Things That Are & Things That May Be

Been a little while since our last SHOUT, hasn't it?
So let's get to it...

Our focus today is baseball and softball, throwing that at you right now.

On the baseball front, we have some interesting dynamics happening...

First I have to brief you on the baseball tourney format, because that's key to the stuff that follows...keep up with me on this, please: ten teams play in the regular season for the Big South, but PC is not eligible for postseason play yet in baseball as part of their transition to D1, leaving nine eligible for the tournament--but only eight teams make it into the tourney field (with me so far?)...the top four seeds skip the opening day and go directly into double-elimination bracket play, but the bottom four seeds have to play on the first day in single-elimination mode to see who joins the top group and who ends the postseason in a one-and-done...okay, who's lost?

Nobody? Great!

So let's start with the news at the top, because there are some staggering stories to share.

Coastal Carolina is the leader right now...and it's a pretty well-defined stake for king-of-the-mountain, as the Chanticleers are a whopping 20-0 in the Big South this year. Read it again if you like: undefeated in Conference play--in BASEBALL, where even the best team slips up on occasion. But wait, there's more: CCU has actually won 30 Conference games in a row, going back into last season! The Chants peaked with a week at #1 in the NCAA RPI for baseball, now sitting just slightly back, at 6th in the nation. Coastal is ranked in the top 11 in all major polls (6/4/5/4/11, with Rivals.com the only holdout from having CCU as top six across the board).

Very well, you say, Coastal=good, got it...but not so fast, my friends--don't look past Liberty. The Flames are second in the Big South at 18-3, and LU has 15 consecutive Big South victories tucked away. Liberty has inched its way up the RPI to #42 and is receiving votes in multiple polls right now.

Okay, so not quite as mind-blowing as the Coastal data, right? Well buckle up for this, sports fans: they play each other for a three-game series this weekend, the penultimate week of the college baseball season. As a wise man once said, "something's gotta give."

Sidebar on CCU/LU: both teams figure to make the NCAA field, barring odd circumstances down the stretch. ESPN's current "Baseball Bracketology" forecast (are these things getting out of hand?) has Coastal Carolina hosting a Regional, with College of Charleston, North Carolina, and Michigan penciled in to fill out the foursome...and Liberty going to Charlottesville for a Regional hosted by Virginia, with Vandy and JMU there to complete that quartet. That's all speculation, so file that under the "Things That May Be" in our title today...but that kind of guesswork has not slowed down the Coastal Carolina ticket office, offering sign-ups for ticket packages to postseason play not yet awarded. Certainly confident and likely prudent, but in superstition-heavy baseball, is no one concerned about the major hex cast by such a move? The jinx factor can almost be tangible sometimes in baseball, but it's likely the Chants can back up the bravado.

By the way, the focus of that ESPN piece was the likely lineup from one-bid leagues...nice to see that the Big South was NOT featured for a change.

Now to the opposite end, the polar extreme, the bottom of the standings...PC brings up the rear at 4-17, but they're out of the tournament discussion anyway. Remember that remark about the top eight teams? Well, there's a duel for eighth place between Charleston Southern at 6-14 (with five Big South losses in a row) and UNC Asheville at 5-16 (with nine straight Conference losses). And, you guessed it, they also face off in a three-game set this weekend!

Yes, in a happy accident of scheduling, we could very well determine the positioning at the top and bottom of the seeding in concurrent series with just a week left in the season. Sure, there will be a little jockeying thereafter, but a lot will depend on what happens for those teams in those series.

Meanwhile, there's drama in the middle as well, given the value of being in the top four. Now, Coastal and Liberty already have two of those spots locked down, but the others are in play. Radford (13-8) has a leg up, but it's not a done deal. VMI (11-10) holds fourth now, but only by a game on High Point (10-11)--and don't overlook Winthrop just behind at 9-12. The Eagles of course covet a spot in the top four to be sure they avoid a potentially quick exit from an event they're hosting in Rock Hill. The only team I didn't mention up to now is Gardner-Webb, largely because the Running Bulldogs (at 8-13) float in a space neither likely to make the top four nor get bounced out of the top eight. Expect to see them playing in the single-elimination round on Tuesday the 25th.

Moving right along now to softball...we KNOW those seeds, because the Softball Championship is THIS WEEK--no waiting here. All seven Big South teams (including PC for softball) participate in the tourney, with the seeding in this order: Radford, Liberty, Winthrop, GWU, CSU, Coastal, and PC. There will be five games Thursday, five more Friday, and the event will conclude Saturday. It's double-elimination throughout, and although nobody gets knocked out on the opening day, they start falling right away on day two with lower bracket games. Tell you what--in a set-up like this, you don't want to lose your first game. It sounds obvious, but knowing that your second loss is the one that kills you may take some of the sting out of the first--don't be fooled. Losing your opener in this tourney puts you on a rough road if there's going to be a title in your future: a relentless series of elimination games in a narrow time span--good luck...have a look at the bracket here.

If you plan on checking out the coverage from Coastal Carolina on the Big South Network for the Softball Championship, you'll probably hear my voice. I'm the guy doing play-by-play for the first ten games of the softball frenzy in Conway--so check it out!

