UNI Dome Pics from Friday Walk-Thru

You Can't Always Get What You Want

Rarely do sporting events live up to the hype (ask Ohio State fans about last year's BCS Championship Game), but in the case of the first ever football game between the University of Delaware Blue Hens and Delaware State Hornets, with all of the talk and expectations, who would have thought that this one would have been over before it even started with, of all things, the flip of a coin.

Delaware won the coin toss and elected to defer their decision to the second half meaning that Delaware State head coach Al Lavan had to decide whether to take the ball or defend a side. He took the ball forcing his team to navigate directly into the teeth of an eighteen-mile an hour wind to start the game. It would turn out to be a mistake.

On the first play from scrimmage, Hornet quarterback Vashon Winton tried a deep play-action pass downfield to his pro-prospect receiver Shaheer McBride. McBride ran passed Blue Hen corner Fred Andrew who had stumbled while backtracking, and was wide open near the fifty-yard line. Winton's pass, however, was knocked down by the wind forcing McBride to slow down and allowing safety Charles Graves and Andrew to catch up to him. In traffic, McBride would drop the ball (although the replay may have showed otherwise) and thwart Delaware State's hope of surprising Delaware and jumping out to an early lead. The Hornets would go three and out putting their punter, Josh Brite, in the precarious position of having to kick into the wind from his own ten-yard line. Brite would shank the punt giving Delaware the ball on the Del State forty-four yard line.

Four plays later, Delaware quarterback Joe Flacco would scramble and hit his tight end and roommate Robbie Agnone for a thirty-two yard touchdown. The Hens would never look back.

By the time Delaware State had the wind at their back in the second quarter, Delaware had already scored three touchdowns and led the game 20-0. It was 30-0 by halftime.

In the second quarter Delaware neutralized the wind by keeping it on the ground with their all-world running back Omar Cuff. It was Omar, Omar, Omar. Left, right, and up the middle. It just did not matter because the highly touted Delaware State defense could barely slow him down. It seemed like every time Omar touched the ball another record would fall. He would end the day with a UD single game record 288 yards and another four touchdowns giving him thirty-three this year and sixty-eight in his incredible career.

The final score was 44-7, but it could have been much worse for Del State had Delaware not called off their attack early in the second half.

After the game, Del State head coach Al Lavan who exudes dignity and class succinctly summed up the day's experience when he said, "Being here shows us how far we have come, but also how far we have to go." Unfortunately not all of the Del State players took their cues from their coach. On the game's last play, an inconsequential kneel down by the Delaware back-ups, Del State's Ryan Spinner leveled a horrendous cheap shot on the Delaware third-string center. Way to go Ryan; you really showed him. Spinner then refused to get in line and shake hands when it was over.

Spinner's thuggish act aside, the game went off without a hitch. The huge crowd really seemed to enjoy themselves despite the lopsided outcome. Before the game, it was great to see the two sets of fans co-mingle in the parking lots trading good-natured barbs back and forth.

Yes this was the first meeting ever between the state's lone Division I schools, but the way everyone is talking it surely will not be the last. It was a great day for the State of Delaware even if it was eighty-three years in the making, and in retrospect it would have been difficult, no matter how it went, for the game to live up to the hype.

It just would have been nice if it lasted a little longer then coin toss.

Bill Komissaroff
billkomissaroff.com

Higher Learning

At the end of her show each week, Sarah Silverman always asks her dog, "What did we learn today, Doug?" After a crazy day in college football, I am sitting in my kitchen on Sunday morning drinking a cup of coffee wishing I had a dog named Doug. (Or a girl named Sarah!)

One thing we learned is that statistics don't always tell the full story. Back in 2004 Delaware ran up and down the field and dominated in their game at James Madison. The Hens out gained JMU 466-166 in total offense that day, but JMU prevailed 20-13 ruining the debut of a then unheard of Delaware running back named Omar Cuff. It was the type of game that championship teams find a way to win which is exactly what James Madison was that year finishing the season with a record of 13-2 and winning the I-AA National Championship.

Yesterday at Delaware Stadium it was JMU that was able to run it up and down the field. The Dukes compiled 403 yards rushing, the fourth most ever against a Delaware defense, including touchdown runs of 86, 48, and 55 yards; but it was Delaware who persevered this time defeating JMU 37-34. It was the type of game that championship teams find a way to win.

Another thing we learned yesterday was to play until you hear the whistle. On James Madison's second possession of the game running back Scott Noble ran what appeared to be a garden variety 2-yard run up the middle. As the pile was holding him up, Noble and several other players anticipated the whistle and stopped playing. One player who did not stop was Delaware defensive end Matt Marcorelle who ripped the ball away from Noble and started sprinting in the other direction commencing a 20-minute tirade/hissy fit on the field and up and down the sidelines by JMU head coach Mickey Matthews disputing the call.

We also learned that Delaware's defense needs both of its ends Marcorelle and Ronald Talley healthy. Marcorelle did not return to the game after injuring his shoulder on a touchdown saving tackle by JMU quarterback Rodney Landers on the aforementioned strip. Talley sprained his ankle in the first half of the Navy game last week and hasn't played since. After the game, Delaware head coach KC Keeler told us on the radio that he was certain that both would be fine and ready to go next week which I am pretty sure is what he told us last week about Talley. Delaware fans better hope so. Without either of the two playing during the second half yesterday the Dukes were able to compile 339-yards and score 28 points.

After the Delaware game, I had a chance to watch the Hens next opponent, the Richmond Spiders and their Big Daddy Long-Legs Tim Hightower take apart Villanova 35-27. You don't need a degree in Arachnology to realize that these Spiders are pretty scary. Hightower rushed for 187-yards, a touchdown, and caught 3 passes increasing his rushing yards per game average up to 154. These Spiders are far from a one-legged team however. Their quarterback Eric Ward keeps getting better. Yesterday he completed 70% of his passes, threw a score, and ran for one. Richmond also has an outstanding offensive line, a good group of receivers, a stingy defense that allows less than 20 points per game, and a young coach in Dave Clawson that appears to be on the fast track.

If Delaware is going to win next Saturday, they are going to have to play their most complete game of the year.

A couple of other things we learned yesterday. If you are going to win games in the Northeast part of the country in November and December, you better be able to run the football. Just ask Massachusetts and New Hampshire, who had to play in hurricane conditions and lost to the two worst teams in the CAA, about that.

Finally we learned that good things come to those who wait. After 44 years, Navy beat Notre Dame. Congratulations to Navy coach Paul Johnson. I hope you like the weather in Nebraska.

Bill Komissaroff
billkomissaroff.com

ps- See the post below for the recap of the JMU Game.

The Battle by the Bay

I wasn't there on November 10, 1979. I didn't get to see Delaware erase the 31-7 halftime deficit or hear the zealot on the P.A. system shout, "Let's hang the chicken," as Delaware shocked the hometown fans at Falcon Stadium coming from behind to beat Youngstown State 51-45 in the famed "Shootout" game.

It was still a bit before my time in September of 1985 when Delaware shut down the Naval Academy and their Heisman hopeful Napoleon McCallum with the one man wrecking crew Daryl Booker leading the way. The Delaware defender recorded a record twenty-three tackles as the Hens hung on for a 16-13 win over the Mids at Delaware Stadium.

Like many fans in the pre-Internet and pre-ESPN Everything days of 1993, I was fighting through the static on my AM radio to try and follow that unbelievable frozen Thanksgiving weekend opening round playoff game from Missoula, Montana when Delaware came back and edged the Grizzlies 49-48.

During my nine years in the booth, I have seen some great ones including the amazing regular season finale against Villanova in 2000 when Delaware climbed out of a twenty-five point hole en route to a 59-42 win. There was the Navy game in 2003 when Delaware trailed by fourteen before they could even muster a first down. The Hens would use a fake punt to turn the momentum in their favor eventually holding on for an incredible for 21-17 road win. And then a few weeks later, I witnessed the classic 51-45 triple overtime win over Massachusetts setting up the run all the way to the 2003 I-AA National Championship.

It may be too soon to properly judge where this past weekend's game at the Naval Academy falls in the storied history of the University of Delaware Football Program, but in the immediate aftermath, it sure feels like one of the greatest games ever.

The Hens became the sixth division I-AA team to defeat a I-A this year, and were clearly the better team on Saturday prevailing 59-52 in a back and forth game at Navy that sometimes felt more like ping-pong then football, and nobody on the field was better than UD quarterback Joe Flacco who played with the confidence of a guy who brought his own paddle.

Flacco has been outstanding both on and off the field since transferring to Delaware from Pitt, but against Navy's meager defense, he took his game to a whole other level completing thirty passes for 434-yards and four touchdowns. Whether the extra motivation came from wanting to stick it to his former coach Dave Wannstedt who refused to release him from his scholarship at Pitt and had embarrassingly lost to Navy a couple of weeks prior in double overtime because of a horrible coaching decision, or because he knew that Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weiss with all of his NFL connections would be studying the tape as his team prepared for its annual match-up with Navy the following week, or it was because Flacco knew how important a win over Navy would be in the eyes of the selection committee knowing that Delaware might have to rely on an at-large bid to make the post-season. Regardless of the reasons, Flacco was as dynamic as a QB could be, maybe even Tom Brady-like, especially on the final drive of the first half when he completed five in a row for a touchdown in under a minute.

