2012 Scoreboard Video places in "Best of NACMA".

Very cool news as our Linfield Football 2012 Scoreboard Intro video took home Bronze in Group III for the Video Board Segment during the annual "Best Of NACMA" awards.  The National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators recognizes NCAA and NAIA members over 13 categories of promotional performance during their annual convention and Linfield Football has been fortunate enough to be recognized 4 times over the past fives years for our annual Scoreboard Introduction video (2012 - Gold, 2010 - Silver, 2009 - Bronze).  This past year's video finished behind two hockey programs (UMass-Lowell & Minnesota State-Mankato) who produced fantastic home ice clips for their respective programs.

The Scoreboard Video is a love of mine to work on.  It's a tremendous collaboration between the current players on the team, the football staff (Mack & Coach Vaughan for help in getting the gear logistics in order),  Kelly Bird and the S.I.D's office support, my wife's (Kelly Carlson) always on target feedback, and the golden voice of retired communications professor and the best darn Public Address Announcer in all of college football, Craig Singletary.

I'm still working on a rough draft of the 2013 Scoreboard Intro but I hope it will be once again ready to fire up the 'Catdome crowd this fall.  Go 'Cats!

Nobody's going to catch the Freight Train

A throwback clip from the 'Cats 1996 as Linfield's Tramaine Payne busts a 72-yard TD up on the Hill vs Lewis & Clark. Train still lives in the McMinnville area and is just a great man. You'll find him just about every home game posted up in the North End Zone pulling for his 'Cats.

I love it!!!!

Drew Fisher was not only an 2x All-American but he led a rather fired up post game breakdown. This one from 2009 isn't an exception.
We're posting more cool clips like this up on our Facebook page on the daily. Be sure to come over and give us a like to see more 'Catdome gold like this.

2012 Linfield vs Willamette Game Highlights

Our video of the week features the 'Cats 45-10 victory over NWC opponent Willamette during the 'Cats highly successful 2012 season. The victory was a key win as it put Linfield in the driver's seat for the 2012 NWC title and NCAA automatic playoff bid. Linfield defense was suffocating that game allowing only 5 Willamette first downs, and 108 yards of total offense on the day.  

While the game was tied 10-10 at half it was only a matter of time before the 'Cats broke this game open and it didn't take long in the 2nd half for that to happen as Linfield posted 21 points in a 3-minute span in the 3rd quarter to break open the game.  I think this snapshot of the stats below tells the story of this game played out.

 The win was Linfield's 4th consecutive over Willamette and 12th in the last 14 seasons.  2012 was the first of a new look Willamette team as Mark Speckman and his fly offense moved on to Menlo after the 2011 season.  The Bearcats moved to a pass first attack that saw good success during the season but failed during their key two contests of the year (Linfield & PLU). 

Willamette was senior heavy with regards to their talent in 2012.  2013 will be an interesting year down in Salem as I'm curious to see how their program responds to a big talent turnover and another new offensive coordinator (Their 1st year OC from 2012 left after the season).  The Bearcats should be in the mix in the NWC but my early view on them is on the 2nd tier behind Linfield and PLU.

Catdomealumni is now swinging on vine.

O.K. for a 1st vine.

Social Media Update

I'm very excited to announce some recent changes in how to follow Linfield College Football via Social Media.  As many of you know Catdomealumni.com has been using Blogger, Facebook, Twitter, and others for a considerable amount of time.  Over this time, this blog has become the main landing point for our fans and others to keep up with the 'Catdome.  The main site (catdomealumni.com), in reality, is a video vault and comes in a distant second to the blog and even our other social media platforms (Twitter/Facebook).  I think that's great and as media vehicles evolve so will we in terms of how we deliver the 'Catdome.

However, there are even more recent changes that will bring you even closer to the program.  The Linfield coaching staff started an official Facebook page this spring and about two weeks ago created an official program Twitter account.  Both of these accounts are owned and ran by the 'Cats coaching staff and that's a great thing.  I have a full-time job (no, I really do) and can only get you so close to the daily happenings with the program.

With the creation of the program's Facebook and Twitter pages you'll be able to go even deeper into the 'Catdome and be provided insight, images, and video that I can't come near to providing to our fans.  If you want even MORE Linfield football it would be wise to like and follow these accounts now.

