FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[wally_wabash]

I am not a top 25 voter.  We don't want that piece of misinformation floating around.   

[izzy stradlin]

I am not a top 25 voter.  We don't want that piece of misinformation floating around.   

Alright.   I do regret bringing this up.   Honestly didn't think the Wheaton ranking was that off. 

[markerickson]

The Chicago Tribune's sports section has serious shortcomings with the width of its reporting as well as quality.  I submit written complaints to sports@chicagotribune.com regarding only the former.  My current beef is the lack of reporting about CCIW football.  Too often the scores do not appear.  Given the number of top 25 programs right now, how about all of the scores and a few paragraphs at a minimum?  Give'm a holler.  Thanks.

[79jaybird]

Prior to this year, the Tribune used to have a little "table" of FBS, D-II, and D-III  state colleges with their scores.   I miss that this year.   But overall, the print media is hurting.  Everybody knows where to go if you want information quickly... it's point & click and voila,  you found your answer online. 

[wm4]

Prior to this year, the Tribune used to have a little "table" of FBS, D-II, and D-III  state colleges with their scores.   I miss that this year.   But overall, the print media is hurting.  Everybody knows where to go if you want information quickly... it's point & click and voila,  you found your answer online.

It is really sad that overall, D3 gets no coverage in the Chicago media.  In contrast (and stark contrast at that), the Twin Cities devote a lot of coverage to D3.  Not uncommon at all for the Saturday night sports segment to have highlights of D3 games played earlier that day.  Plenty of game articles in the papers too. 

[79jaybird]

Wisconsin too.  The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has a short blurb about WIAC results. 

[AO]

Prior to this year, the Tribune used to have a little "table" of FBS, D-II, and D-III  state colleges with their scores.   I miss that this year.   But overall, the print media is hurting.  Everybody knows where to go if you want information quickly... it's point & click and voila,  you found your answer online.

It is really sad that overall, D3 gets no coverage in the Chicago media.  In contrast (and stark contrast at that), the Twin Cities devote a lot of coverage to D3.  Not uncommon at all for the Saturday night sports segment to have highlights of D3 games played earlier that day.  Plenty of game articles in the papers too.

Also doesn't hurt that the best sportswriter in the state (Reusse) loves D3 and will write a few feature articles about d3 per year and talk about them on the radio consistently. 

[Gregory Sager]

Prior to this year, the Tribune used to have a little "table" of FBS, D-II, and D-III  state colleges with their scores.   I miss that this year.   But overall, the print media is hurting.  Everybody knows where to go if you want information quickly... it's point & click and voila,  you found your answer online.

It is really sad that overall, D3 gets no coverage in the Chicago media.  In contrast (and stark contrast at that), the Twin Cities devote a lot of coverage to D3.  Not uncommon at all for the Saturday night sports segment to have highlights of D3 games played earlier that day.  Plenty of game articles in the papers too.

The interesting thing is that, in recent years, I've heard Loyola and DePaul people gripe about the lack of D1 basketball coverage in the Trib and Sun-Times. I would imagine that fans of UIC, Northwestern, Chicago State, and other local D1s feel the same way. Of course, that's on a different scale; their perception of what constitutes a lack of coverage is different than D3's, in that their teams tend to get at worst a line of text or two or three that give the score, team record, and high scorer. And football coverage seems to be better, if for no other reason than there aren't as many D1 teams to cover (for football they usually cover Northwestern, Illinois, Northern Illinois, and Notre Dame).

Thing is, the sports section is not going to get any bigger and/or more comprehensive, and the sports staffs of the local print media aren't going to get any bigger, either. In a sense, griping about what a newspaper has or doesn't have is like griping about the behavior of dinosaurs after the asteroid has already hit the Earth.

[lmitzel]

Granted it's a column mostly about the NFL, but the North Central-Augie game from this past weekend got a mention in Tuesday Morning Quarterback this week. He usually brings up a couple smaller college games a week, and does look briefly into D3, but it was cool to see my alma mater get a nod.

Now, "If only [Augie] scored 27 more safeties..." 

[wally_wabash]

In a sense, griping about what a newspaper has or doesn't have is like griping about the behavior of dinosaurs after the asteroid has already hit the Earth.

HA!  +1!

[wm4]

In a sense, griping about what a newspaper has or doesn't have is like griping about the behavior of dinosaurs after the asteroid has already hit the Earth.

