Let’s see… looking back through this blog, I last vented about 18 months ago, so I guess that’s pretty good.

Ay-ziggy-zoomba.com is annoying me again. Why? Same as always… bickering, infighting, general negativity… etc. I know it comes with the territory, but I guess I kind of hoped more people saw things like I do. BG Athletics is great! I love going to games, following teams, players, coaches… trying to learn as much as I can and be an “insider.” From recruiting to what former student/athletes are doing after graduation, it’s great to follow my favorites. But… it’s just a fun hobby. It’s not that big a deal to me.

This gets into the whole “Well, you’re not a real fan if you don’t go to every game no matter what” discussion. Or… “You should support your team always, no matter what” or “You don’t think like I do, so you’re a tool.” You know what? Everyone can be a fan in their own way. And that’s OK! It’s almost like fan racism takes place: i.e. “You’re different than me, therefore you suck!” Come on people, lighten up.

Some people go to every game no matter what. They go on road trips, through thick and thin… they hang out in hotel lobbies and hope to talk to coaches and players… they wear nothing but orange and brown, etc. That’s fantastic! But you know, what makes them better than the guy who loves the Falcons, but only makes it to a couple of games a year? Why are they more important, or why is their opinion more valuable than the more casual observer? And might not that casual observer’s viewpoint be a little more clear sometimes looking from the outside in?

So… I guess what I’m saying is, we’re ALL Falcon fans. Everyone can be a fan in their own way, and we need all the fans we can get, so, “fan elitism” is actually non-productive. You might think you’re being a bigger supporter of your school than someone else, but in reality, when you tell them this, you’re pushing them away and making the fanbase smaller. That is NOT what Bowling Green Athletics needs.

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So it’s been awhile since that last post. My bad.

But I’m back with an idea that can help Falcon fans everywhere. Since even the most die-hard BG fans have to miss a game now and again and scores aren’t all that easy to come by, I think I’ve found a solution.
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This afternoon in my e-mail, I received the Alumni Association’s “E-Ziggy-Zoomba” newsletter. Normally, I give it a quick glance, realize that most of the headlines are either sports or donaton related and move along. Today’s was different. Included was a story about the passing of former university president William T. Jerome III on March 10. He was 88.

Certainly a sad day for the Falcon community and one that I hope gets a good bit of attention from the university and local media. The obituary posted by the alumni association (which I can’t find an outside link to anywhere and therefore should be step one of “good bit of attention”) is quite impressive.

The BG News has a story posted, I hope someone takes the opportunity to write a deeper piece. I don’t know if it’s the kind of thing college papers go for, but the resources are right there, many in the building which bears his name.

The Sentinel-Tribune also has an obituary posted.

The Blade wrote a nice piece about Dr. Jerome on Thursday.

A few of the highlights of his pre-BG career:

-Graduated Magna Cum Laude from Colgate
-Attended Yale Law School
-Served military intelligence during WWII
-Attended Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration for his Master’s Degree
-Received Doctorate from Harvard

In 1963, he was named the sixth president at Bowling Green State University, at the age of 43 (maybe 44). The size of the student body and faculty both doubled during his tenure, and nine Masters programs were created. In an indirect connection to BGSU, in 1970, Jerome became a consultant and vice president at Florida International University, which was formed by BG alumnus Charles E. Perry, and saw legendary coach Doyt Perry serve as athletic director and golf coach in the 1970’s. Of course, Jerome also had the library named in his honor in 1982. (See top right corner of this site.)

Pretty cool, huh? Yeah, his life gets much more interesting.

Jerome’s father was a second cousin of Winston Churchill. Yes, that Winston Churchill. He was a nationally-known attorney, serving as District Attorney in New York City for a time. (Insert Law & Order sound effect here.)

There’s also a likely link between Jerome’s mother, Hope Colgate Jerome, and the man for whom Colgate University and the toothpaste are named.

Don’t think I’ll be letting the research stop here.

