FB: American Rivers Conference

[Old Dutch]

Here's something to chew on this week (other than the Wartburg-Luther jokes).  From the D3 webpage on at large playoff berths:

3. How are the at-large bids determined?

These are the selection (and seeding) criteria:

The following primary criteria (not in priority order) will be reviewed:
• Win-loss percentage against regional opponents.
• Strength-of-schedule (only contests versus regional competition).
- Opponents' Average Winning Percentage (OWP).
- Opponents' Opponents' Average Winning Percentage (OOWP).
• In-region head-to-head competition.
• In-region results versus common regional opponents.
• In-region results versus regionally ranked teams.

If the evaluation of the primary criteria does not result in a decision by the committee, the following secondary criteria (for ranking and selections) will be evaluated:
• Out-of region head-to-head competition.
• Overall Division III won-loss percentage.
• Results versus common non-Division III opponents.
• Results versus all Division III ranked teams.
• Overall win-loss percentage.
• Results versus all common opponents.
• Overall Division III strength of schedule
• Should a committee find that evaluation of a team's win-loss percentage during the last 25 percent of the season is applicable (i.e., end of season performance), it may adopt such criteria with approval from the championships committee.

Now, take a deep breath Coe fans, this could get ugly.  I got my Casio out again so I'll need a fact-checker but since strength of schedule is BEFORE head to head competition, I thought it would be interesting to predict potential OWP for the possible 3 way tie.  My first assumption is that if all three go 7-1, then their in-conference OWP will all be the same  For conference games its going to be .451  (72 conference games,, therefor 72 wins and 72 losses, all 3 win 7 of those 72 so thats leaves the conference games at .451 (65-79).  Being too lazy to check all their Non-con OWPs, I used that for a starting point.

Coe's non-con games are against NAIA, and so their OWP stays at .451 or whatever number the whole conference has. (bullet 2 above states OWP is in regional games only).  

Even though Central's opponents are in the CCIW and WIAC they are considered in region games.  
    Osh Kosh is 4-3 with Eau Claire, WW and Stout left, I'll give them 2 wins and a loss for a final of 6-4.
    Augie is 5-2 with Wheaton, Elmhurst and Ill. Wes. left, I think 2-1 again for a 7-3 record.
That makes Centrals total OWP 78-86 or .476

Wartburg likewise has 2 in region non-con games, Monmouth and Gustavus.
    Monmouth is 4-4 with Carroll and Knox left.  Carroll is leading th eMWC, I'll give them 5-5 at the end.
    The Gusties are 3-4 with Tommies, Augsberg and Carlton left, they shoudl end up at 5-5 also.
That would leave Wartburg's OWP at 75-89 or .457

If we add those numbers to the 9-1 D3 records of Wartburg and Central (.900)  vs the 7-1 D3 record for Coe (.875).  And  (Now I know this is wishful thinking) if the Dutch wup up on Wartburg, a big win there could also turn some heads.  Perhaps that upset of the Dutch back in Sept by those KoHawks isn't quite so impressive to the selection committee.  You can obviously see where my rose colored logic is heading.

So your assumption should be if the Dutch take care of business vs Beavers and Knights I say they're in!!  And of course that I need a life.

Rootin' for the Norse this week.  Go Dutch!

[the_mayne_event]

Congratulations to the Dutch!

Missed the game yesterday...work. Weren't there highlights of the games before in the past on Centrals website? I looked, but did not see?

Interesting calls during Friday's high school game....I and the announcers (televised) have never heard of one of the calls/rules before or the motion call that the ref showed before announcing the call.

Illegal block below the waist on the lead blocker was called on the defense. (called twice)

The ref, who looked to be experienced (older), had complete control of the game. We were just wondering if the refs at this level had a meeting to make sure all the rules were enforced.
Has anyone heard of this call before? I tried looking it up, but could not find.

