blog and recap from my time spent at the Casino Del Sol All Star Game. The game itself had an NFL type speed and execution behind it. Coming off the field i was very pleased with my performance. I really got a hold of a couple punts, two touchbacks on kickoffs, and 3/3 on PATs. My feelings after the game were a mixture of relief, happiness, and a bit of sadness knowing the week was coming to an end. The bitter sweet emotions came back again, the same emotions I felt after my last NAU game when I had to take off the pads for the last time as Lumberjack. I am optimistic though that this will not be the last football game of my career and I look forward to suiting up again for another team soon, wherever it may be!

I was overwhelmed with text messages, calls, and Facebook posts after the game from so many friends and family. It put a smile on my face and i want to thank everyone who watched and followed me Monday night! Brian agrees with me that we want to start a tradition of having NAU players represented at this game every year!!

I am so glad to have had the opportunity to go through this experience with Brian. Getting to hang out and be on the field with him again really made this week one i will always remember. It seems like just yesterday Brian and I were in our two bedroom apartment in Flagstaff together hanging out, playing FIFA, and sitting in the living room talking about our football plans and both of our goals in trying to make it further. He is a great person who works harder then anyone out there! Who knows maybe somewhere down the road I will get to suit up the pads with him again!

The Casino Del Sol All Star game staff did such a great job putting on the event and I am so happy to have got to know everyone involved. I am back to the grind here in Tempe and even had a workout last night in the weight room! Thanks to everyone who read the blog and followed me this past week. I am taking away from this game a lot of memories, experience, and new friends. Best of luck to my NAU football teammates as they are heading into the off-season. Work hard boys and put everything you've got into this time you have, leave no regrets, and i expect big things from all of you next fall! Thank you Steve Shaff for the support throughout my career at NAU, the great articles you wrote, and everything you have done for Brian and I this past week. I'm officially signing off....ROLL JACKS!!

Brian Riley's Blog: I Had a Blast

2012-01-17T16:20:00.000-08:00

Finally back home from the Casino Del Sol All Star Game. It wasn't too far of a trip for me to get home, just right across town, but since I was living in the hotel of a casino for a week it sure does feel a lot different.

Whenever I'm hungry I keep wanting to go into the kitchen to find a whole buffet of foods ranging from lobster tails, all you can eat sushi, salmon, steak, prime rib, and pretty much anything else you can think of. Unfortunately, none of that is in my kitchen. Honestly it is a good thing because I need to get back to paying attention to my "figure."

As I have stated multiple times in my past blogs the Casino Del Sol All Star Game was an incredible experience. It was especially fun coming from a smaller school and competing with some of the best football players around the country. On Sunday morning during our meetings I learned that I was going to be starting at Tight End for the Stripes team and I was PUMPED!

As most of you all know I love playing football and I was so happy to get the chance to play again and represent the Jacks. I got a considerable amount of head banging done in the game and my body is paying for it now, but it was all worth it like usual. I was happy to be a part of an offense that drove our Stripes down the field for a couple scores.

For those that watched, you know the game was very close and it came down to the last 30 seconds before it was decided. I know it's not something that the upcoming seniors of the NAU Football squad should be focusing on right now, but next year after the National Championship game that we are going to win, you graduating seniors should definitely consider trying to get into an All Star game.

I highly recommend the experience and opportunity to show what you got to NFL and CFL scouts. Lastly, I just want to thank all of the coaches and players that pushed me to be my best, competed with me for the past 4 years, and to all the friends I made on the football team over the years it sure was fun. GO JACKS!

Casino del Sol College All-Star Blog Day 6

2012-01-15T16:29:00.000-08:00

By Drew Zamora

It is day six of the Casino Del Sol All Star game week here in Tucson, Ariz. Today is essentially an off day for players and staff who got to sleep in a little today before short meetings with our separate teams. This blog will highlight some of the community events going on, sponsors and gear we have received, and some personal feelings on the game ahead.

Kids Clinic
Brian's blog touched on his experience at the kids camp from last night, but i thought i would share some from my time on the field with the kids. The specialist group (kickers, punters, and snappers) were in charge of running a kicking and punting station for the kids. I really enjoyed seeing the them attempting to kick field goals and challenging one another to see who could kick the farthest. Highlight of the camp was one little boy who told me that i could, "kick farther then his Dad could!" After drill work we signed about 20-30 autographs before heading over to a feast of a BBQ that the resort prepared for us.

Well Oiled Machine
Yesterday my practice took place inside Kino Stadium where i had a chance to get used to the surface. The field is in excellent shape and should be perfect to plant and kick off of tomorrow night! Snapper James Winchester (Oklahoma) and holder Jarret Lee (LSU) joined me as we got to work on our operation. Several spectators commented on our snap to kick operation telling us that it looked like "a well oiled machine" and that is seemed as if "we had been doing it together for the past 4 years, not just 3 days."

NIKE
I have been getting a lot of questions about what type of gear and gifts we have received since getting here. Nike is the big apparel sponsor for the game and what a great sponsor it is to have! They gave us brand new Nike duffel bags that were loaded with shorts, shirts, All star game polos, and hats among other things! We also received a really nice Nike hooded sweatshirt and will be able to keep our custom nike game day jerseys.

I am truly blessed to have had the support of so many people throughout my life and career in football. My parents Mike, Lori, and younger sister Sierra arrived last night in Tucson for the the game tomorrow. They have been my foundation through highs and lows both on and off the field and have not missed a single college game in my whole career! Calling them expert travelers would be an understatement. It means the world to me to have them here this weekend for yet another game, and i hope there are many more in my future for them to come to.

Thanks for reading the blog! I hope everyone has cleared their schedule for Monday night to watch the Casino Del Sol All Star Game on Fox Sports Arizona. I will be wearing #48 in red for the Stars squad. Best Wishes and go Jacks!

Casino del Sol All-Star Blog: Brian Riley

2012-01-14T21:28:00.000-08:00

TUCSON, Ariz. - This week of practice has been some of the most intense hard hitting football I have ever played.

Everything has been turned up a few notches since the scouts have been here watching our every move but I know I have enjoyed the pressure and I think a lot of the other players here have as well.

Today we finally had a small break from all the contact. Part of me definitely wanted to continue to keep up with the full contact but at the end of the day my body was thankful for the day of review. Practice today was more like a Thursday or a Friday practice up at NAU just making sure personnel groupings and transitions on and off the field were crisp along with making sure everyone on the field knew the playbook inside and out.

Also today we had the opportunity to serve the community of Tucson by participating in a mini-camp for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. Nearly 100 kids of all ages joined us at the Casino Del Sol to work on football drills and get to know us ex-college players and professional hopefuls.

I had a lot of fun cheering on the kids during the 40-yard sprint race. As you can see in the picture it was pretty intense and the kids had a great time!

After the drills the kids asked us for autographs and we had a little BBQ out on the pool deck. The food was amazing and trust me it has been all week!

Lastly the stripes team is definitely ready to play on Monday. All of the practices have been completed and now it's time to get into the game. I'm extremely excited for Monday and I know my team is as well. Everyone should come down to Tucson to enjoy the game, the weather is beautiful, or just check it out on Fox Sports Arizona. It is going to be a lot of fun!

Casino del Sol College All-Star Blog Day 2 by Drew Zamora

2012-01-14T08:05:00.000-08:00

Player Check IN

Hello Lumberjack Nation! I hope everyone is off to a great start in 2012. The week is moving right along here in Tucson AZ at the Casino Del Sol College All Star Game. This blog is a nice way for me to reflect on my opportunity and share about my experiences here at the game with some of the greatest coaches in college football and future pro athletes...Enjoy!

We sure aren't in Kansas anymore Dorothy
Nittany Lions, LSU Tigers, and Baylor Bears..oh my!! haha. It really is a whole other level down here, and the athletes are physical specimen who are very good at what they do. My Stars (East) team head coach Houston Nutt from Ole Miss is a very enthusiastic man from the south. He has made it very clear that these practices and game is essentially a week long interview for the National Football League. I certainly don't feel like a college athlete anymore and am pushing to bring my game to a professional level in front of a large gallery of NFL and CFL scouts.

The Cattle Call
The Cattle Call was on day one where each players height, weight, and measurments were taken in from of a large group of scouts. Your shirt is off and numbers are yelled out for everyone to make note of. After this, each player proceeds to walk through the scouts to a back door exit where scouts may be waiting to get more information from them. My nerves calmed after scouts introduced themselves to me while i completed specific paperwork for the different teams.

Who I've Met
The Casino Del Sol kickoff banquet started off the game week festivities and gave me an opportunity to meet and talk with a variety of people and players throughout the college football world. At my table sat Head Coach of the stripes team Pat Hill from Fresno State, John Fina who is a Tucson legend and former Super Bowl Champion with the Buffalo Bills, and lastly Coach Ron McBride who recently retired from his increbile coaching career at fellow Big Sky rival Weber St. It was great to pick Coach McBride's mind about football and took some time to reflect on some very cold and snowny games in Ogden between the Wildcats and Lumberjacks.

Players here at the game have come from all over. There is not a single bus ride where i haven't sat by someone new and got to know a little about them. Fellow specialists i have met and spent a good deal of time with at practice is kicker Kevin Goessling out of Fresno St, punter Anson Kelton from TCU, and long snapper Cameron Kastl from Arizona State. It is true that there is never a dull moment in any specialist group! A true pleasure to watch and talk to are quarterbacks GJ Kinne out of Tulsa, and Jarrett Lee from LSU. Jarrett will also be my place holder during Monday nights game. Both men are professionals and are unreal at what they do on the field!

At dinner last night Brian and I got to talk to defensive back Deshawn Shead from Portland State University. We talked for over an hour about the Big Sky Conference, games, teams we disliked and wanted to beat most (Montana), and just about fellow players we all knew.

The hype and energy at practice is like one i have never seen before. It is a combination of tension, skill, speed, and players having fun all at once. Today was a great opportunity for me to let loose on some punts and kickoffs in front of scouts who lined the field with stop watches. I found myself in a nice groove and dropped some bombs. I left the practice field with a confidence i have never felt before and am counting down the days and hours till Monday nights game!

-Drew Zamora

Roshelle and Hannah's Dance Blog from Nationals

2012-01-14T07:47:00.000-08:00

Team dinner at House of Blues in Downtown Disney (From L to R): freshman Chesi Previte, junior Aletha James, junior Roshelle Stulz, junior Hannah Degnan and freshman Raven Nacke.

Its the night before semifinals and were just finishing up a long day of practicing at Orlando's ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. We are anxious and excited for the competition tomorrow. We have a long day ahead of us beginning at 530 a.m. We will compete our hip hop dance at 9:30 and jazz later on at 530 p.m. In between we get the opportunity to watch and support our NAU cheer team and also get to scope out our competition from colleges all over the country! Its a really big day for us dancers, finally we get to see if all our hard work has payed off. Time for a good nights sleep! We'll check back in after the competition tomorrow :)!

- Roshelle & Hannah

Casino del Sol All-Star Game by Brian Riley

2012-01-12T21:23:00.000-08:00

The NAU Media Relations office asked me to write about some of my experiences so far at the Casino del Sol All-Star game in Tucson, Ariz.

So far it has been an absolute blast. It has been very organized and everyone is having a lot of fun. Practice is ran at an extremely fast pace and we have been doing a lot of hitting since day one.

Every single player out here understands that these practices are the equivalent to a job interview and therefore they have been very competitive. Today was a full pack day and the stripes and the stars had multiple team periods throughout the hour and a half practice ending with a short scrimmage.


The Casino del Sol game field at the home of the Tucson Padres.

I'm on the stripes team which is all players from teams out west and we are coached my Pat Hill ,who brings a lot of energy to practice. I've met a lot of guys from both teams and it is fun learning about each other’s schools, sharing football stories, and discovering that everyone seems to know at least one person in common in the small world of college football.

Also practices have been filled with scouts from every NFL team and a lot of CFL teams which has been a great opportunity to display our football abilities. The scouts are also inside the locker room facilities, which are stationed at the home of the Tucson Padres at the Kino Sports Park.

Lastly the Casino del Sol Hotel and Casino has been a great place to stay for this week of practice and I recommend everyone to come down here and check it out!

The Casino del Sol College All-Star game is Monday, Jan. 16. The game is televised by Fox Sports Arizona at 6 p.m. Riley and teammate Drew Zamora will each be providing blog updates from the practice and game during their stay in Tucson.

How I rank 'em in the The Sports Network/Fathead.com Preseason FCS Top-25 poll

2011-08-15T18:13:00.000-07:00

I've been a voter in The Sports Network/Fathead.com Preseason FCS Top-25 poll for many years and I take my ballot very seriously as this poll is one of the things considered in determining both at-large bids and seeding in the FCS Playoffs. I feel very good about my 2011 preseason ballot in that I picked 23 of the top 25, 17 of the top 20, 12 of the top 15, nine of the top ten and four of the top five. Here is the actual Preseason Poll.

I'm excited to see the Big Sky Conference getting four teams in the preseason top-25 and as you can see on my ballot, I was one of 90 voters to give the defending national champion Eastern Washington Eagles a #1 pick. Big Sky Conference newcomers (in the 2012 season) Southern Utah came in at #31, Cal Poly at #33 and UC Davis at #43. That should erase any question marks about the quality of those teams coming into the Sky.

NAU coming off a 6-5 season in 2010, comes in at #50 in the preseason poll. The Lumberjacks will get a chance to dazzle the voters (myself included) October 8th in the renovated Skydome when they host the runaway preseason #1 team in the Eagles of Eastern Washington University, which is coming off a 13-2 run to the FCS title last season. The Eagles boast EIGHT players on the Big Sky Preseason All-Conference Team. The Lumberjacks meanwhile, will have a new starting quarterback and placed a Big Sky best four players on the preseason offensive team. Keep an eye on Flagstaff, NAU has six home games for the first time since 2004 and the Jacks host both Montana and Eastern Washington in the new Skydome.

#6 (#5 on my ballot) Montana State (a team NAU soundly defeated in Flagstaff last season), has the Big Sky's Preseason Offensive Player of the Year in quarterback DeNarius McGhee who captured last season's Newcomer of the Year and Co-MVP awards. The Bobcats will be looking to show last year's disappointing end to the season in the first round of the FCS Playoffs was a fluke.

Crashing the FCS Top-25 party this preseason are the Hornets of Sacramento State. The Hornets may have lost five games last season, but they lost four of those five games by a combined eleven points! The Hornets break into the presseason top-25 at #24 (#15 on my ballot) and they're in the preseason Top-25 for the first time since the team moved up to the FCS (I-AA) level. This is a very exciting time to be a part of the Green and Gold and that is also exciting for the Big Sky.

The always dangerous and conference championship contending Montana Grizzlies, had a very unusal place last November/December, on the sidelines of the FCS Playoffs for the first time in 18 years! The Griz 17 year postseason run included two national championships and five national runners-up finishes! Montana has been the absolute gold-standard in not only the Big Sky Conference, but in all of the FCS. It felt very odd not having the Griz in the postseason party last year. Second year Head Coach Robin Pflugrad and his staff are certaintly laser-focused on not only improving upon last year's 7-4 record, but starting another Big Sky Conference football championship streak. The Grizzlies before last season had won outright or shared a record 12 consecutive Big Sky championships! Montana will get a chance to show the voters where they stand in 2011 by the end of only their fourth game as they will have faced #33 Cal Poly, #1 Eastern Washington and #24 Sacramento State in consecutive weeks after opening at FBS Tennessee. I'm certain Griz Nation will have high expectations in 2011.

The start of the college football season is less than three weeks away! The excitement is building rapidly all across the Big Sky Conference. I enjoy sharing my top-25 ballot each season and love the debate it triggers. That's part of what makes college football so special to so many of us.

NAU Lumberjack Football kicks off Sepember 3rd at the University of Arizona Wildcats in Tucson! Pregame coverage begins at 6:05 PM on 105.1 FM, www.bigtalkerradio.com and on your smart phones with your free app for iPhone, Droid and Blackberry.

I present to you my preseason Top-25 ballot. Let the debate begin!

1 Eastern Washington

2 William & Mary

3 Georgia Southern

4 Appalachian State

5 Montana State

6 Delaware

7 Northern Iowa

8 Wofford

9 Jacksonville State

10 Richmond

11 Lehigh

12 New Hampshire

13 North Dakota State

14 McNeese State

15 Sacramento State

16 Chattanooga

17 Montana

18 Liberty

19 Villanova

20 Southern Illinois

21 Massachusetts

22 Jacksonville

23 Indiana State

24 Central Arkansas

25 Stephen F. Austin

Lumberjack Talk: Q&A with Andre Luciano

2011-07-15T13:49:00.000-07:00

What has the success of the USA National team done for the sport of women’s soccer?

First and foremost, the success of the USA National team has created a totally new audience. The quarterfinal win and the way it was won has brought a new appreciation for the sport and new type of fan to the game. It exposes the visibility of the national team and our sport as well.

How does it relate with the run by the 1999 US team to the championship?

I think it is totally different because there is so much more media exposure with the social networking sites, blogs and the amount of internet visibility for the game. The viewership has gone up dramatically. In 1999, it was an up-and-coming sport. The number of women’s sports teams that played Division I, II and III versus now it is a completely different animal.

