Thursday, September 3, 2009

Hang on, the Ride is Starting

Last week we wrote about the fresh beginnings of some sports seasons and the pre-launch anticipation of others--well, enough of that already. By the time you fire up the Labor Day grill, everything about fall college sports will be fully engaged: no more waiting, no more exhibitions. It's the thrill of competition, the joy and pain of wins and losses, the wonder of surprise teams and the suffering of disappointments...it's a beautiful thing, this unpredictable drama--ENJOY!

You dig?
As of this writing, every volleyball team in the Big South has played at least three matches. Every squad has at least one win and one loss, with the exception of Gardner-Webb and Winthrop, who have each opened 0-3 (here's hoping they bounce back fast from that slow start). High Point leads the way with a 4-1 record to open the 2009 campaign. It's a stream-a-palooza of volleyball on the Big South Network this week, with ten matches for you to enjoy between now and next Wednesday. Check the schedule to see which ones!

Kick it!
Every team has taken the field for women's soccer at least once so far...the early leaders are undefeated at the top: Charleston Southern (3-0) and preseason favorite Radford (2-0). Meanwhile, there are still four teams hunting for their first victories of the season. The next week brings five women's games to the Big South Network--again, have a look at the schedule for more information.

Gooooooooooooooal!
The men's soccer teams started just a bit later, so no one has gotten more than one run onto the pitch so far this year, with Radford being the only team in the group yet to play a game. The signature win of the young season belongs to Gardner-Webb: the Runnin' Bulldogs went down to Clemson and ran out with a 1-0 win over the Tigers in the season opener for both squads! And of course we have more from the Big South Network, with five men's games hitting the schedule of events there this week.

Down, Set...
YES, football season has arrived!!! In fact, tonight is the first kickoff for a Big South team this year, as Coastal Carolina visits Kent State: the Big South in MAC country! It's just one of three Big South FCS-FBS showdowns in the season's first week: the others are Liberty at West Virginia and CSU at Florida. Two of the opening weekend games (home openers for VMI and GWU) are on the Big South Network streaming schedule. Get fired up, people, it's college football in the South--the BIG South! Of course, that "south" gets extended a bit when we're talking about associate member Stony Brook (playing at Hofstra in a Long Island showdown Saturday), but still, it's all good in the Big South...

Okay, no more plugs for the video streaming in today's entry, I promise. Really.

In the corporate world and in many corners of the sports world, they'll tell you it's all about setting goals for yourself...well, whoever "they" are, they may have a point. We had two social network site goals set for the Big South, and although it looked like we'd come up just short in both for a while, we crossed the tape in both races with one day to spare. The goals were modest to a degree, but still represented a stretch from where we were: hitting 100 Fans on the Big South Facebook Fan Page and 300 Followers on the BigSouthSports Twitter by the kickoff of the first football game (represented by CCU at KSU tonight). I'm happy to say we hit both of those marks this week--but we're not resting on our laurels, oh no--we want MORE. If you haven't found us on Facebook or followed us on Twitter yet, please do so (and please help spread the word about us as well)!

Simply the best: we give a huge SHOUT-out to Liberty's Sam Chelanga, named Runner of the Year in Track & Field News magazine's cross country 2009 preview. Spectacular--and hard to argue, as Chelanga is certainly one of the fastest and most accomplished distance runners out there today.
Okay, folks--that's all the SHOUT for today--lots more to get to out there, so please sit back, keep your arms and legs inside the car at all times, and remain seated until the ride comes to a full and complete stop.
Here we GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

No comments: