A football kicker's life is relatively simple: make the game-winning field goal and be proclaimed hero or miss it and be dubbed goat. College placekickers' chances of being campus Capricorns were enhanced with the announcement by the NCAA last year that...

Injuries have forced coach Charlie Sadler to pull the reins on football practice, but he said the team will be at full speed against Fresno State. As of Wednesday, 13 players could not practice due to injuries. "We've been fortunate that none of these...

Considering the NIU baseball team was comprised of 25 walk-ons last season, it's no wonder Joe "Spanky" McFarland is smiling over new faces. One new visage that the second-year skipper is particularly excited about is that of second baseman Tom O'Neill,...

To say that the new Huskie quarterback has big shoes to fill this fall is like saying there's a lot of corn around DeKalb. Stacey Robinson ran NIU's wishbone attack, and himself, into the NCAA record books the last two seasons. In NIU's 73-18 thrashing...

A meeting will be held Tuesday for students interested in trying out for the NIU softball team, head coach Dee Abrahamson said. Those wishing to walk-on need to be in Room 128 of the Chick Evans Field House at 9 p.m., equipped with their class schedule....

What is the secret to producing veteran-level athletes out of freshman recruits? First, make them forget they are "amateurs." Second, make sure they feel comfortable. And finally, get them out on the court as soon and as much as possible. Head volleyball...

As the fall semester kicks into high gear, many of the students at NIU are prompted to turn their attention to football. But for head baseball coach Joe "Spanky" McFarland, it's back to business as usual. McFarland, along with assistant coach Pete Tsotsos,...

The pioneers of NIU soccer have reached the final leg of their journey. Four-year veterans Karsten Roy, Marcus Roy, John Lechner, Mark Siegwald, John Kelly, Frank Sparacino and Per Ekholdt are in their final year of eligibility. "These seniors are the...

The old training adage "no pain, no gain" apparently refers to football scheduling too. In order to move into the big time of college football, the NIU athletics hierarchy decided that NIU should play big-time programs. The cost might be numbers like...

The loss of a head coach and five players to graduation has quelled talk of the NIU men's basketball team returning to the NCAA tournament. But the Huskies' chances of going to the tournament were aided with the return of one of last season's regulars,...

Construction crews and maintenance workers spent the summer modifying the Huskie Baseball Diamond into the gem that head coach Joe "Spanky" McFarland desires. The field adjacent to Stevenson South Towers, which was the Huskie Softball Diamond until last...

Kevin Brown was a talented but raw shortstop in the backwoods of Georgia several years ago. The lanky young player decided to try to walk on the baseball team at Georgia Tech. That's when assistant coach Joe "Spanky" McFarland stepped in. Brown was converted...