How does that translate into fans at Lumberjack Stadium?

I think Flagstaff’s community is very in tune to what goes on not only with our program but following the national team. It is great having camp and having kids walking about with the jerseys of national team players and their favorite players. I hope it translates into an overall appreciation for the sport and the women’s game. There was huge spike in number of terms of people going to games after 1999 win and WUSA was developed. I am hoping this World Cup run and hopefully a win will add to more exposure for the WPS.

You coached USA goalkeeper Hope Solo in Washington. Tell us about that experience.

I was able to work with Hope on the Washington Olympic Development Program (ODP) East team back in 1995 and 1996. Hope was a brilliant goalkeeper but people forget she was an All-American forward. She is a very, very talented individual and extremely athletic player. Right now she is the face and the poster girl for US soccer. I am not sure if I had anything to do with her success but it has been fun watching her grow up, her career at Washington and watch her develop as a professional. She has come through her struggles and been extremely successful.

What is your prediction for the winner on Sunday?

My prediction is I think the game will be won in the midfield and who takes control of the game will win. I want to the US to win but Japan is a very good opponent who is playing with a huge cause behind them after the earthquakes and the tsunami. They are playing with a lot of national pride and are probably the hottest team in the tournament. Whoever wins the midfield will win the game.

The Northern Arizona women's soccer team and Taverna Greek Grill will host a viewing party for the Women's World Cup Championship game between the United States and Japan on Sunday. Fans can join the NAU women's soccer coaches and players as well as other members of the Northern Arizona athletic department in watching the Americans play for their third Women's World Cup title. Doors will open at 11 a.m. with kickoff slated for just after 11:30.

NAU Stands Tall with Andreassen and Department's Academic Achievements

2011-06-24T09:22:00.000-07:00

By Steve Shaff, Assistant AD/Media Relations

NAU soccer standout Kristi Andreassen.

As a member of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America committee, I got my ballot for the Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year yesterday. For the second straight year a Lumberjack student-athlete was on the ballot and I was very proud.

I have served on the Academic All America committee since 1994 and been the SID at NAU since 2000. CoSIDA began this program in the 1950's, and since then, has honored thousands of deserving student-athletes from numerous sports and across all divisions with these elite Capital One Academic All-America® scholar-athlete honors.

I joined the committee to honor my former boss at Florida, John Humenik, who was one of the early supporters of the program, and push our top student-athletes each year for the status of Academic All-American.

Currently, CoSIDA honors Academic All-Americans in 12 sports. Soccer’s Kristi Andreassen, who is from Tempe, Ariz., earned the distinction as the Academic All-American of the Year for women’s soccer this fall. She followed in the footsteps of track standout David McNeill, who earned the honor in his sport in 2010. It is a great honor to be an Academic All-American but to be named the “Best of the Best” in her sport is special territory.

She is well deserved and has continued to pile on the list of awards during her senior season. She is a 2011 NCAA Postgraduate recipient and NAU’s NCAA Women of the Year nominee after earning Athlete of the Year and Golden Eagle Scholar-Athlete of the Year accolades on campus.

To fully appreciate the magnitude of the accomplishment takes another look at the ballot.

She is on the ballot against the best in each sport in college sports. She has some great company including household names like Butler’s Matt Howard, who led his team to back-to-back Final Four’s, Alabama’s Greg McElroy and Connecticut’s Maya Moore, one of the top collegiate basketball players of all time. There are also student-athletes from Stanford, Brigham Young and Oregon. Eight of the 12 are from BCS schools.

As Andreassen proudly puts Northern Arizona on the ballot, she represents a department that has academics at the forefront of its mission. The Lumberjacks recorded a cumulative grade point average of 3.05 GPA among its more than 300 student-athletes at the completion of the spring semester. The positive grade report comes after a semester that produced a school-record fifty-five student-athletes participating in spring commencement ceremonies. NAU also recently had all 15 sponsored sports are exceeding NCAA academic standards in the Academic Progress Report.

NAU is doing it right. In today’s collegiate world, it is rare.

MY VOTE
1.Matt Howard, Butler
2.Kristi Andreassen, Northern Arizona
3. Maya Moore, Connecticut

Reigning University Division Academic All-Americans of the Year

Matt Howard, Butler (Men's Basketball)

Kristi Andreassen, Northern Arizona (Women's Soccer)

Ashley Brignac, Louisiana (Softball)

Alex Klineman, Stanford (Volleyball)

Matt Rice, Western Kentucky (Baseball)

Miles Batty, Brigham Young (Men's Track/Cross Country)

Maya Moore, Connecticut (Women's Basketball)

Kofi Sarkodie, Akron (Men's Soccer)

Kayla Hoffman, Alabama (Women's At-Large)

Nick Amuchastegui, Stanford (Men's At-Large)

Greg McElroy, Alabama (Football)

Jordan Hasay, Oregon (Women's Track/Cross Country)

NFL Lockout Reaches NAU and Flagstaff

2011-06-09T14:32:00.000-07:00

Arizona Cardinals Training Camp in Flagstaff could be
in jeopardy if the NFL lockout persists.

By Steve Shaff, NAU Media Relations

When the NFL lockout first happened, the possibility of the season being affected was not on my radar. Sure, there was a chance but I thought the owners and players would come to an agreement before anything seriously was affected. I was wrong.

The season is going to be in jeopardy unless the two sides start compromising. While the players and owners will be losing millions daily, I will be the one getting checks from the Cardinals for the missed games in my $750 season ticket package.

The lockout extends to the City of Flagstaff in ways other than my personal seats.

As I watched the Northern Arizona football program conduct a high school skills camp today at the practice fields, I realized that the popular Cardinal training camp on campus might not happen if the lockout persists.

The three weeks of practices and national attention to the NAU campus are priceless. It is a special place – the practice fields. Sports Illustrated has listed it among the top five training camps in the league and the magazine has featured the camp in its Leading Off section twice recently for the beauty of the site.

I would miss the opportunity to watch the state’s team up-close at training camp in Flagstaff outside my office door (I work in the Walkup Skydome). Training Camp is one of the city’s top attractions in the summer and I believe the team will likely stay down in Tempe if the lockout is not resolved with more delays for a deal.

It will be a big loss for Flagstaff. Having the Cardinals in my backyard is fun. The opportunity to see Derek Anderson at my favorite Mexican restaurant or pass Larry Fitzgerald on the floor of the Dome will not happen this season.

But the lockout has had another unexpected victim – the hundreds of college football players who have been denied or at least postponed the chance to pursue their dreams as an NFL free agent.

Lumberjack quarterback Michael Herrick, safety Matt Estrada and wide receiver Daiveun Curry-Chapman worked out for the scouts in April hoping to make an impression. After not being drafted, the next chance lied in free agency. But all NFL signings has been on hold, so they are left to workout and wait.

NAU has had seven players sign with NFL teams as free agents since 2000. Former linebacker Keith O’Neil (left) parlayed that opportunity into a nice little career and a Super Bowl ring. K.J. Gerard was with the Bears last year during the playoffs and awaits a chance to make the team this year.

Selfishly, I want to see NFL football but these players are denied much more. Sure they still might get a chance but it will be a rushed experience that will limit their true opportunities after the lockout.

My message – end the lockout soon. I want to see the NFL this season and give a few players a chance to live their dreams.

Pollgate: I’d Do it Again!

2011-04-11T15:33:00.000-07:00

By Mike Adras, Northern Arizona Men’s Basketball Coach


NAU Head Coach Mike Adras talks to ESPN.

On Tuesday, April 5, Northern Arizona Head Coach Mike Adras voted Ohio State the top team in the final USA Today/Coaches Poll, giving the Buckeyes the lone vote not cast for national champion Connecticut. The vote brought national attention to Adras and his basketball program and University. Adras was featured on ESPN SportsCenter, The Doug Gottlieb Show, ESPN's First Take, Mike and Mike in the Morning, The Steve Phillips Show (Sirius XM), The Robert Wuhl Show, and radio stations in Baltimore, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Columbus and Connecticut.

I would do it again! I felt like I voted with a good conscience and did what I felt was right. I still feel that way regardless of what others feel.

There have been people of both sides of the fence both positive and negative. I certainly agree with their view points, some of them made great points. Some of them are very juvenile with their comments and you disregard those. I look at it like I did what I thought was right.

I did not expect anything. From the moment my sports information director Steve Shaff came into my office, the only thing I thought was, ‘Did I do something that was going to offend USA Today’. I did not want to make them look bad in this whole thing. Whether I did or not, I deal with that all the time. I did not want to embarrass USA Today. After we spoke with them, I thought it was over. My SID thought it would be something else. By that evening it had become crazy and bizarre and wild.

A lot more people learned about Northern Arizona University whether they wanted to or not. I really believe over the course of the next three days and all the various media that we spoke to, including those that felt initially that they did not agree with what I did, by the end of doing interviews with them I think they warmed up to the idea. Maybe they did not fully agree but I think they understood much better where I was coming from than the initial release would have indicated.

I did not need all the emails I received. It was distracting from the job that I have because of the requests and what not. I am disappointed in some of the hatred that was shown for someone expressing their opinion. This is a democracy and everyone is entitled to their opinion. You do not have to agree with everybody. It was the one thing that saddened me that people would write such evil things. They do not know who I am or anything about me. I cannot imagine that one person’s vote ruined so many people’s lives that very day. That is comical to me.

It was great to talk about our basketball program. It was great to talk about our University and I appreciate those that gave me the opportunity.

The consensus question was whether there should be a poll at the end of the tournament. Maybe not? Everybody saw who was crowned the National Champions the night before. I never felt like my vote was going to take away the national championship. I recognize UConn as the national champions.

The one good thing is that I have laughed at my self at this. I never take the negative or the positive too serious to be honest with you. It is over a poll for goodness sake. I still like doing it and have fun doing it. They are fun to have because we get to talk about teams that are doing well and on occasion we get to put in teams that not everyone is looking at because we are so fixated on the super conferences. VCU. Coastal Carolina. BYU. I feel good about the fact that we look at it very seriously. We look at how teams are doing and how they have fared. We truly consider every team in the country before we put a vote in. We have done it the right way.

There are a tremendous number of people who have sent positive messages. They support me in their mind for having the guts to do something like this. I told my players that standing up for your beliefs and your convictions are part of who you become as you become a man. Don’t let people talk you out of something just because it is not the norm. If you believe in something, don’t be afraid to take a stand. People will respect you more for standing up for your beliefs.

Mike Adras’ Final USA Today Coaches Poll…1. Ohio State; 2. Kansas; 3. Connecticut; 4. Butler; 5. Pittsburgh; 6. Duke; 7. Kentucky; 8. Arizona; 9. Florida; 10. North Carolina; 11. Notre Dame; 12. San Diego State; 13. BYU; 14. Purdue; 15. Texas; 16. Syracuse; 17. Wisconsin; 18. Louisville; 19. VCU; 20. Richmond; 21. Florida State; 22. Marquette; 23. Temple; 24. Kansas State; 25. Gonzaga.

March Madness Has Been Awesome, Baby!

2011-04-01T09:35:00.000-07:00

Head Swimming and Diving Coach Andy Johns gives his take on the NCAA Basketball Tournament and upcoming Final Four this weekend. Johns recently completed his 15th season at the helm of the program, leading the program to a third-place finish at the WAC Championships last month.

I love March. My birthday is in March, Spring Break, the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, St Patrick's Day and the NCAA men's basketball tournament. The Big Dance. The Show. March Madness.

I'm a big fan of college basketball. But the tournament is awesome, baby! Upsets and underdogs are what really make it so exciting. We've yet to see a 16 seed beat a No. 1 seed; but I can't wait until it happens. And I think that what makes the first two rounds even more exciting is the sheer volume of games - 40 games over about a 40 hour period. That's a lot of basketball. By the time this past weekend came around, there were only 12 games in the same time period. I'm already feelings the signs of withdrawal with, what, only two games on Saturday and one game on Monday left in the entire college basketball season? Do you realize that less than one week from now, we're going to have to wait until sometime in October for some Midnight Madness somewhere in the Midwest? Are you kidding me?

It seems that this year is no exception to the Madness. Everyone is talking about officiating. I think we have such an advantage over the refs who have to make split-second calls, and most of the time they get it right, where as we sit in our living rooms and TiVo it and super-slow mo it and then we're still not sure what the right call is. But it's interesting that for all the fans and media experts who say "let 'em play, let the players decide the game, oh, that should have been a no-call in that situation", they were all very quick to agree with officials and say "a foul is a foul" and you officiate and play the whole game the same way".

Brad Stevens, the young stud of a coach at Butler, was certainly letting the ref know he disagreed with his call that put the Pitt player at the line with 2.2 seconds to go. And then .8 seconds later he was telling the same ref what a great call he made. (You can guess what former NAU assistant Jamie Dixon thought of each call, too).

Upon further review, it was pretty clear both calls had been correct - and both times the players did decide the outcome of the game while the referees called the games as they should. I think what we all wanted, in that moment, and what I think no one really ever mentioned, was to just be able to watch 5 more minutes of basketball. OT! A little free basketball for everyone. And let it be settled by the players with good officiating, of course!

VCU and Butler have both made it to the Final Four. Wow! Nice April Fool's joke! I got the VCU Rams over the Kentucky Wildcats for the National Championship.

See you on deck,

Coach Andy Johns

2011-02-11T11:12:00.001-08:00

OSLO, Norway – Former NAU women's soccer player and the current women's soccer CoSIDA/ESPN Academic All-American of Year Kristi Andreassen is in Oslo, Norway playing soccer and taking classes at the University of Oslo. Andreassen, who's family hails from Norway, sends us her final blog entry as she experiences the culture of her native land and prepares for the rest of her time abroad.

Picture: Kristi on Karl Johans St in downtown Oslo. The road leads directly to Det Kongelige Slott, which is the Norwegian Royal Palace and serves as the main residence of Norwegian King Harald V (seen at the end of the road in the distance).

Blog - Week 4

In the past week, I have had to make some important decisions. I have decided to play for Øvervoll Hosle, a team in the division below Røa. Even though the team overall is at a lower level than I am used to, I think it will still be a fun experience! I also think that I can possibly help them move up a division this season. That is my next goal! Finding work in Oslo is very difficult for me because I am still not fluent in Norwegian. There are very little jobs available for American students. Luckily, my soccer experience has landed me a job at the local soccer club. Next week, I will hopefully start training some younger soccer teams. This is the perfect job for me because I can learn Norwegian from the kids and I can help them learn English. Also, I love working with children and teaching soccer! School has started to speed up and my brain is full of new information! My Norwegian is coming along, but I still have more practice and learning to do.

Even though I am having a great experience out here, I have realized how much I miss Flagstaff, NAU, my soccer girls, and of course, my family! At the same time, this is such a great opportunity for me and I plan on making the best of it. While I am here, I plan on doing a lot of traveling to different European countries including Paris, France to visit my cousin, Krakow, Poland to visit my other cousin, and Alicante, Spain with the soccer team! I also have planned a 4 week long Eurorail trip through Europe with my sister this summer, while catching some Women’s World Cup games in Germany. There are still a lot of things to look forward to while I am away in Norway! Thanks for reading my blog!

Kristi

Andreassen in Oslo: Blog Entry Two

2011-02-01T12:54:00.000-08:00

OSLO, Norway – Former NAU women's soccer player and the current women's soccer CoSIDA/ESPN Academic All-American of Year Kristi Andreassen is in Oslo, Norway trying out with professional women's soccer club Røa and taking classes at the University of Oslo. Andreassen, who's family hails from Norway, will be sending updates stateside as she experiences the culture of her native land. Here is her second entry:

Picture: Kristi's first outdoor practice with Røa on the frozen fields of Oslo.

Weeks 2-3

The past two weeks have been full with school, soccer, observation at a physical therapy clinic, and spending time with my family. School has picked up pace, and I have been learning a lot! Unfortunately, you cannot learn a language in three weeks and I still have so much more to learn. In the house, we have started to use more Norwegian and I must use the Norwegian word if I know it. Soon, my uncle says that he will no longer speak English to me, Ah!

Soccer practice during the past two weeks has been really tough, and I hit the wall this past week. My legs did not want to work anymore and I was completely exhausted! This typically happens during preseason at NAU as well, and happens to everyone! Last weekend, I had the chance to play the whole game for Røa at center back, my position. We played a team in Division I, which is one level below the top series. We played outside and all had a hard time kicking the ball well due to frozen feet! It was still a lot of fun and we won the game. We were missing a lot of girls because they were at training camp with the Norwegian National Team. Unfortunately, after three weeks of tryouts, I did not make the final cut for the Røa team for the upcoming season. I was disappointed to find this out, but I knew that I took a risk by trying out for the best team in Norway (literally, they are the best in the professional league). On the positive side, the coach truly believes that I have potential and wants me to continue playing so he can keep his eye on me. Also, I am proud that I was able to train with the best players in Norway for three weeks! The coach could have cut me from the team earlier!

