FB: American Rivers Conference

[doolittledog]

Doolittle:

Just saw that you asked me a question over on the Pick 'Em board.  I'd agree with you that the bloom is off the rose a little bit now as far as the Wartburg D is concerned, but what I was getting at for that prediction is that I thought Wartburg's defense would make the difference in the contest.  Not sure if that's actually how it happened - Wartburg was certainly able to put some pressure on the Central QBs, but Central was able to get back in the game on them in the second half.

I still say the Knights have one of the better defenses, if not the best, in the conference.  They really only gave up 14 points against St. Norbert, since the other TD came on a fumble return for a score.  Of the two TDs scored by SNC, one was on a short field.  Against Augsburg, 13 of Augie's 30 points came in OT.  Not making excuses, just saying that sometimes the numbers lie.  That said, they have room to improve an average of more than 300 yards allowed per game and only 6 takeaways thru 3 games does not equal dominance.

The Warty D seemed to be back to their old ways this past weekend.  I was just curious if something had happened in Waverly I was unaware of because I was expecting the second coming of the '85 Chicago Bears Defense and after the 1st two games I wasn't seeing it.  I suspect by the end of the season we will be singing the D's praises a lot more. 

[doolittledog]

Man, spend the last 21 hours throwing up with flu/food poisoning and you miss a lot   ....

Food poisoning at the inlaws

That thought crossed my mind...this is the 2nd or 3rd time this has happened to me after spending the day over there...and no one else ever gets sick when I do

[Klopenhiemer]

Man, spend the last 21 hours throwing up with flu/food poisoning and you miss a lot   ....

Food poisoning at the inlaws

That thought crossed my mind...this is the 2nd or 3rd time this has happened to me after spending the day over there...and no one else ever gets sick when I do

Sounds like a great reason to stay at home and mow the lawn next weekend

[DutchFan2004]

It is a pretty big slide, but I think there has been a lot of doubt in voters minds about a lot of teams early on. The three teams upset in this part of the country yesterday all slid.

Yes but I think there is a bias here with the voters.  SJU keeps the 5 spot lead it had on Central.  18-23 was 4-9.  Yet Central whopped SJU last season.  Both teams lost very much in talent to graduation.  Central was picked to lose to Wartburg by the preseason coaches poll so which is worse?  Losing to a team you should lose to or to a team that you were not supposed to?  Pat I am not picking on D3 just asking questions and trying to learn.  From my statement about bias I don't know what else to call it.  I think SJU is favored but I don't know why.  Central IMO is maybe where they should be,  They are young and need some seasoning to become a great team.  I know some teams have to be ahead of the Dutch as well, but I don't see the reason for SJU being ahead at this time. Time will tell more. 


PS nice to meet you on Saturday.  Wish you had had more time so you could have come for lunch.  Hope someday in the future that can happen. 

[DutchFan2004]

Man, spend the last 21 hours throwing up with flu/food poisoning and you miss a lot   ....

Food poisoning at the inlaws

Did you and the wife get plots at the cemetary?  Did she get extra insurance on you?  Could be things to check out.

[coocooforcoekohawk]

Classy.

An hour and a half to finish a case? I don't think it ever took us that long at Central -- even after the bar closed. Just sayin'. 

O.K. - 24 beers in one and a half hours after drinking since happy hour? 

It never took you that long cause.

A. you are so classy
B. The cops in Pella wouldn't let you sit behind a bar till 3:30AM
C. You were drinking Sharps

[dutchfan1]

http://www.coachoftheyear.com/default.aspx?&src=COY_email_votenow08

Vote for your favorite coach in the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Challenge. Votes accepted daily!

[Klompen]

In my eyes, Coach Mac was again the better coach.  Coach Willis just had the more experienced players and they managed to get it done.  Barely.

Lets wait till the end of the year for this discussion.  The off season work by McMartin and his staff definitely shows me an edge, excellent re-loading after huge graduation losses, but there's lots of season to go.  With any luck and some further confusion from other West teams I'm wishing for a rematch in round two of the playoffs! 

For Coach of the Year awards, absolutely you have to wait until end of the season.  That wasn't what I was talking about though.  I was only talking about this particular game.  For this game and the more experience on Wartburg's side with both returning players and one game more of experience, I thought Coach Mac did a better job with coaching adjustments, etc.  Nothing more, nothing less.  

[Klompen]

Wow, this board is so much more civil than the Hawkeye Nation right now. Central loses a tough game with a young QB and the Dutch supporters here applaud the team for great effort and look forward to next week. Over on the Rivals.com and Scout.com websites you would think that the sky is falling. As a matter of fact, from my view in North Carolina, I think I can see the fires from the lynch mobs advancing on the Ferentz and O'Keefe houses now. Not saying that I blame them, however.....

It is way too early to not look forward to the rest of the season.  The Dutch have a lot going for them and they played very well.  I saw tremendous improvement in the team as the game went along.  With all the young players, I think Central has a lot to look forward to this year and for many more to come.  Besides, D1 fan bases feel they are paying for winning seasons having highly paid coaches and players with scholarships.  They tend to ALWAYS expect nothing but the best. 

[DutchFan2004]

Wow, this board is so much more civil than the Hawkeye Nation right now. Central loses a tough game with a young QB and the Dutch supporters here applaud the team for great effort and look forward to next week. Over on the Rivals.com and Scout.com websites you would think that the sky is falling. As a matter of fact, from my view in North Carolina, I think I can see the fires from the lynch mobs advancing on the Ferentz and O'Keefe houses now. Not saying that I blame them, however.....

