12 CAA Teams in 12 Days: Hofstra

Welcome back to 12 CAA Teams in 12 Days! Now that you’ve had time to digest all the cool things I’ve taught you about the folks from Delaware, let’s head up to the town of Hempstead, NY on Long Island.

Name: Hofstra University

Nickname: Pride

Founded: 1935

Student Body Population: Approx. 13,000

Located: In the town of Hempstead, New York on Long Island about a half hour drive (if you’re lucky) from Queens

Colors: Blue and Gold

Mascot: A Pair of Lions (“Pride”)

Fun Academic Fact: The school was actually founded as part of New York University but became an independent school named Hofstra College in 1937 before officially being named Hofstra University in 1963.

Hofstra was selected to host the third and final Presidential Debate of 2008 on October 15th. The debate will focus on foreign policy and will feature the candidates sitting at a table with the moderator.

This is also the final year that the New York Jets will have their training camp at Hofstra as has been the tradition for many years.

HOFSTRA FOOTBALL

Head Coach: Dave Cohen, 3rd Year (9-13)

Stadium: James M. Shuart Stadium

Photo courtesy of dbeards3

Opened in 1962, Shuart Stadium is a 15,000 seat capacity stadium that was named Hofstra Stadium until it was renamed for the outgoing president James Shuart in 2002. The stadium has dual roles for both football and lacrosse as it hosted the NCAA D-1 Men’s Lacrosse Championship in 1971 and 2006 and it also was the home field for the Long Island Lizards Major League Lacrosse Team from 2001-02.

NOTABLE PLAYERS:

Charlie Adams, Stephen Bowen, Rocky Butler, Giovanni Carmazzi, Wayne Chrebet, Willie Colon, Marques Colston, Devale Ellis, Dave Fiore, Don Gault, Arlen Harris, John Schmitt, Lance Schulters, Shaine Smith, Renauld Williams, Vincent Molinari.

Wayne Chrebet

HOFSTRA FOOTBALL TODAY AND TOMORROW

The Hofstra football team was going through major struggles until Coach Dave Cohen arrived in 2006. After a rough first season, the Pride (or Flying Dutchmen as I still love calling them) increased their win total by five games and narrowly missed the I-AA playoffs last year. Being able to do that in a conference like the CAA is quite impressive and can only mean that Hofstra is looking at no less than a playoff birth in the coming years.

12 CAA Teams in 12 Days: Delaware

I liken my blog to the NFL Network in that the seasons of Spring and Summer are spent trying to amuse and entertainment both viewers and myself while we all wait for the glorious football days to return.

So I have to think of new things to throw on here that are at least somewhat creative and can help you pass the time while you are doing nothing working. That said, I’ve decided to take an in depth look at each of the teams that comprise the Colonial Athletic Association football conference. I will use my extensive knowledge of each school (i.e. looking them up on Wikipedia and their websites) to give you some general knowledge but hopefully offer tidbits you may not have known about the teams/schools.

To show that I’m not biased toward my alma mater, I will go in alphabetical order starting with the good folks up in Newark. Presenting the first installment of my 12 CAA Teams in 12 days: The University of Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens!

Name: University of Delaware

Nickname: Fighting Blue Hens

Founded: 1743

Students: Approx. 19,000 including Graduates

Located: Newark about 20 minutes west of Wilmington

Colors: Royal Blue and Gold

Mascot: A Hen named YoUDee

Fun Academic Fact: Of the original ten students in the first class in 1743, three of them (George Read, Thomas McKean, and James Smith) would sign the Declaration of Independence.

- The school is known for its business and engineering schools particularly in the fields of chemistry and biochemistry due to the presence of pharmaceutical companies in the state. The university was ranked #10 in engineering by The Princeton Review in 2006.

