With every passing week, the Wesley 47-0 debacle loss at Brockport State gets more and more puzzling. How could this team go up to Brockport, field conditions aside, and not put up one single point? My trip to Wesley the next week to see them pound Salisbury began the puzzlement — it was obvious this was a good team, with the ability to win a playoff game or two, but to become the first non-Texas team to win a playoff game in the Lone Star State since 2001?
Incredible. And that’s coming from me, after picking Wesley as the cinderella team in the bracket on the ESPNews selection show.
Another home game on turf. Then a trip West for the winner. Who knew.
Mount Union pulls another Mount Union and rolls a quality opponent. I know Capital is a familiar opponent, but that bodes well for Mount Union, which has had a tendency to pound OAC teams the second time around.
Even though St. John’s helped UW-Whitewater out, Whitewater would have won on its own today. Five of the seven fumbles were forced and defensively, Whitewater was making plays even when not taking the ball away. Other than a brief period in the third quarter, St. John’s couldn’t stop Justin Beaver and Derek Stanley burned the Johnnies defense for a pair of big plays when they needed them.
West Region final should be a dandy. So should the South. Not so sure about the East, if Rowan has found its stroke again it might not be much different than last year’s Rowan/Delaware Valley regional final.
No stupid e-mail of the week, at least not ones I have with me, so we’ll have to suffice with the …
Bad karma moment of the weekend: Two St. John’s fans independently coming up to me and asking me why UW-Whitewater passed them in the poll a few weeks ago. Never a good idea right before a head-to-head matchup.
foxsden….Uhhh the statistics I quote are not “probably true.” They are fact. Also, they are not “ancient history” or from “the last millennium.” They are from ’99 to the present. Tune in. And my comments do apply to the topic. My comment pertaining to “immediate thoughts to Week 13” is that even without their QB, Rowan is still thumping everyone in the East. Whether it be by 40+ like in the first round or 4, they are still running over everyone in this region. I appreciate different people’s thoughts on why this might be. They sure beat “I don’t think this tells us squat about Rowan’s dominance in the East.” Please.
In terms of quality of play, anyone that watched the Union/Rowan battle saw two powerful, well-coached athletic teams deliver spirited performances.
Hats off to Rowan – a strong entry that showed its championship mettle against an outstanding and balanced Union attack. All the talk of Rowan being a D-1 dumping ground is grossly misplaced. These were top flight D-III ballers, with few holes at any position.
Nonetheless, any Rowan supporter who attended the game had to feel lucky to get out of Schenectady alive, as the Dutchman literally had one more offensive drive “within their grasp”, as the talented and well balanced Rowan back Albri, after an apparent third-down tackle for loss, was propelled forward for a big gain and first down that sealed the victory.
This was a very evenly matched battle, up front, and at the skill positions. All was on display in frigid weather and snow. In the end, 5 interceptions in a playoff game is too much to overcome against a disciplined, well coached team like Rowan. I’ll be frank, they were not the type of team I expected, and didn’t nearly resemble the jumbo athletic Rowan teams of the mid-90’s.
To the Union QB’s credit (Marotti), three or four of the five picks resulted from great defensive plays and not particularly errant throws. He otherwise played outstanding, and demonstrated vertical passing skills rarely seen in D-III. Watch out for him next year.
As for Rowan’s QB, he can best be described as “ugly-good”. The kid just got it done, over and over, converting, I believe, 12 of 22 third downs. Gritty. Rowan – Best of luck in the rest of the playoffs. Please shut the blowhards out West up.
We look forward, hopefully, to a rematch in 2006, as the Dutchman return all there skill kids, including its QB, the nations #2 rusher (who is equally adept at receiving out of the backfield), and all of its WR’s, including one kid (Angiletta) that evokes memories of Ithaca’s Ismailoff from the early 90’s. The kid was clearly the best player on the field on Saturday – as I’m sure any Rowan fan would attest.
Once again, great coaching and memorable performances on both sides.
dukefinadv,
I have been waiting for someone to bring up how many colleges are in Oregon, Texas, and Minnesota.
The answer is it really doesn’t matter. All colleges recruit. The fact is some schools are better at recruiting. Linfield, St Johns, Mt Union, Rowan, Trinity all do a great job of recruiting. I don’t even want to bring up how small of a state Oregon is compared to many of the other states. Per-Capita, Oregon is very small so to bring up the argument that they get the best kids because very few schools play football is not valid. Infact it is an insult to all those coaches.
