STUDENT ATHLETIC FEES, WELL SPENT?

Buy a sports ticket online, get a press release.  "Mountain West Conference Unveils New Brand Identity, Introducting 'Built Bold' Era."

The Mountain West Conference today announced the launch of a refreshed brand identity, including a modernized wordmark, an updated color palette, and a new defining tagline: Built Bold.

The rebrand marks a pivotal step forward as the Conference enters a new era—one defined by growth, innovation, and transformation.

"This new identity reflects exactly who we are as a Conference and where we're going," said Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez. "We are bold in our ambition, bold in our commitment to our student-athletes on the field and in the classroom, and bold in how we choose to lead. 'Built Bold' represents our willingness to take decisive steps forward—together—as we continue to shape a national Conference that delivers real opportunity and real impact for our institutions and communities."

The updated visual identity features a refined Mountain West wordmark and refreshed brand elements designed to better represent the Conference's evolving footprint and national reach.

The new look is part of a broader effort to modernize the Mountain West's visual presence while creating a cohesive, flexible system that can be activated across all platforms—from broadcasts and digital media to campus and community engagement.

Anchoring the new brand is the tagline: Built Bold—a rallying cry that reflects the Mountain West's identity and aspirations.

Rooted in the Conference's positioning, Built Bold reflects the Mountain West's energy, excellence, perseverance, and innovation while reinforcing its commitment to leading confidently and shaping the future of collegiate athletics. The Conference's vision remains focused on providing transformative experiences for our student-athletes.

I wonder how many deanlets and consultants got to wet their beaks coming up with the artwork, the tagline, and the corporate-speak.  Whether moving college football from school nights to Friday nights will put any more fans in the stands or make name, image, and likeness contracts more attractive to recruits is yet to be determined.

TAKING LEAVE OF THE MID-AMERICAN IN STYLE.

Northern Illinois University's baseball team won the Mid-American conference tournament in the sweetest possible way, defeating Toledo in their final appearance in that tournament.

The Huskies won their program-record 35th game on the season to make the occasion even more special. This is NIU's first MAC baseball title, sending the Huskies to the NCAA Regionals next week. In four games at the MAC Tournament this week, NIU outscored its opponents 32-9 and trailed only once. The Huskies' pitching staff had a 1.80 earned run average and held teams to a .193 batting average.

That earned Northern Illinois the sole Mid-American bid to the national tournament, which begins with a double elimination regional round reducing a field of 64 to eight teams that play best two out of three on the home fields of the top four seeds to qualify for the double-elimination College World Series in Omaha.

ANTIPODEAN HUSKIE HEROICS.

In Australia, the women's professional basketball season is during their summer, with their professional league championship being awarded at the end of February.  "Courtney Woods has spearheaded the Townsville Fire to the WNBL championship, defeating the Perth Lynx 108-105 after overtime to confirm redemption for last year's heartbreaking grand final loss."  That's a familiar name.  Courtney Woods was recruited to Northern Illinois for one coach's system and made quite a splash in another's.

Sarah Reed photograph for Getty Images retrieved from ESPN.

It's a rough game, whether in the Mid-American or Down Under.

Townsville weathered the storm with captain Woods dazzling, despite having to undergo glue surgery during the third period after copping a Han Xu elbow to the head.

Her career-high 28 points, along with eight rebounds and seven assists, steered them to their second championship in four years and a fifth all-time for Queensland's sole club.

41 lead changes occurred, but when the Fire were down by three in the final quarter, sharp shooter Miela Sowah (18 points) scored an emphatic triple to tie the scores with 3.7 seconds left.

With a plethora of stars off the court after getting into foul trouble, it was Sowah who rose to the occasion again, sinking a crucial basket with 7.4 seconds remaining in overtime to secure the win.

"Glue surgery" is an improvisation military field medics came up with, using superglues to close up cuts.  No two minutes for elbowing in basketball.

I stumbled across Townsville on Chicago's Marquee sports channel a couple of Christmas Eves ago, simply channel surfing to find either a movie or a concert and what to my wondering eyes did appear.  Good on ya.

FAREWELL TO THE MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE.

