Sports Nutrition...

Recently, quite a few student athletes have approached me and expressed an interest in sports nutrition. Specifically they wonder what and how much to eat and when to eat it. This is very important for today's student athlete. I promise to address this issue in a future post and am certainly willing to work with individual athletes to help them achieve their personal goals. However, as for now, I am only able to recommend the Brazilian BBQ diet.

So tasty!
Too much eaten and nuff said...

NCAA Regional Brackets Announced...

In a bit of a surprise, the Clippers will face off in the first round against former ECC conference foe Adelphi University. Rounds 1 and 2 will be played at Queens College (NY) May 6th and 7th (click here for regional bracket).

If you are free, hop on the magic bus and come on over the Throgs Neck Bridge to QC and support the Clippers.

Nuff said...

Magical Mystery Tour...

Nuff said...

Coming soon to tennis courts near you...

Leaving Bronxville 5/7/10. Hop on board and enjoy the ride!

Nuff said...

Magic 8 Ball says...

Many Clipper Tennis fans have been asking me about our chances to win the 2010 NCAA National Men's Tennis Championship in May. Since there are so many factors involved, I feel it is best to consult a higher power, the Magic 8 Ball. Simply ask the Magic 8 ball your question and click on it for the answer.


Nuff said...

Athletic Banquet...

Tonight we celebrated athletics and the 2009-2010 year of the student athlete. In what I believe to be the most important athletic function of the year, Concordia held its Sports Awards Dinner, and a good time was had by all.

It is always nice to see the young adults dressed in vestments other than sweats and athletic gear and to present the accomplishments that they have achieved throughout the year. All teams were well represented and it truly has been a good year for sports teams in Clipperville.

As usual John Bahr prepared a fine message which proved to be inspirational. Also, a tasty meal was served just the way I like it...free!!! In the words of Martin Luther King Jr. "The time is always right to do what is right." I must admit that the hard working athletic department staff did a really nice job with the evening and made everyone in attendance feel like they are apart of something special here at the college.

As far as the tennis team is concerned, Coach Neil prepared and delivered his customary 30 minute presentation. Some joke about the length of the Tarangioli production was in the air but I really believe it is important to spend some time praising our tennis family for their many fine accomplishments over the course of the season. People should know about the greatness that they have achieved both on and off the court.

Of course the highlight of every athletic banquet is the presentation of the awards. Andreas Lindell was presented with the Male Freshman of the Year award. Andreas has had a terrific start to his career as a Clipper and we expect great things from him in the future. He is a special young man capable of great success. Also, Alex Grubin was awarded the highest honor the department awards a male student athlete, the Mickey Byrne Award. Always a pleasure to see the Murphy family in attendance to present this special honor. Alex truly deserves this award and we hope it is just the first of many honors to come his way in the next few weeks.

In addition, my new friend Yuliya Plevako of the women's tennis team was presented with the Female Freshman of the Year Award. Yuliya was become famous for her ability to win matches in speedy fashion.

Lastly, and something that is very special to me, Cristina Oliveira of the women's tennis team, received the Esther Petzke Rockhill Award for excellence in women's athletics. As you may have guessed, this award is named for my mother, who established a special tradition of athletics in the Christian tradition here at the college. I really love being able to present this award each year and am really quite pleased when it is presented to such a fine young woman like Cristina. I am very proud of my parents and their contributions to Concordia Athletics and hope that I am able to continue what they started in my own small way.

I seem to have created a monster with my "Magic Bus" theme. That being said, if you are looking for a hobby or for an athletic program to support, hop on the Magic Bus of CC Athletics.

Thanks and congratulations to all of the many fine student athletes and the faculty and staff lending their support. This college has provided so much for me and I really enjoy my mission here and being associated with you all. Best of luck to all graduating seniors. Be well.

I guess that is about all I have tonight.

Nuff said...

Magic Bus...

CACC Champs!!!

Hop on the Magic Bus and celebrate a CACC Championship. The Clippers traveled to Philadelphia once again and captured the title defeating Philadelphia University 5-0 (click here for boxscore).

