FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[DuffMan]

Rev, how many chickens do you see? 

[Mr.MIAC]

Rev, how many chickens do you see? 

Ahh, it's good to see the folksy (some might say trite) proverbs still have currency up in Collegeville during the post-Gagliardi era...   

[faunch]

Man the "new" Tommie posters are insufferable sans my buddy Benchwarmer.  Starting now to think My pendulum is switching from hating Bethel to UST.  Woof you guys are obnoxious. 

Took a bit to look at Scholastica's season today.  They play a 5'7" QB.  They play a freshman RB.  They are 2-2 on onside kicks.  Former Johnnie Todd Fultz is listed as an assistant coach for CSS.  They played tight games with Ripon (28-27) & Northwestern (28-24).  Any insight on that game, AO?  Thoughts on their personnel?

I'm hearing formally notorious MIAC PP poster Veek may be AWOL for the remainder of the season.  Apparently his family has adopted a young puppy (presumably a little wiener doggie  ) and they have doggy training lessons for the next 6 Saturday's.  Family affair the whole shebang.  I've got multiple questions related to this floating around in my head.  Very peculiar timing.

Nice of the SJU student senate to buy the first 500 students tickets on Saturday.  Crowds are always smaller in the playoffs for a variety of reasons, so I'm guessing 2-3K actual bodies inside Clemens Stadium this weekend.  Hope Tom Stock at least fed the students who shoveled last night unlimited Gary's Pizza and a few cold ones for their efforts.

Thinking about going to watch my old buddy Chris Meidt & the Becker Bulldogs play De La Salle in the Prep Bowl Friday night at TCF.  Might even wear "the coat" for old times sake.  Not a bad doubleheader with EP playing Totino at 7pm.  Just wish one of those schools kids could get a break one of these years!  Impressive that TG is playing 2 classes up (4A to 6A).

Also John Kalkbrenner is also listed as a tight ends coach for CSS.  He played @SJU back in the late 80's early 90's.

[Pat Coleman]

I ran into one of my relatives at the airport today on my way to sunny and warm San Diego.  This relative is a graduate of UST and a big Tommie athletics fan and booster.   Some interesting things were shared about Caruso.

The Tif's post game discussion of late has been dissatisfaction with Caruso.  Mostly due to his oversized ego.  Also not happy with the way student athletes are cast aside when no longer deemed worthy.  A phone call saying "don't show up anymore" doesn't match their idea of treating them with the repect they deserve.  They also think there has been a drop off in the quality, but not the quantity of recruits.

I can't speak to any of that but I noted that even though Matt O'Connell got benched a couple weeks back, he still finished the game vs. Gustavus on Saturday, his last home game as a senior. That seemed like a nice gesture that contradicts the characterization above.

[GoldandBlueBU]

I ran into one of my relatives at the airport today on my way to sunny and warm San Diego.  This relative is a graduate of UST and a big Tommie athletics fan and booster.   Some interesting things were shared about Caruso.

The Tif's post game discussion of late has been dissatisfaction with Caruso.  Mostly due to his oversized ego.  Also not happy with the way student athletes are cast aside when no longer deemed worthy.  A phone call saying "don't show up anymore" doesn't match their idea of treating them with the repect they deserve.  They also think there has been a drop off in the quality, but not the quantity of recruits.

I can't speak to any of that but I noted that even though Matt O'Connell got benched a couple weeks back, he still finished the game vs. Gustavus on Saturday, his last home game as a senior. That seemed like a nice gesture that contradicts the characterization above.

He still has another year of eligibility, right?  I thought that getting injured when he did last year, and having missed a game entirely before that due to illness qualified him for a medical redshirt?

Maybe he doesn't come back though, due to the fact that his time in the sun appears to have passed.

[Mr.MIAC]

I ran into one of my relatives at the airport today on my way to sunny and warm San Diego.  This relative is a graduate of UST and a big Tommie athletics fan and booster.   Some interesting things were shared about Caruso.

The Tif's post game discussion of late has been dissatisfaction with Caruso.  Mostly due to his oversized ego.  Also not happy with the way student athletes are cast aside when no longer deemed worthy.  A phone call saying "don't show up anymore" doesn't match their idea of treating them with the repect they deserve.  They also think there has been a drop off in the quality, but not the quantity of recruits.

