Colonials Corner

Robert Morris audio – WPIT 730 AM (click listen live box on top of page) or rmucolonials.com

Live video/stats - rmucolonials.com

You can read our preview article in the Beaver County Times here.

It’s pretty standard at this point in a season like this to begin looking ahead, to find building blocks to mold and put in place in the offseason. Theory states that a strong finish bodes well for the following season. That was the hope around the team last year and it didn’t pan out. We’ll see what happens this year, but it certainly won’t be an easy road. Sacred Heart is 1-6, but they’re followed up by Albany, a very good Wagner team, and perennial RMU killer Monmouth.

Injury list: Myles Russ will play following his ankle injury two weeks ago. DL Mike Burkett will try to play after missing the St. Francis game. The rest are out: DL Ryan Catley (knee), DL Farren Mason (knee), DL Mike Lovely (neck), DL Mark Syzmanski (chest), LB Jon Krepps (wrist), and LB Brad Banas (hand).

Lineup changs: None, really. You simply might see some lower level guys get some action in these final four games, including some freshmen. Jeff Link will be back in the lineup at fullback after missing the last game. Expect continued heavy rotation on the D-Line, even with Burkett’s return. Might even see some additional personnel at wide receiver and tight end, as well.

I will not be at the game, which marks the first time since the 9/23/06 game against Rowan that I’ll miss a home game, as I’ll be covering Geneva’s home finale for the newspaper. I encourage discussion here and I’ll stop in later on Saturday.

Despite a schedule that will send them far and wide this basketball season, the reigning NEC Champs will get a lot of face time on television.

Games scheduled to be broadcast include:

1. 11/11 – Season opener at Syracuse, 7pm, on ESPNU
2. 11/16 – at Penn State, 7:30pm, on BigTenNetwork.com
3. 12/3 – NEC opener hosting Mount St. Mary’s, 7pm, on MSG, MASN, and WPXI/PCNC (NBC) in Pittsburgh
4. 1/23 – Men’s/women’s double header at Monmouth beginning at 12, FSN Pittsburgh and Fox College Sports.
5. 2/8 – at Pittsburgh, 8pm, on FSN Pittsburgh
6. 2/27 – NEC finale at Mount St. Mary’s, 4pm, on FSN Pittsburgh and Fox College Sports

The semifinal game in the NEC Tournament will also be televised regionally; the championship game will again be on ESPN2, and the women’s championship will be on ESPNU.

More TV  games (especially online games like the Penn State one) could be added as the games get closer.

Rice has 50 wins in two years as a college head coach at Robert Morris. AP Photo.

In the course of interviewing people, there are times when one line or a brief statement is all that’s necessary for a journalist to use. Most newspaper and magazine articles are structured this way, and while some interview subjects have a problem with how those little nuggets get used and what context they are placed in, it’s the standard bearer for most publications.

However, I’ve always enjoyed reading longer interviews, popularized by such publications as Rolling Stone, where the entire article is based on the conversation between the author and the subject. Really, the author is more of a moderator, just tossing out subjects and topics to as guides, pressing or asking for clarification when necessary.

So, since the majority of my work ends up being the truncated form, I decided to do something different with my first interview with Mike Rice in the 2009-2010 season.

After the jump is the transcript of the conversation we had prior to practice on Thursday as he prepared his team for their first public showing – the PrimeTime Hoops scrimmage.

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Senior forward Rob Robinson will be the primary target on offense for Robert Morris. Photo courtesy of Associated Press

College coaches everywhere will complain that they won’t have enough time between the start of practice sessions and the start of the season, but there’s still almost 3 weeks of practice left before the games start.

For Robert Morris, that means about 18 more days of Mike Rice’s boot camp before they head to the Carrier Dome to take on Syracuse in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.

That’s a lot of time for Rice to torture his players. It’s also a lot of time for them to either learn his system or become familiar with the new wrinkles that any coach will implement in the offseason. Fans got an early look at the 2009-2010 Colonials Thursday night in a primetime scrimmage at the Sewall Center, and Colonials Corner got an even earlier look at practice that afternoon.

Here are some thoughts on the scrimmage and the roster. I’ll be posting a transcript of an interview with Mike Rice that I conducted today this weekend, since there is not a football game Saturday. Expect it Saturday or Sunday night. Enjoy, and feel free to add your comments if you had a chance to catch the scrimmage Thursday night.

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Just a quick heads up – Robert Morris will have their annual “PrimeTime Hoops” showcase Thursday, October 22nd at the Sewall Center at 9pm.

The show will include the annual intramural all-star game and scrimmages featuring both the men’s and women’s teams.

Winless no more, but definitely hurting.

You’ll see the theme in the newspaper story, but I’ll continue it here: these Colonials are really banged up and their depth is really being tested. Yes, the major story is the victory today against a mediocre St. Francis squad. But an already lengthy injury list expanded today.

Those injuries lead off the news, notes, and observations from Saturday’s 28-0 win over the Frankies.

• Myles Russ sprained his left ankle on that 22-yard run early in the fourth quarter. He had it heavily wrapped and iced, and Coach Joe Walton said after the game that it might be a couple weeks. We’ll see the full extent once a couple days pass, but Russ is lucky that he has the bye week to help heal.
• Ian Milanak had his shoulder wrapped in ice at the end of the game as the backups had a chance to work the final defensive series, but he said afterward that while he was pretty sore, he should be alright.
• FB Jeff Link did not start, but was dressed, with a heavily wrapped hand/wrist. Jamar Cromwell started in his place.
• LB Jon Krepps played with a large bandage/cast on his hand/wrist.

• Read the rest of this entry →

Well, this should be fun. St. Francis knows all about winless seasons, and Robert Morris is doing their best to imitate the Red Flash’s 2008 campaign.

