It's been many, many years since I've posted.  I will not apologize, and I am certainly not a "fairweather fan".  No one who bleeds blue and gold could ever be accused of that.  It's essentially been below zero with 40 mph winds for as long as I've been associated with North Park (goes back to 95).  I watched games, did the PA while I was a student and for years after I left.

This....this is exciting.  Admittedly, life happens.  Every year, I peek in to see how my Vikings are doing.  I always try to make a point to make it to a game.  This year, I was lucky enough to make it to both CCIW tourney games at Wheaton with both of my boys.

I left last weekend's games admiring the style of play.  That's it.  Who doesn't love a hustling, hard-nosed, bust-your-a** style of play out of a team you cheer for?

But tonight?  Tonight made me a believer that this group could just go ahead and do the thing.

Down 14 in the second half.

Big men in foul trouble.

Playing on the road when (and I'm not saying this is anyone's fault) you should have been in an absolutely electric Crackerbox.

And they chipped away.  I watched the game with my 11 year old son, andf it was awesome to explain how athletes need to navigate emotions and waves throughout a game.

At tne end of the day, an amazing show of mental toughness for MY Vikings. 

Congrats, fellas.  This alum and fellow student-athlete is proud of you.  As Hawk Harrelson would day...

"Don't stop now, boys!!"

The Titans are en fuego.  36-17 Green Weenies over Augie with about 8 minutes left in the first half.

So, after 18 years (on and off) of doing the PA at North Park games, I attended my first game as a paying fan at the Crackerbox tonight.  That was....strange.  But if they all go like this one did, that's certainly 5 bucks well spent.

It was very fun for me to sit back from the scorers' table vantage point (directly between Greg and AC doing the play by play and Kevin Shepke running 400 things simultaneously--that's worth the price of admission in its own right) and enjoy the game as a fan.  I attended with a buddy of mine who is an Augie alum.  As overtime was coming to an end, he said, "That's a pretty big win for you guys."  I responded, "Probably the biggest in the last 25 years."

Glad I got to be there tonight.  I must say that I haven't had the chance to see much of Juwan Henry in person, which I regret.  I know he was far from 100% tonight, but it was clear that he was doing what a senior with only a couple of games left in his career should be doing...laying it all out there and doing what he could to help his team reach a place it's never been.

Colin Lake was amazing tonight.  Clearly, his point production was important.  But all things considered, I feel like his contributions all around were the difference in this game.

I'm proud to be a North Park Viking.....if they continue to play like this, we just might get that signature student section back.

Well done, men!

Three young kids have forced me to step away from doing North Park games the last couple of years and, of course, it appears as though the Vikings have responded to my absence by putting a fun, exciting, and competitive product on the floor. 

I was able to head out to North Central for last year's season finale which saw the Vikings fall just short of a conference tourney berth.  Hoping that this year marks a first....I believe I am right that the Vikings have never actually been in the CCIW post-season tourney. 

It would certainly be fun to see!

Go Vikes!

One more thing...easy to be amazed with Juwan Henry, and for good reason. But I was really impressed with TJ Cobb. Very active, very athletic.  Great compliment to Lake and J.H.

VERY proud of the effort from the Vikings tonight. Remarkable defensive intensity and poise from such a young, thin core. Unfortunately, it was also clear that the lack of depth hamstrung them in the second half....from a fatigue factor for sure, but the foul trouble really hampered their tenacious guards' ability to swarm as they did early on.

Greg--to your point about them being a favorite to watch---easy to see why after tonight.

I sincerely hope we see everyone back on the roster next year. We'll done Coach Slyder and team...nice to have something to be proud of on the court. It's been a LONG time...

Quote from: Gregory Sager on February 15, 2015, 09:31:56 AM

Quote from: Gotberg on February 15, 2015, 09:24:22 AM

Quote from: Viking Blue on February 15, 2015, 07:42:41 AM
OK North Park faithful, I'll leave it up to you. 20 years of following these guys, 15 years of announcing. I take this year off, and the only game I attend they lose by 40.

Am I allowed to drive to Naperville on Saturday?

Furthermore, am I ever permitted to attend another game?

I am sure there will be a nice video stream of the game for you

ROTFL!

TD, if I see you set one foot in the airplane hangar next Saturday, I'm gonna sic Luke Johnson on you.

