You can go home again

Ten days ago, at around the stroke of midnight, I boarded a plane heading East.

I had no idea who or what waited for me on the other end.

Months and miles separated me from my friends, and there was no telling who would want to see me or when I would see them. I thought I had been gone for way too long. I thought time and distance were the great separators between friends. I thought the trip was going to be a reality check.

I forgot how great my friends are.

Since landing on the crowded runways of JFK in New York City, my UMass connections found me, took me in and took me out. My friends made sure my 10 days away were spent the same as my six years in the Northeast – random, fun and exciting.

I went from New York City to New Jersey for an old rugby teammate’s wedding, which somehow turned into an errant and unorthodox trip to Philadelphia. I reminisced with former ruggers, and I listened to a dozen bagpipes serenade one of my best friends into married life. During the first song, I looked over at another rugby friend, and we both cried: Not because of the wedding … it was something more mysterious than that.

During my travels through New Jersey I saw my handsome godson, my uncle and my grandmother. My grandma made me a BLT, and it tasted just as good as it did when I was a mischievous 5-year-old. Some people never lose their touch.

After a night in Brooklyn I made it up to Boston – just in time to get absolutely slammed by Boston Red Sox traffic. That night I saw my old stomping grounds in Allston, drank with friends in Brighton and told a couple of Boston College kids that they were stinking up the bar.

I guess I haven’t lost my touch either.

The next morning I decided to pack up and leave for Amherst, just for a night, to see another rugby friend that I haven’t seen in almost four years. He’s a man we call Mancandy, and that’s all I have to say about that.

That night we went to Seven Os and sang karaoke. It was a standard night with a good friend. When we walked home we sang rugby songs and cheered for the old days. The shouting was Sunderland’s serenade.

Upon my return to Boston I met with an old friend in the North End, and walked into a bar filled with suits. I was out of place and uncomfortable. Then, another old rugby friend rode his bike from Somerville, and two other friends came out – one from Cambridge and one from New Hampshire – and the night quickly changed gears.

My rugby buddy and I met up with another, and we painted the North End with stories and songs. I threw up in the Boston Harbor – I knew that she missed me.

The rest of my time in Boston was spent with rugby buddies and Collegian friends. However, after introducing everyone to everyone, it was clear that the college categories were no longer needed.

On Saturday morning, it was time for Amherst.

Mike Marzelli and I were awestruck by the tailgating scene out in front of McGuirk. During our time there were no crowds aside from a sparse gathering of alumni drinking beers by their car. This was massive – this was a big time football tailgate. Mike and I stood there for a second and thought the same thing:

“Unbelievable.”

There in front of us was the beauty of our alma mater, painted delicately by fall leaves, Pabst Blue Ribbon and dozens of scattered friends.

That night we saw acquaintances and visited bars that hadn’t seen us in awhile. We saw the Sox come back on the Rays, and we fell asleep in a Puffton apartment filled with 10 drunk sleeping men.

For my last day in the Northeast, I hung out with my best friend from college, and we talked and relaxed over Brooklyn deli food. There was no need to fully reminisce because there are certain friends you don’t need to recap with. You just need to sit over a turkey sandwich and watch a football game.

Yesterday, I fought through New York City traffic and dropped off my rental car. I sat in the airport with the new Lindy’s college basketball magazine and turned right to the Atlantic 10 to see how the publication thought my boys were going to do.

I boarded the plane heading West, and I got a little misty when I thought of everything I was leaving behind again.

Then, somewhere over Nebraska, I had a nostalgia-driven illusion. Below me were the amber waves of grain, shrouded by the darkness of another beautiful American fall night. Yet, my mind’s eye painted the scene the perfect shade of Maroon – the shade that reminds me of my friends, my school and the section of the country where life goes on and the past is seldom forgotten.

I turned away from the window and thought about time and distance and their affect of friendships.

Then I realized I was thinking too much and lowered my UMass hat over my eyes.

(Special thanks to: Jillian Simms, Paige Cram, Stacy Wasserman, Rachel Karlin, Steve Bagley, Ben Myers, Mike Marzelli, Jeff Howe, Jeremy Quitko, Ray McGovern, Paul McGovern, Audrey McGovern, Patrick Ewing Jr., Al Barish, Alie Romano, Lurch, Casey, Philadelphia, Michelle Lacasse, Aaron Millman, Ross Couture, Scotty “Mancandy” Neas, Brian Long, Todd Foster, the Mullins Center, Mike Hershey, Derek Volner, Lawrence Enweze, “Chris Puliafico” … and, as always, Mr. Jordan Quitko.)

