Senior Michael O’Keeffe – Men’s Soccer

He walked into dinner with a swagger only someone who is the best in the business can pull off, yet he humbly made a point to go around the table and shake and introduce himself personally to everyone.

Before dinner was served he had only two demands… that the females go first and there were two chicken drumsticks left over for him!

It set the tone for the evening, a casual comedic dinner filled with his insightful and personal opinions regarding the NBA playoff race, MVP candidates and MJ and Lebron comparisons as requested by the students.

I sat there laughing the whole night along with the 25 other students in attendance at his ability to shape and formulate his argument in such a way that left you in awe of his incredible way with words.

Thanks to FUSA and Fairfield University Athletics for this fantastic opportunity.

Senior Tiffany Lawson – Softball

From the anticipation of his arrival, to the excitement he brought to the building, Stephan A. Smith had everyone on the edge of their seats wanting more.

The audience was captivated by his hilarious comments and inspiring life lessons. He effortlessly demanded respect from his audience by his knowledge of sports and his ability to confidently yet effectively deliver his opinions. To me, Stephen A. Smith is exactly what you see on television. Debating sports with him is simply not a good idea. Mr. Smith is a living example of how hard work and determination pays off.

What I liked most about Mr. Smith was how real he was in delivering his message. He taught me life lessons after college and the importance of staying focus and determined. He is a man full of wisdom and personality. He said in order to succeed in life’s journey; you have to out work your competition. His life stories were motivating and touching as he worked his way up the professional ladder.

He is certainly a tremendous man to look up to and admire. This is a man who has been through life’s hardships but still came out on top. The overall experience of meeting Stephen A. Smith was one to always remember.

Blog Note: Kyle Koncz is the Directors of Basketball Operations for the Fairfield men’s basketball program. He is partnering with Kelly Romano to bring you DOBO Diaries throughout the year – sharing with you some insights into the behind the scenes work that goes into making a Division I basketball program run.

Eight games, 5,141 miles, six flights, numerous buses, and ONE lost bag. That is how the Stags started the season. In what felt more like one of those legendary long NBA road trips we were able to go 4-4, while being able to learn and grow a lot as a team.  It feels good to be home, and we are definitely looking forward to our home and MAAC opener this Friday night, but before I get to those details I’m sure many of you are wondering what goes into planning a road trip.

There is a lot that goes into it actually, and it really is a group effort by the staff. The first thing is figuring out if we are going to fly. For our games at UVA, DePaul, and Austin Peay we did. The next step is finding the right hotel. We always want our guys comfortable on the road and able to get a good nights rest before a game, but we also have to take into account meetings spaces, meal availability, and distance from gym. The last step is finding a bus company that will lug us around for the days we are one the road. It is a long process, one that has me making a lot of phone calls and trying to work a lot of deals.

Once all of these details are figured out you have to execute the road trip itinerary. It seems like it would be easy, but when you go on the road there is a lot of things you can’t control. Things that can go wrong include traffic, airport check-in and security lines, weather, busy restaurants, and time changes. Now those are the things that keep a DOBO up late at night with nightmares. Luckily for us, other than a traffic scare on our way to JFK for Austin Peay, none of these caused us any problems.

What was the best part of all these trips? Other than the feeling in the locker room and bus after a victory, it had to be our seven-hour bus ride back from UVA. You’re probably asking what about a seven-hour bus ride is fun? Well it did come after a victory over Penn, but it also wasn’t your normal run of the mill coach bus. It was a sleeper bus, and for those of you who have had the chance to take a ride in one I’ll explain. A sleeper bus is normal 56-passenger coach bus, but instead of being filled with seats it’s filled with sleeping space, TVs, couches, and some seats. It even had a big screen projector on the back wall. It was something our guys really enjoyed, and by taking it allowed them to be back in class Wednesday morning.

Coming up this Friday we finally get a chance to play in front of our home fans and the Stags 6^th Man – the RED SEA. We are definitely looking forward to the energy and enthusiasm that will have Webster Bank Arena rocking. We have spent enough time on the road hearing it from the opposing fans, and we can’t wait to have the support on our side. Hopefully we see you all there, tip-off is at 7PM, and remember as always GO STAGS!!!!

