BB: CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[ChiSoxMan]

Remember that I am not the one blaming the umpires. I inquired of another poster's comments about the "horrific" umpiring.

[droppinbombs47]

Remember that I am not the one blaming the umpires. I inquired of another poster's comments about the "horrific" umpiring.

I know this but it was General Public who made these comments, and looking at his previous comments and posts on this site, he is clearly a very jealous and bitter Wheaton fan who needs to blame something other than his teams poor play for losing because he is just still in shock that his team just got swept by NCC 

[jigsaw54]

NCC completes sweep of Wheaton today 7-2.  NCC now 12-3 in the CCIW.

[HITandRUN463]

NCC completes sweep of Wheaton today 7-2.  NCC now 12-3 in the CCIW.

Jigsaw54 and droppinbombs47 beat me to it......NCC completes a big sweep against CCIW rival Wheaton   

I bet that was a shock to some who thought NCC had no right to be one of the new CCIW powerhouses

I know I didn't see this coming in the beginning of the season when they were picked to place 5th in the CCIW.  They are definitely making statements with their steady offensive production and their reliable outings on the mound.

I think NCC is for real this season.

[cardsalum]

All of this umpire business is getting a tad out of hand. What respectable individual who is called to work is going to intentionally sway the outcome of games? Umpires have no incentives to favor particular teams and to accuse coaches at any level of hiring "buddies" on the premise of winning a ballgame is a disgrace. Let's focus a bit more on the positives this season has exhibited. There are two teams at the top of the conference in NCC and NPU who were picked to finish among the bottom of the conference this year and are having fantastic seasons. Lets commend the young men on those programs for their success thus far!!

[BigPoppa]

I am really hoping that Carthage can get on a roll right now. They have won four straight and face a weak Marian in a DH today and a weak Millikin for three games this weekend. They are in the soft spot in their schedule right now and need to iron a few things out before Giovenco and North Park comes to town in to end CCIW play.

[Mugsy]

NCC completes sweep of Wheaton today 7-2.  NCC now 12-3 in the CCIW.

Tough stretch for Wheaton.  Pitching has failed them the past 2 weeks.  They need to right the ship quickly if they want to be in the CCIW tourney.

[BigPoppa]

Predictions for the weekend:
*Carthage (10-5)/Millikin (4-11)- Carthage should sweep this series...

*Augustana (5-10)/North Central (12-3)- NCC will take two of three

*Elmhurst (3-12)/Illinois Wesleyan (8-7)- IWU takes two of three

*Wheaton (7-8)/North Park (11-4)- NPU takes two of three

Standings if I am correct heading into the last weekend of CCIW play:
NCC 14-4
NPU 13-5
Carthage 13-5
IWU 10-8
Wheaton 8-10
Augustana 6-12
Millikin 4-14

Final weekend schedule:(some big-time playoff implications could be riding on this weekend)
Carthage/NPU
NCC/IWU
Augie/Millikin
Wheaton/Elmhurst

[TurtleHead]

Predictions for the weekend:
*Carthage (10-5)/Millikin (4-11)- Carthage should sweep this series...

*Augustana (5-10)/North Central (12-3)- NCC will take two of three

*Elmhurst (3-12)/Illinois Wesleyan (8-7)- IWU takes two of three

*Wheaton (7-8)/North Park (11-4)- NPU takes two of three

Standings if I am correct heading into the last weekend of CCIW play:
NCC 14-4
NPU 13-5
Carthage 13-5
IWU 10-8
Wheaton 8-10
Augustana 6-12
Millikin 4-14

Final weekend schedule:(some big-time playoff implications could be riding on this weekend)
Carthage/NPU
NCC/IWU
Augie/Millikin
Wheaton/Elmhurst

Anyone know what the tie-breaker rules are?   

[BigPoppa]

I think it is head-to-head.

[Gregory Sager]

Finally, I have never seen a 9 run game be the reason a team loses a baseball game.

Remember that I am not the one blaming the umpires. I inquired of another poster's comments about the "horrific" umpiring.

I know this but it was General Public who made these comments, and looking at his previous comments and posts on this site, he is clearly a very jealous and bitter Wheaton fan who needs to blame something other than his teams poor play for losing because he is just still in shock that his team just got swept by NCC

To be fair to General Public, he didn't blame Wheaton's defeat on the umpires. This is what he said:

Not to say NCC shouldnt have won, because they should have, but the umping did play a big role in the game.

It's one thing to complain about officials -- fans of losing teams do it all the time -- but if the fan openly admits that the officiating isn't the reason why his team lost, even as he's grousing about their performance, then he has manned up and accepted the fact that his team was outperformed by its opponent.

I bet that was a shock to some who thought NCC had no right to be one of the new CCIW powerhouses

I know I didn't see this coming in the beginning of the season when they were picked to place 5th in the CCIW.  They are definitely making statements with their steady offensive production and their reliable outings on the mound.

