FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[formerd3db]

Wow, another controversial discussion!  I am not taking sides here at all, so please do not misunderstand me in that regard.  I do have a question (actually a few questions), however, and if I missed the explanation, my apologies.  My question are as follows...if the AFCA's All-American Team is not supposed to be released/named until mid-December like Pat mentioned, then why was the QB's name released and who did it? If it was not supposed to be announced, then someone "dropped the ball" on this one I would think.  Also, is he the only one chosen so far or...if there are others who have already been chosen at other positions, are their schools/coaches, media, etc.,etc. or whoever, supposed to keep that quiet until the "official" date the full team is to be announced? 

This all seems very strange, somewhat confusing, although, again, perhaps I missed the "jist" of what has transpired.  Clarification please, anyone.  Thanks. 

[AndOne]

Sorry if I overreacted. It just seemed like a shot was being directed at Stanek, if by no other means than the comment about "a lot" of other QBs currently playing as well as him, which I find hard to believe. As Kovo asked, I wonder who all these guys are.
Apologies to Hazzben and you if any offense taken.   

[Gregory Sager]

Wow, another controversial discussion!

Aw, this one's all smoke and no fire. I mean, Mark might sound miffed, but we all know that the end of the season for Norm Eash & Co. and the cataclysmic loss on the hardwood today by The Most Awesome Team Ever to a Loras outfit that lost last week to Millikin and Rockford (Rockford!) has champagne corks a-poppin' this evening in the green-hating AndOne household.

Oh, yeah ... North Central buried Albion today at B-W Stadium. That probably helps his mood slightly as well.

P.S. And, right on time, the man himself confirms it for me.

[AndOne]

Wow, another controversial discussion!  I am not taking sides here at all, so please do not misunderstand me in that regard.  I do have a question (actually a few questions), however, and if I missed the explanation, my apologies.  My question are as follows...if the AFCA's All-American Team is not supposed to be released/named until mid-December like Pat mentioned, then why was the QB's name released and who did it? If it was not supposed to be announced, then someone "dropped the ball" on this one I would think.  Also, is he the only one chosen so far or...if there are others who have already been chosen at other positions, are their schools/coaches, media, etc.,etc. or whoever, supposed to keep that quiet until the "official" date the full team is to be announced? 

This all seems very strange, somewhat confusing, although, again, perhaps I missed the "jist" of what has transpired.  Clarification please, anyone.  Thanks.

Seems like the ? re whether any other players have been chosen needs to be directed to the AFCA, and the ? about the source of the info needs to be directed to the Sun-Times. 

[AndOne]

Wow, another controversial discussion!

Aw, this one's all smoke and no fire. I mean, Mark might sound miffed, but we all know that the end of the season for Norm Eash & Co. and the cataclysmic loss on the hardwood today by The Most Awesome Team Ever to a Loras outfit that lost last week to Millikin and Rockford (Rockford!) has champagne corks a-poppin' this evening in the green-hating AndOne household.

Oh, yeah ... North Central buried Albion today at B-W Stadium. That probably helps his mood slightly as well.

P.S. And, right on time, the man himself confirms it for me.

Damn man! I mean I L-O-V-E green. Hell, my wife is 100% IRISH. 

[Gregory Sager]

I'm sure that marital harmony is probably the extent of it for you, though.

And, hey, I love broccoli, and I'm 1/8th Irish, myself. But I, too, set strict limits when it comes to that particular color.

[Pat Coleman]

Stanek may well turn out to be an AFCA All-American, but I have a hard time believing that the Naperville Sun got a scoop on that story.  This longtime Naperville Sun reader thinks it's more likely they got their story wrong.

Is it getting a scoop or just someone speaking out of turn? Doubt that the newspaper dug to uncover it.

[hazzben]

Well, they may well have told the coaches, but it's not for release until December so while I assume the news is correct, it's leaked significantly earlier than it's supposed to be.

Then I will protest. In DIII there is absolutely zero reason to vote on a team like this before you get deep into the playoffs. There is much learned about the stats that go into these honors once we get to the post-season. Teams and players rack up stats against weak teams while other teams and players may not against tougher comp. You see things you thought you knew confirmed in the playoffs and at times exposed.

I'm not taking issue with Stanek in particular here. But there are a lot of very good QB's playing right now with very similar numbers. It seems responsible to wait and watch how these guys step up in the biggest games of the year before you dole out the awards. Same for all the other positions.

Well, if the info wasn't meant for publication until Dec, it looks like the Sun Times came up with a very nice undercover scoup.
And, as far as taking issue with Spencer Stanek, it would be asinine to do so as he had nothing to do with the leaking/reporting of the story. He is the object of the story, not the source of it.
As far as there being a lot of QBs still playing with numbers as good as Stanek--really? There are really a lot of QBs playing that lead the nation in passing efficiency and have 32 TD passes and only ONE INT?  Honest?

Greg's already covered this pretty well, but I will respond. I intentionally tried to state up front that I wasn't taking particular issue with Stanek. It's just the whole conversation got started with a news story stating he'd already made the team. If he did or does (I don't know if the report is accurate at this point) receive AA honors, he would certainly have the stats and body of work to back it up. My bigger point was that you don't give the award before the most important games are played. What if he goes out and lays an egg against UWP - let me be *clear* that I'm not predicting this - shouldn't how he plays against his best competition to date play a role?

