FB: American Rivers Conference

[The Roop]

We seem to hear about the Coe/Cornell rivalry as quite an epic conflict. 

I understand the Kohawks and the Rams are fairly close to one another geographically, but in their time as members of the IIAC they tend to find themselves at opposite ends of the football standings. 

When they were members of the MWC were they more evenly matched?  If so what happened? 

When the MWC had a divisional alignment Coe and Cornell dominated the south/west and the winner would typically roll to an easy victory in the championship game. So that made it more than just a local rivalry.

Why such a disparity these days is hard to say. However, it might be punishment from the football gods as Coe volunteered to join the Big Ten in 1980 (or thereabouts) when Illinois was on the verge of getting kicked out for numerous NCAA infractions.

I doubt they were serious but it did get some regional press at the time. So Bravo to Coe for seizing some free publicity.

[Thunderbolt]

"M" shaped dead dead grass spots appearing on Luther's campus ... hmmmm, wonder who did that.

Nearby wrestlers going to school on spelling grants?

[DBQ1965]

"M" shaped dead dead grass spots appearing on Luther's campus ... hmmmm, wonder who did that.

Nearby wrestlers going to school on spelling grants?

That deserves some +k.

[Thunderbolt]

Seriously, this whole grant thing is a moot point in my opinion. Reguardless of what its called, scholarship, grant, tuition assistence, it all amounts to student financial aid. There are hundreds of rules on what you can call it, and how it can be used and who is elligable. And for every one of them, there are 4 or 5 well beaten paths around it. No school is going to risk there reputation and financial well being to field a good football team. That is the balance.
I have no fundamental problem with a school going after the best athletes, musicians, biology students ect. and getting them the best deals they can. Or rewarding a student that has excelled after the first year or two. Unless your school mantra is "LETS BE AVERAGE" who wouldn't.
Who wins in the long run anyway? The jock, with a free ride that majors in basket weaving, or the students that pay more and take something with them from college besides a beat up body?

[Willie University]

A friend of mine sent me this quote in an email from a business leader in Dubuque. To not get this person flooded with phone calls and emails from angry lorass people, I will keep him/her anonomous.

Quote of the Day......whoops, I mean Quote of the Year:

"UD is the most progressive school in Dubuque--and I'm a Loras graduate."

Have a great weekend!

Willie U

[doolittledog]

Whew, I was worried that person might have picked Emmaus Bible College

UD has been doing things right for awhile now.  Pretty much since about 1999 when the doors almost closed.  Now if we could just get a few more wins for the football team...how old is Willie Jr???

[Storm Chaser]

New string...

Spring Football is near for IIAC

How about some capsules.

Key Returning Players
Key Losses
Story lines for the Spring and upcoming season
Coaching changes
Any other juicy news you are able to share
Opinion (intelligent, dumbass or otherwise)

PH Simpson posted a link but only stayed on home page a few days before cycling out with new news.   See following link:
http://www.simpson.edu/storm/men/football/040709.html

[Pat Coleman]

You know what would be an awesome addition for Simpson's site? A 2009 schedule.

[Purple Heys]

Here's my Ram Preview...

Key Returnees
Offense:  Alex Macey, TE, sr.; Kyle Tierney, WR, jr.; Garret Hepker, RB, so.; Charles McDonald, RB, jr.; Isaac Hull, OL, jr.; Louis Rachal, OL, jr.; Chad Owen, OL, jr.; Bubba Eisenhauer, QB, so.; Thomas Conner, QB, so.

Defense:  Don Bladt, FS, sr.; Zach Zasada, DT, sr.; Brian King, LB, sr.; Zach Freeman, NT, jr.; Andy Siar, DT, jr.; Joe Barlow, SS; jr.; Erik Krol, LB; so.; Aaron Spickerman, DE, so.

