FB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[bizrizzo]

wlcalum:

i was at the albion/wlc game and concur with some of your remarks. the refereeing was not the greatest, they called more holding calls on both teams in the last 5 minutes of the game, (when the score was 41-0) than in the first 55.  however, i also think that wlc did a poor job of trying to get off of blocks and if they had tried to do so, would have attracted attention to the fact that they were being held. 

every offense holds now days, but getting away with holding has a lot to do with what team you are on, and what your personal reputation is in the conference.

for instance, i recall the left tackle from alma, peters #55, a great player in the miaa who played in the d III senior bowl in mexico.  he held, but he was good at it, and had the reputation as being the best lineman in the league going into his junior and senior years. i can't recall one holding call going against him the 2 times we played. 

another would be olivet. with that many people in a compact formation, you could get blatantly held on every play and never get a call just because its too hard for the referee to see it.

i believe teams like wlc and tri-state don't get as much respect from the miaa officials in regards to "getting calls."  thats just what i have seen, and may be a reason for the umps going out of their way to get in the faces of players. i agree w/ wlcalum, the refs handled the game in an unprofessional way, bigtime.

so i'm sure i'm not the only one who has an opinion on this issue, but i had to support the minority voice in the room.

biz

[wlcalum]

Thanks for the input biz. Was beginning to think I was going to get a message from the admin to be nice after I scared everyone away from this board. 

As I said WLC did look poor.  I think we are getting penalties to go our way, more pf's and interferance calls. Would just like to see the holding get called, it is really bad. When a guy is after the qb, running sideways with an arm pinned behind his back you would think a flag would fly from somewhere. 

[miaafbfan]

My picks:

Albion over Hope
Alma over WLC
Adrian over TSU
Olivet over Kalamazoo

I agree that Albion/Hope is the game of the week.  I'm hoping the Dutchmen take that one, but it's a tall order.

[redman04]

• Everyone vote Brett Elliott for Heisman

Did everybody see this on the front page?  If not check it out and vote!  It could do nothing but help DIII football.

[formerd3db]

to my MIAA friends:
I kept telling (some) of you who seemed to think that Alma or Adrian had this thing locked up early, that it will come down to the last couple of games for the season.   Looks like it is.  I will admit that the Alma-Kazoo result last weekend was the last thing I would have predicted.  However, just proves that old cliche that "...on any given Saturday...".  Reminds me of the Alma debacle at Hope a few recent years back as we've discussed previously on this board. 

Anyway, this week is huge.  Hope will have a tough time down at Albion (we always do) but not impossible to knock them off.  Just HOPING the weather is good too!

BTW: I would have to agree with previous poster's comments regarding the officiating this year.  While it is easy for us "arm chairs" to sit back and criticize, I must say that the officiating with regard to holding calls this year has been very poor.  Especially agree with the comment about Olivet;  their linemen held on EVERY play and in many cases, blatently pulled Hope linemen down like in a rodeo.  Despite this being done right in front of the officials and with Hope coaching staff complaining and requesting this be carefully watched, the officials failed (or refused) to do so.  Officiating is obviously a tough job, but everyone deserves a fair and better shake than has been given, IMO.  I have other personal opinions on as to why this happened, but will refrain from commenting further - it will serve no further purpose.

Bashdad:  Thanks and congrats and good luck again this weekend.

[albinomascot19]

I thought I would join in the discussion of the heated MIAA race.  3 games left which will decide the champ.  Who would have thought after Hope's dismal start, they would be in the thick of things as well.  Right now it is basically between Hope, Alma and Albion.  This next game between Hope and Albion will definitely show us who is still alive in the race for the championship, and who's hopes will be dashed.  I was in Wisconsin last week when Albion beat WLC.  It was basically decided in the opening minutes.  This weekend will show us who will contend for the title.

Game of the Week:  Hope @ Albion.

Hopefully you can make it to the game.  I will be there decked in my purple and gold, faced painted, cheering loudly for the Britons.  It is definitely one of the most anticipated matchups of the season.  However, all the other games on the MIAA slate are equally important.  Good luck to everyone in the MIAA!  Lets get ready to rumble 
 

[formerd3db]

albionmascot:
Welcome to the board.  See you at the Albion/Hope game.  Always tough to win down there, but I HOPE we break the recent string! .  The loser is obviously out of the race.  If Hope wins, it will most likely come down to Hope/Alma in the last game again, just like last year.  That would be truly amazing; but once again, not surprising in the MIAA.

[albinomascot19]

Former3db did you ever play for Hope College Flying Dutchmen?  I have been here at Albion since 2001, graduate in May 06.  Anyway, have fun at the game.  If you make it there, you will know its me, because I am one of the lone guys that paints his face.  This will definitely be one of the most compelling matches of the MIAA schedule.  The race has heated up, and every team will be tested, until we will find out the true winner.  So far the conference has shaped up to be quite interesting.  Beyond the conference winner.....can, and will any of the MIAA teams be able to compete in the playoffs.  Since the playoffs expanded the MIAA has the worse percentage, 0.0%.....the MIAA looks great when it comes to basketball, but football it isn't as strong.  However, we'll see these last 3 weeks, wait for the champion and  then discuss the team that represents the MIAA will actually be able to win a game in the playoffs or not. 

[formerd3db]

albionmascot19:
Yes, I did "many moons ago" .  Indeed, it should be a great game.  My college roommate's son plays for you guys (TE and special teams).  I'll look for you and as you mention, you shouldn't be hard to find .  I agree with you that it certainly would be great to see one of our MIAA teams win a playoff game for once and try to get back to advancing to the second round, like Albion did back in '94 when the won the Stagg.  While they were not a powerhouse and without question had some luck in a couple of the playoff games, they were a very good team with perseverance and determination, which is why they won it all.  Sometimes, a team needs a little luck now and then, regardless of its talent level, and there is nothing wrong or shameful about that.  Seems that aspect is being proven time and time again this season at all the NCAA levels.  Anyway, see you tomorrow, and may the best team win (of course, I HOPE that it is HOPE .

