In the battle of Top 15 teams, UMass and Yale battled to the bitter end in a great hockey game as the Marcou brothers combined for the game-winner in overtime. Just Take A Minute has previews of the UMass football finale at Hofstra on Saturday. Also, a feature story on alum Keron Williams, who is into the CFL Semifinals as well as being named a league All-Star on Thursday.
The Boston Globe has a feature on the UMass hockey team. UMass coach Don Cahoon said although he's happy where his team is in the standings, it's far too early to assess the 2009-10 campaign because he expects it to be a tight race to the end.
The Springfield Republican has a story on the support UMass hockey is receiving and how Toot Cahoon is leading UMass in the right direction.
Ron Chimelis of the Springfield Republican has a story on the progress of the men's basketball team despite the loss to Cornell on Wednesday night in the Legends Classic.
Also on Masslive.com, Chimelis has three brief articles. He looks at the home schedule this season, also he has a story on David Gibbs and his evolution into the basketball team's starting point guard. Finally, he touches on former UMass players Dante Milligan and Maurice Maxwell still battling it out for spots on the 10-man D-League Springfield Armor roster.
UMass' loss to Cornell on Wednesday is mentioned in Andy Katz' ESPN.com blog.
The Daily Collegian has a preview of the football team's finale for 2009 at Hofstra on Saturday. The Minutemen seek a winning record for the eighth year in a row.
UMass alum Keron Williams was named to the CFL All-Star Team on Thursday. The 2006 UMass alum has also designed a T-Shirt his Montreal Alouettes are wearing during their postseason run. The Canadian Press has a story. The shirts have the slogan "Win The Day." Whether that will help them get past their nemesis, the B.C. Lions, in the East Division final on Sunday at Olympic Stadium remains to be seen. The Lions feature UMass alum Anton McKenzie.
One more on Williams, you can download special wallpaper of the UMass alum on Alouettes website.
In their first invitational meet of 2009, the UMass swimming and diving team will travel to Boston to compete in two invitational's this weekend. The Daily Collegian has a preview.
UMass' two NLI signees in men's swimming is covered on College Swimming.com. UMass men's swimming coach Russ Yarworth has announced the signings of Derek Hursch and Chris Inglis to National Letters of Intent. Hursch, from Rochelle Park, N.J., and Inglis, from Mashpee, Mass., are both strong freestylers and IMers that will join the 11-time Atlantic 10 champion Minutemen for the 2010-11 season.
After failing to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, both the men's and women's cross country teams will head to New York to close out their seasons in the IC4A Championships. The Daily Collegian takes a look at the event.
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Don't Miss This: On Friday night UMass women's basketball will take on New Hampshire in Durham, looking for win #2. The football team is on its way to Long Island for Saturday's game vs. Hofstra. Then on Saturday night, the men's basketball team hosts Arkansas-Fort Smith in the second game of the Amherst Regional of the Legends Classic.
Thursday, Nov. 19
Huge hockey clash tonight down in New Haven as No. 11 UMass travels to No. 9 Yale. JTAM has previews along with a look back at last night's basketball losses at the Mullins Center. Tonight at 6 p.m., is also the final Bud Light UMass Football Show at the Hangar & Pub Grill. Senior captains Jeromy Miles and Vladimir Ducasse will be the guests.
The Daily Hampshire Gazette has a nice story on the strong start for the UMass hockey team as the No. 11 Minutemen are prepping for the No. 9 Yale Bulldogs tonight in New Haven.
In the Springfield Republican, UMass' all-time leading basketball scorer Jim McCoy is featured as he was honored as UMass' Legend as part of the Legends Classic.
In the Daily Hampshire Gazette, Matt Vautour has a sidebar on Ricky Harris moving past Julius Erving and Marcus Camby on the all-time scoring list with 26 points vs. Cornell. The Daily Collegian also has a notebook on the game.
On Masslive.com, Erik Gallant has a feature on getting to know the Minutemen as the home slate got underway last night.
The Daily Collegian also has a notebook sidebar on the women's game.
UMass alum James Ihedigbo will see more playing time weekend as the New York Jets take on the New England Patriots on Sunday. With an injury to Jim Leonhard, Ihedigbo will be in the field on the secondary more. Head coach Rex Ryan said in the New York Times: "We have a lot of confidence in Eric Smith and James Ihedigbo, so between those two we'll try to replace him."
