Yikes Offense...

The WMU Broncos won this weekend yes. Was it because of their offense? No. They won just 7-3, marking their lowest point total in a win since 1995. Hopefully the offense won't disappear now that we are playing some meaningful MAC games. We need the offense to carry us like it has throughout the season so far. It's going to be a real long season if we can only muster 36 yards rushing and only convert on 4 of 16 third downs.

On the plus side, the defense looked very solid after being touted as one of the best before the season started. I was wondering when the team was going to pick it up and it picked the right time to step up. Hopefully the defense will hold and the offense will pick it back up for the remaining games.

Here is my game recap article on the Herald website: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=878

Homecoming this coming weekend. Sounds like a good crowd is coming over for the weekend and the game. Should be fun.

Broncos head to Temple

Well after the Bronco slaughter against Tennessee Tech (41-7 win), they now head out East to face-off against Temple University. This is the first game of a five-game stretch against Mid-American Conference opponents. Actually, this is the first of tough games that will likely shadow the WMU schedule for the rest of the season. Should be a tough road the rest of the season. Hopefully the momentum the Broncos (3-1, 1-0 MAC) have developed in the last three weeks will guide them the rest of the season. Temple is coming off a loss against Penn St. and also lost their starting QB in that game. Hopefully the Broncos can take advantage of this and take care of business this weekend. Game-time is set for 2 p.m. Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philly.

Western Preview Article: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=824

Football team comes home and I hit the road

Well, the Broncos are playing at home for just the second time this season and I suddenly leave Kalamazoo. This will be the only game I miss this season and it's for a good cause. I'm heading to NYC to visit Yankee Stadium before it closes and visit my friends that live there. I've been to New York City once before and I hope that this time will be as good as the last. Hopefully warmer too. Sunday, I'm also golfing with a lot of my family and I'm looking forward to that. Should be a pretty crazy and fun weekend.

The football team is coming home to play against Division I-AA opponent Tennessee Tech. They should win the game, but I'm not completely sold yet. This could by a challenging game for the Broncos. Definitely a hand-cuff game for the team. Hopefully they can pull out the victory while I am gone. With the win, they have the possibility to head into the tough conference schedule with a 3-1 record. Three wins would look mighty good this early in the season and they need all the momentum they can get. Go Broncos!

Here is my preview article for the game at the Herald website: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=615

Article on Bronco Secondary

We've had a very good secondary for a few years now and it doesn't seem to be a coincidence. All four of the players we have right now are four-year starters and real close with each other. It was fun writing the article and getting to know some of the players that I interviewed. This is the second time that I've interviewed Delmas and he's just a real down-to-earth nice guy. Real complimentary and thanking me sincerely on what I'm doing. It's fun to write the articles when the subjects are cool and really appreciate what your doing. It makes everything more rewarding. That has been one of the biggest surprises so far. Everyone, including coach Cubit, has been real great to talk to and it's only helped me in terms of getting used to interviewing.

Here is the article: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=580

Broncos 51, Vandals 28

The Broncos took it to the Idaho Vandals this past Saturday, defeating them on the road 51-28. I wrote a game recap article for the game and the article is now posted online.

You can see it here: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=517

This weekend will be the only WMU game I miss this season, as I will be in New York City with my buddy Drew to witness the second to last game at Yankee Stadium ever. I've never been to the Bronx and I'm looking forward to it. I can only imagine some of the emotions that will be running through that stadium and I'm not even a Yankees fan. It will be fun to be in the same place that housed Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra and of course, Babe Ruth. Should be fun.

Herald Articles

There seems to be quite a bit of confusion surrounding which articles are mine on the Western Herald website, or so I am told. I will attempt to make things much easier for everyone then and just post them on this website, so that everyone will know which ones are mine. I'm going to post articles or the links to them every time they add one of mine to the Herald page, so everyone can continue to visit this location.

They've been keeping me very busy at the beginning of the semester. The football team is probably one of the bigger sports WMU has and the job takes up quite a bit of time each week (going to practices, the Tuesday press conference, writing the articles, etc.). Each week, I tackle a game recap and game preview article and starting this week, I started doing a feature story on the football team (this week I wrote an article on running back Brandon West and his new role in the offense).

The writing seems to be getting easier and easier everytime I write an article and I find myself taking much less time as well. I've started a nice system when writing and it has been beneficial. It's much easier when you get good quotes from coach Cubit and the players. They've been pretty good so far this season about giving me time to ask them questions. I'm thankful for that.

Another cool perk about working for the team is I get to sit in the press box during the games. Our stadium, although small, is very modern and new (or so it seems) and even though I had the sun in my face for most of the first home game, it was pretty neat to be up top with all of the other sports dudes. I don't travel with the team for away games, however I will be traveling to some of the closer road games including Central Michigan, Ball St. (?) and our "home" game at Ford Field against Illinois. I'm still bummed about missing next week's home game against Tennessee Tech., but that should be the only game I miss this season.

Here are the articles as posted on the Herald website (most recent first):
http://www.westernherald.com/?p=450 - Game Preview of WMU vs. Idaho
http://www.westernherald.com/?p=384 - Feature story on Brandon West
http://www.westernherald.com/?p=206 - Game Preview of WMU vs. Northern Illinois
http://www.westernherald.com/?p=124 - Game recap of WMU vs. Nebraska

They didn't post my game recap of the Northern Illinois game, but I've got it in case anyone wants to read it. No biggie.

The semester is going pretty well. We're already almost through the second week already. There has been a lot of news in Kalamazoo concerning the Professors strike on campus and right now they are actually working without a contract. Both WMU and the Union are trying to work something out soon so that this doesn't get uglier than it already is. There have been some picketing going on around campus and they even showed up at the football game last week (they were right across from where I sat most of the game). At least classes haven't been cancelled yet - many of the students are worried about how that would affect their graduation date if something serious happened and the university closed for an extended period of time.

Next weekend I'm traveling with Drew to NYC to witness first-hand the second to last game at Yankee Stadium ever. Should be a crazy time. I've been to NYC once before for a few days and it will be cool to go back, even if just for one day. I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures.

This weekend should prove to be uneventful. I think I'm working a couple days and then I'm going to listen to the WMU football game on Saturday (they play in Idaho). And I may switch on the TV for the Lions game Sunday... I haven't decided yet. Not sure if I want to depress myself again after last week...