Mad rush from SoCon continues

RUN AWAY!Flight – “Elon has called a press conference for 2 pm tomorrow to announce their move to the CAA. Albany is also expected to join.” So that leaves, uuhhh .. /counts fingers … ummmm .. someone help us out – “So here’s the deal: 5 leaving SoCon (GSU, App, Dav, CofC, Elon), 3 coming in (VMI, ETSU, Mercer) for total of 10 in SoCon. For now.” Meanwhile, in SunBeltlandia, no expansion news … yet – “no members are being added at this time.” Prepare yourself.

SoCon Tourney – App State versus 0-fer

win itReminder – The Citadel has swept App State this season in the big three – football, bball and baseball. 0-5. Ouch. The two open the SoCon tournament today at 10 – “Last year, we had already locked up the SoCon and we had a pretty good feeling we’d be going to a regional, but this year we know we have to win the tournament to go,” Callaway said.”

SIGH. Make that 0-6.

All for dad

Family.

Video on how 3 young men, TJ Jones of the University of Notre Dame, Malachi Jones of Appalachian State University and Jahmai Jones of Wesleyan School all try to live through the legacy of their father, Andre Jones, after his death in 2011. Jones was a member of the 1988 National Championship at Notre Dame and was eventually drafted to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1991. He passed away from a brain aneurysm on June 22nd, 2011.

SoCon baseball tourney opens with App State

win itSoCon regular season champ ‘Whee won the series with App State, 2 games to 1. App had a huge rally Saturday, entering the 8th down 8-1 and winning 9-8. The good guys finish the season in fifth place. They open the SoCon baseball tournament Wednesday with a 10 a.m. contest with No. 4 seed The Citadel. It’s a double elimination tournament.

Sun Belt is loading …. loading … loading …..

Behold the new look Sun Belt!

sunblech

Suddenly, we have the urge to do laundry. This stuff safe for delicates?

“Together We Rise” is the new mantra for the conference and it is the foundation and essence of the contemporary logo that the league will begin using on July 1, 2013 – replacing the existing conference logo that has been in place since 1997.

Understanding market place competition and the need to standout from its competition, the Sun Belt Conference began examining and defining its brand identity and the need for a complimentary logo to embody that brand

It’s easy to point and laugh. And we have no room to talk about funny logos. Oh lawd’s no.

But is that a sun? Or a weirdly enclosed snail shell? And what’s with the blue?

The individual parts of the icon combine to create a unified whole and represent strength in togetherness; a foundational value at the core of the Sun Belt Conference brand. The band of blue across the diameter of the icon symbolizes the “Sun Belt” region, while dually creating the feeling of a sun breaking the horizon at the dawn of a new day.

Oh …. Okay.

Guess we’re Philistines.

Here’s the App State tangerine look.

Windmill + Walmart logo =

Final series starts off Trading Places

take us out to the ballllll .. game …What App State does to ‘Whee in football, the Cats did to the Mountaineers yesterday in baseball. Yikes! Game 2 today, and regular-season finale Saturday. With the loss, App State can finish no better than 5th in the SoCon, which is where it is now. The ‘Whee is the class of the league at 22-6, 37-17 overall.

Into the Lions den

Detroit rookie camp underway.

Here comes the ....

It's ____ time!

MILLER ON CAMP. Opportunity.

“It’s definitely a warm-up deal, when I see (Ndamukong) Suh across that defensive line, it’s going to be, I’m going to be a little starstruck,’’ Miller said. “Once I get the ball in my hands there it goes.’’

He’s been working on his return game even though he didn’t do much of it at Appalachian State.

“I knew that was going to get my foot in the door in the NFL,’’ Miller said. “I’m a shorter guy (5-foot-7), I don’t weigh too much (172 pounds), I know special teams is going to be my getaway.’’

BE THE BALL. Lot to learn.

The ball is different than the one Martin punted in college. The workout regimen and pre-practice stretching program is different. That’s why Martin’s legs were sore after the first practice.

Martin expected that he’d have to adapt to a new stretching and weight-training program.

