FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Blugold 89.7FM]

It was an exciting game...for us EC fans.  How about Neu throwing that completion after throwing up.   I'm told the block on the previous QB run was an elbow to the stomach, then that rough landing after the dive for the first down...took it's toll.  The final pass to the end zone was just short.  O'Connell was open...but you have to wonder if he hadn't lost every ounce of his stomach could he have made the toss?  I think a healthy Neu makes that completion.

Oh and the no catch call in the 4th ...well that hurt almost as much as the fumble at the close of the second.  Sorry that was a bad call. Clearly it was a catch.  But ut was not a game deciding call...just would've been nice .

Well Saturday is another game....Good luck everyone

[Blugold 89.7FM]

Didn't notice the shove Emma.....not sure what it was about....good catch

[fballfan]

Ok I realize it's a night for baseball with the Brewers but is anyone watching the Eau Claire-Oshkosh game?

I am, and I'm impressed with Eau Claire.  Did you happen to see the EC QB shove #2 shortly after the pass play that got them to the goal line before half (where they later fumbled)?  Was that a shove of "nice play" or was that a shove of anger?  They had to call a timeout on the play he shoved him, not sure if there was a disagreement.

don't recall the shove, but did the shove occur right after the pass that #2 caught?  And then timeout occurred right then...before another play?  That's interesting for a couple of reasons. Will have to ask someone who may know more than I do....

[OshDude]

Responding to the query: the Titan Stadium attendance record for a UW Oshkosh football game is 9,703. I was going to turn it into a trivia question, but that record was set at the first game at the stadium, in 1970. Since then there have been seven other games with 7,000+.

I got that info from this column, which was written by a fantastic sport writer. UWW won the game the column refers to, 17-3, in front of 2,411 fans.

There hasn't been a Titan Stadium crowd of 3,100+ since there were 6,627 fans at the 1998 home opener against St. Norbert.

[BoBo]

Thanks for the leg work +k

So, the hope is to set a stadium record attendance
for the UWW game?  That would be a monumental
achievement coming on the heels of that River Falls game
and 12+ years of having nothing but sparce crowds.
Good luck to them; it would be an interesting sight.

[footballfan413]

I just received an e-mail with a link to this article from a dear friend who played for the Warhawks back in the 60's. We met early in A.J.'s career when he became a fan and then a supporter of him during his cancer treatments.   I had never heard of the Crystal Ball Run, but it is, apparently, a college football fan web site.  The author, Matthew Elder writes a once weekly feature on small school college football.  Very awesome!  Sorry but I still don't know how to re-name the link. 

http://bloguin.com/crystalballrun/2011-articles/october/dynasties-thrive-at-the-small-school-level.html   

[emma17]

Bobo-Are you angry with me?  I feel your posts are a bit on the harsh side.  Since you and a couple others seem to be arguing points I am not making, I'll have to again take responsibility for poorly articulating my opinion. 

And Bobo- you know nothing of my sister's love or knowledge of football.  Like most fans of the game, she appreciates a contest where the outcome is in question- her self esteem isn't so low that she gets an ego boost watching her team romp another.

Retagent said it best:  "To say that it would be better for the greater number of people to have a certain event happen, is not the same thing as saying that you "hope" that event happens.  I really don't quite get the uproar about an innocuous comment made by someone who is on your side."

[oshfb]

Talk about your pickem spreads for Osh @ Platt...MIAC has Platt +7.5, OAC has Osh +6.5.  That sounds like no clear-cut favorite.    If the WIAC had spreads, what kind of points would you set, 02 Warhawk?

*Maybe something along the lines of:
Oshkosh @ Platteville +10

No way I think Patteville is the favorite like the OAC has it...sorry Mr_Mom. UWO is playing too good and UWP is banged up, however maybe the bye week healed some key injuries.

I would like to see Anderson if action and give Oshkosh a run for their money.

Write up on the match between UWO and UWP:
http://www.titans.uwosh.edu/Football/

UWO is 5-2 against UWP in the previous 7 seasons and most games have been close with the exception to last season and 2004 (that was a fun game). I am hoping for a victory circa 2010 and not 2009...but we shall see.

Oct. 23, 2010 UW-Platteville (Homecoming) W 41-14 Oshkosh
Oct. 24, 2009 UW-Platteville W 23-20 Platteville
Nov. 08, 2008 UW-Platteville L 28-0 Oshkosh
Nov. 03, 2007 UW-Platteville W 35-20 Platteville
Oct. 14, 2006 UW-Platteville (Homecoming) L 21-14 Oshkosh
Oct. 22, 2005 UW-Stevens Point (Homecoming) W 23-20 Oshkosh 
Oct. 16, 2004 UW-Platteville (Homecoming) W 54-6 Oshkosh

[emma17]

Ok I realize it's a night for baseball with the Brewers but is anyone watching the Eau Claire-Oshkosh game?

