If you will excuse me for turning things back to NWC football ( ), I have already heard John Tully's name come up as a strong candidate to take the now-open head coaching position at Eastern Washington.  Has anyone else heard this and does anything think they would actually go after him?  He has done some good things at Whitworth but that is still quite the jump!

Quote from: Ralph Turner on October 18, 2007, 09:18:53 PM
The Great Northwest Athletic Conference could use another football member.  They  only have 4 teams playing football.

The GNAC will actually have five football playing members.  Dixie State will join Humboldt, Western Oregon, Western Washington and Central Washington.

Quote from: MonroviaCat on October 05, 2007, 10:52:29 AM
Oh, and all 3 of those top tacklers are defensive backs....

According to the NWC stats page, Brian Mehl is listed as an offensive lineman so maybe the Linfield SID should get that fixed.  Also, on the Linfield roster, Tawata and Bean are listed as middle linebackers, not defensive backs.

Granted, none of us really understand what the UPS SID was thinking when he wrote that the Linfield strength is on defense but if you are going to point something out that is inaccurate, try not to use inaccurate information to back it up!

Ok, off my small soapbox.  I hope it's a good game tomorrow.  I won't be there myself so I hope that everyone in the Catdome, Logger fans and Wildcat fans alike, have some fun.

Quote from: downtown48 on October 02, 2007, 12:36:30 PM
The loss was probably the worst thing that could have happened for UPS.     

Believe me, the Logger fans were not happy to know that we were going to have to face an angry Linfield team but I'm guessing it may have given the players a little bit of confidence heading into this week.  Linfield is still the better team but they aren't unstoppable, as the Bearcats proved last week.

As for the coach's quote, at least Coach Willenbrock's quote was in the paper and was taken directly after the game.  The Linfield SID should have probably censored the comments a bit, which I'm guessing were taken on Sunday or Monday.  Either situation, it shows a coach that has confidence in his team and expects them to play at a certain level week in and week out and I can appreciate that.

I hope it's a competitive game on Saturday but even if it isn't, I just hope the Logs give it all they've got and don't stop playing hard until the end.

I wasn't trying to put the Logger loss on Yom Kippur.  The choosen people didn't make Spencer fumble late in the fourth quarter and it wasn't the Star of David that prevented the Logger defense from making any tackles.

As for Kavin, if you are going to say that the preseason reports said he was NFL caliber, then show me those reports.  You all wonder why Linfield is the only NWC school that is represented on here, minus a handful of Whitworth posters and a Lute or Bearcat here and there, and it is this negative attitude that drives people away. 

I'll agree that sometime the UPS quotes seem a little above their play on the field but all they are doing is trying to build confidence in a program that was lacking it for awhile.  From what I hear, players in the years before Willenbrock didn't really care if they won or lost (mostly lost) because that's what was expected.  Thanks to a few athletes like Rory Lee and Kavin Williams, the Logger fans and players are starting to build up expectations of at least being a competitive football program. 

Would you rather play a team like UPS that will at least think that they can be competitive or would you rather play Lewis & Clark who will just lay-down on the field and let you run all over them?

Wow, that PA guy does sound bad.  That must be before my time in Loggerland.  I think that Puget Sound's recent experience of hosting NCAA events (not in football, I know) has probably calmed down their game ops a bit and made them a little more professional.  As a fan, I enjoy going to games, minus the obnoxious fans but those can come from both sides!

As for Kavin, I don't know if he is coming back this week but I hope so.  Spencer Crace is a good quarterback but heading into NWC play, I think the Logs need some experience leading the offense.  I don't have any real connection to the athletic department, minus a few friendly conversations on game day, so I don't really know who will be taking snaps this week.

On another note, I heard that Isaac Blum didn't play last week because he was observing Yom Kippur.  I don't know if he would have made a huge difference on offense or special teams but I thought it was interesting that one of the better players in the conference took a game day off for personal reasons.  Not an excuse at all, just an interesting factioid.

First off, I want to say that I'm glad that this conversation has remained civil.  I think that is what distinguishes the Division III fans from others.  I know the Loggers have a new PA guy from the last few years so I'm just confused when the last time you were at Baker Stadium was?  Personally, I think the current guy is a little dull.  Maybe a little bit of homerism might be a little fun. 