I think NCC is for real this season.

Big Poppa may be right about the CCIW killing its chances for getting multiple teams into the D3 tourney because of the way it's cannibalizing itself in conference play. But, while I'm obviously biased, I think it's a good thing that there has been a changing of the guard this season. The league has been completely dominated by the triumvirate of Carthage, Illinois Wesleyan, and Augustana for so long that it's gotten stale (unless you're a fan of one of those three programs, that is). Those three schools have been in the CCIW tournament in each of the past five springs, and nine of the past eleven -- and in seven of those past eleven seasons they finished 1-2-3. Even in the two years in which one of the three missed the CCIW tourney, 2003 and 2004, the other two were in it (and in both cases Carthage won the tournament). Either Carthage or IWU has won the league every season of that eleven-year span. It's time for some new blood, and it's good to see the likes of NCC, NPU, and Wheaton more than holding their own this spring.

You bring up a good point, too, H&R. North Central was picked to finish fifth this season. What's more, North Park was picked to finish sixth. The CCIW's head coaches must be some of the most surprised people around to see the Cardinals and the Vikings doing so well.

All of this umpire business is getting a tad out of hand. What respectable individual who is called to work is going to intentionally sway the outcome of games? Umpires have no incentives to favor particular teams and to accuse coaches at any level of hiring "buddies" on the premise of winning a ballgame is a disgrace.

Nobody's accusing anybody of anything, cardsalum. This discussion concerns the appearance of impropriety, or the potential for it, not the existence of it. Chuck is right when he says:

Having an ump's future paychecks dependent on the goodwill of a home coach is a glaring conflict-of-interest.  Whether or not it results in 'shading' calls, I have no idea - but it sure doesn't pass the 'smell test'.

I'm still waiting to find out why the CCIW has chosen this particular method of selecting umpires. I suspect that the league has a good reason or reasons for doing so, but I haven't seen it yet. A thought occurred to me today: What if it has something to do with the fact that the CCIW sked frequently requires weekday afternoon contests? Unlike CCIW basketball games, which are always played on Wednesday and Saturday evenings, or CCIW football games, which are always played on Saturday afternoons or evenings, baseball intrudes upon the work week. I'm still not sure why that would require coaches to handle umpire locating and assigning rather than having the league office do it, but I wonder if it's a factor.

Finally, I know that I'm not allowed to say his name anymore, but a certain NPU pitcher was just named CCIW Pitcher of the Week for the second week in a row.

[Gregory Sager]

Predictions for the weekend:
*Carthage (10-5)/Millikin (4-11)- Carthage should sweep this series...

*Augustana (5-10)/North Central (12-3)- NCC will take two of three

*Elmhurst (3-12)/Illinois Wesleyan (8-7)- IWU takes two of three

*Wheaton (7-8)/North Park (11-4)- NPU takes two of three

Standings if I am correct heading into the last weekend of CCIW play:
NCC 14-4
NPU 13-5
Carthage 13-5
IWU 10-8
Wheaton 8-10
Augustana 6-12
Millikin 4-14

Final weekend schedule:(some big-time playoff implications could be riding on this weekend)
Carthage/NPU
NCC/IWU
Augie/Millikin
Wheaton/Elmhurst

Anyone know what the tie-breaker rules are?   

Here's Section II, Article C of the CCIW baseball sports guide:

C.   The best record, including winning percentage, after the 21-game CCIW schedule will be used to determine the seeds for the conference tournament.  In case of a tie, the following will be used as a tie-breaker:

1.   Head-to-head competition
2.   Record versus the other CCIW tournament teams
3.   Record against 5th place team to 8th place team until tie is broken.

If a team or teams are eliminated at any step, they are eliminated from tournament consideration at that point.

[droppinbombs47]

Finally, I know that I'm not allowed to say his name anymore, but a certain NPU pitcher was just named CCIW Pitcher of the Week for the second week in a row.

Touche Gregory 

[Mr. Ypsi]

BP, I hope your predictions for the weekend come true (though I'd prefer for IWU to sweep Elmhurst, just to be safer)!  Since IWU has the h-to-h tie-break on Wheaton, a 2-game lead with 3 to go ought to be safe, but they finish with Elmhurst while we finish with surprising NCC - I'd feel a whole lot better if we could clinch a tourney spot this weekend!

Barring major upsets, the tourney field seems nearly set, though the specific order could still change.  NCC, NPU, and Carthage are virtually assured of being in, while the fourth spot is highly likely to be IWU (though everyone, even Elmhurst [I think], still has a mathematical shot at getting in).

[jigsaw54]

I really want to know how Augustana is still receiving votes.  They were just swept this weekend by Carthage and are 6th in the conference.  Got any ideas?  Poppa I know you got a take on the matter.