9/3/07: Monday With the Mounties

September 3, 2007

Wow, how do I start this week’s edition? Let’s go with the four overtime thriller, Saturday at Community Stadium. The Mountaineers dropped a heartbreaker in their season opener to in-state rival Southern Oregon, 48-45.


How classic was the game? I can only speak for myself, and say that I was fifteen minutes late to a job I just got a week ago. There was no way I was leaving the stadium without seeing the outcome. I felt pretty confident telling my other job that I could be there by 4:30 for a game that started at one. Well, I was right, regulation ended at 3:45, but on this afternoon the game took three hours and 27 minutes.


On a day with a game like this one, it’s hard to imagine that there was one better. I will take back my previous comment about saying I would not leave the stadium, with all respect to the school; I would have given anything to have been in Ann Arbor, Michigan on Saturday.


I’ll use some clichés right now to explain…
I tip my hat to: the other Mountaineers, Appalachian State. The tiny 1-AA (now called the Football Championship Subdivision) went into the “Big House” at Michigan and defeated the Wolverines.


Anything can happen in sports: As easy as that is to say, ASU believed in themselves when probably no one else did, and played their game of football.


Who will be the next Boise State: Let me just say that I have hated this expression since Boise State beat Oklahoma. Do we need another Boise State? Let’s give some respect to the current team just for making their accomplishments. For instance, Boise State was tagged, “The George Mason of football.” Now, what Boise State did in the Fiesta Bowl was amazing, but what Appalachian State did Saturday may have trumped that.


I will throw in some facts that ASU has one the last two Division 1-AA National Championships, have a fourteen-game win-streak, and have beat a division 1-A team before. But, this was no run-of-the-mill team. Michigan has the best winning percentage of any division one school in any sport. Big Blue was ranked number five in the country at the time, and the Wolverines also packed 109,000 plus people into that stadium Saturday.


Okay, so enough, and you maybe wondering why do I say this much about this game on the EOU page? Well number one, I’m a college football fan. Two, it’s always great to see Michigan, Notre Dame, or any Florida school get beat. And three, we all should believe. As corny as it may seem, there is nothing that can beat belief. Out of the close to 110,000 people in that stadium, one group of men, the same age as our athletes, believed that they were unbeatable. All the stats, rankings, and predictions can be thrown out. So no matter what the other team may be, it’s really all about what your team could be.


I’d like to acknowledge the parents this week. I received a few e-mails last week and got some nice feedback. So really, I’d like to thank anyone who reads this. I know I am actually somebody when I get e-mails from people I don’t even know! My mother has to say its good work, because she is my mother. But from other people, it is great. It truly means a lot to me and it is appreciated.


I was once a college athlete and my parents are in Florida where I am from, so I understand how some parents love to know what’s going on. And, I promise that I will try to stay on course and not stray away too much (I say that after going four paragraphs about another game.) But, if anyone ever wants to add anything, my e-mail is posted on our directory, or I’ll just share it now, this one time only, henderb@eou.edu . I’m always available and would love to help in anyway I can.


Soccer and volleyball struggled again this week, but showed improvement as well. EOU volleyball picked up a victory at the Willamette Invite in Salem, and soccer played Northwest Nazarene tough on the road, falling 1-0. NNU is a division II school. Volleyball returns to play this week here in La Grande Friday and Saturday nights. Soccer will travel to Montana this weekend to face Carroll and Great Falls.


Cross Country gets off to the races this Saturday at the NNU Invite in Nampa, Idaho. Make sure you read the Cross Country preview tomorrow. The Mountie women’s cross country team debuted at number 16 in the country in the Harrier National top 25 preseason poll, while the men were at 17.


Football will try to bounce back this Saturday at Montana-Western with a 1:00 pm Mountain Time kick-off.


Well I hope everyone enjoyed a little more serious “Monday with the Mounties” this week and be ready for a more sarcastic one next week. Until next week, stay down or Mount Up!