Linfield Football Social Media Links:

Linfield College Football Facebook Page
Linfield College Twitter 

Final team meeting before the summer. Ready to put in work this summer & 2013 #breaktobreakfamilytofinish #catdome pic.twitter.com/F84MZaKqWq

— Linfield Football (@Linfield_CatsFB) May 29, 2013

As far as Catdomealumni.com goes we've added one new addition...Instagram.  I've been fighting it for a few years now because I didn't want something else to burn hours up, but the platform is simple and quick to use and should be a blast for those that follow.

Also, if you subscribe to our YouTube page you'll get a notification the instant I upload a video to the account.  

Catdomealumni.com Social Media Links: 

Catdomealumni Facebook Page
Catdomealumni Twitter
Catdomealumni Instagram
Catdomealumni YouTube Page

2012 Linfield vs Lewis & Clark Game Highlight

Our video of the week is back after a few weeks off between our poster project, spring ball video, and for WC11 to take a short break.  This weeks game highlight features the 'Cats short road trip up to the hill to face Northwest Conference member Lewis & Clark College.  The results of this game is what I expected it to be as the 'Cats dominated from the opening kickoff and did what they wanted to the Pioneers.  What was surprising to me is that the 63 point margin was the widest gap of victory in the series history.  No, really.  Linfield has put some hurtings on the Pios but none worse than last season.

In 2011 Lewis & Clark had a magical season.  The Pios started the season 7-0 and was enjoying a wave of media coverage and good fortune.  That was all well earned as L&C has been a conference doormat for a few decades and the turnaround was impressive.  However the reality of the start ended with two lopsided losses to Willamette and Linfield to end their season with a respectable 7-2 mark.  There was much hope that this type of momentum would carry into 2012 but the Pioneers lost so much senior talent and leadership from the 2011 team that I had a feeling the L&C would run into problems once NWC play started.  Lewis & Clark came into the 2012 Linfield game at 4-1 but played a soft front end schedule while the 2012 'Cats came into the game battled tested, talented, and deep.  It was a no contest.
 
The Pioneers would wind up ending the season suffering 5 consecutive losses and I'm not sure what to expect from L&C in 2013.  The Pios do have a few talented players but I'm expecting their trip to the 'Catdome in 2013 to be L&C's 35 consecutive loss to the 'Cats and I don't think it will be close.

NATIONAL CHAMPS!

Unless you've been living under a rock you should know by know that the Linfield College Baseball team just completed their finest season in program history by winning the 2013 NCAA Division III National Championship this past Tuesday in Appleton, Wisconsin.  Linfield put a cap on their 42-8 season by downing the University of Southern Maine 4-1 in a winner-takes-all championship game.  The championship is the 3rd in program history and the 1st as members of the NCAA.  Linfield previously won national titles in 1966 and 1971.  Linfield has always had a strong baseball program and has been a national contender for the past 6 seasons as the 'Cats have captured 3 Regional Championships and finished 3rd in country in 2010.

The 'Cats came into the 2013 season not even ranked in the top 50 and NWC coaches slotted the 'Cats as the 3rd place team in the NWC pre-season polls.  However, those predictions didn't faze a roster mixed with strong season leadership and highly talented youth. The 'Cats blasted all-comers with a lockdown 2.64 team ERA, .973 field percentage, .319 batting average while platting 5.97 runs per game.  They pretty much beat team after team in multiple ways.

It was an exciting week to watch this team in Appleton and the Linfield community exploded with pride as a GREAT group of student-athletes put together a remarkable year that was capped with the 'Cats winning it all.  A nice football tag was Linfield Tight End Spencer Metzsch (Soph) is also a pitcher for the 'Cats and started a game in the World Series as Metzsch threw 4.2 strong innings vs Ithaca on Monday.

The press coverage has been awesome and well deserved for Linfield's first National Baseball Title in 42 years.  It's always a great day to be a Wildcat but this past Tuesday was one to remember forever.  Go 'Cats!

D3baseball:  Linfield gets over the top.
Linfield Sports: The Waiting's Over: Linfield is NCAA National Champion!
Oregonian: Linfield Rolls Past Southern Main to claim National Championship

Catdome Poster Project: "Uh Oh"

Here it is.  Our 4th and final poster of the collection.  This is our only non-football inspired poster but this one fits on many levels.  The City of Portland has a love affair with the Portland Trailblazers.  Being the only major sports team in the city it's understandable.  The Blazers have a huge and loyal following in Rip City.  The city is still devours all things Blazers but the peak of that passion was during the early 90's when Portland reached the NBA finals in 1990 & 1992.  The Blazers were known for their high energy and toughness led by Clyde Drexler, Terry Porter, Jerome Kersey, Buck Williams, etc.  The City still loves those players and those teams.

