PI Podcast Episode #7

Ring in the new year with a new edition of the Privateer Island Podcast!

Topics of discussion: The Michigan State game, a Champion Baptist callback, an overview of the Southland heading into league play this week, and a focus on UNO's first two SLC opponents, Nicholls and McNeese.

To listen, go to our Podcast page, get the direct download here, or you can Subscribe on iTunes.

Video: UNO beats Pitt (1991-92)

In the Sugar Bowl basketball tournament in the Superdome, back when there was such a thing, the Privateers rallied to beat the Big East's Pittsburgh Panthers. But they needed a three-pointer at the buzzer of regulation by Leonard Bennett to eventually get the overtime win. And as this video clearly shows, the three was hilariously late. Bad call? Tim Floyd doesn't know what you're talking about.

UNO Drilled by Michigan State

The Privateers led 10-9 at the under-12 timeout of the first half but were demolished from that point on, dropping a 101-48 decision at the Breslin Center to the 5th ranked Michigan State Spartans.

Matt Derenbecker led the way with 16 points for New Orleans.

PI Podcast Episode #6

We couldn't let last night's huge win over Tim Floyd and UTEP go without comment. An impromptu edition of the Privateer Island podcast!

To listen, go to our Podcast page, get the direct download here, or you can Subscribe on iTunes.

Privateers Stun Floyd and UTEP

Pic courtesy of @UNOPrivateers

UNO (3-4) trailed 36-34 at the half, used an 11-0 second half run to retake the lead at 60-55, then never fell behind again on the way to a 71-69 upset victory over the UTEP Miners and former Privateer coach Tim Floyd in El Paso.

Game thread

Privateer Island podcast on the game

Box score from official site

PI Podcast Episode #5

Minnesota/Champion Baptist recaps, UTEP/Michigan St previews, and a whole lot of Tim Floyd talk!

To listen, go to our Podcast page, get the direct download here, or you can Subscribe on iTunes.

Video: Johnson/Floyd Feature, 1993

In this feature presented on ESPN before the Arizona game in 1993, Tim Floyd and Ervin Johnson try their hands at acting. Tim was actually slightly passable. As for Ervin, it's safe to say he did not get his UNO number retired based on his ability to emote. Enjoy.

2014 Baseball Schedule Posted

We'd already put together most of the pieces here at Privateer Island, but UNO has posted Head Coach Ron Maestri's 2014 baseball schedule.  See it and discuss in our forum.

EVENTS, from official site

PI Podcast Episode #4

The guys discuss their first impressions of the young UNO basketball season through the first four games, look ahead to the next couple of contests, and do a quick overview of the Southland Conference thus far.

To listen, go to our Podcast page, subscribe on iTunes, or you can get the direct download here.

UNO falls to Boise State, 100-80

The Privateers fell behind early 24-5 and never recovered en route to a 100-80 loss to Boise State on Saturday at Lakefront Arena. Cory Dixon led New Orleans with 23 points.

In game two, the UNO women rallied from 13 down but lost to Jacksonville State, 54-51.

Official UNO-Boise box score
Official UNO-JSU box score
UNO-Boise game thread

Nostalgia: UNO tops #21 NC St (2007)

Six years ago today marks the last time the Privateers defeated a nationally ranked opponent. New Orleans used a last-second banked three-pointer from T.J. Worley to upset the Wolfpack. Here is the video of the end of the game plus photos.

Video: UNO beats LSU (12-20-86)

For your weekend entertainment, in advance of next week's UNO-LSU men's basketball matchup, Privateer Island presents the complete landmark 82-71 victory by the Privateers at LSU from December 20, 1986.

WBB: Grambling Routs UNO

Dannisha Jackson

Behind 30 points and 11 rebounds from senior Joanna Miller, Grambling thrashed the Privateers 76-52 in New Orleans' 2013-14 home opener.

Dannisha Jackson led UNO with 12 points.

Box score from official site

MBB: Privateers Open With Win

The Privateers tipped off the 2013-14 men's basketball season at Lakefront Arena Tuesday night by routing visiting Millsaps College 81-45.

New Orleans (1-0) led 37-24 at the half and used a 21-1 second half run to cruise to victory. Senior Cory Dixon paced UNO with 18 points and 12 rebounds.

Talk about the game in our forum
Box score from official site

Video: 1989-90 home opener highlights

To celebrate tomorrow's basketball home opener versus a nondescript team, here are highlights of UNO's 1989-90 home opener against the Florida A&M Rattlers. Unremarkable other than the bizarre footage of Ronnie Lamarque and Aaron Broussard singing a UNO-adapted version of "Shout" at courtside. As in many of the highlights, please also enjoy the pre-murder and fully toupeed Vince Marinello.

