Talkin' Baseball (?)...and Plenty More

Okay Big South peeps, this weekend still seems simple enough on its face: Conference match-ups for men's and women's basketball take center stage, right? Sure, but it's not that simple any more, certainly not beyond this weekend anyway.

Here's the deal--Saturday has a full line-up of men's hoops, with five games tipping off throughout the day, plus a quartet of women's games also hitting the court. But January is coming to a close and February is coming in fast, so those games get the most buzz right now, but it's just the tip of an athletics iceberg that will culminate with a parade of championships in the spring.

Put another way, the tennis teams are facing off against out-of-conference foes right now, while the golf teams are rolling out their tournaments, and, most notably, the indoor track and field squads are making lots of noise in various meets around the region. How much noise? Good enough for the men to make the USTFCCCA (it's the governing body, don't worry about the alphabet soup, just go with it) top ten for ALL conferences in the country! The Big South ranked eighth, coming in behind only the six large power/BCS leagues, plus the Mountain West Conference.

Is that all, you ask? Well, noooo...although not under the "Big South Sports" umbrella, don't forget about the wrestling competition happening out there right now for some schools (VMI, Liberty, and GWU all wrestle...catch the VMI-Citadel competition streaming tonight on the Big South Network). Then there's the swimming and diving, which has been growing, with Liberty joining GWU, VMI, and Radford in the pool. All have been actively competing and await the CCSA Championships in February, featuring the swimming schools from four regional conferences that do not have enough participants to stage their own individual championship meets.

And then there's this...baseball and softball practice. Seriously, the ball-and-bat sports will hit their respective diamonds soon, and there's a sizable and eager fan base waiting for play to begin. The preseason polls were released this last week, and it probably does not shock anyone following the sports to see that Coastal Carolina had the nod for tops in baseball and Radford the same for softball. In fact, both are getting a little national attention as well.

For baseball, Coastal not only won the top spot in the coaches' vote, but did so unanimously! The Chants will start the season ranked 24th nationally, and will be watched closely to see how they follow last year's Super Regional finish. For softball, Radford will not begin ranked, but the Highlanders have votes in the national preseason polls, so they are not far off the radar.

Interestingly enough, Liberty lurks just behind the leaders in both sports in the preseason count. The Flames matched CCU baseball's unanimous first-place prediction by collecting a unanimous set of second-place votes. It seems clear that the Big South's baseball skippers agree that the 2011 season begins where the 2010 season left off: with Coastal ruling the roost but Liberty burning it up right behind. It wasn't unanimous for softball, but it was nearly as decisive, as the softball coaches made the Radford-Liberty duo a clear one-two.

For those already wanting to get their hands on for spring streaming packages on the Big South Network (presented by State Farm), good news: those packages will be available starting February 1st at BigSouthSports.com. Individual games will be available for order soon after that.


Okay, okay, let's get back to the whole HOOPS thing!

Opposite poles? Matter and anti-matter? Call it what you like, but the still blistering-hot Coastal Carolina Chanticleers play at ice-cold Radford Saturday. It's the upset of the year within the Conference if the 1-9 Highlanders stop the 10-0 Chants and their 17-game win streak, "but that's why they play the games"...

As amazing as the Coastal run has been (and it has been stellar), don't overlook the fact that the Liberty Flames have paced CCU every step of the way. The only loss for the 9-1 Flames was to Coastal Carolina, and it will be very interesting to see if that's still the case when these teams meet again: February 3rd in Conway. First, LU will have to dispatch a pesky GWU squad that has shown some resilience after a huge losing skid.

Other games for the men this weekend: Asheville at VMI -- two contenders trying to sort out the seeds behind the leaders, CSU at HPU -- Panthers trying to salvage a rougher season than expected vs. Buccaneers in that contender mix, and Winthrop at PC -- Eagles fighting for position and Blue Hose trying to play perpetual spoiler.

On the women's side, there are four Saturday games and four Monday games, but for the fans of recent Big South history and rivalry, there's only one game to watch for: Liberty at Gardner-Webb, Monday night (1/31, 7pm, on Big South Network). The Flames and Bulldogs are two of the three teams (along with RU) in a tight race for first, but that's just a bonus in what has become one of those rapidly intensifying rivalries...which tends to happen when you battle for the title a couple times, yeah? Conference competition at its best.

By the way, speaking of championships, did you know the Advance Auto Parts Big South Conference Basketball Championships have their own official Facebook page now? It's true. You now have a perfect companion to the Big South Facebook page (covering all Conference news) with the "Advance Championship" page, updating the races in the standings and the pursuit of records, plus the promotions, contests, events, and fans of Big South basketball. Go now and "like" both pages if you haven't already!

While I'm shilling, go follow us on Twitter, please...

For my final shameless plug, don't forget to browse through items at the Big South Online Store. If you haven't tried it yet, you will be surprised by the variety and quality of items available for you to order for your favorite school or for the Big South Conference. It's the best across-the-board merchandise for the Big South membership that you'll find anywhere--and right now (through the weekend), they're running a 15% discount special on personalized team basketball jerseys...go--what are you waiting for? After all, I'm done.

Have a good weekend, everybody...SHOUT--out.

Feeling Super Flipped at the Big South

Today I want to expand on a couple things I've referred to before with a little more detail, as I talk about bringing something new to the table this fall.

The Big South has been a pretty progressive collegiate conference when it comes to embracing technology and changing outlets for reaching out to fans. Obviously the website has been around for a long time now, although it's been through a number of updates over the years--the most recent and most positive one coming early this year. That's still the fundamental core of the modern interaction with fans, friends, and followers, of course.

