The Sky Is Falling

Well, okay, maybe not literally, but as everyone knows by now, the sky did fall on the HHH Metrodome in Minneapolis on Dec. 12 (video can be found HERE for those who somehow missed it).

Not only did the Dome collapse screw up two of the remaining four Minnesota Viking games, it is now effecting some 300 college baseball games this up coming winter and spring.  Mavblog spoke with Minnesota State head coach Matt Magers today and he had this to say about the Dome, "The biggest thing is you can't control the weather.  Even if it is not in the Dome, baseball in Minnesota, in the spring,  weather is something you have to deal with.  We are trying to decide if we go back to Colorado in February or down to Missouri or add a couple of games on our spring trip.  There are other teams in our situation so now it is the matter of getting together with them, finding a location and seeing if we can play."

Several newspapers around the NSIC have localized this story, including the Argus Leader, The St. Cloud Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune (part two of the Stibs Coverage) and the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

The Mavericks were slated to play four series (eight games) in the MetroDome, including their season opener on Feb. 15, against Lincoln.  MSU was also to play Concordia in a nonconference twinbill (Feb. 18), as well as nonconference double-dips against the University of Mary (March 14) and Bemidji State (March 22).

Here is a breakdown of how the NSIC will be affected by the Dome's temporary closing (unofficially)

School Dome Games
Bemidji State 16
St. Cloud State 16
Concordia 10
Minnesota State 8
Winona State 8
Wayne State 8
Minnesota Duluth 6
Minnesota, Crookston 6
Southwest Minnesota State 6
Northern State 4
Augustana 4
U-Mary 3
Upper Iowa 0
Total 95

Providing the estimates of 300 games will be played in the Dome this winter are accurate, 31.6 percent of them were to include teams from the NSIC.

Finally a non-baseball related read.  Tuesday night, the University of Iowa defeated Missouri, 27-24, in the Insight.com Bowl.  One of Iowa's Co-MVPs for the season is senior defensive lineman Karl Klug, twin brother of former Maverick (and 2009 First-Team All-NSIC South Division Linebacker) Kevin Klug.  The Winona Daily News ran THIS story on the brothers, well worth the read.

In closing, we in the Athletic Communications Office wish everyone a Happy and Safe 2011!

Go Mavericks

Merry Christmas from the Mavericks!

Former MSU DB Dan Rotchadl mans the Red Kettle 

So I'm heading to Walmart for some last minute stuff and on my way into the store, as I'm dropping a buck into the Salvation Army kettle, the guy ringing the bell and wearing the Santa hat says to me...."Merry Christmas, PA!"  It was noneother than former Maverick safety Dan Rotchadl!

Rotch, who played for MSU from 1975-79, is a former head football coach at Loyola High School here in Mankato where he skippered the Crusaders for six seasons. Dan has served as a clock operator at Maverick football home games for the past several seasons and took Loyola to the state tournament in 2007.

A very Merry Christmas back at yah, Rotch and to everyone out there in Maverick Country, a very Merry Christmas to you as well!

All the best to you all from everyone at Minnesota State Athletics.

It's great to be a Maverick.

Field of Dreams......

Add caption

Every little girl dreams of being in a movie someday.  For former Minnesota State softball player Erin Goettlicher that childhood dream came true.

Goettlicher - a Mankato native - and MSU softball standout from 1998-2001 appears in a cameo role in the new Reese Witherspoon comedy, "How Do You Know?"

The Mankato Freep's Amanda Dylson penned an article about Goettlicher in today's print edition of the paper.  Unfortunately the story never made it to the online edition of the paper's website but a check back to the www.mankatofreepress.com often to see if it gets posted.

For those who don't remember, Goettlicher went onto play professional softball on the East Coast following her career at Minnesota State.  HERE is a link to Jim Rueda's column from 2007 discussing Goettlicher's exploits.

You can follow Goettlicher on Twitter by clicking HERE

Below you will find the trailer for "How Do You Know?"

Snowpes

Yeah, we live in Minnesota, so typically  a few inches of snowfall and a drop in the temperature in the second week of December isn't really that big of a deal.  But this past weekend was, as Ron Burgundy would say, "kind of a big deal."

After freezing rain late Friday, the worst part of this winter storm came rolling through Saturday with about nine inches of snow accompanied by strong winds causing drifting and white-out conditions that would have made Yetis in Nepal cringe.

We were able to get our women's hockey game vs. Bemidji State in, but with on-ice officials unable to make it to Mankato for the MSU vs. North Dakota men's hockey game later in the evening, that game was postponed until yesterday (Sunday, Dec. 12).

In case you were wondering if a postponed WCHA game is unusual, the folks from North Dakota don't think they've ever had a game cancelled or postponed and that program dates back to the 1929 season.  The University of Minnesota, by the way, also postponed its men's and women's hockey games from Saturday to Sunday.  And our men's and women's basketball teams and our wrestling team, which were in St. Cloud for Saturday competition, ended up spending the night in St. Cloud.

It's great to be a Maverick.

Friday Funday & Link-O-Rama

A George Jones once sang, it's Finally Friday and this is the last "busy" Friday prior to the New Year.

The Minnesota State men's and women's hoops teams open a four-game roadtrip tonight, while the men's and women's hockey teams close the books on a pair of four-game homestands this weekend.

Additionally, the Maverick wrestling squad will head to the Granite City (good ole St. Cloud for those who aren't down with the Upper Midwest vernacular) to participate in the St. Cloud State Open, its final tune-up before next week's ever so prestigious Reno Tournament of Champions.

Lots to read about with Maverick Athletics in the paper over the last couple of days.

The Maverick men's hockey team is playing well right now following four consecutive victories including its first-ever home sweep against Minnesota.  Sophomore netminder Phil Cook turned away 82 of the 85 shots he faced last weekend and was named the league's Co-Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts.  The Mankato Free Press's Shane Frederick previewed this weekend's WCHA series with North Dakota and highlight cook in this article.  Senior forward Ryan Galiardi previews the weekend for a video on msumavericks.com which can be found HERE.

For those wondering about this weekend's series with North Dakota, tickets are still available for each night - contact the Verizon Wireless Civic Center (507.389.3000) for details.

