Just Take A Minute: Sept. 14-18, 2009

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   Friday, Sept. 18

Get ready for a big weekend of action at UMass. Every fall team is in action on campus. Saturday brings four events in Amherst as the men's cross country team kicks off the action at 11 a.m. That's followed by the women's meet at 11:30 a.m. Then its over to Garber Field as the No. 11 field hockey team hosts Northeastern at 2 p.m. Wrap up the day with the football game at 3:30 p.m. as No. 17 UMass hosts URI.

The awesome new website ESPNBoston.com has a video preview of the UMass-URI game with ESPN's Robert Smith providing analysis. He cites UMass' stout defense and quarterback Kyle Havens. Click the "Top Videos" tab where the main story photo is shown, its shown with a preview of Boston College's game.

NBC22 has a video preview of the UMass-Rhode Island game including interviews with Kyle Havens and Victor Cruz.

In the Daily Hampshire Gazette, Matt Vautour has a preview of the UMass-URI game with a look at the much-improved Rams.

The best name in college newspapers, Rhode Island's The Good 5 Cent Cigar has a look at the football game from the Rhody perspective.

With the Jets-Patriots playing this weekend, there are some references to UMass alum and Amherst native James Ihedigbo playing against his New England native team. On WEEI Blog Network, Rex Ryan has this quote on Ihedigbo: "I did not know anything about this young man, but James is a tough guy, a very physical player who does a great job on special teams. We use him some on defense as well. I think he's a hitter. I think he's a good blitzer and he's got some decent coverage skills as well, and he does a great job on special teams as well." Ihedigbo is also referenced in a Chat with Mike Reiss on ESPNBoston.com. Reiss, a UMass alum cites the same quote listed here on Ihedigbo.

The Miami Hurricanes' second win in a row in ACC action is gaining attention nationally with the offensive firepower under former UMass head coach Mark Whipple. On ESPN.com, Ivan Maisel has a column on Whipple's early season success. Sports Illustrated.com's Andy Staples also has a piece mentioning Whipple and his near hiring at Rutgers in 2000.

The Topeka Capital Journal has a story on Kansas State football's scheduling methods including UMass, which received a nice guarantee for travelling to Manhattan.

Also on the GazetteNet.com, Matt Vautour has a podcast interview with Tony Gaffney, who is preparing for preseason camp with the Los Angeles Lakers.

In the Springfield Republican, reporter Ron Chimelis has a story on how the men's basketball team is gelling together in anticipation of the 2009-10 season.

The Daily Hampshire Gazette has a story on the UMass women's soccer team's 1-1 tie at Hartford as Katie Ruggles scored the Minutewomen's goal on her 21st birthday. Ruggles' goal is also mentioned in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette and Hartford Courant.

The Daily Collegian has a complete recap of the women's soccer tie.

The field hockey team looks to extend its winning streak with two games this weekend. The Daily Collegian has an outlook. Also in the paper, is a feature on the an effort to increase the overall speed of games, the FIH implemented the "self-hit rule". So far the rules have been felt in college field hockey, especially by UMass.

The Daily Collegian also as a preview of this weekend's cross country meets on campus.

Check This Out On UMassAthletics.com: The best way to follow all the teams at UMass is with the Calendar Schedule All games with times and scores of games that have finished.

Don't Miss This: In addition to the Saturday action on campus, on Sunday three teams will be in action. The men's soccer team hosts Winstars in an exhibition at 1 p.m. The field hockey team hosts No. 9 Boston College at 3 p.m. Then at 3:30 p.m., the women's soccer team hosts St. Peter's at Rudd Field.

   Thursday, Sept. 17

Join us tonight at 7 p.m. for the Bud Light UMass Radio Show with Kevin Morris at the Hangar Pub & Grille. Seniors Kyle Harrington and Victor Cruz will be the special guest players who will meet and greet fans and sign autographs. At 11 a.m., today former UMass pitcher Mitchell Clegg will be chatting with fans about his season in the Washington Nationals farm system. Look for the 2009-10 UMass women's basketball schedule to be released Thursday.

The Daily Collegian has a preview of the UMass-Rhode Island football game on Saturday. The paper also takes a look at the defense, which has forced eight turnovers, fourth-most in the NCAA.

The new United Football League (UFL) released its preseason training camp rosters. All-time rushing leader Marcel Shipp is on the Las Vegas Locomotives. The Bleacher Report has a look at Shipp.

Former UMass All-American football player John McKeown is mentioned in the Portland (Maine) Press Herald in reference to his son Nate, who plays for Biddeford High.

The Press Box has a story on focusing on former UMass football coach Don Brown, who is the defensive coordinator at Maryland. The story has a picture of Brown in his Terp gear.

The Daily Collegian has a story on the men's soccer team rotating two goalies this season as Shane Curran-Hays and Chris Piekos continue to compete for the starting goalkeeper job. Each player has started games in 2009.

