Gordon Sports Newsletter

The Super Bowl Experience

coachjoeg — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 04:39:16 +0000

The Super Bowl Experience arms the Wild Cats with more insight going forward into next season. CONGRATULATIONS to the RAZORBACKS for playing tough ball & seizing the championship without stall. Respect!

29 – 16 was the final score
and the WILD CATS go back to the drawing board.

It was a great game – Each participant played with so much soul.
I’m Qui
That WILD CAT Loving she – wishing they had played at the Fiesta Bowl.

Another COLLEGIATE SUPER BOWL

coachjoeg — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 21:43:46 +0000

The Cotton Bowl in Dallas, TX

“Hey! Hey! We’re back in the COTTON BOWL again!” Says Coach Joe G, as he proudly encourages the skill and agility of the WILDCAT PLAYERS who are currently ranked #11 and up to challenge Arkansas Razorbacks (#7) at the Cotton Bowl tonight.

PARCELLS will be in the house, Willie the Wild Cat will be in the house, and Coach Joe G will be in the house and on the sidelines ‘towel swinging’ — no doubt.

I’m hammering out this entry from Phoenix, AZ – as I had hoped the Wildcats would come this way, but it wasn’t in the cards and I couldn’t get back to the DFW in time enough to snag a seat in the Cotton Bowl, so I’m happy to report that I’ll be watching the game via DIRECT TV in suite box -like seats.

In my effort to get ready for this game, I did a little research and came up with 3 published articles that have helped me get my mind in the proper frame before game time:

Arkansas vs. K-State in BCS-worthy Cotton Bowl

K-State QB Klein keeps getting up and scoring

Arkansas’ Wilson impresses in first go as starter

After a quick review – MY MIND IS READY. And you know what Coach Joe G says about the mind:

“One must have a tough mental approach…
The mind is in control of the body.
If you think you can, YOU WILL.“

Therefore, I have no doubt that each and every player knighted to grace the Cotton Bowl field on this day from the WILD CATS bench is ready to go and ready to sco’!

The game hasn’t started yet, but the crowds have already formed.
It’s #11 vs. #7 –> Let the WILD CATS sound the WINNING alarm.

Arkansas is ranked for their skills and charms – so we’re in for a treat.
Only one will win the COLLEGIATE SUPER BOWL and one will leave in defeat.

I’m as eager as the next gal to see who takes it home.
I’m tailgating for Kansas in Phoenix today & I am not alone.

There are 4 other fans with me, and we’re decked in purple too.
We’re KSUing out lound — like Willie the Wildcat’s known to do.

I’ve no door off the hinges to do push ups on – but tailgating the game is still fun,
I’m Qui
A fan of KSU – who’ll be posting a follow up column after the collegiate winner has won!

Periodical Perusing

coachjoeg — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 18:27:23 +0000

So I wake up to find a couple of emails from K-State Fans regarding a couple of magazine articles written about Coach Joe G. I am grateful for technology and emails, otherwise I don’t believe we would have the periodical prints that the fans were so kind to scan and attach to the emails for me.

PERIODICAL 1.

Purple get ready to roll...

Eighteen months ago, Bill Snyder stood in the locker room at Vanier Football Complex surrounded by histeam prior to taking the field for the spring game. The locker room was soundless, almost to the point that you could hear apin drop.

There was no jumping up and down. There was no shouting — a lack of enthusiasm existed in the locker room. Snyder, in his first year back as the Kansas State head coach, was caught off guard.

“The locker room — when you would expect after you get them ready to go out — you would expect everybody to be jumping up and down and getting excited about going to the field and it was just dead silence”. Snyder said, “I thought ‘wait a minute, I’m not accustomed to this — there’s an issue here.”

This is where Joe Gordon enters the picture. The former K-State cornerback, who played for the Wildcats from 1993-96, was named the Director of Recruiting Operations in 2009. Snyder pointed to the former All-American as someone who could help lift the spirit of the program. Thus far, he has been instrumental in transforming the enthusiasm of the team. CLICK HERE to finish reading “Joe gets us through stuff“…

PERIODICAL 2.
“Non-Stop ACTION” by: GoPowerCat.com

He's more than a coach

K-State recruiting coordinator Joe Gordon spreads energy to Wildcat.
“It’s a great day to get better.” Step through the glass-plated doors of the Kansas State Vanier football complex and you have a 50-50 shot at hearing the phrase being belted out, by a scampering athletic gentleman gliding over the building’s purple carpet with the pace of a remote control car.

If Joe Gordon has bad days, you’d never know it.

The Wildcats’ recruiting coordinator is an energy machine, a floating asteroid of optimism that doesn’t stal. Part of it, of course is the duties that come along with the job. Setting up flights, compiling contact lists and helping entertain recruits when they set foot on the K-State campus takes energy. So it’s a good thing the K-State player-turned-support staff member has plenty to spare. Transcribing a weeks worth of the 37-year old’s words would leave the exclamation point on a keyboard tattered.