A final couple of notes on last weekend's win over Minnesota - video highlights of the sweep can be found HERE.  Head coach Troy Jutting and sophomore Eriah Hayes join Paul Allan and Kyle Bradt on the Maverick Magazine today at 10 a.m. (CST).  To listen live, click HERE or listen to the podcast HERE.

The women's hockey team looks to get back on track this weekend as it hosts Bemidji State in its final series before the holiday break.  Head Coach Eric Means previews the weekend in a video which can be found HERE.

The Maverick men's and women's basketball team take to the road this weekend to open a four-game roadtrip.  The Mavericks play tonight at Concordia University (women's game starts at 5:30, men's at 7:30) and then tomorrow afternoon and evening at St. Cloud State (women's game at 4, men's at 6).  Always a great roadtrip.  Livestats and live video for the weekend can be found on the schedule page on msumavericks.com for each team.

Juniors Laura Weber and Lauren Barber preview the weekend in video which can be found HERE.  Additionally, Chad Courrier pens this column in today's Mankato Free Press about the men's basketball team, discussing how the team is tougher this year and playing better defense.

A live chat with Scott Nelsen will be available for both the men's and women's games this weekend.  The link for the chat can be found HERE.

In a follow up to Mavblog's discussion with head wrestling coach Jim Makovsky following his hip replacement surgery, Jim Reuda of the Mankato Free Press inked this column about Makovsky.

In closing former Maverick golfer Bryant Black - now a graduate student at Minnesota State - was mentioned in a front-page story today in the Freep about his class collecting and donating new and used sports equipment to charity.  The article can be found HERE

One last sidenote.  It was reported this morning that the voice of the Maverick men's hockey program and Oldies 100.5 FM Deejay Mike "Sully" Sullivan as playing this classic Christmas hit.  Enjoy.

Taking Solace

Jim Makovsky

"I wasn't the best technician in amateur wrestling. But I was strong, had great conditioning, and a hard head. Nobody could break me." Brock Lesnar, former NCAA wrestling and UFC heavyweight champion.

You can see it in his eyes.  Minnesota State coach Jim Makovsky thrives on working in the wrestling room with his team.  He'd played football and wrestled at Valley City State (N.D.) as a student-athlete prior to embarking on his now lengthy coaching career and the years of drilling with the boys have started to take its toll.  Makovsky, who's in his 18th year with the Maverick wrestling program, recently had his right hip replaced and although the pain from the procedure is undoubtedly tremendous, you just know that not being able to work like he normally would with his team is something he's struggling that pains him even more.

MavBlog:  "I suppose this hip-replacement thing isn't something that just cropped up."

Makovsky:  "(laughing) No, no.  It's been chronic for a while and have known since 2004 that I was going to have to get this done eventually."

MavBlog: "Can you describe what you had done and how's the recovery going?"

Makovsky: "I had what's called a Birmingham Hip Resurfacing Procedure.  Basically it's a pretty new procedure for people that are younger and active and need hip replacement.   I was pretty excited to have this rather than the other procedure which involves a total hip replacement.  You retain more bone with this process."

"The recovery is going o.k.  It's probably been mentally harder than physically.  I'm not good at sitting around.  I like being around the program with the comaraderie you have with the guys.  I like the work part of it and being around positive people.  I started rehab right away and I'm at the point now where it's more of a workout pain and feels pretty good."

MavBlog: "Where does it go from here?"

Makosky:  "I'm going to listen to my doctors and physical therapists.  Try not to push too much, which I'm not good at.  I'm not going to to our meet at UNI this weekend and that was a tough decision.  But long term it will be good for me."

MavBlog:  "What are your thoughts on the team this year and have you had a chance to be back into the room this week?"

Mavovsky:  "It's tough, because we're relatively inexperienced and don't have that national championship meet experience you like to see.  But I think we have a chance to be good.  We won't really know what we have until we get into the second half of the season.   But, I love our guys.  I'm not sure if they were happy to see me or not when I came into the room today.  They gave me some grief about my cane, but that's the nature of our guys.  Just another experience along the way."

Currently ranked seventh in the nation, Minnesota State is at the UNI Open in Cedar Falls, Iowa this weekend.

It's great to be a Maverick.

Anthony Herrera and Pilosec OTC

There are five words you never thought you would see on MavBlog, but here's an explanation.  Minnesota Viking offensive lineman Anthony Herrera shot a commercial for Prilosec OTC during training camp and Minnesota State was showcased throughout (great shots of Blakeslee Stadium, Julia Sears Dorms, the weight room, the locker room, etc.).  Additionally, a Mankato staple - Zanz - was also shown in the piece.  The extended version of the commercial - nearly two minutes long - can be found below.  Pretty cool to see MSU on a national spot!

Mavericks Continue to Give Back

KEYC did a feature last night (Tuesday) on the Engineers Without Borders who are traveling El Salvador.  Former Minnesota State golfer Kassie Ellsworth is among those making the trip.  KEYC did a piece on the group, which can be found HERE while the Free Press wrote an article about the group, HERE.

Kenny the Kicker Stops By

Ken Navitsky with NCC championship ring

Former Minnesota State (he would say Mankato State) football placekicker Kenny Navitsky stopped by the office today, just to say hello.

Kenny, a Sarasota, Fla., native who played here from 1991-94 and was a part of a MSU team that captured a North Central Conference title in1993, still owns school records for season and career PATs made, career field goals attempted and career points.

MavBlog took the opportunity to ask "The Kicker" a few questions.

Tell us a little about your favorite memories from playing football with the Mavericks.
"Well, you know the team from that time, the coaches, the campus.  It seemed like we were all one, culminating with that great team in '93 with the conference championship, beating Missouri Southern in a first round game and then playing the Fighting Sioux up in Grand Forks in the NCAA quarterfinals.   We had a great team, obviously, and they (UND) did the one thing we thought no team could do against us.  They beat us twice.  We were 10-3 that year and they got us once during the regular season, we lost at home to SDSU in a shootout and then we lost to UND in the playoffs."

