Just Take A Minute: July 20-24, 2009

Boomer bytes

   Friday, July 24

After a long day of processing the new UMassAthletics.com finally fully loaded around 7:30 p.m. last night! It look a little longer than anticipated, but then again when you are transferring 10 years worth of web information and hundreds of thousands of webpages, we should have expected it. In today's Just Take A Minute, we bring news about the women's basketball team helping out in the community. Former football All-American James Ihedigbo was on various ESPN shows yesterday. Also news on Matt Torra and lax alums Sean Morris, Doc Schneider and Jeff Zywicki.

The UMass women's basketball took part in ACT NOW!, a week-long program called MOVIExperience. The members of the University of Massachusetts women's basketball team, have been helping the girls in the program.

WWLP Channel 22 has a story on the UMass men's basketball schedule. On Masslive.com, check out another story about UMass hosting a regional of the Legends Classic. In New York, Dick "Hoops" Weiss writes about the Legends Classic lighting up Atlantic City.

Slam Magazine says the UMass men's hoop recruiting class among the best in the nation outside of the Power Six conferences. Check out the story with detail and our video of Terrell Vinson from YouTube.

Former UMass football standout James Ihedigbo was on the ESPN campus in Bristol, Conn., Thursday as he took part in various shows on the Worldwide Leader in Sports. He was on ESPNEWS, NFL Live and ESPN Radio. Great exposure for the third-year pro, who was an All-American for the Minutemen in 2006.

In an MLL thriller last night, the Toronto Nationals cliniched a playoff spot with the 18-17 win over the Boston Cannons. Recent All-American goalie Doc Schneider made a pro-best 24 saves for the Nationals, as he played the entire game for the Nats. Fellow former UMass All-American Jeff Zywicki had three goals for Toronto. On the other side, Boston's Sean Morris had a goal and two assists. Defenseman Jack Reid had two groundballs.

In baseball last night, former UMass first-round draft pick Matt Torra, look the 5-0 loss for the Mobile Bay Bears against the Chattanooga Lookouts. The Double-A All-Star Game starter yielded five runs on 10 hits and two walks, while striking out five in six innings.

From the world of golf, 1961 UMass golf team captain Pete Hatfield is retiring after 41 years as a golf club pro in Maine.

Check This Out On The New UMassAthletics.com: Visit the new Ticket Central its your one stop shop location for all info purchasing tickets.

Don't Miss This: Join us for today Chat with Kevin Morris at 10 a.m.. Over the weekend many UMass alums will be in action pro baseball, lacrosse and CFL football. Check in for updates.

   Thursday, July 23

Today is the day ... Look for the new and improved UMassAthletics.com late this afternoon. We are still working on the final product to make it as user-friendly as possible with plenty of new videos and features. In terms of news and updates for Just Take A Minute, check out info on Brandice Balschmiter's women's pro softball team playing a men's pro baseball team. JTAM also has lots of news on the UMass men's basketball schedule including a non-conference game at Baylor on Jan. 23, 2010 and the Legends Classic in November.

The Gazelle Group announced the Regional sites for the 2009 Legends Classic featuring UMass, recent NCAA Champions Florida and Michigan State along with Rutgers. Here are stories from various sources: Gainesville Sun in Florida and The Press of Atlantic City.

Check out the official release from the Baylor Bears about their 2009-10 men's basketball schedule featuring a game with UMass on Jan. 23 in Waco. It will be a match-up of the last two NIT runners-up. Check out the Waco Tribune.

The CAA has a composite schedule for 2009 including all television coverage. The CAA holds its annual Media Day next Wednesday at the ESPN Zone in Baltimore. The official Preseason All-CAA team will be unveiled.

A new edition of the Real World On MTV debuted last night was heavy focus on former UMass All-American punter Christian Koegel.

