FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Pat Coleman]

Several thoughts regarding the  Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Message Board.


1)  STU could advertise and market themselves as the "Notre Dame of the Great White North",  so they do not have to compare themsevles to the "real Notre Dame".  Also, remember the temperature difference between Minnesota and Indiana.

2)  SJU is really, really, really in a rural area and lacks the feel of a college town environment.  While STU is in a cool environment, period. Easy choice for this Irish Catholic.

3)  Pat, from a homeboy standpoint, you  must be really excited about the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference having the most interesting message board  to visit and follow on DIII Football.  Thanks Pat!

grboob

Ehh. It's alright.

[corn horn]

Several thoughts regarding the  Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Message Board.


1)  STU could advertise and market themselves as the "Notre Dame of the Great White North",  so they do not have to compare themsevles to the "real Notre Dame".  Also, remember the temperature difference between Minnesota and Indiana.

2)  SJU is really, really, really in a rural area and lacks the feel of a college town environment.  While STU is in a cool environment, period. Easy choice for this Irish Catholic.

3)  Pat, from a homeboy standpoint, you  must be really excited about the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference having the most interesting message board  to visit and follow on DIII Football.  Thanks Pat!

grboob

1. STU should continue to market their unique virtues as STU.

2. SJU is in a uniquely scenic and isolated learning environment that may foster introspection, collaboration among students, and focus on the college experience. STU is in a cool (different kind of) place. I'm glad grboob finds comfort there.

3. Pat does a great job, and yes, the MIAC board is the most entertaining.

[Mr.MIAC]

Back to football, if SJU football is on the wane what do you think will happen to the UST/SJU football rivalry?  It seems like the UST/BU rivalry is strengthening...do you think this will continue in the future?  If so (not saying that this is the case), where does that leave SJU? 

[corn horn]

Back to football, if SJU football is on the wane what do you think will happen to the UST/SJU football rivalry?  It seems like the UST/BU rivalry is strengthening...do you think this will continue in the future?  If so (not saying that this is the case), where does that leave SJU?

SJU is faltering this season, but I personally don't believe it is fair to say they are "on the wane" until they have posted at least 3 consecutive losing seasons. I don't think it will take much to right their ship, and I fully believe they will return to winning ways in short order. While I agree the UST/BU rivalry is strengthening, that rivalry is of short duration (this really only being the second year) and limited pretty much to football. It will end when either program "wanes". The UST/SJU rivalry runs so much deeper, as the last few pages of posts (not to mention the previous 3000+ pages) will attest. That is a school rivalry, not just a football rivalry, and was in full force well before STU's recent rise to the upper crust in football.

Where does all this leave SJU in the current situation? In Collegeville with a sea of red-donned alumni wincing through a tough season with hopes return to the top. Knowing that STU is on the perch now just puts a little more fuel on the fire.

[Mr.MIAC]

FYI...check out this interview with BU Head Coach Steve Johnson.  He's a real class act and I like his approach to building character and a strong work ethic in his players.

Link: http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/category/sports/st-thomas/#

The interview is on the WCCO UST homepage.  Scroll down, look to the righthand side, and it should be the first podcast under "Tommie Sports."  I'm looking forward to a great game on Saturday.

[DuffMan]

Back to football, if SJU football is on the wane what do you think will happen to the UST/SJU football rivalry? 

What an asinine question.  If the rivalry between SJU and UST didn't disappear between 1998 and 2009 when UST lost 12 straight to SJU, what makes you think a 2 game skid by SJU will affect it? 

Besides, I think rivalry games are more interesting to the fans than to the players.  If you need a rivalry to get up for a game, you shouldn't be on the field.  I never prepared any differently for a UST game than I did for any other game (of course we were 4-0 against UST during my tenure  ).

[DuffMan]

2)  SJU is really, really, really in a rural area and lacks the feel of a college town environment.  While STU is in a cool environment, period. Easy choice for this Irish Catholic.

No matter what you think, there are a lot of folks that don't like living in the cities.  SJU is a fantastic location for those who enjoy the outdoors and aren't fond of the hustle and bustle of MSP.  If not for work, I know I'd be living elsewhere.  The only traffic congestion you'll deal with at SJU is on game days!

Plus, no "college town environment"?  There is Brother Willy's pub on campus plus 5 bars that I can think of within a 10 minute, FREE, bus ride of SJU, if that's what you're talking about 

[Mr.MIAC]

Back to football, if SJU football is on the wane what do you think will happen to the UST/SJU football rivalry? 

What an asinine question.  If the rivalry between SJU and UST didn't disappear between 1998 and 2009 when UST lost 12 straight to SJU, what makes you think a 2 game skid by SJU will affect it? 

