FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Pat Coleman]

Unless faunch and ROR were hearing things that weren't said, someone around you was saying stuff to the SJU players, and unless you're hard of hearing, you would have heard it, too.

Says the guy who wasn't there. Why don't you let ROR and Faunch be the ones to challenge him, if anyone? Faunch has already removed his original post, so perhaps that's a cue as to what an appropriate response might be here.

[SUMMIT!!!!!]

Long-time reader, infrequent poster (or something like that...)

Maybe Caruso makes the D2 jump in 3-5 year when......UST jumps to D2. Let's be real, the school has 6,000+ undergrads and almost 11,000 in total including its (terribly profitable) graduate programs. UST's goal is to be the second biggest/most relevant/highest rated/well endowed school in the state behind the U. Do they plan to do that at the D3 level? My guess is no.

They are definitely pissing in a different pot then the rest of the league. Do any other D3 schools have 2 campuses in 2 different cities?  They're the Eden Prairie or Wayzata of the MIAC (and everybody just loves them too!). 

not to nitpick, but its 4 campuses in 4 cities...Mpls, St P, Chaska and Rome (well, the Vatican City)...although the undergrad programs are only at St P (some at Chaska)

[sfury]

St. Thomas finally decided that football success was a priority.  They will not allow a slip back to mediocrity.  Should Caruso move on, for whatever reason, they will go  out and find the best possible coach out there.  Money and other resources will NOT be an issue.  They learned their lesson with Roney.  If that next guy doesn't do the job, he will gone.

Thinking other wise is delusional.  We all better get used to it.

Maybe Caruso will follow in the footsteps of the last coach who threatened to turn the Tommies into the dominant team, meaning he'll become, not the coach of the Gophers, but the athletic director, only to leave after his basketball coach gets caught up in a cheating scandal.

Up yours "Fluffy" I do believe that Mark Dienhart got caught up in the Clem Haskins scandal and please don't throw Glen Caruso into the same fishbowl.  Coach Caruso didn't threaten to turn my Tommies into a dominant team, he did turn us into a dominant team and made your Johnnies look irrelevant.

Purple, relax, it was a joke. Although, fyi, Dienhart had victories of 27 and 35 points over the Johnnies and only lost by 1, 6, 7 and 1 in his matchups. What I meant was, if Dienhart had stayed, the Tommies could have had the chance of being this good from 1987 onward, instead of 2008 onward.

[sjusection105]

I find it amazing that KEYC continues to butcher scores and school names after decades worth of experience. Though Perry Dyke and crew are big fans of the Nicollet Raiders so I try and give them the benefit of the doubt.

I was paired with Perry in a golf tournament a number of years back. He is probably one of the funniest guys I have ever met,my gut hurt from laughing. He was not affraid to crack open a cool one, early and often 

[faunch]

Following a sleepless night after reading PrideandPassion's post I would like to publicly apologize to PrideandPassion, his freinds, family, UST, as well as a number of people on this board.  It was a misunderstanding that I allowed to spiral out of control. 
I allowed my frustration and anger to pour onto these pages and was way out of line.  I wrongfully ran some people under the bus and he had every right to call me out.   
I deeply regret my actions and decisions and hope that those offended by my comments can find it within them to forgive me. 
If I could hop in a DeLorean equipped with a Flux Capacitor I would go back and address the situation differently...except the outcome of the game...I could only make it worse than it was. 
I hope that someday I can make things right with PrideandPassion.   

[OldAuggie]

Tom Linneman - high ranking Target exec, former all conf Johnnie QB and "entertaining" part-time media commentator.

In an economic downturn star potential DIII players are opting for DII scholarship money and lower tuition rates.  Add in NCAA championship sub division teams across ND and SD and fewer athletes are available for SJU.

I could see point #1, but that doesn't account for UST and Bethel playing well. Or Linfield, UMU, Wheaton, NCC and all the other DIII private schools whose talent only seems to be improving. I'm sure there's some kids opting for scholarships who might have gone DIII in the past, but is it endemic, I don't think so.

I disagree with his reasoning regarding ND/SD state schools. SDSU, USD, NDSU and UND are not recruiting the same type of athletes now that they were 10 years ago. No way you can make the jump from DII to FCS and recruit the same caliber athlete. Their rosters are more national than they've ever been. They've still got local kids, but they're having to go out and recruit across the country more now than they did 10 years ago. If anything, I think their move up a division has left greater talent available. This is why UMD and other programs that were non-factors on the national scene have gotten competitive.

Minnesota, NoDak and SoDak had a ton of DII teams, probably more than the HS football in the states could support. When all these schools jumped up a division it didn't affect the number of DII/III caliber athletes in MN and the Dakotas. But with fewer DII schools, more DII talent is left without an offer and ends up at DIII schools. There are plenty of kids who are borderline DII/III, and with fewer DII schools out there, more of these kids end up at MIAC type schools.