Okay, enough rambling, I think...yes? Yes...you've gotten a taste for the chases and races here at the waning moments of the baseball and softball seasons--hopefully that gives you a little context to enjoy the games ahead. Follow closely on BigSouthSports.com, Twitter.com/BigSouthSports, Facebook.com/BigSouthSports, and this space as well...even though I'll be talking away, I'll do my best to update all of the above for you, so stay tuned...SHOUT--out.

Channel Your Inner Channels

Hello, Big Southers far and wide--welcome to another edition of SHOUT.

Surely you're ready for a weekend...I know I am...and if you're a Big South sports fan (which of course you are), then you're also looking forward to another great weekend of Conference games in baseball and softball. Plenty of good match-ups to enjoy out there!


Congrats to Radford for clinching the Regular Season Softball Championship nice and early--but there's still the matter of the upcoming tournament. RU will surely be the favorite, but a lot can happen with so many games in such a short period, so we look forward to the drama that will unfold at Coastal Carolina's field May 13-15.


Meanwhile, we quietly hit a unique milestone on the baseball side this past week, as Coastal Carolina topped the NCAA Baseball RPI list...you read that right: Number One in the nation based on record, road performance, schedule strength, and all the other factors that go into computing RPI. Regrettably (and isn't this always the case for teams at the top), CCU lost the first game after those rankings were published, falling on the road at Virginia. The good news is that loss may not have a catastrophic effect, considering that UVa came in at #4 on the very same list. RPI position is naturally among the consideration factors for regional hosting and seeding, so the Chanticleers have to be happy finding themselves in the uppermost tier.


By the way--big congratulations to Winthrop for the performance at the 2010 Big South Conference Men's & Women's Tennis Championships: WU swept the titles, winning final team matches as the 2-seed on both sides. The Eagles defeated the top-seeded teams in both men's play (Radford, also the host team) and women's play (Charleston Southern).


Before I go on to plug our title topic today, I also want to be sure and add a proper salute and SHOUT-out to our Winter Sportsmanship Awards winners, as voted on by their peers: PC women's basketball, GWU men's basketball, VMI women's indoor track, and Liberty men's indoor track. Those results will be combined with the fall honors already known and the spring list to be announced in determining who the overall Sportsmanship Awards will belong to at year's end.

And now, what's all this "channel" nonsense from today's headline?

We've put together a significant enhancement and upgrade to our Big South Network video portal at BigSouthSports.com. Before this, you always had to view everything from a Big South window and find anything you're looking for from out of the entire selection of events throughout the Conference. Not anymore--particularly not if your loyalty resides with a specific member of the Big South.

When you access video via the Big South Network now, you will find a new drop-down menu on the left side inviting you to "SELECT A TEAM." Clicking that gives you a list of the ten member institutions, and picking one of those essentially "changes the channel," transforming the player to a skin matching your school of choice and altering the available programming accordingly. Want to find only upcoming games for Coastal? championship events for Winthrop? games on demand for High Point? Gotcha covered...all part of the ongoing efforts to improve the fan experience with BigSouthSports.com and the Big South Network. We hope you like it--a lot went into making this happen, and we thank our web and streaming hosts with NeuLion/JumpTV, because these video developments were actually a bit harder than they look, and they were implemented seamlessly (so a SHOUT-out to the project developers today as well).

Speaking of the Big South Network (you knew this was coming), here's the video guide not only for this week, but the next TWO weeks of programming:



That's all I'll throw your way today. Enjoy yourselves out there--and try to catch a game at a Big South school if you have one within reach (and if not, well...that's what the video streaming is for, right?)...and that's SHOUT...out.

Championships-A-PLENTAY

Many Southerners know that if you ever find yourself in Spartanburg, SC, and you need a major burger-and-fried-stuff fix, the Beacon Drive In is the place to be. Those not traveling much through the region may know the Beacon from its appearance on "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives." Either way, you need to know how to order right away. Yep, it's one of THOSE places--first-timers better learn quick that you don't hold up the line, because you need to "CALL IT!" A hallmark of ordering at the Beacon is getting your burger A-PLENTAY (that's "plenty" with proper inflection, of course), meaning virtually buried in an avalanche of fries and onion rings. You get what you came for--and then some.

Hence the appropriate title for this post, because we know it's time for spring championships--and boy do we have an overflowing plate of stuff we can sink our teeth into today!

Let's take this chronologically...

It had been a month since the basketball tournaments for the Big South, but the silence ended last week, starting with the Women's Golf Championship. Charleston Southern's women logged the best showing at The Patriot Golf Club in Ninety-Six, SC, bringing back the first Big South Championship for the Bucs in anything this year. The kudos for CSU don't just end with the trophy--after all, the Bucs beat the Championship record score by eight strokes (881) and became the first team in event history to record team scores under 300 each day. AND CSU senior Olivia Jordan-Higgins brought was the individual medalist. Nice finish all around.

Before the men would get their crack at The Patriot, we turned to the CSU campus, site of the 2010 Men's & Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships. With a talented roster of competitors from all across the Big South, the OTF Championships nonetheless came down to one team on top, and the Flames burned brightest. Liberty won both the men's and women's titles, and in so doing, completed an unprecedented sweep of all the "running" titles: Cross Country, Indoor Track, and Outdoor Track, all for both Men's and Women's Championships. Call it the "double triple" as they are at LU, or just call it dominance. Coastal's women's team gave Liberty a major challenge, and even held the team lead for a while, but it was not to be this time. As for the men, Liberty led wire-to-wire there. Interestingly, while the Men's Top Performers in Track (Evans Kigen) and Field (Clarence Powell) came from Liberty, the Women's Top Performers in Track (Ikeiylah Brown) and Field (Brittany Connor) came from Coastal Carolina.

