From The Dawg Pound 8-28-08
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Saluki Football scrimmage and tag day set for Thursday August 28. Saluki fans can get a good look at the 2008 football team and select season ticket seats Thursday August 28 at 5:30 p.m. The event will take place at McAndrew Stadium at SIU and admission is absolutely FREE.
There will be a pre-game tailgate at the stadium beginning at 5:30 p.m. followed by the traditional Saluki walk to the stadium from the locker room in Lingle Hall at 6:15 p.m. The scrimmage will start at 7 p.m. Immediately after the conclusion of the scrimmage fans can meet and greet the players and coaches in an autograph session. There will be FREE posters and schedule cards for everyone. All available seats for sale will be tagged and interested fans can secure their reserved season tickets that evening.
New SIU Football Coach is set for start of his first season as a Saluki. Dale Lennon, new SIU head Football Coach, is set to start the 2008 season. He and other assistants began practices last week and all indications are that the Salukis are very excited and committed this year.
Lennon states that the team is working to maintain SIU's status as a Football Championship Subdivision powerhouse. There remain several questions on offense with the loss of many key players to graduation, but the defense seems solid with six returning starters. James Cloud, Brandin Jordan and Chauncey Mixon are all preseason All-Missouri Valley Conference linebackers. All three special teams specialists are back including punter Scott Ravanesi, kicker Kyle Dougherty and long snapper Travis Bloomfield. SIU opens at home Sept. 6 against Hampton. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.
Saluki Volleyball returns six starters and libero for 2008. Last year the SIU Volleyball Team had their best finish in five years and made the MVC Tournament for the first time since 2002. With six returning starters and the returning libero, Head Coach, Brenda Winkeler is confident that the 2008 Salukis will have the potential to accomplish good things again. Team chemistry is good and experience is high. The Dawgs open the season August 29 at the Niagara Tournament against Sacred Heart. This year SIU will host 13 matches beginning with the Saluki Invitational against Western Illinois Fri. September 12.
Saluki Sports Network expands to St. Louis and Sparta. Beginning in 2008-09 saluki sports will now be heard on eight radio networks including KSLG 1380 AM in St. Louis and WHCO 1230 AM in Sparta. KSLG is an ESPN Radio affiliate and WHCO is locally owned and operated.
Both stations will carry every SIU football game and all men's basketball games. Other members of the Saluki network include WVZA 92.7 FM in Carbondale, WRXX 95.3 FM in Centralia, WEBQ 102.3 FM in Eldorado/Harrisburg, WRUL 97.3 FM in Carmi, KYRX 97.3 FM in Cape Girardeau and WMOK 920 AM Metropolis/Paducah. With this lineup, fans in the entire southern region should be able to hear Saluki sports, including Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois.
Single-game football tickets now on sale at SIU. The general public can now get single-game tickets for saluki Football. High demand games so far include Family Weekend vs. Northern Iowa September 27 and the Homecoming game October 11 against Western Illinois. Adult single-game tickets cost $19 while youth tickets are $8. Adult general admission tickets for Hampton, Western Illinois, North Dakota and South Dakota are available for only $15.00. Call 618-453-2000. Group sales can be arranged by calling 618-453-5153.
Men's Basketball set to play three-game trip in Canada over Labor Day weekend. The Saluki Men's Basketball Team will travel to Windsor Canada August 30-September 1 over Labor Day weekend. Once every four years the NCAA allows teams to play in a foreign country.
The last time SIU traveled abroad was 2003 when Matt Painter took the Dawgs to Europe for a six-game stint. Head Coach, Chris Lowery, states that with five freshmen on the 2008-09 squad, he hopes the trip- will help get them off to a better introduction to the Saluki system. SIU will play the University of Windsor Aug. 30 at 7 p.m. and again on Sept. 1 at 11 a.m. In between, the Salukis will play Western Ontario Aug. 31 at 11 a.m. The team will be allowed to practice 10 times prior to the trip beginning on the first day of classes Aug. 18.