Behler to Boise

Bob Behler, the voice of the Minutemen, is taking his vocal talents West.

He’s heading to Boise.

Behler was offered a two-year contract to call Broncos football and basketball games.

From the Idaho Statesman:

Behler and KIDO will make their Boise State broadcasting debut during the Broncos’ season-opening football game against Idaho State on Aug. 30. KIDO (Peak Broadcasting) secured the Broncos’ radio contract with BSU during the offseason — after a 35-plus-year relationship between BSU and KBOI (Citadel Broadcasting).

This was also covered on KTVB.com.

Behler has called almost every sport at UMass since 1999, and is one of the all-around good people in the business. During my time at UMass he was always willing to give advice and share his unbelievable amount of knowledge with any aspiring journalist that would listen.

While I worked primarily in print, some of my colleagues were able to work with him on the radio. They went on road trips and covered games together, and at an age where it was so easy to make fun of your elders – no one had anything but respect for Bob.

Anyone who listened to Behler knew that he would eventually take the next step – and there is no doubt the WAC and Boise State is just that. I wish him the best of luck in the future, and maybe I will be able to hear some of his calls while I’m out here in the Rocky Mountains.

It was a pleasure listening to you, Bob. The microphone you leave behind will be a heavy one to carry.

For what it’s worth

Tomorrow (June 14) will the the one-year anniversary of Between Mullins and McGuirk.

My goodness how the time has flown by.

During the past year, I have posted more than 200 times and have received well over 100 responses from you guys. That’s the kind of stuff that keeps me coming back for more.

I will continue to try and figure out this whole blogging thing, and I hope you stick with me as I learn. This has been a fantastic quasi-journalistic campaign for me thus far, and I thank you all very much for making it worth the while.

This blog keeps me connected to my alma mater, and it maintains my love for UMass and the Minutemen and Minutewomen. It certainly has been worth every second of writing, reading and looking over my shoulder to make sure the boss isn’t looking.

… as irony would have it, I got caught while writing this…

Thanks again… and GO UMASS!

Graduation nostalgia

Last week I had to run across Boulder, in full work gear, so I could attend my good friend’s graduation from the University of Colorado.

Earlier in the week I sent my cousin – who is graduating from Stetson in Florida – a congratulations IM.

I’m in graduation mode, and I’m getting nostalgic.

I figured since news is pretty slow right now, I would show you guys my senior column. I enjoyed every minute of my time at UMass, and I literally walked across campus as I wrote this.

Every once in awhile, I’ll sit and read it again. I read it when I miss Amherst, and I read it when I miss all my friends out East that enjoyed the UMass experience with me.

Hope you like it:

–

A Minuteman says goodbye

by Bob McGovern

“You’d better take one last good look….”

- NOFX -

As I sit here in the top row of McGuirk Alumni Stadium I have a perfect view of the best university in America.

It’s 10:14 on an unusually brisk May evening and I’m writing this via the light of my cell phone, which turns off every five seconds, leaving me in a moment of complete darkness.

To my left are the twinkling lights of Southwest and the pulsating energy of my alma mater, to the right is the road leading away from campus … the road leading home.

Aside from the cars pulling in and out of Yellow Lot, I am the only semblance of life here. Yet, as the sounds of engines and far off music reverberate off the walls of this U-shaped stadium, it’s increasingly imminent that I am far from alone.

I have thought about this column since I was a sophomore and always wondered how I would write it. Yet, four years after packing my things, leaving Florida and heading north, it appears that it has already been written for me.

There are no cheers or youthful banter as I exit the north entrance of my football stadium. I leave with only the sound of my footsteps, grinding through the loose pebbles underneath me.

Just another Minuteman saying goodbye.

I made it through the parking lots that separate McGuirk from Southwest, yet with each step I wanted to stop and write. I knew I couldn’t though; writing everything that came to mind about this school would fill a novel that only a select few would want to read.

Now I’m sitting on the big pyramid in Southwest staring blankly at Washington Tower, my home for my first two years. Memories are shooting through my head so fast that I stop and try to grab one, but it’s gone before my pen can touch the paper.

Here are these giant stacks of lives, running parallel, shoulder-to-shoulder. Once in a while they collide with each other for an instant and if they are compatible they stick, if not, they simply continue on their respective journeys.

