Every week during football season, I'd talk to my dad in the press box following the game. Or else, early in the week when he called to get caught up on scores around the Ohio Valley Conference. Even though he lived in St. Paul, nearly 1,000 miles from the Tennessee Tech campus, there was no more fervent follower of Golden Eagle athletics than my dad, Bob Schabert. A sportswriter for 40 years, he just couldn't get enough sports! He passed away in April, 2007, and I miss talking with him. So, I've decided to carry on our conversations with this blog. I'll write it on a random schedule, kind of like the phone calls.
Comment? Send an email to: rschabert@tntech.edu

Read the blogs from 2009-2010

2010-2011

Friday, October 29, 2010

Hi Dad,

Less than a week until basketball starts here, so things are pretty busy -- as usual! We're all set for a big day tomorrow hosting the OVC Cross Country Championships. I always enjoy the cross country meets at Southern Hills. It's a break from the usual stuff for me, a chance to bounce around the golf course in a golf cart and take photos. Should be a beautiful day, too, although a little bit cool. Temperature should be around freezing overnight, then in the 50s for the races. I wrote a story last night about our three senior runners, and their leadership in a season that the teams dedicated to the memory of Palmer Maphet, a freshman on the team last year who was killed in a car crash in June. I only met Palmer once or twice, but in the few minutes I saw him (at the team's Photo Day, for instance), I was struck by how full of life he was and energized. The seniors gave me the impression he was like that all the time, the kind of guys who could energize the entire team.

We had a nice gathering last night with women's basketball team. They held their "Meet the Eagles" potluck with a scrimmage followed by a meal. I liked what I saw in the scrimmage. We're picked fourth but I'll go out on a limb here and say we'll finish higher than that. Brittany Darling can be a real force in the middle but there are some other players on the perimeter who will emerge as factors. Keep an eye on Molly Heady, Briana Jordan and Candace Parsons.

Football has an open date, thank goodness, since lots of injuries need time to heal. It came at a perfect time for our staff, too, since we could work on a variety of projects that have been piling up. Basketball guides are online and we're getting ready for the first doubleheader next Thursday. Now we will turn our attention to baseball and softball media guides and posters, as well as tennis, track and golf. It never ends!

Bg doings this Sunday, too, for Earl Lloyd. First black player in the NBA and this is 60th aniversary of his first game. Coach Sutton has planned quite an event in the Eagles Nest. Should be nice.

Oh, yeah, we went to Cooking on the Square today. I think I sampled about nine or 10 different bowls of everything from gumbo to jambalaya to chili to other things I didn't know the names of. My favorite was gumb from a church with the word "Life" or "Hope" in the name. Second favorite was John Blair's gumbo (sorry John, but second is pretty darn good). Third place (on my personal list) goes to the white bean chili. Also had a GREAT (tiny) slice of pumpkin pie.

Off to a meeting for the OVC Cross Country Championship.

Love,

Rob

 

Sunday, September 26, 2010 - 9:20 a.m.

Hi Dad,

Got back from Cape Girardeau at 3 a.m. and slept about five hours. Wow, really disappointed in losing at Southeast Missouri. Gotta give the Redhawks and their coaching staff all the credit. We just couldn't stop them. Gotta give Tre Lamb credit as he just kept slingin' it and gave us a chance to win at the end. Even though we're 0-1 in the OVC I still think the Golden Eagles have the talent on the roster to stay in the fight for the championship. All we need to do is win the rest of them. Jacksonville State plays SEMO the week before we do. If Tech, SEMO and JSU don't lose another one, and JSU knocks off SEMO, it would be a three-way tie for the championship. The OVC office then picks the team from the league that would go to the NCAA playoffs and they would HAVE to pick Tech based on the most recent results. JSU would have just beaten SEMO, and we would have just beaten SEMO. It would take yesterday's loss pretty much out of the equation since it was eight weeks earlier. I know, I know. I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but I'm just trying hard to stay optimistic and look for the brightest direction!

That's about it for now. The team only has four days and nine hours until hosting UT Martin on Thursday night. Come to think of it, my staff and I only have four days and nine hours to get ready for hosting UT Martin Thursday night!

Hope we get a big crowd. Hope fans won't give up because of one loss. We'll see!

Love,

Rob

 

Sunday, September 5, 2010 – 6:10 a.m.

