FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[OleFan]

Having been to lots of games with around 20K in the stands I can tell you that it really isn't that intimidating.  There was a lot of noise.  I loved how some guys brought kegs full of rocks to add to the noise, but I could always hear the audibles.  The noise level has to be extremely high before it starts to cause problems.  Olaf has to keep their legs on the bus ride.  It is tough to travel 2.5 hours to a game.  The team that comes to the field the most relaxed probably wins the game.

I also have to admit that Bethel is still lurking for both teams.  SJU has Gustavus and Olaf has Concordia left to play.  It is a long season.

[retagent]

Just let me say that smedindy seems to have brought another reasonable voice to the table. It's good to have an outside opinion once in a while.

      Ole just bought a new tractor and found that it was too tall to get into the      barn. He invites Sven over for some advice. Sven tells him that he may have to take out part of his barn and put in an entirely new door. Just then Stosh comes by and asks if he can help. Ole explains the problem to him. Stosh looks around a little bit and says, "Since you have a dirt floor, why don't you just dig out a bit under your door?" and walks away.

    After he leaves, Ole looks at Sven shakes his head and utters, "That dumb Polack. Doesn't he know that we're having trouble with the top, not the bottom of the tractor?" 

[chadbrochillseventeen]

Gopher Ole,

I have enjoyed your posts only because you finally found a board you can actually talk trash to others since your team (STO) finally has a good team and we all know that the gophers are horrible.  Might actually be one of the worst teams in college football.  I wonder how many gopher faithful on chatting on the BIG 10 board (if one exists).

I never give a prediction before friday but this week I will make an exception.  Prepare for Oct. 20.

UM 17
NDSU 42

The Gophs are not good at football.

I would be suprised if the Gophs could even keep it that close

[chadbrochillseventeen]

The crowds effect teams.  It is a proven fact.  You can't audible as well.  A couple kids pee their drawers (See: Parnell) annually.  Nobody including yourself admits it, but the sea of red is a factor. 

The game is either a overwhelming Monkey Stomp or a close game.  To me there is no in between.

   Playing in a situation where there are 50k plus could be intimidating, but that may be more the venue than anything. Clemens Stadium is not overly large.
   There is not really any noticable difference in crowd size. Unless a team is extremely undisciplined they shouldn't be paying attention to the crowd anyway. A lot of guys, myself included, have had people say to us after games that there were a lot of people chanting and such and you don't even notice. After the first kick-off I would suspect all the guys that will be seeing the field have blanked out the crowd factor.

[DuffMan]

After the first kick-off I would suspect all the guys that will be seeing the field have blanked out the crowd factor.

That's the first thing you've said that made sense

I hate to agree with Oles, but I never noticed a crowd at all while the game was going on.  When you're in a zone, you don't hear much.

[Mr.Shoes]

I never noticed a crowd at all while the game was going on.  When you're in a zone, you don't hear much.

C'mon Duff! You're telling me you never heard us yelling "Thumbs up!" from our 10-yard line standing spot every time you made a big play?

[Kilted Rat]

3.  Remember, the Johnnies are not a team of superhumans, no matter what you read on here.  They are just regular people.


Oles 27, Johnnies 23

I can attest to that... i played on the ole teams that won in '01 and '04, almost took 2002 as well, we started up 14-0 or 21-0 cant remember, but just didnt have the depth to keep it up. 

The olaf offense is going to rock the world on sat, just way too fast on that turf for sju to keep up.

Maybe SJU should turn the tables and water down our field ... wait, it dries too fast. I guess we'll have to resort back to putting stick'em on it!

As others have mentioned, not in the past 7+ seasons has SJU been the slower team on the field.

Man you guys are delusional.  I hope it is just unbridled enthusiasm for the alma mater and nothing more (but I am afraid the Oles are Trolling for trouble this week). Jeezus, I am a big believer in the present and the now.  But when you clowns continue to spout off with no regard, it must be called out.  History is bound to repeat itself.  When was the last time Olaf won the MIAC title? 

TDT,
The 1979 MIAC Football title was a 4-way tie between Concordia, SJU, UST and St Olaf.
In 1978 Concordia and St Olaf tied.
In 1935 St. Olaf tied with SJU and Gustavus.
In 1930 St Olaf and UST tied.
The last and only time St Olaf won an outright MIAC football title was 1923. My grandpa turned 2 that year.

SJU tied Bethel in 2006, won it outright in 2005, 2003, 2002, tied Bethel in 2001, won it outright in 1999, 1998, and 1996, tied Concordia in 1995, Won it outright in 94, 93, 91, 89.