PI Podcast Episode #3

College basketball season has finally arrived, and Shaun and Steve preview the 2013-14 New Orleans Privateers in this third installment of the Privateer Island Podcast.

Included is a roster overview, discussion of returning and new players, and an in-depth look at the schedule, which contains several challenging non-conference matchups followed by UNO's first ever journey through the Southland Conference.

To listen, go to our Podcast page, subscribe on iTunes, or you can get the direct download here.

2013-14 College Basketball Previews

Some college basketball season previews and/or predictions have been filtering in of late. Today, the official Southland web site released a preview of the 2013-14 New Orleans Privateers men's basketball team. Now also posted is a UNO women's basketball preview.

Here are the Southland Conference Coach/SID preseason polls.

OTHERS (varying degrees of knowledge/credibility, but FYI):

NBCsports.com Southland preview (UNO picked 11th)
The Back Iron Southland preview (UNO picked 13th)
Prospects For the NBA Draft Southland preview (UNO picked 10th)
Privateers preview from ESPN (requires subscription)
The Catch and Shoot (UNO picked 12th)
Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook (UNO picked 12th, no link)

Nostalgia: Club football opens 2009 season with 19-3 win over UTA

Four years ago today, before a season-opening crowd in excess of 2,200 at sweltering Tad Gormley Stadium, the UNO Privateers club football team scored a 19-3 triumph over UT-Arlington. The game opened the first full UNO club football season since 1970.

PI Podcast Goes Live

Shaun and Steve discuss the happenings of this active UNO offseason in the inaugural Privateer Island Podcast episode. Topics include the official joining of the Southland Conference, the hiring of Ron Maestri as baseball coach, the men's basketball schedule, and the new logo.

Also included is a bonus podcast (episode 02) featuring much complaining about the MLB fates of Privateer alums Joey Butler and Johnny Giavotella. It was very cathartic.

There are several ways to listen. You can go to the Radio page and select an episode from the Menu. Direct downloads of the episodes in mp3 form are available here. Also, you can now subscribe for free at iTunes - Privateer Island Podcast to get new episodes automatically downloaded for you. If you use iTunes, please rate the podcast at five stars and leave a review! Enjoy!

2013-14 athletics season begins

The University of New Orleans began its first athletics campaign as a Southland Conference member with a volleyball match against 9th ranked Florida this morning. The Gators swept UNO (25-7, 25-9, 25-12).  The Privateers were swept again later in the day by Duke (25-10, 25-14, 25-15).

The UNO cross country team also began its season closer to home at the UNO XC Relay Opener.

Butler finally gets the call

Former Privateer outfielder Joey Butler, a two-time Triple-A All-Star who was hitting .290/.375/.437 at Round Rock with 10 homers and 44 RBI, was finally called up to the Texas Rangers after Rangers right fielder Nelson Cruz was suspended by Major League Baseball in the Biogenesis case.

Butler is the second player from UNO's 2007 and 2008 NCAA regional teams to reach the majors. Johnny Giavotella has played parts of the past three seasons with the Kansas City Royals.

In Memoriam: Tommy Joe Eagles

The seventh head basketball coach of the New Orleans Privateers, Tommy Joe Eagles, passed away 19 years ago this week in Salt Lake City, Utah. Eagles had not yet coached a game for UNO.

2013-14 men's basketball schedule

The 2013-14 men's basketball schedule was announced today, featuring 12 home games and road trips to LSU, Hawaii, Minnesota, UTEP, and Michigan State.

The Privateers open their inaugural Southland Conference campaign with a trip to Nicholls on January 2, 2014.

Message board thread

Official release

Butler starts the AAA All-Star Game

Former Privateer Joey Butler, now with the Round Rock Express, started in RF and went 0-for-2 in the Triple-A All-Star Game in Reno, Nevada. He lined out to right in his first at-bat and struck out in his second at-bat.

Butler is hitting .303/.381/.451 on the season.

Maestri returns as baseball coach

At a press conference on Tuesday afternoon (video here), UNO announced that Ron Maestri will come out of retirement to return as the Privateers head baseball coach.

Maestri never had a losing season during his first tenure, taking New Orleans to the College World Series in 1984 before his retirement to full-time athletic director duties in 1985. Most recently, Maes was CEO of the New Orleans Zephyrs.

UNO joins Southland Conference

As of 12:01 a.m., the University of New Orleans, as well as Incarnate Word, Abilene Christian, and Houston Baptist, are the newest members of the now-14-team Southland Conference.

Official pages of our new Southland brethren, message boards, and more can be found at our Links page above.