Northern Illinois University's return to the Mid-American Conference in the mid-1990s after about a decade competing first as an independent and then participating in several conferences didn't work out well at all in basketball.  The athletic department accepted the resignation of the men's head coach Rashon Burno's resignation at the end of his five year contract, subsequently hiring Matt Majkrzak away from Northern Michigan.  Nobody can write derivative securities like the agent for somebody in big time sports.

Majkrzak will receive a contract extension of up to one year if either of two events occurs: The Huskies win a Horizon League regular-season or conference tournament championship, or NIU athletic director Sean Frazier leaves the school’s employment before March 15, 2030. Such terms were not included in Burno’s contract.

NIU will also pay for several performance incentives, including $5,000 for a 20-win regular season (only one non-D1 win will count toward the total) and $10,000 each for Horizon League Coach of the Year honors, a regular-season title, a conference tournament championship, an NCAA tournament appearance or a Final Four berth. Majkrzak can also earn $2,500 if NIU reaches the National Invitational Tournament or the College Basketball Invitational and $5,000 for winning either tournament.

The contract includes no mention of a buyout for Majkrzak’s remaining contract at Northern Michigan, which was set to expire June 30, 2027. NIU will provide Majkrzak a one-time relocation stipend, as well as a courtesy vehicle and $25,000 for donor engagement efforts.

If Majkrzak resigns or is fired for good cause, NIU will only be liable for employment payments or benefits past the date of the contract’s termination. If Majkrzak is fired without good cause — which would include performance-related reasons — the school will owe him 100% of his base salary for that contract year and the year following and 50% of the base salary for each subsequent year.

Should Majkrzak leave to accept another position, he will be required to pay a lump sum within 90 days of his resignation.

The women's team hired a new coach a year ago and they completed their season on a positive note, coming from behind to beat Buffalo on Senior Night.

The Huskies took a slim two-point lead after an 8-0 run, leaving Buffalo with 10 seconds to steal the game back. The Bulls’ opted for a potential game winning three but the Huskies’ defensive shape forced a miss to close out the comeback win.

“Super proud of our resiliency and being able to come together in tough moments.” head coach Jacey Brooks said. “The game was a little bit of a roller coaster but we were able to make some adjustments at halftime. The defensive plays in the fourth quarter was the difference in the game.”

Multiple seniors graduated, and with the transfer portal, who knows what sort of five will take the court in November.

“This game was almost like the epitome of our season, of staying the course and never giving up. They’ve only gotten better and will continue to get better,” Brooks said. “When we think about next year, I’m overly excited about next season and can’t wait for it. But we’re gonna continue to build this thing.”

That remained her attitude despite a road loss at Bowling Green.

“I believe we’re building something special here,” Brooks said. “ We’ve got some good recruits and returners, but this year was about laying the foundation and culture for years to come.”

The Huskies will now enter the offseason as they prepare to join the Horizon League.

At the same time Northern Illinois bade farewell to the Mid-American, the Mid-American bade farewell to its presence in the various tournaments.  A year ago, the Buffalo women won their National Invitation Tournament on their home court.  For years, multiple Mid-American also-rans have participated in that tournament, and several have won it.  The 2025-2026 season?  Buffalo went 1-17 in conference, their sole win over Toledo, one of those perennial Invitational participants.  This year?  Only Ohio was invited, and excused in the first round.  Much of the field rates a bye, but not Ohio.  The Women's Basketball Invitational?  Nobody.  Make of it what you will that Columbia won it.  In the men's National Invitation Tournament (if you remember Al McGuire turning the NCAA down to play in it and win it, you're old) only Kent State participated, and they were one and done.  Miami of Ohio won all their conference games but couldn't get through the conference tournament: both tournament winner Akron and at-large Miami were one and done.

Finally, though all brackets might be imperfect, to submit a winning entry it still helps to err on the side of the highly regarded teams.  In the women's tournament, the winner will be one of the top seeds, as no chalk was erased as Connecticut, South Carolina, U.C.L.A. and Texas qualified.  The winning entries in your local pool will be those that most accurately identified who got eliminated when, perhaps with a tiebreaker based on the score.  In the men's tournament, one finalist will be a top seed.  Duke haters are happy it's not Duke: you get Arizona playing Michigan, which is not much better, for the right to face either Illinois or Connecticut.  Yes, the table is again set for both Connecticut teams to be cutting down the nets.