Eh...I'm not afraid of a slap hitter 

OK North Park faithful, I'll leave it up to you. 20 years of following these guys, 15 years of announcing. I take this year off, and the only game I attend they lose by 40.

Am I allowed to drive to Naperville on Saturday?

Furthermore, am I ever permitted to attend another game?

I was excited to head over to the North Park game at Elmhurst and see the Vikings play for the first time this year, as well as meet up with a former baseball colleague who is now on EC's staff.

Yikes.

At least it was a short drive.

I've been the PA guy at North Park's games for close to 20 years.  Decided to take this year (and possibly several more) off for a myriad of reasons.  I now work with a member of the 85 and 87 national championship teams.  This win will certainly bring a smile to his face.  I hope the marketing campaign I saw on the NP site led to some actual fannies in seats.  The environment in the Crackerbox has been lacking for sure, to say the least.

Great win, fellas.  Nice to have something to post about again.

Quote from: Gregory Sager on November 07, 2013, 03:41:59 PM

Mike Gabriel quit the team two weeks ago. No use in putting off announcing that news any longer. He told Tom Slyder that he had "lost the passion" for the game. So be it. There's no denying the fact that it's a crushing blow to NPU. He was going to be the cornerstone of this year's team as well as the primary big man. But it's better to deal with the distraction of his departure at the start of preseason and come to grips with it now rather than later. What makes it worse, though, is that Austin Wood got homesick and left school two weeks into the semester. Thus, the Vikings are going to have to mimic Carthage by being a doughnut team this season. Unlike the Red Men, the Vikings do have genuine big men -- but they're either not ready for prime time, or not equipped to be scorers, or both. We'll see a lot of big-man-by-committee games that include 6'7, 245 junior Nate Rummel, 6'4, 210 sophomore Michael Hutchinson, and 6'6, 250 freshman Matt McNamara. Weaver will see most of the minutes at power forward, which isn't his best position, but the Vikes will play four-out-one-in almost exclusively, so it shouldn't matter as much.

That's too bad about Gabriel.  The expectations were so high when he first arrived in Chicago, and there was certainly reason for optimism based on his reasons for coming to North Park in the first place.

That said, I no longer had the same optimism when I witnessed him sitting in the student section while he was injured.  Seemed ominous to me...I would think that a teammate, whether he was injured or not, would want to be in the general vicinity of the bench and be around his teammates.

You're right, though, when you state that it's better to get this out of the way prior to the season starting than to have to deal with it mid-season.

Yesterday's North Park-Carthage game is only listed as "postponed" on both teams' websites.  Has anyone heard anything about a make-up date?

North Park got back on the board with a second-straight win today, this time defeating The University of Laverne by a final of 6-5.

The Vikings jumped ahead early with 3 in the first, highlighted by a 2-run triple from freshman Dan Sabin.

LaVerne fought back to tie the game after 6, but North Park's 3 in the top of the 8th on the strength of Mike Codut's 3-run bomb were enough to hold off LaVerne's 2-run rally in the bottom of the 9th.

Nick Soldano started for North Park, allowing 2 earned runs and striking out 7 in 6 2/3.

Nick Vidas earned the win in relief, with Kenny Blanchard picking up the save.

The Vikes take on Whittier College tomorrow at 3:00 pacific time.

Quote from: Bronko7 on May 16, 2012, 08:31:12 PM

For a team to go 21-0 in their conference like Scholastica did, you sure have to wonder about the quality of opponents they face.  I'm certain they have some good players, but wonder how battle tested they will be (especially in an 8-team regional).[/quote]
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They looked pretty battle tested today coming back against the mighty CCIW squad. Especially giving NP a nice early lead with poor D.

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Well stated.  Any baseball man knows not to take his opponent lightly.  Not that the Vikings did (or didn't).  Either way, time to get back after it.

Quote from: voiceofseason on May 15, 2012, 09:15:18 AM

Quote from: Gregory Sager on May 14, 2012, 09:39:37 PM
Catchers always seem to stick up for one another. Catchers must be like the Marines -- you're never an ex-catcher, just a retired one.

There is some truth to that.  But try doing up downs for 8 innings and then see how much bat speed you have left in that critical moment in the 9th.    

Plus, we have to deal with pitchers more than anyone, which, as most know, are a weird breed anyway.....

Fire away.

I'd consider what you just said catchers do, and then ask yourself....who's the weird one?