MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

No Mike Gabriel in the layup line tonight for NPU, so my guess is that he's sitting out this one as well.

[Gregory Sager]

Aargh! The IWU student broadcasters are getting the NPU coach's name wrong. It's DYE-lun Howard, not DILL-un Howard!

[Mr. Ypsi]

Aargh! The IWU student broadcasters are getting the NPU coach's name wrong. It's DYE-lun Howard, not DILL-un Howard!

Yeah, even student broadcasters should avoid such an error, but at least this is somewhat understandable.  Even knowing he pronounces it DYE-lun, I'd probably forget and call him DILL-un - does anyone else with that name (first or last, for that matter ) pronounce it his way?

(At least student broadcasters probably ought to mainly go with the more respectful Coach Howard anyway! )

[Gregory Sager]

Aargh! The IWU student broadcasters are getting the NPU coach's name wrong. It's DYE-lun Howard, not DILL-un Howard!

Yeah, even student broadcasters should avoid such an error, but at least this is somewhat understandable.  Even knowing he pronounces it DYE-lun, I'd probably forget and call him DILL-un - does anyone else with that name (first or last, for that matter ) pronounce it his way?

I don't know anyone else who pronounces it that way. But that doesn't matter. As I've said before, it's the responsibility of broadcasters and P.A. announcers to check pronunciations with someone from the other team.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Aargh! The IWU student broadcasters are getting the NPU coach's name wrong. It's DYE-lun Howard, not DILL-un Howard!

Yeah, even student broadcasters should avoid such an error, but at least this is somewhat understandable.  Even knowing he pronounces it DYE-lun, I'd probably forget and call him DILL-un - does anyone else with that name (first or last, for that matter ) pronounce it his way?

I don't know anyone else who pronounces it that way. But that doesn't matter. As I've said before, it's the responsibility of broadcasters and P.A. announcers to check pronunciations with someone from the other team.

I agree in principle, but do you bother checking on the pronunciation of a John or Bill?  I'll admit it wouldn't have even occurred to me to check on the pronunciation of Dylan.  (Or do you just have someone read you the entire roster and staff, just in case?)

[Pat Coleman]

I probably wouldn't bother to check a Dylan if I were doing a pronunciation check. HOWEVER, if I were the one being checked with, I would volunteer that information if the broadcaster didn't ask for it.

[Gregory Sager]

Aargh! The IWU student broadcasters are getting the NPU coach's name wrong. It's DYE-lun Howard, not DILL-un Howard!

Yeah, even student broadcasters should avoid such an error, but at least this is somewhat understandable.  Even knowing he pronounces it DYE-lun, I'd probably forget and call him DILL-un - does anyone else with that name (first or last, for that matter ) pronounce it his way?

I don't know anyone else who pronounces it that way. But that doesn't matter. As I've said before, it's the responsibility of broadcasters and P.A. announcers to check pronunciations with someone from the other team.

I agree in principle, but do you bother checking on the pronunciation of a John or Bill?  I'll admit it wouldn't have even occurred to me to check on the pronunciation of Dylan.  (Or do you just have someone read you the entire roster and staff, just in case?)

Everyone on the NPU staff makes it a point to add, "Oh, and, by the way, the coach's name is DYE-lun Howard'" when an opposing team's broadcaster or P.A. announcer checks pronunciations. In other words, the NPU staff is proactive and volunteers the information, knowing full well that few people would think to check the pronunciation of the coach's name.

[Gregory Sager]

... aaaand the Guru is a half-step quicker on the draw than I was.

[TitansIWU]

One of the IWU announcers calls him Andrew Zeeeemnick, and everyone else I have ever heard calls him Zimnick, so don't feel too bad.

[Gregory Sager]

Illinois Wesleyan 84
North Park 63

[Titan Q]

One of the IWU announcers calls him Andrew Zeeeemnick, and everyone else I have ever heard calls him Zimnick, so don't feel too bad.

The guy who mispronounces "Zim-nick" (the color guy) also pronounces the school name wrong -- "Wezzzleyan."  (Something Mr. Sager has been guilty of on the air in the past.)

I'll give the WESN crew credit for getting better though.  I think the play-by-play job guy does a solid job.  My biggest beef tonight was not the pronunciation of "Dylan", it was that they didn't even know Mike Gabriel was hurt.  Early on they said to look out for him coming off the bench.  I could see on the video that he was in street clothes.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Aargh! The IWU student broadcasters are getting the NPU coach's name wrong. It's DYE-lun Howard, not DILL-un Howard!

Yeah, even student broadcasters should avoid such an error, but at least this is somewhat understandable.  Even knowing he pronounces it DYE-lun, I'd probably forget and call him DILL-un - does anyone else with that name (first or last, for that matter ) pronounce it his way?

I don't know anyone else who pronounces it that way. But that doesn't matter. As I've said before, it's the responsibility of broadcasters and P.A. announcers to check pronunciations with someone from the other team.

