We are closing in on midnight, nearly Monday morning. Everyone is excited to finally get home. We stopped in Chamberlain, S.D., for supper at McDonald's. Everyone was looking for a "Welcome Home Derek West" sign as we pulled into his hometown, but nothing up yet.
Finished supper and began our last leg of the tour home. Currently on highway 23 about 20 minutes from home.
It's been a pleasure to post throughout this championship week for SMSU baseball and all our loyal fans. I thank you all for the comments that you've posted on this blog and also through e-mail and phone. It was a blast, just like it was on the trip to Springfield, Mass.
It was a memorable week for our ball players and something they'll never forget. A chance to play at a great ballpark, against great teams and show everyone that you can compete was tremendous thing for everyone involved.
Fans, you'll be happy to know the team was true class the whole week and represented SMSU in a positive way to everyone in Grand Junction.
I hope everyone has a great summer and remember to support SMSU athletics in any way you can. Booster club membership, season tickets, golf classic participant, in-kind donations to facilities, etc. We love your support.
Until next time we meet...Go Mustangs!
Kelly
Sunday, May 17, 2009
May 17 - 6:45 pm CDT - In South Dakota
We are now in South Dakota driving on US Highway 83 heading towards Murdo, S.D. We will then hit I-90 and begin our way east towards Sioux Falls.
The drive from North Platte, Neb., to Murdo, S.D., is something else to see...well, there is nothing to see. Just wide open spaces and spaces and spaces.
Movie update. We watched Grumpy Old Men and another Dane Cook movie (I can't remember the name). good stuff. now Me, Myself and Irene is playing on the bus.
Thank goodness internet is working on the bus. Helping me pass the time. I followed the Twins suffer another walk-off lose to the Yankees and also followed Mesa State win the regiona title over Wayne State 8-2.
Greg Laughlin and Andrew Kinney both named to the all-tournament team. Doug Stearns and Matt Bauer both could've been named as well.
later
The drive from North Platte, Neb., to Murdo, S.D., is something else to see...well, there is nothing to see. Just wide open spaces and spaces and spaces.
Movie update. We watched Grumpy Old Men and another Dane Cook movie (I can't remember the name). good stuff. now Me, Myself and Irene is playing on the bus.
Thank goodness internet is working on the bus. Helping me pass the time. I followed the Twins suffer another walk-off lose to the Yankees and also followed Mesa State win the regiona title over Wayne State 8-2.
Greg Laughlin and Andrew Kinney both named to the all-tournament team. Doug Stearns and Matt Bauer both could've been named as well.
later
May 17 - 2:16 pm CDT
We continue our drive home from Grand Junction. Update, Mesa State leads Wayne State 6-0 in the fourth inning of the championship game.
We stopped in eastern Colorado at a Wendy' for lunch. I have no clue what town it was. But it was the middle of nowwhere. The cool thing was seeing two people ride in on horses, tie them up and go eat lunch. You know your in ranch country.
Here are some pictures from today. One pic is the sunrise before we left, another is Coach Nikkel next to an elk that he wishes he could shoot someday. Other pics are from the views we had on the bus. Also one picture is from Thursday's opening round game vs. Mankato. The team on the base line following introductions.
We are closing in on Nebraska
May 17 - 10:30 MDT - Heading Home
Good morning Mustangs fans. The SMSU baseball team is on its way home from Grand Junction, Colo. I'm writing from the bus as we close in on Sterling, Colo., in eastern Colorado.
We awoke around 5:15 am MDT, finished packing and had some breakfast in the hotel before leaving GJ at 6:06 MDT.
As expected, the views from the bus during the first three hours were awesome! GJ is at 4,500 feet and two hours in the trip we were cruising through the Rocky Mountains at 10,000 feet. Still snow on the ground in many spots. The views make the trip go a little quicker. Now as we continue east, the mountains are now just a distant memory in the rear view mirror. I'll be posting some pictures later today.
Update from the tournament late last night. Wayne State eliminated CSU-Pueblo 6-1. Yeah, can you believe it? Wayne State held CSU-P to just one run. I'm sure CSU-P was just tired from its comeback versus SMSU :)
Following last night's game, the team split up and ate at either Sonic or Taco Bell and then met with Coach Blanchard at 10 pm. Coach thanked the team for a great season, making school history and thanked them for letting him be their coach. The players then gave Coach John Petersen a bat signed by the entire team thanking him for his efforts as pitching coach at SMSU. Coach will not be returning next season. John played five seasons at SMSU and has coached another five years. He is a true Mustang.
The team hung out the remainder of the night, while Coach Blanchard, Coach Nikkel, Chris Hmielewski and I headed to McDonald's for a late night shake/snack. Only the drive through was open, so we walked through drive thru and knocked on the drive-in window to order, cutting between cars. The worker said, "sorry have to order at the first window." So we back-pedal (honestly) to the first window and order, then walked forward again to get our order. (you had to be there, sort of funny).
Back in the room, we sat around and talked about the season, the highs and lows (lots of highs) and looking to next year.
We continue heading east before stopping for lunch sometime around 12 pm. Not looking forward to losing an hour, but will be nice to get back to Central Time Zone. We are now on our third movie on the way home. The first was Detroit Rock City, followed The Running Man and now Little Big League.
More coming later. We hope to return to Marshall around midnight.
We awoke around 5:15 am MDT, finished packing and had some breakfast in the hotel before leaving GJ at 6:06 MDT.
As expected, the views from the bus during the first three hours were awesome! GJ is at 4,500 feet and two hours in the trip we were cruising through the Rocky Mountains at 10,000 feet. Still snow on the ground in many spots. The views make the trip go a little quicker. Now as we continue east, the mountains are now just a distant memory in the rear view mirror. I'll be posting some pictures later today.
Update from the tournament late last night. Wayne State eliminated CSU-Pueblo 6-1. Yeah, can you believe it? Wayne State held CSU-P to just one run. I'm sure CSU-P was just tired from its comeback versus SMSU :)
Following last night's game, the team split up and ate at either Sonic or Taco Bell and then met with Coach Blanchard at 10 pm. Coach thanked the team for a great season, making school history and thanked them for letting him be their coach. The players then gave Coach John Petersen a bat signed by the entire team thanking him for his efforts as pitching coach at SMSU. Coach will not be returning next season. John played five seasons at SMSU and has coached another five years. He is a true Mustang.
The team hung out the remainder of the night, while Coach Blanchard, Coach Nikkel, Chris Hmielewski and I headed to McDonald's for a late night shake/snack. Only the drive through was open, so we walked through drive thru and knocked on the drive-in window to order, cutting between cars. The worker said, "sorry have to order at the first window." So we back-pedal (honestly) to the first window and order, then walked forward again to get our order. (you had to be there, sort of funny).
Back in the room, we sat around and talked about the season, the highs and lows (lots of highs) and looking to next year.
We continue heading east before stopping for lunch sometime around 12 pm. Not looking forward to losing an hour, but will be nice to get back to Central Time Zone. We are now on our third movie on the way home. The first was Detroit Rock City, followed The Running Man and now Little Big League.
More coming later. We hope to return to Marshall around midnight.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
May 16 - 9:30 pm MDT - Heartbreaking
Unreal. What more can you say about today's game versus Colorado State-Pueblo. SMSU holds a 14-8 lead in the eighth inning and CSU-P rallies to trim the lead to 14-13 heading into the ninth and then with two outs, CSU gets three hits to score the eventual game-winning run. Just hearbreaking for SMSU.
A big play in the game that doesn't show up in the box score is the catch made by the CSUP left fielder with two outs in the eighth inning. SMSU had a runner at second and Andrew Kinney hit a deep ball to left field, that looked like was going to be a sure double, but the fielder made a diving catch at the base of the wall to keep his team to within one run.
As I type this in the hotel room, I can't help but think what a great experience for SMSU baseball and its players to compete in this regional tournament. There is no doubt in my mind we have a team that can compete at this level. The hitting by our guys was unreal all weekend long. As you can tell by the scores, it was a great hitting environment for all teams – fairly small ballpark, wind blowing out at times and altitude, as Grand Junction is at 4,500 feet above sea level.
We will be heading back to Marshall at 6 am on Sunday morning. There is good and bad. The good is that the sun will be up and we’ll be able to see the view as we drive through the mountains. The bad is that it will be early and I hope we can all stay awake to see it all.
Another thing I noticed at the regional tournament is weather and climate; make a big difference in college baseball. It’s amazing to see the crowd support for Mesa State baseball. Grand Junction is a big city, but that isn’t the case for many college teams in big cities. What do I mean about the weather? Well it is a big advantage for Mesa State and other Colorado schools to be able to play home games in February, for fans to get to watch their local teams play. Since the RMAC started league games in March, most RMAC schools only play weekends. No mid-week games so the need for six or more starting pitchers isn’t need as much like northern teams.
Plus playing so many games give teams a chance to play at home much more than northern schools. We get about 10-12 home games at home each season and that’s it.
It was a big-time environment for this tournament and a great job put on by the Mesa State College athletics department.
Tonight is May 16 and we were still playing baseball. That’s awesome!
Congrats to our Mustang seniors for great careers, capped by an NCAA regional tournament. Greg Laughlin sets career record for hits, junior Andrew Kinney ties school record for home runs in a season with 17.
The career stats and season stats are updated on-line (of course they are, SMSU is the best at updating its Web site), so check out some of the records set by SMSU this season.
Check back later, as there will be more to come in “The Hey Loft” as we return home on Sunday. I want to say thanks to everyone who read the blog and for their comments. I also have to say it was great to see Dan Nesdahl, an SMSU grad living in Colorado Springs, who made the trip on Friday to watch SMSU play on Friday and Saturday. He’s a big fan and that showed this weekend as he made the five-hour trip to watch his alma mater.
What a season again for SMSU athletics as we are now “officially” done for 2008-09. Two conference championships and six of 10 sports compete at NCAA regional tournaments, the most ever in one season in school history.
Until next time, Go Mustangs!
A big play in the game that doesn't show up in the box score is the catch made by the CSUP left fielder with two outs in the eighth inning. SMSU had a runner at second and Andrew Kinney hit a deep ball to left field, that looked like was going to be a sure double, but the fielder made a diving catch at the base of the wall to keep his team to within one run.
As I type this in the hotel room, I can't help but think what a great experience for SMSU baseball and its players to compete in this regional tournament. There is no doubt in my mind we have a team that can compete at this level. The hitting by our guys was unreal all weekend long. As you can tell by the scores, it was a great hitting environment for all teams – fairly small ballpark, wind blowing out at times and altitude, as Grand Junction is at 4,500 feet above sea level.
We will be heading back to Marshall at 6 am on Sunday morning. There is good and bad. The good is that the sun will be up and we’ll be able to see the view as we drive through the mountains. The bad is that it will be early and I hope we can all stay awake to see it all.
Another thing I noticed at the regional tournament is weather and climate; make a big difference in college baseball. It’s amazing to see the crowd support for Mesa State baseball. Grand Junction is a big city, but that isn’t the case for many college teams in big cities. What do I mean about the weather? Well it is a big advantage for Mesa State and other Colorado schools to be able to play home games in February, for fans to get to watch their local teams play. Since the RMAC started league games in March, most RMAC schools only play weekends. No mid-week games so the need for six or more starting pitchers isn’t need as much like northern teams.
