FB: American Rivers Conference

[doolittledog]

Dubuque coaches show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioXbtuktYqo

Reviews the Dubuque/Luther game and previews the Dubuque/Coe matchup.

and...

Luther coaches show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i5oXIt7a-s&list=TLqpBEcujFWc_mtCsLIHraX48gNyZoN-NV

Reviews the Luther/Dubuque game and previews the Luther/Wartburg game. 

[NewKnightDad]

Dubuque coaches show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioXbtuktYqo

Reviews the Dubuque/Luther game and previews the Dubuque/Coe matchup.

and...

Luther coaches show.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i5oXIt7a-s&list=TLqpBEcujFWc_mtCsLIHraX48gNyZoN-NV

Reviews the Luther/Dubuque game and previews the Luther/Wartburg game.

Interesting new helmet logo on the Norse helmets for the Wartburg and Central games this year.  Looks like a rubber duck with a tent on top. 

[Fannosaurus Rex]

I'm an old guy and I'm having a hard enough time coping with Central's recent football fortunes.  Now I have to deal with this.  "Rising broadcasting stars Cory Houser and Justin Webster will fill in for Trevor Castle in calling the action for the Dutch on KRLS-FM (92.1) Saturday."  I shut the sound off of college football games on television when Keith Jackson (Whoa Nellie!) retired.  It just won't seem like a football Saturday in front of my computer without Trevor Castle.  I will have to listen though because the picture on my computer isn't sharp enough to always know what is going on.  I'm no engineer, but I will offer this advice to anyone who broadcasts and streams.  Just because you aren't on-air, don't think you aren't on-line.  Several times I have heard announcers, including Castle and guys from other schools who, I am pretty sure didn't know the world could hear them.

[putmeincoach]

Congrats to the other winners on Saturday as Loras might be in for a long season and that was a big win for Simpson.

I have a friend with a freshman son starting  J.V. for Simpson.  I suggested that he  trek to Dubuque this Saturday.  I think his son may get his first varsity action.  Am I giving him bad advice?  Do J.V. starters get a chance to play in varsity games?

a player can participate in 10 games total - one play constitutes a game - not sure if this helps but it appears more JV players play in varsity games at the end of the season

[hazzben]

Congrats to the other winners on Saturday as Loras might be in for a long season and that was a big win for Simpson.

I have a friend with a freshman son starting  J.V. for Simpson.  I suggested that he  trek to Dubuque this Saturday.  I think his son may get his first varsity action.  Am I giving him bad advice?  Do J.V. starters get a chance to play in varsity games?

a player can participate in 10 games total - one play constitutes a game - not sure if this helps but it appears more JV players play in varsity games at the end of the season

Really? Says who? Any team that makes the playoffs breaks this by 1 to 5 games.

[NewKnightDad]

Congrats to the other winners on Saturday as Loras might be in for a long season and that was a big win for Simpson.

I have a friend with a freshman son starting  J.V. for Simpson.  I suggested that he  trek to Dubuque this Saturday.  I think his son may get his first varsity action.  Am I giving him bad advice?  Do J.V. starters get a chance to play in varsity games?

a player can participate in 10 games total - one play constitutes a game - not sure if this helps but it appears more JV players play in varsity games at the end of the season

Really? Says who? Any team that makes the playoffs breaks this by 1 to 5 games.

I assumed he was referring to the regular season.

[warthog]

Give Coaches Willis, Winter, Hawken, and Burant this week to prepare for the unconventional Luther offensive attack and all will be good for the Knights this coming Saturday.  They might get burned on a play or two early, but I can assure you they have developed several different schemes to hold the Norse in check. 

Mabe's in Decorah or The Irish Shanty in Gunder for a post-game meal.  Decisions-decisions-decisions.

[warthog]

Sight of the day last Saturday had to be Coaches Toohey and Suhr charging on the field to greet some poor offensive lineman after the Knight's first extra point attempt was blocked.   
They took off like a pair of svelte Olympic sprinters leaving the starting blocks in the 100 m finals.  I don't know what the miscue was, but I can tell you the coaches saw it. 

[NewKnightDad]

Sight of the day last Saturday had to be Coaches Toohey and Suhr charging on the field to greet some poor offensive lineman after the Knight's first extra point attempt was blocked.   
They took off like a pair of svelte Olympic sprinters leaving the starting blocks in the 100 m finals.  I don't know what the miscue was, but I can tell you the coaches saw it. 

Add to that Coach Mugan jumping up and down around the kicker as he came off the field telling him to keep his head up and go get the next one. 

[Willie University]

Give Coaches Willis, Winter, Hawken, and Burant this week to prepare for the unconventional Luther offensive attack and all will be good for the Knights this coming Saturday.  They might get burned on a play or two early, but I can assure you they have developed several different schemes to hold the Norse in check. 

Mabe's in Decorah or The Irish Shanty in Gunder for a post-game meal.  Decisions-decisions-decisions.

