FB: Ohio Athletic Conference

[Mr. Ypsi]

KO-HAWK,

To taunt ONU at the very moment they are mourning the unexpected death of a popular 34-year-old coach is reprehensible.  You are a moron and a jerk!

Pat,

I don't know whether Ko-Hawk has violated any specific rule justifying banishment, but is there some point where just being a total turd comes into play?

[reality check]

Pat

How much longer must we put up with this jerk?

KO-HAWK

I would ask you to have some class but you have proven that to be more than one can expect from you.  So how about you just give it a rest for tonight?  Have some respect at least.  

[Pat Coleman]

Sorry -- perhaps someone might consider sending me an e-mail or using the 'report to moderator' link on the post to get my attention. I do not have the ability to read every single board on an hourly basis. Complaining to me on the board isn't helpful.

[onyxrook]

Thanks Pat.... I was just about to do that
We've just been spoiled by your attention to us; that's all

[Mr. Ypsi]

Pat,

Thanks - and I'm not even an OAC guy!

I'll echo onyxrook - you've gotten us so spoiled with your prompt responses, doing anything beyond posting messages seemed like overkill!

To taunt ONU posters immediately following several messages of condolence struck me, at least, as FAR more reprehensible than anything previous posters had done to get banned - I see his posts were removed; I take it he is as well?

[pios]

That is very shocking news about Coach Benny, as we called him at Etta.  I cannot resound enough how great of a guy and coach Benny was.  He put all he had into the program when he was there and will be greatly missed by all of those who knew him.

[njlincolnlion]

Condolences to the Bendekovic, Ohio Northern and Allegheny Families upon the loss of Ron Bendekovic.  May God comfort you during this time.

[theaprof]

Thanks Pat for getting rid of that idiot Ko Hawk.

My thoughts, too, are with the Bendekovic family and everyone in the ONU family.  He obviously had a chance to touch many lives at ONU and elsewhere.  I am sure that he will be thought of fondly for years to come.

[skunks_sidekick]

The Purple Raiders rule is over?  Dayum.....I wish someone would have told that future OAC quarterback first-teamer before he came to Mount.  He is going to be MAD!  Oh, they better let Garcon, and two really really talented freshman running backs know too....didn't they get the memo?

Next year Mount will have one of their most talented, explosive offenses ever assembled.  Yah.....the reign is over!   

[Jeremybozz]

  Our prayers go out to Coach Ron's players and family.

[seventiesraider]

Let me get this straight:
  A 21-14 loss in a monsoon and three losses in three years means Mount is in the Dumper? Larry Kehres has lost as many games as the years he has been coaching and it's over? Mount fields a simply awesome JV team and we don't scare anybody any more. Just because Whitewater, St Johns and Linfield are competetive we should hang our heads and go polish our trophies? If memories serves there have been others like LaCrosse, Bridgewater, Rowan Lycoming to name a few who peaked and dropped back into the pack.
Don't look in your rearview mirror RP, there is a Purple steamroller coming. Heck, I thought it was over in '97. I'm willing to say I was wrong.

[Toph]

I just noticed the line in one of RP's posts saying that Mount is "not a national power anymore, there days of bulling [sic] the OAC are over as well."  As I said on another board last week to a similar post, what is this, a joke?  THEY LOST ONE GAME.  That's it, that's the list.  If a 70-0 drubbing of a team that has a shot at the playoffs isn't bullying, I don't know what is.

They'll still make the playoffs, and there's no reason they can't make a run at the national title and win the damn thing. 
Mount guys, consider yourselves lucky in this way:  When your program loses one game a season and hasn't won a title in two years people talk like it's the end of the world.

[reality check]

I think there is some truth to RP's points.  I think if you think about how special the run of dominance was (7 titles in 10 years is almost unthinkable in college football), then it is not so crazy to say that Mount's days of complete and total domination of Division III are over.  I think that the days of them being in and seemingly winning every Stagg Bowl are less than likely.  It is not a knock on Mount Union.  The odds are stacked against them in this matter.  To get there as often as they did; to win as many as they have, those are truly unbelievable accomplishments.  I don't think Mount's glory days are over by any means.  I do however think that they will not have the same level of success in the playoffs in years to come for the simple fact that maintaining that record or success is hard to do and they are bound to trip up a bit more as the gap has been closed a little between Mount Union and the rest of Division III.

This comparison may be totally out of line but since I have to hear about them every day living near NYC as I do, let me try to justify myself.  The New York Yankees and the Mount Union Purple Raiders are similar in the fact that they have had dominant runs around the same time.  The success of both teams is almost incomprehensible.  But the Yankees have not won it all since 2000.  The Yankees still have a chokehold on their division and they are a very realistic threat to win it all every year.  The odds however are agaisnt both teams to put the same kind of run together that they did a few years back.  It's just a special circumstance that is nearly impossible to duplicate.

The loss to ONU and the recent shortcomings in the playoffs (UMHB, SJU) could be the thing that Mount Union needs.  Now the fans that were spoiled by certainty have a reason to go to a few more games.  They might have reason to make some noise in the stands; to get off their hands.  They might make attending a game fun again.  You might have people come out just because "this game might actually be close".  Wins could be more appreciated rather than expected which is what makes Saturdays in the fall so much fun.  All those titles are fun I'm sure, don't get me wrong, but they gave many a "ho-hum" attitude when it came to winning games.  For a decade now, fans have gone to games without one key ingredient to college football in their heads.  MUC fans have attended games without that "question mark" in the back of their mind.  It doesn't have to be big, but that little bit of uncertainty adds so much to the experience and brings the game alive.  It adds a fire and passion.  All this is what so many have complained was lacking as of late in the stands.  Now you have it.  And it's all because of the absence of total domination.  You can't have it both ways, but you might just enjoy this even more than before.  The absolute and total domination of Div. III might be over for Mount Union but I think the fun might just be starting over for you as true fans.

[raiderguy]

RC

Extremely well put. We have been spoiled and now someone wants to steal our candy. Well as Mount fan I hope that  doesn't happen. I hope the team realizes the old saying "On any given Saturday". But it does have to happen once in awhile before you really believe it can.

There isn't one team in the country that wouldn't want to have our resume over the  last 11 years. Or a coach that has a record that represents one loss for ever year he has coached. National Championships aside. There certainly is something to be said for a feeling you expect to win because we all know you need a certain amount of that to be successful in any thing you do. But if it is taken for granted and the effort to maintain that edge isn't sustained then we all know what the consequences can be.

I still maintain we expected to win in '03 especially after a 66-0 pasting of Rowan in the semi's. All we needed to do the next week was show up. Right? We ran into a team that believed even more that they could play with us. Their runnning back scoring right before half time was only one small example of that belief. No one was going to keep him out of the end zone. That really set the tone for the rest of the game and Mount couldn't change that momentum. I watched St Johns play that whole year and knew we had a game ahead of us. The good news is if you have to lose it is to a class act like the Johnnies.

No one BTW mentioned that St Johns was done as a program last year after losing 3 games trying to defend their title.

Last year....who would have believed the chain of events to end that game. 14 point lead blown in the fourth quarter, one first down away from running out the clock and a Stagg Bowl return, one Hail Mary pass for a loss and a day to clean out the lockers.There were way too many stars out of alignment for us that day, if you believe in that sort of stuff.

ON ANY GIVEN SATURDAY

I can only say we now have 1 in a row, looking for a new streak!

[Kira & Jaxon's Dad]

Raiderguy,

I still maintain we expected to win in '03 especially after a 66-0 pasting of Rowan in the semi's.

I think we beat Bridgewater 66-0 in '03, not Rowan.