This finally completes our undefeated 14-0 conference slate which translates into an overall CACC match record of 117-2, or as I like to call it 117-Dane (I am just saying). Philly U. came to play hard today and we are thankful for that. Coach Cha had the Rams fired up and inspired to give their best effort. That they did. We were able to sweep the doubles, but it certainly was the closest group of pro-sets of our three meetings on the year. Wasting little time, Tamas and Andreas cruised in singles to get us to the finish line in the race to five without yielding a point to our opponents. The Clippers were comfortably ahead on all other courts when the racquets went down signifying the victory.

With the Championship, Concordia will now have an automatic bid into the NCAA II tournament in May. It is expected that we will be the #1 seed in the region and a favorite to return to the National Final 16 in Orlando for the 6th consecutive year.

You have to hand it to the CACC as they kindly presented the team with individual plaques and watches as well as a team banner, trophy and plaque displaying our team photo. In addition, we were treated to cheese steaks after the match at Chubby's. Very tasty indeed and just what I needed after a day full of absolutely no exercise whatsoever.

A special thanks to Magic Bus riders Ivan and Erin. We are so pleased that you guys made the trip to lend support and witness the event. Thanks for all of your love and effort throughout the year. We could not enjoy such success without the contributions of the many folks in the athletic department and we hope to make you all proud going forward.

Next up for the Clippers is the annual athletic banquet tomorrow. This is a special event that allows us to celebrate all athletes and their contributions while representing the school. Congratulations in advance to you all and especially those winning major awards.
It has been a season that I will always remember. I have been so blessed over the years to be associated with so many fine folks, both players and staff. I will not soon forget the opportunity to meet and play a role in so many young people's lives. I hope that I have had a positive impact on this program that has meant so much to me. However, that being said we still have some work left to do this season. I hope that the proper dedication and preparation will lead us to our ultimate goal.
It's about time to say nuff said...
Nuff said...

Earth Day...

I am off to Philadelphia in just a short while for the CACC final. However, you do not have to be a Clipper tennis fan to respect the earth...our home. Yes that's right, today is Earth Day, a day to celebrate the environment. As a result, I wish you all a Happy Earth Day! Today is a special day to promote respect for life on earth and specifically to remember to do your part to prevent pollution of our land, air and water.

Be well everybody.Nuff said...

On to the final...

OK Clipper fans, get ready for the CACC final. We defeated USP for the second time in three days today 6-0 in one of the two CACC semi-final matches (click here for boxscore).

We will travel back to Philadelphia, PA for the CACC final which will be played on the campus of Chestnut Hill College. Philadelphia University, the #2 seed in the tournament, will be our opponent, as they easily defeated Chestnut Hill College 5-0 in today's other semi-final. In case you were wondering, we defeated PU twice already this season by the scores of 8-1 and 9-0.

With a CACC tournament championship, we would receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament in May. Of course, being the #1 team in the region, we are a sure bet (D5*L) to receive an at large bid even with an unlikely loss Thursday. In any case, we hope to return to Bronxville with a banner, the watches, a plaque, a trophy and a full stomach courtesy of Pat's King of Steaks.

Today's match was also the last home match for senior Alex Grubin. As usual, he did not disappoint. Alex won both singles and doubles allowing only two games on the day. Join me in congratulating Alex on a great career as a Clipper and lets hope there is more good tennis yet to come culminating in an NCAA II National Championship in May.

Thanks Alex for all of your contributions. Best of luck in the future.

Nuff said...

There is always hope with Pope...

One of the great things about being apart of the Concordia Tennis family is that I meet so many terrific talented people along the way. One such person is Christopher Pope. Chris has served the college as professor of photography, and also graciously provides the athletic department with top-notch professional photographs of athletes in competition.

For your enjoyment, you can view the Pope Photography web page by clicking on the logo above or here. In order to view hundreds of Concordia Tennis pics simply click on the "Order Photos" toggle and type in "Tennis", select "Concordia College Men's Tennis 2010", type in your e-mail and get ready to view the proofs.