Plus playing so many games give teams a chance to play at home much more than northern schools. We get about 10-12 home games at home each season and that’s it.
It was a big-time environment for this tournament and a great job put on by the Mesa State College athletics department.
Tonight is May 16 and we were still playing baseball. That’s awesome!
Congrats to our Mustang seniors for great careers, capped by an NCAA regional tournament. Greg Laughlin sets career record for hits, junior Andrew Kinney ties school record for home runs in a season with 17.
The career stats and season stats are updated on-line (of course they are, SMSU is the best at updating its Web site), so check out some of the records set by SMSU this season.
Check back later, as there will be more to come in “The Hey Loft” as we return home on Sunday. I want to say thanks to everyone who read the blog and for their comments. I also have to say it was great to see Dan Nesdahl, an SMSU grad living in Colorado Springs, who made the trip on Friday to watch SMSU play on Friday and Saturday. He’s a big fan and that showed this weekend as he made the five-hour trip to watch his alma mater.
What a season again for SMSU athletics as we are now “officially” done for 2008-09. Two conference championships and six of 10 sports compete at NCAA regional tournaments, the most ever in one season in school history.
Until next time, Go Mustangs!
May 16 - 9:15 am MDT - A Long Night
The view from the press box at Suplizio Field in Grand Junction, looking east.
Wow...that's all I can say about last night's game versus Wayne State. The Wildcats jumped on us early and cruised to the victory. Baseball is a crazy game and last night was a great example of that. WSC had the game well in hand in the sixth inning and then things got really weird. Three bloop hits, a ball glanced off of SMSU pitcher Matt Paulsen's grove for a hit, a bad hop single over shortstop Josh Nolan's head and then the kicker...a ground ball up the middle, Greg Laughlin about to grab it and step on second base and then.... the ball hits the base and goes at a 90 degree angle for a hit.
Some bright spots? Congrats Greg Laughlin on breaking the school record for hits in a career! Colby Pack was a great hitter and to pass him is a great accomplishment. Greg finished with four hits yesterday and was the homer shy of the cycle. Also, Andrew Kinney belted his 17th home run of the season, tying the school single-season record.
Following the game, the team ordered pizza and got to bed. I awoke this morning around 8 am, as Coach Blanchard was getting ready to have breakfast with Chris Hmielewski. Coach doesn't care if he wakes you up when he gets ready. Lights on, water running, etc. Coach Nikkel sleeps through anything and as I type at 9:22 am MDT, he is still dreaming pleasant thoughts. (it sounds like it anyways :)
The boys are back at it today at 4 pm MDT. The games all start a half hour later due to Mesa State graduation going on next door at the football stadium. SMSU will play Colorado State-Pueblo at 4 pm and if we win, we'll play the loser of Mesa State/Wayne State, who play at 12:30 today.
We need to win four straight games to advance to the World Series. Hug and kiss those computers today as we need all the positive thoughts we can get. I know the boys will be ready today.
Before I leave, another weather update. No clouds, temps around 83 degrees today. Wow!
later
Friday, May 15, 2009
May 15 - 8 pm MDT - Game Time Delayed
Just wanted to give you all a quick update on Friday's game. The Mesa State vs. New Mexico Highlands game last three hours and 45 minutes, with MSC winning 15-13. That means the SMSU vs. Wayne State game will start around 7:45 p.m. MDT.
May 15 - 11:15 am - Friday morning
Hello once again from Grand Junction, Colo. It’s another beautiful day in the grand valley, with not a cloud in the sky and temps heading towards 80 degrees. SMSU is getting ready to face Wayne State tonight at 7 p.m. MDT.
As I mentioned last night, some the team members watched Mesa State beat CSU-Pueblo 17-6, while others hung out around the hotel.
Chris Hmielewski, Coach John Petersen and I, along with the Blanchard family all had a late supper last night at Texas Roadhouse. Nancy, Coach Blanchard’s wife and children Jessica and Joe made the trip Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Good food at the restaurant and then headed back to the room and got to sleep.
I was sound asleep when around 11:45 pm my cell phone rang and it was former SMSU assistant coach Ryan Neale, now coaching at South Dakota State, wanting to chat about the game. Ryan also called Coach Nikkel, who was also sound asleep in the room. My pay back was to text message him this morning at 8 am, which I know is WAY early for Coach Neale.
I woke up this morning at 6 am for some reason. I was not happy at all. I read newspapers on-line, checked e-mail, just the average day-to-day things. I then had breakfast this morning at the hotel with a few of the guys. I joke, you can tell who the hunters on the team are, or players who grew up on a farm, because no matter what they are up early in the morning.
Following a short nap this morning, Coach Nikkel and I drove to find a grocery store to pick up sandwich meat and fruit for the team. It is a sight to see, Kelly and Bryan walking around shopping for food at a store we know nothing about, but acting like we know what’s going on. We did some problems as our shopping cart’s left front wheel stuck and wouldn’t move. Of course Bryan panicked, but I, who shops for food as much as Delmon Young hits a home run, solved the problem by kicking the darn thing a few times and we were back searching or food for our “family”.
We’re now back at the hotel and Coach Nikkel and I are watching “A League of Their Own” on Oxygen channel. I believe we are the only two males watching this channel in the U.S. right now.
Coach Blanchard is heading to the ball park to watch Minnesota State and Colorado State-Pueblo, while the rest of us are “chilling” at the hotel.
It’s been a great trip so far and we can only hope it gets better with more victories! Traveling with the teams for these years is great experience. Football, basketball and now baseball it makes it a long year, but well worth in. If you could hear our conversations…we’ll we won’t talk about that.
Thanks to everyone for reading and writing in! NateDawg, you the man! Almost forget, I received an e-mail from an SMSU alum living in Grand Junction last night. He couldn’t make the game, but wished the guys well. It’s great to know there are Mustang fans everywhere!
Until next time, go Mustangs!
As I mentioned last night, some the team members watched Mesa State beat CSU-Pueblo 17-6, while others hung out around the hotel.
Chris Hmielewski, Coach John Petersen and I, along with the Blanchard family all had a late supper last night at Texas Roadhouse. Nancy, Coach Blanchard’s wife and children Jessica and Joe made the trip Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Good food at the restaurant and then headed back to the room and got to sleep.
I was sound asleep when around 11:45 pm my cell phone rang and it was former SMSU assistant coach Ryan Neale, now coaching at South Dakota State, wanting to chat about the game. Ryan also called Coach Nikkel, who was also sound asleep in the room. My pay back was to text message him this morning at 8 am, which I know is WAY early for Coach Neale.
I woke up this morning at 6 am for some reason. I was not happy at all. I read newspapers on-line, checked e-mail, just the average day-to-day things. I then had breakfast this morning at the hotel with a few of the guys. I joke, you can tell who the hunters on the team are, or players who grew up on a farm, because no matter what they are up early in the morning.
Following a short nap this morning, Coach Nikkel and I drove to find a grocery store to pick up sandwich meat and fruit for the team. It is a sight to see, Kelly and Bryan walking around shopping for food at a store we know nothing about, but acting like we know what’s going on. We did some problems as our shopping cart’s left front wheel stuck and wouldn’t move. Of course Bryan panicked, but I, who shops for food as much as Delmon Young hits a home run, solved the problem by kicking the darn thing a few times and we were back searching or food for our “family”.
We’re now back at the hotel and Coach Nikkel and I are watching “A League of Their Own” on Oxygen channel. I believe we are the only two males watching this channel in the U.S. right now.
Coach Blanchard is heading to the ball park to watch Minnesota State and Colorado State-Pueblo, while the rest of us are “chilling” at the hotel.
It’s been a great trip so far and we can only hope it gets better with more victories! Traveling with the teams for these years is great experience. Football, basketball and now baseball it makes it a long year, but well worth in. If you could hear our conversations…we’ll we won’t talk about that.
Thanks to everyone for reading and writing in! NateDawg, you the man! Almost forget, I received an e-mail from an SMSU alum living in Grand Junction last night. He couldn’t make the game, but wished the guys well. It’s great to know there are Mustang fans everywhere!
Until next time, go Mustangs!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
May 14 - 7:45 pm MDT - Mustangs Win!
A team victory today for SMSU! What more can you say. The pitching staff was solid throughout and the offense came around with some timely hits!
SMSU wins today 11-3, scoring two unearned runs in the eighth inning and putting the game away with six runs in the top of the ninth.
It was just a fun game to watch, with excellent plays on defense, coaching moves that had to be made and much more. The weather was outstanding! It did get a little breezy for the first few innings, but warm sunshine, good baseball…what more could you want.
I’ll post a few pictures that I took from the press box and from the field.
I had a great place to watch the game high-above the first base line. I sat next to Paul Allan, the assistant AD for communications at MSU. Paul is a good friend in the business and it’s always fun to talk “shop” and sport in general.
The team headed back to the hotel to clean and to get something to eat. Some of the guys came back to the park (where I am right now) to watch Mesa State play Colorado State-Pueblo. What a crowd Mesa State has here tonight. There must be around 700 to 1,000 people in attendance. Grand Junction loves their baseball.
Chris Hmielewski and I drove back to the hotel to get Coach Blanchard and bring him back to the park. Blanch took care of his media obligations and now we are watching this final game.
SMSU will play Wayne State tomorrow night at 7 pm MDT (8 pm Central). The two teams have yet to play each other this season.
More later! Go Mustangs!
SMSU wins today 11-3, scoring two unearned runs in the eighth inning and putting the game away with six runs in the top of the ninth.
It was just a fun game to watch, with excellent plays on defense, coaching moves that had to be made and much more. The weather was outstanding! It did get a little breezy for the first few innings, but warm sunshine, good baseball…what more could you want.
I’ll post a few pictures that I took from the press box and from the field.
I had a great place to watch the game high-above the first base line. I sat next to Paul Allan, the assistant AD for communications at MSU. Paul is a good friend in the business and it’s always fun to talk “shop” and sport in general.
The team headed back to the hotel to clean and to get something to eat. Some of the guys came back to the park (where I am right now) to watch Mesa State play Colorado State-Pueblo. What a crowd Mesa State has here tonight. There must be around 700 to 1,000 people in attendance. Grand Junction loves their baseball.
Chris Hmielewski and I drove back to the hotel to get Coach Blanchard and bring him back to the park. Blanch took care of his media obligations and now we are watching this final game.
SMSU will play Wayne State tomorrow night at 7 pm MDT (8 pm Central). The two teams have yet to play each other this season.
More later! Go Mustangs!
May 14 - 3 pm MDT - 30 Minutes to First Pitch
First I need to say thanks to everyone who is reading this blog. Nice crowd of SMSU fans in attendance today. I would say about 20. Just a guess.
Wayne State cruised past New Mexico Highlands in the tournament's first game 11-3. If SMSU wins today, it will play Wayne State at 7 pm tomorrow night.
Wayne State cruised past New Mexico Highlands in the tournament's first game 11-3. If SMSU wins today, it will play Wayne State at 7 pm tomorrow night.