This is the next part of my adventure! I need to decide if I want to try out for another top series team, or maybe play on a team in the lower division, or maybe not play soccer and get a job and travel during my semester abroad. I have a couple of coaches that are interested and want me to play for them, but I have to make sure that this is what I want to do. The possibilities are endless and there are so many exciting opportunities for me here!

Last week, I started observing at a physical therapy clinic. I really wanted to do this because I wanted to compare techniques the therapists use here compared to the therapists that I have observed in Arizona. So far, I have noticed that there are many similarities, but also some major differences. I will not bore you with these details!

I have really enjoyed spending time with my family here, since normally I never get to see them! They are all very supportive and just want me to have a good time while I am here. The city of Oslo is very interesting and beautiful. It is a very old city and has many historical buildings. I love historical buildings and learning about the history of my culture. Andre (Luciano), the NAU head soccer coach, came to visit! He started his trip in Bergen to do some recruiting, and then made his way to Oslo. We met up for some coffee and lunch at Aker Brygge, a harbor in Oslo. I really enjoyed his company and catching up! Even though I miss all of my teammates in Flagstaff, I decided that I do not miss spring season and early morning workouts! Andre’s visit was short, but I think he was charmed by the city and will come back again for vacation!

In my next blog, I will talk about the decisions I have made and how I will be spending my time abroad!

Kristi

Former NAU Soccer Star Andreassen Playing Professionally in Norway

2011-01-21T13:36:00.001-08:00

OSLO, Norway – Former NAU women's soccer player and the current women's soccer CoSIDA/ESPN Academic All-American of Year Kristi Andreassen just completed her first week in Oslo, Norway playing with professional women's soccer club Røa. Andreassen, who's family hails from Norway, will be sending updates stateside each week as she experiences the culture of her native land. Here is her first entry:

Picture: Kristi's first indoor practice with Røa in Oslo and the Røa football club logo.

Week 1 (January 13- 20)
After a 10-hour flight to London, a 2-hour layover at the Heathrow-London airport, and a 3-hour flight to Oslo, my dad and I finally made it! We were greeted with big smiles by my uncle. This is the start of a new and exciting experience! As usual, I was starving, but luckily there were Norwegian waffles waiting on the table for me to eat (my favorite!). My dad, uncle, my uncle's wife Hanne and I enjoyed the waffles and good conversation, and then, soon after, we all went to bed. The rest of my first week was super busy! There were many things that needed to be taken care of before my dad left including setting up a bank account, cell phone account, student ID, and public transportation card. We were also busy with soccer- one of my main reasons for moving to Norway.

I was super nervous for the first practice with the Røa football club, a professional women's team which just won the top series championship. It was very interesting. Soccer training here is very similar to soccer training at NAU. Soccer is a universal language! We used a lot of the same drills, but the main difference was speed. The girls on Røa are so skilled and pass the ball around very fast. I felt like I was chasing the whole time and tired pretty quickly. All of their passes are mostly played in one touch and two touches; rarely did anyone hold on to the ball for more than two touches. The passing patterns are more complicated than I have ever done and make you think while moving and playing the ball quickly. One of the hardest things at practice is the language barrier. Most Norwegians speak English but are too shy to use it, so everything at practice was in Norwegian. Luckily, a couple of the girls were kind enough to translate for me!

As the week went on, I improved and started to feel more comfortable with the team and coaches. I experienced playing outside during the cold and dark Norwegian winter and played on ice! Everyone was slipping throughout practice, but it was still very fun. The coach invited me to play for the first match, which was very exciting. I got to watch the team play from the bench and learned how the coach wants us to play. For the second half, I played center midfield with the opposing team because one of their girls got sick and they did not have any substitutes. Even though I did not get to play for my team or in my position, I was very happy to get some playing time and I still got to experience the pace of the game!

I also started school this week at the University of Oslo, where I am taking a course in Norwegian! The class is designed for immigrants who want to learn the language and even though I am not an immigrant (yes, I am a Norwegian citizen), I thought it would probably be a great class for me to take! I am really excited to learn, and hopefully I will be fluent in Norwegian soon. On top of soccer and school, I am looking forward to trying new things, especially new foods. One thing that I have tried is sushi. Yes, I have had sushi back home, but sushi there does not compare to sushi here! Sooooo good!!! I always hated shrimp, but not anymore. The shrimp here is different than back home and definitely better!

I have already experienced so much, and I am looking forward to experiencing more! A new blog will be posted about every week!

Bye for now!
Kristi

Carissa Gwerder: Sunny San Diego

2010-09-22T11:51:00.000-07:00

Day 1, 9/17/10

At the painfully early hour of 6:30 a.m., our entire cross country team was loaded onto the bus to endure the eight hour drive to sunny San Diego for the Aztec Invite. After a few hours of napping and half paying attention to the Disney movie playing, everyone began to liven up and enjoy the ride. A quick stop in Yuma for lunch, along with bracelet making and different games to keep us occupied, made for a pleasant rest of the ride. We arrived at Balboa Park and attempted to loosen up our legs to run the course. It was refreshing to run and be able to take a breath and actually get some oxygen into our lungs. By the time everyone was done running and showing off their Frisbee skills-or lack thereof-we all got back onto the bus to head to our hotel. We went to our rooms, got organized, and then went to dinner as a team to an Italian restaurant, Sardinas. Mountains of food later, and after the ultimate representation of carbo-loading, everyone was satisfied. In all it was a busy day, but the team is prepared to compete to the best of their ability tomorrow. Even though the races are pretty early in the morning, there is no doubt that we will all be ready.

Day 2, 9/18/10

Today began with a light breakfast and a quick trip to the course by 7:15 a.m. The weather was a comfortable temperature and overcast. We all began to warm up and stretch as the nervousness slowly got more intense. Parents and grandparents of the runners came to show their support, and some even brought their famous snacks, which were more than appreciated by everyone on the team. The girls race kicked off at 8:45, and most improved on their times set in the past. The boys team performed to best they could and got great results, a second place finish by just a single point. Although it was a bit of an unfortunate way to acquire a second place trophy, the team couldn’t help but feel proud and be happy for them. Once the medals and trophies were distributed, we all trekked down the sidewalk to board the bus yet again, but this time we were on our way to Mission Beach, and the sun came out just in time. We were all free to soak in the rays and swim in the ocean. Even though the water was pretty cold, it was still amazing to spend time on the beach. After everyone relaxed on the beach and roamed the busy streets for lunch, we got on the bus for a long ride to head back to Flagstaff. Spirits are high and the whole team had a great time in San Diego.

Dunn Deal: Postcards from the Battle on the Border

2010-08-15T14:32:00.000-07:00

Hey guys I'm back to update y'all on why we've been up to for the past couple days. I missed a day so I thought I would do it all in one update. Friday was more of a relaxed laid back kind of day. We didn't have an all day excursion planned this time.  Some of the guys used this day to recover from the traveling so much the previous two days, and others used the day to get out and see what downtown Calgary had to offer during the day.

I did a little of both. Gabe and Lu found a mall pretty close to the hotel while walking around. It was a pretty nice sized mall too! Everyone either woke up or returned to the hotel in time for our one hour film and then began getting ready for our game against Calgary. This would be the team we ultimately suffered our first lost to. They were a very tough team that night and played harder than us, but at the end of the night we left smiling because we knew that we would have another opportunity to show them the real us.

Tonight that was exactly who they got. We came out with fire, intensity, and a chip on out shoulder which propelled us to a 17 point win over the University of Calgary. We were able to come away with the win to redeem ourselves for the performance we had the night prior.

After the game we stopped at this drive thru place for burgers and shakes. The name of it seems to slip my memory but everything was delicious! There were so many shake flavors I couldn't count, and you were able to mix and match with up to 3! I think the sign said up to 4,500 possible combinations. I think I overheard Mitch saying he got a root beer float flavored shake. We'll have to let him tell y'all how that tasted!

Tonight was our last night in Calgary so a few of the guys with the exception if myself, Danny, Gabe, and Gaellan went out to the downtown. We have one more game tomorrow at 10 a.m. then we are coming home back to the states! It's around 2:30 a.m. right now and I have a wake up call at 7 a.m. so I think I'm going to end right here.

I wanted to give a special shootout to the guy who works at the pizza/wing joint around the corner. He always had interesting conversation and made us feel extremely welcome here in Calgary, and I'm speaking on behalf of the entire team!

Well I gotta be up in a few hours and in the words of Cam Jones "that's tuff." So I'm gonna get some shut eye. Goodnight guys. Until the next update.. Stay tuned!

Michael Dunn joined the Northern Arizona men’s basketball program in 2009 after starring at Chandler High School. He was a three-year letter winner that helped his team beat top-seeded Highland in the 5A State Championships, the first No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 in  state history. He saw action in seven games for the Lumberjacks in his  first season.

Mitch Strohman: The Voice in Canada

2010-08-15T13:35:00.000-07:00

Day two of NAU Basketball's trip to Calgary for the Battle of the Border involved a two hour bus ride on Canada Route 1 (the Trans-Canada Highway) to Lake Louise and Banff in the very heart of the Canadian Rockies. OK, I know I'm prone to a bit of hyperbole when it comes to the Lumberjacks, but I can say without hesitation, we visited one of the most spectacular places I have ever seen in my entire life.

I could write 10,000 words about how beautiful it was and not come close to capturing it. It's like walking up to Mather Point at the Grand Canyon for the first time; it takes your breath away. And like the Canyon, you're robbed of precious oxygen every single second your eyes are open. My son Zach perhaps said it best: “Dad, I've never seen anything like this before.”

Bears are a deadly serious issue in the Canadian Rockies. Hiking around Lake Louise you find signs warning you about Grizzlies saying you need to hike in “tight” groups no smaller than four. Experienced hikers carry several bottles of Bear Spray, a powerful anti-bear weapon. We ran into a nice local couple wearing jingle bells on the packs. They explained how the bells let bears know you're approaching so you don't surprise them. I was left wondering if they looked at us nutty Arizonans hiking without bear spray or bear bells, like we Arizonans look at city-folk hiking into the Grand Canyon in the summer wearing flip flops or high heels or not wearing hats or carrying water.

I loved watching several Lumberjack players rent canoes (including non-swimmers Gabe Rogers and Julian Olubuyi) and go for a one hour paddle around Lake Louise. One little weight distribution problem could send the Jacks into a lake that is as cold a bucket of ice water.

On to Banff.

It reminds us of any number of beautiful American mountain villages; nestled in a valley surrounded by spectacular, towering mountains. But in Banff's case those mountains are the Canadian Rockies, slight edge to Banff.

Canadian McDonald's and other fast food restaurants here do not offer you “dollar menus” like they do in the States. Instead they offer you “Snack” menus. I also love the north of the border candy. The Nestle' Aero Bar is a favorite. It's like a Crunch Bar with air pockets instead of the Rice Krispies; in this case, less is more! There are some interesting restaurant combos here in Calgary; we were all interested in the pizza-steak and pizza-fried chicken joints we drove by and yes we ate at one downtown (the one with the pizza-chicken).

Calgary is a very culturally diverse city, while we were here, there was a 100-year celebration of Calgary's Chinatown district. There is a lot of French spoken here and when you canvass the city on foot, you hear many languages spoken beside English.

Tourist alert for those suffering from the fear of heights, do not enter!: The Calgary Tower is amazing part of the city's skyline. At 626 feet, it's not the tallest building in the city, but when you pay the $14 and ride the elevator to the top and step out onto the glass-floor observation deck, it sure feels like it's the tallest thing in the city, if not in all of Alberta.

Dunn Deal: Postcards from the Battle on the Border

2010-08-13T09:27:00.000-07:00

Lumberjack student-athletes in Canada.

Our second day in Canada was a very busy day. It included an early morning with a late night, and a 9 hour excursion throughout the middle of the day. Yesterday everyone was up around 7:45 a.m. to be able to eat the breakfast served in the hotel. Breakfast consisted of a very nice layout of fruit, bacon, sausage, pancakes, breakfast potatoes, and even had a station to make omlets and toast. Needless to say, the breakfast was very good.

After breakfast, we all went back to our room to get ready to travel to Lake Louise in Banff. We loaded the bus and left the hotel at 8:45 a.m. There were many cool things to see during the bus ride. I snapped a picture of the ski jumps used in the 1988 Calgary Olympics. We also stopped at a smaller body of water surrounded by a huge mountain range to take pictures of a preview of Lake Louise.

As we got closer to the lake we were able to see a deer as well as a wolf off to the side of us amongst the trees. We arrived at the lake, and I expected it to be nice, but nice would have been an understatement. This lake was beautiful! The water was a nice blue color and you could see through in some areas. We all stood around and were blown away by how amazing this lake really was.

Then Coach Will (Hensley) decided he wanted to ride a canoe and started a trend. Riding with him was Platt, and Stallon. The guys also filled up two other canoes. In the second one was Austin, Shane, and Julian. With Austin being the outdoorsman that he is it made for a great experience, as well as easier for the other two because he had done something like that before.

The other canoe had Lu, Gabe, and Danny. Now these were the guys that had a tough time! They actually bumped into another canoe before fully taking off from the dock, but they ultimately got the hang of it. The rest of us began walking the trail that wrapped around the lake. The trail was filled with bugs which made it very clear that it was their trail we were traveling on. Other than that, the trail was nice and gave us a better look at the lake and the snow capped mountains! We thought that we could make it to the end if the trail, that is until it started raining. This made us turn around and quickly return to the hotel there on the lake.

We walked around a little more and took some more pictures while waiting for the other guys. It was very interesting and funny to see a lot of the people pointing and whispering about us trying to figure out who we were! After leaving here we made one more stop in Banff before going to Mickey D's to grab something to eat. Despite the rain at the lake and the hail at the second stop, it was still a fun experience and worthwhile. At this point, it is now around 4 o'clock when we are finally headed back to the hotel. We arrived back at the hotel at 5:30, scheduled to leave for the arena at 6:15 p.m.. Our game against Concordia was to begin at 8 p.m.

Ironically, the head coach of Concordia was the father of former NAU basketball player Steve Sir. Game time finally arrived and we came out with a lot of intensity despite traveling all day for the second day in a row. We played hard all the way through and with pretty good execution of offense and defense. We were able to come away with the win 117-66. So if there's a myth of not being able travel the day of the game and perform well, I think we erased that these past two nights. We arrived back at our hotel around 10:15pm. After a quick shower, Gabe, Lu, Julian, Josh, Gaellan, D. Jones, and I all decided to take a walk around downtown and see what was going on. We quickly found out that there wasn't too much to do late on a Thursday night downtown, so we split up and Gaellan, Gabe, Lu, and I ended at the same pizza parlor that I ate at the night before. Once again there were interesting people just hanging out there again. Maybe that's a normal thing? This time I tried the teryaki wings which were really good. The man who works there, whose names seems to slip my memory right now, showed us great hospitality. Well tomorrow I think all of us are going to get some well needed rest before we do anything! We have a big game against the hometown team Calgary and I think everyone wants to be rested and ready for them! I'll check back in with y'all soon! Until my next update.. Stay tuned!

Michael Dunn joined the Northern Arizona men’s basketball program in 2009 after starring at Chandler High School. He was a three-year letter winner that helped his team beat top-seeded Highland in the 5A State Championships, the first No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 in state history. He saw action in seven games for the Lumberjacks in his first season.

Dunn Deal: Postcards from the Battle on the Border

2010-08-12T08:52:00.000-07:00

The ski jumps used during the 1988 Calgary Olympics.

Day 1 in Canada is just about in the books. It was a long day but was fun all the way around. Calgary did not disappoint. We landed in Calgary around 4 o'clock after our flight was delayed from Phoenix. Going through customs in international airports is a whole different experience than I'm sure all of us are used to.

Once we retrieved all of our bags, we loaded the charter bus and got on the road. Our first stop was Harvey's, a fast food restaurant. I can't speak for anyone else, but I ordered the crispy chicken which turned out to be a good choice. This place had a mix of burgers and chicken on their menu with the majority of the guys getting burgers.

The verdict is still out on them and I'll have to let y'all know how they tasted. But I heard from De Angelo (Jones) that they had an interesting taste, different from that of a burger in the states. After leaving there we headed to the University of Calgary to play our first game.

We we're matched up against the University of Lethbridge. We didn't actually get to the arena until about one hour prior to tip off, so once again we were stretched for time. Drew (our trainer) did a really good job of taping everyone's ankles in a timely manner. Once 7 o'clock rolled around it was game time.

Everyone looked really good out on the court. It took us a while to get going, but once we got going there was no looking back. All the guys played hard and we ended up winning the contest 106-72.

After a quick post game talk with coach we were back on the bus with Subway sandwiches and Gatorades that were in the locker room after our game. This time we were headed to our hotel in downtown Calgary. We arrived here, and saw that our hotel was right across from the Calgary Tower which sort of resembles the Seattle Space Needle.

We checked in and got settled before we all decided we wanted to experience downtown Calgary first hand. A few of the guys walked off in one direction and others in the opposite just to make sure we covered a lot of ground. I took to the streets with Danny Redmon and Cam Jones. We walked around with no purpose initially until we became hungry. We bumped into a few interesting people and had some funny encounters along the way. I think Danny ended up making one new friend in particular who decided he wanted to tag along for a little while!