I am, and I'm impressed with Eau Claire.  Did you happen to see the EC QB shove #2 shortly after the pass play that got them to the goal line before half (where they later fumbled)?  Was that a shove of "nice play" or was that a shove of anger?  They had to call a timeout on the play he shoved him, not sure if there was a disagreement.

don't recall the shove, but did the shove occur right after the pass that #2 caught?  And then timeout occurred right then...before another play?  That's interesting for a couple of reasons. Will have to ask someone who may know more than I do....

fballfan- I did send you the PM.

[WarhawkDad]

And lastly, speaking of Objective, my point about many of the OAC/MT posters still stands.  The overwhelming Lack of objectivity that exists on that board, created by a culture of nearly Guaranteed Wins for decades, limits that board's contribution to "interesting" and "fun". 
Be careful of toooo much success.

We'll be sure to mention to coach Leipold to pull the reins back a bit, just so the message board remains interesting.



p.s. Bobo, hope you don't mind, I stole this graphic from one of your previous post. You'll get 10% of any royalties I receive. 

Whenever I see you or Bobo shaking your graphic head, I know I'm making sense- thanks for the encouragement. 
Here is one thing I can certainly see coach LL saying shortly after a Stagg Bowl victory, having finished the season with a 14-1 record.  "Looking back on it, the loss during the season may have been exactly what this team needed- for a lot of reasons.  It hurt like hell when it happened, but in the end, it's not the streak that matters, it's earning the title of National Champion.

Emma


+k  LOL, I have to give you credit.  You have now totally 100% redeemed yourself in my eyes (not that you needed to be), because your exactly right.  That is exactly what any good coach would say.    But what I would rather see LL saying shortly after a Stagg Bowl victory having finished the season with a 15-0 record is, "Looking back on it, those close Conference games during the season, where we adjusted to defenses we hadn't seen, and battled through were probably exactly what we needed to grow each and every week to reach our ultimate goal."   

WarhawkDad

[emma17]

And lastly, speaking of Objective, my point about many of the OAC/MT posters still stands.  The overwhelming Lack of objectivity that exists on that board, created by a culture of nearly Guaranteed Wins for decades, limits that board's contribution to "interesting" and "fun". 
Be careful of toooo much success.

We'll be sure to mention to coach Leipold to pull the reins back a bit, just so the message board remains interesting.



p.s. Bobo, hope you don't mind, I stole this graphic from one of your previous post. You'll get 10% of any royalties I receive. 

Whenever I see you or Bobo shaking your graphic head, I know I'm making sense- thanks for the encouragement. 
Here is one thing I can certainly see coach LL saying shortly after a Stagg Bowl victory, having finished the season with a 14-1 record.  "Looking back on it, the loss during the season may have been exactly what this team needed- for a lot of reasons.  It hurt like hell when it happened, but in the end, it's not the streak that matters, it's earning the title of National Champion.

Emma


+k  LOL, I have to give you credit.  You have now totally 100% redeemed yourself in my eyes (not that you needed to be), because your exactly right.  That is exactly what any good coach would say.    But what I would rather see LL saying shortly after a Stagg Bowl victory having finished the season with a 15-0 record is, "Looking back on it, those close Conference games during the season, where we adjusted to defenses we hadn't seen, and battled through were probably exactly what we needed to grow each and every week to reach our ultimate goal."   

WarhawkDad

A Giant +K to you WarhawkDad.  There is sanity on this board.

Switching subjects, I don't know if you've had a chance to see Fremd this year, but we've lost that Army of Darkness enthusiasm that existed in the good ol days. The program needs a boost.

[John Gleich]

Nobody... coaches or players, or certainly fans, WANTS a loss.

But the fact of the matter is that if there are core issues that need to be addressed to take a team from good to great, or from great to spectacular, a lot of times it takes a loss to do it.

There's an old saying... "You're never as good as you feel you are when you win and you're never as bad as you feel you are when you lose."

That's a very true statement... but when you win even a close game, you think higher of yourself than you should. 

Conversely, when you lose, you think lower of yourself than you should as well... but it can help to refocus the team.


Football is a different monster than other sports because the fact of the matter is that there are so few games.  It isn't like basketball where you play twice a week or baseball where you may play 3 or 4.  A single loss has a lot more of an impact on a season.  Get one, you're probably ok for the post season.  Two, you might be, but it's much more in question.  Three... it's a toss-up and the odds are against you.


So football is a lot different in that regard.  It's also such a segmented game.  Sure there can be individual plays that can win or lose you a game... but if a particular play isn't working, then you can focus on that play and make it better.

And in football, it's very difficult for one person to just take over a game and dominate it.  The better team wins more often than not because each of the 11 men on the field are better than the other 11 than trot out there.

In basketball, somebody can get hot... and you're in a world of hurt.  In baseball, a pitcher can simply be on fire, and you can't get any baserunners, so you can't win.

