Marching band's impact, Ernie Davis statue with Nikes and rivalry prizes - Sep 18, 2008
posted by: Howard Smith
- Many Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are identified by their energetic and skillful bands that perform at a school's football games. However, for Lincoln (Pennsylvania), these were elements of campus life that were missing until recently when the school decided to begin both of these programs. "Everyone knows, especially in black college football, that the presence of the marching band has as much drawing power, and in some cases more drawing power, than the presence of the football team," the school's president Ivory V. Nelson told the New York Times. "So we put those two together."
- St. Francis (New York) Athletics Director Irma Garcia is the only Division I Hispanic athletics director. A former star basketball student-athlete and head basketball coach at the school, Garcia seems motivated to turn the school of 2,300 students into a more successful program in all aspects. Most importantly, Garcia emphasizes the performance of student-athletes in the classroom and community. From reading this article, you get the feeling that Garcia will ultimately get the school's athletics department to where she wants it.
- Syracuse is unveiling a statue of Ernie Davis, the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy. However, there's a slight problem with the statue...it has him wearing modern-day Nike shoes, although Davis played in the late 1950s and early 1960s before Nike even existed. The sculptor will fix the statue, and this is definitely a lesson learned by all.
- A new league named Women's Professional Soccer will begin its operations in April. The league will have seven teams in the U.S., and plans to add at least two more teams in 2010. The league is hoping to capitalize on the mistakes that were made by the WUSA league, which suspended its operations in 2003. Do you think the new league will be successful in the long run?
- Tonight, the Miner's Cup will take place between Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan. This Division II game will air live on CBS College Sports. This got us thinking about some of the great prizes that are awarded to the annual winners college football rivalry games, such as the Floyd of Rosedale pig in the Minnesota/Iowa contest and the 300-pound Monon Bell in the Wabash/DePauw rivalry. Are there any other rivalry prizes that top these?
