Coach David Smith

Bellarmine women's basketball coach, David Smith, has had a very successful career with many accolades under his belt. He recently has gotten his most prestige honor yet, being part of a list of the best NCAA women's coaches. I have had the honor to play under him for a season. He is a very aggressive coach that deserves every honor that he receives.
There are many different requirements that must be completed to receive this noble honor. The list took all Division I, II, & III coaches into consideration. The requirements are as follows:
* Coached a national championship team
* Elected to the Hall of Fame
* Won 500 games
* Coached three teams to the Final Four
* Post a career winning percentage about .700 with at least 150 wins
Coach Smith received the honor because of his winning percentage of 70.9 (499-205). Being a part of the team, I hope to help him get in with more than one category. He is one win away from his 500th win. Hopefully we can accomplish the victory for him early in next years season.Even though as a team we are anxious for the mark, he does not feel the urgency. " My 500th win is just a number. If it was my last year then I could see why I would be a little disapointed,"Smith stated. "But I have many years to come and hope to reach my 600th and 700th wins."
He also came close to surpassing other prerequisites; he has taken four teams to the Sweet Sixteen. He even got close to a national championship in 1996 with his Shippenburg team that ended with a national runner-up finish.
Coach Smith is obviously a very successful coach with many more good things to come. He is in a league with Tennessee's Pat Summit and Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma , who join him on the list. The honors that he receives also help with the recognition that the players and the school get. So as a small community here at Bellarmine, everyone needs to continue to support the athletic programs and the good things that come out of it.

Bobby Valvano's Background

I am going to be doing my feature article on the Jimmy V Foundation. Jimmy V's brother,Bob, recently came and spoke in my Sports and Media class. I hope to be interviewing Bobby Valvano one-on-one so I can get some inside scoop on how exactly the foundation works and how it got its start. The following is a little background of B.Valvano. He speaks about life and how to be good at giving an interview. I learned alot and he gave very vital information. Not only did he give good information, he is very experienced and the following biography is what I personally learned from Valvano's speech.
Bobby Valvano is a very ambitious, hard-working, and successful man. Since he graduated from Junior Wesleyan College, he has held titles that few people can claim. He began the first chapter of his career by becoming the youngest ever Division I coach. For 20 years he bounced around between Divisions I, II, and III, coaching basketball. Once he completed that chapter, he began doing what he is currently doing today; a little bit of everything. He currently is a host for ESPN radio, which airs on 420 stations across the country. In his free time from that, he participates in many other sports related events. He hosts a golf show, commentates NCAA basketball games, and writes a column for the New Albany Times. Valvano is full of experience and knowledge that anyone could learn from.
One of the main things that has brought Valvano so much success is the characteristic that he is unbelievably versatile. Employers can count on him to successfully produce, regardless of what they are calling upon him to do. Valvano stresses the fact that to strive in the communications field, a person must have a wide range of talent. Even if a person has more ability in one area, they have to at least be willing to learn other aspects of a job. Not only is that true in the communication world, it is true in most parts of life.
Valvano broke down the basics of how to be good at his job. Although his radio station has a lot of factual information, probably the most crowd-appeasing portion is the interview fragment. With experience, he has become more knowledgeable about the key elements of interviewing. One key to a good interview is being able to listen. When an interviewer gets a response; many times the response leads into another question regarding the original question. That sequence leads to a better story or broadcast.
Another characteristic to a good interviewer is he/she has to be brave. The best stories are when the interviewee gives interesting information that has not been reported yet. For that information to be given, the tuff questions must be asked.
Like Valvano said, the media are the eyes and the ears of the public. When a person is performing an interview, they must hold into respect how important the information is to the public. The interviewer must be prepared and professional during the meeting. There is a ladder of respect that each interviewer needs to climb when attempting to get a story. Normally the more respect that is shown, the higher up the ladder the interviewer climbs.
Valvano has a very impressive resume. He knows what it takes to win over an employer, and understands what many company's are looking for. The things he said employers are looking for are a smart, passionate person that is willing to learn and be open-minded.
He talked about a lot of things that we have learned about in class. We had a whole section about interviewing, and he made it very clear through experience on how to go about getting a good one. Within most things in the media, a person has to be objective. It is important not to mix too much personal opinion into stories that are written. We learned in class what an important attribute that is when reporting.
There are many things that I can do to help myself enter Valvano's profession. I am currently in the process of trying to get an internship with a media network. I am a strong believer in using every resource that is available. In this profession, it is very much about who a person knows or builds relationships with. Throughout the process of the whole ordeal, I have learned that I have to be brave and dive into what is going on around me. I have had to overcome a little bit of shyness that I have to hopefully set myself up for a successful career.
"Pick what you do with your time because you can't get it back," stated Valvano. That quote is very relevant to everything in life. I was impressed with Valvano and all of the advice that he handed to us. I think that he gave myself and the rest of the class a lot of inspiration to go out and get the job done regardless of what field we end up in.