We're a few years into video streaming live events, growing the streaming arm (first "The EDGE" and now the Big South Network) to a robust 700+ events last year and planned again for this year. And not just games, but press conferences, media days, and other happenings Big South fans want to see.

Meanwhile, as that growth has been progressing, the social media/networking side of things has exploded from non-existence to an essential modern communication tool. The Big South branched out from its home site first with this blog 2.5 years ago, but in the year that followed, the Conference found itself with a presence on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook as well. In the more than 18 months of social media activity since then, the Big South has earned over 570 Facebook fans and nearly 750 Twitter followers, along with literally thousands of video views on YouTube.

So what would be next? With a jam-packed website, live video, social networking, and all the pieces and parts that interconnect those outlets, where would the Big South look now?

Turns out the answer is a little of the past and a little of the future. The Big South Network did what any self-respecting network has done for ages: announce its new fall line-up.

The massive game schedule is a given, and is assumed by all the Big South faithful, so that's not the "new" part here--no, we're talking about new programming: original "shows" on the BSN.

Viewers have the games and media activities, along with support programs like the BSN Viewers Guide, Royal Purple Round-Ups, and such, but what about original content designed for the Big South Network?

And that's my role, coming up with some of those answers--which direction would we go and how would we go about it? The concepts needed to be interesting enough to engage the viewers and valuable enough to get the critical participation from the member schools.

Commissioner Kyle Kallander felt a highlight program was essential, and everyone certainly agreed with that, which eventually gave birth to the "Big South Super 7"...after all, everybody does a top ten, right? So that's all part of the hook--a weekly show, therefore "the best seven plays from the last seven days", and not just one more top ten list. In two weeks, we've already seen some remarkable plays and players from football, soccer, and volleyball featured, with plenty more to come.

Two behind-the-scenes facts to share with you, dear SHOUT reader: one--we can't make the highlights from thin air, so the seven you see may not match the WOW of something you saw in person at a Big South event, but if the host school doesn't feed us the video, we have nothing to use...two--in addition to the hook of the alliterative "Super 7" and the tie to a show every seven days, the number was selected to confirm to the membership that, unlike many other things that are done here, not everyone was guaranteed equal footing--ten highlight slots for ten schools might have implied to some that there was a 1:1 correspondence, while starting with seven openings for ten members makes it clear that not all can make the cut.

Two editions of the Big South Super 7 have already appeared at BigSouthSports.com and at YouTube.com/BigSouthSports, so check them out to see what we're up to these days.

Also already into its season is "Big South FLIPPED: On Campus". I know, it may sound like there's a lot going on in that title, but there's a method to the madness. First off, all the program titles are going to have "Big South" in there for sure, because the branding of your content is important in a time with internet video bouncing all over the world. Next is the seemingly obvious part, with "FLIPPED" -- because we gave each member school a Flip camera to capture video for this effort, and the Flip has become shorthand for that immediate, first-person video experience. So why keep going with "On Campus"? Why not stop with FLIPPED? To leave no doubt: these stories would not be told from afar; these stories would come from the source; these stories would bring the viewer closer to the experiences and atmosphere surrounding the student-athletes, athletic programs, and campus environments.

Already we have seen some interesting images and experiences shared with us this way: the first stop on the Big South Back-to-School Tour at Liberty, the help from Buccaneer football players for move-in day at CSU, the fun with volleyball players interacting with students at UNC Asheville, plus a chance to join a road trip with Asheville men's soccer (hop on the bus to Kentucky). These editions are only the beginning of what should be a fun way to learn more about our student athletes and athletic programs.

The third new show has not yet made its first appearance, but should make its debut next week: "Big South Coach Camp". No, this will not be another one of the traditional coach shows as you've become familiar with over the years. "Coach Camp" will engage a different coach from one of our member schools each week, as they share a few observations on the team, on leadership, and other newsworthy topics from a personal perspective--and then wrap up with a simple tip or example for improving your own game or coaching techniques. We have high hopes for this one as well.

So each week, the Big South Network should provide...
--a healthy selection of live streaming competition (especially so on the weekends),
--solid support programming, such as the Round-Ups and Viewers Guides,
--and a weekly slate of original content.

Roughly speaking, you should see something like this for your fall sports calendar:
Monday-- all collected events from weekend competition archived for On Demand viewing,
Tuesday-- LIVE football coaches teleconference in the morning (archived in the afternoon), plus the "Best of Big South FLIPPED" compilation show from clips posted that week,
Wednesday-- BSN Viewers Guide goes live, Big South Super 7 gets posted,
Thursday-- Big South Coach Camp gets posted,
Friday/Saturday/Sunday-- our biggest days for live events.

What do you think? Personally, I think it should all be a lot of fun--but only if you watch, so be sure to keep up with the goings-on at the Big South Network. Plus of course we'd love it if you subscribed/liked/followed us in our various outlets:
www.BigSouthSports.com
www.Twitter.com/BigSouthSports
www.Facebook.com/BigSouthSports
www.YouTube.com/BigSouthSports

Lots of fun match-ups out there this week -- enjoy the games! SHOUT--out.

Media Day Blitz

'Tis the season...for Football Media Days.

Surely you've seen the festivities working their way through college football lately--the monster-size conferences get the most attention for their events, but they definitely don't have an exclusive on such things.

This week the Big South stages its annual launch/gathering/showcase in Charlotte, and football fanatics throughout the Conference will get their fix as we go into the last month before teams begin play.