Obviously, Flacco was not alone. His former Pitt teammate, tight end Robbie Agnone helped twist the Wannstedt knife a bit while having his best day ever grabbing a career high 7 balls and rumbling for 133-yards. Omar Cuff was, well, Omar Cuff. The Delaware senior running back padded his highlight reel with another 148-yards and four more touchdowns breaking the Delaware single season touchdown mark with his nation's best twenty-eight scores.

Also contributing was Josh Baker who had the most acrobatic play of the day as he fought for the ball in mid-air ripping it away from Navy defender Rashawn King.

As impressive as Flacco and the offense were, this game may have been won by Delaware's defense which probably sounds strange knowing that Navy scored 52 points and compiled over 500-yards. But the defense broke serve just enough by forcing two fumbles and getting one huge stop on fourth down to give Delaware the advantage in this back and forth match.

I might not have been at the "Shootout" game against Youngstown in 1979, but one man who was is Delaware Head Coach KC Keeler who was the starting middle linebacker for the Hens that day having to move over from his usual and more familiar outside spot. Earlier today, I asked Keeler about that game and how he felt afterwards. He said that the entire team was physically and emotionally exhausted, but they knew that they could not afford to enjoy the euphoria of the win because they had to go right back to work and get ready to hit the road again the following week and play a very tough Colgate team.

That is exactly the case for this year's team as they have to quickly forget about this great Navy win as the most challenging and most important part of their schedule lay ahead of them starting this week against James Madison following with Richmond and Villanova.

Keeler's 1979 team was able to put the Youngstown "Shootout" behind them and refocus themselves not only for the following week but for a playoff run all the way to the Division II National Championship. As a coach, his 2003 team was able to use their Navy and UMass wins as catapults for their championship run.

What is in store the rest of the way for this Delaware team, and how will history look back on this Navy win?

I don't know, but it is sure going to be fun to be there to find out.

Bill Komissaroff
billkomissaroff.com

On The Clock

It's time.

Delaware Stadium is sick; Delaware Stadium is suffering; and Delaware Stadium isn't going to get any better.

My father always used to say that the length of a minute depends on what side of the bathroom door you were on. For people waiting in line to use the troughs at the venerable venue on South College Avenue, that minute must sometimes seem like an eternity.

There was a time, not too long ago, when Delaware Stadium was a crown jewel. A palatial pigskin palace envied by all from Amherst to Zable. That time, unfortunately, has passed.

The "time keeper" was the issue last Saturday as Delaware hosted Northeastern in front of a large homecoming crowd. It was not the first time that the scoreboard and game clock zonked out; just the latest. The result was that twenty thousand plus fans (and broadcasters) in attendance watched game without the luxury of knowing how much time was left which is just the type of vital information that UD fans have come to expect. I felt especially bad for that guy who tries to time his trip to the trough for just before the half.

This past weekend's Clockgate was just the latest in what is starting to become a long list of issues with the stadium, the facilities, and the field.

It just doesn't seem to make sense to start throwing money at one or two specific issues when the Titanic is sinking.

I would think that the luxury boxes and corporate sponsorships alone would pay for most of the cost, if not all of it and more, for a brand new Delaware Stadium built either on the exact same spot or right next door. And yes my motives here are completely selfish knowing that a new Delaware Stadium means a new press box, and not having to fight my way over, under, and through the throngs of my colleagues in the UD press corps jockeying just to try and get to the single stall in the press box and then hope that the line is not too long so I can get back to our spot at the other end before we have to go back on the air after halftime. Get stuck behind a scribe a bit too "liberal" with his Delaware Dogs during the first half and risk missing the third quarter kickoff.

I understand traditions, but older is not always better when it comes to stadiums. The night before the Delaware-New Hampshire game I went to Fenway Park with the crew to see the Red Sox in game two of the Division Series against the Angels. As cool as Fenway is, and I know I am committing sacrilege here, it is just not that much fun sitting in those tiny little seats for five hours angled the wrong way with no leg room jammed in like a herring next to some drunk Sox fan clapping for Manny while holding both of his plastic draft beer cups in his teeth.

Delaware Football has an incredible history steeped in tradition. A large part of the fabric of that tradition has been and always will be tied to Delaware Stadium; the two are almost synonymous. But, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, this is not the end of Delaware Football. It is not even the beginning of the end, but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.

Its time to put Delaware Stadium out of its misery.

Bill Komissaroff
billkomissaroff.com

Mistake Free Or Die

So much went wrong for the University of Delaware Blue Hen football team in their 35-30 loss at New Hampshire on Saturday that, at times, it was hard to imagine this was the same team that had cruised through its first five ballgames unscathed. There were just too many mental mistakes, missed assignments, and missed tackles. The team also had poor communication, poor protection, too many penalties, and one very costly turnover.

During warm-ups before the game, tight-end Robbie Agnone felt like something was off. He couldn't quite put his finger on it at the time, but, in retrospect, he felt like the team was over confident.

"There was a different attitude", Agnone said on Monday, "but I thought we could overcome it once the game started."

Unfortunately for Delaware by then it was too late.

Two consecutive plays late in the first half epitomize Delaware's problems on and off the field. Facing a fourth down and five at the fifty yard line, the Hens sent out their punt team. Head Coach KC Keeler had alerted his coaches that he might want to try a fake. The Delaware coaches up in the booth and on the sidelines, who were having problems with their headsets throughout the entire game, thought they heard Keeler call for a fake when in fact he had called just the opposite. While the Hens were confused and snapped it to the upback, New Hampshire's defense was not in the least bit confused or surprised as they tackled Fred Andrew behind the line of scrimmage for a five yard loss.

On the very next play UNH backup quarterback RJ Toman, playing for the injured Ricky Santos, brought his offense out to the line of scrimmage and as the Delaware coaches were screaming to remind their players about "sudden changes", Toman threw a lateral pass to Keith LeVan who then threw it forty-five yards downfield to Mike Boyle who was standing all alone for a touchdown. Just like they draw it up on the sandlot.

The fear for Delaware fans is not that the Hens lost, after all it was on the road against a tough conference opponent that had backed itself into a corner with two early conference losses. It was how they lost. They were unprepared to play and came out flat. Perhaps the team had become too enamored with itself and its 5-0 record, or perhaps they thought they could just to show up and win as they seemingly had in their first five games.

After the game, Coach Keeler told us on the radio that he thought New Hampshire had a "nice ball club, but they are not quite up to the level that we are."

The problem is that we are not exactly sure what that level is yet.

We know that Delaware is a good team. There is just too much talent for it not to be. But what we don't know yet is whether Delaware is a championship team.

Championship teams don't stall three first half drives because of procedure penalties. They don't let opposing quarterbacks scramble consistently for first downs and touchdowns. And they don't get stuffed on a must have fourth and one using a play that they practice so much the players must see it in their sleep.

On Monday Keeler told his team that they can't let New Hampshire beat them twice. He is right. Since championship teams rarely go undefeated, one thing they must always do is bounce back after a loss.

The Hens will have that opportunity this Saturday in front of a huge homecoming crowd at Delaware Stadium when they play a Northeastern team that gave James Madison fits and is apparently better then their 1-4 record.

If Delaware can rebound and take care of Northeastern this weekend, they would be 6-1 going into the bye week, and still be in a position to achieve everything they want and dream of this year. However they must play better. Because while championship teams can often survive the mishaps and mistakes of a game like Saturday's once.

They rarely do twice.

Bill Komissaroff
www.billkomissaroff.com

Another Tricky Day

"You've got the room with the fire escape; I've got the smoke detector" -The Knobs

It can be a liberating feeling when your baseball team is eliminated. I am just not sure that I could have handled the stress of another Mets post season especially with the memory still fresh from last year when Carlos Beltran's feet were in the box but the bat was on his shoulder as he watched the last pitch of game seven go by.

I didn't want to spend the next four weeks agonizing every night watching playoff games all pumped on caffeine to stay up past midnight and then all bleary eyed the next day while scouring every single word in every single newspaper, magazine, and website simultaneously while watching Peter Gammons on some continuous loop either real or more likely imagined in my head.

Instead I can do something fun. Like being the first one in my household to watch all ninety-seven hours of the Ken Burns World War II documentary!

Or I can brush up on my BNI Leadership Team Policy and Procedures Handbook! After all a good referral is a terrible thing to waste.

Now I'll be able to go up to New Hampshire for this weekend's Hens game against UNH with a clear head not having to worry about a Mets playoff game coinciding with Delaware's upcoming clash with Ricky Santos; or even worse having to find a bar in Durham the night before that is willing to switch the channel off the inevitable Bruins pre-season hockey game.

With all of this extra time I will be able to focus my attention on my calling-it-mediocre-would-be-generous fantasy football team, and give Kansas City back-up running back Michael Bennett the respect and attention he rightly deserves.

Okay, maybe not.

It is supposed to be different when you are forty-two, right?

Certainly I didn't feel as bad on Sunday when the Mets lost and the Phillies won ending the Mets season, as I did when the Jets lost the 1982 AFC Championship game to the Dolphins. I watched that game alone in my room at my parent's house in Green Acres because I was too nervous to watch the game with anyone else. I didn't come out of that room at all that night. I just sat there wondering what could have been had Jerome Barkum not dropped Richard Todd's pass in the endzone. I had to be prodded the next day by my mom just to go to school.

But at the same time, it probably would not have felt as good as it did in 1986 when Mookie's ball went through Buckner's legs and all of New York City erupted as we watched from an Italian restaurant on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan during Fall break from college; Billy Rustum finally picking his head up off the bar where it had been buried in his arms since the sixth inning because he just couldn't bear to watch.