In the past 27 years (1980-2006) here are the total MIAC championships in Football either outright or tied:
SJU: 15
Concordia: 7
Bethel: 3
Hamline: 2
St. Thomas: 2
Augsburg: 1
Carleton: 1
Gustavus: 1

St. Olaf: 0
St Ben's: 0
St. Mary's: 0


Good to see St. Olaf keeps such strong company

Unless a team is extremely undisciplined they shouldn't be paying attention to the crowd anyway.

Didn't St Olaf lead the league in Personal Foul penalties several of the past few years? 

[bennie]

   I never stated that we were a better school than Carleton. The rankings prove that they are. As you can see here by the top schools in Minnesota, as rated by The Princeton Review.
http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/regional/regional_results.asp?state=MN&region=MW
   
   I started all of this due to a negative comment about our school. I returned the favor, I did not think this would spiral out of control like this. And while you can say that the statement I made can be a precursor to an alibi after a loss you could also say there is such an uproar because of some truth in it.
   

Anyone that actually works in higher education can tell you that those kinds of polls are highly subjective at best. The methodology used by the Princeton review is particularly questionable.

http://www.nique.net/issues/2004-09-03/focus/1

[chadbrochillseventeen]

After the first kick-off I would suspect all the guys that will be seeing the field have blanked out the crowd factor.

That's the first thing you've said that made sense

I hate to agree with Oles, but I never noticed a crowd at all while the game was going on.  When you're in a zone, you don't hear much.

   Thank you, Duffman

[finsleft]

Hey bennie-
You're a Bennie and a swimmer, how about this Bennie swimmer who just swam the English Channel?

From Oregon too. 

[chadbrochillseventeen]

Man you guys are delusional.  I hope it is just unbridled enthusiasm for the alma mater and nothing more (but I am afraid the Oles are Trolling for trouble this week). Jeezus, I am a big believer in the present and the now.  But when you clowns continue to spout off with no regard, it must be called out.  History is bound to repeat itself.  When was the last time Olaf won the MIAC title?  When was the last time they played in front of 5K. Let alone 7K or 8K or 10K or god forbid 12K?? 

BlueDevil Bob: Please serve as the Voice of Reason here.

   First, anyone who is playing now wasn't playing college football before the 2003 season (in the case of some 5th year seniors), so really any winning of championships before then has little bearing on now. That being said I'm not trying to take anything away from the Johnnie teams, Bethel team and Concordia team who have won a title since then. It's just that Olaf not winning one in that span really has little to do at all with this game. Also, St. Olaf was out of the MIAC for a while and did win some conference championships while in the other conference.
   Secondly, what do you expect us to do TDT? Bash our own school just because we are playing a team with a storied history and because they have beaten us the last 2 years? Everyone talks some trash (myself obviously included) but in the end we are all just in support of the schools we love. Which is the number one reason why we are here.

[CCKnight]

I have to agree with the others that the crowd doesn't matter when you are playing, it may be a factor in pro stadiums with 50k+, but at an outdoor field with 10k it is not noticable.  I never heard anything from the crowd while actually on the field playing, and it was never loud enough to not hear the audibles.  Maybe it's just that you have to be so focused and kind of in a zone for the games that all the outside stuff just gets blocked out.  

[bennie]

Hey bennie-
You're a Bennie and a swimmer, how about this Bennie swimmer who just swam the English Channel?

From Oregon too. 

Great story!! I won't mention how many hours it would take me to swim 21 miles. And I prefer the only scary things in the water with me to be the senior citizens in their speedos...no jellyfish/sharks for me!

[johnnie_esq]

Also, St. Olaf was out of the MIAC for a while and did win some conference championships while in the other conference.

{applause} Yep.  The Midwest Conference! {/applause}

This is actually somewhat enjoyable to watch.  I hope the BU faithful now understand why the Johnnies got so irked all those times-- just wait until you are the target of the "new kids on the block" since the Royals can now be included in the top-tier MIAC programs.

[bennie]

Just an example of how life isn't fair.

I signed up for the NHL Center Ice package and I am a bit overwhelmed at all of the options of games to watch. I think, hey, I can list the games I want to see on my PDA where I keep my appointments! Oh yeah, my PDA stopped working this weekend (after 6 years...not bad) and my new one won't arrive for a week! I am going to have to write out a schedule...I will probably end up getting carpal tunnel syndrome!