Thursday, February 19, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Old Adage ...
Don't count your eggs before they're hatched ... If you read the previous post, you saw that ACU's softball team had a chance to defeat No. 8-ranked Southeastern Oklahoma, however, the Savage Storm took a 3-0 win in extra-innings Saturday night to close the CBS Insurance Classic. Even still, ACU is 5-4 overall and got out of the tourney with a 2-2 split and a win over nationally-ranked St. Mary's.
Then, I posted that ACU's women's basketball team could clinch no worse than second place in the Lone Star Conference South Division with a win over Angelo State Saturday night. However, the Wildcats squandered a 16-point halftime lead and lost in overtime 64-59. Even still, ACU remains at second place in the LSC South Division standings at 6-2.
The men's basketball game is underway in San Angelo, I'll post an update later on ... have a good Valentine's Wildcat fans.
Then, I posted that ACU's women's basketball team could clinch no worse than second place in the Lone Star Conference South Division with a win over Angelo State Saturday night. However, the Wildcats squandered a 16-point halftime lead and lost in overtime 64-59. Even still, ACU remains at second place in the LSC South Division standings at 6-2.
The men's basketball game is underway in San Angelo, I'll post an update later on ... have a good Valentine's Wildcat fans.
A little good news ...
So how about some positives? I thought I’d give you a spring update with some good things happening, especially this weekend in ACU sports.
First, ACU’s baseball team swept through its first four Lone Star Conference games this weekend with four wins over Southwestern Oklahoma State. The Wildcats, who dropped to No. 24 in the nation after beginning the season ranked eighth, responded with an 8-1 win Thursday night, 3-2 and 2-1 victories Friday, and then closed with a 15-5 pounding Saturday.
If you missed it, Friday’s second game that went extra innings saw potential history from ACU pitcher Preston Vancil. The senior right-hander struck out the final eight batters and finished with a career-high 13. The NCAA Division I record for consecutive strikeouts is 10 accomplished by Barry Zito (currently with the San Francisco Giants) back in 1996 for UC-Santa Barbara.
In softball’s home opening weekend, ACU defeated No. 25-ranked St. Mary’s Thursday night 13-11. Then, Friday the Wildcats split with a loss to Emporia and a win over Northeastern State. All-American Jessica Shiery already making an impact for ACU hitting .636 with two homers and nine RBI eight games into the season.
Today, we’re awaiting the score from Poly Wells Field as ACU looks to upset No. 8-ranked Southeastern Oklahoma State. Grant Boone and I are in San Angelo and received word that the score was 0-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Speaking of San Angelo, the Wildcat basketball teams are at Stephens Arena for a Lone Star Conference South Division doubleheader against Angelo State. For the women, a win would mean that they could finish no worse than second place in the LSC South. At 6-1, the Wildcats are looking to sweep ASU for the first time since the 2004-05 season. The Rambelles enter the contest at 4-3 in league play.
For the men’s team, Jason Copeland’s Wildcats are trying to stay mathematically in the race for the LSC postseason tournament. ACU is sixth place in the LSC South with a 2-5 record in league play while the Rams are third place with a 5-2 mark in conference.
I’ll try to update this post and let you know how the softball and basketball games progress on this Valentine’s Day.
First, ACU’s baseball team swept through its first four Lone Star Conference games this weekend with four wins over Southwestern Oklahoma State. The Wildcats, who dropped to No. 24 in the nation after beginning the season ranked eighth, responded with an 8-1 win Thursday night, 3-2 and 2-1 victories Friday, and then closed with a 15-5 pounding Saturday.
If you missed it, Friday’s second game that went extra innings saw potential history from ACU pitcher Preston Vancil. The senior right-hander struck out the final eight batters and finished with a career-high 13. The NCAA Division I record for consecutive strikeouts is 10 accomplished by Barry Zito (currently with the San Francisco Giants) back in 1996 for UC-Santa Barbara.
