Greatest N.O. sports teams of all time: No. 5
June 26, 2008
Greatest N.O. sports teams of all time: No. 5 - David Gladow - New Orleans Sports
Posted by David Gladow, NOLA.com June 25, 2008 4:31PM
Categories: College Sports, Tulane5.) 1934 Tulane football (10-1) - won Sugar Bowl
Staff / Times-PicayuneClaude “Little Monk” Simons excelled all over the field for Tulane.Back in the 1930s, bowl game invitations weren’t exactly handed out like candy like they are today. Only a few games even existed, and the ones that did still hold a certain level of prestige today (Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Sun Bowl, etc.).
It was in that kind of environment that the 1934 Tulane Green Wave football team powered itself to a Sugar Bowl invitation — and an eventual win over Temple - in posting a 10-win season in the SEC.
That’s nothing to sneeze at. (Just ask LSU.)
A perfect 7-0 conference mark may have been one of the team’s most impressive feats (though that came courtesy of no match-up with co-champ Alabama), and the season really couldn’t be classified as a fluke either … Tulane was already in the habit of posting winning seasons.
From 1928 to 1939, the Green Wave posted winning seasons every year, receiving a bowl invitation four times (and accepting three) while reaching the 10-win mark twice. The 1934 team accomplished the most of the bunch, not only advancing to a major bowl game but winning it as well.
Still, what’s interesting about this team (and one of the things keeping it from being higher on the list), is its lack of true star power. Just one player on the roster was tabbed an All-American, but he was definitely a good one. Claude “Little Monk” Simons led the Green Wave in rushing, passing and scoring, all while playing well on defense and special teams.
Tulane Athletic CommunicationsThe legendary Claude Simons led the 1934 Greenies to a 10-1 season, an SEC Championship, and a victory in the inaugural Sugar Bowl.Simons’ scoring prowess kept Tulane in every game, and it all paid off in the program’s greatest accomplishment in its history: The 20-14 Sugar Bowl win over Temple.
A Sugar Bowl win is something no other New Orleans team has accomplished, making the 1934 Green Wave truly unique … and worthy of inclusion at No. 5 on our list.
Expert Takes:
Ted Lewis:Not only did the Green Wave play in and win the inaugural Sugar Bowl, defeating Temple 20-14, but also there was the added pleasure of beating LSU to get there.
Tulane was 8-1 and LSU 6-0-2 going into their season-ending game and a Sugar Bowl invite was going to the winner. A 50-yard punt return by Monk Simons in the waning minutes lifted the Wave to a 13-12 victory against the Tigers and into the Jan. 1, 1935, game against the Owls.
That game proved to be just as dramatic as the LSU game, as Tulane overcame a 14-0 deficit. Bucky Bryan’s 42-yard touchdown pass to Dick Hardy early in the fourth quarter provided the winning points.
Tulane’s payoff for winning the game in its own stadium was a No. 13 national ranking and $20,759.20.
Tulane gets first early commitment
June 25, 2008
Tulane gets first early commitment - Prep Sports - NOLA.com
Posted by The Times-Picayune June 25, 2008 10:16AMTulane has landed its first early football commitment with a pledge from wide receiver WilsonVan Hooser of Trinity Presbyterian School in Montgomery, Ala.
The 5-foot-11, 175-pound wideout caught 43 passes last season for 749 yards and 10 touchdowns, averaging 17.4 yards per reception at the Class 3A school that was 8-4 in 4A in 2007. He was an All-Metro selection in Montgomery and was honorable mention All-State. He attended Tulane’s camp last week.
“What consistently stood out about Tulane was the academics,” said Van Hooser, who has a 3.15 grade-point average. “But everything was huge factor, including being in New Orleans. There is not a better city. I love the offense, the facilities, the staff and by doing this (commitment) early, I can focus on my senior season.”
Van Hooser previously visited summer camps at SMU, Southern Mississippi and Auburn. He has 4.48 speed for 40 yards.
“I got the offer I wanted, so why wait?” said Van Hooser, who also looks forward to indoor play at the Superdome. “I know next season I won’t have to worry about catching wet footballs at home games.”