As for your pick as the Gagliardi award you obviously are very biased. I don’t know if Brett Elliott should get the award or not. As already talked about on this forum it does not always go to the best player. Brett Elliott is the best player. It goes to the best all around student/athlete/citizen. I do believe Brett Elliott is this person.
So….in conclusion. This forum should be about next weeks games, not someone complaining about lack of teams in one area or D1 kickbacks.
We have so many things to celebrate at the D3 level. Please don’t make this a forum of garbage. Make this a forum for rooting on your team with out cutting down other hard working programs.
dutchman89 – Rowan still has to win on Saturday to get a chance to shut up the blowhards from out West. Hobart’s coach was very honest after the DVC-Hobart game last week. He stated that the horrible condition of DVC’s field was a huge help to his team and stopped DVC from jumping out early and big. He spoke highly of Union and stated that DVC would probably beat Union at DVC………and Union would probably beat DVC at Union. Given the close game between Rowan and Union, the Rowan-DVC game should be a close one (I’ll take DVC plus the 7 points!!!!). Also, Rowan may not be a D1 dumping ground but their All-American WR is a D1 transfer and their injured QB stepped down from D1-AA along with a HB and a few linemen.
D3forme – read my posts from this morning at 12:07am and 12:59am for a little insight into Rowan’s built-in advantage in the East. They are truly Southern New Jersey’s only solid D3 alternative……..unlike players in PA, NY and New England where the talent is much more spread out.
Hey Duke – If the Aggies were half as good as you say they are, they’d be twice as good as they actually are. Good luck next week against the Profs. I’m sure they’re getting a kick out of your blogs, especially in light of last year’s thumping.
As far as recruiting, good programs at good schools don’t need to just recruit “locally”. Good schools simply draw from a bigger radius. As for Rowan, the best D-III caliber players are drawn to a strong program with a winning tradition. That’s why Rowan’s roster is dominated by NJ players. Also, last I looked, NJ has several decent D-III programs that have had NCAA experience (College of NJ, Montclair, William Patterson).
Please, enough with the tough talk. Get to the Stagg Bowl, at least once, then we’ll give you some latitude.
dukefinadv
“PS. Name the current D3 coach most likely to be leading a major D1 program within the next 7-10 years……….G.A. Mangus of Delaware Valley College. Unlike the remaining 7 teams in the field, his is the only roster without a dozen or so players who could/should be playing a level or two up from D3. Making the most with the least is what great coaching can do for a program.”
What a pile of crap. Where did you dig up this fun statistic? For all the success of the DV program this year I am sure the players are glad to know they don’t really have the skills to compete anywhere else but D3. And if not for their coaches’ brilliance they would be sentenced to a life of mediocrity on the football field. By the way how many quarters is this D1 genius on the field helping them out?
How did these 84 players escape the recruiting wars of all the other divisions available? I am also trying to recall the last D3 coach that landed a head coaching job at a “major D1 school” coming out of D3.
fb fan – No harm meant by the dialogue. I don’t really have “a team” as much as I am defending “a region”…..the East. I love the purity of D3 (when it’s pure) and much more of my annual financial support goes towards a couple of D3 programs……..not the D1 programs where I received my advanced degrees. The per capita route does carry some water but when you’re recruiting base includes several states (including California), it doesn’t fill the bucket. One of my SVP’s out West (who is from a D1-AA school from the East – Lehigh) has a nephew who transferred to Linfield from Oregon State. He has seen Linfield three times this year and made mention of Linfield being at least a D2 or a lower level D1-AA back in the East. I’m happy with the Trinity’s, DVC’s, Rowan’s……regardless of what happens in the national semifinals. Mount Union should roll either one of them (Rowan or DVC) and give Linfield a great game in the finals. One last thing, no bias about the Gagliardi (although I have heard about an anti-Elliott bias from others). With 225 yards on Saturday, Adam Knoblauch (DVC) will become the #2 QB in the history of collegiate football……all levels (behind some guy named McNair) in total yardage and playing against competition his equal versus competition that he is obviously superior against. We’ll all see when the votes are counted and I wish all of them and all of the remaining teams nothing but the best of luck!!
Re: D3 “purity”
# of scholarships awarded:
Delaware Valley: 0
Rowan: 0
Mount Union: 0
Linfield: 0
All other D3 schools: 0
There’s your “purity.”
