John Neese Blog 5

Since 2003, I have been fortunate to travel to Indianapolis twice for the NCAA Woman of The Year Banquet as we have had two student-athletes receive this honor. Four years ago the NCAA honored women’s basketball player, Kendra Anderson as the Texas Woman of the Year. On Saturday night they recognized Virginia Aguilar, a former volleyball player at HSU, as one of the top 30 Women in college athletics for the 2006 school year. It was a special weekend for Virginia as she had the chance to work on a house for Habitat for Humanity on Saturday morning with the other nominees in Indianapolis. On Saturday night the banquet was co-hosted by Sage Steel of ESPN and Debbie Antonelli, a National Basketball Analyst. Virginia was one of five nominees who recorded a perfect 4.0 grade point average during their collegiate careers. Virginia was a computer science major at HSU and also had 18 hours of math as she was one of our top student-athletes. Like Virginia I had 18 hours of math at HSU, with the difference being I only passed three of them. The NCAA Woman of the Year banquet will be shown on Friday, December 7 at 4:30 p.m. on ESPN 2.



One final thought on Indianapolis: the new stadium that is being built next to the RCA Dome for the home of the Colts appears to be a phenomenal building. It already towers over the RCA Dome and the structure has a beautiful brick façade with cathedral style windows. The Colts will move into this facility in 2008, and I am sure it will capture the national attention until the Dallas Cowboys move into their architectural masterpiece in 2009.

Congratulations to our football team for their win on Saturday against an inspired Sul Ross football team which was playing before a large homecoming crowd. The Lobos have received plenty of national recognition this year thanks to the efforts of 59 year old Mike Flynt, who is utilizing his last year of eligibility nearly 38 years after he last played college football. Flynt is a grandfather who has been featured on ESPN, NBC News and Sports Illustrated. Maybe it’s because I am getting older, but I have found a new respect for anyone over 40 who is still pushing him/herself in the athletic arena. Fifteen years ago I did not see what the big deal was when Nolan Ryan was pitching in his forties. Now I am just happy to be mowing my yard in my forties.

Cowboy Up,

John Neese

Why Do We Watch?

We were in the hotel room in Jackson, Mississippi on Saturday afternoon passing time until our football game with Mississippi College that evening. As we were channel surfing the various college football games that were on television, our traveling party noticed that Colorado was making a comeback against the number three team in the nation, Oklahoma. I had more than a passing interest in the game as one of our former football coaches, Jeff Grimes, is now the Assistant Head Coach for the Buffaloes. It also seemed like a game to watch just because of the upset factor of seeing a heavily favored team fall from the ranks of the undefeated.

As you know by now, the Buffs completed the improbable comeback and defeated OU 27-24 on a last second field goal. It was only one of several upsets on the last Saturday in September that will certainly alter the BCS landscape for the rest of the season.
So we have another reminder that it does not matter if it’s Division I, II or III you watch, no matter how much we think a game is going to play out, no matter how much we just “know” a certain team is better than another , it means nothing once the game starts. I am in the middle of my 12th year here at HSU and I have seen a countless number of games involving our teams. I have seen us win games that nobody thought we would have a chance to claim a victory. On the other end of the spectrum, I have seen us fall in competition that I am sure our student-athletes, coaches and fans cannot believe that we lost. The rankings, the records and all of the pre-game hype rarely deliver once the contest starts and it is up to the student-athlete to decide the outcome. And that is why we keep coming back to watch the competition, whether it’s the volleyball team or the football team participating as Teddy Roosevelt loved to say “in the arena.”

I think all of us believe that we have an extra sense that helps us determine how our favorite teams will do. When we are right, the grass is greener, the sky is beautiful and we believe that we can chart the course for the free world. When we are wrong, our food doesn’t taste good, the weather is horrendous and we get a speeding ticket on the way back from the game. And as frustrating as it can be, we always come back for more. I never have really enjoyed the reality shows on television that have become so popular, due in part to the fact that watching athletic competition every weekend has enough twists and turns for an O.Henry short story, much less a reality show. We might think we know how a contest will play out, but most of the time we are just kidding ourselves. The speculation is fun, but watching those in the arena is what makes us come back every weekend.