MBB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[smedindy]

And I do apologize to WooBoo for being overtly sarcastic and snide in my 'pot - kettle' post. It HAS been a night, of little things, big things, and annoying things here.

[Li'l Giant]

This has been a rough couple of days. But a couple of gin and tonics and an episode of The Shield and I'm all good. 

[smedindy]

I wish it were that easy. I mean, I can deal with losing a glove, and losing an IM game to the Phi Delts (and they didn't even cheat), but a couple of other things at home have really burned my fern.

Anywho - back to the hoops!

[Li'l Giant]

and they didn't even cheat

.....this time....

[smedindy]

The OWU - Wabash game at Chadwick Wednesday is h-u-g-e. I know Witt / Wooster will take the lions share of attention, but this game has great implications for the first round of the tourney and the seeding thereof.

While they will be underdogs, of course, both OWU and Wabash have the ability to put quite a scare into Wooster or Witt during the NCAC tourney. Of course, it would be best if they caught one of them on a neutral court, instead of the home court, so the #3 seed is key. However, a #4 seed is key as well as you want to have that home game to give you and edge to GET to the final four and have a chance at Wooster and / or Witt.

The loser is likely going to have to scramble to see if they can get to #4. OWU has a rough road schedule upcoming, so this may be as close to a must win as you can have right now for them. And it is for Wabash as well, as they should not squander the home court.

With Earlham and Denison lurking in the high weeds, this is a crucial game for both teams and it should be a good one.

[wally_wabash]

I'll go on record as saying that I don't hate everybody else's schools (lest it be Depauw).  I have a very strong distaste for Witt, I have a strong respect for Wooster (even WooBoo hasn't sullied that), and I'm relatively benevolent toward the rest of the conference.  And it's not just hoops...it's all sports and other things institutionally related.  

Just so you know where I stand.  

[Pat Coleman]

Looks like he is off them again.

You got that post because you made the above remark.  If you stop making personal comments like that, then I'll obviously have no reason to reply.

Let me officially say that your response far exceeded the supposed injustice.

If you are only here to rabble-rouse, WooBoo, then we're going to rethink your posting privileges.

[David Collinge]

It sounds like there's some exciting things going on at Kenyon.  Their palatial new facility seems to be helping their recruting in all sports, including men's hoops.  The current seven-man first-year class, including Yelvington and Bediako (who leads the NCAC in blocks), were attracted at least in part by the new facilities and the commitments they evidence.  Today's Daily Record quotes Kenyon men's hoops coach Matt Croci at length. 

"At Kenyon, we're certainly proud of our academics and our reputation that way. For a long time, people were nervous about a building like this taking away from some of our focus on the academics. I think we now have enough people on board that are starting to understand that you can balance the two. "We're never going to turn into Wooster or Wittenberg in terms of that kind of a commitment
(to athletics), but I think it's gotten a lot better."

I know I am not alone in hoping that this is the start of something big at Kenyon, and a return to competitiveness for the Lords.

[smedindy]

That's great. I was also encouraged by the size of the classes at Denison and Hiram, which had been numbers shy as well in the recent past. (Denison in the Lee era, for sure).

It's funny, though, that Kenyon would not claim a commitment to athletics like Wooster or Witt when they have probably two of THE most storied D-3 program of all time, making the Mt. Union domination of football seem ordinary in comparison!

You don't get that good at something without SOME commitment.

[woosterbooster]

Smedindy -

Apology accepted, and you have mine also.  Here's hoping we can start fresh.

David -

That big guy Bediako is a first-year??!!  Holy cow!  He's gonna be scary after they teach him how to play.

[Titan Q]

So I'm at work (State Farm corporate HQ) and meet a new executive in my division who I'll be working with.  In an introductory meeting he says, "You probably haven't heard of my alma mater...I went to College of Wooster."  Within 30 seconds I had thrown out "Fighting Scots", "Timken", "Moore", and "Wittenberg Saturday."

I'm quite certain he was both shocked and impressed.  Ah the value of D3hoops.com!

[smedindy]

Ah yes. Even though I work in the 'industry' as it were, I dumfound people (who mainly work on the computer systems or behind the scenes in the advancement office) when I see what school they're from, and I know how they did in basketball or football, and they seem to be indifferent about it all?

Nothing like congratulating someone who works at Capital on the good playoff win against Wabash and be met with a semi-blank stare! (Though I did find that Wooster and the U. of Dayton folks knew about their hoops teams, though a colleague at Washington & Jefferson professed ignorance that they even played basketball there.)

Now if only the national mediots would understand what a great game Witt and Wooster will be on Saturday...

[David Collinge]

It's funny, though, that Kenyon would not claim a commitment to athletics like Wooster or Witt when they have probably two of THE most storied D-3 program of all time, making the Mt. Union domination of football seem ordinary in comparison!

You don't get that good at something without SOME commitment.

Yeah, Kenyon's commitment to sports is a narrow stream, but where it runs, it runs very deep indeed.  And the opposite end of the scale isn't Wooster and Wittenberg, it's Denison, at least as far as I can tell.

[Li'l Giant]

Now if only the national mediots would understand what a great game Witt and Wooster will be on Saturday...

I don't know why I thought it would happen, but when ESPNU was announced I had hopes that they would show games like this rather than a Sun Belt matchup. It would be a lot better channel if they did.

[smedindy]

That's true - Denison does have the all-sports lead and has won eight in a row (though there is some derision because of their performance in football and hoops, but mind you that's not the be all and end all of athletics, you mooks!)

Hiram has issues with the all sports, but they are quite small, compared to the rest of the NCAC. (The same size as Wabash, but co-ed. That affects things).

Earlham is the school that needs to get in gear. (And Wabash needs a lacrosse program, but that's another time and place...)