Realist, you certainly offer an outside-the-box idea, but there is a potential problem.  Regions don't exist merely for statistical purposes.  The reason you have defined regions are for the purposes of comparison, most notably for the regional rankings toward the end of the season.  IMHO, the ability to compare is diminished by every team having their own region.

I think they could simply alleviate the issue by getting rid of the map software rule and measuring mileage "as the crow flies."  That alleviates the issue of being on a peninsula (although does not eliminate it obviously as no colleges are in the middle of Lake Michigan that I know of).

Heard it around campus and just found it on the website--Brandon Crawford was named a first team All-American by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, which I think means he was the player of the year in the region.

Congrats BC.

That's two years in a row that Albion has had an NABC first team All-American.

Congrats to BC for making first-team all region on d3hoops.  Phillips received third-team honors.

All right, enough diversionary topics.  No, it's not Friday, but it's Thursday, the day BEFORE Friday.

Good luck to Hope this weekend.  The Hope-Witt matchup will be a heck of a game.  I don't think Transy or Miss will know what hit them when they play the Hope-Witt winner.  I know Transy beat Wooster but that was on some hot outside shooting that may or may not show up on any given day.  And I saw the Miss-Calvin game last year, and well we know what happened there.  My wager is the Hope-Witt game will be within a few points, but the MOV of Saturday's game will be double digits.

The one thing I failed to mention in my earlier posts was that of all tournament action thus far, my favorite result was the WIAC teams being eliminated in the first weekend of action.  It's not that I don't have respect for those teams but for me it's like rooting against the Yankees.

I can't believe I was smited for quoting one of the best movie lines in the history of cinema.  It was the perfect comeback on Hope v. Albion to sac.

And I censored myself too.  I was going to write in something like: "I prefer women who aren't saving themselves and trying to 'save' me at the same time."  But I refrained.  Well, I guess I should say, I had refrained.

Is humor dead....It's a piggish comment, I get it, but it was said in jest.

Quote from: sac on March 08, 2006, 11:04:15 AM
Albion can't hold a candle to Hope's cuteness. 

Maybe, but I'm willing to trade looks for a certain....morally casual attitude.

And JR three words for you: Miami of Ohio.  Ha-cha-cha-cha.

Quote from: andersdy on March 08, 2006, 10:01:37 AM
Congratulations to Albion College on a #1 ranking among impressive company:

1. Albion College 7.60
2. Michigan State 7.55
3. Oregon 7.52
4. Vanderbilt 7.49
5. Michigan 7.11
6. Princeton 7.06
7. UCLA 6.78
8. Stanford 6.75
9. Puget Sound 6.35
10. Univ. of Chicago 6.07

What sport, you say? Well you just have to click the link for yourself:
http://michiganzone.blogspot.com/2006/03/were-number-5.html

Andersdy, I don't know how you came across this, but this is absolutely hilarious.  This should go right into Albion's recruiting packet.  My favorite line is the U of C t-shirt quoted: "The squirrels are cuter than the girls."  No offense to the Corn and Blue but I think U of M may have been ranked a little on high side.

Quote from: goodknight on March 07, 2006, 03:32:14 PM
There's now plenty of reason to believe that KVS is Eddie's equal or even superior as a tactical coach.
And he's doing his job -- recruiting, teaching, and coaching -- with Calvin's distinctive Christian mission at the forefront.
It no doubt costs him very good players every year -- but he does a remarkable job with the talent that comes to Calvin.

Poor poor Calvin and KVS.  Seriously, don't make it sound as though you are too disadvantaged.  I'm sure Coach Turner and the other MIAA coaches would love to have quality players coming in from California, South Dakota or wherever with very little recruiting effort.  I'm sure he would also love to have D1/D2/NAIA scholarship players pass it up and pay to play.

Cramer's dunk was just a nice one-handed emphatic dunk with the facial expression to match.  Very good air. I'd have to see the replay to know for sure if it was a dunk over BC as much as BC rotating but quitting when Cramer got airborne.  I though Cramer had a pretty clear lane to the basket.  Either way, it was definitely one of the top 5 dunks I've seen in the MIAA. 

