FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[RoyalsFan]

Maybe I've misunderstood your point but the purpose of the fair catch is to protect the receiver.  His attention is focused on the ball and upward not on the eleven dudes running full speed ready to send him into another dimension when they get there.  In many cases the receiver has very little time to focus his attention on the defenders before being tackled.  It almost certainly would lead to an increase in high speed collisions and significant injuries to players.  It might be boring but I don't see how eliminating it would be a good idea.   

Along with eliminating the fair catch, he was saying they would also have to implement a 5 yard cushion for the punt returner, and that is what would eliminate the high speed collisions.

[art76]

Some great Bud Grant anecdotes at MMQB.

Love how he couldn't care less about saying the polite comment. Just a straight shooter, gotta like that. Also, I love the idea about eliminating the fair catch, along with a 5 yd cushion for the return man. That would eliminate the high speed collisions, eliminate the boring fair catch and provide some great drama.

Along with the fair catch, another thing that I would like to see would be not letting the punt go out of bounds, similar to a kickoff. If a kickoff can't go out of bounds, why should a punt? If the punt goes out of bounds, it another 'no play' like a fair catch.

The coffin corner punt used to be an art form in punting but now it's just a lost art. I'd rather it go the other way than having punts out of bounds illegal.

If the NFL wants more 'action' in the game and eliminate 'no play' type plays (like the fair catch), then they should make a punt out of bound illegal IMO. Like I said, a kickoff out of bounds is illegal, so why should a punt out of bounds be legal? Punting the ball out of bounds gives the receiving team no chance of returning the ball. Coffin corner kickoffs could also be considered an art form, but they don't allow that.

Making the coffin corner kick to be within ten yards of the end zone on either a punt or kick-off should be rewarded (no penalty). It sure would sure spice things up a bit. Kind of like the 3 point line in basketball. The penalty has to be large enough to be a deterrent and if there is any ambiguity about where the ball goes out of bonds, then the penalty should be assessed.

Just thinking out loud and without a lot of forethought given.

[RoyalsFan]

Making the coffin corner kick to be within ten yards of the end zone on either a punt or kick-off should be rewarded (no penalty). It sure would sure spice things up a bit. Kind of like the 3 point line in basketball. The penalty has to be large enough to be a deterrent and if there is any ambiguity about where the ball goes out of bonds, then the penalty should be assessed.

Just thinking out loud and without a lot of forethought given.

Let me see if I understand you correctly. Are you saying that a punt/kickoff that goes out of bounds inside the 10 yard line should be ok, but outside of 10 yards it should be a penalty? Interesting.

[art76]

Making the coffin corner kick to be within ten yards of the end zone on either a punt or kick-off should be rewarded (no penalty). It sure would sure spice things up a bit. Kind of like the 3 point line in basketball. The penalty has to be large enough to be a deterrent and if there is any ambiguity about where the ball goes out of bonds, then the penalty should be assessed.

Just thinking out loud and without a lot of forethought given.

Let me see if I understand you correctly. Are you saying that a punt/kickoff that goes out of bounds inside the 10 yard line should be ok, but outside of 10 yards it should be a penalty? Interesting.

Yep.

[SJUrube]

I was pleasently surprised to see Kai Barber is out for the SJU track team while I looked through results of the SJU Alumni Meet results. I looked to see his HS results and didn't find him listed on the 2015 MN HS honor roll but he was on the 2014 list, as a senior, with a 57-7 shot put 155-5 discuss. Both are solid, especially the shot put.

Did he do a year of prep school or something? This is his first year at SJU, so wouldn't that make him a 2015 HS grad?

[SJUrube]

I was pleasently surprised to see Kai Barber is out for the SJU track team while I looked through results of the SJU Alumni Meet results. I looked to see his HS results and didn't find him listed on the 2015 MN HS honor roll but he was on the 2014 list, as a senior, with a 57-7 shot put 155-5 discuss. Both are solid, especially the shot put.

Did he do a year of prep school or something? This is his first year at SJU, so wouldn't that make him a 2015 HS grad?

Some Googling gave me the answer. He played a year of junior hockey before coming to SJU last fall. I had completely missed that. Frank had all of the details last May.

Frank Rajkowski, frajkowski@stcloudtimes.com 11:24 a.m. CDT May 8, 2015
Kai Barber hasn't played football since helping lead Totino-Grace to a berth in the Class 6A state semifinals as a senior in 2013.