"Uh-Oh" is an awesome poster that still hangs in many Portland sports pubs and other sport theme establishments.  It features Buck Williams, Jerome Kersey, and Porter running right at you and that trio evoked many highlight reel moments for the city of Portland.

This was a perfect poster to put a Wildcat spin on as the Wildcat defense has been causing quarters to say "Uh-Oh" on a regular basis.  The 'Cats have led Division III in sacks the past 3 years (49, 47, 63), lead all of NCAA in sacks in 2010 & 2012, and have the most combined sacks in all of the NCAA over the past three years.  In 2013 I'm fully expecting for the 'Cats to continue that pace...."Uh-Oh"

Brad Thompson Sports Photography
Joel Ray Photography & Joel Ray Photography on Twitter
CMDesign (Chris Miles) & CMDesign on Twitter

Catdome Poster Project: "The Winning Streak"

The instant that I recalled this poster I knew what our twist would be.  I don't think I have to remind anybody who Barry Sanders was as a football player.  A true legend of the sport that managed to put up great rushing numbers on Detroit Lion teams that didn't have much talent.  Sanders was a 10x Pro Bowl Selection, 10x All-Pro, 4x NFL Rushing Champ, NFL MVP in 1997, twice named the NFL's offensive player of the year, and a Heisman Trophy winner while at Oklahoma State.  He was a remarkable player that walked away from that game with a lot of fuel left in the tank.

The moment I saw this poster I knew that the 'Cats fantastic Josh Hill was the guy for our take on the Silver Streak.  I think it took Joel Ray about one frame before he nailed the image.  J-Hill was as smooth in front of the camera as he is on the field.    You don't need me to explain why our take is called "The Winning Streak".  Unmatched and not slowing down anytime soon.

Brad Thompson Sports Photography
Joel Ray Photography & Joel Ray Photography on Twitter
CMDesign (Chris Miles) & CMDesign on Twitter

'Catdome Poster Project: "Flight 6"

Next up in our Catdome Poster project is our take on another 90's classic.  I can't stand the Cowboys.  Terrible.  However, going through most of my teen years in the early 90's you can understand why.  The 'Boys ran the NFL and front and center of that machine was Michael Irvin.  The Cowboy WR was a physical force known as "The Playmaker".  He was a force of nature and he wasn't afraid to let you know it.

Irvin had an Iconic Nike poster that was on the wall of any Cowboy fan during the 90's.  "Flight 88" was another perfect poster to add a Catdome twist on.  Linfield 1st team All-NWC receiver, Charlie Poppen, was our subject and was a trooper.  This was the most difficult photo to get by Joel Ray had a great plan and captured a great photo.  Come back tomorrow AM as we hit you with poster #3.

Brad Thompson Sports Photography
Joel Ray Photography & Joel Ray Photography on Twitter
CMDesign (Chris Miles) & CMDesign on Twitter

'Catdome Poster Project: "The Linebacker"

Returning All-American Linebacker Dom Forrest is ready for 2013

Linfield Senior All-American Linebacker Dom Forrest was the perfect player for this poster and Joel and Chris knocked it out of the park.  

Our 1st of 4 posters is our take on a former Raider great Lester Hayes' "The Judge".  Hayes was a tremendous corner for the Raiders as he was named the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year in 1980, 5x Pro Bowl selection, 6x NFL All-Pro, and 2x Super Bowl Champ.  I not a Raider fan (49ers baby) but have always loved this poster. 

Brad Thompson Sports Photography
Joel Ray Photography & Joel Ray Photography on Twitter
CMDesign (Chris Miles) &CMDesign on Twitter

'Catdome Poster Project. Oh heck yes!

The Inspiration

This has been a big few weeks for our little site/blog.  Last week, Linfield Football released the final wave of recruits and the mammoth 2013 recruit video that features wall-to-wall incoming new Linfield ballers. This past Tuesday, we released the 2013 Spring Ball video "The Difference" and that's been a smash hit.  We're blessed that D3football.com and Footballscoop.com both found the video to be worthy enough to give them some major run on each of their sites.  Very cool.