[miaafbfan]

Good luck to all teams today.  I totally agree with the above remarks about Alma, Hope, and Albion.  We'll see today who has the upper hand between Albion and Hope, as well as whether or not Alma can bounce back convincingly after the loss at Kalamazoo last week.

[albinomascot19]

What a beautiful day it was for watching football!!
Albion played pretty well defensively today as they beat Hope 34-0.  Alma blew out Wisconsin Lutheran, after a one point loss to Kzoo last week.  Olivet squeaks by Kzoo.  And I am not aware what happened in the Tri-State/Adrian game.   Next Saturday there is a big matchup with first place on the line, and possible playoffs implications when Alma travels to Albion. 

[formerd3db]

Yes, it was a beautiful day for football, except for the outcome of the Albion/Hope game, at least for us HOPEsters .  First, congratulations to Albion on their win.  I would add, however, that it was a classless act for them to run a fake punt on 4th down late in the game with the outcome already decided (although not surprising )

Secondly, a few observations/comments on the game:  a) certainly a debacle for Hope as they did not play well and basically beat themselves.  Albion is a good team, yet certainly no powerhous and Hope could have beaten them if they had played like they did last week against Adrian, b) once again, the officiating was extremely less then stellar, to say the least.  A ton of missed (or rather more truthfully) blatantly non-made holding calls on Albion's offensive line while Hope was nailed with several, some of which were without question blatantly vindictive calls by one of the officials in particular.  Very poor showing on the latter's part; another extremely blantant incorrect call was the stealing of the ball from Hope's running back at the goal line which was allowed and awarded to Albion when forward progress should have been called and marked.  These are not excuses whatsoever as none of these would have mattered, did not effect the outcome, and Hope did not deserve to win because of their own poor play and miscues.  Moreover, failure of officials to control player tempers and some blatant foul manuvours is ridiculous and continues to happen.  Nonetheless, it is not inappropriate to mention these aspects because it is clear that the caliber of officiating in the MIAA has declined tremendously in the last 2-3 years unfortunately.   No excuses, just observations. 

Again, Hope did not deserve nor play well to win; poor offensive blocking and QB play returned and the secondary had one of its worst games of the year.  From our standpoint, it is difficult to understand how Hope could play so well against Adrian last week and then essentially the opposite this week.  Yet as I mentioned before, it seems that is how the season is going at all NCAA levels this year.

At any rate, indeed the title game most likely will be Alma @ Albion next week.  Hope is probably eliminated at this point, although not impossible, but even if they were to win their last two games (including Alma) and Albion lose to Alma, the tiebreaker applications might not be in favor of Hope - obviously alot would need to happen.     

[albinomascot19]

Pointing our fingers to the referees isn't going to change anything.  People will always complain about the referees.  As we know they are human like anyone else.  And you know that they don't favor any one team.  If you see it from the perspective from other teams, they feel they have had some poor calls go against them as well.  Officiating is a hot button issue.  Maybe we need to go Instant Replay in DIII, if it were possible.  I think the game was played pretty good, except I would have hoped for a closer game.  On any given Saturday, anything can happen.  Regardless of how the officiating goes, the men still get on the field and play.  I think both teams played hard, however in the end there had to be a winner.  For me it was suprising of how Albion was able to take charge of the game.  The first series they were 3 and out.  When Hope got the ball, they fumbled, Albion could have had a chance to recover, but couldn't.  Then there was a pick that was thrown.  It seemed like the Briton defense made it a hard night for the quarterback.  I know we can debate this for a long time to come, but from where I was watching when Hope was at the 1 yard line it seemed that they fumbled and then we recovered.  You can give forward progress, but if you fumble the ball, it is considered a live ball and anyone can recover it.  Anyway....it was good that you were able to make it to the game.  Good luck next weekend!             

[wlcalum]

Complaining about the refs here does not change anything - but it does make one feel better. Does the MIAA review the refs performances? If one were to send the tapes to the MIAA would they take action against a crew?
On that note - we had the same crew this weekend - WITH the SAME results. (Something needs to be done, this crew is horrible.) Well except for our coaches and players didn't take the same trash talk they took last weekend. Of course that led to a pf flag against both teams as retaliation for grabbing the junk set in. (is this why Alma wears the skirts?) Sorry, couldn't resist it. Really surprised our runningback has a head left. Can guarantee his neck is black and blue as I/we saw three times his head being pulled back and a hand/fist to the throat. Guess the refs did not have the same vantage point we had!? Had numerous comment from Alma fans about those shots. They too were surprised many more flags were not thrown against both teams.

Congrats to Alma they played very well. Sun shine and warm made the 8 hour drive, one way, well worth the time. Didn't hit any deer and didn't get a speeding ticket so all is well.
I had forgotten about how good the announcer is in Alma. He keeps everyone in the game and must do lots of homework as he was right on top of every play and knew all the players names. Made the crushing almost enjoyable!!

Hope Albion was a surprise - figured Hope would make it a closer game. Olivet over Kazoo was no big upset for the middle of the road teams. The rest was as predicted. Down the home path now. Time to get on the pony for those left in the race.

[miaafbfan]

I have to agree about the refs.  Many more flags could have been thrown both ways during the WLC/Alma game.  But complaining doesn't help.

Looks like the MIAA will come down to Alma at Albion next weekend.  Alma's got some key defensive players back from injury and looked much better against WLC than they did vs. TSU and of course K.  Ths should be a great game.