MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[smedindy]

I don't think there's much of a difference, if any, between refs at NAIA and NCAA D-3 level (or D-2 even). May be from the same pool. I really can't tell the difference between NCAC refs and GNAC refs in ANY sport. 

[ScotsFan]

I don't think there's much of a difference, if any, between refs at NAIA and NCAA D-3 level (or D-2 even). May be from the same pool. I really can't tell the difference between NCAC refs and GNAC refs in ANY sport. 

So you're saying they're all equally bad?   

[wabashsid]

That would be correct (smedindy that is). I know several officials who work Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference basketball games one night and will work Marian University (Indianapolis NAIA school) games the next night.

[David Collinge]

Wittenberg, up to #11 in the D3hoops.com poll, drops Thomas More 87-70.
Wabash gets off the schneid, squeaking past Trine 67-65 in overtime.
No time to celebrate for the LGs, as they must gear up for IU-Dabney tomorrow. The Fighting Colemans are reputed to usually have a sour disposition and a sarcastic demeanor.

[Li'l Giant]

Wittenberg, up to #11 in the D3hoops.com poll, drops Thomas More 87-70.
Wabash gets off the schneid, squeaking past Trine 67-65 in overtime.
No time to celebrate for the LGs, as they must gear up for IU-Dabney tomorrow. The Fighting Colemans are reputed to usually have a sour disposition and a sarcastic demeanor.

I made a Dabney Coleman joke offline earlier. Great minds, eh?

I don't believe this "Indiana Dabney" is related in any way to IU, however. It appears to be a private nursing school for "non-traditional" students. Which makes me think of the "Florence Nightengale" reference in the water-volleyball game in "Meet the Parents".

[smedindy]

Yep, not related in any way to Indiana University.

My favorite Dabney movie quote: "He's got balls the size of church bells..."

Fernando Bowie is the head coach for the men. Insert ABBA jokes here.

No truth to the rumor that Wabash tried to schedule Greendale. The Human Beings were too busy trying to prank City College to grab another game.

[Joe Wally]

What happened with the Fighting Dabneys?  No Contest?

[sigma one]

Lost in transit.  Word is they showed up in Wabash, Indiana, looking for the College.  No Dabs at game time.  No Dabs during the next hour.  Nor the next.  Referees from Ohio thought they waited long enough and decided to go home.  Game declared no contest after discussion with Wabash.  Refs, team, fans dispersed.  One guess who walked through the front doors of the Allen Center not long after.
     Folks, there is a Wabash College; there is a Wabash, Indiana; there is a Wabash River; there is a Wabash Valley College (two year).  None of them are all that close to one another.  For future reference:  Wabash College is in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
     I was there to see the game, sat and stood around, said my holiday greetings to the fans and players I know, and was walking out of the building when the Dab's came in.  I didn't stick around to hear or see the rest of the story. 
     

[David Collinge]

Wow. Not sure what the home state of the refs has to do with anything, but otherwise...wow.

[Joe Wally]

Lost in transit.  Word is they showed up in Wabash, Indiana, looking for the College.  No Dabs at game time.  No Dabs during the next hour.  Nor the next.  Referees from Ohio thought they waited long enough and decided to go home.  Game declared no contest after discussion with Wabash.  Refs, team, fans dispersed.  One guess who walked through the front doors of the Allen Center not long after.
     Folks, there is a Wabash College; there is a Wabash, Indiana; there is a Wabash River; there is a Wabash Valley College (two year).  None of them are all that close to one another.  For future reference:  Wabash College is in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
     I was there to see the game, sat and stood around, said my holiday greetings to the fans and players I know, and was walking out of the building when the Dab's came in.  I didn't stick around to hear or see the rest of the story. 
     

When I attended Wabash in the late '80s there was a story about a similar thing having happened to to a football team coming down to play the Little Giants and getting lost somewhere in Wabash County.

In the pre-internet era I suppose that I could see it happening, but in this day and age with all of the different on-line mapping capabilities, it makes no sense.

[woosterbooster]

Lost in transit.  Word is they showed up in Wabash, Indiana, looking for the College.  No Dabs at game time.  No Dabs during the next hour.  Nor the next.  Referees from Ohio thought they waited long enough and decided to go home.  Game declared no contest after discussion with Wabash.  Refs, team, fans dispersed.  One guess who walked through the front doors of the Allen Center not long after.
     Folks, there is a Wabash College; there is a Wabash, Indiana; there is a Wabash River; there is a Wabash Valley College (two year).  None of them are all that close to one another.  For future reference:  Wabash College is in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
     I was there to see the game, sat and stood around, said my holiday greetings to the fans and players I know, and was walking out of the building when the Dab's came in.  I didn't stick around to hear or see the rest of the story. 
     

Without referencing any sort of map, let me put forth a conjecture.  All things Wabash have to do with the river.  The valley, the town, the colleges, even the Cannonball.  So, if one were to put in at the headwater on some floatation device, eventually you'd see men running around in red and white striped pants.  Voila. Wabash College.  How hard is that?

[smedindy]

Except Crawfordsville isn't near the river. It's by Sugar Creek, a tributary (which is bigger than many things called rivers out in the plains...)

[cave2bens]

Without referencing any sort of map, let me put forth a conjecture.  All things Wabash have to do with the river.  The valley, the town, the colleges, even the Cannonball.  So, if one were to put in at the headwater on some floatation device, eventually you'd see men running around in red and white striped pants.  Voila. Wabash College.  How hard is that?

Make sure that device is USCG-approved.  Other options (if truly starting at the headwaters  ) would be punctured before reaching the annual, bridge abutment logjam at the US 127 bridge in Mercer County, OH.   

[sigma one]

David et al.  My mention of the refs being from Ohio was included because they had a long trip home.  If the game had begun on time, then it would have been over when they finally decided to talk to Wabash officials about declaring no contest. 
     No refs are ever "on the clock."  But it was clear that their patience was exhausted by the no show.  How long should they have stuck around with no clear indication that the Dabs would ever show up, even in this time when one would think that cell phones would clarify the status of the missing team?  I don't know what Wabash and the refs knew about where the Dabs were after such a long wait.  (Heck, I don't know if the Dabs knew where they were.)  I don't know the conference rule, but it seems to me the head official might/could have the latitude to decide when a game should be called off (on his own or in consultation with the home team) when conditions merit. 
    Wabash and Crawfordsville are about thirty miles from the Wabash River, which runs southwest dividing Lafayette and West Lafayette and then flows very near to the Indiana/Illinois border.   Wabash College is roughly two good hours from Wabash, Indiana.   
         

[David Collinge]

David et al.  My mention of the refs being from Ohio was included because they had a long trip home.

Got it, thanks. And thanks for giving us the story. +1

Gotta wonder what this game was doing on the schedule in the first place. This smells more like an emergency schedule-filler than a first-choice opponent. I wonder if Wabash had an opponent pull out at the last scheduling minute, or simply couldn't find a suitable (date, location) 25th game.