FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

North Park's non-conference opponents next season, in addition to the previously-announced CCIW/MIAA Challenge game at Alma (1-9), will include a home game against Concordia WI (8-3) and a road game at Washington MO (8-3). That's two games against 2013 playoff teams, so the Vikings certainly won't be underprepared when CCIW play begins.

I saw The New North Park, the NPU football 2013 highlight video today, and was very impressed by it. Mike Conway's wife Beth Ann, who is a very talented editor, did a terrific job of putting it together. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first highlight video that the NPU football program has ever had (probably because there's never been enough highlights in previous years to assemble one. ). It's being shown exclusively to prospects right now -- since the season ended the NPU coaching staff has had 95 prospects visit campus, a number which blows my mind -- but when it gets released to the public via YouTube, I'll link to it here.

I'm pretty pumped. This is the first time that my play-by-play calls have appeared on a highlight video.

Worth a look just to hear that.

All of NPU's 2013 home webcasts are actually archived. But watching the highlight video instead of listening to, say, the archived webcast of the Carthage @ NPU game would save you from having to listen to me call an afternoon's worth of four-yard running plays and Charcoal Delight ads.

[Kovo]

North Park's non-conference opponents next season, in addition to the previously-announced CCIW/MIAA Challenge game at Alma (1-9), will include a home game against Concordia WI (8-3) and a road game at Washington MO (8-3). That's two games against 2013 playoff teams, so the Vikings certainly won't be underprepared when CCIW play begins.

I saw The New North Park, the NPU football 2013 highlight video today, and was very impressed by it. Mike Conway's wife Beth Ann, who is a very talented editor, did a terrific job of putting it together. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first highlight video that the NPU football program has ever had (probably because there's never been enough highlights in previous years to assemble one. ). It's being shown exclusively to prospects right now -- since the season ended the NPU coaching staff has had 95 prospects visit campus, a number which blows my mind -- but when it gets released to the public via YouTube, I'll link to it here.

I'm pretty pumped. This is the first time that my play-by-play calls have appeared on a highlight video.

Worth a look just to hear that.

All of NPU's 2013 home webcasts are actually archived. But watching the highlight video instead of listening to, say, the archived webcast of the Carthage @ NPU game would save you from having to listen to me call an afternoon's worth of four-yard running plays and Charcoal Delight ads.

Awesome.  So when I can't sleep, I can listen to North Central vs. NPU over and over again.

[kiko]

I realize that the 2013 season is not fully over until about 9:30 E.T. tomorrow night, but was wondering if any of the NCC faithful would take a shot at prognosticating how good NCC is going to be next year 2014 with seniors leaving the team.  Which player position is going to be the hardest to replace and can the 2014 Cardinals be as good as or better than the 2013 team?

WarhawkDad

QB, hard to replace a Stanek. But they lose nearly the entire defense.
They will be good , as usual

We lose 8 starters on defense and 6 on offense.  And I agree on Stanek.  As much as I like the other QBs on our roster, how do you replace an All American season?  I do think that we will be very good on offense next year, but the defense is a question mark.  I except NCC to be the preseason favorite for the CCIW Title, but I'm not sure how we will stack up nationally with teams like UMU, who will be absolutely loaded.

Hopefully it will be a reload rather than a rebuild, as others have said.

One bit of context to keep in mind as we size the Cardinals up against the UMUs of the world is that (1) this was the best North Central team of the Thorne era -- and I mean that in the sense of overall talent and not based on the fact that they happened to advance to the semis.  And (2) this was probably the most vulnerable UMU team in recent years.  And under those circumstances, the two were essentially even-steven on the (snow-covered) field.

Said differently as good as this past season's team was, IMO there is still another gear to hit in order to be at a typical Purple Raider level.  I have no doubt that the Cards can get there given everything they've done in recent years, but it may not be a straight line from here to there.

[Stagg Again!!]

I realize that the 2013 season is not fully over until about 9:30 E.T. tomorrow night, but was wondering if any of the NCC faithful would take a shot at prognosticating how good NCC is going to be next year 2014 with seniors leaving the team.  Which player position is going to be the hardest to replace and can the 2014 Cardinals be as good as or better than the 2013 team?

