Rice OT Scott Mitchell appearned with Sean and John on 1560 The Game after practice on Tuesday. Here's the podcast of his interview:
August 2010 Archives
With a 14-point, 7-rebound effort, Rice sophomore Arsalan Kazemi helped Iran to its first victory - a 71-58 win over Tunisia - at the FIBA World Championship being played in Turkey. Kazemi was 4-for-7 from the field and four of
Arsalan Kazemi scored 12 points and grabbed five rebounds for
Kazemi was 5-for-10 from the field in 30 minutes of play. He scored 10 points during a third-quarter in which
Is Patrick Hallmark, Owls' volunteer assistant baseball coach, auditioning for a new career? Tune in to the debut of "Owls Insider" on Fox Sports Houston, this Thursday at 5 pm (central), to find out.
In his FIBA World Championship debut, Rice University sophomore Arsalan Kazemi scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds Saturday as Iran began the tournament with an 81-65 loss to Brazil. Kazemi was 4-for-11 from the field.
Iran continues play in Group B on Sunday against Croatia. Iran's pool also includes Slovenia, Tunisia and the United States. Kazemi's team, which includes Memphis Grizzlies center Hamed Haddadi, will play Team USA on Wednesday.
David Bailiff answers questions about Scott Solomon's injury, that will keep the senior defensive honors candidate out of action for a mininum of 6-8 weeks. Solomon suffered the injury during Wednesday's scrimmage and underewent surgery this morning on his injured right foot.
Former Owls quarterback Chase Clement in camp with the Las Vegas Locos of the UFL...The Locos will open their season on September 18 against the Florida Tuskers. Former Owl linebacker Terrance Melton is on the Tuskers roster.
The Owls conducted their last full scrimmage prior to the season opener against Texas. They worked for a total of 10 series, most starting at the offense's 40-yard line. Five ended in touchdowns, including a pair by Charles Ross. Two ended in punts, one on downs, one on a fumble and one on an interception.
David Bailiff praise the Owls offensive line after the workout. "The offensive line played very well today. They did a great job opening some holes and performed well as a unit. The wide receivers also did a nice job getting down field and throwing some blocks, and that showed up in some of longer runs we had."
On the defensive side of things, Bailiff noted that the Owls continue to show improvement in their open-field tackling. "We're tackling better in space than at anyh time since I've been here."
"I really liked walking off the field today after what I saw in the scrimmage. Things went very well."
Scoring plays
Charles Ross 18-yard run
Nick Fanuzzi 1-yard run
Charles Ross 38-yard pass from Nick Fanuzzi
Jeremy Eddington 7-yard run
Pat Randolph 6-yard pass from Taylor McHargue
Fanuzzi 7-10, 93 yards, 1 TD
Cook 7-9 42 yards, 1 INT (Dupree slipped down after the throw was in the air)
Taylor McHargue 2-2 1 yard 1 TD (first pass was for a -5 to Andy Erickson
Top Receivers
Randy Kitchens 3-29 yards; Vance McDonald 3-27 yards; Brent Hotard 3-18 yards; Charles Ross 2-48 yards 1 TD
Top Rushers
Turner Peterson 3-32 yards; Sam McGuffie 2-31 yards; Shane Turner 5-27 yards; Jeremy Eddington 2-36 yards 1 TD
Sacks
Scott Solomon 1/-5; Cameron Nwosu 1/-4.
Playing The Home Course Tuesday, Rice senior golfer Michael Whitehead shot a 78 to finish his first U.S. Amateur Championship with a two-round score of 166. The
Whitehead began the tournament with an 88 at
Michael Whitehead is on The Home Course in
Whitehead teed off at 9:25 a.m. Central Time.
Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
Jarett Dillard has made a strong move in his first week on the practice field for Jacksonville after missing the first portion of training camp due to a stress fracture. He'll make his take his first preseason game snaps tonight, looking to build on a solid week of workouts.
Here's a look at some of the top plays from Saturday's scrimmage. Redshirt freshman Tanner Leland picked off a tipped pass from Michael Poynter and returned it 74 yards for a score. Quarterback Taylor McHargue skirts around left end for a 30-yard score. Sophomore Shane Turner makes a big-time pick of a pass off the turff for a nice gain. McHargue and Klein Kubiak hook up on a fade pass in the corner of the end zone.
