Feb. 25, 2009

We had a terrific weekend, an even bigger Monday, and a buzzer beating Tuesday. We had lots of winning across the board, featuring a tremendous victory by our No. 11-ranked women's basketball team over No. 2-ranked Oklahoma Monday night. Then, last night, Josh Carter drained a three-pointer at the buzzer as our men's basketball team beat Nebraska, 57-55, in Lincoln.

A tip of the hat to Coach Gary Blair, his staff, our players, and the 12th Man for one of the most memorable basketball games I've seen in a long time. We were down by 14 points two different times and we fought back both times resulting in a 57-56 win. Oklahoma was the highest ranked opponent we have beaten in the history of Aggie women's basketball.

Watching the students storm the floor after the victory, I thought to myself, this is probably a tipping point for more student attendance at women's basketball. Nationally, we have more students attend all our contests than almost any other school in America, but very few schools have great student attendance in women's basketball, even us. I think Monday night may have changed that here in Aggieland. I truly believe our students will make us a national leader in this sport too.

Throughout the night and into Tuesday morning, ESPN continued to show highlights from our win and the wild celebration which followed. It's exciting to see the national attention our women's basketball team continues to receive.

We have moved up to No. 9 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Top 25, and I believe we are in a good position to finish among the leaders in the Big 12 Conference. We are building a resume worthy of a great seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Sunday, our team will be at No. 15-ranked Kansas State for a 12 p.m. game which will be televised nationally by FSN. Check your local listings.

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Men's basketball had a great win in Lubbock last Saturday. Last night, we trailed for most of the game at Nebraska, including by 18 points in the second half. But, our coaches made the necessary adjustments, and we had players making plays when it counted down the stretch. I thought going to the press in the second half really energized our team and got us going on offense. It was a nice adjustment by Coach Mark Turgeon, and our players responded.
Josh Carter's three-pointer was huge!

This Saturday we host Iowa State at 12:45 p.m. Our men have won three in a row and are playing some of their best basketball of the season at just the right time. You can purchase tickets by clicking here.

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I was really impressed with the turnout Friday night at Olsen Field for opening night. More than 3,200 students were there, and the atmosphere they continue to provide at Olsen is incredible. The participation from the student section during the games makes it fun for our fans, and I noticed some of the Wright State players enjoying the atmosphere, too. I kept wondering why the Wright State players were chuckling when our first baseman Luke Anders would approach the batter's box. I realized the visitor's dugout was reacting to Luke's walkup music, “Indian Outlaw” by Tim McGraw. At the end of the clip, our fans yell “bear claw.” Reminds me of one of my favorite pastries.

For those who missed it Saturday night, we saw an absolutely dominating performance from one of our new pitchers. Alex Wilson struck out 14 batters during 6 2/3 innings. In fact, he retired the first 13 batters he faced. This is a young man who missed all of last year while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. For Alex to step on the mound in his first collegiate game in two years, and do what he did was just incredible. Not only were the weather elements against him, he faced a good Wright State team. Alex did a terrific job. Many times it was strike one-two-three, you're out! For his efforts, Alex was named Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball.

Congratulations to sophomore Caleb Shofner who was named the Big 12 Player of the Week. Caleb started all four games last weekend at third base, and he hit .900 (9-for-10) with a triple, home run and five RBIs while scoring 11 of our 42 runs.

Speaking of baseball, when I was leaving Olsen Field Saturday, I had a fan tell me she thought the crowd was a little dead. I said no, they were frozen. Those of you who are concerned with the wind blowing a few things around throughout the seating area during the weekend, we can control a lot of things, but the weather at Olsen Field is not one of them.

Some fans continue to write saying they are unhappy we won't let kids play unattended on the grassy areas around Olsen Field. The reason is safety first. We have seen a trend developing where parents are letting their children go unsupervised around the ball park. Unattended children starting games of baseball, wall ball, catch, or even tag are not safe with so many fans attending our games. Plus, we've even had a stray ball or two enter the field of play and the bullpen from these impromptu games.
We love having you and your children at our games. We're continuing our Take Me Out to the Ballgame promotion providing free admission to children 12 and under for every Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday game. There are plenty of other green spaces to give your children a break from the game. We only ask that an adult be with the children for their own safety and the safety of others.

Our team is at Minute Maid Ballpark for the Houston College Classic beginning Friday. It should be a great weekend for college baseball. We play UC-Irvine on Friday at noon, Rice on Saturday at 7 p.m., and Houston on Sunday at 6 p.m. I'm trying to figure-out a way to get to Houston and still be here for the Big 12 Indoor Track championships.

We are ranked No. 1 by Baseball America, and I believe this is the best baseball team we've had since I got here. We have the potential for great pitching, timely hitting, and very good defense. Coupled those attributes with some Olsen Magic, and this could be a very special year for Texas A&M baseball.

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We had a terrific turnout Saturday for the women's basketball game. We beat our friends from the state capital, 76-65, for another half-point in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown. It was our fourth straight win, and our seventh win in eight tries against our friends.

