Been a while... by Tom Hagen

Yes, I know, been a while. A few games to say the least. We certainly have had no less dedication during our time off. After all, the Blue Crew or our friends have been to every single game since our last post. I went up to WKU in the freezing rain and wind to watch us knock off the Hilltoppers and their "Third Down THUNDER!".

THis weekend we played host to North Texas. It used to be that this matchup was the key game in the Sun Belt. Then came along Troy and they rose to the top the past few years as UNT faded. Anyway, the Blue Raiders toppled them this week by almost breaking our team record of 47 points in a half. The evening was fun and cold for all and a great way to close out the home season.

I've collected a few pictures (there are more in the Photos section) and attached them below...

Found a good one... - by Tom Hagen

Found a great blog entry from way back on 10.1 (after the FL ATL) game. From The Sporting News website. Cool mention and video of the end of the game. Thanks to Spencer Hall for the write-up.

HERE IS THE POST

Ouch, that sword hurts... by Tom Hagen

Nothing more needed than - oops - that sword hurts as I am falling on it.  6 points.  Wow.  How bad of a prediction was that?  No need to answer...I know how bad it was....

Anyway, some rough play by the Blue Raiders and some really bad calls by the referees towards the end of the game helped everything get out of control.

A bright spot today - we mey some great folks from Specialty Foods Group (the people behind everything from Nathans and Fischers hot dogs and sausages to deli meats - www.sfgtrust.com).  They were kind enough to set up us with lunch and some drinks before the game.  They have a great set-up in an old caboose right across from the stadium.  Very cool place and very nice people.  Thanks to Luther Oberhaus for the hospitality.

Onward and upward.

On the road to Pappa Johns... by Tom Hagen

Yes, it has been a few weeks since we last posted, I get that.  I know, heck, we all know, we should be better at posting.  It is probably more related to that fact that this is a short stretch of weeks where we are away and that we, as fans, are battling being "just happy" to be fans and the acknowledgement that we are not championship (S-Belt) contenders this year.  Hey, we knew this in August.  We understood that the chances were slim that we would be at a bowl in December.  But, hope is eternal.

Anway...we are on the bus to Louisville.  Thanks to the BRAA, the fine folks at Sprint wireless (my cell modem) and my compatriots at XMi Commercail Real Estate (pays for modem), we can blog to the world direct from a comfy Greyline bus somewhere in rural KY.

How do we feel this morning?  Good.  Can we win?  Yep.  UL is probably looking for a statement win during a season that they have struggled.  MT...well, we need that statement win during a season where those are the ones we must have.

So I share with you a quick pic of the Godfather, hard at work doing something...not sure what.  As well, my prediction.  Either team wins, but it will be close.  Within 6 points.  Ill write again and either fall on the sword or brag my guts out on the way home...

Tom Hagen....

What can you say about this... - Tom Hagen

What a Game!- By Sonny

WOW!!! What an ending! That is why you play 60 minutes in a football game. Our guys never gave up, and as a result, we get the win. We showed a lot of heart at the end of that game by staying with it. We played
poorly for the first 50 minutes on offense, but we never lost faith. Good job guys.

Now it is time for FIU. Keep up the good work. I think the hardest of our schedule is behind us, and the rest of the way if we can keep our confidence up, and take care of business, we should be playing in December.

GO BIG BLUE!!!!

The Broker of Cool Returns - by Tom Hagen

If you have not been by to see Luc and the setup from IPR, then this coming Tuesday is a must.  The "Tailgating Division" of Integrated Product Resources made a stop in Greenland Drive for the first game of the season and taught the Blue Crew a thing or two about Satellite TV's and tailgating.  Wow.  Who would have thought that you could have 7 (yes SEVEN) flat screens on one trailer!  Serioulsy, this guy knows his stuff and he is a lot of fun to be around on a game day.  Check out his website HERE and join us on Tuesday.

News wrap-up into the weekend - Tom Hagen

A general roundup of some blogs and news about our Blue Raiders going into the weekend and a game against Arkansas State...

• This one form the AJC - not sure I like the comparison, but I'll file it under "any mention is a good mention": HERE



• One by Jonathan Willard at the ASU Herald can be found HERE.



• Some good commentary from Joshua Parrott at The Daily Advertiser in Lafayette, La on Coach Stock and his handling of the holding call at the end of the UK game is HERE.



