FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[wally_wabash]

And also congrats to Denison LB Bill Aukerman on being named to the d3football.com team of the week to go along with his conference PotW award!

[bashbrother]

Very Nice.   http://www.wabash.edu/news/displaystory.cfm?news_ID=7290

They do a great job and give Alumni, Family and Friends that live around the Country a chance to watch the team. 

Thanks to the Shelbourne Knee Center in Indianapolis for sponsoring the Internet broadcasts,  I know we send you our fair share of patients, hopefully this year you won't see many from us. 

[wally_wabash]

The ball appears to be squarely in the court of the HCAC as it pertains to Earlham's future affiliation. 

Thanks to Posting Up vet billy pilgrim for the link. 

[Li'l Giant]

Vaya con Dios, Quakers.

[wally_wabash]

And here's a piece from the Earlham Word that makes the whole thing sound even a little more certain:

http://ecword.org/index.php/2009/09/news/earlham-to-join-hcac-next-fall/

[wabco]

Too bad Earlham is leaving ... good academic school joining the ranks (Rose excluded) of the academically challenged.

Now:  any info as to who is winning the starting Center and starting RB wars for 'Bash?

[bashbrother]

If you ask me, the whole Earlham issue is a political one and not about money.  But just as many companies are using the economy as an excuse to trim down, so I believe is Earlham using it to make a political decision about it's conference affiliation.

Lets face it.... Earlham is a very fine academic school and belongs with the likes of the other schools in the NCAC. 

With a recently published endowment of $342,000,000, Earlham College could pay the $87/student cost to transport its athletes to and fro.   Sure there are other cost needed to run the non-athletic agenda of the school, I bring this up for illustration purposes only.

The real reason -

Football team - won 23 of 68 conference games in the last eleven years.  (1/3 of their conference games)

In all sports - Earlham has won two conference titles (Men's cross X '95 & 96) dating back to 1985 (NCAC Website)

Basketball Team - Men's basketball team was 3-22 last season, Women's was 3-21

Baseball Team - posted a 14-22 record

etc. etc.

I believe, looking through all of the smoke, that they are looking to get into a conference where they will be more competitive athletically.  This will help recruiting / enrollment because they believe they will win more. (not a given)  It's not the money.

May be totally off, but that's my take.

[wally_wabash]

I believe, looking through all of the smoke, that they are looking to get into a conference where they will be more competitive athletically.  This will help recruiting because they believe they will win more. (not a given)  It's not the money.

That's my take.

I don't think you're wrong, bashbro.  An excerpt from an article in the Earlham Word last April when all of this first started to fly:

Reasons for the switch involve the difference in competitive levels between the schools in the NCAC and HCAC. Bennett said that Earlham's goal is to win half of its games every season, and that the switch would help achieve that goal.

It's clear that they want to win more, but not necessarily that much more.  This was brought up in April/May, but I'm still completely floored that any official representing the institution would put this statement out there as the clear goal of the athletic program.  Ok, so maybe switching to the HCAC will help you recruit in Indiana (I'm actually not sure it really makes a big difference...NCAC/HCAC...Indiana is still your home state, EC), but what competitor in his/her right mind is going to sign up to play (scholarship free!) at a place where the institution has your back just enough to (hopefully) let you win half of the time?  If this is the mantra at Earlham, what difference does conference affiliation make? 

[Bash-Dad #84]

Wabco,
I watched the tail end of practice yesterday and although I can't say who will start at center or running back, I will say that they were looking very good. I did notice that the ball was getting back to Hudson, much better than at Wheaton.

Not trying to tick anyone off, but Wabash has had 2 scrimmages and is 2 days from their first game and on their website we are still looking at the 2008 media guide and no pictures or updates from any of the scrimmages. Any body know what's up?

[wally_wabash]

Wabco,
I watched the tail end of practice yesterday and although I can't say who will start at center or running back, I will say that they were looking very good. I did notice that the ball was getting back to Hudson, much better than at Wheaton.

Not trying to tick anyone off, but Wabash has had 2 scrimmages and is 2 days from their first game and on their website we are still looking at the 2008 media guide and no pictures or updates from any of the scrimmages. Any body know what's up?

I can't speak for the media guide (there have been a ton of events on campus in the first couple of weeks of the athletic year...busy time for the department), but as far as the scrimmages go there are rules about the extent to which schools are allowed to advertise and report on them.  My guess is that steering clear of any kind of rules violation is why you haven't seen much on the website about the scrimmages.  There isn't any scrimmage talk on the Wheaton site either, so it looks like the information departments at both schools have stayed away from reporting on it. 

[Bash-Dad #84]

That makes alot of sense, I should have thought about that!

Now, back to that ancient media guide!

[wally_wabash]

Here is your weekly press release including a game preview and a two deep:

http://bit.ly/2eCExc

To answer your question about who is starting at C...who knows.  Raeburn hit us with the always fun "or" on the two deep.  You'll find some more "or"s in the RB section so I'd be inclined to think that the carries will get spread around quite a bit the first 2-3 weeks until somebody emerges. 

Freshman Chase Belton is listed as the backup to Matt Hudson in week 1.  This kid must have had one helluva camp. 

One other interesting note...freshman Pat Clegg is getting the start at DT. 

[zed07]

I thought Belton looked extremely good at times in the Wheaton scrimmage.  Good running ability and throws what appears to be a very tight, catchable ball.  The shotgun option looked good with him at the controls.  He was at QB for a nice scoring drive on the first possession of the 2nd half (against a lot of Wheaton starters).

[Mugsy]

Wabco,
I watched the tail end of practice yesterday and although I can't say who will start at center or running back, I will say that they were looking very good. I did notice that the ball was getting back to Hudson, much better than at Wheaton.

Not trying to tick anyone off, but Wabash has had 2 scrimmages and is 2 days from their first game and on their website we are still looking at the 2008 media guide and no pictures or updates from any of the scrimmages. Any body know what's up?

I can't speak for the media guide (there have been a ton of events on campus in the first couple of weeks of the athletic year...busy time for the department), but as far as the scrimmages go there are rules about the extent to which schools are allowed to advertise and report on them.  My guess is that steering clear of any kind of rules violation is why you haven't seen much on the website about the scrimmages.  There isn't any scrimmage talk on the Wheaton site either, so it looks like the information departments at both schools have stayed away from reporting on it. 

For what it's worth, I don't ever recall Wheaton providing information on scrimmages on their website, other than showing them on the schedule.

[Gray Fox]

Gheny Info:

For the second straight year, an Allegheny home game will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Pittsburgh.

The Westminster series dates back to 1899. The Titans won that contest 16-6 and lead the all-time series, 28-25-5.

"The game being on FSN is great exposure for our players and football program," Matlak said. "The fact we are playing regional rival Westminster makes it even more exciting."

The Gators dropped a 41-14 decision to Carnegie Mellon in front of 2,106 fans in last year's broadcast on Oct. 11.

Full Story
http://www.meadvilletribune.com/sports/local_story_253003559.html