On the flip side, UMass alum Matt Lawrence is injured with the Baltimore Ravens. The Baltimore Sun reports the former UMass All-conference tailback sat out practice with a knee injury on Wednesday.
In Richmond, the Collegian has a look back at UR Stadum, which is closing its doors this season. Former UMass and Richmond coach Jim Reid has several quotes in the story.
UMass' seven NLI men's lacrosse signees are mentioned on Inside Lacrosse. The story has a picture of Joe Calvello a face-off man from Naperville North, Ill.
Check This Out On UMassAthletics.com: A great holiday gift is the Sam The Minuteman Bobblehead, purchase yours today!
Don't Miss This: If you can't make it to Yale tonight, tune your radio to 100.9 WRNX starting at 6 p.m., for the final Bud Light UMass Football Show with Kevin Morris. Then at 7 p.m., the No. 11 hockey teams plays at No. 9 Yale. Be sure to be tuned in!
Wednesday, Nov. 18
One of the top opponents on the men's basketball schedule makes its way to the Mullins Center to take on the Minutemen tonight. Cornell and UMass battle in the second game of a doubleheader as the UMass women host St. John's at 5:30 to tip-off action. During the day, join us at the UMass Sports Luncheon for a preview of the game from Derek Kellogg, who will speak along with Kevin Morris and women's swimming coach Bob Newcomb at 12:15 p.m. at the Campus Center Room 1009.
Tony Gaffney may be close to joining the Lakers for the regular-season after being the NBA Champs last cut in preseason. The Riverside Press Enterprise reports the Lakers have contacted Gaffney's agent about possibiliy returning to the U.S. The 6-foot-8 rookie from UMass has played sparingly since joining Hapoel Gilboa Galil Elyon of the Israeli first division. The h.html">L.A. Times also has a blog with many comments about Gaffney's possible return.
The D-League's Springfield Armour held a media day event on Tuesday and two former UMass players Dante Milligan and Maurice Maxwell are in camp with the NBA affiliate of the Knicks, Nets and 76ers. CBS3 Springfield has a feature on the team with interviews with Milligan and Maxwell. The team is also covered in the Springfield Republican.
Outside the sports realm, but of note, former MTV "Remote Control" host Ken Ober passed away at age 52 over the weekend. Ober was a 1980 UMass graduate. His career took off when he was tapped to host "Remote Control" with a snarky confidence, finding a place for many of his comic friends who went on to their own careers, from Adam Sandler and Colin Quinn to Denis Leary.
Checking in on UMass' alums in the CFL as the playoffs are underway North of the Border. In the Eastern Semifinal, The BC Lions beat the Hamilton Tigers Cats 34-27 as Anton McKenzie made five tackles for BC. In the Western Semifinals, Calgary with Shannon James defeated Edmonton, 24-21 to move to the conference finals as well. BC will play Montreal, featuring Keron Williams in one conference final. Calgary will take on Saskatchewan in the other match-up. The Grey Cup takes place on Aug. 29.
Check This Out On UMassAthletics.com:Three auctions for UMass jerseys end tonight at 7 p.m. Pick up a men's basketball No. 22 Etienne Brower jersey, or a No. 33 UMass football jersey from the 2006 NCAA Championship Game season or a No. 99 from the early 2000s.
Don't Miss This: Come out and join us at the Mullins Center for a doubleheader of basketball action starting at 5:30 p.m. as the women host St. John's followed by the men against Cornell in the Legends Classic First Round.
Tuesday, Nov. 17
As we close in on the men's basketball home opener on Wednesday night, Derek Kellogg was in the news as he signed Maxie Esho to an NLI on Monday. Check out stories on the Maryland native. UMass hockey is still ranked in the Top 15 in both major national polls, standing at No. 11 in both. Also JTAM has lots of news on hockey, women's basketball, football, track & field and rowing.
UMass alum David Scott, who co-authored Bounce Back with John Calipari took part in a Question & Answer Session with Storming The Floor. Check out answers from the former athletic department employee and former coach in Amherst.
The new basketball polls came out on Monday and UMass opponents are listed in both. In the ahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/polls?poll=1">Associated Press Poll, possible foe Michigan State is still No. 2, Dayton is up to No. 18. Also receiving votes are: Florida, Xavier, Boston College and Cornell. In the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, possible foe Michigan State is No. 2, Dayton is No. 21 and listed among others receiving votes are Florida, Xavier, Memphis, Boston College and Cornell.
