FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[izzy stradlin]

kiko, izzy, and USee, thanks for talking me back off the ledge!  On my national fan ballot, I have Wheaton #4, so I just might be making a Gargantua out of just a CCIW front-runner.   I still think you guys are a heavy favorite, but I guess we may as well show up!  (I still think Jack Warner is potentially a future OPOY - this week would be a great time to display that!)

And don't forget (in case you are behind late in the game): lose by 1-28, you may be toast; lose by 29+, you're almost certainly in!

Ew... Ypsi thinks I'm a Wheatie.  That's pretty high up on the list of insults one could hurl my way.

Sorry, kiko, just bad phrasing on my part.  I know that you are not from the Dark Side.

Conversions to the Dark Side happen.  I could be remembering this wrong but isn't poster Go Thunder actually a North Central grad who heard the Emperor (Mike Swider) speak once in his usual persuasive fashion and then converted to the dark side and became known as Go Thunder? 

[matblake]

Congrats to Wes Cannonier for being on the Team of the Week!
http://www.d3football.com/awards/tow/2015/week9

[mwunder]

Early results are in from the new Carthage SID....and they are not good.

An example...http://athletics.carthage.edu/news/2015/10/31/Football_1031154124.aspx

I didn't actually count the number of times he used the word "would", because I wasn't able to get through the entire recap.  I miss Steve Marovich something fierce.

[Mugsy]

Early results are in from the new Carthage SID....and they are not good.

An example...http://athletics.carthage.edu/news/2015/10/31/Football_1031154124.aspx

I didn't actually count the number of times he used the word "would", because I wasn't able to get through the entire recap.  I miss Steve Marovich something fierce.

At least the Carthage fans "would" be pleased with the progress the team is making on the field.  One "would" think they are ahead of schedule and "would" be exceeding expectations.

[mwunder]

Early results are in from the new Carthage SID....and they are not good.

An example...http://athletics.carthage.edu/news/2015/10/31/Football_1031154124.aspx

I didn't actually count the number of times he used the word "would", because I wasn't able to get through the entire recap.  I miss Steve Marovich something fierce.

At least the Carthage fans "would" be pleased with the progress the team is making on the field.  One "would" think they are ahead of schedule and "would" be exceeding expectations.

Well done.

[AndOne]

"Tommy Bazarek who went in untouched for the opening score and following the missed extra point after touchdown the Red Men were up 6-0."

Glad he included "after touchdown," otherwise nobody would know when an extra point is attempted. 

And, weren't the Red Men up 6-0 before the missed extra point? 

Kind of insulting to the readers who may have seen a game or two previously.

[AndOne]

Kudos........

To the play by play guy, and the color man who did the IWU-NCC game this past Saturday.
I watched/listened to the game on my iPad and thought both were excellent.
Correct terminology, clear description of the plays, good analysis/explanation, and just enough (expected) homerism without going overboard. Five stars!

[gryfalia]

And now for my once every other year post.

As a Wheaton grad (married to an IWU grad, who lives in Bloomington/Normal) I guess I get to see the game in person next weekend.

Lookin' forward to that!  Hope it gets over on time, I have a Euchre tourney/Chili Cookoff to attend later that day!

And here's the worst part.  I just found out the event I have 'later that day' actually starts at 1PM.  Holy crap I'm crushed..;-/

I wonder if anyone will notice that I keep disappearing for 15 minutes at a time to look at the game, then head back...

[Pat Coleman]

I looked at a different game story and saw 16 uses of the word "would." That would have gotten you a severe talking-to at my newspaper job.

[Gregory Sager]

Early results are in from the new Carthage SID....and they are not good.

An example...http://athletics.carthage.edu/news/2015/10/31/Football_1031154124.aspx

I didn't actually count the number of times he used the word "would", because I wasn't able to get through the entire recap.  I miss Steve Marovich something fierce.

At least the Carthage fans "would" be pleased with the progress the team is making on the field.  One "would" think they are ahead of schedule and "would" be exceeding expectations.

The thing is, though, he used "would" in a different sense. Not to get all Mr. Grammar on you, but he used it as a sort of future preterite rather than as a conditional. In other words, he was trying to indicate the future through past action by use of the modal verb "would". It's incredibly stilted writing, especially when the future indicated in this manner is itself already now in the past. It comes off as a very affected way to state a past action when there's already a perfectly good way to state it by simply using the past tense. Instead of writing, "The Red Men would put together one of the most complete games of the season...", he could express the exact same thing more concisely by leaving out "would" altogether. And instead of going passive voice with, "The Carthage defense and ground game would be awakened at the half ...", why not simply use the active preterite: "The Carthage defense and ground game woke up at the half ..."? My guess is that this actually comes closer to his intended meaning -- Carthage's defense and ground game improved in the second half -- and that he didn't mean to imply that some sort of alarm clock (perhaps in the form of a screaming Coach Yeager) actually aroused the Red Men from their slumber in the locker room at intermission. And, as mwunder and Pat pointed out, he has a habit of using "would" as a modal verb to talk about the future in the past ad nauseam.