David Bailiff offers his thoughts after the conclusion of the second scrimmage of training camp.
It's been a longer wait than he had hoped, but Andrew Sendejo will begin his professional career in Monday when the Sacramento Mountain Lions of the UFL open their training camp.
http://www.ufl-football.com/sacramento-mountain-lions
Former NFL head coach Dennis Greene is the Mountain Lions head coach, while one of Sendejo's teammates will be former NFL quarterback Daunte Culpepper. More than anything, Sendejo is ready to get back in an environment he loves.
"I am excited and happy to be playing football again," he said. "The last time I was in pads was last October, so I am ready to get things going."
Sendejo finished his career tied for second on the Owls' career tackle list despite missing the half of his senior year because of an ankle injury at East Carolina. He was not selected in last April's NFL Draft, but did have a stint in Tampa Bay's training campl, as well as a tryout with the New Orleans Saints.
While he was holding out hope for a late call from an NFL team, the offer to join the UFL was a perfect solution to his desire to get back on the field.
"My goal has always been to play in the NFL, and that is still the case. While I haven't achieved that yet, this is a great opportunity to get back on the field and show what I can do. I am fortunate to have a job that won't feel like one. There are so many people out there who don't have jobs right now, so I know how lucky I am to have this opportunity," he added.
FYI, circle the calendar for October 15. That's the date when Sacramento will play Las Vegas which would set up a potential match up between Sendejo and Chase Clement.
Brent Hotard puts that weight room work to additional good use, carving out a scoop of ice cream on Thursday night at Rice Stadium
Quality work earns rewards and after two weeks of hard work in a run of heat and humidity that will be a reference point for years to come ("son, you might think this is hot, but when I was playing at Rice in 2010...THAT was some heat"), David Bailiff threw his team a dandy changeup on Thursday, cancelling the day's second practice and opting for ice cream and a movie.
Earlier in the day, the Owls battled through 21 periods on the turf at Rice Stadium and the action included work by both Taylor McHargue (ankle) and Turner Petersen (hamstring) during live work.
Bailiff's troops will be back on the grass practice field tomorrow morning for a single practice, as preparations prepare them for Friday night's second scrimmage of training camp.
Alexandra Ernst, a junior on the Rice swim team majoring in Global Health, had a unique international experience this summer. Among a host humanitarian activities in some remote regions of Africa, Ernst was also part of a group of Rice students who helped initiate a fog-water collection system in arid mountain villages in southern
Ernst Photo Gallery
"This summer I was fortunate enough to venture not once, but twice, across to the beautiful African coast," Ernst said. "The first venture was a three-week, service-based trip to
"The second of my two African adventures," Ernst explained, "was a month-long internship funded by the Baker Institute to help initiate a fog-water collection system in extremely water-deficient mountain villages outside of Sidi Ifni, in the southern region of
"The trips to
A college swimmer helping bring water to an otherwise arid region seems to be a perfect match. Ernst has similarly been a perfect fit for the Owls' swim team. Last spring she battled-back from a nagging injury to post her best times of the season and score for the Blue & Gray in two events at annual Conference USA Championship meet. The Seattle, Wa., native also posted the Owls' third-fastest time of the year in the 100-yard butterfly before being named to the 2009-2010 C-USA Academic Honor Roll at the end of the semester.
Faced with a tight schedule due to the annual O-Week Rally at Rice Stadium on Wednesday night, the Rice Owls were slated for a 4:30 practice on the grass field north of Rice Stadium......except no one got final clearance from Mother Nature.
A thunderstorm, complete with lightening bolts, pulled the Owls off the grass shortly after completing their stretching routines. After waiting out the requisite time for the electrical show to move on down the road, they made their way down to the turf at Rice Stadium (it rained just enough to make the grass field unsuitable), for a compressed practice session.
One roster development on the day. Junior Brian Stacey, who had made the move over to offensive line after lettering last year as a defensive reserve, returned to the defensive side of the ball.
