FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[GrizFan]

The move from NAIA to NCAA Div. II and then Div. III was a move up but the football team went from 36 scholarships to zero (same for all sports) and led to a great deal of hard feelings with football alums who felt that the school dismantled the program built by Red Faught.  It has taken almost 20 years to heal some of the wounds but Coach Leonard is a great leader and his really brought the program to new heights.

[smedindy]

That's exactly why Taylor didn't move - but others thankfully saw the value of D-3.

Some of the alums here at CWU still remember when they were NAIA - and played Linfield, PLU, etc with regularity.

I'm just glad all that shuffling is over. And definitely glad Wabash has been in a conference. Schedules in the 1980's were kind of wacky.

[sigma one]

BB#16:  to get us back on the right track, this is all in fun.  I am trick-or-treating at the retirement home tomorrow night.  I can't decide whether to go as Lou Hotz or as a Grizzlie.  I'd try a combination, but I can't figure out how to make the costume.   
                 Urg--I just found out I can borrow Wally, so my problem is solved.  WAF.  Always Means Always.  Peace, brother.
     
           

[bashbrother]

http://youtu.be/aNAwH6R5IK0

Now... back to our regularly scheduled 2013 football season already in progress...

WAF!

[DPU3619]

It's funny to me that we pass off Monon as a total formality every November for as long as I've been on this board but then get butthurt when Wabash gets slighted in a similar manner. My program is totally buried. Wabash is going to win the Bell for 15 years straight, or so I've been told. We have stupid coaches and you have smart ones. Our administration is mean and yours is very pleasant. We'll never be able to recruit ever again. Your AD is super extra smart and mine is a female.  Those are all things I've been told here. Meanwhile, when I say that Franklin probably beats the brakes off Wabash (which I think is true as we sit here today), everybody acts like their Cheerios just got peed in. In the grand scheme, what's the difference?

[Caveman # 95]

It's funny to me that we pass off Monon as a total formality every November for as long as I've been on this board but then get butthurt when Wabash gets slighted in a similar manner. My program is totally buried. Wabash is going to win the Bell for 15 years straight, or so I've been told. We have stupid coaches and you have smart ones. Our administration is mean and yours is very pleasant. We'll never be able to recruit ever again. Your AD is super extra smart and mine is a female.  Those are all things I've been told here. Meanwhile, when I say that Franklin probably beats the brakes off Wabash (which I think is true as we sit here today), everybody acts like their Cheerios just got peed in. In the grand scheme, what's the difference?

This was super funny...was laughing out loud

[wally_wabash]

It's funny to me that we pass off Monon as a total formality every November for as long as I've been on this board but then get butthurt when Wabash gets slighted in a similar manner. My program is totally buried. Wabash is going to win the Bell for 15 years straight, or so I've been told. We have stupid coaches and you have smart ones. Our administration is mean and yours is very pleasant. We'll never be able to recruit ever again. Your AD is super extra smart and mine is a female.  Those are all things I've been told here. Meanwhile, when I say that Franklin probably beats the brakes off Wabash (which I think is true as we sit here today), everybody acts like their Cheerios just got peed in. In the grand scheme, what's the difference?

A few quick comments:

- 15 years straight?  I hope so. 
- Brian Casey seems like a good dude. 
- You had stupid coaches.  Now you have Bill Lynch and he is definitely not that. 
- Recruiting...see Bill Lynch.
- Franklin v. Wabash would be a tremendous game.  Interesting clash of styles.  Things to do before then, but maybe we'll get to see that game this year. 
- Those Cheerios honey nut? 

[Li'l Giant]

[waf56]

It's funny to me that we pass off Monon as a total formality every November for as long as I've been on this board but then get butthurt when Wabash gets slighted in a similar manner. My program is totally buried. Wabash is going to win the Bell for 15 years straight, or so I've been told. We have stupid coaches and you have smart ones. Our administration is mean and yours is very pleasant. We'll never be able to recruit ever again. Your AD is super extra smart and mine is a female.  Those are all things I've been told here. Meanwhile, when I say that Franklin probably beats the brakes off Wabash (which I think is true as we sit here today), everybody acts like their Cheerios just got peed in. In the grand scheme, what's the difference?

One is true and the other isn't!!! 

In all seriousness though, there is nothing to suggest that Franklin would shred Wabash. Sure they have put up a lot of points the past few weekends, but against trash competition. Wabash also has put up ridiculous numbers against poor competition. Franklin hung tough with Mount and nearly beat them, I would expect the same to happen if Wabash played Mount. Wabash has not yet been tested this year, we will know much more about this team on the evening of November 9th.