May 14- 12:30 pm MDT - Almost Time
Sitting here high above Suplizio Field watching Wayne State take on New Mexico Highlands. Great spot to watch a game. SMSU is back from eating lunch and will be heading to batting practice soon.
Chris Hmielewski, coach Blanchard and I drove early to watch this first game. Chris actually went for a jog behind the baseball field. Right next door is the city football stadium where high schools and Mesa State play their games. The field is actually getting set-up as we speak for Mesa State graduation on Saturday.
I've had a busy morning prior to coming to the ballpark. Did my weekly radio update on KWOA radio in Worthington. Then spent about an hour updating the national ballot for the Daktronics All-America program. I serve as vice-chairman of the committee. Derek West and Andrew Kinney were both named all-region first team on Wednesday and are on the national ballot.
Until later...
Chris Hmielewski, coach Blanchard and I drove early to watch this first game. Chris actually went for a jog behind the baseball field. Right next door is the city football stadium where high schools and Mesa State play their games. The field is actually getting set-up as we speak for Mesa State graduation on Saturday.
I've had a busy morning prior to coming to the ballpark. Did my weekly radio update on KWOA radio in Worthington. Then spent about an hour updating the national ballot for the Daktronics All-America program. I serve as vice-chairman of the committee. Derek West and Andrew Kinney were both named all-region first team on Wednesday and are on the national ballot.
Until later...
May 14 - 8:45 am MDT - Game Day
Another perfect day in Grand Junction. Today is Game Day as SMSU faces Minnesota State, Mankato at 3:30 MDT (that is 4:30 in Minnesota) in its opening round game. The team will have lunch at 11 am and then head over to batting practice around 12:45.
I'll be heading to the ballpark around 11:30 to get set up and watch Wayne State and New Mexico Highlands.
Last night, the coaches and administrators meet at Mesa State to talk over rules, etc. Nothing major to discuss. Just simple NCAA rules, etc.
Had some down time in the hotel after the meeting. I, along with Chris Hmielewski, and the coaching staff then had a late dinner at The Village Inn in GJ before calling it a night.
I'll check back later today! Remember to keep up with the game by watching live stats.
Go 'Stangs!
I'll be heading to the ballpark around 11:30 to get set up and watch Wayne State and New Mexico Highlands.
Last night, the coaches and administrators meet at Mesa State to talk over rules, etc. Nothing major to discuss. Just simple NCAA rules, etc.
Had some down time in the hotel after the meeting. I, along with Chris Hmielewski, and the coaching staff then had a late dinner at The Village Inn in GJ before calling it a night.
I'll check back later today! Remember to keep up with the game by watching live stats.
Go 'Stangs!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
May 13 4 pm MDT - Quick Dillon Loft update
I forgot to post last time about this. Sorry, it's my blog, so I can talk about my kids. Congrats to six-year old Dillon Loft, for taking home The Hustle Award during his month long indoor baseball practice at Schwan's Arena in Marshall. Nice job Dillon. The only problem is, he earned the award hook sliding into first base. He likes to hook slide, but try telling him NOT A FIRST BASE. Who to blame? Nick Punto!!! Stop it Nick, these kids watch you play for the Twins, it's your fault!
May 13, 3:50 p.m. MDT - Wow what a field!
Good afternoon Mustang fans, back here in Grand Junction. We headed over to practice around 12:30 p.m. at the Mesa State College campus. Man they have a ton of construction going on. New have just built a new softball field, a football practice field with Field Turf and their baseball practice field has a brand new clubhouse. Mesa State is also building new athletic offices and a new swimming complex on campus. Mesa State should be very proud, excellent facilities.
The team took batting practice with coach Petersen tossing BP. Coach Nikkel hit ground balls to the infielders, as did director of athletics Chris Hmielewski. I know you’re curious on what I was doing during batting practice. I grabbed a glove and shagged fly balls. I need to get my game going as I ready for softball this summer. FYI, I’m the starting third baseman on the 2008 Marshall men’s Class B tournament championship team. Also two-time member of the fall league champions. As long as the field is smooth and the sun is not in my eyes, I’m like a vacuum at the hot corner. Ok, enough about me.
We then all headed over to Sam Suplizio Field for infield practice and fly balls. The stadium is just great! The stadium has 10,000 seats, a nice surface and great site lines for fans. It’s a short porch down the left field line, only 302 feet, but it has a high wall and then gets fairly deep, including 400-plus feet towards center field.
The facility hosts the Division I Junior College World Series starting next week. Something it has done for over 50 years. The amazing thing is there is no JUCO team in the city. Mesa State used to be a junior college, but the city has continued to host since the school went four-year years ago.
It should be a great stadium for our guys and the other five teams to play in. The press box, the important feature for me, is big and located along the first base line high atop the field.
The team wrapped up practice while Chris and I picked up a light lunch at McDonald’s.
Supper tonight will take place around 5 pm MDT for the team. I’ll be attending a pre-tournament meeting tonight along with Chris and our coaching staff at the MSC campus.
Reminder, 2:30 p.m. CDT tomorrow is first pitch. Live stats will be available to following. I would’ve loved to broadcast the game on KARL radio and the internet, but just not enough time. I also can’t blog live from the game per NCAA rules.
Until tonight my friends…go Mustangs!
May 13, 11:45 am MDT - Working Hard
Had some breakfast around 8:45 this morning, then I have been working on the Daktronics All-Region team that was announced this morning. Congrats Derek West and Andrew Kinney, first team honorees and Adam Schrader named second team.
Here are a few pics from the trip. Just two so far. One from the bus, minutes from leaving Marshall and the other is the view outside our hotel rooms.
The boys just had lunch at Taco Bell and are now relaxing before heading to practice at 1 pm.
The weather is great!
May 13, 8:30 am MDT - Clifton, Colo.
We made it! Finally, I can update this blog without holding my labtop top on my lap, moving down the highway at 70 mph. The bus made it to Clifton, Colo., our team headquarters at 12:15 a.m. MDT. We are staying at a Best Western. Nice hotel, lots of places to eat around the hotel which is always important.
It is now 8:30 am, my roomies, coach Blanchard and coach Nikkel are still asleep. But as I type, coach Blanchard is now up and heading down to breakfast. It is just perfect outside as our hotel door opens to the north. It is suppose to be a great week of weather and right now it is. Sunny skies, temp around 70 and no wind!
The guys will be getting up around 10 am, will walk around a bit to get loose, eat, etc. Then we have an official work out later this afternoon.
I of course will get my daily jog in, maybe a short "lift" at the workout facility in the hotel and then eat egg whites with bananas for breakfast.....Yeah right.
As I do every morning, I read every daily newspaper that I can on-line (this part is true) to keep up with what's happening around the region in sports and news.
FYI, director of athletics Chris Hmielewski is flying in today to Grand Junction. Something about having to work on Tuesday so he had to fly. He is flying in from Omaha to G.J. We'll see what happens, I may fly back with him when we are finished here. Hopefully not until Sunday!
Have a good morning everyone! Until next time...., coach Nikkel is still getting his “beauty” sleep. Oh wait, he is getting up…no I guess just talking in his sleep. Something about, “I love shooting pheasants”… “no I don’t have a razor, quit asking” … and something really weird, he is mumbling “go Tracy Express…choo, choo”. More on that later! I need to type softer; I don’t want to wake him!
Mesa State College, the host school, has a car for every team. So that will be nice to have some transportation around the area.
Have a good morning Mustangs fans! Until next time, remember 2:30 CDT tomorrow. SMSU versus Minnesota State, Mankato. Live stat will be available. Click on the baseball regional Web site on the right side of the SMSU baseball page.
Peace out!
It is now 8:30 am, my roomies, coach Blanchard and coach Nikkel are still asleep. But as I type, coach Blanchard is now up and heading down to breakfast. It is just perfect outside as our hotel door opens to the north. It is suppose to be a great week of weather and right now it is. Sunny skies, temp around 70 and no wind!
The guys will be getting up around 10 am, will walk around a bit to get loose, eat, etc. Then we have an official work out later this afternoon.
I of course will get my daily jog in, maybe a short "lift" at the workout facility in the hotel and then eat egg whites with bananas for breakfast.....Yeah right.
As I do every morning, I read every daily newspaper that I can on-line (this part is true) to keep up with what's happening around the region in sports and news.
FYI, director of athletics Chris Hmielewski is flying in today to Grand Junction. Something about having to work on Tuesday so he had to fly. He is flying in from Omaha to G.J. We'll see what happens, I may fly back with him when we are finished here. Hopefully not until Sunday!
Have a good morning everyone! Until next time...., coach Nikkel is still getting his “beauty” sleep. Oh wait, he is getting up…no I guess just talking in his sleep. Something about, “I love shooting pheasants”… “no I don’t have a razor, quit asking” … and something really weird, he is mumbling “go Tracy Express…choo, choo”. More on that later! I need to type softer; I don’t want to wake him!
Mesa State College, the host school, has a car for every team. So that will be nice to have some transportation around the area.
Have a good morning Mustangs fans! Until next time, remember 2:30 CDT tomorrow. SMSU versus Minnesota State, Mankato. Live stat will be available. Click on the baseball regional Web site on the right side of the SMSU baseball page.
Peace out!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
May 12 - 11:20 pm MDT - We There Yet?
Good evening or should I say good morning Mustang fans. We are getting closer to Grand Junction. We've had a long but smooth trip so far as we close in on our destination. We stopped in a suburb of Denver for supper at Golden Corral around 7:15 and ate WAY too much. By the way, we had no plans on where to eat, but with the use of my Garmin, we searched and found the restaurant. What a great invention. Because with out the GPS, there is no way we could’ve found a buffet in Denver J . But really, it did help. Are you listening, the owners of Garmin? I could be used as a salesman for your company.
After supper, we loaded up and continued west through the mountains to the big G.J. Our Southwest Coaches bus made it up and down through the mountains just fine. Too bad it was dusk out and we didn’t have a real good luck at the mountains. It seemed nice looking out the windows at nothing but darkness.
We watched Grandma’s Boy and now have Anchorman on as we close the night out. I just woke up around 11 pm MDT from a long-hard nap. The trip is starting to get to me. I believe we are getting closer and should be pulling into town soon. We’ve been on the road for over 18 hours now after leaving Marshall at 6 am.
The weather is just terrific out here. The forecast is 83 degrees and sunny on game day Thursday afternoon!
Tomorrow the guys will sleep in and we have practice at the field. I’ll have much more to report once we check in tonight/tomorrow.
Thanks for the comments everyone. I’ve had several requests for “shout outs” by people. I’ll do my best to get you some “love”.
As Ron Burgundy says, “Stay classy Mustang fans!!”
After supper, we loaded up and continued west through the mountains to the big G.J. Our Southwest Coaches bus made it up and down through the mountains just fine. Too bad it was dusk out and we didn’t have a real good luck at the mountains. It seemed nice looking out the windows at nothing but darkness.
We watched Grandma’s Boy and now have Anchorman on as we close the night out. I just woke up around 11 pm MDT from a long-hard nap. The trip is starting to get to me. I believe we are getting closer and should be pulling into town soon. We’ve been on the road for over 18 hours now after leaving Marshall at 6 am.
The weather is just terrific out here. The forecast is 83 degrees and sunny on game day Thursday afternoon!
