Spring Football Practice Begins

Today maybe April Fools Day as we make safe jokes and pranks, but today the "new" Delaware State Hornets football team will begin spring practice as they prepared for their red/white spring game on April 16.

New hornet head Kermit Blount told dsuhornets.com that their coaching staff will introduce some new play systems to share with his players and everyone has a clean slate heading into spring camp.

I guarantee you that everyone on that football team will be fighting for their jobs because Coach Blount believes that this team will not only impress, but to make every minute count.

Here are the keys for the Hornets spring camp:
The Hornets will have four veteran wide recivers: Justin Wilson, Travis Tarplay, Donnell Dixon, and Darrius Jackson. Will they impress their coaching staff will good drills and make good catches with their speed?

Most of their defense will return including linebacker Brandon Harvey, Matt Spicer, and others but the defensive line will have a big gap to fill to replace Andre Caroll as leader of the defense. Can the defense improve better than last year?

The two headed monster: The Hornets might play with two running backs with Jaashawn Jones and James Rosseau, but who wants the job more to carry the load?

Quarterback Expectations?: Last season everyone expect Anthony Glaud to carry the Hornets to a winning season. Instead Glaud had a very tough season to begin the season but finished on a positive note. Now its up to Nick Elko to help the hornets offensive struggles. Are we going to expect good expectations or another struggling season for DSU quarterbacks.

Special Teams: Who will be the Hornets new kicker? Will it be be same kicker as last year or will it be someone else that can make extra points, field goals, and good kickoffs? Also can the Hornets special teams get good coverage and good kickoff returns?

Lets see how the two week spring camp will turnout. Also they will have summer camp before the real deal begins September 3 versus Virginia Military Institute (VMI).

Coming Soon To Delaware State Sports...

Doing the past few days I was looking for jobs to apply at Delaware State University and I saw two coaching positions for women's sports: Golf and Lacrosse.

So I refresh the page twice to make sure and looked at both job descriptions and my eyes did not deceived me at all. So coming soon to DSU Sports, lady hornets golf and lacrosse.

The question that puzzled me a bit was why would DSU have golf and lacrosse come to Dover? That answer was simple because the Delaware State Athletic Department tried to get rid of equestrian due budget concerns. We already know what happened next: the Equestrian team took DSU to court won the case, forced DSU to pay up for their mistakes on Title IX, keep equestrian, and find more female sports in order to meet the Title IX criteria.

Now with golf and lacrosse coming to Delaware State, can you imagine how many students will attend at DSU? Think about it lacrosse has been popular here in Delaware especially in the Delmarva region next to football and basketball. Now where will hornets golf will practice and compete at? Well, there is the Cavalier Country Club  in Newark, Delaware for the hornets  to play at.

I don't know when Hornets golf and lacrosse will start but I'm pretty sure there will more female athletics than ever before at Delaware State University. Hornet fans get ready golf and lacrosse is coming to DSU, it will be a fun experience and great way to expand hornet sports for females everywhere.

Hornet Football Schedule Release

Forget spring and summer, I'm so ready for the start of the Delaware State Hornets football season. This week I went to dsuhornets.com and found the 2011 Hornets football schedule and I'm saying to myself that its going another challenging season.

Think about it, new coach, new plays, new season, new attitude. The only question is will be the results be the same as it was the last three seasons?

It will be a tough season for new head coach Kermitt Blount as his new look Hornets begin the season on September 3rd on the road versus WMI (Virginia Military Institute), followed by a home opener versus Shaw University on September 10. Then the Hornets will be on a three game road trip starting with their in-state rival University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware on September 17, followed their MEAC opener versus MEAC co-champions South Carolina State (September 24) and Florida A&M (October 1).

The Hornets will return home on October 8 when they take on Norfolk State, then its back on the road to the Dawg Pond versus North Carolina A&T on October 15. After their bye week, the Hornets be back home starting with their Homecoming game versus Morgan State on October 29 (remember the fumble of 2007), and North Carolina Central on November 5.

Normally DSU plays their rival Hampton in either September or October, instead they play November 12 at Hampton followed by the final game of the season at home versus Howard.

The Hornets will not play co-champion Bethune-Cookman this season but they will meet again next season. Before I jumped the gun, I want to see how the new look Hornets will fare starting with their spring game on April 16 at Alumni Stadium followed by their summer training camp in August.
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2011 Delaware State Hornets Football Schedule

September 3 @ Virginia Military Institution (VMI)
September 10 Shaw University
September 17 @ University of Delaware (Route 1 Rivalry)
September 24 @ South Carolina State
October 1 @ Florida A&M
October 8 Norfolk State University
October 15 @ North Carolina A&T
October 22 Bye
October 29 Morgan State University (Homecoming)
November 5 North Carolina Central
November 12 @ Hampton
November 19 Howard

Note: All games will be played on Saturday, Home teams are bold. Times will be announced at a later date. Schedule is subject to change.

Hornets Throwing a Lucky 7

After a very long road trip to begin the season, the Delaware State lady hornets softball are very glad to be home and get some wins.

So what did lady hornets do: Keep on hitting and keep on winning. Through March 23rd DSU has won seven in a row and rolling the dice by making every hit, steal every base, and score every run they can to win the game.

During the seven game winning streak DSU  has batted .420, outscoring oppoents 62-8 and throwing a no hitter.