We love sports as much for the lows as we do for the highs.

I understand the depths of the Phillies fan. I took a three year Mets sabbatical when I worked for the Phillies from 1992-94. I was in the visitor's radio booth in Toronto at Skydome producing the radio broadcast when Joe Carter took Mitch Williams deep in game six to abruptly end the 1993 World Series.

I don't hold any animosity towards the Phillies for overtaking the Mets this year. Let's face it: The Mets blew it. They completely imploded and the Phillies were there to pick up the mess. The Phillies, to their credit, put themselves into a position to take advantage of the collapse. But it was a collapse.

Good luck to the Phillies and all my Phillie fan friends. Enjoy the ride over the next three weeks and I hope they don't break your heart again.

I'll be sure to save the season premiere of Two and Half Men for you on my Tivo.

Bill Komissaroff
www.billkomissaroff.com

Slogging Into The 21st Century

The Earth shifted this week on South College Avenue, and it now looks like there will be a football game between the University of Delaware and Delaware State University sometime before the Sun begins to die in the next five billion years. The shift was felt on Monday afternoon when Delaware head coach KC Keeler told me and others that he thought the game would happen "sooner rather than later," but more importantly that he was taking a more active role "philosophically" in Delaware's football schedule design.

When he was hired after the 2001 season, Keeler was told two things by his new employers: Don't try to change the helmets, and leave the scheduling to us. But after looking at his team's tentative schedule for the 2008 season and seeing games at Maryland, at Furman, at James Madison, at Hofstra, at Richmond, and knowing earlier this year Delaware had scheduled a series of three games starting in 2010 with South Dakota State including one on the road, Keeler felt like it was time to get more involved. On Monday Keeler said that he would like to continue to see Delaware play a Division II school every year. (If you listen closely you may be able to hear the sounds of champagne corks popping through out the borough of West Chester, Pennsylvania.)

Keeler also said that he would like to have a Division I-A game like Navy, Army, Maryland, or Temple on the schedule every other year, and for the rest of the non-conference games he would like to see them against other I-AA opponents who would be willing to play exclusively at Delaware Stadium without any reciprocation. He then said (prepare for shift) that if Delaware State falls into that last category than so be it, "it would be good for the state".

The long debated controversy over why Delaware and Delaware State have yet to meet in football bubbled up again this week for several reasons.

First, it is always a topic when Delaware plays a game against any non-conference opponent that isn't Delaware State. On Saturday Delaware hosts Monmouth a I-AA school that would probably be in Division II or III except for the fact that they want their basketball program to be able to compete in Division I.

Delaware Athletic Director Edgar Johnson has maintained over the years that Delaware was not opposed to playing Delaware State they could just never find room on the schedule for the game. Proponents of the game scoffed that if Delaware could find room for the likes of Monmouth this year, Holy Cross and Albany the last two years, West Chester every year, and South Dakota State starting in 2010 then why not Delaware State?

Earlier this week the debate reached the national stage when Jeff Pearlman, a former Sports Illustrated reporter and a University of Delaware alum, penned a piece for ESPN's website citing racism as the reason for Delaware avoiding the game.

This is not the first time that race has been mentioned in this context. While no proof exists to validate this view, the history of Delaware (the State and the University) shows a poor track record in the area. For example:

• In 1861 despite rejecting an offer to join the Confederacy, Delaware remained a slave holding state.
  
• In 1862 the Delaware legislature rejected an offer from President Lincoln to buy all of its slaves in order to set them free.
  
• In 1865 the Delaware legislature voted against the thirteenth amendment abolishing slavery.
  
• In 1868 the Delaware legislature voted against the fourteenth amendment which guaranteed equal protection for all races.
  
• In 1891 in response to the Morrill Act of 1890 which required that states either open their land-grant colleges to all races or create a separate land-grant specifically for blacks, the Delaware General Assembly rather than allow blacks to attend the University of Delaware chose the latter and as a result The State College for Colored Students was established eventually changing its name to Delaware State College in 1947 and then Delaware State University in 1993.
  
• In 1950 the University of Delaware changes policy and admits its first African-American students.
  
• In 1968 in the wake of riots in Wilmington the National Guard begins a ten month occupation of the State's largest city. The longest occupation in the country.
  
• In 1990 after a series of racial incidents, the University must strengthen its policies regarding racial harassment.

Back in 1957, a full decade after Jackie Robinson made his Major League Baseball debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Philadelphia Phillies finally signed their first black ballplayer. They were the last National League team to so. Later in life Robinson recalled that he used to receive death threats wherever he played, but Philadelphia was the only place he was ever actually scared that something bad might happen. In fact after a game with the Phillies in 1947 in which the hate and venom that spewed from the Phillies dugout from their manager Ben Chapman and some of the players was so strong that Robinson actually considered quitting. "To hell with Mr. Rickey's noble experiment," Robinson wrote of the encounter in his autobiography in 1972.

At the time, the Phillies were owned by the late Bob Carpenter a member of the Board of Trustees and long time benefactor and supporter of the University of Delaware.

Do any of these things have anything to do with the reason why Delaware has refused to play Delaware State in football? I don't know. But I think that it provides a context as to why people might think that race is the underlying reason why the University has evaded the game for so long. The University has never publicly stated its reasons for not playing the game. When pressed for an answer over the years, Athletic Director Edgar Johnson has never expanded on his standard response of "it will happen".

I do not think that the University is racist today although I do think it can be stubborn and slow to react. It seems like the harder people have pushed for the game over the last ten years, the harder the University has resisted. I just don't think they like being told what to do. I also wonder if, in some strange way, by agreeing to play the game now it would look like an admission of guilt for not playing it sooner.

In the past I have never been a huge advocate of playing the game, but I think the time has come. The University needs to bite the bullet, take its lumps, and just schedule the game.

And if the earth can shift at the mere mention of being philosophically agreeable to it, imagine how much the earth will move when ball is actually kicked off for the first time.

Bill Komissaroff
www.billkomissaroff.com

A Few Good Hen

Larry David might describe this Delaware football team as being pretty good. Pretty, pretty good. I am not sure we know how good just yet, but I think we will have a better idea after Saturday's showdown with Towson and quarterback Sean Schaefer.

So far this season, Delaware has done everything and more asked of them including last weekend's 38-9 thumping of Rhode Island; but, let's face it, Delaware fans wouldn't be Delaware fans if they weren't, deep down in places you don't like to talk about at parties, still just a tad bit nervous.

After all it was just two years ago that Delaware was coming off a playoff appearance and had started out the season 3-0 with wins over Lehigh, West Chester, and Holy Cross before heading down to Towson and losing giving the Tigers their first ever conference win. A huge upset that might have saved Towson coach Gordy Combs his job. Delaware went on to finish 6-5 that year following that up with a 5-6 record in 2006, which also included a 49-35 loss to Towson at home.

Which brings us to 2007. Yes, the Hens are 3-0, but how good has the competition been so far? The jury is certainly still out on William and Mary even though they have won their last two since dropping the opener to the Hens albeit against suspect opposition in VMI and Liberty. West Chester is, of course, a Division II school, and as much as I like Rhode Island head coach Tim Stowers, if they truly want to compete in the CAA, Rhode Island should consider a complete overhaul including scrapping that ridiculous triple-option gimmick of an offense.

Since beating Delaware back in 2005, Towson's total record to date is 12-8 just missing the playoffs last year by blowing an eleven point fourth quarter lead at home to William and Mary late in the season. A third straight win this year over Delaware would certainly go a long way to helping secure Towson a spot among the upper echelon of the CAA, and I am sure it wouldn't hurt those other Towson and Delaware battles that occur not on the field but in the living rooms of high school juniors and seniors around the region.

If Delaware is going to stop this losing streak to Towson, they are going to have to figure out a way to rattle junior quarterback Sean Schaefer who has thrown for over 700 yards and six touchdowns in two games against Delaware. A task easier said than done. Schaefer comes from a lineage of fire fighters and wants to go into the family business after college. Last week against a very strong UMass defense, Schaefer took hit after hit never once even flinching. I guess if you are willing to walk into burning buildings for a living, it may take a little more than a blitzing college football defense to get you off of your game.

Ultimately, however, the UMass defense was too much for Schaefer who was sacked four times and intercepted three times as Towson's high-powered offense smoldered against UMass losing 36-13. Expect the Delaware coaches to spend a lot of time watching that tape.

Which brings us to Saturday. I think this year's 3-0 Delaware team is much better poised to tackle Towson than the 2005 3-0 Delaware team that went down there and lost. I also think that this year's Delaware defense is so much better that it will be difficult for Sean Schaefer to carve it apart as he did last year at Delaware Stadium.

Will it be enough to halt the two-game losing streak to Towson?

One thing is for sure if Delaware does win and improves to 4-0, we will know that they are better than just pretty, pretty good.

Bill Komissaroff
www.billkomissaroff.com

Say Uncle

The University of Delaware football team wanted to make sure that their helmets were the only thing that they had in common with Michigan in their home opener against the West Chester Rams on Saturday night. Before the game Head Coach KC Keeler refreshingly told his players that they were the better team and he expected them to act that way. Any thoughts that West Chester might have had of "App Stating" the Hens on Tubby's Tundra were quickly quashed.

