Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Maximus Antonio Kellogg was born at 1:47 this afternoon. He's 7 pounds, 4 ounces and 19-3/4 inches long. No word on the vertical leap.
...17 years til he can start getting recruiting calls...
Thursday, April 24, 2008
As a sportswriter, there are a couple of noteworthy age milestones.
1. When the players are younger than you. I cover colleges so with the exception of Troy Lauchman and I think Jackie Jaquan Rogers, that's always been the case.
2. The coaches are younger than you. Derek Kellogg is technically older than me, but by less than a year, so I'm feeling a bit old.
All that aside, I went into yesterday's press conference feeling like it was a good hire and left it feeling more so. I was legitimately impressed with how Kellogg carried himself. He seemed a little nervous at first and then had to lean because the podium's microphone seemed to be still set up for the more diminutive Travis Ford.
But he came across genuine. His jokes got the laughs he was looking for and his lines that were designed to inspire that fans seemed to hit their mark as well.
It was a subtle moment, but one that I thought reassured the crowd a little bit. After three years of listening to a coach drawl, when Kellogg said "Almah matah" shamelessly leaving his Rs behind, I happened to be turned around to look at the crowd and several people smiled instantly. This was a New England guy.
Anyway I'm optimistic. There'll be some multimedia stuff (player audio etc.) posted at the link below in a little while.
http://www.gazettenet.com/beta/category/sports
...one day til I work again...
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Looks like Cal isn't coming. Earlier rumor appears to not be true.
...18 hours til the Kellogg era...
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
The rumor out there, and it way be just a rumor, is that John Calipari might be present at the press conference tomorrow.
...22.5 hours til the press conference...
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
In hopes of building on the program's recent success, the University of Massachusetts is hiring a coach who enjoyed quite a bit of it in Amherst.
At a 6 p.m. press conference at Curry Hicks Cage Wednesday, UMass will announce the hiring of Derek Kellogg as the school's new men's basketball coach.
Kellogg, a Springfield native and 1995 UMass alumnus was part of four Atlantic 10 regular season and tournament championships in his four years as a Minuteman.
He's spent the last eight years as an assistant under John Calipari at Memphis, where he's earned a reputation as one of the best recruiters in the country. Kellogg's efforts have been largely credited for Memphis' signing of Derrick Rose, the freshman point guard who led the Tigers to the NCAA finals and Tyreke Evans, the No. 1 high school player who announced his intentions to attend Memphis last week.
UMass athletic director John McCutcheon wouldn't confirm that it was Kellogg, choosing to wait until the press conference, but did say he was happy with the result of the search.
"I couldn't be more excited about the candidate we've chosen," McCutcheon said.
Kellogg replaces Travis Ford, who left UMass after three years for Oklahoma State last week.
...one day til the press conference...