DELAWARE FOOTBALL

Head Coach: K.C. Keeler, 6th Year (41-22)

Stadium: Delaware Stadium

Opened in 1952, Delaware Stadium has seen many expansions and is presently at 22,000 capacity which makes it the largest in the CAA. It was recently dubbed “Tubby Raymond Field at Delaware Stadium” to honor their longtime coach Harold “Tubby” Raymond. The games are almost always sold out as Delaware has battled Montana for the highest yearly attendance for several years.

UD also boasts one of the loudest student sections in the conference dubbed “The Cockpit” which sits behind the South Endzone.

The school has won six national titles most recently in 2003 when they clobbered Colgate 40-0. They also have won a record 15 conference titles.

Notable Players:

Mike Adams, Omar Cuff, Mondoe Davis, Jamin Elliott, Joe Flacco, Rich Gannon, Sidney Haugabrook, Joe Minucci, Matt Nagy, Ben Patrick

Joe Flacco

Harold “Tubby” Raymond

Any college football enthusiast will recognize the name Tubby Raymond. He was the face of football in the state of Delaware for 36 seasons racking up an incredible 300 wins and three national championships (1971, 1972, 1979). He also won 14 conference titles. He was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2003 next to his predecessor, David Nelson and Bill Murray who coached the Hens prior to that making Delaware the only team besides Georgia Tech to have three consecutive coaches enshrined.

Future

Though both Flacco and Cuff have moved on, the University of Delaware should have no problems with competing in the coming season. K.C. Keeler is one of the top recruiting coaches in the land, famously saying “We’re the LSU; we’re the Georgia, the Florida of Division I-AA. We have every resource…everybody wants to come to school here (American Football Monthly).” The Hens should enjoy much success for many years to come.

Schedule:

April 11 – Hofstra

April 14 – James Madison

April 15 – Maine

April 16 – Massachusetts

April 17 – New Hampshire

April 18 – Northeastern

April 21 – Rhode Island

April 22 – Richmond

April 23 – Towson

April 24 – Villanova

April 25 – William & Mary

Freshman RB Impresses in First Scrimmage; Dukes Lose Guard

JMU’s football team held its first scrimmage of the new season this past Saturday and Freshman RB Corwin Acker did not disappoint. The Blake High School star from Landover, Maryland had two rushing touchdowns and 29 total yards on nine carries in his first situational play as a Duke and was one of the lone standouts in a defensive struggle.

Other notable lines from the April 5th scrimmage:

QB Drew Dudzik (So. – Clifton, VA/Centreville HS) – 12/20, 141 yards, 1 TD

QB Rodney Landers (Sr. – Virginia Beach, VA/Tallwood HS) – 11/20, 131 yards

RB Jonathan Rose (R-Fr. – Amherst, MA/Amherst HS) – 10 carries, 36 yards

WR Patrick Ward (Sr. – Harrisonburg, VA/Harrisonburg HS) – 4 rec, 79 yards

WR Bosco Williams (Jr. – Clifton Forge, VA/Alleghany HS) – 4 rec, 62 yards, 1 TD

WR Marcus Turner (So. – Berlin, NJ/Eastern HS) – 3 rec, 33 yards

WR Kerby Long (R-Fr. – Arlington, VA/Yorktown HS) – 3 rec, 29 yards

JMU will scrimmage once more this Saturday April 12th before their Spring Game on April 19th. The full Spring schedule as allowed by the NCAA is below:

March 27 – No Pads

March 28 – No Pads

March 29 – Pads

March 31 – Pads

April 2 – Pads

April 4 – Pads

April 5 – Scrimmage

April 7 – Pads

April 8 – Pads

April 11 – Pads

April 12 – Scrimmage

April 14 – Pads

April 15 – Pads

April 17 – No Pads

April 19 – Spring Game

Story courtesy of JMUSports.com

Also noteworthy is that last month, LG Vernon Eason left the football program for personal reasons. Eason was expected to start on the line so this is a potentially crushing blow unless someone steps up.  Here is the Daily News Record’s Mike Barber’s article on it.