We finally found a small pizza place that was still open and selling pizza by the slice. Cam and I grabbed a slice and we started our return to the hotel. We have a trip planned for tomorrow that we were told is going to be extremely fun. We'll be gone from the hotel from 9 a.m. to about 4 p.m. then play our game at 8 p.m. The first day in Canada was a success and it's only the beginning... Until the next update.. Stay tuned!

Trip Off to Late Start

2010-08-11T11:08:00.000-07:00

As I was lying here on the sky harbor airport floor, I thought that I would update everyone on our status.. Right now as I speak we are all sitting/laying here due to a delayed flight. Our original flight time was 10:17 a.m. and now it was pushed back to 11:55 a.m. This all after a early morning with all of us arriving at the airport around 8 o'clock this morning.

The majority of the team spent the night spread out around the Phoenix area in Scottsdale, Tempe and Chandler. Luis, Shane, and I had people stay over at our homes for the night so we didn't have to travel the day of. We were scheduled to arrive in Calgary around 3 o'clock local time to then proceed to the hotel and begin taping for our game later tonight. By the looks if things now, it seems that we will be heading straight to the arena from the airport with no stop at the hotel because of the lack of time.

We play one game tonight at 7 p.m. Calgary time which is one hour difference from Flagstaff time. Everybody is excited and ready to get to Canada and get the games started. At this point we are all just Relaxing and waiting for our plane to arrive. Right now, Gaellan, Lu (Flores) and Gabe are watching a movie, and just about everyone else is taking a pre-flight nap! I may have to join the guys who are napping!

We just received word that our plane will be pulling into the gate in about ten minutes so we may not be stuck here too long after all. For up to the minute updates between blogs on what we are doing check mine and some of the other guys twitter pages with the hashtag #borderbattle. I'm also going to try to get some pics up for y'all of places we go and just of some of the guys hanging out. Until the next update... Stay tuned.

Follow Mike on Twitter.

Dunn Deal: Postcards from the Battle on the Border

2010-08-07T11:25:00.000-07:00

Hi,

My name is Mike Dunn and I am apart of the men's basketball team here at NAU. This upcoming year will be my second year as a member of the team, and I am really excited and looking forward to the upcoming season. As some of you may know we, the men's basketball team, are traveling to Calgary, Canada to participate in the "Battle at the Border."

This trip consists of a 5-day trip with games each day against Canadian universities. I was presented with the opportunity to keep everyone updated on our preparation and the trip itself.

As of right now we are still in Flag preparing with 2-a-day practices which began July 31st over at Coconino HS. There are a couple new faces, so at this point we are just trying to gel as a team making sure everything runs smoothly for when we arrive in Canada.

Practices have been going really well and the entire team has been working extremely hard. We have a few more practices to squeeze in some things that we will need to know to compete up north. We board the plane to Calgary Wednesday morning at 8 am. I'll be sure to keep y'all updated with daily blogs once we arrive as well as on my Twitter page. It's gonna be a fun and interesting experience for all of us. Until my next update, stay tuned..

Mike

World Cup: It's Finally Here!

2010-06-11T12:47:00.000-07:00

By Andre Luciano, Northern Arizona Soccer Head Coach

Here we go again. The 2010 World Cup has officially kicked off today and the “world’s game” is once again in the spotlight here in the United States.

This time around the drama surrounding this World Cup goes a little deeper. There is a political and social message behind every game in South Africa that makes this tournament different. To imagine that until 1992 FIFA had banned South Africa from competing in international events due to its policy of Apartheid, to where the country is now; hosting the first World Cup in the African continent, it is pretty astounding.

It’s a time for the continent to showcase itself on the world stage, hosting the biggest event in sports. South Africa 2010 will open the window of Africa to the world. Let us not forget what Africa has faced in the last five centuries. It is a continent that has been exploited for its resources, has been devastated internally by despotic rulers, and ignored by the West. in so many ways. Now, Mandiba’s dream, to put South Africa on the world’s spotlight, and showcasing itself with billions of spectators watching has been realized.

Yes the Olympics are a grand event, but the World Cup takes special meaning to the other 97 percent of the world population outside of our borders. It is an event where the hope of a nation can rest on the shoulders of a single player wearing the 10 or 9 jersey.

What the casual American fan does not understand is the way people’s lives are affected by this simple game. For the average fan, that lives in a developing country, where political, economic, and social freedoms are not a given, the game is a way for them to be released from their troubles for 90 minutes. It is their escape. And once every four years, they get that escape, if their country is lucky enough to be one of the 32 nations being represented in the World Cup for a month. What other sport can boast of celebrations across a whole country after a win, and suicides after a loss? It is the World Sport. You can have the Super Bowl and call the winners of the World Series the World Champions (Which doesn’t make sense since the Blue Jays are the only international team in MLB), but you can’t compare the World Cup and what it represents.

There comes a sense of national pride from being successful in the World Cup. Only seven teams have ever won a World Cup and four of those teams have won it multiple times. So it is an elite club of winners and that pride carries a lot of weight behind it.

Take England for example. They invented the game, but have only won it once when they hosted in 1966. However, the English walk around as is they are the greatest football nation in the world. Rubbish I say. When they claim their 5th World Cup, then they will have some validity to their pompousness. As the saying goes “you might have invented the game, but the Brazilians have perfected it”. Can you imagine the Washington Bullets fans walking around like that in the NBA circle? Absolutely not!

Therefore, on Saturday, at 11:30 AM I pray that the USA has the ability to come out and compete against a very good English side. England has one of the top goal scorers in the world in Wayne Rooney, and a very good supporting cast that can get him the ball in front of goal. They play in one of the top leagues in the world, while we barely put together a team that has a starting 11 that plays in major international domestic leagues.

On the other hand we have unproven players that have fight and grit, but the patience and thought process of an eager puppy trying to please their master. We do possess one of the world’s greatest goalkeepers in Tim Howard, but a back line that is as organized as an etch-a-sketch held by a five year old, will surely keep him busy.

England’s arrogance on the pitch might be their downfall however. It is the way that they look at the USA in terms of football, with pure disdain.

In the 1950 World Cup we faced England in Brazil. The mighty Three Lions were heavily favored in that game. It was a lopsided game statistically in favor of England, but this is the cruelest of games, where luck does play an incredible part in the outcome of the game. The U.S. shocked the world winning 1-0.

Can the same magic come about in this year’s World Cup? We have a knack for making amends after dismal World Cup showings such as our 3-2 victory Portugal’s Golden Generation in 2001 after the disaster of 1998 proved and 2006 was an embarrassment for the USA (I nearly lost my lunch after the Czech Republic game), so we have to do something positive this Cup.

For those of you that continue to say that it’s a boring game because no one scores do this: Multiple every goal by seven and add three to every ball that is shot over the crossbar. And whatever you do, do not watch Bend It Like Beckham before the World Cup starts. It will destroy any chance of you ever enjoying the beautiful game.

Andre Luciano enters his 10th year as Northern Arizona University head women’s soccer coach after claiming back-to-back Big Sky Tournament Championships and leading his squad to two consecutive NCAA College Cup appearances. Luciano possesses a wealth of coaching experience from the intercollegiate level to club soccer coupled with a successful collegiate career at Indiana University that resulted in two conference championships and a NCAA Final Four appearance.

Dual Roles for Basketball's Jenna Galloway

2010-05-25T10:46:00.000-07:00

What is an athlete’s take on the media? What is the media’s take on an athlete? The answers help to explain the relationship between reporter and athlete and the public’s perception of each group. One student-athlete at Northern Arizona University provides a unique perspective when describing the connection between reporter and athlete, media and sport.

Jenna Galloway doubles as a starting forward on the NAU women’s basketball team and reporter covering NAU sports for the Lumberjack student newspaper. She recently offered some insight and opinions concerning media and sport.

Jenna as student-athlete…
One interesting observation I have made being a student-athlete who understands the media side of sports, is that things become problematic when you feel some players do not get credit for things they should. From my experience, players that score the most receive the most attention regardless of how those points are accumulated. If someone scores 30 points but they are 8-of-25 from the field that is not really the best night. The points look good sure, but it isn’t an efficient performance that helps the team. Another player who is 5-of-7 with 10 rebounds puts up a solid double-double, but does not get mentioned because the leading scorer had 20 more points. As a player you understand why this is the way it is, but reporters sometimes do not realize a 30-point performance is just that and maybe someone else influenced the outcome of the game more. Sometimes I feel athletes get upset when they don’t get the rightful recognition they deserve. Athletes put a lot of emphasis on the media and whether or not they are getting print, but at the same time as an athlete you do not play the game to be recognized by the paper. You play because you love it and to improve yourself as a person and player. Being an athlete and dealing with the media aspect of sports can be difficult to navigate through when you are trying to do things the right way and reporters do not effectively describe what happened. It can give the public the wrong idea.

There are a lot of things that go on behind the scenes. For instance, if a pass gets deflected or a player causes someone to turn the ball over yet someone else gets the steal, those plays are not reflected in a box score. Knowing the media side of it, I understand why reporters don’t acknowledge those plays but actually they are very important throughout the course of a game. Those types of plays are not in any statistical category. It is very difficult for reporters to measure the hustle side of the game and be able to back up an argument without statistical information. I think basketball is far too reliant of statistics especially when trying to understand the game and how a particular team was able to beat another. Also, in an editorializing type way, statements like “they put in a great effort” recognize certain intangible aspects, but maybe instead of those cliché sports phrases, the media should work harder on underlying storylines such as changes in momentum, game flow, and things like that.

Overall, the media does a pretty good job of covering what needs to be covered; however, at the same time, being a women’s basketball player you feel you do not get as much coverage as a men’s sport. I struggle with that sometimes, but I understand why women’s sports do not receive the attention of men’s sports. The public wants to read what is interesting and sometimes it is not interesting reading about a women’s basketball player as opposed to a men’s basketball player. Women’s sports are not as exciting sometimes as the men’s sports and that contributes to their lack of support which relates to a lack of coverage. I enjoy watching the women at the big conferences like the SEC and Big Ten. These players are very skilled, fast and score a lot of points. I enjoy watching the men because even if they are not the best teams, it is a faster game which makes it that much more exciting. They are more athletic and have different skill sets. There are some women now that are bringing that aspect to the game, but normally the women’s game is much more controlled in the half court. Women have to rely on their fundamentals which makes it a more strategic thinking-type game, but most people are not interested in those aspects. They want to be entertained and that is what the men’s games can provide. As a female athlete, you feel kind of left out, but that is part of the reality of college sports and how the media reports. You just have to deal with it and enjoy your time as a student-athlete regardless of your relationship with the media.

Jenna as reporter…
It is really important to know what you are covering and immerse yourself in that particular sport. The biggest fault of the media is not being prepared, not knowing players, and not really thinking about what questions to ask or the direction to go with your story. It is important to do research beforehand. I knew I did not know volleyball that well so I really tried to pay attention at games and pick up as much as I could. I asked questions of people I knew who had played volleyball and had an understanding of the sport so I would be prepared to ask educated questions when interviewing the players and coach. Being an athlete I have experience with media who are unprepared and it is difficult to open up to those individuals when you are not sure where they are coming from and what angle they might pursue. In order to have that legitimacy as a reporter and develop a rapport or relationship with an athlete during the interview process, it is necessary to be able to articulate what you saw with the proper terminology.

In the fall I really learned how to interview people. I learned how to balance writing for the Lumberjack and writing for class. I learned how to ask the right questions to get the answers and quotes that makes a story complete. Getting that experience with volleyball helped this spring covering golf and the spring football game. It helped me calm down too so I wouldn’t be speaking really fast or not breathing necessarily! I know Coach Choate (volleyball) and Coach Bedortha (golf) pretty well so that has helped as well. Being a reporter can be very rewarding and fulfilling when you do establish those relationships and the question and answer process turns into more of a discussion. Sometimes you can get the best quotes and information through dialogue that takes you past clichés. What really helped me was relying on what I knew as an athlete.

At first I struggled with knowing exactly what the ask Coach Choate, Coach Bedortha and the players because I didn’t want to offend anybody. I know what it feels like to be on a young team that is struggling to find its identity. I didn’t know how to write certain things because I did not want them to think I was negative reporting. I tried to stick to the facts but worked to point out how they may have lost matches based on circumstances out of their control. I tried to find positives saying “They may have lost, but they did this really well.” I think my biggest asset was being able to relate to the players so in that sense even if I didn’t know what to ask, I knew what not to ask. I know what sets coaches and athletes off so I knew what to stay away from. As a member of the media, I had to recognize how different players and coaches can be in terms of their thoughts, feelings, and emotions after certain matches. Reporters really have to be aware of things like that. I think a lot of the problems between media and athletes relates to one group not really understanding the motives of the other. As a reporter, I want to get the facts and write a compelling and honest story, but athletes are worried about how they might be portrayed which is why they are so guarded sometimes.

Once I started getting comfortable covering volleyball and golf, learning the player’s abilities and tendencies, I was able to approach them with more confidence and that really helped. One of the things I struggled with at first during volleyball season was asking questions I had written out beforehand, but I did not listen to their answers as much as I should have. I started to not bring my notebook, and instead watched the match, jotted down a few notes or important things I saw, but relied more on their answers in the interview process to formulate my next questions. I paid more attention to noticing what went on a point-by-point basis, recognizing the flow of the match, and watching the player’s reactions. That would help me decide who I was going to interview and basically where my story was going to go. I think media in general could function and service the public better if they really tried to become students of the game. If a reporter puts in the work to learn what the coaching staff is trying to do in a particular game or match or understand the skill sets of certain players on the team, that preparation beforehand will be reflected in the writing. I think you will see more accurate articles and stories relating to what is actually going on in-game and more interesting quotes from players and coaches who trust you to present fair assessments even if they are critical.

Volleyball's Lexi Sullivan: Surgery and The Recovery Process

2009-12-14T12:24:00.000-08:00

Lexi Sullivan will be writing a blog as she works her way back from an injury she suffered against Idaho State in the fall.

Waking up at six to go to the hospital was not a fun time. My friend Noel Guevara on the soccer team went with my mom and I. I was not that nervous for surgery, I was more nervous for what I would feel when I woke up. It took the nurses four stabs to find my little veins and then came the leg block. What a weird feeling that was! I got a numbing shot in my groin so they would make the feeling in my leg go away for 48 hours, and I am so glad I did it because when I woke up I did not feel my knee or hamstring at all. Instead, I was extremely nauseous from the anesthesia and had to stay there until two.

Sleep was my favorite thing for the next four days thanks to the Oxycodone that I was on for the pain. The third day was the worst though. The pain was terrible. I could not even get up and crutch to the bathroom without wanting to cut my leg off. I had to start bending the day after surgery to start to get my range of motion back, which did not feel too good either. Ice was also a continuous thing to try to get the swelling down. Then came the quad….or I should say the non-existing one. It looked almost as if my muscle had deflated. There was nothing there! I would try to flex during therapy and there would be NO movement. Talk about frustrating when you see what it used to look like on my other leg. I had to get stim treatment to try and get my muscle to wake up again.

It was also getting a lot harder to watch the sport I love. Especially because our last three matches were away so all I could do was watch and hope they could pull out a win against one of the top three teams in the conference. I have never wanted to play so bad in my life.

I am at six weeks now, but it seems like my injury was forever ago. I get new exercises in therapy every week but the wait to get better is not a fun one. All I want to do is run and jump around but I have another three months until I can run and even longer until I can jump. The one thing I have learned since sitting out is how easy the game is. When you are forced to watch your sport for a long period of time you notice things you never understood or saw before. I can completely see why coaches get so frustrated with their players now because unforced errors should hardly ever happen. It is just you, a ball, and six people trying to stop you from winning. Just six, and there will always be a chance to score if you are smart about it.

Injuries are difficult, but playing the game, that’s easy!

Road to Omaha: December 4, 2009..925 days until Olympic Trials

2009-12-04T12:37:00.000-08:00

After getting approval from Steve to continue to write up my blog, here is the workout from yesterday afternoon.

SCM (Short Course Meters)

4x following for warm up

50 free, 25 dolphin kick on my back, 50 free, 25 breaststroke kick (900)

3x the following

2x25 with an inner tube around ankles freestyle

4x25 build

2x25 breaststroke with excellent breakouts. (600)

Main Set

4x (4x100s on 1:45)

#1 – All Free

#2 – 50 Free 50 Breaststroke

#3 – All Free

#4 – 75 Free 25 Breaststroke (1600)

200 nice and easy

4x150s with fins and paddles

50 freestyle breathing every 5 strokes, 50 backstroke, 50 freestyle breathing every 5 strokes.

200 easy for warm down

Total – 4100 meters.

Today, Friday December 4, 2009, is a dry-land day again, same abdominal workout as Wednesday.

Saturday, I will be swimming in the morning before NAU practice. Should be exciting!

See you at the pool!