The “East” is just an arbitrary group of schools that the $@%$ NCAA puts together for playoff purposes. It’s frustrating to teams in other places because it allows weaker teams to go deeper into the playoffs. This allows them to gain exposure and boast about reaching the “National Semifinals” when, realistically, the East “champion” is probably not even in the 20 best teams in the nation.
With a little creativity, the morons at the NCAA could create a more balanced playoff bracket and still save their $$$$.
dutchman89 – I don’t think that DVC is all of that. This was originally nothing other than defending the East against, as you said, “the blowhards from the West”. If DVC is as average as you think that they are, shouldn’t Hobart have taken them apart last week? Was Hobart’s head coach just being kind when discussing how even he saw DVC and Union (as a point of reference given Union vs. Rowan)? Rowan’s head coach (a cocky guy) was quoted in the local paper as stating that Upstate NY, New England (Union, Hobart, Curry) had a ways to go to compete with Southeastern Pa and Southern NJ (Rowan and DVC). They’re not my words nor do I agree. Hobart, Union, DVC nor Rowan will be going to the Stagg (can you say Mount Union). DVC and Rowan are still standing and the winner will have one more week left and that’s it. Let’s not take this D3 thing to serious here……..it is about the books first and the ball second as we all know!!! Also, as much as I love the site, I highly doubt that there is a long line of Rowan players on the blog (let alone being aware of its’ very existence!!!).
Rowan’s injured stud QB is a dropdown from 1-AA, best RB from a 1-AA and All-American WR from a full-flegged, big time D1. William Patterson………please!!! Although they stopped Rowan from getting a #1 seed (Rowan admitted to taking them very lightly), it was their only win of the year!!!
And Raiderguy, speak to that which you know. Do you know the state of DVC’s program before Mangus came aboard? How about life support? Yes, he is that good and other larger school’s are taking notice. I didn’t mention a direct leap from D3 to D1 and I did say 7-10 years (which means their would be a stop or two in between). Rowan’s last two head coaches…… John Bunting went to the University of North Carolina and K.C. Keeler won a D1-AA national title at the University of Delaware (and won’t get it but is on the short list to replace Joe Pa at PSU). Let’s let the scholar-athletes (not an oxymoron at D3) have fun in between hitting the books and let us enjoy what my Penn State buddies mock me about…………the purity of D3 football!!!
wildcat in wisconsin – No matter what level of play we’re talking about, there is only one champion left standing at the end. And since you’re not going to beat (nor is anybody from the East) Linfield or Mount Union, what does it matter. Check out Trinity of Connecticut (don’t take part in the playoffs) and look at the schools on their schedule………Tufts, Amherst, etc. They call these schoold the little ivies (that’s Ivy League for you non-Easterners). Football bides time before they head off to Harvard Business School, med school or Yale Law School. Little Wesley of Delaware (20 point underdog) went out to Texas and spanked Mary Hardin-Baylor. Can you explain? (and yes, Delaware is in the Eastern U.S.). You don’t think schools like Rowan, Union, Delaware Valley College and Wesley belong in the Top 20 in the nation? You know very little about D3 football…….much less than the voters who put together the weekly national rankings. I guess you’re right and they’re all wrong????
I know Rowan didn’t last year after the monkey stomping they got in the semi’s.
Exactly my point: Wesley and Bridgewater are in the eastern US, yet somehow they’re not in the “East” bracket.
No, based on recent playoff results, I don’t think that DVC, Union, or Rowan are among the best 20 teams in the nation.
As for the rest of your post, you are setting yourself up as the definition of an East Coast Snob. Name the most famous graduate of Harvard Business School: Yes, it’s the “brilliant” GWB! Nuf’ ced!
DT48, small correction: LC’s victory over Rowan was actually a double monkey stomp plus a TD AND a FG. 🙂
wildcatinwi & downtown48 – Please don’t try to claim every non-Eastern team as yours. Especially you wildcatinwi…….they are your opponent this weekend, not your sister school. No matter who is in what region, if you are the best, you will be the one left standing. No one remembers or cares about the runnerup or the other 30 schools. Take matters into your own hands, beat Linfield and then crow about your school (which Linfield is not!!). No East coast snob here……..I’m not from any of the Little Ivies (Trinity, Tufts, Amherst, etc.). Get your facts straight about GWB…..the school and the word (it’s infamous not famous…..he’s a horses ass…..but please don’t knock an Ivy League MBA or an Ivy League Law Degree. I worked my butt off to get one of each after a D3 football playing undergrad dgree from a non-snobby school!!).
