FB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

"The Cardinal"  I like that.  It sounds very imposing.  Like there is some gigantic Godzilla like Cardinal roaming the streets of Wheaton looking for Wheaties to prey upon.

That's Stanford's nickname, of course ... the Cardinal.

The Stanford mascot isn't a gargantuan redbird capable of plowing through DuPage County like some rubber-suited actor on the model set of a Japanese monster movie, however. That's because Stanford is not nicknamed after Cardinalis cardinalis, as are North Central, Plattsburgh State, Catholic, Louisville, the St. Louis major league baseball team, etc. Instead, Stanford is nicknamed after the bright red color itself that is seen in males of the Cardinalis cardinalis species and in the vestments of high-ranking Roman Catholic prelates. Stanford's mascot is a tree, an homage to the 110-foot-tall redwood called "el Palo Alto" after which the city of Palo Alto, CA (where Stanford is located) is named. In Spanish, el Palo Alto means "the tall stick".

We've talked about funny-looking mascots in here from time to time, mostly because of Carthage's Torchy. Stanford's Tree is certainly a contender in the dorky mascot sweepstakes.

[redman04]

"The Cardinal"  I like that.  It sounds very imposing.  Like there is some gigantic Godzilla like Cardinal roaming the streets of Wheaton looking for Wheaties to prey upon.

That's Stanford's nickname, of course ... the Cardinal.

The Stanford mascot isn't a gargantuan redbird capable of plowing through DuPage County like some rubber-suited actor on the model set of a Japanese monster movie, however. That's because Stanford is not nicknamed after Cardinalis cardinalis, as are North Central, Plattsburgh State, Catholic, Louisville, the St. Louis major league baseball team, etc. Instead, Stanford is nicknamed after the bright red color itself that is seen in males of the Cardinalis cardinalis species and in the vestments of high-ranking Roman Catholic prelates. Stanford's mascot is a tree, an homage to the 110-foot-tall redwood called "el Palo Alto" after which the city of Palo Alto, CA (where Stanford is located) is named. In Spanish, el Palo Alto means "the tall stick".

We've talked about funny-looking mascots in here from time to time, mostly because of Carthage's Torchy. Stanford's Tree is certainly a contender in the dorky mascot sweepstakes.

Here are some more fun ones.  we have seen some of these before.
Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks
Arkansas Tech Wonderboys
Austin Peay State Governors
Bismarch State Mystics
Brandeis JudgesCalifornia Maritime Keelhaulers
California- Santa Barbara Gauchos
California- Irvine Anteaters
California- Santa Cruz Banana Slugs
Brooklyn College Bridges
Carnegie Melon Tartons
Chaminade College Silverswords
Centre College Praying Colonels
Chesapeake Skipjacks
Coastal College Chanticleers
College of the Atlantic Black Files
Columbia Claim Jumpers
Converse All-Stars (like the shoes)
Delaware Fighting Blue Hens
Delta State Fighting Okra
Earlham Hustling Quakers
Eastern Arizona Gila Monsters
Erskine Flying Feet
Evergreen State Geoducks "Gooey ducks"
Franklin & Marshall Diplomats
Furman Paladins
Grays Harbor College Chokers
Hofstra Flying Dutchmen 
John Carroll Blue Streaks
Pace Setters
Kent State Golden Flashes
Kenyon Lords
Massachsetts- Boston Beacons (mascot is a lighthouse)
Moody Bible College Archers
New Orleans Privateers
New York University Violets
North Carolna School of the Arts Fighting Pickles
Oberlin Yeomen
Ogelthorpe Stormy Petrels
Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops
Ohio- Zanesville Tracers
Oregon Tech Hustlin' Owls
Oswego Great Lakers 
Pepperdine Waves
Presbetyrian Blue Hose
Providence Friars
Rhode Island School of Design Nads (Go Nads!)
Rollins Tars
St. Mary's Spires
Scottsdale Artichokes 
South Dakota Tech Hardrockers
Southern Arkansas- Monticello Bollweevils
Southwestern Moundbuilders
Spokane Sasquatch
Stetson Hatters
Sweet Briar Vixens 
Trinity Christian Trolls
Tufts Jumbos 
Virginia Tech Hokies (Go Casterated Turkeys! lol)
Virginia Wahoos
Wisconsin- Sheboygan Wombats

[redman04]

Shocked to see Coach Etter leaving Carthage.
Best wishes to him and I hope he does as good of a job there as he did at Carthage the past couple of years.

Redmen faithful, Any ideas on who is replacing him?


http://www.d3football.com/pressreleases.php?release=2237

[matblake]

Shocked to see Coach Etter leaving Carthage.
Best wishes to him and I hope he does as good of a job there as he did at Carthage the past couple of years.

Redmen faithful, Any ideas on who is replacing him?


http://www.d3football.com/pressreleases.php?release=2237

Additional question:  Does this mean that Carthage will return to a more conventional style of defense, or did the current defense become the defense of choice at the beginning of the Rucks era?

[washdupcard]

Don't forget the Centralia Orphans!

[washdupcard]

"The Cardinal"  I like that.  It sounds very imposing.  Like there is some gigantic Godzilla like Cardinal roaming the streets of Wheaton looking for Wheaties to prey upon.

That's Stanford's nickname, of course ... the Cardinal.

