Eastern Kentucky has just released it’s 2010 football schedule.  Highlights of the schedule include the following:

• EKU opens with three road games
• EKU will play UofL at Louisville.  Eastern’s last win against a FBS opponent came against Louisville in 1982.  I was actually there to see EKU whip Louisville’s and Howard Schnellenberger’s you know what.  Great game!
• No game this year against OVC rival Tennessee State.

Sept. 2 – at Missouri State – Springfield, Mo.
Sept. 11 – at Louisville – Louisville, Ky.
Sept. 18 – at Chattanooga – Chattanooga, Tenn.
Sept. 25 – Kentucky State – Roy Kidd Stadium (Family Weekend)
Oct. 2 – OPEN
Oct. 9 – Eastern Illinois* – Roy Kidd Stadium
Oct. 16 – at UT Martin* – Martin, Tenn.
Oct. 23 – at Southeast Missouri* – Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Oct. 30 – Murray State* – Roy Kidd Stadium (Homecoming)
Nov. 6 – Jacksonville State* – Roy Kidd Stadium
Nov. 13 – at Tennessee Tech* – Cookeville, Tenn.
Nov. 20 – Austin Peay* – Roy Kidd Stadium

Asterisk (*) denotes OVC game

To read a story about the schedule, please click here.

Nov. 14 (Sat.) West Virginia Wesleyan – Richmond, Ky. 8 p.m.
Nov. 19 (Thur.) at Pittsburgh – Pittsburgh, Pa. 7 p.m.
Nov. 23 (Mon.) Fairleigh Dickinson -Richmond, Ky. 6 p.m.
Nov. 24 (Tue.) UC Irvine – Richmond, Ky. 6 p.m.
Nov. 25 (Wed.) UTSA – Richmond, Ky. 6 p.m.
Nov. 28 (Sat.) FIU – Richmond, Ky. 7 p.m.

Dec. 3 (Thur.) at Murray State* – Murray, Ky. 8:30 p.m.
Dec. 5 (Sat.) at UT Martin* – Martin, Tenn. 8:30 p.m.
Dec. 9 (Wed.) Ohio Valley – Richmond, Ky. 7 p.m.
Dec. 12 (Sat.) at Maryland – College Park, Md. 2 p.m.
Dec. 19 (Sat.) at Ohio – Athens, Ohio TBA
Dec. 29 (Tue.) vs. TBA2 – Chattanooga, Tenn. TBA
Dec. 30 (Wed.) vs. TBA2 – Chattanooga, Tenn. TBA

Jan. 2 (Sat.) Tennessee State*- Richmond, Ky. 7 p.m.
Jan. 4 (Mon.) Austin Peay*- Richmond, Ky. 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 7 (Thur.) at Jacksonville State* – Jacksonville, Ala. 8:45 p.m.
Jan. 9 (Sat.) at Tennessee Tech* – Cookeville, Tenn. 8:30 p.m.
Jan. 14 (Thur.) Eastern Illinois* – Richmond, Ky. 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 16 (Sat.) Southeast Missouri*- Richmond, Ky. 7 p.m.
Jan. 19 (Tue.) Chicago State – Richmond, Ky. 7 p.m.
Jan. 23 (Sat.) Morehead State*- Richmond, Ky. 7 p.m.
Jan. 28 (Thur.) at Austin Peay* – Clarksville, Tenn. TBA
Jan. 30 (Sat.) at Tennessee State* -Nashville, Tenn. 8:30 p.m.

Feb. 4 (Thur.) Tennessee Tech* – Richmond, Ky. 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 6 (Sat.) Jacksonville State* – Richmond, Ky. 7 p.m.
Feb. 11 (Thur.) at Southeast Missouri* – Cape Girardeau, Mo. 8:45 p.m.
Feb. 13 (Sat.) at Eastern Illinois* – Charleston, Ill. 7 p.m.
Feb. 17 (Wed.) at Morehead State* – Morehead, Ky. TBA
Feb. 20 (Sat.) vs. TBA3 – Richmond, Ky. TBA
Feb. 25 (Thur.) UT Martin* – Richmond, Ky. 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 27 (Sat.) Murray State* – Richmond, Ky. 7 p.m.