How does the school look now to you after all these years?
"It's a whole different level now.  It's almost like a health spa.  Everything's so open and beautiful.  The mall across the street looks a lot different.  The student union is beautiful and has all the amenities. The new buildings, the walkways.  The name of the school has changed since we were all here.  We often wonder what it would be like if we had this when were were here.  My gosh, I think about the old weight room we had under your office in the hallway Otto Arena compared with what we have here now.  Everything's so nice, we're all so happy these changes have been made and it makes me proud to be an alum."

What are you up to these days?
"I rep for Forest Healthcare.  I also travel the country on weekends as a professional MC in the monster truck industry.  I volunteer coach for the RCTC football program (they play in the North Star Bowl this weekend).   I'm on the zoning and planning commission in Rochester and I'm heavily involved in the running of Team Navitsky which consists of my wife, Kelly (who was a MSU cheerleader), my son Parker (8) and daughter Peyton (10). Life is good."

It's great to be a Maverick.

Backes Inks Contract Extension

Former Minnesota State forward David Backes has signed a five-year extension with the St. Louis Blues.  Backes, who was in the final year of his current deal, has spent all five of his professional seasons in St. Louis and is now under contract with the team until the 2016 season.  The Blues issued a release on the signing, which can be found HERE.  Last night, Backes scored his second goal of the season (sits 2-4--6 on the campaign) in a 3-2 shootout loss to Nashville. 

Backes comments on the extension can be found HERE

General Manager Doug Armstrong's comments on Backes' extension can be found HERE.

Finally, Backes netted his second goal of the season last night in a 3-2 shootout loss to Nashville. Backes, who sits 2-4--6 on the season, absolutely blew up a Nashville defender prior to his goal, which can be found HERE.

King Pins

Not sure how many instances there of of this, but the MSU women’s bowling program head coach is also the director of compliance and eligibility for the Maverick women’s bowling program.

Shane Drahota, who is in his second year skippering the MSU keglers after guiding the team to a 48-42 in 2009-10, is in his second go-round with MSU and in his fourth year with the department in his current role.

Drahota has compliance responsibilities that relate to all university, conference and NCAA rules and regulations governing the operation of intercollegiate athletics. He supervises ongoing rules and compliance education programs for university staff, administrators, coaches and student-athletes. He is the primary resource person for all athletically related rules, regulations and interpretations. He certifies eligibility and financial aid for the more than 600 MSU student-athletes, and is the department liaison for all academic reporting (retention, graduation & other statistical data) to the NCAA.  

So, yeah, combined with coaching responsibilities with the bowling program, he’s a busy individual.

Given his intercollegiate background, however, Drahota should have a pretty clear understanding of the intercollegiate athletics culture. A native of nearby Jackson, Minn., where he played high school baseball, football and basketball, Drahota started working on a degree in business at the University of Minnesota before transferring to MSU.  Recruited to work in MSU’s athletic communications office as a sophomore, he spent eight years assisting with publicizing Maverick teams, student-athletes and coaches before becoming an assistant director of athletics at the University of South Dakota in 2006.  He returned to Mankato in 2007 when he accepted his current role handling the school’s athletics compliance and eligibility.

“Honestly, it's challenging, but ultimately rewarding," said Drahota summing up his feelings regarding juggling his responsibilities. "I've certainly gained a greater appreciation what the demands on our coaches are from a compliance point of view.  Hopefully this had benefitted me, as well as our coaches.  As far as bowling goes, I'm pretty lucky that I have a great bunch of student-athletes I get to work with on a daily basis.  And, I will say this.  I really do love MSU and am appreciative for what the school has given me. To get the chance to come back, still be here, I must lead a charmed life."

Seth Wickersham of ESPN the Magazine penned this article entitled Internal Affairs back in August and it covers alot of what college athletics compliance and eligibility directors do.  You might find it interesting.

It's great to be a Maverick.

NSIC Showcase

The first installment of the Northern Sun Showcase will debut on Fox Sports North Friday, October 29th at 6:00 p.m. followed by re-broadcasts on Sunday, October 31st at 10:30 p.m., Monday, November 1st at 10:00 p.m. and on Tuesday, November 2nd at 7:30 a.m. The show will have a feature on the Augustana Women's Golf Team, UMD's All-American Cross Country runner Morgan Place, a story on SMSU Football Player Derek Klinkner, a look at the fall sports as well as a look ahead at the winter sports. There will also be a update on the NSIC's NCAA Woman of the Year Award finalist Mary Slinger of Concordia-St. Paul. 

Additionally, you can listen to the NSIC weekly radio show on our website by going to "Podcasts" under multi-media.  

Speaking of radio shows, another installment of Maverick Magazine comes tomorrow at 10 a.m., on 89.7 KMSU.  You can listen online HERE.  Tomorrow's show will feature MSU junior setter Brittany Stamer and a soccer player to be named later.  If you can't listen live, be sure to check out the podcast of the show on the aforementioned Podcasts page on www.msumavericks.com

Until next time-  It's Great to be a Maverick 

Saturday in October

Former Minnesota State men's hockey trainer Jason Bushie, who now works with the men's hockey team at Colorado College, just characterized today as a Hound of the Baskervilles kind of day.  And, given the 70 degree temperature and 70% humidity, he just might be right.

Truly a great day in Mankato that started off with the inaugural running of the Mankato Marathon.  Today's festivities, which included a KidsK, a 10K and a half marathon, featured more than 2,000 entrants in the marathon. For those of us in MSU Athletics, we proudly join women's cross country/track and field coach Jen Blue in celebrating her first-place finish in the women's division of the marathon.  Blue, who was running in her fourth marathon, turned in a personal-best time of 3:06 in finishing 21st overall. Her husband, MSU men's hockey coach Darren Blue, is believed to have provided many great training tips for Jen.

And just to recap yesterday, in addition to the MSU men's hockey team getting its first win of the season with a 5-4 victory over #19 Colorado College, the MSU women's hockey team also picked up a big win with a 4-2 victory over #6 North Dakota at All Seasons Arena.  UND, which features Olympians Monique and Jocelyne Lamoureux, was coming off of a two-game sweep of Minnesota. Also Friday, the #14 Maverick women's volleyball team captured a 3-1 NSIC win over Upper Iowa at Taylor Center.  So, yeah, a pretty good night for Maverick Athletics. 

