Strength and conditioning coach Jim Peal has a reputation among Butler faculty for successfully and efficiently shaping players for each of the school’s 19 athletic programs for the the past decade.

When Peal announced last Tuesday he had been diagnosed with colon cancer, the response was immediate.

An outpouring of support from the Butler community and those around him followed.

A Facebook page bearing the slogan  “I Have Coach Peal’s Back” has already amassed over 1,000 supporters, and plans have begun to take shape for a fundraising plan in his honor.

The page’s creator, former Butler football player Peter Xander, is planning to have T-shirts available soon.  The T-shirts will say “I Have Coach Peal’s Back” on the front. The phrase “Nothing Wrong with Being Strong,” a popular saying of Peal’s, will be on the back.

Freshman football player Jimmy Cook has only known Peal for a short time but said his impact on the team has been tremendous.

“I was shocked, but I know he is a strong guy, and he can definitely pull through it,” Cook said.

Peal hasn’t let his battle with cancer get in the way of his work. Cook said he still remains active with the team.

“He’s totally involved,” Cook said. We lift four days a week, and he’s there every day, on our backs, making sure we get everything done.”

Currently, wristbands stating “Pealstrong” are on sale for $5 each, with the accrued funds going to Peal or the charity of his choice.

A message posted by his wife, Susan, said she was blown away by the amount of support by those here and in the surrounding area.

“Neither Jim or I are ones for much attention, but Jim is seeing how much he means to so many people,” she said. “It is so appreciated and getting him through this. This is a wonderful community of support.”

Peal has been with the Butler athletics program since 2003, and was officially named head strength and conditioning coach in 2005.

Peal underwent a successful surgery Monday and is scheduled to be released from the hospital Friday. From there he will continue his recovery at home. There is no immediate timetable for his return.

Published Sept. 5, 2012

This Saturday, Butler’s football team will be taking part in its first game under lights since the early-1940s.

This is an important step for Butler from an athletic standpoint.

With the university’s jump to the Atlantic 10 Conference last summer, school officials would probably like to prove that they can host athletic events under a variety of circumstances (despite the fact the football team will not be part of the A-10).

Saturday’s game could help the flexibility of the football team’s scheduling in the future as well.

However, moving some football games and, before them, some men’s and women’s soccer matches to an under-the-lights setting could also pose a potential problem for the university.

Butler attempted its first athletic triple-header last September. The football team and both soccer squads had contests in the Butler Bowl on the same day.

The triple-header was likely a new and, at times, exhausting expeience for some members of Butler’s athletics department. Running one athletic event in a given day requires a number of different operations and activities to take place in very short amounts of time.

Doing those same activities three times over the course of eight to 10 hours would likely be draining.

Accordingly, the athletics department has not scheduled three events in the Bowl on a single day this academic year.

However, two separate weekends this month will see a great amount of athletic activity in short periods of time.

The first of these is this weekend, and that schedule reads as follows:

Friday, Sept. 7
Volleyball—Butler Classic, starts 11 a.m.
Men’s soccer—Butler vs. Northern Kentucky, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 8
Football—Butler vs. Franklin, 6 p.m.
Volleyball—Butler Classic, starts 6 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 9
Men’s soccer—Butler vs. Central Arkansas, 1 p.m.

With no rest for the weary, Butler also has the following schedule assembled for Saturday, Sept. 29:

Football—Butler vs. Dayton, 1 p.m.
Women’s soccer—Butler vs. Saint Louis, 7 p.m.
Volleyball—Butler vs. Duquesne, 7 p.m.

It is great that Butler is finding opportunities for fans to take in multiple sporting events in a given day, but I see two major issues with this sort of scheduling.

The first lies in overextending and straining the athletics department staff.

I cannot speak for those within the department. I cannot say those individuals were exhausted at the conclusion of the triple-header last year, that they were unable to rise from their respective beds the next morning.

