I'm sure it's happened before sometime over the eight years I've been fortunate to be the SID here at ETBU, but for some reason the feat this time seems to have a little more punch to it.
Maybe it's because the fall sports season started a bit slowly for our athletic teams. Through the first couple of weeks of the fall season, the Lady Tiger volleyball team was the only team to record a win and they were kind of bouncing up and around the .500 mark through the first three weeks or so. Both soccer teams, combined, started the year with three ties and a couple of losses apiece, and football also went winless in non-conference games.
Let me say that I am like a lot of SIDs in that my mood pretty much mirrors that of the success and/or failure of our teams when it comes to winning and losing. Really, the losing. I hate to lose. My wife and I can't play board games anymore because she finds some weird way to always win and then I have to mope around for days, going back over what I could have done differently to perhaps pull out a victory...
But I digress. The point is that when our teams struggle, I struggle. Call me a homer if you like, but my job is a lot more fun when we have success. That makes weekends like this past one very, very fun.
Our four fall sports teams -- football, volleyball, and both men's and women's soccer -- came away victorious on Saturday. Like I said at the beginning, I'm sure at some point over the years the sweep has happened before, but this one feels a bit sweeter for some reason.
For one thing, it's a great thing to see a bunch of hard working young ladies on our soccer team finally get rewarded with a victory, as well as giving one to our new coach, Paul Grant. I've known Paul for less than two months, but he is the right man for this job. Our Lady Tiger soccer program is in good hands, trust me, and they are headed in the right direction. So, it's always nice to see good guys (and gals) with a smile on their face, and winning puts the smile there quicker than anything.
The win for Coach Alonzo's bunch has a different feel. The Tigers have overcome a slow start offensively and have been rolling up the goals the last three games. Thirteen, to be exact. Consider that they scored four goals in the first five games, and yes, you have to say the Tigers have found something they like. Saturday's thrilling 4-3 win over McMurry was good in a lot of ways: a) it gets us over the .500 mark on the season, which always makes you feel good, b) it's a third straight conference win and has us in striking distance of first place in the standings, and c) we had to work extremely hard to get it. Easy wins are nice for fans, because we don't have to worry about much during the course of a game. But wins like Saturday are good for teams because you learn a lot about yourself in the process when you have to come from behind and score when the heat is being turned up.
The football team has turned around its season in just the span of a couple of weeks. That 0-2 start is forgotten, and the Tigers are reaping the actual benefits of playing a Top 25 non-conference opponent as well as a decent D-II opponent. Even though those games were losses, and big ones at that, ETBU has grown on the football field. The first two conference wins haven't been remotely perfect, but wins don't have to be, do they?
I can tell you just from the experience of traveling to Alpine several times over the years, whether by land or by air, that it's perhaps the most difficult road trip for any of our teams. It's 12 or so hours away by charter bus, which is a challenge in and of itself. Then you finally get way out there and realize the air just isn't there for your lungs, with the high elevation in the West Texas mountains. And oh, by the way, once you get there you actually have to play a game against a team that is used to the conditions and thrives in them.
Saturday's 41-28 win over Sul Ross wasn't perfect, no. But it was the fourth straight game in which the Tigers improved from the previous week. Case in point -- through the first three games, ETBU just hadn't been very good in short-yardage situations offensively. Getting to the goal line was an adventure. But you keep stressing and working and practicing, and boom! Corey George puts touchdowns on the board in record numbers in short yardage around the goal line. The defense pretty much shut down a high-octane Lobo offense through most of the final three quarters, aided by some pressure on the quarterback and turnovers.
As for volleyball -- bring your heart medication with you to Lady Tiger games! The goal for ETBU is rather obvious this season: the Lady Tigers want to win the ASC East and host the conference tournament for the first time since 2001. If that happens, we all will truly appreciate the road it took to get there.
The Lady Tigers played 10 games of volleyball this weekend over the course of two matches. In case you're wondering, that's the limit. In both matches -- at UMHB on Friday and UTD on Saturday -- ETBU was down 0-2 and staring disappointment straight in the face. But the Lady Tigers didn't blink, and staged back-to-back thrilling rallies to steal a pair of huge road wins against conference foes. The wins have the Lady Tigers all alone in first place in the East, and in full control of determining whether or not ETBU hosts the conference tourney in late October.
