Forbes Magazine's 2012 edition of "America's Best Colleges" includes Erskine College at #137. It is an impressive ranking for the college but an even more impressive statistic for us in athletics is that only one NCAA Division II institution in the nation is ranked ahead of Erskine. There are over 300 NCAA Division II schools so being #2 is quite an honor. There are no other NCAA Division II institutions in the Southeast region ranked in Forbes' top 200. Erskine is a unique place with high quality academics, strong Christian commitment, and intensely competitive athletics. It is a place where student-athletes can focus on becoming all they can be in an environment that allows their talents to flourish. It is exciting that Forbes has acknowledged Erskine for its uniqueness and excellence among the nation's finest colleges. Go Fleet!

Last August I posed the question on this blog, "What would remarkable look like in Erskine Athletics?" Below I think I found the answer. Congratulations to a REMARKABLE group of coaches and student-athletes on a year of accomplishments for the Flying Fleet!

·     A record 268 student-athletes participated in intercollegiate athletics 2011-2012. We expect to have between 275-290 in 2012-2013

·     Senior Vincent Chauvette (men’s tennis and cross country) won the Conference Carolinas Murphy-Osborne Award presented to the conference’s top student. It is the first time in conference history a school has won it back-to-back years with softball player Jocelyn Smith winning in 2011. Erskine has won the award 5 of the last 9 years. Over 3000 student-athletes compete in Conference Carolinas each year so this is a tremendous honor.

·    Senior women’s basketball player Porsha Morgan is a finalist for the conference’s “Woman Athlete of the Year.” Porsha was a four-time 1^st team selection in Conference Carolinas, 2012 “Player of the Year,” and NCAA Division II Honorable Mention All-America in 2012.

·     Erskine won the 2012 Beville Cup over Anderson 9.5-9 points. The Cup was decided after the Erskine women’s golf team defeated Anderson to give the Fleet a ½ point lead. The men’s golf team then tied Anderson to secure the Cup. Freshman Ronnie Funk made a 40 foot putt on the 18^th hole to gain the tie. The Beville Cup now stands at 4-4 over the last eight years.

·     The women’s tennis team won their 8^th straight Conference Carolinas title under “Coach of the Year” Calhoun Parr.

·     Three female student-athletes were named conference “Player of the Year” in their sport:senior Sandra Campbell (volleyball), senior Porsha Morgan (basketball), and junior Larissa Shannon (softball).

·    The women’s soccer team earned the Messick Award for sportsmanship in Conference Carolinas.

      Women's Lacrosse players Alesia Jerrells, Sami Burns, and Kaitlyn Overly became the first-ever all conference performers in their sport. Our lacrosse team went from one win in its first four seasons to five wins in 2012!

·     37 juniors and seniors (45%) were named to the Conference Carolinas “All Academic” Team with a GPA of 3.25 or higher. 92 student-athletes were named to the Conference Carolinas Fall Presidential Honor Roll.

·    Erskine completed its highest finish ever in the Joby Hawn Cup, the award given to the conference school with the best overall athletic performance. In the 13 member league Erskine had finished 7^th the past three years, its highest finish since joining the league in 1994. In 2011-2012 Erskine finished 5^th.  This was the first year that no teams finished lower than 8^th in the standings. The goal for 2012-2013 is to win the Joby Hawn Cup!

REMARKABLE!

In a year where we have sought the remarkable in Flying Fleet Athletics, we have seen it. From senior Sandra Campbell being named the Conference Carolinas Volleyball "Player of the Year," to senior women's basketball player Porsha Morgan being named the conference's "Player of the Year" and Division II All-American, to senior tennis player Vincent Chauvette, the 2012 recipent of the Murphy-Osborne Award for being the top student-athlete in Conference Carolinas. Yes, we have seen the remarkable but with all the great efforts of our seniors, leave it to a freshman to steal the spotlight for one of the most remarkable achievements in Beville Cup history. Ronnie Funk became an Erskine folk hero on a cool April Friday night when he drained a 43 foot putt on the final green to give Erskine the Beville Cup against Anderson University. The competion between the two schools came down to one long putt, a miss and Anderson would retain the cup for a third straight year but instead Ronnie's heroic make brought the cup back to Due West. It was the sort of drama only scripted in Hollywood where the Spartanburg product was the only Erskine player left on the course and basically the weight of Erskine Athletics on his shoulders. As Ronnie would say afterwards, "I knew it was important because there were so many people around, but I wasn't nervous because I knew God was in charge."

