FB: American Rivers Conference

[warthog]

It is Luther/Wartburg week and the great equalizer (rain) is in the forecast.  Luckily artificial turf helps some, but I wish the Knights were playing the Norse on a bright sunny day.

[5 Words or Less]

I channeled the ghost of Harry Carry over lunch ... BE ORANGE, rearranged spells:

be no rage
bear gone
organ bee
a beer nog
near Gobe
Beano reg. (vs. Beano extra strength)

[Fannosaurus Rex]

Losing to Simpson makes me as testy as the next Central fan.  But I'm not quite ready to take it out on the pep band.  I know the saying about what opinions are like, but mine, opinion that is, is that, in order of preference, I would take, a real marching band, any pep band, silence, and then canned music.  There is too much of that already everywhere I go.  I would like to see more people turn up for the games.  If I was the new AD, I would make the next home game "Pella Windows Day."  Then I would go over there the week before and give away 500 tickets.  The next home game would be Vermeer Manufacturing Day and I'd do the same.

[DutchFan2004]

As heart wrenching a scene as I've ever witnessed today at Coe when freshman QB Mark Atwater lay motionless on the turf after a clean, but wicked hit near the Loras sideline. Father and Coe defensive coordinator Larry left the coaching booth to be with his son while trainers and paramedics tended to him. Players on both sides knelt as the crowd stood silent. Brother Jordan, Coe's starting safety, emerged with a scared look on his face as their mom returned to the field. Mark suffered a concussion, but reportedly had feeling and movement in his extremities. But you couldn't see that from across the field. It wasn't until Larry returned to the booth that I knew everything was ok. Up 56-0 at the time, Coe certainly could have finished without him. But there was still time on the clock. And he's a Kohawk. And an Atwater.

Here's the Gazette account of the game:
http://thegazette.com/2012/10/06/atwater-injury-mars-huge-coe-victory-over-loras/

Hope he mends well.  Concussions are nothing to be messed with.  He may be out awhile but better he mends and takes time so he can play again than to rush back and get hurt again and have to quit the game all the way.

[doolittledog]

Losing to Simpson makes me as testy as the next Central fan.  But I'm not quite ready to take it out on the pep band.  I know the saying about what opinions are like, but mine, opinion that is, is that, in order of preference, I would take, a real marching band, any pep band, silence, and then canned music.  There is too much of that already everywhere I go.  I would like to see more people turn up for the games.  If I was the new AD, I would make the next home game "Pella Windows Day."  Then I would go over there the week before and give away 500 tickets.  The next home game would be Vermeer Manufacturing Day and I'd do the same.

Could Central also have local high school days?  Just like the ticket give aways for Vermeer and Pella Windows...could Central say anyone from ____High school or the city/cities that high school covers get in free???  Would Dutch sensibilities not like giving something away for free???

notlongago mentioned he/she could hear the Dubuque coaches swearing, but my family could not hear the Dutch pep band playing.  If Central switched their home seating to the other side of the field their fans wouldn't be looking into the sun, and maybe their voices would be a little louder to help pump up the football team.  That might get a few more people to come to the games. 

[warthog]

notlongago mentioned he/she could hear the Dubuque coaches swearing, but my family could not hear the Dutch pep band playing.  If Central switched their home seating to the other side of the field their fans wouldn't be looking into the sun, and maybe their voices would be a little louder to help pump up the football team.  That might get a few more people to come to the games.

I assume I can eliminate two of the Dubuque coaches as the ones who may have been swearing during the game.  The two who are Wartburg alumni and now Dubuque coaches would have never been exposed to the kind of vocabularly it takes to make a Dutchman blush. 

[D3Dutchman]

-Okay, so my last comment on the pep band at Central.  While I understand that "taking it out on the pep band" may seem like sour grapes, I also know that many of these students are probably very talented musicians who are also most likely receiving financial aid for their musical abilities.  My problem is there is no organization, effort, or enthusiasm...and that is unacceptable to me.  Honestly, it was embarrassing.  It would not be okay for the Dutch to go out and play that way on the field, and it isn't okay for the pep band either.  I remember Central having a marching band when I was a kid...and they were pretty good.  I'd love to see that make a comeback, but since that isn't going to happen, canned music is the best option.  It will at least be recognizable as music of some sort.  Keep the pep band if you want, as a novelty only.  U of I does a good job of combining the marching band and canned music on game day...Central could do the same with the pep band and music over the PA system.  It may seem trivial, but it really can get the crowd and team going. 

