FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[OzJohnnie]

Hey, football fans

Tomorrow night, at 8:00 PM, the 1993 semifinal playoff game between Mount Union and St. John's will be shown on selected TV channels and online in the Alliance, Ohio area (only).

St. John's entered the game undefeated after averaging 61+points a game in the regular season., which is still a record. Their QB (Willie Seiler?) made the cover of Sports Illustrated as their athlete of the year (or QB of the year, not positive). Their coach had some different (strange?) ideas on how to run a football team. All it did was produce winners.

Mount Union was looking to finally win a national championship on their 100th year of football. They had been close before but, you know, that only counts in horseshoes. The roster was full of standout players who would have to play their best against this Johnnie team.

No artificial turf here! Grass. Real grass. As John Madden used to say, grass is "real" football.
Nothing like grass to: run on, run receiving routes, return kicks. Grass gives the players the footing they're probably most used to! Great for a Saturday afternoon.

But when it rains. When it rains hard and long, the field is probably better suited for some other sport or some other form of entertainment than football.

But both Mount Union and St. John's were composed of tough, well disciplined athletes. It would take much more than a "little" moisture in the air and on the ground to stop this game.

So they played 60 minutes of this game we all love so well. We cheered. Sometimes we groaned. But always, our eyes were fixed on the floor at Mount Union Stadium. Someone would finally win. One team would go on to Salem, Virginia with a chance at a National Championship. One team would return home to reflect on the season with thoughts of "wait till next year.

Damn, I love this game of football. Play your best. You'll win some , you'll lose some. But no matter what, our memories span the months and the years. Some even last a lifetime.

What a game.

By the way, I was there. Were any of my Johnnie friends? 🏈

I listened to that game on the radio. What a heartache. The turnovers. I'm guessing 7 in that game without looking it up.

[MUC57]

Oz

Out of deference for my friends on this board, notice, I gave no stats on the game, although I remember them well.
And as an aside, I liked this game much better than that one in 2003. You know, the one where the officials were all St. John's grads. If 27 Mount players wouldn't have had the flu, the score could have been different. And the fire in the motel deprived the Raiders team of a lot of sleep.
But. It's only a game. Go Everrybody! 🏈 🍺🇦🇺 🇺🇸

[OzJohnnie]

Congrats to Bartch who started his first NFL game.  Unfortunately, the Jags genuinely suck harder than the Tommies.  Hopefully, Ben has played and practiced well enough to retain a roster spot in whatever the new GM and coaching regime will be.

Lots of good highlights here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NV-j4RVEXQ

[OzJohnnie]

Did anyone see Jag's game intros?  Did Bartch get to say, "Ben Bartch, St John's University (Minnesota)"?

Also, this good bit of press.

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-week-14-pff-team-of-the-week-key-takeaways-player-awards-and-more

SECRET SUPERSTAR OF THE WEEK
G Ben Bartch, Jacksonville Jaguars
Bartch — a fourth-round rookie out of D-III St. John's (MN) — got the first start of his NFL career on Sunday.

The rookie had appeared in four games before Week 14, and the results weren't all that great in pass protection. He had earned a 36.3 pass-block grade on 105 pass-blocking snaps, with 11 total losses next to his name.

Bartch looked remarkably better against the Tennessee Titans in Week 14. He logged 57 snaps in pass protection and allowed just one quarterback pressure. Of those 57 pass-block snaps, 22 were true pass sets, and he didn't lose a single rep on those sets. His 85.5 pass-blocking grade on those plays ranks third among all guards in Week 14.

Bartch was a true brick wall both against his D-III competition in 2019 and at the Senior Bowl earlier this year, and he was exactly that against Tennessee this past week. He was one of the biggest steals of the 2020 NFL Draft, and Bartch is now starting to look like it.

[SagatagSam]

Did anyone see Jag's game intros?  Did Bartch get to say, "Ben Bartch, St John's University (Minnesota)"?

Also, this good bit of press.

https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-week-14-pff-team-of-the-week-key-takeaways-player-awards-and-more

SECRET SUPERSTAR OF THE WEEK
G Ben Bartch, Jacksonville Jaguars
Bartch — a fourth-round rookie out of D-III St. John's (MN) — got the first start of his NFL career on Sunday.

The rookie had appeared in four games before Week 14, and the results weren't all that great in pass protection. He had earned a 36.3 pass-block grade on 105 pass-blocking snaps, with 11 total losses next to his name.

Bartch looked remarkably better against the Tennessee Titans in Week 14. He logged 57 snaps in pass protection and allowed just one quarterback pressure. Of those 57 pass-block snaps, 22 were true pass sets, and he didn't lose a single rep on those sets. His 85.5 pass-blocking grade on those plays ranks third among all guards in Week 14.

Bartch was a true brick wall both against his D-III competition in 2019 and at the Senior Bowl earlier this year, and he was exactly that against Tennessee this past week. He was one of the biggest steals of the 2020 NFL Draft, and Bartch is now starting to look like it.

