FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Retired Old Rat]

Newsflash:  Blake Elliot has made an impassioned plea to the NCAA to have his eligibility restored for the playoffs.  His main point was that the Benedictine values instilled in him compelled him to request that he be allowed to suit up for in order to defend St. Scholastica against the new Monsters of the Midway.

[USTBench]

Where is Mr. MIAC to comment on this obvious national slight?

Just give him time. I'm sure he will have a dissertation-length response soon enough.

which will make little sense, contain many sweeping generalities and claim that, since NW and SJU both failed to make the playoffs, they are now football equals

I'll do it for him:

Very well. Where do I begin? SJU's John Gagliardi's father was a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium with low-grade narcolepsy and a penchant for buggery. His mother was a 15-year old French prostitute named Chloe with webbed feet. His father would womanize, he would drink. He would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Sometimes he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy. The sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament. Gags' childhood was typical. Summers in Rangoon, luge lessons. In the spring he'd make meat helmets. When he  was insolent, he was placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds. Pretty standard really. At the age of 12, Gags received his first scribe. At the age of 14, an Zoroastrian named Kirk Talley ritualistically shaved his testicles. There really is nothing like a shorn scrotum, it's breathtaking, Gags has suggested to many that they try it.

[SagatagSam]

which will make little sense, contain many sweeping generalities and claim that, since NW and SJU both failed to make the playoffs, they are now football equals

I can't think of a time where he has ever done that...

MIAC: I don't think the MIAC has gone downhill so much as UST has significantly raised the bar over the past couple of years and other schools have yet to catch up.  I think UST really is good enough to warrant their #3 national ranking and it wouldn't be surprising if they made a run for the national championship this year.  Bethel offers the only real competition in the MIAC and this week's game should be fun to watch. 

UST: UST is on a totally different trajectory than other MIAC schools that can't compete because of lacking funds, interest, or appeal.  UST has a far larger endowment than most other MIAC schools and with the success of the current $500 million fundraising campaign the disparity is growing.  Most other schools simply can't keep up when some UST departments/programs have a larger endowment than their entire institution.  Growth of the UST campus has accelerated over the past two decades and their facilities make most other MIAC schools look second-rate.  Buildings like the new athletic complex and student center are a real draw for prospective students and collegiate athletes in particular; given the option, many athletes would choose the D-I facilities at UST.  Athletics are a real focus at UST and this is true across a range of sports.  A couple of MIAC schools, Carleton and St. Olaf, could offer similar campus amenities because of their strong endowments, but neither school places nearly the same emphasis on athletics and this discourages top athletes.  UST's scale and scope is far different than any other MIAC school.  Not only is the student body larger, but UST is a national university with a business school, law school, and robust graduate offerings.  Next to the U of M, UST is probably the best known academic institution in MN across a range of fields.  This only increases its profile among prospective parents and athletes.  UST has a different strategy than other MIAC schools and this helps them recruit from a large pool of athletes.  You may have noticed that much of the current fundraising campaign is dedicated to raising the faculty profile and significantly increasing scholarships.  This is part of UST's strategy to grow into a large, highly selective urban university.  Their target is Boston College and as these changes occur UST will be more attractive to prospective athletes.  As UST grows and becomes even more prestigious, it will be difficult for other MIAC schools to keep up on recruiting and fundraising.         

SJU:  I agree that John will not be asked to leave, but in all likelihood he will choose to make an exit into retirement pretty quickly.  With all the infighting among the current coaching staff and problems that generally come though internal promotion, his replacement would best be drawn from outside SJU.  A few posters alluded to this point, but the problem at SJU is larger than the football team.  All the hysteria among SJU fans this season is in my view about more than losing a few football games.  I think that many SJU fans and alumni fear that without a nationally ranked football program SJU will be viewed simply as an average regional school without much growth potential and little national reputation.  If SJU football goes downhill then the magic of Clemens Field won't matter.  How many prospective students will see the magic in consistently losing?  If the football program diminishes then in all likelihood over time so will SJU.  Unlike UST, SJU does not enjoy most of the advantages mentioned above.  A large part of its appeal is connected to football; outside football it's largely known for its homemade bread and the St. Johns Bible project.  SJU may be a special place for its alumni, but the qualities that made this so are hard to convey to prospective students and donors.  With increased frequency prospective students will choose places like UST that have more to offer and donors, Catholic or otherwise, will follow what's perceived as success--they will give to UST.  If you look closely you can see that this already started happening a couple of decades ago.  I don't think that a sinking football program would change dynamics at SJU overnight, nor do I think SJU would go away.  Rather SJU would find it far more difficult to compete in many of the areas mentioned and over time it would increasingly become viewed as a second-tier option among private schools in the region.  Without football, why would prospective students and donors choose to get involved with SJU if they could be part of a MN institution more akin to Boston College?

... nevermind.

[sfury]

I somehow missed that post last month by Mr. MIAC.

Not to dive into all that again because it was hashed over countless times earlier in the year and will be again, and at this point in time, coming off their second straight undefeated regular season, they really are our new Tommie overlords, but my favorite line is "UST has significantly raised the bar over the past couple of years and other schools have yet to catch up." Yes, they raised the bar from what they had been and have had three outstanding seasons. But apparently they've also raised the bar for the entire league. Four straight West region titles, and a national championship? Nice, but not raising the bar. Not like two straight MIAC titles and zero West region titles.

