Every Mile a Memory

Country music recording artist Dierks Bentley is in Mankato and performs at the Verizon Wireless Center tonight.

Before he performs tonight however, Bentley spent about an hour and half scrimmaging at All Seasons Arena with a few members of the Minnesota State men's and women's hockey teams, along with some local senior amateur players earlier this afternoon.

Bentley, who is from Phoenix but now resides in Nashville, has written or co-written many of his hit songs, including "What Was I Thinkin' and My Last Name."   Bitten by the hockey bug a few years ago when he moved to Nashville, Bentley plays rec league hockey and was profiled in 2009 on the Nashville Predators website.  The story appears here.

MSU presented Bentley and Dan Hochhalter, a White Bear Lake, Minn., native who plays fiddle in Bentley's band, with Maverick hockey sweaters.

Here's what Dierks had to say following the scrimmage:




It's great to be a Maverick!

On the Inside

An email from one of our athletic communications alums - Mike Vail - regarding former Minnesota State players in the Arena Football League spurred this post.

Dating back to the early 1970's MSU has had a handful of former football players play in the various professional football leagues including Kreg Kapitan (went to camp with Minnesota in the NFL 1972-73 and played with Calgary in the CFL), Marty Kranz (went to camp with the Chicago Bears in 1974 and 1975) and Bob Bruer (after getting drafted by the Houston Oilers in 1975, he played with the Chicago Bears in 1976, Saskatchewan of the CFL in 1978 and 1979 and the Vikings from 1980-84).  Then, the following years saw a number of players accept invitations to camps with NFL teams with some playing in the CFL before receiver Tywan Mitchell had a couple of years of action with the NFL's Arizona Cardinals from 2000-2002.  Offensive lineman Adrian Battles won a Super Bowl ring this year as a practice squad member of the Green Bay Packers.

In the last decade, several former Mavericks have continued playing on the gridiron following their collegiate careers by hooking up with teams in the AFL2 and the UIFL in the indoor professional football ranks.

A recent gander of the current rosters of teams in the Arena Football League produced the names of two former Mavericks. End Colin Bryant, who played for MSU 1999-2000 under the guidance of Dan Runkle,  is a member of the Tulsa Talons.  Speedster Kelvin Rogers, who holds MSU records for career punt and kick-off return yards and played for the Mavericks from 2006-09, is toiling as a defensive back/wide receiver with the Milwaukee Mustangs.  The AFL regular-season schedule runs from April until the end of July.

It's great to be a Maverick!

The Grass is Always Green

We can actually see the grass.

There's still some remnants of this past winter lingering with pockets of snow here and there and the digital thermometer in the kitchen read 31 degrees this morning.  But for the most part, we've moved on.

The winter sport seasons are officially in the books, spring football is in full swing and we've actually hosted baseball and softball games here in Mankato.

The Maverick baseball team suffered a bit of a set-back last weekend with eighth-rated St. Cloud State taking three of four games in a NSIC series played in Mankato Friday and Saturday. To say that doesn't happen very often might be a bit of an understatement.  The last time an opponent took three of four games from the Mavericks at the MSU Baseball complex in a conference home series prior to this weekend was in 2008 when Nebraska Omaha accomplished the feat. Before that was in 2003 when Nebraska Omaha won all four games vs. MSU in Mankato.  There's still a lot of the schedule left, though, so we don't see our guys fretting too much.  And, just a reminder, the Mavericks, who are the defending league regular-season, post-season and regional champions, are scheduled to host the 2011 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournament at Franklin Rogers Park May 11-14.

As evidenced by a program best-ever start at 27-4, Lori Meyer has her Maverick softballers in fine form.  Ranked eighth in the nation and 4-0 in NSIC play, MSU has won 11 of its last 12 games, but with 22 games to play before the conference tournament, still a ways to go here. Winona State is rated 11th and Augustana is 20th.  Concordia (Minn.), currently ranked fourth in the region, looks also to be a factor and the fifth-rated team in the region (MSU is first in the region, Winona State second, Augustana third, Concordia fourth) is the defending regional champion from Metro State (Colo.).

The men's golf team will attempt to claim its third consecutive NSIC golf crown this weekend with the final three rounds of the five-round league tournament taking place at The Jewel in Lake City. At this point it looks like a two-horse race with the Mavericks owning a one-stroke edge over St. Cloud State at the top of the team leader board.  Concordia stands in third place, 22 strokes back of the Mavericks.

