The Northern Star proudly presents some mid-summer column stuffers for your reading pleasure. Enjoy. Former Huskie standout Ted "The Mad Stork" Hennings made the news recently while participating in the Chicago Bears training camp in Platteville, Wis....

The fastballs will not pop as loudly, or be clobbered so easily. The 6-4-3 might be just the 6-4. The uniforms baggier, the tempers hotter. New NIU head baseball Coach Spanky McFarland has no scholarships to offer the young men who will fill the new program's...

The clang of metal hitting metal, words like "squat", "crunches" and "leg presses", the grunts and groans as large people lift large weights—all are part of Jim Zielinski's world. Zielinski, Coach "Z" to those who know him, is NIU's strength and conditioning...

Act One: The setting: Moscow, Idaho, the home of the University of Idaho, 1984-86. A party, a bar (drinking age was 19 at the time), a friend's home, wherever. I was a freshman then a sophomore, far from home, bright but confused—torn between doing...

July—tanning on the beach, sunglasses melting on your car's dashboard, and trips to Wal-Mart—not because you need another spatula or a shirt that was outdated the moment it came out of the factory—but because it's air conditioned. What better time...

If Huskie basketball coach Jim Molinari had to write a "What I did on my summer vacation?" essay for NIU President John La Tourette (hey, it could happen), he wouldn't be able to. Despite it being the off-season, the second-year coach hasn't been able...

The NIU softball team is picking up some pretty good habits. Last season's North Star Conference title was its third straight and the naming of junior catcher Julie Sexton to the 1990 GTE Academic All-America First-Team was the fifth consecutive All-America...

NIU women's basketball standout Lisa Foss raised some eyebrows, but missed the final cut for a chance to wear a "USA" jersey. The 5-7 Huskie guard was one of the final 70 players bidding for a position with one of the three United States National Teams...

University of South Florida assistant coach Joe "Spanky" McFarland has been picked to lead the revival of the NIU baseball program which was cut at the end of the 1982 season. The decision is subject to Board of Regents approval. In his 13 coaching years,...

Thoughts of yesteryear remained on the minds of the NIU lacrosse club as it traveled to Macomb, Ill. to compete in the 1990 Midwest Spring Invitational Lacrosse Tournament this past weekend. After losing to the Leathernecks in 1989, the Huskies turned...

The NIU Athletic Board approved a new ticket policy for the 1990 football season. The plan, which goes into effect immediately, offers Huskie fans incentives to purchase season tickets at discounted prices, as well as reduced price tickets in the south...

NIU scored just enough runs in game one and went "bats wild" in the nightcap to earn a doubleheader sweep of visiting Northwestern University Wednesday at Huskie Diamond. NIU beat the Wildcats 1-0 in the opener then scored a big 5-1 victory in game two....