And the Bearcats are Off and Running...

Fall sports are finally in full swing, which has been a great distraction from my work... So far a pretty up and down week:

Women's Soccer:
Interesting how much hype they received going into the week. For those who don't know, they brought in a group of new players, many of whom played at local Maine-Endwell HS (my alma matter), then played for local BCC (who won the Junior College NCAA DIII national championships last year... a bigger deal than it may sound like) and finally landed at Bing this year. They also have a second year and young coach which usually spells "building year(s)." The result: 0-2 in play thus far. We'll see how it continues to go for them.

Volleyball:
Believe it or not, this is one of the more spectated teams on campus - these girls are tough cookies and surprisingly fun to watch. They've also sat at or near the top of the conference for a while now. Like the women's soccer team, they have been hyped up and even voted 1st in the conference in the preseason coaches poll. I was pretty scared when they got swept in their opener to Marshall, but quite relieved when they really showed their colors in wins against both Rhode Island and Hofstra. I think that we'll be seeing many more W's in the future.

Men's Soccer:
Near and dear to me. Binghamton's men's soccer team is really more like the school football team, for several reasons: 1) We don't have an "american football" team. 2) Bingo is such a diverse school that there is a rather high appreciation for the sport. 3) The team is highly spectated (averaging literally in the thousands per game) and placing us in the top 20 for attendance this past year, among all D1 teams... and in a beautiful new stadium to boot. The BSC has established itself as a fierce place to play as a loss is rare for the Bearcats on home turf. In fact, we haven't lost a regular season game at home in 22 games (last loss was in 2005) and a preseason loss is still pretty rare. 4) They're good. They have been to the conference championship title game for each of the past 6 years. Unfortunately, we lost in the last two (AE is a surprisingly good and competitive soccer conference) - the prime target of revenge this year: Boston, the only team voted ahead of us in the preseason coach's poll.
I have high hopes, but am INCREDIBLY cautious as the team is extremely young this year and we are playing sans an offense-heavy 2009 graduating class. Here's the good news: The newbies are quite talented and our older defensive players are among the top in the country. Townie goal keeper, Stenta, was the third best goalie this past year by way of goals-against-average... really, this guy is amazing. Here's more bad news: even if they rake in the wins this year, don't expect high scoring games. We'll probably be winning on defense (unless some of these new players or emerging returners really step up and surprise us).
This isn't going to be an easy season either as the schedule boasts some high profile teams. First game up:

TOMORROW, 7pm, Bearcats Sports Complex vs. SYRACUSE ORANGE.

I think this promises to be a good game. Also, I really hope that people turn out in droves... if so, probably fueled by the bolstered school spirit coming off of an awesome basketball season and a winning, exciting history for the soccer team. GO TO THE GAME!!!

Men's Basketball:
Lot's to come on this, but a few highlights: The OCC schedule has yet to be officially released, although we can piece much of it together from other team's schedules. Among the highlights is a match-up against Pitt. Yes, Pitt. Personally, I'm quite excited about another high profile game/tournament at Drake, in part because it is only a 5 hour drive for me to the Iowa site... naturally I'll be there with my own piece-meal cheering section. Other important news: Bing has officially signed Corey Chandler, the once #12 ranked PG nationally and transfer from Rutgers. The downside: he, like a few recent recruits has something of a sorted past, but in my opinion, there is no news unless he violates Binghamton's rules/code of ethics. I have much faith in Broadus as a formative coach and hope that he can keep him in line.

Women's Basketball:
WOW... what a schedule... if you haven't seen it, just go to BUBearcats.com and check it out. Brief highlights: Season opener vs. Villanova, an away game vs. 'Cuse (it'd be nice to get a traveling section for this) and hosting Miami.