When the University of North Dakota announced their new uniforms for the 2017-2018 season on Thursday, their black and green road uniforms were met with positive reviews by media and fans alike. However, their home black and white striped uniforms, called ‘Jailbreak’ by the manufacturer CCM, were met with raised eyebrows outside the Fighting Hawk family. Continue reading North Dakota launches controversial new home uniform
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DU Volleyball at the USA Olympic Training Center
Colorado Springs, CO – When putting together a preseason article on DU volleyball, what better place to be than Denver’s preseason practice at the USA Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs? The team is preparing for the start of the upcoming season August 25th when they open their season against Tennessee State in Charleston, S.C.
With a solid week of scheduled practices and sleeping, eating and breathing volleyball alongside Olympic hopefuls, the team is building on their culture, identifying program goals, and focusing on skill building. The practice that I attended featured 6-on-6 play for over two hours with peer feedback, small group coaching, speed, and skill development.
Video: 6-on-6 games were the foundation for coaching feedback and evaluation.
Continue reading DU Volleyball at the USA Olympic Training Center
Denver women’s soccer at a crossroads
Photo: Denver women take the field in Vail against Northern Colorado Monday afternoon. Denver won the opener in the 88th minute, 1-0, on a goal by freshman Maya Roston.
For the longest time, Denver women’s soccer was DU’s featured Fall sport, reaching a peak in 2013 when they completed a 20-2-1 season. That season ended with a first round NCAA Tournament loss to Colorado at CIBER Field in front of 1,394 fans. The following February, USA Today named DU as one of the top 10 places to play women’s soccer.
It seemed like the sky was the limit for the Pioneers. Continue reading Denver women’s soccer at a crossroads
Pioneer Men’s Soccer picked to excel
You probably saw the United Soccer Coaches’ Preseason Poll last week which has the University of Denver men’s soccer team at #3 in the country. Shortly the College Soccer News poll will be released and that will give us another opinion on the upcoming season.
Sure, preseason polls will become meaningless in a few weeks, but the Pioneers being ranked this high is simply incredible, especially after losing two stars to the MLS following last season – Kortne Ford and Sam Hamilton. Add a relative weak RPI conference, The Summit League, into the mix and the Pioneers will face pressure all season long to win games and extend their national profile under head coach Jamie Franks. The Pios last regular season or conference tournament loss was October 31st, 2014 at IUPUI (1-0). Continue reading Pioneer Men’s Soccer picked to excel
Colorado College Hockey introduces unique road onesies
Colorado College bucked tradition on Monday morning when they introduced their new road onesies. Called ‘The Prowler’ by the manufacturer, the new design is certain to draw attention to the visiting Tigers when they’re on the road.
“Classy,” said sophomore defenseman Alex Pernitsky. “Cool” said forward, Trey Bradley. And “Unencumbered,” said goalie Alex LeClerc at the uniform launch event.
According to head coach Mike Haviland, the team will travel with two sets of uniforms on the road. One for games and one for bedtime. “The manufacturer added zippers to the cuffs so the boys can add feet for bedtime.”
The CC equipment manager praised the new design. “Our one-size-fits-all design provides plenty of room for hip pads and the one-piece construction makes laundry easy,” said a gleaming Gord “Spud” Hamilton.
“This definitely makes up for losing our top defenseman [Teemu Kivikalme] last month,” said Coach Haviland.
Colorado College launches unique uniform campaign
As Colorado College prepares to release their newly redesigned uniforms next week, LetsGoDU can exclusively report additional news on the announcement after obtaining an advance copy of the press announcement. Continue reading Colorado College launches unique uniform campaign
NCAA Skiing on thin ice?
The Division I Competition Oversight Committee plans to take a closer look this fall at NCAA Championship sports that have 50 or fewer sponsoring schools which includes one of Denver’s signature sports: skiing.
The NCAA emphasized that the purpose of the review is to “enhance sustainability” and “not to undermine or eliminate a championship or implement policies and procedures that could negatively impact the student-athlete experience.”
Still, given the NCAA’s reputation, one has to wonder if the landscape of many of the NCAA supported non-revenue producing sports may change. Continue reading NCAA Skiing on thin ice?
Metro State running the road to new reputation as a valued Denver asset
Metro State, once short for Metropolitan State College of Denver, is the Denver city college that resides in the heart of the Mile High City. It’s long had a reputation around the city as a bargain education. But as part of an effort to rebrand and change its reputation, Metro State changed its name to the Metropolitan State University of Denver (remember the flap when their proposed renaming sounded a lot like the University of Denver) in 2012 and there are many other changes that have taken place at the large city college.
The old image of ‘Metro’ is changing. Continue reading Metro State running the road to new reputation as a valued Denver asset
Denver real estate continues to sizzle
Photo: Construction cranes dot the downtown Denver skyline
As we roll into the dog days of summer, the hottest thing in Denver is no longer the local college hockey team. It’s real estate. According to The Denver Business Journal, the only market hotter than Denver is Seattle. That’s according to California-based Veros Real Estate Solutions, which estimates that Denver-area homes will appreciate 10.3 percent over the next 12 months, behind only Seattle’s expected 11.1 percent appreciation. This follows years of double digit price growth for homes in the Denver area. Continue reading Denver real estate continues to sizzle
Athletic basket weaving at North Carolina
Many of you may have read about the ongoing dispute between the NCAA and the University of North Carolina. The issue centers around softball college courses offered to athletes and other students to garner an easy ‘A’.
UNC’s argument against the NCAA is novel. First, the Tar Heels argue that the NCAA is overreaching its jurisdiction by checking on academic offerings by its member institutions. Secondly, the easy courses were taken by both athletes and ‘regular’ students as well. Continue reading Athletic basket weaving at North Carolina