The MSU women's golf team has a couple of invitational tournaments to play prior to the concluding rounds of the league tourney, which is scheduled for April 23-24 in Brandon, S.D.  The Mavericks stand 49 strokes off the pace set by first-place Augustana, so have some work to do.   Nick Campa's charges are attempting to qualify for the NCAA tournament for the fourth consecutive season and are coming off an 11th-place finish at last year's national championship tournament.

The Maverick Walk for Women's Scholarships is this weekend.  A great event that's experienced growth every year and provides funding for MSU's female student-athletes.

That's about if for now.  And, oh by the way, just got a text from Matt Magers.  Our baseball games vs. Concordia WILL be played in St Paul tomorrow (Wednesday), as scheduled.

It's great to be a Maverick!

Riding the Wave

It was a simple question.

"What effect does the Minnesota State men's basketball success this year have on MSU and the community?"

Under the guidance of head coach Matt Margenthaler, the Mavericks had just completed their 2010-11 season having advanced to the semi-finals of the NCAA Division II Elite 8 national championship tournament held in Springfield, Mass.

Over the course of the year MSU had crafted a 28-5 record and captured the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference regular-season title before hosting the NCAA Division II Central Region Tournament. The Mavericks won three straight games in claiming the regional title in earning their first-ever trip to the Elite 8. Margenthaler was NSIC and Region Coach of the Year. Senior forward Jefferson Mason was All-NSIC, All-Region and All-American. Senior forward Cameron Hodges was the NSIC Defensive Player of the Year and along with senior guard Marcus Hill, was also an All-NSIC selection.

As the season extended deeper into the season, attention continued to grow. The local media entities provided extensive coverage with KEYC featuring Maverick players and Coach Margenthaler as in-studio guests on a regular basis. The Mankato Free Press and the MSU Reporter provided their regular coverage during the season, but both entities devoted additional resources as the postseason evolved including printing comprehensive tabs for the eight-team NCAA Regional held in Mankato. And when the Mavericks went to Springfield for the championship tournament, so did personnel from both publications. Radio Mankato carries every Maverick men's basketball live with MSU Hall of Famer Casey Lloyd courtside on the mic. Casey called both Elite 8 games and while people tuned in on the radio, many others caught the broadcast via the world wide web streaming audio.

And the Twin Cities took notice as well with WCCO coming down for a feature and Margenthaler in demand for interview requests from KFAN and several other media outlets throughout the upper midwest. Margenthaler became the feature of a story in his hometown newspaper and the players were the subjects of stories in their hometown publications, as well. The Associated Press, the Minnesota News Network and the major newspapers in Minneapolis and St. Paul did pieces. The Mavericks were the subjects of innumerable postings on blogs, Facebook and Twitter feeds and Youtube videos.

At the Elite 8, MSU's quarterfinal win over Alabama-Huntsville was streamed live on NCAA.com and in addition to a couple of hundred students and staff watching the game on the big screen in Taylor Center, watch parties in bars and restaurants around town were overflowing with patrons. Same thing for the semi-final game against Bellarmine in which the Mavericks fell to the eventual national champions.

When we host a regional, as we have the past two years, people from all over come to Mankato to watch the games and they, as well as the seven other teams attending the tournament, stay in local hotels, partake at our restaurants and visit River Hills Mall.

"What effect does the Minnesota State men's basketball success this year have on MSU and the community?" Short term....see above. The long term answer is somewhat more complicated.

With the women's basketball team capturing a national championship two years ago and the men's team advancing to the Final Four, the University derives publicity and notoriety from coast to coast. Same thing when the other teams at MSU do well, too. While we're unsure exactly how many column inches, television features, blog postings, Youtube video uploads, Facebook and Twitter mentions these successes have generated, we can assume the public relations effect has been massive. Not only do our students currently attending MSU follow along with pride, but we can be assured that a large many of our 90,000 alums are proud to be associated with our teams as well.

What does it mean? Student-athletes want to compete and win, so the easy answer is that we've proven we can do that with these programs at Minnesota State. Recruiting is extremely important to the success of any collegiate team and when our coaches can tell potential student-athletes that not only can you come here and play in an unbelievably great facility like Taylor Center, they can also come here and have an opportunity to be a part of teams that will have a chance to compete for not only conference and regional championships, but national championships, as well. Pretty powerful stuff.

And, of course, there are other implications such as fundraising in that people want to be associated with successful entities. So, in theory, this should help us in our developmental activities. With our corporate partners, with our sponsors and advertisers, with those who purchase season and single-game tickets and with our alums who so generously give back to their alma mater.