On Delaware's second play from scrimmage quarterback Joe Flacco, who is as calm as an accountant the day after tax day, fired the ball down field and hit Mark Duncan for a thirty-seven yard gain setting up an early score en route to a 41-14 win over their Division II foes.

On the ensuing kickoff Brian Void set the tone for the rest of the night by pummelling West Chester returner D'Andre Webb. The pop instantly becoming a candidate for special teams hit of the year.

Keeler, when asked how you handle a lesser opponent, answered, "to not let them them breathe", and after Delaware's performance in the first half, West Chester was clearly gasping. The Hens dominated every facet of the game never letting what might have been the best West Chester team in years to come to Delaware Stadium think they had a chance.

Afterward West Chester head coach Bill Zwann summed it up, "I felt like were weren't in this one at all."

He was right.

By halftime Delaware led 34-0. Omar Cuff had close to 100 yards rushing and scored another four touchdowns. Joe Flacco was close to 300 yards passing. The defense was pitching a shut-out and had forced three turnovers. As for special teams Stuart Kenworthy's lone punt in the first half pinned the Rams on the two yard line and Jon Striefsky was a perfect two for two on field goal opportunities while consistently kicking off inside the five yard line.

In the second half the Hens were able to rest the starters while the coaches tested the back-ups. Passing with honors was true freshman running back Philip Thaxton who exploded through a hole on his first ever college football touch stopping 62 yards later in the end zone. Thaxton was electric. Later in the game he broke off another long run that would have been a touchdown had West Chester defender Mike Mignogno not made a terrific play on the ball forcing a fumble. Thaxton still finished with 177 yards rushing setting a Delaware debut record.

It should get tougher for the Hens next weekend as another group of Rams come to play in a CAA Conference game. Rhode Island is 0-2 so far this year, but according to their coach Tim Stowers they could easily be 2-0 if it weren't for all those pesky fumbles, interceptions, missed field goals, and other blown red zone opportunities. Rhode Island utilizes that "great equalizer" of an offense: the triple option. But since he has been at Delaware, Keeler has had success against triple option teams like Georgia Southern in 2002, Navy in 2003, and Rhode Island twice in 2003 and 2006.

Delaware is 2-0 so far this year, but if this team continues to play like they have in the first two games and Michigan continues to play like they have in their first two games, maybe by the end of the year people will think that Michigan is wearing Delaware's helmet instead of the other way around.

How cool would that be?

Bill Komissaroff
www.billkomissaroff.com

O What A Night

Early Friday Morning I was driving up the Eastern Shore of Virginia on my way home from Delaware's first football game of the year the previous night at William and Mary. I was thinking about the game and to paraphrase the late Jack Buck, I still didn't believe what I had just seen.

Delaware running back Omar Cuff rewrote the record books on Thursday Night when he rushed for 244 yards and scored 7 touchdowns. I wonder if he got a little tired of all of us asking him if his ankle was okay. If so, message received. Loud and clear. We get it.

In a funny anomaly Omar's profile on the ESPN site projects his stats for the entire 2007 season based on the first game. How is this for a line:

330 rushes for 2684 yards and 66 TDs plus 44 catches for 572 yards and 11 receiving TDs.

While those numbers may be a tad ambitious, if he stays healthy, Omar will likely have a huge year.

Not bad for a guy who was brought in to be a reserve defensive back never likely to play much, and was moved over to offense only out of necessity in 2004 when several other running backs went down with injuries. That year, after not playing at all in the first six games and only sparingly in the next two, Omar had his coming out party in Game 9 on the road against one of the toughest defenses in the country.

Like the character from the HBO show The Wire who has the same name and who announces his presence with a giant shotgun, Omar announced his presence that day to the record setting tune of 34 carries and 162 yards while paralyzing the James Madison defense as if they were looking down both barrels. In the remaining four games of the season (two of which were 1-AA playoff games), Omar had three 100 yard plus performances and scored a total of eight touchdowns.

The legend was born.

When Delaware Head Coach KC Keeler talks about Omar Cuff his eyes light up. After the 2005 season, the coach asked his already all-world running back to try and make himself a better receiver. The following off-season with the help of his mom (Can you say: Campbell's Soup commercial?), Omar went to work catching ball after ball after ball from his mom in the alley-way near his house. He caught balls until his hands hurt and more importantly until his hands improved.

He made himself into the complete package: A strong runner, a reliable receiver, and lock-down blocker which is imperative for any back in the Delaware spread offense, but unfortunately he did not get a much chance to show off his skills last year due to injury. Which made Thursday night even more compelling.

After stalling on their opening drive of the game against William and Mary, the Delaware offense would explode for seven consecutive touchdowns on their next seven possessions not counting a kneel down at the end of the first half. Seven touchdowns. All courtesy of Omar Cuff with a lot of help from what appears to be a very talented offensive line. It truly was an incredible performance.

The legend continues. Stay tuned...

Bill Komissaroff
www.billkomissaroff.com

High Hopes

This team is going to be better.

It was definitely a bit of a culture shock for me to be back in Delaware Stadium on Saturday for the scrimmage after being in Vietnam for about a month. From the streets and markets of Hanoi and Saigon and the beaches of Nha Trang and Hoi An back to the world of Rocket Screens, Belly Reads, and Cover 2s. I loved it!

I am not usually much a "practice" or "scrimmage" guy. I find that, more than any other sport, it is very difficult for me to evaluate what I see on a practice field or during a scrimmage and project what it might mean for a football team against real and live opponents.

That being said, the 2007 University of Delaware Football team will be better than last year's model. It has to be. Right?

This past Saturday's scrimmage was my first chance to see the team at all since the end of last season. (Unfortunately my schedule did not allow me to see any of the Spring practices or the Spring Game.)

It is still obviously very very early, but there seems to be a different aura surrounding the team now as opposed to this time last year. The first thing I noticed was that there were plenty of live bodies available to play on Saturday. That is certainly a good thing.

It is going to be fun to watch the relationships between Quarterback Joe Flacco and his various receivers develop. It looked to me that Wide Receiver Mark Mackey may have grown a few inches, and I have a feeling that Tight End Robbie Agnone will step up and fill the shoes of Ben Patrick without missing a beat.

On defense, I was disappointed that neither Defensive Ends Matt Marcorelle or Notre Dame transfer Ronald Talley participated, but was assured by Head Coach KC Keeler afterward that it was strictly precautionary and that both are fine.

I was told by a few who had been to previous practices that Talley looks like a real difference maker and combined with a healthy Marcorelle could make for an extremely deadly combination (for opposing QBs).

After the scrimmage I spoke to Safeties Charles Graves and Anthony Bratton both true sophomores who will be expected to take on much more responsibility this year after getting their feet wet last year. They both seem to understand the challenge ahead of them and more importantly seem to relish it.

Expectations are always high this time of year on South College Ave. After all this is Delaware Football. But coming off a losing season and combined 11-11 record with zero playoff games for the last two years, the hopes may even be a bit higher than usual .

Is that even possible?

Bill Komissaroff
www.billkomissaroff.com

University of Delaware Football 2006

Please see the archives section to the right to review all postings that Tom Byrne and I wrote from last season.

Enjoy!

Bill Komissaroff
www.billkomissaroff.com

The SideByrne: Winding Down, Starting Up.

by Tom Byrne

Football season is winding down and basketball season is starting up. This week, I have thoughts on both.

We’ll start on the gridiron. Last week, I talked about a different vibe with the UD football program as they faced the same situation as last season, 4-5 with two left to play and needing wins over William & Mary and Villanova to avoid a losing season. I didn’t feel the same energy surrounded the team and there was a sense of playing for next season as much as this season. Well, that lack of energy was evident at the Tub Saturday, but not from the players. The announced crowd of 20,655 didn’t seem to bring much energy. It was a very different vibe standing on the sidelines last Saturday, not at all like the electric atmosphere of previous games, especially New Hampshire. So, hats off to the players for motivating themselves and delivering a win.

Certainly, the return of Omar Cuff had something to do with the victory. Not only did Cuff post 93 yards rushing and a TD and 2 catches for 17 yards, he also brought his trademark passion and intensity (and some nice blitz pick-ups). I was on the fence about bringing him back this season, risking further injury to his ankle. Cuff took me off the fence Saturday. After the game, he pointed out that it was good for him to get a chance to prove to himself that his ankle was fine and the work he put into rehab was paying off. I’m sure he and the rest of Blue Hen nation will feel better going into the off-season if Cuff can put up another good game Saturday against ‘Nova and come out healthy.

And speaking of Saturday’s game against Villanova, expect a good one. There’s no playoff berth or conference titles on the line for either team, but the fact that both are 5-5 should be enough to heat up this long-time rivalry. One team will walk off the field with a winning season and one will not. That should be enough to have both sides ready to go.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve dismissed DSU’s chances of making the playoffs for the first time in team history. I still feel they will miss out, even with a win at Howard and a 9-2 finish likely. The Hornets, now ranked #23 in the “Sports Network” top 25, still need help to get in. Other teams with 3 and even 4 losses could argue they more deserving based on their schedule and who they’ve beaten. Having said that, head coach Al Lavan and crew deserve a lot of credit for making post-season talk realistic in the final week. Last week, Del State lost its starting quarterback Vashon Winton to a broken ankle (his season is over) and didn’t miss a beat when little used senior back-up Kurt Elden stepped in. Elden, a transfer from Minnesota Tech, isn’t thrilled with the way he got on the field, but told me it is “kind of a fairy tale” that he gets to close his career playing in games that have so much meaning. It’s also great for the rest of senior class that went through so much turmoil before Al Lavan arrived.

