TicketsWant to open with a thanks to the good folks at CityBeat for recognizing the blog in their Best of issue, which you need to check out on newsstands or read online here.
The Staff Picks section mentioned this blog as one of the best morning sports reads in the city. Always great to know that people are taking notice and I hope all of my regular readers here feel the same way.
Of course, after the seasons UC football and basketball just enjoyed, it would be crazy to think I had all that much to do with it. I'll share credit with Mick and Butch.
Enough self-aggrandizing leads, let's eat...
--- We saw the arrival of one of the few actual news items of the offseason yesterday as the football schedule was released.
--- The schedule features seven home games -- all at Nippert Stadium. Four games are already committed to national television, with two secured for primetime slots.
The biggest win for the fans and the program, though, is the season opener which will take place Thursday, Sept. 6, on ESPN at home against Pitt. That's how you open a season.
UC has never opened the season at home on national television during its modern resurgence and the last significant home opponent in the opener came in 2003 against top C-USA foe East Carolina.
The tough part will be watching the rest of the country open the season the weekend before while the Bearcats sit idle. Every other team in the conference will be in action the weekend of Sept. 1.
Pitt will be playing Youngstown State that Saturday, so it won't be the first time out for both teams. That could work against the Bearcats since so much improvement is made between Game 1 and 2, but we can spend all of the Fall postulating about that.
--- The highest priority of the schedule was to bring seven home games to The Nipp. That was accomplished. But tossing in defections, lawsuits and uncertainty, it was far from an easy process.
Judging by the quotes from AD Whit Babcock and coach Butch Jones, the importance needed to be placed down and bringing seven games in front of the fan base stood at a clear No. 1.
"It was our priority to bring seven home games to Nippert Stadium this season," Babcock. "The dynamics of conference realignment made doing that a challenge, but I'm very pleased we were able to achieve this."
This from Jones:
"In the ever changing landscape of college football, scheduling has become a great challenge in itself. We are very excited about the opportunity of having seven home games in historic Nippert Stadium in front of our tremendous fan base."
--- The other point Jones brought up about the schedule was the run of 10 consecutive games to close the season. Since the team is idle the first weekend, the only bye week will come after the first two games (Sept. 22).
It's a rarity to run off that many games in a row without a break, but yet another product of the conference circus emerges.
--- Best part of the bye week, however? Two weeks to prepare for Virginia Tech. The Hokies will have played four games with UC only owning two, but VT could be a little beat up. They will be coming off a likely beatdown of Bowling Green at Lane Stadium.
--- Also, UC officially released future opponents. Much of these had already been reported, but here is the official word.
2013
Purdue
Northwestern State
@Illinois
@Miami (OH)
2014
Stony Brook
Toledo
Miami (OH)
@ Ohio State
2015
@ Miami (OH)
@ Miami (Fla.)
The concept of having one major non-conference opponent with with second and third-tier opponents trickled in worked nicely last year and appears to be the philosophy going forward. As we learned over the last few years, so much can change.
--- Beyond the schedule, was able to head out to practice yesterday hoping to do a story on backup quarterback Jordan Luallen. He broke out last year in the absence of Zach Collaros as a change-of-pace QB to complement Munchie Legaux.
Well, Jones can't keep Luallen off the field. So, he's moved him to wide receiver this spring and getting him reps learning the position. He plans on working him at both QB and WR and who knows where else once the season begins.
There was just no keeping one of his best athletes off the field anymore.
As I arrived to do the story, Bill Koch was writing a similar piece. Here it is with all the details of his position change.
What I wanted to write about was more than just Luallen's position on the field, but how he has been spending his time off of it.
Luallen spent a week during his recent spring break in Nicaragua working as part of a not-for-profit organization his father runs. He helped build a community center for kids in a poor neighborhood of the capital city of Managua. This was the third time Luallen traveled to the Central American country -- his first trip was in 2005. He plans on returning for a week as soon as classes conclude this summer.
We hear so much about the poor decisions college athletes make in their time off the field, it's refreshing to hear about the fantastic ones. And it continues to change the perspective for the senior-to-be.
"It changes your life every single time," he said. "Go to a third-world country like that and do that kind of thing, you kind of think you are going to change their lives, but really, it is so minute what you are doing for them. It is more what they are doing for you. Just seeing the love and happiness all those people have with so little, every time its mentally and emotionally draining. Coming back here and seeing how much we take for granted and how much we waste, it's just unbelievable."
Somebody Luallen came in contact in Nicaragua informed him he was putting himself through school and it cost $300 for five years (time to recommend this to Obama!).
