by Carter Sanderson | Feb 5, 2014 | News Slider, Sports
The Nashville Sounds, AAA affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers, have been at Greer Stadium since 1978 but plans to make stadium renovations at the team’s new home of Sulphur Dell have officially begun. On Wednesday Lipscomb hosted the second installment of the Forehand and Friends luncheon with Brad Tammen (pictured above), the general manager of the Nashville Sounds, and Skip Nipper, a local baseball historian who had insight on the groundbreaking event of the new stadium. Bisons baseball head coach Jeff Forehand made the introductions, talking about his team and coaches for this season, followed by the two guests speakers on the renovations of the stadium. “It’s good to be around baseball people, but it’s really good to be around a Christian environment,” Nipper said before he began the memories of the old Sulphur Dell Park. When describing the tradition and the age of the park, Nipper said that “the right field fence was just 162 feet from home plate,” drawing several laughs from the crowd. Nipper showed picture after picture and clip after clip of some of the most historic and memorable moments before Tammen got up to speak on behalf of the new stadium. Monday was the groundbreaking for the new Sulpher Dell Stadium. This is a $108 million project spread out to 38 million on the actual ball park, 60 million on redevelopment and 10 million on the parking structure. As of now, AAA teams get roughly 350,000 fans a year, but there are high hopes that with the new stadium look, fans will fill the seats. “The Sounds were 11th out of 16 in the...
by Carter Sanderson | Feb 5, 2014 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb baseball team officially started spring practice on Friday, as it is set to swing into the 2014 season on Feb. 14, a Valentine’s Day special. However, Wednesday, Feb. 5, marked an even more special moment for the baseball team with the signing of Brooks Russell. “Russell is a 5-year-old and a five-star recruit,” head coach Jeff Forehand said when asked about his brand new signee. Brooks is battling a pediatric brain tumor, which, in his case, was found in his spinal cord. The tumor was found following an MRI on May 10 and came as a devastating surprise to the Russell family. In May 2012 Brooks had his surgery to partially remove his tumor and was paralyzed for 6 weeks, relying on a walker to get around. Brooks’ mother Kari Russell likes to look on the positive side of her firstborn’s life. “It’s been a roller coaster, but it’s also been a blessing,” Kari Russell said. “We had to learn to watch him walk again, so to be able to watch him finally run and now play sports is just awesome.” Brooks’ favorite sport is baseball, and if you were to ask him what he wants for pre-game meal, he would tell you ice cream. Coach Forehand said in the press conference, “I ask Brooks what his best position was, like I ask all my recruits, and he said ‘Hitter’.” From that moment on, you can bet Forehand didn’t need to ask any more questions. What baseball team doesn’t want a hitter? “Brooks is a special kid going through some tough things,” Forehand continued. “I think the Lipscomb community...
by Logan Butts | Feb 5, 2014 | Sports
It’s the bottom of the ninth inning, the bases are loaded and the game is tied. Or maybe there are five seconds left in the fourth quarter, and the kicker is coming out to give his team the lead. Or perhaps the point guard has the ball in his hands with the final buzzer on the verge of sounding. At the end of a close contest, when an athlete is running on fumes, any edge can make the slightest of difference between winning and losing. If the home team has the privilege of playing in front of a raucous crowd that shakes the stadium, it might be the advantage that provides a victory. The support of fans doesn’t always come to mind before practice, skill and athleticism in the hierarchy of winning attributes for an athletic team, but in a hard fought battle where both teams are evenly matched, a rocking home field advantage could make a huge impact. Lipscomb senior T.J. Ojehomon saw a distinct lack of fan support, especially from students, when he started attending athletic events on campus. Being a former athlete himself, he knew that peers cheering you on while competing can have a crucial impact. Ojehomon also knew that even though his playing days were over, he wanted to make an impact on Lipscomb athletics somehow. Thus, Stampede, Lipscomb’s student fan organization, was born. “My sophomore year I got the opportunity to produce a video in order to promote Running of the Bison,” Ojehomon said. “Then that led to another opportunity to do on-court entertainment, being the guy that gets people involved during media...
