Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / Sept. 5, 1996, edition 1 / Page 6
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Page 6 The Blue Banner Septembers, 1996 SLAPSHOI^ New basketball coach aims for success^ continuity with team by Brian Casrie Columnist It’s that time of year again. The time has come when wives, girl friends, mothers, and sisters find themselves locked out of male minds everywhere throughout the country. Yes, brothers, football season is back. Speaking as a typical football-wor- shipping male, I find UNCA’s lack of a varsity football program to be its most egregious deficiency as an insti tution of higher learning. Of course, I don’t really take football that seri ously, but the absence of America’s greatest game in these confines leaves me no choice but to search elsewhere to satisfy my pigskin jones. This past Sunday I made the neces sary pilgrimage in search of the holy gridiron, and I found my spiritual home—although a decidedly Cro- Magnon brand of spirituality it must be— in the midst of downtown Char lotte. That place is Ericsson Stadium, home of the National Football League’s newest dynasty, the Caro lina Panthers. This wasn’t just any old football game that I attended with three of my like-minded brethren. Sept. 1, 1996 saw the Panthers play for the first time in what the four of us have dubbed, in our awestruck lexicon, “the shrine to all things good in football.” As I walked toward that most sacred edifice, I realized that I was going to be a part of history along with the other 72,600 black- and-blue clad people who may best be described as rabid animals. Ericsson Stadium, named for a cel lular phone company that paid some fifty million dollars for the right to slap its moniker all over what was intended to be known as Carolinas Stadium, is a thirteen-story shrine that summoned all the testosterone within me. Okay, so the corporate sellout stinks, but it could have been much worse, something horribly tacky like Mennen Speedstick Sta dium or Blue Star Ointment Field. The stadium is packed with the sort of amenities that bring tears to the eyes of even the toughest of men. Designed by the people who brought you Baltimore’s fabled Camden Yards, Ericsson boasts movie-theater- style seating, complete with armrests and cupholders. These must have beeh designed by some kindred spirit who also suffered the old stadium ailment of achy buttocks caused by those ubiquitous fiberglass benches. The concession stands offer just the kind of food and drink that you, the typical male, desire—the kind of food and drink that women find repul sive. Everything is deep fried and loaded with cholesterol, from the kielbasas to the french fries. And I literally lost count of the different brands of beer that were available, not to mention the wine coolers and house wines. I guess they offer' the latter two categories of booze for our more bourgeois brethren in the lower deck on the fifty-yard line. As I took my seat ten rows from the top of the upper deck amongst the other sweaty proles, I felt a strange kinship with people who would prob ably not give each other the time of day otherwise. Women may not un derstand our devotion to football, but it’s merely a chance for us as men to get back to those days when our knuckles scraped the ground, well before we messed up everything in this beautiful world with silly no tions of machismo and bravado. Just allow me this one seasonal vice, and I promise to be a Nineties Man in every other way. Oh, I almost forgot. The Panthers annihilated the visiting Atlanta Fal cons, 29-6. But that’s just icing on the cake, my friends. Kyle Phipps Staff Writer UNCA’s new head basketball coach, Eddie Biedenbach, plans on building on the success of his predecessor and taking the Bulldogs to the next level of play in the near future. In order to be recognized as a successful basket ball program, UNCA needs to ad vance to the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) or the NCAA tournament, Biedenbach said. “I think our goals will be each year to try to win the regular season con ference schedule and then win the (Big South) tournament. Those are our two major goals,” said Biedenbach. “The next level of goals, within the range of this year, is to go to the NIT or the NCAA tourna ment.” Biedenbach replaced former head coach Randy Wiel, who resigned at the end of last season to become coach at Middle Tennessee State Uni versity. The Bulldogs were 18-10 last year under Wiel, UNCA’s first win ning season in six years. Biedenbach came to UNCA fol lowing a three year stint as an assis tant coach at North Carolina State University under Les Robinson. Prior to working at N.C. State, Biedenbach was an assistant at the University of Georgia from 1981-1987 and head coach at Davidson College from 1978-1981. Biedenbach also served as an assistant at N.C. State under Norm Sloan from 1969-1978. Biedenbach played college basket ball at N.C. State from 1964-1967. As a junior and senior, he was named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference team. He averaged 16.2 and 14.1 points per game, respectively. Biedenbach