FB: American Rivers Conference

[Floyd in Iowa City]

I too come from a family that is half-Norwegian Lutheran.
Surprisingly it is the other half that is German/Swiss/Scottish that more people have gone to Luther.
I was just at my Grandpa's 80th birthday party last weekend in Elgin and looked through a program from when he was at Luther. Who the coach was escapes me but I think the year was 1946 or 47.
My other Grandpa who played football would have been there in the late 40's into the 50's. I've heard a lot of their HS sports stories but I'll have to pry a little more and get some college sports stories.
Not many people can probably say that both their grandfathers are taller than they are, but I can. Kind of weird how that's worked out.

Peterson got out of football at the end of World War II and his last conference title was in 1941 (my grandfather was on that team before he went to war).  Luther struggled in the late 1940s before hiring Schweizer and seeing his great teams in the 1950s, 60s, and early 70s.  Last year was as bad of a Norse record since 1950.

That is kind of weird on the ethnicity part of who chose the Norse.

[Walston Hoover]

The towns are 4 miles apart and my dad is the area vet so I knew pretty much everyone. Technically from Aplington and my wife is from Parkersburg. If you are from a small school you know that if someone graduated from there, I'll know them.

[press_box]

Coverage from Cornell Media Day from KCRG-TV, includes video:

http://www.kcrg.com/sports/9183302.html

[orange]

I'm always a bit amused when I hear reports of a team with a losing record speak about tougher admission standards.  The folks at Grinnell can talk (their "average student" is at the 90%ile), but the Iowa Conference colleges are pretty much in the same boat -- all "moderately selective".  Now, there are some differences in the sense that some have a greater number/percentage of really outstanding students (and that includes the perenniel favorites), but ALL have sufficient flexibility in their standards to recruit a capable athlete who doesn't quite fit in the middle of the pack academically.

Frankly, I can't think of any Iowa Conference college that I would discourage a student from attending because of my perceptions of insufficient academic quality.  That doesn't mean they are all equal in all fields of study, but these are solid institutions -- all of them.

Somebody mentioned Waldorf a few posts ago -- and that little college has some incredible alumni!  And, the last few years the U. of Dubuque has raised more money than any other college in the conference...by several million.  Penn is making some really good progress, too, and Iowa Wesleyan has a fine president and is doing some great things.

Back to the main point:  NO Iowa Conference college is at a significant disadvantage over any of the others because of admission standards.
And you can bank on it...it's public information.

[DutchFan2004]

sportsknight,

Heard you all the way in Marshalltown last night.  You did a good job and didn't stumble very much when talking about the Dutch.  Maybe you may even grow to love them.

[DoubleOT]

Orange -

Although the IIAC schools do have the flexibility to let lower academic students in, Cornell choses not to. Instead of dropping their standards for players, they keep them high. This insures that they are a high academic school. Also Cornell has been known to give good scholarships to all students, but the athletes at the schools are not getting any more financial aid than any other student. Both of these factors add into Cornell not getting as many high talent players.

[K-Mack]

As far as freshman class numbers, Wartburg had 88 freshmen report. Unfortunately that number has dropped to 72 as of Wednesday night.

Happens every year. Guys realize college football is not for them, or don't want to put in the time. I remember a couple guys leaving after the conditioning test the first night. We're talking about college football here. This isn't intermurals.

Exactly. Takes some longer than others to come to that realization.

I wonder if some guys just show up to camp and quit to get out of their lame hometown early. Sure ain't much to do on campus if you aren't playing a sport and regular students don't report for 3 more weeks.

[Alfredeneumann]

W'loo Courier write up about Luther football is in tonights paper
http://wcfcourier.com/articles/2007/08/16/sports/local/doc46c46ca1ae39a795945523.txt

Headline "Luther eager to prove 2-8 season was a fluke"
"Sherden, who has put on 15 pounds since last season, had a lengthy rehabilitation process, not doing any football-related activities for six months."