“I didn’t really do any static stretching, as far as touching my toes (in college),” he said. “It was more dynamic – getting my leg swing. It’s very active. Once I get used to that, I think it going to be beneficial. Obviously, the staff here knows what they’re doing.”

‘I love for students to think of me as a friend’

loved those thingsNews report from last night – the rock star chancellor.

And it may be that he is most comfortable just talking to students. On Friday the ones he encountered were excited to start summer, but sad to know that this familiar face won’t be here much longer.

“I like it when they treat me that way because they see me as a human being that cares for them,” Peacock added.

“He has had an impact on the students,” said Caton. “Students know him and I think that’s unique and it’s really awesome and it’s going to be missed.”

Chancellor Peacock says for the first two months after he leaves ASU he will “disappear” and read a few books, then look for another career opportunity. He doesn’t know exactly when he will retire; he has agreed to stay on until a replacement is found.

APP-propre links

stylinThe 8th grader “offered” by App State has a lineage. “One bro QB at Rutgers, other pledged to ODU.”

Lions officially sign Martin. Terms not disclosed.

Very brief McCray cameo. Jaguars in rookie camp mode.

Kimbrough in some ‘Skin swag. Sharp.

Kilgore killin’ it. “Eventually I want to be a starter.”

Sun Belt football champ rings pretty sweet. And … familiar.

Healy named top COB student. “He plans to play basketball overseas following graduation.”

Rauch returns! “App State standout Julian Rauch will make his professional football debut this weekend as a kicker for the Pittsburgh Power.”

About that Davidson move. “Davidson president Carol Quillen said the Atlantic 10 will provide the school with an opportunity to compete in the Washington, Philadelphia, Richmond and New York markets, areas from which the school recruits.”

Burn! “Walk into a popular Charlotte bar, announce that you’ll buy a drink for every Davidson graduate in the house and you can usually get by with $20. Cut the same deal for graduates of Appalachian State and you better bring plastic.”

SoCon will grow by 3. East Tennessee State, Mercer and Virginia Military.

Yet rumors persist. “If you add UNC Asheville to that list of basketball programs, the loss of College of Charleston and Davidson doesn’t look nearly as devastating.”

Elon gettin’ jittery? “At this point, Elon is evaluating changes in the Southern Conference and considering what that might mean for Elon’s future.”

Speaking of rings. Just when you thought they couldn’t be more of an embarrassment.

Too good to check

We knew recruiting was going hardcore, but really?

Unanswered – “Offer or letter of interest?”

Champions begin fight for tourney title

Champs

Belated congrats to the App State softball team, the SoCon regular season champs!

The Mountaineers claimed their first such title in school history thanks to the league player of the year, Allie Cashion.

Gave em hell!They gave ‘em hell!

The Mountaineers’ head coach, Shae Wesley, was named Southern Conference Coach of the Year in her third year at the helm. Appalachian State clinched its first regular-season title after finishing the 2013 campaign at 30-20 with a 17-7 league record.

Appalachian State senior outfielder Allie Cashion was named the league’s Player of the Year and was selected to the all-conference first team. Cashion is third in the league in RBI and ranks in the top-10 in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, and home runs. The senior also leads the league in doubles with 18.

Cashion was the only first-team selection for the Mountaineers, while catcher Sarah Warnock earned a second-team spot and freshmen Alex Sohl and Shivaun Landeros were named to the all-freshman team.

The Mountaineers open the SoCon softball tourney as the No. 1 seed. They play at 5 today against Lil Sammy.

HEARTBREAKER. Season done.

The second-seeded College of Charleston softball team outlasted No. 1 seed Appalachian State, 2-0, in a 10-inning pitchers’ duel to stave off elimination and advance in the Southern Conference Tournament at the UNCG Softball Stadium on Thursday night.

There goes Davidson

Suddenly very smallShrinkage – “Davidson, winner of the last two and five of the last eight SoCon tournament titles, will announce today its move to the Atlantic 10 beginning in 2014-15. The reports surprised SoCon commissioner John Iamarino. But they were not denied by Davidson officials, who have scheduled a “special announcement” for 10:30 a.m. today.”

SUBTLE. LOL – “No idea what announcement is.”

subtle