In softball’s home opening weekend, ACU defeated No. 25-ranked St. Mary’s Thursday night 13-11. Then, Friday the Wildcats split with a loss to Emporia and a win over Northeastern State. All-American Jessica Shiery already making an impact for ACU hitting .636 with two homers and nine RBI eight games into the season.
Today, we’re awaiting the score from Poly Wells Field as ACU looks to upset No. 8-ranked Southeastern Oklahoma State. Grant Boone and I are in San Angelo and received word that the score was 0-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Speaking of San Angelo, the Wildcat basketball teams are at Stephens Arena for a Lone Star Conference South Division doubleheader against Angelo State. For the women, a win would mean that they could finish no worse than second place in the LSC South. At 6-1, the Wildcats are looking to sweep ASU for the first time since the 2004-05 season. The Rambelles enter the contest at 4-3 in league play.
For the men’s team, Jason Copeland’s Wildcats are trying to stay mathematically in the race for the LSC postseason tournament. ACU is sixth place in the LSC South with a 2-5 record in league play while the Rams are third place with a 5-2 mark in conference.
I’ll try to update this post and let you know how the softball and basketball games progress on this Valentine’s Day.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Key questions and answers from NCAA sanctions
Thursday’s ruling by the NCAA in its case against Abilene Christian University left fans with several questions regarding the 2007 football season, as well as other issues. In order to clear up some of the confusion, here is a list of questions and answers that might help clear up some of the confusion:
Q: If ACU is on probation, can the Wildcats still compete in post-season games?
A: The probation does not include any ban on post-season competition in any sport. The probation simply means that between the dates of Feb. 12, 2009, and Feb. 11, 2011, the Wildcats’ track and football programs can’t have another NCAA violation. If they do, there will be more serious penalties from the NCAA in regards to those two programs.
Q: Are the Wildcats forfeiting any football games in 2007?
A: No, the Wildcats are not forfeiting any games, rather they are being forced to “vacate” those wins. A forfeit means the Wildcats – who were 10-3 in 2007 with an appearance in the NCAA Division II playoffs – would be 0-13. The NCAA ruling instead states the Wildcats must instead vacate the wins, which means that the Wildcats’ official record for 2007 is 0-3. It’s almost as if the games were never played. Head coach Chris Thomsen’s record will now reflect 10 less wins, and the school’s all-time record will reflect 10 fewer wins.
Q: Do the NCAA sanctions extend to the 2008 season? Will the Wildcats have to vacate any wins in 2008 or give up their Lone Star Conference championship?
A: The Wildcats’ 2008 season is totally unaffected by Thursday’s ruling. The Wildcats’ 11-1 record still stands, as do all records attained and championships won. ACU will still enter the 2009 season as the defending LSC champion in football.
Q: What about statistics from the 2007 season?
A: The ACU sports information office has been in discussions with the NCAA Statistics office since Thursday morning in regards to what the vacation of the games means to the statistics of both the Wildcats and their 2007 opponents. No official word on those statistics will be known until after the school explores its options for an appeal.
Q: Do the NCAA sanctions affect any other sport’s wins or losses in the 2007-08 athletics year?
A: No, the only sport currently affected is football.
Q: What is the timeline on the appeal process?
A: According to the NCAA, the NCAA staff liaison to the Management Council Subcommittee must receive written notice of a pending appeal within 15 calendar days of the date of the public release of the infractions report (which was Thursday). After the liaison receives a timely notice of appeal and ACU has received a letter from the NCAA acknowledging receipt of the notice of appeal, the university will have approximately 30 days to submit its written appeal. The Management Council Subcommittee may accept the Committee on Infractions’ findings and penalties, or it may alter or overturn those penalties. If there is no appeal by the institution, the committee’s findings and penalties are effective when the 15-day appeal period has expired, in this case Feb. 26, 2009.
Q: How will ACU go about getting down to the self-imposed limit of five international student-athletes on the roster of any athletics team during the 2009-10 and 2010-11 academic years?