I think the intros where the players get to "introduce themselves" are more for Sunday/Monday Night Football. I don't think I've seen it done on a Sunday afternoon CBS or FOX broadcast.

[Baldini]

Hopefully nothing serious.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2020/12/15/jaguars-place-ben-bartch-on-covid-19-list/

[OzJohnnie]

Hopefully nothing serious.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2020/12/15/jaguars-place-ben-bartch-on-covid-19-list/

The NFL don't say much about it except that he's on it until he tests negative twice. He could be on as a close contact of someone who has the rona even though he hasn't tested positive.  The League doesn't reveal why someone was there. So he could be a few days or a few weeks. Depends on how long it takes to get two negative tests.

Bummer. He had had two really strong games and was on a roll.

[OzJohnnie]

#1 returns to melbourne today after her 50-week rona adventure, including catching the rona. Mrs Oz has flown up to Sydney to pick up #1 out of quarantine. Unfortunately Australia didn't give her a break despite testing positive for rona antibodies before leaving the US.  Man, did we hear belly-aching about that.

Wishing you all a great Christmas. With Bartch on the rona list there will be almost nothing to talk about at all so I'm getting my Christmas well-wishing in before the joint becomes a complete ghost town.

[art76]

#1 returns to melbourne today after her 50-week rona adventure, including catching the rona. Mrs Oz has flown up to Sydney to pick up #1 out of quarantine. Unfortunately Australia didn't give her a break despite testing positive for rona antibodies before leaving the US.  Man, did we hear belly-aching about that.

Wishing you all a great Christmas. With Bartch on the rona list there will be almost nothing to talk about at all so I'm getting my Christmas well-wishing in before the joint becomes a complete ghost town.

Back at you Oz - hope you have a Merry Christmas!

[MUC57]

Oz

I echo art76 - Merry Christmas. Hope #1 gets better quickly.
However, aren't you celebrating July 4th? It is summer down there. I can never keep this straight. Anyway, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. (Don't know how to say that in Australian).
Stay safe and stay well! 🇦🇺 🍺

[Walter Eagle]

Hey, football fans

Tomorrow night, at 8:00 PM, the 1993 semifinal playoff game between Mount Union and St. John's will be shown on selected TV channels and online in the Alliance, Ohio area (only).

St. John's entered the game undefeated after averaging 61+points a game in the regular season., which is still a record. Their QB (Willie Seiler?) made the cover of Sports Illustrated as their athlete of the year (or QB of the year, not positive). Their coach had some different (strange?) ideas on how to run a football team. All it did was produce winners.

Mount Union was looking to finally win a national championship on their 100th year of football. They had been close before but, you know, that only counts in horseshoes. The roster was full of standout players who would have to play their best against this Johnnie team.

No artificial turf here! Grass. Real grass. As John Madden used to say, grass is "real" football.
Nothing like grass to: run on, run receiving routes, return kicks. Grass gives the players the footing they're probably most used to! Great for a Saturday afternoon.

But when it rains. When it rains hard and long, the field is probably better suited for some other sport or some other form of entertainment than football.

But both Mount Union and St. John's were composed of tough, well disciplined athletes. It would take much more than a "little" moisture in the air and on the ground to stop this game.

So they played 60 minutes of this game we all love so well. We cheered. Sometimes we groaned. But always, our eyes were fixed on the floor at Mount Union Stadium. Someone would finally win. One team would go on to Salem, Virginia with a chance at a National Championship. One team would return home to reflect on the season with thoughts of "wait till next year".

Damn, I love this game of football. Play your best. You'll win some , you'll lose some. But no matter what, our memories span the months and the years. Some even last a lifetime.

What a game.

By the way, I was there. Were any of my Johnnie friends?

If you are talking about the "Massacre in the Mud", I was there.  Miserable experience.  Our bus was late so we had to sit in the middle of a bunch of MUC fans.  Some idiot student behind us kept screaming "why do they try to pass on us" after every incompletion and "why do they try to run on us" after every stuffed running play (which were most of them as I recall).  At halftime the lady next to me asked "what will it take to get back in this game and I responded "ma'am it will take Macalester coming out of that tunnel to get back in this game."

The highlight of the trip was Willie Seilers mother coming up to us on the flight home and thanking us for our support.

I was in Salem in 2003 and out yelled that kid that was behind us in '93.

[OzJohnnie]

Merry Christmas, all.  If anyone is looking for a last minute Christmas gift, here's a helper: The 50 Best Beers of 2020

[57Johnnie]

Merry Christmas, all.  If anyone is looking for a last minute Christmas gift, here's a helper: The 50 Best Beers of 2020

MERRY CHRISTMAS all also from western Colorado!

[MUC57]

.
MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone on this most joyous day. Stay safe wherever you are.

[OzJohnnie]

Early Happy New Year, all.  In memory of those foolish days as a youngster, here's a moron jumping off a cliff into an ice hole.  It was enough for me and my moron friends to jump into a frozen lake.  We didn't need the kill yourself kicker.