FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[b4uknewit]

   70's    Sorry your boy has to miss the train ride. Hope you enjoyed aqyaulity day with him yesturday!  I think I drank ALL the wine I purchased on the wine train in Nappa 2 weeks ago.  Nappa Valley wine train tickets $230.00.     1 bottle of Turnbull Sauvinon Blanc  $120.00      a Mount Playoff Victory    PRICELESS  

[JT]

b4,

The Napa train rocks!  Me and the lady spent Thankgiving week 2004 in Napa and Sonoma.  Nothing better than wine tasting at 10:30 am before stepping on the train.  That is the life.

[MountFan08]

Somebody please tell me Ross Watson had the flu. He got burned all day and fell down on the one TD. Not the same #20 from the first Cap game.

Seventiesraider

I was lucky enough to sit in on the post game press conference yesterday and apparently Watson is a bit banged up.  It was either Kehres or McDavid that said he had been battling hamstring injuries all year and he also hurt is shoulder during the game trying to block a punt.  They said it took a lot of guts just for him to play.  Hopefully he'll be in better condition next week.  And on a side note I don't think it mattered who Mount put on Howes he burned everybody.  Watson, Rose and Fehl all were put on him and they all got burned. That kid is a heck of player and Mount is lucky he didn't play in the first matchup between these two schools.  He could have changed that outcome immensly.

[Ric]

MountFan08, which one were you? Not sure if you know me but I was in there standing along the wall.  I was the one that asked the question that LK said it gets him all teared up, that was a pretty incredible comment by him about McDavid.

JT, also the last time these two teams played I hadn't heard of a past, present and future three diamond ring, let alone have a wife dropping hints about how much she likes them.  Being married 20 yrs hurts the pocket book.  If anyone would like to donate to that fund there are numerous ways to find me.

BTW JT if you are traveling on your own expense account you're welcome to crash at my place Friday night.  The plus side of that is I'm two minutes from the stadium, the bad news is I have three teenage boys.  It might be quieter at the Comfort Inn, LOL.

[Ric]

Oh one more thing I want to say about yesterday's game. Joel Sickmeier hits as hard as any linebacker I have ever seen play in D3, and that includes that arm biting, crotch grabbing LB that is now proabably doing that in the NFL.  It was a pleasure watching Sickmeier play! 

[JT]

Ric,

Ah diamonds.... they do indeed make one poorer in the pocketbook.  Who knew that women could want/wish for diamonds every year?

Why is it that she's more likely to get expensive jewelry than I am to get a Superbowl vacation?  This January I'll take a pass on the Superbowl.  I don't believe in cold weather Superbowls.

I'm working on all the website updates today.  Thanks for the housing offer.  Ad revenue and previous donations should cover most of the trip.  I'll probably stay at the team hotel.

I just have to avoid getting the bad cold that my Fiancee picked up, and I'll be in Alliance snapping pics from the field.

[crusader26]

By watching all of Cap's games this year, the biggest thing that struck me was the amount of pressure they put on the other team's offense.  After reading every team's post game reports, there was always a comment about Cap's defense & how fast they are.  Now, watching yesterday's game, how ironic is it that Cap didn't have one sack??  IMO, that was the reason why MUC ended up with the "W".  Kudo's to the MUC O-line, they looked unbelievable!!  But, not to take anything way from MUC's line, I think Cap should have blitzed &/or used some stunts.  I would like to watch this game on film, and see how many times they did this.  You give any QB that much time, someone will get open.  

Lastly, in regards to Cap's offense, yesterday's performance was nothing unexpected.  Rocky is the best QB in the OAC, & I think yesterday's performance was an exclamation point to that remark!  He showed his leadership & experience yesterday.  With Howes & Kraft at WR & TE, he had weapons this year, but the difference this year on offense was their line.  I don't think Howes performance yesterday was due to Watson being banged up, but it was the time the O-line gave Rocky & Howes to use some double moves.  Watson bit more than once, along with Barren.  Howes is not very fast, but he runs great routes & has got the best hands on the team.  You man up on him & get physical, it is a different story (ask NCC & WC).  This was a very exciting game to watch...5 lead changes & 3 ties...Wow!  Good luck MUC the rest of the way!!