Roll along, you BG warrior…

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Yesterday was one of those days in BGSU history, and more specifically BGSU Basketball history, that I’m happy to have been around for. Unfortunately, I missed the games yesterday, wasn’t even in BG at all because of house hunting… but I FELT yesterday and the importance of it.

The gift from the Stroh family is insanely generous. $8M to BGSU… the majority of that earmarked for the new convocation center which will serve as the new home court for our basketball and volleyball programs. The next House that Roars. Kerm Stroh and his wife, Mary Lou and their entire family are great people. I’ve met many of them, consider some of them friends… and I have to say, I’m not at all surprised by this gift.

A few years ago, I was up in the press box area of Anderson Arena talking to Todd Walker before a basketball game. Kerm was up there and knew who I was. He started asking questions about what it costs to run ay-ziggy-zoomba.com and if there was any way he could help. He hinted at buying me a server if I wanted/needed it… I turned him down, but what a generous offer from a man I’d never met.

I started thinking yesterday, if I had $8 million dollars I could give away, what would I do with it? I’d do exactly what Kerm and the Stroh family have done. That’s what makes this so amazing… they’re US… They’re Falcon die-hards! I see them at all the games, home and away, that I get to. I’ve seen them there forever. They’re Falcon fans…

I truly think this gift came at the most opportune time. I think we’re on the cusp of something big here at BGSU with our mens basketball program. I don’t think this gift would have had the same impact had it been made a year ago. I think the program is in a completely different spot and moving in a completely different direction than it was 12 months ago. The status quo wasn’t working. Change brings more change and the snowball is now rolling down the hill at the golf course.
Something big is happening. Maybe not this season, but we’re on the verge. I’ve never been more excited to be a Falcon… I’ve been living and breathing BGSU Men’s Basketball for over 30 years now and I’ve never been more excited.

Thank you to the whole Stroh family and everyone in the administration at BGSU who worked to make this happen. Things are happening. I can feel it.

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Here’s my suggestion for marketing BGSU men’s basketball for the next 2.5 years.

FEED OTIS!!!

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After half a decade of meandering down the road toward total blackness, BGSU has made a triumphant resurgence, re-embracing it’s brown roots.

The days of Urban Meyer introducing black coaching apparel, and the hockey team dropping heavy amounts of black into their uniform (err, “sweater”) design, along with a massive amount of bookstore merchandise featuring black, brown has found its way home. I don’t know who is responsible, though I’m betting Greg Christopher had an awfully heavy hand in the process, of course, but the new basketball uniforms are beyond spectacular. The hockey team not only has brown back in its scheme, but brown helmets (highlighted with orange) as well. Football has held over the brown jerseys from the ‘05 Toledo game as a primary look, rather than utilizing a shade of brown so dark it may as well have been black to highlight numbers and such in the first half of the decade.

Much like the argument can be made that BG was the first school to use “Falcons” as a nickname, I’m betting they were the first (and may well still be the only) school to use orange and brown as a color combination, all thanks to Dr. Leon Winslow and the lady’s hat. The “look” of the 2007-08 Falcons is a welcome sight back to the way things should be.

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Click here……

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The 2006 Falcon football season is not one that will be held high in the memory of Bowling Green fans. There was inconsistent quarterback play, horrendous tackling techniques, not-so special teams, the worst loss in the history of Doyt Perry Stadium, a loss to perennial doormat Temple, and a five-game losing streak to close out the season. The home slate ended with missed field goal on what appeared to be Arnold the Pig’s play area. The off season saw an exodus of support staff coaches and the triple guessing of every move made by Head Coach Gregg Brandon. All seemed lost on the Falcon ship and the declining season-by-season record had many fans comparing this GB to a previous GB who saw early success on the Falcon sidelines only to see his teams slip away from him. Heck, going in to fall camp the starting quarterback position was up for grabs. Anthony Turner was supposed to be Josh Harris’ running ability with Omar Jacobs’ arm. He had an average first year as a starter last year but the bottom line was that a team with the M.A.C.’s most prolific aerial attack over the past few years had to nearly completely abandon the pass and ended up leading the conference in rushing.

