FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[NCC26]

Quick shout out to the NCC soccer team for their HUGE upset over the cream of wheats in the CCIW tourney.

As far as the IWU game goes, the cream by 2 or 3 tds.  The cream's defense will over power the IWU offense.  Big question for the IWU faithful, where was everyone last weekend?  That was a pretty pathetic home crowd for such an important game.  Rain or no rain, support your school.

[Gregory Sager]

And now you all know why I was a mathematics/computer science major.  I speak "geek" better than english.

English majors simply speak a different dialect of Geek than do math/cs majors.

I have long referred to our writing of gamers as "meatball journalism". That is a take on the description that Hawkeye Pierce used to give to surgery performed during the Korean War during the epic television series M*A*S*H. Sometimes, quite simply, we don't have the time to get it perfect. But, the story gets posted and it is there for all to read (and criticize). So we do the best we can.

It's not like this was the first time this has happened.  It started with pretty much the first press release regarding the women's volleyball team and has continued throughout the school year.  I didn't say anything about it, but this last "gamer" was just too bad not to mention.

The student athletes at Carthage deserve more than excuses for the "meatball journalism" coming out of Kenosha.

Dave is absolutely right that the SID job (which is actually two jobs at all eight CCIW schools: Sports Information Director and game manager) is a usually-thankless position with an incredible workload. That's particularly true on Saturdays in the fall when the SID's school's football team is home, because putting on a college football game is a tremendous production that requires supervising a lot of staff and a whole lotta moving parts -- and there's almost always other athletic events going on that day as well that involve that school's teams. Speaking as a broadcaster, I have a lot of respect for all eight CCIW SIDs (and for the league's SID, Mike Krizman, as well) for handling what each of them has on his plate. I watch North Park SID Kevin Shepke run around Hedstrand Field like a chicken with its head cut off on Saturdays when the Vikings are home, and I have to remind myself to go easy on him whenever I need this, that, or the other thing in order to do my broadcast.

I'm not trying to put the new guy at Carthage through the wringer. Steve Marovich left big shoes to fill, and I'm sure that the new guy knows it. My point in talking about that press release (which may or may not have been mwunder's, AndOne's, and Pat's points) is that somebody needs to tell him to sharpen up his press releases. Dave's 100% correct about the "meatball journalism" aspect of game-day press releases, of course. But when the hoi polloi starts picking up on how badly they're written -- and, let's be honest here, football fans are not exactly the Algonquin Round Table when it comes to critiquing writing, so it's gotta be pretty bad if the fans are raising this criticism -- then somebody needs to say something to him about it. My hope is that somebody in Kenosha has read the CCIW football board and has passed this along to him. I wish the new guy up there all the best, because: a) I respect the task he has in front of him, in and of itself; b) Steve Marovich is a tough act to follow; and c) each CCIW SID makes this a better league for everyone, not just for his particular school.

Dave Wrath was one of the first SID's I met on the road.  As a visiting PBP guy,  he would always make us feel welcome and make sure we had all the resources needed to get the call going on radio.   Often it was tough to find something good to say about Elmhurst losing 58-0 and 62-0 but Dave would find something positive to say.

IMO, Dave Wrath is the gold standard for SIDs. Augie, and the CCIW in general, are very lucky to have him around.

I was usually right next to the SID and Stats people.   I could see how challenging and multi-tasked to you have to be, especially on game day.

Amen to that.

Folks, the next time that you see your school's SID, stop and thank him or her for the job that he or she does. I'm serious. The SID's work makes a big difference in your ability to enjoy your school's sports teams.

I think we have some great SID's currently including Brett and Stew.   We all miss the recently retired greats like Dave and Steve.

Don't prematurely put Dave out to pasture, Mark. He's still very much on the job at Augie.

[79jaybird]

Glad to hear that Greg. Dave is one of those "once in a lifetime" figures that does he job accurately and with passion. 

[Augie6]

IMO, Dave Wrath is the gold standard for SIDs. Augie, and the CCIW in general, are very lucky to have him around.

GS - Absolutely agree with this statement.  Dave was a couple of years into the position when I came to Augie.  He did an unbelievable job then and has continued that for over 30 years.  Augie has been very lucky to have him.

[izzy stradlin]

Quick shout out to the NCC soccer team for their HUGE upset over the cream of wheats in the CCIW tourney.

As far as the IWU game goes, the cream by 2 or 3 tds.  The cream's defense will over power the IWU offense.  Big question for the IWU faithful, where was everyone last weekend?  That was a pretty pathetic home crowd for such an important game.  Rain or no rain, support your school.

I've always been surprised by how small the football crowds are at IWU.  Even in years where they are in the conference and playoff races, they rarely get much over 2000 fans on a good day.  I think the culture of McLean county is just a little more Indiana-esque in their love of basketball in comparison with DuPage county where football is king and 5000+ for a Saturday afternoon isn't uncommon.