Welcome back Warthog! I've missed the blue side of you 

Willie U

[D3Dutchman]

So I'm listening to the morning guys on KXNO on my way to work this morning (Travis and Tim in DSM), and they are talking about the state of college football in Iowa.  They actually get around to mentioning DIII and NAIA (total of 30 seconds maybe).  The consensus was that small college football is doing well in Iowa and that both NAIA and DIII are good brands of football, which was nice to hear.  However, at one point, the question is asked, which one is better (NAIA of DIII).  Tim (who is a complete numb skull about anything other than MVC basketball) immediately chimes in by saying that NAIA is the better brand due to the whole "scholarship" thing...Travis waivers, and finally begrudgingly agrees, if for no other reason than to change the subject.  We all know this is an apples and oranges argument, and that the real answer is that the top teams on either side stack up pretty evenly, but I digress...the NAIA scholarship thing just drives me crazy sometimes, and I needed to vent to people who might actually empathize 

That said, the state of NAIA football in Iowa, with Grandview, Morningside, St. Ambrose, William Penn, and Northwestern all being pretty strong programs right now, seems to be better than DIII in Iowa.  As much as it pains me to say, I think any of those teams would be an immediate player, if not favorite in the IIAC.  Certainly this would not always have been the case with Iowa's NAIA programs...let's say 5-25 years ago.  Has the level of play in the IIAC suffered to the benefit of these NAIA programs, specifically in the past 5 years?  I took a look at the rosters, and there are a ton of Iowa kids that I would assume would normally be gets for the IIAC (Grandview's roster is littered with kids I would expect Central and Simpson would have landed 5 years ago given the Central Iowa geographical ties).  I just think small college football in the state is spread too thin, and that the IIAC is suffering because of it...what say you?

Within the last 10 years or so Briar Cliff, Dordt, and Grand View started football programs, and Waldorf went from a junior college to a 4 year program.  I'm sure Grand View is stealing some kids that in the past would have chosen Central.  I'm not sure Briar Cliff, Dordt, or Waldorf have taken many away. 

Upper tier NAIA is pretty good. Morningside, Northwestern, Grand View, William Penn, and St. Ambrose would be fighting at the top of the IIAC right away.  The perception among their fans is those schools would mop up the IIAC without breaking a sweat, which is what bothers me.  Those games would be competitive.  You then have quite a drop off in talent in the NAIA once you get to the Briar Cliff and Dordts and Waldorfs of the world and they know it. 

Back in the early 80's when Northwestern and Central were both powers they played each year.  Northwestern won the majority of those games, but they were very close scores (usually single digits).  I think that is pretty much exactly what we would find today between a top tier NAIA school in Iowa and a top tier D3 school in Iowa. 

So long story short.  Due to the addition of some football playing NAIA schools, there has been some kids go NAIA that in the past would have gone D3.  I think top level NAIA and D3 are pretty similar talent wise with a slight advantage tilted towards the NAIA.  Which is pretty much what it was 30 years ago when Northwestern and Central were powers.   

Is the talent level spread too thin?  I think the perception is that talent is spread too thin because the IIAC hasn't been making deep runs in the playoffs over the past 5 years.  I think reality is that in the 1980's Central was really good, Simpson and Wartburg were fairly good, and the rest of the conference was pretty bad.  Fast forward to the present and what we have is maybe 2 schools that are struggling and 6 that are pretty similar talent wise to each other.  That, in my opinion is the difference. 

Now, scholarships.  I really wish broadcasters would realize how small a "football" scholarship is at these NAIA schools.  $4,000 is the largest football scholarship I have seen offered to a freshman over recent years.  Then when you add in the total aid package you find that the IIAC schools run from being competitive to much less expensive to attend than the NAIA schools offering that scholarship.  You just can't get the media to understand that.  You also get a certain percentage of kids that like to drive around town telling anyone that will listen that they are going to school X on a full ride football scholarship...which drive me crazy.  Of course, I've listened to more than one kid going to a D3 school telling people he was going to school Y on a football scholarship...so there you go.

I agree with most of what you say here, except that you don't have to go back to the 80's to find IIAC teams making deep runs in the playoffs, with great teams, and a couple of teams dominating.  You can find that in the past decade with Central, Wartburg, and Coe making some runs.  Also, I think the edge for top level talent goes to D3 over NAIA having watched both the NAIA and D3 championship games.  Have to think Mount Union owns Morningside...but, we'll never know for sure. 

I remember the ole' NAIA recruiting pitch.  They fancy themselves the equals of DII, and are fully prepared to trash schools like Central if you ask them what the difference is.  Snake oil salesmen I tells ya.  Thank goodness I didn't fall for it.  Unfortunately, seems like all the best salesmen found their way to Iowa NAIA schools. 

[hazzben]

I assumed he was referring to the regular season.

Yep, I got the regular season reference, I just don't think it's the case. I know of several schools where guys play in every JV game and also contribute on special teams in every varsity contest.

That and this rule would require that the NCAA had two standards of 'max participation' in a regular season, given the 12 games played at the FBS level.

This sounds more like a high school provision than a real NCAA policy.

[Pat Coleman]

That is the rule, though. You have a maximum of 10 regular-season contests plus a scrimmage. If you play five games on JV, you are not supposed to play more than five games on varsity. A regular-season contest limit is not just for teams, but also for individuals.

[warthog]

My summer and early autumn sabbatical from the board kept me out of the loop concerning some changes.  I just noticed the + or - karma.  I don't remember what I wrote that would have torqued off over 150 people, but I guess I did. 

I remember the Wartburg reject who ended up at UWW was upset with me and the entire Wartburg nation, but I doubt if he had the attention span needed to hit the bad karma button 150 times. 

[warthog]

My summer and early autumn sabbatical from the board kept me out of the loop concerning some changes.  I just noticed the + or - karma.  I don't remember what I wrote that would have torqued off over 150 people, but I guess I did. 

I remember the Wartburg reject who ended up at UWW was upset with me and the entire Wartburg nation, but I doubt if he had the attention span needed to hit the bad karma button 150 times. 

Oh yes, there was that one guy from U of Dubuque that really despised me, but I thought he hated everyone.  Then of course back in the days when Upper Iowa was in the IIAC, anyone with Peacock ties was always mad at me because I continued our family Wartburg/Upper Iowa/U of Dubuque banter on these pages.  Most Spartan fans recognized this as a personal family thing, but Peacock fans just went bonkers.  It appears 152 bad karmas aren't that unreasonable.