Ain't He Cute?

Reid & I have survived the drive through Manhattan to see our nephew, Alex.



He looks like his Daddy, but I think he has his Mommy's hands & feet (they're BIG - especially the latter!)



Thought you would enjoy a sneek peek. More later...

Falcon Golfers - keep racking up honors!

GCAA Announces Division II PING All-Region Teams

NORMAN, Okla. – The PING Division II All-Region teams have been named by the Golf Coaches Association of America.

Members of the PING All-Region teams are eligible for PING All-American honors, to be declared following the NCAA Division II Championships.

All-Region teams are selected by GCAA regional advisory committees based on their season-long play. Any player ranked in the top 50 nationally according to the Golfstat individual rating will be automatically added to his All-Region Team.

This year’s PING All-Region team for NCAA Division II is as follows:
EastDarcy Donaldson, Concord
Tyler Franklin, Fairmont
Corey Gast, Millersville
Will Gautreau, Fairmont
Jared Miller, West Chester
Brandon Reece, Charleston
John Ritchey, Concord
Garvin Smith, IUP
Corey Stelick, IUP
Micheal Todd, Charleston

GCAA Names Division II Regional Coaches of the Year

NORMAN, Okla. – Eaton/Golf Pride NCAA Division II Regional Coaches of the Year have been announced by the Golf Coaches Association of America.

The 10 regional coaches make up the candidates for the Eaton/Golf Pride National Coach of the Year honor that will be announced at the NCAA Division II Championships.

Eaton/Golf Pride Division II Regional Coaches of the Year
Northeast-Nick Masterpole, Le Moyne
Eastern-Reid Amos, Fairmont State
Atlantic-Jim Haughey, Belmont Abbey
Southeast-Mark Immelman, Columbus State
South-Billy Gamble, North Alabama
South Central-Jerry Hrnciar, Cameron
Great Lakes-Mike Horn, Wayne State
Central-Doug Hamilton, Washburn
Northwest-Phil Trujillo, CU-Colorado Springs
West-Dr. Jim Hanny, CSU-Stanislaus

Congratulations Tyler, Will, & Sweetness!!!

I'm an Aunt (Reid's the Uncle!)

Matthew Alexander (Alex) Wine finally arrived!

8:25 AM - 05/25/2007
8 lbs., 3 oz.
21 - 1/2"

After a mere 33.45 hours of labor, the little guy has been welcomed to our world! Anne & Alex are doing fine. And Sean survived (with a little help from Anne's oxygen).

Uncle Reid & I will be going up soon...and will post pictures when we can!

Welcome Alex! Wa hoo!

Still not an aunt (or uncle)

:-(

It's after 5PM & I'm still not an aunt.

Boo Hoo!

I'm sure that's what Anne is thinking right now, too (or worse!)

Fairmont State Golf - Update

If you haven't been following...SHAME ON YOU!

The Falcons had a couple of rough days. The winds are brutal - something that they aren't used to dealing with...and the rough is high (thanks to the USGA).

They had a better go of it on day 3. Caroli shot even par today! Way to go, Justin!!!

They are currently T15, and ahead of 4 teams ranked ahead of them in the country - including 1 top-25 team and 1 top-10 team.

Give 'em H-E-double-hockey-sticks tomorrow guys! I'm so proud of all of your accomplishments these last four years!!!

I'm Gonna Be an Aunt (or an Uncle)

To quote one of my many favorite lines from my all-time favorite TV show, FRIENDS, "I'm gonna be an aunt - or an uncle." (Who else but Joey could have said that?)

Anyway...Anne's H2O broke at 11PM (ish) last night. So I'm looking forward to hearing the good news of Alex's arrival!!!

Good luck, Anne (& Sean!)

Tee times for National Tournament

Tee times are posted for the National Tournament at the Meadows (http://www.gvsu.edu/meadows/).

You should be able to follow the scoring live from www.golfstat.com and I'm assuming that Fairmont State's athletics website will have a posting to follow the online scoring tomorrow(www.fightingfalcons.com).

1st Round - Tuesday, May 22nd
Fairmont State tees off on #1
#5 - 12:oo noon
#4 - 12:10 PM
#3 - 12:20 PM
#2 - 12:30 PM
#1 - 12:40 PM

2nd Round - Wednesday, May 23rd
Fairmont State tees off on #10
#5 - 8:20 AM
#4 - 8:30 AM
#3 - 8:40 AM
#2 - 8:50 AM
#1 - 9:00 AM

All teams are re-seeded following the scoring after rounds #1 & #2.

