MILITARY BOWL NOTES
20 BGSU football players, others sing Christmas carols, deliver gifts to Washington, D.C. children's hospital
12/26/2012WASHINGTON — The Bowling Green State University football team had an eye-opening experience Christmas morning.
A total of 20 Falcons — the team’s captains and seniors, along with juniors Jordan Hopgood and Deejay White — visited the HSC Pediatric Center. The group was joined by coach Dave Clawson, the BG cheerleaders, Freddie Falcon, and Santa Claus in singing Christmas carols and giving gifts to some of the patients at the hospital.
“We were just so blessed to come here and be able to talk to these kids,” junior quarterback Matt Schilz said. “It was an honor to come here and help make somebody’s day.
“I was happy to be here, hand out presents — and just talk to them.”
HSC Pediatric Center, formerly known as The Hospital for Sick Children, is the lone hospital in the D.C. area dedicated exclusively to providing care for children up to age 21. The hospital focuses on health care for children with special needs and complex medical problems.
“They were happy to see us — it was very humbling,” Schilz said of the visit he and his teammates had with the young patients. “It was eye-opening to see them having Christmas by themselves.
“We were there to cheer them up, so it was an honor to be here and make their day.”
SENN SIGNED: Paul Senn, a linebacker from Riverside City College in Riverside, Calif., last week signed a national letter of intent to join the Bowling Green football team.
The 6-foot-1, 230-pound Senn will enter school at the start of spring semester in January. He will have two years of eligibility remaining.
Senn originally signed with New Mexico State out of Norco High School in Norco, Calif., in 2009. Senn redshirted with the Aggies, then transferred to Riverside City College. After making 13 tackles in nine games for the Tigers in 2010, he played in 11 games for Riverside last season and finished with 63 tackles, including 45 solo stops, and added eight tackles for loss.
Senn was named second team on the All-Southern California Football Association National Division Central Conference team.
“With Dwayne Woods graduating, we wanted to make sure we have depth at linebacker,” Clawson said. “We have some guys coming back that we are excited about, but we just wanted to throw an older player into the mix. Part of it is Jhilil-Nashid Croley, a player we recruited as a linebacker, is going to end up playing defensive end for us.
“We had a little bit of a hole [at linebacker] in terms of depth, and so we're very excited about Paul. “Coach [Clark] Lea had a little history with him, having looked at him while [coach] was at UCLA. We liked his film and really enjoyed him on his visit here.”
TODAY’S SCHEDULE: After a Christmas Day practice that was closed to the media shortly after it started, the Falcons will have a quiet day prior to Thursday’s Military Bowl, which kicks off at 3 p.m. at RFK Stadium and will be televised by ESPN.
Today there will be a team luncheon starting at noon, followed by a closed practice in the afternoon. Most of the practice will take place at St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes School, BG’s home facility during bowl week, but the team also will have a walk-through at RFK Stadium.
BOWL TRIVIA: Among those expected to be at Thursday’s game are the Hogettes, a group of football fans who in the 1980s wore dresses, fancy hats and pig snouts to Redskins games in honor of The Hogs, the name for Washington’s offensive line during that period.
The Hogettes who will appear at the game include HogEd (Eddie Souder), Stoneyette (Bill Stoner), Suziette (Susan Gundling), and Big Mac (Mike McCartney).