Gary Mielke

And thought I might pass this along.  I was doing some baseball research this morning and came across a site that's mission is to do in-depth biographies of every player who has played at least one game in the major leagues.  A Herculean-task no doubt as www.baseball-almanac.com lists the number of people who have achieved this feat at 16,219.  The site is a work in progress, and the long story short here is that of the 1,454 bios that have been completed, two are of former Maverick baseball players.  Gary Mielke's bio appears here.  And Jerry Terrell's bio is available here.   They're still working on bios for Bob Will and Todd Revenig.

It's great to be a Maverick.

Soccer Team Giving Back To Community

The Minnesota State soccer program returns to the friendly confines of The Pitch at Gage Towers this weekend after a three-game roadtrip.  The Mavericks open competition Saturday at Noon against Minnesota, Crookston before hosting MSU Moorhead Sunday at 1 p.m.

Despite the action on the field, the Mavericks have been busy in the community as well.  This afternoon (Friday) the Mavericks will host the  hold a clinic with the Mankato United Top Soccer Program, a group which teaches soccer to students with special needs in the Mankato Area.  Head coach Peter McGahey, sophomore Cassie Weik and redshirt freshman Ashley Sjkora stopped by the KEYC Studios Thursday afternoon to discuss the event.  You can see footage of their inteview, HERE.

Additionally, Saturday, the Mavericks will wear pink uniforms in honor of those who are battling breast cancer and those who have survived the disease.  The weekend concludes Sunday with Youth Soccer and Tops Soccer recognition day.

Minnesota State, owners of a four-game winning streak, stands 7-4-1 on the season and 5-1-1 in the NSIC.

Friday Readings

As mentioned last week, crossover season officially begins this weekend with the start of men's and women's hockey.  In four and a half weeks, the  Maverick wrestling squad will take the mat when they participate in the Iowa State Open.

Senior Ben Becker returns to the mat this year for the Mavericks after a 20-17 season last season and earning his second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament.  Becker, a 174-pounder from Fort Dodge, Iowa, joins 125-pounder Andy Forstner as the only seniors on the Maverick wrestling squad this season.

Speaking of Becker, he has recently been named a finalist for Cosmopolitan Magazine's 2010 Bachelor Blowout, an honor which he was nominated for by his sister.  Robb Murray of the Mankato Free Press penned a piece on Becker and Cosmo and it appeared in today's paper.  You can read the story, HERE.  You can also read Becker's bio on Cosmo's website, HERE.

Speaking of the Free Press, Shane Frederick wrote a piece on Maverick senior captain Ariel Mackley.  The article, which can be found HERE, discusses the hockey exploits of Ariel and her older sisters Brittany (who played at MSU from 2004-08) and Melissa (who played at Gustavus from 2006-10).  Additionally, Freddy also wrote this piece on Rylan Galiardi in today's paper, you can find the link HERE

In the event you missed Maverick Magazine (airs every Friday during the school year on www.kmsu.org and 89.7 fm) PA and I sat down with the one and only Casey Lloyd to discuss the 2010 Minnesota State Hall of Fame ceremonies.  The show – which is available on podcast – can be found HERE.  I invite you to sit back, pour yourself a big bowl of Green Chilli, and enjoy.

The St. Cloud Times took a look at the connection between Minnesota State AD Kevin Buisman, St. Cloud State Head Coach Scott Underwood and Minnesota Duluth AD/Head Coach Bob Nielsen.  The story can be found HERE.

Finally, as mentioned in a previous blog post, the Traveling Training Kit is up for grabs this weekend.  Check out a video below to see how important the kit is to several of Minnesota State's seniors.

Happenings

There's a buzz in these parts these days.  The Wild season is about to start (Thursday vs. Carolina in Helsinki, Finland). And, obviously, in addition to Randy Moss heading back to play for the Vikings, the Minnesota Twins host the Yankees in the first round of the American League play-offs beginning tonight at Target Field.

Speaking of the Twins, one of the commercials that's received regular play talks about grass roots baseball in the state.   Youth baseball, high school baseball and amateur ball.  Take a close look and you will see Maverick head baseball coach Matt Magers featured for a split second throwing for his town team in Gaylord, Minn. He's the southpaw in the purple #33 at the :13 mark.   It's great to be a Maverick!

Crossover Season is Officially Upon Us

Today the Calendar turns to Oct. 1.  Not usually a major moment over the course of the year, but for the next six to eight weeks this is what is known as "Crossover Season" in the business.

The Maverick football, cross country, golf, volleyball and soccer teams are all in full force right now and the men's and women's hockey teams will open up their season next week.  Not too far down the line is the opening of the men's and women's swimming and diving season as well as Midnight Madness, signifying the beginning of the 2010-11 men's and women's basketball season.

This is one of my most favorite times of the year. Sure we stay busy but the campus and the website is buzzing with news on all of our programs. 

Yesterday (Thursday) the Maverick soccer squad earned a 9-0 win over Southwest Minnesota State.  It was a beautiful day on the Pitch and a great win by the Mavericks.  The win pushed MSU's record to 4-4-1 on the season heading into a nonconference trip this weekend to former North Central Conference and current NCAA Division I opponent North Dakota.

On the way out to soccer I took an opportunity to snap a photo of the Maverick volleyball team practicing in the Taylor Center.  Minnesota State - which is ranked #13 in the nation - hosts Minnesota, Crookston (10/1,  7 p.m.) and Minnesota State Moorhead (10/2, 4 p.m.) this weekend to open a four-game homestand.  Check out this video with Dennis Amundson as he discusses this weekend's matches.  The video can be viewed HERE

Here's a fun little tidbit for you:  There are currently five teams from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference ranked in the top-13 in the nation, including the top-three teams (Minnesota Duluth #1, Wayne State #2 and Southwest Minnesota State #3).  Three-time defending national champion Concordia University is ranked #6.  As Anna Schultz once said, "It goes without saying that the NSIC is arguably the best volleyball league in the nation."

Leaving soccer I noticed the Maverick softball team - fresh off its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance - holding one of its fall workouts.  Kind of weird to see softball in the fall but the photo snapped shows just how beautiful of a day it was in the Key City. 

