Who Let the Dogs Out?!?!?!

Tonight, I went to Wal-Mart with my daughter in tow. And because my 5-year-old bundle of energy and joy was with me, she dedicated what channel my XM Radio got turned to. (What can I say, I'm a softee.)

On the way home, a song came on, one that I hadn't heard in a couple years. But yet, it was one that brought back a lot of memories.

Blaring through my speakers was "Who Let the Dogs Out" by the Baha Men.

Like many, when the song came out, I liked it. It was fun, catchy and it fit Union. After all, we are the Bulldogs.

Well, during the 2000 season - the year the Baha Men produced their version of the song, the song got played at Burch/Nau Field. Over and over and over.

We played it when the team ran out on the field before the game. We played it when the team scored. We played it when the team into to the lockerroom at halftime and when they came back out for the second half.

And when Union won, it got played REPEATEDLY.

"Who Let the Dogs Out" was played on average 10-15 times per game.

Needlesstosay, many of us got sick of the song and it didn't get played again anywhere on campus for a long time following the 2000 football season.

But hearing the song again tonight brought back some fun memories, and some painful ones as well.

You see, it was five games into the 2000 season that Union won a game. That win was the first win in THREE YEARS, snapping a 25-game losing streak.

After beating Lambuth 14-10 to end the 1997 season, Union went 0-10 in 1998, 0-11 in 1999 and started the 2000 season 0-4 before enjoying a three-game win streak.

I have always enjoyed Union football. Saturday's at Burch/Nau Field are a blast for me, win or lose. (Obviously, it's always more fun when the Bulldogs win.)

Yet, there's always been something keeping the Bulldogs from getting over the hump.
I can't tell you how many games I've seen Union battle, go toe-to-toe against the opponent, only to come up just short of getting the victory.

One of the most gut-wrenching losses I've witnessed in Union history (that's encompassing all sports) came on Homecoming 2006 when the Bulldogs fell to Frostburg State 7-3. It was an ugly game. Neither offense get anything generated for the field was an absolute muddy mess. (This was the final season of Union having a natural grass surface.)

With less than three minutes remaining, Union was up 3-0. Forced to punt, the feeling was good because the Bulldog defense had held strong ALL DAY. However, the punt was blocked and returned for a touchdown, sealing Union's fate.

I mention all this to just give you a sense of how fun, how amazing, how exciting this football season has been and continues to be.

The Bulldogs are 9-2!!! NINE WINS and just TWO LOSSES!!!

Since 1995, Union had not won more than four games in a season. In the three seasons prior to this year, the Bulldogs had just 11 wins.

And now Union is heading into the NAIA Playoffs!!!

How great is that?

Union has been blessed, especially in the past five, six years with some amazing teams. Women's basketball has been to three national championship tournaments. The baseball team went to the NAIA World Series and placed 5th. Women's soccer advanced to the Final Four in 2002, the same year the mountain biking team won the NCCA National Championship. The men's and women's tennis teams both have made back-to-back trips to the NAIA Sweet Sixteen, and the softball and volleyball teams each have won their first conference championships in program history.

Every program has enjoyed some sort of success this decade. All but football.

Until now.

So, tonight, as my daughter danced in the backseat to sounds of "Who Let the Dogs Out", I enjoyed the journey and the lengths the Bulldog football program has come over the years.

And the ride isn't over.

Riding to the Top

Another weekend and another successful run for the Union cycling team. This time it was up at the University of Michigan.

Rachel Millsop is making an impact with a pair of wins Sunday. She has five wins so far this year and could contend for the MWCCC Rider of the Year honor. She would be the third Union rider to ever win the award and it would be back-to-back years a Bulldog wins it.

Zach Winn is the defending MWCCC Rider of the Year and is not doing bad himself. He picked up a time trial win Sunday to lead a pack of Bulldogs in the event. What does that say about the Union team when the Bulldogs have four of the Top-5 finishers?

