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September
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26 comments:
Almost about 1 week ago, I witnessed one of the scariest things that I have ever seen on a football field: I saw my friend Dante Love, a guy that I met my first day at Ball State, way back in July of 2005, lying motionless on the field.
Now, injuries are nothing new to sports. Sprains, strains, cuts, bruises; these are all normal occurrences in a game where your job is to be more physical than the guy across from you. You expect that every now and then, you will step wrong, or fall in the wrong direction, or even get hit in an unprotected area. These things happen. You play your hardest and try to do as much as you can to be the better physical presence than the other team.
But you never try to injure someone else. Sure, accidents happen. You fall on someone's knee awkwardly, back over someone, or even run through a block, and plow someone over. No one steps onto a field with the intention of causing what could potentially be a career ending injury.
Last Saturday, I was on the sidelines with Ball State Football (something I have done for 4 years) as we played at Indiana University. We were talking as a defense when we hear some cheers, then some yelling, then finally the IU student sections began to celebrate. It was pretty obvious that we had fumbled the ball, and Indiana had returned it for a touchdown.
As we start getting back to work, one of our coaches upstairs tells us that Dante Love is on the field and not moving. Myself and coach Hoke began to walk down the sidelines closer to the side where Dante was on the ground. At first you're thinking, he just got the wind knocked out of him. He'll get up. Just give him some time to get himself together.
Soon it is very apparent that Dante isn't getting up. In fact, he still hasn't moved, and more medical staff from both teams are starting to gather. All of the team doctors are leaning in, and then the worst thing happens, they begin motioning frantically for the ambulance and stretcher. Once he was loaded on, we began to find out just how serious this injury might be.
. . . To Be Continued
The football team is off to the best start in 20 years. The team has made tremendous improvements on the defensive side of the ball. I think the safe bet would be that the offense would be able to throw the ball well. However, the running game has been consistent this year which takes a lot of pressure off of Nate Davis and the aerial assault.
With Dante Love going down with a career ending injury, true freshman Briggs Orsbon has stepped up and has become the number 1 receiving option for the Cardinals.
Orsbon was a top 33 player as a senior in the state of Ohio. He was a solid recruit and one of the best in the recruiting class that Ball State brought in this year. I think that it is safe to say that Orsbon will be a threat to every defense, every time he touches the ball.
In the wake of the devastating injury to Ball State wide reciever Dante Love, a new star has emerged ont he Ball State offense. His name is Briggs Orsbon. You'll be able to see a full piece on Briggs sometime in the near future on sports link. The way that he stepped in last week's game against Kent State, the first game the Cardinals played without their star reciever, was something to behold. I'm excited to see what Briggs Orsbon has in store for Ball State football fans the rest of the season...It should be fun to watch!
This weekend's Ball State football game at Western Kentucky will be closer than anyone anticipates. Western Kentucky has played one of the most difficult schedules in the entire nation with games at Alabama, Kentucky, Virginia Tech, and Indiana.
The Hilltoppers played the Cardinals tough for over a half last year in Muncie. I think the Hilltoppers are better (Ball State is certainly better too) than last year. Ball State has not had a close game yet other than Navy which really wasn't all that close in the end. Ultimately, this game will prove to be the closest one of the season with a packed house in Bowling Green, Kentucky as the Hilltoppers play host to a ranked team for the first time ever.
I'm excited about calling the game on WCRD...make sure to tune in!
The Ball State Football team is 6-0 for the first time since 1965. On Sunday the team broke into the AP top 25 for the first time in the program’s 84 year history. As a result our show was focused around the football team and I, for my package, focused on star running back Miqual Lewis. While the story turned out well, the production of the piece was not very good. We had issues with the wind and it ruined the audio for the package, taking away from the story of Miqual Lewis who has already overcome three injuries in four years of playing football in high school and college. It is very discouraging when something takes away from the story that is production based, but through immersion the group has been able to make mistakes and learn from the mistakes that we have made. The interviews went very well and after asking about the ranking, most players and even head coach Brady Hoke downplayed its significance. The team is staying motivated because of Dante Love, one of the seniors on this year's team, who went down with a career ending spinal injury against Indiana.
Nate Davis still needs a nickname badly.
Think about it... it's just Nate. Everyone knows who you're talking about when you say that, kinda like Ben from the Steelers is just Ben, but at least sometimes he's Big Ben.
So here we go, some are really good while some are really outrageous, any suggestions after this are much appreciated:
- The Iceman
- Big Daddy
- Big Penny
- The Trece
- The Glove
- The Chosen One
- The Human National Championship
- Laces Out Davis
- The Natural
- Big Papa
- Big Blue
- The Champion
- The Buick
- The Viking
- Iron Man
I think this is a good start!
This last week Cameron and I did our package on Briggs Orsbon. I think that the interview went real well and the coach that we got was the right one. Stan Parrish the offensive coordinator was the coach that recruited Briggs. He was one of the nicest person you could ask to interview and he gave us a lot of good information. Briggs was also a good interview. You can tell that he is smart and he is adjusting to college real well and fast. Hopefully he can continue to help Ball State.
Finally, football has a bye week. Its definitely much needed. The team is banged up, tired, and ready for a break. They have a grueling schedule, working nonstop from the start of August until . . . well, now. Luckily, Coach Hoke has decided to give the players a couple of days off, in order to rest, relax, and unwind a bit. However, it won't last for long. Next week the schedule picks back up, and the team will be back to their regular schedule, and they will take on the Eagles of Eastern Michigan.
BYU lost to TCU by a margin that automatically eliminates them from any BCS consideration last night, which makes things alot easier on Ball State University. The great thing about this bye week, is the mere fact that we can only move up in the rankings, and that loss completely proves it.
On one other note, I had a dream last night that Bryant Haines was second-team All American. I don't know if this has anything with the fact Cameron and I are doing a package on him, but I think this could mean great things in the future...
Ball State University is ranked #20 in the BCS. And the weird thing was, cats and dogs were not getting together at the time.
- I like Coach Hoke's focus that the only way to take this season is one game at a time, just like the New England Patriots did last year through the regular season. If Hoke can get his team prepared, which is his coaching strength when compared to in game decisions, Ball State should end the second half of the season very well.
- I really think the key to the offense for the rest of the season lies in the hands of both Nate Davis and Darius Hill. And before you say "well thanks captain obvious", it's the mere fact that most defenses will now prepare to focus more on Quale as this BSU team becomes more of a grind it out team. Davis and Hill need to find some form of connection, which has been missing all season long, or this team may run into problems soon.
- The student crowd at Scheumann is a very large factor, because when the students show up in full force, the stadium rocks. However, I fear with the bad weather combined with a noon start on a Saturday, the student crowd maybe at less than 50% capacity. This could be a big advantage for Eastern.
This week Ken Sothman and I are working on a story about Ball State senior football player, Bryant Haines. The story has caused me to look back to when Haines was a redshirt freshman on the football team...my freshman year here at Ball State. Sometimes it's easy to forget just how far this team has come in such a short time. This is a team that lost games 56-0, 63-3, and 44-0 at the start of the 2005 season. Now just 3 seasons later the team is 7-0 and ranked 20th in the country! It's been a pretty amazing turn around. Now the chore will be sustaining the momentum that Nate Davis, Dante Love, Darius Hill, MiQuale Lewis, Bryant Haines, and the rest of the upperclassmen have started.
Not really sure, if my Beetle package belongs under here, but he works for football too, so I think it works.
We did a package on Beetle, the equipment manager for 9 of ball state sports this week. I never would of guessed how much work is really involved in his job. He does everything from laundry, to orders, to headsets, and even sewing. It seems like a non glorified mom.
He is somebody that deserves a lot more recognition than he gets. He loves his job and would do anything for anybody who needs it.
I love the fact that Josh posted about our Beetle story, because I was going to do the same thing.
I have gotten to know Beetle over the past few years, during my time working with the football team. And just like Josh said, Beetle couldn't be a better guy. He is someone who would do anything for anyone.
You can tell how much he enjoys his job by the way he interacts with people throughout the day. Beetle is constantly joking around and trading stories with the people that pass his "window of knowledge."
I think the package will turn out well, and will be a great look into the world of equipment and the people who help support the teams that play at Ball State.
Tanner Justice could be one of the nicest guys I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. He was polite to both times we met and you can tell all the mmebers of the team respect him.
I talked to two other football players about him and they had nothing but great things to say about him. This is a guy who continutes to work so hard even though he playing time is low. His work ethic is not typical for a backup.
He has stuck through a lot. When he got here he was 5th on the depth chart, now he is 2nd because he has hung in there. Thats just impressive
Wednesday begins the rest of the Football schedule, and what might be considered the hardest part of it. We play Northern Illinois, and they are a pretty touch defensive team. They have a good defensive line, and it will be a tough game with low scoring.
After this week, we play Miami (OH) on tuesday, another conference game against a team from the Eastern division.
From there we go into the 2 toughest teams we will play, all three of us trying to get that Mac-West slot in the MAC Championship. Central and Western Michigan are really good teams, and they will definitely be tough contests for us.
Next Wednesday's match-up between Ball State and Northern Illinois has all the makings of a classic. We all know about what a great season Ball State has put together but Northern also has a pretty good season going. They've won 5 of their past 6 games with the only loss being a 13-9 game at Tennessee. I think NIU might be the best team the Cards have played since IU or maybe even Navy. It's also going to be interesting to see the outcome of the IU vs. Central Michigan game on Saturday. Although I don't generally compare score to score I think the way that game goes will give us a good idea of what kind of team we'll see when we face the Chips in a few weeks.