March 2 (Tue.) OVC Championships (First Round) – Campus Sites TBA
March 6 (Fri.) at OVC Championships (Semifinals) – Nashville, Tenn. TBA
March 7 (Sat.) at OVC Championships (Finals) – Nashville, Tenn. TBA
March 18-19 (Thur.-Fri.) at NCAA Championships (First Round) – TBA TBA
March 20-21 (Sat.-Sun.) at NCAA Championships (Second Round) – TBA TBA

Home Games In Boldface ~ Asterisk (*) Denotes Ohio Valley Conference Game

Image by jimmywayne via Flickr

From the website OVCSports.com:

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. –  . . . Eastern Kentucky University has been picked as the 2009 Ohio Valley Conference preseason football favorite in a vote of league head coaches and sports information directors.   . . . The Colonels received 10 first-place votes to take home the preseason honor for the third time in the last five years.

Eastern Kentucky, who has won a record 20 OVC Championships, was picked first in the preseason poll for the 17th time since 1979. The Colonels were 7-1 in the OVC a year ago (losing only at Tennessee State) and are a combined 15-1 in the league over the past two seasons. Second-year head coach Dean Hood has seven offensive and five defensive starters back from last year’s team that lost to eventual national champion Richmond in the first round of the FCS Playoffs. Among those starters is preseason All-OVC and All-American selection Derek Hardman, a three-year starter for the program. He will be a key component on an offensive line that will block for senior running back C.J. Walker, the leading returning rusher in the OVC. Walker carried the ball 147 times for 706 yards (58.8 yards/game) and seven touchdowns a year ago. On defense, preseason All-OVC defensive end Chris Hall had 49 tackles, 13.0 tackles for loss and six sacks a season ago and will be a major force on the defensive line. Although the team lost two All-OVC performers in the secondary, sophomore Jeremy Caldwell returns to bolster that unit. Caldwell had three interceptions and 58 tackles as a freshman in 2008.

To read the entire article, click here.

Image by Patrick_coe via Flickr

Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) has eleven games scheduled this year, with two of them against Division 1-A or Bowl Championship Division teams (Indiana and UK).  In addition, Eastern will also play perennial power Western Carolina at home this year, and will have a total of five home games in all.  Last Year EKU went 8-4 and made it to the first round of Division 1-AA tournament.  Here’s hoping for an even better season this year under second-year head coach Dean Hood.

9/3/2009       Indiana                     Bloomington, Ind.    8:00 p.m.
9/12/2009     Bye Week                 
9/19/2009     Tennessee Tech*       Richmond, Ky.         7:00 p.m.
9/26/2009     Murray State*            Murray, Ky.             8:00 p.m.
10/3/2009      Eastern Illinois*         Charleston, Ill.         2:30 p.m.
10/10/2009    Tennessee State*       Richmond, Ky.         6:00 p.m.
10/17/2009    UT Martin* (HC)         Richmond, Ky.         3:00 p.m.
10/24/2009    Austin Peay*              Clarksville, Tenn.    7:00 p.m. 
10/31/2009    Southeast Missouri*   Richmond, Ky.         1:00 p.m. 
11/7/2009      Kentucky                   Lexington, Ky.         TBA
11/14/2009    Western Carolina       Richmond, Ky.         1:00 p.m. 
11/21/2009    Jacksonville State*    Jacksonville, Ala.     1:00 p.m.

Rose signs with Turkish pro team
Richmond Register – Richmond,KY,USA
When former Eastern Kentucky University basketball player Mike Rose started thinking about his overseas prospects, one option that thoroughly interested him … (To read more, click the link above).

Eastern Kentucky University is one of 122 four-year colleges and universities nationally recognized in The Chronicle of Higher Education’s 2009 Great Colleges to Work For® program.  (See chronicle.com/indepth/academicworkplace for more information).

The Chronicle’s Great Colleges to Work For® program recognizes colleges (based on enrollment size) for specific best practices in areas such as compensation and benefits, work environment and institutional policies.

