FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[voice]

Which if you would have read my posts AFTER that one you quoted then you would have understood what I meant.

I did read your additional posts.  I wasn't reacting to you specifically.  I actually appreciated your insight.  It is my job to put a positive spin on UW-Whitewater football.  As most will tell you here in Whitewater, I'm a pretty ignorant guy.  I guess it was just my ignorant nature that caused another premature reply from me.  I hate when I do that!!

[02 Warhawk]

Low tuition/High enrollment + D1 Facilities = Good teams

Great point, but if you take off your private school sunglasses, what do Mount Union, St. Johns, Mary Hardin-Baylor (I could add more if you like) have in common.  They all are private schools that on an annual basis put a nationally elite football team on the field.  Oh, by the way, they are High tuition/Low enrollment + nationally elite facilities = good teams.

When I arrived in the press box at McCullough Stadium in Salem, Oregon on Saturday, one of the first things Willamette's radio crew talked to me about was why little Willamette should have to play a big state school like Whitewater.  We should be in D2 - why not?   Having the opportunity to play a number of the elite private D3 teams in the nation over the past few years, one thing is evident... fans from the small schools bitch about playing the big boys from the WIAC (WW, LAX and Stevens Point mostly).

Why is Whitewater so good right now?  It isn't because of school size, recruiting or being a state school. In 2002, we weren't a national powerhouse by any stretch of the imagination.  Coach Berezowitz simply came to the conclusion that if we want to be among the national elite teams in D3 (mostly private schools) we must play the nationally powerhouses.  We did and got our butt kicked twice by Mount Union and once by St. Johns.  The players AND coaching staff found out that this big, public school isn't as good as we had always thought we were. 

We needed to step up our comittment... and we did.  While the vast majority of the better private football programs have had synthetic suface fields for several years.  It took Whitewater, until this past summer, to raise the money needed through fundraising by the UWW athletic department.  Ask Wesley if the big, bad state school had the money to make their two semifinal games at Whitewater great locations to play on a snow and icey playing surface.

Whitewater boasts facilities that are heavily privately financed through fundraising.  One of the few, if any, have all home games telecast live to nearly 200,000 cable customers in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. Marketing of the football program outside the University.  Things that are NOT driven by UWW being a public institution.

Until I can see the Mount Union's, St. Johns and Mary Hardin-Baylor's of D3 falling from elite status, Division III football success is NOT a public vs. private school matter.  If you do, why not do what the NESAC does and not allow its football teams to participate in the D3 playoffs.

well said, Voice

+1

[badgerwarhawk]

I didnt mean it like that at all. Why did everyone get so defensive? I meant it as a compliment. I wish I could have attended a school with the facilities that Whitewater has for as cheap as they can offer it. Most schools in D-3 can't provide for their student-athletes the way Whitewater does. The schools in Illinois that offer high quality facilities have to charge out the ass in order to accomplish that.

It's a common knee-jurk reaction around the WIAC board to take offense to that. we get a lot other WIAC school posters says how whitewater buys its athletic success (and not just in football)

My fault, I didnt know the tension. Will UW-W offer a video webcast for Saturdays game?

No problem, Scots4, it's just that it's something that we get thrown in our faces on a regular basis and have gotten tired of hearing it.   If it were the case we should have been doing what we're doing now a long, long time ago.

[stealth]

And that should be the end of the discussion. +k voice.

Low tuition/High enrollment + D1 Facilities = Good teams

Great point, but if you take off your private school sunglasses, what do Mount Union, St. Johns, Mary Hardin-Baylor (I could add more if you like) have in common.  They all are private schools that on an annual basis put a nationally elite football team on the field.  Oh, by the way, they are High tuition/Low enrollment + nationally elite facilities = good teams.

When I arrived in the press box at McCullough Stadium in Salem, Oregon on Saturday, one of the first things Willamette's radio crew talked to me about was why little Willamette should have to play a big state school like Whitewater.  We should be in D2 - why not?   Having the opportunity to play a number of the elite private D3 teams in the nation over the past few years, one thing is evident... fans from the small schools bitch about playing the big boys from the WIAC (WW, LAX and Stevens Point mostly).

Why is Whitewater so good right now?  It isn't because of school size, recruiting or being a state school. In 2002, we weren't a national powerhouse by any stretch of the imagination.  Coach Berezowitz simply came to the conclusion that if we want to be among the national elite teams in D3 (mostly private schools) we must play the nationally powerhouses.  We did and got our butt kicked twice by Mount Union and once by St. Johns.  The players AND coaching staff found out that this big, public school isn't as good as we had always thought we were. 

We needed to step up our comittment... and we did.  While the vast majority of the better private football programs have had synthetic suface fields for several years.  It took Whitewater, until this past summer, to raise the money needed through fundraising by the UWW athletic department.  Ask Wesley if the big, bad state school had the money to make their two semifinal games at Whitewater great locations to play on a snow and icey playing surface.

Whitewater boasts facilities that are heavily privately financed through fundraising.  One of the few, if any, have all home games telecast live to nearly 200,000 cable customers in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois. Marketing of the football program outside the University.  Things that are NOT driven by UWW being a public institution.

Until I can see the Mount Union's, St. Johns and Mary Hardin-Baylor's of D3 falling from elite status, Division III football success is NOT a public vs. private school matter.  If you do, why not do what the NESAC does and not allow its football teams to participate in the D3 playoffs.