by Kage Sanderson | Feb 4, 2014 | Opinion, Sports
Super Bowl XLVIII on February 3rd was the best game of the year for Seattle Seahawks fans and possibly the saddest game of the year for Denver Broncos fans. Something most viewers can agree with, I’m sure, is that this year’s Super Bowl commercials were pretty great. The commercial that had me teary was Microsoft’s “Empowering” commercial. The commercial is narrated by former NFL player Steve Gleason. I have been moved by Gleason’s story since I first learned about his diagnosis with ALS. The commercial shows how technology unites us, is a helping tool and as the commercial says, gives hope to the hopeless and voice to the voiceless. If you haven’t seen this commercial, do yourself a favor and check it out. Both of Tim Tebow’s T-Mobile commercials were some of the funniest. They were such a brilliant way to play on the whole “no contract” theme. I love that Tebow talks about not having a contract, but then turns around and shows how he (supposedly) spent the NFL season. Some of the things Tebow does in those commercials are so audaciously funny, like bull riding in one and playing football on the moon in the other. I definitely laughed with each T-Mobile commercial shown. The Hyundai commercial with the dad who has a “sixth sense” was awesome. It made you think about how dads always seem like the superheroes who save the day. By the end of the commercial the Hyundai Genesis saves the day when the young teen driver gets distracted. Hilarious. Alright, the Doritos commercial where the kid rides his mastiff like a horse was...
by Erika Thornsberry | Feb 2, 2014 | News Slider, Sports
The Lipscomb track and field team is making their presence known after having just three indoor meets so far, they haven’t wasted any time breaking records this spring. Saturday, the Bisons competed in the TSU invite. The meet was not scored overall, but there were several individual victories. For the close-knit Bison team, individual records are celebrated throughout the team as if the whole team accomplished the goal. “Our team has so much love for each other,” Junior thrower April Terry said. “We support one another, and I think that’s a big reason for our success.” The meet started off on a good note for the Bisons. Senior Dani Walker began by taking first in the women’s mile and later on would take second in the women’s 800 meter. Annika Backlund, only a freshman, broke the indoor record in the women’s vault as she cleared 3.41 meters, and then with her next attempt cleared 3.56 meters winning the event. April Terry is yet again breaking records. She broke the indoor weight throw record with a throw at 16.92 meters. “I think our team is going to do wonderful this year,” Terry said. “We have a very talented freshmen class with a lot of talented returners to go with it.” Junior pole vaulter Kevin Floyd won the men’s pole vault with 4.32 meters, and freshman high jumper Sarah Wagner broke the record for women’s high jump with a jump of 1.63 meters. Sophomore Meredith Kilburn and Junior Minna Fields came in second and third in the women’s 500 meter. Junior Colin Dempster and Senior Tucker Peabody took second and third...
by Logan Butts | Feb 2, 2014 | News Slider, Sports
Despite a back and forth first half, the Lipscomb Lady Bisons extended their losing streak to 10 games in a 82-47 loss to the Stetson Hatters at Allen Arena. The win for the Hatters was their eighth in a row. The Hatters came out firing on all cylinders after halftime, starting off the second half with a 13-0 run to extend their 11 point lead to 24. The Lady Bisons struggled to find their shooting touch throughout the game as Stetson’s defense was strong from the get-go. The Lady Bisons shot 15-66 from the floor on the game. Lispcomb especially had trouble behind the arch, finishing the game 6-33 from the 3-point line. The Lady Bisons usual sharpshooters all had trouble finding the basket. Danay Fothergill, Chandler Cooper and Sara Bliss combined to shoot just 3-24 from outside. One silver lining for the Lady Bisons was the play of sophomore Ashley Southern. Southern almost notched a double-double in the first half with nine points and 11 rebounds. She finished off the achievement in the second half, ending the game with 14 points (on 6-14 shooting) with 16 rebounds. Southern has now recorded a double-double in seven straight games. Southern is also closing in on the Atlantic Sun Conference record for most double-doubles in a season. She has 16 double-doubles on the season, just five away from the conference record of 21. “I mean, that’s pretty exciting, but I’d much rather us be number one in the conference,” Southern said. With the outside shot lacking, the Lady Bisons ran the offense through Southern for most of the game. Even though...