This week began with the Men's Golf Championship, and it's a familiar refrain in the Big South to announce Coastal Carolina as the team champion for men's golf, so that result comes as no real surprise to anyone. Take in these impressive numbers: CCU has now won seven titles in a row and 12 of 14. The Chants were pushed by CSU and Liberty, but could not be caught. Given all that, perhaps it's of some interest that the individual medalist was not a Chanticleer: Liberty's Robert Karlsson had the best score for the tournament.

AND NOW another title tilt is happening, even as I write and share these thoughts with you. The Big South Men's & Women's Tennis Championships began this morning from the campus of Radford University, where the hosting men's team enters with the top seed, while Charleston Southern has that honor on the women's side. So by Saturday afternoon, we're scheduled to have two more champions crowned.

That's if the weather holds, of course...we just got through nine days staging four outdoor championship events with nothing more than a fog delay one morning and some breezes, so the luck so far has been quite good (bringing the law of averages into play, quite possibly). It may be a race against rain come Saturday, but we're hoping all is well for tennis to run on schedule.

Once tennis concludes, that just leaves softball and baseball to finish out the "pennant races" of their seasons and stage their May tourneys, which will close out the 2009-10 season.

As far as title-winners this year, looking back on it, we find a very favorable run for LU:

Championships won (14 total)--
7.5 Liberty (M/W XC, M/W ITF, M/W OTF, WBB, FB-tie)
2.0 Winthrop (MSOC, MBB)
2.0 Coastal Carolina (VB, MG)
1.0 High Point (WSOC)
1.0 Charleston Southern (WG)
0.5 (Associate Member Stony Brook: FB-tie)

And with only four left to crown, nobody can catch Liberty on this list...as for Sasser Cup, there are a number of other factors involved, but no one can doubt LU would be a favorite to repeat.

In other news, HPU is streaming their Spring Athletic Banquet tonight (4/22). It's available on the Big South Network, just like these other games I'm going to talk about in the video (although the banquet is the only one of those events that you can watch for free)...here's the guide for this week--with one note--ADD IN the Saturday-Sunday games for Coastal Carolina at VMI baseball:



So that's it for today...until next time-- "CAALLLLLLL IT!" SHOUT--out.

Take Me to Your Leaders

Time for your Friendly Neighborhood Spring Sports Update...

Under the yellow haze of pollen, the races are taking shape across the Big South Conference (all standings based on play as of 4/8/10).

First let's slide into baseball:

With two teams ranked in the top 30, the Big South has earned plenty of respect--thanks to the performances of Coastal Carolina and VMI. Interestingly, those two teams are not alone in the tangle for the top of the Conference baseball standings--Gardner-Webb has squeezed in there as well. Those are the only three clubs that can boast both a winning record in Big South play and a winnning record overall: Coastal (5-0 / 24-5), GWU (5-1 / 15-13), and VMI (7-2 / 25-5). By the way, an interesting schedule twist next Tuesday has created a Big South-SoCon showdown night, with Elon at Liberty, The Citadel at Coastal Carolina, and App. St. at High Point, all at 6pm.

Next let's take a swing at softball:

Like the baseball standings, the field of contenders with winning records in Conference and overall is a narrow one. For softball, that upper-echelon group is only a duo: Radford and Liberty. The Highlanders are 8-1 / 22-10 and the Flames are 4-2 / 19-10. The Championship is just over a month away now at Coastal Carolina--and I've just learned that your writer here will be your announcer there for the streamed games in the first two days of that event.

Time to serve up some women's tennis:

While I can list four programs that have run off winning records in the Big South and overall, only one is truly the leader here: Charleston Southern. CSU has raced out to a 7-0 / 15-1 start and has mounted a legitimate threat to Winthrop's grip on the sport in the Conference. Winthrop (3-1 / 9-8) is among the schools in that winning group, along with Coastal Carolina (3-1 / 15-4) and Radford (3-2 / 12-4), but there's a lot of catching up to do if the Bucs are to be overtaken by anybody else before the Championship at Radford in just two weeks.

And on the other side of the net for men's tennis:

Out of all these leader groups, men's tennis is the one that includes an aberration--a team at the top in Conference NOT sporting a winning record overall, and that's Winthrop (3-0 / 7-10). The other squads in contention do not have that issue: Radford (3-0 / 10-9), CCU (3-1 / 12-6), and Liberty (2-1 / 10-7). RU is of course the team that's owned this title for a while, but it's clear that they will have some quality opposition when the Highlanders take the home court in an effort to defend their crown later this month.

In the other spring sports, golf is approaching its finish...the Women's Golf Championship tees off Monday at The Patriot Golf Club in Ninety-Six, SC. The Palmetto State is not only the home of the course, but also the top three seeds: Coastal Carolina, Charleston Southern, and Winthrop. There's a certain deja vu to that, since Coastal and CSU finished 1-2 in this event a year ago. Men's golf has an additional week before teeing off that championship.


