MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

(What ... you thought that I wouldn't comment on this thread? )

No, actually, I would have won that bet. 

And since I am not aware of any actual Vikings on the North Side of Chicago (descendents of Vikings, perhaps; and wannabe Vikings trolling the streets of Wrigleyville and the Viagra Triangle on the weekends as well, but no authentic Vikings...), or any Bears in St. Louis outside of the zoo, or any Polar Bears in the greater Maine environs, my general rule was to disconnect locale from mascot.

That said, thank you for the hat tip.

Good point ... although I still think that the sow that birthed the Bridgewater State mascot would've abandoned the cub because of its alarming and disadvantageous color mutation.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Don't know - can bears see color?

[Gregory Sager]

Looks like the answer is "yes"!

[Gregory Sager]

For those of you traveling to Salem.

Rosters for NABC D3 All-Star Game. Saturday, March 22nd. 3:00pm (prior to Championship game)

WEST ALL-STAR TEAM – Coach: Bill Leatherman, Bridgewater College
NAME, Number, HT/WT, Position, SCHOOL, REGION
DJ Woodmore, 1, 6-3/200, G, Virginia Wesleyan, South
Adam Honig, 4, 6-1/190, G, Dickinson,Mid-Atlantic
Richie Bonney, 5, 6-6/220, C, Hobart, East
Brandon Gries,10, 6-1/195, G, St. Norbert, Midwest
Julian Strickland, 31, 6-3/195, G , Rose Hulman, Midwest
Jared Suderley, 33, 6-6/210, F, Hartwick, East
Tyler Peters, 34, 6-4/205, F, Wheaton, Midwest
Kyle Schleigh, 35 , 6-6/195, F, UT Dallas, South
David Langan, 50, 6-8/240, C, Wesley, Mid-Atlantic

EAST ALL-STAR TEAM – Coach: Charlie Brock, Springfield College
NAME, Number, HT/WT, Position, SCHOOL, REGION
Michael Woods, 1, 6-3/175, G ,York, Atlantic
Andre Nixon, 3, 6-3/165, G, Purchase, Atlantic
Tyler Tilemma, 4, 6-3/175, G, UW-Stevens Point, West
Doug Thorpe, 42, 5-9/180, G, Wooster, Great Lakes
Darius Watson, 25, 6-5/220, G/F, Albertus Magnus, Northeast
Mike Garrow, 31, 6-4/200, G, Eastern Connecticut, Northeast
Dillon Stith, 32, 6-5/215, F, St. Vincent, Great Lakes
Daniel Kornbaum, 42, 6-9/212, C, Augsburg, West
Charlie Cross, 53 , 6-8/232, C, UW Platteville, West

In the past, people have commented upon the anomaly of players from Virginia Wesleyan -- a campus that's so close to the Atlantic Ocean that I'm told you can smell the salt air from there -- winding up on the West All-Star team in the annual NABC D3 All-Star game in Salem. Of course, it does make more sense when you consider that D3 has traditionally been divided up into an eastern half (Northeast, East, Middle Atlantic, and Atlantic regions) and a western half (South, Great Lakes, Midwest, and West regions) that would situate VWC among the feeder teams for the West All-Stars in spite of its eastern-maritime locale.

But now it looks as though the good folks at the NABC, or whoever's putting together these rosters, have simply abandoned all pretense of regionality and are simply slapping two teams together willy-nilly, with little or no regard for where the players actually come from.

Not a big deal, of course, but it still would've been nice to see the All-Star game take on more of a northeastern vs. midwestern flavor, since a lot of the back-and-forth on d3boards.com involves those two D3-centric areas of the country.

[WUPHF]

For what it is worth, the Washington University mascot is officially a black bear.  And, black bears have returned to Missouri with a vengeance, having migrated from Arkansas.  Black bears are known to have reached Franklin and Jefferson Counties and have likely reached St. Louis County along the highway 44 corridor.

[Mr. Ypsi]

It does strike one as a bit odd that two players from the East Region are on the West team, while three players from the West Region are on the East team.

IIRC correctly, one or two players from each of the losing semi-finalists were always added to the teams - anyone know if that will still be done?

[veterancciwfan]

Kiko: Your mascot victory analysis has to be the best single post ever on CCIW chat--great work! Sure am glad I stopped working on my tax return to read it. Still laughing. On another topic, I was thinking after Victor Davis opened the Calvin game Friday with 3 consecutive 3s from the deep right corner, what a special player he has been in NCAA tournament play. So to prove I have as much free time as Kiko, I tallied his stats. Victor has played in 12 NCAA tournament games to date (his last 3 years), averaging 27.5 minutes per game. Here are the numbers: FG%: .50% (60/120)  3-point %: .38 (16/42)  FT%: .772 (34/44)  PPG: 14.1  RB per game: 5.3 Pretty impressive on the biggest D3 stage and he has at least one game left. Hopefully, he will continue at this high level for 2 games. Also, Ron Rose now has a D3 tournament record of 14-4 (.777).