And get this -- ETBU is now 20-3 overall against the ASC since the start of the 2006 season. They will face defending conference champion Hardin-Simmons Friday at the first of two crossover tournaments in the next few weeks, so it will again be a big test. But one thing Coach Mashe and her players have shown is that 0-2 isn't a big enough deficit for this team to overcome.
And oh by the way, ETBU's cross country teams ran in a big meet out in Abilene this weekend and competed very well. Cross country is really a sport in which the athlete competes against himself or herself, and the men's team posted their best individual times when compared against their previous meet. The women's team was facing some very stiff competition out on the course, but also had solid, improved times.
Who knows when this kind of success will happen again. But for now, it's good to look back with some pride on the past weekend for our teams. The most important thing, however, and the most exciting, is what it could mean for the future.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Roar of the Tiger
This theme for this blog entry is dangerously close to that of the last one, but it's the best I could do at the moment at the end of that long drive around what's called writer's bloc.
However, it's one that is very near and dear to my heart, if no one else's. A few years ago I felt the need and inner urging to come up with something that would identify our teams as they walked out of the locker room -- most notably, football and basketball. The simple phrase "here come the Tigers" doesn't work anymore. People loved to get jazzed up for stuff -- I think the correct term used today is "krunk," whatever that means.
I came up with our now-famous Tiger Roar. That's that loud, roaring sound you hear in Ornelas Stadium when the football team starts the trek from the locker room to the field. It's also what you hear sometimes in Ornelas Gym just before the Tigers take the court.
There's a story behind the Tiger Roar. It's actually not that bad now, but the first one I came across was downright and borderline annoying. Even those of you who may be big fans of the Roar have to admit it wasn't the most appealing sound you'll ever hear. It sounded like one of those dinosaur noises you'd hear in "Jurassic Park," or like our tiger on the other end was in the process of dying, maybe.
I'd had enough of that roar after about three or four years. And quite frankly, the only feedback I got back from it was very comical. I had the feeling we were turning into a circus rather than an athletic event.
So I decided in my own wisdom to get rid of the Roar. Everyone hated it, it sounded nothing like a Tiger (it actually was though, really -- I'd downloaded it off the Internet after doing a simple search for "tiger roar"), and I was embarrassed by it. The only one who really liked it was our men's basketball coach, Bert West. But if you know Bert at all, none of that would surprise you. Bert will be a blog all by himself once basketball season starts; and I did appreciate his support for the original Tiger Roar. But trust me, the Roar stunk.
The Roar had its first official off day at a Tiger event during the 2006 football home opener. The CD player in the press box was broken, so all our pregame music had to be played on my laptop that day. The laptop was connected to the sound system courtesy of our trusty sound man at ETBU, the pride of Hallsville Bobcat Stadium, Mr. Johnny Vinson. The only problem was, Johnny and the laptop were at the other end of the pressbox from where I would be sitting and keeping game stats. And, the laptop also had my stat program. So I had to keep the laptop down there right up until the teams came out, play whatever intro sounds were needed, then unhook my computer and race back down the hallway to the media room where I would then have to hook it up again and get ready for kickoff.
So again, that was another reason why I decided to get rid of the Tiger Roar. No one even noticed it, anyway, right?
Wrong. The first drive of the game hadn't been completed that day when I got a call from our Athletic Director, Kent Reeves. He had gotten a message from Dr. Riley, our president, wanting to know why the Tiger Roar wasn't played. I told Kent I didn't have a copy of it because, basically, I hadn't planned to use it anymore. It was a joke. An embarrassing, sickening sound.
Needless to say, Dr. Riley likes the Tiger Roar. Several other people came up to me after that game and asked where our Roar had gone. It had become a tradition at ETBU, apparently, without me realizing it. I just wanted to play something that resembled a Tiger, not a dying whale.