I can't speak to any of that but I noted that even though Matt O'Connell got benched a couple weeks back, he still finished the game vs. Gustavus on Saturday, his last home game as a senior. That seemed like a nice gesture that contradicts the characterization above.

I heard a rumor from guys at the local dive bar that Caruso is the antichrist or, at a minimum, one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Apparently, aside from the end of days, he is also into all sorts of vile things: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, pride, and benching underperforming players.

[RoyalsFan]

I don't always read the quotes correctly, but if I am reading this correctly: A fan of Bethel, the actual MIAC Conference Bethel, is saying they never should have scheduled Wartburg? IIAC Wartburg? Goodness gracious.  They are having a nice year,but let's not get carried away. Here's my take: If you feel like your team should not have scheduled Wartburg, the team you eliminated from the playoffs in ROUND TWO last year, then Bethel is probably not playoff worthy this year.

No, I think it is a good thing that Bethel plays tough non conference competition. My point is that by doing that, it greatly hurts your chances of getting a Pool C bid if you don't win the AQ in the conference if you should lose one of those games. Let's take a look at St. Thomas, who are in the playoffs at 8-2 with 2 easy non conference wins. What if St. Thomas had played someone like Wartburg and lost and they now would have a 7-3 record and there is no way they would have gotten a Pool C bid. Which proves my point that getting non conference wins is way more important for a Pool C bid than playing and losing to a tougher team. I'm a bit confused as to why so many people here are missing my point. I'm not whining about Bethel not getting in as they didn't deserve to after losing to Augsburg, but I also don't think St. Thomas should have gotten in either just because they played easier non conference games.

[Pat Coleman]

In my opinion, not winning games greatly hurts your chances of getting a Pool C bid, regardless of who you played to get there.

[CobberHawkeye]

I ran into one of my relatives at the airport today on my way to sunny and warm San Diego.  This relative is a graduate of UST and a big Tommie athletics fan and booster.   Some interesting things were shared about Caruso.

The Tif's post game discussion of late has been dissatisfaction with Caruso.  Mostly due to his oversized ego.  Also not happy with the way student athletes are cast aside when no longer deemed worthy.  A phone call saying "don't show up anymore" doesn't match their idea of treating them with the repect they deserve.  They also think there has been a drop off in the quality, but not the quantity of recruits.

I can't speak to any of that but I noted that even though Matt O'Connell got benched a couple weeks back, he still finished the game vs. Gustavus on Saturday, his last home game as a senior. That seemed like a nice gesture that contradicts the characterization above.

I heard a rumor from guys at the local dive bar that Caruso is the antichrist or, at a minimum, one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Apparently, aside from the end of days, he is also into all sorts of vile things: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, pride, and benching underperforming players.

See...now you're just quoting the UST recruiting pamphlet.

[RoyalsFan]

In my opinion, not winning games greatly hurts your chances of getting a Pool C bid, regardless of who you played to get there.

Exactly!!!  So it makes more sense to schedule weaker non conference opponents to get wins and get a better chance at a Pool C bid. That's all I was trying to point out.

[Pat Coleman]

I think if Bethel sees itself as a Stagg Bowl contender -- and it should -- then it should not dumb down its schedule just to possibly get into the playoffs as an 8-2 team. That may make sense for a team that doesn't have playoff experience, but not a legitimate contender.

[USTBench]

I ran into one of my relatives at the airport today on my way to sunny and warm San Diego.  This relative is a graduate of UST and a big Tommie athletics fan and booster.   Some interesting things were shared about Caruso.

The Tif's post game discussion of late has been dissatisfaction with Caruso.  Mostly due to his oversized ego.  Also not happy with the way student athletes are cast aside when no longer deemed worthy.  A phone call saying "don't show up anymore" doesn't match their idea of treating them with the repect they deserve.  They also think there has been a drop off in the quality, but not the quantity of recruits.

I can't speak to any of that but I noted that even though Matt O'Connell got benched a couple weeks back, he still finished the game vs. Gustavus on Saturday, his last home game as a senior. That seemed like a nice gesture that contradicts the characterization above.

This is garbage ROR. I know it's fashionable to hate on Caruso because for a few years the mighty Johnnies weren't the talk of the MIAC but give me a break. From what I've seen, if a kid is showing up with a positive attitude and working hard, Caruso is happy to have him there. The same guy that gave a senior scout teamer a flying chest bump because he went in for a few plays because the starter couldn't find his helmet, instead of calling timeout in a panic.

