Tag Archives: college sports

August 29, 2010 · 6:02 pm

THE COOLEST HELMET IN THE GREAT PLAINS ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (JUST GOT COOLER)

Team: University of Sioux Falls Cougars

Site: http://www.usfcougars.com/

Comment: Previously the Defending National Champions in the NAIA had helmets with white shells and the eye-catching logo. Now these purple shells add an extra “Hey, look at this!” quality as the Cougars try for a threepeat.

As always, football helmets courtesy of The Helmet Project at: http://www.nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/

And for more cool helmets click here: https://glitternight.com/category/cool-helmets/

Balladeer’s Blog is not affiliated with or operated by the NAIA or the NCAA or any of their member institutions. 

© Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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August 23, 2010 · 3:18 pm

THE 20 COOLEST FOOTBALL HELMETS IN NCAA DIVISION 3

Well, from the e-mails I’m getting people want another Top 20 Contest. On top of that Division 3 fans have been complaining that I’ve done 2 NAIA Top 20 lists but only one for them, but that’s only because I didn’t branch out to D3 sports until recently. To keep everyone happy I’ll continue to feature NAIA football teams in my Cool Helmet Of The Day posts and do a Top 20 List for D3 football teams. These rankings are in no particular order and the votes of my readers will, as usual, dictate the winner. As always you can reach me at Thtcom15@aol.com to cast your vote. Football helmets courtesy of The Helmet Project at: http://www.nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/

20. MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR CRUSADERS

Location: Belton, TX

Conference Affiliation: American Southwest Conference

Comment: Crusaders is easily one of the coolest names a sports team could have. Out of all the Crusader teams throughout college sports I think Mary Hardin-Baylor has the coolest helmets! The only way their helmets could get any better would be if they had a picture of Crusader Rabbit on them!

19. URSINUS BEARS

Location: Collegeville, PA

Conference Affiliation: Centennial Conference

Comment: What better name for sports teams at a school called Ursinus than the Bears? (Maybe “Da Bears”) And using the same reasoning I used with Mary Hardin-Baylor above I picked Ursinus because out of all the Bears teams throughout college athletics Ursinus has the coolest helmet! Should I apply the Mary-Hardin Baylor template even further and say the only way the helmets could be any better would be if they had a picture of Yo- naaah!

18. TRINITY BANTAMS

Location: Hartford, CT

Conference Affiliation: New England Small College Athletic Conference

Comment: When you hear the word Bantam you think “scrappy” and “hard fighting” and “feisty” so it’s the perfect nickname for sports teams. And the Bantam on the helmet looks like he could kick Foghorn Leghorn’s butt all over the barnyard. Still, I’d like to see a team called The Orpingtons but I’m kind of eccentric .

17. MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY MARINERS

Location: King’s Point, NY

Conference Affiliation: Liberty League

Comment: What better name for – okay, I’ll stop! But you do have to admit that the Mariners is the perfect name for the academy’s sports teams. And aside from people sometimes throwing mean-spirited Seattle Mariners jokes their way there’s no real down side to the nickname.

16. ANDERSON RAVENS

Location: Anderson, IN

Conference Affiliation: Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference

Comment: Go ahead and insert your own Edgar Allan Poe joke here. All I’ve got to say is that out of all the Ravens teams in college sports the Anderson helmets will definitely stay with you, or my name isn’t Annabel Lee. (Get it? The obvious joke would have been some kind of “Nevermore” reference or something like that, so I – oh, forget it!)

15. UMASS-DARTMOUTH CORSAIRS

Location: North Dartmouth, MA

Conference Affiliation: New England Football Conference – Boyd Division

Comment: I don’t care if it’s The Black Pirate or Captain Blood or The Black Swan or Nate And Hayes, people love the romantic image of pirates! The Corsairs have such a cool helmet, nickname and logo it’s easy to imagine that the fans don’t even care what their record is…I’m just kidding, of course. You know how fans are!

14. LAKE FOREST FORESTERS

Location: Lake Forest, IL

Conference Affiliation: Midwest Conference

Comment: The helmet makes sense when you know that one of the school’s mascots is a Bigfoot-type creature. It’s not the least bit true that Quentin Tarantino went to Lake Forest and the helmets are an odd tribute to him.

