Request to Warhawk football fans. Show up at the Perk on Saturday!

The  UW-Whitewater football team is once again in the NCAA III Playoffs. Will the Warhawks be able to capture a third consecutive national title, and seventh in the last eight years this year? A game at a time, right?

My question today is - can we get more than 1100 to Perkins Stadium on Saturday for the Hawks 1^st round game vs. St. Norbert?

For a program that averaged 7500 per game two years ago and 10,000 per game last year, I am left scratching my head at Whitewater’s paltry playoff attendance.

I’ve heard all the excuses a million times!

-         Students have to pay in the Tournament where they don’t in the regular season.

-         It will be a rout over an easy opponent in 1st round

-         The game can be watched on live TV

-         Weather 

-         Deer hunting (later on the Road to Salem

A couple of thoughts… 

-         Students required to pay in an NCAA rule.     

-         Remember this an NCAA event, not a Whitewater event. No cannon allowed!?!

-         Students have been offered hundreds of free (donated) playoff tickets over the years and few students show up at the “Perk”

-         Games can be seen “live” on UWW TV

-         Deer hunting (later on the Road to Salem

-         Why do adult fans stay away in droves?

     -  Weak competition in first round? 3791 of you showed   

         up to watch the Hawks play Eau Claire on Oct. 31. It was                             

         a team that hadn’t won a game in two years 

      -  Weather? More of you show up to playoff games with

         wind chills below zero than a 1st round game with 

         temperatures in the 30s or 40s 

      - The game can be watched on live TV

Correct me if I’m wrong, but we consider ourselves among the best NCAA Division III fans in the nation. Here’s your chance to prove it!

Trey Bell: Once a Warhawk, always a Warhawk

UW-Whitewater is home to one of the most, NCAA III football programs in the country.  As fans we focus each season on Warhawk wins and championships won.

Over the years I have bad allowed to get ‘inside the circle” as publisher of warhawkfootball.com beginning in 2004.  That was the year that Trey Bell was a senior All-American corner cornerback on the UW-Whitewater football team.

Once I got inside ‘that circle’ I started to realize that I was covering not just a football team but a band of brothers. I had heard the term Once a Warhawk - Always a Warhawk. It was beginning with that ’04 team that I first began to understand the true meaning of that phrase.

In September of 2014, Trey was diagnosed with stage IV Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma., a cancer in the immune system.

Led by Trey’s former teammate Jim Lesczynski a GO FUND ME fundraising drive for his former UW-Whitewater teammate.

While Trey’ cancer I currently in remission, Bell continues to experience back pain, stomach problems and digestive issues, side effects he said he'll continue to experience for the foreseeable future.

"There's concern that it may recur in the next year or two, so my doctors want to make sure to keep an eye on me," Bell said. "I don't have any other treatments as of now."

14 months in, the staggering medical bills continue to mount. 

Trey indicated on Thursday night how much he has been ‘lifted’ by the tremendous emotional support he has received from so many here in southern Wisconsin.

That support will be on center stage today with the launch of the Gloves Off-Supporting The Battle Tested cancer public awareness campaign.

Gloves Off-Supporting The Battle Tested T-shirts are going to be sold in the Perkins Stadium parking lots today prior to the      Warhawks taking on UW-Stout. A win would virtually clinch a playoff berth for the two-time defending NCAA III National Champions.

”Without the support from all of you through these trying times this fight would have been a lot harder,” Bell says. ”The fight is what you make it and with whom you make it with. You kept me focused and ready everyday and for that I was never alone.”

“As a result of my recent great news and the out pour of support. We have decided to start a movement that will start at the University of Whitewater on the 14th of November.”

“This event: no matter the size of donations will help my family and I pay off this relentless disease and begin to write a new chapter in our lives.”

”So thank you Whitewater family and friends for always having my back”

”I hope that you will join us in years to come as we continue our fight with "Gloves Off" to help multiple families each year who have been dealt such hands and could use a little HELP. there are several diseases out there that deserve our respect and attention. and I for one am ready to give it to them.”

”Please join us as we take ours gloves off to fight!”

ONCE A WARHAWK, ALWAYS AWARHAWK!

Trey Bell to raise cancer awareness tomorrow at PerkinsvStadium

I'm currently in my 445th day since being diagnosed with inoperable and incurable stage IV colorectal cancer with liver metastases Tomorrow's goal is to make UW-Whitewater Warhawk football fans aware of the need to be proactive on the signs of potential cancer.

Pay attention to what your doctors are telling you - they are the professionals. Have faith in the medicine they are giving you. Pay attention to what your doctors are telling you. Know what type and stage of cancer you may have. And mot importantly, do the best you can to remain optimistic, and approach your life with a ‘one day at a time’ attitude

 A number of friends and former teammates of Trey Bell will be in the Perkins Stadium parking lot amongst tailgaters tomorrow prior to UW-Whitewater’s final regular season game vs. UW-Stout at 2 p.m.

Trey’s former teammates will be helping launch sales of the official Gloves off – Supporting the Battle Tested cancer awareness T-shirts. 

 "This is a 'we' project, not a 'me' project," the former Warhawk All-American (2004) indicated on the KOOL-106.5 Coaches Show Thursday evening at Second Salem Brewing in Whitewater.

"It is to raise public awareness for those that are currently battling cancer. That we are thinking about them, and praying that each cancer patient will eventually win their courageous fight against cancer."  
 A portion of the proceeds that are raised from Saturday’s T-shirt sale will be going to assist Trey with his staggering medical bills as he continues his battle with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

'It I my hope that that this project will increase cancer awareness can evolve into a nationwide campaign," Bell said.

A day at a time

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