SAYING NO AND UPHOLDING STANDARDS.

Some years ago, I came across an image proposing immigration reform.

It was in the fever swamps of the so-called manosphere, the context and substance of the argument that accompanied it will be left to the reader's imagination.

A REBUILD IN PROGRESS?

Northern Star sports reporter Joseph Segreti notes, "Women’s basketball has work to do."  Well, yes, last spring we noted the basketball purgatory that had emerged in DeKalb.  Between graduations and the transfer portal the new coach didn't have much to work with.

Year 1 of Jacey Brooks’ tenure as the NIU women’s basketball coach has been nothing short of underwhelming when compared to the Huskies’ recent seasons.

Currently sitting at four wins on the season, the Huskies (4-17, 2-8 MAC) have had their fair share of struggles in their final season in the Mid-American Conference.

Previous teams were inconsistent.  Mr Segreti counts a number of ways in which the current team is not putting up good numbers.  He then notes that the team is currently rebuilding.

Brooks is in just her first season as head coach, so growing pains are expected before success begins.

Brooks followed up longtime Huskies women’s basketball head coach Lisa Carlsen who was a model of consistency during her time in DeKalb.

Brooks also inherited a roster missing several key pieces from last season due to graduation, such as former forward Brooke Stonebraker, former guard Sidney McCrea, former guard Laura Nickel and longtime superstar Huskie guard Chelby Koker.

The incoming class of transfers and freshmen have shown signs of success.

That "model of consistency" was "consistently mediocre."  Let's check the history.

The last of the Kathi Bennett recruits graduated at the end of the 2019-2020 season, during which several promising young recruits got a good deal of playing time.  Between the corona shutdowns and injuries, those players got a participation trophy to shine up in 2023.  "Northern Illinois University's women's basketball team got off to a good start last November, and despite reverting to their usual form during conference play received an invitation to a tournament held at Transylvania University in Kentucky, where they lost three games."  The athletics department have a little pride left: there was never a banner raised in the arena calling attention to that tournament.

That is, Lisa Carlsen got within five minutes of an N.C.A.A. tournament bid with players Kathi Bennett recruited for one system who excelled in another system.  The way in which they got there foreshadowed future developments: they overcame a big deficit to oust Ohio, then gave away a ten point lead to Toledo in the tournament finals.  In following years, there were a few more big runs to overcome halftime deficits, but those were fewer than the ten-point leads given up to lesser teams.  Despite the promise subsequent recruits showed, something went wrong after the season of corona shutdowns, and account injuries, those promising young recruits didn't have as many chances to play together as might have been.

Last Saturday was the second game of the Mid American - Sun Belt conference crossover series.  Northern Illinois hosted Texas State, and they were among the Mid-American teams that won a majority of those games.

"I'm really proud, excited and happy with our effort for 40 minutes today," said head coach Jacey Brooks as NIU snapped a four-game losing streak. "The last two seconds made me the most proud. Basketball is a game of runs and when we got on a heels we were still battling. When Texas State made a big shot, we made a big shot. I saw so much growth from our team today."

Sometimes, it takes longer to put the pieces together.  Next up, the University of Massachusetts, again playing in the Mid-American as Northern Illinois prepare to move to the Horizon League.

A WELL-DESERVED RETIREMENT.

Yen Ching to close after 4 decades in DeKalb.  The family business serves good food, and some years ago they moved from downtown near the railroad crossing to near the university.

After being in DeKalb for nearly 44 years, Yen Ching has decided to close its doors.

The restaurant is owned by husband and wife John Yin and Marilyn Yin. Their only other staff member is Marilyn’s sister, Caroline Zinger. John serves as the sole chef, while Marilyn manages the restaurant’s finances and paperwork.

Yen Ching is an Asian restaurant in DeKalb that offers authentic Chinese cuisine with items such as sweet sour chicken, egg drop soup and crab rangoons.

John Yin began working in his family’s restaurant at the age of 10, which made it second nature for him to manage an entire kitchen on his own. Although there have been other employees over the years, none ever proved to be a complete fit.

“We’ve had employees, but over the years we realized the easy way is to do it yourself,” Marilyn Yin said.

Even when things get hectic, as it often does at an eatery with a strong local following, the ladies manage to stay cheerful.  This year, the owners will be offering lunch Tuesday through Sunday and dinner each day.  The regulars, which include long-time DeKalb residents from all walks of life, wish them well.

A STORY LINE TOO CRAZY FOR DOSTOYEVSKY.

On Saturday, we learned of an economics review session at Brown University that ended with shots fired.  When Cold Spring Shops resumed posting on Monday, law enforcement was still looking for their suspect or supects.  Providence authorities were not inspiring much confidence, at least among Militant Normals.

Sometimes it's prudent to hold off on any speculation until the evidence is in hand.  But Providence authorities are not doing much to clear the fog of war.  This story broke Saturday just after Navy sang second, with early reports of a "person of interest" questioned and released, and a second "person of interest" detained and questioned Sunday and ultimately released.  There was security camera tape available.  "The footage showed the gunman walking calmly down a street near campus, dressed in all black with his face covered."  The difficulties Providence authorities are having identifying the real suspect do not please Town Hall's Matt Vespa.

Monday evening came news of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology fusion researcher sustaining a mortal wound, shot in the foyer of his condominium in Brookline, Massachusetts.  Dear reader, it is prudent to hold off on speculation, between the news networks and the internet were all sorts of assurances that the professor's murder had nothing to do with Brown or it might have been the jihad presenting itself and who knows what I might have missed paying attention to Aaron Rodgers doing Aaron Rodgers things on Monday Night Football.

HOW BASKETBALL FORTUNES CHANGE.

Seven years ago, the feel-good story of the men's basketball tournament was Loyola of Chicago, returning to basketball relevance after many years in the wilderness.

This season?  Neither the inspiration of playing for the memory of their long-time chaplain, Sister Jean, who crossed the final summit either this year, nor the home-court advantage assisted by Chicago traffic, could keep the Northern Illinois team from sending the Ramblers to their fifth loss.

NIU (3-3) made 14 three-pointers, one off the school record, while shooting 41.2 percent (14-of-34) from beyond the arc.

"It was awesome," said NIU head coach Rashon Burno. "We had a little be of adversity with the traffic on the way here, we got here with 60 minutes to spare, but it started in the preparation. We had quality practices. Obviously, Dylan (Ducommun) 24 (points), six (assists) and zero (turnovers) … We have to fight, we have to play with pride, and we have to execute and I thought we did that for 40 minutes tonight."

Loyola (1-5) led 13-8 before Hassan 'Tre' Washington (Providence, R.I./Prise Academy) knocked in a triple and Ducommun added two from beyond the long line to put the Huskies in front, 17-13.

Mr Burno is on the final year of his contract, with a team restocked through the transfer portal, and playing in the Mid-American for the final year before moving to the Horizon League.

WELCOME BACK TO THE HORIZON LEAGUE.

Northern Illinois University have swapped out head coaches and almost all the players of their perennially inconsistent women's basketball team.  This year they will attempt to sail fully loaded for Cleveland in the Mid-American Conference.  Horizon League member Wisconsin-Milwaukee played a nonconference game.  "Huskies' Late Charge Falls Short In 76-65 Loss To Milwaukee."

A TEAM THAT WILL LIVE IN IGNOMINY.

For years, some sports pundit has offered "Bottom Ten" rankings for college and professional teams.  I'm old enough to remember one iteration listing Bay (Green) along with Bay (Tampa), the aftermath of the Lombardi Era being nearly thirty years in the wilderness with a team not much better than an expansion team, and another iteration featuring the Los Angeles Lambs.

These days, the pundit is Ryan McGee with ESPN, and he hits close to home.  Go, Northern Ill-ugh-noise.