13. WASHINGTON AND LEE GENERALS

Location: Lexington, VA

Conference Affiliation: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

Comment: Okay, I know it’s just a W and an L but it’s the coolest possible rendition of a W and L conjoined into one great-looking helmet! Personally I think we should launch a movement to have this logo added to our alphabet as a combined W and L sound. It could be used in words like owl, bowling, etc.

12. CARLETON KNIGHTS

Location: Northfield, MN

Conference Affiliation: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

Comment: What’s not to love about a helmet this eye-catching? What kid wouldn’t want to strap this on his head on Saturday afternoons? The city flies under the radar, but Northfield, MN is known just as much for college football as it is for the time when the residents rose up and kicked the butts of the Jesse James Gang in the 1800’s! “Don’t call us Squareheads” should be the town’s official slogan (People who’ve seen The Long Riders will get it).

11. MORRISVILLE STATE MUSTANGS

Location: Morrisville, NY

Conference Affiliation: New Jersey Athletic Conference

Comment: Forget about SMU, these Mustangs know how to rock a helmet with an equine mascot! Just keep your “Jack Woltz in The Godfather” jokes to yourself! By the way, the Morrisville State helmets would make great “knight” pieces in a chess set made out of tiny football helmets. We could just use plain helmets as pawns since I doubt any school’s administration will have such low self-esteem that they’d call their teams The Pawns.

10. SAINT OLAF OLES

Location: Northfield, MN

Conference Affilation: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

Comment: The Oles, another Northfield football program,  sport an incredibly cool logo that looks great on helmets, T-shirts, etc. And by the way, there’s no truth to the story that the school’s teams are named after “Ole” Olsen from the comedy team of Olsen and Johnson. (Say what you will, it takes guts to try to get away with an Olsen and Johnson reference in the year 2010!)

9. OHIO NORTHERN UNIVERSITY POLAR BEARS

Location: Ada, OH

Conference Affiliation: Ohio Athletic Conference

Comment: See my Division 3 20 Coolest Page

8. SAINT NORBERT COLLEGE GREEN KNIGHTS

Location: De Pere, WI

Conference Affiliation: Midwest Conference

Comment: See my Division 3 20 Coolest Page

7. TUFTS JUMBOS

Location: Medford, MA

Conference Affiliation: New England Small College Athletic Conference

Comment: See my Division 3 20 Coolest Page

6. ROWAN PROFS

Location: Glassboro, NJ

Conference Affiliation: New Jersey Athletic Conference

Comment: See my Division 3 20 Coolest Page

5. NC WESLEYAN BATTLING BISHOPS

Location: Rocky Mount, NC

Conference Affiliation: USA South Athletic Conference

Comment: See my Division 3 20 Coolest Page

4. HEIDELBERG STUDENT PRINCES

Location: Tiffin, OH

Conference Affiliation: Ohio Athletic Conference

Comment: See my Division 3 20 Coolest Page

3. MARITIME COLLEGE PRIVATEERS

Location: Throggs Neck, NY

Conference Affiliation: Eastern Collegiate Football Conference

Comment: See my Division 3 20 Coolest Page

2. KENYON COLLEGE LORDS

For their entry click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/08/16/the-coolest-helmet-in-the-north-coast-athletic-conference/

1. JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY BLUE JAYS

For their entry click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/08/21/the-coolest-helmet-in-the-centennial-conference/

For NCAA Division 3′s Coolest-Named Teams click here: https://glitternight.com/d3-20-coolest/

For the NAIA edition of The 20 Coolest College Sports Teams You May Never Have Heard Of click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/06/21/the-20-coolest-named-college-sports-teams-you-may-have-never-heard-of-naia-edition/

For The 20 Coolest College Sports Logos click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/07/20/the-20-coolest-college-sports-logos/

For Division 2’s Coolest-Named College Sports Teams click here: https://glitternight.com/d2-20-coolest/

Balladeer’s Blog is not affiliated with or operated by the NAIA or the NCAA or any of their member institutions.

© Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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August 23, 2010 · 12:18 am

QUICK TAKES FOUR; READERS NOTHING

Danny Glover Had Mel Gibson, Joe Glover Has Clay Ryan  – Joe Glover, Interim Athletic Director for the Indiana University Southeast Grenadiers, has made his first hire, Clay Ryan, who was named Interim Sports Information Specialist. Wouldn’t Clay Ryan, P.I. be a great name for a TV show? Anyway, I had my interim staff assistant Coco contact my interim researcher Theo to see what he could find out about Clay Ryan. Turns out he was part of Grenadier basketball teams that won 3 straight conference titles (2008-2010), made 3 straight trips to the NAIA National Basketball Tournament and made a record-breaking appearance in the NAIA’s Elite Eight before falling to the Bellevue (NE) Bruins. Ryan said he hopes to move on to coaching some day if the whole private eye thing doesn’t work out.

A Honey Of An Award – The Saint Ambrose University Fighting Bees men’s golf team recently earned All-Academic Team Honors from the Golf Coaches Association of America. To make the list a team must have a cumulative team GPA of at least 3.0. There’s no doubt about it; I’ll bet Fighting Bees golfers would be smart enough to know a bunker from a dirt pile, or at least smart enough to read a tournament’s rules sheet.

Volleyball Warriors – The Lewis-Clark State Warriors volleyball team starts the season ranked at number 15 in the Tachikara-NAIA Volleyball Coaches Top 25 Poll. “I think it’s a great starting place,” said LCSC head coach Jen Greeny, who is in her 4th season with the team. “Hopefully we can play well during the preseason, show that we’re a tough team, and move from there.” If you were wondering the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds are ranked number one in that poll.

From The Panthers To The Cougars – The Saint Xavier Cougars football coach Mike “You Can’t Spell Feminist Without” Feminis got a huge boost for his defense  recently. Colin Luczynski, a 6-2, 245 pound defensive lineman transferred from the Eastern Illinois Panthers squad to Saint Xavier for his final year of eligibility. Years ago Luczynski played high school football with several SXU Cougars, including quarterback Anthony “Crop-Man Of The Super Six” Kropp. For the senses-shattering origin of Kropp’s superhero persona click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/07/22/saint-xavier-cougars-quarterback-anthony-kropp-joins-new-superhero-team/

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August 20, 2010 · 12:32 am

THE DVD RELEASE OF THE YEAR!

Catch all the drama! All the intrigue! And all the passion of the Cumberland Bulldogs’ victory in the 2010 NAIA World Series!

Woody Paige IS Woody Hunt in the story that held a nation spellbound for 8 days (or one metric week)! This is what the critics have to say:

“I laughed til I cried!” Pauline Kael

“Quite possibly the love story of the year! Be sure to see it with that special someone!” Roger Ebert

“The special effects will blow you away!” Michael Medved

“This DVD set embodies everything baseball is about! Would I lie to you?” Roger Clemens

DVD extras include an interview segment with Ron Pavan himself titled: Seriously, this Balladeer guy doesn’t really believe he’s funny, does he? 

Cumberland University fans and alumni may purchase DVD’s of this year’s NAIA World Series at http://www.naiaworldseries.com/ DVD’s of each of the team’s 5 games in the Series are available for $20 each.

Or, to buy DVD’s of Ken Burns‘ 27 hour documentary on the event click here: http://www.cumberland.edu/athletics

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August 19, 2010 · 12:40 am

TODAY’S COOL-NAMED SPORTS TEAM – WHITTIER COLLEGE

WHITTIER COLLEGE POETS

Location: Whittier, CA

Division: NCAA Division 3

Conference Affiliation: Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

Major sports: football, basketball, baseball, soccer

Site: http://www.wcpoets.com/landing/index

Comment: Remember this exchange in Aristophanes‘ comedy The Frogs – Question: What do you expect a poet to do? Answer: Why, save the nation, of course! We won’t be putting that much pressure on the Whittier teams, thankfully. It would be easy to go the cheap joke route and say something like “What’s the matter? Was the nickname The Ballet Dancers already taken?” But I actually think poets are pretty cool – just ask Francois Villon!    

For more of NCAA Division 3′s Coolest-Named Teams click here: https://glitternight.com/d3-20-coolest/   

 For the NAIA edition of The 20 Coolest College Sports Teams You May Never Have Heard Of click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/06/21/the-20-coolest-named-college-sports-teams-you-may-have-never-heard-of-naia-edition/ 

And for The 20 Coolest College Sports Logos click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/07/20/the-20-coolest-college-sports-logos/

Balladeer’s Blog is not affiliated with or operated by the NAIA or the NCAA or any of their member institutions. 

© Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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August 18, 2010 · 12:58 am

VIKINGS PRESEASON ACTIVITIES VIRTUALLY ON HOLD FOR ONE VERY SPECIAL MAN

“You shouldn’t have!” I exclaimed to the thousands of Missouri Valley College Vikings fans, coaches and student-athletes who had turned out to greet me. It was a veritable media circus what with all the television stations covering my plane landing and my ride to the MVC campus. Sports-talk radio stations were discussing one subject and one subject only: me.

After Head Football Coach Paul Troth made his welcoming speech it was my turn to speak. I choked back tears of emotion and started out by thanking everyone for bearing with me as I agonized over whether or not I would make a blog post about the preseason activities for MVC Vikings fall sports. After the usual opening blandishments I got more to the point with my comments:

“I know some people could say ‘This guy must be incredibly insecure and have a very fragile ego to want to have it stroked so frequently.’ They could say ‘He long ago robbed moments like this of even the pretext of sincerity by shedding crocodile tears at some of his previous public remarks.’ They could ask ‘How hopelessy misguided are the so-called sports media to actually think people want non-stop coverage of one egomaniac’s Hamletesque posturing’…Yes they could say all of these things and there would certainly be some truth in all of those comments.”

After making a mental note to myself to rent a pickup truck for the next public appearance I made like this (preferably one with no muffler) I got down to actually covering the story I had come to Marshall, MO to cover. 360 Missouri Valley College student-athletes had reported to campus to begin preparing for the upcoming academic and sports seasons. Every single one of them told me they were big fans of my blog, proving to me that they were even less sincere than I was.

Football, volleyball, cheerleading and both the men’s and women’s soccer teams were all on-hand and getting ready to compete. The ladies on the volleyball team start their season August 27th in the Grand View Tournament in Des Moines, IA (Tourism slogan: “Des Moines: C’mon, what’s the worst that could happen?”).  The men’s and women’s soccer teams both host their home-openers on August 31st and the football team takes it on the road against the Baker Wildcats on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, Sept 4th.

The sun was beginning to set, so it was with a renewed sense of urgency that I hit up all the head coaches for a few quotes to justify this whole trip as a business expense on my tax returns. Unfortunately on the return flight I accidentally spilled bourbon all over most of my notes. Luckily a few quotes from Head Volleyball Coach Derick White survived intact.  “I am very excited to get the 2010 season started,” he said, “We have some great freshmen and transfers to add to our mix of talented returners. We are hitting the ground running learning our system and we are looking forward to implementing it in our first weekend of play.” 

Here I am with some of the MVC Vikings whom I talked into posing as high school students so I could condescendingly make a big deal about tossing them a few footballs.

 

To find out how much the cleanup following the big welcome I got will cost the taxpayers of Marshall, MO click here: http://www.moval.edu/athletics/

Balladeer’s Blog is not affiliated with or operated by the NAIA or the NCAA or any of their member institutions. 

© Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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August 17, 2010 · 12:46 am

QUICK TAKES III: THE DEATH OF MICHAEL CORLEONE

Bland Response – On August 28th the Cumberlands Patriots take on the McKendree Bearcats in the Big River Bowl. On playing a ranked team on opening weekend Patriots Head Football Coach John Bland had this to say: “We have a tough schedule to start with and only two weeks to get ready for one of the top 10 teams in the nation.” Bland’s Patriots have won back-to-back Mid-South Conference divisional titles and went on to the 2009 playoffs where they lost to the Lambuth Eagles.   

Son Of BAPSSAS – At the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (cool team name The Drovers) the Bill And Pat Smith Scholar Athlete Scholarship actually had two recipients this year. The first was Tashina Ototivo and now, since Bill Smith decided to sponsor another recipient, Dakota Webster, who plays for the men’s basketball team at USAO! Besides having a name cool enough to be the title of a movie, Dakota stood out with his classroom excellence (3.82 GPA), on-the-court performance (A 53.8 percent shooter) and with community work at the Special Olympics.  “It’s definitely an honor,” Webster said on finding out he was the recipient, “I was excited. It’s definitely going to help.” Webster’s a biology major who may very well be operating on some of us down the road so let’s be really really nice to him!

