FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[USTBench]

A day in Collegeville and a game in the Natural Bowl always makes me feel good.   A day in Collegeville with an 8-0 team would be better.

Break or no break, I will concede the atmosphere point.

Now that the horse is a bloated, rotting corpse, can we use the shovel we've been bashing it with to bury it? 

[finsleft]

Speaking of atmosphere, had a great time at the Ralph on Saturday night. Was able to listen to the SJU game on the Bear all the way to Grand Forks.

Got in trouble right away and took a 2 minute penalty for roughing. The princess was in for high sticking.

Me and the McNaughton Cup. They let me know I was the 1st person from St. Cloud to ever touch it.

[faunch]

Would it be safe to assume that not many of the contributors to this board read Charley Walters in the Sunday Pioneer Press?  From yesterday's column:

Some St. John's alumni are nervous that if St. Thomas football coach Glenn Caruso leaves for a bigger job, the Toms could go after former St. John's star QB Kurt Ramler, the coach at Carleton, and eliminate him as a prospect to someday succeed legendary John Gagliardi.

http://www.twincities.com/walters

So we've got Glenn going to the Ivy League and Kurt Ramler taking the reigns at U$T?  I'll have to ask Coach C about it is he's out Trick or Treating with the kids tonight.

[tmerton]

Little "Duffy" comes first however I'd be concerned about a purple bib being slapped on her when you're not looking.   

What better to spit up on?

+k

[tmerton]

So 1,770 people attended the UST conference championship game at a time when students are on a break.  How many fans tuned in online to watch the game?  I know we had about a dozen over at my place watching the game and enjoying a few cold beverages.  Also, how many listened to the game on WCCO?  I'm not sure how telling attendance numbers are in the information age and when your broadcasting partner reaches the entire region.  A growing portion of the UST alumni base is living outside MN and traveling to the games is not practical.       

You're right.  I suspect rounding up to 1800 should cover all the bases.

[USTBench]

Speaking of atmosphere, had a great time at the Ralph on Saturday night. Was able to listen to the SJU game on the Bear all the way to Grand Forks.

Got in trouble right away and took a 2 minute penalty for roughing. The princess was in for high sticking.

Me and the McNaughton Cup. They let me know I was the 1st person from St. Cloud to ever touch it.

First person from St. Cloud to touch it, hilarious. Fantastic goaltending from SCSU on Friday though. He gets hot, no telling what could happen.

[finsleft]

Fantastic goaltending from SCSU on Friday though. He gets hot, no telling what could happen.

The boys in green were pretty happy to put some by him on Saturday after word got out that he was popping off a bit after his stellar night on Friday.

[carletonsid]

Good to see football is catching the UST fan base by storm....

On a pretty decent day with conditions being reported as "sunny, light wind and 50 degrees", the Tommie nation turned out in force with 1,770 in attendance to witness another conference championship.

On a pretty decent day miles from the heart of the city where life appears to only exist for UST fans, Collegeville fans turned out a paltry crowd of 7,071 for a team hovering at an even mark of 4 - 4.


More proof money and buildings can't buy you love.

So 1,770 people attended the UST conference championship game at a time when students are on a break.  How many fans tuned in online to watch the game?  I know we had about a dozen over at my place watching the game and enjoying a few cold beverages.  Also, how many listened to the game on WCCO?  I'm not sure how telling attendance numbers are in the information age and when your broadcasting partner reaches the entire region.  A growing portion of the UST alumni base is living outside MN and traveling to the games is not practical.       

This whole "mine is bigger than yours" schtick is getting darn old. Just stop already. UST is a great school, so is SJU--they're different and great for different reasons, although in the grand scheme of higher ed the two schools are more alike than you'd care to admit. There are tons of schools across the country that would love to have, in football and academically, what the two schools have. No need to bash SJU to prop up UST. And why not just admit that, yes, SJU support seems to be much better than UST rather than make excuses? That doesn't make SJU better than UST, and UST being on WCCO doesn't make the Tommies superior in any way to anyone else in the MIAC. Both programs and institutions have strengths that the other doesn't, and SJU and UST have done a wonderful job of leveraging those strengths academically and athletically.