AZD

NFHS rules prohibit blcking below the waste period.  I had a game about 5 years ago on a punt return the punting team as the return team had a wall blocking for the returner, one of the punting teams players went and took out the wall by diving and their legs and I dropper the flag.  The rule book does not say blocking bleow the waste for offensive players it says blocking below the waste so we flagged the punting team. 

I'm not sure this is entirely true, in Texas I think you are able to cut block anywhere on the field, just like in college.

[footballdaddy]

Just to get the Luther-Wartburg week started: They are selling t-shirts in the Wartburg bookstore saying "Luther went to Wartburg". If you don't get it, check your Lutheran church history. Not a real side splitter, but a little classier than the student Homecoming t-shirt.

As far as football is concerned, this is a scary three game stretch to end the season.  The temptation to overlook Luther is huge. Coming off of a statement game and with Central next week, it's easy to lose focus. If the Knights do that. the Norse will hand them their backsides. Luther has so much incentive to win this game. Wartburg can't take their foot off the gas. One game at a time is so important this week.

[DBQ1965]

Just to get the Luther-Wartburg week started: They are selling t-shirts in the Wartburg bookstore saying "Luther went to Wartburg". If you don't get it, check your Lutheran church history. Not a real side splitter, but a little classier than the student Homecoming t-shirt.

As far as football is concerned, this is a scary three game stretch to end the season.  The temptation to overlook Luther is huge. Coming off of a statement game and with Central next week, it's easy to lose focus. If the Knights do that. the Norse will hand them their backsides. Luther has so much incentive to win this game. Wartburg can't take their foot off the gas. One game at a time is so important this week.

"Luther went to Wartburg" ... gotta be one of the great rivalry lines of all time.

[NewKnightDad]

I will get it started!!   

One day in an elementary school in Decorah Iowa, a teacher asks her class if the Luther Norse are their favorite football team. The whole class says yes except for Little Jimmy.The teacher asks, "What's your favorite football team Jimmy?"Little Jimmy says, "The Wartburg Knights."The teacher asks, "Well, why is that?"Little Jimmy says,"Well, my dad is a Knight fan, my mom is a Knight fan, I guess that makes me a Knight fan."The teacher angered by his reply says, "If your dad was a moron and your mom was an idiot what would that make you?"Little Jimmy says, "Well, I guess that would make me a Norse fan."

[Alfredeneumann]

The Seven Dwarfs were marching through the forest one day they fell in a deep, dark ravine. Snow White, who was following along, peered over the edge of the steep chasm and called out to the fallen dwarfs. From the depths of the dark hole a voice returned, "The Norse are IIAC Football Champions."

Snow White thought to herself, "Thank God... at least Dopey's survived!"

[Klopenhiemer]

Congratulations to the Dutch!

Missed the game yesterday...work. Weren't there highlights of the games before in the past on Centrals website? I looked, but did not see?

Interesting calls during Friday's high school game....I and the announcers (televised) have never heard of one of the calls/rules before or the motion call that the ref showed before announcing the call.

Illegal block below the waist on the lead blocker was called on the defense. (called twice)

The ref, who looked to be experienced (older), had complete control of the game. We were just wondering if the refs at this level had a meeting to make sure all the rules were enforced.
Has anyone heard of this call before? I tried looking it up, but could not find.

AZD

NFHS rules prohibit blcking below the waste period.  I had a game about 5 years ago on a punt return the punting team as the return team had a wall blocking for the returner, one of the punting teams players went and took out the wall by diving and their legs and I dropper the flag.  The rule book does not say blocking bleow the waste for offensive players it says blocking below the waste so we flagged the punting team. 

I'm not sure this is entirely true, in Texas I think you are able to cut block anywhere on the field, just like in college.

I think DF2k4 is saying that the punting team dove a players legs to break then wall when they were the ones on defense.  This is quite different that cut blocking.  Cut blocking applies to the tackle box and is only used for blocking purposes on the offensive side of the ball. 

