Welcome aboard Dieter!  You have big shoes to fill as Ted Hutton did an awesome job covering the Owls.  Best of luck.  Congrats on the new gig.  There are fun times ahead for FAU Athletics!

Welcome Dieter!

If you have any questions to help with you research, let us know! We'd be happy to help you understand the history, traditions and anything else that may not be clear from Wikipedia or similar sources.  There's really no better place to get the "pulse" of FAU fans than here on TON and you'd be surprised by how many people keep an eye on this board.

As Rick said, we have a very good relationship with your predecessor, Ted Hutton, and while it would be no surprise if your blogging style is different, he did establish the right tone of voice for us.

Fair warning: we're particularly sensitive to being called a "commuter school" (don't do it) and we also don't appreciate the Sentinel's constant comparison of FAU to UF, which has 50 years of development on us. Furthermore, if you want a lesson on how NOT to write an FAU article, you can look into Tom D'Angelo's poor excuse for an FAU blog over at the PBP. Granted, we don't expect the media to run PR for FAU, that's not their job, but we also don't expect them to run a smear campaign against our school either, no matter how subtle. So please lead by example.

Stepping out of that dark cloud, I will say that the general tone of the board has been very positive towards the hires of Carl Pelini and Patrick Chun, and most of us feel pretty good about the prospect of incoming JUCO QB Melvin German III. The success of this season may swing rapidly from one direction to the other based upon what happens with him. That said, Pelini's staff seems somewhat confident in the ability of incumbent QB Graham Wilbert to step forward if MG3 somehow fails to deliver, although I doubt you'd find many people here who have any faith left in #14 after last season's disastrous results, even with the new spread offense. Most of the preseason magazines that I've seen are basing our low rankings on the ambiguity of Carl Pelini's talent, the learning curve of this new offense and the belief that Graham Wilbert will continue to be the starter. This is not unreasonable, and a sloppy start is to be expected, but obviously we hope to perform much better than we did last season.

Welcome Mr. Kurtenbach! If you're looking for research and public opinion on FAU matters, this is the place to do it!  I'd suggest on checking out some of the posts on this site in the Football, Basketball, Baseball, and FAU News section!  FAU is a great school that is rapidly growing in size and quality.  Spend a couple months down here and you'll be as hooked as we are. Welcome aboard and best of luck! Go Owls and f*** FIU.

to add to Owl2Doc's commentary, one more thing. Just don't EVER confuse us with FIU. Happens ALL the time "Aren't you the guys who got into a fight with UM" NO! NO! NO! for the millionth time NO! lol

And as a fellow hockey fan myself, I can understand. I was born and raised as a NY Islanders fan, but when I was born ('79) those were the glory years, not that I remember. Have you had a chance to meet Ken LaVicka of ESPN 760 yet? I know he's also a big Chicago guy, you guys may get along. All depending on the whole Sox/Cubs thing lol

Thanks for the welcome, everyone.

I can assure you that I will not get the Owls confused with FIU under any circumstances.

I think most of you will find, if you're so inclined to head over to the blog or FAU page at SunSentinel.com, that my tone is a bit… different.

But I can promise you that I will treat FAU like the big-time school that it is. I don't deal with PR spin, I deal with facts. That's the only currency I have, and I'm going to work hard to accrue enough to spend liberally.

I will, at times, be critical — but it's my job to cut the bull and present the facts. If that means I'm going against the grain with you guys, so be it — you know how to get in touch with me, I encourage you to lay it on thick.

But if there is something — anything — exciting going on with FAU athletics, I want to be the guy who told everyone about it. The fun is in the journey to the top. I don't know if that's in the cards for the Owls, but either way, there's a story.

I'm working on a big feature piece right now, so the blog hasn't switched fully over yet. I think we'll be a go on Monday.

Until then, you can find me (and if you can't @dkurtenbach or [email protected]…)

dkurtenbach said

I will, at times, be critical — but it's my job to cut the bull and present the facts. If that means I'm going against the grain with you guys, so be it — you know how to get in touch with me, I encourage you to lay it on thick.

I think most people in Owl Country are pretty understanding. We know this school is FAR from perfect, but it's ours! I'm sure you can relate. I encourage you to speak your mind, you can't please everyone. You seem like a really cool guy and you have our support, anytime you need anything or have any questions feel free to ask us.

There's going to be haters in the comments section, but it's out of jealousy and boredom. People have nothing better to do with their lives. Ted used to get bashed non stop and for no reason, a lot of these attacks got personal. Just gotta learn to laugh them off and don't even respond.

I know you're going to do a great job! Welcome to Owl Country, glad to have you on board

Welcome Dieter…I look forward to your reporting and your blog on SS.  I promise I will be a daily reader.  I think sometimes people on blogs forget that the reporters who work for SS and PBP are independent of FAU and are not there to cheerlead the university.  I am just looking for fair, even and interesting reporting from the journalist that cover FAU athletics.  If you do that even if critical at times I will be very happy with your work.  Good luck…I think you are going to have a good time covering FAU we are an interesting passionate bunch!

Big Deets! Welcome to Owl Country my man, we're happy to have ya (look, you already have a nickname!). You won't find a more active community of fans than the Nest, and I can assure you if there's historical context you seek, this is the place for it. The beauty of having a fledgling program like FAUs is that there are plenty of fans that have seen everything in the past 11 years and experienced all of the ups and downs in our history so if you have questions, just ask.

Want to do a "where are they now" piece on Garret Jahn? We'll track him down for you. Don't know who he is? Get a copy of FAU Trivial Pursuit, he's in there.

The only other request I have is that your first big piece is an on location story from Pearl River CC in Mississippi where you spend two weeks with Melvin German in a study chamber to get his ass an AA degree so he can arrive next month. You're our only hope.  ;)

Welcome to Boca, stick around, we'll even teach you the secret handshake.

TeamBeer said

The only other request I have is that your first big piece is an on location story from Pearl River CC in Mississippi where you spend two weeks with Melvin German in a study chamber to get his ass an AA degree so he can arrive next month. You're our only hope.  ;)

;D  +1

Welcome Dieter!

GO OWLS!

dkurtenbach said

Thanks for the welcome, everyone.

I can assure you that I will not get the Owls confused with FIU under any circumstances.

I think most of you will find, if you're so inclined to head over to the blog or FAU page at SunSentinel.com, that my tone is a bit… different.

But I can promise you that I will treat FAU like the big-time school that it is. I don't deal with PR spin, I deal with facts. That's the only currency I have, and I'm going to work hard to accrue enough to spend liberally.

I will, at times, be critical — but it's my job to cut the bull and present the facts. If that means I'm going against the grain with you guys, so be it — you know how to get in touch with me, I encourage you to lay it on thick.

But if there is something — anything — exciting going on with FAU athletics, I want to be the guy who told everyone about it. The fun is in the journey to the top. I don't know if that's in the cards for the Owls, but either way, there's a story.

I'm working on a big feature piece right now, so the blog hasn't switched fully over yet. I think we'll be a go on Monday.

Until then, you can find me (and if you can't @dkurtenbach or [email protected]…)

Welcome, but you got big shoes to fill (even if they are newspapers tied on with twine).  I hope your as entertaining as our boy Teddy.