Baseball-The Tribe had another disappointing day, dropping their second straight to VCU, 5-4. This makes tomorrow a must-win to stay in CAA contention with a tough schedule ahead.

Tennis-The Men’s Tennis team dropped their match to #32 ODU, but Women’s Tennis kept it going and will play in the CAA final tomorrow at 10 AM in Newport News.

Football-The stat lines are out from the Spring game today, with RJ Archer’s line looking the best. He went 9-14 with 126 yards and a TD through the air, and 58 yards plus 2 TD’s on ground. Potts went 11-15 with 142 yards, and Phillips was 8-13 with 91.

Courtland Marriner had the best line on the ground, with 39 yards on 6 carries. The biggest thing I overlooked in my last post was Drew Atchison, who gained 84 yards on 4 catches. Cam Dohse caught a 48-yarder, and Joe Nicholas gained 48 yards with a touchdown. DJ McAulay had 40 yards, and Rob Varno gained 49 yards on 4 catches with a TD.

The defense had a sub-par game, but had sacks from Tracy, Lissemore, and Reyer. TJ O’Neill and Michael Pigram also had very good games, and Derek Cox was the standout in the secondary.

Basketball-The CAA came home with an L from the game tonight, but AP still had a pretty good game. He started slow, but ended with some very nice dunks against little defense. It was great to see the whole team there supporting him, also.

Tomorrow is another big day for the Tribe with the CAA Women’s Tennis final and the 3rd game of the VCU series, both of which are huge for the Tribe.

RJ Archer looked very good at QB, and is easily the best running QB. Ran for 2 touchdowns and threw for one. Potts had a tough day and got sacked several times.

Tony Viola will probably be our 3rd down back, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Courtland Marriner started. He is the fastest player on the team and had some big runs.

Joe Nicholas was sporting #17 and looked pretty good at WR. Cam Dohse also had a nice game with a long catch from RJ Archer.

Defense was getting some pretty good pressure and had some nice hits, sacking Potts a few times. Only had one turnover, which was a fumble recovery.

Off to the ACC/CAA game.

Haven’t checked in for a while, seeing as not much is happening, but there is a little bit of stuff to update you one…

Basketball: The Tribe is still actively recruiting. Ben O’Donnell, a point guard from the Tampa area, has cut his list down to W&M and East Tennesee State. From the article, it looks like we are the current favorite…

“They want a point guard,” O’Donnell said. “I liked the campus more (than ETU’s) and it’d be a really good situation (playing-wise) for me.”

Also, the Tribe is going after an Arkansas transfer, Sean McCurdy. In his sophomore year, McCurdy played in 30 of the Razorbacks games this season, and had some nice assist/turnover ratio. He is also talking to Richmond(who just had a player transfer), Wofford, and Colgate. Both would seem to be good gets, but we have to take into account the fact that McCurdy would have to sit out a year.

This also has implications on the Tribes roster situation for next season. If we were to get both, it would definitely be a sign someone is transferring, and it would probably be a guard. If we only end up with one, it could either be a transfer or more likely McFadden will not have a scholarship this season and will have to earn it back this year.

An update on some players that have signed, Marcus Kitts is looking better and better, an average of 15 ppg in a recent tournament, including scoring 17 points with 11 rebounds in a game against rival Apex in the championship game. For a peak of his game, here is a video hosted by trianglehoops.net. Here are a couple of his box scores, and a link to him on the All-Tournament team. Also, check out this video of Valeriu Lazarescu winning another dunk contest.

Football: Spring practice has started, and I’ve got a couple updates. First of all, Derek Cox will be keeping a blog, which can be found at that link all season. RJ Archer will get a shot at quarterback this spring, along with now #11 Jake Phillips and Mike Potts. I’d be much happier if Archer stayed at receiver, however, we still have one of our best pass-catchers in that scenario.

The running back situation is also up in the air, as DeBrian Holmes is missing the entire spring with an ankle injury which opens up an opportunity for Tony Viola and speedster Courtland Marriner. Josh Rutter is also being held out of Spring practice, and TJ O’Neill will move back to linebacker.

Very excited about the upcoming football season, and hopefully I will get the opportunity to do some player interviews this at the start of pre-season practice(August) just like last year.

Baseball: The final note of his post, Tribe Baseball has emerged as one of the CAA’s top teams. They are currently second in the CAA, a game behind Old Dominion, with a 8-4 CAA record and a 16-13 overall record, and has a double-header against Wagner Saturday plus the series’ third game on Sunday. Wagner is currently 4-11 and the Tribe should roll in this series.

The reason the Tribe has gotten off to such a hot start has to do with veteran hitting and suprising freshman starters. The Tribe’s top hitter has been Greg Sexton, who got a walk-off double vs. a strong VMI team Wednesday night and has an OPS of 1.174, with 6 homers and 34 RBI’s. Senior second baseman Brent McWhorter has also been great, winning a CAA POW award on top of a 1.074 OPS. JuCo transfer Tim Park has been a very good lead-off man, and while he is not the typical player for that spot, his OPS is 1.077 and he was key to the VMI comeback. Finally, Robbie Nickle has a 1.038 OPS and 5 homers.

I’ll try to post about baseball post-every series, as Tribe baseball this year is really exciting!

Go Tribe!

http://www.dailypress.com/sports/dp-triberecruit1,0,5885572.story?coll=dp-sports-local

is in the pages section….

After injuries to Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson, 2 of their back-up QB’s, the Cleveland Browns signed Lang Campbell to back-up Ken Dorsey next Sunday against Houston.

The Browns placed quarterback Derek Anderson (shoulder) and defensive lineman J’vonne Parker (ankle) on injured-reserve Tuesday and signed QB Lang Campbell to the active roster.

