Rob Polinsky will join the Kent State Sports Network for the 2009 football season in a full time role as the color analyst alongside Tom Linder.  Fans may remember the solid job that Polinsky did last season in the season ending victory at Buffalo.  Polinsky filled in for Linder who was on the road with the men’s basketball team at the time.  Polinsky has been at WEOL/AM930 in Elyria since 1997 calling high school games.  He is a former speech and drama student of Linder’s at St. Paul High School in Norwalk.  The two also have experience working together on high school games in Norwalk in the 1980’s.  Ty Linder will return as the sideline reporter.

There is more exciting news for Kent State fans all around the state, country and world.  With the football and men’s basketball games returning to WNIR/100.1 FM, the station now streams live audio of their station.  Station Manager Bill Klaus assured me in an email response that all Kent State football and men’s basketball games will be streamed live on the website.  Now fans can hopefully listen in all over the world to root on the Golden Flashes.

In not much of a surprise to anyone, Kent State was picked to finish 6th in the MAC East this morning at Media Day, while Buffalo was picked to win the East and Central Michigan the West.  Elton Alexander from The Plain Dealer weighs in. 

"We're tired of being at the bottom of the poll and not living up to people's expectations," Senior running back Eugene Jarvis told the Kent Sports Report.  "You can see the fire in people's eyes. Hopefully things will fall our way this year."

Head Coach Doug Martin weighed in on the quarterback competition between redshirt sophomore Giorgio Morgan and senior Anthony Magazu.  "Well, we're going to let both those guys compete during two-a-days and see how they do" Martin said. "They both had really productive springs. We feel comfortable with both of them, but we will name a starter by the end of two-a-days."

The MAC Football Media Preview will air live and be available to the public this morning as part of a free preview.  The events will also be made available on demand following the event.  FS Ohio's and Kent State grad Jeff Phelps will be the emcee for the day's events.  Head Coach Doug Martin, Eugene Jarvis and Brian Lainhart will represent KSU and their time slot is scheduled for 9:30-9:40A.M.

With MAC Football Media Day talking place tomorrow in Detroit, NewsFlashes recaps several of the preseason magazines and where they pick the 2009 Golden Flashes. 

Phil Steele

Kent State: 5^th in MAC East

MAC East Champion: Ohio

MAC West Champion: Central Michigan

Athlon

Kent State: 6^th in MAC East

MAC East Champion: Buffalo

MAC West Champion: Central Michigan

The Sporting News

Kent State: 7^th in MAC East

MAC East Champion: Buffalo

MAC West Champion: Western Michigan

Lindy

Kent State: 4^th in MAC East

MAC East Champion: Buffalo

MAC West Champion: Central Michigan

USA Today

Kent State: 4^th in MAC East

MAC East Champion: Buffalo

MAC West Champion: Central Michigan

The MAC Daily

Kent State: 6^th in MAC East

MAC East Champion: Buffalo

MAC West Champion: Central Michigan

On June 23 NewsFlashes told you about three former KSU baseball players who are apart of the new expansion minor league team in Avon, the Lake Erie Crushers.  Andrew Davis and J.J. Pacella join Drew Saylor who represent the Blue and Gold.  Saylor (Wadsworth) is really capturing the opportunity.  Saylor has become a mainstay at second base and in the two spot in the lineup.  The 25 year old Saylor was hitting .302 going into Sunday's action.  Saylor has matured since he started playing professional baseball.  “When I first got drafted, I saw myself as a power hitter instead of being gap-to-gap with occasional power," Saylor told the Medina Gazette.  "I think that’s just part of maturing, and that’s how the guys in the big leagues get to the big leagues. They understand what type of player they are and they hone that in and figure that out, day in and day out."  It has been a bonus that Saylor is so close to home.  “A lot of people from where I work in Wadsworth, my friends and stuff, they also come up to see me play," Saylor said.  "You just have that support system that’s around you. That gives you that relaxation and easy feeling, that hominess that I’ve been searching for.”

Read the full story in the Medina Gazette.

Dave Carducci from the Record Courier is taking the "wait and see" approach when thinking about his expectations for the 2009 Kent State football season.  MAC Football Media Day will take place this Friday at Ford Field in Detroit.  Head Coach Doug Martin, RB Eugene Jarvis and FS Brian Lainhart will represent the Golden Flashes. 

In recruiting news, quarterback Gabe Henderson has given his verbal commitment to the Golden Flashes.  Henderson is from North Carolina and according to this report, will remain open to the recruiting process should another school make an offer.

The Kent State men's basketball program has extended a scholarship offer to Rayvonte Rice, a 6-2, 190 pound shooting guard from Champaign, Illinois.  Rice's AAU basketball team is competing in the AAU national tournament this week as reported by recruiting expert Steve Hare at the Kent Sports Report.

Believe it or not, the Kent State football program has come a long way.  Under Doug Martin the graduation rate is above 80 percent.  The players have been quality citizens and Martin is respected in the community.  There has also been stability among Martin and his staff.  More than $15 million in upgrades have been done to Dix Stadium.  Now it is time for the program to produce a consistent winner.  Martin and his staff are hoping the final game from 2008 will help them shake a losing culture, and win in 2009.  The Plain Dealer's Terry Pluto has the full story here.

The men's basketball non-conference schedule has become official.  Read the official release here including the thoughts from Coach Geno Ford. 

The wrestling team also released their 2009-2010 schedule.  Coming off one of their best seasons in history, they will face tough competition throughout the schedule.

Athletic Director Laing Kennedy is very excited about the upcoming athletic seasons. Despite capturing the fourth Reese Trophy in school history and finishing second in the Jacoby Trophy last year, Kennedy would like to see the fall programs improve.  He says he is still confident in Doug Martin for the football team's revival and is anxious to get the season started.

Kent State Athletic Communications has named Sheila Blackman as an assistant director of athletic communications.  Blackman comes to KSU after an 11 year stint at Wisconsin-Green Bay.  Blackman will work with the women's basketball and women's soccer programs as well as leading an effort to move from printed media guides to more of a digital focus. 

The official MAC website, www.mac-sports.com has been doing interviews with different football athletes as they gear up for the upcoming season.  Eugene Jarvis and Brian Lainhart have been featured.  MAC Football Media Day will be July 30 and 31.

Kent State men's basketball coach Geno Ford has been a busy man this summer out on the recruiting trail.  This week he is in Las Vegas to watch one of the best basketball trainers in the world.  The rest of the week he will spend watching Nike, Adidas and Reebok AAU tournaments.  Kenny Knight, who verbally committed to KSU from the Cincinnati area, is playing in one of the tournaments.  After Las Vegas Ford will spend time in Dallas and Orlando.  So far this summer Ford has been to Cincinnati, Akron, Chicago, Tulsa, Texas and West Virginia.  Dave Carducci has the full story here. 

The Kent State football team will officially begin practice on August 7.  Head Coach Doug Martin and his staff are hard at work game planning for the first three opponents of the season (Coastal Carolina, Boston College, Iowa State).  Martin said he loves the attitude the players have exhibited this off season since their victory over MAC Champion Buffalo and is anxious to get started.

Former Kent State quarterback Julian Edelman has signed a contract with the New England Patriots according to a report on boston.com.  Edelman, who was a seventh round pick in April, signed a four year deal worth $1.7 million with a $48,700 signing bonus.  Edelman really impressed people during the rookie mini-camp and the team's mandatory mini-camp.  He will be a versatile player for the Patriots as he makes the transition to wide receiver.  Edelman can also be used in the return game and line up at quarterback in the "wildcat offense".