With the women's soccer team taking on Hartford on Thursday, the Daily Collegian has a preview of the Minutewomen's game as they seek their first win.

The Bleacher Report has a preview of the Los Angeles Kings with a portion about goalie Jon Quick.

RIT's hiring of UMass assistant lacrosse coach Jake Coon is covered by the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, Lacrosse Magazine and RocNow.

Check This Out On UMassAthletics.com: Three auctions for fan experiences at this Saturday's football game against Rhode Island end tonight at 7 p.m. Be sure to bid.

Don't Miss This: Many items on the docket. In order: At 11 a.m. Mitchell Clegg will chat with UMass fans here on UMassAthletics.com. During the day, look for the 2009-10 women's basketball schedule is expected to be released. At 6 p.m., UMass women's soccer faces Hartford in Connecticut. At 7 p.m., join us at the Hangar Pub & Grille for the Bud Light UMass Football Show with Kevin Morris.

   Wednesday, Sept. 16

Join us Wednesday afternoon for the UMass Sports Luncheon at the Campus Center Auditorium as the coach and goalie of the newly-minted 11th-ranked field hockey team will be on hand. Justine Sowry and Athlete of the Week Alesha Widdall will both speak along with football coach Kevin Morris at 12:15 p.m., at the Campus Center. Just Take A Minute also has news on men's basketball.

More game times have been set for the 2009-10 men's basketball schedule including the Feb. 14 home game against Saint Joseph's which will start at 4 p.m. and be nationally-televised on CBS College Sports. Also road games at Seton Hall on Dec. 7 and at La Salle on March 3 will be 7 p.m. tip-offs.

Just a reminder that just before Saturday's football game at 3:30 p.m., televised by Comcast SportsNet, UMass Football Weekly will air on CSN at 3 p.m. Check out the show as a nice preview to the Rhode Island game.

Shannon James' Calgary Stampeders are 6-4 this year.

As we look ahead to the big showdown between the New York Jets and New England Patriots this Sunday, Patriots.com mentions: Jets S James Ihedigbo is a native of Amherst, Mass. and walked onto the UMass football team where he started for three years and was a captain his senior year, in its connections section.

The Examiner has a look at UMass football in the polls and the CAA's overall dominance with five teams in the top seven.

Checking in on UMass' alums in the CFL. Shannon James playing with Calgary has 32 tackles. With the BC Lions, Anton McKenzie has 51 tackles and three sacks. He ranks fifth in the league in tackles. With the Montreal Alouettes, Keron Williams has 19 tackles, five sacks and three forced fumbles. Williams is tied for fifth in the league in sacks.

In his column "Hitting To All Fields", Garry Brown has two mentions of UMass: That Rhody-UMass football rivalry goes way back to the Yankee Conference and Farewell, Jack Canniff. You were "Mr. Hockey" at UMass.

The Daily Collegian has a story on the 2009-10 ice hockey schedule and all of its challenges.

Also in the Daily Collegian is a nice feature on Mitchell Clegg, who is back in school trying to graduate after playing in the Washington Nationals' farm system this summer.

The Daily Collegian also has notebooks from the Atlantic 10 in field hockey and women's soccer.

Check This Out On UMassAthletics.com: The 2009-10 ice hockey roster has been updated and includes new photos of all the Minutemen.

Don't Miss This: The UMass Sports Luncheon is the place to be to meet and greet friends and chat about the Maroon & White.

   Tuesday, Sept. 15

Lots of football news as the Minutemen now stand No. 17 in both national polls this week after the 44-7 win over Albany. The Springfield Republican has a feature on sophomore linebacker Tyler Holmes and the Daily Collegian has a profile of Kyle Havens. More news from both soccer teams in Just Take A Minute as well.

In the Sports Network Media Poll, UMass hangs at No. 17 for the third week in a row. In the polls/09polls/index.htm?KEY=&DB_OEM_ID=4000&DB_LANG=&IN_SUBSCRIBER_CONTENT=">FCS Coaches Poll, UMass moves up one spot to No. 17.

Ron Chimelis of the Springfield Republican has a feature story on Tyler Holmes of the football team. The sophomore Holmes has interceptions in all three of his career starts for the Minutemen.

In the Daily Collegian, Nick O'Malley has a feature on new starting quarterback Kyle Havens.

In the Daily Hampshire Gazette, Matt Vautour has his weekly CAA notebook looking at the national polls where five of the top seven teams in both polls are from the CAA.

The Daily Collegian also has a round-up of CAA action from this past weekend including another near upset of an FBS team by a Colonial team.

The Daily Collegian has a story on Tony Gaffney, who leaves for Lakers training camp on Wednesday in hope of making the NBA team.

New banners outside Mullins.