I think this is right on target. If anything the MIAC has better athletes these days than in the past.

[USTBench]

Long-time reader, infrequent poster (or something like that...)

Maybe Caruso makes the D2 jump in 3-5 year when......UST jumps to D2. Let's be real, the school has 6,000+ undergrads and almost 11,000 in total including its (terribly profitable) graduate programs. UST's goal is to be the second biggest/most relevant/highest rated/well endowed school in the state behind the U. Do they plan to do that at the D3 level? My guess is no.

I read these comments a lot on the Star Trib/Pioneer Press, and the one thing I always say is that enrollment numbers have nothing to do with Division affiliation. This is not high school. The kids are recruited, not pulled out of the student body.

Second, Division II is not what UST is looking for academically. Not to mention, the landscape of Division II runs a spectrum as wide as Division III. For instance, Grand Valley State is to Whitewater as UM-Crookston is to Macalester.

Third, no hockey at the DII level.

Finally, you have to factor scholarship dollars into your athletic budget, but the same amount of people are watching. Makes no sense.

The only appropriate jump for UST to make would be to FCS/D1, but the hoops to jump through are pretty substantial.

[AO]

Long-time reader, infrequent poster (or something like that...)

Maybe Caruso makes the D2 jump in 3-5 year when......UST jumps to D2. Let's be real, the school has 6,000+ undergrads and almost 11,000 in total including its (terribly profitable) graduate programs. UST's goal is to be the second biggest/most relevant/highest rated/well endowed school in the state behind the U. Do they plan to do that at the D3 level? My guess is no.

I read these comments a lot on the Star Trib/Pioneer Press, and the one thing I always say is that enrollment numbers have nothing to do with Division affiliation. This is not high school. The kids are recruited, not pulled out of the student body.

Second, Division II is not what UST is looking for academically. Not to mention, the landscape of Division II runs a spectrum as wide as Division III. For instance, Grand Valley State is to Whitewater as UM-Crookston is to Macalester.

Third, no hockey at the DII level.

Finally, you have to factor scholarship dollars into your athletic budget, but the same amount of people are watching. Makes no sense.

The only appropriate jump for UST to make would be to FCS/D1, but the hoops to jump through are pretty substantial.

Perhaps D3 will soon get a new generation of presidents who don't see D1 as the devil incarnate, and St. Thomas could choose to move to d-1 in just one or two sports.  Having a d-1 hockey program couldn't save colorado college's football team, and when st. thomas has the money to put $50 million into facilities as a d3, moving to d1 in football or basketball isn't going to make the swimming pool even nicer than it already is.  Are there any reasons besides Title IX, that each sport couldn't be operated individually?

[hazzben]

Long-time reader, infrequent poster (or something like that...)

Maybe Caruso makes the D2 jump in 3-5 year when......UST jumps to D2. Let's be real, the school has 6,000+ undergrads and almost 11,000 in total including its (terribly profitable) graduate programs. UST's goal is to be the second biggest/most relevant/highest rated/well endowed school in the state behind the U. Do they plan to do that at the D3 level? My guess is no.

I'm not seeing this. Yeah, they've got a big enrollment. But nothing else about their profile screams DII. If they want to become 2nd in all the categories you just mentioned, I'm not sure how DII helps them in any of those areas. Academics and endowment-wise, I think MIAC affiliation is better for them.

And just ask USF about how easy it is to transition to DII. They were a dominant NAIA school, giving tons of scholarships, and have been getting their butts handed to them by lower level DII teams all year.

[hazzben]

Following a sleepless night after reading PrideandPassion's post I would like to publicly apologize to PrideandPassion, his freinds, family, UST, as well as a number of people on this board.  It was a misunderstanding that I allowed to spiral out of control. 
I allowed my frustration and anger to pour onto these pages and was way out of line.  I wrongfully ran some people under the bus and he had every right to call me out.   
I deeply regret my actions and decisions and hope that those offended by my comments can find it within them to forgive me. 
If I could hop in a DeLorean equipped with a Flux Capacitor I would go back and address the situation differently...except the outcome of the game...I could only make it worse than it was. 
I hope that someday I can make things right with PrideandPassion.

Well done Faunch. It would have been easy to delete your post and quietly wait for PrideandPassion's post to get buried in the pages.

We've all got our moments when our passion and emotions get the best of us. It takes a little more to come back on and apologize.

[sfury]

I find it amazing that KEYC continues to butcher scores and school names after decades worth of experience. Though Perry Dyke and crew are big fans of the Nicollet Raiders so I try and give them the benefit of the doubt.

I was paired with Perry in a golf tournament a number of years back. He is probably one of the funniest guys I have ever met,my gut hurt from laughing. He was not affraid to crack open a cool one, early and often 

Could explain some of the wrong scores on KEYC.

