University of Massachusets Athletics
UMass NewsStand: Latest Headlines
 | |
Welcome to "UMass NewsStand," a daily listing with links to stories from around the country on the Minutemen and Minutewomen. While we'll try to have most stories to you early each morning, be sure to check back throughout the day as we add links at all hours when we find them.
We hope you enjoy the links below to some the top stories from August of 2003. Please note that these links take you to pages which are not a part of UMassAthletics.com, and we apologize if the links no longer direct you to the proper page.
Sunday, August 31, 2003
FOOTBALL: Minuteman's in motion
Springfield Republican / By Jeff Thomas
AMHERST - It looks like University of Massachusetts football player R.J. Cobbs is on the move again. The sophomore from Parsippany Hills, N.J., will most likely start this season as a receiver, his third position in a year's time. . .
Saturday, August 30, 2003
FOOTBALL: Players catch on to new positions
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
AMHERST - Anton McKenzie has a good vantage point to judge the University of Massachusetts' new receiving corps. The senior tri-captain has to face them daily in practice from his strong safety spot. . .
MEN'S SOCCER: Patience will be a virtue for Minutemen
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
AMHERST - University of Massachusetts men's soccer coach Sam Koch is prepared to be patient. He believes he has the makings of a good team, but it might take a little time to develop. . .
Friday, August 29, 2003
FIELD HOCKEY: Minutewomen aim for a return to glory days
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
AMHERST - Patty Shea doesn't pretend it doesn't bother her. The former star goalie for the University of Massachusetts and current Minutewoman coach has played a big role in UMass' field hockey success in both roles. . .
FOOTBALL: Real test comes in Week 3
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
AMHERST - The University of Massachusetts' football season begins next Saturday. Sort of. There will be two teams in shoulder pads that day and the clock will be set for four quarters. . .
FOOTBALL: Alcohol returns to fenced area at UMass games
Springfield Republican / By Diane Lederman
AMHERST - For the first time in years, beer will be legally available before University of Massachusetts home football games near the stadium. But the beer will only be sold in the expanded Minutefan Park, a fenced in area near McGuirk Stadium, and only two hours before the game and at half time. . .
FOOTBALL: Focused on opener
Springfield Republican / By Jeff Thomas
AMHERST - For the University of Massachusetts football team, camp is over and game preparation is just beginning. Two weeks of testing, drilling and scrimmaging was followed by coach Mark Whipple giving the Minutemen yesterday and today off. . .
WOMEN'S SOCCER: UMass sets lofty goal
Springfield Republican / By Dick Baker
AMHERST - The mission for the 2003 University of Massachusetts women's soccer team is to return the program to its winning tradition. "We want to make it to the Atlantic 10 finals, we all know it's been a long time," said senior UMass defender Maggie LaBrode of Palmer. . .
Thursday, August 28, 2003
FOOTBALL: Beer garden to debut at UMass football games
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Phyllis Lehrer
AMHERST - A beer garden will debut at the University of Massachusetts football game next week in an attempt to attract fans and alumni. The decision to allow suds at the UMass stadium was in the hands of the Board of Selectmen, who last night approved the required one-day liquor licenses for three games, starting with the team's season-opener Sept. 6 against Central Connecticut State. . .
FOOTBALL: Krohn has Whipple's respect
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
AMHERST - The loss was ugly. In a rivalry charged game, the University of Massachusetts football team came out on the short end of a 42-17 loss to Northeastern. . .
WOMEN'S SOCCER: Minutewomen return scorers, eye strong start
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
AMHERST - More than likely the University of Massachusetts women's soccer team won't be able to carry its shutout streak from the preseason throughout the regular season. . .
Wednesday, August 27, 2003
FIELD HOCKEY: Minutewomen add dose of local talent
Springfield Republican / By Dick Baker
AMHERST - Doubting her talents, Robin Dziedzic of Palmer settled at playing Division III field hockey as a freshman at a school that turned out to be a bad fit. Dziedzic was the Little East Rookie of the Year at UMass-Dartmouth last season, but she was less than satisfied. . .
FOOTBALL: Conference toughest in years
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
AMHERST - It's hard to imagine that the Towson University football program doesn't shudder - at least a little bit - when it thinks about the 2004 season. That's when the Tigers join the Atlantic 10. . .
FOOTBALL: Where's the beef? On the UMass line
Springfield Republican / By Jeff Thomas
AMHERST - Don't be alarmed if, while watching a University of Massachusetts football game it becomes difficult to spot quarterback Jeff Krohn or tailback R.J. Cobbs. That's a good thing. . .
Monday, August 25, 2003
FOOTBALL: Freshman duo earns starting role
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
AMHERST - With less than two weeks remaining until its season opener against Central Connecticut (Sept. 6, 1 p.m.), the University of Massachusetts football team has two of its questions answered. . .
Saturday, August 23, 2003
FOOTBALL: Early look at Kansas State
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
AMHERST - The University of Massachusetts football team's season doesn't officially open for another two weeks as the Minutemen's open week happens to fall on Aug. 30, when most teams are playing for the first time. . .