Key LossesOffense: (Graduation) Travion Hardman, Pierce Sweeney, Matt Pilger, Trevor Cipriano, Jesse Struble; (Transfer/Left school) Dallas Bush, Morgan Campbell

Defense: (Graduation) Brian Hess, Leif Goleman, Jamaal Ohno, Adam Williams, Jason Williams, Jared Sanches, Garret Weddle

Key Coaching Changes
In:
Don Dicus – OC
Out:
Adam Bentz – DC
Eric Waldstein – RB’s and Specials

2008 Record  0-10, 0-8 IIAC

Season Recap
For a season that began with such promise, and in many games showed improvement, even the most optimistic fan would call the 2008 season a letdown.  The Rams played Central into overtime, held a 14-13 mid- 3rd quarter lead over MIAC contender Carleton, held Luther to 7 points, and had surprising offensive success at Wartburg.  But none of that translated to a league win, let alone any win.  Cornell sputtered out of the gate against a more inspired Grinnell team, in a game that showed glimpses of the struggles Cornell would have throughout the year.  Cornell had trouble with creating a consistent passing game, and had trouble getting stops late in the game.  Turnovers would prove costly, as the Rams were –9 in turnovers.

2009 Outlook
The Rams break in a new starting QB for the 4th year in a row.  Incoming OC Don Dicus brings experience to the offense, but the Rams lose a bit of coaching experience on the defensive side.  Graduation loss of  2nd all-time rusher Hardman means someone will need to step up, Hepker showed promise early and McDonald has the talent to contribute.  Offensive line needs to be re-molded with the loss of 3 starters.  Receivers are led by Macey at TE and Tierney on the outside.  The battle at QB will be between Eisenhauer and Connor and perhaps a new recruit.

The defense is led by Bladt, Zasada and King.  Freeman showed good ability and Barlow is an eager hitter from the safety spot.  Siar, Krol, and Spickerman figure to fill holes left by graduation.  Cornell will need to find a pair of corners that can step up and compete in the IIAC.  Generating more of a pass rush will also be key to getting late game stops necessary to close out games.  Goleman and Ohno will be missed along with the Williams "bros."

The special teams need to find a credible kicking specialist.  Bladt performed admirably last year, but it shouldn’t be his job.  Too many drives stalled with no points.

Commentary:  Too many turnovers on offense and too many big plays on defense.  Minimizing both of these will help the Rams turn some of last year’s disappointments into celebrations.  The Rams will again put some players on the field that are as good at their position as any in the IIAC.  If they can provide the leadership, and the rest follow with disciplined execution, the Rams will end their losing streak in the conference.

Insider Info: Look for more left coast kids…

[Purple Heys]

Regarding my capsule:

This is all just my opinion and observation.  I have a lot of respect for the coaches, players, and program.  No wants them to win more than me.  Following an 0-10 season and riding an 18 game slide, it's hard to be positive.

Yet I remain positive about what is going on at Cornell.

If I left anybody out...it was unintentional.  If I was overly critical in some eyes, that was not my intent.  I don't believe I have betrayed any secrets and I tried to be as objective as possible.  I welcome any differing opinion.

At the end of the day I'm just a Dad and a fan.  I really don't have any more information than someone who combs the website and read the papers.  I followed every game and listened to the broadcasts and watched the webcasts when available

[Purple Heys]

I also could have gloated how I think my son and his friends are the best thing since sliced bread, but I resisted.



(But I do think that)   8)

[doolittledog]

Here is something I think would be frustrating for Cornell fans.  When Dubuque was going through 0-10 seasons, they were getting beat by 77-0 type scores...with the score being 70-0 at the half and the other team being nice enough to call off the dogs at halftime.  Last season, Cornell were in most games and made most teams work for their win.   The Rams need a deeper roster...and a deeper coaching staff. 

[Wartburg Fan]

Look, I'm not saying that Wartburg is any worse than BV, Simpson, Central, or any other school in the conference. It's competitive, sometimes downright cutthroat in this economy, so schools are doing what they have to do. BUT, the perception has been there (for at least the last 10-15 years) that Wartburg is doing something shady and has a way of "purchasing" athletes. That perception was earned one way or another.

It always makes me laugh when people (certain posters in particular) put their hands up in "confusion" and claim they don't know where this reputation comes from. The reputation comes from the way their financial aid office deals with premier athletes. It may or not be a fair stereotype, but it's out there.

I can agree with this completely.  I was merely trying to see if anyone would would come forward from the Wartburg side and defend the school with someone more than "Welcome to 12 years ago"

Not sure if that last bit was meant as a slight against me, but I'm going to take it that way and respond.  

