[A.G.]

Posted on the Student Splash page:

LU Football K/P Tryouts
Football

Kicker and Punter tryouts will be held at Williams Stadium, Friday, September 8, 2006 at 5:35pm. This tryout is open to students who have already completed their paperwork in the football office. If you have any questions please contact Coach Sundheim at 582.2045 or Kari at 582.2704.

Modified: Sep 7, 2006 11:28 AM
Expires: Sep 12, 2006

[thepostman]

wow, let me practice my kicking, i can kick extra points at the very least...haha

[PAmedic]

ironic- considering we were calling for that by the second quarter, 8/31

$*()_+@# fans causing trouble! now look what we started!

[HarrisburgFlame]

In all seriousness I hate that for the kickers already on the team and for those on scholarship. Has to be a little disheartening. But at this point I think it's a good move by the staff. There may be a diamond in the rough out there. LU has to get the kicking game nailed down because I have a feeling more than one game this year could be decided by hitting a kick or two.

[Stevev]

Yes, I consider it to be a little slap in the face to those kickers on the team or it is a message for them to get their act together.

[jcmanson]

A much deserved slap and/or message

[TallyW]

Either way it also sends a great message to the student body, coaching staff and everyone else... Rocco is serious about winning. It's a great attitude to have on the mountain.

[Libertine]

Y'all calm down. This has nothing to do (yet) w/ our current kicker situation. We held student walk-on tryouts last Friday. Unfortunately, this was the same day that Ernesto paid us a visit and the downpours forced all the tryouts indoors to the track on North Campus. That is, all the tryouts except for kickers (dang ceilings). So, the would-be walk-on kickers have had to wait until this week to show what they have or haven't got. That's what this announcement is about.

[TallyW]

Thanks for the clarification. Either way it'd be nice to see some frustrated fan who used to play high school soccer come out and wow the staff.

[qkslvrsrfrboy]

they should do what alot of other schools i know of have done, go to the soccer team and steal someone, most soccer players have great legs and can kick dead on, with just a little reworking they make the best kickers, especially goalies, good for kicking and punting

[Libertine]

they should do what alot of other schools i know of have done, go to the soccer team and steal someone, most soccer players have great legs and can kick dead on, with just a little reworking they make the best kickers, especially goalies, good for kicking and punting

Oookay. I would like you to name any one of those schools that you know of. Otherwise, I will just assume you have been watching "Unnecessary Roughness" one too many times.
Also, I'm sure Jeff Alder would have something to say about football stealing someone away from the soccer team.

[LUconn]

they should do what alot of other schools i know of have done, go to the soccer team

... and steal Kathy Ireland, she has great legs and can kick dead on, with just a little reworking she makes the best kicker, especially her, good for kicking and punting

[A.G.]

Libertine. JMU did the same thing with a soccer player. For one year, he even did both--would skirt on over from soccer practice for FB special teams work. It ended up working out quite nicely (outside of one particular "wide right") for Scott Norwood!

[LUconn]

did one of you mods edit my reply? I don't mind, but it wasn't the effect I was going for.

[Libertine]

Libertine. JMU did the same thing with a soccer player. For one year, he even did both--would skirt on over from soccer practice for FB special teams work. It ended up working out quite nicely (outside of one particular "wide right") for Scott Norwood!

Oh, I know it's been done. I was challenging qlksvrfrywbysby to pull out one of the ones "he knows of" b/c, while Norwood is obviously one of the more famous cases, he's the exception that proves the rule. Kicking a football is far more than just swinging your leg really hard and there is a vast difference between kicking a round soccer ball and an eliptical football. Soccer players, generally speaking, have put in the time and exercise to have the requisite hip/leg speed to put some power on the ball but to say that soccer players are "dead-on" kickers is just ridiculous. Did no one see the World Cup? If that were even remotely the case then coaches at all levels -- from the pros on down -- would be out scouting soccer camps and club teams instead of kickers who might have actually worn pads at some point. Goalies are actually, in fact, the worst at kicking for football b/c they don't have to have any real accuracy downfield -- just put it down there really far into a general area and let your guys run under it -- and no one's rushing at them so they have pretty much all day to kick. Does anyone else remember Tony Meola's 20-minute stint w/ the Jets after World Cup '94? I believe that was the last time, aside from Kathy Ireland, that any football team went after a soccer player. Of course, in her case, who wouldn't have gone after her?

And, again, I am positive that Jeff Alder would be less than thrilled with the arrangement.

[A.G.]

You are right about Alder. I can't think of any coach that would go for such an arrangement.

[nickrichard]

I tend to agree. If you were to consider the soccer player route, I think the only way that would be agreeable for all parties involved would be to find a soccer player that is done with his soccer eligibility, but still in school. He would have one year to play football (provided he played soccer his first four years of school) because I believe you are allowed to play 4 years of sports over a 5 year period. Does not matter which sports you play...as long as it is within a 5 year period, and no sport longer than 4 yers.