FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Stagg Again!!]

Yes.

[usee]

Great bulletin board material for NCC in today's Triple Take:

"Most likely Top 25 team to get upset.
Ryan's take: No. 6 North Central. The Cardinals have a ton of offensive weapons at their disposal, so a win here for Illinois Wesleyan wouldn't be easy. But the Titans are coming off a victory against a solid Elmhurst team and should be carrying some momentum into this game. IWU will need to ask for more from its defense — more from Ryan Gresko and the rest of the linebackers and more from the secondary to stop any big plays from happening. With just one in-conference loss, IWU is still in the playoff hunt. But North Central has plenty on its mind, too: A No. 1 seed in the postseason isn't out of the question."

As if NCC didn't already have enough incentive ... 1) last year's game; 2) missing the playoffs last year as a result of said game; 3) the great write-up in Thursday's Chicago Sun-Times about IWU's defense; 4) homecoming; 5) the game being televised on NCTV17; on and now this.  I'd go with the home team if I were a betting man.

I understand "bulletin board material" that comes in the form of an opposing player, or coach, showing a lack of respect to a team in the media, or something like that.  But do you think North Central is really going to draw motivation because a D3football.com guy (who has never seen either team) says the Cardinals are "the most likely top 25 team to get upset" (not even necessarily predicting the upset)...or from a Sun-Times article that does not praise the NCC defense as much as they'd like?

Really?

Teams take their cue from their leaders. I don't thing the D3.com review would be any motivation but I could see NCC getting a bit fired up because the local paper covered the other teams defense. And given the propensity for Norm saying stuff his comment about Gresko being "mentioned in the same breath as Wenger...." could provide some addes intensity. Don't get me wrong, I think Gresko is one of the top LB's in the league but Wenger is back with a chip on his shoulder and this is some more kerosene for his fire. If he uses it as motviation the rest of the team may follow.

All this is hypothetical. In reality it won't mean much at 2pm on Saturday.

[usee]

I definitely think the NCC team is drawing motivation from last season's loss to IWU in Bloomington. By itself, I don't think any of these events provide more motivation. What I do think happens is it helps driven playeres focus more intensely and feeds the theme for their year....that is "we didn't have our best players in key games and didn't play our best game as a result...this year we have all our guys and they are intent on showing they make a difference and we are a championship team".....the article and the comments remind players of the broader focus and creates a little more intensity in my view.

Again, it all lasts until about 2 plays after 2pm saturday

[Titan Q]

I definitely think the NCC team is drawing motivation from last season's loss to IWU in Bloomington. By itself, I don't think any of these events provide more motivation. What I do think happens is it helps driven playeres focus more intensely and feeds the theme for their year....that is "we didn't have our best players in key games and didn't play our best game as a result...this year we have all our guys and they are intent on showing they make a difference and we are a championship team".....the article and the comments remind players of the broader focus and creates a little more intensity in my view.

Well as an IWU fan, I can only hope that the Titan players find extra motivation from the game in Bloomington last year too...the fact that most think the only reason IWU won the game is because NCC's QB went down.  Then the "2009 game in Bloomington" motivation will be a push, leaving NCC with just a slight external motivation upperhand due to the D3football.com and Sun-Times slights.

Sending some copies of posts from after that game to Bloomington as we speak!

[ncc58]

It's all interesting to discuss. The players remember last year's loss because that one conference loss kept them out of the playoffs. It's not so much to get revenge but to keep the focus. The only way to guarantee yourself a playoff spot is to go undefeated and earn the AQ. The objective of this year's team is to go 1-0 every week. That's all you have to do.

[usee]

Q-

I like your angle. It has merit. You should definitely send my post about last years game. Just don't tell them that I'm a wheaton guy! They are all reading this stuff anyway so what do we know?

Did you see Michael Jordans HOF induction speech a little over a year ago? He delineated many examples of what people said about him and how it motivated him to work and play at a higher level. I do think it has an impact, albeit fairly hard to measure.

NCC wins by 30!! Put that on the board with a tack!!

IWU shocks the world as Gresko outplays Wenger!!!! Cut and paste coach Thorne!

I think I've found my calling! For a small fee I'll be your bb material for the week. (Note: I do basketball also!)

[FormerCard]

Q-

I like your angle. It has merit. You should definitely send my post about last years game. Just don't tell them that I'm a wheaton guy! They are all reading this stuff anyway so what do we know?

Did you see Michael Jordans HOF induction speech a little over a year ago? He delineated many examples of what people said about him and how it motivated him to work and play at a higher level. I do think it has an impact, albeit fairly hard to measure.

NCC wins by 30!! Put that on the board with a tack!!

IWU shocks the world as Gresko outplays Wenger!!!! Cut and paste coach Thorne!

I think I've found my calling! For a small fee I'll be your bb material for the week. (Note: I do basketball also!)