• Of course, you can always count on The Tennessean to have a pessimistic view on MT...HERE



• And, the idiotic statements by UK Coach Brooks about signal stealing seems to continue to create drama HERE and then HERE and then finally HERE.  This guy needs to focus on his next game, not the one that is last week...

Enjoy the weekend.  Go Blue.

Suck it up coach - By Fredo

So Rich Brooks' latest issue is that he thinks Middle Tennessee coaches stole signals during the game, and that is why we played so well. READ IT HERE

Are you freaking kidding me, coach!!!

Is that the best you can come up with to help yourself sleep at night knowing the better team lost that game because you had a bunch of SEC homer referees? You don't agree with me, then go ask the Kentucky commentators calling the game that night and they will tell you. Coach Brooks also goes on to say that we are in collusion with the University of Tennessee.

How stupid could you possibly be??

Why don't you just accept the fact that Middle Tennessee is the better team and we would win that game 7 out of 10 times we played. 10 out of 10 if you use impartial referees! So, get off your high horse and realize that you are not the great coach that you think you are. If you wanted to see a great coach, you could simply look at the other sideline. He is the tall, skinny coach wearing the hat.

And one other thing...a combined 21 out of 22 upperclass starters does not constitute rebuilding. You won the game, so quit crying like a baby.

Time to move on - By Sonny

I know everyone was as heartbroken as I was about the ending of the Kentucky game, especially since once again we got jobbed on several occasions by the SEC referees. However, we had our opportunities as well and cannot lay this one on the refs.

Now on to Arkansas State. They are the other team in the Sun Belt to beat a power conference tea this year, and return possibly their best team, and have their best chance to beat us. We have to remember as a team that we can beat anyone, and not get it in our heads that Arkansas State may be a lesser opponent. They are not. And why are they not?

Because they are our next opponent.

Good luck in Jonesboro this weekend.

Earned Media...by Tom Hagen

Always nice to get a mention in your local paper.  Any of you Florida Atlantic fans thinking about coming up for the game on 9/30, we'd love to have you stop by.  Read the article about us HERE.

TO THE MATTRESSES STOCK! By Sal Tessio

The Blue Raiders are pumped coming off of their amazing 24-14 win while hosting Maryland. TO THE MATTRESSES this week as Coach Stock prepares our boys to take to the gridiron as we are hosted by Kentucky this week. We'll travel to Lexington for the second time in our D-1 career. The first visit had a bench clearing fight that sadly put the Blue Raiders on ESPN, but not the way we wanted. A total of 4 players ended up being ejected from that game (2 starters for us and 2 back-ups for them - we're still scratching our heads over that officiating) and Kentucky ended up with a 44-22 win against us. We're not looking for a repeat of any of that this week. We just want to prove ourselves as a solid team and one these SEC schools can't overlook. It will be a tough week for us preparing for a tough game. For those of you in the boro not able to make it to Lexington, we'll also be having a watch party somewhere. For evolving details on this, visit www.blueraiderzone.com.

Swim with the turtles - by Sal Tessio

We'll the GFBC would normally say "we'll make you swim with the fishes", but in this case, I think "swim with the turtles" is more appropriate. The Blue Raiders captured an amazing victory Saturday by beating a Maryland team that may have slightly overlooked us. We dominated the ball with a time of possession over 40 minutes. In the D1A era for our program, this is the biggest victory we have had. A great weekend for football as the Titan's also triumphed, but a tough week ahead. MTSU travels to Lexington to take on the Wildcats in a game that will be a battle. Kentucky has a very tough defense and is surely a better team than Maryland. Our hands will be full. Blue Raiders, RIDE ON TO VICTORY!!

Tom Hagen's Game Day - Maryland

As usual, our day began early this morning setting up the tailgate.  As fans and friends have slowly begun to arrive and talk college football, I have been left wondering what our chances are against our ACC foe. 

We are certainly facing a lesser opponent, no doubt, than the VA Cavaliers from last year.  However, few would argue that our own team is in a lesser position based not only on graduation but also on injuries.  Just how do our Blue Raiders stack up against the Terps?  To answer this I have looked around the web for answers rather than write my own analysis since I was a bit off last week...

Here is what I found:

The Tennessean does not paint a pretty picture for the Blue Raiders HERE or even HERE or HERE.  Whether it is pointing out that we are 30+ pounds lighter and 3 inches shorter on the line or that we are "craving" a big home win, our local rag just does not give me the feeling that they like our chances too much (even if they write an article about our near win last year against Virginia).

