FB: American Rivers Conference

[Klopenhiemer]

I'd think the WIAC would be a better league to set our sights on.

I totally agree with this...I am a fan of some sort of yearly rivalary between the IIAC and another conference.  MIAC has produced some good programs in the past (most notably St. John's) but the WIAC maybe be taking a bit of an edge.  UW-L (despite the three losses in a row), Whitewater, Eau Claire, Osh Kosh, etc. are all top notch programs.  I would typically say Platteville and RF are at the bottom, but after the Pioneers win over the Eagles this past weekend, it looks like they have a conference where any team can beat anyone else.  Plain and simple, the Iowa Conference needs some national respect.

As for the rest of SportsKnight's post...I still think Waldorf would be a good school to add to the Iowa Conference (just my opinion...I am well aware that the conference is not looking or even will be looking to expand anytime soon).  Could joining the IIAC help out Waldorf in getting a better program?  It's not quite NCAA D-1 where I think a school like ND needs to join a conference to attract athletes who want to go pro (let's face it...traditions like the Fighting Irish aren't attracting top star athletes, the money in the pros is what they want to see...which comes with National titles, Big Ten titles, SEC titles, etc.)  But as we have seen, pro athletes from D3 isn't out of the question.  Jackson is one example, UW-La Crosse has had a pro player or two (I'm sure there are a number of other D3 schools that have had a pro player).  From what others have posted on here Waldorf is improving and could maybe use a strong conference to keep improving just like some of the current IIAC schools have.

I can agree with this as well.  At one point I had ties to a Northern Sun team and received great insight from the players on the team.  The NSIC and the WIAC had a boarder battle at the metrodome every years end.  This was usually dominated by the WIAC.  Most recently on the opening weekend of the season Eau Claire embarassed SW MN State.  This is a d2 scholorship program getting beaten badly by a d3 team.  Also I remeber my Beavers heading up to this same school and winning on there home turf. 

Bemidji State, Winnona State, and Concordia have been respecatble over the past tenure.  Northern State at one point put together some decent team but has not been great recently.  Although they did quality for the Mineral Water Water Bowl a year or two ago.  This is between the NSIC and MIAC.  They usually place the second place team in this division and get embarassed as well.  Crookston, Moorehead, Wayne State, Northern State, SWMN State, could all be mediocre in the IIAC.  Top teir IIAC such as Central, Wartburg, Coe, and Dubuque now could all handle themselves in this confernece.  IMO just because you can give scholorship does not mean that you have a better program. 

Note:  I did read the posts regarding Cornell.  I agree with most all of the responses and rebuttles.  Nice work men.  I will give me honest opinion of recruiting.  I can compare this to the NSIC as well.  The sub par teams are branching out around the nation to find talent and players to come in and play.  What you end up getting a bunch of kids who are not used to living in the enviornment that most of these schools are positioned in.  Small town, corn fields, a couple good bars, and Iowa kids who know how to have fun.  I have not seen a great response from kids from CA or FL coming into Iowa or MN and playing in the IIAC or NSIC.  I think if we take a look at the rosters of the top IIAC teams in the leauge (excluding Dubuque) you will see they are winning with home cooking.  They are pulling the top talent out of Signoreny, Clear Lake, Mason City, ect, ect, ect.  Just because Cornell brings in kids from around the nation doesnt meant it leads to anything more than a better science department.  This doesnt and I do not think can releate to more wins on the football field. 

[Floyd in Iowa City]

Thanks for the feedback Beaver of Yore an MN Beev!

[Ash Park]

Well Cornell is going to have to do it with mostly out of state kids to get things going because it is pretty tough to get the Iowa kids right now. They all want to go to other schools in the conference. Until Cornell starts winning more ball games they will struggle to get a lot of Iowa kids. They are going to have to start it with mostly kids out of state I'm afraid. Although if they pitch the you will play right away they might get some more Iowa kids possibly?? I don't know but it would be true that you would have a better chance of playing early at Cornell than anywhere else.

[doolittledog]

It helps a ton if you can keep those kids around through their senior season.  When I was in school you saw a lot of kids that never came back after thanksgiving break. 

Talent is talent, doesn't matter if it is from Iowa or Florida.  Also, just because you come from Florida or California doesn't mean you are good.  Another thing, you can be talented, but if you are a freshmen or sophomore there is a good chance you will get schooled by an opponant full of upper classmen. 

Dubuque currently has a football team with 23 seniors.  A lot of those guys were starting as freshmen and sophomores and went 2-8 both years.  Those same guys as juniors and seniors are playing winning football.  Experiance goes a long way towards having a successfull team.  Not just talent. 

[DutchHawk]

Dubuque currently has a football team with 23 seniors.  A lot of those guys were starting as freshmen and sophomores and went 2-8 both years.  Those same guys as juniors and seniors are playing winning football.  Experiance goes a long way towards having a successfull team.  Not just talent. 

You bring up a question I had, I was just on here to ask how many Seniors Dubuque had playing. That undoubtedly shows the reason for their success the past two years...the question is will they maintain the top half of the Conference standing for the next years or will the fall off again. It seems like the perennial contenders (Central, Coe, Wartburg), always seem to have a great mix of freshman, sophs, jrs and Seniors playing on the field together every year. My question is will having such a senior heavy class that is basically solely responsible for their turnaround the last few years hurt DBQ in the next couple?