The ten simplest things you can do to get healthier:

10. Walk to class! It is not that far and it will take you five more minutes. If you walk to and from Anniversary Hall to Kosters Commons, you will have walked one mile.

9. Drink water with one meal instead of a coke, you will be surprised, I promise.

8. Take a multivitamin before bed or when you wake up. Depending on what type of vitamin you choose depends on your benefits.

7. Eat fruit, nuts, or dried fruit if you have a craving for something at two in the morning.

6. Eat breakfast, I know, another five minutes taken up in the morning. If you do eat breakfast, you won’t eat as much at lunch.

5. Go to bed before midnight half of the week. You will look refreshed, replenished, and ready to go.

4. Plan ahead; write that 10 page paper a little at a time. It won’t cause you as much stress.

3. Eat dessert in moderation, or eat dessert only at lunch or dinner.

2. Try a new activity, Frisbee, kickball, shoot a basketball at the SURF with some friends after class. This will relieve some of your stress, and gain some physical activity. A 30-minute exertion of exercise is all you need for one day.

1. Last but not least, and probably the simplest, laugh. That’s right laughing releases endorphins that cause all kinds of good things. Stress relief, it burns calories, it boosts your immune system.

Getting Healthy at BU Continued

What do students need to get involved?

Suggestions, suggestions? Anyone, anyone? Over the past semester BU has obtained a nutritionist. Just one more feature Bellarmine has to help you be healthy.

Denise Burd, a part-time nursing teacher, has offered her services to Bellarmine. She is willing to provide you with a meal plan for a week, advise healthy food options on campus, and assess the foods you are eating regularly.

If you would like to speak with Burd sign-ups are located in the SURF at the front desk. She is available Wednesday and Thursday noon until 2 p.m..

Bellarmine also has opportunity of getting a personal trainer. You heard me, you can have a staff member from the SURF make you a work-out plan.

Besides all the obvious work out possibilities there are always simple daily routine changes you can make to be healthier. On a campus that has park like settings students should walk more.

Alice Kimble, a registered nurse on BU’s campus told me about some healthy options BU has to offer, and some changes she feels should be made.

“[I think there are] plenty, of healthy options in Koster’s. The salad bar and fruit is always fresh. People choose to eat the stuff that looks appeasing but high in fat, but healthy choices are available” said Kimble.

She then told me that the majority of things offered are high in fat but it’s because of the high demand. Surprisingly there are options offered everywhere, the café, Koster’s, and even the vending machines.

“Average college students doesn’t care about it [their health] now. Things we eat now tend to effect us in our 60’s. Nursing and Physical Therapy majors usually are the ones that care the most.”

I then asked Kimble what she would like to add to campus to make BU more

healthy. “I would love to see a mandatory class for freshman, lifetime wellness
class, that dealt with nutrition, and health topics in general.”

Lastly Kimble told me that if people “moved more, and ate less” we would be better off. “Eat four Oreo’s, instead of eight.”

Get healthy at BU

Calling all BU students, it’s spring and it’s time to get healthy. Getting healthy and staying healthy on campus isn’t as hard as some may think.

You are in your late teens, early twenty’s and having the time of your life, you are at your prime, on your way to success. You are on top of all the latest news, style, and in the best shape of your life. Or are you?

What you are about to read may astonish you, but the majority of American
college students are just like the rest of the United States population overweight, and unhealthy. So where does Bellarmine students fall into that category? Are you healthy?

On a campus where many students think the majority of the student body is athletes. One would think the student body is very healthy and in tip top shape.

According to Athletics Director Scott Weigandt only a quarter of incoming freshman classes are athletes. The majority of campus may be involved in some sort of activity but we are not all athletes. For students that aren’t athletes there are ways of being and staying healthy.

Bellarmine’s Campus are we healthy or not?
How does BU rank against other colleges on the health scale?

Bellarmine may be smaller in campus size and student body numbers but BU has just as much as those other university’s. We have the SURF, intramurals, various choices of athletics to get involved in, and numerous student activities. Just see for your self and click on healthy involvement to see all the activities BU has to offer.

If you still are not convinced click on following links to compare Bellarmine to
University of Louisville,University of Kentucky, Spalding University, Spencerian College, and Jefferson Community College on how much they offer.

Weigandt, commented that he feels his athletes are in good physical shape for the most part, “but there is always room for improvement.” Most people can agree they feel comfortable with their health but they could do more.

