2008 Woodie Awards
Fantasy Breakdown: Damon's Days Done
Here is a look at players making fantasy news from May 28 to June 4.
Players of the week
Chone Figgins: Okay, Figgins' week wasn't necessarily spectacular. Two RBI's, three stolen bases, and nine for 18 isn't necessarily something to write home about. However, after a dismal start that saw Figgy batting under .
New name, same contenders in the CAA
North Division
Last year's runaway leaders and Division I-AA runners-up, the Minutemen of UMass, are looking for a repeat performance against the competition this coming fall. Quarterback Liam Coen, who put up career highs last season in passing yards and touchdowns, will return as their signal-caller.
QB quandary has Cohen's head spinning
The 2006 Hofstra football season did not go as planned. With new head coach and defensive mastermind Dave Cohen taking over for longtime coach Joe Gardi, a 2-9 season was not what Pride fans expected, nor wanted, to see. Coach Cohen and his staff still remain optimistic that they can turn it around and make a 2-9 turn into a 9-2.
Deep CAA any team's conference to win
The CAA is expected to be very competitive again this season, having had four teams advance to the NCAA College Cup last season.
Towson Tigers
The defending regular season champions enjoyed a successful campaign last year posting its best record in school history; highest national ranking in school history at #15, advancing to the third round of the NCAA College Cup, and having Head Coach Frank Olszewski named CAA Coach of the Year.
Cohen confident about Pride rebound
Go ahead. Ask Hofstra Pride Football Head Coach Dave Cohen just how excruciatingly long the 2-win 2006 campaign felt.
"It seemed like five seasons, it was a long year - that's for sure," Cohen said. "Obviously it was a disappointment to myself, the staff, and the players.
Three-time CAA champs look to do it again
After posting a 38-20-7 record over the past three seasons and finishing each as the champion of the Colonial Athletic Association, the Hofstra men's soccer team enters the 2007 season with the pressure to improve on its recent success.
Joining both New Mexico and Western Illinois as the only Division I schools to win three straight conference titles, Hofstra comes off a season in which it won its first NCAA tournament game since 2004.
Rejuvenated Pride have sights set high
Simon Riddiough's first year as women's soccer head coach did not go entirely as he had planned. Last fall the Pride lost a handful of key players to injury early in the season, and they were never able to get their grip, narrowly missing a spot in the CAA tournament.
P-R-O-K-O-P-O-W-I-C-Z spells Rookie of the Year
"Hard work."
With those two little words, Hofstra third baseman Matt Prokopowicz divulges the secret to the hot start of his college career. What the 18-year-old fails to mention is that there is a truckload of talent in that equation as well. Now the Colonial Athletic Association has recognized Prokopowicz's ability to translate that combination of ability and practice into success on the field, naming him the conference Rookie of the Year.
Long Island Ducks attract Major League talent
CENTRAL ISLIP, NY- A sold-out crowd once meant performing in front of over 55,000 people in a Queens-based ballpark. They once wore blue, orange and black-adorned uniforms instead of the current green, white and orange digs. The salaries stretched into the multi-million dollar range, but now the four are playing for the love of the game and not much else.
Taming the beast that is Bethpage Black
So you think your life is tough huh, well try this on for size: drive to Bethpage State Park, camp out in your car, get an hour of sleep (if you're lucky), wake up and pay to play a golf course so demanding and difficult, your mother won't be able to recognize you when your done.
The (unique) beauty of Tropicana Field
The baseball stadium stands as a church filled with overwhelming and exuberant nostalgia. Nothing bests the feeling of arriving from under the tunnel to a view of the bright, very well trimmed grass, the perfect chalked white lines and the smooth dirt infield.
Some mid-summer hemmin' and hawwin'
About a month removed from my last column, and it seems like one thing or another has altered the entire landscape of sports.
On the positive side of the spectrum, you have all the feel good stories.
LeBron putting up 48 points, including his team's last 25, in their Game 5 win over Detroit.
|