Hi Dad,

I’m watching the dawn break over Tennessee from the second row of seats in our Grayline bus. I’m in the fifth bus in a convoy of five that is hauling the Golden Eagle football team home from Arkansas. We’ve been on the road since exactly 10 last night, so eight hours down and about 140 miles remaining on I-40. We’re just now coming to mile marker 152 and the Bucksnort exit. Yes, it’s true, there really is a town here called Bucksnort.

I haven’t slept a wink – just cannot get comfortable in these seats. So I’ve been browsing the web and working on game notes for next week’s game at TCU. The drive doesn’t seem to be keeping anybody else on the bus from sleeping – they’re scattered all over the place behind me sound asleep. John Donnelly has been snoring since we left! Only ones I know are awake are me, Mark Wilson and the driver.

We actually had to stop at mile 101 and switch all five drivers.

Well, if you read my story on our website about our game at Arkansas, you’ll see I’ve concentrated on the first quarter – we looked pretty good for the first 15 minutes. Led 3-0 going into the second quarter. Arkansas is very good, very talented, and pretty physical. We learned when we were first-and-goal at their one and got stuffed three plays in a row and took a field goal.

Little while later, at the exact same spot on the field (South goal line), we were backed up trying to come out of our own end zone. Again, the Razorbacks were just too much and got a safety.

I think we all felt pretty good about the team’s performance against the 17th ranked FBS team in the nation. It could have been worse. We’ve been watching scores and a whole lot of teams lost as bad or worse than Tech, and against opponents not as good as Arkansas. How about New Mexico, losing 72-0 to Oregon!

The big news is Jacksonville State’s double overtime win over Mississippi, 49-48. Congratulations to the Gamecocks, a great win for them and the OVC. On SportsCenter, Linda Cohn warned TCU to beware – Tennessee Tech comes from the same league as Jacksonville State. Suddenly the OVC is called the “giant killer” among FCS leagues.

The sun isn’t up yet, but it’s pretty light in the Eastern sky. Our fice busses are strung out along the interstate and following the curves like a serpent. It looks pretty impressive. I’ve seen strings of tour busses, but never been inside.

Dad, playing in stadiums like Arkansas, Georgia last year and Auburn the year before is quite the deal. Huge crowds. Lots of noise and pageantry. I can see how the local fans get excited about their teams. This morning at our hotel, almost every person at breakfast was dressed in Arkansas gear. The kids as well as the adults. You can see how kids just grow up as fans of their team.

It’s not anything I’m used to seeing. Growing up, I went to games with you at places like St. Thomas, UMD, Bemidji, Winona, St. John’s and Gustavus Adolphus. Small colleges in Minnesota. The fans were big-time supporters of their teams but the numbers were small. Maybe 2,000 at most games. Sometimes 3,000. Sometimes as many as 8,000.

Never anything like the 70,000 last night. Or 85,000 at Auburn. We don’t have those big numbers at Tech, either. Usually around 7,000 or 8,000. We’ve had a few crowds of 12,000 in my time here, but never more. I can’t imagine Tucker Stadium with 16,500 packed stands. I’ve seen photos of crowds from the mid 70s.

Well, maybe this year it can happen. I think this team has the potential to be very good. The schedule is favorable, but we have to win on the road early at places like SEMO and Austin Peay. The last two weeks of the year we host Eastern Kentucky for Homecoming (Nov. l 3) and Jacksonville State in the regular season finale (Nov. 20). Who knows, maybe we’ll be 7-0 in the league and JSU will be 7-0 and we’ll both be ranked and it will be all set for a gigantic showdown. Now THAT could bring a big crowd.

I would hope we could market that game and get a sellout. That’s a long way off, and a lot has to happen in the next 75 days, but…..who knows.

We’ll get home around 8 a.m. and I’ll probably not go to bed. We host a soccer match today at 3 p.m. – the home opener for coach Daniel Brizard’s team and it’s called “Cram The Complex” so hopefully we get a nice crowd to support the soccer team.

Sun is up. It’s 6:33 a.m. and we’re at mile marker 176. Nashville in 20 miles, home in 110. So, I’ll sign off for now. As you always said every time we talked, take care and thanks for calling.

Love,

Rob



Thursday, Aug. 26, 2010

Hi Dad,

Just wanted to let you know that we're adding some new blogs to our website, so you'll have a couple more places to visit whenever you log onto TTUsports.com. The volleyball team will have a voice about their day-to-day happenings and soccer is going to contribute two different blogs - one from senior Michelle Decker and the other from a pair of freshmen. We'll continue the blogs from men's and women's basketball which will have new looks from when we began. And of course my minor musings on this site.

