A few interesting numbers came up this week during our all-department meeting in the Kent State Student Center and a the Kent Area Chamber of Commerce Kickoff Luncheon at Dix Stadium. Here are a few of those numbers …
1.2 … The most impressive comes courtesy of athletic director Joel Nielsen, who did some quick math recently when he was curious about how we compare to other schools in the Mid-American Conference in the all-time standings of the Reese and Jacoby Cups – the Reese is given annually to the athletic department with the most successful men’s programs while the Jacoby is awarded to the school with the top women’s programs.
Add the final standings from both together and our average finish is 1.2. The next best is a 4.5. That’s a pretty strong statement proving the success Kent State has found in its comprehensive approach to athletics.
Nielsen shared those numbers at our all-department meeting on Monday.
5/41 … During the kickoff luncheon, head football coach Paul Haynes spent some time talking about the future, and to illustrate just how much this year’s team is depending on the players of the future, he hit us with these numbers. Of the 41 players contributing on this year’s football team, only five are seniors. Another eight are sophomores. The rest are in either their second or third years.
I did a little research yesterday after writing a blog showing the inexperience on the offensive line, and that appears to have been the youngest starting line in recent Kent State history … it is certainly it is the youngest since Dean Pees took over as head coach back when I covered the team for the Record-Courier along with current beat writer Allen Moff.
I also talked with Haynes about the work Shawn Clark is doing to get that group up to speed and ready to play at this level. He agreed that it’s “just a matter of time and patience” needed to allow Clark to work his magic.
From January to June, the Flashes’ offensive line was starting to gel from January to June. That’s 15 practices, lots of meetings. Then you get into May and the linemen stuck around Kent and continued to work and get comfortable playing next to each other. Then there was fall camp. It’s not the same group anymore, and now they are trying to gel with already inexperienced players moving to new positions on the line and new players with no experience moving in. It’s just simply going to take a while.
“It’s going to take some time and patience, but I know coach Clark is one of the best offensive line coaches in the country,” said Haynes. “I am incredibly lucky to have him on this staff. The kids love him. You talk to any of these offensive linemen, and they’ll tell you how much they love him. He does a great job of coaching them not just in football, but in life. He cares about them. It’s an incredible thing to watch, and I know they will get better.
“And really, in that Ohio State game, that unit didn’t play that bad. They didn’t have winning performances, but for what they were up against in terms of experience and everything else, they battled. The hard part is that they are so young. The great thing is we have them for awhile. We just have to be patient.
8-to-10 … I’ve been enjoying the hart start to Kent State’s volleyball season. I spend some time every week talking with head coach Don Gromala, and every week he says he is ready to try a different lineup.
In Tuesday’s win over Youngstown State, Gromala turned to lineup No. 8 on the season. That’s during an 8-2 start. According to Gromala, he used only two or three lineups all last year. We could see yet another lineup this weekend when the Flashes travel to Towson for a tournament that will include St. John’s and North Dakota State.
Gromala says he is enjoying the chance to tinker. One of the keys to the continued improvement, he says, is the team getting used to a new freshman setter in Brittney Jakscht. “It’s kind of like a wide receiver getting used to a new quarterback,” Gromala said.
55%-to-45% ... That was the margin of victory for "No" over "Yes" yesterday when Scotland voted against independence and decided to remain in the United Kingdom.
Scotland is one of my favorite places on the planet. I travel there every two years to play golf at St. Andrews and some of the other great courses in Fife and East Lothian. So, I followed this vote with great interest.
I'm sure freshman field hockey player Eilidh Thomson was also glued to the television last night. Thomson is from Edinburgh, Scotland, and while I haven't had a chance to talk with her about the vote for independence yet, I am told by field hockey sports information contact Mollie Radzinski that Thomson had some strong feelings regarding the historic referendum. It had to be difficult to be so far from home during such a historic vote.
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