But Barber — a three-year starter for the Eagles, who rushed for 436 yards and seven touchdowns and had a team-best 280 yards receiving and three touchdowns his final season — has remained busy.

This past winter, he scored 20 goals and had 23 assists while playing junior hockey for the Peoria (Illinois) Mustangs of the NA3HL.

"Coming out of high school, I wanted to try junior hockey," said Barber, who had 20 goals for Totino-Grace as a senior, and who also reached the state track and field meet as a thrower.

[Tom Thumb]

The Pioneer Press recently wrote an article on Perra's transfer to St. Thomas.  It sheds some light on why he decided to leave the Gophers.  Interesting read:

http://www.twincities.com/2016/02/10/when-jerry-kill-retired-gophers-qb-jacques-perra-took-the-sign/

[OzJohnnie]

The Pioneer Press recently wrote an article on Perra's transfer to St. Thomas.  It sheds some light on why he decided to leave the Gophers.  Interesting read:

http://www.twincities.com/2016/02/10/when-jerry-kill-retired-gophers-qb-jacques-perra-took-the-sign/

There sure is a lot of press about this guy.  No pressure or anything but he better deliver a national championship his first year.  Sheesh.

Second a question on this quote that finishes the article:

“We wouldn’t take a transfer unless we fully expected him to come in and have an opportunity to compete for a spot,” Caurso said.

What's that even mean?  "Take a transfer"?  Anyone that meets the acceptance criteria can join an MIAC school.  Is he saying that UST won't let transfers try out for the team unless they are starter material?  Really?

Maybe I'm looking for faults where none exist, but this is Perra's second article in a major Twin Cities paper and GC is talking like he runs a upper division program.  It seems that UST is trying to sew some pretty big britches.

[DuffMan]

I thought that quote was a little odd, too.

[Mr.MIAC]

The Pioneer Press recently wrote an article on Perra's transfer to St. Thomas.  It sheds some light on why he decided to leave the Gophers.  Interesting read:

http://www.twincities.com/2016/02/10/when-jerry-kill-retired-gophers-qb-jacques-perra-took-the-sign/

There sure is a lot of press about this guy.  No pressure or anything but he better deliver a national championship his first year.  Sheesh.

Second a question on this quote that finishes the article:

"We wouldn't take a transfer unless we fully expected him to come in and have an opportunity to compete for a spot," Caurso said.

What's that even mean?  "Take a transfer"?  Anyone that meets the acceptance criteria can join an MIAC school.  Is he saying that UST won't let transfers try out for the team unless they are starter material?  Really?

Maybe I'm looking for faults where none exist, but this is Perra's second article in a major Twin Cities paper and GC is talking like he runs a upper division program.  It seems that UST is trying to sew some pretty big britches.

Of course you're looking for faults where none exist. Just imagine the amount of time you SJU guys could have spent on other endeavors these past eight years. If it wasn't for Caruso occupying so much of your time, I bet you probably would've solved world hunger by now or, at a minimum, learned how to better help UST in its mission to be "All for the Common Good."^TM

That being said, to me "take a transfer" means "bring the guy in with the understanding that he has a realistic shot at starting." Perra can transfer to UST if he meets the academic requirements. As a transfer, he can try out for the football team if he so chooses. However, a DI transfer who's publicly expressed a desire to continue playing football at UST might be coming in with heightened expectations of playtime. UST has been grooming another QB over the past year.  I think Caruso is saying that playtime as starting QB is realistic, based on the team's needs and Perra's talent, if Perra successfully competes for the position.

There are probably other prospective transfers looking for playtime in various positions at UST. Due to the team's needs and the transfer in question, Caruso has to be forthright about their potential playtime. These players can still join the team, but Caruso isn't implying they'll be taken on and placed in the running for starting.

[OzJohnnie]

Ok, I'll bite.  It's the off-season and what else is there to do?

So, Rev, you reckon Perra called up the Pioneer Press sports desk and said, "Have I got a story about me for you!" or do you reckon that maybe the Tommie media office helped a little?   it's funny that he's being told by Caruso in the PP that he needs to make the team to get play time.  That's the sort of conversation I would have expected to happen before deciding to transfer (or speak to the PP about playing ambitions).  Different strokes, I guess.

If Caruso is speaking to a player, he's speaking to the players (and parents) that have been hanging on for thier chance at Tommie glory only to see it snatched in some high-profile media campaign.  "We wouldn't take a tranfer unless..." sounds like a message to the spurned, not the annointed.