We hope to add even more blogs from baseball, softball, golf and tennis, so keep an eye on the blog headquarters page. We'll announce new blogs when we add them. I think it's a great way to add content to our site, and to get differing viewpoints, too. Hope you enjoy. Ciao.

Love,

Rob

 

Saturday, Aug. 21, 2010

Hi Dad,

I got a little sunburned this afternoon in Tucker Stadium, but so did about 1,200 fans. It was the annual Gathering of Eagles picnic and scrimmage. Tech Athletics provided hots dogs, chips and drinks and fans formed a long line after the gates opened at 12:30. I ate almost two dogs, a bag of Fritos and a Diet Pepsi. Then headed to the sidelines to chart the plays and keep stats for the scrimmage.

I like a whole long list of players on this year's team, and I think we have a really legit shot at winning the OVC title -- if we can get through the firdt two games without injuries!

Tre Lamb looks sharp at QB. He's making great decisions and is running the team with authority. I really like that he understands his role of directing the offense rather than being the guys who has to try to win the game. He is surrounded by the most talent I've seen in 29 seasons that I've been here.

I really like some of our offensive weapons. Everybody knows about tim Benford and Henry Sailes (ironically, they were both on the sidelines with injuries today). Some of the other guys I think will have a deep impact include Dontey Gay and Tremaine Hudson, Jocques crawford, Demetrous Garrett and Zack Ziegler. There are several others who will be huge factors (such as Colin Allen, Josh Perez and Alden Olverson) but that first batch of names are the ones to watch.

On defense, I like the depth in our line and how many playmakers we have. It will be fascinating seeing which one emerges each week with the big game. Same with our linebackers and secondary. I believe Justin Vann, Jake McIntosh, Marcus Edwards and Caleb Mitchell will make big, game-changing plays. I also like the way Corbin Miles and Corey Watson get after people. They both love to hit!

We have two weeks before we open at Arkansas. Wish you could be there. Should be a huge crowd and the Razorbacks will be out to win big. I know we won't be intimidated, and we won't back down. Watson Brown won't let either happen. He'll have us prepared, no doubt about that. I'm just not sure we can match their muscle and size. On paper, they're heavy favorites. But, as you've seen time and again, this game isn't played on paper!

I also like the way Watson Brown is developing this team and these players. It's been a great first two weeks of camp, and I think Tech fans will recognize what a great job Watson is doing in trying to build a champion for Cookeville. No doubt you would have really like Watson, dad.

Well, that's it for now. I'll write again soon.

Love,

Rob

Monday, Aug. 16, 2010

Hi Dad,

Happy Birthday! You would have been 89 today. And you’d be very happy with the Twins holding a three-game lead in the AL Central.

I’m sitting in the waiting room at the doctor’s office writing this and I realize that the only time I sit down to write a new entry to the blog is when my world comes to a halt without my choice. I wrote one entry when I was stuck on an airplane during a ground stop, this time while I’m just - well - waiting. It was my intention to do this after each game and talk to you about the game, the way we used to do. I guess I’ve gotten away from that simply because time seems to have sped up! Believe me, I think about you and writing something often – but I rarely find the time to just sit down and do it.

Took a tour of the new Athletic Performance Center (originally we called it the Strength Center and Indoor Practice Facility, but it’s got a new name now). Wow, it’s big and going to be very nice. It’s my understanding that it will be the largest strength and conditioning facility in the Ohio Valley Conference. The plan it for grand opening in January.

The soccer team held an exhibition match Saturday evening, the first event on campus this year. I was pleasantly surprised by the attendance. I think new coach Daniel Brizard and his team are out contacting youth teams and other groups, and it’s working. There were a lot of people at the match (we won 4-0, by the way), and that’s before our TTU students are back on campus.

Football scrimmage Sunday night also had a nice turnout in the stands, even though it was hot and humid. I believe everybody is excited about the possibilities for this season. We need to convince the citizens of Cookeville to support this team. Fans around here have said they’d support a winner, and it appears we’re headed toward an exciting and successful season.

We had a great turnout last Monday for the Media Day Lunch. Great to see some faces that I haven’t seen for many years. Mark Wilson told the gathered media how they can help by spreading the word around the region and helping to build support.

