The Citadel Independent Sports Network

Uga Died

gpuckhaaber — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:43:28 GMT

Uga died. Wasn't he General's cousin?

Rotation

81Dawg — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:34:45 GMT

Any thoughts on the rotation that Conroy is using so far this year? What's up w/ Clark, Eykyn, & Pandak? These guys are JRs now & should be seeing a lot of playing time, but can't seem to break in to the rotation. Also, what about Fitzpatrick? I know he is a RFR, but I would think Conroy would start to put him on the floor.

Forum: Hoops

3-pointers on the EMU win

dawgmeat — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 03:21:57 GMT

http://www.postandcourier.com/blogs/bulldog_bites/

Forum: Hoops

Coach Conroy's postgame thoughts - Eastern Michigan

DG — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:06:54 GMT

Big win for the 'Dogs over Eastern Michigan. Hear Coach Conroy's postgame thoughts right here!

http://www.thecitadelsportsnetwork.com/2009/11/20/coach-conroys-postgame-thoughts-after-win-over-emu/

Forum: Hoops

Thank You Seniors

hustla055 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:34:01 GMT

Thank you to all the seniors. It has been a great four years. TWO WINS OVER FURMAN!!!!!!

It is sad to know we no longer have Andre after tomorrow. It really has been a special treat to watch him play. Here is wishing all the guys luck tomorrow and a win up in Statesboro.

Forum: The Gridiron

Eastern Michigan Game

powellj1 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:27:02 GMT

I found a free streaming vid of the game in pretty good quality. Looks like the only people in the gym in MO are players and coaches.

Lets right this ship Dogs!!!

http://www.missouristatebears.com/main/Schedule.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=13800

Forum: Hoops

2010 baseball sked

dawgmeat — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:26:14 GMT

http://www.postandcourier.com/blogs/bulldog_bites/

Forum: Baseball

2009 Sword Drill Performance

dogfan1987 — Thur, 19 Nov 2009 21:13:23 GMT

http://www.sworddrill.com/2009perf.html

Different than I remember.

Forum: All things Citadel

Andre ran a 4.43

dawgmeat — Thur, 19 Nov 2009 17:55:39 GMT

and is eager to test NFL waters

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/nov/19/roberts-eager-for-next-phase/

Forum: The Gridiron

Head count for Saturday...

Blueballer — Thur, 19 Nov 2009 17:48:57 GMT

I will be sending off the Great One #5, and I think we owe him and the team as much support as possible. This is the last time we'll see him in a Citadel uniform and its going to be sad(bring lots of tissue.) Come on down and support the team.

Forum: The Gridiron

Cam Wells 20 points from 1000 career mark

Millwoch — Thur, 19 Nov 2009 17:18:09 GMT

By my calculations Cam Wells has 980 points for his career. There are only 25 1000 point scorers in Citadel history. Demetrius Nelson was the last.

Only 7 have reached 1000 points in 3 seasons prior to Wells, with 2 within 10 points of the mark:

Regan Trusdale 82-85         thru Jr year: 1037     Total: 1661
Art Musselman   57-60                           1095               1504
Rick Swing        76-79                            998                1431
Tom Slawson     77-80                           992                1408
Gary Daniels       60-62                          1380 only played 3 yr
Rodney McKeever 74-76                         1358 only played 3 yr
Patrick Elmore     84-90                          1321 only played 3 yr
Craig Bardo         85-87                          1119 only played 3 yr
Steve Fishel       71-73                           1068 only played 3 yr

Forum: Hoops

Higgins Radio Show Replay / Roberts One-on-One

DG — Thur, 19 Nov 2009 14:52:31 GMT

Higgins replay available now. Our One-on-One interview with Roberts will be up this afternoon.

http://www.THEcitadelsportsnetwork.com

Forum: The Gridiron

Citadel GrayLine -- Andre Roberts, Jordon Gilmore, Randy Bresnik ('89) blasts off

DixieDog88 — Thur, 19 Nov 2009 01:11:33 GMT

Andre Roberts and Jordon Gilmore talk about their final game in a Bulldog uniform, as The Citadel prepares to wrap-up the '09 season in Statesboro, Ga., against Georgia Southern. We dig through the citadel@yall.com Inbox, and Jeff Hartsell has the latest on Ed Conroy's basketball team. Plus, we have the Good Morning America report on Space Shuttle Atlantis astronaut Randy Bresnik ('89).

CITADEL GRAYLINE NOV. 18 BROADCAST

Subscribe to Citadel GrayLine in iTunes

Go to the iTunes Store, and search for "Citadel GrayLine," or "The Citadel," or "Citadel Bulldogs." You will see the Citadel GrayLine podcast icon. Click on the "Subscribe" button, and this will automatically download each week's episode to your iTunes Podcasts folder (upper left corner, under 'Library') as soon as it's uploaded by CRM Sports.

