FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[Mr.MIAC]

There is a fair amount of banter over on the NCAC board, and a lot more to come I am sure . . . although less this year it seems than before last year's Wabash - Whitewater game.   

Yea, and we all know how that game turned out. I expect a similar outcome Saturday.

Wabash is a very good team, but not quite at the level of a purple power.

Of course we don't want to get ahead of ourselves, but you heard it here folks: UST is being categorized as a purple power...

[02 Warhawk]

There is a fair amount of banter over on the NCAC board, and a lot more to come I am sure . . . although less this year it seems than before last year's Wabash - Whitewater game.   

Yea, and we all know how that game turned out. I expect a similar outcome Saturday.

Wabash is a very good team, but not quite at the level of a purple power.

Of course we don't want to get ahead of ourselves, but you heard it here folks: UST is being categorized as a purple power...

at least since 2012, right?

[Mr.MIAC]

There is a fair amount of banter over on the NCAC board, and a lot more to come I am sure . . . although less this year it seems than before last year's Wabash - Whitewater game.   

Yea, and we all know how that game turned out. I expect a similar outcome Saturday.

Wabash is a very good team, but not quite at the level of a purple power.

Of course we don't want to get ahead of ourselves, but you heard it here folks: UST is being categorized as a purple power...

Weren't they always....at least since 2012?

Say that again, just like that and be sure to include the following hashtags: #SJU, #Collegeville, #EndOfAnEra

[OzJohnnie]

Maybe it's the pending Star Wars movie but for some reason this image just popped into my head.

[RoyalsFan]

I don't have a rule book to quote but basically, in college and in high school, so long as the receiver has not reached a downfield position even with the defender, and so long as a pass has not been thrown beyond the LOS, then the receiver is no different than any blocker, and contact can be initiated by the defender any where on the field. There is no reference whatsoever to the five yard no contact rule in high school or college.

Hmmm, that's not the way I interpret the rule:

Illegal Contact and Pass Interference
ARTICLE 8. a. During a down in which a legal forward pass crosses the neutral
zone, illegal contact by Team A and Team B players is prohibited from the time
the ball is snapped until it is touched by any player or an official (A.R. 7-3-8-II).

To me it is pretty clear that downfield contact is illegal anytime until the pass is touched but it's one of those rules that the refs don't enforce.

So now you're saying that the refs don't ALWAYS make the right call. Isn't this a little different than your stance on the Martin hit?

So what do you think my stance on the Martin hit is? I never said one way or the other if I thought it was the right call. I just said the ref was right there and since he didn't throw a flag then he must have thought the hit wasn't late.  And I have never said they ALWAYS make the right call. You are putting words in my mouth.

[Mr.MIAC]

Maybe it's the pending Star Wars movie but for some reason this image just popped into my head.

I was thinking more like this one:

[wally_wabash]

There is a fair amount of banter over on the NCAC board, and a lot more to come I am sure . . . although less this year it seems than before last year's Wabash - Whitewater game.   

Yea, and we all know how that game turned out. I expect a similar outcome Saturday.

Wabash is a very good team, but not quite at the level of a purple power.

He makes a good point. 

About 2014 Wabash.  Not sure how much 2015 Wabash he's seen though, so that take might be stale. 

[VOJ]

Hello all

I was unaware until tonight that my play by play and commentary was a topic of conversation on this board.  I will say I appreciate the kind words and those that are critical of my comments.  It gives me much to think about. 

I hope that those of you who have taken issue with my broadcasts would be as honest in person as you have been here, it's easy to take shots and be critical on these boards, I've done it in the past, regretfully. 

I am a homer, I spend countless hours with SJU Coaches and players in many different sports, I want them to do well.  There's not a coach at SJU or player I've not liked, maybe hard to believe but true. I have good relationships with most of the coaches in the league, during interviews I try to highlight their best player, if they are having a tough year, I try to look for a positive in my first question, and go from there.  I have made comments about St Thomas that some would see as harsh, others would say are accurate.  An apology is in order, so I will offer one here, I should not be so critical, for that I am sorry.  I think St. Thomas has an outstanding football team, they could win it all. I don't agree with some things that have transpired in the past, but as Gary Fasching so often says, you can't do anything about that, so I'll press on. 

I like to think I have a passion, I love what I do, I enjoy it, the SJU slant will probably stay after 16 football seasons and my current 17th basketball season it won't go away.  Thanks again for all the feedback. 

[bennie]

I luv ya VOJ and my fall Saturdays would not be the same without you!!

[OzJohnnie]

I luv ya VOJ and my fall Saturdays would not be the same without you!!

Double for me!  (Make it Spring Sundays, but the point is the same.)

[Mr.MIAC]

Hello all

I was unaware until tonight that my play by play and commentary was a topic of conversation on this board.  I will say I appreciate the kind words and those that are critical of my comments.  It gives me much to think about. 

I hope that those of you who have taken issue with my broadcasts would be as honest in person as you have been here, it's easy to take shots and be critical on these boards, I've done it in the past, regretfully. 

I am a homer, I spend countless hours with SJU Coaches and players in many different sports, I want them to do well.  There's not a coach at SJU or player I've not liked, maybe hard to believe but true. I have good relationships with most of the coaches in the league, during interviews I try to highlight their best player, if they are having a tough year, I try to look for a positive in my first question, and go from there.  I have made comments about St Thomas that some would see as harsh, others would say are accurate.  An apology is in order, so I will offer one here, I should not be so critical, for that I am sorry.  I think St. Thomas has an outstanding football team, they could win it all. I don't agree with some things that have transpired in the past, but as Gary Fasching so often says, you can't do anything about that, so I'll press on. 

