FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[AlmostEx]

Ah faunch, the old fall back shot at attendance...has it gotten that bad for you guys? Grasping at straws there, buddy. That's the same argument Cubs fans go to when taking shots at Sox fans.

Has what gotten that bad? The fact they're two-time defending conference champs or the 12 straight - and 16 out of 17 - wins over St. Thomas? Yes, the Tommies won two games last year in the playoffs and the Johnnies didn't. But if we're going by last year, how's that have more bearing on Saturday's game than the fact the Johnnies stuffed the St. Thomas offense for nearly the entire game last year until a few blunders gave the Tommies a shot? If we're making analogies to other sports that don't really make sense, it's more like Yankees and the Twins. Or, if you prefer, St. Thomas basketball against St. John's basketball.

Bethel has reason to brag or be arrogant before playing the Johnnies. St. Thomas? Not so much.

I don't think Johnnie fans will be at all surprised if the Tommies win Saturday. But you're making it sound like the Johnnies are facing Whitewater.

Not that the Tommies need to grasp for positives when talking about the recent past in the rivalry, but this is a note on the Tommies' website.

18 of the last 38 football games between St. Thomas and St. John's have been decided by seven or fewer points.

So they've got that going for them.

Who exactly is making it sound like you're playing Whitewater? Haven't read any posts that should have you feeling that way, but it makes me happy to hear you are! That's exactly where my, 'has it gotten that bad' question comes from.

Don't mistake confidence as arrogance. While I have a healthy respect for the Johns football program, I like The Tommies odds.

Feel free to thump your chest about all your past bravado if it makes you feel better, but know that we're not concerned about your past.

Looking forward to Saturday!

UST should hope that SJU plays every team a week prior to UST!  The notion that UST is somehow better because they went further in the playoffs last year is laughable.  SJU knocked out the starting QB for Coe last year which was a huge advantage to UST. The Concordia starting QB didn't play at UST so if that is your benchmark for this year, as the song says, have another Four Loco and even ugly girls will look Halle Berry!  The learning curve on this message techology may be too steep, yikes!

[stanbob]

USTDT, what is your preference for your costume for Saturday's tilt?

[tommiegun]

If I had to vote for which purple being I'd be less embarrassed by... I'd go with that lovable dinosaur every time.  Teletubbys just seem like hypnotic pedophiles.

[Pat Coleman]

On the topic of St. John's not having their schedule and results on this site, I'd also like to point out that they weren't listed at the top of the scoreboard page with the rest of the Top 25 teams last week.  Pat, just because you didn't vote for them and don't care for the program doesn't mean St. John's isn't a Top 25 team.  Pretty classless to let your personal feelings stand in the way of the dissemination of information like that. 

In closing,

GO JOHNNIES!!! TOMMIES SUCK!!!

TC -- I mentioned in an earlier post that it's a bug. I know you're being tongue-in-cheek but just in case there are people who take you seriously, I thought I'd point that out.

[WashedUp]

UST should hope that SJU plays every team a week prior to UST!  The notion that UST is somehow better because they went further in the playoffs last year is laughable.  SJU knocked out the starting QB for Coe last year which was a huge advantage to UST. The Concordia starting QB didn't play at UST so if that is your benchmark for this year, as the song says, have another Four Loco and even ugly girls will look Halle Berry!  The learning curve on this message techology may be too steep, yikes!

In my mind, it isn't that they went further in the playoffs that makes me think they're better.  It is that they're returning 20 starters and all their playmakers from that team while SJU is only returning 12 starters.  If this game were at UST, I would be confident that the Tommies would win one, but in the homecoming atmosphere in Collegeville I am not so sure.

[Pat Coleman]

What's the record for attendance at a D-3 game?  Is it the 13000+ at the 2003 Bethel game?  Or have other games drawn more?  I see the record for the Monon Bell game is 11000+ so that's still short.

