Eagles, Terrapins, and the Internet

Let me say that in the past 24 hours I made two great discoveries on the Internet (speaking from the perspective of a Maryland guy now living in Georgia, attending Georgia Southern University). The first is GSUFans.com, a message board for Georgia Southern Sports Talk.

I spent at least 2 hours last night looking through old posts, getting tuned in to how Eagle Nation feels about all things Georgia Southern. This includes commentary on this year’s baseball team, the Eagles potential move to Division 1-A (or FBS if you prefer), and above all else, the injustice pretty much the ENTIRE Southeast feels about Erk Russell not being eligible for the College Football Hall of Fame (some lame rule that says you must have held a head coaching position for a minimum of 10 years)-- ridiculous!

One thing for sure, Georgia Southern fans are passionate about their Eagles. And so am I. Even though this is my first year attending GSU, it didn’t take long to fall in love with Georgia Southern and with Statesboro. I’ve been fortunate enough to do some broadcasting assignments this semester covering the baseball, football, and golf teams and everyone associated with the teams including coaches, players, marketing, etc. are class individuals.

I must share, however, that my first love is the Maryland Terrapins. I was born and raised on Maryland basketball. Guys like Greg Manning, Albert King, Buck Williams followed later by the Great One, Len Bias. And Maryland football, though arguably not as successful over the years as the basketball program, is still an integral part of my lifeline.

And that’s where my 2nd Internet discovery comes in: Southernpigskin.com. A site that covers both Southern Conference and ACC football (along with the SEC). How great is that! Then I log in today and there’s Coach Friedgen on the home page. An outstanding post by Phillip McCollum on talent evaluation and recruiting among college football programs, with some nice tidbits on Maryland‘s latest recruiting class. I’m loving it.

To make it even sweeter, if you click on the SoCon link you’re directed to the Derek Heyden blog. So, not only will the staff writers be posting up to date info on the Southern Conference, Derek will be posting his thoughts and insights behind the scenes of Georgia Southern football. Life really is good.

GSU Golf Team Begins Regional Play on Wednesday

The Eagles Golf Team is in Sorrento, Florida today preparing for the South Regional of the NCAA tournament that begins tomorrow at Red Tail Golf Club. The Eagles received an at-large bid from the NCAA after finishing 2nd in the Southern Conference Tournament last month.

Following the SoCon tournament, I was able to spend a few minutes with players Drew Lethem and Joe Monte along with Coach Larry Mays (see video below). The most obvious thing to me in talking with these guys is that they are team players in every sense of the word. In spite of all the individual awards the team has won this year (and there have been a lot!), their focus is on nailing a Top 5 finish at the Regional Tournament so the team can move on and compete in the National Championship.

That’s it, plain and simple. Coach Mays stated to me what he’s been saying all year long: this year’s group has the best team chemistry he has seen in a long time. These guys trust each other and play hard for each other.

It doesn’t hurt that they are all extremely talented golfers either. Oh yea, and one more thing. That battle on the back nine with Chattanooga on Day 3 of the SoCon tournament-- I say the Eagles draw on that experience and use it to move on to the National Championship.

Go Eagles!