[Scots4]

Any answer on the video for Saturday?

[D O.C.]

Whitewater boasts facilities that are heavily privately financed through fundraising. 

Yeah, yeah,  I know all about those Fruits and Nuts comments.
Private funding of anything public in California would meet a whole lot of resistance.

[Sakman 1111]

We have had the annual public vs. private school debate and I controlled myself and didn't participate this year.....BW, Voice,and 413 did a more than adequate job. As with previous playoff years we have quite a few guys banged up....hope the heeling process goes well this week. Reserved a room at Super 8 just in case get a lot of snow Saturday.....big fan of the next morning Super 8 continental waffle.....Pound the Rock and the Knights.....

[Sakman 1111]

Actually I really know how to spell "HEALING".

[BearcatFan]

Congratulations Warhawks!

I was totally impressed with how well you guys shot down Merben Woo. Plays that he'd been getting around the corner on all season were cut-off at the line of scrimmage or for short yardage. Shutting down the big plays that Willamette has lived by all season was huge in securing the UWW win.

I take some solace in the knowledge that several hundred UWW fans contributed to Oregon's economy this weekend. Great turnout, Warhawk fans!

[wucatwu]

Congratulations Warhawks!

I was totally impressed with how well you guys # 7 shot down Merben Woo on the perimeter. Plays that he'd been getting around the corner on all season were cut-off at the line of scrimmage or for short yardage. Shutting down the big plays that Willamette has lived by all season was huge in securing the UWW win.

I take some solace in the knowledge that several hundred UWW fans contributed to Oregon's economy this weekend. Great turnout, Warhawk fans!

Fixed.  Number 7 on defense for the Warhawks was ridiculous.  WU had to run away from him just to get things going.  My helmet sticker goes to Warhawk DB #7 for his plays against the run on the perimeter.

[coco]

Congratulations Warhawks!

I was totally impressed with how well you guys shot down Merben Woo. Plays that he'd been getting around the corner on all season were cut-off at the line of scrimmage or for short yardage. Shutting down the big plays that Willamette has lived by all season was huge in securing the UWW win.

I take some solace in the knowledge that several hundred UWW fans contributed to Oregon's economy this weekend. Great turnout, Warhawk fans!

Did you folks who came out here have time to look around much? Like at Mt. Hood or the Oregon coast?

Once again, congrats on your win, although few doubted you.

[footballfan413]

We have had the annual public vs. private school debate and I controlled myself and didn't participate this year.....BW, Voice,and 413 did a more than adequate job. As with previous playoff years we have quite a few guys banged up....hope the heeling process goes well this week. Reserved a room at Super 8 just in case get a lot of snow Saturday.....big fan of the next morning Super 8 continental waffle.....Pound the Rock and the Knights.....

Ya, same debate seems to raise it's head every year if not more often.  Funny, I don't remember the complaints about the WIAC having all these unfair advantages until UWW started tearing it up a few years ago.  As WC11 pointed out, the WIAC's rep until then for well over a decade was pretty much a conference that was, "one and done," in the play-offs.
               

[stealth]

Now give bobo back the boys 

Congratulations Warhawks!

I was totally impressed with how well you guys shot down Merben Woo. Plays that he'd been getting around the corner on all season were cut-off at the line of scrimmage or for short yardage. Shutting down the big plays that Willamette has lived by all season was huge in securing the UWW win.

I take some solace in the knowledge that several hundred UWW fans contributed to Oregon's economy this weekend. Great turnout, Warhawk fans!

[KitchenSink]

Congratulations Warhawks!

I was totally impressed with how well you guys shot down Merben Woo. Plays that he'd been getting around the corner on all season were cut-off at the line of scrimmage or for short yardage. Shutting down the big plays that Willamette has lived by all season was huge in securing the UWW win.

I take some solace in the knowledge that several hundred UWW fans contributed to Oregon's economy this weekend. Great turnout, Warhawk fans!

Did you folks who came out here have time to look around much? Like at Mt. Hood or the Oregon coast?

Once again, congrats on your win, although few doubted you.

I didn't have too much time out there.  Friday could have been a possibility to see some sights, but it was so dreary / drizzly that day, uh-uh.  Got a look at the Cascades after the game from a distance, which was cool.  Saw lots o' Christmas tree farms, though.

[RacineWarhawk91]

I enrolled at UWW in the fall of 2002.  I can tell you all about how the program turned itself around. 

1. Great facilities (a new wt. room, field house, athletic complex)
2. Coaches' ability to sell the school and the program (for me that was Coach Z)
3. Location (a short drive from Madison, Milwaukee, Kenosha & Racine - large communities with big high school and high levels of competition)
3. Commitment to the weightroom and off-season work by the players
4. Playing top shelf competition (MUC in 02 & 03, SJU in 02). 
5. Whitewater's commitment to a quality education also helps with continued improvements to academic facilities.  They have nationally recognized schools of business and education.
6. Also, you have to keep in mind that the University of Wisconsin-Madison is the only scholarship football program in the state.  If you don't get recruited by them and you don't want to leave the state, you play for the 'Hawks. 
7.  Like Woody Hayes used to say, "You win with people."  Above all else, we have GREAT PEOPLE, from players to coaches to boosters to adminstration to fans to the band to the local media and local businesses, etc.

Best choice I ever made.  I don't have a National Championship, but I know that I helped restore a great program and I helped  build something very special.  Go 'Hawks!