FB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[JCUStreaks70]

MIAA Poster's who may also double as UofM fans, on 9/7 my brother and I are driving from Chicago to go to the Army-Michigan game (sorry to disappoint but we're big Army fans).

Do any of you have any suggestions on places to go or things to do for our first time at the Big House? We are driving up Friday Morning and will be doing Ann Arbor Friday night (but staying in Livonia for cheaper Hotel, lol).

Thanks! Go Army!

I was in Ann Arbor a few weeks ago. Definite;y hit Zingerman's Roadhouse for lunch or dinner and Cafe Zola for brunch. You will not be disappointed
Streaks70

I don't know anything about Ann Arbor, but at least I'LL  be at the Mount Union at John Carroll game on September 28. Enjoy your game. Go Army. 

Thanks!

[formerd3db]

JCUStreaks:

Sorry for the delay in this reply. A couple of good places you might go to are The Little Brown Jug and Good Time Charlie's (the latter one may have changed names). Both are right down by the Quad on Central portion of the campus and a road from the U of M bookstore. Both are good sports bar/restaurants.Also, if you like Much "stuff" a visit to the M Den us a must (they also have a store right at Much Stadium), although I see you are an Army fan!😁 I might try to go to that game if I don't end up going to Hope's "away"game the night before. Anyway, have a great time.

[JCUStreaks70]

JCUStreaks:

Sorry for the delay in this reply. A couple of good places you might go to are The Little Brown Jug and Good Time Charlie's (the latter one may have changed names). Both are right down by the Quad on Central portion of the campus and a road from the U of M bookstore. Both are good sports bar/restaurants.Also, if you like Much "stuff" a visit to the M Den us a must (they also have a store right at Much Stadium), although I see you are an Army fan!😁 I might try to go to that game if I don't end up going to Hope's "away"game the night before. Anyway, have a great time.

I am not a Michigan fan, so that stop may not happen! lol Those are two bars that I had heard about through other UM fans, and I have plans to visit and hydrate each place!

We're planning on getting to the Golf Course nice and early to ensure we can tailgate there on Saturday.

Thanks!

[Flying Dutch Fan]

MIAA getting a little love in the pre-season poll, with both Trine and Hope getting some votes (essentially Trine is #26, Hope tied for #39).  Hadn't really checked out this board recently, but expected some chatter at least about that - but alas, crickets....

So how is everyone feeling about the upcoming season?

[HOPEful]

MIAA getting a little love in the pre-season poll, with both Trine and Hope getting some votes (essentially Trine is #26, Hope tied for #39).  Hadn't really checked out this board recently, but expected some chatter at least about that - but alas, crickets....

So how is everyone feeling about the upcoming season?

Starting the season @ Millikin on a Friday night is strange. I don't love the Friday night aspect. But once again, the real scheduling "bummer" is that Hope @ Trine is the first league game this season. I say bummer, because I expect the winner of that game to most likely run the table through the rest of the MIAA. I wonder how much better attendance would be throughout the season if those teams played in mid-November rather than early October.

[Flying Dutch Fan]

MIAA getting a little love in the pre-season poll, with both Trine and Hope getting some votes (essentially Trine is #26, Hope tied for #39).  Hadn't really checked out this board recently, but expected some chatter at least about that - but alas, crickets....

So how is everyone feeling about the upcoming season?

Starting the season @ Millikin on a Friday night is strange. I don't love the Friday night aspect. But once again, the real scheduling "bummer" is that Hope @ Trine is the first league game this season. I say bummer, because I expect the winner of that game to most likely run the table through the rest of the MIAA. I wonder how much better attendance would be throughout the season if those teams played in mid-November rather than early October.

I agree on the scheduling being unfortunate regarding the Hope v Trine matchup. 

[HOPEful]

MIAA getting a little love in the pre-season poll, with both Trine and Hope getting some votes (essentially Trine is #26, Hope tied for #39).  Hadn't really checked out this board recently, but expected some chatter at least about that - but alas, crickets....

So how is everyone feeling about the upcoming season?

Starting the season @ Millikin on a Friday night is strange. I don't love the Friday night aspect. But once again, the real scheduling "bummer" is that Hope @ Trine is the first league game this season. I say bummer, because I expect the winner of that game to most likely run the table through the rest of the MIAA. I wonder how much better attendance would be throughout the season if those teams played in mid-November rather than early October.

I agree on the scheduling being unfortunate regarding the Hope v Trine matchup.

I just remember after last year's 2-2 start, my thoughts were...

1. I expected Hope to run the table the rest of the way.
2. It wouldn't matter, because Trine wasn't going to lose. (I realize Olivet almost beat them, but even then, Trine had the tie-breaker over Hope)

It's disheartening knowing one game into league play in a season where expectations are MIAA Championship, that those expectations won't be realized. The loser of Hope @ Trine will need the other to lose twice or force a three team tie to get back in the hunt.