I like to think I have a passion, I love what I do, I enjoy it, the SJU slant will probably stay after 16 football seasons and my current 17th basketball season it won't go away.  Thanks again for all the feedback.

I think your play-by-play is great. It's one of the best in DIII. I see two problems: 1) your presentation is so over the top biased that it doesn't make for pleasurable listening. If you go back and listen to the podcasts, everything is pro-Johnnies in a way that makes it sound like propaganda; and 2) your distaste for the Tommies comes across so strong that it undermines you in your role as a professional commentator.

Here's the thing: Tommies and Johnnies rhetorically attack each other, but at the end of the day we know that we're all cut from the same cloth. I give the Johnnies plenty of hell, but if there were a Johnnie looking for a job out in my area (DC) or help with graduate school, I'd treat him the same as a Tommie. Vilifying one or the other does more harm than good.

On a more personal level, it bothers me when you attack Coach Caruso. He and his family have given their lives over to building up UST football and that deserves respect. When Gagliardi was successful at SJU we Tommies might not have liked it, but we always respected who he was and what he was accomplishing. You seem unwilling to do the same in this new era.

PS: Given what you've said here, I think we're good to go.

[Retired Old Rat]

VOJ, great post.  Thanks for doing that.

Johnnie Nation loves the job that you do.  You are a priceless asset to the SJU sports program.  The game broadcasts are awesome.  Beyond that, the unrivalled pre and post game shows and all the work you do make this a financial win for WBHR.  I've said it before, I'll say it again.  SJU fans are fortunate to have such a high quality play by play guy.

Note to those who are not Johnnie supporters:  The target audience is Johnnie fans.  We appreciate VOJ's love and passion for Johnnie sports.  We want him to be a bit of a homer.  And we enjoy it when his outstanding team of commentators clarifies things.

WCCO is a different situation.  They are the 50,000 watt blowtorch.  They are trying to appeal to audience larger than the Tommie fan base.

[retagent]

I don't believe that many on here, other than the Johnnie posters, listen to your pre game shows. I find them to be informative and very objective. You are correct in your self analysis there.

I had to watch/listen another "enemy" feed a couple times, and one stuck out - though I can't remember which school's broadcast is the culprit. The announcers barely knew who was playing for the Johnnies. They knew Martin, Bungham, Sura and maybe one or two others. They identified the others most times by number or position, and when they did try to find a name, either were wrong, or mispronounced. They then went on to lament the use of the same number for two players. I guess they wanted SJU to issue numbers for away games that weren't the same numbers used in home games where there were too many players to not have recurring numbers. They also seemed unaware of the fact that Benson and Gagliardi were cousins, even merely supposing that Gagliardi might be related to the Legend. This shows a lack of preparation. I doubt that you overlook many "inside stories" and have given us many such insights into other teams.

As far as the homerism, I can see where others might find it off-putting. Let your conscience be your guide there.

[jamtod]

Homerism is great and to be expected from the home team announcer.  VOJ is as good at what he does as anybody I've heard, at least on a local level.  I listened to a good chunk of the Tommie-Johnnie stream this week and there were certainly a number of comments that were a bit jarring/borderline insane from somebody who wants to criticize Caruso's class. On the other hand, the other commentators do a nice job of keeping him in check when he goes off the reservation.

[OldAuggie]

I don't believe that many on here, other than the Johnnie posters, listen to your pre game shows. I find them to be informative and very objective. You are correct in your self analysis there.

I had to watch/listen another "enemy" feed a couple times, and one stuck out - though I can't remember which school's broadcast is the culprit. The announcers barely knew who was playing for the Johnnies. They knew Martin, Bungham, Sura and maybe one or two others. They identified the others most times by number or position, and when they did try to find a name, either were wrong, or mispronounced. They then went on to lament the use of the same number for two players. I guess they wanted SJU to issue numbers for away games that weren't the same numbers used in home games where there were too many players to not have recurring numbers. They also seemed unaware of the fact that Benson and Gagliardi were cousins, even merely supposing that Gagliardi might be related to the Legend. This shows a lack of preparation. I doubt that you overlook many "inside stories" and have given us many such insights into other teams.

As far as the homerism, I can see where others might find it off-putting. Let your conscience be your guide there.

First of all I want to qualify my comments as coming from someone who has known of and respected the SJU program since 1976 when my father turned on the TV and sat me down to watch the Johnnies in the title game. I do recall a bit of the game even though I was 12 years old. I was a passionate football player and fan even at that age. Later in life I played against the Johnnies as an Auggie, really respected them back then and still do today. SJU is without a doubt a great college football program.

Lets assume that the visiting team "enemy" broadcasters were Tom Witschen and Mike Gallagher. Just for the sake of discussion.They could have dug up the fact that these guys were cousins, but really? Not everyone bows down to kiss the ground at every Johnnie fact. Assuming it was Augsburg and it could have been any of the MIAC radio guys I get that. Let's just toss that possibility out and look at the SJU/AUG game this year. Did the SJU homer broadcast team know that there were two brothers playing on the Auggies? Maybe but I doubt it. You know what, who cares? Sometimes (often) you Johnnies need to get over yourselves.