While Ronnie proved to be the last man standing others deserve much credit for allowing him to get to that position. The Erskine women's golf team dominated Anderson in their match-up and one day earlier the Erskine softball team picked up a huge point when catcher Larissa Shannon hit a dramatic walk-off home run. The Erskine baseball team and the women's tennis team also picked up key wins against Anderson this spring and let's not forget the Fleet men's soccer team's upset win over the nationally ranked Trojans in October. The Beville Cup would not even be close if Erskine student-athletes didn't dominate the academic points of the competition. It took so many remarkable efforts to win the Beville Cup by 1/2 point. It was exciting to watch. Spring sports tournaments start next week. I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of remarkable efforts this year. Go Fleet!!

"March Madness" is upon us as the brackets for the NCAA men's division I basketball tournament will be released this evening. Over the next three weeks we will all enjoy watching our favorite teams attempt to survive and advance in hopes of being the last team standing on the first Monday night in April (I make no picks, I am always wrong). My "March Madness" the last four years has involved the NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament. I have served as a member of the 8-man D-II national committee and chair of the Southeast Region. As I write, I am sitting courtside in Montevallo, Alabama as teams go through their shootarounds for this evening's semi-finals. Late Tuesday night I will hand the Southeast Region trophy to the championship team, make the six hour trip back to Due West and on Sunday board a plane to Cinncinati where the D-II Elite 8 will be decided. Two weeks from today I will fly back home with a new NCAA Division II men's basketball champion crowned and my term on the national committee at an end. It has been a great experience the last four years to play such an integral part in the national championship for NCAA D-II men's basketball.

As most of the nation focuses on the Division I championship, the D-II tournament has provided plenty of excitement for me as young men have chased their dreams to be national champions. I have witnessed three awesome regionals in August, GA and one in Montevallo, AL. After three Elite 8's in Springfield, MA we will hold this year's at Northern Kentucky University. I have watched Findlay complete a perfect season with a double OT win over Cal-Poly on a buzzer beater, Cal Poly return a year later to dominate the tournament, and Bellarmine win their first national title last year. I have seen Augusta dominate the Southeast for three years before being upset by Anderson's magical run to the Elite 8 a year ago. I have witnessed some outstanding basketball and met so many people over the past four years who never would have come in contact with I had not been on the committee. It has been a ton of work and way too much time away from my wonderful family but the experience has been tremendous. I am sure I will miss it but I plan on being back at the Southeast regional next year. This time I won't be the NCAA representative with responsibility for overseeing the tournament but as the coach of the Erskine Flying Fleet who will be making their first regional appearance!

Have a great "March Madness." I hope it proves remarkable for you and your team of choice.

I have always been an avid jogger but as I prepare for a marathon in late April the miles have begun to add up recently. Today I took my black lab, Victory, out for a run (or she took me). About 35 minutes in I tripped on some loose object that sent me sprawling onto SC Highway 184. The fall was nasty enough to draw blood over numerous parts of my body but I didn't realize that fact until the run ended 25 minutes later. Falling while running goes with the territory even though my 12 year old daughter thinks it is because I am old and shouldn't do anything without assistance. The point is I am old but never in my run did I ever think about staying down on the highway until a car passed to help me or walking back home. I have sports to thank for that. I learned early on playing sports that when you fall, you get back up and get to work. With our basketball team we call that "going to the next play." We should all be grateful for what sports has given us. It has taught us to fight. It has taught us that win or lose we have to go to the next play. It is the reason I argue so hard for the value of sports. There is so much to learn from sports from those who play it. I learned a great deal in my classrooms at the University of the South in Sewanee, TN but from playing basketball and golf I gained life experiences that still come in handy today especially when I trip on a highway. And speaking of tripping, my wife sent me this video to prove someone has done it much better than I. Check out the video link below and cherish all that sports is about!

http://www.godvine.com/Christian-Athlete-Takes-a-Fall-But-Still-Wins-the-Race-378.html

"All In" is the sermon series that leads off 2012 at the church my family attends. Being "all in" is often a term used in athletics to get student-athletes and coaches completely committed to the cause of their team. Our church handed out poker chips as a symbol of "all in", which signifies one's willingness to risk it all, to throw all you got in the pot. Even for the most devout Christians, trusting God with all you do is a daily challenge. The problem is that if we go "all in" we risk ending up being hurt and exposed to criticism. My wife recently told me after a loss that she was mad at me because my basketball team had caused her expectations to rise after two consecutive wins, and a tough home loss had crushed her. It's not the high expectations that cause her pain, it was the risk she took when she allowed her expectations to rise. The thought of "I am better off not caring," is a much safer road. John Robinson, a former football coach at Southern Cal and the LA Rams once said, "Winning is the highest of highs and losing is misery". Yet, I will take either the win or the loss over sitting on the middle of a fence and living life in the safe lane. It reminds of the saying that a ship in harbor is safe, but that's not what ships were made for. In essence, Robinson was "all in" coaching football because he undertsood the spectrum, and realized the result of a risk that failed was better than not risking at all.