[HScoach]

Earlier in the year, there was a discussion raging on whether MUC has gotten worse or the OAC better.  Don't remember where I stood on that issue, but I'm very clear now.   I can't remember a time where the top 3 in the OAC were as closely matched and as talented as Capital, ONU and MUC where this season.   And it sure looks like next season will be the same.

Congrats to Capital and Mount on such a great game.   I missed the 1st meetign and was really looking forward to seeing the Cap D after hearing so much about them.  And they didn't disappoint.  Especially Sickmeier (too bad he didn't stay at Mount )   For the first time since the '00 Stagg vs SJU, I actually felt bad walking out of the stadium for the opposing players and coaches.  They played their butts off and deserved to win that one as much as Mount did.   Congrats to the OAC as a whole.  The conference is as strong and as deep as it ever been.  In fact I wouldn't be too surprised to see another OAC team win a Stagg before the decade is out.   Capital and ONU were good enough to get there.

On the "Howes burning MUC all day" thing, I have a slightly different take.  No doubt that Howes made the catches and did so very well , but I was more impressed by Pentello's accuracy in putting the ball EXACTLY where it needed to be.  The coverage on Howes wasn't perfect, but it wasn't terrible either.  Those plays were just simply a perfectly thrown ball to a very good WR.   It's not like there wasn't a DB within 10 yards of him.   Hats off to Pentello.  He stepped it up bigtime!

My biggest surprise of the game was how little blizting and moving around the MUC defense did for the first 3 quarters.  I would have figured that the game plan was to beat the crap out of Pentello from the start.  

[beenhit2hard]

Was Joel Sickmeier not a Raider at one time 

[mtfan]

Was watching the replay last night, it was really awesome for once to hear the crowd coming over the TV announcers for once like it was some Div1 game, really great! If we could get that kind of noise week in and week out you might actually see LK crack a smile!
seventiesdRaider
Was great meeting up, lol,  the jersery was a dead give away! Was hoping to catch you Moe, just got so hectic in getting there too the brunch early enough.  I think Ross had a stinger again with the arm, but he did get scorched on a few. Not sure why he didnt get turned on a few passes as if he didnt know the ball was in the air or what, but one pass completion practically nailed him in the helmet

[MountFan08]

Ric-
I was the one sitting in the first seat in the back row.  I don't know if you saw me but I have a goatee and was holding a cd player/radio.  I was there for the Mount Union student station's coverage of the game.  I'm the lucky one who gets to stand on the sidelines during the game. Maybe I'll see  you next week.

Also I was thinking, what would this Mount Union defense been like had Sickmeier not transferred.  He was laying some of the biggest hits I've ever seen out there.  Can you imagine him and Gibbons roaming the middle for the Raiders, they'd be unstoppable.  Oh well, guess we can only imagine what that would've been like.  Good luck this week to the Raiders.  And congrats to Capital on a terrific season and thanks for showing that the OAC is the best conference in D3.

[seventiesraider]

Thanks for the info on Watson. I really hated to say anything negaive about him as he has been so very consistant the past few years, but he really looked to be struggling yesterday. Here's hoping that with a week to recover he's back to speed.

[crusader26]

Ric, just read your game story of yesterday's game, and read that Kmic now has 695 yards and eight touchdowns in the Raiders three playoff games.....wow!!  Do you have any room on your front page to add this kid, as he deserves to be up there??  

This young man is going to be a dominant player in the years to come.  This kid does not ever stop running hard...he's fast, strong, and is going to punish a lot of DB's!  Sick put one of the hardest hits I have seen on him, and he got up like it was nothing (though, I am sure he was seeing some little birdies)!

[seventiesraider]

The last two weeks have kinda reminded me of the Chuck Moore years when the stadium was full of Mogadore jackets. I lost count of the number of Delta hats and coats. No bad for a small town just beyond Toledo Express Airport.  Certainly more impressive than braving the 20 minute drive from Mogadore. Quite a show of support for Nate Kmic.

[mtfan]

It would really be amazing to see Nate end up with 1,000 yards rushing for the playoffs, not sure if that's been done but what a feat to accomplish and actually obtainable right now with his stats!! Saw Chuck Moore yesterday too, what an inspiration to the rest of the team to have the likes of Moore, Bruney, Campbell, Kandel, and Sirianni there who've "been there and done it!" rooting and coaching this new cast of players in achieving another shot at a national championship!