In my experience, Wartburg doesn't give special consideration to athletes in the admission/financial aid process any more than it does to any other type of student.  The shear number of Wartburg students that are athletes (as high a percentage as 60% in recent years) goes against that line of thinking.  I'm very good friends with a former Wartburg admissions director, and he could only think of one situation in his 9 years in the admissions department involving where the rules were so much as bent to allow an athlete into school.

The "leadership grants" that we keep hearing referred to are actually called the Wartburg Grant, and there's a fairly high percentage of students that receive that help for no other reason than they need the help.  That said, there have been some situations where students who achieved certain campus positions either received the Grant for the first time, or had the dollar amount of their Wartburg Grant increase.  I didn't get the WG right out of the gate as a freshman, but my junior year when I was Wartburg TV's Station Manager, there it was.  Does that mean that Wartburg is trying to "buy" the best student TV station in the state?

We should be honest with ourselves about these things.  They happen everywhere.  One of my high school classmates played baseball at Loras.  He told me that he received a special scholarship for attending a Catholic elementary school that his older brother, who attended the same elementary school but didn't play baseball, didn't receive.  If Division III schools weren't able to offer significant financial aid packages to all students (not just student athletes), then what would be the incentive to attend a smaller, private school?  Is the education we got in the IIAC that much better than what we would have received at a larger, public school?

So why is "big, bad Wartburg" the target once again?  Well, success leads to speculation.  And if you don't believe me, just ask Mark McGwire, Alex Rodriguez, or the New England Patriots.  Except that in all of those cases, there was actual wrongdoing to be found.  On second thought, ask Lance Armstrong.  His sport is one of the dirtiest in the world, and he dominated it like no other.  He was investigated time and time again, and has probably pissed in more cups that all of us combined, but nothing has ever stuck to him.

SK my post was not directed at your entirely.  I did find a bit amusing when Willie U bring something to the table that was not discussed on this board and then he gets the "Welcome to 3 weeks ago treatment". 

My post agreed with a lot of your points.  I do think that every IIAC does give some type of special grants from time to time to get the right student athlete or student in the door.  It no different in the music or art department.  Its just those are much less visible departments.  Believe it or not students athletes are usually given the benefit of the doubt on every campus including Wartburg.  Nobody wants to come down on a stud unless he makes a huge mistake.  Being a student athlete you have the backing of the coaching staff and their connections to help in sticky situations.  They are much more visible people on campus, thus can get away with some things time to time. 

Do I think that Wartburg was trying to buy the best student run radio station in the state no.  I think you probably showed you were worth your salt so you were rewarded.  Nothing wrong with that. 

The big bad Wartburg thing gets old to me.  I will be honest, I have no issue with any of the Wartburgers on here.  But let me tell you this.  9 kids went to Wartburg from my class.  Everyone one of them returned as the biggest prick  you had ever seen.  My uncle who went to Wartburg is a prick.  Its be orange, its be Wartburg, its were the best suck on our rear ends.  Thats the reason you guys get the knock that you do.  Every time I visited Waverly while I was at BV I could smell the arrogance coming from a mile away.  I was on every campus in the IIAC and spent multiple nights visiting friends at 7 of the schools in the conference.  Wartburg was the only one that made me throw up.  But SK, I do not feel that way about you, daddy, hoover, or warthog. 

  Sounds like being a Hawkeye fan

[warthog]

How about some thought about the replacement of the head wrestling coach at Iowa State?  The Cyclones could make a lot worse choices than Coach Oostendorp from Coe.  Lets face it the jump from coaching D3 wrestling to D1 wrestling isn't the same as basketball or football.  Plus Coach O has five successful years of coaching experience.  He was a succesful D1 wrestler and he is an Iowa guy who probably would have a good shot at recruiting D1 wrestlers around the midwest.

[doolittledog]

Since it has been a long time since I have put any numbers together...

Conference records over the last 3 seasons...so the incoming seniors know what they are playing for next season. 

Central -  20-4 Two conference titles
Wartburg 20-4 One conference title
Coe ------ 14-10
BV -------- 13-11
Dubuque  11-13
Simpson - 11-13
Loras ----- 10-14
Luther ----- 9-15
Cornell ----- 0-24

Kind of a log jam there between 3rd and 8th place...a really good or a really bad season could make a lot of difference in where this coming years senior class ends up being ranked.