Thanks for the karma. I'll start off next year with a bang!

Oh yeah - and give me my karma back ye mighty smiters!!!!

Congrats to Hope. Represent the MIAA well.

Looks like Calvin overcame a tough first half at the Dick. Maybe by next year they'll be able to pull out two halves out from under the Dutchmen!

Congrats to KVS and the boys at Calvin for a great year. It's never unexpected that the Knights will compete for the crown, but this may have been the year that they'd have been forgiven for not doing so. A great effort in the NCAAS, and it's too bad that the Knights couldn't have been sent out West again, to meet up with Hope later on. But thems the breaks.

See you all next year.

Calvin 69 -64 Dutchmen

Super-Sweet! A nice win for the Knights.

Hey Hopesters, is this what you thought the administration would put front and center on hope.edu on the first day of the big dance? Looks like they got the wrong team featured

Big night for the MIAA. Personally, I'm ****ing for big wins from Calvin AND the other Dutchmen. Waht Michigander wouldn't want to send the Wisconsinites back across the lake early?? Maybe the MIAA conference could get three teams in next year with a great showing this year.

Either way the ball bounces for the Knights tonight, though, it will provide the youngsters with great experience, and ****fully fuel for next year's run.

I'll be listening, or watching the scoreboards all evening here in NY. I'm just a tad jealous of all you guys going to The Dick. Probably the only time those words will ever cross my mind

Predictions:
Calvin 71-62 over UW-LAX
Flying Dutchmen 94-59 over WLC.

Let me just say that if you are a very good D3 team, almost every non-conf team will be a cupcake. Take the not-that-great Calvin team this year. No trouble with any D3 teams.

Small D1?
BS

Soccer needs a board, but why not all d3 sports?

Quote from: mustywetdog on February 09, 2006, 04:07:24 PM
Of course a team can have a bad game...but few would argue that Calvin has a more talented roster.  If you wonder about GVW's coaching skills, ask a former player.  My oldest and longest running friendship is with a former Hope standout in the late 90's.  I cant mention any names, but he would tell you, (maybe not you because you were a reporter) but GVW does not get the most out of his squad.  And he is not alone.  KVS on the other hand appears to do just that.  Also, being a former college athlete myself, I know the value of good coaching. 

I can rattle off several Knights who didn't like playing for KVS or think he was a great coach. And they weren't all from the Douma to KVS era. Two years ago, the Calvin faithless were ready for KVS to move on. Now he's a demi-god.

I myself had Zuidema after the game of soccer had long passed him by. I still learned a few things, but I don't think he was a great coach at that point. But I would hard-pressed to say it was his fault we had one of our worst years ever.
The team was divided and lax. Coaches do their jobs in practice, players do their jobs in practice and games. If you have to really coach during the game, you're not doing your job in practice.

Either way, Hope is having one of its best seasons ever, so I'll just say that the criticism seems to be a little unwarranted, splitting with Calvin or not.

Hey all - First time in a long time posting. Funny how some things quicken the pulse. My wife is about to have our second child, so I spent last night checking the live scoreboard of C V. H and monitoring contractions - both very exciting events. I managed to hear the last minute of Dougy Fresh and the Wiffer broadcast over the internet, and dang if that didn't make my heart thump a bit. After the final buzzer I gave my wife a broad grin and told her it was fine to go to the hospital now. The stars were lining up.

Alas, we were sent home after a "false alarm" - NY doctors don't seem to want to get out of bed at 1 am to do an early C-section - but the night wasn't a total loss.

Anyway, what I really wanted to respond to was the KVS vs. GVW posts.
I had the priveledge of getting to know KVS through some gym classes at Calvin and covering some games for The Chimes while I was at Calvin.  I also covered the Hope team for the 2003-04 season for the Grand Rapids Press Lakeshore Edition, so I got to know GVW a bit as well.

I found both coaches likeable men, and good, maybe even great, coaches. Both could coach at higher levels easily, but both are committed to the concepts and ideals of D3 and student-athletics. And I think, rosters reversed, they would probably end up with the same results. As a former college athlete myself, and a former youth league coach, I know that there are some things that cannot be coached. Team chemistry is one of those, and often a team with less talent will outhustle and beat a team that looks more talented on paper.

When a team has superior talent - ands I'll go back to 99-00 Calvin for an example - they relax a bit and have some scares. Alma nearly shocked Calvin in the MIAA's that year - at Knollcrest! Whether a team is prepared to weather the occasional closer-than-it-shoud-be game is less a factor of coaching than it is the mental toughness of the talent on the floor.

GVS can adapt to an opposing team's strategies as well, if not better than the next guy. So can KVS. So can Mike Turner. Their teams are prepared, but the coaches aren't on the hardwood.

I'm sure any of the Dutchmen will tell you that last night they didn't execute the gameplan. They let Calvin slow the pace and make it a perimeter game. And that was their downfall, not GVW.

As they say... Any Given Sunday... er, I mean Wednesday and Saturday.