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Quick Hits: The 35,000-foot view

The biggest show in Division III is coming to a major league baseball stadium. Perhaps you’ve heard. But there are 100 other games on Saturday as well, and if you’re not named Tommie or Johnnie, perhaps you’re wondering if we’ll be paying any attention. Our regular Quick Hits crew is Keith McMillan, Ryan Tipps, Pat Coleman, Adam Turer and Frank Rossi. Our sixth spot goes to a guest each week, and this week’s is Howard Sinker. In our attempts to find a neutral Minnesotan to talk about this week, we found Howard, Minneapolis Star Tribune digital sports editor, Minnesota Public Radio sports commentator and senior instructor of Media and Cultural Studies at Macalester College.

— Pat Coleman

What’s the best game this week that hasn’t sold 30,000 tickets?

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Keith’s take: Centre at Berry. Preseason, I’d have circled Stevenson-DelVal, but this SAA clash of styles takes the sliver of spotlight left.
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Ryan’s take: Stevenson at No. 12 Delaware Valley. Can’t remember the last year the MAC was clear cut. This will give some clarity.
Pat Coleman
Pat’s take: No. 5 North Central at Millikin. This is a game that is usually a cakewalk but Millikin is on the upswing. It’s under the radar this week.
Adam Turer
Adam’s take: Stevenson at Delaware Valley. The Mustangs have a chance to prove that they’ve gotten right by upsetting the No. 12 Aggies.
Frank Rossi
Frank’s take: Utica at No. 19 Brockport. Utica loves to play the spoiler, and their defense may be able to slow down Germinerio and Morris somewhat..
Howard Sinker
Howard’s take: Monmouth at Macalester. Battle of Scots in St. Paul features two MWC contenders; Mac opened with ‘hardware game’ victories vs. Carleton and Hamline.

Which Top 25 team is most likely to get upset?

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Keith’s take: No. 9 John Carroll. Host Heidelberg has hung 40 twice in road wins over solid teams.
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Ryan’s take: No. 9 John Carroll. I’ve been a little uncertain of JCU so far, and last week didn’t help their case.
Pat Coleman
Pat’s take: None. And fully aware I’m doing this for a second consecutive week. But I don’t see JCU losing like others do..
Adam Turer
Adam’s take: No. 13 UW-Platteville. The Pioneers have not impressed in either of their wins, and Lakeland has a potent offense that will test UW-P.
Frank Rossi
Frank’s take: No. 6 St. John’s. Not much of an upset, except through rankings. Every game is a must-win for St. Thomas now.
Howard Sinker
Howard’s take: No. 9 John Carroll. Tough matchup with the Student Princes of Heidelberg.

Will Wheaton miss a beat?

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Keith’s take: No. This is really for the Thunder to answer; Five players are out, program is national news. But Elmhurst looks beatable amid all that.
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Ryan’s take: Yes. But it really won’t be apparent until next week.
Pat Coleman
Pat’s take: No. I mean, not this week, at least.
Adam Turer
Adam’s take: No. The players on the roster will be determined to prove that they can overcome their teammates’ absences.
Frank Rossi
Frank’s take: Yes. Focus after the trainwreck of a week will be off, and loss of five players will hurt. But Elmhurst won’t beat the Thunder.
Howard Sinker
Howard’s take: Hard thinking of Wheaton in ‘game terms’ after hazing publicity, but Elmhurst led Thunder until fourth-quarter turnover last year in 10-6 game.

Which surprise 3-0 team makes it 4-0 this week?

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Keith’s take: Wooster. Scots have a tough matchup at DePauw, but might be inspired following the death of Clayton Geib.
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Ryan’s take: Salve Regina. Although, it’s no cakewalk with undefeated Western Connecticut on the other side.
Pat Coleman
Pat’s take: SUNY-Maritime. The Privateers have been 4-0 once before, in the year they went 10-0. Alfred State won’t stop them..
Adam Turer
Adam’s take: Franklin & Marshall. The Dips have a tough task at Susquehanna, but have been the surprise of the Centennial so far this season.
Frank Rossi
Frank’s take: RPI. Buffalo State’s two wins were by a total of six points. RPI has rolled. Engineers win their fourth..
Howard Sinker
Howard’s take: Cheating a bit: Knox. Knox beats Ripon to go 3-0. Surprise? Knox hasn’t won more than three in a season since 2005.

Which team won’t be able to repeat last week’s success?