It’s not an act. It’s simply who he is.
He’s not hard to locate on gameday, either.

It doesn’t take long to identify the sideline’s white, ever-swinging towel. Once you find that, a glance just below will reveal Gordon. He’s running, standing on benches, crouching down in a catcher’s position or hurdling a Gatorade cooler. For him, the cardio routine is called Saturday.

“I consider myself to be the guy that leads by example with my energy level,” Gordon said. “I try to rally the guys behind me. Enthusiasm is contagious.”

So is Gordon’s personality.
“Tell me something good, big guy,” he injects as he scoops up the phone for a short interview recently.

You can’t help but receive a small jolt when address you. Gordon is a walking static shock and he rarely goes unnoticed. CLICK HERE to read the remainder of the GoPower.com Column. It’s NON-STOP ACTION…

GOOD STUFF and a couple of GREAT READS,
made possible by fans & our transcribing deeds.

SUPPORT is Crucial

coachjoeg — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 14:21:59 +0000

We pride ourselves on yielding SUPPORT to those who need it – especially aspiring Student Athletes. So imagine our surprise when one of our academic/athletic middle school scholars approached us with short film reel that was recently shown on the big screen @ STUDIO MOVIE GRILL (Dallas, TX) at the Texas Black Film Festival last week. Not only did she create and co-write the less than 2-minute short, but she starred in it as well. Dequota has been a GORDON SPORTS Athlete for years, she’s an all Pre-AP Academic Honor Student and has been a Competition Cheerleader since the age of 8.

Hey! The children are our future and they are “researching their future” even more adamantly than we did. For instance, who knew what “THE CAUCUS” was when they were in middle school? You can boast all day that YOU KNEW — but the truth is Dequota’s short film was based off of FACTS. She was in line with her parents at the 2008 Caucus. As Dequota talked on her cell phone, she felt the onlooking pressure building – there were hundreds of adults in line just waiting for her to verbalize WHAT the Caucus is, (after all they’d been standing in line for hours upon hours to participate in – none sure WHAT it all meant). When Dequota concluded her call with “The Caucus…where you CAU-CUS at”… every adult within an earshot bursted out laughing at her conclusion and each one realized they were none the wiser.

Dequota knew she had to do something about this, so that her peers would not ever be on the spot like that when it’s their time to Caucus in the future – and out of that need, “THE CAUCUS” was born.

If you like it — we ask that you go to YOUTUBE and yield a show of SUPPORT by “LIKE” -ing the video or Positively “COMMENT”-ing: http://bit.ly/Caucus-shortfilm or at YouTube.com/ReelQui

Bill Bates & The Super Bowl Party

coachjoeg — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 00:19:02 +0000

I happened to catch an interesting interview this morning on Fox’s GOOD DAY morning show with Dallas Cowboys BILL BATES [#40]. Tim Ryan conducted the interview and it was pretty insightful as to where the Cowboys SUPER BOWL PARTY is going to be during next months Super Bowl Weekend.

Tim started out by saying:

TIM:
You know that guy: Bill bates [#40 Dallas Cowboys Player & Coach]. The Super Bowl is bringing celebrities and parties to town in the very near future.

So you have your wifes permission to be at the Super Bowl huh? Is Carmen Electra going to be there?

BILL BATES: I do have permission and yes – Carmen Electra will be there & the party is the night before the SUPER BOWL. Since the Cowboys are not in the Super Bowl we can’t have the big event that we used to have at the Ranch. The big pep rally. And there’s no reason why not really — but still we can party. We will party hardy the night before the Super Bowl @ The Embassy Suites up in Grapevine Outdoor World.

TIM: and it’s going to be for a great cause in fact. You guys have picked several different organizations to help out.

BILL: Several. yes the gridiron greats – Mike Ditka…taking care of the older NFL football players…and I’m now one of the older ones, so..and that’s the way it goes, and we’ve got WEDNESDAY CHILD, Leanne Novacecks Memorial — and of course Jay’s gonna be there representing his wifes foundation. It’s going to be great.

TIM: The Ronald Mc Donald House, Habitat for Humanity – terrific orgainizations,

BILL: Right – it’s going to be a great time, I hope everyone comes out and enjoy themselves the night before the Super Bowl…even though the cowboys aren’t in it…

TIM: well..and… the super bowl is a huge deal. I think a lot of us are going to be a little bit surprised by seeing what an enormous deal it is and all of the activities that are going on around town.

BILL: All week long. We will be (the guys) on the road and having a blast.

TIM: A lot of people are asking these days, what are you up to these days. I just found out — You have how many in college all at once?