WarhawkDad

QB, hard to replace a Stanek. But they lose nearly the entire defense.
They will be good , as usual

We lose 8 starters on defense and 6 on offense.  And I agree on Stanek.  As much as I like the other QBs on our roster, how do you replace an All American season?  I do think that we will be very good on offense next year, but the defense is a question mark.  I except NCC to be the preseason favorite for the CCIW Title, but I'm not sure how we will stack up nationally with teams like UMU, who will be absolutely loaded.

Hopefully it will be a reload rather than a rebuild, as others have said.

One bit of context to keep in mind as we size the Cardinals up against the UMUs of the world is that (1) this was the best North Central team of the Thorne era -- and I mean that in the sense of overall talent and not based on the fact that they happened to advance to the semis.  And (2) this was probably the most vulnerable UMU team in recent years.  And under those circumstances, the two were essentially even-steven on the (snow-covered) field.

Said differently as good as this past season's team was, IMO there is still another gear to hit in order to be at a typical Purple Raider level.  I have no doubt that the Cards can get there given everything they've done in recent years, but it may not be a straight line from here to there.

Life is never a straight line Kiko.  The Cardinals just need to minimize the volatility around the mean as they continue on their trajectory... In other words, they need to eliminate the Wabash- and Linfield-type implosions.  If they can do this while they work to build on their recruiting and physical plant (such as a Massillon-style indoor training facility instead of a new science center ),there is no doubt in my mind that NCC will achieve the success it seeks.

I would like to make one point of clarification though.  From the perspective our WIAC friends who have a good eye and have seen UMU up close and personal a number of times, the 2010 Cardinals were on the same level as the Mount as well.

[Gregory Sager]

North Park's non-conference opponents next season, in addition to the previously-announced CCIW/MIAA Challenge game at Alma (1-9), will include a home game against Concordia WI (8-3) and a road game at Washington MO (8-3). That's two games against 2013 playoff teams, so the Vikings certainly won't be underprepared when CCIW play begins.

I saw The New North Park, the NPU football 2013 highlight video today, and was very impressed by it. Mike Conway's wife Beth Ann, who is a very talented editor, did a terrific job of putting it together. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first highlight video that the NPU football program has ever had (probably because there's never been enough highlights in previous years to assemble one. ). It's being shown exclusively to prospects right now -- since the season ended the NPU coaching staff has had 95 prospects visit campus, a number which blows my mind -- but when it gets released to the public via YouTube, I'll link to it here.

I'm pretty pumped. This is the first time that my play-by-play calls have appeared on a highlight video.

Worth a look just to hear that.

All of NPU's 2013 home webcasts are actually archived. But watching the highlight video instead of listening to, say, the archived webcast of the Carthage @ NPU game would save you from having to listen to me call an afternoon's worth of four-yard running plays and Charcoal Delight ads.

Awesome.  So when I can't sleep, I can listen to North Central vs. NPU over and over again.

Definitely a Sominex Special, as it was the most boring game I called all year.

One bit of context to keep in mind as we size the Cardinals up against the UMUs of the world is that (1) this was the best North Central team of the Thorne era -- and I mean that in the sense of overall talent and not based on the fact that they happened to advance to the semis.  And (2) this was probably the most vulnerable UMU team in recent years.  And under those circumstances, the two were essentially even-steven on the (snow-covered) field.

Yes, but another bit of context to keep in mind as we size the Cardinals up against the UMUs of the world is that there are only two UMUs of the world: Purple One and Purple Two, on display for the umpteenth time this century tomorrow night. In other words, NCC is breathing very rarified air right now, air that it was not breathing a year ago.

After all that talk about how every opponent over the years that has gone into Alliance in the playoffs has peed down their legs, the Cardinals not only kept their pants dry, they went toe-to-toe in Alliance with Purple One for sixty minutes in a game that was decided by the vagaries of extra-point conversions. That's no small thing.

[kiko]

One bit of context to keep in mind as we size the Cardinals up against the UMUs of the world is that (1) this was the best North Central team of the Thorne era -- and I mean that in the sense of overall talent and not based on the fact that they happened to advance to the semis.  And (2) this was probably the most vulnerable UMU team in recent years.  And under those circumstances, the two were essentially even-steven on the (snow-covered) field.

