University of Massachusets Athletics
Headlines for August 2004
February 08, 2005 | General
Feb. 8, 2005
Friday, August 20, 2004
FOOTBALL: UMass coach gets his kicks
Springfield Republican / By Jeff Thomas
AMHERST - Punters and place kickers spend a lot of time amongst themselves when football teams practice, and it's no different at the University of Massachusetts. But head coach Don Brown's staff has found a way to bring the whole team together at the end of practice with the whole team forming a horseshoe around the kickers and taunting them as they attempt field goals. . .
Thursday, August 19, 2004
ATHLETICS: UMass names six to Athletic Hall of Fame
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
AMHERST - The University of Massachusetts Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 2004 features three of the school's most memorable names. John Calipari, Dick MacPherson and Mark Millon headline a class that also includes Bob Foote, Michael Quinn and Marjorie Anderson. . .
WOMEN'S SOCCER: Minutewomen newcomers shine
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Jim Pignatiello
AMHERST - Jim Rudy can't suppress a smile when talking about his freshman class. The University of Massachusetts women's soccer coach has been impressed with the seven newest Minutewomen in their early practices. And six of them performed well in their first collegiate match Wednesday - an exhibition against Siena College at Gateway Regional High School that ended in a scoreless tie. . .
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
FOOTBALL: Tikum at the 'mike' for UMass
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
AMHERST - When he looks at the 27 new teammates around him, University of Massachusetts Serge Tikum remembers what it was like to be a rookie. Former defensive lineman ''Doran Davis helped me out a lot,'' Tikum said. ''He told me to keep on working and that I had talent. I just had to let it develop. . .
FOOTBALL: UMass defense must stop run
Springfield Republican / By Jeff Thomas
AMHERST - For a unit that does not return a single starter, the University of Massachusetts defensive line has a considerable football task at hand. You see, Minutemen coach Don Brown likes to run the ball. He also wants his defense to stop the run, a combination which he believes, when done successfully, can carry a team to Chattanooga, Tenn., for the annual Division I-AA national championship. . .
WOMEN'S SOCCER: Rudy means business
Springfield Republican / By Dick Baker
AMHERST - The initial practice assignment seemed simple enough, but many chose to ignore the instructions. So in a must-improve season, University of Massachusetts women's soccer coach Jim Rudy ripped into the violators. The drill was to juggle the soccer ball without using the thighs. . .
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
FOOTBALL: Hasselbeck starts over at UMass
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
AMHERST - It's impossible to tell when watching the University of Massachusetts football team practice that the wide receiver wearing No. 87 has two brothers in the NFL and a father who played there too. That's fine with Nathanael Hasselbeck. The Minuteman junior receiver who transferred to Amherst from Boston College enjoys being judged as the newest receiver at UMass instead of BC's newest Hasselbeck. . .
Friday, August 13, 2004
BASEBALL: Curreri shines in Cape Cod
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
BREWSTER - When the throw back from second base to home plate was high and wide, Frank Curreri didn't have a chance to brace himself for the impact he knew was coming. He leapt, landed and absorbed Will Reames crashing in from third. . .
FOOTBALL: Minutemen take look at past
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
AMHERST - As they stood in line to be weighed and measured at the Boyden weight room, the University of Massachusetts football players stared at the big screen television set up nearby on the floor. The almost-six-year-old tape being shown was a familiar one to UMass fans, but maybe not to the players, who watched touchdowns by future NFL players Marcel Shipp and Kole Ayi give the Minutemen a 14-0 in the 1998 Division I-AA National Championship. . .
FOOTBALL: Transfer in mix for QB spot
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
AMHERST - The battle to be the University of Massachusetts starting quarterback has an interesting new competitor. Evan Kraky, Pennsylvania's all-time high-school passing leader is transferring to UMass from South Florida. Including this year, he'll have three years of eligibility remaining. . .