The Other Other Huskies are one of a whopping six #MACtion team stuck at 1-and-something, but won, er, lost out for this spot over the other five because: 1. They actually played a game last weekend; C. They lost to San Diego State, which isn't terrible, but the final score of the game was 6-3; and secondly, we wanted a chance to hype this week's Pillow Fight of the Week, when they host My Hammy of Ohio, which is now 1-3 after beating Lindenwood, a school you've never heard of unless you are a big Pierre Desir fan.

That's the way to motivate fans on homecoming weekend at the teachers' college that claims to have invented homecoming.

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT.

It's possible that the millionaire next door dresses the kiddos in hand-me-down clothes, or goes thrifting.

Northern Star columnist Byrdie Seda advises her classmates to live like the millionaire next door.  "It’s OK to wear thrifted, second-hand or cheaper clothes."

The subtext of her column?  Students at a regional comprehensive mid-major ought live prudently.

It can be difficult to find fashionable, current and affordable clothes in today’s economy— especially with social media usage growing rampantly, wanna-be influencers portraying lavish lifestyles and fancy outings that feature countless luxury items.

It can be difficult for people to not feel left out if they aren’t also having those experiences.

The reality is, most people overhype their life on social media and post the highlights of their life and nothing else. They often splurge on things they don’t need such as, fancy cars, expensive jewelry and lavish decor, just so that they can show off.

This sort of mindset also tends to follow people into the real world, causing them to feel that they not only have to follow trends on the internet, but also in real life.

This mindset also causes many young people, especially Generation Z, to feel an immense amount of pressure when it comes to how they present themselves and what they wear. The amount of money that people spend under the mindset of wanting to fit in and the culture of overconsumption causes a lot of mental, environmental and social consequences, which is why buying second-hand clothes is a far better option for people nowadays.

I'm eleven years into retirement, and thus cannot offer any from the field observations of sorority rush these days.  I do not recall the sort of positional arms races that seem to be all the rage in the Southeastern Conference these days going on in DeKalb.

THE ARTLESS WORDS OF STUDENTS.

The editorial board of The Northern Star describe a change in language on the university's web page as "a strategic shield against federal retaliation."

Facing a federal mandate threatening the university’s accreditation, NIU made the controversial choice to remove Diversity, Equity and Inclusion language from its website After removing its DEI page on Feb. 1 in response to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump, the move left a mixed reaction among NIU students.

Signed on Feb. 18, Trump gave universities two weeks to eliminate their DEI programs. In a fight against “wokeness,” Trump’s order calls for universities to eliminate race-based consideration in admissions, financial aid and more.

As a result of multiple orders, NIU removed its DEI page, replacing it with a page entitled “Inclusive Excellence.” The new page is similar to the “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at NIU” page, but not identical, removing explicit references to discrimination-based initiatives but still keeping the same intention as the old page.

I have no doubt that there will be people on campus, not necessarily students, raising hell with the editors for calling discrimination-based initiatives by their real name.  I also have no doubt that there will be critics of higher education referring to the mostly cosmetic copy-editing as strategic editing to keep the search engines at bay.  "Alternative language gaining steam includes 'access' 'advocacy' 'belonging' 'community' 'resilience' and 'success.'"

ALL THE STUDENTS ARE BELOW AVERAGE.

Hilarius "Scriptum Philosophia" Bookbinder takes stock of his students.

First, some context. I teach at a regional public university in the US. Our students are average on just about any dimension you care to name—aspirations, intellect, socio-economic status, physical fitness. They wear hoodies and yoga pants and like Buffalo wings. They listen to Zach Bryan and Taylor Swift. That’s in no way a put-down: I firmly believe that the average citizen deserves a shot at a good education and even more importantly a shot at a good life. All I mean is that our students are representative; they’re neither the bottom of the academic barrel nor the cream off the top.

What follows is not for the faint of heart.

STILL MAKING THE GRADE.

The conference academic performance results have come in.  "Six Huskies Named To Women’s Basketball Academic All-MAC Team."  Last year, the team had nine players so named: three graduated, and five of the six honorees from a year ago repeated.  Four of this year's six students have graduated, and a fifth, new to the list, has gone through the transfer portal.