One might think that taking care of the operations and behind-the-scenes work for three athletic events in a single day—especially with one being the school’s first athletic contest under lighting since World War II—might be a bit stressful, though.

So this year, the staff gets to run that gauntlet twice in four weeks.

It may prove to be even more difficult this time around. Some teams have contests scheduled over each other.

Starting the finale of volleyball’s Butler Classic and the first night football game in more than 70 years at the same time cannot possibly benefit an athletics department staff that will have dealt with earlier volleyball and men’s soccer action less than 24 hours prior.

Slotting the women’s soccer and volleyball teams into the same starting time just hours after the conclusion of a football game is potentially problematic as well.

And then there are the fans that, on the surface, benefit from receiving the opportunity to view multiple sporting events in a given day.

There is clearly an issue with attendance at Butler’s fall athletic events. Figures are not high, and the stands of the Bowl and Hinkle Fieldhouse are nowhere near full during such events.

That is why it is difficult for me to understand how scheduling events on top of each other will fix this. Fans cannot be in two places at the same time.

Also, if a day is filled with events, the casual observer will probably only attend the first on the list. It is simply overwhelming to attend three athletic contests in one day.

Overwhelming is the key word in this discussion. If stacked scheduling is some sort of initiation into the A-10, the Butler community will have to live with being overwhelmed.

Otherwise, the school should realize that it might be taking on more than it can handle.

According to a report first released by ESPN, Butler University may be considering changing athletic conferences.

All of Butler’s athletic teams, excluding the football team, play in the Horizon League. The Horizon League currently has 10 member schools from Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio.

Butler has been a member of the conference since its creation in 1979.

The move of Butler to the Atlantic 10 Conference would be a way to fill a void left by Temple University, which is departing for the Big East in 2013.

Associate Athletic Director Jim McGrath said that Butler is following changes in conference affiliations throughout the nation, adding that Butler is ”still a member of the Horizon League.”

Five former members of the Horizon League, including Xavier University, have made a jump to the Atlantic 10.

Such a change in conferences would not appear to affect the football team, which is part of the Pioneer Football League.

Despite the high demands of Division I athletics, Butler has been very successful with placing students on the Horizon League Honor Roll.

This past fall, Butler had eight students on Academic All-League teams.  Last year, 34 athletes received this honor between all of Butler’s athletic teams.

Butler also had an Academic All-American last year in basketball player Matt Howard, bringing the school’s all-time total to 45.

This is high in comparison to universities like Connecticut, which boasts a student population of more than 22,000 and has only 48 Academic All-Americans in school history.

In some cases, athletes come to Butler for academics first.

For junior golfer and pharmacy major Matt Vitale, his education was the priority in his college choice, and he later decided to walk on to the golf team.

“I came to Butler very educationally focused,” Vitale said, “and that is definitely the feel I got from the athletics department as well.”

The athletics department places an emphasis on academic success.

Student-athletes are required as first and second-year students to attend study tables and have both their academic and athletic advisers monitoring their academic progress.

The mission statement of the Butler University athletics department maintains that its goal is to support the university’s purpose by providing exceptional educational and athletic experiences for all student-athletes.

Student-athletes must meet the requirements of any student at Butler. They are each required to take at least 12 credit hours, but they average 15 hours per semester.

The average GPA of all 359 Butler athletes is 3.24.  The minimum GPA required to remain eligible to play is 2.0.

“In general, we want to make sure we continue to maintain the same level of success or higher than our student body does,” Beth Goetz, associate athletic director for administration, said. “For a school[‘s athletes] to have a 3.2 GPA is really impressive.”

Last year, there were 127 student athletes enrolled in majors within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, 121 in the College of Business, 50 in the College of Education, 33 in the College of Communication, two in the Jordan College of Fine Arts, 17 declared as pre-pharmacy  and nine in graduate studies.

There is a 76 percent graduation rate over a six-year average for student-athletes, the same percentage as Butler students overall.

Junior volleyball player and chemistry major Rachel Barber said that she will be taking 18 credit hours next fall and that many of her teammates will be taking summer courses.