Here's what Thursday's 2010 Big South Football Media Day will bring:

--first off, meetings...in the morning, the football coaches will gather to go over issues, followed by a joint session of those coaches and their athletics directors;

--next up, lunch...with the morning sessions concluded, the focus turns to a banquet hall--but it's not just about the food;

--featured presentations...the centerpiece of the luncheon is the formal release of the Big South's Preseason Poll and All-Conference Team (as shared in a preview video produced last week...so I know all those answers already, but I can't share for another 24 hours, sorry)...PLUS the coaches will each get a brief opportunity to address the room and the preseason players of the year (offense/defense) will have short interviews on stage;

--free-for-all frenzy...okay, so it's not really all that frenzied, but a lot happens in the couple of hours after the luncheon's conclusion, with basically three rooms abuzz: the main media room, where individual outlets will all be collecting sports information materials and grabbing lots of interviews...the player interview room, where the Conference will ask questions of the team representatives for use during the season...and the streaming broadcast room, where Matt Hogue (fresh from leading the luncheon) will put questions to all the coaches and players for a FREE live video stream on the Big South Network...plus I expect plenty of mingling and interviewing in the halls, too.

Catch the live stream if you can--and look for updates coming out on our Twitter and Facebook pages as well, where you can also submit YOUR questions for the coaches and players (and please do so -- we'd love to get the answers you're looking for).

And then sometime late in the afternoon, visitors will depart, the buzz will hush, and life will return to a semblance of normal.

But it will be different than the day before...

...because it will already be football season for those of us who have been waiting for it...(the less eager can try to hold out a few more weeks, but it won't be long now).

Let the games begin.
SHOUT -- out...

PLAY BALL!

Fans in the Big South Conference certainly have plenty of events and athletes to get excited about throughout the year, with lots of successes and remarkable competitions to enjoy...but we also know that there are times when fan fever reaches a higher level--moments when even casual fans find themselves fired up for the sports drama to come.

Over the years, the Baseball Championship has been one of those benchmark events. This year should be no different, and it's time to take the field and get going: games one and two are tonight at Winthrop Ballpark for the 2010 Royal Purple Big South Conference Baseball Championship.

The headline story has to be top-seeded Coastal Carolina. The Chanticleers are justifiably ranked with the nation's elite teams. Their overall record is sensational; their Conference record is spotless: 25-0 in Big South play for 2010.

Seriously. Undefeated. Twenty-five wins.

CCU has an inside track on hosting an NCAA Regional--and a Super-Regional if they survive. Those games would all be played at BB&T Coastal Field (home of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans minor league team, and a very nice room to catch a game, right across from the Broadway at the Beach complex). The Chants have been knocking on the door to Omaha for years--does Coach Gary Gilmore have the right combination this time? I won't be the one to jinx anything (baseball is so superstitious), so I'll just say "all things are possible"...and now that the regular season is over, all eyes are on the various conference tournaments as teams are slotted into postseason roles.

But here's the thing...Coastal may be wearing the belt, but seven other participants are in the ring for this particular royal rumble. The top four seeds know they are in the main double-elimination bracket starting play on Wednesday: CCU, Liberty, Radford, and High Point. The next four teams have to play their way into that phase of the competition, with single-elimination play Tuesday afternoon and evening...

Game 1 - VMI vs. UNC Asheville, 4pm
Game 2 - Winthrop vs. Gardner-Webb, 7pm

The two winners join the top four seeds and play for the title...the two losers are one-and-done, postseason over, thanks for playing. If that seems rough, remember that Charleston Southern didn't even make this party, finishing 9th for an eight-team field (noting that PC is still not eligible for the tourney due to NCAA D-I transition rules).

Beyond the two-game opening day on Tuesday, it's three games each day for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (11am / 3pm / 7pm schedule each day), and then the final game(s) on Saturday starting at 1pm (one game for certain, two games if necessary to determine an overall winner).

The entire event will be broadcast on the Big South Network. If you subscribed to a Baseball SportPass (or a Spring Combination Package or an Annual Membership), you already have the tournament included in your account. If you're a game-by-game purchaser or new subscriber, you'll need to order the Championship (available by the day or full event) to see the competition. It promises to be one of the more elaborate productions attempted to date on the Big South Network, with up to six cameras in use, significant graphic support, frequent use of replays, and experienced announcers (including me, so I won't lay it any thicker than "experienced" for now). We give a big SHOUT-out to Everett Hutto and Scott Finn at Winthrop for the ambitious production plans and look forward to a sensational product.

Okay, enough hype...PLAY BALL! Just hours after this was written, all the words in the world won't make a difference, as the teams will start sorting it out for themselves between the lines. I hope you have a chance to follow the tournament in whichever way you wish -- either by attending the games at Winthrop, watching on the Big South Network, or following the updates I intend to offer as frequently as I can on Twitter, Facebook, and naturally in some first-person accounts right here in SHOUT! Whew...enjoy the games.

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.

Big Games & Championships, Good Times...

So you've been waiting for your SHOUT...(okay, okay, at least play along).
It's here, it's time, let the embloggination begin...(no, it's not a word, nor is it mine, but I liked it, so I'm throwing it in there).

First off, a happy SHOUT-out to the ranked Big South baseball teams for pulling off a tremendous Daily Double on Tuesday night against another pair of ranked teams: VMI downed Virginia and Coastal Carolina defeated North Carolina.

Now, the actual rankings depend on your poll of preference. This week, I could easily produce different lists that placed Virginia at number 1, 2, 3, or 4. Regardless, we're talking about a top-flight team right now, yes? For the sake of argument, we're calling UVa a #1 team--one that came into Lexington and got a good beating by the Keydets, 12-3. Very impressive...VMI holds the #26 spot in the Collegiate Baseball Poll, but could get some increased consideration with that victory.

Meanwhile, Coastal is in the # 9 - 12 area of the rankings, while UNC holds a spot about ten places down from that, so by rank this was not an upset. Nonetheless, props to the Chants for completing the ACC two-fer by the Big South teams this week--and again, not a close one, with a 12-4 final score.