Anderson and Parker each were injured during Sunday’s loss to Tampa Bay.

Campbell spent training camp with the Browns in 2005 and ‘06 but has not spent a week on the team’s active roster until now. He is expected to serve as the backup to starter Ken Dorsey Sunday .

Browns website

Hopefully this game is a blowout - either way - so Lang can get some PT. Houston is slightly better, but the last game of the season tends to be a crap-shoot. Even if he doesn’t get any significant play time, I hope Crennel will give him a series or 2.

Go Lang! Go Tribe!

8/30-UD

The Tribe and Blue Hens got the honor of kicking off Football in the CAA, and this Thursday night game could set the tone for both teams. In ‘06, both had disappointing seasons, and it will be interesting to see which steps up in ‘06. Also, this could fore-shadow the future for the Tribe at QB and OL.

9/8-@VMI

VMI was terrible last year, and this should be the Tribe’s only cupcake OOC. Not only is it an easy win OOC, but it gives the Tribe fans a chance to travel and see a team with an interesting football experience(cadets). I’ll probably make the Tribe to see a probably Tribe win.

9/15-Liberty

This should be the most competitive OOC game. Liberty went 6-5 last year, a year removed from being the armpit of the FCS. The Tribe came home with a win in Lynchburg last year, with a one-point win preserved by a million of LU missed field goals. While 2 will be tough, the Tribe opens the season with 3 winnable games.

9/22-@VT

VT will be a national contender next year, especially if RB Brandon Ore returns, and this no doubt will be tough to watch. If we stay within 3 TD’s I’ll feel lucky. I will probably makes the trip, though, since it is only a few hours away and is an amazing experience to watch a game. The playing of “Enter Sandman” and the whole stadium jumping up and down followed by the Hokies entering the stadium is one of my favorite things to watch in all sports.

9/29-Towson

This should also be an interesting matchup. Towson hasn’t beaten the Tribe in forever, and I’m sure they’ll be up for the game after our upset last season. Towson’s QB will be tough to stop, but the Tribe has played the Tigers very well lately.

10/6-@Villanova

Villanova is another of the several teams to knock off the Tribe last season. They really started to play well at the end of last season, knocking off JMU. The big question is if they will play like they have in the past, or use the momentum from last season to become a top CAA team.

10/13-@Maine

Maine quietly put together a very nice season last year, getting very close to making the playoffs. Suprisingly(not) they beat W&M at Zable in a nail-biter, and I think they gave them a lot of confidence. Seeing as this is in the second half of the season, I’m sure the game being at Orono will be a huge factor.

10/27-UMass(homecoming)

Possibly the best game on the home-slate will be the possible national champ, the UMass Minutemen. We played our worst game of the year against them, ending 55-6, but the loss of their star RB(Baylark) will really hurt. They still will have their QB, though, Liam Coen.

11/03-@Hofstra

Hofstra is also one of the 8 teams that beat us last season. They brought a solid passing attack and swiss-cheese D to Williamsburg last year, and barely snuck out with a W. The Tribe will need to win these kind of games to have a good season.

11/10-JMU

While UMass may be the biggest game on the home schedule, this is the game I always circle. The Dukes were very good last season, and put us away by 2 TD’s, but you have to wonder how they will deal with several defense losses, their QB being a senior(Rascati), and the plain bad play of their secondary. This is definitely the one I look foward to most, and I’ve already got a streamer-related plot cooking….

11/17-@UR

UR has put together 2 good seasons, but they lose their starting RB(I think), and have never had much consistency as a program. This is one of the oldest rivalries in all of CFB, and one of those games that the stats don’t matter. Also an easy game for Tribe fans to travel to, only about an hour away.

So we’ve got 10 of the same opponents as last year, and I think we win much more than last seasons 3. I’m thinking we at least get 5, and could go as high as 8. A bunch of these teams have question marks everywhere, and that could bode well for this young Tribe team.

31-14.

Elijah got injured early, Couldn’t stop UR, and my indian drum broke. Could the day have gotten any worse? The solid play of Phillips towards the end of the game, getting 2 TD’s, kept me sane.

Thanks to the seniors.

I’m going to do something a little different this week. I’m not paying attention to any stats, records, players, talent, nothing. This is Richmond. All stats go out the window in the 4th-oldest rivalry in college football. Both teams will be up for it, playing for bragging right’s(that the Tribe want back), and it will easily be the most exciting home game of the year. The Tribe gets an emotional win carrying over to next season, and crushes Richmond 38-10. The Tribe will put the ticks where they belong.

I’m giving quick recaps, spent the weekend at the game in Blacksburg.

The Tribe fought until the end, but Mike Potts’ 3 picks did them in blowing it in the 4th quarter.

Going into the final 15 it was 14-7, but a pass from Pitt transfer Joe Flacco to Duke transfer Ben Patrick made it 21-7. The Tribe didn’t stop fighting, though, and Potts threw a TD pass to fullback Matt Otey, keeping the Tribe in the game with about 7 minutes left.

But then Joe Flacco ran it in from 3 yards away with only 3 minutes left, putting the game in the bag.

The defensive standouts were Chris Ndubueze, David Caldwell, and Derek Cox. Caldwell and Cox both got INT’s, and Ndo got the Tribe’s only sack.

The standouts on the other side of the ball were Matt Otey, coming back from an injury and getting a TD, Joe Nicholas, 5 catches, 50 yards, and a TD, and RJ Archer, who caught 5 passes for 80.

The Tribe finishes it’s season at home next week vs. Richmond. Come support the Tribe on senior day.