FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[BoBo]

Nice article from SI.com about a high school football team, but kind of an inspirational story nonetheless. This ones for you kubiack. 

Ft. Campbell Falcons

[kestrel]

Reading posts from the past 24 hours, prompts my two cents worth--
--FF notwithstanding, Taylor Edwards is a helluva back who has worked hard to improve both on the field and in the classroom.
--Jake Christensen, the venerable old coach at Concordia-Moorhead, called the UWL team that beat St. John's "the best ever to play in the FargoDome, and that includes hometown NDSU."  Remember, also, Eagle alumni Tom Newberry, Joel Williams, and Bill Schroeder were all NFL starters for multiple years.
--As for DIII recruiting in Minnesota, St. Thomas is now the elephant in the room. UST has received several gifts ranging between $30 and $50-million.  ? Schultz, top man at Best Buy, has the deepest pockets. A new indoor complex opened there three weeks ago.
--The harsh truth is that some kids are not meant to be in college. The back from RF at UWW and the frosh sensation at UWEC are two examples. I hope I am wrong, but my sources claim otherwise.

[danimal]

--As for DIII recruiting in Minnesota, St. Thomas is now the elephant in the room. UST has received several gifts ranging between $30 and $50-million.  ? Schultz, top man at Best Buy, has the deepest pockets. A new indoor complex opened there three weeks ago.

I agree.  I just don't know how they can close the financial difference between the cost of St. Thomas and a WIAC school?   I heard they award academic scholarships, which helps close the gap, but I also heard those student-athletes must maintain a 3.4 gpa or so or loose the scholarship.  If true, I would think they'd have some difficulty getting kids in and keeping them in, at least some anyway.   

[danimal]

Levi Johnson was recruited by Falcons, but did not have grades to get in. The last time I talked to him, two years ago, he was headed to a two year school in Twin Cities to get grades up, then, he said, he wanted to play at UMD. This is the first I've heard of him since. Something happened to his plan. I'm assuming the pull of the WW program was more attractive than that of RF.

I heard similar.  Although many kids play a distance from home and it ends up being a great decision, I don't think enough propects weigh the benefits of playing closer to home, family, and possibly closer to girlfriends high enough when making their college decision. 

UWW has many positives; however, my guess is some recruits may begin to view it as having too many cooks in the kitchen.  Having the benefit, or detriment, of age on my side, college football is all about the buddies you make when playing, wherever you end up.  The other piece is going somewhere you can contribute on the field, and contribute often.  Although I don't profess to know Levi's situation, RF would've been a good spot to do both. 

[badgerwarhawk]

And, btw, Taylor Edwards, the leading rusher in the conference now, is a WW castoff from Janesville. That shows the difference between the talent at the two schools.

I'm not sure I would call him a "castoff."  That implies that we cut him and I don't believe that was the case.  He chose to leave the program after realizing that his playing time here would be limited because of the talent in front of him.  We would have gladly kept him on the roster.  Personally I wish he would have stayed.  You can never have enough good running backs.  But for his sake I'm glad that he's found a place he likes and has the opportunity to contribute.  He has talent.
 

[Beyond Prime]

And, btw, Taylor Edwards, the leading rusher in the conference now, is a WW castoff from Janesville. That shows the difference between the talent at the two schools.

I'm not sure I would call him a "castoff."  That implies that we cut him and I don't believe that was the case.  He chose to leave the program after realizing that his playing time here would be limited because of the talent in front of him.  We would have gladly kept him on the roster.  Personally I wish he would have stayed.  You can never have enough good running backs.  But for his sake I'm glad that he's found a place he likes and has the opportunity to contribute.  He has talent.

I don't think he meant that much from the "castoff" comment. I think it was more of a good natured ribbing.   I think his main point, which you seem to agree, is that it shows how deep WW is. He was what, third on the depth chart at WW? I have been told it was due to playing time, which he is getting plenty of at RF. We are glad to have him.

[fredfalcon]

BP (not good abbreviation these days)--you have an uncanny ability to infer meaning. I did mean "castoff" in a ribbing way, but it's hard to tell that. I should have put it in quotation marks.

[badgerwarhawk]

My bad, Fred.  I didn't take offense to it or anything I just thought that an odd word to use for someone who left of his own volition.   Brewster was another "castoff" who headed the Falcon's way. 

[bleedpurple]

BP (not good abbreviation these days)--you have an uncanny ability to infer meaning. I did mean "castoff" in a ribbing way, but it's hard to tell that. I should have put it in quotation marks.

BP? Me? I didn't even post anything after you said that! geesh! 

[fballfan]

Levi Johnson was recruited by Falcons, but did not have grades to get in.

I didn't realize the admission standards of WIAC schools were that different. Who knew? 

