Women's Soccer underway at McMurry

Tim Grove took over the women's program in the offseason and 2009 marks the first season that the women will be playing soccer under his direction. Grove is also the men's head coach and in his third season overall with McMurry University. Fifteen women showed up for camp today and Grove said he expects three more to be with the team before the season starts. Below is a glimpse of today's first practice and an interview with Grove about the first day of camp.

First senior diary - Seth Waller - and a link to an Abilene Reporter News Column

First, the Abilene Reporter News' Bill Hart writes a Sunday column about various people who have played or are playing sports professionally, collegiately or at the high school level. Usually he connects people to the Big Country area or mentions former players and coaches who used to be connected with Abilene or its surrounding area and where they are now. Today, he pulled some info from my story on Hal Mumme and Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach.

Read the column here.

And now ... drumroll ... the first senior diary of 2009. This is something that I hope becomes a major feature on this blog. I am going to work with all the athletics programs at McMurry to get an upperclassmen, and a senior preferably to write at least an entry a week on this blog to tell about their experiences as a McMurry athlete.

Seth Waller, a senior tight end, has been kind enough to share this week. I asked him to do a little more than once a week during training camp, but we'll fully understand if he's unable to. Otherwise, once the season starts, look for Seth's weekly blog entry early in the week.

But without further delay, here is what Seth had to say about the first three days of camp in his final season with McMurry's football team.

First day of camp went very well. Effort was great and the new guys picked up on the new offense quickly. With an offense that installs in only three days, day one was a big learning day for many new players. With our first scrimmage in one week versus NMMI in Lubbock, we have to get busy and go to work everyday.

Day two began with our weight workout and more meetings. Practice again went well and defense came out ready to work vs. the offense. Day two of installing the offense picked up right where day one left off and with practice and repetition, we will be well on our way to the number one offense in the conference. The Freshman and transfers are working hard to fight for a spot and the right to earn a white helment.

Day three opened up with our first day of half pads and we were anxious to get out and have a little more contact. Our offense is now in and again we will need to rep and continue to practice hard everyday. Now comes cleaning up the offense and perfecting every play. Day four is going to bring tired minds and sore bodies. Mental toughness will be key to good practices and to keep our camp going strong.

Look for more photos, and a short video tonight!

--KR

Teaff wants pre-game handshakes between players

A lot of you may not know, but Grant Teaff (pictured from a McMurry yearbook when he was the head coach) is still a big name in NCAA football. He played at McMurry, was the head coach from 1960-65, and went on to have a long coaching career including a head coaching stint with Baylor University. Now, Teaff is the president of the American Football Coaches Association that governs all the NCAA Football programs at any division. ESPN reported an article saying that Teaff is pushing for teams to introduce a pre-game hand shake between both players and coaches. Coaches are now required to shake hands before and after the game (most do anyway), and Teaff hopes that all NCAA football programs will try the pre-game hand shake before the first game of the season, although it isn't mandatory.

Read the story in its entirety.

Training Camp Central: Players Put Pads on, check video, gallery

Tonight was a fun night from a spectator's perspective, and I'll bet it was enjoyable for the players too. McMurry wore shoulder pads tonight, so the lines on both sides of the ball were able to be more physical with each other and the one-on-one drills became more fierce. The intensity was up and the 11-on-11 drill where the team runs 44 plays in 25 minutes was a cool way to see how quickly the Air Raid Offense will move. You'll get to see coach Mumme explain the drill in tonight's YouTube Video and you'll see several plays from one march down the field. At quarterback on video was Jake Mullin. Mullin is a junior but played baseball exclusively his first two years at McMurry, which would make him a sophomore. As of now, he and Landry Gunter are alternating with the first-team offense.

Ricky Jimenez is pictured as tonight's photo, check out the rest of the gallery here.

And of course, here's the video, pretty lengthy tonight because I show a lot of footage of Mumme explaining the drill and seven to eight plays as Mullin marches the offense down the field.

Abilene Reporter News Article: Mumme brings in local talent from successful Programs

Sam Waller is McMurry's Beat Writer for the Abilene Reporter News. Today's paper ran a full-color picture of coach Matt Mumme and freshman Julian Joiner (Leander / Summit Christian Academy) on the front page of the sports section.

Click Here to read the article in its entirety.

Some of you may have questions about the roster on the athletics web site. The process now, is that I'm writing the player bios based off the publicity questionnaires they have filled out. This isn't a fast process, and I don't think we'll have a full numerical roster posted until the end of next week. So for now, the roster page is a work in progress. As I write bios, I will post them. If anyone is new, I won't put a jersey number next to them.

Half-Pads practice tonight, should be a good one. Local folks should come out to Wilford Moore Stadium at 8 p.m. - It should make coach Joe Lee Dunn a more happy camper. If you missed that one, check the entry below and watch the day two practice video.

Also, just FYI - in order to keep my sanity, the photo galleries (as you may have noticed last night) and the videos won't be as extensive as they were on the first night. Soon, I'll be busy helping the other sports on campus prepare for the fall as well. Hope you're enjoying the blog. Remember to follow us on Twitter and check out the YouTube Channel for all of McMurry's Athletics videos.

Day two down, new gallery, new video, Saturday's schedule

Day two of practice is down. It lasted approximately two hours and 15 minutes and the players were early to the field again. Excitement was still high, but energy levels will most likely rise tomorrow when the team puts on half pads for the first time and goes to work in shoulder pads and helmets.

We'll be doing the first Sports Overtime Show of the season Monday night on ESPN Radio 1560 AM KZQQ at 6 p.m. from Wilford Moore Stadium's press box just before the first full-pads practice of the season.

Now, click here for the day two gallery.

And, now ... here's coach Mumme in rare fashion for interview No. 2.



Saturday Camp Schedule - Aug. 15
7:30 A.M. - WAKE UP
8:00 A.M. - BREAKFAST
9:00 A.M. - MEETINGS
12:00 P.M. - LUNCH
1:00 P.M. - MEETINGS (OFFENSIVE & DEFENSIVE)
5:00 P.M. - DINNER
6:00 P.M. - TAPE & TREATMENT
8:00 P.M. - PRACTICE #3 (HELMET & SHOULDER PADS)

D3Football.com features McMurry on front page

With all the publicity that Hal Mumme is bringing to McMurry's football program, even practice coverage is catching eyes. D3Football.com, the most respected national web coverage of NCAA III football, used our article on last night's practice and posted a picture of Kyle Kelley tossing a ball during practice.

The blog, has gone over 600 hits, and I'm very excited about that since we've been live just 20 days. Please spread the word about the McMurry Sports Blog and let all McMurry fans, students, alumni and interested parties know about this outlet that should serve the McMurry sports community well. Also, please follow us on Twitter, if you turn your phone on to receive mobile devices from twitter and turn on mobile updates from @mcmsports - you'll receive news and scores instantaneously.

- KR