That was a big night for the Big South--after all, that group would make a heckuva regional lineup, wouldn't it? I know it would not go down that way, but CCU, UNC, VMI, & UVa would make for some great ballgames. Perhaps down the road we'll see Virginia and Coastal each hosting their opponent from this week in a regional of their own...but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

A Big South Championship was decided this week, and it was a good one for the folks of Charleston Southern--winner in women's golf. CSU led the event after day one, after day two, and most importantly, after day three. Bucs golfer Olivia Jordan-Higgins also brought a title back to Charleston as the individual medalist. CSU had not broken through with a championship in any sport last year nor so far this year until taking the crown for women's golf.

But the Buccaneers did not stop there this past week, clinching the Regular Season Championship for women's tennis as well, as they cruised through a spectacular season. We'll see next week if they can add another event win with the Tennis Championships at Radford's campus.

And while we're talking about Charleston Southern, that also happens to be the host site for the 2010 Big South Men's & Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships, happening right now at CSU. The leading teams after the first day of competition were Liberty for the men and Coastal Carolina for the women. Not coincidentally, those squads were the winners of those titles a year ago and now seek the repeat. At the same time, there will be added intrigue on the women's side, where LU will be trying to get past the strong CCU team in an effort at a remarkable sweep. Liberty holds the current titles for M/W Cross Country and M/W Indoor Track -- so taking both sides at outdoor would complete a powerful cycle (something I believe they've referred to as a "double-triple crown"). We shall see...

Right on the heels of outdoor track comes the championship tourney for men's golf and then men's and women's tennis next weekend. We'll have more on those events in SHOUT next week, of course...and beyond that, we've got softball and baseball in May

Here's your guide to what's streaming on the Big South Network...



Hey there--not following us on Twitter or a fan on Facebook yet? What are you waiting for? We've got hundreds who've already joined the fun, but we're still missing you!

Have a great weekend, one and all--get out to some games if you can (and if you can't, then catch some at the Big South Network). Thanks....SHOUT--out...

The Need for Speed, and Other Quick Hits

You know, we can all talk about fast as if we know what we're talking about, but TRUE speed--WORLD CLASS velocity is something very few know personally. Obviously Usain Bolt is on intimate terms with a level of fast that neither you nor I would ever approach without wheels (and a motor)...but why do I bring this up to start SHOUT today?

Because they know F-A-S-T at Charleston Southern, folks!

I used the words "world class" above, and that's exactly what we have to salute here: the fastest time in the world this season for the 4x200 meter relay.


The speedsters in question (pictured at right) are Javon Young (Swainsboro, Ga.), Levi Brooks (Barnesville, Ga.), Cornelius Tyler (Silvania, Ga.) and Dantwan Spreads (Decatur, Ga.). Collectively, the four have been named the Big South Conference Choice Hotels Men's Indoor Track Athletes of the Week. Read this from BigSouthSports.com and marvel at what these Buccaneers did:

The Charleston Southern quartet ran the world's fastest time this season in the 4x200-meter relay as they clocked in at 1:25.47 at the New Balance Invitational over the weekend. The time was the second-fastest time in collegiate history and the fifth fastest time in American history. The team won the event by more than two seconds and just missed the all-time collegiate record by 0.4 seconds.


Crazy good? Ubetcha.
What more can I say? Here's a rousing SHOUT-out to Javon, Levi, Cornelius, and Dantwan!


--
Moving on: Hoooooooooops!


It's another men's basketball Thursday, with much at stake entering the season's final weeks...

VMI at GWU -- you scoff, thinking these teams are near the bottom right now, but barring significant change, one of these teams will fail to make the Big South Championship field of eight--and neither one wants to be that team.

CCU at HPU -- it's the leader trying to maintain position visiting a hopeful trying to earn a home game in the postseason, making it a very meaningful game for both squads.

CSU at RU -- and here's another match-up of a team outside the top four seeds (first round hosts) against a team near the top, but this time it's the visitor that has ground to make up.

LU at UNCA -- now we're talking about a battle, because this game has the teams currently in 4th and 5th, separated at the moment by a half-game that represents the difference between being the home team or the road team in the 4v5 game of the Championship Tournament.

The men then go around again with a full slate of five Conference match-ups on Saturday--and once more with another five games on Tuesday...only a handful of Big South games remain for these teams once we hit the weekend, so each time on the court will feel magnified in significance.

For the women, Gardner-Webb still holds the top spot after fending off Liberty's challenge, but these two teams could well meet again when the Championship wraps up in High Point next month.

And also in basketball news, we have THREE games on TV on the same day this Saturday, a rare feat: get the details here.
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Bonus SHOUT-outs to two former Big South stars and "Best of the Best" honorees:
- Dustin Johnson, CCU golf, for making the current cover of GolfWeek;
- Reggie Williams, VMI basketball, for making the NBDL All-Star Game.

By the way, Dustin's "Best of the Best" story holds the lead over any other video at the BigSouthSports YouTube channel, with more than double the views of the next clip (Katie Feenstra).

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Under five feet of snow? Think spring...after all, it's baseball season.

Well, almost. We're just a week away from playing ball. Hard to believe, but true.


And the video streaming packages for baseball and softball are now available at the Big South Network.

Speaking of which, find this week's video guide here (since the video wouldn't seem to load into Blogger again).

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And last, but FAR from least today: the NEW & IMPROVED www.BigSouthSports.com !!!

The mother ship of the Big South's online world has a whole new look and feel. It was a long time coming, a long time in development, and we hope you feel it was all worth it. Please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions, experiences from the site with us (here or via our Twitter or Facebook or any way you like)!

Thanks for being part of the Big South Family. We hope you enjoy the upcoming games and seasons--and encourage you to share your experiences with us. And that's SHOUT--out!