BILL: That’s the painful thing — I’ve got 4 in college at the same time. You know the triplets are now 21. Does that make you feel old? We’ve got the gray (around the goatee)… You’ve got a 21 year old too, right?

TIM:Yes and one a couple of years older than that – so I feel your pain. One of the things I think we haven’t talked about quite enough. I saw a commercial the other day that said, “Lets be good hosts”, because there’s going to be a lot people in town that will be completely lost. And we want to put the best face on Texas.

BILL: Yes we do. Having a party like the one we’re having the night before the game is going to be a blast. Everybody go to www.SuperBowlDallas.org and that will take you to the JOSE FELICIANO’s website. We’re going to have fun we might as well. If we’re not going to be in the Super Bowl, we might as well enjoy our time together. What if the New York people come…

TIM: I know. We’ll take their money too. I mean this is a big deal and big price to admission. It’s $1000 donation but tax deductible.

BILL: Well of course all of the money goes straight to the foundation – so that’s what’s exciting. The people need that right now.

TIM: Well absolutely once again what is being billed as THE BEST PARTY IN TEXAS is the night before the Super Bowl.

Here are the links Bill dropped on ya about the party – if you should feel like balling:

www.SuperBowlDallas.org

JOSE FELICIANO’s website

Dallas Cowboys BILL BATES [#40]

Leanne Novacecks Memorial

We’re off to the PINSTRIPE BOWL

coachjoeg — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 21:13:16 +0000

The 1st Annual PINSTRIPE BOWL at Yankee Stadium kicks off on December 30th, 2010 (tomorrow). Peep the AP Report:

AP–The first ever New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium features a highly intriguing matchup between Syracuse of the Big East and the Big 12′s Kansas State. Both teams will descend upon New York City for the Dec. 30 contest, eager to sketch their colors on what should become a storied bowl tradition.
The two universities first met at the Fiesta Bowl in 1997, when Kansas State proceeded to a comfortable, 35-18 victory. They then combated again at the Insight.com bowl in 2001, where Syracuse returned the favor, 26-3. Yankee Stadium would seem the perfect place for Syracuse-Kansas State III, an Ali-Frazier-like rubber match pitting two evenly matched squads, bent on coming away triumphant.

Syracuse earned its way to the Pinstripe Bowl with a fourth-place finish in the Big East, capping a 4-3 conference record and a 7-5 record overall. The Orange’s most impressive victory came on Oct. 23, when they used field goals and turnovers to stun West Virginia, 19-14, in Morgantown. Towards the end, Syracuse scuffled a bit, closing the season with home losses to Connecticut and Boston College, but conference wins over South Florida, Cincinnati, Rutgers and the aforementioned West Virginia secured them this well-deserved spot.

Kansas State also finished with 7-5, though only three of those were conference wins. The Big 12 was consistently one of the better conferences in college football, with standout seasons from Nebraska, Oklahoma, Missouri and Oklahoma State. The Wildcats registered wins against Iowa State, its archrival Kansas – a 59-7 drubbing – and Texas. Their résumé is also boosted by a solid out-of-conference win over UCLA. Ultimately, Kansas State finished third place in the Big 12 North and seventh overall. That was good enough to reserve a date in New York City.

With Syracuse and Kansas State so evenly matched, the game will likely come down to an old-fashioned battle in the trenches: Can Syracuse stop Kansas State’s vaunted rushing attack?

[continue the AP write up HERE].

FALL’ing for a SCHOLARSHIP

coachjoeg — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 22:06:33 +0000

Hey! Hey! This Fall Season brings with it more information about financing your collegiate dreams. I was blessed to have a full scholastic ride at KSU upon graduating from high school in Arlington, TX. Bill Snyder was hugely instrumental in my thought process to success. Bill has constantly reminded me that in order to be successful in any venture, “You have to have a plan”. So my question to The Student Athlete is: “Do you have a plan”?

What kind of PLAN have you in place to pay for your college?

I was watching a CNN Program Soledad O’Brien hosted: “BLACK IN AMERICA: ALMIGHTY DEBT” and I was drawn into the segment about a young man who wanted to go to college. He’s a Jamaican descendant living with his single mother. His grades were average, but his drive was strong. His mentor, (Rev. Soaries) helped out tremendously in counseling him and facilitating supportive dialogue to interested parties that could help the prospective student get into college. It worked. He got into the school of his choice with a little bit of hard work, perseverance and a plan. The plan was to work a job during his college years to help alleviate the debt that awaits most graduates (to their financial dismay) ready to be repaid in just 6 months after graduation.