The Maverick football team takes to the road this weekend as it travels to Winona State to take on the Warriors at 6 p.m., Saturday evening.  The game will have an interesting twist as Minnesota State junior linebacker Ross Jirgl will face his brother - Winona State senior linebacker - Ryan Jirgl.  Ross took a few moments to discuss playing against his brother and you can find that interview HERE.

Next weekend is Homecoming here at Minnesota State which is always exciting.  It will be even more exciting with St. Cloud State coming to town for the game.  Of course when these two teams get together they play for one of the best traveling trophies in all of sports - The Traveling Training Kit.  And it's not just my opinion on the awesomeness of the TTK, check out THIS story by ESPN a few years ago on the top-10 traveling trophies.  In addition to the Homecoming festivities, the Mavericks will also induct four former student-athletes (Gene Bygd - Track and Field '72, Patt Dunn - multi-sports '52, Josh Nelsen - football '04 and Heidi Schnagl Ulwelling - Volleyball '95) as well as former administrator Jim Schaffer and swimming and diving coach Phil Rhoade.  Additionally the 1979 and 1980 baseball squads will be inducted.  To view the release on this year's HOF class, click HERE.

Finally, the Minnesota Timberwolves just wrapped up training camp here in Mankato.  The camp - which lasted just five days - allowed new Timberwolf Michael Beasley and new Maverick Andre Gilbert the opportunity to reconnect.  Both played at Kansas State.  Chad Courrier of the Mankato Free Press discussed the two's relationship HERE.

That's a lot to digest, but there you have it.  Remember, it is GREAT to be a Maverick.

Guiding Light

At this point last year we here at MSU were making the transition from our old website to our new website.  And at the same time we were making a transition in our publications, having made a decision that while we would still produce media guides, the documents would be available, primarily, to the public electronically.

Probably not that big a deal to most of you, but to our coaches and to some members of the media, this was a lightning bolt (yeah, I know, everything's relative).  Although the industry had been headed this way for some time, the tipping point for us was a budgetary one.  We needed funding to build a new departmental website and the cost of producing publications was continuing to rise.  There was that and then there's fact that the information-gathering habits of recruited student-athletes (and the public, in general) had changed.  Unquestionably, kids nowadays are more apt to take a look at msumavericks.com then at a publication.  And the information on the website is similar to the information available in a media guide.  It's just packaged and accessed differently.

The other thing that came along during this time was the development of high speed color copiers which can print with a resolution such that the layman would have a tough time differentiating between publications done in this fashion compared to ones done on a traditional printing press. And the beauty of the technology - called print on demand - is that there isn't a minimum number.  You can print one or one hundred.  It meant that our coaches, student-athletes, parents, alumni, etc., can still get our publications, but without the cost borne by us.  As Scott Nelsen told Shane Frederick of the Free Press last year (I'm paraphrasing a bit here), in response to his question about us discontinuing the media guides..."Not much has changed really.  We're still doing the media guides.  The difference is how we're distributing them."

So we pulled the trigger on everything - the new website launched last October, we discontinued printing media guides in mass quantities and went ahead with print on demand.  In the event you want to look at the media guides that are available for this year (with more to come), be sure to check out the page located here.

It's great to be a Maverick!

Just a Few Things

After the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference decided to table St. Cloud State's request regarding having football in order to stay in the league, the Huskies have unveiled additional options to address their budget shortfall and a story outlining possibilities appears here.  Tennis, golf, nordic skiing and swimming and diving are now implicated and SCSU coaches are disappointed.

Tim Jackman 

Now back to our originally planned programming...former Minnesota State forward Tim Jackman made an impression on his new coach in Calgary when Jackman was toiling with the New York Islanders and the Calgary Sun has the story here.





And, 'twould appear that former Maverick forward and 2010 Olympic silver medalist David Backes, who had two assists in a 5-1 St. Louis preseason win at Minnesota last night (Sept. 21), might be seeing a lot of action on right wing for the Blues this season.  At least according to this story.

It's great to be a Maverick!

Ruminations - Big Ten Hockey

News broke a couple of weeks ago regarding the possibility of Penn State elevating its men's club hockey program to varsity status.

There has been on-going speculation relative to Penn State making this type of move for some time. Given the fact that varsity programs at Kent State (1994), Iona (2003), Fairfield (2003), Findlay (2004), and Wayne State (2008) have been mothballed in the last six years and that there are only 58 schools who compete at the NCAA Division I level, any time that this type of news occurs, it's going to draw alot of attention. But, not unlike years of similar rumors about schools such as Iowa State transforming club teams into varsity sports, this time the PSU story has legs.

There's a Penn State alum named Terry Pegula who is apparently a fan of college hockey. He recently sold land to Royal Dutch Shell for $4.7 billion in profit and he wants to take some of that money and give it to Penn State for the purpose of building an 8,000-seat (approx.) arena on campus in State College.  Assuming the Pegula connection is true, now the story has credibility and reports have the Nittany Lions prepared to make an official announcement this Friday.

So, connecting the dots, once Penn State has its program established, the next step is to determine what conference does it join.  The CCHA would seem to be a natural because of the vicinity of Ohio State and Notre Dame.  However, Penn State is a member of the Big Ten in its other sports and in these parts, any time one mentions the Big Ten and hockey in the same sentence, more salivation starts collecting then you would see from a bunch of dogs attending a Pavlov Convention.

Links regarding this development are located here, here, here and here.

It's great to be a Maverick!

Brownsville Station

Former Maverick defenseman turned country musician Chad Brownlee's self-entitled album debuts today.

Brownlee, who played for Minnesota State from 2003-07, went to camp with the Vancouver Canucks and spent a year with Idaho of the East Coach Hockey League before hanging up his skates to embark on his new career. His first single (Best that I can (Superhero)) reached as high as #19 on the Canadian Country charts and his current single, Hood of My Car, is currently 16th. The Canadian Country Music charts are located here. You can order Chad's CD on itunes by going here.

In the Hunt

Tony Hunter

Former Minnesota State linebacker Tony Hunter stopped by to check in with us the other day.

Hunter, a Kansas City, Mo., native who played for the Mavericks from 2005-08, will complete an undergraduate degree in athletic training in the spring of 2011. He totalled 147 tackles in 29 games during the course of his three years as a defensive stalwart for MSU.