JMU Basketball names Brady Head Coach

James Madison University’s basketball program is set to introduce Matt Brady as their new head men’s basketball coach. Brady was the head coach at Marist in the MAAC for four seasons during which he turned them from a single digit winning program to MAAC champs in three seasons highlighted by an NIT victory over Oklahoma State.

Brady also was the assistant to Phil Martelli at St. Joseph’s for 11 seasons including the undefeated regular season team in 2003-04 led by future NBA stars Jameer Nelson and Delonte West.

For more on Brady’s accomplishments and statistics, here is the article from JMUSports.com.

For all you JMU fans out there, you can catch the introduction of Brady live at 1 pm on Wednesday March 26 at JMUSports.com

2008 NCAA Tournament Predictions

The tournament is upon us which means I will be completely original and send out my picks for what they’re worth. If you don’t agree with me, you’re risking a lot.

1st Round

EAST

UNC over The Mount; Indiana over Arkansas; Notre Dame over George Mason; Washington State over Winthrop; St. Joe’s over Oklahoma; Louisville over Boise State; Butler over South Alabama; Tennessee over American

MIDWEST

Kansas over Portland State; UNLV over Kent State; Clemson over Villanova; Siena over Vanderbilt; USC over Kansas State; Wisconsin over Cal State Fullerton; Davidson over Gonzaga; Georgetown over UMBC

SOUTH

Memphis over TX Arlington; Oregon over Miss State; Michigan State over Temple; Pitt over Oral; Marquette over Kentucky; Stanford over Cornell; St. Mary’s over Miami; Texas over Austin Peay

WEST

UCLA over Miss. Valley State; BYU over Texas A&M; Drake over Western Kentucky; Connecticut over San Diego; Purdue over Baylor; Xavier over Georgia; West Virginia over Arizona; Duke over Belmont

Round of 32

EAST

UNC over Indiana; Notre Dame over Washington State; St. Joe’s over Louisville; Tennessee over Butler

MIDWEST

Kansas over UNLV; Clemson over Siena; USC over Wisconsin; Georgetown over Davidson

SOUTH

Memphis over Oregon; Michigan State over Pitt; Marquette over Stanford; Texas over St. Mary’s

WEST

UCLA over BYU; Connecticut over Drake; Xavier over Purdue; Duke over West Virginia

Sweet 16

UNC over Notre Dame; Tennessee over St. Joe’s; Clemson over Kansas; Georgetown over USC; Michigan State over Memphis; Texas over Marquette; UCLA over Connecticut; Xavier over Duke

Elite 8

UNC over Tennessee; Georgetown over Clemson; Texas over Michigan State; UCLA over Xavier

Final Four

UNC over Georgetown; UCLA over Texas

Championship

UNC over UCLA, 75-71

2008 March Madness ACTUAL

The bids are out. Here are the results.

AUTOMATIC BIDS

America East – UMBC Retrievers**

Atlantic 10 – Temple Owls

Atlantic Coast – North Carolina Tar Heels**

Atlantic Sun – Belmont Bruins**

Big 12 – Kansas Jayhawks**

Big East – Pittsburgh Panthers

Big Sky – Portland State Vikings**

Big South – Winthrop Eagles**

Big Ten – Wisconsin Badgers**

Big West – Cal State Fullerton Titans

Colonial – George Mason Patriots

Conference USA – Memphis Tigers**

Horizon – Butler Bulldogs**

Ivy League – Cornell Big Red**

Metro Atlantic – Siena Saints**

MAC – Kent State Golden Flashes**

MEAC – Coppin State Eagles

Missouri Valley – Drake Bulldogs**

Mountain West – Brigham Young Cougars**

Northeast -Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers

Ohio Valley – Austin Peay Governors**

Pac-10 – UCLA Bruins**

Patriot – American Eagles**

SEC – Georgia Bulldogs

Southern – Davidson Wildcats**

Southland – U. Texas-Arlington Mavericks

SWAC – Miss. Valley State Delta Devils

Summit – Oral Roberts Golden Eagles**

Sun Belt – Western Kentucky Hilltoppers

West Coast – San Diego Toreros

WAC – Boise State Broncos

AT LARGE BIDS

Big East (7) : Connecticut, Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame, West Virginia, Villanova