Besides, I think rivalry games are more interesting to the fans than to the players.  If you need a rivalry to get up for a game, you shouldn't be on the field.  I never prepared any differently for a UST game than I did for any other game (of course we were 4-0 against UST during my tenure  ).

I think the current situation is different because UST fans and alumni might simply move on.  Based on my observations and conversations with people from both camps, during the years SJU dominated UST the alumni and fans of each university were motivated to maintain the rivalry for different reasons.  SJU folks saw the football matchup as a way to fell the big Catholic school in the Twin Cities that gets all the major donations and hogs the attention.  People at UST saw football as a weak spot and hoped for a good showing against what was the top program in the MIAC, which just happened to be Catholic and a historical competitor. 

SJU folks still likely see the football matchup as a way to fell the big Catholic school in the Twin Cities that gets all the major donations and hogs the attention.  However, if UST football is at the top then their alumni and fans have less interest in getting fired up for the SJU game.  They'll get more fired up for games against teams that pose a challenge, which this year is the one against BU.  The UST/SJU football rivalry isn't really about football.  It's about competition between the fan and alumni bases of two universities.  If UST fans and alumni grow generally apathetic toward SJU, which seems outside of football to be more and more the case, and SJU football doesn't rebound then the rivalry could diminish.  In short, it's not about the number of games won or lost, but rather the strategic positioning of the two schools involved and whether the games are competitive.

[DuffMan]

I think you read a whole lot more into the rivalry than the average fan.

...the big Catholic school in the Twin Cities that gets all the major donations and hogs the attention.

Hogs all the attention?  Sorry to burst your ever-expanding Tommie head, but aside from UST or maybe MIAC alumni, I don't see the general MSP population giving a rat's arse about UST, nor any other MIAC institution.  I hardly think they are "hogging attention".

[DustySJU]

Back to football, if SJU football is on the wane what do you think will happen to the UST/SJU football rivalry? 

What an asinine question.  If the rivalry between SJU and UST didn't disappear between 1998 and 2009 when UST lost 12 straight to SJU, what makes you think a 2 game skid by SJU will affect it? 

Besides, I think rivalry games are more interesting to the fans than to the players.  If you need a rivalry to get up for a game, you shouldn't be on the field.  I never prepared any differently for a UST game than I did for any other game (of course we were 4-0 against UST during my tenure  ).

I think the current situation is different because UST fans and alumni might simply move on.  Based on my observations and conversations with people from both camps, during the years SJU dominated UST the alumni and fans of each university were motivated to maintain the rivalry for different reasons.  SJU folks saw the football matchup as a way to fell the big Catholic school in the Twin Cities that gets all the major donations and hogs the attention.  People at UST saw football as a weak spot and hoped for a good showing against what was the top program in the MIAC, which just happened to be Catholic and a historical competitor. 

SJU folks still likely see the football matchup as a way to fell the big Catholic school in the Twin Cities that gets all the major donations and hogs the attention.  However, if UST football is at the top then their alumni and fans have less interest in getting fired up for the SJU game.  They'll get more fired up for games against teams that pose a challenge, which this year is the one against BU.  The UST/SJU football rivalry isn't really about football.  It's about competition between the fan and alumni bases of two universities.  If UST fans and alumni grow generally apathetic toward SJU, which seems outside of football to be more and more the case, and SJU football doesn't rebound then the rivalry could diminish.  In short, it's not about the number of games won or lost, but rather the strategic positioning of the two schools involved and whether the games are competitive.

How 'bout felling the big Catholic school in the woods?  Seems UST has gone to great lengths to accomplish that.

Self proclaimed intellectuals like Mr. MIAC tend toward over analysis and miss the obvious.  His relative lack of rank on this board confirms that as well.  Any strategic initiative you mention above attempting to link alumni, competition, donors and rivalry potential is misguided. 

For you it's not about football.... for SJU rubes like myself, it's all about football.  Your typical UST grad up until the past few season cared less about football and more about the specials at Plums.

[retagent]

hey bennie. What's wrong with C'bus? My condolences.

[USTBench]

Back to football, if SJU football is on the wane what do you think will happen to the UST/SJU football rivalry?  It seems like the UST/BU rivalry is strengthening...do you think this will continue in the future?  If so (not saying that this is the case), where does that leave SJU?

SJU is faltering this season, but I personally don't believe it is fair to say they are "on the wane" until they have posted at least 3 consecutive losing seasons. I don't think it will take much to right their ship, and I fully believe they will return to winning ways in short order. While I agree the UST/BU rivalry is strengthening, that rivalry is of short duration (this really only being the second year) and limited pretty much to football. It will end when either program "wanes". The UST/SJU rivalry runs so much deeper, as the last few pages of posts (not to mention the previous 3000+ pages) will attest. That is a school rivalry, not just a football rivalry, and was in full force well before STU's recent rise to the upper crust in football.