“You definitely load up [credit hours] in the spring and summer,” Barber said. “Our coach highly advises us to take summer classes.”

This helps ease the stress of performing both in the classroom and on the court.

Barber said she thinks of volleyball as a job and that she spends 30 to 40 hours in the gym during the season in addition to travel.

“You have to be so mentally tough to do this,” Barber said. “You just have so many people that want you to succeed.”

Athletes are never allowed to miss class for a practice, which results in many teams being forced to practice without all of their members most of the time.

“[Student-athletes are] here to be students first, so when they’re in class we adjust and either practice without them or try and move practice around,” Goetz said. “I don’t think we have one team that practices with everyone every day of the week.”

One of the biggest testaments to the success in the classroom for Butler’s student-athletes is their own satisfaction with their education.

Even in 2007, when senior exit reviews revealed that only 50 percent of student-athletes would come back to Butler to participate in athletics, many said they still enjoyed their academic experience.

“There was almost unanimous favorable opinion of their educational experience while they were here,” Athletic Director Barry Collier said. “If there is anything to be happy about, that’s it.”

In the past decade, Butler teams have captured 26 conference championships and have made appearances in NCAA national championship tournaments in men’s and women’s basketball, men’s soccer, volleyball, men’s cross country, lacrosse and baseball.

Butler has won the James J. McCafferty trophy a league-record eight times, most recently in the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons. It is awarded annually by the Horizon League for excellence in all sports.

In addition to the athletic success of Butler’s teams, there has also been individual academic success by the school’s student-athletes.

According to Goetz, the athletics department takes pride in its student-athletes for both their work as athletes and as students.

“Butler is really a special place in that the institution attracts people that are dedicated to their academic endeavors,” Goetz said. “To be successful at [athletics and academics] is just something that we just get to be so proud of.”

Five years ago, the Butler athletics department announced the elimination of men’s swimming, a sport that had been at the university for nearly 80 years.

Swimming became a sport at Butler in 1928, with the introduction of both a men’s and women’s team.

The two teams practiced and competed together most of the time and considered themselves to be one team, said Chris Gordon, who was a freshman five years ago.

“It was like they were pulling half of the team away,” Gordon said. “We were like family.”

The news was given to the team about a month and a half before the season’s Horizon League meet  and it came as a surprise to the members.

The team had been struggling in previous years, finishing last in the Horizon League for 12 straight years, but under second-year coach Maurice Stewart, there were visible improvements being made.

“Under [my] first year we had already made significant progress on both squads,” Stewart, the current coach of Butler’s women’s team, said. “We had increased point totals at the conference championship, raised the level of competitiveness, and multiple records— both personal and school— were being set.”

But the men’s swim team was a non-scholarship sport competing against Horizon League schools where this was not the case. In addition, the team was barely meeting the NCAA minimum of 11 swimmers.

The decision to cut the team was made by Athletic Director Barry Collier in his first year at the position. It was supported by then-President Bobby Fong as well.

Before the elimination of both men’s swimming and lacrosse, Butler was supporting 21 teams with what Collier described as “a bottom-of-the-barrel financial aid budget.”

The other schools in the Horizon League averaged only 16 Division I sports.

Collier said that the decision was made after a review of the entire athletics department and after receiving information from a study by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.

The study determined that Butler ranked almost last in comparison to other private, Division I schools in terms of financial support per student athlete.

Butler’s football players were buying their own cleats, its softball catchers were buying their own gear and its teams were making 20-hour trips because they could not afford to stay the night in a hotel.

“Clearly what we felt was that we were doing too much with too little,” Collier said. “We had too many teams and couldn’t support them.”

Gordon, who had been swimming since he was five years old, said he believes the team was never really given a reason why men’s swimming was cut versus another sport and that he was disappointed in how the situation was handled.

“It was 12 guys versus the whole organization, and no one listened to us, even after meetings with Dr. Fong and Barry [Collier],” Gordon said. “It was kept so secret, and nobody ever explained to us in a clear and concise way why.”