As much as I want all those disparaging things about Depauw to be true, I know some day (hopefully long, long into the future) something flukey will happen and Depauw might score more points than Wabash. Anyways, trash talk is trash talk and it looks like Lynch is starting to turn things around down in Greencastle. A good and competitive Depauw team is a great thing for the rivalry, as nice as it would be 119-0-0 does not have the same significance as 57-53-9. I may not be mainstream in this opinion, but I would be very happy to see an undefeated Depauw team come to the bell game every year and leave with a loss. I will always remeber in 2010 hearing the Dannies chanting "can't be beat, can't be beat" before getting absolutly shelacked.

The Bell is special and both teams truly believing they will win makes it even more special.

Also, I do not like Cheerios anyways so go ahead.

[Pat Coleman]

It's been a fun few years, following the Boards and observing the "tempest in teapot" moments.  The changes, applied overnight, regarding gmail registration give pause for "senior citizen" reflection and consideration.  I am not decrying this change as administrative decisions are a requisite for attempted improvement.  Unlike some current circumstances, continued participation is a choice rather than a mandate  - so thanks, Pat, Keith, Ryan, and so many others for your dedication and efforts.

Not sure what you're referring to. No changes were made recently to D3boards.com and you can continue to use your current account into perpetuity. I mean, unless you run afoul of some rules. Repeatedly. Been a long time since we banned a user.

[wally world]

I had thought Franklin was NAIA before forming the ICAC  - joining along with Anderson, Hanover, Manchester, and Taylor in that exodus from NAIA (then Taylor decided not to go to NCAA). (Dating myself). I wish Franklin had all-time scores on their website or media guide. I did find a blurb that the ICAC in their 2012 media guide:

I remember seeing some NAIA banners hanging up in Franklin's gym the last time I was there.  It was actually spring 1998...a small group of us traveled down to Franklin for an ICAC hoops tournament game.  It was going to be DePauw's last game in the conference (they were pretty awful that year, Franklin was really good) and we wanted to give DePauw a proper sendoff.  Franklin's crowd appreciated the help, I'm sure.    

I know I'm way off topic, but damn those were some awesome years for ICAC hoops.  Wabash was excellent (Estelle, Latham, Tabor), Franklin was really good (Jason Sibley was a monster...he and Estelle had an epic showdown in the championship game), Anderson was good, Hanover was good, RHIT had been really good around that time.  That was a fun hoops league.  Alright, back to football.

Wabash basketball when I was there (1989-1993) was pretty pedestrian, but that ICAC had some players. Alford started coaching at Manchester while I was there. He infamously walked off the court towards the end of a game to the taunts of many Wabash students as he thought he was getting jobbed on the road. Over the next couple of years, he used his name to recruit a lot of find players and I think went to the NCAA Championship game a couple years after I left.

But Franklin had Rowdy Williams - that little dude was an absolute balla!

[HCAlum86]

While we're comparing teams, I think this may be the first year in a LONG time that I can say with some certainty that Wittenberg isn't one of the three best teams in Ohio

[ExTartanPlayer]

While we're comparing teams, I think this may be the first year in a LONG time that I can say with some certainty that Wittenberg isn't one of the three best teams in Ohio

Just curious - who do you have ahead?  The three OAC beasts, or am I missing someone?

I don't think that's a foregone conclusion.  Wittenberg did beat Heidelberg in the playoffs last year.  I'd rank Mount and John Carroll ahead of them for now, but think you could probably call it pretty even with Heidelberg.  Both teams have really good offenses and somewhat shaky (against good teams) defenses.

[MIAA in Exile]

In the middle of the article on Carl Pelini resigning is the naming of his successor, Brian Wright 1994 COW grad (and former flag football teammate of mine at the Orrville Boys Club).
Good luck Brian!

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/9903116/carl-pelini-resigns-florida-atlantic-coach

[HCAlum86]

While we're comparing teams, I think this may be the first year in a LONG time that I can say with some certainty that Wittenberg isn't one of the three best teams in Ohio

Just curious - who do you have ahead?  The three OAC beasts, or am I missing someone?

I don't think that's a foregone conclusion.  Wittenberg did beat Heidelberg in the playoffs last year.  I'd rank Mount and John Carroll ahead of them for now, but think you could probably call it pretty even with Heidelberg.  Both teams have really good offenses and somewhat shaky (against good teams) defenses.

IMO John Carroll is the best team in the state and has a VERY real national title hope. Of course Mount is Mount, but I place Heidelberg ahead of Wittenberg merely due to the talent on that roster. From what I hear there are a few boys on the defensive side of the ball with a shot at being invited to pro camps this spring.