While the next Big South Championship will be awarded in women's golf, the next one you can watch on the Big South Network is the 2010 Big South Men's & Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships from Charleston Southern. Given the level of competition seen across the Conference this year, I would expect some remarkable times/heights/distances from the participating student-athletes. Team-wise, keep your eyes on the Liberty contingent. The Flames took home the hardware for men's and women's cross country in the fall and for men's and women's indoor track in the winter...meaning LU seeks a remarkable "double triple crown"--winning for men and women in all three running/track-related sports. It would be an incredible feat, but they'll have to beat the field next week to pull it off, and that won't be easy.

Okay, feel caught up on the spring goings-on?

Good, let's talk football!

No, seriously, just for a minute--never too early. Surely you know spring football has been going strong for weeks, and now is the time when the spring games start popping up everywhere. Lots of those intrasquad scrimmages will be played this Saturday, particularly across the South. Among them, the Presbyterian College Blue Hose, and I am proud to announce that the Big South Network will have its first-ever April football event with the live streaming of the PC Spring Game (4/10, 10am). You can order it through BigSouthSports.com--but you better catch it live, because this one won't be saved in the archives!

Speaking of the "BSN" -- here's the story on what will be streaming this week, including that football game from PC...

That's all for now, folks. Not expecting a new entry tomorrow, so I'll wish you a good weekend now...SHOUT--out!

Spring Sass

Play Ball--Conference play!

Baseball and softball will still have their share of out-of-conference match-ups ahead, as is the nature of those sports' schedules, but the bulk of upcoming games are those against familiar foes in the Big South--and that's always when things get really interesting in any given sports season around here.

So while Radford hosts Siena and Coastal Carolina welcomes San Diego, the other eight Big South baseball squads will square off in Conference series through the weekend:
-Gardner-Webb at PC
-CSU at VMI
-Liberty at Asheville
-HPU at Winthrop

On the softball side, Winthrop hosts a tournament, Coastal plays Siena, and Liberty is off, but the other four teams lock up in Big South games this weekend:
-CSU at Radford
-PC at Gardner-Webb

And because spring sports are a busy time, those events just scratch the surface in a season with golf, tennis, and outdoor track & field, all for both men and women. In fact, as we prepare to wrap up March, we look to April and the next championship swing:
-April 12-14, Women's Golf
-April 15-17, Outdoor Track/Field (Men's/Women's)
-April 19-21, Men's Golf
-April 22-24, Tennis (Men's/Women's)
(with softball and baseball to follow in mid-late May).


Lots of competition--and it all adds up, because we have the totals for the Sasser Cup updated through all the winter sports now. And by way of quick update for those who are not familiar, the Sasser Cup is the "Commissioner's Trophy" or "All-Sports Award" equivalent. Most leagues have some sort of honor to the team(s) with the best cumulative performance throughout the year. For the Big South, that's the George F. "Buddy" Sasser Cup Trophy--and here's the latest...

The overall standings lead belongs to Liberty, and here's the top five:
Liberty / Coastal / Winthrop / High Point / Charleston Southern

The women's standings lead also is with the Flames, with the following top five:
Liberty / Coastal / VMI / High Point / Winthrop

Meanwhile, the men's standings have a different leader--Coastal Carolina, with this top group:
Coastal / Liberty / Winthrop / High Point / Radford

It's all a points system based on order of finish for each sport, not strictly on championships alone, but obviously winning titles is a big help, and Liberty has the edge over all others right now. LU has won 5.5 of the 10 championships awarded so far (MXC, WXC, MITF, WITF, WBB, FB-tie). The other 4.5 are scattered among Winthrop (MSOC, MBB), High Point (WSOC), Coastal Carolina (VB), and associate member Stony Brook (FB-tie).

Eight sport championships remain to be awarded in April and May, so hang on...will two-time defending Sasser Cup champ Liberty maintain the lead and make it a three-peat, or will Coastal (or another) rise up and douse the Flames? Stick around, folks...

And heeeere's the latest guide to the Big South Network programming.....



That's all for today...and hey, it's my birthday today (the writer, not the blog)--so celebrate and have a good time--catch you later...SHOUT--out.

Full Speed Ahead

Hello, SHOUT readers...


You know, we all have those hectic windows in our work life--in taxes, it's early in the year; in retail, it's late in the year; for college conferences like the Big South, right now is one of those "peak season" windows.


Everyone in the Conference office is running around these days, but just using me (as the example I know best): last week I was at the swimming facility at UT in Knoxville for CCSA Championships, this weekend I'll be at the Indoor Track & Field Championships held at Clemson, and then right on the heels of that, it's off to a site to be determined for action in the Men's Basketball Championship tournament--and as soon as that's wrapped, we're off to High Point for the Women's Basketball Championship tourney AND the Big South Winter Meetings. And of course, in the middle of all that, our daily responsibilities don't go away, so the regular parts of the job are in there too.


Don't misunderstand--that's not complaining, just sharing--I want everyone to know that the staff at the Big South is hard at work to make the championship swing work at its best for all the student-athletes, teams, and institutions of the Conference...this is an exciting, dramatic time of the year, with so much going on for fans of all kinds--please enjoy the stellar competition and the coverage we offer from these great events.


On to the events themselves...

