FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[firstdown]

Wally's description is right on.  There was a lot of tailgating that day and I have no doubt that the warm bloody marys contributed to some of the over the top behavior.  The folks at Mount Union were nice hosts, and Wabash was celebrating and letting off the steam that having been shut out of the playoffs for twenty-five years had built up.  Wabash has the greatest respect for Mount Union and its tremendous record of accomplishments.   

[wally_wabash]

Ooh...it just hit me that going to Cleveland this weekend is going to take me right by, you guessed it, Grandpa's Cheese Barn in Ashland.  Righteous.  I hadn't planned on a visit to GCB until next year's trip to Wooster.  Bonus!   

[Li'l Giant]

Ooh...it just hit me that going to Cleveland this is going to take me right by, you guessed it, Grandpa's Cheese Barn in Ashland.  Righteous.  I hadn't planned on a visit to GCB until next year's trip to Wooster.  Bonus!   

Aww man I got a serious jones for some gouda.

[cave2bens]

Ooh...it just hit me that going to Cleveland this weekend is going to take me right by, you guessed it, Grandpa's Cheese Barn in Ashland.  Righteous.  I hadn't planned on a visit to GCB until next year's trip to Wooster.  Bonus!   

...and perchance, a burger stop in Columbus before taking that turn up I-71?

There's a pretty good Amish cheese shop at the corner of SR1 and I-70 (on the NE corner of intersection) just before Richmond as well - smoked gouda with some fresh apple pie is a mandatory pitstop.  Might as well indulge - it is the play-offs after all.   

[wally_wabash]

Ooh...it just hit me that going to Cleveland this weekend is going to take me right by, you guessed it, Grandpa's Cheese Barn in Ashland.  Righteous.  I hadn't planned on a visit to GCB until next year's trip to Wooster.  Bonus!   

...and perchance, a burger stop in Columbus before taking that turn up I-71?

There's a pretty good Amish cheese shop at the corner of SR1 and I-70 (on the NE corner of intersection) just before Richmond as well - smoked gouda with some fresh apple pie is a mandatory pitstop.  Might as well indulge - it is the play-offs after all.   

The Thurman may not be in the cards this weekend.  It's Michigan weekend in C-bus and the city is probably going to be completely insane.  This could be a quick in-on-Friday-night-out-early-Saturday-morning situation.   With any luck, I'll be able to get my Thurman on in a few weeks when the LGs head to Alliance.   

[nike]

cwru70: My "wish" is that Battling Bishop football can be a championship caliber program. Will Delaware get "hit"....The odds tell me probably not. The staus quo has been accepted about the program for way to long...mediocrity has settled-in. Until there is total commitment into football at OWU....not much will change. Every program has it's dark days....Case had them in the old PAC, Mount had them too....The last 3 years at Wesleyan have been unacceptable. But, 70, could you imagine saying good-bye to the D3 Playoffs & going back to those old days of Spartan football? There were many factors in the success in CWRU football...was a coaching change part of that? They say timing is everything....and will it come to Bishop football? I won't be checking the Delaware Gazette anytime soon.

Why is OWU so reluctant to get a new coach?  Football coaches don't have tenure.  What is it?  Loyalty, nostalgia, status-quo? 
If Schmitz here at Wooster strung together several really lousy losing seasons, I would think he would be gone, prominent attorney wife notwithstanding.
Every campus and community should experience what we had during the Sutton years. It was fantastic.  Like Wabash and Witt have just about every year.  And it is pretty nice here even now.  This was a good season.  People come and they enjoy.
Why wouldn't the OWU administration want to put out a quality product and have as a goal 10,000 screaming fans in Selby every home game?  Only a couple D3 stadiums in the country can even seat 10,000.  It is a beautiful campus.  Everyone cannot get into the horseshoe in Columbus. Revenue, recruiting, alumni enthusiasm, community support, etc.
Just don't get it.

[Li'l Giant]

Why is OWU so reluctant to get a new coach?  Football coaches don't have tenure.  What is it?  Loyalty, nostalgia, status-quo? 
If Schmitz here at Wooster strung together several really lousy losing seasons, I would think he would be gone, prominent attorney wife notwithstanding.

Deserved or not, it will be a traumatic thing for OWU's football program.

When Wabash didn't bring Greg Carlson back after the 2000 season (after 18 years as head coach) it caused a rift for a while. Chris Creighton ended up being pretty well liked (an understatement) but there were doubters and some animosity that lingered for some time. Some posters may even remember a certain former player that expressed some of this.

I can't blame OWU if they want to avoid that. But, I'd also not be happy as an alumnus after a total of 9 wins in the last 3 years.

[nike]

My guess is at this point Wabash folk would say the last 8 years have been worth whatever grief there was when Carlson was let go, right?  And I think the current coach at OWU has been there close to 25 years.
Don't forget that Kehres replaced someone at Mt. Union.
Just feeling aueagle's pain.

[bashbrother]

Ooh...it just hit me that going to Cleveland this weekend is going to take me right by, you guessed it, Grandpa's Cheese Barn in Ashland.  Righteous.  I hadn't planned on a visit to GCB until next year's trip to Wooster.  Bonus!   