Hunter spent this summer interning with the Green Bay Packers and we asked him a few questions about his experience with the Green & Gold.

MavBlog:   How is it that you ended up with the Packers and how long did it last?

TH:  “Our athletic trainer here at MSU,  Jeff Chambers, helped me get in with them. He knows one of their orthopaedic doctors, put in a good word and it went from there.  I was with the team in Wisconsin from July 26 until August 22

MavBlog:   What were your responsibilities during the course of camp?

TH:  Basically I worked as an athletic trainer.  Taping, providing preventative measures, wrapping.  Therapeutic modality treatments and assisting with rehabilitation programs.  Then, of course, we’re there to provide first aid response during practice.  I also assisted doctors during game day.

MavBlog:   Game day?  So you had a chance to work some games.  How did that go for you?

TH:  Yes, it was great.  I went to a home game vs. Cleveland and traveled with the team for an away game in Seattle.   We took a charter charter for the game vs. the Seahawks, stayed in a five-star hotel in downtown Seattle off of University Ave.

MavBlog:   How would you describe your experience with in working with NFL players?

TH:  It was overwhelming, but great. The hours are long, but I appreciated all the opportunities that they gave me.

MavBlog:   Do you think your background, in which you played college football, gave you an advantage in this role as an athletic trainer?

TH:  It really did and does.  I think it gives me a little bit of an edge – especially in understanding the football culture with my football background and experience. But the players treated me well and I really enjoyed working with them.  I got to know Donald Driver, Al Harris, Nick Barnett and A.J. Hawk.

MavBlog:   Can you tell us how the internship experience benefited you specifically?

TH:   I think when you experience something different of this nature, it’s really an opportunity to grow as a person and professionally.  To see how things work at the professional level, what the hours are like, the intensity, how the business aspect of athletic training works at that level, that will help make me better on a number of different level.  It was a chance to network, see the different things that they do clinically-wise, athletic training operations, etc.  Lot’s of little things are different. You have the ability to provide X-Rays and MRI’s on site.  The team doctors are right there, on site. You get a feel to see if it is something that you’d like to do, and I did.

I also found that the staff with the Packers was great…..Pepper Burris, Kurt Fielding, Nate Weir and Brian Engle all treated me as a certified ATC, as a bonifide part of the staff.  Right from the get-go, they said to me that what ever you’ve learned, you’re welcome to use it here. Lot of responsibility, but also accountability.

MavBlog:  So what’s next in store for you, Tony?

TH: I have a year of school left, then my goal is to either do a seasonal intern with a professional football team or go on to grad school to get a master’s degree. But, I’m open to both.

MavBlog:  Thanks for stopping by, T.  It's great to be a Maverick!

Linkorama Time

Former MSU forward Zach Harrison has signed on with the Elmira Jackals of the East Coast Hockey League.  The release from Elmira is here.  A four-year letterwinner for the Mavericks, Harrison registered career-highs for assists (16) and points (24) in 2009-10 and his 152 career games played places him second on MSU’s all-time list.  He's probably most well-known for what's known as the "Harry Hat-Trick" in which his three shorthanded tallies helped the Mavericks to a 5-1 win over North Dakota, Oct. 17, 2008.

St. Cloud State recently unveiled three potential solutions to its financial conundrum as it relates to its athletic program and there has been plenty of media discussion surrounding this development, including items located here, here, here and here.

Can you believe it's only eight days until the Maverick football team kicks-off 2010 by hosting Northern Michigan in a nonconference contest at Blakeslee Stadium?  Action for a couple of Northern Sun football teams actually gets underway this Thursday with MSU-Moorhead playing at Missouri Southern and Bemidji State making the trek to Minot State.  A reminder that you can find scores for all NSIC teams at the conference website.

And this just in........since launching in October of 2009, the official website for Minnesota State Athletics, msumavericks.com has generated 3,059,494 page views by 538,697 distinct viewers.

It's great to be a Maverick!

One Camp Ends....Another Begins

As we mentioned yesterday, the Minnesota Vikings concluded their 45th training camp in Mankato yesterday.  The camp included a former Maverick in Adrian Battles, who is battling for playing time at guard for the Vikings and Mankato Free Press writer Chad Courrier featured Battles in an article which can be found HERE.  In addition to his time on the offensive line, Battles has also worked with the kick return squad.

Speaking of the Mavericks, they opened their training camp for the 2010 season Thursday evening before the thunderstorms rolled in.  Courrier penned an article previewing the 2010 season HERE and a column discussing the high expectations that are placed on both the Vikings and the Mavericks ran in the print edition but did not appear on the paper's website.

Remember to tune into KARE 11 Saturday evening for the Vikings first preseason game against the St. Louis Rams at 7 p.m.  If you are looking for Battles, he wears #79 and will be in the purple helmet. 

A Maverick and a Viking

For those who did not see today's Mankato Free Press, sports editor Jim Rueda did a great piece on Minnesota State Maverick senior Laura Leber and Minnesota Viking linebacker Ben Leber.   The article can be found HERE

Speaking of Maverick athletics, Minnesota State football kicks off practice today, to read the practice release, click HERE.  The Maverick volleyball team opens practice Monday, as does the soccer team.  To read the releases about those two practices starting, click HERE and HERE.

In other news, the Vikings brief stay in Mankato ends today with their final practices.  School starts the 23rd, hard to believe summer has gone by so quick.

Regional News...

This just in via the world of Twitter... 

The University of Nebraska-Kearney is considering leaving the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference for the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.  If UNK leaves the RMAC, it would join the MIAA in 2012.  UNK has been the most successful school in the RMAC 13 of the last 17 seasons. To view more about this click HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

Obviously a move like this doesn't directly affect us here at Minnesota State, but it will be interesting to see how this shakes out regionally.

McKelvie Gets New Post

Ryan McKelvie has joined UAA's coaching staff 

Former Maverick forward Ryan McKelvie has accepted an assistant coaching position with Alaska Anchorage. 

McKelvie, who had 9-30--39 in 134 games with the Mavericks from 2002-06, has spent the last two seasons as a member of the coaching staff of the Wenatchee Wild of the North American Hockey League after serving as a graduate assistant coach with Bemidji State the previous two campaigns.