Just want to throw in here, though, if your school won three conference titles on Saturday, raise your hand! Carleton may not churn out titles like some other schools, but a pretty special day for the Knights to get a share of MIAC titles in men's and women's soccer and dominate in women's cross country.

Now back to your regularly-scheduled programming... 

[DoubleO]

Good to see football is catching the UST fan base by storm....

On a pretty decent day with conditions being reported as "sunny, light wind and 50 degrees", the Tommie nation turned out in force with 1,770 in attendance to witness another conference championship.

On a pretty decent day miles from the heart of the city where life appears to only exist for UST fans, Collegeville fans turned out a paltry crowd of 7,071 for a team hovering at an even mark of 4 - 4.


More proof money and buildings can't buy you love.

Keep going back to that if it makes you feel better about 4 - 4.

Or 7-63...DOH! 

I have said before and I will say it again, average attendance in Caruso's tenure has been on the incline every year-progress is being made there. If you build it...

While it is not ideal and I will in no way attempt to compare it to the atmosphere in Collegeville, it is on the rise and will continue to do so if the administration would wise up and loosen up the tailgating restrictions.

[sfury]

Would it be safe to assume that not many of the contributors to this board read Charley Walters in the Sunday Pioneer Press?  From yesterday's column:

Some St. John's alumni are nervous that if St. Thomas football coach Glenn Caruso leaves for a bigger job, the Toms could go after former St. John's star QB Kurt Ramler, the coach at Carleton, and eliminate him as a prospect to someday succeed legendary John Gagliardi.

http://www.twincities.com/walters

So we've got Glenn going to the Ivy League and Kurt Ramler taking the reigns at U$T?  I'll have to ask Coach C about it is he's out Trick or Treating with the kids tonight.

I remember when Grant went for the Tommies job, which went to Roney, that the (probably apocryphal) story was Fritz/St. Thomas would never hire a St. John's guy.

I know Tommie fans are focused on a national title but indulge us for a moment with misguided speculation. Would the Tommies hire a Johnnie?

I still have Caruso going to Columbia, which is now 0-7. And I actually found a blog dedicated to Columbia football. The Internet does have everything. And they're of course calling for the coach's job and even writing letters to famous alum Bob Kraft.

http://roarlions.blogspot.com/

Forget the other candidates, give it to Caruso.

[cobbernation]

Good to see football is catching the UST fan base by storm....

On a pretty decent day with conditions being reported as "sunny, light wind and 50 degrees", the Tommie nation turned out in force with 1,770 in attendance to witness another conference championship.

On a pretty decent day miles from the heart of the city where life appears to only exist for UST fans, Collegeville fans turned out a paltry crowd of 7,071 for a team hovering at an even mark of 4 - 4.


More proof money and buildings can't buy you love.

So 1,770 people attended the UST conference championship game at a time when students are on a break.  How many fans tuned in online to watch the game?  I know we had about a dozen over at my place watching the game and enjoying a few cold beverages.  Also, how many listened to the game on WCCO?  I'm not sure how telling attendance numbers are in the information age and when your broadcasting partner reaches the entire region.  A growing portion of the UST alumni base is living outside MN and traveling to the games is not practical.       

This whole "mine is bigger than yours" schtick is getting darn old. Just stop already. UST is a great school, so is SJU--they're different and great for different reasons, although in the grand scheme of higher ed the two schools are more alike than you'd care to admit. There are tons of schools across the country that would love to have, in football and academically, what the two schools have. No need to bash SJU to prop up UST. And why not just admit that, yes, SJU support seems to be much better than UST rather than make excuses? That doesn't make SJU better than UST, and UST being on WCCO doesn't make the Tommies superior in any way to anyone else in the MIAC. Both programs and institutions have strengths that the other doesn't, and SJU and UST have done a wonderful job of leveraging those strengths academically and athletically.

