OCR Text |
Show APRIL 2000 I i i I 1 1 '; .fcartiliiS&fci lxigEi T DIXIE KOLDi he BYU baseball team has Jbrought back its 1984 team captain and catcher, David "Boy" Eldredge. He was hired last September as the full time assistant baseball coach. Eldredge is now working with his former teammate and major league all star player, Vance Law. In 1979, during his senior year at Punahuo High school in Honolulu, Hawaii, Eldredge was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds. He was a prep All-American. All-American. His father encouraged him to further his education instead of playing baseball professionally. "My father wanted me to get a good education and thought going to BYU was a good opportunity for me." Eldredge came to BYU on a baseball scholarship and studied speech communications. He said one of his greatest accomplishments Steve Sarkisian pre-1999 1 ."" inauua i.i man -J b ? -V . jr., i i in I i mi iin fun iiimI if "If i. V XV dfl outside of sports was winning a BYU "great lives" speech contest "It was great because I did not expect to win and my teacher was very encouraging," Eldredge said. "Athletic wins are expected but this was something that taught me that I could do anything when I set my mind to it" Eldredge came to BYU as a non-members non-members and had to follow the honor code. "I was fortunate to have someone recruit me and explain the rules well." He said at first he had little things that he struggled with but because he lived in the dorms, he learned the rules fast He played at BYU as a catcher and was selected All-Western Conference Northern Division in 1982. The Cougars were ranked No.1 in the nation. He played with Rick Aguilera, Wally Joyner and Corey Snyder. He once got the opportunity to room with Mark McCuire in Alaska during a summer league camp his junior year. VP V4 Rob Morris in 1999 reject ft Eldredge sustained an arm injury that restricted his game, but he refused to sit around. Instead, he coached at his old high school. In 1 985 he was in control of their Babe Ruth teams. He won national, regional and state championships and was offered a job as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at LMU. He was also a head coach at Hawaii Pacific University and was selected five years in a row as NAIA District 29 coach of the year. Head Coach Vance Law said he was glad to have Eldredge. "He brings with him great experience and knowledge," Law said. "We complement one another and are on the same page when it comes to baseball philosophy." Eldredge said he was glad to be at BYU and has always been loyal to his alma mater. "I am glad to be back and working with Coach Law. We bring back the winning tradition and we know the formula to winning," Eldredge said. "I came back to BYU because this is the place that I would like my family to be and my loyalties are to the school." He said he had been following school's baseball seasons and wanted to be here to make a difference. "Even when I was in Leola, I still searched for BYU baseball scores," he nnpyi fiaa - v DIXIE KOLDITZ I i i football jerseys are being y changed again after the NCAA has had many complaints about teams not having regulation uniforms. The new Cougar jerseys for the Fall 1999 season were accepted by the NCAA after 18 months of planning the new image. The team wore the uniform for only one season and they are once again being redone. 'We have always followed the guidelines and legislation in the NCAA rule book. That is why our uniform was originally approved," said Mick Hill, football equipment manager, who has been with BYU 19 years. Hill said the dark uniform rules L jj Li f "This was not a university coior change, but a new image for Mick Hill, Equipment Manager were general and allowed some creativity while the light uniform had stricter rules. Pete Witbek, senior assistant athletic director, said the uniform was approved but was also in the grey. "We had some reservations even after approval," said Witbek. The NCAA has made an addendum to the old rules for the dark uniforms. Hill said the NCAA rules for the light uniform does not allow anything contrasting the white color. On the home jerseys the new rules says that white can only be used as a number, an outline, neck brace, or for the school logo. The blue uniform allows a 4-inch side insert. Hill said the new jerseys would be ready for the new season. The white insert known as the "bib" will be changed to blue to match the pants. David Eldredge said. "Being at BYU is part of my goal of being a teacher, teaching players the rules of the game and how to be a good individual. Eldredge comes from a long line of baseball coaches. His father is a head coach at his old high school in Honolulu and his uncle is also coaching little league. Eldredge said he is looking forward to bringing back the winning tradition back to BYU. npi This was not the first uniform change for the Cougars. "We are always undergoing change, but not many people notice," Hill said. He said changes are done every other year. "Most of the changes we make are very subtle. They add definition for the team to look nicer especially for the television audience," Hill said. He said the TV audience notices the changes more than the people in the stands do. Some of the changes they have made included removing or adding a braid to the uniform. The new uniform was a dramatic change that took 1 8 months. Hill worked with Nike, which has a contract with the footbail team uniform. ne said tne new the team" look was an extensive process that had to be approved by many people in the school and NCAA. "This was not a university color change but a new image for the team," Hill said. He said the new look goes back to the traditional look that BYU had before the royal blue uniform that they just changed. The Traditional color for BYU was a darker blue called Prussian blue, gold trim and white. The new uniform colors are midnight blue, which is registered as BYU blue, white and gold. The other big change that BYU has had was when BYU played in the Copper Bowl, 7 years ago. "We were the first collegiate football team to use the drop color," said Hill. This was using three numbers instead of two. The third number was black, but in the background. |