The Battle Of Hastings – Don’t like that title? How about “Hastings Pudding” for you Harvard alumni? No? Oh, forget it! The Hastings Broncos men’s soccer team has been picked in the coaches’ poll to win the Great Plains Athletic Conference title this season. The Broncos were 16-4-3 overall last year and 10-1-1 in conference play, taking the GPAC title. 

HSPN ZONE – While this is generally a college sports blog I also like to cover items that slip through the cultural cracks (see my pages on Navajo and Bunyoro Mythology) so this story is appropriate. HSPN is the Homeschool Sportsnet (www.HSPN.net) which is to Homeschool sports what Balladeer’s Blog tries to be for NAIA and NCAA Division 3 sports. For the 4th year HSPN will be running the National Homeschool Scoreboard, a free on-line service where teams can have their scores, schedules and stats reflected in real-time! For more details go here:   
The National Homeschool Scoreboard is now 4 Years Old 

 
It’s New Year’s In August At Saint Xavier – The SXU Cougars athletics department has launched a new website at http://www.sxucougars.com/ and their 2010-2011 athletic season begins this week! On August 21st the men’s soccer team travels to Columbia, KY to play the Lindsey-Wilson College Blue Raiders. And be sure to ring in this New Year in Cougar athletics by watching Rob Huizenga’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve on August 20th! At Midnight we’ll all gather ’round to watch another Illinois governor fall!
 
Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks: Why, What Wonders We’re Witnesssing! – The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater football team is coming off 5 straight Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles and more importantly are the defending National Champions of NCAA Division 3. They’ve been picked to repeat in some of the preseason polls and if you know D3 football you just know the Mt Union Purple Raiders are also right near them in the rankings. Every year since 2005 the D3 Championship game has been played between those two teams when the dust settles in the playoffs. The Warhawks begin their title defense on September 4th against the Adrian College Bulldogs. Personally I wish they could play a team like the Connecticut College Camels in a game they could call The Alliteration Bowl. Too bad CC doesn’t sponsor football!
 

Balladeer’s Blog is not affiliated with or operated by the NAIA or the NCAA or any of their member institutions. 

© Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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August 16, 2010 · 1:14 am

THE COOLEST HELMET IN THE NORTH COAST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Team: Kenyon College Lords

Site: http://athletics.kenyon.edu/index.xml

Comment: Not to be confused with the Amherst Lord Jeffs, who play in the New England Small College Athletic Conference, the Kenyon Lords are named after Lord Kenyon (“It’s a switcheroo!”), an English Lord who was one of the first financiers of the school. An English Lord getting a mad posh to finance a school in Ohio, USA sounds like a premise for a new movie starring Hugh Grant as Lord Kenyon and Elizabeth Hurley as Bishop Philander Chase, founder of Kenyon College. Naaah. She doesn’t have enough range.

As always, football helmets courtesy of The Helmet Project at: http://www.nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/

Balladeer’s Blog is not affiliated with or operated by the NAIA or the NCAA or any of their member institutions. 

© Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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August 15, 2010 · 5:03 am

TODAY’S COOL-NAMED SPORTS TEAM- SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE

SWEET BRIAR COLLEGE VIXENS

Location: Sweet Briar, VA

Division: NCAA Division 3

Conference Affiliation: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

Major sports: soccer, softball, volleyball, swimming, tennis, lacrosse, field hockey, horseback riding

Site:  www.vixenathletics.com

Comment: As the nickname Vixens would imply this is an all-female institution. (For those who don’t know a vixen is a female fox). Really cool name for sports teams and their colors are pink and green so that’s pretty cool, too!

For more of NCAA Division 3′s Coolest-Named Teams click here: https://glitternight.com/d3-20-coolest/   

 For the NAIA edition of The 20 Coolest College Sports Teams You May Never Have Heard Of click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/06/21/the-20-coolest-named-college-sports-teams-you-may-have-never-heard-of-naia-edition/ 

And for The 20 Coolest College Sports Logos click here: https://glitternight.com/2010/07/20/the-20-coolest-college-sports-logos/

Balladeer’s Blog is not affiliated with or operated by the NAIA or the NCAA or any of their member institutions. 

© Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Edward Wozniak and Balladeer’s Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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August 15, 2010 · 12:02 am

LNN: LINDENWOOD NEWS NETWORK

 

"This is LNN"

 

When you’re a big-time, world-renowned blogger like myself, you get sports news releases in your e-mail in-box, along with the usual pro bono notifications that a bank in Nigeria needs your help in disbursing large amounts of money (easiest 2 million bucks I ever made!). Anyway, one of those releases included a veritable bonanza of information about the sports programs at Lindenwood University. Since at first glance it seemed like enough material to launch a sports network about the Lions I used that as my lame premise for this post.

*ITEM: LION-HEARTED  BILL BRITTON: HERO AT LARGE – July 26th – Bill Britton, an incoming football player for the Lions, along with his cousin Jeff, came across an overturned vehicle on Highway 100 in Missouri. Not only did they call 911 but when the vehicle burst into flames Britton, Jeff and 2 other people dragged the driver out of the vehicle to safety.  “I still do not know what to think about it,” said Britton, “…The flames were five foot high and you could hear the tires popping. It is cool though that we were in the right place to be able to help somebody out.”   In the tradition of Buford Pusser and Serpico some enterprising producer needs to turn this into a television series. Jeff would have his own spin-off series, so the show about Bill would have TV Guide entries like this: “Bill’s attempt to finish his term paper is interrupted when he is called upon to save the elderly patients at the nearby hospital from a dangerous gas leak.” or maybe “On his way to practice Bill becomes caught up in a Tri-State search for a missing toddler.” For the big season-ending clifff-hanger it could read “Bill’s budding romance with an exchange student involves him in a desperate attempt to save the staff at the International Space Station from certain doom.” I think we’ve got another Frank Merriwell on our hands here!

*ITEM: LINDENWOOD ATHLETICS TO BEGIN 2010-2011 SEASON – Following a hotly-contested vote the students and administration of Lindenwood University moved that it was, indeed, the 2010-2011 sports season. 

*ITEM:  MORE THAN 10 LIONS INDICTED – July 30th – Okay, that was just my teaser headline to get attention. In reality this story is about former Lindenwood Lions individuals and teams being inducted into the university’s Athletic Hall of Fame. (Who doesn’t love play-on-word headlines? Well, besides the people who overreacted when I ran the headline “4 Dead In Local Pre-School” instead of “4 Deer In Local Preschool”. Some people just can’t take a joke!) Inductees will be: student athletes Dawn Cameron “Swayze”, softball; Jenifer “Leave off the second N for ‘Nice'” Dykes, women’s soccer; Matt “Johns” Hopkins, men’s golf; Debbie Johnson “Is Right!”, women’s soccer; Jason “Your-cek” Micek, men’s golf;  “Dangerous” Daniel Odom, men’s basketball; “Mighty”, Michelle Patrico, softball; and Katie “Killer K.P.” Pizzardi, women’s basketball.  Also being inducted are Fern Bittner, former Director of Horsemanship; Dr Harlen C Hunter, Meritorious Service; the 1977-78 Men’s Basketball Team; the 1999-2000 women’s basketball team; the 2004 men’s soccer team and oddly enough the 1988 Notre Dame football team. Weird. The 2010 Induction Ceremony will take place Homecoming Weekend Oct 15th-16th.

* ITEM: THURSDAY NIGHT MILESTONE – The first ever Thursday night game in Lindenwood Lions football history will take place September 2nd as the Lions welcome the Evangel University Crusaders.  

*ITEM: BEDTIME FOR ZOMBO – July 14th -Former NHL Player Rick Zombo has taken over as Head Coach for the Lindenwood men’s ice hockey team. For the past 2 years Zombo has been the team’s  Top Assistant Coach and helped the Lions capture 2 straight National Championships for ice hockey. “With the increase in responsibility as head coach,” Zombo observed, ” my ambition is to make the program even stronger. We have a tremendous core of returning players that understand the difficulty of winning a title, but will cherish the process of continued success.”  

To read the coach’s annoyed reply when I asked if he was related to the Zombo character that Louis Nye portrayed on an old episode of The Munsters click here: http://www.lindenwoodlions.com/

Balladeer’s Blog is not affiliated with or operated by the NAIA or the NCAA or any of their member institutions. 

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