Greatest N.O. sports teams of all time: No. 7
June 25, 2008
Greatest N.O. sports teams of all time: No. 7 - David Gladow - New Orleans Sports
Posted by David Gladow, NOLA.com June 24, 2008 4:04PM
Categories: College Sports, Tulane7.) 1998 Tulane football (12-0) - won Liberty Bowl
Staff / Times-PicayuneTulane QB Shaun King devastated defenses with his legs and his arm.Perfection.
Perfection isn’t something easily attained, yet the 1998 Tulane football team achieved just such a feat, running the table thanks to an inspired coaching staff and an elite college passer.
Tommy Bowden, the son of legendary coach Bobby Bowden, helped put Tulane football back on the map, thanks in large part to an offense that would take the nation by storm, the spread, and one of its earliest proponents, offensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez.
The success of both men since (Bowden at Clemson, Rodriguez at West Virginia and now Michigan) hardly seems a coincidence: That Green Wave offense was impressively potent, and it became a model for countless teams since.
Of course it wasn’t all scheme. The team’s quarterback, Shaun King, put together one of the greatest individual seasons in Tulane and NCAA history, becoming the first player to reach 3,000 yards passing and 500 yards rushing in the same season … all while achieving the best quarterback rating in NCAA history: 183.3.
The fact that just one team, Louisville, came within even a touchdown of that Tulane team was both a blessing and a curse. For as dominant as the Green Wave was in ‘98, questions had to eventually rise about the difficulty of the team’s schedule (hence the BCS bowl snub at the end of the season).
Tulane Athletic CommunicationsAt the end of the day, it’s difficult to know just how good that team really was, as it never got the opportunity to prove itself against a so-called “elite” opponent. We can credit the team for taking care of its business in the Liberty Bowl against BYU to finish 12-0, but we can also wonder just how good that team was … and whether Tulane would have held up against a Tennessee or Ohio State.
That level of mystery keeps the Green Wave from grabbing the top spot on our list … but the team’s perfect season will always be one of the most impressive benchmarks reached in New Orleans sports history.
Expert Takes:
Trey Iles:Tulane football was never better than in 1998 when the Green Wave, behind Coach Tommy Bowden and quarterback Shaun King, finished 12-0 and ranked seventh in the nation in the final Associated Press poll. Not only was the season the pinnacle of Tulane football, a new offense was birthed by Bowden and then-offensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez — the spread.
Tulane’s offense was the star of the 1998 show with King and Rodriguez driving the bus. King threw for 3,227 yards and 36 touchdowns and rushed for 549 yards and 10 touchdowns in 1998. He had a passing efficiency rating of 183.3, at the time, the best ever in NCAA history.
Tulane completed its season with a 41-27 victory against Brigham Young University in the Liberty Bowl. The one thing Tulane didn’t get, however, was a shot in the Bowl Championship Series or a chance to play eventual national champion Tennessee. But that didn’t bother Rodriguez, who was asked after the Liberty Bowl if he would have liked a shot at the Vols.
“No, not really,” Rodriguez said. “I’d like to finish undefeated.”
Greatest N.O. sports teams of all time: No. 8
June 25, 2008
Greatest N.O. sports teams of all time: No. 8 - David Gladow - New Orleans Sports
Posted by David Gladow, NOLA.com June 24, 2008 10:51AM
Categories: College Sports, Tulane8.) 1959 Tulane men’s tennis - NCAA National Champions
Staff / Times-PicayuneEmmet Pare coached the 1959 Tulane men’s tennis team to a national title.Plenty of younger folks are sure to scratch their heads over this one, so let’s get to the rationale for this choice right out of the gate.
Competing in a non-revenue sport being played at the collegiate level, the 1959 Tulane men’s tennis team has the distinction of being the lowest profile team on this list. Indeed, with no high school teams making the cut (sorry St. Augustine!), it’s easily the hardest team in the entire Top 10 to compare to all the others. After all, every single other team was either a member of a professional sports league or from one of the so-called revenue sports at the collegiate level (football and baseball). How can a tennis team honestly compare?
