MBB: Midwest Conference

[kbanya30]

Finally confernce play is picking up, exciting times. Me and wallace made the trip up to SNC this past weekend to watch our carroll team beat the knights. Next up for the pioneers is IC and Monmouth. Both are decent teams in the MWC and the carroll squad is def. not overlooking them. Carroll wins both games this weekend by 14 points.

Peace

[scottie]

Now, now, folks! I haven't suggested that GC is in an underdog role this year, I just would like to know that they can beat a team with a better-than-.500 average before i go off. GC hasn't won at Larry OR Ripon since Coach A has been here and has only pulled off a few against St Norbert. At least we don't have to play at Carroll this year.

I personally think this is a great team and  think they can make the tourney this year, but they could be 4-2 on Sunday with Ripon yet to be played at Ripon and Carroll and Larry yet to be played at Grinnell. Knox and LFC always play GC tough at home, too. Let my warts worry for a few weeks, will ya?

JeffP - So, you mean Grinnell could end up 9-7 and in that five-way tie for third?   

[Early]

I'm not too sure if 9-7 will get you in the tourny.   I do agree that this year the conference is pretty balanced, but I think the top 4 will establish themselves by the end of the year....there may be some interesting tie breakers towards the end, but you can only get excited about that.

[mwc4life]

Just for disagreeing with me you are getting smitted...and you teach math!!!

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

And you get smited for spelling smited wrong!

[mwc4life]

And you will also be smitten with my smited edge!

[The Roop]

Old School,

If it's "The System" you crave, don't forget that it makes a return visit to Wisconsin this year. Feb 3rd @Ripon and Feb 4th @Beloit. Those games are likely to mean more than this weekends games anyway. Grinnell could be 7-4 at the time with 4 of their last 5 games on the road. Which is why I can't include them in the tournament just yet.

[The Roop]

I'm going to borrow from the DailyDose and have a rant.

608, it's not just an area code anymore........

After a fine recruiting class and successful start to the season there is a sense of optimism not seen at Beloit in a long time. Lost a couple they probably should have won but it's not an issue at the moment.

Now comes the #6 team in the country to The Flood Arena. Great game, down to the wire, blah blah blah. WHO WAS THERE TO SEE IT ? ? ? ? 608 people. Local  people and Lawrence fans should (I wasn't there so I'm just guessing) account for about 300 of that. So that means out of a student body of 1200 only 308 could walk the two blocks, at most, to see this game. There's no excuse for that.

On the plus side there is a student section, this year, that is actually into the game for a change and requires more than one hand to count them all; good. Where are the rest of the students. It wouldn't hurt them to step away from the wheel and not throw a pot for one night. Similarly the drum circle will probably sound just as good if those types missed a night of practice and went to a game for a change. Don't give me the week night excuse either. I guarandamntee I partied harder than any of you there when I was in the Corps for 4 years and that happened on any day that ended in Y.

So for those students who do follow the team and read the message boards, if you each recruit one of the above mentioned types to a game we can have over 1000 in attendance again. Not just when certain teams bring 600 of their fans along but for every game.

The bridge between the campus and the community was burned long ago and the community will not return until there is a history of winning again. That will take a few years, better parking and probably a pep band before the "town folk" start showing up in any numbers. Until then those on campus must lead the way in partially filling the seats.

Disliking Flood Arena is a topic in itself so I'll save it for another time. Now that I've covered the poor attendance the only other real complaint I have is the volume of the music being played. TURN IT DOWN ALREADY. I don't need to hear it before the game or at half time when I'm outside having a smoke for crying out loud.

[tps040580]

Roop, aka Mr. Beloit, I think I should point this out. The spring semester at Beloit does not begin until January 16th so I highly doubt that there was 1200 students on campus last Tuesday. 608 people over winter break isn't bad when you consider the bulk of the students aren't on campus.

I think the only rants that should be allowed are on the Football board concerning either a) the evil WIAC or b) the evil Mr. Coleman that is trying to hold down MWC Football 

[Maverick]

Monmouth.................. What's the problem ?? 0-4 means you can only drop 2 more to assure yourself a spot in the tournament. 9-7 teams will probably be watching from the stands this year.

Roop - You ask what's the problem with Monmouth right now?  Here's a couple of quotes from Coach Glasgow (found in the Monmouth Daily Review-Atlas) after Tuesday's loss to Grinnell that may answer your question somewhat:

"We had some serious problems tonight," MC coach Terry Glasgow said. "Our seniors - the guys we need to carry us - just didn't get the job done. We were terrible at the free throw line, and we couldn't keep them off the glass on their end.

"This was very disappointing, to say the least. We have to find a way to win games like this, and we haven't done that yet."

It's really tough and hard to figure why the MWC portion of the season has started like it has.  There is plenty of talent on this team, the Scots got to play 3 of their first 4 MWC games at Glennie (gotta be able to protect home court), and by looking at the schedule Monmouth only has to play Lawrence and Carroll once each this season.  I guess the only thing I could compare it to right now is the Purdue football team going into the football season back in August--they had plenty of talent/returning players from the previous year's team, didn't have to play a game with Michigan or Ohio St., and were expected to do very well in the Big Ten.  Obviously, that didn't happen as they fell well short of those preseason expectations and didn't even qualify for a bowl game.  Whether it was lack of leadership or just not catching many breaks, things happen and it's not always easy to explain why a team struggles.   Sorry for the ramble there...here's hoping things get figured out this weekend!

[The Roop]

The spring semester at Beloit does not begin until January 16th

Good, then there's no danger I'll have to endure another dance routine this weekend while waiting on the 50-50 drawing. That's 10 minutes of my life that I can't get back. Those of you who were at the Aurora game know what I'm talking about.

[jeffdc]

Best of luck to GC today - we'll be huddled around the computer tonight!

[Early]

Lake Forrest coming into RC tonight.  I wish I could watch Beckford and Schmitting battle it out.  2 forces in the paint....it should be good. 
mwc4life, call me with a report after the game if you go please.

Consider me smiten 

[hjmphelp]

Ah, the thought of dc and fam sitting in the warmth and glow of the ol' iMac brings a tear, don't it?

[systemfan86]

Ah, the thought of dc and fam sitting in the warmth and glow of the ol' iMac brings a tear, don't it?

I just glad I paid for the 19" monitor on the new computer. Now I just need a way to get my 13-year-old off the machine so I can watch the game.