Ballers, No Bawlers

Okay, so Monday I wrote a little bit about the teams on top in men's and women's basketball...the men's teams cited won't have a beef with me from that, because they won their games, but on the women's side, things took quite a turn. Now I'm offering some thoughts on Thursday afternoon and the men are at it again tonight--no jinxes here, and I'll explain in a minute, but let's get going...

As I write this, Coastal Carolina and UNC Asheville are playing an afternoon game at the Justice Center. Yes, that was originally slated to be an evening game, just like the other tip-offs coming up at 7pm tonight, but weather concerns for the Asheville region bumped the game up in advance of the winter precipitation threat. That being said, the weather isn't the only thing cold out there, since the two teams kept scores in the single digits for a good while into the game--we'll just have to hope the results warm up well past the temperatures.

Here's the deal at the moment for Big South men's basketball--the top three teams all notched wins again back on Monday, putting Coastal Carolina and Radford each at 4-0, with High Point just back at 3-1. Interestingly enough, as the Chants put their ten-game winning streak and unblemished Conference mark on the line in today's pre-snow matinee, RU and HPU are both sitting out this date--eight of ten teams in action, but not those two, so there may be some subtle shifts in the leader board depending on the CCU outcome. Next, ALL ten teams play Saturday, including a match-up that has Radford AT High Point, which could be a doozie.

So if you like streaks (and who doesn't?), not only do you have Coastal's ten-game overall and four-game Big South runs at stake (do you know the final yet? still the first half for me)--you also have HPU's 6-0 home mark this season flying headlong into RU's 11-game Conference road game winning streak. The painful flipside to those positive rolls: GWU and PC, losers of ten and nine games overall, respectively.

And I promised women's hoops--with a whoops! At the start of the week, I lavished praise on GWU's Lady Bulldogs for their tremendous start and forecast a bright future for them...so naturally, they laid an egg that same night. Radford came to Boiling Springs with a record of 1-10 on the year, but left with a surprising upset win over the formerly 12-2 Gardner-Webb squad, thanks in part to a start that saw GWU miss its first 11 shots from the field...ouch.

Sports being such a fragile creature at times, I feared for cries of a jinx about our humble blog's remarks...but GWU Coach Rick Reeves settled the matter with some perfectly blunt coach-speak via Twitter:

@CoachRickReeves
We got the big head and thought we just had to show up to win and we got taught a hard lesson. I believe we will respond well next game!

Sounds like the final word on that to me.

In any case, HPU's women have now won five straight and own the only 2-0 mark in the Big South...but then again, not all teams have even logged a pair of Conference games yet, so too early to start drawing any serious conclusions.

I also promised I'd go over the Big South Conference Fall Sportsmanship Awards in this entry, so without further ado, here are the honors announced over the holidays, as voted on by their peers within the Conference in each listed sport:

Football:........................VMI, Charleston Southern
Volleyball:......................Liberty
Men's Soccer:...................UNC Asheville
Women's Soccer:..............Presbyterian College
Women's Cross Country:......VMI
Men's Cross Country:...........Liberty

A huge SHOUT-out to all the student-athletes on these teams, representing the ideals of sportsmanship and leading by example! The Big South will again award an Institutional Sportsmanship Award at the conclusion of the 2009-10 competitions. VMI has won the overall award all four years of its existence.

We interrupt this blog to bring you our weekly peek at the upcoming events on the Big South Network:

One more SHOUT-out before we're through...to colleague and friend Everett Hutto, who has made the switch from UNC Asheville to Winthrop (his alma mater). The jobs at either end are both media-related, but he will have a role concentrated more on the video and new media aspects of the athletic department and less on the traditional sports information side. The WU fans will benefit from his work, to be sure, just as the Asheville fans will miss his efforts on their behalf. Good luck, Everett!

Running Out of 2009 (but not done yet)

Only two weeks left in the "aughts" or the "ohs" or whatever...did we ever come to any consensus on what to call this new millennium decade? No? Didn't think so...

Well, it is that time of year when we start reflecting a bit on the calendar pages gone by and roping things in for lists and comparisons. Don't worry, we won't overdo things in this space, but there are a few items to touch upon in that light... (oh, and this week's Big South Network Guide is toward the bottom of the post).

First off, the world of "New Media"...when does the "new" wear off, anyway? It's starting to feel a little like "alternative music"--you know, it actually was an alternative to mainstream once upon a time, and then it joined the mainstream and just became a music genre. Seems to me that new media is just media now, but we need some sort of label, so there you go. After all, tape recorders and fax machines were once new media--but have now gone through regular media and out the other side into old media, yes? But I digress...

Anyway, this blog will turn two years old at the end of February 2010, making it a hoary old veteran (hey, that's nearly a triple redundancy--I'll call it poetic license) of the new media landscape, where most things are measured in months, not years. In 2009, we saw the Big South add its YouTube channel to the mix, soon to be followed in rapid succession by the Conference Twitter feed and Facebook Fan page. Those entities will all reach the anniversary of their respective beginnings in the next three months, and in the meantime they've become just as much a part of the Big South as anything else we do here.

The tale of the tape for our outlets (as of 11am 12/17/09):
YouTube.com/BigSouthSports ... 2,137 channel views, 14,896 total video upload views, 24 subscribers (69 videos available)
Twitter.com/BigSouthSports ... 454 followers (1,190 tweets/updates)
Big South Facebook Fan Page ... 220 fans

And that's all from nothing, folks--one year ago I could've written an entry in this blog, but none of that other stuff existed for us yet (cue the Dylan song*). No, we're not exactly sailing up the "trending topics" list, but we are increasing our level of contact with fans and friends, and that is a very good thing going forward.

