Battle of the bands- While at Bloomsburg, I have had the privilege of witnessing community members rise to meet a pressure situation on several occasions. I was present when the student body packed (and rocked) the Nelson Field house against Mansfield.. I had sideline seats to the football teams’ upset victory over California PA last month. Just the other day, I even faced my own dare-to-be-great situation with a historic rally to win a well fought contest of “Pocket Tanks” with my buddy Dave.
This past week, we once again were treated to such a moment. Kudos Bloomsburg marching band, for rising to the occasion. First, our music makers took Andrew Wakelee’s advice and moved closer to the student section during the game. The effort was greatly appreciated. The band didn’t stop there however; t they waged musical warfare with the rival Kutztown University marching band all afternoon. Well done. And on a side note, I love the song we play after victories. Keep up the good work.
We can win a game with no ground attack… no ground attack- Only 160 yards? Coach Hale and his offense are slipping. I know we are undefeated, but it might be time to think about making some changes. You know, shake things up.
Obviously I am kidding. But for a team that has averaged 330 yards through the first three games, it was strange to see the running game “struggle” as it did on Saturday. Unfortunately for Bloomsburg opponents, the Huskies discovered their passing game during their 31-24 victory over Kutztown. Quarterback Dan Latorre threw for 210 yards and two touchdowns. Kyle Ream benefited the most from Latorre’s aerial assault collecting both touchdowns and over 100 yards receiving.
Bloomsburg Bachelor- Alright ladies, this one is for you. Kyle Smith, your very own assistant sports editor is single and back on the market.. He loves math and has a terrible work ethic. Sounds like a keeper. He is looking for love but isn’t against being taken advantage of while in his current state. Let the bidding war begin.
Parents just don’t understand- My mom yelled at me when I joined in with the rest of the crowd in booing the Kutztown team as they headed for the locker rooms at halftime. She told me “I was making them feel bad.” I responded, “Mom, they are our league rivals.” She gave me the “mom stare” and I meekly stopped booing. This just proves that no matter how old you are and no matter how much logic your arguments contain, mom will always win.
What momma don’t know won’t hurt her- Booooooooooooo
The old hidden ball trick- The Huskies managed to get the ball in the end zone early in the second half. Maybe a little too early though. Somehow, after the halftime warm-ups were complete, a practice ball was left in the end zone. With Bloomsburg marching towards the end zone where the renegade ball sat quietly, Kyle “Eagle Eye” Smith spotted the hazard and leapt into action. The Bloomsburg athletic staff was alerted and the ball removed without incident. Disaster diverted. Authorities would like to question Desean Jackson about the origin of the loose ball found near the goal line.
D-pendent- I love the enthusiasm ,but we really need to come up with another cheer guys. Sure, the “Defense” chant has been getting results but how much longer can we rely on that slogan before people start realizing we have nothing else? This is kind of like using the same play over and over again in Madden. It will work for a while and be pretty damn effective, but after awhile the computer will catch on and the results are embarrassing. Get to work.
Sugar rush– Remind me to add “Honorary Co-captain“ of the Women’s cross country team to my resume. In past issues of The Voice, we learned that Shannon Hoffman and her fellow captains distribute candy with clever slogans to the team to motivate them for the big race. This week they were nice enough to involve me in the brainstorming process (which basically involved me saying “Do something with Kit-Kats because I love Kit-Kats). Thus this week’s slogan- Bloomsburg XC “We don’t take breaks”- was born.
If I was athletic and I was a girl, the team that gives away free Kit-Kats would be the team for me.
Nicknames- Last week I asked the campus for help creating a nickname for Derrick Price and Kenny Domzalski. Bloomsburg responded. Some were good. Most were bad. All were appreciated. Let’s take a look at some.
- Shock and Awe (Brian C.)- Alright, this wasn’t a bad attempt. It’s kind of like a badass version of “shake and bake”. Plus, its topical (History lesson: shock and awe was the strategy used by the US military in Iraq. There is some good journalism for you). Still, I always thought that name would be much better suited for a WWE tag team. “Ma Gawd! Is that Shock and Awe’s music?”
- H-bomb (Carmen Z.)- It took me a while to understand this one. I am assuming the “H” stands for “Huskies” So that was clever I guess. I might consider this one if we were nicknaming a quarterback, but I fail to see how it fits in this case. I’m going to say no. Also, what is with all the war nicknames? These are pretty violent.
- Shadow and Chance (Chris M.)- Alright, now we are thinking outside the box. Shadow and Chance, two dogs (Bloomsburg Huskies!) who are well know for the movie Homeward Bound in which they travel long distances across the ground (Running Attack!). It works. Well done. But I wanted a nickname so we can refer to them as one single name instead of two. So I will have to put this in the maybe column for now.
- James Westfall and Dr. Kenneth Noisewater (Matt G.) Yes! A thousand times yes! I don’t even care if that is 12 times more inconvenient to write out compared to their real names. That is the single funniest email I received this week.
- Bob Barker and Drew Carey (Paul P.) No! A million times no! What were you thinking? Trying to be clever with a “Price is right” pun? I could not be more disappointed in this idea. This was a bigger waste of time than the first 10 minutes of the Emmys. I award you no points and may god have mercy on your soul
- Two Princes (Doug C.) Eh, a little bit weak. Calling them princes kind of makes sense since they are freshmen. It doesn’t quite feel right though. Shock and Awe makes me want to hide under my bed. Two princes sounds more like a chick flick that your girlfriend drags you to. I am assuming this idea is related to the song Two Princes by the Spin Doctors. Which got me to thinking that “The Spin Doctors” would be a pretty awesome nickname for a pair of talented running backs. In fact, that is my vote. In a shocking twist, I am going with Spin Doctors. We have a winner.
Tossing the red flag: “Shock and Awe” as defined by Wikipedia.com.
Shock and awe, technically known as rapid dominance, is a military doctrine based on the use of overwhelming power, dominant battlefield awareness, dominant maneuvers, and spectacular displays of force to paralyze an adversary’s perception of the battlefield and destroy its will to fight.
Maybe Spin Doctors isn’t the strongest after all…
Marco-POLO: The Bloomsburg club water polo team is hosting a tournament in Nelson Field house this weekend. I had the chance to meet the team last semester and they are a great group of guys. Everyone should make an effort to check out one of their games. Now that the Bloomsburg Fair has cancelled their free admittance to college student, there really isn’t much else to do anyway.
And the restraining order isn’t helping either- Non-pros vs. Joe used to be easy. I would pick a random athlete, hop on facebook, do some quick research and then ask them for an interview. Now it is impossible. Pages are blocked, info is private, profile pictures have turned into question marks. There is a thin line between journalist and stalker, and I can no longer cross it. Sad days.
Final word- The field hockey team suffered their first lose since October 27th 2007 this past weekend when Shippensburg University upset the previously top-ranked Huskies. It will be interesting to see how Bloomsburg responds to their first loss of the season. Last year, after Indiana PA defeated Bloomsburg, the team reeled of eight straight victories. The Huskies have responded similarly this time around, bouncing back with a 7-1 trouncing of Kutztown University. With a stretch of five straight home games, I am placing my money of BU reestablishing dominance sooner rather than later.
