FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Chuck, you make it sound as though NPU is completely bereft of any sports success whatsoever. It isn't, you know. The men's soccer team has been to three straight D3 tourneys and annually finishes in the top ten in D3 in attendance. The baseball team is coming off of two straight CCIW titles and looks poised for a really fantastic season this year.

But thanks for the compliment, anyway!

[formerd3db]

Gregory:

You've got that right i.e. the end of the discussion.  I was not intending to "beat a dead horse" whatsoever.  I just wanted to make sure I understood all aspects of your explanation.  It wasn't initially exactly clear, however, until you specifically mentioned the loss of endowment at NPU.  I can totally understand the context now of your comments.  My point, by way of example, (and not meant as a disagreement or argument) was attempting to simply point out and for a comparison that Olivet certainly doesn't have as great an endowment as compared to the other MIAA schools, yet they still have the same arrangements as I discussed.  The "belts are tight" at all the schools; some just significantly more than others.  Anyway, end of discussion - I'll move on.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Sorry about the omissions, Greg.  The soccer and baseball teams have been superb.  Women's basketball hasn't been able to make the BIG breakthrough, but certainly seems on the right track as well.  But this IS the football board, after all!

[Gregory Sager]

Sorry about the omissions, Greg.  The soccer and baseball teams have been superb.  Women's basketball hasn't been able to make the BIG breakthrough, but certainly seems on the right track as well.

Wednesday night would be a great opportunity for that BIG breakthrough.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Sorry about the omissions, Greg.  The soccer and baseball teams have been superb.  Women's basketball hasn't been able to make the BIG breakthrough, but certainly seems on the right track as well.

Wednesday night would be a great opportunity for that BIG breakthrough.

I'd much prefer they wait 'til Saturday to start breaking through!

[NCF]

If he wanted his sons to play for him, he couldn't wait.

One son's a redshirt freshman, the other just finished his freshman season. If he knew that another job would probably pop [/b] up in a year from now, he could take it and still get to coach both of his sons -- Dakota for two seasons and T.D. for three.

I would be willing to bet he's gone when his younger son graduates-especially if he can be the one who guides them to a couple of conference wins and maybe get the university to upgrade the stadium.

I'll take that bet, NCF. Couple of things: First of all, he is really taken with NPU's Christian culture. That means something to him, especially after coaching at a state school for the past eleven years. The way that the school has welcomed him, and the way that his two sons have very quickly made a lot of friends on campus and have really fallen in love with the place in just a few short weeks, has made a big impression upon him. I interviewed him at halftime of the NPU men's basketball webcast tonight, and he went on at length about that and about the overwhelmingly positive impression NPU has made upon him. You can argue that, well, yeah, it's on an NPU webcast, so of course he's going to say nice things about the school. But I can tell when I'm being snowed, and I can tell when someone really means it. He really means it. I think it's very important to him to coach at a Christian school.

Second, the Holmgren Athletic Complex is not due for upgrades, insofar as the football team is concerned. (The baseball team is trying to raise funds to turn the top floor of the fieldhouse into a clubhouse, but that won't affect the football team.) The university has other projects in the works, or in the planning stages, that will take precedence over a facility that was just upgraded about a decade ago. The new Johnson Science and Community Center, which is currently just a hole in the ground on the west side of the campus, is the immediate focus for NPU's development folks. And Mike Conway is not at NPU to raise money for a facelift for Holmgren. He's there to win football games and recruit students. Any upgrade to Holmgren will take place long, long after Dakota and T.D. have passed from NPU students into NPU alumni.

He's got to change the negative culture in order to get good recruits.

He's got to do a lot of things in order to get good recruits. I've already discussed at length all the things that hold back NPU's ability to recruit, and the negative culture is not even the toughest one to overcome.

Winning is #1, but in this day and age you need all the bells and whistles (new locker room, uniforms, etc.) as well.

Those things will not be forthcoming in the near future. NPU simply doesn't have the money to make them happen. (Well, the Vikings do get new uniforms every year, so that's not really an issue. But the locker room and the football aspect of the stadium aren't going to be improved any time soon.)

All that will take more than a few years, so it will be interesting to see how much North Park can improve and be competative in the CCIW.

Agreed.

1. If anyone knew what would happen in a year or two, life would be so much easier. The HC job was open now, so you have to take the opportunity when it comes along. Also, not every opening is filled from the outside, usually(but not always) someone from within the program is promoted. Besides, whose to say one or two years down the road if either son would want to leave their original school. This seems like the perfect time to make a move with one having three and the other four years to play for their father.
2.You're on , name the terms.
3.Time to hit up the football alums and start a fund. It might take some time, but at least the project would be put in motion.
4. In order to win, you need good recruits. To get good recruits, the facilities have to be on par with some of the other schools in the area. That includes stadium, locker room, etc. First impressions are everything in getting a recruits attention.
5. That doesn't happen very often

[Gregory Sager]

If he wanted his sons to play for him, he couldn't wait.