Last week I didn't get anything posted to SHOUT (and shame on me, sorry about that) while working poolside at Tennessee's Aquatic Center for the CCSA Swimming & Diving Championships. The nutshell recap: favorite Florida Gulf Coast University did swim away with the women's championship, while Davidson College made a splash in taking the men's title. Of those schools fielding both men's and women's teams, Davidson had the best performance, with a M-1/W-2 team result, but Gardner-Webb was just behind with a M-2/W-3 finish.


That was the third year for the CCSA (Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association), a joint venture of the Big South, Southern, Atlantic Sun, and MEAC. The champions for the three years: Men-- College of Charleston (2008, 2009) and Davidson (2010); Women-- Davidson (2008), Florida Gulf Coast (2009, 2010). The event has been held at Huntersville, NC, Athens, GA, and Knoxville, TN...no telling where we'll be in year four...



THIS week, it's on to the Big South's Indoor Track & Field Championships, again to be staged at the indoor facility on the campus at Clemson University. Recent years have been owned by Liberty's men and Coastal's women, but it's a clean slate for 2010 and all we know is that there will be plenty of speed, height, and strength on display (and all streamed live on the Big South Network of course). Outside of those perennial strong teams, keep an eye out for star performers like Felix Kitur of VMI and the Charleston Southern men's relay team.


MEANWHILE, oh yeah--the men's basketball races are on fire!

Here's what we know going into Thursday's games: Coastal Carolina, Winthrop, and Radford will host first round games (with the seeding order still up in the air a bit). That fourth home slot has not been settled, but three teams have a shot at it: Asheville has the inside track, Liberty is right behind if UNCA stumbles, and High Point needs to win out and get help to climb past UNCA and LU, making it the least likely of the trio. The Championship schedule is on the Big South website and will be updated as teams go into their slots.

The men's quarterfinals, along with the track championships and LOTS of other events are filling up the slate for the Big South Network this week--here's the link to the video on YouTube (not going to fight Blogger on the video embed this week). You can also get there by clicking it inside the Vortex box on the right side of SHOUT or using the Big South Network player right on BigSouthSports.com, of course!

Well, I don't want to make this too long, so I'll spare you any lengthy stories about women's basketball (Gardner-Webb still rolling, Liberty right there--could be a finals collision in the making), baseball (Winthrop really opened up on fire, and Coastal is the real deal again), and softball (CSU knocked off a ranked Louisville squad)...just one more thing today...

Believe it or not, SHOUT is approaching an anniversary of sorts...the first live/public post for Big South SHOUT hit the web at the start of the Indoor Track & Field Championships at Clemson two years ago: February 29, 2008, to be precise. Seemed clever at the time to jump off on "Leap Day." Two years and 144 posts later, we're still SHOUT-ing...and we hope you keep reading.

Thank you for your support--we offer a grateful SHOUT-out to you all!

Web-O-Rama Lives!

You may find yourself--searching across sites online.
And you may find yourself--looking through Big South school pages.

You may ask yourself, "Why goof on a Talking Heads song?"

And you may say to yourself, "Good grief, move SHOUT along!"

Yes, Big South SHOUT took a little breather around Independence Day, but it's all business now--the 2009-10 calendar opened July 1st, so we're not looking back (well, not much, anyway--check out the important item for VMI): it's full speed ahead in preseason mode!

First item on our July agenda is getting everyone caught up around the horn with another installment of that SHOUT favorite: Web-O-Rama...so let's get those browsers going...

Charleston Southern...CSUSports.com tells us that we're within 60 days of the Bucs' football opener at The Swamp in Gainesville, but it also offers interesting baseball notes--particularly for those seeking instruction: a delay in camp dates (pushed back a month) and details for those who want more individual training assistance.

Coastal Carolina... the first thing you'll notice right now at GoCCUSports.com is the splash page that teases the release of the site redesign on July 22nd, but there's more activity in Conway than just on the website. Check out the Adkins Fieldhouse Construction slideshow, showing you the expansion in progress at the Chants' football home.

Gardner-Webb... GWUSports.com has baseball success stories for fans of Runnin' Bulldogs past and present: a Southern League All-Star starter, plus three All-Stars playing in college summer leagues...a good job by the "Diamond Dogs."

High Point... soccer superlatives are among the highlights at HighPointPanthers.com, where HPU salutes its impressive group of nine players on developmental league rosters right now in preparations for the season ahead.

Liberty... LibertyFlames.com turns to recent basketball stars for a couple good stories--Anthony Smith making the summer league roster for the Indiana Pacers and Megan Frazee adjusting to life in the WNBA (pictured here, Getty Images photo)--fun and fascinating stuff as they transition from college to the pros!

Presbyterian... GoBlueHose.com has a nod to the future of its softball program with a report on accolades given to the three members of its incoming freshman class.

Radford... RUHighlanders.com has a nice baseball item that RU fans will enjoy taking advantage of--a links page to connect you to college summer league teams that feature Highlanders on their rosters.

UNC Asheville... the big news this week at UNCABulldogs.com is the announcement of Asheville's new baseball coach, Tom Smith--complete with free video of Monday morning's press conference.

VMI... a huge salute, both from VMIKeydets.com and (of course) from BigSouthSports.com, on VMI winning the Big South Conference 2008-09 Institutional Sportsmanship Award. This year's honor actually marks the fourth straight time VMI has won--accounting for all four years the award has been in existence. Bravo, Keydets!