If you see any that you like and would like to have a copy for yourself, by all means feel-free to contact Chris and order them. If you have any questions, let me know and I will help you obtain what you need.

Thanks so much Chris for all that you do for us!

Nuff said...

CACC Tournament Preview...

Tomorrow begins the CACC Men's Tennis post season tournament. Click here for the official tournament preview.

In addition, Raphael Namias was named CACC Player of the Week (Click here for press release).

Nuff said...

20 wins...

Good news folks, I get to announce a twenty win season. We were able to win two more matches today, going 3-0 for the weekend, to eclipse the 20 win mark. In our morning match we defeated the University of the Sciences (PA) 9-0 (click here for boxscore).

The Clippers welcomed back Andreas today for the doubles and thus we were able to return to our normal pairings. Racking up points early and often, we swept all three positions allowing only two games to USP. Resting Alex and Andreas for the morning singles, we were still able to gather all six matches completing the shutout. As usual, USP fought to the finish and demonstrated the good sportsmanship. It is now likely that we will face them for the third time this season on Tuesday back on our courts in the semi-final of the CACC.

After a short break and a some team pizza, we faced off against NCAA I Bryant University. We have been looking forward to playing BU as we knew that they would bring a competitive team to Bronxville for the match. Once again we started fast and swept the doubles. The singles matches proved to be competitive in a few spots but we were still able to finish the day on the plus side of an
8-1 score (click here for boxscore).

Today's action completes the regular season slate. All in all a pretty good campaign for the Clippers. We will now turn our attention to the CACC post season tournament which begins on Tuesday 4/20. We will be the #1 seed and host our semi-final match. With a win, we will advance to the final which will be held on the campus of Chestnut Hill College Thursday 4/22.

More than ever, it is now time for the coaching staff to best prepare the team for post season success. We have set goals and hope to achieve them. However, this will not occur without effort, sacrifice and togetherness...a little luck will help as well.

Please come join us on Tuesday and support the team. This match is a special one as it will be Alex's last home match as a Clipper. As all of you who read this blog know, Alex has meant so much to this program and this college. It will be nice to have a chance to celebrate his achievements. Stop by and see Alex play one last time and wish him good luck in his future. If you have some time, say hello to Coach Dano too.

Nuff said...

Long day, good win...

Well, six hours in the van did not prevent the Clippers from defeating #8 NCAA III Amherst College 7-2 (click here for boxscore) on the campus of Hampshire College. Thankfully, the match was moved to the indoor facility, which usually favors our boys, so the cold and rainy conditions did not prevent the match from being played.

Amherst, coached by former ATP player Chris Garner, gave us exactly what we needed, a good fight. As we prepare for the NCAA tournament in a few weeks, we certainly appreciated good competition and some ability to gain match toughness. Most notably, Alex Grubin is starting to regain the good form in spite of some nagging tendinitis about the knee joint. We hope Alex will continue to find his good tennis and regain his rightful spot atop the D II rankings.

Unfortunately, we were without Andreas today as he was suffering from flu-like symptoms. As a result, Shaolin was called upon to step in and fill the #6 position as well as to team up with Tamas at 3rd doubles. Having never played together, they struggled and lost a tough 8-6 pro-set. However, Shao showed his continued improvement and won his match handily in the singles 6-4, 6-3.

The only tough spot of the day was #3 singles as Felix Missal dropped his match in a match tie-breaker, played in lieu of a third set, 11-9. Felix did experience the good side of the tie breaker earlier in the doubles as he and Raphael squeaked by at 2nd 9-8.

No rest again for the team as we will play two matches Sunday, which is now today, and I am running late for as a result of scripting this blog at this very moment. First up at 10:30am is our last CACC match vs. the University of the Sciences in PA followed by NCAA I Bryant University in the afternoon. Perhaps I will have some time later in the day to finish my laundry.

Stop by and spend some of this gorgeous day at the tennis center supporting the fellas. Feel free to visit with Coach Dano as well.

Nuff said...