Resources for Saturday’s 12pm start:

Robert Morris audio – WPIT 730 AM (click listen live box on top of page) or rmucolonials.com

Regional television – FSN Pittsburgh, Fox College Sports Atlantic, and WWCP 8 (Fox, Johnstown)

Live video/stats - rmucolonials.com

Rather than a preview article, I did a feature on Sam Dorsett for Friday’s edition of the Beaver County Times. Some good stuff in there from Dorsett, Raphael Johnson, and Myles Russ. Dorsett, by the way, is one of my favorite interviews. I’ve talked to him a few times for various reasons, and he’s incredibly charismatic. Maybe a potential head coach in the future? Perhaps. Certainly has the ability to connect with players and the attention to the “little things” as detailed by his two backs in the piece.

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Gonzaga (D.C.) High School senior Malcolm Lemmons is the 3rd commitment for Robert Morris’ 2010 Class. Photo courtesy of masslive.com

Colonials Corner has learned that Malcolm Lemmons, a 6-5, 205 pound guard/forward from Gonzaga High School in Washington, D.C. has verbally committed to the men’s basketball program for 2010. Multiple other outlets are confirming the news.

Gonzaga High School is one of the nation’s powerhouses and likely will enter the 2009-2010 season in the Top 5 nationally. Lemmons is considered to be a very good student who had an offer from Princeton and was being looked at by several other Ivy League schools.

For an article about Lemmons’ AAU squad, including some quotes from Lemmons, go here.

Meanwhile, here’s Slam Online’s look at Lemmons from this summer:

Malcolm Lemmons, 6-5 rising senior combo forward, Gonzaga: Lemmons has grown about two inches since I last saw him play, in December, and his game has grown with it–hes gone from an undersized, scrappy garbageman/role player to a wing who can create his own shot, play above the rim, lock up on D, hit mid-range jumpers and still mix it up on the inside when necessary.

This is Robert Morris’ 3rd commitment out of a potential five for the class of 2010. Lemmons joins 6’3 HS guard Brook Turson and 6’8 JuCo forward Wilbur O’Neal in the class of 2010. All have issued non-binding verbal commitments.

Since he plays for Gonzaga, Lemmons is working against the top high school players in the country. The Washington Catholic Athletic Conference includes powerhouses Archbishop Carroll, Bishop O’Connell, DeMatha, and Paul VI. Sports Illlustrated ranked Gonzaga the best high school athletic program in D.C.

Lemmons’ point guard, Tyler Thornton, verballed to Duke. His shooting guard, Cedrick Lindsay, verballed to Richmond.

He averaged 9.7 points per game last season.

After trying to allow people to be adults, I’m going to start restricting the ability to comment on this website. I’ve asked people, publicly, to try and discuss facts mixed with opinions, to not engage in spreading rumors or dangerous speculation.

That request has gone unheeded. The discussion begun by the poster known as “D” regarding Kevin Quinn’s injury status is completely inaccurate and has been deleted. I’ve talked to Quinn, and “D” is completely off base. Wherever “D” picked up the information, it wasn’t from Quinn, and I’m going to believe someone who contacted me directly rather than someone posting anonymously on a website. I’d love to talk to “D” but that individual used a fake email address (as many of you have) and his IP address is a public one. “D” can feel free to email me if there’s an objection.

I’ve also deleted the comments accusing Jeff Sinclair of faking his injury for similar reasons.

I’ve been dismayed at the negativity and the direction the comments have been going in anyway, so this is the last straw. You know the old saying – one bad apple spoils the whole bunch. I’m exploring ways on how to effectively deter false information and derogatory comments from ruining readers’ experience on this site. Comments are now being consistently monitored. That means it may take several hours for your comment to appear on this site. I’m going to try a couple different methods and will be tweaking things over the weekend, so I encourage comments throughout the weekend, as well as feedback and potential ideas to help regulate the site.

I started the website as a way to disseminate and discuss news about Robert Morris University sports. I’ve been very pleased at the response and the number of individuals visiting this site (both the old version and the current one).

However, I will absolutely not tolerate the following from commenters: Continuously engaging in relaying false information that negatively impacts another individual (“D’s” crime); racist or derogatory language; profanity; sexually explicity language; and anything else that crosses the bounds of civil and decent human discourse.

If you have a problem with any of that, feel free to email me at achiappazzi@gmail.com. I welcome the opportunity for you to express your views, but I’m going to run this site as I see fit with the least amount of headaches possible.

Thank you for reading, thank you for commenting, but this is the way it has to be.

It looks uglier than it was. Down 21-14 in the 4th quarter, backup quarterback Camdin Crouse took over for the injured Jeff Sinclair at the 50 yard line after the freshman QB had already driven the Colonials 22 yards, and drove the Colonials to the 9 yard line. Facing 2nd and goal from the 9, Crouse stood in shotgun formation. Central Connecticut State came on a rush and the snap went awry. Crouse tried to fall on it but was shoved away by the Blue Devils, who recovered on the 15 yard line. CCSU would later score on the drive.

Even then, the game wasn’t out of reach. Crouse engineered another drive, but on 4th and 4 at the CCSU 32, the Colonials inexplicably handed off to Raphael Johnson, who lost 2 yards. CCSU scored on the next play.

Crouse would hook up with Shadrae King two plays later to save some face for the Colonials, but the damage was done.

Actually, it was done far earlier in the game.

After marching downfield on their opening drive to take a 7-0 lead, then stopping CCSU on 4th down, the Colonials offense had three penalties on one drive. They approached midfield, and then saw an illegal motion penalty and two false starts push them back and force 4th down. On that 4th down, Nick Schirtzinger’s punt was blocked, and the Blue Devils scored just a short time later.

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