FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[AndOne]

Yes, bringing the entire realm of possibility into focus by highlighting the fact that there can be more sinister reasons involved as well as those grounded in positive reinforcement.     

Again, though, I'm not conceding your assertion that the negative reasons outweigh the positive ones. I'm not at all convinced, for example, that D1 assistant-level experience is the toxic indicator that you've made it out to be. Perhaps it is for a guy like Carthage's Mike Yeager, who played for Miami (OH) and spent six years on the staff at Indiana. But then there's Mike Conway, who was the defensive ends coach for Purdue for a year or two back in the early '90s. And that's not an indication of anything at all. He was a small-college guy before that brief Purdue stint, and he's been a small-college guy ever since he left Purdue to go to Olivet Nazarene.

As is true in so much of life, context is everything.

Careful reading, and thoughtful analysis of my comment that you quoted will reveal that the key words are "can be."
That is not to say past D1 experience is toxic in all cases. Likely far from it.

[Gregory Sager]

I read your posts quite carefully, Mark, and analyze them with as much thought as is necessary.

First, you said:

Does he have D1 assistant level experience, and is he "dropping down" to the D3 level due either to being dismissed (possibly along with the entire staff), or as a result of his feeling he'll never ascend to the head position? In both cases it would seem the probability of his using the D3 job as a springboard back to the D1, or minimally the D2 level, would be much more likely than someone possessing the associated D3 attributes previously delineated by Mr. Sager.   

Then, you said:

Yes, bringing the entire realm of possibility into focus by highlighting the fact that there can be more sinister reasons involved as well as those grounded in positive reinforcement.     

The money shot from that first statement are the words "would be much more likely," which made your comparison of the negative to the positive both explicit and qualitative. Hence, my two demurring responses: "Maybe, maybe not," and "Again, though ...".

While it can be argued that your word "someone" implies that you're talking about two different people in your comparison as well as two different motivations, this reading of your post would presuppose that these two sets of motivations are mutually exclusive. In other words, there would be no overlap in a Venn diagram of football coaches with a D3 background or D3 ties and football coaches with D1 assistant-level experience, because your comparison would set them up to be two distinct groups of coaches. And we all know that that's not the case. In fact, I just named a coach who represented both groups: Mike Conway, who, when he interviewed at NPU, came with both a D3 background (Washington & Jefferson) and D1 assistant-level experience (Purdue). I'm sure that it wouldn't take very long to find lots and lots of other D3 head football coaches out there who have both a D3 background and D1 assistant-level experience. Therefore, the natural way to read your first post is to see it as talking about two different motivations only, rather than two different people -- with the negative motivation outweighing the positive.

While your intention in using the more equivocal construction "can be" in your follow-up post might've been to walk back the declaration of the first post, that's not actually how it reads. The problem is that it doesn't walk back the comparison between negative and positive motivations; it merely reiterates that the negative motivation is a possibility as well (a possibility that I never denied). In the first post, you declared that the negative outweighed the positive. In the second post, all you did was restate that the negative was possible.

This is why I've tried to ground your statements by using real-life examples in Ron Planz, Mike Yeager, and Mike Conway.

[Pat Coleman]

Mr. Y: I've seen you refer to your pitching nickname for TD Conway a couple of times on different boards and I have to ask: Why would you name a pitcher Wild Pitch?

Signed, Bob Walk and Grant Balfour

[Mr. Ypsi]

Mr. Y: I've seen you refer to your pitching nickname for TD Conway a couple of times on different boards and I have to ask: Why would you name a pitcher Wild Pitch?

Signed, Bob Walk and Grant Balfour

Zing!  I had in mind 'winning pitcher'.  I favor KO Conway, although he's not a power pitcher.

[Mr. Ypsi]

A little trivia quiz while we count down the hours to a new season:

What are the real first names of

Dixie Walker
Red Auerbach
Red Grange
Yogi Berra
Sparky Anderson
Casey Stengel

No fair using Google!

[Mr. Ypsi]

BTW, Red Auerbach was not always a very good judge of talent.  He passed over Bob Cousy in the draft to take the immortal Charlie Share.  He only got 'stuck' with Cousy because of a dispersal draft (back then, teams were dropping like flies).

I'm currently reading a book about the rivalry between Chamberlain and Russell.  The book is subtitled 'The Golden Age of Basketball'.  I'd have to take issue with that - it was a very good time (my personal favorite was the Big 'O'), but THE Golden Age was Magic, Bird and MJ.