I attended recruiting sessions for almost all WIAC schools with my son.  Some schools told the boys that only a small percentage of the prospects have the grades/test scores to get admitted to the school and there was nothing they could do if the athlete was not admitted.  However, other schools told the recruits not to worry if their test score wasn't the best.   These schools seemed to be the ones with heavy mandatory study time.      Some coaches seem more willing than others to babysit athletes who may or may not remain eligible.

[BoBo]

Reading posts from the past 24 hours, prompts my two cents worth--
--FF notwithstanding, Taylor Edwards is a helluva back who has worked hard to improve both on the field and in the classroom.
--Jake Christensen, the venerable old coach at Concordia-Moorhead, called the UWL team that beat St. John's "the best ever to play in the FargoDome, and that includes hometown NDSU."  Remember, also, Eagle alumni Tom Newberry, Joel Williams, and Bill Schroeder were all NFL starters for multiple years.
--As for DIII recruiting in Minnesota, St. Thomas is now the elephant in the room. UST has received several gifts ranging between $30 and $50-million.  ? Schultz, top man at Best Buy, has the deepest pockets. A new indoor complex opened there three weeks ago.
--The harsh truth is that some kids are not meant to be in college. The back from RF at UWW and the frosh sensation at UWEC are two examples. I hope I am wrong, but my sources claim otherwise.

Bill Schroeder was a track athlete at UWL, and a darn good one. He didn't play football for La Crosse.

Newberry and especially Joel Williams were very good players at La Crosse. But, that alone doesn't make the teams they played on the best. I saw the teams they played on and IMO, the UWW teams of the past 5 years would stack up very well. However, it's really too hard comparing teams of today against those from the late 70's and the 80's. The game has changed a lot.

Do you have a link to that quote by the Moorhead coach? Which La Crosse team played SJU in the Fargo (it's not really a dome) dome? Was it '96? That was a one score game if I'm not mistaken. That team went on to lose to Mount Union the next week. I think UWL only played the J's 2 other times and lost both of them. Just curious...   I've always felt the '95 team was their best. They c(l)obbered Con-Moorhead that year. 

[fballfan]

Does anyone know anything about the frosh sensation at UWEC?  Seems he could have gone to a higher division.

[danimal]

[IMO, the UWW teams of the past 5 years would stack up very well. However, it's really too hard comparing teams of today against those from the late 70's and the 80's. The game has changed a lot.I've always felt the '95 team was their best.
[/quote]

I might be in the minority, but I don't think any team from the 80s or quite possibly the 90s could beat the teams of the last five years.  Players are just bigger, stronger, and faster, with some exceptions, of course.  

[danimal]

Does anyone know anything about the frosh sensation at UWEC?  Seems he could have gone to a higher division.

Was oringinally a higher rated player in the class of 2010, but by the summer his junior year word on him waned and he eventually fell some spots in the player rankings, likely due to not having offers, at least any known ones. 

Here's the link-hope it works and is ok to post:

http://www.wissports.net/playerrank.asp?pageID=2&sportID=3&list=1

#21 is a student at RF.  31 is Sweeny.

[02 Warhawk]

Reading posts from the past 24 hours, prompts my two cents worth--
--FF notwithstanding, Taylor Edwards is a helluva back who has worked hard to improve both on the field and in the classroom.
--Jake Christensen, the venerable old coach at Concordia-Moorhead, called the UWL team that beat St. John's "the best ever to play in the FargoDome, and that includes hometown NDSU."  Remember, also, Eagle alumni Tom Newberry, Joel Williams, and Bill Schroeder were all NFL starters for multiple years.
--As for DIII recruiting in Minnesota, St. Thomas is now the elephant in the room. UST has received several gifts ranging between $30 and $50-million.  ? Schultz, top man at Best Buy, has the deepest pockets. A new indoor complex opened there three weeks ago.
--The harsh truth is that some kids are not meant to be in college. The back from RF at UWW and the frosh sensation at UWEC are two examples. I hope I am wrong, but my sources claim otherwise.

Bill Schroeder was a track athlete at UWL, and a darn good one. He didn't play football for La Crosse.
Newberry and especially Joel Williams were very good players at La Crosse. But, that alone doesn't make the teams they played on the best. I saw the teams they played on and IMO, the UWW teams of the past 5 years would stack up very well. However, it's really too hard comparing teams of today against those from the late 70's and the 80's. The game has changed a lot.

Do you have a link to that quote by the Moorhead coach? Which La Crosse team played SJU in the Fargo (it's not really a dome) dome? Was it '96? That was a one score game if I'm not mistaken. That team went on to lose to Mount Union the next week. I think UWL only played the J's 2 other times and lost both of them. Just curious...  I've always felt the '95 team was their best. They c(l)obbered Con-Moorhead that year.  

I think he did play...his name is all over the UWL record books in the early 90s