Cameron and I have all off our footage for our Dante Love piece. We haven't started capturing, but we are planning our trying to get a good rough cut of our package pounded out today. I will give an update of our package in next weeks blog.
Nice win by the football team over Northern Illinios this week. They came in and played great on both sides of the ball.
All the talk was that N. Illinois had the best defense, and we were the ones who came out playing great D. Every analyst on ESPN during the days leading up to it picked N. Illinois to pull of the upset but the cardinals didn't let it happen.
It was also great to see Dante out on the field with the other captins. You can tell it fired up the team even more than they already were.
This coming Tuesday, the football team takes on Miami (OH). This will be the easiest game we have for the rest of the season. Miami is in a rebuilding year, so we should be able to take care of them pretty easily.
These midweek games are good because we are the only game on television each night. They are bad because the people who work on the polls tend to remember teams who play in the middle of the week less than people who play on saturday.
Du Hast Mish! That's "you hate me" in German as well as the title of one of the greatest songs of all time. Search it on youtube and you'll see what I mean. Du Hast Mish could also be the theme for Wednesday night's clash of MAC powers as Ball State takes on Central Michigan. These teams really don't like each other. It's a budding rivalry that will take a major step forward this coming week. With Ball State coming a perfect 10-0 and CMU 8-2 overall and 6-0 in the MAC the winner of this game is likely to win the MAC west and play in the conference championship. Ball State is getting all the publicity right now while Central Michigan is still the two-time defending conference champs. This game is sure to be a battle you won't want to miss. Hey Dan LeFevor...the Ball State Defense is coming for you!!! Du Hast Mish!!!
Now I've not been around Ball State football all that long. I was here for 63-3 and 49-0 in 2005. I was here for some heartbreaking loses and I've been here for some pretty awesome wins but nothing compares to last night. The Cardinals chirped in to Kelly/Short Stadium, home of the 2-time defending MAC champion, Central Michigan Chippewas and they came away with a great 31-24 win. It was the best football game I've ever seen in person. Both teams fought hard and played well. Both offenses showed why they're the best in the conference. Both defenses came up with big plays and ultimately Ball State stayed undefeated. What a difference a year makes after the Cardinals were beat down by CMU 58-38 last season. The Cards are one win away from the perfect regular season. GO CARDS!!!
This upcoming Wednesday the Ball State football team will be playing their final regular season game. They will be playing Western Michigan at home with an 11-0 record as well as a possible berth in the MAC Championship game on the line.
At the start of the season, everyone was mentioning a perfect season, but I doubt many people really expected and believed that we would be coming into our last home game without having lost yet. I really hope the students and community turn out this Tuesday for what could be a history making game for this team.
What a scene it was in Schuemann Stadium Tuesday night as 11,000 students poured on to the field as the final seconds ticked off the 4th quarter clock of the Cardinals victory over Western Michigan. It was something the many of us that have been here for 4 years never thought we'd see. I talked to
Steve Albritton on the field during the celebration and he said, "Think back to our freshmen year, could you ever imagine this!"
It was a great moment.
Funny story about the actual game. Perhaps the turning real dagger for Western Michigan was an interception thrown by Tim Hiller to Trey Lewis. Lewis then returned in 35 yards for a score to give Ball State a 23 point lead. When asked about the play after the game Lewis admitted that he was actually not where he was supposed to be for the coverage that was called. He actually got yelled at on the sidelines right after the play for not being where he was supposed to be. I guess when you're 11-0 sometimes things just go right.
Tonight the Cardinals will play in the MAC Championship game vs. Buffalo. Ball State beat Buffalo pretty easily last season, but like Coach Hoke said in his press conference this week, these are different teams than last year. I think that the Cardinals are the more focused team coming into this game, and I think that they will win by at least 14 points.
Tonight is the MAC Championship. Yet another game for the Cardinals ESPN 2. Not getting a chance to go to the game, but I will be watching it on TV. I have to save some money so that I can make it to the Bowl Game that we play in. I really think it was a fantastic idea not to play in the Humanitarian Bowl. There is no benefit to play Boise State at home. Cardinal fans would never make that trip. I prefer the GMAC Bowl, only because Alabama in the winter months sounds way better than Michigan!
The football team has had a great season. It's hard to complain about your team going 12-1... especially when that team has a history of futility. But the loss to Buffalo will hurt all Cardinal fans for a while. It would be much more getoverable (made up word) if I felt that Buffalo had actually beaten Ball State (and they do deserve some credit. But the reality is the Cardinals choked and handed the game away.
Two fumble returns for touchdowns in one game is unbelievably rare and from the start of the game you could see Ball State was flat. Buffalo wasn't much better than their 7-5 record suggested, but Ball State was played more like a 3-9 team than an undefeated one.
Still... good season.
BC
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