Winthrop... those already counting down to the next hoops season will like a recent item at WinthropEagles.com, where it has been announced that the Lady Eagles will participate in this year's Preseason WNIT. WU will open Preseason WNIT play with Georgia Tech in Atlanta on November 13th.

Okay, that's all for today--don't forget to follow us on Twitter and become a Facebook Fan, too!

If those reminders seem too familiar by now, you may be thinking it's the...

...same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it EVER WAS!

(that's back to the Talking Heads--look it up, kids--better yet, give it a listen...SHOUT--out)

Web-O-Rama Goes to Camp

We haven't taken SHOUT through a tour of the Big South sites in a little while, so it looks like time for another edition of WEB-O-RAMA--today we are going to narrow the focus to SUMMER SPORTS CAMPS!

You heard me kids...

WELCOME TO SUMMER CAMP!

Yes, camp: baseball, softball, football, soccer, you name it, a number of schools and coaches are working on making some happy campers this month (most are in mid-late June, some trickle into July). The variety of camp offerings available is amazing (if not staggering), from some open to campers as young as four years old, up to others restricted to high school seniors...from those hosted by the head coach to others led by former players or professional camp services...and from those working with individual athletes to others geared toward teams.

Look for the Big South member in your area and your sport of interest for dates--here are just SOME of the links to help you on your way to upcoming summer camp information:

Charleston Southern: Baseball, Football, Basketball--Men - Women, Volleyball

Coastal Carolina: Baseball, Football, Basketball--Men - Women, Softball, Soccer--Men - Women

Gardner-Webb: Baseball, Football, Basketball--Men - Women, Soccer--Men - Women

High Point: Baseball / Basketball / Soccer (main info on one page)

Liberty: Baseball, Football, Basketball--Men - Women, Soccer--Men - Women, Wrestling

Presbyterian: Baseball, Football, Basketball--Men - Women, Softball, Soccer

Radford: Baseball, Basketball--Men - Women, Soccer--Men - Women, Softball, Volleyball

UNC Asheville: Baseball*, Basketball--Men - Women, Soccer, Volleyball

VMI: Football / Basketball / Baseball / Soccer / Lacrosse*, (main info on one page)

Winthrop: Baseball, Basketball--Men - Women, Soccer--Men - Women, Softball, Volleyball

* = updated information pending as of June 4th.

Whew!

That's more than 50 links, so I'm all linked out now...hope you find the camp that fits you best!!!

More from SHOUT coming soon...

The Gretzky Post

What, you say? A hockey reference? Surely it's not to imply that this entry is a "Great One"...

No--it's about the number. This is post #99 since we got SHOUT jump-started on Leap Day 2008. Using that reasoning, I guess I could've called it "The Sapp Post," but that just didn't have the best ring to it.

Speaking of this blog and its brethren, here's a little love from the Conference's main site.

Moving on...

THE BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP HAS ARRIVED!!!

Yes, we've begun the 2009 Royal Purple Big South Conference Baseball Championship. Hopefully you'll be able to get out to McCormick Field in Asheville and soak up some of the atmosphere in that classic minor league park (home to the Asheville Tourists), but if not, there's always our wall-to-wall coverage on The Big South EDGE. Kudos to Championship Host UNC Asheville for making the event happen so smoothly--and a special SHOUT-out to Everett Hutto of UNCA for making the production of the live streaming top notch, with SIX cameras out there to capture the action from every angle. Looks great, sounds great: follow your team's path through the double-elimination bracket by ordering the game on The EDGE.

Enough promotion, how about the hardball? Well, Tuesday night got things rolling with the tournament's two lead-off elimination games--the bottom four seeds contesting for two open slots. High Point held off Charleston Southern to advance, while 8-seed VMI pulled off a surprise by routing Gardner-Webb. That victory may not have left much in the tank for the next morning, as the Keydets fell to top-seeded Coastal Carolina...but the good news for VMI fans is they're still in it--they just have to play their way back out of the loser's bracket to do it (a tall order for anybody).

As I write this on Wednesday afternoon, HPU and Winthrop are just starting in the day's second game. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday each feature a trio of games (at 11am, 3pm, and 7pm) before we get to Saturday's Final (one game or two as needed).

So what about the other postseason efforts not concluded at our last post?

Softball--Radford dropped the opener to Georgia, but fought back with a win over Campbell, only to lose to Regional Host North Carolina, eliminating the Highlanders.

Men's Golf--Coastal Carolina finished 11th at the NCAA Northeast Regional, ending the season for the Chanticleers (the top five teams from each Regional advance).

Is it just me or were there a lot of links today?

That's all for now...enjoy the baseball--the Big South crowns its champion on Saturday!

Next post is the century mark for SHOUT (and they said it would never last)--oh, and next week we reveal the "Best of the Best" top ten countdown, so don't miss that!

The Camels are Coming!

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT today from the Big South Conference:

The Fighting Camels of Campbell University will be joining the Big South, starting with the 2011-2012 academic/athletic calendar!!!

If there's a somewhat familiar ring about CU and the Big South, that's because the Camels were a founding member of the Conference. Campbell competed (and won a fair amount of titles) in the Big South from 1983-1994. In recent years, CU has been competing in the Atlantic Sun Conference, but remained a familiar foe on the schedules of many Big South teams. The switch is not immediate, as Campbell will remain in the A-Sun for another two years, but when the fall 2011 season comes around, the Big South will have 11 full-time members. WELCOME, CAMELS!

