First Day of Official Basketball Practice

Most of the Coker campus is quiet beyond quiet but the Cobra basketball court in the gym echoed with energy from early this morning through late this afternoon as the first day of official practice for the 2010-2011 basketball season got underway for the Cobra Women and Men. Today is the exciting beginning and the wide open possibility of the new season.

Dr Ron Carter on CNN

The former provost of Coker College, Dr. Ron Carter, was on CNN recently discussing some of the critical needs of education. He gave a critical endorsement for something I spend some time with -- Media Literacy, but he also added important thoughts to critical discussion of holistic education. It was interesting listening to this interchange. Dr. Carter, who is president of Johnson C. Smith University, may quickly find himself a spokesperson for those who strongly believe that our education solution starts early and must be fully integrated into the lives of our children. He did not discount potential areas for strengthening but he does put responsibility on parents.

Side Note: Someone a couple of years my senior wanted to know what I find Facebook of value. This is one of those concrete examples. Ashley Grau, a former student, had picked up this link and posted to Facebook -- I had not seen it. Now I have seen it and am able to share it and that shows some of the value of Facebook.

Spring in October

There is not a cloud in the sharp blue sky and the temperature is a balmy 83 degrees and the the loudest sound is the ball against the bat on the Coker College campus this Sunday afternoon.

I think today is the formal end of Fall baseball and softball and both teams have scrimmages going on their fields. Feels like Spring though I think it is next week when basketball opens formal practice for the 2010-2011 season.

There were not a lot of people at the games this afternoon -- maybe they are in the library to study for the last midterms before Fall Break, which is this Thursday and Friday.

Cobra Baseball Team of '94 Into Coker Hall of Fame

Benjy Blanton was a member of the Coker College Baseball Team of 1994 that was inducted into the Coker Athletic Hall of Fame earlier this month. The video snippet here shows how the team moved as one to embrace Benjy's mother and father as they accepted his plaque. Benjy was killed in an auto accident and the Coker Baseball team remembers him with an annual award to one of the players.

Coker College adds lacrosse to sports offerings

Way too many decades ago I learned to play lacrosse and spent two years on a college team as one of the people helping to make the numbers. While I played a little, I was certainly not very good but I did enjoy the sport. Have considered lacrosse my favorite sport for most of my life. That is why is it great news that Coker College announced this morning that we will have a lacrosse team playing in Conference Carolinas for the 2011-2012 season. It will be a tough conference as I hear there are already two Division II Lacrosse Champions in the conference.

Homecoming a big success

Greg Batchelor was honored as the Young Alum of the Year. He was a former baseball player while at Coker.

The women's soccer team had a 0-0 tie with Chowan and the men's team won their game against Chowan 2-0.

Earlier in the week the college had announced getting control of a large gift from the family of Major James Lide Coker. This $1.2 million gift is being added to the endowment of the college.

Friends presenting at Conferences

Christian Stryker, Coker College's media relations and Sports Information Director, just sent out a release about David McCracken and Melinda Norris presenting at a conference next week:

For Immediate Release-October 1, 2010


Coker Professors to Present at Popular Culture Conference

HARTRSVILLE, S.C. – A pair of Coker College professors will present papers at the Annual Popular Culture Association of the South Conference starting Thursday, October 7 in Savannah, Georgia.

Dr. David McCracken, Associate Professor of English, will present a paper entitled, "F. Scott Fitzgerald and Sheilah Graham in 1939: Romance and Realism,” while Melinda Norris, Associate Professor of Business Administration, will present her paper, “The Social Media Revolution: The New Marketing Medium.”

This is the second paper presentation by Dr. McCracken in as many weeks. On September 24, he presented his paper entitled, "Schadenfreude, Sober House, and the Exploitation of Addiction" at the Culturing the Popular Conference hosted by Converse College.