A: To be clear, ACU will not cut any current student-athletes to get down to the limit of five international student-athletes on any athletics teams. Getting down to the number of five athletes on each team will occur through natural attrition (graduation, transfer, etc.). ACU coaches will also recruit fewer international students over the course of the next two years in order to comply with the self-imposed penalty.
Q: If ACU is on probation, can the Wildcats still compete in post-season games?
A: The probation does not include any ban on post-season competition in any sport. The probation simply means that between the dates of Feb. 12, 2009, and Feb. 11, 2011, the Wildcats’ track and football programs can’t have another NCAA violation. If they do, there will be more serious penalties from the NCAA in regards to those two programs.
Q: Are the Wildcats forfeiting any football games in 2007?
A: No, the Wildcats are not forfeiting any games, rather they are being forced to “vacate” those wins. A forfeit means the Wildcats – who were 10-3 in 2007 with an appearance in the NCAA Division II playoffs – would be 0-13. The NCAA ruling instead states the Wildcats must instead vacate the wins, which means that the Wildcats’ official record for 2007 is 0-3. It’s almost as if the games were never played. Head coach Chris Thomsen’s record will now reflect 10 less wins, and the school’s all-time record will reflect 10 fewer wins.
Q: Do the NCAA sanctions extend to the 2008 season? Will the Wildcats have to vacate any wins in 2008 or give up their Lone Star Conference championship?
A: The Wildcats’ 2008 season is totally unaffected by Thursday’s ruling. The Wildcats’ 11-1 record still stands, as do all records attained and championships won. ACU will still enter the 2009 season as the defending LSC champion in football.
Q: What about statistics from the 2007 season?
A: The ACU sports information office has been in discussions with the NCAA Statistics office since Thursday morning in regards to what the vacation of the games means to the statistics of both the Wildcats and their 2007 opponents. No official word on those statistics will be known until after the school explores its options for an appeal.
Q: Do the NCAA sanctions affect any other sport’s wins or losses in the 2007-08 athletics year?
A: No, the only sport currently affected is football.
Q: What is the timeline on the appeal process?
A: According to the NCAA, the NCAA staff liaison to the Management Council Subcommittee must receive written notice of a pending appeal within 15 calendar days of the date of the public release of the infractions report (which was Thursday). After the liaison receives a timely notice of appeal and ACU has received a letter from the NCAA acknowledging receipt of the notice of appeal, the university will have approximately 30 days to submit its written appeal. The Management Council Subcommittee may accept the Committee on Infractions’ findings and penalties, or it may alter or overturn those penalties. If there is no appeal by the institution, the committee’s findings and penalties are effective when the 15-day appeal period has expired, in this case Feb. 26, 2009.
Q: How will ACU go about getting down to the self-imposed limit of five international student-athletes on the roster of any athletics team during the 2009-10 and 2010-11 academic years?
A: To be clear, ACU will not cut any current student-athletes to get down to the limit of five international student-athletes on any athletics teams. Getting down to the number of five athletes on each team will occur through natural attrition (graduation, transfer, etc.). ACU coaches will also recruit fewer international students over the course of the next two years in order to comply with the self-imposed penalty.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Bonneau wins 500
It didn't take long for Britt Bonneau to become ACU's all-time leader in career wins, he did that in his third season back in 1999. However, 10 years later, with Bonneau still at the helm, he's got 501 wins. The milestone 500th win came yesterday, and one has to think that it could be several years, maybe several decades before someone passes the 13th-year head coach.
Bonneau averages 42 wins a year and is still only 38 years old leaving him on pace to win 1,000 games by age 50. Bonneau is just another example of ACU's excellence in athletics as several programs have built consistenly successful programs. Congratulations to him and to all the players and coaches that have helped him reach this milestone.
As he said in yesterday's release after winning No. 500, here's to the next 500 ... let's hope so.
View a photo gallery of yesterday's games with New Mexico Highlands, including Bonneau's 500th - Bonneau stayed pretty dry despite efforts from his players with multiple water coolers. At 38, Bonneau still showed his quickness - fans should get a kick out of those photos.
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