It's a Rumor but...

There seems to be some substance behind the rumor that Stan Moore is leaving Colgate to be an assistant at Providence. Providence just hired a new coach two weeks ago.

If so, this is a big loss for the Colgate hockey program. Stan is a great coach that should by all means be a head coach somewhere, so I'm not suprised he's looking to Hockey East for a job. Still, I wish we could have somehow kept him, if this rumor is true of course.

Stan is a first rate classy guy and if this is goodbye, I know Colgate fans wish him well.

Lehigh and Lafayette Get Two CSTV Games of the Week

9/1 (Thurs) - Furman @ Jacksonville St. (8:00 PM)
9/8 (Thurs) - Northern Colorado @ Western Illinois (8:00 PM)
9/17 - Princeton @ Lafayette (1:00 PM); William & Mary @ URI (3:30 PM)
9/24 - HBCU Game (TBD)
0/1 - Lehigh @ Harvard (12:30 PM); Alabama St. @ Southern (4:00 PM)
10/8 - Hofstra @ Delaware (TBD)
10/15 - Southern vs. Jackson St. (8:30 PM)
10/22 - James Madison @ Delaware (12:00 PM)
11/5 - SE Louisiana @ Sam Houston St. (5:00 PM)
11/12 - Wofford @ Furman (3:30 PM)
11/19 - Montana @ Montana St. (TBD); Lafayette @ Lehigh (TBD); Jackson St. vs. Alcorn St. (5:00 PM)
11/26 - NCAA Division IAA Playoffs (TBD)

That's great for the Patriot League. On paper, these are some of the best games this season. The Lehigh/Delaware game would have been nice to see on the slate as well as the Colgate/UMass game, but we can't get picky.

Fans of Lehigh and Lafayette - please turn out in droves for these games. It makes us all in the Patriot League look good.

Blue Hens of Old

Checking in with an old "friend" from Delaware, Shawn Johnson. Shawn is busy trying to make the Titans squad for the fall. Good luck to you Shawn.

Mike Trotta in East-West Game

Incoming Football Player for Colgate played in the Pennsylvania State Football Coaches’ Association East-West all-star game. Congratulations for the recognition Mike and welcome to Colgate!

Simon Jarcho: Student Athlete

Syracuse Post Standard



Simon, rising sophomore Colgate soccer player and Hamilton native, is featured in this Post Standard article. Way to go Simon - keep up that 3.52 GPA!

One That Got Away... For Now

David Caldwell from Montclair, New Jersey appears to be headed to the Lawrenceville School for a post graduate year and a shot at a I-A scholarship instead of heading to Colgate this fall. The All-Essex County tailback was (apparently) offered by Colgate but David thinks he belongs at Virgina, BC or Maryland.

All you New Jersey folks see how well he does, for he could be at Colgate in 2006 if he's not as good as he thinks he is. Good luck to you David - but a degree from Colgate and a shot at a National Championship ain't too shabby!

Frieser and Graham

John Frieser comments on his NFL Europe experience and Luke Graham is mentioned as trying out for the Houston Texans.

Incoming Lax Recruit is POY

Number 9 above is Spencer Cooperman, headed to Colgate this fall. He was named the Player of the Year for his area by the Rocky Mountain News. Some highlights of the article:

"Cooperman is considered a "one-of-a-kind" player according to several coaches, including Thumim (Coach of the Year from another school). "When these seniors were all freshmen, that was the last time Creek won the championship," Thumim said. "We played Cherry Creek in the first round and I saw Spencer get some time. He got me thinking, 'That kid is going to be one heck of a player.' "He definitely proved this year that he was a special player."

Welcome to Colgate, Spencer!

UMass 2004 at night

My friend with the UMass blog has posted some photos from the Colgate game to get an idea of the atmosphere, and I thought I'd share one I took from the vistors section.

2005 I-AA.org Football Preview Magazine

If you love I-AA football, this is the magazine to get. It's a labor of love for I-AA.org folks, so give it a try.

The magazine is now available for Pre-Order at Retro-Sports out of Louisiana. Retro's got a lot of cool I-AA stuff at his store, so give it a look-see.

You can check out the I-AA.org website and take a look at last year's version, the 2004 Fall Preview. So, basically, what are you waiting for? Impress your friends with your I-AA knowledge!

