Hall of Fame alumnus counsels students

Brooks Meek returned to campus on Thursday, October 2nd and met with a large group of L & C students

NBA Director of International Basketball Brooks Meek speaks to L&C students at a round table forum

interested in hearing about combining a passion with their L & C degree to construct a career they love. Brooks has combined his passion for basketball and world travel with his degree in International Affairs  to become an executive with the National Basketball Association (NBA) responsible for their interest in promoting basketball throughout the world.  Minda Heyman and Greg Caldwell joined other college staff in this incredibly well received career development opportunity. This kind of relationship between current and former students is indicative of the unique opportunity for Lewis & Clark student to “explore” all career opportunities while “discovering” where their passions can take them.

Most Unbelievable Excuse Ever

I am early to everything. It is genetically impossible for me to be late to anything, so when I was tardy for the

Snake in a bucket.

alumni softball game Thursday afternoon, everyone knew I was going to have a good excuse, but no one believed me when I blurted, “There is this 20-foot snake blocking the driveway!” in an even more-hyper than usual voice. As I drove down to the softball field, there was an unusual amount of traffic stopped at the top of Boones Ferry Road. Once I got to the entrance of the Huston Sports Complex, I couldn’t turn in. The driveway was blocked by a mini-van and a man was directing traffic on by. I figured there was some sort of accident. No, there was a HUGE snake in the driveway, and he was trying to catch it. My first estimates were 20 feet, but he was probably closer to 12. A boa, by my guess, or maybe a python. Whatever he was, it was HUGE! So I had to drive back to campus, park, and then hustle back down the hill to softball.

The game had just started by the time I arrived, but more importantly, the attempted snake capture was still going on. Someone had put a paint bucket over part of the snake, but you could still see his tail and part of his body, including some lumps that looked a lot like yesterday’s dinner. L&C Campus Security and maintanance people eventually joined the capture party. I found a big trash can with a lid for them to put the snake into (if they ever got him out of the bucket). BTW: we need to order a new trashcan for Huston. A snake is now living in the old one.

The snake wasn’t anywhere near our players (even when they all climbed the bleachers to see what I was babbling about) and it wasn’t a biting snake, so no one was in danger. Eventually they did get the snake (using a big shovel and some good timing) into the trashcan. A completely unbelievable excuse for being late. Luckily, I took pictures!

Pomona Football (aka Bill Akers is my HERO!)

I meant to write this blog entry wholly as a plug for the PAC tent that happens every game near the South

The Pioneers rockin' the new unis against Pomona

End Zone, but any mention of the Pomona game really is just another opportunity to tell Bill Akers that he is my hero!

First, the free stuff. The PAC tent is the group of people you may have seen at each home football game mingling near the end zone, eating hot dogs, and having a good time. It doesn’t take any special level of security clearance to go down and join them in the hot dogs and comraderie. All PAC members are definitely encouraged to join us down there, but we welcome all prospective members. PAC is our booster club and a GREAT way to show your support of Pioneer athletics.

De facto PAC President and the Chairman of the Hall of Fame committee, Bill Akers, was down there this last halftime, but that’s not what makes Bill my hero. Bill was in the pressbox the rest of the game. Bill is this amazing Pioneer supporter who has volunteered his time for the last ump-teen years helping run the clocks at both football and basketball. Most of our game day crew are volunteers. Jack Venables and his son Ken Venables are two more of our AMAZING volunteers. Ron Grover and Bill Akers were also among our volunteers until they both chose to retire at the end of last basketball season. However, Bill, being the amazing cape-flapping-in-the-wind sorta hero of mine that he is, unretired for Saturday’s game to help us deal with the complexities of the new 40-second play clock rules. You all were saved from at least ten plays stoppages to reset the playclock had I been running it (like emergency was necessitating). THANK YOU BILL for always being willing to help me out!

CLICK HERE to see a gallery of pics from gameday.

-Melissa Dudek

Claremont Football Game 9/13

Pioneers punch one in against Stags

We (myself, Coach Sulages, and his staff) entertained about 90 alumni, parents, and prospective football players and their families at a brunch in Claremont just prior to the Pioneers game against CMS. It’s always nice to be able to spend that time with our supporters and potential new Pioneers in a casual environment. What was even more cool was that the Pioneer faithful was both  loud and very well represented at the game, nearly outnumbering the CMS fans. Thanks everyone for that great support!

We’re hoping to do another meet & greet in Arizona (Phoenix) over Christmas break in conjunction with the men’s basketball team’s tournament. Look for more details on that event coming soon on the Pioneer website. CLICK HERE for pictures from the trip.

-Clark Yeager

Volleyball Road Trip

I had the privilege of going with the Pioneer volleyball team to Southern California for the Pacific Coast Classic tournament. Not too many Division III SID’s have the opportunity to travel with their teams, and really, its a part of this job that I love (when the opportunity does present itself).

In-n-Out will never be the same

There are a couple of reasons that they packed me up and took me with them (other than the fact that like a little lhasa apso, I’m cute and fun to travel with). The main reason was that group tickets get bought in advance and there was an extra one, so they had the space. The other reason is that this is a HUGE tournament that has no support from the sports info staffs from the host schools. All of the matches are hand-statted (by the bench staff), so in order to know what actually happens at a match, one has to be there.

Friday was pretty easy, with no one but volleyball playing. On Saturday, however, I was juggling keeping a line score for volleyball while talking to our football team in St Louis (who had just wrapped up a huge victory against Principia) and writing a release about cross country’s huge win at St Martins. Wireless internet, cell phones… imperatives in my world. Seldom far from either.

Saturday wasn’t easy for the gals, either. We had to do line judging and score for a 10 am match, then play at 12:30 and 2:30. Right after the 2:30 match ended, we loaded up one car and a van and zoomed across the valley to get to Whittier. Brandon and I made an emergency trip to Ralphs to find sandwich fixings for a light snack before the Whittier match. Afterward, it was a stop at In-N-Out that capped the day.

My favorite part of the trip was probably seeing Liz Nguyen, a four-year Pioneer in two sports. Every trip to So Cal always seems to bring out our alums, back to show support. Liz had her face all painted up and was filled with Pioneer spirit. Thanks Liz! And thanks to AAAAAAALLLLL of the parents who were there. I loved the fact that Christina Herring’s parents came to the matches, and out to dinner with us on Friday. Christina is a basketball player, but her roommate, Lou Ohki, is a volleyball player, and the Herrings came out to support her. That is great stuff!

CLICK HERE to see pics from the trip.

-Melissa Dudek