P.S. Given that they were a 20 point away underdog, in your animal language, what was Wesley’s victory at Mary Hardin-Baylor considered?
Dude, I’m a Linfield grad – that’s the “wildcat”. I came to Wisconsin and earned an advanced degree – of course I don’t crow about it at every opportunity so you probably wouldn’t understand.
wildcatinwi – My bad………..good luck against Mount Union at the Stagg and best of luck to Brett Elliott at the next level.
dukefinadv – Thanks for the good discussion! Good luck to whatever East team makes it. I hope they prove me wrong and give Mount a game.
mlusk…just a question…what do you have against the Sphinx club at Wabash College? Why are you taking shots at a school you rarely play and I cannot ever remember the last time you played us here. Are you really that afraid of the Little all male school in Crawfordsville? So we have guys cheering for us on the sidelines and leading the crowd in cheers and do push ups when we score. Have you ever seen the Wabash sideline during a game. There are usually a pretty close 1:1 guy to girl ratio. Not to mention you always have a form or entertainment if Wabash gets a large lead thanks to the Sphinx club rhynes. May be its b/c I go to Wabash that I don’t understand you but seriously what do you have against Wabash?
wildcatinwi,
Although Bridgewater College may be in eastern U.S., I think most Shen. Valley Virginians would prefer to be called a Southerner than an East Coaster 😉
Wabash Man,
I was basically referring to the 2002 playoff game at Mount Union. The Sphinx Club was the most obnoxious group of cheerleaders I have seen.
I feel I can comment on this as I have attanded 90% of Mount Union’s home games since 1999. I have also seen games at John Carroll and B-W.
I have also attended the Stagg Bowl. Just poking a little fun. There was one individual on the Sphinx Club who continued to make rude and uneccessary comments to the Mount Union Fans even though it was clear that Wabash was finished. Wasn’t a real strong representative of your school. I have no hatred for Wabash. I’m most pleased that I don’t have to drive to Indiana this weekend. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I’m just talking a little trash for the OAC.
Hey man, Wabash always fights, you should know that.
Rah, Rah go Little Giants fight, fight win.
Sorry that we came to Mt. Union and cheered for our team ’til the bitter end. But I’m sorrier that you’re still bringing that up!
MacSteve,
Thanks for the comments on the Linfield-Concordia College. The game had to have been a treat to be at and I find myself somewhat envious! I played for Concordia College under Coach Horan from ’00-’04 and it was awesome. Division III may be small college country but anyone who has played in a competetive program knows how fun and exciting the atmosphere can be.
Three cheers to a postseason system that works and an extra hoo-rah to D3football.com. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the season!
Pikecat and others.
I find your analysis of SAT scores in the true fashion of an over priveleged easterner which i have hired to take 8 companies public on the NYSE.
To understand Mount Union you have to realize that we are a small college that educates mostly first generation college students from the rust belt of Ohio. This is not the ivy league and most kids are not expecting to go to college.
I was a vocational student in High School and only by the grace of God did I get a chance to get a college education. I also was an AP all American, acedimic All American and a All American wrestler. Coach Wable, Coach Kehres, and Coach MOngomery were the father I never had and took a rough country boy and turned him into a educated man. This is a place were geting good grades is expected, citizenship is taught and athlethics are how discipline is learned.
I am sorry to here that three athletes have not graduated since as of two years ago it was only one , but than again we did lose a game this year.
As a side note I have given the lead gift on two buildings on the campus , one which bears the name of Coach Wable. There is a lot more to Mount Union than FOOTBALL.
class of 1984
Steve: Great response.
BTW, my older brother played with you and has often spoken well of you. Glad to see you doing well, even if you were a Warrior before a Raider. LOL.
I am sure that someone has already stated it but good talent usually goes to winning programs. A lesser program might catch fire every once in a while, but seldom does it stay hot for a consistent period. The coaches of winning programs obviously have something in common…..they can recruit and most importantly coach their teams to wins on Saturdays. Once that tradition/consistency is established the winning programs recruit easier/get better talent because they have be known to WIN. Winning brings success and success brings name recognition/publicity for the school which inturn makes recruiting a little easier. My advice for those fans from schools whining about recruiting……quit talking and WIN.