Good luck Falcons!!!

More on the FSU golfers

I "heart" Duane! Thanks for making this trip for the golfers extra special with all of your coverage of the team for the newspaper! You rock!!!

Falcons enjoy unique bond Four FSU golfers natives of the state
BY DUANE COCHRAN FOR THE TIMES WEST VIRGINIAN FAIRMONT —

Back in 1958 an outstanding group of local golfers joined forces on Fairmont State’s men’s golf team and became the first squad in school history to earn a berth to the nation­al finals.

Homer Delovich, John Trach, John Brzuzy, Frank Pizatella and Raymond Prozzillo made up the Falcons’ fivesome which earned a berth in the 1958 NAIA Finals in Beaumont, Texas. Lamar Tech out of Texas won the champi­onship that season for the third year in a row and did it by virtue of a 57-stroke margin of victory over run­ner- up Central State (Oklahoma).

Now nearly 50 years later another outstanding group of young golfers, four of whom hail from the state of West Virginia, are going back to the nationals finals to represent Fairmont State as a team. The 2007 Falcons open play in the four-day, 72-hole NCAA Division II National Golf
Championships at The Meadows in Allendale, Mich., Tuesday. It’s FSU’s first-ever appearance as a team in golf at an NCAA National Championship.

“One of the special things about this is after we won the Super Regional to earn the right to play for the national championship we had a little celebration party and we got in a circle and each person had something to say about each individual as a person on our team and what it meant to be on this team,” said senior captain Jon Bunside. “To me that was very special and it was a moment I’m always going to remember. I think it also gave all of us an extra boost of confidence going into this tournament.

“When you accomplish something great as a team it means that for years to come you can share that accom­plishment and those memo­ries with your teammates and your family. It creates a special bond.” A special bond is indeed what the Falcons have this sea­son and it’s been a factor in the team’s success.

Burnside is from Fairmont and is a graduate of Fairmont Senior High School. Sophomore Zack Rudy is another Fairmont resident, who also graduated from Fairmont Senior. Junior Justin Caroli hails from Bridgeport and played his high school golf for Bridgeport High School, while senior Tyler Franklin is from Ripley where he was a prep standout for the Vikings.

The lone non-West Virginia member of the starting five is not even an American. Junior Will Gautreau, who was co­-medalist at the recent East Regional Championships, is from Niagara, Ontario Canada. However, Gautreau’s membership on FSU’s golf team is no accident. As a result of the long-running annual Marco’s Can-Am Golf Tournaments, which take place each year once in Fairmont and once in Canada, Gautreau was discovered by FSU head coach Reid Amos.

The Falcons’ other four starters constantly razz Gautreau about being from Canada, but he takes it all in stride and reminds them how lucky they are to have him on the team.

“We have a great group of guys on this team,” said Falcon coach Reid Amos with a laugh. “They’re a unique group which torments and teases each other to no end off the course, but on the course they’re all business and all 100 percent behind each other. I believe they would literally bleed for one another out there because that’s how much they care about this team. Honestly, that factor right there has been one of the big keys to our success.”

Another, according to Burnside, is the support the Falcons get from a variety of sources.

“We all feel that a big factor in our success is that we have a tremendous amount of support from our coaching staff, our families, our friends, the media and just people in general,” he said. “We can practice on our own, play on our own or prac­tice and play together, but when someone tells you ‘Good job’ or ‘Congratulations, we’re proud of you and behind you all of the way,’ it makes a dif­ference. Those simple words really mean a lot to all of us. It’s those things and those times that push you to spend an extra 30 minutes working on your putting or an extra 30 minutes on the range. You want to get better because you know people are behind you and proud of you.

“Personally that support, I know, has played a big role in my success and I’m pretty cer­tain everyone else on our team feels the same way.”

FSU played its first practice round at The Meadows Sunday. The squad will play another practice round today.

Grandma head to NYC

Well, this is all very exciting. The "bun" is still in the oven for Anne, and Mom heads up to the Big Apple today for the impending arrival of my first nephew, Matthew Alexander! I don't know if I'm more excited about "having" a nephew, or that Anne & Sean finally settled on a name, Alex. Not that The Baby Wine...or Burt Renolyds Wine wouldn't have been nice...or Troy Emmitt Wine...or Beavis...

Alex has a nice ring to it...

Best wishes to Anne, Sean, and Baby Alex!!!

