University Athletic Association

[joelmama]

Props to Oium and Chicago for ultimately handling the wind better than CWRU.  Windy City is big home field advantage, although the crowd sounded like there were plenty of Spartan supporters (Homyk family and friends).

Props to the Spartans D for holding as often as they did with all of the spots that the offense and special teams put them in.  That final touchdown reminded me way too much of Wabash two years ago.

For as many mistakes as the commentators on the CWRU webcast make, and their limited knowledge of the rules of football, they really should quit carping about the officials.

I think the speed of D. Brizzolerra is the differene maker UC. 

[E.115]

Wow...

I just came from the Case - Washington game.

Washington wins 14-13 on a very cold and rainy day in Cleveland, OH

Case had two opportunities in the last 5 mins to take the lead, but missed two field goals (one blocked).  The last game-winner miss was with 13 seconds left. 

Tough loss for the Spartans, and I'm guessing this means no playoffs this year.  CWRU and Washington are now both 7-2.

Congrats to Wash U on the hard fought victory.

[jaybird44]

WASH-U WINS 14-13 AT CASE!!!

Bears block 2 field goals and a punt to help secure the win!

A 20-yard Case attempt was blocked with under 4:00 to play, and a 43-yarder was tipped with :13 left.

Wash-U travels to Chicago next Saturday for the outright UAA crown, and perhaps the last playoff spot (long, long shot--but at least there is still a slight hope to cling to).

[WashUDad]

Heck of a game. GoBears!!!

[martin]

Originally posted in the Pool B board:

Assume that 10-0 SUNY Maritime is in.  Wesley beats 5-4 Kean at home to go 9-0 and is in.

I think that leaves three teams for the last Pool B slot.
Norwich is 8-2.
Salisbury is 6-2 and plays at 2-7 Frostburg State.  A loss eliminates Salisbury.
The Chicago-Wash U winner will be 8-2.  Case can be 8-2 but with losses to both Chicago and Wash is out.

So who gets that last spot?

[martin]

Also posted in the pool B board:
[author=martin link=topic=3830.msg1254026#msg1254026 date=1289178486]
If Chicago makes the playoffs, the Maroons might have a quick exit.  Chicago lost to Elmhurst 31-20.  The game was not that close.  Elmhurst led 31-7.  Chicago scored twice in the last five minutes to make it close.  Elmhurst lost to North Central 47-13.  And a Chicago-North Central first round matchup is likely - NCC a #1 seed, UC a #8.

But on the bright side, a week of good press as Chicago's football history is resurrected.

For the first time, the Maroons will be competing for a spot in the Stagg Bowl, named after their first football coach (from 1892-1932) Amos Alonzo Stagg.

Many reminders of the first ever Heisman Trophy winner, Jay Berwanger

Then there are the NFL connections.  The Maroons are the true Monsters of the Midway.  People may find this hard to believe, but at one time professional football was not that popular.  To try to get some of the appeal of college football to rub off on the Chicago Bears, George Halas took the orange and blue colors of the University of Illinois and the wishbone C logo and nickname of the University of Chicago.

Also, "We'll never forget the way you thrilled the nation with your T-formation" from "Bear Down, Chicago Bears".  I recommend the Chicago Symphony Orchestra version.  Also the a capella version by Bryan Griffin of the Lyric Opera is pretty cool.  Well the T-formation came from Clark Shaughnessy who was Chicago's coach when they dropped football in 1939.  The Bears used it to defeat the Redskins 73-0 in the 1940 NFL Championship Game.

The Maroons also have a connection to the now Arizona Cardinals.  They began life as a south side Chicago football team and joined the NFL as the Chicago Cardinals.  They got their nickname as the result of some used jerseys they purchased from UofC:

In 1901, the team gained longstanding identification when O'Brien, finding a bargain, bought used jerseys from the nearby University of Chicago. The jerseys were faded maroon in color, prompting O'Brien to declare, "That's not maroon, it's Cardinal red!" The club's permanent nickname had been born!

