FB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[sigma one]

Simply put, how could the administration at Kalamazoo not know about this rule?  Either they did know, and ignored it; or they did not know and, therefore, are hopelessly ignorant about a rule that plays a major role in defining Division III.   As sometimes with the NCAA, the student-athletes suffer for the ignorance/naivete/malfeasance of a school's administration or professionals in charge who should know better.  I'll give the athletic department the benefit of the doubt because at some schools admissions and the athletic department unfortunately don't share information.  While athletics should have no say in the awarding of financial aid, I'm sure that at most places they at least know what the merit scholarship criteria are.  It's no secret that the straightforward NCAA rule is no financial aid based on athletics, either in high school or college.
     And what lousy timing.  Given K'zoo's recent lack of success in football it would not surprise me if some players decide to cash it in and drop off the team so they can afford to finish their education.  And this particularly among students whose families are blindsided by the ruling.  I hope this does not happen, and someone figures out a way to work out the financial hit, but I don't see a quick and positive solution.  Finally, this loss of aid certainly affects those student-athletes whose families struggle financially and who likely will have a hard time coming up with the money to pay fall tuition if their sons want to continue to play.  Maybe loans can bridge the gap, but that puts the less financially able students in a even deeper hole when they graduate.  They and/or their families may already be carrying a heavy loan load.

[wally_wabash]

Simply put, how could the administration at Kalamazoo not know about this rule?  Either they did know, and ignored it; or they did not know and, therefore, are hopelessly ignorant about a rule that plays a major role in defining Division III.   As sometimes with the NCAA, the student-athletes suffer for the ignorance/naivete/malfeasance of a school's administration or professionals in charge who should know better.  I'll give the athletic department the benefit of the doubt because at some schools admissions and the athletic department unfortunately don't share information.  While athletics should have no say in the awarding of financial aid, I'm sure that at most places they at least know what the merit scholarship criteria are.  It's no secret that the straightforward NCAA rule is no financial aid based on athletics, either in high school or college.
     And what lousy timing.  Given K'zoo's recent lack of success in football it would not surprise me if some players decide to cash it in and drop off the team so they can afford to finish their education.  And this particularly among students whose families are blindsided by the ruling.  I hope this does not happen, and someone figures out a way to work out the financial hit, but I don't see a quick and positive solution.  Finally, this loss of aid certainly affects those student-athletes whose families struggle financially and who likely will have a hard time coming up with the money to pay fall tuition if their sons want to continue to play.  Maybe loans can bridge the gap, but that puts the less financially able students in a even deeper hole when they graduate.  They and/or their families may already be carrying a heavy loan load.

That's the part that really gets me.  That the NCAA and Kalamazoo can't find a way to deal with the rules violation in a way that doesn't mess up the college experience for those student-athletes.  The NCAA has power.  The school authorities have power.  The students have none and that's why the buck stops on them.  Makes me cringe every time something like this happens.   

[AO]

Simply put, how could the administration at Kalamazoo not know about this rule?  Either they did know, and ignored it; or they did not know and, therefore, are hopelessly ignorant about a rule that plays a major role in defining Division III.   As sometimes with the NCAA, the student-athletes suffer for the ignorance/naivete/malfeasance of a school's administration or professionals in charge who should know better.  I'll give the athletic department the benefit of the doubt because at some schools admissions and the athletic department unfortunately don't share information.  While athletics should have no say in the awarding of financial aid, I'm sure that at most places they at least know what the merit scholarship criteria are.  It's no secret that the straightforward NCAA rule is no financial aid based on athletics, either in high school or college.
     And what lousy timing.  Given K'zoo's recent lack of success in football it would not surprise me if some players decide to cash it in and drop off the team so they can afford to finish their education.  And this particularly among students whose families are blindsided by the ruling.  I hope this does not happen, and someone figures out a way to work out the financial hit, but I don't see a quick and positive solution.  Finally, this loss of aid certainly affects those student-athletes whose families struggle financially and who likely will have a hard time coming up with the money to pay fall tuition if their sons want to continue to play.  Maybe loans can bridge the gap, but that puts the less financially able students in a even deeper hole when they graduate.  They and/or their families may already be carrying a heavy loan load.

That's the part that really gets me.  That the NCAA and Kalamazoo can't find a way to deal with the rules violation in a way that doesn't mess up the college experience for those student-athletes.  The NCAA has power.  The school authorities have power.  The students have none and that's why the buck stops on them.  Makes me cringe every time something like this happens.

Is the corrected aid formula now discriminatory against the athletes?  If not, those who received aid based upon athletics in the past still come out ahead compared to those who didn't. 

[BashDad]

Is the wabash / albion game streaming? There's no link listed on the schedule page.

[wally_wabash]

Is the wabash / albion game streaming? There's no link listed on the schedule page.

I would assume so.  I'm positive I've watched games streamed from Sprinkle-Sprandle Stadium before. 

[wally_wabash]

Hey gang-

I would love to get an MIAA voter on board for the North Region Fan Poll this year.  If you're interested, shoot me an offline message. 

[Raider 68]

formerd3db,

Hope you are doing well! Adrian is picked to win the MIAA, how do you see it? What is the outlook for your Alma Mater?

[sac]

I'm not d3db but.....

Hope seems young to me, 104 players
Sr. --13
Jr.  --28
So --26
Fr. --37

http://athletics.hope.edu/sports/fball/Coaching_staff/index
Coach Stuursma retained only 1 coach off last years staff, Michael Rickets.  Sigler, Lapciuk and Sampo all worked together at different points in their careers.   Gkekas probably crossed a couple of their paths at Grandville as well, all 4 coaches worked at Grandville at one time or another.  One of the two most interesting hires is Offensive line coach Tony Semple a former Detroit Lion.  The other interesting one is Dan Margitz as LB and strength and conditioning (for all of Hope's athletics), Dan doesn't seem to have any West Michigan ties at all which is an unusual thing for Hope coaches in any sport.  Jackson is back after coaching at Holland Christian last year.