My absolute favorite actually occurred in a JV game last year, when Champine dunked two-handed over two Hope players.

Quote from: EC Knight on March 05, 2006, 12:40:05 AM
From here on out it is the best of the best. The teams that Albion should have beaten in to the tournament are all gone. If you can't convincingly beat a team that gives 4 freshmen serious minutes in your own building, you aren't going to get to Salem.

I don't think any Albion fan contended that we were a Final Four team.  The point was: was Albion one of the top 59 teams in the country?  I think absolutely yes, and I think any distinguished Calvin or Hope poster would agree.  Sitting at home for the tourney doesn't acknowledge that.

Quote from: sac on March 03, 2006, 11:00:51 PM
HOPE 93 Wisc-Lutheran 51
I've been a D3 fan for about 16 years.......in that time I've often envied the easy first round game those Northeast powers have played.   Tonight I saw one.

It's these and some other games from last night such as Bethany that causes this Albion fan to gnash his teeth.

Should be a good game today.  There won't be any surprises tonight for either team; execution is the key.

To tack onto Andersdy's point and the Rodney Dangerfields from Calvin, I think you have to say that the advantage falls squarely with the team with the easier first-round match up with games on back-to-back days.

I saw this first hand in the tournament last year at Albion.  Calvin played first against Mississippi College and blew them out, allowing KVS to use his starters sparingly.  Albion followed with a really tough game against John Carroll that came down to a final second three point make by Michael Thomas.  While it was a huge rush for Albion to win that game, the team was truly gassed for the game against Calvin.

Quote from: kcrest on March 03, 2006, 12:39:45 PM

Quote from: albionbritfan on March 03, 2006, 12:29:11 PM

Quote from: kcrest on March 03, 2006, 11:12:40 AM
Obviously this post has nothing to do with MIAA basketball, but if Calvin's hockey team wins today the championship game broadcast tomorrow will be available on the Calvin sports website.  Puck is set to drop at 12:15 EST for the title tilt.  Calvin would have to get past Northwood today.  Hope made a nice run in the tourney but fell yesterday to Wright State. 

Calvin has a hockey team but deems football as too violent a sport.....brilliant.  It seems curling would be more Calvin's speed for ice sports.

I think the rationale a long, long time ago might have been the violence factor.  Pretty sure that's not the case anymore as Calvin hockey games features some pretty good hitting.  The Calvin boys did have a game against Albion this season.  The Brits have a little ways to go on the ice yet.    Hey don't knock curling until you've tried it.  There's a reason every curling rink has a bar next to the ice.

I don't know if you want to get curling going at Calvin.  Hope would follow suit and probably recruit all the great Klompen brooming talent.

Quote from: kcrest on March 03, 2006, 11:12:40 AM
Obviously this post has nothing to do with MIAA basketball, but if Calvin's hockey team wins today the championship game broadcast tomorrow will be available on the Calvin sports website.  Puck is set to drop at 12:15 EST for the title tilt.  Calvin would have to get past Northwood today.  Hope made a nice run in the tourney but fell yesterday to Wright State. 

Calvin has a hockey team but deems football as too violent a sport.....brilliant.  It seems curling would be more Calvin's speed for ice sports.

Good luck to Hope AND Calvin this weekend.  Preferably I would like to see Calvin win the first round just to take some air out of the whole WIAC supremacy thing.  Plus having an MIAA tilt in the NCAAs in West Michigan seems like it would make for some good buzz this weekend.  At that point, I would have to take Hope on the home wood.

Quote from: Pat Coleman on March 02, 2006, 04:04:29 PM
I agree the Salem Civic Center is somewhat outdated but they are making upgrades to all of their facilities on a regular basis. The amenities at the Civic have been refurbished in the past 12 months, the football stadium has had some nice upgrades, and I think the seating at the Civic Center has been upgraded or that is coming.

The walls need work. I think those couple of upgrades will be helpful.

Didn't know this but the home to the D3 National Championships for a good chunk of the 1980's was Grand Rapids.  GR offers premium facilities and more than two restaurants.  C'mon back, that would be awesome, especially if there was a Midwest region/Great Lakes region faceoff.