We have started a bunch of new stuff on our website, including the addition of more video content, a weekly fan poll, a weekly historic photo from the archives, and we’re planning to announce some new blogs. Things sure are different in the sports information business than when I arrived at Tech in 1982, but it’s fun keeping up with the new technology. Why in just the past few years we’ve learned how to produce live stats, web streams of games and added sideline reporting on our radio broadcasts.

With the first home football game one month from today, my staff has some work to do getting everything tested and working.

Happy birthday and I’ll write again as soon as I find time….whenever my world comes to another halt without my choice!

Love,

Rob

July 29, 2010

Hi Dad and Buongiorno!

This is really an exciting time of the year because so much is happening. Sure there aren't any teams competing right now, but it's just days away from the start of fall camp for soccer, football and volleyball. The basketball players have been working hard all summer. I just feel like we're on the brink of a really successful year. Yeah, I know, I feel this way every July - but I really like the makeup of many of our teams, with some excellent returnees and newcomers who have everyone excited.

In the past weeks we've announced some signees that have a lot of people talking. I think everybody's anxious to meet and watch Liam McMorrow play basketball. I'm working on announcing a couple new names for the football roster that will stir up some interest. We announced the fall golf schedules yesterday and we'll announce the men's tennis schedule today. We've got some other stories coming up that might generate some interest, too.

Couple of other new features are going well. We put a fan poll on the website every Friday and that's been getting lots of votes. We started a series that runs every Wednesday with a photo from out of the archives. In a few days we'll unveil new information about Tech Athletics on Twitter and Facebook. And, we're going to begin collecting names and email addresses to send out newsletters. Not to mention an increase in the videos on the site.

I got a couple of really wonderful emails about some of the stuff we've been doing, so that's always encouraging. I'm looking at adding several new blogs to the website, too. I'll let you know who and when so you can begin following those.

Well, I've done it again - tried to write just a few lines and I've gone on and on. So, I'll stop right there.  With all that's coming up I should have plenty to write about. Only question will be finding the time. I'll try.

Arrividerci. Love,

Rob

July 23, 2010

Hi Dad,

Don't forget mom's birthday is Monday. She'll be 86 (but I don't think I'm supposed to print that!). You should have seen her the night she did the "Dance for your Dinner" contest during the basketball game in Eblen Center a couple years ago. Ha! She said for weeks that she didn't want to go out on the floor to dance. Then when the night came, she couldn't wait. It was a women's game against Middle Tennessee, so there was a pretty good crowd even though it was in late December.

The contestants were mom, Nancy and Allison (Nancy is my 50-something sister and Allison is her 18-year old daughter to anyone not familiar). We walked out to midcourt and -- even before the music began -- mom started dancing! Well, the music played about 30-40 seconds, then I asked the crowd to cheer for who they thought was the best. Started with Nancy, and the crowd clapped. One guy really shouted loudly. We should have gotten his name for Nancy! Then I asked for applause for Allison, and the crowd got quite a bit louder. Finally, I went to mom and asked the crowd -- WOW, probably the loudest roar of the night. The clapped and cheered and whistled. Mom was soooooo embarrassed, she hid her face in her hands!

Well, they all won milk shakes from a local restaurant, and we got video of it:


Isn't that sweet! Happy birthday mom!

Well, it's quite an exciting time in college athletics as we're close to starting a brand new year. Right now every team at Tech has the potential to win conference championships! It's crazy how busy I've been. We've announced the football, volleyball, soccer and cross country schedules. In the next couple weeks we'll announce the golf and tennis fall schedules, then the basketball schedules. We've got a bunch of new staff members to announce, and all kinds of special features we're planning to add to the website. You've probably already noticed the weekly Fan Poll, which changes every Friday. This week swe also started a new feature, which will run each Wednesday. We find a photo from the past in our archives, and this week's first one was a shot of Jimmy Elliott playing Clemson in 1984-85.

We invite viewers to submit comments. I got one right away on the Elliott photo. I hope everybody takes a moment to visit Jimmy's website, in which he has been discussing his fight against cancer. It's extremely moving. No matter what he has faced, Jimmy has kept positive. Amazing.

Kate is doing a great job, and we have a new intern starting Monday. Guess what...he's from Minnesota! He want to Mankato State (I know, they call it Minnesota State, Mankato now but it was Mankato State when you went there and when I worked there, so I can't get used to the new name). Anyway, looking forward to getting Nick here and underway.

We have football media day Monday in Nashville, so hopefully I can let you know some of what went on there.

For now, get the present for mom and I'll be in touch.

Love,
Rob