Welcome Back, Blogger.

Good afternoon sportsfans!

It’s a fresh semester at CSS. The students have returned, class is in session, and the Voice has returned to the Web.

As you can see, I’ve refreshed the look and feel of the page. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it just yet, so things may change again, but for now… this is what we’ve got.

I’ve got another exciting semester planned for you all, including the return of 5 Questions. We have a few more Winter sports to hit before we hit the final stretch – the Spring sports – and then we will have to find something else to entertain the masses. I have a few things planned that I think will be interesting, so stay tuned for that.

Points & Prattle will return this Friday afternoon, so mark your calendars.

Another thing to mark on your calendars (shameless plug incoming), is that I will be the “Voice” of this weekend’s basketball games, taking over public address duty in the stead of our regular PA man, Dave Cook. I have big shoes to fill, but I’ll try my best. Stop by and say hello if you’re there.

That’s all for today. Tune in on Friday for the return of Points and Prattle.

Take it easy,
-jh

Points and Prattle, Vol 5 - Oct. 9, 2009

Voice of: Joe Hansen

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Good morning, sportsfans!

After a long and busy week, VOTS returns for another exciting edition of Points and Prattle.

• A month into the 2009-10 school year, the CSS Cable newspaper returns with yours truly as one of the co-editors. We’re not online as of yet, so those of you away from campus are out of luck. Soon enough, you’ll be able to read all of the articles on a new-and-improved Cable website. I’ll keep you posted.
• The MLB postseason is underway, and I couldn’t be happier. Baseball on all day long? Seems too good to be true. Now, if only this were less ominous.
• Speaking of professional sports (and I promise this tangent will end soon)… the UFL debuted last night with the Las Vegas Locomotives edging out the California Redwoods. Off-putting names aside, I hear the quality of football was good, so let’s hope this doesn’t go the way of the AFL.
• Speaking of the AFL… Did you catch that great interview from Tuesday with a Arena-ball-coach-turned-CSS-head-coach Greg Carlson?
• Speaking of CSS football… Congrats to senior Chris Henagin on being named the UMAC North Offensive Player of the Week for his 272-yard, two-touchdown performance in the Saints’ third victory of the season on Saturday afternoon. The Saints have a two-game winning streak (for the first time, obviously) entering Saturday’s game against Macalester, who comes to Duluth on a two-game losing streak.
• Speaking of two-game win streaks (I promise, I’ll stop soon)… CSS volleyball is on a two-game victory binge after defeating Minnesota-Morris last night in the first game of Dig Pink week at the Reif Gym. Freshman Paige Hardy led the way with 15 kills and 24 digs in the five-set match which saw CSS come from two games down to win. Come out to the BWC tonight for another Dig Pink match-up, this time against Presentation College.
• Speaking of Presentation (it’s too easy)… Men’s soccer tied Presentation on Sunday afternoon in a thrilling 1-1 double overtime match, but not before suffering their first defeat of the season against Minn.-Morris on Saturday. It’s too bad to see the undefeated streak go, but 8-1-2 is an excellent record and there’s plenty of season left.
• The Saints women (see, I told you I’d stop) also tied in their last match, going to double overtime with Augsburg on Wednesday afternoon. Senior Beth Flesvig earned the game-tying score early in the second half, but the Auggie goalkeeper was able to keep the Saints out of the net for the rest of the game, making nine saves. Also deserving of a shoutout is sophomore goalkeeper Erin Olejnicak, who made six saves to keep her Saints in the game.
• Speaking of ShoutOuts! (sorry, I had to)… The ShoutOuts! continue to roll in on our YouTube account, so if you haven’t seen them yet, check out this week’s batch, starring coaches Carlson, Chastey, Reyelts, and Moore.
• Next week, I hope to have one of the soccer coaches on 5 Questions, but we’ll see which one is available. I know the anticipation will be killing you over the weekend, but hopefully, you can survive.
• If you can, let me advise you to come on out for volleyball tonight and football tomorrow! Or, if you’re down in the Twin Cities metro, go support the men’s and women’s soccer team against Bethany Lutheran and Martin Luther colleges. It should be an exciting weekend for CSS athletics.
• And on a completely unrelated note, was The Office last night excellent, or what?