This is where I learned as a freshman and taught as a sophomore. It’s where I met my first roommate, Chris Puliafico, who introduced me to my best friend and roommate for the next three years, Mr. Jordan Quitko.

I am sure these names are foreign to most of you, but so many have a similar story. Everyone came here running alone in some respect and met people who, for one reason or another, stuck more than others. In the end, these clusters are what we remember and what some of us are afraid to leave behind.

A wet paper towel almost hits me as I walk past Kennedy Tower. Two kids are sitting in their window laughing as I dodge its path. I simply smirk, shake my head and warn the kid behind me, who is barely phased by the air-borne prank.

Now I’m sitting here in the tunnel that separates Southwest from campus, the division between blissful immaturity and educational reality.

In the distance I can hear the yells and laughter of those who are enjoying the waning days of this semester. Just the lingering calls of animals, not yet ready to leave the Zoo.

Standing at the gates of Garber Field, right next to the Curry Hicks Cage, I can feel a sense of this university’s tradition. As steam bellows from underneath UMass’ surface, it masks Garber’s entrance in a fine gray hue.

It’s hard to believe I watched UMass beat Syracuse here only days ago. Those boys are coming back again on Sunday, this time I won’t be sitting in the press box.

Before I pass Curry Hicks, I make sure I go around “the Circle of Bad Grades.” I made the mistake of walking right through the middle my sophomore year … never again.

I’m sitting in front of Bartlett Hall now, the house of the fine Journalism major. I can’t help but think of all I’ve learned here, the true educating outside the social education. Nick McBride, Norm Sims, Bill Israel, and Jim Hicks; thank you for showing me that the only thing objective about life is that nothing is ever truly objective.

From the 24th floor of the library I can see all of my campus. I am sitting at a desk near a window in the far corner, facing the practice fields. Engraved in the middle of the desk is “GO Minutemen!”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

As I look out I can see the faded facade of the Mullins Center, cracking through the darkness. Four years of concerts and athletics encapsulated as memories under one green roof.

I was here through the good and the bad. I saw coaching changes and athletic directors come and go. Through it all, it was well worth it as the two of us danced on December 9th 2004, a glimmering light in my college career.

Right behind the Mullins Center is my rugby pitch, where I learned how to be a man while never letting go of the child that plays within all of us.

Too many memories on this chilly May evening, I’ve tried to capture them, but I failed, just as I knew I would.

I guess my search has left me here for a reason, as I stare at my reflection in my library’s window. Maybe it’s too much and perhaps that’s why saying goodbye is so hard.

So with this I leave you with my final column for this incredible newspaper at this stellar establishment. My only hope is that through my writing over the past few years I was able to give you a piece of myself as I ventured to the heart of UMass athletics.

I never thought I’d be writing this, but then again it wasn’t really me. It was you, this school, and everything I’ve learned and experienced along the way.

And for that, UMass, I thank you.

Bob McGovern was a Collegian columnist.

Chancellor candidates announced

Just got an e-mail from the UMass Amherst Alumni Association in regards to the search for a new chancellor. Here you go:

Dear Friends:

It is my pleasure to inform you that the Search Committee has selected four finalist candidates for the position of UMass Amherst Chancellor. The candidates are Martin Hall, deputy vice chancellor of the University of Cape Town; Robert C. Holub, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the Knoxville campus of the University of Tennessee; Harris Pastides, vice president for research and health sciences at the University of South Carolina and executive director of the University of South Carolina Research Foundation; and Satish K. Tripathi, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

The Search Committee has done tremendous work that has culminated with the selection of exceptional candidates for this critical leadership position, and the University owes it a debt of gratitude. Led by Trustee and UMass Amherst graduate Jennifer Braceras, the Committee brought diverse opinions and experiences to its task and served the University in an exemplary fashion. I believe that the Committee has identified outstanding candidates, any one of whom could be a terrific leader for our flagship campus. I thank each committee member for his or her service.

As part of the search, the Committee held an unprecedented number of public input sessions with faculty, staff, students and administrators, as well as a variety of other UMass stakeholders. They heard from alumni, elected officials and community leaders, and their input helped inform the Committee’s thinking. Their engagement with the University’s broader community strengthened the search process and strengthened the pool of candidates.

I am also pleased to announce that the finalist candidates have been scheduled for campus visits, starting next week.