[NCF]

A little trivia quiz while we count down the hours to a new season:

What are the real first names of

Dixie Walker
Red Auerbach
Red Grange
Yogi Berra
Sparky Anderson
Casey Stengel

The only ones I know are:
Casey Stengel-Charles
Yogi Berra-Lawrence
Red Grange-Harold

No fair using Google!

[Mr. Ypsi]

A little trivia quiz while we count down the hours to a new season:

What are the real first names of

Dixie Walker
Red Auerbach
Red Grange
Yogi Berra
Sparky Anderson
Casey Stengel

The only ones I know are:
Casey Stengel-Charles
Yogi Berra-Lawrence
Red Grange-Harold

No fair using Google!

Well you're 3 for 3 - anyone else?

I thought Sparky would be a gimme - maybe only in Detroit and Cincinnati?

[AndOne]

Arnold "Red" Auerbach
George "Sparky" Anderson

Long ago when I was growing up in Connecticut, the regional newspapers would sometimes refer to Auerbach using both his real 1st name, and his more commonly used nickname. Usually when he blew his stack over a call.
Sharing the same last name, I always remembered Sparky's real name.   

[Mr. Ypsi]

That's two more.  Sparky was intended as a gimme, but maybe only for people in Cincinnati and the Detroit area.  So anyone with Dixie Walker?

[Titan Q]

A few IWU-related pieces from the Pantagraph leading up to today's opener...

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/football/opportunity-key-word-for-titans/article_936bc0c5-4587-5613-835b-7d59e33d7541.html

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/football/iwu-awaits-tough-foe-in-opener/article_f1f97948-d69e-56e9-b886-3b59d0cc43c0.html

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/football/iwu-football-preview-schedule/article_af6f1c85-fbc8-5148-a388-089af6b602ae.html


Good luck to all CCIW teams as we get things rolling!

[Titan Q]

Here are the IWU starters I pieced together from various articles...missing 1 on offense and 2 on defense.


Offense
QB Jack Warner, 5-10/165 Fr (Hersey H.S.)
RB Anfernee Roberts, 5-7/185 Jr (Homewood-Flossmoor H.S.)

OL Niall Mulcahy*, 6-0/285 Sr (Fenwick H.S.)
OL Garrett Laflamme, 6-3/280 Sr (Deerfield H.S.)
OL Lucas Diller, 6-6/285 Jr (Prairie Central H.S.)
OL Frank Toland, 6-4/285 Jr (Lincoln-Way East H.S.)
OL Tom Pearson, 6-4/295 Jr (Cary-Grove H.S.)
TE Brady Hails, 6-2/230 Sr (Collinsville H.S.)

WR Artie Checchin, 6-1/200 Jr (Rolling Meadows H.S.)
WR Fernando Lozano, 5-10/190 Jr. (Elk Grove H.S.)

Defense
DE John Worley*, 6-4/255 Sr (York H.S.)
DT Jeff Jerome*, 6-1/260 Sr (Normal West H.S.)
DT Will James, 6-0/270 Jr (Champaign Centennial H.S.)

OLB Luke Roth, 5-11/225 So (Naperville Central H.S.)
MLB Connor Klein* 6-2/205 Sr (Maine South H.S.)
OLB Sean Garvey, 6-0/220 So (Glenbrook South H.S.)

CB Tyrell Bolden, 6-0/190 Sr (Springfield H.S.)
CB Ben Bouie, 5-10/180 Jr (Eisenhower H.S.)
S Brinton Wilkey, Jr, 6-2/210 Fr (Springfield H.S.)

Special Teams
P Matt Kussman, 6-3/260 Sr (Tri-Valley H.S.)
K Michael Kelley, 5-9/155 Jr (Carbondale H.S.)

* captain

[USee]

It appears Wheaton has lost returning safety Mitch Warren for the season with a torn ACL suffered at Wabash.  A huge loss for the Thunder.  Thornbush and Canonnier will be the starters there.  The Thunder have a lot of questions going into today's opener.  They need to establish playmakers on offense and their linebackers around Dandsdill need to be physical and make plays.  This game may be much closer than I hope. 

I think it could be a rough day for the CCIW today.  Only Elmhurst over Loras is a lock in my view.

[DadofBashWarrior..]

1st trip to North Park Vikings stadium tonight...what a turnaround...as always...it's always about the coaching...always

[USee]

1st trip to North Park Vikings stadium tonight...what a turnaround...as always...it's always about the coaching...always

I think it's actually always about the recruiting.