-As far as the stadium goes...yes, it is long overdue for a renovation.  Field, track, and lighting were supposed to be phase 1 (which has been completed, and is very nice).  Phase 2, as it was packaged in communications from the College, would be renovations to the seating / fan areas.  Essentially building a new home seating area on the current visitor side, and leaving the current home stands as visitor seating.  Central has completed several renovations to the campus recently...new, state of the art academic buildings, new dorms, renovated dorms, various aesthetic upgrades, etc.  For what Central football has done for the school, and the success they have had, the stadium needs to be next.  I've heard rumblings that this had been pushed to the back burner, and would be very disappointed if that were true.  I would have rather seen them keep the grass field and do a stadium renovation first...or keep the grass field in to perpetuity (but I'm old school on that one). 

-The "Dutch Sensibility" thing that was mentioned previously is complete hogwash.  I know people from outside of Pella still hold that stereotype.  That said, it no longer exists...pure myth...20 or 30 years ago, yeah...that was probably still holding on, but not anymore.  Athletics are very important in Pella, and both Pella High and Pella Christian have brand new/renovated stadiums and field turf playing surfaces.  Pella is not holding Central back from doing anything.  That said, I do believe that support from the people of Pella for Central Athletics has eroded over time.  It seems to show up more when the Dutch have more success, but when they are down a bit, the support disappears.  That is disappointing, but really no different than the support the state gives our major college football teams.  I know when the Hawks are struggling, while still technically a sellout, there seems to be more empty seats in Kinnick (especially in the student section).  Good news is...I think the Dutch will be good in the years to come.  As long as the players don't get tired of playing in front of a bunch of people that don't seem to care much   . 

Whew...sorry for the long post.  Certainly, I don't want to offend anyone...just have a lot of passion for this topic.  I want the best for the program, and I don't think they are getting that right now (through no fault of their own). 

[Pat Coleman]

-Okay, so my last comment on the pep band at Central.  While I understand that "taking it out on the pep band" may seem like sour grapes, I also know that many of these students are probably very talented musicians who are also most likely receiving financial aid for their musical abilities.

When I went to school it was not music majors in the pep band. I can't remember one.

[Klompen]

Okay, the game is over and Central lost, but just have to get one more Simpson joke in before waiting another year.

I really have to give credit to Simpson for playing a special needs kid at the key position of QB.  Every time they came to the line the poor guy forgot what the play was. 

Come on Simpson coaches, have some guts, make a call before you see how the defense lines up.

I know it wasn't your intent here Klompen, but for everyone who knows and loves a real special needs kid, that is a pretty hurtful joke.  I realize that's probably not at all how you meant by it, but it can still pick at a wound for certain people.

You are correct in that I did not mean it that way at all, I simply get annoyed with that come to the line, then step back to get the signal offense.  I should have just said he was forgetful.  And BTW, I had a true special needs uncle that lived with my family from my birth until I moved out of the house after college.  He continued living with my brother and his family until he passed away.  To this day, he was one of the most special men I have ever known.  But I am sorry to anyone I offended. 

[Klompen]

Are there any plans to improve the stadium at Central?  We saw plans for improving the soccer facility there, but noticed the football stadium looked very dated.  Gravel walkways on both the home and visitor sides.  The home side has a main stand that is small and metal roll away bleachers on each side of it.  The home side faces into the sun which seemed odd.  The Central campus looked fantastic, but to us, the football facility looked more like a high school field.  It was ok, it just seemed like a school with 30 conference titles, a national title along with multiple Stagg Bowl appearances should have a better looking place for their football team to play in.  We were told by some in-the-know that getting Dutch locals to open the wallet for sports facilities can be a hard sell, like they wouldn't want to be seen as showing off with a gleaming new stadium.  Maybe that plays into the game day atmosphere these days.

The facilities could use updating and there were plans in the long range plan to make the current home stands the visitor seating, which to me would be the best visitor stands in the conference unless things have changed somewhere that I haven't been to lately, like UD.  The plans sounded really impressive when I heard them, but now that we have a president who could not seem to care less about sports and is into the fine arts, who knows.  Plus enrollment is going the wrong way the past two years, so that makes it even less likely.  But then again, if you have someone else saying the stands are half empty, why change them? 

[Klompen]

Also, central did the same type of play calling last season so don't be a hypocrite

I'm not, I didn't like that either.  I may be insensitive, but I'm not a hypocrite.   

[Klompen]

Will things change at central now that there isn't a football guy as the ad. Heard they have a wrestling coach as ad. Wrestling never good at central either.

That's not what the second place national finish shows.  We may not have been good in your lifetime, but again, ancient history would say we were good at one time.  And the Interim AD is the current wrestling coach and a really classy guy, regardless of what you think of the wrestling program currently.

