Around the Nation board

[PapaSmurf]

I re-read it and realized I missed the point.  I guess I'm just too cynical at times.  Sorry.

[river]

The NCAA should change some of its playoff policies about playoff travel re the "islands" of Texas, Cali, and the Pac NW.  Granted the policies worked better when there were no islands and only the "mainland" of New York, New Jersey,  Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Minnesota, Virginia, etc. where playoff scheduling was easier.  But times and membership geography have changed and the NCAA's policies should change also to give the "islands" a fair shake, unless DIII wants to remain a mainly eastern/midwestern regional organization.

[CardinalAlum]

Pat,

What game are you going to see?

[Pat Coleman]

Today was at Thiel.
Next week at UW-Whitewater.

[ruggerrat]

gheesh Pat, don't you ever sleep?  good work though, makes it a lot easier than it was years ago.

[Pat Coleman]

gheesh Pat, don't you ever sleep?  good work though, makes it a lot easier than it was years ago.

No, I don't.

[retagent]

PCole - Regarding and earlier exchange, I would guess you can't bring me any Yeungling with you to the UWWW/SJU tilt could you?

[K-Mack]

Again,
I'll mention that I lost some pretty good feedback on the Trinity column when Outlook Express decided that about 100 of my e-mails weren't good enough for it anymore. Tried a recovery measure, will try a few others.

Until then, here are the latest comments, questions and answers from the ATN mailbag:

Below is the result of your feedback form.  It was submitted by
Not Important (bonakai@yahoo.com) on  Thursday, November 17, 2005 at 03:39:38 PM
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: The Real Flaw with the D3 Playoffs
Age: 22
Hometown: Midwest
Team I follow:
Notes: I appreciate how you cover the playoffs: noting the good along with the bad.
A lot of people resort to bash-only journalism when, like you say, this system is
the best in place.  However, the real tragedy is not the number of teams allowed
in... When teams win, it is the good of the WHOLE team, not the 52 guys that play the most.  Granted, the NCAA has to watch costs, but money has far less value than team.
What percentage of players are actually on the sidelines for teams that get in?  If 100 guys are working their butts off and dedicating their lives, why do only 50% get to be part of it?  That is the real loss.  If teams 'A' and 'B' have 200 players collectively but only 'A' gets in, only 25% of the players between those two teams will really get to be a part of the game.  This is wildly unfortunate. 
You guys do a great job, keep it up.  You make the players feel special and the
crowds are well informed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Not important,"
Your opinion is worth sharing, although it would help us if we knew a little bit more about you. Perhaps you yourself were left off a playoff roster or are close with someone who was? In any case, you hit it on the head ... a lot of it is about money, and costs are kept down with the strict roster limits for the playoffs ... and we appreciate the kudos.

> Below is the result of your feedback form.  It was submitted by
> Joe xxxxx (xxxxxxx@comcast.net) on  Saturday, November 19, 2005 at
> 09:37:44 AM
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Subject: 250th win
> Age: 64
> Hometown: Wilmington Delaware
> Team I follow: Lycoming College
> Notes: Did I miss an article on Frank Girardi's 250th win?  Or are you
> planning to write one soon??  Thanks.
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joe,
Frank's 250th was acknowledged on the front page the day of the win, and
there was an item about it in Around the mid-Atlantic the following week
(http://www.d3football.com/atr.php?region=midatlantic)

Other than that though, I don't know of anything planned, save another
mention in the year-in-review. I'm sure you can understand that most of
our energies this time of the year are focused on the playoffs.

Thanks,

Keith McMillan
Keith@D3football.com

we all saw the strength of the CCIW this year with Augustana, North Central, Wheaton, and Carthage all being ranked in the top 25 at some point in the season.
How far do you see Augustana and North Central getting in this years playoffs?
And more importantly how would you see the conference turn out next year? I like Carthage next year which i see having a great offense returning all starters from this year and giving O'Boyle a year under his belt, and the defense even with losing all the seniors still has experience with Moore, Fox, Powers, Shenault,
Lynn, and they played a lot of freshman as well. O'Boyle or Freshman corner Tom
DeBaker in my opinion, one of them should be the freshman of the year in the
conference. If you could reply i would appreciate your opinion. Thanks

Rick

To be fair to Rick, this e-mail is from before the weekend. I liked North Central quite a bit, and believe I said the winner of the NC/Cap game will beat Wabash ... Augustana has a chance, based on what Pat (who's seen them) has told me, and what we know. I actually think all four of the teams left in the North are pretty good and could win another two games if they play well.  It's not as stacked a bracket as the West, but it's not far behind.

As far as next year, that's hard to say at this point since so much can change between now and then, and perhaps Elmhurst or Millikin could find some consistency next season.

I think the 21-3 out of conference record is the really telling stat about the CCIW's strength this year.

There's supposed to be an article about the CCIW's strength in the Elmhurst student paper, but I can't find it online yet.

[gordonmann]

Based on your glowing review of the Clamorin' clucks, a few of those lost emails may've been solicitations by Trinity College for further contributions.

[K-Mack]

Gordon,
thanks for your contribution. 

[Pat Coleman]

The new ATN was posted this afternoon, by the way.

[cawcdad]

At plus-11, Hobart is the third-best remaining playoff team in turnover margin, behind Augustana and Union.

Fourth best remaining team in turnover margin, behind Augustana, Union, and LINFIELD!

[kubiack78]

At plus-11, Hobart is the third-best remaining playoff team in turnover margin, behind Augustana and Union.

Fourth best remaining team in turnover margin, behind Augustana, Union, and LINFIELD!

and UWW

[Llamaguy]

OK K-mack you know I have to give you grief atleast once a year!

Good call on picking against Bridgewater once again. Lets see they have been in your Top 25-35 all year since a 1-pt loss to McDaniel in Week 1. Picked W&J last week and Thiel this week. Eventually you will get one right and it most likely would be next week against your pre-season Nat'l Champion pick in Texas. You know I'm just giving an ex-ODAC'er a hard time. The beauty of it all for BC is this post-season is just an appitizer as next year we will be even better and a legit Top 10 team!

I'll be cookin' some kick-butt barbque chicken at the Stagg Bowl this year. Make sure to stop by Stone Station and grab some before you go into the booth. See you there. It will be "The Great D3 Tailgate Party" once again this year!

[Pat Coleman]

At plus-11, Hobart is the third-best remaining playoff team in turnover margin, behind Augustana and Union.

Fourth best remaining team in turnover margin, behind Augustana, Union, and LINFIELD!

and UWW

Not per-game. UWW is plus-12 in 11 games, Hobart is plus-11 in 10 games. That's how the NCAA ranks pretty much every stat, on a per-game basis.