FB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

sflzman · July 28, 2011, 10:13:34 PM

Well the turf is layed, but due to the big cheerleading camp they never got in the midfield or endzone "art" stuff. So that needs to be done, along with the scoreboard and there's supposed to be a monumet thing of some sort honoring 4 and 3 time all miaa performers

BOYA87 · July 29, 2011, 08:52:51 AM

I was recently at Valporaso University and had a chance to do some workouts with one of their former players and a colleague of mine. They have a fairly new field turf field but when we were walking by it I realized it looked very wavy and not flat with perfectly taught carpet. I asked him about it and he said that they played on it too quickly after it was laid before it could settle. That is why it resulted in wavy, uneven turf which can puddle in areas when it rains.

I hope Alma does not have this problem and that they are allowing the turf the alotted "settling" time.

I cant believe August is almost here!

miaafbfan · July 29, 2011, 04:25:49 PM

August is right around the corner, so I thought I'd check out the board and see what's happening.

It's great to hear about all of the facility improvements around the MIAA! While only one consideration for prospective players, it will help with recruiting. Let's hope this in some way translates into a more competitive MIAA.

And I do have to agree on the comments regarding the way a marching band really adds to the collegiate football atmosphere. Having only seen/heard the bands from Alma and Albion, I have to say both are very good, but in my not so unbiased opinion, the Kiltie Band has to be near the top of small college bands.

TUAngola · July 30, 2011, 12:25:50 PM

It would be great if down the road the MIAA institutions that have marching bands would allow them to make a "road trip" to one of the other schools in the conference to do a half time show at an away football game. They do this all the time at the DI level. When I was in college I always looked forward to marching at the away game. The hosting band always made you feel welcome, it was nice to hang out with and see another band perform. I will have to bounce this off the Trine band director to see if this is something they could do in the future.

Man I am so ready for football. The NFL finally has ended their lockout (go Colts!), my favorite Big Ten team (go IU!) just picked up the #1 rated QB in the nation for 2012 in Gunner Kiel. Lots of optimism in Bloomington, of course we haven't played a game yet so the level of play from IU with the new staff will be intriguing. Not looking for dramatic results this year, just a better more competitive team.

Colleges start practice a week from Monday? Hope to hear a lot of feedback from how your MIAA teams are looking. Can't wait for 9/1/11 when Trine travels down to Manchester to take on the Spartans. It's a Thursday night game and plan on making my first road trip myself to watch the Thunder in action.

Go TU!!

sflzman · July 30, 2011, 04:56:40 PM

Do you know who the projected starer is for the Hoosiers at QB this season? Last I head it was a 3 way race that included former Alma Panther, Adam Follet (I think I miselled that name)

TUAngola · July 30, 2011, 06:49:11 PM

Quote from: sflzman on July 30, 2011, 04:56:40 PM
Do you know who the projected starer is for the Hoosiers at QB this season? Last I head it was a 3 way race that included former Alma Panther, Adam Follet (I think I miselled that name)

Coach Wilson has said the QB position is wide open and a starter probably won't be named until a week before the opener vs. Ball State at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indy. The frontrunners are soph Dusty Kiel (Gunner's big brother), and soph Ed Wright-Baker. Kiel is maybe slightly ahead and is a little more accurate on his throws. Wright-Baker has a cannon for an arm but is not consistent, however he is a better runner and a bit more athletic than Kiel. Junior Adam Follett was said to have had a good spring and would be the 3rd option. Senior Teddy Schell is 4th option and is the holder on kicks. Whoever wins the position is going in pretty green, both Kiel and Wright-Baker got limited snaps last year. Next month will be interesting, so don't count Follett out yet. Did Adam have any other D1 schools that were interested in him (besides MAC schools)?

sflzman · July 30, 2011, 08:47:41 PM

Honestly, I don't really know much about Adam's D1 interest, that season that he lead the Panthers into the State Tournament was the last year before I moved into Alma so I hadn't gotten the chance to see him play, just wanted to know because of the Alma connection. Another one from that team, Kyle Lark, is currently a Sophomore at Western....

TrineDad · July 31, 2011, 08:06:36 AM

TUAngola there is a precedent for traveling marching bands. Last year in a really nice move the Trine athletic department provided the money for Trine's band to travel to Greencastle for the opening round playoff game with DePauw. Having the band and a huge contingent of fired-up fans (more than the Tigers did) turned an old Depauw stadium into Trine South and it almost felt like a home game. Great Day!

