FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[kickerdad]

A general question for anyone.  I am taking a road trip to Detroit next month for my nephews wedding.  I will be coming across PA on route 80, then into ohio and then north to MI.  I was wondering on the return trip, how far out of the way would Canton be?

Knightstalker,

I know what you mean about those knees. I have nothing left but bone on bone and I can predict weather better than these folks on TV.

Stay away from the PA Turnpike is all the advise I can give you when it comes to traveling in PA and OH. I rather drive 100 miles out of my way.

[kickerdad]

Knightstalker,

When were you in the Navy and on the Flying Fish?

[Knightstalker]

Knightstalker,

When were you in the Navy and on the Flying Fish?

Kickerdad, I was in the Navy from 80-84 and on the Fish from late august 81 to late august 84.

[kickerdad]

Knightstalker,

When were you in the Navy and on the Flying Fish?

Kickerdad, I was in the Navy from 80-84 and on the Fish from late august 81 to late august 84.

Was curious, a good friend of mine RMSC Elston Ollar (we called him Ollie)was stationed on board the Flying Fish, but this was early 70's. We were both at ComSubLant in Norfolk, and he retired from there. I got out in 77 and lost track of him.

[Knightstalker]

KD, I did a search for your buddy on the sub sites I know and his name did not pop up.  While doing that I discovered that second of my two best friends from the navy passed away two years ago.  Sometimes life sucks.

[HScoach]

Question for the Mt Union guys......How do you see Mount looking this coming year and what are your chances of getting back to the top?

In all honesty, I expect nothing less than a Semi-Final appearance.  With a return trip to Salem, VA at 50/50 odds.   Which is better odds than any other D3 team.  Whose odds would be better? 

WWW?  Not even close.  They needed 3 cracks at it and the stars to align to get their first.

Wesley?  They return a lot but from what?  A "good" team.  Not great.

MHB would be my choice as the 2nd most likely to win the title in '08, but without a major transfer upgrade at QB, I can't imagine how you could say they're in better position than Mount to win it.  With just the current roster returning, they're a legit threat.  Bring in a QB that can actually pass and look out.

The rest of the Top 25 from '07 is a HUGE long shot at best.

I'd easily pick MUC and give you the other 230+ teams and still like my chances in Salem.

Yes, Mount loses a ton of starters, but no one in the country has the depth that Mount has.  And if I could only pick 2 positions to build a team around, I'd pick my QB and TB.  Which is exactly what Mount has back with Micheli and Kmic.  Yes Garcon was a talent at WR, Wray was Mr. Everything, the O-line was experienced and very good, etc, but the 2 biggest keys offensively are a QB that is very, very good and a TB that might end up being the best the school has ever seen.    And defensively, they simply have too many athletes in an aggresive scheme to not be in the Top 10% of D3 in defense.  Plus they still have LK. 

In my opinion, that's still enough to win title #10 this fall.  Lord knows they've won a title with less ('98).


One thing is for sure, St John Fisher is going be wishing they hadn't opened with Mount

[joelmama]

A general question for anyone.  I am taking a road trip to Detroit next month for my nephews wedding.  I will be coming across PA on route 80, then into ohio and then north to MI.  I was wondering on the return trip, how far out of the way would Canton be?

What you would do is when 80/76 split near Youngstown take 76 West until you get to Interstate 77.  There you take Interestate 77 south about 15 miles to Canton and the HOF.  Overall this will add about 1/2 hour for the southern trip  on I77 (both ways) and another 30 minutes that you would have saved if you had not taken 76 on the 76/80 split. (or there about)

[kickerdad]

Question for the Mt Union guys......How do you see Mount looking this coming year and what are your chances of getting back to the top?

In all honesty, I expect nothing less than a Semi-Final appearance.  With a return trip to Salem, VA at 50/50 odds.   Which is better odds than any other D3 team.  Whose odds would be better? 

WWW?  Not even close.  They needed 3 cracks at it and the stars to align to get their first.

Wesley?  They return a lot but from what?  A "good" team.  Not great.

MHB would be my choice as the 2nd most likely to win the title in '08, but without a major transfer upgrade at QB, I can't imagine how you could say they're in better position than Mount to win it.  With just the current roster returning, they're a legit threat.  Bring in a QB that can actually pass and look out.

The rest of the Top 25 from '07 is a HUGE long shot at best.

I'd easily pick MUC and give you the other 230+ teams and still like my chances in Salem.

Yes, Mount loses a ton of starters, but no one in the country has the depth that Mount has.  And if I could only pick 2 positions to build a team around, I'd pick my QB and TB.  Which is exactly what Mount has back with Micheli and Kmic.  Yes Garcon was a talent at WR, Wray was Mr. Everything, the O-line was experienced and very good, etc, but the 2 biggest keys offensively are a QB that is very, very good and a TB that might end up being the best the school has ever seen.    And defensively, they simply have too many athletes in an aggresive scheme to not be in the Top 10% of D3 in defense.  Plus they still have LK. 

In my opinion, that's still enough to win title #10 this fall.  Lord knows they've won a title with less ('98).


One thing is for sure, St John Fisher is going be wishing they hadn't opened with Mount

hscoach,

How about your Line Backers, and D-Line, aren't you losing several key players in those positions.