Tomorrow the guys will sleep in and we have practice at the field. I’ll have much more to report once we check in tonight/tomorrow.
Thanks for the comments everyone. I’ve had several requests for “shout outs” by people. I’ll do my best to get you some “love”.
As Ron Burgundy says, “Stay classy Mustang fans!!”
May 12, 4:50 pm MDT - Rocky Mountain High
Good afternoon everyone, we have now crossed into the state of Colorado. Since we last chatted, we had just left Yankton, S.D. We headed south to Norfolk, Neb., then hooked up with I 80 in Grand Island, Neb. and headed towards Colorado. Stopped at a truck stop somewhere in Nebraska and picked up some goodies to snack on.
Movie update. We watched The Guardian (sorry to admit), 3:10 to Yuma and now Mighty Ducks is on. I didn't watch any. I moved to the back of the bus and had a nice chat with some of the boys. Good times talking about baseball, life and much more. I then headed back to the front of the bus and I'm currently watching GoodFellas on my DVD. For some reason I've never seen the movie. I enjoy it. Love mob movies!
Our biggest decisions during the trip are where we'll be stopping to eat. We gained an hour (what a country) so we now an hour behind everyone in Marshall. We may now just head to Denver and then stop to eat.
Western Nebraska and eastern Colorado is not much too look at. I like the open spaces of the country. As always, this is a learning trip. These guys are in college and are always willing to learn. Just like I taught the basketball boys out east in Springfield, Mass., about Paul Revere running through the same streets that we were driving on, I’m now explaining how Lewis & Clark moved through this same area of country looking for a way to the Pacific Ocean (is that where they were going?). I’m not only a media relations guy, I’m also an educator.
Exciting times as we head towards Grand Junction. I’ve been with SMSU and Mustang baseball for 12 years. We’ve had some great teams, teams that were very close to making an NCAA regional tournament. 33 victories in 1998, winning the NSIC tournament in 1999 and 2002, but never could get in. I’ve covered hundreds and hundreds of games and put on thousands of hours of bus trips. But trips like this make it all worth it.
Not to get too sentimental, but it’s great to see our players come into the program, put in the hard work and get rewarded by making an NCAA tournament. This goes for all 11 SMSU athletic teams!
This year started out great in Florida, then we had 12 games canceled in late March and early April, then Coach Blanchard lost his father, but the month of April the team has played well and picked up big wins to gain an at-large bid. Great job boys!
I’ll have some pictures posted hopefully later tonight. It should be fun to drive through the Rocky Mountains. Let’s hope this is some sunlight left.
Take a look on the story on the Web site about game times. You’ll see a picture of the field we will play at. Great stadium and that’s what it is! 10,000 seat stadium. Grand Junction hosts the JUCO World Series every year. In fact, Coach Blanchard took his Normandale C.C. team to the World Series in Grand Junction in 1986. His brother also played at Mesa State.
One thing to point out, assistant coach Brandon Wilhelmi hasn’t seen a movie yet. I’m very proud that he is getting plenty of reading in. I think there are words in the magazines.
Until later tonight….Go Mustangs!
Movie update. We watched The Guardian (sorry to admit), 3:10 to Yuma and now Mighty Ducks is on. I didn't watch any. I moved to the back of the bus and had a nice chat with some of the boys. Good times talking about baseball, life and much more. I then headed back to the front of the bus and I'm currently watching GoodFellas on my DVD. For some reason I've never seen the movie. I enjoy it. Love mob movies!
Our biggest decisions during the trip are where we'll be stopping to eat. We gained an hour (what a country) so we now an hour behind everyone in Marshall. We may now just head to Denver and then stop to eat.
Western Nebraska and eastern Colorado is not much too look at. I like the open spaces of the country. As always, this is a learning trip. These guys are in college and are always willing to learn. Just like I taught the basketball boys out east in Springfield, Mass., about Paul Revere running through the same streets that we were driving on, I’m now explaining how Lewis & Clark moved through this same area of country looking for a way to the Pacific Ocean (is that where they were going?). I’m not only a media relations guy, I’m also an educator.
Exciting times as we head towards Grand Junction. I’ve been with SMSU and Mustang baseball for 12 years. We’ve had some great teams, teams that were very close to making an NCAA regional tournament. 33 victories in 1998, winning the NSIC tournament in 1999 and 2002, but never could get in. I’ve covered hundreds and hundreds of games and put on thousands of hours of bus trips. But trips like this make it all worth it.
Not to get too sentimental, but it’s great to see our players come into the program, put in the hard work and get rewarded by making an NCAA tournament. This goes for all 11 SMSU athletic teams!
This year started out great in Florida, then we had 12 games canceled in late March and early April, then Coach Blanchard lost his father, but the month of April the team has played well and picked up big wins to gain an at-large bid. Great job boys!
I’ll have some pictures posted hopefully later tonight. It should be fun to drive through the Rocky Mountains. Let’s hope this is some sunlight left.
Take a look on the story on the Web site about game times. You’ll see a picture of the field we will play at. Great stadium and that’s what it is! 10,000 seat stadium. Grand Junction hosts the JUCO World Series every year. In fact, Coach Blanchard took his Normandale C.C. team to the World Series in Grand Junction in 1986. His brother also played at Mesa State.
One thing to point out, assistant coach Brandon Wilhelmi hasn’t seen a movie yet. I’m very proud that he is getting plenty of reading in. I think there are words in the magazines.
Until later tonight….Go Mustangs!
May 12 - 11:00 am
Good morning Mustangs fans! We are on our way to Grand Junction. The bus left Marshall at 6:07 am. Seven minutes late because of....me. Lots of packing for me, that's my excuse.
Most of the guys slept on our way to Sioux Falls. We stopped in Sioux Falls to pick up a couple of bats that needed replacing. Gotta have good lumber when the games start! We then continued south and then west through Vermillion and Yankton. We stopped at Hy-Vee in Yankton for breakfast and now we are just over the border in Nebraska as I write. A special thanks to Curtis Smith for letting me use his labtop to write this. I can't get connected on my labtop.
I have my Garmin connected and it says we should arrive in Grand Junction around 9:30 pm MDT. Not sure when we'll stop again to stretch or eat.
We have two bus drivers, Al and Dale. Good guys. They have a bed behind the front seat for them. Coach Petersen really wants to sleep on it and stretch out. He's trying to convince the driver to switch spots. Not going to happen I don't think.
So far we have watched Elf and Out Cold. Now we are watching My Best Friend's Girl with Dane Cook.
Until next time somewhere in western Nebraska...I'm out!
Most of the guys slept on our way to Sioux Falls. We stopped in Sioux Falls to pick up a couple of bats that needed replacing. Gotta have good lumber when the games start! We then continued south and then west through Vermillion and Yankton. We stopped at Hy-Vee in Yankton for breakfast and now we are just over the border in Nebraska as I write. A special thanks to Curtis Smith for letting me use his labtop to write this. I can't get connected on my labtop.
I have my Garmin connected and it says we should arrive in Grand Junction around 9:30 pm MDT. Not sure when we'll stop again to stretch or eat.
We have two bus drivers, Al and Dale. Good guys. They have a bed behind the front seat for them. Coach Petersen really wants to sleep on it and stretch out. He's trying to convince the driver to switch spots. Not going to happen I don't think.
So far we have watched Elf and Out Cold. Now we are watching My Best Friend's Girl with Dane Cook.
Until next time somewhere in western Nebraska...I'm out!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Monday, May 11 - 9:30 pm CDT
Grand Junction, Colorado, here we come! The Hey Loft is back after a nearly two-month layoff since Springfield, Mass., and the NCAA Elite Eight.
I hope you can follow the SMSU baseball journey to Colorado and SMSU makes its first-ever NCAA regional tournament appearance. Let me give you a quick update on the team's plans. We will be leaving Marshall at 6 am on Tuesday, May 12, and taking a bus the whole 16 hours! The team could've taken a plane, but the NCAA pays for only a certain number of individuals and since the SMSU coaching staff wants to bring everyone who has traveled all season (a nice decision), a bus is the best and most cost effective way to go.
As Clark Griswold says in the movie Vacation (my favorite comedy of all-time), "Come on Ellen, getting there is half the fun, you know that". We’ll see ☺….. Once we get close to Colorado I’ll be saying, “that John Denver is full……” (you have to know Dumb and Dumber to get that one)
I stopped by Video Central today on campus and picked up some movies for the team. I know the players will bring plenty as well, but I picked up some American classics...Grandma's Boy, College (of course both unrated) and for myself I picked up the series "The Shield". I've heard good things.
I also have the cribbage board, cards, etc. I plan on taking some small change from coach Nikkel on the way out.
The baseball team is the final SMSU athletics team still competing for the 2008-09 season. What a year it has been for Mustang athletics. SMSU competes in 10 NCAA sports and six of our teams competed in NCAA Tournaments, while the wheelchair team also advanced to the national tournament! Congrats to all our SMSU squads for a great academic year.
I need to finish packing. If it all works out, I’ll try and update all day on Tuesday during the trip. I’ve heard the bus has wireless on board; let’s hope it does. My office hasn’t bought one of those air cards yet, but hopefully next year we will.
Also next year, our plan is to have some sort of Blog for all of our teams that compete in an NCAA tournament. We’ll need to have a name for my assistant Tim’s blog. Any ideas?
Wish us safe travels and we’ll catch up with you on the road.
I hope you can follow the SMSU baseball journey to Colorado and SMSU makes its first-ever NCAA regional tournament appearance. Let me give you a quick update on the team's plans. We will be leaving Marshall at 6 am on Tuesday, May 12, and taking a bus the whole 16 hours! The team could've taken a plane, but the NCAA pays for only a certain number of individuals and since the SMSU coaching staff wants to bring everyone who has traveled all season (a nice decision), a bus is the best and most cost effective way to go.
As Clark Griswold says in the movie Vacation (my favorite comedy of all-time), "Come on Ellen, getting there is half the fun, you know that". We’ll see ☺….. Once we get close to Colorado I’ll be saying, “that John Denver is full……” (you have to know Dumb and Dumber to get that one)
I stopped by Video Central today on campus and picked up some movies for the team. I know the players will bring plenty as well, but I picked up some American classics...Grandma's Boy, College (of course both unrated) and for myself I picked up the series "The Shield". I've heard good things.
I also have the cribbage board, cards, etc. I plan on taking some small change from coach Nikkel on the way out.
The baseball team is the final SMSU athletics team still competing for the 2008-09 season. What a year it has been for Mustang athletics. SMSU competes in 10 NCAA sports and six of our teams competed in NCAA Tournaments, while the wheelchair team also advanced to the national tournament! Congrats to all our SMSU squads for a great academic year.
I need to finish packing. If it all works out, I’ll try and update all day on Tuesday during the trip. I’ve heard the bus has wireless on board; let’s hope it does. My office hasn’t bought one of those air cards yet, but hopefully next year we will.
Also next year, our plan is to have some sort of Blog for all of our teams that compete in an NCAA tournament. We’ll need to have a name for my assistant Tim’s blog. Any ideas?
Wish us safe travels and we’ll catch up with you on the road.
I'm Back!!
