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"Notes From the Road:" President Dixie Lund's trip to Sioux City, Iowa
Saturday, March 14, 2008 — Wee hours of the morning
Well, I'm back in my motel room after watching our Lady Mountaineers play their hearts out tonight, but those baskets just wouldn't drop in this game. Sure, they'll be disappointed to have lost this game, but with every step they took that brought them to this national championship level, I know we are all enormously proud of them. They represented Eastern Oregon University with class, heart, and soul. And now, they can truly let down a bit and just enjoy being together and reminisce over how great this season has been.
We were joined tonight in support of the Mountaineers by the Holy Names basketball team from California and my, were they a rowdy bunch! It has been great to see the west coast teams (SOU, Holy Names, and us) come together for each other. Most of the teams that make it to this tournament are from the mid-west portion of the U.S., so we "real" westerners stick together.
For our men and our women, congratulations all around for making it to the "Sweet 16." See you back in La Grande and thank you, parents, students, colleagues, and community friends for your tremendous support of Eastern Oregon University basketball this season. It's been a wonderful ride!
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Friday, March 14, 2008 — Reflections from Sioux City over the last 65 hours
1. Watching Whitney Leman step forward at the Parade of Champions as her name was called as the EOU choice for best representing the NAIA Champions of Character goals.
2. Seeing Whitney and Laura Olsen, both of whom suffered season-ending injuries prior to the regular season (Whitney) or mid-way through (Laura), providing genuine inspiration and encouragement from the bench for their teammates, knowing perfectly well how much they wished they could be out there on the court with them.
3. Watching Tiffani, not yet at 100% from her own injury, simply "gut it out" last night as she ran, maneuvered to get into the key, and made plays for the team.
4. Enjoying the Cascade Conference camaraderie with Southern Oregon University Raiders who led cheers and were as boisterous as the rest of us EOU fans were as we cheered on the Lady Mountaineers to victory last night.
5. Smiling as the Black Hills State (S.D.) Yellow Jackets mascot entertained the crowd with a variety of "bumps and grinds!" Wish our Monty, the Mountaineer, could be here to join the dance! We play BHSU tonight and they have quite a large contingent of fans here, so we'll need to get our cheering voices ready.
6. Getting out of the way when one of our player's relatives, who operates a "feisty" electric wheelchair, entered the Perkins Restaurant last night where we were celebrating our victory, as she led the assembled group in cheering "E-O-U!"
7. Visiting with two young men from Nebraska who drove in for the EOU game (and definitely let their voices be heard on our behalf!) because they were friends from some time ago w/one of our players. Test responsibilities early this morning back on their own campus took them home, but I bet they'll be back for tonight!
8. Learning that Laura's mom was changing her return flight plane ticket just so she could stay here for all the team support-recall Laura is out with a torn ACL and isn't even able to play-surgery for her next week.
9. Seeing the beaming faces of many EOU players' parents as they delighted in seeing their daughters smiling from ear to ear last night. It's a wonderful family feeling to be a part of their grand experience.
10. Having about a dozen cameras handed to me for special picture taking of the team as they entered the Convention Center for the Tuesday night banquet-they don't know that I have a habit of cutting off the heads of those in pictures when I'm behind the lens!
11. And remembering that nowadays, these are digital cameras and I'm not supposed to bring them up to my eyes to focus the way my little instamatic camera still requires! Watching the team try to stifle laughter when they saw me doing just that!
12. And finally, wanting to unplug the incredibly loud vacuum cleaner of the motel's very nice housekeeper as she did her work just outside my door early this morning. You see, it was very late (i.e., ~2-3 a.m.) before I could come down from the celebration high and get to sleep, and being awakened at 8 a.m. w/this sound wasn't exactly what I had hoped for! Oh well, work to do, places to go, people to see.