Uof C was also the inspiration for the best college football fight song - the University of Michigan's "
The Victors". From the Michigan Daily:

The Michigan fight song, "The Victors!," celebrates 100 years of leading the Wolverines into battle on the field this season.

It was on a train ride back to Ann Arbor after the 1898 football conference championship that then-student Louis Elbel jotted down the words that would eventually adorn the outside of the Big House.

"Having the fight song written by a student embodies the school spirit even more," said John Schmidt, a former marcher who now works as the band's physician.

Elbel, inspired after watching the one-point victory over what was then the heaviest team in the conference - the Chicago Maroons - thought the Wolverines needed a fight song that matched their power.

Stagg and Chicago so annoyed Michigan that the Wolverines quit the Big Ten from 1907-1916.  Stagg ran Chicago (some say not just the athletic department) and the Big Ten.  You can check out "Stagg's University: The Rise, Decline, and Fall of Big-Time Football at Chicago" by Robin Lester.

Some mention may be made of Chicago's national championships in 1905 and 1913.  And their seven Big Ten Championships.  And their 4-0 record against Notre Dame.

[joelmama]

Props to Oium and Chicago for ultimately handling the wind better than CWRU.  Windy City is big home field advantage, although the crowd sounded like there were plenty of Spartan supporters (Homyk family and friends).

Props to the Spartans D for holding as often as they did with all of the spots that the offense and special teams put them in.  That final touchdown reminded me way too much of Wabash two years ago.

For as many mistakes as the commentators on the CWRU webcast make, and their limited knowledge of the rules of football, they really should quit carping about the officials.

I think the speed of D. Brizzolerra is the differene maker UC. 

I hate to quote myself but with over 400 all purpose yards I think this was an understatement.

[formerd3db]

martin:

Great history and thanks for sharing that.  Indeed, Bartlett Hall on the campus had a great museum of U of C's football history and Berwanger's original Heisman Trophy.  It is my understanding that they moved it to the new U of C athletic complex? .  Also, some people may not know that the entrance to the new Stagg Field where Chicago now plays has a set of some of the original huge doors from the old stadium as its entrance.  Also, indeed, Stagg and Yost had some great games and a very intense rivalry during those 1890's and early 1900's.

I had the chance to meet Berwanger a few years ago and had a wonderful 4 hour personal visit with him.  Great stories about Stagg, who he played for for a year (albeit as a freshman).  The book you cite by Lester is a great one as is the one by Ellis Lucia Mr. Football: Amos Alonzo Stagg (A.S. Barnes Company and Thomas Yardoff, Ltd, New Jersey and London respectively, 1970).  Another good book is The Idea of the University of Chicago, Edited by William Murphy and D.J. R. Bruckner (The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1976) which also gives the reader a good perspective on the misguided philospophy of then U of C President Robert M. Hutchins who was responsible for the demise of Chicago's football program when they dropped it in 1939.

BTW, I was very, very fortunate to have acquired an orginal autographed letter by A.A. Stagg and a couple of original photos of him last year for my own personal library collection and I also have Berwanger's autograph personally signed to me on a copy of his famous photo.  Anyway, thanks for sharing with us some of the info on U of C's great football history and glad to hear that the media/press in Chicago is giving the current football team "some ink".  Moreover, I'm glad that Walter Hass had the vision to bring it back in the 1970's.  They have come a long way since then.

[DagarmanSpartan]

Gang,

While our football team has had a few heartbreakers in recent weeks, our women's volleyball team just earned it's first ever NCAA tournament bid (at large).

GO LADY SPARTANS!!!!

[Spartan 81]

CWRU vs CMU game has a few nice story lines....

1. Case Seniors have the most wins in school history with 38.  They currently also have the best winning % at .884 (38-5).  A win would keep them at #1 a loss would drop them behind the 1983-1986 group who is at .875 (31-4-1).