Collier said that he knew there was no easy way to decide which sports to cut, but the cost to make swimming competitive would have been “excessive.”

“The scholarships, staffing, operations and facilities available were so far below what we felt [gave] the team its best opportunity to succeed,” Collier said. “We felt that the other teams had a better chance to succeed, and Title IX eliminated any consideration of [eliminating] women’s sports.”

In addition to the determinations of the athletics department, the decision was based heavily on senior exit reviews, which are given to every athlete upon graduation.

According to those reviews, 50 percent of all Butler athletes— not including those who had left before their senior year— said they would not come back to Butler and participate in athletics again.

Collier said this was one of the most striking facts and played a big role in his decision.

“It made me sick as a Butler alum and as someone that had been here,” Collier said. “Literally 90 percent of the reasons were tied to a lack of financial support in facilities, coaching staffs, operations and financial aid.”

Stewart said there were some negative consequences as a result of the decision, such as an initial backlash in recruiting and a change in dynamic of the team, especially among the swimmers who trained with the men’s team.

At the same time Stewart also said his budget never decreased after the cut, meaning the funds originally used for two teams are now used for just women’s swimming, which he said is good for team camaraderie, retention, equipment and travel.

“Those athletes are now given everything they need to be competitive as they can be,” Stewart said.

One of the bright spots for Collier is the fact that the senior exit reviews have increased to as high as 91 percent and are currently at 86 percent.

“We have been able to better support our remaining 19 teams and that, in combination with the [improved] student athlete experience, is key,” Collier said. “Every team has benefitted and I take my hat off to our student-athletes that are able to achieve what they are.”

Photo  courtesy of Butler Athletics

High-caliber athletics come at a price—one that some fans argue is too high.

The Collegian reported in “Seat not saved” on Nov. 2 that  some season ticket holders were told to increase their donation to retain their seats in accordance with the athletics department’s priority points program.

While it’s unfortunate, it is a reality that fans need to accept. Donations, by definition, are given willingly, and people can choose to opt out.

The priority points program, which has been in place at Butler for four years, takes into account the length of time a person has held season tickets, as well as how much he or she has donated to the school. About 20 to 25 people are moved every year due to the points system.

Fans are seeing a more popular and better product. If economics follows, that experience is going to cost more.

Attendance was more than 8,500 strong at the exhibition game against Franklin on Saturday, which shows that the fans will pack Hinkle Fieldhouse—regardless of price.

Season tickets are in demand, and people will stop buying if ticket prices became exorbitant or they decide the donation threshold is too high. Lower-level season tickets cost $549, which is a value in a town where a nose-bleed seat for what has turned out to be an abysmal Colts season starts at $380 and a decent seat costs $790.

Drawing strong recruits, retaining a great coach, keeping the facilities from crumbling and competing with other Division I schools take money. According to the U.S. Department of Education, Duke University spends $12.3 million on its program and Indiana University spends $7.7 million.

Butler spends only $2.8 million on the basketball program—an expense equal to its revenues in 2009-10.

While the department should not aspire to emulate the Blue Devils or the Hoosiers in many aspects, they could take pointers from their fundraising. No company or department can spend what it takes in without profit and expect to grow.

Butler also has fewer alumni to solicit and fewer seats to sell than most other notable teams, and the price of admission is finally having to reflect that.

It’s regrettable that the burden fell on donors who may not have been duly notified of the change, but the revenues will fund not only operations but scholarships. The money will grow the pie and make Butler a more attractive school for top recruits.

There are a lot of band wagon fans joining the crowds in Hinkle this season. But if the long time supporters and new fans alike want a team good enough to maintain a bandwagon, someone will have to foot the bill.

The Butler men’s tennis team rounded out regular season conference play this weekend at home against Valparaiso and UIC.

On Saturday, the Bulldogs (6-15, 3-4 HL) swept the Crusaders (9-13, 0-7 HL) in doubles play en route to a 4-3 victory.