"After Alex Lowry decided to leave the team, we knew this was something we probably were going to have to do," Rice head coach David Bailiff said. "We needed to get another veteran in the mix. We've got some good looking young linemen, but this gives us more experience," Bailiff added.
A short practice produces a smaller photo gallery, but here you go:
And as noted earlier on Twitter, Sam McGuffie has caught the fever for Mowhawks.....
College football's most productive passing duo in history is about to get back to work, albeit on opposite sides of the country.
After being placed on the Physically Unable to Perform List when he first arrived at camp because of a stress fracture in his left foot, Jarett Dillard was activated on Monday and took part in practice with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
http://www.jaguars.com/news/article.aspx?id=9152
Meanwhile, Chase Clement and his Las Vegas Locos teammates will take to the field on Wednesday for the start of their training camp.
http://www.ufl-football.com/news/locos-prepare-begin-title-defense
Maybe it's the heat, maybe it's the cumulative effect of nine days of meetings, practices and video study, but Mowhawk Mania took an even more creative turn on Monday night, as the coaching staff joined the fray...After practice was over, the current band of Merry Mowhawkers gathered for a group shot. Check out more photos in the photo gallery (the new stuff will be at the very end).....
Mowhawk Mania Photo Gallery
Lorenzo Williams, who concluded his Rice playing career in 2007, has signed to play this coming season for the defending Hungarian champion, Zalakeramia ZTE KK.
Williams played the past season in the German Bundesliga for the
The R has received word that current Rice basketball player Megan Elliott, a junior forward from Atlanta and Pace Academy, and former Owl great Doug McKendrick, squared off for a game of H-O-R-S-E inside Atlanta's Northside Youth Organization (NYO) gym this past Sunday (Aug. 15).
Elliott was graciousness enough and showed respect to the ol' timer by allowing him to shoot first. McKendrick then proceeded to narrowly defeat Elliott.
Doug, along with Claudia McKendrick and Rick Crowe, is a proprietor of one of Atlanta's finest restaurants, McKendrick's Steak House. McKendrick lettered in men's basketball for Rice in 1965 and 1966 and he still holds Rice's single game scoring record when he dropped 47 points on Georgia Tech (Dec. 6, 1965).
Mowhawk Mania continues to add converts to the cause, and some are ramping up the effort with additional fourishes. Travis Bradshaw (above) checked in with a burst of color when he debuted his new 'do at Monday morning's practice.
Check out the latest additions in the photo gallery, and more to come after tonight's second practice:
Denzell Wells traded in his blue #21 jersey for a white version on Monday morning as he made the move from offense to defense.
The third-year sophomore who was a teammate of Shane Turner's at Cy Falls High School is making the move from wide receiver to address a depth need that the Owls have at safety after the medical hardships to Joseph Leary and Max Anyiam. Leary, who had been a corner for most of his career, was ticketed for a move to safety before suffering an injury near the end of spring ball. Anyiam, a fifth-year senior who had seen considerable playing time on special teams and as a reserve, also was forced to take a medical hardship this summer.
Wells will get a look at both safety and corner. "He's got a lot of athletic ability and he wants to find a way to get on the field," Rice head coach David Bailiff said. "We approached him with the idea and he was ready to give it a try."
As any Rice baseball fan is well aware, we are in the final hours of the countdown to the deadline for major league teams to sign those players they selected in the June Draft, or lose their rights to those players.
While any deadline generates a requisite amount of nail-biting and anxious moments, the potential impact that any late signees would have on Rice's heralded recruiting class will have Owls closely watching their clocks as well as their various outlets for information with extended vigor.
But at least there is a clearly defined moment when the status of recruits is confirmed.
In a previous life, when I sat on the other side of these matters as a baseball PR person, the end of negotiating rights with a player was tied not to the passing of time on a clock, but to the moment a player attended his first class of the fall semester.
It was always a bizarre scenario, where the "threat" of going to class was used as potential leverage against a team in the hopes of some final burst of generosity that would bridge the gap and allow Joe Phenom to suddenly lose his previously professed interest in a college education, collect his healthy bonus and strike out for life in the bushes.
