FB: American Southwest Conference

[jmnaseum]

Yes Pat, you are right -- enrollment is helped out

I was speaking of revenue such as DI -- (gate receipts, tv, uniforms etc)

Thanks for your point !

[CruAlum39]

tlugrad2000--

I coach in the Houston area...

We have a quarterback that runs a 4.4 forty, a graduated running back who now is on scholarship at Navy.  We had last year and have this year a few Div. III type players on our team.  I would say we are toward the bottom end of the spectrum in the Houston area in terms of having pure "athletes" on our team.  In our district, Brenham always has around 5-7 Div. I prospects and we saw a running back from Waller who now plays at the Univ. of Texas.  his is at the 4A level.  We played Lamar Consolidated in the quarterfinals and faced a reciever/safety who plays at Oregon, and a running back who scored 53 touchdowns in 12 games his junior year with 3,300 yards rushing.  We play a few teams out of Houston ISD such as Houston Bellaire, CE King, and see many more as we scout.    There is no shortage of athletes in this part of Texas, I can assure you of that. 

And I have to side with roocru on the issue of a coach having "only two state championships at the high school level".  That is an achievement that only a select few coaches in football are able to accomplish.  He did it twice, and I can assure you that it wasn't just luck.  I only hope to have the same accomplishment in my many years coaching high school football.

[Bill McCabe]

Roocru and CruAlum39,  I agree with you about the 2 State Championships.  There are thousands of coaches that would like to have one, or for that matter, to have played in the championship game.  There are a lot of high school football players that could contribute to many D3 programs, but they choose not to play after high school.  Recruiting to a D3 program may be one of the most difficult tasks for a college coach.

[yessir]

The No. 1 reciever in the nation last year came from a little 2A West of Houston called Hempstead (Watermelon Capital of the World). He now goes to LSU and caught a TD pass against VT. The Houston area has alot of talent. To say that there is a lack of talent in south Texas is insane. What's crazy, is the amount of talent that is just walking the streets, wasting the talent because they couldn't make the grades or they didn't like the coach. I had alot of buddies who could of exceled (sp) in D3 football, but chose to hang out on 1st street for the rest of their lives.  I would say that Texas, as a state, has an abundance of talent.

[Weak Safety]

Comments from a "biased" HSU fan on the Around the Region column written by a self-admitted "biased" UMHB alum.

I have to say that I was a little bit stunned when I saw the D3football.com Top 25 poll. Hardin-Simmons got absolutely rocked in their first two games and they have only dropped from No. 11 in the preseason to No. 20 in the Week Three poll.

In Week One it was a 47-21 loss to UW-Oshkosh

"Absolutely rocked?"  27-21 late in the 3rd to the now #5 team in the nation.  A shootout with the now #13 team in the nation that Linfield fans said could have gone either way.

HSU played UW-LaCrosse, not UW-Oshkosh-B-Gosh.

If your definition of "absolutely rocked" is giving up lots of yards and lots of points, then you are correct.  When I think of absolutely rocked, I don't think of a 10 point ball game. 

After going with a bit of a platoon system in the first game the Cowboys opened the game with Clint Bricker under center.

Feaster started the game. 

But that defense? They're struggling bad.

True.  Will they struggle against unranked opponents?  We'll see Saturday, when they face the ASC player of the week.

Second, Jimmie Keeling is a phenomenal coach

True.

(For the record, my last college basketball game was a JV game against Hardin-Simmons. I scored one-point, almost got ejected and screamed a curse word about three feet from this girl I liked and her mom. If you're going out, go out in blaze of glory.)

Funny Stuff! 

If you think I'm biased and I'm the only one who thinks this way then go vote in the poll in the front page of the site. More than 2,800 people have voted and 32.9% of them believe that Hardin-Simmons is the 0-2 team in the most trouble this season.

The question was not "Do you believe Hardin-Simmons belongs in the top 25?"  It doesn't surprise me that 32.9% of people believe Hardin-Simmons is the 0-2 team in the most trouble --- they still have to play UMHB.


This was a fun topic for the column, and should get some good, healthy conversation going!  What does everyone else think?  By the way, thanks for your work each week Chris!

