[givemethemic]

I tied his shoes, I gave him a bottle of water, cause he is the freaking man...... This team is awesome and WE are not done, ACC tourney this weekend and then it is time to repeat baby !!!!!!!

[Hold My Own]

GMTM you got a little messy with the chocolate bar, b/c you still got a little on your lip


Heck, if he played for Duke then I'd kiss his......too

Do you agree with some of these people like those on PTI that say that Hans is by far the better player but McRoberts is more athletic? and will be the better player down the road? I just don't see that but really hope they're correct

Lang or GMTM either of you going to the tourny?

[BJWilliams]

Don't worry, he was simply referring to the fact that I had told him how excited I was about the upcoming season. When he said we think very much alike he was responding to my saying that.

[givemethemic]

One of the perks of doing the Women's b-ball games on the radio is that the BS Women's tournament just happens to be the week that the ACC Men's tournament is go figure? Seriously I love calling the games, but I haven't been to the ACC tournament since I was a Senior in HS in 03 boy do I miss going to the tournament... I am not sold on McRoberts being better down the line and maybe it was just me but I could have sworn that Tyler was taking the landlord out to the 3pt and taking him off the dribble, I am pretty sure that my eyes saw that, so I give the edge to Mr.Hansbourgh. Can't wait for the tournament to start tomorrow and I am pretty sure that I will be a no-show for my one and only class at 12:20

[A.G.]

Nice article by Chris this morning:
http://www.newsadvance.com/servlet/Sate ... th=!sports

LU's football schedule not as daunting

By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
March 8, 2006

Liberty's 2006 football schedule doesn't have the glitz and glamour that the 2005 slate did.

But, as new Flames coach Danny Rocco will point out, that 2005 schedule, filled with I-AA powers and a I-A money game, was a big reason why Liberty stumbled its way through a program-worst 1-10 season.

"These kids had no confidence," said Rocco, who finalized the schedule Wednesday. "They had very little self-esteem. We just wanted to give ourselves a chance early on, to give ourselves some confidence."

The Flames opened last season with a harder-than-it-should-have been 17-6 home win against Division II Concord before setting off on its record 10-game losing streak. A brutal stretch of games - at Connecticut, vs. Youngstown State, at William & Mary - set the tone for the season. Liberty lost the three by a combined 157-0 count, and the Flames never recovered. Instead of preparing the Flames for the conference schedule, the non-conference slate beat Liberty down.

No such three-game stretch exists on the 2006 docket. Liberty opens at home against St. Paul, a Division II school from Lawrenceville, just on this side of the North Carolina border along I-85 in southern Virginia. Then, Division II Glenville (W. Va.) State visits Lynchburg before the Flames hit the road for a matchup with I-AA bottom-feeder Savannah State.

The Tigers went 0-11 last season and lost to schools like Benedict and Central (Ohio) State at home.

To wit, a 3-0 start is more than just a remote possibility heading into the tough part of the slate.

That sort of confidence is sorely needed.

"I wanted to put a schedule together that would give us the best chance to compete in this conference and try to make a run at the conference championship," Rocco said. "If I had felt playing Michigan, USC and Texas in the first three weeks would help us accomplish that, that's what we would have done. Every decision that was made was with that in mind. Is this something that can help us? Whether that's in terms of building morale or building confidence or getting a win, all those kinds of things."

While the start looks easy, the meat of the schedule is in the middle. Liberty travels to Towson Sept. 23 to face a Tigers team that won in Lynchburg and beat I-AA power Delaware at home last year.

LU was originally supposed to play Rutgers that day, but Rocco opted out of playing the Big East school. With Rutgers on board, a stretch similar to the three-game run that snuffed the Flames last season loomed. Liberty and Rutgers only had a verbal contract for the game, whereas LU and Wake Forest had a signed deal for a Sept. 30 game.

Rutgers will play Howard instead on Sept. 23 and the Flames will still visit Winston-Salem to meet the Demon Deacons to close September.

After a week off, William & Mary comes to Lynchburg for LU's homecoming Oct. 14. The Flames open Big South play a week later at Williams Stadium against Gardner-Webb before traveling to Coastal Carolina for an afternoon game with the Chanticleers.

Western Carolina, usually a contender in the Southern Conference, visits Nov. 4, followed by Big South co-champion Charleston Southern. The Flames close the season Nov. 18 at VMI.

The opener against St. Paul's will be on a Thursday for several reasons, Rocco said. He wanted to create an event-like atmosphere for the game, for one. He also didn't want Liberty's home opener to compete with high school football on Friday or Virginia or Virginia Tech's lidlifters that Saturday.

Several other future non-conference games have been tentatively scheduled. The Flames will likely return home games to Western Carolina, Youngstown State and Lehigh in 2008. LU will travel to William & Mary in 2007 and start a home-and-home set with Elon in Lynchburg in 2007.

Also, Presbyterian College, a Division II school interested in joining the Big South, has been tentatively penciled into future schedules for all conference schools.

[bigsmooth]

good article chris. so when will the "official" PC invite come from the big south?

[PAmedic]

I had the same thought, "penciling them in" on all the teams future schedules sounds pretty darn definite to me.

I thing SLY trolls on Presby's board- he probably can tell us what the dilly-o is.

[Sly Fox]

The PC board formally votes on going DI in June. Its my understanding that they already have an invitation to the Big South waiting for them. But the PC folds are gaga over the SoCon and are doing whatever they can to try and find a way in there. But its not going to happen.

Barring any surprising developments, PC will join the Big South as a provisional member this summer and be have our league auto-bid eligible either in 2008 or 2009. If course a defection by CCU or additions from the MEAC could change that.

[PAmedic]

hey- at least there's SOME progress. Wonder how much KK had to do with it, though.