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Keith’s take: Mass. Maritime. Bucs held off Maine Maritime last week. Going to Framingham State is much tougher.
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Ryan’s take: Berry. I think opponent Centre is the SAA’s best this year.
Pat Coleman
Pat’s take: George Fox. I think that even on the road, a WIAC team is better than what Redlands is prepared for.
Adam Turer
Adam’s take: Rowan. Profs posted a big road win over William Paterson in Week 3, but will suffer a big home loss at the hands of Frostburg State in Week 4.
Frank Rossi
Frank’s take: Widener. Albright could’ve fit my surprising 4-0 team, as Lions have looked decent since the big Salisbury win..
Howard Sinker
Howard’s take: St. Thomas won’t win by 63, St. John’s won’t win by 49.

Official attendance in the Tommie-Johnnie game? (Price is Right rules apply)

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Keith’s take: 33,316, clearly a sign from God.
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Ryan’s take: 31,157.
Pat Coleman
Pat’s take: 37,535. Tell me that’s one above anyone else’s pick.
Adam Turer
Adam’s take: 33,069. Nice.
Frank Rossi
Frank’s take: 36,106. It’s No 10 vs. No. 6. So, there had to be at least one of each in my number.
Howard Sinker
Howard’s take: 34,567. 

We invite you to add your predictions in the comments below. Download the Around the Nation podcast on Mondays, where Pat and Keith review the Quick Hits that were prescient, and the Quick Misses that were terribly off base.

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Hazing: Enough is enough

By Dave McHugh
D3sports.com

How many hazing incidents do we need to hear about on college campuses before people finally figure it out? Enough is enough.

The latest Division III instance comes from Wheaton. It was more than a hazing incident. It was an assault that left two individuals on a baseball field in the middle of the night and one of those victims badly injured after emotional and physical abuse, according to charging documents.

How in the world are we talking about cases where students are allegedly bound by duct tape, a pillow case put over their head, beaten, sodomy attempted, and abused in the spirit of team bonding? How does any “teammate” think this is okay to do to their own? Would they even consider doing this to a student that has nothing to do with the team? The answer to that last question I am sure would be no, so how does the moral or ethical line get crossed so easily? How have we gotten the point of this level of abuse being called “team bonding?”

I’ll be open with you: I was hazed quite a bit in my adolescence and even in college. I did not enjoy the embarrassing situations I, or others, were put in. I hated it. I dreaded it. Part of what fed the hate of it all was I had been bullied, harshly at times, since I was 11. Hazing felt like bullying, just under a different name.

I refused when I could and was demoralized when other teammates, even best of friends, refused to step up and put an end to it even when they knew I was uncomfortable. I found some individuals seemed to almost have a blood-lust when it came to hazing. They had a zeal for the entire thing. It was a chance to embarrass someone else, even worse a teammate, for one reason: their own personal enjoyment. Nothing about it was about team bonding.

Over the years laws have actually been written to end hazing, though the NCAA (and its members) have stopped short of making it illegal in the organization. Unfortunately, it seems hazing has actually gotten worse. For as much as I hated anything related to hazing when I was in college, I don’t remember anything worse than shaving one’s head, drinking far too much, wearing embarrassing outfits (including cross dressing), and other embarrassments. Physical abuse? Hitting, sodomizing, stripping one naked? Who thinks this is okay to do to another for any reason?

The Wheaton football case, while disgusting, is not rare. It is happening on college campuses, across all divisions and affiliations every year. It isn’t being reported and colleges seem to be brushing it under the carpet.

Hazing doesn’t need to exist to allow a team to bond. Listen to Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald talk about alternatives and why hazing makes no sense. If it isn’t something a top-end Division I program is going to allow, how in the world can anyone overlook it in Division III?

What disturbs me even more than the abuse under the guise of hazing is, how were the suspects still on campus, let alone on the team? The college states they “took swift action to initiate a thorough investigation,” after the incident took place 18 months ago (and the victim was removed, by his father, from the campus).

At Wheaton, each student must sign an anti-hazing policy when they join a team or even an organization. By my count, these suspects broke five of the eight bullet points in the policy. They also seemed to ignore this section:

The College defines hazing as any action or activity that recklessly endangers the physical or mental health of a person, or that violates the dignity of another person.

When students sign that policy, they are agreeing to not engage in hazing and will ensure a hazing-free environment. However, the college also spells out the punishment(s):

“Wheaton College has a zero tolerance policy regarding hazing … there are severe penalties for all parties involved in hazing (including suspension/expulsion from the team or school and cancellation of the season).”

In a statement from Wheaton per the incident, they say the investigation resulted “in a range of corrective actions” and they are “unable to share details on these disciplinary measures” because of federal laws prohibiting them.

