Aug. 24, 2012
Quick Slant is an array of brief insights and occasionally opinionated overviews of collegiate athletics in general and the Vanderbilt Commodores in particular.
Director of Athletics David Williams recently completed a whirlwind five-day trip to visit Europe to gather first-hand information that will benefit Vanderbilt and its student-athletes.
His first stop was Geneva, Switzerland, and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) where he learned about the organization and especially about how Vanderbilt might better prepare student-athletes that may one day play professionally abroad. From Geneva he took a 40-minute train ride to Lausanne, headquarters of the International Olympic Committee, for more fact finding. On his way back, Williams stopped in London to speak to a Vanderbilt alumni group and be interviewed on British radio. (David Williams Live Chat, 1 p.m. Friday)
Sophomore golfer Ben Fogler got his preseason off to a flying start when he aced the par 3, 187-yard third hole on the North Course of Vanderbilt Legends Club. The son of former basketball coach Eddie Fogler used a 6-iron.
We must have been on vacation when this was first mentioned, but we just ran across the statistical fact that in 2011-12 only six Division I universities in the nation had their football, men’s and women’s basketball and baseball teams all qualify for NCAA postseason play. The other five, incidentally, are Baylor, Louisville, Michigan State, Florida and Purdue. This is a clear mark of excellence in our “revenue sports” and balance in our overall department.
Vanderbilt Athletics has been picking up Facebook friends like crazy the past few weeks. If you are a Facebooker, you should be sure we are linked.
Yes, the Carolina game is a big one. Our credentialed media have already filled our press box to capacity with a mix of local, area, national reporters and nearly two dozen NFL scouts. ESPN is bringing its Skycam equipment to our stadium for the first time; that’s the camera that scoots north and south in the middle of the field. They bring that equipment in Monday and take several days to get it working.