2. A CMU loss would end CMU's long streak of consecutive non-losing seasons.

3. A CMU loss would mean a last place finish for CMU.  They have only once before finished last in the UAA (2002 finished in a 4th place tie with Rochester at 1-3).

[sflzman]

D3 Top 25 Fan Poll

1. UWW (20)  500
2. Mount Union  478
3. North Central  453
4. Wesley   439
5. St. Thomas  418
6. UMHB   397
7. Delaware Valley 351
8. Hardin-Simmons 338
9. Ohio Northern  325
10. Linfield   314
11. Wartburg   297
12. Wittenberg  274
13. Trine   260
14. Thomas More  249
15. Bethel   223
16. Coe    206
17. Wheaton   186
18. Cal. Lutheran  149
19. Depauw   111
20. Pac. Lutheran 105
21. Central   86
22. Cortland State 75
23. Rowan    67
24. Montclair  54
25. Franklin   48

Dropped Out: #23 St. John Fisher, #24 Wabash

Also receiving votes: Hampden-Sydney (34), St. John Fisher (20), Willamette (19), Washington U (5), Salisbury(4),Wabash(4),Williams(4), Alfred (2), Illinois Wesleyan (2), Albion (1), Baldwin-Wallace (1), Muhlenberg (1)

[ExTartanPlayer]

2. A CMU loss would end CMU's long streak of consecutive non-losing seasons.
3. A CMU loss would mean a last place finish for CMU.  They have only once before finished last in the UAA (2002 finished in a 4th place tie with Rochester at 1-3).

Weird, weird season from CMU (or at least the last three weeks).  Honestly, the record is about what I expected (about 6-4 would have been my preseason guess), and through 6 games that seemed likely.   But I can't figure out the last couple weeks' results.  Great efforts against Witt (OT loss vs. top-10 team) and WashU (OT loss on the road), then getting CRUSHED at home by Chicago?

To clarify - I'm not surprised that they LOST to Chicago - I've commented all year that U-Chi is decent this year (and I think has a chance at a Pool B berth if they beat WashU, though it's dicey).  I was surprised by the margin and the way the game actually unfolded.

That was the first game that I attended, and it started out fine with a nice TD drive.  Defense had some trouble against U-Chi passing game early, looked like trouble, but I still figured CMU could hang around.  Even as Chicago pulled away, CMU's late touchdown to make it 34-20 gave me hope that they'd keep it competitive in the second half.

Instead...zilch.  Chicago's offense (specifically Oium and Brizzolerra) looked like they were just practicing.  I don't think a CMU defender touched a pass all day - the only incompletions were drops by Chicago.  U-Chi receivers kept catching the ball virtually uncontested - and not just little three-yard hitches, but passes well downfield.  CMU defensive backs just got torched.  Not to mention TWO special teams TD's (both fine returns by Brizzolerrra, no doubt, but that's inexcusable!)

[joelmama]

Brizzolera should get d3 player of the week assuming he was nominated.  Well over 400 all purpose yards is crazy, but he did lead all of d3 last year when he was a freshman, mostly due to a lot of kick returns since Chicago gave up a lot of points.

[ExTartanPlayer]

Brizzolera should get d3 player of the week assuming he was nominated.  Well over 400 all purpose yards is crazy, but he did lead all of d3 last year when he was a freshman, mostly due to a lot of kick returns since Chicago gave up a lot of points.

I agree.  Watching CMU try to cover/catch him was roughly like watching a combination of Devin Hester (the kickoff/punt returns) and Jerry Rice...they had no answer for him.  At all.

[ADL70]

Gang,

While our football team has had a few heartbreakers in recent weeks, our women's volleyball team just earned it's first ever NCAA tournament bid (at large).

GO LADY SPARTANS!!!!

MSoc also was probably one loss away from the playoffs.

Meanwhile the Spartan Men Hoopsters are second in the UAA pre-season poll and received what I am pretty sure is its first ever vote in the d3hoops pol.