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Wednesday, March 12, 2008, in Sioux City
Yesterday started with the women's team practicing in the early morning (6:30 PDT) at the former/old Tyson Sports Center and then either returning to the motel to rest, work on homework, just hang out OR go to the Center where the games were being played. There were 8 games yesterday, starting at 8:30 a.m. The final game involved Southern Oregon University and was scheduled to begin at 9:45 p.m., but because of delays during the day, didn't even start until 10:45 p.m. EOU was there for them till the bitter end (they lost) which concluded after midnight. I spoke with several of the SOU players this morning, and they knew that we had been their cheerleaders (very, very few from SOU otherwise) and they told me that they'd be there for us tonight. We are certainly hoping for no delays today because our game against Cardinal Stritch is also the last one of the day, scheduled for 9:45 p.m., too.
We definitely had the best of both worlds yesterday while our EOU men played in Missouri. Each team here in Iowa has 1-2 corporate sponsors during the tournament, and we were permitted to use our sponsors' suite during the time our men were playing in Missouri. Coach Weissenfluh had ordered the video stream of the EOU men's game, and EOU team member Jennie Fiso linked her computer up in the suite, and we were able to crowd around the screen and cheer on the EOU men live as they were trouncing their opponent. Great performance, men!
The Parade of Champions took place at 7:30 last night and involves each team being introduced and their stats given while they assemble in spelling out NAIA on the arena floor. There was an especially nice introduction given, I thought, for EOU as the announcer said something like "And coming all the way from Oregon, we have the Eastern Oregon team from La Grande, making their 4th appearance at the national tournament!" A good number of the EOU parents are here, and they and I cheered loudly. The tradition at this Parade is to align the players and coaches side-by-side next to the team you'll be playing in the first game, and to then exchange a gift (player by player; coach by coach) with the opponent. Usually the gift is a T-shirt from your institution, so many of the Cardinal Stritch players/coaches received a "Get Loud, Wear Blue" EOU T-shirt. Somehow, I doubt they'll wear it much today!
AD Cashell and Student Affairs Dean Mike Daugherty had originally planned to drive here to Sioux City for the women's game tonight, but have discovered that it is a much longer drive (at least 9 hours one-way) than what they'd initially thought. Also, Mike was to proctor a test for one of our men this morning and didn't feel it a very good idea to make him get up early to take a test just so Rob and Mike could take off immediately after. So, it's good that they are there for the men's team, and that I'm here for the women's. It's an especially great time to be an EOU Mountaineer! Think positive thoughts for our women tonight against Cardinal Stritch and for our men when they play in the second round of the tournament on Friday at 7:15 p.m. CDT. We hope the women will be doing exactly the same thing that night at 9:15 CDT here in Sioux City!
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Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Our team practiced early this morning and then had the choice to either accompany Coach Weissenfluh to watch some of the earlier games that started this morning, or to stay at the motel and rest and work on homework. I proctored a test for one player late this morning and know that others remained here to do schoolwork. We all join together for an early dinner at 4 p.m. and then are off to the Tyson Sports Center for the Parade of Champions where all the team members enter the Center and spell out "NAIA."
We'll stay for two games tonight-one at 8 p.m. involving Morningside, the host college here in Sioux City, who are 30-3 against Berea of Kentucky whose record isn't the greatest (20-11) but who are known for scoring over 100 points in most games and have an amazing fast break that Coach Weissenfluh wants our players to see. That game is at 8 p.m. and will be followed by Southern Oregon (29-4) playing at 9:45 p.m. against St. Ambrose of Iowa (28-5). We'll be cheering for SOU, of course! Their players are staying on the same floor down the hallway from my own room. An interesting point: The women's team from the College of the Ozarks from Pt. Lookout, Missouri, where our men's team is playing, is here for the women's tournament, too. They are 31-1 and playing this afternoon against Fort Kent of Maine (17-10). As you should already know, EOU plays Thursday against Cardinal Stritch of Wisconsin (26-4) at 9:15 p.m. CDT Thursday.