Yes, but another bit of context to keep in mind as we size the Cardinals up against the UMUs of the world is that there are only two UMUs of the world: Purple One and Purple Two, on display for the umpteenth time this century tomorrow night. In other words, NCC is breathing very rarified air right now, air that it was not breathing a year ago.

After all that talk about how every opponent over the years that has gone into Alliance in the playoffs has peed down their legs, the Cardinals not only kept their pants dry, they went toe-to-toe in Alliance with Purple One for sixty minutes in a game that was decided by the vagaries of extra-point conversions. That's no small thing.

That is absolutely no small thing, as I noted earlier:

5. My favorite moment of the game was actually one that ended up having zero bearing on the game.  The Cards trailed 20-16 in the waning seconds of the first half, and forced UMU to turn the ball over on downs.  NCC took over at their own 17 with 48 seconds left.  There are any number of schools who, given the field conditions and time remaining, would have simply taken a knee or run the ball into the middle of the line, and been pretty happy in knowing they'd hung close with the Machine for 30 minutes.  Instead, the Cards put the pedal to the floor and tried to go down the field.  I loved the we-don't-care-who-you-are-we-will-keep-coming-at-you message it sent.  There was some talk before the game about the Mount mystique affecting the Cardinals at the outset of the game; if you will pardon the analogy, there was no yellow snow on the North Central sideline on Saturday.  They basically walked up to Mount and punched them in the nose from the opening kickoff, and kept punching for the next three-plus hours.  Incredible heart and determination.

But, to your comment, there are only two Purples, assuming we exclude Prince.   And I don't want to be in the same room as them every third year -- I want to beat them.

Life is never a straight line Kiko.  The Cardinals just need to minimize the volatility around the mean as they continue on their trajectory... In other words, they need to eliminate the Wabash- and Linfield-type implosions.  If they can do this while they work to build on their recruiting and physical plant (such as a Massillon-style indoor training facility instead of a new science center ),there is no doubt in my mind that NCC will achieve the success it seeks.

I'm sure our new President the scientist will get right on that.    

[Kovo]

One bit of context to keep in mind as we size the Cardinals up against the UMUs of the world is that (1) this was the best North Central team of the Thorne era -- and I mean that in the sense of overall talent and not based on the fact that they happened to advance to the semis.  And (2) this was probably the most vulnerable UMU team in recent years.  And under those circumstances, the two were essentially even-steven on the (snow-covered) field.

Yes, but another bit of context to keep in mind as we size the Cardinals up against the UMUs of the world is that there are only two UMUs of the world: Purple One and Purple Two, on display for the umpteenth time this century tomorrow night. In other words, NCC is breathing very rarified air right now, air that it was not breathing a year ago.

After all that talk about how every opponent over the years that has gone into Alliance in the playoffs has peed down their legs, the Cardinals not only kept their pants dry, they went toe-to-toe in Alliance with Purple One for sixty minutes in a game that was decided by the vagaries of extra-point conversions. That's no small thing.

That is absolutely no small thing, as I noted earlier:

5. My favorite moment of the game was actually one that ended up having zero bearing on the game.  The Cards trailed 20-16 in the waning seconds of the first half, and forced UMU to turn the ball over on downs.  NCC took over at their own 17 with 48 seconds left.  There are any number of schools who, given the field conditions and time remaining, would have simply taken a knee or run the ball into the middle of the line, and been pretty happy in knowing they'd hung close with the Machine for 30 minutes.  Instead, the Cards put the pedal to the floor and tried to go down the field.  I loved the we-don't-care-who-you-are-we-will-keep-coming-at-you message it sent.  There was some talk before the game about the Mount mystique affecting the Cardinals at the outset of the game; if you will pardon the analogy, there was no yellow snow on the North Central sideline on Saturday.  They basically walked up to Mount and punched them in the nose from the opening kickoff, and kept punching for the next three-plus hours.  Incredible heart and determination.

But, to your comment, there are only two Purples, assuming we exclude Prince.   And I don't want to be in the same room as them every third year -- I want to beat them.