I agree in principle, but do you bother checking on the pronunciation of a John or Bill?  I'll admit it wouldn't have even occurred to me to check on the pronunciation of Dylan.  (Or do you just have someone read you the entire roster and staff, just in case?)

Everyone on the NPU staff makes it a point to add, "Oh, and, by the way, the coach's name is DYE-lun Howard'" when an opposing team's broadcaster or P.A. announcer checks pronunciations. In other words, the NPU staff is proactive and volunteers the information, knowing full well that few people would think to check the pronunciation of the coach's name.

OK, gotcha.  If NPU staff is proactive, it becomes clear that the student broadcasters did not do the legitimate minimum - checking on even the 'iffy' pronunciations.

One of the IWU announcers calls him Andrew Zeeeemnick, and everyone else I have ever heard calls him Zimnick, so don't feel too bad.

Apparently even with their home team!

One of the IWU announcers calls him Andrew Zeeeemnick, and everyone else I have ever heard calls him Zimnick, so don't feel too bad.

The guy who mispronounces "Zim-nick" (the color guy) also pronounces the school name wrong -- "Wezzzleyan."

And now, it seems, even with the school he attends!

[Gregory Sager]

Victor Davis: 17 pts
Jordan Zimmer: 16 pts
Kevin Reed: 10 pts, 9 rebs

Ro Russell: 21 pts
Mark Holmes: 13 pts

As expected, NPU's popgun offense was not nearly up to the task of hanging with Wesleyan tonight. Even if the Vikes had had Mike Gabriel available, this would've been an IWU win. But, without him, the Park ended up mostly chucking up a desperate series of off-balance shots. Mark Holmes, who did the lion's share of the chucking, had one of those I-have-to-do-it-all-myself sorts of games. Unless your name is Michael Jordan, that never works out. The other problem, also as expected, was rebounding; IWU brutalized NPU on the boards, 47-28, leading to all sorts of second-chance points.

NPU did heat up down the stretch, as Ro Russell found his range and started matching Jordan Zimmer trey-for-trey. But the game was essentially over at that point.

Just gotta strap it on on Tuesday night against Augie at the crackerbox, I guess, as the Park is at least trying to incrementally improve. I sure hope that they get Mike Gabriel back for that game, though, as Augie's formidable front line is going to be hard enough for the generally-undersized Vikings to match up with even with him.

[Titan Q]

The Titans played OK tonight overall against an overmatched North Park team (especially without Mike Gabriel).  Top performers for IWU were...

* Victor Davis: 17 pts, 4 reb
* Jordan Zimmer: 16 pts, 4 reb (4-8 3-point)
* Kevin Reed: 10 pts, 9 reb (4-5 FG)
* Eliud Gonzalez: 9 pts, 8 reb

IWU won the battle of the boards by a whopping 45-28 margin.

My biggest beef with the Titans continues to be their carelessness with the basketball...and the biggest violator is their senior PG Eliud Gonzalez.  Eliud throws some passes that leave me scratching my head.  If IWU is going to make a push for the conference regular season and/or tournament titles, Gonzalez is going to have to be smarter with the ball.

I really like IWU's sophomores.  Victor Davis, Andrew Ziemnik, Eric Dortch, and Nick Anderson have all had their up and down moments this season, but they provide a really nice nucleus to build around.  And 6-4 guard Brady Zimmer (hurt this year), might be the best of all of them.

I should also mention Kevin Reed.  He has been one of IWU's most consistent performers this season and has been a really pleasant surprise for me.  I like watching Reed play - he does a lot of good things on the floor.

[Gregory Sager]

One of the IWU announcers calls him Andrew Zeeeemnick, and everyone else I have ever heard calls him Zimnick, so don't feel too bad.

The guy who mispronounces "Zim-nick" (the color guy) also pronounces the school name wrong -- "Wezzzleyan."

I hate to be overly critical of student broadcasters, but that guy's really, really bad ... and not just because he mangles names, either. (Nevertheless, he botched a bunch of names in the women's game as well.)

The "Ziemnik" thing had me really scratching my head. It's one thing to botch the names of the opposing players (and opposing head coach). But your own team's player?

(Something Mr. Sager has been guilty of on the air in the past.)

Gotta check to see if you're still listening, Bob.

I'll give the WESN crew credit for getting better though.  I think the play-by-play job guy does a solid job.

I thought that the PBP guy was pretty decent.

My biggest beef tonight was not the pronunciation of "Dylan", it was that they didn't even know Mike Gabriel was hurt.  Early on they said to look out for him coming off the bench.  I could see on the video that he was in street clothes.

That was definitely a serious case of not doing their homework. And they followed it up by stating that, "Gabriel's actually started about half of North Park's games this year." Gabriel has started 17 of the 18 games for which he's suited up. And then the broadcasters forgot about him entirely and never mentioned his name again the entire night.