Just Take A Minute: Aug. 31-Sept. 4

Boomer bytes

   Friday, Sept. 4

The football season is upon us! Saturday night the Minutemen will tee it up in the Little Apple against Kansas State. JTAM has the Daily Hampshire Gazette's in-depth feature on new head coach Kevin Morris in addition to lots of football stories. Also plenty of news on the release of the 2009-10 men's hoops schedule. Field hockey and women's soccer host games Friday afternoon.

Matt Vautour of the Daily Hampshire Gazette has a comprehensive look at the career of new football head coach Kevin Morris.

The Associated Press has this overview preview of the UMass at Kansas State game. The Examiner has this preview as well.

From the midwest, here are stories from the Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star Notes, KTKA TV (video), WIBW.

Be sure to watch the primetime special Season Preview of UMass Football Weekly on Friday night at 8 p.m. on CBS 3 Springfield. Also on Friday, look for a major announcement concerning the show being aired throughout New England!

In another media note, for fans to understand, there will be NO streaming video or television coverage of Saturday night's football game at Kansas State. This is due to Big 12 broadcast rules. When a league home game is on national television no other game at a league home team is allowed to be available via live video. With Oklahoma hosting BYU on Saturday night on ESPN, this invokes that rule. We are expecting to have a highlight package on UMassAthletics.com and are hoping to feed footage to the local television outlets for highlights as well.

With college football season kicking off on Thursday night, big congrats to former "Voice of the Minutemen" Bob Behler, in his second season at Boise State, his No. 14 Broncos pulled off a thrilling 19-8 win over No. 16 Oregon.

The 2009-10 men's schedule was finally released on Thursday. The Minutemen will play games in five different communities in Massachusetts which is very important to coach Derek Kellogg in being the flagship institution. Coverage comes from the Springfield Republican and Daily Hampshire Gazette.

UMass hockey alums will continue in the pro ranks as Chris Davis and Scott Crowder have signed with the Stockton Thunder of the ECHL. "We both planned to go into pro hockey, but didn't expect this to happen," Davis said. "This is going to be a learning experience for both of us, and this will make it easier for us."

When you go the field hockey game on Friday at 2 p.m., check out the new signage installed at Garber Field celebrating the histories of the field hockey and men's lacrosse programs.

Check This Out On UMassAthletics.com: All-time great coach and legendary story teller Ken O'Brien will in the UMass media relations office for a LIVE CHAT today at 11 a.m. Ask him questions and check back for his answers.

Don't Miss This: What a big weekend! The start of the football season is focal point as UMass take on FBS foe Kansas State on Saturday night at 7:10 p.m. Its the first game for Kevin Morris as head coach and the re-debut of KSU coach Bill Snyder. Also on Friday, No. 17 UMass field hockey hosts Boston University at 2 p.m. and women's soccer hosts its home opener against Providence at 4 p.m at Rudd Field.

   Thursday, Sept. 3

Well ... the men's basketball schedule was delayed by a day, but it will be released today. We know you fans are anxious to see it, so as soon as its available from the A-10 office, we will annouce it here and on Twitter.com/UMassAthletics. We also remind you tonight is the first Bud Light UMass Football Radio Show From the Hangar at 7 p.m. JTAM has stories on football, Mitchell Clegg and others.

News on the men's basketball including pieces of the 2009-10 schedule are in Ron Chimelis' story in the Springfield Republican, focusing on the game at the MassMutual Center on Jan. 10 against La Salle. WWLP NBC22 also has a video feature on the squad with Derek Kellogg.

The Boston Herald has its season preview of the UMass football team with "Five Key Questions" according to veteran writer John Connolly.

The Associated Press has a capsule preview of the UMass-Kansas State game.

If you want to hear what Kansas State coach Bill Snyder has to say about his team and its upcoming game with UMass this Saturday, Listen to his radio show on Thursday night at 8 p.m. ET. right after you can listen to Kevin Morris with his weekly UMass Radio Show at the Hangar here in Amherst.