UMass' Wednesday basketball foe Cornell is gaining lots of attention. In Cleveland, AP voter Elton Alexander lists the Big Red as a team to watch. He states in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer: Now, if you want to keep an eye on a team that could creep into the back of the Top 25 between now and Thanksgiving, check out Cornell. The Big Red began its season with a road upset at SEC Alabama. Next up will be a game at UMass, then home to Seton Hall, then at Syracuse.
Don't let the Ivy League tag fool you, Cornell has several high-major transfers, plus 6-5 Ryan Wittman, son of former Indiana Hoosier Randy Wittman. This team finished 21-10 last season and most of its core players are back.
Ron Chimelis has a feature on UMass' hockey power play success in the Springfield Republican. "We've been one of the five or six best teams (nationally) on the power play. But 5-on-5, we're about average," said coach Toot Cahoon. New No. 11 UMass faces No. 9 Yale this Thursday in New Haven.
The Daily Collegian has a notebook on Hockey East touching on UMass foes BU, UMass-Lowell and UNH.
With the L.A. Kings, UMass' Jonathan Quick continues to win games. The Kings picked up a 4-3 victory over the Florida Panthers in a shootout. Quick is 12-6-2 overall and leads the NHL in wins (12) and games played (20) by a goalie.
Former UMass hockey player Chris Davis could make his debut with the Wheeling (W.Va.) Nailers in the ECHL this weekend, according to Our Sports Central.
In the Daily Hampshire Gazette, Matt Vautour has his weekly CAA Football notebook leading off with James Madison and the Dukes' hopes of a playoff berth with a 6-5 record.
In his look at college athletics in the Springfield Republican, Dick Baker touches on the success of UMass women's basketball in the opener last Sunday vs. BU. He also leads with UMass foe Kara Powell, who plays for Richmond. The Agawam native missed all of last season.
Running in mud on a rainy day in Boston, the Massachusetts men's and women's cross country teams placed 11th out 36 teams and 20th out of 35, respectively, in the NCAA Regional Qualifier. Both teams will next head to New York City this weekend to take part in the IC4a Championships. The Daily Collegian has coverage.
The Massachusetts rowing team dealt with heavy rainfall and strong winds on Saturday at the Foot of the Charles Regatta. Three Minutewomen returned from Princeton, N.J. after trying to make the U.S. National Team, something UMass coach Jim Dietz feels is a true measure of the program. The Daily Collegian has the story.
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Don't Miss This: We are two days from a basketball doubleheader at the Mullins Center. The women's team hosts St. John's at 5:30 p.m., followed by the men's home opener vs. Cornell at 7:30 p.m., the same Big Red team that knocked off Alabama on Saturday.
Monday, Nov. 16
Welcome back on Monday to Just Take A Minute. Basketball season at UMass got underway as the women's team picked up a thrilling overtime win over BU on Sunday. The men lost at UCF on Friday night. The hockey team split two games with rival UNH and stands at 7-2 overall. The football team suffered a tough 17-14 loss to JMU in its home finale. JTAM has stories on all five games.
The Daily Collegian has a sidebar on Kristina Danella. Behind Danella's late free throws and a strong defense down the stretch and in overtime, the Minutewomen topped Boston Univerity at the Mullins Center. Danella led the Minutewomen with 21 points.
In looking back to the basketball game at UCF last Friday, Central Florida Future has a look at "Five Things To Take" from the Knights' win over the Minutemen. Viera has a photo of Michael Jordan at UMass' loss to UCF on Friday, where he watched his son Marcus make his college debut. Channel 13 in Orlando also has a story on the elder Jordan.
Looking ahead to the men's basketball home opening foe Cornell, the Big Red were big winners down at Alabama on Saturday, 71-67. It was Cornell's first win over an SEC school in 37 years. The New York Times has a blog entry from Cornell's Jon Jacques about the win.
The Cape Cod Times recaps the Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame induction including alum John Awdycki, who grew up in Gardner and went to UMass, hit .407 for Orleans in 1965.
"My life had two elements, prior to 1965 and after 1965," he said. "The opportunity to come here changed my life."
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Don't Miss This: We are three days from a basketball doubleheader at the Mullins Center. The women's team hosts St. John's at 5:30 p.m., followed by the men's home opener vs. Cornell at 7:30 p.m., the same Big Red team that knocked off Alabama on Saturday.
