All Decade Team

Over the course of the fall, we have had a weekly poll on our website where viewers could vote for the Player of the Decade at each position. Click here for the final results. Congrats to Super Joe Kephart for receiving the highest percentage of votes at 70%.

Devils put FUN in Fundraiser

We had the first of our Kids' Night Out fundraisers this past Saturday. We played host to over 90 local youths. The team provided activities (football, soccer, kickball, swimming, etc.) for the kids in a safe, fun environment. Safety First is our motto. In addidtion to the kids, our players enjoy the activities.

The team has to raise a portion of the money for our annual Florida trip. Kids' Night Out beats selling subs and car washes! Here are a few videos as filmed by senior communications major Dan Greco.

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G'Day, Mate

Recently, former Blue Devil Rob Herrmann arrived in Australia for what will be roughly a six-month trip to continue his baseball career. Here is what he is up to according to a recent email:

 Even though we haven't played too much I am keeping busy coaching some of the younger teams as well as my own, and training a lot during the days so far. I'll be starting a job next week which will eat up a lot of my time but have been getting out and about a ton so far. Attached are a couple of pictures from the coast here in an area called Pebbly Beach. The wildlife here is absolutely amazing and I have been having a lot of fun just seeing and photographing all of the new things around. The bird picture shows you how friendly most of the animals are for a free meal. I had some sunflower seeds with me so I was an instant hit with a ton of wild Rosellas and parrots.

The people here are wonderful and are especially caring a friendly towards Americans like myself. Weathers been great and temperatures are starting to touch the upper 80's low 90's at times.

Positive people

I'll take today as an opportunity to pump up one of our most humble players. At the end of the fall, one item we included on our written evaluations was the opportunity to evaluate our teammates. Each players ranked everyone on the team on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being and Energy Taker, and 10 being an Energy Giver. Coach Sully compiled the results, dropped the highest and lowest scores, determined the average, and we came up with a winner.

Scores ranked from a low of 4.6 to a high of 9.0. Angelo Sciandra, known to his friends as 'Ace', was ranked as the team's top most positive influence. What separates him? Obviously, he is great to be around and a great friend to just about everyone. I think the biggest key is he has what Taylor Gahagen would call "Self Efficacy".

Ace was an academic all-Western New York selection in high school and does well in college. He has around a 3.0 now, but everytime I ask him how classes are going, you'd think he's almost ineligible. He knows he can do better. He never makes an excuse on the field and takes time in practice to work with, and learn from, our other players. He always does what he's told, yet he is one of the most competitive athletes on the team. Despite his slight frame, he holds the WNY record for wins by a HS quarterback. A real leader.

He is involved as one of our team's SAAC rep. He's was the first player to sign up to visit School No. 4 with our community service project. He missed a weekend practice this fall to attend a fundraiser for a young man from the old neighborhood that was ill. He went so far as to have his teammates get the 12-year old an autographed shirt and passed a jar around the team for donations.

Being an Energy Giver never stops. On the field, off the field or in the game of life, your character will reveal itself over time. Glad to have Ace on our team!