In other news...

Radford dropped its opener Thursday afternoon at the Chapel Hill Regional for NCAA Softball. Regional top-seed (but not host) Georgia downed the Highlanders 3-1, meaning RU next faces the loser of the game between host (but not top-seed) UNC and Campbell (an interesting coincidence, having CU come up again, don't you think?).

RU has to win to avoid an early exit, a fate that the Big South tennis reps could not avoid at the hands of ACC opponents: Duke ousted the Radford men and Clemson downed the Winthrop women in their recent first round match-ups.

Meanwhile, the baseball regular season wraps up this weekend! It's the final Conference series for everyone (Thurs-Fri-Sat), then a couple days to catch their breath--followed by the 2009 Big South Conference Baseball Championship at McCormick Field in Asheville, NC.

With more on the final baseball games and the championship, here's...well, here's ME with this week's "On The EDGE" (our final one this season):

That's all for now, SHOUT lovers...don't forget to find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter!

Sportsmanship Winners (& Softball Update)

Just to be sure everyone's up-to-date...the Softball Championship was scheduled to start at 10am this morning, but has been pushed back two hours due to heavy rains overnight in the Radford area. Sooooo...your new start times are approximately 12pm, 2:30, 5pm, and 7:30, all starting with Charleston Southern (4) against Gardner-Webb (5) at high noon!

While I've got everyone, I want to touch on something we didn't get to in the last couple of posts: SPORTSMANSHIP. Some of you are already skeptical, but bear with me...

See, the topic of good sportsmanship is naturally part of what athletics--and particularly collegiate athletics--is all about, and has a fundamental role in what the Big South Conference does...so much so, there are even honors awarded to teams recognized for sportsmanship!

The winter results were recently announced:

2008-09 Big South Team Sportsmanship Award Winners
Women’s Basketball:................Presbyterian
Men’s Basketball:....................Gardner-Webb, VMI
Women’s Indoor Track:.............Gardner-Webb, High Point
Men’s Indoor Track:.................VMI

Now add in the results from the fall...
Football:..............................VMI
Volleyball:............................Liberty
Men’s Soccer:........................Radford
Women’s Soccer:....................Liberty
Men’s Cross Country:................High Point, VMI
Women’s Cross Country:............Liberty

...with the spring sports to be added at the end of the season.

This year marks the fourth season for the Big South Team Sportsmanship Awards. Big South Conference teams vote on their top three choices for best sportsmanship (and cannot vote for themselves).

VMI has won 16 team awards and all three overall awards since the program began. Keydets, we salute you!!!

Bring on the Softball

Radford hosts the 2009 Big South Conference Softball Championship (presented by Texas Roadhouse), with play beginning Thursday morning--yes, morning, as the first game takes the field at 10am, weather willing.

RU not only has host duties, but the honor/bonus/burden of being the top seed as well. Last year, Winthrop had the one-two punch of host and top seed, which helped the Eagles get the third and most important part of the winning trilogy: a championship. Can Radford do the same this year? They were the two-seed behind Winthrop last year, just as WU is the two-seed behind Radford this year. Odds favor a showdown between the two, but double-elimination tournaments can be tricky if a team slips up and winds up on the wrong side of the bracket.

Day one (Thursday) brings us four games: 4-CSU/5-GWU, 3-LU/6-CCU, 1-RU/(g1 winner), 2-WU/(g2winner). Day two (Friday) is when things get really complicated, for a while at least, with FIVE games over the full course of the day. That crowded slate gets us from six teams down to two, setting up the third day's finale. Championship Saturday will be either one or two games (if needed) to determine the one winner for the Big South.

Whew...got it?

It'll all make sense if you watch the results unfold on The Big South EDGE, with all games streamed live from Radford. Here's more on the video streaming for the week...

More to share:
The Big South announced four winners for the 2009 Christenberry Award (highest academic honor for student-athletes): Marcie Veitch, CCU track/field; Alexandra Spector, RU tennis; Patricia Coimbra, WU tennis; and Patrick Walker, LU wrestling.

While we're on the subject of smart and deserving student-athletes, let's give a proper SHOUT-out to the two recipients of the Bob McCloskey Insurance Big South Conference Graduate Fellowships: Tessa Thomas, WU softball; and Jonathan Ahearn, GWU baseball.

Don't forget, the baseball championship is right around the corner--games are set for May 19-23 at McCormick Field in Asheville, NC. The final week of the regular season is just ahead of us now, and competition for seeding could be intense. Enjoy the games!

NCAA Tournament updates--
Men's Tennis: Radford is in the Knoxville regional vs. Duke on Friday, 5/8
Women's Tennis: Winthrop is at Clemson in the first round on Friday, 5/8
Women's Golf: Coastal Carolina is in the Gainesville regional starting Thursday, 5/7
Men's Golf: Coastal Carolina will be in the New Jersey regional starting Thursday, 5/14

Gotta run, Big South fans--dodge those showers and catch some great softball and baseball while we still have some season left! SHOUT...out.

Anything Can Happen Day

Time to catch up on a few subjects and run some quick hits from across the Conference, hence "Anything Can Happen Day"...if that old pop culture reference eludes you, help awaits at the end of today's post...