I had a newfound desire to find a Roar suited for ETBU. The next home game, the new version was unveiled -- and I have to say it sounds much, much more like a vicious Tiger than anything I'd found before. The clip is only about 12 seconds long, but I've looped it into about 90 seconds worth of Tiger growling, roaring and snorting. It's a Tiger calling for his team, and it is here to stay.
It gets us "krunk," as they say.
However, it's one that is very near and dear to my heart, if no one else's. A few years ago I felt the need and inner urging to come up with something that would identify our teams as they walked out of the locker room -- most notably, football and basketball. The simple phrase "here come the Tigers" doesn't work anymore. People loved to get jazzed up for stuff -- I think the correct term used today is "krunk," whatever that means.
I came up with our now-famous Tiger Roar. That's that loud, roaring sound you hear in Ornelas Stadium when the football team starts the trek from the locker room to the field. It's also what you hear sometimes in Ornelas Gym just before the Tigers take the court.
There's a story behind the Tiger Roar. It's actually not that bad now, but the first one I came across was downright and borderline annoying. Even those of you who may be big fans of the Roar have to admit it wasn't the most appealing sound you'll ever hear. It sounded like one of those dinosaur noises you'd hear in "Jurassic Park," or like our tiger on the other end was in the process of dying, maybe.
I'd had enough of that roar after about three or four years. And quite frankly, the only feedback I got back from it was very comical. I had the feeling we were turning into a circus rather than an athletic event.
So I decided in my own wisdom to get rid of the Roar. Everyone hated it, it sounded nothing like a Tiger (it actually was though, really -- I'd downloaded it off the Internet after doing a simple search for "tiger roar"), and I was embarrassed by it. The only one who really liked it was our men's basketball coach, Bert West. But if you know Bert at all, none of that would surprise you. Bert will be a blog all by himself once basketball season starts; and I did appreciate his support for the original Tiger Roar. But trust me, the Roar stunk.
The Roar had its first official off day at a Tiger event during the 2006 football home opener. The CD player in the press box was broken, so all our pregame music had to be played on my laptop that day. The laptop was connected to the sound system courtesy of our trusty sound man at ETBU, the pride of Hallsville Bobcat Stadium, Mr. Johnny Vinson. The only problem was, Johnny and the laptop were at the other end of the pressbox from where I would be sitting and keeping game stats. And, the laptop also had my stat program. So I had to keep the laptop down there right up until the teams came out, play whatever intro sounds were needed, then unhook my computer and race back down the hallway to the media room where I would then have to hook it up again and get ready for kickoff.
So again, that was another reason why I decided to get rid of the Tiger Roar. No one even noticed it, anyway, right?
Wrong. The first drive of the game hadn't been completed that day when I got a call from our Athletic Director, Kent Reeves. He had gotten a message from Dr. Riley, our president, wanting to know why the Tiger Roar wasn't played. I told Kent I didn't have a copy of it because, basically, I hadn't planned to use it anymore. It was a joke. An embarrassing, sickening sound.
Needless to say, Dr. Riley likes the Tiger Roar. Several other people came up to me after that game and asked where our Roar had gone. It had become a tradition at ETBU, apparently, without me realizing it. I just wanted to play something that resembled a Tiger, not a dying whale.
I had a newfound desire to find a Roar suited for ETBU. The next home game, the new version was unveiled -- and I have to say it sounds much, much more like a vicious Tiger than anything I'd found before. The clip is only about 12 seconds long, but I've looped it into about 90 seconds worth of Tiger growling, roaring and snorting. It's a Tiger calling for his team, and it is here to stay.
It gets us "krunk," as they say.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Mascots
Common sense tells us what should happen Saturday when ETBU hosts Howard Payne in the annual battle of Baptist brethren on the football field.
It doesn't matter who plays quarterback, running back or linebacker for either team, right? That turnover thing, it's way overrated, right? Penalties? Injuries? Mistakes? Won't make a big of difference.
Common sense says no way a Yellow Jacket can take down a Tiger.