I need to apologize to those in attendance for what happened when you tried to leave the southwest parking lot after the game. Unfortunately, many of the exits from that lot were closed by Transportation Services which made it difficult to leave. It was gridlock. We continue to work with Transportation Services to ensure this does not happen again. Please understand we don't control the parking.

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I'm looking forward to the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships we are hosting this Friday and Saturday at the Gilliam Indoor Track at McFerrin Athletic Center.

We are the defending champions on the women's side, and we have high expectations on the men's side this weekend, too.

The heptathlon and pentathlon begin Friday at 11 a.m., while the prelims start at 2 p.m. On Saturday, the Championships begin at 3 p.m. You can purchase tickets by clicking here.

Two weeks ago, we hosted 24 track teams here featuring over 900 athletes. Our facility and staff handled the event very well. We saw several personal bests recorded and a lot of NCAA qualifying marks reached. In talking to people around the nation, our facility is causing quite the buzz. I think we will probably see more international and national events coming to Aggieland thanks to the McFerrin Athletic Center.

There is a good article on Big12Sports.com which describes some of the details involved in hosting the various Big 12 and NCAA Championships on campus this spring. You can read it by clicking here.

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Every time I think of a vacation, Hawaii is always at the top of the list. Luckily, our men's golf team schedules a tournament there each year, and one of these years I hope the schedule will allow Marilyn and I to join them.

After trailing by eight shots entering the final round Friday at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate in Leilehua Golf Course, four of our five players shot in the 60s during the final round to lead us to victory. It was our third tournament win in four attempts this season. Our golf programs have taken major strides in recent years. It's one of the reasons we are bidding to host future NCAA golf regionals starting with the 2011 tournaments.

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Our swimming and diving teams are heading to Columbia, Mo., for the Big 12 Championships which begin tomorrow. Our women won the event the last two years. Unfortunately, four of our most talented women will not be competing. Two are redshirting this season after having shoulder surgery, while one is competing at her country's national championship, and one is mourning the death of her brother in a plane crash last week.

In the midst of this adversity, I've been impressed with the way the team has picked up the pace in the absence of some of our top scorers from last season. And I looked forward to us being very competitive this weekend.

As a reminder, we will be hosting the NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships March 19-21 at the Student Recreation Center Natatorium. A week later, we will host the NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships. Tickets are very limited for both events. You can click here to check availability.

***.
We have a real treat for softball fans this weekend with No. 10-ranked Arizona coming here for three games. Our No. 21-ranked Aggies will face Arizona on Friday and Saturday at 6 p.m. and on Sunday at 12:15 p.m. Plus, we are hosting the Texas A&M Invitational. We will face Monmouth on Friday and Saturday at 2:30 p.m. We've had some challenges early on with getting timely hits and outs. With that said, I was pleased with our results last weekend in Houston. Coach Jo Evans has a young roster, and I believe they will become more and more competitive as the season goes along.

You can purchase tickets for the weekend softball games by clicking here.

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Our women's tennis team will host South Florida this Friday at 6 p.m. at the Mitchell Tennis Center. Meanwhile, our No. 13-ranked men's team will be on the road at No. 25-ranked Notre Dame for a match on Friday at 6 p.m. Then, the men will face Louisville Sunday at 10 a.m. in Louisville, Ky.

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Congratulations to our No. 4-ranked equestrian team following our 15-9 victory last Friday over No. 8-ranked Kansas State at the Brazos County Expo Complex. We won 9-3 on the western side, and came out on the positive side of a 6-6 tie on the hunter seat side. Our team also won three of the four most valuable rider awards in the overall victory. This week we moved to No. 3 in the poll.

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We hosted a writer from Texas Monthly last weekend. She came here to figure out how and why we are hosting so many championships this spring at Texas A&M. We gave her a tour of the facilities, and I think she was impressed. After visiting with some of our coaches, I think she left with a better understanding of why it's important for us to host these championships. The reason is, I believe hosting gives us a home court/field/ pool/track competitive advantage.

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Next time you are on campus, you should experience improved cellular service. As a long time Verizon Wireless customer, I was pleased to learn Verizon has been investing extensively in the wireless infrastructure here at Texas A&M. One of the issues we all face on football game day is the number of dropped cell calls. Now, with Verizon's investment, we expect to have fewer issues with cell service at Kyle Field. We will have the first test of the infrastructure during our  Maroon and White Spring Football Game on April 18. Call your friends!

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One of our most popular events starts next Tuesday, March 3. It's the 12th Man Team Rewards Program's annual Stampfest. We will host 14 events in six days. In addition to supporting our teams, participants in Stampfest receive chances to win some unique experiences including:

• A Press Box suite for the Maroon & White Spring Football game
• A round of golf at Traditions with Head Soccer Coach G. Guerrieri and Assistant Coach Phil Stephenson
• A Nintendo Wii complete with Guitar Hero and a Wii Fit
• Riding lessons with the Aggie Equestrian team
• Virtual play-by-play at Olsen Field
• And much more!

I'm ready for Stampfest, are you?