The reality is that MSU has been to the NCAA postseason seven straight years and broke through to make the school's first appearance at the Elite 8 this year. While we pause to revel in this season's achievements for a moment, my sense is that the Minnesota State men's basketball program is still ascending.

Thanks for the wonderful ride, fellas - it's great to be a Maverick!

Ghosts on the Hardwood

With five consecutive NCAA appearances, five conference titles in the last six years and the Mavericks prepping for a men's regional championship game tomorrow night in Taylor Center, it's been a great time for those whose passions run deep for Minnesota State Basketball.

Minnesota State has a proud history with the game played on the hardwood dating back to its inception at Mankato in 1921-22 under iconic first-year coach C.P. Blakeslee.  Under Blakeslee, Mankato State Teachers College built a 123-85 record from 1921-22 to 1938-39 and in addition to capturing one Little Ten title in 1930-31, also won a Minnesota Teachers College Conference championship in 1932-33.

Head coach Jim Clark, who guided MTC for five years in the forties, had a 27-41 ledger before legendary Jim Witham came along.  Witham, who was hired after coaching at Bemidji State, built a 160-73 record in Mankato while leading his team to seven conference titles and two national tournament appearances.  His second team in 1946-47 advanced all the way to the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball championship game, where it eventually fell to Marshall by a 78-59 margin.  MSU's first basketball All-American Hank Epp was a member of this team and later on, near the end of Witham's career, other familiar names such Norm Ness, Manny Beckman, Lee Loewen, Bob Will, Hal Peper and Virg Goertzen and Duane Mettler emerged.

Bob Otto filled in for one season before one last year with Witham and then Bill Morris coached Mankato State College from 1956-57 until 1966-67. Morris guided his charges to a 134-112 mark and in addition to a pair of league titles, led the program to its first NCAA tournament appearance in 1963-64. After Morris pulled the pin in 1965-66, Art Ollrich put together a 9-38 mark the next two seasons and Red Severson crafted a 42-61 record from 1969-70 until 1972-73.  

Lloyd "Butch" Raymond ushered in a period in which the Mavericks went 164-133 over the course of the next 11 seasons and in addition to a North Central Conference title in 1975-76, won a NIC crown in 1978-79. Raymond's 1978-79 team hosted a NAIA play-off game vs. St. John's (Minn.) in front of a huge crowd in Otto Arena. Raymond's Running Mavericks featured the dynamic back-court tandem of Gene Glynn and Curt Clark along with a player some have described as the North Central Conference's best-ever player in forward Elisha McSweeney.

Following Raymond's departure for St. Cloud State after the 1983-84 season, Dan McCarrell was brought in from North Park in Chicago and he led MSU to a 284-189 record in his 17 seasons at the helm.  McCarrell, who recruited one of the top-scoring guards in the history of the program in sweet-shooting Brian Koepnick and also brought in Mankato native Pat Coleman - an All-American and the NCC's MVP in 1996, coached the team for 16 years in Otto Arena before christening Taylor Center in 2000-01.

That leads us to the current incarnation of the program. Since the 2001-02 campaign Matt Margenthaler has built a 217-85 record and is in his tenth year with the Mavericks.  And under the former South Dakota State assistant the Mavericks can boast All-Americans such as Jamel Staten, Luke Anderson, Atila Santos and Travis Nelson.  Senior guard Jefferson Mason will undoubtedly receive All-America consideration this year, as well.

You can bet that the luminaries of the program - from Hank Epp, Butch Meyeraan, Jon Hagen, Dewey Mettler, John Schultz and Gene Glynn to Brian Koepnick, Blaine Joerger, Pat Coleman, Drew Carlson, Kory Kettner, Monte Dufault, Paris Parham, Nick Ellenberger, Jevon Budde, Luke Anderson, Chris Whitfield, Tony Thomason, Jesse Clark et al - will all be watching with pride as the Mavericks take on Ft. Lewis Tuesday in the NCAA Division II Central Region championship game on their home hardwood.

It's great to be a Maverick!

It's Not Over

Just some recent items regarding goings-on with schools and leagues relative to the NSIC, the WCHA and Minnesota State Athletics.

The transition for Nebraska Omaha from the CCHA to the WCHA has gone quite well for the Mavericks.  And according to Tom Shatel...UNO fits the WCHA Like a Glove.

And speaking of schools joining leagues, 'twould appear that the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference is open for business.  We're hearing that the RMAC has extended invitations to three schools. Black Hills State, South Dakota School of Mines and Eastern New Mexico are in the mx and you can find coverage regarding this development here, here, here and here.  Along with teams from the NSIC, teams from the RMAC make up the NCAA Division II Central Region.

