FB: Northwest Conference

[spiritof86]

I can't stand this and it is only Thursday.

[woufan]

Thanks, that's the guy, I remember the story and photo. I knew a good sprinter played football at Linfield. Must be great to have those wheels in the defensive backfield.

[pdxpio]

hey all, thought you all would want to see this.  L&C football will not play their NWC conference schedule this year and it doesnt look good for following years.  The following is an email from the L&C president.

From: owner-lc-community@lclark.edu [mailto:owner-lc-community@lclark.edu]
On Behalf Of Tom Hochstettler
Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2005 4:03 PM
To: lc-community@lclark.edu
Subject: Pio Football

Dear Lewis & Clark Community,

I write with a heavy heart to let you know that Lewis & Clark is
suspending its regular conference football play in fall 2005.

Steve Wallo, athletics director, and Roger VanDeZande, head football
coach, have come to the difficult conclusion that having too few
players on the Pioneer football team puts our players at undue risk for
injury, to the point of constituting an actual endangerment to their
well-being.  Based on this recommendation, I have no choice but to
cancel the regularly scheduled conference games for this season. Our
overriding concern must be to ensure the safety and well-being of all
members of our College community.

Steve, Roger, Julio de Paula, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences,
and I met earlier today with members of the football team. While I
share the players' frustration, I also believe they understand that,
without adequate numbers on the bench, their safety is in jeopardy.
This is not a risk we are prepared to take with these young men whose
well-being has been entrusted to us.

Low player numbers--indeed, low attendance at football games--didn't
happen overnight at Lewis & Clark. In fact, the player roster has
dropped from 67 in 1990 to 34 this fall. It is also clear that our
winning tradition in football has suffered several consecutive losing
seasons. We want to know why.  To that end, Dean de Paula and I have
commissioned a study--to be conducted by members of our campus
community, including members of the football team, with help from the
Northwest Conference and NCAA Division III--to evaluate the Lewis &
Clark football program and to make recommendations for future safe and
successful Pioneer competition.

Lewis & Clark College has come a long way since 1891, when Albany
Collegiate Institute first made space for a calisthenics program. In
2005, there are many opportunities for student participation in
varsity, intramural, and club sports activities, which enhance the
total undergraduate experience at the College. The athletic programs of
the College are in every other way as robust as they have ever been,
and I am firmly convinced that our athletic programs add tremendous
value to the Lewis & Clark experience, not just for our
scholar-athletes, but for every student.

Thank you for your understanding and your ongoing loyalty and
commitment to Lewis & Clark. Lewis & Clark is a wonderful institution
and I know that our best days are still ahead. This situation is truly
unfortunate, but I am confident that we will emerge from this period of
hardship a far better and stronger institution.

Sincerely,

Tom Hochstettler
President



<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Thomas Hochstettler
President, Lewis & Clark College
(503) 768-7680
(503) 768-7688 fax

[wildcat11]

Wow Pdxpio......while your post my be the real deal....I'm not going to comment until I see a release from L&C or from the NWC.

[Pat Coleman]

We are struggling to confirm this as well. Left messages all over the place at L&C. Conference office is attempting to follow up also.

[d-train]

It's actually on their own site now:

http://www.lclark.edu/cgi-bin/shownews.cgi?1126224000.0

[Pat Coleman]

Yeah, we're on that and it's out front too. Must've all been in a meeting and they emerged with a press release.

Not a good day for Division III football.

[onearmedscot]

Sad day.  Being a member of the MAC team that was dropped to a indepedent schedule, I feel the Pioneer pain. 

Hopefully they can right the ship and wi the few games they are going to play.  I know, from conversation, that VanDeZande is a solid guy and a great coach.

Good luck to the Pioneers.   While most teams, players, fans don't understand the situation, I feel for the program.

OneArmedScot

[Ralph Turner]

My first thought on L&C's decision is whether this will "throw cold water" on the plans of other NWC teams, e.g., George Fox and Pacific, and their assessments/intentions on adding football.

There were times in the old Texas IAA, antecedent conference to the ASC, when everyone played double round robin, just to get enough games!

Just when it looked like the NWC was going to have 9 football members and affiliates by the end of the decade...

[pdxpio]

OneArmedScot i dont know if i agree with you about the coach.  from contact i have had with players and other lc athletics coaches, i hear he is not a good fit from the program.  he cannot retain players and he cannot recruit.  last week two captains quit.  to me, and from what players have said to me, that does not spell success. 

as a former pio i have to say i am very embarassed for the school and furious at the athletic department leads.  fanger was a terrible hire and VanDeZande is even worse.  there is entirely too much turnover with coaches at LC and not enough success.  i seem to recall a few posters on this board saying "youre only as good as your administration wants you to be," today that point came true.

i really doubt lc plays football anymore and that is really sad.

[onearmedscot]

pdxpio--

I will say my gut feelings were based on trading messages and one good conversation over the phone with VDZ.  I don't have any closer info than that.  If players are quitting I'd be interested in their reasons.

I 100% agree with you that at D3 you are only as good as the administration wants you to be and sometimes that is a real sad realization.  At MAC they didn't give two S's and a F about us and it resulted in us going independent. 

The saddest thing is the Pios probably would have a better chance against PLU and Willamette than Oxy and other non conference foes.  Time will tell.

good luck pios.  hope to see you playing a full schedule  in 2006!

OneArmedScot

[RFB]

This is not good news for the NWC, it hurts an already very strong conference. I can understand being down as a program but throwing in the towel like they are doing just stinks. What kind of message are they sending?

I just don't understand. If they can play their non-conference schedule then why not their conference schedule? Are they worried about playing Linfield? Or other high powered teams in the conference? Against those teams the starters will score three quick touchdowns and then the benches will be emptied.

I could understand calling it quits if you were down to under twenty kids but if the players want to play and have the pride to represent their school then I say game on. What a disservice the coaches and university administration is doing to the 34 players that represent the football program and the university.

Show some damn guts and finish the season as best as possible. In the off-season clean house and get the support they need organized from top down so the football program can make a comeback.

[Wildcat'64]

I am either a little dense or something is grossly wrong with the Lewis & Clark's President's explanation as to why he is dropping football.
If the "real reason" is because of potential injuries to the 34 member squad....then that risk starts on Saturday not in five weeks.  It appears to me that his stated rationale doesn't meet the "smell" test.  If this was truly his reason, the Pioneers should have dropped the entire schedule in order to protect the safety of the athletes not four games into the season.
The President's statement is ethically challenged to say the least and just doesn't meet the truth test!

[Pat Coleman]

You don't think there's a difference between playing a four-game schedule and a nine-game schedule? That's twice as much opportunity to have players injured and further jeopardize the rest of the team.

If you wanted them to cancel the entire season, you might as well tell them all to pack up and go home. I would be willing to bet that if they didn't play any games this year, they wouldn't be playing any in 2006 either.

[wildcat11]

This is terrible.....  

I feel bad for the 34 players at L&C who have stuck with it only to get slapped in the face.

I feel bad for the Pio alumni who crave to see their program come back to a respectable level to have their program turned into a sad statement.

I feel bad for the other teams in the NWC teams who will have one less chance to play a college football game.  

I feel bad for the UPS logger seniors who last regular season ever game will now be Oct 29th vs. Colorado College, instead of Nov 12th at Lewis and Clark.  

I feel bad for the Linfield players who last home regular season game ever will be Oct 22nd vs. UPS instead of Nov 5th when we were suppose to host L&C.

The NWC better get on the horse and look into trying to help L&C get it together but also see what they can do to help Pacific get their program back on-line. 

This smells bad.........