Wednesday DBR: A Report Full of Relatively Cheerful Things

I'm going to be in Waco today. I'm trying to get a role in a national ESPN commercial that will be Baylor-centric, but I don't have any details beyond that. If you'd like me to bring you food from one of the local establishments on my way back, the answer is probably no unless you live in the no-man's-land between Tyler and Waco.

Inaugural Lift For Life on Thursday

Some of you have probably seen football players advertising Baylor first annual Lift For Life event on Twitter. It will be held on Thursday morning at 7 a.m. in the Simpson Athletic Center weight room. Lift For Life is a charitable fundraising event organized by school chapters of an organization called Uplifting Athletes. For the last year, Levi Norwood has been the driving force behind the organization of chapter at Baylor.

Lift For Life challenges college football players to raise money for research and awareness of a rare disease- cerebral palsy in Baylor's case. They are organized into position groups and compete to bring in the most money, then push for personal records in the weight room on the day of the event. The group with the most money raised and most progress in the weight room wins. The idea fits well with Baylor's Kazadi-instilled workout culture, and hopefully the event is marketed more widely next year. If you want to make a donation of any size, all the details can be found here.

The official story says that Baylor's Uplifting Athletes chapter plans to organize more events to raise funds for cerebral palsy research in the future.

Look at all these grades, yo.

Yesterday Baylor published lists of student athletes who distinguished themselves in the classroom during the Spring 2014 semester. 60 athletes had 4.0 GPAs on the semester, 114 made the Baylor Dean's List, which requires at least a 3.7, and 331 landed on the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll. One individual who stands out to me is Spencer Drango, a finance major who earned a perfect GPA while rehabbing from a major injury and staring a bright future in the NFL in the face. In a time when the student athlete is being made out to be an unrealistic fiction, players like Drango remind us that it's possible for a college athlete to have it both ways. Baylor athletes posted an average 3.18 GPA across the entire department.

WBB Non-Conference Schedule Released

The Lady Bears released their finalized non-conference slate yesterday, which is headlined by a game against Kentucky in Lexington. The Lady Bears lost to Kentucky in who-knows-how-many overtimes in Arlington last year, but came back and handled the Wildcats in the postseason. Baylor returns many key players from last year's team, including reigning Big 12 Freshman of the Year Nina Davis, point guard Niya Johnson, and post Khadijiah Cave. Alexis Prince will also return after missing most of least season with an injury.

Bryce Petty, Super Boy Scout

Bryce Petty can't keep people from noticing how good of a guy he is. Yesterday Petty was nominated for the 2014 Allstate AFCA Good Works team. Beyond being a generally awesome guy, Petty works with local kids through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, goes on mission trips overseas with Baylor Sports Ministry teams, and validates the existence of the Honors College with his presence at late-night breakfast parties. He graduated with a degree in Health Science Studies in May of 2013 and has since spent his time pursuing a Masters of Sports Management. The 182 nominees will be narrowed down to 22 recipients by September.

The Daily Bear

Shhh. Go to sleep. The offseason will be over before you know it.