As to other players that should be in consideration, I leave the full list up to the experts. Without looking up specific stats - the NCAA site doesn't include playoff games - the guys I'd have on my list at this point (tilted heavily towards the regions - West & North - that I know the most about):

Jonny West - Franklin (though here's an example of why you wait until after the playoffs, as he seems to be coming down to earth)
Spencer Stanek
Marc Myers - JCU
John Kelly - UWP
Kevin Burke - Mount Union
Erik Peterson - Bethel
Reed Florence - Wittenberg

There are no doubt more to consider. But they all have stats, resumes, and wins that put them in the conversation. Marc Myers at JCU probably drops off my list after Saturday's performance. Granted it was in snowy conditions, but his final 2.5 quarters of football didn't seem AA-esq. But 6 of the guys on even just this incomplete list are going to show us quite a bit over the next several weeks, either making or hurting their case. The thing with stats is that, IMO, they really only get you in the conversation. With such wide disparity of SoS and quality of opponents (which are not synonymous by the way), we need more to work with than just stats. If anyone picks an AA team based just on numbers, I'd take issue. For instance, Jonny West's stats are inflated by the league he plays in, versus John Kelly.

Erik Peterson just went 25-27 for 300 yds and 4 TD's in the playoffs. Stats right, in the playoffs!! But it was against CSS. Lets see how he does a 2nd time against a Wartburg D that just chewed up Galik. If they win, lets see what he does against NCC or UWP. Those games will tell us much more about Erik Peterson than really gaudy stats against one of the weakest teams in the field or how he did against his weakest opponents of the year.

In my mind, that doesn't seem all that controversial. This isn't like All Conference, which should be a strictly regular season award. The most significant games are being played from here on out, and they should absolutely be in the conversation when we consider these guys. The great thing is a lot of these guys are going to square off against each other in the upcoming weeks. Good stuff. Hope that clears things up...but just to restate, this wasn't at all me taking issue with Stanek or his worthiness as an AA.

EDIT: But thanks for the Karma dings all the same 

[formerd3db]

Stanek may well turn out to be an AFCA All-American, but I have a hard time believing that the Naperville Sun got a scoop on that story.  This longtime Naperville Sun reader thinks it's more likely they got their story wrong.

Is it getting a scoop or just someone speaking out of turn? Doubt that the newspaper dug to uncover it.

Well, Pat, with the exception of you and your staff (and I mean that sincerely), we all know that newspaper reporters/writers often leak information just because of that i.e. wanting to get the scoop.  Moreover, they often (actually more times than not) refuse to reveal their sources, which, IMO, has always been nothing but a poor excuse.  I realize that perhaps in some circumstances, they want to protect their sources such as in perhaps a criminal case.  However, this is obviously not a criminal case and...if the reporter wanted to protect their source because the source prematurely provided the information as you have correctly pointed out as being one of the two possibilities, then both the reporter and the source are equally at fault for making this public before the AFCA officially announces the players who have been chose for the award recognition.

The source of the leak, if it did occur should know better and is the first irresponsible person and had no business or right whatsoever to release that information, although both the newspaper and that person are at fault and deserve condemnation/reprimands if that is what actually occurred.  The AFCA should reprimand whoever leaked it in some way or another whether it was one of their own members or a person of the media who has been allowed access to that preliminary info.

Thanks for the response Pat and all you others.  As no one could really answer the questions we have about this, I'll take that as that no one really knows and certainly Pat's two possibilities are in the differential - it has to be one or the other.  Anyway, congrats to Stanek for the award.

P.S. I won't post any further comment on this discussion - I think it's been covered.

[AndOne]

Formerd3db---Make that 2 of us

Hazzben--Check your PMs

[iwu70]

Good luck to NCC going forward.  Hope they represent the CCIW well, get far in the draw. 

Off to the Far Side today . . . it's been grand, gentlemen and ladies . . .  an exciting and enjoyable football season.  See you'all in the basketball rooms, as I'll be living in the land of streaming video from now on, watching from the South China coast.

Again, Congrats to Coach Eash and all the Titans, all the coaching staff etc., on an excellent season, at 9-2.

IWU70

[AndOne]

Safe travels to you, iwu70.

[USee]

Just so we can see the data, from the NCAA website these two categories and the leaders are:

Pass Efficiency:

Spencer Stanek, NCC 197.5
Reed Florence, Witt    194.8
Kevin Burke, UMU       192.3
--------------
Erik Peterson, Bethel  171.6
John Kelly, UWP          156
Mark Myers, JCU          153.4
Johnny West, Franklin 151.5

Points Responsible for:

Reed Florence, Witt       276
Johnny West, Franklin   264
Kevin Burke, UMU          258
Spencer Stanek, NCC    252

[Stagg Again!!]

Just so we can see the data, from the NCAA website these two categories and the leaders are:

Pass Efficiency:

Spencer Stanek, NCC 197.5
Reed Florence, Witt    194.8
Kevin Burke, UMU       192.3
--------------
Erik Peterson, Bethel  171.6
John Kelly, UWP          156
Mark Myers, JCU          153.4
Johnny West, Franklin 151.5

Points Responsible for:

Reed Florence, Witt       276
Johnny West, Franklin   264
Kevin Burke, UMU          258
Spencer Stanek, NCC    252

Please explain points responsible for and how it is impacted by a balanced offense.  Also, where are TDs, INTs, INT/Attempt, etc?

[Stagg Again!!]

Well, DIT: But thanks for the Karma dings all the same 

The CCIW board is rough hazzben.  I pick up 3-5 smites for congratulating a team for their victory.