FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[ADL70]

Thus far NCAC teams averaged giving up almost 30 pts. today.  I don't see it getting any better in Cleveland tonight.

[smedindy]

EC Stag - Why does Kenyon have to schedule cupcakes? The point of non-conference is to get their teams prepared for the conference season. Next year, not an issue as the UAA schedule goes into effect for everyone but Earlham (and Gheny just has one game).

Living in B10 country, I'm sick of Michigan. Glad to see they're LOSING again, because I still have no idea how one can be 'loosing' again.

[wally_wabash]

I'll have a more thorough recap of today's game at Hollett later tonight or tomorrow, but I just have to say how awful it was to see Huff get hurt.  I don't understand why he's on the hands team (you KNOW that contact is coming on an onsides kick...the risk isn't worth the reward when you're dealing with one of the best qb's in the nation).  For Huff to come back for his final year of eligibility and get one game in and go down like this would be tragic.  I certainly hope this injury isn't nearly as bad as it seemed and that he gets to play again this season.

This was easily the single most anticlimactic game I've ever witnessed.  The mood at Hollett over the last 21 seconds of the game felt like a wake.  It was very, very bizarre.   

[smedindy]

Attn Wooster fans (and others) - anyone complaining about Wabash monopolizing a board should walk to the MIAC board and try to post something not St. John's oriented. Your a little squeak of a mouse in admist a pride of lions.

Just sayin....

Let's win a friggin' game NCAC!

[EastCoastStag]

Smed-
Here is why: otherwise they will be fortunate to have 3 wins a year. At best, they will be able to beat some combination of Oberlin, Hiram, Earlham, Denison. That is about it. The do not have the talent or the support of the school to really build the program. To borrow a phrase from Year of the Bull "we run a program here". Kenyon runs a team. You are only half right about what to do with the out of conference schedule - for some teams it is preparing for the in-conference season.. for others, such as those at the very top and very bottom, it should be about getting wins. For 'Bash to go out and schedule Mount Union would be, to say the very least, a monumental mistake. Until Kenyon recruits a QB who can have a completion percentage above %50 and a defense.... they should focus on playing games they can win- build a little confidence perhaps? Besides... a team should be prepared for the season after spring ball, a summer on campus training, and fall camp. The point of those things is to prepare for the season as a whole. If you can't prepare for the ENTIRE season that way... the players and the coach need to mature. Kickoff for game 1 should be made with the same mental preparedness as the final play of the year. There should be no difference in mindset between in and out of conference games for players and or coaches. You will get yourself psyched up enough for the big games anyways. No need to emphasize it.
But with the UAA schedule going into play, I predict that Kenyon will be lucky to have 3 wins a year over the next 4 seasons. (I know... really hard prediction to make)
Unfortunately, as nice as the new facilities are, the team won't improve (at least not too much). No one wants to go to a campus where you are disrespected as a football player by students (and sometimes staff). That is a fact... plus they need to improve the dorms and perhaps keep power to campus when it rains.

Personally - I'll be cheering for Hiram the rest of the way. Those kids need the NCAC support.

I'm glad to see someone spellchecked me. Cute. Very cute. Want a sticker? Maybe a gold star or a big yellow face with a smile?

Hopefully ND does not win tonight... so we do not have to hear those damn ND fans yap about how they are the best f*cking thing since sliced bread. Weiss is overrated and a cheeseburger away from death. So much for his recruiting classes. They suck.

Ty W @ Washington 2-0... Weiss @ ND... ass kicked in the BCS and will, with all luck start the season 0-2.
The whole school and alums are a bunch of selfserving arrogant preachy @$$holes.

Have a little good nugget of info.. but I will wait until the season is over to share it with the KC people.. oh but it is good.

[Li'l Giant]

Decaf, anyone?

[smedindy]

If we can't use the language properly (unless using it ironically) we should just go home. That "loosing" thing really has me at my wits end as I've seen it in message boards here and elsewhere for almost a decade. I think I'm going to write about it at my site next week. ARGH! I had an English teacher in high school that would automatically fail anyone who wrote "alot" as one word. I feel the same way about "We're loosing the game". Grrrrr...