Giavotella called up to Royals, makes splash in season debut!

Former UNO second baseman Johnny Giavotella was recalled from Triple-A Omaha to rejoin the Kansas City Royals. Giavotella was hitting .289/.376/.425 for Omaha and had been on a tear for the past few weeks for the Storm Chasers.

In his 2013 debut for the Royals, Giavotella went 3-for-4 with a pair of singles, a double, two RBI, and a run scored. He also made two sparkling defensive plays at second base. After the game, Gio and rookie David Lough were showered with water during a television interview.

Stone Speer makes pro debut

Former UNO southpaw Stone Speer, drafted by Tampa Bay in the 25th round of the 2013 MLB amateur draft, made his professional debut with Princeton, the Rookie League affiliate of the Rays, on Friday night.

He pitched one inning of relief, surrendering a run on one hit and one walk, striking out one.

Johnny Giavotella series highlights

Highlights from former Privateer Johnny Giavotella's May 24-27 visit to Zephyr Field.  Included are all seven hits from the series.

Campbell sweeps UNO, 9-6

The Privateers built a 5-0 lead over nationally-ranked Campbell heading into the bottom of the sixth, but the Camels used four-run innings in both the sixth and the seventh to overcome UNO on its way to a 9-6 victory.

New Orleans finishes its independent 2013 baseball campaign at 7-44.

Maestri Field groundbreaking

Photos from today's Maestri Field groundbreaking ceremony.  The renovations are to be completed before next season, and the first game at renovated Maestri Field is scheduled for Feb. 15, 2014 against LSU.

The official groundbreaking

Happy Birthday, Bo McCalebb!

To celebrate the birthday of one of our all time great Privateers, here is a clip of one of his many, many great moments wearing the silver and blue. On February 8, 2007 Bo made a game winning three pointer as time expired to defeat North Texas in Denton. The shot capped off a brilliant 25 point performance.

Tulane gets by UNO, 3-1

In the fourth game played between the clubs at Turchin Stadium this season, the Privateers fell to the Tulane Green Wave 3-1. Alex Smith tossed 7 1/3 quality innings but took the tough luck loss for UNO.

Tomorrow's doubleheader against Mississippi Valley State in Summit, Mississippi has been cancelled due to the threat of rain.

UNO falls to LSU-A in home finale

Stone Speer pitched 7 strong
innings on Senior Day for UNO

On Senior Day, behind the strong pitching of senior Stone Speer, the Privateers maintained a 3-1 lead through seven innings. UNO's bullpen could not hold the lead, however, and the Privateers fell by a 5-4 score to LSU-Alexandria in 11 innings despite outhitting the Generals 10-4.

New Orleans (7-39) split the two-game series and will next face Tulane at Turchin Stadium on Wednesday at 5 p.m. It will be their fourth game against the Green Wave.

Video: Kwan Johnson's shot (1997)

It's a slow week in UNO athletics, so... Kwan Johnson's 70-foot game-winner over UALR. Enjoy.

The Busch Challenge ('87, '88, '90)

Sadly, we don't have a lot of archival UNO baseball footage, but should-be national holiday, MLB Opening Day, seems like a good time to bust it out. Here are a few clips of the Privateers at the Superdome for the then-Busch Challenge (later Winn Dixie Showdown) knocking off Miami in 1987, losing to Oklahoma State in 1989, and beating Mississippi State in 1990.

Video: UNO/BYU (1987)

The last few minutes of UNO's NCAA Tournament victory over BYU in Birmingham, Alabama in 1987. Video begins with score tied at 72. Eventually we will see about getting the game uploaded in its entirety.

UNO 5, Tulane 4

After falling behind early 3-0, the Privateers put up a five-run second inning and made it stand up, hanging on for a 5-4 triumph over Tulane at Turchin Stadium.  Relieving Stephen Potter, Blake Prest threw three scoreless innings in relief, and Stone Speer went the rest of the way with five quality innings to close it out. UNO is next in action at Grambling for a three-game series over the weekend.

Listen to Privateer Island Radio archive

Video: UNO makes '87 NCAAs

1987, a time when conference tournaments were still ongoing while CBS went live with the selection show, when 11 seeds hosted games, when there was a Southeast Regional, and when an independent UNO Privateers team could get a 7 seed. Here is the unveiling of the Southeast Regional plus a bit of UNO discussion between Jim Nantz and Brent Musberger.

Video: The Teardrop

The Sun Belt Tournament championship game takes place this evening.  Remember this Sun Belt title game?

UNO vs. McNeese videos; game winning double, rain delay hijinks

SATURDAY, March 9 -- Morgan Barger's two-out double in the ninth put UNO ahead to stay, 8-7. The video loses focus about halfway through, but still worth a look.