The New Face of Raider Power

Rusty Burney was named as the new head strength coach. Rusty comes from the University of Tulsa, where he has been the assistant since 2001. He's also done stints at Arkansas and BYU and graduated from Central College in Iowa.

Good to see we've got someone in place with plenty of time for transition into the fall semester. Welcome aboard Rusty!

Incoming QB throws TD in Governor's Bowl

Anyone else catch this: story

Pitcher is one of several QBs that will be fighting for spots on the team this year. He's a local kid and everyone that speaks of him says he's a gamer.

Frieser's still "a long shot"

Recent article gives John some good words for his work in NFL Europe but still calls him a long shot due to the depth at TE that the Steelers have.

Let's hope he catches on somewhere!

Roach's Right Hand...

Just got a new name: Kevin Hatcher . Looks like Kevin was just hired as Colgate's new associate athletic director. I believe this position replaces Brad Houston who is retiring after 30+ years at Colgate.

Kevin comes from UTEP (University of Texas at El Paso) but it looks like Roach has been after him from some time.

Edit:

Kevin Hatcher

UMass Transfer Rumor

Patrick Powell

A defensive end from Maryland. Not confirmed by UMass yet but from a credible source that has been right on UMass transfers before.

Blogs: The New Virus?

Seems to be that blogging is contagious and one of our Minutemen friends has joined in the conga line: UMass Football Fanzone.

From what I know on other boards about UMass74, he's a level headed guy who loves his UMass. As game day approaches be sure to check out his site, and insight, into what the other side is thinking! Be sure to leave some comments as it's the only way the people on this side of the blog know we're not just writing for ourselves!

I will be adding a link to this blog so you don't have to bookmark or remember it yourself if you don't want to...

New RSS Feature and new poll

For those that like RSS feeds I've created a new feed that you can use. Look for the XML link on the right of the page.

There's also a new poll out. You can guess where you're truly sits on this issue!

Buffalo Ice Hockey One Day?

A recent report released yesterday by the University of Buffalo made a passing comment that piqued my interest. The report is an outside assessment made by Gene Corrigan about the state of UB athletics. While they've got many headaches at UB, one of Corrigan's recommendations is to narrow their focus (read: cut some sports) and to explore sponsoring sports "that have potential for success due to UB's location, facilities or expertise, such as ice hockey and lacrosse."

I would love to see UB add hockey and/or lacrosse to their sports offerings. While I don't think UB is an ECACHL fit, another upstate school helps ice hockey exposure across the board. Buffalo's usual a pretty die hard sports town and I see no reason why a college ice hockey team, supported at the top level, couldn't succeed.

Lindy's I-AA rankings out

Lindy's

1. Montana
2. Southern Illinois
3. James Madison
4. Georgia Southern
5. Eastern Washington
6. William & Mary
7. Northwestern State
8. Furman
9. Delaware
10. Western Kentucky
11. Massachusetts
12. Wofford
13. Hampton
14. Villanova
15. New Hampshire
16. Bethune-Cookman
17. Harvard
18. Northern Iowa
19. South Carolina State
20. Northeastern
21. Lehigh
22. Cal Poly
23. Jacksonville State
24. Grambling
25. Montana State

Wofford 12? No Lafayette but South Carolina State and Northeastern? These people are on crack.

13 Wishes

Some summer daydreaming... A list of 13 Wishes for Colgate athletics:

1. Football scholarships
2. A new hockey arena
3. Rip out the track around Andy Kerr and bring the field closer to the home stands
4. Lights on Andy Kerr
5. New visiting stands and end zone stands to match the Dunlap side
6. Bring back the "Red" in Red Raiders
7. A mascot that is actually cool, recognizable and marketable - something that incorporated the HooDoo.
8. An organized student fan club with a large presence
9. Dick Biddle stays at Colgate for the rest of his career
10. Beer sold at games
11. Increased TV coverage for football, basketball and hockey
12. If wish #1 were granted, bring back the annual Syracuse/Colgate football game
13. And of course, Patriot League titles and trips to the NCAAs for all varsity teams!

Any wishes you'd add or take away from this list, dear readers?