It's terrible writing, and, yeah, I hate to think what Steve Marovich must've thought when he read it. The simplest way to express a thought is usually the best way, and that's particularly true of a press release about a football game.

[Mugsy]

Early results are in from the new Carthage SID....and they are not good.

An example...http://athletics.carthage.edu/news/2015/10/31/Football_1031154124.aspx

I didn't actually count the number of times he used the word "would", because I wasn't able to get through the entire recap.  I miss Steve Marovich something fierce.

At least the Carthage fans "would" be pleased with the progress the team is making on the field.  One "would" think they are ahead of schedule and "would" be exceeding expectations.

The thing is, though, he used "would" in a different sense. Not to get all Mr. Grammar on you, but he used it as a sort of future preterite rather than as a conditional. In other words, he was trying to indicate the future through past action by use of the modal verb "would". It's incredibly stilted writing, especially when the future indicated in this manner is itself already now in the past. It comes off as a very affected way to state a past action when there's already a perfectly good way to state it by simply using the past tense. Instead of writing, "The Red Men would put together one of the most complete games of the season...", he could express the exact same thing more concisely by leaving out "would" altogether. And instead of going passive voice with, "The Carthage defense and ground game would be awakened at the half ...", why not simply use the active preterite: "The Carthage defense and ground game woke up at the half ..."? My guess is that this actually comes closer to his intended meaning -- Carthage's defense and ground game improved in the second half -- and that he didn't mean to imply that some sort of alarm clock (perhaps in the form of a screaming Coach Yeager) actually aroused the Red Men from their slumber in the locker room at intermission. And, as mwunder and Pat pointed out, he has a habit of using "would" as a modal verb to talk about the future in the past ad nauseam.

It's terrible writing, and, yeah, I hate to think what Steve Marovich must've thought when he read it. The simplest way to express a thought is usually the best way, and that's particularly true of a press release about a football game.

And now you all know why I was a mathematics/computer science major.  I speak "geek" better than english.

[davewrath]

Recently it was brought to my attention that my colleague up at Carthage has come under some criticism on this chat board. Certainly everyone is entitled to his/her opinion and I respect that.

However, as the aging dinosaur in the CCIW athletic publicity world, I think it might be useful to point out that the sports information director at the division III level has a tough task. We juggle multiple assignments for a variety of sports (at Augustana we have 23 of them). On a Saturday in the fall there are times when we have as many as 10 teams in competition on the same day. All those sports deserve attention and the hours in the day are not always enough to accommodate the work load.

I checked the Carthage schedule for this past weekend and Phil had four game stories to write on Friday, seven on Saturday and four again on Sunday. That is a heavy work load, my friends.

Hosting a football game is, by itself, tough work. Making sure the sound system works, checking the internet connections, waiting on the National Anthem singer, adjusting the volume for the Pom Pon squad at halftime – those are all things that come up routinely that the person on the outside don't see.

I haven't even mentioned the headache of running Statcrew. It is a wonderful program and it helps fans, coaches and sports information directors alike immeasurably. But, it can be very stressful. At the end of the game it is time to pack up and head back to the office to write the football story and then manage all the other results that come in. In all, it can be a hectic day.

I have long referred to our writing of gamers as "meatball journalism". That is a take on the description that Hawkeye Pierce used to give to surgery performed during the Korean War during the epic television series M*A*S*H. Sometimes, quite simply, we don't have the time to get it perfect. But, the story gets posted and it is there for all to read (and criticize). So we do the best we can.

This has always been a collegial group of posters. One that looks at both sides of issues and generally comes to reasonable conclusions. All I am asking is that you give Phil a break and let him find his way. He is replacing a legendary figure in Steve Marovich – a guy who made every SID in the CCIW better by his professionalism and attention to detail. It is no small task.

The CCIW has always held itself to a high standard on the playing field and I would like to think that the sports information directors in this league do a pretty good job of holding up their end of the bargain. Legendary names like Ray Smith at Wheaton, Ed Alsene at Illinois Wesleyan, Reggie Syrcle at Millikin, Dennis Prikkel at North Park and my predecessor Jim McGrath at Augustana were always classy and helped set the tone for those of us who came later.

Phil will be just fine. It is a tough job and he will figure it out but please, give him a chance.

Ok, time to move on and tackle the work load for today but I thank you very much for letting me have my say.

Cheers

Dave Wrath

[USee]

Regional Rankings are up:

http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/football/d3/regional-rankings

Mt Union
Wheaton
Wabash
Albion
IWU

No mention of NCC, which would hurt Wheaton

[emma17]

Regional Rankings are up:

http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/football/d3/regional-rankings

Mt Union
Wheaton
Wabash
Albion
IWU

No mention of NCC, which would hurt Wheaton

Do you know if there is an explanation from the committee as to why IWU is ranked over NCC?

[USee]

I don't have any explanation from them but I am going to go out on a limb and assume it's because IWU has 1 loss (albeit to NCC) and NCC has 3 losses. They aren't just ranked 'over' NCC, NCC isn't ranked at all. So your same question could be  why is Albion ranked over NCC when we know this:

@Albion 51
Trine 55

@North Central 41
Trine 7

So the committee seems to care more that NCC has 3 losses than who they beat.