How about by doing something no other team in the history of this city can claim: winning an NCAA title?
Yeah, that’s a pretty good start.
Tulane football has finished undefeated three times and won the Sugar Bowl in its history … but never won a national championship. Ditto Tulane basketball and baseball, UNO basketball and baseball, and pretty much any other New Orleans college team you can think of. When it comes to national titles, Tulane tennis has them all beat.
But the program wasn’t a flash in the pan either, posting NCAA runner-up seasons in 1949 and 1957. And over a period of 30 years, the Green Wave won 18 SEC championships, including nine straight from 1951 until 1959 … the year they won it all.
Legendary coach Emmet Pare guided the ship throughout those golden years, and while other New Orleans teams have succeeded on a larger stage, none has had quite the sustained level of success that Pare’s squads did.
Oh, and that NCAA title helps too.
Expert Takes:
Tammy Nunez:There are two tennis players behind Tulane University’s only team NCAA championship. Crawford Henry and Ron Holmberg teamed to win the 1959 doubles title, which led to Tulane’s edging Notre Dame for the 1959 tennis championship. Notre Dame and Tulane finished tied with the same point total, but the tiebreaker went to Tulane because of Henry’s and Holmberg’s doubles championship.
Henry said he stepped off the court in Evanston, Ill., and glanced at Coach Emmett Pare.
“I remember the smile on his face when we won,” Henry, now 71, said from Atlanta. “I don’t know if you could describe it. He was just thrilled.”
Henry and Holmberg also competed in the singles competition, each advancing to the quarterfinals before losing. But together as a doubles team, the duo went unbeaten. They also won the doubles championship in 1957. They did not compete together in 1958, but rejoined in 1959 for arguably Tulane’s most memorable tennis season.
Though it was hard to top what Henry did individually in his tennis career, the 1959 season was magical.
“I never lost a match in high school and I got as high as No.10 in singles nationally. But that (1959 NCAA Championship) was thrilling.”
Henry went on to coach, taking a job at North Carolina State before retiring in 1996 in the wake of some health concerns. But Henry, who was on the golf course earlier this week, still reminiscences fondly on his Green Wave years.
“It was pretty special,” Henry said.
Greatest N.O. sports teams of all time: No. 10
June 25, 2008
Greatest N.O. sports teams of all time: No. 10 - David Gladow - New Orleans Sports
Posted by David Gladow, NOLA.com June 23, 2008 11:02AM
Categories: College Sports, Tulane, UNO, Video10.) 1984 UNO baseball (46-26) - lost in CWS;
2001 Tulane baseball (56-13) - lost in CWS;
2005 Tulane baseball (56-12) - lost in CWS
Staff / Times-PicayuneJim Bullinger went on to have a great pro career after his time at UNO.We start our countdown off on the right foot … by cheating and including three teams at the No. 10 spot. Hey, it’s our list, and we can do what we want.
Seriously though, each of the teams here achieved a great deal and at the end of the day, there’s not a whole lot separating them. They all topped 45 wins, they all featured great individual athletes, and they all reached the College World Series.
Credit the Tulane squads for more dominating regular seasons, but the 1984 University of New Orleans baseball team achieved the feat of a CWS appearance first, giving the Privateers some bragging rights of their own. And frankly, that UNO team was a good one.
Under Hall of Fame coach Ron Maestri, the Privateers surprised plenty of people by finishing fifth at the College World Series in 1984, but in retrospect, the feat doesn’t look so far out of line. Three players from that team would go on to have Major League Baseball careers: Wally Whitehurst, Mark Higgins and Jim Bullinger. All three played key roles for a squad that was only eliminated by the scarcest of margins, a walk-off home run against Oklahoma State.
Staff / Times-PicayuneAndy Cannizaro and the Green Wave went to the CWS in 2001.The Tulane teams have the benefit of being fresher in the minds of everyone (seeing as how they had their successes this decade). Most locals already know many of the big names from those teams: Rick Jones, Michael Aubrey, Jake Gautreau, Andy Cannizaro, Anthony Giarratano, Micah Owings, Brian Bogusevic and Brad Emaus. But of course there’s more to the story than just the people involved.