I'll admit that I have never been to a game at the Catdome (this year might be my first, if I can make it) but how does the Linfield PA guy handle announcements?  Does he do anything special on first downs or pregame or scores?  Just wondering so I can get a feel of the other NWC facilities.

Quote from: downtown48 on September 24, 2007, 03:47:47 PM
"I am however pretty excited that I won't have to hear that stupid chainsaw over the pa system for about two years."


As I'm sure others will attest...they run one of the more bush/obnoxious game day ops in recent memory...the PA guy needs to lay off the Red Bull...

I'll admit that the chainsaw was a little over-the-top, especially given the result but what about the game ops is bush and/or obnoxious?  Granted I have only been around for a few years but I've never heard the PA announcer say anything negative about the other team.  Do they treat the other team poorly behind the scenes?  Enlighten us with the dirt.

I'm not trying to apologize for the Loggers loss.  They simply got outplayed by a decent (not good, but not bad) Whittier team.  The penalties hurt and turnover hurt but that Whittier quarterback was a stud. 

I'll also agree that sometime the UPS quotes are a little cocky but you also need to realize that the reporter talks to the players for about 3-5 minutes each and then takes a 5 second quote.  Sometimes, the reporter is just looking for something to fit what he (or in the TNT's case, she) wants to write about for that week.

First of all, you Wildcat fans take the preseason AA selections WAY too seriously.  Let's just hope that the coaches don't pick Whitworth to win the conference or the McMinnville FD might have a busy night.

Should Blum be recognized?  He finished the year ranked 2nd in the nation in Kickoff Returns, averaging 32.8 yards per return.  Sure, Masters was third on that list but Blum was still one up.  Blum also averaged 8.1 yards per punt return and my reading glasses may need adjustment but I didn't see any Linfield returners on the top 100 list.  Since the AA team doesn't differentiate between kick and punt returner and just picks one, Blum seems like a logical choice.

I believe that Blum earned Preseason AA status in one of the print publications as well so instead of complaining that it wasn't a Wildcat who was honored, why don't you just be glad that the NWC is getting the national respect that they deserve? 

It looks like the Lunt got the UPS job permanently.  Should be a fun team to watch next year!

you weren't missing anything with the SCIAC, I just had to mention them so that they wouldn't moan about not getting respect from the NWC.  It was more of a preventative statement than anything. 

I just know from seeing the teams in person that the Loggers and Bruins are very good teams that have the potential to go far in the tournament.  I may end up eating crow in a month or so but it's worth standing up to represent our part of the country.

No offense to any of the teams in the Top 25 but do the voters know that there are teams on the West Coast?  Is there any reason why there aren't any representatives from the SCIAC or the NWC in the poll? 

Puget Sound is 19-4 on the year with one of those losses being to the number 2 team in the country yet all they get is a couple votes.  It seems like some voters need to stay up past their bedtime once in a while and see what those of us on the left coast are up to! 

I don't know how serious you all are about paying for a player's mom to come to a game but if it is a current player, you might want to check with the Linfield compliance director to make sure it wouldn't be a violation.  I remember a story about some Georgia boosters wanting to pay for a Boise State player's dad to fly to the game (don't remember the whole story) but the NCAA said that it would be a violation, costing the Boise State player his eligibility. 

I try to stay out of juvenille discussions when possible but why is UPS getting ripped for running up the score and giving Rory the ball all the time?  Did you look at the stats?  28 carries is not a lot of carries in a game, it just happened that Rory averaged 11 yards a carry.  My grandfather taught me that you can respect a guy without liking him so even if you don't like Rory, you should be able to respect his performance.

As for running up the score, I don't think Linfield has ANY room to talk, especially when it comes to UPS.  The object of a football offense is to score and if the opposing defense can't stop the team, oh well.  Even when a team is trying not to run up the score, they put the ball in the running backs hands, just like the Loggers did.

Grow some humility and realize that the Wildcats aren't the only football team in the Northwest. 

I keep seeing these references to the UPS coach thinking he has the best team in the league.  When did he say this? Was it in a TNT article?  Just curious...

Since I am new to the board, forgive me for asking a dumb question but do all you Linfield fans support the other teams as much as you do football.  If so, that is awesome! If not, why not?  Just trying to start some non-bashing conversation...