Speaking of which, we've been asking questions via those lines of communication befitting the year-end theme of this post...time to share some of the answers with you.

Our social network family was asked to help with intriguing Big South Christmas gifts, as in "what special/creative present would you wish for a Big South player/coach/team, etc.?"

Here's what we've seen so far:
Brandon: a purple suit for Scott Cherry (first-year HPU MBB coach)
Larry: safety and a quick return home for those Keydets who will soon be going off in harm's way... (we second that one for sure)
Kimberly: a new coach for the Winthrop women's basketball team (hmmm...risking the 'naughty' list, Kimberly--considering that's not a vacant job)
Tim: the entire 2009 HS All-American football squad to commit to Coastal Carolina (that's creative, all right--perhaps a little ambitious, but why not aim high)

Douglas B.: let Thomas Sanders and Aaron Linn come back and play for GWU (always tough to see valuable seniors go...but I don't think there are any eligibility-time-machines in the sleigh)

Douglas K.: a Kevin Martin jersey for Nic Bowman (of the Big South staff...I'm sure there's an inside joke there, but I don't know what it is)

Adrian: Tradition for Gardner-Webb (trying to figure the naughty/nice factor there)

Cynthia L.: a "Varsity Blues" gift basket for Chad Cook (of the Big South office--there were additional details, edging toward the 'naughty' in a good-spirited way, so let's move on...)

Brennan: a Big South football sweep and Conference championship for Coastal Carolina football next year (a hopeful soul--and not the only one...)

Norm: a National Championship for Coastal Carolina football (well, the 2010 team is undefeated so far...)

Sue: an undefeated season for Presbyterian College football next year (seems Sue and Brennan/Norm have conflicting wishes--spells trouble for Santa)

On the heels of those Christmas wishes, we asked for your Big South Athlete of the CALENDAR year 2009 -- not just the current academic year, but from January 1-present day. The responses haven't flowed as fast yet, but here's what we've seen:

Larry: linebacker Tyler Santucci, Stony Brook football

Douglas B.: Coach Rick Scruggs and guard Grayson Flittner, Gardner-Webb men's basketball

Norm: Coach Gary Gilmore, Coastal Carolina baseball

Paul: Sam Chelanga, Liberty cross country

David: Coach Tooey Loy, High Point women's basketball

First, thanks to Douglas and Norm for participating in both questions.

Second, I'm happy to say Tyler made 2nd Team All-America (from the AP for FCS teams).

Third, Paul gets some extra space below for being an informed source out of the LU sports info staff, with his convincing argument for Chelanga:

Paul Carmany
I'll have to think about the coach, but for me the Big South Athlete of the Year is a no-brainer: Sam Chelanga of Liberty. How many other Big South athletes have won a NCAA Division I national championship, set an all-time collegiate record and were ranked No. 1 in the world in their event/sport at some point during this calendar year?!

Good point...Chelanga MUST be on the short list of candidates (oh, and no one can cry bias for Paul's LU connection, as ALL the submissions obviously reflect some favoritism).

Meanwhile, last week's Big South Network Guide never would post--I blame Blogger and the never-ending "Processing" circle. If you really want to hear upcoming info about games already played, you can find the segment on YouTube or via the On-Demand videos on BigSouthSports.com.

Now here's THIS week's streaming guide to the Big South Network:

Let me know if you have any other suggestions for the year-end questions above (via blog comments, tweets, facebook, whatever)...and also if you have any practical ideas for the Big South Conference to consider in 2010!

* Oh, and the footnote from above..."the Dylan song" is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the penchant of retrospectives to use "The Times They Are A-Changin'", even for trivial matters, when the protest song itself is a larger anthem of change...but I digress once more...

Thanks again for reading...I'm expecting at least one more SHOUT before we pull the curtain on 2009, but for now, SHOUT-----out!

Harris Poll: Double-Double Trouble!

We don't make individual players the main focus of this blog very often, so when we do, you know something good is going on--that's why you'll understand that this SHOUT-out to Coastal Carolina's Joseph Harris is indeed well-deserved.

Let's think back for a moment--after last year's All-Conference performance, it was uncertain if Harris would suit up for the Chanticleers this season. He graduated in the spring (biology) and retained a year of eligibility due to his medical redshirt in the 2007-08 season, but was considering alternatives for his redshirt senior year and his preparations for nursing school...in fact, grad school at UAB seemed to be in his future. It wasn't until confirmed in an August announcement that we knew that Harris would take the court for Coach Cliff Ellis and CCU in 2009-10.

The folks in teal can all enjoy the results of his return to Kimbel Arena. Harris has earned Big South Player of the Week honors in three of the season's four weeks so far! Read that again--Player of the Week three times--in a month!

Here's the rundown for the 6-5 forward from Lejeune, NC:

Week one he shared the award with Nick Barbour of High Point (Barbour was an electric 10-11 in 3-pointers), as Harris opened the year with his 31st career double-double and 13th-straight game with more than ten boards. In week three, he scored 20+ in a trio of games and averaged a double-double in that span (21.3/10.7). In week four, he averaged a double-double AGAIN, contributing greatly to two Big South road wins and running his career total to 37 double-doubles, all while climbing the ranks in the Conference record book for his impressive career stats...whew...

Bravo! Way to go, Mr. Joseph Jon-Anthony Harris!

Well, that's a tough act to follow, but I was still going to give it a shot with this week's Big South Network Guide...until Blogger failed to publish my video despite giving it all day to process--maybe tomorrow?

On Monday, we posted a fun "open question" on our Facebook Fan Page...what special Big South Christmas gift would you give this year? Still collecting some fun responses--enter one there or comment here and we'll put the best ones together in a holiday edition of SHOUT!

What Did We Learn?