Such is the essence of sport at any level. Whether you play football at Alabama or LSU or middle school soccer, the idea is put it "all in" and risk what you have. There are special student-athletes that come along at Erskine who are willing to go "all in." They practice long after their teams are done and every day strive to get better. They play hard and they win, but sometimes they lose, and instead of giving up, they work even harder. At the end of a four-year career it isn't how many times they won or how many times they lost that provides the sense of accomplishment but the mere fact that they had done ALL they could with what God had given them. Winning and losing in sports sometimes comes down to just one single play or one single moment. It is really what makes sports so exciting. But what makes sports great are the players who are willing to take the chip and throw it all in without considering the risk. I am reminded of a college teammate who took a final shot in a basketball game with our team down one point and he missed it. He looked at me in the locker room almost smiling, "sorry I missed it but what a great feeling getting a chance to take it." I was fairly mad at him at the time, but I have come to realize what he meant. He was "all in" in that moment, completely committed to taking the final shot, and he was willing to accept the result, good or bad. My prayer for every student-athlete is that they get that type of opportunity and accept being "all in." It won't always bring the highest of highs but when it brings the misery at least you know it was better than not doing anything at all. Go Fleet, leave the harbor and be remarkable!

I love sports; I guess that is obvious since I have spent my entire life around them. I love the competition, love people striving to beat the opponent, to be the best they can be. I even love what lessons are learned from losing. Sports is great because people take their bodies to limits that they didn't think imaginable and there is no feeling quite like that if you haven't experienced it before. But the downside of sports has become way too clear in the past month.

A former mentor of mind used to say that people love to judge the losers and then at the same time tear down the winners all in hopes of making themselves feel better. We call that the "Fellowship of the Miserable." You can't turn on any electronic device right now without seeing a story about Jerry Sandusky of Penn State or Bernie Fine of Syracuse. People are quick to judge immoral acts but Americans have taken it further and placed blame on their more well-renown bosses who should have done more to stop their behavior. We judge those people for not doing more because we would expect more from ourselves if we were in that situation; however most of us have never been in that position, so it is difficult to know how we would react. It is easy when people have been caught doing wrong to tear them down even more. And it seems it is just as easy when those teams are losing. A month ago I listened to a talk radio show host rave on and on about a local college football coach who had his team at 8-0 and ranked in the top ten. The other day I listened as that SAME host questioned the ability of the SAME coach, only now his team has lost 3 out of 4 after losing to its rival. I just hoped people didn't break any ankles as they jumped off that college's bandwagon. But we are all guilty of judging too quickly. Most of us don't know Jerry Sandusky, Joe Paterno, Bernie Fine, or Jim Boeheim, but we are quick to give an opinion on what they should have done or shouldn't have done. Most college football fans don't spend even 5 minutes watching practice of the team they criticize (I mean cheer for) on Saturday afternoons.

It is not just about the losers and the immoral, however. The winners are brought down as well. Tim Tebow is just as much in the news these days as Jerry Sandusky. Tebow has led the 1-4 Denver Broncos to a 6-1 record since becoming the starting quarterback. Yet, most people argue he can't play in the NFL, can't throw the ball well enough, and that his early success is just luck. Many Americans, again, take it further and despise Tebow because he is so devout and bold in his Christian faith. Can't we just simply enjoy this remarkable young man and be happy that success (even if might be temporary) on the football field in the NFL has come his way? And can't we look at Joe Paterno and Jim Boeheim as men in deep strain and pain about actions of their assistant coaches? We don't need to tear them down anymore than we need to tear down Tim Tebow. We are taking sports down the wrong path.

I was reminded even on a personal level of the "Fellowship of the Miserable" recently. Our men's basketball team took the 4th ranked NCAA Division II team in the nation into overtime in its first game of the season. I didn't hear one word from any local media inquiring about the game. But a few days later when two staff members of ours resigned, I received repeated messages from a local reporter who wanted the story. Really? I thought the games were the story! At least, that's why I started playing sports at a young age and made it my profession. Sports is about the student-athletes, the games and the pursuit of being one's best. Wouldn't it be "remarkable" if we never forgot that?

**Erskine AD Mark Peeler posts a new blog on the first Monday of each month**