Very tough opening to season

2007 SCHEDULE

Sept. 1 -- at St. Olaf (Minn.), 12:30 p.m.

Sept. 15 -- at Central, 1 p.m.

Sept. 22 -- Wartburg, 1 p.m.

[IowaConferenceFan]

Actually, Orange, you are incorrect that each Iowa Conference school is moderately competitive. The best guide to look at as it is completely unbiased (unlike the US News & World Report) is the Barron's Guide - it lists every single school in the country and ranks them on things such as class size, percentage accepted, average ACT/SAT scores, etc. As of the most recent printing of the guide, your alma mater (I'm guessing Wartburg due to the Orangey-ness of your screen name) was listed as non-competitive due to low admissions standards whereas the other Iowa Conference Schools were listed anywhere from competitive, to highly competetive, to very highly competitive. And yes, competitiveness does affect how easily schools can recruit. Extremely talented athletes and students are going to be attending schools like Northwestern (in Chicago), not the IIAC.

[K-Mack]

The same thing this year. Two freshman quarterbacks were gone by Monday.One even left school totally. Why leave school before it starts?

Probably has a girlfriend at home, I bet over half the guys that left school totally had a girlfriend at some other place.

Silly when you look back, to make such life-changing decisions for flimsy reasons.

I remember a girl my freshman year telling me I'll soon forget about my girl back home, and I was like "nuh, uh, we're different!"

[Ash Park]

Good article about Luther, I almost forgot about Sherden. I'm sure hefty will have them back on track this year. I heard Loras has a roster size of 130 this year...anyone know if there is any truth to this? If so how many new guys did they bring in?

[Purple Heys]

Walston Hoover - To your question on the Wing T and practice.  Cornell has not had the luxury of a true scout team due to numbers so it is hard to correlate the potential negative effect of younger players.  Heck they barely have the numbers for full second and third string practice oppourtunities.  Also not many High Schools seem to run the Wing-T these days.

That being said, as a former coach and player myself, there is great benefit for the 2nd and 3rd string players to watching and observing before doing.  I found it much easier to have the understudies watch the 1st string perform then get the occasional chance to jump in and get the minimal reps.  Then performing as a scout player against the 1st team D gave them a chance to knock heads.  Running opposing teams' schemes, I never found imprinted on a young player and hindered his development.

As for Mr. Mills and his decision...I see this as a short term setback.  Cornell's QB of the future is the freshman from Texas.  Mills was mediocre at his best.  He may well have done the team a favor.

Kobler's skill set is not incompatible with the Wing-T.  You may remember the young man was fourth in total offense in 2005.   He is a hard-nosed scrapper, though not much of a passer.  Then again in the Wing-T, passing is secondary.  His running skills may actually help set up his ability to pass successfully.

Cornell can fairly be said to be a work in progress, whereas two years earlier you'd have to say there was no evidence of progress and none likely to occur.

[sportsknight]

sportsknight,

Heard you all the way in Marshalltown last night.  You did a good job and didn't stumble very much when talking about the Dutch.  Maybe you may even grow to love them.

Bored on a Wednesday night?  Actually, that's good to hear.  Were you pulling us in over the air or listening online?  
Show went pretty well I thought.  Talking IIAC stuff with Larry was great.  We couldn't believe how much time we spent with Larry, but I thought it was time very well spent.
As far as the Central stuff, when I interviewed for the gig I told the station brass I told them that I'd know the IIAC better than anyone else they would interview.  Even though I prefer to discuss one conference school, I feel like I can speak intelligently about all 9.

[youcantseeme]

coe is upping it's grade standards

I am confused what you mean by this.  Please explain.

[Wartburg Fan]

My sons class had 90 report for the first day of football practice as a freshman when they graduated there was 9. I can't remember how many left during their freshman year.  We told our son that he made a comitment for at least one year to the school and the football coach. He did not play a down his freshmen year but he was a freshman in 03 does anyone remember that team ( Ha Ha). I'm glad he stay cause I really enjoyed watching him play for the next three years.


       Go Knights!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!