[TUAngola]

MIAA getting a little love in the pre-season poll, with both Trine and Hope getting some votes (essentially Trine is #26, Hope tied for #39).  Hadn't really checked out this board recently, but expected some chatter at least about that - but alas, crickets....

So how is everyone feeling about the upcoming season?

I wouldn't read too much into Trine's preseason ranking.  However I am excited to see how our team develops over the course of the year as we have a lot of holes to fill.  Think about it...no Lamar Carswell at RB, no Jeffery Barnett at WR, no Marcus Winters at CB...that's 3 All Americans right there and all were 4 year starters.  I would guess out of the 22 starters, around 12 were seniors last year.  The entire secondary is gone, we lost a couple on Dline, one on Oline, our TE, our QB (who rotated with another QB), and our Punter.  We did have a lot of 2s and 3s get experience last year though, and I heard our incoming Frosh class has a lot of talent, but making the jump from high school to college is hard, even at the D3 level.

I would put Hope and Albion at the top, with Trine, Olivet and Adrian not far behind.  Alma should be tough too.  Should be a wide open and fun season and can't wait for September to get here.   

[Flying Dutch Fan]

Thanks TU - I knew Trine was losing those all-Americans, but over 50% of the starters is tough indeed.  I'm sure they will still be a good team and a tough test for anyone who plays them.

[TUAngola]

MIAA pre-season Football Coaches Poll out today:

1) Hope 11 pts (3 first place votes)
2) Albion 14 pts (2 first place votes)
2) Trine 14 pts (2 first place votes)
4) Adrian 30 pts
4) Olivet 30 pts
6) Kalamazoo 36 pts
7) Alma 40 pts
8) Finlandia 49 pts

Really no surprises.  I had surmised it would be Hope and Albion, kinda surprised Trine tied for 2nd in the poll.  Thought there might be a bigger gap from the first 2 teams since we have so many holes to fill from graduation.

[TUAngola]

2019 Trine football roster finally posted on the athletics website yesterday.  Was looking to see who we have as potential guys to fill RB Lamar Carswell's shoes.  I thought it would be 1 of 3 guys who backed up Carswell last year, Stinson, Edwards or Echoles-Jones, but none of the 3 are listed on this year's roster.  Yikes!  We have zero rushing yards returning on our roster....zero.  There are a couple of soph transfers listed, and a good all-state frosh from right down the road, but man it's kinda scary, you'd like to have SOME experience.  Another guy not listed is LB Cavanaugh, that is a big loss, I thought going in LB to be the strength of the team defensively with LB Washington returning for his senior season.  We should have a few guys with game experience there as replacement but not sure why Cavanaugh is not playing.

I plan on heading down to North Manchester Thursday evening to watch the opener against the Manchester Spartans.  They are picked to finish 5th in the HCAC this year.  I am expecting a closer game than in years past due to our inexperience at RB, WR, and defensive secondary.   

Hope the chatter picks up from other MIAA football fans.  There is year round postings in the basketball boards, but nothing but crickets here.

[formerd3db]

2019 Trine football roster finally posted on the athletics website yesterday.  Was looking to see who we have as potential guys to fill RB Lamar Carswell's shoes.  I thought it would be 1 of 3 guys who backed up Carswell last year, Stinson, Edwards or Echoles-Jones, but none of the 3 are listed on this year's roster.  Yikes!  We have zero rushing yards returning on our roster....zero.  There are a couple of soph transfers listed, and a good all-state frosh from right down the road, but man it's kinda scary, you'd like to have SOME experience.  Another guy not listed is LB Cavanaugh, that is a big loss, I thought going in LB to be the strength of the team defensively with LB Washington returning for his senior season.  We should have a few guys with game experience there as replacement but not sure why Cavanaugh is not playing.

I plan on heading down to North Manchester Thursday evening to watch the opener against the Manchester Spartans.  They are picked to finish 5th in the HCAC this year.  I am expecting a closer game than in years past due to our inexperience at RB, WR, and defensive secondary.   

Hope the chatter picks up from other MIAA football fans.  There is year round postings in the basketball boards, but nothing but crickets here.

Thanks TU for the update from your end.  What happened to those 3 RB guys?  See if you can find out.

Also, with regard to the "cricket activity" on this board, it has been like that for several years now, slight decline each year.  Many of us have attempted to encourage more activity, but, alas, no success.  Relative to the other boards, we are near or at the bottom of the list. I guess that is "just the way it is."