We love our mascots. At ETBU, of course, that means we love the big cats. Is there any animal as majestically beautiful and powerful while at the same time being as terrifying up close? I remember a few years ago when we had an actual live tiger mascot, Sarge. Sarge attended a handful of games in Ornelas Stadium and was quite possibly the final, magic touch we needed during our playoff season in 2003. ETBU was 3-0 in Ornelas Stadium that year when Sarge was in attendance, including the playoff win against Trinity that ended with Littleton Dean blocking an extra point attempt in overtime.
I never found out for sure, but I've heard that we requested a special place for ol' Sarge on the airplane to Williamsport, Pa., the next week, to play Lycoming in the second round. The airline must have said no, however, because I was on the plane and Sarge wasn't. And we all know how that ended up...
Anyway, I remember a lot more about Sarge that really had nothing to do with football or anything else. To see him walk gracefully off his personalized trailer and right into his cage at the stadium was a sight in and of itself. But Sarge was also still just a kitten, in terms of tiger age. That meant he liked to play like a kitten, despite the fact he was slightly larger than a t-rex I think.
Sarge's toys included an empty refrigerator box, which would last about 10 minutes as I recall. He'd rip and tear that thing to shreds and then clean the pieces of cardboard from his claws and teeth as though he'd just taken down a deer in the woods around Marshall. Then came time to eat -- which meant more toys. That little packaged stuff you find for your house cat, of course, would only make Sarge mad. No, he had to have chicken -- whole chickens. Now, they weren't live chickens, just store-bought hens. But he would cut those things to pieces, and yes it was a bit sickening to hear the bones crunch in his mouth as he sat lazily in his pen, ready to strap it on with his favorite college team a few feet away.
Sarge doesn't come to ETBU games anymore, but his legacy remains -- especially around my office and in our publications. You can find his picture on some of our athletic web pages. Yes, that's Sarge peering from the background at the top of our football and basketball pages, watching over our athletes.
Yes, there's something about a tiger. It's a perfect mascot for ETBU. It's a perfect mascot anywhere, really. The tiger would make a great blue-chip athlete: big, strong, fast and aggressive. If you don't think so, just ask the chicken.
And while we're on the subject of mascots, ETBU still does have a live mascot at just about every event -- Toby the Tiger. As I recall, Sarge was particularly fond of Toby in the few times they came across each other over the years. They'd sit and stare at each other through those cage wires, Sarge wondering why in the heck he was surrounded by a fence while that other thing, which looked sort of like him, was roaming free -- on two legs, no less.
Of course, Toby is actually a disguise for ETBU student Lia Frederick. I will go on record as saying Lia is the best "mascot" in the country, at any level. She's a natural. She's also quite a story in and of herself -- Lia plays on the Lady Tiger soccer team as well as running cross country. Conceivably, she can run a cross country meet on a Saturday morning somewhere close by, make it back to the stadium in time to suit up as Toby for a football game, and then head over to Cornish Field and play a soccer game that night. It's simply amazing, and I hope to have a feature story sometime this fall on Lia's adventures. That would be the best way to describe it, I think.
So bring your Tiger paws and your Tiger gear to Ornelas Stadium Saturday and get ready to swat those annoying Yellow Jackets. Remember, the bite is always better than the buzz.
It doesn't matter who plays quarterback, running back or linebacker for either team, right? That turnover thing, it's way overrated, right? Penalties? Injuries? Mistakes? Won't make a big of difference.
Common sense says no way a Yellow Jacket can take down a Tiger.
We love our mascots. At ETBU, of course, that means we love the big cats. Is there any animal as majestically beautiful and powerful while at the same time being as terrifying up close? I remember a few years ago when we had an actual live tiger mascot, Sarge. Sarge attended a handful of games in Ornelas Stadium and was quite possibly the final, magic touch we needed during our playoff season in 2003. ETBU was 3-0 in Ornelas Stadium that year when Sarge was in attendance, including the playoff win against Trinity that ended with Littleton Dean blocking an extra point attempt in overtime.
I never found out for sure, but I've heard that we requested a special place for ol' Sarge on the airplane to Williamsport, Pa., the next week, to play Lycoming in the second round. The airline must have said no, however, because I was on the plane and Sarge wasn't. And we all know how that ended up...
