FB: Upper Midwest Athletic Conference

[FPM]

AO- any word on how the scrimmage between NW and Hamline went Thursday?

[The Chief]

I have been following Blackburn football for a few years, and Division III football for a lot more.  Last year Blackburn did bring in 80 plus players at the beginning of camp, but by the start of the season this number had dwindled to approximately 60 players.  The problem was not necessarily due to injuries but for other reasons.  The major problem that I see with Blackburn is retention of players.  Of the 55 players who were underclassmen on last year's roster, only 26 are on this year's roster.  With constant turnover, there is no way a program can be built into a respectable program.  If I were a new coach coming in, the reason for attrition would be the first thing I would look into. 

Some would say the reason for the low return of last year's players was due to change of coaches, but go back to previous years and the same observation could be made.  Players were leaving because they were disinchanted with the program.  Seemed like last year Blackburn tried to take a page out of the CCIW conference and load up the roster with numbers.  Sorry, but when a team has 100 plus players there is no way everyone is going to get a chance to play at one time or another.  But do the math, and the tuition money/fees that these extra players bring in, this begins to cover some of the cost of the program.  There is no intent to play the extras, so the extras finally get frustrated and quit.  Unlike Division I, these players do not receive athletic scholarships regardless if they play or not.  In my college days at a major university, there were players on scholarship that never set foot in an actual game, but they received their college education paid in full.  Did they want to play, yes.  But in the end they still had something to show for after putting in the practice time and off season conditioning.  At Division III the players are out for the team because they want a chance to compete on the field.  This was not happening at Blackburn, and it is the case at most Division III schools.

It will be interesting to see how the future plays out with a new coach, but the attrition rate needs to be addressed.  However, the attrition rate at Blackburn not only pertains to the football program.  The student population in general is hit with this dilemna.  The Blackburn administration needs to resolve this problem.  Finally, the administration needs to provide the financial and morale support to the football program.  There is no doubt the facilities are terrible.  Looking around at other D III schools facilities are being upgraded if not already upgraded.  These facilities attract not only athletes, but also students.

[Ralph Turner]

Chief, at 80-100 players, you have enough interest to start a JV.  The JV action keeps kids around a little longer, maybe long enough to decide they want a Blackburn education.

Are there JV scheduling opportunites in the neighborhood?

[Pat Coleman]

I have been following Blackburn football for a few years, and Division III football for a lot more.  Last year Blackburn did bring in 80 plus players at the beginning of camp, but by the start of the season this number had dwindled to approximately 60 players.  The problem was not necessarily due to injuries but for other reasons.  The major problem that I see with Blackburn is retention of players.  Of the 55 players who were underclassmen on last year's roster, only 26 are on this year's roster.  With constant turnover, there is no way a program can be built into a respectable program.  If I were a new coach coming in, the reason for attrition would be the first thing I would look into. 

Some would say the reason for the low return of last year's players was due to change of coaches, but go back to previous years and the same observation could be made.  Players were leaving because they were disinchanted with the program.  Seemed like last year Blackburn tried to take a page out of the CCIW conference and load up the roster with numbers.  Sorry, but when a team has 100 plus players there is no way everyone is going to get a chance to play at one time or another.  But do the math, and the tuition money/fees that these extra players bring in, this begins to cover some of the cost of the program.  There is no intent to play the extras, so the extras finally get frustrated and quit.

I would say a couple of things here:

1) Every program has a certain amount of attrition from year to year.
2) Losing 29 of 55 potential returning kids is a problem, nonetheless. How many of the kids are in school this year?

Perhaps the new coach will help. The credibility of the program has to be at issue right now with all the losing in recent years, and that can't help player retention.

[FPM]

As a public service I would like to ask some UMAC readers to start posting so AO doesn't feel the need to bring his idiocy to the MIAC board and you can discuss how many NCCCCCCCCCPTFA all americans and championships NWC has had the past 4 years.

[AO]

Hey, if it brings more fans to the site, I'm all for it.

[Eagles99]

Sounds like NWC did pretty well. The Thomforde kid was able to do what he wanted.

[Pat Coleman]

AO -- your team is going to have to compete with the preseason last-place pick in the IIAC before it can compete with those in the middle of the pack in the MIAC.

[AO]

easy Pat, you don't need to post the same thing on multiple boards in order to get a point across.

Any word from the cougar fans on how the new stadium looks?

[Pat Coleman]

Just the ones you post about this subject all the time on.

[FPM]

AO what is your take on the Augsburg game this week I have augie by 18.

[AO]

Judging by the cornell game, it might be logical to make a ridiculous pick like, Augsburg by 18 over Northwestern, but according to the experts over at the pick
'em page Northwestern is the favorite by 2.5.  I'm not really sure which Northwestern team is going to show up on Saturday, but if they play up to their ability, I wouldn't be suprised to see a double digit victory for Northwestern. 

[Pat Coleman]

Kickoff ranking: Northwestern 153, Augsburg 156. Should be a good matchup.

[illinihscoach05]

Blackburn had some success in the mid 90's until 1999 when they decided to hire a coach who had NEVER played the game in his life and he turned the program built by the previous coach (85-100 players every year-complete JV schedule) into the biggest joke in college football (3-37 in four seasons).  That coach ran around with girls on campus and got away with it because the president had to cover her butt for getting rid of the previous coach when he was backstabbed by the other guy.  Blackburn needs to either support football or drop it - their president is a complete FOOL who the students do not like and their facilities are WORSE than a Jr. High School.  Decrepit is the word that comes to mind.  High school coaches in our area will not send their good players there.  Also the school has to rely on its work college rep to get by-face it students do not want to clean toilets at 6:00 AM or mow grass at 3:45 and then play sports AND go to classes.  It is not a school with a good academic rep and has a very poor overall academic ranking.  Sorry Blackburn - I wish your new coach the best of luck because he WILL NEED IT!  Watch your back with Mim the Prim Pride.  She is a tool!  She needs to get sent down the frigggin' road!

[FPM]

AO, your squad pulled it out Saturday.  They did look better than I expected.  That being said, I would like to see the game played around midseason.  Auggie had lots of "first game" type of mistakes.  The officiating was pretty bad (on both sides) those guys need to get a clue.  It took them 23 seconds to get the play clock started between 3rd and 4th down at the end.