Sailgate Week Is Here & Other Monday Morning Launching Pad Notes

By Lake The Posts on June 20, 2011

First of all thanks for your patience.  The road trip to the September 17 Army game aboard the unofficial Northwestern floating tailgate – aka “Sailgate” has been quite the coordination effort. Thankfully, a few LTP readers have been extremely helpful in putting all the pieces together and I’m thrilled to let you know we have all the ducks in a row.  We’ve got a boat, dropoff/pick-up right at West Point, access to the official Northwestern Alumni Tailgate on gameday and of course, tickets to the game all for a smidge over $100.  We’re in the process of setting up PayPal through this site (anyone willing to help) and have a couple last minute tweaks.  So, midweek, expect a full blown Sailgate call for sign-ups, and be ready as I can tell this is going to sellout in a heartbeat.  Scott S. you are the man!

I hope all the dad’s had a great father’s day yesterday. I know I did.  I also wanted to make sure you saw the seemingly positive progress update by Teddy Greenstein on Jim Phillips contract which appears it will now be tied to Fitz’s deal as the Tribune article discussed a deal that would have Jim in purple through 2020.  Clearly, this is an enormous deal for Northwestern Athletics as Jim Phillips has been nothing short of remarakable during his short tenure in Evanston to date.  If you’re looking for stability at NU and  a true commitment to raising the bar then Jim is our guy.  Good work Teddy and keep us posted!

Steven Colbert Commencement Speech

It appears that we may have a winner for most impressive Northwestern commencement speech thanks to Steven Colbert’s beauty this past Friday.  If you haven’t done so, scroll down to a couple of previous posts and watch his 20 minute entertainment installment free of charge.  It was truly remarkable.  Commencement speeches are usually stuff affairs with more pomp than circumstance yet Colbert, a 1985 alum, was able to connect with college seniors and their grandparents by addressing what would normally be taboo topics – sex, silly Evanston laws and the infamous sex toy scandal – with the right combination of humor, intelligence, and craftiness.  Congratulations Northwestern for not taking yourself too seriously and being able to embrace a class act with Colbert.  It was brilliant.

One reader, “VA Wildcat”, posted this link which features every Northwestern commencement speaker. It appears Newton Minow wins for most appearances. It’s a fun look at how obscure most of our speakers have been. Who knew that Teddy Roosevelt spoke at the 1893 graduation?

The Fitz Pinstripe Connection

I referenced the Newsday article on the friendship between Fitz and Joe Girardi from last week and one of  our readers, Eric,  was kind enough to send access to the full feature. It’s a great read about how the presidents of the mutual respect society came to be and it appears the Yankees skipper is destined for some home game love soon.  It makes you wonder if NU will try and replicate the Wrigley experience by playing a game in Yankee Stadium while Joe is the manager there.

Persa Heisman Odds

I missed a great tidbit piece by ESPNChicago’s Scott Powers here last Tuesday on handicapping the 2011 Heisman odds. Dan Persa came in at 95-to-1 odds, which is the worst odds of any of the 38 potential candidates.  I realize the Achilles heel is a HUGE question mark, but I was shocked the odds were that low as the historical perception game seems to be in play here as Notre Dame QB Dayne Crist, who was also injured much of last year is listed at 75:1 odds.  Crist isn’t even assured a starting job after the way Rees finished the season last year.  Anyway, I love the odds, specifically considering we all note that it is “95″ a magic number in NU circles. Plus, a nice underdog, underrated motivator potentially. 

Equally compelling in the Powers’ post is the fact NU’s Mike Polisky did confirm that NU WILL be launching a Heisman campaign for Persa.  I’m sure we did one back in 1996 for Darnell, but I simply can’t remember it.  Anyone remember if we did one for Kustok or Damien Anderson in 2001?

Heavy Heart 

As a follow-up to the class notes section, one reader pointed out that former Wildcat FB Duane Phillips (’75), passed away earlier this year. Phillips was also the father of Wildcat defensive back Brad Phillips.  Duane passed away in December and I somehow missed this, but knowing it was a tough father’s day at the Phillips home yesterday, I thought it was worth a note. You can read the obit here.

College Football Round-up

A couple of notes of interest in Big Ten country.  First, Michigan made news for considering a mascot.  Athletic Director Dave Brandon said he was sick of kids posing for photos with Wolverine opponents’ mascots each week and opened up the possibility of – gasp – installing a Michigan mascot.  It always amazed me that Michigan didn’t have a mascot as if it somehow tarnished the mystique of big blue. I guess when your mystique gets obliterated you start to see things in a different light.  Also of note, Minnesota RB DeLeon Eskridge has left the team to attend to family issues ESPN reported last week.  That leaves Duane Bennett as the Gophers primary RB.

I couldn’t help but admire Nevada Wolfpack head coach Chris Ault’s decision to ask for a salary reduction to be in line with other state workers.  Ault is forgoing a $25K per year increase and actually took a 4.8% pay cut. Granted, he’s making $400k+ per year, but in the college football arms race, this is unheard of.  The cynic in you might say it is a brilliant PR move (it is), but regardless you don’t see any other college football coaches at state run institutions volunteering to take pay cuts.  Ault was the only coach of the final Top 25 to be making less than $1M per year and is now entering his 27th season as the head man.  We’ll be talking about Nevada quite a bit this year with the ‘Cats having installed “The Pistol” as part of the offensive weaponry.

N Flag Photos

Kudos to Bill D. for getting the N Flag Project back in action as he’s sent several from Europe and here is one of them in front of The Louvre in Paris, France. 

Tickets – Anyone?

Not one new season ticket package came in on graduation weekend? C’mon graduates, it is time to ring the bell and help pack Ryan Field.