MBB: Midwest Conference

[Greek Tragedy]

Can't wait for the season this year......little old MWC /LU taking on WIAC powers Point and Oshkosh and CCIW's Carthage.

Nut

It's clear that both Carroll and Larry U have been "players" in the national scene both in the tourney (at least in LU's case) and in the rankings.  Carroll and Carthage have traditionally taken on WIAC teams such as Whitewater and Oshkosh over the last few years  with both competitive games and wins.  No one, in the WIAC or CCIW, along with other conferences take Carroll or Larry U lightly...the MWC is hardly the little old conference anymore because of the likes of them. 

[titan2000]

UW-Oshkosh at Alex going for a 4 peat of losses.  Wow.

[The Roop]

Other MWC teams have had victories in the post season, but the conference itself never had the respect that it does now. And I will admit that more than once has the MWC Champ not been worthy of post season play. The reality is that the MWC has always been "that other conference" in a region that is loaded year in and year out. People are beginning to take a second look now and that's a good thing.

It wasn't that long ago that LU would have faced IWU in the first round, most likely at IWU.

If Mark Hanzliks jumper finds net instead of the back of the rim with :01 left in that 1979 Regional  perhaps there would be no North Park Dynasty.

I know the MWC will never become a power conference like the WIAC or CCIW but it is certainly one to be reckoned with now. I hope it stays that way....................

[LU_nut]

Roop

I do know that Beloit has very rich b-ball tradition.  It seems that a lot of it was before the days of "D-3".  Love to see it get back to national prominence.  If it would hit the Chicago suburbs hard, I would think it would be a power in the conference consistently.

Nut

[Pat Coleman]

Thanks, April and Greg, for watching my back.

[Gregory Sager]

If Mark Hanzliks jumper finds net instead of the back of the rim with :01 left in that 1979 Regional  perhaps there would be no North Park Dynasty.

Every dynasty has its narrow escapes, from the Celtics of the '60s to UCLA in the '70s and the Bulls in the '90s. North Park was no exception. In addition to that narrow win over Beloit, the threepeat Vikings also had to beat Cal State-Humboldt in overtime on CSUH's home floor out west in 1978. Three of North Park's five national championship teams had to come from behind in the second half in the national semifinal, two of them overcoming double-digit deficits in the process. And the 1985 Vikings won their last four games in the tournament by a total of nine points!

Dynasties aren't defined by narrow escapes. Dynasties are defined by teams that put themselves in a position to win in games that matter.

[The Roop]

Roop

I do know that Beloit has very rich b-ball tradition.  It seems that a lot of it was before the days of "D-3".  Love to see it get back to national prominence.  If it would hit the Chicago suburbs hard, I would think it would be a power in the conference consistently.

Nut

The Chicago connection they had at one time seemed to disappear in the late 80s early 90s and I don't know why. Getting back into the market may not be as easy as it was in the past because several regular non-conference opponents have moved up in level and aren't likely to schedule any D3s. Hard to get exposure if you're not playing in the area very often.

U of Chicago leaving the conference didn't help. NE Illinois jumped from D3 to D1, Ill-Chicago from D2 to D1 and St. X and Roosevelt are now scholarship NAIAs. It can be a pretty hard sell to get somebody to come to a D3 school when another school is able to dangle a scholarship at them.

And of course you're going to be competing against many of the CCIW schools for Chicago area recruits as well. Lets face it, at a CCIW school you can publicly admit that you're an athlete without being scorned by the institution. It doesn't always work that way at Beloit. There is a noticeable student section at games now that actually seems interested in what's going on. So that's good start. It wasn't so long ago that I didn't need to take my shoes off to count the student section. I just wish they travelled better.

[systemfan86]

Great article on a former GC System player

http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.projdetail&projdesc=641-222

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

The system goes global.  Who cares if it is ostracized on a national level; we're appealing to your superiors.

[diehardfan]

thanks!

I lived in Ghana for six months while I was in college, and I can definitely attest that the schools are in complete disrepair in many places. That is... if a place with a leaky roof, no walls, no electricity, no water, inadequate number of teachers, books, and well, students a lot of the time (since their families have to send them to look for water which is often several miles from their homes), then... well... yeah... their schools are exactly how they sound in that piece.

It's great to know there's a Grinnell alum there. The people of Ghana have amazing spirits... I'm sure he's having a great time!

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

That is... if a place with a leaky roof, no walls, no electricity, no water, inadequate number of teachers, books, and well, students a lot of the time

Wow, that sounds like the Kansas City, Missouri school district.

[The Roop]

Sounds like the after math of a Raytown-Lees Summit game.

[diehardfan]

Come on guys, is that supposed to be funny? I mean seriously. 

This is exactly the sort of reason why I haven't showed anyone my pictures, or told anyone what I saw in Africa in depth... not even my family... and why I suffered through more than a year of intense depression after getting thrown back into this self-absorbed American environment due to some heavy philosophical angst concerning poverty and social justice.

It's extremly trivilizing of the intense suffering that people ourside of our borders deal with, to try to explain what you've seen when you know that almost every American will do one of the following things: 1) listen and nod in a knowing sympathetic manner like they know all about it "and isn't that just a darn shame" 2) act shocked and horrified and then forget about minutes or days later 3) crack jokes about it.

I am a very non-violent person, but when people do any of the following about issues currently affecting Africa or Native American tribes, I seriously want to cause brusing, bleeding, death and destruction.  The only thing that gives me any sort of healing is the day to day work I do at my job, and knowing that God will bring justice to the people who oppress and ignore.

[hjmphelp]

DHF-
lets not forget inner cities, rural poverty, and all the other problem areas right here in the good ol' US of A. that have been ignored for decades. I DO know of schools within a short drive with ancient text books, leaky roofs, short staffs and inadequate everything. I DO know-not from personal experience but from stories told by folks like Choquette and several of my employees-about the awful conditions in africa, asia, eastern Europe, North Korea, et al. Of course, these local issues are no match for what you experienced or for what millions of human beings suffer...or maybe there is and we just aren't aware of it?
Lets also not forget the kind of work Hoopsfan gets involved with on a daily basis or that "the Roop " is a native american. Some folks just have to protect themselves by joking about such horrible truths. I have had contact with both of these characters and know there isn't any lack of concern or caring from either of them.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

Um, actually I was being serious.  I work for an international aid and development non-profit.  We've got projects both in and outside the United States.  My reference was to the recent findings that the KC, MO school district is the worst in the US.  I work with kids from there in an after-school program and I've seen the results first hand.  They do generally have electricity, but the rest of it is pretty much true of the schools here.

I know the poverty isn't as great on a broad scale, but the fact that is exists to the degree it does in the midst of such great wealth is pretty offensive to me as well.

I don't want to be a total downer, but I was actually trying to make a serious comment.  I'm sorry I took for granted the fact that you all don't know how horrible the KC, MO school system is.