[unanimous22]

NCAA D-1 has a 64 team tournament format that has 68 teams
NCAA D-3 has a 64 team tournament format that has 62 teams
I really like both tournaments,  but you can't have play in games to get in the big dance, they just played 25, and sometimes more games to decide who should be in.
And having teams get a bye in the D-3 dance is just dumb.
Yes, I know why, money, greed will bring them down.

Just match up four of the D1 teams in a couple of play-in games and have the winners advance to the D3 tourney, giving each division a 64-team bracket. Problem solved!

Can we get back to basketball and discussing the reality of the Final Four this weekend?   Perhaps too too much to ask.

IWU70

... says the man who has subjected this room to IWU opera-singer alumnae promos, IWU pep-band braggadocio, IWU building updates, IWU Asian international-student stats, endless bottom-of-the-TV-screen ticker scores for each and every IWU sport besides men's basketball ...

Clap, clap, clap

[iwumichigander]

Bravo, bravo, bravo maybe more PC?

[iwu70]

Greg, quibble, quibble . . . and you are giving us details on bear species?  I guess it's easier to talk about mascots and bear species when one's team is long gone or never made the dance.  Just say'in.  Wouldn't it be great if Dawn Upshaw could sing the national anthem before the Semis at Salem this weekend? 

Point did go down, as yours truly predicted, and they did indeed pick a bad time to play below their previously stellar level.  Emory and Whitewater are very happy for that.  Probably my Titans too.  WW will not be an easy out for the Titans.  At all.

That All-Star game roster looks full of serious D3 talent -- should be a great time, a great opportunity for Tyler Peters to again show off his chops.  Many others, too.

IWU70

[kiko]

North Park has never made the dance? 

[iwu70]

Kiko, sure they have, and when was the last date they did?  Most posters weren't even born then -- save for some of us old codgers. 

Warm congrats to Zman and Vic Davis on regional first and second team, respectively, in the Coaches' All-Region teams.

Also Tyler Peter first team and Regional Player of the Year.  Congrats to him as well . . . and to the St. Norbert's Coach, as regional Coach of the Year.

Very happy to see Vic Davis get this well-deserved recognition.

IWU70

[iwu70]

Greg -- just for you: IWU Lacrosse over Millsaps 13-7,  IWU now 4-0 in their Inaugural season playing Lacrosse -- ticker ticker ticker . . . LOL. 

[Mr. Ypsi]

North Park has never made the dance? 

  North Park has FIVE national titles, which is (I'm pretty sure) the d3 record.

[Gregory Sager]

Bravo, bravo, bravo maybe more PC?

I'm all for that. I've always said that Pat Coleman doesn't drop in and post in our room enough.

Greg, quibble, quibble . . . and you are giving us details on bear species?

Why not?

Hey, I don't think that I need to justify my posts to you or anybody else, Mark. But the bear post was a response to an ongoing thread started by mactitan and elaborated upon (at prodigious length and with justifiably applauded results) by kiko. If you have a problem with the thread, don't take it up with me -- take it up with the guy who started it, who happens to be a proud alumnus of the same school as you.

I guess it's easier to talk about mascots and bear species when one's team is long gone or never made the dance.  Just say'in.

Looks like you've abandoned your long-held policy of genial bonhomie and gone over to the world of snark. I can't say that I blame you, given the huge amount of crap that I and other posters give you for your quirky posting tendencies. I guess that I'll just shrug my shoulders and say that we brought your journey to the dark side upon ourselves (and by "we" I mostly mean "me") by finally pushing you over the edge.

  Wouldn't it be great if Dawn Upshaw could sing the national anthem before the Semis at Salem this weekend? 

In all honesty, I would laugh my butt off if that happened. I have as healthy an appreciation of irony as the next guy.

North Park has never made the dance? 

  North Park has FIVE national titles, which is (I'm pretty sure) the d3 record.

And kiko's well aware of that. I think he was unsure if your old IWU classmate was aware of it or not.

(It is the D3 record, by the way.)

Kiko, sure they have, and when was the last date they did?  Most posters weren't even born then -- save for some of us old codgers.

That's interesting; I wasn't aware that there was a sell-by date on national championships.

Greg -- just for you: IWU Lacrosse over Millsaps 13-7,  IWU now 4-0 in their Inaugural season playing Lacrosse -- ticker ticker ticker . . . LOL. 

You can post whatever you like, Mark. Nobody's ever stopped you, and, unless you violate the Terms of Service, nobody ever will. Maybe I'll just keep posting facts about bears every time that you grace us with an Illinois Wesleyan lacrosse score. Or maybe I'll just skip the middleman where bear lore is concerned and just post a picture of Dwight Schrute as a response:



Just "say'in"