They claim they can’t discuss it (more on that in a moment), but according to the Chicago Tribune “several players” were “punished” with 50 hours of community service and an eight-page essay assignment about their behavior. If you look through participation reports and box scores, there may have been a missed game at the beginning of last season – perhaps a one-game suspension.

So, a student is beaten, abused in many ways, injured, and left half-naked in the middle of a random field and the school deems some community service, a paper, and a game is good enough? That is in no way a punishment that discourages or stops hazing nor abuse.

I’ll be blunt: In my opinion, the students should have been not only cut from the team, but also expelled from campus. Again, if this had not been classified a “hazing” incident and just considered a straight-up assault, do you really think they would still be on the team or on campus? Let’s ask it a different way: if these men weren’t members of a nationally ranked football team, would they still have been at Wheaton?

I understand, fully, that we live in a country and society that presumes innocence until a jury of peers says otherwise. However, that doesn’t mean the college has to wait for charges, a trial, and punishment to be handed out before they act. They have their own rules and code of conduct. Wheaton says the third-party investigation discovered conduct that was “entirely unacceptable and inconsistent with the values we share as human beings.” They also said it was unacceptable as “members of an academic community that espouses to live according to our Community Covenant.” Yet, Wheaton allowed the students to remain on campus and members of the football team.

The college says they are “profoundly saddened that any member of our community could be mistreated in any way.” Then get serious about stopping hazing. Send a message that makes sure students understand hazing will not be tolerated so that another member of the community will not be mistreated. Wheaton has already missed this particular opportunity to hold up their end of the anti-hazing policy.

Now as charges have been leveled and public opinion has swung, it was announced the players have been suspended. Good, but too late.

There is no room for this kind of behavior in our society. I don’t care if the suspects in question are All-Americans. In fact, for that very reason, these individuals should be held to an even higher standard. They literally represent the college by not only wearing a uniform that says “Wheaton” on the front, but also through awards and distinctions.

When it comes to hazing, a lot of coaches, admins, and colleges seem to turn a blind eye. As long as it doesn’t go too far, they don’t stop it despite state and federal laws and college policies prohibiting it. The more they look away, the worse the hazing gets and suddenly it’s physical, mental, sexual abuse along with emotional torture and more. It all could have been stopped by simply sticking to the policy. No hazing.

Hazing needs to end, period. No more excuses. No more allowances. End it now. There is absolutely no benefit to be embarrassed and humiliated, let alone injured, at the hand of those who are supposedly your teammates. But also end it because it is abuse and assault. There are many ways to bond as a team without the need to haze. Just take a look at this website from the Positive Coaching Alliance. Or visit the NCAA’s anti-hazing efforts.

Also, college administrations have to step dealing with these types of issues with kid gloves. Expulsion, suspensions, and even tough discipline of the entire team should be the first course of action – not the last and certainly not after the carpet has been pulled back and we see what is underneath.

Bucknell just recently punished their men’s and women’s swimming programs for something, in comparison to Wheaton, not nearly as severe. Notice a couple of things: Bucknell is coming down pretty hard on the programs for infractions they don’t believe represent the college or the campus in the correct way; the college is also telling people what happened and the decisions made without revealing the individuals involved publicly. They put a statement out on their website, had quotes from administrators, and gave details as to the punishments being put in place and the ramifications.

Wheaton has said nothing until after the charges were leveled on the five players. Nothing in the 18 months since the incident took place. If they acted like it didn’t happen, it didn’t happen, right?

Bravo to Bucknell and shame on Wheaton.

Dave McHugh is the host of Hoopsville on D3hoops.com and handles video production for D3sports.com sites.

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ATN Podcast 175: Defenses keep showing up

Offensive numbers catch the eye, whether it’s 98 points or this week’s 79 or 332 receiving yards and six touchdowns. But Keith has this thing about defense also being part of the game, and that’s hard to argue, as long as we still play 11 on a side. In this week’s D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast, Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan take a look at some of the places where defense shows up, expectedly or not so much.

Pat and Keith run through all the top news, the hidden highlights, the risers and sliders, the quick hits and quick misses and more from the week in Division III football. That, plus the game(s) which weren’t played, and what that means for the programs affected

The D3football.com Around the Nation Podcast is a regular conversation between Pat Coleman and Keith McMillan and guests covering the wide range of Division III football. During the season, it hits your feed weekly on Monday morning. This week, we thank Fanraise for sponsoring our podcast.

Hit play, or subscribe to get this podcast on your mobile device. 
Wheaton photo by Michael Hudson photography; Linfield  athletics photo
You can subscribe to the Around the Nation Podcast in iTunes. You can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3blogs.com/d3football/?feed=podcast