FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[ExTartanPlayer]

Toph: Let's not be too serious with all of this. I was just pointing out that the Browns have a history of bad picks - no matter who they are. Is it a curse, a hex, a jynx - no clue - but it is a pattern. The Browns could draft Jesus to be the next franchise savior - and then cut him do to diminishing skills only to watch him perform miracles for the next 10 years.

There's an OK book called The Draft (written in 2004 or thereabouts) which walked through the draft process from several perspectives - player agents, college players, college coaches, pro scouts, pro GM's. 

One anonymous NFL personnel guy made a comment about how the Eagles and Patriots seem to draft really well, but he believed that the key to their success was how well the teams "coached up" their draftees & how they tailored their offense/defense to create specific roles for those guys.

Another good example mentioned in the book was Ronde Barber in Tampa.  The Bucs drafted Ronde & apparently, when he showed up to camp, he was not so good (like, so awful the GM wanted to cut him).  Tony Dungy and his defensive staff took it upon themselves to coach him up & create a system where he could succeed.

IMHO, teams in disarray always LOOK like they drafted poorly because they're changing the coaching staff (so the old guys are no longer a good fit for the scheme) or because the incumbent coaching staff blames the players for not being better.  A really GOOD coach with a really stable front office will take his draft picks and if they're not quite up to snuff right away, he'll work like heck to MAKE that player a success.

[Raider 68]

Going to be real hard for our offense (or anybody elses for that matter) to score points. Deffense or special teams will have to score, kicking must improve and we will have to play field position and get a short field. Can not turn the ball over and certainly can not average our 80 yards in penalties. Losing that game to Cap will probably keep us out of the playoffs if we can't find a way to upset the Raiders.

B38W,

I believe your assessment of B-W needing to be perfect in so many areas and force turnovers etc. is accurate. Frankly however, the Raiders seldom beat themselves. Even in the 2010 Stagg Bowl loss to UWW, Mount missed "key" opportunites and had a new QB for the biggest game of the year, yet had chances to win. Their opponent made the most of theirs and won the trophy. That said, B-W always plays the Raiders tough, so it will a good game( at least initially) and  hopefully well attended.

[B38W]

Just would like to watch something close. Like 70s said always seems to be close at halftime then Mount adjusts we dont and get an ass kicking in the second half.

[joelmama]

I'm only guessing, but I doubt you see Seaman again this year. If he tore a minicus, he can only make it worse. I think the Mount defense will disable the BW offense. It should be close in the 1st half, (always is) and I see 32-36 unanswered points in the second half.

This is of course because for the first time at home this year, they will have Kevin and I holding up the south wall.

Being a former trainer I should point out there are all kinds of different levels of torn Menisci.  Surgical procedures are the normal rehab these days and a four weeks "out time" is possible with certain types of tears.  Others may take 6 weeks or even 8 weeks.  Some tears dont require surgery and the downtime can be less.  Depends on what the MRI shows.  To keep you feeling a little better 70's when I was the head trainer at MUC microsurgery was just getting its start.  I was working on rehabbing a gymnastics athlete (male) at Kent State who just had the procedure two weeks previously.  If I didn't know better based on his strength and movement I would not have thought he had an injury at all.  A lot depnds on the athlete, pain tolerance and the nature of the tear.  One thing is for sure micro-surgery is a great tool and is much better than the railroad tracks up the side or the front of the knee that was normal 30+ years ago.

[Desertraider]

EX Tartan - great post. It illustrates (at least to me) my point about the revolving door the Browns have had in recent years. Since 1999 they have had Chris Palmer, Butch Davis, Romeo Crennel, Eric Mangini and Pat Shurmur roaming the sidelines. Each one with their own idea for the make-up of the team. I heard a stat when Crennel took over (and I have no idea how to verify it) that the Browns had 5 players on the roster in 2005 that were on the roster in 2000. A new QB, head coach and offensive coordinator every 2-3 years is no way to build stability. That is why I don't understand all the "get rid of Colt McCoy" stuff from fans. Kid played part of a season last year - and now has an entriely new system and coach. He may as well be a rookie at this point.

[seventiesraider]

I'm only guessing, but I doubt you see Seaman again this year. If he tore a minicus, he can only make it worse. I think the Mount defense will disable the BW offense. It should be close in the 1st half, (always is) and I see 32-36 unanswered points in the second half.

This is of course because for the first time at home this year, they will have Kevin and I holding up the south wall.

Being a former trainer I should point out there are all kinds of different levels of torn Menisci.  Surgical procedures are the normal rehab these days and a four weeks "out time" is possible with certain types of tears.  Others may take 6 weeks or even 8 weeks.  Some tears dont require surgery and the downtime can be less.  Depends on what the MRI shows.  To keep you feeling a little better 70's when I was the head trainer at MUC microsurgery was just getting its start.  I was working on rehabbing a gymnastics athlete (male) at Kent State who just had the procedure two weeks previously.  If I didn't know better based on his strength and movement I would not have thought he had an injury at all.  A lot depnds on the athlete, pain tolerance and the nature of the tear.  One thing is for sure micro-surgery is a great tool and is much better than the railroad tracks up the side or the front of the knee that was normal 30+ years ago.

