FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[faunch]

Kickoff is a good get for any Johnnie fan.  A great article titled "What do the Johnnies have for an encore?"  Without spoiling the read, the J's have high hopes and a lot of confidence.  Gonna be good, maybe great this year.

Conference rankings as well.  The MIAC was robbed, although the conference run-down is pretty good.

Only one staff member picks the Johnnies to make the Stagg.  I won't spoil it by saying who it is but he deserves a pat on the back for his wisdom.

Who are the Johnnies? Is that some DIII football team in MN? Never heard of them. I hear there'll be a new DI program in MN, though. Now that's something to talk about...

Hey, Rev.,  I'm surprised you haven't already changed your handle.  After all, the MIAC thinks your team is unworthy to associate with.

Reverend P-S or Reverend Pi-SU or Reverend Pioneer-Summit?
or
Reverend S-P or Reverend Su-Pi or Reverend Sum-Pi or Reverend Summit-Pioneer

[BDB]

Kickoff is a good get for any Johnnie fan.  A great article titled "What do the Johnnies have for an encore?"  Without spoiling the read, the J's have high hopes and a lot of confidence.  Gonna be good, maybe great this year.

Conference rankings as well.  The MIAC was robbed, although the conference run-down is pretty good.

Only one staff member picks the Johnnies to make the Stagg.  I won't spoil it by saying who it is but he deserves a pat on the back for his wisdom.

Who are the Johnnies? Is that some DIII football team in MN? Never heard of them. I hear there'll be a new DI program in MN, though. Now that's something to talk about...

Hey, Rev.,  I'm surprised you haven't already changed your handle.  After all, the MIAC thinks your team is unworthy to associate with.

Reverend P-S or Reverend Pi-SU or Reverend Pioneer-Summit?
or
Reverend S-P or Reverend Su-Pi or Reverend Sum-Pi or Reverend Summit-Pioneer

Reverend WIAC, PhD   

[miac952]

Curious to see how J.W. Windsor pans out for the Johnnies.  They've got some big shoes to fill on the defensive front.  Windsor's been around the block--I'm always a bit nervous with a situation like his.

South Dakota School of Mines --> Northern Arizona --> Lake Forest --> Cal Lutheran --> SJU

I would say he has been around the block. He's changed colleges more times than most kids come back home to see mom and dad. I think there were 2-3 high schools before this as well.

[hazzben]

Curious to see how J.W. Windsor pans out for the Johnnies.  They've got some big shoes to fill on the defensive front.  Windsor's been around the block--I'm always a bit nervous with a situation like his.

South Dakota School of Mines --> Northern Arizona --> Lake Forest --> Cal Lutheran --> SJU

I would say he has been around the block. He's changed colleges more times than most kids come back home to see mom and dad. I think there were 2-3 high schools before this as well.

Not to judge, but to judge. That screams "me first" and "grass is always greener" kind of resume. To make All Region and then jump ship to another school in the same division/region is kinda gross. It's not like you're transferring for better playing time or a chance to see the field. And when it's the 5th college you'll have attended, it looks even worse??

Don't feel super bad for Cal Lutheran though. He was All-MWC at Lake Forest before he abandoned them for Cal Lu.

[jamtod]

Curious to see how J.W. Windsor pans out for the Johnnies.  They've got some big shoes to fill on the defensive front.  Windsor's been around the block--I'm always a bit nervous with a situation like his.

South Dakota School of Mines --> Northern Arizona --> Lake Forest --> Cal Lutheran --> SJU

I would say he has been around the block. He's changed colleges more times than most kids come back home to see mom and dad. I think there were 2-3 high schools before this as well.

Not to judge, but to judge. That screams "me first" and "grass is always greener" kind of resume. To make All Region and then jump ship to another school in the same division/region is kinda gross. It's not like you're transferring for better playing time or a chance to see the field. And when it's the 5th college you'll have attended, it looks even worse??

Don't feel super bad for Cal Lutheran though. He was All-MWC at Lake Forest before he abandoned them for Cal Lu.

I believe we saw some justifications for it from his dad on here in the offseason. if I recall, there was some family stuff going on driving some of the decisions, but I can't find the original comments to support it.

[wm4]

I believe we saw some justifications for it from his dad on here in the offseason. if I recall, there was some family stuff going on driving some of the decisions, but I can't find the original comments to support it.

From January:

"All I know is this is where I wanted him since he left NAU (pre season injury release), but the path has been long Duff. He's a morally sound young man that has succeeded everywhere he's been from SDSM to CLU. The Cost at CLU was 5x more a year than anywhere, so that was a hard choice for him but he couldn't pay that a year.
As far as his character he has never had on or off field issues and good in the classroom, most of all he wants to win and be on a team that feels that way each day not just during the season. Feel free to DM with any other questions. Thank you for asking DUFF"

and...