From Kansas State, Here is a story from the Kansas City Star on seniors who were recruited by returning coach Bill Snyder. The Manhattan Mercury has a story on the Wildcats quarterback battle and its starter. The Mercury also has a story on the Cats new running back starter Daniel Thomas. The Kansas State Collegian has a story on starting QB Carson Coffman. KTKA.com has a story on Kansas State's starters be unveiled.

UMass alums with a lot on the line play tonight. With the Miami Dolphins, Brandon London will be in action against the New Orleans Saints. He is mentioned among seven key points in the Florida Sun-Sentinel In the Baltimore Sun, UMass alum Matt Lawrence is listed fighting for a spot with the Baltimore Ravens as they prep for the Atlanta Falcons.

UMass alum James Ihedigbo is safe with the New York Jets as he was in the news in the New York Daily News: Jets teammates Donald Strickland and James Ihedigbo must be rolling in dough. The best-bud ballers, who beat the Giants on Saturday, checked out matching luxury condos at the W Hoboken on Monday night. The fancy digs go for upwards of $2 million. Later, they celebrated their potential new homes at the hotel's Chandelier Room. Now that's the good life.

The Boston Globe has a preview of football in the ACC and touches on a pair of former UMass head coaches in the league, Don Brown at Maryland and Mark Whipple at Miami. Both are coordinators now on defense and offense, respectively..

Coaches at Florida State have been watching tape of UMass football according to the Tallahassee Democrat, because Whipple is running the "O" at Miami in preparation of Monday night's opener.

Quinnipiac has announced its 2009-10 hockey schedule featuring a Nov. 28 games against UMass at 3 p.m. at its TD Banknorth Sports Center in Hamden, Conn.

UMass alum Mitchell Clegg picked up his second pro win, in relief as the Vermont Lake Monsters won the completion of a suspended game 10-5 on Wednesday. Clegg threw 4.1 innings in relief, allowing just four hits and one run, striking out four. He lowered his ERA to 2.44. It might have been his final outing of the season for the Lake Monsters as their season ends this weekend.

If you were watching the Red Sox pregame show on NESN, the network ran a nice feature on UMass Hall of Famer and current Lowell Spinners manager Gary DiSarcina.

Check This Out On UMassAthletics.com: We have an awesome new Gameday Central for the UMass Football season, be sure to view it.

Don't Miss This: The men's basketball schedule will be released TODAY. Check back to see when the Minutemen are hosting the likes of Xavier and Rhode Island.

   Wednesday, Sept. 2

Ricky Harris has a lot to scream about! The 2009-10 UMass men's basketball schedule including Atlantic 10 games will be released today. It was delayed a day to Thursday, sorry! Also today brings the first UMass Sports Luncheon of the year as football coach Kevin Morris and women's soccer coach Angela Napoli are the guest speakers. Join us at 12:15 at the Campus Center Auditorium. JTAM also has news on the football team.

Hoopsworld.com loves Tony Gaffney! Here's a story on Gaffney and his chances of making the Los Angeles Lakers as he gets set for training camp.

In the Daily Hampshire Gazette, Matt Vautour has a story on on new punter Caleb Violette, a transfer from Virginia Tech.

Carson Coffman has been named the starting QB for Kansas State. News out of Kansas on the K-State Wildcats comes from: Wichita Eagle, WIBW TV, Lawrence Journal World, .com/sports/story/k-state-notes-----9-1">Salina Journal and the Topeka Capital-Journal.

More on K-State from the Kansas City Star's blog with a feel good story on Wildcat Kadero Terrell.

More news on the passing of legendary UMas hockey coach Jack Canniff comes from Gloucester Times, U.S. College Hockey Online.

The Orlando Sentinel has a story on Central Florida's men's basketball schedule release. The Golden Knights open the year hosting UMass on Nov. 13.

Former UMass coach John Calipari had a book signing for his new piece "Bounce Back." The Louisville Courier Journal has a story. Remember you can get a copy of the book when Coach Cal comes to Boston for the UMass Basketball Celebration on Sept. 11.

Former UMass basketball guard Anthony Anderson is still playing as he helped his YWCA Over-18 team the "Crow's Nest" to the local finals. The Gloucester Times has coverage as Anderson scored 16 points.