SUNDAY, March 10 -- The game was rained out, but not before the Privateers and Cowboys staged a rain delay hijinks war at Cowboy Diamond. Includes tarp baseball, tarp football, tarp bowling, tarp jousting, and more.

Video: UNO on Sportscenter (1993)

Not just on Sportscenter, but The Big Show -- Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick at the height of their ESPN heydays. And not just on The Big Show, but leading off the broadcast. It's true. UNO was once the top story for beating Western Kentucky in double OT in a February game. This was not Olbermann's best highlight narration, but hey, it was just a Sansabelt Conference game.

Video: UNO dunk fest vs. Tulane (1996)

The 1996-97 UNO basketball season opened in style in the Superdome, as the Privateers demolished Tulane 78-55. Here is every basket from that game, including the second half dunk-a-thon that really bordered on absurd after awhile. Highlights from the Tic Price Show.

Video: 1982 hoops season report

This was a pregame segment prior to the 1982 UNO game at Tulane. It is an 11+ minute feature summarizing the season to date, with a small feature on Mark Petteway. Included are many highlights from a packed Chamber of Horrors.

UNO comes unglued in 9th, falls 7-4

In the inaugural baseball game at the refurbished Wesley Barrow Stadium, the UNO Privateers led 4-3 and were three outs from a victory over Southeast Missouri State, but a combination of erratic pitching and shaky defense doomed them to a 7-4 defeat. Closer Garrett Manning took the loss for the Privateers.  UNO rallied to load the bases in the bottom of the ninth, but Morgan Barger struck out looking to end the threat.

Opening night crowd at Barrow Stadium

The game was delayed because of a roughly 20-minute power outage in the first inning. There has been no comment from Stephen A. Smith or Pat Forde on New Orleans' competence to host college baseball events.

Nostalgia video: Maes Interview (1982)

Here's an interview with then-baseball coach/AD Ron Maestri at halftime of the Tulane/UNO game in 1982 at Tulane Gym.  Check out the footage of the skeleton of Lakefront Arena, then under construction. He also discusses the upcoming '82 baseball season.

How my UNO fandom began

On Mardi Gras Week in 1985, The Seed Was Planted

I'm a UNO fan largely because my seventh grade Louisiana History teacher was a criminal.

Hold on.  Let's back up a bit.

Nostalgia Video: UNO/La. Tech (1990)

With all the overtime insanity at Lakefront Arena of late, it seemed like a good time to dust off the highlights of the wild 110-100 triple overtime victory over Louisiana Tech back in 1990. While Sidney Barthelemy was being reelected mayor of New Orleans, the Privateers were busy surviving a fierce battle against the Bulldogs with a big assist from Anthony Dade, who blew the free throw that would've won it for Tech.

Note, at the 1:24 mark, Tim Floyd shaking hands with Tech's Reni Mason, the future point guard of Floyd's 26-4 UNO team in 1992-93.

Nostalgia Video: Bucs vs. Broncs (1987)

UNO's former American South and Sun Belt rival Texas-Pan American returns to the Lakefront Arena tonight.  Back in 1987, the Privateers swept a very tough home-and-home series from the feisty Broncs and the absolutely enormous Charles Ray.  The game at UNO drew 7,781. Included in these local news clips is footage of both games, plus an amusing Ed Daniels moment.

Nostalgia Video: UNO on WGNO

In the 1980s, when WGNO was an independent station, it produced its own Privateer basketball telecasts on occasion. Sometimes they would even send a crew on the road. During the 1986-87 season, games at USL and at Memphis State were televised back to New Orleans by Channel 26.

The broadcast intro looked like this.

Welcome

Here it is, Privateer fans!  The fan site we've been working on for literally years -- well, months -- well, days -- has come to fruition.

Now that UNO is headed to the Southland Conference with a renewed commitment to Division I, we figure our Privateers are worthy of a legit fan site, as in the days of the old Privateer Island.  There will probably not be items such as regular extensive standard game recaps, et al. There is an official site for such things. What we do have is some basic HTML knowledge, a scanner, some cool old mementos, and many years of encyclopedic recall of UNO athletics.  This site is a labor of love, covering where we've been and how that ties into where we're going.

Mostly, though, it features a new message board with more appropriate colors and, ideally, less spam.  Go to it.  Just remember to click the banner graphic anytime to check the main site.  This is all a work in progress, but we're looking forward to making it a pretty cool little hub.

Nostalgia: UNO vs. Hartford (2-22-86)

During UNO's previous foray into independence, it played a late February 1986 showdown at Lakefront Arena against... the Hartford Hawks.