FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[frank uible]

kiltedrat: Shame on ESPN. Amherst/ Williams is old but not the oldest. It is the most often played in DIII (120 times)and tied for first played in DIII with Wesleyan/ Williams (1881). See DIAA for most played for all Divisions -  Lafayette/Lehigh (141 times), the 141st coming up this Saturday. Princeton (DIAA)/Rutgers (DIA) is commonly regarded as the first (1869) but involved 25 players per side on the field and the ball was only advanced by kicking.- seems more like chaotic soccer to me. In 1874 Harvard played McGill in the first game both having eleven players per side and also permitting ball carrying (the forward pass not being permitted until 1906). Tufts (DIII) played Harvard (DIAA) in 1875 with the first game between 2 American colleges involving American football-like rules but was not strictly a DIII game. Obviously reference to the Divisions applies to current categorization, no such categorization existing when these games were played.

[OzJohnnie]

Thanks, Duff.  I appreciate the hand holding.

BTW - good luck with the shotguns.  I've been keeping my mouth shut, but I wish I could fly back home for the game(s) give the game a go.  One good thing about living down under is that every day is practice for shotgunning.  My kids put beer on thier cornflakes.  The wife says it's normal for Aussies.  Whatever.

[Willy Wonka]

Hmmmm...some Johnnies are a little sensative to the whole Keating era apparently. It won you a title, can't you all take a ribbing over it? Sheesh.

Not to get ahead of myself - a Johnnie win is a foregone conclusion though, right? - but has Thanksgiving put a damper on playoff crowds in the past? Or is that game now a family tradition, like Madden's 14 legged turkey? If the Bus is driving up, I may have to swing through, too.

[Kilted Rat]

Willy,

In 2003, I drove back from Ohio early for a playoff game and attendance was a good bit less than usual, however it was against St. Norbert's, where everyone knew we would win anyway.

SJU's website says attendance was 2600 that game, the RPI game the following week drew 2800 for reference.

Basically, I don't know.

[johnniebread]

2005 home atendance #'s pulled from the SJU web site:


Carleton 7,053
Hamline  10,457
Auggie    8,192
St. Olaf   9,923

I'm sure 7,000 min. come Saturday, especially with fair weather predicted.

[DuffMan]

My kids put beer on thier cornflakes. 

Although that sounds terrible, I'm willing to try anything once (ie Central Minnesota Martini).

Wonka, why attend that game when you can field calls from the Bus all day long?

[johnnie_esq]

For whatever reason, the SJU records indicate paid attendance far less in the NC$$ playoffs than for their conference games-- to the tune of almost 5000 less on average.  I was at that RPI game and I think there were more than 2800 there on the SJU side alone.  Either someone is really bad at counting attendance or they base it on some other basis (profit for SJU, perhaps, basing to the NC$$ on a 5000 person attendance)?

Something is fishy here...

[Mr.Shoes]

I'd have to agree with you _esq. A paid attendance of 2800 would barely fill half the seats in Clemens. I haven't missed a home playoff game since I discovered SJU and there is NO WAY that stadium was ever only half full. The ONLY game I can think of that would have been understandable if no one showed up was the UW-SP game in 2001. It was Thanksgiving weekend, it rained the entire time, and the field was 6" of mud when the final gun sounded (the last game ever on the grass, for what it's worth). Other than that, I will wager a meal of hat that no fewer than 4500 fans have been in attendance for any of those playoff games.

[WAHOO3]

Interesting note, kid was a 2000 hs graduate and is currently listed as a junior on Monmouth's website..... I graduated hs in 2000 as well and am now in my 2nd year of grad school.

How many years does this guy plan to spend in college? He's on pace for 7 right now!

From Tommy boy:

"A lot of people go to college for 7 years.... Yeah, they're called Doctors!"

I think thats what the MIAC now refers to as the Ryan Keating plan. 

[Mr.Shoes]

Hm, officially 1755 fans watched that UW-SP game. That's a section and a half of the home-side stands filled. My arse.

(I'd forgotten that Football Jesus scored on a punt return in that game. In all that mud and everything. Wow!)

[DuffMan]

Wahoo, you're about a day late on that comment

[ritz72]

Wahoo, you're about a day late on that comment

All this talk makes me think about the hardest 4 years of my life...........

2nd Grade!!!!

[Johnnie]

"But what about Montana/Montana State rivalry, this year will be meeting #105 with the Griz leading the series 68-32-5."

hey cobbernation....thanks for the mention of this rivalry...this year's game is this saturday...check msubobcats.com for the game at a sportsbar near you. 

And by the way, in 1976 both St.John's and Montana State were national champions in their respective divisions.  Don't know too many who graduated from both MSU and SJU(besides me) who were doubly blessed that year!

Good luck to the Cobbers against Coe this weekend. Go Cobbers.

And Go Cats & Go Johnnies...

the johnnie

[fightingscots13]

The board travels fast and I can't keep up, but I wanted to reply to the post re: Tanney and his stats...the td/int ratio isn't luck.  He's very smart in (3.9 something gpa in Math/Spanish) and out of the classroom.  There's a decent article here (www.pjstar.com/stories/110305/COL_B815CJCO.083.shtml)...There's a better one that talks about his academic success that I can't find right now.

While I'm no pro scout, I believe he does have a very good arm at the DIII level, and he's been able to scramble more this year than last.  

Lastly, I don't argue about the competitiveness of MWC - I realize it's not a "top" conference right now, but Tanney's numbers the last two years - 57 tds and only 6 picks - are pretty special.

[kubiack78]

Thats quite the combo there (Math/Spanish)