UAA's announcement regarding McKelvie's hiring appears here.

A three-year captain for the Mavericks, the red-headed McKelvie was a hard-working, gritty performer who played both ends of the rink.  And for those who have seen most of MSU's games the last couple of decades, it would be hard to disagree that his dust-up with North Dakota defenseman David Hale during the 2002-03 season was one of the best college tussles during that time.

It's great to be a Maverick.

Musings

Former Maverick forward Travis Morin enjoyed an impressive year in the American Hockey League in 2009-10 with the Texas Stars.  So much so, in fact, that the Brooklyn Park, Minn., native has earned a two-way contract from the parent Dallas Stars.  Morin was featured recently on the Stars' website and that article is available here.

Former Maverick defenseman Chad Brownlee, who has transitioned to a career in the country music industry, is set to release his first cd at the end of August.  Brownlee, a Kelowna, B.C., native who compiled 4-7-11 and 201 PIMs in 135 games in four years with Minnesota State from 2003-07, had his first single, The Best That I Can (Superhero), reach as high as #19 on the Canadian country music charts this past winter.  You can pre-order a copy of Chad's new cd by going to his website located here.

Only 30 days until Minnesota State hosts Northern Michigan in nonconference football action at Blakeslee Stadium Sept. 2.

It's great to be a Maverick!

Battles Battling Away at Vikings Training Camp

Former Minnesota State offensive tackle Adrian Battles (#79) is fighting for a spot with the Minnesota Vikings during the team's annual training camp at Minnesota State University.

Battles, who was a four-year starter for the Mavericks as an offensive tackle, has moved to offensive guard and added about 22 pounds to his frame from when he played at Minnesota State.

As one would expect the Mankato media has been all over the Adrian Battles angle, as it can be found here and here.

Photos from today's practice can be found here and fans can follow Battles on Twitter, here.

Speaking of Minnesota State, Vikings head coach Brad Childress had this to say about the new turf installed in Blakeslee Stadium over the summer.

Mavinnovation

An innovative idea produced and implemented by members of the MSU Department of Athletics during the course of the 2009-10 basketball season has been adopted by the NCAA.  A story regarding MSU's Don't Cross the Line tape appears in the latest issue of NCAA Champion magazine and is available online here.

It's great to be a Maverick.

Happy Birthday to "The Voice"

Casey Lloyd (left), pictured here with NSIC commissioner and former MSU men's basketball coach Butch Raymond, has been calling MSU basketball and football since 1971. 

Minnesota State Athletic Communications would like to wish a very happy birthday to young Casey Lloyd today (7/21).  Despite the fact that we haven't found the rock tablet that has his birth certificate on, Facebook has confirmed that today is Casey's birthday.

Be sure to drop him a note (yes, he's on Facebook) or shoot him an email (ac503@earthlink.net) to pass along your greetings.

Piling On

Not unlike the mutation of an amoeba, the reshaping of Division II conferences continue as schools ponder league affiliation.  The latest news has the University of Central Oklahoma and Northeastern State (Okla.) potentially moving to the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA).

The departure of UCO and Northeastern would leave the Lone Star with 11 schools. 

And, along these lines, word has it the Lindenwood and Nebraska-Kearney are also potential new members of the MIAA, which would give that league 16 teams.  Lindenwood, a member of the NAIA, will become a full-fledged NCAA Division II institution in 2013-14.  UNK is currently a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletics Conference (RMAC).

It's great to be a Maverick.

Not just the big schools

Sure, sure, we can talk about realignment amongst the Big Ten, the Pac 10, the Big 12, the Mountain West et al.  And while we've posted extensively about possible expansion in the Northern Sun here on MavBlog, other NCAA Division II conferences are making moves as well.

Nine DII schools in Arkansas and Oklahoma, who currently are members of the Lone Star Conference and the Gulf South Conference, have applied to the NCAA to form a new to-be-named league. 

Arkansas-Monticello, Arkansas Tech, East Central University, Harding, Henderson State, Ouachita Baptist, Southeastern Oklahoma State, Southern Arkansas and Southwestern Oklahoma State are the schools involved and in order to meet a deadline so that the league can become reality by next year (2011-12), it must submit a strategic plan, conference constitution and conference bylaws to the NCAA by Dec. 1.

In the event the plan does come to fruition (a likely possibility), the Lone Star would still have 11 teams, but the departure of the six Arkansas schools from the Gulf South would leave that league with seven teams (Alabama-Huntsville, Delta State, North Alabama, Valdosta, West Georgia and West Alabama). We all know what happened when the North Central Conference went to six teams after losing North Dakota, North Dakota State, South Dakota, South Dakota State, Northern Colorado and Morningside and we've heard some concern from the Gulf South about the league's future viability.

Here's the statement from the GSC website about this recent development.  Lone Star commissioner Stan Wagnon comments about the new league appear here.

By the way, just 48 days until Minnesota State hosts Northern Michigan in a nonconference match-up on the newly-planted grass at Blakeslee Stadium on Sept. 2.

It's great to be a Maverick!

It was Frank Zappa who said "Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible"

Black Hills State and South Dakota School of Mines have both been awarded membership in NCAA Division II.  Both schools, who are both members of the Dakota Athletic Conference (DAC) and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), will remain in the NAIA and the Dakota Athletic Conference for the 2010-11 season, followed by a year of candidacy and then a year of probation before gaining official NCAA Division II status.

Here are the releases from the BHSU site and the SDSMT site.  Other stories regarding this development appear in the Rapid City Journal, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader and KELO TV.

Jackman Signs With Flames

Former Minnesota State men's hockey forward Tim Jackman has signed a free agent contract with the Calgary Flames.

Jackman, who played for the Mavericks for two seasons (2000-01 and 2001-02), holds the distinction of being the first MSU player to play in the National Hockey League.

Drafted in the second round (38th overall) by Columbus in 2001, Jackman made his NHL debut Dec. 20, 2003 with the Blue Jackets in a game played in St. Paul, Minn., vs. the Minnesota Wild.  Since that time he has seen action with Phoenix, Los Angeles and the New York Islanders.  Jackman's career numbers are available here.

It's great to be a Maverick.