The perspective gained from working on building a community center in Nicaragua was as obvious as the $12.5 million practice bubble Tuesday's interview was conducted inside.
"It makes me want to work harder," he said. "I come here and I am getting my school paid for and getting the chance to play football. I am gettign all this great stuff, you look at it and to come out here and not give everything that I have and not put everything that I have into it would just be a waste. The people down there would die for an opportunity like this."
Always liked Luallen, even before finding out about this. Funny guy who made the most of his opportunity on the field. Impossible not to like, respect and root for him after finding out this information.
--- Andrea Adelson talked about filling JK Schaffer's shoes this spring at MLB. \
--- Andrea also sees TE Adrien Robinson as a fourth-round selection. His numbers at Pro Day were off the charts and his timing is impeccable in the wake of New England riding Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez to an AFC Championship.
--- UC officially announced the addition of Shannon Morrison as cornerbacks coach. He spent the last two years at Memphis. Tommy G caught up with the coach learning on the fly at practice Tuesday.
--- Randomness....
--- The plight of Browns fans continues to take on an incredibly entertaining element. The only thing missing is a Ryan Pontbriand jersey.
--- Lollapalooza rumors.
--- How to rise from waitressing to the New York Times. Very similar to my rise from Waffle House aficionado to GoBearcats.com.
--- The sad string of layoffs and buyouts at The Enquirer continue with Howard Wilkinson and Michael Keating. Sad.
--- So, uh, Mega Millions is up to $476 million. That's a big number.
--- Some music today from The Hold Steady as a shout out to my former boss at CNati.com C. Trent Rosecrans who is beaming today as two of his favorite things converged: Baseball and Japan.
The Staff Picks section mentioned this blog as one of the best morning sports reads in the city. Always great to know that people are taking notice and I hope all of my regular readers here feel the same way.
Of course, after the seasons UC football and basketball just enjoyed, it would be crazy to think I had all that much to do with it. I'll share credit with Mick and Butch.
Enough self-aggrandizing leads, let's eat...
--- We saw the arrival of one of the few actual news items of the offseason yesterday as the football schedule was released.
| Date | Opponent | Site | Time (ET) | TV |
| 2012 |
|
|
|
|
| Thurs., Sept. 6 | Pittsburgh | Nippert Stadium | 8 p.m. | ESPN |
| Sat., Sept. 15 | Delaware State | Nippert Stadium | TBA | TBA |
| Sat., Sept. 22 | Open |
|
|
|
| Sat., Sept. 29 | vs. Virginia Tech | Landover, Md. | TBA | TBA |
| Sat., Oct. 6 | Miami (Ohio) | Nippert Stadium | TBA | TBA |
| Sat. Oct. 13 | Fordham | Nippert Stadium | TBA | TBA |
| Sat., Oct. 20 | at Toledo | Toledo, Ohio | TBA | TBA |
| Fri., Oct. 26 | at Louisville | Louisville, Ky. | 8 p.m. | ESPN/ESPN2 |
| Sat., Nov. 3 | Syracuse | Nippert Stadium | TBA | TBA |
| Sat., Nov. 10 | at Temple | Philadelphia, Pa. | TBA | TBA |
| Sat., Nov. 17 | Rutgers | Nippert Stadium | TBA | TBA |
| Fri., Nov. 23 | USF | Nippert Stadium | TBA | ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 |
| Sat., Dec. 1 | at Connecticut | Storrs, Ct. | TBA | ABC/ESPN/ESPN2 |
--- The schedule features seven home games -- all at Nippert Stadium. Four games are already committed to national television, with two secured for primetime slots.
The biggest win for the fans and the program, though, is the season opener which will take place Thursday, Sept. 6, on ESPN at home against Pitt. That's how you open a season.
UC has never opened the season at home on national television during its modern resurgence and the last significant home opponent in the opener came in 2003 against top C-USA foe East Carolina.
The tough part will be watching the rest of the country open the season the weekend before while the Bearcats sit idle. Every other team in the conference will be in action the weekend of Sept. 1.
Pitt will be playing Youngstown State that Saturday, so it won't be the first time out for both teams. That could work against the Bearcats since so much improvement is made between Game 1 and 2, but we can spend all of the Fall postulating about that.
--- The highest priority of the schedule was to bring seven home games to The Nipp. That was accomplished. But tossing in defections, lawsuits and uncertainty, it was far from an easy process.
Judging by the quotes from AD Whit Babcock and coach Butch Jones, the importance needed to be placed down and bringing seven games in front of the fan base stood at a clear No. 1.