Hey Mustang fans; I'm back!! I'll be blogging from Grand Junction, Colo., this week where the SMSU baseball team is making its first NCAA Tournament appearance in school history. Check back at "The Hey Loft" for updates about this year's experience!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Wednesday, March 25 - 10:45 pm EDT
Good evening Mustang fans! Sorry I haven't posted earlier tonight. Following my post game duties getting our players and head coach to the press conference, I had other media obligations as well for our Web site, etc.
Well the SMSU run came to an end today. Very tough to see the guys lose today. I'm not sure there was anyone who would've thought a team could outrebound SMSU by 13 and shot over 55 percent from the field. You have to give Cal Poly Pomona credit and jus tip your hat.
The guys, as always, fought hard all the way to the end. A couple of three-pointers late in the game...if they go in...who knows.
Just awesome to see the fans in attendance for the game. A great pre-game social, a great crowd, what more could you ask for.
28 wins, a conference title in a 14-team league, region champions and winning on your home floor. A season SMSU fans will never forget.
The only other "downer" today was the video feed from the NCAA. I heard we had a great crowd to watch the game at the Conference Center, but the feed wasn't good. It wasn't at SMSU, it was something from the NCAA. We had several people nation wide not happy with it.
Well fans, it's late here in Springfield. Had a good time tonight with fans as we talked about the great season over food and drinks, but now time to say goodbye for The Hey Loft.
I will post when arrive in Marshall. The team is set to leave Hartford at 9 am on Thursday, while I leave with Chris, Rolly and Aaron at 11 am.
It has been a blast keeping you all updated on this trip. I just wish it could've lasted longer. Man I wish it would!
But what a season for SMSU hoops. Thank you seniors Andy Bielke, Ross DeMasi and Ryan Krome. What a way to end your career. Also a great thanks to ALL the players. Awesome job guys and do it next year!
Thanks Mustang fans for a great week! Go Mustangs!
Well the SMSU run came to an end today. Very tough to see the guys lose today. I'm not sure there was anyone who would've thought a team could outrebound SMSU by 13 and shot over 55 percent from the field. You have to give Cal Poly Pomona credit and jus tip your hat.
The guys, as always, fought hard all the way to the end. A couple of three-pointers late in the game...if they go in...who knows.
Just awesome to see the fans in attendance for the game. A great pre-game social, a great crowd, what more could you ask for.
28 wins, a conference title in a 14-team league, region champions and winning on your home floor. A season SMSU fans will never forget.
The only other "downer" today was the video feed from the NCAA. I heard we had a great crowd to watch the game at the Conference Center, but the feed wasn't good. It wasn't at SMSU, it was something from the NCAA. We had several people nation wide not happy with it.
Well fans, it's late here in Springfield. Had a good time tonight with fans as we talked about the great season over food and drinks, but now time to say goodbye for The Hey Loft.
I will post when arrive in Marshall. The team is set to leave Hartford at 9 am on Thursday, while I leave with Chris, Rolly and Aaron at 11 am.
It has been a blast keeping you all updated on this trip. I just wish it could've lasted longer. Man I wish it would!
But what a season for SMSU hoops. Thank you seniors Andy Bielke, Ross DeMasi and Ryan Krome. What a way to end your career. Also a great thanks to ALL the players. Awesome job guys and do it next year!
Thanks Mustang fans for a great week! Go Mustangs!
Wednesday, March 25 - 11:45 am EDT
Game Day!!!! It's finally here.
I'm writing this morning from courtside at the MassMutual Center in Springfield. Augusta State and Christian Brothers are warming up. Nice crowd in the arena. As expected, hundreds of local grade school students are here and making lots of noise.
Great turn out at the pre-game social at the Sheraton this morning. A big thanks to Tyler Bowen from the SMSU Alumni Office for organizing the event. Great to see so many Mustang fans here in Mass.!
We had our one hour radio show and guests included Greg Stemen, Ross DeMasi, Butch Raymond, Dr. Danahar, Bill Mulso and SMSU cheerleaders.
Have fun today SMSU fans and cheer on the Mustangs!!
I'm writing this morning from courtside at the MassMutual Center in Springfield. Augusta State and Christian Brothers are warming up. Nice crowd in the arena. As expected, hundreds of local grade school students are here and making lots of noise.
Great turn out at the pre-game social at the Sheraton this morning. A big thanks to Tyler Bowen from the SMSU Alumni Office for organizing the event. Great to see so many Mustang fans here in Mass.!
We had our one hour radio show and guests included Greg Stemen, Ross DeMasi, Butch Raymond, Dr. Danahar, Bill Mulso and SMSU cheerleaders.
Have fun today SMSU fans and cheer on the Mustangs!!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Tuesday, March 24 - 11 pm EDT
Hope your Tuesday night has been enjoyable Mustang fans. I know we all can’t wait until tomorrow afternoon’s game.
Sounds like it will be a great crowd to watch the game at the SMSU Conference Center. If you're in Marshall, stop over to watch the game or listen to Aaron Ziemer on KARL 105.1 FM.
Here is an update on the team’s Tuesday night activities. Coach Stemen, Chris Hmielewski, Aaron Ziemer, Butch Raymond and I drove to the Hall of Fame for the pre tournament press conference at 6 p.m. Each of the eight head coaches gave opening statements and then the media asked questions. The conference ran smoothly.
Also in attendance for the press conference were SMSU president Dr. Danahar along with Vice President of Advancement Bill Mulso. (I think that is his title, it changes each year) Glad they both could make the tournament.
Following the press conference, the teams showed up for the pre tournament banquet. A great dinner was served, including salad, potatoes and chicken. Representatives from the NCAA and the local committee all spoke. The keynote speaker was Rece Davis from ESPN. Davis is the studio host for college football and college basketball coverage on ESPN. He did a great job telling stories about Digger Phelps, Bobby Knight, Dick Vital, Hubert Davis and others he works with at the World Wide Leader in Sports. Thank you Rece for a job well done.
Then each of the head coaches got up and spoke briefly about their teams and how happy they are being in Springfield.
After the banquet the team returned to the hotel and watched film on Cal Poly Pomona. I then headed out with Butch, Chris, Rolly and Aaron to Theodores’ Bar and Grill to make sure it was open and the lights were working. Everything was working fine inside the building, so we decided to go in and keep the locals happy. Then, when we walked in, we couldn’t believe it! There in the local tavern were 20 Mustang fans. Amazing how we all just made it to the same place….wow what are the odds…
I won’t mention everyone there, but some of the individuals who have made the trip include (sorry if I don’t spell your name right): Karen VanKuelen, Carol Bossuyt, Warren Quarnstrom, Ken Mukomela, Lee Raske, Ron McLaughlin, John Alcorn, Doug and JoAnn Fraunfelder. Awesome to see so many Mustang fans, are there are plenty more coming later tonight and Wednesday. The cheer team also has five members who made the trip and will be cheering on Wednesday. Graet job ladies!
At 10 a.m. on Wednesday morning, there will be pre-game party here at the Sheraton Hotel for all Mustang fans. We will also have a live radio show from the pre-game party starting at 10 a.m. on 105.1 FM KARL. So if your in the area, listen for interviews from coaches, players and fans
Heading to bed everyone! Have a great night. As your head hits the pillow tonight, say a quick prayer for the Stangs!
Reminder, 2:30 EDT on Wednesday (1:30 CDT). Game can be heard on 105.1 FM KARL or you can watch on-line at www.NCAA.com
Sounds like it will be a great crowd to watch the game at the SMSU Conference Center. If you're in Marshall, stop over to watch the game or listen to Aaron Ziemer on KARL 105.1 FM.
Here is an update on the team’s Tuesday night activities. Coach Stemen, Chris Hmielewski, Aaron Ziemer, Butch Raymond and I drove to the Hall of Fame for the pre tournament press conference at 6 p.m. Each of the eight head coaches gave opening statements and then the media asked questions. The conference ran smoothly.
Also in attendance for the press conference were SMSU president Dr. Danahar along with Vice President of Advancement Bill Mulso. (I think that is his title, it changes each year) Glad they both could make the tournament.
Following the press conference, the teams showed up for the pre tournament banquet. A great dinner was served, including salad, potatoes and chicken. Representatives from the NCAA and the local committee all spoke. The keynote speaker was Rece Davis from ESPN. Davis is the studio host for college football and college basketball coverage on ESPN. He did a great job telling stories about Digger Phelps, Bobby Knight, Dick Vital, Hubert Davis and others he works with at the World Wide Leader in Sports. Thank you Rece for a job well done.
Then each of the head coaches got up and spoke briefly about their teams and how happy they are being in Springfield.
After the banquet the team returned to the hotel and watched film on Cal Poly Pomona. I then headed out with Butch, Chris, Rolly and Aaron to Theodores’ Bar and Grill to make sure it was open and the lights were working. Everything was working fine inside the building, so we decided to go in and keep the locals happy. Then, when we walked in, we couldn’t believe it! There in the local tavern were 20 Mustang fans. Amazing how we all just made it to the same place….wow what are the odds…
I won’t mention everyone there, but some of the individuals who have made the trip include (sorry if I don’t spell your name right): Karen VanKuelen, Carol Bossuyt, Warren Quarnstrom, Ken Mukomela, Lee Raske, Ron McLaughlin, John Alcorn, Doug and JoAnn Fraunfelder. Awesome to see so many Mustang fans, are there are plenty more coming later tonight and Wednesday. The cheer team also has five members who made the trip and will be cheering on Wednesday. Graet job ladies!
At 10 a.m. on Wednesday morning, there will be pre-game party here at the Sheraton Hotel for all Mustang fans. We will also have a live radio show from the pre-game party starting at 10 a.m. on 105.1 FM KARL. So if your in the area, listen for interviews from coaches, players and fans
Heading to bed everyone! Have a great night. As your head hits the pillow tonight, say a quick prayer for the Stangs!
Reminder, 2:30 EDT on Wednesday (1:30 CDT). Game can be heard on 105.1 FM KARL or you can watch on-line at www.NCAA.com
March 24 - 4 pm EDT
Good afternoon and welcome back to Springfield. I’d first like to thank everyone for their kind words about the “Hey Loft” blog. It’s enjoyable to write about the happenings of SMSU basketball during the trip and help keep you all connected. Wish you could be here.
We had a 55-minute practice today the MassMutual Center, the arena for the Elite Eight. They have minor league hockey in Springfield and this is their home arena most nights. But it’s all basketball this week.
Nice setup for everyone at the arena. Locker rooms facilities are nice, big press room, press conference area is also set up well. Also, the arena has a huge overhead scoreboard above the court.
Butch Raymond, NSIC commish, and former SMSU A.D. arrived today and will be at the tournament all week. He showed up near the end of practice.
Following the practice, we all headed to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield for a chance to see kids of all ages who are in the hospital for various reasons. Great experience for all parties involved. Our guys were great with the patients and I’m sure we brightened their day as well. Pictures were taken, autographs given out, along with other SMSU goodies.
It’s now 4 p.m. in Springfield and we have some down time until the press conference at 6 p.m. All eight coaches will speak to the media that are attending the event. At 7 p.m. the official banquet will take place. Our travel party will be looking sharp, as we don our new SMSU shirts that were made just for the trip.
