FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Thorne for CCIW Coach of the Year ... that is all.

Ain't gonna happen. Eash is going to win it ... and deservedly so.

Are you saying Eash deserves the award moreso than Thorne?  If so, why?

"Deserves" could certainly be debated either way.  But as a "prediction", I'll go with Greg.  Very simple reasoning: The coaches vote on the award.  The coaches picked NCC for 3rd, IWU for 7th.  They are co-champs.  From the coaches' perspective, Eash exceeded expectations more than Thorne.  QED.

Exactly.

[burly]

Nice CSTV interview of Andrew Studebaker... some of the video clips show how scary good he is.  A great combination of strength, speed and quickness.

I'd be shocked if he doesn't get some serious looks by NFL teams.

http://www.cstv.com/video/?s=videohub&vid=5554

Any chance of getting a redshirt?

Nope... he played in too many games this year (5 games) - although he probably only was in the game for the equivalent of 2 games due to blowouts at the half and he hurt his ankle during the first series of the NCC game.  I'll bet he was only in on 75 plays for the entire season.  Sure would have been fun to see him play and entire year and 100% health.  Players of his talent don't come around too often at the D3 level.

and I'm pretty sure the redshirt eligibility rules have changed to where he wouldn't have been eligible even if he only played in 1 or 2 games...

That's unfortunate.  Please keep everyone posted on combine/NFL tryout activity.

[burly]

Redman04 or was Tailgator... don't we have a bet this week?

[FormerCard]

Thorne for CCIW Coach of the Year ... that is all.

Ain't gonna happen. Eash is going to win it ... and deservedly so.

Are you saying Eash deserves the award moreso than Thorne?  If so, why?

"Deserves" could certainly be debated either way.  But as a "prediction", I'll go with Greg.  Very simple reasoning: The coaches vote on the award.  The coaches picked NCC for 3rd, IWU for 7th.  They are co-champs.  From the coaches' perspective, Eash exceeded expectations more than Thorne.  QED.

If thats the case then it makes complete sense why Thorne wont be chosen.  CCIW coaches are mad that they cant schedule NC for their homecoming game anymore.   

[redman04]

Redman04 or was Tailgator... don't we have a bet this week?

yes we do.  I took Ohio state you took Michigan.  Don't know how it started, but winner get to pick losers screen name.

[CardinalAlum]

Wow!!  After a long weekend away, I don't know where to start.  First off congratulations to my alma mater on getting a piece of the CCIW championship again and going to the playoffs for the 3rd year in a row.  Congrats also to IWU and their fans on their piece of the championship.  You guys were obviously better than anyone thought.  I can't help but feel sorry for Wheaton and their people.  Wheaton was by far the most talented team in the CCIW and was devastated by injuries and was still in the hunt right up until the last quarter of the last game.  I have never seen a team decimated by injuries to so many key people as Wheaton had this year.  Hopefully, we can make the CCIW proud and keep on playing well.  What is Sulo's status?  That could be a key for the Cards.  Great job of taking care of business by the Cardinals up in Kenosha, which is no easy place to play.  If there was ever a year that the Coach of the year should be split, it is this year.    As much as it hurts to say it, Eash is the guy if they only pick one.   Fanthorpe and Ittersagen are clearly the Players of the Year.   Whew, did I cover everything?

[ncc58]

NCC has played Franklin before, from 2000 through 2003. Franklin won the first two games, NCC won the next two. Did any of you younger Cardinal alums play in those games?

[burly]

Redman04 or was Tailgator... don't we have a bet this week?

yes we do.  I took Ohio state you took Michigan.  Don't know how it started, but winner get to pick losers screen name.

Good stuff...  any preliminary thoughts on new screen names that you might give me if Ohio State wins?

[CardinalAlum]

  -----Still hate IWU but Credit is due! 

Good stuff...  any preliminary thoughts on new screen names that you might give me if Ohio State wins?

How about "I LOVE IWU" for redman04 if you win?   

[matblake]

  -----Still hate IWU but Credit is due! 

Good stuff...  any preliminary thoughts on new screen names that you might give me if Ohio State wins?

How about "I LOVE IWU" for redman04 if you win?   

Or how about, "I only went to Carthage because I couldn't get into IWU."