Anyway, I remember a lot more about Sarge that really had nothing to do with football or anything else. To see him walk gracefully off his personalized trailer and right into his cage at the stadium was a sight in and of itself. But Sarge was also still just a kitten, in terms of tiger age. That meant he liked to play like a kitten, despite the fact he was slightly larger than a t-rex I think.
Sarge's toys included an empty refrigerator box, which would last about 10 minutes as I recall. He'd rip and tear that thing to shreds and then clean the pieces of cardboard from his claws and teeth as though he'd just taken down a deer in the woods around Marshall. Then came time to eat -- which meant more toys. That little packaged stuff you find for your house cat, of course, would only make Sarge mad. No, he had to have chicken -- whole chickens. Now, they weren't live chickens, just store-bought hens. But he would cut those things to pieces, and yes it was a bit sickening to hear the bones crunch in his mouth as he sat lazily in his pen, ready to strap it on with his favorite college team a few feet away.
Sarge doesn't come to ETBU games anymore, but his legacy remains -- especially around my office and in our publications. You can find his picture on some of our athletic web pages. Yes, that's Sarge peering from the background at the top of our football and basketball pages, watching over our athletes.
Yes, there's something about a tiger. It's a perfect mascot for ETBU. It's a perfect mascot anywhere, really. The tiger would make a great blue-chip athlete: big, strong, fast and aggressive. If you don't think so, just ask the chicken.
And while we're on the subject of mascots, ETBU still does have a live mascot at just about every event -- Toby the Tiger. As I recall, Sarge was particularly fond of Toby in the few times they came across each other over the years. They'd sit and stare at each other through those cage wires, Sarge wondering why in the heck he was surrounded by a fence while that other thing, which looked sort of like him, was roaming free -- on two legs, no less.
Of course, Toby is actually a disguise for ETBU student Lia Frederick. I will go on record as saying Lia is the best "mascot" in the country, at any level. She's a natural. She's also quite a story in and of herself -- Lia plays on the Lady Tiger soccer team as well as running cross country. Conceivably, she can run a cross country meet on a Saturday morning somewhere close by, make it back to the stadium in time to suit up as Toby for a football game, and then head over to Cornish Field and play a soccer game that night. It's simply amazing, and I hope to have a feature story sometime this fall on Lia's adventures. That would be the best way to describe it, I think.
So bring your Tiger paws and your Tiger gear to Ornelas Stadium Saturday and get ready to swat those annoying Yellow Jackets. Remember, the bite is always better than the buzz.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Welcome to the (Blog) Jungle
One of the first things I do every morning when I get to the office is search the Internet. That search includes popular news and sports sites all over the world wide web -- ESPN, CNNSI, Fox News, etc. Part of the reason I do this as part of my morning routine at ETBU is that I can never seem to get up in time to either read a newspaper of turn on a television. The other part, I guess, is that I have become addicted to surfing the 'Net with a cup of hot coffee in my hand -- another thing that never happens around my house early in the morning with three small children running around.
Anway, part of this Internet surf for me in the mornings takes me to the web sites of my colleagues in the American Southwest Conference. The ASC is becoming more and more recognized every year as one of the most competitive, deepest Division III leagues in the country, top to bottom. If you take a look at the 15 web sites in the conference, you'll see that sort of label extending online as well.
My good friend and SID colleague Chad Grubbs at Hardin-Simmons has the first online SID blog in the conference, and you'll find it linked to the Cowboys website. That's where the idea for TigerBlog started, in between cups of coffee and a daily check of my Yahoo fantasy baseball team -- which is locked in a second-round playoff duel right now as I speak. That's a story for another time and another blog, however.
What I hope to accomplish here is to give a behind-the-scenes look at what goes on at ETBU and, specifically, within our athletic department. The news and features will continue to be posted on our web site, www.etbu.edu, but I hope to be able to give more insight and information here. I'll also satisfy my writing itch from time to time and blog some other type of article from time to time that you won't find on the ETBU site -- all ETBU related, of course.