Also six lady hornets are batting .320  and above during the streak. The reason behind those win is that the lady hornets won their own Capital City Classic Tournament last weekend and earning a huge over their in-state rivial University of Delaware back on Tuesday. With their MEAC conference games fast approaching, the lady hornets can not afford to make mental errors and just continue to play more smart in running the bases and leaving runners on base.

Even though their pitching is just under a 4.00 ERA the hornets has found ways to get out of situations and finished strong to get the wins they need. The Lady Hornets long home stead continues with the John Savage Tournament and I'm looking to see how the lady hornets will fare espically with Morgan State coming to town along with three other school participating in the tournament as well.

A Season Full of Growing Pains

Its was very tough season for the Delaware State men's and women's basketball team during the 2010-2011 season as both teams finished 9-21 overall and 5-11 in the conference. For head coaches Ed Davis and Greg Jackson it was a tough season for both of them, coaching a young squad with inexperience and little or no senior leadership.

On the women's side, the lady hornets only had two seniors to try and helped a young DSU squad that are trying to learn the tricks of the trade of winning games. Instead cold shooting and turnovers was the lady hornets Achilles heal all season long as DSU shot only 33% from the field, averaging over 20 turnovers a game, and scoring 53 points a game.

DSU were no match versus West Virginia, Syracuse, Maryland, Seton Hall, Hampton, Bethune-Cookman, Florida A&M and other teams. Something tells me that the lady hornets have a lot of work to do on their shot selection and handling the basketball. Not to mention attitude because their body language were saying we are not ready to battle these tough teams and win games.

As for the Hornet men this was a season where games that would've been won, instead it turnout to be painful loses. DSU would've beat LaSalle, Delaware, Bethune-Cookman (twice), Coppin State (twice), Hampton (twice), Howard, North Carolina A&T (twice), UMES (on the road), Florida A&M (on the road), Tennessee State, and South Carolina State (MEAC Tournament).

With those wins DSU could have at least 14, 15, or 16 wins, instead only nine wins during the regular season and finished the season losing eight in a row and 12 of their last 13.

All season long the Hornet men were undersized having a very small lineup and only one big man. That spells bad news because  getting out rebounded by opponents 35-23 a game and letting teams to shoot almost 50% from the field.

The Hornets will have most of their players back but DSU needs more big men to help these guards so they can rebound and get block shots on defense. Also the Hornets need stop falling behind and tried to rally to get back in the game. Also the Hornets needs to maintain a big lead at all times.

Can both the men and lady hornets get back on track next season and try to compete for the MEAC title? Only time will tell.

Hornets MEAC Tournament Preview

March Madness has started and the 2011 MEAC Tournament will begin tomorrow from The Joel Coliseum, home of Wake Forest University. 11 teams vining for the richest prize in mid-major sports: to become a MEAC Champion and a trip to the Big Dance (NCAA Tournament).

Both the Delaware State Men and Lady hornets basketball team will play 1st round games.

The Lady hornets will play UMES for the 3rd time this season. During the regular season the lady hornets won in overtime at home 73-67, however last Thursday on the road the lady hornet lost 55-49. If the lady hornets is able to beat UMES, they have to have a good half court offense, score points in the paint, and pervent turnovers.

Meanwhile the Hornet men will playing South Carolina State. In their first and only meeting in January, Jay Threatt scored the game winning jumper as time expired as the Hornets beat the Bulldogs 61-60. In order for the Hornets to win the game, they need to rebound better, attack the paint, and stop settling for 3 point shots. Also the defense needs to be crisp and fresh from start to finished.

Even I won't be there at the MEAC Tournament, I will catch all the action online on meacsports.com and 1290theticket.com.

Good luck to the DSU Hornets basketball teams in the MEAC tournament.

The Night was Rough for Hornets Basketball

Last night was the final home game of the year for the Delaware State Hornets men's and women's basketball team. Last night was supposed to be special night for the Hornets, one its was Senior Night, and number two this was chance for the Hornets to show their home fans and  their long time rival Hampton that they can be just as tough as they are. Believe me nobody wants to lose on Senior Night.

During the lady Hornets 77-66 lost to Hampton, the lady hornets fell into a early hole they can't get out of. The lady hornets were trailing the whole game from start to finish. The lady hornets committed 19 turnovers that lead to Hampton scoring 31 points off of turnovers (25 points in the 1st half). There were a lot of fouls being called for both teams Also it was free throw shooting marathon in which both teams combine for 68 free throw attempts (Hampton 38, DSU 28). Even if the lady hornets made a brief rally early in the 2nd half, the lady hornet couldn't cut the lead any further. I wanted to cover my eyes at the game but instead  I was the Public Address announcer for the game I had to witnessed it like everyone else in Memorial Hall.

Then there was the Hornet men's basketball team, a free falling team that can't get wins down when they needed that most all season.  The team that really need this win more than anything. Instead no matter how well they shoot their defense was no match for Hampton's size in a 71-64 defeat. DSU did made 28 points in the paint but the Hornets would've made 40 points in the paint if it weren't for Hampton's defense that the Hornets to missed some close up bunny shots. Once again the Hornets live and die with the long range shots by shooting 14 three pointers making only six.

The scene at Memorial Hall felt emotional inside but hopefully Thursday night at UMES both the men and lady hornets will finished their losing streak and at least gained a little momentum for the 1st round of the MEAC Tournament.