I asked sophomore Ian Tracy a Physical Therapy major, and sophomore Jason Schreck a Psychology major about being healthy, and what they thought contributes to a healthy college student. “[Am, I healthy?]No, but by its choice, bad food tastes good.” said Schreck

What is something that would compel you to get healthier? “[To have the] will to work out.” said Tracy

Both Tracy and Schreck said they were once involved in intramurals but lost interested. “Yeah, dodge ball, maybe volleyball, I can’t really remember.” said Schreck

Girls in skirts love to have fun

***While writing my blog about Wacky Friday and my own team-bonding fun, I began talking to other Bellarmine athletes about the fun they enjoyed off the field. You can expect my blogs from this point forward to spotlight different teams and their off-the-field fun and experiences.***

Never mind the fact the Bellarmine field hockey team wears skirts, when they are carrying large sticks and wearing mouth guards, they look pretty intimidating. However, a girl in a skirt is always out to a have a good time. Sometimes that good time includes dominating the playing field, but other times it just includes crashing weddings or playing in the mud—and these times have bonded the girls on a whole new level.

First off, the team has a history of celebrating their season by finding Halloween fun.

“Every year we try to go to as many haunted houses as we possibly can afford,” said senior Michelle Esterle. “One year, we were traveling as a team on Halloween and were so excited about a particular haunted house that we actually stopped there on the way (back to Bellarmine).”

Last fall the team did not hit up the haunted houses as much as in the past, but after missing Bellarmine’s Ball on the Belle event due to a game, the ladies still pulled together their most creative costumes for their own Halloween party.

Haunted houses are not the only thing the team has made time for while out of town on the weekends. The ladies found wedding crashing to be a fun event as well.

After playing on a Friday, the ladies spent Saturday in their hotel resting up before their Sunday game. “A bunch of us were in the study room studying, others were watching TV or just in their rooms,” said sophomore Malory Brake. According to Brake, a wedding reception was set up in the center of the hotel, which was nearby the study room.

“(The reception) was really dead and no one was really dancing,” Brake continued. “All of a sudden, someone, Kim (Roberts), I believe, started talking to the D.J. He said ‘This party sucks. You should bring the field hockey team.’ Kim told him he should play a song for the team.”

Next thing the ladies from the study room knew, they were hearing an announcement from the D.J. about a song for the Bellarmine field hockey team. Brake said the girls could not help but hit the dance floor after that.
“Then the best man—he was the only college-aged person there—asked us to stay,” Brake stated. “It was completely a wedding crash. We didn’t know a single person there.”

A new tradition began this year by the team pretending to already have a tradition.

The freshmen were told that every year the freshmen had to make a music video for the team. While the girls did not share the video, their laughs and comments made it obvious that this too brought for a lot of team bonding.

“They did great. It wasn’t really a tradition before, but it is a tradition from now on,” Brake said.

Practice has brought for goofy memories as well—particularly for this year’s seniors who walked off the practice field for the last time, covered in mud, wearing the most ridiculous attire one could imagine.

“When our coach told us we didn’t have to wear our practice uniforms to our last practice we kind of took it to an extreme,” said Esterle.

“You can wear anything you want,” was the statement made by Coach Don Hubbuch. While the girls knew he was probably referring to whatever t-shirt they preferred as opposed to their typical team practice shirts, they decided to sport their brightest colors and goofiest accessories.

“We were a little nervous about actually going to practice but our coach thought it was funny,” Brake said.

“I’m not sure why, but in our heads it’s kind of like we thought we wouldn’t have real practice, but we did,” said Esterle. “We must have looked crazy to anyone driving by, wearing what we were, while holding a serious practice.”

The practice turned into a mud mess due to the rain that fell throughout the day. “After practice we slid in the mud and were pulling each other down in it. I think everyone was wet and covered (in mud),” said Brake.

It is pretty safe to say that the ladies of the field hockey team have a way of being the life of any party—whether it is their own or a complete stranger’s!

**Photos: first two by Kelli Weddington, third by Rita Dixon**

Bellarmine Track and Cross Country Star Prevailing Despite Setbacks (pt. 1)

This is a three part story on Bellarmine junior runner Katie Hickey, each part will be posted a few days apart...read and enjoy!

Last season Sophomore Katie Hickey came to the forefront of Bellarmine women’s cross country and track teams. She helped lead the cross country team to a rank of sixth out of 22 teams total in the NCAA regional cross country meet. As well as finishing as the number 19 placed runner out of 150.
(To see all the results to the regional meet you should check out this website:
http://www.siue.edu/ATHLETIC/CCW/2005/wreg.html )

Hickey also was a stellar performer in outdoor track as well as she qualified for outdoor nationals.
(This is also seen on the BU athletic site here: http://www.bellarmine.edu/athletics/news.asp?id=366 )

Hickey did not know immediately, however if she was to be attending the national meet. Instead she had to wait for the qualifying times to be posted and the call from the NCAA to let her, and her coaches know she had made it in. (http://www.bellarmine.edu/athletics/news.asp?id=147 )

“I was waiting on the qualifying call with the coaches,” Hickey said, “it was on the final day and I was on the bubble, (the coaches and I) weren’t sure if I was going to get in.”

To find out more about this article stay tuned for my next post!!!