In ‘01, the goal wasn’t simply a matter of advancing to Omaha for the first time ever, it was also a mission to conquer the team’s LSU demons. Tulane did just that in a remarkable Super Regional 2-1 series win over the Tigers. For Green Wave fans, it has rarely gotten better than that.
The 2005 team did its best to challenge that notion, grabbing the top national seed and No. 1 ranking on its way to Omaha. A domination of Rice occurred in the Super Regional round, and the Green Wave powered past Oregon State in its first game of the CWS. Back-to-back losses to Texas and Baylor ended the dream a little early, however.
So should the ‘05 team be considered the area’s best due to its immense potential? Or should the ‘84 UNO team be given more consideration for overachieving rather than underachieving? And what about the ‘01 team: should it be called the best for splitting the difference?
Ultimately, that’s up to the fans to decide … right here, they all deserve inclusion, and they all check in at the No. 10 spot.
Expert Takes:
Ted Lewis: 1984 UNO BaseballThe program that Ron Maestri had built virtually from scratch starting in 1972 came to full fruition a dozen years later when the Privateers became the first Louisiana school to reach the College World Series.
They did it in dramatic fashion, defeating host Mississippi State 6-3 in the regional final after earlier losing to the same team 11-4. In the CWS, UNO lost to Texas 6-3 in the opening game, came back to defeat Michigan 11-3 and was then eliminated by Oklahoma State 8-7.
Mark Higgins was the batting star of the team, hitting .384 with 24 home runs and 87 RBIs, school records that still stand. Pitcher Wally Whitehurst was 15-4 with a 3.46 ERA.
The team finished with a 46-26 record.
Peter Barrouquere: 1984 UNO Baseball
Bullinger went on to pitch, but he played short stop for that Privateers team. Whitehurst led the team with 122 strikeouts: They were balanced.
I don’t think they were underrated necessarily, but people knew who they were by the end of the year for sure. The big thing I remember about that team was how everyone thought they’d be even better the next year. They finished 10th in the Baseball America poll, and all the players were coming back the next year. But the ‘85 team had problems at catcher all year and didn’t do as well. The 1984 squad, which beat Michigan and Jim Abbott (and won the Sun Belt tournament), had more success.
Nakia Hogan: 2001 Tulane Baseball
After reaching an NCAA regional title game twice before only to fall short of advancing, the Tulane Green Wave finally had its breakthrough moment, sweeping through the New Orleans Regional in three games before overcoming a Game 1 loss to LSU to win the Super Regional and earn its first berth to the College World Series.
The flirtation with advancing to a super regional two years early only made the 2001 run more special. Behind the stellar play of senior third baseman Jake Gautreau, who was a first-round pick, and first baseman/pitcher Michael Aubrey, who was named the national freshman of the year, Tulane (56-13) etched its name as one of college baseball’s elite teams on its way to winning a school record 56 games.
The Green Wave’s goal of winning a national title fell short. It went 1-2 in the CWS, picking up its lone victory with a 6-5 win over Nebraska. But the season was far from a failure, as it managed a Conference USA regular season and tournament title on its way to setting the standard for future teams.
Nakia Hogan: 2005 Tulane Baseball
The 2005 Tulane baseball team entered the year with high expectations, having been ranked as the nation’s preseason No. 1 team.
For much of the year it lived up to the hype. Propelled by the splendid pitching of Brian Bogusevic and the play of do-everything All-American Micah Owings, who was Conference USA Player of the Year, the Green Wave (56-12) matched the 2001 school record for wins and also captured C-USA regular season and tournament titles before advancing to the College World Series.
The Green Wave appeared poised to make a run for a national title, sweeping through regional play before taking two-out-of-three games from Rice in the super regional.