Dave

Coach Rollins’ Road to Omaha

2009-12-04T08:42:00.001-08:00

Today, December 2, 2009 officially started my comeback into the world of competitive swimming. The ultimate goal is to qualify for the 2012 USA Swimming Olympic trials in Omaha Nebraska. This will be a challenge as I will be not only training for my specialty event the 100 meter breaststroke, but also adding in the 50 meter and 100 meter freestyle. I have given this a lot of thought and been in and out of the water for the past year working on my stroke mechanics and I feel that I am at a place where I can start to commit more of myself to the water. The largest setback has always been my own body. From years of torture and pressure my knees are extremely weak. I had surgery on my left knee last year, and it is feeling great. The right knee is weak and I am consistently going to physical therapy to strengthen it. Unfortunately, I believe that I might have to get surgery on that one as well. We will see.

It has been a struggle making this decision. My wife, Caroline, has always told me she will support me in whatever it is I want to do. My family has also always supported my efforts. The coaches that I have asked to help me train are some of the best in the country. My father-in-law will be sending me workouts from Cincinnati, Ohio and I will be training in the afternoons when not coaching or working to better the Lumberjacks.

The reality started a couple weeks ago when I competed in a Masters swimming meet in Tempe Arizona and swam three lifetime best times. This includes my time as a swimmer at The University of Arizona. I thought to myself that if I can swim that fast with only a minimal workload, I can probably get back to the Trials.

I will be writing blogs daily about workouts and how my progress is going.

Today was my first dry-land workout followed by a light swim. The dry-land workout consisted of the following:

50 crunches, 50 crunches to the right, 50 to the left, 50 med-ball leg raises.

2x the following

20 stretch cord fly pulls, 25 full sit ups with the med-ball under my chin

20 stretch cord triceps extension, 50 side to side med-ball touches

20 stretch cord biceps curls, 1:00 of flutter kick on back

3x the following

5 pull ups, 15 over the edge leg raises

Afterwards got into the pool and swam a nice easy 1,000.

This was a good start. I am looking forward to getting a good swim in tomorrow and probably going around 5,000 meters.

Thank you all for the support!

See you at the pool!

Dave Rollins

It’s Not All About Athletics!!

2009-11-30T10:16:00.000-08:00

by Pam Lowie- Interim Director of Academic Services

Division I athletes at NAU and around the country have recognized that the “student” in every student-athlete is critical to achieving success in and out of the classroom. The NCAA recently announced that the Graduation Success Rate (GSR) is at an all-time high: 79 percent of all Division I student-athletes who enrolled in college in 2002 earned their degree.

The NCAA sees academic success as the future for both intercollegiate athletics and the student-athletes who participate, and poured millions of dollars into ensuring that student-athletes have the resources they need. NAU has benefited from the increased funds for academic support, as our Lumberjack academic support staff has doubled in the past five years.

Some more stats:

• Student-Athletes’ GSR is two percent higher than the general population of college students. This can be attributed to increased eligibility standards required to participate in athletic programs
• Men’s Basketball and Baseball have increased dramatically, with Football’s rates decreasing slightly

How does NAU compare
Here at NAU, academic success of our student-athletes is phenomenal!

• Our current GSR is 70 percent, but we are confident that the rates have been increasing (as seen by our most recent Academic Progress Rates).
• The Federal Graduation Rate for all students at NAU is 53 percent, and in comparison, the graduation rates for all student-athletes at NAU are 60 percent!!
• The NAU athletic department’s cumulative GPA is over 3.00, almost unheard of in Division I FCS schools
• 180 of our student-athletes have at least a 3.00 GPA of higher
• Our 2009 Soccer Big Sky Champions have the highest team GPA with an unbelievable 3.45!!

Recently, junior Kristi Andreassen became the first soccer player in the Lumberjack program history to earn All-American academic honors. Andreassen, a native of Tempe, AZ was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Second Team for earning a 4.0 cumulative GPA in her four semesters as an Exercise Science major. In addition to her academic success, Andreassen has established herself as a force on the field as well being named to the All-Big Sky First Team in 2008 and 2009.

Regarding her most recent accolade, Andreassen stated “I am honored to receive this award because it shows how hard I work not only on the field but also in class. Being a student-athlete is not easy at all. Not only do you have to perform at your best level, you must also succeed in the classroom. It is definitely a lot of pressure to put on one person. My success has come from believing in myself and not letting anything get in the way of what I want!”

As an Academic Advisor, hearing the successes that the Lumberjacks achieve in the classroom is a thrill. Student-athletes have many more responsibilities than the general student body, and our athletes have shown that they pursue their future success with rigor in both arenas. Diana and I have the privilege to work with these student-athletes to help them meet their goals, and share in their success when they are achieved.

Many of you have heard or seen the NCAA public Service campaign tag line “There are over 380,000 student athletes, and most of us go pro in something other than sports.” This is what Diana Ulrey and I, as Academic advisors/coordinators spend our days ensuring and we encourage all student-athletes to come visit us and take an active role in their academic success. Being a Division I student-athlete is short lived, but the life skills developed through success on and off the playing field will last a lifetime.

Yankee Memories

2009-11-05T20:27:00.000-08:00

Andy Williams joined the Northern Arizona athletics staff as the head strength and conditioning coach in July of 2009. Williams came to NAU with 13 years of experience in the profession, most recently spending a year as the assistant strength and conditioning coach at Eastern Michigan University. He spent one year with the World Champion New York Yankees and recalls his experience.

I interned with the Kansas City Chiefs back in 1996. I got to know the Royals strength coach because they would come over and run at our indoor facility. He called me when I worked at Cal State Fullerton to tell me he had recommended me for the director position with the Yankees, the director of major league rehabilitation and the entire minor league system for the club.

Four days later they flew me to Tampa, the headquarters of the franchise, for a 24-hour interview. Two weeks later they offered me the job. I got to work with guys like Joba Chamberlin, who had a pulled hamstring in major league camp that year so I was in charge of his rehab until he made his debut later that year, and Phil Hughes.

It was a lot of fun. There are so many different people you meet that present different situations. For example, if I was working with a kid from the Dominican Republic who did not speak a lick of English, it tested how good of a coach you were because you have to teach through a translator. People have different learning styles. You can’t just tell the kids what to do. You have to show them and you have to physically help them through it. You deal with all kinds of different personalities within a minor league system with more than 300 people in it.

I got to be good friends with a guy who did the personnel stuff. It was interesting to see the system work. When a guy gets bumped out of the major leagues, it is a trickle down effect all the way down to short season A ball. There might be a kid going back to the Dominican Republic just because that guy gets bumped down from the major league roster.

Obviously one of the highlights was working with Roger Clemens, the Rocket. He was a great guy. He was very professional, the difference between a guy that gets paid and a real pro. There were other guys that were not superstars that were really good to work with. It was interesting.

I grew up a Yankees fan so that helped my enjoyment of the position a lot. I grew up hearing stories about the Yankees from my grandfather, who lived in New York. My ancestors had immigrated from Sicily to New York. At the conclusion of my time with the Yankees, I got a championship ring in the mail from one of the minor league teams that had won a championship during my tenure. It was real nice with the NY on it. I took it over to my grandfather’s house and gave it to him. Earlier that year we had lost my grandmother. I told him I got the ring because of them and I wanted him to have it. I was not the most popular grandchild at that time because how was any other grandchild ever going to top a Yankees championship ring? He has it in a safe deposit box now.

It is a good organization. I am fortunate I got to do it. With baseball you can hear a million stories in one inning. It was a great opportunity. In the end, it really was not for me. I am a football guy. I felt if I was not in it 100 percent, I was cheating the game, the organization and myself. But it is cool to see people you have a connection with do well.

NAU Swimming and Diving Senior Class

2009-11-03T10:59:00.000-08:00

One more time around…

Coming out of our first swim meet of the season, the Lumberjacks are Jacked Up to get into more racing. The senior class is heading into their final season, but that does not mean they are backing off, far from it.

Here is a look at the 2009-2010 Senior Class...

Rachael Foe aka Foe-Burger – From the great land of Michigan, Rachael is the defending WAC Champion in the 200 IM as well as school record holder in the 200 IM, 50,100 Free, 100 Fly, 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay, 200 Medley Relay and 400 Medley Relay. This girl can do it all, to say the least. After not even knowing she was swimming the 200 IM at WAC’s last year, the girl stepped up and rocked the meet with the win. Looking to improve her times and qualify for the NCAA’s this season looks to be her best yet.

Kristen Hamilton aka Bruiser – Comes to Flagstaff from Columbus Ohio. After a two year pit stop at the University of Oakland, Kristen is the NAU School record holder in the 100 Back, 400 Medley Relay and the 400 Free Relay. Having struggled a little coming out of high school Kristen was looking for a change and NAU was it. Making a huge impact her first year on campus Bruiser is looking to improve on that this year.

Jessi Jones aka Trip J’s – Jessi has one of those names, you know where all three start with the same letter? Yeah, Trip J’s is the real deal. Jessi is one of the hardest workers and most consistent swimmers on the team. Getting faster every year and looking to crack that top 8 at WAC this year, Trip J’s is more focused than ever to bring a Conference title back to NAU.

Lindsey Miller aka Tuce – Coming from my town of Tucson (hence the name Tuce) Lindsey has made an impact on the NAU relays. Swimming some of her best swims when it matters most, Lindsey is a valuable asset to the sprinting core that makes up the Lumberjacks. Tuce is also an extremely hard worker that is never willing to quit. This attitude is what keeps Lindsey and the team going everyday.

Kimber Morelli aka Kimbo – Kimbo comes to NAU from the Valley of the Sun. A butterfly, IM and distance free specialist. Having the ability to do a little bit of everything has helped place her in the top 8 at the WAC championship meet in multiple events. Looking to improve on those finishes and lead the Jacks to a championship is what drives this lady every day.

Renee Rother aka BOREagon – That is right, she comes to NAU from BOREagon! Renee is a butterfly fanatic and has proven so every year. She has jumped up the rankings for NAU since day one. She currently ranks 3^rd in the 100 Fly behind fellow seniors Foe and Hamilton. Looking to make big leaps this season and crack into the top three of the 200 fly, Rother is determined to make this the best year of her career.

TJ Williams aka Mrs. Gonzalez – TJ has what some may call a one sided love affair with Mr. Tony Gonzalez of the Atlanta Falcons. It all started when he played for the Kansas City Chiefs, where TJ is from and it has only grown. TJ is a breaststroke specialist who had a break out year last year. Having a couple of struggling years when she first got to campus, TJ was able to put it all behind her and swim two best times and finish in the top 10 in both of her events, the 100 and 200 Breaststroke. Never being satisfied, TJ is back and eying the school record in the 200 breaststroke. Her motivation and attitude help the Jacks day in and day out.

With one meet in the books, one this weekend and another a week from now, it is a busy couple of weeks for the Lumberjacks. Everyone is ready to step up and race their brains out.

It is going to be a good year and an even better year to be a Lumberjack!

Jack ‘em Up!

By Dave Rollins, NAU Assistant Coach

Soccer's Senior Sarah Neatherton Reflects on her Final Games

2009-10-27T12:50:00.000-07:00

By Sarah Neatherton

The games this weekend were both a great team effort and nothing short of amazing. Two must win games ignited an extra spark within all of us and everyone played with great intensity. There is something exciting about playing with our backs against the wall. Sure, it may have produced additional anxiety in our coaches, but as a team, we relish opportunities to succeed…and succeeding was our only option.

Our first success came Friday afternoon, a nail-biting game against Montana, one of our most despised rivals in the Big Sky conference. As forwards, it’s our job to score goals. We needed them quick and we needed two. Our coach wouldn’t accept anything less. Jenna Samora, with great intensity as always, put one away to tie up the match. With three minutes remaining in the first overtime, I saw an opening in the top right corner and fired a shot. Prayers raced through my mind faster than the ball was moving and in the back of the net it went. Sure, Andre would probably prefer our goals to be scored earlier, but hey, added angst and excitement is fun for everyone. It was a relentless performance by our defense, executed brilliantly by our midfields, and our offense was lethal when it counted.

Sunday’s game was Senior Day. Five of us, my self included, were recognized before the game for our contributions during the four years of playing soccer at NAU. It was a bittersweet afternoon to say the least. We started out with a class of eight and stood on the field with five. There is a special bond between the five of us, an understanding of dedication and mutual support, even when at times we didn’t think we could make it. But we did, and we all made it through the years together. The underclassman knew the importance of the game, a must win for our season and a must win for the seniors. This was evident in the performance of every single player who stepped on the field that day to give us a 4-2 win over Eastern Washington. Each person on the field that day played fearless soccer and did so with their hearts on their sleeve. And in case I didn’t mention it, I speak on behalf of all the seniors. Thank you- to the juniors, sophomores and freshman for playing with and for your seniors, and for never letting us forget that we can, in fact, win the Big Sky…again.

Even if we aren’t yet, our championship mentality will be carried over to the Northern Colorado game on Friday. Our team has worked too hard, for too long to let something so close slip out of our grasp. Our team was given a second chance, and we’re holding onto it tight. We’re a group of fighters, and the fights far from over. Go Jacks!

Maria Hechanova: Rising Star Begins Career in Yuma

2009-10-20T09:15:00.000-07:00

YUMA, Ariz. -- My name is Maria Hechanova and was a member of the NAU Swimming and Diving team from 2005-2009. I spent 10 weeks this summer in New York interning with NBC Universal's "Today" Show and was immediately hired in September as a producer/reporter for KYMA-TV NBC News 11 in Yuma, AZ. I've had a crazy couple of months, but I credit the skills I learned as Division I student-athlete to help me achieve in the real world. Here is my story.

KPHO-TV CBS 5 News - Phoenix

After making some contacts at my internship at KPHO-TV CBS 5 News in Phoenix, I scheduled a meeting with the KYMA-TV News 11 news director in Yuma and said, "Here's my resume and my demo reel. I graduate in a year and want to work for you. What do I need to do to prepare?" He gave me advice, two books to read, and said stay in touch.

The "Today" Show - New York

I was one of 500 students selected to intern at NBC Universal in New York. They receive about 7,000 applications a semester. Within the internship program, I was one out of six students selected to be a fellow (paid intern). I lived right in the middle of Manhattan and was only a 15 minute walk from 30 Rockefeller. I had the opportunity to help with breaking news coverage of Michael Jackson's death and observe what goes on in the control room. You can read more about my experiences here.

Asian American Journalists Association - Boston

From New York, I flew straight to Boston for the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) Convention. This is the organization that helped me get the internship with NBC Universal's "Today" Show. At the convention, I was one out of 12 students selected to report for AAJA Voices, the convention newsletter. You can read my column about swimming an open water race in the Hudson River and making the transition from student-athlete to journalist here.

KYMA-TV NBC News 11-Yuma

Three days after my plane landed in Phoenix from Boston, I received a call from the KYMA-TV NBC News 11 News director offering me a position. It proves the power of staying in touch! I had two weeks to buy a car, re-pack all my things, find a place to live, move to Yuma, and start work. It was an exciting adventure! Right now I produce the 6:00 pm and 10:00 pm newscasts during the week and report on the weekends. I have a lot of responsibilities from stacking the show (putting stories in order) to tweeting teases (yes, we use social media) to shooting, editing, reporting, and being on air. My primary responsibilities are producing which means I'm behind the scenes selecting stories to air. I got the chance to fill-in anchor one morning and interviewed Nick Lachey live via satellite. It was very exciting! I absolutely love my job! It's fun, challenging, and I'm learning a lot. So far I've done stories on the U.S. Border Patrol, the winter produce season, and more. It's tough at times, but I always think back to those really hard swim practices and say to myself, "If I can survive four years as a Division I athlete, I can survive anything!" During my time on the NAU swimming and diving team, Andy brought in our team psychologist Bert Gershater. He reminded us to breathe, practice gratitude, and think positive - all the skills that have helped me in the real world. Yuma is such a unique market. We cover news from Southern California to Mexico to Arizona. I'm so lucky to have a job and I count my blessings every day. I know there are plenty of college graduates struggling to start their careers in this tough economy. To read my bio and see my stories, visit my station's website at http://www.kyma.com and click on my bio under the "News Team" tab. Outside of work, I have a blog documenting my experiences in Yuma. Click here

I'm a Lumberjack for life! If you have any story ideas, shoot me an email at mhechanova@kyma.com, be my facebook friend or follow me on twitter, username MariaHechanova.

Photo Credit: www.kyma.com

Maria Hechanova Reporting: My first breaking news live shot. A man wanted for questioning suspected to be armed barricaded himself inside a Yuma motel room. Police close streets and ask people to stay inside.

Volleyball's Lexi Sullivan: What Happened to the Injured?

2009-10-18T12:05:00.000-07:00

Every sport always has an injury, and once they are done for the season, many wonder what happened and how long their recovery is. Where did the athlete go? My injury happened in our first conference game of the season against Idaho State. We had lost the first game and were doing well in the second until the worst injury I could ever think of getting happened. I went up for an approach and landed funny. My ankle twisted causing my knee to give out. Pop! Instant pain and I knew I was in a load of trouble. It was dead silent and I just wanted to get out of the eyes of every person looking at me in wonder. I crutched out in throbbing pain to Dr. Hersey (our team doctor). He knew with just on shift of my knee that it was my ACL and that there was probably more. I never thought this injury would ever happen to me. No way could this be happening. Went to the doctor the next day to hear I had completely torn my ACL and partially torn my MCL, meniscus and patellar femoral ligament. I am getting the hamstring graft, which has been proven to be the most effective. The only downside is that means double trouble for recovery. I was not allowed to get surgery until I had full range of motion back and my MCL had to be healed.