Also haven’t you all heard that that the only difference between DII and DIII athletes is that DII athletes weren’t smart enough to get into DIII schools. Just a thought.
SmedIndy,
Cheering to the bitter end is fine. The way several of your students, fans and cheerleaders acted wasn’t representative of your school. I’m done with this topic, just as Wabash is from the Playoffs.
Great point Steve Harter. The academic discussion from the Easterner standpoint is getting old. Isn’t this website called D3football.com?
Steve, mlusk, etc.
–My point was only that schools like Mount Union, Linfield, Rowan, etc. do not appear to recruit football players who are lousy students just so they can win games. My mention of SAT scores for incoming freshmen was meant to illustrate that these powerhouse schools from diverse regions field solid teams year-in and year-out without having to recruit players who aren’t interested in being students. Mt. Union’s graduation rate (for example) reflects that very well.
I’m very surprised that anything I type reflects an east coast standpoint. I’ve lived my whole life in the Pacific Northwest.
Steve– I appreciate your response to MUC the institution. Well said!
The snobbery part of the above argument is that instead of talking about the academics of football teams in particular, we’re just comparing admissions statistics of the whole school. If the whole school played football, that would be relevant; but I’m pretty sure that no D3 school has every student play football. Don’t admissions stats only count getting in, and not what a student does while there?
I could give numerous examples of former SJU players that have played in one or two Stagg Bowls that are now doctors (or in med school) or lawyers (or in law school). I’m sure Linfield could do the same. Not to pick a sore spot, but there is but a single New Englander on the Draddy Trophy list this year– and he’s at Brown and originally from Virginia. http://www.footballfoundation.com/news.php?id=738
What’s great about D3 is that students actually go to class to get a day job, but do what they love on fall Saturdays. Be it SJU or Trinity Bible, Trinity (CT) or Cortland State, the students are the same– book hard during the week, go hard on Saturdays.
MUC has aprox. 2000 students as a whole and about 200 of them play football, whether on varsity, JV, etc. That is a huge % if u ask me. Yes MUC has a great football tradition, but most fof those kids dont play football on the field on Saturdays. But yet they still practice hard everday. They do it becuase they love the game and know that what is taught in the classroom is the most important aspect to them. Your right when you say that they “book hard during the week, go hard on Saturdays”
RaiderFan – Partial Answer to your question – “I am also trying to recall the last D3 coach that landed a head coaching job at a “major D1 school” coming out of D3.”
Dan Hawkins, Coach of Boise State came from Willamette University. You may argue if BSU is a major D-1 school, but if you pay attention, you will know that he has turned down offers and been considered for even bigger jobs.
I won’t dislcose any information regarding any advanced degree of my own, but I am certain that even the schools out West have produced some Ivy League Grad students. Linfield produced a World Series MVP, that was pretty rad.
I would like to see a Mt. Union – Linfield Stagg Bowl. Of course, I know that our Wildcats have their handful with UW Whitewater this week.
Go Cats!
Larry Kehres was offered the Head Job at Kent State a few years back and turned it down. Although many people would question whether that is considered a major college football program.
“Of coarse we have our Ithacas and Rowans that maybe exceptions but overall many more eastern schools represent true DIII scholar atheletes (not that I would take anything away from any student athelete, but this gentleman wishes to kncok the eastern region). This is not even a debate. The West has many wonderful schools with great programs but always remember, most choose from a different pool of students than many of the eastern schools do.”
–This is what I addressed in trying to flesh out the idea of which colleges field a team of good student athletes versus (paraphrasing) players who put football first and academics somewhere down the list. The quote deals with programs choosing from a different pool of students–presumably this means choosing which students are admitted. Admission standards seem to require some semi-universal measure of scholastic ability–ie the SAT. This seemed to be the original angle so it’s what I went with.
I can’t, with anything other than speculation, speak to the GPAs or graduation rates of football players. I understand, from previous posts, that MUC has an outstanding graduation rate. I believe it.
I have believed all along, and posted, that academic excellence and proficiency at football need not be mutually exclusive. Great teams can have great students. Conversely, great students can be great football players. This is not meant to be a dig at anybody, or to represent any biases. It is just my observation.
Over and out.