[USTBench]

Long-time reader, infrequent poster (or something like that...)

Maybe Caruso makes the D2 jump in 3-5 year when......UST jumps to D2. Let's be real, the school has 6,000+ undergrads and almost 11,000 in total including its (terribly profitable) graduate programs. UST's goal is to be the second biggest/most relevant/highest rated/well endowed school in the state behind the U. Do they plan to do that at the D3 level? My guess is no.

I'm not seeing this. Yeah, they've got a big enrollment. But nothing else about their profile screams DII. If they want to become 2nd in all the categories you just mentioned, I'm not sure how DII helps them in any of those areas. Academics and endowment-wise, I think MIAC affiliation is better for them.

And just ask USF about how easy it is to transition to DII. They were a dominant NAIA school, giving tons of scholarships, and have been getting their butts handed to them by lower level DII teams all year.

I think USF is a tough example. They've gotten their butts handed to them sure, but by two D2 powerhouses and an FCS school. Otherwise, they've played okay. Also, their loss in scholarships isn't the only factor, USF was taking some pretty talented outcasts from some big-time schools. Then, prior to the transition, their coach bolted to be the OC at Southern Illinois if I recall correctly.

They'll be okay eventually.

[tmerton]

Unless faunch and ROR were hearing things that weren't said, someone around you was saying stuff to the SJU players, and unless you're hard of hearing, you would have heard it, too.

Says the guy who wasn't there. Why don't you let ROR and Faunch be the ones to challenge him, if anyone? Faunch has already removed his original post, so perhaps that's a cue as to what an appropriate response might be here.

Hey, Pat, thanks for the help.  Obviously, if I had been "there" under the new flying wing stands I could say so myself.  I'm not challenging PrideandPassion on what he said, but he only addressed part of it (and really, the issue has never been who).  It hardly seems unfair to inquire; he was there and can answer for himself, though anyone who was there can certainly answer as well.  Faunch has apologized for calling out specific people wrongfully, but so far as I can tell he hasn't said nothing was said.  If that's the case, though, he or ROR can say so, and that will clear this up.  And I was "there" at the game.  Indeed, I have some lovely pictures of the new stands and the crowd underneath.

[USTBench]

Unless faunch and ROR were hearing things that weren't said, someone around you was saying stuff to the SJU players, and unless you're hard of hearing, you would have heard it, too.

Says the guy who wasn't there. Why don't you let ROR and Faunch be the ones to challenge him, if anyone? Faunch has already removed his original post, so perhaps that's a cue as to what an appropriate response might be here.

Hey, Pat, thanks for the help.  Obviously, if I had been "there" under the new flying wing stands I could say so myself.  I'm not challenging PrideandPassion on what he said, but he only addressed part of it (and really, the issue has never been who).  It hardly seems unfair to inquire; he was there and can answer for himself, though anyone who was there can certainly answer as well.  Faunch has apologized for calling out specific people wrongfully, but so far as I can tell he hasn't said nothing was said.  If that's the case, though, he or ROR can say so, and that will clear this up.  And I was "there" at the game.  Indeed, I have some lovely pictures of the new stands and the crowd underneath.

I think I speak for the rational among us when I say, "So?"

[WashedUp]

Long-time reader, infrequent poster (or something like that...)

Maybe Caruso makes the D2 jump in 3-5 year when......UST jumps to D2. Let's be real, the school has 6,000+ undergrads and almost 11,000 in total including its (terribly profitable) graduate programs. UST's goal is to be the second biggest/most relevant/highest rated/well endowed school in the state behind the U. Do they plan to do that at the D3 level? My guess is no.

I read these comments a lot on the Star Trib/Pioneer Press, and the one thing I always say is that enrollment numbers have nothing to do with Division affiliation. This is not high school. The kids are recruited, not pulled out of the student body.

Second, Division II is not what UST is looking for academically. Not to mention, the landscape of Division II runs a spectrum as wide as Division III. For instance, Grand Valley State is to Whitewater as UM-Crookston is to Macalester.

Third, no hockey at the DII level.

Finally, you have to factor scholarship dollars into your athletic budget, but the same amount of people are watching. Makes no sense.

The only appropriate jump for UST to make would be to FCS/D1, but the hoops to jump through are pretty substantial.

Perhaps D3 will soon get a new generation of presidents who don't see D1 as the devil incarnate, and St. Thomas could choose to move to d-1 in just one or two sports.  Having a d-1 hockey program couldn't save colorado college's football team, and when st. thomas has the money to put $50 million into facilities as a d3, moving to d1 in football or basketball isn't going to make the swimming pool even nicer than it already is.  Are there any reasons besides Title IX, that each sport couldn't be operated individually?

Short answer, yes, there are other reasons each sport couldn't operate individually.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Division_I_(NCAA)#Controversy