MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[TitansIWU]

Reading about these old gyms makes me think of the "Swim-Gym" at Beverly Hills high school. It was the gym featured in the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life." It slides open up to reveal a pool for those 1% of people who might not have seen the movie.

If the Wheaton fans rushed the floor after a game, you could just open the floor and dunk them!

I believe the Swim-Gym still exists and works today!

[Titan Q]

IWU's old building (pre-Shirk, pre-Fred Young), Memorial Gymnasium (where my dad played for the Titans)...

http://www.iwuhoops.com/memgym.jpg

(Looks like something out of Hoosiers.)



The university did a wonderful job of turning it into the Hansen Student Center (several photos at the bottom)...

http://www.shepleybulfinch.com/project/illinois-wesleyan-university/A2/

[CCIWchamps]

I'm not a big fan of any visting fans rushing the court under any circumstances.  At home, yes, totally fine, let the kids have some fun.  Just not seeing why they feel the need to do it on the road however.

If you're going to rush the court, who cares where it is.  3 ingredients:  enough people to rush, an energized game (better with a tight outcome) and the last 2 weeks of a season.  If you have all three, do it.   Why not? 

[toooldtohoop]

I have not seen the Wheaton student body at very many games, so I am not in a position to broadly comment on their character.  Did not see the NCC game, but can understand the excitement.

I did however see the IWU at Wheaton game last year when the young man sustained that frightening injury that had him immobile for a long time.  During that time, there were multiple small groups of Wheaton students huddled in circles taking turns praying for that young man. 

I guess that memory leaves me feeling OK on the question of the Wheaton student body and their character.

[iwu70]

Q, great throw-back pictures of the old Memorial Gym.  Yes, Hoosiers feel for sure, where Horenberger and Dennie Bridges played.  My Mom swam and played volleyball in there in the late 30s.  Dances were held in there.  In my student days, it was the "girls' gym."  Way back in the day, there was a swimming requirement for graduation (no dorms and required chapel, too), and my Dad, class of '43, almost didn't get his degree from IWU because of his poor swimming abilities, his feet sinking like stones, in that old basement Memorial Center pool, where Tommy's and the lower level of the Bookstore are now.

Hansen Center design and redevelopment is just awesome.  Has to be one of the great restorations of any building on any liberal arts campus in the US, IMHO.  So delighted we saved it, made it into an excellent Student Center, and preserved many of the old features and charms of the previous incarnation of that stately old building, including the important, beautiful stone plaque honoring IWU students, teachers and staff who died, served in WWI, hence "Memorial Gym."  So many important, good functions there now, including student offices, Senate chambers, several eating, amenities outlets -- Hattie's and Tommy's -- the Bookstore, and now many performances and events there too, in the old Gym area, with the new balcony and ballastrade, sound system and lighting paid for by Student Senate, etc. Just wonderful.  If any of our CCIW chat friends haven't seen this restoration, they surely should stop by and have a closer look at the Hansen Student Center next time visiting the Shirk for an away game.  Really worth the visit, especially the fine restoration work in the entry way, main lobby, just as you come in the building from the South.  Still think Memorial Gym/Hansen Center and the Buck Library are the two most historic, most pleasing buildings on campus.  Ames Library now is awesome too, of course, but not much else can be said about the character and architecture of other IWU buildings.  New Science Center is very good, esp. the atrium concept, aspect of the building.  IWU Chapel nice too, but the rest?  Luckily, the Quad in Springtime helps everything look better.  New Classroom building now under construction should be really nice, much needed, setting off the north side of the Quad in a new, very good way.  It will be the new backdrop, too, for outdoor graduation ceremonies each May/June.

I'm agnostic on the question of "rushing to floor" after games.  It is what it is.  If the elderly fan base of IWU did that, we'd have multiple admissions to the Emergency Room, perhaps a few casualties and then a few less whiners to heckle the refs, following the game.  We wouldn't want that, now would we???!!! 

IWU70

[TitansIWU]

I'm agnostic on the question of "rushing to floor" after games.  It is what it is.  If the elderly fan base of IWU did that, we'd have multiple admissions to the Emergency Room, perhaps a few casualties and then a few less whiners to heckle the refs, following the game.  We wouldn't want that, now would we???!!! 