I checked in with a few folks who were in scouting departments back in the day, to ask them for a few of their favorite memories of this floating deadline era.
In one instance, a first-round pick embattled with his club in stalled negotiations, went out of his way to appear ready to attend school, even though the club had already confirmed that he had missed the registration deadline and had no classes to attend. Even with that knowledge, his dedication to the bluff was so compelling that the club in question began to double-check their sources. In the end, the club chose to believe their information, and as the days began to drag on past the start of school, his true academic status became impossible to deny and the two sides came to their agreement.
Another first rounder who was signed to a major southern university proved to be eagerly anticipating the social scene that awaited him. He quickly embraced the lifestyle after arriving early on campus, complete with a girlfriend. The club decided that his motivation and makeup were perhaps more in question than they realized, but that did not stop the player from cultivating a reporter for the student paper, who made daily calls to the MLB club to update them to the fact that he had not yet attended his first class. The club responded with the advice that perhaps he should not fall too much further behind in his classes and put his academic standing in peril, since there was no longer an offer from the club to accept.
Come 12:01 am on Tuesday, the final list of freshmen recruits for the Owls and all other college programs will be finalized, with nary a single class attendance sheet required to make that happen.
That is a very, very good thing.
Just received word from Tulsa that the game time for the Owls matchup with the Golden Hurricane in Tulsa on Nov. 6 has been finalized. The two teams will kickoff at 1 p.m.
In 2008, mustaches of various levels of density began to apear upon the upper lips of the Owls during training camp as a team-building initiative. Two years later, it appears another grooming activity is taking hold among the ranks, as mowhawk haircuts are becoming a popular choice among the amatuer barber set.
We'll update this gallery as needed should more members of the Owls consent to have their folicles streamlined.....
Mowhawk Mania Photo Gallery
"Separation Saturday" was the theme for Saturday's first scrimmage of the Rice Owls 2010 training camp, as David Bailiff and staff challenged the younger Owls to take advantage of the opportunity to shine during an hour of live action.
Charles Ross made an early impression , showing the same cutback ability he showcased last year against Vanderbilt , turning a screen pass from Taylor Cook into a 60-yard gain to set up the first touchdown of the day.
Shane Turner completed that scoring drive and added a second score later during the Red Zone portion of the scrimmage. Cook tossed a short scoring pass to tight end Luke Willson, who saw extensive action after Bailiff and staff made the decision to limit Vance McDonald's participation.
McDonald wasn't alone in seeing limited reps as the coaches used the live action as a chance to evaluate the roster and see where the "separation" would occur.
After breaking down the video of the morning scrimmage, the Owls will be back on the field later on Saturday for a short workout to go over corrections from the morning work. They will take tomorrow off in terms of on-field work, but will gather at 9 a.m. to perform their annual duties of helping the incoming freshman class of undergraduates move into their respective colleges in advance of the start of O-Week 2010.
Look for photos and video later tomorrow....
While the assembled O Week Coordinators serenaded their respective freshmen members of the Rice Owls with statements of support, David Bailiff brought the Owls together at the end of their seventh day of training camp with a simple message: Tomorrow is the time to create some separation. 
Eight practices into their 2010 training camp, Bailiff told his team to be ready to hit the field ready to play football on Saturday morning. The time was at hand to put preparation into practice, to stake a claim for playing time, to make your move.
"It's time to create some separation and define some roles," Bailiff said after practice. "We're going to get people as many reps as we can in game situations. It's important to get out there and play some football."
Bailiff said the Owls will hit the field at 9m a.m. on Saturday and open with some live work on special teams, something that was not always a given in previous years due to concerns over lack of depth. "After that, we're going to put the ball on the 35 and get after it. It's important for us to play football. We'll try to get 30 or so plays, then move into the Red Zone to work on field goals and PATs," he added.
One hang-up to the plans for Saturday's scrimmage is the lingering impact of a virus that has made its way through the team and could hold as many as six Owls out of action tomorrow. A final evaluation will be made in the morning, but Bailiff felt certain that senior Scott Mitchell and junior Jake Hicks will not participate, leaving the offensive line in a state of temporary flux.