Crutches became my best friend for about a week and a half before I could start walking on it again. I did rehab everyday and sometimes twice a day too. Getting my knee to try to bend again was the hardest and most painful part of the process. After about two and a half weeks the swelling had finally gone down and my MCL healed quickly. The only thing left was to get that 120-degree angle in my knee again and I would be cleared for surgery. I usually do my exercises at practice and watch the team play, which got harder and harder as the weeks went on. The worst part of being injured is seeing your team leave for an away game and not be there with them. I watch their games on the Internet, but it is just not the same when I know they can’t hear me cheering them on. Turning this sadness into motivation has been one of my biggest goals for this injury. The sooner I can get surgery done, the sooner I can start recovery and making myself better for next year.

My goal came into effect in that third week because I did not care how bad it hurt; my knee was going to bend at a 120-degree angle at the end of the week. Guess who got their full range of motion back? Dr. Lewicky checked my knee the following Monday and finally gave me the thumbs up for surgery. I am scheduled to go in Wednesday, October 21 and I am more ready than I will ever be. It was nice having a friend go in before me though. Lauren Zallis on the soccer team also tore her ACL and got the same hamstring graft that I am getting. Seeing her get it done makes me feel even more ready because she is back on her crutches and moving around after half a week. I know it will be painful, but it is going to make me so much tougher and stronger once I am back on the court and ready to take conference next season like it is nobody’s business.

My First Trip with Lumberjack Football

2009-10-15T08:42:00.000-07:00

Well let’s see, where do I start. My name is Sam Diaz and I am from a very small town called Clifton, Ariz., located in the Southeastern part of the state. The weather there is usually around 110-113 degrees Fahrenheit during the summer with winters being mildly cold. Prior to our departure early Friday morning to play at Montana State, I was advised to bring warm clothes for the trip. I didn’t think places could get much colder than Flagstaff so I just laughed it off. Little did I know I was in for a huge surprise?

As it got closer to the end of the week, my stomach began to get queasier and I started to get really nervous because I have never flown on a plane. Friday morning came and I found myself in the Athletic Training Room at 5:45 a.m. asking another athletic training student a million questions about flying; I felt like a little kid asking so many questions. Once I got onto the plane, everything hit me and my world began to spin. I felt the breakfast burro from Los Altos turning inside my stomach rapidly. My co-pilot Sam Gordon was doing a great job keeping me informed of what was going on, but she, “somehow,” forgot the most important part. Once we got into the air, the plane turned because it had to change directions instantly so not knowing why it felt like the plane was on its side or upside down got me really scared. All I remember was Head Athletic Trainer Ryan Pinson telling me to breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth as he had a big smile on his face.

Every little bump we experienced he would turn around and look at me like something was going wrong, until about the third time when I realized he was just trying to freak me out even more. Once we got to cruise in altitude everything was all good and had no problems thank goodness.

Once we arrived in Montana and I set foot off the plane, I felt the coldest air my skin has ever felt. The snow was falling, the wind was blowing and I was wishing I hadn’t laughed at them when they said to bundle up because it was going to be cold. We did the coldest walk thru imaginable and then headed to the motel for dinner and treatments. We treated our athletes with various treatments and got them ready for the big game. Saturday morning came and before we knew it and we found ourselves taping ankles in the motel lobby and then in the Montana State visitors showers because the locker room was extremely small, which made for a challenging task. Having to tape and spat (taping over cleats) a whole team in a small shower area in a short period of time was tough but was accomplished nonetheless.

As we arrived to the stadium, their diehard fans were out tailgating in 20 degree weather; barbequing, drinking cold liquids from cans, and my favorite, booing us and flashing us hand signs at 11 o’clock a.m. made me realize that it was going to be an exciting game. Throughout the whole game their fans were constantly riding us since their benches were practically on our sideline, so when our guys sealed the deal at the end of the game, there was complete silence in the thousands of fans present who were going nuts the whole time. That was the most exciting part of the whole trip - making the crowd quiet and flying back home on the charter with a win; beating a ranked team makes everything that much more sweet.

Being in the Northern Arizona University Athletic Training Education Program is a great program to be in; but what makes everything even better is the privilege to travel with a team out of town. We all work together on and off the field in keeping our guys healthy so when they get a win, we get a win too. It’s a great feeling and the program allows me to experience this. Having to be certain places on time or taping someone in one minute in front of big crowds so they can get back out there on the next play can be nerve wrecking, but gives off an adrenal rush which is why I do what I do.

However, if it weren’t for the invention of hand and boot warmers which were in each shoe and each glove of mine in Montana, I don’t know what I would have done. The tape would have probably stuck to my hands like the lids stuck on our water coolers.

Hopefully Portland will be warmer than Montana, even though we will be putting up with rain rather than snow. And if its not, it’s still all worth it. That’s why I come here everyday because I love working with these guys and the feeling of success at this level is priceless. The only thing I’m doing different this game is taking Nyquil before the flight so Ryan doesn’t intimidate me again with facial expressions!

Earthquake World Series Remembered by Golf Coach Brad Bedortha

2009-10-14T14:18:00.000-07:00

The 1989 World Series was played between the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants. The Series ran from October 14 through October 28, with the A's sweeping the Giants in four games. It was the first World Series sweep since 1976, but it is best remembered for the Loma Prieta earthquake, which occurred on October 17 at the beginning of Game 3 and caused a ten-day disruption in play. This Series is also known as the "Earthquake Series," "Bay Bridge Series," and "The Battle of the Bay." NAU Women’s Golf Coach Brad Bedortha was in the stands at Candlestick Park that day and recounts his experience.

I drove down from Oregon to see my brother in San Francisco and spend a few days with him. I remember it was really warm which is obviously unseasonal for that time of the year. It is 90-95 degrees and it is hot.

The day of the game we went into the city because my brother worked half a day. We had lunch and went back to place. We got the game at 2:30 p.m. and played a little catch in the parking lot with a football. I remember someone saying, ‘It is really hot. It is like earthquake weather.’ Supposedly when it is really hot they have earthquakes. We joked about it.

We then went in the stadium and took some pictures of the scoreboards and around the stadium. We went back in the parking lot to put the camera away and came back in about an hour before the game.

We are sitting in the upper deck and close to center field. We are out in the bleachers. My brother had some friends he went to see before the game so I am sitting by myself. There are people around getting ready for the game. I was just sitting there and it sounded like a plane was flying over the stadium. I did not know what was going on.

Candlestick was near the airport. It sounded like a rumble. I am looking around for planes and I don’t see any thing. I am thinking “What is going on?” All of a sudden my seat started moving. This is not normal. I look and see the light poles just shaking. This is an earthquake. I had never been in one so I did not know what to do.

It is going on and on and on. You can just feel like a wave going through the stadium. Everything is moving. It went on for like 30 seconds. It was loud. I do not know where my brother was at and he came back in like three minutes. He was up with his friends under the awning at the top of the stadium. He said particles were falling down.

The power was gone. The scoreboard was flashing on and off. They had no PA system. No one knew what was going on. But there were people around us who had little stereos with earplugs. The guy next to me was saying the Bay Bridge was in the water. Then you could see smoke coming from the downtown area. I don’t remember which neighborhood got hit really hard but it was on fire. So you could see the smoke billowing up.

All the people on the field were milling around with the players. We sat there for 10 or 15 minutes. We did not know what to do. All of a sudden another aftershock came, a pretty good sized aftershock. We decided to get the hell out of there. We decided we will get to the car and turn the radio and see what is going on.

We walked out and people were holding chunks of concrete and doing stuff like that. I saw the next day in the newspaper a photo of where someone was sitting you could see a hole and look straight down.

We turned the radio on and it was immediately, BEEP, BEEP. It was the emergency broadcast system. It is not like this is a test. The Bay Bridge is closed. Don’t go here. It is basically telling people where to go. At that point, I was like this is very serious. You hear the emergency broadcast system all the time and you think it is kind of a joke. It is truly in play and they are telling people where to go, what to do and directing people everywhere.

We started driving out of there and it took us an hour to an hour and half to get out of the stadium. We just took a bunch of back roads back to my brother’s house. It took us quite a while. Where he lived his half of the street had power so we could watch all the tv coverage. We watched it all evening. I made an effort to buy all the newspapers the next morning before I drove to Phoenix.

I have vivid memories of being there. It was a surreal experience. You don’t expect to be sitting at a baseball game and have an earthquake, especially in game three of the World Series.

Thrower Nicole Elliott Represents NAU at Big Sky Meetings

2009-10-14T08:40:00.000-07:00

My name is Nicole Elliott. I am a thrower on the track and field team here at NAU. I am also the co-chair of SAAC. On the weekend of October 4th I was lucky enough to attend the Big Sky Leadership Conference. While I was there I had a wonderful experience. I attended a meeting with other SAAC representatives from our competing schools. We talked about issues among our teams and how well our SAAC groups are getting involved. We shared the plans that ours schools have for community service projects and got many great ideas of things that we do not already do and can bring back to our schools. I am proud to announce that it seems that NAU is definitely ahead of the game in this. Some of the schools have not had their first meetings yet, whereas we have had 2 full group meetings. We also went over around thirty of the new NCAA proposed legislation. Some of this will have an effect on NAU, but some of it will not because it involves sports like baseball which we do not have.

Another meeting I was able to sit in on was of the Joint Athletic Council. In this meeting I got to see all the athletic directors of all of the Big Sky Schools try to work together and figure out some new legislation. There were two big pieces of legislation discussed in this meeting. One was over the indoor track and field championship site rotation. The main thing is that they want to cut NAU completely out of this rotation, meaning NAU will not host any more indoor track and field championships. The other piece of legislation discussed was over men’s and women’s basketball, the issue being travel squads. They want to be able to take as many athletes as they want as long as there is not air travel. There were schools on both sides of these issues and it was interesting to see how the things were dealt with and to get both sides of each story.

It was a great experience. I got to see how the other Big Sky schools handled situations and I also got their point of view on different subjects. It was also really nice to get together with a group of individuals that I have never met before and talk about issues present on our campuses and what could be done about them.

The Concussion Debate: Is it Really Worth it?

2009-10-10T11:48:00.000-07:00

Why is a concussion called a concussion? Why isn’t it called what it really is: a bruised brain. Wouldn’t that be a wake up call for athletes who attempt to rush back to competition despite the very serious risks? The concussion issue has become a contentious topic in recent years with many athletes possibly returning to action prematurely. Florida quarterback Tim Tebow suffered a severe concussion against Kentucky and his desire to return only two weeks after the incident have raised questions about the injury and when an athlete can or should be expected back on the field.

Perhaps the most difficult part for researchers, doctors, and athletic trainers dealing with concussions is the idiosyncrasy of a very perplexing injury. Concussions are judged on a case-by-case basis. They are different for every person and the lasting effects are determined by many factors including the sport in question, severity of the injury, and the athlete’s past history. If players such as Tebow return to the field of play prior to fully recovering from a concussion, they risk irreparable harm to themselves and athletic programs around the country. An athlete who plays while still recovering from a concussion may have to deal with second impact syndrome, a condition in which an athlete is hit again in the head causing the brain to swell rapidly and can result in death. The scariest part of second impact syndrome is the second hit may only be a graze of the head or maybe not a hit to the head at all but a whiplash effect if an athlete is struck with enough force. Second impact syndrome is only one of a number of disastrous outcomes facing an athlete after a concussion.

At Northern Arizona all athletes undergo baseline tests which show an individual’s normal brain activity. When an athlete suffers a possible head injury, concussion tests are administered then compared and contrasted to the baseline test. Athletes are only cleared when they are symptom free and after their test scores return to the baseline numbers.

Tebow’s situation is an appropriate example when discussing concussions because of his stature in collegiate sports. He is the face of college football and maybe the most recognizable student-athlete over the last several years. If he chooses to remain on the sidelines on Saturday against No. 4 LSU it would cause many to take notice and go a long way in educating other college athletes or really athletes in any sport at any level of the seriousness of this type of injury.

Athletes need to be aware of the severity of head injuries and should take the time to learn about concussions and what they do to people in the short term and long term. After talking with the athletic training staff at NAU, it seems clear if a situation like Tebow's happened here many precautionary steps would be taken before a student-athlete could return to competition. But ultimately, it is up to the student-athlete to decide what is more important: a game or their quality of life long after athletic participation has passed one by.

Flagstaff High School Swimming

2009-10-08T15:13:00.000-07:00

Getting away from NAU swimming for a second, the only high school in Flagstaff with a swimming team is in trouble. Flagstaff High School has produced numerous individual state champions and even taken the 4A-II Men’s team title! This is a program that is rich with tradition.

Today I am sitting here writing this blog with the knowledge that their pool facility is once again having problems. This is an older facility; it is 25 yards long with 6 lanes. The ventilation system is shaky at best. The deck is cracked, the pool walls are cracked and the blocks look like they were built with tinker toys. When you walk into the building you just smell old pool.

Over the years the team has survived by the city and the school district taking care of the pool. Well the city has pulled out and the school district was faced with a decision to make. Do they keep their winning program, or cut it to save money. Well, they made the right choice this year. They have kept the program, but the pool has continued to see problems.

Today is their last home meet of the season. At 3pm the Eagles will be swimming and diving their way into the regional and state meets, unsure of where the meet will be held. That’s right; their last home meet might not even be in their own pool. At this time (12:45pm) NAU has been contacted to take over and host the final “home meet” for the Flag High Eagles. We are waiting to see if their pool will be fixed or if we will be hosting the meet.

NAU is more then equipped to handle the teams and run the meet, but what does it say about the City of Flagstaff that they cannot keep their only High School Swimming team’s pool working? I know that they pulled out, and I am sure they have their reasons, but swimming is an important part of this community. The high school not only plays host to the Eagles team, but also the local swimming program, Flagstaff Snow Sharks. This team has been around for over 30 years, their home has been the high school pool. It is hard for me to write about this, because I am the head coach for the other team in town, Flagstaff Peaks Aquatic Club, and we train out of NAU.

The Snow Sharks are hurting. Their pool is a mess, and we (Flagstaff Peaks) have absorbed a lot of their unhappy swimmers. This is great for us, but not great for the city and swimming.

I am just a messenger that loves the sport. I have been around swimming since the day I was born. And for the past 25 years it has only given me joy and happiness, plus a few records and championships along the way as well. Please help ensure that another generation can have the same joy that we have.

Thank you,

Dave Rollins

Assistant Swimming Coach Northern Arizona University

Head Coach Flagstaff Peaks Aquatic Club

NAU Swimming and Diving Junior Class

2009-10-07T20:46:00.000-07:00

I feel like a part of this class. Entering my third year as Assistant Coach, it is only natural that the junior class and I have shared some of the same experiences. Missing practice cause an alarm did not go off, getting lost on campus and of course who could forget rooming with Andy at my first away trip and not setting the alarm so we BOTH get up late. Not the best first impression I’d say.

We have come a long way since those days, and now without further ado here are your 2009-2010 NAU Swimming and Diving juniors.

Lana Christensen aka Analytical – This girl come from a sleepy cow town known as Casper, Wyoming. A place where her mom made (and still does make) her swim suits. A place where being cool means you own a horse. Lana came in literally fresh off the farm. With the growth she has experienced over the past two years from non-scorer to an All-WAC finisher. This year poses to be the best yet for Lana on all three boards.

Megan Collier aka Little Mc – Another one of our far travelers from down in the valley, Megan came to NAU with one thing on her mind…no not boys, ok well maybe two things on her mind then, the other being winning. With the height that would scare the most elite divers (a massive 5’1”) she can tuck into such a small ball that when she spins you can barely see her. Add to that her ability to jump through the roof; this girl is going to dominate the boards this year.

Meredith Egloria aka Aloha – Mer is one half of our Jun-more class. She is more then a junior but not quite a senior. Coming to the mountains from the island of Hawaii, Mer is a backstroke and sprint free specialist. Her kick and underwater work can challenge the best in the country and her ability to come back from asthma attack after asthma attack only proves her willingness to improve. A school record holder in the 200 Free Relay and a top 8 finisher at the WAC Championships, Mer is looking to make her mark individually as well as help the relays.

Claire Ferro aka Claire Ferro – The other half of our Jun-more class, Claire came to NAU from Goodyear, Ariz. If you do not know where Goodyear is, it is a fancy term for west Phoenix. Claire is one of the most versatile freestyle swimmers on the team. Placing 9^th in both the 50 free as well as the 500 free last year. Claire was also a member of our school record setting 400 Free Relay and 800 Free Relay. Not to be outdone with her ability to succeed on her stomach, she can turn it over and swim a stellar 200 backstroke when called upon as well, placing in the top 8 at the 2008 WAC Championships in the 200 back. Claire comes into this third year with a passion to beat anyone who stands up next to her, do not let her bubbly attitude and smile fool you. This is a cold hearted racer that refuses to lose.

