FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[cardinaldad]

As a Cardinal fan, I've been watching Cardinal football for four years. Augi fans and players, I've never heard a Cardinal fan (I can't speak for students) boo or berrate a player or team. The boos yesterday were aimed at the officials, not the Augie players. Notice it stopped after the officials were out of ear-shot. Shame on the officials for making two controversial calls to help determine the outcome of a great football game. The call with no time should arguably have not been called in any sport on any level with a championship on the line. Both calls on the last drive were very suspect....even looking at it subjectively the next day when cooler heads prevail. Hopefully, we can meet again to determine the true better team....without controversy!
Yes, the Cardinals had their chances to seal their own fate. Augie is a great football team. They don't need any help from the officials to prove that.

[Augie6]

Shepherd,

I think it's great that you are true football fan and Christian.  And I also think it's great that you would like to share your opinions about CCIW football on this web site.  However, in several of your posts you have positioned yourself as an "expert" and made statements that seemed (by you) to be beyond challenge.  Fans of several teams (Augie, NCC and Wheaton) have challenged you on these statements.  You may not like the tone of some of these responses, but I think it is a direct result of statements made by you that many posters on this site believe are blatantly wrong.

As for your last statement, I don't believe I've ever seen a Wheaton poster state that they hate to visit Augie because of the fans and how they are treated.  Augie is a Lutheran-affiliated school which, the last time I checked, is part of the Christian faith.  If you don't like the responses you are getting, maybe you should re-examine how you come across in your posts.  If you don't see anything wrong with it, you should probably not post at all because you will continue to get the same type of response.

[dansand]

Let's not mess with anyone's free speech just yet, but I think Shepherd may be confusing cronyism with rationality. Heck, I've never been popular enough to have cronies. Maybe someday, though.

[Augie6]

I'm hoping we can move past the "class" discussion that resulted from the Augie/NCC game yesterday.  Yes I am happy that Augie won, but I'm also happy that the CCIW will have two teams representing the conference as long as NCC takes care of business against NP.  It has been a great year for the CCIW, with 4 teams being ranked in the top 25 during the course of the season and with Elmhurst showing that they could be challenging for entry into the "Big 4" of the CCIW. 

I'm looking forward to the Augie/Wheaton game this weekend.  A few of us ex-Augie players live in and around Wheaton and we always get together before and after this game.  Hopefully, this will be the first year in awhile that we will be able to celebrate an Augie victory. 

[augievike]

Cardinaldad,
       I have not been able to watch the game film yet so i can't say for sure what i think about the last 2 penalties.  But i will say that if he was offsides on the last FG then the refs made the right call.  No matter if it was the last play or if it was the middle of the game.  Either way it was still a great game. 

[cardinaldad]

I can honestly say that most Cardinal fans recognize and respect good football. In every stadium, at any event, you have a few goofballs. Unfortunately, they can't be totally controlled and can make most of the fans appear classless just as the Augie players appeared to be classless yelling at the Cardinal fans. My first thought was how classless they are until someone pointed out to me that they probably thought the boos were directed at them, when in fact they were directed at the officials.

[cardinaldad]

Augievike,
     True. The game films will determine whether the calls were correct or not. However, in that circumstance, it is usually a no call in any sport. Let the players determine the outcome, not the officials.

[Mugsy]

mugsy-i agree with you but the 49ers won the superbowl in 1982 (the same year JR biship took over at wheaton) using the west coast offense....it was a bit more than a concept by then. 

You are correct, but I'd argue the core of Bishop's offensive philosophy was developed before he was even at Wheaton.  If I recall correctly, he ran a similar scheme (although not as complex) in his years at Naperville Central H.S.

[b_holmgren]

Not trying to stir anyone up...Just a random observation - it's interesting how quick Augie posters are to defend the Wing T this year.  At this time last year, I seem to remember a lot of people wondering if maybe it was time to evolve to a more "modern" offense... funny what an impending conference title will do for your outlook.

[usee]

mugsy- i think bill walsh outdates even JR. so to say JR's offense was formed prior to west coast offense even being a concept is not accurate.

[illinihscoach05]

I was at the Augie-North Central ballgame yesterday - although each team made its share of mistakes (Augie fumbles which is totally unlike them, NCC CRUCIAL PENALTIES) it was still a CLASSIC GAME in the BEST CONFERENCE in the NCAA Division III (OAC members I am sure will debate that with me).  Kniss from NCC and the Augie QB are the real deal - both took the game into their own hands with help from their quality O-Lines and hard nosed defenses.  Augie running the ball, NCC throwing it or Kniss running with it, great to watch!  BOTH OF THESE TEAMS DESERVE PLAYOFF BIDS AND BOTH WILL DO WELL - Great game guys - just what D3 football is all about!  Well worth the trip to Rock Island to watch in a steady drizzle!  Loved it!  In the postseason - GO VIKES AND GO CARDS!

[Augie6]

bholmgren,

I can assure you that this Augie fan was not one calling for ditching the wing-t.  Since I began posting on this board, my comments about Augie's inability to win the CCIW related to defensive inadequacies.  I love the wing-t.

[vikes35]

Now that things have calmed down and for the most part cooler heads have prevailed I would just like to take my hat off to both the NCC Cardinals and the Augustana Vikings for playing the best football game I have seen in a long time. Hard fought yards and points by both teams in bad conditions showed that both teams deserved to win the game and proved that they are the top 2 teams of the conference. Whatever happened on the other side at the end of the game was bound to happen. We at Augie did it last year and I can tell you by Monday I was over it and I was happy that the game against Wheaton was at least a good game. In fact the next weekend I went out to McCully to cheer the team that took us out of it in the first round. The fact of the matter is the Vikings did what they needed to do yesterday. They ran the ball effectively and they ate the clock. The fumbles costs Augie anywhere from 6 to 14 pts as they were very ill-timed and allowed for the "controversial" finish. The late hit at least from where I was at, directly looking at the play from about 10 rows up, looked as if it was a good call. Radtke looked to deliver if not a late hit a somewhat cheap shot that could have been ruled unnecessary roughness. The offsides call at the end needed to be called if it actually occured. It is unlike a holding or pass interference call that can be looked at as a judgement of an official. Offsides seems to be a much more direct call that implies something black or white, which seems to make it easier to understand being called at that point in the game then maybe a holding or other judgement call.

In the end however lets not take away from this great game. Both teams fought for all 60 minutes and it took all 60 minutes to decide the outcome. Both teams had some mistakes and also made some great plays. The weather was a factor but both teams played their way through it. NCC fans I would like to congratulate you guys on one heck of a turnaround no matter what happens. That game I saw yesterday compared to the game I saw in 2002 showed me that you will have a team that will be a force to be reckon with for some years. With that said it is very nice to be able to say CCIW 2005 champs are the Vikings. This team has played hard all year and it showed yesterday in one tough win. Once again I would just like to say that both teams played a great game and no matter anything else, lets give credit where credit is due to 2 tough teams that are well deserving of the success they have had this year.

[HughJass]

Where are the Karma gods now...how does this jass (shepherd) get away with this ranting?

[HughJass]

There's one thing I like for sure...I'm sure most can agree that the last couple of weeks this board has turned into a NC board.  At least for once we don't have to put up with the constant NC hype.  Let's just make it a playoff hype for Augie and NC.  We know they'll both be in it so are there any ideas of who might play who the first week or is it too early to tell?