Alright, well, Keith McMillan filed more than 12,000 words just for this part of the Around the Nation 2007 Year in Review. I’d be scared to count how many words he wrote this season, or just in the Year in Review. Or even to copy and paste them all back into Word and let Bill Gates do the work.
Yes, I know those of you who still write checks have been writing ‘2008’ without fail for some time now, but it takes a while to write 20,000 words.
So there were many, many memories included. (My former copy desk chief would ding me for repeating the adjective, but shoot, it’s 1 a.m. and I don’t work there anymore.) There were memories that I was glad to read about, and others I’d rather forget. (Hello? ’80s music anyone?) And it’s always good to get the retrospective/reality check on the preseason poll, our Kickoff predictions, and the like.
But no simple (hah!) column can fully wrap up the 2007 season. I mean, we didn’t even get to read about how Keith didn’t make it to Catholic in time to see his alma mater finish beating my alma mater back in September — a game which ended up being between teams that combined for 13 wins instead of what we thought might be more like five.
So certainly you have memories that we haven’t considered. Or ones we’ve forgotten. Or perhaps you just have a good story to make up and try to slip past us.
Whatever your reason, we throw the floor open for the final Around the Nation of the 2007 season. But nope of the 2008 year. There’s that copy editor again.
Sorry to be the first poster in response to my own column … but that was a good one Pat. Thought I’d get some stuff done around the house and catch the second half of R-MC at CUA in D.C. … I’d been there before, so who needs MapQuest’s printouts?
Um, wrong. In my pre-working-in-the-city-limits days, I knew you had to go around the Capitol Building to get from one side of Capitol St. to the other, which takes you to Michigan Av., which takes you to Catholic … but somehow I ended up way the heck out on New York Av. and Bladensburg and never did get to DuFour in time for the game. Although R-MC won, yay!
Come to think of it, our bus driver got turned around at the U.S. Capitol Bldg. too back on our ’94 or ’96 trip up there.
Anyway, I really showed up to post this, an e-mail I got and didn’t include in Part III, but should air here:
From Bret Colbert, St. Vincent WR Coach:
“As you know, we opened up with Gallaudet at home this year. It was our head coach’s (my father’s) first game as Head Coach since he left Gallaudet’s program in 1971 (at that time, the youngest HC in the nation).
The neat part was the Friday before the game, as many as 12 former Gallaudet players showed up at our walk-through to say hello, some from as far away as California. I walked off the field as they were reminiscing plays and practices from over 30 years ago. I drove away a half hour later and they were still out there, signing away. The next day, after the game, all of these former players were at our post-game tailgate on campus, and came over to the house later to continue the memories. A mother of one of Gallaudet’s current players made sure to find my dad so her son could meet the man that coached his now deceased father in college. Sure enough, Sunday morning the house was full again as many came back over for a brunch before hitting the road or heading to the airport. I think these guys won a total of 3 or 4 games at Gallaudet while
my father was coaching, but they couldn’t wait to come back to a foreign campus and relive it all one more time.
Keep up the good work!”
Yet another reminder that players and coaches hold dear a lot more than wins and losses.
It was a magical season for anyone who supports Whitewater football. From the ascension to national contender status a couple of years ago, to finally getting the ultimate prize in 2007. But it’s really even more than that. Watching the conference races across the country (and a PLAYOFF system), interacting with others on Post Patterns, even meeting people in the parking lot in Salem – the entire D3football world is very special. Thank you, Keith, for summing it up nicely. My memories from 2007? Playoff game weather in Wisconsin – Rain all game vs Capital, sleet and snow in our faces vs Wabash, cold vs MHB. But regardless, tailgating before. And special notice to the Wabash fan base – spirit in abundance.
keith, excellent job with all the recollections. this was our first trip to the stagg and we throughly enjoyed it, including meeting brandon and his family and all the other stone station folks. i have fond memories of all the people i have met this year and the fun at each game, home or away. the montclair state game is a classic with the official delay making wesley turn the lights on for the first time in an official home game. you guys do a great job and i am looking forward to the upcoming season and the possibility, a strong one, that wesley will go deep into the playoffs again. we plan on making the trip to the stagg bowl again, so we might as well make it this year with the great tailgating crew at wesley along with the stone station guys and gals. llama did give us props on our tailgating when he visited. have a good time off and we will see you soon enough.
I’m going to pile on with the compliments to the D3 football crew. I stumbled on this site three years ago and have been addicted ever since. The detail of coverage is amazing and it’s a terrific service to the D3 football programs and players across the country. So thank you for all you do.
And again, a big double thumbs up to Salem as host of the Stagg Bowl, they do a great job.