Speaking of basketball, check out the new banners outside the Mullins Center featuring men's basketball players. Ones with women's basketball and hockey players will be arriving soon.

The men's cross country team's second-place finish this past weekend is covered in the Daily Collegian.

Former UMass men's soccer player Trevor Singer has been named a graduate assistant soccer coach at Temple.

The Daily Collegian has an Atlantic 10 notebook looking at men's soccer.

From UNH, their student newspaper, The New Hampshire has a story on the UMass-UNH 0-0 women's soccer tie on Sunday.

Check This Out On UMassAthletics.com: The 2009-10 men's basketball roster has been updated and includes new photos of all the Minutemen.

Don't Miss This: New auctions have been posted including two that end today for a UMass hockey jersey and the 100 Seasons Of UMass Basketball Sue Peters banner.

   Monday, Sept. 14

Welcome back to JTAM this glorious Monday. Sensational showing for the #17 football team as they throttled Albany, 44-7 before a huge crowd at McGuirk Stadium on Saturday. The #15 field hockey team also picked up a pair of big wins at Albany this weekend. Look for both teams to move up in the polls today. The L.A. Times has a great feature on UMass alum Jon Quick and find out where and when you can get a Quick bobblehead!

The football team's Saturday all-around victory against Albany is covered in many outlets. Check out the game recaps: Springfield Republican, Daily Hampshire Gazette, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Albany Times-Union, CBS 3 Springfield (with video), NBC 22 (with video), Worcester Telegram & Gazette and Sporting News.

A new video scoreboard is on the way at McGuirk Alumni Stadium.

If you were at the game on Saturday, you saw the sign shown in this picture, letting all the fans know that a new video scoreboard is on the way for McGuirk Stadium. Plans are for the scoreboard to be installed for the Oct. 17 homecoming game against New Hampshire.

The annoucement of former football star Joe McLaughlin's induction to the UMass Athletic Hall of Fame on Oct. 9 is covered in the Cape Cod Times.

With the start of the NFL season, UMass was represented on three NFL rosters. In the New York Jets' 24-7 win over Houston, James Ihedigbo played a lot of special teams and had a third-quarter thttp://www.netitor.com/javascript/wysiwyg/tiny_mce/themes/advanced/langs/en.js">ackle.

In the Jacksonville Jaguars 14-12 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, Jeremy Cain snapped on every Jags kick and punt, nine in total.

In the Baltimore Ravens 38-24 win over the Kansas City Chiefs, Matt Lawrence did not see any action as a reserve tailback.

The Providence Journal has a personal profile on New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, which mentions his daughter Amanda, who is on the women's lacrosse coaching staff at UMass.

The men's basketball team's recent schedule addition of its final opponent in the Legends Classic and two more games on national television is covered in the Springfield Republican.

Moving over to basketball, 2009 Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year Tony Gaffney was at the football game on Saturday and spent time visiting with many fans young and old. Gaffney heads to Los Angeles on Wednesday to begin his pre pre-season work with the Lakers. Good luck to Tony! He will be checking in with updates throughout camp which starts in early October.

Tony Gaffney took in the UMass football game on Saturday against Albany before heading out to Los Angeles.

Out in Kentucky, long-time Herald-Leader columnist Jerry Tipton, touches on John Calipari and his showing at the UMass Basketball Celebration in Boston last Friday.

On Saturday, the Los Angeles Times had a tremendous feature on former UMass star goalie Jon Quick. The 23-year-old is the No. 1 goalie heading into camp, but he understands that nothing is guaranteed and that he must continue to perform.

Speaking of Quick, his former ECHL team the Reading Royals will be holding a Jon Quick bobblehead night in his honor on January 31 in a game against Gwinnett.

UMass' Greg Mauldin began training camp with the New York Islanders as the team plays its first preseason game on Monday night against Vancouver. The game will air on the NHL Network, Mauldin is wearing No. 62 with the Isles if he dresses.

In the Springfield Republican, Fran Sypek has a wonderful column on legendary UMass hockey coach Jack Canniff, who passed away recently.

UMass alum Alex Berry is in Maple Leafs camp and is mentioned in this Blog for getting into a fight.

The Cape Cod Times has a feature on new ice rinks on the Cape with former UMass hockey assistant coach Scott MacPherson part of the intiative.

Check This Out On UMassAthletics.com: With the action at UMass heating up, follow all the events with the Webcasts page Or you can clink the "Watch & Listen" tab right next to the headlines on the front page.

Don't Miss This: Look for the announcement of weekly players of the week as well as new polls for football and field hockey, where UMass is sure to move up.

Look Back To The Week Of: Sept. 7-11 | Aug. 31-Sept. 4 | Aug. 24-28 | Aug. 17-21 | Aug. 10-14 | Aug. 3-8 | July 27-31 | July 20-24 | 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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