One son's a redshirt freshman, the other just finished his freshman season. If he knew that another job would probably pop [/b] up in a year from now, he could take it and still get to coach both of his sons -- Dakota for two seasons and T.D. for three.

I would be willing to bet he's gone when his younger son graduates-especially if he can be the one who guides them to a couple of conference wins and maybe get the university to upgrade the stadium.

I'll take that bet, NCF. Couple of things: First of all, he is really taken with NPU's Christian culture. That means something to him, especially after coaching at a state school for the past eleven years. The way that the school has welcomed him, and the way that his two sons have very quickly made a lot of friends on campus and have really fallen in love with the place in just a few short weeks, has made a big impression upon him. I interviewed him at halftime of the NPU men's basketball webcast tonight, and he went on at length about that and about the overwhelmingly positive impression NPU has made upon him. You can argue that, well, yeah, it's on an NPU webcast, so of course he's going to say nice things about the school. But I can tell when I'm being snowed, and I can tell when someone really means it. He really means it. I think it's very important to him to coach at a Christian school.

Second, the Holmgren Athletic Complex is not due for upgrades, insofar as the football team is concerned. (The baseball team is trying to raise funds to turn the top floor of the fieldhouse into a clubhouse, but that won't affect the football team.) The university has other projects in the works, or in the planning stages, that will take precedence over a facility that was just upgraded about a decade ago. The new Johnson Science and Community Center, which is currently just a hole in the ground on the west side of the campus, is the immediate focus for NPU's development folks. And Mike Conway is not at NPU to raise money for a facelift for Holmgren. He's there to win football games and recruit students. Any upgrade to Holmgren will take place long, long after Dakota and T.D. have passed from NPU students into NPU alumni.

He's got to change the negative culture in order to get good recruits.

He's got to do a lot of things in order to get good recruits. I've already discussed at length all the things that hold back NPU's ability to recruit, and the negative culture is not even the toughest one to overcome.

Winning is #1, but in this day and age you need all the bells and whistles (new locker room, uniforms, etc.) as well.

Those things will not be forthcoming in the near future. NPU simply doesn't have the money to make them happen. (Well, the Vikings do get new uniforms every year, so that's not really an issue. But the locker room and the football aspect of the stadium aren't going to be improved any time soon.)

All that will take more than a few years, so it will be interesting to see how much North Park can improve and be competative in the CCIW.

Agreed.

1. If anyone knew what would happen in a year or two, life would be so much easier. The HC job was open now, so you have to take the opportunity when it comes along.

I don't agree with that at all, especially given the ongoing success of the Vulcans' program.

Also, not every opening is filled from the outside, usually(but not always) someone from within the program is promoted.

Where is the proof of that? I'd like to see hard data that proves that most programs promote from within, a la Carthage and Elmhurst.

Besides, whose to say one or two years down the road if either son would want to leave their original school. This seems like the perfect time to make a move with one having three and the other four years to play for their father.

They gave up scholarships to transfer to another school to play for their dad at a lower competitive level. That's all the indication anyone needs as to their loyalty to the paterfamilias.

2.You're on , name the terms.

Steak dinner. Winner picks the restaurant.

3.Time to hit up the football alums and start a fund. It might take some time, but at least the project would be put in motion.

Attempts within the past few years to start a North Park football alumni association have met with mixed success. The problem is that the vast majority of NPU football alumni: a) didn't finish at NPU, or even come close to doing so -- attrition has always been one of the program's major problems; b) don't particularly remember their NPU football experience fondly enough to want to contribute to an alumni fund or be part of an ongoing alumni organization (in stark contrast to the NPU baseball alumni, who have a very strong and very active alumni organization -- the difference being easily explained by the fact that NPU baseball has been a success story); and c) have been very difficult to track down.

North Park is years away from having a functional football alumni association strong enough to fundraise for major physical improvements for the program.

4. In order to win, you need good recruits. To get good recruits, the facilities have to be on par with some of the other schools in the area. That includes stadium, locker room, etc. First impressions are everything in getting a recruits attention.

What you say is true in a generic sense, and it applies to NPU as well. But, as I've said repeatedly, facilities aren't even close to being the biggest problem that North Park has in football recruiting.

5. That doesn't happen very often

That's the problem with my having so many different opinions on so many different topics: It gives everybody a chance to disagree with me far too often about one thing or another.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Greg, re: the last point:  but it also increases exponentially the odds they will agree with something!

[Gregory Sager]

Half full vs. half empty.

[NCF]

Half full vs. half empty.

I'll take half-full please

[NCF]

If he wanted his sons to play for him, he couldn't wait.