Grant it, the cycling travels north for most of the races, but if you get a chance, the NCCA National Championship is in Banner Elk, N.C. from Oct. 24-26. It should be an exciting event all weekend. Could Union capture the national championship to go with the 2002 title? Only time will tell, but first thing is first, reclaim the MWCCC Championship. That will be determined Oct. 11-12 at Purdue (Ind.) University.

Just some random thoughts ...

It's kind of a quiet week here in the SID Office, so here are just some random thoughts and interesting tidbits - at least they're interesting to me, but I'm a stats geek so what do I know.

First, our women's soccer team lost 5-3 at Asbury. At first glance, it seems the Lady Bulldog defense had some issues. Well, they did but not the kind you might be thinking about. Asbury scored 3 of its 5 goals on penalty kicks!!!

I've been covering soccer for 15 years now, and this is the first time I've ever seen 3 PKs in one game let alone by one team. Brittany Puryear made 6 saves, but stopping a PK is not an easy chore.

On a side note, Ashley Hall is really burning up the back of the net!!! After yesterday's 2-goal performance, the sophomore now has 8 tallies on the season to tie her for second on the squad. Ashley had just 9 goals in 15 games last season.

Don't worry, the Lady Bulldogs will rebound from this.

Next, how 'bout the roll the Bulldog soccer team has begun the season on???

Union is 5-1-2 after yesterday's 3-1 victory over Berea. Had to do some digging for this tidbit, but the last time the Bulldogs began the year 5-1-2 was in 2001 when they ended the year 16-4-2, ranked No. 3 in the NAIA and missed advancing to the national tournament by ONE GAME - but we won't talk about that.

The thing I'm enjoying most about the Bulldogs is their balanced-scoring attack. There are literally 4 or 5 guys that can score at any moment with a number of other players able to chip a crucial goal when the need arises.

Watch out Appalachian Athletic Conference! Here comes the Bulldogs!

The Lady Bulldog volleyballers have a bit of a Jekyll-and-Hyde season early on. The start out the year going 3-1 against NCAA Division II schools, but open AAC play 1-2.

However, Union's turned things around with three straight AAC victories and sit third in the standing with a 4-2 league mark.

Scanning the Lady Bulldog stats, it's amazing how balanced it is. There are number of players leading the charge at the net, Monica Moreland and Christina Prindle are handling the assists and digs just fine, but two players really stand out to me.

First, junior Brooke Vinovich currently has nearly as many digs (92) as she does kills (94). I don't know why, but that's impressive to me. To be able to dominate the net like she does as well as get back and play defense just shows what kind of athlete Brooke is.

Also, freshman Amelia Cantrell is proving to be a valuable asset in her first season with the Lady Bulldogs. She's helped out with 41 kills thus far and is second on the team in blocks with 25 total blocks. All I can say is keep up the good work!!!

Lastly, the Bulldog cyclists are rolling, rolling, rolling. In their first two weekends of races, they have proven to be very strong unit and appear to be getting things in order for another NCCA National Championship run.

We're just four weeks into the fall sports season, and it's been a fun one thus far. Don't know about you, but I can't wait to see what the rest of the year will bring.

Ahhh ... the maddness truly begins

It's now official. Summer's over and the fall sports season is now here ... IN FULL FORCE!!!

This weekend is going to be hopping with Bulldog and Lady Bulldog athletics.

Today, the men's soccer, volleyball and the men's and women's cross country teams are in action, while on Saturday, both men's and women's soccer, volleyball and cycling teams will be competing. Oh yeah, the football team kicks off the season Saturday as well.

I'm excited to see how each and every team will do this weekend. The volleyballers open up conference play against Bryan College tonight at 7 pm in Robsion Arena. This is a HUGE MATCH, especially since it's the Appalachian Athletic Conference opener for both teams. Although Union won the AAC regular-season championship last year in going 16-2 in league play, the Lady Bulldogs went 0-4 versus Bryan in 2007 - dropping both regular-season matches and losing to the Lady Lions in both the conference and region tournaments. Methinks, it's payback time.