[doolittledog]

I think it will hurt them in that Dubuque probably won't challenge for the conference title next season but I don't see them falling back to 2-8.  Probably more like in the neighborhood of 5-5.  They didn't have a big turnover of players from last year.  Most of the underclassmen are still with the team and it seems they are in for the long haul.  So next year they won't have a lot of experiance on the field but they will be familiar with the system and I think will win some games. 

I think the coaching staff is doing a good job in Dubuque.  They might not challenge for the title every year but I also don't think you will see Dubuque going back to being a bottom feeder again. 

[DutchHawk]

doolittle - I think thats a good thing. It seems like this years senior class is very talented but I havent seen/heard much of underclassmen. This will hurt no doubt but I would expect them to be in that 2nd tier of teams that jumps up and challenges fairly often, always playing the top teams real tough. If it was possible I would hope no team had to be a bottom feeder, making the conference a dog fight day in and day out!

[DutchFan2004]

doolittle,

I don't think it has been asked yet, but where is the Mcintosh fellow (I believe that was his name) from last year?  Did he not come back?  Is that why the passing game is less than last year? Or is it that the running game has been more effective? 

[dbljay21]

I think it will hurt them in that Dubuque probably won't challenge for the conference title next season but I don't see them falling back to 2-8.  Probably more like in the neighborhood of 5-5.  They didn't have a big turnover of players from last year.  Most of the underclassmen are still with the team and it seems they are in for the long haul.  So next year they won't have a lot of experiance on the field but they will be familiar with the system and I think will win some games. 

I think the coaching staff is doing a good job in Dubuque.  They might not challenge for the title every year but I also don't think you will see Dubuque going back to being a bottom feeder again. 

We have mentioned this before on the board, but I will mention it again...having ALL teams competitive from week to week will only strengthen the IIAC and prepare the conference champion and possibly another at-large team for the playoffs.  The only way you improve, in any sport, is by competing against tough opponents.  Having a competitive conference from top to bottom only helps all the teams, and will lead to more recognition and respect for the IIAC  

[doolittledog]

doolittle,

I don't think it has been asked yet, but where is the Mcintosh fellow (I believe that was his name) from last year?  Did he not come back?  Is that why the passing game is less than last year? Or is it that the running game has been more effective? 

McIntosh has been listed as a starter for all but the Wisconsin Lutheran game.  He has 9 receptions for 144 yds and no td's on the season.  He had no stats for the Rockford game.  His high for the season is 3 receptions for 53 yds against Wisc. Luth.  He had 1 rec for 33 yds against Cornell.

UD seems to be focusing more on their running game this year.  They have a 3 headed monster with Jackson, Primm and Clayton...with Clayton also catching a lot of balls out of the backfield.  They also have a pretty decent o-line. 

[ramfan27]

The one thing that hurt us at Cornell while I was there is the that we could never get experience on the both sides of the ball for one season.  My sophomore year we had an experienced and very good offense.  However our defense was very young, as in off the top of my head I can think of 7 sophomores and freshman that started and all were first year starters.  That led to some games were we scored a ton but still lost (that was the year we lost to Coe 66-63).  Two years later however our defense was very experienced but we had a young offense, specifically the offensive line.  That translated into quite a few 13-0 and 21-14 losses for us that year.  The key is being experienced year in and year out on both sides of the ball, and as someone said earlier I think that comes from a steady mixture of fresh, sophs, jr's and sr's playing on both sides of the ball.

[Ash Park]

I absolutely agree with having a good mixture of  kids playing. Most of the time when you see that is when the teams have a large number of kids with a lot of talent. Cornell isn't going to just focus on getting numbers but also getting quality athletes and football players. Will Cornell ever have 120 kids out for football? Probably never but there is no reason they cannot get to 85-90 which would be just fine.

[doolittledog]

Another advantage D3 football might have over D1 that my dad and I discovered last weekend.  If it is raining out and you didn't bring a poncho or umbrella...just go over and stand under the tree that's right next to the visitor bleachers!!!  That and the fact that 2 tickets plus 2 hot chocolates and a bag of popcorn cost us a total of $16.00 was pretty good as well.

[Purple Heys]

Another advantage D3 football might have over D1 that my dad and I discovered last weekend.  If it is raining out and you didn't bring a poncho or umbrella...just go over and stand under the tree that's right next to the visitor bleachers!!!  That and the fact that 2 tickets plus 2 hot chocolates and a bag of popcorn cost us a total of $16.00 was pretty good as well.

...and the beer woulda been free had we been able meet up at the tailgater...   

Had to drink most of myself...come to think of it, it did tend to ease the pain of the drubbing on the field.   

[doolittledog]

Another advantage D3 football might have over D1 that my dad and I discovered last weekend.  If it is raining out and you didn't bring a poncho or umbrella...just go over and stand under the tree that's right next to the visitor bleachers!!!  That and the fact that 2 tickets plus 2 hot chocolates and a bag of popcorn cost us a total of $16.00 was pretty good as well.

...and the beer woulda been free had we been able meet up at the tailgater...   

Had to drink most of myself...come to think of it, it did tend to ease the pain of the drubbing on the field.   

Sorry we missed you, we brought some beer to share with you as well.  I was also scared my dad might become a Cornell fan just so he could go to chameleans more often.  Everytime I have talked to him this week he has brought that place up. 

I won't be able to go to Dubuque this weekend for the UD/Central game.  I am so nervous about that game I might not even listen to it over the internet.  I think I might just fire up the lucky lawn mower at 1pm and then come in after 3 hours (it takes 4 hours to mow our place)  to see how it all turned out.  I am not ashamed, nor do I think it is an unfair advantage to use good luck charms to help out my team