[USTBench]

I believe we saw some justifications for it from his dad on here in the offseason. if I recall, there was some family stuff going on driving some of the decisions, but I can't find the original comments to support it.

From January:

"All I know is this is where I wanted him since he left NAU (pre season injury release), but the path has been long Duff. He's a morally sound young man that has succeeded everywhere he's been from SDSM to CLU. The Cost at CLU was 5x more a year than anywhere, so that was a hard choice for him but he couldn't pay that a year.
As far as his character he has never had on or off field issues and good in the classroom, most of all he wants to win and be on a team that feels that way each day not just during the season. Feel free to DM with any other questions. Thank you for asking DUFF"

and...

Sounds like a jerk 

[repete]

Wondering if anyone is looking forward to the sure-to-be scintillating repartee between Rev. and Paul Finebaum.

Me neither.

[hazzben]

I believe we saw some justifications for it from his dad on here in the offseason. if I recall, there was some family stuff going on driving some of the decisions, but I can't find the original comments to support it.

From January:

"All I know is this is where I wanted him since he left NAU (pre season injury release), but the path has been long Duff. He's a morally sound young man that has succeeded everywhere he's been from SDSM to CLU. The Cost at CLU was 5x more a year than anywhere, so that was a hard choice for him but he couldn't pay that a year.
As far as his character he has never had on or off field issues and good in the classroom, most of all he wants to win and be on a team that feels that way each day not just during the season. Feel free to DM with any other questions. Thank you for asking DUFF"

and...

Sounds like a jerk 

The context is helpful. Also not shocking that the kid's dad is painting a rosy picture of why he's transferred 4 times, 2 times after being All-Something for the previous school. i.e. it still doesn't answer why he left Lake Forest for Cal Lu. There are plenty of players who aren't trouble makers, but they can still be very, shall we say "opportunistic" about things. I can understand the frustration with teammates who aren't "all in" or what not. But there's a point where you need to be a good, dependable teammate as well right? Not just looking to upgrade to a better program/situation.

Case in point, 2017 he started every game and was 1st Team All MWC on a Lake Forest team that went 8-2. Why do you transfer for the 3rd (but not last) time in this scenario, outside of a "me first" desire to upgrade your teammates?

[Pat Coleman]

If you look around the message board, you can find his dad.

I don't think I'm violating anything by saying so -- didn't need any fancy admin access to know about the one poster who was in the Midwest Conference board, then the SCIAC board.

[OzJohnnie]

I believe we saw some justifications for it from his dad on here in the offseason. if I recall, there was some family stuff going on driving some of the decisions, but I can't find the original comments to support it.

I, as a fee-paying father, can't help but think of all the debt/spend you rack up transferring and yet sacrificing the continuity of study that is frequently a key to post-school return on investment.  As I tell my own kids, "My number one goal from your studies is that when you walk out the door you're no longer my problem."  You gotta have thick skin in the Oz household.

That being said, I started at Mac, dropped out for the Navy, transferred to SJU to finish and took summer classes at SCSU while at SJU to speed up the whole process (plus took five classes a semester at SJU - I was ready to get going with life).  So you never know the path that someone will take to get where they are going.  Some are lower probably and higher effort, but I guess that doesn't mean they are wrong.

[jamtod]

I believe we saw some justifications for it from his dad on here in the offseason. if I recall, there was some family stuff going on driving some of the decisions, but I can't find the original comments to support it.

From January:

"All I know is this is where I wanted him since he left NAU (pre season injury release), but the path has been long Duff. He's a morally sound young man that has succeeded everywhere he's been from SDSM to CLU. The Cost at CLU was 5x more a year than anywhere, so that was a hard choice for him but he couldn't pay that a year.
As far as his character he has never had on or off field issues and good in the classroom, most of all he wants to win and be on a team that feels that way each day not just during the season. Feel free to DM with any other questions. Thank you for asking DUFF"

and...

Sounds like a jerk 

The context is helpful. Also not shocking that the kid's dad is painting a rosy picture of why he's transferred 4 times, 2 times after being All-Something for the previous school. i.e. it still doesn't answer why he left Lake Forest for Cal Lu. There are plenty of players who aren't trouble makers, but they can still be very, shall we say "opportunistic" about things. I can understand the frustration with teammates who aren't "all in" or what not. But there's a point where you need to be a good, dependable teammate as well right? Not just looking to upgrade to a better program/situation.

Case in point, 2017 he started every game and was 1st Team All MWC on a Lake Forest team that went 8-2. Why do you transfer for the 3rd (but not last) time in this scenario, outside of a "me first" desire to upgrade your teammates?

Mr Windsor can chime in to set the record straight, but I think going to Cal Lu was to be closer to family for some reason that I don't have a need or right to know details of, again, if my memory serves. Still isn't clear to my why one would then go cross the country again to SJ2. I would think if I were going to go that far for my final year, I'd go somewhere with a better academic reputation.