In support of the "Search for the Cure for Breast Cancer," we were told at the Banquet last night that all the officiating individuals will be using pink whistles!
All for now. From this point on, my comments will likely be coming to you in combination with reports from the men's tournament. Go Mountaineers!
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Tuesday, March 11, 2008, in Sioux City, Iowa
I arrived at the motel where the team is staying late Tuesday afternoon and joined up with Coach Weissenfluh, Assistant Coach Jamie, and Trainer John for the NAIA Champions Banquet at the Sioux City Convention Center. We estimate there were approximately 700 people in attendance, including the 32 teams, the state high school championship teams from Iowa and South Dakota, and various dignitaries and sponsors. The theme this year is "Basketball in Paradise," and the decorations were all Hawaiian, including a large speedboat that was a great place for our team members to climb into and have pictures taken after most everyone else had left! Inflated balloons in the shape and look of basketballs decorated the tables, and as the entertainment commenced (a guy in beach attire singing a variety of songs, including YMCA, I Will Survive, and others I wasn't familiar with), the basketball balloons started finding there way being volleyed across the tables throughout the Convention Center. One landed near Coach Weissenfluh and tipped over a full glass of water onto her. She's a good sport!
At one point, the guy doing the singing asked for all the coaches to join him on stage and then had one player from each team do the same. What followed was a contest to "Let's do the Twist!" Now some of the coaches are pretty conservative, so it was "interesting" to watch them try to "get with the program." Coach Weissenfluh and player Brie Olson twisted pretty good!
The team worked with Special Education children yesterday at the Tyson Sports Arena-a tradition that not all the championship team coaches opt to have their players do. I wasn't here in time to see them, but know from a previous trip in 2004, that this activity is a very special one and I'm proud that our team participates.
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Sunday, March 9 — Monday, March 10, 2008 in Central Oregon
It appears to have been a successful EOU recruiting trip earlier this week with Jackie Grant, Melanie Bowman, Jon Larkin, student Jennifer Romriell and myself. We met with administrators early Monday morning at Sisters High School, then with administrators and students at Redmond High School.
En route to Redmond, I took an unexpected phone call from a radio station in Bend, KBND, for an impromptu interview about EOU and our purpose in being in the area. The Redmond visit-where we met two very probable EOU applicants (both excellent students) was followed by a visit with the Editor/Publisher in Prineville at the Central Oregonian newspaper. After that visit, we arrived at Crook County High School in Prineville where we were greeted with a large welcome sign on their outdoor digital display. During the next 90-minutes, we spoke to and had a Q/A session with CCHS juniors/seniors in one 30-minute group, followed by freshmen/sophomores in another-all together, about 600 students! Several CCHS seniors remained afterwards to visit with us about specific things they wanted to know regarding EOU.
We then moved to one of the three high schools in Bend, Mt. View, where we met with their ASPIRE counselor, followed by a visit to the EOU Regional Center on the COCC campus and helped a soon-to-be EOU graduate work through some capstone paperwork difficulties she was experiencing. Early that evening, we connected with EOU MDPA's Jon Larkin for a very well-attended EOU alumni reception which, because of additional publicity in the Bend Bulletin newspaper, included at least two sets of parents accompanying their high school seniors who are interested in EOU. We have been strongly encouraged to return for a longer, more student-focused visit to Redmond and Bend high schools.
After the alumni reception, I departed for the drive to Portland so I could fly to Sioux City the next morning to join the EOU Women's Basketball Team for their national tournament competition. Jon, Melanie, and Jennifer continued recruiting the next morning (Tuesday) with stops at Condon High School and Arlington High School. Unfortunately, Jackie had come down with the flu and was unable to participate that day.
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Office of the President
Inlow Hall, Suite 216
Eastern Oregon University
One University Boulevard
La Grande, OR 97850-2899
phone: 541-962-3512
fax: 541-962-3113
Eastern Oregon University is a member of the Oregon University System