Natural Selection

The National Hockey League Draft is slated to start at 4:00 p.m. (PST) Friday in Los Angeles and Maverick Hockey fans will be watching to see which team will select forward Tyler Pitlick.

Pitlick, who tallied 11 goals and had eight assists for 19 points in 38 games as a freshman for MSU in 2009-10, is projected to be the highest-ever draftee ever to come out of the Maverick men's hockey program.  Forward Tim Jackman was selected in the second round (38th overall) by Columbus in 2001 and 2010 Olympic silver medalist David Backes was selected by St. Louis in the second round (62nd overall) in 2003.   Pitlick has been projected to go anywhere from 18th overall (by the NHL's Central Scouting Bureau) to 35th by McKeens and several places in between.

Pitlick's NHL Draft card appears here and a draft preview bio by THW is located here.

MSU has had a total of 11 players selected in the NHL Draft since the Maverick men's hockey program was inaugurated in 1969.

More on Expansion

Matt Zimmer of the Argus Leader in Sioux Falls penned a great piece on the potential changes that the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference would have to make if the league presidents vote to add the University of Sioux Falls and Minot State University to the league in 2012-13.  You can view the article HERE.

A couple of things in this article raised my eyebrow a bit.  Zimmer stated that the league would have to go to divisional play for all sports (currently the league only uses divisional play for football) and I would have to agree with that.  One thing that struck me was Augustana's head men's basketball coach Tom Billeter saying that he thinks Augustana should stay with Wayne State as a travel a partner and USF should join with Southwest Minnesota State.  If that logic were to come into play, Minnesota State would be forced to change travel partners, as MSU is currently paired with the Mustangs.  The good news is, Concordia University is currently in the South Division for football, while their traveling partner St. Cloud State is in the North Division.  So, if divisional play was instituted league wide, the Mavericks and Golden Bears would seem like logical travel parteners.

Of course all of this is pure speculation but it's good to see the Argus Leader hitting this story like they are.  It's obvious why, but the idea of expansion hasn't been looked into too much by newspapers around the league. 

Keeping the Faith

“The good ole days weren't always good, and tomorrow ain't as bad as it seems.” - Billy Joel, American poet.

 

Believe it or not, as we begin to embrace the heat and humidity of a fine Minnesota summer, there's a ton of things going on these days here at MSU.

 

Former Maverick offensive lineman Adrian Battles continues to work out in anticipation of attending the Minnesota Viking training camp which starts here in Mankato July 29th.

And along these lines, it's expected that workers will begin laying new sod on the playing field at Blakeslee Stadium sometime this week.  We'll post some new photos in the next few days relative to that.

It's been announced by the Northern Sun that MSU Athletics legend Manny Beckman will be inducted in to the league's Hall of Fame Wednesday, July 14, at the Best Western Kelly Inn/St. Cloud.

 

We have a press conference scheduled for later on today to announce a major indoor track & field meet which MSU has been selected as the host institution.  Be sure to check out msumavericks.com this afternoon after 3:30 p.m. for details.

 

A couple of key fundraising events for MSU Athletics on the docket include the 34th Annual Women's Sports Classic, which takes place June 26th and the Dan Meyer Blue Line Club Golf Classic which takes place Friday, July 26.  Both tournaments occur at the Mankato Golf Club.  Former MSU men's hockey forward David Backes is playing in the Dan Meyer Tournament and there's a live auction prior to the tournament to have him on your team.   Please call Cindy Hobbs at 507.389.5351 for more information.

And, as it considers the possibility of expanding, the NSIC has announced that it will do site visits in December to Minot State and the University of Sioux Falls. Black Hills State and South Dakota School of Mines are also interested in joining the league but won't get a visit just yet.  According to an article in the St. Cloud Times, SCSU's president, Earl H. Potter III, has said that he's in favor of league growth.

It's great to be a Maverick!

The question isn't "what are we going to do," the question is "what aren't we going to do?"

Minnesota State junior righthander Bret Mitchell has inked a deal with the New York Mets to become, officially, a professional baseball player.  Congratulations to the Lakeville, Minn., native, who spent just one season hurling for the Mavericks after matriculating for two seasons at Iowa Central Community College in Ft. Dodge, Iowa.  We suspect he'll be assigned by the Mets to their shortseason A team in the New York-Penn League, the Brooklyn Cyclones.

Mitchell, who fanned a school-record 108 batters in 2010, went 10-4 record in 14 starts with a 4.31 earned run average and 108 strike outs in 94.0 innings pitched this year.  Mitchell, who helped lead the Mavericks to their first trip the NCAA Division II Championship tournament for the first time since 1986, finished the year ranking seventh in the nation in total Ks and was 29th in the nation in strike outs per nine innings (10.34).

It's great to be a Maverick.

School's Out

The conclusion of the 2010 NCAA NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Charlotte, N.C., last weekend officially signalled the end of the competitive season for Minnesota State student-athletes and teams.

And while we anticipate another top-five finish in the final NACDA Directors' Cup standings for the Departement (MSU finished second behind Grand Valley State last year and was fourth in this year's standings prior to championship events for softball, baseball and track & field), we also look forward to following several Maverick baseball players as they perform for teams in the Northwoods League and other summer collegiate baseball leagues around the country.

In the Northwoods League RHP Blake Schwartz, LHP Ryan Demmin and OF Danny Miller are all plying their trades with the local Mankato Moondogs.  RHP Bret Mitchell is with the Rochester Honkers. Ss Zach Rowles is with the Willmar Stingers and RHP Luke Putz is throwing for the Waterloo Bucks.

The New York Collegiate Baseball League features three Mavericks with the Watertown Wizards with RHP Eugene Sturm, RHP/IF Ben Kincaid and OF Patrick Dockendorf.

RHP pitcher Mahlon Zimmermann will his spend his summer with the Laramie Colts of the Mountain Collegiate Baseball League.

The 2010 Major League Draft is also nearly upon us with the annual selection of amateur players slated for June 7-10 (next Monday through Wednesday).  Two Mavericks were picked last year in RHP Chris Odegaard (23rd round, 696th overall by Arizona) and IF Geno Glynn (43rd round, 1309th overall by Tampa).  In all, and dating back to 1968, 30 MSU players have been selected in the MLB Draft.

It's great to be a Maverick.