Check This Out On UMassAthletics.com: Some great experiences for the first UMass football game are available on our auctions page including tossing the coin for the opener under the lights.

Don't Miss This: The men's basketball schedule will be released on Wednesday. Check back to see when the Minutemen are hosting the likes of Xavier and Rhode Island.

   Tuesday, Sept. 1

Happy September! The defending A-10 men's soccer regular-season champions get their season underway this afternoon at Rudd Field as the Minutemen host Boston University at 3:30 p.m. Just Take Minute has a great feature on UMass' All-American tackle Vladimir Ducasse and lots of news from the gridiron. Also an update on baseball alum Matt Torra, who tossed a shutout and hit a three-run homer!

In the Springfield Republican Ron Chimelis profiles Haitian native Vladimir Ducasse. The NFL prospect's parents have never seen him play a football game, find out why.

In the Daily Hampshire Gazette, Matt Vautour has his weekly CAA notebook touching on the various teams with new quarterbacks.

News out of Kansas State: The Examiner has a positional breakdown of the Wildcats offense. WIBW TV has an overview of the UMass-KSU game. The Kansas City Star has a story on the Wildcats quarterback situation, the starter will be announced on Tuesday. More from the Wichita Eagle.

The Boston Herald has a look at Holy Cross quarterback Dominic Randolph, who has a chance to become the all-time passing leader in New England. He enters the year with 9,679. The all-time top six in N.E. are: New Hampshire's Ricky Santos (13,212 yards), UMass' Liam Coen (11,031), Boston College's Doug Flutie (10,579) and Glenn Foley (10,039), Randolph and Brown's James Perry (9,294).

From the Florida Sun-Sentinel a feature on Dolphins coach Tony Sparano and his use of texting, quotes UMass alum Brandon London saying: "That guy is an amazing motivator."

UMass alum Matt Lawrence was injured on Monday according to the Baltimore Sun. The Ravens hopeful walked back to the locker room with a trainer and did not return before the portion of practice open to the media ended.

UMass alum Andrew Merritt has a story in New England Hockey Journal on the passing away of legendary hockey coach Jack Canniff.

Matt Torra tossed a shutout AND hit a three-run home run.

Former UMass first-round draft pick Matt Torra had one of his finest days as a pro baseball player on Monday. Torra stole the show for the Mobile BayBears on at Smokies Park, tossing a four-hit shutout and also hitting a three-run homer, lifting the BayBears to a 6-0 win over the Tennessee Smokies. Torra (9-13) struck out seven and didn't walk a batter. He allowed just four singles and never allowed a man to reach third base.

Former men's soccer captain Shawn Bleau was named the boys soccer coach at Newburyport High School on Monday.

Here's a preview of Vermont soccer where Coach Jesse Cormier says UMass is one of the best teams in the country.

Check This Out On UMassAthletics.com: If you are not a subscriber to UMass' YouTube page join today for all the latest videos from UMass Athletics.

Don't Miss This: The men's soccer team opens its 2009 season seeking its third NCAA Tournament berth in a row. The Minutemen host Boston University at 3:30 p.m.

   Monday, Aug. 31

The last day of August is here and the football season is just days away as the Minutemen head out to Kansas State on Friday for Saturday's clash with the Wildcats. Just Take A Minute has various stories on the gridiron squad including ones on new starting QB Kyle Havens. Also tons of info on this week's football foe Kansas State. Big weekend for football alums James Ihedigbo and Shannon James. Also coverage of field hockey and women's soccer in their first weekend of action.

The Boston Globe has an extensive preview of the UMass football season with a focus on the naming of Kyle Havens as the starter.

Coverage of Saturday's annoucement that Kyle Havens would be the starting quarterback for the Minutemen comes from the Springfield Republican, Daily Hampshire Gazette, WWLP NBC 22 (with video), Boston Globe.

The Boston Metro has a story on the UMass football team heading into 2009.

Looking for UMass football jerseys to wear for the start of the 2009 season. Check out Dick's Sporting News in Hadley at the Hampshire Mall. They have both adult No. 12 UMass adidas jerseys and youth No. 28 UMass adidas jerseys. They look very similar to the actual game-worn Minutemen jerseys.