Pac-10 (5) : Arizona, Oregon, Stanford, USC, Washington State

Big 12 (5) : Baylor, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Texas**, Texas A&M

SEC (5) : Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Tennessee**, Vanderbilt

Big Ten (3) : Indiana, Michigan State, Purdue

ACC (3) : Duke, Clemson, Miami

West Coast (2) : Gonzaga**, Saint Mary’s

Atlantic 10 (2) : Saint Joseph’s, Xavier**

Mountain West (1) : UNLV

Sun Belt (1) : South Alabama**

Bold – Clinched Conference Automatic Bid

** – Clinched Regular Season Title

Updated: March 17th

2008 CAA Tournament Set

For those of you interested, you will be happy to know that JMU’s men’s basketball team finished the regular season on a high note knocking off Georgia State 70-60. The win means JMU won’t finish last in the conference which is refreshing and means we won’t be playing the 2:00 pm game for the umpteenth consecutive year in Richmond.

Courtesy of CAASports.com, here is the bracket for the 2008 CAA Tourney. As you can see, JMU has drawn Northeastern, a team they knocked off earlier this year so it’s a favorable matchup. MARCH MADNESS IS HERE!!

2008 JMU Recruit Videos

Yes they’re here! Courtesy of CoachMatthews.com, the recruiting videos of the 2008 JMU football signees are up. Take note of Lee Reynolds, one of the fastest white running backs I’ve seen (besides Sam McDuffie – he’s ridiculous), Justin Thorpe who looks like Rodney Landers but seems to be more accurate and our star recruit Taveion Cuffee from Fork Union. Enjoy!

Mickey Signs 3 Year Extension; Keener Out; Football Tickets On Sale Soon

It’s great to see all the football headlines coming back to all the college websites. With the NFL combine all but behind us, that means college pro days are next then the draft! But first things first JMU fans. Our fearless leader Mickey Matthews has signed a three year contract extension to remain at Madison through the 2012 season. Here is the article from JMUsports.com. I’m glad Matthews is back since we have such a rough schedule next year. Hopefully we won’t see anymore foolish play calling and decision making in the playoffs anymore though.

In basketball news, coach Dean Keener has announced that he will resign his post effective at the end of this season. Here’s an article about the resignation and if it affected the team’s performance last Saturday courtesy of JMU’s newspaper. Keener had a really tough job rebuilding a poor team but a 29-83 record won’t get you far anywhere and I think it was for the best that both sides part ways.

Also, for all you Dukes fans and anyone else who’s a season ticket holder for your respective school, football tickets go on sale March 1st. That is this Saturday believe it or not. I am assuming that ticket sales dates are similar throughout the country so this is a reminder to anyone who happens upon this site. Specifically for JMU though, make sure and decide if you are going to purchase season tickets, individual or the three game pack that is in its second year of existence and was a popular pick last year. I personally will be choosing it again as I cannot make it to every game due to my distance from the school but the rule on it is that you choose two regular games and then either the family weekend or homecoming game. My guess is a popular three pack will be UMass, App State and Delaware (Homecoming). That’s what I’m doing at least. The website for future reference is here.

UPDATE: I actually went with the season ticket package because it’s cheaper than trying to get the 3 team deal with UMass, App and Delaware. 65 bucks is all for the whole season, just crazy!

J Rich Poster

Yes I’m a Bobcats fan. I’m actually going to the game tomorrow night against Sacramento which will be my first experience in the new arena which I’ve heard only good things about.

It will also be my first chance to see Jason Richardson and hopefully he’ll do something like he did to Manu Ginobili two nights ago:

I’m pretty sure any player who’s ever been guarded by Ginobili was jealous of J Rich there. Who hasn’t wanted to make him eat hardwood for all the flopping he does? Can I offer you a karma sandwich Manu?