But also go beyond newspapers.  The Tribune is an easy target, but across all media in Chicago, there's no D3 coverage.  You don't hear any segments on radio, it's not part of the local tv sportscasts, etc.  By comparison, the WCCO radio blasts out St Thomas games on Saturday afternoons.  Does is draw huge ratings?  Heck no, but it gives a high profile to D3 athletics, which is great. 

I was at a Gopher game a couple years ago and during a timeout, the huge Jumbotron gave updated MIAC scores.  A shame the same doesn't happen in the 3rd largest media market in the country.  I get it though...Cubs, Bears, Hawks, etc. dominate.

[AO]

In a sense, griping about what a newspaper has or doesn't have is like griping about the behavior of dinosaurs after the asteroid has already hit the Earth.

But also go beyond newspapers.  The Tribune is an easy target, but across all media in Chicago, there's no D3 coverage.  You don't hear any segments on radio, it's not part of the local tv sportscasts, etc.  By comparison, the WCCO radio blasts out St Thomas games on Saturday afternoons.  Does is draw huge ratings?  Heck no, but it gives a high profile to D3 athletics, which is great. 

I was at a Gopher game a couple years ago and during a timeout, the huge Jumbotron gave updated MIAC scores.  A shame the same doesn't happen in the 3rd largest media market in the country.  I get it though...Cubs, Bears, Hawks, etc. dominate.

It should be pointed out that the Tommies pay to broadcast their games.  They obviously don't have to pay when Reusse or Soucheray bring them up during a radio show.

I think it's a bit of luck to get a writer/radio personality in your market that's interested in D3.  They can dictate some of what they write/talk about based on what they find interesting.   

[Pat Coleman]

UST and the rest of the MIAC and NSIC don't have to pay for all of that postgame discussion on WCCO, though. That's another huge outlet for the non-Division I's in Minnesota.

[AndOne]

In a sense, griping about what a newspaper has or doesn't have is like griping about the behavior of dinosaurs after the asteroid has already hit the Earth.

But also go beyond newspapers.  The Tribune is an easy target, but across all media in Chicago, there's no D3 coverage.  You don't hear any segments on radio, it's not part of the local tv sportscasts, etc.  By comparison, the WCCO radio blasts out St Thomas games on Saturday afternoons.  Does is draw huge ratings?  Heck no, but it gives a high profile to D3 athletics, which is great. 

I was at a Gopher game a couple years ago and during a timeout, the huge Jumbotron gave updated MIAC scores.  A shame the same doesn't happen in the 3rd largest media market in the country.  I get it though...Cubs, Bears, Hawks, etc. dominate.

You got it almost completely right wm4.
Cubs, Bears, Hawks, Bulls, Sox dominate for sure, and money talks. And since there is no real money associated with D3, the print, video, and audio media outlets use their print space and air time to cover the "big boys" whose associated multi-millions of dollars push them to the forefront and demand media time. Those of us who are interested in, and follow D3 sports are a microscopic dot on the sports scene in just about every large (huge in Chicagolands case) media market. Money promotes interest and media follows the money. Much like Runaround Sue, it's a story that's sad but true. 

[Gregory Sager]

In a sense, griping about what a newspaper has or doesn't have is like griping about the behavior of dinosaurs after the asteroid has already hit the Earth.

But also go beyond newspapers.  The Tribune is an easy target, but across all media in Chicago, there's no D3 coverage.  You don't hear any segments on radio, it's not part of the local tv sportscasts, etc.  By comparison, the WCCO radio blasts out St Thomas games on Saturday afternoons.  Does is draw huge ratings?  Heck no, but it gives a high profile to D3 athletics, which is great. 

I was at a Gopher game a couple years ago and during a timeout, the huge Jumbotron gave updated MIAC scores.  A shame the same doesn't happen in the 3rd largest media market in the country.  I get it though...Cubs, Bears, Hawks, etc. dominate.

Apples and oranges. Chicago has 3.3m television households. The Twin Cities has 1.7m television households. The Chicago media market contains seven D1 schools, although it actually adds up to nine in terms of coverage, since Chicago media treats Illinois and Notre Dame as local schools and gives them more coverage than is allotted to the geographically proximate D1s (Northwestern excepted). The Twin Cities has a grand total of one D1 school. Plus, Chicago media has one more major-league pro team to cover than does its Twin Cities counterpart.