I was sitting in my favorite DeKalb watering hole (I was in a watering hole because I hate bars), the other day when my friend Willie McGruff walked in. Yes, McGruff is related to the crime dog but refuses to discuss it, something about a pending paternity...

Offense figures to be one of the main highlights in today's softball home-opener when NIU hosts Bradley in a 3 p.m. doubleheader. "I think it will be offensive," said 11th year NIU coach Dee Abrahamson. "There will probably be lots of opportunities to...

The defensive line of the Huskie football squad will have to do some rebuilding this spring after the loss of a few cornerstones, namely tackles Ted Hennings and Phil Bucaro. "We have lots of work to do," defensive line coach Sheldon Herd said. "The (new)...

The good and the bad will surface in the NIU men's tennis team's only outdoor home meet of the season today at 3 p.m. Today's meet will "almost positively" be held at the Stadium Courts, which is located north of Huskie Stadium. The meet will be held...

Erik Solky, a senior on the vanishing Huskie men's gymnastics team, is a young man with a solid future surrounded by younger men with somewhat shakier prospects. The 1988 NCAA qualifier will graduate in May with a bachelor's degree in sociology, take...

Even a rain-forced postponement can't dampen the enthusiasm of the NIU men's tennis team. Friday's rains coupled with more rain in the forecast for March 31 and the lack of available indoor facilities forced Illinois State and NIU to postpone Saturday's...

Close games and a load of long-ball hitting provided positives in NIU's 2-3 showing at the Creighton University-Bud Lite Softball Invitational over the weekend. Three of the five tournament games were decided by one run with the 6-10 Huskies coming out...

The NIU women's gymnastic team didn't exactly save the best for last this weekend and, as a result, may have hurt its chances for an NCAA Central Regional bid. The Huskies won Friday's three-team State of Illinois Classic, but their team score of 185.2...

A 9-16 season record can lead to frustration for a collegiate coach, but it can also be misleading on its surface. "It was kind of frustrating in many circumstances," NIU wrestling coach Ed Vatch said, "because our record didn't look as good as some of...

Interim gymnastics coach Carlos Silvestre not only has Wednesday's meet against Illinois-Chicago on his mind, but survival as well. Not only does Silvestre, in his third week at the helm, need to worry about the program, but he also has taken the responsibitlity...

"Mo" (as in head-Huskie Jim Molinari) does know basketball. Molinari is one victory away from tying Ralph McKinzie's modern record for wins by a first-year NIU coach (16 in 1940-41). If the Huskies manage to win their remaining games, Molinari would equal...

With NIU's Monday night battle against Eastern Illinois on the line, the Huskies won it at the line. The Huskies' (15-10) hot free-throw shooting down the stretch proved to be the straw that broke the Panthers' back, as NIU scored its last 14 points at...