Long-time St. Cloud State director of athletics Morris Kurtz announced that he intends to retire at the conclusion of the 2011-12 school year.  That announcement was followed by another in which SCSU announced that former University of North Dakota men's hockey coach and athletic director Gino Gasparini has been hired as "special advisor of athletics."  Not sure exactly what this means, and we could be wrong, but it seems unlikely that Gino is the "Athletic Director in Waiting." He was the Sioux men's hockey coach from 1978-94 and served as the AD up until he left the school in 1994.  He was the commissioner of the United States Hockey League for 13 years up until 2009.  Morris Kurtz announces his retirement now to give the school 16 months to work on finding its replacement.  More likely Gino is brought in to assist with the renovations of the National Hockey Center, fundraising and the potential break-up up the WCHA.  Interesting, though that this announcement comes on the heels of administrative cuts within Athletics at SCSU.

Here's hoping you all have a good weekend.  It's great to be a Maverick!

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end

Just some random thoughts as we wrap the comforting blanket around us that is the traditional second college sports crossover season.

For us here at Minnesota State that means we start thinking of the possibility of hosting a men's basketball regional for the second consecutive year. The Mavericks were #1 in the region last week. We defeated St. Cloud State Friday, but dropped a 79-73 decision to Concordia Saturday, so there is some uncertainty that the top spot will be retained. MSU is rated 14th in the most-recent national poll. The next highest-rated team in the poll in our region is Colorado School of Mines, which comes in at #20, but is riding a 12-game winning streak.  So, that being said, we'd like to think that we'll still be rated #1 once the poll comes out tomorrow (Tuesday).  MSU has three regular-season games remaining prior to the start of the NSIC tourney March 2.

Others soon heading to the postseason include women's hockey (WCHA first round games are Feb. 25-27), men's hockey (WCHA first round games are March 11-13), women's basketball(NSIC tourney,  March 2), men's and women's indoor track (NSIC Championship meet in Bemidji, Feb. 25-26), wrestling (NCAA regional tourney, Feb. 27 in Sioux Falls)  and swimming (Midwest Conference Championship meet in Omaha, March 16-19) and diving (conference championship in Mankato this Friday and Saturday).

There's that and then there's the official start to our spring seasons.  Men's and women's tennis are both well underway. Softball started its year this past weekend with a pair of wins over Mount Mercy in the UNI Dome. Baseball starts its season March 4 in Florida with a slate of nonconference games over the course of nine days.  The women's golf team will also get going over the course of spring break with a trip to California the second week of March.  The men start March 27-29 with a tournament in Wayne, Neb.

Good times.  It's great to be a Maverick!

A One-on-One Chat With Adrian Battles

Battles went to training camp this past summer with the Minnesota Vikings

As mentioned earlier, MavBlog set up a phone interview with Green Bay Packer practice squad player Adrian Battles who is gearing up for next week’s Super Bowl.  Battles took a few minutes to chat with us Tuesday and this is how the conversation went.

Mavblog:  Has it sunk in yet, going to the Super Bowl?

Adrian Battles:  It really hasn’t sunk in yet.  I have gotten a lot of phone calls from my family.  It is starting to sink in more once we travel to Dallas on Monday.

MB:  So you went to training camp with the Vikings and got cut during the final cut down day.  After that you don’t get picked up until December.  Walk us through that process

AB: When I got released, it was a hard time for me.  A lot people would give up at that time, but I used it as a positive and trained harder each and every week.  I felt like it would come some day that I would get picked up by another team.  I just tried to stay positive during the whole situation, train hard each and every day and always have positive. When the call finally came from the Packers, it was like a dream come true, because they had always been my favorite team growing up.  I live 100 miles from this place and it was unbelievable.  When I got this call, it was a dream come true and I came here just ready to work.

MB:  When you joined this team, did you see a deep playoff run?

AB:  I knew that they had a rough season with some tough losses and players on injured reserve.  When I got here it was clear that it was playoff mode already with the last two games of the season being must win games to get into the playoffs.  I felt like, even when I was a fan of this team that they had the firepower to get into the playoffs, especially with the quarterback, Aaron Rodgers.  Just watching the guys practice and watching how much they wanted it, I knew it was a possibility.  They went out and performed the last two weeks of the season and got a late playoff push and we got a lot of momentum.

MB:  When you got into that locker room for the first time, was it hard to separate yourself as a fan and as a player or did it come naturally?