Taryn Harris aka Bubble Wrap – A special nickname for a special girl. Taryn sometimes gets hurt. Ok, sometimes is a nice way of saying it. If we could get her to live in a bubble and only come out to dive we could. However, her ability to compete when not at 100% and her results only show that when she is healthy this girl is going to rip. Taryn almost qualified for the NCAA Championships last year with 1 foot. That’s right, her other foot required surgery, but Taryn put it off until after the Zone meet. She was jumping as high as anyone else with half the tools. This year promises to be a great year for her as she is getting back into the water at full strength. Also, I am building that bubble.

Ashley Kurtz aka Kurtz – Ashley is a sprint free and backstroke specialist out of Phoenix, Ariz. Kurtz can usually be found talking during sets and before as well as after practice. To put it simply, she likes to talk. However, even though she is a talker, this girl’s work ethic is not equaled by many. She keeps a positive attitude while working hard and improving every year. That is the kind of person that makes others around them better. This year she is on the same path. I would only expect best times for Kurtz at the end of the season.

Vivian Landeck aka Lil’ Viv – The soft-spoken debutant from Sugarland, Texas. Vivian is a distance machine. Even though coming into her freshman year I do not think she ever swam a mile in her life, she embraced it and not only dramatically improved, but it helped her 200 free come within a few hundredths of a second of a school record. Not too shabby if you ask me. A member of the schools 800 Free Relay school record team she had the teams fastest split at a 1:49.8. This year she is looking to translate that relay swim into an individual school record and maybe even a WAC Championship.

Kate Schafer aka Kate – Not knowing a nickname is not the end of the world. This girl came into her second year with a chip on her shoulder. Having been a non-scorer her freshman year, she was on a mission from day one. And that mission paid off and then some. Swimming as a member of the school record 800 Free Relay, then placing in the top 8 of the 500 Free it was only a matter of time before she had that massive break through swim. On the last night of finals, she did. In the mile Kate took it out fast and refused to back down. Finishing with a 3^rd place and one of the top times in NAU School history, Kate had had her breakthrough. This year will be no different. In fact, it will be better.

Monica Veit aka Veet – Monica and I got off to a rough start. She hated swimming 200 breaststrokes in practice (in fact she had never swam one in her life!) and I made her do them anyway. Needless to say, she kind of hated me. At the end of her freshman year it paid off with massive time drops in her 100 and 200 breaststrokes. Last year was a little easier for her. She knew what was coming and knew that it worked. Along came the same result; more fast swims. It is a system that works. Once again this season she will be more accepting of her inevitable fate, and once again we will see some great swims from this lady.

Dave Rollins, Assistant Swimming Coach Northern Arizona University

My Big Greek Trip By Mike Adras

2009-10-06T16:48:00.000-07:00

Northern Arizona men’s basketball coach Mike Adras participated in the first International Basketball Coaches Clinic hosted by ACS (American Community Schools) Athens in Halandri Athens, Greece Oct. 2-3. Adras joined former NAU women’s assistant and current UC-Riverside Head Coach John Margaritis and Cheryl Burnett (former Head coach of Southwest Missouri State and Michigan) as the guest speakers at the International Basketball Coaches Clinic at ACS Athens. Guest speakers representing

Greece

, included Kostas Missas, the head coach of the Greek National Women’s team and the National Junior Men’s team.

We arrived Wednesday morning after leaving Phoenix at 7 a.m. Tuesday. It took us over a day to get there. We decided that we were going to try to stay with the time zone we were in. We went at it the first day even though we were exhausted.

We immediately went to the Olympic Stadium from the first modern Olympic Games. Then we went over to Parliament. They have similar to in London the changing of the guard where they stay motionless. It was cool. From there, we went to the old downtown area called the Plaka. We had our first Greek meal and sat at an outdoor café and watched the people go by. People were trying to sell us stuff and I almost bought a copy of the movie “The Hangover”. It was huge plaza of fun and people.

From there we walked from the Acropolis to the Parthenon. There is a hill right outside there where St. Paul converted the Greeks. It helped having Coach John Margaritis there. He was born there and was the one explaining everything. He was very good on the Greek history.

We spent an hour walking around the Parthenon and the museum built right next to it. As soon as we sat down at the video, the time change caught up to me and I dozed off and missed most of the video. I just wanted to go back to the hotel but we went to this fabulous outdoor restaurant. We did more that first day than I ever would have imagined.

The next day John decided we needed to swim in the Mediterranean. We took a cab ride 45 minutes away and there I am swimming in the Mediterranean. My assistants arranged to meet some basketball people as contacts for future recruits. I spent the afternoon with them. We then went to dinner at a neighborhood restaurant. A tourist would never find his way to this restaurant. I ate things I never even knew what I was eating half the time. There were a lot of olives, a lot of feta cheese and tomatoes. The cuisine was amazing.

Friday was the first day of the clinic. I did my first clinic at 2 p.m. and second at 6 p.m. John did his clinic in Greek so I was not going to understand his clinic so I went with a couple of people and saw a professional basketball game in the Olympic Arena with two teams playing for the right to go to the Euro Championship. I saw one of Jamie Dixon’s players Lavon Kendall was playing that night. His team won. It was very encouraging for me regarding our guys to look at potential opportunities to play over there. We ended the night at women’s professional basketball game.

Saturday was another clinic day. I went out with one of the coaches to dinner. When I came back to the hotel, I was headed to my room when I heard a lot of music coming from behind the elevator. I found two Greek wedding receptions going on. I went into both and took photos of them doing that Greek circle dance. It was fun to watch. I think it was indicative of the culture. I felt so welcome. They were so willing to share their culture.

The only thing I had a hard time with was the cabs and the cab drivers. They seemed to have the right of way. Pedestrians have no right of way in Greece. You better get out of the way. The roads are narrow and it just seems to be a go-cart race on every street. I only saw one accident the entire time I was there. But I felt like we were going to get into an accident every time. My back needs some physical therapy from the start-stop jolt of the various taxi cab drivers.

After that I tried to gather myself for the journey home. It took me about 27 hours to get back. I left at 8 p.m. Flagstaff time Sunday night which was 6 a.m. Athens time the next morning. We went to Paris and then took a 12-hour flight to Salt Lake City. I highly recommend business or first class. I was sitting with my knees in my throat.

The trip was well worth the experience. The clinics were fabulous. They put a lot of thought into the clinic. I think they were very happy with the turnout with coaches from all over Greece. Watching the Greek coaches putting on the clinics it helped me understand the European game more. It was good to hear different ways of doing things. It was a great way to exchange ideas, concepts and philosophies.

It was a little over a 100 years since my grandfather immigrated to the United States. It meant a lot to me that I was able to bring the “family” back to Greece. It was a fabulous experience.

Second time is a charm! -- Sophomore Swimmers and Divers

2009-09-30T12:07:00.000-07:00

After a successful freshman campaign the sophomore class is back and ready to build on the accomplishments they achieved last season.

Cassie Anderson aka Miss Anderson – Cassie comes to NAU from Portland BORE-agon. She is a diving specialist that made a big “little” splash on the WAC last year. Cassie was one of the non-scorers at the WAC Championships, but her efforts would have pulled in 3 top 16 finishes. Returning for a second season and looking to make a bigger impact, Cassie will dominate the boards every chance she gets.

Chalene Dirks-Ryan aka CD-R – The teams only All-Canadian comes back to NAU with a fire burning inside of her. Placing 6th in the 200 back at last years WAC Championships, Chalene is looking forward to training with our outstanding backstroke group. With the ability to swim mid-distance freestyle as well as backstroke, this young lady is a multiple threat in a plethora of events.

Holly Frost aka Frosty – Frosty comes to Flagstaff from Mercer Island, WA. A diving wiz-kid, Holly, is coming back after two top-9 finishes from last year’s WAC Championships. With an outstanding diving group to train with, Holly will only improve on those two finishes, and possibly push for three top 8’s.

Kristin Jones aka KJ – Alaska born and breed this girl is the personification of the term work horse. Coming into her freshman campaign she had only swum the 1650 (aka the MILE!) a hand full of times. At the WAC Championships KJ pushed for a top 8 finish throughout the race falling just short into 10th at the end. Also, an All-WAC Swimmer in the 500 Free and 400 IM, KJ is coming back and looking to dominate every chance she gets.

Krista Maier aka The Flyin’ Hawaiian – The Flyin’ Hawaiian, Krista sat out most of last year with a couple injuries. Having the summer to heal up and get her groove back, Maier is ready for action this season.

By Dave Rollins, NAU Assistant Coach

Swimming Hits the Water Friday

2009-09-24T09:21:00.000-07:00

Enough suit talk, lets get down to business!

NAU Swimming and Diving has been at it for the past month getting back into shape for the long road that is the Swimming and Diving season. What starts in the end of August does not end until spring break, at least for the collegiate season. With a crop of savvy returners and five, soon to be six, new faces this promises to be a great season for the Lumberjacks!

Coming off of our second straight runner up finish in the Western Athletic Conference, we are hungrier then ever to bring back a conference championship to the Wall Aquatic Center and NAU. It has been eleven years since our last conference title, and that was when we were members of the Pacific Coach Swimming Conference (a conference made up for schools who’s conferences don’t support swimming). The loss of a great senior class is going to be where we start this year. Our new freshmen are chomping at the bit to get into action and show what they can do.

For the next couple of days I will introduce you to each class and what they bring to the pool!

Here is how they break down:

Fi Connell aka Aqua Diva– Fi is a backstroke specialist out of Port Marquis Australia. With her dynamic power off the walls and her drive to never give up, this girl has what it takes to not only win individual titles at the WAC meet, but also make a mark on the national scene.

Jacky Branning aka JB – JB is a local girl who comes to us from all the way down in the Valley. She is a breaststroke and individual medley fanatic and even dabbles in the butterfly. With best times that scare our current school records, JB has what it takes to make an immediate impact on the WAC from day one.

Danielle Palbykin aka Little Red – I just made that nickname up for her, so she will have to get used to it. Being Big Red myself, it was only a matter of time that we got another ginger on the team. Danielle comes to Flagstaff from down in the Valley also. Danielle is a teammate of JB’s and loves anything and everything about distance; at least that what we have told her. She has a passion for swimming miles and will add needed depth to our outstanding distance program.

Kelsey Loy aka Kelsey Loy – Kelsey comes to us from the beaches of San Diego where sun and surf are her specialties. Translating the fun in the sun to fast swimming in Flagstaff will be our goal this year. Specializing in sprint free and backstroke Kelsey will be a great addition to our sprinting program.

Kristy Ardavanis aka Krispy – A diving phenom also form the Valley, Krispy will be looking to make an immediate impact on the already stellar Diving program here at NAU. Specializing on being bouncy on the boards and entering the water with no splash, this diver will make heads turn when she posts her scores.

Last but not least,

Carissa Poeschel aka CP – From Portland, OR, Carissa will be joining the program in the spring semester of 2010. A butterfly guru with times that make me look slow, Carissa will be a valuable addition to an already outstanding butterfly group.

There are your 2009-10 freshman swimmers and divers. Look for four great years out of this group and I am sure they will impress.

Diego to Diego

2009-09-21T16:14:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, my name is Diego Estrada, and I am part of the NAU cross country team. This weekend we headed down to southern California for our “official” season opener, I was asked to write about my experience and I was excited to do so. So I’ll start with the bus drive to San Diego….

My alarm went off around 6 a.m., and for a second I thought about skipping the trip to sleep in, but my competitive self, and the thought of an unhappy Coach Heins, made me get out of bed and get on my way. Once I got to the bus I went straight to the back for a two hour nap. Then I woke up only to become utterly irritated with the DVD my teammate Nell Rojas decided to watch, Ellen DeGeneres stand up… really Nell? Ellen is NOT funny! The entire team, mostly the guys hated it. Luckily the angry crowd was persuasive enough to get her to change it. After that horrible setback the drive became a pleasant one. We made a quick stop in Yuma to eat, and then were on our way to Balboa Park to jog the course.

San Diego was a bit warm and humid for my liking, but it didn’t compare to the humidity in Arkansas last June. It felt good to be back in California, and to be bonding with my teammates. The jog was a quick one. I spent most of it with Coach Heins talking about the race plan. He wanted to work on a different strategy team wise, and on my weakness. I have never been a fan of running in a pack, or even worse, having people pushing and shoving me. I was a little concerned, but I was aware that our team is so good that there was no need for me to do anything special; they could take care of the win on their own with out my assistance. That made it a lot easier to know that if it became a mental challenge for me, we would still come out on top. Basically we would go out there and purposely put our selves out of the picture for about a half of the race and then work our way to the front.

After we were done, we headed to our hotel. We headed to our rooms and prepared our selves for a magnificent feast courtesy of Coach Heins. I was a little concerned about rooming with Jordan Chipangama, with him being the new guy and all, but I quickly realized he was a chill guy. We all had a good time talking and relaxing at dinner. For a second I forgot that we were in town for business, I was having such a good time with everyone that it felt more like a vacation.

Game time! We made our way to Balboa Park bright and early. I could feel the excitement in the air. The Lumberjacks were ready to chop some “trees” haha…. And boy did they chop! I was finishing up my strides as I saw our women’s team perfectly execute the game plan and win their second meet in a row. Miss Veronica Pohl did what she does best, and won. She was closely fallowed be a flock of teammatesw. Eliza Gawryluk also ran really good placing third… I could hear some of the NAU fans excited on the side lines saying “that polish girl is good.” All of the girls did work, as Haley Lawrence stood out, the middle distance star simple ran amazing! I think she should definitely run a 5k this spring.

Shortly after they where finishing up, my classy team mate Darius Terry and I, rocking the half tights, made our way to the starting line. We all made our way there, and as the TEAM that we are, we clapped it in and supported each other. I wanted to feel as uncomfortable as I could so I made my way to the back center of our starting box. I couldn’t help but laugh a little as Andrew Belus joked “yeah box him up, don’t let him out.

The gun went off and for the first time of my life I did something I never do, I slammed on the breaks and worked my way to the back of the pack. I must have been our 14^th guy or so at the mile marker, I slowly snaked my way to the middle front and began giving some support to MD (middle distance crew), I wanted to help out Darius as much as I could, after all I said I would. Finally, by the two mile marker, I made my presence felt at the front. I wasn’t intending on leading at all, till the “Rube” (Tim Freriks) took the lead. I knew he wanted to run fast, and was not about to allow him to do the work for the upperclassmen, so I took the lead and opened up a gap along with my teammates. When the damage was done, I simply sat back and enjoyed the show. Boy was it exciting to see the guys “jack it up!” Jason took over the pacing duties and from there on it was all him and Jordan. Jordan ran like a champ and in a humble manner stole the show. He was followed by, Ahmed, Jason and me. If it wasn’t for a brave USF runner we could have perfect scored the meet, but a 16 point win is not bad at all. Our superman/MD Darius Terry rounded out the top five with his impressive sixth place finish. It’s too bad it only takes five to score because we had plenty of ammo, as we placed everyone in the top 20. It was a good day! I was happy to see my parents, and little sister. I met my good friend Scott Blair’s parents; they were really nice, I’m sure they liked me.

Well that was that, shortly after we received our awards we headed to the beach for some down time, and then were back on the road to beautiful Flagstaff.

It was a wonderful experience to have been part of the trip with my teammates. Thanks to everybody for making it a fun and enjoyable trip. Good job and of course thanks for giving me the opportunity to write about my experience… hope everyone enjoyed reading about it.

NCAA President Brand Left His Mark

2009-09-17T17:43:00.000-07:00

Collegiate Athletics lost a staunch advocate when NCAA President Myles Brand lost his battle with pancreatic cancer on Wednesday.

President Brand brought a unique perspective to the position as he became the first university president to serve in the roll of NCAA president. This after college athletic directors had served in that capacity in recent years.

I remember the first year Myles became president, not too long after the firing of Bobby Knight at Indiana; he summoned numerous college administrators to Dallas, Texas to work on the “Strategic Plan” that would guide the NCAA into the future.

I had the privilege of being asked to attend those meetings and you knew from day one that ACADEMICS were going to become his focus. Literally every time a suggestion or idea came forward he would ask, “How will these ideas help move forward academic performance?”

Myles always took the time to address your concerns and you may not have liked the answer but you always got one. He brought a different global perspective to the Association and it came at a time when we needed that difference.

A phrase we use to describe Northern Arizona University is “the difference that matters”. Myles Brand was “the difference that mattered” in the leadership of the NCAA and he was able to bring what matters the most to the forefront of the Association’s Agenda.

He said that the academic performance of our student-athletes will become the central focus of the Association and he did that.

Myles Brand may not have come to the Presidency of the Association in the traditional athletic way but make no mistake he became the classic athlete.

As he took on a formidable foe, cancer, he fought it tooth and nail just like you expect any true competitor to do.

He may have been over matched physically, by this demon, but he was class from beginning to end and he never gave up! He is gone in body but his spirit will live on.

Now the rest of us owe it to him and ourselves to keep that vision moving forward, that vision he so strongly believed in.

Thank you Myles, you and your leadership will be missed.

