FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[AO]

KR: My bias against SJU does pre-date the Johnnie-Eagle game.  I do respect the tradition at St. John's and I will never get behind a central/linfield/mount union to knock the Minnesota team out of the playoffs.  I also have respect for the rat-pack as there are too few fanatics out there.  The gac-sju game was a prime example as the home fans made it easy for St. John's on third down as they weren't making any noise; only solemn thoughts about the impending johnnie first down.

SJU is the favorite in a future SJU vs. Bethel game--perhaps even if they lose to St. Thomas.  I thought it was funny how the Bethel-Olaf score came up and some johnnies thought about losing to Bethel again for a few minutes until another johnnie fan came on predicting monkeystomps, prompting the doubter to get back on the monkeystomp bandwagon.  I've got a feeling that happened with many johnnie fans today.   If Bethel was the favorite it would probably hurt their mental edge of going after the invincible evil johnnies, though I would hope that if the game were to be played in collegeville again the fans might leave the logo at mid-field alone.

St. Thomas is better than Augsburg because of a 17 point win by the Tommies over Augsburg.

--to clarify my question about the 2 loss johnnie playoff hopes, I was not in sarcasm mode and attempted to ask an honest question.  I would like to see 2 MIAC teams in the playoffs and was attempting to think of another possiblity after Olaf lost today.

[OleFan]

Olaf might have a shot if SJU loses to Bethel and St. Thomas and Bethel loses to Augsburg and Hamline.  I can't see that happening.

Have any of the Johnnie faithful seen the Mark Rosen WCCO commercial with the Hamm's bear?

[janesvilleflash]

TDT- We had to make him sit on the roof to stop him from coming. You'll have to try something similar.

[Freebird]

Every johnnie poster was predicting a monkey stomp last year, when the only thing that got stopmed on was the SJU logo. Maybe some respect this year?

Speaking of respect....  I'm not sure what your definition of respect is, but I'm pretty sure that the Johnnies will not be showing the same respect the Royals demonstrated last year.  Stomping on logos, indeed.

Good point.  I bet they will hang there head and respectfully leave the field 

All kidding aside I think logo stomping is dumb and uncalled for.

[OleFan]

I liked John L. Smith's comments following the Michigan St. flag planting at Notre Dame.  He suggested that the next time they at least find the 50.  I am not a big fan of doing the stomp on the logo.  You look classless.  It is just a chance to show no respect to your host and send a message that everything revovles around you.  Win the game, and then you can celebrate at midfield by having your post game talk there.

Logos on field in general look bad.  Certain schools have very classic logos that look good on the field.  I love the OU, the Longhorn and some of the more traditional logos look good on the field.  Michigan State and Ohio State could also be included in the list.  TCU's Horned Frog (extreme bias) has the best new look for field logos.  It takes a lot of natural white with colors that work with the green to make the logo work.  Most schools would be better with the plain field like Notre Dame uses.  It is classic, but looks good unlike those green uniforms they wore.  I seriously thought Oregon donated their rejects.  I cannot think of one in the MIAC that really looks good on a field.  St. Olaf should really take note on this topic.  If you would not paint it on a golf course then leave it off the football field.  I guess if I am going on my fashoin rant then I should suggest black helmets for the Oles.  An all black uniform would look amazing. 

[OzJohnnie]

Good point.  I bet they will hang there head and respectfully leave the field 

I bet they leave the field exactly like they did the last time they played at Bethel.  Look it up: both classy and a stomp.  Ouch.

As for the games that matter first...  Bethel will almost choke at Hamline and completely choke at Auggie Tech, losing that second contest 17 - 14.

The Johnnies, on the other hand, will concentrate on the Tommies this weekend.  And the J's will see another stomp and a half.  42 - 10 to the Johnnies.

(Good to see all you Bethel supporters popping up.  At least that couldn't be predicted with any accuracy...  ).

[57Johnnie]

It's the start of Tommie Week and there is snow here in western CO. 
GO JOHNNIES

[Johnnie Red]

Pat, you and Keith are cordially invited to attend the Stiftungsfestivities prior to the game. It will be an honor to have both of you in attendance. This is coming from the Godfather, who does have the inherent authority to overrule the President, aka TDT.

KR, my former Johnnie roommate has done rather well. He is certified in three different areas of medicine and just became an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado.

[Veek]

Pat,

I'm glad to hear that you and Keith will be joining us for the Stiftungsfestivities this Saturday.  If you are able to arrive around 10 a.m. you should still be able to find a parking spot in the science lot where we hold the tailgate.

Fins - you may need another double batch of your now famous koolaid for this Saturday.  Tell Larry to bring a backup supply in case we need it.

[Seton41]

AO,

Don't be a flippin idiot....no one from SJU said, nor would they, that a 2 loss Johnnie team would make the playoffs.  Every year you come out of the bushes long enough to make everyone dumber for having read the sh1t analysis that comes out of your head.  I am sure you can make the argument that your beloved Northwestern can beat just about anyone in Div 1,2 and 3.