Where does all this leave SJU in the current situation? In Collegeville with a sea of red-donned alumni wincing through a tough season with hopes return to the top. Knowing that STU is on the perch now just puts a little more fuel on the fire.

The UST/BU rivalry has never been as big as the SJU rivalry in terms of interested fans, but it's always been significant for the players as far back as my first year in 2000. It was always the most physical game we played,  there was always some good back and forth in terms of wins in losses (even in the Roney years), not to mention the JV games. Essentially, some guys would be play BU 6 or 7 times in their college career.

It may be a "secondary rivalry" to the fans, but as far as the players are concerned, BU is as big as SJU.

[DuffMan]

For you it's not about football.... for SJU rubes like myself, it's all about football.

Couldn't have said it better myself. 

Pat, maybe you could create a d3institutionaladvancement.com site for Mr. MIAC?

[DuffMan]

It may be a "secondary rivalry" to the fans, but as far as the players are concerned, BU is as big as SJU.

Felt the same way at SJU.  SJU/BC (not BU at the time) was bigger than SJU/UST for me, as a player, likely because they beat us in 1999 and 2000.  Thankfully, we were able to even the score in 2001 and 2002!

[Mr.MIAC]

Back to football, if SJU football is on the wane what do you think will happen to the UST/SJU football rivalry? 

What an asinine question.  If the rivalry between SJU and UST didn't disappear between 1998 and 2009 when UST lost 12 straight to SJU, what makes you think a 2 game skid by SJU will affect it? 

Besides, I think rivalry games are more interesting to the fans than to the players.  If you need a rivalry to get up for a game, you shouldn't be on the field.  I never prepared any differently for a UST game than I did for any other game (of course we were 4-0 against UST during my tenure  ).

I think the current situation is different because UST fans and alumni might simply move on.  Based on my observations and conversations with people from both camps, during the years SJU dominated UST the alumni and fans of each university were motivated to maintain the rivalry for different reasons.  SJU folks saw the football matchup as a way to fell the big Catholic school in the Twin Cities that gets all the major donations and hogs the attention.  People at UST saw football as a weak spot and hoped for a good showing against what was the top program in the MIAC, which just happened to be Catholic and a historical competitor. 

SJU folks still likely see the football matchup as a way to fell the big Catholic school in the Twin Cities that gets all the major donations and hogs the attention.  However, if UST football is at the top then their alumni and fans have less interest in getting fired up for the SJU game.  They'll get more fired up for games against teams that pose a challenge, which this year is the one against BU.  The UST/SJU football rivalry isn't really about football.  It's about competition between the fan and alumni bases of two universities.  If UST fans and alumni grow generally apathetic toward SJU, which seems outside of football to be more and more the case, and SJU football doesn't rebound then the rivalry could diminish.  In short, it's not about the number of games won or lost, but rather the strategic positioning of the two schools involved and whether the games are competitive.

How 'bout felling the big Catholic school in the woods?  Seems UST has gone to great lengths to accomplish that.

Self proclaimed intellectuals like Mr. MIAC tend toward over analysis and miss the obvious.  His relative lack of rank on this board confirms that as well.  Any strategic initiative you mention above attempting to link alumni, competition, donors and rivalry potential is misguided. 

For you it's not about football.... for SJU rubes like myself, it's all about football.  Your typical UST grad up until the past few season cared less about football and more about the specials at Plums.

Okay, I'll let you guys suck me into the good-natured, tit-for-tat banter. 

SJU has a big football team in the woods and UST has put a lot of resources into advancing their football program, but the relative size/influence of SJU and UST is not comparable.  I think this has been covered well in past posts. 

I never claimed to be an intellectual, but I'll take your characterization as a compliment.  My relative lack of rank has more to do with the fact that I've been posting on this board for only two days and less to do with the substance of my posts.  As an aside, it's interesting that you've now associated me with smarminess and intellectualism.  I wonder if the average SJU graduate connects the two; if so, this helps explain the divergence in fortunes between SJU and UST.  Perhaps SJU graduates can find solace in the immortal words of Caddyshack.  "Well, the world needs ditch-diggers too." 

UST alumni do enjoy Plums because it's a great local establishment and offers a place to network.  You know us UST alumni like to sit around and talk business all day.  We bond over talk of leading corporations and managing our employees, who are often graduates of SJU.  It seems like the staff is really interested in football...