FSU Golfers head to Michigan

Here is another great story from our dear friend, Duane:

FSU golfers leave for nationals Falcons reflect on playing for NCAA title
BYDUANE COCHRAN FOR THE TIMES WEST VIRGINIAN FAIRMONT —

Prior to departing for the NCAA National Golf Championships in Allendale, Mich. Saturday morning, Fairmont State’s five golfers and coaching staff took some time Friday evening to gather at the home of Phil and Diane Burnside and reflect upon what it means to be making the school’s first-ever finals appearance in the sport in an NCAA event and the Falcons’ first appearance as a golf team in a national final of any kind since the late 1950s.

FSU will play practice rounds at The Meadows, a 6,992-yard, par-71 course on today and Monday. The four­day, 72-hole tournament, which features 20 teams and 10 individuals from across the nation, gets under way Tuesday morning.

Here are the impressions of FSU’s players and coaching staff of what it means to have an opportunity to play for a national championship.

Jon Burnside, Senior — “There’s a quote from French writer Anatole France that kind of sums things up for me. ‘To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream. Not only plan, but also believe.’ Gaining great accomplishments comes with a dream, accepting great awards comes from a strong work ethic. Myself as an indi­vidual and the guys on the team, the reason we’ve gained these accomplishments is we did have a dream about them, and the reason we’ve been able to accomplish what we have so far is that each one of us has a strong work ethic. I was the captain of this team as a freshman, and I knew what leadership was and how important it was, but I think now that I’m a senior I’ve become a lot better over the past few years at playing that role. I think Tyler (Franklin) is the same way. Our experience over the years not only taught us great leadership, but it taught us how to win golf tournaments and how to play for each other. We click together real well as a team, and it’s an honor for me to play this coming week with the four other guys on our team for a national title.”

Tyler Franklin, Senior — “It’s still real­ly kind of hard to describe the excitement that all of us are feeling right now. When Jon (Burnside) and I were freshman we sat around with coach (Reid) Amos and coach (Michael) Walker because it was their first year as well and we talked about how great it would be to someday have the chance to compete for a national title. We knew we needed to get some help. Reid recruited Will Gautreau out of Canada and Walker got us connected with Justin Caroli, who wanted to transfer in which turned out to be two huge recruits for us. Then we added Zack Rudy as a transfer and all of the pieces of the puzzle just came together for us. Our first goal was to win the conference championship and we did that. Then we focused on winning the Super Regional and earning the right to go to the NCAA finals and we did that. Honestly, I don’t think it all has really set in for me yet. When we get there and I get the chance to see the best players in the country and know that I’m actually at the national finals and playing with some of the best young golfers in the nation it’s going to be a special feeling. It’s something I and everyone else on our team will remember for the rest of our lives.”

Will Gautreau, Junior — “We’re all very excited about this opportuni­ty. It’s great that we’ve gotten ourselves to the national tourna­ment, but you know in our minds that’s not really enough for us right now. We all want to go there and play our best golf of the season and maybe give ourselves a chance to win it. We’ve got a lot of con­fidence going into this tourna­ment. We’ve got a lot of heart going into this tournament and the other teams around the nation I’m sure feel the same way. We don’t really know how good they are and at the same time they don’t really know how good we are. I guess what I’m saying is just about every team has the opportunity to play well. I believe that we have five great players on our team and with that in mind I think we’ve got as good of a chance to win it as anyone else.”

Justin Caroli, Junior — “It’s so hard to really put into words, but I can tell you it’s a dream come true for me and every one of us. When I was a little kid and started golfing my dream was to someday to play for a national champi­onship and one day go pro and play on the tour. Well I’ve accomplished one of those goals and the feeling quite hon­estly is remarkable. I couldn’t ask for four better guys to play with either. That even makes it that much more special. The unity and team chemistry we have is one of the big reasons we’ve enjoyed the successes that we have. I’m excited and can’t wait to get out there and compete with these guys.”

Zack Rudy, Sophomore — “This was our goal the whole year to qualify for nationals and we’re here now and have that opportuni­ty. We felt like we had the team to be able to make it to the national tournament and as an individ­ual I couldn’t be happier to be a part of this team. The guys on it are very, very special.There’s no question they’ve taught me a lot this year about what it takes to succeed both on and off the golf course. We have great leadership and great talent on this team and the experience I’ve gained this past season playing with these guys is only going to make me better in the future. I didn’t play very well in the regional, but I was cheering the other four on and supporting them 100 percent. This past week I’ve practiced very hard for the guys on this team. I’m hoping I can go up there and post some good numbers this week to help us have success.”

