FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[sjusection105]

Should be quite the atomsphere in Pella next weekend! Quite the nice new stadium as well. Should be a heck of a game!! Defensive battle I would assume...although I havent checked out the Johnnies stats too much

Don't look at the stats from yesterday's game

[DutchHawk]

What happened...SJU start to play too conservative or what?

[sjusection105]

What happened...SJU start to play too conservative or what?

Go back to page #1489 & read Collegeville Magic's post, that pretty much tells the story

[piperinsider]

I was going to make some comment like, I just realized why the concession stand was out of hot dogs Saturady. Pat Reusse was in the house. But he did a nice job in his column today, especially with this comment...

Bethel came here Saturday and offered up a whipping that hadn't been felt by a Johnnie since Mark Kennedy heard the first vote totals in the U.S. Senate race.

That's funny no matter who you are, well unless you are Mark Kennedy.

To all those at the pre-game festivities, it was a pleasure to be able to see everybody and eat wait too much food. Those brats were unbelieveable. I thought the burgers could never be matched, but the brats were right up there with the best burgers in the world. Thanks to JR and Veek for doing the cooking. The jello and cherries were a hit as well. Good to see TDT again. It's been too long.

The game has been discussed enough. Both teams are in the playoffs, and that's good to see. I leave you with this....who were the only two fans to reach the middle of the field from the Johnnie side? Wonka and his Red Wing sports puppet. I didn't stay long enough, but they were talking about it, and that would've been priceless to see.

[Retired Old Rat]

I did NOT suggest the line about Kennedy to Patrick Ruesse.

Here's Reusse's column on the game. How about the stat that Bethel ran 41 plays to 4 after Lofboom's touchdown?

http://www.startribune.com/508/story/804894.html

[johnnie_esq]

Congrats to PiperInsider, who ran away with the regular season pick'ems title.  His title acceptance speech is posted under the pick'em site, and is a deserved read.

The Playoff Pickems are now posted.    The rules are similar to the regular season-- everyone is eligible, all West region games are more valuable; and you pick against a spread.  Get the picks in before kickoff next week!

Happy pickems!

[retagent]

I just got back from the East Board to read some of their whining. One guy said he had always liked St John's, but now hates them. What misplaced passion. I also read a post that said that a Tom Kelly was named new coach of Framingham State. I left a wise A$$ comment about him coming out of retirement, and his success with two World Series wins. Let's see if they get the humor.

[Collegeville Magic]

Thanks 105 and "barry", I didn't think my first post needed clarification.

Just in case, I'll spell it out again.  Many inside the SJU program (not just players) feel that Jim Gagliardi is the only thing keeping this current squad from actually being worthy of a previously inflated national ranking.

I would argue that this year's offense has as much overall talent as 2000 or 2003, but the missing piece of the puzzle is the ability to plan a game on offense.  John is probably trying to help his son build credentials for an eventual job application, but he's being far too kind to his own kid.  Nepotism (Jimmy G as coordinator and Casey Haugen as starting receiver) is probably keeping this team at about 5 to 10 ppg less than it should be scoring.

Here's hoping that John takes back the reigns next week, and the Johnnies re-gain their form!  I have faith!

PS- the Kennedy beating was welcomed, the football beating was not.

[sju56321]

Well, just got back from Collegeville and it was great seeing everyone, Veek, Duffman, Ritz, TDT, JR, the pre-game was awsome.
As for the game, I have not had a chance to read all those pages, but what I saw was a bad SJU team get beaten by a decent Bethel team. Bethel came to play and hats off to them and the coaches-a good job. But I would agree with a post I saw about Bethel being predictable, run outside with Porta, run up the middle with the QB-but Bethel took care of business and blocked well. I don't see either of these teams winning their first round game.
Bethel fans must be surprised to see that you are not hosting-the NCAA gives that to the second place WIAC team-wow.
BTW-the celebration at the end of the game-I saw the students-I didn't expect anything less from students-but I did not see any of the players acting that way.
The real season begins now-will either team surprise?

[cheese]

I think 56321 points out a pretty significant distinction.  Any and all schools (at all levels) have students (and fans generally) that show signs of lacking sportsmanship.  I was not at the game and cannot speak for what happened, but I am happy to hear that it wasn't BC(u) players doing any "stomping" after the game.

On that note, I think the "Miami" references are a bit unfair and unjustified.  If there were no BC(u) players making a scene, then I don't believe it makes sense to analogize the post game of Bethel student fans' behavior to "Miami thugs." 

Sounds like a great game at the natural bowl - I for one am happy to get the "Bethel can't win at SJU" monkey off the program's back. 

In addition, I think the point "nuggs" made about the #1 in the SJU logo was misunderstood by subsequent posters - I think it was a valid point.

[cobbernation]

Johnnie Faithful,
Nice to read the past 20 pgs of PP.  Lots of respect to BU team and to SJU players for being classy.  Always good to see that. 

I do understand that BU fans would go crazy after beating SJU 1) BU wasn't even ranked and 2) Going into SJU and coming out with a win is no easy task.  After reading many posts, it certainly sounded like they deserved it.

When CC beat SJU in 2004 at Collegeville.  It was an emotional and exciting time.  It was the first time beating SJU at home since Horan was a senior at CC 1989!  Not sure if fans were classless, I was most likely one of them!  But the same thing for SJU when they beat CC at home in 2005 in the closing seconds of the game.  SJU fans stormed the field, but SJU players made sure they shook CC players hand afterwards.  Classy teams, classy coaches, and a Classic game.

Good Luck SJU and BU in the playoffs, a Dec. 2 rematch would be entertaining!

[cobbernation]

One more thing to add, the West bracket has teams that are either undefeated or just one loss teams.  The three other brackets include 2 or even 3 loss teams that are in the playoffs.  It's amazing!

Are those conferences that competitive?  Anyone elses thoughts?

[Pat Coleman]

thought they changed that up from yr to yr.?

That went out in 1998.

[bcflyguy1]

  I was not at the game and cannot speak for what happened, but I am happy to hear that it wasn't BC(u) players doing any "stomping" after the game.

On that note, I think the "Miami" references are a bit unfair and unjustified.  If there were no BC(u) players making a scene, then I don't believe it makes sense to analogize the post game of Bethel student fans' behavior to "Miami thugs." 

Anybody who follows college football knows the "U" is notorious for this kind of shenanigans, and no matter how you spin it more is expected of BU fans be they students, parents, alumni etc. They were happy the team won and that's fine, but what was done after the game was D-U-M-B and not consistent with the way BU strives to project itself. Any time you can win against SJU it is a big deal, but it's never been an excuse for abandoning sportsmanship and class. I've been to a couple SJU games where the J's lost with a lot more at stake, and the opposing team and fans were able to maintain composure. It's not like I'm talking pie in the sky here. Glad to hear that most of the Johnny faithful saw that the team itself handled the moment with class. You'd expect nothing less, wouldn't you Cheese? I will beat this dead horse no more .

I agree with 56321 that the bracket is rather harsh on Bethel, but the Carleton loss probably tied the selection board's hands to a degree. UW-L's only loss is to the region's top seed so there's really no comparison. It's a great opportunity to achieve another first for the program, though.

Congrats to SJU not only for getting in, but also for getting the most favorable draw that could have been hoped for. I know the Godfather is fired up..."Dutch Letters and Sitftungfest burgers for all my friends!" You, my friend, are a great American . 

[DutchHawk]

Why the most favorable draw?