I can't speak for every situation, but if you're a good enough athlete and are a selfless team player it seems like Caruso finds a spot for people. Aaron Terrell-Byrd (ATB) was a featured back a few years ago, then Braddock and Kaiser came along and he got buried in the depth chart. ATB is now a DB and contributing every game. It's college football, sometimes players lose their starting spot. I still see kids dressed on the sidelines that wouldn't start for their high school team...still. If a kid was advised not to come back, my guess is said kid exhibited a pattern of behavior over an extended period of time to let everyone know he was an entitled jerk. Even in the Roney Era not every U of M transfer or all-state selection was automatically ordained the No. 1 on the depth chart.

The guy reached out to me, a friggin nobody when it comes to UST football, when my brother was sick and again when my brother died. He's raised a ton of money for St. Jude's. He's a family man. And yes, he's the face of a program that went 2 - 7 the year before he took over. So he didn't lay down for everyone and actually attempted to win a football game by, I don't know, recruiting good players that might have normally gone to SJU, and playing the best player at each position. Selling his program and himself is part of his job, so if he's on the radio or TV occasionally, who cares? It's not like Glenn Caruso invented promoting a football program.

If a kid who started, doesn't start anymore because a younger player took his spot, that's life and that's football. I challenge you to find one specific instance (name names) where a kid (who wasn't a total entitled douche) was told not to come back because he either lost a starting spot or probably wouldn't contribute much on Saturdays. Last game I went to there were far more than 100 guys dressed. There's attrition every single year. No team has ever finished with the same amount seniors they brought in 4 years earlier. Sometimes the writing is on the wall, and if you are a senior that's not going to travel, play or even get off of the scout team, you have to have a tough conversation with yourself. It sucks, but that's the reality, even at the D3 level.

Finally, Gary Fasching is a good coach, as is Terry Horan and Steve Johnson. But when they win it's not like they're doing it with a bunch JV players from a 9-man school. So it's just funny to me that Caruso get so much s**t like he's some sort of snake-oil salesman that's just going to leave after a few years, as if he's the second coming of Tim Brewster. He's stuck around, built up a program from an underachieving mediocre football team to a perennial nationally ranked team that went to a Stagg Bowl in a pretty short amount of time. Hell, he even took a team that was still mostly Roney's guys to the playoffs. Rant over.

[AO]

In my opinion, not winning games greatly hurts your chances of getting a Pool C bid, regardless of who you played to get there.

Regardless?
If you're 5-5 but you played nothing but top 25 regionally ranked teams couldn't you use the criteria to be select that team over a 9-1 East Region team without any regionally ranked wins?

[badgerwarhawk]

I ran into one of my relatives at the airport today on my way to sunny and warm San Diego.  This relative is a graduate of UST and a big Tommie athletics fan and booster.   Some interesting things were shared about Caruso.

The Tif's post game discussion of late has been dissatisfaction with Caruso.  Mostly due to his oversized ego.  Also not happy with the way student athletes are cast aside when no longer deemed worthy.  A phone call saying "don't show up anymore" doesn't match their idea of treating them with the repect they deserve.  They also think there has been a drop off in the quality, but not the quantity of recruits.

I can't speak to any of that but I noted that even though Matt O'Connell got benched a couple weeks back, he still finished the game vs. Gustavus on Saturday, his last home game as a senior. That seemed like a nice gesture that contradicts the characterization above.

I heard a rumor from guys at the local dive bar that Caruso is the antichrist or, at a minimum, one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Apparently, aside from the end of days, he is also into all sorts of vile things: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, pride, and benching underperforming players.

Ok, but were these guys cool, calm, collected, level headed type guys with lots of credibility or were they just a bunch of drunks with an axe to grind?   

[Pat Coleman]

In my opinion, not winning games greatly hurts your chances of getting a Pool C bid, regardless of who you played to get there.

Regardless?
If you're 5-5 but you played nothing but top 25 regionally ranked teams couldn't you use the criteria to be select that team over a 9-1 East Region team without any regionally ranked wins?

I know you're just doing what you usually do but let's be honest -- UWO essentially just did the same thing, going 6-4 against a slate of two regionally ranked teams and three scholarship schools.