Friday's practice saw the annual visit by the various O-Week coordinators for each of Rice's residential colleges, who come out to cheer on the freshmen who have been assigned to each living unit on campus, complete with signs, body paint and vuvuzelas.
The football team's O-Week participation starts in earnest on Sunday morning when the team members will assist the incoming freshman student body move in, prior to the start of the full schedule of activities later on Sunday.
Helen Davidson, the wife former Rice track and field coach Ray Davidson passed away recently and Coach Davidson has invited friends and supporters to a special celebration of Helen's life.
The event will be held this Sunday, August 15 at the Memorial Oaks Chapel in Brenham (1306 West Main Street in Brenham; 979-836-4564). The informal celebration service is scheduled to start at 1:30 on Sunday.
Here's the practice schedule for the rest ot training camp
| Friday | 13-Aug | 6:45 p.m. | |||
| Saturday | 14-Aug | 9:00 a.m. - 6:45 p.m. | (SCRIMMAGE - A.M.) | ||
| Sunday | 15-Aug | NO PRACTICE | |||
| Monday | 16-Aug | 9:00 a.m. - 6:45 p.m. | |||
| Tuesday | 17-Aug | 4:30 p.m. | |||
| Wednesday | 18-Aug | 9:00 a.m. / 7:30 p.m. | |||
| Thursday | 19-Aug | 10:30 a.m. | |||
| Friday | 20-Aug | 6:45 p.m. | (SCRIMMAGE) | ||
| Saturday | 21-Aug | 6:45 p.m. | |||
| Sunday | 22-Aug | NO PRACTICE | End of Fall Camp |
Former Owl standout and Pro Bowl special teams player Larry Izzo visiting the Owls prior to their first practice in full pads during their 2010 training camp. Izzo indicated he's hoping for a shot at one more NFL season, but at the same time, he's made his plans to be at Reliant Stadium for the opener against Texas. He spoke to the 2010 Owls and offered his experiences as a member of the Rice team which downs the Longhorns in 1994 at Rice Stadium.
The Owls will hold their first two-a-day practice on Thursday. They will be on the grass practice field north of Rice Stadium at 9 a.m. and then back in the stadium for a second workout at 6:45 Thursday night.
As they say on the talk shows, we brought a clip:
After a summer's worth of intense workouts, some of which included participation by himself and his staff, Jared Kaaiohelo was armed with a slew of numbers to present to the team to illustrate the sum gain of their combined hours of work. Numbers that would drive home the point of how much improvement they had made as a team.
As the Owls gathered for the opening team meeting of the training camp, their boisterous leader who punctuated crack-of-dawn workouts with his vocal exhortations was having trouble speaking above a whisper, much less rising to his feet, thanks to the onset of a summer cold.
But in coaching, the show must go on, and when the time came for Kaaiohelo to make his presentation, the spark returned and the voice regained its full timber as he applauded the Owls for the sacrifices they had made, and summarized the results they had achieved:
o Bench Press- 19 players maxed at better than 350lbs, including six over 400;
o Back Squat-25 players over 400lbs, 19 over 450lbs and 18 over 500lbs
o Clean-33 players over 300lbs, 10 over 330lbs, two over 350lbs, one over 400lbs
"Coach Kaaiohelo and his staff did an amazing job with our team this summer," Rice head coach David Bailiff said. "The media who came out on Saturday kept talking about how much bigger our guys looked. They did a tremendous job of getting them ready for the season."
A few days removed from his presentation, Kaaiohelo reflected on the summer's effort, their results and the process used to reach these heights.
"We divided the team into four groups. The first group was the incoming freshmen and then into Level 1, 2 or 3. The freshmen need to be one group because they on a different program designed to introduce them to our approach. Level 1 are players that we feel need more body development. This would be the younger players, the redshirts, who need to gain weight. Level 2 are players such as Keshawn Carrington, who have reached the body size that we'd like, and now need to increase their overall power. We're not really looking to add additional size," Kaaiohelo explained.
