Sorry for the late post today. Yesterday was exhausting and since I have a job I have to worry about during the day (I gotta sleep sometime!), it was the earliest I could make it. So much happening around Dayton, it’s exciting. The summer is only half way finished but my mind is already wandering to fall. Maybe yours will too after today.
Well, I don’t want to do this anymore than anyone wants to hear it but the Dragons are slipping further into futility by dropping another 5 games in a row this last week, with their only win being last night, and results from today not currently available at the time of this writing. The Dragons have dropped to second to last in the Eastern Division with a win pct of just .413, making them 4th from the bottom in the entire league. At this point it’s hard to argue exactly what it is that is going wrong for the Dragons but as I’ve mentioned in the last few weeks, it simply looks like they cannot close a game. There are few blow outs ever suffered here, and Dayton has, at the very least remained competitive through their summer struggles, but a close loss is not a win. Seeing them lose such close games, the Dragons could easily be in a much different position at this point. If you take the amount of games that the Dragons have lost by just one run since the beginning of June, they would have an extra 12 wins, and be above .500. I know that’s a lot of conjecture, but as I said before, they have not been losing in blow outs, but struggling to finish good games, many of those going into extra innings I might add. Here is hoping they figure out how to right the ship, if only to avoid falling into the basement at this point.
Hey, a bit of exciting news for the Gems, they are plugging along nicely as the season edges closer and closer to starting. First up, they announced that they have signed a two year deal with local TV station WWRD to air up to 20 regular season Gems games over the next two years. This is going to be great opportunity for the team that seemed to struggle a bit with getting it’s name recognized by the city’s patrons. Even the Dayton Daily failed to add a Gems header to it’s sports section for all of last year. This can only bring more attention a team that by all accounts deserves it.
The CHL also finalized it’s conference alignment with the affiliated IHL, splitting into a North and South conference. (names for these conferences are expected to change.) Dayton will be playing in the North conference with the remainders of the IHL (including the newly reformed Evansville Icemen), and include the following CHL teams: Colorado Eagles, Missouri Mavericks, Rapid City Rush and Wichita Thunder. The South will include the remaining CHL teams. Dayton will officially start this upcoming season home opener on October 16th. Playoff format was also announced, with 16 of the 18 teams qualifying for the playoffs. Each team will be seeded 1-8, with #1 playing #8, #2 playing #7 etc. Conference champions will expect to have new trophies, and conference champions will play for the League title.
The Gems have also announced the return of 7 players from last season’s roster. I am not going to go into too much depth there, but you can read about them here. A good bunch of players to have back if you ask me personally, a great way to start off the team.
Lots of great stuff happening here which is good to hear. I am sure there will be plenty of news coming out of the Gem’s organization in the coming months.
oh I wanted to add this to the post, so people can see how much larger the Gem’s world has gotten this year. The divisions aren’t noted here but I found it online and thought it would be a good representation of the Gem’s new affiliate league.
The Dutch Lions are almost done for this season. Has it really been that long already? The Summer is winding down, and the Lions stand at an unfortunate 4th place. Their trip into Canada the other week really hurt, but that hasn’t kept the good news from rolling in. This last weekend Dayton played their last home game against the Kalamazoo Outrage and decimated them with a 6-1 victory. The Lions staggeringly out shot Kzoo 29 to 5. The whole amazing thing can be read here, what a way to finish their season in Dayton!
The Lions have one more game this weekend against the Chicago Fire and a win would be a great way to go out on the season but unfortunately should not change their current standings. Some other good news, both the Columbus Crew and Toronto FC have been keeping an eye on Dutch Lions players over the last few weeks. We could have our first MLS grads before too long, a tribute to the sensible skills and play style that the DDLFC has introduced state side.
Pretty soon there won’t be much to talk about with the Lions but as the news filters in, I’ll relay what I can.
So there wasn’t anything I could really find for Wright State, not even for club teams, which I’m keeping an eye on coming up here. I’ll try to get some football and hockey info in the coming months, and hope to see some more news regarding other college sports.
I do have an overlooked schedule release for the Wright State Soccer team, which might be of some interest to those looking to extend a possible Dutch Lions fix. Although Wright State’s season last year was not as prominent as several others in their recent past, don’t under estimate the Raider’s ability, tickets are only $5.00, how can you lose?
UD’s James Vercammen has been named on the preseason Buchanan award watch list. The Buchanan Award is given to the FCS’s national defensive player of the year. Since it’s introduction as an award in 1995, 9 of 16 recipients have gone on to play for the NFL. Vercammen headed the tough Dayton defense for 2009 that finished top in the Pioneer League. Making 134 total tackles set an new PFL record for tackles in a single season, outpacing the old record by 25 tackles, and earned him the honor of third best record in the entire FCS. Vercammen finished last year as Second Team FCS All-American and First Team All-PFL.
Sorry to see the Dutch Lions season drawing to a close? The UD Flyers announced their upcoming soccer schedule which will start Friday August 20thagainst Butler at Baujan Field. The Flyers, who were Atlantic 10 champions last season will have eight matches at home during the fall, and admission is free to all regular season games at Baujan. Soccer is truly becoming a power sport in the Dayton area, and an overlooked one at that. With professional soccer finishing up it’s first season in our fair city, perhaps it’s time to give the teams that have been here for a long time the credit they deserve. You won’t be sorry you go see a match at either University but go see one at least.
Goodnight everybody, have a safe week, and even though the Dragons are the only team playing in town for the next couple of weeks, start savings those lungs too cheer on your favorites this August.
The Wright State Raiders will square off against the University of Dayton Flyers for WSU’s Fifth Annual Military Appreciation Night at Nischwitz Stadium on Wednesday, April 21 at 6:30 p.m.
The WSU Athletic Department will recognize members of the Jr. and Sr. Cadet Corps between innings. A raffle, interactive games and prize giveaways are scheduled before the game.