FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[CardinalAlum]

NCC 30 CU 34
(I have no reason for picking this other than I think CU has NCC's #)

SOT,

Your post does interest me though.  Why do you think that CUW might have our #?  The only time we played them was this year.  It was the first game of the year for the beloved Cards and the second for CUW.  I believe NCC has shown that we can defend the run better than we did in that first game.  Hopefully we show it on Saturday!

[fightintitan]

Holy cow, he makes his presence known again!!  And why do you know about Jr High mascots??   

On a side note, your buddy Ontario Sneed (of Clinton Maroon fame) got a shout out on ESPN for having one of the longest runs against the Michigan defense this year.

I remember Fisher's Jr High mascot because we played them twice each year in jr high basketball.

And yes, I do see that Ontario had a 25yd run against UM, however that was pretty much it 'cause he only totaled 33yds the whole game against them.  Good defense in Ann Arbor.

[CardinalAlum]

Good point. Forgot about that possibility. I've modified my post. Thanks for pointing that out.

No problem!  We're all on the same side right now! 

[RedmenFB44]

No problem!  We're all on the same side right now! 

Yes we are and I will be rooting for Wheaton and NCC for the entire playoffs. Maybe i'm getting ahead of myself but it would be great to see a CCIW team play on ESPN 2! 

[ncc58]

One other note for those of you traveling up north to Milwaukee.  When you are approaching the town of Milwaukee from the south,  take the 894 ByPass.  94 in downtown Milwaukee is under construction and (at times) 1 lane.  894 will take you around the main "downtown" and reconnect with I94 going west towards Madison.  Merge 894 back into 94 and go west to Rt. 45.  Exit Rt. 45 and then go North up to Watertown Plank Road.
Even though I am from Mt. Prospect, my Sister graduated from Marquette and my Elmhurst roommate was from Milwaukee.

Yes, that's the correct route to take. I think the downtown has been under construction for at least two years.

I told my wife the game was at Wisconsin Lutheran. She said "The High School?" No, the college. "There's a WL College?"

[79jaybird]

"I think the downtown has been under construction for at least 2 years"
MidwestFB  more like 5-6 years!!!  I used to go see my Sister at least once a month.  She was at Marquette between 1999-2003 and I would say beginning her Junior year (so approx. 2001)  the construction, detours, and traffic headaches began.  First on 94 South of "downtown" and then extended west near Miller Park and the Wisconsin State Fair.  Driving up to my roommate's wedding 2 weekends ago, that area was still being worked on!

Mt. Saint Joseph is NOT a team to take lightly, and I don't think the Thunder will.  MSJ has a pretty good running back, a decent quarterback, some crafty wide receivers, and an ok defense.  I think pound/pound and man/man I think Wheaton matches up better.  That's not to say that the Thunder DO have to play a fundamentally strong game Saturday!

Concordia-WI is no pushover either and do they will be fueled by the knowledge of having beat NC before.  NC is fueled by revenge which I think will carry the Cards further.  I think this matchup is going to be closer than the Wheaton/MSJ game. Wish I could be at both games, but I will be up at WI Lutheran covering the NC/CUW game.

BTW,  join Wes Anderson and yours truly on d3football.com  as we bring you the North Central/Concordia WI game on Saturday from Wi Lutheran College.  12:00 start so most likely we will go on the air/net at 11:50ish. CST

[matblake]

That's not to say that the Thunder DO have to play a fundamentally strong game Saturday!

Then they don't have to play fundamentally strong?? 

[79jaybird]

MatBlake-- I am not following?  I mean that Wheaton has to play smart on Saturday and not think that MSJ is going to be an easy W.  I know Mike Swider will have his team ready to go on Saturday.

[HScoach]

I don't know much about MSJ...what are the strengths and weakneses of their team?  Will these be easily exploited by Wheaton?

From their game last year versus MUC, here's what I remember about MSJ.  Pretty solid defense, well coached, but not an abundence of defensive speed.  NO OFFENSE.  NONE!  If Wheaton struggles with MSJ, then they can forget about standing toe-to-toe with MUC in Round 2. 



Being that I'll be more than very surprised if Capital and NCC don't both win big in Round 1, I have a question about Round 2.  Is the NCC offense all Kniss, or do they have a solid running game too compliment him?   And is their secondary deep and athletic, or is the D-line the strength of the defense.  Reason I'm asking is that Capital's weakness is a suspect rush defense and absolutely no running game offensively.  They're very good at throwing the ball and their DB's are good and quick, but they are not strong at the point of attack and would struggle bigtime against a team that can pound the ball right at them.

[matblake]

BTW,  join Wes Anderson and yours truly on d3football.com  as we bring you the North Central/Concordia WI game on Saturday from Wi Lutheran College.  12:00 start so most likely we will go on the air/net at 11:50ish. CST

Good luck to you on that. I'm sure you will do a great job.  Any word on possible other games via audio stream?  How much time do you spend preparing?  I'm guessing it takes you a bit shorter when doing the Elmhurst games.  I'm sure you have limited info on CUW.  

[FormerCard]

That's not to say that the Thunder DO have to play a fundamentally strong game Saturday!

Then they don't have to play fundamentally strong?? 

Is that the ?Confused, confused, confused? ,  I think you are cute SMILE???  ha

[79jaybird]

MatBlake-- On a typical regular season Elmhurst game,  I meet with HC Tom Journell at 11:30 to spend 30-45 minutes talking with him on a taped interview.  Then Friday Night I usually spend a good 1-3 hours preparing, studying, analyzing, trying to memorize some names/numbers that I will be calling, etc.  I don't know how other broadcasters do it, but I DO script out my opening spiel.  After the opening spiel (which is basically, location, station, who's playing who  etc.) then it is imprompu and "live".
I don't know the other d3football.com webcasts but I do know that Wheaton College's Station WETN  will have their broadcast over the Internet.

[matblake]

MatBlake-- I am not following?  I mean that Wheaton has to play smart on Saturday and not think that MSJ is going to be an easy W.  I know Mike Swider will have his team ready to go on Saturday.

That's not to say that the Thunder DO have to play a fundamentally strong game Saturday!

Then they don't have to play fundamentally strong?? 

Just a little joke.  I knew you meant that the Thunder DO have to play fundamentally strong, however with your words "Thats not to say" imply that you thought the Thunder could play bad fundamentally and still win.

[matblake]

That's not to say that the Thunder DO have to play a fundamentally strong game Saturday!

Then they don't have to play fundamentally strong?? 

Is that the ?Confused, confused, confused? ,  I think you are cute SMILE???  ha

Depends on what you think.......

[79jaybird]

Oh gosh,  I'm sorry  "You will have to excuse me, I'm a little slow. The town is THAT way" (what movie    )

I was thinking about something.  I know this will probably never happen, but just to ponder this for a minute or two.

With the IBFC having one more year and the teams dispersed to the NAC and SLIAC... what if Concordia-WI was to join the CCIW?  We have had Carroll  in conference at one time and Carroll isn't too far away from CUW.
I think CUW vs. Car  CUW vs. NC  CUW vs. EC  could be a nice "geographic" rivalry.
I know this is a highly unlikely situation, but I was just "daydreaming" and thinking about that.  I just don't see any real "powerful" football teams other than CUW in the NAC.