The van ride to the hospital was very smooth. Our host led the way, but the directions they gave didn’t help because of construction. So we only had to make one u-turn on this drive. The only other news is there is now a battle on which van, mine or the Scott Roehl/Trent Carlson van, is the “cool” van. I like to tell them I “educate” in my van, not just play time. I’m still sticking with the Loft, DeMasi, Krome, Peschong and Dale van as “the one”.
DeMasi has had to deal with some ribbing in the van about being named All-America today. What a great honor for Ross as he becomes just the second NCAA All-America in program history. If Ross sits in the front seat someone yells, “ah yeah, All-American gets the best seat”, etc. All in fun of course.
We'll speak again Mustang fans later tonight.
We had a 55-minute practice today the MassMutual Center, the arena for the Elite Eight. They have minor league hockey in Springfield and this is their home arena most nights. But it’s all basketball this week.
Nice setup for everyone at the arena. Locker rooms facilities are nice, big press room, press conference area is also set up well. Also, the arena has a huge overhead scoreboard above the court.
Butch Raymond, NSIC commish, and former SMSU A.D. arrived today and will be at the tournament all week. He showed up near the end of practice.
Following the practice, we all headed to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield for a chance to see kids of all ages who are in the hospital for various reasons. Great experience for all parties involved. Our guys were great with the patients and I’m sure we brightened their day as well. Pictures were taken, autographs given out, along with other SMSU goodies.
It’s now 4 p.m. in Springfield and we have some down time until the press conference at 6 p.m. All eight coaches will speak to the media that are attending the event. At 7 p.m. the official banquet will take place. Our travel party will be looking sharp, as we don our new SMSU shirts that were made just for the trip.
The van ride to the hospital was very smooth. Our host led the way, but the directions they gave didn’t help because of construction. So we only had to make one u-turn on this drive. The only other news is there is now a battle on which van, mine or the Scott Roehl/Trent Carlson van, is the “cool” van. I like to tell them I “educate” in my van, not just play time. I’m still sticking with the Loft, DeMasi, Krome, Peschong and Dale van as “the one”.
DeMasi has had to deal with some ribbing in the van about being named All-America today. What a great honor for Ross as he becomes just the second NCAA All-America in program history. If Ross sits in the front seat someone yells, “ah yeah, All-American gets the best seat”, etc. All in fun of course.
We'll speak again Mustang fans later tonight.
Tuesday, March 24 - 10:50 am EDT
Good morning another update from Springfield. After some down time following breakfast, the team headed to practice (which is going on as I write) at American International College. The best part was we go to practice without taking the wrong direction. Yeah us!
There was a small error in communication prior to driving to practice. My van "the cool van" was loaded up ready to leave at 9:45 am. I, along with Ross DeMasi, Ryan Krome, Nick Dale and Andrew Peschong all waited for my co-pilot assistant coach Nate Kaeding. Nate has been riding for us all week. No problems at all. BUT, today Nate decides he's going to ride to practice with Chris Hmielewski...without telling us. We wait for 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes. No sign of Nate. Finally he calls and says, "by the way, I'm going with Chris." Nice buddy system Nate.
We finally get to practice and as the guys stretch, Chris and I decide to tour the athletic facilities of AIC. "Let's check out their Fitness Center." As Chris and I walk in the basement which seemed like for hours, we finally reach our goal. Somewhere 50 feet below the gym. As we look inside the Fitness Center, there is a sign on the door that says, "Please use other door". Well, we don't care about signs and Mr. Hmielewski decided to open the door and seconds later...the alarm system goes off. As real men that we are... we just quickly exited the area hoping know one would find out. We finally did tell a football coach and he said he'll shut it off. Good times.
practice done, have to go.
There was a small error in communication prior to driving to practice. My van "the cool van" was loaded up ready to leave at 9:45 am. I, along with Ross DeMasi, Ryan Krome, Nick Dale and Andrew Peschong all waited for my co-pilot assistant coach Nate Kaeding. Nate has been riding for us all week. No problems at all. BUT, today Nate decides he's going to ride to practice with Chris Hmielewski...without telling us. We wait for 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes. No sign of Nate. Finally he calls and says, "by the way, I'm going with Chris." Nice buddy system Nate.
We finally get to practice and as the guys stretch, Chris and I decide to tour the athletic facilities of AIC. "Let's check out their Fitness Center." As Chris and I walk in the basement which seemed like for hours, we finally reach our goal. Somewhere 50 feet below the gym. As we look inside the Fitness Center, there is a sign on the door that says, "Please use other door". Well, we don't care about signs and Mr. Hmielewski decided to open the door and seconds later...the alarm system goes off. As real men that we are... we just quickly exited the area hoping know one would find out. We finally did tell a football coach and he said he'll shut it off. Good times.
practice done, have to go.
Tuesday, March 24 - 8:45 EDT
Good morning from Springfield, Mass. Early wake up this morning as the alarm went off at 6:15 a.m. The team had breakfast at Memo's again this morning. It is now 8:45 am, the guys are getting taped for practice at 10 a.m. over at American International College.
I've heard and fairly large group of fans are making the drive from Marshall to Springfield. At breakfast this morning Nick Dale gave an update from Tyler Peschong, Levi Bullerman, Tony Weiler and Blake Wilson who are driving to the game. They were somewhere in Ohio. Safe travels gentelmen!
Rece Davis from ESPN will be the keynote speaker tonight at the banquet.
Much more will be posted later today.
I've heard and fairly large group of fans are making the drive from Marshall to Springfield. At breakfast this morning Nick Dale gave an update from Tyler Peschong, Levi Bullerman, Tony Weiler and Blake Wilson who are driving to the game. They were somewhere in Ohio. Safe travels gentelmen!
Rece Davis from ESPN will be the keynote speaker tonight at the banquet.
Much more will be posted later today.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Monday, March 23 - 11 pm
Another day in Springfield is wrapping up as we close in on 11 pm EDT. A nice evening was had by the Mustangs as the Elite Eight host committee hosted a meet and greet with local fourth graders at the Basketball Hall of Fame. You can see on the pictures it was a special night.
As we entered the Hall of Fame, the team was introduced and was greeted by hundreds of local school kids and their parents. What I was told was local school kids have been following the tournament the past few weeks and learning about each region of the country. It was tremendous to see the kids, as they got a chance to get autographs from the teams and take pictures. We handed out SMSU pennants and SMSU stress relievers (those little things you can squeeze) to the kids. We now have gained SMSU fans in the Springfield area. I also wanted to drop them an application form for college as I told them as a member of the Class of 2017, you have to think about your future.
We also thought about dropping off some mini-Mustang and summer camp brochures. Maybe next year.
Following the meet and greet, headed back to the hotel and then had a team reception across the street at the Marriot. All eight teams were in attendance as the local committee served the teams hot dogs, burgers, ice cream and beverages. The food was much needed and tasted great.
On the big screen TV during the reception, they showed highlights of past Division II championship games on CBS-TV. Good stuff to watch. The 1994 final (I think it was 1994 or maybe 1995) it showed the head coaches shaking hands after the game between Cal State Bakersfield and Southern Indiana. The Southern Indiana head coach at the time? It was Bruce Pearl, now head coach at Tennessee. Also shown were highlights of Metro State and its head coach at the time, Mike Dunlap, who is now assistant coach at Arizona. Some great coaches, as we all know, have coached at the D2 level.
Guys then went back to their room and relaxed for the night, while the rest of us had some administrative meetings as we prepare for the official practices and media obligations set for Tuesday.
Early morning on Tuesday, up at 7 am, breakfast at 8 am, practice at 10 am over at American International and then a walk-through at 12 pm at the MassMutual Center. This 55-minute practice is open to the public.
Have a good night Mustang fans.
As we entered the Hall of Fame, the team was introduced and was greeted by hundreds of local school kids and their parents. What I was told was local school kids have been following the tournament the past few weeks and learning about each region of the country. It was tremendous to see the kids, as they got a chance to get autographs from the teams and take pictures. We handed out SMSU pennants and SMSU stress relievers (those little things you can squeeze) to the kids. We now have gained SMSU fans in the Springfield area. I also wanted to drop them an application form for college as I told them as a member of the Class of 2017, you have to think about your future.
We also thought about dropping off some mini-Mustang and summer camp brochures. Maybe next year.
Following the meet and greet, headed back to the hotel and then had a team reception across the street at the Marriot. All eight teams were in attendance as the local committee served the teams hot dogs, burgers, ice cream and beverages. The food was much needed and tasted great.
On the big screen TV during the reception, they showed highlights of past Division II championship games on CBS-TV. Good stuff to watch. The 1994 final (I think it was 1994 or maybe 1995) it showed the head coaches shaking hands after the game between Cal State Bakersfield and Southern Indiana. The Southern Indiana head coach at the time? It was Bruce Pearl, now head coach at Tennessee. Also shown were highlights of Metro State and its head coach at the time, Mike Dunlap, who is now assistant coach at Arizona. Some great coaches, as we all know, have coached at the D2 level.
Guys then went back to their room and relaxed for the night, while the rest of us had some administrative meetings as we prepare for the official practices and media obligations set for Tuesday.
Early morning on Tuesday, up at 7 am, breakfast at 8 am, practice at 10 am over at American International and then a walk-through at 12 pm at the MassMutual Center. This 55-minute practice is open to the public.
Have a good night Mustang fans.
Monday, March 23 - 4:20 p.m.
Back with a quick update here in Springfield, Mass. The temp. today is in the lower 40s, so it's not too bad.
The team practiced today at American International College. Chris Hmielewski lead the five-van caravan today to practice and like yesterday going to the hotel....we got lost. Not a major setback, just a few more turns and we made it back on the main road. Like I tell my van passengers, "boys, we are just seeing the sights of Springfield. Enjoy it." As we were trying to get back on track, my phone rings at its Mike Max from WCCO radio. I hope its not against the law driving while on a phone in Mass., because I broke the law for a few minutes. Trying to keep up with the van ahead of you, while on the phone and tuning in a radio...yikes! (trust me we are safe)
American International is an older campus, just like everything out here is...old. I'm not knocking it at all. I love the character of the buildings at the college and driving around town you can just sense the history of the area and the New England region. I keep telling the guys "this is where Paul Revere rode his horse, yelling 'the British are coming". Of course I have no idea. But it sounds good. I'm just trying to education these young gentlemen. It's an education trip as well. :)
We now have down time for one hour and at 5 pm EDT we a meet and greet with some grade school kids. I guess some elementary kids around the area have been doing a map of each of the eight regions that compete in NCAA Division II hoops and have been following the tournament the last few weeks. Learning about each area of the country and who is coming to Springfield.
At 6 p.m. there is a reception for administrators, NCAA officials that are here, followed by meetings at 7:30 to about 9:30 p.m.
Reminder, listen to Aaron Ziemer's updates on KARL and KMHL radio in southwest Minnesota and WCCO AM 830 tonight at 8:10 CDT as Greg Stemen is on the air live with Mike Max.
More later Mustang fans!