[CardinalAlum]

Or how about, "I only went to Carthage because I couldn't get into IWU."

this one gave me a good laugh on a Monday morning!! +K

[79jaybird]

Congratulations to the CCIW's co-Champions, both are overachievers and both are deserving, just as Wheaton is/was. If there was an award for the most overachieving despite obstacles- Wheaton would have won that. I have never seen a team (at any level) lose so many key personnel and yet they were one win away from the CCIW.  That's a credit to Coach Swider, his staff, and most importantly his players.

Was happy to see Elmhurst come from behind and knock off a MUCH IMROVED North Park.  North Park is close to being able to dig themselves out.  The Vikings certainly had their chances to beat Elmhurst.

Looking at the Elmhurst 2007 Season in Review
The positives:

6-4 4 of the last  5 years is a positive
Finishing with a better record than Augie for the first time since 1980 is a positive
2 straight wins in Decatur for the first time ever is big.
Shattering 7 defensive/offensive records is pretty shabby.
Ran their non conference winning streak to 7 seasons.
Most inspiring every Senior is graduating, 17 Honor Rollers.

Now the areas that need addressing...

*Still haven't been able to solve Wheaton, Augie, NC.  and until they do, they will be viewed as a 4-6 place team.
*Offensive holes- EC loses their QB, some key O-Linemen, and needs to find a #1 back.  I think Pedi will be the #1 in 2008, and Gones/Wilharm will be in the backfield.  Both can use a Summer of bulking up.
*Defensively,  heavy loss to graduation and there will be a need for some big guys (ala Scardullo) to step up.

All in all, for a program that has been in shambles from 1986-2000, the Bluejays are slowly improving just need to start finishing some games and try to pry into the frontrunning horses.

Lastly, my votes

Coach of the Year- While Thorne has done a great job this year, COY definitely needs to go to Norm Eash (breaks my heart to say this) because he took a "nobody" team in August, and brought them to the top.  People expected NC to be in the top 3, but nobody expected IWU to end up on top.
Most outstanding player- I think should go to Fanthorpe.  He has been the difference for NC and is clearly one of the best offensive weapons.

[FormerCard]

NCC has played Franklin before, from 2000 through 2003. Franklin won the first two games, NCC won the next two. Did any of you younger Cardinal alums play in those games?

Yeah.  I dont really remember a whole lot about their team.    The last time we played them had an exciting finish with an interception in the last minute of the game.   I know the drive down to Franklin was nothing to look forward to when you were playing.

[usee]

Thorne for CCIW Coach of the Year ... that is all.

Ain't gonna happen. Eash is going to win it ... and deservedly so.

Are you saying Eash deserves the award moreso than Thorne?  If so, why?

"Deserves" could certainly be debated either way.  But as a "prediction", I'll go with Greg.  Very simple reasoning: The coaches vote on the award.  The coaches picked NCC for 3rd, IWU for 7th.  They are co-champs.  From the coaches' perspective, Eash exceeded expectations more than Thorne.  QED.

I guess I don't understand this thinking. How do you "exceed" expectations if you were picked 1st and finish 1st? Does that mean a coach can't be COY if another team finishes higher than their predicted order of finish? that doesn't make much sense to me.

And keep in mind IWU was coming off 3 consecutive 3-7 seasons and hadn't had a winning CCIW season since 2001 so picking them 7th wasn't exactly a stretch. They certainly exceeded expectations this year after having underperformed for the last 5 years (particularly before 2006 when they had somewhere near 18 starters returning and went 3-7--I picked them 2nd or 3rd in my cciw pickems!). I am pretty sure all of those other IWU teams set out to prove everyone wrong and win the CCIW title but it didn't happen. The fact is this IWU team got it goin when none of the previous 5 could. Good for them.

Having argued against and for myself (which I tend to do) I have gone on record for my vote for COY, Norm Eash. I don't like Co-anything because it dilutes the award. Its a hard choice and I could write a long post on why Thorne should get it too but my vote is for Stormin Norm and his $5 crew cut. 

[redman04]

  -----Still hate IWU but Credit is due! 

Good stuff...  any preliminary thoughts on new screen names that you might give me if Ohio State wins?

How about "I LOVE IWU" for redman04 if you win?   

Or how about, "I only went to Carthage because I couldn't get into IWU."

good stuff Too funny!!!!!   +K