LionFan

Appreciate the compliment. Just doing what I can, man. I know how you feel about missing part of the game tomorrow. I have to work . Fortunately, I'll be able to listen to most of it on the radio, and will probably try to watch an hour of it on TV during my lunch break. Just hate that I can't sit at home on my lazy a$$ and watch all of it! This might be my last post before the game, so once again, good luck guys. May the best team win. If y'all win tomorrow, I'll be sure to come here and congratulate you as soon as I can, and if you have any questions about the Shoals area, I will be glad to help out. Good luck Sioux! Go Lions!!! Chris H. in Florence, AL

David Mooneyham IS our top receiver. He leads the team with receptions and yardage, with 51 catches for 779 yards, an average of 59.9 per game. So, that hurts. Fortunately, we got Taris Birt back last week, a receiver who has missed a lot of action this season due to injury. But still, losing Mooneyham hurts. Enough to affect the outcome? I doubt it, as long as one of our other receivers step up. We have plenty to pick up the slack. As for Nick Glenn, I don't know much about him. A backup at the safety position whose name I haven't heard called much this season. He's played in nine games, and has been a part of fourteen tackles. This certainly doesn't affect us as much as losing Mooneyham. I'm ashamed of this situation, if nothing else for the bad press we are receiving. I wouldn't automatically assume these guys are on cocaine, or pot, or steroids, anything like that. The University of Alabama had a defensive end suspended for the ENTIRE SEASON for using a legal, over-the-counter dietary supplement as part of his offseason conditioning program. He lost a year of eligibility, and could not redshirt. How's that for a slap in the face? I'm not making excuses for the players that got busted. If they were doing something illegal, they should be thrown off the team for good. I'm just trying to point out that the NCAA is NOT a fair institution when it comes to many things, their drug testing policy included. If you are trying to say that I am on this forum because of something you said on al.com, you are dead wrong. I do not read those boards, they are populated by thirteen year old children who like to involve themselves in flame wars and making immature posts. If I were you, I'd try to distance myself from that board and from flaming ANYBODY. It doesn't make you look very mature. Just twelve and a half hours away! Good luck Sioux! Go Lions!!! Chris H. in Florence, AL

Hehe, I like your thinking there. Might have been a "barner" that did it . Most of us Alabamians don't claim them as our own anyway .

Sorry man, didn't mean to offend anybody or clutter up the board. Just having a little friendly discussion here. I'll try to be on better behavior. Just don't send me to the board purgatory or anything .

Well, a little while ago I went and purchased my championship game tickets. They are a good deal, only $15 each. I would say about 4000 have been sold so far, which is a higher number than this time last year. The guy told me that of the three schools besides UNA, Grand Valley will request the most tickets, with 1500. He said they more than likely had double that number actually attend the game last year. He said both UND and TAMUK plan on requesting 500 tickets. So how many of you will plan on coming down, if you do the impossible and beat the Lions ? I'm guessing the 500 is just a preliminary number, and the university will request more next week? How many came to the semifinal game in Florence in 1994? Early weather forecast for December 13: Sunny, 54 degrees. Sounds good to me . Good luck Sioux! Go Lions!!! Chris H. in Florence, AL

Oh yeah, no doubt, they were two great teams. I would say the "best" team was the 1995 team, simply because the large core of players that made up the 93-94-95 squads were seniors in '95. They blew out EVERYBODY that year, including Pittsburg State in the championship game 27-7. The '94 team surely has an argument. TAMUK was better than the PSU team we played in '95. The '94 team also went to Youngstown, Ohio, and took Youngstate State right down to the wire, getting beat 17-14. Actually had a chance to win the game in the final moments, but couldn't get in the endzone. YSU was defending champs and #3 in the nation at the time. FWIW, Ronald McKinnon, linebacker for Arizona is still playing in the NFL, and having a good career. He is the only Lion I know of from those years still in the league. Anybody from TAMUK?

You have to remember though, during the championship run the Lions ran the triple option. So, the defense saw it every day in practice. They knew how to play against and stop the option, and had the athletes to do it. I wish he would have gotten to play. I think the rain made as much of a difference that day as who was playing QB, though. Who knows, maybe on a sunny day TAMUK would have blown us out, or vice versa. Just impossible to say.

I went to that game. It rained the entire time, and was about 38 degrees. That's what we Alabama boys call miserable. But it was fun, nonetheless. We stormed the field after the game was over to congratulate the Lions. Who knows if the different QB for Kingsville would have made a difference in the outcome. He may have. In my biased opinion, the 93-94-95 Lions were the greatest DII teams ever assembled, and Kingsville played us the closest of any team in that three year span. I didn't realize that TAMUK didn't have their starter that day. Too bad the teams couldn't have played in better weather conditions, with TAMUK having their QB. Would have been another great game, I'm sure.