But after beating Oregon State 3-1 in Game 1 of the CWS, Texas beat the Green Wave 5-0 in its second game. Still, there was plenty of hope. It all evaporated, though, when Tulane blew a 7-0 lead against Baylor and lost 8-7, bowing out of another CWS in three games.
Hornets hold final workout
June 25, 2008
The Hornets held their final pre-draft workout at Tulane’s Fogelman Arena on Tuesday, bringing in six prospects: Chris Douglas-Roberts , DeVon Hardin , Sonny Weems , David Gomez , Gavin Grant and James Mays .
http://www.topix.com/ncaa/tulane-basketbal…
In the Trenches with Will Symmes
June 25, 2008
In a continuing effort to bring BGN subscribers the best coverage of Southern Miss sports anywhere we are proud to announce that former Golden Eagle football player Will Symmes has joined the staff as a feature …
http://www.topix.com/ncaa/tulane-football/…
Green Wave set to add to athletic department
June 24, 2008
Green Wave set to add to athletic department- NOLA.com
Alumnus Macneill to be associate AD
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
By Nakia HoganThe Tulane athletic department continues to take shape as Athletic Director Rick Dickson is expected to announce today the hiring of Brandon Macneill as the school’s executive associate athletic director.
Macneill, a Tulane graduate who is currently an assistant AD at Kansas, will serve as Tulane’s No. 2 athletic administrator, a position Dickson said will be needed as Dickson embarks on a massive $65 million fund-raising campaign.
“I could not be more excited to come back to this great university with my family to be a part of the athletic department,” said Macneill, whose first day of work at Tulane will be July 11. “I have tremendous respect for Rick Dickson and am very appreciative of this opportunity. I look forward to furthering the mission of Tulane athletics and will work tirelessly to do my part to put our student-athletes and coaches in a position to be successful in both the classroom and on the fields of play.”
While Macneill, 37, is familiar with the landscape of Green Wave athletics, having graduated from Tulane in 1993, Dickson said he selected Macneill because of his vast experience in helping run several different athletic departments.
Before spending the past five years at Kansas, Macneill was an associate AD for development at Princeton for three years. He also spent a year as the director of collegiate marketing for Steinberg, Moorad and Dunn, where he was responsible for soliciting and servicing corporate partners, and served as assistant AD for marketing and promotions at Dartmouth College (1998-2000).
“We had close to 100 applicants for this thing, and as we narrowed it down, we had multiple (applicants) with some tie to Tulane,” Dickson said. “But I think the key part was just the skill set and then the blend of experience at both private and state universities have given him (Macneill) a broad view of the athletic landscape out there. And that was important.”
This latest hire brings the Green Wave athletic department staff to 106, just four shy of the 110 it had before Hurricane Katrina.
Last week the Green Wave selected Lena Guarriello as its women’s swimming and diving coach. And Dickson said he will add a men’s tennis coach, director of marketing and an assistant sports information director in the coming weeks.
Under the new Tulane athletic department structure, Macneill will handle the day-to-day operations of the department and oversee the continued growth of the Green Wave’s external programs (marketing, public relations, the Tulane Athletics Fund and ticket sales), as well as coordinate with the athletic director toward successfully completing Tulane’s reinstatement plan.
Macneill’s chief lieutenants will be Maria Woods, a senior associate AD/senior women’s administrator, Travis Goff, associate AD for development, and Vince Granito, associate AD for internal/facilities.
“This marks another forward step in solidifying Tulane athletics, along with the completion of coaching hires, to restore our department, which had evolved to one of the model programs in both Conference USA and in the country,” Dickson said. “Brandon and his family are a welcome addition.”
Tulane’s Gomez Named to All-Louisiana First Team
June 23, 2008
Tulane senior forward David Gomez added one more accolade to his already extensive season resume with his selection to the All-Louisiana first team by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association . via NOLA.com
http://www.topix.com/ncaa/tulane-basketbal…
Boudreaux Convicted of Attempted Manslaughter
June 23, 2008
A jury has found former Tulane football player Ray Boudreaux Jr. guilty of attempted manslaughter for a 2007 incident outside at Bourbon Street nightclub.