A part time/full time job is surely instrumental in helping to pay your way through college. It also helps to build business skills and undoubtedly sharpen your financial skills and the understanding of money. Post the new college students 1st year, he will be in an average $16K worth of debt. Multiply that times 4 or 5 and you’ll see why President Obama just payed off his own student loan, prior to be coming president. Unfortunately it can take that long to pay off your educational debts. It’s an investment worth it’s weight – but all the same, it’s debt. Collegiate debts can greatly be off set by scholarships. And even with the biggest scholarship dollars, it’s not uncommon to have a left over balance. So let’s plan to cover as much collegiate debt before hand, so that in the end/ post graduation our bottom line education bill will at a doable low.

It’s never too early to start banking collegiate scholarship money. If there is a sport, or academic competition you can compete in that will yield you scholarship dollars for your future education – JUMP ON IT! Apply for it and apply yourself to do whatever you have to do to seize those dollars.

So where do you start? How about here: SCHOLARSHIPS.com to see what scholarships may be available to you. Also check out UPROMISE.com to turn everyday activities into scholarship money. Gordon Sports is not associated or affiliated with any of the forementioned sites, yet they are free sites yielding free and useful information for The Student Athlete (as well as any student body).

So no matter what grade you’re in – if you know you want to go to college: YOU SHOULD! Don’t let financial challenges grey cloud your future. Reach out to a mentor, research online and help yourself to a plethora of programs that are in place to help you do just that. Remember you can’t hit a home run, if you don’t swing at the ball [actually that's a quote from my 8 year old son-- he GETS IT.]

FALL is upon us as is new information to afford a better FUTURE. I look forward to seeing you go forward and ACHIEVE your DREAMS.
I’m Coach Joe G
The Official Teammate of Todays Student Athlete and I’ve got your back…

Talking SPORTS — Literally

coachjoeg — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 18:25:57 +0000

I’m always patting Coach Joe G on his back for his global approach to networking and staying connected. It always amazes me that at the end of his, (what seems a 24hr) work day, he has time to surf the online vibes for more research and enlightenment. I’m online 24/7 and it is a commitment to stay up on late breaking news and information. A commitment that I love indulging in, but then again, I’m not on the Coaching Staff of one of the baddest BIG 12 Football Teams.

Joe G is an inspiration across the board. I don’t own a football, but who can resist the energy that Coach Joe G emits when he enters into a room yelling “Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” or “Hey! Hey! It’s a great day to get better”? I know I’m not alone in my reactions, because just today I found the most awesome article on GoPowerCat.com – written by D. Scott Fritchen. Scott Talks SPORTS – Literally, and his point of view on the passion of Coach Joe G rallying his towel in helicopter fashion is captivating and fire igniting. Check out what he had to say about the Purple and White Cat that “didn’t return home to lose”.

“Gordon returns Home with PURPLE PASSION“.
(click the active link, or cut & paste this link:

http://kansasstate.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1134818)

I’m Qui
a Fan of KSU and Coach Joe G
whose digging D. Scott Fritchen– LITERALLY. (-:

KSU FAMILY RENUNION WEEKEND

coachjoeg — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:05:34 +0000

[KStateSports.com] MANHATTAN, Kan. — After a season-opening record crowd of over 50,000 took part in the inaugural K-State Family Reunion last season, Wildcat fans are closing in on making another national statement as less than 3,500 tickets remain for the September 4 matchup with UCLA.

We have another opportunity on September 4 to showcase Kansas State University and show the entire country the passion and loyalty of Wildcat Nation, said Athletics Director John Currie. Coach Snyder and our student-athletes are very appreciative of our fans and need their support, not only for one of the most exciting season-opening matchups in recent history against UCLA, but all season long.

Fans can visit www.k-statefamilyreunion.com for more information regarding tickets to the 2:30 p.m., nationally-televised game against UCLA. They may also call 1-800-221-CATS or stop by the ticket office in Bramlage Coliseum to purchase tickets to the opener for as little as $35 or tickets for all six exciting home contests.

K-Staters are encouraged to help spread the message about the K-State Family Reunion as yard signs declaring I am a proud member of the K-State Family and the Big 12 Conference will be available for all fans.
Continue to be informed of the KSU FAMILY REUNION 411 Here: http://www.kstatesports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/080910aaa.html

The Future pushes History Forward

coachjoeg — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 15:25:34 +0000

Once again we have the pleasure of highlighting two more OUTSTANDING GT04 STUDENT ATHLETES with a plethora of talents that exceed the sports arena.

Xavier and Isaiah are brothers excelling in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.

They’re QUICK on and off of the playing field. Gordon Sports is honored to be a part of their positive roots and fruitful growth. Quoting James Baldwin, Dr. Cornel West and other historical figures are more than just ‘delivered speeches’ to these young men. According to them, thier exhibition of quotes are ‘words to live by’.

We concur. We love our History and are definitely looking forward to our Future as it thrives in the lives of the many youth who positively parallel Xavier and Isaiah.

KUDOS & Big Ups to the YOUTH. Without them …there is no future.