The pro softball team of UMass alum All-American Brandice Balschmiter is playing a game dubbed as the Battle of the Sexes II. The Chicago Bandits will take on the men's pro independent baseball team the Schaumburg Flyers on July 27. The Flyers are members of The Northern League of Professional Baseball, which in recent years has provided Major League Baseball talent like J.D. Drew (Boston Red Sox), Kevin Millar (Toronto Blue Jays), George Sherrill (Baltimore Orioles), and Brad Ziegler (Oakland A's).

With the Bandits, Balschmiter is 2-0 with a 2.11 ERA in 23.1 innings with 22 strikeouts.

In summer action with the North Shore Navigators, UMass' Nick Serino had his third 10-strikeout game in a row on Wednesday with 10 Ks in a 5-2 win in 11 innings against the Lowell All-Americans. Serino has 12, 10 and 10 in his last three games. The Salem News has a story on the game with references to Serino and fellow UMas mate Kyle Multner, who plays for Lowell.

According to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, the Memphis Redbirds (St. Louis Cardinals Triple A Team) are set to name Ben Weiss as the new general manager of their stadium Auto Zone Park. Weiss has been serving as the general manager of the Mullins Center at UMass for the last few years.

If you haven't purchased your UMass MinuteFan Shirt pick one up. Be on the look out for our ad campaign featuring UMass athletes and coaches urging fans to become MinuteFans.

Check This Out On UMassAthletics.com: Later today on the new and improved website: Look for some great auction items from the 100 Seasons of UMass Basketball for your home or office.

Don't Miss This: What else? The launching of the new UMassAthletics.com late this afternoon.

   Wednesday, July 22

Kudos to UMass alum Angela Napoil on being named women's soccer head coach on Tuesday. JTAM has stories on the Longmeadow native taking over at her alma mater. Just two days away from the launch of the new UMassAthletics.com. ESPN's Quint Kessenich lists UMass lacrosse alums Sean Morris and Kevin Leveille as candidates for the MLL MVP this summer. JTAM also has news on baseball's Mike Gedman in the Northwoods All-Star Game along with tidbits on baseball's Gary DiSarcina and Tom Conley along with former football star Marcel Shipp.

If you haven't purchased your UMass MinuteFan Shirt pick one up. Be on the look out for our ad campaign featuring UMass athletes and coaches urging fans to become MinuteFans.

Here are various stories about Angela Napoli taking over the women's soccer program: Springfield Republican and Daily Hampshire Gazette.

Check out the video of ESPN's Quint Kessenich as he lists his top candidates for Major League Lacrosse MVP. He lists UMass All-Americans Sean Morris and Kevin Leveille as top candidates for the league's best player.

UMass basketball arch rival Temple has announced portions of its 2009-10 men's basketball schedule.

Checking in on UMass Hall of Famer Gary DiSarcina who is managing the Short-Season Lowell Spinners. The team is 16-15 early on in the New York Penn League. On Thursday and Friday he will manage against recent UMass grad Mitchell Clegg and the Vermont Lake Monsters in home games at LeLacheur Stadium in Lowell.

UMass' Mike Gedman was in the Northwoods League All-Star Game in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

In other baseball news, the summer team of UMass' Tom Conley is undergoing changes. The South Coast Today has a story on the NECBL North Shore Navigators.

In honor of the 40th anniversary of the landing on the moon in 1969, NESN.com has a story on the "Spaciest Names" with UMass' Marcel Shipp coming in at No. 10: This former All-American running back at UMass played six seasons the Arizona Cardinals, rushing for over 800 yards in both 2002 and 2003. Though built like a truck (or perhaps a "spaceshipp") at 5-foot-11, 224 pounds, he was cut prior to the start of the 2008 season.

Check This Out On UMassAthletics.com: Later this week on the new and improved website: An awesome new photo store featuring framed UMass images will debut Thursday. The Minutemen will play at Temple this season.

Don't Miss This: Be on the look out for the announcements of UMass football players up for the biggest awards in FCS football the Walter Payton Award and the Buck Buchanan Award.