/stirs pot of Academic War 3.0, waits

[OzJohnnie]

I read an interesting article in the academic wars this morning. Long story short: there isn't one.

https://theconversation.com/amp/college-rankings-might-as-well-be-student-rankings-122108

Considering the correlation between SAT scores and college rankings, is it fair for a school to say a parent is getting a good "return on investment" for the tuition they pay? Since student characteristics – as indicated by test scores – are so highly correlated with the rankings, we argue that student characteristics should be considered as inputs when evaluating any outputs of a school. This is because schools that admit students who score well on the SAT or ACT will also have successful graduates based on the research that shows standardized tests alone predict many long-term outcomes.

Schools may want to take as much credit as they can for the education and opportunities they give students. But if a school enrolls the top students to begin with, it's hardly surprising that such a school would end up on top in terms of other outcomes. A college's success may be less about the quality of its instruction and more about the talent it can recruit.

There is a dynamically generated chart in the article (which I can't link here) and a bit of correlation analysis which argues the number one indicator of a school's success is the students they attract and in fact that you can consider SAT scores alone in determining post-school performance, the institution itself makes no meaningful difference on post-school outcomes.

I, of course, have no idea if their analysis is sound but it's certainly interesting. And it aligns with the old saying, "it's not the pedigree that matters but the effort you put in."  I continue to believe that higher-Ed is in for a big reckoning.

[ncc_fan]

I believe we saw some justifications for it from his dad on here in the offseason. if I recall, there was some family stuff going on driving some of the decisions, but I can't find the original comments to support it.

From January:

"All I know is this is where I wanted him since he left NAU (pre season injury release), but the path has been long Duff. He's a morally sound young man that has succeeded everywhere he's been from SDSM to CLU. The Cost at CLU was 5x more a year than anywhere, so that was a hard choice for him but he couldn't pay that a year.
As far as his character he has never had on or off field issues and good in the classroom, most of all he wants to win and be on a team that feels that way each day not just during the season. Feel free to DM with any other questions. Thank you for asking DUFF"

and...

Sounds like a jerk 

The context is helpful. Also not shocking that the kid's dad is painting a rosy picture of why he's transferred 4 times, 2 times after being All-Something for the previous school. i.e. it still doesn't answer why he left Lake Forest for Cal Lu. There are plenty of players who aren't trouble makers, but they can still be very, shall we say "opportunistic" about things. I can understand the frustration with teammates who aren't "all in" or what not. But there's a point where you need to be a good, dependable teammate as well right? Not just looking to upgrade to a better program/situation.

Case in point, 2017 he started every game and was 1st Team All MWC on a Lake Forest team that went 8-2. Why do you transfer for the 3rd (but not last) time in this scenario, outside of a "me first" desire to upgrade your teammates?

I'm reminded of another Cal Lutheran transfer, 2x All-SCIAC QB Danny Jones.  Jones bolted to Whitewater after his junior year (and then helped the 2007 UW Whitewater team win its first national championship).

[miac952]

I believe we saw some justifications for it from his dad on here in the offseason. if I recall, there was some family stuff going on driving some of the decisions, but I can't find the original comments to support it.

From January:

"All I know is this is where I wanted him since he left NAU (pre season injury release), but the path has been long Duff. He's a morally sound young man that has succeeded everywhere he's been from SDSM to CLU. The Cost at CLU was 5x more a year than anywhere, so that was a hard choice for him but he couldn't pay that a year.
As far as his character he has never had on or off field issues and good in the classroom, most of all he wants to win and be on a team that feels that way each day not just during the season. Feel free to DM with any other questions. Thank you for asking DUFF"

and...

Sounds like a jerk 

The context is helpful. Also not shocking that the kid's dad is painting a rosy picture of why he's transferred 4 times, 2 times after being All-Something for the previous school. i.e. it still doesn't answer why he left Lake Forest for Cal Lu. There are plenty of players who aren't trouble makers, but they can still be very, shall we say "opportunistic" about things. I can understand the frustration with teammates who aren't "all in" or what not. But there's a point where you need to be a good, dependable teammate as well right? Not just looking to upgrade to a better program/situation.

Case in point, 2017 he started every game and was 1st Team All MWC on a Lake Forest team that went 8-2. Why do you transfer for the 3rd (but not last) time in this scenario, outside of a "me first" desire to upgrade your teammates?

I'm reminded of another Cal Lutheran transfer, 2x All-SCIAC QB Danny Jones.  Jones bolted to Whitewater after his junior year (and then helped the 2007 UW Whitewater team win its first national championship).

Danny has a younger brother that makes your story come full circle.

https://www.tommiesports.com/sports/fball/2019-20/bios/jones_ronnie_9z99?view=bio