I-AA.org Game of the Week Survey Out

2005 I-AA TV Game of the Week Survey Final Results I-AA.org

Week 1 8/27-9/4: Southern @ McNeese State
Week 2 9/5-11: Eastern Kentucky @ Western Kentucky (Battle of the Bluegrass)
Week 3 9/12-18: Georgia Southern @ Wofford
Week 4 9/19-25: North Dakota State @ Montana State
Week 5 9/26-10/2: Illinois State @ Youngstown State
Week 6 10/3-9: Appalachian State @ Furman
Week 7 10/10-16: Eastern Washington @ Montana
Week 8 10/17-23: James Madison @ Delaware (Parents & Family Weekend))
Week 9 10/24-30: Southern Illinois @ Western Kentucky
Week 10 10/31-11/6: Furman @ Georgia Southern
Week 11 11/7-13: South Dakota State @ North Dakota State (Dakota Marker Rivalry)
Week 12 11/14-20: Montana @ Montana State (Brawl of the Wild; 105th meeting)

GAME OF THE YEAR: Eastern Kentucky @ Western Kentucky (Battle of the Bluegrass)

Suffice to say I wish there were some Patriot League games on that list... If Lehigh/Lafayette didn't happen at the same time as Montana/Montana State, I think it would have a shot. But with tons of Montana faithful to vote, it's a losing battle.

Looks like the poll may be skewed...

I'm in contact with the software company that makes the poll, but it is supposed to allow a person to only vote once. Looking at the IP addresses of votes, it appears that there have been multiple votes by the same IP, in multiple instances... You know who you are!

Listen, I appreciate the enthusiasm but it skews the poll! I hope to have this resolved soon; more to come.

My AGS Challenge #3 Entry

In case you don't make your way over to Any Given Saturday, I thought I would share my entry into the third summer "challenge" issued by a fan from McNeese State. The winner gets a free copy of the I-AA.org 2005 preview magazine. The challenge was to write a few paragraphs "describing their (personal) proudest moment that they have experienced about their I-AA football team."

It was a tough decision to think of, considering the 2003 playoff run; the turn around season of 1996; the first Patriot League title in 1997; beating I-A Buffalo in 2003; there are many to choose from. But from this fan's seat, here's what I had to say:

"To understand the pride that a Colgate football fan experienced during the 2003 playoff run, one must realize that for a time there in the mid 1990s,Colgate football barely had a pulse. After 5 straight seasons of losing 7 or more games, the (at the time Red) Raiders were the doormat of the Patriot League. With the hiring of Dick Biddle in 1996, the fortunes of those on the gridiron immediately began to change. First was the 1996 season, when that Colgate squad went from 0-11 to 6-5, becoming the second team in NCAA history to go from a winless season to a winning season the next year. The following year brought a Patriot League championship and a playoff birth and from there, the solidifcation of a new Colgate era of excellence.

The culmination of this effort was, in this fan's opinion, against Western Illinois University in the NCAA playoffs on December 6, 2003. There were those that called the previous week's win against the University of Massachusetts a fluke due to the weather. Colgate came out to prove differently in another battle on the tundra. It was a classic back and forth battle between two heavyweights.

This game stands out over the rest because of the sheer will not to quit that Colgate showed. After a back and forth contest all afternoon, Western llinois took a 6 point lead with 7:04 remaining in the game and then proceeded to stop the Colgate offense on its next possession. I confess that at that point the future looked bleak from those cold, snowy stands of Andy Kerr stadium; but it is now apparent that the men in maroon never thought so. The defense squad proceeded to stuff Western Illinios and force a punt with 3:09 remaining. Like a bolt of lightning to warm up the frozen and fading crowd, senior J.B. Gerald returns a punt 28 yards to the Leathernecks 25 yard line. At that point, this fan knew that there would be joy in Mudville that day, because the Mighty Colgate was not going to strike out. All of Andy Kerr Stadium rose to their frozen feet and witnessed the first play of the drive to be a 24 yard classic Chris Brown to Luke Graham pass completion to the one yard line. Three tries later, eventual Walter Payton winner Jamaal Branch punches through for a touchdown to give Colgate and the Patriot League its first ever entrance into the semifinals of the I-AA playoffs. The Colgate defense preserves the victory and my teary eyes watch a normally sedated student body rip down the goalposts and parade them down the main street of Hamilton. There has never been a sporting event like this one in Hamilton and for those that were there, it will be a memory that is forever imprinted on the mind of a time when Colgate truely reached greatness."