"Level 3 are players such as Scott Solomon and Cheta Ozougwu. We're not chasing numbers with these guys. Scott can pull 421 off the floor in the clean and do 40 reps of 225 on the bench. We're working with these guys on maximizing their bodies to be efficient and dominant on the field," he stated.
Unlike old approaches that lumped players into workout programs by positions, Kaaiohelo and staff were able to streamline workouts by grouping players by conditioning goals. This led for some interesting pairings at times in the weight room, but the effect was to keep everyone on track to become more effective on the field.
"We asked ourselves, how often has a game ever been decided by the numbers on a bench press or a squat," he recalled. "It's easy to get caught up in numbers, but the goal here is to develop better athletes, not big numbers," he added.
The Owls biggest challenge of the new workouts was to familiarize themselves with the new activities. "The first day, we had a lot of guys who looked like they were boxing kangaroos," he laughed. "Once they got it down, they really seemed to like it. "
Just to reassure the team, Kaaiohelo and his staff joined in the combative training workouts from time to time.
As he reflected upon the gains of the summer, Kaaiohelo offered one other reason for the tremendous success the summer had produced.
"We all know each other so much better. Last year, our strength staff was still coming together. I was just getting to know Scott (McLafferty, the solo holdover from the previous conditioning staff) and AJ (Andrew John) and Rusty (Witt) were just coming on board. We have a year of working as a group and that makes a big difference in our effectiveness in leading the workouts.
"At the same time, we know these players so much better. You only really know a player after you see him in a season. What kind of competitor is he? What kind of teammate is he? You learn what makes guys tick and how to motivate them," he noted.
The end of summer conditioning might have been cause for celebration for the players, since it meant a week off before the start of training camp.
But as the combined team gathered in the upper deck of Rice Stadium's east side after one last run to the top, Kaaiohelo also felt the emotion generated from the completion of a challenge.
"We had all put so much into the summer, the time and the effort. The players had worked so hard and that phase was over. You want it (success) for them more than ever. I will tell you flat out, the way this team approached the summer, it was if they had been 10-2 last year. There was a maturity, a focus and a drive to everything they did. I am proud of them."
With an even par 144 over two rounds of the Sectional qualifer for the U.S. Amateur, Rice golfer Robert Burrow is the second alternate coming out of the tournament played at Crestview Country Club in Massachusetts on Tuesday.
Burrow was two-under par for Tuesday's morning round but finished in a tie for fourth after an afternoon 74. Burrow, who qualified for the 2009 U.S. Amateur, finished in a tie for fourth at Tuesday's sectional.
Rice teammate Michael Whitehead had earlier qualified for this year's U.S. Amateur at another sectional tournament.
The David Bailiff Show, a weekly one-hour show on ESPN 97.5 that will debut on August 30, will originate from the Mezzanine Lounge, a self-styled "casual inner loop sports bar & neighborhood louge" located at HWY 59 and the Greenbriar exit. The show, featuring Coach Bailiff, Rice play-by-play man David Saltzman and a weekly parade of guests will run from 7:30-8:30 each Monday night during the football season.
The Mezzanine is no mystery to a dedicated following of Owls fans, who have already started burning up several social networking platforms with this breaking piece of news. Expect a lively and motivated assemblege for the show's premier on the Monday prior to the Texas game.
Make your plans to join us, or to tune in either locally or thanks to the wonders of live radio links.
Look for more details to follow.
The Rice Owls volleyball team held its first practice of the 2010 season Monday morning in the Rice Volleyball practice gym, formerly the West Gym of the old Rice Recreation Center.
The Owls open the season on Aug. 27-28 when they host the Rice Invitational in Tudor Fieldhouse. Rice meets Texas Tech on Fri., Aug. 27 at 7 p.m. to begin the 2010 campaign.
Even though he's been feeling less than 100% thanks to a cold, David Bailiff continued to find nothing but reasons to smile after the Owls second practice of their 2010 training camp at Rice Stadium on Sunday night.
"We had another great practice tonight, a spirited effort at a fast tempo," Bailiff said. "They've brought a blue collar attitude out here and really have been ready to work."