Lighten up. In D-3 there are public and private schools. Catholic and Christian schools. Schools with high admissions standards and schools with lower admissions standards. There are players who go to D-1, D-11 (etc) and miss playing in front of parents and friends. (prof’s #17 played a long pass away ROWAN football field at Glassboro High School, across the street from Rowan….was an all South Jersey quarterback, tons of passing td’s and running tds……spent 2 years in D-2 as a wide out—–missed family and friends….came back and PAID to go to Rowan for last two years). Go good grades in D2 and good grades at D-3. So what.
A football field (bbcourt, soccer field, bbfield, etc.) levels everyone to a common denominator. Player, wrestler, etc. SAT’s, high admission standards, Public or Private school, and tuition costs have no weight on the playing field.
Gonna be collecting Social Security in 2 years. Just enjoy the sports for what they really are……competition, sportsmanship (sportswomanship) and entertainment for old guys (gals).
Did 3 sports in high school (football, wrestling and track). To small, not good enough and not smart enough to go to college.
One coach (2 years out of HS) told me I should go to night college back in 1966. Since then, went to night college for 20 years….earned BA, MA, CAGS, and MBA.
Officiated 3 sports (soccer, wrestling, and baseball) for 20+ years. Last year had to have bi-lateral Knee replacements
…both knees now metal and plastic. Surgeon told me I had the knees of a 80 year old……only 59. So what.
Had three daughters who went to a Catholic High School, 2 graduated from Public Universities and one from a Catholic University. The middle daughter (lowest SAT’s) makes the higher salary from a public University that cost 30% of what the Catholic University cost. So what. What is…is. What is not….is not. We screw it up when we try to make what is..not and what is not ….is.
Am a graduate of Glassboro State College.(then Rowan College, then Rowan University). Was a fan when, Wacker, Bunting and Keehler were coaching football. Coach A. is a class act and so is his staff. If I had a son, I would want him to play for a coach (coaching staff) at Rowan.
My will (4 years old) has my ashes spread on the Rowan football field.
Then they put in artifical turf.
So what now.
D3forme
Obviously you missed my intended sarcasms.
I wouldn’t call a 28 to 24 score a “drubbing” to use your words.
I think last week score tell us that Rowan is beatable this year!
Is DV the team?
I don’t know, we’ll find out.
But if you are a history buff check the records and you decide which team is more dominant in their region
Rowan in the East or Mount Union in the North ?
My research suggest there is no contest MU has represented the North much more than Rowan has represented the East..
The most balanced regions are clearly the South and West.
If you check, I think the last time a team other than MU won OAC was in the mid 80’s when many of the current MU players were still wearing three corner pants.
I think what you are really complaining about is the East representatives haven’t done well in the semi’s and you want the NCAA to seed the East with teams from the Mid West and the South.
If this is your issue it has nothing to do with last weeks game!
By the way I am no fan of Rowan, both my sons went to Union.
But as a fan of D3 football I want to see local teams compete in each of the brakets when possible. Based on the perfromances on the field so far the Eastern Region has had the best balance. I have no complaints!
Reading some of these comments makes me laugh. People keep writing and stating that schools like Rowan only suceed with Divison I players and their academics are poor. First, the school is a public institution, not a private. The standards are different than many schools but it will not except students with SAT’s lower than a 1080. It’s not Harvard or even some other schools but don’t write and state that it is a school that any student athlete can get into. I know for a fact that 3 of it’s wide receiver’s were all being recruited by and excepted into Ivy League schools. If you are a good football player and are from the state of New Jersey and want to play at a high level and for a successful program, you will go to Rowan. Second, don’t tell me that any coach in Division III would turn down a Division I player who would like to transfer to their school. Linfield didn’t turn down Brett Elliott or their corner from Oregon State. If you think they would, you are out of your mind. Yes, Rowan has a few transfers from DI schools, but they also have a strong foundation built off of quality recruits that have made this program a different animal. If you think that the East can not hold it’s own than why is the South Bracket Final made up of teams from the East and one of them just beat last years national runner up. Some people should investigate a little more deeply into some of the areas in which they speak of before they write some ridiculous comments on a comment blog. Speak from knowledge not from the heart.
foxsden, Okay, now I see why you keep dwelling on the 1 playoff win out of the last 10 or so for Rowan that wasn’t a complete blowout. You are a Union fan. That’s fine – good effort. But, you still lost despite the fact you had the game at home AND Orihel did not play. How much worse would it have been had the stud been in there? I get the feeling MUCH worse. You say Rowan is beatable this year. Man, I would hope so! The most important player on their team is holding a clipboard.
