BG staff member gets sacked

Sports information director has some fun in making video

6/26/2013
BY JOHN WAGNER
BLADE SPORTS WRITER

BOWLING GREEN — Dave Meyer, Bowling Green State University football sports information director, said it was something he wanted to do for several years.

“I’ve watched football players get hit, and I’ve always wanted to feel what it’s like,” he said.

Well, be careful what you wish for.

Last Thursday, Meyer’s wish came true as he stood in and took a punishing lick from senior Ted Ouellet, a 6-foot-3, 282-pound defensive tackle who received All-Mid-American Conference honors last season.

Ouellet said Meyer asked him if he wanted to deliver the hit, and the native of Sherborn, Mass., didn’t take much convincing.

“I said, ‘yeah’ right away,” Ouellet said. “I didn’t get any reps in spring ball, so I was thinking my first hit of this year was going to be a pretty good one.”

Meyer, 34, who is 6-1 and 190 pounds, was in full football gear, including a helmet that had “O-neg” — presumably Meyer’s blood type — in tape where practice players normally have their name.

Ouellet and Meyer used a walk-through to coordinate the tackle, as well to spot the multiple camera angles on the hit.

“In the walk-through, Ted told me he was going to hit me in the chest with his face mask,” Meyer said. “But when he hit me, I made a mistake: I pulled my right arm up to my chest.

“He pinned my arm to my body with his face mask. I thought he had broken my arm.”

There was no broken arm, but Meyer didn’t escape harm. As of Tuesday his wrist was still bruised, he woke up Friday with a stiff neck, and on Saturday a bruise appeared on his sternum.

Meyer should consider himself lucky Ouellet said that wasn’t his best shot.

“Personally I was disappointed with the hit,” Ouellet said. “I wasn’t able to push off on my last step. I wasn’t able to build up a full head of steam.”

Bowling Green worked up a video for the school’s athletics Web site Friday. Then things got crazy: Meyer said the video had received more than 40,000 views as of Tuesday, roughly 100 times more than a typical summer post, and that the number was climbing so rapidly that the total had the potential to double by day’s end.

What did Meyer learn from the hit?

“It’s impossible to put football gear on. I needed the help of six different people to get everything on,” he said. “And I thought I wasn’t a Division I athlete, but this confirmed it.

“From now on, I’ll just enjoy the games up in the press box.”

The video, which was shown Tuesday on ESPN2 on College Football Live, can be also be viewed on toledoblade.com.

NUSSEIBEH ADDED: Sahar Nusseibeh has been named as an assistant coach for the BG women’s basketball team.

Nusseibeh spent the last two seasons at Holy Cross, where she helped the Crusaders win a total of 37 games and reach the championship game of the Patriot League tournament both seasons. A native of North Canton, Ohio, she spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at Cincinnati. She also has had internships with the Atlanta Dream and Washington Mystics of the WNBA and worked with USA Basketball.

Nusseibeh played at American University from 2005-09. She was named to the Patriot League’s all-rookie team in 2006 and helped the Eagles win regular-season conference titles in 2007-08 and 2008-09.

“I am thrilled to announce that Sahar Nusseibeh will be joining the women’s basketball staff,” BG coach Jennifer Roos said. “Sahar is extremely motivated and passionate about coaching. She will be an excellent mentor for our student-athletes and an exceptional recruiter.”

Nusseibeh’s hiring completes the staff with returning assistant Jesse Fleming, newly hired assistant Jacey Brooks, and director of operations Monique Rosati.

PLEGER PLACES: BG sophomore Brooke Pleger finished 11th in the hammer throw at the U.S. outdoor track and field championships held in Des Moines last weekend.

Pleger’s best throw went 208 feet, 9 inches and was less than three feet shy of qualifying for the finals.

The only collegiate thrower to finish in front of Pleger was Arizona State’s Chelsea Cassulo, who placed sixth at 223-11.

Contact John Wagner at: jwagner@theblade.com, 419-724-6481 or on Twitter @jwagnerblade.