08-05-2008, 08:16 AM
Viewpoint: Storm ends NIU's first fall practice early
![[Image: sports01_thumb.jpg]](http://daily-chronicle.com/content/articles/2008/08/05/sports/sports01_thumb.jpg)
Story Photoy
Wide receiver Preston Williams makes a catch as Evans Adonis looks on during during NIU footballs’ first practice Monday at Brigham Field in Huskie Stadium. Just minutes after practice began, players and coaches headed into the locker rooms in the Yordon Center because of tornado warnings. EMILY OLSON | eolson@daily-chronicle.com
*
By John Sahly - jsahly@daily-chronicle.com
The lights went out at Huskie Stadium.
And they went out in the Northern Illinois football locker room, too. At least for a few seconds.
The only voice in the darkness was that of coach Jerry Kill, who was right in the middle of a point during a 30-minute speech about overcoming adversity.
“There we go!” Kill said.
It was as if he wanted the brief power outage to happen, just because it could drive home the point to his players.
The generators at the Yordon Center kicked on and Kill didn't miss a beat, launching - if it's possible to launch during a speech, Kill does it - into a story about how he had a team that waited two hours before a game started against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
I was all ready to report on the first day of NIU practice and tell you who was running with the No. 1 team on offense and defense, how the guys who were hurt during spring ball looked and which of the new players came out strong.
The weather, as you probably know by now, had other ideas. Especially when it started raining sideways and some of the laundry bins started to run their own version of the 40-yard dash. (I had the bin on the left clocked at 5.78 seconds, so Kill's going to need to whip it into shape before the end of August.)
Here's what my notebook looked like after all of six minutes of practice:
NIU offense running drills against (wide receivers coach) P.J. Fleck and three other coaches. Dan Nicholson running with the No. 1 offense. No sign of the defense on the field yet.
That's it.
That's when everyone at the practice was told that they wouldn't be going to their cars and would instead be taking shelter in a tornado shelter, which happened to double as the locker room.
“I'm disappointed, I wanted to play,” running back Justin Anderson said to no one in particular while he walked in with his teammates.
It's where we stayed until the tornado warning passed. While we were there, Kill spoke about taking something positive out of Monday night.
He had his players stand up in front of everyone and tell them something about a teammate at the same position. Players did meet with coaches after the tornado warning ended. Some of the position groups did what they could by running drills in the hallways of the Yordon Center.
“I guess we meet pretty good,” Kill said after practice was called. “It's hard on the players because they're the ones that get out there and it's frustrating for them.”
Still, Kill knows that missing out on even one practice sets NIU back a day, despite the positives gleaned from Monday night's storm.
“It puts you behind already,” Kill said. “We certainly can't afford to miss many practices.”
Daily Chronicle sports reporter John Sahly can be reached at jsahly@daily-chronicle.com
http://daily-chronicle.com/articles/2008...orts01.txt
Story Photoy
Wide receiver Preston Williams makes a catch as Evans Adonis looks on during during NIU footballs’ first practice Monday at Brigham Field in Huskie Stadium. Just minutes after practice began, players and coaches headed into the locker rooms in the Yordon Center because of tornado warnings. EMILY OLSON | eolson@daily-chronicle.com
*
By John Sahly - jsahly@daily-chronicle.com
The lights went out at Huskie Stadium.
And they went out in the Northern Illinois football locker room, too. At least for a few seconds.
The only voice in the darkness was that of coach Jerry Kill, who was right in the middle of a point during a 30-minute speech about overcoming adversity.
“There we go!” Kill said.
It was as if he wanted the brief power outage to happen, just because it could drive home the point to his players.
The generators at the Yordon Center kicked on and Kill didn't miss a beat, launching - if it's possible to launch during a speech, Kill does it - into a story about how he had a team that waited two hours before a game started against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
I was all ready to report on the first day of NIU practice and tell you who was running with the No. 1 team on offense and defense, how the guys who were hurt during spring ball looked and which of the new players came out strong.
The weather, as you probably know by now, had other ideas. Especially when it started raining sideways and some of the laundry bins started to run their own version of the 40-yard dash. (I had the bin on the left clocked at 5.78 seconds, so Kill's going to need to whip it into shape before the end of August.)
Here's what my notebook looked like after all of six minutes of practice:
NIU offense running drills against (wide receivers coach) P.J. Fleck and three other coaches. Dan Nicholson running with the No. 1 offense. No sign of the defense on the field yet.
That's it.
That's when everyone at the practice was told that they wouldn't be going to their cars and would instead be taking shelter in a tornado shelter, which happened to double as the locker room.
“I'm disappointed, I wanted to play,” running back Justin Anderson said to no one in particular while he walked in with his teammates.
It's where we stayed until the tornado warning passed. While we were there, Kill spoke about taking something positive out of Monday night.
He had his players stand up in front of everyone and tell them something about a teammate at the same position. Players did meet with coaches after the tornado warning ended. Some of the position groups did what they could by running drills in the hallways of the Yordon Center.
“I guess we meet pretty good,” Kill said after practice was called. “It's hard on the players because they're the ones that get out there and it's frustrating for them.”
Still, Kill knows that missing out on even one practice sets NIU back a day, despite the positives gleaned from Monday night's storm.
“It puts you behind already,” Kill said. “We certainly can't afford to miss many practices.”
Daily Chronicle sports reporter John Sahly can be reached at jsahly@daily-chronicle.com
http://daily-chronicle.com/articles/2008...orts01.txt