   Tuesday, July 21

Welcome back this terrific Tuesday. Just three days until the redesigned UMassAthletics.com debuts this Thursday. Recent grad Mitchell Clegg has a sparking 0.75 ERA in his pro debut with the Vermont Lake Monsters. A great feature on UMass alum Gary Forbes after a standout NBA Summer League is part of JTAM. Three UMass alums are among the leading scorers in Major League Lacrosse. If you are on campus, visit Garber Field to see UMass' Alesha Widdall in action as she practices with Team USA's World Cup Team.

If you haven't purchased your UMass MinuteFan Shirt pick one up. Be on the look out for our ad campaign featuring UMass athletes and coaches urging fans to become MinuteFans.

UMass goalie Alesha Widdall was named to the Team USA Junior National Team on Monday. UMass' Justine Sowry is an assistant coach for USA. The team is practicing at UMass this week. The 2009 BDO Women's Junior World Cup, the premier showcase for the world's top junior field hockey teams, comes to Boston this summer. The sixteen finest women's under-21 national teams from around the world will converge on Harvard University's Jordan Field for two weeks of competition, from August 3 to 16, 2009.

Hoopsworld.com has a fantastic feature on UMass' Gary Forbes and his professional basketball journey which has just begun after playing in the NBA Summer League for the last 10 days.

Dime Magazine has a recap of the NBA Summer League action which mentions UMass' Gary Forbes among its Honorable Mention team.

Mitchell Clegg tossed five scoreless innings for the Vermont Lake Monsters on Sunday and lowered his season ERA to 0.75 in six games. He has allowed just two runs in 24.0 innings, just one game with runs allowed in the six contests.

The Houston Astros have activated Chad Paronto's webpage on their team site.

Future CAA football foe Old Dominion has sold out its allotment of more than 14,000 seasons tickets as the Monarchs prepare to debut in the league 2011.

The Brown Daily Herald has news on the Bears' men's hockey head coach opening which mentions UMass assistant Red Gendron as a possible candidate.

A quick check of the Major League Lacrosse scoring leaders shows three UMass alums among the Top 15 in the league in points. Sean Morris is second with 38 points, Kevin Leveille is tied for fifth with 36 points and Jeff Zywicki is 13th with 24 points. Morris is also second in the MLL in assists with 18.

Check This Out On UMassAthletics.com: Later this week on the new and improved website: There will be video players on every team page with customized footage for each program.

Don't Miss This: The UMass Athletics You Tube page has been updated to feature more than 100 videos from the 2008-09 season.

   Monday, July 20

Hope you had a wonderful weekend. We are just four days away from the debut of the new and improved UMassAthletics.com, on Thursday, July 23. Over the weekend, former hoop All-American Gary Forbes was impressive as the NBA Summer League wrapped up. Former Minuteman baseball star Chad Paronto returned to the majors with the Houston Astros. Also news on current pitcher Nick Serino, who tossed in the NECBL All-Star Game. Nice features on football players Darren Thellen and Chris Zardas this weekend. Many UMass alums were in action in Major League Lacrosse contests this weekend with Jeff Zywicki earning an honor.

The Salem News has a wonderful feature story on UMass senior starting fullback Chris Zardas. It mentions all the the local product as overcome to succeed on the gridiron. For the first time in his college career, former St. John's Prep star will report to preseason camp at UMass completely healthy and raring to go.

The Boston Globe has a nice feature on the Thellen football brothers Nate at Northeastern and Darren at UMass. The two defensive backs have circled Saturday, Nov. 7 on their calendars, the date that the Colonial Athletic Association rivals will square off at McGuirk Stadium in Amherst.

Congratulations to UMass Hockey Alum Jim Lynch who won the top prize in the TD Garden Golden Ticket Contest. Lynch, who lettered at UMass from 1972-74, won a pair of tickets to every event for the 2009-10 season which includes 40 Celtics games, 40 Bruins games, concerts, a circus, Disney on Ice, the Beanpot and the Hockey East Championship Weekend. Hopefully Jim will be there to cheer on the Mass Attack for a Hockey East Championship Title!