EDIT: Undoubtedly he's speaking to the spurned.  A quick re-read lead to this statement in the article, But when Perra reached out to Caruso, the coach was more than excited about the chance to work with a player he had hoped to land out of high school. 

I can just imaging GC, "You see, everyone?  He initiated it.  I didn't lie when I said your boy was going to make it big time.  This happened.  Out of the blue.  And I was trying to get him out of high school so it's all consistent see?  If I had picked him up a year ago then your boy would have never had a chance anyway so it's all honest."

And this, The Tommies, who reached the Division III national championship game last fall, only add a handful of transfers each year.

"You see" says GC.  "It's just bum luck that we only take a few, ready to play transfers and it just so happens that your kid (whom I was so glowing of all last year as he sat on the bench) gets the short end of the stick.  It's not my fault."

[Mr.MIAC]

Ok, I'll bite.  It's the off-season and what else is there to do?

So, Rev, you reckon Perra called up the Pioneer Press sports desk and said, "Have I got a story about me for you!" or do you reckon that maybe the Tommie media office helped a little?   it's funny that he's being told by Caruso in the PP that he needs to make the team to get play time.  That's the sort of conversation I would have expected to happen before deciding to transfer (or speak to the PP about playing ambitions).  Different strokes, I guess.

If Caruso is speaking to a player, he's speaking to the players (and parents) that have been hanging on for thier chance at Tommie glory only to see it snatched in some high-profile media campaign.  "We wouldn't take a tranfer unless..." sounds like a message to the spurned, not the annointed.

As a slightly related aside, is UST putting more into PR than other MIAC schools? I've noticed far more UST stories in the ST, PP, radio, and local television the past few years. I've been under the impression that with UST's size, success, and metro location the coverage is natural.

[OzJohnnie]

In all seriousness, SJU practically owns a reporter at the hometown St Cloud Times and they have had less coverage this off-season than UST. Undoubtedly UST are putting in a big media effort.  Nothing wrong with that, of course, just a different approach to institutional promotion than a comparative school in the cities like Bethel.

A provocative question: What does "All for the Common Good" even mean as an institutional purpose?  Does that mean it's possible for universities to be against the Commin Good, ie, for the Common Evil?  Who would consider such a place?  What about the Uncommon Good, ie good for the individual?  What does UST do if the Uncommon Good and the Common Good are in conflict?  Say expensive special services or treatments for the handicapped or aged that decrease over all convenience or wealth?

[sjusection105]

As a slightly related aside, is UST putting more into PR than other MIAC schools? I've noticed far more UST stories in the ST, PP, radio, and local television the past few years. I've been under the impression that with UST's size, success, and metro location the coverage is natural.

I'm not sure. Let's ask for a neutral observer. Old Auggie- does the Auggie wrestling team,with it's national prominence,get anywhere near the press coverage as do the various UST sports in the Twin Cities media? Is it possible that Tommie Media is churning out press releases and the local media is picking up the stories on slow news days....i.e.: when Gopher Men's sports are playing? :-)
Natural news stories or Tommie Media doing their job by churning out press releases about anything UST sports related?

[Mr.MIAC]

In all seriousness, SJU practically owns a reporter at the hometown St Cloud Times and they have had less coverage this off-season than UST. Undoubtedly UST are putting in a big media effort.  Nothing wrong with that, of course, just a different approach to institutional promotion than a comparative school in the cities like Bethel.

A provocative question: What does "All for the Common Good" even mean as an institutional purpose?  Does that mean it's possible for universities to be against the Commin Good, ie, for the Common Evil?  Who would consider such a place?  What about the Uncommon Good, ie good for the individual?  What does UST do if the Uncommon Good and the Common Good are in conflict?  Say expensive special services or treatments for the handicapped or aged that decrease over all convenience or wealth?

"All for the Common Good" is admittedly nebulous, but the idea is rooted in Catholic social teaching. UST is promoting a "set of conditions in society that would permit each and every member of the community to flourish." Here's a little background from the announcement ceremony.

Link: http://www.stthomas.edu/media/officeformission/AllfortheCommonGood_BrandingKickoff.pdf

I'm thinking the details will become clearer when the strategic plan goes public. Some stated goals are for UST to become more diverse, with students drawn from different faiths and from further afield, and engaged at the national and international levels. "All for the Common Good," though rooted in Catholicism, is a rather inclusive concept. I think it marries well with the goal of attracting a wider range of students (and donors) and having impact well beyond the region.