Just want to throw in here, though, if your school won three conference titles on Saturday, raise your hand! Carleton may not churn out titles like some other schools, but a pretty special day for the Knights to get a share of MIAC titles in men's and women's soccer and dominate in women's cross country.
Now back to your regularly-scheduled programming...

I agree.  I don't know why Concordia isn't in this competition!  We have by far the most talented musicians and singers in the MIAC as well as attract 3-4K people to the Jake for every home football game!  Concordia students also double the national average of students who are accepted into professional schools.  You really can't put a price on that.  Also, I believe Concordia is on the low end for costs of tuition, room and board in the MIAC! 

Congrats to Carelton for winning 3 conference titles on Saturday.  It's just a shame that when those students are graduated from school the only memory will be how in the world am I going to pay off my student loans when tuition, room and board are around $50K per year?!!

[USTBench]

Would it be safe to assume that not many of the contributors to this board read Charley Walters in the Sunday Pioneer Press?  From yesterday's column:

Some St. John's alumni are nervous that if St. Thomas football coach Glenn Caruso leaves for a bigger job, the Toms could go after former St. John's star QB Kurt Ramler, the coach at Carleton, and eliminate him as a prospect to someday succeed legendary John Gagliardi.

http://www.twincities.com/walters

So we've got Glenn going to the Ivy League and Kurt Ramler taking the reigns at U$T?  I'll have to ask Coach C about it is he's out Trick or Treating with the kids tonight.

I remember when Grant went for the Tommies job, which went to Roney, that the (probably apocryphal) story was Fritz/St. Thomas would never hire a St. John's guy.

I know Tommie fans are focused on a national title but indulge us for a moment with misguided speculation. Would the Tommies hire a Johnnie?

I still have Caruso going to Columbia, which is now 0-7. And I actually found a blog dedicated to Columbia football. The Internet does have everything. And they're of course calling for the coach's job and even writing letters to famous alum Bob Kraft.

http://roarlions.blogspot.com/

Forget the other candidates, give it to Caruso.

RE: Caruso Leaving for the Ivy League. 1) Lots speculation for a guy making his 3rd trip to the playoffs with the same team. 2) It's true he's from that region (Conn., upstate NY), the thing not mentioned is that he's been in North Dakota/South Dakota/Minnesota since about two seconds after he graduated from Ithaca. He's spent almost 15 years developing relationships in this region to be successful, going through the stress of building up a recruiting base once his kids start school might not be worth it to him, though he's never backed down from a challenge. 3) Colgate (Yeah, I know it's not Ivy League), Dartmouth or Cornell I could see. Uprooting his family and moving them to the middle of Manhattan? Don't see it happening.

RE: UST hiring Ramler. Never would happen. Pending a doomsday scenario where Caruso leaves, I wouldn't mind if UST hired Ramler, he's proven himself to be a great coach and great recruiter. That being said, UST exposes itself to the embarrassment of Ramler saying "Thanks, but no thanks," and having to dismantle a program that has been incredibly successful. Personally, if that were to happen I would hope we could retain the services of Wallie Kuchinski or UST alum Blaine Tetrault, and keep it an in-house hire.

[Retired Old Rat]

Congrats to Carleton.  Three titles on one day.  That is impressive.

[Pat Coleman]

Congrats to Carelton for winning 3 conference titles on Saturday.  It's just a shame that when those students are graduated from school the only memory will be how in the world am I going to pay off my student loans when tuition, room and board are around $50K per year?!!

Probably consoled by the fact that Carleton grads have the highest starting income of any four-year school in Minnesota.

[USTBench]

Is soccer that game they sometimes show on ESPN during the middle of baseball season when the NFL is locked out? If so, congrats Carleton. That game looks tiring.