[HOPEful]

2019 Trine football roster finally posted on the athletics website yesterday.  Was looking to see who we have as potential guys to fill RB Lamar Carswell's shoes.  I thought it would be 1 of 3 guys who backed up Carswell last year, Stinson, Edwards or Echoles-Jones, but none of the 3 are listed on this year's roster.  Yikes!  We have zero rushing yards returning on our roster....zero.  There are a couple of soph transfers listed, and a good all-state frosh from right down the road, but man it's kinda scary, you'd like to have SOME experience.  Another guy not listed is LB Cavanaugh, that is a big loss, I thought going in LB to be the strength of the team defensively with LB Washington returning for his senior season.  We should have a few guys with game experience there as replacement but not sure why Cavanaugh is not playing.

I plan on heading down to North Manchester Thursday evening to watch the opener against the Manchester Spartans.  They are picked to finish 5th in the HCAC this year.  I am expecting a closer game than in years past due to our inexperience at RB, WR, and defensive secondary.   

Hope the chatter picks up from other MIAA football fans.  There is year round postings in the basketball boards, but nothing but crickets here.

Thanks TU for the update from your end.  What happened to those 3 RB guys?  See if you can find out.

Also, with regard to the "cricket activity" on this board, it has been like that for several years now, slight decline each year.  Many of us have attempted to encourage more activity, but, alas, no success.  Relative to the other boards, we are near or at the bottom of the list. I guess that is "just the way it is."

I think it's probably a little "fair weather fan" related too. Even when your team is good comparative to the rest of the MIAA teams, the gap between the best MIAA team and the better teams in the North is very very wide. More often than not, the MIAA's best basketball team has a very legitimate shot at making a playoff run. More often than not, the MIAA's best football team will be blown out the first week of the playoffs.

I'm encouraged by the improvement I've seen across the board over the last few seasons. I'm hoping if the trend continues, input on these boards will increase as well!

[DBQ1965]

Re: lack of activity here.  I follow MIAA football because Hope, Kzoo, and Olivet are all within an hour (give or take) of where I live in Grand Rapids and because I love D3 football.  I don't say  as much as others  because I "don't have a dog in the hunt."  I live too far away from the old IIAC / new ARC to watch the teams I feel closer to emotionally ... especially the University of Dubuque Spartans ... but I do follow them on a daily basis.  That said, I look forward to the coming  MIAA season  and expect to see some great games.  Go D3!

[Jameswys]

2019 Trine football roster finally posted on the athletics website yesterday.  Was looking to see who we have as potential guys to fill RB Lamar Carswell's shoes.  I thought it would be 1 of 3 guys who backed up Carswell last year, Stinson, Edwards or Echoles-Jones, but none of the 3 are listed on this year's roster.  Yikes!  We have zero rushing yards returning on our roster....zero.  There are a couple of soph transfers listed, and a good all-state frosh from right down the road, but man it's kinda scary, you'd like to have SOME experience.  Another guy not listed is LB Cavanaugh, that is a big loss, I thought going in LB to be the strength of the team defensively with LB Washington returning for his senior season.  We should have a few guys with game experience there as replacement but not sure why Cavanaugh is not playing.

I plan on heading down to North Manchester Thursday evening to watch the opener against the Manchester Spartans.  They are picked to finish 5th in the HCAC this year.  I am expecting a closer game than in years past due to our inexperience at RB, WR, and defensive secondary.   

Hope the chatter picks up from other MIAA football fans.  There is year round postings in the basketball boards, but nothing but crickets here.

Thanks TU for the update from your end.  What happened to those 3 RB guys?  See if you can find out.

Also, with regard to the "cricket activity" on this board, it has been like that for several years now, slight decline each year.  Many of us have attempted to encourage more activity, but, alas, no success.  Relative to the other boards, we are near or at the bottom of the list. I guess that is "just the way it is."

I think it's probably a little "fair weather fan" related too. Even when your team is good comparative to the rest of the MIAA teams, the gap between the best MIAA team and the better teams in the North is very very wide. More often than not, the MIAA's best basketball team has a very legitimate shot at making a playoff run. More often than not, the MIAA's best football team will be blown out the first week of the playoffs.

I'm encouraged by the improvement I've seen across the board over the last few seasons. I'm hoping if the trend continues, input on these boards will increase as well!

I think this is a bit of fair weather fan syndrome but not how you describe. Michigan in the fall is crazy. On Tuesday in a week it can be 65 sunny and beautiful, on Saturday it can be 45 and drizzling. I've made roughly 60% of Olivet's home games in basketball over the last two years. I've made like 2-3 home football games over the last 10 years (not including the 2-3 times I've had to work in Pyne Pavilion on home games). The last time I went to one it was a great week, Olivet and Albion met undefeated and the weather was horrid. We left at halftime (I was even with Albion alums who wanted to leave).

Also the Calvin fans don't have much to say on here and the Hope fans don't respond (90% of the activity in the MBB thread).