The team practiced today at American International College. Chris Hmielewski lead the five-van caravan today to practice and like yesterday going to the hotel....we got lost. Not a major setback, just a few more turns and we made it back on the main road. Like I tell my van passengers, "boys, we are just seeing the sights of Springfield. Enjoy it." As we were trying to get back on track, my phone rings at its Mike Max from WCCO radio. I hope its not against the law driving while on a phone in Mass., because I broke the law for a few minutes. Trying to keep up with the van ahead of you, while on the phone and tuning in a radio...yikes! (trust me we are safe)
American International is an older campus, just like everything out here is...old. I'm not knocking it at all. I love the character of the buildings at the college and driving around town you can just sense the history of the area and the New England region. I keep telling the guys "this is where Paul Revere rode his horse, yelling 'the British are coming". Of course I have no idea. But it sounds good. I'm just trying to education these young gentlemen. It's an education trip as well. :)
We now have down time for one hour and at 5 pm EDT we a meet and greet with some grade school kids. I guess some elementary kids around the area have been doing a map of each of the eight regions that compete in NCAA Division II hoops and have been following the tournament the last few weeks. Learning about each area of the country and who is coming to Springfield.
At 6 p.m. there is a reception for administrators, NCAA officials that are here, followed by meetings at 7:30 to about 9:30 p.m.
Reminder, listen to Aaron Ziemer's updates on KARL and KMHL radio in southwest Minnesota and WCCO AM 830 tonight at 8:10 CDT as Greg Stemen is on the air live with Mike Max.
More later Mustang fans!
Monday, March 23 - 1 p.m. EDT
Good afternoon Mustang fans from Springfield, Mass. I'm still trying to figure out how to put these pictures at the bottom of the blog and put a caption. But I guess I'm not smart enough. I'll explain the pictures at the end of the blog.
Everyone got a chance to sleep in today. Some longer than others. I actually slept until 8 a.m., which is sleeping in for me. We had breakfast at 10 a.m. in West Springfield, Mass., at Memo's Restaurant. Very good place to eat. Felt like Minnesota, a true small town cafe. Eggs, sausage, pancakes, etc.
We then headed down the road to the Basketball Hall of Fame. If you didn't know, James Naismith invented the game of basketball in the late 1880s here in Springfield at the YMCA, which is now Springfield College. Great chance for all of us to see the history of the game, take pics, etc. The team spent about two hours looking at all the great artifacts, jerseys, pictures and shooting hoops on the various “old school” hoops. From peach basket to a modern backboard and rim.
Before I forget. A story in today's Springfield newspaper on SMSU:
http://www.masslive.com/sports/index.ssf/2009/03/cal_poly_pomona_preparing_for.html?category=D2%20Elite%20Eight
It is now 1 p.m. EDT on Monday and we are back in our hotel. You wanna know the best part of staying with coach Stemen on the road? We received another LARGE “goodie” basket from the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau. Crackers, cheese, desserts, wafers, sausage, juice and more. Our room has a fridge, sink and dishwasher, so we’ve got plenty of space for the food.
At 2 p.m. EDT we’ll be heading over to American International College, an NCAA Division II school in Springfield, for practice. Should be a good chance for the guys to focus back on the game coming up and get a good sweat.
A few other items to mention this afternoon. Aaron Ziemer from KARL radio is doing daily reports for Marshall radio. Three times a day he’ll be calling in and giving updates on the happenings in Springfield. Make sure and tune in if you live in the listening area.
I also want to mention what a great job KSSU-TV did producing the seven games at the region tournament in Marshall. The replays in the arena and the video feed on the Web site was outstanding for everyone to watch. I had several alums (like Mr. Mustang) comment on how great it was to watch the games on-line.
More coming later tonight. We have some administrative meetings tonight that myself, Chris, Rolly and Greg must attend. I’ll post again following the meetings.
Go Mustangs!
We then headed down the road to the Basketball Hall of Fame. If you didn't know, James Naismith invented the game of basketball in the late 1880s here in Springfield at the YMCA, which is now Springfield College. Great chance for all of us to see the history of the game, take pics, etc. The team spent about two hours looking at all the great artifacts, jerseys, pictures and shooting hoops on the various “old school” hoops. From peach basket to a modern backboard and rim.
Before I forget. A story in today's Springfield newspaper on SMSU:
http://www.masslive.com/sports/index.ssf/2009/03/cal_poly_pomona_preparing_for.html?category=D2%20Elite%20Eight
It is now 1 p.m. EDT on Monday and we are back in our hotel. You wanna know the best part of staying with coach Stemen on the road? We received another LARGE “goodie” basket from the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau. Crackers, cheese, desserts, wafers, sausage, juice and more. Our room has a fridge, sink and dishwasher, so we’ve got plenty of space for the food.
At 2 p.m. EDT we’ll be heading over to American International College, an NCAA Division II school in Springfield, for practice. Should be a good chance for the guys to focus back on the game coming up and get a good sweat.
A few other items to mention this afternoon. Aaron Ziemer from KARL radio is doing daily reports for Marshall radio. Three times a day he’ll be calling in and giving updates on the happenings in Springfield. Make sure and tune in if you live in the listening area.
I also want to mention what a great job KSSU-TV did producing the seven games at the region tournament in Marshall. The replays in the arena and the video feed on the Web site was outstanding for everyone to watch. I had several alums (like Mr. Mustang) comment on how great it was to watch the games on-line.
More coming later tonight. We have some administrative meetings tonight that myself, Chris, Rolly and Greg must attend. I’ll post again following the meetings.
Go Mustangs!
The pics, from top to bottom:
(1) The Mustang players
(2) this was a place to test your vertical jump. Coach Stemen bet me he would be higher. I took the bet...and we tied. (really we did). He played hoops his whole live, while I played hockey. I guess it shows hockey players are the better athletes.. Official results from the jump contest will not be posted
(3)a view from the third floor of the Hall of Fame. You can shoot the basketball and take pics. This is where the D2 All-Star game is played on Friday night. Kevin Raatzsch from Northern State and John Vaudreil from Minnesota Duluth will be here from the Central Region. Players competing in the Elite Eight can't play.
(4)a small portion of the head shots of the Hall of Fame members. They have pictures all around the building along with bios on all of the honorees.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Sunday Night in Springfield - 8:20 pm EDT
Well we have finally made it to the Elite Eight in Springfield, Mass. Some people had a much easier time getting here and they should, because they are much more important than me. More on that in a minute.
As I mentioned on Friday night, myself, Chris Hmielewski and Rolly Muller along with Aaron Ziemer from KARL radio, were flying to Springfield a tad different than the team. We embarked from Marshall on Saturday night around 7 p.m. and the four of us headed to Omaha, Neb. The reason you ask? The NCAA pays for a team travel party of 20 for each of the teams going to the Elite Eight. With our coaches, players, media relations, trainer and administration that number reached over 20 people.
Because of cost, the four of us found less expensive flights out of Omaha. After a food stop in Sioux Falls and a gas stop in Sioux City, we arrived in Omaha around 11:30 p.m. Checked into our rooms around midnight and was sound asleep shortly after for our five-hour nap!
Woke up at 5:15 a.m. this morning, and we headed to the airport. Check in was fine the flight to Atlanta was just fine (yeah I know, real direct, Omaha to Atlanta to Hartford). I picked up some much needed sleep and also got some important reading in as well. Sports Illustrated, Omaha Herald newspaper, and a novel by Jonathan Kellerman.
Following lunch in at Chili’s and watching some college hoops on TV, we boarded the plane around 12:15 p.m. EDT to head north to Hartford. Before I forget, I’m doing some checking on-line, but I swore I saw Vanilla Ice in the airport. As someone who graduated high school in 1993, Vanilla Ice was “the man” for a few months of my life in the early 1990s. Again, I can’t be for sure it was him, but I’m sticking with the story.
Smooth flight to Hartford and we arrived around 4:15 p.m. Then went to Enterprise to pick up the five mini vans that team will be using this week.
Travel was much easier for the team and trainer Nathan Burns. The Mustangs were treated “big time”, taking a bus to Sioux Falls on Sunday morning and then boarding a charter plane that would take them directly from Sioux Falls to Hartford. The bus dropped the guys off right on the tarmac and within minutes the team was in the air. The team arrived earlier than expected and by 5 p.m. our official travel party was in the vans and making the drive north to Springfield, which is just 20 minutes from Hartford, Conn.
The drivers for the week: Greg Stemen, Nate Burns, Kelly Loft, Chris Hmielewski and Brad Bigler.
Finally got to Springfield and with Chris leading the way, took a wrong turn and we drove past the Basketball Hall of Fame twice. I told my van full of guys we were just checking to see the times it was open. I had assistant coach Nate Kaeding, along with Ross DeMasi, Ryan Krome and Andrew Peschong in my van. We’ll come up with some “cool” name for the van. When I’m with the SMSU baseball team in Ft. Myers, Fla, each year we usually come up with some dumb name. Just weird stuff guys do to pass the time.
Hope all is well in Marshall or wherever you’re reading this from. School is back in session at SMSU on Monday. I’m sure the players are all thinking of you students as you head back to classes…or maybe not.
More tomorrow, or maybe tonight. We’ll see.
Go Mustangs!
As I mentioned on Friday night, myself, Chris Hmielewski and Rolly Muller along with Aaron Ziemer from KARL radio, were flying to Springfield a tad different than the team. We embarked from Marshall on Saturday night around 7 p.m. and the four of us headed to Omaha, Neb. The reason you ask? The NCAA pays for a team travel party of 20 for each of the teams going to the Elite Eight. With our coaches, players, media relations, trainer and administration that number reached over 20 people.
Because of cost, the four of us found less expensive flights out of Omaha. After a food stop in Sioux Falls and a gas stop in Sioux City, we arrived in Omaha around 11:30 p.m. Checked into our rooms around midnight and was sound asleep shortly after for our five-hour nap!
Woke up at 5:15 a.m. this morning, and we headed to the airport. Check in was fine the flight to Atlanta was just fine (yeah I know, real direct, Omaha to Atlanta to Hartford). I picked up some much needed sleep and also got some important reading in as well. Sports Illustrated, Omaha Herald newspaper, and a novel by Jonathan Kellerman.
Following lunch in at Chili’s and watching some college hoops on TV, we boarded the plane around 12:15 p.m. EDT to head north to Hartford. Before I forget, I’m doing some checking on-line, but I swore I saw Vanilla Ice in the airport. As someone who graduated high school in 1993, Vanilla Ice was “the man” for a few months of my life in the early 1990s. Again, I can’t be for sure it was him, but I’m sticking with the story.
Smooth flight to Hartford and we arrived around 4:15 p.m. Then went to Enterprise to pick up the five mini vans that team will be using this week.
Travel was much easier for the team and trainer Nathan Burns. The Mustangs were treated “big time”, taking a bus to Sioux Falls on Sunday morning and then boarding a charter plane that would take them directly from Sioux Falls to Hartford. The bus dropped the guys off right on the tarmac and within minutes the team was in the air. The team arrived earlier than expected and by 5 p.m. our official travel party was in the vans and making the drive north to Springfield, which is just 20 minutes from Hartford, Conn.
The drivers for the week: Greg Stemen, Nate Burns, Kelly Loft, Chris Hmielewski and Brad Bigler.