Thanks for reading,

Kyle

Hello Stag Fans -

Last weekend I was fortunate enough to attend the 2012 ECAC Awards show and convention with my co-workers Head Softball Coach Julie Brzezinski and Athletic Communications lady Kelly McCarthy.  This year marks the 40^th anniversary of Title IX, so the convention featured some influential women to speak in its honor.  The ECAC held their awards dinner on Sunday night at the marvelous Mystic Marriott where the dinner guests got to hear from award winners, both athletes and administrators.

My favorite award given on the night was the Award of Valor.  This is a special award given to an athlete who has been through trials and tribulations but still managed to have the strength to perform both academically and athletically.  One award winner that stuck in my mind battled his way through chemotherapy while continuing to play baseball and put up big numbers.  However, one at bat he fouled the ball off of his foot and since his body was comprised because of his treatments his foot broke.  The young man refused to give up, the NCAA granted him a year of eligibility so he rehabilitated himself back and was able to finish out his career successfully.

The next day we had a full schedule.  There were speakers all day and topics ranging from NCAA Compliance to how social media is changing sports today.  Since one of my responsibilities as DOBO is our Facebook page and Twitter account it was a great opportunity for me to hear a professional speak about sports and social media.

Following the social media lecture we were fortunate to hear from Donna Lopiano who has dedicated a great portion of her life to fighting for women’s rights in sports.  Personally, I do not think I stop and acknowledge the importance of Title IX and the impact it has had on the lives of females everywhere, but luckily I had two old birds (Julie and Kelly) with me to put things in perspective.

Kelly Romano with ESPN personality Linda Cohn at the ECAC Convention.

I learned a lot from all of the speakers at the convention but I would have to say my favorite part of the weekend was hearing legendary SportsCenter anchor Linda Cohn speak and getting the chance to meet her.  Linda shoots straight from the cuff and there is little-to-no filter, which I find very refreshing.  Linda told us a little about her story and what it was like being one of the only women to last in her job at the time.  One quote I took away from her was “Don’t be afraid to be yourself, don’t become a robot!”

The other quote I took away was when I introduced myself to her (with help from Kelly McCarthy) she said, and yes, this is a direct quote from Linda: “WOW, you’re famous!! I’m so excited to meet you!” I don’t know who she was mistaking me for but hey, I’ll take that compliment and run with it!

Thanks for reading,

Kelly

Blog Note: Carly Beyar and Shannon Fay are junior members of the women’s soccer team.  They will be teaming up to provide a Stag soccer point of view to Stag Tracks.

Hello friends,

Most people may know us as, Carly Beyar and Shannon Fay, however we would like to combine ourselves into the Carl-Shanigans. We are both juniors and members of the Fairfield Women’s Soccer team. Although our lives are completely absorbed with soccer practices and games, there is more to us than you may think.

September 7th, 2012 we played Hartford on Lessing Field and unfortunately ended up in a double overtime…TIE. Ties are the worst part of soccer in our eyes. However, our Coach Jimbo [head coach Jim O'Brien] was there to cheer us up after the game. He informed us that the men’s and women’s soccer teams were to be represented at Late-Night Barone around 10 pm that night.

We are not sure if you have ever heard of Late-Night at Barone, but it is infamously known for the most unhealthy food that could instantly make you the happiest person in the world. And if you know our team, you know we love food! You’ve got choices of bacon, egg and cheese, or chicken fingers, greasy pizza or even slushy cones (naturally having 2 or 3 them, but who’s keeping track?). Our team headed over around 10 o’clock PM and were the first on line (Shocker, we are always hungry).

The cafeteria was decorated with streamers and there were even custom made water bottles with soccer balls as caps. Not only did our team eat until we felt we were going to explode, but we also held the freeze dance competition in the middle of the cafeteria. Unfortunately shy faces didn’t want to come and dance, but our teammates danced enough for all of the guests at Late-Night. We had tons of laughs inside of our dance circle. Evidently, it was a great bonding experience for everyone, including the freshman who are still warming up to the upper class-man on our squad.

After going home late, we had to set our alarms to 8:30 AM. Normally it would be for a practice, however that day was different. Our team had decided to host a clinic called, “Mini Stags” for six weeks. Every Saturday for six weeks, 147 three and four-year-olds will come train with the Fairfield Women’s Soccer team.

Last Saturday was the first day so naturally we ran the registration and began to play games with our designated groups. We played with the mini stags for an hour playing games like, Duck Duck Goose, Red Light Green Light, Sharks and Minos, and of course a full-field scrimmage (Which was very difficult to control considering they are three years old), but we managed to be successful. The kids were laughing and enjoying themselves, as well as the parents who were carefully watching our every move on the sidelines. Incorporating the soccer ball into the drills was a challenge but we actually taught some children how to dribble the ball and shoot into a net. “No hands!” was repeated numerous times, but we hope to think that the children eventually got the point.