One son's a redshirt freshman, the other just finished his freshman season. If he knew that another job would probably pop [/b] up in a year from now, he could take it and still get to coach both of his sons -- Dakota for two seasons and T.D. for three.

I would be willing to bet he's gone when his younger son graduates-especially if he can be the one who guides them to a couple of conference wins and maybe get the university to upgrade the stadium.

I'll take that bet, NCF. Couple of things: First of all, he is really taken with NPU's Christian culture. That means something to him, especially after coaching at a state school for the past eleven years. The way that the school has welcomed him, and the way that his two sons have very quickly made a lot of friends on campus and have really fallen in love with the place in just a few short weeks, has made a big impression upon him. I interviewed him at halftime of the NPU men's basketball webcast tonight, and he went on at length about that and about the overwhelmingly positive impression NPU has made upon him. You can argue that, well, yeah, it's on an NPU webcast, so of course he's going to say nice things about the school. But I can tell when I'm being snowed, and I can tell when someone really means it. He really means it. I think it's very important to him to coach at a Christian school.

Second, the Holmgren Athletic Complex is not due for upgrades, insofar as the football team is concerned. (The baseball team is trying to raise funds to turn the top floor of the fieldhouse into a clubhouse, but that won't affect the football team.) The university has other projects in the works, or in the planning stages, that will take precedence over a facility that was just upgraded about a decade ago. The new Johnson Science and Community Center, which is currently just a hole in the ground on the west side of the campus, is the immediate focus for NPU's development folks. And Mike Conway is not at NPU to raise money for a facelift for Holmgren. He's there to win football games and recruit students. Any upgrade to Holmgren will take place long, long after Dakota and T.D. have passed from NPU students into NPU alumni.

He's got to change the negative culture in order to get good recruits.

He's got to do a lot of things in order to get good recruits. I've already discussed at length all the things that hold back NPU's ability to recruit, and the negative culture is not even the toughest one to overcome.

Winning is #1, but in this day and age you need all the bells and whistles (new locker room, uniforms, etc.) as well.

Those things will not be forthcoming in the near future. NPU simply doesn't have the money to make them happen. (Well, the Vikings do get new uniforms every year, so that's not really an issue. But the locker room and the football aspect of the stadium aren't going to be improved any time soon.)

All that will take more than a few years, so it will be interesting to see how much North Park can improve and be competative in the CCIW.

Agreed.

1. If anyone knew what would happen in a year or two, life would be so much easier. The HC job was open now, so you have to take the opportunity when it comes along.

I don't agree with that at all, especially given the ongoing success of the Vulcans' program.

Also, not every opening is filled from the outside, usually(but not always) someone from within the program is promoted.

Where is the proof of that? I'd like to see hard data that proves that most programs promote from within, a la Carthage and Elmhurst.

Besides, whose to say one or two years down the road if either son would want to leave their original school. This seems like the perfect time to make a move with one having three and the other four years to play for their father.

They gave up scholarships to transfer to another school to play for their dad at a lower competitive level. That's all the indication anyone needs as to their loyalty to the paterfamilias.

2.You're on , name the terms.

Steak dinner. Winner picks the restaurant.

3.Time to hit up the football alums and start a fund. It might take some time, but at least the project would be put in motion.

Attempts within the past few years to start a North Park football alumni association have met with mixed success. The problem is that the vast majority of NPU football alumni: a) didn't finish at NPU, or even come close to doing so -- attrition has always been one of the program's major problems; b) don't particularly remember their NPU football experience fondly enough to want to contribute to an alumni fund or be part of an ongoing alumni organization (in stark contrast to the NPU baseball alumni, who have a very strong and very active alumni organization -- the difference being easily explained by the fact that NPU baseball has been a success story); and c) have been very difficult to track down.

North Park is years away from having a functional football alumni association strong enough to fundraise for major physical improvements for the program.

4. In order to win, you need good recruits. To get good recruits, the facilities have to be on par with some of the other schools in the area. That includes stadium, locker room, etc. First impressions are everything in getting a recruits attention.

What you say is true in a generic sense, and it applies to NPU as well. But, as I've said repeatedly, facilities aren't even close to being the biggest problem that North Park has in football recruiting.

5. That doesn't happen very often

That's the problem with my having so many different opinions on so many different topics: It gives everybody a chance to disagree with me far too often about one thing or another.

#$@$%&^Sager-must you always try to get in the last word?!

[Gregory Sager]

Yes.

[NCF]

STOP:)

[ncc58]

NCC has posted their 2013 schedule. The first three games are UW-LaCrosse, UW-Stout, and UW-Stevens Point.

[NCF]

NCC has posted their 2013 schedule. The first three games are UW-LaCrosse, UW-Stout, and UW-Stevens Point.

What-no other conference wants to play them anymore?