Among four-year colleges and universities with enrollment of at least 10,000, EKU ranked in the top 10 nationally for Tuition Reimbursement in the Pay/Benefits category and for Professional/Career Development Programs in the Institutional Policies category.

In response to this recognition, EKU President Doug Whitlock said, “Obviously I am very pleased that the responses to the Chronicle’s survey by our faculty and staff have resulted in this distinction for Eastern. It reflects a sense of pride and appreciation of place among our community members that is gratifying and will be very helpful as we seek to attract other individuals to join us.  But the most significant thing, in my mind, is that this recognition is truly a reflection of the excellence and dedication of the Eastern faculty and staff. I believe your colleagues are the single most important factor in the quality of the workplace experience. This is a fitting honor for the many faculty and staff who truly make this a great place to work.”

To read more, go to this article at the EKU News Center.

When I was a student at EKU from 1979 through 1985, the Hummel Planetarium although built, was never opened.  There were ongoing problems with the equipment and, I believe, a lawsuit or lawsuits involved.  At the time, it was one of the largest planetariums in the United States, even if it wasn’t operational.  A few years ago, I finally got to go to a show there on one my trips home.  It was great, and I encourage anyone in the region to visit the planetarium.  You can learn more about it by clicking here.  Some of the basic facts are as follows:

The Arnim D. Hummel Planetarium is located on the main campus of Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky.

The Planetarium was opened on November 16, 1988. It contains a Spitz Space Voyager projection system under a 20.6 meter (67.5 feet) dome that is tilted at an angle of 27 degrees. At the present time, the Hummel Planetarium is one of the largest and most sophisticated planetariums in the United States, especially on a university campus. The Planetarium has seating for 164 people in very comfortable and generously sized seats.

The projection equipment used to simulate the night sky consists of a starball that measures one meter in diameter and is capable of projecting up to 10,164 stars. Other equipment includes five planet projectors, a sun projector, and two image projectors that are used to project the moon or a variety of other objects both natural and man-made.

When all projectors are operated simultaneously, a sky can be created as seen from any point on earth, anytime during the day or night, up to 100,000 years in the past or future. A special feature of the Space Voyager projection system is its ability to not only show you the sky as seen from earth, but also from any point within 100 astronomical units (9,300,000,000 miles) of the Earth. This makes it possible to see the sky as it would appear from any planet or moon within our solar system, or any point in between.

from Honors Program Leads National Conference in Panelists
EKU News Center – Richmond,KY,USA

For many years, Eastern Kentucky University has routinely fielded more student panelists at the National Collegiate Honors Conference than any other … That was true again Oct. 22-26 in San Antonio, Texas, where 30 students participated on panels and 22 more attended the conference. In fact, EKU’s participation represented approximately 6 percent of the national event, entitled “Crossing Frontiers.” The number would have been higher except for some last-minute family emergencies that kept a few students from attending. Also, 18 EKU faculty and staff joined the students, many participating on panels as well.

To read the full story, click on the link above.

EKU professor to receive Acorn Award
Richmond Register – Richmond,KY,USA
On Monday, the long-time Eastern Kentucky University Foundation professor of physics Dr. Jerry Cook will receive the 2008 Acorn Award, the highest honor for teaching …

EKU students walk to grant wishes
Richmond Register – Richmond,KY,USA
More than $23,000 was raised Friday for the Make-A-Wish Foundation in the seventh-annual Walk For Wishes sponsored by the Chi Omega sorority at Eastern Kentucky University. …

Eastern Kentucky Outlasts Austin Peay in Overtime, 13-10
EKU Sports – Richmond,KY,USA
Senior Taylor Long connected on a 27-yard field goal in overtime to lift the Eastern Kentucky University football team to a 13-10 win over Austin Peay …

EKU flight program returns to local airport
Richmond Register – Richmond,KY,USA
University, state and national flags flapped in a brisk breeze and light planes flew in formation overhead as Eastern Kentucky University returned it flight instruction program to the Madison County Airport. …