Wesley College did secure its first undefeated regular season last Saturday with a win over Morrisville (NY). They also secured the top seed in the South region for the NCAA Division II playoffs and have a chance to play at home much of the Division III playoffs, if they keep winning. The big issue for Mike Drass and his staff this week is getting his team to take it up a notch after winning its final two in blow-out fashion against some lightweight competition. There are no pushovers like Chowan or Morrisville from here on out. Dickinson, Wesley’s first round opponent, is 8-2 and won its conference. The good news is the Centennial isn’t that strong and the Red Devils haven’t really seen anyone of the Wolverines’ caliber this season, with the possible exception of Hobart. Wesley should advance with relative ease Saturday, avenging their loss to Dickson in an ECAC Bowl game in Dover back in 1998. In that one, Wesley gave up 2 touchdowns in the final 7 minutes to lose. That won’t happen again against this edition of the Wesley “D”.

Some quick thoughts on the start of college basketball season locally.

Monte Ross didn’t win his first game against Marist Tuesday, and his team may not win many over the course of this season, but a corner has been turned. First, there was much more energy and intensity shown by the Hens in that opener than at almost anytime last season. Second, the initial Ross recruits seem different from players brought in by David Henderson. Henderson seemed to take chances on great athletes or guys with size, hoping to make them basketball players. The freshman Johnsons, Brian and Darrell, seem to have athleticism AND a good basketball IQ. That gives them a chance to help now and grow even better later. And third, it was nice in post-game interviews to hear the players say they didn’t get it done and the coach say he needs to do better. Everyone is apparently accountable for themselves under the Ross regime and that should help the team get through what will likely be a bumpy first season.

Tina Martin’s women’s squad at Delaware is definitely worth keeping an eye on this season. A win over Villanova at home Sunday and a narrow loss at Boston College Tuesday show this squad can compete at a high level. If they avoid injury, imagine how good they may be by the end of the season as they grow as a group.

At DSU, an odd start to the season. First, their opener against Division II Saint Paul’s was not going to count. Now, it does. It’s stuff like that, an inability to dot “i’s” and cross “t’s”, that often hurts DSU’s credibility as they try to build the program and the athletics at the school. Plus, they paid Saint Paul’s a 25 thousand dollar guarantee to come up for the game. I’m not sure that makes a whole lot of sense. Now, the Hornets are playing 14 in a row away from home, a run of games that started with a 67-50 loss at 4th ranked Pitt Tuesday. The big question for me is can this team retain Greg Jackson’s commitment to defense now that they’ve put together a roster that has some serious scoring punch, including MEAC “Player of the year” Jahsha Bluntt and Roy Bright. Pulling off an upset against an N.C. State, Marquette or Wisconsin during this tough run would certainly show this group is still buying into Jackson’s methods.

Finally, a thought on high school football. Glasgow High players really got the short end of it when the Dragons were forced to forfeit all of their wins and a trip to the playoffs when it was discovered the team had used an ineligible player. What a shame. As usual, the players, who had nothing to do with the violation, bare the brunt of the punishment. You see this in college sports too. When a coach commits a violation, he can leave and get another job with no restrictions, while the players are left to deal with the fall out (post-season bans, the loss of scholarships, etc). Players can transfer, but have to sit a year, or in football, sit a year or drop to a level. How is that fair? The Glasgow situation also feels pretty unfair. Glasgow players didn’t fail to keep the ineligible player off the field, yet they suffer serious consequences. DIAA executive director Kevin Charles says it’s the school’s responsibility to make sure players are eligible. True, but it’s not the players’ responsibility. In fairness to DIAA, it made the right call because this is punishment that is currently in place according to the rules. There was no choice. Is there another way? Maybe. Maybe not. But, it should be explored. High school athletes deserve at least that much those that police the games they play.
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Tom Byrne is a Sports Anchor for WHYY-TV, Sports Director of WILM Newsradio, and Sideline Reporter on University of Delaware Football Broadcasts on The River 94.7

The SideByrne: Deja Vu

by Tom Byrne

There is a little sense of déjà vu for the Blue Hens heading into this week’s game at William and Mary. Just like last season, Delaware is 4-5 and needs to win its last two against William and Mary and Villanova to avoid its first losing season since 2001. The Hens turned the trick last season, but this year may be different, even though the final two games are at home in 2006 rather than on the road.

There’s just a very different vibe surrounding this team this season, and it starts at the top. Looking back at the stories I wrote around this time last season, K.C. Keeler vowed to stay with his older players and do what had to be done to win in the here and now, rather than look at young players and build for the future. This year, Keeler has already inserted younger players in the line-up for reasons beyond injuries (i.e.- the secondary last week). His weekly press conference Monday, the day before Election Day, was the closest thing to a concession speech you’ll ever get out of Keeler. He talked this week about a young team playing for “the present and the future”. He also noted the defense had lost confidence, which to me says, “We’ve tried everything there is to try and it hasn’t worked and it probably isn’t going to change in these last two weeks.” Don’t get me wrong, he also had positive things to say about his team and there was no sense they won’t show up the next two weeks, but just about every defeated candidate talks about all the hard work the campaign workers put in and vows to run again.

That defense is huge worry. Other than the return of Matt Marcorelle from injury next season, what is there to make you feel things will be better on that side of the ball in 2007? Coach Keeler talked about being “difference-makers” away from being good, but Marcorelle isn’t THAT much of a difference maker. Yes, you can bring in transfers to help immediately, but getting them on the defensive line, where the Hens need is the greatest, is difficult. Shawn Johnson is the exception, not the rule. Most schools use line rotations now. That means there’s fewer disgruntled defensive lineman not getting playing time at I-A schools ready to move to find it.

Bill Komissaroff talked about the fans’ patience in his commentary this week. It will likely be tested again next season.

There are some good things to talk about this week, and they come from downstate. I’m not sure Dover is now the college football “hotbed” that last Friday’s News Journal piece suggested its become, but football in the state capital is more interesting football in Newark right now.

Delaware State missed jumping into the Sports Network top 25 by a mere five votes, edged out by Delaware’s Atlantic 10 rival Richmond. I was tempted to call the K-Man and ask about his how he had the two teams ranked, but realized that’s probably still a sensitive area after the great JMU-New Hampshire controversy earlier this year. Having seen Richmond up close, and watched plenty of DSU tape, I think the Hornets, if the two played right now, could take the Spiders. Neither team is great, but the Hornets have a few things going in their favor. They lead I-AA in turnover margin at +13 this season. Their defense makes plays, scoring touchdowns or giving their average offense great field position.. Their special teams unit also makes plays. DSU has blocked 6 kicks this season, getting touchdowns and safeties off a number of blocked punts. And the offense, while average, has learned to run the ball (185 yards per game) and has a legitimate game breaker Shaheer McBride (see last week’s commentary) . The Hornets’ only problem would be their smallish defense matching up with Richmond’s rushing attack. Teams with size, like Hampton and Northwestern State, can push Del State around, but Delaware’s defense held the Spiders to 24 points. I can’t imagine Del State could not do the same or better and ride a couple of big plays to a 20-14 victory.

I still think DSU is a long shot to make the playoffs if Hampton doesn’t cough up the MEAC title with a loss this week to Florida A&M, but the Hornets’ at-large candidacy gets stronger every time a team like Towson loses, and DSU does not, as happened last week.

And a quick pat on the back to Wesley College. The 9-0 Wolverines should beat Morrisville (NY) this week and secure their first winning season since 1976 when they were still in the junior college ranks. More importantly, a win locks up the top seed in the South and a chance to play at home much of the Division III playoffs. The brackets for the DIII playoffs are announced Sunday. Sadly, my Ithaca College Bombers will likely miss the NCAA playoffs after last week’s loss to Alfred (NY). That ends my dream of a Wesley-Ithaca showdown. Covering the Hens keeps me from getting to see my Bombers in person. I was hoping a game with the Wolverines would give me a chance to see them and getting paid in the process. No such luck.
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Tom Byrne is a Sports Anchor for WHYY-TV, Sports Director of WILM Newsradio, and Sideline Reporter on University of Delaware Football Broadcasts on The River 94.7

We Want The World And We Want It... Now.

Patience may be a virtue, but it is not a trait of your typical college sports fan. And for the supporters of the University of Delaware’s teams, I imagine that any patience they may have had is starting to wear thin.

The 2003 National Championship is becoming smaller and smaller in the rear view mirror of the football team which, for the second straight year, is faced with the prospect of having to win its final two games just to salvage a winning record. And at the same time, the basketball team is facing a complete reconstruction after closing the chapter on its long national nightmare known as the Henderson Era. As a result, the fans have not had a whole lot to cheer about lately on South College Avenue.

When David Henderson became the head basketball coach prior to the 2000 season, he had never been head coach before. Henderson’s predecessor, Mike Brey, had never been a head coach either, but had seemingly spent his entire post-college life preparing to be one. When his playing days were over at George Washington, Brey went back to his high school alma mater and began his coaching career under the guidance of Hall of Famer Morgan Wooten at one of the nation’s top basketball schools, DeMatha. After five successful years, he landed one of the top college jobs in the country sitting on Mike Krzyzewski’s bench at Duke eventually working his way up the ladder to become the top assistant. When Delaware came calling prior to the 1995 season, Brey was more than ready to become a head coach. During his five-year tenure he would guide Delaware to three consecutive twenty win seasons, three conference championships, two NCAA Tournament appearances, and one NIT appearance.