In football, if you have a good quarterback but no offensive line, he'll get destroyed (see my beloved Bears last Monday).

In this way, it's hard for teams that are extremely over-matched to win... they can come out with lots of energy, but they'll wear down from the relentlessness of their superior opponent.

And that's part of what's difficult when an elite team plays less-than-elite talent... they don't HAVE to get better, so they don't.

... I don't think that Whitewater has been untested in their runs to Salem... they've still played quality opponents, they've just done what needed to be done to improve and still do it when they played other superior opponents in the end.

I can't speak to Mount Union as much... but from what you've said, the OAC fans have only talked about a few games where they'd even be tested.  It seems like this would be a much more difficult way to win championships... because they don't have to improve.  But apparently, they've got a system that works.


The fact of the matter is that if coaches can convince their teams WITHOUT a loss that they need to get better, then all the better for the team... especially in football, where one loss can very much affect seeding and a team's ultimate destiny.

But this is a difficult proposition... because it's human nature to buy into the hype about how good you are. 

[02 Warhawk]

For the past few weeks, I've been working on a piece for my blog about WIAC football and why they are considered the best of the best. I FINALLY finished it today, and posted it for anyone interested to read.

I'm sorry if it's so long. I thought about breaking it up into two parts, but I decided to just post the whole thing.

Let me know what you think, or if you have any thing to add. There's a couple of points I wanted to touch on, but I didn't get around to it b/c it got too long on me. I'm hoping this sums up our conference correctly.

www.wiacfootball.blogspot.com

Thanks!

[WarhawkDad]

And lastly, speaking of Objective, my point about many of the OAC/MT posters still stands.  The overwhelming Lack of objectivity that exists on that board, created by a culture of nearly Guaranteed Wins for decades, limits that board's contribution to "interesting" and "fun". 
Be careful of toooo much success.

We'll be sure to mention to coach Leipold to pull the reins back a bit, just so the message board remains interesting.



p.s. Bobo, hope you don't mind, I stole this graphic from one of your previous post. You'll get 10% of any royalties I receive. 

Whenever I see you or Bobo shaking your graphic head, I know I'm making sense- thanks for the encouragement. 
Here is one thing I can certainly see coach LL saying shortly after a Stagg Bowl victory, having finished the season with a 14-1 record.  "Looking back on it, the loss during the season may have been exactly what this team needed- for a lot of reasons.  It hurt like hell when it happened, but in the end, it's not the streak that matters, it's earning the title of National Champion.

Emma


+k  LOL, I have to give you credit.  You have now totally 100% redeemed yourself in my eyes (not that you needed to be), because your exactly right.  That is exactly what any good coach would say.    But what I would rather see LL saying shortly after a Stagg Bowl victory having finished the season with a 15-0 record is, "Looking back on it, those close Conference games during the season, where we adjusted to defenses we hadn't seen, and battled through were probably exactly what we needed to grow each and every week to reach our ultimate goal."   

WarhawkDad

A Giant +K to you WarhawkDad.  There is sanity on this board.

Switching subjects, I don't know if you've had a chance to see Fremd this year, but we've lost that Army of Darkness enthusiasm that existed in the good ol days. The program needs a boost.

Yes, I have seen them and I am so disappointed for Coach Donatucci in his last year.   Frankly, this senior class just did not have the athletes and they have not had the dominating offensive line.   In my son's senior year, the O,line was  Jeff Bobek at L-Tackle (now at Michigan State as a walk-on fullback), Left Guard, Jimmy Norris (now at Whitewater), Center, Brian Bobek, (now at Ohio State), Mark Colgan at Right Guard (to my knowledge not playing) Right Tackle Christian Lombard (now at Notre Dame), and Tight End Jack Konopka (now at Northwestern).   Pretty formidable.    And, the student body support has lessened given the record.    Hopefully things will improve.  I understand the Freshmen and Sophmore teams are doing very well.

[WarhawkDad]

For the past few weeks, I've been working on a piece for my blog about WIAC football and why they are considered the best of the best. I FINALLY finished it today, and posted it for anyone interested to read.

I'm sorry if it's so long. I thought about breaking it up into two parts, but I decided to just post the whole thing.

Let me know what you think, or if you have any thing to add. There's a couple of points I wanted to touch on, but I didn't get around to it b/c it got too long on me. I'm hoping this sums up our conference correctly.

www.wiacfootball.blogspot.com

Thanks!

02, Excellent blog...very strong, well researched and written.  I enjoyed the entire thing.   While I am sure we will debate the contents more on this board, I just wanted to give my overall impression.   Lastly, there was one line, that truly got me laughing "There are more DIII schools out east than Wisconsin cities named after an Indian tribe....and that's saying something."   Even a flatlander like me enjoyed that line!

Please keep up the good work!