All finalists will meet with a cross-section of campus constituencies, including: faculty, staff, students, administrators, alumni and community leaders. These sessions are an important step in the selection process.

In addition, there will be an open campus meeting from 2:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. during each visit. The schedule is as follows:

Dr. Satish K. Tripathi – Tuesday, April 15

Dr. Martin Hall – Thursday, April 17

Dr. Harris Pastides – Friday, April 18

Dr. Robert C. Holub – Tuesday, April 22

Campus visit schedule

7:30 to 8:30 a.m. Breakfast with Chancellor Cole

8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Faculty meeting

9:45 to 10:45 a.m. Staff meeting

11:00 to 12:00 p.m. Student meeting

12:15 to 1:15 p.m. Lunch with alumni and community leaders

1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Vice Chancellors and Deans meeting
2:45 to 3:45 p.m. Open Campus Meeting

For meeting locations, please visit:
www.massachusetts.edu/amherstsearch/campusvisits.html.

For more information on the search and background on the candidates, visit: www.massachusetts.edu/amherstsearch.

As the candidates visit UMass Amherst, I welcome your feedback. Your input will be extremely valuable as I prepare to make my recommendation to the University’s Board of Trustees. You can share your feedback via an input form available at www.massachusetts.edu/amherstsearch/feedback.cfm?survey=33. Input forms will also be distributed at each meeting during the campus visits.

Our next Chancellor of UMass Amherst can help us take our flagship campus to new heights, building on the well-established excellence of our faculty and students. The field of finalists is international in scope and distinguished by a wide breath of academic experience. Choosing among these candidates will be a very difficult task.

Thank you for your interest in the search process and for all that you do for the University of Massachusetts.

Sincerely,

Jack M. Wilson, President
University of Massachusetts

Behind the Bill

There’s a little behind the scenes actions via the Collegian today.

Chase Wheeler put together a pretty good article on all the stuff fans don’t see at the Mullins Center. It gives some good insight on the new(ish) video boards and the folks that help to run them.

“After working professionally for so long, this job is quite an adjustment. Here I’m in more of a teaching role, showing [the student crew members] the trade,” he said. Justin Hicks, in his second year studying at UMass and working in the video board room, said that “it’s cool to be behind the scenes and see the game from a different perspective.

While at UMass I worked in several (albeit brief) capacities in the Mullins Center including flying the blimp and working a few changeovers. Scott Neas, a former UMass rugby player and a foreman for the Mullins Center, helped get me those jobs.

The people that work there work hard and are an integral part in the sports ambience we all enjoy so much.

–

Brandice Balschmiter, a pitcher for the UMass softball team, was named the A-10 pitcher of the week.

Via CSTV:

The righty owned a 0.33 ERA and a 2-1 record in the opening weekend after allowing 10 hits in 21 innings while striking out 23. She gave up just three hits and struck out nine in a 1-0 loss to No. 12 Michigan (2/8). Balschmiter then threw a complete game shutout in a 2-0 win over South Carolina (2/9) giving up just four hits for her first win of the season. She struck out eight while surrendering just three hits in a 5-2 win over Florida Atlantic (2/10). Balschmiter is now just eight strikeouts away from moving into second on the UMass all-time career list with 588.

–

CSTV also had a bit of a chat with Travis Ford:

I don’t know if I was surprised, but disappointed, at the fact that I had to have a talk with my guys at this point in the season. This is not the time of year you should have to be motivating your team to play harder, but that is the nature of the game.

Orange crush

So here it is, the first real test of the season: the first big crowd, the first game UMass should lose and the first major conference opponent.

UMass is heading to the Carrier Dome.

There is no silver lining, no stats to crunch — nothing. Syracuse, on paper, is a better team in a bigger arena. For some reason the national lights shine a little bit brighter on northern New York.

The Minutemen have to be ready for balance. Syracuse doesn’t recruit to fill niche positions like Yale or NIU, it reloads with top-tier athletes that can run, shoot and rebound. Thus far, UMass has proved that it can do the first two.

‘Cuse has five players with double-digit scoring and one player — Paul Harris — that is averaging a double-double. He had 18 points and 14 rebounds in a 72-69 victory over Saint Joseph’s… the first A-10 opponent the Maroon and White will face this season (1/9).

Syracuse is and should be the model for the potential of Northeast basketball. Every… single… game it plays is televised, and it continues to pack the Carrier Dome with 20,000-plus per game. Just ask Fordham.

