This fall, and for the first time 1998, Neil Piper will not be on the Sidelines at the Lion Soccer Field. After the decision to go Division I, the winningest coach in the history of Lion Soccer decided to move on after the decision to go Division I after the season last fall. He decided…
The Lions’ week 5 opponent will bring a huge challenge and just two weeks after playing their biggest opponent in recent history. The Lions will head south to Hammond, Louisiana where they will face off with the team favored to win the Southland Conference, the Southeastern Louisiana Lions. Let’s take a quick look- When: Saturday,…
When: Saturday, September 24, 6 PM Where: Ernest Hawkins Field at Memorial Stadium About NAU: Mascot: Stallions Location: Stafford, TX (Houston Metro Area) Distance from Commerce: 290 Miles Enrollment: 600 Students 2021 Record: 5-4 Overall Conference: NAIA Independent Head Coach: Kenneth Apande Overview: This team, and school is a lot like Lincoln University. North American…
When: Saturday, September 10, 6 PM Where: Tucker Stadium, Cookeville, TN 2021 Record: 3-8 Overview: Almost 70 years ago, these two squads faced off for the first and only time. Both were respective Champions of their conferences. They met in Orlando, Florida in the Tangerine Bowl, the de-facto national championship game for small colleges. The…
When: Thursday, September 1, 7 PM Where: Ernest Hawkins Field at Texas A&M-Commerce Memorial Stadium Overview: Our first game as a Division I school will be a cupcake. One of the great things about being Division I is that you get some of these sometimes. I looked at who Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech…
As of July 1, we are finally members of NCAA Division I. It has been something that has been imminent for almost a year now, but finally, Texas A&M-Commerce is at the top of the college athletics rung. We are here. Now, I will admit, and actually this was the opinion of the entire staff…
Imagine this. At a future home football game you are walking toward the concourse at Ernest Hawkins Field at Memorial Stadium and you get in line. You have seen the mural on the outside of the stadium before, but this time something catches your eye. National Champions 1952 1972 2017 Wait, did we go back…
Sometimes older does not necessarily mean worse. Sometimes older is better. We are a society obsessed with youth and the newest things. We all want new. New cars, new houses, new music, new platforms, new technology, new this and new that. However sometimes there is a great value in cherished traditions and institutions. There is…
30 Years ago this September, Dallas Morning News SportsDay Writer Kevin Sherrington took the 50 minute trip up Interstate 30 to cover a town that few knew about and a college football team that about as many seemed to have any idea existed. 10 Minutes north of the I-30 exit sat a campus of 9,000…
Every school has traditions. Some are great, some are not. But, traditions are there for a reason. There is reason and rationale behind them. At Texas A&M-Commerce, we have abandoned some traditions or have downplayed some of them. Some of them simply got placed by the wayside, and some of them have been outright abandoned.…
Russell has already said his final words to Tim as our AD, so I am taking this chance to do the same thing, but with a different twist. Tim, Well, I hate to say I knew this day would come, but I have to say I am thrilled for you to find what you found…
Hard to believe that I have been covering Spring Football games since 2011. I was thinking about how time has just flown and how I have seen the evolution of a program from Conference doormat to conference champions, to national champions, to national powerhouse, and not to Division I, all in the span of a…
Let’s talk about Ernest Hawkins Field at Memorial Stadium. Our favorite place to be on a fall afternoon in Northeast Texas. I would have a hard time believing that when then-President Dr. James Gee, Coach Milburn Smith, US Speaker of the House and ETSU Sam Rayburn, and Lt. Governor Walter Woodul, along with 12,000 fans…
I apologize for the lack of write ups as of late, but so much has been happening in the college sports world, it has been hard to keep up. Either way, time for the second edition of Division I Diatribes. Let’s talk…….$$$$$$$$$$$$$ MONEY $$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Ah yes, that thorny subject. The thing that is responsible for…
Well, I guess now is the time. I have been meaning to start sharing thoughts on the transition to Division I since September of last year, but I really underestimated how difficult last football season would be in so many ways, but that being said, it is time to tie up some loose ends. This…
It was quite a week in Lion Hoops for both Men and Women. Big wins, heartbreaking losses, and everything in between. Let’s take a look. Lion Women- On January 6th, the Lion Women traveled to the South Plains to face West Texas A&M, and had a major letdown against the Lady Buffs. It was a…
Now that I have covered a few things regarding the Lion Women’s Basketball team, it is time for us to look at our Men’s Program. Let’s get to it. First, whenever you think of Lion Basketball, you think of one word….tradition. The banners that hang inside University Fieldhouse tell the story of a program that…
Well, football season has been over for a few weeks now, and this weekend Ferris State and Valdosta State will be playing in McKinney for the Division II crown, but for the past few weeks, Basketball has been going hot and heavy and the Texas A&M-Commerce Lion Women are picking up where they left off…
I think it is fair to say that everyone associated with Lion football, from the coaches, players, fans, and students are all disappointed in how this season has gone. Last Saturday’s loss….the worst in the Bailiff era, erased any doubt about the Lions making the playoffs. They had been hanging by a thread for weeks,…
I have far more questions than thoughts. Lions are assured now not to make the playoffs.
The Lion Wire 