Seniors Brandon Bayliss and Lenz Theodor highlighted the Bulldogs’ dominance at doubles with an 8-0 win over their opponents.

This momentum carried over to singles play, as Butler would go on to grab straight-set victories in its first three matches.

At No. 1 singles, Bayliss defeated senior Jose Gaspar, 6-3, 6-3.

Senior Chris Herron and junior Zach Ervin both won their matches as well, winning by scores of 6-1, 6-4 and 6-1, 6-2, respectively.  From then on Butler struggled, losing in its final three matches.

Sunday’s match versus UIC was another chapter in Butler’s season of inconsistency.

The Flames (7-12, 4-3 HL) got off to a quick start, winning two of three doubles matches, and kept on rolling to win 6-1.

Bayliss got the lone victory in singles play for the Bulldogs, finishing the regular season with a perfect 7-0 against conference opponents.

“I commit to my game plan on a daily basis in practice,” Bayliss said.  “I figure out what I need to do and then I do my best to execute.”

Butler did not close out the regular season at full strength. Bayliss and Theodor sat out against IUPUI due to the regular season maximum match limit, leading to a 6-1 loss to the Jaguars (7-15) yesterday.

The Bulldogs were able to take one point in singles play thanks to Herron, who won at No. 1 singles, 6-1,  7-6.

Butler’s only other victory was at No. 2 doubles, but the Bulldogs were forced to forfeit the No. 3 doubles match.

With their split performance this weekend, the Bulldogs clinched the No. 5 seed in the Horizon League Championship tournament.

They will face off against UIC in the first round Thursday at North Central High School in Indianapolis.

“Everyone just needs to play with more confidence so we can start closing matches out,” Bayliss said. “It’ll be tough, but we can definitely do it.”

With wins against conference foes Green Bay and Milwaukee, the Butler women’s tennis team is in the midst of its second four-game winning streak of the season.

After defeating the Phoenix (2-11, 1-6 HL) and the Panthers (10-8, 3-4 HL), the Bulldogs (10-6, 3-0 HL) are preparing for a five-game homestand against five league opponents.

On Sunday, Butler traveled to Milwaukee and took five of six singles matches and two of three doubles matches to capture a 6-1 victory.

The win kept the Bulldogs perfect in conference play.

“We’re doing a nice job of finishing sets,” head coach Jason Suscha said. “Early on [in the season], teams would come back against us, but now we’re doing a nice job of closing out.”

Strong singles performances were turned in by senior Gabriela Bobrowski and freshman Caroline Hedrick.

At No. 4 singles, Bobrowski didn’t lose a game to Milwaukee junior Megan Gow, beating her, 6-0, 6-0.

Hedrick, playing at No. 2 singles, nearly shut out her opponent, sophomore Kelly Fritz, winning in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0.

The Bulldogs were victorious in all singles matches except for No. 1 singles, where Milwaukee sophomore Maddy Soule topped Butler senior Natali Jaimes, 6-1, 6-1.

In doubles play, the Bulldogs had the upper hand at both the No. 1 and No. 2 spots.

Freshmen Stephanie McLoughlin and Gabrielle Rubenstein won at No. 1 doubles, defeating Fritz and Sammi Schoen, 8-6.

At No. 2 doubles, Bobrowski and sophomore Brittany Farmer grabbed Butler’s other doubles win, coming out on top versus sophomore Brittany Skemp and freshman Kristin Kurer, 8-4.

On Saturday, the Bulldogs took care of Green Bay, 7-0.

Butler won all but one of the singles matches in straight sets.

McLoughlin and Hedrick were the top performers at singles, losing only one game each to their respective opponents.

The Bulldogs also swept the doubles competition by getting two 8-5 wins and an 8-3 victory.

This Saturday, Butler will open a five-game homestand against Youngstown State.

“We feel good, healthy and confident,” Suscha said. “With a homestand, we put a little more emphasis on being successful and we need to work harder during these times.”