And my point was never about MUC’s dominance. That’s obvious, but at least they have performed well once they get out of the North. The exact opposite has occurred for the East. My beef is not with Rowan – anyone can get beaten by the best team(s) from another region. My beef is with all of the other teams not named Rowan in the East. Rowan has lost many times (sometimes by a lot) once out of the East, but the “top” teams in their region have been losing to them by about 35/game. What on earth does that say about the strength of the East? And like I said previously, now these teams have the best opportunity to finally make a claim it’s not just Rowan and everyone else a very distant second. They get to play the Profs without their QB and in Union’s case they even got them at home. And still no cigar for any other East region squad. I can’t possibly disagree with you anymore when you say the “Eastern Region has had the best balance.” Nothing could be farther from the truth. It’s a one trick pony. Even if DVC wins this Saturday (and I’m not necessarily counting on it) that still means it took the East three tries against a wounded team playing on the road.
And lastly, I think it’s been a bad week for you. You have quoted me again with a word I did not use. I have yet to use the word “drubbing” in any of my previous posts.
Re: profs_fan
Your knees might be gone but your vision is 20-20!
The problem with your approach is that if we all behaved ourselves, there would be no more spirited debate.
It’s all part of the experience…the passion of conviction and ultimately(if you’re interested in looking for it) recognizing the wisdom/age coefficient.
It’s been 30 years since I took my SATs…not even sure what a coefficient is let alone whether or not it’s spelled right.
Go figure!
Go Cats!
It’s been so long since I took my SAT’s I can barely spell SAT. The bottom line is this is D-3 and the playoff brackets are set according to the rules and yes better teams may get lower seeds in other regions. I will say the same thing here that I have said about the playoffs for D-3 hoops. Until someone wins the MegaMillionaire lottery or someone like Donald Trump decides to donate a ton of money to the NCAA to pay for balanced regions this is what we live with. D-3, D-2, D-1AA and the NAIA all have playoffs and can all point to a legitimate champion by the end of December, D-1 can’t.
As far as the schools go, I think the majority of D-3 schools are doing it the right way and giving their students the best oppuntunity to get an education and to keep playing sports for a few more years. A kid that goes to a school like NJCU, Kean or William Paterson is quite often the first person in that family to go to college and sometimes the first person to graduate high school, this is especially true at NJCU where I have met many of these students. Many of these students still struggle to speak and write in English. Many attended Jersey City NJ public schools, which the state of NJ took over almost twenty years ago and will not be turning them over to local control anytime soon.
NJ is a lot like how Steve Harter described where he grew up in Ohio. The economy of the state was based mainly on industry and farming. The industries started leaving the state and many times the country. The small farms are being bought up by developers and the big coporate farms are driving the little guys under. People who knew that all they had to do was graduate high school and they would be able to get a good job working in a NJ factory have had to seek alternate means of income and a better education.
Ok I have digressed from my main point which I have now forgotten. I will finish with this. Since the early nineties Rowan has been the best program in the East by far, the only teams that have knocked them off have been other NJAC teams for the most part. Rowan may lose in the semi-finals or finals a lot of times but they get that far almost every year. Nobody has consistantly stepped up to challenge them yet. I think some team will in the next few years but it hasn’t happened yet.
Engine45 – I am curious to know what corner at Linfield is a transfer from Oregon State. Enlighten me.
heavy,
He’s talking about last year’s team. O.J. Gulley was a transfer from Oregon State where he walked on the OSU basketball team. He never played or tried out for football at Oregon State. He then transfered to Linfield to play Basketball…after a couple of seasons as the Linfield starting point guard, a few of his buddies on the football team in 2003, talked him into coming out for football.
He was a backup most first year in 2003 as he “re-learned” football and started to play heavy minutes towards the end of the year and wound up starting in 2004 and had a great year.
Great kid and a fine player.
heavy,
correction…. O.J. went to Oregon St. to only be a student and not walk on the basketball team. There Oregon State’s baskeball coach tried to get O.J. to come out for the team. He declined and then transfered to Linfield.
Let’s see if I can put some of this into perspective. D-I vs DIII. I have a son who plays for Linield. I just want to shed some light on how he got there.
First off I just want to say how truly blessed we are as parents to have our sons and daughters play at this level of college sports.
My son was very fortunate to play high school football under a coaching staff that was primarily linfield college alumni. Every year in the summer we, along with many other high schools from the local areas attended summer football camps held by the college.