AB:  It was kind of natural.  Starting with meetings on that first day that I got here, they made it feel like a family.  Everyone was on my side, cracking jokes and stuff like that and it made me feel at home when I got here, so it helped a lot.

MB:  Postseason games, did you get make any travel? 

AB:  No.

MB: But you do get to go to Dallas… What is your mindset going into that?

AB:  I am going to soak it all in.  Every football player, college and even the  NFL veterans, you watch the game from the couch every year with a dream of going there.  If you asked me when I got released from the Vikings, that I would be going to the Super Bowl and be a part of and be on a team that was in it, I wouldn’t even know what to say.  I am going to soak it in, we got a couple of work days but I am going to enjoy every minute of it.

MB:  Is there anything in particular you are looking forward to down there?

AB:  The entire thing.  I am looking forward to being on the sidelines for that game and watching it up close.  All the fans and cameras flashing, it’ll be crazy.

MB:  When you left here did you envision this happening this fast or was it what you thought it would be?

AB:  Leaving MSU, I knew it was going to be an uphill battle coming from a small school. I always felt if I worked hard enough, I felt I would be able to show someone or some team that I was capable of giving it a shot.  When I got the shot with Minnesota, it made even more hungry when I got cut.  I felt like I could find a home in this league.  I feel like I have found a home here.

MB:  Talk about your time at MSU, who had the biggest impact on you

AB:  Mike Cunningham, the offensive line coach.  He has had a great impact on me.  He always treated me like a son, checked on my grades, brought me over for dinner and stuff like that.  He had the biggest impact.  He always had a positive outlook on things.   When I got there, things didn’t go my way right away and he always told me that better days were going to come.

MB:  Talk about Mike and how he helped you prepare to get to this level.

AB:  He is a great offensive line coach.  He is really detailed on what he teaches us.  He learns a lot by going to camps himself in the offseason and he relays the information himself onto us.  A lot of the stuff I learned from him I was able to use that when I got here.  Combing that with my athletic ability, I think that is part of the reason I have been able to excel so fast.  He taught me a lot of technique things that have helped me out a lot.

MB:  Have the Packers given you any indication on the future?

AB:  I am going to be here in the future. 

Super Bowl Bound

By virtue of the Green Bay Packers 21-14 victory over the Chicago Bears this afternoon, former Minnesota State offensive lineman Adrian Battles and his employer - the Green Bay Packers - are Super Bowl Bound.

Battles, who is a member of the practice squad, will help the Packers prep for the Super Bowl, which will be held Feb. 6, 2011, in Arlington, Tex.

Look for more on MavBlog in the near future, including hopefully, an exclusive interview with Battles.  Until then, you can follow him on twitter.com/absworld77.

So whether you are a fan of the Packers or not, it will be tough to cheer against a former Maverick and his team in this year's Super Bowl.

As always, it is great to be a Maverick.

Closing the Book on Expansion & More

Another busy weekend of Maverick Athletics.  Men's hockey is on the road at Wisconsin for a big WCHA series.  The Mankato Freep's Shane Frederick previews the series HERE. 

The women's hockey team travels to Bemidji to take on the Beavers while the Beavers hoops squads travel to Mankato this evening for a date with the Mavericks.  Always great to play Bemidji State, but even better now that former Athletic Communications GA Dax Larson is working for BSU and making the trip down. 

Speaking of Dax, he will be the guest on Maverick Magazine today at 10 am (CST) on KMSU.  You can listen live HERE

The MSU swimming and diving team travel to the UW Stevens Point Invite this weekend while the Maverick Bowlers are in action in the Big Red Invitational hosted by the University of Nebraska.

Track and Field will spill their competition up over three venues this weekend.  MSU will send participants to the Iowa State Open, the UW Stout Invite and the University of Minnesota in what expects to be another great weekend of Maverick track and field.

Last night, the MSU wrestlers, ranked seventh in the nation, survived a dual against MSU Moorhead, earning a 19-18 win.  You can read about the victory, HERE

Thought I would wrap-up the expansion talk with a bunch of links from around the league regarding the addition of the University of Sioux Falls and Minot State.

Mankato Free Press: HERE (There is an additional story in the print and on-line subscriber version as well).

Sioux Fall Argus Leader: Here (Story)  (Blog): Here (Blog): Here

Minot Daily News: Here


St. Cloud Times: Here


Winona Daily News: HERE


Since we are closing the book on some info, HERE is an updated link on the Metrodome and how it could take up to six months to repair. 


Thanks for reading and remember, it is Great to be a Maverick