[putmeincoach]

Central is too busy figuring out how they are going to plan for the looming Y2K disaster to worry about athletic facilities

[Klompen]

On the topic of Central football fans, past and present, I do consider myself pretty much in the know.  In the Schipper days there was not one team that had better fan numbers and better travel numbers for fans.  Back then it was very common for Central to have more fans than the home team no matter who we were playing, and that includes Wartburg.  It was particularly evident at the schools where fans from both schools sat on the same side.  That said, other than the student section, the amount of enthusiasm from fans has not changed over the 40+ years I have personally watched Central football.  Except for a few of us rare loud fans, most of the Central parents and other similarly aged fans mostly just watch rather quietly.  That was as true in Central's glory days as it is now, if anything, fans over the last decade have been the loudest simply because we weren't slaughtering most teams and the normally quiet would liven up a bit to encourage the team.

As to open seats these days, first people like to follow a winning team and long time Central fans are conditioned to winning the championship nearly every year, and rarely having more than 1 regular season loss.  We are a mighty spoiled bunch and the last few years, while good by most people's standards, haven't measured up to what us old-timers were quite happily accustomed to.  I also think the traveling fans are likely down somewhat because we can now watch the games on the internet.  Not as fun as being there, but with gas prices and the economy the way it is, the internet is a more viable option than traveling to every single game.  I bet I went more than 30 years only missing a grand total of maybe 4 games, home or away.  Now it isn't as easy to get away because of other commitments, so the only away games I get to are Simpson, Wartburg and Coe.  And I will likely watch the Coe game over the internet this year to avoid a likely unhappy ride home.   

[Phred]

-Okay, so my last comment on the pep band at Central.  While I understand that "taking it out on the pep band" may seem like sour grapes, I also know that many of these students are probably very talented musicians who are also most likely receiving financial aid for their musical abilities.  My problem is there is no organization, effort, or enthusiasm...and that is unacceptable to me.  Honestly, it was embarrassing.  It would not be okay for the Dutch to go out and play that way on the field, and it isn't okay for the pep band either.  I remember Central having a marching band when I was a kid...and they were pretty good.  I'd love to see that make a comeback, but since that isn't going to happen, canned music is the best option.  It will at least be recognizable as music of some sort.  Keep the pep band if you want, as a novelty only.  U of I does a good job of combining the marching band and canned music on game day...Central could do the same with the pep band and music over the PA system.  It may seem trivial, but it really can get the crowd and team going. 

-As far as the stadium goes...yes, it is long overdue for a renovation.  Field, track, and lighting were supposed to be phase 1 (which has been completed, and is very nice).  Phase 2, as it was packaged in communications from the College, would be renovations to the seating / fan areas.  Essentially building a new home seating area on the current visitor side, and leaving the current home stands as visitor seating.  Central has completed several renovations to the campus recently...new, state of the art academic buildings, new dorms, renovated dorms, various aesthetic upgrades, etc.  For what Central football has done for the school, and the success they have had, the stadium needs to be next.  I've heard rumblings that this had been pushed to the back burner, and would be very disappointed if that were true.  I would have rather seen them keep the grass field and do a stadium renovation first...or keep the grass field in to perpetuity (but I'm old school on that one). 

-The "Dutch Sensibility" thing that was mentioned previously is complete hogwash.  I know people from outside of Pella still hold that stereotype.  That said, it no longer exists...pure myth...20 or 30 years ago, yeah...that was probably still holding on, but not anymore.  Athletics are very important in Pella, and both Pella High and Pella Christian have brand new/renovated stadiums and field turf playing surfaces.  Pella is not holding Central back from doing anything.  That said, I do believe that support from the people of Pella for Central Athletics has eroded over time.  It seems to show up more when the Dutch have more success, but when they are down a bit, the support disappears.  That is disappointing, but really no different than the support the state gives our major college football teams.  I know when the Hawks are struggling, while still technically a sellout, there seems to be more empty seats in Kinnick (especially in the student section).  Good news is...I think the Dutch will be good in the years to come.  As long as the players don't get tired of playing in front of a bunch of people that don't seem to care much   . 

Whew...sorry for the long post.  Certainly, I don't want to offend anyone...just have a lot of passion for this topic.  I want the best for the program, and I don't think they are getting that right now (through no fault of their own).

So all this stuff of 20 years (or an eternity) without a DUTCH 4-6 record is for naught?  COME ON MAN..........everyone takes a dip. 
It is just Central's turn for a few years now.  Warts will have there turn at the bottom too....They've been there.  Just look at UD, BV, LC and Loras.
You just don't remember when the Duhawks beat all the IIAC schools on Saturday and then beat all the Catholic schools on Sunday with the same team.  What comes around goes around.  It is not the pep band nor the ticket sales........it is KARMA !