[USee]

Article on IWU/Wheaton game tomorrow

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/football/iwu-still-harboring-cciw-title-hopes-despite-first-defeat/article_0fb0c06a-dfff-5535-9e72-d2dc065e6244.html

Watching the tape of the North Central loss confirmed what IWU coach Norm Eash said he suspected.

The Titans were doomed by their own mistakes in the rainy conditions, which included two bad punt snaps that led to nine North Central points and a couple key penalties which stalled IWU offensively.

IWU standout receiver Artie Checchin suffered a season-ending leg injury when he caught a two-point conversion pass in the third quarter against North Central.

Checchin has been the Titans' big play-maker this season and finished with 39 receptions for 747 yards and eight touchdowns. The senior also carried 13 times for 98 yards and one TD.

"He's had a great season. He's been one of the top offensive players in our league this season," said Eash. "He's a great captain. He practices and plays hard."

Eash said Checchin's injury will give receivers such as juniors Dom Comfort, Adam Muellers, Austin Wagner and Brandon Esparza and freshman Mitch Pfeiffer more of an opportunity opposite senior Andrew Javorka.

"We have people who can stretch the defense. The cupboard is not bare," said Eash. "They're not a senior and they don't have experience, but they're hungry."

[iwu70]

Much better weather for IWU-WC tomorrow, so I'm sure a better crowd, more folks there for senior day as well as the Pep Band appearing.  Should be a great atmosphere, good conditions and surely a good game.  I still have WC as a 3 TD favorite, but would love to see my TITANS pull a surprise, a big upset.

IWU70

[ncc_fan]

Saturday "to do" list:

1. Cheer for Green Weenies
2. Wash out mouth with soap
3. Shower

[Mugsy]

Saturday "to do" list:

1. Cheer for Green Weenies
2. Wash out mouth with soap
3. Shower

There is no way to clean yourself from that.  Once you give yourself to "the green" you are doomed for eternity. 

[GoPerry]

WC 20  IWU 10 at Half;   

Thunder were romping early taking advantage of some Titan miscues in the 1Q and went up 20-0  -  but then inexplicably did everything they could to allow IWU back into the game over the last 15 mins.

[formerd3db]

Saturday "to do" list:

1. Cheer for Green Weenies
2. Wash out mouth with soap
3. Shower

Saturday "to do" list:

1. Cheer for Green Weenies
2. Wash out mouth with soap
3. Shower

There is no way to clean yourself from that.  Once you give yourself to "the green" you are doomed for eternity. 

Hilarious guys!  But so true (some of us in our MIAA could apply that to our own alma maters )

[Augie6]

Augie down 27-10 against NCC, late in the 4th.  Frasco goes out with an injury early, so C. Salazar at QB for Augie.  Red Zone problems continue for Augie, as they have had it there twice in the 2nd half and come away with no points (1 INT and 1 turnover on downs).  With Frasco out, Augie has not been able to run the ball at all, with -2 yards rushing.  Not really sure what's going on with the RB position at Augie and it doesn't seem like the coaching staff has done much to develop an actual running game with the RBs.  The offense is way to one dimensional and reliant on a single person to provide the ability to move the ball.  That's fine when that person is able to go, but as we saw in the Loras game earlier in the season and in this one, when Frasco isn't healthy the offense isn't able to do much. 

[Gregory Sager]

Carthage 14
North Park 6

A very disheartening loss, as the Vikings had the ball on the Carthage 9 with two and a half minutes to go and suffered two dropped passes in the end zone. The second one was arguably defensed, but it did look very catchable. The first one was a blatant drop. Dropped passes were a huge problem for the Park last week, and, while they weren't as prominent throughout the game today, those two drops that could've put NPU in a position to tie with a two-point conversion were devastating.

The Vikings also missed a pair of field goals that could've made the whole hang-on-to-the-pass-in-the-end-zone situation moot.

[Titan Q]

Wheaton 40
IWU 27

Nice comeback by the Titans, who trailed 0-20 and pulled even at 27...and had the ball.

Wheaton is an outstanding team.  I have to believe the Thunder can play with anyone in Division III.

[Augie6]

NCC wins 27-10 at Augie.  Frustrating game to watch from an offensive perspective.  As mentioned, Sam Frasco goes down with an injury in the first quarter and doesn't come back.  Chris Salazar comes in and Augie completely abandons the run.  After Frasco goes down with about 4 mins left in the 1st quarter, Augie runs the football a total of 16 times the remainder of the game.  That puts a tremendous amount of pressure on a backup QB who hasn't played much this season.  Unfortunately, Salazar throws 4 Interceptions on 39 attempts during the game, most on forced throws to a covered receiver.  Augie RB's touched the ball a total of 10 times today, which makes absolutely no sense to me with a backup QB in the game. The defense has gotten better as the season has progressed, but, for whatever reason, they can't seem to get a consistent game out of all three phases at the same time, other than last week's game against NPU.  Still trying to stay optimistic and that Coach Bell and his staff can get it turned around at Augie.  That being said, I certainly didn't think this season would turn out to be a below .500 finish.