Today we unleash our final big project of the Spring....'Catdome Posters!  After the season ended I was thinking about what to do for the Recruit Video and Spring Ball video but then I started to ask myself if there is something else we could do to step up our game.  Ideas were rolling around in my head (scary) and then I started to think about my room growing up (I hit my teens in the late '80s).  My rooms was covered in photos I cut out from Sports Illustrated and sports posters.  That's when the idea hit me...let's use some iconic sports posters from the 80's and 90's as the inspiration to create a set of Linfield Football posters.

I sat on the idea for a few weeks and thought about my favorites posters growing up that I've seen and how we could incorporate them with the 'Cats.  I had an idea but I have ZERO technical expertise in staged photography, and as you can tell from the photo above, my Photoshop skills are terrible.  If this project was going to happen, it was going to take a team of people to go for it.

The first person that popped into my head is Linfield Professor Brad Thompson, who is the Department Chair for the Mass Communications department.  Wildcat fans also know Brad for the incredible sports action photos of Linfield athletes in action.  Brad is a gifted sports photographer and has been a major supporter of the athletic department and of Catdomealumni.com.  I reached out to Brad and pitched the idea with no feel of how he would respond.  Brad's response was an immediate "Let's do this!".

Brad asked if we could bring in a student photographer to do the actual shoot.  Brad's request wound up being a major win for this project as he brought in Linfield Senior Joel Ray into the fold.  Joel has a BRIGHT future in front of him as a photographer.  Joel is a super talent and was a perfect fit for this project.  The next step was to find a graphic artist and that was a no-brainer.  I reached out to former Linfield Defensive Lineman and top flight graphic designer Chris Miles of CMDesign.  You guys already know Chris' work from the previous wall paper projects and other works he's provided.  I can't say enough about Chris and his skill level.  Chris was also fired up to take on this project.

The next step was reaching out to a group of 'Cats that came to mind for these posters and that wasn't a hard sell.  The guys were enthusiastic to take part.  We organized a photo shoot in early March where Brad and Joel brought in their own equipment for the shoot.  The players did a great job in being outstanding subjects and Joel nailed it.

After the shoot was done we turned over the photos to Chris and just had to wait for him to work his magic.  The results that came back are incredible.  At 1 P.M. today we'll reveal the first poster from the set.   From there, we'll post up the 2nd poster right before 5pm.  On Friday, we'll roll out the final two posters.

This has been an incredible project to work on.  99.9% of the credit of this projects goes to Brad, Joel, and Chris.  They are the ones that brought an idea to life and made it happen.  These three did this at NO COST.  In fact, they reached in their own pocket to realize this project.  This came out of the love they have for their craft and willingness to give something unique to Linfield College Football.  I can't fully express how grateful I am to them for making this happen.

Come Back at 1 P.M. today as we kick it off with our take on "The Judge".

Brad Thompson Sports Photography
Joel Ray Photography
CMDesign (Chris Miles)

2013 Linfield Spring Football "The Difference"

Above is our 2013 Spring Football Video that was released this morning.  I hope you take the time out to watch this one and pass it around.  I'm very proud of the effort we made here to capture the essence of what is Linfield Football. 

During the months leading up to the spring football season I wanted to do something we haven't done before.  There are some large school programs that do high quality work but that's typically done with a small army of people.  I've always been hesitant to reach with the videos because I don't want to put out a product that ventures into the cheese zone.  It's a bad look.

However, you can't grow or achieve if you stay in your comfort zone so we went all-in.  

I reached out to Senior Linebacker Tim Edmonds and he was fired up about taking part.  I provided Tim the music track and asked him to come up with a few lines, and a couple of days later Tim kicked back the entire script we used.  I didn't touch a line.  The words that Tim laid down come 100% from the heart and soul of a Linfield Wildcat.  It's what makes this special to me.  It gives you a look into what makes this program run and why it will continue to flourish.  It's young men like Tim Edmonds willing to put in to work it takes to contend nationally each season.

The 2nd half of the clip is action from the Spring Ball season.  DIII has continued to limit what you can do at practice (I'm waiting for them to regulate it down to standing perfectly still for 2 hours), but as you can tell, that doesn't slow the 'Cats down in their effort to get ready for a huge 2013. 

Linfield College Football's 2013 Recruiting Class

Here is 35 minutes of incoming 'Cats.  I'll get more into it tomorrow (taking care of a sick little one today) but be sure to read the bios of the 2nd wave of 'Cats!