The Owls have hit the ground running--literally--from the start of camp, thanks to the emphasis on a fast temp in new offensive coordinator David Beaty's offensive scheme. While the break-neck pace caused its share of havoc in the spring, Bailiff's troops have shown a great retention of the concepts from the spring and, thanks to an impressive effort over the summer (more on that tomorrow), they are better prepared to put those concepts into practice on the field.
"It's been great to see them come out here ready to move around at a high tempo."
Bailiff noted that the lack of pads makes it easy for the skill positions to stand out in the first days of drills. "It's no fun to be a lineman in these first two days, since they don't have pads on and we tell them to take just three steps and stop so we can run the play. I haven't spent as much time watching them to this point, but I'll be interested to see how they look once the pads come on," he added.
The incoming group of freshmen skill position players continue to impress Bailiff.
"Jeremy Eddington is really fun to watch. He's big and fast and really looks the part. Andy Erickson really plays fast and shows a great burst out there. Mario Hull has been making some plays. It's great to see how fluid Gabe Baker and Bryce Callahan are in drills," he noted.
The Owls will step up the practice routine tomorrow as they pull on shoulder pads for the first time on Monday night. They'll repeat the same routine on Tuesday, before pulling on full pads for the first time on Wednesday.
Rice head coach David Bailiff visits with ND Kalu and Kyle Kennedy (not pictured) of SportsRadio 610 in Houston on Sunday afternoon prior to the Owls second practice of their 2010 Training Camp
Here's some quotes from the some of the 2010 Owls as they spoke to an overflow crowd of local media on 2010 Rice Football Media Day
Coach David Bailiff
It is a wonderful time of the year. I went out to the Texans practice the other day and you hear the noise of football and I got goose bumps on my arm hearing the whistles and the pads poppin¹ and I can¹t wait for our practice tonight.
We have a chance to be a much improved football team. We have matured over the last season and we¹re bigger, faster, and stronger. We expect to win and we expect to go to a bowl game. We expect these young men to come out and compete every snap and play a great brand of football. We always keep our expectations high and I think we¹ll be a real good football team and surprise some people.
We¹ve got great competition all over the field on the offensive side of the football and on the defensive side of the football and even special teams.
Competition just makes you improve and makes you improve fast.
We¹ve created a culture where we expect to win and play with great passion for four quarters and I think these young men are ready to do that.
David Beatty
I¹m really excited about this season with the football team that we have.
Offensively, our strength staff did an unbelievable job with these guys. You can just their muscles popping out of their shirts.
Personally, its great to be back at Rice and get started. It¹s a great place and it is very near and dear to my heart. Working for Coach Bailiff is a dream come true and there is not a better one in the business to work for, I promise you that and we¹re looking forward to some great things.
We¹ve got some great some great talent and we are looking forward to getting the ball into guy¹s hands that could do some things with it. We think we got some systems in place to be able to do that.
Chuck Driesbach
Depth is so important on both sides of the ball, particularly defense with as many plays as the offenses are trying to run against us right now we feel like we got more depth than we¹ve ever had. I remember Coach Bailiff had a discussion one time and we were talking about depth and how important it is.
You know if Colonel Travis and Davy Crockett had a little bit of depth they may have won that ballgame at the Alamo. We¹ve got more experience and we are very excited about the progress we¹ve made along those lines.
Sam McGuffie
I just try to play as hard as I can, practice as hard as I can, and do everything as hard as I can. Hopefully, I can do that on the field.
On what he brings to Rice Football:
I just want to win. At Michigan, we want two games and for the first time in my life I felt there was nothing I could do, and I don¹t want that to happen again. I want to win games.
On the experience of sitting out last season after transferring:
I¹ve never had to sit out in my whole life and being a competitor you never want to sit out. Sitting out showed how important football was to me. I did everything full speed and didn¹t take any plays off. It just made me realize how much I love football and how humbling it is to sit back and watch everybody else go out there, while I was sitting on the sidelines.
Taylor Cook
On what he did in the spring in preparing for 2010:
Just work hard and try to get bigger, stronger, faster, and smarterŠ study in the film room and study the playbook and just be the best I can be to give myself a chance.