The news this morning about the drug tests is disappointing, to say the least. I would think that those young men understand how important it is, especially during the season and the playoffs, to not do any kind of drugs. Not when these random drug tests are always a possibility. But you are always going to have the kind of guys that think they are above the law, "it's random, they won't test me", etc. I'd be willing to bet every team has a few, unfortunately. If I read the article correctly, it's not even confirmed that the two guys were football players. Then I read Coach Hudspeth's comments, and it sounds like he knows it is. As Coach said though, we have good depth. If this truly is a championship team, the loss of two guys won't make a difference. The rest of the team will pull together. The only way I'd worry is if one of the two is Will Hall . Good luck Sioux! Go Lions!!! Chris H. in Florence, AL

Hey now... that's what we say about Tennessee. Get it right!

If any of you are interested, here's today's article in the Florence TimesDaily. "UNA remains healthy" http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar.../312040340/1019 Good luck Sioux! Go Lions!!! Chris H. in Florence, AL

LOL, I've seen that site before. Too funny.

Geez now, redwing... I reckon you's tryin' to talk good 'bout me, but why'd ye haf' to use sech big words? Enigma? Poignant? Computer??? Man, us Alabamer boys don' unnerstand you damned yankees' langage! Can't ye use sum simpler terms if'n when ye's talkin' to me? Honestly, I just like talking to different people. You guys seem to be classy, knowledgable, and besides some of the southern jokes which I expected anyway, an overall good group of people. I just don't see any reason to come on a board and talk to smack, I'd rather try to represent my institution with class. If I make some new friends in the process, all the better. I get a kick out of y'all's rivalry with the Bison, too. Being an Alabama fan as well as UNA, I can relate to the "culture vs. agriculture" thing you've got going. I enjoy picking on those farm schools, like NDSU and "Aubarn" . Of course, a lot of people outside the south don't even know Auburn is in Alabama, their first guess would be Georgia. A fact we let them hear about . Anyway, sorry to go on for so long here. It's past midnight, I'm about to call it a night folks. Good luck Sioux, and Go Lions!!! Chris H. in Florence, AL

Isn't my presence on an online football discussion forum, my team's opponent's message board nonetheless, officially prove to you that I have no life? Serioiusly, my life is busier than I'd like it to be, I don't have too much free time. I do love to golf. Unfortunately, we do not have many quality courses in the Shoals area that don't charge an arm and a leg for a round of 18. A Robert Trent Jones Trail course is in the process of being built, however, and my hopes are high for it. By next year, if y'all get to come down for a playoff game or the championship game, you might be able to bring your clubs and get in a quick round at the world-famous RTJ Trail's newest course . Good luck Sioux, and Go Lions!!! Chris H. in Florence, AL

Well, you have to understand, for a long time there were only two teams in this state that anybody cared about, Alabama and Auburn. That's what the media would have you believe, anyway. I don't think there's much truth in that though, because UNA, Troy State, Jacksonville State, etc... all of those programs have had good teams for years, and would draw plenty of fans. Another problem for UNA, Florence and the Shoals area rely on the Huntsville stations for our television coverage (Huntsville is about 60 miles east). Unfortunately, the Huntsville media doesn't care at all about UNA. If they have to cover a school besides 'Bama or AU, it's going to be Alabama A&M (in Huntsville) or Alabama-Huntsville (y'all might know them, since they play hockey ). AAMU hasn't had a good football team in years, and UAH doesn't even play. So why they can't devote more time to UNA football is beyond me. Heck, they'd rather show highlights of their crappy NBDL team than UNA, a team that averages about 80 people showing up to watch them, per game. Hopefully, the ratings for this weekend's game will be off the charts, and H'ville media will get their heads out of their collective a$$es, and start covering more games. But I'm not holding my breath. Good luck Sioux, and Go Lions!!! Chris H. in Florence, AL

Just for the record, I'm a diehard North Alabama Lions fan, a diehard Alabama Crimson Tide fan, and I have lived in Alabama all of my life, but... I absolutely HATE the "sport" of NASCAR. As sioux fan in phoenix said, how anybody can sit in the hot sun for three or four hours watching cars go around, and around, and around, and around... ugh, I have a headache just thinking about it. Then you will hear NASCAR fans say that it's a lot more exciting at the track than on TV. If that's the case, how in the bloody HELL can you stand to sit in front of a TV for hours on end watching it? I guess the alcohol plays an important part in that. Hmm, I'm a southerner that doesn't care for watching NASCAR, has never hunted a day in his life, and hasn't went fishing in about five years now. How would y'all stereotype me? Transplanted yankee? Good luck Sioux, and Go Lions!!! Chris H. in Florence, AL

To follow up on what Sandram was saying earlier, here's a link to the article in the Florence TimesDaily, if anybody is interested. http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar.../312030327/1011 The Huntsville NBC affiliate is going to carry the game, not the WB station as was rumored yesterday. J.D. Byars works as a reporter for them. Classy move by UND and your broadcast team, letting J.D. be a part of the broadcast. We really appreciate you guys helping us out and getting us the feed down here. It's been a while since I've watched the Lions on TV, so that should make the game even better. Good luck Sioux, and Go Lions!! Chris H. in Florence, AL

Excellent!! Thank you, sir!