was highly recom mended by some of the most recog nized coaches in college basketball. Biedenbach received endorsements from Georgia Tech coach Bobby Cremins, Kentucky coach Rick Pitino, and former N.C. State coaches Sloan and Robinson. “No one is going to outwork Eddie Biedenbach. He has a knack of deter mining talent and seeing potential. Eddie is the right man for the job at UNCA. He will continue the fine work that Randy Wiel has done there. Eddie will take what Randy has done and take the program to a new level,” said Robinson. Current Clemson head coach and former assistant to Beidenbach at Davidson, Rick Barnes, added, “I can’t imagine a better person for the UNCA job than Eddie Biedenbach. He has the experience of being an assistant coach who helped build a national championship team at N.C. State and he has the experience of being a head coach.” Biedenbach has the reputation of being an excellent recruiter. While at N.C. State, he recruited collegiate stars Monte Towe and Tommy Burleson, as well as David Thomp son, now a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame. “Eddie is a great coach who taught me a great deal about the game of basketball and made me a much bet ter player. He’s also a great recruiter and he was the main reason I went to N.C. State. Another one of his strengths is his ability to communi cate with his players. His players will really respect him. I have no doubt that he’ll do a great job at UNCA,” said Thompson. Biedenbach stresses sound funda mentals as well as excellent condi tioning. Biedenbach also said that he will allow more three point shots and Women's Home GameSoccer Schedule Friday, Sept. 13 Saturday, Sept. 21 Saturday, Sept. 28 Sunday, Sept. 29 Thursday,Oct. 3 Monday, Oct. 14 Saturday, Oct. 26 Radford University 4 p.m. UMBC 2 p.m. Puma Classic Tournament: ECU vs. ASU 12 p.m. UNCA vs. Georgia Southern, 2 p.m. Puma Classic Tournament: Georgia Southern vs. ECU 12 p.m. UNCA vs. ASU, 2p.m Wake Forest 4 p.m. Lenoir Rhyne 4 p.m. Wofford 2 p.m. Nov. 7-10 Big South Conference Tournament at Greensboro Men's Home Gome Soccer Schedule Monday, Sept. 9 Montreat Anderson College 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 15 Georgia Southern 2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20 East Carolina 4 p.m. Wednesday,Oct. 2 UNC-Chapel Hill 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5 Charleston Southern 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 12 Radford 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19 UMBC 2 p.m. Nov. 8-10 Big South Conference Tournament at Coastal Carolina Renaissance Universal is sponsoring an outdoor recre ation weekend on Sept. 7-8. Activities include rafting, camping, and meditating. Call 645-4555 hr information and registration. more individual talents to be utilized. “I want to take ad vantage of every fast- break opportunity. I’d like to consider us at this point an opportu nistic fast-break team. Because against Ken tucky, although we want to get some fast- break opportunities, we don’t want to quick shoot. I’d like to give our players some easy shot opportunities, otherwise you can’t beat the great teams,” said Biedenbach. On the defensive side of the game, Biedenbach said that a straight man-to-man defense will be the ba sis of the Bulldogs’ de fense. However, he will also use gimmick defenses such as the box and one, or the triangle and two to disrupt the opposition. “When you’re outmatched quick- ness-wise or just team power-wise, you have to do some things to change-up and make the other team think, rather than just play,” said Biedenbach. Biedenbach said that he hopes more students and members of the com munity will come out to support the basketball team this season. “I think we need to do some cre ative things. I think we need to do some energetic things. I like the stu dents. I want them to come out to see our team and have a good time and to win. We’re going to do a lot of things to attract students. We need to win. That’s an integral part. ^eopl^ik^^se^winneK^Peop^ Coach Eddie Biedenbach Ptwto courtesy of UNCA AlhleHcs love their school for a reason. They support it for a reason. We have to give them more reasons,” said Biedenbach. Biedenbach also spoke about the things that a successful athletic pro gram can do for an entire university. “When you have very good public ity from your sports teams, whether it be in win and losses, or their aca demic prowess, or the success of the coaches, or whatever, and when you have good character and quality pro grams, and you get publicity from it, applications go up, and the number of quality applications go up,” he said, “then you can choose from a higher academic base as well as a character base. I think everybody benefits in attitude on campus when you have winning programs.” The Rouse Family Arthur, Sabrina, Bobbi Lyn, Kari Ann, and Bret. Lived together, loved together Killed together August 20,1991 Gansevoort, NY If you don t stop someone from driving drunk, who will? Do whatever it takes friends DON’T LET FRIENDS DRIVE DRUNK. idH
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