Dec. 23, 2008
Independence Bowl Blog
Check in daily (or more!) with Assistant Director of Media Relations Russell Houghtaling, who is traveling with the Northern Illinois football team to Shreveport, La. for the 33rd Annual Independence Bowl, where the Huskies will battle Louisiana Tech, Dec. 28 at 7 p.m.
Day One - Entry 2 - Dec. 23, 2008 - 8:00 p.m.
I'll start this entry with the part of the day I think people will be most interested in: practice.
The Huskies practiced outside, on a full-size field for the first time since snow started piling up in DeKalb. Which means since just after the Navy game, Nov. 25, NIU has been practicing in the DeKalb Recreation Center. While the team and Coach Kill have continually expressed how grateful they are to everyone that has made that situation work, nothing replaces a real field.
So late this afternoon, because NIU has been unable to kick or punt in live situations for weeks, the Huskies went through a full special teams practice. Punter Andy Ditbenner and placekicker Mike Salerno talked about the experience on the Independence Bowl Podcast.
I spoke with a few players after practice. Me'co Brown, whose hometown of Moss Point, Mississippi is only a six-hour drive from here, noted that he's happy to be back in the South, and that over 25 of his family members are coming to the game. Jake Coffman said he's excited about his first trip to Louisiana, and is looking to eat some crawfish before heading back home. Everyone I talked to said the main focus this week is winning. The sentiment was beyond unanimous.
Sidenote: I'm writing this from the Player Hospitality room, where a group of student-athletes is playing Rock Band. Jason Onyebuagu (2-for-2 on blog mentions) is singing his heart out trying to nail Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger." The effort is 100 percent.
Sidenote Two: Maybe even better. There is a heated, though friendly, debate on the rules of checkers. It's been going on for about 10 minutes now. Certain parties have been accused of playing what other parties have dubbed "Chicago Checkers." The accused is attempting to double-jump forward, then backward with an un-kinged checker. I'm pretty sure it is not a legal move. No resolution to this point. (the names have been removed to protect the innocent, or, in this case, the guilty)
I was impressed and a little amazed by something that's happened every time we travel in the team buses, but this entry is running a bit long. I'll save it for tomorrow, to keep you coming back for more.
RH