Maryland fans are pretty sure the game will be over by halftime HERE on the Scout.com message boards.  As well, they don't like our town HERE.

The Washington Post feels that the Terps will take advantage of our youth and (lack of) size in this Terp Insider article.

This all leaves me feeling very empty.  Kind of like when I went to California to have a discussion with Jack Woltz about giving the lead role in his next big movie to Johnny Fontane and he told me that Johnny "ruined" his most prized starlet.  Of course, I think he got our point the next morning and Johnny got that role.  Anyway, I think I actually like our chances better this week than last.  Troy is a tough game, no matter what.  Our first game of the season is typically poorly  played.  We have a nice history of making improvements for game two and that might just be the case tonight.

We'll see.  It sure would be nice to score a win.  If not, I still think I'll show up for the next home game...

It's gameday! - By Sonny

It is about 1:30, the weather feels great, the grill has been fired, and the satellite is up and running.  The big questions for the day is:  Do we have a chance?

I say yes, and here's why:  We have very athletic defensive linemen, and can get around their monster offensive front.  Also, We can spread the field.  We have to play perfect ball today, but this is definitely possible.

Whatever you do, get to the game.  Cheer for the Big Blue.  We need everyone at the game.  It is going to be great, and who knows, we are definitely due.  See you there!

Game 2 Time – By Sonny

OK, we have all heard the complaints about the Offensive line, the play-calling, the personnel, blah, blah, blah. 

That game is done. 

We can’t go back. 

Here is what we can do:  We can get ready for Maryland.  We almost beat an ACC team last year, and we have a shot to do it again.  While victorious, Maryland looked susceptible.  Let’s quit crying about losing another home opener, and get ready to cheer our Blue Raiders to victory on Saturday.  See you early in the parking lot for tailgating.

Thursday cant come fast enough- By Fredo

So, I am sitting at my desk and nothing is getting accomplished. I have taken the whole day off on Thursday so I can tailgate from 7:30 AM til kickoff. I have also taken Friday off so I can recuperate after celebrating our win!

After feeding the team on Sunday, I am pumped about Thursday night. You could tell the players and coaches were pumped as well. They are tired of beating on each other and are ready to beat up on some Trojans!!

But, as I sit here, all I can think of are bloody marys in the morning followed by cornhole and beer in the afternoon. The grill will be fired and burning bright and smelling of burgers and ribs! There is nothing like tailgating for Middle Tennessee football and we are less than two days away.

Until then, I guess I will get to this pile of work sitting on my desk. Come on Thursday.......you can't get here fast enough!!!!

Is Troy really worthy of all the hype? - by Tom Hagen (consigliere)

So for the past few weeks folks around here have been pretty excited about the beginning of the football season.  Regardless of whether we were barreling towards a game with the USC Trojans or their lesser counterparts from southern Alabama, Blue Raider fans are downright excited that summer is closing out and football is approaching.  I have noticed however, that there is an undercurrent of trepidation of having to open the season (regular and conference) against a foe that has generally led the Sunbelt Conference since the demise of North Texas.  Now just why is that?  Is Troy really worth all the hype?

I've been thinking about this for a few days now. 

I was sharing it with a friend of mine who is a big Auburn Tiger fan.  He outright laughed.  His reason:  His Tigers or War Eagles or whatever stole away one Tony Franklin, former Offensive Coordinator for the Trojans.  I was not quite sure why this would matter a great deal, most teams in our fine conference are regularly depleted of coaching staff as they move on to bigger and better pastures with more money and opportunity.  Then I remembered that horrible night in November 2006.  We were right on the verge of our first bowl trip in the 1A era with a nice jaunt down to the Big Easy.  Ouch.  It still hurts.  You see, it was the fine Mr. Franklin that led those Trojans right down the field, twice in 12 simple plays(with some help from our defense...) to squeak past and dash our hopes (if only for a few days) of going to a bowl.  Sure it hurt then but the trip to Ford Field was not so bad....

Then I was thinking about the fact that our more experienced O line had been depleted this summer.  That led me to a discussion with a friend who is a former defensive end for an SEC team that was rarely at the top of the heap.  He brought up a game from 2005 against his former team (on which he was playing) where our Blue Raiders were supposedly down a few important folks  (Chris Henry for example) but managed to pull it out after scoring only 21 points in three games.

Finally, I was thinking about this Troy team of 2008.  How do they compare to the Troy teams we have known in the past?  Can they rebound from an ending to their season (the loss to FL Atlantic) that was surely as bitter as ours was at their hand the year before?  They've got 5 starters on their offense that are sophomores.  They have an untested kicking game.  They also have a brand new quarterback.