[Pat Coleman]

I think I'm surprised it took that long into the night before someone poked at the obvious holes in the rant.

[Foss]

Why rip on a team who lost two games to teams ranked higher than them (and both in the D3 top 15)? Would drilling a couple of cupcakes make them a really good team, since apparently losing to two solid teams makes them "not very good right now"? I would bet all but 10-15 or so teams would drop both games if they played UW-La Crosse and then had to travel all the way to the northwest and play Linfield. Hardin-Simmons being ranked #20 sounds about right to me. If they lose additional games, especially to non ranked teams then yes, drop them out of the top 25. But all we know now is Hardin-Simmons lost two games to two teams they were supposed to lose to. Instead of hammering them, how about giving them credit for entertaining all of D3 by having the nads to schedule tough out of conference teams?

[dsc]

Good comments by Weak Safety and Foss...

We'll see...maybe the article can "stir the pot."  I wonder if it is on the Bulletin Board in HSU's locker room?

Would anyone doubt that "Chris" was a UMHB graduate?

UMHB is still trying to shake off being parvenus!

Good luck, Cowboys...now get serious!  Once one, always one!

[Pat Coleman]

Good comments by Weak Safety and Foss...

We'll see...maybe the article can "stir the pot."  I wonder if it is on the Bulletin Board in HSU's locker room?

Or on the bulletin board of all the so-called "lazy" voters ...

[Kelly Boggs]

UMHB is still trying to shake off being parvenus!

From the American Heritage Dictionary: par·ve·nu (pär"v...-n›", -ny›") n. A person who has suddenly risen to a higher social and economic class and has not yet gained social acceptance by others in that class.

I doubt the team sees itself as a parvenu. It seems clear the powers-that-be at DIII do not view UMHB as such. However, I do think there are some posters that have a problem accepting the CRU's rapid rise to success. Of course that could just  be jealousy.

Allman's piece was his opinion and he admitted his bias. I don't know what guidelines his "Around the South" column has. That said, in my estimation is was more of an Op/Ed than it was a report.

As far as how good HSU is, Oct. 6 will tell me what I need to know. However, if UMHB had given up 600+ yards in the first two games, I would be concerned no matter who they had played.

I am of the opinion that HSU is a bit down this year. They have lost some very key leaders and their defense did not even slow down UW-LAX or Linfield. I have no idea where they should be ranked, but when you have a playoff system polls are just nice decorations - that can be distracting.

I just hope that UMHB does not get caught admiring its lofty ranking. But if the CRU really is a "parvenu," that should not be a problem because they will be hungry to gain acceptance and respect. Forget the polls CRU, just go win and, in the words of Coach Yoast in Remember the Titans, "Leave no doubt!"

[Zmotion10 out on 2]

UMHBalum-n-CenLa

+1 -- I agree...good post.

HSU has to get the defense corrected.  They have played two very good teams.  But they have got to get on this defense and get it fixed immediately.

MHB has put some impressive teams together.  That seems to be the case again this year as they brought back a ton from last year's team that was simply awesome.   MHB is the cream of the crop in the ASC.  As bad I hate to admit that being a Cowboy fan.  The good news for HSU is they have a lot of room for improvement and the coaching staff will get those things fixed.  As Bill Parcels said, we may see some churning of the roster – particularly on the defensive side.

[Bill McCabe]

Hats off to HSU for scheduling two tough opponents to start the season.  Two losses does put them in a precarious situation for a bid to the playoffs.  UMHB has also scheduled two tough teams to start the season.  Time will tell if they are all as good as they seem to be right now.

[Ralph Turner]

Hats off to HSU for scheduling two tough opponents to start the season.  Two losses does put them in a precarious situation for a bid to the playoffs.  UMHB has also scheduled two tough teams to start the season.  Time will tell if they are all as good as they seem to be right now.

The big gamble and a gamble worth taking...
If HSU wins both games, and sweeps the conference, then we would be looking at 3 playoff games, and maybe a 4th, in Abilene.
Split the pair and you are contending for a Pool C bid.

[Bill McCabe]

Ralph,  The would meet in the first round!   

[Ralph Turner]

Ralph,  They would meet in the first round!   

ARGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!