The university has swapped out head coaches.  The observation I made from a year ago is still relevant.

[T]he team has a long tradition of suiting up to play and robing up for graduation.  That noted, I conclude this year's post the same as last year's:  "Enjoy the academic accolades.  Perhaps additional success on the court will provide the value proposition I think sports marketing types would like to have."

The kids can play with the best of the Mid-American, for whatever that's worth, but they're inconsistent.

The season recently concluded was more of the same.

PLEASE DO.

A Northern Star editorial raises a simple plea, "Anderson pool should be reopened."

BASKETBALL PURGATORY IN DEKALB.

Northern Illinois University have hired Buffalo associate head coach Jacey Brooks to coach the women's team.  That transition will be on hold for a few more days as Buffalo are still playing in the Women's NIT, i.e. the independent tournament, not to be confused with the NCAA participation trophy College Basketball Invitational.  The Invitational has four teams from the mid-major conferences as finalists.

Four players, three of whom will graduate, earned academic all-district recognition from Collegiate Sports Communications.  The conference and national dean's lists will be forthcoming in summer.  Departing coach Lisa Carlsen and her daughter Lexi are in the transfer portal.  Sophomore forward Brooke Blumenfeld has already transferred to Miami of Ohio, thus staying in the Mid-American.

Four guards from the men's team have entered the transfer portal.  We have much to look forward to, notes Northern Star sports editor Edison Miller.

While the Huskies know their coach for the upcoming season, they are forced to play out the final season of head coach Rashon Burno’s contract – a close to a not-so-pretty tenure at NIU.

Despite NIU fans thinking last season was rock bottom, next season is looking like it may be even worse.

That season will also close out this iteration of Northern Illinois playing basketball in the Mid-American.

MERCURY WAS IN RETROGRADE DURING THE EQUINOX.

That might have made for interesting Women's Studies gatherings.  It gave two Northern Star columnists something to hash over.  Both have female names, no April foolin' here!

MOVING ON.

NIU Announces Change in Leadership of Women's Basketball Program.

We could see that coming for some time.  As did Northern Star writers.  "The decision comes after a fruitless season with an overall record of 13-17, ending 6-12 in Mid-American Conference play."  That "fruitless season" was characteristically middling.  "[Lisa] Carlsen had a pair of winning seasons, going 19-13 in 2018-19 and 21-12 in 2016-17, her second year in the program."  That second year?

[T]he last time the Lady Huskies came within sniffing distance of the big dance, it was in the spring of 2017, and Toledo overcame (does this sound familiar) a ten point deficit in the fourth quarter to win the Mid-American tournament.  Kathi Bennett recruited Kelly Smith, Mikayla Voigt, and Courtney Woods, and they were better suited to a faster tempo game than any Bennett coached team would ever display, and they were pretty good in the classroom as well.

The last of the Kathi Bennett recruits graduated at the end of the 2019-2020 season, during which several promising young recruits got a good deal of playing time.  Between the corona shutdowns and injuries, those players got a participation trophy to shine up in 2023.  "Northern Illinois University's women's basketball team got off to a good start last November, and despite reverting to their usual form during conference play received an invitation to a tournament held at Transylvania University in Kentucky, where they lost three games."  The athletics department have a little pride left: there was never a banner raised in the arena calling attention to that tournament.

HIGHS AND LOWS AND FROM THE MAC WE GO.

Summer sailing can be an exercise in frustration for the club sailor.  One gets schooled by the local collegiate sailors or perhaps by members with Olympic and America's Cup experience.  Or one simply misses the wind shift that was there for all to see, or a block hangs up at the wrong time.

But there's always that one day when the breeze is smart and everything is working and the hull is on its lines and even if there's not a winning finish to the race, the experience is thrilling enough that you're back for another season.

There are seasons when following the collection of honor students comprising the Lady Huskies is like that.  As conference play got under way, it was all about missing the shift and the blocks hanging up.  "At best, that team is consistently inconsistent and consistently at the bottom of the conference standings.  Enough, academic performance notwithstanding."