[givemethemic]

Well if all goes to plan I will be talking to him at halftime on Saturday, I will be talking to our new AD at halftime though tomorrow night...

[SuperJon]

I'm sorry, but PC entering the Big South doesn't guarantee us an auto-bid in my opinion. The conference isn't nearly strong enough to take away an at large from one of the major conferences. We'll need 8 teams to get an auto-bid, but that's just my opinion.

[Sly Fox]

I basically agree with you, SJ. All their participation in the league does is make us eligible. Right now there are only two eligible leagues that don't have auto bids (Ivy & SWAC) and there are only not in because they choose to opt out. Who knows what the lanscape of I-AA football will look like three years down the line.

[bigsmooth]

i thought the rule was 6 to get an auto bid, but i think super j you are referring to strength of the league in numbers to take away a bid from another conference??

[SuperJon]

To be eligible to get an auto bid, a conference must have 6 teams. This doesn't guarantee that they'll get a bid, just that they're eligible.

[PAmedic]

Add Presby, thrown in 2 teams from the MEAC and watch the dynamics of the whole situation do a 360*

(And then I wake up)

*whoops- I DID mean 180. I usually catch that stuff- worse yet, BROKEBACK "nailed me" on it.

[Brokeback Flamer]

Add Presby, thrown in 2 teams from the MEAC and watch the dynamics of the whole situation do a 360.

(And then I wake up)

A 360?? You mean right back to where we are now? Perhaps you mean a 180, 90 or even a 45? Of course you could be obtuse and go with a 270 or even a 225!! J/k and busting your chops

All I know is I want PC in the Big South so one game a year I can cheer GO HOSE GO HOSE GO HOSE on the liberty campus!! And since it is a men's team does that make them Man Hoes? I really hope it does!! (THen hopefully we will schedule South Carolina!!)

Oh my,.. Is it the weekend?

[Guest]

The rules last I checked were that the teams had to be playing together for 3 years - so that would make 2010 the earliest the conference would get the autobid assuming Presby joins, CCU stays, and Liberty doesn't go I-A. But at that point the Great West will be eligible as well. Also, the NEC wants a bid very badly. So if all goes well there will be expansion - I can't see them keeping out 2-3 eligible leagues.

[BJWilliams]

Anyhoo, Im likin the schedule. I've gotten some funny looks from folks when I told them the first game was on a Thursday, but maybe we can get the FTN to so a few more broadcasts this yeah (especially if Mr. Williams ponies up some more green)

[PAmedic]

Liberty Announces 2006 Football Schedule Featuring Six Home Games

March 28, 2006 · Lynchburg, Va.

Liberty University Head Football Coach Danny Rocco has announced the completion of the 2006 football schedule, featuring six home games, including a season-opening Thursday evening game.

The Flames kick off the 2006 campaign with back-to-back home games, starting with a Thursday evening contest against St. Paul’s on August 31, followed by a Saturday evening game against Glenville State at Williams Stadium on September 9.

Liberty takes to the road for its next three games, starting with a trip to Towson, Md. to take on Towson on September 16, before traveling south to Savannah, Ga. to face Savannah State on September 23 in the final night game of the season.

The Flames will conclude their three-game road swing by traveling to Winston-Salem, N.C. to face Wake Forest on September 30. This marks the eighth-straight year that Liberty has squared off against a NCAA Division I-A opponent, but the first time that the Flames have faced an opponent from the ACC.

After an off weekend, the Flames return to action on October 14 when Liberty hosts in-state opponent William & Mary for the University’s annual homecoming contest.

The game against the Tribe will mark Liberty’s final non-conference tune-up as the Flames will close out the year with four out of the last five games coming against Big South opponents. Liberty will start the stretch with a home game against Gardner-Webb on October 21 as part of Parent’s Weekend, while Liberty travels to Conway, S.C. to face co-defending champion Coastal Carolina on October 28.

After hosting Western Carolina on November 4 in the team’s last remaining non-Big South contest, the Flames host co-league title holder Charleston Southern as part of Senior Day on November 11, before closing out the season with in-state rival VMI on November 18 up in Lexington, Va.

For a full 2006 schedule, please click the current schedule on the right-hand side of this page.

[givemethemic]

It's a done deal!!!!!

Listed below is the 2006 Liberty University Football Schedule:

Aug. 31 Thur. ST. PAUL’S LYNCHBURG 7 p.m.
Sept. 9 Sat. GLENVILLE STATE LYNCHBURG 7 p.m.
16 Sat. at Towson Towson, Md. 7 p.m.
23 Sat. at Savannah State Savannah, Ga. 6 p.m.
30 Sat. at Wake Forest Winston-Salem, N.C. 1 p.m.
Oct. 7 Sat. Open
14 Sat. WILLIAM & MARY LYNCHBURG 1 p.m.
(Homecoming)
21 Sat. GARDNER-WEBB * LYNCHBURG 1 p.m.
(Parent’s Weekend)
28 Sat. at Coastal Carolina * Conway, S.C. 1 p.m.
Nov. 4 Sat. WESTERN CAROLINA LYNCHBURG 1 p.m.
11 Sat. CHALRESTON SOUTHERN * LYNCHBURG 1 p.m.
(Senior Day)
18 Sat. at VMI * Lexington, Va. 1 p.m.

[Stevev]

We have got to do a better job of scheduling than this but considering the circumstances surrounding the team this year I guess we will have to accept it the way it is without too much complaining and just hope for the best results possible this fall.

[SuperJon]

Oh man I can't wait til September 30th.

[BJWilliams]

I just hope we don't have a band trip scheduled for the weekend of homecoming like last year. Man everybody was totally wiped when we got to Allentown late that night