Falcons to play on TV again
10/19/2004BOWLING GREEN - The Bowling Green football team's home game Nov. 6 against Western Michigan has been selected as the Mid-American Conference game of the week, the league announced yesterday.
The contest, originally scheduled to start at 4 p.m., instead will kick off at 1 p.m. from Perry Stadium.
The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Net.
The game against the Broncos will be the third of four Falcon contests to be televised nationally this season. BG's game at Toledo on Tuesday, Nov. 23 will be aired on ESPN2, while Bowling Green's games at Oklahoma and Northern Illinois also were televised.
LANE WINS AWARD: Bowling Green kickoff returner B.J. Lane was named the MAC West Division special teams player of the week.
Lane returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown Saturday in the Falcons' 51-13 victory over Ball State at Perry Stadium.
That return tied for the second-longest kickoff return in school history.
Lane's return was BG's first touchdown on a kickoff return since Janssen Patton returned an onside kick 42 yards against Temple in 2001.
The last time a Falcon returned a "conventional" kickoff for a touchdown before Lane was in 1997, when Leon Weathersby set a school and Perry Stadium record with a 94-yard return against Western Michigan.
Lane ranks third among Division I-A players in kickoff returns, having returned eight kicks for 269 yards for an average of 33.6 yards per return.
That average also leads the MAC.
DAKICH ADDS TO STAFF: Men's basketball coach Dan Dakich announced two additions to his coaching staff. Marty Richter has been promoted to an assistant coach position, while John Marion was named as the team's administrative assistant.
This season will be Richter's second as a member of Dakich's staff. Last year Richter served as an administrative assistant. He played and coached at Simpson College and also coached at South Dakota.
Last year Marion was an assistant coach at James Madison. A native of New Orleans, Marion also has coached at Wingate, Chowan and Lee Junior College.
FREEMAN JOINS FALCONS: Freshman Alvin Freeman, a 6-6 forward from Stone Mountain, Ga., has joined the BG men's basketball team as a walk-on.
Freeman gives the Falcons 13 players on the roster. That total includes eight lettermen - including three starters - from last season's team, which finished 14-17 overall and 8-10 in the MAC.
VAN DE WALLE HONORED: BG volleyball coach Denise Van De Walle and the rest of the USA women's sitting volleyball team were honored at the White House yesterday.
Van De Walle led the team to a bronze medal at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens in September.
Contact John Wagner at:
jwagner@theblade.com
or 419-724-6481.