Well, you're never going to learn TOO much from just a pair of games, but it sure made for an interesting weekend, having men's basketball dip into Big South Conference play for a taste of things to come...

Highlights from Thursday's opening night included Winthrop's Gideon Gamble hitting his only basket of the game to send the Eagles into a Conference-opening overtime game against preseason favorite Radford. Ultimately, the Highlanders had the free-throw shooting necessary in the extra period to win 61-59, but it was high drama in Rock Hill for a good while there...and High Point's Tehran Cox took the ball end-to-end for the game-winning lay-up at Presbyterian College (63-61)...Coastal Carolina outran VMI's blistering pace for a 111-97 win...and Liberty handled CSU 69-53.

Friday had one game--but it was a doozy. How about UNC Asheville, winless overall coming into the game, finding the way to hang tight and tap in the game-winning basket (by Chris Stephenson) in the final seconds? That's right, Asheville stole one away from Gardner-Webb in the Battle of the Bulldogs, 58-56.

There was less drama for Saturday's line-up, but Radford had to come from behind a second time in as many Big South games to beat PC, while VMI's pace was too much for CSU, Winthrop topped High Point, and Coastal downed Liberty.

With Conference games off the table for nearly another month, that leaves us with these standings to muse over for a while:

2-0: Coastal Carolina & Radford;

1-0: UNC Asheville;

1-1: High Point, VMI, Winthrop, & Liberty;

0-1: Gardner-Webb;

0-2: Charleston Southern & PC.

For more thoughts on the early play in Big South MBB, try Rush the Court: Checking in on the Big South (also by yours truly, so I admit some of it may sound a bit familiar, but there's plenty more there). Enjoy.

By the way, here's a fun idea--since the schedule is a bit light to start the week--wrap your creativity around the question from our Facebook Fan Page:

OPEN QUESTION TIME: If you could get one special Christmas gift for any one Big South Conference recipient (a school, team, coach, player, etc.), what would it be? Be creative, anything goes, but keep it clean...

If you've got any fun answers, enter them there or comment on them here--if we get good ones, we'll share them!

And by the way, I know it's not all about the men's teams--but Conference play was kind of a big deal for early December. For now, I offer this one key women's hoops note: a congratulatory SHOUT-out to the Lady Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb, winners of EIGHT STRAIGHT! Way to go, GWU--keep up the good work!

That's all for this midday Monday.

Take a moment sometime today, December 7th, to think on the sacrifice and meaning of Pearl Harbor Day...we are losing more of our WWII veterans these days, simply with the passage of time, but do not forget their contributions. SHOUT offers a salute, and a heartfelt moment of silence in their honor........................

SHOUT-a-palooza

Hello to one and all across the SHOUT blogosphere--it's been a while, hasn't it?

Sorry about that...sometimes life just has a knack at getting in the way. Most of that is my own fault for preferring to have SHOUT often lengthier and more crafted than, say, updates on Facebook or Twitter (so a "fail whale" for me perhaps), but part is just the craziness of this time of year and all that goes with it----so let's run the gauntlet as quickly as we can:


Volleyball, for starters: as I write this, UNC Asheville is 6-0 in Conference. Yup. The Bulldogs have got it going on for Coach Julie Torbett, and the Justice Center squad is laying down the law...but it's not a runaway, not with Winthrop at 5-1, Liberty at 5-2, and Coastal at 4-2. Oh, and did I mention Asheville and Winthrop tangle tonight? No? Well now I did--so be sure to check it out on the Big South Network!



Men's Soccer, as our second stop: Winthrop hasn't lost yet in the Big South--the Eagles own a 3-0-1 mark in Conference, but matching them at three wins is High Point. Both HPU and WU have games on the home pitch Saturday, so we'll soon know who's got the seat up front as we drive into the stretch run to the November Conference Championship.


Women's Soccer, as an appropriate next step: much like the men's race, two teams have hit the three-win mark ahead of the others--undefeated Liberty at 3-0-1 and also Radford at 3-1. They don't have the only say in what's coming down the line, though, since there's a jam of four teams with two wins apiece right behind (CSU, GWU, CCU, VMI) and a full slate of games on the weekend schedule.


Football, you've been waiting for me to get to, I understand: still too early to do much handicapping, but here's the deal...three teams have won their respective first Conference showdowns (GWU, CCU, and SBU), two have come up empty so far (PC once and VMI twice--the only team more than one game into Conference), and the remaining pair has yet to face Big South opposition this season (CSU and LU). But IT'S ON this weekend, folks! There are three Conference games scheduled: SBU at VMI (great rushing attacks in that one), Coastal Carolina at Liberty (a lot of titles between these two over the years), and CSU at GWU (each receiving some votes in the poll, so this game gives somebody more legitimacy). PC is idle, so they get the picture--you can't say I favored or jinxed anybody here!


Those first two games mentioned are each available on the Big South Network, but the third is as far as the sports tier on your cable/satellite, as SportSouth will be carrying the Buccaneers at Runnin' Bulldogs from Boiling Springs. Coverage begins at 11:30am (!) and features Mark Bryant (yours truly) on play-by-play and multi-sport star Brian Jordan as analyst (cool, huh?)...so get your Saturday football frenzy started early and started right--with the Big South on SportSouth!


Other sports...the cross country schedule is on the run, fall golf events are teeing off here and there, and other spring sports like softball and baseball have been holding their offseason practices and games...but what lots of Big South fans are waiting for happens to be...


Basketball, which tipped off the preseason officially with Media Day this week. You heard me--hoops approacheth! On the men's side, Radford is the prohibitive favorite--would you argue with Art Parakhouski? That's him in red in the picture, by the way--he's 6-11 and expected to be dominant in the post again this year. On the women's side, Liberty has to share the preseason nod for a change, with High Point getting a share of the predicted top slot. There will be a lot more on the wild world of b-ball in the days and weeks ahead. Practice is cranking up and games start within the next month, so your wait is nearly over, you hardwood crazies you...