HBO's "Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel" will have a feature on Jaclyn Murphy and her foundation for children with pediatric brain tumors on Tuesday, July 21st at 10 PM EST. The feature will tell her story, her special connection with the Northwestern Women's Lacrosse Team, and how it inspired the creation of her foundation. UMass women's lacrosse coach Alexis Venechanos has been an instrumental part in helping the foundation.

The NBA.com has a great feature and video on the D-League Select Team in the NBA Summer League featuring UMass All-American Gary Forbes. The Brooklyn product is scoring 20 points per game along with 4.5 rebounds. Additional stories on Forbes come from the Springfield Republican, Ridiculous Upside, Hoops Hype, Las Vegas Sun.

Tony Gaffney finished his stint with the Los Angeles Lakers in the Summer League and in four games, the 2009 Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year averaged 3.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.

2006 and 2007 Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year Stephane Lasme played in five games with the San Antonio Spurs and averaged 5.0 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.0 blocks. He started on Sunday night in a 76-75 loss to Memphis and scored eight points in 17 minutes.

Speaking of the Summer League, UMass senior Ricky Harris was in Las Vegas last week and visited with the trio of Minuteman alums in action with the NBA. Harris said they all looked good and send well wishes to their fans from UMass.

Stories on UMass alum Chad Paronto's recall by the Houston Astros for Saturday in Los Angeles: Astros.com, Houston Chronicle and the New Hampshire Union-Leader, his hometown paper.

In the NECBL ALl-Star Game UMass' Nick Serino tossed a hitless inning in Holyoke, he struck out one and walked one, but picked the runner off first base. For the Lowell All-Americans Serino is 2-2 with a 1.99 ERA. He has chalked up 45 strikeouts in 40.2 innings.

In the Springfield Republican, Dick Baker has a story on the release of the UMass hockey schedule.

In a match-up in the MLL featuring three UMass alums, the Boston Cannons beat the Chicago Machine 17-10 at Harvard Stadium on Saturday. For the Cannons, Sean Morris scored three goals while Jack Reid had a groundball. For the Machine, Kevin Leveille had three goals and an assist fresh off his showing in the MLL All-Star Game on Thursday.

In other lacrosse news, UMass coach Greg Cannella and All-American goalie Doc Schneider were at the Long Island Lacrosse Classic.

Schneider was on Long Island already as his Toronto Nationals dumped the Lizards, 19-9. The star of the game was former UMass All-American attacker Jeff Zywicki, who was named the game's Bud Light MVP with three goals and three assists. Schneider made seven saves and allowed just four goals.

Check This Out On UMassAthletics.com: Join us on Twitter for instant updates on the UMass teams.

Don't Miss This: Just four days away from redesigned and improved UMassAthletics.com Check back.

Look Back To The Week Of: July 13-17 | July 6-10 | June 29-July 3 | June 22-26 | June 15-19 | June 8-12 | June 1-5 | May 25-29 | May 18-22 | May 11-15 | May 4-8 | April 27-May 1 | April 20-24 | April 13-17 | April 6-10 | March 30 -Apr. 3 | March 23-27 | March 16-20 | March 9-13 | Mar. 2-6 | Feb. 23-27 | Feb. 16-20 | Feb. 9-13 | Feb. 2-6 | Jan. 26-30 | Jan. 19-23 | Jan. 12-16 | Jan. 5-9 | Dec. 29, 2008-Jan. 2, 2009 | Dec. 22-26 | Dec. 15- 19 | Dec. 8-12 | Dec. 1-5 | Nov. 24-28 | Nov. 17-21 | Nov. 10-14 | Nov. 3-7 | Oct. 27-31 | Oct. 20-24, 2008 | Oct. 13-17, 2008 | Oct. 6-10, 2008 | Sept. 29-Oct. 3, 2008 | Sept. 22-26, 2008 | Sept. 15-19, 2008 | Sept. 8-12, 2008 | Sept. 1-5, 2008 | Aug. 25-29, 2008 | Aug. 18-22, 2008

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