From Kansas, the Kansas City Star has an extensive feature on new-but-old Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder. The Manhattan Mercury has a column on how the Wildcats could have a winning season against most expectations. The Hutchinson News has a feature on KSU's defense.

Speaking of football opponents, next year's FBS foe Michigan, may be in some trouble. go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4432956">ESPN.com has a story about an investigation into allegations that its football program regularly violates NCAA rules limiting how much time players can spend on training and practice.

ESPN.com's Big 12 blogger Tim Griffin has a column on Kansas State and Colorado still not having named official starting quarterbacks for the season which is less than a week away.

James Ihedigbo in action on Saturday night.

Former UMass All-American James Ihedigbo had a stellar preseason game for the New York Jets against the Giants on Saturday, in a 27-25 win. He racked up five solo tackles, second most on the team. The Newark Star-Ledger has high praise for Ihedigbo: Hard-hitting S James Ihedigbo (five tackles) is a keeper. Ryan needs to find him some more playing time.

With the Baltimore Ravens Matt Lawrence, picked up two yards on two carries in a 17-13 win over the Carolina Panthers. He was mentioned by the Baltimore Sun as he punched out a tough third-and-1 play at the end to ice the game.

In Miami, UMass alum Brandon London is trying to fight off the "Turk" as he battles for one of the Dolphins' last wide receiver sports. Here are two stories from the Miami Herald and the Palm Beach Post. London's chances were enhanced as Anthony Armstrong was cut.

The final UMass alum in an NFL camp is Jeremy Cain with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Cain is mentioned in the Florida Times Union, which mentions him in "Nine Burning Questions." The paper says: At age 29, Jeremy Cain, who's been signed by four teams although he's only appeared in 17 games with the Bears and Titans, isn't exactly young, but just the fact they used a roster spot on him in camp seems to indicate he has a shot.

Up in Canada, former football star Shannon James was in action. With the Calgary Stampeders, James (who got engaged last week during a bye week) had five tackles, a sack and a forced fumble as his squad picked up a 23-20 win over Toronto. Here's a game recap from SLAM Sports.

The Annapolis Capital in Maryland has a feature on former head coach Don Brown and all of the success UMass' defense had in his five years with the Minutemen.

At James Madison, the Dukes are preparing for their first game against Maryland and JMU coach Mickey Matthews has been watching UMass footage to see the schemes the Terps are now running. They had a scrimmage over the weekend.

The No. 17 field hockey team's 1-0 win over No. 20 Providence on Saturday is mentioned in the Springfield Republican and the Daily Hampshire Gazette.

Luke Bonner with Albacomp in Hungary.

Women's soccer action from the weekend is covered in the Daily Hampshire Gazette and Springfield Republican as the Minutewomen lost to Holy Cross, 2-0, on Friday night. Their 2-0 loss to BU on Sunday is written about in the Daily Hampshire Gazette.

UMass alum and fan favorite Luke Bonner played his first exhibition game in Hungary for Albacomp. His team's website reports a 117-73 win as Bonner had 11 points and 12 rebounds.

The Cornell Daily Sun has a story on the Big Red's basketball schedule including a mention of them playing UMass in the Legends Classic.

UMass alum and New Hampshire native Chad Paronto is mentioned in the Union Leader after he tossed 23-2/3 innings without allowing a run for Triple-A Round Rock (Astros).

In the New York Post, there was a short feature on UMass School of Management alum Adam Wogan, who has taken over as the New York Mets Vice President of Player Development. Wogan received his undergraduate degree from Wake Forest before heading to Amherst.

Check This Out On UMassAthletics.com: The September calendar is full. Keep track of all games for all UMass teams with this great page. The first event is Tuesday with the men's soccer team hosting Boston University at 3:30 p.m. on Rudd Field.

Don't Miss This: Monday morning the first CAA Media Teleconference takes place. Look for Kevin Morris' comments on UMassAthletics.com midday.

Look Back To The Week Of: 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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