Tag Archives: Beloit

Game day: Welcome, the rest of you

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After today the only teams that won’t have played are in the NESCAC, so the Division III football season will be in full swing.

I’ll be at St. John’s, where the No. 11 Johnnies host UW-Eau Claire. Keith McMillan is in Massachusetts, where Curry will play host to Widener. And you’ll be wherever you are, of course, so keep us up to date, even if it’s in front of your computer surfing through games. (That’s also one of my favorite places from which to track Division III football.)

We went through the other big games yesterday in the Triple Take, so I won’t repeat. But there are intriguing games in the Liberty League, especially, with Hobart traveling to Dickinson, Union hosting No. 8 Ithaca, and RPI opening its brand-new Division III football palace.

Elsewhere, I’ll be interested to see the results of “Air Raid vs. Wishbone” as McMurry hosts Austin College. DePauw’s tumultuous offseason finally comes to an end when the Tigers travel to Anderson. Could this year’s Augsburg/Wartburg game live up to the last two years? That seems hard to imagine, but it’s one of a handful of intriguing night games, along with McMurry/Austin, East Texas Baptist/Redlands, UW-Platteville/Dubuque, Buffalo State/St. John Fisher and even Carroll/Beloit.

Chime in with what you know, plus follow us on Twitter, since we’ll be following everyone else and passing along the most interesting tidbits that way.

Review: Out of the Comfort Zone

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This is the time of year I actually get to do some reading. Not because November, the crossover season between D3football.com and D3hoops.com, is some wonderful bastion of free time, but because every once in a while I have to get on an airplane to get to a playoff game.

This week I’ll be spending 16 hours in a car instead. but that’s beside the point.

There have been just a handful of books in the past decade that really speak to the Division III football experience. One of them came out in the past 12 months, however, and that’s Frank Agin’s Out of the Comfort Zone.

Former Principia and Capital wide receiver Lewis Howes has had some D-III football experiences himself, and he reviews the book for us.

Out of the Comfort Zone coverLewis Howes’ review of Out of the Comfort Zone (by Frank Agin)

If you have ever played, been a fan of or watched D-III football, you should read Frank Agin’s Out of the Comfort Zone — it is an exciting and enjoyable story.

Frank knows D-III football first hand, having played four years at Beloit College (Beloit, Wis.) during the early 1980s. In Out of the Comfort Zone, he crafts his experiences into one inspiring and yet very entertaining season of D-III football. Frank has a vivid writing style — he actually makes you feel the hits, sense the emotion and smell the game.

What I really enjoyed about Frank’s novel, however, is that while it centers on small college football players, Frank devotes a surprisingly little portion of the book to the game of football itself. Out of the Comfort Zone touches on the players’ camaraderie off the field, their romantic interests as well as the relationships they share with coaches. The story explores the rigors of being a true student-athlete in a demanding academic environment. And, the novel reminds us that no matter what we try to achieve, that there will be hard work, challenges and setbacks.

If you played (or play) D-III, Out of the Comfort Zone will bring back a rush of memories. If you haven’t, this novel with give you a first hand view of life as a small college football player. In Out of the Comfort Zone, Frank Agin will make you laugh … he will bring a tear to your eye … and, he will make you long for a chance at one more big time play — the kind that lives in your mind forever.

– Lewis Howes
D3 All-American, NCAA All-Division Record Holder