These where great camps for our high school football players to get some outstanding coaching and to also get a feel for staying in the college dorm atmosphere. But on the flip side, it also gave the college coaching staff the ability to look at some of the local talent in the area. It was great experience all the way around, even for a father. NOW, here’s the IMPORTANT part.
I’ as a father had many discussions with my sons high school football coach and also his baseball coach as to what direction my son should go in, whether or not trying to go to a D-I or D-III school, and here’s what they both said. What you will get when you go to a D-I school you will no doubt be in a big atmosphere, thousands upon thousands of students, the big venues of D-I, television etc. They (the coaches) said you will probably make a couple of hundred friends there at the D-I school along with a glitter that goes along with it. What made the most impact to my son and I both was this statement. They said when all is said and done you will leave Linfield college or any small college for that point, with 20 to 30 tight nit friends for life. They both said in the small college you will bond with other students, coaches and other parnets in a way that can’t be accomplished in the larger colleges. And let me tell you they where dead on the mark.
When my son played his last high school football game I balled like a baby. I thought I had watched my sons last football game. One of the great opportunities that came with choosing Linfield as our sons college was the ability for him to play 2 sports. he was primarily a baseball recruit and we thought baseball would be his college future. Well needless to say D-III gave him that opportunity. You are truly reading from a very blessed father and I’m so thankful that I listened to those high school coaches advice.
What I believe to the most important thing is that the relationships made thru these last 4.5 years have been a blessing like none other. When we left the high school level I didn’t think I could have bettered the fun, the friends made and the excitement of watching my son play, but boy was I ever wrong. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this could not of been obtained at a D-I school. I do believe I speak for most parents on our team, even the Elliots, what a blessing it is to have our sons so close to HOME.
I thank God and all the D-III schools for the last 4.5 years of my life.
Kenny
wildcat1144,
I knew that already, I was just curious to see a response cause I haven’t seen Dailey in pass coverage yet.
Kenny,
See ya saturday.
Has anyone outside the Bridgewater family given the BC defense any credit for stepping it up for the playoffs? During the regular season, the Eagle defense was not good statistically, but it did what it needed to do to preserve the win.
Now since the playoffs began, the defense has actually contributed to the wins. Not bad for a defense that was rated 167 out of 228.
Keep it up BC. Offense, defense, special teams. To Delaware, then Oregon (or Wisconsin, we don’t care) then back “home” to Virginia.
your talking about a muc-linfield national championship but i’m not saying that capital will but muc just give them a chance
my dad played on a football team in high school that was horrible. The year after he graduates they win the state title. He got something better. He was a backup o-lineman on capital university’s 1970 national championship football team. He is now a police chief in north carolina.
There is no 1970 Capital national championship football team. There was no national championship at that level in that season.
Before 1973, there were two regional championships, but no national final.
The subtle (and some not-so-subtle) implications that Linfield has somehow violated the spirit of DIII by allowing a former DI athlete to play for them smells an awful lot like sour grapes. Brett Elliott had many alternatives open to him after his injury (all of them cheaper than the route he chose!). I can’t be sure of his motivations for transferring to Linfield, but I doubt it was because he thought he could chew up the competition, set records, win a couple of titles and get drafted. In fact, the only thing that makes sense, and that which he has stated publicly, is that he transferred to a DIII school for the same reasons most DIII athletes begin their college careers at these institutions; good education, close to home, chance to continue to play a sport they love, etc. So, are we going discount Linfield’s success of the last two years and deny Mr. Elliott a vote for the Gagliardi Trophy because he chose to play at Utah for two years?
I understand that Linfield has been an amazing squad all year, but why is everybody writing off UW-Whitewater? Maybe I’m one of the few on here who gets to see the games each week, and if that’s the case, I understand. I have been watching UWW football for the past 4 years as a student. They have always had a somewhat solid team; a team that could have beaten a good number of playoff teams in their respective years. This year is by far the best team I have seen. The WIAC is not an easy conference to go undefeated in, and these Warhawks did it with ease. Dont count these guys out just yet. With a solid defense, and THE BEST running back/O-line in D-III their is no blow out this weekend. If the Warhawks lose, it will be decided in the last 2-3 minutes. No need for argument from the Linfield fanatic, because I am not downplaying how good your team is. I just believe in my team’s ability. It should be a great game. GO WARHAWKS!