[SagatagSam]

I'll do it for him:

Very well. Where do I begin? SJU's John Gagliardi's father was a relentlessly self-improving boulangerie owner from Belgium with low-grade narcolepsy and a penchant for buggery. His mother was a 15-year old French prostitute named Chloe with webbed feet. His father would womanize, he would drink. He would make outrageous claims like he invented the question mark. Sometimes he would accuse chestnuts of being lazy. The sort of general malaise that only the genius possess and the insane lament. Gags' childhood was typical. Summers in Rangoon, luge lessons. In the spring he'd make meat helmets. When he  was insolent, he was placed in a burlap bag and beaten with reeds. Pretty standard really. At the age of 12, Gags received his first scribe. At the age of 14, an Zoroastrian named Kirk Talley ritualistically shaved his testicles. There really is nothing like a shorn scrotum, it's breathtaking, Gags has suggested to many that they try it.

Scott, you had your chance, okay? I've already had someone created in my image. He's evil, he wants to take over the world, and he fits easily into most overhead storage bins.

[finsleft]

AO,

Thanks for all the hard work involved in putting together the pickem's each week this season! 

Fins,

There is no way you will 3-peat as pickem's champion!  How are your seats at Target Field?  I believe the last time we talked was at Huberts when the Twins were playing in the Metrodome!

Blasphemy! How can I not be the favorite for 2012 after my repeat, wire-to-wire 1st place finish? HA!
Seats are pretty good, just outside of the plate toward 1st base, section 110. Would've had a good view of Mauer's ass at the plate, but he wasn't there. Should be able to improve our lie a bit after some of the FWF's jump off the bandwagon.

And also props to AO for running the pick'ems board. Nice work!

[GoldandBlueBU]

Yes, thank you to AO for putting the time in every week!

[AO]

Feel free to direct all vitriol towards me this week. The UMAC board is a ghost town, so it appears there will be no $hit talking from the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing - Duluth Campus.

Do you think egging their St. Paul campus would help rile up the well-mannered nurses?  If so, I know a guy...

I think that AO should serve as the UMAC rep on this board.

There's probably some CSS lurkers, but it might take Mr. MIAC to get them to come out.  I don't expect them to get close to the Tommies, but crazier things have happened. 
Some quick facts:
-1100 Males go to Scholastica --hasn't been all-female since 1970
-Sansevere interviewed Carlson for the east-side fish-wrap factory today
-Their practice field has a nice view of the lake

-They use a bulldog as a mascot
-There have been worse 10-0 teams, but I can't name any off the top of my head.

[stanbob]

Brilliance without Borders
Did the NCAA committee NOT get the memo?   

Where is Mr. MIAC to comment on this obvious national slight?

Personally, I think UST should have been a #1 seed.  I guess they will have a chance to prove that in the next three weeks.

Are we certain they're not a #1 seed? UST's Doug Hennes has them listed in an article as being a 1 seed.

Delaware Valley is the Number 1 seed. But since they won't make it past Johns Hopkins, I'm not too worried.

Some people would bitch if their ice cream was cold

[Mr. Ypsi]

Feel free to direct all vitriol towards me this week. The UMAC board is a ghost town, so it appears there will be no $hit talking from the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing - Duluth Campus.

Do you think egging their St. Paul campus would help rile up the well-mannered nurses?  If so, I know a guy...

I think that AO should serve as the UMAC rep on this board.

There's probably some CSS lurkers, but it might take Mr. MIAC to get them to come out.  I don't expect them to get close to the Tommies, but crazier things have happened. 
Some quick facts:
-1100 Males go to Scholastica --hasn't been all-female since 1970
-Sansevere interviewed Carlson for the east-side fish-wrap factory today
-Their practice field has a nice view of the lake

-They use a bulldog as a mascot
-There have been worse 10-0 teams, but I can't name any off the top of my head.

I can easily name one that I hope was worse: last year SUNY-Maritime (ECFC) went 10-0, then played 8-2 Alfred in the first round.  They trailed 50-0 at halftime (Alfred showed mercy and only won 60-0)!

Since UST is almost certainly better than Alfred was, if CSS is even worse than SUNY-M it might be 50-0 in the first quarter!

[ncc_fan]

There's probably some CSS lurkers, but it might take Mr. MIAC to get them to come out.  I don't expect them to get close to the Tommies, but crazier things have happened. 
Some quick facts:
-1100 Males go to Scholastica --hasn't been all-female since 1970
-Sansevere interviewed Carlson for the east-side fish-wrap factory today
-Their practice field has a nice view of the lake

-They use a bulldog as a mascot
-There have been worse 10-0 teams, but I can't name any off the top of my head.

Is that a ski jump to the right of the building?  Very cool.

[SagatagSam]

Is that a ski jump to the right of the building?  Very cool.

Easy now, you keep pointing out stuff like that and you're going to make some MIAC schools *cough*ST. THOMAS*cough* jealous and their daddy will have to buy them one too. 

[sjusection105]

Are we certain they're not a #1 seed? UST's Doug Hennes has them listed in an article as being a 1 seed.

Well, if Doug has the Tomcats listed as a #1, then is must be true   

[DoubleO]

Are we certain they're not a #1 seed? UST's Doug Hennes has them listed in an article as being a 1 seed.

Well, if Doug has the Tomcats listed as a #1, then is must be true   

Kind of splitting hairs I guess, huh? Hey sjusection105, congrats on the strong finish to the season! Could you do me a favor and keep me posted on the Johns off season conditioning program? I'm really interested to hear how that's going! Good luck. 

[OzJohnnie]

Well... I was al excited that I was home today to see the Vikes play the Pack and here comes a punt return for seven. Man.  The Vikings sure suck.