I had microsurgery on Tuesday and got married on Saturday. The down side is it's the wife I'm divorcing next Wednesday. In retrospect, I wouldn't have gone on a Honeymoon to Mackinac Island where there are no cars.

[purple]

I hated to see Neal go down. I believe we need the flexibility to run him in the title game to win it.  Piloto looked good in his first complete game. He could be a championship QB by the time the big game comes around.  BW will be lucky to score and will be blown away by the passing attack of the Purples. The Raiders get very fired up for BW.  BW Week is a big deal to LK,always has been and always will be. You can feel the difference in the Raiders when they play BW. They know how important this game is to LK and will play their best game.

[seventiesraider]

 Although it's not the same type of situation, I remember a playoff team that came to Alliance that had bragged publicly about laying "a 7 spot" on the team they played the week before. It was the only time I ever saw LK appear to try to run up a score. I don't see that happening this week, because we are at home and have a full sideline of guys we can run in there if the score starts getting lopsided. 3rd and 4th stringers that will take a knee at the ten if that is what coach says.

I think we have enough strength at RB this year as to not need a running QB. If Piloto is on, and the line does it's job, there is no reason for the QB to be running. Bad things happen when your QB takes off, as witnessed last week.

We have at least 5 decent receivers, 2 or 3 I'd call great, as well as 2 or 3 good running backs, which is 2 or 3 more than we had this time last year. Let's just run the plays as they are laid out and not be running around too much out there, because, the drop off to the next candidate could be a season ender. If we have a QB that can lay a ball on the money 35 yards down field and to his choice of 4-5 receivers, then stand tall and stay in the pocket.

[ExTartanPlayer]

EX Tartan - great post. It illustrates (at least to me) my point about the revolving door the Browns have had in recent years. Since 1999 they have had Chris Palmer, Butch Davis, Romeo Crennel, Eric Mangini and Pat Shurmur roaming the sidelines. Each one with their own idea for the make-up of the team. I heard a stat when Crennel took over (and I have no idea how to verify it) that the Browns had 5 players on the roster in 2005 that were on the roster in 2000. A new QB, head coach and offensive coordinator every 2-3 years is no way to build stability. That is why I don't understand all the "get rid of Colt McCoy" stuff from fans. Kid played part of a season last year - and now has an entriely new system and coach. He may as well be a rookie at this point.

Agreed - you get what I'm saying.  Part of "drafting well" is keeping a coaching staff & front office in place so that the players you draft are a good scheme fit.  As you've said, with a revolving door in the front office, the players drafted just a few years ago (who might be legitimately promising prospects) now suddenly don't look so hot because they are square pegs trying to fit into a round hole.

[Kehresma]

Link to Terry Pluto piece, courtesy of Mt Union Facebook page:

http://m.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmobile.cleveland.com%2Fadvcleve%2Farticle%2FGy76mqyk&h=LAQEZchWa&refid=0

[Kehresma]

http://m.news-herald.com/news-herald/pm_109033/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=Y8tRNmB6

...another one



Sounds like Saturday will provide good challenges for Mt.U offense, further experience for receivers to deal with good pass coverage, and for qb(s) to  read and release the ball quicker

[Raider 68]

http://m.news-herald.com/news-herald/pm_109033/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=Y8tRNmB6

...another one



Sounds like Saturday will provide good challenges for Mt.U offense, further experience for receivers to deal with good pass coverage, and for qb(s) to  read and release the ball quicker

kehresma,

Thanks for the links! +k. It sure looks like the local Cleveland press is trying to help will a B-W victory. Wonder if the B-W players are reading it as well. Although I am not a J. Snell supporter, his teams have improved the past two years. Should be a great day for a home game. I look for a good performance for the Raiders and J. Collins makes his presence felt. B-W will have to have a good day running the ball and create turnovers to hang in there for 4 quarters, we'll see!

[PurpleSuit]

Link to Terry Pluto piece, courtesy of Mt Union Facebook page:

http://m.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmobile.cleveland.com%2Fadvcleve%2Farticle%2FGy76mqyk&h=LAQEZchWa&refid=0

I sure hope Mount is able to fend off BW on Saturday.  I mean, they have a trumpet

[edward de vere]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203716204577015903150731054.html

This is the first time I've tried to post a link here, so I hope it works.  This is an article about why the NFL doesn't show "All-22" film to fans.  Thought it might be of interest.

[Desertraider]

http://m.news-herald.com/news-herald/pm_109033/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=Y8tRNmB6

...another one



Sounds like Saturday will provide good challenges for Mt.U offense, further experience for receivers to deal with good pass coverage, and for qb(s) to  read and release the ball quicker

These are great links. I think this is the one that Snell talks about not knowing what Mount does to be Mount (essentially) year in and year out. That's seems funny to me. I mean UWW website talks about setting their system up like Mounts after Bob Berezowiz (I know I butchered it - but I have nothing but respect for the man) talked with LK about building the team, going to Mount to see the system in place. If at least one other team has an idea, and has built a machine as the result - what is holding OAC schools back since they play Mount every year?

However, what I get from these links is that some BW players "believe" they can win. Truthfully that is the main thing you need to have in order to beat anyone. We will see if they truly believe - or if they only want people to think they believe on Saturday. Best of luck to both teams on what I hope is a great - injury free- game.