"It was our priority to bring seven home games to Nippert Stadium this season," Babcock. "The dynamics of conference realignment made doing that a challenge, but I'm very pleased we were able to achieve this."
This from Jones:
"In the ever changing landscape of college football, scheduling has become a great challenge in itself. We are very excited about the opportunity of having seven home games in historic Nippert Stadium in front of our tremendous fan base."
--- The other point Jones brought up about the schedule was the run of 10 consecutive games to close the season. Since the team is idle the first weekend, the only bye week will come after the first two games (Sept. 22).
It's a rarity to run off that many games in a row without a break, but yet another product of the conference circus emerges.
--- Best part of the bye week, however? Two weeks to prepare for Virginia Tech. The Hokies will have played four games with UC only owning two, but VT could be a little beat up. They will be coming off a likely beatdown of Bowling Green at Lane Stadium.
--- Also, UC officially released future opponents. Much of these had already been reported, but here is the official word.
2013
Purdue
Northwestern State
@Illinois
@Miami (OH)
2014
Stony Brook
Toledo
Miami (OH)
@ Ohio State
2015
@ Miami (OH)
@ Miami (Fla.)
The concept of having one major non-conference opponent with with second and third-tier opponents trickled in worked nicely last year and appears to be the philosophy going forward. As we learned over the last few years, so much can change.
--- Beyond the schedule, was able to head out to practice yesterday hoping to do a story on backup quarterback Jordan Luallen. He broke out last year in the absence of Zach Collaros as a change-of-pace QB to complement Munchie Legaux.
Well, Jones can't keep Luallen off the field. So, he's moved him to wide receiver this spring and getting him reps learning the position. He plans on working him at both QB and WR and who knows where else once the season begins.
There was just no keeping one of his best athletes off the field anymore.
As I arrived to do the story, Bill Koch was writing a similar piece. Here it is with all the details of his position change.
What I wanted to write about was more than just Luallen's position on the field, but how he has been spending his time off of it.
Luallen spent a week during his recent spring break in Nicaragua working as part of a not-for-profit organization his father runs. He helped build a community center for kids in a poor neighborhood of the capital city of Managua. This was the third time Luallen traveled to the Central American country -- his first trip was in 2005. He plans on returning for a week as soon as classes conclude this summer.
We hear so much about the poor decisions college athletes make in their time off the field, it's refreshing to hear about the fantastic ones. And it continues to change the perspective for the senior-to-be.
"It changes your life every single time," he said. "Go to a third-world country like that and do that kind of thing, you kind of think you are going to change their lives, but really, it is so minute what you are doing for them. It is more what they are doing for you. Just seeing the love and happiness all those people have with so little, every time its mentally and emotionally draining. Coming back here and seeing how much we take for granted and how much we waste, it's just unbelievable."
Somebody Luallen came in contact in Nicaragua informed him he was putting himself through school and it cost $300 for five years (time to recommend this to Obama!).
The perspective gained from working on building a community center in Nicaragua was as obvious as the $12.5 million practice bubble Tuesday's interview was conducted inside.
"It makes me want to work harder," he said. "I come here and I am getting my school paid for and getting the chance to play football. I am gettign all this great stuff, you look at it and to come out here and not give everything that I have and not put everything that I have into it would just be a waste. The people down there would die for an opportunity like this."
Always liked Luallen, even before finding out about this. Funny guy who made the most of his opportunity on the field. Impossible not to like, respect and root for him after finding out this information.
--- Andrea Adelson talked about filling JK Schaffer's shoes this spring at MLB. \
--- Andrea also sees TE Adrien Robinson as a fourth-round selection. His numbers at Pro Day were off the charts and his timing is impeccable in the wake of New England riding Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez to an AFC Championship.
--- UC officially announced the addition of Shannon Morrison as cornerbacks coach. He spent the last two years at Memphis. Tommy G caught up with the coach learning on the fly at practice Tuesday.
--- Randomness....
--- The plight of Browns fans continues to take on an incredibly entertaining element. The only thing missing is a Ryan Pontbriand jersey.
--- Lollapalooza rumors.
--- How to rise from waitressing to the New York Times. Very similar to my rise from Waffle House aficionado to GoBearcats.com.
--- The sad string of layoffs and buyouts at The Enquirer continue with Howard Wilkinson and Michael Keating. Sad.
--- So, uh, Mega Millions is up to $476 million. That's a big number.
--- Some music today from The Hold Steady as a shout out to my former boss at CNati.com C. Trent Rosecrans who is beaming today as two of his favorite things converged: Baseball and Japan.