Finally got to Springfield and with Chris leading the way, took a wrong turn and we drove past the Basketball Hall of Fame twice. I told my van full of guys we were just checking to see the times it was open. I had assistant coach Nate Kaeding, along with Ross DeMasi, Ryan Krome and Andrew Peschong in my van. We’ll come up with some “cool” name for the van. When I’m with the SMSU baseball team in Ft. Myers, Fla, each year we usually come up with some dumb name. Just weird stuff guys do to pass the time.
We checked into the Sheraton Hotel in downtown Springfield, Mass. Seems like a very nice place. They are doing some renovations or should I say LOTS of renovations. The middle of the hotel has (I’m not kidding) 14 floors of scaffolding. You walk out your room and you can look down to the second floor and look up and see to the 15th floor. It’s a huge open area, but right now all you see is scaffolding.
I still haven't talked to associate head coach Brad Bigler, or barely have seen him. I guess some motion sickness has taken over Mr. Bigler. He is staying in the room tonight.
Everyone got into their rooms, and then we head out for supper. Our first meal as a team was at Theodore’s Pub in downtown Springfield. Good food, BBQ, burgers, etc. We took some pictures and watched some college basketball. Make me wonder, how many meals this team has had together this season. Remember, the team first played an exhibition game in mid-October in Brandon, Manitoba, then in Anaheim, Calif., in early November and now we are still playing in late March. Love it!
Everyone is tad tired from the day of travel and we headed back to our rooms around 8 p.m. EDT. Coach Stemen has a meeting scheduled for around 9:30 p.m. to talk about tomorrow’s schedule. (Wait, there is a knock on my door, hold on). The hotel just dropped off a welcome tray for my roommate, head coach Greg Stemen. Coach is not here right now I tell them, but they bring in anyways. It looks fancy, two bottles of water on ice, with two glasses and a plate wrapped in tin foil. I’m trying to see what is inside, but I better wait for Greg. They also gave two plates and two forks. What are they saying? Date night for Greg and Kelly I guess.
I will post some pictures tonight and throughout the week of our travels. Tomorrow, there is practice, maybe the Basketball Hall of Fame and much more. This of course again is an experience the guys will never forget. I was a part of the 2001 team that advanced to the Elite Eight in Bakersfield, Calif., and it is something I will always remember. This year though, I’ll remember to take more pictures!
The guys also know there is plenty of business to take care of. Everything pointed to Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 EDT versus Cal Poly Pomona.
I still haven't talked to associate head coach Brad Bigler, or barely have seen him. I guess some motion sickness has taken over Mr. Bigler. He is staying in the room tonight.
Everyone got into their rooms, and then we head out for supper. Our first meal as a team was at Theodore’s Pub in downtown Springfield. Good food, BBQ, burgers, etc. We took some pictures and watched some college basketball. Make me wonder, how many meals this team has had together this season. Remember, the team first played an exhibition game in mid-October in Brandon, Manitoba, then in Anaheim, Calif., in early November and now we are still playing in late March. Love it!
Everyone is tad tired from the day of travel and we headed back to our rooms around 8 p.m. EDT. Coach Stemen has a meeting scheduled for around 9:30 p.m. to talk about tomorrow’s schedule. (Wait, there is a knock on my door, hold on). The hotel just dropped off a welcome tray for my roommate, head coach Greg Stemen. Coach is not here right now I tell them, but they bring in anyways. It looks fancy, two bottles of water on ice, with two glasses and a plate wrapped in tin foil. I’m trying to see what is inside, but I better wait for Greg. They also gave two plates and two forks. What are they saying? Date night for Greg and Kelly I guess.
I will post some pictures tonight and throughout the week of our travels. Tomorrow, there is practice, maybe the Basketball Hall of Fame and much more. This of course again is an experience the guys will never forget. I was a part of the 2001 team that advanced to the Elite Eight in Bakersfield, Calif., and it is something I will always remember. This year though, I’ll remember to take more pictures!
The guys also know there is plenty of business to take care of. Everything pointed to Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 EDT versus Cal Poly Pomona.
More media coverage for SMSU men's basketball coming up on Monday night. I worked my contacts and Greg Stemen will be on WCCO radio on Monday night with Mike Max at 8:10 CDT! Make sure and tune in!
Hope all is well in Marshall or wherever you’re reading this from. School is back in session at SMSU on Monday. I’m sure the players are all thinking of you students as you head back to classes…or maybe not.
More tomorrow, or maybe tonight. We’ll see.
Go Mustangs!
Friday, March 20, 2009
Friday Night Thoughts - 9 p.m. CDT
Hello once again Mustang basketball fans. Still trying to figure out all of this blogging stuff. I know it’s not rocket science, but I'm trying to come up with something with a little “kick” so you come back and visit the site throughout the upcoming tournament.
Before I move onto writing about the Elite Eight and Springfield, Mass., I'd like to thank everyone that came out the R/A Facility this past week for the NCAA region tournament. The R/A Facility had an incredible environment all three nights and it is something that many SMSU fans will never forget. I've seen nearly every SMSU basketball game played in the R/A Facility since it was built in 1996, either as a student or now as an employee, and the excitement shown by the Mustang fans was unreal.
I know coach Stemen has said it many times, either on radio or in the newspaper, but believe me when he says that the players and coaches feed off the crowd and really do appreciate all of the support. A message from the players: “thank you Marshall and all of southwest Minnesota!”
In fact following this week’s “Greg Stemen Show” that we taped on Thursday, on location in the R/A Facility, for local cable television, the players taped a short “thank you” message that will run throughout the week on local cable. The guys did a great job recording it. Took awhile, but they finally got the job done. But the outtakes are something to see, trust me.
The Mustangs practiced on both Thursday and Friday and will once again on Saturday. The team will fly out to Springfield, Mass., on Sunday. I will be flying out with Chris Hmielewski, director of athletics at SMSU and assistant A.D., Rolly Muller on Sunday as well…out of Omaha, Neb. Why Omaha? It’s a long story. We’ll be driving down on Saturday night and then meet up with the team on Sunday.
Reminder, SMSU opens the Elite Eight versus the West Region champion, the Broncos from Cal Poly Pomona. Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m. Central Time on Wednesday, March 25. The game can be heard on the radio on 105.1 FM KARL with the voice of the Mustangs, Aaron Ziemer. Most of you already know this, but we are lucky to have a play-by-play man like Aaron. He really does a great job and puts the time into his broadcasts to make it work smoothly. Check out the SMSU football highlight video on the football Web site and listen to his calls with the video. Great stuff!
The game on Wednesday afternoon will also be made available to watch at www.NCAA.com. Check back to www.SMSUmustangs.com for viewing parties on campus. I’m sure work production around Marshall and surrounding communities will dip slightly on Wednesday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. J Come on managers, given you employees the day off!
American International University is the host school for the tournament and the Web site for the tournament can be found on the AIU Web site at www.aicyellowjackets.com/sports/2009/3/12/MBB_0312092419.aspx?id=137
Checking out for the night. There is much more to write about tomorrow and throughout the week. If you have questions, drop a comment and I hope I can answer it. Just get my attention by saying “Hey Loft!”. I know pretty cheesy. Trust me it took us a whole 15 seconds to come up with the title of the blog.
Keep that Brown and Gold pride high fans! The players need all the support! Go Mustangs!
Before I move onto writing about the Elite Eight and Springfield, Mass., I'd like to thank everyone that came out the R/A Facility this past week for the NCAA region tournament. The R/A Facility had an incredible environment all three nights and it is something that many SMSU fans will never forget. I've seen nearly every SMSU basketball game played in the R/A Facility since it was built in 1996, either as a student or now as an employee, and the excitement shown by the Mustang fans was unreal.
I know coach Stemen has said it many times, either on radio or in the newspaper, but believe me when he says that the players and coaches feed off the crowd and really do appreciate all of the support. A message from the players: “thank you Marshall and all of southwest Minnesota!”
In fact following this week’s “Greg Stemen Show” that we taped on Thursday, on location in the R/A Facility, for local cable television, the players taped a short “thank you” message that will run throughout the week on local cable. The guys did a great job recording it. Took awhile, but they finally got the job done. But the outtakes are something to see, trust me.
The Mustangs practiced on both Thursday and Friday and will once again on Saturday. The team will fly out to Springfield, Mass., on Sunday. I will be flying out with Chris Hmielewski, director of athletics at SMSU and assistant A.D., Rolly Muller on Sunday as well…out of Omaha, Neb. Why Omaha? It’s a long story. We’ll be driving down on Saturday night and then meet up with the team on Sunday.
Reminder, SMSU opens the Elite Eight versus the West Region champion, the Broncos from Cal Poly Pomona. Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m. Central Time on Wednesday, March 25. The game can be heard on the radio on 105.1 FM KARL with the voice of the Mustangs, Aaron Ziemer. Most of you already know this, but we are lucky to have a play-by-play man like Aaron. He really does a great job and puts the time into his broadcasts to make it work smoothly. Check out the SMSU football highlight video on the football Web site and listen to his calls with the video. Great stuff!
The game on Wednesday afternoon will also be made available to watch at www.NCAA.com. Check back to www.SMSUmustangs.com for viewing parties on campus. I’m sure work production around Marshall and surrounding communities will dip slightly on Wednesday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. J Come on managers, given you employees the day off!
American International University is the host school for the tournament and the Web site for the tournament can be found on the AIU Web site at www.aicyellowjackets.com/sports/2009/3/12/MBB_0312092419.aspx?id=137
Checking out for the night. There is much more to write about tomorrow and throughout the week. If you have questions, drop a comment and I hope I can answer it. Just get my attention by saying “Hey Loft!”. I know pretty cheesy. Trust me it took us a whole 15 seconds to come up with the title of the blog.
Keep that Brown and Gold pride high fans! The players need all the support! Go Mustangs!
Friday afternoon thoughts
Hey Mustang fans just writing from my office in Founders Hall. Has been an amazing week of things to get ready for from my office. As you see on the site, another "Mustang Minute" has been cut for this week. A special thanks to my assistant Tim Gerszewski for the great camera work!
Our office has been busy dealing with media requests around the country. The Springfield, Mass., newspaper has called to talk to coach Stemen, the Star Tribune will be calling early next week, and we've had one TV station from Sioux Falls already stop by on Wednesday. This along with our local media keeps things busy. I just want to recognize what a great job by both of our local media outlets, the Marshall Independent and Marshall Radio did during the NCAA regional tournament! Great coverage to our fans everywhere! Thanks to everyone.
More coming tonight!
Our office has been busy dealing with media requests around the country. The Springfield, Mass., newspaper has called to talk to coach Stemen, the Star Tribune will be calling early next week, and we've had one TV station from Sioux Falls already stop by on Wednesday. This along with our local media keeps things busy. I just want to recognize what a great job by both of our local media outlets, the Marshall Independent and Marshall Radio did during the NCAA regional tournament! Great coverage to our fans everywhere! Thanks to everyone.
More coming tonight!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Questions are Welcome
Oh, and feel free to ask me questions about how the trip is going. We're flying out on Sunday.
Massachusetts here we come!!
Massachusetts here we come!!
Welcome to the Hey Loft
Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog. I'll be keeping you up to date with the Mustangs as they travel to Springfield, Mass., for the Elite Eight!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)