Kenyon has built a decent program. They have come a L-O-N-G way. Remember in 2003 they begged out of playing Wabash and Witt because their numbers were down. In 2005, they were 6-1 in the league and in 2006 they were respectable and their roster has a healthy size now. So I don't get your criticisms of the Lords, since they're a recent success story. Oberlin and Denison are bigger disappointments.

BTW - Sanchez' is completing 51.5% of his passes going into the year.

[smedindy]

Decaf, anyone?

That's all I can drink now, for the most part, thanks to my blood pressure.

Memo to you Li'l Giant...don't turn 40. Things stop working...

[jscwittfan]

Attn Wooster fans (and others) - anyone complaining about Wabash monopolizing a board should walk to the MIAC board and try to post something not St. John's oriented. Your a little squeak of a mouse in admist a pride of lions.

Just sayin....

Sigh.  I had thought we got this out of our systems a few weeks ago.  Nobody had said anything about it since then, so there really was no point to drag the issue up again.

[aueagle]

OWU does a carbon copy of 2006...lose to Franklin & Catholic...Not only does this tell me how far down the Bishops are in the pecking order but also how weak the NCAC is right now.

[smedindy]

Attn Wooster fans (and others) - anyone complaining about Wabash monopolizing a board should walk to the MIAC board and try to post something not St. John's oriented. Your a little squeak of a mouse in admist a pride of lions.

Just sayin....

Sigh.  I had thought we got this out of our systems a few weeks ago.  Nobody had said anything about it since then, so there really was no point to drag the issue up again.

Sorry Witt fan. Since I moved to Minnesota and am going to D-3 games up here and seeing the MIAC board I was just making an observation.

[ADL70]

21-0 CWRU 5:30 left in 1st.  Just scored on a 97 yard drive.

[EastCoastStag]

I don't want to know what things stop working.

I know they are a recent success story. Don't get me wrong. I would like to see them be a 5-5 team year in and year out and maybe beat a Witt, Bash, Woo (they did recently). However, I do not see the support in place on campus and with alums to have something like that become a possibility. Alums and students respect Bash football, Woo football, Witt football, etc. Kenyon alums really don't give a rat's ass.. same for the students.
Yes, they have had some recent success over the last several years. I am not necessarily knocking them, so much as pointing out my belief that the program (team) however one views it, just will not be able to have the momentum to move into the top ranks of the NCAC. It will take alot more than playing 'Bash again and a larger roster. It will take improved facilities across the entire campus and a change of attitude across alums and students. Currently, that is just not there, and I doubt if it ever really will be.
My only critique would be from watching them last year - coach and players strutting around and talking like a bunch of BSDs (read Liar's Poker to understand reference) before the game. They had their ass handed to them.

And yes, I knew what Sanchez's completion percentage was for his career. Point being, a team will not win games when a QB has 1 out of every 2 passes go incomplete. Good analogy would be for a doctor to have 1 out of every 2 patients die. You just don't win that way.

That, and after speaking with a few people, they need an entire new signal system. CMS had every play picked off presnap starting in the 2nd quarter last year, most likely the same this year.

They aren't a success story quite yet. Perhaps with a few changes, yes. Hopefully, yes. However, I hold my breath.

[ADL70]

CWRU's video is very good!  OWU's was crap.

http://www.case.edu/athletics/varsity/broadcast/

[smedindy]

That's a problem with a lot of the NCAC - student apathy. Only a few NCAC programs have support from the student body on a consistent basis, but that comes with success. If Kenyon sustains success, the support will come. But you have to give the alums a compelling reason to come to Gambier, and that's by being competitive. And you have to give the students a compelling reason to come to the games as well.

I was at the Gustavus Adolphus game today, and whilst I enjoyed the sights of the Lutheran co-eds, it was more of a social event for a lot of the students than a game, and it was a revolving door in and out of the stadium it seemed.

But Wallies, you know, if there were nice looking Lutheran co-eds afoot at Wabash, the game may not be primary.

Oh, wait...what am I saying? Der....   THE GAME'S THE THING (to paraphrase the Bard!)