We weren’t quite sure what we would see on opening Saturday as true sophomore Tyler Sheehan, who was named the starter earlier in the week, trotted out on the Metrodome carpet. Was it a ploy? Would he play a few downs only to have Turner come in? Were we going to run the ball and hope for the best? Could this green quarterback mature and at least get have a 1:1 td-interception ration? (Sheehan threw zero tds while passing for balls to the other team last year). Our questions were answered and answered rather quickly as the Falcons marched down the field in 4 plays to open the season with a touchdown. The wide open offense was back. Falcon Football Was Back!

After Minnesota overcame the 21 point Falcon lead at the half to force overtime it was Sheehan who once again came up big. He broke the huddle and barked out instructions to his squad like a cagey veteran and coolly delivered the two-point conversion strike to Freddie Barnes in the front corner of the end zone to lead the orange and brown past the Golden Gophers.

One week down, one victory in the books and it was on to Big Ten opponent number two. The Michigan State Spartans weren’t exactly Minnesota. This was a team that absolutely steam-rolled Alabama-Birmingham in week one. State literally plowed right over them as their back up bruiser of a tailback accounted for four scoring touchdowns. The one area that has become disgustingly worse over the past few seasons has been the Falcons ability to stop the run and specifically big powerful tailbacks. Brian Calhoun of Wisconsin still has dreams of running against BG… heck even A’mod Ned of Florida International sliced through the Falcon defense like a hot knife through butter. The Michigan State game would be a true test. The Vegas oddsmakers gave the Spartans an 18 point advantage. The Michigan State game would really let us see what kind of team we had this year on the banks of the Poe Ditch.

Did the Falcons beat the Spartans? No. But they held their own taking a tie game to the half and never staying too far out of contention. Sheehan and the boys kept the Spartan third stringers on the sidelines. We moved the ball well and more importantly showed we could contain a big time ground game. Nobody likes the moral victory implication from this game. We all wanted to win. We all wanted to feel the elation of knocking off two Big Ten foes in one season. We wanted the Cole Magner end around for two and a Chad Long interception or a fourth down Josh Harris to Charles Sharon catch. But what we got instead was a little more insight to the 2007 edition of the Falcon football team. They played hard, consistently, and continued to show great promise. It wasn’t a moral victory, but perhaps it could be best summed up as a morale victory. Ten months ago if I were offered a 1-1 split to start this year I would have taken it no questions asked. I’d still take an 0-2 start for a M.A.C. title, but that is out of my control. The fact that Falcon fans are even remotely and in all seriousness hinting at a run for the title is a testament to this team’s determination and the coaching staff’s focus. To that I say thank you, this looks to be an exciting year of Falcon football and you better believe that teams across the league have taken notice.

I’ll end this blog post with a quote that can be racked up to sophomore naivety, but I’d rather call it Falcon confidence:

“There’s no doubt losing’s hard. I don’t care who we’re playing, I think we should win. We could play the Indianapolis Colts and I think we’d have a shot to win.” –Tyler Sheehan.

That swagger is back, baby.

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But just how big was it?

In reading many reports following Bowling Green’s surprising 32-31 victory over Big Ten Conference member Minnesota I was struck by the lack of respect being shown the Falcons. On a day when the winning-est college football program of all-time fell to a national power from a subdivision below I found time and time again the BG win was being lumped into a similar category. Time and time again the reports, both AP and local Minneapolis media, were commenting on how the Gophers fell in the season opener to a lowly MAC school. A lowly MAC school that won but four games last season and racked up eight loses- including one to Temple- and lost five straight to close out the ’06 campaign.

Look, I get it. The name Bowling Green doesn’t resonate with the Notre Dames and Southern Cals of the world, but we ain’t exactly an upstart. I think most casual college football observers- read dudes that get their fix from SportsCenter and follow Big State U.- would have BG on their radars at the very least. We do have a strong history and rich tradition.
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I had kind of written off what I was hoping would happen here of late, but then, last night things changed. It may end up not being nearly as exciting for all of you readers as it is for me, but I should have more news on the situation in a day or two. I’m pumped!!

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