Unlike Brey, Henderson spent most of his basketball career as a player. He was part of Krzyzewski’s first recruiting class at Duke and played there for four years before embarking on an eleven-year professional career. When his playing days were over, he called Krzyzewski who, perhaps out of loyalty, gave him a job on his staff.

After just three seasons as a lower level assistant at Duke, Henderson, with Krzyzewski’s endorsement, became a lead candidate for the Delaware head coaching job when Bill Gutheridge surprisingly retired from North Carolina starting a coaching carousel that saw Matt Dougherty leave Notre Dame to replace Gutheridge and then Brey leave Delaware to replace Dougherty.

As Delaware fans would eventually find out, there is a big difference between being a player and a coach, there is a bigger difference between being an assistant and a head coach, and there is a huge difference between being Mike Krzyzewski’s third assistant and being Mike Krzyzewski.

The basketball program floundered during Henderson’s six-years at the helm never once making the post season. In Henderson’s defense, unexpectedly he did have to oversee the transition from the America East conference into the much more difficult CAA after just one season. A task that would have been a challenge for even a more seasoned coach. Finally, however, after back-to-back twenty loss seasons and a steady drop in attendance and “buzz”, Delaware fired Henderson with two years left on a contract extension.

The misfortunes of the football team trace back to the 2004 quarter-final playoff game at William and Mary. Delaware was one quarter away from advancing to the semi-finals where a win would give them the chance to defend their National Championship as they led William and Mary by a score of 31-10. On the first play of the fourth quarter, William and Mary’s Stephen Cason stepped in front of a Sonny Riccio pass and returned it 62 yards for a touchdown. The Delaware offense stalled with two consecutive three and outs as William and Mary staged an incredible comeback scoring twenty-one unanswered fourth quarter points to tie the game at 31 before winning it in double overtime 44-38.

Since that game, KC Keeler’s team has posted an un-remarkable record of 10 and 10 including home and away losses to Towson, a homecoming loss last year to Hofstra, and a home non-conference loss earlier this year to Albany.

In addition to the losses, the program has had to endure several other embarrassing incidents. Last year the team had to forfeit a home game and move it to Richmond when the field at Delaware Stadium became unplayable after the administration failed to address a known problem while hoping to “squeeze” just one more season out of a dying field. During the off-season two players with high expectations ended up in prison after a botched armed robbery attempt allegedly involving money and steroids. And a couple of days prior to this year’s opener the newly named defensive coordinator resigned after a late-night drunk driving incident.

On top of everything else, over this two-year period the team has experienced an inordinate number of injuries last season mainly impacting the offense while this year decimating the defense.

On the bright side, the football team should be much better next year. Quarterback Joe Flacco is the real deal and the team will benefit from the experience young players like John Higginson, Justin Johnson, Ray Jones, Charles Graves, Anthony Bratton, Ken Hale, Mark Duncan, and Jared Bradley are getting this year.

As for the basketball team, new coach Monté Ross certainly has his work cut out for him; it will not be easy to turn this team into a winner in the ultra-competitive CAA where George Mason’s Final Four run last year has helped to set the bar very high.

Ross like his two predecessors had no prior experience as a head coach before his hiring. Only time will tell whether his tenure will be Brey-like or Henderson-esque.

We already know how patient the fans will be while the jury is still out.

Bill Komissaroff
www.billkomissaroff.com

The Hit Parade

It was not a good day for the University of Delaware Football Team on Saturday, as Towson torched them to a tune of 49-35 at home on Tubby’s Tundra. But even the most hardcore Delaware fan, as they were stewing in their seat, had to be somewhat impressed by the performance of Towson quarterback Sean Schaefer. The twenty year old from Dunkirk, Maryland was brilliant. What a moment it must have been for him to walk off that field after carving apart the Delaware defense like a Thanksgiving turkey, and then watching as 22,000 left the table disappointed as if denied any white meat.

Watching Schaefer I had two thoughts. First, that since my own athletic prowess seemed to peak around the tenth grade that I do not have too many of my own experiences to compare what he must have felt like to. Second, I have been fortunate to witness either as a spectator or as a broadcaster some incredible moments, achievements, and games.

So what follows is a partial list of some of the greatest sports moments that I have ever witnessed either as a participant, a spectator, or as a broadcaster.

Mets-Braves, Shea Stadium, September 21, 2001.

This was the first sporting event of any kind in New York City after 9-11. My friend Adam who is also a long-suffering Mets fan and I trekked up to New York in the afternoon for this Friday Night game. I had bought tickets on EBay that day. It was a last minute decision to go, but both of us felt like we just had to be in the house that night. We trained into Manhattan and went down to a pub on 18th Street which was about as far downtown as you could get at that point before catching the famous Number Seven Train out to Shea. I will never forget the glazed look on some of the people walking the streets and sitting at the bar where we had lunch.

The feeling at Shea before the game was eerie. At first people weren’t sure how to react. Was it okay to cheer? Was it okay to boo while the World Trade Center site was still smoldering? You knew it was not a normal night in Queens when Met fans actually cheered Chipper “Larry, Larry” Jones as he saluted them with a doff of the cap.

It was a close game. The Braves were up 2-1 as the Mets came up to bat in the bottom of the eighth inning. Braves manager Bobby Cox went to his bullpen and brought in the hard throwing Steve Karsay. The first batter up was Matt Laughton who struck out on a 101 mph fastball. The next hitter, Edgardo Alfonso, walked which brought up Mike Piazza.

Karsay had gone to a 1-2 count on both previous hitters using the exact same pitch sequence: fastball, fastball, and curve before throwing a blazing 100+ mph heater on 1-2. As Karsay showed the same sequence to Piazza, I turned to Adam just prior to what I knew would be a 1-2 fastball and said, “Watch this,” as I felt like I knew exactly what was about to happen.

As Karsay released the pitch, time seemed to slow down. The exploding sound as the bat hit the ball resonated throughout the stadium. The crowd watched in silence as the ball traveled farther and more majestically than any I have ever seen waiting as it disappeared deep into the New York City night before erupting into the loudest and most incredibly emotional ovation I have ever felt. The sound was deafening as 55,000 people leaped, screamed, and cheered. What a moment for Piazza and the city I thought as I hugged everyone around me.

The Mets would win 3-2 and afterward Chipper Jones, confirming the surreal nature of the evening, would concede that he was happy that the Mets won. Sports made a difference that night as it helped ever so slightly the healing process for some while providing a brief distraction from reality for others. I was proud to be there.

Drexel-Delaware, January 27, 1999.

The Hen Hoopsters were off to one of their best starts ever after winning their first eight games of the season but had come across a rough stretch losing two in a row and then three out of five including a one-point loss at Vermont and a two-point loss at Hofstra. I was the PA announcer at the Bob Carpenter Center that night as Coach Bill Herrion brought his dreaded Drexel Dragons to town led by “Joey, Joey” Linderman: the Dragon that Delaware fans loved to hate the most.

Kestutis Marciulonis is one of my all-time favorite Delaware athletes. He was a PA announcer’s dream. He was the perfect storm: His name is long and drawn out; he shot the long ball; and he had a great sense of the “moment” hitting big shots at big times.

“That’s a THREEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! KA-STU-TIS MARSHHHH-A-LON-ISSS!!!!,” I loved to spout over the Bob’s loudspeakers.

And on this night, he was playing with a chip on his shoulder because he had to sit out the previous two games while the NCAA investigated his amateur status.

Properly exonerated, Marciulonis came off Mike Brey’s bench and scored a career high 33 points as John Gordon hit a three point shot in the last seconds of regulation for Delaware to send the game into overtime where the Hens would win 99-91.

The Bob was rocking hard that night as an incredible game was elevated even higher because it was against an archrival, and it would help propel the Hens to a thirteen game winning streak including another win over Drexel in the America East Conference Championship game. The streak would finally end in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the hands of Tennessee ending one of Delaware’s best seasons ever with a record of 26-5.

Tower Hill JV Baseball Circa Spring 1981.

I don’t remember whom we were playing, but for the purpose of this exercise let’s just say it was Friends who is to Tower Hill what Drexel is to Delaware. I also do not remember the exact circumstance, but let’s say it was the bottom of the ninth inning with the game on the line. I do remember that the bases were loaded and there were no outs as Tower Hill was trying to hold on to a slim one-run lead.

I was catching. Dean Eliason was pitching and Mike Morris was playing first base. The batter hit the ball back to Eliason who threw it me. I tagged home for the first out and threw it to Morris who tagged first for the second out. The runner on second never stopped running and was coming home hard. Morris threw it back to me. The ball arrived at the same moment the base runner did and a collision ensued. When the dust settled it was a garden-variety 1-2-3-2 triple play to end the game. Pretty cool, eh?

Phillies-Padres, Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 2, 1993.

I was the radio producer. After six hours of rain delays, game one finally ended at 1:10am. Amazingly game two started at 1:35am (curfew anyone?), and of course went into extra innings and did not end until pitcher Mitch Williams drove in Pete Incaviglia with a hit off Padre closer Trevor Hoffman at 4:40 in the morning. Harry Kalas who always understands the “moment” called it on the radio, “the Phils win it in the tenth on base hit by Mitchy Poooo!”