Well, thanks for reading! It’s been a long week, and I am still busy with school work and Cable business, so that’s all I can offer you today.

Enjoy your weekends,
-jh

Points and Prattle, Vol. 2 - Sept. 18, 2009

Voice of: Joe Hansen

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Another week has come and gone. Time flies when you’re having fun, as well as when you're busy beyond comprehension. Nonetheless, it’s Friday, and Friday means another rousing edition of Points and Prattle here at VOTS, so without further ado:

• My new “show,” 5 Questions has received some excellent reviews, so that should continue here at VOTS next week, provided I get over this awful cold before early next week.
• My thoughts and prayers, this week, are with the family of the late-NCAA president Myles Brand. He was president for just six years, but did a lot in pushing the “student” part of the term “student athlete,” and that’s a good thing.
• In today’s digression of the day, The Office season premiere last night was excellent, as always. Now, if only I had realized It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia was on as well…
• Congrats to four Saints on earning UMAC Player of the Week honors this week. In men’s soccer, freshman forward Joshua Odukomaya’s banner day did not go unnoticed as his seven points earned him the Offensive POTW, while sophomore goalkeeper Sam Reed earned himself a shutout and Defensive POTW. Football had senior RB Chris Henagin and his three touchdowns recognized, as sophomore FS Scott Greening’s two interceptions earned him the honor as well.
• On the subject of football, they earned their first road victory in program history, a 33-8 slashing of Maranatha Baptist (Wis.) College, last week, and are now, for the first time ever, .500 on the season. They will look for another first – an above .500 record – on Saturday against Wisconsin Lutheran. The game is a home contest for CSS, but it will be played on Superior’s Ole Haugsrud Field.
• As with last week, the Saints men’s soccer team is off to its best start in years. Now at 3-0-0, they’ve matched their start from 2004. One more victory will give them their best start on record, and it could come today against Northwestern. The Saints were 1-1-1 against the Eagles last season with just two goals scored by each team, so anything could happen in this rivalry.
• Women’s soccer, currently on a two-game skid, takes to the field for UMAC play – where they are undefeated the past six regular seasons – as well this weekend, taking on Northwestern today and Crown tomorrow. The same two teams were on the receiving end of the Saints’ frustration from two straight losses last season, an unenviable position.
• Cross Country was “home” last week… sort of. They ran the Campus Quest VI at Minn.-Duluth, where the women earned third and the men fourth. Senior Katelyn Meger once again impressed, finishing third, while junior Nick Mangan finished fourth on the men’s side, posting a personal best at 27:46.
• Last, but certainly not least, our volleyball team split the weekend with two wins and two losses at Wis.-Superior, including their first three-game sweep of the season over the YellowJackets. Freshman Paige Hardy was again the star of the weekend, with 50 kills in their four games. This young team seems very exciting, and I can’t wait to see them Homecoming weekend. Before that though, they will travel some 500-plus miles to Bloomington, Ill. to take on Illinois Wesleyan and Webster universities.
• On the web front, ShoutOuts!!! wasn’t a one-person show this week, with all five Fall coaches giving us a preview of the weekend. The CSS YouTube channel is filling up with great content already.
• If you don’t have plans Saturday night (after the CSS football game, of course), then camp out with St. Scholastica and the United Way at Night Without a Home. There’s live music, it’s for a good cause, and it’s probably your last nice night to camp out this year, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Well, that’s all I have for you this week. VOTS returns Tuesday with our next 5 Questions segment, featuring Head Men’s and Women’s Cross Country coach, Steve Pfingsten! We’ll talk about longevity in coaching, the difference between men and women student athletes, and maybe what makes a cross country runner tick. Should be fun.

Enjoy your weekends,
-jh