So maybe I'm not worried anymore.  My bet: a defensive struggle where a few break away plays will determine the outcome.   

It’s GAME WEEK!!! – by Sonny

It’s here. It’s what we have been waiting for since last December.

Game Week.

I thought I would not survive, but I have. Plans are being made for an All-Star Tailgating year. I hope to see everyone out there. Get hyped!!!! It’s time. Get the tents ready. Get the coolers ready (and filled). Get the grill cleaned off and ready to fire.

And by all means, get ready to scream your head off for the Blue Raiders. See you on the 28th.

O-Linemen: By Sonny

What is the deal? They are dropping like flies.



Doing some research, I have found that it is a fact that Fredo and myself still have one year of eligibility. It might be time to sign up for a HPER and let the Twin Towers reign.



Who am I kidding? It’s time for another beer.

Season's almost here - by Sonny

Man, I can't wait. Fan Day was great, the players and coaches seem to be in good spirits (although they would be better with a couple more OL), and the general excitement and buzz is about. Plans are already being made for the first tailgate. The crowd needs to come, and we ned to fill that stdium. It will be an electric atmosphere. Don't miss it.

It's time for some football!!-by Fredo

I can't believe it! I made it through the dead time of no good sports and preseason NFL football is on. That means that college football is just around the corner. Middle Tennessee is playing of three games on August 28th, so we are the first to start the season. And the game is against our arch enemy, and one of the unholy trinity(thanks ESPN.com), Troy Trojans. We are beat up on the offensive line, but our guys know how important the game is to our season. It is time to get jacked for the season because it is all but here! So grab your tailgating gear and lets cheer on the Blue Raiders!!!!!

Getting Ready - It's August - by Sal Tessio

Chills ran down my spine after I turned the TV to ESPN. They’re getting geared up. Starting to see more and more FOOTBALL related “stuff” on now. As I thought about the upcoming season, I logged into www.goblueraiders.com and noticed the countdown timer. At the time of this posting we had 22 days till kickoff for the opening game at Johnny “Red” Floyd Stadium.. That means of course that the GFBC is anticipating yet another year of stellar tailgating. Burgers, brawts, cheese plates and of course liquid refreshments will accompany the cornhole, satellite TV and the company of old friends and friends yet to be made with our common passion in mind, Blue Raider football. I hope you can spend some time with us this year, especially if you are a visiting team. We always enjoy meeting the “enemy” and having a little pre-game “smack talk”. August 28th. I’ll see you there.

The Off Season Blues by Fredo

While I am a fan of all Middle Tennessee athletics, the three that get me excited the most are football, and men's and women's basketball.  Every hard core football fan knows the depression of this time of year.  The draft is over and fall camp doesn't start until the first of August.  If you are like me, and baseball really isn't your thing, then this is the abyss of sports.  Now, I love golf and Nascar, but not to the extent that I love football.  There is nothing quite like the morning tailgate that lifts the spirit and just gets you excited about another great weekend of football.  The sight of the Blue Grail, the sounds of jazz coming from Bud's truck, and the thrill of setting up the tents and satellites make any hard week worth the wait.  As I sit at my computer now, I get excited about our home schedule for the Blue Raiders.  We have home games against all of our main adversaries: Troy, Florida Atlantic, and North Texas.  You throw Maryland in the Skillet and you have the makings of the best home schedule this fan has seen in 30 years!  Troy opens the slate and we want them bad.  They have embarrassed us the last two years and we owe them big.  Plus, they have our trophy, the Palladium, and I want it back!  Florida Atlantic marks another first in our 1-A existence: a home nationally-televised game.  And you can rest assured that the Blue Raiders will come to play and the Godfathers Blue Crew will be absolutely jacked for this game!  North Texas is a team that we love to hate.  They kept us from our first bowl game in our first year of 1-A and we will never forgive them.  The owned us for the first five years, but we are fighting back.  We have won two years in a row and I plan on making it three this year.  Maryland continues a trend of "power 6" teams playing in The Skillet.  If you think our home cant be intimidating, go ask Virginia what they think.  We also have very easy travel games in Louisville, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Arkansas State, and Western Kentucky.  This is shaping up to be a tremendous season for Blue Raider fans.  So start the clock, we have only 92 days to go until Blue Raider football rocks the Skillet!!!