After producing a full post-game show (an edict from Scott Graham who in retrospect was correct, but at the time…), I finally left the Vet at 5:45am. Not quite “done” my day yet, I had to go to another radio station in Wilmington to do my only shift of the week, which was Saturday mornings from 6:00am to 11:00am. And from there right back out to the Vet for Saturday Night’s game.

A couple of days later the Phillies and Dodgers would play for six hours and ten minutes at the Vet in the midst of a July Philadelphia heat wave. This time Mitchy Poo would blow the save in top of the ninth, Poo indeed, before Lenny Dykstra would drive in Jim Eisenreich with the winning run in the bottom of the twentieth inning.

I will never forget the shot of Dodger broadcaster Vin Skully on the Phanavision screen doing play-by-play shirtless from his booth on the hot, late summer night. (Mike Corey don’t get any ideas!)

Broad Street Run, May 4, 2003.

A simple ten-mile run straight down Broad Street in Philadelphia made a bit more complicated by the fact that I was watching G-Love and Special Sauce until 5:30am the night before at Tipitina’s in New Orleans. Despite the “extra curricular” activities, I only missed my goal of one hour and forty minutes, which would be a ten minute per mile pace, by forty-three seconds. A small price to pay for the fun that is New Orleans!

This might be my personal crowning athletic achievement if it were not for the ping-pong round robin at Roommate Reunion Weekend, Dewey Beach, Delaware, Summer, 2006; but that my friends is another story for another time!

Delaware Football.

I started broadcasting the UD games in 1999, and during that time, I can easily pick my two favorites. The game at the Naval Academy on October 25, 2003, and then a couple of weeks later the triple overtime game vs. Massachusetts on November 15, 2003 .

What I remember most about the UMass game, other than the post-game recap that might be the longest on record, is some of the incredible individual performances that took place on the field, but also the amazing team cohesiveness that each squad demonstrated in one of the most physically and mentally grueling games I have ever seen. Delaware would eventually persevere 51-45 in 3OT.

A few weeks prior, it was a beautiful Fall day in Annapolis and the game had a perfect start for Coach Paul Johnson’s Middies on Navy’s Homecoming. Navy scored two touchdowns before Delaware could even register a first down scoring first on a ten-play drive and then, after a Delaware three and out, airing it out on one 66-yard play-action pass play from Craig Candeto to Eric Roberts.

It was desperation time for Delaware on their next possession facing a potential drive killing fourth and two from their own forty yard-line. Needing a spark, Delaware head coach KC Keeler called for a fake punt. Sean Blieler, the upback in the formation, took the direct snap and ripped off a twenty-four yard run extending the drive. After a collective exhale, Delaware realized that they could play with Navy, and finished the drive with a touchdown and would go on to win 21-17 after Dave Camburn knocked down a Navy pass in the end zone on the last play of the game.

Those were great times for the Delaware Football team and hopefully better times lay ahead when it is not opponents like Sean Schaefer who inspire the reflections but Delaware’s own.

Bill Komissaroff
www.billkomissaroff.com

Another SideByrne

by Tom Byrne

I want to give a well deserved “well-done” to one of my Delaware football pre-game show compadres, the News Journal’s Kevin Tresolini, for his excellent piece last week on Delaware’s struggles in CAA. Great story and, in case some people missed them, terrific online stats and information to supplement much of what he discussed in the paper.

I wonder if some of the same commitment issues Kevin discussed might also eventually apply to football. That possibility never seems far from head coach K.C. Keeler’s mind. On Wednesday night’s “K.C. Keeler show” on the River 94.7, the coach again talked about the arms race recruiting has become and Delaware’s need to upgrade facilities. He says a consulting firm is coming in to assess where Delaware stands and what it should do. Hopefully, it will lead to some action… soon. You have to keep building and improving on what you have or you will eventually fall behind. Continuing commitment is necessary. James Madison coach Mickey Matthews made a critical point in his conference call with UD media this week. When talking about what JMU’s facility upgrades have meant to recruiting, Matthews said he’d forgotten (from his days at Georgia) the power showing a recruit top-notch facilities can have. Delaware has solid facilities, but they need to start getting ahead of the curve. They need to be proactive, not reactive (like with the field situation last year). I realize there’s only so much money to go around and plenty needs (athletics and otherwise), but it is wise to get the balling rolling on things sooner rather than later. Yes, Delaware will always have its tradition and his large fan base to fall back on in the recruiting wars (as Coach Keeler points out regularly), but I believe those things tip the scale when all other things are equal. If the other guy has you beat with facilities, tradition and a full stadium may not be enough to sway a player.

I’ll give you an example from down the road at DSU. I admit it’s an “apples and oranges” comparison, but bear with me. The Hornets were successful under head coach Bill Collick up until the early 90’s as Collick and his crew did “more with less”. I wish I had a dime for every time Coach Collick would pull into another school, bemoan the differences in what he called “amenities”, and then go win anyway. But the school seemed to feel that if Collick could win with less, why spend more? Well, that caught up with Del State in the mid to late 1990’s and we know what happened. Now, they are just starting to recover on the field and are still trying (and usually failing) to address their meager facilities. If they had made a commitment when the team was doing well, even just incrementally, they might have avoided 0-11 in 1998 and 1-10 in 2003. Clearly, the two schools are different animals on any number of levels. Certainly, Delaware will never fall off to the extent DSU did, but the expectations at UD are also a significantly higher and fans will not suffer quietly though even a small dip in success. You don’t want to lose those fans. Remember, that full stadium is one of your recruiting advantages.

Another example can be found at Wesley, the emerging Division III powerhouse in Dover. As the program there got stronger in the mid to late 1990’s, the Wolverines, led by the astute Mike Drass, started doing little things each year to build the program’s infrastructure. It culminated a couple of years ago with the instillation of field turf at Wolverine Stadium. You may not know, but Wesley not lost at home since that turf was laid, going to the NCAA semifinals last year (thanks to a couple of home wins). This year, the Wolverines are undefeated and ranked 4th nationally. They’re also a good bet to have the top seed in the South region come playoff time, which means, you guessed it, a bunch of home games in the D-III tourney. Again, comparing Wesley and UD is definitely a case of apples and oranges, but I believe idea of commitment does translate. You’ll be better off if you keep building as you go and make the occasional big splash, rather than waiting until you have to make major changes. That leaves you behind the curve and usually with a bigger bill to pay.

One other quick hit this week… a pat on the back to DSU coach Al Lavan and his staff. I had a chance to watch a tape of their game against South Carolina State we shot for TV 12. Here’s what jumped out to me. Trailing 9-7 in the fourth quarter and seemingly stagnant offensively, they went to their “go-to-guy”, wide receiver Shaheer Mc Bride. On the 13 play, 66 yard drive that led to the go-ahead field goal, six plays were designed to go to McBride, including a nifty middle screen that netted 29 yards and a pair of reverses that totaled 21 yards. In all, McBride accounted 62 yards on that drive. Lavan and his staff deserve credit for finding way to get their best player the ball when it counted the most. It keeps their MEAC title hopes alive for at least another week or so.
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Tom Byrne is a Sports Anchor for WHYY-TV, Sports Director of WILM Newsradio, and Sideline Reporter on University of Delaware Football Broadcasts on The River 94.7

The Rushmore Test

In the movie Diner, which is set in the late 1950's, Steve Guttenberg's character Eddie gives his fiancée, Elyse, a football trivia test, which she must pass prior to the wedding or he will call the whole thing off. It is not going well for young Elyse whose face goes unseen throughout the entire film brilliantly symbolizing the “boys” true feelings towards the girls in the movie. At one point, she incorrectly answers L.G. Dupre when Eddie asks her who the former Heisman Trophy winner who originally signed with the Baltimore Colts before bolting for Canada only to return later back to the Colts was. The correct answer, of course, is Billy Vessels out of Oklahoma. She also does not know the name of the "other" league that the Cleveland Browns were in prior to joining the NFL. To her credit, however, she does know that it was Buddy Young who originally played for the New York Yankees Football team which, by 1959, no longer existed, and she also knew that the Colts' original colors were green and gray prior to the franchise folding and the City of Baltimore getting a new one from Dallas.

The test goes down to the wire. It could go either way when Eddie asks what the longest run from scrimmage was by a rookie in his first ever game. Excited actually to know one of the answers, Eddie's buddy Shrevie shouts out "Alan Ameche!" whilst eavesdropping on the test from the next room. Unfortunately, for Elyse, Eddie hears this and disqualifies the question despite her knowing the answer, "I knew that! 79-yard run. Opening day 1955!” Elyse protested to Eddie’s deaf ears. Because of the Ameche question disqualification, Elyse scores a 63, which is just shy of passing. Eddie comes out of the room and declares, “The marriage is off!”

Later in the film, Eddie does relinquish his disqualification of the Ameche question and the marriage does in fact take place with the wedding hall “tastefully” decorated in the blue and white colors of the “new” Baltimore Colts. Poor Elyse. The point is that Eddie has set the bar so ridiculously high with his football trivia test that even most of his hardcore football fan buddies would not pass let alone his “girl”.

I will concede that sometimes I am guilty of this in my coverage of the University of Delaware Football team, and I suspect that many fans may also be guilty of this as well. Sometimes I think I can set the bar so high that I can be overly critical of what I am seeing on the field, and I think it is partly because I expect so much from Delaware. I always want and expect them to be the top program; I always want and expect them to win the right way. And when things don’t go so well, I think my disappointment can sometimes come across on the air while I am broadcasting.