It probably doesn’t help that the Orangemen are coming of their first loss of the season (65-79 to Ohio State, before beating Washington). Syracuse is going to have the old proverbial chip on its shoulder.

Aside from the game at hand, it absolutely amazes me that ‘Cuse only leaves the state of New York ONCE from Nov. 4 to Jan. 9. That’s just another sign of how much respect our New York neighbors receive — you’ve got to come to their house to play their game.

Hopefully UMass can put up a good showing and learn a thing or two out in the freezing sprawl known as Syracuse. This is a game that can educate, so long as the team does not get embarrassed.

These lessons can be brought back to Amherst, and the boys can take it out east on Dec. 12 — the red mark on my schedule.

Of course learning a lesson through victory never hurt anyone… aside from my bar tab.

–

The Sports Network has a rundown on the I-AA bracket and obviously gives UMass some play:

Probably no team was more thrilled with its draw than UMass, which hosted a team from Fordham that had lost to lowly 3-8 Bucknell the week before. But the Minutemen were feeling glad to escape with a win after this one was over.

–

Also, Old Dominion continues to gear up for its 2009 entrance into the CAA. This quote has to be a bit disconcerting for the Monarch brass:

“I’ve never recruited, but I’ve witnessed a lot of recruiting,” said Cotton, who has produced 30 college players in five years. He was 10-2 at Hertford County High in North Carolina in 2003. “I’ve heard the good pitch, and I’ve heard the bad pitch.”

So have I, and I’m sitting in a cubicle editing business stories… not coaching a future D-I program.

Just kidding — didn’t you hear? It’s Sarcastic Wednesday!

–

Great article and profile piece in the UMass Magazine in regards to walk-ons.

“Swimming quite literally saved my life,” she explains. “I had some really dark days after my heart attack, but swimming gave me self-esteem and discipline. I loved going to the pool every day.”

Good stuff… nothing shows the heart of college athletics more than walk-ons. Just ask Matt Pennie, one of this year’s basketball captains.

When it rains…

UMass’ three-point game is garnering attention outside Amherst, which is to be expected when a team hits more than 50 in five games.

Scout.com had a bit of an A-10 rundown and had a little blurb mentioning UMass, Etienne’s amazing start and, well, the fact that the Maroon and White are living outside the arch:

Massachusetts tied a program record with 15 three-point field goals made on a school-record 32 attempts in its 93-78 win over Wisconsin-Green Bay on Nov. 17. The last time the Minutemen made 15 field goals from beyond the arc. was versus Temple in 1997. UMass has made 51 three-pointers through five games this season, with senior forward Etienne Brower shooting a blistering .625 (15-of-24) from three-point range

UMass is going to need something similar to this performance if it is going to have a chance in the Carrier Dome against a very balanced and athletic Syracuse team. With a win at ‘Cuse the Maroon and White have a decent chance to go 7-1 into Chestnutt Hill and could potentially squeeze its way into the top 25.

Not bad for a team with only two returning starters of note.

–

The Salem News had an article on Kyle Harrington and Chris Zardas, two members of the UMass football team.

Great quote from Zardas:

“There’s no time to dwell on (Saturday’s) victory because the way the playoffs are set up, you have to get ready for the next opponent right away. You lose once and you’re gone, so we have to be prepared and execute. Right now we don’t know much about Southern Illinois except they are ranked higher than us and have the home field advantage.”

I’ve been thinking about making the trip out East for the game. Anyone have any information on cheap plane tickets to Illinois?

–

A day old, but I hadn’t seen this mentioned anywhere.

Jeremy Rice, a reporter with the Collegian, had his hockey article picked up by the wire and USCHO.com. Pretty exciting for a young reporter.

Upstairs TV

I’m full, I’m happy, and I’m sorry.

For the past few days I’ve been home — Vero Beach, Fl. to be exact. I haven’t had the time or the means to update Between Mullins and McGuirk, and I hope my last post made that somewhat clear.

So much has been happening in the world of UMass athletics, and it would be hard to recap without stumbling over old news and items already posted on UMassHoops.com or the UMass Football Blog.

I’ve also been away from any kind of Internet radio, so I missed the soccer team beating Boston University in what sounds like dramatic fashion. I was able to get Gametracker for UMass/Fordham, but by now the ins and outs of that game have been discussed, analyzed and argued over.

