Category Archives: General

All-Region team

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Usually when we announce annual awards, there’s always a lot of weeping and gnashing of teeth, some name-calling, griping, anger, you name it, about who didn’t make the team, or who was ranked ahead of whom, etc.

Because the All-Region team is a new process for us (the committee defected en masse from another All-Region sponsoring entity), this is something I’d like to address on a wider scale. Usually when we name 100 All-Americans, which we’ll do again this year on our Stagg Bowl pregame show, it’s a process of whittling down 250 or so nominees to the 100 honorees. This is a difficult process, to be sure, but there are often a handful of nominees which we can dismiss out of hand.

Not so with All-Region. We got 676 nominations all told for the 300 slots and let me tell you, voting for this award was not easy. I voted for all four regions and I don’t think there was a single region that took less than 90 minutes of poring over. So first of all, my hat’s off to the voters for making it happen.

Secondly, often times the student-athletes who readers and fans complain about simply were not nominated. Although we sent two e-mails out through the SID e-mail list (this is maintained by a Division III school and includes every Division III sports information director) and had a note on our front page for more than two weeks, not every school with worthy people nominated them. Also, we wrote very detailed directions that some schools did not follow. While we contacted as many as we could, in most cases we were left with completely blank nomination forms and no recourse.

Here’s the schools that nominated, and how many players they put forth. We didn’t put any restrictions on how many a school could put in.

Adrian 5; Albion 8; Albright 2; Allegheny 4; Alma 4; Amherst 6; Anderson 3; Augsburg 5; Augustana 6; Aurora 5; Averett 4; Baldwin-Wallace 4; Bates 2; Beloit 3; Bethany 2; Bethel 5; Bluffton 1; Bowdoin 4; Bridgewater (Va.) 6; Bridgewater State 13; Brockport State 5; Buena Vista 1; Buffalo State 2; Capital 7; Carnegie Mellon 2; Carroll 9; Carthage 3; Case Western Reserve 9; Catholic 2; Central 3; Centre 4; Chapman 2; Chicago 4; Christopher Newport 4; Coast Guard 3; Coe 7; Colby 5; Concordia (Wis.) 2; Concordia-Moorhead 5; Cornell 3; Cortland State 8; Curry 4; Defiance 5; Delaware Valley 15; Denison 4; DePauw 7; Dickinson 3; Dubuque 4; East Texas Baptist 2; Elmhurst 4; Endicott 2; FDU-Florham 2; Ferrum 5; Fitchburg State 3; Franklin 2; Frostburg State 1; Gettysburg 4; Greensboro 1; Greenville 4; Grinnell 1; Grove City 2; Guilford 5; Hamline 1; Hampden-Sydney 6; Hanover 2; Hardin-Simmons 8; Hartwick 3; Hobart 4; Hope 2; Howard Payne 3; Huntingdon 6; Husson 1; Illinois College 2; Illinois Wesleyan 4; Ithaca 5; John Carroll 2; Kalamazoo 3; Kean 3; Kenyon 3; King’s 2; Kings Point 4; Lake Forest 2; Lakeland 4; Lebanon Valley 2; Linfield 8; Loras 1; Louisiana College 2; Luther 3; Lycoming 2.

Macalester 1; MacMurray 3; Maine Maritime 2; Manchester 1; Marietta 4; Mary Hardin-Baylor 7; Maryville (Tenn.) 2; Mass-Dartmouth 5; McDaniel 2; McMurry 1; Menlo 1; Methodist 8; Millikin 4; Mississippi College 3; Monmouth 4; Montclair State 5; Moravian 5; Mount Ida 1; Mount Union 6; Mt. St. Joseph 8; Muhlenberg 2; Muskingum 2; North Central 10; Occidental 5; Ohio Northern 7; Ohio Wesleyan 3; Olivet 4; Otterbein 2; Pacific Lutheran 5; Plymouth State 3; Pomona-Pitzer 2; Randolph-Macon 3; Redlands 3; Rhodes 1; Rockford 4; Rose-Hulman 2; Rowan 7; RPI 12; Shenandoah 1; Simpson 4; Springfield 1; St. John Fisher 9; St. John’s 8; St. Norbert 1; St. Olaf 2; St. Thomas 2; Sul Ross State 2; Susquehanna 2; Texas Lutheran 6; Thiel 7; Thomas More 5; Trinity (Conn.) 6; Trinity (Texas) 4; Tufts 2; Union 8; Ursinus 2; Utica 1; UW-Eau Claire 5; UW-La Crosse 5; UW-Oshkosh 7; UW-River Falls 2; UW-Stevens Point 1; UW-Stout 4; UW-Whitewater 6; Wabash 4; Wartburg 2; Washington and Jefferson 6; Washington and Lee 5; Washington U. 3; Waynesburg 6; Wesley 3; Western Connecticut 5; Western New England 1; Westfield State 1; Westminster (Mo.) 2; Westminster (Pa.) 3; Wheaton 2; Whitworth 6; Widener 3; Wilkes 2; Willamette 6; William Paterson 3; Williams 2; Wittenberg 5; Wooster 2; Worcester State 1

I don’t think it would be fair to list the names of the nominees. But this should give you some idea. The 175 schools out of 225 or so eligible (full Division III member schools only) is a large number, far more than we ever got for the All-America team, for obvious reasons.

Thanks to those who nominated. Those nominees will be considered for All-American as well, and you can hear that announcement sometime between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET a week from Saturday.

Sportsmanship, people

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“Ladies and gentlemen, the NCAA promotes good sportsmanship by student-athletes, coaches and spectators. We request your cooperation by supporting the participants and officials in a positive manner. Profanity, racial, or sexist comments, or other intimidating actions directed at officials, student-athletes, coaches or team representatives will not be tolerated and are grounds for removal from the site of competition. Also, the consumption or possession of alcoholic beverages at the site of competition is prohibited.”

I’ve heard this so many times in the past decade or so it rolls off the tongue (or fingers) in a flash. But it often seems like there are some fans who need a reminder. I have it on good authority that the NCAA has heard some of the reports we’ve seen from playoff games this season and while I don’t think this year is any different than previous years, incidents are coming to the attention of those who are in a position to do something about them.

Consider this, fans, especially you students out there. These are big games, no doubt, and it’s great to get excited about them, but these players do not deserve your abuse. A Division III football player gets no special treatment above and beyond what you get. They’re not on scholarship, don’t get special dining halls or treatment in the classroom (in fact, you can count on some professors being harder on football players than on the rest of the class).

I would be in favor of immediately kicking anyone out of the stadium who is in violation of the sportsmanship agreement. So what if you paid $5, $8, whatever to be there? Act like a grownup, since that’s what you allegedly are.

If you need to get all liquored up in order to enjoy a football game, stay home. The football should be reason enough. If you’re of legal age, there’s plenty of time to drink after the game — that’s one of the benefits of a noon kickoff.