...and perchance, a burger stop in Columbus before taking that turn up I-71?

Had the pleasure of stopping by Thurman's while I was up in Columbus on business last week.   Took me 2 hours to get seated, but boy was it worth it once we did.   Finished about 79.5% of the Thurmanator...  If I would've received a t-shirt or something, I could have tackled the rest.  I went in that place at 240 lbs, came out at 252....uuugh.

[Li'l Giant]

My guess is at this point Wabash folk would say the last 8 years have been worth whatever grief there was when Carlson was let go, right?

Yes. But that was in no way a guaranteed thing. There was risk. However, Coach Carlson wasn't putting up 2, 3 and 4 win seasons either. It's not like it can get much worse in Delaware than it currently is and so I think the risk is less than what Wabash faced back in 2000.

Either way, I am surprised that there isn't more of a movement after the last 3 seasons.

[wally_wabash]

It certainly helped that in his first two seasons, CC won 20 games, two Monon Bells, and a conference championship.  Winning is a fantastic deodorant. 

I think in the case of Ohio Wesleyan, it all depends on what the program goals are.  If OWU as a program wants to win football games and conference championships then they've probably got to think about changing the leadership, even if a decision to replace a lifer like Mike Hollway is very difficult to make.  As unpleasant as such a move might be to many, it will eventually be looked at as a positive thing if the program improves.  The hardest thing, I think, to face when looking to change direction after 20+ years is to recognize that the coach isn't bigger than the program or the institution.  OWU existed and flourished before Coach Hollway and the school will exist and flourish after Coach Hollway (whether a move gets made or not, he won't be there forever). 

It'll be interesting to see where OWU football goes after this year.  There are definitely plenty of us outside of Delaware watching. 

[aueagle]

With Selby Stadium getting lights....moving a Bishop game to 7pm might be to attract the 5,000 OWU fans that trek 30 minutes south to watch the Scarlet & Gray. With a late start, people can double-dip on their college football in Delaware. (I wonder if Otterbein has that problem)....Getting 6,000 in that historic field shouldn't be that tough. Marketing & community relations. The latter needs work between OWU & Delaware.
Coach "H" came from lowly Marietta....4 yrs as a Pio with a 11-27 record.
He replaced Steve Farkasovsky...3 yrs at 5-23-1...From 1982-84, Bishops went 8-17-2. See the expectations?
With the current program in place, OWU has ONE CO-championship in 22 yrs.
Sometimes people get comfortable & settle-in.....head coach's become associate AD's....Talk about a political football.
The last 3 season's...Bishops have 9 wins....They fired Farkasovsky for 5 wins in 3 yrs. Expectations.
wally; I don't know what the goals are....but I have been pouring over the 2008 Bishop stats, and I can't believe any goals have been met....I'll review the 2007/2006 season (again) when I have the stomach for it.

[Mr. Ypsi]

I have no idea why I'm sticking my neck in here, since I know nothing about Mike Hollway except the write-up on the OWU board (which I realize is more hagiography than biography), but the objective things struck me.

He has quite the pedigree: his grandfather has a football field named for him (5 miles from my house), his father was an NFL coach, he was a GA for Bo Schembechler.

And he has quite the resume: DC for Augustana in the latter years of their dynasty, moving Marietta from a 34-game losing streak to a respectable team, having an overall winning record at OWU (and more wins total than any other coach ever), despite the recent catastrophe.

Unless there is solid reason to believe that he can no longer achieve what he has already achieved before (and that the downturn is HIS fault, not just one of those cycles that occurs to nearly all teams), you might be wise to consider the alternatives.  Everyone was calling for JoePa's head 3 years ago; that seemed common-sense at his age, but Hollway is a generation younger (and JoePa hasn't done too shabby a job in his 80s!).

I've now said all (or more than? ) I know, so I'll return the discussion to you.

[aueagle]

Ypsi: You make some good points.....But I subscribe to the theory...What have you done for me lately. Pedigree means nothing if those attributes aren't working. Do you think people care that the President of the USA is the son of a former President. Look at those poll numbers. NFL, Meechigan, etc....Woody, JoePa, Bowden...they all stay to long anyway. My point is: A resume means squat if there is no proof in the pudding. With the Pios 1980's record...anything from a losing streak like that would be considered greatness. A .500 record at a school that is not a football power...is..what? Acceptable? Anyone that stays in place for 20-30-40 yrs is going to have at least a shot at the schools all-time % record...so longevity is a tough call sometimes. Until OWU commits to greatness on the field....we are going to have, what we have had. Water seeks it's own level...in Delaware, maybe the glass is half full....or half empty. All I want from Bishop football is championships...maybe I am asking to much. GO BISHOPS

[aueagle]

I propose we (I) table all non-play-off talk & concentrate on supporting our conference champion this Saturday as well as their drive to Salem. The off-season will be here all to soon to play Monday Morning Quarterback.
This game in Cleveland is to big....we all need the LG's to win this first round.
Wabash Always Fights.....did I just say that?....Oh noooooo.