FOOTBALL: UMass goes back to work
Springfield Republican / By Jeff Thomas
AMHERST - They were weighed, measured, poked, and pinched like livestock going to auction, but not a one of them complained. That means football season is here for the University of Massachusetts. . .
ICE HOCKEY: Q&A With Thomas Pöck
NewYorkRangers.com
NEW YORK, N.Y. - Following a strong senior season at the University of Massachusetts in which he was named a Hockey East First Team All-Star and a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, Pöck appeared in six matches with the Rangers to end the 2003-04 campaign, tallying two goals and two assists for four points. . .
Thursday, August 12, 2004
FOOTBALL: New era begins
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
AMHERST - In 23 days at Delaware State, someone will call the coin flip in the air and the University of Massachusetts football team will begin the Don Brown era. Practice for that game, and the other 10 that follow it, begins tonight as UMass, featuring a new coach, new schemes and quite a few new players, tries to defend the last year's shared Atlantic 10 regular season championship. . .
FOOTBALL: QB Kraky Transfers to Division I-AA UMass
Scranton Times / By Joby Fawcett
AMHERST - After a tumultuous summer, Evan Kraky is now a member of the University of Massachusetts football team and is on campus for preseason workouts that begin this morning. The former Lakeland star and Pennsylvania Small School Player of the Year, Kraky left the University of South Florida earlier this summer. . .
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
FOOTBALL: Minutemen ranked 19th nationally
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
AMHERST - Division I-AA coaches expect new University of Massachusetts coach Don Brown to be successful with a new quarterback and a new defensive front. The Minutemen were ranked No. 19 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll that was released Monday. Five Atlantic 10 teams were ranked in an order that didn't resemble the Atlantic 10's preseason poll that came out last week. . .
Sunday, August 8, 2004
BASEBALL: Nate Murphy hangs 'em up
Springfield Republican / By Mike Bogen
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - In the long run, Nate Murphy really had only one choice, and nine days ago the veteran minor leaguer from Sunderland made that choice - he went to Birmingham Barons manager Razor Shines and said he was retiring from baseball. . .
Saturday, August 7, 2004
ATHLETICS: Ex-UMass stars dream of Athens gold
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
ATHENS, Greece - Kaila Holtz is trying to ignore her lifelong dream. The former University of Massachusetts softball player dreamed of pitching for Canada in the Olympics even before softball was included in the games. But now that Holtz is about to live it in Athens, she hopes to ignore it taking place around her. . .
WOMEN'S SOCCER: Completing the storybook
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
ATHENS, Greece - The high school senior in Minnesota didn't dream about becoming famous. A soccer player, especially a women's soccer player becoming a nationally-known sports figure in the United States? The idea was absurd. Even as an All-American goalie at the University of Massachusetts, she never thought her autograph would be the reason a line of pony-tailed kids and admiring adults would stand patiently in line for 40 minutes. . .
Thursday, August 5, 2004
FOOTBALL: Baylark honored, eligibility still uncertain
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
RICHMOND, Va. - The Atlantic 10 named University of Massachusetts tailback Steve Baylark to its Preseason All-Conference First Team, Wednesday. Later this month, UMass coach Don Brown hopes to be able to name him the Minutemen's starting running back. . .
FOOTBALL: Coaches, media disdain UMass
Springfield Republican / By Jeff Thomas
RICHMOND, Va. - Well, Don Brown's tenure as the head coach at the University of Massachusetts has not begun with a great deal of respect. The Minutemen yesterday were voted by coaches and media to finish third in the North Division of the Atlantic 10 Conference - essentially fifth overall - during the conference media day. . .
Tuesday, August 3, 2004
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: UMass frosh on Canadian Jr. team
Springfield Republican / By Dick Baker
TORONTO, Ontario - University of Massachusetts women's basketball freshman Alisha Tatham of Brampton, Ontario, has been selected to the Canadian Junior National Team, which will participate in the FIBA Americas Under 18 World Championship Qualification Tournament in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, Aug. 4-8. . .