FB: American Rivers Conference

[Dsquared]

Coach Mac won three years in a row.  That has only happened one other time in the IIAC and that was for Ron Schipper.  That is some pretty good company. 

That's the only company he has because the conference is too hateful to give it to a Wartburg coach every year he deserves it.  I'll open the can of worms again because Willis really didn't only deserve one COY.

[KCDutch]

Dsquared-
Do the coaches pick the coach of the year?  If yes, is it hateful by other coaches or the way Willis acted/treated others?  I'm not saying it is right, just asking why other coaches wouldn't vote for him (if the coaches pick).

[KCDutch]

Or is it that everybody just hates Wartburg?  If this were the case, I don't think they would have the most players on the all conference teams.

[sportsknight]

I say we suspend sportsknight for one day from making any posts mentioning Cornell

I can live with that.  Not sure I've mentioned that school in many posts yet this season, save for the weekends when they played Wartburg or Central.

On the subject of multi-sport All-IIAC picks, here are a few names that come to mind from my days at Wartburg:
Ashley Steines VB/SB
Ashley Rogers VB/SB (just named first team All-American in volleyball)
Amy Kueker VB/SB
Dia Dohlman VB/Track
Chris Winter Baseball/Football
Jake Olsen Basketball/Football
Brianne Schoonover BB/Track

And from before my time...
Molly Mason BB/VB
Jenny Donahue BB/VB
Kayah-Bah Pillman BB/VB

Also, I think my old high school classmate Tom Andrews was All-Conference in Baseball and Wrestling while at Loras.

[sportsknight]

My favorite Luther chant from my years at Wartburg:
We're not queer, we go here!
We're not queer, we go here!

Oops, looks like the Waverly police just pulled up outside.  Disorderly conduct charge, here I come.

....sportsknight,

I had a reply but decided not to send it.  Just to ask the question:  What is the jock culture on your campus?  I can't imagine that your faculty would be very proud of it.

Actually, I don't have a campus.  I graduated from Wartburg a couple years back, so I can't really speak to the "jock culture" there right now.  What I can tell you is that, as a non-athlete during my years at Wartburg, it never bothered me.  We used to joke that there were only three kinds of students at Wartburg:  athletes, musicians, and other.  Pretty much a true statement.  Of the freshman class that came in when I was a senior, I think somewhere in the neighborhood of 60-70% were athletes.
Again, can't really guess what most of the faculty think.  I know there were some profs that weren't know as being athlete-friendly, but I think most of them realize that Wartburg students are (for the most part) students first, and athletes or musicians or other secondarily.

[Charlie Kohawk]

Add Tommy Breitbach to the list of two-sport All-Conference performers following his well-deserved first-team two-position selection. (It's a much smaller list of people who have been all-conference selections at two positions in the same sport.) He's one hell of a competitor, be it in football, track or academics (as his pending Academic All-American selection attests.

Jordan Wilkens' selection was a no-brainer. He's a beast at DE!

Glad to see Andy Tekippe wasn't forgotten in the Connell-Jackson lovefest. I'll say it again -- pound for pound the toughest player in the IIAC.

Tate Harrison deserved recognition and got it, although only second team in a conference loaded with stud linebackers. He'll be first team next year.

I'm a big fan of Jordan Pinckney and was pleased that he was recognized. Jeremy Squires, in my biased view, deserved better than honorable mention. Kyle Brockmeyer deserved recognition too, but he'll have more chances.

[dbljay21]

It looks like, in keeping with twelve selections, two QBs= zero Tight ends on first team. Hense the one second team tight end. I think the traditional Fullback is the real dying breed on all-conference lists. ANDREW LOWER- ANDREW LOWER- ANDREW LOWER. I feel better now.

Traditional fullbacks are a dying breed in all of college football. H-back has taken the place.

You are also seeing the hybrid TE position...guys like Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez, Kellen Winslow, Jr, Vernon Davis and Greg Olsen.  Strong enough to play on the line, but fast enough to split out wide.  The position of TE is evolving and these guys are all very tough matchups.  You might start seeing more of these types of players in all divisions of college football.

[belikin70]

I was on campus in Pella (which I believe to be) the last time Maurer visited us at the house which was late 2000.  crazy....crazy...night.  let's get together and share some old beake stories.

[dbljay21]

Lu-Ther Sucks!
Lu-Ther Sucks!

My favorite Luther chant from my years at Wartburg:
We're not queer, we go here!
We're not queer, we go here!

Oops, looks like the Waverly police just pulled up outside.  Disorderly conduct charge, here I come.

that cheer doesn't have an validity, sportsknight...in case you forgot, Yordi got in trouble during "Coming Out Week" at Wartburg.  Now why would a college have a "Coming Out Week" if all the students were heterosexual    I thought people usually grew up during college and moved past their homophobic issues, but apparently not at Wartburg.

[dbljay21]

Or is it that everybody just hates Wartburg?  If this were the case, I don't think they would have the most players on the all conference teams.

I think everyone in the conference has a dislike for Wartburg, but an enormous amount of respect for them at the same time.  They are always a good football team and have good players that perform every Saturday.  And when you win as many games as the Knights have, you get rewarded by having many players on the All-Conference team. 

And that goes for Central as well...

[KCDutch]

My two previous posts should have been combined into one.

I hear Wartburg fans say Willis should have more COYs (and probably should have based on his record at Wartburg), but the reason given is everybody hates Wartburg. Is there any deeper reflection as to why?  Was it really b/c Willis coached at Wartburg or was it a Willis issue or just bad luck or a combination? 

If others hated Willis/Wartburg b/c they won, then surely they would dislike coach mcmartin and he wouldn't have won 3 in-a-row. 

[doolittledog]

I read a story awhile ago, maybe on this site that said 40% of the student body at an average D3 school participate in sports.  I would hesitate to call them all athletes as I spent one year on the UD tennis team and I am FAR from being an athlete. 

So if 40%-60% of a typical schools students are on their sports teams I guess they all have a jock culture.  Some maybe more pronounced than others.   

[Former Ram]

What about multi-sport all-conference selections?

Anyone else like to comment towards this?  This might take even more digging to find a multi-sport all-conference athlete.  Track & cross-country doubles, while amazing, should be left out as those are much more common.

Matt Ditch from Cornell comes to mind when talking about multi sport all-conference perfomers.  Two time first team wide receiver in football when they were more of a true option team, at least 2 time first teamer in basketball, won at least one conference long jump title.

[dbljay21]

Tyler Sherden and Kyle Wickwire were both All-Conference in Track & Field in 2004 and John Jaeger was All-Conference multiple years in baseball. 

[Dsquared]

I just don't think that Willis is given the respect he deserves for being the coach at the helm of turning Wartburg from a consistent upper-middle tier program to a program that is contending for conference championships on a yearly basis.  IMO undefeated records deserve COY honors... it's been said before, but talent only gets you so far.  You have to have a man commanding the ship that can get everyone going in the same direction.  I think McMartin's 1st title was well-deserved because of the turnaround from 2 "less than Dutch" seasons, and his last two are equally deserved for going undefeated.  No question about it.  I don't think Willis is lacking in the respect category from any of the other coaches... maybe not liked the most, but never un-respected.

I think the worst part about the single COY honor is that he never one the award when WB was truly at the pinnacle of the conference.  It was a joke that he didn't win it in the 2003 season... but that's been beaten to death.