The Butler baseball team got its conference season started on the right foot by taking two of three games against Valparaiso last Friday and Saturday. The Bulldogs (9-10, 2-1 HL) will look to continue their winning ways against Wabash today and Milwaukee over the weekend.

Butler closed out the three-game series against Valparaiso by posting a double digit run total for the first time since March 13 and beating the Crusaders (3-19, 1-2 HL) in the second game of a doubleheader, 14-7.

“It’s always nice to win a series,” head coach Steve Farley said. “It’s a good compliment for our team when we can bounce back after a tough loss.”

Butler used a big fourth inning to blow the game open. With two outs in the frame, the Bulldogs strung together five consecutive hits to bring home five of the nine runs they tallied in the inning.

With a run already in and two more runners on base, senior right fielder Corey Moylan singled to drive in junior shortstop Griffin Richeson. Senior third baseman Grant Fillipitch followed Moylan’s single with an RBI double which tied the game at 4.

The big blow came from the next batter, senior catcher Michael Letzter, who smacked a three-run home run over the left field fence to put Butler up 7-4.

An RBI double from junior first baseman Mike Hoscheit and a two-run double from pinch hitting sophomore Pat Gelwicks capped the inning for the Bulldogs, who sent 13 hitters to the plate in the frame and turned a 4-1 deficit into a 10-4 lead.

“I went up looking for a good fastball to hit,” Hoscheit said. “Everyone hit well and it was a good performance by the team.”

Butler tacked on three more runs in the fifth inning and a single tally in the 9th while holding the Crusaders to just three runs over the game’s final five innings.

The Bulldogs’ offense was led by Hoscheit, who went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI’s and runs, and Moylan, who also had three hits in five plate appearances, driving home one run and scoring twice. Richeson had a solid day at the plate for Butler as well, going 2-for-4 with three runs, making up for his three errors in the field.

Junior Mike Hernandez picked up his second victory of the season for the Bulldogs. Hernandez pitched seven innings, giving up six runs (five earned) on six hits with five strikeouts over 111 pitches.

“I felt really good,” Hernandez said. “All three starting pitchers [in the series] did well, the defense supported us, we got big hits and the bullpen shut it down in the second game.”

In game one of the doubleheader, Butler squandered an opportunity to tie the score in the eighth inning. It cost the Bulldogs, as Valparaiso posted six runs in the ninth inning to capture a 12-5 win.

Both squads were held hitless until the fourth inning, when the Bulldogs and the Crusaders both scored twice. Valparaiso then scored two more runs in both the fifth and seventh innings while Butler tallied three runs in the sixth inning.

Down 6-5 entering the bottom of the eighth inning, the Bulldogs’ offense quickly got in business when sophomore center-fielder Andrew Eckhardt tripled to open the frame.

Eckhardt was left stranded on third base, however, and the Crusaders would go on to score six times in the ninth inning.

Senior catcher Corey Thibault had an impressive day at the dish for Valparaiso, going 2-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI’s. Junior left fielder Steven Scoby had three hits and three RBI’s for the Crusaders in the win.

Senior Damon McCormick pitched six innings to pick up the victory for Valparaiso. Senior Justin Frane was strong out of the bullpen for the Crusaders, pitching three scoreless innings and allowing a single hit.

Butler used five runs over the sixth and seventh innings as well as a seven-inning, two-run pitching performance from senior Dom Silvestri to win the first game of the 3-game series by a score of 6-2.

The series win put the Bulldogs into a tie for second place with Wright State in the Horizon League and a game behind UIC for the conference lead.

“UIC and Wright State stand out, and Milwaukee is always tough,” Farley said. “All three of them are always at the top.”

Butler’s first contest off a 3-4 trip in Florida was a 15-3 loss at Indiana St. on March 23.

The Bulldogs will welcome Wabash to Bulldog Park today before continuing the conference season with three games in Milwaukee on Friday and Saturday.