The big difference between this year and last with the Bethel game will be the loser will not be in a position to share the title (provided both teams pay attention the next two weeks).  Last year, SJU had a share of the title going into the game (due to Bethel's early loss to Carleton).  Bethel will need to win the conference for a chance at the playoffs...they have no chance at Pool C.

Did someone say Bethel vs. Carleton??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=325EPKm2KIs

[Seton41]

G&BBU - If Bethel wins today, will all your Bethel post patterns friends be coming out to play?  They've been pretty quiet since the Buena Vista loss...

Yeah, the Bethel post pattern onslaught was predicted at about 3:09 pm yesterday...

Regarding the logo "stomping" last year, does anyone have any Zapruder-like evidence that this was not a case of "dancing" by Bethel students?  I'm just concerned about their souls...

[57Johnnie]

How about Central Minnesota Martinis for the honored guests?

[tmerton]

Great halftime adjustments by the Johnnies again today.

Now it is on to the SJU/Tommie game.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we will have another huge turnout for the Stiftungsfestivities like we did for the homecoming game.  

IN!!!

The left coast contingent will be there, with #1 son and my wife's two sisters as well (the latter two won't drink much (the great thing about Fins' koolaid is they don't know they're drinking ); #1 son will make up for that anyway).  Keith and Pat are welcome in my book; I had suggested to Keith when the season started that he should take in C'ville.

[Rugman]

Great halftime adjustments by the Johnnies again today.

Now it is on to the SJU/Tommie game.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we will have another huge turnout for the Stiftungsfestivities like we did for the homecoming game.  

For what it's worth this far out the forecast for Collegeville is pretty much the same from Tuesday to Tuesday; highs in the 40's, sunny to pc and 10% chance of rain.

[johnnie_esq]

I guess I'll be there. Have to wash my lucky pink shirt again.

Nice afternoon at Hambone today. Was wondering about the facilities there myself when I saw SJU at halftime gathered in a corner of the field. You just spent millions on your facilities and this is the best you could do? WTF?

I missed the first few minutes of the game, but the score made it look like a better effort than it was. Other than maybe the Concordia game, I haven't seen a wire-to-wire great performance yet this year. Our D looked good enough, but not great, and it seemed like it took them a while to wake up. Some questionable play calling and execution by the O, too. The O line seemed to have some difficulty handling their D line, particularly in the 1st half. And I thought SJU should've tried to open things up with more passes early. And I think it was Zip who pointed out here the need to put a middle linebacker in to plug the holes the Pipers were hitting early.
But then, you have to ask yourself, how can you bitch about a 46-7 victory?

It was gorgeous on Snelling & Hewitt yesterday, and the Como Park chapter of the SJU Alumni Association appreciated the visits by several Hamline assistant coaches, as well as Hamline AD Dan O'Brien, who would LOVE to join for Stiftingsfestivities, and even offered to bring HAMM(line)S.  So we will have to invite him specifically next year to join in Collegeville. 

My observations on the game:

1.)  The Piper spread offense caused the Johnnie linebackers all sorts of problems.  The inside backers seemed to not read well and were unable to get to where they needed to be in time, while the outside backers/d-backs were spread throughout the field in coverage and thus out of position to make plays on runs.  The Pipers did a good job of exploiting a relative lack of speed at the ILB position--but the Jays' d-line adjusted which was good enough to prevent it from keeping the Pipers in the game.  But against a more experienced team (Bethel) or a very athletic one (UST?), it could cause the Johnnies problems going forward (like STO).

2.)  I hate to reopen this can of worms, but AK did not look like a senior QB.  Yes, he was 22 of 30, but some of those were very good plays by a good Johnnie receiving corps, which masked Kofoed's tendency to 1.) throw off his back foot, 2.) step back and scramble instead of stepping up in the pocket when pressure from one side only, 3.)  rely on using his arm to throw instead of putting his body into it.  This caused him to loop passes and, several times, near short-hop passes at his receivers.  So instead of hitting receivers in stride who can then run, receivers were forced to dive for balls or reach behind them, or even wait for the ball to get to them, allowing the Piper defense time to adjust.  On the running side, while on an option play near the East endzone, he came down the line of scrimmage, seemed to want to outrun the defense to the sideline, realized they were faster than he, but he kept running straight (allowing the defense to further stretch the play toward the short side of the field), then then pitched the ball while running backwards toward the other endzone, allowing the flow to come straight down toward the pitch.  If not for a good play by Patnode, AK's mistake would have caused the Johnnies to stay out of the endzone on that 3rd down play (after he lost 3 yards on a QB sneak on the previous down).  While bad games happen, they certainly happen pretty frequently for AK.

In his defense, however, he does read defenses pretty well, as he audibled several times and earned good gains each time.  But against good teams and defenses, he needs to play better than he did to allow the Johnnies to win.  I know he's capable of it, but how he became the MIAC's all time passing leader seems as much of a testament to his receivers as it is a credit to his play.