Who would that be? This is the first I've heard about it.

I don't understand why some of the lesser-known sports networks out there would try to pick up more DII games. Yeah, a lot of the schools are small, but they still have thousands of alumni spread throughout the United States. I'm sure many of those alums would love to tune in and watch their old school every now and then, especially if it's only one or two games a season. I don't know about other parts of the country, but my regional sports networks barely know D1-AA exists, nevermind DII. Fox Sports South occasionally shows a 1-AA game, but never DII. There is another channel ran by Comcast called CSS that calls themselves "Your source for sports in the southeast". Not the source for DII football, though. At the least, I wish ESPN or ESPN2 would simply take time out of their Saturdays to show a DII "Game of the week". And at least carry some playoff games, geez. You can't tell me that one of the DII semifinal games this weekend wouldn't draw a comparable rating to the Boise State/Hawaii game that will be shown on ESPN2. I don't even think ESPN has a game scheduled for Saturday. Ridiculous that these games can't be shown. The NCAA and DII need to get proactive about promoting their product. With so many teams wanting to make the jump to D1, I think it's the only way to insure long-term continued success of the division. If UND could get decent national TV exposure, and maybe a tweaking of the SOS rules to allow 1-AA games to count as "tough" games in the computers so you could continue your rivalry with NDSU... would you really feel as much of a need to move up? There's a market out there for televised DII football games. Some ambitious network just needs to step up and make it happen. That's my thoughts on it, anyway. Go Lions! Chris H. in Florence, AL

Nah man, it's a good quote. It's obviously more in reference to my second school, the University of Alabama, than anything UNA. Just wish they were doing as good as the Lions And hey, we want y'all to come to Florence too... next year in the championship game against the Lions, if the playoff bracket works that way Good luck Sioux, and Go Lions!

Hmm, well nobody is going to like my pick, but I've got to do it anyway. I say... UNA 31 UND 24 That would equal the highest number of points we have given up all season. I'm really worried about the home-field advantage y'all will have. None of our kids have played on turf, so it's going to be different. And I'm sure there will be 10,000 screaming Sioux fans there to intimidate the Lions. Just like UND seems to be destined this year, though, I think the 2003 Lions are too. The senior class had never had a winning season before this year, which has been unheard of at UNA since the 70s. They just deserve something good, and going from 4-7 in 2002 to 15-0 and national champions in 2003 is the perfect way to cap off an incredible turn around. I just have a feeling we're going to do it, sorry guys But that's why the game is played on the field. It will be a fun an exciting contest, no doubt. Good luck Sioux! Go Lions! Chris H. Florence, AL

BTW cheeringsiouxfromsmoggycali, I love that quote in your signature there. My favorite lines from the movie... "Mr. Cob?" "Yes, Sir!" "You're aware of the name of this ship, aren't you, Mr. Cob?" "Very aware, Sir!" "It bears a proud name doesn't it, Mr. Cob?" "Very proud, Sir!" "It represents fine people." "Very fine people, Sir!" "Who live in a fine, outstanding state." "Outstanding, Sir!" "In the greatest country in the entire world." "In the entire world, Sir!" "And what is that name, Mr. Cob?" "ALABAMA, Sir!" "And what do we say?!" "Go 'Bama'!" "(Crew)ROLL TIDE!!" Ah... brings a tear to my eye Good luck Sioux! Go Lions! Chris H. Florence, AL

I agree, wish it was Saturday. The longer I have to wait, the more I worry about you guys! It has been fun actually discussing a game though. I wish more DII schools has forums where you could discuss the teams. Unfortunately, UNA doesn't even have a decent board, and we're a school with some tradition. The AL.com board doesn't count, as every school in the state has their own board there, and it's just filled with 13 year old jerkoffs. Most UNA fans I know love the Lions, but definitely put them behind the Tide and Tigers when it comes to football priorities in the state. It's sad, but that's how it is around the Shoals. I love Alabama football myself, just feel there's room to have two schools you can be passionate about, especially when they never play each other. Anyway, sorry to get longwinded. I've enjoyed talking to some other DII fans for a change. It's been fun. If y'all have any more questions about the team, I'll gladly answer them. Just let me know. I'm looking forward to a GREAT game on Saturday. Go Lions! Chris H. Florence, AL

Wow, Bowencamp sounds like a good one. I think that the way for UND to win the game will be to throw the ball, and that seems to indicate it is something that y'all do well. If you can start completing some passes, get the defense back on their heels, then have some big running plays... It could definitely make for an interesting game. I just wish I could make it to Grand Forks on Saturday! Unfortunately, I have to work . Otherwise I might just take a road trip. I can't believe bosses think that work comes before football, geez. What a bunch of buffoons! *G*