BOYA87 · July 31, 2011, 08:24:14 AM

TU Angola, I'm sure you probably heard of another IU QB's recent exciting news but Ben Chappel got picked up by Washington Redskins in free agency this last week! Hooray for the end of the lockout! I think to ask the question "are you ready for some football" is rhetorical at best...OF COURSE WE ARE!

TUAngola · July 31, 2011, 11:45:24 AM

Quote from: TrineDad on July 31, 2011, 08:06:36 AM
TUAngola there is a precedent for traveling marching bands. Last year in a really nice move the Trine athletic department provided the money for Trine's band to travel to Greencastle for the opening round playoff game with DePauw. Having the band and a huge contingent of fired-up fans (more than the Tigers did) turned an old Depauw stadium into Trine South and it almost felt like a home game. Great Day!

TrineDad...thanks for the info, I listened to the game on the playoff game on the radio but there was no mention of the Trine band at the DePauw game from the announcers. Did they get to march or did they just provide pep music in the stands?

BOYA87...yes I knew Chappel signed as a FA, not sure if he will make the opening game day roster but hopefully he will get the chance to stick with the practice squad. He is a good passer, very accurate, and has good size, but the knock on him would be his athleticsm.

TrineDad · July 31, 2011, 02:25:53 PM

DePauw just had a pep band in the stands. Trine's band performed a whole halftime show. It was very nice and the DePauw fans even seemed to appreciate it.

BOYA87 · July 31, 2011, 05:39:20 PM

Another great thing about DIII is its fans. I am sure Depaws fans appreciated the show. That also reminds me of after the Trine vs UWW game last year when their fans told us Trine fans that they were one of the best teams they have played in a long time and they hope they dont have to see us again anytime soon! BUT its almost August so...hopefully it wont be too long

RuleBritannia · July 31, 2011, 07:09:17 PM

Quote from: TUAngola on July 30, 2011, 12:25:50 PM
It would be great if down the road the MIAA institutions that have marching bands would allow them to make a "road trip" to one of the other schools in the conference to do a half time show at an away football game. They do this all the time at the DI level. When I was in college I always looked forward to marching at the away game. The hosting band always made you feel welcome, it was nice to hang out with and see another band perform. I will have to bounce this off the Trine band director to see if this is something they could do in the future.

Man I am so ready for football. The NFL finally has ended their lockout (go Colts!), my favorite Big Ten team (go IU!) just picked up the #1 rated QB in the nation for 2012 in Gunner Kiel. Lots of optimism in Bloomington, of course we haven't played a game yet so the level of play from IU with the new staff will be intriguing. Not looking for dramatic results this year, just a better more competitive team.

Colleges start practice a week from Monday? Hope to hear a lot of feedback from how your MIAA teams are looking. Can't wait for 9/1/11 when Trine travels down to Manchester to take on the Spartans. It's a Thursday night game and plan on making my first road trip myself to watch the Thunder in action.

Go TU!!

Our director told us there was some MIAA rule prohibiting visiting bands from coming to or performing at away games. Otherwise I think we'd do at least one trip a year. But he's the only person who's mentioned something like that.

formerd3db · July 31, 2011, 10:02:44 PM

I wasn't aware of the rule preventing MIAA marching bands from traveling to away games either, however, it makes sense since I've never seen a visiting team's band performing at any MIAA game. Most likely, it is due to the travel expenses and that would come out of the band program, not the football program i.e. general athletic budget. Also, in regards to Trine's band at the DePauw game - that is a different situation i.e. the Div. III playoffs, so that would have been allowed as it was. The NCAA "calls the shots" on those aspects, although, that being said, if the MIAA didn't want to allow it, I'm sure Trine would have not been willing to do it. Yet, I can't imagine why the MIAA would even want to consider not allowing them to have their band go if that is what Trine wanted to do.

In regards to the Valpo new synthetic turf; I've never heard of a situation like that i.e. wavy field due to not allowing it ti settle. That is the entire reasoning behind the new style turf in the first place and even with the undersurfaced sand based turfs, I've not seen or heard of that happening. Very strange. What was the exact turf company brand there anyway? (if you know BOYA87).

BTW, great to have some of your "veteran" MIAA posters return! Welcome back! You'll see we have a very active board now with an entire group of new and great contributors!

sflzman · July 31, 2011, 10:28:00 PM

I was informed today that the alma at Kalamazoo game will be played that Friday night at WMU