Reid Amos, Head Coach — “Personally, I grew up in Fairmont and was a Fairmont State fan since the time I was a kid. I watched Joe Retton coach and Deacon Duvall coach and have had the chance to be around great coaches for many years. I attended Fairmont State and am a Fairmont State graduate and I’ve been person­ally motivated as how to moti­vate kids by individuals like Tim Murphy and Rusty Elliott. I’ve seen how they handle their young men and respect that. The idea that, that doesn’t play a role in golf is not true. Golf is the same as any other team sport. You have to build team chem­­istry and I believe we’ve done that. These kids play very hard for one another, not themselves. They take a lot of pride in wear­ing Fairmont State on their chests which is the way it was here years ago. There aren’t a whole lot of programs who can say they’ve reached the national finals and we’re in a national final in men’s golf for the first time since the NAIA days of the 1950s. We’re so proud to be going back and it’s because of the fine young men we have on this team. They deserve the credit.”

Michael Walker, Assistant Coach — “Obviously it means a lot to all of us and before the season we kind of felt like if this was going to happen this was going to be the year for it with Jon (Burnside) and Tyler (Franklin) being seniors for us. It’s been a progression for us. I’ve been with the pro­gram for four years and to see that progression has been a real joy. We started by moving up in the ranks in the WVIAC.Then we made a trip to the regional two years ago. Last year we won the conference championship and went back to the regionals and finished fourth and this year we won the regional and now have the chance to play for a national title. As a coach this is what you strive for. You always strive to be the best and when you step back and look at all of the programs and players in Division II who don’t get this opportunity you realize how very special this really is.”

Team Dinner at the Burnsides'

What a fantastic time we had at the team send-off/celebration dinner at the Burnsides' wonderful home! And the food - YUM! They had (lemme see if I can remember it all...) turkey balls, trout, peppers, pasta & turkey sausage, quail, salad...cake... Everything was delicious!!!

It's always fun getting to spend time with the team. No wonder Reid enjoys coaching them so much!

I made shadow boxes for the all of the players and Michael with the SuperRegional championship article and some photos. Jon's & Tyler's had their list of career accomplishments.

It was especially nice of the Burnsides to have Duane there to get to spend time with the guys...and the girls (Elizabeth & me...as well as the girl friends of the players.) What great hosts! But that is no shocker since they are such nice people!!!

Reid told the guys that if anyone is named All-American/All-East Region they should be announced on the first day of the National Tournament....will post what/when I find out...

Fairmont State Golfers - Making History

I thought ya'll would enjoy this. Here's an article from the Times West Virginian written by one of our dearest friends & FSU supporters, Duane Cochran:

WHEELING — The final four holes on the Jones Course at the Speidel Golf Club have been the undo­ing of a number of players and teams.That wasn’t the case Wednesday afternoon for Fairmont State University’s men’s golf team at the NCAA Division II East Regional.

The Falcons led by their top four scorers, Jon Burnside, Tyler Franklin, Will Gautreau and Justin Caroli, played the final four holes four-under par to wipe out a lead by Indiana (Pa.) University and win the 2007 East Regional Championship.

“Anyone can tell you the last four holes here are the toughest and we talked all morning on the range while we were preparing for the final round that as difficult as the final four holes are at Oglebay all we had to do was keep ourselves in the golf tournament and around the lead and the tourna­ment would be won or lost on the last four holes,” said FSU head coach Reid Amos.

“Boy did the guys respond to that. They absolutely won the golf tourna­ment on holes 15-18. As a team our four scorers played those final four holes four under which is just a phe­nomenal.”

The victory earns FSU its first-ever berth in the NCAA Division II Golf Championships which will be played May 22-25 at The Meadows in Allendale, Mich.

Fairmont State shot a 293 Wednesday and finished with a three­day total of 896 to better IUP by three strokes. The Crimson Hawks, who lost a two-shot lead on the final three holes, finished with an 899.The University of Charleston, which led the first two rounds, fell to third Wednesday and ended up with a 906. Ohio Valley placed fourth with a 913 and was fol­lowed by Millersville (915), Concord (922), Clarion (928) and West Liberty (931).

FSU’s Gautreau, a junior from Niagara, Ontario, tied for medalist honors in the tourna­ment with the University of Charleston’s Michael Todd. Both finished with eight-over par 221s.

“We had four guys play great in this tournament, but Will was the MVP for us in this one,” said Amos. “He got himself into the argument quickly on the second day and he just played so steadily for us after that. He made a big, big difference in the outcome for us.”Gautreau shot an opening­round 78, but followed that with a one-under 71 Tuesday and a two-over 73 Wednesday.