There are a lot of exciting things going on at our University this year, and I'll try to hit as many high points as possible. I can't promise a new blog every day, but when I need a break from the everyday monotony of press releases, media guides and emails, I'll try to hit the blog with something fresh.
We're two weeks into the fall season and already it feels like the middle of the year. Summer seems so far away, doesn't it -- not next summer, I'm talking about the past one. A new era of Tiger football is underway, and pay no attention to that 0-2 mark through the first two games. I was at Ouachita Saturday night, on the sideline, and the Tigers were a much better team than the one that opened against Trinity the week before. That kind of improvement week to week is the sign of a good bunch, and I think we are definitely on the right track.
Tiger soccer is also off and running, and the men's team has shown flashes of potential. The good thing is that ETBU's 1-2-1 mark has come against non-conference competition, and when this group plays mistake-free soccer they are going to be a nuisance for anyone. The Lady Tigers have been in a state of change since right before the school year, with a late coaching change, but new coach Paul Grant has a direction and a plan, trust me. He will get it done, and the ladies will keep getting better as the year goes on.
Lyndsay Mashe's volleyball team has also been very competitive through the first couple of weeks and are poised to make another run at the ASC East title. The Lady Tigers aren't as deep, perhaps, as they've been in past years, with youth in some key spots in the rotation. But the 5-5 start this year is worlds better than the 0-6 from last year, so Lyndsay and her group are right in the thick of things again.
That's it for now, so keep watching. Hopefully this will be a beneficial site for everyone and we can all enjoy another great year of Tiger athletics.
Anway, part of this Internet surf for me in the mornings takes me to the web sites of my colleagues in the American Southwest Conference. The ASC is becoming more and more recognized every year as one of the most competitive, deepest Division III leagues in the country, top to bottom. If you take a look at the 15 web sites in the conference, you'll see that sort of label extending online as well.
My good friend and SID colleague Chad Grubbs at Hardin-Simmons has the first online SID blog in the conference, and you'll find it linked to the Cowboys website. That's where the idea for TigerBlog started, in between cups of coffee and a daily check of my Yahoo fantasy baseball team -- which is locked in a second-round playoff duel right now as I speak. That's a story for another time and another blog, however.
What I hope to accomplish here is to give a behind-the-scenes look at what goes on at ETBU and, specifically, within our athletic department. The news and features will continue to be posted on our web site, www.etbu.edu, but I hope to be able to give more insight and information here. I'll also satisfy my writing itch from time to time and blog some other type of article from time to time that you won't find on the ETBU site -- all ETBU related, of course.
There are a lot of exciting things going on at our University this year, and I'll try to hit as many high points as possible. I can't promise a new blog every day, but when I need a break from the everyday monotony of press releases, media guides and emails, I'll try to hit the blog with something fresh.
We're two weeks into the fall season and already it feels like the middle of the year. Summer seems so far away, doesn't it -- not next summer, I'm talking about the past one. A new era of Tiger football is underway, and pay no attention to that 0-2 mark through the first two games. I was at Ouachita Saturday night, on the sideline, and the Tigers were a much better team than the one that opened against Trinity the week before. That kind of improvement week to week is the sign of a good bunch, and I think we are definitely on the right track.
Tiger soccer is also off and running, and the men's team has shown flashes of potential. The good thing is that ETBU's 1-2-1 mark has come against non-conference competition, and when this group plays mistake-free soccer they are going to be a nuisance for anyone. The Lady Tigers have been in a state of change since right before the school year, with a late coaching change, but new coach Paul Grant has a direction and a plan, trust me. He will get it done, and the ladies will keep getting better as the year goes on.
Lyndsay Mashe's volleyball team has also been very competitive through the first couple of weeks and are poised to make another run at the ASC East title. The Lady Tigers aren't as deep, perhaps, as they've been in past years, with youth in some key spots in the rotation. But the 5-5 start this year is worlds better than the 0-6 from last year, so Lyndsay and her group are right in the thick of things again.
That's it for now, so keep watching. Hopefully this will be a beneficial site for everyone and we can all enjoy another great year of Tiger athletics.
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