[5 Words or Less]

A freshman Luther student showed up late for the Luther / Wartburg game and was surprised to find the entire stadium filled.  The only seat left was amidst a bunch of fuddy - duddy curmudgeons all decked out in orange plaid polyester pants and Luther went to Wartburg T-shirts.  Feeling rather out of place, the student sat quietly until one of the Wartburg supporters hollered out EIGHTY-THREE, and the whole crowd began to laugh.  Not long after, one of the Norse fans yelled out TWENTY-FOUR and the crowd erupted again. 

The exchange continued until halftime when the student turned and asked, "Why does everyone laugh when you yell out a number?"  The seasoned Knight fan turned and explained "We've been rivals with Luther for so long that we all know each other's jokes.  In order to speed things along, we've numbered all of the punch lines."  The student looked amazed and shouted FIFTY-EIGHT!  ... but the crowd sat silent.  Dejectedly, the student asked "what did I do wrong?"  The older Wartburg fan said, "Sorry kid, it's your delivery."

[warthog]

Once a divorce case was being settled in court and the judge asked the little kid of the couple, "Young man, would you like to live with your father?"
The kid said, "No he beats me everyday!"
The judge asked him, "So you want to stay with your mother?"
He replied, "No, she also beats me!"
Now the judge got a little confused and asked the boy, "Well, in that case who do you want to live with ?"
The kid answered, "I want to go to Decorah and live with the Luther football team, they never beat anybody."

[warthog]

Two Luther football players were taking an important final exam. The exam was fill-in-the-blank. The last question read, "Old MacDonald had a _________."

Bubba was stumped. He had no idea of the answer. He knew he needed to get this one right to be sure he passed. Making sure the professor wasn't watching, he tapped Tiny on the shoulder. "Pssst. Tiny. What's the answer to the last question?"

Tiny looked around to make sure the professor hadn't noticed then he turned to Bubba. "Everyone knows Old MacDonald had a farm."

"Oh yeah," said Bubba. "I remember now." He picked up his Crayon and started to write the answer in the blank. Then he stopped. Reaching to tap Tiny's shoulder again, he whispered, "How do you spell farm?"

"You are really dumb, Bubba.  Farm is spelled - E-I-E-I-O.".

[warthog]

This has to be about Simpson:

A guy went into a bar to listen to a broadcast of the Wartburg/Simpson game last year. He had a little dog with him. The bartender told him he needed to take the dog outside.  The guy explained that the dog was a huge football fan and would actually be quite entertaining to the bar patrons.  The bartender allowed the dog to stay and every time Wartburg scored a touchdown, the dog would bark, wag his tail and run around excitedly.
 
At the end of the game, when Wartburg had won, the dog did a back flip!  The bartender was amazed. "That's great," he said. "But what does he do if Simpson wins?"
 
The guy said, "I don't know. The dog's only nine years old!

[AZDutchman]

"Luther went to Wartburg" ... gotta be one of the great rivalry lines of all time.

Ok...I have to be the dumb one on the block. Someone needs to fill in the blanks for me? 

[warthog]

A Luther football player was complaining to a teammate about  how hard it was to get any sleep the night before the Wartburg game.

"I was awakened at one, two and four in the morning by a drunk Norse cheerleader banging on the door and screaming," the player recalled.
 
"That's terrible," said his teammate, "how'd you ever get any sleep?"
 
"At five o'clock I finally unlocked the door and let her out."

[AZDutchman]

Illegal block below the waist on the lead blocker

Thanks for the explanations on this call. What threw me off was the word block inside a call against the defense.
I did look into this myself and found a referee site that this was a topic of discussion. They found this to be a very gray area and a penalty that was hard to call and to recognize.

[warthog]

"Luther went to Wartburg" ... gotta be one of the great rivalry lines of all time.

Ok...I have to be the dumb one on the block. Someone needs to fill in the blanks for me? 

For a time during the Reformation Luther took refuge in Wartburg Castle.