Linfield Sports:  More recruits heading to Linfield

Video: 2012 Linfield vs Whitworth

Your video of the week is up and this was a fun one to put together as Linfield just double barreled blasted Whitworth for the 'Cats 2012 Homecoming game. Whitworth came into the contest with a 4-1 record and had confidence after playing Linfield tough the previous two seasons. For me, that was part of the reason Linfield's 54-14 win ('Cats held a 54-0 lead going into the 4th) was so satisfying. In both the 2010 and 2011 Whitworth games, the Rats held slight leads at the half before Linfield was able to assert themselves. In 2010, Linfield turned it on to mop up Whitworth 42-17 after being down 17-14 at the half. Then in 2011, Linfield faced an even bigger deficit in being down 25-14 at half before being able to pull off a 4-point win. After that close win, there were some Rats questioning if Linfield was really a top ten D3 team.

In my eyes there was no doubt that Linfield was the superior team in every aspect but for whatever reason the 'Cats struggled for stretches of the game with Whitworth. However, that wasn't the case last season. Linfield wasted no time in letting those Rat doubters know that Linfield is one of the best programs in the country in scoring 8 TD's in their first 12 possessions. It wasn't even close as the 'Cats defense took everything away from Whitworth and limited the Rats to just a measly 75 total offensive yards after 3 completed quarters while Wildcat offense did what they wanted.

So we'll see what the 2013 rematch has in store. The Pine Bowl is a tough place to play. It's a long bus ride out the Spokane and one of the few places in the Northwest that still plays their games on grass. Whitworth had a solid 7-3 season last year but still finished 4th in the NWC behind Willamette, PLU, and Linfield. The Rats will point to the large amount of injuries as part of their issues last season and should be improved on defense. If the 'Cats sleep on the Rats they could be in another fight like 2010 & 2011 but if they bring their top game up to Spokane it could be another keelhauling for Whitworth.

1st wave of recruits is in the books

Love this time of the year. Spring ball is winding down ('Cats just wrapped up their last practice this morning) and the commitments are pouring in up and down the West Coast. Linfield just announced the 1st wave of 2013 recruits and it's a fantastic group of 24 student-athletes. The first group of recruits all come from Oregon, Washington, and California.  My first impressions is they offer up a great combination of size, speed, and proven play making. I'm not going to get into a huge breakdown yet. I'll wait for the 2nd and final press release before we go into my thoughts on the final product and get feedback from the staff. Along with that we'll be posting up another huge highlight video of all incoming players.
I'm expecting the 2nd release to push the total number of 'Cats well in to the 40's and have all four of Linfield's primary recruiting areas (Or, Wash, Cali, Hawaii) well represented. The coaching staff has done a tremendous job in identifying high level talent that fits well with the Linfield culture. Now it's just a matter of finalizing the remaining members of this tremendous group of future Wildcats.

Sidenote: I'm sorry for not getting you more spring football updates. My real job has been nuts and I've been working like crazy on the Spring Football Highlight Video (doing something different) and the All-Recruit video (that's a monster). I'll try to get some info on the spring football season posted soon enough.

Linfield Sports press release on 1st group of 2013 recruits: http://www.linfield.edu/sports/release.php?id=4967

So close...

A group of 'Cats have been working on this project for the past 6 weeks and I can't wait to roll this out. Hands down one of the coolest projects I've been a part of since I picked up some editing software back in 2006. Can't wait.

Video: 2012 Linfield at PLU game highlights

Our Video of the week is up and it's the 'Cats Northwest Conference opener of the 2012 season as Linfield traveled to Spakrs Stadium to square off against longtime foe Pacific Lutheran. It was an interesting game as Linfield was coming off a hard fought non-conference win against CLU and lost All-American Tackle Tyler Steele and Running Back Josh Hill who was primed for an All-American caliber senior season in 2012.

These were two big losses and I wasn't sure how the 'Cats would respond. What happened was Senior Stephen Nasca and Freshman John Shaffer would step up huge on the offensive side of the ball, while the 'Cats defensive line piled up 7 big sacks to help slow down the Lutes after a hot start to turn the tide of the game.

PLU had a heck of a season and was a top 15 team in Division III in 2012. They're going to be that good, if not better, this upcoming season. Linfield has rattled off 14 consecutive wins against PLU dating back to the 2000 season and if the 'Cats are looking to make that number 15, Linfield is going to have to play another top flight game. I think PLU will be a major threat in the conference race and a contender in the West Region but Linfield isn't going to be too shabby either. 2013's match-up has all the makings of another Linfield vs PLU epic.

Coming Soon...

Uh Oh.