The NCAA doesn't actually track this stat for Division III single games. And since most places do their attendance with an estimate rather than a turnstile count, I don't know if we would get an accurate number.

The largest non-estimate number I have seen for a Division III game is the 13,107 from the 409 game.

[D O.C.]

Leaving the "Bye-Byes" for a moment.....what kind of linebackers have the johns to throw at the bruising running back of the toms?

[Pat Coleman]

Pat - the problem is when I begin a post by using the "quote" function as Tmerton described.  I am using IE 8 but it happens to me with an older version of IE, too.  It used to not be this way but has been for some time but since I don't post much in the off season I couldn't provide a barometer as to when it began.

I'll take a look and see if there's any chatter around the last upgrade. I believe I did take the update early in late spring/early summer.

There's a preview version of the 2.0 software for this board. I'm a little hesitant to take a release candidate on such a highly visited board, though.

[DuffMan]

The largest non-estimate number I have seen for a Division III game is the 13,107 from the 409 game.

Yeah, non-estimate 

[Pat Coleman]

Well, fair enough, but SJU mans its gates and seems to bring some actual counting into the process.

[AO]

Pick'em's are up..

a couple of notes:  I put the line at 4.5 as I see the Tommies winning 24-21 on a late field goal, or 28-23 with the Johnnies kicking 3 field goals and a too little too late TD. 

from Gene's blog over at tommiesports.com yesterday "St. John's doesn't permit live videocasts of football."  We had a discussion with VOJ less than a year ago, and he was under the impression that the radio contract did not prevent video webcasts, so maybe something has changed?  Or maybe the Johnnie administration is worried about losing attendance if they were to videocast?  Does this policy make sense to anyone?

[Just Bill]

Does anyone else have a problem with composing a message after you have quoted someone?  When I quote someone and attempt to add my message at the bottom the line that I am typing on keeps moving up and down a few lines with every keystroke.  When I type a character I immediately see it and then it disappears as I scroll up two or three lines.  This problem may have coincided with the new upgrade but I am not certain.

Pat, has anyone else reported having this problem? 

Someone read this post and PM'd me about having experienced this when using Quick Reply. Is that what you're doing?

Pat - It happens to me all the time, whether I'm using IE or Safari.  It happens when the message, including any message to which one is replying that is being quoted and thus appears in the message, exceeds the size of the text window.

Count me in on that too. I've been having that problem for at least a year. Just assumed it was my problem alone.  It doesn't happen to me in the Quick Reply or the Quick Modify, just the regular Reply.  I use IE8.

[Pat Coleman]

Pick'em's are up..

a couple of notes:  I put the line at 4.5 as I see the Tommies winning 24-21 on a late field goal, or 28-23 with the Johnnies kicking 3 field goals and a too little too late TD. 

from Gene's blog over at tommiesports.com yesterday "St. John's doesn't permit live videocasts of football."  We had a discussion with VOJ less than a year ago, and he was under the impression that the radio contract did not prevent video webcasts, so maybe something has changed?  Or maybe the Johnnie administration is worried about losing attendance if they were to videocast?  Does this policy make sense to anyone?

We also inquired about getting rights to videostream this game and we were denied. No explanation was given.

[TC]

This is a big weekend for usTDT.  Tommie fans hate him because of his alma mater, Johnnie fans hate him because he pisses purple, and neutral fans hate him on principle so I'd imagine he'll show up in some sort of costume.  Everyone will be expecting Barney or Winkey, so be on the lookout for a few more possibilities:
















So be on the lookout this Saturday.  He'll often try to approach from the rear in sneaky fashion and engage you in painfully boring conversation about how awesome some food you'd never order was at some restaurant you'd never go to in some town you'll never visit.  Or how soft Fritz Waldvogel's hands are.  AVOID HIM AT ALL COSTS.

[sju56321]

Stupid policy- what we need is someone to video stream from a web cam-probably not the best picture, but a picture. Or we can hope that TDT posts some video on his Twitter page.