NFL DRAFT
Kudos to Liberty RB Rashad Jennings (pictured), selected in the 7th round by the Jacksonville Jaguars. Jennings was the Big South's Offensive Player of the Year both coming into and out of the 2008 season on his way to All-American status. He joins fellow Big South alums Tyler Thigpen (CCU QB, Minnesota 2007) and Brian Johnston (GWU DE, Kansas City 2008) as 7th round selections in three consecutive seasons. The highest Big South pick remains Jerome Simpson's 2nd round selection by the Bengals last year. But wait, there's more...because after the conclusion of the Draft, Gardner-Webb WR Dobson Collins signed a free agent deal with the San Francisco 49ers. A big "congrats" SHOUT-out to Rashad & Dobson--good luck with your pro careers!

NCAA TOURNAMENTS
The recent Big South Championships mean representatives at the next level, and we know some of those match-ups now...
Women's Tennis--Winthrop will travel to Clemson again, where the Lady Eagles were ousted (4-0) by the Lady Tigers a year ago. They'll try to return the favor Friday, May 8th.
Men's Tennis--Radford (and FOUR-time Conference Player of the Year Martin Sayer, pictured at right) will play as the third seed in the Knoxville Regional, facing second seed Duke (host Tennessee has the top seed of the regional and will play fourth seed ETSU). The Highlanders will hit also hit the court Friday, May 8th.
Women's Golf--Coastal Carolina is bound for the NCAA East Regional, to be played in Gainesville, FL. There are 21 teams at the Regional, with only eight squads advancing to the next round of competition. They'll play it out May 7th-9th.

FLAME BURNING THE TRACK
Liberty's Sam Chelanga is fast--you may know that part already, considering how many races he's won and records he's set while running for the Flames (see him pictured in lead at right). But do you know what he did a few days ago in New York at the NY Road Runners Distance Carnival? Oh...he won the 10k... with a time that broke the old NCAA best time...by FIVE SECONDS (an eternity for these things)...to set the best mark in the WORLD this year at 27:28:48.
That's all...thought you should know.
Almost forgot, one more thing--he beat FIVE Olympians in that race.
Sam Chelanga, we'd salute you--if we could only catch up with you...good grief, man, that was fast!!!!

AND THEN THERE WERE TWO...
...Championships, that is...Softball will play out its final showdowns with the Big South Conference Championship in Radford, May 7-9 (all games streaming on The EDGE). Radford and Winthrop have a big leg up on the competition going in, but will they be the last two teams standing come the final day? Could be interesting... Baseball has three weeks before we know who clinches a berth in the Regionals, but Liberty and Winthrop will be among the teams giving Coastal Carolina a firm challenge this time around. They'll play out the double-elimination bracket May 19-23 at Asheville's McCormick Field (UNCA will be the host school for the event at the minor league park, but the Bulldogs are not expected to make the eight-team field).

GONE BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN
The Big South Conference family lost a member this week, always a sad thing to note...but this passing seems especially poignant given the Big South's 25th Anniversary celebration: Conference co-founder George Christenberry, President Emeritus of Augusta State University, died last week at age 93. Dr. Christenberry, an inaugural member of the Big South Hall of Fame, was the first Conference President, and the Big South's highest academic honor for student-athletes bears his name. He leaves a remarkable legacy in education and holds a permanent place of honor for all of us in the Big South Conference.

I'll wrap the news and notes for now--and turn things over to this week's "On The EDGE" for the scoop on what's coming next for our week in video streaming...

Okay, okay, you've been patient...
"Anything Can Happen Day" was the Wednesday theme of...

The Mickey Mouse Club:
M-I-C (see you real soon), K-E-Y (why? because we like you), M-O-U-S-EEEEE.
And that's SHOUT...out!

Weekender Quick Hits

Not going to take much of your time, but here are some things to chew on for this weekend...

SOFTBALL -- The Big South's top two teams right now will face off in a nationally-televised game on ESPNU this Sunday at 2pm, when Winthrop visits Radford...get the details at this link.

TENNIS & TRACK -- It's a good time so far for the favorites/top seeds/defending champions. For tennis, last year's winners have each clinched spots in their respective finals: Radford for the men and Winthrop for the women. At track & field, the defending outdoor champs (and indoor winners) each hold leads on the rest of the group: Liberty for the men and Coastal Carolina for the women. Come late Saturday afternoon, we'll have four more champions with their titles in hand--will it be a series of repeats or will someone else break through?

GOLF -- Congratulations to Coastal Carolina, Big South Women's Golf Champions for 2009! They settled that title on Wednesday afternoon. By next Wednesday afternoon, we'll know if the men can make it a CCU sweep on the links...the Chanticleers will be the favorite among the field, but anything can happen once the ball starts rolling, so stay tuned.

BASEBALL -- The final month of the season begins, and that turns every Conference series into crunch time. This weekend we have two full series (Friday-Saturday-Sunday) being streamed on The Big South EDGE: Coastal Carolina at High Point and Winthrop at Liberty, both of which could have significant impacts on the standings...good thing you don't have to miss any of the action thanks to the video streaming, right? Look into the Baseball Weekly Pass, which would allow you to get all six of those games for the price of two!

Okay, folks, that's all for now--have a great weekend (and good luck to your favorite Big South teams)!