[Spence]

Sports Information is such an underappreciated field.  When you work with SID's as a broadcaster you quickly learn who the good ones are.  I have always heard good things about MUC's SID and know that the OAC has some great ones.  Tim Glon has done a great job at ONU for years and years.  Some athletic departments don't appreciate the good ones when they have them.  SID's can have a lasting impact beyond their ability to share information on their programs.  They make a first impression on recruits in the OAC because of the way their informational pieces look and feel.  I'd be lying if I said that the media guides from Marietta were no competition for the ONU info I looked at as a senior in high school.  It put a notch in the "ONU" column for me in the recruiting process. 

Interesting, considering Marietta SIDs and graphic design folks have won awards for media guides in several sports.

Revisionism?

Nope.

But thanks for playing.  If you really want to know about my experience when visiting Marietta, I was unimpressed with Epley, the football training facility (read: double-wide trailer), the campus tour (with a freshmen guide who knew nearly nothing about the campus), their inability to get me an appointment with the department of fine arts (let alone that freshman giving us a tour not knowing with any certainty what building the art dept was even in) and the lack of athletic facilities in general at the time.  I know Etta has built a beautiful athletic center and field house since my recruiting days.  The campus in general is quite nice as well.  But the overall visit was quite underwhelming and I don't know who the SID was at the time I was recruited but it would appear that there has been a consistent changing of the guard since my visit as a recruit in 1999.  There was a new young girl there by the time I broadcast for ONU and while she was nice and accomodating, the athletic information was nothing to write home about then either.  Maybe all those award winning graphics were busy getting generated in that art department (wherever it is).  Or maybe Etta could have stood to benefit if they put as much work into the football media guide and recruiting materials as they did into the baseball media guides back in the late 90's/early 00's, they would have benefitted as well.

I will give Marietta one edge: The biggest squrrel I ever saw damn near tackled me outside the cafeteria that day.  You guys have some big rodents.

Oh ok so this has been a while ago. Still, I'm not going to argue the merits or lack thereof of the SID staff and their work. The person who was the SID when you came through is either the direction of communications for the college now or the director of compliance for a D-II department now, depending on who exactly it was. Both were very solid at their jobs.

I imagine the McCoy facility was under construction then.

Campus tours are luck of the draw pretty much everywhere.

Sorry your experience wasn't better. I think i'd have to have been raped by the squirrel to spend any significant amount of time in Ada, however. Can't imagine what made that seem like a good idea unless you were preoccuped with the quality of the football media guide.

[Spence]

I would love to see Matt Campbell or Stan Watson at Marietta.  Matt has more coaching experience, but don't know if he would come "back down" to D3.

Exactly the kind of "hey, he's from Mount, he has to be good" hire I don't want to see. Neither of these two are NEARLY as experienced as the guys I named, neither is ready to be a successful head coach and I imagine they'd be the first to agree.

I don't think a young guy that went to Bowling Green a year ago is coming back to D-III that soon, nor should he.

[Knightstalker]

+K to Joel Mama, thanks for the info on canton.  Is the Hall open on Sundays?

+K to kickerdad.

[Ric]

Hey all, hope your winter is a pleasant one.

In response to the question posed about Mount in '08, I think in any circle of teams that might be discussed about being able to win the championship of D3, Mount will be included.

Micheli will be one of the best QB's in D3, Kmic one of the best RB's. That's all that really needs to be said because those of us that have followed Mount over the years knows about the depth of talent ready to play at just about every position.

They will be solid. The only team I thought might have a shot at getting them in the regular season was Capital, but not anymore with the coaching change.

There was word Capital University hired a non-friendly president to athletics and we speculated if Collins left there might be some truth to that and...

Probably worse odds than Mount winning it all is which guy will the college nominate for the Gagliardi, Micheli or Kmic?

This year's team will not have the extreme talent level last year's did, and despite the fact some people over reacted because of one loss on one afternoon and questioned if they were overrated and maybe not even the second best team out there, this year's squad will have the one thing last year's didn't... the feeling of walking off the field for the final time last year losing a game rather than winning it.

Don't discount that, it's why a friend and I speculated all along last year that the one team we thought could beat Mount was Whitewater and that was a major reason.

Anyway, Mount will be my preseason number one. And that's not something I've said every year.

[seventiesraider]

I would love to see Matt Campbell or Stan Watson at Marietta.  Matt has more coaching experience, but don't know if he would come "back down" to D3.

Exactly the kind of "hey, he's from Mount, he has to be good" hire I don't want to see. Neither of these two are NEARLY as experienced as the guys I named, neither is ready to be a successful head coach and I imagine they'd be the first to agree.

I don't think a young guy that went to Bowling Green a year ago is coming back to D-III that soon, nor should he.

And yet your slobbering all over another Mount guy, Jim Zebrowski, who showed up at Whitewater when the table was set for any fool who showed up. Instead of throwing money away on Z, who doesn't seem to like staying in one place very much, why not spend the money and the time on an up and comer who has something to prove. Or Not.
Please, go hire another coach with no local loyalties and watch him get bored with Marietta in two years.

BTW If memory serves correctly, there was a guy named Larry Kehres who spent a year, maybe two at Bowling Green as an assistant, got his degree and left for the Non-D1 world.

[ace]

I am not saying "he is from Mount, he has to be good." But both guys are young, energetic, fairly local and have decent pedigree's. They would have the ability to draw from a football rich area.
They both played for and coached under the best D3 coach.  Both are very good men of high moral standards. Old enough to have experience, young enough to have drive.
I don't know if either even applied, but if they did, they are worth a look.
Being from Mount doesn't gaurantee you will be a good coach, just that you know one.

[HScoach]

Don't discount that, it's why a friend and I speculated all along last year that the one team we thought could beat Mount was Whitewater and that was a major reason.

You have friends?  Yeah, right.