It is way too early to not look forward to the rest of the season.  The Dutch have a lot going for them and they played very well.  I saw tremendous improvement in the team as the game went along.  With all the young players, I think Central has a lot to look forward to this year and for many more to come.  Besides, D1 fan bases feel they are paying for winning seasons having highly paid coaches and players with scholarships.  They tend to ALWAYS expect nothing but the best. 

The price of $50 per ticket and donations for seating assignments might also have something to do with the outrage. 

[Klompen]

I think Willis was out coached yesterday.  I'm not taking anything away from Wartburg's win.  They did what they had to do and came away with a victory at Central, not something that happens very often.  But on the coaching, I give it to Coach Mac, I know I have red glasses, but here's why.
We gave WB a gift when we intercepted a pass on 4th down instead of just knocking it down, since we would have gotten the ball further upfield.  WB's FG barely wobbled over the posts, had that been another 10-15 yards out, Central wins.  Even when WB went ahead with 41 seconds left, Central made a valient effort, assisted by WB finally getting called for the interference penalties.
In my eyes, Coach Mac was again the better coach.  Coach Willis just had the more experienced players and they managed to get it done.  Barely.

Old man Klomp,
For being a superior coached team,  why did the kid intercept  the ball rather than purposely knock  it to the ground on 4th down if the field position was that much better? 
     
Also, it sounds like your bitching about the officials not calling PI on WB.   What plays are you specifically referring to? My guess is that you don't appreciate agressive/physical play by a secondary. (which WB typically is) 
Any offense gets more than enough calls on PI during a game/season.  Frankly, people compain about that call way too much.  If it's a close call (which happens often) I don't see why it should favor the offense. 

You are right, he should not have intercepted the ball at that point and I'm sure he knew it as soon as he grabbed it, but at that point he had full possession.  If he drops it then, it's a fumble and Wartburg could get possession back.  It is one mistake by a kid in the heat of a great game. 

I'm not going to get into an argument about the refs.  There were lots of could of, should of, would ofs in the game and I don't do that.  You win or you lose.  I was gracious enough to congratulate the Wartburg team on a hard fought win.  I stated my reasons why I felt on this day our coaching was better.  I'm not asking anybody to agree with them.  You want to get wound up about it, go right ahead.

[dutchfan1]

So Central drops in the polls from #9 to #23. That's quite the slide...

Nothing against the Dutch - they're a great team and hopefully they'll win out and be in the postseason field along with Wartburg - but I don't think I'm alone when I say that #9 might have been a bit too high for Central in the first place.

I thought #9 was too high to begin with myself. The top 10 rating was a nice compliment, but maybe a little optimistic when we graduated so many.

[the_mayne_event]

Wow, this board is so much more civil than the Hawkeye Nation right now. Central loses a tough game with a young QB and the Dutch supporters here applaud the team for great effort and look forward to next week. Over on the Rivals.com and Scout.com websites you would think that the sky is falling. As a matter of fact, from my view in North Carolina, I think I can see the fires from the lynch mobs advancing on the Ferentz and O'Keefe houses now. Not saying that I blame them, however.....

It is way too early to not look forward to the rest of the season.  The Dutch have a lot going for them and they played very well.  I saw tremendous improvement in the team as the game went along.  With all the young players, I think Central has a lot to look forward to this year and for many more to come.  Besides, D1 fan bases feel they are paying for winning seasons having highly paid coaches and players with scholarships.  They tend to ALWAYS expect nothing but the best. 

The price of $50 per ticket and donations for seating assignments might also have something to do with the outrage. 

it is worse when you make terrible coaching decisions.  games that are lost because of bad coaching are hard to take.  christiansen should never had been in the game in the 2nd half... stanzi was playing good.

[Outside the Crate]

I can't resist responding to the assertion that Coach Willis was "outcoached" on Saturday.  Let's see if I have this correct:  Willis takes over the Wartburg team one week before fall practice (anyone who thinks that's easy ought not assess anything publicly), then coaches his team to a very important win in a hostile/homecoming environment -- coming from behind in the fourth quarter.  If that's being "outcoached", I'll take it.  Truth be known, when I left the game I was not inclined to assign the win/loss to coaching; both teams played well.  Also, it seems to me that head coaches are increasingly only part of the overall coaching picture, so we ought to assess coaching staffs as much as head coaches.

[DutchFan2004]

Wow, this board is so much more civil than the Hawkeye Nation right now. Central loses a tough game with a young QB and the Dutch supporters here applaud the team for great effort and look forward to next week. Over on the Rivals.com and Scout.com websites you would think that the sky is falling. As a matter of fact, from my view in North Carolina, I think I can see the fires from the lynch mobs advancing on the Ferentz and O'Keefe houses now. Not saying that I blame them, however.....

It is way too early to not look forward to the rest of the season.  The Dutch have a lot going for them and they played very well.  I saw tremendous improvement in the team as the game went along.  With all the young players, I think Central has a lot to look forward to this year and for many more to come.  Besides, D1 fan bases feel they are paying for winning seasons having highly paid coaches and players with scholarships.  They tend to ALWAYS expect nothing but the best. 

The price of $50 per ticket and donations for seating assignments might also have something to do with the outrage. 

it is worse when you make terrible coaching decisions.  games that are lost because of bad coaching are hard to take.  christiansen should never had been in the game in the 2nd half... stanzi was playing good.

I may be all wrong on my assessment of why people are in an uproar with Iowa.  Reading the MIAC board they have the same feelings as the Iowa fans.  Maybe money does not have as big an impact on fan feelings as I thought.  I may have to rethink that.