On why he transferred to Rice:
Number one, academics for sure as that was key to my parents. It is a little bit closer to home and it is a football program that is on the way up. I figured I could come here and help.
Has Rice met his expectations?
It¹s been nothing, but good. The coaches have been great and the players have been great and now its time to play football.
Nick Fanuzzi
I¹m looking forward to the season and I¹m ready to get two-a-days underway and ready to get the season started. I think the team is really excited and ready to get this thing going.
On suffering through last season with injuries and adversity:
It was tough. A lot of our starters and players were hurt throughout the year. It seemed as one guy was getting better another guy was getting hurt and it wasn¹t just me, it was guys across the board and it did take toll on us. We¹ve overcome that and we¹ve used that as a drive for this season.
Having everybody back and having more experience back, plus having guys like Sam (McGuffie) coming in we just have a lot of excitement.
On his experience:
Having a year of experience under my belt is huge. The first couple games will not be anything new. Playing teams like, Texas, Baylor, and Northwestern are going to be a challenge for us, but I think it is a challenge our team is ready to accept and take on. That is what we are going to do in two-a-days is get ready for those teams and just do we¹ve been doing all summer long working our butts off and get ready for the season to start.
On Rice offensive potential for 2010:
I think there is a lot of talent right here coming into this season. Sam
(McGuffie) is going to be huge in opening up the offense in the run game as well as the passing game. I know our o-line had a lot of first year starters last year and they are coming back with more experience. With defense we have Travis Bradshaw and Scott Solomon who are playmakers. I¹m just all-around excited, offensively and defensively.
With the start of their 2010 training camp just days away, Rice head football coach David Bailiff and the members of his coaching staff took time out on Wednesay to set up on a corner on campus to hand out ice-cold lemonade, as well as Rice football schedule cards and posters.
Former Owl great and current Tampa Bay Ray Jeff Niemann won his tenth game of the season last night (Aug. 3) at Tropicana Field. With Jeff's solid performance, the Rays (67-39) took over sole possession of first place in the AL East and now have the best record in the majors.
The R Blog was on-hand to ask some postgame questions from you, his Rice fans. Click on the audio links below to hear Jeff's exclusive postgame interview with RiceOwls.com, but that's not all! There's also audio links from Jeff's postgame interviews with the other attending media, postgame comments from Rays' manager Joe Maddon, and an exclusive RiceOwls.com interview with Rays' pitching coach Jim Hickey.
RiceOwls.com interviews Jeff Niemann after the Rays' 6-4 win over Minnesota on Aug. 3
Jeff Niemann meets with the media
Rays' Manager Joe Maddon postgame comments
Interview with Rays' Pitching Coach Jim Hickey
Niemann of Note:
* His .769 winning percentage (10-3) is second-best in the
* Improved his career winning percentage to .694, best in club history (min. 30 decisions).
* Now 19-5 (.760) since June 1, 2009, best record in the majors (min. 30 starts).
Jarett Dillard's anticipated return to the practice field when the Jacksonville Jaguars opened camp last weekend was sidetracked before it began when he was placed on the Physically Unable to Perform List (PUP) as camp opened.
Rather than being the result of any lingering effects from the broken ankle that ended his rookie campaign in 2009, his placement on the list was the result of a stress fracture in his left ankle that occured some time in June. Players who are placed on the PUP are not allowed to practice with the team, but can return after their injury is healed.
Reports indicated the move was more precautionary than anything. via text, Dillard indicated he hopes to be able to practice next week.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/07/30/1754467/jaguars-open-camp-with-dillard.html
Rice women's basketball coach Greg Williams shared some time out of his busy summer recruiting schedule to visit with The R and offer his insight on a variety of topics.
Please click on the links below to listen to what Coach Williams had to say.
Greg Williams on recruiting
Greg Williams on early commits
Greg Williams on new assistant coach Jae Cross
Greg Williams on new Jackie Stanley
Greg Williams on the upcoming season
Please click on the links below to listen to what Coach Williams had to say.
Greg Williams on recruiting
Greg Williams on early commits
Greg Williams on new assistant coach Jae Cross
Greg Williams on new Jackie Stanley
Greg Williams on the upcoming season
