Around the Nation board

[K-Mack]

I'm not sure how great a column that was ... we'll see if people respond to my rambling positively or not.

I did have trouble getting down to 15 key games for the weekend though. :shock:

The geography of states that you're not from can be really foreign. It took me years to realize that Colorado (you think Rocky mountains) and Kansas (plains) share a border. Iowa and Minnesota are two that have such different reputations, you'd hardly think they touch.

I will see you at the Stagg Bowl if not sooner. I guess you are Midwest for a while and I'll be trying to take ground-travel trips after three consecutive weeks of flying.

[patcummings]

Coming from someone who has flown more than 100 times so far this year...the Embraer 170 is actually not that small a plane.

Most versions hold up to 70 seats, some can go as high as 90.

The Embraer 135/145 has one seat on one side and two on the other, for around 18 rows.

The Canadair series of jets typically hold 50 seats.

The Saab-340 rolls around with 34 seats.

The de-Havilland Dash puddle-jumps with about 37 seats.

And old reliable, the Beechcraft 1900 struggles to get up with 19 peeps.

Mr. McMillan - you were flying high on the wings of fine Brazilian engineering with a myriad of seats more than many other regional jets.  To be honest - I'm surprised the Embraer 170 even got sent to Iowa - that seems too big in my flight experience.

[Pat Coleman]

Geek.

[Ron Boerger]

Coming from someone who has flown more than 100 times so far this year...the Embraer 170 is actually not that small a plane.

The Embraer is tiny if you are an ex-football player, 6'6", either, or both.  ;-) 
Maybe not when compared to a prop job, but let me tell you, cramming a 6'6" body into one of those little seats isn't much fun.  And I'm not even going to go into the ramifications of using the Embraer's WC. 

[dc_has_been]

"With the Yellow Jackets hosting the Panthers next week, they control their fate beginning Saturday."  From Around the Nation: Five games to watch.  Defiance will host the Grizzlies from Franklin next week.  They played Hanover Panthers & won last week in a lackluster performance.   

[K-Mack]

Coming from someone who has flown more than 100 times so far this year...the Embraer 170 is actually not that small a plane.

Most versions hold up to 70 seats, some can go as high as 90.

The Embraer 135/145 has one seat on one side and two on the other, for around 18 rows.

The Canadair series of jets typically hold 50 seats.

The Saab-340 rolls around with 34 seats.

The de-Havilland Dash puddle-jumps with about 37 seats.

And old reliable, the Beechcraft 1900 struggles to get up with 19 peeps.

Mr. McMillan - you were flying high on the wings of fine Brazilian engineering with a myriad of seats more than many other regional jets.  To be honest - I'm surprised the Embraer 170 even got sent to Iowa - that seems too big in my flight experience.

Yeah,
I've flown on all those other planes, even took a 20-seat prop once from Moses Lake, Wash. to Seattle on Horizon Air (maybe the Beechcraft you mention). I resisted the urge to call it a puddle-jumper because it was a legit jet.

I actually read those cards on Northwest that tell you about their entire fleet.

I was a little surprised I'd never even heard of Embraer.

But I definitely don't fly nearly as much as you, so I'm not shockd you know.

Grizzlies / Panthers ... D'oh.

I did know it was Franklin, FWIW.

[CNULifer]

CNULifer,
How bout a widdle kiss to make it all better....

Get over yourself and allow opinion to be opinion.

Don't need a kiss.

NCAA South region ranking is good enough.

With that said, I am a big fan of UMHB (they are pretty tough).  As a matter of fact I root for all the teams CNU plays against (except the week they play CNU of course).  In DIII you don't get to see many teams play like DI with TV coverage.  Having seen all of the teams CNU has played, I try to keep up with them and see how they are progressing.  It is a fun underground grass roots kind of experience.

[Pat Coleman]

It is a fun underground grass roots kind of experience.

I like that term for it. Good stuff.

[CNULifer]

Oh crap I said something nice and everybody is taking my bad Karma away!!!
I better mix it up with somebody real quick.

[dc_has_been]

No worries K-Mack just the educator coming out in me.   

[Toby Taff]

It is a fun underground grass roots kind of experience.

Agreed! +1 to you!

[Knightstalker]

The real puddle jumpers were the 16 seat prop planes that Pilgrim Air used to fly between New London and JFK, I flew on more than one of those while in the Navy.  One time the pilot lost most of his instruments and followed the highway to JFK.  Fun.

[Foss]

K-Mack, nice job again this week. Regarding your "Five games to watch" section, which included 10 additional games to keep an eye on - I thought you might include the #11 Whitworth at Willamette game. Willamette has defeated Whitworth the last three seasons, ruining their playoffs hopes the last two. It would seem Whitworth would be the heavy favorite, but they were favored last year as well and were stopped by the Bearcats. Whitworth faces Linfield the following week so winning the Willamette game (for the 1st time in 4 years) is potentially huge for them and their playoff hopes, and also keeps their perfect record intact heading into the Linfield contest.

[K-Mack]

Well,
Just a couple thoughts on UMHB-UWW, since I've seen both teams and wasn't able to write anything for the front page on it.

  I've been doing this long enough to know you can never assume two teams from different conferences will play a close game; many a big D3 game has become a blowout.

I think these two teams match up well in terms of being maybe the two most physical teams I've seen, and not just this season. Mount Union has had a couple of dominant lines, but at their height, UMHB could just line up and maul. They really only did that on one drive vs. CNU, so maybe since it's later in the season they have their offfense figured out a bit. That game was their first with a new coordinator.

Looks like Whitewater has used FB Travis Reuland, the closest back to Beaver -- literally -- as its main ballcarrier. But with such a multi-pronged passing game, I wouldn't be surprised to see their big plays come through the air.

The both run the ball really well, without gimmicks or fancy schemes ... I think Whitewater is probably good enough to survive without Beaver, but on the road, maybe they wouldn't be the so-called favorite anymore.

Both teams can throw well enough, but running is their bread and butter, and the front 7s and O-lines may decide this one.

With the unfamiliarity, maybe some trick plays will come out, but I don't know if that fits either team's style.

Solid coaching on both sides, good QB play, some weapons at receiver/TE. It should be a good one.

This is as big as it gets, non-confernence regular season in Division III.

We'll be on the air at 12:30 CST/1:30 Eastern with more detail.

g'night.

[Ralph Turner]

Also watch the UMHB punting game.   Hunter Hamrick is excellent.