FB: American Rivers Conference

[dutchfan1]

As a Lutheran growing up South Dakota, I find it hard to believe that Luther would have rainbows painted anywhere on campus.

As a Lutheran growing up in SD, would you believe they play soccer naked in Decorah? 

[dahlby]

Naked in SD is where you take your parka off and roll up the sleeves on your flannel shirt! :-)

[DBQ1965]

Was the crack about rainbows painted on Luther dorm doors any different from yelling a gay slur out a Wartburg dorm window?

[footballdaddy]

Along the same lines, I've heard that most of the student housing at Luther has rainbow designs painted on the doors.

+k 

I wonder what's painted on Central's doors? Halos?

Depends on the door.... the painter screwed up on my door and painted something else..... 

I shudder to think what it could have been! 

[Fannosaurus Rex]

All of the doors at Simpson have little crescent moons cut in them.

[warthog]

Was the crack about rainbows painted on Luther dorm doors any different from yelling a gay slur out a Wartburg dorm window?

Guilty as charged.

[footballdaddy]

Was the crack about rainbows painted on Luther dorm doors any different from yelling a gay slur out a Wartburg dorm window?

Guilty as charged.

It really depends on how many Care Bears and unicorns you have with your rainbows.

[DBQ1965]

Was the crack about rainbows painted on Luther dorm doors any different from yelling a gay slur out a Wartburg dorm window?

Guilty as charged.

It really depends on how many Care Bears and unicorns you have with your rainbows.

Well said.

[doolittledog]

Old news, but Luther co-DC Benny Boyd has left for the University of North Dakota.

http://www.fightingsioux.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=13500&ATCLID=205213800

Good for Mr. Boyd.  He has paid his dues and it is nice to see him moving up the food chain to a bigger school. 

Will this have a major affect on the Luther D with him leaving so late in the year? 

[warthog]

There is a rumor that the Warthog Clan may be infiltrating the Presidential Palace at Monmouth prior to the Wartburg/Monmouth game.  Do you suppose the el-presidente will mind if I run an orange and black flag up the pole in the front yard? 

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Old news, but Luther co-DC Benny Boyd has left for the University of North Dakota.

http://www.fightingsioux.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=13500&ATCLID=205213800

Good for Mr. Boyd.  He has paid his dues and it is nice to see him moving up the food chain to a bigger school. 

Will this have a major affect on the Luther D with him leaving so late in the year? 

I am always concerned about the depth of quality coaches on the Luther Football staff and how they are compensated and supported.  Luther is a great school with a lot of things going for it, but I wonder how much they are like Cornell in terms of how they pay and support coaches.  Decorah is also one of my favorite places and I love the landscape of the area, but there aren't a ton of jobs in the area to support yourself while you are an assistant coach.

Luther just won the 2010-11 men's IIAC all-sport trophy and shared the overall all-sports trophy, but from a distance things still seem cloudy to me.  Maybe it is because the school just announced that the baseball coach resigned.  Since the Norse won IIAC baseball titles in 2007 and 2009, this is bad news to me.

Here are some of the recent non-planned coaching changes that might hurt in the long run:

Baseball coach resigns to get married
Volleyball coach resigns to move to Twin Cities to be with husband
Next volleyball coach resigns to take Division I job
Tennis coach resigns to get paid more in another job (in the town of Decorah)
Swim coach resigns for better job, takes another job, changes mind and comes back to Luther
Football Co-Defensive Coordinator leaves for bigger job
Football Offensive Line coach leaves for bigger job

How will Luther replace some of these spots in the long run?  When Coach Hefty's top offensive coach left in 2005, the football program took a step back because they replaced him so poorly.

The baseball thing bugs me the most since it is the most recent and they have been solid to good in recent years.  The football situation has felt uncertain to me since about 2006.

How will Luther Football do this year since they have a senior QB and a stud LB?  I would like to be hopeful, but the Norse have been either 5-5 or 6-4 in 7 of the last 8 seasons.  Beating the Oles to start the season would be a fun way to mix it up!

[Floyd in Iowa City]

All-sports competition is over.  Here are the standings...

Overall
1 - Luther      - 17
1 - Wartburg - 17
3 - Central     - 12
3 - Coe          - 12
3 - Loras        - 12
6 - Simpson   -  7
7 - Dubuque  -  6
8 - Cornell      - 5
9 - BVU           -  2

Parity

I like that kind of parity!  Congrats to the Wartburg women for sneaking out an overall tie!

[Floyd in Iowa City]

With word that Cornell is leaving after this next season I looked up how the IIAC has stacked up since our conference became a 9 team league.  Upper Iowa left after the 2002 season so we have 8 seasons of play with 1 more to go.  Should be interesting to see if there is any shuffling of the order after this next season. 

Wartburg 53-11 4 titles
Central     49-15 4 titles
Coe          44-20 2 titles
BVU          31-33
Luther      31-33
Simpson   29-35
Loras       26-38
Dubuque  20-44
Cornell       5-59

Sometimes stats can be used to mislead, but these numbers reflect the IIAC football I have been watching.  Many of the bottom six have teams that are fun to watch some years, but Central, Wartburg, and Coe have clearly been better and more consistent.

What is crazy is that I still like to watch Luther play Central!   I guess that is like saying I like to smack my head into walls!

Bring on the Dutch again this year!

[Fannosaurus Rex]

The last time my retirement account took such a bad beating was 2008, which was the last time Luther beat Central.  I'm scared, very scared.

[doolittledog]

After spring ball UD updated their roster to show 66 on it.  About 2 weeks ago it was put down to 58...I was guessing that summer school was over and a few didn't make grades.  This morning it is now down to 50.  I'm wondering if those are the numbers that have showed up for preseason practice???

Yesterday showed
8  - Seniors
21 - Juniors
29 - Sophomores

Today shows
8  - Seniors
16 - Juniors
26 - Sophomores

Good news is most starters have returned.

Of the 50 returning players
16 - Wisconsin
12 - Iowa
11 - Illinois

I consider that 39 of 50 as in-state players...then there are
4 - Florida
1 - Alabama
1 - Alaska
1 - Hawaii
1 - Kentucky
1 - Minnesota
1 - Netherlands
1 - Ontario