No one outplays #40       cards win by 3 tds

[AndOne]

I definitely think the NCC team is drawing motivation from last season's loss to IWU in Bloomington. By itself, I don't think any of these events provide more motivation. What I do think happens is it helps driven playeres focus more intensely and feeds the theme for their year....that is "we didn't have our best players in key games and didn't play our best game as a result...this year we have all our guys and they are intent on showing they make a difference and we are a championship team".....the article and the comments remind players of the broader focus and creates a little more intensity in my view.

Well as an IWU fan, I can only hope that the Titan players find extra motivation from the game in Bloomington last year too...the fact that most think the only reason IWU won the game is because NCC's QB went down. Then the "2009 game in Bloomington" motivation will be a push, leaving NCC with just a slight external motivation upperhand due to the D3football.com and Sun-Times slights.

Sending some copies of posts from after that game to Bloomington as we speak!

The question that arises here is WHO the "most" are?
Did most of the NCC team and/or fans think IWU won because the NCC QB went down?
Or did most of the IWU team/fans think they won because that happened? (Doubtful)

I DO think there is some degree of "payback" involved from the NCC point of view.
The ultimate result of the NCC loss last year was that the team missed the playoffs.
Accordingly, you bet that motivates the Cardinals to at least some degree.

Rather than the question of whether NCC lost to IWU last year because the QB went down, a more pertinent question might be----Did NCC lose to IWU last year because the NCC QB went down, and NCC had already previously lost Wenger and Sulo (both of whom are back this year) to season ending injuries? No doubt the QB injury hurt, but I think the absence of the 2 defensive stalwarts was also a factor overlooked by many due to the length of time that had transpired between the injuries and the Cardinal/Titan clash. Just food for thought.

On another note---Looks like a very good chance that the majority of the game, if not the entire game, will be played in the rain. Do those in the know feel this will hurt/help NCC or IWU more, or will it be a non factor? Thanks for your thoughts.  

[ncc58]

If it were a grass field. rain would be a factor. On Field turf, it won't be an issue. Given how well, the NCC O and D Lines have played, a straight ahead game is to their advantage.

And, I agree with the statement that no one outplays #40.

This game won't be close.

On another note---Looks like a very good chance that the majority of the game, if not the entire game, will be played in the rain. Do those in the know feel this will hurt/help NCC or IWU more, or will it be a non factor? Thanks for your thoughts.  

[Titan Q]

Pantagraph article on the IWU/NCC game...

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/football/article_395cecc4-de5d-11df-93a7-001cc4c002e0.html

[CardinalAlum]

Pantagraph article on the IWU/NCC game...

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/football/article_395cecc4-de5d-11df-93a7-001cc4c002e0.html

Don't think it will be a great day to throw the football.  Advantage Cards!   

[usee]

It is very hard to predict who has an advantage in bad weather. There are a number of things that influence performance in my view and weather is a big factor. It depends on things like field surface (not an issue), strength and direction of the wind, number of balls being used,experience players have in games w bad weather. Special teams are a big factor in bad weather games as well as turnovers. How all these components come together will have an affect on the outcome but experience tells me its hard to predict.

In 1994 wheaton lost a game in Rock island in bad weather where pedro arruza (currently randolph macon hc)...{resume} lost a fumble going into the endzone for the winning score. The next year at NCC, QB jeff brown threw for over 300 yds in a torrential downpour and mudbowl. Head coach JR Bishop had 35 new balls at that game and brought in a dry/fresh ball every 2 plays.

It is harder to throw downfield with rain/wind for sure.

[Mugsy]

It is very hard to predict who has an advantage in bad weather. There are a number of things that influence performance in my view and weather is a big factor. It depends on things like field surface (not an issue), strength and direction of the wind, number of balls being used,experience players have in games w bad weather. Special teams are a big factor in bad weather games as well as turnovers. How all these components come together will have an affect on the outcome but experience tells me its hard to predict.

In 1994 wheaton lost a game in Rock island in bad weather where pedro arruza (currently randolph macon hc)

Some one contact the police and start the man hunt.  Usee has been kidnaped mid-post.  Perhaps all of the bulletin board material he has been pontificating has caught up to him and a disgruntled fan snapped?   

His "calling" was short lived.

[CardinalAlum]

It is very hard to predict who has an advantage in bad weather. There are a number of things that influence performance in my view and weather is a big factor. It depends on things like field surface (not an issue), strength and direction of the wind, number of balls being used,experience players have in games w bad weather. Special teams are a big factor in bad weather games as well as turnovers. How all these components come together will have an affect on the outcome but experience tells me its hard to predict.

In 1994 wheaton lost a game in Rock island in bad weather where pedro arruza (currently randolph macon hc)

Some one contact the police and start the man hunt.  Usee has been kidnaped mid-post.  Perhaps all of the bulletin board material he has been pontificating has caught up to him and a disgruntled fan snapped?   

His "calling" was short lived.

I blame Norm Eash....since I do for everything else!!   

[CardinalAlum]

Turning out to be a nice day.  Wind will be a factor though!  Stay tuned...