“This is absolutely unbeliev­able,” said Gautreau. “I’ve never experienced anything quite like this. Just before the second round I don’t know what it was or why, but my knees were shak­ing and I was real nervous. I walked out there today as the lone leader going into the round and I’ve never been so pumped up in my life. I could not wait to play. I had no nerves whatsoever the whole round.

“When I finished my round today I had no idea where any­body was at, which is some­what strange because usually we have a good idea what the other guys on the team are doing. When I made my last par on 18 I walked off the green and everyone was dying to know my score. When I told them I saw everyone giving each other hugs and high-fives and I knew we had won it. What a feeling.”

FSU’s top four players all fin­ished among the top 11 in the tournament.Senior Jon Burnside shot a 74 Wednesday and finished with a three-day total of 224 to tie for fifth place overall. Senior Tyler Franklin also carded a 74 yester­day and finished with a 225 to end up in a tie for ninth place.

Junior Justin Caroli had the low round of the day for FSU Wednesday with a 72. He fin­ished with a 226 to tie for 11th place overall. Sophomore Zack Rudy ended up with an 83 Wednesday and a 255 for the tournament which allowed him to place 45th.

“We knew what we had to do up here,” said Burnside, who is from Fairmont. “We’ve been in this type of situation before and we just told ourselves after the first day that we needed to shoot two good rounds because we were up against a lot of good teams. We felt good. We just took it to the course, played awesome as a team and every­thing worked out for us.

“As soon as it was over today I looked at Tyler, who I’ve been with for four years here, and we just knew without saying that we had accomplished one of our main goals for this season. We wanted a chance to compete in the national tournament and it’s an awesome feeling right now knowing that we won a regional tournament and we’re going to get that chance that we’ve worked very hard for.”

Franklin, who is from Ripley, says this accomplishment is the best of his young golfing career. “When we saw the scores everyone was just hooping and hollering,” said Franklin. “It’s really kind of hard to describe the feeling. This is by far the biggest accomplishment of my career. To be a part of a team like the one we have, to win a regional tour­nament and have the opportunity to play in the school’s first NCAA national tournament with great players from all over the world is like a dream come true for me and for all of us. This is what we wanted.

“We communicate so well as a team and up here we talked with each other and with our coaches about strategy and how to approach difficult holes and things like that and it really paid off for us. We played well and like a basketball team when one guy starts playing well the rest of us feed off of that and tend to play well too. That’s what we needed to have happen in the final two rounds for us and that’s pretty much what hap­pened.”

Fairmont State - WINS!

I'm sooooo excited!!!! Haven't done much work today (and how is that different from other days, you may ask...)

Fairmont State won the NCAA DII Men's East Regional Golf Tournament at Olgebay! Horray! First time in school's history they will be making the trip to the finals (45th Annual - May 22-25, 2007 - The Meadows - Allendale, MI - hosted by Grand Valley State University!)

Needless to say, I am a bit partial - and who could blame me with such a hotty as the head coach. Yep, that's my Sweetness!

They are quite lucky to have Michael Walker as the assistant coach, too! Reid & Michael make a great pair!

T1 - Will Gautreau +8

T5 - Jon Burnside +11

T9 - Tyler Franklin +12

T11 - Justin Caroli +13

45 - Zack Rudy +42

Champagne is chilling...for a victory toast tonight! Woo Hoo! Congratulations guys!!!!! :-) I'm so proud of ALL of you!!!

Fairmont State Golfers

Reid is broadcasting the WVIAC baseball tournament...which is running a day late (no thanks to the folks at the host site - bless their little hearts for not busting out a freaking tarp to cover the field during a rain storm!) I'm anxiously watching the FS golfers scores getting posted on golfstats live. This is painful. (Not that I could do a darned thing if I were there to watch them live.) Good luck guys! I'm hoping to drive up tomorrow to surprise Reid (hoping he's not viewing this before he shuts down at the baseball tourney) and head up to Oglebay tomorrow...

E's 15 month check up

Sweetness was nearly in tears when I told him...

At Elizabeth's check-up (1 year, 3 months, 6 days):

She is 31-1/2" tall (85th percentile) &

23 lbs, 4 oz (60th percentile)

"She's gonna be tall! She got the Morton genes!"

Bored in Philly

I'm at the SAME Conference in Philly working a booth in the tradeshow. I don't know if I have ever been so bored! It sucks the monkey! No one is coming into the tradeshow portion of their conference. It's not just me working my booth, but all of the exhibitors are experiencing the same pains as me. Ugh! Serenity now...