Speaking of basketball--let's talk preseason preview:




If you would like some additional assessment, here's our contribution to the season outlook series for "Rush the Court" (at this link).

Was the preview not enough video for you today? Okay, we've got more--here's this week's Big South Network Guide:

Okay, that's it people...go about your business--and be sure to check out some of the Big South's busy sports schedule this weekend and beyond...really good stuff going on out there, and these student-athletes would love to have your support! Have fun...SHOUT--out!

Gridiron Gridlocks (& Quick Hits)

It's time to do some football preview talk and get into other sports for Big South play, where the stakes are really high...

BIG GAMES IN THE BIG SOUTH!

The Big South Conference football teams take on a remarkable level of opposition this week--not FBS schools this time, but the cream of the FCS crop, so buckle your chinstraps because these games are going to be hard-hitting contests, but also great fun...let's have a look...

VMI Keydets at #1 Richmond Spiders...yes, VMI is taking on the top FCS team in the country, which completes the Big South Championship Daily Double--only the Big South Conference has teams playing the defending champions in FCS and FBS (this game & CSU's opener at Florida) this year. The Keydets last played a #1 in 2001, when they faced Georgia Southern after the Eagles had won title #6 for GSU. Contrast that rarity with the fact that games against the Spiders are relatively common for VMI: this game marks meeting #86--and the series is tied 40-40-5. Seriously. Can't get closer than that, now can you? The cynics will point out that UR has taken the last seven in the series, but we refuse to get cynical...

And if all THAT isn't enough to get your attention, how about this gem: sensational offense and special teams weapon Tim Maypray sits just 43 yards short of the Big South record for all-purpose yards (he could salt that one away on the opening kickoff, but we'll give him the first quarter to set the mark).

At about the time that game's wrapping up, the Big South can turn its eyes to the North:

Stony Brook Seawolves at #15 UMass Minutemen...unlike the historic series for the last two squads, these teams have only faced off once before (a UMass win in 2006). Obviously SBU will have work to do, but among the bright spots for the Seawolves: even though they are 1-2, all three games have been decided by ten or less, and SBU has the most efficient Red Zone offense in the Conference--scoring every time they've gotten inside the 20. Star running back Conte Cuttino needs only 54 yards on the ground to be the only SBU player to reach 3000 in his career.

And while that one's going on, we have the headliner at a jam-packed Williams Stadium in Lynchburg:

#6 JMU Dukes at #24 Liberty Flames...two ranked teams renew their rivalry in the Commonwealth Saturday evening--only the fourth time a ranked Big South team has faced a ranked opponent from outside the Conference. James Madison leads the all-time series 9-5, but LU counters that with a four-game home winning streak (by a score of 133-23). The Flames have a lot at stake--think of it in basketball terms: this game represents a shot at a "quality win" outside the Conference when it comes down to contending for at-large playoff berths (LU has been turned away after winning the Big South the last two years and Coach Rocco want to avoid a similar fate this season). If it comes down to a gamble, the Flames have the hot hand: 4-4 on 4th down this year (one of only 15 FCS schools perfect on 4th this year). Watch out for Mike Brown, recognized by the Conference and national publications for his stellar work at Lafayette--currently second in the Conference in all-purpose yards per game!

Of the three, only one can be seen on the Big South Network: JMU-LU, 7pm Saturday (available for $5.95--order here).

Take the rankings out of consideration for a moment and we find three more football games on the slate for tomorrow:

North Greenville Crusaders at CSU Buccaneers...somebody's gotta win, and that's good news for two teams with a combined 0-7 record. Charleston Southern is 8-1 vs. NGU, including wins in the last five meetings. Believe it or not, this game marks the home opener for CSU after three weeks as road warriors against stiff competition.

NC A&T Aggies at Coastal Carolina Chanticleers...CCU won this match-up 20-7 last year and the Chants have done well against teams from the MEAC. The fans in Conway have cooked up a "black out" to welcome NCAT to Brooks Stadium.

Presbyterian College Blue Hose at The Citadel Bulldogs...these Palmetto State opponents have squared off 60 times before, but not in a continuous series, as the last meeting was back in 1991--and PC hasn't taken a game off of the Bulldogs since 1979. That's not the only streak the Blue Hose seek to turn around--they have also lost six in a row overall and nine straight on the road.

Of that trio of games, the NGU-CSU (1:30pm) and NCAT-CCU (7pm) games can be found on the Big South Network.

So what about Gardner-Webb? Idle this week, but thanks for asking.

Meanwhile, as we dash and smash from clash to clash in football, the big story elsewhere is Big South Conference play--this weekend marks the real plunge into League games for both volleyball and men's soccer. Rivalries renewed and games with double meaning, nothing like it--if you have a chance to catch your team in action, get out there and do it, people! As for women's soccer, the ladies are still a week away from getting into Conference play in earnest, so there's not as much activity on the pitch for them right now.

A quick hoops holler for you--ESPN announced the teams for its annual BracketBusters event, and the Big South has four in the field this time: Radford, Winthrop, Gardner-Webb, and PC. Match-ups, schedules, and TV selections to be announced at a later date.

On our Facebook Fan Page this week, I asked what sport you'd like to see added to the Big South...the responses came back even for lacrosse and rugby (!), with votes also registered for swimming, wrestling, rowing, and roller derby (?!?). Fun--we'll have to ask more thought-provoking questions like that...

That's all for now, gotta run-------ENJOY THE GAMES!

And that's SHOUT, out.