The Bulldog soccer team is hosting the Golden Corrall Bulldog Classic and faces off against Johnson Bible College at 1 pm today. Should it win, Union will take on the winner of the Cumberland University-Emmanuel College game Saturday at 3:15 pm. (The losers will play at 1 pm)

Meanwhile, the Lady Bulldog soccer squad will look to extend its shutout streak Saturday with matches against Emmanuae College at 11 am and then Cumberland University at 5:30 pm, marking the first time Union has played TWO matches in the same day - truly a unique feat. Through the first three games of the season, Union has outscored its opponents 21-0. Marcela Salum has netted a team-high seven goals and has 17 total points, while Renata Peixoto boasts six goals, seven assists and 19 total points. Ashley Hall has chipped in four goals as well. And with those three being sophomores and younger, the future looks bright right now for Lady Bulldog soccer.

The men's and women's cross country teams will be opening their seasons Friday at the Shawnee State Invitational in Portsmouth, Ohio. It'll be interesting to see if the Bulldogs build on last year's success and excel as a team this year. Last year, Brandon Kibert qualified for nationals but has since graduated.

And the cycling team will look to improve on last week's strong showing. If it weren't for mechanical issues, the Bulldogs could've had four of the Top 5 riders in the cross-country race. Could be very exciting season the Ridin' Bulldogs!!!

Which brings us to football. Yes, the Bulldogs lost quarterback Joey Waters and middle linebacker Patrick O'Neal. They were great players and will be hard to replace. But I've got a good feeling about this year's team. However, the Bulldogs return a lot of talented players. There's just so much I could say, but I don't where to begin or when to end. I'm just really eager to see how the Bulldogs do at Lambuth this weekend.

Man, it's going to be a busy weekend, but it's going to be a fun one.

Media guides, media guides and more media guides

One of the fun, but yet frustrating, parts of being a SID (sports information director) has to do with media guides. They really put a SID to the test.

It is always a challenge trying to figure out how to place stuff in them, come with a new and catchy cover design, get everything typed up and do it all in a timely manner and have the guides back from the printer before the season starts. To try to stay on top of things, we generally start working on a media guide months in advance. For example, we were working on the football media guide back in March and April.

And when you've got as many athletic programs like we do here at Union, it's a year-round process.

My favorite part of it all is the design aspect of it. I love looking at what other schools have done, borrowing bits and pieces of their designs and then recreating a new look for the Bulldog and Lady Bulldog media guides. The hardest part is developing a cover design that can easily translate from sport to sport. Since there are just two of us in the Sports Information Office, we don't have the luxury of developing a unique look for each sport. As much as I'd love to, we just don't have the time to do.

But the best is when you finish all the guides for a sports season and have them at the printers. There is just this nice sense of relief ... and that's where I'm at right now.

The football, men's soccer, women's soccer and volleyball media guides all have been printed and the cycling media guide is being printed right now. (And you can look at the all by clicking on the links. )

However, all that means is that I get a short breather from working on a media guide. Fortunately for me, it's Labor Day weekend and I can wait until Tuesday to start on basketball.

That time...

Well, it is that time again - the Fall sports are starting! The Union men's and women's soccer teams kick the 2008 season off later today at West Virginia Tech. This weekend, volleyball plays four times at a tournament hosted by Anderson University while the cyclist ride to the University of Missouri.

It's just hard to believe that classes start today. It seems like just yesterday we were relaxing and getting ready for the fall sports, well now the seasons are HERE. The great thing about the new seasons are the hopes and dreams of championships are alive for everyone.

The new season brings championship dreams for everyone. The volleyball team looks to repeat the 2007 AAC crown this season. The soccer teams should contend for the conference titles. The cycling team fell short of the MWCCC championship last season, but should contend for the program's fifth conference title.

Now, I didn't forget about football and cross country as both open next weekend. I'll have some notes and thougths on the teams next week.

This should be a great year once again for Union athletics and each of you can keep up with it at www.ucbulldogs.com.