The launch of Inside the Pride

Welcome to “Inside the Pride”, a new site designed to keep Hofstra sports fan in the loop with in-depth coverage and features involving your favorite “Blue and Gold” teams.

Hofstra is joining a small but growing list of Division I schools that are hiring outside sports journalists to enhance the web coverage of their teams and the first in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). This site will serve as a hub to get an inside view of the teams, players, coaches and administrators who help shape the Hofstra athletics program both on and off the field.

This is an exciting development not just for Pride fans like you, but also for me personally since I have been a passionate follower of Hofstra sports for the last 11 years. I grew up in East Greenwich, R.I., closely following college sports at Providence College, the University of Rhode Island and Brown. After arriving for freshman year at Hofstra in August 1998, I immediately bled “Blue and Gold.”

While I will certainly bring the Hofstra fan’s perspective to this blog, I will also provide coverage from an objective journalistic point of view. While a student at Hofstra, I covered numerous Pride teams for the Chronicle newspaper and on 88.7FM WRHU (Radio Hofstra University).

After graduating from Hofstra, I worked for four years as a reporter for the Nassau Herald, which covers the Five Towns area in southwest Long Island. While my main responsibility was covering the Lawrence and Hewlett-Woodmere school district along with local village governments, I was always drawn to writing sports features. Some of my features included a scoop on Hewlett High School lacrosse player Steven DeNapoli’s decision to sign with Hofstra in early 2007. He has since gone on to be a reliable short-stick defensive midfielder for the Hofstra men’s lacrosse team and earned All CAA second team accolades as only a sophomore last season, while helping to lead the Pride to its second straight NCAA tourney appearance.

My journalism background also includes financial reporting for Institutional Investor News and Crain’s Investment News, but my number one passion has always been sports; and what better athletics program to cover than my proud alma mater Hofstra? However I will not let my Pride passion get in the way of bringing you objective coverage of Hofstra sports.

With many of Hofstra’s teams expected to be in contention for NCAA berths in 2009/2010, it is an exciting time to be around Hofstra Athletics, and I hope you will make this blog a regular stop. Look out each week for blog postings, features, recaps, previews, and Q&A’s that will keep you fully informed on Hofstra sports from all angles.

Feedback and is always welcome so drop me a line at andrewtfcoen@gmail.com and I will respond as best I can, or post any comments you have right in the blog.