It’s funny though… this whole UMass football thing. It has encompassed my life within my little cube at work, and my fandom is imminent when you step into my room (I may be the only person in the state of Colorado with a replica UMass mini football helmet). However, back home — back in the south — UMass and CS/I-AA/etc. football is basically nothing.

Since I don’t get ESPNU I was left with James Madison and Appalachian State, which was actually a pretty good game. My brother (sophomore at the University of Kentucky) and his friends (Tennessee, Florida, Auburn and Colby … yea, the last one stands out a bit) came into the living room and immediately said, “What the hell is this?”

I left and watched the game upstairs. I knew not to get in the way of SEC football, so big brother went and watched his “what-the-hell-is-this” football by himself.

While it doesn’t bother me that a group of Southern boys couldn’t appreciate a game of such magnitude, it did make me wonder why I care so much. Could it be the fact that I’m an alumni of a CAA school or that I worked for the student newspaper? Or is it that I was raised in the south, where football is king, and had to make my alma mater’s team bigger than it really is?

Probably all three.

I remember my brother’s reaction when he saw our stadium. It was pretty similar to the reaction he had to JMU/Appalachian State on the main television in our house. Of course he missed the writing on the wall — literally — which tells the tale of a program that has won, with consistency, within the realm of its size, ability and finances.

On Thanksgiving I sat with an old reporter’s notebook and jotted down things I was thankful for in UMass athletics: football team’s success, Travis Ford’s recruiting, Jack, Sam Koch, etc. I thought about publishing it, but I realized I forgot my login name for this site — at least I’m honest.

Of course everything I wrote was subjective and small scale in relation to the overall scheme of things in college athletics, but it’s my list and my school, and damnit I don’t need to be an objective journalist when it comes to that.

So, tomorrow I’ll start over again. I’ll continue to find news and add my opinions. Maybe it will get lost in the shuffle of college sports blogs, and I hope whoever reads this hasn’t been turned away due to my negligence the past week.

It doesn’t matter that it isn’t SEC or ACC because I’m all A-10 and CAA… even if I have to watch the game by myself.

UMass for three

Years from now we’re going to look back and remember All Saints Day, Nov. 1 2007, as the exact moment in time that the UMass men’s basketball team made the final switch to Travis Ford’s run-and-gun offense.

OK, it’s AIC. It’s just a warm-up … right? The Minutemen aren’t going to consistently shoot 35 three pointers … right?

Well, it certainly looks like they might when only four players (two forwards and two walk-ons) do NOT attempt a shot from beyond the perimeter. This time last year UMass, which was obviously a different team with the likes of Rashaun Freeman and Stephane Lasme in the post, shot 20 threes against Bridgeport.

Overall it was good to see UMass wipe the floor with an exhibition opponent, and it appears that this team certainly has the ability to score (NOTE: According to UMassAthletics.com, the 103 points would have been a Mullins Center record had it been a regular season game).

The freshman got their feet wet, and Gary Correria appears to be an adequate backup for Chris Lowe. Max Groebe obviously has the green light (seven three-point attempts). Papa Lo is developing (anyone remember Lasme as a freshman?). The others will work into Ford’s scheme of things — aka. hockey-like substitutions to keep the tempo.

The starters did what we thought … they shot it, and shot it, and ran. We’re not going to get this type of game from Ricky Harris every night, but we can sure hope his shooting percentage (50 percent behind the arch) is indicative of what may be on the horizon. Gary Forbes is the stud we knew he was, and now we have to sit back and hope that opponents don’t outclass our big men — most notably Luke Bonner and Dante Milligan.

UMass has another one tomorrow against Concordia (N.Y.) — not the same Concordia I referenced yesterday, that was a Canadian team. I’d like to see someone step up and grab a few rebounds. The Minutemen have the size; let’s hope that they figure out a way to use it.

–

The Boston Globe had an article on the resurgence of college football in New England and UMass was actually referenced between the UConn, Boston College love fiesta.

In the Colonial, UMass, which has not lost – and may not lose again – since BC beat the Minutemen in September, has maintained its status as a national FCS power.

–

UMass breaks ground on its new recreation center today, which should aid with recruiting and general student happiness. The days of cramped, stinky Boyden lifting sessions are numbered:

The 120,000 square foot building will include new weight and fitness areas, a three-court gym, multipurpose rooms and administration offices.

The center will be built along Commonwealth Avenue across from the Mullins Center.