Friday, August 22, 2003
FOOTBALL: Upturn could help upgrade
Boston Globe / By Joe Burris
AMHERST - Talk of upgrading the University of Massachusetts football program from Division 1-AA to 1-A has persisted since the early 1990s. Occasionally the topic gathers momentum, then ultimately wanes. The school is again pondering the move, and coach Mark Whipple is among many here who insist this time the topic will move beyond simple verbiage. . .
MEN'S BASKETBALL: Midnight Madness celebration cancelled
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
AMHERST - Pioneer Valley night owls and insomniacs will have to find another way to spend one October evening this year - there will be no Midnight Madness at the University of Massachusetts. . .
SOFTBALL: Assistant leaves UMass
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
AMHERST - One of the University of Massachusetts' most decorated, well-liked and recognizable sports figures is leaving Amherst. Assistant softball coach Danielle Henderson, who was a record-setting pitcher and Olympic gold medal winner, has stepped down. . .
Thursday, August 21, 2003
ATHLETICS: UMass aims for fun times
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
AMHERST - University of Massachusetts hockey coach Toot Cahoon got quite a few laughs earlier this week as he walked around the third floor of the Mullins Center displaying his new mullet. The mullet, of course is the regrettable hairstyle that is short in the front and long in the back made popular by 1980s rock bands, defenseman and ESPN analyst Barry Melrose. . .
FOOTBALL: A1 coach content at I-AA
Springfield Republican / By Ron Chimelis
AMHERST - He's survived two major budget cuts and outlasted an athletic director, a chancellor, a president and a logo. At the University of Massachusetts, in fact, Mark Whipple nearly outlasted the Minuteman himself. . .
Wednesday, August 20, 2003
FOOTBALL: Talk of I-A jump surrounds UMass
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
AMHERST - A University of Massachusetts football team that has a chance to be among the best in Division I-AA this year was on the field at McGuirk Stadium Tuesday for the school's annual Media Day. . .
FOOTBALL: As usual, the talk centers on I-A
Springfield Republican / By Jeff Thomas
AMHERST - It should come as no surprise to anyone that the main topic of conversation at University of Massachusetts football media day yesterday was Division I-A football. . .
Saturday, August 16, 2003
FOOTBALL: Lowell trio gets I-AA shot
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
AMHERST - A little less than a year ago, it would have been fair to think that Johnson Owumi's football career could have been over. He had just completed his junior season as UMass-Lowell's top receiver during the River Hawks' 3-8 season. . .
Friday, August 15, 2003
FOOTBALL: Brower to be ready for opener
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
AMHERST - Coming off knee surgery last fall, Valdamar Brower failed the University of Massachusetts football team's conditioning test Wednesday, but nobody was worried. The Minuteman All American defensive tackle expects to be close to 100 percent when their Sept. 6 opener against Central Connecticut (1 p.m.) arrives. . .
FOOTBALL: Minutemen just happy to be there
Springfield Republican / By Jeff Thomas
AMHERST - The weather is hot, the air so humid that a thought brings out a sweat and the bugs are relentless, but the University of Massachusetts football players don't care. They're practicing again after an offseason budget crisis did severe damage to UMass and threatened athletics to the point of discussions on the future of the football program. . .
Thursday, August 14, 2003
FOOTBALL: Firm to develop plan for UMass football upgrade
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
AMHERST - The ad-hoc athletics committee of the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees hired a consulting firm to help develop a plan to raise the necessary money to move the football program from Division I-AA to I-A. . .
FOOTBALL: UMass still mulling jump to I-A football
USA Today / By Steve Wieberg
AMHERST - The NCAA's new study of college athletic finances may caution against a leap into the deep, ultracompetitive waters of Division I-A. But Massachusetts will decide for itself. . .
Tuesday, August 12, 2003
FOOTBALL: UMass back in the top 25
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
AMHERST - With his players arriving this week and his season opener less than a month away, the release of the Division I-AA Top 25 poll wasn't in the front of University of Massachusetts football coach Mark Whipple's mind. "We just want to win the league," said Whipple, whose team was picked No. 14 in The Sports Network's poll and No. 17 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll. . .
Thursday, August 7, 2003
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Reunion turns out different
Springfield Republican / By Dick Baker
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - It has been nearly six years since then freshman center Yolanda Rayside of the University of Massachusetts helplessly watched the shooting display of her life, and last night the culprit showed up in person - once again on the other team. . .
Friday, August 1, 2003
FOOTBALL: Minutemen ranked 3rd in preseason
Daily Hampshire Gazette / By Matt Vautour
PHILADELPHIA - While University of Massachusetts football coach Mark Whipple spent a considerable percentage of Thursday's Atlantic 10 Media Day fielding questions about his program's future, it was clear that the league's coaches and media had high expectations for its present. The Minutemen were voted third in the league's preseason poll, behind Northeastern and Delaware, and had 10 players on the two Preseason All-Atlantic 10 Teams. . .