Hope can have a better year than last they were close to winning many of their MIAA games, 3 by 1 possession.   Late game mistakes were really costly for them.

In the non-conference, their opener is the most daunting opponent.  Monmouth went 8-2 last year.  Defiance 2-8, Concordia, Ill 2-8, Concordia, Wi 3-7 are all winnable games.

The MIAA should be really tight again.  Hope was "in" every game they played except maybe Alma and Adrian last year and made big late game mistakes in losses to Kzoo, Olivet, Trine and Albion.  The schedule isn't great with Hope having to play at Adrian where they've won once in 10 years and Albion where they've won once in forever (or something like that) and at Alma, the only opponent that really put the sword to them in the league last year (nobody else had a bigger in game lead than Alma, 18 points)

I wouldn't be surprised if Hope won 6 games, neither would I be surprised if they struggled to win 3 or fewer.

[Raider 68]

sac,

Thanks for a great response! +k

[formerd3db]

Raider68:

My apologies for this very tardy reply, however, yes, thank you to sac for providing an excellent overview.  I pretty much agree with his assessment, except for a couple of minor aspects.  New coach Stuursma actually retained two coaches from last year's staff.  Coach Gkekas returns for his fifth season and coached defensive backs last year with retained DC Coach Ricketts.  Also, I believe the pre-season rankings are about right.  Indeed, smallest turnout for Hope in several years and my observation is that we do not have much size. Unfortunately, I see Hope probably being similar to last year.  If they win more than 3 games, I will be more than pleasantly surprised.  If Hope continues the trend of not avoiding "avoidable" mistakes, it will be the same story. Yet, it is obviously a new coaching staff, so we will see.  Certainly, I hope we win more than the two games we did last year (no pun intended ).

Also, on a somewhat tangent but semi-related topic regard the smaller turnout, Davenport University, which is fielding its first team this season (they actually had the team last year, however, had only full practices all season), recently has been accepted into NCAA DII in all sports including football (transitioning from the NAIA) and will be joining the GLIAC and the likes of Grand Valley State, Ferris State, Wayne State, Northwood, etc., next year in 2017 season with Hillsdale leaving for an Ohio DII league.  This will, IMO, certainly be an even more significant challenge and difficulty to Hope (and some of the other area MIAA schools) in recruiting. 

Anyway, we know where your Mount stands this year-projected on top as usual! Hope you are doing well. We'll see you around the boards this season.

     

[sjfcards]

Can anyone on this board provide information on what St. John Fisher can expect from Olivet this Saturday? I know almost nothing about them other than  it looks like they had a great year last year. Any info is appreciated.

I'm excited to see Olivet come to Rochester. I love when Fisher plays teams outside of the East region and I get to see what these other teams have. Let me be the first to say welcome and I hope anyone making the trip has a great experience. Grab a garbage plate while you are in town.

[Cousin Eddie]

Is the wabash / albion game streaming? There's no link listed on the schedule page.

I would assume so.  I'm positive I've watched games streamed from Sprinkle-Sprandle Stadium before.

BashDad, Albion should be streaming the game.  The link for the video doesn't usually pop up until game day.  The last few years they have run their broadcasts through UStream and should still be the same this year.

[TUAngola]

Trine University kicks off their 2016 season tonight when they visit Manchester College in North Manchester, IN.  This has been Trine's traditional first game matchup and Manchester always plays them tough at home. 

Trine has a good mixture of returning letter winners with a lot of experience, plus some Freshmen who Coach Abbs says will either start or push for playing time.

Sr Brandon Rooze gets the starting nod at QB.  He split time with Evan Wyse last year when starting QB Taylor Masiewicz went down with a season ending injury. Rooze has the bigger arm while Wyse is more of a dual threat QB.  Lots of returners at RB, 1st team MIAA Mark Wilson, along with Frank Vuocolo and Lamar Carswell all had some big games last year.  Offensive line has everyone back except for the Center position.  WR looks to be the weakness of the offense as Trine lost stud receiver Gage Corner to graduation.  Jr Andrew Bonfiglio will be called on to carry the load, but Coach Abbs says they have recruited a lot of talent at WR, they just need game experience as the college game is so much faster than HS.

Defensively, the DLine will need to play big.  They do return MeLeick Miles and Joseph Griffin, but need other guys to step up, with some Fr here getting in the rotation along the line per Coach Abbs.  At linebacker 1st team MIAA Taylor James returns, but the other LB spots are up for grabs between returnees and a couple Fr.  Same thing in the secondary where only all league CB Marcus Winters returns out of the 4 starters. 

Special teams, we return our punter, Ben Cornell, but the PK and Kickoff duties will probably be split between a couple Fr. 

The league this year is wide open, not much separates the top 4 or 5 teams, but even Alma and Kzoo will be tough outs if you don't come to play.  I think Trine will be fine offensively, the defense will need to hold their own, but with todays spread offenses that is a tall task.  Good luck to all your teams this year!

[DBQ1965]

The drive to Dubuque is a bit long from Grand Rapids so I will have to pass on the UD vs. Bethel clash.  But I will be in Holland for Coach Stuursma's Hope College debut.  I hated seeing East Grand Rapids dominate for so many years as our kids went to Forest Hills Central during the Ranger's glory years, but  I wish Coach Stuursma great success at his alma mater.

[DBQ1965]

Monmouth ... speed, discipline, passing, defense.

Hope ... no QB protection, couldn't hold blocks, had glimpses of good football but not enough together, looked like a young team.

I'm sure Coach Stuursma learned a lot this afternoon.