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.