Life is never a straight line Kiko.  The Cardinals just need to minimize the volatility around the mean as they continue on their trajectory... In other words, they need to eliminate the Wabash- and Linfield-type implosions.  If they can do this while they work to build on their recruiting and physical plant (such as a Massillon-style indoor training facility instead of a new science center ),there is no doubt in my mind that NCC will achieve the success it seeks.

I'm sure our new President the scientist will get right on that.   

We have to keep our priorities in order 

[Kovo]

So much for the argument that NCC should be ranked #2 

[Stagg Again!!]

So much for the argument that NCC should be ranked #2 

No way NCC has five turnovers and is held to 30 yards rushing in a game.  Burke is just having an uncharacteristically horrible game today.  You still have to look at the fact that the Cardinals defeated four of the top six WIAC teams by the same or greater margins than did UWW.  I also think NCC defeats UMHB.

[Kovo]

So much for the argument that NCC should be ranked #2 

No way NCC has five turnovers and is held to 30 yards rushing in a game.  Burke is just having an uncharacteristically horrible game today.  You still have to look at the fact that the Cardinals defeated four of the top six WIAC teams by the same or greater margins than did UWW.  I also think NCC defeats UMHB.

Why couldn't they give us five turnovers last week 

[NCF]

So much for the argument that NCC should be ranked #2 

agree.

[markerickson]

According to this website (I do not have ESPNU), UWW is pounding right now.  Very good. 

[HScoach]

So much for the argument that NCC should be ranked #2 

No way NCC has five turnovers and is held to 30 yards rushing in a game.  Burke is just having an uncharacteristically horrible game today.  You still have to look at the fact that the Cardinals defeated four of the top six WIAC teams by the same or greater margins than did UWW.  I also think NCC defeats UMHB.

Why couldn't they give us five turnovers last week 

Because your defensive wasn't as big and as fast as UWW.    Burke was running for his life on 90% of his drop backs, and once down big, had to try to force a big play.    NCC was a very good team.   So was Mount.    UWW as it turns out  was elite.

[Kovo]

So much for the argument that NCC should be ranked #2 

No way NCC has five turnovers and is held to 30 yards rushing in a game.  Burke is just having an uncharacteristically horrible game today.  You still have to look at the fact that the Cardinals defeated four of the top six WIAC teams by the same or greater margins than did UWW.  I also think NCC defeats UMHB.

Why couldn't they give us five turnovers last week 

Because your defensive wasn't as big and as fast as UWW.    Burke was running for his life on 90% of his drop backs, and once down big, had to try to force a big play.    NCC was a very good team.   So was Mount.    UWW as it turns out  was elite.

Maybe.  No doubt UWW's defense was the best in the nation, but that was a 21-14 game at half.  UMU had a number of unforced errors on offense that really killed them.  However, as good as UWW looked last night, their scores throughout the year not often reflect the  total dominance we witnessed.  Is UWW the best team in D3?  You bet.  Are they 38 points better than UMU and 39 points better than NCC?  Let's put it this way, I'm taking NCC and the 39, particularly on a neutral field.

[Stagg Again!!]

So much for the argument that NCC should be ranked #2 

No way NCC has five turnovers and is held to 30 yards rushing in a game.  Burke is just having an uncharacteristically horrible game today.  You still have to look at the fact that the Cardinals defeated four of the top six WIAC teams by the same or greater margins than did UWW.  I also think NCC defeats UMHB.

Why couldn't they give us five turnovers last week 

Because your defensive wasn't as big and as fast as UWW.    Burke was running for his life on 90% of his drop backs, and once down big, had to try to force a big play.    NCC was a very good team.   So was Mount.    UWW as it turns out  was elite.

Maybe.  No doubt UWW's defense was the best in the nation, but that was a 21-14 game at half.  UMU had a number of unforced errors on offense that really killed them.  However, as good as UWW looked last night, their scores throughout the year not often reflect the  total dominance we witnessed.  Is UWW the best team in D3?  You bet.  Are they 38 points better than UMU and 39 points better than NCC?  Let's put it this way, I'm taking NCC and the 39, particularly on a neutral field.

I'd take some of that action too Kovo... Particularly if the field doesn't look like what we saw in Arden Hills or in Alliance and the temperature is greater than -5 degrees!!!