Category Archives: General

Time for our own All-Star game

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The news today that Division III football players won’t be able to participate in the Aztec Bowl this season only drives home more strongly the point that Division III football should have its own All-Star game.

Aztec Bowl 2006 championsThe Aztec Bowl has been fine in a lot of ways. Sure, we wish it gave more players the chance to participate, or that it were held in a place that we could get to, or that it didn’t coincide with the Stagg Bowl or the playoffs, but it did provide three things: organization, funding and a ready-made opponent (the Mexican college league’s champion).

But after ONEFA dropped the ball, we can’t expect the AFCA to be left holding the bag for another $50,000, considering that would double what they already spend. I’m convinced we could do it cheaper, and I know we could do it better, here at home.

Why should we spend all the money it takes to fly people to Mexico and deal with all the administrative hassles required in crossing the border, etc.? Why should we tell seniors who play on the Stagg Bowl teams, or sometimes the semifinal teams, that they can’t play because Mexico schedules the game when it’s convenient for them?

For the vocal minority that insists the Stagg Bowl should be played in a warmer climate, here’s your chance. Let’s put the All-Star game in a warmer climate, scheduled after the Stagg Bowl, and see how it draws. Let’s give 96 seniors the chance to participate instead of 48.

And meanwhile, let’s find that all-important $100,000. Unfortunately, that’s a significant amount of money, far more than D3sports.com’s annual budget. (That’s why we all work full-time jobs.) But if scheduled in the right location, I think we can get it done.

ATN podcast: Standings get a new look

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This weekend not only put a new twist on a couple of rivalries, it put a new twist on some conferences’ standings as well. It’s not just the new mess at the top of the MAC, MIAC, and the like — it’s new second-place teams in conferences, teams that could be talked about for playoff at-large bids.

Keith McMillan and I discuss those in this week’s Around the Nation podcast.

Of course, there were those two fantastic finishes as well. Hear from the St. John’s defensive lineman who recovered St. Thomas’ fumble and the call of the game as Wabash knocked off Wittenberg (Brent Harris on the call).

You can load the podcast page in iTunes or can also get this and any of our future Around the Nation podcasts automatically by subscribing to this RSS feed: http://www.d3football.com/dailydose/?feed=podcast

Or you can click the play button below to listen.

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Game Day live: Good day to track

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If you’re not heading out to a game, this is a great day to track multiple games online from home. Our Scoreboard page has audio, video or live stats for every game involving a Top 25 team, for instance. Just hover your mouse over the link icon and see what pops up for each game.

I’ll be at St. John’s/St. Thomas. I gave serious consideration yesterday to hopping in a car and driving to Wabash-Wittenberg. If Wabash had been hosting I would have been far more likely, as a nine-and-a-half-hour drive sounds a lot more palatable than a 12-hour one.

We’ve already laid out all the implications of the weekend on the Triple Take and the front page. What’s left, I think, is to actually play the games.

Chime in with any updates you’re tracking, as always.