Jim Fallis, Northern Arizona University Athletics Director

Kicker U Looking for New Leg

2009-09-10T21:51:00.000-07:00

When Northern Arizona takes the field against Arizona on Saturday, the Lumberjacks will have a new kicker for the first time in a long time. Robbie Dehaze graduated last year with a list of accolades and records that could stand in the records books for some time.

Dehaze continued a tradition of kicking at Northern Arizona that includes former standouts Paul Ernster, Rhian Madrid and NAU Hall of Famer Mark Gould. And that is just the kickers from this decade. The Lumberjacks have ranked among the national leaders in punting every year, establishing NAU as Kicker U. The list of accomplishments ranks with that of the schools recognized as Quarterback U and Linebacker U across the country.

Head Coach Jerome Souers has not seen a player kick off for the Lumberjacks other than Dehaze since 2005. Remember J.P. Brandvig against Adams State in 2005? I didn’t. I had to look it up. After that game, Dehaze took over the kickoff duties, a job he completed 236 times over the last four years.

In fact, Dehaze has attempted the last 74 field goal attempts, 144 extra-point attempts and 104 punts. Outside of a pooch punt by a quarterback or a fake attempt, Dehaze took every kick over the last two seasons and all of the field goal and kickoffs over the last four years.

How good was Dehaze over the last two years? The Lumberjacks have four players trying to fill the void left this season. But they have a capable group including Washington State transfer Matt Myers, New Mexico transfer Drew Zamora and high school signee Andy Wilder. Wide receiver Ryan Rauschert, a former punter in high school, has moonlighted with the specialists and looked to have won the punting job entering the season opener.

At kickoff Saturday night Dehaze says he will be watching via his computer in Oregon. After signing with the Atlanta Falcons in the offseason, he is working out with hopes of finding a job in the CFL while testing feelers from NFL teams for future tryouts. With the next open job just an injury away, he is just waiting for an opportunity.

While Dehaze’s eligibility is up, it is too bad he cannot help his former teammates anymore. We will see someone else kickoff, punt, attempt a field goal and extra point for the Lumberjacks against Arizona. It will be different but we will likely see the next success story at Kicker U.

By Steven Shaff, NAU Media Relations

Former Lumberjack Gerard Signed to Practice Squad by Ravens

2009-09-05T18:18:00.000-07:00

BLOG UPDATE: K.J. Gerard was signed to the Baltimore Ravens practice squad on Sunday, securing a job in the NFL as the an undrafted free agent. He is the fourth NAU player since 2000 to earn a job in the NFL as an undrafted free agent.

ORIGINAL POST: Former Lumberjack K.J. Gerard cut off his dreadlocks Monday. Unfortunately it was not the only thing cut this week.

Gerard did not survive the final cuts by the Baltimore Ravens Saturday to make the 53-man roster as an undrafted free agent out of Northern Arizona. Gerard will look to land with another team or get a chance via the eight-man practice squad with the Ravens or another NFL team.

Based on the buzz Gerard created in Ravens camp, look for him to find a job playing professional football. Gerard is looking to become the fourth former NAU player to make team or practice after signing as a free agent.

Gerard was a two-time All-America selection. He earned All-America First-Team honors from the Associated Press, College Sporting News, The Sports Network and the Walter Camp Foundation in 2008, while finishing as a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award given to the best defensive player at the FCS level.

Former Lumberjack Keith O’Neil is one of the recent success stories for the Lumberjacks in the NFL. He made the Dallas Cowboys as a free agent and played in the Super Bowl with the Indianapolis Colts.

Gerard holds the NAU school record for interceptions with 19, tied for the fifth-best total in Big Sky history. He finished his career ranked tied for first in interceptions among active career leaders in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and Division I overall with 19. In 2008, he was fifth on the team in tackles with 47 with a team-best 38 solos. The Fountain Valley, Calif., native recorded five interceptions to rank second in the Big Sky Conference and tied for 17th nationally (0.45 per game). He also had a team-best nine pass deflections, eight tackles for loss and a forced fumble and blocked kick.

“Baltimore seemed like the best place for me,” said Gerard on the day he signed. “They have a really good defense. It feels good but at the same time I just have my foot in the door. I still have to go out there and make a name for myself.”

And he has made a name for himself during training camp. Now he just has to find a job.

NAU Free Agent Signees Since 2000

Preston Parsons, Arizona Cardinals, 2002

Robert Haws, Arizona Cardinals, 2002

Keith O’Neil, Dallas Cowboys, 2003

Mark Gould, New York Giants, 2004

Jeremy Thornburg, Philadelphia Eagles, 2005

Roger Robinson, Arizona Cardinal, 2005

K.J. Gerard, Baltimore Ravens, 2008

By Steven Shaff, NAU Media Relations

FINA Second guesses themselves…again

2009-09-04T00:00:00.000-07:00

Dear General Public,

I am sorry.

In my last blog I told you all about the speed suits and how the effected the sport on all levels. This time around, FINA (swimming’s world governing body) is up to no good again.

It was a mere 4 months ago that FINA came out with a list of suits that would be allowed from then until January 1, 2010. A few days, and many angry suit companies, later FINA decided that they would not ban ANY suits and allow all suits to be worn in competition. This sent a shockwave through the swimming community. There was officially no limit on what someone could wear.

Then comes July 2009, FINA says that on January 1, 2010 we will only see textile, fully permeable swim suits. For women, suits covering their torso and their upper leg (above the knee) will be permitted. No zippers, only elastic straps. That’s fine, great. For men, only suits (same material as female suits) can be worn from below the navel to above the knee. Nothing bigger, also great.

Now just a couple days ago, FINA has started to entertain the idea (from a few member nations) that the male suit should equal the female suit. This means that men could wear material above their navel and over the shoulder. Think a pair of long johns; you know the kind that people used to wear before they had heat, only these cannot go past the knee.

There have not been any sureties about this coming up pass, but it was only a couple weeks ago that FINA decided that they would hold fast and stand their ground about their new rule changes. Sure enough the brilliant minds, and I use that term as loosely as possible, at FINA have started to second guess themselves…AGAIN!

Swimming has enough trouble keeping fans between Olympics. Thanks to the idiotic actions of Mr. Phelps (and his infamous bong), and now FINA and their flip-flopping, a la Al Gore in the 2000 elections, swimming is getting a reputation of some what of a joke. What our sport needs is someone with the gall to just stand up and say “Here are the rules; I do not care if you like, we are not going to change them.”

Wow, imagine that, someone and/or some organization actually holding true to what they have said in the past? What a concept.

It is now that I would formally like to say that on behalf of the entire swimming community, we are sorry that FINA is making us look like a bunch of fools.

Please forgive us, and check us out more then once every four years.

Thank you,

Dave Rollins
Assistant Swimming Coach Northern Arizona University
Head Coach Flagstaff Peaks Aquatic Club

Soccer Team Thanks Community

2009-09-01T08:46:00.001-07:00

Dear Flagstaff Community and NAU Students,

We are writing this letter in great thanks to the support that was shown at our home opener Friday night against the University of Arizona. The cheers, chants and clapping are what our team thrived on during the game. When our heads went down, it was the fans in the stands that reminded us that there are other people out there who believe in our success and ability. What an anticipated game for everyone. Walking away with a win would have been ideal, for everyone. However, a tie will have to do! It is important that your support continues throughout the season, not only do we play for each other on the field; we play especially for our fans: NAU students, the Flagstaff community and our families. The tailgate was incredible and was a great way to get everyone involved. With much thanks again, we hope to see you all out there this coming Friday. We hope to continue the large amount of fans, and with your continued support we hope this to be possible. Thanks again for cheering us on to another Big Sky Conference Championship.

Regards,

Rebekah Schmidt and the NAU Women’s Soccer Team

Photo by Matt Beaty/NAU Media Relations

Former NAU Coaches Center Stage for NFL Drama

2009-08-31T19:14:00.000-07:00

The list of coaches who have come through Flagstaff and Northern Arizona and gone on to success in the NFL is amazing. The fact that several of them have risen to head coaching positions in the NFL is even more impressive. Andy Reid, Mike Shanahan, Marty Mornhinweg and Bill Callahan have all roamed the sidelines of the Walkup Skydome prior to landing NFL head coaching jobs.

This past summer, ESPN was dominated by daily updates with the drama surrounding former quarterbacks Brett Favre, Michael Vick, as well as the quarterback situation with the Denver Broncos and the conflict between Jay Culter and new coach, Josh McDaniels. McDaniels was the replacement for Mike Shanahan, a NAU assistant in 1977 and Cutler supporter. This summer’s dramatics should be sold as a reality show called The Real Quarterbacks of the NFL and then ESPN could quit wasting valuable time on SportsCenter.

In all three situations, the common thread from a Lumberjack spin was that NAU Coaching Staff alumni were directly dealing with the media frenzy.

In case you have been in a cave, Brett Favre could not decide whether he wanted to retire AGAIN and his every move was documented as a reason why or why not he was going to sign with the Minnesota Vikings. When he finally did decide to come back, Brad Childress, a NAU assistant from 1986-89, picked him up at the airport with a helicopter documenting the trip. It felt like O.J. all over again. OK maybe not but it was funny.

Speaking of former NFL players in trouble, Michael Vick is one of the most vilified players in the history of sports for his off-the-field actions. Everyone has an opinion but the only one that mattered was the owner of the Eagles and former NAU assistant Andy Reid, who worked at NAU in 1986. Reid was behind his signing with the Philadelphia Eagles where he is the head coach. Reid answered all questions about protestors, dog fighting, jail time and, oh yeah, football stuff.

To add more Lumberjack connections to the Farve/Vick drama, Farve's offensive coordinator at Minnesota is Darrell Bevell, who played at NAU in 1989. Vick's offensive coordinator in Philadelphia is Marty Mornhinweg, the former Detroit Lions coach who also worked at NAU in 1988 and 1994.

These coaches live with the scrutiny of the NFL everyday. But the heat has been turned up this season with players they are coaching.

By Steven Shaff, NAU Media Relations

Flagstaff to Italy and Back with USA Track & Field

2009-08-23T13:55:00.000-07:00

NAU Associate Athletic Trainer Billy Cotts traveled with the USA Track and Field team this summer to Italy. Here is a recap of his experience from Italy.

I had the unique and honored opportunity to travel to Bressanone/Brixen, Italy as a member of USA Track & Field to provide medical coverage for the World Youth Championships. For me, this trip was and would be different than any of my previous trips with Team USA. This trip would be comprised of a Team Leader, a Head Manager, 4 coaches, 4 managers, 5 medical staff members, and 55 athletes between the ages of 16-17.

I was asked to be the Head Athletic Trainer three weeks prior to my departure to Ypsilanti, Michigan; the site of the Youth Trials. During that time I had to make changes to family plans, work arrangements had to be made, communication and organization with USATF was going on, and communication and organization with our medical staff had to occur, which at the last minute two members were unable to go and two new ones were added. Needless to say July 2^nd arrived quicker than I was ready for and my personal packing was put-off till the last minute (my wife had to make an extra trip to the airport to bring me some items I forgot to pack).

The team stayed on the campus of Eastern Michigan from July 2^nd till we departed Detroit on July 4^th for Munich, Germany (8.5 hour flight from Chicago O’Hare). After landing in Munich and discovering that our provided IAAF bus could only accommodate 40 passengers (travel party of 70 plus luggage, equipment, and poles) we spent two hours waiting to see if the South African team would arrive before acquiring their bus to transport us the four hours to Bressanone/Brixen, Italy.

Our accommodations in Bressanone were in a Monastery school that was utilized for Kindergarten thru College. During the first three days that we were there, the team utilized practice facilities that were located five minutes to 45 minutes from the school. It was also during this time that we were able to do some local site seeing and get to know the staff and athletes better. Some of the things unique to this area are: its location at the base of the Italian Alps, their milk, cheese, and apple economy, the predominant language is German; all signs are written in German and Italian, and the culture.

Bressanone was founded around 900 A.D. Until WWI, the city was party of Austria. After the war, the city was brought under Italian control. However, with a strong, proud Austrian heritage, the new citizens of Italy did not welcome their new country as much as it did them. To offset any future issues in the province, Italy allowed them autonomy to govern themselves as long as they supported Italy and their governmental offices. The result is a strong mix of Austrian/Germanic culture with Italian culture. I had several people tell me that the older generation is so set in their heritage that they will not accept the other. There are German schools and Italian schools, German neighborhoods and Italian neighborhoods; to me it sounded a little like the ‘60’s in the United States. With all that being said, all that we saw was a city that was very proud, hospitable, friendly, and excited to be hosting the Championships.

July 8^th was the Opening Ceremonies. Just as we have all seen on television for the Olympics, there was a parade of nations (much smaller scale) for all of the participants. Later during the meet, I counted 105 flags represented around the track. The festivities were held in the downtown plaza, with the athletes being the center of attraction. Prior to these ceremonies, myself and our team physician, had to attend an IAAF medical meeting. At the conclusion of the meeting we were to meet up with the rest of the team. When we entered the plaza locating the team was a little hard but getting through the crowds, security, and barricades were a little harder.

Somehow we ended up with the best standing space in the plaza, next to the flag pole; which incidentally was utilized in the ceremony, where the big wigs entered the plaza, and became a focal point of the ceremonies. So, as the sun is beating on us, we zip up our USA jackets, make sure our shirts are tucked in, and try not to embarrass ourselves and our country in front of all these people and photographers (those of you who know me know that I have certain tendencies that may not make me the best person to be standing where we were). However, we did have the best standing seats in the plaza!

July 9^th was the first day of competition. As I said earlier, there was five medical staff: a team physician, head athletic trainer, assistant athletic trainer, massage therapist, and a sports psychologist. For the duration of the meet, we would leave with the first group going to the track and stay till the end of the meet. We would start our day off with breakfast at the Monastery with some sort of combination of: fresh bread, Nutella, yogurt, corn or chocolate flake cereal, juice, hot or cold milk, green tea, and coffee (by day 5 of our stay, change would have been nice). After breakfast we would board the local city buses at 7:30am and head to the track. Our warm-up track was about a 5-8 minute walk from the stadium. The vast majority of our treatments and massages were done at the warm-up track; as this is where the kids seemed to congregate, where we had room, and where we were told to be. We would stay at the track till around 6:30 – 7:00 pm and then head back to the Monastery. We would do some more treatments and then be able to go to dinner around 8:30-9:00pm.

For those of you who have never been outside of the USA, the hardest item to come by and the most used by athletic trainers is ICE. We were fortunate to have “unlimited” yet limited access at the track. However, treatments at the Monastery requiring ice cost us about $10 for every 5lb bag, when we could find it. But, we made do with what we had and got creative with other types of treatments to keep the athletes going. The true benefit of an experienced, diverse staff!!

Lunch and dinner meals were housed at 1 of 4 locations. Teams were assigned a specific location for their meals and issued meal tickets. It was run like a cafeteria were everyone was in a single line and walked down saying what they would like. The food was excellent and they tried to diversify by serving a variety of the local and cultural foods. As a medical staff, we tried to go in shifts for lunch but often ate at street vendors. For dinner, they were usually closed by the time we got over there, but that just gave us an excuse to go downtown!

For me, July 11^th is a special day, my birthday. That Saturday evening the medical staff, along with our local host, took me out for a local cuisine dinner in the plaza. Now I truly feel for any local host having to try and accommodate not only the visiting teams but they also have a supervisor that they need to please as well. We were very fortunate to have a young lady who could speak 5 languages, who had a college degree in education, had lived in the USA for 6 months, who was a local, and an all around great person. So, when I was trying to read the menu in Italian, she was not only able to translate but could relate it back to foods I could understand. As I was looking through the menu “book”, I was told that a traditional meal consists of 3-7 courses and can take up to 3 hours to complete. That can translate into a lot of food! When we were about an hour-n-half into our meal and conversation we notice a fire truck drive through the plaza and people to start to congregate in the south. Having forgotten that this was the night for the closing ceremonies, we were a little startled when the first fireworks went off. Now, we all have seen fireworks, been at shows and enjoy the spectacular array of colors and configurations. Our first thoughts were that we were finally getting our 4^th of July show. But, our proximity to the display, our location between century old buildings, and by being in narrow streets intensified the show. We could actually fill the vibrations when the fireworks erupted over us. What a view! After a few minutes of visual amazement it began to dawn on us that 40-80 years ago these same vibrations were not from a beautiful display of fireworks but from cannons, bombs, guns as a war occurred in this same valley, town, and area. That night I was given a great gift for my birthday. A gift of humility, of heritage, of sacrifice for those who lived through any war as a man, woman, child, or soldier.

At the conclusion of the World Youth Track and Field Championships, if my memory serves me correctly, Team USA won 16 medals; making this the highest medal count team. There were several world records set by Team USA. Trading of clothing apparel by all the athletes occurred, friendships were made or rekindled, and for many of the young athletes who competed, this would be their only international experience while others will go on to a Summer Olympics some day.

For me, this trip made my fourth with Team USA. It was the largest one I have been on, the most entertaining, the most educational, and will definitely be a memorable one. Being able to meet a variety of people, experience diverse cultures, and being able to share my experiences and knowledge as a person and as an Athletic Trainer is what I enjoy the most about being a member of Team USA and their medical staff.