FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[USee]

OPOY is a lock. 

DPOY is a lock as an NCC player it just depends who the coaches nominate. It's not clear to me if it's Dierking or Slezak. 

[Gregory Sager]

Has there ever been any discussion raised in CCIW football circles about naming a Special Teams Player of the Year? There would be a certain amount of logic to it, given that the league office names a Special Teams Player of the Week in addition to the OPOW and DPOW awards.

[izzy stradlin]

Football is a just a game that is played for fun.  The object is to score and keep your opponent from scoring.  All the discussion about respect, professionalism, class, not saying sorry for scoring etc is about as misplaced as it gets.  It's simply weak and lacks perspective.

[Stagg Again!!]

Hey, I'm perfectly fine with ending that particular discussion.

Anybody want to make some guesses about the All-CCIW team, and/or does anybody disagree with the idea that Stanek and Dierking are locks for OPOY and DPOY?

When I cast my votes, they will be for Stanek and Dierking.  I also would think that both should get some consideration for All-American status... IMO

[ncc_fan]

Am I the only one ready for the picture of the dead horse on this topic?  I'm certain that I know how everyone feels-------and the opinions aren't going to change!  Maybe when the brackets come out, we can move on to the playoffs.

Here's hoping that Coach Conway succeeds in building NPU into a contender.  The annual Wheaton-NPU contest could be - and should be - one of the CCIW's signature rivalry games.

[bleedpurple]

Football is a just a game that is played for fun.  The object is to score and keep your opponent from scoring.  All the discussion about respect, professionalism, class, not saying sorry for scoring etc is about as misplaced as it gets.  It's simply weak and lacks perspective.

Now there's some serious projection going on. First an oversimplification as a justification for a specific point of view. Then a pejorative descriptor (weak) for those who look at things differently than you.  Then of course the projection of someone who has convinced himself that he has the benefit of "superior perspective".  Nice!

[kiko]

I have no dog in this scuffle, and, well, let's just say that I don't make a habit of defending the Wheaties.

What happened was absolutely egregious, but from my perspective, this is a bit hard on Coach Swider.  Words matter, of course, but I take "I didn't make the call" as synonymous with "That shouldn't have happened and it won't happen again."  Would it have been better if he owned it?  Sure, but nothing he said in the 30 seconds immediately after a game would cause the steam rising from Coach Conway's ears to dissipate.  From your account, it's not as though he suggested the late twist of the knife was warranted.

If he had a track record of running up the score late, or didn't acknowledge how unsportsmanlike this was, it would be a different story.  Remember, he'd had approximately two minutes to internalize what happened and decide what to say.  Yes, coaches get paid to make split-second decisions, but for most of those you get to think about your options in advance.  I suspect he was as blindsided by this as anyone other than the knucklehead who decided it was a good idea.

The reason why I don't buy this is that Mike Swider has been a head coach for a long time now. He of all people should know full well that he bears the responsibility for whatever his staff does or does not do in terms of running the game -- and his presence right there on the sidelines, in a situation in which everybody understands how the basic code of sportsmanship comes into play, amplifies his lack of an excuse.

The fact of the matter is that, "I didn't make the call" is not synonymous with, "That shouldn't have happened, and it won't happen again." As angry as Mike Conway was, he's also a highly-principled man who, as a Christian, understands full well the requirement his faith makes incumbent upon him to forgive his neighbor. If Mike Swider had simply said to him in the handshake line, "I'm sorry about that last touchdown. That shouldn't have happened, and it won't happen again," I have a really hard time imagining that Mike Conway wouldn't have: a) accepted the apology; and b) calmed down by the time that I interviewed him (seriously, listen to the interview at the end of my broadcast -- you can hear the anger in his voice jump right out of your computer speakers). He would've reverted to the basic disappointment of a coach whose team had just been soundly beaten (i.e., our interview would've been pretty much the same as the one after the NCC @ NPU game).

"I didn't make the call" is as synonymous with "I didn't know that was coming and am sorry it happened" as it is with "I am abdicating responsibility for what happened".

Look, you can feel as aggrieved as you want about this.  From my perspective, if this is all it took for you to "lose all respect for Mike Swider", then, well, you have a really short fuse.

I have a two-post limit when it comes to defending Wheaties.  Moving on now...

[AndOne]

OPOY is a lock. 

DPOY is a lock as an NCC player it just depends who the coaches nominate. It's not clear to me if it's Dierking or Slezak. 

Hey, I'm perfectly fine with ending that particular discussion.

Anybody want to make some guesses about the All-CCIW team, and/or does anybody disagree with the idea that Stanek and Dierking are locks for OPOY and DPOY?

When I cast my votes, they will be for Stanek and Dierking.  I also would think that both should get some consideration for All-American status... IMO

As USee said, OPOY is a forgone conclusion. Among other ststistics, Spencer Stanek finished 5th in the country in passing TDs, 3rd in completion percentage, and 2nd in passing efficiency. Not only CCIW OPOY, but he should receive strong consideration for All-American status given NCC's perfect regular season finish.

As far as DPOY, it probably won't happen but, with apologies to Shane Dierking, I'd favor a CO-DPOY with Dierking and Nick Slezak sharing the award. Shane was a pre-season All-American and has done nothing to diminish that status with his stellar play this season including his league leading 7 INTS. Nick finished 4th in CCIW play in total tackles, including 1st in tackles for loss. While not league all leading stats, his performance is all the more noteworthy due to the fact that he was operating as a LB for the 1st time in his career this season. As a soph, he was a WR. Last season saw him play as a SS, and only this year did he move to middle LB where he played at a remarkedly high level for someone playing the position for the first time.

[Titan Q]

Congratulations Titans!  Great year so far...let's keep this rolling!

[kiko]

North Central hosts Albion and Illinois Wesleyan gets a home game against Wartburg.

Both are in the bracket headed by Bethel.

Congrats and good luck to both schools!

[Stagg Again!!]

North Central hosts Albion and Illinois Wesleyan gets a home game against Wartburg.

Both are in the bracket headed by Bethel.

Congrats and good luck to both schools!

I see a CCIW team in Salem...  Well at least a one in four chance.

[ncc_fan]

North Central hosts Albion and Illinois Wesleyan gets a home game against Wartburg.

Both are in the bracket headed by Bethel.

Congrats and good luck to both schools!

I see a CCIW team in Salem...  Well at least a one in four chance.

Uh, there's the little matter of going through Alliance, Ohio on the way to Salem - assuming a CCIW team makes it that far.

[HScoach]

Interesting bracket.   Round 1 is cupcakes (as they should be), but Round 2 has quality matchups.   NCC vs Platteville and Bethel vs Ill Wesleyan could be some good games.

By contrast the Whitewater bracket has only 2 good teams.   UWW and Linfield.   The rest of their bracket is horrid.

[ncc_fan]

Interesting bracket.   Round 1 is cupcakes (as they should be), but Round 2 has quality matchups.   NCC vs Platteville and Bethel vs Ill Wesleyan could be some good games.

By contrast the Whitewater bracket has only 2 good teams.   UWW and Linfield.   The rest of their bracket is horrid.

A UMU guy says Franklin is horrid?

[Mr. Ypsi]

Hosting Wartburg is as good a draw as we could reasonably hope for.  Going in, I figured it was no better than 50-50 that we would host at all.  Bethel in round two would definitely be an uphill climb, but all in all, I'm very pleased.