IWU70

They are actually still trying to rush the floor from Saturday's game!   

[Gregory Sager]

I was initially impressed with the size of, and the organization within the Wheaton student cheering section, and enjoyed the verbal battle between them and the NCC students on the opposite end. However, at the end of the game, about 1/2 of the Wheaton students felt compelled to storm the court for some reason. Perhaps they failed to realize that, last night at least, they won nothing but a single regular season basketball game. No conference championship, no conference tournament game, no conference tournament championship, no national tournament game.   Sorry guys.

Personally, I think it should only be done on a buzzer beater against a top-ranked opponent or to celebrate breaking a Cal-Techian-type slump.

I know it had been several years since Wheaton won at NC... but come on...

I have no dog in this fight, but I don't see anything wrong with the Wheaton students rushing the floor of the airplane hangar on Saturday night. What it demonstrates to me are three things -- enthusiasm, numbers, and a sense of historical perspective -- that I never thought I'd see in a Wheaton student section on the road. In fact, the words "Wheaton student section on the road" would've seemed like a contradiction in terms most seasons past.

When your team hasn't won in a particular gym in eons, and it finally breaks the streak in a nail-biter of a game that has major consequences both for the league title and for post-season prospects, it seems perfectly reasonable to storm the court and celebrate.

[Gregory Sager]

North Park's old gym (now Hamming Hall) which once boasted the oldest indoor swimming pool in Chicago (built in 1915), had bleachers only on the stage at one end and the balcony on the other.

Pat Coleman is an aficionado of ancient D3 gyms and has blogged about them before on the Daily Dose, so I was happy to have the opportunity to give him a tour of Hamming Hall when he visited the NPU campus last year and share with him some of the unique, and very strange, history of that ol' pile of bricks.

[Dennis_Prikkel]

North Park's old gym (now Hamming Hall) which once boasted the oldest indoor swimming pool in Chicago (built in 1915), had bleachers only on the stage at one end and the balcony on the other.

Pat Coleman is an aficionado of ancient D3 gyms and has blogged about them before on the Daily Dose, so I was happy to have the opportunity to give him a tour of Hamming Hall when he visited the NPU campus last year and share with him some of the unique, and very strange, history of that ol' pile of bricks.

as north park transitioned from a junior college to a four-year school it moved some of its home games to Roosevelt High School six blocks south of the campus, before the present gym opened.

[thunder38]

New rankings out:

Augustana up to #17
Wheaton drops out and is picking up votes (28) along with IWU (15) and NCC (7)

[thunder38]

Unfortunately, I was unable to watch the WC/NCC game due to work, and did not realize how embarrassed the Wheaton students should be for rushing the court. Wheaton prides itself on being smart, rushing the court was not that. I truly hope the players went into Saturday's game and will go into the next (hopefully) two games in the Hanger planning on winning. I fully agree that rushing the court should be reserved for games in which a team is not given a chance to win, or a national title game.

On the other hand, it has been wonderful to see attendance up for both home and away games over the last few weeks. It's really been since Wash U. came to King Arena and knocked out the #1 nationally ranked team in Spring '09 that there has been a great atmosphere behind the players.

And even though it may just be one solitary conference game, it was a HUGE win for the Thunder from a mental and confidence standpoint. Schauer and McCrary accomplished something that Mr. Raymond never did. There is a huge monkey off the back in Wheaton's locker room when in Naperville now, which should lead to a confident entry into the tourney.

I didn't see anything wrong with Wheaton fans rushing the court.  There are no rules when it comes to these things.  In fact, I thought it added to the drama and enthusiasm of the game.  The only people who would see this in a negative light would be the NCC fans.  And I understand, it is hard to lose a game like that on your home court.  This will pass.

Attendance certainly has been up this year and I agree it's been since K-Ray's senior year that we've seen this kind of energy in King Arena.

As far as the storming the court goes I think there's a couple schools of thought that can come into play.  First of all you would like to have the Thunder fans expect to win those games and not feel the need to storm the court.  For example I was embarrassed as an Illinois fan when the Krush stormed the court after knocking off #5 Michigan State because Illinois should expect to win those games.