CITADEL GRAYLINE Homepage

CITADEL GRAYLINE AFFILIATE LIST

Allendale: WDOG-FM 93.5

Barnwell: WDOG-AM 1460

Brunswick, Ga.: WCGA-AM 1100

Cayce: WLTY-FM 96.7-HD2

Charleston: WSPO-FM 99.3

Columbia: WCOS-AM 1400

Georgetown: WGTN-AM 1400

Greenville: WOLT-FM 103.3

Jackson, Miss.: WJFN-AM 970

Livingston, Ala.: WSLY-FM 104.9

North Charleston: WSPO-AM 1390

Orangeburg: WORG-FM 100.3

Rock Hill: WAGL-AM 1560

Forum: The Gridiron

Citadel GrayLine -- Andre Roberts, Jordon Gilmore, Randy Bresnik ('89) blasts off

DixieDog88 — Thur, 19 Nov 2009 01:09:33 GMT

CITADEL GRAYLINE NOV. 18 BROADCAST

Subscribe to Citadel GrayLine in iTunes

CITADEL GRAYLINE Homepage

CITADEL GRAYLINE AFFILIATE LIST

Allendale: WDOG-FM 93.5

Barnwell: WDOG-AM 1460

Brunswick, Ga.: WCGA-AM 1100

Cayce: WLTY-FM 96.7-HD2

Charleston: WSPO-FM 99.3

Columbia: WCOS-AM 1400

Georgetown: WGTN-AM 1400

Greenville: WOLT-FM 103.3

Jackson, Miss.: WJFN-AM 970

Livingston, Ala.: WSLY-FM 104.9

North Charleston: WSPO-AM 1390

Orangeburg: WORG-FM 100.3

Rock Hill: WAGL-AM 1560

Forum: All things Citadel

Going for it on 4th and 4 - kicking conventional wisdom to the curb!

BullDog85 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:46:11 GMT

September 21, 2009

Just Go For It!

A coach's case for kicking conventional wisdom to the curb

L. JON WERTHEIM - Sports Illustrated

As the sun fell behind the hills on the west side of Little Rock last Thursday evening, the Pulaski Academy Bruins and the visiting Central Arkansas Christian Mustangs scattered around the field and stretched before their high school football game. Apple-cheeked cheerleaders alternated between practicing their routines and checking their backlog of texts as the P.A. blasted the predictable medley of psych-up songs. Conventional stuff, in other words.

Then the game started.

On the first possession Pulaski marched steadily downfield until it faced fourth-and-four at the Mustangs' 14-yard line. The Bruins went for it and converted. A few plays later, thanks to a penalty, they faced fourth-and-goal from the 23. Again they went for it, this time unsuccessfully. By the end of the first quarter, Pulaski hadn't punted or attempted a field goal on any of its four fourth downsunsurprising when you consider that its roster lists neither a punter nor a kicker.

After all but one of their five touchdowns, the Bruins either attempted a fluttering onside kick or purposely booted the ball out-of-bounds. When the Mustangs punted, Pulaski didn't even attempt a return. Instead, they let the kick simply die on the turf. The Bruins threw on the majority of downs, and effectively deployed shuffle passes, end arounds, reverses and a double pass, often showing greater resemblance to a rugby team than to a football team.

Pulaski fans are accustomed to such play. Most enjoy the show, shake their heads and refer to the coach, Kevin Kelley, as a "mad scientist." But really, the coach isn't mad at all; his decisions are rooted not in whimsy or eccentricity but in cold, rational numbers. Ask him to defend his methods, and he revs up his Dell laptop and refers to his statistics.

Pulaski hasn't punted since 2007 (when it did so as a gesture of sportsmanship in a lopsided game), and here's why: "The average punt in high school nets you 30 yards, but we convert around half our fourth downs, so it doesn't make sense to give up the ball," Kelley says. "Besides, if your offense knows it has four downs instead of three, it totally changes the game. I don't believe in punting and really can't ever see doing it again."

He means ever. Consider the most extreme scenario, say, fourth-and-long near your own end zone. According to Kelley's data (much of which came from a documentary he saw), when a team punts from that deep, the opponents will take possession inside the 40-yard line and will then score a touchdown 77% of the time. If they recover on downs inside the 10, they'll score a touchdown 92% of the time. "So a punt, you give your offense a chance to stay on the field. And if you miss, the odds of the other team scoring only increase 15 percent. It's like someone said, ' is what you do on fourth down,' and everyone did it without asking why."

The onside kicks? According to Kelley's figures, after a kickoff the receiving team, on average, takes over at its own 33-yard line. After a failed onside kick the team assumes possession at its 48. Through the years Pulaski has recovered about a quarter of its onside kicks. "So you're giving up 15 yards for a one-in-four chance to get the ball back," says Kelley. "I'll take that every time!" Why not attempt to return punts? "Especially in high school, where the punts don't go so far," he says, "it's not worth the risk of fumbling or a penalty."

Much of Kelley's analysis has support among number crunchers. In 2005 David Romer, a prominent Cal economist, published a study that argued that over the course of the three NFL seasons he studied there had been 1,068 fourth-down situations in which teams, mathematically, would have been better off going for it. In all but 109 cases the teams either kicked or punted.

Which is to say that most football coaches aren't simply averse to riskno shock, therebut that they make choices at odds with statistical probability, akin to blackjack players standing on 11. The explanation: Subject as they are to scrutiny, coaches have incentive to err on the side of conservatism. No coach gets fired or ripped on talk radio for punting on fourth-and-four. Most do when they go for it and fail.

Not insignificantly, in addition to coaching, Kelley, 40, is also the Pulaski Academy athletic director. But even if he worked for the most hidebound of bosses, Kelley would most likely keep his job: The Bruins have won 100 games this decade, including the Arkansas 5A championship last year. In the waning minutes of the 2008 title game, as the Bruins nursed a 35--32 lead, they still went for it four timeseach successfullyon their final drive before running out the clock.

Though a decidedly smaller, slower and younger team than Central Arkansas Christian, Pulaski won last Thursday's game 33--20. Afterward, as the teams shook hands, one of the Mustangs sought out Bruins quarterback Wil Nicks and told him, "I wish we played like y'all." After the game Kelley said flatly, "The system won that game." For kindred spirits in the coaching ranks, tempted to topple conventional sports wisdom, Kelley has the same advice he gives his teams on fourth down: Go for it.

Forum: The Gridiron