Archive for September, 2009
Some thoughts on football’s season opener, a 33-21 win over Kenyon
1. Case football is getting a lot of attention from local media. Plain Dealer columnist Terry Pluto had a column on the Spartans last Friday. The PD also ran a quick preview of the Kenyon game. On Saturday, the News Herald’s head prep writer, Bill Tilton, the PD’s Norm Weber and a local blogger were covering the game. A Buffalo Bills scout was in attendance. Here’s a link to my favorite non-Observer season preview.
2. The busy press box was a far cry what you’d see on Saturdays when I first started as sports editor: a couple people doing stats, overflow from the President’s Suite, the athletic director and a coach or two. And now, a security guard is at the press box’s entrance checking names off a list.
3. The stands were pretty full too. So it’s not just local media that’s paying attention; students are too (gasp).
4. Standard Parking raised the price to park in the Village parking garage from $5 to $6 on gameday. The athletic department doesn’t see any of the parking money.
5. Yes they won by twelve points and yes Kenyon looked better than they have in years past, but I doubt the Spartans were very happy with how they played. Case was in the red zone a few times without scoring because of some uncharacteristically sloppy play. Look for that to change this week at Rochester.
6. Sports Information Director Creg Jantz has been smart in how he’s promoted the team. His pregame notes highlight what players from the Cleveland area have been doing, which naturally appeals to local media. In some cases, they’ve been following these players, like Dan Whalen and Tim Cowdrick since they were in high school.