Get to know Eastern Michigan University
Tuesday, September 2, 2014 | Men's Basketball, Football, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- So after calling a similar entry last week a “Get to Know the University of Idaho” blog, readers learned a whole more about UI, the college, rather than UI, the football team, thanks to 10 seconds of action Saturday night.
You're welcome, unfortunately.
While the powers that be figure what if anything will come of the vanished date with the Vandals, the Florida football season (presumably) goes on.
Next up for the Gators is a Saturday afternoon showdown against Eastern Michigan (1-0), an opponent UF has faced just once in its 108-year history. The previous date came in 2004, in what turned out to be Coach Ron Zook's final season. And guess what? The Eagles were supposed to be Florida's second opponent of the year, but the threat of Hurricane Frances rolling across the state forced officials to postpone UF's opener against Middle Tennessee State several days before the game and move it to the middle of the season.
“It's a little unique,” EMU coach Chris Creighton told The Gainesville Sun of the upcoming weekend's scenario. “It's the second game in a row for us not knowing what another team is going to do. It's a little unnerving, to be sure.”
It's the second straight week for the Gators, too.
And the first time their offensive and defensive units actually will get to hit somebody.
Like last week, we'll just assume as much.
So, let's talk Eagles.
We'll start by checking out their spirited entrance last week into Rynearson Stadium before a 31-28 win over Morgan State. It made some highlights shows, so it might as well make Harry Fodder.
EASTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Where: Ypsilanti, Mich. (about 30 miles west of Detroit and 10 miles east of the University of Michigan campus at Ann Arbor)
Founded: 1849
Enrollment: 23,419 (in 2013)
Colors: Green & White 
Nickname: Eagles ... but from 1929 to 1991, EMU's nickname was the Hurons. No, not because of the nearby Great Lake, but because of the American Indian tribe that thrived in the area for centuries. In 1991, however, an Eastern Michigan student filed a compliant with the office of Michigan Civil Rights claiming the name was insensitive to Native Americans. Within a year, the Hurons became the Eagles.
Mascot: “Swoop”
Conference: Mid-American (in the West Division with Ball State, Central Michigan, Northern Illinois, Toledo and Western Michigan).
Fun facts: In days past, EMU also was known as Michigan State Normal School, Michigan State Normal College and Eastern Michigan College. ... Forbes ranked EMU as the nation's 623rd best public school last year. ... Eastern Michigan's baseball team reached the championship game of the 1976 College World Series, but lost to Arizona. ... The Eagles upset Duke in the first round of the 1996 NCAA men's basketball tournament under Coach Ben Braun and five years earlier reached the Sweet 16 for the only time in school history with wins over Mississippi State and Penn State. 
FAMOUS EMU ATHLETES
* Charlie Batch (left) -- NFL quarterback who toyed as a starter for the Detroit Lions, but spent the bulk of his 15-year career backing up Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh, where he won a pair of Super Bowls.
*Earl Boykins -- Only 5-foot-5, yet his career as an NBA journeyman (with 11 different clubs) wrapped its 14th season last spring. He remains the shortest player in NBA history to score 30 or more points in a game (32 as a member of the Denver Nuggets against the Detroit Piston on Nov. 11, 2004). Boykins was second in the nation in scoring his senior year at EMU at 26.8 points per game. His jersey No. 11 was retired in 2011.
* Terry Collins -- In his fourth season as manager of the New York Mets.
* Hasley Crawford -- Sprinter from Trinidad and gold-medalist in the men's 100 meters at the 1976 Olympic Games at Montreal.
* George Gervin (right)-- One of the greatest basketball players in history, “The Iceman” averaged 26.2 points points per game and played in nine NBA All-Star games in his career, most of it with the San Antonio Spurs. Great story: Going into the final day of the 1978 season, Gervin was in a heated battle with Denver's David Thompson for the NBA scoring title. Thompson scored 73 points in an afternoon game to take the statistical lead. Gervin went out that night and poured in 63, including an NBA record 33 in the second quarter to overtake Thompson -- and he sat out the game's final 15 minutes. In case you didn't know, the man "could finger-roll."
* Stan Heath -- As head basketball coach at Kent State, he guided the Golden Flashes to the Elite Eight in 2002 and parlayed that magical season into later jobs at Arkansas and South Florida.
* Hayes Jones -- American track star who won the gold medal in the 100-meter high hurdles at the 1964 Olympic Games at Tokyo.
* Bob Sutton -- Head coach at Army from 1991-99 and now defensive coordinator for the New York Jets.
* Kevin Walter -- Former NFL wide receiver who caught 356 passes and 25 touchdowns over 11 seasons. While playing for the Houston Texans had a 12-catch, 160-yard game against Jacksonville in 2009.
* Bob Welch -- Flame-throwing, 1990 American League Cy Young Award-winning right-hander who won three World Series, including one each in both leagues (1981 with the Los Angeles Dodgers and 1990 with Oakland A's, when he won 27 games) and another as pitching coach of the Arizona Diamond backs in 2001. Welch, who died in June at age 57, was the star on the aforementioned '76 EMU team that reached the CWS title game. Old-timers and baseball historians will remember the below one-for-the-ages showdown in the '78 Series between Welch and Reggie Jackson. If you like that one, definitely check out Reggie's revenge -- and do I mean revenge -- four games later, below that.
OTHER NOTABLE ALUMNI
Dann Florek (right) -- Made his debut on “Law & Order” in 1990, but eventually landed a regular role on the “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” spinoff as Capt. Don Cragen.
Greg Mathis -- Retired Michigan 36th District Court judge who found a following on the reality show “Judge Mathis.”
Ron Campbell -- CEO of the Tampa Bay Lightning, which he helped build into the 2004 Stanley Cup champion.