For example, a couple of weeks ago during the Delaware-Hofstra game, I felt like the Hens were fortunate to win. After making what I considered to be two crucial fourth quarter mistakes, a fumble on Hofstra’s goal line and allowing a forty plus yard pass play on third down and nineteen, I thought that Delaware was the beneficiary of a bad call by the officials. Hofstra was facing fourth and one when quarterback Anton Clarkson attempted to sneak the ball up the middle. I thought his second effort gave him enough for a first down, but the officials did not, spotting the ball short of the marker thus giving it back to Delaware after the fourth down turnover. Delaware would then run out the clock and secure the Homecoming victory.

Two days later, Delaware head coach KC Keeler received a phone call from a friend of his who listened to the broadcast and thought that it sounded like I was overzealously “rooting” for Hofstra and sounded genuinely disappointed that Delaware won. Coach Keeler called me and told me about the call.

After our conversation, I went back and listened to the tape of the broadcast. While I do not think I was rooting for Hofstra, I will concede that my analysis might have come across as too harsh regarding the Delaware mistakes, and overly critical of the referees regarding the spot of the ball on the fourth down play when I could have just as easily given credit to the Delaware defense for coming up and making a big play.

While it is not part of my job to root for anyone, I understand that my audience is a Delaware audience and I try to frame everything with that in mind. When the University first hired me prior to the 1999 season, Athletic Director Edgar Johnson told me that he was not looking for a “homer”. I try to be as objective as I can be, but I never want to be one of those guys in the booth who come across as a glorified cheerleader. But at the same time, I think I can probably cut Delaware a bit more slack in some situations and try not to be overly critical just because of my familiarity with the team and the coaches.

I don’t think I was cheerleading this past weekend when Delaware went on the road and came back with their best win of the season: an impressive 28-24 fourth quarter comeback against the Spiders of the University of Richmond. The Hens jumped out to an early 14-0 first half lead, but Richmond would score 24 straight points forcing Delaware to dig down deep and fight back against one of the stingiest defenses in entire country.

Playing with a sore knee that limited his mobility, which in retrospect may have been a blessing in disguise, Cool Joe Flacco fired the ball all over the place hitting eight different receivers en route to his best game ever as a Hen. His favorite target Saturday night in Richmond was Aaron Love who was also battling injuries. Perhaps they reacquainted themselves with each other while putting in the extra time together early mornings during the week in the trainer’s room.

Love was nothing short of spectacular and borderline heroic getting open downfield making big catch after big catch despite a shoulder injury and a rib injury that was obviously hurting him more and more as the game wore on.

Because of the injury to Flacco, the Hens were forced to scrap their option game (perhaps another blessing) and without Omar Cuff available at all in the second half there was a lot of extra pressure on Flacco to make accurate throws and on the offensive line to give him the time and protection he needed to let his receivers get open. Flacco handled the extra pressure just like he seemingly handles everything: He took it in stride. When I spoke to Delaware offensive lineman Keon Hendricks after the game, he said that the line knew they would have to step up and keep Richmond’s talented defense away from the Delaware quarterback. Mission accomplished. It resulted in a great win for Delaware against a good team on the road, which is never an easy task in the Atlantic-10 Conference.

Just like Eddie and his test, my expectations for the Hens may be unrealistically high, but after a game like the Richmond game, it is easy to see why the bar is set so high for the University of Delaware Football Program. And more often than not they do seem to clear it.

The movie Diner has always been one of my favorites. During my senior year in college, it was in the constant rotation of movies, along with Repo Man, Annie Hall, and Stop Making Sense, that my roommates and I watched over and over and over and over again.

A couple of years back I had my own version of Eddie’s football trivia test. It involved the movie Rushmore. I was thirty-eight years old and still single and for some reason I thought that any potential mate would have to understand and “get” Rushmore, which I considered one of the greatest American comedies of all-time, for her to ever possibly understand and “get” me. That along with a healthy respect and understanding of baseball and more specifically the New York Mets would certainly also help.

I had been seeing a woman, who we shall call Roz, for not quite a year and it was time for the big night. We were going to hang out at my house on a Friday and watch Rushmore. I had hinted to her how much I liked it, but she had no idea how important the night was going to be. Like Elyse in Diner, Roz failed. She fell asleep during the movie and then afterwards uttered the phrase, “it was okay” when asked about it. Ouch.

Unlike Eddie in Diner, I did not waiver. Roz and I split up a couple of months later, and while there were plenty of other issues with our relationship, I always pinpoint that night as the beginning of the end.

Now that I am a few years older and much, much more mature, I realize that a good relationship better be built on more than just a solid knowledge of football trivia or appreciation for a movie.

It is okay to set the bar high. Just not so high, that it is unattainable whether in a relationship with a potential significant other or in a relationship with your favorite college football team.

Bill Komissaroff
www.billkomissaroff.com

Another SideByrne (Post Richmond)

by Tom Byrne

A lot of little things on my mind this week…

Watching the Delaware-Richmond game back as I prepared for my Tuesday TV12 sports segment just reinforced some of the feelings I had after watching the game from the field Saturday.

Joe Flacco can make throws most QB’s at this level can’t and has the confidence to try them. He’s also becoming a real leader. I think everyone can agree on those points. But I also have to admit I may agree with some who are wondering aloud if Flacco’s “tweaked” knee might be the best thing to happen to him and this team. Look, I don’t hate the option like some (including the voice of the Hens’ Mike Corey). I grew up with it at Ithaca under the late, great Jim Butterfield. But, it may be a good idea to “let Flacco be Flacco”. When he talked about picking teams apart from the pocket with me post-game, he had a pretty big smile on his face.

Aaron Love is one tough dude. You could tell he was in pain late in the game, yet kept coming up with big catch after big catch. But he will drive a sideline reporter, like me, nuts. “Guys, it looks like he’s really hurt. Trainers are checking him out. No wait, he’s headed back to the offensive huddle. No, now he’s getting his padding adjusted. Now, he’s ready.” His status changes five times before the crew can get me on the air. But Saturday, he wound up out there one way or another.

And anyone who doesn’t like those one year transfers needs to look at Ben Patrick and Garrett Schultz. Schultz’s play on Josh Vaughn Saturday was an unbelievable, and Patrick’s numbers (and Hula Bowl selection) speak for themselves. But it goes well beyond the field. These two bring heart and leadership to this team. Schultz came from Temple with no promise of starting, then earned his way on the field. Patrick didn’t let a preseason injury keep him from learning the offense and putting up a monster year. Th example these guys set for younger players is invaluable, and not just for the remainder of this year. I can’t imagine the way these two go about their business won’t rub off on some of these guys as they move forward. The bottom line is… if you choose wisely, having this type of transfer, even for just one season, can be a real benefit.

Last week, Delaware head coach K.C. Keeler mentioned on more than occasion that Delaware was one of the few places where the media and fans ask about the playoffs when a team is 3-3. Personally, I wasn’t thinking playoffs last week and I don’t believe one question at a post-game press conference and an unsolicited quote from a player about needing to win out to make the post-season constitutes a playoff frenzy. Actually, I think by making his references to the playoffs, Coach Keeler wound up mentioning the post-season more than anyone else. But anyway, both Delaware and Delaware State did give media and fans reason to at least entertain playoff thoughts with their wins last week. Well, I’m here to squash all such thoughts. It’s just a tease. (Hope this helps, coach)

First off, both have to win out. That means the Hens winning at JMU November 4th and the Hornets topping South Carolina State at home this week. Hardly locks.

If somehow UD and DSU do win out, Delaware would be 8-3 and Del State 9-2, but even then both need some serious help to get it. At 8-3, Delaware will likely be trying to be the fourth team in from the Atlantic 10. Tough sell with losses to Albany and Northeastern, and a win over DII West Chester. As for DSU, 9-2 looks nice, but unless first place Hampton loses again, giving DSU the MEAC automatic bid, I don’t see Del State getting an at-large spot. Even at 9-2, their only quality win would be against a still unranked South Carolina State, and their wins over St. Francis and Concord (the West Virginia college, not the Delaware high school) aren’t going to bolster their resume.

The funny thing is one or the other could have been helped if, on Saturday night, September 9th, the Hens and Hornets were playing a night game against each other rather than notching ho-hum non-conference wins against West Chester and St. Francis. One team would now have a potentially difference making quality win. Instead, UD and DSU could, if everything works out for both, wind up battling each other, and a bunch of other teams, in the front of the Selection Committee for the last at-large berth. Can you imagine if one gets in and the other doesn’t?

And one thought on basketball. The CAA preseason polls are out and how weird is it to see Delaware DEAD LAST on the men’s side? New head coach Monte Ross has his work cut out for him, but at least with such low expectations, he should be given time to get it right. He’s already made strides with fans, media and in recruiting.

Almost as interesting is the women’s poll, where Delaware is third behind Old Dominion and James Madison. I know ODU is great and deserves to be the preseason favorite until someone knocks the 15 time defending champ off, but putting the Hens behind JMU is a mistake in my book. When are people going to realize how good a coach Tina Martin is? Perhaps this year when she has arguably her most talent group and the CAA tourney at the Bob.
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Tom Byrne is a Sports Anchor for WHYY-TV, Sports Director of WILM Newsradio, and Sideline Reporter on University of Delaware Football Broadcasts on The River 94.7