That being said I think it's different at the DIII level because there's a closer bond between student body and the team because they interact with the athletes almost on a daily basis and unlike the big schools, the athletes are actually part of the student body and so students are happy to celebrate these wins with their friends who are on the team.  The other thing as previously mentioned above is that it certainly was an emotional game throughout and Thunder fans were certainly glad to break the streak as well as keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive.

I agree also that that should be something reserved for your home floor but I'm also indifferent on it based on the circumstances and Wheaton fans have had a tendency to rush the floor after big wins (Elmhurst conference championship '09, Jahns buzzer beater vs. IWU '10, Wheaton's 2OT win vs. NCC earlier this year).  I see it as students wanting to celebrate with their friends.  Had the roles been reversed and NCC have those struggles in King and win a big game like that I would have felt the same way about NCC rushing the floor.

[iwu70]

TitansIWU, very good . . . yes, and they may get it done by next Saturday's game vs. Elmhurst.  Right?    You've heard of "clash of civilizations," right? . . . this will be the clash of the walkers. 

Looking forward to the final home game, senior night vs. Elmhurst.  Our four '12 seniors have contributed greatly to the program.  If Jordan catches Keelan and breaks the all time career trey record, perhaps we should rush the floor and carry him off on our shoulders, right?  The IWU elders can "wheel" him off.

Strange new poll with Augie going up to #17, everyone else dropping down, out, only getting a few votes.  Here's NCC leading the CCIW and in the poll only getting ranked 4th of the CCIW teams.  Yes, I know the reasons, etc. but it still seems strange to me.  I'm still rooting for Wash U and the others to get their Pool A invites, leaving more Pool C options for our various CCIW teams. 

IWU70

[Titan Q]

New rankings out:

Augustana up to #17
Wheaton drops out and is picking up votes (28) along with IWU (15) and NCC (7)

I understand why NCC is not getting love in the poll, but for me, we're officially to the point where the poll just looks odd.  Based on CCIW play, it's strange to see Augie #17 and NCC just receiving a few votes, considering...

* North Central swept Augie
* North Central is 10-2, heading towards an outright CCIW title (games vs the bottom 2 remaining)...while Augie is 8-4 with two tough road games to play still


As a former voter, I do understand this situation.  But at some point as a voter I think you have to say, "OK, November and December were a long time ago...conference play is a lot better indication of how one team stacks up vs another."  I also think it's appropriate to consider some of those significant NCC injuries during the non-conference in explaining why they were so bad, and now so good.

[Gregory Sager]

New rankings out:

Augustana up to #17
Wheaton drops out and is picking up votes (28) along with IWU (15) and NCC (7)

I understand why NCC is not getting love in the poll, but for me, we're officially to the point where the poll just looks odd.  Based on CCIW play, it's strange to see Augie #17 and NCC just receiving a few votes, considering...

* North Central swept Augie
* North Central is 10-2, heading towards an outright CCIW title (games vs the bottom 2 remaining)...while Augie is 8-4 with two tough road games to play still


As a former voter, I do understand this situation.  But at some point as a voter I think you have to say, "OK, November and December were a long time ago...conference play is a lot better indication of how one team stacks up vs another."  I also think it's appropriate to consider some of those significant NCC injuries during the non-conference in explaining why they were so bad, and now so good.

What irritates me a little is that the poll is supposed to be the pollsters' collective read on the strongest teams in the nation, rather than a simple ranking based upon wins and losses. Given the universally-held truism that teams morph over the course of a season -- some get better, some stay the same, some get worse -- you'd think that the pollsters would automatically weigh the November and December games less than the January and February games when deciding which teams are presently the strongest, even without knowing that NCC had to play a number of those pre-Christmas games short-handed.

I understand that this season the CCIW doesn't really deserve the cachet among the pollsters that it has enjoyed in the past, but nevertheless they've been short-changing the Cardinals, and the Augie thing Bob mentioned really highlights that.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Greg, I totally agree.  To the selection committee, November games and February games are equal; to a poll voter they should not be.

FWIW, on my Posters' Poll ballot, both NCC and Wheaton are above Augie.