The Stanford mascot isn't a gargantuan redbird capable of plowing through DuPage County like some rubber-suited actor on the model set of a Japanese monster movie, however. That's because Stanford is not nicknamed after Cardinalis cardinalis, as are North Central, Plattsburgh State, Catholic, Louisville, the St. Louis major league baseball team, etc. Instead, Stanford is nicknamed after the bright red color itself that is seen in males of the Cardinalis cardinalis species and in the vestments of high-ranking Roman Catholic prelates. Stanford's mascot is a tree, an homage to the 110-foot-tall redwood called "el Palo Alto" after which the city of Palo Alto, CA (where Stanford is located) is named. In Spanish, el Palo Alto means "the tall stick".

We've talked about funny-looking mascots in here from time to time, mostly because of Carthage's Torchy. Stanford's Tree is certainly a contender in the dorky mascot sweepstakes.

I really don't know what to say after that...I'm simultaneously scared and impressed by that post.

[devildog29]

Don't forget the Centralia Orphans!

True, the IHSA is filled with so many "unique" mascots, most of which have been discussed previously I believe.

Freeport Pretzels
Teautopolis Wooden Shoes
Fisher Bunnies
Plano Reapers (after the agricultural equipment, not death)

[Mr. Ypsi]

And never forget the Cobden Appleknockers - state (no divisions back then) runnersup in 1960(?).  (They lost to the Pekin Chinks, before Pekin had an 'awakening' and became the Dragons.)

[wab64]

And never forget the Cobden Appleknockers - state (no divisions back then) runnersup in 1960(?).  (They lost to the Pekin Chinks, before Pekin had an 'awakening' and became the Dragons.)

Along with the Appleknockers, don't forget, among state final teams, the Flaming Hearts of Effingham. All they had was a 7'1" exchange student named Uwe Blab. I may be Wabash, but spent 4 years in Indiana following Illinois and attempting to argue that it was superior to Hoosier Hysteria.(I was from Crystal Lake}

[RedMan1]

Being a former player of Coach Etter's it is sad to see him leave Carthage, but also great at the same time. He deserves to be a head coach and I wish him all the best at Concordia.

Taking over at Carthage? I haven't heard anything really. I would hope someone who runs a similar defense would come in since all the players are used to running a man to man defense. Who knows, I finished my senior year for football and now I'm a fan.

Losing Coach Etter is big, but I believe that Coach Rucks has a plan and will do all he can to find the right guy.

Have any of the people on this board ever gone through a coaching change like this? Be interested to see how people handled the situation and how the team reacted.....

[matblake]

Have any of the people on this board ever gone through a coaching change like this? Be interested to see how people handled the situation and how the team reacted.....

There are two examples from Wheaton.  The first has to do with last year's offensive line.  Walt Whitehead, longtime offensive line coach left for last season, but is returning this year.  Anyway, the offensive line didn't seem to have that same push.  Injuries have something to do with it, but the difference in the mentality by the players was interesting.  I would say that would be a negative example of a coaching change.  Please note that I never met the offensive line coach from last season and that my comments are not reflecting on him as a person and that I realize with the injuries, he had a lot to deal with.

A positive example would be Tim Hardy at Wheaton.  Sure, he was involved with the program but J.R. Bishop, former head coach and then offensive coordinator, certainly left his mark on the program.  However, I think that Tim has stepped in and done a great job with regards to the offensive scheme.  The guys seem to react well to him too. 

Just my two cents.

[RedmenBigD]

First and foremost CONGRATS to Coach Etter!!!  There is NO ONE that deserves this more than he does.  He will be tremendously successful at Concordia.  Carthage will miss him, but I have all the faith in Coach Rucks that he will be able to find a person just as great as Coach Etter.  Here is the article from the Kenosha paper.

http://ksn.kenoshanews.com/view_article.php?articleNum=2817811

[79jaybird]

Coal City Coalers  *Only Coalers in the entire country
Elk Grove Grenadiers  a team from my HS conference

Coach Etter will thrive at CUW as he is a great football mind, similar to Coach Swider at Wheaton.

I wouldn't worry too much about Carthage replacing the vacancy.  There is still ample time to get a new coach into this role and get him acquainted with the Carthage regime.  Plus, Coach Rucks is too knowledgable to let this vacancy create confusion within the program. 

Cardinal fans,  what's the outlook for the NC defense?  Offensively, I see North Central as being pretty stacked but what about their D?

[usee]

North Central will certainly be stacked at the skill positions on offense in 2008. In addition to CCIW POY Fanthorpe and 2x 1st team rb Sulo, they will presumably have Perry Welch back at full strength after missing 5 games in 2007 to injury and freshman Steve Hlavac who, after going unnoticed in the regular season with 15 catches and no tds, caught 20 balls for 282 yds and 6 td's in 2 playoff games! Welch is a very dangerous reciever having caught 55 passes and 7 scores in 2006 but living through most of 2007 with injuries.

The biggest questions for NCC offense are their offensive line where they lose 3 of 5 starters including 2x all CCIW player Don Kasper. they have all CCIW tacke Josh Delancey returning along with Jr. tackle Brad Trepanier. 3 other OL played in spots during 2007 and they will likely make up the balance of the rotation. The 5 guys up front for the Cardinal are the key to them being the top offense in the league next year in my view.

On defense they return 5 starters and lose 2 of their 3 linebackers and their best defensilve lineman. They have 3 of 5 db's returning including Derek Sulo (brother of Dominic, the rb). By far the leader of their defense and probably their best defender from 2007 is sophomore LB Matt Wenger. They will need to replace most of the rest of their defensive front  with people who have very little experience. If the Cardinal have an achille's heel this year it may be on defense.

I would be surprised if NCC isn't one of the top teams in the conference in 2008.

[WLCALUM83]

Here's an article on several NFL Draft prospects, including Carthage's Bergman:

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=738653

(Note:  Scroll down a bit for the info on Bergman).