What we had thought would be a chore for the next six Saturday mornings actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The kids help us remember why we play the game we love, which is simply to be yourself and have fun. Sometimes with the pressures of college, we forget that soccer is about enjoying yourself and working as hard as you can to achieve a common goal. It is a blessing to be apart of teaching young kids to love the same game that we do. (Not to mention, we are making great babysitting contacts).

Well, that’s all we have to share right now! Stay tuned for more shenanigans that we might get into next….

xoxo,

Carl-Shanigans

Blog Note: Julie Brezeninski is the Stags softball coach and was one of the key organizers of the staff softball team. All rules for staff games are approved by her.

A great way to start of the new academic calendar year in the athletic department is with a little competition.  With that being said the Fairfield University athletic department enjoyed an afternoon out on the softball field to get the competitive juices going, following the year opening department staff meeting.

After a lunch catered by Garden Catering to get going, and celebrate the Stags 2011-12 MAAC Commissioner Cup Championship, it was game time. Joe Klauder headed things up by having the numbers in a hat ready to be picked, and I got the field and rules going for the game.  Biggest rule change- only one homerun per inning per team will count, the rest are outs.

Right from the start we could see it was going to be Jack Jones’ day on team Red.    He was stellar on the mound holding the opposition to only two runs in the first two innings.  The lone highlight was a two run bomb over the right field fence by Coach Bill Currier in the early part of the game.  Jones was the Team Red run producer, launching not one but two missiles over the left field fence, as well as another double in the gap for a total of five RBI on the day.

The Red team built up a solid 12-3 lead by the 4^th inning but then all the screws started to come undone.  Sloppy defense by Red followed by timely hitting on the White team formed a comeback in the making.  Coach Tyson Wheeler followed up Coach Kevin Conry’s homer with a three-run shot of his own, which was disallowed due to the aforementioned rule change.  The White team led by Wheelers strong defense and Joey Civico display of “I don’t need a glove” mentality got them back in the game and closed the gap to 15-11 heading into the last inning.

The White team held the Red team scoreless and was again on the prowl for a comeback in their final at bat.  Again, sloppy defense go the runners on early. The red team did all they could but were unable to hold off team White.  In dramatic fashion the final run was scored by Coach Kelly Romano as she slid under the tag of Chris O’Connor for the final tying run.  The game ended in a tie as the teams were wearing down.  The unanimous MVP of the game was Jones as he led his team to a stunning tie.

It was a great way to kick-off the season – having lunch together and enjoying a great sunny summer afternoon on the diamond.  It is back to the grind now, with a full slate of games for our athletic teams.  I am looking forward to seeing how the coming campaign unfolds and hope to see you all out at the games soon.

Shannon Fay is a junior forward with the Fairfield women’s soccer team. She talks about the squad’s training trip the first week of preseason to New Hampshire.

Preseason is a time for our team to bond, with new faces joining us and rekindling friendships with old teammates. After the nerve racking emotions that come with fitness testing, we were fortunate to have time to build our team togetherness by traveling to Camp Merriwood, in New Hampshire. It was the real life “Parent Trap” camp, with all the activities that included archery, rock climbing, badminton as well as all the water sports. There was also the camaraderie displayed in the dining hall as well as all the laughs in our cabins.

I was so pumped to ring the dinner bell that announced it was time for us to head to the dining hall. We ate with the Boston University team and coaches and had all kinds of great home cooked foods with bread pudding being my personal favorite.

After practice and a night swim in the lake, Jimbo [Stags head coach Jim O’Brien] made a sweet bonfire and we all told some ghost stories. Each story was pretty good but Guti had some of the best. (Next year we will remember to bring the s’mores). The cabins were hilarious because we all forgot blankets and the beds were squeaking but it was nice to sleep somewhere other than Jouges.

The next morning we began our day with another awesome meal, had a walk through and got some time to ourselves to swim in the lake and relax. We were all sad leaving Camp Merriwood but were in a great mood heading to the game. The upbeat feeling continued during our play against BU and we were able to come out with a win in our first scrimmage.

Overall, I am glad we had a nice break away from campus and were able to come together, enjoy ourselves and start the season on a real positive note. I hope we get to go back next year!